For years, I have been critical of the spending and taxing increases in my hometown of Chicago. After politicians caved in on pensions for years to the Teachers Union, the pensions came close to bankrupting the state. The Chicago City Council has continued to find endless things to tax and is now listing as having the highest tax burden of any city in the country. Not to be outdone, the Illinois government is now imposing a $1000 state tax on electric car owners — a curious disincentive to select eco-friendly transportation.
A new report from Truth in Accounting, lists Chicago as having the highest burden per taxpayer — followed by New York City. Chicago’s combined taxpayer burden is $119,110 while New York City’s combined taxpayer burden is estimated at $85,600.
My concern has long been the impact on these cities in terms of high-tax paying citizens fleeing the cities and leaving them in a downward and irreversible spiral. We recently discussed the shortfalls in New York after citizens could not effectively write off their state tax bills in their federal tax returns. In the meantime, cities like Miami are wooing those taxpayers to their cities.
The third highest burden is Los Angeles followed by Philadelphia.
The Chicago City Council approved $2.4 billion in tax subsidies for just two developments in early April. According to Forbes, the city is still struggling to stay afloat with the pension deals struck by politicians. According to Forbes, Chicagoans still must shoulder $39 billion in retirement benefits that have been promised with $28 billion in pension and $842.9 million in retiree health care benefits unfunded. Nevertheless, none of the politicians who struck these deals were held accountable by voters.
I love my home city and worry about its future with the irresponsible policies of its leaders. However, Chicagoans clearly do not see such policies as threatening the city’s future. In the end, we receive the leaders we deserve. I just think the city itself deserves better.
Here’s a story for you Jonathan:
Texas’ Memorial High School ‘Thug’ Day: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
https://heavy.com/news/2019/05/texas-memorial-high-school-racist-thug-day/
And we are supposed to be supprised at this revaluation?
Trump Hotel Chicago Sees Revenue Decline
Trump Organization Claims Chicago’s Violence Turns Off Visitors
But Competing Chicago Hotels Are Profitable
While Trump Hotels & Resorts Underperform
Revenue fell at other Trump hotels, in Chicago and New York, after Trump entered the presidential race, according to internal documents.
In a statement about its Chicago property, the Trump Organization said the name was not the reason. “It’s sad to say, but the perceived threat of gun violence has harmed visitation to the destination,” the statement said.
But the company’s own figures — submitted to Cook County, Ill., for tax purposes, and also given to Trump’s investors — show Trump’s competitors in Chicago have not experienced the same decline. The company said its New York hotel rebounded last year, charging record-high room rates.
“Among the hotel community in Chicago, everyone is aware of the relative underperformance of the Trump hotel over the last two to three years,” said Bellisario, the hotel-industry analyst, who is based in Chicago.
Edited from: “Trump’s Prized Doral Resort Is In Steep Decline, According To Company Documents Showing His Business Problems Are Mounting”
Today’s Washington Post
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The above article suggests that the Trump name is now a distinct liability regarding Trump hotels and name properties. It appears that non-Republicans are shunning Trump-branded locations. The Doral Resort in Miami, a once-great performer for Trump, is now doing quite poorly. So poorly, in fact, that The Doral Golf Tournament has had to leave said resort.
The sagging revenues at Chicago’s Trump Hotel is very interesting. That happens to be one of Chicago’s most central locations. To blame that revenue fall on Chicago’s murder rate is utterly cynical. But that’s Donald Trump.
CHICAGO TRUMP TOWER CHARGES TOO MUCH FOR ROOMS
simple as that
while the River North big names charge $400 a night for a luxury room Trump’s hotel is charging $800. Seriously? I want 3 Russian hookers to come give me some vigorous collusion at that price and they better be hot!
the idiot managers need to wake up. that’s the real reason not gun violence and not “Trumps name” either
normally one would think the hotels have access to marginal profit models which help them project optimal profit, and indeed, similar profit models which is why you mostly get similar type pricing; but apparently whomever is minding the store while DJT is on duty are a bunch of fools
but apparently whomever is minding the store while DJT is on duty are a bunch of fools
Yeah sure, that must be it. There couldn’t possibly be any other reasonable explanation, strategically speaking.
$800 per night..???
I recently stayed at a top of the line Marriot in Washington D C for $220 per night. And I’m sure that Washington is on par with Chicago as a hotel market.
No wonder Trump Chicago ain’t profitable. Thanks for clearing that up, Kurtz.
just look it up on expedia and you will see what i mean. i can’t figure this bizarre pricing scheme out unless they are trying to posture the trump hotel as a geffen good.,
a geffen good is a high priced luxury item that actually can sell better if it has a higher price.
but i think in chicago, that won’t work. not enough foreigners coming in who want to show off. chinese people for example love to brag about how much they spend on things. Americans don’t like to quote prices, that’s considered gauche for us to talk about. So people with the money are just as happy to take a room at a big name nearby for half the price.
I had a relative now dead who was loaded and he used to rent the Penthouse at Fairmont for this charity gig they used to patronize. He would have loved Trump’s trade policy, because he had some factories in America that they eventually had to move to Taiwan. They kept a lot of manufacturing going in America long after it stopped being profitable just to keep folks employed, but eventually it had to end. He would always blame “the Japs” and “stupid politicians in Washington.” They were always sore about it and would have loved the Donald’s trade war.
Over time they had made a fortune and lost a fortune but still had plenty left. But they would have laughed at the idea of paying twice as much for the same thing at “Trump Tower”
Whomever is minding the store in Chicago should be “FIRED!” like he used to say to the slackers on his tv show. Hire some Russians maybe?
Kurtz, considering the fact that 4 bottles of their water costs one Ben Franklin I wonder what the problem is in charging $800. Who cares?
“es off My concern has long been the impact on these cities in terms of high-tax paying citizens fleeing the cities and leaving them in a downward and irreversible spiral. We recently discussed the shortfalls in New York after citizens could not effectively write off their state tax bills in their federal tax returns. In the meantime, cities like Miami are wooing those taxpayers to their cities.”
It’s about time those moochers had to pay THEIR taxes and quit foisting responsibilities off on the rest of the country. We don’t get those exemptions and freedoms what makes them so special? “”General Wefare” means fairly and generally distributed not used to buy votes.
Taxes on electric cars address the fact that in most places, people who buy motor fuel are the only ones contributing to local, state and Federal maintenance of our highways and roads.
Mississippi just passed a moderate road tax on electric cars which I found to be equitable. If electric cars are ever to be a realistic solution to carbon gas pollution, they also have to be a fiscally responsible solution.
The real question in Chicago’s case is whether the electric car tax actually goes to road repair and construction as, say, Mississippi’s does.
