The electorate has been described by our leaders as a "basket of deplorables", "garbage" and "scoundrels". Besides that, they do truly care.
Trust me when I tell you that this is the prevailing attitude among a majority of our political leaders. Dat's why they call them the "Elite" don't you know.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Rant & Rave
While I'm gone I am opening this post to all of those who want to sound off about anything. Anything at all! Please be kind and try not to hurt anyones feelings.
Mitch McConnell seems to be taking his marching orders from Obama. He wants to agree to cut taxes today but we can talk about the cuts next week? is he kidding?
Nothing really except we pay more taxes and have less disposable income. Also we refuse to vent anger on elected officials in Washington and it just gets worse. Remember, never think of voting them out.
The real end of the world scenario is what happens when the dollar implodes. Its not a matter of if the dollar implodes but when. This is a result of deficit spending since fiscal year 1969 (Nixon) until today. That is when we have the Great Depression II.
19th Ward and Crookago, Illinois is the Headquarters of the Democommunist Party, USA. Thanks for NOTHING in return for my tax Dollars, you Thieves and Traitors to America. Hope you all rot in Hell.
I think Alderman O'Shea has made great strides in flushing the filth out of the 19th ward offices. Greed and incompetence is leaving to be replaced by people that truly care about our neighborhood. O'Shea is not done yet. There are still a few more that need to be gone. Thank you Matt.
I hope we go over the cliff. After the Tea Party neanderthals refused to let the rich man pay the piper, part of both revenue-raising and paying down the deficit that Boehner wanted, they wrote their own epitaph. You CANNOT just cut, cut, cut in a recession.
So you tax tax in a recession? The wealthiest 10 percent pay seventy percent of ALL federal taxes. That is not enough? Obama wants to punish people making 250k per year...those people are not the "rich". Taxing anybody more is not going to solve the deficit problem in Washington. Obama and the Dems want literally NO cuts in spending...because spending other people's money is what gives them power. Obama has launched another major welfare program....Obamacare in the midst of the worst economic disaster in half a century.
If you found that you could no longer afford all the bills in your own household what would you do? Maybe you could put some short term expenses on credit (Obama), but eventually you have to raise your income AND cut your spending. Why is it that the government is exempt from ever doing without MORE. I see too many loafers in this city to think we cant cut some "entitlements". STart by kicking the 1/3 of the kids in the State medical insurance program who are ILLEGAL off. NO MONEY in form of WELFARE for any foreign born "resident". You like America so much then pay your own way. That is just one of literally thousands of ways we can CUT during a recession. It ALWAYS works whenever it is done. Socialism and Keynesian government "stimulus" and borrowing is what the real definition of "fiscal cliff"is.
To anonymous #1: You do both, like Clinton did. I'm a member of the middle class. Why are you carrying water for the rich? Obama and the Dems want no cuts? What are you listening to? It's simply false.
To anonymous #2: Fine, in principle, let's kick kids off the welfare roles, but let's keep entitlements for big business. By all means.
Read the Bible: it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter heaven.
You are the guy always ripping on people and religion. Yet you throw it out there too. There are not enough "rich" people to pay our bills. We have to cut back our spending. Obama has cut nothing. Our government is now spending nearly a trillion more per year (thanks to his stimuLESS). That is now the new normal. We are spending our kids and grandkids money on people who won't work. We can see them around us constantly. I shop at ALDI to save money and I invite you to meet me there any day and you will see the Link Card abusers buy far more than basic foods....and alot more than me...sometimes they play Link Card roulette. Oh... this one doesnt work...try this other card...oh no that is the wrong code number....(while in line I will call home or wherever and get the right code). Muslims pulling them out at the Walmart. Why should any foreigner be allowed one dime of American tax payers money ? You can say these things are just stories. I and many of us see this crap constantly. We are sick of it and we know more taxes for everyone is coming. Obama submitted only ONE budget in four years ! The media says nothing. And noone voted for it - even Democrats. By they way the story of the "eye of the needle" is a metaphor for a pass through a mountainous area of the region where the only way a camel could get through at one bottle neck was to bow down. Rich people are not doomed to hell, despite what you hope. What about the greed of government, or the envy of others. The greed of endless teachers griping when they received a 16 percent RAISE during the worst economic downturn in 50 years. Gotta tell ya, my lower lip is raw and bloody biting down on it rather than tell these malcontents what I think of them.
Entitlements for big business? Yes there is certainly some examples too, like buying GM, Chrysler, the big banks....the whole "too big to fail mentality". Yeah good point. Or GE who paid little or no taxes....or 60 billion for Green Energy companies that went bust...we are out literally hundreds of billions of dollars to Solyndra, (we estimate to lose 50 billion on GM alone)....all these groups just happen to be supporters (contributors) of the great man of the people...Obama. Oh forgot about our CEO at Google who is all for making "those of us who are successful pay their fair share" but then spent millions of dollars to secure write offs and lower Googles tax burden by uber millions....I know Obama cashed alot of money for this guy. Don't forget those wars he was going to get us out of (he just sent 3,000 MORE troups to IRAQ) but once again the media doesnt' care....War IS the Answer now.....where did all those anti-war protesting idealists go ?
MPots you have to be a schoolteacher. You sound like a college student introduced to "the truth" for the first time by your garden variety Left Wing Professor. When you do your research for your version of Conspiracy Theory, why don't you Google the convicted criminal George Soros. A real creapy guy.
Why are the liberals so obsessed with "the rich"? If we raise the rates to 39.5% for those who make over $250,000 jointly - then we are going to have prosperity? This will raise a pittance, and Hurricane Sandy will eat up more than this move will raise. This income level includes small business who are the people who create real jobs, not jobs paid for by tax payers, but rather jobs that create pay checks which are then taxed by governments to pay for all their spending. We have not, as a nation, cut back on acutal outlays EVER! So we can NEVER, even one or two years cut back spending? I agree that multi multi millionaires would not be hurt and dividend millionaires probably do not help with employment but we have to cut spending. Obama and the Democrats NEVER cut spending in Washington because in their spending and handouts lie their power.
to Anonymous #3 -- You're proving my point in spades. And your interpretation of the "eye of the needle" is how some conservatives like to spin it to ease their discomfort with the saying. Most biblical scholars would suggest otherwise.
Anonymous #4 -- Agreed, for the most part. That's why I didn't vote for Obama.
Anonymous #5: thanks for the compliment. The schoolteachers I know are smart, dedicated, and tired, but kicked Rahm's ass anyway, and I'm proud of them on that score. Wake up from your Laz-e-boy, turn off the Fox channel, and put the bottle away.
to Anonymous #6: One question -- were you against Clinton's tax rates? Define outlays. Welfare system outlays? Like the ones Clinton cut?
Ever more and higher taxes are the Democrat party's answer to every problem. "A Govt. that trys to tax itself to prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket trying to life himself by it's handle." Winston Churchill
I hope we go over the cliff. After the Tea Party neanderthals refused to let the rich man pay the piper, part of both revenue-raising and paying down the deficit that Boehner wanted, they wrote their own epitaph. You CANNOT just cut, cut, cut in a recession. "
Tea Party neanderthals? Come on you can do better than that. How many years has it been since there's been a budget? The demonicrats couldn't even put together a budget when they held a majority in the House, Senate, and the Presidency. Continuing resolution? Don't see that in the Constitution. The House needs to cut funding for the Senators and the President for refusing to act on Constitutionally required items.
As to the rich man paying his 'fair share' wait until they define rich as anyone making over $40,000 a year. You going to squeal like a piggy when they do that?
As to cutting, neither the demonicrats nor the rinos want any cuts. They deem it a cut when the rate of increase is held back. Government spending is out of control. Think of metastatic cancer when you think of government spending. When they run out of other people's money who will fund their gibs me dat programs? Ever seen a junkie going cold turkey? Going to be a whole lot of really upset people when their cradle to grave welfare gets cut off and it doesn't benefit the country at all to do it.
Anonymous: (So many anonymous commenters on this site) -- OBama and the Dems and Boehner came to an agreement of both taxes on the rich man and cuts. Boehner couldn't get it past his Tea Partiers. Fact.
Why do you care so much about the rich? If you're so concerned about government spending why not cut entitlements to Big Oil, say, along with all those other cuts you want? But no, no mention of that. Why is that?
Big oil? ROTFLMFAO. How much do they make on every dollar sale? $.90? No, too high. $.25? No still way too high. (Not so big oil) makes on the average $.06 per dollar. The federal, state and local governments taxes amount to nearly $.50 for ever dollar spent on gasoline. Of that profit the big oil companies turn around and spend a lot of on finding new sources of oil and run the risk of a dry well each time they drill. Big investments on an iffy return. You'd be amazed at how low gas prices are outside of Chicago. Some are even under $3.00/gallon.
