It’s your turn, readers. What do you think drove Illinois and national elections?
Note to readers from Mark Glennon re: Ukraine
May 6, 2026
3 Comments
Everybody needs a side hustle these days, and mine is Ukraine, where I am now.
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
The ‘Great Sorting’ in Chicago and Illinois shall continue. The fact that the super wealthy are officially leaving should be an alarm to all. But it isn’t to most. Waiting for the other shoe(s) to drop now.
What is driving results? The Democrats and their ballot harvesting methods is the first issue that comes to mind.
Trump Toxicity. Although I’m a conservative and not a Never-Trumper, I’ve had enough of him and his boorish behavior as well as his failure to “drain the swamp”. I think people (me) wish for more civil discourse and feel like Trump was part of the problem. I recognize that he did some good things, but he did a lot with his rhetoric to keep everyone agitated.
Republicans are their o
wn worst enemy. Somehow enough have abandon common sense and allowed the Democrats to frame their agenda, They have bought into the idea that those who have and currently support Trump are anti democracy, As a result they have opened the door to the Continuing downfall of the US. Unless there is a dramatic change between now and 24, God help us.
Interesting article on how the GOP leadership sabotaged candidates.
https://thenationalpulse.com/2022/11/11/majewski-i-am-a-republican-who-lost-on-tuesday-it-wasnt-trumps-fault-it-was-the-cowards-in-d-c-s-mcleadership/
The union state employees came out enmasse to vote for the debilitating amendment 1. Show how greed can affect a person. They get richer, the rest have to pay. The union mob bosses and the lackey workers will ruin illinois, along with pigster.
Here’s another excellent take. How on earth could far left, mentally impaired Fetterman have overwhelmingly won even blue collar coal miners in western Pennsylvania? Leland Vittert nails it here. He made them think he cares about them. What Trump did in 2028. Then, the GOP won over the working class but is negligently letting that historic change slip away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XWJ_zmb9fQ
1.5 VBM were requested in PA and 700,000 of them had already voted before the debate. Prior to this date, most Dems had no idea who mentally impaired Fetterman was. They don’t watch fox news or see any of the clips of his impairment. Elections have changed. Democrats now win by collecting ballots with D candidates on them. The candidate themselves don’t matter, they don’t need turnout, they just need someone, anyone, to check the D box. And it doesn’t help that PA is a D state and the 2016 election was an aberration. I saw some chart a while… Read more »
There’s so many reasons, the post-mortem will continue for months, if not two years. My opinions is that elections have changed to ballot harvesting in blue states, redistricting made gaining seats in blue states difficult, and red turnout was higher in red states, and not where we needed it in blue states due to a lack of excitement about extraordinarily underfunded MAGA candidates. And don’t get me wrong, I like MAGA candidates, but my independent voting neighbors, not so much. D’s and R’s looking to gain ground now both face the same problems trying to overcome structural problems. For example,… Read more »
https://mobile.twitter.com/Redistrict/status/1591066225500561408
If your pre-election bingo card had a roughly R+4 national House vote and the House still not callable by the Friday after the election…congrats, you win.
In states where, for better or worse, VBM is the law, GOP should have done what Dems did — worked to employ it. In many places, GOP discouraged VBM and said to vote on day of election, which is iffy as to whether voters follow through.
I’d like to examine the voter rolls and see home many names have never been purged after people have moved elsewhere. Find out how many vacant lots or abandoned homes have voters names still associated with the location. I really find it hard to believe that neighborhoods suffering from the bulk of shootings murders and crime continually support the people who refuse to acknowledge the mess!
My daughter has not lived at our address in 22 yrs. Just received a new voters card for her recently. I’ve tried to correct the situation 4 times and was told she will have to appear in person and sign an affidavit that she has moved. She ,lives 200 miles away, 3 kids, full time job. Like there’s time to do that. I’ve returned her voters card 3x as well with the notation “Moved no forwarding “. Still get a new one every year and she is still a registered voter in our county. How many others are there?.
Democrats in Illinois seem to love to get pooched on a daily basis. What other reason could there be for their continued support for people who could care less about what their policies do to their constituents?
I’d like to know how many people left in the state of Illinois work for the government.
I’d like to know how many retired people left in the state of Illinois draw a government pension.
Why should anyone vote for a Republican?
Republicans do not stand for anything. They stand against democrats.
The Democrats were defending Democracy and Reproductive Rights. The Republicans wanted to win because they weren’t Democrats.
Until Republicans stand FOR something, the people of Illinois will continue to suffer.
Darren Bailey stood for many good things! More so than any other Republican in office or had been in office, in my lifetime!
Darren Bailey stood for and would work for the people and turn Illinois around from the communist pit it is!
The only hope left in Illinois is that which the communist, criminal and woke crowd look forward to.
Darren Bailey is a good man. I listened to him for 45 minutes. Around minute 38, Bailey discussed removing unfounded mandates to reduce property taxes.
Democrats recognize they get a short attention, and they pitch to 15 seconds.
My point on Republicans stand. No one can say what the Republicans stand for. Until that changes, the Dems win.
I’m sorry you feel that way. My whole family is moving out. This states is taking my families money and doing things we morally do not believe in. Sodom and Gomorrah. Don”t look back.
