McHenry Times

Illinois GOP chair Don Tracy worries about how many more squandered opportunities taxpayers can afford under what he sees as the misguided direction of Democrats in Springfield.  

“An opportune time presented itself right after the holiday weekend for progress to be made on behalf of Chicagoans and Illinoisans, yet the convening of Reps. Sean Casten (D-Wheaton) and Lauren Underwood (D-Crystal Lake), Governor J.B. Pritzker, and President Joe Biden in Crystal Lake was sadly nothing more than another photo-op and political stunt for Democrat leaders to claim everything’s alright – but it is not,” he said. “Biden’s trip to Crystal Lake was an opportunity for lawmakers of the same party to get together and fight for a better Illinois. Instead, they ignored the serious economic issues and crime wave now facing Chicago.

Republicans recently went on the attack against Casten based on his support of President Joe Biden’s tax increase plan on businesses and the rich at a time when he was in the process of being penalized for failing to pay taxes on his D.C. properties before an expired deadline.

“Democrats, like Sean Casten, are currently pushing the largest federal tax increase since 1942 to fund their socialist agenda,” National Republican Congressional Committee Deputy Communications Director Mike Ber recently wrote to Illinois Republicans in an email. “But it turns out Casten had trouble paying his own taxes. Public records show and the Washington Free Beacon reports Sean Casten was penalized by the District of Columbia for failing to pay $3,579.60 in property taxes on his DC home, which were due at the end of March.”

The Washington Free Beacon reports the veteran lawmaker, who faced harsh criticism for trying to declare the condo property his primary residence while running for Congress in Illinois, still owes D.C. a balance of $522.47.