The state of Illinois recently lost three Fortune 500 companies, and its population has declined by more than 100,000 residents in the past two years. Meanwhile, its largest city is a poster child for rampant crime and a failing public education system.
How fitting — and deliciously ironic — that Chicago was selected this week to host the 2024 Democratic national convention.
The symbolism is rich. Illinois is a one-party state dominated by public-employee unions. Property taxes are among the highest in the nation. The state’s government pension system is a monument to red ink, running almost $140 billion in the hole. According to the Tax Foundation, Illinois ranks 36th in the country for its business tax climate, worst in the region.
State Democrats have one answer for most issues: higher taxes and more regulation. Politicians in Springfield are contemplating a new “wealth” tax and a revamp of the state’s income tax system that will separate citizens from more of their hard-earned money.
At the same time, the state’s education system is a dumpster fire. A recent analysis by Wirepoints concluded that there are 23 public schools in Illinois — including 18 in Chicago — at which no students are grade-level proficient in either reading or math. Not surprisingly, teachers unions have a stranglehold on education policy.
And then there’s crime. While Chicago’s murder rate has stabilized somewhat, the number of homicides in the city increased by 250 in 2020. Residents are under siege.
“Serious gang violence remains a plague,” The Washington Post observed last month. “Organized criminal groups have brazenly looted retail stores … including in the main shopping district. Carjackings, muggings and shootings have become all but routine. Predominantly Black neighborhoods have borne the brunt of the chaos.”
Companies such as Boeing and Tyson foods have left Chicago. “There is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis,” Chris Kempczinski, head of Chicago-based McDonald’s, said last year. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to operate a global business out of Chicago and Illinois.”
It doesn’t help that the Chicago state’s attorney embraces a defund-the-police, soft-on-crime approach, dismissing “more than 25,000 felony cases (including for murder and other major charges),” according to the Post.
What better place for national Democrats to select for their 2024 convention than a city and state that personify Democratic governance, a metropolis where progressive policies — high taxes, regulatory excess, hostility to job creators, fealty to public-sector unions, antipathy toward law enforcement — have dominated for decades and produced such dysfunction?
Who says Democrats don’t have a sense of humor?
