From: "dan@urqmedia.com" <mailer1034@1871email.com>
To: frednance@clickservices.org
Subject: Proft's latest featured commentary on Don Wade & Roma: The Anti-Tax Opportunity for the ILGOP
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:08:53 -0500
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 30, 2007Contact: Dan Proft
(p) 312-575-9500
(c) 312-446-6488
dan@urqmedia.comProft's latest featured commentary on Don Wade & Roma:
The Anti-Tax Opportunity for the ILGOP
Click here to listen to an .mp3 of political commentator Dan Proft on today's Don Wade & Roma Morning Show
Click here to email Dan Proft
For the last eight years the Illinois Republican Party has been adrift at sea, desperately looking for any port that would offer refuge from Category 5 political disasters like Typhoon Ryan (pick a Ryan, any Ryan), Hurricane Keyes and Tropical Storm Topinka.
When one acts out of desperation, one sometimes abandons one's principles. And thus the GOP leadership in Illinois has exchanged their complete surrender for temporary cover from the Democrats.
To paraphrase former U.S. Senator Malcolm Wallop, the governing ethos of the GOP in Illinois has been that if the Democrats introduced a bill to burn down the state capitol, Republicans would compromise and agree to phase it in over three years.
But that could change right now if Republicans comprehend and act upon the opportunity they've uncontrollably lurched into in Springfield.
With four weeks left for the political class in Illinois to pass a state budget, Republicans can recapture moral clarity in the minds of Illinois voters by opposing any and all tax increases.
I understand that the "No New Taxes" refrain has all of the originality of a Julia Roberts romantic comedy. But just as moviegoers find Roberts endearing to my chagrin, so too will Illinois taxpayers find a party that stands up for producers in this state appealing to the chagrin of Democrats. It's a storyline that works because voters want it to work.
For GOP leaders to compromise on the tax issue is for them to relegate their party to rumor status for the foreseeable future.
We have a Governor slightly less popular than Lyme disease who has proposed a $7 billion gross receipts tax, code-named "Malaise-Maker", that is DOA in Springfield.
We have other tax increase proposals while mildly less obnoxious are nonetheless being marketed to fund schools that don't educate, to funnel every Illinoisan into government-run health care, and to finance public sector unions impervious to reform.
Instead of rolling over like the French at the sight of Panzers on the countryside, this is a historic opportunity for Illinois Republicans to stand and fight.
Republicans should demonstrate a willingness to do whatever it takes to balance the state budget without a tax increase: move to defined contribution pension plans; sell everything that isn't nailed down; add casino boats-hell, put a dogtrack on the lakefront if you need to--just don't raise taxes.
If Republicans can show they still have some fight left, Illinois may again be a two-party state.
Dan Proft is a Principal of Urquhart Media LLC, a Chicago-based public affairs firm and political commentator for the Don Wade & Roma Morning Show (5-9am) on Chicago's number one news talk radio station, WLS-AM 890. He can be reached at dan@urqmedia.com. For other Dan Proft commentaries (radio & print), please visit: http://www.urqmedia.com/proft/.
Click here to email Dan Proft###
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION:
To remove yourself from our mailing list, please follow this link:
http://www.urqmedia.com/r.asp?txtEmail=frednance@clickservices.org
Postal Address:
118 North Clinton Suite 102 Chicago, IL 60661
You have received this email because you subscribed at http://urqmedia.com/ This is a recurring e-mail newsletter. If you feel that you have received this email in error, please unsubscribe above or email abuse@1871email.com to report any problems.
Fred L. Nance Jr., ABD, MA, CADC, NCRS
Social Policy Analyst
708-921-1395
