QUOTE OF THE DAY
Chicago Reader: When Chicago spent its pension money on the mayor’s pet projects
As we all prepare for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed property tax hike to pay off billions of dollars in pension obligations, I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane to a not-so-distant era when our leaders acted like we didn’t have a care in the world.
The year was 2004—and what a glorious time it was!
We were in the midst of a fabulous real estate bubble that sent property taxes flowing into the city’s coffers like champagne at an Emanuel fund-raiser.
Amid the good times, a few wealthy friends of then mayor Richard Daley threw a lavish party in the Pritzker Pavilion at the recently completed Millennium Park.
Chicago Tribune: Details on admissions of bribery by state Rep. Derrick Smith
State Rep. Derrick Smith admitted to the FBI that he had pocketed a bribe of $7,000 and even took agents to his home to retrieve $2,500 in bribe money he still had in his possession there, federal prosecutors say in a court filing.
An FBI account of the alleged confession – made public as part of the filing – portrayed Smith as desperate to win his first campaign for state representative, broke and feeling under pressure to raise money to pay campaign workers.
Smith’s lawyers are trying to block his admissions to the FBI in 2012 from his corruption trial, scheduled for late next month. He is accused of accepting $7,000 cash, believing it was from a day care operator in return for writing an official letter supporting the operator’s bid for a $50,000 state grant.
Chicago Tribune: Illinois spends millions paying people for their tardiness
Say you’re scheduled to work at 8 a.m. Instead, you mosey in around 8:50 a.m.. Would you expect to be paid for those first 50 minutes? Moreover, would you expect to still have a job if you regularly showed up late? For most people, the answer to both questions is “no.” But allow me to introduce you to the world of Illinois state government — where not only is such behavior permissible, it’s incentivized.
CARTOON OF THE DAY