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Divernan

(15,480 posts)
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 07:07 AM Apr 2014

Emanuel cuts pension benefits, raises prop. taxes, subsidizes corp. donors TO THE MAX.

Nation of Change/David Sirota has a scathing article about how Rahm Emanuel has embraced old-style Chicago corruption by diverting property taxes each year into a half billion dollars a year slush fund which he as mayor controls absolutely.

Immediately after taking office, he doled out a $7 million subsidy to benefit a grocery chain, the CEO of which gave Emanuel's campaign $25,000. That's a 280% return on investment/bribe/"campaign donation".

Another $29 million subsidy went to support a new skyscraper development plan, i.e., "a very expensive corporate plaza" for the building. I know you join in me in being shocked, I say, shocked to learn that the building will house the new Chicago headquarters of a law firm whose employees have "given" Emanuel's campaign $125,000. That's a 232% return on investment/bribe/"campaign donation".

The final example is Emanuel's $55 million subsidy for a new hotel near Chicago's convention center. The investment company which owns a major stake in the construction firm gave Emanuel's campaign $31,500.
That, fellow DUers is an unbelievable 1,745% -ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE PERCENT- RETURN ON INVESTMENT/BRIBE/"CAMPAIGN DONATION"


http://www.nationofchange.org/chicago-way-1397223853

According to a report by the taxpayer watchdog group Good Jobs First, the supposedly budget-strapped Windy City — which for years has not made its full pension payments — has mountains of cash sitting in a slush fund controlled by its poverty-pleading mayor. Indeed, as the report documents, the slush fund now receives more diverted property taxes each year than it would cost to adequately finance Chicago's pension funds.

Yet, Emanuel is refusing to use the cash from that slush fund to shore up the pensions. Instead, his new pension "reform" proposal cuts pension benefits, requires higher contributions from public employees, raises property taxes — but also quietly increases his slush fund.

Why, you ask, would Emanuel refuse to relinquish some of the half-billion dollars a year that is going into his slush fund? Perhaps because he has been using it to enrich Chicago's corporate class, including some of his biggest campaign donors.

