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Ald. Andre Vasquez’s endeavors to straddle those two constituencies have at times put him at odds with both ends of the spectrum, with some surmising he is more politically expedient than he lets on. He has been painted as an anti-law enforcement extremist by his social media critics on the right, yet the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America renounced him in 2020 for a budget vote that maintained Police Department funding. “We’ve never been in a moment like the one we were in, where we actually had movement candidates in office,” Vasquez added. “There was no understanding of what it looks like to actually co-govern. And there still isn’t.”
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Socialism is the coveting of another’s property.
Another upper-middle class white-collar college-educated progressive play-acting “democratic-socialist” while enjoying his nice six-figure household lifestyle. There’s no “worker’s struggle” here, just rhetorical street-theatre.
As a 66 year old lifelong city resident, for the last two mayoral go-arounds I told the CTU/DSA volunteer types knocking at my door the same thing—I didn’t see any difference between old school machine or “new machine”. Neither are interested in lowering my absurd prop taxes or delivering competent services at reasonable cost. Your all part of the same racket.
Problem is your absurd property taxes are still close to half of what ours are in Belvidere and especially in Rockford at around 4% of value. My now $200K (was $184K in 2007) home has a tax bill of just under $8K. Have no idea what to do with my $16K increase in equity over a 16 year period other than pay more taxes.
There’s a hug difference between the old machine and new machine. You may not see it, but history tells us their is. The old machine was a corrupt machine that existed to produce jobs for its supporters and voters, like a self-licking ice cream cone. “the city that works” is the logo for the machine. These DSA types are communists that want to burn it all down, and then they will try to destroy you, if they don’t manage to kill you first. This isn’t hyperbole, we have over a century of communist rule around the world as an example.… Read more »
Of course they want to “burn it all down.” Haven’t you been following the “build back better” mantra? They have to burn it down so they, the political, can build it back better.
I used to buy into all that. The lefty news media desperately want you to believe there’s a difference. But nope, all the dsa/equity hustle stuff is 90% an just an act. At the end of the day ctu members, etc, are still sending off their dues to friends of Welch, friends of Harmon, or whoever is exchange for big $s and rubber stamp legislation. Look for a monster new contract $payday$ next year, probably after convention