By: Mark Glennon*
Rahm Emmanuel will become Bruce Rauner on steroids — a relentlessly creative and radical turnaround artist — or he and Chicago are finished.
The jig is up. The national press has tuned in. They are starting to say outright that Chicago is heading towards bankruptcy, as Bloomberg did today, even if most of our local media and Chicago voters remain far behind the curve. Denial, delay, extend and pretend won’t fly anymore. The arithmetic of budgets and pensions for Chicago and its overlapping layers of government is now as indisputable as it is terrifying.
Rahm didn’t do this to Chicago. Richard M. Daley did it, along with most other Cook County Democrats, including those who control the state legislature. Their names will be dirt when books are written about this crisis. Rahm will try, above all else, to salvage his name and career by distancing himself however possible — we must hope.
This election was absurd. What should have been a contest between turnaround plans was, instead, largely a debate about Rahm’s supposed austerity, which in fact consisted of little more than closing some schools. Most Chicagoans have no idea what’s about to hit, and Rahm does bear blame for that. He might have spent his first term conditioning voters to the severity of the city’s problems, but he didn’t. The bond market let him get away with budget gimmicks, debt and underfunding pensions. It won’t now.
A primary goal of any turnaround is to get to a point where people start “calling a bottom.” A tipping point happens when the worst seems over — money flows in and confidence snowballs. The quicker you make hard decisions the sooner somebody will call that bottom. At the state level we haven’t gotten there, but it’s visible on the horizon because Governor Rauner has called it straight and has done what’s necessary, accepting the low approval ratings that result. Nothing like that is remotely in sight in Chicago.
Do it, Rahm, for your own sake and Chicago’s — a 180-degree pivot. The turnaround world will welcome you.
*Mark Glennon is founder of WirePoints. Opinions expressed are his own.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about the free speech controversy brewing in Wilmette due to the city’s refusal to fly a religious freedom flag, the city’s left-wing excesses and the growing culture war, the latest money spent on the illegal immigrant crisis, and more.
Weekly crime statistics from the Chicago Police Department: Report through 4/14/2024.
Politics over economics in Chicago and Illinois.
The tradition continues.
Susan, there are ways to get economic growth. Here is how. If you are wealthy, invest in a seed stage VC fund that will put money in local startups. Second, decrease taxes. Third, decrease services and privatize much of government. Fourth, decrease govt overhead by going to a 401(k) pension program.
Not going to happen. Answer: Bankruptcy. That’s what is guaranteed to happen.
I agree with the substance of your article, but I don’t think the mayor’s economic vision is very sharp. He doesn’t really have a broad vision for restoring Chicago’s economy. Reliance on beautifying the city, or investing in mainly in expensive tourist attractions to make the city more ‘fun’ isn’t going to do it. The people here need jobs; we need employers whose businesses create multiplying and diverse work opportunities. I elaborate here:
http://susanbarsy.com/2015/03/21/rahm-chicago-nice-place-visit/