Company's move is the ultimate statement

Jelly Belly executives announced that production of the iconic jelly bean will no longer take place in North Chicago, where it has been produced for close to 100 years. The decision will result in the loss of 70 jobs. I await the press conference Sen. Dick Durbin will hold in front of the North Chicago factory to demagogue the decision to move production out of Illinois to ... California.

California has a corporate tax rate of 8.84 percent. The top marginal income tax rate on employee compensation of $50,000 is 9.3 percent plus $2,191. The top marginal rate on executive pay of $305,000 to $509,000 is 11.30 percent plus $26,000. California vies with Illinois in most negative categories concerning the economy, state corruption, unemployment and underfunded pensions.

All things being equal, Illinois' outrageously high corporate and personal income tax rates pale in comparison to the "Golden State," yet Jelly Belly is moving their production to a state one may argue is in worse shape than our own.

Sen. Durbin browbeat Walgreens when the company was considering taking advantage of a loophole in the federal tax structure to move their headquarters overseas to garner a lower corporate tax rate, which was legal to do but would have caused the full wrath of Durbin and the Democrats.

Might the senior senator from Illinois take an inward perspective on the state he purports to represent in the U.S. Senate? One can see the merits of moving a company to a "right to work" state or to Mexico or any number of foreign places. A company leaves the transportation hub of the U.S. to move to the West Coast? A company moves to higher-tax state? What does this truly say about the state of our state of Illinois?

Steve Sarich

Grayslake