Senator Vernon Trent

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@chicagobars You have zero clue what you’re talking about. Just bc you sold your soul to idiotic progressive party doesn’t mean that the HOF BEARS reporter is wrong. Stick to slinging drinks

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@40thforward Bigotry is speaking the truth 🤔🤔?

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@40thforward You should have zero say in what Arlington heights does. You progressives have given over 2.5 billion to aid ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS and that contribute zero to society and yet u cry over the bears wanting tax certainty and money for INFRASTRUCTURE that would benefit the state.

[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.

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@Houseofyogi @thekapman @WaddleandSilvy @TWaddle87

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@thekapman @sheanorling I’d like you to apologize to all the callers you ripped for saying it’s more of a Jed problem than Craig one. Thanks 😊

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@thekapman @YouTube You’ve seen the light!!! Finally you put Hoyer on blast. Looks like your callers were right after all 😉

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@BigKen472 @danpompei Lol you think Illinois cares about taxpayers?!! How old are you? 10yrs? Indiana citizens would still pay less than Illinoisans do if they got the bears. You must not be much of a sports fan

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@Chicago_NFL @jeepgunnar Wrong

[Dan Pompei @danpompei]

Many who go to games will not like it, but the Bears will thrive across the state line. They follow a long line of good businesses out of Illinois, and many more are likely to follow, given the leadership in the Land of Lincoln.

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@paschutz Lol Illinoisans would still pay more in taxes even if the bears left and went to Indiana!! This state is a joke

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@ggabefootball Illinois politicians are idiots and greedy as fuck. They’ve had 5yrs to negotiate with the bears and didn’t give a damn until they flirted with Indiana.

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@BearReport Why? Obama family couldn’t afford to build this monstrosity?

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@TerryMoran Hey dummy, you know anything about Illinois politics? Blame the idiotic DEMOCRATS who run this state. They’ve had 5yrs to negotiate with the bears n if you think they give a damn about the taxpayers then I got some ocean front property in Arizona I’d like to sell you

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@ChrisMWilliams Nah blame idiotic Illinois politicians who’ve had 5yrs to negotiate with the bears about Arlington heights

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@savemeishbia @IfindRetards we got one

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@WaddleandSilvy And Jed hired him with the highest paid contract in the majors. He’s supposed to have knowledge of the league so he should have known more than anyone he was an overrated manager

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@thekapman @PendleyWx Now you’re just being stubborn not going to after the front office. The callers this am smoked you n if you admit the front office is garbage you’d have to admit you’re wrong. Love ya Kap, but this defense of Jed is garbage

[Senator Vernon Trent @kenpowers54]

@drunkharrycarey @thekapman maybe just maybe you can rip the front office tmw