Sweet: Illinois Republican wants fugitive Wisconsin Dems to pay state income tax

Democrats control both chambers of the Illinois legislature and the governorship, natch, so this is going nowhere. But with the public already annoyed at fleebaggers, every PR stunt that rubs a little extra salt in the wound helps. Especially one that accuses them of being freeloaders in the midst of a debate about state workers not pulling their fair share of the public load.

A Republican lawmaker from Illinois introduced legislation Thursday that would subject Wisconsin senators who crossed the border to Illinois income taxes for their time working in “the Land of Lincoln.”

Illinois Rep. Mike Tryon, of Crystal Lake, said the Wisconsin lawmakers should be subject to the Illinois tax in the same way Green Bay Packers players must pay Illinois tax for games played at Soldier Field…

Tryon said he opposed a 2007 bill that extended the 5% Illinois tax to temporary workers — including professional athletes and movie stars. But if it’s on the books, the Wisconsin senators should pay, Tryon said.

If you’re bummed that the bill won’t pass, don’t be. No doubt the Wisconsin Dems would figure out a way to siphon off taxpayer money to cover that expense too. Meanwhile, in D.C., The One warms up the bus and guns the engine at union protesters everywhere. There’s an election to be won next year, after all, and as we know from his appallingly cynical budget proposal, winning that election matters more than anything else. So under the bus they go:

President Barack Obama, after initially lending his support to organized labor, has stepped back from the fights spreading in state capitals from Wisconsin to Tennessee, leaving union officials divided about his tactics…

Mr. Obama is eager to occupy the political center, Democratic officials said, to help him forge a bipartisan deal on the nation’s long-term finances that could strengthen his position heading into the 2012 election. Mr. Obama has already tacked to the center on taxes, on trade and by working to forge stronger ties with business leaders.

For their part, many union leaders worry that White House involvement could harm their case that the protests and political actions in the capitals of Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana are grassroots, organic movements…

One AFL-CIO official said “it would be nice” if the president weighed in more forcefully, but, he added that it probably isn’t necessary. The state-level attacks on collective bargaining have united once-quiet union members into a fighting force against the GOP, and that will redound to Mr. Obama’s political benefit, regardless of his involvement.

He’s not really throwing them under the bus, of course. What would Richard Trumka do with his time without his daily phone calls and weekly visits to the White House? In fact, he met with none other than Joe Biden and Hilda Solis just this morning — with no press allowed, natch. As always, Obama remains immaculately above the fray while his surrogates play hardball politics behind the scenes. Just ask the lobbyists who are forced to consult the most “transparent” administration ever away from the White House so that visitor logs won’t record their presence.

Via RCP, a video flashback to rosier (or rather, purpler) days.

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