Bears and Sox

I’ll do the silly stuff first. On Friday, the Bears announced they were moving forward on plans for a new stadium in Indiana. They also signaled a willingness to keep talking to the relevant powers that be in Illinois. Huh? Oh, it gets better. Today, a state Republican legislator announced he’s going to introduce a bill to give Bears-like megaprojects the power to negotiate payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) with local governmental bodies. The bill also provides a property-tax relief provision. Only you can’t square a circle. The lower the payment negotiated, the greater the need for the affected governmental body to make up for the loss revenue, that or cut services. The greater the tax relief, the less willing governmental bodies will be to sign off on those payments in lieu of. Good luck with getting this thing to fly, sir. Now, for something completely different—the White Sox just called up outfielder Braden Montgomery. Alleluiah, alleluiah. May Hagen Smith follow soon after.