Pawar proves to be Madigan replica via tax hikes | Courtesy of Shutterstock
Pawar proves to be Madigan replica via tax hikes | Courtesy of Shutterstock
Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar, who recently decried Illinois’ “wealth worship,” fuss over benefits and bankruptcy while announcing his 2018 gubernatorial candidacy, strikes the state’s Republicans as merely mimicking current House Speaker Mike Madigan’s tax policies.
“I don’t believe we’re overtaxed in Illinois,” Pawar said in August 2016. “I think we’re undertaxed.”
Pawar also publicly denounced Gov. Bruce Rauner at one point, calling him “a bad person” during an Aug. 4, 2016, interview with Chicago magazine.
“I just think that Bruce Rauner is a bad person,” he said when asked about the possibility of working with the governor.
Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe observed that Pawar already has a history of raising taxes within the scope of his position as a Chicago leader.
Pawar previously said that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s budget containing a $598 million property tax increase was “the right thing to do” in October 2015.
“Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar is the very definition of an out-of-touch, tax-hiking politician just like Mike Madigan,” Yaffe said. “While job-crushing tax increases without reform has caused an exodus from Illinois, Pawar doubled down on the Madigan Chicago agenda, supporting higher income taxes, higher property taxes and even a (28 percent) tax on our drinking water.”
Levies on tap water and local businesses, according to Yaffe, would only increase the impetus of constituents leaving the state for more habitable environments.
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