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Archive for the ‘The Chicago Way’ Category

Editorial: We strongly support this bipartisan plan to fix Illinois’ broken state elections

Posted in Chicago Tribune, Deception, Elections, Ethics, Fat Bastard, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, The Chicago Way, Topics Of Interest, Unions on October 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

People gather where former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley met for a Fair Maps Illinois panel discussion on Aug. 19, 2025. |Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune

By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune

Illinois elections are broken — with roughly half of legislative races uncontested after politicians drew maps to lock in power. Now, two political veterans, one a Democrat and one a Republican, think they’ve found a way to fix it.

One is Ray LaHood, a Republican congressman from 1995 to 2008 and transportation secretary under President Barack Obama. The other is Bill Daley, son of former Mayor Richard J. Daley and commerce secretary under President Bill Clinton as well as chief of staff for Obama. The two met with the editorial board Sept. 23 to talk about gerrymandering and what to do about it. They sit on different sides of the aisle politically, but they’ve come together for a cause that’s bigger than partisan politics — they’re fighting a pernicious problem that has sapped the health of democracy here in Illinois and likely will worsen matters if nothing changes.

We support them in that fight.

Scott Stantis editorial cartoon for Sun, Oct 5, 2025, on gerrymandering reform. | Scott Stantis/For the Chicago Tribune

Last Sunday, in the first part of this two-part editorial, we wrote that in Illinois, the most urgent threat to democracy is the state of play before votes even are cast — political maps drawn deliberately to disenfranchise voters. Unlike congressional maps, which are about federal representation, state legislative maps have a direct impact on who ends up writing Illinois laws and controlling the state budget.

We understand that the national contest over bare-knuckled gerrymandering is one in which Illinois Democrats never would unilaterally disarm, and that’s understandable. We’re focused squarely on the maps that determine who governs the state of Illinois. And right now, the system allows the party in power in Springfield to draw districts to maximize its advantage. Voters don’t choose their politicians; politicians choose their voters.

It’s a reality everyone acknowledges, yet it continues to defy repeated attempts at fixing. On the campaign trail in 2018, Gov. JB Pritzker condemned the practice and vowed to veto an unfair map, but he quickly broke that promise once in office.

So how to change this sorry record of futility?

Daley and LaHood think they’ve cracked the code. And they want to take the issue to voters in November 2026 in the form of an amendment to the state’s constitution.

Read more here.

Related: “Editorial: With mostly powerless voters, Illinois democracy hangs by an elongated thread”

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Pritzker, who now says Trump has dementia, played major role covering up Biden’s infirmity

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Deception, Elections, Ethics, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, The Chicago Way, Wirepoints on October 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

And Pritzker’s diagnosis came just as we learned that Biden needed a palm card with pictures to recognize Pritzker and other key Democrats.

By Mark Glennon | Wirepoints

The irony couldn’t be richer.

Just a day after we learned that President Joe Biden needed palm cards with pictures to recognize Pritzker and other key Democrats, Pritzker said Tuesday that it’s Trump who has dementia and should be removed from office.

But the hypocrisy is still richer still because Pritzker played a big role in the scandalous coverup of Biden’s mental decline.

Pritzker, while serving as a proxy for Biden, frequently and firmly attested to Biden’s mental health. Pritzker became vicious about it, attempting to smear a respected special prosecutor for concluding the Biden was too impaired to stand trial.

It’s all in a column I wrote last year describing how Pritzker helped cover up Biden’s decline. That column is reproduced in full below.

Read more here.

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Illinois’ Congressional Democrats reject gerrymandering – for wrong reasons

Posted in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Ethics, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, The Chicago Way, Unions on September 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Illinois Democrats rejected a mid-cycle redistricting plan cooked up by U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries to maximize Democratic partisan advantage in the state’s congressional district map. The reason? They don’t want to endanger their safe seats.

By Joe Tabor | Illinois Policy Institute

Opposition from Illinois Democrats has stalled a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts as proposed by U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to counter midcycle gerrymanders in Republican-controlled states.

Democrats are right to oppose the plan that would make Illinois’ unfair map even worse. But reporting suggests their chief concern is not that the plan would disenfranchise even more voters, but the possibility of facing increased competition for their own seats.

