WHILE THE NORTH WOODS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE VACATION DESTINATIONS…

1/14/11

A friend and reader, after reading my posts and today’s Wall Street Journal editorial by Kimberley Strassel, yet another out-of-towner who suddenly knows everything there is to know about politics in Chicago, on the Illinois tax hike, asked me two questions:

--Why haven’t I mentioned Wisconsin when I have listed potential destinations for fleeing Illinoisans, and

--Why isn’t anyone in Springfield, at least in the Democratic Party, talking seriously about cutting back on spending and government?

My answers, in redacted form, make for a good post:

1/14/11

Thanks for the kind words.

I didn't mention Wisconsin because its individual income tax rate, which goes as high as 7.75%, remains far higher than ours. I notice Ms. Strassel, who never lets facts get in the way of her cheerleading for the GOP, didn't mention that in her article. Still, though, at the margin, the increase makes Wisconsin more attractive to a potential expat than it was before we hiked our taxes.

Of course, our politicians never speak of cutting, reducing, eliminating, etc. Why should they, when the taxpayers always seem willing to hand over ever larger portions of their income to these public servants to excrete as they wish? And why should they when we elect the guy who says he is going to increase our taxes? And therein lies the solution to this mess: Don’t vote for these self-serving poltroons and oppose the spending, not just the taxes imposed to pay for the spending. You and I are already doing our part, but most of the rest of the electorate is too busy attending to such weighty matters as “Dancing With the Stars.”

Note that the GOPers, currently screaming for spending cuts, get surprisingly reticent when asked to tell us what they would like to cut, other than free RTA rides for seniors. Label anything for “education” or “roads,” regardless of where the money actually goes, and all of the sudden the Republicans who represent us in the suburbs are elbowing their Democratic colleagues for a place at the trough.

Ultimately, the solution to this, and to a host of other such problems, is term limits. But we’ll never see those; who would term limit himself or herself out of a lifetime sinecure on the public payroll?