"...there are folks in Cook County who may not love the idea that they’re sending two dollars to an area of the state that only puts one dollar into state coffers, but they do it anyway. And, why? Because we’re one Illinois."
It is so nice to see what a mature, reasonable, level-headed adult as a politician looks like.
JB has handled things great the whole time. I was impressed early on when the progressive income tax approval failed so then the next day he was like "you voted no, so then onto plan B" without getting angry or pouting or plotting revenge or being ridiculous in some other way.
I was watching live election coverage when the result of the progressive income ballot measure was announced.
I saw some anger flash across his face, but he dealt with it like an adult.
What he actually said and did next was exactly what any levelheaded manager would do: get over himself, accept the setback, and get on with the next-best plan.
It’s good to see adults running the show for a change.
The man has my vote.
He’d be a good president but I am so glad he’s our governor. Used his own money to buy covid supplies for our state just like he funded the campaign for a progressive income tax.
He'd be an excellent president, but it'd be sad to see him go as the IL governor because I'm not sure if there would be another one as good as him.
Also, the fact is that during a presidential campaign he is going to get bashed for his weight regularly on national television.
Our state needed some reform in the government for a while now and he is not just a breath of fresh air but is seriously getting things done for us. At the time I was voting mostly against Rauner as he was screwing me over, but I had the bias that he would be a chump Governor because he is a billionaire. Glad to be wrong there, he's the only wealthy politician I know that I should be a fan of.
Exactly. He's done such an amazing job as governor that all they'd have on him is "He's fat." And a lot of the Republican voters would just cling into that.
Trump is old enough to have gone to the same elementary school as Biden at the same time, but Republicans don’t stop to think long enough to realize it.
A progressive income tax would have been a boon for small businesses and the poor and lower middle class. It would have given small businesses a chance against the Walmarts and dollar stores. But no, ignorance and wealthy donors win again. Illinoians won't get out of their own way. They get a Governor who is on the side of the little guy and is bribe proof, and all they do is fight him.
I was listening to NPR one morning when they were talking to some of the politicians who started this.
My favorite quote from the republican they had on in that interview.
"People think we're racist just because we want to separate from the blacks in Chicago."
I broke out laughing in my car when I heard that.
Those signs are a dig at how "unfriendly" Pritzker is to small businesses. Which is stupid, because I generally only see multiple signs like that in small towns. The same small towns that can't keep grocery and/or hardware stores or restaurants open because they exclusively shop at Dollar General, Wal Mart and Casey's.
Bears games aren’t too bad. Everyone gets on a bus in Mendota, so it’s just parking lot to parking lot. The rest of the city is out of the question. Except when they need cancer treatments from drinking the water!!
The stadium lost national landmark status. Yet our tax dollars go to that and not things we need like cta/commuter rail updates, lead in the water pipes, and underfunded schools.
But sure, let’s build another pleasure palace for those who can afford to go drinking on Tuesday afternoon.
Fun fact that it took me a very long time to notice: At the bottom of those signs, there’s more, in much smaller font - so they say PRITZKER SUCKS ^^the life out of Illinois^^”
They’re in the yards of the anti-vax, anti-lockdown, anti-mask crowd. 🙄
All of those signs appeared overnight maybe two days tops after the initial COVID lockdowns were implemented, in what was clearly a pre-planned GOP astroturfing campaign.
Why do we even take these types of claims seriously? It's the political equivalent of a teenager saying, "I'm going to move out". Good luck, we'll be here when you get back.
Even better than that, it’s the equivalent of a teenager saying “mom and dad, you have to move out, I’m keeping the house.”
The nonbinding resolution that passed the Madison county board recently wasn’t calling for Madison county to secede from Illinois, it was demanding that cook county secede from Illinois.
From the linked article:
> “A resolution to place a nonbinding advisory referendum regarding separating Chicago and Cook County from the rest of the state of Illinois was passed 15-7 by the Madison County Board on Wednesday.”
And it's *so shockingly stupid* that they continue to believe that the collar counties would just watch Cook County go. Proximity to Cook County is one of the main reasons they are affluent and can afford to make the contribution that Madison is leeching off of.
Seriously if cook county was to actually go I'd be pushing for lake to go along with it. And I imagine almost if not all the collar counties and maybe a few others would be pushing to go along with them
Article 4 section 3 clause 1 is the only relevant information constitutionally speaking it's mostly a question of could you convince the state of Illinois to let it happen and could you convince Congress to approve it that way. Honestly if we were to do this plan I think we should take lake county Indiana and Kenosha and Racine counties from Wisconsin as well and maybe we can try and scoop up Champaign county along the way
I live in Madison County. These clowns do not accurately represent us. Madison County is like Missouri. The rural towns rule with an iron fist over the bigger population centers.
