55 Comments - Almost the Weekend - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 9:26 am: Where’s Lake Shore Drive? - Tonight - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 9:45 am: I think the most important answer on that Chicago Tonight interview was Speaker Welch answering No to the question about if there are needed changes to the Safe T Act. That probably won’t play well in many Legislative districts. - Grandson of Man - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 9:52 am: There goes the anti-crime narrative for the GOP, in terms of dominance. There will be a competing narrative of increased public safety funding and the new laws, and also passing a budget, which Republicans refused to do. That’s Raunerism, opposing another budget and starving the state. How is that pro-public safety? - Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 9:53 am: ==what’s the message they’re sending about how serious they are about addressing the public safety issues in Illinois?== We can debate how effective these laws will be (and my feeling is that basically nothing will bring down crime until the unrest from the pandemic and inflation are in the past), but in terms of “message”, the answer is “very serious, indeed.” The GA passed a lot of bills that do a lot of things on public safety. It’s actually pretty comparable to the SAFE-T Act in terms of scope. - low level - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 9:53 am: I guess Catanzara wants to be mayor and FOP president at the same time. LOL. - Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 9:55 am: ==That probably won’t play well in many Legislative districts. == Most voters have no idea what the SAFE-T Act is. ==There goes the anti-crime narrative for the GOP, in terms of dominance.== Nah. I mean, Dems can mitigate some damage now, especially when JB spends all summer signing these bills. But at the end of the day, there is (or, let’s hope, was) a surge in crime, and that’s just always going to hurt incumbents. - vern - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:02 am: The Demmer-Harmon exchange is one of those things that drives me nuts about TV journalism. Schultz had two people on his show make opposite factual assertions. It wasn’t a policy disagreement or opinion, it was two mutually exclusive descriptions of the content of the law. Isn’t that worth resolving for viewers? It’s not just that one of them had to be wrong. One of them was lying. It would be nice to see TV hosts take that sort of thing personally. - thisjustinagain - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:03 am: And to think we already have laws against every crime they are passing new laws to deal with, like carjacking wasn’t already a forcible felony, etc. Boy I’ll bet the criminals are scared (well, at least outside of Cook County, where some prosecutors actually prosecute). Dems own the crime increase. - low level - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:16 am: == Dems own the crime increase.==. Unfortunately, I tend to agree with you. And whatever the actual law says with SAFE-T, Dems are on the defensive explaining it again. Thats not a good sign. - Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:18 am: ==And to think we already have laws against every crime they are passing new laws to deal with, like carjacking wasn’t already a forcible felony, etc.== Making something a crime and making sure the state has the resources to actually enforce it as a crime are two different things. ==Boy I’ll bet the criminals are scared== It’s always struck me as exceedingly odd how people assume that criminals are rational actors who pay close attention to the legislative process. But I digress. It’s good to know that your actual concern is the mental state of criminals. Thanks for giving the game away. - Tonight - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:19 am: Arsenal - It’s not the title of the law, it’s the bad substance in there that won’t play well in many districts. Many issue mail pieces in that law. And when the Dems swat it away saying the law hasn’t take effect yet, it’s amusing since the no bail/very limited bail program has been in practice in Cook County for awhile and that hasn’t worked well. - Wonky Kong - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:20 am: HWV’s analysis is pretty generous to the sponsors, but there were some good bills in there. The ghost gun bill is good policy, not because it’s going to have a huge impact. If you’re making a ghost gun to commit crimes you’re not going to now get it serialized. However, it allows law enforcement to charge individuals who have them, potentially before they are used in a crime. There was an agreed bill on retail theft that was unfortunately gutted and weakened, and would have been much better than what passed. Including the daycare as part of the assistance package is a stretch, since it is available for pretty much anyone who works late. They could have included the earned income credit increase because it applies just as much to law enforcement. The rest of the assistance package is basically a grab from bills republicans have been filing for years, ideas that were scoffed at and ignored by Dems right up until that last few days of an election year session. The burglary tools bill, along with the assistance with tickets and tow fees for car jacking victims, are the epitome of election year grandstanding while doing nothing. They are codifying things that are basically already law. The body camera update is good stuff as are the victim protection items. The gun storage campaign will hopefully have a positive effect. - Publius - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:22 am: Maybe we should just arrest and convict people before the commit the crime. