69 Comments - Streator Curmudgeon - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:11 am: After the “Republican Governors Thanking Madigan” commercial, could we expect anything less? - Anonymous - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:12 am: Our property tax bill went down this year in Florida. Can any Illinois resident say the same? And, if they can, please include the location. - Arsenal - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:14 am: If it’s just an in-kind to the Rauner campaign, it’s a dumb one. Claiming you’re trying to steal jobs and trashing the state of an incumbent Governor isn’t really very helpful. - Stark - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:15 am: Yeah, I’m going to take the guy that defrauded Medicare to the greatest extent in American history seriously. /s - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:16 am: ===Scott’s visit comes just two days after Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner launched his re-election campaign. Scott said he believes Rauner has tried very hard to grow the Illinois economy.=== “Bruce Rauner failed”. Gov. Scott even lists the failing… ===“While he’s trying to keep the taxes low here, and the regulation low, his legislature is hurting the Illinois economy,” he said. “Your taxes are too high. You don’t cut regulation enough.”=== Are ya poaching or are you a prop? BAIER: So what would be different in a second term? More Rauner failing then the first term? - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:16 am: Ask Gov Scott if we should be on the hook to pay for coastal flooding and other expenses related to his residents living in high risk zones. - Dome Gnome - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:17 am: Support for human services in Florida has predictably tanked. Illinois shouldn’t join that particular race to the bottom. - Red Rider - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:17 am: Don’t let the door hit you in the,you fill in the rest. - Northsider - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:19 am: Anonymous @ 10:12 a.m.: Enjoy it while you can. How much of your state will, literally, be underwater in a few decades? - MSIX - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:20 am: Apples and (Florida) oranges Florida has a huge tourism industry that enables them to gouge visitors to make up for the reduced taxes on their permanent residents and businesses. Illinois has no such option. He won’t mention that, though. - Flynn's mom - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:20 am: Maybe the governor of Texas can ride in on horse with a lasso and let everyone know how fabulous it is in the Lone Star State. Rauner does love a good costume and accessories. - wordslinger - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:20 am: Those Medicare/Medicaid grifters stick together. - Montrose - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:26 am: I could see this tactic being useful for his first election, but after multiple years of Rauner getting nothing done, how is it good to have other governor’s talk about how bad Illinois is? I just don’t get it. I mean, I do get it, but I just don’t get it. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:27 am: ===Support for human services in Florida has predictably tanked.=== In another post, we learned that opioid use has led to a significant loss in workforce participation in Florida. Who will be working for the employers Gov. Scott is trying to poach? - Father Ted - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:28 am: “I’m not sure if anyone asked Gov. Scott if he planned to stop by an Illinois National Guard base while he was here to thank them for their help with hurricane relief.” Scott probably believes the IL National Guard troops should be thanking him for the warm weather and lower taxes they enjoyed while dispatched there for storm relief. - don the legend - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:31 am: Rauner is so weak. This strategy screams “I’m a victim”. Who can follow/support such a weak governor? Rauner acts so helpless. What an unattractive quality in a governor or a business partner or a spouse or a parent… - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:33 am: Don’t worry JB Pritzker, who agrees with every single failed Madigan policy will fix everything in Illinois. You just have to trust that he will do everything in his power to get the other 16 billionaires in Illinois to pay their fair share, magically fixing all of our state’s problems. JB is fully on board and will reconnect the toilets in his spare mansion if he is elected. - Lincoln Parker - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:37 am: When I was leaving my office yesterday evening, there was a bunch of security in our lobby and a dark SUV with Florida license plates out front. We do a lot of business in Florida, but I can tell you the chances of us relocating there are 0. Was nice of him to stop by though - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:37 am: ===…will fix everything…=== Lots to fix with an admitted failed governor that can’t even articulate what would be different in a second term, lol There’s a lot of everything to fix. Rauner refusing to fund higher education, help to save the social services Bruce and Diana want destroyed… Quinn and Rauner failed. Gov. Scott tells me so. - Anon221 - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:38 am: “…his legislature is hurting the Illinois economy,” he (Scott) said. Evidently Scott didn’t get the “Thanks Mike” or “Because Madigan” memos for his PR stunt. Rauner’s legislature… That’s a good one. - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:44 am: Apples and (Florida) oranges Florida has a huge tourism industry that enables them to gouge visitors to make up for the reduced taxes on their permanent residents and businesses. Illinois has no such option. He won’t mention that, though. Actually Chicago is #1 in gouging travelers, the Florida cities are some of the lowest. Highest Single Day Traveler Tax Chicago, IL $41.04 New York, NY $38.65 Minneapolis, MN $36.70 Kansas City, MO $36.61 Indianapolis, IN $36.00 Cleveland, OH $35.41 Boston, MA $35.32 Seattle, WA $35.11 Nashville, TN $34.75 Houston, TX $34.16 Lowest Fort Lauderdale, FL $22.61 Fort Myers, FL $22.61 West Palm Beach, FL $22.61 Detroit, MI $22.80 Portland, OR $22.86 Orange County, CA $23.61 Burbank, CA $24.59 Honolulu, HI $24.67 Ontario, CA $24.93 Orlando, FL $24.94 https://www.gbta.org/PressReleases/Pages/rls_121013.aspx - Arsenal - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:45 am: ==Don’t worry JB Pritzker, who agrees with every single failed Madigan policy will fix everything in Illinois.== Well, Rauner has fixed nothing. His tenure has been so bad he’s actually running ads about how other states are doing better than his! “Vote for me, ’cause Indiana and Florida keep dunking on me!” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:47 am: ===Actually Chicago is #1 in gouging travelers, the Florida cities are some of the lowest=== Are more people visiting Illinois or Florida? Who is the larger tourism state? It’s volume making up for rate. - Arsenal - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:47 am: And for what it’s worth, FL seems nice, and I don’t really care if it’s doing better or worse than IL. IL is doing pretty bad, full stop. And we don’t have a Governor capable of doing anything about that. Indeed, we have a Governor who seems to want to revel in IL’s misery. - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:50 am: Do you think JB should be held to the same standard and articulate where exactly he differs from the the failed Madigan/ Quinn policies that continue to this day? Of course not, only fellow Republicans get the brickbats from Oswego. JB and Madigan are off the hook, their policies are beyond reproach. - Nick Name - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:51 am: ===You don’t cut regulation enough.=== Fourteen people died in a Florida nursing home that lost power in the hurricane because of shoddy Florida nursing home regulations. Illinois regulations have always required nursing homes here to have generators. So bite me, Gov. Scott. - Honeybear - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:53 am: Wow LP that was weak. Taking wild swings at JB? But I’ll bite. I imagine Gov Pritzker wouldn’t suffer a rival governor poaching our companies, let alone coordinating it with other Koch brothers owned Governors. That’s what’s happening here A Koch brothers dog whistle campaign. Yeah, run with that Republicans. Dude You can’t hide the failure of Rauner No matter how hard You blow that whistle Nobody can hear it Over Rauners perfidious lies. - Ducky LaMoore - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:53 am: I think it is pretty cool that Rauner can get some fellow republicans into the state to explain exactly why Rauner is one huge failure. Maybe if he would have actually tried to do his job, he may have had some success. But no, he had to demonize and lie to all the people he needed to pass an agenda. So the “reelect me and I will still complain about all the stuff I didn’t get done and won’t get done” campaign grows larger. Good luck with that. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:55 am: ===Do you think JB should be held to the same standard and articulate where exactly he differs from the the failed Madigan/ Quinn policies that continue to this day?=== Do you want me to pull up quote after quote where “Pat Quinn failed” and in the very same instances, Rauner failed? We could start with bond rate downgrades. Bruce Rauner fails. Candidate Rauner tells me so. Heck, 4 GOP Governors think Rauner is so grossly inept they mock Rauner and his failures as Illinois loses to those states. Governors explaining how another governor fails is priceless. BAIER: So what would be different in a second term? You don’t ask that of successful governors. ===Of course not, only fellow Republicans get the brickbats from … . JB and Madigan are off the hook, their policies are beyond reproach=== Pat Quinn failed. Bruce Rauner failed. Indeed, apples to apples there. Again, ask Candidate Rauner. - Smitty Irving - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:55 am: OW - thanks for the observation on volume. Another thing FLA has (TX also) is military / NSA Keynesianism stimulus. FLA is home to thousands of government employees /contractors who will deny they work for the government, insisting they work “for the Space program.” - huh - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:56 am: To back up what Willy said. This 2010 study had Florida at number 2 with over 70 billion from tourism. http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0710/10-states-cashing-in-on-tourism.aspx - wordslinger - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:57 am: NN, Florida instituted generator regulations after the nursing home residents Scott repeatedly ignored (he had given them his cell number) died. - Smitty Irving - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 10:59 am: Should have been NASA, not NSA. Hate typing on phones. - Arizona Bob - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:04 am: @Oswego Willy ====Actually Chicago is #1 in gouging travelers, the Florida cities are some of the lowest=== Are more people visiting Illinois or Florida? Who is the larger tourism state? It’s volume making up for rate.