Month: December 2024

Brandon Johnson finally got what he wanted. Johnson’s newly appointed Chicago School Board fired Chicago Public School’s CEO Pedro Martinez. The lickspittle hacks Johnson put on the board did what they were chosen for and ordered to do. Johnson wanted Martinez gone, He got what he wanted. Johnson’s childish attitude is now on full display. His tantrums over Pedro Martinez were finally heeded.

Martinez, per his contract, will stay on for six months. The board is considering hiring a co-CEO, which may not be legal. But this is Chicago, and this is Brandon Johnson’s board. Laws do not apply to them until some judge slaps them down.

Martinez refused to have the Chicago Public Schools absorb a 175-million-dollar pension debt from the city for non-teaching CPS employees and he refused to take out a high interest $300 million dollar loan, described as a pay day type loan, to “balance” the budget. Martinez did not do what he was told. Hid did what was fiscally responsible.

Johnson did what he was told to do by the Chicago Teachers Union. He fired Martinez. Johnson is bought and paid for by CTU. He does whatever they tell him to do. Johnson is their lickspittle. Brandon Johnson is an egregious walking talking conflict of interest when it comes to the CTU.

“The mayor is prepared to give the CTU the North Pole and the taxpayers get coal in their stockings in the form of property taxes,” said Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, who recently wrote a letter to Illinois state authorities asking for an investigation into the extent that school board members are involved in ongoing teacher contract negotiations.” (Chicago Tribune)

There were news reports that members of the School Board were inserting themselves into contract negotiations with the teacher’s union. By law, only the CEO and his staff can negotiate union contracts. Johnson’s school board cares nothing about the law. They will do what they are told or whatever they want to appease the Chicago Teacher’s Union, as they are supporters of the union. They are no longer management. They, like the mayor, are labor, another conflict of interest. It appears no one, including Brandon Johnson, knows what their job is.

Mayor Johnson is the epitome of the Chicago Way. He thinks he has the power to do whatever he wants without repercussions. He believes he is powerful. He is deluding himself. Johnson is not popular. His approval rating is around 14% and will tank even further after firing Pedro Martinez. He is not powerful. No one in political power listens to him, heeds him, fears him, or cares about him. He has nothing to offer other politicians. He cannot do anything for them.

Johnson is on the path to destroying the City of Chicago. He does not care about the people, the alders, or anyone else, including the City Council. He alienated many of the alders, including many of his progressive allies, over the city budget process. He wanted to tax the people into oblivion. Johnson is not done yet.

Johnson only cares about what the CTU wants, and he better get it for them. Who knows what other damage Johnson will do during his term? One thing is clear. Johnson is out of his element. He does not know what he is doing. Johnson has no knowledge of governance, no fiscal responsibility or fiscal knowledge, no leadership skills, no management skills, or any other traits needed to run a city or any organization. He proves it every day and every time he speaks. His mayoral staff is right behind him on the lack of knowledge scale. The Fifth Floor of City Hall is being run by less-ons, lower than morons.

When the CTU contract is negotiated there will be an attempt for the Chicago School Board to raise the property tax. CTU President, Stacy Davis Gates touted this several times. The people of this city and businesses of all sizes will need to fight hard to prevent a property tax hike. Martinez did that with the fiscally responsible budget he passed.

We need to fight any increases in property taxes. We need to start now. Write your alder. Write to the members of the board. Write your Illinois legislators. Put the heat on Johnson and his lickspittle school board.

“The celebration started the moment National Baseball Hall of Fame President Josh Rawitch said “1963 to 1977” as he began to unveil the results of the classic baseball era committee voting on television. Richard Allen Jr. jumped out of his seat and was swallowed in a sea of hugs. His father, the late Dick Allen, had just been elected into the Hall of Fame.“I wanted to hear it, I wanted to see it,” Allen said at a watch party … We saw it, just so much to take in.” (Chicago Tribune)

Former White Sox player, Dick Allen, finally made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 81% of the votes. His nomination was long overdue. Allen played for the White Sox from 1972 to 1974.  Allen died in 2020 at the age of 78. His legendary exploits and explosive batting are still talked about.

“There’s no second-guessing the coach this time around. The Bears (4-9) were outcoached, outplayed and outclassed.” (Brad Biggs/Chicago Tribune)

The Bears once again proved they are an embearassment. They lost their seventh game in a row to the 49ers. The Bears are a pathetic 4 and 9 so far this season. I have no pity for Bears fans. They keep cheering for pathetic losers and the McCaskeys. New coaches will not produce a winning team. The only way the Bears will ever be winners again is when the McCaskeys sell the team to owners who want to win games and championships.

“Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to balance his revamped $17.3 billion budget with a $68.5 million property tax increase — and by raising taxes on everything from cloud computing, streaming services and parking to downtown congestion and plastic bags — squeaked through a City Council committee Tuesday.” (Chicago Sun-Times)

The City Council Finance and Budget Committees approved Mayor Brandon Johnson’s tax package, including a property tax increase, to balance the city budget by slim majoritys. Not one alder who voted for this horrendous package should get reelected.

The mayor refuses to make necessary cuts and seek more efficiencies. The mayor’s office budget alone ballooned by $50 million dollars. What are the citizens getting for that $50 million dollar increase? Where is the benefit for the city? The only people benefiting are the high paid do nothing patronage workers in Johnson’s office.

Brandon Johnson is proving every day he is incompetent and not fit to be the mayor of Chicago. He is feckless with his my way or the highway method of administration. Johnson will go down as being the worst mayor since Big Bill Thompson.

There will be a final vote on the budget Friday. If any more alders supports this fiasco people should start working next week to find, support, and campaign for candidates to replace them. The incumbents do not deserve to be reelected as they are not serving the people. They are serving themselves while bankrupting us.

The Johnson administration will do more harm to taxpayers with his future budgets. Write/email your alders. Tell them enough is enough when it comes to increased property taxes and other taxes and fees. Demand cuts and more efficiencies. Demand they cut the extra $50 million dollar increase from the mayor’s office.

Doing nothing is like not voting. The reason we have this horrible mayor is that less than 30% of registered voters showed up at the polls on Election Day.

“RFK jr. is a one man plague … RFK Jr. is an active agent of misinformation and lies. Hiring him to oversee health policy would be like hiring an arsonist to put out a fire.” (Sun-Times)

Finally, a news media editorial scorched Donald Trump’s pick, Robert F. Kennedy jr. to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. All the other national and local media tap danced around the Kennedy nomination. Kennedy is a charlatan, fraud, quack, con artist, and has no scientific, medical or administrative qualifications for the position.

There is one other disqualification. A disqualification the news media glosses over. It is mentioned in one sentence here and there, yet there has been editorial or opinion piece for this disqualification. No hue and cry. No call for his nomination to be torched.

Robert F. Kennedy jr. is a convicted felon. Kennedy was convicted of felony heroin possession in 1984. He was granted probation and successfully completed it. A convicted felon cannot get a menial federal job, yet Kennedy is being appointed to lead a major department. It is also a wonder he still has a law license with his felony conviction.

The news media, including the Sun-Times, is not editorializing against his appointment due to his felony conviction. No Democrats are arguing against his appointment based on the conviction. Neither are those phony law-and-order Republicans.

Why you may ask? The Kennedy name is sacrosanct and royalty in politics and the news media. Thou shalt not disparage the Kennedy name under any circumstances. Kennedy is not fit for the position he is being appointed to. He could not even get a federal job mopping floors with that conviction on his record. Yet a convicted felon may oversee the country’s health systems. Go figure. We no longer have a robust, fierce editorial media in the country. It is a pity how low the news media has gone. The Democrats? They are as useless as the Republicans when it comes to governance.

Back in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson, AKA “The Great Collaborator,” refuses to make necessary cuts to balance the budget. He still wants a real estate tax hike, against the wishes of the people and most alders. His other revenue raises are also harmful to businesses and consumers. He stubbornly refuses to cut jobs, especially patronage jobs. He claims city services would suffer, which is not true if done right. Alders are looking for other ways to make cuts but are being stymied by Johnson.

Johnson’s approval ratings are dropping faster than a greased anvil on steroids. But there is more to fear. Johnson’s appointed school board still has to negotiate and finalize the Chicago Teacher’s Union contract. That will probably include a property tax hike. We should oppose any property tax hike, especially since there will be reassessments next year. Since the County Assessor inherited the Qujiu Boards and Tarot cards from his predecessor, taxes will go up, on top of whatever the teachers want.

The problem is Johnson waited until the last minute to collaborate with the alders. Now the December 31^st deadline looms. If he and the City Council cannot pass a reasonable budget by then, the city will shut down. The city’s credit rating will be further damaged and city services will suffer.

Brandon Johnson does not care about city services. He does not care about the people in this city. He only cares about his narrow-minded agenda.