Pols must be honest about income taxes

I am tired of hearing the "no new taxes" pledge or that lowering state taxes in Illinois will encourage more jobs. Cutting income taxes on businesses even 50 percent will not encourage any business to add a single job if there is no financial return in the first place. Illinois lost 58,000 manufacturing jobs last year, because instead of investing in productive assets like plant and equipment to be more efficient, Illinois businesses are investing overseas or pulling working capital from corporations to pay off stockholders.

Did the more than $8 billion dollars invested in the Tribune Company create one job? No, the increase in debt sent a once-profitable company into bankruptcy and cost hundreds of jobs. Will the $19 billion invested by Kraft in Cadbury produce one job here in Illinois? No, it will probably cost jobs here because of the consolidation. For decades businesses have been investing less in machinery and equipment and more in financial assets that produce few jobs. All for the short term gain of individual investors or company executives.

Our legislature and state government have been negligent in not insuring the long-term economic health by not fully funding education at all levels so we can have a skilled and productive workforce; by neglecting the roads and bridges so we can have efficient transportation systems; and, by not taxing businesses, the primary beneficiaries of education and transportation, enough to pay for it.

With Illinois having a huge deficit, which no amount of tax cutting will cure, I say any and all candidates for state office should identify specific cuts to be made first, but following that, they need to all admit that income taxes will have to increase. To do any less is dishonest and not in the best interest of the citizens of this state.

Joe Sunderhaus

Glen Ellyn