“We have to look out and protect who we have because we fought hard to get them in,” U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Chicago, said, referring to fears that Democrats would also face more highly contested races if Republican-leaning districts were made more Democratic. “I’m not a mapmaker, but it seems like it will be very difficult.”

Kelly isn’t wrong. Illinois is already considered one of the most gerrymandered congressional maps in the country, according to Princeton’s Gerrymandering Project. Illinois received failing grades in partisan fairness, competitiveness and geographic features, or “compactness.” In simple terms, that’s how oddly the districts are shaped.

It also has one of the most unfair maps based on the Michigan State University and University of Michigan’s partisan advantage tracker. Only one of Illinois 2026 U.S. House races is considered competitive by the Cook Political Report. Even then, that race, the 17th District currently occupied by U.S. Rep. Eric Sorenson, D-Rockford, is a “likely Democrat” victory.

Read more here.

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Chicago ranks near bottom in survey of best and worst run cities

Posted in Clown Car, Deception, Economy, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Preckwinkle's Rules of Order, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Resident Spotlights, Springfield, Taxes, The Center Square, The Chicago Way, Unions on September 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

By Sarah Roderick-Fitch | The Center Square

By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor

The city of Chicago ranks near the bottom in the new Best & Worst-run cities in America survey of 148 different locations.

With researchers comparing the operating efficiency of each city, Chicago lands at No. 136 in the WalletHub survey after finishing 102nd in quality of city services and 140th in total budget per capita.

State Rep. Martin McLaughlin, R-Barrington Hills, isn’t shy about voicing his displeasure with Chicago’s dismal showing.

“Chicago has been known as The Second City, but we have dropped quite precipitously down to 136, and that is based on one thing and one thing alone, and that is progressive policies from people who are producing painful results for the residents and for those like my community who are living adjacent to the city,” McLaughlin told The Center Square. “It is no longer the place it was 30 years ago. It is no longer the financial capital of commodities in the world and no longer a place that you will go to and feel safe.”

Researchers weighed “quality of services” metrics that included health, safety and economy rank, measuring each category against the city’s per-capita budget.

As bad as things have gotten, McLaughlin still sees a way out for the city.

“I think Chicago has an opportunity, particularly with those who have recognized that the governor and the mayor have put illegal migrants ahead of citizens and the neighborhoods who have been underserved now recognize that they have been overlooked,” he said. “They just have to change who they’re voting for and they have a chance to do that every two years.”

Read more here.

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Chicago Democrats From America’s Murder Capital Refuse Trump’s Help on Crime

Posted in Crime, John Kass, OP/Ed, Politics, Preckwinkle's Rules of Order, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, The Chicago Way, Unions on September 3, 2025| 2 Comments »

By John Kass | John Kass News

I grew up in Chicago–which for 13 straight years now has been the murder capital of America–believing that the Democrats were just too crafty to ever fall stupidly into some Republican trap.

But I was dead wrong.

When I was a boy there was legendary Chicago mayor named Richard J. Daley—who loved the city—and was tough enough and ruthless enough to run it and protect it.

Now Chicago is run by a racist pinhead subject to increasing anxiety and panic attacks. The city’s commercial real estate market is cratering as businesses flee, corporate offices close, and Democrat leaders refuse President Donald Trump’s help to send in the National Guard to help with the murder epidemic

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, soft of mind and body, ridiculed the president’s offer of assistance, saying crime really isn’t an emergency, though more than 50 people were shot and at least 7 were murdered over the weekend.

The truth is that Mayor Pin Head and Gov. Fat Boy don’t really care about black and brown people who are the true victims of violent crimes. They care about the Chicago Teachers Union. They care about shielding Democrat boss Toni Preckwinkle, the Cook County Board President and Cook County Democrat chairman.

Boss Toni is a hard leftist protected by the corrupt corporate legacy media. She is without a doubt the architect of Chicago’s anarchy of crime.

The Democrats are now the pro-criminal party. They are eager to defund police and clear out the county jail that Boss Toni considers too black, too brown. Although the victims of violent crime in Chicago are black and brown. The city’s public schoolchildren can’t read or do math at grade level. All they’re prepared to do is make a life of violent crime and prison.