No, KJ, you can’t kill your unborn baby. Non-negotiable.
Advertising blitz. IL Dems advertised far more than Reps both on TV and social mtg, it wasn’t even close. Instead of slander Reps with racist accusation they instead called them extreme and abortion abolitionists which seemed to resonate with their base. Reps failed to shoot down these claims.
What drove Illinois and national elections was the weaponized employment of social science research and fraud. This website is full of hostile and malicious actors propagating fear, uncertainty and doubt to contaminate and deter opposition. Here’s the good news! The fraud and social rot is so bad, you can make a huge difference by simply walking outside, making some common sense observations and submitting a FOIA request. You’ll get further than every legacy media organization and most likely this site too. There’s a girl going by the handle Sav Says on YouTube and, with $200 worth of equipment and a… Read more »
Tablet Magazine is simply excellent, I stumbled across them a few months ago. A Jewish – centered journal, it is smart and provocative. Here’s a recent must – read: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/science/articles/vaccines-never-prevented-transmission-covid-alex-gutentag Vaccines Never Prevented the Transmission of COVID Allowing zealots to censor news in the name of ‘science’ is a danger to public health “…In the case of COVID, while claiming that it was the dissenters who caused harm, it was in fact the censors and enforcers of speech restrictions who caused immense damage to the social fabric and to the lives of individuals. The excuse that medical segregation was once… Read more »
One piece of evidence that Tablet must be good is that Deputy Gov. Manar recently ridiculed it on Twitter and called it “antisemitic.” He didn’t like their column on the Pritzker and transgender medical treatments. Tablet is a Jewish publication.
Thanks for the comment. That’s a decent article. The project I’m working on is basically a wellness book that focuses on dealing with the public nuisance elements of big tech. Hopefully, it will help the public and NATSEC folks arrive at a happy medium before they destroy liberties I cherish. Wish me luck. Here’s a great video illuminating some of the social science associated with the vaccine roll out we’re so concerned about. It adds some behind the scenes context and fills in the vagueness related to the quote you posted. In the video, nudges are defined as state interventions,… Read more »
Dave, am I correct that you would like this website to censor out “hostile and malicious actors propagating fear, uncertainty and doubt to contaminate and deter opposition”?
Thanks for commenting Mark. Great question!! No, don’t censor anything! I’m a marketplace of ideas guy too. Sunlight disinfects. There are ways to out them and get positive media coverage from the whole process. I’d love to talk with you about it.
Too many welfare roaches, too many public sector union roaches in on the grift; more tax consumers than taxpayers and they all love that free government cheese. Illinois’s not broken, it’s fixed.
The Democrats campaigned exclusively on abortion. They certainly couldn’t tout their performance on taxes, inflation, Covid restrictions and education. An ignorant electorate voted to kill more babies. I feel that if you don’t respect life in the womb, you don’t respect life outside of the womb. As a lifelong resident, I’m planning my escape from this God forsaken state. What a pity!
Agree, it was an ads blitzkrieg across the board, many ads were even shown during conservative media shows. It was the same strategy as the “racist” slander they used in past. However this time, it was “extreme” candidates that wanted to abolish abortion (close to zero chance in IL). Rep’s did not counter these ads.
In Illinois, i can speak to Northeast (Crook, Dupage, etc)
Voters worship Demonicrats so R will never win
At National level, it’s similar, however DemonicRats have exploited the mail in voting and ballot harvesting to guarantee they never loose
People can complain about the quality of R candidates, however, they are infinitely better than the best D choices
Lastly, the 3 Mc’s (mcconnel, McCarthy, mcdaniela)just love to lose. There is more power in selling close votes in the Uniparty
AMENDMENT 1 HASN’T ACTUALLY PASSED YET. IT FELL SHORT OF THE 60% BUT THEY’RE STILL COUNTING. EVEN IF IT FALLS SHORT OF 60% IT MAY STILL NOT PASS BY THE OTHER METRIC. ACCORDING TO CRAP FAX.
THE UNIONS DECLARED VICTORY, EVERYONE SAYS IT PASSED, BUT IT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE A FEW THOUSAND VOTES SHORT.
Thanks for that!
I think it’s going to pass. If the drop-off rate is the same as the lockbox amendment, it would still barely pass. You gonna need at least 15% of all ballots to leave it blank for it to fall short. I have not yet seen total ballots cast numbers, but maybe the current drop-off rate is around 11%. Too many people that would have probably skipped the question, making the threshold for passage higher, didn’t show up to vote at all. That’s the risk of these amendments running in off years: The usual suspects still show up and make it… Read more »
How did the voters end up voting for JB & Amendment #1? To quote Grandpa Joe, one word “Government cheese”.
Amendment One was a very misunderstood issue on this ballot and I am wondering if voters understand that this Amendment will be ingrained in our Illinois constitution and it will be difficult, if not impossible to remove it going forward, should citizens want to adjust it.
Too many Illinoisans fell for the TV commercials – what’s not to want to keep those poor health care workers trying to help our loved ones?? Of course, we support ‘workers rights.’
The liars won – plain and simple – with the chief liar now eyeing the WH. God forbid!
The Ads were very well done, but of course completely false. My favorite was the crane operator one – so darn funny and so fake.