Jean,
I’m not sure what ever happened to isaac, but he loved to argue that it didn’t matter. All taxes were good and didn’t need to fund what they were meant for. I remember arguing this point with him about NY’s soda tax. If I was a betting man, I would say it’s going to unions.
Owners of electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars get so much money out of other people’s pockets, it’s scary. Full-on EVs (that don’t burn motor fuel at all) get higher tax credits than hybrids and EVs like the Volt which are mostly plug-ins with tiny engines to charge their battery stacks AND in most places, the full-on electric vehicle avoids excise taxes on motor fuel intended to support road and highway maintenance and construction.
Electric vehicles are one sector in our economy relatively safe from taxation, even “user fees” like fuel excise taxes that are income-neutral .
The more you burn fuel to travel the roads, the more you help keep them up. You have every incentive to keep your trips short and save energy. But not for EV owners. Every time a state passes an EV road tax, it’s decried as a “disincentive” to buy and drive EVs.
Elon Musk, by continuously collecting data on how every Tesla vehicle is driven, may be able to help. A truly equitable EV road tax would depend on the miles you put on your car, just as fuel excise taxes do. That way, EV drivers also get that incentive to economize on energy by keeping their trips short.
Bicyclists use the road too yet they pay zero road use taxes.
And do bicycle tires exert anything like the ground pressure of a passenger car? Are bicyclists causing road wear and requiring frequent maintenance and construction of new roads? Statistically, the creation of bike paths is a tiny percentage of road construction costs.
Let’s compare apples with apples, and not raisins, please.
These must also be the most wonderful places to live too, right? Aren’t we told more taxes the better by the Dems? I assume they have the best schools, best roads and infrastructure, best parks best everything.
roads stink, subway is ok, schools vary, parks are really good. enclaves are nice. best just to visit, wouldn’t want to live there. been there, done that. now my cave is hidden fare enough away that if the balloon goes up, i will have at least a day to bugout before the refugees wander in on foot from the interstate
The parks are SO good in Chicago, the city’s park system GAVE Obama’s Presidential Library the land for its construction.
Because who, going for a stroll in the park on Sunday, doesn’t want to dodge construction traffc, then after that’s done, be shooed away from The One’s huge concrete memorial if they’re not on “library business”.
It takes a GREAT city park system to make tough calls like that for the taxpayers who maintain it, and the people who use it.
The Old Italian-American Mafia..
Is Partially Responsible For Chicago’s Corruption And Tax Burden
To completely understand the history of American cities, one has to know that the Italian-American Mafia families were a major force in certain cities for much of the 20th Century. That was especially true for Chicago, New York and Philadelphia.
During the mafia’s ‘golden age’, 1930’s thru 1950’s, it actually functioned as a shadow government in our biggest cities. During that period big city politicians were hard-pressed to avoid any involvement with The Mob. The Mob corrupted almost every aspect of city government and labor unions as well. Even police departments were corrupted. Lonely was the city official who tried to buck The Mob.
In the post-war era, big cities of the Northeast and Midwest suffered long declines as suburbs developed at the expense of urban cores. During that period, the traditional bases of mafia power suffered corresponding declines as White ethnic neighborhoods evolved into minority ghettos. Yet the mafia remained a powerful force in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia well into the 1990’s.
As recently as the 1990’s, it was figured that businesses in New York City were actually paying a significant ‘tax’ to The Mafia in the form of bid-rigging for basic services like garbage collection. However RICO laws and modern surveillance techniques eventually took its toll on mafia leadership. Developments reached a point where being a Mafia Don meant almost certain prosecution. Consequently not many mobsters want to be known as The Don anymore.
The old Italian-American mafia is no longer the force it once was. But its legacy of corruption survives in the form of accumulated debt from inflated contracts going back several decades. That legacy is part of the reason New York, Chicago and Philadelphia still have fiscal problems that seem baffling to people in smaller cities.
What’s more, newer cities of the south and west were never corrupted to the same extent as big northern cities. In many cases those newer cities weren’t big enough when the mafia was big to become completely corrupted. Those newer cities may have also lacked substantial Italian-American communities; traditional bases of mafia support.
Currently the Mexican Cartels are a presence in big American cities. The cartels are especially strong in Chicago which might surprise many people since Chicago seems so far from the Mexican border. Yet Chicago’s central location makes it a natural distribution point for cartel products. For this reason Chicago has been dogged by the excessive gang violence discussed many times on the threads of this blog.
Peter, that was a worthy post overall thank you.
There was a lot of truth to it but I will pick a few bones. Seems like scapegoating
the Democrat party apparatus of Cook County is what should bear the primary blame for failing to address the long term financial priorities and instead running a spoils system of its own
the unions bear a responsibility too for the excessive pay demands. teacher pay has been notoriously high for decades.
the “mob” has not run either of those institutions not in Chicago and if they did that was a long time ago even if you count the influence in the political system that extended up to operation gambat in the 80s. we are way down the line from that time. the “Outfit” is a ghost of its former self these days
as for the Mexican gangs well what do you expect when there are whole towns that have emptied out into Chicago from Mexico. that is a migration problem. i am not aware if they have developed anything like the level of sophistication the Outfit has had going back to Capone days. The comparison is not apt in my mind. They are certainly violent, however. and their soldiers are very numerous.
and also a drug use abuse and prohibition problem.
legalize pot and it will mitigate the drug crime problem to some degree.
I also object to people always calling it the “italian mafia.” one of the more notorious historical associates of the Chicago Outfit was Benny Siegel, obviously Jewish. Go to the east coast families and you will find a lot more. A lot of the small fry have not been strictly Italian either. I find this an ongoing smear of the honorable and law abiding Italian American community that a small group of hoodlums is constantly mentioned as if it were their primary contribution to America.
Italians have been a strong net blessing for the world, the West, Europe and America alike.
Kurtz, you’re right. The traditional Italian-American Mafia included many Jewish associates. But in most cases, the Jews were never full, made-men.
The mafia, however, infiltrated many labor unions for much of the 20th Century. And I’m sure that was true in Chicago. I once heard that union contractors who built exhibits at McCormick Place were notoriously difficult to deal with.
The Cook County Democratic Machine has to take some blame for Chicago’s current fiscal problems. Yet one must realize that most big city political machines in the Northeast and Midwest were systemically corrupt for generations gong back to the 19th Century. In many cases their constituencies were composed of poorly educated immigrants.
Theoretically Republicans should challenge big city, Democratic machines. But Republican policies primarily appeal to Whites in outer suburbs and small towns. Which makes Republicans a ‘No-Sale’ to urban voters.
I agree with what you said peter.
However, i think that if the Republican party found a way to function in NYC then it can find a way to function in any big city.
