The Missus and I took a trip to Chicago over the weekend. As we approached the first toll booth in Waukegan a Lebaron Convertible with one of those big RECALL WALKER! and the "blue fist" "I stand with the Unions" bumper stickers went flying by us. A few seconds later, we saw the portable message sign alerting drivers that the toll for that plaza will increase from $1.50 to $2.80 per vehicle--effective January 1st.
I have to wonder, did RECALL WALKER! Guy think "Holy (expletive), they are almost doubling the tolls down here!" like I did? Or did he think "Wow, Democratic Governor Pat Quinn is awesome!! He's making everyone pay 87% more to drive the tollways--just so state workers don't have to contribute 12% to their health insurance benefits!"?
I don't know if RECALL WALKER! Guy had to buy gas while in the Chicago area. He would have found an average around $3.51 a gallon--compared to $3.09 that I got at a truck stop station just north of Kenosha. That is thanks, in part, to the higher gas tax in Illinois--69-cents a gallon there (fifth highest in the nation) compared to 51.3-cents a gallon here (11th highest). If he did fuel up, was RECALL WALKER! Guy thinking "(expletive), I'd rather run out of gas then fill up before I get back to Wisconsin" like I did? Or did he think "Way to go Democratic-controlled Illinois Legislature! Make everyone pay 35% more for gas than in Wisconsin so state employees don't have to pay 5% of the retirement benefits!"?
And I can't be sure if RECALL WALKER! Guy bought anything in Chicago. If he did, he would have noticed the 10% sales tax. Would he have thought "(expletive) (expletive), are they providing British or Canadian-style health care down here?" Or would his thought process be "Rahm Emanuel is the MAN!" He's making everyone pay 100% more in sales tax than they do in Oshkosh so city union employees can still get their 4% raises!"
I should also point out that Illinois' budget deficit is eight-BILLION dollars--compared to the zero budget deficit in Wisconsin. Unemployment in Illinois was 10.1% in October--compared to 7.8% in Wisconsin. So RECALL WALKER! Guy: what exactly isn't working here--that is working in Illinois?
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You forgot one thing. Wisconsin led the country in jobs lost in October. Wasn't Scott Walker's first campaign promise to add 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin in his first term in office?
ReplyDeleteDid you also know Illinois added more jobs in that same month than any other state in the nation, with numbers around 30,000?
Wisconsinites - that's what's not working: Wisconsin is LOSING jobs while Illinois had the largest job gains in the country (30,000 jobs gained in October 2011).
ReplyDeleteThis is GREAT!!!! I wish all those RECALL WALKER people would read this! Maybe only then they might think twice of what direction they want Wisconsin to go.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Recall Walker guy knew how much higher the average family income is in Illinois or how much lower the overall per capita tax bite is there. Maybe he was thinking that democrats in Illinois should be proposing progressive state revenue sources rather than regressive tolls, sales taxes, hotel taxes, and fees. or, he might have thought that these big city guys were just soaking the yokel tourists from up North.
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