Make Chicago a state, but we want the aquarium

On balance, we're pretty sure Illinois would be just fine were we to separate from Chicago.

Two Republican state representatives from central Illinois and one from Rockford introduced House Resolution 1138 calling for Chicago to become the 51st state. They cite 200 years of acrimony and include some highlights in the bill.

▪ Secession is an old idea, with Chicago passing a resolution in 1925 to become its own state and in 1981 a Cook County secession bill passing both chambers of the state legislature.

▪ The rest of us agree with little that comes out of the Windy City. We disagree on gun ownership, abortion, immigration and many other issues, plus Chicago politicians regularly exempt themselves from state law and stuck the rest of us with a $221 million bailout of the city's teacher pension plan along with a $5 billion income tax increase.

• They gave us Pat Quinn as governor in 2010, even though only four counties out of 102 in Illinois wanted him.

They also note that communities such as Rockford that are north of Chicago have more in common with southern Illinois.

Let's add a few things to the balance sheet.

We gave Chicago Abraham Lincoln, Adlai Stevenson II and Paul Simon. They gave us Rod Blagojevich, Mike Madigan and Rahm Emanuel.

We gave Chicago hogs to butcher and wheat to stack. They gave us inedible pizza and the Cubs (infiltrating our ranks through cable).

Not that everything about Chicago is bad. We like the Shedd Aquarium, and because Chicago does contribute to the statewide economy we think it would be fair for us to get the aquarium in the divorce and relocate it to the Mississippi or Illinois rivers.

The fish would also serve as a cautionary tale: Beware Chicago Democrats and their desire to put all finances underwater.

This story was originally published June 13, 2018 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Make Chicago a state, but we want the aquarium."