Illness in Illinois

Forget Sleepless in Seattle. There's a serious illness in Illinois and it's the government. I've lived in a variety of states (Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina [ugh], New Jersey, New York), but I've never lived in a state as dysfunctional as Illinois. The state can't pass a budget and, as a result, colleges can't get needed funding (Chicago State University will probably close this month), social programs for low income children and caregivers for the disabled don't have funds to keep going, the state has been unable to pay out lottery winnings above $600, license plate renewal notifications aren't being sent to drivers, and the list goes on and on. Illinois has been dysfunctional for a long time. Corruption in Chicago and Illinois have been allowed to fester for decades and people just shrug their shoulders and say, "That's the way it's always been." I saw an article today in the NY Times that showed what $830,000 could get you in real estate in three different places. One of them showed a house in Oak Park, Illinois. The taxes were over $18,000 a year compared to under $5,000 in the other two states shown (Virginia and North Carolina). That's ridiculous. Yes, I know the cost of living in the South is generally lower than it is in the North, but the taxes in Illinois are outrageous especially when you consider the dysfunction of the state government. What, exactly, are you getting for your nearly $20,000 taxes each year? A governor and a state legislature who can't work together and, therefore, just have a Mexican stand-off and do nothing?