I read “A Second City revival?” (Editorial, May 19), which talked about the Balkanization of Los Angeles, and my own fantasy re-emerged: What if the six northeast counties in Illinois seceded from Illinois and formed a new state?
My new fantasy state would be called Lincoln and would be one of the wealthiest in the union. At the same time, Illinois would become one of the poorer states because the six counties would quit subsidizing the rest of the state. In fact, Illinois would become so poor without the former revenue from Lincoln that Downstate would probably have to build its own toll roads. At the same time, Lincoln would phase out its toll roads because of a surfeit of motor-vehicle fees and taxes. The school systems in Lincoln would be totally self-sufficient and would rely mainly on sales taxes. Schools in Illinois would suffer as those in northeast Illinois used to suffer. Oh well, it’s only a fantasy.
