Former award-winning newspaper reporter and Jim Edgar press secretary promoted the pension tax that McHenry County Blog reported the details of on Friday with a denial of support from a local legislator Monday.

Mike Lawrence, most recently head of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, had his column published in the Chicago Tribune yesterday.

The relevant paragraph follows:

Seniors who earned more than $300,000 eluded $80 million in state taxes in 2007, according to a recent analysis, by legally deducting $2.6 billion in retirement income from their adjusted gross. The state could have reaped $830 million from Illinoisans making in excess of $50,000.

With the mis-characterized 2% or 1% income tax hike being promoted by Kimberly Lightford State Senator–really a 67% or 33% income tax hike–yours truly would end up paying an extra $3,500 a year.