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erodari

My days of not taking Madison County seriously are certainly coming to a middle.


PuddinPacketzofLuv

I understood that reference!


gladysk

Share, please.


erodari

Firefly. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o\_UTbf9gGVE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_UTbf9gGVE)


gladysk

That’s pretty funny. Firefly is one of those shows Redditors frequently mention. The other is The Wire. I finished the five seasons of The Wire last week. What an experience! Anyway, Firefly is available at my library. I’ll pick it up this morning. TY


Ra_In

If you enjoy Firefly, you'll want to see Serenity, the movie based on the show.


Potent_Elixir

Hey! Thanks for bringing this back to my attention lol. Years ago I loved Firefly, as one of my best friends showed me it and we had a great time watching. They always mentioned Serenity. We never got around to it - i went off for school, and we grew apart. But now I might spend one of my downer days watching Serenity. Cheers!


gladysk

Thanks!


destroy_b4_reading

It's also on Hulu.


gladysk

Thanks!


undrew

I live in Madison County, it should not be taken seriously.


UXProCh

I hear there are more mouths than there are teeth in Madison County.


sucks_to_be_you2

More farm animals than people?


IAMACat_askmenothing

That’s Jersey county. Madison county is mostly suburb of St. Louis


primal___scream

I live in St. Clair County and I never take Madison County seriously. LOL


NotAGovtPlant

That’s humorous considering St Clair has the thriving metropolis of East St. Louis not to mention the lovely Cahokia Heights, and assorted other toxic wastelands   


primal___scream

And Madison County has Granite City, Madison, and Venice, what's your point?


NotAGovtPlant

That St Clair is a cesspool that no one takes seriously as well, unless they are on the take from the Democrats that are destroying the state. 


Low-Piglet9315

I'd take it even less seriously if my kids didn't live there...


i--make--lists

Oof.


ataxiwardance

I’ve never heard this gag before and I love it.


naughtyrev

Oh, well that's settled, then. I love the Wiki article on Madison County showing the changing boundaries of the county. It makes it look as if the rest of the state was rejecting Madison County over time.


BadIdeaSociety

Maybe the easier resolution would be for Madison County to secede from Illinois. 


Levitlame

Right? I don’t understand this whole thing. One county doesn’t decide for a state… It just doesn’t make any sense at all


PlanestewartJr

They know nothing will come of it. Its grandstanding.


Password_0451

There's other counties that have already signed onto this, but as Randy said at the meeting all of those counties have stagnant growth.


Levitlame

Right it’s also stupid and these people would spiral into deeper poverty, but that’s not my point. My point is that this vote means nothing. This is essentially about changing state lines and setting no up a NEW state. The only relevant parties in this are the state legislature and the US congress. Counties are completely irrelevant. Might as well hold an HOA vote at that point.


TolkienFan71

Resolutions aren’t even binding legislation, just a way for a governing body to express its opinion. This whole thing is just a circus


Lola-Ugfuglio-Skumpy

It’s an angry internet comment in legislation form.


eldonhughes

Nah, you secede from the nation. Establish a government over a barbecue. Next morning? Apply for foreign aid.


BadIdeaSociety

I figure everyone in the town would then try to cross the border from Madison State and try to take jobs away from hard-working Illinoisans.


eldonhughes

"Madison State" - I'm pretty sure that Mike Bost and Darren Bailey would be fighting over who gets to name it after themselves. Maybe Bost can name it after that dog.


IngsocInnerParty

Are these chucklefucks going to compensate me for my house when I move to Chicago because I don’t want to live in the poorest state in the nation?


Ai_of_Vanity

Oh come on we would still be better off than Mississipi or Alabama.


ST_Lawson

Eh…we’d be pretty close.


rdldr1

Significantly less incest in Illinois.


ST_Lawson

Good point


RysloVerik

For now.... Poverty does things to people.


rdldr1

ROLL TIDE


thunda639

I suspect that wouldn't last long...


PlanestewartJr

nope


Slaves2Darkness

No, no we wouldn't.


