Jim Dey: “We, we, we. Like a narcissistic opera singer, (Gov. JB) Pritzker unleashed a torrent of self-congratulation that meant me, me, me, me. ‘Do not let the doom grifters steal your optimism about what’s ahead for Illinois. Our future is bright.’ Who are ‘doom grifters’? They are ‘spelunkers of misery.’ Who? The ‘carnival barkers.’ Pritzker’s barb collection refers to skeptical financial analysts, including those at Truth in Accounting and Wirepoints who report the unofficial side of the budget story. Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon acknowledged Pritzker’s resentment but said the ‘name calling honestly doesn’t bother me.'”

Illinois Republicans are officially releasing their rebuttal to the Governor’s proposed state budget. Governor Pritzker laid out his budget plan for the next fiscal year at the statehouse last week.

Will Johnson, Chicago-based CEO of The Harris Poll: In the Republican caucus in Iowa and primary elections in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Michigan — states that allow some form of crossover or unaffiliated voting — exit polls show upward of half of Haley’s support came from a combination of Democrats and independents. And they’re being urged by political action committees to keep it up next week in the seven Super Tuesday states with open primary elections.