Peggy Noonan: Saying It Better Than Anyone Else Could
“When I see those in government, both locally and in Washington, spend and tax and come up each day with new ways to spend and tax—health care, cap and trade, etc.—I think: Why aren’t they worried about the impact of what they’re doing? Why do they think America is so strong it can take endless abuse?
I think I know part of the answer. It is that they’ve never seen things go dark. They came of age during the great abundance, circa 1980-2008 (or 1950-2008, take your pick), and they don’t have the habit of worry. They talk about their “concerns”—they’re big on that word. But they’re not really concerned. They think America is the goose that lays the golden egg. Why not? She laid it in their laps. She laid it in grandpa’s lap.
They don’t feel anxious, because they never had anything to be anxious about. They grew up in an America surrounded by phrases—”strongest nation in the world,” “indispensable nation,” “unipolar power,” “highest standard of living”—and are not bright enough, or serious enough, to imagine that they can damage that, hurt it, even fatally.
We are governed at all levels by America’s luckiest children, sons and daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists but they’re not optimists—they’re unimaginative. They don’t have faith, they’ve just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are callous, and they don’t mind it when people become disheartened. They don’t even notice.”
Related, from the Washington Post:
“House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July.”
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Brady Calls for Transparency On Debt Front
On the one hand, it would limit the ability of the state to prioritize. On the other hand it would give the general public a better handle on just how much money Illinois is spending:
“A candidate for Illinois governor says the public deserves to know more about the state’s debts and which ones are being paid.
Republican Bill Brady is proposing a law requiring the state to disclose all the bills it receives from businesses and contractors. The information would be posted online, and the state would be required to pay the bills in the order they’re received.”
Every Road a Toll Road; Don’t Tell Chicago
Wait until Mayor Daley hears about this:
Officials are looking to convince residents in the Washington, DC metropolitan region that converting every local streets into toll roads would be good for them. The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board last Wednesday voted to seek federal gas tax funds to bankroll a $400,000 study on how best to sell the public on a controversial per-mile tax proposal that would raise up to $4.8 billion in new revenue.
$4.8 billion is not out of line with how much Gov. Quinn wanted raise income taxes in the state of Illinois with close 13 million people. The population of DC is what? 600,000. The entire metro area is less than 5.5 million, that is not even half of Illinois’ population.
And about the only way you are going “sell the public” on this is to give everyone $400,000.
Sorry Comptroller Hynes, Illinois Doesn’t Need to go the way of New York
The crown-jewel of Illinois tax policy is the state’s flat tax on income. It’s at 3 percent while the CIT is at 4.8 percent. Thanks to the 8:5 ratio, both the corporate tax and the personal income tax are tied to one another. This is probably the only thing that has saved Illinois from becoming New York or California.
Dany Hynes, the State Comptroller, running for governor is running on raising taxes on the rich — those making over $250,000.00 per year (see page 15). Obviously, he’d need a constitutional amendment to make that happen.
Hynes argues that by targeting the rich, he can can solve the long term structural problems in Illinois’ state budget. The long-term structural problem is apparently not enough money to spend.
New York tried something similar. And how’s that working out for them?
“New Yorkers are fleeing the state and city in alarming numbers — and costing a fortune in lost tax dollars, a new study shows.
More than 1.5 million state residents left for other parts of the United States from 2000 to 2008, according to the report from the Empire Center for New York State Policy. It was the biggest out-of-state migration in the country.
The vast majority of the migrants, 1.1 million, were former residents of New York City — meaning one out of seven city taxpayers moved out.
“The Empire State is being drained of an invaluable resource — people,” the report said.”
Turns out the new people showing up in the Empire State — no doubt many of whom are showing up for the generous welfare state benefits — aren’t paying taxes. And when they are paying taxes it doesn’t make up the difference.
Dan Hynes needs to go back to the drawing board.
AFP-IL: Walking the Walk Against SEIU/ACORN
Americans for Prosperity’s Illinois chapter is at it again. This week they are calling out Gov. Quinn for his ties to the discredited ACORN and SEIU:
TAKE ACTION NOW! GO TO SAY NO TO ACORN and sign our petition!
On the heels of SEIU’s endorsement of Governor Quinn for his 2010 gubernatorial bid, citizens of Illinois like you are sick and tired of our tax dollars being used to pollute an already corrupted political system.
Governor Quinn had an opportunity to use his amendatory veto powers to force the General Assembly to vote on substantive campaign finance reforms – he failed to do so - and now the Legislative Leaders are vacillating on how to protect their individual interests over those of those of the public.
Maybe this TV ad will inspire the Governor and the Leaders to formulate substantive campaign finance laws.
Well, while I doubt it will inspire anyone in Illinois politics to do the right thing, but I’m hopeful it will inspire the electorate do so when it comes time to render judgement on Illinois’ corrupt practicies.
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You Can Take the Politician Out of Illinois, But Not the Illinois Out of the Politician
Obama is no tin pot dictator. Nor he is he administering as a community organizer, as Megan McArdle says. He’s running the country they way we run Illinois. Placing a letter on a government web site to tout your initiative is a page out the Alderman of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s playbook. It’s akin to putting your name on everything that doesn’t move in the State of Illinois.
