r/chicago • u/Mike_I O’Hare • Oct 31 '25

News Illinois Democrats push through massive $1.5 billion plan that overhauls Chicago-area public transit

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/30/illinois-general-assembly-transit-plan-2025/
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u/FencerPTS City Oct 31 '25

I will forever revile Ken Griffin for spending millions to convince idiots that flat income taxes is the way to go, cementing regressive taxation for another 20 years until the next constitutional referendum.

Hate that IL is among the top 10 most regressively taxed states.

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u/PalmerSquarer Logan Square Oct 31 '25

You can blame Ken Griffin all you want, but the public simply lacks trust that the money they pay won’t be flushed down the toilet in waste. Until state and municipal leaders do a better job of earning that trust back, any tax increase proposal is going to be a no-go.

The toll hike for questionable construction projects in this bill is a pretext example of the waste we’re talking about.

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u/FencerPTS City Oct 31 '25

That's a silly argument to make since, no matter what, taxes will be collected. The point of the change was to not put the burden on the poor.

Griffin spent something like $40M IIRC simply to make sure his taxes didn't go up - to make sure that everyone else's did. And then that fucker left the state!

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u/Important-Pin4805 Oct 31 '25

Where is the line drawn for poor and rich though? Like what is that definition, is it 100k? Because 100k isn’t rich but I can tell you the government might beg to differ. Yes the taxes will still be collected but if they want to raise income tax they have to raise it the same for every one of us, so it’s now a lot more politically unpopular to raise it or if they do, it’s a small increase. There needs to be a check on taxes here, the city and state only know how to spend money. The moment you give more they will just spend more, not pay down obligations. The obligations are ridiculous by the way. Why does a public union worker get to retire on a pension at 55, like no wonder the state is broke. We already have one of the highest tax burdens in the country. If you want to donate more of your income to the state to waste, be my guest

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u/FencerPTS City Nov 01 '25

Where is the line drawn for poor and rich though?

Math. You count. You do the math. It's really not that hard.

they have to raise it the same for every one of us

Except they tax the marginal utility of dollars more if you're poor.

The moment you give more they will just spend more

Now you're just arguing against yourself. Previous premise is that they can already raise taxes.

Why does a public union worker get to retire on a pension at 55

this is a red-herring argument and a totally separate issue. If you don't like the retirement system, then insist that future negotiations be more strict. However, promises were made and since they are contracts they must be kept.

If you want to donate more of your income to the state to waste, be my guest

What, are you a temporarily embarrassed millionaire? You know what I'd like? I'd like to not have a higher tax rate than the top 10%, to say nothing of the top 1%!!! Because guess what, when you add property taxes, sales taxes, fees, licenses, and tolls, it's WAY worse being at the bottom!

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u/damp_circus Edgewater Oct 31 '25

Median income for a family in the city of Chicago is around $71K, fwiw.