May 18, 2022
WARD REMAP "FIASCO" NO IMPEDIMENT FOR VILLEGAS, BUT WOKESTER RAMIREZ WILL BE
The difference between a mistake and a fiasco is that a mistake involves poor judgment, whereas a fiasco is the consequence of somebody else’s poor judgment. A “fiasco” is defined as something that ends in a complete failure.These days Alderman Gilbert Villegas (36th) is skating in that gray area between the two.Villegas is also running for Congress in the new 3rd District, which has a Hispanic population of 47.1 percent but a voting population of 28.2 percent. Full Article...
May 11, 2022
SUBCIRCUIT EXPANSION WILL REMAKE JUDGEMAKING
There are three things to remember about Lady Justice. She is not blind, she can do arithmetic and she is not a Republican. At least not in Cook County. On June 28 there will be 28 judicial races on the Democratic primary ballot, 12 countywide and 16 in subcircuits.The Dems’ judge-making is not about the best and the brightest. It’s about identity politics and the balancing of race, gender and identity, satisfying certain geographical constituencies, and collecting the party’s $40,000 fee for campaign expenses. The Illinois legislature, in an under-reported development in 2021, passed a bill which remapped the four non-Cook County state Supreme Court districts, the intent being to maintain the Democrats’ 4-3 majority. It also expanded the number of subcircuits in Cook County from 15 to 20 and abolished the countywide election of judges, the intent being to get more minorities on the bench. A LIST of judicial candidates is attached. Full Article...
May 4, 2022
PRITZKER'S MONEY IN PLAY IN OBSCURE MWRD RACE
I have been told on occasion that my political column is crap sometimes. No offense taken. That is clearly misinformation. But in an effort not to disappoint my many detractors, this week’s column is all about those wonderful people at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District who get rid of crap, like 125,000 tons per year in Cook County, which comes to 280 million pounds of solid waste, or 6.8 million per day being flushed down 5.25 million residential and 4.5 million commercial and industrial toilets and drainpipes. And let’s not forget about those 500 billion gallons of effluent flushed into the MWRD annually, or 1.4 billion gallons per day, with a MWRD Deep Tunnel capacity to collect and treat up to 2 billion gallons per day, including rainwater overflow. But politicians will always be politicians. If something works well in government, like the MWRD’s waste disposal, they will find a way to screw it up, or at the very least profit from it. Full Article...
April 27, 2022
HEFTY CAMPAIGN CASH IS POLITICAL V-SIGNALING
Virtue signaling is the unsubtle and visible way of making a statement – which is that I’m more virtuous and better than you and hold the correct opinions, and you don’t. The term is often used by those on the Right as a smear tactic for those on the Left, but both are guilty of exhibiting the behavior. Some on the Left exhibit the behavior by constantly wearing a COVID mask, driving an electric vehicle to save the planet, and by donating to various popular causes and movements du jour. It’s exhibited by those on the Right by wearing Make America Great Again caps, driving gas-guzzling pickup trucks, owning guns, and donating to the National Rifle Association. But those are just stereotypes and I make no judgement. However, politicians engage in some of this foolishness, but for them virtue signaling is measured by their D-2s which are filed quarterly with the Illinois Board of Elections. The D-2s reflect campaign cash received, expended and on-hand. They call it “victory-signaling.” Maximum campaign bucks minimize the likelihood of defeat. SEE FUNDRAISING CHART attached. Full Article...
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