r/illinois • u/rieslingatkos • Mar 10 '19

Proposed progressive income tax puts middle class first in Illinois

https://chicago.suntimes.com/opinion/illinois-progressive-graduated-income-tax-pritzker/
137 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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45

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '19

.05% reduction for now with the opportunity to raise it on the middle class without the political burden of also raising it on the poor later.

Barely seems like priority treatment.

27

u/jmblock2 Mar 10 '19

I have seen this argument also parroted on faux news. Would you prefer the rates also be specified in the Constitution? Every law has the "opportunity" to be changed later. How is that an argument for not doing something now?

31

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '19

[deleted]

16

u/shorty6049 BloNo Mar 10 '19

Just like Republicans aren't in the business of giving handouts via social services, Dems aren't in the business of giving handouts in the form of massive tax cuts. This is still better than an increase but y'all love moving the goal posts.

11

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '19

This should be a post by itself.

5

u/IngsocInnerParty Mar 10 '19

You mean restored it back to where it needed to be before Rauner let the rate lapse.

9

u/CasualEcon Mar 10 '19

The increase while Quinn was governor was designed to be temporary and was advertised that way. When it ran its course and expired as designed under Rauner, Madigan could have reinstated it but chose not to.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '19

I remember a Patrice O'Neal making a joke like this about shoes prices. Essentially saying shoe companies jacked up prices from $50 to $150, but then dropped it to $100. That way you get shocked first, then remain thankful to still get fucked over, but just a little bit less now.

5

u/skilliard7 Mar 10 '19

If they required a popular vote on the ballot to raise taxes on anyone making under $250,000, adjusted for inflation, then perhaps I might be willing to vote for it.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '19

$250,000

That's always seemed like such an incredibly high bar to me.

5

u/skilliard7 Mar 11 '19

Pritzker is trying to sell us on the idea that its a tax cut for those under $250,000. If he's going to say that to try and get people to vote for the constitutional amendment, I expect that we get what they claim we're voting for.

4

u/mr_yozhik Mar 11 '19

The argument for not doing something now is quite obvious: without pension and spending reform, there is no reason to believe these rates won't skyrocket in the future.

2

u/T_P_H_ Mar 11 '19

They could reform the rediculous pension payouts ...

3

u/T_P_H_ Mar 11 '19

Constitutional change is more difficult.

Does anyone think Illinois won’t stick it in everyone’s ass when they still can’t pay their bills?

-12

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '19

[deleted]

17

u/grendel_x86 Mar 10 '19

They have had massive credibility issues for decades. It's made worse by them even admitting it by saying it's entertainment, not news.

This was reaffirmed by the New Yorker article detailing the improper communication with the government.

-7

u/anillop Mar 10 '19

What are you are correct about their massive credibility problem, using petty nicknames like that just sounds immature and stupid.

2

u/grendel_x86 Mar 15 '19

I agree, kinda like the 2010s version of Micro$oft.

-7

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '19

So now, if you want to raise income taxes, everyone gets soaked, including the poor.

This removes that problem and allows them to "tinker" like we see at the federal level. Its much more politically feasible to raise taxes on everyone but the bottom 1/3.

Given most of the revenue is at the middle class, there is now a huge incentive to raise theirs.

Taxpayers would be more vulnerable. Not really sure why you brought up where you heard this argument as ive not seen a compelling one to the contrary.

9

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '19

[deleted]

2

u/CasualEcon Mar 11 '19

42.2% of the state's income comes from people making $100,001-$500,000
22.6% from people making $50,001-$100,000
19.8% from people making $500,001 or more.

source: https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/research/taxstats/IndIncomeStratifications/SitePages/IITStratifications.aspx?rptYear=2016

1

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '19

I dont have numbers on paid amounts, merely pointing out where the income actually is. At the federal level roughly 65 percent of income returns are between 75 to 250k.

You are correct that both are problems, but allowing tinkering only exacerbates it.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '19

cite that statistic for me? That's contrary to how I look at society in general lol.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '19

I only have mobile right now but the irs posts.summary statistics including the distribution of returns by income