-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Illinois attorney general candidate and state Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, plans to file a bill this month that would give residents legal standing to sue over environmental concerns such as air pollution, contaminated groundwater, offensive odors and more.
By Richard Epstein: “The ironies here are clear. The Obama Foundation is using techniques against the community that the Obama administration would never have tolerated by other well-heeled groups.”
The most recent federal filings of one of Illinois’ largest teachers unions reveal millions of dollars directed disproportionately to Chicago and to political causes with which their members may disagree.
I’ve written constantly over the past year about dangerous, new legislation that authorized Illinois towns and cities to sell off body parts through a new bond structure, but props to Jeanne Ives for articulating it better than I did. She’s the Republican candidate for governor challenging Bruce Rauner in the primary. Ives spoke at the City Club yesterday. The whole speech is worth watching for anybody interested in Illinois’ fiscal crisis, but the segment below is about the new borrowing scheme. It authorizes Illinois municipalities to transfer to bondholders full ownership of future income that flows from the state. The
Comment: Just coincidence, we’re sure, that Kroll’s board of directors late last year added Lois Scott, Chicago’s former Chief Financial Officer. Just coincidence.
Comment: In fact, the pension “reforms” included amending the city’s scheduled pension contributions to reduce them currently and increase them in the future. More on this soon.
It is easy to forget that slightly more than 100 years ago some of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded rocked Illinois and Missouri, but the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will be reminding people throughout the month of February.
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