Posted on 04/23/2010 11:46:48 AM PDT by markomalley
Thousands of teachers and other union workers descended on the state Capitol on Wednesday and chanted "raise my taxes" to try to pressure politicians to avoid major budget cuts.
The vibe was the exact opposite of what you'd find at a tea party rally. But the loud chants barely resonated inside the Capitol, where lawmakers are trying to exit Springfield in a couple of weeks without voting for a tax increase that could jeopardize their re-election chances in little more than six months.
"If you try to leave town without doing your job, we're going to chase you," warned union leader Henry Bayer at a rally that drew an estimated 15,000 people — the biggest at the Capitol since the era of the Equal Rights Amendment more than a quarter-century ago.
"These 177 people who have a job don't want to do their job," said Bayer, executive director of Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "Yes, people are hurting. That's why we need a tax increase."
But that job has a different definition for each of the 177 members in the House and Senate, and signs of any income tax proposal passing the legislature this spring are hard to find.
Gov. Pat Quinn is out front pushing his 33 percent increase in the income tax rate, but he's getting lonely. Many lawmakers don't want to take more money out of people's wallets as unemployment remains high in Illinois, yet groups that receive tax money said Quinn's proposed tax hike isn't big enough to help bridge a deficit that's expected to reach $13 billion if nothing is done.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Well...if you all want a tax increase, I'm all in favor of it. Let's implement a special tax on all unionized government employee salaries.
I am very much in favor of raising taxes on government employees.
Commies ,,, 30%ers .
I’m telling you they drank the kool aid!...
“Yes, people are hurting. That’s why we need a tax increase.”
There it is...the union boss who wants more for the kitty.
Union piggies are some sick, sick people. They love communism.
They know that they will never end up paying these taxes to begin with.
Those tax increases will be passed onto those dreadful small business owners, the ones who create most of the jobs in this country AKA “the rich”.
We are witnessing the completion of the Dems coup that has occured while most Americans were sleeping for the past two year (or more). The 1960 MARXIST radicals are now running (ruining) our Fed Gov and they are “TRANSFORMING†everything they didn’t like back then and they dislike even more today. REPARATIONS HAVE ARRIVED - SPREAD THE WEALTH, WE ARE ALL DESERVINGL.
— Give all of us government employees pensions, benefits, job secruity, etc. and I am all for it.
They don’t need a tax increase. They can donate all they want to local, state, and federal governments.
I live in Illinois, and I heard that many of the protesters yelled, “Raise my taxes!” I hope that some Republicans told the protesters that they are welcome to send more than the required amount, to the state government, if they want to pay more.
Look what the democrats have done to our society. What a crying shame. Remember the folks in Chicago after the election-
"Hey....I'm here to get me some of the unbama stash!".
Pathetic.
Unlike the Tea Party grass roots folks with their homemade signs, these people ALL had printed signs supplied by their Union bosses -
Rush played the sound track from a video where they were shouting “Give us the money! Give us the Money!”
It was really telling and anyone watching it - except these people themselves - would be put off, BIG time.
I can’t find a video clip. Anyone got it - maybe it’s been scrubbed? It was really bizarre.
Was there a sign-up list so the legislature could be clear on who "my" was?
Wow talk about the definition of useful idiots...
But of course, that really isn't what they want. Instead, they want the state to confiscate YOUR money.
That were people in Detroit that were waiting in line for housing aid.
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