Why didn't I think of that? The Democrat-controlled Illinois Economic Recovery Panel Recommends... Income Tax Increases!

From the state of Illinois comes this happy news for beleaguered taxpayers:

A blue-ribbon commission charged by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) with studying the state's fiscal crisis is recommending significant reforms to the tax code to capture billions of new dollars and address fundamental tax fairness problems.

Among other things, the commission June 24 recommended increasing personal and corporate income taxes, and imposing the personal income tax on retirement earnings...

Sounds "fair" to me! Make it tougher on businesses and retirees -- I'm sure they'll love it!

The commission also recommended an expansion of Illinois's sales tax base to include services.

Why not breathing, too? Eh, forget it -- I guess they're doing that with carbon taxes.

Quinn called on the commission to develop specific recommendations aimed at ensuring long-term health and prosperity for Illinois.

"Long-term health and prosperity!" Doesn't that sound like a Soviet slogan from the fifties?

The report included a detailed analysis of the Illinois tax code and said the current structure is antiquated and unfair, and raises inadequate revenues for state services.

Note that the converse is never true: state services are never -- never -- too costly compared to revenues!

The commission recommended several modifications to the state's income tax structure, including a two percentage point increase to both the personal and corporate rates. The change would generate another $6 billion annually. The commission further suggested that the personal income tax be imposed on retirement earnings, collecting $1.6 billion into state coffers.

Gee, that should be popular.

"I appreciate the hard work of the Economic Recovery Commission," [Gov.] Quinn said. "Its insights will help us work together to build on our existing assets and position our state for strong, lasting recovery as we move out of this historic recession."

Yes, I'm sure the citizens of Illinois will appreciate the recommendations of their betters in Springfield. After all, it's clear they don't pay enough in income taxes, property taxes, excise taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes, corporate taxes, capital gains taxes, etc. etc. etc.

I'm betting that retirees and businesses will now flock -- flock! -- to Illinois knowing that Democrats have returned the state to fiscal health.

(Just between you and me, I don't care how much Illinois raises in increased revenues. It will never be enough to pay for their out-of-control Democrat masters and their union bosses. I'll repeat: it will never be enough. Don't tell anyone I said that, though.)