July 8, 2020
IMMINENT PROPERTY TAX HIKE IMPACTS PATLAK-WENDT BOARD OF REVIEW RACE
“Quarantine” is a great concept. It’s sometimes used as a nautical term in which a seagoing vessel is detained in port for 40 days to contain a potential or actual infectious disease. It’s working for COVID-19. It’s not going to work to contain any real or perceived anger over the 2019/second installment property tax bills that will be due. There is a low-key contest for 1st Dist. Board of Review commissioner. The incumbent is Dan Patlak (R), who won 353,705-327,998 in 2016. His opponent is Tammy Wendt (D), who won the 3/17/20 primary 110,559-91,893 over the slated Abdulnasser Rashid. Patlak has nearly $600,000. Wendt was part of the Jason Van Dyke legal defense team. The district contains 27 suburban townships, and a few Chicago precincts. The Trump vote (and anti-vote) is key. Attached is a CHART detailing the 2016 vote results. Full Article...
July 1, 2020
NO ARTICLE THIS WEEK
June 24, 2020
U.S. VICE-PRESIDENTS HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN "ROADKILL"
America's vice presidents, who now number 48, are a graphic and classic example of political road kill. For a myriad of personal, historical and/or demographic reasons, 34 of them never successfully made it across Pennsylvania Avenue into the White House. Fourteen of them rose to the presidency and only four (Adams, Jefferson, Van Buren, Bush) became president in their own right, winning elections in 1796, 1800, 1836 and 1988 after serving as the sitting vice president. Of the nine who succeeded to the presidency (Tyler, Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Arthur, Teddy Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Ford) through the incumbent's assassination, natural death or resignation, only five of them got their party's nomination for the next term, and only four won, in 1904, 1924, 1948 and 1964. There is an inconsistent, incoherent pattern. ON TO 2020: Here's an easy prediction: Whoever is elected vice president in 2020 will be president in or before 2024. Full Article...
June 17, 2020
DEMOCRATIC SLATE SCORES OVER/UNDER TRIFECTA FOR MWRD COMMISSIONER
There are three things that the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) does well. It disposes about 280 million pounds of solid waste that Cook County's citizens flush down the toilet every year. It treats and sends to the Gulf of Mexico the 500 billion gallons of effluent that annually inundates Chicago's and the county's urinals and thence sewer systems. And it pays their nine elected commissioners exceedingly high salaries and benefits for part-time work. They also gross about $1,080 per hour to attend 22 board meetings per year. And one more thing: They squabble. Attached is a CHART detailing the 2020 and 2018 primary results. Full Article...
June 10, 2020
SILVERSTEIN AND GARRIDO LOSE FOR SUBCIRCUIT JUDGE DUE TO BAD REPS AND IMAGES
An image once created cannot easily (if ever) be uncreated or re-created. A reputation once established cannot be easily (if ever) re-established. And political enemies last forever. The accuracy of this was demonstrated to Ira Silverstein and John Garrido on March 17 when both lost their bids to win a Democratic judgeship nomination in the 9th and 10th subcircuits, respectively (see chart). Full Article...
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