Chicago’s still my kind of town, even during a pandemic

You had a feature in your paper asking Chicagoans if they were thinking of leaving because of the pandemic. I’m a suburbanite since 1973, and here are my three reasons for staying put:

1. Family is here. First and foremost.

2. Blue state. While there are plenty of Republicans around, I can count on the state and most of my friends to vote blue.

3. Water. There is access to one of the most viable water supplies in the country, Lake Michigan. People who move to places like Arizona or Nevada will be in a world of hurt down the road, when this commodity becomes even more precious. Not this year, or maybe even this decade, but it will happen.

However, without reason #1, Canada does look good!

Sandy Orr, Gurnee

No way around more taxes

A song that only us old-timers remember says: “There’s nothing surer, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.” That’s never been truer in our nation, where the gap continues to grow at an obscene pace.

For more than 100 years, the federal government has imposed graduated income tax rates, and more than 30 states do likewise. It’s not a perfect system. The super-rich pay tax accountants to do nothing but scope out loopholes that will enable them to pay at the lowest rate possible. Dollar-wise, Warren Buffett pays much more than his secretary. But Buffett, who advocates for higher taxes on the rich, notes he pays a much smaller percentage of his income than his secretary.

Opponents of Illinois’ proposed Fair Tax Amendment protest that some regular folk, such as some small business owners, could pay more than they now do. Maybe. But if our lawmakers do their job diligently, there can be provisions for marginal groups and individuals. The bottom line is that about 95% of Illinois taxpayers will pay the same or less.

Critics of big government say if we give more money to lawmakers, they will find ways to spend it. A fair complaint. It’s the nature of the beast. But the fact is that many worthy programs and services in Illinois may flounder if our state fails to get its finances under control.

Increased taxes are the only way that will happen. We can do it on the backs of the working poor and the average Joe and Jane who work a 40-hour, 5-day week. Or we can require the wealthiest of our population to pay their fair share.

You decide.

Dan McGuire, Bensenville

Close tax loopholes

Tenants vs. landlords

Mayor Lightfoot, Gov. Pritzker, I understand your wanting to help people avoid being evicted because of the pandemic. But tenants now have more rights than I do.

I am not a slumlord. I am a senior citizen with a small four-flat. I live in one apartment and rent out the others. I depend on my rental income to survive and pay the bills for the building, with a little left over to help me out. When you have a tenant who refuses to pay rent — not that he can’t pay — what am I supposed to do?

I served him with notice, and he used profanity and told me it would be two years before I could get him out. I can’t afford a lawyer to handle this for me because he is eight months behind, so I am trying on my own. I pay the bills first so I don’t lose the only place I have ever lived in.

So tell me please, where are my rights?

Annette Narducy, Chicago