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdl6eAIx2K4 - DissapointedVoter - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:22 am: Republicans are at it again with their dog whistles… Half of Chicago’s budget goes to the police, a super blue city. Crime is up across the country and a result of the divestments made 10 years ago. Republicans have a lot to own here. Dems have done a horrible job of owning the narrative. - Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:28 am: ==It’s not the title of the law, it’s the bad substance in there that won’t play well in many districts.== They don’t know the substance, either, and it’s a long walk around the barn to get them to 1) know the substance, 2) connect it to the title, 3) connect that to Welch’s answer. Don’t complicate this. It’ll be just like the Dirken mailer we looked at the other day. “Scary dark criminals are coming to terrorize your perfect bright family”. It’ll be reasonably effective. But ILGOP isn’t going to waste it’s time explaining the SAFE-T Act to anyone. When you’re explaining, you’re losing. ==the no bail/very limited bail program== That’s a remarkably deceptive way to describe a program that first requires judges to decide if someone should be released at all rather than letting them pay to get out. ==that hasn’t worked well== Sure it has. There’s a national crime surge right now, even in the areas that didn’t base bail on actual safety rather than bank accounts. But apparently deception is your thing. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:28 am: ===There was an agreed bill on retail theft that was unfortunately gutted and weakened=== I’m not sure you fully appreciate the concept of an “agreed bill.” It wasn’t an agreed bill. Period. - Lucky Pierre - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:33 am: Criminals, particularly juveniles do pay attention to the threat or lack thereof of incarceration or other serious consequences. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:35 am: LP, they pay most attention to the risk of being caught. - May Soon Be Required - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:40 am: = Republicans are at it again with their dog whistles= I’m not sure if it’s a dog whistle or not but the fact remains and the facts are clear the “Dems own it”. The Governor, the Speaker, the Senate President own the current star of affairs. Republicans and Democrats alike should make that case and go forward. - Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:41 am: ==Criminals, particularly juveniles do pay attention to the threat or lack thereof of incarceration or other serious consequences. == This is correct. There might be other good reasons to make the consequences serious (preventing recidivism? Tho I’m suspicious), but despite Demmer’s worry about the “message”, criminals are not rational actors who pay close attention to the legislative process. So worry about “the message” or how “Scared” they are is misplaced. They do pay attention to whether or not there are cops around, so the efforts to increase the ranks of law enforcement could, medium-term, have a deterrent effect. But the Demmers of the world need to understand that this isn’t a “messaging” issue. - Larry Bowa Jr. - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 10:47 am: “It’s not just that one of them had to be wrong. One of them was lying. It would be nice to see TV hosts take that sort of thing personally.” I agree but I wouldn’t put this all on Schutz. It would be nice to see American media in general take that sort of thing personally. - cover - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 11:01 am: = Where’s Lake Shore Drive? = I don’t think the General Assembly’s intent was to put cameras on a street in Decatur, although that might not be a bad idea. - Rabid - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 11:05 am: confidential informants walk from their crime. (See Danny) if you get caught charges are dropped ? Stop empowering criminals - Payback - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 11:18 am: “…create a waiver process for out-of-state officers wishing to work in Illinois…” This will promote jurisdiction jumping, where police criminals from out of state transfer to Illinois to avoid their past. I doubt that small departments have