Drew Parsons

Proud father of 3! Love to hunt and fish!!

[Yogi @Houseofyogi]

Chicago lost the Bears this week. A team that's been in the city since 1921.

They didn't lose them to a bigger market or a better deal. The Bears decided they'd rather be a tenant in Indiana than deal with Illinois for one more year.

Think about how badly you have to run a place for that to be the smart move.

They lost them for two reasons.

The people running Illinois would rather villainize a builder than keep one. And they're bad at their jobs.

In 2021 the Bears spent $197M on the old Arlington Park racetrack.

Before they could break ground, Cook County valued the empty lot at $192M (Bears said $60M). They were salivating at the chance to extort a building that didn't even exist yet.

That fight dragged on for years.

The Bears were ready to put $2B into the stadium. All they wanted was a promise the county wouldn't reassess them into oblivion, plus $855M for infrastructure everyone uses. Roads, transit, utilities. A $3B project, two thirds of it private money pouring into Illinois.

Springfield had since 2021 to get this done. They dragged it to the final night of session, passed it through the Senate at 3:39AM, and the House went home without voting.

So now it's all gone.

The funniest part? This started because Cook County tried to grab the tax early. They knew a built stadium would pay $53M a year. Now they get under $4M on a vacant lot. No jobs, no buildout, no new anything.

Congrats on fighting for scraps and losing the whole prize.

Pritzker: they're "an $8.5B valued business" that doesn't need propping up.

But be smart for a second. Almost every NFL city throws in public money for a stadium. Not charity. The return is real. Tourism, hotels, restaurants, jobs, game days, property tax on a huge development. The math works.

Indiana did the math. While Illinois sat on it for years, Indiana passed a bill in months, put up $1B, and took the team.

And the Bears took a worse deal to get there. In Illinois they were going to own their stadium. In Indiana they rent it from the state. A team that wanted to build its own home gave up ownership just to escape Chicago.

Nobody won but Indiana. The Bears lost their stadium. Illinois lost the team, the $2B, and $53M a year in taxes.

Pritzker after they left: "I wasn't willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayer money to give it to a billionaire-owned family or team."

There it is. "Billionaire-owned."

That's how Democrats talk about any business right before they run it out of town. Call them a billionaire, act like you're saving working families, take a victory lap while the tax base drives across the state line.

Meanwhile they're running the whole state into the ground. And you already know how this ends. You're living in it.

Pensions are $143B in the hole, worst in the country and not close. You pay $6,285 a year in property taxes, double the $2,969 national average, for a city that's $1.15B in the red. The mayor called its finances "the point of no return."

When you run things this badly, you sell what's left.

They leased the parking meters for 75 years to Morgan Stanley and a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi. Took $1.15B and burned through it in two years. The investors already made it all back, with 58 years left to collect.

Sold the Skyway. Sold the downtown garages. Every asset that made money, gone for one check.

But a fixed property tax rate for a team that's been here 106 years? That's "propping up billionaires."

Companies are leaving. Boeing for Virginia. Caterpillar for Texas. Citadel for Miami. In 2023 alone Illinois lost 56,000 people and $6B in income to other states. The ones who left earned a third more than the ones who moved in.

Indiana didn't outbid anyone. AAA credit, 16 years straight. A $676M surplus. Fourth-lowest debt per person in the country. They just weren't a disaster.

Illinois could have collected $53M a year. It chose zero. Ignore all the bad management but make sure to stick it to those evil, pesky billionaires.

[Jen @IlliniJen]

The Illinois Senate just passed a bill allowing out-of-state illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition rates at our public universities.

This follows a recent law that already made them eligible for state scholarships and financial aid.

Democrats voted 38-19 in favor, with all Republicans opposed.

Illinois taxpayers will now cover the costs through higher taxes, while local families struggle with sky-high tuition.

Senator Chesney called out how universities love the extra revenue, but residents get stuck with the bill.

It’s time Illinois stops putting outsiders ahead of citizens who actually live and pay taxes here.

Image H/T: @SubxNews

[Jomboy Media @JomboyMedia]

PCA answers “overrated” chants by blasting one into the Tarps Off section

[The Champaign Room @Champaign_Room]

The news just broke. #illini

[Brian Costin @BrianCostin]

Pritzker has been governor for 2,690 days, and property taxes are $11 billion more/year than when he was sworn in.

He has done nothing to limit property taxes.

[Nilam Civok @CivokNilam]

In Illinois, you don't really own your home. You rent it from the government through property taxes. Working families can afford homes. What they can't afford is property taxes, which in some cases rival or exceed the mortgage payments.

Mr. Pritzker, under your failed leadership, Illinois homeowners pay the highest property taxes in the nation. You made homeownership out of reach for many working families and forced them to flee the state.

If "we want to be in a country where working families can afford to buy homes," we need to decide to vote you out.

[Johnny Midnight ⚡️ @its_The_Dr]

Democrats do anything they want with other people’s money. Illinois Park District Director used a Taxpayer Credit card to pay for her Daughter’s Prom Helicopter!

[Fox News @FoxNews]

A judge in Cook County, IL revealing that authorities have lost track of hundreds of individuals on ankle monitors currently awaiting trial - nearly 10% of the whole program.

Officials warning the current system has serious flaws, citing cases where monitored individuals ignored violations and went on to commit violent crimes, @MikeTobinFox reports. | @SandraSmithFox @AmericaNewsroom

[Darren Bailey @DarrenBaileyIL]

2,450 defendants on ankle monitors in Cook County.

590 charged with violent crimes.
210 charged with aggravated weapons offenses.
85 felons caught with guns.
21 MURDER defendants.

And 8% are just… gone. AWOL. Nobody knows where they are.

THIS is Pritzker’s justice system.

[Matthew Nichol @MatthewNichol5]

Again, STFU JB Pritzker with your gaslighting lies. You suck and need to get voted out. Let's make Illinois great again and flip it red. Vote for Darren Bailey. P.S he needs help with his TDS.

[Darren Bailey @DarrenBaileyIL]

A billionaire blocking your kid from a better school—just to protect the teachers unions.

That’s JB Pritzker.

[Darren Bailey @DarrenBaileyIL]

JB Pritzker doubled your gas tax. Raised your registration fees. And laughed all the way to his mansion.

I've got a three-step plan to get drivers real relief.

[Darren Bailey @DarrenBaileyIL]

JB Pritzker says he cares about gas prices—so why is he raising the gas tax on July 1?

You can’t have it both ways.

[Darren Bailey @DarrenBaileyIL]

Here's my plan to protect taxpayers and clean up JB Pritzker’s data center mess.

[PamBellaUSA @PamBellaUSA]

‼️🤬ILLINOIS ⛽️ GASOLINE:
Anyone who votes for
—JB Pritzker needs a lobotomy.

[ash™ @bullsbenchmobs]

just two pro illinis doing illini things 🥹

[Zach McClanahan For U.S. Senate @ZachForIL]

JB Pritzker has spent $3 Billion + of Illinois taxpayer money on illegal aliens.

The way I see it, he owes every family in Illinois a check for just about $1,000.

Pay up @GovPritzker

[Minnesota Timberwolves @Timberwolves]

might wanna frame this.

[GA-Freeman @GFr33man]

Chicago !!!

It's time to FIRE PRITZKER !!

[MLFootball @MLFootball]

THIS IS DIABOLICAL 💀💀💀

Legendary Alabama HC Nick Saban: “We never had meetings at 6:45 am after the draft….”

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman: “We got class.”

🤣