Sometime in the next few days, the Illinois General Assembly will pass, and the governor will sign, a bundle of tax hikes that includes a 75% increase in the personal income tax rate, a 100% increase in the corporate tax rate, an increase in cigarette taxes, and virtually no authentic limits on state spending.
If you are pro-choice, and unhappy about this situation, please understand that this is the fault of the pro-abortion forces in (and around) the Democratic Party.
Terry Cosgrove of the pro-abortion Personal PAC very credibly claims a lion's share of the credit for the re-election of Gov. Quinn, who has championed these tax increases. Too, Cosgrove's assistance (or at least his methods) was extensively used by Speaker Madigan to fight to elect Democrats like Carol Sente, Karen May, and Daniel Biss.
In all of these races, and many more, voters were warned that voting for a Republican meant that their daughters would be cruelly forced to bear rapists' children, that Republicans would take away a woman's right to kill her baby for any reason or no reason, and that parents might -- heaven forfend! -- actually be entitled to be consulted before their minor children sought abortions.
You opposed all that. And now you have to pay the bill. And so do I. And so do we all. The bill for abortion will come in the form of far higher taxes, still more state spending, and reliably fewer jobs due to the savings that businesses will realize from moving out of Illinois into nearby states with more reasonable restrictions on abortion, but far lower burdens on small businesses.
So, just how many partial birth abortions are you planning to have to make this worthwhile?
(Crossposted from Lake County Right to Life Blog)
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15 comments:
A slippery slope awaits if you start linking an emotive topic like abortion directly to a set of tax increases you don't approve of.
A bit like politicising care for the elderly, it really is most distasteful.
Although quite manipulative, it's mercifully transparent to the more discerning in your audience, hopefully.
On the contrary, John, these people didn't campaign on a tax increase, they campaigned by satirizing their opponents' pro-life views.
I gather from your response that you approve both of abortion and large tax increases.
Paul, JTRG,
I had no idea Illinois was in such bad shape. So bad they would have to use a pro baby killer to get your governor re-elected. What a sad, sad state of affairs.
Just so you know I have posted a small verse on my blog, Conservative Outrage, in support of you and the unborn.
As for the pro abortionists in your state government, May God have mercy on their souls!
Pops
No, while not a religious, I'm anti abortion, I think it's killing a person. I think it should be legal for medical emergencies, but as a 'lifestyle fix' it is utterly horrific. A society that permits killing children because their presence is inconvenient is in trouble.
I recall seeing my baby girl on her 16 week scan, tumbling and flapping her arms & legs around inside her mom. If that's not clear evidence of an independant life I don't know what is?
Not even a fan of these tax increases either!
My point is that I think you are gulity of making the sadly common mistake of linking largely seperate issues, in order for them to fall within a desired political narrative, exactly the cynicism you accuse your oponents of.
I'd even agree to a point that "...they campaigned by satirizing their opponents' pro-life views...", but it's a darn shame for yourself to indulge in this technique in my opinion.
It just seems a lazy thinking to use the tools of the professional politicians & communications advisors.
Surely your most attractive political quality is your honesty in thought and action?
Paul, you'd vote for the party of higher taxes in a heartbeat if that was a way to end abortion. Babies outweigh taxes - correct?
The question is why are pro-aborts as committed as anti-aborts. Any ideas?
John, I fail to see your complaint. Gov. Quinn's campaign pointed out Sen. Brady's pro-life stance, in an exaggerated, out-of-context fashion, without promising to raise taxes in his campaign materials.
Now he has proposed a 75% increase in personal income tax rates, and a 100% increase in corporate taxes; this would make Illinois one of the, if not THE, highest-tax states in the nation.
People who voted for Quinn because they were repelled by Brady's pro-life position must now embrace these new taxes, and their likely effect on our already-poor economy.
What's your complaint about that argument?
Ori, you're right, I would, but I'd do it with my eyes open, knowing that that was the cost of life. As to why pro-aborts do the same thing, I have to say that I don't believe that they're conscious of the cost to themselves, and that's why Lake County Right to Life has a huge ongoing effort to educate people to the reality of abortion, including it's cost.
I think you are entirely right to point out the shabby tatics of Quinn's campaign as you see it.
The part in your original post where you argue that "The bill for abortion will come in the form of far higher taxes.." is entirely unhelpful in my opinion.
Abortion is such a heated issue already, perpetuating the cynasism of Quinn's campaign by equating "Pro-abortion=Higher tax" only muddy's the water further.
