Does Rahm Emanuel deserve blame for fostering the problems of Chicago??? (Washington: neighborhoods, schools)

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by MassVt

Unfortunately, Boston and SF are both considerably more expensive, though, even if they do have histories of corruption..

Chicago will persevere. For one thing, it will always have a steady influx of new residents from neighboring Big 10 schools, and it will retain its standing as the pre-eminent city of the Midwest.

The potential for new models of learning to bypass the funnels that have concentrated lemmings in entry level positions may shift more rapidly -- MOOCs Disruption Only Beginning | BostonGlobe.com

Hiring and Big Data: Who wins and who gets left behind |Harvard Business Review

Nanodegrees offer an entry level approach to college|NYT.com


BTW -- NYC is home to more total B1G alums that any midwest city other than Chicago, that may become even more of an issue -- http://www.landgrantholyland.com/201...b1g-tournament

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The changes that happened in Chicago's Loop and near-north side redevelopment efforts were largely started back when lawmakers like Rostenkowski, who sat on the Way & Means committee since 1964 -- Dan Rostenkowsi's Early Years| Wikipedia.com were able to secure Federal funding to modernize areas that had become the domain of peep shows and bums. Daley continued policies that started under his father and largely continued under Byrne and even Harold Washington Harold Washington | Wikipedia.com

Where Daley went "off the rails" was trying to stick with an unmanageably generous pensions system that was grossly out of step with the reality of much slimmer returns that started in the 90s -- The roots of Chicago Pension Diaster

To try to keep funding the "planters and wrought iron" that Daley so loved he used TIF funds, that SHOULD have been used to make up for faltering manufacturing employment to continue the kinds of spending that was no longer possible with the new fiscal realities -- The TIF That Keeps on Giving? | NBC Chicago

Either Rahm is too focused on his own personal aspirations Rahm Emanuel Wanted to Be First Jewish House Speaker | Chicago magazine or too incompetent to understand "bad math" -- Rabbit-Hole Math: How Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Is Trying To Make A Bad Financial Crisis Worse | David Stockman Rahm seems unable to deal with real crisis, instead offering political theater, in a desperate attempt to cling to the office that he thouht would be a piece of cake -- Rahm Emanuel Fires Top Chicago Cop In Wake of Laquan McDonald Scandal

This basically the difference between the benefits that can be seen ( new building, structures, development) vs. "benefits" that are unseen ( fixing a broken pension system), in which the politicians wouldn't have any "visible" entity to point to as an accomplishment. Making an adjustment to a warped pension system isn't "sexy"...

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by MassVt

This basically the difference between the benefits that can be seen ( new building, structures, development) vs. "benefits" that are unseen ( fixing a broken pension system), in which the politicians wouldn't have any "visible" entity to point to as an accomplishment. Making an adjustment to a warped pension system isn't "sexy"...

I agree that it can be a challenge for elected officials to stick with needed reforms, but if you look at the links I posted it is very obvious that all the actuaries consulted agree that Chicago and the powerbrokers that rule Springfield literally made WRONG TURNS at very critical junctions. It is impossible to see these decisions as doing anything other than giving big contracts to insiders that truly have robbed the city -- ChicagoClout: Mayor Daley's contractors and the wasteful abuses they perpuate

Honestly, if it were just that Chicago / Illinois politicians were literally too stupid to anticipate the magnitude of the problem it might be different, but by literally funneling money needed to keep the pensions solvent into the nefarious world of insider deals they've reinforced a legacy of corruption that may have no solution...

[Nodpete]

When the machine told Daley he was through, they hand picked Rahm. I recall him on some tv show where the host (or news person) asked him what he'd like to do when he left the White house and he said "I'd like to be mayor of Chicago but I'm not seeking the job" , next election, dumb Dicky is out and 9 1/2 fingers is in. He's a joke. The first Dem mayor forced into a runoff, next time he won't get out of the primary.

[Avondalist]

Chet, I have a good sense of history, including the legacy of machine politics that is prevalent in almost every northern city (and a few old western towns like SF) because the northern Democrat machine system took root before the Progressive Era occurred. Chicago's corruption goes back to the 19th century, not the Daleys. And it's not limited to Democrats, as with Big Bill Thompson. There have been a few reforming mayors, but fewer than in New York (LaGuardia, Giuliani, Bloomberg) so the machine lives on. The machine is the source of Chicago's problems, and Richard J was definitely a problem. Recent mayors have been more antagonistic to the machine, such as Richard M trying to reform schools, if only because things got so bad they had no choice. I consider Rahm pretty good in this regard. People knock Rahm for being friendly to business in one breath, and ask why there's so few jobs and opportunities in Chicago on the other. If you want jobs you have to be friendly to business. Rahm is succeeding in revitalizing downtown Chicago as a jobs center, and discouraging suburban sprawl in the process.

