 That’s just sad.
Ok, it’s pathetic.
And this has happening during a period that has been labeled an “economic
recovery.”
But the fact of the matter is Illinois has lagged far behind the rest of the
country in recovering from the Great Recession. The number of Illinois
private-sector jobs has dropped by 5,900 since the first of the year. Only
Illinois and Alaska saw a drop in the number of non-governmental jobs.
In the small town where I live near Springfield, there is only one grocery
store.
I see the furtive looks of folks of ahead of me in line as they slip the
checkout clerk their Link Card.
Nobody wants their neighbors to know.
We Illinoisans are a proud, hard-working people. We want jobs, not handouts.
And yet, for many folks employment remains elusive.
I suspect in your community you see those same embarrassed looks in the checkout
lines, hear friends or family talk about difficult job hunts and know someone
who just given up on Illinois and moved away.
Illinois’ recovery from the Great Recession has been the most sluggish of the 50
states.
You’ll hear state politicians proclaiming we are in “recovery” because the
unemployment rate has dropped.
[to top of second column]
|
 But the unemployment rate only tracks people who are looking for
jobs.
Many folks have just given up looking for a job and gone on welfare.
Others have left the state looking for work elsewhere.
And still others have entered the “underground economy” working
for cash and not reporting their income to the government.
None of these are desirable outcomes for the state of Illinois. But
when folks choose any of these negative alternatives, the state’s
official unemployment rate goes down and the politicians can herald
it as evidence that “we’re turning the corner.”
If only we were.
Other states like Indiana are prospering.
At a time when Illinois has been raising taxes, the Hoosier State
has been cutting them.
When Illinois has adopted more labor regulations, Indiana has
reduced them.
Indiana’s economy has been prospering and Illinois’ has been
struggling.
Prosperity may not be around the corner, but it certainly is right
next door – in Indiana.
[This
article courtesy of
Watchdog.]
Click here to respond to the editor about this
article.
 |
