Rauner’s support of St. Louis for Amazon bid ‘a stunning betrayal’ of Illinois, editorial says

A Chicago business journal has a few words for Gov. Bruce Rauner after he voiced support for both St. Louis and Chicago to be Amazon’s second headquarters.

“A stunning betrayal,” Crain’s business journal called any material support the governor would offer.

Joe Cahill writes that should St. Louis get the company and it’s 50,000 jobs — which he called a long shot at best — it would not share the bounty with its metro-east neighbors.

He says Rauner’s words, even if it was meant as an “empty political gesture meant to placate downstate constituencies,” weakens Chicago’s bid for the retail shipping giant.

This piece is in stark contrast to that of New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, who says St. Louis is “a particularly compelling pick.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Rauner’s support of St. Louis for Amazon bid ‘a stunning betrayal’ of Illinois, editorial says."