So the Tea Party folks kept a rino from making a bad deal. Good. Might be time to turn off the money spigot and to ask for some responsible people in government.
Why do I care so much about the rich? Who defines who is rich? Some tard politician? When the politicians drop the definition of rich from $250,000 to $40,000 and tax those people making $40,000 at confiscatory rates this country is over. The US has the fattest poor people on the face of the planet.
Nice try though. Come back when you have something to argue with.
Who is greedier MPots - the oile companies who profit after investing, securing (fighting) regulatory zealots, refining and distributing oil and gasoline which powers our country. And yes they make a profit. However, the governtments who tax this product are the greedy ones. They latch onto the companies product like leeches and suck more money by far in TAXES out of the consumer - then the oile company makes in profit (after all the work done to provide the product). In fact it is against the law to post on your gas pump exactly what the consumer is paying in TAXES on a gallon of gas. My advice is to take an Econ class - (MIcro not Macro). If they taught a little of this in schools today instead of diversity, blah blah blah blah......
Anonymous 1 who LHVBFAO: Where are you getting your figures? Your local bartender? A genie? Even a tax advisor for the American Petroleum Institute, whose bias is clear, puts the profit figure at 5.7 cents for every dollar of sales. Additionally, we give them tax breaks on research and development -- allowances that help oil companies to recover the cost of drilling, sometimes more than 100% (from the Fiscal Times). Again, check your sources. Regarding the definition of rich, who's dropping the definition from those making over $250,000 to $40,000? Whatever are you talking about?
Bill Daley wants to run for governor, says Quinn is a poor leader, says he can do a better job. Why should we believe that. Look at his brothers track record. Corrupt and in over his head. Both. Look at what that bastard did to our city. No thank you Bill.
I will start with some of the most remarkably dishonest and often irksome statements that have been thrown about.
In no particular order:
a) Social Security is Bankrupt Truth: it is alive, well, and solvent.
b) The Rich Pay All the Taxes Truth: 30% or so of tax revenue is from payroll taxes, which is CAPPED at 110k. Truth: 50% of the government's intake/revenue is from the income tax, from ordinary people like you and me. Truth: Corp. taxes amount to just over 10% of revenue (so much for high corporate tax rates. Truth: Dividends and Capital Gains are how the rich "[re]characterize" their incomes, thereby avoiding the ordinary rates (50% of revenues) and obtaining the preferred tax rate.
c) [Insert Percentage] of Americans Pay No Taxes Truth: From payroll to federal excise (I think about 12% or so of federal tax revenue, even higher than corp. taxes, comes from federal excise taxes on guns, liquor, etc.) to sales taxes to property taxes (directly or indirectly through rent), * * *ALL* * * Americans pay some form of tax.
d) Gay Marriage Will Destroy [Civilization/Marriage/Family/America/Other] Truth: I hope that those trying to push my country off a fiscal cliff do not persuade my religion to go off a reasonable cliff. Liberty and personal freedom are values to never compromise.
e) Speaking of Cliffs: Boehner Truth: I was going to insert ha! ha! ha! But, I somewhat feel sorry for him. Probably the worst Speaker - ever? PHew. Enough said. I think.
f) Lower the Debt/Deficit By Implementing Trillions In Tax Cuts Truth: a simple mathematical impossibility. Truth: please see the fiscal policies and their consequences of George Bush (the Younger and Much Less Bright Bush). By the way, he actually slammed the phone on his dad when he told him to not invade Iraq.
I do not think I hurt anyone's feelings to badly or at all. The . . . sundry republican party is not sustainable but for semi-open/closed primaries, gerrymandering, and the electoral college. The way we have engineered our election . . . system sustains a two-party system, which I think has enabled this party to remain in its rabies-like, crazed existence. Many friends and family of mine are republican; it is nothing personal. I just think the republican party's leaders are . . . well, you get the point by now. The republican party is its own worst enemy, but now they are going to take us off a cliff. This crazy (rabies?).
Some economically irrelevent "facts" brought to you by Communist College Professors and America hating bloggers.
Truth is Democrats have not passed an actual budget in FOUR years !
Truth is we had a major terrorist attack on September 11th of THIS YEAR and it was basically censored by the media. (P.s. there were actually survivors of these attacks, some are in hospitals still....never saw that ANYWHERE) Never saw an interview by Wolf Blitzer, or any other media person....Never saw an investigation by anyone...Fox News tried, but no other media source would do so.... (These are the same media hounds who a year AFTER Sarah Palin left political office went up in droves to Alaska to pour over literally thousands of emails that were made public after litigation. All to try to smear her after she left office. Of course they found NOTHING but boy did they look and look and look and look and look and look.....but our Ambassador dragged into the street and attacks happening over 10 hours and no Marines, no planes, no special forces, with a live drone feed to the WH....Oh no nothing to see here....no move along...
Truth is the media have become another wing of the Democrat (Socialist) Party of America.
Truth: look at the Democrat platform, the union web sites, and the Communist Party web sites. I see an awful lot of parallels. Kinda like kissin cousins...
You dance on the grave of the Republican Party prematurely oh Communist Union member troll. The fact is that there are more Republicans holding offices in the US than in seventy years ! I admit it has been harder to win nationally with voting going on for weeks and the amazing ability to cheat under these circumstances. Even the United Nations "monitors" were dumbfounded that we COULD NOT ask voters to show some ID to prove who they are. Never mind that you could not even rent a video without showing ID. (Romney won every state where you were required to show ID and Lost every state where you were NOT allowed to ask for ID) Which scenario invites easier fraud?
Another problem the Republicans face is that the general media culture, the arts, the teaching profession from Kindergarten to Graduate level are basically controlled by the left in America. To the liberal post above I would ask a simple hypothetical question. If someone were to write a biography of your life and the person was your bitter enemy, how do you think you would come across in the book? If the book was written by someone who admired, respected and agreed with your life outlook, would not you come across favorably ? The media HATES Republicans and have become such partisan hacks that they have become whores for the Democrats. I often go to UK media to get better, in depth reporting. I am not saying Consevative reporting, just objective (that means BOTH sides of an argument honsestly portrayed)
Are you personal friends with George Bush Senior? Or did you work for them and witness this "fact" you claim - that Bush Jr. slammed the phone down on his Dad ? Sounds highly unlikely - but why are we STILL in Iraq four years after Obummer was elected? He PROMISED to get us out in 90 days, or was it six months, or nine months,? He tallked about this alot during the FIRST campaign before he was ever PResident. Why dont Democrats care now? They seemed to REALY REALLY care before - when Bush was President! Kinda makes you wonder if they were just using the war as a club to beat up Republicans....you know politicizing foreign policy! They would never do that....would they? I mean they were SO SO against GITMO and so called torture tactics, you know,, before, when Bush was President. Now that the same policies have continued month after month, year after year under Obummer.....well now we dont care so much. "War is not the Answer".... yeah used to have that sign up, but I took it down once Obama won cuz....well, well I am not sure why, probably because it would make him look bad. Maybe I will just change my sign a little to read "War is Not the Answer...unless a Democrat is President"
You can call Tea Party people Neanderthals all you want, but we are borrowing 40 cents on EVERY dollar we spend at the federal level. This is truly insane. I think the Tea Party people are the only ones who are telling us that the Emperor has no clothes (or in this case no money). Raising tax rates now will hurt the economy, Obama admitted it himself. And noone seems to be stating something hypocrital of the Dems...they have basically agreed that the Bush tax cuts should stay for most Americans.
They claim to want only to tax the top bracket but they will not get enought money to fund their Great Socialist experiment. They are already coming for the middle class.
It's too bad facts have become anti-American and Communist propaganda of the Leftist Socialist media and entertainment conglomerate -- oh, yeah, and education, too. Apparently, this includes Fox News -- we can't make any distinctions here. O yeah, and while I'm at it, there's too many black loafers and children around -- (fact); and the President is black, which accounts for all current troubles. He's a big Socialist loafer himself (and so's his wife).
1) Dishonesty. Where was I dishonest in any point, a through f? If you can find a single incorrect statement, I will recant the statement and humbly provide a correction.
2) Tea Regime. The Tea Party was originally an organic movement spurred by the wild spending. It was captured/hijacked by the Republican elite, thereby losing credibility. The protests against government waste and abuse were redirected to, of all things, transfer taxes. Tea Partiers live in this bubble that THEIR taxes are always going up, when they are going down. Many local and state taxes have gone up as a result of the Bush Admin. not funding state and local programs, thereby shifting the burden onto the states’ taxpayers.
And notice how they never complain about excise taxes. Why not protest, say, fuel excise taxes, which does actually impact your pocketbook? Why protest transfer taxes that you will never have to pay?
