"TEA Party" held and historic sites to reopen

by Hilary Russell and Jamey Dunn
Photographs by Hilary Russell

Anti-tax protesters gathered in front of the Illinois Capitol today, shouting the message that they are Taxed Enough Already (TEA) on the last day people can file their income taxes without an extension. Meanwhile, Gov. Pat Quinn launched a new Web site intended to help taxpayers and government employees report corruption.




Today’s protest was one of several TEA parties held around the nation to demonstrate opposition to government spending and rising taxes under President Barack Obama’s administration.

In Illinois, taxpayers face a potential 50 percent income tax increase (from 3 percent to 4.5 percent for individuals and 4.8 percent to 7.2 percent for corporations). The legislature also is considering hiking sales taxes on cigarettes, some flavored coffee drinks and motor fuel as a way to help generate more revenue and plug a budget deficit projected to reach as much as $12.4 billion.

Protesters booed, waved American flags and raised signs that read,“Big government is the problem, not the solution,” “Read my lipstick, no more payments,” and “Vote to raise our taxes, and we will vote you out of office.”

Rep. Lou Lang, deputy House majority leader from Skokie, said he understands why people are angry at the prospect of increased taxes nationally and locally.

“For most of us here, no one wants to raise taxes, or raise fees and costs on people,” said Lang, who was in the Capitol today even though the General Assembly is on spring break. “But as we try to get through the spring session and we have to try and come to grips with a $12 billion hole in our budget and how we are going to deal with that, we may have to bite the bullet and raise some taxes. None of us would like to do that; we’d like to avoid it.”


Quinn, at a news conference in Chicago, said he supports citizens taking to the streets to make their opinions known, but he’s still waiting to hear alternatives to an income tax increase.

“We’ve heard a lot of chirping, but nobody has a specific concrete plan that gets the job done, without having to raise revenue in order to pay down the 11 and a half billion dollar deficit,” he said.

Meanwhile, he launched a government Web site aimed at getting people to report fraud that involves taxpayer dollars.

The site is supposed to make it easier for people to take advantage of a 1991 Illinois whistleblower protection law that encourages citizens to expose corruption and theft by offering a financial incentive. The law applies to all levels of government. According to Quinn, the law has already led to exposing Medicaid fraud and crooked highway contractors.

Quinn said that citizens have an obligation to help police their government. “We as taxpayers have, I think, a duty to keep our eyes open. We want anyone who would even think of committing fraud against the taxpayers to think twice about it,” he said.

Historic sites to open soon
Quinn also announced in his press conference today that some of the state historic sites could reopen as early as next week.

Dave Blanchette, spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, said that notices to return to work have been sent to all 33 agency employees who were laid off late last year. He said that the agency has asked them to come back April 22 and that at least some historic sites should reopen by the end of next week.

Blanchette said that all 11 sites that were closed by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich last year will be reopened, but the timing depends on how soon employees are available to come back to work. The governor and the agency will be making a formal announcement sometime next week.

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Tax increases will spark controversy

By Jamey Dunn
Gov. Pat Quinn already faces opposition from the business community to a possible income tax increase, even though his budget address will not take place until Wednesday. The Tooling and Manufacturing Association released a proposal today that suggests making budget cuts before turning to tax increases to solve the state’s deficit.


The premise of the plan is that Illinois corporations and families must pare down their budgets to survive difficult financial times, so the state should follow suit. “There really are some areas that we can cut in this budget before we go to that tax increase,” said Zach Mottl, chairman of the association’s government relations committee.

The association suggests a state hiring and promotions freeze, as well as changes to the state pension system that would resemble a private-sector 401(k) plan. That could include requiring larger employee contributions, getting rid of guaranteed retirement benefits and raising the retirement age to 67. The plan also includes substantial cuts to public schools, higher education and Medicaid. The only budgetary increase the association recommended was money for a job training grant program.

The plan also suggested that Quinn meet with business and labor groups to discuss changes to the worker’s compensation system, and they wanted him to reconsider his position on closing so-called corporate tax loopholes that the group said offer incentives to stimulate business growth in Illinois.

Ralph Martire (scroll down), executive director of the Chicago-based Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, recently said that budget cuts will actually hurt the state’s economy and result in job loss. He said that a progressive tax increase, which would put more of the tax burden on the wealthy, is the solution for getting the state through the recession.