Chicago circles the drain.

Read more here.

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Poof. Another $26 Billion of Debt Has Magically Disappeared From Illinois Financial Statements

Posted in Deception, Ethics, Taxes, The Chicago Way, Transparency, Wirepoints on August 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »

By: Mark Glennon* | Wirepoints

About $26 billion of State of Illinois liabilities for public employee healthcare just vanished – a decrease of over 56% of that liability in one year. Any questions? Never mind, because you won’t find explanations here or anywhere else, but read on.

The long overdue 2023 financial statements are contained in what’s called the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR, formerly called a CAFR) published on August 7. It’s the state’s key financial report because it’s audited, based on actual results and is on an accrual basis. That means that, unlike phony state budgets, growing debts are included in the bottom line and borrowed money is not counted as if it’s income.

On the surface, the bottom line in the new CAFR would appear to be good news. The state’s Net Position (which you can think of as net worth) improved from negative $185 billion to negative $170 billion.

Why the improvement?

It wasn’t that the pension situation eased. That actually worsened, with unfunded liabilities increasing $5.7 billion from the fiscal year 2022 balance of $139.8 billion. (Notably, that deterioration occurred despite an exceptionally good year in the markets that saw the S&P 500 returning over 22%, pushing up pension asset values).

The answer is the magical erasure of liability for what are called OPEBs (Other Post Employment Benefits). OPEBs are basically healthcare promises made to state employee pensioners. For nearly 75% of state-employee (SERS) retirees, the state covers healthcare from the day they retire until Medicare kicks in, plus some supplemental benefits thereafter. OPEB liabilities are measured by actuaries much like pensions, except that OPEBs are entirely unfunded. That is, no money is set aside by the state for estimated future healthcare obligations based on work already performed.

Read on here.

*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.

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Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!

Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, Daily Herald, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, Look For The Union Label, New Normal?, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, South Barrington, The Chicago Way, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on August 19, 2025| 2 Comments »

In 2021 Erin Chan Ding first campaigned for a position on the Barrington 220 Board of Education (BOE). At that time she created a website “ERIN CHAN DING for 220.” Curiously, some might say suspiciously, the Website for Ding’s 220 campaign has been scrubbed from the internet and one must use a special search engine to attempt to find the deleted files. Ding, as we’ve previously reported, recently won re-election to the BOE and, shortly following that win, announced that she would be running in the Democratic Primary for the chance to be the Democratic candidate in the 2026 election for State Representative of the 52nd District ~ a partisan political position.

Ding’s scrubbed BOE website says several things about the conflict this run poses to her current position on the BOE and demands, in her own words, that she either immediately resign from her BOE position or forego her run for the 52nd District.

As some may recall, Ding set off a hot bed of controversy when, during the 2021 BOE campaign, she accepted the endorsement of the Barrington Education Association (BEA), 220 teacher’s union, and a donation from the BEA’s political action committee, IPACE. Ding, realizing the controversy in bringing partisan politics to what she took an oath to be a non-partisan position, explained why it was okay for her to accept the BEA endorsement and IPACE donation in 2021:

Each of us… candidates running for the … BOE are political candidates in a municipal election. What we are NOT supposed to be is partisan, affiliated with a particular political party. It is my commitment, if elected as a school board member, to maintain independence and making decisions and be free of influence from political parties and special interest groups. I will be accountable only to our community.

I have heard there’s been misinformation going around that has conflated the … BEA with a Political Action Committee, or PAC… The BEA is the union that represents more than 700 teachers and educational professionals in Barrington 220… this year, the BEA specifically stated it would endorse candidates with integrity, teamwork, a heart for racial and social equity and a sense of service over self… I am honored to have received one of four BEA endorsements.

The BEA is affiliated with a statewide organization called … IPACE, a nonpartisan, pro-education organization to which BEA members … can voluntarily contribute. IPACE regularly donates to pro-education, pro-public school candidates.

Because I was endorsed by the BEA, IPACE offered a contribution… to my campaign fund, Friends of Erin Chan Ding. Before accepting the donation, I researched IPACE to ensure it was strictly non-partisan and concluded that it is, as according to its website, recommendations for contributions… “are not determined by partisan politics.”

