By Steve Rhodes
1. Pass the unwritten bill right away!
Memo to Obama: Congress isn’t the Chicago City Council.
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In 10 days I’ll tell you how I’m going to pay for it!
Memo to Obama: And you’re no Richard M. Daley.
Posted on September 9, 2011
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
1. Mystery GOP Debate Theater: Simi Valley
2. Carl’s Cubs Mailbag: The Law Of Diminishing Returns Starring That Hot Community College Chick And Carlos Marmol’s Chubby Calves
3. Charles Evans of the Chicago Federal Reserve released a paper yesterday spelling out why high unemployment is a huge failure of Fed policymakers,” FDL notes.
Posted on September 8, 2011
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
The Daley deposition is off – for now.
“Daley, through his city-paid attorneys, sent [attorney Flint] Taylor a letter saying ‘no,'” Carol Marin writes. “Under no circumstances will he sit for questioning by lawyers representing men who claim to have been tortured by Chicago Police.”
In this case, that man is Michael Tillman, who spent 24 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
“Even the man who convicted him in a bench trial in 1986, Judge Kenneth Gillis, admits to second thoughts. Knowing now what he did not know then about Tillman’s torture, Judge Gillis stated in a June deposition, ‘I’m ashamed I convicted him.'”
Posted on September 7, 2011
The [Tuesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
1. Quinn planning thousands of layoffs as president (and nation) pleads for jobs.
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Maybe the president ought to get his own party in order attacking the other one.
Posted on September 6, 2011
The Weekend Desk Report
By Natasha Julius
It’s Labor Day, or as 14 million Americans call it, Monday. Happy Monday, everyone!
Market Update
Just to review, that’s no new jobs for Labor Day weekend. Apparently, the Department of Labor doesn’t even want us to work on our jokes.
Posted on September 3, 2011
The [Friday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
1. $1.1 million that could have been spent a zillion better ways.
Way to go, Rahm!
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“You will find across the city that teachers spend on average $1,500 a year on school supplies out of their own pocket,” says Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis.
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Wouldn’t it have been nice if Rahm had said “In lieu of inauguration festivities, please send your donation to the Chicago School Supplies Fund that I’ve just created. I cannot in good conscience throw a million-dollar party when some of our schoolchildren still go without the essentials.”
But that would be a different world than the one we live in.
Posted on September 2, 2011
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“Top aides to Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday that they will release this week the list of donors to the mayor’s May inauguration festivities, after first promising months ago to quickly make it public,” the Tribune reports.
“The Emanuel camp originally committed to releasing the list of private donors within days of the May 16 inaugural. After the Tribune began asking Monday about the delay, Emanuel aides said the list was being compiled and would be released sometime before the Labor Day weekend. Politicians often dump unpopular or potentially controversial news on Fridays, when it is less likely to be widely circulated.”
Posted on September 1, 2011
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
The Papers will return on Thursday. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some fine offerings from our internationally acclaimed sports staff.
For example, here’s a slice of what the world’s greatest college football correspondent, our very own Mike Luce, writes today in The College Football Report: Bring On The Skillets, Barrels and War Axes:
“For a storied conference including the likes of legendary programs like Ohio State and Michigan, to adopt a school like Nebraska speaks volumes about the ongoing arms race in college football.
“Not that we carry a grudge against the Big Ten (okay, maybe we do), but we do think it’s too bad the conference had to raid a powerhouse program in a far-flung state to compete with the other elite leagues.
Posted on August 31, 2011
The [Tuesday] Papers
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
You know what? Mitt Romney was right when he said “corporations are people,” because if all of you Democrats out there want to be honest, you’ll recognize that what Romney meant was that corporations are made up of people, and if you raise taxes on corporations – which I favor – you inevitably are raising taxes, so to speak (in the form of wages and prices) on employees and customers.
Now, I happen to believe that highly-paid executives should be the ones to bear the brunt; that’s the point. And that large corporate profits should be dinged without penalty to employees and customers. So let’s make that happen.
But I bring this up not to discuss Romney or national politics, but to discuss the Tribune’s blockbuster (in my mind) over the weekend about a state baby-sitting program that “has given rapists, molesters and other violent felons access to kids.”
Posted on August 29, 2011