{"id":8056,"date":"2018-01-23T11:12:17","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T17:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=8056"},"modified":"2018-01-23T11:12:17","modified_gmt":"2018-01-23T17:12:17","slug":"is-illinois-about-to-level-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/01\/is-illinois-about-to-level-up.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Illinois about to level up?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AJ.B._Pritzker_speaks_to_the_Evanston_chapter_of_Action_for_a_Better_Tomorrow_IMG_2370_(cropped2).jpg;<\/p>\n

That is, get even more Illinoisey, with greater levels of dysfunction?<\/p>\n

After all, the governor\u2019s election coming up this fall is generally expected to be billionaire vs. billionaire, though, strictly speaking, Governor Rauner\u2019s net worth is only in the hundreds of millions, while J.B. Pritzker\u2019s net worth is reported to be $3.4 billion<\/a>.\u00a0 (Yes, there are other Democrats running, but only he is spending heavily on advertising.)\u00a0 And Rauner, let\u2019s face it, hasn\u2019t done a stellar job, and \u201cmy ineffectual ability to manage with the Democrats is better than the alternative\u201d can only take him so far, and I suspect that he\u2019ll lose voters who are disgruntled enough by his Medicaid abortion funding to stay home.<\/p>\n

So after yet another commercial on TV yesterday, I took a look at Pritzker.\u00a0 What does he have to say for himself, besides, \u201cI am not Trump,\u201d that is?\u00a0 (Yes, his commercials have been focused on how he will fight Donald Trump, and claiming that Rauner is, basically, Trump, and is website does the same.)\u00a0 Mostly, he promises a massive spending spree, funded by increased taxes on the wealthy.<\/p>\n

Some specifics from his website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Pritzker says,<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for Illinois to modernize our tax code \u2013 and to do that, we must fairly raise revenue. Right now, Illinois has one of the most regressive tax structures in the nation. Low, middle, and working-class families pay more of their income in taxes than millionaires and billionaires and that\u2019s unacceptable. A progressive tax system built around our modern economy will give us the tools we need to provide our children a top-notch education and expand job training programs across the state.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m not sure where the accusation that middle-class families pay more than millionaires and billionaires comes from; Illinois has a flat tax rate, which is written into the constitution and would require a constitutional amendment to change.\u00a0 And Pritzker doesn\u2019t propose any specifics on the tax rates he has in mind, but I could well imagine that a man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and increased his wealth through venture capital, and sees the amount of money in his balance sheet as something that grows to give him greater personal satisfaction but doesn\u2019t really impact this ability to spend money on a day-to-day basis, would be unable to grasp decisions that people who are upper-middle-class or even wealthy but not as mindblowingly rich as he, would make to hold onto their money, including, yes, moving out of state.<\/p>\n

Regarding early childhood education<\/strong>, Pritzker proposes to:<\/p>\n