Yet after reading that article, I'm still unclear on what 'lesson' it supposedly is.
I think it's that the huge tax hike removed pressure on politicians to cut spending. The tax hike was probably necessary, but the fact that Illinois today is in worse fiscal shape than ever despite of it is an embarassment. It's very depressing to see this side of politicians.
I agree, that shouldn't have given them an excuse to do nothing. But the point that article tries to make, by someone from a right-wing "think-tank," is only using that argument to basically argue against tax increases altogether. It tries to compare the situation to Wisconsin, which is incomparable for a number of reasons, and not only that, but a silly false choice between a negligent option, or an insanely unnecessarily aggressive option.
It doesn't seem to be making any other point than "Illinois still sucks" but it presents that argument as if it's making any sort of solid, substantive argument against tax increases in general, which it's not. It also presents the tax hike in disingenuous terms of "raising the tax by 67%!" when the real tax increase was from a very low base rate to a still-comparatively-low rate of 5%.
I just don't see how this article is useful for anything. It's disingenuous at worst and vacuous at best.
