This is a very interesting piece.
Who deserves a $28 million salary? No one
March 29, 2007
Surely Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Co. anticipated the toxic reaction they would receive from business interests when they unveiled plans for a new gross receipts tax.
From business associations to chambers of commerce; from newspaper editorial boards motivated by advertisers to lawmakers' reliance on business contributions; from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to Blagojevich's own Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn; the gross receipts tax has been assailed -- predictably -- since the day Blagojevich announced his plan.
What has been surprising is the lack of outrage over the tax breaks, loopholes and stunts big businesses have employed for years to avoid paying corporate income taxes -- not to mention the tax burden they avoid through the growing use of economic incentives extended by municipal governments (sales tax rebates and tax increment financing districts) as well as property tax reductions through a county and state appeals process navigated by their well-schooled attorneys.
It's easy to be swayed by the television commercials and apocalyptic bravado about how a gross receipts tax will trickle down to you and me. Maybe it will. What tax doesn't?
But a fundamental premise for Blagojevich's search for an alternative revenue-generator was the fact that he tried to close loopholes for several years to no avail. Lawmakers were content to let the status quo putter along, despite pretty convincing evidence that corporations were legally skirting their "fair share."
Let this sink in: From 1997 to 2005, 48 percent of corporations with annual sales of $50 million or more paid no corporate income taxes, according to Blagojevich's office of management and budget.
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http://www.dailysouthtown.com/...