The process of unwinding the Democratic machine in Chicago will take generations, and it involves convincing families who have worked for the city for generations in places like Bridgeport and Mt Greenwood that they will do better in the private sector than in some machine job with the city, and at the same time curtailing the benefits of those machine jobs so that the machine slugs really get the message. The latter is an augean, thankless task for a politician, so I'm not holding my breath.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Avondalist

Chet, I have a good sense of history, including the legacy of machine politics that is prevalent in almost every northern city (and a few old western towns like SF) because the northern Democrat machine system took root before the Progressive Era occurred. Chicago's corruption goes back to the 19th century, not the Daleys. And it's not limited to Democrats, as with Big Bill Thompson. There have been a few reforming mayors, but fewer than in New York (LaGuardia, Giuliani, Bloomberg) so the machine lives on. The machine is the source of Chicago's problems, and Richard J was definitely a problem. Recent mayors have been more antagonistic to the machine, such as Richard M trying to reform schools, if only because things got so bad they had no choice. I consider Rahm pretty good in this regard. People knock Rahm for being friendly to business in one breath, and ask why there's so few jobs and opportunities in Chicago on the other. If you want jobs you have to be friendly to business. Rahm is succeeding in revitalizing downtown Chicago as a jobs center, and discouraging suburban sprawl in the process.

The process of unwinding the Democratic machine in Chicago will take generations, and it involves convincing families who have worked for the city for generations in places like Bridgeport and Mt Greenwood that they will do better in the private sector than in some machine job with the city, and at the same time curtailing the benefits of those machine jobs so that the machine slugs really get the message. The latter is an augean, thankless task for a politician, so I'm not holding my breath.

There is nothing about Daley that can be called "reform" -- the Local School Council legislation was enacted in 1988, a year before Daley took office and when he wrested authority to seat his own Board of Education that happened in 1995 -- Chicago's Local School Councils 'Experiment' Endures 25 Years of Change - Education Week The efforts of Vallas to reign in ridiculous waste were at first a postive step toward getting more resorouces into the classrooms and away from do-nothing connected insiders, but eventually Daley's refusal to fund the needed changes to the schools led to the spiral that they've been on since...

You are beyond out of touch if you think that the power of the Machine is vested in mopes living in crummy neighborhoods -- Michael Madigan Is the King of Illinois | Chicago magazine | December 2013

The Real Mayor of Chicago | Newgeography.com

Secret courts for the rich and powerful - tribunedigital-chicagotribune

[UKWildcat1981]

Originally Posted by NealIRC

^ Wow.

I guess he must have a lot of Jewish clout...

Of Course he is best friends with Obama

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by chet everett

There is nothing about Daley that can be called "reform" -- the Local School Council legislation was enacted in 1988, a year before Daley took office and when he wrested authority to seat his own Board of Education that happened in 1995 -- Chicago's Local School Councils 'Experiment' Endures 25 Years of Change - Education Week The efforts of Vallas to reign in ridiculous waste were at first a postive step toward getting more resorouces into the classrooms and away from do-nothing connected insiders, but eventually Daley's refusal to fund the needed changes to the schools led to the spiral that they've been on since...

You are beyond out of touch if you think that the power of the Machine is vested in mopes living in crummy neighborhoods -- Michael Madigan Is the King of Illinois | Chicago magazine | December 2013

The Real Mayor of Chicago | Newgeography.com

Secret courts for the rich and powerful - tribunedigital-chicagotribune

I suspect that many of these "current" problems had their origin in Richard Daley I, though, especially the patronage system, which seemed outdated, even in the 1960s. The old "favor for a vote" bartering tool seemed like an antiquated solution out of the 1880s...

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by MassVt

I suspect that many of these "current" problems had their origin in Richard Daley I, though, especially the patronage system, which seemed outdated, even in the 1960s. The old "favor for a vote" bartering tool seemed like an antiquated solution out of the 1880s...

The crazy thing is. as the articles about Burke & Madigan clearly show, Illinois lack of legislative barriers / ethics rules, enterprising 'law makers' are practically 'encouraged' to rip off regular citizens.

The curious think is that much of this COULD have been changed when the Illinois Constitution was re-written in 1970 -- Why Is Illinois So Corrupt? | Chicago magazine | December 2010


The fact is every time those bozos get paid for a big property tax reduction for some high rise owner, the taxes that should be paid are shifted on to the backs of other property owners in the county / city. On top of that, the firms that win those reductions give big "campaign donations" to these clowns to crush any opponents -- it is a self-perpetuating system that benefits the insiders and robs regular voters of any say. This is much worse than anything like "a round of Jamesons for all my supporters" or even "come down to the ward office after the election and we'll set you up with a job" -- it literally encourages politicians to be more responsive to those that throw more business their way. That makes mere "poltical action committees" seem positively benign...

[compactspace]

Originally Posted by Avondalist

Chicago is behind the eight ball economically and demographically. There are cities like San Francisco and Boston which have similar political cultures to Chicago in terms of elected officials' arrogance and corruption, but have better economies and more content residents.

Chicago's problems are larger than one or two men in suits.

You're right but I'd phrase it this way: the relative prosperity of SF and Boston happens despite their rotten city governments. They have enough money pouring in, thanks largely to tech and research, to get past the waste and wheel-spinning that corruption causes.

Chicago, in contrast, is an old economy city. But while it doesn't benefit from all the money sloshing around tech, it certainly anchors enough stable and profitable enterprises to be very prosperous -- if the city's run well. But the city hasn't been run well. And since corruption, graft and waste happens with the blessing of the people at the top, those men in suits have wrought tremendous havoc.

Personally, I think Rahm is trying to hold things together and slowly make reforms. Right now, however, I'll reserve judgement of his success in this endeavour...