Texas: Good for Illinois.

Republican Texas governor Rick Perry is good for Illinois despite what Democratic Senator Dick Durbin might think.

It seems that our governor is out on the road pitching the State of Texas as a good place to do business and doing so to good effect. This led Senator Durbin to say, “He better not take our business away.”

Let me ask you Senator Durbin, what exactly are you going to do about it if he does? The genius of our federalist system lies in the fact that the states operate independently and competitively. Labor and capital are mobile and may freely go where the opportunity for success is the highest. If Texas looks like a better place to do business than Illinois, Illinois’ choice is to either lose the business or improve its business climate. If it chooses the latter, as it should, Illinois will be better for it and Gov. Perry will have done Illinois a favor.

Senator Durbin isn’t alone. California governor Jerry Brown doesn’t much like his Texas counterpart either. Texas has low tax rates, a low cost of living, a light regulatory environment and is a right-to-work state. California offers none of these. As a result, the pickings have been particularly ripe for our governor in California.

The more Texas succeeds in “poaching” business, as these blue-staters call it, the more pressure it puts on the blue states to improve their business climates. That makes the republic stronger.

And that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Jerry Brown and Dick Durbin should be thanking Rick Perry.