The Blog

Actually, it's not going to come from TIF funds. There's a different plan that I got from a high-up source. Someday soon, I'll be able to write about it.

WHEN are the people living in Chicago who are already being taxed to death going to WAKE UP?! The suckers living in the city are living in a dictatorship where the Mayor TELLS...not asks, not debates, but TELLS the city council what to do...in this case, more TIFS for the Olympics!!! Cries of having no money today to run government be damned!!!

Hey Westgard, I know the source of that money. Daley is going to get the funds from the Tooth Fairy! (You might as well believe that as any of the other crap the Daley administration has been feeding us for 20 years.)

OOOOhhh Ben, do you want a cookie or a Bozo button for your efforts ?

We can build Olympic Villages with TIF'S, but close down schools that need to stay in communities to serve children so they can compete in the global economy. How about investing in schools so kids can have a future? These Alderman are powerless and have no backbone to challenge Daley on any issue even when he's wrong. As Chicagoans, we can blame ourselves. Can't wait for the next elections right?

Way to much 'credit' is being given to daley as an individual here. Sure, he appears to be what's commonly known as 'the big dog', but that doesn't relieve the city council entrenched incumbents of not only their (failed) responsibilities as representatives of their wards' residents' best interests or of their obvious roles as active, knowing and willing co-conspirators in all of the daley clan's schemes, past, present and future. The aldermen are hardly 'powerless' and when we see them as such, we are falling for the con job they, daley, and all those behind the scenes cohorts who've been, are, and will continue to be, pulling this shit. What we, the citizens need is to choose to be 'infected' with a virus, a beneficial virus, which will function much as our body's immune system of white blood cells functions, which will open our eyes to the fact that it's most all of those elected to public offices, in this city and county, who are responsible not only for failing to fulfill the responsibilities of their respective offices but have chosen to actively cooperate with 'the big dog/dogs' throughout their long incumbent careers, and which will inspire us all to: HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT We, the electorate, must catch a fever, a fever that will burn out the true infective corrupted malignant cells, ie., the entrenched incumbents, from our body politic. Should we choose to not catch that fever, what we're left with is to continue to tolerate the malignant parasites that are not so slowly draining us of life itself.

Now you are contradicting yourself. You said the public is so disillusioned that they will continue to vote for incumbents, even while they are getting it in the ass. Which is it ?

Have another cup of coffee, this time without the spiking it. When you sober up, re-read my posts. Then see if you can muster that unfamiliar quality of honesty you religiously avoid and post another comment. We'll let you know if you've been successful at not being your usual self.

Doc Adams you are correct and Daley control the Alderman with TIF'S. They can find money to invest in the Olympics, but are closing public schools. I hope they miss out on the bid, that'll be funny!Have No Doubt, Vote The Incumbents Out! WOW!

Trib: "The ordinance commits the city to using an unspecified amount of tax-increment financing dollars to help build the Olympic Village ... Aldermen did not ask about tax increment financing at the meeting. Afterward, Healey acknowledged the financing plan and said the property is likely to be placed in a new TIF district." Committing an unspecified amount from a source to be named later is, besides a new low in transparency, likely illegal under state law which requires municipalities to identify a source for all expenditures in order to prohibit municipalities from indulging in deficit spending.

did Healy really use the phrase "carve out?"

At the end of last week the people of Vancouver found out that they are on the hook for the entire $1 billion cost of the Olympic Village for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Just like Chicago, the people of Vancouver were told that the Olympic Village would be funded through private dollars, public housing would be provided, etc. Now the city is scrambling to get a loan to finish the project. See the story at: http://www.vancouversun.com/Entertainment/open+Vancouver+plea+million+finish+Olympic+village/1169177/story.html And according to Vancouver Anti-Olympic activist Chris Shaw, it looks like Vancouver's Olympic Village now has the possibility of bankrupting the city.

the Olympic funding commitment passed the full City Council today unanimously, w/o debate or discussion

Changes to the Vancouver Charter would be necessary because civic legislation requires the city to go to voters in a referendum to approve capital spending ... The city wants the province to change the charter to allow it to bypass the referendum requirement in the instance of Olympic village financing ...