That is so true. Every time someone complained of the “lying newspapers” circulating from Proft, I always pointed to the blatantly dishonest A1 commercials depicting healthcare workers. It absolutely infuriated me. Eventually, they stopped running those particular ads. I wonder why. I think they were very effective in the passage of this bill.
“Crook County”–need I say more!
Key to machine sweep was for a mere $23 mil in jb pritzker family trust $bucks$ the machine set up maga trumpie bailey as rep gov nominee. Scarring suburban cc and collar county independent/ swing voters, especially women, over to machine. Dragging down any other rep moderates. Pretty much same tactic nationally, trumpsters are the greatest freinds to dems that just keep giving & giving. Sorry for all you wp trumpsters, but you been had—THE MACHINE LOVES YOU!! Im an independent but i like burr ridge mayor grasso and rep mazzochi as the future.
I thought this WSJ article was a good national assessment of what should have been a big win for reps who essentially got their ass kicked.
Dems are the TRUMPSTERS biggest fans!!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-gops-midterm-failure-election-republicans-democrats-congress-donald-trump-ron-desantis-governors-11668031561?mod=opinion_lead_pos1
this is the big story—
“The Democratic strategy of spending money to help MAGA candidates win primaries was cynical, but it worked. Every one of those candidates lost.”
and—
“Republicans only broke even among independents, according to the exit poll, which means millions of these voters found GOP candidates too extreme.”
WSJ is dumping on Mr T fast. 4 or 5 opinion pieces today blaming Trump for reps big losses and DeSantis as the future
Good.
Despite calling Chicago a hellhole, Bailey got the same percentage of Chicago votes that Rauner/McCann combined did in 2018. As I predicted, his comments wouldn’t change anything and it doesn’t look like it increased Chicago turnout against him in general.
Because there is no possible universe in which a Chicago/Suburban Democrat would ever vote for Republican. It’s inconceivable.
Like this? Princess Bride
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3sLhnDJJn0
If I recall, there was the typical ‘pearl clutching’ by the GOPe over Bailey’s factual comment. Harrumph, harrumph!
Can’t believe there are so many uninformed voters in Illinois. Workers rights amendment does not alter the fact that public pensions are heavily underfunded. Nice diversion! Illinois ranks last in the nation when it come to paying general attention obligation bonds. A trust fund governor that never had a real job in his life! And Illinois voters re-elect failure!
Ignorant electorate – perhaps those reading scores aren’t the mistake we believe they are.
Keep ’em ignorant and dependent on government – and let the taxpayers support it all.
Keep grubby Right to Work Laws out of our state. Thank Rauner for his extreme anti union agenda and this push back.
Rauner should get major credit for Amendment 1. His drive to make right to work zones in Illinois resulted in this change to the constitution.
Nah, Dems would have passed this bill no matter what. Look at all the other crazy stuff Dems have done this session. We are a progressive utopia!
Dems and Republicans passed this bill. It was bipartisan. You know with over 60% of the Senate Republicans voting for this amendment to be placed on the ballot. Followed by the majority of the voters in Illinois. Passing a constitutional amendment is no easy task. You need lots of things to work in your favor. Rauner’s attempt clearly helped provide the need and the rationale. They didn’t do this before his time in office. They saw Rauner’s vision as a potential future threat and acted. Make sure to thank Rauner.
LOL
Republicans in Illinois insist on voting on election day. They are not voting in large enough numbers to curb Democrat power. We have only one functioning party in this state.
This is most states. Look up Tennessee or Indiana. They’re one party states too. FL is now a one-party state too and the R’s have a super-majority in the legislature. IL this century was close to but not quite a one party state – we had Rauner, and Fitzgerald, and Kirk, a handful of others. But Rauner was the last opposition candidate that will ever be elected to a statewide office again in IL. Once recongnize the new landscape, like I have in the last 24 hours, and stop holding out false hope that maybe the ‘perfect’ democrat will come… Read more »
That’s a tremendously interesting point, debtsor. One-party rule is a ticket to eventual corruption and incompetence. With America so starkly divided by the two parties and people moving around for political reason, if one-party rule becomes the norm everybody is screwed.
People have been self-sorting for a while. Many of the conservative radio pundits implore their listeners to move to red states to make them redder. Bongino today said this, he said people ask him how do they fix blue states, he said you don’t, you move to a red state, and make it redder, and he says when he tells people this, they get mad. But it is very much true. Look at FL and TN this week. Red wave bonanzas. (https://www.lebanondemocrat.com/news/state/red-wave-rolls-through-tennessee/article_694272a3-0f91-57a7-bc3b-18d53b31a316.html). I saw an article the other day that said, IIRC, if California/NY/IL Republicans would just move to to… Read more »
Illinois is lost.
Balkanization and then fortification of Red States is the path forward for conservatives. FL is a great example – one of the most corrupt swing states during GOPe JeB! as Gov. In 2016 DeSantis barely squeaks past a Dem candidate that was on video snorting cocaine off the backside of a male prostitute, and Trump puts him over the top by a mere 50,000 votes. DeSantis immediately goes to work dismantling the Democrats ballot collection fraud scheme in FL, and conservatives from all Blue states flock to FL as a refuge from Leftist Democrat mobs in their home states. The… Read more »
Unlike Tennessee and Indiana one major factor regarding the perversion of Illinois is the nearly 100 year long single party rule in Chicago and nearly 40 year long single party rule in Cook County. These cancers have festered for so long that the state is now in terminal decline.
