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One year later: 2017 tax hike failed

It has been one full year since the General Assembly passed a budget that ended Illinois’ two-year impasse. The results are in: This policy was a complete failure.

Janus v. AFSCME: A win for state workers and taxpayers

If there is hope that Illinois will recover from financial disaster, weak job growth, record-high taxes and massive population loss, the Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME ruling is a good first step on that path to recovery.

Empty Promises, Empty Wallets: Illinois Among The Worst For Business

Chief Executive Magazine has ranked Illinois 48th on their list of best and worst states for business. It is the same abysmal ranking the state held last year. Politicians, special interests and junk economists in Springfield, by contrast, see the status quo as good enough.

Illinois’ Lesson for Millennials

A new political generation has arrived: the millennials… If Republicans and Libertarians are to remain relevant then we have to make an authentic, compelling and optimistic case for free markets.

Left Behind

In November 2014, I called on newly elected – or re-elected – state legislators to consider funding education based on equity, efficiency and excellence.

Yet, union controlled Democrat state legislators didn’t stand with us on this issue. We can’t allow these legislators to force families into a failing system that leaves children behind, especially when better alternatives exist… And we can’t allow Democrat state legislators – who ignored our call to action the first time – to cling to their waning power and crumbling institutions at the expense of the school children and tax payers of Chicago and beyond. We can’t. And we won’t.

IOP Statement on Presidential Visit to Illinois General Assembly

No matter how they try to spin it, the disaster that continues to unfold in Chicago has its roots firmly planted in the corruption and incompetence of ruling class politicians. For decades, they ran the city and the state unchecked. The Chicago Machine needs to take the heat off. So, Rahm opened up his coveted black book and called in a diversion.

Mission Impossible?

Dan Proft discussed President Obama’s upcoming visit to Springfield on CBS Chicago

IOP Response to 2016 State of the State

Today, Illinois is in a better place than it was a year ago. Better, but not remotely good enough. The governor’s work – and ours – to improve the way Illinois operates at every level is just beginning. Some necessary reforms will take time and require a continued political shift of power, but others are immediately at hand.

AFSCME impasse: Will Rauner show the Political Ruling Class who’s boss?

This is a story of the funding arm of the Illinois Political Ruling Class that preaches fairness but enjoys being downright spoiled by those it has bought, paid for and sent to Springfield. AFSCME has always gotten what it has wanted — no matter the price. It likes it that way. And it’s not particularly keen on changing the cozy arrangement it’s had with both parties for generations. This is Rauner’s moment of truth.

Illinois’ Cartel Economy

It is fun to watch the popular HBO show “Game of Thrones.” It is considerably less fun to live in a dressed up iteration of the feudalism of the Middle Ages. If we are being honest with ourselves, the realm of Illinois is such a version with ruling families of shared interests replacing strict bloodlines. It is a government-directed cartel economy where the rule of men has replaced the rule of law.