Referencing popular culture, Dr. Jeffrey Leef, Republican candidate for Illinois’ 7th Congressional District, recently recalled a "Saturday Night Live" skit from 1978 that reminded him of Illinois’ current financial woes as he quoted comedian Steve Martin.
The skit was entitled “Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber.” In the parody, a barber’s patient progressively became weaker and weaker after repeated rounds of bloodletting. Theodoric of York (Steve Martin, in character) shouted, “We must let more blood!” despite the obvious fact that the patient’s symptoms worsened from the treatment.
| Contributed photo
“This most aptly depicts the Democrats’ panacea to all the ills of the world – ‘Increase Taxes!’” Leef, making the analogy to illustrate the state of Illinois’ current financial state and the government’s failure to stem the “bleeding” budget problems, said.
“It is this pattern of behavior displayed for decades by the Democratic Party that has led to businesses fleeing the state, a dwindling middle class and (increased) income disparity,” Leef said. “Democrats have proven that the one sure way to decrease governmental output is to increase governmental input.”
Illinois residents are among the highest-taxed citizens in the U.S. The state ranks 10th highest in the nation for overall taxes, according to consumer website WalletHub, with property tax alone ranking it as second worst, behind only New Jersey.
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