McHenry County Blog

David McSweeney

A press release from State Rep. David McSweeney:

McSweeney Fulfills First Campaign Pledge on Day One

SPRINGFIELD – On his first day serving in the 98th General Assembly, State Representative David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) honored one of his campaign pledges by filing legislation to repeal the 67% tax increase which was signed into law nearly two years ago. If passed, the legislation (HB 91) will end the largest tax increase in Illinois history.

“It might be a novel concept for many here in the General Assembly, but I came here to do what I said I was going to do,” said McSweeney.

“These tax increases have devastated hard working families and job creating small businesses and I will be pushing hard for its expiration.”

The 98th General Assembly was inaugurated today at the University of Illinois Springfield campus as McSweeney was joined by dozens of incoming legislators from across the state.

McSweeney highlighted HB 91 and his additional campaign pledges of not accepting a legislative pension or benefits, taking a 10% pay cut and reducing his legislative allotment for office operations by 10%.

“It is a privilege to serve the residents of the 52nd district and I pledge to fight for meaningful fiscal reforms to get our state back on track,” added McSweeney.

“With Illinois’ future obligations estimated to exceed $200 billion, it’s time to make the hard decisions and do what is right and necessary for our state.”

Will Illinois income taxpayers finally notice that they are paying two more percentage points to their government?

It took long enough, but Illinois wage earners will start seeing the extra two percent taken out of their checks this month.

At the same time the Democratic Party’s income tax hike went into effect two years ago, the Feds cut the Social Security tax by two points.

One cancelled out the other, so people in Illinois can be excused for not noticing what Illinois Democrats did to them.

Now with the reinstatement of the Federal payroll tax, Illinois employees might just notice the 67% state income tax of two years ago.

Then, again, maybe they won’t.

Dee Beaubien

David McSweeney

McHenry County Blog commenters are repeatedly posting that David McSweeney is not telling the truth in his mailings when he says the following:

“Calling a 67% tax increase ‘fair.’

“Beaubien has said that the 67% income tax hike has led to a ‘fair’ rate for out working families.”

Here is an enlargement of the use of the word “fair” by David McSweeney to characterize the opinion of opponent Dee Beaubien’s about the 67% income tax increase.

After urging from one, I wrote Tribune Editorial Page Editor Bruce Dold and asked about it:

“Dee is being cited in a footnote by McSweeney that Dee used the word ‘fair’ to describe the income tax hike.

“I can’t find the interview online or a transcript.

“Anyway I can get access to one or the other?

“Look at the bottom left of the attached mailing for the quote and footnote number.”

I sent the following mailing, which I call the “scratch out” postcard:

Fact checking with the Chicago Tribune revealed that Dee Beaubien did use the word “fair” to describe the huge income tax increase. (See bottom left of text. Click to enlarge.)

Here is the enlargement of the footnotes I sent the Tribune:

The footnote to the “fair” quote of Dee Beaubien is seen to be to the Chicago Editorial Board interview of Dave McSweeney and Dee Beaubien.   It has been confirmed by the Editorial Page Editor Bruce Dold.

Here’s the answer I received from Dold:

“Cal,

“We don’t have a transcript or audio/video, but Kristen McQueary recalls that Dee did say that.”

Active commenter Dave, who does not want his last name used, also reached out to Dold and got the following response, which is found in a comment below, but which deserves to be seen in conjunction with the response I got from Dold:

“Dee Beaubien and Dave McSweeney appeared together for an endorsement interview with members of the editorial board.

“Both candidates said they would roll back the income tax increase. They were asked how they would replace the revenue and whether they thought the individual income tax rate was in line with other states.

“Beaubien said: “That’s right. I think it’s fair. So there we are.” But she did make it clear she wanted to roll back the tax increase.

“I did not attend this interview. This is based on the notes of two board members who did. We did not record the interview, but the candidates were free to record it. I don’t know if either candidate did.”

After sending out about a half dozen “positive” pieces, Republican State Rep. candidate Dave McSweeney sent out a piece that arrived on September 19th that criticizes candidate Dee Beaubien (Ind.-Beaubien) for characterizing the 67% income tax hike her patron Mike Madigan shoved through the Illinois House without a Republican vote as “fair.”

