Been there, tried that

SPRINGFIELD - Many of the budget-balancing ideas put forth by Dan Hynes in his bid to win the Democratic nomination for governor have been tried before, with little success. He argues his leadership and tougher economic times will yield different results.

Tax vote

Hynes proposed letting voters decide if Illinois should do away with its flat-rate income tax and gain the ability to impose higher rates on people with higher incomes. A similar push was blocked by Illinois House Republicans last year.

Gambling expansion

Hynes wants the state to authorize up to three new casinos and auction off the licenses to come up with immediate cash. In May the Illinois Senate rejected a plan to put casinos in Park City, Rockford and Chicago, a plan touted as a better alternative than raising taxes.

Hynes also wants to raise the tax on gambling profits to 70 percent. It had been there but was lowered recently after intense industry pressure.

Cigarette tax

Hynes wants to raise the cigarette tax by $1 a pack and use the money to pay down the multibillion dollar backlog of bills piling up in his office that the state doesn't have the cash to pay on time. A $1-per-pack hike was proposed in 2007, passed the Illinois Senate but was rejected by the Illinois House.

Blago bureaucrats

Hynes wants to fire "half the high-paid Blagojevich political appointees" from their state posts. House Speaker Michael Madigan proposed a similar house cleaning earlier this year. That plan hit roadblocks in the Senate and has yet to be called for a vote.

Sales taxes

Hynes wants to extend the sales tax to elective cosmetic surgeries. In 2005 he similarly tried to tax such procedures to finance stem cell research. It met stiff opposition and was taken out of the plan.

Similarly, Hynes calls for extending the sales tax to a select group of "luxury" services such as interior design services, pet grooming and marine towing, which currently are not hit with the state's 6.25 percent sales tax. A budget-balancing tax plan approved by the Illinois Senate this year took a similar approach but was never called for a vote in the House, presumably because it could not pass.