Wirepoints
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Chicago criminals out on probation/parole/pretrial release continue violence in 2024
One thing Chicagoans can’t help but notice when scrolling through news feeds: the number of violent crimes committed by defendants while they were out either on parole, probation or awaiting trial. -
Let the government censor away through agents it controls, say Kwame Raoul and Cabal of A.G.s to U.S. Supreme Court
This shouldn’t be hard to understand: If you think government should have the power to censor what it says is false, then you don’t believe in the bedrock of a democratic republic: free speech. -
States are rejecting progressive tax schemes, moving to flat tax structures
In 2020, Illinoisans rejected Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his legislative allies’ push for a progressive income tax scheme in Illinois. And with it, they rejected claims a progressive tax would “modernize” Illinois’ income tax. -
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker cheers ‘record-setting growth for adult-use cannabis sales’
Health and mental effects of cannabis use are described here by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. And the Wall Street Journal has a great new column on how badly the government is understating harm from cannabis. -
How much dishonesty about illegal immigrants can Gov. Pritzker cram into a minute and a half?
Gov. JB Pritzker was asked last week for his response to press conferences where some lawmakers called for an end to Illinois’ status as a sanctuary or welcoming state and want more transparency on what’s being spent on migrants. -
Here’s what’s wrong with Pritzker’s emergency power proclamation for immigration crisis
You needn’t look much beyond the four corners of Gov. JB Pritzker’s latest emergency disaster proclamation to see what’s wrong with Illinois’ response to illegal immigration. Pritzker issued his eighteenth such monthly proclamation on January 5. -
Illinois tax rates out-of-sync with those in neighboring states, most of the nation
There are many factors that motivate people to move out of Illinois, but taxes often rank highest on the list. For good reason. -
Illinois is a moderate state: Its progressive leaders are out of touch
For its New Year’s resolution, Illinois should look in the mirror and acknowledge what it is. -
As population woes continue, Illinois’ loss of congressional seats could accelerate
Illinois’ leaders can deny the state’s population problems all they want, but a collapse in the state’s number of congressional seats is proof enough of the state’s population woes. -
Avoiding a conflict of interest: Nearly a third of Illinois lawmakers have rejected a taxpayer-funded pension
Illinois’ public pension crisis is coming to the fore after three years of being ignored during covid. Billions in federal aid to both the private and public sectors helped Illinois politicians paper over the state’s growing debts and worsening retiree security, but with pandemic aid finally drying up, they soon won’t be able to ignore the problems. -
The costs of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Illinois universities
Several Ivy League schools have been put under a national microscope recently for applying the right to free speech inconsistently. These universities are giving some groups unwavering protection to protest, while shutting down other groups altogether. These inconsistencies have one common denominator: Higher education’s unwavering devotion to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). -
Illinois’ long slide in manufacturing jobs continues
Short-term. Long-term. No matter how you slice it, Illinois’ manufacturing sector is in trouble. -
Why you should miss Squeezy the Pension Python
Illinois recently released its biggest, regular report on government pensions. Before getting to that, however, it’s fascinating to look back on what was widely agreed about pensions not long ago, and how all that was said is now forgotten. -
Universities better get ahead of surging anti-woke backlash. The University of Illinois should go first.
Most Americans of every political stripe gagged last week seeing three leading university presidents’ Congressional testimony on anti-semitism. After years of punishment and censorship of centrist and conservative viewpoints at their schools and others across America, none of the three could say that calls for genocide against Jews violated their schools’ codes of conduct. -
New 2023 data: Inflation can’t save Illinois from its worst-in-nation pension crisis
COGFA, Illinois’ official number-crunching group, is out with its state pension reports for both FY 2022 and 2023 and its analysis shows that while record-high inflation has reduced the stress of pension costs on the budget in the short-term, those retirement debts continue to be a major threat to the state’s fiscal and economic stability. -
Gov. Pritzker’s dishonest spin on Chicago crime, Illinois jobs
There’s no denying Gov. J.B. Pritzker should be one of the state’s biggest cheerleaders, consistently accentuating Illinois’ positives. It’s what any good governor should do. -
Illinoisans burdened with $207 billion in official state & local pension debts, $41,000 per household
The $200 billion Illinois’ public and private sectors got in federal covid bailouts pulled Illinois back from its decades-long, self-inflicted financial decline. Unpaid bills are now mostly repaid, state revenues are up and the state has received multiple credit rating upgrades. -
Illinois becomes first state in America to go backward on school choice
School choice in Illinois is dead. For now. The teachers unions were on a warpath to kill Illinois’ small tax-credit scholarship program and their Democratic allies weren’t willing to cross them. Gov. J.B. Pritzker, House Speaker Chris Welch and Senate President Don Harmon failed to call a bill to a vote this week to extend the program and with that, the Invest in Kids Act sunsets at the end of this year. -
Pritzker asks Biden to help Illinois attract more migrants
Gov. JB Pritzker met with Pres. Joe Biden for 45 minutes during Biden’s Thursday Illinois visit. -
Chinese state-run publication cheers Gotion’s Illinois and Michigan projects as expansion of global supremacy in E.V. supply chain
The Global Times is a Chinese government publication controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Its October 31 column celebrates China’s expansion of its dominance over the the electric vehicle and battery supply line into the United States and the rest of the world.