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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Kinky links to O'Hare expansion
Chicagoist is the latest to take note of the monkey business at O'Hare and how it might threaten the expansion project.
Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan
Here is the first of many rats to be discovered lurking in the "stimulus" package: Cracking down on health care choices, loss of your doctor's ability to treat you as best he can and nationalization of your health care records, to be reviewed by a federal health czar to determine if you are being treated as the federal government decides you should be treated. Seniors will be most affected.
Tom Daschle may be gone, but his stink remains in this attempt to seek nationalized health care into the "stimulus" bill.
Tom Daschle may be gone, but his stink remains in this attempt to seek nationalized health care into the "stimulus" bill.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Sun-Times Editor Michael Cooke leaving for Toronto Star
The last of the plague that Conrad Black brought to Chicago is leaving. This is the best news that the Sun-Times has had in years, and, at last, gives the paper a better chance for survival. The respected John Barron as publisher and the new editor (the current managing editor and real Chicagoan Don Hayner would be a good choice) should provide a shot in the arm.
In the Company Of Misery…Chicago is #3
By Dennis Byrne
Chicago Daily Observer
Now comes Forbes magazine, dumping on Chicago as the nation’s third most miserable city. Local loyalty should compel me to come to poor Chicago’s defense, but Forbes didn’t lay it on heavy enough.
Chicago Daily Observer
Now comes Forbes magazine, dumping on Chicago as the nation’s third most miserable city. Local loyalty should compel me to come to poor Chicago’s defense, but Forbes didn’t lay it on heavy enough.
City rankings, of course, are total bull hockey; ever since newspapers and magazines discovered computers, they found they could gin up a cheap, but well-noticed story, by slicing and dicing the so-called data to arrive at rankings based on fraudulent methodology.
And one could conclude that the Forbes’ ranking is obviously bogus because it asserts that the nearly comatose Detroit is less miserable than Chicago. Even Forbes seemed surprised when its methodology determined that Chicago was more forlorn than Cleveland.
Not even the election of Chicagoan Barack Obama as president could offset the city’s “lousy weather, long commutes, rising unemployment and the highest sales tax rate in the country…. High rates of corruption by public officials didn’t help either,” the magazine said.
That’s it?
If you ask me, the list should have been longer, much longer.
Read more in the Chicago Daily Observer
Daley hoping to land funds for O'Hare -- chicagotribune.com
Maybe Mayor Richard M. Daley can explain while he's asking for this money, why he needs it when he and his administration time after time assured us that the money was there to move ahead on this absurd expansion. Maybe he should be required to explain to American taxpayers why they should be called upon to fix his mistakes.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Still waiting for a plausible explanation
By Dennis Byrne
Chicago Tribune
For hours, a medicated Sycloria Williams lay ignored and feeling ill on a women's clinic table until she suddenly felt a sharp pain and expelled her 23-week-old fetus onto the floor, alive. Williams said she watched as a clinic worker scooped up the still-breathing infant, dropped her in a biomedical waste bag and tossed her in the garbage. From there, the infant, bag and all, allegedly traveled to the clinic roof to boil in the hot Florida sun, then back down into a cardboard box in a closet where police finally discovered it a week later, decomposing. An anonymous caller had alerted police to the killing, and it took police, search warrant in hand, three visits to the Florida clinic to find the hidden corpse. No telling exactly when the baby died, but an autopsy found she had taken air into her lungs, meaning that she had lived through at least a part of this savagery.
A doctor was supposed to have been present, but he didn't show up until an hour later. It was left to the clinic owner, who held no health-care license, to cut the umbilical cord. No one called 911, no one alerted a neonatologist to see what could be done to keep the infant alive.
Did I mention that all this occurred at an abortion clinic? Some people might say, "Oh, well, the fetus was supposed to die anyway, so what's the big deal?" Such crassness only makes the whole episode that much more appalling. Williams had sought an elective abortion after she discovered her pregnancy when she was treated for a fall. She had arrived at the clinic for a 9:30 a.m. appointment, and finding no one qualified there to do the abortion, returned to her parked car to wait. An hour later, she went back in, and a clinic worker gave her two pills. Then she returned to her car. About 11:45 a.m., she was back inside because she began to feel sick; she was told to lie down in a patient room. The clinic doctor who was scheduled to do the abortion now told staff he would arrive about noon. At 1:30 p.m., according to a later Florida health department report, she still was waiting and "feeling worse by the minute." About 2 p.m., she gave birth to her daughter; the doctor arrived at 3 p.m. This "incident" occurred in 2006, but it took until Friday for Florida to yank the license of Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique, the clinic doctor. Local authorities still are weighing whether to charge Renelique with a crime (although it seems negligent homicide would be a lay down). And Williams is suing for physical and emotional damage.
Even some pro-choice groups have found this example of a "live-birth abortion" appalling. "It really disturbed me," said Joanne Sterner, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Organization for Women. "I know that there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we can keep [women] from going to these types of clinics." Well said, but cleverly deceptive. If there are "clinics out there like this," as Sterner said, why is that? Is society's job only to steer women away from such clinics, or is it also society's job to shut them down? Most pro-choice folks are liberals, and liberals are big on demanding more government regulation. Except when it comes to abortion clinics; every attempt to more strictly regulate abortions—even to protect women—is stoutly opposed by outfits like NOW and the abortion industry as an "intrusion on a woman's right to choose [abortion.]" Failure to require detailed reporting to and aggressive follow-up by regulators of live-birth abortions, as well as other tougher regulations, casts doubt on any claims that Williams' case is extraordinarily rare.
We could debate all day what laws should be passed to prevent such outrages, and not get anywhere. Witness President Barack Obama's vote, twice, in the Illinois Senate against a Born-Alive Infant Protection Act, and his defenders' endless determination to minimize the vote. But we won't get nearer to resolving this issue until the Obamas of the world acknowledge that a baby born alive is a person with all the rights the rest of us claim. Until the pro-choice crowd becomes as passionate about born-alive infants as they are about their pantheon of other victims. Until they finally show some humanity.
Chicago Tribune
For hours, a medicated Sycloria Williams lay ignored and feeling ill on a women's clinic table until she suddenly felt a sharp pain and expelled her 23-week-old fetus onto the floor, alive. Williams said she watched as a clinic worker scooped up the still-breathing infant, dropped her in a biomedical waste bag and tossed her in the garbage. From there, the infant, bag and all, allegedly traveled to the clinic roof to boil in the hot Florida sun, then back down into a cardboard box in a closet where police finally discovered it a week later, decomposing. An anonymous caller had alerted police to the killing, and it took police, search warrant in hand, three visits to the Florida clinic to find the hidden corpse. No telling exactly when the baby died, but an autopsy found she had taken air into her lungs, meaning that she had lived through at least a part of this savagery.
A doctor was supposed to have been present, but he didn't show up until an hour later. It was left to the clinic owner, who held no health-care license, to cut the umbilical cord. No one called 911, no one alerted a neonatologist to see what could be done to keep the infant alive.
Did I mention that all this occurred at an abortion clinic? Some people might say, "Oh, well, the fetus was supposed to die anyway, so what's the big deal?" Such crassness only makes the whole episode that much more appalling. Williams had sought an elective abortion after she discovered her pregnancy when she was treated for a fall. She had arrived at the clinic for a 9:30 a.m. appointment, and finding no one qualified there to do the abortion, returned to her parked car to wait. An hour later, she went back in, and a clinic worker gave her two pills. Then she returned to her car. About 11:45 a.m., she was back inside because she began to feel sick; she was told to lie down in a patient room. The clinic doctor who was scheduled to do the abortion now told staff he would arrive about noon. At 1:30 p.m., according to a later Florida health department report, she still was waiting and "feeling worse by the minute." About 2 p.m., she gave birth to her daughter; the doctor arrived at 3 p.m. This "incident" occurred in 2006, but it took until Friday for Florida to yank the license of Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique, the clinic doctor. Local authorities still are weighing whether to charge Renelique with a crime (although it seems negligent homicide would be a lay down). And Williams is suing for physical and emotional damage.
Even some pro-choice groups have found this example of a "live-birth abortion" appalling. "It really disturbed me," said Joanne Sterner, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Organization for Women. "I know that there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we can keep [women] from going to these types of clinics." Well said, but cleverly deceptive. If there are "clinics out there like this," as Sterner said, why is that? Is society's job only to steer women away from such clinics, or is it also society's job to shut them down? Most pro-choice folks are liberals, and liberals are big on demanding more government regulation. Except when it comes to abortion clinics; every attempt to more strictly regulate abortions—even to protect women—is stoutly opposed by outfits like NOW and the abortion industry as an "intrusion on a woman's right to choose [abortion.]" Failure to require detailed reporting to and aggressive follow-up by regulators of live-birth abortions, as well as other tougher regulations, casts doubt on any claims that Williams' case is extraordinarily rare.