Our local BEA officers are also clear that I am not and will not be beholden to the teachers union or to any special interest groups.  I have not and would never accept partisan donations that will compromise my ability to offer excellent stewardship to our community.

(Click on any image above to enlarge)

Clearly, Ding recognized the import of being nonpartisan in her position on the BOE during her 2021 and 2025 campaigns for BOE. Yet, at the same time she was taking her oath of office to be a nonpartisan member of the BOE on April 22, 2025, pledging that she would:

…refuse to surrender (her) responsibilities to special interest or partisan political groups… avoid any conflict of interest or the appearance of impropriety which could result from (her) position, and shall not use (her) Board of Education membership for personal gain or publicity…,

Ding had already begun her quest for a partisan political position, using her BOE membership to bolster her candidacy (indeed her time on the BOE provides her only cited credentials on her social media and Erin for Illinois pages). Additionally, in a flagrant showing of impropriety, Ding posts D220 educators, whose discipline and contracts she votes on, as endorsers of her partisan run for the 52nd.

Then, sometime following the several posts that the Observer has put out regarding Ding’s blatant conflict of interest in remaining as a BOE member at the same time she is actively campaigning and raising funds for a partisan political position (see “Ding’s D220 Deception” and “Ding Doubles Down”), Ding scrubbed the internet of her very own acknowledgment of the impropriety of her serving on the BOE under these circumstances.

BOE President Ficke-Bradford has similarly acknowledged the impropriety of Ding remaining on the BOE under these circumstances where she unceremoniously, without Ding’s presence and without a public vote of the BOE, removed Ding from all of her BOE committee assignments.

Since pushing forward with her campaign for a partisan political position, Ding has

  • Affiliated with a particular political party;
  • Accepted partisan donations*, compromising her ability to offer excellent stewardship to our community;
  • Failed to maintain independence; and
  • Failed to remain free of influence from political parties and special interest groups.

In further affront to her BOE oath, Ding has also partnered with Barrington Area Dems (BAD) to promote her run for the 52nd District. BAD has posted a fundraiser being thrown by them for Ding and other local Democratic candidates, commenting on Ding as a “current School Board member” and “a dual-elected District 220 Board of Education member” with a “commitment to equity and inclusive school communities.” Ding even ‘liked’ the post from her personal “luvpiggies” instagram account:

The next regular meeting of the BOE is scheduled for this evening. This is a good opportunity for the public to remind Ding, Superintendent Winkelman, and the Members of the BOE, that the oath of office taken by each is not to be taken lightly. It is our belief that Ding is unfit to serve any longer on our Board of Education and it’s time for the Regional and D220 Superintendents and the BOE to take action in removing her.

D220 Superintendent: cwinkelman@barrington220.org

D220 Board of Education: stwang@barrington220.org, dclopton@barrington220.org, baltshuler@barrington220.org, sbradford@barrington220.org, lcollisterlazzari@barrington220.org, echanding@barrington220.org, hsrivastava@barrington220.org

Dr. Michael Karner Lake County Regional Superintendent of Schools: Mkarner@lake.k12.il.us

*Ding’s Erin for Illinois disclosures show $3,000.00 in donations from Friends of Josina Morita, the Democratic Committee formed to support Democratic Candidate Josina Morita for Office of Cook County Commissioner for the Democratic Party. These contributions were not made by Morita in her personal capacity, but specifically made from her Democratic Committee. https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/CommitteeDetail.aspx?ID=NC181bT0yRx6vp8tMkKtSg%3d%3d

Related: “District 220 Board of Education meets this evening (07.15.25)” “Ding Doubles Down,” “Ding’s D220 Deception,” “Chan Ding running in Democratic primary in 52nd,” “Three (3) Democratic candidates queued to run for the IL 52nd District House seat in 2026”

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Pritzker works on national profile as Illinoisans tire of him

Posted in Economy, Elections, Illinois Policy Institute, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Taxes, The Chicago Way on August 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is burnishing his national image as a Democratic presidential candidate by inserting himself in the Texas redistricting controversy. But Illinoisans are growing tired of Pritzker and taxation, pushing his favorability rating into the negative.

