Regarding David Greising’s op-ed on the possible departure of the Chicago Bears from the city (“Chicago is going to lose the Bears. It didn’t need to happen,” March 13), the real need for leadership lies in Washington, D.C., where Congress should step in to ban professional sports teams from pressuring taxpayers into funding new stadiums.
If the Bears or any other professional team wants a new stadium, they should use their own billions in revenue to construct it, as the Chicago Fire has done. Congress should pass a law preventing states from offering financial incentives to lure teams from other states and stipulate that any state or local government offering such incentives would see its federal subsidies or grants reduced by an equal amount.
— Arthur H. Anderson, Harbert, Michigan
Johnson out of his depth
I agree wholeheartedly with the op-ed on the Bears stadium debacle. David Greising says just about what I wrote to the incoherent mayor of Chicago. With no disrespect to Mayor Brandon Johnson, he is out of his depth completely. His inability to ask for help from the many extremely qualified leaders and businesspeople of Chicago is as mind-boggling as President Donald Trump picking the clowns he has.
This whole thing is short-sighted: $1 billion over 20 years is a pittance to pay to keep hotels, restaurants, shopping and new business locating to this wonderful city. If only the Bears could hold out a little while longer until Johnson is shown the door and begin again.
— Todd Swift, Chicago
The power of the rich
The Tribune Editorial Board on March 13 correctly praises Gov. JB Pritzker for trying to avoid raising taxes on high-income Illinoisans (“Whatever his reasons, it’s good Pritzker isn’t joining other blue states on the tax-the-rich bandwagon”). On the next page, David Greising faults Mayor Brandon Johnson for failing to adequately entice the Bears to stay in Chicago.
What’s interesting is that both arguments are not ethically based but practical. Raising taxes on the rich might motivate some to leave Illinois, and losing the Bears may be costly for Chicago. It seems to be accepted as a given that if we fail to treat the rich in the way that they prefer, they can sometimes cause us a great deal of harm. A small number of individuals seem to be dictating terms because of their immense power.
Of course, teams demanding tax breaks and financial assistance for new stadiums is nothing new, but other changes are occurring. Our president is a billionaire, and a number of his Cabinet members are billionaires as well. And of course, our governor is also a billionaire. Coincidence? Unlikely. Wealth can buy influence.
Not long ago, the Supreme Court decided that unlimited campaign contributions are free speech and that paying a “gratuity” to politicians who have pleased someone is perfectly legal. A list of media controlled by the rich reads like a who’s who of the industry. This trend is likely to continue. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the share of the nation’s net worth held by the top 1% steadily rose from 23% in 1990 to over 31% in 2024. The share held by the 50th to 90th percentile fell 5 percentage points during the same period. Any good investor can tell you the reason: Money invested tends to multiply exponentially in the absence of any controls.
Are we becoming a plutocratic republic? I hope not, but we seem to be heading in that direction.
— Craig Zabel, Sugar Grove
Greising’s bellyaching
How obtuse can an opinion be? I just read the whining opinion of David Greising regarding the Bears rejecting the former Michael Reese Hospital site to build a stadium. That site is godawful and didn’t warrant the consideration.
The Bears are going to make a sizable investment on their stadium and have the right to choose their location. They have: In Illinois, it’s Arlington Heights.
So stop the bleating and bellyaching over Bronzeville.
— Bruce Stanley, Naperville
Pritzker could cut a check
The Bears stadium saga seems to have gone somewhat quiet, but I can envision late-night meetings in Springfield trying to come up with a plan. We all know that Gov. JB Pritzker has his eye on a new residence in 2028. It really wouldn’t look too good on his resume if the Bears escape to Indiana.
If I were a betting man, I would wager that a plan will come from those late-night meetings that will keep Bears in Illinois and give the governor cover from taxpayer backlash.
Using any Illinois taxpayer money to support this should be a nonstarter. Taking money from hardworking, already-overtaxed residents to support a billion-dollar corporation, which has many employees who make millions, makes no sense. Also, giving the Bears a 20-year or more break on real estate taxes speaks volumes. Are taxes already so high a business cannot be successful without a special break? I could sure use a 20-year break on real estate taxes.
I know the pressure on the governor to keep the Bears in Illinois is tremendous. If he really cares about the residents of Illinois, maybe he should just write the Bears a check himself — problem solved, win-win-win. He could even put his name on the stadium.
— Bill Adamson, Naperville
Rein in shocking awards
In Saturday print, the Tribune carried the story “Panel advances $27M deal for woman killed in police chase.” In this case, a car fleeing from police officers and driven by a person sought on suspicion of firing a gun struck the victim’s car, killing her. After the crash, a gun was found in the fleeing car. It appears a Cook County jury originally awarded $10.2 million in the case, but after an appeal and some new revelations, city attorneys and the Finance Committee are now recommending that survivors be awarded a shocking $27 million.
Two things are clear to me: Innocent plaintiffs do deserve to be compensated, but the pool of available compensation comes from Chicago taxpayers and is very limited, perhaps even shrinking. And police pursuits are the result of split-second decisions made by well-intentioned police officers acting in good faith and under usually very stressful conditions.
It’s time to require that decision-makers, whether they be city officials, attorneys, judges or jurors, balance the interests of innocent plaintiffs with the interests of innocent Chicago taxpayers to rein in these shocking awards.
Chicago’s survival as a world-class city requires it.
— John Mulvey, Chicago
Shows that open our eyes
Op-ed writer Alexis Alexanian is absolutely right (“What ‘Sinners’ reveals about the future of cinema,” March 15).
Two of the most interesting series on Netflix are “North of North,” set in a Canadian Arctic community with a lot of Native things worked into the plot, and “Hello Bachhon,” set in India and based on a true story. “Hello Bachhon” shows some of what poverty in India is like. The poverty in our country doesn’t nearly approach how bad the living conditions are in India.
These two series are eye-openers about some of the ways people outside our experiences live. The importance of culturally derived shows is more important than ever with the increasing narrowness of racism and antisemitism.
— Alice Marcus Solovy, Highland Park
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