“If the state raises taxes progressively and maintains its expenditures on essential public services, we have the potential to shorten the recession in Illinois by half a year, maintain or grow jobs and actually do something that counters the negative impact of this spiral down for most people in the state,” Martire said in a Statehouse news conference last week.

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The Decline of Chicago: The City that Doesn't Work

Steve Bartin from this local blog known as Newsalert offers his two cents on the state of the city of Chicago in this online column. Something that's worth a pull from this column among other things I'd like to excerpt...

Recently, Crain’s Chicago Business reported on Chicago winning an award from Fast Company magazine. “Chicago stood out in our reporting for its creativity and vitality,” Editor and Managing Director Bob Safian said at a press conference here. “Chicago offers something distinctive.”

Fast Company Magazine is representative of much of the media: not much on hard facts about Chicago. The Windy City has distinctions but not positive ones. Chicago’s retail sales tax is the highest in the nation at 10.25 percent. Unions, high taxes, and political corruption have made Chicago one of the leaders in big city decline.

One of the great modern myths of big city America is that Chicago is some sort of successful town and a role model for others. By any traditional performance standards Chicago has failed. Like many old, big industrial cities, Chicago peaked in the 1950 Census with a population of 3,620,962. In the 1950s over two percent of the entire U.S. population lived within Chicago city limits. Over a half century later, while America’s population doubled, Chicago’s population declined. The 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990 Census numbers showed Chicago losing population.

Mayor Daley and Chicago residents were quite excited about the 2000 Census showing Chicago gaining over 112,000 people (a growth rate at half the national average for the 1990s). It appears the 1990s were an anomaly for Chicago. Since the year 2000, according to Census estimates, Chicago again continued its population decline with a loss of 63,000 from 2000 to 2006 leaving a total of 2,833,321.

....

Though 2000 was a somewhat positive year, that year’s Census numbers mask some rather disturbing trends. The white flight out of Chicago continued with 150,000 non- Hispanic white people leaving Chicago from 1990 to 2,000. African-Americans, for the first time, began leaving Chicago with a net loss of 5,000. The population gain in Chicago during the 1990s was due to Hispanics.

Here's another problem highlighted...

What is even more pronounced is the lack of white children in the public school system. The entire Chicago Public School is only 9 percent white . Not a single public school has a population that is majority white. Not one.

Recently, the stubborn facts of Chicago’s population decline made news. As CBS TV Chicago reported in January of 2008:

Half-empty schools are ‘unacceptable’ because they don't serve their students or the communities they're supposed to anchor, Mayor Richard M. Daley said Thursday, setting the stage for the biggest wave of school closings in decades.

Officials contend 147 of 417 neighborhood elementary schools are from half to more than two-thirds empty because enrollment has declined by 41,000 students in the last seven years. A tentative CPS plan calls for up to 50 under-used schools to close, consolidate with other schools or phase out over the next five years.

Most of the underused schools are on the South and West Sides, often where the student population is largely African-American, and in lakefront neighborhoods that include Lincoln Park, Lake View, Uptown and North Center.”

The situation isn’t any better in Chicago’s Catholic School System. The Chicago Tribune reported on February 27, 2007:

Nicholas Wolsonovich, superintendent of schools for the archdiocese, called the exodus from Chicago's Catholic schools ‘mind-boggling.’ In 1964, he said, some 500 schools were spread across the diocese, with about 366,000 students. Now, the system has 257 schools and fewer than 100,000 students. Over the last decade statewide, the number of Catholic schools has dropped from 592 in 1997 to 510 this year, according to figures released at the conference.

Chicago’s political elite love to give speeches about the importance of public education, but not for their children. Mayor Daley sent his children to private schools. Deborah Lynch, the former head of the Chicago Teacher’s Union, sent her kids to private schools. America’s newest political superstar, Barack Obama, sends his kids to private schools. With the exodus of the rich from Chicago’s public schools, 69 percent of the children in the Chicago Public School system are poor.

The horrible public schools, high taxes, and crime have driven families out of Chicago. The city’s job base cannot compete with anti-union places like Houston and Phoenix.

Let's talk a little about business in Chicago. Chicago and Cook County already has the highest sales tax in the nation but what might be the after effects of that and other taxes on businesses here...