the resources to travel to Wyoming or whatever to conduct thorough background investigations on new police recruits. But if the Illinois legislature was really serious about weeding out police criminals, departments that hire new police would not be able to conduct their own background investigations, it would be done by an independent agency at the state level, like the Attorney Generals office… - T.J. - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 11:34 am: == they pay most attention to the risk of being caught. == That’s the whole ball game right there. Only about 10 percent of carjackings in Chicago the last few years have resulted in arrest — and the jackers know that all too well. CPD’s passive chase policy (which is understandable) and it’s lack of a real helicopter fleet to conduct air chases (which is inexcusable) contribute mightily to the lack of arrests. The most promising anti-carjacking legislation is Sheriff Dart’s push to mandate better communication between auto makers and the police to synchronize vehicle tracking technology. There are some rough edges to smooth out, but tracking technology and the ability to disable stolen vehicles remotely can be game changers. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 11:40 am: ===which is inexcusable=== Agreed. I will never understand that. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 11:56 am: To the post, The exchange between Demmer and Harmon, and Harmon knowing and understanding the need to retort, what will be quite interesting is exactly how each side wants the discussion, sure… but how each side wants their own side to be the “understood side”, the agreed side, the side of public policy meeting majority think. Crime right now is one of the very select few policies where the GOP (as constituted) finds a majority of voters can agree with their take. That’s huge. Now make it where that can be a hammer to the incumbent party in power during the midterm. It’s huge upon the huge. Harmon finds himself in that actual moment a person, an incumbent of the party in power in the middle of a midterm discussion, and defending a policy, an idea, legislation, that has the opportunity to be a fulcrum for major political blowback at the election box. As I understand that little statement and retort, which message can be deemed a reality to what might be already baked in? The monetary reality of a billionaire governor facing a more wealthy billionaire patron against the governor… it’s not going to be a money thing, a legislative win thing, even, (and this is the saddest part to the honesty of it all) a better policy thing to crimes, justice, or even the criminal justice system… it’s going to boil down to its simplistic… two arguments… being funded at gobsmackingly large sums on all fronts. Demmer and Harmon showed it at the genesis type beginning. - Lucky Pierre - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 12:25 pm: Crime is one of a very select few polices where the GOP has a majority of voters who agree with their take? Way more than a few state issues ignored by Democrats have bipartisan majority support Fair Maps Term limits Property tax reform Pension reform Workers comp reform Pro growth economic reform The fact that the Democratic President is at less than 42% approval and the Republicans are right now ahead in race for control of the Senate and House indicate support for more than just a few National policies - Thomas Paine - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 12:31 pm: === This is correct === Arsenal, not to pick in you, but perpetrators do not worry about the severity of consequences when there is no worry of getting caught. I too have to worry about the wisdom of Demmer wandering into a Leaders’ show like a lost puppy when he is clearly not ready for prime time. He was there to oppose crime bills that he voted for? Tell us more Tom Demmer about how the legislation crafted by the Retail Marchants Association is ineffective, I am sure they wanna hear. I can’t help remembering the recent report of how little Ken Griffin has donated from his personal fortune to crime prevention measures. A record bid to purchase a copy of the US Constitution so he could loan it to the Walton family museum - a clever tax scheme to secure their favor and business I bet — but not a dime to groups in the Black community like Ceasefire that are working to stop crime from happening in the first place. This is a guy who dropped $16M for a lakefront bike path without blinking. Makes you wonder. - Lucky Pierre - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 12:36 pm: Given the fact that the majority of voters agree with Republicans on crime can we expect an apology from Democrats who allowed one of their members to smear a majority of Illinois residents as racists? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 12:48 pm: ===can we=== Speak for yourself. Speak… for yourself. To that, and your child-like ignorance to a push to embrace racist thinkers… ===who allowed one of their members to smear a majority of Illinois residents as racists?