Republican policies can appeal to more than just white people. The Democrat party has lost its hold on Hispanics in places like Texas and it will lose its hold on Asians a generation or two down the line too. If it shows that it can lead in the right direction.
I believe the Republican party can and should try to appeal to smart non-white people, without antagonizing white folks for being white. I have been called racist plenty in my life and there is no sense in apologizing and kowtowing to the grievance industry which nurses anti-white stereotypes and conflict.
Now I turn to a generational dynamic. The collar counties of Chicago are filled with white people who are now Republicans that grew up in solidly Democrat households. The same thing can happen with other assimilated, hard working, well educated and smart Americans from other racial backgrounds. They can learn to see where their interests truly lie.
Democrats at a national level, have played up the racial conflict angles so hard for so long, milking every insensitive remark and historical grievance, that it’s lost its value as a tactic. Also as the country becomes more diverse, and nonwhite ethnic groups come into conflict, such as with the criminal element of blacks and mexicans in Chicago, there is a big space opening up for Republicans to emerge as a leadership force towards responsible and peaceful leadership of the country as a whole.
One thing i give the Democrats in Chicago credit for, is not getting into a lot of anti-white rhetoric. They have always been pretty decent towards white folks in my personal experience. I mean both white and non-white Democrats in responsible walks of life, in Chicago. This is probably because they had to manage their own white ethnic bases of support among the Italians Irish and Polish and so forth. There is a racial spoils system of sorts, AA slots and so forth, but they don’t make it personal. If a race war breaks out, I predict it WONT be in Chicago.
The place where you feel the racial heat in Chicago, is on the street when faced with black thugs. Yes they mostly prey on their own. Yes the neighborhoods are (voluntarily) mostly segregated and better ones are well policed. On Oak street a baggy pants troublemaker will not get away with much. But some of them like to go on the stroll and sow their wild oats and enjoy their notoriety outside of their own immediate stomping grounds. If you are in the wrong place in the wrong time it can be very disturbing.
Maybe people don’t like to hear this, but black men have been responsible for a hugely disproportionate amount of violent crime in Chicago for many decades, and that’s a fact everyone has to face in silence when you’re on foot or lost in the wrong place and suddenly worried about getting rolled. Black men themselves have been the worst victim of it too. When a little black kid got thrown out the window in the projects, it was a black teenager who did it. A thousand times the same kind of situation. I contend that all the BLM mischief did exactly nothing to help. they hurt, if anything.
I am not against the black community. The pipeline of labor from Mississippi to Chicago has brought white folks not only massive profit in the steel making industries that helped win the big world wars, but more humble things too like the blues and barbecue- soul food, and house music. Very many good people.
Even a supposed racist like me can acknowledge thanks for such things.
There are lot of strange ironies in all this. I hope for the best for Chicago, it is a wonderful place in spite of its perpetual problems.
i don’t know why, but I wouldn’t expect this to happen in chicago.
in las vegas, a 20 some year old black woman to pushed an old white man to his death, right on his face, after he scolded her on the bus.
https://news3lv.com/news/local/woman-charged-with-murder-after-elderly-man-she-pushed-from-bus-dies
i can see a lot of horrifying things happening in Chicago but for some reason that doesn’t seem like a thing would happen there. And if it did there would have been immediate hell to pay.
Kurtz, the major Black street gangs have had a corrupting influence much like the old mafia. Once that culture of corruption takes hold, it corrupts everyone’s thinking.
I guess so. They spent all their energy on Larry Hoover and of course others stepped into the gap once he was cut off at the Florence Supermax
i sometimes wonder if it isn’t a bad idea to take down kingpins in the first place since a wave of violence always seems to follow in a war for succession. it seems the war for succession after Larry got isolated in 97 is still in progress more than two decades later
maybe the roman guild system which even tolerated criminal collegia was a better system who knows
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ancient_Roman_Collegia
“However, i think that if the Republican party found a way to function in NYC then it can find a way to function in any big city.”
Kurtz, NYC has its ups and downs. Right now it is in a down with a Democratic mayor. You may not recognize but Rudy Giuliani was mayor of NYC for 8 years and he cleaned the city up and stopped a lot of the exodus from the city caused by the mayor previous to him, Dinkins who was a Democrat.
NYC has had a few Democrats that didn’t wreck the city. Very few mayors were Republicans but they generally saved the city. Fiorello La Guardia was another Republican.
As a Libertarian, I really wanted to believe that. But in Colorado the state decided its Imperial generosity deserved to be rewarded by huge taxes on cannabis. For the kids. And the schools.
Years later, we still have la Familia-connected dealers selling dime bags of God knows what on Colorado’s streets, because their s–t is cheaper than legal s–t.
And – surprise! – cannabis taxes aren’t really helping education that much. Of course, the way tobacco settlements were wasted in the 1990s ought to have prepared us for that.
But I agree with your overall point – government corrupts everything it touches. The problem isn’t Italians or Mexicans, or the Irish, or the Russians, or any group tangentially connected to organized crime.
If government allows a few people to control a lot of money, that money will be wasted and stolen. As a native Louisianian, I was was stunned by all the pigc dining at the troughs of Pinnacol, Colorado’s state-owned workers’ compensation and health insurance firm when I lived there. After all, isn’t it government’s job to find and punish corruption? Apparently it also has a role in supplying corruption, too..
legalizing pot is no cure all. it must go hand in hand with a vigorous enforcement of proper licensing or it’s a threat to public health and law and order like any other drug such as alcohol. now especially with the high THC pot out there which can induce psychosis just as much as tea leaves laced with PCP.
Consider that methanol tainted moonshine is not a problem, but it would be, if the ATF wasn’t out there pinching the retards who sometimes crop up and make it.
Colorado has a lot of ineffective schemes these days. Just so long as they stay out there with it, they can experiment all they like, far as I’m concerned. Not moving there any time soon.
Kurtz, you might want to view this video by Stephen Harper, former Premier of Canada.
https://www.prageru.com/video/why-dont-you-support-israel/
Why do you care, or think you have a say, in what we choose to do in Colorado!
It’s a common rule in LCN families that your mother has to be Italian for you to be a ‘made guy’. And the more precise term is ‘Sicilianate mafia’.
I’m sure the mafia did their part in their heydey, but it’s not as if Big Jim Colosimo invented municipal corruption. And, in truth, often the severest problems aren’t what’s illegal. Often the scandal is what’s legal. All those actuarially-unsound pensions and all the overstaffing and all the performance deficits are perfectly legal.
Mr.Kurtz
Don’t you think it’s about time for Trumpers to send Jared on a tour down south of z border to pressure the governments there to take action that will lessen the “need” to ship their poor to the U.S. to work at Trump businesses?
Sam Giancana died 40-odd years ago. He does not bear responsibility for poor labor discipline in city government or stupid policies.