The way things are going, TN and IN will be one party states for another generation. There’s dozens of articles over the years about the lonely Democrat candidate trying to talking kitchen table issues to locals. Voters find out he’s a Democrat and they become viscerally repulsed because Fox News brain washed them or something. He tries to explain that he’s out there to help them with their working man issues leaving out that he’s also in favor of the insane culture war issues that Democrats are involved in.
The creation and maintaining of a hyper partisan state, left or right, is made possible by the new digital data mined gerrymandered down
to the individual voter reality
NATIONALLY REPUBLICANS WON THE POPULAR VOTE THIS ELECTION WITH 52% OF THE VOTE. THEY ARE VOTING
REPUBLICANS show up for elections – in red states. They show up in blue states too.
But Republicans are outnumbered in Illinois so absent a politicial miracle it makes little difference.
“In a slight reversal of Republicans’ recent structural advantage on the House map, they’re currently on track to win about 51% of House seats with about 52% of the two-party vote – despite having gerrymandered far more states/districts than Democrats.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/Redistrict/status/1590485954308976640?cxt=HHwWgMCt7Y6jxZIsAAAA
Big Tech and the industrial democratic media complex.
That and an ignorant electorate.
In Illinois and probably elsewhere, large organizations such as unions and churches and other left-leaning groups were able to keep their members in line and get out their vote. Many organizations accomplished this with partisan half-truths fed to their constituents. Right-leaning voters were and remain poorly organized. Most voters (left and right) pay little attention to what the “other side” is saying and more engaged voters are mistrust what both sides say. “Engaged” voters are cynical about either side’s ability to address intractable problems like inflation, education, crime, climate and immigration. The devil you know is better than the devil… Read more »
I would love to know how many voters had read anything about Amendment 1 before stepping into the voting booth. I would imagine most did not. If this thing passes, it will because there is no one countering all the rhetoric put out in favor of its passage. It’s a tragedy that we have such an uniformed (and blissfully so) populace.
I would agree with you that probably most did not. I heard that it did pass. :/
Republicans, conservatives, and yes MAGA supporters, are too often extremely gullible when it comes to believing that Illinois elections are completely legit. I thought the political right was supposed to be skeptical of government. But nope, they believe 54% of Illinoisans want more of the same.
This is easy. The Republicans didn’t offer any quality candidate.
The only thing Pritzker’s opponent had was “I’m not him.” The same applied to every other race.
If you were voting Republican you weren’t voting FOR that candidate, you were voting AGAINST the Democrat.
No one wants to run as a R in IL – It’s expensive and pointless. Particularly when the GOPe only supports club members.
I moved to TN so I have a different viewpoint of Trump than a lot of IL voters do. My brother and I have this discussion all the time- he thinks Trump needs to move aside and let someone else run. If you are not in a deep blue state you will see how much he is loved especially by people who would not vote. Interesting points below. I tend to agree- I just think Trump has brought a whole new group of voters to the GOP.
https://www.revolver.news/2022/11/richard-baris-with-a-hard-dose-of-reality-for-a-new-crop-of-neo-never-trumpers/
The problem with that analysis is Trump DIDN’T win PA, WI, or MI (or GA, or AZ) in 2020. Will TN flip blue if it’s DeSantis (yes, he’s the flavor of the day, but I’m a huge fan)? I doubt it. Will any of the above flip back red if it’s Trump? Based on last night, I doubt it. I appreciate Trump saving us from Hillary and all he did for his time in office. But after last night, I don’t think he’s the answer going forward. Someone who’s actively cheering losses on his side because they didn’t kiss his… Read more »
“But after last night”
It didn’t happen last night. It happened after he lost and refused to help transition that power in a peaceful manner. Last night should just inform all the people that couldn’t accept this reality two years ago.
Yes, I agree. Last night hopefully solidified it for enough people. I hope.
Three things…ignorant uneducated voters, illegal cash and crooked politicians.
A lot of people on the public dole throughout the country. Combine that the large amount of people who are NOT proud Americans and you have the perfect broth for Dem soup. Crime is a statistic that means nothing to most (unless you are a victim). Republicans did not offer a solution to inflation. In Illinois, 64 percent of the people want govt to control their lives – Pritzker fans. The state’s credit rating means nothing to them. Its hard for Republicans to put up an alternative when so many people are content with their govt hand outs and have… Read more »
Abortion was a larger factor than forecasted.
I have great concern if that’s true.
A nation obsessed with killing its young is no more than barbaric.
It is what drove a large number of women to the polls.