We could debate all day what laws should be passed to prevent such outrages, and not get anywhere. Witness President Barack Obama's vote, twice, in the Illinois Senate against a Born-Alive Infant Protection Act, and his defenders' endless determination to minimize the vote. But we won't get nearer to resolving this issue until the Obamas of the world acknowledge that a baby born alive is a person with all the rights the rest of us claim. Until the pro-choice crowd becomes as passionate about born-alive infants as they are about their pantheon of other victims. Until they finally show some humanity.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Haste makes Waste
The Obama administration has been deluging America with the propaganda that there’s not one second to lose. Even the slightest delay in passing the wasteful stimulus package will be, as they say, catastrophic.
Actually, the real reason for the haste is that the more that Americans begin to understand this $800-billion-plus (actually $1.3 trillion with the debt servicing) package, the more frightened they’ll become about what they’re doing to their kids and grandkids, and the more they’ll oppose it. One week of debate about passing the equivalent of an entire year’s budget is unprecdented, and not how a democracy is supposed to work.
Actually, the real reason for the haste is that the more that Americans begin to understand this $800-billion-plus (actually $1.3 trillion with the debt servicing) package, the more frightened they’ll become about what they’re doing to their kids and grandkids, and the more they’ll oppose it. One week of debate about passing the equivalent of an entire year’s budget is unprecdented, and not how a democracy is supposed to work.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Here's what's inexcusable, Mr. President
President Barack Obama bemoans the very idea that some in Congress would want to know something about what it is about to pass in the stimulus bill. "It is inexcusable and irresponsible to get bogged down in distraction and delay while millions of Americans are being put out of work," he said. (text here)
No, what's inexcusable is piling on the biggest single hunk of deficit spending since World War II with blinding speed, in two weeks. Here, Mr. President, we don't govern by edict.
No, what's inexcusable is piling on the biggest single hunk of deficit spending since World War II with blinding speed, in two weeks. Here, Mr. President, we don't govern by edict.
So, mayor, when do we get to see the list?
By Dennis Byrne
Chicago Daily Observer
Mayor Richard M. Daley isn’t releasing his “shovel-ready, wish-list” of projects he wants funded with the swelling economic stimulus package because, well, it’s “controversial.”
The unspoken premise being that the more controversial something is, the less right the public has to know about it. As the Chicago Tribune quoted Daley: “Yes, we do, we have our list, we’ve been talking to people. We did not put that out publicly because once you start putting it out publicly, you...
Continue reading at the Chicago Daily Observer
Chicago Daily Observer
Mayor Richard M. Daley isn’t releasing his “shovel-ready, wish-list” of projects he wants funded with the swelling economic stimulus package because, well, it’s “controversial.”
The unspoken premise being that the more controversial something is, the less right the public has to know about it. As the Chicago Tribune quoted Daley: “Yes, we do, we have our list, we’ve been talking to people. We did not put that out publicly because once you start putting it out publicly, you...
Continue reading at the Chicago Daily Observer
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Support for Stimulus Package Falls to 37%
Uh oh, there goes the mandate. See poll by Rasmussen Reports
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
1st order of business: Dump the free rides
By Dennis Byrne
Chicago Tribune
Please. Give us a sign.
Not from some celestial body, but from way down below—the Illinois House and Senate. They need to do something right away that demonstrates they mean business when it comes to reform.
We heard senator after senator last week during Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial claim they were on the side of the virtues and pledge allegiance to reform. We can't tolerate this anymore, they proclaimed. We must set Illinois on a new path. No longer can we be the butt of late-night comedians' jokes. We owe the people of Illinois better. Blah and blah. Words. It's all just words, until they step up to the plate and prove they mean it.
And they can start by immediately repealing free train and bus rides for seniors.
If anything has Blagojevich's name stamped all over it (other than the quickly removed tollway signs that bore his tag) it is the free-ride program. The legislators didn't want to do it. Said we couldn't afford it. Said they had no other choice. Said they were exhorted into doing it. That it was all Blagojevich's fault.
If you recall, a year ago the state was facing another one of those unfailing transit crises, and if the legislature didn't provide more state aid, riders would have to face huge fare increases and severe service cuts. Lawmakers narrowly approved a bailout package that included a sales tax increase. But Blagojevich vetoed the legislation, adding the free ride for seniors as a surprise gotcha. It hadn't been on the bargaining table. There was no public groundswell; it caught even CTA brass off guard. But the legislature (read: mostly Democrats) gave in and presto, we had free rides. Blagojevich's ridiculous, pompadour-crowned head got bigger, crammed full, as it was, of thoughts of his own invincibility. Some leading Democrats took it personally; they lost another joust with the goofball governor. Outfoxed again.
