I found an
article posted on the Illinois Policy website to be most interesting. Did you
know you pay the highest taxes in the nation on your cellphone? And the person
you need to thank is the state’s reigning emperor, House Speaker Mike Madigan.
Illinois
state and local wireless tax rates exceed 22-percent, the most in the United
States. Throw in 911 fees and the cost soars over 30-percent.
Three years
ago Madigan helped engineer a bill with 911 fees that were very favorable to
AT&T. Then Governor Rauner used his amendatory veto to strike the boost in
fees, but Madigan had the girth to overturn the veto.
Since then,
the feds have been investigating the relationship between AT&T and Madigan.
It seems a significant amount of money has been sent the Speaker’s way via
campaign donations. The figure is around a quarter million dollars. It is more
than the company has given to any other lawmaker.
The Chicago
Trib has reported there are many former Madigan staffers now on the payroll of
AT&T.
It all
smells. This is the same thing that occurred at Comm-Ed. The feds haven’t been
able to indict Madigan for that multi-million dollar scam and I have my doubts
they will for the chicanery at AT&T.
I wish I had
more faith in a fair system of government, but I don’t.
As I have
said before, I think Madigan will continue to rule. But make no mistake….it
comes at a cost to every Illinois taxpayer.
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