•October 31, 2018•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

This is the seventh and final column on “What the next Illinois governor and legislature must do.”
In an old cartoon, Pogo surveyed the world around him and declared: We have discovered the enemy—and it is us! So it may be in Illinois. We are so glum about our fiscal, tax, political and corruption problems that many of my friends have given up on Illinois. And their dour attitude is infectious.
We all need a strong dose of Norman Vincent Peale’s power of positive thinking, which can also be infectious.
First, we are not alone in our travails. Many states face big problems. Coastal states are being hammered by more frequent and more ferocious storms. Texas and the Southwest are ever more beastly hot and desperately parched, wondering where their next drop will come from. California has not only punishing taxes but also housing prices that are pushing many out of that state.
Yet some states with big problems thrive. Minnesota has an individual income tax top marginal rate that is twice that of our tax: 9.85 percent versus our 4.95 rate. And winters that can be brutal. Yet Minnesota has a healthy, growing economy and increasing population.
For most of our state’s history, our great strengths—location in the middle of the country, dense networks of interstate highways and railroads, the nation’s leading airport for domestic and international connections, an incredibly vibrant central-city Chicago, copious surface and underground water supplies, and much higher than typical percentages of population with bachelor’s and advanced degrees—have made Illinois a leader among the states in innovation and wealth.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.