Opinion A6 • Sauk Valley Media
www.saukvalley.com
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
SPRINGFIELD SCOOP
State plans farewell to tax on tampons Who cares that state budget, tax reform haven’t been completed? SPRINGFIELD – Tax relief is sailing through the Legislature. Property taxes? Income taxes? Gasoline taxes? Nope. Not yet. But it looks like we are heading toward eliminating the tampon tax. The measure passed out of the Senate unanimously and it is waiting to be assigned to a committee in the House. If it becomes law, it will be a victory for taxpaying families. After all, tampons and sanitary napkins are necessities in a woman’s life for about 40 years. Being a 51-year-old man, I can’t say I have much experience buying
feminine hygiene products. In fact, the first time I ventured into this forbidden territory was on my wedding day. My soon-to-be wife dispatched me to the grocery to buy panty liners. My best man and a groomsman tagged along.
scottREEDER
I FOUND MYSELF standing bewildered in an unfamiliar store aisle staring at pastel covered parcels with names like “Stayfree,” “Pearl” and “Always.” My two buddies were giggling. Dan, my twice-divorced groomsman, refused to give any advice. But he did feel the need to inform store clerks and any passerby of my dilemma. Dave, my then neverbeen-married best man, was equally flummoxed. Finally, I decided that
bigger must be better and bought the largest pads on the shelf – the only generic pack. When my bride saw what I had purchased, she questioned whether pads that large could fit in her suitcase. She waited another 13 years before asking me to make such a purchase again. And that was last month. I found myself standing in Walmart at midnight texting photos of various products to my wife to make sure I was making the right purchase.
Scott Reeder is a veteran Springfield statehouse journalist who has covered government for almost 30 years.
THE CARTOONIST’S VOICE
Then I found myself in a long checkout line. The fella behind me was smirking and said, “You’re a good man to go and buy that for your wife.” Gee, thanks. Then the reporter in me kicked in. I asked the checkout clerk, Anna, if she thought a tax should be levied on the product. She gave me a look like this is the last conversation she wanted to have with a customer at midnight and said, “It’s the government. They tax everything.” SOME ADVOCATES for eliminating the tax have taken to calling it the “menstruation tax” as a way of emphasizing that only women pay it. (I guess they didn’t consider bewildered husbands making midnight shopping trips.) But Brigid Leahy, a lobbyist for Planned Parent-
Joe Heller, Heller Syndication
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[Brigid Leahy] has lobbied hard for the bill and to hear her tell it, she has run across more than a few male lawmakers who were uncomfortable with the topic.
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Scott Reeder
hood of Illinois, prefers the more neutral “tampon tax.” She has lobbied hard for the bill and to hear her tell it, she has run across more than a few male lawmakers who were uncomfortable with the topic. “They will say, ‘Um, you have to pay a tax on that?’”
Leahy said with a laugh. Let’s face it: Tampons are among those things many of us were taught not to discuss in polite company. But there is a serious underlying health issue. Some women just can’t afford the products and end up not changing regularly, which can lead to toxic shock syndrome, Leahy said. So making the products more affordable just makes sense. Now if lawmakers can only do something about cutting our property taxes and income taxes. Illinoisans want tax reform – with no strings attached. Note to readers: Scott Reeder is a veteran statehouse journalist. He works as a freelance reporter in the Springfield area and can be reached at ScottReeder1965@ gmail.com.
EDITORIALS ELSEWHERE
‘Tax, borrow, spend’ not so appealing now The Illinois Way fails Democrats in Chicago, Springfield Chicago Tribune Editorial Board
THE READER’S VOICE
What the world needs is more love, not hate LYNDA NORTON Dixon
I read a letter titled “Unhappy with transgender story” by Lupe Hurley [The Reader’s Voice, May 6]. It is wonderful that we live in a democracy where Lupe and others can express their views without being thrown in jail or worse. While our country provides us the luxury to speak out, it also allows us the luxury to have freedom in other ways, such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom to choose to be straight, bisexual, or transsexual. Our military men and women fought for this right. It is society that has pushed gays and transgender into the closet. The Bible teaches us,
EDITORIAL BOARD Jim Dunn Sam R Fisher Sheryl Gulbranson Jennifer Heintzelman Jeff Rogers Kathleen Schultz Tom Shaw
What do you think? Do you agree with these letters? Do you disagree with these letters? Let us know. Write your own letter to the editor and send it to: letters@saukvalley. com judge not, lest ye be judged. America is the melting pot. We are all different. We should respect others’ rights as we would like them to respect us. So if someone is so childish and prejudiced as to cancel a subscription due to an article, then so be it. I feel the person the article was written about deserves a lot of credit by not hiding in a closet or committing suicide because he/she is different. Remember, God loves us all; straight, transgender, bisexual, sinners, Christians – all of us.
