Illinois Goes Communist

[Jedi Knight]

Illinois has just gone communist (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33206).

They just imposed a 70% tax on a casino in the state lol. That is downright theft, that is what that is.

I don't agree with gambling casinos but come on, a 70% tax is unconstitutional and I hope the casino wins the case against the tax.

These states in the red need to cut back on spending by getting rid of 50% to 60% of the state bureaucracy. That will save them $billions.

But no, instead they have to tax businesses 70%! It is un-American.

JK

[toddjh]

Originally posted by Jedi Knight
I don't agree with gambling casinos but come on, a 70% tax is unconstitutional and I hope the casino wins the case against the tax.

I agree it's excessive, but what makes it unconstitutional, exactly? Gasoline sales are taxed at a similar level.

Anyway, it's political maneuvering more than an attempt to get the state more money. This is part of an ongoing casino drama that began a number of years ago and has been gaining steam ever since. The surprise bulldozing of the Meigs Field runway in the middle of the night on orders from Mayor Daley is the latest and most visible development.

Illinois will most likely be opening a state-run casino in the Chicago area to stop the state from losing money to Indiana, who decided to open a casino just across the border in Gary. I suspect the huge tax they're proposing is an attempt to stop the private casinos from competing with their new cash cow.

All this started with the (halfway plausible) idea of allowing riverboat casinos to open in downstate Illinois in an attempt to move some money from Chicago to the rest of the state. It all went horribly wrong and it's been nothing but political damage control ever since.

So, it's still just as embarrassing, but it's hardly coming out of the blue.

Jeremy

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Originally posted by Jedi Knight
I don't agree with gambling casinos but come on, a 70% tax is unconstitutional and I hope the casino wins the case against the tax.

Given that you know 0% about the constitution, I'm sure you really beleive this.

[EdipisReks]

i like casinos and i hate taxes. i guess i won't be going to illinois.

[BillyTK]

*applauds Illinois* Soon they'll be looking to leave the Union and join our glorious United Socialist Soviet Republic of Europe!

[Jon_in_london]

Taxing casinos sounds good to me. Casinos are like vampires- no redeeming contribution to the community, they produce nothing, only take take take. and they take a fortune.
Tax them till they bleed!

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by Jon_in_london
Taxing casinos sounds good to me. Casinos are like vampires- no redeeming contribution to the community, they produce nothing, only take take take. and they take a fortune.
Tax them till they bleed!

i'm assuming that London is very boring.

[Crossbow]

Originally posted by Jedi Knight
Illinois has just gone communist (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33206).

They just imposed a 70% tax on a casino in the state lol. That is downright theft, that is what that is.

I don't agree with gambling casinos but come on, a 70% tax is unconstitutional and I hope the casino wins the case against the tax.

These states in the red need to cut back on spending by getting rid of 50% to 60% of the state bureaucracy. That will save them $billions.

But no, instead they have to tax businesses 70%! It is un-American.

JK

Since the 70% tax rate only applies to an annual gross income of over $ 250 million I seriously doubt that the new tax rate could be considered "Unconstitutional" and/or "Communist" and/or "un-American" (the old tax rate was 50%).

While the casino operators are not too happy about the increase, it does not seem to be bothering them all that much. They will cut back on staffing and reduce the stock earnings, but none of them will be put out of business by the increase.

By the way, I will rate this thread five stars.

[Jon_in_london]

Originally posted by EdipisReks


i'm assuming that London is very boring.

Assume ahead.

[Agammamon]

No, if Illinois was going communist they would have nationalized the casinos. They are just making a very bad business decision that will drive their casinos out of business or underground as patrons flock over the border to Michigan, which is now opening up casinos of its own. Bad capitalism to be sure, but capitalism nonetheless.

[Agammamon]

Originally posted by Jon_in_london
Taxing casinos sounds good to me. Casinos are like vampires- no redeeming contribution to the community, they produce nothing, only take take take. and they take a fortune.
Tax them till they bleed!

That's funny, in most areas casinos are one of if not the largest employer (not in IL, since they limit the casino sizes). They bring in a load of money from outside which is distributed to the community both through wages and taxes the cities levy. The trick is the same as with any other business. tax 'em, but not so heavily you drive them away. If you are going to bring up the crime they bring, I would like to point out that areas where casinos are tend to have some of the lowest crime rates around.

[Dancing David]

Well, this is the second time we have gone commie.

Hi ToddJH, we are neighbors!

Uh, who said casinos bring in outside money?

It's more of a redistribution thing.

Well, no new taxes!

[specious_reasons]

Originally posted by Dancing David
Well, this is the second time we have gone commie.

Hi ToddJH, we are neighbors!

Uh, who said casinos bring in outside money?

It's more of a redistribution thing.

Well, no new taxes!

Yes, who was accusing Illinois last time, corplinx?

IIRC, corplinx had a much better reason for it than high tax rates for casinos. JK just likes calling anything he doesn't like leftists or communist.

I'm very,very lukewarm about casinos. I haven't been to any, in or out of state, and while I have been tempted to go, I can always find better things to do. So, I have no idea what they're like. I don't necessarily feel that they're a solution to fix economic woes, but they are at least better than the lottery, as in they actually employ people.

So, I think Gov. Blegojevich is doing fine as far as this issue goes. Overall, I'm happy with his performance so far. Blegojevich in 2008!

[JAR]

The title of this thread is another example of the humorous overstatement which is the opposite of the humorous understatement.

Corplinx like Jedi Knight had a thread where he gave it a title with an overstatement. The title was "The Fall of Western Civilization." The subject of the thread was people's infants crying in either movie theaters or restaurants or both(I can't remember which.).

An example of the humorous understatement, which is the opposite of the overstatement, is when one says something like, "The weather's a bit chilly today" on a day when there's a blizzard and its extremely cold.

[Mike B.]

Originally posted by Jon_in_london
Taxing casinos sounds good to me. Casinos are like vampires- no redeeming contribution to the community, they produce nothing, only take take take. and they take a fortune.
Tax them till they bleed!

Agreed...
:)

[Thumper]

Casinos add something to life... I enjoy going to casinos. Ienjoy the glitz and glamor, the noise and lights. I also enjoy the adrenalin rush at the tables.

Casinos are redistributive? Not too sure on that... seems like they take a lot of lower-income money, not upper-income money.

[Malachi151]

Originally posted by Thumper
Casinos add something to life... I enjoy going to casinos. Ienjoy the glitz and glamor, the noise and lights. I also enjoy the adrenalin rush at the tables.

Casinos are redistributive? Not too sure on that... seems like they take a lot of lower-income money, not upper-income money.

Yeah, exactly they redistribute from the poor to the rich, just like everything else in the economy.

As for driving businesses away, is only a problem when things are done regionally. If all states that allowed casinos taxed at 70% there would ne nowhere to run to.

Don't forget that the top income tax bracket in the US used to be 98% at its max, and that in a true communist system there are no taxes at all.

Its a "sin tax", and sin taxes are a common and long standing american tradition. Alcohol, cigarettes, fuel, and prostitution have all been or currently are heavily taxed, sometimes over 50%. This is not done for being "commie", its typically done by Protestents who seek to "make a buck off the devil's work".

Once again, JK is a totally F*ing moron that has less than no clue as to what he is talking about, or about reality.

[Jedi Knight]

Originally posted by Malachi151
Once again, JK is a totally F*ing moron that has less than no clue as to what he is talking about, or about reality.

Gosh commie, you showed me, huh. :rolleyes:

JK