Not to sound like a broken record, but again: This same thing occurs in states and cities across the country. The wealthy corporate interests who bankroll politicians have for years convinced those politicians to not make required pension payments and to instead spend the cash on taxpayer subsidies — the kind that happen to go to those politicians' donors. Now that the bill for such irresponsibility is coming due, those bankrolled politicians are trying to protect the subsidies their donors so cherish by trying to balance budgets primarily through punitive measures against taxpayers and public employees.
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Emanuel cuts pension benefits, raises prop. taxes, subsidizes corp. donors TO THE MAX. (Original Post) Divernan Apr 2014 OP
Roberts' Rules. GeorgeGist Apr 2014 #1
Third Way mantra........ socialist_n_TN Apr 2014 #35
And, of course, Rahm has that "D" after his name, so if he was running for anything, djean111 Apr 2014 #2
He Is Running...For Re-Election in 2015 KharmaTrain Apr 2014 #3
"Well funded", aye, there's the rub! Divernan Apr 2014 #4
I have noticed that the fund-raising requests I get now inform me that people like me will djean111 Apr 2014 #7
No Bucks...No Buck Rogers... KharmaTrain Apr 2014 #12
I am quite honestly starting to feel really played, concerning the money. djean111 Apr 2014 #14
I feel your pain. ctsnowman Apr 2014 #20
Invest Wisely... KharmaTrain Apr 2014 #24
Anyone being funded by Corporations doesn't need OUR money. And the more they are getting sabrina 1 Apr 2014 #58
The SC decision was only about federal elections. former9thward Apr 2014 #32
Thank you for pointing that out. Divernan Apr 2014 #36
Toni Prenwinkle is leading Rahm by hefty margins in recent polls alcibiades_mystery Apr 2014 #8
tony is not running. just stop that. mopinko Apr 2014 #9
Let's hope Obama campaigns... WhaTHellsgoingonhere Apr 2014 #11
I doubt that. former9thward Apr 2014 #33
Obama wasn't subtle and it wasn't under... WhaTHellsgoingonhere Apr 2014 #49
"I think he would be an excellent mayor," Obama said on ABC's Good Morning America. Divernan Apr 2014 #52
Why would this surprise anyone. 99Forever Apr 2014 #5
No, we need to realize he is a Democrat, he may be the worst but is only one of many like him. A Simple Game Apr 2014 #13
If you think that puke is a Democrat... 99Forever Apr 2014 #15
he's my mayor. mopinko Apr 2014 #22
So be it. 99Forever Apr 2014 #30
He's my mayor too, and I think he sucks ASS kysrsoze Apr 2014 #46
i have a soft spot for jerks. mopinko Apr 2014 #60
He calls himself a Democrat and our President believed he was a Democrat when he hired him A Simple Game Apr 2014 #26
I think we are very much... 99Forever Apr 2014 #31
I think we are too. A Simple Game Apr 2014 #40
excuse me, but i do not support his "image" mopinko Apr 2014 #37
His "image" is that he is a Democrat. As for his policies and your loyalty to him, A Simple Game Apr 2014 #41
Well, he IS a Democrat, even the most conservative starve the schools steal the pensions Republican Dragonfli Apr 2014 #71
I agree with A Simple Game. It's important to recognize the enemy. A significant portion of "our" rhett o rick Apr 2014 #42
there really are moderate liberals. mopinko Apr 2014 #64
One can be moderate without being a corporatist. But corporatists can't hide behind rhett o rick Apr 2014 #66
i know. makes it hard on the true moderates. mopinko Apr 2014 #67
math is wrong Phil1934 Apr 2014 #6
sorry, i love david sirota, but this is just a hatchet job. mopinko Apr 2014 #10
Got a cite for any of those laws? FYI, I grew up in "Chicagoland" Divernan Apr 2014 #18
they are called tax increment funding districts. mopinko Apr 2014 #21
Well so far he has made a better case than you have. Do you have specifics to refute what rhett o rick Apr 2014 #43
It's actually a "TIF" fund and is meant to spur business kysrsoze Apr 2014 #57
i would prefer the approach that it was my understanding would be instituted- pb mopinko Apr 2014 #68
If Rahm "doing it right" means screwing poor & minorities, you are right. Divernan Apr 2014 #25
ugh. imho, karen lewis is a very poor union rep. she let it get personal. mopinko Apr 2014 #28
OMG! You criticize a union rep for being confrontational w/ the King of Confrontation! The hubris! Divernan Apr 2014 #45
she took it personal. mopinko Apr 2014 #59
Rahm Inherited A Mess... KharmaTrain Apr 2014 #27
reducing a city of 3 million mopinko Apr 2014 #39
Like his hypocritical education policy- opposite of his kids' elite private school. Divernan Apr 2014 #50
but mopinko Apr 2014 #65
...You seem to know a lot about Rahm Harry_Scrote Apr 2014 #56
he couldn't pick me out of a line up. never gave him a dime. mopinko Apr 2014 #61
You really are living in a dream world of your own making. former9thward Apr 2014 #38
Perhaps he/she lives in one of those posh enclaves on the Gold Coast or in Hyde Park? Divernan Apr 2014 #51
i live in a gritty neighborhood. mopinko Apr 2014 #62
i'll just say this mopinko Apr 2014 #63
Rahm's Shock Doctrine. marmar Apr 2014 #16
! + $1000000000.00 nt adirondacker Apr 2014 #44
Rahm in 2016? Puzzledtraveller Apr 2014 #17
What's he think he is running for, governor of NY? nt adirondacker Apr 2014 #19
it's a takeover...... blue mane Apr 2014 #23
They already are turning their backs on the poor. L0oniX Apr 2014 #48
Sounds like Rahm knows Gov. Kasich, R Ohio, following the same play book.nt Ninga Apr 2014 #29
The Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks Own And Control The Politicians That Own And Control Us cantbeserious Apr 2014 #34
This is where democracy fails. L0oniX Apr 2014 #47
. Wilms Apr 2014 #53
Birds of a feather, as they say, corporate-wise. Divernan Apr 2014 #55
But of course... its the DLC/Third Way. HooptieWagon Apr 2014 #54
And to think this swell fella was for several years the chief of staff for the President of the indepat Apr 2014 #69
I want to see the folks that Aerows Apr 2014 #70
Rahm Emanuel gives the Democratic Party a bad name. This corrupt jerk needs to go! emsimon33 Apr 2014 #72
Your source's maths is as screwed up as their insinuations. N.T. Donald Ian Rankin Apr 2014 #73
 

