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  • CPS racial disparity grew under Daley

    A study by two University of Illinois at Chicago professors Thursday dumped on the idea of a Chicago Public Schools “miracle’’ under Mayor Daley and pushed for an elected — rather than appointed — school board to move city schools forward.

    The disparities between black and white students, and between Latino and white students, have only grown larger under Daley, creating a “two-tier” public education system, according to the analysis by Pauline Lipman and Eric “Rico” Gutman.

    (Full story here.)

    Well the UIC professors just proved what many of us already knew.

  • Tomorrow’s Email Today

    The following email is scheduled to go out at 5:00AM CT 02/09/2011

    Dear Friends and Neighbors,

    I don’t like being over-dramatic but this may be one of the most important emails you’ll read this month.  Please give me 1 min of your time on two topics concerning the upcoming aldermanic race.

    First Topic: Genita Robinson, the “Machine’s Candidate”

    It has come to my attention that Ms. Robinson is the machine’s candidate for alderman of the second ward.  And trust me, I do not make the accusation lightly. Yesterday it was disclosed that a secretly funded organization connected to Mayor Daley just gave Ms. Robinson $10,000.  But that only tells part of the story.

    After a quick review of Ms. Robinson’s campaign committee filing it turns out that of nearly $40,000 raised, $7,020 (17.8%) of it is in “not-itemized” or anonymously donated funds.  So much for transparency.

    Further, of the $32,400 which was disclosed, only $1,800 (5.5%) comes from within the 2nd Ward.  In fact, nearly 5 times as much money, $9,050 (27.9%) comes from OUT OF STATE!  That’s right, Ms. Robinson raised $1,800 in the ward but $3,000 from New York state.

    Additionally, the Sun-Times has reported that while Ms. Robinson was working at Chicago Public Schools she admitted knowing about “a secret list of politicians, businessmen and others with connections who were seeking to help kids win admission to the most coveted Chicago Public Schools” and did nothing about it.  This is not transparency.  This is not accountability.  This is nothing but old school Chicago politics.

    Something is wrong with this picture folks.  Please educate yourselves.  Every man, woman, and child is carrying city debt equal to $10,000 per person.  We cannot afford any more machine politicians.

    Second Topic:  Please Vote Sciammarella

    You read that right.  I realize that I cannot win and this election is too important to be left to chance.  I’m asking that you please vote for Federico Sciammarella.  You may not know this but Federico has been working hard on educational issues and trying to bring new businesses and jobs to our ward.  Further, Federico has pledged to work with myself and several other people in the area (like David Askew) to make sure that our neighborhood gets treated fairly in the ward.

    Say NO to machine politicians, please vote Sciammarella.

    The machine has nearly bankrupt our city and burdened all of us, and our children, with crushing debt that will have to be repaid.  The city is stuck with onerous long-term labor contracts that call for annual raises for city workers above and beyond the rate of inflation.  We’re getting taxed to death, our housing market collapse continues, and our middle class is getting ready to flee to the suburbs.

    We get the elected representatives we deserve.  We deserve the best.  Only you can make that happen.  It’s up to you.  Vote for Sciammarella.

    Lastly my friends, we are all in this together.  I humbly ask that you share this information with someone else you know.  Knowledge is power; and if we work together we can take back our city from the machine that has spent our future and our children’s future.  Please pass this on to a friend.

    As always, please feel free to contact me directly with any questions.

    Thank you,

    Jim

    Jim Bosco
    740 West Fulton Market
    Chicago, Illinois 60661
    https://temp.jamesbosco.com
    jb@jamesbosco.com
    312.929.1490

  • The Supreme Court Decision

    I realize this is now old news but it is worth mentioning that the decision of the Illinois Supreme Court placing Rahm on the ballot is going to have far reaching consequences.  Justices Freeman and Burke appear to be the only members of the court with any vision:

    Suffice it to say, therefore, that this court has not always spoken clearly on what is meant by residency, and the majority should acknowledge this fact. This is why both sides in this dispute can contend that their respective positions are supported by decades of precedent. Indeed, contrary to the majority’s assertions, the only thing that is well established in this case is the confusion that has existed on this subject. The majority today now makes clear that residency for all purposes is the equivalent of domicile. The majority, therefore, should overrule those portions of Pope, Park, and Clark which hold to the contrary.  …

    Finally, it should be noted that today’s decision will raise questions beyond the facts of this case. Because the court holds that residency has one settled meaning, and that meaning rests on a person’s intent, today’s decision will have implications for residency requirements for in-state tuition, residency requirements for municipal employees such as police officers and firefighters, residency requirements for school districts and other similar situations. This court should be prepared to address those issues as firmly and expeditiously as we have done today.

    I can tell you that the police officers I know are already moving forward, with or without, the FOP to begin taking advantage of this decision.  Chicago police and firefighters will no longer have to live within the city limits as long as they express any intent to someday return.  I’m sure that was not the intent of this decision, but that’s where we stand.

    So, what’s going to happen now?  Sometime over the next few years a police or firefighter residency case will wind its way through the courts.  And when it gets to the Illinois Supreme Court, my prediction is that it will find some way to reverse itself on this decision.

    This decision is for Rahm and Rahm alone.  This decision will forever be know as Rahm’s law.  It applies to no one else.

    This is the sorry state of politics in Illinois.  Someday I’ll write more about why judges should not be elected.  I will use this case as the starting point of the discussion.

  • Yes it’s been a few days

    Yes, I realize that it has been several days — and a lot has happened — since my last posting.