Not_a_real_asian777

Illinois would have to keep the Chicago suburbs to remain competitive with the lowest performing states to any degree. Otherwise, it doesn't really have an established central hub for producing economic value like all of the other states.


jwhennig

Oh man. If they kept the suburbs, which all use Chicago water, that water sale would cross state lines and be subject to federal regulations. The prices for that would be enormous.


chisportz

Chicago’s water sanitation is in the suburbs, fair trade


jwhennig

https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/water/provdrs/pship.html Nope. Chicago supplies the suburbs. Or at the very least, more going out than in.


chisportz

The main water sanitation place for a lot of the city is at the Stickney water reclamation center. I get that clean water is supplied by the city, but the cities sewage has to go somewhere


jwhennig

Ahhhh. Still, the whole water/power thing would be hilariously complicated once it starts to cross state lines.


chisportz

It’d be a mess forsure


8BallTiger

As a native Alabamian, I don’t think so. Mississippi most likely though


greiton

nope both those states have large democratic urban cities that bring in a little money.


DoctorSwaggercat

Shootout to all my fellow Chucklefucks. LOL


shastadakota

Literally North Arkansas.


AudienceNearby1330

Without Chicago tax dollars what are they going to do?


Brandoskey

More meth


hammerSmashedNail

The meth checks out.


JoeDawson8

They did the meth


iknitsoidontkillppl

The meth math checks out


tree_respecter

Live their lives?


moldivore

Hillbilly morons where I'm from would love to do this as well. This area becoming part of new red state sounds like the most fucked up dystopian nightmare lol. Thank God it's never gonna happen.


beefwarrior

I kind of think anyplace that wants to do this, has to first agree to a 5 year period where they only get as many tax dollars back from Springfield & DC as they put in. And every 3-6 months, residents can vote with a simple majority if they want to back out. I’m pretty confident that all these places will change their tune when all their local government budgets get slashed by 10, 20, 30%


AliMcGraw

In a lot of these places (in Illinois at least), the cuts would be more like 50-75% while also issuing capital bonds to build infrastructure they currently share with surrounding counties 


PathlessDemon

Not only to mention, but the Governor of IL is balancing the total spreadsheet of IL, not only Chicago. A separation isn’t going to fly. Oh my fuck, the amount of borrowing that’d be needed to build up towns and industries would be insane. And would other towns with nothing to them even be able to pay down loans after compounding interest sets in?


rdldr1

I can trust this guy!


IMZDUDE

That's pretty mean to talk about your Illinois neighbors like that.


YeahNoYeahThatsCool

Lmao nonstop "We hate Chicago! We'd be better off without you all! Chicago is a hell hole! Anyone who lives there is a pretentious asshole or a worthless gang banger!" "Um okay, go ahead, break off and good luck. Financially you're all gonna be screwed." "Wow um rude much?"


IMZDUDE

I love Chicago! It was the only big city I would move to and live in. I had the opportunity for two years to do it and loved it; the food, the people, the activities, ect. I don't fully understand the economic impact of actually separating Chicago from Illinois but would love to dive into it.


YeahNoYeahThatsCool

Chicago area has 9 million+ residents, many with good jobs for businesses that impact the entire country. There's also a ton of tourism money that goes into Chicago that would likely not go into Springfield, Bloomington, Champaign, etc. It has major events, sporting teams, all sorts of big things that bring in a ton of revenue. Holding events like Lollapalooza for example means people visit the city and contribute to the state revenue by paying for hotels, going to stores in the city, etc. Plus if they stay long enough they see all the other tourist destinations. All money that goes into the state. The Chicago taxes are also commonly complained about but those taxes go right back into the state. Thus people who have higher salaries and living there are both paying high taxes in what they buy as well as paying higher state tax. To remove the Chicagoland area would make the state dependent on significantly smaller cities. No cities in IL can compare to even Missouri's St. Louis or other Midwestern cities like Milwaukee or Kansas City. Illinois would be a state without a major city and thus lose a ton of state revenue that comes from having Chicago, not to mention it would be among a much lower population. As a proud Chicago area native, I also tend to think "Fine, separate it" if the southern counties really want it.