djean111

(14,255 posts)
2. And, of course, Rahm has that "D" after his name, so if he was running for anything,
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 07:41 AM
Apr 2014

we would obviously have to vote for him, because the other candidate would be so much worse.

Hint - the two parties are not going to meet in the middle - they are going to settle quite comfortably in the Right.

KharmaTrain

(31,706 posts)
3. He Is Running...For Re-Election in 2015
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 07:45 AM
Apr 2014

...so if people are so pissed about what he does then the time is now to find a candidate to go against him next year. Rahm's popularity isn't that great and a well funded and organized challenger could beat him...

Divernan

(15,480 posts)
4. "Well funded", aye, there's the rub!
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 07:51 AM
Apr 2014

After those millions and millions of dollars in subsidies Rahm has handed out, he'll be the uber funded corporate candidate, and thanks to those 5 neocon assholes on the Supreme Court, the corporations don't even have to strong arm employees into donating - they can just fund him directly.

 

djean111

(14,255 posts)
7. I have noticed that the fund-raising requests I get now inform me that people like me will
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 08:24 AM
Apr 2014

just have to suck it up and contribute even more, because corporations can. And if I don't want to - cannot, actually - I am branded a Republican troll.
And looks like the trump card for Hillary - hey! Look how much money she has!!!!! Beat that!
So anyway, wish I was surprised about Rahm, but he is a model Third Wayer, and perhaps - he is a GOP troll.

KharmaTrain

(31,706 posts)
12. No Bucks...No Buck Rogers...
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:16 AM
Apr 2014

...sadly that's the landscape politics is played on now. Money buys the access on the teevee screens and funds the non-stop 24/7 political campaign industry. Ignore this reality and be prepared to lose elections due to lack of people hearing the message and an organization to get out the vote. Fortunately people power makes a big difference in the lower level...state, city and county races than it does on the national level and that's where one's impact can be felt the most. Money and time donated to a local campaign can go a long way in counteracting the outside Kochroach money that is now flooding into these lower level races.

 

djean111

(14,255 posts)
14. I am quite honestly starting to feel really played, concerning the money.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:22 AM
Apr 2014

Citizens United will not be rolled back.
Politicians get so much money it is horrifying - while they cut food stamps.
I guess when there is no more money from 'grass-roots" to be had, they will just stop pretending to care what voters think.
And after that bucket is empty - will the 1% then turn to getting rid of ALL the safety nets? With the compliance of Washington?
Only thing left naked and shivering on the table.

I agree about the lower level races. But the DNC is not going to support any progressives for higher office if they can possibly help it. They hold all the cards, and the big money.

KharmaTrain

(31,706 posts)
24. Invest Wisely...
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:47 AM
Apr 2014

...I don't give money to a national party or campaign. All my efforts go locally...let the high rollers pay for the teevee commercials, I have found far better returns in my donations and time in canvassing and working on campaigns on the local level. That's where the change can and must begin...develop a deeper bench, a stronger party and with it, promoting more progressive candidates. $500 to a Hillary Clinton is chump change, but for a local congresscritter or state rep it'll but a lot of yard signs or cover the rent on a campaign office. It's all about what you put in is equal to what you get back. Stay on the sidelines and be uninvolved and let the others who are win the elections and further the economic disparity. The mess this country is in didn't happen overnight and it'll take years and lots of hard fought elections if there's ever to be a positive change...

sabrina 1

(62,325 posts)
58. Anyone being funded by Corporations doesn't need OUR money. And the more they are getting
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 01:20 PM
Apr 2014

from Corporations, the less the people should trust them.

