Jeff Berkowitz: [Todd Stroger] is going to run in 2010 [for re-election to Cook County Board President] saying he was a reformer. He is going to tell people he came in with a mess [facing the County], without raising taxes- he managed
I've heard for a great many yearswe can't reduce taxes until we reduce government spending. And I have to point out that government does not tax to get the money it needs -- government always needs the money it gets!
I excluded Cook County (Chicago) from the analysis, because its scale and prosperity separate it from places like Rochester and Syracuse by too wide a margin. The Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area is also more prosperous than the Rustbelt