BobbyDo2U

Proud alumni of THE Ohio State University and four year member of TBDBITL. College Football fan 12 months out of the year.

[Erick Erickson @EWErickson]

One of the greatest speeches of the late 20th century, given on the 40th anniversary of one of the most spectacular days in human history.

[The Iceman @the_iceman64]

90% of the soldiers on the first boats to hit the beach didn't live to see the end of the day. Look at those faces. Some of them never made it to 18.

Never forget that they paid the ultimate price for our freedom. We live our lives the way we do because of them.

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@benpearlgolf Always thought it would host a PGA

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@PGATUOR Herman Mitchell

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@VinnysCorner1 John Stofa, Bengals

[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.

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@tmb237 It’s been on the tour for 50 years at the highest level. Think of the advancements in equipment. MVGC and TPC sawgrass (1980) have probably done the best job of keeping up with the times.
Hope you saw Roger Maltbie this afternoon.

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@AllieJade1 Eliminates he said she said. “Your honor, here’s the video of the alleged incident” will get a lot of settlements

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@PolymarketSport Norway would lose every game against an SEC schedule

[Aaron Cohen 🔜 🌮🔔 @ImoveCar]

FYI the Canes just released a lot of tickets for game 5 #SoundTheSiren

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@hovah76 Best time of year for Browns fans.

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@JohnnyWWDayz @Rob_Shenanigans Yep, forgot them, too.

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@OctobersOwnTae Except, look at the dollars that will be spent by Illinois residents in their state.

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@CourtneyRCronin And if you could kick in a little for the Gov,

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@Chicago_NFL People used to tell those of us in the B1G the same thing about the TV deal. #FireKevinWarren

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@avenariley @Rob_Shenanigans Right? Over 20% of the current 32 NFL teams have moved across state lines. Bears would make that number 25%.

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@On3 @AriWasserman I’ll get back to you after I see what he does on 4th down in the 4th quarter in a close game.

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@AlBuffalo2nite @ChicagoMPO @ChicagosMayor Great spouse analogy

[BobbyDo2U @bobbydo85]

@EddieBarstool About time to get #FireKevinWarren going again.