Democrats bash Trump, back progressive tax

Illinois Democrats Monday talked in stark terms about the need to oust President Donald Trump from the White House, and also stumped for votes for the progressive income tax constitutional amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot.

“No matter what that xenophobic, sexist, homophobic racist in the White House says, or no matter what mayhem he causes, we’re going to have our election on November 3rd and we’ll vote him out of office,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a taped presentation via Zoom as part of Brunch@6.

The event was a virtual version of what has become a staple on the State Fair’s Democrat Day in Illinois — the Illinois Democratic County Chair’s Association brunch. With no State Fair this summer, the fundraising event, also designed to energize Democrats for the fall election, was rescheduled to Monday evening. Kristina Zahorik, president of the group, said nearly 800 people were watching.

Trump took criticism from many speakers, including Comptroller Susana Mendoza.

“In these challenging days of COVID-19, boy do I miss you,” Mendoza said. “I’m a massive hugger and love seeing people in person. ... No doubt, we’ll have a better chance of getting the health of our nation back when we get rid of the other virus that has infected our country — Donald Trump.”

She said defeating Trump would be “getting rid of what ails America’s conscience, heart and soul.”

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, of Springfield, said 75 percent of Americans say the country is moving in the wrong direction, and have seen the “disastrous” results of Trump “lying to the people” about coronavirus, including saying it will disappear. Durbin also said with the economy suffering dramatically during the pandemic, Trump has decided to try to “smear and blast” Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Some “preposterous” things were said about Biden at the Republican National Convention, Durbin said, like calling him a “radical socialist.”

“This man has served this country so well in the Senate and as vice president, and has been part of building the middle class in America,” Durbin said. “And then to suggest that he’s somehow soft on crime — I know better. Joe Biden is a person who values law and order, who values constitutional policing, a person who values, as we do, a nation that is strong and nation that is safe.

“That kind of negative campaigning is what we’re going to hear from Donald Trump in the closing weeks of this campaign,” Durbin said. “The American people know better, and we know Joe Biden.”

Pritzker also promoted election of Illinois Democrats, and passage what he calls the “fair tax,” the constitutional amendment that would allow variable income-tax rates instead of the flat rates now required.

“It is vital that our essential workers like nurses, firefighters, grocery store clerks, teachers and paramedics pay a lower rate than millionaires and billionaires,” said Pritzker — himself a billionaire. “The fair tax will bring in billions of dollars of additional revenue that we can use to balance our budget, fund our schools, human services, and critical programs that many Illinoisans rely on.”

Lawmakers have approved rates that would take effect under the amendment, and Pritzker says only the top 3 percent of earners — those making $250,000 a year or more — would pay more. But opponents of the amendment say they believe the legislature would end up changing those rates so people who make less will also pay more.

Among other speakers was Betsy Dirksen Londrigan of Springfield, who, after losing a close race in 2018 to U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, is taking him on again in the 13th Congressional District.

As in her campaign two years ago, she said she got into the race to protect health care, and after seeing Davis “celebrating on the White House lawn with Donald Trump and a bunch of Washington Republicans. ... that they had just voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act” which could make millions lose insurance.

“I thought, either they don’t know what this is going to do to families, or they don’t care,” she said.

She noted that her oldest son, when when he was 12, nearly died after a tick bite caused a disease that put him on a ventilator.

“If we hadn’t had good insurance, it would have wiped us out,” she said.

Londrigan also showed support for the progressive income tax.

“There’s so much on the ballot on November 3rd,” Londrigan said. “Health care is on the ballot. Making sure that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes is on the ballot. Restoring our democracy is on the ballot.”

Davis has said the Affordable Care Act leaves many unable to afford their insurance, and he supports repealing and replacing the law.

Aaron DeGroot, spokesman for Davis, also said later Monday that the progressive income tax would “raise taxes on farmers and small businesses as they struggle to keep their doors open in this tough economy. Illinois can’t afford Londrigan’s liberal policies.”

Two speakers from beyond the state’s Democratic Party were U.S. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.

Booker urged Democrats to “reclaim the ideals that have been so savaged by a president who has trampled them.” He said defeating Trump would also bring momentum to achieve Democratic policy goals.

Baldwin said Trump will run on fear and pessimism, as he can’t run on his record concerning the virus or the economy.

Baldwin said she joins with others committed to “building back better” to make a country with “health care availability for all, a fair economy that works for working people, and an end to the sort of police brutality that we experienced in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and earlier we saw in Minneapolis and so many other locations. But also equity across the board.”

Joe Hackler, spokesman for the Illinois Republican Party, asked in a statement why Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, wasn’t invited to “the biggest annual Democrat gathering in the state.” He wondered if top Illinois Democrats “don’t want to be seen with “Public Official A.” Madigan chairs the Democratic Party of Illinois, but not the county chairs’ group.

Madigan was “absolutely invited,” and the Democratic Party of Illinois financially sponsored the event, said Dan Kovats, executive director of the chairs’ group.

“If the Speaker had wanted to speak tonight, we would have welcomed him,” Kovats said.

Madigan has not been charged with any crime, but federal prosecutors in Chicago called him “Public Official A” in a deferred prosecution agreement where Commonwealth Edison agreed to pay a $200 million fine for allegedly giving jobs and contracts to Madigan associates to curry favor with him. Madigan has denied any wrongdoing.

Contact Bernard Schoenburg: Bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com, 788-1540, twitter.com/bschoenburg.