3) Communism. The last remnants of socialism and communism are in China, Laos, Vietnam, and Cuba. But I have said that the Tea Party is really like Mao’s Cultural Revolution. They want to take us off a cliff and possibly irreparably damage our credit rating in order to “save us from ourselves.” Notice how they attack professors and “intellectuals.” That is exactly what the communists did during their cultural revolutions.
4) Republican Party Survival. But for gerrymandering, the Electoral College, and the closed primary systems among the states, the Republican Party would not be able to survive.
5) Foreign Policy. I would be happy to discuss this one, but I see no material difference between Obama’s foreign policy and Bush’s.
6) The Liberal Media. Which is the liberal format? Radio? I thought the right dominated radio. Print? As in the Wall Street Journal? Or the broadcast channel of record, Fox News? The Republicans dominate the media by telling people that the media is controlled by liberals, and it is sad that some Republicans believe this malarkey (thanks for the word, Joe).
7) Funding Priorities. The Bush funding priorities were bureau of prisons, offensive military spending, offensive weapons systems, homeland security, and energy (subsidies). Bush used the credit card on these priorities and handled the bill to taxpayer.
8) Romney Won Every Voter ID State. Romney LOST every state where he owns a home and has a residence, except Utah. He will not even live among his own constituents. (Burned.)
9) Tough Audience. I have been accused of being a “communist union member troll” (try saying that fast five times).
10) Parking Costs. This is outrageous and ridiculous.
This is a fun debate. It sounds more bitter than it is.
Thanks much for this tonic. Pay no attention to the tough audience. A lot of people on this blog substitute name calling for cogent argument. They just repeat what they hear from Limbaugh or Hannity, ad infinitum. It's why the Republican Party will not win on the national ticket for some time -- they are too much in thrall to the Kochs and others like them -- and the reverence on this blog for the rich is very strange to me.
That is exactly what you do....Answer me whether or not Obama was a known fan of Saul Alinsky. Also his buddy ( you know the house where he began his entire political career) was none other than Bill (bomb the police station when it is most filled) Ayers, a true nut job. Obama is and always has been a radical, not a Democrat or even a liberal. Oh I forgot Frank Marshall Davis the black Communist that his looney leftist Grandparents had him hang around with as an adolescent. A Perv, a pot dealer, an actual Communist writer.... OR his avowed atheist, leftist Mother....these too are facts, just facts hidden by the main stream media. I would take a successful businessman with a main stream life over this goofy empty suit any day. Meanwhile the Socialist utopia of Illinois is crumbling financially, with over 100 billion in unfunded pension and liabilities...they are getting ready to make the TEMPORARY 50% tax hike, oh I mean the 50% turned 67% tax hike PERMANENT... what a shock AND they are talking about borrowing more money...It is not radical to think this is horrible management of the peoples money. Never ever ever ever ever actually CUT a penny - just shut up and pay more and more and more and more. Kinda like Democrat water boarding....
Obama knows we are going back into another recession under his watch after coming out of the last recession with the weakest recovery in 50 years. His new Obamacare taxes will hit and he needs someone to blame...So we will call the current situation a "fiscal cliff" and we will blame the Republicans and the media will go along with us. Nothing will ever be Obamas fault....
However, year after year seeing this guy yammer on and on and meanwhile NO jobs will wear on Obama and he will not be popular in two years. Spending and taxing ourselves into prosperity has never worked and it is not working now. Deep down I think people did not want Obama to fail and so gave him another chance. There were NO signs for him anywhere in the 19th Ward. Why - if he was so great did people not want to show their support? Unions have lied to their members to get them to stay with the DemocRATS even though so many union tradesman are out of work...Here is a flash...in 2005 there were approx. 33,000 housing start permits...in 2012 nearly FOUR YEARS after the recession there were 3,600 for the whole year! Where are all those excavator jobs, those concrete guys, the bricklayers, carpenters, surveyors, electricians, window manufacturers, roofers, flooring salespeople, appliances, painters, Realtors, salespeople of all the materials, the workers at the plants to make the products, the landscapers, drywallers. Obama failed them and was the guy in charge during the worst Real Estate collapse in history...and still no end in sight....foreclosures are still at an astronomical number with more to come. Where was he for these people?
By John Byrne Tribune reporter 11:10 p.m. CST, December 26, 2012
In an annual ritual that has become as predictable if not as joyous as a New Year’s Eve countdown to midnight, Chicago drivers again will have to dig a little deeper to pay to park at meters in 2013.
Loop rates will go up 75 cents to $6.50 an hour as part of scheduled fee increases included in Mayor Richard Daley’s much-criticized 2008 lease of the city’s meters to Chicago Parking Meters LLC.
Paid street parking in neighborhoods near the Loop will rise 25 cents and reach $4 an hour. Metered spaces in the rest of Chicago also will increase by a quarter per hour, to $2, according to the company.
Come the new year, workers will begin adjusting the now-familiar pay boxes to reflect the new rates in the Loop, from there working outward into the neighborhoods, the company said in a news release Wednesday.
Chicago Parking Meters hopes to have all the meters set to the new rates by the end of February, and drivers won’t have to pay the steeper rate until the box they’re using has been changed.
This is the last of the explicitly defined yearly meter jumps included in the company’s 75-year, $1.15 billion lease. But Chicago drivers shouldn’t expect the cost of parking to level out — starting in 2014, prices can be adjusted annually using a formula tied to the rate of inflation.
Daley’s parking meter deal has become something of a political boogeyman in Chicago over the years.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has opted to bash it, talking occasionally about the bad deal reached by his predecessor and saying he won’t simply pay up when the company hands the city invoices for lost meter revenue due to street closures and other reasons.
The city's unpaid tab for lost parking meter revenue now tops $61 million as Emanuel disputes bills the company has sent. It’s unclear how much the city will be able to knock off that total.
Some aldermen, stung by constituents’ criticism of their overwhelming support of the meter lease barely two days after Daley handed them the proposal, have called on Emanuel to give them more time to consider far-reaching deals. Still, Emanuel’s digital billboard agreement quickly sailed through the council 43-6 this month despite opponents drawing comparisons to the parking meter deal.
Most parking meters in Chicago neighborhoods cost 25 cents an hour after the City Council approved the meter lease by a 40-5 vote in December 2008.
Neighborhood meters went up to $1 an hour in January 2009 and have increased each year since, along with those downtown.
Illinois lawmakers will be headed back to Springfield shortly after the new year to vote on several key issues facing the state, the largest of which could be a vote to make 2011’s historic tax hike permanent (it’s supposed to begin sunsetting after FY 2014). This is not being openly discussed just yet, but politically, it makes sense to rush this through now, rather than have it be a major issue in the next gubernatorial election. Remember in Jan. 2011, the income tax increase was passed in both chambers less than 24 hours after it was written up.
Here are some of the most important pieces of legislation and issues that could receive votes within the next week:
Making the Jan. 2011 record income tax increase permanent. The tax hike has cost the average Illinois family over $1,500 dollars. When passed, lawmakers promised it was temporary, but given the lack of spending reforms seen since then, it’s not surprising they want it made permanent. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers. Pension reform. While it’s uncertain whether we will see an actual vote on any pension reform package, the Nekritz/Biss proposal will be likely be the center point of the discussion. That proposal is woefully inadequate to deliver the sort of reform we need to resolve the $200B in unfunded pension liabilities that our state currently has. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers. Minimum wage increase. Illinois currently has the fourth highest minimum wage in the country, and new legislation could raise it to $10.25, making it the highest in the nation and a full $3.00 higher than all of our bordering states. This could be disastrous for job creation in our state. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers. $4B borrowing package. State government has borrowed billions of dollars three times in the past decade, and it’s about time lawmakers stop using that as a crutch rather than tackle unsustainable spending levels. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers. Medicaid expansion. With the state being late in making its payments, more and more doctors are refusing to take Medicaid patients. This results in long waits for patients and the Medicaid failing those people who need the help most. The solution is not to pour more people into this failing program. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers. ObamaCare exchanges. Illinois should join the 20 states that have decided to opt-out of setting up its own health insurance exchanges. Our state does not need to add $100M in annual operating costs to its annual budgets, while receiving little to no benefit in return. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers.
Wow. Great info. You should forward this letter to the Beverly Review and readers here should make a call to New Fran and Bill Cunningham's offices. Let them know we are not their Cash Station cards to be used whenever they need (or more accurately when they WANY) to use it.
I was at Beverly country club the other day and i saw this woman retired from the city with a big big pension and her husband former judge in their bmw. City pensions pay nice. I was there fixing the parking lot.
You mean because a Democrat whose entire career is controlled by Madigan said, during her campaign, that she was for "tax relief"? Oh well then, I guess we have nothing to worry about. We don't have any precedent for a Democrat promising tax "relief" and then raising taxes, do we ?
I have a question. Has anyone ever seen Bill Cunningham and Cara Oshea in the same room together? I swear they are identical twins. Is it the genes or just coincidence? Next time you see them take a close look.
