This post makes no sense. From Illinios State site http://www.ides.state.il.us/employer/uitax.asp Rates for 2010 are max 7.250% min 0.650% base $12,520 (you don't pay into unemployment insurance for wages over $12520/yr)
The rate you pay is based on past claims not to exceed 7.250%. How does he get $20000?
One successful claim against you changes the rate you pay for each employee. If your rate is set at 7.25% then for one employee you might pay 7.250% * $12,520=$907.70. You pay that much for EACH employee, e.g. 10 employees yields a bill for $9,077.
Except that the headline quite clearly tells us that the charge is 20x higher than that (it's a $20k reason not to hire "someone", not "$20k reason not to fire 21 people").
Surely the headline would lie for the purposes of exploiting partisan anger?
The rate you pay is based on past claims not to exceed 7.250%. How does he get $20000?