Chicago’s high tax life style has driven businesses and jobs to the suburbs. Chicago is one ofthe only towns in America with an employee head tax on employment. Companies with over 50 employees must pay $4 a month per employee to the city. Most of the major corporate headquarters in the Chicago area are located in Chicago’s suburbs. Motorola, Walgreens, All State, Kraft, Anixter, Illinois Tool Works, McDonald’s, Alberta-Culver, and Abbott Labs all have their corporate headquarters outside city limits.

Recently, Chicago got its first Wal-Mart. In most places in America, politicians allow consumers to decide whether a business should fail or succeed. In Chicago, with the power of the unions, Chicago’s city council has made it difficult for Wal-Mart to open up any more stores. Chicago’s poor are relegated to paying higher retail prices and have less access to entry-level jobs. The adjacent suburb of Niles has the unusual distinction of being the only town in America (with less than 45,000 people) with two Wal-Marts. One of the Niles Wal-Marts is located right across the street from Chicago.

The largest employer in the city of Chicago is the Federal government. Followed by the City of Chicago public School system. Other major employers are the city of Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority, the Cook County government, and the Chicago Park District. These thousands of government workers provide the backbone of the coalition for higher taxes, generous pensions and “political stability”.

Chicago’s political system is inefficient and costly. There are no term limits in Chicago. The Democratic Party has controlled the Mayor’s office since 1931(a big city record). There’s no opposition: Democrat’s control 49 out of 50 seats on the city council. Corruption is everywhere. Barely a month can go by without a major scandal. The FBI has the largest public corruption squad in the United States located in Chicago . Chicago voters don’t seem to care. Those who care about high taxes, good public schools, and low crime are a small minority in Chicago.

I just post this here because there are some things to consider here. Does anyone think the City of Chicago is in trouble? Does anyone think there might need to be some changes made in how the city is able to attract and retain businesses here?

This column concludes that low-tax and low-regulation Houston, Texas will over take Chicago in 15 years. Does anyone think that will happen?

Cross-posted at The Sixth Ward.

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Marathon Pundit comes to Metropolis

Back in Metropolis, circuses and elephants
Where the oranges grew
Back in Metropolis nothing can ever topple us
When I'm standing with you
The Church, "Metropolis," 1990

Near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers is Metropolis, Illinois. Superman's hometown. Of course Superman's real hometown is the mythical Smallville, Illinois, which of course isn't too different than Ray Bradbury's equally mythical Green Town, Illinois. Clark Kent, Superman that is, moved on the the make-believe Metropolis, a stand-in for New York..


The people of Metropolis came up with a unique idea to market their town, which predates the casino boat there. Since the southern Illinois town is believed to be the only municipality named Metropolis, they declared themselves the home town of the immigrant from the planet Krypton. So they erected a statue of the superhero, in front of the courthouse, this statue. Across the street from the statue is a Superman memorabilia shop--this statue makes a contribution to the economy of the small town. Of course, once in the town, Superman fans might fill up their gas tanks, grab something to eat, or try their luck in the casino.

The late Senator Paul Simon (D-IL), once remarked on a town in Illinois that turned a gravesite of a circus elephant into a tourist attraction, claiming it added to jobs to the town that wouldn't have been there otherwise. Simon said something like this, "Find out what is unique about your town, and capitalize on it." I couldn't figure out what town the bow-tied one was talking about, as Taylorville and Oquawka have circus elephant memorials. The Oquawka elephant was killed by a lightning strike, my guess this is the town Simon was referring to--the memorial is in the center of the small town.

Later in this series, I'm going to touch on a similar theme about a larger town in Mississippi.

Related Marathon Pundit post:

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny--The Trail of Tears (in Illinois)

To comment on this post, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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Vacant lots employ no one

The former Dominick's grocery store on the left employs no one. Just as the vacant lot at 83rd and Stewart on Chicago's South Side doesn't have anyone on its payroll.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest corporation, wants to build a store at 83rd and Stewart, and help revitalize an area that has few if any large grocery stores--a "food desert."

And some people want to keep it that way.

The Chicago Tribune, free registration may be required for the link, has an editorial today that about that lot. It's part of the Chatham Market redevelopment plan, and a clause in that plan calls for Chicago City Council approval for any store selling groceries with over 100,000 square feet. Two years ago, the council passed an ordinance, which was vetoed by Mayor Richard Daley, that would've forced any store with over 100,000 square feet of retail space, a "Big Box," to pay its workers more than smaller retailers. If that bill had becoome law, it would've been a disaster for Chicagoans. Fewer jobs, higher prices for goods.