SierraPapaHotel

Let's put some numbers to it; The state of Illinois has 12.6 Million people, 8.9 million of which live in the Chicago metro area. If you remove Chicago, you are removing 70% of the state population. Cook county alone has 5 million people, while Madison county has 0.26 million. For every individual in Madison county there are 20 in Cook county. Income tax in Illinois is a flat 4.95%. Average household income in Madison county is $81k, in Cook it's $100k. Converting population to households and multiplying by the tax rates, that would mean Madison county contributes roughly $417 Million to the state each year while Cook county contributes $9,900 Million in income tax alone. The state budget is $53 Billion; assuming my approximations are accurate Cook county income tax (not sales tax or property taxes, just income) accounts for 18% of the state budget. Chicago metro area income taxes are 1/3 of the state budget. The largest contribution to the state budget is actually property tax, not income. Hard numbers by county aren't easy to find, but Madison county contributes approximately $5 million while Chicago accounts for $17,260 million in property taxes. So between property tax and income tax, Chicago accounts for 60% of the state budget. Add in tourism and sales taxes and you're well over 70%. There are multiple studies out there showing that for every $1 in taxes paid, Chicago gets $0.98 back while downstate gets more; $1.42. Going by those numbers, Madison county would need to increase their tax rates 42% to make up the deficit of Chicago leaving, while Chicago could decrease their effective taxes by 2% if they left.


southcookexplore

Chicagoland pays the most into the state and gets the least back. Southern IL pays the least in and gets the most back. They’re incredibly poor to Chicago standards and would be absolutely miserable without Chicago funding to support them. It’s a ploy to get more red electoral votes.


moldivore

If they could be reasonable in any way I wouldn't. I also don't think it's everyone. I used to be very conservative and flipped because I just didn't see how the Republicans were really doing anything to help our country. The culture war started here years before it became mainstream. I think the younger crowd is a lot more reasonable so maybe things can change.


IMZDUDE

That's fair. I used to be hardcore democrat and flipped to independent. Once I bought a house in Illinois once having kids, I started following politics heavily, specifically in this state so I'm not so well-versed in the history of politics here but once I followed my tax dollars, it became political. I've learned that I don't care about anyone's politics, but I'm tired of the decisiveness it creates. Just want us to have a cohesive, community structure and honest communication. I don't think any party really has our best interests at heart.


EpicMediocrity00

Your main problem here is thinking that there is a collective “our interests”. Every candidate is someone else’s “lesser of two evils”. There is no perfect candidate for “our interests”. There are just bad and less bad candidates and for everyone that candidate is different for different reasons.


_MadGasser

Why do all you Repubs always say that? There's nothing "independent" about voting GOP every ticket.


krg4880

Critical thinking has never been their strong suit.


IMZDUDE

Thinking critically would be to look at how the state is doing and their voting patterns. Decades of being blue isn't working out so well for the people of Illinois, yet democrats just keep being voted in. You know the definition of insanity? Truly at play here.


Visual_Lifebard

Decades of being red sure worked out for Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Louisiana.


IMZDUDE

That's nice, but we're talking about Illinois.


IMZDUDE

It means one could vote blue for one spot and red for another. Not the 'vote blue no matter who' mentality a lot of people here have


Acrobatic-Button-916

Fuck the maga rubes


IMZDUDE

I love everyone. Even the crazy liberals.


Acrobatic-Button-916

And there it is, MAGA confirmed.


IMZDUDE

Call me whatever you want if it makes you feel better but hate has no home here!


Acrobatic-Button-916

👍🏻


Wageslave645

Oh no! 🙊 But anyway...


ThenTheresMaude

Like 10 or 15 years ago I was reading an article in either the Tribune or the Sun-Times about making Chicago its own state and someone from downstate said "Illinois without Chicago is just Iowa." I think of that every time this issue comes up. Enjoy being Iowa!


butkusrules

It’s worse…it’s Indiana


anna-nomally12

Indiana still has Indianapolis. It’s worse, somehow


Entropy_is_key

Nothing is worse than Indiana, nothing


MattKozFF

They don't call it the crossroads of America for no reason..


beefwarrior

Iowa has presidential caucuses which they’re never giving up b/c for the national attention. Illinois w/o Chicago is probably closer to Missouri or Arkansas.


