September 25, 2013
DALEY'S BAIL IS NO GREAT ASSIST TO QUINN
Pat Quinn is deemed by some to be America's worst governor, and Bill Daley's bail from the 2014 race makes it a 50/50 proposition that he'll retain that designation for another four years. The Republican field--Rutherford, Rauner, Brady, Dillard -- creates minimal excitement. The election will be a referendum on Quinn, and fatigue with his incessant posturing and pandering is swelling. Full Article...
September 18, 2013
HUGE PENSION-RELATED PROPERTY TAX HIKE ON THE WAY, WARNS PAPPAS
Higher and higher. That's not a musical theme or an ad for pot. It's the future of property taxes in Chicago and Cook County. "80 percent of government spending is for payroll and pensions," said county treasurer Maria Pappas. Add to that staggering pension debt, and property owners are screwed. Chicago's debt is $61.7 billion; Cook County's $21.2 billion; the CBOE's $30.5 billion. Even suburbs like Evanston have huge debt -- $719 million. A state law requires 90% of Chicago's $28.6 billion pension liability to be 90% funded by 2040 -- which means huge property tax hikes. Pappas's record as treasurer points the way: Spend less. Hire less. Pappas has cut her budget from $14.2 million to $3.9 million in 12 years. Full Article...
September 11, 2013
RUSH, DAVIS FACING PRESSURE TO STEP ASIDE
"Step aside." That's usually the refrain heard at fast-food joints. But now it's become a chant in Chicago's black community, directed toward two aging black congressmen -- the South Side's Bobby Rush (D-1), age 66, and the West Side's Danny Davis (D-7), age 71. They are disinclined to step aside. The mayoralty is the pinnacle of power in Chicago. And the occupants of the three black-majority, Chicago-dominated congressional seats are deemed mayoral contenders. Rush and Davis have already lost, and Jesse Jackson Jr. is going to the slammer, replaced by a south suburbanite. A lot of ambitious black Democrats want Rush and Davis to step aside real soon. Full Article...
September 4, 2013
STEWART MARKS 40TH YEAR: HOW JOURNALISM, POLTIICS HAS CHANGED
As of Aug. 2013, this weekly column has been published uninterrupted for 40 years. That's 2,080 political columns containing at least 1,500 words apiece, for an aggregate total of about 3.2 million. What's changed in 4 decades? First, moral turpitude, meaning monetary greed, is still endemic; but now moral perversions -- groping, philandering, texting anatomical parts -- is equally prevalent. Americans have become jaded. Of course, when a U.S. president has non-marital sex in the White House, is that any surprise? Second, Vietnam, TV and college education led to the decimation of straight-ticket voting. Now, every down-ballot canddiate must raise obscene dollars to get elected, and going negative is the route to victory. Rod Blagojevich won because the spent $50 million in 2002 and 2006. Third, the print media is withering. Tweeter, Facebook and news blogs have replaced newspapers and network TV. On Tweeter, every news event can be reduced to two sentences. Does anybody want to read a 1,500-word "analysis" anymore? Full Article...
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