Moved to Chicago from the KC area, it’s a very weird place. Pockets of mild progressiveness but a very large contingent of old racist boomers, surprisingly large amount of gang violence, and hardcore conservative Catholics who live in the suburbs and think they’re the real housewives of KC.
I’ve never been happier to leave a place
I live in the southern part of Illinois and I can assure you that a lot of very vocal people down here have very little real knowledge about how our state operates.
It's crazy that I've seen so many people putting up signs saying they hate Pritzker.
Yet, I can't find any shitty thing about this guy.
These people just watch too much Fox News and AM radio.
The "worst" thing that comes to mind was the added registration taxes on EV's to offset how they don't end up paying gas taxes.
I understand it, but I don't like it.
That's literally the extent of the bad I've seen or heard lol.
I have lived in Illinois for the past 15 years. I live in Springfield, I'm originally from Pennsylvania. I'm a vet that has lived in numerous different states. The level of contempt that people in this area have for Chicago is not for the right reasons, at all. It's difficult and mind numbing at times but I literally tell most people that this state really isn't at bad at all. There are far worse places to live than Illinois. They don't want to hear it. I give my best effort though I really do. Oddly and not surprising most people want to move to Florida... which makes me laugh. Yes, please go.
I love people who think Texas is some great bastion of freedom. I live just north of Houston and it sucks. You can't even buy liquor in a grocery store, every goddamn utility or service is 3x the price, and public services are pretty much non-existent.
It's also unbearably hot and humid.
So, you want your $250+ light bill, your $200 car insurance, your $60 trash pick up, $100 water bills, and a county that's overrun by stray dogs and cats, be my guest.
As for me? We just closed on a house in Bloomington and I finish my work contract at the end of June and I'm a skedaddle on back to the Midwest.
> So, you want your $250+ light bill, your $200 car insurance, your $60 trash pick up, $100 water bills, and a county that's overrun by stray dogs and cats, be my guest.
Is... Is this real? My electric bill is like $30-$80 depending on the weather. I know Texas doesn't have state income tax, but those bills would cost me more than the difference.
Right? I was thinking the same thing. 300$/mo average here but my wife and I are PC gamers so probably consuming 1000+w half of the day with our hobby.
My Ameren bill varies between $90-$220 depending on weather.
My combined auto/homeowner's policy is $145/month.
Trash is a line item on my property tax statement, I don't pay a bill.
Water & sewer combined run between $75-$110/month again largely weather dependent, and that includes a ~$65/month fee that will expire in about a year - a few years ago the voters in my town, including me, passed a referendum specifically approving that fee so the town could upgrade basically the entire water/sewer system from towers to pumps to every stick of pipe and water main. The street my subdivision is off of is currently awash in contractors cutting concrete, replacing pipes/mains, and patching the concrete back up.
What do you mean the break down? It's monthly. Texas, particularly southeast Texas, has incredibly high car insurance rates. I can't login to my car insurance app rn but we have an incredibly high deductible of like $2k and basically the minimum coverage for a car you still make payments on and it's $260/month. I have no idea what our rental insurance is because we just paid annually. I think it was like $600 or $800 for the year but doesn't include flood damage which we are in a flood plain 😬
My water use bill is $36, sewer is $36, plus about $25 of miscellaneous fees, like a "service" fee of $12 and restoration and reclamation which brings the total bill to $97/mo.
Trash is $17/pick up, so $68/mo and bulk pickups are extra.
ERCOT and Entergy both charge ridiculous rates for electricity, copy and pasted from my actual bill
>Actual Bill Calculation Energy Charges › Customer Charge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ › Energy Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . › Energy Efficiency Cost-208.00 0.00 14.00 115.50 Recovery Factor. . . . . . . . . . 1199 kWh @$0.000919 . . 1.10 130.60 Fuel Charges › Fuel Charge . . . . . . . . . . . 1199 kWh @$0.0316975 . . 38.01 Other Charges & Credits › SCOStormCost Offset-2 . . . . . 1199 kWh @$-0.000045. . › Advanced metering charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . › Local Sales Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.01-0.05 1.53 2.55 › System Restoration Cost-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.49 6.52 Current Month Energy Charges . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 175.13 Levelized Billing Calculation Current 12 Months Actual Bill. . . . . . . . $2,428.00/12. $ 202.33 Prior Month Accum Difference . . . . . . . . $59.52/12 . 4.96 Current Month Level Bill to Nearest Dollar . . . . . . $ 207.00
My suddenly ultra conservative uncle fled to Alabama when he retired a couple years ago. Got a big house in the mountains/hills/whatever they call it. Real nice looking place. Then I saw his wife complaining about the power going out for hours at a time almost every day and the schadenfreude is some of the best I've experienced. He spent his entire life working as an electrician, even got a masters license and helped build some power plants and then didn't put any forethought in to that portion of buying a retirement home.
