In the wee hours of the morning on Saturday the Illinois legislature passed their budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget is the largest budget in the state's history - and it's over 50% higher than just a decade ago even though Illinois has lost population. Because it's an election year,  there are election year gimmicks -  to buy votes. Expect your local Democrat legislator to brag about handing out $50 tax credits for every taxpayer and $100 for every dependent. 

Surprise! The military is having problems recruiting new enlistees. Last week when the Biden administration announced its budget, the Army announced that if enacted, Army active duty troop strength would recede to the smallest size since 1940. Don’t be confused, this has nothing to do about money.

Ketanji Brown Jackson attended Harvard University for both an undergraduate degree and law school where she served as an editor on the Harvard Law Review – and yet, she can’t define what a woman is. What a fraud.

Every day Americans wake up, turn on the lights, turn up the thermostat, take a hot shower, and then catch either a bus or drive the car to get to work or school. So what powers their day? Well, Americans can thank natural gas and oil producers for the bulk of it. Nuclear and coal help as well, with renewables remaining a niche market contributing about 10 percent, mostly from hydroelectric power.

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Chicago leaders started a slight turn back to normalcy. After a ridiculous two-year break for COVID, the Chicago River was once again dyed green and everyone draped themselves in the color of the Irish, as parades returned to the streets.

So Mike Madigan got indicted last week on 22 counts including bribery and racketeering. I’m not surprised. Now this year could turn out to be the most consequential year for Illinois in a half century.

It’s day six of the invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russia. The world has now turned its attention from the crackdown of democracy in Canada by Trudeau to watch in disbelief as Russia militarily attacks a sovereign neighbor unprovoked.

With the Presidents’ Day having just passed, maybe it is a good time to reflect on a few of our President’s and the state of the union at this point.