Illinois voters say high taxes are killing them, yet they keep reelecting the same politicians. What keeps this cycle alive? Gerrymandered maps, the system, the voters, or all of the above?

Why is Governor Pritzker with someone who was recommended by the Democratic Socialists and who has repeatedly framed Israel as committing genocide?

Less than 19% of the Chicago Teachers Union’s $39 million budget went to representing teachers in 2025. It spent more on overhead and administration than on negotiating contracts or protecting members. Nearly $2.6 million went to politics and lobbying. Over 50 officers and staff cleared six figures. President Stacy Davis Gates took home more than $310,000 from the CTU and the Illinois Federation of Teachers combined. Teachers pay over $1,500 a year in dues. Their average salary is about $78,000. Leadership pushed CPS to reverse hundreds of layoffs by banking on $150 million in state funding that still has not arrived. Enrollment dropped by more than 11,500 students this fall. The district has said mid-year cuts return if the money does not show up. Who is the Chicago Teachers Union actually serving? H/T @illinoispolicy

How generous of him to pay for “Bailey Endorsed by Trump” signs all over the West Side. Pritzker’s billions hard at work. 📸 @NolannBeverly

Obama mocked Trump’s gold White House, saying it looked like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” This from the man behind the $850 million concrete tower his own city calls a trash can. People in glass houses.

Remember this?

Saw this commercial during the IU-Michigan game. Who else agrees that liberals are haters?

Aftermath of Lincoln Park’s Spooktacular on Lincoln. Don’t worry. No bike lanes were impacted.

An 18-year-old University of Illinois student was just arrested for secretly videotaping people in the bathrooms at Oglesby Hall. Naavya Chhikara, who lived in the hall at the time, faces two Class 4 felony counts of unauthorized videotaping. Each count carries one to three years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines under Illinois law. University of Illinois Police arrested her Tuesday, October 20. She was booked into the Champaign County Jail the same night, pleaded not guilty the next day, and was released pending a December 16 pretrial conference. She no longer lives in the hall, and the investigation remains open. How long was this happening before anyone found out? H/T @TheDailyIllini

Senate Republicans have been calling for changes to @JBPritzker’s crime policies for years. They’re pushing again after CTA janitor Julian Mobley, a 41-year-old father of two, was stabbed to death on October 8 at the Damen Green Line station by a man already free on electronic monitoring. The defendant, Chevazz Campbell, had seven prior felony convictions, including aggravated battery. Prosecutors tried at least four times to revoke his probation over repeated curfew violations, but he still stayed free. Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen Burke has called the system broken and said 10 to 12% of the roughly 3,000 people on it are unaccounted for. Alphanso Talley, another seven-time felon, was also on electronic monitoring when he was charged with shooting and killing a Chicago police officer earlier this year. Pritzker spent years selling SAFE-T as reform while people with records like this keep walking free and Illinois families keep paying the price. How does “reform” keep getting innocent people killed? 🎥 @MarkHespen | @TheILInsider

Trump isn’t even on the Illinois ballot and yet Pritzker and Stratton are still centering their entire campaigns around him.

“Four more years.” Said by about the same percentage of residents who still approve of the job @ChicagosMayor has done so far. 🎥 @BpopeTV

Illinois keeps finding someone else to blame. A man who says smoking caused his COPD is suing Walgreens for selling him the cigarettes. The store tried to get itself thrown out. A Cook County judge refused, citing Walgreens’ long ties to the tobacco industry. Brandon Johnson sued Kia and Hyundai over car thefts, blaming the manufacturers’ failure to install immobilizers for the surge. Pritzker banned assault weapons and signed a law making it easier to sue firearm makers for violence. In Illinois, the product and the company take the heat. The person who smoked, stole the car, or pulled the trigger is basically an afterthought. Who’s next? Source: @LegalNewsline

In 8 years under @JBPritzker, public sector jobs have outpaced private sector job growth.

Who’s with Trump on this?

Brandon Nguyen was walking to lunch on Wacker Drive near Wabash on Wednesday when he got sucker-punched in the back of the head. The attack was unprovoked and no words were exchanged. He dropped to his knees. This fits a pattern. A woman was struck near Washington and Clark in February, and a man was charged in March after allegedly attacking three women in the Loop. Multiple Loop puncher cases have involved random assaults on people simply walking downtown, including offenders on electronic monitoring. At the same time, the Loop is still struggling. Office vacancy remains in the mid-20% range and daily occupancy sits well below pre-pandemic levels as hybrid work continues. State Street retail vacancy has improved, but is still nearly double its pre-COVID rate. Businesses that relied on lunch crowds are still feeling it. But don’t worry. It’s just another isolated incident in Brandon Johnson’s safer Chicago.

“Who can afford to live here?” That’s the question Sen. Chapin Rose put to the supermajority. Since @JBPritzker took office, Illinois has lost 6,000 megawatts of reliable 24-hour power, the equivalent of three nuclear plants or enough to power a million homes. In 2019, electricity was 8.6¢ per kilowatt-hour. This summer it hit 23¢, triple the price. That adds up to $8 billion in rate increases, leaving Illinois higher than Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri. The supermajority keeps promising relief for the little guy and lower bills. Then they remove the limits on how high rates can go. Another Pritzker speech about helping working families. Another rate increase under Pritzker.

Chicago collected about $440k from the bus companies that brought migrants to its sanctuary city and is now using that for a $500k property-tax relief pilot (up to $5,000) in Englewood, South Shore, and the Lower West Side. Equity in Chicago: limited relief for a few. Crushing tax bills for the rest of us. 📸 @chicagotribune

Chicago’s “Fair Share Budget” is a $300 annual tax on every job at companies with 125 or more employees. @ChicagosMayor is reviving the corporate head tax City Council already killed last year, projecting about $102 million. The $17.6 billion budget also hikes the cloud tax from 15% to 20% and nearly doubles the sports-betting tax to close an $882 million hole. No property tax hike, no layoffs, just more business taxes and $481 million in new borrowing for police misconduct settlements. Twenty-nine aldermen already rejected it. Business groups called it dead on arrival. Nothing says “fair” like taxing the employers still willing to hire Chicagoans. 📸 @wttw