Sean Carpenter

My goal: Build relationships, solve problems & have fun. I'm an international speaker, real estate agent, a beer-drinking sports fan & a #Gator

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@ThatEricAlper “Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac
A little voice inside my head said
Don't look back, you can never look back”

[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.

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@JoeyTTU01 @tsandg8r Y’all still have fewer 🥎🏆 than Gator Softball so let us know when you finally get that “taste” in your mouth.

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

Sun comes up in the East

Water is wet

Losing fans blame the refs after a loss

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@JimDuncanRVA Nope, was the Realtor from Charlottesville that shares your name

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

Great stuff from @JimDuncanRVA ;

Writing by hand is how I think, pay attention, and remember. AI removes friction. Writing is hard, time-consuming, often difficult, and more often rewarding. The push/pull of finding the right word, the right tone, the right message takes work.

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@curiousmind1_ @AmericanAir You have no avatar and 9 followers. How are we supposed to give you the benefit of the doubt? Clearly just complaining but what are you hoping the outcome of this tweet would be?

Next time, remember you could drive

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@JustinThomas34 Probably have a pretty good crowd. Guessing you’ll hear #RollTide a time or two.

Question is…

Marker or solo??

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@GaryVanSickle If you truly believe that, please share with your followers how much you’d bet on them vs the field.

This course is only going to play harder this weekend and lost of good players are a 68 or 69 away from being right in it

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@JimDuncanRVA Oops, tagged the wrong Jim Duncan

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

Hey @NathanCHubbard & @HousefromDC - please let us know your thoughts on the #BrownOnBrown wardrobe from Tommy Fleetwood today @MemorialGolf.

I’m no Mr Blackstone but that’s definitely not moving any merch for his clothing sponsor, is it?

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@haleywnolan @AmericanAir Good Lord, Haley,

Do you use Twitter for anything else than complaining to brands and companies? Your feed makes it look like you just get all the bad breaks in life.

Drink a beer and chill

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@tsandg8r Is he leading a parade? #BeenThere #DoneThat

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@tsandg8r @Guitarbizon But I’ve been to 8 Grateful Dead shows so does that add bonus points

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@tsandg8r @Guitarbizon 3 for me

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

Would be amazing if we started boarding when the plane isn’t even at the gate yet

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@davidadamcone Zack Dumas after this hit

https://t.co/CT66R7EvM6

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@VelvetBarstool @Delta Great song by The Buckingham.

#KindOfADrag

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

https://t.co/5od8ONWcja

[shaunsimpson @shaunsimpson]

College Baseball >>>>

[Sean Carpenter @seancarp]

@GolfTravelerJoe @BethpageGolf Most recent great course was The Tree Farm.

Pebble Beach and Oakland Hills (South) are both very memorable, as well