By Steve Rhodes
Wondering how those tax subsidies for NASCAR, Disney and Goldman Sachs got into the fiscal cliff bill, even as a payroll tax cut was rescinded?
The White House insisted on it.
Four more years!
Gay Games
“Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady of St. Charles is calling GOP lawmakers asking them to support a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage,” the Daily Herald reports.
Obama beat him there by just three days.
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“White House spokesman Shin Inouye told the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet Sunday that the president ‘believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect’ and that, were he still a member of the Illinois state legislature, ‘he would support this measure that would treat all Illinois couples equally.'”
Perhaps. Then again, when he was in the U.S. Senate, he opposed gay marriage.
“I’m a Christian,” Obama said during the 2004 U.S. Senate campaign, “and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.”
He was even elected president – the first time – while opposing gay marriage.
My guess is that, had he the chance, he would have voted “present.”
See also: Obama’s Gay Marriage Gambit.
Prayer Circle
“A Democratic state representative from Illinois recently told a group of ministers that he believes they need to work to get prayer back in school,” the Christian News Network reports.
Um, make that an indicted Democratic state rep.
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Payback?
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More likely, just pandering.
“[R]eports state that none of the ministers present supported Ford’s idea.”
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
From a Grio report on the race to replace Jesse Jackson Jr.:
“Potential Democratic candidates vying for the seat must gather at least 1,256 signatures on nominating petitions to be eligible to run for the special primary election, while a Republican candidate would need 288 signatures. Independent candidates would need as many as 25,095 signatures while any new party candidates would need at least 15,682.”
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Petition filing begins today.
Car Share Dare
“A day after its purchase by car rental company Avis, Zipcar’s website still is topped by the slogan ‘Car sharing: An alternative to car rental and car ownership,'” Crain’s notes.
“The deal shows the different directions taken by players in the car-sharing industry – and likely will have effects on Zipcar’s much smaller rivals, including Chicago-based nonprofit I-GO. Zipcar controls about 75 percent of the $400 million car-sharing industry in the U.S., according to Reuters.”
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“I-GO was founded in Chicago in 2002 as a pilot program of the Center of Neighborhood Technology and took off in 2004 when Ms. [Sharon] Feigon became CEO. The company now has more than more than 250 vehicles and more than 16,000 subscribers and offers a joint initiative with the CTA that gives customers access to both I-GO cars and CTA trains and buses with a smart card.”
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“In Chicago, Zipcar and I-GO vehicles are often parked side by side. Many customers have accounts with both companies. The Chicago Tribune published an article in 2011 noting some of the initial friction between Zipcar and I-GO and describing a lunch meeting in 2006 between the Zipcar CEO and Ms. Feigon.
Feigon remembers Zipcar (CEO) Scott Griffith telling her that Zipcar was moving into Chicago and asking whether she had an exit strategy, implying Zipcar would blow her tiny Chicago nonprofit off the road.
“He thought he would intimidate me. I wasn’t intimidated,” said Feigon, an activist with an MBA whose background includes starting a collectively owned ice cream parlor in Seattle and battling for such causes as tenant rights. “If anything, something like that makes me want to fight more. I don’t want anyone standing in our way. We have a mission, and we’re on the side of the community.”
See also: Zipcar: Startup Genius, Public Failure.
Bears Vs. The Offseason
In The Blue & Orange Kool-Aid Report.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: U-Go.
Posted on January 3, 2013