The sly political move boxed the lawmakers, because opposing it would have denied yet another entitlement to one of the country's most greedy and powerful interest groups: seniors. Not that they don't get enough breaks already, this one came out of the blue and was welcomed with open arms by the what-has-government-done-for-me-lately crowd. Holster your vitriol, seniors. I'm one of you, and, yes, I admit I've used this freebie, once. However, I happily can say that I've encountered many other seniors who were outraged by the giveaway, proving that we're not all consummate moochers.
Insert here the usual yowl from naive idealists that canceling the freebie would hurt the poor and that anyone who would propose such a thing is a mean good-for-nothing. No doubt, some folks can use a free ride, but just how many has never been convincingly established. But here's a suggestion: If you believe there's a "desperate need" for free rides for the impoverished elderly, figure out a way to means-test a free transit pass, or raise the money privately yourself. I'm sure you and your well-intentioned friends would do a great job, as motivated as you are by your goodness.
But don't give a free lunch to people who don't need one. It's like that lunatic $800 billion-plus "stimulus" package that President Barack Obama and Democrats are rushing through Congress. It's based on the logic that if you fling enough pies at the wall, a few will stick.
Returning to the time when seniors paid merely half fare would be a towering symbol of the legislature's commitment to reform. Imagine the guts it would take to reverse a newly established entitlement. It would be a national, if not international, precedent.
But it also would be more than symbolic. It's estimated that the free rides for seniors are costing other riders and taxpayers $26.5 million in lost revenue in 2009.
True, compared with the trillions that Washington is tossing around these days without a thought about the long-term consequences, it's not much. But $26.5 million is $26.5 million and because it is a "small" amount of money, it would be a good place to start.
This is but the first step that the legislature should take to prove it is committed to reform. They (and our new Gov. Pat Quinn) can dismantle some of the other money-grabs Blagojevich did on his own, the very things that caused the House and Senate to dump him.
See, it's not just a matter of the legislature's getting rid of Blagojevich. More important is getting rid of the damage he created.
Chicago Tribune
Please. Give us a sign.
Not from some celestial body, but from way down below—the Illinois House and Senate. They need to do something right away that demonstrates they mean business when it comes to reform.
We heard senator after senator last week during Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial claim they were on the side of the virtues and pledge allegiance to reform. We can't tolerate this anymore, they proclaimed. We must set Illinois on a new path. No longer can we be the butt of late-night comedians' jokes. We owe the people of Illinois better. Blah and blah. Words. It's all just words, until they step up to the plate and prove they mean it.
And they can start by immediately repealing free train and bus rides for seniors.
If anything has Blagojevich's name stamped all over it (other than the quickly removed tollway signs that bore his tag) it is the free-ride program. The legislators didn't want to do it. Said we couldn't afford it. Said they had no other choice. Said they were exhorted into doing it. That it was all Blagojevich's fault.
If you recall, a year ago the state was facing another one of those unfailing transit crises, and if the legislature didn't provide more state aid, riders would have to face huge fare increases and severe service cuts. Lawmakers narrowly approved a bailout package that included a sales tax increase. But Blagojevich vetoed the legislation, adding the free ride for seniors as a surprise gotcha. It hadn't been on the bargaining table. There was no public groundswell; it caught even CTA brass off guard. But the legislature (read: mostly Democrats) gave in and presto, we had free rides. Blagojevich's ridiculous, pompadour-crowned head got bigger, crammed full, as it was, of thoughts of his own invincibility. Some leading Democrats took it personally; they lost another joust with the goofball governor. Outfoxed again.
The sly political move boxed the lawmakers, because opposing it would have denied yet another entitlement to one of the country's most greedy and powerful interest groups: seniors. Not that they don't get enough breaks already, this one came out of the blue and was welcomed with open arms by the what-has-government-done-for-me-lately crowd. Holster your vitriol, seniors. I'm one of you, and, yes, I admit I've used this freebie, once. However, I happily can say that I've encountered many other seniors who were outraged by the giveaway, proving that we're not all consummate moochers.
Insert here the usual yowl from naive idealists that canceling the freebie would hurt the poor and that anyone who would propose such a thing is a mean good-for-nothing. No doubt, some folks can use a free ride, but just how many has never been convincingly established. But here's a suggestion: If you believe there's a "desperate need" for free rides for the impoverished elderly, figure out a way to means-test a free transit pass, or raise the money privately yourself. I'm sure you and your well-intentioned friends would do a great job, as motivated as you are by your goodness.
