Chicago, Chicago, That ... Very Broke Town

Like me, Stephen Moore grew up in the Chicago area, in a time when Chicago worked. Unfortunately, that is no longer true, which he documents in this piece. 

Rahm Emmanuel, Obama's buddy and mayor of Chicago, recently went downstate to Springfield with pockets turned inside out to beg for dollars from state legislators. His city, you see, is broke - very broke. But then so is Illinois to the tune of billions in the red and for the same reason: government pensions. The Illinois budget office estimates that 1 of every 3 tax dollars is now going to pay government employee pension obligations, primarily teachers and the Illinois Supreme Court has said, "Can't touch dat!" because these are "sacred" contracts. What to do?

Why soak the rich, of course, that favorite of all Dems and Lefties! Oh wait - the rich guys are moving out of state to places likes Florida, Texas and Arizona. Data shows that in 2012 alone, based on IRS data, the out-migration of income exceeds in-migration by $2 billion. Over 10 years this is $30 BILLION of income lost to the grasping hands of Messrs. Emmanuel and his minions. Mon dieu!

Well, there's always the Feds. Who are also in the red. Big time. Rahm might want to ask Detroit how that approach worked out for them. Hmm ... not so much. 

All of which means we can expect to see a creeping Detroitization of the Windy Cindy with crime going up because of no dollars to pay for adequate police and fire, corporations and middle and upper income individuals fleeing as a consequence and a slow slide into decay as the Toddlin' Town becomes the Tottering Town swaying over the edge of the abyss. Sad, but inevitable as long as people keep voting the bums in.

townhall.com/columnists/stephenmoore/2015/09/15/anatomy-of-a-failed-liberal-state-n2051977