Illinois' Failed Economic State

The Chicago Tribune's editorial on failure in Illinois:

our leaders' legacy of unpaid bills, astonishing debts, yet still more borrowing that essentially rolls our mammoth obligations from one credit card to the next. Their legacy includes a state tax scheme that discourages new business investment: The state that ranks a pathetic 48th in job creation now suffers an unemployment rate of 12.2 percent, the highest in 27 years. Here's a damning metric: The January jobless rate in all 12 Illinois metro areas exceeded the previous year's rate — for the 32nd consecutive month.

As job numbers shrink, those among us still fortunate enough to have jobs must pay for our lawmakers' habitual recklessness. State government's free-fall into insolvency was designed intentionally and executed methodically. Over the years, legislators devoted more to hoarding power and ensuring their re-election than to smart governance. They repeatedly created employee benefits, entitlement coverage and spending obligations that the people of Illinois cannot pay as costs come due.

Barack Obama's Illinois.