Yes, Chicago voters, you can have it all and someone else will pay

Democrats have this thing figured out. They’re going to increase wages for state and city employees, find billions of dollars for pension payments, hire more government employees, make college tuition free and provide money for health care insurance.

And they are going to freeze or lower property taxes, eliminate police brutality, shrink the size of public school classrooms and provide free pre-school for every child.

And they’re not going to raise income taxes on the middle class.

There are about a hundred candidates running for mayor of Chicago and I doubt one is going to tell voters they have to pay more in property taxes to pay for public education.

But that’s the fact.

If you look at the property tax rates for homeowners in the surrounding suburbs, they’re all higher than those in the big city, including places like Chicago Heights, Park Forest and Dolton that aren’t exactly rolling in dough.

That’s because city dwellers for years have leaned on their giant commercial tax base to pay for public schools. But that tax base is eroding.

In fact, the tax base everywhere is dwindling.

When giant department stores like Sears, Carson’s and Kmart close their doors, there is no one to replace them. Those stores pay a lot of money in property taxes. But people are shopping on the Internet and that means less money for public schools, which rely on property taxes to fund them.

Gas taxes pay to repair our roads and bridges and also help pay for public transportation. But we’re using less gas. Traditional cars get better mileage than they used to and electric cars are the future.

In addition, gas prices are going down and that means less motor fuel tax money for local governments.

That’s why Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently suggested a huge increase in gas taxes and why our state officials are going to think long and hard about doing just that.

Republicans, who used to complain about spending, now spend more than the Democrats.

Under our Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, we paid billions of dollars in penalties because he refused to compromise on a state budget and couldn’t pay our bills on time.

The only thing that helped was a state income tax hike, passed by the Democrats.

On the national scene, Republicans recently passed an income tax cut, after decades of complaining that the federal government was running out of money for Medicare and Social Security. We’re also spending more on the military.

How does that math work for you?

Toni Preckwinkle, a leading candidate for mayor of Chicago, managed to pass a soda pop tax as Cook County Board president that was so unpopular it had to be repealed.

After politicians in Illinois created a lottery and allowed casino-style vending machines in almost every bar and mom-and-pop shop in Illinois, there’s still not enough money to fund all the government programs we want.

That’s why we need to legalize marijuana. That’s why our elected officials will eventually legalize online sports gambling.

Even with all of that additional money, the governor is going to have to change the state Constitution to create a graduated income tax here in Illinois, similar to the federal income tax. That could take years.

But back in Chicago the candidates for mayor aren’t going to be telling voters the city is running out of money. They will come up with schemes to tax the rich, big business, eliminate tax loopholes and provide lots of money to build new parks, keep the schools open and the streets safe. And, by the way, they will create jobs and provide free training for them.

No one is going to vote for anybody who says they don’t have the answers. Free stuff is good. Paying is bad.

Candidates running for office know that’s how you win.

Email: philkadner@gmail.com

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