WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Dilemmas of school closings

Last winter, when Mr. Huberman made an initial announcement about closing Paderewski, Ms. Roberts was heartsick. All the years of hard work seemed to be for naught. “This is where the heavy lifting is done,” she said. (NYT)

 Cathie Black waiver panel tied to Bloomberg

“It appears that the deck has been stacked in favor of granting the waiver in a manner that will further undermine public confidence in the appointment of Ms. Black.” (Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries)

Bill Gates

“You can’t fund reforms without money. And there is no more money.” (NYT)

City's broke, but...

Mayor Daley is giving $15 million in TIF money to his cronies at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Board of Trade.

CME is among Chicago's most profitable companies, with a dominant share of the market for futures trading in the United States. For the first nine months of the year, the company reported a profit of $755 million on revenue of $2.2 billion. (Sun-Times)

Millionaires to Obama: "Please tax us"

"For the fiscal health of our nation and the well-being of our fellow citizens, we ask that you allow tax cuts on incomes over $1,000,000 to expire at the end of this year as scheduled," their website states. "We make this request as loyal citizens who now or in the past earned an income of $1,000,000 per year or more." (The Ticket)