Mayor Brandon Johnson resorts to groveling for state cash
Chicago's greedy tax-and-spend mayor, Brandon Johnson, is now demanding state lawmakers in Springfield up the ante and increase taxes even higher than the Democrat-dominated legislature already has to satisfy his spendthrift ways.
Early this month, the rapacious mayor took to his podium to rail against the legislature for not giving him even more money to waste on freebies for illegal aliens and his other pet causes.
"Look, they had 33 proposals last year for progressive revenue. They got three across the finish line. Now, as a public school teacher, I will give credit to anyone who makes an attempt at completing their assignment. There’s a little bit more work to do there, right?" Johnson said, according to The Center Square.
Like many another capitalism-hating, extreme, leftist, Johnson also took aim at "billionaires."
"It’s the best time ever to be a billionaire, the best time ever. Asking them to put more skin in the game, I believe that’s a good democratic value to adhere to," he bloviated.
According to Visual Capitalist, there are 23 billionaires in the state — until they sensibly move away. And with Johnson leading Chicago to a $1.15 billion budget deficit, he'll have to move into confiscation mode to actually solve his problems, because he certainly isn't interested in trimming his spending habits.
Of course, Johnson kicked off his 2023 campaign for office pledging not to overload property owners with higher property taxes. Naturally, only months after being elected, he turned right around and broke his promise and demanded the City Council give him a $300 million property tax hike.
Fortunately for the city's home and business owners, Council members rejected the mayor's demand and gave him a unanimous defeat on his tax hike idea.
But Johnson isn't done. He is still threatening property tax hikes.
Indeed, Johnson is now claiming that unless he gets his corporate head tax, he will go back to demanding property tax hikes.
"It’s clear here. We’re either going to cut services and lay people off and raise property taxes, or we’re going to make sure that those with means who can actually afford it put more skin in the game. That’s the choice that the people of Chicago have right now," he exclaimed last week.
Johnson is furious that critics and many in the City Council are balking at his business-killing $21 per employee corporate head tax.
"There has not been one alternative that has been presented. I’m for more deliberation if we’re actually debating over something, but to slow it down just for the sake of slowing it down doesn’t make sense," he railed.
And this week, he lost that battle too, as the City Council’s Finance Committee overwhelmingly rejected his head tax plans. So, now what?
One would guess that property owners will get squeezed yet again.
Despite all his Sturm und Drang, Johnson is not likely on track to getting any help from the state which itself is headed for a $2.2 billion deficit by fiscal year 2027. And that's despite the $700 million in new taxes that J.B. Pritzker has loaded on top of Illinoisans who are already some of the highest taxed people in the country.
Lost in all of this is any hint Democrats can understand that they spend too much and need to cut budgets, shutter wasteful programs, and prove that they can be good stewards of the people's money. And don't hold your breath waiting for that.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: Warner Todd Huston | Facebook, X at @WTHuston, or Truth Social at @WarnerToddHuston.
