IllinoisPolicy.org

What would you do with an extra $5,000? Well, given our current economic straits, many of us might respond with "Pay a few bills off and buy a six-pack." If inflation continues its current upward tilt, the person who wins the billion-dollar lottery might even say that.

If you want to say that driving is expensive, you generally don't have to back up that statement with more than a nod toward the skyrocketing gas prices we've been dealing with for nearly a year (with no end in sight).

Since I'm quite sure that there are absolutely no money issues whatsoever in your household or in the households of anyone and everyone you know, you're probably delighted at the good fortune of Illinois lawmakers down in Springfield.

As we've been discussing for quite a while now, Illinois is losing people. Our state has seen eight consecutive years of population declines, which is the second-longest streak in the nation behind West Virginia. And we continue to lead the Midwest in outbound migration.

Looking at some of the latest legal marijuana sales numbers here in Illinois might leave you with the impression that some (actually, a lot) Illinois marijuana fans have kept the phone number of their "weed guy."

Prices on things are up across the board, Illinois' job market is one of the least recovered since COVID-19, and 330,000 Illinoisans are still out of work due to state-mandated lockdowns which have caused more than 1 million Illinois residents to lose their jobs.

You may have seen it pointed out that Kevin McCallister's parents in the movie Home Alone (set here in Illinois) would have been looking at serious trouble for leaving an 8 year old to knock around that fabulous house all by himself.

The more I read about speed (or red light) cameras, the happier I am that we're not dealing with them here in the Rockford area.

As someone old enough to remember seeing the movie Home Alone in the theater, I recall as we exited the theater overhearing a woman say to her husband "If you and I did something like that, and left a kid behind at home, we'd be going to jail!"

Everyone in the state of Illinois with a Social Security number is at risk for having their identity stolen, but two age groups get targeted aggressively and seemingly endlessly---the very young and the very old.