Illinois Budget Stalemate
316 days
without a state budget for the fiscal year that started July 1.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this world had more love instead of hate?
Torn flag still needs repairs BRAD POPEJOY SR. Sterling
Regarding the letter to the editor in SV Weekend on May 7 titled “Torn flags are disrespectful; let’s fix them,” someone passing the
THE FIRST AMENDMENT
buck is what happened. I’m sorry to say the Sterling Park District isn’t responsible for the U.S. flag at Sterling-Rock Falls Day Care Center. The person at the front desk said it was the park district’s flag, and I apologize. I’d like the correct information on who is responsible for it. Thank you.
Will not cast vote for Trump BOB MUSCHAL Morrison
Since I live in Illinois, I will not have to vote for the rodomontade, Donald Trump. Due to the makeup of the political world here, I sincerely doubt that my single vote will give Trump the electoral votes. I shall write in Ted Cruz as my preference. To paraphrase Dutch, I didn’t leave the party, the party left me.
Sea change usually doesn’t wash over the political environs of Chicago or Springfield. Transformation in government, if it comes at all, flows so slowly it can be undetectable. But in recent months, if you were standing still, you might have felt subtle shifts. The Illinois Way – tax, borrow, spend – seems to be losing its appeal. The Democratic-controlled Chicago City Council and Illinois General Assembly are struggling to rally support for their so-called progressive agendas. Even proposals that would tax the rich are flopping, despite the blockbuster success of class warfare politics practiced by Democratic candidates for president Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. In Springfield, recent casualties include a graduated state income tax proposal that would have punished upper-income earners. The House sponsor, Rep. Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago, didn’t call the measure for a vote because he couldn’t muster enough support despite his party’s supermajority. HOUSE SPEAKER Michael Madigan has been unable to build enough support for his proposal to add a tax surcharge on millionaires. Remember, he’s the speaker. And legislation in Springfield that would rescue Chicago Public Schools has floundered for at least 2 years. CPS officials and the Chicago Teachers Union have been begging for more tax money from the city and the state. CTU
“News at its best is a wake-up call, not a lullaby, and I’m not in the lullaby business.”
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Editorials represent the opinions of the Sauk Valley Media Editorial Board.
Dan Rather, broadcast journalist, 2006
Quotes brought to you courtesy of
recently released a proposal to increase taxes on gasoline, property, hotels – a long list – to prop up the district’s budget. But such pleas now go largely ignored. Mayor Rahm Emanuel shut the door to the CTU’s tax plan almost immediately. Schools CEO Forrest Claypool basically admitted the district, now rated
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The Democraticcontrolled Chicago City Council and Illinois General Assembly are struggling to rally support for their so-called progressive agendas.
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Chicago Tribune Editorial Board
at junk bond status, can only access lines of credit as it tries to limp along. Long-term borrowing isn’t feasible because the interest rates imposed on the nearly-insolvent district are too high. Yet no one is bailing out CPS, not City Hall or the state, as they have in the past under similar “doomsday” scenarios. Meanwhile, the public reacted sourly to Emanuel’s plan to borrow $1.2 billion for a George Lucas museum on the lakefront. With Chicago schools destitute, teachers threatening to strike sometime this year, and violent crime climbing, a taxpayer-enabled favor for a billionaire filmmaker hit a collective nerve. Emanuel, with his subservient City Council of fellow Democrats, usually gets what he wants, especially shiny new baubles. Not happening this time.
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