My question is not intended to take away from the beautiful and charming Mrs. Oshea just as it is not intended to flatter Mr. Cunningham.
Tom Dart is sueing John Maher. How is that going for him. Maher won the purple heart in Afgainistan and then he comes back to help Dart and gets fired and then he got sueed. Never forget that.
Everyone in this neighborhood is related. Maloney is related to Hynes who is related to Cunninham who is related to o"sHea who is related to Sheahan who is related Rugai who is related to Joyce who is related to the Cardinal.
I really do not like how predatory the City of Chicago has become, or perhaps always has been. But I feel like motorists are an exploited bunch. This is really a municipal and state predatory practice.
Cost of purchase a car and the taxes on it. Taxes on fuel. Photo enforcement. Aggressive parking enforcement. Boot a car after two tickets.
All of this together seems pathetic and predatory to me. Parking costs to boot (no pun intended). It is totally out of control the way that motorists are harassed, photoed, ticketed, fined, and abused from the day they purchase a car to the day they fill up to the day they park. It is extreme.
I've just looked at some older campaign literature. They must have been separated at birth. I'm sure its just a coincidence. You can probably do some kind of comparison based on pictures on the web. It would also make a nice "find the three differences between these pictures" Sunday puzzler.
The Citgo gas station was robbed at gun point this evening on 111th & Lawndale. I pulled up to buy lottery tickets and saw the police and Alderman Oshea. I want to say that Alderman Oshea is a great Alderman. For Oshea to come out on a Friday night to make sure that everyone was OK shows he cares about his ward and his community, thanks Matt, you truely are a great Alderman !!
There have been a rash of armed robberies in the 13th Ward, I wonder how many Marty Quinn went too ? My guess 0 !! All that matters to the Quinn brothers are the votes not the community or anyone in it, thats a shame. So everyone in the 19th Ward should be grateful we have Oshea and not one of the Quinns' representing us.
I would like this blog to expand on the concepts of who is related to whom. The connections mentioned yesterday was not something I was aware of.
I would also like more information on the concept of multiple government pensions that some of the political types are reportedly getting. At a time that governments everywhere are failing because of pension obligations, more needs to be learned.
Monique Davis is Tom Hynes 3rd cousin..She has Norman blood in her that is what they call the dark irish. Emil Jones is also an in-law of Tom Hynes.
Gus Savage is a second cousin of Jerry Joyce.
Jesse Jackson's ancestors were slaves at the Sheahan Plantation in Alabama, but took the Jackson name from Andrew Jackson, since they could get patronage jobs in the Andrew Jackson administration, given that Andrew Jackson invented patronage in American Politics.
He is not. WE all grew up together and went to Christ the King together, nothing more. No relation. Just good friendships that were formed and bonds that were made from some of our parents having grown up together in the Little Flower neighborhood.
As a true radical disciple of the radical Saul Alinsky, Obama is in perpetual campaign mode. It is very easy when the media suck up to you. Just saw David Gregory interview. Softball after Softball question. Then Obama does what every single commie from the USSR/China/VietNam/North Korea/Cuba and Central America do ad nauseum is to simply fillibuster...Talking on and an and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on......That way noone can get many questions in or challenge what you say. While I'm no fan of Boehner, let's put things into perspective here. The demorats had 4 years to avert this fiscal cliff. Their spending is what got us here. They haven't passed a budget in any of those 4 years. Now, they're doing what they do best, lie and point fingers to cover their incompetent, socialist arses. And to add salt to the wound, Obama just gave the feds a raise by executive order. Sadly, the uneducated, ignorant, and radical left sheep will follow them...and more importantly the Media will shield him and act as his Ministry of Propaganda. However, we still have no jobs, no real recovery, home values are still going down In ILLinois. Higher taxes on the way, a gun grab attempt is coming....folks a storm is a brewin....
I really think Obama believes he is some sort of Lincoln figure. Newt Gingrich talked about how often Clinton would call him up and the days and days of negotiations he had with the Repuplican Congress. He would call Newt at midnight. Not Obumbler though... no he hasn't called the Republican leader since November. He has never produced a specific spending budget (like every other President has done save for one, which was voted down by everyone - even the Democrats.) No he plans on sitting back while we go over the cliff. He knows that the media will assist him in blaming Republicans. He completely misreads his election win....this is Obama's economy now...it is time he mans up and acts like a LIncoln, but don't hold your breath.
Marty Quinn (13th Ward Alderman) who is nothing more then the Speakers spokesman on the city council, is related to Mike Sheahan. A cousin or nephew somehow, not sure if through marriage or blood.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery sidestepped a direct question about the future of free agent middle linebacker Brian Urlacher but did say the veteran defender's level of play was improving at the time of his season-ending hamstring injury in Week 13.
Emery was asked if the club would make an attempt to re-sign the 34-year old Urlacher after the Bears cut ties with head coach Lovie Smith. Urlacher and Smith had a close relationship and the middle linebacker had thrived in Smith's defensive scheme since 2004.
"Good question, and I respect you asking that question," Emery said. "I will tell you that any of the contract situations I'm not going to speak on. I said it from the very beginning: I feel that is a privacy issue between the player the team. Those kind of discussions will happen with Brian and his agents, and that is where we will leave it."
Urlacher has long maintained he wanted to play only for Smith.
to all quaint irish people on the south side,never forget your place in life,you may have a city welfare position but like the Kennedys and Daleys you may be wearing a white shirt but you have a dirty neck.you lost your place in life when you went from being kitchen help and chauffers for your betters to putting on airs and joining country clubs where you were never welcome by the Protestant Establishment but still tried to social climb and name drop.we of the WASP circles laughed at your pitiful attempts to imgratiate yourselves with your betters and then send your off spring to top circle schools which the innevitably flunked out of or were asked to leave and then when you became intoxicated the true irish pig emerged from the bog.could dress you in masters old cast offs but couldnt take you any where,when the ringmaster for the Simbian in charge told you to vote for him you asked when and how many times,you and yours are pathetic,John Chamberlain the 3rd, Winnetka Illinois,
Either good sarcasm or self serving b.s. The South Side Irish have always gone where WE wanted - not where YOU did or did NOT want us to go! We marched in the streets of Boston, NY, and Chicago with a collective middle finger to the Wasps who hated us. It is a shame that after all the fighting for our religion, our rights in America, the new generation of idiotic sycophants who now run what is left of the 19th Ward have completely relinquished all that our forefathers fought for in order to get a second place seat at the new Minority Party (Democrats). We are now following the decadent Wasp culture into obscurity. Your children's cities, States and country will be run by and FOR the minorities - at the expense of your grandkids. Oh and your grandkids will all be taught how evil WE were.
What happens if we go off the cliff.
ReplyDeleteNOTHING
DeleteMitch McConnell seems to be taking his marching orders from Obama. He wants to agree to cut taxes today but we can talk about the cuts next week? is he kidding?
Deletedats why they call them republicans. a real messed up party.
DeleteNothing really except we pay more taxes and have less disposable income. Also we refuse to vent anger on elected officials in Washington and it just gets worse. Remember, never think of voting them out.
ReplyDeleteThe real end of the world scenario is what happens when the dollar implodes. Its not a matter of if the dollar implodes but when. This is a result of deficit spending since fiscal year 1969 (Nixon) until today. That is when we have the Great Depression II.
We are going over the fiscal cliff in part because of Obams arrogance and refusal to negotiate with the republicans. He refuses to cut the spending.
ReplyDeleteHe has to reward his voters.
Delete19th Ward and Crookago, Illinois is the Headquarters of the Democommunist Party, USA. Thanks for NOTHING in return for my tax Dollars, you Thieves and Traitors to America. Hope you all rot in Hell.
ReplyDeleteI think Alderman O'Shea has made great strides in flushing the filth out of the 19th ward offices. Greed and incompetence is leaving to be replaced by people that truly care about our neighborhood. O'Shea is not done yet. There are still a few more that need to be gone. Thank you Matt.
Delete......"O'Shea has made great strides in flushing the filth out of the 19th ward offices".......
DeletePlease elaborate on this one?
Take a look all the conmen are gone. so are the horney frustrated housewives that used to work there answering the phones.
DeleteKnown?
DeleteWhere are those women now????
DeleteThe term was "Horny Broads and it was Jimmy Piersall that said it and got fired from the Sox.
DeleteMatt is swell.
DeleteI hope we go over the cliff. After the Tea Party neanderthals refused to let the rich man pay the piper, part of both revenue-raising and paying down the deficit that Boehner wanted, they wrote their own epitaph. You CANNOT just cut, cut, cut in a recession.