Dee Beaubien’s photo appears in this first comparison piece of David McSweeney’s campaign for State Representative.

Here are the footnotes, which I have enlarged because they are in such teeny-tiny print:

Sources for the statements made in Dave McSweeney’s first piece to mention his opponent Dee Beaubien’s name.  Golly gee.  I see three of the Foot Notes point to McHenry County Blog.

On the back of the piece can be seen the following:

Dave McSweeney tells potential constituents he will fight the 67% income tax hike the Democrats passed.

In May Illinois Statehouse News had a couple of paragraphs about the Illinois League of Women Voters that are worth repeating:

“Jan Dorner, president of the nonpartisan Illinois League of Women Voters, which represents about 3,000 women and men voters [emphasis added] in the state by hosting political debates and other educational opportunities, said members are sensitive to the “war on women,” mainly because many of them battled issues of birth control and abortion rights decades ago.“It’s not our priority,” Dorner, 60, said about reproductive-rights issues. “I have a 31-year-old daughter. I’m sure it’s not on her radar. Our members are older, and they fought this fight, what, 30, 40 years ago. When they see this stuff come up again, it makes them nuts.”

During the fight over the Regional Transportation Authority in 1974 I was infuriated that the Illinois League endorsed the referendum.

My mother had been an active member of the League, so I got regular downloads of their meetings.

I had attended local meetings in which members educated themselves before some inner meeting of state leaders decided which way they should lean.

As I remember there was no consensus process before RTA was endorsed.

Local chapter members ended up debating us local legislators.  I remember they did so with their Chicago talking points in Carpentersville and Crystal Lake.

Here were local women selling out their neighbors.

It infuriated me.

So, when the women’s group opened its membership rolls to men, I joined.

My goal was to make sure the League did not ignore their members again.

How silly of me.

When the income tax hike came up in the 1980′s, there was no consensus process.

The League’s Board just endorsed the increase.

Guess they had studied the topic back when Governor Richard Ogilvie pushed through the original income tax in 1969.

Income tax good.

More income tax better.

My wife was active in the Crystal Lake-Cary League of Women Voters during the early 1990′s.

She was even on the Board.

Other members made it clear they were uncomfortable with a Pro-Lifer being so active.

That chapter has been since merged with the McHenry-Woodstock chapter.

Membership decline probably.

And that brings me back to the information in the StateHouse News article.

Statewide membership is down to about 3,000.

When my wife was active, the State League had over 10,000 members…maybe 12,000.

By then the ERA fight had been lost; abortion had been the law of the land since 1973.

Gone was the interest in juvenile court watching in McHenry County, which surely made the judges observed better jurists.

Long gone were the women who sat, but did not participate, in school board meetings.

This past election cycle, the McHenry County League of Women Voters didn’t even hold a candidates’ night.

Fulfilling that role was the McHenry County Young Republicans.

Want to bet on whether they’ll decide to hold a candidates’ forum for the 52nd state rep. district?

I’m betting they will.

An email from State Rep. Mike Tryon:

Happy Tax Freedom Day!

Mike Tryon

This is a day that fiscal conservatives point to each year as the point where Illinoisans can actually start keeping what they earn.

It really does put the Illinois tax burden into perspective.

Every day worked and dollar earned in January, February, March, and up until today in April, represents on average what we will owe the government in taxes next year.

Yes, today is the day that Illinoisans can celebrate that what they earn for the remainder of 2012 is theirs to spend as they see fit.

In Springfield, many legislators are very mindful of the excessive taxes that Illinoisans pay.

Two House measures, HJRCA 23 and HJRCA 44, fight back at the tax increase Democrats pushed through in January 2011, by requiring future tax increases to be passed by a 3/5ths majority of both the Illinois House and Senate.

Speaker Madigan has tried to defend his caucus members’ votes for the lame-duck tax increase by bottling up these resolutions in the Rules Committee, but House Republicans forcefully debated the issue on the House floor on Wednesday, April 18.

Unfortunately, in the end, the Speaker used his authority to prohibit a vote on the resolutions and his position was upheld in subsequent votes that attempted to overrule him.