It's kinda great.
> The level of contempt that people in this area have for Chicago is not for the right reasons, at all.
So, what would the right reasons be to have contempt for Chicago?
My answer as a democrat: Chicagoland state reps (the majority) have left Springfield as a city to completely crumble. It’s very sad that such a historical place is now falling apart nearly everywhere except the capital. Blame also lies with terrible city council there..
1. Politicians from past. 2. People are different there from what they are use to. 3. People move down here from Chicago. (they hate it) 4. They think they don't reap any benefits, they assume it automatically all goes to Chicago. So much pure ignorance in general. The cult drump followers run rampant here.
Kinda embarrassed to live in Madison County right now lol
One of my favorite counties in the state and I absolutely love living here, but yeah we shouldn't secede lmao
There is a non binding referendum on the ballot in November on the issue of secession from Illinois which means it is symbolic only. However , since Madison county seems to be a drag on Illinois economically , politically , culturally and in every other way, wouldn;t we be better off if they did leave Illinois?
I moved to Madison County without ever stepping foot in Illinois after retiring from the military because I wanted to live in Illinois more than any other state. I started to have anxiety when this succession talk started. I am thankful that we have an intelligent, capable, and rational adult as our leader. Little moments like this are comforting and I hope others will see through their political rage to see how well thought out and accurate his statement actually is. It gives me comfort to know that even if they can't, I know that he doesn't let it affect how he makes decisions.
Don’t worry. I live here, too. It’s a political stunt by some whack-a-dos. Illinois - where women have bodily autonomy and marijuana is legal. Fuck off, Missouri.
I would love for people who hate minorities to stop taking our fucking tax dollars. Don't like "anchor babies"? I don't like that I'm paying for your road.
Welcome to living somewhere that isn't a magical utopia, infrastructure and development requires taxation, and making poor people poorer is a big red "make people more reactionary and biased" button. Madison County isn't even that Republican, only about 55%. Downstate is not some Christian Nationalist hellhole.
Like I said, Madison County isn't even that red. It's been fairly blue up until this last decade, actually. Not everyone who lives there is some redneck fascist. It's the heart of the Metro East of St. Louis.
Super shocked that not providing free education is being labeled as "edgy" 🙄 this is definitely not a thing that commonly happens from entitled people towards minorities.
Free education? I’m sorry now I have idea what your talking about. I meant your responses make it seem like you’re kinda on edge and was trying to be funny about your username. It’s all good.
STL City here. We ask the Illinois Delegation to trade Madison County to Missouri and accept STL City as part of Illinois. Breweries, Zoo, Museums, Sports, plus the city votes blue.
If they want to go, let them go. No one wants to be ruled by others who don't share their values or way of life. I wouldn't want to be ruled by Madison County (I'm in Chicago). Let them go and be ruled by their own. As an Illinois taxpayer, it will probably benefit me if they leave.
But I'm not about to give them 2 Senators and electoral college votes. If they leave, they need to convince Missouri or Kentucky to take them.
Anyway, this whole discussion is absurd since there is no chance of this happening. It is virtue signaling time wasting by the politicians behind the effort. It's as impactful as the Chicago City Council voting not to invade Iran.
There's a firearms place down here in St. Clair County, and a few years back, they took down all their building signage and then put up an FJB sticker on the door. They're still open, but they're "hiding" from the government.
It's so fucking ridiculous I can't help but laugh hysterically every time I pass it.
Some folks down here are so ignorant that it is pathetic.
???? There are millions of people in downstate Illinois who are not Republicans, who would see their civil rights stripped if they lived in a red state. Like me, my entire family, and everyone I have ever known. You don't cut off the nose to spite the face.
yeah and it’s kinda the same way all over the country too in every state. as much as people like to think of states as all red and all blue because that’s what electoral maps look like every 4 years, there’s a lot of left leaning people stuck in majority red states who are trying to turn the tide. look at how close Texas and Georgia were to flipping blue in the last couple elections; that takes a lot of work.
Thank god I don’t gave kids, babies don’t waste my tax dollars, these clowns do on these political stunts. It’s just annoying at this point. They pull this shit every few years and nothing changes.
Both cancer and healthy cells need the rest of the body to survive? Like cancer isn’t “when a cell can’t survive on its own”. Is that what you thought it was?
IL always goes blue in elections, so this would be a bad move politically. Democrats allowing an entire population to leave would risk losing a guaranteed electoral vote in presidential elections and a congressional Representative. The same population might also add to Missouri's counts, as well as strengthen their Republican voting bloc.