List all their corporate donors during the campaign, make people aware that the more they are getting from Corporations, the less they will be working for the people.

Rahm Emanuel is a perfect example to use for this purpose.

Rahm is an example of how they deceive voters. He is 'liberal' on the required 'issues' which none of the top elite care about one way or the other, unless they directly impact MONEY. Eg, while all these pretenders claim to support Women's Rights, we still don't have 'equal pay for equal work'.

But as you say, he has slapped a 'D' onto his name, so Dems are supposed to suck it up and vote for him.

former9thward

(31,798 posts)
32. The SC decision was only about federal elections.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 10:05 AM
Apr 2014

Which has nothing to do with local elections. In Chicago corporations and labor unions have always been able to contribute what they want to local candidates without restrictions.

 

alcibiades_mystery

(36,437 posts)
8. Toni Prenwinkle is leading Rahm by hefty margins in recent polls
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 08:40 AM
Apr 2014

Rahm has a tough re-election fight ahead, having lost several constituencies that voted him in last time, particularly around the CPS issues.

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
9. tony is not running. just stop that.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 08:52 AM
Apr 2014

honestly, her campaign people are ready to puke, she has a race to win right now.

former9thward

(31,798 posts)
33. I doubt that.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 10:07 AM
Apr 2014

Obama just had dinner with him.

Sneed is told exclusively that Obama’s special dinner mates are two former top White House aides: Mayor Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, who are expected to opt for the fish. Obama loves steak.

The dinner a la secret with Axelrod and Emanuel, which is set to begin at 5:45 p.m. and end at 6:15 p.m. — is prefaced at 4:45 p.m. by a $32,400-a-ticket Democratic National Committee cocktail party for 25 donors at Chicago Cut tossed by Mesirow Financial’s Richard Price.

After dinner with Emanuel and Axelrod, Obama heads to a $10,000-a-ticket DNC dinner fundraiser for 55 people at the Lincoln Park home of major Obama donors Craig Freedman and Grace Tsao-Wu.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=246334549

99Forever

(14,524 posts)
5. Why would this surprise anyone.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 08:02 AM
Apr 2014

He's a Corporate 1%er pretending to be a Democrat. Like that's news.

Quite frankly, Chicago's loss is our gain.

A Simple Game

(9,214 posts)
13. No, we need to realize he is a Democrat, he may be the worst but is only one of many like him.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:18 AM
Apr 2014

The party won't be fixed until we realize just what it is becoming.

Some candidates don't deserve our or anyone else's vote no matter what the letter is after their name.

Sadly I can't forget who it was that launched this piece of crap into national politics.

99Forever

(14,524 posts)
15. If you think that puke is a Democrat...
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:23 AM
Apr 2014

... then we'll just have to agree to disagree, we aren't even on the same planet.

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
22. he's my mayor.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:41 AM
Apr 2014

he is a lot of things, but a democrat is a well one of them.
you can say i'm not either, i guess. but we both are dyed in the wool, and i happen to like the guy.

99Forever

(14,524 posts)
30. So be it.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 10:00 AM
Apr 2014

If that is what you consider a "Democrat," we've reached an impasse that cannot be breached. Just keep that little creep in Chicago, PLEASE.

kysrsoze

(6,010 posts)
46. He's my mayor too, and I think he sucks ASS
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 11:32 AM
Apr 2014

I don't support policies where you starve the public schools while funneling money to B.S. Charter schools, and short pension funds, while bankrolling pet projects for your donors. He's a DINO and a hot-heated jerk. I still remember when the asshole literally walked off the set when the interviewer asked him what people should think about the mayor sending his kids to private school. He is not one of us.

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
60. i have a soft spot for jerks.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 02:42 PM
Apr 2014

i dont blame him. he has told the chicago media time and again that his children are not public property.
good for him.

i am quite aware that i am a tiny minority in most of my opinions.
and he is as much a dem as the pres. they have an almost identical jobs program, except in chicago it is actually going forward.
green infrastructure. mass transit investment.

heres a little quiz-
how many new playgrounds has the chicago park district built during the emanual administration?