=== When a campaign decides that the use of race to exploit policy to curry favor with racist thinkers, and use that hatred to fuel policy by having visuals designed to show the wanted biases of those same racists… no… no apologies necessary. Even Chairman Tracy embraces racist thinkers… so why wouldn’t a policy that can engage and inflame racist thinkers be a prong to propagate… in a primary. It’s as though *you* want an apology… *for* embracing racist thinkers…. “I’m sorry you embrace racist thinkers and you were called on it, that’s on us, our bad, we won’t bring that up again” - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 12:55 pm: === Crime is one of a very select few polices where the GOP has a majority of voters who agree with their take? … Fair Maps Term limits Property tax reform Pension reform Workers comp reform Pro growth economic reform=== Asked and answered in Illinois The empty vessel that is the Floridian Bruce Rauner got beat by the largest margin a sitting Republican lost by… in 100 years… … and let’s be even more “honest”… Rauner knew he had no 60, no 30, no legal reality to changing pensions as he wanted, no chance at “ending” organized labor.., so Rauner held a state hostage… It’s not that the policies can’t win or lose or are popular… it’s the political will that Rauner tried to change… and voters wholly rejected that… and “honestly”… so did the party… since a mere handful, even then, could name all the folks who ran on Rauner’s slate… Rauner was abandoned, he was poison, and while wearing a costume, was rejected by Trump, someone now you wholly embrace, reprogrammed, if you will. So… your empty thoughts are as poor as the record of winning elections in Illinois… with that gibberish you wrote - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 1:00 pm: ===I too have to worry about the wisdom of Demmer wandering into a Leaders’ show like a lost puppy when he is clearly not ready for prime time.=== Meh, Demmer is running against a person who wants to discuss taxing retirement income. It already sank a statewide proposal, Demmer will be facing that idea of taxing retirement income… personified. Mike Frerichs is dangerous to seniors. Seniors should beware of Mike Frerichs as he stands tall to a discussion to taxing retirement income. It’s who Mike Frerichs is. Put $7-10 million behind that, any other discussion might not measure up. - JS Mill - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 1:07 pm: =Fair Maps Term limits Property tax reform Pension reform Workers comp reform Pro growth economic reform= Because the meaning of words matter: Fair Maps= Maps that magically make the ILGOP the majority Term limits= Something that magically makes the ilgop the majority party Property tax reform= Something that guts public schools Pension reform= Pension reduction (also known as whelching) Workers comp reform= Removing worker protections Pro growth economic reform= Suppressing wages None are actual “reforms” and that is not what you want. Dishonest to the meaning. And they have all failed to resonate with Illinois voters. - Lucky Pierre - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 1:07 pm: Why don’t you practice what you preach and speak for yourself instead of putting your words in other people’s mouths - Wonky Kong - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 1:11 pm: = It’s not just that one of them had to be wrong. One of them was lying. It would be nice to see TV hosts take that sort of thing personally.= Both of their statements were factually true but both painted a different picture. Harmon is right that there will be additional options now to hold individuals, but Demmer is also right that more car jackers will be getting released. - Roman - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 1:25 pm: I agree with Lucky Pierre on the GOP being better aligned with the voters on crime, but the rest of his list is a little suspect. Fair Maps - like the maps in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, etc.? Term limits - Jim Durkin and Dave Syverson? Property Tax Reform - Are there any Dems campaigning against that? Pension Reform - Did ya knows Republicans in the House voted against the most significant pension reform measure in state history, SB 1, by a 2 to 1 margin? Workers Comp Reform - I’m not sure that polls as well as you think it does (protecting injured workers, on its face, is a popular concept.) Pro growth economic reform - lets see how the anti “right to work” amendment does on the ballot this fall. - Thomas Paine - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 1:31 pm: === It already sank a statewide proposal === LOl. 55 percent of voters voted no. I doubt 25 percent of voters can tell you who the state treasurer is. The “Fair Tax Amendment” failed because they called it a tax, launched it by talking about who would be taxed by how much, and spent six solid months talking about tax hikes. They should have and could have called it a Property Tax Relief Amendment, Fund Our Schools Amendment, or some other People Who Love Cats name and spent six month arguing about whether we should fund those things. What The Fair Tax Amendment ended up with - 45% - is about the same percent of people who generally support raising income taxes in Illinois. It had nothing to do with the state treasurer, unless he was the one who came up with the idea to call it the Fair Tax Amendment, which I have to doubt. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 1:40 pm: ===I doubt=== It lost. Keep up. It lost, and Mike Frerichs personally helped defeat it. It’s who Mike Frerichs is. ===The “Fair Tax Amendment” failed because…=== In one prong of ads, Mike Frerichs’ personally was responsible for its failure by a want to discuss taxing retirement income. They ran *ads* it’s so bad. Frerichs scared seniors, now seniors can decide Frerichs is too scary to be Treasurer anymore. While crime, to bring it back to the post for a second, will be a big deal, voters may not want the person who wants to discuss taxing retirement income as Treasurer. ===What The Fair Tax Amendment ended up with - 45% - is about the same percent of people who generally support raising income taxes in Illinois.=== Frerichs should run on that. “I want to tax retirement income” Why won’t he? Not to worry, Demmer (if he has the money) will remind folks that Frerichs wants that discussion. ===It had nothing to do with the state treasurer, unless he was the one who came up with the idea to call it the Fair Tax Amendment, which I have to doubt.=== True, or not, but Frerichs helped sink it, personally with his words. I mean, the guy couldn’t even have a press conference to clarify… because someone, maybe Frerichs himself, knew… that would be “Rutherfording” himself… and it was a losing cause. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 1:45 pm: This… ALL ALONE… ===I doubt 25 percent of voters can tell you who the state treasurer is.=== If you believe that after 8 years, every single consultant Frerichs has on the political payroll and every Crew member on his staff should be fired, LOL That’s a total failure by so many… and you’re embracing that to score points? Then why is Frerichs even Treasurer? - Lucky Pierre - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 2:19 pm: JB promised when he was running for Governor that he would veto a map drawn by politicians. Even he claimed to support fair maps before he broke his promise. He also claimed to support property tax reform and even appointed a task force that could not even issue a report. - Thomas Paine - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 2:28 pm: @Oswego Willy I doubt 25 percent of voters can tell you off the top of their head who is comptroller, attorney general, or Lt. governor either. Probably they can name Governor and atleast one US Senator. 61% of voters either had not heard of Alexi Giannoulias or were unsure if they heard of him after four years as treasurer and millions spent on the US senate race and an unmistakeable name. According to ILSOS poll. Sangamon County is a bubble. capitolfax is a bubble within a bubble. Maybe I am wrong, maybe illinois voters are paying closer attention than I think. But honestly the reason campaigns have to keep spending money on tv ads once they start is because after a week voters forget. They are normal people with normal lives. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 2:52 pm: ===I doubt=== How about this, quit while you’re behind. Your speculative idea to “name ID”, get some numbers, then start your argument, but let’s be real frank, you touting Frerichs, but then saying less than 25% know him, I mean, if Frerichs was told that by a consultant or Crew, and they were portraying it as “good” after 8 years… how could Frerichs keep these folks on? Frerichs wants to show Demmer as bad to “crime” (since this is all about crime in this post, abd Demmer reminds seniors that Frerichs stands tall to tax retirement income… yeah, that’s not great. I also find humorous the comparison to Alexi, someone ten years removed from statewide office and that poll and your point to 25% to Frerichs? Then what exactly has Frerichs done for 8 years? Agree to disagree? And this… ===Even he claimed to support fair maps before he broke his promise.=== A judge says the map now in play, the one Pritzker signed met VRA guidelines. You saying the judge was wrong? - Wonky Kong - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 3:04 pm: = I’m not sure you fully appreciate the concept of an “agreed bill.” It wasn’t an agreed bill. Period.= I’ll rephrase, it was agreed to by the stakeholders, and was sold to the caucuses as such. Then suddenly it wasn’t. No I’m not talking about the previous press conference bills. The whole process was on and off the rails several times last week. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 3:25 pm: === Why don’t you practice what you preach and speak for yourself instead of putting your words in other people’s mouths=== It’s not like Chairman Tracy as ONE example, decided to rebuke racist thinkers, insurrectionists and their sympathizers, or conspiracy theorists… I don’t recall you doing any of that either. It’s easy. Why won’t you? You can refute my words, then show where I missed… or is your programming only good to default to victimhood? Say what you’re gonna say, lol - Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 4:20 pm: ==Fair Maps== What’s “fair” mean? This is a buzzword, not a policy. ==Term limits== The Dems enacted some. ==Property tax reform== What kind of “reform”? Another buzzword, not a policy. ==Pension reform== Immediately after Pat Quinn enacted pension reform, he lost, so I think you’re saying what you wish the voters support a lot more than what they do support. ==Workers comp reform== Dems enacted WC reform in 2011 and by and large it brought down the payouts. ==Pro growth economic reform== What does that even mean? Illinois had a ton of new businesses and jobs this last year. Honestly, LP, you’re hurting your side at this point. - Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 4:22 pm: ==Property tax reform== I guess we should also note that the Dems just enacted a property tax rebate this year, so what you have here is a list of undefined terms and things Dems actually did. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 4:22 pm: ===you’re hurting your side at this point.=== Prolly why the bot programming landing on… “…putting your words in other people’s mouths” When your own words are taken and read for what you mean, it must be someone else’s fault, lol - Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 4:33 pm: ==Put $7-10 million behind that, any other discussion might not measure up. == Which begs the question of when Griffin is gonna drop that money. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 4:34 pm: The only thing I’ll say to you @LP is if you’re so right about everything and voters really do agree with all of those things you listed why then are the Republicans in the super minority in Illinois. - Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 4:38 pm: ==I doubt 25 percent of voters can tell you who the state treasurer is.== The problem for Frerichs is if Demmer fills in the blanks for that other 75%. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 4:41 pm: ===Which begs the question of when Griffin is gonna drop that money.=== There’s a SoS race in the GOP Primary (I only remember that when I, myself, get reminded, lol), there’s some new names and faces that could use some exposure soon, not during the feeding frenzies, and have these campaigns “geared up”? If they are sitting on a pile of cash to spend, and where, lemme know where to send billing… To bring it back to the post… and crime… all these candidates have made corruption “a thing”, why not do something for them to make this a “ticket thing”? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 4:46 pm: === The problem for Frerichs is if Demmer fills in the blanks for that other 75%.=== … and that Frerichs is defined as one who wants to discuss taxing retirement income. It’s such a ridiculous thing to land to make a point. If that was remotely true, Frerichs should fire them all and start from scratch, can’t get lower than someone 8 years in and still is unknown by 75% of voters, statewide… there a failure not a bracing point or “good news” “The bad news is you said you want to discuss taxing retirement income, but the good news is you’re unknown after 8 years in office” Frerichs can’t sit there and think these folks are helpful… - RNUG - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 9:19 pm: I’m very cynical about this. On the issue of crime, facts don’t (and won’t) matter. Only public perception matters. Voters won’t be reading the the Saf T act. They won’t be reading these recent changes. With the dearth of actual newspaper crime beat columns, the voters are (and will be) reading the police scanner groups on Facebook and Nextdoor posts about crime their neighbors are experiencing. Personal, one to many stories. And that results in the perception that crime is up. The D’s have already lost this battle. - Juvenal - Wednesday, Apr 13, 22 @ 9:55 pm: Political narrative is about trying to impose your agenda on the big news of the day. The reality is that murders went up in every city in America because of the pandemic in 2020, and the murder rate fell in Illinois in 2021 just like just about everywhere else. If murders continue to fall in Illinois, Democrats can declare victory, and if they don’t Democrats will likely blame the Mayor of Chicago. Everyone seems to want to impose their own narrative on the Fair Tax as well. I think the overriding factor is that we were in the middle of the greatest period of economic anxiety of our lifetimes and probably going back to the Great Depression. Massive unemployment, restaurants and stores shuttered, uncretainty about what life would be a month from now. It’s a miracle the Fair Tax got as many votes as it did, I think. Speaking of which, masks are going back on in Philly… Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.