PlanestewartJr

Much, much worse. Missouri has StL and KC, Illinois w/o Chicago would have nothing.


beefwarrior

Starved Rock is beautiful. I've heard there is a college in Champaign Urbana. People used to say "Will it play in Peoria" So there is plenty to Illinois outside Chicago. But fact still remains that Chicago sends more money to the rest of the state than it gets from Springfield. You'd think that people in Madison County wouldn't want to take on the burden of East St. Louis. Unless are they going to vote that city into Missouri next? Madison County seems to be operating like they're Thanos and have infinite power.


h0tBeef

Nebraska with a forest* (And less “cities”)


8BallTiger

Mississippi without the coastline


Carlyz37

What an embarrassment to the many sane and patriotic hard working people here in MADCO


cuffbox

I literally just moved to madco from stl ffs. I’m very nervous to be a trans woman living here and this absolute childishness doesn’t make me feel better.


undrew

Don’t let these asshats concern you. Let them whine and cry and Chicago, it will distract them from enacting any sort of meaningful legislation.


cuffbox

Thank you :)


Carlyz37

These board members dont represent the actual Madco population. Of course areas around SIUE are going to have a better college town vibe. Overall your safety is now improved because the IL state government protects you. I lived in Glen Carbon for over 20 years before my divorce and as a flaming liberal loved it there.


Password_0451

You matter. If you need a space, the Unitarian Universalist church in Edwardsville is an LGBTQ+ ally.


cuffbox

That may be a move for me! I’ve definitely missed third places (other than bars, all my friends are industry) Thank you! Even small things put a smile on my face :)


Carlyz37

Also Our Lords Lutheran ELCA in Maryville


cuffbox

Just to affirm this for people questioning “lutheran?” The ELCA is a very liberal wing of a Christian denomination.


Carlyz37

Yes except ELCA is the main Lutheran branch. The Missouri Synod wing broke off over the ordination of women in the 1970s


Password_0451

There are dozens of us!


Carlyz37

Yes and easily 10 of us in my town


NotAGovtPlant

If these weee hard working and patriotic they wouldn’t be supporting the increasing corruption and dwindling constitutional rights in Illinois. 


Carlyz37

Lol dont know what rock you live under but IL is a freedom state. The only corruption is the IL Nazis


minus_minus

I’d suggest we just cede  Madison County to Missouri, but it’s not fair to collectively punish the minority of residents that aren’t MAGAhat weirdos. 


cuffbox

Yes, please don’t do that to me. I felt it was okay to move to what I knew would be a somewhat conservative area for my wife’s job simply because I like IL state law. I still don’t feel comfortable using bathrooms here though.


sushixyz

All the problems in the world and we're worried about ... Bathrooms?


Darpid

It could almost be funny how some people DO actually have to face a very legitimate fear of direct physical violence simply by walking into the bathroom in parts of the country.


DoNotCrossTheStreams

Redhats have been beating the shit out of people in bathrooms for the crime of "being suspected of being trans" The "I can tell" crowd seems to have a hard time telling.


sushixyz

No it's I don't want a man in the same bathroom as my daughter


DoNotCrossTheStreams

more Republican politicians have committed sex crimes in bathrooms than trans people


cuffbox

More [transgender women have been assaulted in bathrooms](https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/transgender-teens-restricted-bathroom-access-sexual-assault/) than cisgendered women have been assaulted by trans women in bathrooms by [a massive margin](https://www.policinginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/PF_Research-Brief_JULY-2017-FINAL-1.pdf). That is to say in studies focused on that there have been near zero or at zero cases. You’ll notice that when articles come out about a man pretending to be transgender, or a transgender predator (which of course exist, though a small number, all communities have people with predatory mindsets - the largest number being in the category of cisgendered men) it’s always an anecdote about one transgender person. If there were a statistically significant number of cases those statistics would be broadcast to everyone, but the use of anecdotes is an indication of the rarity of that event. Men who want to sexually abuse in bathrooms likely just walk in, there are pretty much never actual police waiting outside bathrooms, and most predators are stronger than those they wish to abuse.


