Chicago Trib op-ed on cigarette tax proposal: Quinn's gift to the underworld

I've been critical of previous attempts to increase taxes on cigarettes in Illinois, citing that revenue forecasts rarely match what actually comes in. One of the reasons is the grifter culture in my state. The Chicago Tribune, in an op-ed today, takes it a step further. The editorial's headline is Quinn's gift to the underworld.

Last month, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced the arrest of a Cook County sheriff's deputy on charges of providing protection to bootleggers supplying the state's illicit cigarette market. The deputy's son was also arrested and charged with trafficking tens of thousands of bootleg packs of cigarettes.

These busts come on the heels of another scandal late last year when two Cook County revenue investigators were fired for accepting thousands of dollars in bribes from retailers in exchange for turning a blind eye to illegal cigarette sales. According to Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard, these actions cost the county untold thousands in lost tax revenue.

The illicit cigarette trade and the crime and corruption that come with it have plagued Illinois for decades. Here's a question for Gov. Pat Quinn and other lawmakers lining up to hike the state's cigarette tax by $1 a pack: What do they think causes these problems?

Taxes, of course. Springfield tacks a 98-cent excise on every pack of cigarettes sold in Illinois. On top of this, a $2 county tax is added in Cook County. Cigarettes sold in Chicago are assessed an additional 68 cents, making them the second most heavily taxed cigarettes in the country. These heavy tax loads make it possible for bootleggers to earn more than $1 million on every truckload of cigarettes smuggled into the state.

The op-ed goes on to give an engaging history of cigarette smuggling in Illinois.

Finally, this post is my first with a Google Affiliate ad. Longtime readers of this blog know that I used to be an Amazon affiliate, until Quinn added an internet tax that not only drove businesses out of Illinois, it closed down my Amazon shop.


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