Totaling the unsustainable tax increases and windfall revenue during Pritzker Administration – Wirepoints
May 26, 2026
23 Comments
With $162 billion more from taxpayers, couldn’t you deliver a few bond upgrades, too
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A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
I agree with Dick Turdbin if, and only if,
If this were to happen, just watch the job- and skill-less majors get pushed out.
Getting a fine arts degree is noble, but almost always comes with employment that pays next to nothing. It’s like getting a degree in model airplane building. You might be the best model airplane builder in history and people around the world admire your skills. But a job? Virtually nonexistent in that field.
This is one of the few good bills Turbin Durbin has proposed. If you’re 10 years out of college with a degree in gender studies, and you’re a single person earning less than $55k a year or whatever the median income is, then yes, your degree is worthless, and you should be able to file bankruptcy on student loans. BUT BE ABLE TO RECOVER SOME OF THE TUITION FROM THE COLLEGES.
Debtsor, I agree that Durbin is directionally right on this. At an earlier point, student loans were dischargeable in bankruptcy but that was changed through legislation led by then Senator Joe Biden. The excuse was that bankruptcy was being abused by some graduates who ran up big bills then immediately filed for bankruptcy, which indeed was happening. However, those problems could have been addressed in other ways through the “eligibility” requirements for filing and other measures. Your idea of sticking it to the colleges as part of the whole concept is interesting.
Absolutely the colleges and universities should be on the hook for a large share of this. They were clearly the primary beneficiaries of the loans, not the students with useless degrees.
Filing bankruptcy should definitely be allowed for student loans. While I don’t think you would ever be able to recover or claw back tuition, I do think allowing bankruptcy would cause private lenders to stop loaning money to someone majoring in gender studies from an expensive no-name private college. Only schools and majors that could show a return on investment would garner lender support. This would cause 18 year old students to get real with their expectations while also putting downward price pressure on many schools.
I don’t agree with Sen. Durbin too often but bankruptcy does impose burdensome penalties over a long period for those who use it. The scarlet “B” will follow the filer for years. Far more punishment than Uncle Brandon will apply
Another point, forgiven debt is income and must be declared on the 1040 form. This will surprise many of the forgiven and they’ll demand relief from that owed money also!
Bankruptcy discharges the forgiven debt too in most, but not all, cases. But my understanding is that comes down to timing, meaning the bankruptcy has to occur before the debt is forgiven.
The progressives will make it illegal for student loan bankruptcy to be a consideration in credit decisions. Poof, it’s all gone.
It’s already like that for federal student loans. They are practically guaranteed as long as you haven’t been convicted of a drug crime or defaulted on some other government loan.
Don’t change dicks in the middle of a screw, Vote for Durbin in 22!