= So your point is that states with smaller taxable revenues should increase their tax rates until they get net revenues of the same amount as the larger taxable revenues? Great thinking, Willy. Any other great “truisms” you have to kill the Illinois economy to serve the political corruption and ineffective overspending? - Chris Widger - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:04 am: ==I’m not sure if anyone asked Gov. Scott if he planned to stop by an Illinois National Guard base while he was here to thank them for their help with hurricane relief. Gov. Rauner dispatched 800 guard troops to Florida last month.== If you do something expecting thanks, you didn’t do it out of goodness or fraternity; you did it as a bargained-for exchange. I’m hopeful that, in this context, we are not quite as craven as Rich apparently would like us to be. - wordslinger - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:09 am: CW, it’s curious, I didnt detect any “craven” in Miller’s remark, but yours broke my “sanctimonious” meter. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:10 am: ===So your point is that states with smaller taxable revenues should increase their tax rates until they get net revenues of the same amount as the larger taxable revenues=== Nope. The point is “rate” isn’t an indicator of… anything. Look where Detroit and NYC fall. I fed you. I won’t engage you again. Good luck. - Dr X - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:11 am: Apples to Apples? BEA has the compounded annual growth from 2006-2016 of FL at .02 and IL at .04. - Grandson of Man - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:13 am: The fact that Rauner is behind or is intended to purposely benefit from the governors trashing Illinois is terrible. This guy is a total hypocrite. His business has been here, he’s lived here, clouted his kid to a CPS school. His income skyrocketed when he became governor. Then there’s this from March 2017, when Illinois won third place in the Site Selection magazine 2016 Governors Cup, for business expansions and relocations: >> “Illinois has the best location and the hardest working people of any state in the country, and this honor illustrates job creators want to utilize our strengths,” said Governor Bruce Rauner. - Truthteller - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:16 am: Did any reporter ask Scott on how it happens that the median wage in Florida is 17% below the Illinoisvs $18.40? Anyone willing to take a 17% pay cut to move to Florida should get the bags packed before the next flood - VanillaMan - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:17 am: This is a double PR stunt, not just one. Scott is term limited and using Illinois as a prop for his upcoming US Senate race against Bill Nelson. Rauner is using Scott’s PR stunt to hit his favorite foils, the speaker and the Chicago mayor. Coordination between two political characters who have little in common with average folks, yet continually claiming to represent them. - Cheswick - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:19 am: Remember while arguing this that Florida gets back about $15 billion more from the feds than they send. - Nick Name - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:23 am: ===NN, Florida instituted generator regulations after the nursing home residents Scott repeatedly ignored (he had given them his cell number) died.=== Wordslinger, yes — and he deleted the voice mails from nursing home staffers. Too bad it took fourteen deaths to get Scott’s attention. Nursing homes have 60 days to comply with new emergency generator regulations. - anonymous - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:23 am: Welfare State touting its benefits: 32.1 % of Florida’s general state revenue comes from federal aid as compared to 25.7% for Illinois. Florida has no state income tax as whose expense? Yours and mine. - Moderate Condor - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:25 am: Unusual timing, lizards usually avoid the cold. - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:27 am: Sure wish we had the #2 Democrat in the Senate and a President from Illinois who could bring more money back to Illinois. Oh I guess that did not work out so well Instead all of the over the top Trump bashing by JB, Madigan and others will hurt us in that regard and plants like Fox Conn and Toyota will open in other states. - Arizona Bob - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:28 am: @Oswego Willy =The point is “rate” isn’t an indicator of… anything.= Right. Sales tax rates don’t mean anything. Income tax rates for individual and businesses don’t “indicate” anything. Reals estate tax rates? Same thing. Rates mean EVERYTHING in a competitive environment, Willy. Sorry you choose to ignore that. Good luck to you, buddy. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:31 am: ===Instead all of the over the top Trump bashing by JB, Madigan and others will hurt us in that regard and plants like Fox Conn and Toyota will open in other states.