CHICAGO – Wirepoints, a website that reliably delves deep into Illinois' fiscal issues released Monday three possible courses J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Democrats could take if they are successful. The Democrats wants to toss Illinois' flat tax system and bring in their desired "progressive" tax schedule. None of the three bode well for hard-working Illinois taxpayers.
While at the federal level Republicans dramatically cut income taxes, state Democrats demand more from producers in Illinois. The gist? Get ready, Illinois – you're going to be paying more in income taxes soon after Pritzker is sworn in next January.
To pay for all that the Democrat gubernatorial candidate is promising, he'll need between $10.8 Billion and $18 Billion more. Wirepoints writes:
The first scenario takes Pritzker’s promise at his word – that he’ll only hike taxes on the rich while protecting all other residents from a tax hike. That creates an extreme and improbable case of only two tax brackets: one for filers with millionaire incomes and one for everyone else. It’s a case that can be easily discarded as a nonstarter.
Wirepoints’ second scenario pushes higher tax rates further down the income ladder while still protecting the middle class – those with taxable incomes below $150,000 – from a tax hike. Unfortunately for Pritzker, the marginal rate on residents with incomes above $150,000 remains punitively high in this case. This scenario, too, can be easily discarded as unrealistic and unworkable.
And then, there's Wirepoints third scenario – the scariest for anyone making over $50,000:
Just how charitable are Illinoisans, and how willing are they to pay what Democrats will demand?
More at Wirepoints.