Tabby, ‘The Outfit’ as its known, didn’t die with Giancana. Giancana was not even the top boss. Veterans of the Capone era were still top ‘board members’ while Giancana functioned as CEO.
The boss of the Outfit was the defendant in a lawsuit brought by a private citizen in 2009. Nearly a generation ago, s real estate developer had the stones to sue an underboss in the Genovese family. The government managed to take the Teamsters away from them and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters as well. Mob influence in the Laborer’s Union has dissipated in stages and influence in the Hotel and Restaurant Employees did so after one particularly corrupt union president retired. These guys do not have the influence they once did. Even a generation ago the median age of ‘made guys’ was past 60.
i am not familiar with this suit plz provide information. cant find on internet
The lazy, greedy, thug, striking teachers unions must be decertified, strikers fired and replacements hired. Striking teachers unions extort ridiculous and unnecessary pay levels out of all proportion to their product. Teachers create no wealth and the singularly imperative element in the educational process is the capacity, the brain of the student. Teachers are absurdly “overqualified.” Advanced degrees don’t make a teacher, educator or communicator; they are born. The rest of the public workers and elected officials get “comparable pay.” Public schools have been seized by radical, extremist, criminal communists of which “elected officials” are in league. The Dept. of Education must be annihilated and education localized.
America is hysterical, incoherent, chaotic and anarchical.
_____________________________________________
“We gave you a republic, if you can keep it.”
– Ben Franklin
___________
The Founders gave Americans maximal freedom with severely restricted and limited government. The teachers unions, SCOTUS and communists (i.e.democrat party) have unconstitutionally seized America employing tactics such as importing democrat voters. President Trump must “save the republic” as Abraham Lincoln did before it is lost forever.
What a ghastly competition.
Voters get what they vote for. As long as they fall for politicians claiming high taxes will benefit them, they will continue to get more taxes. I wonder if they will ever connect the dots between jobs fleeing and the taxes…
Behold the Democrat city – the highest taxes of all. It’s what Blue stands for above all else.
Are Chicagoan’s problems solved, as promised?
But did the voters of Chicago understand the meaning of ‘free stuff?’
I’m thinking the Democrat politicians did not explain to them that “free stuff” means higher taxes on other people, who pack up and leave, taking jobs with them.
Nothing in life is free.
Since most of the media is little more than a Democrat propaganda machine, most people would be completely unaware of any negative repercussions of any Democrat policy. Only if they have an interest, and go searching for people like Larry Elder, Dave Rubin, Candace Owens, and Jordan Peterson will they find answers as to why their cities have so much difficulties when they have dutifully voted for people who promised to solve all their problems, year after year. Since the public education system seems hard pressed to graduate high school students who can read at all, it seems unlikely that very many would discover de Tocqueville or Adam Smith.
“Are Chicagoan’s problems solved, as promised?”
Rich Dems live high on the hog.
“Some animals are more equal than others.”
Animal Farm
the Republican party in Chicago one time ran a clown for mayor. Literally. Clowns have had a bad image in Chicago since the time of JW Gacy. That year the La Rouchies got three or four times as many votes as the Repubicans.
It’s a sad testament to the failure of the rich Republicans in Illinois that they have ceded Chicago to the Dems entirely over the decades without the slightest resistance.
Notice that, as lavishly as the Koch Brothers fund PBS and the Republican party, both still have only a marginal impact on American society? The Republicans in general in Illinois, to the extent they even exist, can only do so much in a city that gives illegal aliens photo ID usable for voting.
there are plenty outside cook county
most of the territory of illinois is red state
besides cook county i suppose champaign urbana is blue and of course east st louis. actually blue is not the color that first comes to mind for east st louis
Jean Lafitte
Do you believe that a strongly enforced E-Verify law would help?
Elite Dems show how tolerant they are by moving into middle class areas and pricing the poor and middle class out. Where do the poor live in San Franscisco, Seatle etc.? We understand real well the intention of rich Dems that don’t want to associate with the poor. But the rich Dems want more poor of the type that can’t speak English so they have servants to serve their needs.
Voters of Chicago got EXACTLY what they asked for ……
A favorite past time of right wingers is talking about how terrible the places liberals tend to live in are. Funny thing is these places are generally exceedingly popular with high rents and are economic powerhouses while the red havens aren’t. Do the liberal leaning places have problems – uh, yeah. Are they ghost towns after 5 like most downtowns in the red belt? Uh no. Do those red state cities also have problems? Uh, yeah. Does anyone have a problem deciding whether to live in Omaha or San Francisco? Well if you do, that’s OK, In the meantime enjoy the federal tax subsidy those blue locations generate for the red.
Take San Francisco. The streets are littered with infectious needles and human feces, which carries Hepatitis and other diseases. The high rents are due, in part, to San Francisco refusing to allow high rises to go up and ruin the skyline. Without enough supply, prices go up. The traffic, homelessness, crazy people attacking others on the street, and high rents are a major source of dissatisfaction among San Franciscans, which you would know if you checked any reputable polls or spoke with someone from there. I have family in the area and get an earful.
No, Karen they’re not. I visit there about twice a year, walk around a lot and have NEVER seen either needles or human feces on the street.
Uh, yes, the city of SF does not want skyscrapers ruining the skyline. Gee, that’s terrible.
Are you sure there are no homeless people in Omaha you could be complaining about? Admittedly they’d be dealing with terrible weather
Either your very very selective in which parts to miss that or blind.
Neither. Except for the Tenderloin, there are almost bad neighborhoods left in SF. It’s too expensive.
Anon – you are not posting accurate information. Please see my reply below, complete with an NBC video in which they found 35 needles in a single day.
I have family who live there. There are myriad articles and videos, conducted by real San Franciscans, not tourists, about this problem.
Typical Anon: “No, Karen they’re not. I visit there about twice a year, walk around a lot and have NEVER seen either needles or human feces on the street.”
San Francisco Spends $30 Million Cleaning Feces, Needles
Search domain http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Diseased-Streets-472430013.htmlhttps://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Diseased-Streets-472430013.html
The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit surveyed a section of downtown San Francisco to determine the amount of feces, hypodermic needles, and garbage littering the heart of the city.
Drug needles and feces line the streets of San Francisco …
Search domain http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5413551/Drug-needles-feces-line-streets-San-Francisco.htmlhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5413551/Drug-needles-feces-line-streets-San-Francisco.html
A recent investigation found 100 drug needles and more than 300 piles of feces on a 153 block area of downtown San Francisco.