From the Tribune editorial:

Despite the size trigger in the Chatham Market development and the now-defunct Big Box ordinance, this controversy has always been more about what's on the shelves than how many shelves there are. Wal-Mart is the nation's largest retailer—and the nation's largest grocer. Organized labor is determined to protect its unionized ranks at area Jewel and Dominick's grocery stores. That means it's determined to keep Wal-Mart and its big grocery departments out of Chicago.

Like Wal-Mart's employees, Lowe's workers also are non-union. Lowe's opened its 117,000-square-foot store in Chatham Market in December. Nobody protested. Lowe's doesn't sell groceries.

The city's latest rejection may not be the last turn of this wheel. Wal-Mart hasn't given up and neither has Ald. Howard Brookins (21st), who represents this area and knows how eager his constituents are for the hundreds of jobs and shopping convenience Wal-Mart would bring. But making this happen requires political courage from the mayor and from aldermen not beholden to labor. And there isn't much evidence of that.

The original developers of Chatham Market, Monroe Investment Partners LLC, vowed four years ago that "Wal-Mart is not now, and will not be, a part of our development." They might have added: A vacant lot is so much better.

Meanwhile, the food desert problem persists in Chicago and other large cities. The City of Chicago is aware of the problem, and as I noted in the related post, they are working to recruit medium-sized grocers (that means not Wal-Mart or Target) into the deserts.

Some people just don't get it.

Related Marathon Pundit posts:

Food deserts continue to plague Chicago
Obama's Wal-Mart connection: Wife served on board of big Wal-Mart supplier
Chicago's "food deserts" well known to Obama
My book report: The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy
The good life of working for the UFCW
Union leaders don't share their members pain
Chicago food desert update: Hyde Park Co-op to close
Big-box shy Chicago facing "food desert"

To comment on this post, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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USOC considers HQ move to Chicago

Well at least if Chicago can't have the Olypmics in the next decade Chicago can have the headquarters of the US Olympic Committee. From Crain's...

On the heels of its efforts to lure the 2016 Summer games here, the Daley administration has opened talks with the USOC about moving its headquarters here from Colorado Springs, Colo., where the committee has been based since 1978, according to sources familiar with the talks.

The USOC’s real estate consultant, James H. Didion, World Business Chicago chief Paul O’Connor and others toured about a half-dozen downtown office towers last month, seeking about 100,000 square feet of office space and about 3,000 square feet of street-level retail or showroom space, those sources say.

In 2001, Mr. Didion retired as chairman of California-based commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis Inc., where USOC Chairman Peter V. Ueberroth was a director.

The identities of the Chicago buildings on the tour could not be confirmed. Other cities on the USOC’s list also could not be confirmed. Sources say the search is in the initial stages, and probably will not be completed for several months.

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Hillary's vacuous vetting exposes International Profit Associates hypocrisy

My good friend Dan Curry has been working on the Hillary/International Profit Associates story for months, and I'm sure he won't mind that I take his post, almost word for word, and post it here.

Dan blogs at Reverse Spin, and I highly recommend his blog.

On Meet the Press last Sunday, Hillary Clinton proclaimed that new vetting procedures had been been put in place to prevent her from taking money from sleaze merchants like Norman Hsu.

If you think you've heard that line before, you are right.

The spokeswoman for Mrs. Clinton, Ann Lewis, said Mrs. Clinton was not aware of Mr. Burgess's background when he held fund-raising affairs for her in 2000 and 2003, nor did she know whether other prominent Democrats had rejected contributions. She said that Mrs. Clinton’s vetting procedures have been strengthened since the senator’s appearance at I.P.A.

That paragraph appeared in a May 2006 article in the New York Times focusing on questionable contributions to Clinton from Illinois-based International Profit Associates, a business consulting company run by a convicted criminal that is beset by fraud allegations and a massive federal sexual harassment lawsuit.

Small business owners across the country, frustrated by Hillary’s continued refusal to turn away IPA funds, have written her this letter today. The small business owners were victimized by IPA’s fraud and are suing IPA in a federal racketeering lawsuit pending in Chicago.

