Finally, lawmakers showed courage

It took 30 years, but the Illinois legislature finally looked in the face of the GOP and said that it was time to quit whining about saddling our grandchildren with debt and start paying off the credit cards.

Ever since the Reagan era tax cuts, where the biggest cut in federal spending was terminating revenue sharing with the states, someone at the state level figured out that the Lottery and cigarette taxes aren’t making up the difference. The usual suspects are going to scream about jobs leaving the state to Indiana and Wisconsin, and as a matter of course, they will neglect to mention that Indiana and Wisconsin have higher tax rates than Illinois just increased to.

Now I don’t believe for a minute that the rates will drop in four years as written, because I don’t believe that the problem is small enough to be resolved in that short a time. But if the people in elected office that found the guts to raise income taxes 2 cents on the dollar continue to show that level of courage, instead of the usual mealy-mouthed talk of “cutting the fat” and reneging on contracts, I think we may find our way back from the brink.

Of course, when it comes to future generations, the taxpayers of Illinois can walk the walk, or just continue to talk the talk.

David Yacker

Beach Park