Who said anything about paying 66% tax? He was talking about the 2% rate hike to 5% that your Democratic buddies are hell-bent on keeping in place after the election. Remember, the tax rate used to be 3% until Quinn got greedy? And the nearly doubling of tolls?

Entitlement, that's what it's all about for you Dems. Those unfunded pensions are due to Mikey owning Illinois along with his corrupt friends. Keep raising our income, sales, and property taxes and you'll see a mass exodus to Indiana. Hell, it's already happening, Crown Point is on a building boom!

IL is on a dead-end road. This entire state will be one large Detroit within 10 years with the Dems at the helm.
 

-- Modified on 7/21/2014 6:30:12 PM

I couldn't get past your second sentence. Are you really that uh dense?  

Taxes, job market causing people to leave Illinois
May 13, 2014|By Diana Sroka Rickert
 

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Megan Ciaburri grew up in the northern suburbs. When she married someone from the area, she expected they would get an apartment in Chicago or buy their own home in the 'burbs.

Their jobs are here. Their families are here. But come July, the newlyweds will be packing their bags for Texas.

 
"I thought it was going to be a lifetime thing — living in the Chicago area," said Ciaburri, 28. "But I just don't see us getting ahead by staying here."

Sky-high property taxes make homeownership a pipe dream, she explained. And the job market — terrible. It seems there are always more headlines about companies leaving Illinois than moving in. She and her husband both have jobs now, but what about in five years when there might be kids in the picture?

As Ciaburri laid out all the reasons why it made sense to move, my heart ached.

I was born in Chicago, raised on Superdawg and Portillo's. In my early 20s, I made a hard pitch for Illinois to my then-boyfriend-now-husband.

"It's better here," I told him.

It should be. But thousands of people just like Ciaburri have decided it's not.

A startling pair of Gallup polls recently suggested that Illinoisans are an unhappy lot. Half of us would move elsewhere if we could. One in 4 says Illinois is the worst possible place to live in the entire U.S.

Naysayers claim it's all talk. It isn't.

Not long after the Gallup polls came out, the Internal Revenue Service released fresh numbers showing which states people are moving to and which states people are fleeing.

Spoiler: Illinois didn't earn any positive marks in this report, either.

According to the IRS, Illinoisans don't just want to move; they are moving. And they've been moving for a long time.

From 1995 to 2010, Illinois lost more than 850,000 people to other states. That's after you offset the number of people who actually moved in.

The bleeding is bad; on net, 1 person leaves Illinois every 10 minutes.

Texas ranks No. 1 in net population gain from Illinois. Many who move, Ciaburri and her husband included, don't even have jobs lined up before they head southwest.

It's a phenomenon George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen first noticed several years ago: Because of Texas' explosive economic growth, people are more willing to take a chance there than stick around for whatever they've got here.

But it's not just Texas and warmer climates drawing people away. Illinois loses people to every single one of its border states.

Larry Ladner and his wife Kathleen just bought a house in Crown Point, Ind. As soon as their home in Aurora sells, they'll be ex-Illinoisans.

"When we had this house built, we thought it would be our forever house," said Ladner, 63.

Then a few years ago, they were curious what their money could buy over the border.

They found a lakefront home almost as large as their place in Aurora. Their property taxes here: nearly $10,000 this year. In Crown Point: about $2,500, including homeowners association fees.

The math made the decision for them.

For a lot of years, Illinois seemed like it was "better than" Indiana. Illinois had history and culture. Bigger companies and better jobs. Nicer neighborhoods and more glamorous cities. Indiana was like the modest younger brother of the Midwest.

But while Illinois was living it up, Indiana grew up. New leadership in the Indiana's governor's mansion focused on making sure the middle class was employed, homes were affordable and educational opportunities were expanded. The state started competing for companies and jobs — and winning.

The payoff is evident. Indiana has become a destination spot for Illinoisans like the Ladners, who still want access to our airports and city, without paying the high prices.

Indiana has made improvements, but it's not a perfect place. Just like Illinois, Indiana also loses people to Texas. But consider this: For every Hoosier who high-tails it to Texas, four Illinoisans move into Indiana, the IRS found.

We've reached a point at which Illinoisans think moving to Indiana is trading up.

The other day, I was complaining to a friend about Indiana's advertising takeover at Ogilvie Transportation Center. Every day when I'm among the thousands of commuters walking to the Metra after a long day of work, electronic signs taunt me:

"Illinoyed by higher taxes?" they read.

Here's how my friend — who recently moved to Arkansas — responded: Yes, it's annoying. But what's really annoying is that Indiana is probably right.

Chicago Tribune May 13, 2014.

If you can't comprehend the difference in a 67% increase in the income tax and a 67% income tax rate, god help you.

BTW, you sent me your pics, if I met you in a bar I would go home by myself.

Well, in WI our taxes have gone down and we have a budget surplus for the first time in years. What do you think about that Barney?

The DOW has approximately DOUBLED under O'bama. Not TRIPLED. Asshat. If you want to talk about how good the economy is doing, lets discuss the labor participation rate, wage stagnation, average hourly work week, and the realy unemployment rate which includes those who have quit looking for work. That would be U6 now over 12%. Gas prices? Double what they were six years ago. So you can tell me to 'eat that shit bitch" and "STFU" all you want but get back to me on these when you can being the economic genius you are. You're just a bitter, unemployed, stupid jackass who's never amounted to and never will anything in his life. As for the marked DOUBLING, its all about the Fed. Not O'bama. And at least we saved GM. That's worked out pretty well eh?