WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Ken Franklin

Ken Franklin, Pres. of Local 308, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU)

[Transportation workers] are like the vessels in the heart. We feed the economic engine of the cities. That allows hundreds of thousands of businesses to operate and gives the people in the cities a way of life. -- Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers 

Rich Miller (Capitol Fax)

What is most obvious...is Rauner's passion for what he calls "economic freedom," which roughly translates to: "Kill the unions." -- Crain's

Pope Francis tells Italian union leaders...

"There is no good society without a good union, and there is no good union that isn't reborn every day in the peripheries, that doesn't transform the rejected stones of the economy into corner stones." -- America, the Jesuit Revies 

Paul Krugman on GOP health-care bill

So it’s vast suffering — including, according to the best estimates, around 200,000 preventable deaths — imposed on many of our fellow citizens in order to give a handful of wealthy people what amounts to some extra pocket change. -- New York Times

Lori Lightfoot

Lori Lightfoot, president of the Chicago Police Board

..."All you have to do is Google him [Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions] and ask yourself is the is the guy who's going to do the right thing about police reform in Chicago? The answer is a resounding no." -- Chicago Tribune

Kalyn Belsha

Changing the equation for English learners may well require a shift from the current approach that provides students with native language support solely to help them learn English. Many experts and parents of English learners favor dual language programs, which teach students to read, write and speak two languages with equal proficiency. -- Chicago Reporter 

Letter to Ed Sec. Betsy DeVos signed by 34 senators

"You claim to support civil rights and oppose discrimination, but your actions belie your assurances." -- TIME