Bumped for discussion. "I'm not happy about the property tax increase. And I'm very concerned about some of the other taxes that are nickel-and-diming people." Joe Moore
Really Joe? Prove to us taxpayers how much you're concerned.
What a great photo! Does he send this with his holiday greeting? If he doesn't he sure is missing out on an opportunity! If my taxes go up any more I will have to leave my home of 30 years. No one can keep up with the costs. What I really fear is the gas bill with the cost of a barrel of gas over $80 imaagine what natural gas will cost. As it is I pay over $300 per month on the budget plan. Then $500 per month for taxes. That is one third of my income.
Wouldn't it be something if one of our elected officals would find a way to make the cuts needed and look into where the millions & millions of dollars that are already being taken in from all of the taxs collected are being spent.
Unlike private companys who have to work within their budgets and be profitable, our elected officals just keep spending then look for ways to tax the people who elect them.
Do we need 50 aldermen? Do we need millions of dollars that are given out for "studies" that land up on h bottom of some file room in city hall?
One last thought, what happened to the tens of millions of dollars that the city recieved for selling the Chicago Skyway?
When it's all said and done, Joe will do what he's always done on the Daley budget, vote yes. He'll say to the mayor, "good job mayor we really fucked over the tax payers this time."
After that he'll go to the media and make stupid comments like the one above.
Today, to achieve and maintain power, Joe Moore has built a system where money not only buys influence, it but the right to govern. This culture of corruption prevails under Joe Moore.
That is my point, how come no one in the media , or one of the watchdog groups push for the accontability for the millions, and millions of dollars that are already being collected?
As I said before our elected officals are not use to haveing to account for where all the money goes to. They hold over the publics head "cuts" that hit the public, such as transportations, schools,public works jobs, etc.
Not once do they cut the any of their perks, there is always money for their rasies! (Which they vote in quickly)
Actually a large sum of the $$ from the Skyway lease has been set-aside in the city's "rainy day fund" which is used sparingly...the idea is to make it last as long as possible before running it down to zero.
As for revenue enhancements, perhaps Joey should propose a "tax on crime." That will be a big deterrant...or better yet, create a new SSA for Morse Avenue so the open air drug market will have to pay sales-taxes on generated sales. I mean, if you're not going to clean it up, lets make some money off it--of course, you can only sell there if you make a contribution to the campaign fund of a certain alderman as well.
but i blame all the voters of Chicago that blindly vote DEMOCRAT because they FEAR another Party's involvement. You have given these people the right to screw all of you over. Your loyalty is repaid by allowing Daley and Blago to have unlimited access to your wallet.
In the recent words of OBAMA... why are you so surprised when he (Bush) cashes a blank check that YOU gave him? I think it applies here in Chicago as well.
Amazed: Thanks for the info on the the money. If the city is putting the money in a "rainy day " fund (which is collecting million plus dollars in interest) it sure seems like theres a downpor going on in the city budget! Maybe they need to let lose some of the monies for helping out the situation. Haveing that said it comes back to our elected officals to work within a reasonable budget, and stop spending like there is no tommorrow, at the rate thier going one day there will be no tommorrow.
That "rainy day fund" didn't sound quite right to me so I just did some quick (and I do mean quick - all I did was Google Chicago Skyway Sale and I came up with lots of information) research and this is what I came up with:
According to a PowerPoint presentation provided by Kathleen Brown of Goldman Sachs, the firm that advised Daley on the sale, the budget for use of the funds breaks down as follows: $500M for a "Rainy Day Fund" $375M for operating budget over seven years $100M for special programs (Homeless and other special programs) $465M for Skyway debt defeasance (voids the debt) $390M GO debt defeasance, commercial paper pay down, and other items Source: http://www.nast.net/2005%20annual%20and%20sdmn/New_Folder/Kathleen%20brown.ppt
After all that, you get the grand total of $1.8 billion. Actually, according to the consortium of Spanish and Australian companies that secured the 99-year lease: "The City of Chicago approved the sale of the Skyway to the MIG-Cintra consortium for US$1.83bn (A$2.46bn). As agreed with the City this amount has been adjusted for movement in the 10 year Treasury note yield from 12 October 2004" By the way, I thought it was interesting to note that at the top of the page it stipulates, "Not for distribution in the United States, Canada or Japan" Man, I LOVE THE INTERNET! Source: http://www.macquarie.com.au/au/mig/news/20041028.htm
O.K. so what are we left with since this happened in 2004? Have taxes stabilized? Has the budget balanced? Are we any better off with our $1.8 (A$2.64b)? Are there less homeless? Have more homeless shelters been built? Have other social programs flourished as a result of that $100M specially earmarked just for them? If raising fares and cutting services on the public transportation in Chicago isn't considered a "rainy day" just what is? How, exactly, does one define a "rainy day" for the city of Chicago? Can someone define for me the term "operating budget"? It gets $375M over seven years but what does it operate? Not the Skyway, that's under the purview of the private consortium. The city? Again, I ask, haven't our taxes gone up, not down since 2004?