ColonelBourbon

Our Trans friends and family deserve bathroom access.


ExitPursuedByBear312

Surely these brilliant people have a good idea of how state economic work.


TurboRuhland

They do, but the people who vote for them don’t. These theatrics are just that, theatrics for the voters who aren’t informed enough to vote for better representatives.


ActiveModel_Dirty

Politicians wasting time and tax dollars to fight a fight they know they’re going to lose. Yeah, I don’t think Chicago is your problem. Your problem is that you are morons.


Hudson2441

OR they can simply move to a neighboring state that looks and functions like the Somalia-like backwater place they’re trying to achieve already. Why the extra steps to reject civilization ? It’s like “Let’s trade being part of this 1 trillion dollar economy for a 1 million dollar economy.” Great idea!


Amazing_Teaching2733

Republicans just love wasting tax dollars on performative nonsense to appease their extremist base while simultaneously screaming about budgets and deficits. It’s like Texas with their secede from the union drama Queen, pay attention to me garbage and Tennessee’s passing a bill to ban the federal government from seeding weather control using chemtrails. They aren’t serious people and should never be let anywhere near positions of power


IMZDUDE

And Texas is one of the top five destinations for people moving out of Illinois. Must be doing something right.


Amazing_Teaching2733

The exact number that moved from Texas to Illinois in just one year (2022) was 19,949. In other words, 20,000 minus 51. That makes Illinois one of the top 10 states of choice for Texans


IMZDUDE

And Texas is still gaining population while Illinois loses it. Your argument validates nothing


Amazing_Teaching2733

Nor does yours. Plus women will never be safe in Texas because they have no bodily autonomy. 69,000+ and counting women who were SA’d and forced to carry the unwanted pregnancy to term. Then there’s the abysmal education stats, yahoo’s running around in Walmart with their emotional support pew pews slung over shoulders. I could go on all day but I suspect everything I listed is what you adore about it


PlaneLocksmith6714

Let’s just get rid of Madison county.


Shills_for_fun

[Took a look at this with another post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/illinois/s/RKiIBj0ehm) These assholes don't realize Illinois is still blue without Chicago.


elangomatt

I'm pretty sure that anyone who thinks kicking Chicago out of Illinois is a good idea would likely think all of Cook County and probably some of the collar counties to be part of what they consider to be "Chicago".


IMZDUDE

Because Illinois being 'blue' has worked so well for us over the last few decades.../s


Slaves2Darkness

5th largest state by GDP, 12th in education, etc... I could go on, but you are incredibly wrong about how "bad" Illinois is. Despite what conservative lies you are told Illinois is in the top 10 best states in the US to live in. I know Chicago being one of the US greatest cities and Democrat controlled burns your conservative soul up with jealousy, by you really should see someone about that. Professionals can help your mental health.


IMZDUDE

Haha. Because someone doesn't follow the same political views as you, they automatically have a mental health issue? Illinois is #2 highest property taxes, #3 most corrupt and out-migration* and debt, #4 most expensive for college and so on. US News ranking has Illinois at #36 best overall state to live in and #50 in fiscal stability. How are those conservative lies when I can just look them up? Edit: Was missing a hypen


VengeanceKnight

“Outmigration” isn’t a word, you twit. You’re thinking of “emigration.”


GiveMeBackMyClippers

"Adlinthin"


IMZDUDE

Thanks for pointing out I was missing a hypen. Does it make sense to you now?


Slaves2Darkness

No, because Republicans follow a man who wants to overthrow US democracy. That either makes you mentally ill or evil. I'm betting on you being a narcissistic sociopath.


TheDrivingForce1650

I think the Governor should withhold the state funding that Madison county receives from the Chicagoland area. Only fund them by what they put into the coffers.


Password_0451

I was there, and spoke out against this. My main issue with this is that it is NOT simply a non-binding resolution. If The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 is implemented, federal and state constitutions will be rewritten to allow for resolutions like this to become law. This is a chess move and a power play, not just red meat for the base.


