Wirepoints

Illinois residents pay some of the nation’s highest taxes. One of the big reasons - Illinois has 7,000 units of local government. That’s by far the most in the nation. Consolidation would help ease the outrageous tax burden on the average Illinoisan. Real reform is what Illinois really needs. Learn more at – https://wirepoints.org/pensionsolutions/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Wirepoints for more original research and commentary on Illinois • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wirepoints • Twitter – https://twitter.com/wirepoints • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wirepoints/ • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirepoints Hit the SUBSCRIBE button just below the video

Ted was on Univision on Sunday, September 27 warning Illinoisans about the negative impacts of tax hikes like the progressive income tax. "Este estado es el más corrupto del país. Si damos miles de milliones de dólares mas a los políticos, empeorará la situación." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Wirepoints for more original research and commentary on Illinois • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wirepoints • Twitter – https://twitter.com/wirepoints • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wirepoints/ • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirepoints Hit the SUBSCRIBE button just below the video

Illinoisans bear one of the nation’s heaviest tax burdens. Kiplinger, the personal finance company, calls Illinois the “Least Tax-Friendly State” in the country. It’s easy to see why. Learn more at – https://wirepoints.org/pensionsolutions/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Wirepoints for more original research and commentary on Illinois • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wirepoints • Twitter – https://twitter.com/wirepoints • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wirepoints/ • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirepoints Hit the SUBSCRIBE button just below the video

After planning to open using a hybrid model, New Trier HS District 203's board decided to go to full online classes only. That decision was made after the district's teachers union announced its opposition to in-school learning. New Trier Neighbors, a local group of concerned citizens, held a Zoom call on the need to immediately and safely reopen New Trier area schools for in-person learning. Wirepoints' Ted Dabrowski made the case for reopening based on what we know of the coronavirus in Illinois and in the New Trier area. The following video contains excerpts from Ted's online discussion with Dr. Carrie Mendoza. Both are board members of New Trier Neighbors. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Wirepoints for more original research and commentary on Illinois • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wirepoints • Twitter – https://twitter.com/wirepoints • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wirepoints/ • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirepoints Hit the SUBSCRIBE button just below the video

UPDATE: This video used old census estimates. We have uploaded a new, similar video that reflects the new population numbers which came out after the 2020 census. You can see that video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4QgZeiEmL0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARCHIVED Illinois is shrinking. It’s losing more people than any other state in the country. Decades of bad policies have made it too expensive to live here. There aren’t enough good jobs. And Illinoisans no longer trust their government. Over the last 10 years, Illinois’ population has declined by 170,000 people, the most in the country. Illinois is the nation’s extreme outlier. Learn more at – https://wirepoints.org/pensionsolutions/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Wirepoints for more original research and commentary on Illinois • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wirepoints • Twitter – https://twitter.com/wirepoints • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wirepoints/ • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirepoints Hit the SUBSCRIBE button just below the video

Illinois has the worst pension crisis of any state in the country. It’s the nation’s extreme outlier. Every Illinois household is on the hook for nearly $50,000 in pension debts just for the state alone. Learn more at – https://wirepoints.org/pensionsolutions/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Wirepoints for more original research and commentary on Illinois • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wirepoints • Twitter – https://twitter.com/wirepoints • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wirepoints/ • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirepoints Hit the SUBSCRIBE button just below the video

For weeks the number of COVID-19 diagnoses and deaths has dominated America’s collective mindshare. How could it not, as the death toll in the U.S. has just surpassed 10,000. But now the country is starting to see a new set of frightening numbers. In just two weeks, 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits as a result of the economic shutdown. And it will get much worse. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimates unemployment in the U.S. could reach a high of 50 million workers in the near future. Managed improperly, the human toll from an economic disaster could end up exceeding the toll of the virus itself. That’s particularly true if the economy remains shuttered for an extended period of time. Tony Duncan is just one of the millions of small business owners who will have to permanently shut his doors if the national shutdown continues much longer. Duncan is the owner of Body Science, a fitness center in Kenilworth, Illinois. Just three months ago he invested his life savings and signed long-term leases to open his business. Today, he says “if this were to go on for another six weeks, we’d be destroyed, there’s just no getting out of that.” Learn more – https://wirepoints.org/the-covid-19-crisis-its-time-to-move-past-the-public-health-vs-economy-argument-wirepoints/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Wirepoints for more original research and commentary on Illinois • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wirepoints • Twitter – https://twitter.com/wirepoints • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wirepoints/ • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirepoints Hit the SUBSCRIBE button just below the video

When it was finally time to retire, Don and Paula decided “to come home.” In 2016, they left sunny Florida for a place in Poplar Grove, Illinois, just outside of Rockford. Now, three years later, they’re experiencing buyer’s regret. Not because of the weather, but because they don’t know if they can afford to stay in Illinois. “We’re getting by right now, kinda barely. But it seems like no one cares about people like us, seniors and lower-income people, when it comes to all these new taxes and rising fees.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Wirepoints for more original research and commentary on Illinois • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wirepoints • Twitter – https://twitter.com/wirepoints • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wirepoints/ • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirepoints Hit the SUBSCRIBE button just below the video

Now on full display in Oak Park is an extreme approach to race and gender: unashamed intolerance, dishonesty, hypocrisy and hatred, all waged under the banner of “equity.” Despite national embarrassment from an initial incident in October, many Oak Parkers are doubling down. What can only be described as an angry mob showed up last week to defend Trustee Buchanan and put their intolerance on full public display. https://wirepoints.org/where-hate-has-a-home-oak-park-illinois-2/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Wirepoints for more original research and commentary on Illinois • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wirepoints • Twitter – https://twitter.com/wirepoints • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wirepoints/ • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirepoints Hit the SUBSCRIBE button just below the video

Chicagoans owe $150 billion in state and local retirement debts, based on Moody’s most recent pension data. Split that evenly across the city’s one million-plus households and that comes to nearly $145,000 per household. That’s already a massive amount, but if Lightfoot and other politicians want to try a more “progressive” solution to paying off that debt, the per household debt numbers jump even higher. For example, if politicians demand that only households with incomes of $75,000 or more pay down the debts, the burden on those households would total an impossible $393,000 each. And if politicians tried a progressive scheme that targeted only those households earning $200,000 or more? The burden per household would come to an impossible $2 million each. Some wealthy residents would flee, making the burden more unbearable for those who remain. Learn more here: https://wirepoints.org/wealthy-chicago-households-on-the-hook-for-up-to-2-million-in-debt-each-under-progressive-approach-to-pension-crisis/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Wirepoints for more original research and commentary on Illinois • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wirepoints • Twitter – https://twitter.com/wirepoints • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wirepoints/ • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirepoints Hit the SUBSCRIBE button just below the video