The tax issue is one that I will continue to fight for, an on days like today, when we are reminded of just how much of our money we hand over to the government each year, I am renewed in my commitment to fight against further tax increases and to ensure that the tax increase of 2011 remains “temporary.”

I will continue to update you on important issues as they make their way through the legislative process, and as always, if my staff or I can assist you in any way, please do not hesitate to call my Crystal Lake office at 815-459-6453.

Sincerely,

Michael W. Tryon
State Representative, District 64

As I focused on the front page of Saturday’s Chicago Sun-Times, I saw something other than what I suspect the editors wanted me to see.

The Federal payroll tax cut exactly equals the 67% income tax hike imposed on Illinois taxpayers last year.

“$80 a month”

“What tax cut extension means to you”

Four twenty dollar bills, the top one not well enough printed to pass at the local store.

But, wait, I thought.

The continuation of the two percentage point tax cut is exactly the same amount as the cost for the two percentage point income state tax enacted by Springfield Democrats.

Almost as much of a Quincidence as Governor Pat Quinn’s appointing still another state legislator who promised not to vote for an income tax hike, but did so after losing the 2010 general election.

The Federal action, I would observe, means Illinois taxpayers will not feel the pinch of the 67% state income tax hike until after the 2012 elections.

A press release from Cliff Surges, candidate for State Senate in southern Crystal Lake and points south through Lake in the Hills and Huntley. He is running against Karen McConnauhay.

CLIFF SURGES CALLS FOR REPEAL OF TAX INCREASE

Cliff Surges, candidate for Illinois Senate in the 33rd district, has called for a repeal of the Quinn/Madigan tax increase of last year.

Cliff Surges

“These tax increases have driven businesses and jobs out of Illinois and has added to the burden of the residents of our state.” Cliff states. “The answer to our financial problems is not more taxes, but more taxpayers. We MUST get our spending under control. Enough is enough, we need a new approach.”

In January 2011 the personal income tax in Illinois increased 67%. The largest jump the state has ever seen, while the corporate tax has increased by 46%. The burden of this increase has driven businesses and jobs out of Illinois.

Caterpillar has recently announced that they will not be building their new North American plant in Illinois. The plant stood to bring with it from Japan roughly 1,000 jobs manufacturing track-type tractors and mini hydraulic excavators. They cited continued concerns about the business climate and overall fiscal health of the state as their reason for not selecting Illinois.

“This is another wake-up call to formulate a plan of action in a new direction. It’s time for a fundamental change.

“These jobs and their benefits would have meant a lot to Illinois.” Cliff said. “I will work to repeal these taxes in Springfield as soon as I am elected.”

An email from Congressman Peter Roskam:

As Gov. Quinn gives his State of the State Address later today, it’s important to consider this past year’s record. The last year has served as a crystal clear example that tax increases did not help Illinois’ economy nor did it help our worsening fiscal crisis.

-          FLASHBACK: January 2011: Gov. Quinn Signs Record Tax Hike Into Law. Raises individual income taxes by 67 percent and corporate income taxes by 30 percent.

Since the Quinn tax hike, the state’s unemployment – previously dropping precipitously down to 9% – jumped right back up to 9.8%.

-          BY THE NUMBERS: Illinois’ unemployment rate increased the most in the entire country in 2011; Now the 7th highest unemployment rate in the U.S.

While neighboring states tackle record debt and fight to make themselves the most competitive for job growth, Illinois’ heading in the other direction. Neighboring states like Missouri, Wisconsin, and Indiana have all gained jobs this year while Illinois lost over 72,000 in the past year alone.

Illinois can do better than economic policies that take money out of its people’s pockets and jobs out of Illinois. As these charts prove, Illinois is heading in the wrong direction.

View the charts below or on Facebook where they were exclusively posted this morning.

Jobs created in Illinois in the year after the Democrats hiked income taxes.

What happened at the Democrats raised income taxes on people by 67%.

The Illinois Policy Institute has put a state income tax calculator on its web site.

They call it “The Quinn Income Tax Calculator,” which concentrates the blame a bit too narrowly I think.

All the Democratic Party legislators who voted for it deserve the “credit.”

It’s an interesting way to bring home the cost to Illinois residents.

For those who have moved out of state, of course, the extra cost is zero.