Illinois the Poster State for Failure

Next door in Wisconsin, a courageous Republican Gov. Scott Walker battles infantile unions trying to recall him for returning the state to fiscal sanity and avoiding massive layoffs. The Dem candidates are competing on whether they want to stake the future of the state on green battery power or, while implementing the same Walker reforms, just lie.

Here in Illinois, the state's been a sad and cruel joke for some time.

Quinn: 'I was put on earth' to fix state pension mess. Oh yeah, God's on his side, but what about the public unions that dominate this state? I mean, he's the guy who cut a secret deal with the unions before his election.

Chicago and Cook County elected Quinn--practically the entire rest of the state went red--but the greater population of gov workers voted to perpetuate a system set up for early and often retirement. Of course, this Dem gov and well-connected former Obama White House Chief of Staff now Chicago mayor may figure they'll get a bailout from the federal government. The hell with that. I'm with George Will, a former Illinoisan. Someone who left:

American states’ greater freedom - autonomy under America’s system of dual sovereignty - from the central government’s supervision requires that they be disciplined instead by the market for government bonds, and the real possibility of default.

Peterson, a professor of government at Harvard, and Nadler, a doctoral candidate also at Harvard, say collective-bargaining rights for government employees pose “a dramatically new challenge to the viability” of American federalism.

They cite studies demonstrating that investors’ perceptions of risk of default are correlated with the rate of unionization among government employees.

Higher percentages of government employees who are unionized, and larger Democratic shares of state legislative seats, correlate with increases in state borrowing costs.

At least 12 percent of Americans change their residences each year, often moving to more hospitable economic environments.

In a system of competitive federalism, Peterson and Nadler write, “If states and localities attempt in a serious way to tax the rich and give to the poor, the rich will depart while the poor will be attracted.”

And government revenues and expenditures vary inversely.

No fatboy gov Quinn kidding. I sure have one foot out the door, I'm a renter now, not an Illinois homeowner. Then there's Mayor Rahmbo. Here's my rant the other day, Mamas, don't let your babies grow up crushed by this

And here's my tweet stream from last night:

So @RahmEmanuel How come Millennial Park and the Loop are inundated with panhandlers? And it's gotten worse. How come NYC doesn't have it?

So @RahmEmanuel Maybe NYC doesn't have all panhandlers all the time is because they allow pushcarts. They let people make a small living

So @RahmEmanuel You want Chicago to be a world class city? Well, let these people go. Let them work for a living

So @RahmEmanuel You want people to come down to the Loop or live here? Every few ft around Millennial Park, Michigan to CityHall,panhandlers

So @RahmEmanuel The streets of NYC are crowded with people trying to sell fake designer stuff but that's better than PANHANDLERS

So @RahmEmanuel You can have the Art Institute, fashion shows in the park, tulips, you can tell Occupy to go away, but still, PANHANDLERS

So @RahmEmanuel You're hosting NATO in Chicago.You want to show a world class face. But in the Loop, on every corner, everywhere PANHANDLERS

So @RahmEmanuel @Messina2012 You've got this campaignHQ in O's hometown,poster child for an Obamanomics future,&on your doorstep PANHANDLERS

So @RahmEmanuel @Messina2012 Maybe you need to get Jesse on the case.Free the PANHANDLERS.Let them sell stuff,even if its ObamaforAmerica

Illinois, freefall to failure. Make my day.

P.S. An oldie:

The bluer a city, the bluer a state, the fewer private sector jobs it tends to create