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Illinois counties to become part of Indiana?

It's all ag and oil. There's a letter framed on a courthouse wall in one of those shit hole towns. It was written in the 1800's from Chicago's city council asking for a loan.

"They described Chicago, then a village, in glowing terms. But the loan was not granted. The local bank refused it on the ground that the village of Chicago was so far from Shawneetown that it could never amount to anything."

...Pop. (circa 2020) 1024

I've spent way too much time over there. It's depressing as shit.. Even in the larger towns. Bloomington/Normal is only held together by State Farm and they've been trying to move everyone to Dallas for years as they know they can't get anyone to come work there. Chicago is the only thing that state has going for it. Without Chicago that state is Mississippi. Peoria is a dump. It's a terrible place. Ask @mcmurtry66 what the Illinois side of STL is like

Yes they have great AG. And it's dominated by the same families that owned everything for years. Everyone else is meth addicts. Literally only places that are nice are up near the Wisconsin border

The only things worth visiting outside of Chicagoland are Galena, IL and Shawnee National Forest.
 
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In a similar thought, Iowa wants Minnesota counties. A new manifest destiny is sweeping America.


What a stupid concept. People are absolute morons if they are publicly bringing these ideas up without being in jest.

Iowa offers a state where a red vote matters and lower taxes. But, it can't even throw a forward pass.
 
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Joe, great question.

Many of the services you mentioned require local funding, and the rural areas in Illinois are losing population along with having difficulty raising revenues. Unlike Indiana the state legislature is dominated by the Democrat party in Illinois.

So it would seem the rural folks in downstate Illinois could very well see greener grass growing in Indiana if their county was being served by a super majority state legislature of Republicans as is the case in Indiana.

What I have trouble understanding is why the Indiana legislature wants to take on these troubled counties in Illinois.

Maybe more wide open spaces to expand manufacturing/warehouse/shipping/receiving hubs, where our property tax dollars/revenues actually come from? Anything along the I-70 corridor and the north/south intersects would have mutual interest?
 
Maybe more wide open spaces to expand manufacturing/warehouse/shipping/receiving hubs, where our property tax dollars/revenues actually come from? Anything along the I-70 corridor and the north/south intersects would have mutual interest?
Wouldn't that place them in competition with existing Indiana counties also wanting to expand shipping/manufacturing/etc?

Someone elsewhere said that several of those Illinois counties have failing rural hospitals. That's something Indiana would then be saddled with. Chances are they are older, rural areas have a higher average age than urban/suburban. That can equate to additional costs. I'm not seeing a huge upside.

I think some Republicans have thought, "Hey, we bring in rural Republican areas into Indiana, we may gain an EC vote in Indiana and cost blue Illinois an EC vote". Same for Iowa/Minnesota.
 
I take my son to Sparta, Illinois for trap shooting. Many of the backroads are in decay, certainly needing money allocated to their attention. The Southern end of the state which I live close to, just feels neglected.

Chicago obviously gets the majority of funding in that state. I live in Western Kentucky and there are TONS of Illinois people moving here. Rural Illinois people are typical conservative voting folks, they DO NOT like how liberal the state has become.
 
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I’d much rather join Illinois. Legal weed, legal abortion, no state interference in education, no attempts to defund universities, and no major cuts to Medicaid proposed.
 
Maybe you just agreed with aloha.
I also didn’t say Hegseth won’t be confirmed. I put him on a list of those whose confirmations weren’t certain. Hegseth, RFK Jr and Gabbard are on that list. Patel is now as well. Hegseth isn’t confirmed yet.

I also said Gaetz had no chance. He didn’t.
 
I get that you believe this is actually going to happen. I'm worried that Trump also believes it.
Sounds like a tall task but.

We need to have a "remind me of this post" next Thursday/ Friday function on here. Circle back and see how it aged, kind of thing. :)
(I know I would have some real doozies!)
 
We're getting to the point that people don't recognize a symbiotic relationship. Rural folks NEED urban centers. That's where the money is. And ag ain't cheap. Urban centers NEED rural areas. That's where food comes from and your chicken coop ain't gonna cut it for long.
You would think all these "smart" people would know that. But I do think the urban areas think they know what's best for everyone and a lot of the rural areas just want to be left alone.
 
You would think all these "smart" people would know that. But I do think the urban areas think they know what's best for everyone and a lot of the rural areas just want to be left alone.
That’s the rub with one size fits all legislation though, it effects everyone.

And from the, for example, Indiana legislature’s activities, they sure don’t seem to be leaving us alone very much.

Also, not to be pedantic, but policy that would “leave everyone alone” is still policy and would be an example of, in your description, of rural folks thinking they know what’s best for urban folks in that regard.
 
I think laws could be written to apply to certain areas and not the whole state.
 
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