Highly-credentialed political anthropologist commenting on the hot mess that is Illinois politics
Oak Park, IL
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Your friendly reminder Brandon Johnson cheated to be elected Cook County Commissioner in 2018. #ChicagoVotes #ChicagoElection #BrandonIsBetter
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Rachel Cohen 🤔
Greg Hinz: Johnson comms chief targeted Michael Sacks in a video. Violent, antisemitic comments followed — and they’re still there. chicagobusiness.com/politics…
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#PACservations: Michael Sacks drops $2.5 million into the anti-CTU Common Ground Collective PAC.
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The net present value of a teacher's pension is $2-3 million.
This is such bullshit. Unless a teacher is making a million dollars a year in pension - and none of them are - they’re not paying the millionaires tax.
The actual millionaires and billionaires are trying to mislead voters into repealing a tax on the rich.
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Don't think of it as a 4% drop in enrollment. Think of it as a 4% increase in per pupil funding.
CPS enrollment has been on the decline for more than two decades. This year's drop of 11,500 students, one of the largest one-year drops in more than a decade, amid the federal immigrant deportation campaign. chicago.suntimes.com/educati…
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#PACservations: Why did Tom Tunney file an amendment to his political action committee that he closed out a couple months ago? 🤔
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Illinois’ Democratic legislature approved the 2015 state income rate tax cut from 5% to 3.75% without a corresponding cut to expenses, resulting in the financial mess that made Illinois a “national punchline.”
Democrats always clean up Republican messes.
Ten years ago, the Republican governor of Illinois made this state a national punchline. Since then, we've balanced the budget every year, earned 12 credit upgrades, and raised the minimum wage to give 1.4 million Illinoisans a raise.
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I'll walk through West Austin/Galewood once in awhile and it's surprising to see how many blocks have very little tree cover. Makes me want to plant a tree myself.
The city has been focused on planting new trees in marginalized areas, but is facing pushback
Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th): ‘Let’s talk about trees. Don’t plant no trees in 16, OK? I’m letting you know now, if you plant them, Englewood will cut them down’
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I was today years old when I learned Naked Eyes and Tears for Fears were in the same band. RIP Pete Byrne.
Pete Byrne, singer and songwriter for the band Naked Eyes best known for their international hits “Promises, Promises” and the Burt Bacharach cover “Always Something There To Remind Me” has passed away. RIP
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Huere's Hoan?
Happy Tuesday night from Uptown! If you ever need any assistance, email us and we’ll get back to you asap! Always at your service! #Chicago
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It goes deeper than this.
Mark Mulroe is also behind the Safe Haven affiliated non-profit Harborquest, an org that paid LU Partners $359,000 in mgmt fees.
LU Partners is registered under...Mark Mulroe.
A Chicago nonprofit is suing its former president, accusing him of illegally diverting millions of dollars in charitable funds and jeopardizing the charity's future in fighting homelessness.
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Citizen 𝑣𝑠 Machine, PhD retweeted
"most people quit within three years of starting in the profession" 🤔
Teaching has the lowest quit rate of any profession. More than 2x lower than the national average.
Whether it be boom or bust, teachers have always been the least likely to quit their job.
I'm not even going to get into the cognitive load of teaching or how tiring the job is before you take any of the paperwork or administrative aspects of it into account. Like maybe there is a reason most people quit within three years of starting in the profession
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ICYMI: Illinois has the lowest literacy score but one of the strongest teacher unions.
"the more powerful the unions, the fewer literacy policy principles the state had adopted"
ALT https://chrissaxman.substack.com/p/progressive-policy-institute-negative
ICYMI: Illinois is now ranked fourth in the nation for teachers and for workers.
We’re moving up in our state, and we’re making sure every Illinoisan is along for the ride.
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In 2026, Illinois House Speaker @SpeakerWelchIL has accepted $525,000 in contributions from DraftKings lobbyist Sports Betting Alliance.
Online gambling companies have collected mass amounts of user data. Former DraftKings employees told The New York Times they used data science techniques to identify gamblers who were more likely to respond to promotional offers by betting — and losing. nyti.ms/4hfgC3v
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Illinois Attorney General @KwameRaoul has accepted $75,000 in contributions from online sports betting interests.
Seems...problematic.😬
A 29-year-old pest control salesman says he bets on sports every day, wagering between $80,000 and $120,000 a year — as much as or more than his $97,000 salary.
He tells @JimAxelrod he sometimes puts an entire paycheck on his bets. cbsnews.com/news/sports-bett…
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#PACservations: The PAC for 12th Ward alderwoman Julia Ramirez owes $32,560 in fines to the Illinois State Board of Elections.🧑⚖️
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#PACservations: Finally, CTU deposits some money into Hilario Dominguez's PAC: $35,000
Up until now, they've been spending on behalf of his campaign via in-kind contributions.
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