But don't give a free lunch to people who don't need one. It's like that lunatic $800 billion-plus "stimulus" package that President Barack Obama and Democrats are rushing through Congress. It's based on the logic that if you fling enough pies at the wall, a few will stick.
Returning to the time when seniors paid merely half fare would be a towering symbol of the legislature's commitment to reform. Imagine the guts it would take to reverse a newly established entitlement. It would be a national, if not international, precedent.
But it also would be more than symbolic. It's estimated that the free rides for seniors are costing other riders and taxpayers $26.5 million in lost revenue in 2009.
True, compared with the trillions that Washington is tossing around these days without a thought about the long-term consequences, it's not much. But $26.5 million is $26.5 million and because it is a "small" amount of money, it would be a good place to start.
This is but the first step that the legislature should take to prove it is committed to reform. They (and our new Gov. Pat Quinn) can dismantle some of the other money-grabs Blagojevich did on his own, the very things that caused the House and Senate to dump him.
See, it's not just a matter of the legislature's getting rid of Blagojevich. More important is getting rid of the damage he created.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Local TV news blows it
By Dennis Byrne
This is for Chicago’s television newsrooms, and I’m sure it won’t make a bit of difference:
You reached a low point in Chicago journalism when you cut away from Gov. Pat Quinn’s live press conference last week to give live voice to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s ramblings and lies in his circus-like press conference outside his Ravenswood Manor house Thursday night after his eviction from office.
This goofball had enough opportunities to air his crud, to excess. Two days of non-stop interviews by the clueless New York media. A 50-minute-long speech before the Senate, in which he explained nothing.
Meanwhile, the new governor was, could have been, making news and a lot of us wanted to hear live what he had to say about this supposed new day in Illinois ethics and financial integrity. Would he raise the income tax? What specific ethic reforms does he have in mind? Why doesn’t he know what the state deficit is?
Maybe one of the reporters at Quinn’s press conference asked those and other important questions. But if they did, none of us got to hear his answers as he gave them. We’ve seen and heard everything that Blago has had to say in excruciating detail. A few of us wanted to know where the new governor would take us.
But every single local station I could find cut Quinn off, in mid-sentence as it were, to rush out to hang on Blago’s tired ravings one last time. What did they expect he’d say that was new? Did anyone really think that he would detail how he would explain to his children what happened to him, as at least one reporter asked? Would he write a book?
No, of course he wouldn’t say anything newsworthy. He talked again about how his father came from Yugoslavia, that America is a land of opportunity even for folks whose last name is long and hard to pronounce, that he did nothing wrong, that his conviction was a pre-ordained result and that he would tell us “the inside stuff” next week, if we want to listen. All the media crowd outside of his home did was feed this delusional man’s ego.
The man is disgraced. Sure, that doesn’t mean that he’s no longer a story. Sure, send a crew out to cover him if you must, as any newspaper city editor would. But suggesting that what the ex-governor had to say was more important than what the new governor was saying is bizarre. It’s as if all the TV networks had cut away from President Barack Obama’s first press conference to follow former President George Bush whine outside his home about unfair he was treated.
Quinn’s remarks at his House swearing-in were optimistic and eloquent. They pointed us in a direction where he thought we should go. He’s right that we’ve got much work to do, to restore trust and confidence. Big tests await those in whose hands the Illinois government now resides. That’s what the news is. Blagojevich is history; leave him to the academicians who study such things. We’re supposed to be journalists, bringing the public what’s new and important. That’s not what Chicago television stations gave us.
If we’re to get out of this mess, we’ll need better judgment in our newsrooms.
This is for Chicago’s television newsrooms, and I’m sure it won’t make a bit of difference:
You reached a low point in Chicago journalism when you cut away from Gov. Pat Quinn’s live press conference last week to give live voice to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s ramblings and lies in his circus-like press conference outside his Ravenswood Manor house Thursday night after his eviction from office.
This goofball had enough opportunities to air his crud, to excess. Two days of non-stop interviews by the clueless New York media. A 50-minute-long speech before the Senate, in which he explained nothing.
Meanwhile, the new governor was, could have been, making news and a lot of us wanted to hear live what he had to say about this supposed new day in Illinois ethics and financial integrity. Would he raise the income tax? What specific ethic reforms does he have in mind? Why doesn’t he know what the state deficit is?
