Chicago -
Tells Jon Stewart That Money Changes Everything
Also reveals Gang of Six initiation rites.
1. Republicans Like Waging War But Don’t Want To Pay For It.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Exclusive – Dick Durbin Extended Interview Pt. 1 | ||||
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Posted on August 10, 2011
Banks vs. School Supplies
From the alderman’s August 4 e-mail newsletter (all bolds are his):
Reading this article in Chicago magazine yesterday made me angry.
At the last City Council meeting we passed the Vacant Buildings Ordinance, which Alderman Dowell sponsored. This Ordinance has a simple purpose, as the article says, it’s “designed to get mortgage lenders with a financial stake in vacant foreclosed properties to help keep them from falling into disrepair.”
Everyone knows that vacant properties are a magnet for crime; a blight, which has a detrimental effect on all the other buildings around it.
The 1st Ward has around 60 of these buildings. Some of these buildings are secure and maintained, but some are not. My staff and I work with the police and the relevant City Department to secure or, in extreme cases, demolish these “problem” buildings.
City-wide our vacant building problem is nowhere near as bad as many south and west-side communities. Regardless, I don’t want even one vacant “problem” building in our community.
A representative of Moody’s Investment Service, argued in this article that banks may now lend less because they have to spend money on maintaining vacant properties. This is outrageous.
This argument belies a larger problem with the dialogue happening nationwide about where we’re going as a country. The recent debt ceiling fiasco was absolutely shameful. Austerity can work, but the burden and the pain must be shared and, once again, it wasn’t.
Personally, I don’t think we should even be talking about deficit reduction during such a tepid economic recovery. I’m no populist. I like to think of myself as a realist, but the way the super-wealthy seem to have hijacked our country in recent years is deplorable.
Posted on August 9, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
“The likely loss of unemployment benefits for 3.71 million Americans in a few months will only add to an economy edging ever closer to recession, according to analysis that puts the chances of another downturn at better than 1 in 3,” CNBC reports.
Ever closer to recession? The only way that statement could be true would be if we were on our way back up from a depression.
Another downturn? We’re still down. I don’t understand this talk of a double-dip recession because we’re still in the first dip – and it’s a lot deeper than a dip. In fact, it’s a lot worse than our experts thought.
Posted on August 4, 2011
By Southside Together Organizing For Power
Clip, sign and send – or download your own letter.
And come to our Town Hall Forum this Friday at Mercy Hospital, 2525 S. Michigan Ave., in the Joyce Auditorium (2nd floor) at 5:30 p.m.
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Dear Mayor Rahm Emanuel:
I write you as a taxpayer and voter in the City of Chicago who is very concerned about the sparse mental health services in our city and the constant threats of closure and privatization. As you prepare to balance the City’s budget, we need you to know that closing our clinics because of budget difficulties or any other reason would be dangerous, irresponsible, unnecessary and immoral.
Posted on August 3, 2011
