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Nasdaq: Chicago's Troubled Schools Made Wall Street $110 Million
The Chicago Board of Education was desperate for cash. Two Wall Street players were willing to lend it — at a price.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Chicago-based Nuveen Asset Management have made realized and paper profits exceeding $ 110 million on purchases this year of $763 million in Chicago Public Schools bonds. The school system needed the money to replenish its dwindling coffers before the new school year and to build and repair facilities.
Wirepoints: 21 Ways Illinois Progressives Betray the Poor and Middle Class
If Illinois Progressives were true to what they’re supposed be about — helping the little guy — we should all be one. But they’re not. Policies they’ve enacted and now propose are a catalog of unintended consequences, naivete, virtue signaling, willful ignorance and stuff that just doesn’t work.
Before the list, one note: Progressives will react to some of this by saying, “That’s why we want a progressive income tax.” Understood. I’ll address that separately below. And the fact remains that, without implementing a progressive income tax, they nevertheless support this agenda of failure:
Property taxes. They’ve become the hot button issue in Illinois, and rightly so. They are nothing short of suicidal and confiscatory in many Illinois communities, often exceeding four and five percent. (See our detailed reports on those rates linked here and here.) And they are regressive — maddening for the rich but devastating for the poor — which is explained in detail in a 50 state report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. But Illinois Progressives have no problem raising them and show no interest in a cap or rollback.
News-Gazette: Dems' electoral gamesmanship shot down by court
Usually, it’s Democrats who accuse Republicans of trying to disenfranchise voters with election law requirements that include voter identification laws ruled unconstitutional in some jurisdictions.
But last week in Illinois, it was the legislative Democrats in Springfield and former Gov. Pat Quinn who were caught with their hands in the Election Day cookie jar.
A federal judge in Chicago stuck down an Illinois law requiring election-day registration at polling places in large counties, where Democrats dominate, but not in smaller, rural counties with Republican majorities.
Greg Hinz: There's no escape, Illinois: It's time to pay for those pensions
I had to give a speech recently. For some reason, the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois wanted me to talk at its annual gathering. So I pulled together some thoughts and did a bit more research on a subject I seem to have to cover almost every other day: the pension debts that are staggering government in Illinois.
I’m glad I did, because I learned a couple of things and reached some conclusions that I had been working toward already. Among them: Politicians almost always will defer tough decisions if they can. Illinois’ pension woes are massive, but a hint of dawn is on the horizon. And, like it or not, it’s time to bite the bullet and pay up what the Illinois Supreme Court says we’re going to have to pay.
WSIL: Term limits in Illinois have bipartisan support
A popular talking point during the Illinois election season has been term limits for lawmakers. It’s a proposal Governor Bruce Rauner has pushed for since taking office. But local candidates for state legislature proved this week, that the idea has bipartisan support.
Incumbent Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, and her Democratic challenger Marsha Griffin were at a candidate forum in Mt. Vernon earlier this week. Bryant said a lack of term limits has kept Democratic house speaker Micheal Madigan, in the legislature for nearly four decades.
Other republican leaders blame him for Illinois’ fiscal mess. Griffin agrees term limits could be a key factor in bringing both sides of the aisle together and getting a real budget.
Chicago Tribune: Emanuel budget speech set for same day as CTU strike
In the course of dealing with the vexing issue of police reform, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has delayed several City Council votes on his plan to provide more oversight of the Chicago Police Department. He also delayed his big speech on policing by a couple of days last month after his former top cop Garry McCarthy gave his own speech to the City Club of Chicago the same week.
Now, the Chicago Teachers Union has set a strike date of Oct. 11 — the same day Emanuel is supposed to give a speech to the City Council unveiling his 2017 budget. Would the mayor delay that speech, too, if the teachers walk?
Chicago Tribune: Falling prices for ride-share services provide competition for CTA
After a long day of auditing work, Kevin Smith sometimes treats himself to a Via ride-share car instead of taking the Brown Line home.
Though he often shares the ride with strangers, Smith likes having a guaranteed seat where he can work on his laptop. The flat rate is $1.70 more than an “L” ride.
“It’s just a little bit nicer to sit in the back of a big, spacious car instead of cramming into a CTA train, especially toward the end of the day,” said Smith, 24, of Lincoln Park. “You don’t deal with the hassle.”
CNBC: S&P cuts Illinois' credit rating on state's 'weak' management
S&P Global Ratings dropped Illinois’ credit rating one notch to BBB on Friday and warned it could fall further absent a long-term solution that deals with the state’s chronic structural budget deficit and pension woes.
“The downgrade reflects our view of continued weak financial management and increased long-term and short-term pressures tied to declining pension funded levels,” said S&P analyst John Sugden in a statement.
Illinois, the lowest-rated U.S. state, is in its second straight fiscal year without a complete budget due to an impasse between its Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature.