Caterpillar speaks out — and acts against Illinois' practices that take toll on businesses

The Lincoln Courier reports:

When Caterpillar Inc. announced plans Feb. 17 to build a new plant in Georgia, it left Illinois — where the company’s headquarters and largest production capacity are located — standing in the cold.

But “cold” may best describe the state’s business climate, say critics like Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman, who sent Gov. Pat Quinn a much-publicized letter in March 2011 that suggested Illinois shape up or risk losing companies like Caterpillar.

Less than a year later, but before declaring a new site, Caterpillar told some Illinois communities they had no shot at the $200 million plant — expected to generate 4,200 jobs — due to factors out of their control.

Those factors included Illinois lawmakers boosting the state’s corporate tax rate by more than 2 percentage points to 9.5 percent while increasing the personal tax rate from 3 percent to 5 percent.

“Please understand that even if your community had the right logistics for this project, Caterpillar’s previously documented concerns about the business climate and overall fiscal health of the state of Illinois still would have made it impractical for us to select your community for this project,” the company wrote in a letter to officials in Peoria County and the city of Galesburg.

Taxes have consequences, no matter what apologists for big government tell us.