A tug-of-war between two states seeking to attract businesses has cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, with practically no net job gains on either side to show for it. And there's no signs of letting up, even as one of the states faces a wrenching budget crisis and businesses in both states say they don't really need the money.
For years critics of the war between all 50 states to attract companies — which CNBC highlights each year in our America's Top States for Business rankings — have pointed to the stalemate between the neighboring states of Kansas and Missouri as a prime example of the absurdity of it all.