Cook county conservative activist Bill Mueller points to a new law beginning Jan. 1 that will hit Illinois drivers with an additional tax for, essentially, parking their cars as a perfect example of how Springfield has become public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of taxpayers.
“All these taxes have become a death spiral for the state,” Mueller told West Cook News. “The state is bleeding citizens and we’re losing representation and businesses by refusing to stop spending and looking at taxing as the only way to get more revenue.”
With the start of the New Year, at least 250 new taxes are slated to become law, including the tax on parking lots that charge three or more cars for a space. State officials have estimated the new tax could bring in as much as $60 million per year, with monthly and annual spaces taxed at 9 percent and hourly, daily and weekly spaces at 6 percent.
“The more money they can get to Springfield, the better they think that is,” Mueller said. “The thinking is that money equals power, and they refuse to give up an ounce of it. People have become career politicians, and it was never intended to be that way. It's part of the reason Illinois has become the second most corrupt state in the country at a cost of a half-billion dollars a year. Illinois is a cesspool and will take a well-thought-out term-limit plan to change things.”
Mueller thinks any term-limit plan should go further than what most have proposed.
“My plan would not only put limits on the amount of a time one can hold office but also how long they can be in Springfield in any capacity, even as a lobbyist,” he said.
In addition, Mueller said he would like to see the number of state representatives decreased and the time they’re actually in session cut down.
“The general rule is the less government, the better,” Mueller said. “I would hope that the congress would only be called upon to deal with the most serious matters. I think in a capitalist, free-market society, the system can take care of most of its own problems.”
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