A Simple Game

(9,214 posts)
26. He calls himself a Democrat and our President believed he was a Democrat when he hired him
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:53 AM
Apr 2014

and supported him in his run for mayor. He is on record as being the Democratic mayor of Chicago, it matters little if you like it or not.

People like him calling themselves Democrats are the problem and ignoring it because you don't think he is a Democrat will not solve the problem. He is what he calls himself, a member of the Democratic party. A liberal he is not. There are many conservatives now that call themselves Democrats, too many, even on DU.

He is being defended in this very thread. That other Democrats embrace him is a problem and many do so because they believe as he does. Even worse is that many would support him because of the (D) after his name, many right here on DU.

You see it matters very little what you or I think he is, the image is out there and that is what most see and care about because they won't look behind the curtain. Even here on DU we are told we must support the (D), right or wrong or risk expulsion. I am unaffiliated and support the most liberal candidate possible regardless of party, DU doesn't mean that much to me. I will do what is best for my Country before I will blindly support a political party.

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
37. excuse me, but i do not support his "image"
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 10:10 AM
Apr 2014

i support his policies, which exist here on complicated ground. when people reduce complicated situation down to a loyalty test, the answer is, by definition, wrong.

i see the policies playing out here on the ground, and they are rarely much like they are portrayed in the media, either for good or ill.

nuance should be respected in this party, but as we see here, some expect he same sort of knee jerk thinking and loyalty as they do on the other side.

i've met the man, i know my alderman, i see what has happened since he was elected.
trust me, if all you see is the teacher's unions pov here, you are missing a lot of the picture.

A Simple Game

(9,214 posts)
41. His "image" is that he is a Democrat. As for his policies and your loyalty to him,
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 10:27 AM
Apr 2014

that is your problem. He calls himself a Democrat and you believe him. Would you support his policies if he were a Republican?

My view of the man was set when he was still in the White House, I nor you can give the teachers union any credit for how I feel about Rahm Emanuel.

Dragonfli

(10,622 posts)
71. Well, he IS a Democrat, even the most conservative starve the schools steal the pensions Republican
Sun Apr 13, 2014, 01:29 AM
Apr 2014

is a Democrat if he registers as one, as appears to be the case here. He may be a Democrat but his policies are nearly all Republican policies.

So you like his Republican policies, good for you, I knew many Republican policy lovers that voted for Reagan even tho they claimed to be and registered as Democrats.

If you and he did not register as Democrats, your republican loving theories of kill the unions and enrich the rich would be called Republican, I find your creative registration (and his) to be rather crafty in a Machiavellian sort of way.

Congratulations on your victories for the wealthy and the theft of pension money and public school resources redirected to private for profit education entrepreneurs, the money from his private wealthy benefactors will come in handy to get him re-elected in order to do more damage to the commons and the unions and enrich the rich even further while likely dealing a death blow to varied and sundry unions in future.

Money is God in this country and I applaud Rahm's sainthood in this religion under his wealthy Popes of patronage wherein he has found favor.

Infiltration well done!

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
42. I agree with A Simple Game. It's important to recognize the enemy. A significant portion of "our"
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 11:05 AM
Apr 2014

party are corporatists like Rahm and they control the party, "our" party. I understand that they dont follow Democratic principles but that's not the requirement to be a Democrat. The requirement is simply declaring your a Democrat ala Zen Miller and Libershits.

The bad thing is that these corporatist Democrats have a large following, even here in DU where people are supposed to be "politically liberal". The "D" behind the name is the only requirement for full support apparently.



Does HRC represent the 99% or Goldman-Sachs? That's the question.

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
64. there really are moderate liberals.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 03:01 PM
Apr 2014

damn good dems, too.
you dont know me, you dont know what i have to hang my hat on. people who do would be at you.

i contend i live in the reality based universe, and live among others who are similarly deluded.
i pick apart fine points of things, and usually find serious contradictions in the knee jerk positions.

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
66. One can be moderate without being a corporatist. But corporatists can't hide behind
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 03:44 PM
Apr 2014

the disguise of being "moderate". HRC might be considered moderate but more importantly, she sides with corporations like Goldman-Sachs.

