Thursday, Jan. 13
I was watching the news today about the 66% income tax increase here in Illinois, and couldn't help but think how it is we the little guy get screwed at every turn. No talk of spending cuts, or pension reform. Just how to take more of our money.
I remember back to 1985, when I was living in Osage, Iowa, a farming town of about 1800 people. As I would drive in the country, I would more and more see farm houses where it looked like they were having a yard sale. but, it wasn't a yard sale - it was a farm foreclosure, and all of their worldly possessions were out on the lawn for sale. Farms that had been in families for generations being taken by the banks. Why did it happen? Back then, farmers were incented/coerced into taking out big loans against their land ("buy land...they ain't making any more of it"). Land prices went down, farmers couldn't afford their loans, lost their farms, banks sold the farms to big conglomerate food companies. Fast forward to the early 2000s. Normal people incented to buy houses way beyond their means. Being given loans that should never have been approved. so, they default by the millions, the government then pays the banks the full value of the bad loan. the banks now own the homes, and have been paid (with the tax dollars that our grandchildren have yet to pay) and all the big bankers give themselves big bonuses to reward themselves for committing yet another crime under the radar.
So, take a moment to celebrate Illinois raising your income tax by 66%. Can you believe this is actually happening?
I remember back to 1985, when I was living in Osage, Iowa, a farming town of about 1800 people. As I would drive in the country, I would more and more see farm houses where it looked like they were having a yard sale. but, it wasn't a yard sale - it was a farm foreclosure, and all of their worldly possessions were out on the lawn for sale. Farms that had been in families for generations being taken by the banks. Why did it happen? Back then, farmers were incented/coerced into taking out big loans against their land ("buy land...they ain't making any more of it"). Land prices went down, farmers couldn't afford their loans, lost their farms, banks sold the farms to big conglomerate food companies. Fast forward to the early 2000s. Normal people incented to buy houses way beyond their means. Being given loans that should never have been approved. so, they default by the millions, the government then pays the banks the full value of the bad loan. the banks now own the homes, and have been paid (with the tax dollars that our grandchildren have yet to pay) and all the big bankers give themselves big bonuses to reward themselves for committing yet another crime under the radar.
So, take a moment to celebrate Illinois raising your income tax by 66%. Can you believe this is actually happening?
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