Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Thursday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Even as the Chicago Teachers Union reduced the threat of a strike, the group unveiled a long list of potential taxes that it said would raise $500 million for the cash-strapped public schools, Crain’s Greg Hinz reports.

“Let’s just say that anyone who buys gasoline, owns commercial property, rides on Uber or Lyft, stays in a hotel or operates a business that employs people will not be happy,” Hinz says.

That’s a weird formulation. Plenty of people who buy gas, own commercial property, use Uber and/or Lyft, and operate businesses that employ people also have kids in Chicago schools. There’s no reason to assume they don’t want to see those schools properly funded.
(As far as people who stay in hotels, they aren’t likely to notice or care if they have to pony up a few extra bucks they can put on their expense account or tack onto their vacation budget.)


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Even some people who fit into these categories and don’t have kids would not be unhappy to see these taxes go through. Some folks actually care about the city and its kids, not just themselves.
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Hinz:
“Heading the list is $94 million a year from reinstating – at a quadrupled rate – the city’s former head tax, which Mayor Rahm Emanuel finally finished repealing. CTU did not give a monthly number per employee, and failed to immediately return phone calls seeking details. Emanuel said at the time that tax was driving employers out of town.”
Name one.
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The head tax was always a weird thing, and businesses hated it, of course, but despite many promises, Richard M. Daley refused to do away with it. The money has to come from somewhere.
“[T]he mayor also noted he will have to find ways to make up for lost revenue,” the Tribune reported in 2011. How do you think he did it?
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“There’s no doubt that it’s been a regressive tax,” the then-CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce said at the time.
Oh, so the chamber is on board with progressive taxation! Are they willing to go to Springfield with the CTU to fight for that statewide?
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“Want to crush Illinois’ small businesses? Pass a progressive tax,” says the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative advocacy group that sometimes masquerades as a news service.
So we can’t tax business regressively or progressively. I get it: We’re not allowed to tax business at all. See how fast companies leave the city and state when we see the budget results of that. Look at how our governor is doing for a preview.
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German Finance Minister Cries Foul Over Tax Avoidance Deals
Or as the German Left Party says, “I doubt that the dividend deals are legal. In no case are they decent. Investment banking is the playground for tax thieves, is not systemically relevant to the financial system and therefore should be liquidated.”
Why The Stakes Are So High For The Black Panther
“Unfortunately, when it comes to underrepresented populations, the success or failure of these texts always ends up being about more than the specific text in itself; it becomes a referendum on whether stories about people who are not straight white men are valuable, and whether people who tell such stories should be given the resources to do so.”
A Fan’s Ashes
Plus: A Polka Pow-Wow & The CTA Bus Driver Bringing The Blues. In Local Music Notebook.
Fantasy Fix: Home Run Help
This week we shop for sluggers.
At The Adler: Women In Space
This year’s honoree was told by a teacher when she was a student that girls didn’t have to listen in science class.
24 Hours With Jewelry Television
Featuring chrome diopside, people.
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BeachBook
Leaked TTIP Docs Cast Doubt On Trade Deal.

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Why Google’s ‘Time Spent’ Metric Is Bullshit.

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Ted Cruz So Unpopular He Could Not Be Saved By Data Propaganda.

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TweetWood


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Run, don’t walk.

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Posted on May 5, 2016