He Seems Nice

[Content Note: Violent rhetoric.]

Republican Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner says he wants to "rip the economic guts out of Indiana."

He told the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board Monday: "Believe me, I am going to rip — try to rip the economic guts out of Indiana."

He went on to say, "We're coming after Indiana big time."

This rivalry goes back decades. Once upon a time, Indiana and Illinois had a reciprocal tax agreement that meant if you lived in one state and worked in the other, which is especially common around the Chicagoland border where I live, you only had to pay state income tax in the state in which you lived. And then the steel mills in Northwest Indiana collapsed, which had been the biggest employment draw on the Indiana side of the border. So Illinois withdrew from the agreement, because way more people were living in Indiana and commuting into Chicago for jobs than the other way around.

So now we've got this double-state tax issue (although we do get credit for taxes paid on wages in Illinois), and both states are constantly campaigning to lure businesses from the other state.

Illinois' campaigns are typically based on having better social and employment policies, and Indiana's campaigns are typically based on having better tax incentives for corporations.

But it's usually not this ugly. "Rip the economic guts out of Indiana." Jesus Jones.