Chicago -
By Green Bay Bill
“Who Runs The City”
To The Tune Of: “In The City”
By: The Eagles
There’s a lady, in the city with a new Harpo sign
A little chubby but she’s kinda pretty
Next week she’ll be screwing up the bus lines
Posted on September 6, 2009
By Christopher Flavelle and Amanda Michael/Courtesy of ProPublica
Vice President Joe Biden marked the 200-day point of the stimulus package today with a speech at the Brookings Institution, where he spent nearly an hour ticking off its achievements so far. Among other things, Biden said some economists had given the $787 billion stimulus bill credit for creating 500,000 to 750,000 jobs and boosting the gross domestic product in the two most recent quarters.
The administration has benefitted from rosy economic numbers in recent weeks. The Federal Reserve, in minutes released Wednesday night, credited the stimulus with playing a role in stabilizing the economy. But any assessment of the stimulus, particularly when it comes to predicting jobs created or saved, relies on some economic guesswork.
Posted on September 4, 2009
By Olga Pierce/Courtesy of ProPublica
To curb the lobbying feeding frenzy surrounding the nearly $800 billion stimulus package, in March the Obama administration imposed unprecedented restrictions on lobbyists: All lobbyist communications regarding specific projects were to be submitted in writing, and general conversations between government officials and lobbyists about stimulus policies had to be noted in disclosures posted online.
We decided to track this promise with a clock – so far it’s at 94 days and counting – and there is no sign it will be stopping any time soon.
Posted on September 2, 2009
By The Beachwood Awards Bureau
Inspired unknowingly by Mick Dumke, conceived by Steve Rhodes, shaped by Jay Stewart, supervised and edited by Suzanne McBride, reported by Erica Christoffer and Becky Schlikerman, and awarded by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Congratulations to everyone who helped put together “Out of Order: City Council Committees Evade The Law” and “Off The Record: City Council Committees Evade The Law.”
McBride, Christoffer and Schlikerman were just in Indianapolis accepting the award from SPJ for producing the nation’s best independent media online investigation of 2008.
Posted on August 31, 2009
MEDIA ADVISORY
For more information contact:
Sean Howard @ 708-935-1483
For Immediate Release
COOK COUNTY BOARD PRESIDENT TODD H. STROGER INJURES RIGHT EYE DURING PICK UP BASKETBALL GAME AT CHICAGO’S EAST BANK CLUB
PRESIDENT TREATED BY STROGER HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTOR AND NURSES
PRESIDENT STROGER RELEASED AFTER RECEIVING EIGHT STITCHES ABOVE RIGHT EYE, THEN CONTINUES MEETING SCHEDULE THROUGHOUT THE EVENING
Todd H. Stroger- President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners- received eight stitches above his right eye after being injured during a pickup basketball game at Chicago’s East Bank Club on yesterday (8/26/09). The President was playing on the court with a group when he injured the eye by accidental contact. The President noticed swelling above his right eye and immediately exited the facility. He then requested his driver to transport him to John H. Stroger Cook County Hospital.
Posted on August 28, 2009
By The Beachwood Procurement Affairs Desk
Found at BidContract.com: A Sample List of Government Contracts and Government Bids in Illinois
1. Sealed Bid – Cosmetology Supplies for Truman College.
2. The construction of the proposed Parking Lot Improvements.
3. Various Copy Papers.
4. Refuse Packer Truck.
5. Safe Driver Renewal Sticker/Safety Citation form.
Posted on August 27, 2009
By Steve Rhodes
The Democrats fight amongst themselves while blaming everyone else. Edited for clarity and sanity.
August 18: From Dennis Kucinich:
HEALTH CARE WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
The masquerade is over! The “public option” is . . . dead.
Health care reform is now a private option: WHICH FOR PROFIT INSURANCE COMPANY DO YOU WANT? You have to choose. And you have to pay. If you have a low income, under HR3200 government will subsidize the private insurance companies and you will still have to pay premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
The Administration plan requires that everyone must have health insurance, so it is delivering tens of millions of new “customers” to the insurance companies. Health care? Not really. Insurance care! Absolutely. Cost controls? No chance.
You will next hear talk about “co-ops.” The truth is that insurance company campaign contributions have co-opted the public interest.
Posted on August 25, 2009
By Christopher Flavelle/Courtesy of ProPublica
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act celebrated its six-month anniversary this week, and supporters and detractors alike lined up to offer their verdicts. “The Recovery Act is already paying dividends for workers, families, and small businesses,” said Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “By any objective standard, the Democrats’ trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ isn’t working,” countered House Republican Leader John Boehner.
Well, which is it – resounding success or colossal failure? It’s too soon to tell, of course. Unemployment could keep falling, or climb again. Growth, if it comes, could be tepid. And as more money starts to flow in the fall and spring, inflation could spike – or not. Moreover, we’ll never know for sure what would have happened without the stimulus – or with a different mix of spending and tax cuts.
But there is much we do know. ProPublica looks back at six months of stimulus coverage and finds a mixed record on three key aspects of the package: how wisely the money has been spent; how many jobs have been created (and whether we’ll ever know for certain); and how well the government has met its own pledge of transparency.
Posted on August 21, 2009
By Matt Farmer
Dear Alderman Flores:
I’m not a resident of the First Ward; I live in Alderman Stone’s ward. As a concerned Chicago taxpayer, I’ve done my best to follow the ongoing debate concerning Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics. I watched with interest when you proposed an ordinance capping taxpayer risk at $500 million. I was disheartened to learn that you no longer support such a cap, and I do understand your stated reason for that decision. I do not write today to ask you to revisit that decision. I write to encourage you to seek maximum transparency for all of the Chicago 2016 team’s activities, should our city be awarded the Summer Games.
Posted on August 17, 2009
By Christopher Flavelle/ProPublica
Back in July, a software company named Smartronix landed an $18 million contract to build a Web site where taxpayers could easily track billions in federal stimulus money. It was just another part of the Obama administration’s ongoing effort to bring transparency to stimulus spending, we were told.
But it seems the drive for transparency doesn’t cover the contract itself.
After weeks of prodding by ProPublica and other organizations, the General Services Administration released copies of the contract and related documents that are so heavily blacked out they are virtually worthless.
Posted on August 14, 2009
