The late night host held up a map of Illinois’ congressional districts, noting the unusual shapes of the 17th and 13th congressional districts, as the state becomes a focal point during the latest redistricting talks. “It’s like the stinger on a scorpion down there,” Colbert said of the 13th District, which stretches from central to southern Illinois. “We handed it over to a kindergarten class and let them decide,” Pritzker joked. “...That’s our independent commission.” Audio: Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon says Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades – Chicago’s Morning Answer
April 3, 2026
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Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Illinois lost another 54,000 tax filers and dependents, net, according to the IRS. Since 2000, fleeing taxpayers have taken $94 billion of annual adjusted gross income with them.
You wonder how long JB rehearsed for this show. How many days and hours were spent playacting that JB is clever, funny, witty and smart? Plus certainly Colbert gave JB all of hi questions ahead of time so that taxpayer funded staff could prepare responses. Good riddance Colbert and the Democrat AKA Communist Propaganda free media.
This is just one of the reasons why Colbert was cancelled. Now if we can just get it to happen with JB.
Staying out of prison for now
Colbert should have asked him about toilet gate
Worse gerrymandered state governor complaining about gerrymandering by someone else.
There’s a word that, probably should be tattoo’d on his forehead.
Real funny governor, unless you actually live in those areas of the state where you denied voters a representative say in their government.
There is no such thing as an independent commission in IL. All commissions are bought and paid for by IL Democrats.
Big yuck, JB. The disgraceful Illinois congressional boundaries are getting skewered nationwide, and you think it is pretty funny. Wait till you try to run for President and the national press gets a look at how seriously you address real problems. You won’t be laughing– you will be laughed at.