The Chicago Bears have finally said out loud what everyone already knew. They want to leave Chicago and they expect the legislature to help them do it. After months of posturing, hedging and rebranding their intentions, they now say they are “extremely focused” on Arlington Heights . That phrase is meant to sound decisive, but it’s really a public signal to the General Assembly: get ready to make this easier for us.

This is not a new act. Kevin Warren didn’t invent it. In the 1970s , Mayor Richard J. Daley faced a Bears organization threatening to leave Soldier Field for the suburbs; Arlington Heights in fact. The details change, but the script is familiar: big declarations, bad math, sudden reversals, and a hope that taxpayers will somehow pick up the tab. The current version start

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