Bizarro Tea Party to Rally for Tax Increase

By Prescott Carlson in News on Apr 19, 2010 9:15PM

Last week, about 500 1,000 2,000 "Tea Party" protesters gathered in Daley Plaza to voice their opposition to what they perceive is an upcoming massive increase in personal taxes. But if estimates prove correct, a group planning to march on Springfield this Wednesday to take on the tax issue may dwarf those numbers. The key difference? This group wants to increase taxes.

According to the Quad-City Times, a turnout of 15,000 "citizen lobbyists" are expected to attend Wednesday's rally, which would make it the largest protest group to descend on the Illinois Capitol in its history. According to Anders Lindall, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, the state is not doing enough to fill its $13 billion dollar budget hole to help pay its bills.

Lindall was quoted as saying, "The coalition is going to be sending a very strong message that inaction is not acceptable." Lindall and others think the only clear path to increase revenue is for a state income tax increase.

But even if the estimated 200 buses of people turn up as planned, many lawmakers doubted it would have much of an impact on their decisions. Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) told the paper that he didn't think any rally was going to be "enough support for a tax increase" in an election year, while Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) said his district is rallying against taxes. A number of other legislators echoed the same sentiment, with State Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) saying, "We have a spending problem... a tax increase is not the solution."

But the coalition has little interest in what state politicians think, and they don't want to hear from them. Spokesman for the Illinois Federation of Teachers David Comerford was reported to say, "No politician will be speaking at the rally. They've done enough talking without acting. They need to hear from us."