Richard Daley
Hailing from a dynasty that built an empire of graft and outright theft that put even Chicago Outfit’s organization to shame, Richard M. Daley, like his father before him, ran a rigged game in Chicago for decades, supposedly improving the city while stealing, hand over fist, tens (if not hundreds) of millions for himself and his friends. His time as mayor was littered with scandals, typically with the same mantra: pay-to-play. He left Chicago with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt (not even counting pension liabilities) and what did the citizens of Chicago get? Massive police shortages, some of the nation’s worst public schools, a crumbling public transportation system, ill-negotiated leases on public properties/assets, a bloated Union sector… oh, and some nice parks.
Yet Daley is still spoken of and seen in glowing terms. The University of Chicago recently added Daley as a distinguished senior fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies. Unless he’s teaching a course about money laundering, political cronyism or how to bankrupt one of the most prosperous urban areas in America, someone else might have to write his speeches. He and his son, future Chicago Mayor Patrick Daley (who is already awash in scandals of his own), have also set up an informal shop on Michigan Avenue to pedal their clout to the highest bidder. All that changed for the Daley clan is their office address.
4 Comments
Great piece Theo!
Good Piece. However, what Theo is really saying is that nothing has changed, in fact it’s gotten worse. It goes beyond Party Politics. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Republicans or Democrats. Obama, Bush, Cheney, Daley, Democrat, Republican, African American, Irish American, Italian American, it doesn’t matter. This Country is in the middle of a DEPRESSION just like 1929. It’s not a Recession, it’s a DEPRESSION. This Country needs to be overhauled like the Roman Catholic Church. What we need is a fucking REVOLUTION! We need to take care of America first and foremost. Forget about trying to Police the whole God Damn World. Worry about America and AMERICA FIRST. Love begins at home! I don’t give a God Damn about Democracy in Iraq or anywhere else in this world. Fix America and forget about everything else until America is fixed with decent Health Care, A lot more Job Opportunities, a Decent Income Tax Structure ( like abolishing it altogether) and just charge a flat 10% sales tax on all goods purchased, Better Schools, Better Banking System, Stop corruption on Wall Street, Help people from suffering foreclosures etc. FIX AMERICA and then worry about what the people in Iraq are doing!
Well someone just read Burton Folsom.
This is frankly a highly bias, one-sided, unfounded use of hearsay and conspiracy and a severely paranoid cobbling of the facts…FDR’s “New Deal” lifted us from the toilet and whether you like it or not, fiscal stimulus and interventionism in the face of disaster is supported among most fiscal experts from Wall Street CEOs like Blankfein, Pandit and Dimon to economists at ratings agencies and financial services firms throughout the country and here in Chicago like Mesirow. They don’t refer to themselves as Keynesians or socialists either…and I’d be willing to bet they know a bit more about capital markets than you.
The fact is that after FDR, Federal Taxes continued to plummet and the role of the government only increased with the population of the American people, under conservative Presidents and liberal presidents. FDR’s stimulus was supported by tax increases, specifically excise tax increases that affected all classes equally. We actually didn’t turn into Stalinist Russia or any other conservative nightmare following FDR, your piece really lacks a strong thesis. Its clear you are a conservative who doesn’t like Obama. There is nothing wrong with that and nothing wrong with expressing your frustration. There is something wrong with using a string of facts to mislead people and present a paranoid conspiracy that we are headed towards Stalinist Russia. Idiotic and a classic symptom of the severe polarization happening in this nation…its no longer “I disagree with you” its “You are the anti-Christ.” The fact of the matter (and I’d welcome you to explain this to me) is that Obama made his fortune in the capitalist system and Wall Street firms including Bain Capital (The firm Romney co-founded) continue to donate more to Obama’s reelection campaign than any GOP candidates campaign combined. Obama continues to hold Wall Street close…and Wall Street is capitalism…and this frankly is a well-known fact among the non-Glenn Beck watching rational minded.
We get it Theo, you’re a Republican and you hate Democrats.
Well, you know what? Nobody gives a fuck about bullshit right vs. left political gamesmanship.
A new poll shows that the middle-class thinks that Republicans in Congress are a bunch of do-nothing obstructionists whose only goal is to beat Obama. For Republicans, if the economy sucks, they are ecstatic because they think it will improve the GOP’s chances in 2012.
Republicans have overplayed their hand. They gleefully defend tax cuts for the 1%, subsidies for oil companies, and then tell the middle-class that we have to cut social security and medicare. They refuse to pass a jobs package and become giddy when public workers are thrown out of work.
There is not a chance in hell that voters are going to turn the reins of government back over to more do-nothing Republicans.