By Paul Vallas | Illinois Policy Institute

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s decision to welcome Texas Democrats to Illinois, framing the state as a sanctuary for lawmakers seeking to block partisan redistricting efforts in Texas, offers a timely diversion from his mounting problems closer to home.

While Pritzker works to draw the national spotlight, Illinois residents are increasingly vocal about their dissatisfaction with him.

Recent polling by the Illinois Policy Institute shows Pritzker’s approval has dipped underwater: 47% view him favorably, while more than 50% hold an unfavorable opinion.

Even more troubling is over half of Illinois residents would relocate if they had the means. They overwhelmingly cited high taxes as their main concern: 60% said it was the top issue, followed by worries about governance, the economy, crime and migration.

These concerns are valid. In 2025, Illinois will impose the highest combined state and local tax burden in the nation on households earning the median U.S. income. That tax burden is $13,099, or more than 16.5% of annual earnings. It’s $4,472 more than the national average and nearly 52% more than what most Americans pay. Families can save over $5,000 a year simply by moving to Indiana.

Despite receiving over $53 billion in federal COVID relief – with $11.8 billion eligible to be used directly by the state for operational and one-time expenses – Pritzker has grown Illinois’ budget by $16 billion and enacted over 50 tax hikes.

Read more here.

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State government salaries have grown 57% faster than private sector since 2021

Posted in Barrington Education Association, Commodius Maximus, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Policy Institute, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, The Chicago Way, Unions on July 30, 2025| 1 Comment »

State employees represented by AFSCME Council 31 received an automatic annual raise on July 1, highlighting the salary discrepancy between government and private sector workers.

By Mailee Smith and Bryce Hill | Illinois Policy Institute

It pays to be a state employee in Illinois.

July brought “pay raise day” for the tens of thousands of state employees represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31.

But it’s also the month which emphasizes the salary discrepancy between government workers and every other worker in Illinois.

Since 2021, state government worker salaries have grown 57% faster than pay for workers in the private sector.

As of 2024, the average Illinois state employee made $85,689 compared to an average of $78,267 in the private sector, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Survey of Employment and Wages data. That’s a $7,422, or 9.5%, difference.

The July 2025 raise was just part of a total 19.28% pay hike agreed to by Gov. J.B. Pritzker when he approved the state’s contract with AFSCME Council 31 in 2023. The agreement provides an automatic raise of 2.5% to 4.0% for each year of the contract. Compounded annually, that’s 19.28%.

No matter what happens to the economy and the private sector, the state is committed under the contract to raises that outpace what other workers are earning. Between 2023 and 2026, these AFSCME raises are expected to outpace private sector raises by 51%.

Read more here.

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Illinois lawmakers worry about paper coupons, death carpets, stickers, beauty sleep

Posted in FUBAR, Illinois Policy Institute, Look For The Union Label, Overhead, Springfield, Taxes, The Chicago Way on July 7, 2025| 1 Comment »

What pressing issues did the Illinois General Assembly consider among 6,745 bills this past session? They pondered a sticker commission, “end-of-life” carpets, paper grocery coupons, 15-year-old voters and their own beauty sleep.

By Lilly Rossi | Illinois Policy Institute

The Illinois General Assembly had ample opportunity to tackle the state’s massive public pension debt, curb the nation’s top tax burden or fix the state’s finances, but what did they do instead?

They considered 6,745 bills that included creating a voting sticker commission, regulating end-of-life carpets, stopping grocery store coupons from going paperless, registering teens three years before they could vote and making sure they did not lose sleep doing their jobs.

Here are the details on five bills that lawmakers were wise enough to allow to die this year:

  1. Creation of a “sticker commission”

Senate Bill 1576 would have created an “I Voted” Sticker Commission. The commission would have been tasked with developing a contest to finalize 10 designs that would be used in the 2026 General Election. Any spending for this commission would be in addition to the $55.2 billion budget, sticking Illinois taxpayers with the costs.

2. Death carpet seller registry

House Bill 1876 intended to implement a carpet stewardship program. The purpose of the program would be to promote and market for “end-of-life” carpet recovery and reutilization. HB 1876 would not have allowed carpet to be sold in the state of Illinois if the producer were not registered with the program.

Read more here.

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