Who’s to blame when a bus shelter falls on a woman?
Who’s to blame when a bus shelter falls on a young woman?
The City of Chicago, at first glance. It’s a heartbreaking accident that could have and should have been avoided. But we need to look deeper at the cause. There’s little money for infrastructure repair in Chicago. Illinois lost over a billion dollars in 2016 tax revenue to 10 of its largest companies, which according to their own records paid just 1.8 percent of their profits in state taxes, about a quarter of the required amount.
There’s no way to know if any of that lost tax revenue would have been spent to ensure the safety of citizens in Chicago. But we go day by day, depleted of funds for our infrastructure needs, while our biggest profit- makers enjoy tax breaks claimed from Illinois over the years. The rest of us pay what we can, through regressive property and sales and income taxes, to make up the difference. And we have to pay for people who get hurt in our broken city. Paul Buchheit, Edison Park
We need progressive tax system
Because our governor, legislators in Springfield and Chicago’s mayor and aldermen all accept “contributions,” they refuse to push for a progressive tax system that would ensure we all pay our fair share of taxes.
Corporations and the wealthy don’t pay their fair share, and because they don’t, hardworking people in Illinois have to pick up the slack. I’m sure that with a possible new tax on the horizon, struggling taxpayers are going to rise up and demand a progressive tax system. Illinoisans cannot afford to keep carrying corporations and the wealthy— it is a burden so very heavy and unfair to struggling Illinois consumers. Ann Gutierrez, Tinley Park
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