Hillary Clinton for President
4420 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA. 22203

Dear Senator Clinton:

We, the undersigned small business owners from across the country are deeply offended that you continue to accept campaign contributions from top officials of a business consulting company, International Profit Associates (IPA), Buffalo Grove, IL., that defrauded us. As we struggle in federal court via a civil racketeering lawsuit to recover the thousands of dollars this company took from us illegally, you continue to use political donations that might have come directly from our pockets.

We also are appalled because you accepted the money amid dark clouds of fraud allegations, a criminal past by the company's founder, and one of the largest sexual harassment lawsuits ever filed by the federal government.

We are trying to fight back against this company and you, Senator Clinton, are enabling it. We ask that you immediately donate to charity the more than $150,000 the New York Times says you've accepted from IPA's top officials, a figure that includes a ride on IPA's corporate jet and a donation from a high school age son of an IPA official.

Surely, now, in the wake of the Norman Hsu scandal, some time, including:

IPA is being sued by the federal government's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for widespread sexual harassment. In a New York Times article May 7, 2006 titled, "Rubbing Shoulders with Trouble, and Presidents," EEOC lawyer Diane Smason called the allegations "probably the most egregious" ever filed by the agency's Chicago office. She said the investigation found that "sex harassment is the standard operating procedure for this company." That case is pending in U.S. District Court.

The Illinois Attorney General’s office has acknowledged publicly that it is investigating IPA for alleged fraud.

The Better Business Bureau says IPA has an "unsatisfactory record" based on reoccurring complaints that total 427 in the last three years. The BBB has issued "alerts" in various states to warn businesses that IPA was soliciting work there.

The company founder, John Burgess, is a convicted criminal, according to numerous published reports. He was convicted of attempted grand larceny and of soliciting a 16-year-old prostitute, those reports state. He was disbarred as a lawyer in New York state in July 1987 for "failing to answer charges which involved perjury, larceny, a conviction for patronizing a 16-year-old prostitute, possession of drugs and engaging in a pattern over a six-year period of lies and deceit," according to The Lawyers Fund for Client Protection of New York state. Burgess also is named as a key defendant in the sexual harassment lawsuit.

The company's attorney, Myron "Mike" Cherry, also a contributor of yours, has been identified in published reports as "Individual "H" in the Illinois criminal indictment of businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko. Cherry has acknowledged in published reports that he was the conduit for some of the IPA campaign contributions.

Already, politicians across the country have returned donations from IPA because of the company's checkered past. Illinois Senator Barack Obama, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager are among those who have returned contributions from IPA.

We have made our fraud allegations in a federal racketeering lawsuit pending in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Mrs. Clinton, we see from published reports that you have identified yourself as a champion for women’s rights and an advocate for small business owners. We cannot fathom, in light of those self-labels, how you could possibly accept campaign contributions from a company accused by the federal government of sexually harassing scores of women and one that has left behind a long trail of fraud complaints from small business owners. Do you believe the 114 women who were allegedly sexually harassed at IPA are not telling the truth about that harassment? Do you believe the Better Business Bureau is wrong? Do you think the state Attorney General is unjustified in her investigation of IPA?

We believe this is our concern because the campaign contributions you continue to accept came from the money that we believe was taken from us illegally. We do not believe you should continue to further your political career with such tainted cash.

We are not singling you out in this request. We plan to make the same request to other public officials who continue to accept and hold IPA-related campaign contributions. We wrote you first because you are running for President and certainly should be setting an example for other politicians.

Sincerely,
Amari Company, Inc., Amherst, NH.
Amazing Productions, Inc., Tamarac, FL.
Precision Painting and Decorating, Inc., Elmhurst, IL.
All About Construction, Inc., Fort Myers, FL.
Capital Removal, Gold River, CA.
BBQ Island, LLC., Gilbert, AZ.
Compsolution VA, Inc., Richmond, VA.
JRP Construction, LLC., Yuma, AZ.
Evco Commercial Construction, Corp., Lake Elsinore, CA.
Gunnison Metal Shop, Inc., Gunnison, CA.
Captains Select Seafood, Minneapolis, MN.
MSI Redimix Inc., Mesquite, CA.
Joseph E. Clouse, Inc., Lehigh Acres, FL.
Kyles Discount Stuff, McPherson, KS.
Dames Air, LLC., Warrenton, MO.
Home Theater Design Group, Carrollton, TX.
Gigs Inc., Tewksbury, MA.
Cool Access LLC., Mesquite, TX.
Philipsburg Electric & Supply, Inc., Philipsburg, PA.
Gilbert-American Companies, Rockwall, TX.
Hinsdale Sales and Rental, Inc., Hinsdale, NH.
Hitech Fire Detection, Inc., Houston, TX.

