Snapshot · Up First from NPR
A study cited by Connor Towne O'Neill found that some rural Illinois counties receive more than $2 in state services for every $1 they pay in taxes, largely funded by Chicago.
Where this was said
At 8:07 · chapter starts 7:45
O'Neill explains that New Illinois published its grievances separately from its declaration — because, as Merritt put it, 'it would have been as long as an encyclopedia.' The list includes high taxes, unconstitutional gun laws, gerrymandering, mounting state debt, and failures on immigration enforcement. But the movement runs straight into an economic paradox: a study found that some rural counties receive more than $2 in state services for every $1 they pay in taxes, while Cook County residents get back only $0.90 on the dollar. [1] — Connor Towne O'Neill "Rural counties get $2+ per $1 in taxes: A study cited by Connor Towne O'Neill found that some rural Illinois counties receive more than $2 …" 08:07 Critics — including the movement's rare Democratic ally LaShawn Ford — see this as rural counties cutting off their nose to spite their face. Secessionists counter that they'll create a business-friendly environment with lower taxes, fewer regulations, and a revitalized coal industry. Governor JB Pritzker dismissed the whole thing as a stunt. O'Neill disagrees.
Rural Illinois counties receive more than $2 in state services for every $1 they pay in taxes — subsidized by Chicago. Secessionists say they'll build their own economic engines through lower taxes and fewer regulations, but the math of leaving that subsidy behind is stark.
Residents of Cook County (Chicago) receive only about $0.90 in state services for every dollar they pay in taxes, meaning they effectively subsidize the rest of Illinois.
Lorette Newlin has placed a non-binding separation referendum on the ballot in 33 Illinois counties and won every single one — some with 80%+ margins. When Madison County, with 250,000 people, voted yes, even skeptics started paying attention.
A total of 8 states have filed lawsuits against social media platforms, including an ongoing case in Tennessee, using product liability and public nuisance theories to seek accountability.
France built 56 nuclear plants in the 1970s and now has the cheapest energy in Europe, making it independent of Russian or Middle Eastern energy geopolitics.
Estonia has a single tax form, a law preventing the government from asking citizens for the same information twice, and a flat rate of tax — enabling competitive taxation.
Portugal's Lisbon, once a city with a major heroin problem, legalised drugs and redirected enforcement spending into rehabilitation and housing, dramatically reducing crime.
The first Boland Amendment banning CIA and Defense Department funds for the Contras passed the House unanimously — yet the Reagan administration ignored it.
Over just two years, Saudi Arabia alone donated $32 million to the Contra rebels, giving loosely affiliated factions millions they had no way to spend on arms.
The National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty raised $6.3 million for the Contras but only $3.3 million reached them — a shockingly low 52% program expense rate.
Richard Secord and Albert Hakim marked up their arms shipments to the Contras by as much as 300%, making enormous personal profits from the covert operation.
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, tapped to run the entire covert Contra support operation, had no prior experience in covert operations whatsoever — he was learning as he went.
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