Bringing the City and State to Its Knees

Harvard Square

Posting from Cambridge, MA this morning and feeling a little guilty for ducking out on my city in its time of crisis. Between them, Gov. Rauner and Mayor Emanuel have actually succeeded in bringing the state and city to its knees today.

Mayor 1% finally made his long overdue payment to the teachers pension fund,  but not without extracting his pound of flesh -- 1,400 teachers being laid off and another $1B in borrowing, another windfall for his bankster patrons and another attack on the teachers union and teachers' collective bargaining rights.

Aside from the hardship the layoffs will bring to the teachers and their children and families, think about what the loss of so many union jobs means to the community and the continuing destruction of the city's middle class. Think also about spiraling class sizes and program cuts in city schools and what that will mean, especially for the neediest of students who need personalization more than ever. It also makes another teachers strike that much more likely.

By my figuring, 1,400 teacher jobs lost means minimally, about $84 million in yearly taxable income that won't be spent in neighborhood groceries, auto dealers, hair salons and shoe stores. That translates to hundreds more lay-offs from local businesses, millions more in lost revenue for the city and state and the further pauperization of the community's working class and small businesses owners.

This is the heart of the brilliant austerity plan that Rahm touted during the last election and that the mostly acquiescent press accepted as superior to Chuy Garcia's call for transparency, with hardly a peep.

Likewise for our sociopathic billionaire governor who will shut down the state government, with an even greater civic toll, rather than taxing his corporate and LaSalle St. cronies even one penny more on their speculative windfall profits.

Fr. Pfleger

I'll leave the rest to Father Michael Pfleger -- one of the few remaining public voices of sanity in this city of ours.

Today at Midnight The State Government will shut down, because a Multimillionaire Governor can't have his way and shut down Unions and programs that are literally life support to thousands of Illinois residents.....the problem is when you have 9 homes and you have millions of dollars in your bank account you will not be affected by a shut down.....but the millions of residents who are dependent on government to work for them and are living day to day. Will be.....Call the Governor 217-782-0244 or 312-814-2121 remind him he works for us and it's our money.....STOP THE CUTS

CPS will not enter into 32 consecutive $20 million no-bid contracts with SUPES, choosing instead to make its required CTPF pension payment.

— Matt Farmer (@mifarmer) July 1, 2015