I think that kinda stuff is beneath you frankly. Anyway, I have no more to say, best wishes to you & keep up the good honest work!
I'd look at this from a broader perspective, not really limited to this one issue.
Some months ago, I heard a talk on EWTN radio by Fr. John Corapi in which he stated that bad leadership is, in and of itself, a punishment for sin. He cited the experience of the Israelites in the Old Testament as an example of this -- they insisted upon having a king like the pagan nations around them did, even though their prophets (like Samuel) warned them that they would live to regret it.
Well, they got their kings, and although some of them like David and Solomon were great, most of them turned out to be lousy. They led the people into accepting pagan practices (including child sacrifice), and into ill-considered alliances with other nations; and eventually, led the nation to ruin and exile.
Some pro-lifers have long warned that some kind of divine chastisement or punishment will eventually fall upon our nation or our world for the sin of abortion. But what form will that "chastisement" take?
I suggest that perhaps it won't be as dramatic as we think -- not fire and brimstone or lightning bolts from the sky, not earthquakes or plagues or nuclear bombs necessarily.
You see, when we repeatedly choose as our leaders people who tell us only what we want to hear, and promise all sorts of goodies without any explanation of how they will be paid for; people who accept corruption and gross injustice as the price of "getting things done"; people who do not practice basic honesty nor respect the right to life or the primacy of the family -- eventually, they will do things that will make life more difficult for everyone.... like, raise taxes to unsustainable levels, deprive the poor and vulnerable of needed services, impose onerous and unjust laws and regulations on people, infringe on our freedoms of speech, religion, etc.... you get the picture.
What is happening in Illinois is simply a microcosm of what can happen ANYWHERE after many, many years of electing corrupt and selfish leaders for selfish reasons. It's been coming for a long time -- I'd say at least 10-15 years.
Perhaps the last gubernatorial election might have been our last chance to avert disaster; or maybe it was already too late - the situation has gotten so bad ($15 billion deficit) that there is really NOTHING that can be done at this point that won't hurt a lot of people or drive jobs away at least for the near future.
Neither budget cuts nor tax hikes alone will get Illinois out of its hole. All that can be done is to hope that any temporary tax hikes remain truly temporary, and that the resultant damage can be contained enough to permit recovery when things get better.
The tax hike is just part of the bitter harvest now being reaped in the Prairie State for all those years of electing people like Blago and George Ryan over others who would have been better -- like Ryan's 1998 opponent, Glenn Poshard, a genuine pro-life Democrat. (And yes, I stand by my belief that we should have elected Topinka in 2006 since she was clearly a lesser evil than Blago in every way, including on the abortion issue. If we had, this might not be happening.)
Also, I should note that there there really isn't anywhere to hide completely from the economic fallout of recent years.
Nearly every state is running at least some kind of budget deficit at this point (even Texas is now looking at a Texas-sized deficit of $20-$25 billion over the next two years!) and other states besides Illinois have raised taxes (though not as drastically).
Some states, of course, have handled the recession better than others, but none have been completely untouched. Needless to say, national policies and the huge deficits run up by the Obama administration will affect everyone no matter where they live.
Proving once again -- when we elect bad, anti-life, anti-family leadership, eventually, everyone suffers for it.
Bookworm,
"and the huge deficits run up by the Obama administration will affect everyone no matter where they live."
How curious you didn't write, instead, "the huge deficits run up by the Bush and Obama administrations." An oversight, I hope?
"Proving once again -- when we elect bad, anti-life, anti-family leadership, eventually, everyone suffers for it."
I have the the feeling you'd call George Bush neither anti-life nor anti-family (leaving aside those niggling 150,000 or more deaths of Iraqi civilians). And yet, we still suffered.
Refresh my memory, John, just when did the Democrats take control of Congress?
Refresh my memory, Paul, just when did George Bush take office?
John, you clearly are bad at numbers. Let me show you a picture instead:
Budget Deficits
Now tell me that our current deficit was created by Bush.
"Now tell me that our current deficit was created by Bush."
Paul, you clearly are bad at reading. I did not write that the deficit was "created by Bush." It is fair, however, to say that I implied that policies of the Bush administration no doubt contributed (mightily, it seems clear) to the currect deficit.
http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/75128/the-stigmatization-bush-blaming
See Figure 1.
Paul - Michigan has a Republican governor and they control both houses as well. Our state will be implementing more business-friendly programs in order to attract companies and help the citizens.
You're welcome to move here - it's a beautiful state!
And we're considerably more pro-life, too. Not as pro-life as it should be, but I believe it's getting there.
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