Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

Saturday, I tweeted an article by the Bloomington Pantagraph about Caterpillar considering leaving Illinois as a result of the huge tax increases.  The more I thought about it, the more angry I got.  If JJSteffen Design & Build, Inc. decides to incorporate somewhere else, the State of Illinois isn't going to care.  If Jimmy Johns leaves, the State will say "that's too bad, but we need the extra revenue by raising taxes:"  If Caterpillar says they are leaving, that will change everything.  Maybe at that point our state government will figure it out.  But my question is why did it have to get to this point?  Illinois is a laughing stock.  We've had two corrupt governors in a row, dead people vote, and our legislatures are run by crooks.  The thing that just drives me absolutely crazy is we JUST had a chance to change it last November, and we as a state decided to let these jokers continue to drive our state into the financial abyss.  Guess what?  That makes it our fault, our problem. We can blame our politicians all day long, but at the end of the day, we put them in the positions to do what they do.  I think we are at a major crossroads here.  We are dangerously close to a tipping point of where it is no longer "worth it" for businesses to be in business in Illinois.  Small businesses are the engines of our society.  Can they drive our economy out of this mess with increased taxes and ridiculous regulations?  Which scenario makes more sense?  Increase tax burdens=increase prices for goods=less disposable income=job creation? I don't think so.  How about this? Decrease taxes=decrease in prices for goods=more disposable income=increased demand for goods=job creation=larger tax base.  Makes sense to me.

But what is it really?  Down deep at the core of our society's values, what motivates us to think this way?   Why are we in such a financial mess?  I believe we have an attitude problem. Why do we as a society feel so entitled to a certain way of life?  Companies are in business to make money, that is why I am in business.  I need to feed my family, just like everyone else.  The difference is I still feel like it's MY responsibility to do so, not someone else's.  When I was first starting out, it was tough. Money was always tight and when we needed a little more to pay the bills, I would go out and find the work or work harder until we got to where we needed to be.  I didn't put my 40 hours in for the week and say, "oh well, I guess we didn't make enough to pay the rent, hopefully someone will take care of us."  No, I went out there and busted my butt until the mortgage was paid.  Unfortunately, in today's society, that is not what is taught, demanded, or even asked for.  We will never fix this problem unless we take responsibility of our own actions, and stop relying on government to fix our problems.  Now before your freak out and say I'm wacky, I do realize that there are people that cannot take care of themselves.  I do feel like we as a society have an obligation to take care of those individuals in a respectful and dignified way. But don't you think there is probably a large percentage of people that take advantage of that, and therefore take advantage of me and you?   My point is that we are using this entitlement attitude as a crutch, and we are going to drive ourselves into oblivion if we keep going in this direction.

Go for it Caterpillar, make your threats.  I think it's the only way our state government, and we as a society  will even begin to figure it out.