Tonight, the Democratic candidates for President are debating in New Hampshire. Considering that some of IPA’s victims are from that state, it would be the perfect time for somebody to ask Hillary about how IPA has escaped her vaunted vetting procedures.

The International Profit Associates story is out there on the Internet, but you have to do some digging to find it. The Oprah Winfrey Show's take on it can be found here.

From Oprah's site:

According to Charlotte, even the top executive participated in the harassment. "John Burgess, the owner, had his assistant proposition me to have sex with him," she says. "She started telling me a story of how he sleeps with women in the company and how I can get a better job if I do sleep with him."

Shortly after Charlotte rejected her boss's proposition, she says, she was demoted. "The next day I went to the [Human Resources] department and spoke with the manager," Charlotte says. "She looked at me and shrugged her shoulders and said, 'That's how he is.'"

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"Worst sports team owner" Bill Wirtz dies

During my three year stint as an employee at the Bismarck Hotel, now the Hotel Allegro, I got to know--a little bill--Bill Wirtz, whose family then owned the property. I found him to be a friendly and charming man.

Still, I have to agree with many other that Wirtz, who died of cancer early today, was easily the worst owner in professional sports.

The Wirtz dynasty was founded in real estate, and for a while the magic touch carried over to the Chicago Blackhawks, an "original six" NHL team. Wirtz' father Arthur purchased the team in 1954, the "Hawks" won a Stanley Cup in 1961. And for a while the team gave the Cubs, White Sox, and the Bears a run for their money as Chicago's most popular team. The Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita led teams of the 1960s and early 1970s, after that championship, brought a tremendous amount of excitement to the city.

But Hull jumped to the World Hockey Association in 1972--Wirtz' father still owned the team until his death in 1983--but the team remained successful, but without a Stanley Cup, into the 1990s.

But free-agency came to hockey in 1990 and Bill Wirtz' Blackhawks refused to spend the money to keep star players such as Tony Amonte, Chris Chelios, Jeremy Roenick, and Ed Belfour in Blackhawks sweaters. The Blackhawks have only qualified for the NHL playoffs twice in the last ten years.

And the team' popularity plummeted. People living outside of Chicago find this hard to believe, but home games, with rare exceptions, are not televised in the Chicago area--not even on cable. People have busy lives, and kids who aren't exposed to televised hockey don't become fans. (Road games are televised on cable, but the Blackhawks play in the Western Conference, and play a lot of games on the west coast, when kids are sleeping.)

But Wirtz, on the rare occasions when he addressed the TV issue, responded that three things make the Blackhawks successful: "Season reservations, season reservations, and season reservations."

But that failed Wirtz too. The Blackhawks average 12,000 fans a game, but play in the 20,000 capacity United Center.

Besides the realty holdings, the Wirtz empire includes Judge & Dolph, a wine and liquor distributorship. In one of Illinois' most idiotic laws--a hold over the 1930s--beer, wine, and liquor manufacturers are prevented from selling their products directly to businesses. They have move their goods through a middleman such as Judge & Dolph. During the unhappy term of disgraced Illinois Governor George H. Ryan, a law passed, nicknamed the "Wirtz Law," made it virtually impossible for alcohol producers to fire companies such Judge & Dolph. A federal judge ruled that the law was unconstitutional three years later.

To comment on this post, or to read my latest "Kansas Kronikles" post, click here.

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Obama expected to walk Congress Hotel picket line today

Okay kids, this one is local. And I'm not parroting Fox News talking points.


I worked at the Congress Hotel for nine years as either a catering or convention services manager. I worked with a lot of interesting groups, including International Mr. Leather, the annual meeting of the leftist rag In These Times, a swingers group, a street gang summit, and some Wiccans.

My time there helps explain why I'm so loosely wired.

