Month: January 2011
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The Rahm Situation, Part II: The Sword
He who lives by the sword dies by the sword. — Matthew 26:52 Surely it is folly to suggest that Rahm is getting any less than he fully deserves. When you live your life in politics and have so playfully toyed with so many peoples lives as he has, things just have a way a…
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The Rahm Situation, Part I: Enforce the Law
The surest way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly. — Abraham Lincoln While editorial boards, talking heads, and policy wonks from near and far are condemning the recent Appellate Court decision removing Rahm from the ballot based on emotion, there has been little discussion in the media as to what…
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Wall Street Partying in Davos, We Suffer
I realize this is not a local issue but I can’t help myself: JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s profits last year were the highest in the bank’s history, and Citigroup Inc. returned money to the U.S. Treasury and reported its first full- year profit since 2007. Governments have so far opted against breaking up or levying…
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SEC Launches Inquiry Into IL Pension Fund
The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an inquiry into public statements by Illinois officials about the state’s underfunded pension fund, the state’s governor’s office confirmed Monday night. (Full story here.) Well it’s official! The Springfield cabal has so poisoned the well that now the SEC is asking questions. We can only hope that they…
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Position on TIFs
Well it took some doing, but I have completed my policy on TIFs. This is critically important to the sustainability of the city moving forward. We cannot survive continuing to go further and further into debt year after year while our schools are failing and the TIF funds are growing bigger and bigger. We need…
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Bankruptcy an Option
From yesterday’s NYT: Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers. … Unlike cities, the states are barred from seeking protection in federal bankruptcy court. … But proponents…
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Unions Investment in Chicago (Elections)
Four years ago, SEIU spent almost $2.5 million in Council races, spearheading a union effort that helped depose Daley allies like Madeline Haithcock, Shirley Coleman and Dorothy Tillman. Asked about the budget for this election, Balanoff said SEIU expects to be involved “at the same level as last time.” Total expenditures by SEIU and other…
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Big Tax Hikes Result in Less Revenue
Last year, voters in Oregon voted to raise taxes on the highest income earners in the state, giving Oregon the highest tax rates of any state in the nation. It hasn’t worked out too well for Oregonians, according to the Wall Street Journal: In 2009 the state legislature raised the tax rate to 10.8% on…
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Wisconsin ‘Open for Business’
Wisconsin is open for business. In these challenging economic times while Illinois is raising taxes, we are lowering them. On my first day in office I called a special session of the legislature, not in order to raise taxes, but to open Wisconsin for business. Already the legislature is taking up bills to provide tax…
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How to Really Save Education
The cool indy magazine Fast Company has a huge spread on education called, plainly enough, How to Spend $100 Million to Really Save Education. Naturally not all of the ideas are fully baked. It is Fast Company after all; it’s meant to be an article on the fringe, and on the fringe it is. But…