Floundering on Bears is embarrassing

For several years now, the Bears have been very up-front that they want a new stadium for all the obvious reasons. They bought the land and will pay for the stadium. They asked the state for infrastructure improvements and some sort of tax certainty.

From what I understand, the approximate taxes paid by other NFL stadiums can reach around $9 million per year. Without other arrangements, the state of Illinois could require the Bears to pay upwards of $50 million per year.

I’ve never heard that the Bears do not want to pay any taxes. It’s common practice that states provided assistance to businesses. The stadium will generate millions in revenue yearly for the state.

It’s totally obvious that the Illinois politicians from the governor on down are absolutely completely inept and out of their league.

They can blame the Bears all they want to cover themselves, but who is in charge? The citizens are not stupid.

Watching them flounder around, seemingly not knowing what to do is embarrassing to the whole country. Just shameful.

Terry Rafter

Mundelein