Maybe one of the reporters at Quinn’s press conference asked those and other important questions. But if they did, none of us got to hear his answers as he gave them. We’ve seen and heard everything that Blago has had to say in excruciating detail. A few of us wanted to know where the new governor would take us.
But every single local station I could find cut Quinn off, in mid-sentence as it were, to rush out to hang on Blago’s tired ravings one last time. What did they expect he’d say that was new? Did anyone really think that he would detail how he would explain to his children what happened to him, as at least one reporter asked? Would he write a book?
No, of course he wouldn’t say anything newsworthy. He talked again about how his father came from Yugoslavia, that America is a land of opportunity even for folks whose last name is long and hard to pronounce, that he did nothing wrong, that his conviction was a pre-ordained result and that he would tell us “the inside stuff” next week, if we want to listen. All the media crowd outside of his home did was feed this delusional man’s ego.
The man is disgraced. Sure, that doesn’t mean that he’s no longer a story. Sure, send a crew out to cover him if you must, as any newspaper city editor would. But suggesting that what the ex-governor had to say was more important than what the new governor was saying is bizarre. It’s as if all the TV networks had cut away from President Barack Obama’s first press conference to follow former President George Bush whine outside his home about unfair he was treated.
Quinn’s remarks at his House swearing-in were optimistic and eloquent. They pointed us in a direction where he thought we should go. He’s right that we’ve got much work to do, to restore trust and confidence. Big tests await those in whose hands the Illinois government now resides. That’s what the news is. Blagojevich is history; leave him to the academicians who study such things. We’re supposed to be journalists, bringing the public what’s new and important. That’s not what Chicago television stations gave us.
If we’re to get out of this mess, we’ll need better judgment in our newsrooms.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Pat Quinn, Illinois' new governor, opposed O'Hare expansion
Will he continue to? It will be a test of his independence from the bi-partisan combine that runs Illinois.
Daily Herald | What Gov. Quinn means for the suburbs
Daily Herald | What Gov. Quinn means for the suburbs
Friday, January 30, 2009
The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S. Increased 0.3 Percent
Let's not make big news out of this because it might raise some people's spirits and hopes. Can't have any of that.
Here are the components of the latest index:
Here are the components of the latest index:
Four of the ten indicators that make up the leading economic index increased in December. The positive contributors – beginning with the largest positive contributor – were real money supply, interest rate spread, manufacturers’ new orders for consumer goods and materials and manufacturers’ new orders for nondefense capital goods.
The negative contributors – beginning with the largest negative contributor – were building permits, average weekly manufacturing hours, index of supplier deliveries (vendor performance), average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance (inverted), and stock prices. The index of consumer expectations held steady in December.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Best Stimulus: Homebuyers' Tax Credit
By Dennis Byrne
RealClearPolitics.com
Last October, I said that the $700 billion bailout package, known as TARP, would become the biggest flimflam ever pulled on the American public.
I was wrong. It will be overshadowed by President Barack Obama's $825 billion stimulus package as the biggest swindle ever--doing nothing more than ladling out uncounted billions to the same old government contractors, political cronies and well-lobbied special interest groups for years to come.
It will prove to be about as effective at reigniting the economy as the TARP program has been, which is to say a criminal waste of taxpayers' money for generations to come
Continue reading in RealClearPolitics
RealClearPolitics.com
Last October, I said that the $700 billion bailout package, known as TARP, would become the biggest flimflam ever pulled on the American public.
I was wrong. It will be overshadowed by President Barack Obama's $825 billion stimulus package as the biggest swindle ever--doing nothing more than ladling out uncounted billions to the same old government contractors, political cronies and well-lobbied special interest groups for years to come.
It will prove to be about as effective at reigniting the economy as the TARP program has been, which is to say a criminal waste of taxpayers' money for generations to come
Continue reading in RealClearPolitics
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
While O'Hare declines, Milwaukee's airport rises
While O'Hare and Midway airports are losing business, Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport is enjoying new growth. You can thank Mayor Richard M. Daley for that.
Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport posted record increases in 2008 compared with 2007, for the 17th straight months of record growth. The reason? O'Hare is a mess and for many travelers in northern Illinois, Mitchell has become a viable alternative: lower fares, few of the delays that choke O'Hare.
Daley's obsession with expanding O'Hare with an unworkable plan has led to this bad news for Chicago. Instead of a more reasonable plan, and a state-of-the-art south suburban airport to relieve O'Hare, Daley has pursued an expansion plan whose main objective is not a better, more efficient airport, but more jobs and contracts for loyalists.
