Relating to property taxes, albeit indirectly. Remember when the Lottery revenue was to be exclusively to fund education? I do...funny how that changed. An additional point of clarification on public unions. The untouchability of the health benefits was to offset the dogshit wages that were paid relative to the private sector, and about which the public didn't bitch until; 1) the long-term strategy to destroy the middle class resulted in the eradication of employee benefits by corporations at the alter of "shareholder value"; and 2) the elimination of Glass-Steagall and other consumer protection legislation legalized gambling by banks, so that when the inevitable bubble and burst occurred, the wedge politics of hating public union members could take the place of that for the already gutted private unions.
Two quick points: The Lottery revenue was never, ever going to be enough to fund education. Most people (not necessarily you) get this backwards. The "profit" from the Lottery was to be earmarked for education, but it was never realistically intended to provide enough funding to fund the education system in Illinois. The total Lottery revenue (as in ticket sales) in Illinois increased from $129 million in 1976 to was $2.6 billion in 2016. The State Dept. of Education budget in 2016 was $14+ billion. I should mention that my current boss is the former ethics counsel for the Dept. of Revenue. We have discussed this issue in detail over the past couple of years. Second, I absolutely, totally, completely agree about the union issue. Spot on. Your second point is a large part of my lecture tomorrow in my class. I do a "special lecture" to my real estate students about the mortgage foreclosure crisis and the gambling of the banks. Well said, both. https://www.statista.com/statistics/388238/sales-of-lotteries-by-state-us/ http://www.illinoislottery.com/en-us/About_Illinois_Lottery.html https://www.isbe.net/Documents/fy17-budget.pdf
Tired and slightly pissed, watching MLD playoffs...so, typos, etc., Yadda yadda. Thanks for your comments. I don't disagree at all that the actual revenue to cost ratio from Lottery was comparatively low, indeed was well under expectations, initially (bible thumpers, go figure). The point of that I failed to make clear, was that it was SOLD, at least downstate (Springpatch), as a complete panacea...again, likely to placate the bible thumpers...none of which are noted for their grasp of basic economics or tax theory.
I am sure that Mike Madigan is a very tactical politician. He has done very well for himself. Mike Madigan is a very wealthy man as a results of his political tactics. The money that he has bestowed open himself has come from the pockets of some very hard working blue collar citizens. Old school union democrats. I know that Chicago democrats are now dominated by all of the 20 something corporate people moving into the city to work for Google or other tech companies. My guess is that JB Pritzger now is the symbol for democrats in the city of Chicago. Years ago, we called them all Cub fans.
Rubes be rubes. Really, a lot of people thought and think the Lottery brings way more to education than it does. I suspect that people just don't really think about it much.
I agree with every thing you said here. However, until we see the rise, once again, of "old school union democrats" in Chicago, this will be the politics of Chicago. Rahm Emanual, even more than Mike Madigan, represents the current "corporate" democrats and corporate Democratic Party. Unfortunately, I do not think that any of the 20 or so people running for Mayor really represent a great look forward. Frankly, I am only impressed by one of them as Mayor. -Dorothy Brown and Toni Preckwinkle are useless. Both are experienced politicians, but I am not a fan of either. -Gary McCarthy and Paul Vallas would be disasters. -Gery Chico is an incredible political insider and is very experienced. He could win and do an "okay" job, but he is pretty close to the current center. Hell, he has been endorsed by Ed Burke (personally, I don't think that is a compliment). -Willie Wilson is just nuts. -La Shawn K. Ford is a convicted tax cheat. He did have 17 felony counts dropped in his misdemeanor plea (so he's "a good negotiator"?!?). -Amara Enyia is an intriguing candidate. She is very bright, well educated, has good organizational skills. I think she would do well running for Alderman or the State Legislature, not mayor. -Troy LaRaviere is an interesting candidates, but does not have any political experience. -Ja'Mal Green has an interesting platform, but is just a kid. -Jerry Joyce, William Kelly, Matt Roney, Neal Sáles-Griffin, Roger Washington, William Walls can all be summed up in one word: "WHO?" The only one who impresses me is Lori Lightfoot. She has an impressive resume, a strong platform and could be a positive force for change. She was a partner at a major law firm, US District Attorney, and ran the Police Accountability Task Force and positions within the City. She is also African American and gay, so I think she would be bring an interesting perspective to the office. If Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza runs, I could support her candidacy. If 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack ran, I could support his candidacy. He has already declined, though. If 10th Ward Alderman Sue Sadlowski Garza ran, I could support her candidacy. However, I think she needs more experience. Thanks, @Sting111! As if I did not have enough to worry about with the midterm elections still going on (and on and on). NOW you make me start thinking about the 2019 Mayoral Race.
That would be William Kelly, so far. He is an interesting person. He was Director of the Taxpayers United of Illinois, a radical anti-tax group. He produces tv and used to have a radio show. He writes for The Daily Caller and Newsmax. He claims that HE forced the run-off in the Mayoral Election: "In 2014, he busted the campaign finance caps in the Chicago mayoral race, forcing Rahm Emanuel into a first-ever historic run-off election." The race was in 2015. https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/r...ates-chicago-mayor-mccarthy-lightfoot-vallas/ https://www.williamjkelly.org/
Agreed, utilized correctly, Capitalism could be a powerful force for good. Only seen glimpses of this though.
Once “Capitalism” is utilized, it ceases to be. It can be steered towards fascism or socialism but can never be “tamed”.
Don't try to drag me down your nihilistic, existential rabbit hole. Of course, Capitalism, by definition, can't be controlled and probably can't even truly exist in practical terms. The same is true for Socialism, and every other -ism. Pragmatically replace "capitalism" with "a system based on capitalism"
What the f*ck does Trump have to do with the fact that gasoline is too cheap at the moment? He has no influence at all over the price of gas. The whole "thank the Saudis for keeping up production" is a bit of a misnomer, as we do not import much oil from Saudi Arabia. It is true, of course, that the over production of oil from Saudi Arabia (and other nations) creates a glut, which lowers oil futures, and gas stations drop their prices accordingly. The big thing lately is that price has plummeted since September (at $73.40 a barrel) and, especially, since October 2, 2018 ($65.41) (when the Saudis murder and dismembered Jamal Kashoggi) down to about $50,00 a barrel. However, the price of crude oil is still 50% higher than it was when in January, 2016. https://www.macrotrends.net/1369/crude-oil-price-history-chart
Then say so. Why the ******** did you mention Trump? “Thanks Obama” is the dumb ass meme. If you want to fluff Trump you fluff sawing media members into pieces while they’re still alive. If you support that then I hope you’re next, along with members of your immediate family.
No ********ing clue it's just the only good thing that I've seen happen since he was president that is noticeable. Whether or not he had anything to do with it or not