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
10. sorry, i love david sirota, but this is just a hatchet job.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 08:59 AM
Apr 2014

these funds are defined by laws. yes laws. the mayor cannot just empty the piggy bank and give it to whom he pleases. and that includes giving it back to the taxing bodies.

look the tiff system is not perfect. there are long term structural flaws in the city budgets.
but this article is just making it up.

i am sick of this city being called corruption city.
it is not more and no less corrupt than any government body of it's size. we havent had a major corruption scandal here since daley I.

and frankly, it makes me a little sick to see du'ers, most of which who have never been here, jump of the bandwagon with their rahm derangement syndrome.
this is a good democratic city. it works like a steam engine. we do it right.

Divernan

(15,480 posts)
18. Got a cite for any of those laws? FYI, I grew up in "Chicagoland"
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:28 AM
Apr 2014

and have returned regularly to visit friends and family over the years. Sirota published his charges and supporting facts, which makes him vulnerable to charges of libel if he "is just making it up". You, on the other hand, refer to some UNdefined "laws". I'll go with the published charges for the win.

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
21. they are called tax increment funding districts.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:39 AM
Apr 2014

i will admit that they were intended only for blighted areas, but spread around the city quickly as areas that were not "blighted" still had plenty of need and revenue.

how it works is this-
developer wants to build project a, which will be good for the hood. within the tiff districts, as property taxes rise, the increases, instead of going into the general funds, get spent in the area for improvements, including quality of life improvements for a set period of time. iirc, usually 15-20 years. there is a process to return funds to taxing bodies. but it would be pretty hard to sell dedicated funds when you routinely plunder the fund.

that this is bringing in a lot of money is a testament to it's effectiveness. especially as they very well could have a negative balance if nothing worked.
we need good economic development tools. tiffs work.

and i live here. sirota doesn't. it's easy for him to hear the voices of the rahm deranged from where he is. i don't think he can hear me.

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
43. Well so far he has made a better case than you have. Do you have specifics to refute what
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 11:08 AM
Apr 2014

he has to say?

kysrsoze

(6,010 posts)
57. It's actually a "TIF" fund and is meant to spur business
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 01:06 PM
Apr 2014

And not necessarily in blighted areas. There are TIFs all over the city and they go to a lot of questionable recipients. There's a movement underway here to use excess TIF fund (really... OUR property taxes) to pay down the pension obligation, and I support that over spending on garbage and having yet another property tax increase.

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
68. i would prefer the approach that it was my understanding would be instituted- pb
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 05:10 PM
Apr 2014

i havent heard anything beyond the initial announcement, but the participatory budgeting process that is in use in several wards for distribution of the menu money was supposed to be coming to the tiff districts.

it's why i laugh at this dino biz. in my ward we have a LOT of small d democracy.
that and the fact that i was one of the few from the local party that wasn't in springfield on that cold february day.

Divernan

(15,480 posts)
25. If Rahm "doing it right" means screwing poor & minorities, you are right.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:49 AM
Apr 2014

Rahm hand-picked the school board members, and his plan is really focused on closing schools in the poorer neighborhoods where he envisions demolishing everything to make way for more 5 star hotels, arenas, restaurants, concert venues and shopping areas. He has this fantasy that Chicago will compete as a tourist spot/cultural center like New York City or San Francisco.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/chicago-school-closings_n_3319755.html

Chicago School Closings Vote: Board Of Education Votes To Shutter 50 Public Schools

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis blasted the district's actions in a statement following the vote, saying Wednesday was "a day of mourning for the children Chicago."

"Their education has been hijacked by an unrepresentative, unelected corporate school board, acting at the behest of a mayor who has no vision for improving the education of our children," Lewis said. "Closing schools is not an education plan. It is a scorched earth policy."

Vowing the union's movement would go on, Lewis said the CPS board, CEO and the mayor were on the wrong side of history. "History will judge them for the tragedy they have inflicted upon our students; and it will not be kind," Lewis said.