ReplyDeleteSo you tax tax in a recession? The wealthiest 10 percent pay seventy percent of ALL federal taxes. That is not enough? Obama wants to punish people making 250k per year...those people are not the "rich". Taxing anybody more is not going to solve the deficit problem in Washington. Obama and the Dems want literally NO cuts in spending...because spending other people's money is what gives them power. Obama has launched another major welfare program....Obamacare in the midst of the worst economic disaster in half a century.
DeleteIf you found that you could no longer afford all the bills in your own household what would you do? Maybe you could put some short term expenses on credit (Obama), but eventually you have to raise your income AND cut your spending. Why is it that the government is exempt from ever doing without MORE. I see too many loafers in this city to think we cant cut some "entitlements". STart by kicking the 1/3 of the kids in the State medical insurance program who are ILLEGAL off. NO MONEY in form of WELFARE for any foreign born "resident". You like America so much then pay your own way. That is just one of literally thousands of ways we can CUT during a recession. It ALWAYS works whenever it is done. Socialism and Keynesian government "stimulus" and borrowing is what the real definition of "fiscal cliff"is.
DeleteTo anonymous #1: You do both, like Clinton did. I'm a member of the middle class. Why are you carrying water for the rich? Obama and the Dems want no cuts? What are you listening to? It's simply false.
DeleteTo anonymous #2: Fine, in principle, let's kick kids off the welfare roles, but let's keep entitlements for big business. By all means.
Read the Bible: it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter heaven.
You are the guy always ripping on people and religion. Yet you throw it out there too. There are not enough "rich" people to pay our bills. We have to cut back our spending. Obama has cut nothing. Our government is now spending nearly a trillion more per year (thanks to his stimuLESS). That is now the new normal. We are spending our kids and grandkids money on people who won't work. We can see them around us constantly. I shop at ALDI to save money and I invite you to meet me there any day and you will see the Link Card abusers buy far more than basic foods....and alot more than me...sometimes they play Link Card roulette. Oh... this one doesnt work...try this other card...oh no that is the wrong code number....(while in line I will call home or wherever and get the right code). Muslims pulling them out at the Walmart. Why should any foreigner be allowed one dime of American tax payers money ? You can say these things are just stories. I and many of us see this crap constantly. We are sick of it and we know more taxes for everyone is coming. Obama submitted only ONE budget in four years ! The media says nothing. And noone voted for it - even Democrats. By they way the story of the "eye of the needle" is a metaphor for a pass through a mountainous area of the region where the only way a camel could get through at one bottle neck was to bow down. Rich people are not doomed to hell, despite what you hope. What about the greed of government, or the envy of others. The greed of endless teachers griping when they received a 16 percent RAISE during the worst economic downturn in 50 years. Gotta tell ya, my lower lip is raw and bloody biting down on it rather than tell these malcontents what I think of them.
DeleteEntitlements for big business? Yes there is certainly some examples too, like buying GM, Chrysler, the big banks....the whole "too big to fail mentality". Yeah good point. Or GE who paid little or no taxes....or 60 billion for Green Energy companies that went bust...we are out literally hundreds of billions of dollars to Solyndra, (we estimate to lose 50 billion on GM alone)....all these groups just happen to be supporters (contributors) of the great man of the people...Obama. Oh forgot about our CEO at Google who is all for making "those of us who are successful pay their fair share" but then spent millions of dollars to secure write offs and lower Googles tax burden by uber millions....I know Obama cashed alot of money for this guy. Don't forget those wars he was going to get us out of (he just sent 3,000 MORE troups to IRAQ) but once again the media doesnt' care....War IS the Answer now.....where did all those anti-war protesting idealists go ?
DeleteMPots you have to be a schoolteacher. You sound like a college student introduced to "the truth" for the first time by your garden variety Left Wing Professor. When you do your research for your version of Conspiracy Theory, why don't you Google the convicted criminal George Soros. A real creapy guy.
DeleteWhy are the liberals so obsessed with "the rich"? If we raise the rates to 39.5% for those who make over $250,000 jointly - then we are going to have prosperity? This will raise a pittance, and Hurricane Sandy will eat up more than this move will raise. This income level includes small business who are the people who create real jobs, not jobs paid for by tax payers, but rather jobs that create pay checks which are then taxed by governments to pay for all their spending. We have not, as a nation, cut back on acutal outlays EVER! So we can NEVER, even one or two years cut back spending? I agree that multi multi millionaires would not be hurt and dividend millionaires probably do not help with employment but we have to cut spending. Obama and the Democrats NEVER cut spending in Washington because in their spending and handouts lie their power.
Deleteto Anonymous #3 -- You're proving my point in spades. And your interpretation of the "eye of the needle" is how some conservatives like to spin it to ease their discomfort with the saying. Most biblical scholars would suggest otherwise.
DeleteAnonymous #4 -- Agreed, for the most part. That's why I didn't vote for Obama.
Anonymous #5: thanks for the compliment. The schoolteachers I know are smart, dedicated, and tired, but kicked Rahm's ass anyway, and I'm proud of them on that score. Wake up from your Laz-e-boy, turn off the Fox channel, and put the bottle away.
to Anonymous #6: One question -- were you against Clinton's tax rates? Define outlays. Welfare system outlays? Like the ones Clinton cut?
Ever more and higher taxes are the Democrat party's answer to every problem. "A Govt. that trys to tax itself to prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket trying to life himself by it's handle." Winston Churchill
ReplyDelete"MPots26 December, 2012
ReplyDeleteI hope we go over the cliff. After the Tea Party neanderthals refused to let the rich man pay the piper, part of both revenue-raising and paying down the deficit that Boehner wanted, they wrote their own epitaph. You CANNOT just cut, cut, cut in a recession. "
Tea Party neanderthals? Come on you can do better than that. How many years has it been since there's been a budget? The demonicrats couldn't even put together a budget when they held a majority in the House, Senate, and the Presidency. Continuing resolution? Don't see that in the Constitution. The House needs to cut funding for the Senators and the President for refusing to act on Constitutionally required items.
As to the rich man paying his 'fair share' wait until they define rich as anyone making over $40,000 a year. You going to squeal like a piggy when they do that?
As to cutting, neither the demonicrats nor the rinos want any cuts. They deem it a cut when the rate of increase is held back. Government spending is out of control. Think of metastatic cancer when you think of government spending. When they run out of other people's money who will fund their gibs me dat programs? Ever seen a junkie going cold turkey? Going to be a whole lot of really upset people when their cradle to grave welfare gets cut off and it doesn't benefit the country at all to do it.
Anonymous: (So many anonymous commenters on this site) -- OBama and the Dems and Boehner came to an agreement of both taxes on the rich man and cuts. Boehner couldn't get it past his Tea Partiers. Fact.
DeleteWhy do you care so much about the rich? If you're so concerned about government spending why not cut entitlements to Big Oil, say, along with all those other cuts you want? But no, no mention of that. Why is that?
Big oil? ROTFLMFAO. How much do they make on every dollar sale? $.90? No, too high. $.25? No still way too high. (Not so big oil) makes on the average $.06 per dollar. The federal, state and local governments taxes amount to nearly $.50 for ever dollar spent on gasoline. Of that profit the big oil companies turn around and spend a lot of on finding new sources of oil and run the risk of a dry well each time they drill. Big investments on an iffy return. You'd be amazed at how low gas prices are outside of Chicago. Some are even under $3.00/gallon.
DeleteSo the Tea Party folks kept a rino from making a bad deal. Good. Might be time to turn off the money spigot and to ask for some responsible people in government.
Why do I care so much about the rich? Who defines who is rich? Some tard politician? When the politicians drop the definition of rich from $250,000 to $40,000 and tax those people making $40,000 at confiscatory rates this country is over. The US has the fattest poor people on the face of the planet.
Nice try though. Come back when you have something to argue with.
Who is greedier MPots - the oile companies who profit after investing, securing (fighting) regulatory zealots, refining and distributing oil and gasoline which powers our country. And yes they make a profit. However, the governtments who tax this product are the greedy ones. They latch onto the companies product like leeches and suck more money by far in TAXES out of the consumer - then the oile company makes in profit (after all the work done to provide the product). In fact it is against the law to post on your gas pump exactly what the consumer is paying in TAXES on a gallon of gas. My advice is to take an Econ class - (MIcro not Macro). If they taught a little of this in schools today instead of diversity, blah blah blah blah......
DeleteAnonymous 1 who LHVBFAO: Where are you getting your figures? Your local bartender? A genie? Even a tax advisor for the American Petroleum Institute, whose bias is clear, puts the profit figure at 5.7 cents for every dollar of sales. Additionally, we give them tax breaks on research and development -- allowances that help oil companies to recover the cost of drilling, sometimes more than 100% (from the Fiscal Times). Again, check your sources. Regarding the definition of rich, who's dropping the definition from those making over $250,000 to $40,000? Whatever are you talking about?
DeleteAnonymous #2: Go back to sleep.