San Francisco Squalor: City Streets Strewn With Trash …
Search domain
Aug 01, 2018 · San Francisco Squalor: City Streets Strewn With Trash, Needles And Human Feces The city’s streets are so filthy that at least one infectious disease expert has compared San Francisco to some of …
Cesspool In San Francisco: Garbage, Excrement, Drug Needles …
Search domain townhall.com/tipsheet/alexnitzberg/2018/02/21/cesspool-in-san-francisco-garbage-excrement-drug-needles-blight-city-
Feb 21, 2018 · Areas of San Francisco are strewn with filth, including human excrement and drug needles according to NBC Bay Area. A report details the disgusting situation: “The Investigate Unit spent three …
3 Adresses removed to comply with blog rules.
Anon, that’s swell that anecdotally you have walked around some touristy spots and not spotted any human fecal matter.
Facts matter more than your feelings, however. Once again, I will present to you irrefutable proof, which you will completely ignore, or you’ll post a non sequitur, and you’ll go back to posting misinformation.
Watch with your own eyeballs as San Francisco mayor London Breed sees human feces and needles on the street, and discusses the problem, in an NBC segment. She actually ran on cleaning up the streets from infectious waste.
I know that you are well aware of this, as I have sent you this data before. As per usual, you ignore facts, and repeat what has been disproven without in any way rebutting it.
If you actually believe that San Francisco doesn’t have a human poop and needle problem then you don’t know the city at all. This problem, that you deny exists, was at the core of London Breed’s entire platform for election. London Breed has certainly tried quite hard to fight the problem. The number of infectious, dirty needles is down, but they are still found on many blocks. This reporter found 35 just in one day. 35 used syringes and 135 feces. You can see this on video. There is still trash and feces on all the blocks.
https://youtu.be/e_ex_AHU2gQ
Convention cancels in San Francisco due to safety concerns:
https://sf.curbed.com/2018/7/3/17531240/convention-moscone-center-homeless-crime
Anon lies.
Karen, I don’t walk around just tourist locations in SF. For me being a tourist means seeing the city people live in and that is of the most interest to me. I did the cable cars and Fisherman’s wharf 30+ years ago and don’t need to do it again. I’ve been in virtually all the neighborhoods in SF, including the Tenderloin, which is the epicenter of homeless drug addicts. I dodged them, but never encountered a needle or feces. Do homeless people everywhere create health problems? Yeah, including where I live. The worst homeless problem I ever saw was in LA, which figures given the weather and money. I understand the media blitz on SF and it’s supposed big problem, but it is one all US cities face and I repeat: I have been to SF 4 times in the last 2 years – and equal times before that – and walked everywhere without ever noticing or stumbling on needles, feces, dead bodies, whatever. Do they exist? Yeah, I’m sure they do and dollars to donuts they do in any city with a lot of homeless. SF has been caught in what journalists call “the story”, and it has been and will be fed by other journalists.
PS My family member that we visit works a couple of blocks from the Tenderloin, and while on his 30 minute walk to work often takes that time to call us and chat. Often times he’s talking while passing sirens and people yelling are going on in the background of the Tenderloin. He’s never brought up this supposedly overwhelming problem and he’s been there over 10 years working in the same place.
Anyone considering vacationing in SF should do it. This “story” is being blown out of proportion and no doubt exists in your hometown if the weather is good and there are homeless people. Homelessness is a national problem born of court rulings in the 80s which made it harder to hold the mentally ill or to arrest for loitering.
Anon making believe the videos and maps showing where feces is on the street don”t exist. It’s everywhere says Anon, but it isn’t and SF, Seatle and a few other places are among the most prominent.
Allan,
The evidence tells the truth, regardless of what Karen and anon say. What is telling is what does each position encourage. Karen’s would demand action to aggressively deal with the problem. That would mean taxpayers and their local government must put the plight of those homeless, addicted, or suffering mental health issues front and center. Anon’s position would discourage compassion for change; nothing to see here, move along.
Olly, I’m fully in sympathy with dealing with the problem, but it runs up against court rulings which restricted committing people to mental institutions against their will and laws against loitering. Facing the problem would mean new laws addressing these issues and/or a significant financial committment to providing facilities for the homeless. One problem is that many of them don;t want to live in facilities.
I’m fully in sympathy with dealing with the problem, but…
But? It’s good you now admit there is a problem. There is no but however when a problem is identified. It requires leadership; not excuses. And it certainly does not help when the citizen-class enable the political-class to make those excuses.
So Olly, is there a suggestion of a solution in your post? I ‘m not getting it or understanding your position at all. I tried to outline what I see as the problem, and like a lot of problems I don’t think it is easy to solve.
Leadership that humbly seeks a non-partisan solution.
We don’t have leaders in a Confederated Republic, we have Representatives, and Bipartisanship is not a Constitutional Principle of republican Government! Only the States are members of Congress, the members of the House and the Senate are Representatives of the Members, not Members of Congress Themselves. And furthermore, congress must come to a Majority Consensus of the States according to the Mode of Assembly with corresponding Suffrage, Proportional in the House and as Equals in the Senate.
Reaching a Bipartisan Majority Consensus is not the same as reaching Majority Consensus of the States, and the Parties cannot reach Majority Consensus due to their conflicts of interest based upon their Party affiliations!
Face it, this is the United States of America, Not The United Parties, and the States Govern Together as Equals, The United States in Congress Assembled!
When you get through working that out for yourself, then maybe you will understand why we currently have dysfunctional Government led by an egomaniacal idiot supported by Party sycophants!
Only the States as the Union can fix their Government, “The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection”, Federalist Papers #’s 9 & 10 by Hamilton and Madison Respectively!
Maybe you should start there, knowledge is power!
Maybe you should start there, knowledge is power!
I said non-partisan not bi-partisan.
Knowledge is weak without reading comprehension. No maybe about it; you really need to give up your canned responses and start there.
Canned responses, you’ve never heard anyone elucidate the Proper Assembly and function of our Government as I did in my comment. Get off your high horse, I’ve been following your comments and you need to follow your own advice. If you think my responses are canned, then tell me why we have parties controlling our government and the Elective Processes by which it is assembled?
I don’t know who you are, or your background, but you need to consider what others have to say instead of thinking you know everything!
You don’t even understand what I wrote!
You don’t even understand what I wrote!
Let me see if I understand you correctly. I suggest a NON-PARTISAN course of action; you then lecture me on the evils of partisanship because you failed at reading my comment, and then claim it is I that didn’t understand you. Brilliant! What you unfortunately haven’t yet gleaned out of your civics studies is any sense of humility. Maybe next semester.
I notice you haven’t directly responded to any of my comments! Does that mean that you don’t understand what I’m writing, or you are too arrogant and egotistical to have a proper discussion of ideas with someone who isn’t sitting in your choir?
Get over yourself, you don’t even know what Nonpartisan means, if you did you wouldn’t be so defensive about that word and you could see through to the real meat of my comment.
You are a joke!
