Governor Quinnocchio Speaks

Or shall we call him Alice in Wonderland? More magical thinking. Reaction to his op-ed in the Tribune from one of my friends:

I love the "Alice in Wonderland" logic of our governor; increased taxes will draw business to the state. And, to think that I wasted all that time in in business school (U of I) learning about the cost of production and its impact on business viability. Too bad many U. S. manufacturers moved operations off-shore, and auto manufacturers built plants outside the UAW's sphere of influence. Now that the governor has explained how business works, I guess they will all be returning to Illinois.

Right next door to him on the page, Wisconsin's new Republican Governor Scott Walker. Indiana made a splash yesterday, and well-deserved mockery ensues, including in Illinois. WSJ: The Anti-Illinois. Georgia debates a tax reform with lower rates.

But hey.

At least there's football to cheer us up a bit.

The road back to sanity? Perhaps recalling that sensible visionary from Tampico, Illinois would be a start. And remember what happened to Pinocchio.

P.S. About that Cubs Cardinal express which will slow down freight and for what. Michael Barone: High-speed rail is a fast way to waste taxpayer money:

Other projects seem just as iffy. California is spending $4.3 billion on a 65-mile stretch of track between Corcoran and Borden in the Central Valley, which is supposed to be part of an 800-mile network connecting San Diego and Sacramento. Its projected cost was $32 billion in 2008 and $42 billion in 2009, suggesting a certain lack of precision.

Or consider the $1.1 billion track improvement on the Chicago-St.Louis line in Illinois. It would reduce travel time between the cities by 48 minutes, but the trip would still take more than four and a half hours at an average speed of 62 miles per hour.[snip]

Moreover, to achieve the speed of French and Japanese high-speed rail, you need dedicated track so you don't have to slow down for freight trains. To get dedicated track, you need a central government that is willing and able to ignore environmental protests and not-in-my-backyard activists. Japan and France have such governments. We don't.

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Illinois Lifts Debt Capacity

Related post: NY Times Nuance Misses Chicago