Walking in the Elmhurst St. Patrick's Day parade last weekend, Republican state Sen. Dan Cronin was the target of at least a dozen onlookers shouting "No tax increase. Vote 'No.'"

Across the suburbs in Waukegan, state Sen. Terry Link was repeatedly diverted by local shoppers stopping him to demand he oppose Gov. Pat Quinn's tax hike plan.

"Trust me, there's a lot of people who do not want tax increases," the Democrat said.

Trapped in the ever-worsening economic maelstrom, grappling with layoffs and struggling to pay bills, many suburbanites are not greeting news of proposed tax hikes with acceptance.

After all, President Barack Obama just pushed forward a major tax cut in the name of 'economic stimulus.'

Now Illinois' Democratic governor is pushing to drown that stimulus with a host of higher fees and taxes.

"For many people (Quinn's) tax increase will wipe out the tax benefits" of Obama's stimulus plan, noted David Merriman, an economics professor with the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois.

Facing a budget shortfall now pegged at more than $11 billion, Quinn is expected to propose today a 50 percent increase in the personal income tax rate, an even higher increase on local companies, and a hike in cigarette taxes and fees for driver's licenses and license plate registrations.

Opponents are pointing to the ailing economy as the chief reason to not raise taxes.

"If you raise taxes, more people will lose their jobs in Illinois," said state Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican who is proposing cutting health care and education spending instead.

But some economists say raising taxes in Illinois may not automatically prolong the economic recession here.

Like politicians, economists say they must weigh the damage from tax hikes with the damage from making the required billions of dollars of cuts in the state budget.

Unlike Obama, Quinn doesn't have the option to simply run a massive deficit. The state can't print more money to make up for budget shortfalls.

Cutting more than $11 billion would wipe out more than a third of all state spending, potentially decimating education and health care funding while further putting off payments owed to hospitals and others service providers.

For perspective, every state job - from state troopers to prison guards - could be wiped out and the savings would amount to slightly more than $3 billion, not even close to filling the budget hole.

Thomas Mondschean, a DePaul University economics professor, says tax hikes are bad for the economy because they limit the amount of spending by consumers. But, he says, a state in such financial free fall could be even worse.

"That would make a recession longer," he said of aggressive budget cuts.

Mondschean does caution, however, that simply taking tax hikes at face value is foolish. Fat should be cut from the budget, he said, and tax increases must be a last resort.

Quinn's budget does propose more than $1 billion in cuts, but some lawmakers want more.

"These are times when state governments have to look very carefully at how they are spending money," Mondschean said.

Merriman also views the looming state budget cuts as more of an economic concern than Quinn's tax hikes.

"The cuts will be very painful and very drastic," he said. "In the short run, that would also slow down the economy."

In the end, Merriman says Quinn's tax hikes may be "pretty trivial" when it comes to affecting jobs and the state economy as compared to more major financial forces at play such as tanking home prices and tight lending.

But Mondschean points out that will be true only if the new tax revenue is used wisely.

"We have had such a horrible state government lately," he said. "It would be nice to see them get it right this time."