I notice you haven’t directly responded to any of my comments!
I have actually, in previous threads and of course in this one. I’m not sure if you are needing a pat on the head or what, but challenging people by means of insults is the quickest path to obscurity. Some people on this blog enjoy that tit for tat, I don’t. There are styles here that induce all sorts of commentary and some that get crickets. Your style reminds me of George. The difference is George is not one to go begging for people to engage him. He seems to be satisfied to keep plugging away. If you need to be considered the smartest guy in this room, have a go at Mike Appleton or Mespo.
Ok, I’ll play nice! You can’t have Nonpartisan Solutions unless you have Nonpartisan Assembly and the Nonpartisan distribution of Suffrage to reach Majority Consensus! As long as we assemble and control our Governing institutions based upon Partisanship, then we will never have a Functional Nonpartisan Government on any level, State or Federal! And by the way, partisan assembly and Suffrage is not a republican form of Government, and its not Democracy of any kind, direct or indirect, and it’s a direct violation of Article 4 Section 4 of the Constitution!
Do you understand that!
Olly ….. say what? Are you running for office? That’s some mealy mouthed nothing burger there.
We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. Albert Einstein
We already have egotistical, partisan [ahem] leadership in these problem cities. If that doesn’t change, then the problems will only get worse.
we need to revisit the standards for involuntary commitment
https://www.nami.org/About-NAMI/Policy-Platform/9-Legal-Issues
Kurtz, good info.
this is a non-partisan issue which has almost universal agreement by people who work in aspects of the system, and yet, nothing changes
the WHY is because of severe under-supply of mental health services and most of all, inpatient beds and rooms. there are never enough beds now for the serious cases and so nobody seems to want to bother to move the needle backwards a bit to looser standards.
right now you see people who need help and ARE a serious threat to themselves or others getting triaged, so, there is little will to expand demand for inpatient care
some of this goes back to the health insurance system troubles but it also reflects massive changes in modern society that are worsening mental health situation– social atomization and the rapid collapse of private institutions that used to provide social support– family, church, etc; that is the biggest factor in my mind
the bitter fruit is a massively high rate of opiate addiction, overdose, and suicides.
I use to think that this was the “collapse of the West” in effect, but the trends appear to be similar in industrialized Japan, too, so it may be a universal phenomenon of advanced societies worldwide
Kurtz, do you know stats on mental health and if it’s occurrence is worsening? I know that people on the street are increasing, but I’m not sure that reflects growing mental health problems as much as our inability/unwillingness to deal with it. In the past many of these people would be institutionalized and while the places they went were often notoriously terrible, they were out of site, out of mind. Similarly, loitering laws would get you to “move along” or get in a cell. As a builder and someone who thinks about planning and spaces, I am generally incensed that many of our best public spaces have been largely usurped by the homeless and therefore not being used by families and kids and others as they were intended. I’d like them out of site and out of mind for this reason, though I also favor a better alternative than the horror houses of the past.
“stats on mental health ”
TDS has its impact on mental health.
i am not an epidemiologist but a lot of mental health conditions are getting more frequent is my impression
that may also be due to better diagnosing, or worsening social conditions, or many factors in combination!
the rigor of the standards for involuntary commitment are a problem most of all i think for the bipolar families that see a normally functioning relative go off on an occasional bender and what can they do to help force treatment?
very little under how it stands now
but as i say there is a major supply problem anyways
better loitering laws would help move the homeless out of policed areas but that doesn’t really help them get their acts together. there are competing social concerns at work.
chicago has seen a back and forth on this topic. there have been times when the street people were more aggressive and noticeable and times when they were less so. there have been times when they were allowed to camp out on lower wacker drives and times when they got evicted. there have been times when a lot of them froze to death. I seem to recall Daley Jr put a lid on the hassles with homeless people, who had gone too far during the time of the incompetent harold washington. not sure exactly how rahm is handling this one
HIPAA has also been hard on families with mental illness situations because all the sick patient has to do is sit tight and they will exclude the family without explicit permissions to discuss and involve in treatment.
of course some conditions like i said, bipolar, have patients who at times rather LIKE their condition because at least during mania it makes them feel like superman. so they are reluctant to involve family members in treatment plans. just as they are reluctant to adhere to their medications over time.
north of 90% of marriages to bipolar individuals end in divorce, not surprisingly. there are no easy solutions to any of this.
NAMI has a lot of good resources
You are absolutely correct Olly.
Karen is looking for solutions as are a lot of us, you included. Unfortuantely, some are just trying to promote their ideology.
The discussions have turned idiotic. Mine included.
Please tell us your solution Allan. I’m all ears.
Anon, I have told you potential solutions to multiple problems but you aren’t here to have an honest discussion. I’m through with trying to discuss anything with you. It’s a lot easier to just state the truth about your comments. You are wrong and fertilizing the blog. That type of answer will suffice for almost everything you say.
I didn’t think so.
You don’t think.
I stand by my statement which does not claim there is no needles or feces on the streets of SF. These are not overwhelming, obvious, or even commonly visible problems and the still crowded streets do not feature most people walking gingerly, cautiously or in avoidance. The problem exists but is overblown and it exists everywhere where there are a lot of homeless people in America.
My God, an entire discussion about whether human poop is on the sidewalks..?? Only with Trumpers do conversations get this weird!
In the bubble that is Trumpland, only degenerates live in big, blue state cities. But as Anon correctly notes, the American economy is now largely driven by big metro regions. Yet because of the U.S. Senate and Electoral College System, small, less productive states are the tail that wags the dog in terms of national politics.
Why are you denying a problem we so thoroughly proved?
Did I say Democratic LA did not have a homeless problem? Nope. I said SF has a problem with needles and poop and I proved it.
I’m not denying a problem, I’m saying it’s overblown and not unique to SF. Again, not only have I walked all over the city without one direct experience of the problem but the streets are full of other humans walking, talking, and acting as humans do in any big city, somehow unfazed by this supposed crisis.
Karen, you might have to get used to people saying things which are not answers to your questions or commentaries on your thoughts.
I related my personal experience in LA regarding homelessness. I don’t need your permission to do so.