Bill Daley wants to run for governor, says Quinn is a poor leader, says he can do a better job. Why should we believe that. Look at his brothers track record. Corrupt and in over his head. Both. Look at what that bastard did to our city. No thank you Bill.
ReplyDeleteI don/t think one can blame the former mayor for the economic downturn.
DeleteI will start with some of the most remarkably dishonest and often irksome statements that have been thrown about.
ReplyDeleteIn no particular order:
a) Social Security is Bankrupt
Truth: it is alive, well, and solvent.
b) The Rich Pay All the Taxes
Truth: 30% or so of tax revenue is from payroll taxes, which is CAPPED at 110k.
Truth: 50% of the government's intake/revenue is from the income tax, from ordinary people like you and me.
Truth: Corp. taxes amount to just over 10% of revenue (so much for high corporate tax rates.
Truth: Dividends and Capital Gains are how the rich "[re]characterize" their incomes, thereby avoiding the ordinary rates (50% of revenues) and obtaining the preferred tax rate.
c) [Insert Percentage] of Americans Pay No Taxes
Truth: From payroll to federal excise (I think about 12% or so of federal tax revenue, even higher than corp. taxes, comes from federal excise taxes on guns, liquor, etc.) to sales taxes to property taxes (directly or indirectly through rent), * * *ALL* * * Americans pay some form of tax.
d) Gay Marriage Will Destroy [Civilization/Marriage/Family/America/Other]
Truth: I hope that those trying to push my country off a fiscal cliff do not persuade my religion to go off a reasonable cliff. Liberty and personal freedom are values to never compromise.
e) Speaking of Cliffs: Boehner
Truth: I was going to insert ha! ha! ha! But, I somewhat feel sorry for him. Probably the worst Speaker - ever? PHew. Enough said. I think.
f) Lower the Debt/Deficit By Implementing Trillions In Tax Cuts
Truth: a simple mathematical impossibility.
Truth: please see the fiscal policies and their consequences of George Bush (the Younger and Much Less Bright Bush). By the way, he actually slammed the phone on his dad when he told him to not invade Iraq.
I do not think I hurt anyone's feelings to badly or at all. The . . . sundry republican party is not sustainable but for semi-open/closed primaries, gerrymandering, and the electoral college. The way we have engineered our election . . . system sustains a two-party system, which I think has enabled this party to remain in its rabies-like, crazed existence. Many friends and family of mine are republican; it is nothing personal. I just think the republican party's leaders are . . . well, you get the point by now. The republican party is its own worst enemy, but now they are going to take us off a cliff. This crazy (rabies?).
Some economically irrelevent "facts" brought to you by Communist College Professors and America hating bloggers.
DeleteTruth is Democrats have not passed an actual budget in FOUR years !
Truth is we had a major terrorist attack on September 11th of THIS YEAR and it was basically censored by the media. (P.s. there were actually survivors of these attacks, some are in hospitals still....never saw that ANYWHERE) Never saw an interview by Wolf Blitzer, or any other media person....Never saw an investigation by anyone...Fox News tried, but no other media source would do so....
(These are the same media hounds who a year AFTER Sarah Palin left political office went up in droves to Alaska to pour over literally thousands of emails that were made public after litigation. All to try to smear her after she left office. Of course they found NOTHING but boy did they look and look and look and look and look and look.....but our Ambassador dragged into the street and attacks happening over 10 hours and no Marines, no planes, no special forces, with a live drone feed to the WH....Oh no nothing to see here....no move along...
Truth is the media have become another wing of the Democrat (Socialist) Party of America.
Truth: look at the Democrat platform, the union web sites, and the Communist Party web sites. I see an awful lot of parallels. Kinda like kissin cousins...
You dance on the grave of the Republican Party prematurely oh Communist Union member troll. The fact is that there are more Republicans holding offices in the US than in seventy years ! I admit it has been harder to win nationally with voting going on for weeks and the amazing ability to cheat under these circumstances. Even the United Nations "monitors" were dumbfounded that we COULD NOT ask voters to show some ID to prove who they are. Never mind that you could not even rent a video without showing ID. (Romney won every state where you were required to show ID and Lost every state where you were NOT allowed to ask for ID) Which scenario invites easier fraud?
DeleteAnother problem the Republicans face is that the general media culture, the arts, the teaching profession from Kindergarten to Graduate level are basically controlled by the left in America. To the liberal post above I would ask a simple hypothetical question. If someone were to write a biography of your life and the person was your bitter enemy, how do you think you would come across in the book? If the book was written by someone who admired, respected and agreed with your life outlook, would not you come across favorably ? The media HATES Republicans and have become such partisan hacks that they have become whores for the Democrats. I often go to UK media to get better, in depth reporting. I am not saying Consevative reporting, just objective (that means BOTH sides of an argument honsestly portrayed)
DeleteAre you personal friends with George Bush Senior? Or did you work for them and witness this "fact" you claim - that Bush Jr. slammed the phone down on his Dad ? Sounds highly unlikely - but why are we STILL in Iraq four years after Obummer was elected? He PROMISED to get us out in 90 days, or was it six months, or nine months,? He tallked about this alot during the FIRST campaign before he was ever PResident. Why dont Democrats care now? They seemed to REALY REALLY care before - when Bush was President! Kinda makes you wonder if they were just using the war as a club to beat up Republicans....you know politicizing foreign policy! They would never do that....would they? I mean they were SO SO against GITMO and so called torture tactics, you know,, before, when Bush was President. Now that the same policies have continued month after month, year after year under Obummer.....well now we dont care so much. "War is not the Answer".... yeah used to have that sign up, but I took it down once Obama won cuz....well, well I am not sure why, probably because it would make him look bad. Maybe I will just change my sign a little to read "War is Not the Answer...unless a Democrat is President"
DeleteRonald Reagan It is not that liberals are stupid, they just know so many things that are not true
DeleteYou can call Tea Party people Neanderthals all you want, but we are borrowing 40 cents on EVERY dollar we spend at the federal level. This is truly insane. I think the Tea Party people are the only ones who are telling us that the Emperor has no clothes (or in this case no money). Raising tax rates now will hurt the economy, Obama admitted it himself. And noone seems to be stating something hypocrital of the Dems...they have basically agreed that the Bush tax cuts should stay for most Americans.
DeleteThey claim to want only to tax the top bracket but they will not get enought money to fund their Great Socialist experiment. They are already coming for the middle class.
Thanks for those facts, initial Anonymous.
DeleteIt's too bad facts have become anti-American and Communist propaganda of the Leftist Socialist media and entertainment conglomerate -- oh, yeah, and education, too. Apparently, this includes Fox News -- we can't make any distinctions here. O yeah, and while I'm at it, there's too many black loafers and children around -- (fact); and the President is black, which accounts for all current troubles. He's a big Socialist loafer himself (and so's his wife).
A few points in reply to the multiple responses:
Delete1) Dishonesty. Where was I dishonest in any point, a through f? If you can find a single incorrect statement, I will recant the statement and humbly provide a correction.
2) Tea Regime. The Tea Party was originally an organic movement spurred by the wild spending. It was captured/hijacked by the Republican elite, thereby losing credibility. The protests against government waste and abuse were redirected to, of all things, transfer taxes. Tea Partiers live in this bubble that THEIR taxes are always going up, when they are going down. Many local and state taxes have gone up as a result of the Bush Admin. not funding state and local programs, thereby shifting the burden onto the states’ taxpayers.
And notice how they never complain about excise taxes. Why not protest, say, fuel excise taxes, which does actually impact your pocketbook? Why protest transfer taxes that you will never have to pay?
3) Communism. The last remnants of socialism and communism are in China, Laos, Vietnam, and Cuba. But I have said that the Tea Party is really like Mao’s Cultural Revolution. They want to take us off a cliff and possibly irreparably damage our credit rating in order to “save us from ourselves.” Notice how they attack professors and “intellectuals.” That is exactly what the communists did during their cultural revolutions.
4) Republican Party Survival. But for gerrymandering, the Electoral College, and the closed primary systems among the states, the Republican Party would not be able to survive.
5) Foreign Policy. I would be happy to discuss this one, but I see no material difference between Obama’s foreign policy and Bush’s.
6) The Liberal Media. Which is the liberal format? Radio? I thought the right dominated radio. Print? As in the Wall Street Journal? Or the broadcast channel of record, Fox News? The Republicans dominate the media by telling people that the media is controlled by liberals, and it is sad that some Republicans believe this malarkey (thanks for the word, Joe).
7) Funding Priorities. The Bush funding priorities were bureau of prisons, offensive military spending, offensive weapons systems, homeland security, and energy (subsidies). Bush used the credit card on these priorities and handled the bill to taxpayer.
8) Romney Won Every Voter ID State. Romney LOST every state where he owns a home and has a residence, except Utah. He will not even live among his own constituents. (Burned.)
