-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
“The playbook that Donald Trump is running is a playbook that Rahm Emanuel executed in this city,” Johnson said. “We didn’t get here because we just happened to have a tyrant in the White House. He got here because someone gave him the script. And the shutting of schools, the firing of Black women, privatizing our public education system, is why the system is as jacked up as it is today.”
Presidents from several universities in Illinois signed on to the statement, including from Northwestern University, Chicago State University, Northeastern Illinois University, Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University, Eastern Illinois University, Dominican University and Rockford University.
Over the weekend, dozens were seen outside the store’s entrance. Customers say they’re frequently approached by people offering to clean cars or do odd jobs — sometimes following them toward the store or waving them down in the parking lot.
The filing in federal court comes as the state of Illinois, Cook County and the city of Chicago are asking the judge in the case to hold off on tackling migrant sanctuary policies that the DOJ says obstructs federal agents from doing their job.
The core issue has been inefficient spending. According to the Reason Foundation, Illinois spent $98,386 per lane-mile in 2022. This was up 30% percent from just three years earlier. Even worse, this is $30,000 more than the expected cost from the Reason Foundation’s cost-efficiency model, which accounts for factors such as urbanization and road usage.
Trump’s inaugural committee reported Sunday night that it had raised $1 million from Gotion, the Chinese business that Republicans had repeatedly attacked over its plans to construct EV battery plants in Michigan and Illinois.
The financial interest of Yusef Jackson – a son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and brother of U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson – surfaced recently in court records in a federal civil case involving Vendor Assistance Program LLC. The clout-heavy, Chicago-based VAP has pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars through a state program that allows it to buy up government debt to vendors and later collect the late-payment penalties from the state.
Daniel Thomas made frequent appearances in the media promoting Illinois through his work as deputy director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, but the inspector general found he was still profiting from his former company that was hired to help with the state’s marketing effort.
There are more than 200 data centers in the state, with almost three-fourths located in the Chicago area. The Pritzker Administration has committed to a path of clean energy, but there are concerns the power grid is not ready for data centers.
The Illinois House is set to debate legislation that the state Senate already approved. Senate Bill 1797 provides that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation regulate digital asset business activity.
Jones, a Chicago Democrat, is accused of agreeing to accept $5,000 from red-light camera entrepreneur Omar Maani in exchange for changing legislation requiring a study of the red-light camera industry so it wouldn’t have any bearing on SafeSpeed’s extremely profitable business model.
Almost all of Illinois’ retirement plans got near perfect scores for long-term workers in the Equable Institute’s Retirement Security Report, which analyzed 345 plans in 50 states on 11 metrics. But the results were much less impressive for those spending less than 20 years in government service.
Garcia also criticized the gutting of Spanish-language services at some federal agencies, calling the move “discrimination.”
Prosecutors said that William Frederick Reed filed for bankruptcy in March 2022 and provided fake documents to hide the fact that he had gotten three PPP loans fraudulently and failed to file an income tax return last year despite making $189,092 as a police officer.
As of January, most Illinois counties — 81 out of 102 — have a shortage of primary care providers, according to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. Eleven of the counties have a shortage in some areas, like Cook County. Only 10 counties have no shortage at all.
“If someone kidnapped a child, police departments would stake out major streets and highways to apprehend the kidnapper. How is the behavior of these often-masked ICE agents any different from that of a criminal kidnapper? Our officials should deploy local law enforcement into migrant neighborhoods to deter such kidnappings and violations of human and legal rights.”
The new “record” number of 6,172,300 jobs means almost nothing. It was 6,137,700 in 2019 and 6,056,500 all the way back in 2000. So, Illinois has had essentially no growth in six years and not much in 25 years. Perhaps more distressing, recent job growth has been entirely government jobs.
It should be an embarrassment for every one of our legislators and government leaders. The latest report from ATTOM Data Solutions shows that Illinois’ counties and metro areas dominate the list of the nation’s highest property tax rates. Illinois has 27 of the nation’s top 50 counties for highest property tax rates. And five of Illinois’ metro areas are in the nation’s top 10, including the four highest in the country.
“We will have to deal with the realities of the billions of dollars that are being threatened by the federal government. That’s a different scenario than we were under before,” Johnson said.
DePaul president Robert L. Manuel will be joined by California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo) president Jefffrey Armstrong and Haverford College president Wendy Raymond. This news comes in the light of a recent lawsuit filed by two DePaul students who were victims of what the Chicago Police Department called a hate crime.
In 2023, more than 330,000 households in Illinois received LIHEAP with an average of more than $724 per household, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office said in a November news release.
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