Corporate breaks tax the rest of us

I strongly oppose the tax break bill for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group and for Sears Holding. The millions of dollars involved are nothing more than a state cave-in to corporate extortion.

Every break given to a corporation is in reality a tax increase for the rest of us who must pick up the slack. Other public bodies such as school districts also take a hit.

These corporate “citizens” have been connected to Illinois and Chicago for decades. If they really think that the pasture is greener elsewhere, give them a route map to Mississippi or southern Indiana. I heard that the cultural benefits and other amenities have caught up to the 1910s.

I’m also incensed about the deal that former Gov. Thompson got for the White Sox. When he described how difficult it was for him to negotiate with his old university classmate Jerry Reinsdorf, I just about threw up. The White Sox pay $1.5 million a year in rent for a ballpark. They don’t have to pay property tax like the Cubs do on Wrigley Field. Then the Sports Authority built a posh restaurant for them and they get to keep the profits. Any one of the White Sox players could write a check for the $1.5 million rent and not even bother to balance his checkbook. Where was the legislature and the governor’s oversight of the Sports Authority all these years?

If CME vacates the building, I have an excellent use for it. Turn it over to Occupy Chicago for $1 a year so they have a warm place to hang out over the winter.

Chester Kulis

Mount Prospect