In a recent blog post here at American Thinker, Thomas Lifson chronicles the tale of Harvey, Illinois, a failing community where government officials have stolen everything not nailed down.  Now, having exhausted all sources of revenue, the municipality is facing insolvency.

Well, why wouldn't the people in charge of Harvey take liberties with the public treasury?  The state legislature just broke the Illinois bank in a recent spending bill, setting the example for these minor potentates.

Apparently, the state legislature imbibed a bit too much eggnog over the holidays, passing over 200 new laws to drive away businesses, steal the residents' money, and yoke as many yokels as possible. 

Here are some of the lowlights:

- A law forcing hairstylists, dry cleaners, and other businesses to post standard pricing for males or females.  A man's haircut can no longer be cheaper than a woman's styling, nor can her dresses be more costly to clean.

- H.B. 1785 lets someone change the sex listed on his birth certificate without even having his genitalia mutilated to look like the opposite sex's.

- A new law forces car-dealers to remove stickers from cars before they are driven away – even before a test drive.

- One law opens the door for 16- and 17-year-olds to sign up to be organ- and tissue-donors when they apply for a driver's license or identification card.

- Obama's birthday is now an official state holiday.

- Phone services will have to foot the bill for women who are abused and need to change their phone numbers and whatnot.

- Judges will now be forced to waste time in divorce cases deciding custody of pets.

- A new law protects elephants from abuse in circuses, and any African or Asian elephants from circuses operating in Illinois.

- A guarantee that customers can post on Yelp.

- S.B. 1586 allows DNR to establish rules for the public to scatter ashes in a state park.

- S.B. 1884 provides that research facilities shall make reasonable efforts for adoption of dogs or cats previously used in research.

- S.B. 1761 provides that knowledge of sexual orientation is not a mitigating factor in criminal cases.

- H.B. 2369 forces public schools to provide breastfeeding accommodations for schoolgirls with babies.

Here is a complete list.

Now, here we have graft and corruption on an unprecedented scale in cities like Harvey and Chicago, and the state government does nothing. We have violence on a par with the Middle East and Honduras in Chicago, and the legislature worries about elephants and teenage breastfeeding.  Illinois is broke and may well be the first state that actually goes into bankruptcy, but the legislature is worried about Obama's birthday and restaurant reviews on Yelp and hairstyling prices. 

Four out of the last seven governors of Illinois went to prison.  So did the Reverend Jesse Jackson's son, a U.S. congressman from Chicago. 

Even the liberal Chicago Tribune calls Illinois one of the most corrupt states in the union.

It's also a state full of illegal aliens.  One in seven Illinoisans are immigrants, with 450,000 official illegals.  One point two million jobs are taken by aliens in Illinois.  This is one of the most heavily invaded states in the Union.  Naturally, the Prairie Barrio became a sanctuary state when the Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, signed a bill decreeing it thus.

With such utter disrespect for the law on the part of the highest officials in the land, why wouldn't some local big wheel develop sticky fingers?  Illinois more closely resembles a Central American banana republic than a state in the U.S.

The infuriating thing about it is that when the chickens come home to roost, the people who looted the state will demand that the U.S. taxpayer bail them out and will refuse to relinquish power.  House speaker for life James Madigan will no doubt remain to loot the bailout money, and the rest of us are going to be forced to subsidize their leftist hypocrisy and lavish lifestyles.  And don't think for a minute that we won't; even if the president refuses, the courts will likely demand it, and the GOP in Congress will fear opposing it. 

The only workable answer is to do a serious investigation into the entire Illinois government and start sending people – lots of people – to jail now. 

I fear that Illinois is doomed. 

Read more from Tim at the best kept secret site on the web The Aviary – www.tbirdnow.mee.nu.