More than a year ago, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget was projecting a $3.2 billion deficit for what is now the current fiscal year. Part of the problem was that existing revenues were flat while spending was growing, according to the budget office. This is a recurring problem in Illinois. The previous fiscal […]
taxes
Posted inOpinion
Should corporations pay their taxes?
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Carl Icahn, noted corporate predator and takeover specialist who made billions of dollars in corporate deals, has recently begun pushing a charitable cause involving a group of people who, through no fault of their own, are being forced out of America. Syrian migrants who’ve lost everything, you ask? […]
Posted inOpinion
How much ‘free speech’ can you buy?
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE In today’s so-called “democratic” election process, Big Money doesn’t talk, it roars – usually drowning out the people’s voice. Bizarrely, the Supreme Court decreed in its 2010 Citizens United ruling that money is a form of “free speech.” Thus, declared the learned justices, people and corporations are henceforth […]
Posted inOpinion
Charity cases
ILLUSTRATION BY TRIBUNE MEDiA SERVICE The debate that Illinois ought to be having about government finance is not how much property owners should pay in taxes, but which property owners should pay. Large quasi-corporate nonprofit corporations such as private hospitals and universities behave like their profit-making cousins, and are among the biggest land-owners in many […]
Posted inNews
What is Madigan planning for the income tax?
House Speaker Michael Madigan hoto BY PATRICK YEAGLE UPDATE: On Thursday afternoon, Madigan announced a plan to tax personal income over $1 million at an extra 3 percent, bringing the effective rate for people earning more than $1 million to 8 percent. Individuals with income under $1 million would continue to pay the current […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Trouble at Groupon?
We all like to see homegrown Illinois businesses succeed, but sometimes they get a little too cocky. That may be the case with Chicago-based Groupon. The Internet startup, which offers one discount coupon per day for various U.S. cities, is being sued in a San Francisco federal court for alleged “false and misleading business and […]
Posted inNews
Victory in court nears for developmentally disabled
Rick Wilson of Springfield never thought it was asking too much for his daughter, Jennifer, who has cerebral palsy, to live in a comfortable environment. But when the Wilsons asked the State of Illinois to place Jennifer in a supportive living arrangement for adults with disabilities – instead of an institution – they were repeatedly […]