In the Chicago style its winner take all. And in our political culture anything goes and you crush the opposition. Like a Chicago alderman, you are king of all that you see. It’s not a culture the country is used to. It’s one we should all hope that doesn’t take root in DC.
There a number of commentators seeking to frame the debate in terms of ideology. These include our friends in talk radio, Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh and yesterday, at The Foundry they brought up Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals when discussing yesterday’s Mike Allen article on the White House’s attempt to marginalize it’s most vocal critics.
The problem with the community organizer-Saul Alinsky narrative is that at some point for purely political reasons the White House will do something out of character. Or, in the tradition of Illinois, they’ll successfully co-opt moderate Republicans or portions of the business community. It will be difficult to explain when the WH starts divvying up the pie and business interests are getting their slice for going along to get along.
The attacks on Fox News; going after the insurance industry on health care and the Chamber of Commerce are not about Saul Alinsky. They are about politics as practiced in Illinois. It’s a base form of politics that pre-dates the progressive era. It is a base, raw and vicious form of politics in which to the winners go all the spoils.
In defining the debate in terms of ideology, opponents of the Administration could very well be setting themselves up to be surprised and out maneuvered by some pretty slick Illinois pols.
Guv Candidate Bill Brady’s Nudges Illinois in the Right Direction
Ronald Reagan was once described as a hedge hog. The analogy was that there were foxes and hedgehogs in this world. The foxes new how to do a lot of things well to outsmart his opponents. The hedgehog new only one way to avoid predators but he did it very well. I think of hedgehogs when I think of State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington).
Getting the business climate question right isn’t a matter of pulling the right lever or finding the optimal tax level. It isn’t about micromanaging the economy or having the department of economic development picking the winners and losers. It’s about stability and predictability.
Existing businesses and start-ups need in investors and investors are taking risks with their money. The better able actors are at predicting the future, the more likely they are to invest. In developmental politics you quickly learn that wildly fluctuating tax rates — say in Latin America — in the 1960’s and 1970’s created chaos. Leftists governments would quickly hike taxes on businesses and overseas investors, while their liberal rivals once in office would slash taxes in an attempt to lure investment. Yet, the political instability of the region during this time was the biggest impediment to investment. Investors didn’t know what to expect when governmental policies changed so rapidly and so dramatically — literally overnight.
Given the banana republic nature of the Illinois’ state government since 1996, it is no wonder that Illinois business has fled Illinois. It’s been tax increase after tax increase with the threat of more tax increases. The Blagojevich Administration often used business as the bad guy whether it be accusing of business of paying no taxes or as a foil in the minimum wage fight. Gov. Quinn, who has been unable to establish a position and stick to it when confronted, isn’t much better.
This is why Sen. Brady (R-Bloomington) is a bit of fresh air. As The Sun-Times put it in their brief announcing his campaign’s job tour:
“Brady also said he’s proposing: a 10 percent tax credit, up to $2,100, for businesses that create new jobs in Illinois; cutting $300 million in business taxes and fees the state currently charges; and lowering the gas tax.”
He isn’t offering to change the world. He’s offering to create a better climate. I’m sure he recognizes his proposal to limit Chicago’s home rule powers when it comes to big boxes isn’t going to have the votes in the General Assembly. But to a battered sector of the economy, this has to seen as good news and a nudge in the right direction that signals things aren’t going to get worse.
Businesses won’t need a massive overhaul of state government to be attracted back to Illinois’ markets. They merely need to see attempts to move in the right direction and a steady hand that offers the assurance that state policy won’t change as often as people change their underwear.
The press and critics, I’m sure will attack his plans. The press in Illinois, because it relies on the state government, operates under the fallacy that government runs the economy. For some reason they can’t wrap their minds around the fact that the opposite is true. The economy makes modern state government possible. Political critics, for their own purposes, offer that Brady lacks depth and that more comprehensive fixes are necessary. I’m sure the exact their pound of flesh, as well.
But the simple truth of the matter is that if we are good stewards of the Illinois economy then the Illinois economy will take care of state government. Three simple steps, reversing the myriad Blagojevich tax increases, supporting incentives to hire and lessening the burden on basic commodities necessary to run Illinois’ economy are nudges in the right direction.
The NRSC Asked Me to Join The Republican Gun Owners Task Force
Who thinks of these things?
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is asking me to join the Republican Gun Owners Task Force. It seems, according to the letter, that anti-gunners now control the White House and Congress. The second question they ask in their “census” of gun owners is:
“Are you in favor of passing a new “assault weapons” ban on semi-automatic firearms as was recently suggested by Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder?”
My answer is obviously, No.
But of course I’m also opposed to the assault weapons ban introduced by Congressman Mark Kirk (R-10) of Illinois. That same Mark Kirk that the NRSC recruited to be their Republican nominee for the US Senate in 2010. You know the guy. He’s the one the NRSC cleared the decks for in Illinois.
The questionnaire also asks:
“Are you in favor of a federal reciprocity law that would require every state to recognize the concealed weapons permits of other states?”
I would note that it is no secret that the chosen champion in the state of Illinois is an opponent of concealed carry as well.
I wonder whether or not Rep. Kirk will be a member of this task force?
