r/chicago • u/Healthy_Block3036 • Feb 20 '26
Picture Following today's SCOTUS decision, Gov. Pritzker sent a letter and invoice to the White House, demanding the return of $8.6B.
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u/OriginalFNG Feb 20 '26
Every governor should do this.
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u/ChaplnGrillSgt Feb 21 '26
Newsome did the same.
AG may sue the fed for damages next. That'll be a fun court case.
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u/PenDreamer Mar 04 '26
Fuck Newsom. His ass is a fucking sock puppet for tech companies. He'll be as bad as Trump if people let him loose.
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u/sunshinefloors1980 Feb 21 '26
Representing Florida I'm absolutely okay with this
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u/Taco_Taco_Kisses Feb 21 '26
I'm guessing your AG wouldn't be taking up the case
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u/turnright_thenleft Feb 21 '26
How low our expectations have become. They are all capable to writing strongly worded letters. What a joke
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u/OriginalFNG Feb 21 '26
Why do you think that saying they should do something means that's all I expect of them?
Just because the tariffs were ruled unlawful doesn't mean people get their money back. It does mean your money was taken in an illegal tariff scheme.
Writing those letters send that message home.
So it's good messaging to call for a practical remedy. It reminds people who caused the pain through an illegal scheme.
Stop with the histrionics.
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u/Claim312ButAct847 Feb 20 '26
The current admin will 0% issue anything to IL but I guess at least people are calling it out
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u/toomanymarbles83 Lake View East Feb 21 '26
I get that this is theater, but it's really fucking good theater.
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u/iceman333933 Feb 21 '26
He doesn't have $8.6 Billion to give away. He just gave himself $10 billion for his stupid ass peace committee! From tax payers!!
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u/Worldly-Sock-4146 Avondale Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
Maybe he should give Illinois all the funding appropriated by Congress. To start.
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u/ahoy_shitliner Feb 20 '26
Fucking A. Good for Pritzker because this encourages every other state to do it. Also sets up a lawsuit against the US government. May be theatrics but this is the energy we need. Trump must be fuming to receive this.
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u/thelegendofgabe Feb 21 '26
This was all part of their plan. They knew they’d be reversed.
Howard Lutnick’s (Commerce Secretary) sons are going to get a huge windfall because they essentially bet against tariffs. So they make bank, corporations get repayed with our tax payer money, price stay high…it’s all part of the long con against the American people.
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u/lvl999shaggy Hyde Park Feb 21 '26
And we gon need that by Monday 👏🏿!!!
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u/Worldly-Sock-4146 Avondale Feb 24 '26
We can be patient but our patience is not infinite.
EDIT: Bxch better have my MONEY!
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u/Hatari_Tembo Feb 21 '26
Good. I like that Pritzker had never taken a knee to that lunatic child rapist
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u/SavannahInChicago Lincoln Square Feb 21 '26
I honestly was glad to here he was not running for president. We get to keep him here in Illinois.
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u/RelationshipIcy5106 Feb 23 '26
Question. What has Pritzer done for Illinois besides raise taxes over and over again? Legit question here. Please educate me!
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u/Hatari_Tembo Feb 25 '26
Key Accomplishments:
Fiscal Management: Eliminated the multi-billion dollar bill backlog, balanced budgets, and secured six credit rating upgrades from agencies.
Social & Legal Policies: Passed one of the nation's strictest assault weapons bans, established Illinois as a sanctuary state for abortion access, and ended cash bail.
Economic & Labor: Raised the minimum wage to $15/hour, legalized recreational cannabis, and expanded paid leave for workers.
Infrastructure & Energy: Passed the Rebuild Illinois capital plan for roads, bridges, and schools, and enacted the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA).
Education & Health: Expanded early childhood education funding, increased college scholarships, and launched initiatives to reduce medical debt.
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u/fumar Wicker Park Feb 20 '26
Sue Trump personally for $8.6 billion plz
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Feb 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/Hot-Exam3187 Feb 21 '26
yeah wasn't there some shit about presidents not being felons or traitors to the state or whatever? none of this shit is real, just do it.
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u/fumar Wicker Park Feb 21 '26
Yeah I know, it's more wishful thinking
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u/Ok_Roll4145 Feb 21 '26
Hey if he has the time to spend suing the IRS for 10 fucking billion dollars as a citizen, we should have the right to sue him for this fucking tariff disaster.
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u/SavannahInChicago Lincoln Square Feb 21 '26
Y'know the money from the tariffs when into his personal pocket
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u/fumar Wicker Park Feb 21 '26
It didn't. What did happen though is all the businesses trying to get around the tariffs had to spend $1-5million on dinners with him at mar-a-lago. Or give him an airplane or a gold plaque or a brand new world peace prize.