Republicans got our collective asses handed to us, and its high time we admit the reason is us! We do not have a solid game plan and more importantly we didn’t show up to vote. We point fingers at the supposed “lazy Democrats” who wont work or want the government to take care of them and at the same time we make excuses why we cant cut out an hour of our precious day to vote?! Additionally, early voting and mail in ballots have been options for weeks! Shame on every last one of you who made an excuse why… Read more »
I disagree that we got our butts handed to us. Nationally, we had far more than half the votes at 52% to 46%. Its just that most of those votes were concentrated in Red States with favorably drawn maps. The Blue states fortified their own maps, just as Red States did, meaning that even with Red Waves, it would be structurally difficult to overcome the partisan maps, and those partisan maps often translate to lower statewide turnout for the opposition party. AOC for years complained that Trump lost the popular vote but won the presidency, and that Dem’s had more… Read more »
https://www.cookpolitical.com/charts/house-charts/national-house-vote-tracker/2022
You can look at these maps, there was some red shifts in the Chicago suburbs,
A story to share. My mother came to this country from Scotland at 9 yrs of age. She lived in Chicago until she was 90. A staunch democrat. Political discussions between her and I were limited as she was mostly clueless about issues. She just voted for democrats. A devout Catholic and very active in her church, choir, ladies society etc. I once posed this question to her. If Jesus Christ himself appeared on earth and ran for office as a Republican would she vote for him. Her answer. ABSOLUTELY NOT. That sums up the voting public.
LOL. That was a good one!
I can picture this old Scottish lady:
“Hail no! Jayzis w’ud nevah b’ er Repahblican!”
Sounds pretty familiar to me, except my parents were Irish Catholic. They would have had a hard time voting Republican, but I couldn’t see them voting Democrat once Democrats became the party of abortion activists and the transgendered . Nope, they would not do that. And neither will I —EVER !
Oh boy! And she represents so many. smh
My Mom was the exception … a lifelong Chicago Democrat, but when she hit her 70s she woke up and saw things clearly for the first time. She died a staunch Conservative at the age of 91 – made us SO proud!
There’s three kinds of people in this world; those who can see, those who can be shown, and those who will never see.
Politics in the United States has become increasingly nationalized, turning the old adage “all politics is local” on its head. In this polarized political environment, it’s difficult for any Republican to win statewide in Illinois. Bailey was not the best statewide candidate in this polarized environment and he nationalized the election even further. The worsening pension crisis and ensuing tax hikes will create an opportunity for Illinois Republicans, if they can take it. It needs to get a whole lot worse in this state before people come to their senses.
Nah, they’ll just move to somewhere nice and then start the process of destroying there too.
Some will. But not everyone can just pack up and leave, especially now. High mortgage rates combined with the high cost of housing is going to cause a lot of people to stay put for better or worse.
Na they will just be made homeless.
You’ve had years to move out of Illinois. But nope you whined & dragged your feet.
So the homeless shelter will be waiting.
I remember when DuPage was a great place to live, then the Democrats moved in and it’s gone to pot. IL is a complete bankrupt disaster and apparently that’s what the people want. All these state workers are in for a surprise when the pensions simply don’t have the money.
But it’s a Constitutional right, now, you see. When the courts will be forced to choose, they will have to honor this new “right” and the money will be diverted from everything else until the state is completely gone.
They know this, and that’s why they passed it now. They’re very cunning people.
Actually when a society goes full bore leftist pensions that command purchasing power in the marketplace will be toast.
Do some research on what a pension from the former Soviet Union is worth today. Google on the exchange rate of Mikhail Gorbachev’s pension and he was the top dog! Yes it can happen.
When the IL Supreme Court told the Rauner Admin that the State effectively has the authority to confiscate private property, that was it. Amendment 1 is but the formalization.
Remember, they believe you didn’t build it.
What court case was ruled by the ILSC that stated private property could be confiscated? I remember them protecting private assets of pensioners and not allowing the state to steal from them but don’t remember them ruling in the opposite way.
What do you think the result of “taxes can go as high as needed to pay off the pensioners” will be?
To answer that question you just need to look at some of the south suburbs.
“What do you think the result of “taxes can go as high as needed to pay off the pensioners” will be?” The Supreme Court didn’t decide that. The state has always had the ability to raise taxes to whatever level they wanted. This is not a new power. They merely stated that you can’t steal from pensioners because you don’t want to raise taxes or cut other spending. “If a State could reduce its financial obligations whenever it wanted to spend the money for what it regarded as an important public purpose, the Contract Clause would provide no protection at all.”… Read more »
In the courts summary from the bench the verbiage was ‘keep raising taxes, there are no limits on the State’ to the Rauner Admin That’s effectively saying confiscate private property if you have to, irregardless of the consequences.
Where in the ruling was that written? You used quotes and provided the source. You should have no problem identifying the paragraph where this was written. Unless you just made it up?
Yes the state has great abilities to raise taxes, the court never said those words. It’s just known that each and every state has that ability. Nothing new.
I keep looking for the flaw here. As long as there are printing presses, we can never run out of money. The “possible” flaw is that we can run out of [or low on] resources. Aquifers can run dry although many people can still carry buckets to Lake Michigan. Drought and costs of food transportation can make many comestibles unaffordable. COLA, however it may be adjusted, can’t likely keep up with runaway inflation. On the flip side, a major depression could make individuals and company unable to pay the taxes and make their collateral worthless. These sorts of collapse are… Read more »
I agree with you, but apparently a majority of people are seeing it. They have heard of the Oakbrook incident, maybe a carjacking or two, but none of it affects their daily lives. They have a job, a house, their kids walk to school safely, lots of good restaurants, etc. They also tend to blame problems on the state. Can you list some specifics of what has gotten worse?