Milwaukee should send a big "thank you" to Daley for the business.
Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport posted record increases in 2008 compared with 2007, for the 17th straight months of record growth. The reason? O'Hare is a mess and for many travelers in northern Illinois, Mitchell has become a viable alternative: lower fares, few of the delays that choke O'Hare.
Daley's obsession with expanding O'Hare with an unworkable plan has led to this bad news for Chicago. Instead of a more reasonable plan, and a state-of-the-art south suburban airport to relieve O'Hare, Daley has pursued an expansion plan whose main objective is not a better, more efficient airport, but more jobs and contracts for loyalists.
Milwaukee should send a big "thank you" to Daley for the business.
Beyond Blagojevich: Illinois is in a state of debt
By Dennis Byrne
Chicago Tribune
As much as Gov. Rod Blagojevich deserves to go, let's not forget who's sending him on his way—the ever-suspect legislature. For what it's worth, the astute political class is unanimous that the Senate will convict him of whatever it takes, and dismiss him from office, perhaps by the end of the week. But when the legislature acts with such alacrity, it is time to be dubious.
Which is why one should take soberly Blagojevich's warning that once he's gone, the way will be cleared for such chicanery as an increase in the state income tax. For all the celebration over the prospects of Blagojevich's departure—and I'm among those who will light off a skyrocket—we've debated little about what will follow. Even with him gone, we'll still be dealing with the festering mess that he and the legislature together have left behind.
The state's financial condition is wretched, perhaps the worst among the 50 states. With the next election almost two years away, legislators might be tempted to increase the income tax. Liberals have long called for an increase and last year some business interests even joined in, arguing that extraordinary steps must be taken in these tempestuous times, a view I once shared.
Illinois' deficits and debt are sky-high. For several years, state revenues had been increasing at a steady pace, but lately that has diminished in the face of the economic downturn. Even if you count the $1.4 billion from the state's short-term borrowing last month, the money available to pay the state's unpaid bills—totaling a historic $1.8 billion at the end of last month—hasn't kept up. Instead of cutting back, like most households are forced to do in an economic crunch, the state's expenditures keep growing. Even in good times, expenditures outstripped revenues, but the economic downturn now has worsened this trend. Base spending during this fiscal year (we're half way through it) increased 5.8 percent, thanks to a $764 million increase in operating expenses, education grants and retirement contributions. Education accounted for the biggest hunk of the increase—up $511 million, or 17 percent—for State Board of Education grants and $205 million, or 36.7 percent, for teachers retirement grants. It's something to keep in mind the next time we hear the whine that "schools don't get enough."
Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, who is turning out to be the state's unheralded Cassandra, sees worse ahead. General funds appropriations are up $916 million, but that doesn't include more hundreds of millions to pay required contributions to five state retirement systems. And don't forget, we have to pay off that $1.4 billion in short-term loans.
At the end of this fiscal year on June 30, the state could be holding more than $3 billion in unpaid bills, money that probably will be hijacked from the following year's budget. At some point, we'll be bankrupt, the first state to join the wave of corporate failures. Hynes calls the situation "dire" and potentially "unmanageable," words not strong enough to accurately describe the coming cataclysm.
Boring stuff, all these numbers. But I guarantee you'll feel something other than boredom when you start paying the increased taxes.
One test of the legislature's good intentions is whether, before passing any tax increase, it starts rolling back of some of Blagojevich's insanity, such as free rides for seniors on mass transit or his unilateral and unconstitutional expansion of the state's FamilyCare program. FamilyCare provides health-care coverage for families that make up to $83,000 annually for a family of four.
Fear of an income tax increase is not reason enough for keeping Blagojevich; his deceptions and cynical use of government programs for political gain by themselves demonstrate his unsuitability for government office, which is the essential charge of his Senate trial. Even if he pulls another surprise and resigns between the time I write this and the time it appears (anything is possible with this guy), his departure will still leave a state in shambles. The mess is so convoluted that it can't simply be cleaned up with a tax increase. If the legislature wants to demonstrate that it can govern any better than Blagojevich, then let it start by first lowering expenditures to match revenues.
Chicago Tribune
As much as Gov. Rod Blagojevich deserves to go, let's not forget who's sending him on his way—the ever-suspect legislature. For what it's worth, the astute political class is unanimous that the Senate will convict him of whatever it takes, and dismiss him from office, perhaps by the end of the week. But when the legislature acts with such alacrity, it is time to be dubious.
