State Rep. Darlene Senger of Naperville has an interesting dilemma. She will be faced with a massive tax increase on thousands of everyday items, necessities, really, like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash, sunscreen. A whopping 500%-plus tax increase on such items just passed the Illinois Senate and is now heading her way.

The bill also taxes non-essential things — those little nice little extras that we treat ourselves to — like candy, beer and soft drinks. Not necessarily the soft drinks that are nutritional, like anything over 50% juice. The ones that have less or no nutritional value, the kind that come in a pre-sealed bottle and contain natural or artificial sweeteners, like, oh, I don’t know, a Snapple Iced Tea.

If you think that because Senger is a Republican that this would be a no brainer, think again. Republicans in the Senate gushed with praise for the legislation. Her counterpart senator, Republican Randy Hultgren, voted YES. Republican Dan Cronin voted YES. Republican Carole Pankau voted YES. Republican Kirk Dillard voted YES.

Obviously, the best thing for her to do now is to “take a stand against her party,” and as you may know, any such stand will need to be approved of ahead of time by her party leadership and would have to have absolutely no consequences, like killing the bill.

But then she may not get that approval. That kind of discord can have consequences in this tax-hostile region of the Western Suburbs. The Republican Party stoked the anti-tax flames on April 15 by staging a Tax Day Protest in Downtown Naperville and said before God and everyone that they are sick of the taxes. Come to find out, most of the area’s state senators voted for this fiscally irresponsible and immoral bill.

If Representative Darlene Senger, who was a featured speaker at the Tax Day Protest, votes against the tax that Hultgren is for, it may get those hard-core right-wingers thinking, “Maybe she ought to have HIS job.” I’m sure Hultgren doesn’t want that, does he? And if they can say that about Hultgren in some districts, voters in other can say Cronin, Pankau and Dillard shouldn’t have their jobs either. Find more people like Senger, for goodness sake!

Thus, there may be some pressure to show what a darned good idea this is, even though it’s a tax increase, by having all House Republicans on board with the plan.

So will the Tax Day Tea Party protester raise taxes on Snapple Iced Tea? Stay tuned.

Receiving glowing praise for their bi-partisanship, the leaders of the Illinois Senate just passed a massive tax increase on a wide range of ordinary products that you might buy on your next trip to the grocery store. Everything from candy to toothpaste, taxes will increase to 6.25%*.

If you’re among those of us who drive, get ready to shell out more for the privilege. License fees are going up.

They also allowed the state to lease out the Illinois Lottery so a private middle management company can take a cut (that can’t be good for jackpots!) and expanded gambling to include video poker machines, turning every bar and roadhouse into a gambler’s paradise.

The spending increases were introduced to the public and passed with blinding speed. The spending measures were also buried in a totally unrelated bills, so an enterprising citizen like you might not be able to find it without a little help. Here’s where you can find info on your new taxes:

HB 255 – Senate Amendment 1 – the video gaming and tax/fee hike bill
HB 312 – Senate Amendment 2 – this is what they’re going to spend your money on

Again, these bills had broad support of Republicans and Democrats. So remember, next time you see your state senator, be sure to say thank you.

* corrected