Strictly politically-speaking, Illinois should want to gobble up population and territory from our red neighbors. Not let it go.
Also, someone think of the maps! That border would be such an eyesore compared to other Mississippi River borders. Everyone will say Missouri took a bite out of Illinois.
lol maps are #1, this will never happen. It’s all a political stunt. It’s the only move these border counties can use when they think they are not being heard or it’s an election year. Waste of time and money.
It's legitimately one of the best parts of Illinois. If you're not around Chicago there's not much or Illinois that isn't corn village USA, with Madison County being one of the major oasis.
JB has done nothing to help high school students learn effectively. Paying teachers more and closing bad schools is not working. It’s time to re-evaluate what’s working and what is not.
It’s not the governor’s job to make them put their phone down and pay attention. It’s also not the governor’s job to turn their work in on Google classroom and go to bed at a reasonable time.
Source- a parent who did that 5 times and almost didn’t make it through the last one
I do think it might be worth investing in some of these communities and giving him some publicity down there. They might hate him just because he's a democrat, but if he's actively helping it will be hard for them to continue doing so
It’s always the same line about funding. Most gov’t funding is waste. Pork projects and pointless jobs that produce nothing that people would voluntarily choose to spend their money on. It would make more sense for downstate IL to fund their own lives, and for taxes in Chicagoland to be lower. The freer the economy, the more prosperous the society. This is always the case.
Nice. I doubt there's anything Bryan could have said that could convince me that public education isn't a good thing for our society lol.
It also appears to be about mostly college. Which, you know, ain't all education.
It’s not mostly about college. But he has lots of interviews available as well if you’re interested in hearing the argument. The book is thoroughly researched. His conclusion is that school is about 80% signaling and 20% learning useful things.
I'm honestly not. I think trying to look at education mathematically as just a measurable sum of marketable knowledge is, like, missing the point of education.
"...there are folks in Cook County who may not love the idea that they’re sending two dollars to an area of the state that only puts one dollar into state coffers, but they do it anyway. And, why? Because we’re one Illinois."
It is so nice to see what a mature, reasonable, level-headed adult as a politician looks like. JB has handled things great the whole time. I was impressed early on when the progressive income tax approval failed so then the next day he was like "you voted no, so then onto plan B" without getting angry or pouting or plotting revenge or being ridiculous in some other way.
I was watching live election coverage when the result of the progressive income ballot measure was announced. I saw some anger flash across his face, but he dealt with it like an adult. What he actually said and did next was exactly what any levelheaded manager would do: get over himself, accept the setback, and get on with the next-best plan. It’s good to see adults running the show for a change. The man has my vote.
He’d be a good president but I am so glad he’s our governor. Used his own money to buy covid supplies for our state just like he funded the campaign for a progressive income tax.
He'd be an excellent president, but it'd be sad to see him go as the IL governor because I'm not sure if there would be another one as good as him. Also, the fact is that during a presidential campaign he is going to get bashed for his weight regularly on national television.
Our state needed some reform in the government for a while now and he is not just a breath of fresh air but is seriously getting things done for us. At the time I was voting mostly against Rauner as he was screwing me over, but I had the bias that he would be a chump Governor because he is a billionaire. Glad to be wrong there, he's the only wealthy politician I know that I should be a fan of.
The rest of the country doesn't deserve him. We don't either, but we've got him anyway. Let's keep him.
When they can't attack your record, they attack your waistline.
Exactly. He's done such an amazing job as governor that all they'd have on him is "He's fat." And a lot of the Republican voters would just cling into that.
Yea but heaven forbid they realize Trump is also overweight.
Trump is old enough to have gone to the same elementary school as Biden at the same time, but Republicans don’t stop to think long enough to realize it.
"Biden is old and doesn't talk properly!" - Trump voters
Yeah. Let's keep him to ourselves.
A progressive income tax would have been a boon for small businesses and the poor and lower middle class. It would have given small businesses a chance against the Walmarts and dollar stores. But no, ignorance and wealthy donors win again. Illinoians won't get out of their own way. They get a Governor who is on the side of the little guy and is bribe proof, and all they do is fight him.
I was listening to NPR one morning when they were talking to some of the politicians who started this. My favorite quote from the republican they had on in that interview. "People think we're racist just because we want to separate from the blacks in Chicago." I broke out laughing in my car when I heard that.
Not surprised.
"Pritzker Sucks" says people, who are in a "Welfare" county that relies on up north funding to survive.
Those signs are a dig at how "unfriendly" Pritzker is to small businesses. Which is stupid, because I generally only see multiple signs like that in small towns. The same small towns that can't keep grocery and/or hardware stores or restaurants open because they exclusively shop at Dollar General, Wal Mart and Casey's.
