CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I'm aware of that, but 11 years is still a long time.

We needed to flip the switch. I don't think one party staying in power for too long is a good thing.

I ultimately ageed with this - that this one-party domination and super-majority situation was not a good thing. There was/is a shake-up needed, some competition among ideas, and someone who can get some reform done.

(also someone who hopefully can help kill this ridiculous Iliana and Peotone nonsense!)

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Union tolerant is exactly what we don't need. The problem the GOP has had in Illinois is that they love to nominate ultra socially conservative whack jobs who are completely out of touch with Chicago. Rauner at least knows and appreciates the city and isn't a Chicago vs Downstate partisan. He also is much more temperate when it comes to absurd socially conservative rhetoric.

I think we have a good situation now in Springfield. Rauner doesn't have all that much power backing him up (i.e. no control over the legislature) so he will be forced to work with, rather than against, the democrats. Hopefully he will be able to rally the Democrats (many of whom also recognize the toxic pension issue) to more aggressively address some of the festering long term issues Illinois government is facing.

I am also similarly optimistic in the inverse about Federal politics not that Obama has no legislative power. I don't think it is a problem to have the executive branch split from the legislative branch, but it is an issue to have the House divided from the Senate.

Well, we certainly do not need someone who is union intolerant, let's put it that way. We desparately need some good-faith discussions and bargaining at the table all-around. One obvious thing that needs to be put in place asap is that new public employees get defined contribution retirement plans........that's just a quick no-brainer of course....

[SamInTheLoop]

Now that we got that (imo it actually turned out to be a little bit of a snoozer in some respects) gubernatorial race out of the way, we'll start to pivot to the February Mayoral and Pandermanic races.

If Emanuel had any real competition (at present it certainly doesn't appear that he actually does), don't kid yourselves - he'd be very much at risk. Don't underestimate the depths of his unpopularity with the populace of this city. It's fairly wide and certainly pretty deep (I mean, he is truly hated out in many of da wards). So, although it could get quite interesting, again I have to stress that it's hard to see any real, credible competition from those that have already decleared themselves in the ring......

[the urban politician]

^ I guess I like Rahm for the very reason he is unpopular among 'Chicawgoans'. To be honest, the more he pisses off the vested interest groups, the more I like the guy.

My father in law visited Chicago with us a few weeks ago and was curious why there are so many people employed to direct traffic at intersections downtown, when we already have traffic lights. I couldn't answer it. Interestingly, 100% of them are African American. Something kinda fishy about that.

Vested interests, people, on the public dime...

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

If Emanuel had any real competition (at present it certainly doesn't appear that he actually does), don't kid yourselves - he'd be very much at risk. Don't underestimate the depths of his unpopularity with the populace of this city. It's fairly wide and certainly pretty deep (I mean, he is truly hated out in many of da wards).

forgive me for sounding crass, but karen lewis' brain tumor is the biggest early-hanukkah present that rahm will ever receive in his entire life.

karen might still have lost against rahm's monumental war chest, but she would have made it extremely interesting.

we'll have to see if the opposition can coalesce around garcia or, heaven forbid, panderhack extraordinaire fioretti.

[sentinel]

Maybe Rauner can set a new record, for being indicted without even being sworn in first.

http://www.businessinsider.com/illin...e-rule-2014-11

[bnk]

It should be noted ex mayor Jane Byrne passed away today.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by sentinel

Maybe Rauner can set a new record, for being indicted without even being sworn in first.

http://www.businessinsider.com/illin...e-rule-2014-11

Rauner's team will argue, rightly, that state money is invested in a myriad of different firms and it would be unreasonable for him to reject all donations from the financial sector.

Anyway, shouldn't the penalties fall on the donors here and not the recipient?

[the urban politician]

Well, the courts have ruled that the Illinois Pension Reform is unconstitutional.

Onto the Supreme Court? Or should we just amend the Constitution?

[sukwoo]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Well, the courts have ruled that the Illinois Pension Reform is unconstitutional.

