Take close look at business regulations

"Wanted: CEO for major corporation. Individual with a gift for innovation and strong management skills desired, but we are also eagerly seeking candidates who have the kind of persuasive skills necessary to convince Congress to bail our tails out of our financial trouble."

There is a healthy dose of cynicism in such an imaginary help wanted ad, certainly. But there is a ring of reality in it too, as the Big Three automakers have now followed the financial industry in appealing to Congress to cut them big financial rescue checks.

Where will the bailout line end? With worm farms? If the federal government keeps spending tens of billions of dollars to get floundering businesses off life support, it will be our great-grandchildrens' great-grandchildren who'll be making the last payment on such debt.

Yet, as we indicated in this space last week, there are huge risks in Congress failing to come to the aid of the automakers. It could push a deepening recession onto the brink of another depression.

At the same time, Congress is right to insist that the auto industry come up with progressive, perk-free financial plans before expecting taxpayers to lend them a helping hand.

But government also has a role in bringing back a robust economy, beyond approving bailout packages. We're not just referring to Congress. All local governing bodies need to be evaluating their economic development strategies. Are there barriers making it all that much harder for well-managed local businesses to stay in business? Is local government reaching out to the private sector to learn of any problems that might be solved with government's help - without putting new harsh burdens on financially-strapped taxpayers? These questions need to be asked.

State government would do well to look at the Illinois Chamber of Commerce's Illinois Economic Competitiveness Scorecard for 2008, released earlier this year. The state gets poor grades in two key areas - the cost of doing business (Illinois is ranked worst in the Midwest for its business tax burden) and its regulatory environment (Illinois is ranked 49 out of 50 states in terms of an anti-competitive regulatory system.)

This doesn't mean the state needs to scrap every regulation truly needed to protect workers, the environment and to maintain fair competition in the market. Nor does it mean changing tax policy so that business does not pay its fair share. But the key word is fair, and this worrisome recession should be leading the state to take a hard look at where it is imposing unreasonable burdens on business that in turn harm economic development.

Government has every right to demand that businesses asking for bailout bucks first make drastic changes in dreadful management. But government also has to be asking itself how it might be getting in the way of efforts by well-run businesses to survive this recession on their own.