Rich suggests invading Missouri. The only question I have is that it might be smarter to wait for St. Louis City and St. Louis County to simply ask to be annexed.
The basic problem is the State of Missouri is broke. Sure, it’s solvent, but there’s no money for serious infrastructure improvement for several years. What money does exist is targeted towards podunk towns that have virtually no impact on the state’s economic well being. Instead, we fight over the gays and the blastocysts while Rome burns.
For those who don’t get it, it’s Mississippi with Pro-Sports and a big friggen Arch paid for out of the Great Society.
If Illinois wants a bridge (and it should) just build the damn thing and make Missouri licensed cars pay a toll.
Then fund a City/County secession effort and free us all. The Illinois National Guard can kick the Missouri National Guard’s butt if for no other reason than Missouri has an even crappier educational system in the rural areas.
The more I think about it, the more I like this idea. Hmmm.
Your link to rich’s article is broken – it leads to an advertisement instead.
“If Illinois wants a bridge (and it should) just build the damn thing and make Missouri licensed cars pay a toll.”
We love our brothers and sisters in Missouri. We would never consider charging them a fee. Just come to Illinois and blow all your cash here, Baby! (We need the business.)
The fundamental problem is that St. Louis and the East St. Louis area need a total vehicle transportation redesign [1] ala the Big Dig. Yes, I know the Big Dig was a budget disaster and was overcrowded the day it opened. But it _was_ a bold, large-scale effort to reorganize area transportation and improve the built environment overall. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a real, innovative bridge (not another cookie-cutter cable-stayed design), a real flow pattern for downtown S. Louis that doesn’t chop up the city and kill pedestrians, and a real full-sized park across the river from the Arch?
But of course STL will never have the kind of clout that Boston did when the Big Dig was approved.
Cranky
[1] Yes, I know. Personally I think we need an overall transportation plan, including buying up and/or condemning all the old trolley and commuter rail ROWs and getting them ready for when we are really going to need them in 2015 or so. But it ain’t gonna happen.