Anatomy of a Failed Liberal State

When I grew up in the north suburbs of Chicago in the 1960s and '70s, Illinois was still a financial and industrial powerhouse. The Land of Lincoln had a low-rate flat income tax, the property taxes were reasonable, the state ran budget surpluses, and Illinois was the home of such iconic mega-employers as Caterpillar, Sears Roebuck and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. --The public schools were pretty good back then and a dedicated corps of teachers put kids first -- they didn't walk out on strike, and they didn't have the fat pensions they can get now when retiring at age 55.

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(Hat tip: KimR)