Anon:
While it’s a rare thing, I do agree the homeless issue in SF is overblown but it is getting worse. I’m a Frisco-phile and a good time for me is walking up to North Beach from my hotel to grab some cioppino at Sotto Mare or trudging up Russian Hill to Mason and Union and getting exquisite Pasta Carlesimo at Trattoria Contadina. I haven’t encountered the mess others claim but I have had bread stolen off my table by a homeless dude who did a run-by one evening. |
Mespo – North Beach is a favorite of mine too and we ate at Sotto Mare about 6 months ago. I like to browze at City Lights Bookstore also. Ferlinghetti is still alive and just came out with another book at 100. My relatives lived in N Beach for a decade but recently moved to Sausalito, which isn’t hard to take either though I prefer N Beach. The market at the ferry terminal building is a nice destination too.
let me tell you about the time in the 80s when we were snorting coke with werner erhard on his houseboat in sausalito…..
oh just kidding, that never happened
Mespo, NYC has gone though those phases as well. I have seen it a number of times over decades We had a lot of that before Giuliani but he was able to clean it up. Now NYC seems to be in a decline again so we will likely see more. It is up to the leaders to keep the streets clean and safe. NYC’s Republican mayors seemed able to do it consistently. The less pandering Democratic leaders also kept the city cleaner.
Anon:
“Karen, you might have to get used to people saying things which are not answers to your questions or commentaries on your thoughts.”
That’s fine, of course, but don’t be disingenuous and claim that you answer rebuttals. You get disproven, you ignore the facts, lose the argument, and then you continue to post the same misinformation. You claim that you rebut points that you haven’t. Your ignorance when voting has harmed people, up to and including death. That should be the motto when voting, do no harm.
Take “catastrophic policy” for example, a concept you do not understand, yet, sadly, did not learn about before voting.
A Cadillac policy is one with extremely generous benefits, and a high premium. A catastrophic policy is one with very lean benefits, usually only used to cover a hospital stay or major medical crisis, with little day to day benefits. It has a high deductible. Very young, healthy adults used to get catastrophic policies.
Obamacare has the astronomical premiums of a Cadillac policy, with the highest deductibles ever seen, of a catastrophic policy.
My calling Obamacare a catastrophic policy is not a good thing. It would hopefully help if someone got hit by a bus but not good physicians would accept it for regular care. In fact, many hospitals don’t accept it, either.
Your comment that at least now I have a catastrophic plan that I didn’t before illustrates your total ignorance on the topic, and yet ignorant voters keep perpetuating the Obamacare catastrophe. Voters have created a two tiered caste system of health care, shoving the middle class down into the worst standard of care, instead of improving the quality of health care for the poor. Those who never had insurance before wouldn’t be aware that Obamacare still doesn’t give them access to top doctors.
I used to have a mainstream PPO from a major insurance company. It had coverage so excellent that insurance agents will tell you that you can’t get that good a coverage anymore. Sure, you can get 26 forms of birth control without a $5 copay with premiums more than double what you used to pay, but the new policies don’t cover anywhere near the same number of prescriptions anymore. You can’t get life saving medication for many conditions unless you pay out of pocket, and that doesn’t count. 15 forms of birth control with a $5 copay was plenty, along with access to those life saving medications that we don’t have anymore. Like some of the most common medications for asthma. It takes a deep and stubborn foolishness to think that women are better off not paying a $5 copay for birth control, which lead to a double in premium, and they can’t get their asthma mediation covered.
https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/resources/affordable-care-act/fewer-prescription-drugs-covered-obamacare-insurance-2017
“CVS will exclude some drugs that treat cancer as well as some commonly prescribed medications for asthma, including Proventil and Ventolin inhalers. Express Scripts has a policy of not banning drugs for mental health or cancer, but it will stop covering the popular drug, Orencia, which treats people with rheumatoid arthritis.
Others drugs not covered include treatments for the following:
Cancer
Diabetes
Asthma
Hepatitis
Rosacea & Acne
Nasal Steroids
Estrogen & Testosterone gels
Ovulatory Stimulants
Arthritis
Weight Loss drugs
Others”
It is unethical to remove access to health care from one group in order to give it to another. This is not a hard concept to grasp. Don’t be the cliched attorney without a moral compass. The country should have focused on improving the quality of care for the poor, instead of ruining the quality of care for the unsubsidized middle class policy holder. For shame, that you cannot or will not grasp this concept. People who voted for politicians who support Obamacare should be forced to lose their own health insurance and have an Exchange policy instead. It’s only fair. I’ll bet, then, I wouldn’t have to waste either oxygen or keyboard strokes to convince you. You’d have joined mobs of protestors across the nation demanding it to be fixed. Based on your behavior, it’s okay when others are harmed or lose access to cancer remission. Perhaps, one day, this will touch you and you will finally understand where empathy failed you.
Here we go again.
Maybe you think about your own blog.
Maybe you should think about your own blog.
@Anon
I read your posts regularly and have a solution that may be satisfactory to all. I WANT A DIVORCE! With us incorrigible, narrow, bigoted red staters gone, leftists will be in the perfect position to create a multicult, socialist utopia.
What do you say? I’m all for it.
antonio
you must not be familiar with the “illinois exodus” to red state Indiana nearby.
RES IPSA LOQUITOR
https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/kristen-mcqueary/ct-perspec-mcqueary-illinois-exodus-taxing-the-rich-20190128-story.html
When I worked in Indianapolis, a friend pointed out that the street numbering system doesn’t stop at Indy city limits. That system goes almost all the way to the northern state border. Supposedly, the idea was eventually to absorb wealthy, suburban/rural Hamilton County for the Republican Party, then every other county in each cardinal direction on the map.
There are, of course, Democrat and even Libertarian enclaves in Indiana. Fort Wayne even elected a Libertarian mayor once. But the street numbering testifies to political power radiating outward from Indianapolis in mostly Republican waves.
And yet, no one’s fleeing Indiana into Illinois. I visited Illinois once, when an assistant Scoutmaster at our boss Scoutmaster’s off-the-grid cottage. The lack of electricity, traffic, noise and government were refreshing. I won’t say where in Indiana it’s located, so my friends who own it can continue to enjoy it – before someone levies a tax on unspoiled farm cottages.
pardon – “where in ILLINOIS it’s located”. NEED COFFEE.
Nice you didn’t try to support that fairy tale with any hard facts.
Second, a plausible model of state experimentation requires limitations on national power. Without such limitations, states that are conducting costly social experiments will seek to prevent a deterioration of their competitive position and the flight of productive citizens to more hospitable jurisdictions by insisting that Congress induce all states to conduct the same experiment. Once that happens, we shall never know whether regulation or forbearance produces better results. Moreover, citizens and corporations lose the ability to move from one state to another in search of a regulatory package to their liking. The most reliable mechanism of institutional feedback and learning is lost.
http://www.aei.org/publication/laboratories-of-democracy/
I was planning on moving to Chi Town this coming August. But then I read this article.
Here’s the problem, The people moving from these states/cities/towns bring their bad ideas to states/cities/towns that are fiscally responsible. That my friends is fact.
You are exactly correct
The Great Zambini:
Never a more cogent argument against diversity and unbridled immigration.
Yes, that is true.
The high taxes make companies relocate operations to lower tax states and cities, and then their ultra Leftist employees busily start voting for the same measures that drove those jobs out of the original location.