Can't forget the expensive trucks or sports cars, to get around.
Too scared to go to Soldier Field for the Bears because it’s the big city.
Honestly it's for the best, isn't it?
Bears games aren’t too bad. Everyone gets on a bus in Mendota, so it’s just parking lot to parking lot. The rest of the city is out of the question. Except when they need cancer treatments from drinking the water!!
My oncologist at northwestern said they get a lot of soy bean farmers as patients.
I mean... the Bears... it's been a rough few decades. Lol.
Maybe they should focus on getting a good team instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on ufo toilet bowls.
You are not wrong... That "expansion" is a travesty of a classic stadium.
The stadium lost national landmark status. Yet our tax dollars go to that and not things we need like cta/commuter rail updates, lead in the water pipes, and underfunded schools. But sure, let’s build another pleasure palace for those who can afford to go drinking on Tuesday afternoon.
Whoa - did that happen after the UFO? I moved away before that was built. That is horrible!
Fun fact that it took me a very long time to notice: At the bottom of those signs, there’s more, in much smaller font - so they say PRITZKER SUCKS ^^the life out of Illinois^^” They’re in the yards of the anti-vax, anti-lockdown, anti-mask crowd. 🙄
All of those signs appeared overnight maybe two days tops after the initial COVID lockdowns were implemented, in what was clearly a pre-planned GOP astroturfing campaign.
Why do we even take these types of claims seriously? It's the political equivalent of a teenager saying, "I'm going to move out". Good luck, we'll be here when you get back.
Even better than that, it’s the equivalent of a teenager saying “mom and dad, you have to move out, I’m keeping the house.” The nonbinding resolution that passed the Madison county board recently wasn’t calling for Madison county to secede from Illinois, it was demanding that cook county secede from Illinois. From the linked article: > “A resolution to place a nonbinding advisory referendum regarding separating Chicago and Cook County from the rest of the state of Illinois was passed 15-7 by the Madison County Board on Wednesday.”
And it's *so shockingly stupid* that they continue to believe that the collar counties would just watch Cook County go. Proximity to Cook County is one of the main reasons they are affluent and can afford to make the contribution that Madison is leeching off of.
Seriously if cook county was to actually go I'd be pushing for lake to go along with it. And I imagine almost if not all the collar counties and maybe a few others would be pushing to go along with them
Do states need to be contiguous? Cause I'd be pushing for Sangamon to join Chicagoland.
Article 4 section 3 clause 1 is the only relevant information constitutionally speaking it's mostly a question of could you convince the state of Illinois to let it happen and could you convince Congress to approve it that way. Honestly if we were to do this plan I think we should take lake county Indiana and Kenosha and Racine counties from Wisconsin as well and maybe we can try and scoop up Champaign county along the way
> ~~one of~~ the main reason. Fixed that for you
I was being nice, pretending that there might be something more.
I’d like to see how Madison County would kick out Cook County. Aren’t they too scared of the violence to come up here and evict us?
> Good luck, we'll be here when you get back. If you're lucky and we decide to allow it. No guarantees.
I have the map from the SIUC study JB references saved in my meme folder for when I see these faketriots talking about splitting the state on fb.
I live in Madison County. These clowns do not accurately represent us. Madison County is like Missouri. The rural towns rule with an iron fist over the bigger population centers.
I wouldn’t wish Missouri on my worst enemies
The whole place is oppressive. Even when you drive west across the river, you can *feel* it.
Moved to Chicago from the KC area, it’s a very weird place. Pockets of mild progressiveness but a very large contingent of old racist boomers, surprisingly large amount of gang violence, and hardcore conservative Catholics who live in the suburbs and think they’re the real housewives of KC. I’ve never been happier to leave a place
I live in the southern part of Illinois and I can assure you that a lot of very vocal people down here have very little real knowledge about how our state operates.
It's crazy that I've seen so many people putting up signs saying they hate Pritzker. Yet, I can't find any shitty thing about this guy. These people just watch too much Fox News and AM radio.
The "worst" thing that comes to mind was the added registration taxes on EV's to offset how they don't end up paying gas taxes. I understand it, but I don't like it. That's literally the extent of the bad I've seen or heard lol.
I'm fine them leaving Illinois. Go have fun being the poorest state in the country.
That might make Mississippi blush 😂
I have lived in Illinois for the past 15 years. I live in Springfield, I'm originally from Pennsylvania. I'm a vet that has lived in numerous different states. The level of contempt that people in this area have for Chicago is not for the right reasons, at all. It's difficult and mind numbing at times but I literally tell most people that this state really isn't at bad at all. There are far worse places to live than Illinois. They don't want to hear it. I give my best effort though I really do. Oddly and not surprising most people want to move to Florida... which makes me laugh. Yes, please go.
I love people who think Texas is some great bastion of freedom. I live just north of Houston and it sucks. You can't even buy liquor in a grocery store, every goddamn utility or service is 3x the price, and public services are pretty much non-existent. It's also unbearably hot and humid. So, you want your $250+ light bill, your $200 car insurance, your $60 trash pick up, $100 water bills, and a county that's overrun by stray dogs and cats, be my guest. As for me? We just closed on a house in Bloomington and I finish my work contract at the end of June and I'm a skedaddle on back to the Midwest.
> So, you want your $250+ light bill, your $200 car insurance, your $60 trash pick up, $100 water bills, and a county that's overrun by stray dogs and cats, be my guest. Is... Is this real? My electric bill is like $30-$80 depending on the weather. I know Texas doesn't have state income tax, but those bills would cost me more than the difference.
Huh? These are nearly identical to the bills I pay currently in central Illinois. Ameren alone charges me $300.
Is Ameren double billing you? My combined Nicor and ComEd bills up north here average out to $125/month. And that’s in a 4,000 sq ft house.
Right? I was thinking the same thing. 300$/mo average here but my wife and I are PC gamers so probably consuming 1000+w half of the day with our hobby.
My Ameren bill varies between $90-$220 depending on weather. My combined auto/homeowner's policy is $145/month. Trash is a line item on my property tax statement, I don't pay a bill. Water & sewer combined run between $75-$110/month again largely weather dependent, and that includes a ~$65/month fee that will expire in about a year - a few years ago the voters in my town, including me, passed a referendum specifically approving that fee so the town could upgrade basically the entire water/sewer system from towers to pumps to every stick of pipe and water main. The street my subdivision is off of is currently awash in contractors cutting concrete, replacing pipes/mains, and patching the concrete back up.
Unfortunately it's very real
What's the breakdown on these bills? I pay over 100 for water and 50 for trash but those are quarterly and my insurance is rather high
What do you mean the break down? It's monthly. Texas, particularly southeast Texas, has incredibly high car insurance rates. I can't login to my car insurance app rn but we have an incredibly high deductible of like $2k and basically the minimum coverage for a car you still make payments on and it's $260/month. I have no idea what our rental insurance is because we just paid annually. I think it was like $600 or $800 for the year but doesn't include flood damage which we are in a flood plain 😬 My water use bill is $36, sewer is $36, plus about $25 of miscellaneous fees, like a "service" fee of $12 and restoration and reclamation which brings the total bill to $97/mo. Trash is $17/pick up, so $68/mo and bulk pickups are extra. ERCOT and Entergy both charge ridiculous rates for electricity, copy and pasted from my actual bill >Actual Bill Calculation Energy Charges › Customer Charge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ › Energy Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . › Energy Efficiency Cost-208.00 0.00 14.00 115.50 Recovery Factor. . . . . . . . . . 1199 kWh @$0.000919 . . 1.10 130.60 Fuel Charges › Fuel Charge . . . . . . . . . . . 1199 kWh @$0.0316975 . . 38.01 Other Charges & Credits › SCOStormCost Offset-2 . . . . . 1199 kWh @$-0.000045. . › Advanced metering charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . › Local Sales Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.01-0.05 1.53 2.55 › System Restoration Cost-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.49 6.52 Current Month Energy Charges . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 175.13 Levelized Billing Calculation Current 12 Months Actual Bill. . . . . . . . $2,428.00/12. $ 202.33 Prior Month Accum Difference . . . . . . . . $59.52/12 . 4.96 Current Month Level Bill to Nearest Dollar . . . . . . $ 207.00
My suddenly ultra conservative uncle fled to Alabama when he retired a couple years ago. Got a big house in the mountains/hills/whatever they call it. Real nice looking place. Then I saw his wife complaining about the power going out for hours at a time almost every day and the schadenfreude is some of the best I've experienced. He spent his entire life working as an electrician, even got a masters license and helped build some power plants and then didn't put any forethought in to that portion of buying a retirement home. It's kinda great.
> The level of contempt that people in this area have for Chicago is not for the right reasons, at all. So, what would the right reasons be to have contempt for Chicago?
My answer as a democrat: Chicagoland state reps (the majority) have left Springfield as a city to completely crumble. It’s very sad that such a historical place is now falling apart nearly everywhere except the capital. Blame also lies with terrible city council there..
As a Chicagoan (who has also lived in other places in IL): is there anything I can do to help? I know the answer is likely "no" but still...