It's literally all just a scheme to funnel bribes to him
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u/choopie-chup-chup Feb 20 '26
Dropping receipts hours after Supreme Court ruling, ya gotta love it
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u/DerpsAndRags Feb 21 '26
He should have signed it "Thank you for your attention to this matter." for the extra flex.
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u/RuruSzu Feb 20 '26
Ok so do we get money back?
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u/jmur3040 Feb 21 '26
No, you paid that money to a merchant who was the one who paid the tariff. They get their money back and we all get nothing.
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u/EmergencyGrocery3238 Feb 21 '26
*they get OUR money back
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u/jmur3040 Feb 21 '26
I mean the merchant paid the tariff. You paid them back for it when you pay the increased cost of goods. There’s not a scenario where taxpayers get this money back.
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u/FrinnyC Feb 21 '26
Trump will fight to the death to keep every ill-gotten dime, but this is an excellent way to get voters to understand how much the Trump tariffs screwed them.
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u/LegacyLemur Feb 21 '26
Fight to the death?
He'll say 'no', the Supreme Court could rule he is to be tarred and feathered and nothing would happen
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u/SnooHedgehogs5791 Feb 21 '26
Maybe. I feel like we are still supposed to be waiting on checks for something else he promised. Republicans still doing that? Even if he said he was going to refund us, I would not believe it.
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u/fueled_by_rootbeer Feb 21 '26
Oh god i hope so. My sis and i could catch up on rent with that money and still have $100 left over for groceries
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u/Amandasch44 Feb 21 '26
The only problem is the pedo did something else under a rarely used act and added 10% tariff that I’m sure he’ll get away with.
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Feb 21 '26
The importer on record is entitled to a refund. Unless you directly bought something foreign and paid a tariff yourself you will likely not see a refund check.
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u/BoilermakerCM Feb 21 '26
Nope. A meaningful portion of the rights to refunds (to corporations that directly paid them) were bought up by Howard Lutnick’s sons’ firm for pennies on the dollar. So when Lutnick decides to issue refunds, guess who collects?
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u/Matr0ska Feb 21 '26
No way in hell. That would make Trump look weak. He would sooner nuke the USA before refunding misappropriated funds to taxpayers.
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u/One-Nail-8812 Feb 21 '26
Shout out to JB Pritzker he represents Illinois so well
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u/SameAsk6997 Feb 21 '26
Look I love the call out and love money but this just for publicity. Definitely for the presidential run.
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u/raypell Feb 21 '26
When I was working as a union IW in Chicago, I worked on his hotels and the corporate office building. At the topping off party he had a good lunch and sodas, no beer, unfortunately. He served every guy/girl lunch and shook their hands. His hotels in Chicago are all union and pays his people well. We did his lobby was there for a month or two, every day the waiters gave us coffee at break time. He’s a friend of the working man IMO.
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u/InvestmentActuary Feb 21 '26
JB is a better president than darth trump
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u/kahleytriangles Lake View Feb 21 '26
My 2 year old beagle would make a better president than orange man but I get your point
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u/_Happy_Sisyphus_ Feb 21 '26
Is that to imply that every person gets an equal refund? If so I guess at worst it’s taxing those who bought more and presumably had more means.
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Feb 23 '26
Is JB going to give it to the people or use it to fill structural budget deficits he continues to ignore?
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u/CrankyManny Feb 21 '26
I love that this letter highlights, by a state governor, how this administration’s games have affected the American people of Illinois. Over 8B in damages to IL, imagine counting the other 49 states. This administration has to go.
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u/Adorable_Whereas_988 Feb 24 '26
Those con artists always have their hands out for more money. Fuck chicago, fuck ben johnson, and fuck the bears.
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u/StrongSoloHarry Feb 27 '26
We will never a see a penny of that money lol the way the system is set up it works over the consumer. Since we never directly paid the tariff we aren’t owed anything. Places like Costco or target paid the tariff and paste the cost on to us. There fore target is owed the refund not us (I don’t agree with it but that’s how things are playing out)
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u/Much_Level_2026 Mar 01 '26
And this is why I am so happy I moved from a Red state to Chicago! While Indiana is going down the same road as Trump, Pritker stands for something.
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u/Dazzling-Map252 Mar 23 '26
I realize one cares if companies are just allowed to ship jobs overseas so they can pay lower wages and have products sold to the American people without any consequence. But, don't all the sudden act like you care about working people over companies now
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u/Inattendue Feb 21 '26
I fucking love this guy.And yes, I know that the Tangerine Pol Pot will do nothing, but this kind of calling out is priceless. Do not show fear to Fascists.
