GOOD BYE AND GOOD LUCK

Former State Senator and Republican Cook County Board President candidate
Roger Keats and his wife Tina are leaving Illinois to live in Texas . They
bid farewell to their Illinois friends in a Wilmette Beacon article and with
this letter this weekend, saying they're "voting with their feet and their
wallets":
GOOD BYE AND GOOD LUCK
As we leave Illinois for good, I wanted to say goodbye to my friends and
wish all of you well. I am a lifelong son of the heartland and proud of it.
After 60 years, I leave Illinois with a heavy heart. BUT enough is enough!
The leaders of Illinois refuse to see we can't continue going in the
direction we are and expect people who have options to stay here. I
remember when Illinois had 25 congressmen. In 2012 we will have 18.
Compared to the rest of the country we have lost 1/4th of our population.
Don't blame the weather, because I love 4 seasons.
Illinois just sold still more bonds and our credit rating is so bad we pay
higher interest rates than junk bonds! Junk Bonds! Illinois is ranked 50th
for fiscal policy; 47th in job creation; 1st in unfunded pension
liabilities; 2nd largest budget deficit; 1st in failing schools; 1st in
bonded indebtedness; highest sales tax in the nation; most judges indicted
(Operations Greylord and Gambat); and 5 of our last 9 elected governors have
been indicted. That is more than the other 49 states added together! Then
add 32 Chicago Aldermen and (according to the Chicago Tribune) over 1000
state and municipal employees indicted. The corruption tax is a real cost
of doing business. We are the butt of jokes for stand up comics.
We live in the most corrupt big city, in the most corrupt big county in the
most corrupt state in America .. I am sick and tired of subsidizing crooks.
A day rarely passes without an article about the corruption and
incompetence. Chicago even got caught rigging the tests to hire police and
fire! Our Crook County CORPORATE property tax system is intentionally
corrupt. The Democrat State Chairman who is also the Speaker of the
Illinois House (Spkr. Mike Madigan) and the most senior alderman in Chicago
each make well over a million dollars a year putting the fix in for their
clients tax assessments.
We are moving to Texas where there is no income tax while Illinois just went

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up 67%. Texas sales tax is ½ of ours, which is the highest in the nation.
Southern states are supportive of job producers, tax payers and folks who
offer opportunities to their residents. Illinois shakes them down for every
penny that can be extorted from them.
In The Hill Country of Texas (near Austin and San Antonio ) we bought a
gracious home on almost 2 acres with a swimming pool. It is new, will cost
us around 40% of what our home in Wilmette just sold for and the property
taxes are 1/3rd of what they are here. Cook County ' s property tax system
is a disaster: Wilmette homes near ours sell for 50% more and their property
taxes are ½ of ours. Our assessed home value was 50% higher than the sales
price. The system is unfair and incompetent.
Our home value is down 40%, our property taxes are up 20% and our local
schools have still another referendum on the ballot to increase taxes over
20% in one year. I could go on, but enough is enough. I feel as if we are
standing on the deck of the Titanic and I can see the icebergs right in
front of us. I will miss our friends a great deal. I have called Illinois
home for essentially my entire life. But it is time to go where there is
honest, competent and cost effective government. We have chosen to vote
with our feet and our wallets. My best to all of you and Good luck!