Democrats have total control of the government in the state of Illinois. Our governor is running for a third term, and since he aspires to be President, he is hitting the Sunday news shows, where the hosts genuflect to him while he trashes Trump.
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The governor is running continuous ads in which he brags that Moody’s and other ratings agencies have continually upped the state’s credit ratings because they say that Illinois has balanced budgets and is financially stable.
Everyone should remember that these same credit agencies rated pools that contained significant amounts of junk mortgages Triple-A in 2007 and 2008, and those fraudulent ratings contributed greatly to the economic collapse and caused trillions in losses. It is a true shame that the heads of these agencies didn’t serve time and are still making lots of money as they rate bonds for states and other entities.
Let’s look at the facts to see if Illinois truly has a balanced budget and is stable. The following information was easily found through Gemini:
Illinois has the most underfunded pensions in the country among the states.
In FY 2018, the year our governor was elected, Illinois, using very optimistic assumptions, said pensions were underfunded by $133.5 billion.
At the end of FY 2025, Illinois estimated the pension debt at $143.5 billion, and credit agencies like Moody’s estimated the underfunding at $251 billion.
While Illinois technically has an operating budget that balances, does running up unfunded liabilities of $10 billion over eight years and having total unfunded pensions of up to $251 billion indicate a sound and stable financial condition? As an aside, the S&P 500 closed at 2,506.85 on December 31, 2018. Yesterday, it was 7,764, up 210% in eight years, yet Illinois’s unfunded pension liability got worse.
Our governor and Democrats across the United States run on the theme that they care about affordability, but I don’t recall any of them challenging Biden’s policies as prices for housing, rent, cars, and energy rose. They also rail against tariffs.
The budget for Illinois in FY 2018 was $38.5 billion. In FY 2026, it was $55.2 billion. That is up 43%, while overall inflation was up 33%. That does not indicate prudent management or concern for taxpayers.
According to Gemini, Illinois has enacted at least 57 to 63 distinct tax and fee increases since our governor took office in 2019, adding between $1,400 and $1,700 per year to the average household budget. Unlike tariffs, which can often be avoided, most tax increases are permanent and especially harm the poor and middle class because most are regressive.
Illinois motor fuel taxes were 19 cents per gallon on gasoline in 2018 and are 48.3 cents per gallon today. Diesel rates were 21.5 cents in 2018 and are 55.8 cents today, and they are scheduled to continually rise. Those are highly regressive taxes, so everyone should remember that when Democrats claim they really care about affordability, especially for the poor and middle class.
Illinois is also one of only ten states that slaps sales taxes on gasoline, which is also a very regressive tax.
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California, New York, and Illinois are the states losing the most businesses.
Illinois has the third-highest business taxes at 9.5%, behind only New Jersey and Minnesota.
Illinois has the second-highest property taxes in the United States.
From Gemini:
The #1 or #2 Rank: Recent U.S. Census Bureau and Tax Foundation data place Illinois tied for the highest effective property tax rate in the country at 1.88%, level with New Jersey
Illinois is decommissioning coal-fired power plants as we need more power and as they support the radical green agenda.
I would challenge anyone to look at the facts above and claim that Illinois is managed well or financially stable.
As for all Democrats running in the United States who say they care about affordability, think about this:
Every Democrat in 2009 voted for Obamacare, which has caused health insurance prices to skyrocket.
Almost all Democrats support the green agenda, which adds huge financial burdens to people and businesses.
In 2017, every Democrat voted against cutting individual tax rates for everyone who pays taxes and voted against lowering the corporate rate from 34% to 22%. They clearly like high taxes and big government.
Every Democrat in office voted against keeping individual tax rates the same in 2025 and against new tax cuts for tips, overtime, and Social Security. They clearly didn’t care about the additional cost to almost everyone.
The Trump administration is uncovering massive fraud throughout government programs. This is essentially a massive tariff on the American people. Most of the media seem intent on burying arrests for fraud, and Obama, Biden, and other Democrats haven’t seemed very interested in saving taxpayers’ money by attacking the fraud.
The choice is very easy this year and in 2028. Either vote for Democrats who love big government and more regulations, want more people to be dependent on the government, and favor high taxes, or use your common sense and vote for the party that gives more people the chance to rise because of capitalism.
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Image created using AI.