Month: April 2021

Today during a press conference, Governor JB Pritzker gave his clearest signal yet that he will go back on his 2018 campaign pledge to veto a new redistricting map drawn by partisan politicians. After months of numerous vague statements that he would veto an undefined “unfair” map, Pritzker was asked about his specific pledge today. 

His response (Watch the Video) was clear: he has no intention of following through with his specific promise and will instead happily sign the partisan gerrymandered map that Democrats in the House and Senate will send him. It turns out his promise in 2018 was a BIG LIE.

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy has released the following statement in response: 

“The people of Illinois fundamentally do not trust our leadership in Springfield to spend their money wisely, to do the right thing, or to reform our system. Absolutely nothing fuels that fire more than politicians who say one thing to get elected and then do another once in power. Governor Pritzker lied to the people of Illinois and promised to turn our partisan and corrupt system of redistricting over to an independent commission. 

The Governor should come to his senses and keep his word by vetoing the politician’s map. A man is nothing without his word. Pritzker still has the chance to keep his.”

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A Chicago public employee pension bill was just signed into law that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and business groups opposed, “arguing that the cost to taxpayers would be too high.” 

Dan Petrella of the Chicago Tribune reports…

Lightfoot sent a letter to aldermen on April 1 urging them to oppose the bill. She said it would double pension costs by $18 million to $30 million each year.

“If the governor does not veto this bill, the city will have to find a means to address the increased cost since the legislation does not provide a way to pay for these increase costs,” Lightfoot wrote.

“During the 2022 budget season, it will then fall on the members of the City Council to make difficult decisions to pay for these additional costs.”

She said “the obvious revenue solution, another property tax increase…”

The bill passed in Springfield was signed by the Governor and Tax-Avoider-In-Chief himself, JB Pritzker. As a Chicago resident, Governor Pritzker should be sensitive to the ever-growing tax burden the city inflicts on its residents, but since he has a history of dodging taxes that others have to pay (stashing his fortune away in offshore accounts, ripping out toilets of his Gold Coast mansion to lower his property tax bill, begging Biden to lift SALT cap), Pritzker likely doesn’t mind because he’ll just find a way to avoid paying it.

“The Governor’s lifestyle is so far removed from the average working family in Chicago he may be under the assumption everyone has a second mansion they can rip toilets out of to lessen their tax burden. Well, he’s wrong,” said ILGOP Spokesman Joe Hackler. “At a time when the pandemic has hit small businesses and workers the hardest, the last thing Chicagoans need is the Governor stepping in to hike their property taxes. Take it from Mayor Lightfoot, Pritzker’s legislation will raise property taxes.”

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It was revealed recently that Governor JB Pritzker joined with six other Governors from high-tax Democrat-led states in penning a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to eliminate the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions (SALT cap) – a provision of the 2017 Republican tax cuts. 

A study from the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that if Governor Pritzker – champion of the so-called “Fair Tax” – were to get his way and the SALT cap was lifted, 62% of the resulting benefits would go to the top 1% of income earners. And 86% of the benefits would go to the richest 5% of Americans. Governor Pritzker is in the top 1%.

The 2017 Republican tax law was a tremendous boon to the middle class because it nearly doubled the standard deduction for single and joint filers, while the SALT cap is not applicable for the vast majority. Governor Pritzker is begging Biden to end the SALT cap that primarily targets the richest Americans, including himself.

ILGOP Chairman Don Tracy released the following statement in response to Pritzker’s letter:

“Governor Pritzker begging Biden to lower his tax bill and that of his billionaire buddies is not surprising given his history of trying to avoid taxes. But this time, instead of writing a work order for a contractor to rip out the toilets in his mansion, he wrote a letter to the President. JB needs to answer how many thousands of dollars he stands to save if Biden grants his wish.”