Need to change state's direction

Illinois is going broke because our legislature consistently outspends the revenue. Taxes on Illinois citizens are among the highest across the board in every category.

Illinois has the 2nd highest property tax rate in the nation. Illinois property tax rate is twice that of the median rate across all 50 states.

In addition, Illinois sales taxes, gasoline taxes, alcohol, tobacco taxes and excise tax rates are all in the top ten in the nation. Further, Illinois implemented the lotteries and casino gambling to provide more revenue and still the legislature outspends the revenue.

Despite all this revenue Illinois still has been forced to borrow money so that our debt is the highest in the nation and our credit rating is the poorest. And what has all this spending accomplished. Illinois schools still rank among the worst in the nation. Our infrastructure is crumbling, our businesses and residents are leaving in droves, thereby increasing the tax burden on those who remain because the spending still keeps going up.

We need to change direction. We need to institute some financial discipline and fiscal responsibility. We simply cannot continue to keep doing the same thing that we have been doing for the last 35 years or Chicago will follow Detroit into bankruptcy and so will the entire state of Illinois. Then there will be even far less money to pay into the teacher pension systems and for support of education, infrastructure, and welfare. Then everybody loses; we all go down the hole.

But the Democrats who control our legislature refuse to change. Fellow Illinoisans: Vote these guys out of office or at least pressure them to begin exercising some fiscal responsibility. We owe it to our children and grandchildren and also to ourselves.

John Noll

Naperville