WHERE'S THE MONEY GOING? I didn't have General Patton's chaplain, but the weather lifted long enough for me to make a trip north for Christmas and return safely. Here's tonight's public policy anomaly: the Illinois Tollway is mostly potholed, or a work zone, or often a potholed work zone. In the People's Republic of Wisconsin, the work is buttoned up for winter, and the roads are mostly intact. There are no tolls. I did my bit for keeping the Wisconsin roads in good condition by taking a tank of fuel there.

Although I'm not opposed in principle to road tolls, particularly those used in such a way as to allocate capacity efficiently, I can understand Wisconsin's reluctance to go to tolling, given the demonstrated ineptitude of the Illinois Tollway.