From Red to Blue
By Jim Killebrew

[October 01, 2014]  The State Senator from the 44th District in Illinois, Bill Brady, reported in his Capitol Commentary published on September 26, 2014 stated that new economic reports in Illinois, "continue to file in ranking Illinois among the worst states fiscally. The most recent study deems Illinois the second-worst state to do business in."

Additionally, Senator Brady shared a report that ranks Illinois as one of the most depressed fiscal states in the United States. A study from the American Economic Development Institute shows Illinois is second-worst state for businesses and hold a rank in their ranking system as the 49th worst out of the 50 states.

That report documents, "The nonpartisan American Economic Development Institute has released its yearly list of best and worst states in which to do business, ranking Illinois as the 49th worst out of 50 states."

"The study examines 32 factors related to the states’ efforts to be “pro-business,” considering issues such as tax rates, workers’ compensation, and burden of litigation matters. Illinois scored dismally in many of these areas, receiving a failing “grade” in matters such as the unemployment rate, workers’ compensation, corporate tax index, property taxes and the state’s regulatory and litigation environment."

"One notable area for improvement in the state of Illinois is the “marketing/website response to new and existing employers” in which the state received an “F.” Also concerning in a state known for its diverse transportation infrastructure, Illinois received a “D” in this area."
 

"Though sparsely populated states such as Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska register as the top three pro-business states, neighboring Indiana and Missouri were ranked in the top ten by the study as the seventh and eighth, respectively, most pro-business states. Indiana has been proactively encouraging Illinois employers to “jump ship,” having launched an advertising campaign specifically to lure businesses out of the Land of Lincoln and into the Hoosier State." (Friday, September 26, 2014, American Economic Development Institute)

Continuing with the Brady report, "Illinois has 900 separate financial accounts in addition to its general fund. By comparison, Wisconsin has 60. Sales tax revenue increased by $321 million in fiscal year 2014. In 2014, Illinois will invest 79 cents per person in the Illinois Arts Council Agency, making Illinois 21st in the nation in per capita arts spending." Nothing against the Arts Council, but when a state like Illinois is hemorrhaging money, in debt billions of dollars, paying bills owed for services with about a year lag time, and the governor running for re-election promising to raise taxes, one wonders if it is wise to continue to spend money on the Arts when so many other things remain a priority.
 

The gubernatorial race is in full swing now with the republican opponent and the sitting governor nipping at each other's heels. The interesting thing about the race is that everyone knows the democrat is building up a deficit spending plan, calling for higher taxes and promising to push the General Assembly to pass the higher tax he wanted, but at the same time attacking the republican candidate for his being "rich." Apparently, in Illinois for the democrats, it is a sin to be wealthy; at least for a republican to be wealthy. The republican candidate is a "billionaire" having been in private business all his life. Keeping with the democrat party line from the national perspective, the Governor and the Speaker of the House, who has been in the seat for decades, think the best way to run a campaign is to ignore the past record that has failed economically in every aspect of economic measurement and criticize the fact the opponent is wealthy; class envy seems to be the mantra of those who have failed to raise the economic standards in the state and nation.

Even the public employee unions who have fought the current democrat governor for having diminished the state retirees' annuities by taking away their state-paid insurance had to run to the Illinois Supreme Court to fight the Governor to have the law retracted. The High Court found the politicians could not "diminish" the annuity because it was contrary to the Illinois Constitution. Never mind their having fought him tooth and toenail, they are now backing him as the favorite, supporting him at every turn simply because they are afraid of the republican who promises not to raise taxes and eventually balance the Illinois budget. The current incumbent is the successor to the previous Illinois governor who was kicked out of the position due to corruption; he went to prison while the current governor was his second in charge and moved into the position to fill most of that term. Having been elected to his own term four years ago, the governor is now trying to garner a second term in his own right. With the state in shambles economically with the lack of economic savvy, plus trashing the Constitution, how is it possible for that kind of leadership to be rewarded again by being re-elected?
 

So, presumably the people in Illinois (perhaps only Chicago), plus the public employee's unions would rather have the status-quo of economic failure along with much higher taxes, business flight from Illinois to other states and continued accumulation of debt, just to avoid electing a person who has proven his ability to avoid being in the red when it comes to business. When was it the democrats decided it was better to live in debt than to elect someone with a proven ability to build economic strength?

Illinois has been a "blue" state with the democrats in charge; but because of the enormous debt their favorite color seems to be red. Perhaps it might be better to elect a "blue-blood" candidate with proven ability in business to make the state a "red" state, but at the same time replace it with economic policies that will erase the democrat red and change it to republican blue (or at least black on the ledger).

[By JIM KILLEBREW]