upcoming public forum Why we should say 'NO' to the CHICAGO 2016 Olympic Bid Saturday,January 31st at 6pm UIC - Student Center East, Room TBA Join a panel discussion with: CHRISTOPHER SHAW author of Five Ring Circus: Myths and Realities of the Olympic Games and founding member / lead spokesperson for two groups in opposition to Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics: No Games 2010 Coalition and 2010 Watch. DEBORAH TAYLOR of Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP) and Lake Park East Tenants Association. KAREN GJ LEWIS of the Caucus of Rank and File Educatoors (CORE) WILLIE J.R. FLEMMING of the Coalition to Protect Public Housing Join NO GAMES: Chicago for a panel discussion on why Chicagoans have nothing to gain from the Olympics any why we should actively oppose them. for more info contact nogameschicago@gmail.com http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=61842651104

I must support other parties sometimes.

In all fairness, it's largely the County government that has us taxed to our knees, both on sales and property fronts. Daley's the bigger name so catches the flack while we let Stroger skate. A lot of schools get closed because of a culture of mediocrity that IS NOT EVERPRESENT, but entrenched, in many schools. Sometimes you gotta cut it out like the cancer it is to our kids. And union rules make it hard to get tenured individuals out. One can argue "lack of funding" issues but throwing money at a broken system just leaves a richer (and often more wasteful) broken system. I see a lot of people who "sit in the back of the room," cloaked in their anonymity but offering nothing in the way actual solutions. Be bitter if you want, but, please, do so silently because you're not helping anyone. I agree with "Doc Adams" that not enough out there exercise their votes. If you whine about the politics around you but ignore your opportunity to do something about it, then who's fault is that? Even if you show up to vote, do you know all the names on the ballot? Who did what? Or did you just show up and decide to wing it. If you can't take the time to do your due diligence, can you complain if the fruits of those labors (or lack thereof) don't do theirs? And if you don't like ANY of the names (i.e. those that say "they're all crooks") then run for office! Be the change you want to happen. As for those from afar asking us Chicagoans to "wake up": If you have a solution or constructive criticism NOT made up of unworkable generalizations please feel free to share (thanks for the updates on Vancouver's woes, BTW). Or tend to your own garden, if you will. At last check, no human lives in Utopia. And while we Chicagoans appreciate your concern, I'm sure your insignificant little wherever has plenty for you to do to help its woes.

I support Daley, Stroger and Blago.

Like the proverbial coin, which has two sides, or the proverbial sword, with two edges, which cut both ways, there would be zero corruption in our governments if the citizens were to fulfill their end of the deal known as a free democracy, aka the American Dream. What we see in our elected officials is a clear reflection of ourselves. The fact that many call the Daley's, Stroger's, Madigan's, Burke's, Banks', Solis', Stone's, O'Conner's, Cardenas', et al, stupid, dumb, insane, idiotic morons belies the fact that, if anything, they all are extremely smart, clever and often quite diabolically brilliant in their manipulations of the electorate, via their own understandings of certain aspects of human nature. One of the first things one must realize is that to avoid being fucked by governments, you, the citizen, must not tolerate being fucked at all, ever, by anyone holding the power and authority of elected office, whether directly, or indirectly, via those employed by your governments. To paraphrase: Fuck me once, shame on you; Fuck me twice, shame on me; Fuck me over and over and over and over again, and what can the fucker conclude, about the fuckee, other than that you like being fucked? Despite all the many hurdles and obstacles the political party machines put up to discourage and prevent the electorate from having honest candidates present on the ballot to vote FOR, and there have been, and are, many obstacles created and implemented by said political party machines, the electorate, (and that means YOU, every last citizen who meets the few qualifications to vote), has always had, in every election, an option which they, the electorate have failed to exercise, namely, to vote out the incumbents whom they deem have not proven themselves to be authentically serving the public. Yes, the political party machines believe they've got effective strategies to avoid what, for them, would be the potentially disastrous occurrence of a large number of incumbents failing to gain reelection, including, but not limited to: 1. Shill candidates, mostly in a given party's primaries, to split up and, thus, dilute the votes of the dissatisfied. 2. Blatantly false and fraudulent media propagandas, aka mudslinging. 3. Ample funding, from a variety of 'sources', some technically 'legal', but rarely truly legitimate, many not merely borderline illegal, but substantially unlawful and completely unethical. 4. The much denied, but all too real, name recognition advantages incumbents enjoy and exploit. 5. The incredibly advantageous position of being able, by being the incumbent, to selectively promote the, usually exaggerated, 'accomplishments' of the incumbency and, also selectively, conceal, spin and/or deny the ample histories of definitely not in the publics' best interests activities of same. 6. Patronage; need I say more? 7. Kickbacks; ditto the above. 8. Threats, perceived or actual, utilizing the powers of their respective authorities, via the selective enforcements of laws, rules, regulations, etc... 9. Threats, perceived or actual, of the denial of services, essential and/or non-essential but enjoyed. 10. The promise of various 'rewards', for those who 'prove' their 'loyalty' to the political party machine's interests. It's all there, in human nature, to be manipulated and exploited by those who stand to gain from doing so. It has been so since the beginning of human existence. What is the promise of democracy? Is it a guarantee, or a challenge? We know what the political party machine members want us to believe. We are left with whether we will continue to accept their self serving version of democracy or face the truth and embrace authentic democracy, regardless of the challenges said embrace presents us with. HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT

HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS IN I must realize my strategy hasn't worked. I must learn we are a republic, not a democracy. I must not contradict myself, by saying vote incumbents out, when I said previously people don't register and don't vote when registered. Fuck me twice!

I always contradict myself. Fuck me once!

Wow... looks like any ol' person is entitled to my good name here, as it seems that someone (incorrectly) has me supporting certain politicians. So, as me, let me give my ACTUAL and PERSONAL opinions, to which any may disagree. I don't like Daley's methods but I'll admit to basking in the glory of various civic improvements in his tenure ("Chicago Works" Program, Gallery 37, Millenium Park, Lakefront Multiuse Path, creation of and increase in bike lanes, etc.) I freely admit that I take and enjoy these tokens in exchange for a great deal of rotten dealings and unfair hiring. Still like it better than LA City government. There, money has very low vapor pressure (i.e. disappears without any trace), school problems make here look tame, there isn't anything in the way of any real civic pride, and (my opinion) not all that much to be proud of. A day on LA public transit would make people pine for Kruesi (different problems, not a fair comparison, I know. But the mission remains the same.) I think Todd Stroger is a crook and a farce and am in complete disbelief that he is where he is. And worse, looks to stay. Ditto (except for staying) for Blagojevich. He's ruined the credibility of the Democratic Party in Illinois. I do have a family member who is a staunch supporter primarily because of all the social programs he's pushed through, sometimes by sheer force of will. They say he's a scapegoat for wealthier people who don't want to give to the needier folk of the state. I personally don't see that as enough to offset the lack of personal morals he's displayed in backdoor dealing (I'm pretty sure) throughout both terms, and the fact that we didn't have the funds to pay for a lot of it. Hence the budget fights. And despite all this, he never actually got much done. He just threw support at puff projects that would corral the poorer masses to him, anointing himself as the Voice of the Underdog. He's been trying to cash in on that lately, and, amongst those Masses (those that, let's face it, you and I don't talk to on a daily basis), it's working. There's a lot of silent support for him, and I'm absolutely flabbergasted by it. Personally, I miss Jim Edgar. So that you know it's me next time, you may have noticed I get wordy. I don't vote down the line for ANY party, and I don't like to throw idle comments out there. I like discourse and hearing the real ideas of real people, whatever those ideas may be. So, now that we know who is who, who's got a WORKABLE (i.e. NOT "Everybody should....") solution for our ills? Who knows an honest prospect for a government position? Who's got maybe not a whole solution but even just a first step? The REAL Al Tumbrowski, proud Chicago Native, is all ears....

I want my Daley Bread and I want it now!!!! The REAL Al Tumbrowski, proud Chicago Native, is all ears....

According to the annual reports, at the end of 2007, the Bronzeville TIF had 12,625,000. In 2006, the TIf spent 63365 in "Studies" by City staff members. In 2007, it spent another $62740 in "studies". It reported no projects. The only way the Bronzeville TIF can be carved to pay for an Olympic Village is by porting money from other TIFS in other areas. I do not understand how anyone expects the Bronzeville TIF to pay for an Olympic Village. It would have to come from someplace else - probably porting from other TIFS around the City.