Simply stated, politicians and government employee unions have created an unholy alliance to extract as much money as possible from the state's beleaguered private sector.

That's not a surprise. Indeed, it's easily explained by the "stationary bandit" theory of government.

But while the bandit of government may be stationary, the victims are not. At least not in a nation with 50 different states.

Leaving Illinois

Indeed, Illinois Policy reports that a growing number of geese with golden eggs decided to fly away after a big tax hike in 2011.

Politicians enacted Illinois' 2011 income-tax hike during a late-night legislative session in January 2011 and raised the state's personal income-tax rate to 5 percent from 3 percent. This 67 percent income-tax hike lasted for four years, during which time Illinois experienced record wealth flight.