=== The Illinois governor’s continued bad-mouthing of Illinois is far more damaging… Rauner loves to tell everyone how bad he governs Illinois. You’d think he’d stop, lol - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:32 am: I fed you - AB - Good luck. - VanillaMan - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:32 am: Don’t let this PR stunt control our state’s dialogue. Scott knows about our situation like he knows the latest hair fashions. - Arizona Bob - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:35 am: @Truthteller =Did any reporter ask Scott on how it happens that the median wage in Florida is 17% below the Illinoisvs $18.40? Anyone willing to take a 17% pay cut to move to Florida should get the bags packed before the next flood= They don’t have as many overpaid state and local workers, Truth, and most of their construction for housing is non-union. That’s a big part of the reason, as well as the fact that hospitality industry jobs tend to pay less, and they’ve got far more of those jobs than Illinois. We’ve driven much of that business away through featherbedding and graft in the convention industry. NOT everyone can get a patronage job, Truth, so coming to Illinois for work is less likely to be successful than a trip to FLA. - Arock - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:38 am: Illinois politicians think it is alright to use taxpayer money to end the life of the unborn child before they have a chance to reach old age. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:39 am: ===They don’t have as many overpaid state and local workers…=== Feed - Arizona Bob - at your own peril. It’s the same trolling. To the Post, ===I’m not sure if anyone asked Gov. Scott if he planned to stop by an Illinois National Guard base while he was here to thank them for their help with hurricane relief. Gov. Rauner dispatched 800 guard troops to Florida last month.=== Callous and self-serving government executives, like a governor or another never really understand what it means… the sacrifices for others and saying thank you for those sacrifices. - JS Mill - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:41 am: =You just have to trust that he will do everything in his power to get the other 16 billionaires in Illinois to pay their fair share, magically fixing all of our state’s problems.= LP, I am sad for you today because you are not sharp enough to see how Gov. Scott is sticking it to you here in Illinois and you don’t even get the free “T-Shirt”. We here in the rustbelt are supplementing nearly every category of revenue for Florida. The massive revenue they raise from tourism taxes help pay for nearly everything in Fla. But, we do get a sunny vacation from that baragin. I don’t have a calculation for how many seniors have retired there but we are supplementing their income though our taxes- SSI bailouts and medicare- plus ole’ ‘Recruitin’ Rick” is ripping of medicare so he adds in Rauner’s favorite savings line item “fraud and waste” just to stick it to you one more time. All of the massive federal employees also falsely prop up Florida’s government employee (not market) economy. They could probably lower taxes eve more since they will continue to get federal bailouts in their low tax (because you are paying) nirvana. And when disaster strikes Florida (which is not infrequent and usually BIG ticket) ole’ Recruitin’ Rick sticks his hands in your pocket again. Sure, he could have reduced your costs by protecting wetlands which create a safety buffer from storm surge but then that wouldn’t be bidness’ friendly. So yo pay. Go ahead and yuck it up with Recruitin Rick and his posse, because he has got you every which way! - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:41 am: ===Illinois politicians think it is alright to use taxpayer money to end the life of the unborn child before they have a chance to reach old age.=== Bruce Rauner signed HB40. Only a governor can sign what - Lucky Pierre - called a bill so liberal it couldn’t get signed in “California”… but Rauner signed it, telling a Catholic Cardinal he wouldn’t. That Bruce Rauner, he’s more liberal than Pat Quinn - MSIX - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:43 am: =Actually Chicago is #1 in gouging travelers, the Florida cities are some of the lowest.= Economy of scale. Simple. - Frequently Blocked By Rich - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:46 am: It’s unfortunate that Governor Rauner continues to side against Illinois for his own narrow self-interest. First it was ballooning the backlog of debt, insider procurement deals, siding with those rooting for Illinois bankruptcy, making millions in interest for wall street at Il’s expense, badmouthing IL to through media, supporting St. Louis’ Amazon HQ2 efforts, and now paling around with other governors’ who are job poaching. If someone could envision an enemy of Illinois, could it get any worse than Rauner? - Brother Louie - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:51 am: OW, you must use the Bret Baier quote 20 times a day. Give it a rest, or people are going to think you have a thing for Mr. Baier. Seriously, it’s weird. As for the ongoing bashing of Madigan by Republican governors, it doesn’t seem like a winning strategy. Everyone knows that Madigan has destroyed the fiscal condition of Illinois, but we need to know what you are going to do to fix it Mr. Rauner. We know JB is going to raise taxes, but what will you do. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:58 am: ===Everyone knows that Madigan has destroyed the fiscal condition of Illinois…=== … and yet, Rauner has yet to sign a budget, Rauner has flat out refused to pay on contracts signed to social services until court orders, and Rauner has yet to fully fund higher education for a full year… “But… Madigan” ===…we need to know what you are going to do to fix it Mr. Rauner.=== BAIER: So what would be different in a second term? Hmm. - LL - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 12:13 pm: Exactly the point OW. I don’t need Bret Baier to ask questions for me. I guess you do. Or perhaps he pays you to mention his name multiple times every day on this blog. Or perhaps you two are real chummy. Oh, and was it Rauner’s fault that Illinois was among the states with the worst fiscal rating back in 2011 and 2012. No, that would be Madigan’s fault, but we all know you don’t say anything bad about your beloved speaker. Would you say something bad about Madigan if Bret told you it was so. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 12:20 pm: Oh - LL -, lol ===Oh, and was it Rauner’s fault that Illinois was among the states with the worst fiscal rating back in 2011 and 2012. No, that would be Madigan’s fault, but we all know you don’t say anything bad about your beloved speaker=== I’m a Republican, thanks. Making it about me isn’t making an argument, but let’s look at your ignorance, shall we? “Oh, and was it Rauner’s fault that Illinois was among the states with the worst fiscal rating back in 2011 and 2012. No, that would be Madigan’s fault…” Yeah. I’m gonna stop you there. “Pat Quinn failed” was all the rage. Keep up. Candidate Rauner placed the blame on Quinn, ’cause, as governor, Quinn failed Illinois. It’s adorbs you default to Madigan when Candidate Rauner had a whole campaign about a governor failing… but I guess you either know that, or your programming changed to be willfully ignorant of calling out Gov. Rauner the same as Gov. Quinn. … but you make it about me if it makes ya feel better, lol You can always skip my comments. - Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:12 pm: Did Gov. Scott swing by Rauner’s office and thank him for hiring George Sheldon away from Florida? http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-sheldon-drops-out-of-lawsuit-against-rick-scott-20150224-post.html - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:26 pm: You are a Republican who does only criticizes Republicans and never Speaker Madigan. In fact you too would change none of his policies. The one Republican you align yourself more than any other is Jim Edgar. He bragged of phony surpluses while kicking the pension can up the Edgar Ramp while capitulating to Speaker Madigan. I guess that is governing to you. Instead of solving Illinois problems, take the easy route and keep the special interests happy. Very strange. As far as HB 40 I agree it is a terrible bill because, like you I am a practicing Catholic. That bill makes us one of the only 5 states in America to allow this in one of only 7 countries in the world to allow abortion past 20 weeks. Yes Illinois is out of step. The over the top rhetoric on this issue from Springfield was a disgrace. Unfortunately both of the presumed candidates for Governor support this ,so my vote like so many others will not hinge on this issue because they agree. - dbk - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:32 pm: Another thing about Florida: Its private school system (tax credit-funded) is entirely without oversight, hiring people who aren’t college graduates, operating in facilities which violate building codes for schools, etc. etc. Among education policy scholars who study charters/voucher schools, Florida has a national reputation, and it’s anything but positive. The Orlando Sentinel has been running a major investigative series on this subject. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:42 pm: ===You are a Republican who does only criticizes Republicans…=== … who, as Rep. Breen points out, enabled Rauner and Raunerism and Breen to had enough of the phony that is Bruce Rauner. === In fact you too would change none of his policies•== … except workers’ comp, fair maps… but you keep pretending. ===The one Republican you align yourself more than any other is Jim Edgar=== Yep. He’s no fan of Rauner too. Lots of what he said, I’ve either agreed or said myself in the past. ===He bragged of phony surpluses while kicking the pension can up the Edgar Ramp…=== Yeah, I’m gonna stop you there and remind you, this is “governors own” as Rauner owns his 2+ years. So thanks for making my point. Rauner owns his failures. The rest is a rant, adding nothing while you admit Rauner, like the Edgar Ramp, governors own their messes. ===Unfortunately both of the presumed candidates for Governor support this ,so my vote like so many others will not hinge on this issue because they agree=== As a phony conservative then, just accepting Rauner is no different then a Dem, what will be different? Bills paid. No hostages, no governor trying to destroy illinois. Bruce Rauner fails, the Edgar Ramp owning tells me so. - Loop Lady - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 2:17 pm: Too bad that FL will be consumed by rising sea levels and continued ginormous hurricanes brought about by climate change…one of my favorite columnists in the Trib, Rex Huppke grew up there and his columns deriding FL are some of his bests…These GOP governors are so lame… - Rabid - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 2:17 pm: govenor rauner chose to go on the Brett show it was his BTIA roll out - 33rd Ward - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 3:15 pm: “Illinois politicians think it is alright to use taxpayer money to end the life of the unborn child before they have a chance to reach old age.” Thank God. Too many unwanted people as it is. Good point. “Our property tax bill went down this year in Florida. Can any Illinois resident say the same? And, if they can, please include the location” First, what’s your location? Second, how many people in your location have been murdered because someone felt like “standing their ground”? Here, we have none. Just regular old self-defense for those who kill others. Also, we don’t have the responsibility of bearing 50% of the craziest stories our nation has. Florida is like a big mental health hospital, except nobody knows they’re admitted. - Rabid - Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 3:52 pm: shouldn’t historic state school funding lower local property taxes Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.