Many parents also spoke with deep emotion about the closings, particularly the impact they will have on special-needs students (embedded below) and one community organizer was ushered out of the room by security when she called the board "illegitimate," DNAinfo reports. At the Illinois state capitol in Springfield, eight protesters demonstrated against the closings by blocking the entrance to the House floor. They were escorted from the building.


mopinko

(69,803 posts)
28. ugh. imho, karen lewis is a very poor union rep. she let it get personal.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:57 AM
Apr 2014

and far more confrontational than it needed to be. i admit that rahm can't back down either. it was a mess from top to bottom. that is why brizzard skipped town.

like a lot of issues, i completely disagree with the lefty spin that the school closings were some sort of travesty. the school closings were a long overdue correction to the distribution of the schools. schools in neighborhoods that consisted primarily of the high rises public housing that was torn down had few children left. there have been massive demographic shifts in the city that needed to be addressed.

i'm not insisting that i am right here so much as saying that the spin that is going on here is just getting magnified until david sirota can hear it. but that doesn't make it not a bunch of smear.

Divernan

(15,480 posts)
45. OMG! You criticize a union rep for being confrontational w/ the King of Confrontation! The hubris!
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 11:27 AM
Apr 2014

And to top it off you criticize a union rep for letting it get personal in a confrontation w/ Rahm? Just how personal did she get with him? I sincerely doubt she ever referred to him as a retard!

And as Sirota's doing a "hatchet job"on Rahm, is that also how you define those who attack and criticize the Koch Brothers?

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
59. she took it personal.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 02:38 PM
Apr 2014

she went on the ed show and acted like a 10 year old after a school yard fight. made a lot of personal comments. really, it was childish. i love the teachers union. but i dont think that strike was necessary. rahm can be a jerk, but he also know how to deal. the right person could have gotten the job done without all the division.
she kept it personal, too.

and really. i agree with sirota 99.9% of the time.
but it is really easy to get the wrong idea from a far. somehow the shitstorms get all the news, and the quiet progress is a secret.

sound familiar?

KharmaTrain

(31,706 posts)
27. Rahm Inherited A Mess...
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:57 AM
Apr 2014

...he's had to deal with a lot of the financial problems that Richie couldn't have been bothered with in his last years in office. He's been put in a tough situation and the sniping from his long-time critics (most who are clueless about Chicago and Illinois politics) is, as you say, a hatchet job. I'm not Rahm's biggest fan and it'll be interesting to see if he has any challengers next year but I do respect that he was instrumental in helping the Democrats win the House in '06 (a feat we sure could use this year) and in supporting Gov. Dean's 50-state strategy.

Around DU Rahm has become a cartoon character...one of many. His role is the Snidley Whiplash type...as opposed to the Sainted Elizabeth Warren. This place detached from reality quite a while ago. If Rahm is so evil then the voters of Chicago will do as they've done with politicians like Bilandic and Byrne and toss him out on his ass...

Cheers...

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
39. reducing a city of 3 million
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 10:13 AM
Apr 2014

to a cartoon cut out city just cannot lead to any understanding at all.

and yes, it is nutso here these days. this is about the only fight i fight here.
maybe some day i will put some of rahms policies up for polls here and see how they fly without his name attached.

Divernan

(15,480 posts)
50. Like his hypocritical education policy- opposite of his kids' elite private school.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 11:40 AM
Apr 2014

God forbid the good Mayor spend any of those billions in his precious slush fund to keep schools in poor areas in good repair. Instead he closes them, driving poor and minority families out of Chicagoland and out to the neighboring, impoverished farm communities like Peotone, Manteno and Kankakee's north side. People have speculated on where he thinks he's going to find minimum wage or below workers to clean all those spiffy new skyscrapers and sports arenas, or bus in all the restaurants. Maybe he can use the slush fund to operate flatbed trucks to haul workers back and forth.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/chicago-mayor-rahm-emanuel-chooses-private-school-for-kids/2011/07/21/gIQAzES7RI_blog.html
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel chooses private school for kids

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who strongly supports school reform that centers on standardized test-based accountability for students, schools and teachers, has decided to send his children to a private school that doesn’t obsess on standardized tests.