I blame the public school system for failing to teach critical reasoning.
Did they not realize the free stuff Chicago, NYC, Ocasio and others refer to is your working class money freely turned into dirty streets full of needles and eft over pistol cartridges amongst the dead bodies.
People used to laugh when I said it’s safer in Mexico. I don’t hear them laughing after reading about Chicago and other such disaster areas.
It’s been happeniong in Colorado and Wyoming for at least 20 years. Affluent Calfiornians made a dog’s lunch of their home state, because they were somewhat insulated from the insanely corrupt welfare state Califronia’s become.
But the insulation has been fraying for a while now, and these people are moving across the Continental divide, Californicating Colorado and Wyoming up by the numbers, bringing their wallets over to fund the Colorado Democratic Party, whicy regularly pays street people to “register voters” at the rate of $5-10 per completed voters’ registration form. That’s allowed CDP to capture the Colorado State Assembly.
Insane reguilations and corrupt spending of the windfall from taxes on legalized cannabis are now causing an exodus FROM Colorado (I can’t speak for Wyoming, I’ve never lived there).
Taxes and intrusive, senseless laws on everything from guns to how you keep your lawn, along with too much California money chasing too little real estate make it increasingly impossible to afford Colorado for those of us who once lived there – and frankly, not worth the money and aggravation.
It might be worth it if the city and county government produced more value for those tax dollars. New York has seen to it that no police precinct in the city has a homicide rate exceeding 16 per 100,000. In Chicago, 16 per 100,000 was the average before the Black Lives Matter hoo-ha. Chicago’s police force is amply staffed, by the way, just not optimally deployed nor with proper governance or good morale.
Illinois is what you get when the primary purpose of public administration is to provide income for the clientele of the Democratic Party. There are ready reforms which can repair matters at least partially, but Democratic legislators will never allow them. The Democratic Party is a criminal organization.
BLM was a disaster for the CPD. Yes a lot of Chicago cops don’t like blacks. BLM made a big whine about it with no solution at all. just made things worse. Carpetbaggers!
For good reason, all the “profiling” and such. They have spent their whole careers chasing them down and getting shot at by them. A lot of Chicago black cops don’t like the black crime element there either. Regular black folks too. Who can blame them!
Tons of good black folk in Chicago. Tons of the bad kind too. Only God knows if the profiling of all the baggy pantsers is justified. I can only guess. My guess is yes, profiling is a necessary expedient in law enforcement activities.
But now they have to shoot it out with the illegal Mexican garbage humanoids too. What a disaster.
Finally someone else calls them what they really are starting with the felonies committed when violating the oaths of office… presuming they actually took the oath of office. Don’t blame it on the Constiutional Republic Party the GOP is becoming. They kicked out most of their Republican in Name Only actually right wing of the left phony members and are still doing it. The Democrats which they aren’t they are Regressive Socialists have yet to do anything about anything except supporting dirty politicians, dirty cops, and dirty streets including failing to pass any meaningful legislation. but then it’s what you get when you vote for free stuff repeatedly and get nothing but needles and bullets,
Good thing we have viable parties in Our Constitutional Republic and a better thing they no longer include the socialist left and never did..
They will be experiencing more of the “Atlas Shrugged” response. A company I used to work some years ago for moved their HQ out of Chicago where they had been for decades. Moved to Dallas and calculated they would recoup the cost of the move within 5 years. Government will learn they live at the expense of such companies and their workers who pay taxes as well.
But it’s a great place for foreigners to hide their money. I wonder what the actual residential and commercial occupancy rate is.
THE TAXPAYERS HAVE PLENTY MORE MONEY IN CHI TOWN TO SUPPORT THE DEMOCRAT AGENDA.
Where in the Constitution does it allow for the direct disproportionate taxation of the People, outside the rule of direct taxes apportioned among the States of Article 1 Section 2? And don’t say the 16th Amendment because that Amendment amends the explanation, and reinforcement, of the rule of direct taxes including capitation taxes on the States, to conform to the proportional per capita requirement of Article 1 Section 2, Not a separate rule in and of itself.
To be Federal our Government must join the States as Sovereign and Independent Members of the Union bringing with them all the Resources, natural and economic, and all the People which comprise and define each State, then the States can work together to Govern the Country as the Union, The United States, in Congress Assembled!
All Domestic taxes must be assessed and collected within each State only transferring their Proportional responsibility of each expenditure they themselves agree to through coming to a Majority Consensus of the States, by their Proportion of the Population in the House, then receiving the concurrence of the States as Equals by reaching a Majority Consensus of the States, by the State’s Equal Suffrage in the Senate!
The Federal Government has no property, the Federal Government has no Revenue, the Federal Government has no Commerce, the only source of raising revenue to pay for collective services of the States as the Federal Government is through the Legislative process which comprises the Power of the Purse, held by the Individual State’s Themselves through their Proportional Suffrage in the House, coupled with the Legislative Checks and Balances of a well Constituted Bicameral Legislature!
The approval of expenditures must come before the Collection of revenue, Not After, Proportionally through the rule of Representation and Direct taxes of Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution.
Federal taxation directly on the People is an act of extortion, and a continuation of the principles of Slavery!
you might try that again. The original division of the country as the Constitutiona was adopted gave each former nation state land to the pacific coast. The STATES themselves ceded most of it back to the Federal Government. There are any number of references principally The Northwest Ordinance of 1785 and Homestead Act of 1862. The thrust and direction is correct but the specifics are lacking.
Sorry but I don’t need correction and I don’t need to try again! If land was ceded back to the Federal Government, as territories, then that land is not within the States, and everything inside a State is that State’s Wholly, not shared with the other States, that’s what makes them part of a Confederated Republic when joined into a Union!
Do you know what the word Federal means? Maybe you should look it up since you seem to be having difficulty understanding that concept of Union of Sovereign Independent States!
Another Democratic morass created by pandering to the least willing to work or pay taxes. John Smith had the right idea about the relationship between eating and working. Too bad his ideas are discounted as the racist rantings of a white, middle-aged European male by the identity politics crowd. The collectivists will have their day of reckoning but it will come too late for a lot of emigrating Chicagoans. I always heard Chicago folks work hard and play hard. Now they can add to the motto — they pay hard.
The Apostle Paul, Lenin and Captain John Smith all said the same thing. That seems to cover most of the various sides of debate but Chicago, NY and other places still haven’t grasped the concept.
by pandering to the least willing to work or pay taxes.
Actually, pandering to the likes of Karen Lewis.
Yep, her and her union, too.
Well on out three isn’t toooooooo bad. But it is their choice to live in streets of shame and full of garbage. Some pigs are more equal than other pigs and in Chicago they are not always found useful by the meat packing industry.