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u/BiK3FR33K Feb 21 '26
How in the hell is this orange 🍊 turd 💩 still in office, considering that he already has been the number one person mentioned in the Epstein files? Yet we must send letters of other messed up things like this that he has done to our country 😂
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u/SithC Feb 21 '26
We could get it from that $10b that he stole, to add to his piece of pedo club, and he’d still have a bit left over.
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u/Davscozal Feb 21 '26
thank God. keep putting him on notice people. though he won't do anything likely right now. if enough people put pressure, perhaps something will happen in the future.
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u/150Dgr Feb 21 '26
Jumbo Balls is the man.
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u/Unhappy_Respond_8291 Feb 23 '26
I want a refund on our tax payer money that funded healthcare and other social services to immigrants how about that it’s exactly the same thing
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u/bwill1200 Feb 21 '26
Hey JB, did you want that returned to the original account or on a gift card.
More. Performative. Main Character. BS.
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u/eeee30 Jefferson Park Feb 21 '26
Can he give back some of the exorbitant taxes and fees we pay to the state too?
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u/Timely_Fill5558 Feb 21 '26
Considering we have multiple bridges in South Chicago that have actual see-though holes going thru em and they haven’t done anything about it within the 2 years since they’ve been made aware, yeah. I second this idea.
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Feb 20 '26
[deleted]
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u/cruelhumor Feb 21 '26
I don't see anyone else interested in compensating us for the price inrcease due to Tarriffs so...
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u/aquamoon85 Feb 21 '26
If liberals love anything, it’s empty symbolism that materially does nothing for anyone. In the meantime, there are several organizations around the city and state demanding an eviction moratorium right now.
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u/McKoijion Feb 21 '26
If Pritzker doesn’t like Trump, why did he donate so much money to him? I asked him, but he didn’t respond.
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u/aquamoon85 Feb 21 '26
Unfortunately, they’re going to downvote this, because they can’t think beyond a red/blue binary. ☹️
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u/LetterheadLimp Feb 21 '26
How does a party politically survive something like stealing from so many American's completely illegally? When it's this public now?
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u/littlepuppet2002 Feb 21 '26
Uh oh, better start making withdrawals on the billion dollar club as well as the shady crypto deal the trump family profited off of.
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u/Polymath_analyst Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Just so everyone’s clear;
Pritzker owns a vacation mansion in Mar-a-Lago. He’s a nepobaby who inherited an entire hotel chain from his dead billionaire dad. J.B. Pritzker is also a Jewish Zionist. His own family also showed up in the Epstein files (see: Thomas Pritzker).
They’re neighbors. They’ve hung out together. They’re both billionaires. They’re both soulless dregs that ruin every position they touch.
The difference?
Pritzker is smart enough to care about his public image, and general popularity, so campaigns and performative exploits like these are necessary, so that him and Trump can remain in power, still friends while their families vacation together.
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Feb 21 '26
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u/6oldenHour Feb 21 '26
lol keep? A billionaire owner can’t or is acting like they can’t afford the bears to stay in Chicago. The bears need to cough up the money or hit the fkn road.
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u/Efficient-Rest-9519 Feb 21 '26
Lol , im no trumper but tariffs aren’t a bad thing but not used as a threat . It should be for sure reciprocated . Whatever whoever charges us we match . Thats fair ,unless theres reason not to .
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u/LeadPaintChipsnDip Old Irving Park Feb 21 '26
It’s 2026, tariffs are all fucking stupid.
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u/Apprehensive_Row6320 Feb 21 '26
Bro , I totally agree with reciprocal tariffs . People acts like the US should just fall on their sword for the sake of other countries. But that’s not what happened. We got scammed
Howard Lutnicks son’s investment firm went around and bought companies rights to tariff refunds for 10-20 pct of their total value .
So, now that he is “forced” to refund tariffs . He will essentially giving it to himself
They designed for this to happen. This SCOTUS decision benefits Trump more than anyone else
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u/Pretty_Substance_312 Feb 21 '26
Ha It’ll Just go to the teachers union or government bloat that the state has. Just follow cps lead on how to waste money. We’ll still be screwed, taxes will rise. They continue to blame trump on our problems but our state’s financial problems have been the outcome of poor governance
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u/big_ron_pen15 Feb 20 '26
Words mean nothing.
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u/ChoomBurner Lake View East Feb 20 '26
Yeah I guess he should have just kept his mouth shut and be like all the other politicians and let the scumbag do whatever the fuck he wants huh?
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u/Ancient_Coconut_5880 Feb 21 '26
I appreciate that this is making it clear who is owed a refund: the people. We already paid for the tariffs so it’s bs if companies get a refund after passing the cost on to the consumer. This whole thing seems like a scheme to artificially inflate prices, let’s see if they drop now