THE COST OF HIGH TAXES – AT 10:32 P.M. ET:  Many politicians, especially on the state level, refuse to confront the cost of high taxes.  But the cost is very real, and can destroy whole communities.

New York, for example, where Urgent Agenda is written, is a high-tax state.  And a high cost-of-living as well.  In recent years New York has become the highest out-migration state in the nation.  More people leave New York each year than leave any other state.  The people who leave are usually the most productive.  Nothing is being done about this.

Now Illinois, which just imposed new taxes to balance its reckless budget, is learning the cost of high taxes:

SPRINGFIELD -- The chairman and CEO of Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc. is raising the specter of moving the heavy equipment maker out of Illinois.

In a letter sent March 21 to Gov. Pat Quinn, Caterpillar chief executive officer Doug Oberhelman said officials in at least four other states have approached the company about relocating since Illinois raised its income tax in January.

"I want to stay here. But as the leader of this business, I have to do what's right for Caterpillar when making decisions about where to invest," Oberhelman wrote in the letter obtained Friday by the Lee Enterprises Springfield bureau. "The direction that this state is headed in is not favorable to business and I'd like to work with you to change that."

Oberhelman said he's being actively courted to move.

"I have been called, 'cornered' in meetings and 'wined and dined' -- the heat is on," Oberhelman wrote. "Before, I never really considered living anywhere else and certainly never considered the possibility of Caterpillar relocating. But I have to admit, the policymakers in Springfield seem to make it harder by the day."

COMMENT:  The problem is, the policymakers in Springfield don't care.  They already have their speeches written should Cat decide to leave.  The words will be familiar:  turncoats, greedy capitalists, anti-labor, inhuman.  Just recall the language used by protesters in Wisconsin who didn't like the governor's attempts to bring public-service unions down to Earth.

I believe that the next ten years may well see some of the largest population shifts this country has witnessed since the post-World-War II years.  It isn't only companies that will move, it will be individuals, looking for well-run states that are friendly to initiative.  Our state of New York isn't one of them, and we are losing.  Illinois, where I went to college, is another business-unfriendly state, and it is losing as well.

March 26, 2011