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Commentary: Why the Illinois exodus? The rich get bashed, and off they go
Chicago Tribune ^ | Jan. 28, 2019 | Kristen McQueary

Posted on 02/11/2019 11:05:50 AM PST by george76

A recent compatriot to the Illinois Exodus: A 25-year Chicagoan who sold his 2-bedroom, 2½-bath Lincoln Park townhouse in early January at a $30,000 loss. He’s moving to Indiana.

“Like thousands of others, I tired of the one-party system, rising pension debt, no change to the current pension system, increasing property taxes (mine doubled), increasing crime and soft approach to criminals,” he wrote to me.

Politicians tend to be flippant about people like him. Who cares about one less yuppie in Lincoln Park? Be gone, whiner. Chicago’s political class, most of the mayoral hopefuls, the Illinois General Assembly and several high-profile members of the newly-seated U.S. Congress routinely devalue the contributions of working professionals and, yes, people who make decent money and invest it smartly. Shaming successful businessmen and entrepreneurs — read, Republicans — is the new mafia squeeze play. Conform to the mob or else.

...

The number of residents fleeing Illinois for other states jumped to 93,704 in 2014 from 68,204 the previous year. It increased in 2015 to 106,544, and in 2016 to 109,941. More exodus in 2017 of 114,779 and last year, another 114,154.

Who do you think is leaving Illinois? For the most part, it’s people who have the means to do so.

Which brings us to the broader problem: How did we get to a place where wealth, success and entrepreneurship are shame-worthy? And where giving back by these same individuals is largely ignored?

Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts often becomes folly for the income-equality crowd. Yes, he’s a rich guy. Yet due to his generosity, thousands of kids on the South Side can enjoy a new indoor sports center

...

This is just one of many, many examples of high-income earners giving back. You don’t hear about it enough, though.

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California; US: Illinois; US: Michigan; US: New York
KEYWORDS: chicago; exodus; illinois
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To: george76
If you have the means to leave where you are being robbed, YA LEAVE.

It aint rocket surgery!

21 posted on 02/11/2019 11:51:01 AM PST by rawcatslyentist ("All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing")
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To: elcid1970; PGR88; monkeyshine
The debate over “the rich fleeing” is a false one. Its not about “the rich.”

America’s wealthiest people can go wherever they like, or like Jeff Bezos, buy political protection as needed

Yes, the very rich can go where they like.

Rush left New York for Florida and New York tried in vane for years to audit him for taxes they felt he still owed. Rush could just build himself a new studio in Florida and moved. He could do his show from anywhere in the world if he wanted.

But there are others of lesser wealth that do not have the money or power of a Rush or a Bezos; mere millionaires can be truly frustrated by the blood sucking tax ticks. These I suspect are the ones leaving. The loss of the State and Local deductions on Federal Income Taxes will be shocking to many of these people. It may well be the final straw.

When these people leave they take a lot of things with them that the middle class people of Illinois will miss. Let’s talk spending money.

These people eat out. They buy furniture much more frequently than the middle class. They remodel more. They vacation more (and spend more while they are at it). They get new cars more often. The get car washes more often. They spend more on cloths. They employ lawn services.

These people also take with them opportunity. These people are more likely to start a new business which would employ young people in their first jobs.

Illinois is driving out the people that spend the money that employs the middle class and their children.

22 posted on 02/11/2019 12:06:38 PM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit)
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To: george76

But, in Illinois it is the rich who are bashing the rich. what they are not telling you is that most of the high income areas are voting Democrat. Just look at who is Governor! Who runs the media, poor people? If the rich want to spend the money and run the state like this then why shouldn’t “the rich” pay the lion share of the taxes?


23 posted on 02/11/2019 12:16:01 PM PST by amnestynone (We are asked by people who do not tolerate us to tolerate the intolerable in the name of tolerance.)
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To: FLT-bird

NJ is sinking much faster. It’s sickening to live in a dead state and soon I will be gone like so many. The house will take a hit but the freedom of moving to a free state is worth it.


24 posted on 02/11/2019 12:16:41 PM PST by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: Pontiac

We fled Chicago 6 weeks after they raised the state tax!!! FLORIDA is FABULOUS!!


25 posted on 02/11/2019 12:17:50 PM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: FLT-bird
Illinois has chained itself to the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. Its going down.

How I put it to friends there that remain, is that the state will muddle along and the checks will go out until the next "reset". The "reset" will happen during the next recession and the reason will be one that "nobody could have seen it coming".

26 posted on 02/11/2019 12:19:45 PM PST by glorgau
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To: george76
This is just one of many, many examples of high-income earners giving back. You don’t hear about it enough, though.

The government hates competition?

27 posted on 02/11/2019 12:20:30 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Modern feminism: ALL MEN BAD!!!)
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To: Oldexpat

I advise anyone thinking of following your advice to see a lawyer before acting on your advice.


28 posted on 02/11/2019 12:23:30 PM PST by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: george76; BillyBoy; fieldmarshaldj

THIS crap . . . is why each state should have one legislative house apportioned equally county-by-county, rather than by one-man, one vote, and why the governor should be elected by an electoral college-style system on a county-by-county basis, rather than by a simple popularity contest.

In ILL-a-NOISE, you may still get a Democrat governor, but at least he would POSSIBLY be more moderate, since Shee-CAR-GO-Land wouldn’t be the only influence in town.

(Meanwhile, in Maryland, our popularity contest governor, Hogan, is perhaps the lousiest “Republican” ever to occupy the governor’s mansion.)


29 posted on 02/11/2019 12:27:41 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Modern feminism: ALL MEN BAD!!!)
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To: Pontiac

The ones most trapped are the small business owners - where relocating is either very expensive or impractical (e.g. if you owned a couple of fast food joints you can’t move them, you have to build new or sell and buy-in somewhere else) - and the urban professionals like doctors and lawyers. Their clients won’t move with them.

