Nik Doukas - hvac/acc @DoukasNik

Chicago lost the Bears this week. A team that's been in the city since 1921. They didn't lose them to a bigger market or a better deal. The Bears decided they'd rather be a tenant in Indiana than deal with Illinois for one more year. Think about how badly you have to run a place for that to be the smart move. They lost them for two reasons. The people running Illinois would rather villainize a builder than keep one. And they're bad at their jobs. In 2021 the Bears spent $197M on the old Arlington Park racetrack. Before they could break ground, Cook County valued the empty lot at $192M (Bears said $60M). They were salivating at the chance to extort a building that didn't even exist yet. That fight dragged on for years. The Bears were ready to put $2B into the stadium. All they wanted was a promise the county wouldn't reassess them into oblivion, plus $855M for infrastructure everyone uses. Roads, transit, utilities. A $3B project, two thirds of it private money pouring into Illinois. Springfield had since 2021 to get this done. They dragged it to the final night of session, passed it through the Senate at 3:39AM, and the House went home without voting. So now it's all gone. The funniest part? This started because Cook County tried to grab the tax early. They knew a built stadium would pay $53M a year. Now they get under $4M on a vacant lot. No jobs, no buildout, no new anything. Congrats on fighting for scraps and losing the whole prize. Pritzker: they're "an $8.5B valued business" that doesn't need propping up. But be smart for a second. Almost every NFL city throws in public money for a stadium. Not charity. The return is real. Tourism, hotels, restaurants, jobs, game days, property tax on a huge development. The math works. Indiana did the math. While Illinois sat on it for years, Indiana passed a bill in months, put up $1B, and took the team. And the Bears took a worse deal to get there. In Illinois they were going to own their stadium. In Indiana they rent it from the state. A team that wanted to build its own home gave up ownership just to escape Chicago. Nobody won but Indiana. The Bears lost their stadium. Illinois lost the team, the $2B, and $53M a year in taxes. Pritzker after they left: "I wasn't willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayer money to give it to a billionaire-owned family or team." There it is. "Billionaire-owned." That's how Democrats talk about any business right before they run it out of town. Call them a billionaire, act like you're saving working families, take a victory lap while the tax base drives across the state line. Meanwhile they're running the whole state into the ground. And you already know how this ends. You're living in it. Pensions are $143B in the hole, worst in the country and not close. You pay $6,285 a year in property taxes, double the $2,969 national average, for a city that's $1.15B in the red. The mayor called its finances "the point of no return." When you run things this badly, you sell what's left. They leased the parking meters for 75 years to Morgan Stanley and a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi. Took $1.15B and burned through it in two years. The investors already made it all back, with 58 years left to collect. Sold the Skyway. Sold the downtown garages. Every asset that made money, gone for one check. But a fixed property tax rate for a team that's been here 106 years? That's "propping up billionaires." Companies are leaving. Boeing for Virginia. Caterpillar for Texas. Citadel for Miami. In 2023 alone Illinois lost 56,000 people and $6B in income to other states. The ones who left earned a third more than the ones who moved in. Indiana didn't outbid anyone. AAA credit, 16 years straight. A $676M surplus. Fourth-lowest debt per person in the country. They just weren't a disaster. Illinois could have collected $53M a year. It chose zero. Ignore all the bad management but make sure to stick it to those evil, pesky billionaires.

😤😤😤

Cook County property taxes are commonly above 10% for commercial properties - a big reason northwestern Indiana is booming.

zerohedge @zerohedge

3 days ago

*CHICAGO BEARS TO DEPART ILLINOIS FOR INDIANA AFTER 100 YEARS

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Burritos stand on the shoulders of shawarma

It sounds so simple, but it can save you years: If you’re trying to go back to the old you, don’t waste your time. It will never happen. You can never go back. You always move forward. Next version of you is integrated and much better. All of your efforts should be put towards that.

Deep inner suffering inevitably arises when the human person is reduced to performance, consumption, or a statistical datum. Many young people today live under the yoke of expectations to perform, immersed in an exasperated competitiveness that generates anxiety, fear of not measuring up, and disorientation.

I guess I will shut myself out of society until my children are 8 so that I don’t ruin some entitled adult’s time at a Texas Roadhouse. This is that person’s world after all

W boomer Honda seller

Dudes Posting Their W’s @DudespostingWs

a week ago

This is what the older generations should try and do more often

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My body is a machine that turns domestic beers and grilled meats into respect for all of those who have served

My kid's school asked me to donate supplies. Paper. Pencils. Hand sanitizer. Tissues. I pay property taxes. My state has a $4 billion surplus. The federal education budget is $238 billion. And the teacher is buying pencils out of her own paycheck. And I'm sending in Ziploc bags. We fund stadiums for billionaires with public money. We fund schools with bake sales. And then blame teachers when test scores drop.

This is what 250 should look like everywhere

🇺🇸 The American Culturist 🇺🇸 @MericaCulture

3 weeks ago

Bicentennial decorations at The Arcade in Cleveland

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Activate long weekend

Henry Ford, on your failures in life.

Coolest thing about my computer is it doesn’t need an off button. Just keep opening pdfs it will turn itself off

How my unemployed bro reacts after I tell him I can't get a beer at 11pm on a Tuesday

Less than a mile to do this at my house. Buy my house.

Union @yumtapwater

4 weeks ago

It turned out my coworker walked 14 miles on the greenway to a suburban bar, got drunk, and then walked 14 miles back. Nearly 60 year old man btw. The Minnesotan spirit must be studied

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America runs on corporate laptops that can boil water when opening Google Chrome

@29yearsYoungx2 4 cylinder engine? Too bad! 🤬‼️

$45.57 to fill up a Honda Civic in Indiana