Just a couple of short weeks ago, Sears Holdings, which owns the Sears and Kmart department store chains, extorted the Illinois General Assembly into passing a bill giving Sears Holdings a $15 million corporate tax break.
Now, after disappointing sales during the overhyped shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Sears Holdings has announced that anywhere between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores will close. Needless to say, many state legislators in Illinois who voted against the Sears Holdings giveaway are pissed off.
UPDATE 12/29/2011: None of the Sears and Kmart stores on the chopping block are in Illinois. Sears and Kmart are both on their way down, though. The Illinois General Assembly should have known better than to give Sears Holdings, a company on its last legs, a special tax break.