    About a week before snowpocalypse I ran into a buzz saw and I’m just getting caught-up.  Everyone gets busy from time to time and this blog on occasion takes more time that it should.  But I’m going to try to put up some additional posts over the next few days.

    I thank you for your patience.

  • 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 catching up to ya.  There is such a thing as karma.

    Obama got elected to his first office in Illinois by knocking his opponents off the ballot.  When Obama and Rahm entered the White House they had no interest in working with anyone in any party on any issue.  The quote was something like, “We won, they lost.”  So much for being a team player.

    I guess the issue is that no one should feel bad for Rahm.  He’s a big boy and knew what he was getting himself into.

    There’s letters seal’d, and my two schoolfellows,
    Whom I will trust as I will adders fang’d—
    They bear the mandate, they must sweep my way
    And marshal me to knavery. Let it work;

    For ’tis the sport to have the enginer
    Hoist with his own petard, an’t shall go hard
    But I will delve one yard below their mines
    And blow them at the moon.
    — Hamlet

    More than once Rahm fancied himself Claudius the King.  Is it not just fitting that the game he has played so well for years has handed him this moment?

    I don’t know how it’s going to end; only the Illinois Supremes do.  But Rahm is an excellent politician.  This little set-back will not knock him out of the game.  It can only delay his entry.

  • 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 the law actually says.

    It’s time we acknowledge, our city and state governments have passed a lot (a LOT) of poorly worded, half-baked laws.  As someone who’s read a few laws in their day I can tell you that many of our laws as so poorly written that even our best judges struggle to figure out what the law really is.  This leads to more appeals and costs everyone money.

    I read both the majority opinion and the decent of the Appellate Court.  Then I reviewed the actual code.  In the end, I believe the Appellate Court got it right.  There are two requirements to run for office in this city and one of them is residency.  As John Kass wrote his headline today, “The law, at least, doesn’t care who sent ya.”

    Further, I’m against judicial activism.  I believe judges should rule as the law “is” and not what they think the law “should be.”  We should follow Lincoln’s advice and strictly enforce the law as it is written.  And then, we should change the law, so that we don’t have this problem again.

  • 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 extra taxes on banks deemed too big to fail, and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which sets global financial-regulatory guidelines, isn’t requiring lenders to meet new capital standards until 2015.

    (Full story here.)

    Does anyone remember “to big to fail”?  So ya’think those “to big to fail” companies are bigger or smaller today than they were back in 2008?

    They’re all BIGGER!!

    So what are we doing about it?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  Those “to big to fail” are making record profits while the rest of the country pinches pennies and struggles with massive unemployment and sliding home values.

    You and I, the taxpayer, have been sold a bill-of-goods, a bridge to nowhere.  We, our children, and our grandchildren will have to suffer the effects of our tax dollars going to bail-out these bankers for years to come.  But now they party in Davos likes it’s the 1980’s.

    Something is wrong here.  Very, very wrong.

  • 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 uncover what most of us already know and turn the investigation over the FBI.

    We’ve been lied to for so long on this pension debacle.  It’s going to get worse, much worse before it gets any better.  Don’t think so?

    All you state retirees: Do you really believe that your pension was in any way secured by those blow-off-the-roof income tax increases? All you hospitals and social services that are owed billions: Think that check will arrive soon?  …

    Truth is, you’ve been chumped. None of that is happening.

    Let’s do the simple math: The new revenues will produce $6.5 billion. That amount has to cover a $15 billion budget deficit. Failing a miracle of loaves and fishes, it won’t work.

    Billions in delinquent bills will remain unpaid. New borrowing of $8.75 billion was supposed to take care of that, but even Democrats didn’t have the stomach to swallow that one. Gov. Pat Quinn’s office said that the new taxes would “address” the backlog, which is bureaucrat-speak for “we don’t have a clue.” State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka warns unpaid bills could double soon, even with the increases.

    (Full story here.)

    It is extremely important to realize that we’ve been sold down the river by the current politicians who refuse to stand up to union leadership.

    Locally, Da Mare — as in Mayor Daley — didn’t want any labor unrest before the Olympic nonsense so he granted big labor long term contracts.  No the taxpayer gets hit with the results.

    We have indebted our children and our grandchildren.  It is incumbent upon us to stand-up and scream like Howard Beale that we’re simply not going to take it anymore.

    We demand better.

  • 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 to assess what it would take to shut-down the TIFs, eliminate all of the overhead, take what is needed for debt service, and give the rest of the money back to the operations and schools budgets where it belongs.

    It’s worth pointing out that currently no one else running for alderman in the Second Ward is advancing such a position.  Alderman Fioretti and all the other candidates are taking the position that TIFs are necessary for development, which I so easily prove false.

    I’m waiting for the media to wake-up to this issue and begin asking the tough questions.  Hopefully someone will start soon… before it’s too late.

  • 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 say some states are so burdened that the only feasible way out may be bankruptcy, giving Illinois, for example, the opportunity to do what General Motors did with the federal government’s aid.

    (Full story here.)

    I said that bankruptcy should be an option in my response to the Chicago Tribune’s Ed. Board.  No one else but this on the table.

    More and more people are realizing that cities and states are under-water and that something must be done.  Bad management led to the collapse of GM.  Similar bad management has led to the collapse of Chicago and Illinois.  Why can’t we seek a similar remedy?

    It’s not going to be pretty; but neither is falling off the cliff like Detroit.