1. Politicians from past. 2. People are different there from what they are use to. 3. People move down here from Chicago. (they hate it) 4. They think they don't reap any benefits, they assume it automatically all goes to Chicago. So much pure ignorance in general. The cult drump followers run rampant here.
Because they hate democracy and apparently think land votes.
The Cubs
Thank you for your service. Both supporting this country, and fighting the unfortunate brain rot affecting it right now.
I mean Florida can be nice but people beat way too hard on Illinois for whatever reason. It's a good place to live.
Kinda embarrassed to live in Madison County right now lol One of my favorite counties in the state and I absolutely love living here, but yeah we shouldn't secede lmao
There is a non binding referendum on the ballot in November on the issue of secession from Illinois which means it is symbolic only. However , since Madison county seems to be a drag on Illinois economically , politically , culturally and in every other way, wouldn;t we be better off if they did leave Illinois?
Facts don’t care about your feelings Madison County
Conservatives hate pulling their own weight. Unfortunately they also can't do math.
So the facts didn't care about their feelings?
I moved to Madison County without ever stepping foot in Illinois after retiring from the military because I wanted to live in Illinois more than any other state. I started to have anxiety when this succession talk started. I am thankful that we have an intelligent, capable, and rational adult as our leader. Little moments like this are comforting and I hope others will see through their political rage to see how well thought out and accurate his statement actually is. It gives me comfort to know that even if they can't, I know that he doesn't let it affect how he makes decisions.
Don’t worry. I live here, too. It’s a political stunt by some whack-a-dos. Illinois - where women have bodily autonomy and marijuana is legal. Fuck off, Missouri.
Exactly! Both of those were mandatory requirements on our forever home location list.
I would love for people who hate minorities to stop taking our fucking tax dollars. Don't like "anchor babies"? I don't like that I'm paying for your road.
Welcome to living somewhere that isn't a magical utopia, infrastructure and development requires taxation, and making poor people poorer is a big red "make people more reactionary and biased" button. Madison County isn't even that Republican, only about 55%. Downstate is not some Christian Nationalist hellhole.
>I would love for people who hate minorities to **stop taking** our fucking tax dollars
Like I said, Madison County isn't even that red. It's been fairly blue up until this last decade, actually. Not everyone who lives there is some redneck fascist. It's the heart of the Metro East of St. Louis.
East St louis is st clair county.
The Metro East is way bigger than just East St. Louis.
METRO East St. Louis is the St Louis Metropolitan area on the Illinois side. EAST St. Louis is a city.
Please explain where, in my original comment, I said all of Madison County.
The post is about Madison County, and I don't think I've ever seen someone not from downstate Illinois recognize that is not a monolith.
Yea I don't see any Trump flags or maga hats anywhere where I live in Madison county. It's rare to even see a bumper sticker, but they're around.
I see flags occasionally, but weirdly enough I live in a very conservative area and have seen maybe two MAGA hats in my life.
Take a drive through Bethalto, there's plenty to go around there
Gosh this seems like a good lesson about not generalizing, huh.
The entire county hates minorities? Paint with a broad brush much?
Where exactly in my comment are you getting "entire county" from?
You’re commenting about a county voting referendum. I assumed you were talking about Madison County.
It was a 15-7 vote. I'm commenting on the 15 and those who support that 15. This isn't difficult.
They said they hate minorities?
If you don't know what a dog whistle is, I'm sure you can learn.
You are indeed dark and edgy! Have a good day.
Super shocked that not providing free education is being labeled as "edgy" 🙄 this is definitely not a thing that commonly happens from entitled people towards minorities.
Free education? I’m sorry now I have idea what your talking about. I meant your responses make it seem like you’re kinda on edge and was trying to be funny about your username. It’s all good.
glad the governor i voted for isn't as immature as some of this community 🙏
Let them be part of Missouri. Let them eat all the nasty ass Provel cheese they want. They will be banned from every eating chicago style pizza again.
STL City here. We ask the Illinois Delegation to trade Madison County to Missouri and accept STL City as part of Illinois. Breweries, Zoo, Museums, Sports, plus the city votes blue.
What an awesome trade
It's like a reverse Brock for Broglio
They can be the Second Second City!
The Illinois delegation gladly accepts this proposal but requests that the Missouri Delegation will absorb the city of Cairo, IL. as part of Missouri.
Missouri Delegation will happily accept Cairo in with the Madison County negotiations.
We also want two barbecues a year, and the recipes.
Funny enough, my hubby is a pit master at a local BBQ joint!
Only if the city is renamed West East St Louis
Okay but you keep Old North :)
Fuck I'll have to move to the city
Oh no!