Emanuel and his wife have chosen to send their three children to the prestigious University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in Hyde Park. It’s the same school that President Obama’s daughters attended when they lived in Chicago. Sasha and Malia Obama now attend the private Sidwell Friends School.

The decision where to send your children to school is certainly a personal one, even for public officials. But it is worth publicly noting what public officials who support test-based school reform — including Obama’s main education initiative, Race to the Top -- choose to do with their own children when given the chance.

Obama and now Emanuel opted for schools that do not require teachers to spend hours a week drilling kids to pass standardized tests, and they don’t evaluate teachers by how well their students do on those assessments. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and his wife send their children to Arlington public schools in Virginia. Neither the Arlington Public School system, nor Sidwell, nor The Lab Schools, assess teachers by student standardized test grades, which is a bad idea sweeping the country, encouraged by the Obama administration.

When a veteran teacher asked Sidwell whether its ties teacher pay to test scores, he received this response from a faculty member on April 1, 2011: “We don’t tie teacher pay to test scores because we don’t believe them to be a reliable indicator of teacher effectiveness.” Sidwell knows better. The Lab Schools know better. The Arlington Public School District knows better.

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
65. but
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 03:04 PM
Apr 2014

The decision where to send your children to school is certainly a personal one, even for public officials. But

there is no but. i agree with the mayor that people who drag this out cant find enough rational criticisms to make.

Harry_Scrote

(121 posts)
56. ...You seem to know a lot about Rahm
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 12:27 PM
Apr 2014

... As though you have some kind of inside knowledge about him. Like you have some kind of invested interest in defending him and his policies on internet forums.

By the by, you used an ad hominem when you used the word, "lefty" to describe those opinions that don't agree with your rosy depiction of Rahm's politics.

Do you work for him? Go to shul with him? Just curious... like I said, you seem to have some insight about him that the rest of us don't have...

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
61. he couldn't pick me out of a line up. never gave him a dime.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 02:51 PM
Apr 2014

just active in my ward political organization. i use the word "lefty" as in, attacks from the left. in an all dem town, they are common as mud.
i spend some time on the local boards, too, and enjoy picking issues apart, and getting underneath the knee jerk. once in a while an intelligent conversation even breaks out.

watching the munis coming, and seeing all this play out in every ward. there are a fair number of whacko bloggers from across the spectrum in the hood. heard it all a zillion times.
gonna be a mud fight.

former9thward

(31,798 posts)
38. You really are living in a dream world of your own making.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 10:13 AM
Apr 2014

I grew up in Chicago and it is corrupt to the core. No corruption scandal since Daley I? Everyone in Chicago would be laughing at that post.

http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-political-commentary/2011/05/richard-m-daley-a-mayor-only-grifters-could-really-appreciate/#.U0lJgPl_jz4

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
62. i live in a gritty neighborhood.
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 02:55 PM
Apr 2014

have lived for 25 years in an integrated regularly described in the media as "gang infested"

she

mopinko

(69,803 posts)
63. i'll just say this
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 02:58 PM
Apr 2014

we have raised cynicism to a fine art in chicago.
there are always examples to cite, sometimes ancient chestnuts.

i have seen many an innocent situation tarred as corrupt with no evidence whatsoever.

so i guess the truth is likely to be somewhere in the middle.
and by scandal, i mean in the media or in the courts.
hire truck was the only one that stuck to daley. im sure the old man would have seen it as small potatoes.

blue mane

(3 posts)
23. it's a takeover......
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 09:47 AM
Apr 2014

We need campaign finance reform.... NOW!!! Before democrats turn their backs on the poor like the republicans .....

indepat

(20,899 posts)
69. And to think this swell fella was for several years the chief of staff for the President of the
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 05:12 PM
Apr 2014

United States.

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
70. I want to see the folks that
Sat Apr 12, 2014, 05:14 PM
Apr 2014

were ardently defending him as Chief of Staff and being a complete asshole wander into this thread and defend this crook. The only person that could describe him as a Democrat is the Republican that wants his damn job. It's not like they could do any worse than he already has.

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