Something's got to give

I've written many times before that the trajectory of the federal government is towards a income-transfer station where taxes are taken in and sent back out for entitlements and debt service, leaving little aside for what we call "the government."  Look to Illinois for the future: the state's Supreme Court has ruled that a pension reform law is unconstitutional so pay up.

The ruling means Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly will have to come up with a new solution after justices appeared to offer little in the way of wiggle room beyond paying what's owed, which likely would require a tax increase. Coming up with a way to bridge a budget gap of more than $6 billion already was going to be difficult with little more than three weeks before a scheduled May 31 adjournment, and now the pension mess has been added to the mix.

So Illinois needs money which means either steep cuts to state spending or raising taxes and exacerbating what is already one of the worst business environments in the country.  Citizens are getting the message and doing the Super Bowl shuffle to other states.