President Obama’s two biggest “achievements” since taking office are the so-called stimulus and government-run healthcare.
But neither one of those policies are popular, so the President largely ignored them during his state-of-the-union address and instead focused on using the tax code to promote “fairness.”
But fairness doesn’t mean treating everyone equally by adopting a flat tax. Instead, it means a class-warfare policy of higher tax rates.
The President’s home state of Illinois is a good test case of this approach. The politicians rammed through a big tax increase early last year, supposedly to stabilize state finances.
Unfortunately, Obamanomics isn’t working very well in Illinois. The state just got downgraded by Moody’s and ranks below even California.
The most damning evidence, though, is what’s happened to the job market. Unemployment is still far too high across the nation, but the vast majority of states are seeing at least modest improvement.
But a tiny handful of states, led by Illinois, are moving in the wrong direction. Here’s a very powerful chart produced by the Illinois Policy Institute. The tax hike is about one-year old, and we’re already seeing strong evidence that jobs are fleeing the state.
Now close your eyes and envision a different map. Instead of American states, imagine a map of the world. And think what it will look like if Obama succeeds in imposing all the tax increases he had endorsed.
I suppose it won’t look as bad as this map because there are plenty of other nations engaging in suicidal tax policy. But it doesn’t take a vivid imagination to understand that Obama’s class-warfare approach would drive jobs and investment to the nations with better tax policies.
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] as Illinois, as illustrated by this data and this Eric Allie […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] a mess. Taxes and spending already are too high, and huge unfunded liabilities point to an even darker future. Simply stated, politicians and […]
[…] is a mess. Taxes and spending already are too high, and huge unfunded liabilities point to an even darker […]
[…] a mess. Taxes and spending already are too high, and huge unfunded liabilities point to an even darker […]
[…] is a mess. Taxes and spending already are too high, and huge unfunded liabilities point to an even darker […]
[…] state is a fiscal disaster. Taxes already are high, government spending already is excessive, and promises of lavish future benefits for government […]
[…] the way, is anybody surprised that Illinois is in last place? The dropping scores for Hawaii, New Jersey, and Connecticut also aren’t […]
[…] the way, is anybody surprised that Illinois is in last place? The dropping scores for Hawaii, New Jersey, and Connecticut also aren’t […]
[…] the way, is anybody surprised that Illinois is in last place? The dropping scores for Hawaii, New Jersey, and Connecticut also aren’t […]
[…] And when people want examples, I just point to nations such as Greece, Italy, and France. Or states such as California and Illinois. […]
[…] consider the fact that balanced budget requirements haven’t prevented states like California, Illinois, Connecticut, and New York from adopting bad […]
[…] consider the fact that balanced budget requirements haven’t prevented states like California, Illinois, Connecticut, and New York from adopting bad […]
[…] Since I’m a policy wonk, I can’t resist noting that the only reason this kind of dispute even exists is because the United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the entire world. So companies naturally seek to maximize the income they earn in other nations (sort of like entrepreneurs and investors decide it’s better to do business in low-tax states such as Texas rather than fiscal hellholes such as Illinois). […]
[…] I fully agree with this final point. Just like it’s good to have positive examples (think Hong Kong, Switzerland, Texas, or Singapore), it’s also good to have bad examples (such as France, Italy, California, and Illinois). […]
[…] some sort of balanced budget requirement. Yet those rules don’t prevent states like California, Illinois, Connecticut, and New York from adopting bad fiscal […]
[…] sort of balanced budget requirement. Yet those rules don’t prevent states like California, Illinois, Connecticut, and New York from adopting bad fiscal […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And the problems of Illinois. …Simply stated, as the size and scope of the public sector increased, that created very […]
[…] one from Glenn McCoy. Since I’m not overly optimist about either Illinoisor California, I also think it’s just a matter of time before this […]
[…] One small correction to the Examiner’s piece. Illinois is a high-tax state. Illinois is a big-government state. Illinois is a state heading toward fiscal collapse. There are […]
[…] One small correction to the Examiner’s piece. Illinois is a high-tax state. Illinois is a big-government state. Illinois is a state heading toward fiscal collapse. There are […]
[…] And Illinois has veered far to the left on fiscal policy in recent years, so I assumed politicians were giving out lots of goodies. But apparently bureaucrats are first in line for handouts and that reduces the amount of loot available for other groups. […]
[…] And Illinois has veered far to the left on fiscal policy in recent years, so I assumed politicians were giving out lots of goodies. But apparently bureaucrats are first in line for handouts and that reduces the amount of loot available for other groups. […]
[…] Illinois has veered far to the left on fiscal policy in recent years, so I assumed politicians were giving out lots of goodies. But apparently […]
[…] one from Glenn McCoy. Since I’m not overly optimist about either Illinoisor California, I also think it’s just a matter of time before this […]
[…] one from Glenn McCoy. Since I’m not overly optimist about either Illinois or California, I also think it’s just a matter of time before this […]
[…] where you move. Other states that get back marks on both spending and debt are Ohio, Illinois (gee, what a surprise), and New […]
[…] the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And the problems of Illinois. …Simply stated, as the size and scope of the public sector increased, that created very […]
[…] the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And the problems of Illinois. …Simply stated, as the size and scope of the public sector increased, that created very […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And theproblems of Illinois. […]
[…] This is a dog-bites-man story. Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And the problems of Illinois. […]
[…] they want America to be more like the President’s home state of Illinois, a fiscal basket case. But it’s not just Illinois that’s in trouble because of a bloated and expensive public […]
[…] they want America to be more like the President’s home state of Illinois, a fiscal basket case. But it’s not just Illinois that’s in trouble because of a bloated and expensive public […]
[…] they want America to be more like the President’s home state of Illinois, a fiscal basket case. But it’s not just Illinois that’s in trouble because of a bloated and expensive public […]
[…] higher tax rates in his recent budget and it seems he can’t make a speech without making a class-warfare argument for penalizing producers, investors, entrepreneurs, and small business […]
Flat tax? No tax is what it should be, let the defaults fall where they may.
If all the money is being made by the job creating wealthy class, and taxes can’t be raised on them now, cut it to zero, and then to zero for everyone else. Which is actually a zero, non-flat tax.
Without a loop hole to jump through the business side of this system might have to create a job, or get creative in ways other than making money on top of money.
Mean while, the rest of the country, goes on a spending spree, pays off their debt and creates its own economy.
[…] we had better hope not. High unemployment combined with a terrible state credit rating. For the umpteen millionth […]
When class-warfare tax policy is failing in Illinois, he thinks it will work for the entire country because he doesn’t think in facts, figures, and logic. He thinks in fancy words like “common purpose”, “common resolve”, “our journey moves forward” – which if corresponded to real world, mean nothing. He is an expert at collective rhetoric that is woefully empty.