9) Tough Audience. I have been accused of being a “communist union member troll” (try saying that fast five times).
10) Parking Costs. This is outrageous and ridiculous.
This is a fun debate. It sounds more bitter than it is.
Thanks much for this tonic. Pay no attention to the tough audience. A lot of people on this blog substitute name calling for cogent argument. They just repeat what they hear from Limbaugh or Hannity, ad infinitum. It's why the Republican Party will not win on the national ticket for some time -- they are too much in thrall to the Kochs and others like them -- and the reverence on this blog for the rich is very strange to me.
DeleteThat is exactly what you do....Answer me whether or not Obama was a known fan of Saul Alinsky. Also his buddy ( you know the house where he began his entire political career) was none other than Bill (bomb the police station when it is most filled) Ayers, a true nut job. Obama is and always has been a radical, not a Democrat or even a liberal. Oh I forgot Frank Marshall Davis the black Communist that his looney leftist Grandparents had him hang around with as an adolescent. A Perv, a pot dealer, an actual Communist writer.... OR his avowed atheist, leftist Mother....these too are facts, just facts hidden by the main stream media. I would take a successful businessman with a main stream life over this goofy empty suit any day. Meanwhile the Socialist utopia of Illinois is crumbling financially, with over 100 billion in unfunded pension and liabilities...they are getting ready to make the TEMPORARY 50% tax hike, oh I mean the 50% turned 67% tax hike PERMANENT... what a shock AND they are talking about borrowing more money...It is not radical to think this is horrible management of the peoples money. Never ever ever ever ever actually CUT a penny - just shut up and pay more and more and more and more. Kinda like Democrat water boarding....
DeleteObama knows we are going back into another recession under his watch after coming out of the last recession with the weakest recovery in 50 years. His new Obamacare taxes will hit and he needs someone to blame...So we will call the current situation a "fiscal cliff" and we will blame the Republicans and the media will go along with us. Nothing will ever be Obamas fault....
DeleteHowever, year after year seeing this guy yammer on and on and meanwhile NO jobs will wear on Obama and he will not be popular in two years. Spending and taxing ourselves into prosperity has never worked and it is not working now. Deep down I think people did not want Obama to fail and so gave him another chance. There were NO signs for him anywhere in the 19th Ward. Why - if he was so great did people not want to show their support? Unions have lied to their members to get them to stay with the DemocRATS even though so many union tradesman are out of work...Here is a flash...in 2005 there were approx. 33,000 housing start permits...in 2012 nearly FOUR YEARS after the recession there were 3,600 for the whole year! Where are all those excavator jobs, those concrete guys, the bricklayers, carpenters, surveyors, electricians, window manufacturers, roofers, flooring salespeople, appliances, painters, Realtors, salespeople of all the materials, the workers at the plants to make the products, the landscapers, drywallers. Obama failed them and was the guy in charge during the worst Real Estate collapse in history...and still no end in sight....foreclosures are still at an astronomical number with more to come. Where was he for these people?
Socialist rag Bloomberg reports -- housing starts are the best they've been since 2007.
Deletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-19/housing-starts-in-u-s-cap-strongest-three-months-in-four-years.html
By John Byrne
ReplyDeleteTribune reporter
11:10 p.m. CST, December 26, 2012
In an annual ritual that has become as predictable if not as joyous as a New Year’s Eve countdown to midnight, Chicago drivers again will have to dig a little deeper to pay to park at meters in 2013.
Loop rates will go up 75 cents to $6.50 an hour as part of scheduled fee increases included in Mayor Richard Daley’s much-criticized 2008 lease of the city’s meters to Chicago Parking Meters LLC.
Paid street parking in neighborhoods near the Loop will rise 25 cents and reach $4 an hour. Metered spaces in the rest of Chicago also will increase by a quarter per hour, to $2, according to the company.
Come the new year, workers will begin adjusting the now-familiar pay boxes to reflect the new rates in the Loop, from there working outward into the neighborhoods, the company said in a news release Wednesday.
Chicago Parking Meters hopes to have all the meters set to the new rates by the end of February, and drivers won’t have to pay the steeper rate until the box they’re using has been changed.
This is the last of the explicitly defined yearly meter jumps included in the company’s 75-year, $1.15 billion lease. But Chicago drivers shouldn’t expect the cost of parking to level out — starting in 2014, prices can be adjusted annually using a formula tied to the rate of inflation.
Daley’s parking meter deal has become something of a political boogeyman in Chicago over the years.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has opted to bash it, talking occasionally about the bad deal reached by his predecessor and saying he won’t simply pay up when the company hands the city invoices for lost meter revenue due to street closures and other reasons.
The city's unpaid tab for lost parking meter revenue now tops $61 million as Emanuel disputes bills the company has sent. It’s unclear how much the city will be able to knock off that total.
Some aldermen, stung by constituents’ criticism of their overwhelming support of the meter lease barely two days after Daley handed them the proposal, have called on Emanuel to give them more time to consider far-reaching deals. Still, Emanuel’s digital billboard agreement quickly sailed through the council 43-6 this month despite opponents drawing comparisons to the parking meter deal.
Most parking meters in Chicago neighborhoods cost 25 cents an hour after the City Council approved the meter lease by a 40-5 vote in December 2008.
Neighborhood meters went up to $1 an hour in January 2009 and have increased each year since, along with those downtown.
Highest in the country! Special thanks to all of the elected officials that voted for the parking meter deal and thus made this situation possible.
DeleteIllinois lawmakers will be headed back to Springfield shortly after the new year to vote on several key issues facing the state, the largest of which could be a vote to make 2011’s historic tax hike permanent (it’s supposed to begin sunsetting after FY 2014). This is not being openly discussed just yet, but politically, it makes sense to rush this through now, rather than have it be a major issue in the next gubernatorial election. Remember in Jan. 2011, the income tax increase was passed in both chambers less than 24 hours after it was written up.
ReplyDeleteHere are some of the most important pieces of legislation and issues that could receive votes within the next week:
Making the Jan. 2011 record income tax increase permanent. The tax hike has cost the average Illinois family over $1,500 dollars. When passed, lawmakers promised it was temporary, but given the lack of spending reforms seen since then, it’s not surprising they want it made permanent. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers.
Pension reform. While it’s uncertain whether we will see an actual vote on any pension reform package, the Nekritz/Biss proposal will be likely be the center point of the discussion. That proposal is woefully inadequate to deliver the sort of reform we need to resolve the $200B in unfunded pension liabilities that our state currently has. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers.
Minimum wage increase. Illinois currently has the fourth highest minimum wage in the country, and new legislation could raise it to $10.25, making it the highest in the nation and a full $3.00 higher than all of our bordering states. This could be disastrous for job creation in our state. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers.
$4B borrowing package. State government has borrowed billions of dollars three times in the past decade, and it’s about time lawmakers stop using that as a crutch rather than tackle unsustainable spending levels. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers.
Medicaid expansion. With the state being late in making its payments, more and more doctors are refusing to take Medicaid patients. This results in long waits for patients and the Medicaid failing those people who need the help most. The solution is not to pour more people into this failing program. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers.
ObamaCare exchanges. Illinois should join the 20 states that have decided to opt-out of setting up its own health insurance exchanges. Our state does not need to add $100M in annual operating costs to its annual budgets, while receiving little to no benefit in return. Learn more about this issue and contact your lawmakers.
Wow. Great info. You should forward this letter to the Beverly Review and readers here should make a call to New Fran and Bill Cunningham's offices. Let them know we are not their Cash Station cards to be used whenever they need (or more accurately when they WANY) to use it.
DeleteRahm is planning to pass a city income tax. You heard it here.
ReplyDeleteI was at Beverly country club the other day and i saw this woman retired from the city with a big big pension and her husband former judge in their bmw. City pensions pay nice. I was there fixing the parking lot.
ReplyDeleteStormin Norman, now there was a leader.
ReplyDeleteFran promised tax relief. There is no way the state income tax is going to be permanent.
ReplyDeleteShe was telling the truth.
DeleteYou mean because a Democrat whose entire career is controlled by Madigan said, during her campaign, that she was for "tax relief"? Oh well then, I guess we have nothing to worry about. We don't have any precedent for a Democrat promising tax "relief" and then raising taxes, do we ?
DeleteCalton Fisk plead guilty to a DUI. I have heard he likes to be a jerk to people.
ReplyDeletegood ballplayer but poor people skills
DeleteI have a question. Has anyone ever seen Bill Cunningham and Cara Oshea in the same room together? I swear they are identical twins. Is it the genes or just coincidence? Next time you see them take a close look.
ReplyDeleteMy question is not intended to take away from the beautiful and charming Mrs. Oshea just as it is not intended to flatter Mr. Cunningham.