There are some ways for a business owner to mitigate, for example personally relocating and moving assets and ownership of equipment without shuttering the business itself, but they require a lot of maneuvering.

And as you said, the states try to go after you like they did to Rush even after he’d left.


30 posted on 02/11/2019 12:31:09 PM PST by monkeyshine
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To: george76

Illinoise will have to invade Indiana to seize assets. Socialism always runs out of someone else’s money.


31 posted on 02/11/2019 12:46:06 PM PST by School of Rational Thought
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To: monkeyshine
I'm coming to get my [expletive deleted] money n if u don't give it to me I swear on everything I love I will kill u,"

The people I am thinking of are those professionals; doctors, lawyers, veterinarians and others who typically can retire young.

Many of these people may sell their practice and use some of their money to try to start another career or small business.

These are motivated people that are driven to do something but have grown tired of their profession and want to accomplish something new.

But starting a new business in a high tax and highly regulated state like Illinois would eat up much of the seed money for this new business.

32 posted on 02/11/2019 12:51:23 PM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit)
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To: Secret Agent Man

I have lived in Illinois all my life and it is the conservatives that are leaving. And not rich ones either. Down staters are sick and tired of having ridiculous liberal laws shoved down our throats by corrupt Chicago politicians. With the vote fraud and the influx of Illegal immigrants there is nothing we can to but leave.


33 posted on 02/11/2019 12:57:38 PM PST by BobinIL
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To: george76

Here’s part of the reason for the Chicago exodus; Will John Kass look into it ?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3724801/posts#6


34 posted on 02/11/2019 1:11:24 PM PST by mosesdapoet (mosesdapoet aka L,J,Keslin posting here for the record)
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To: Pontiac

Yes but unless they turn it around you are talking about depreciating assets. The value of any law or vet or dental practice declines the more expensive they are to maintain and the more of them that are being sold. The last one out loses the most. Commercial real-estate is an example, it’s made a little bit of a come-back but the trend is definitely down thanks to internet sales. There are still a lot of vacant store fronts in every city.

I have a dentist in my family. He earned his way in by working for, then partnering with, another dentist. Then he eventually bought his partner out. Now he is at retirement age, he isn’t sure he can set a decent price if he tried to sell. There are a lot of younger professionals of various ethnicities who seem to self-segregate (e.g. Korean people see Korean dentists); and foreign immigrants who have overseas money to help them set up shop; and the people willing to buy a practice worry about their ability to retain the current log of patients so that they can recoup their investment.


35 posted on 02/11/2019 1:11:40 PM PST by monkeyshine
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To: george76

>
This is just one of many, many examples of high-income earners giving back.
>

Give ‘back’?? I’ve NEVER seen the ‘rich’ take from the ‘poor’, but sure do see the reverse.


36 posted on 02/11/2019 1:23:10 PM PST by i_robot73 (One could not count the number of *solutions*, if only govt followed\enforced the Constitution.)
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To: george76
Near the end of the Obama reign - there was legislation that was targeted ostensibly at Puerto Rico, seeking to amend the bankruptcy code to allow non-states to use Chapter 9 of bankruptcy. Right now, and at that time, only municipalities (sub-units of states) are able to access Chapter 9 (see Detroit.) While the focus was on opening the door to the territory of PR, the negotiation in the Senate and House were drifting in the direction of Democratic proposals to expand the definition of eligibility to include ambiguous terms that would allow a state to file and be a debtor in Chapter 9. That didn't happen, but I thought at the time it was happening as a favor to Obama on his way out of office - which would allow the State of Illinois to enter bankruptcy to modify the pension obligations. Didn't happen. Instead, an outboard process was created for Puerto Rico that was like Chapter 9 but only exercisable by PR, and not a state. You can bet that Obama wanted to throw a bone to his "home" state as a lame duck, but he couldn't get it done.

Illinois has the problem of having a state Constitutional provision that says, the pension and retirement benefits of public employees shall not be reduced. The legislature made unrealistically high assumption about the return on investments by the pension trust fund authorities, and failed to pay in enough tax revenue over the years so that there are only two ways out a) find a way to earn way above market returns with little or no risk, or b) jack up tax rates to fund dramatically higher contributions. It is the second approach that is driving folks out of the state. With no way to reduce payments to retirees, the only solution is to increase contributions from taxpayers.

Hence, folks gonna vote with they feetz!

37 posted on 02/11/2019 1:26:05 PM PST by Wally_Kalbacken
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To: Wally_Kalbacken

Another reason Democrats want to regain the White House and Congress so they can bail out states like Illinois at non-Illinois resident taxpayer expense.


38 posted on 02/11/2019 1:35:01 PM PST by CharlesMartelsGhost
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To: monkeyshine
Yes but unless they turn it around you are talking about depreciating assets.

Well, I see the point but those particular professionals were only an example to illustrate the point.

Someone who owns a successful small business in a high tax city may sell it to finance starting a new business in a low tax city.

Thus that person escapes tax and spend Democrats in one place and relocates taking his cash, taking his disposable income with him.

The new owner of the old business having gone in to debt to buy the business does not have that lofty disposable income and may never have it thanks to the ever rising taxes in the city that eats the rich.

39 posted on 02/11/2019 2:13:25 PM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit)
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To: Pontiac

It’s an interesting way to look at it, but if the buyer knows he will never make the same money the seller made he would make a bad deal not discounting the price he’s willing to pay. That should make it harder for sellers to get the best price. It should be pretty formulaic for both parties though - the seller figures how much he’ll save by moving and the buyer figures how much his costs will escalate.


40 posted on 02/11/2019 2:24:19 PM PST by monkeyshine
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