“When the real statues were under siege, when they were being torn down and hidden away under the cover of “safety,” these same people were nowhere to be found. No outrage. No pressure. No backbone. But now? … Now they’re brave enough to put Columbus back on display… as long as he’s standing next to a tray of antipasto.”

Defense lawyer Amy Saharia reminded the 7^th Circuit panel that prosecutors’ theory of the “alleged benefits” prosecutors said Madigan enjoyed were “far outside the typical … bribery case. Speaker Madigan did not take cash from ComEd, he did not take Rolex watches, trips to Vegas, all the things you typically see in bribery cases.”

Rep. Mary Beth Canty’s proposal to legalize it passed a House committee last month and she’s currently writing an amendment to address concerns about regulation and liability in hopes of moving it forward.

The highest effective tax rates were concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest, led by Illinois (1.84 percent), New Jersey (1.58 percent), Vermont (1.4 percent), Connecticut (1.36 percent), and Ohio (1.32 percent).

Economist James Bohn recently documented the breathtaking resultsof that experiment in which Wisconsin — for a century a high-tax, high-regulation state atrophying in a straitjacket of antique progressivism

“I’m just wondering, if (the school districts are) 90 percent adequate (funding), and we’ve got probably 25 percent of the schools in the state of Illinois that are at full financial adequacy, why aren’t we seeing property taxes come down?” asked Rep. Blaine Wilhour.

“President Trump threatened to wipe out an entire civilization. Let’s be honest: There is something genuinely wrong with this man, and the 25th Amendment must be invoked before it’s too late,” Pritzker declared in a video posted to X this week. He called for removing Trump via the 25th Amendment last year, as well.