Earlier this week I reported that Cincinnati is losing one of its longtime companies, Chiquita, to Charlotte NC. Charlotte ended up offering Chiquita $22 million in incentives and Ohio’s governor, John Kasich, said that we couldn’t offer them any more than the $6 million already offered. Now we know why:

Ohio has offered Sears incentives worth $400 million, as the company pits Illinois against other states vying to land its operations, according to the office of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. The package is “basically about four times” what Illinois has been looking to offer, said Brooke Anderson, the governor’s press secretary.

Quinn, a Democrat, told an Illinois radio station that Ohio was aggressively courting Sears. Texas is the other state that reportedly has made the retailer’s short list.

Anderson said the $400 million figure came from Sears executives testifying in a recent committee meeting in the Illinois House.

This is becoming a serious issue in America. We have states on the verge of bankruptcy and companies are extorting money from them to stay there. How long will it take Ohio to make up $400 million dollars if Sears decides to move here? How much will the people have to suffer to get the company here?

I don’t care how you look at it, this is blackmail plain and simple. Companies are sitting on records amount of cash and try to extort more from you and me. It has to stop!