Four years ago, the unionized workers there went on strike. My opinion on organized labor is mostly negative--many unions tend to be corrupt dens of nepotism.

However, in this battle, I'm on the side of the union. The dishwashers, bartenders, room attendants, and waiters walking the picket line were not well paid. Their union, Hotel Employees-Restaurant Employees Local #1 was recently cleaned up by the federal government, negotiated a major pay increase for their members with the bargaining unit hired by the big Chicago hotels. All signed on, except the Congress.

The owners are crying they can't afford the pay raise, but don't believe them. The core of the partnership, led by New Yorker Albert Nasser, has been in control of the Congress since 1987. Despite a 1995 bankruptcy declaration, they've obviously found owning the Congress worthwhile. Besides, they could always sell the hotel. The land the hotel sits on--the corner of Congress and Michigan Avenue overlooking Buckingham Fountain--is undoubtedly worth a fortune.

Or the owners could fix up the place and stop maintaining a dump. Renovated and run properly, the place would be a gold mine.

Click here from more on the owners of the Congress Hotel, including their man on-the-site, Shlomo Nahmias.

Sometime today, Senator Barack Obama will walk the hotel picket line with his striking constituents. Just as I support the union in this struggle, I'm with Obama today.

I'll end this post with a little story. I rented out the the hotel's Buckingham Room to an education society once. Two years later, I booked them again--I'd like to think it was because of me they returned. Anyway, when the group's president walked in the room for the second meeting, she pointed out a cracked window, and said, "Look that window is cracked, just as it was two years ago!"

That's the Congress Hotel.

To comment on this post, or to congratulate me on the fact that I live in one of America's "Ten Best Towns for Families," click here.

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Don Gordon v. Joe Moore vote fraud suit proceeds, moves to discovery phase

In a ruling given late this morning, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Marsha D. Hayes refused the request by Alderman Joe Moore's attorneys to dismiss the Don Gordon's lawsuit against the 49th Ward incumbent in which Gordon alleges vote fraud took place on a level significant level that warrants overturning the results of April's run-off election.

The borders of the 49th Ward roughly match that of Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

Regular Marathon Pundit readers know that Moore has sought to make a national name for himself by trumpeting such causes as the Iraq War, Wal-Mart expansion and the banning of the goose liver delicacy foie gras in Chicago. On that last one, according to an e-mail sent to me by Jake of the Freedom Folks--he's a chef--about a dozen restaurants among the thousands of eateries in the nation's third largest city served foie gras.

Meanwhile, as Tom Mannis reports on Rogers Park Bench, Moore is not a good steward of his ward--basic needs of his constituents go unfulfilled. The Broken Heart of Rogers Park has corroborating evidence.

The case goes on to the discovery phase.

Moore is a former City of Chicago attorney, and can't too feel comfortable being on the other side of the legal microscope. When you're used to being in power, it's painful being in a situation where you can be powerless.

A Chicago election has never been overturned by the courts. But stranger things have happened. After all, two years ago, a Chicago baseball team, the White Sox, won the World Series.

Voter49 has a lot more.

To comment on this post, or to vote in the Pajamas Media presidential straw poll, click here.

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Wal-Mart seeks to water Chicago's food deserts

On the left is a former Dominick's supermarket on Chicago's North Side. The Safeway owned chained closed over a dozen stores last year, leading to the creation of Chicago "food deserts"--areas not served by a supermarket.

Ironically the food-desertification of Chicago became acute shortly after the passing of the since vetoed big-box "living wage" ordinance by the Chicago City Council.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Wal-Mart is prepared to move "in six to 12 months, maybe sooner" to build as many as five South Side supercenters, but the world's largest retailer is scouting sites in neighboring wards in case local aldermen resist, a top official said Tuesday.

South Side Chicago Alderman Beale Anthony Beale adds more:

We have a food desert in our community. We're in desperate need of a quality grocery store. If Wal-Mart would commit to the site on 111th, that would give me two quality grocery stores and over 1,000 jobs.

Alderman Joe Moore, author of the "living wage" ordinance must be seething. But he has problems of his own. On Friday, Moore will learn the initial ruling from the judge presiding over challenger's Don Gordon's lawsuit over the results of April's 49th Ward aldermanic election--Moore was declared the winner. Gordon is alleging that vote fraud occurred and is asking that the results be overturned.

Related Marathon Pundit posts:

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