Which is why one should take soberly Blagojevich's warning that once he's gone, the way will be cleared for such chicanery as an increase in the state income tax. For all the celebration over the prospects of Blagojevich's departure—and I'm among those who will light off a skyrocket—we've debated little about what will follow. Even with him gone, we'll still be dealing with the festering mess that he and the legislature together have left behind.
The state's financial condition is wretched, perhaps the worst among the 50 states. With the next election almost two years away, legislators might be tempted to increase the income tax. Liberals have long called for an increase and last year some business interests even joined in, arguing that extraordinary steps must be taken in these tempestuous times, a view I once shared.
Illinois' deficits and debt are sky-high. For several years, state revenues had been increasing at a steady pace, but lately that has diminished in the face of the economic downturn. Even if you count the $1.4 billion from the state's short-term borrowing last month, the money available to pay the state's unpaid bills—totaling a historic $1.8 billion at the end of last month—hasn't kept up. Instead of cutting back, like most households are forced to do in an economic crunch, the state's expenditures keep growing. Even in good times, expenditures outstripped revenues, but the economic downturn now has worsened this trend. Base spending during this fiscal year (we're half way through it) increased 5.8 percent, thanks to a $764 million increase in operating expenses, education grants and retirement contributions. Education accounted for the biggest hunk of the increase—up $511 million, or 17 percent—for State Board of Education grants and $205 million, or 36.7 percent, for teachers retirement grants. It's something to keep in mind the next time we hear the whine that "schools don't get enough."
Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, who is turning out to be the state's unheralded Cassandra, sees worse ahead. General funds appropriations are up $916 million, but that doesn't include more hundreds of millions to pay required contributions to five state retirement systems. And don't forget, we have to pay off that $1.4 billion in short-term loans.
At the end of this fiscal year on June 30, the state could be holding more than $3 billion in unpaid bills, money that probably will be hijacked from the following year's budget. At some point, we'll be bankrupt, the first state to join the wave of corporate failures. Hynes calls the situation "dire" and potentially "unmanageable," words not strong enough to accurately describe the coming cataclysm.
Boring stuff, all these numbers. But I guarantee you'll feel something other than boredom when you start paying the increased taxes.
One test of the legislature's good intentions is whether, before passing any tax increase, it starts rolling back of some of Blagojevich's insanity, such as free rides for seniors on mass transit or his unilateral and unconstitutional expansion of the state's FamilyCare program. FamilyCare provides health-care coverage for families that make up to $83,000 annually for a family of four.
Fear of an income tax increase is not reason enough for keeping Blagojevich; his deceptions and cynical use of government programs for political gain by themselves demonstrate his unsuitability for government office, which is the essential charge of his Senate trial. Even if he pulls another surprise and resigns between the time I write this and the time it appears (anything is possible with this guy), his departure will still leave a state in shambles. The mess is so convoluted that it can't simply be cleaned up with a tax increase. If the legislature wants to demonstrate that it can govern any better than Blagojevich, then let it start by first lowering expenditures to match revenues.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Neo-Reagan echoes in Obama's speech
Patrick J. Buchanan, in Human Events, also saw a hint of the conservative brand in President Barack Obama's inauguration speech. In my earlier column, I heard the same thing as the voice of a neocon, which wouldn't make Pat all that happy.
And now here's Newt Gingrich also noting the conservative themes in the speech.
When I first wrote similar observations, my column was turned down by several conservative e-zines. I thought that I may have been way off the wall. At least now I'm not alone in that place.
And now here's Newt Gingrich also noting the conservative themes in the speech.
When I first wrote similar observations, my column was turned down by several conservative e-zines. I thought that I may have been way off the wall. At least now I'm not alone in that place.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Oh, gee, another $163 million no one noticed
Chicago will pay United Airlines $163 million to move a cargo facility that stands in the way of the next, new runway at O'Hare Airport, according to the Chicago Tribune. In the over-all scam, err, scheme of a $15 billion airport, that's not much. But did anybody bother to ask where the $163 million is coming from?
Who would have thought? By the way, did you notice that there's no mention of where the new facility will go? That's either more piece-meal planning or another attempt to keep the plans secret. Why the latter? Because the new location might have something to do with where the promised by-pass road will go--on or off airport property. Either location has serious problems, which is why everyone still is waiting to see what the answer is.
Who would have thought? By the way, did you notice that there's no mention of where the new facility will go? That's either more piece-meal planning or another attempt to keep the plans secret. Why the latter? Because the new location might have something to do with where the promised by-pass road will go--on or off airport property. Either location has serious problems, which is why everyone still is waiting to see what the answer is.
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