The “Oakbrook incident” I’m assuming you mean when shots were fired in the mall on one of the busiest Christmas shopping days. That’s not the only incident there. There have been numerous armed robberies in the parking lot. Numerous smash and grabs. Many many cars stolen from dealer parking lots as well as carjackings in grocery store parking lots. This stuff wasn’t happening to this extent a few years ago. The perception of crime may be higher than the actual numbers but it changes peoples behavior. My wife won’t go to Oakbrook mall anymore, does all her shopping online. Yeah… Read more »
Knew Pritzker would win but partially because he ran an unfair campaign, threatening TV, radio, media, etc to keep any negative information away from people. Chicago runs the state period! The Amendment was poorly worded and people didn’t understand it or do their homework, that was a huge mistake and will cost this state dearly. Was surprised by several of National results. Too much Trump instead of relating what changes for the better of country the Republicans would do, big mistake! I see at least 2 more years of evil, hypocritical rule!
Also, the portly one who thinks he’s royalty put out so many deceitful lies (as to what would happen if Bailey was elected) to “fearmonger” the masses —- that if one is low-information or a snowflake, etc… they would buy the slop he was throwing out there. And it looks like they did.
I’m thinking there was some shenanigans with results going on too. I still can’t understand why results on the gubernatorial race came out so fast?
Blind maga extremism by the Republican Party. A party that has blind allegiance to someone of djts character and capabilities, is the existential threat. All else pales. Deny 2020 results with no proof, support a coup de ta against the people of the US. Want to eliminate or reduce social security and Medicare. Spin some crazy spoof that new IRS funding will impact the middle class. Withhold aid to a country trying to escape some psycho next door, until dirt on Biden delivered. Blind allegiance to Putin versus your own intelligence agencies. Denigrate the FBI CIA DOJ, etc and the… Read more »
Perhaps people really want to be told exactly what to do? I think I need to take a break from politics for awhile.
I agree, and I’m with you. And for me, not being an ex- yet, I need one for sure, especially after this latest fiasco.
While you ‘take a break’, JB is plotting to give your children the clot shot, he’s preparing to ban your long rifle, he’s going to use your money to fund out of state abortions, and he’s probably going to slide through a progressive tax increase backdoored through the use of income based exemptions…..
Lord only knows what other ‘progressive’ ideas he and our legislature have in their heads.
It’s going to be brutal.
Time for Trump to get out of the way.
Unfortunately there’s a group of voters that want incompetent corrupt and lawless leaders.
Time Evans got 69% of the vote, which was only 4-5 percentage points less than most of the other Cook County judges received. That dude is gonna be buried under the bench.
I get my Illinois news from Wirepoints. They are a great resource. What I don’t understand is they seem to always have a sliver of hope and I don’t. Now I need help. Is there any respectful way of saying, “I told you so?”
You just did.
Wirepoints is a class act.
There is a silver lining here for me and others that plan to leave Illinois. With this many dumb voters who don’t care about the fiscal direction of this state, I should have no problem finding a buyer from the dumb voters that move from the city to the burbs.
I had the same thought as you!
So many have already flocked to my town in DuPage County, especially in 2021-ish, as they fled the crime in chiraq and could work from home remotely, and have contributed to its ongoing decline. (Next door neighbor with JB sign in lawn since September. smh) I just have to figure out where to re-locate to.
Head south and take some driving vacations.
Search first online by county, stay away from any counties with medium to large cities as they have typical urban problems and higher taxes.
When you find a town you like, check the school rankings. A town with highly ranked schools means the families care and that there is civic pride.
For crime data use city-data.com. For demographic and economic information use datausa.io
Good luck!
Yes. Look for a cardboard box in the middle of the woods. Nice and red out there. Home school dem kids so no indoctrination. That way you won’t have to pay to live in civilization.
You obviously have no idea how great it is to live in a free state with a well armed citizenry who respect each other. I’d much rather live with my independently minded Southern neighbors than with collectivist minded Chicagoans.
And by the way, I have spectacular mountain views from each room in my “cardboard box”, including from my garage.
Please think of me when you’re shoveling snow this winter, because I won’t be.
I live in a suburban cook county community with highly rated schools, and it went 54D/46R this recently election for state rep, IIRC 12k to 16k, roughly, mostly concentrated in my town, with the D’s mostly the next, larger town over. Not too many places like this left. I feel a bit like a native Roman Britain after Rome collapsed isolating myself in western England, until hundreds of years later they eventually assimilated themselves with the anglos. My town manages to stay a teeny bit red despite being surrounded by blue everywhere. It will last until it doesn’t. Of note,… Read more »
Just keep planning……
It ain’t easy. You try telling your son, with good friends, completely integrated into the community, that we are leaving the state of IL, the state of his great-great-great-great-great grandparents, because Fat Man Bad. Sure, Fat Man Bad, he says, but how does that affect me? I have to find all new friends, live in an area where I don’t know anyone, because you don’t like the local politicians? And yeah, financially, things are going to be financially tight for a while as we try to gain our financial footing in a new state? Not a fun conservation at this… Read more »
I get it, but our ancestors made the big move across the ocean for a better life, so we cannot be afraid of a move within the US. I do not want to sugarcoat a move to another state. There are many disruptions to your life, but the pleasant surprises and benefits will outweigh the disruptions. It did for me, and I constantly questioned whether or not I was making the right move. I had lots of self doubt. I have told the young people in my family, even though Illinois has many attractive cultural benefits, it will be harder… Read more »
The difference is not that I’m leaving IL for a better life – I have a decent life here by all measures. I’m being involuntarily forced out by leftists who despise me. It makes me bitter, to be honest.
