Now everyone knows we are taxed up the heinie

The Wall Street Journal has an editorial today railing against Chicago's new nationwide high sales tax of 10.25%. Here's the kicker, where they point their fire toward Cook County:

Not so coincidentally, the $426 million that the county optimistically expects to collect each year will also fund somewhere between 700 or 800 new patronage jobs, and maybe more, which were lobbied for by the public-employees unions. A scathing report from a federal court monitor, released Friday, depicts rampant abuse in county hiring practices. Laurence Msall, president of the nonpartisan Chicago Civic Federation, argues that the county already spends its $3 billion budget irresponsibly, pointing to more than $100 million in possible reforms.

Mr. Msall notes dryly that the county is "not only refusing to tighten its belt, it's acting as if it doesn't have to wear a belt." Then again, it'd be business as unusual if patronage were somehow extracted from Chicago's machine politics. Too bad for the city's actual businesses and residents.