Via Chicagoist
In addition to writing here, I also cover politics more local to my hometown of Chicago for Chicagoist. Rather than reprint them wholly on this site, I’d rather point readers in that direction, since Diatribe gives me the opportunity to opine on a wider variety of subjects. Each week though, I’ll be giving a quick round up if you’re interested in politics or other stories in and around Chicago.
TIF Subsidies Helping Not So Blighted Communities and Companies – (3/7) Chicago has received millions of dollars in Tax Increment Financing, public money to supposedly used to give a leg up to struggling neighborhoods and communities. However, a four month investigation by Columbia College journalism students showed that plenty of the cash went to major corporations in the not so blighted area of the loop.
Wisconsin Democrats Not Exactly Returning – (3/7) The Wall Street Journal and other mainstream media sources claimed that the 14 Democratic Senators from Wisconsin hiding out in Illinois to stall Governor Walker’s attempts to eliminate collective bargaining efforts were returning to the state. While some Senators have signaled they want to come back, they actually had no plans of returning. In addition, Walker’s supporters can’t exactly claim victory in the dispute, since public support for the efforts of protestors has increased and now the state faces 16 legislative recall campaigns.
Wisconsin Dems File Ethics Complaints – The Wisconsin Democratic Party filed an ethics complaint against Governor Walker over the comments he made when the editor of the Buffalo Beast prank called him last month.
Republicans Ask For Guarantee On Thomson Prison: Even though the Obama Administration has had no plans to transfer any Guantanamo detainees to the United States and explicitly stated in an executive order “Nothing in this order, and no determination made under this order, shall be construed as grounds for release of detainees covered by this order into the United States,” some Illinois legislators sent him a letter asking him to “make a firm commitment” not to do so. In addition, Illinois Republican legislator Bobby Schilling introduced the Detainee Security Act of 2011.
You can follow everything I post at Chicagoist by clicking here.
