This is a perfect example of government stupidity. The CEO of CME is threatening, or promising rather, to leave Illinois over a proposed transaction tax that would shatter his business to pieces–leaving it in ruins. The absurdity of the tax proposal lies in the fact that the CME has 28 other data centers, in different states, that would welcome the CME with open arms. The State of Illinois is directly targeting the CME with this tax, in an attempt to raise $12 billion for their financially and morally bankrupt state.
Duffy is calling their bluff and promising to protect his shareholders.
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That’s strange. You would think that the Illinois legislators would know that CME could easily move elsewhere. But I guess they are finding out now. Maybe there is no risk to the legislators to find this out now rather than earlier. Maybe they just decide not to make this tax into a law and that’s the end of it, I guess.
But government officials are not stupid. They know what their jobs are. Both state and federal legislators know that their job consists of 1) fund raising and 2) Oops, there is no time left over for any other activities at all– not even reading the proposed legislation.
That’s why we need campaign finance reform at both the state and the federal level. With public financing of campaigns, legislators would be free to pay attention to solving state and national problems, rather than simply fund raising 24/7/365.
If we want a political system that has public servants in it, then we have to set up a system where public servants can afford to get elected, without depending on huge donations from special interests. And where legislators have time to focus on problem solving rather than solely on fund raising.
If we set up, or allow to remain in place, a political system that forces politicians to do nothing but fund raise 24/7/365, then we can’t expect that they will do or understand anything else.
Frogie I live in this swamp hell hole fiscally DESTROYED BY DEMOCRATS and democrats alone. What the hell does campaign reform have to do with this corruption ? Public service employees are retiring at 55 on $70k year by the thousands every year. Schools are broke and this rat hole is sinking fast.
What state are you talking about?
What it has to do with campaign finance reform is that if the public service employees union is now contributing to politicians’ campaigns, it could not do that any more. So, if it is the case that they are buying unfair benefits in their treatment by your state legislature, then that would not happen any more.
Oh, I guess you are Illinois, like CME.
Campaign finance reform would get the hired servants of special interest groups out of politics. And the voters would then be free to find and elect to office, people who are good public servant type people– the kind of people who currently can not afford to run for office.
Valid point. But the Democrats in this state are the unions. That bond will never be broken.
If campaign finance reform occurred, then public employees unions could not contribute to state legislators campaigns any more– not to Dem candidates and not to GOP candidates. Then candidates of any party would have to propose things the voters want– not just do what their donors tell them to do.
None of this should be a surprise, Illinois is getting so much worse. That is why I moved.
3,000 millionaires left last year. Many folk I know are leaving for the southern states, myself included. There’s drive by shootings almost every day on the surrounding interstates. The inner city is scary.
Speaking of Chi town of course.
That does sound scary.
Government corruption needs to be rooted out, at every level of government, and in every party politicians come from.
It is unfortunate that propaganda has been so successful at getting citizens to give up on government and not vote.
Voter turnout in 2014 was the lowest since WWII
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2014/11/10/voter-turnout-in-2014-was-the-lowest-since-wwii/
Government has problems. We need to fix those problems, not give up on government and leave it in the hands of others– although I can’t blame anyone for moving to an area with less crime.
Meanwhile, skipping over the bullshit politics……the Gangsta Pager at GOOGL is light-years ahead of gay cooking AAPL? Flying cars…investing own money for a while now….