Chicago City Wire

A trio of taxes pushed by a coalition of activists and unions is nothing short of insanity, said the founder of an online news outlet during a recent interview.

"Their proposal reads like a court filing to have the authors committed to an asylum," Wirepoints Founder and Executive Editor Mark Glennon told Chicago City Wire. "It’s tempting to ignore proposals like these as fringe lunacy, but they are now the hallmarks of the modern left, rapidly ascending in Chicago."

Glennon made his comments following a Crain's Chicago Business report warning about three taxes supported by Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE), which describes itself as "a campaign hub for organizations that work at the intersection of racial justice and Wall Street accountability." The group includes the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Healthcare Illinois, according to the Crain's report.

Wirepoints Founder and Executive Editor Mark Glennon

ACRE supports not only the so-called "LaSalle Street tax" on financial transactions and a restoration of the employer "head tax," but has called for a 3.5 percent tax on households with an annual income above $100,000, according to the Crain's report.

Glennon was a venture capital investment manager and winner of Illinois Venture Capital Association's Fellows Medal for outstanding contributions in his field, according to Glennon's biography at Wirepoints. He previously was an Innovate Illinois Advisory Council co-chair and practices law specializing in debt transactions, turnarounds, bankruptcy and venture capital. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Northwestern University and a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School.

ACRE's proposal likely won't see the light of day but is causing damage all the same, Glennon said.

"Though most of it has little chance of being enacted, the proposal itself is damaging because it sends a message about how much of Chicago's establishment has entirely flipped out," he said. "That includes the Chicago Teachers Union."

Which causes unique worries of its own and could accelerate Illinois' ongoing migration out of the state, Glennon said.

"These people are teaching the kids? That alone is terrifying," Glennon said. "A proper title for this proposal would be 'Flee Chicago Now'."