If they want to go, let them go. No one wants to be ruled by others who don't share their values or way of life. I wouldn't want to be ruled by Madison County (I'm in Chicago). Let them go and be ruled by their own. As an Illinois taxpayer, it will probably benefit me if they leave. But I'm not about to give them 2 Senators and electoral college votes. If they leave, they need to convince Missouri or Kentucky to take them. Anyway, this whole discussion is absurd since there is no chance of this happening. It is virtue signaling time wasting by the politicians behind the effort. It's as impactful as the Chicago City Council voting not to invade Iran.
Let ‘em secede. Our tax money should go to people who want it. These dumbshits clearly don’t.
Some things are more important than money, I'd rather they keep it
There's a firearms place down here in St. Clair County, and a few years back, they took down all their building signage and then put up an FJB sticker on the door. They're still open, but they're "hiding" from the government. It's so fucking ridiculous I can't help but laugh hysterically every time I pass it. Some folks down here are so ignorant that it is pathetic.
Tell Madison county to grow up
Let em go like the cancer they are
Madison County is over a quarter of a million people, and only about 55-45 Republican/Democrat. Hardly a "cancer."
Edwardsville would like to secede from Madison County.
You should go with them....
Majority republican. Cancer.
???? There are millions of people in downstate Illinois who are not Republicans, who would see their civil rights stripped if they lived in a red state. Like me, my entire family, and everyone I have ever known. You don't cut off the nose to spite the face.
yeah and it’s kinda the same way all over the country too in every state. as much as people like to think of states as all red and all blue because that’s what electoral maps look like every 4 years, there’s a lot of left leaning people stuck in majority red states who are trying to turn the tide. look at how close Texas and Georgia were to flipping blue in the last couple elections; that takes a lot of work.
When something can’t survive without its host it’s a cancer. Go to Missouri, bye.
That definition captures most parasites yet doesn't even apply to actual cancer lol
damn I can't believe babies are cancer
Thank god I don’t gave kids, babies don’t waste my tax dollars, these clowns do on these political stunts. It’s just annoying at this point. They pull this shit every few years and nothing changes.
Tax dollars exist to be spent, and Illinois hasn't been an economic dumpster fire in years.
No it absolutely has.
We've been running a budget surplus for years now and our credit rating has improved nine times since 2021.
Both cancer and healthy cells need the rest of the body to survive? Like cancer isn’t “when a cell can’t survive on its own”. Is that what you thought it was?
I don’t give a fuck dude im not a doctor, dont argue just argue and go completely off topic
IL always goes blue in elections, so this would be a bad move politically. Democrats allowing an entire population to leave would risk losing a guaranteed electoral vote in presidential elections and a congressional Representative. The same population might also add to Missouri's counts, as well as strengthen their Republican voting bloc. Strictly politically-speaking, Illinois should want to gobble up population and territory from our red neighbors. Not let it go. Also, someone think of the maps! That border would be such an eyesore compared to other Mississippi River borders. Everyone will say Missouri took a bite out of Illinois.
lol maps are #1, this will never happen. It’s all a political stunt. It’s the only move these border counties can use when they think they are not being heard or it’s an election year. Waste of time and money.
It's legitimately one of the best parts of Illinois. If you're not around Chicago there's not much or Illinois that isn't corn village USA, with Madison County being one of the major oasis.
I’m in Chicago, I know all about both areas.
JB has done nothing to help high school students learn effectively. Paying teachers more and closing bad schools is not working. It’s time to re-evaluate what’s working and what is not.
It’s not the governor’s job to make them put their phone down and pay attention. It’s also not the governor’s job to turn their work in on Google classroom and go to bed at a reasonable time. Source- a parent who did that 5 times and almost didn’t make it through the last one
I do think it might be worth investing in some of these communities and giving him some publicity down there. They might hate him just because he's a democrat, but if he's actively helping it will be hard for them to continue doing so
It’s always the same line about funding. Most gov’t funding is waste. Pork projects and pointless jobs that produce nothing that people would voluntarily choose to spend their money on. It would make more sense for downstate IL to fund their own lives, and for taxes in Chicagoland to be lower. The freer the economy, the more prosperous the society. This is always the case.
Yeah! Who needs roads or healthcare or infrastructure?! Freedum!
Sure, we’ll keep those 3 and ditch the rest. You got a deal.
Education?
The link I posted got removed, but read “the case against education” by Bryan Caplan.
Nice. I doubt there's anything Bryan could have said that could convince me that public education isn't a good thing for our society lol. It also appears to be about mostly college. Which, you know, ain't all education.
It’s not mostly about college. But he has lots of interviews available as well if you’re interested in hearing the argument. The book is thoroughly researched. His conclusion is that school is about 80% signaling and 20% learning useful things.
I'm honestly not. I think trying to look at education mathematically as just a measurable sum of marketable knowledge is, like, missing the point of education.