Are they related?
DeleteTom Dart is sueing John Maher. How is that going for him. Maher won the purple heart in Afgainistan and then he comes back to help Dart and gets fired and then he got sueed. Never forget that.
ReplyDeleteEveryone in this neighborhood is related. Maloney is related to Hynes who is related to Cunninham who is related to o"sHea who is related to Sheahan who is related Rugai who is related to Joyce who is related to the Cardinal.
ReplyDeleteAnd also Maloney is also related to Kerrigan who is related M. Ali who has a daughter that is married to one of the Joyces.
DeletePredatory City
ReplyDeleteI really do not like how predatory the City of Chicago has become, or perhaps always has been. But I feel like motorists are an exploited bunch. This is really a municipal and state predatory practice.
Cost of purchase a car and the taxes on it. Taxes on fuel. Photo enforcement. Aggressive parking enforcement. Boot a car after two tickets.
All of this together seems pathetic and predatory to me. Parking costs to boot (no pun intended). It is totally out of control the way that motorists are harassed, photoed, ticketed, fined, and abused from the day they purchase a car to the day they fill up to the day they park. It is extreme.
Lease a car in Chicago. Pay sales tax on the price of the car and sales tax on EACH lease payment.
DeleteI've just looked at some older campaign literature. They must have been separated at birth. I'm sure its just a coincidence. You can probably do some kind of comparison based on pictures on the web. It would also make a nice "find the three differences between these pictures" Sunday puzzler.
ReplyDeleteif youre talking about the cunningham - cara oshea similarities, i was wondering the same but didnt want to ask.
DeleteCara O'Shea is a very nice person.
DeleteI wonder how long it is possible to go back for unpaid child support. Does any body know?
ReplyDeleteI just saw Obama on the news. He thinks the cliff has been avoided. That is good? You think? Can't be bad.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to EP PD. Good pinch tonight.
ReplyDeleteWanna expand on that for those who do not know who they nabbed?
DeleteThe Citgo gas station was robbed at gun point this evening on 111th & Lawndale. I pulled up to buy lottery tickets and saw the police and Alderman Oshea. I want to say that Alderman Oshea is a great Alderman. For Oshea to come out on a Friday night to make sure that everyone was OK shows he cares about his ward and his community, thanks Matt, you truely are a great Alderman !!
ReplyDeleteThere have been a rash of armed robberies in the 13th Ward, I wonder how many Marty Quinn went too ? My guess 0 !! All that matters to the Quinn brothers are the votes not the community or anyone in it, thats a shame. So everyone in the 19th Ward should be grateful we have Oshea and not one of the Quinns' representing us.
My experience with Quinn has been limited but good. The man seems to be doing the best with what he has to work with.
DeleteMy experience with O'Shea has been very good. He is extremely responsive to the neighborhoods. The 19th ward is lucky.
the other politicians around here i dont know about but oshea is ok he used to buy me a drink.
DeleteI would like this blog to expand on the concepts of who is related to whom. The connections mentioned yesterday was not something I was aware of.
ReplyDeleteI would also like more information on the concept of multiple government pensions that some of the political types are reportedly getting. At a time that governments everywhere are failing because of pension obligations, more needs to be learned.
The "connections" mentioned yesterday about who is related to whom were stated as a joke.
DeleteMonique Davis is Tom Hynes 3rd cousin..She has Norman blood in her that is what they call the dark irish. Emil Jones is also an in-law of Tom Hynes.
DeleteGus Savage is a second cousin of Jerry Joyce.
Jesse Jackson's ancestors were slaves at the Sheahan Plantation in Alabama, but took the Jackson name from Andrew Jackson, since they could get patronage jobs in the Andrew Jackson administration, given that Andrew Jackson invented patronage in American Politics.
Wasn't a joke. Lots of these people are related to each other. Ask them.
DeleteLooks like a few disinformation posts to ridicule the inbred bordering on incestual relationships between groups in the 19th Ward.
DeleteI got a bet with a guy that say O'Shea is related to Rugai and Sheehan I said no way. Who knows about this. Is this true?
DeleteHe is not. WE all grew up together and went to Christ the King together, nothing more. No relation. Just good friendships that were formed and bonds that were made from some of our parents having grown up together in the Little Flower neighborhood.
DeleteD.D.
CK
1984
As a true radical disciple of the radical Saul Alinsky, Obama is in perpetual campaign mode. It is very easy when the media suck up to you. Just saw David Gregory interview. Softball after Softball question. Then Obama does what every single commie from the USSR/China/VietNam/North Korea/Cuba and Central America do ad nauseum is to simply fillibuster...Talking on and an and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on......That way noone can get many questions in or challenge what you say.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm no fan of Boehner, let's put things into perspective here. The demorats had 4 years to avert this fiscal cliff. Their spending is what got us here. They haven't passed a budget in any of those 4 years. Now, they're doing what they do best, lie and point fingers to cover their incompetent, socialist arses. And to add salt to the wound, Obama just gave the feds a raise by executive order. Sadly, the uneducated, ignorant, and radical left sheep will follow them...and more importantly the Media will shield him and act as his Ministry of Propaganda. However, we still have no jobs, no real recovery, home values are still going down In ILLinois. Higher taxes on the way, a gun grab attempt is coming....folks a storm is a brewin....
I really think Obama believes he is some sort of Lincoln figure. Newt Gingrich talked about how often Clinton would call him up and the days and days of negotiations he had with the Repuplican Congress. He would call Newt at midnight. Not Obumbler though... no he hasn't called the Republican leader since November. He has never produced a specific spending budget (like every other President has done save for one, which was voted down by everyone - even the Democrats.) No he plans on sitting back while we go over the cliff. He knows that the media will assist him in blaming Republicans. He completely misreads his election win....this is Obama's economy now...it is time he mans up and acts like a LIncoln, but don't hold your breath.
ReplyDeleteMarty Quinn (13th Ward Alderman) who is nothing more then the Speakers spokesman on the city council, is related to Mike Sheahan. A cousin or nephew somehow, not sure if through marriage or blood.
ReplyDeletethats bs. the sheahans hate madigan.
DeleteLovie Smith has to go. It has gotten so bad that we were all cheering for the Packers last night. Think about that.
ReplyDeleteLovie Smith is gone.
ReplyDeleteLovie was a nice guy. In over his head.
DeleteHAPPY NEW YEAR FELLOW WARDERS.
ReplyDeleteHappy NY. Did you notice no killings last night.
ReplyDeleteLAKE FOREST, Ill. – Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery sidestepped a direct question about the future of free agent middle linebacker Brian Urlacher but did say the veteran defender's level of play was improving at the time of his season-ending hamstring injury in Week 13.
ReplyDeleteEmery was asked if the club would make an attempt to re-sign the 34-year old Urlacher after the Bears cut ties with head coach Lovie Smith. Urlacher and Smith had a close relationship and the middle linebacker had thrived in Smith's defensive scheme since 2004.
"Good question, and I respect you asking that question," Emery said. "I will tell you that any of the contract situations I'm not going to speak on. I said it from the very beginning: I feel that is a privacy issue between the player the team. Those kind of discussions will happen with Brian and his agents, and that is where we will leave it."
Urlacher has long maintained he wanted to play only for Smith.
Go Northern Huskies
ReplyDeleteto all quaint irish people on the south side,never forget your place in life,you may have a city welfare position but like the Kennedys and Daleys you may be wearing a white shirt but you have a dirty neck.you lost your place in life when you went from being kitchen help and chauffers for your betters to putting on airs and joining country clubs where you were never welcome by the Protestant Establishment but still tried to social climb and name drop.we of the WASP circles laughed at your pitiful attempts to imgratiate yourselves with your betters and then send your off spring to top circle schools which the innevitably flunked out of or were asked to leave and then when you became intoxicated the true irish pig emerged from the bog.could dress you in masters old cast offs but couldnt take you any where,when the ringmaster for the Simbian in charge told you to vote for him you asked when and how many times,you and yours are pathetic,John Chamberlain the 3rd, Winnetka Illinois,
ReplyDeleteI would love to meet up with the fella that wrote this.
DeleteCould you translate it for us first?
DeleteEither good sarcasm or self serving b.s. The South Side Irish have always gone where WE wanted - not where YOU did or did NOT want us to go! We marched in the streets of Boston, NY, and Chicago with a collective middle finger to the Wasps who hated us. It is a shame that after all the fighting for our religion, our rights in America, the new generation of idiotic sycophants who now run what is left of the 19th Ward have completely relinquished all that our forefathers fought for in order to get a second place seat at the new Minority Party (Democrats). We are now following the decadent Wasp culture into obscurity. Your children's cities, States and country will be run by and FOR the minorities - at the expense of your grandkids. Oh and your grandkids will all be taught how evil WE were.
DeleteI agree with Murph,
ReplyDelete