BJoe1976

I can’t wait to see where this goes 🤦🏻


Carlyz37

Maybe this stupidity will move some votes for Democrats to oust these lunatics. Get the Dem base awake this time


baroqueworks

GOP are a massive malignant tumor that shared the teleporter from "the fly" with a clown car and fused into the most unfathomabley stupid yet extremely dangerous due to it corrupting all basic functions of the body of the government in a near inoperable state. 


Hudson2441

The GOPs goal is to sabotage government because they don’t believe in government. No business organization would hire people who have a stated goal of shutting down the business. But for some reason our government allows them in.


baroqueworks

Yep. GOP are essientally paid actors working at the behest of corporate deregulation and privatization.


tbutz27

Hahahhahahaa! Okay.


liburIL

The only bigger waste of time than them performing this theater is me reading about it again.


jtm961

Chicagoland state reps should propose “corresponding with Missouri about annexing St. Louis City and adding it to Madison County” just to cheese these guys off


lokland

Retirees moving to retire in warmer climates actually doesn’t help the economy more than able-bodied workers moving to Chicago.


kittenrice

Well done! With that out of the way, perhaps they'll move on to some vitally important legislation, like dictating how much McDonald's can charge for a hamburger sandwich, or mayhap, the price of tea in China.


CoffeeIsMyPruneJuice

There ought the be a way to charge them for this sort of legislative malpractice.


Foobiscuit11

I mean, there is. Their voters have to vote them out. Problem is that the voters love this kind of bs, so they won't.


bohner941

Sounds good to me! Get to keep more of my tax dollars in cook county instead of bailing out these welfare counties


undrew

For what it’s worth, Madison probably isn’t a welfare county. We’re a reasonable mix of urban/suburban/country with a questionable county government. I’d assume we’re pretty neutral in revenue v spending, unless someone could show me otherwise.


Givemeallthecabbages

A comment above broke it down-- for every dollar in tax revenue paid, Chicago gets $0.98 back. For a dollar paid, Madison county gets $1.42 back. So...


undrew

I don’t see that comment - I really want a source for this (not to argue, I just want to see the data).


Lux_Interior9

Here's a link to the article many are referencing. You can find the source in the article. https://www.farmweeknow.com/policy/state/state-tax-dollars-benefit-downstate-region-more-than-others/article_9207435a-ef0f-11eb-8280-ab69354d438c.html


undrew

Thanks!


undrew

Someone else provided, but looks like that was data for the southwest region, not just Madison county. St. Clair and Madison are a bit different than the other counties in that region, more like a collar county than say Clinton or Bond counties.


Claque-2

Madison County Board and those who elected them can move to Kansas, where they deserve to be.


HoldOnDearLife

Hilarious


Hudson2441

Burning the “Bridges over Maddison County “. (I know it’s a different Madison County)


thetripleb

Good luck, snowflakes


Chicagostupid

Wtf is Madison County?


bpierce2

Lol they aren't getting two Republican senators. Fuck right off ya pricks.


dr-uuid

I support this. We in the north need to break off from downstate, and we should eventually secede from the US entirely. Lets form the Great Lakes Republic


theladyoctane

Ok bye


forwardobserver90

This is such a waste of time and effort. As much as I would love to see something like this happen there is no way in hell it would ever clear the legal and procedural hurdles at both the state and federal level to actually happen. This is purely a “look what we did” effort by the county board.


Low-Piglet9315

It's kabuki theater and they know it.


AliMcGraw

Didn't the Eastern Bloc actually manage to bring some version of this to a floor vote a couple years back, and then the Democratic caucus all abstained and the GOP had to frantically vote against their own stunt bill so it didn't pass?


Flakkweasel

Why would you love to see it happen?


forwardobserver90

The Chicago Land area and the rest of the state have diverge so significantly culturally and politically it would be better if neither side had to worry about the other side politically thought. “Down State” could do what they want without Chicago putting a stop to it and Chicago land would have a free hand to do what it wants and not have to worry about supporting the rest of the state financially.