Last but not least, what the bloody hell is meant by "GO debt" and "commercial paper pay down" and just what were those "other items"? Whatever any of that means, it/they got $390M!
It seems this sale/lease/boondoggle/whatever-you-want-to-call-it of the Chicago Skyway was just a way to pay off short-term debt on the Skyway, take care of a few other "debts" and the rest was all just smoke and mirrors.
When asking why the City Council and the media watchdogs aren't clamoring for explanations on this, it might help to read the following quotes, which I also found on the Goldman Sachs PowerPoint presentation:
Chicago Tribune Editorial, "It was a brilliant political move and, no, I'm not on medication. It provides much needed cash for his (Mayor Daley's) GO movement while allowing him to fend off growing taxpayer anger in his core base of Northwest and Southwest side voters."
The Chicago Sun Times write, "The Chicago Skyway, a financial albatross for the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, when he built it more than four decades ago, has become a golden goose for his son the mayor."
But my personal favorite: Alderman Ed Burke, Chairman of the Finance Committee, "...the greatest single financial coup in the history of Chicago." He also said, "...not since the sale of Manhattan to the Dutch for sixty Gilders the price of a good bottle of wine, has there been anything close to this windfall."
Doesn't Burke know the sale of the island of Manhattan is widely considered to have been a rip off for the natives who sold the real estate? Isn't the city of Chicago playing the roll of the natives here and isn't that, oh, I don't know . . . A BAD THING?
Anyway, obviously the Council and the media don't want to say anything because they all backed this smoke and mirror charade.
Alright, the rant is finally over, I'll stop now. Thank you for your time.
Fargo...i don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying.....as for your GO DEBT comment....that refers to General Obligation bonds that the City sells in the Municipal Bond Market to fund operations. These bonds are typically "secured" by an asset the city owns..or in the case of the state--a dormitory authority or a toll road or something like that. A GO Debt is "secured" by the future incomes or cash reserves that a municipality has..or will have. It carries no hard asset other than the good faith and credit of the issuing authority..and uses future revenues as collateral for the loan.
It's a good thing when a municipality can pay those down...it improves credit ratings which translate into cheaper interest/lower borrowing costs and it gets the debt off the city books. So it was a good thing to pay those down.
What is Daley's GO movement? Is it the tourism package offered at www.gochicagocard.com ? Does anyone out there know? I would really appreciate an answer if anyone has one. Thanks.
fargo: Thank you very much for the detail. The sad result of the facts you presented is the 1.83 billion dollars is wasted!! Just like the yearly 1.5 billion the state takes in from casino. Then the amount that is currently being taken in from sales tax, gas taxs, amusment taxs, etc. where is all this money being spent? How is it being spent?
Our elected officals as stated do the smoke & mirror trick on the public. As Catherine on Eastlake stated "why are you so surprised when he (Bush) cashes a blank check that YOU gave him? I think it applies here in Chicago as well."
We the voters need to wake up and start as for an accounting of these "blank checks" we give our elected officals.
Thank you, amazed in west ridge, for the information on the GO DEBT. It was very thorough and informative. (I posted my later request for information before I saw your comment.) You're right, it is a good thing to pay that down. Wish I could get as complete an answer from our elected officials regarding the rest of the $1.8 billion. - PEACE -
You are so right on the money. The Democratic political machine did not die when the first Mayor Daley did in 1976. I remember my late dad, a popular precinct captain, grumbling during one election period. "We'd better get the votes out, because if we don't, we'll mess around and end up with a Republican mayor!"
Would that be so bad for the city? Instead, voters continue to be caught up in the "Democrats are all good" attitude, instead of voting in the best person for the job, regardless of what party they represent. I believe that is one of the main reasons there are so many ongoing problems in Chicago; too many politicians, esp. alderpersons, walking around like they are kings and queens above rules and regulations.
Did Joe Ask Mayor Daley if he could return the increase in the alderman's budget to the city so Joe's constituents wouldn't be so overburdened with tax increase or is he just whining publicly and laughing all the way to the bank or shoebox or where ever the $$$$ goes?
18 comments:
A GOOD ONE TO OPEN HIS MOUTH WITH THE MESS IN HIS OWN WARD-
you can't run this picture often enough
What a great photo! Does he send this with his holiday greeting?
