By Steve Rhodes

“Six of Illinois’ biggest companies hold a combined $100 billion in profits overseas, a strategy that keeps those earnings from being subject to U.S. corporate income taxes,” the Tribune reports.
CEOs of those companies should not be allowed to complain about government, nor run patriotic advertising.
“U.S. corporations face income taxes as high as 35 percent on income earned both domestically and abroad. However, there is one important caveat: Companies aren’t required to pay the U.S. taxes on foreign profits that they say are ‘indefinitely’ reinvested overseas and not brought back, or repatriated, to the U.S.”

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Posted on September 22, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

1. Disagree. Fingers-in-the-pie should be our state dessert.
2. The Beachwood Radio Hour #24: Pussy Riot, Rahm & Rauner.
Plus: The Congestion That I Get, Bimbo Roles de Canela, Duck Sex, Chicago Transit By Howard Jones, Depression, and Chicago Media Folk Confused About Hitting Kids.

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Posted on September 22, 2014

By Natasha Julius

Old white man to replace even older white man. Details at 11.
Market Update
The Status Quo looked pretty good in early trading. Then it imploded.

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Posted on September 20, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

Congestion City: Population One.
I felt something coming on for about a week. Well, it’s here!
Not the biggest deal in the world, but one of those “colds” or whatever that just makes one miserable, and life pretty annoying. I often wonder how I would hold up with a real sickness.
That reminds me of a song.

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Posted on September 19, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

“Following a trend seen around the country, the percentage of people in Chicago living below the poverty line didn’t nudge from 2012 to 2013, according to new data,” the Sun-Times reports.
“About 14 percent of people in the Chicago metropolitan area, or more than 1.3 million people, lived below the poverty line in 2013, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. That’s nearly unchanged from 2012.
“For children, the poverty rate is significantly higher. One in five children in Chicago lives in poverty.”
One in five.

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Posted on September 18, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

“Mayor Rahm Emanuel declined Tuesday to back up his campaign’s accusation that Ald. Robert Fioretti has no political backbone, choosing instead to outline his own record for tough decisions without ever mentioning the name of his latest rival for the 2015 mayoral election,” the Tribune reports.
“Shortly after Fioretti announced his mayoral bid Saturday and blasted Emanuel as an ineffective leader, the mayor’s campaign released a statement from spokesman Steve Mayberry saying the 2nd Ward alderman ‘has shown no backbone for making tough choices and little respect for Chicago taxpayers’ pocketbooks.’
“Called on today to explain why he thinks that’s the case, Emanuel instead ticked off a litany of the ‘tough decisions’ he said he has made in his first term, from finding the money to finance longer school days in Chicago Public Schools to making the city more attractive to businesses.”
This is what he’ll do the whole campaign – leave the dirty work (that he used to perform as an operative) to surrogates while keeping himself above the fray. It’s a strategy, imported from Washington, D.C., that is wholly disingenuous in that he avoids accountability for his campaign even as he touts accountability in his mayoralty.

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Posted on September 16, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

“A group of Northwestern University professors and researchers have developed a blood test to diagnose depression in adults, the school revealed in a study set to be published today,” the Tribune reports.
“The new study found that adults with depression have biological markers of the illness, said Eva Redei, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine who helped develop the test.”
A “side effect” of such a test is the way it illustrates that depression is a biological disorder, like kidney disease or diabetes, and not simply an “emotional” issue, though emotions are impacted.

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Posted on September 16, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

1. The Beachwood Radio Hour #23: Chicago’s Orange Revolution Is On!
Fioretti Is In. Plus: Pseudo-Coverage Of A Pseudo-Debate, The War On Illinois’ Kids, and Friends Of The Empire Strike Back.

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Posted on September 15, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

Exclusive: The Weekend Desk has learned that Rahm Emanuel picked up the orange phone at his Ravenswood Manor residence this morning and said in a stern growl, “It’s go time” before slamming down the receiver and ordering that someone be fired. Project Destroy Bob Fioretti is on.
The Orange Revolution
The financially strapped Fioretti campaign saved money by using his hair dye to paint his signs.

A supporter of mayoral candidate Bob Fioretti at his campaign kickoff. pic.twitter.com/4aaHUgn4cH

— Antonio Dickey (@chicagophotog1) September 13, 2014

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Posted on September 13, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

“Nearly one year after Illinois child welfare officials revealed under pressure that more children had died from abuse or neglect than earlier reported, new state statistics show the disturbing high rate has continued,” the Tribune reports.
“The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services reports that 87 of the 210 child deaths investigated during the fiscal year that ended June 30 involved credible evidence of abuse or neglect. With 29 similar fatalities still awaiting an official ruling, Illinois appears likely to again tally one of the highest totals since the state began tracking the statistic in 1981.”
I suppose DCFS had to be pressured to release such data because it was embarrassed by its performance, but you’d think the horrific numbers would help build a case for additional funding for its historically overloaded case workers.

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Posted on September 12, 2014