The Illinois General Assembly returned to Springfield for a special session called by Governor Pritzker to pass a Bears stadium deal, even as the Bears continue moving forward with Hammond and Governor Braun of Indiana made clear the deal is essentially done on his end.
Stephen Moore, economist and author of The Trump Economic Miracle, joined Dan Proft on Chicago’s Morning Answer to weigh in on the stadium situation, the property tax revolt spreading across red states, and the economic picture heading into the second half of the year.
On the Bears, Moore said he grew up in the northern suburbs and the idea of losing the franchise is genuinely painful, but his position is simple: the stadium should be built in Arlington Heights and no government money of any kind should be involved. He said the McCaskey family and their investors have the resources to build a stadium without taxpayer assistance, and that the entire spectacle of politicians negotiating over how much public money to commit to a billionaire-owned sports franchise is offensive. He said if the Bears want to leave Illinois, that is their right, but the state should not be bidding against Indiana with taxpayer dollars.
He acknowledged the counterargument that stadiums generate economic activity in the surrounding area, but said the academic evidence on stadium subsidies is nearly unanimous that the projected economic benefits rarely materialize at the scale promised, and that the money would produce better returns if left in taxpayers’ pockets or invested in infrastructure that serves the broader economy rather than a single private enterprise. He said the irony of Illinois, a state that cannot fund its pension obligations or maintain its roads, competing in a subsidy auction for a football stadium should not be lost on anyone.
On the property tax revolt, Moore said the movement that began in Florida under DeSantis has now spread to approximately ten states, all Republican-governed, that are discussing significant property tax reductions or outright elimination. He said Florida has already moved roughly halfway toward eliminating the property tax while operating without a state income tax and still delivering better services than high-tax states. He said Texas, Tennessee, and several other states are examining similar proposals, and that the political momentum is being driven by the same dynamic playing out everywhere: assessments and tax rates climbing simultaneously to the point where middle-class homeowners who have lived in their homes for decades are being pushed out.
He drew the contrast with Illinois, where property taxes are among the highest in the nation, the state income tax was raised through a flat rate increase after the graduated tax amendment failed, and the legislature just passed approximately $800 million in new taxes including digital advertising and cryptocurrency levies that face serious constitutional challenges. He said the divergence between red states cutting taxes and blue states raising them is producing exactly the population and business migration patterns you would expect, and that Illinois is on the wrong side of every trend.
On the broader economy, Moore said the fundamentals remain strong despite headwinds from the tariff situation and the Iran conflict. He said the stock market continues to set records, the big beautiful bill’s tax provisions are saving families thousands of dollars annually, and deregulation is producing measurable benefits for small businesses. He said the gas price situation remains the most politically sensitive economic issue for the administration, and he reiterated his disagreement with the president’s price gouging rhetoric, saying markets will bring prices down without government threats and that the rhetoric undermines the free market principles Republicans are supposed to defend.
On the DSA candidates continuing to win Democratic primaries across the country, Moore said he remains genuinely alarmed. He said the phenomenon has now spread beyond deep blue urban districts into purple states, with democratic socialist candidates winning primaries in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Michigan. He said the contrast between the two parties’ economic visions has never been starker: one party is cutting taxes, deregulating, and producing record stock market performance, while the other is proposing twenty-five dollar minimum wages, government equity stakes in private companies, and the abolition of ICE. He said the midterm convention Trump announced for Dallas in September is a good idea precisely because it provides a platform to make that contrast visible to voters who may not be following the primary results closely enough to understand what the Democratic Party is actually becoming.
He closed with a prediction that the economy will continue to strengthen through the second half of the year as the effects of the big beautiful bill’s provisions continue to filter through, and said the single biggest risk to that trajectory is an escalation in the Iran situation that drives oil prices back above one hundred dollars. He said everything else, the tariff adjustments, the regulatory environment, the labor market, is pointing in the right direction.