If he doesn't he sure is missing out on an opportunity!
If my taxes go up any more I will have to leave my home of 30 years.
No one can keep up with the costs. What I really fear is the gas bill with the cost of a barrel of gas over $80 imaagine what natural gas will cost. As it is I pay over $300 per month on the budget plan.
Then $500 per month for taxes.
That is one third of my income.
Wouldn't it be something if one of our elected officals would find a way to make the cuts needed and look into where the millions & millions of dollars that are already being taken in from all of the taxs collected are being spent.
Unlike private companys who have to work within their budgets and be profitable, our elected officals just keep spending then look for ways to tax the people who elect them.
Do we need 50 aldermen? Do we need millions of dollars that are given out for "studies" that land up on h bottom of some file room in city hall?
One last thought, what happened to the tens of millions of dollars that the city recieved for selling the Chicago Skyway?
When it's all said and done, Joe will do what he's always done on the Daley budget, vote yes. He'll say to the mayor, "good job mayor we really fucked over the tax payers this time."
After that he'll go to the media and make stupid comments like the one above.
Today, to achieve and maintain power, Joe Moore has built a system where money not only buys influence, it but the right to govern. This culture of corruption prevails under Joe Moore.
>>"One last thought, what happened to the tens of millions of dollars that the city recieved for selling the Chicago Skyway?"
The same thing that happened to all the money The Lottery was suppose to generate for the School System.
It ends up in some politician's pocket.
catherine:
That is my point, how come no one in the media , or one of the watchdog groups push for the accontability for the millions, and millions of dollars that are already being collected?
As I said before our elected officals are not use to haveing to account for where all the money goes to. They hold over the publics head "cuts" that hit the public, such as transportations, schools,public works jobs, etc.
Not once do they cut the any of their perks, there is always money for their rasies! (Which they vote in quickly)
Actually a large sum of the $$ from the Skyway lease has been set-aside in the city's "rainy day fund" which is used sparingly...the idea is to make it last as long as possible before running it down to zero.
As for revenue enhancements, perhaps Joey should propose a "tax on crime." That will be a big deterrant...or better yet, create a new SSA for Morse Avenue so the open air drug market will have to pay sales-taxes on generated sales. I mean, if you're not going to clean it up, lets make some money off it--of course, you can only sell there if you make a contribution to the campaign fund of a certain alderman as well.
--Scarcasm alert--
I'm going out on a limb here...
but i blame all the voters of Chicago that blindly vote DEMOCRAT because they FEAR another Party's involvement. You have given these people the right to screw all of you over. Your loyalty is repaid by allowing Daley and Blago to have unlimited access to your wallet.
In the recent words of OBAMA... why are you so surprised when he (Bush) cashes a blank check that YOU gave him? I think it applies here in Chicago as well.
Amazed: Thanks for the info on the the money. If the city is putting the money in a "rainy day " fund (which is collecting million plus dollars in interest) it sure seems like theres a downpor going on in the city budget! Maybe they need to let lose some of the monies for helping out the situation. Haveing that said it comes back to our elected officals to work within a reasonable budget, and stop spending like there is no tommorrow, at the rate thier going one day there will be no tommorrow.
That "rainy day fund" didn't sound quite right to me so I just did some quick (and I do mean quick - all I did was Google Chicago Skyway Sale and I came up with lots of information) research and this is what I came up with:
According to a PowerPoint presentation provided by Kathleen Brown of Goldman Sachs, the firm that advised Daley on the sale, the budget for use of the funds breaks down as follows:
$500M for a "Rainy Day Fund"
$375M for operating budget over seven years
$100M for special programs (Homeless and other special programs)
$465M for Skyway debt defeasance (voids the debt)
$390M GO debt defeasance, commercial paper pay down, and other items
Source:
http://www.nast.net/2005%20annual%20and%20sdmn/New_Folder/Kathleen%20brown.ppt
After all that, you get the grand total of $1.8 billion. Actually, according to the consortium of Spanish and Australian companies that secured the 99-year lease:
"The City of Chicago approved the sale of the Skyway to the MIG-Cintra consortium for US$1.83bn (A$2.46bn). As agreed with the City this amount has been adjusted for movement in the 10 year Treasury note yield from 12 October 2004"
By the way, I thought it was interesting to note that at the top of the page it stipulates, "Not for distribution in the United States, Canada or Japan" Man, I LOVE THE INTERNET!
