Hey, state lawmakers, let my people be free-ish
Here we sit with our noses pressed against the glass as we watch the rest of the U.S. celebrate Tax Freedom Day.
Today is the day Americans start working for themselves instead of for their governments. It took 113 days to feed the federal, state and local governments. The good news is that Americans worked one less day this year than last to pay for government.
But not here in Illinois. Here, the celebration is delayed. We have another full week to work to pay for our federal, state and 6,963 local government units.
We’re not the nation’s worst: Illinois is 44th. Connecticut residents get that distinction, working until May 6 to pay their taxes.
You can’t avoid death and taxes, but those entrusted to spend other people’s money should be reminded of that trust as well as that abusing that trust once upon a time led to a little party in Boston that sparked a revolution.
Americans this year will spend about $4.4 trillion on food, clothing and housing combined. Taxes will cost them more — $5.1 trillion, which is 31 percent of the nation’s total income.
Those numbers do not include the national debt. We’d all work another two weeks for the feds to pay for their deficit spending.
Which leads us back to Illinois, where we’ve spent $13.4 billion more than we have and owe our retirees $130 billion more than we’ve saved. Last week our lawmakers spent their time in a “joint” session discussing legalizing marijuana.
Seven of our state lawmakers didn’t bother answering when asked where they stand on the pot issue: Sen. James Clayborne, D-Belleville; Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea; Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville; Rep. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis; Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville; Rep. Jerry Costello II, D-Smithton; and Rep. Dan Beiser, D-Alton.
Three did, including state Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, who seems to get how weary his constituents are with all the minutia, such as marijuana legislation, with which his colleagues find to busy themselves.
“I also don’t think this is where our time and energy needs to be spent right now,” Haine said. “We need to be negotiating with the governor to get a balanced budget.”
Right. Balanced. Without taking more from those who still have another week to work to pay for your largesse.
This story was originally published April 22, 2017 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Hey, state lawmakers, let my people be free-ish."