Onto the Supreme Court? Or should we just amend the Constitution?

I guess we'll find out if the Illinois Constitution is a suicide pact.

[Steely Dan]

now that the candidate filing deadline has passed, here are the 10 candidates who have filed to run for mayor:

Rahm Emanuel (incumbent) - candidate website
Jesus “Chuy” Garcia - candidate website
Bob Fioretti - candidate website
William "Dock" Walls - candidate website
Amara Enyia - candidate website
Frederick Collins - candidate website
Willie Wilson - candidate website
Robert Shaw - candidate website
Gerald Sconyers - candidate website
Fenton C. Patterson - can't find a website


some of these candidates may not make the final ballot cut if they're petition signatures are challenged, as usually happens with some of these lesser-known filers.

so now that we have a final roster of the players, let the game begin!

[LouisVanDerWright]

Sooo, the mayoral race is already over then? Honestly all I see here is a mish mash of second tier old-machiners and loony progressives that stand absolutely no chance against Rahm. If I were Rahm I wouldn't challenge any of their petitions because they are all going to cannibalize the "anyone but Rahm" voter bloc which isn't really even a threat to begin with.

[SamInTheLoop]

I think Rahm will win a second term in all likelihood.......question remains though, will he need a run-off to do so....

[SamInTheLoop]

Up to $13 by 2019. I think this is both good politics, as well as most importantly good policy. Now we need the state to come through with it's own minimum wage increase - something around $11 by 2019 is the way to go.......

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ Oh yeah, that $13/hr wage will really help Chicagoland compete with Wisconsin and Indiana, I can see the jobs flooding into the state now.

[the urban politician]

Looks like this Garcia guy is getting some significant campaign cash as well

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ Yeah because with Lewis out of the race, Garcia is the only old machine politician in the running. The unions and other special interests need someone to dump their money on. Honestly anyone who believed that Lewis was going to try to run on a "reform platform" was high off their ass. She was old school machine through and through and was jonesing to revert all of Rahms reforms back to the same old Daley era bullshit. That's exactly what Garcia will do if he is elected and we can't allow it. Luckily he doesn't stand a chance even with $250k in his bank account. I'm sure Rahm is also sitting on a phone tree of millionaires who can whip up another $10-20 million for him overnight if he needs it. Hopefully Garcia will never be enough of a threat that Rahm has to waste money he should be using to crush alderman on defending himself.

[Justin_Chicago]

Is someone running for the 2nd Ward? Is Fioretti officially out of the alderman election since he is seeking bid for mayor?

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

Is someone running for the 2nd Ward? Is Fioretti officially out of the alderman election since he is seeking bid for mayor?

There were 6 candidates a while ago, but I'm not sure how many were able to get their petitions in correctly and on time.

More interestingly there are a whopping 10 candidates who have filed to run for office in the 38th Ward to replace Tim Cullerton. Should be a fun shitshow to watch.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

^^
Well, of course; poor minorites make up a big, juicy voter base. Wouldn't you choose to buy them off if you were playing with other people's money? It's policies like this that make me want to move into a Republicans-only city somewhere in Texas. Furthermore, and in respect to skyscraper fans, affordable housing requirements essentially take 10% off the potential height of every residential PD in town, if not cancel them altogether. Real Estate is meant to be a free market system. Let it be. Fucking morons.

^ What I find, sad, of course, is that the Rahms of the world feed into this perception that you have to create affordable set asides (again, the vast majority of which will probably go to African Americans, likely Section 8 tenants) to pick up the black vote.

Because after all, all black people are CHA, Section 8 recipients

This only widens the void between the two "sides" of the city and creates greater perception issues, not to mention that it doesn't even really solve the affordable housing problem, as LVDW described above.

With the higher minimum wage and this new affordable housing push, one can clearly see that Rahm is scrambling to repair his damaged reputation with the city's black community. But it still comes off as kind of...condescending