Source:
http://www.macquarie.com.au/au/mig/news/20041028.htm
O.K. so what are we left with since this happened in 2004? Have taxes stabilized? Has the budget balanced? Are we any better off with our $1.8 (A$2.64b)? Are there less homeless? Have more homeless shelters been built? Have other social programs flourished as a result of that $100M specially earmarked just for them? If raising fares and cutting services on the public transportation in Chicago isn't considered a "rainy day" just what is? How, exactly, does one define a "rainy day" for the city of Chicago? Can someone define for me the term "operating budget"? It gets $375M over seven years but what does it operate? Not the Skyway, that's under the purview of the private consortium. The city? Again, I ask, haven't our taxes gone up, not down since 2004?
Last but not least, what the bloody hell is meant by "GO debt" and "commercial paper pay down" and just what were those "other items"? Whatever any of that means, it/they got $390M!
It seems this sale/lease/boondoggle/whatever-you-want-to-call-it of the Chicago Skyway was just a way to pay off short-term debt on the Skyway, take care of a few other "debts" and the rest was all just smoke and mirrors.
When asking why the City Council and the media watchdogs aren't clamoring for explanations on this, it might help to read the following quotes, which I also found on the Goldman Sachs PowerPoint presentation:
Chicago Tribune Editorial, "It was a brilliant political move and, no, I'm not on medication. It provides much needed cash for his (Mayor Daley's) GO movement while allowing him to fend off growing taxpayer anger in his core base of Northwest and Southwest side voters."
The Chicago Sun Times write, "The Chicago Skyway, a financial albatross for the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, when he built it more than four decades ago, has become a golden goose for his son the mayor."
But my personal favorite:
Alderman Ed Burke, Chairman of the Finance Committee, "...the greatest single financial coup in the history of Chicago." He also said, "...not since the sale of Manhattan to the Dutch for sixty Gilders the price of a good bottle of wine, has there been anything close to this windfall."
Doesn't Burke know the sale of the island of Manhattan is widely considered to have been a rip off for the natives who sold the real estate? Isn't the city of Chicago playing the roll of the natives here and isn't that, oh, I don't know . . . A BAD THING?
Anyway, obviously the Council and the media don't want to say anything because they all backed this smoke and mirror charade.
Alright, the rant is finally over, I'll stop now. Thank you for your time.
- PEACE -
Fargo...i don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying.....as for your GO DEBT comment....that refers to General Obligation bonds that the City sells in the Municipal Bond Market to fund operations. These bonds are typically "secured" by an asset the city owns..or in the case of the state--a dormitory authority or a toll road or something like that. A GO Debt is "secured" by the future incomes or cash reserves that a municipality has..or will have. It carries no hard asset other than the good faith and credit of the issuing authority..and uses future revenues as collateral for the loan.
It's a good thing when a municipality can pay those down...it improves credit ratings which translate into cheaper interest/lower borrowing costs and it gets the debt off the city books. So it was a good thing to pay those down.
Hope that helps.
What is Daley's GO movement? Is it the tourism package offered at
www.gochicagocard.com ?
Does anyone out there know? I would really appreciate an answer if anyone has one.
Thanks.
fargo: Thank you very much for the detail. The sad result of the facts you presented is the 1.83 billion dollars is wasted!! Just like the yearly 1.5 billion the state takes in from casino. Then the amount that is currently being taken in from sales tax, gas taxs, amusment taxs, etc. where is all this money being spent? How is it being spent?
Our elected officals as stated do the smoke & mirror trick on the public. As Catherine on Eastlake stated "why are you so surprised when he (Bush) cashes a blank check that YOU gave him? I think it applies here in Chicago as well."
We the voters need to wake up and start as for an accounting of these "blank checks" we give our elected officals.
Thank you, amazed in west ridge, for the information on the GO DEBT. It was very thorough and informative. (I posted my later request for information before I saw your comment.) You're right, it is a good thing to pay that down. Wish I could get as complete an answer from our elected officials regarding the rest of the $1.8 billion.
- PEACE -
To Catherine on Eastlake,
You are so right on the money. The Democratic political machine did not die when the first Mayor Daley did in 1976. I remember my late dad, a popular precinct captain, grumbling during one election period. "We'd better get the votes out, because if we don't, we'll mess around and end up with a Republican mayor!"
Would that be so bad for the city? Instead, voters continue to be caught up in the "Democrats are all good" attitude, instead of voting in the best person for the job, regardless of what party they represent. I believe that is one of the main reasons there are so many ongoing problems in Chicago; too many politicians, esp. alderpersons, walking around like they are kings and queens above rules and regulations.
Did Joe Ask Mayor Daley if he could return the increase in the alderman's budget to the city so Joe's constituents wouldn't be so overburdened with tax increase or is he just whining publicly and laughing all the way to the bank or shoebox or where ever the $$$$ goes?
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