Yes, I was bitter and resentful, too. But I started to feel like a sucker paying higher and higher taxes and getting nothing in return. I could not live with that any longer. Everyone’s got their breaking point and that was mine.
It does feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that I no longer have to deal with any Illinois BS or the usual urban problems.
You can always make new friends. That’s life.
The excuses are old and not going to fly.
Trump—Many voters never got past the boorishness and chaos, so won’t acknowledge the policy successes. Competence—We nominated a crudité-loving carpet bagger in an industrial swing state and other low-quality candidates in key battle ground races (again, Trump). Abortion—This isn’t the 17th century. Republicans cannot win enough women voters if they insist on absolute abortion bans anywhere. We must compromise on this issue, as Conservatives did in Europe. Narrative and Brand—Democrats understand the power of narrative and they have tarnished the GPO brand (with Trumps help) to such an extent that to admit being a Republican in vast swathes of this… Read more »
DeSantis will be Romney 2.0, plus he has no plan for the economy other promoting outsourcing. DeSantis will get creamed in the electoral vote.
Followup: My bad, Romney had pretty good business experience, DeSantis has zilch.
From 0.5% victory margin to 20% victory margin in one election cycle shows he can attract conservatives, moderates and even some Dems. We will be thirsting badly for competence in 2024 after next year’s recession.
To DeSantis credit he removed all the election fraud mechanisms the FL Dems had put in place. Remember, DeSantis barely squeaked past a Dem candidate that snorted cocaine off his gay prostitutes backside in 2016. It was Trump that pulled DeSantis to victory. Sadly, no other Gov in the other 49 states has done what DeSantis did to insure election integrity. It will be very difficult for DeSantis.
That’s a really, really bad take. DeSantis is no Romney.
Yeah. Probably more McCain like loss.
You have this completely wrong. Romney is a go-along to get along, while DeSantis governed mightily against the current. Romney was/is very soft on cultural issues, deferring to a moderate Democrat worldview. DeSantis is fairly right on cultural issues and makes no apologies for hard baking that view into law (i.e. “Don’t Say Gay Bill”) DeSantis stood up to the shrill left, Disney — and won. What battles did Romney ever fight…and win? Universal Romneycare? He didn’t even win that. On economics they are similar, but DeSantis has more of a populist Trump-like bent. He hits all the right notes… Read more »
Supposedly Romney was the moderate earth toned Republican candidate that the GOPe said they needed to win. It didn’t work. However, I think Romney has a good head for business and at the time would have served the country well. No candidate is perfection.
With the way things are going, I’m guessing the poor economy will be THE issue for 2024. Who can best fix it?
If you listen to DeSantis speak he’s a big advocate of small businesses in Florida. He openly spoke of resenting that Big Box businesses got a free pass during Covid shutdowns, but small businesses were shut down or restricted, so he opened them all back up before anyone else. That in itself is an economic boon and will help mightily. He also gets how to quickly use the levers of government to get things done. That kind of response to problems is good for business. And he lowered taxes on an already low-tax state. They have a huge budget surplus… Read more »
Having a Republican majority in
FL helps, a lot. Think of life long political creatures in The Swamp who believe they run the country, and not having a majority. He needs to craft a message based on that reality. So far he has not.
Here’s some icing on the cake for you: Chief Judge Tim Evans of Cook County, who heads the let-them-go-free crowd (along with Kim Foxx), won his retention election 70% yes to 30% no. Crime problem? What crime problem.
Unbelievable
You would think public safety for you and your family would be very fundamental. Wonder what the actual tipping point is for Leftist Chicagoans on crime? ‘Escape from NY’ levels of crime and mayhem?
Until crime happens to them personally, they will continue to ignore it. Why wouldn’t they? It worked for them in this election. It will certainly be part of the play book going forward.
JB’s reach spread out further into the collar counties compared to 2018 as residents move further and further out to avoid crime, and the dangers of city life, but at the same time, brought their Dem voting patterns with them to their new community.
As it’s always been, there’s a premium to live in a low crime area. But the progressive left is starting to attack this too, blaming the systemic racism of the appraisal industry for underappraising homes in high crime areas compared to low crime areas. They replace ‘high crime’ with ‘minority’ and destroy.
Precisely what has happened in my area. Upper-middle class very safe area in the north suburbs. Chicago and Evanston started flooding our neighborhoods and brought their politics with them. I’ll never understand it. Why did they leave?
Scary. Relying on the kindness of strangers is a really scary way to go through life. Guess ignorance is bliss.
Suburban Dems don’t believe crime will come to their neighborhoods. It will. The drug dealers are already here. The car jackers will have rich pickings. It is only a matter of time before someone pulls a gun…….
I saw that and had to look twice! I know that he has been said to be a part of the triumvirate with Beetlejuice and Foxx, resulting in the lawlessness and chaos that the city is facing. What society can survive/compete with that type of voter mentality?? It makes me wonder if the numbers are fabricated.
