Illinois Tax Break Deal For CME Costs State $344 Million A Year

The State of Illinois is facing one of the worst budget problems in the country. It's billion of dollars in the hole, but losing the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Sears and other major companies to states competing for those businesses was more than state officials there were willing to bear. A legislative deal expected to be inked next week by Illinois lawmakers will cost the state's treasury about $344 million in lost revenues according to one fiscal forecast. The tax legislation turned into a Christmas tree of sorts including:

• a doubling of the state's estate tax exemption to $4 million ($62 million)
• a doubling of the state's earned income tax credit ($110 million)
• increasing the state's personal income tax exemption by $50 ($20 million)
• CME corporate income tax break ($85 million)
• Sears payroll tax break ($15 million)
• Champion Lab payroll tax break ($3.5 million)
• Live art entertainment tax credit ($2 million)
• Other tax credits set to retire (more than $10 million)
• Research and development tax credit (more than $10 million)

This is why our tax system in this country has become completely unconstitutional in my judgment. Individuals and corporations with the lobbyists and political muscle can win special tax breaks that provide them an unfair advantage over similarly-situated individuals and businesses. The Illinois lobbyists who worked on this tax break deal will enjoy a very merry Christmas, while average working stiffs wonder how they can justify spending anything on the holidays this year given their current depressed station in life. The same game plays out in Washington every day. Increasingly, our local governments are using the local public treasuries as personal bank accounts to bankroll the private development projects of their fat cat political contributors. Our founding fathers would weep if they were alive today to see what the federal, state and local tax system has turned into in this country. It's nothing but a f_ _ _ing auction. We're on the brink, folks. Time is running out.