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Job Creation and Fiscal Responsibility

For millions of Chicago families, budgeting is pretty simple. You have income and you have expenses. If expenses are more than income, you have to make cuts. If income is more than expenses, you invest for the future. Somewhere along the way, Congress forgot that simple approach.

Now the country is facing a fiscal crisis the likes of which we've never seen before. President Obama has shown he has the courage and the vision to put our economy back on track. Mike Quigley has shown he has the skills to help him get it done.

The Mike Quigley Fiscal Responsibility Agenda

Economic Stimulus and Job Creation: The most urgent legislation will provide at least $400 billion in infrastructure and other investments to create jobs immediately. This will accomplish two principal goals: Stemming the tide of job losses and rebuilding and creating a new infrastructure that will serve America's energy, transportation, communications needs for decades to come.

Tax Relief: Second, and equally important, Congress must provide a tax cut for working families who are struggling right now. Mike will support the Obama-Biden tax plan to provide tax relief for as many as 150 million working Americans. He will also support eliminating income taxes for seniors who make less than $50,000 per year and are also seeing the value of their retirement funds dwindle and the costs of health care skyrocket. Mike will also support the Obama-Biden plan to simplify tax filings and modernize IRS systems to save taxpayers 200 million hours of work and up to $2 billion in tax preparer fees.

Restore Fiscal Discipline: Like he did for Cook County, Mike Quigley will work with the new President and Congress to make sure that all government contracts valued at more than $25,000 will be competitive. Mike will also work to cut pork barrel spending and end wasteful government spending by examining the federal budget and creating new ways to use valuable taxpayer resources responsibly.

Support Labor: Mike Quigley proudly supports the rights of workers to organize and will immediately cosponsor the Employee Free Choice Act.

Common Sense Reform: Mike will support common sense reforms by leading efforts to mandate accurate loan disclosures, reform our bankruptcy system so consumers can restructure their debt and stop credit card companies from taking advantage of people.

The Mike Quigley Record of Accomplishment on Fiscal Responsibility

Mike Quigley has consistently demonstrated a commitment to being a fiscal watchdog. He has never voted for a tax increase and he fought vehemently against the recent 1% sales tax increase that makes Cook County one of the most expensive areas in the country to live and raise a family.

He led the fight against the proposed lease, hotel, restaurant and fuel taxes and stopped them from being imposed on Cook County taxpayers. His efforts has prevented 100s of millions in new taxes from being passed since he has been a Commissioner.

He was the only Democratic Commissioner to vote against the Cook County Parking Tax in 2000.

Year after year, he not only identifies questionable expenditures, unrealistic revenue projections, and no-bid contracts, but also proposes alternative solutions to the County's financial and management problems.

Commissioner Quigley has authored and issued eight separate, extensive reports on cost cutting measures and revenue enhancement.

But, Mike does not just write about ways to bring accountability to Cook County, he acts on them. He opposed the use of new funds for traffic court, instead offering a proposal to manage existing facilities more efficiently.

Mike has repeatedly recommended a total reinvention of Cook County's outdated structure.

His numerous proposals include cost-cutting measures, non-tax revenue sources, and privatization and joint-purchasing programs where appropriate.

Mike has also worked with the Cook County Assessor to make the County's complex real estate classification, simpler, fairer, more efficient, more transparent, and to put the system in line with other policy goals like preserving affordable housing and creating jobs.