The polarization of the state and country may be far worse than imagined. Given the economic state we’re in, I’m humbly surprised we didn’t see a more tectonic shift in election results. “No way I could vote for a D or R . . .” seems to have overcome crossing over and giving the other party a chance at righting the ship. Illinois is no longer blue, it’s midnight blue. Perhaps there will one day be a reckoning when the fiscal mess is no longer tolerable by even the most progressive among Democrats. Until then, higher tax bills, more government… Read more »
OK, this is it. I have spent my entire life in Illinois—college, grad school, career. I love my long-time home, friends, community connections. However, after yesterday, there is no longer even a slight amount of hope remaining for the state and for the once-great city of Chicago, and we will be putting our home on the market in the spring, hoping to salvage a bit of equity, and get out of here. I am filled with grief at the prospect of leaving, but we clearly cannot plan for the rest of our lives here. Illinois truly has the dumbest voters… Read more »
We will be selling our home and moving too, but not until the housing market stabilizes. There are few buyers out there with 7%+ mortgages at current prices. The only direction for the housing market is down. Sure, I’ll take a lower price for my IL home but I’ll also pay less where I move. This a major undertaking but I’m not going to live the rest of my life in an area in a state where I’m behind enemy lines.
Your opportunity to sell was a year ago.
And you were told Illinois would not change but you clinger your false hope.
Now you get to bear the cost of that stubbornness.
Think your home equity bill is bad now? Wait to see what soaring property taxes combined with 8-10% interest rates do to home equity across Illinois.
There’s an army of ex-Detroiters who waited too long. They went to the grave never recovering from a housing equity perspective. There’s a reason you could buy a property there a while back for just a dollar.
Bingo.
Wait until you see what will happen to home equity in TN/FL/KY with 8-10% interest rates after 20%+ appreciation a year for the past few years. What goes up, must come down.
IL has problems but there is real wealth in this state, for now.
Best to wait for the housing market to level out before taking the financial plunge, overpaying for a house in another state that may take 15 years to recover.
My family and I moved out of Illinois to TN 15 months ago. If I could give you any advice it would be to really do your research before you move to a certain area. Everyone thinks they can get a cheaper house in the south, but housing prices are insane where we are living and VERY difficult to get. I am glad we left when we did because I think if we would have waited we would have not been able to leave. We had to live in an apartment with elementary aged kids for almost a year before… Read more »
I tried to get my husband to buy a house as rental property in Brentwood, TN about 15 years ago. I’m originally from an area two hours north of there and I could see Nashville area was changing/growing – knew it would be a good investment.
We didn’t buy.
We couldn’t afford to live there now as our primary residence and certainly couldn’t invest as a second home in the Brentwood area.
Hear it’s very nice there (and expensive).
Prices will be collapsing every where from Blue to Red across the country. Give it a few years, keep your powder dry, and then buy.
Thank you for sharing! It is quite difficult to re-locate, especially if you don’t have family anywhere else where you might want to consider or are not familiar with anywhere else. And just because I may have vacationed places, does not always translate into somewhere I’d love to live year-round.
I’ve been doing research for a few years now, but haven’t figured out where to go. So glad he answered your prayers. I’m certain he will guide me and answer mine too when it’s time. Congratulations for escaping
Q for Nikole: Since TN has a freer labor market than IL, do you find it is easier to hire people for home repairs and services than it was in IL?
Well said. Very sad for those of us who are in this predicament.
If you can afford to rent before you sell, that might be a better financial alternative. It’s neither a buyer’s nor a seller’s market at this time. Prices declining, buyer pool drying up, higher mortgage rates, little inventory. Or, rent your home and rent in your next location.
Isn’t it disappointing that we are talking about this? I believe this exodus will accelerate. Worse, corporation exit announcements may become more frequent. Do you think they want to be excessively burdened by the anti-business sentiment and environment? I don’t. Lots of more business friendly places to start or grow your business.
It is very disappointing that we are put into a position that we need to be talking about this. Born and raised here, and so were our children. Ughhhh
Born and raised in Illinois. Is it because it’s intensified so much that I’m just worn out now? Idk. As some have said here and elsewhere, it is a massive undertaking to pick up and move, but I set this election as the final test, so that’s the same thought I had as you yesterday, when I learned early on that Bailey lost.
I had a glimmer of hope that things would turn out differently, but I was fooling myself. Now to figure out where to go. :/
JD I am in a similar situation but sold my house at top of market price in May. My advice is to sell now asap. Prices will go down every day, so lock in whatever equity you can. Find a rental anywhere you think outside of dark blue states. It will feel like You will pouring $ down the drain, but u r not. Home prices and rates will fall further AND you can make sure you really like the new area before you sink yourself into mortgage debt. Moving is a total nightmare, especially exponential for spouse and each… Read more »
To jajujon, CC and bkrg2–I appreciate your thoughts re the nightmarish economic and logistical prospects of moving out of state. They are what has kept us here for the last 10 years or so as our home equity has steadily evaporated (but for the bump this year, which might already be gone—good for you, bkrg2), especially when compared to just about anywhere else in the country other than Detroit. I am in a rather dangerous mindset of kind of not caring, as long as we get away from the environment here—I feel like such a chump for continuing to hold… Read more »
Mitch McConnell Lindsey Graham the different leader ship in the republican party there is no leadership major changes to get the party back on track.