Chicago also has going for it at the federal level both Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk on the transportation committee, Durbin is very good at steering funds our way. Also, the possible future president was born and raised not to far from here.

^ Park Ridge very much counts as Chicago. But disappointingly its famous former resident has practically disavowed, or at least downplayed, any ties to us. She definitely has a Chicagoan-ness in her persona though, and it would be nice in the future if she would be proud of and even emphasize those links. For example, a potential future presidential library would probably go to NY, even though that would be based largely just on three years in New Haven and eight carpetbagging years as senator in her fifties; this slightly feels like a stab in the back. (I'm doubting Arkansas would be a finalist in such a competition.) Edit: Come to think of it a library in DC would kind of make sense though, as she would have marked a significant first in two and a half centuries.

Anyway, to be back OT here, we could guilt her into emphasizing transportation infrastructure in Chicago.

That didn't help us land any direct flights to Cuba

Nice goin', Kirk and Durbin :rolleyes:

If Illinois is going to be taxed so heavily and put a bunch of crooks in office, then damn it, act like crooks and bring home the chowder!

We actually did get a direct flight to Cuba, just not to Havana, and far less than daily. :shrug: So your point still stands.

Yeah, Hillary Clinton's ties to Illinois are minor at best. Unlike Obama, Hillary spent none of her academic or political life in Illinois. She went to Wellesley and Yale and married Bill almost immediately after to move to Arkansas.

Remember, Ronald Reagan was also born in Illinois, and Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky... good for a highway sign and not much else.*

Plus, Illinois is about as blue as it gets. Hillary will owe the state of Illinois absolutely nothing if she wins.



* = Apocryphally, Reagan was responsible for the Orange Line getting Federal funding, but I believe that was more about Bill Lipinski's vote for sending aid to the Contras in Nicaragua than about any fondness Reagan might have had for Illinois...

CTA, Metra are unworthy 'social engineering,' GOP says .....
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/o...721-story.html

Wow, I guess this happened at UIC today during the storms ������

https://twitter.com/islesoferin/stat...64207859986432

Local, rail officials won't $110 million for South Side projects
 

^ Nice going again, Dick and Mark :rolleyes:

Illinois--corruption without the benefits

It does say only 18 out of 212 grant applications actually got funding, so the odds weren't exactly great to begin with.

Durbin was able to steer money the CTAs way through the Core Capacity program. So the corruption paid off a little bit at least. 8)

^ Not enough. Transport is vital to Chicago's economy. More than any other metro

^The cars aren't holding up the freight trains. The trains are blocking the streets.

Couldn't agree more, which is why there is such an emphasis on O'Hare and our freight network.

It seems like Illinois Congressional delegation is terrible at bringing home the money.

Dude, Federal money requires a local match. The delegation is hamstrung by Springfield gridlock and Illinois' ridiculous debt levels. Municipalities and the state government just aren't putting up.

Plus, Congress no longer allows earmarks, so legislators have much less influence over grant awards than they used to. Bureaucrats are now firmly in the driver's seat on this type of stuff, and in lieu of earmarks they often have vague directives from Congress to "direct resources to rural areas" or "increase access to underserved communities". As a result, USDOT just allocated $3B in Fastlane grants, explicitly for freight movement, and Illinois got nothing.

On the other hand, as another commenter noted, Durbin was able to "steer" funds to Chicago by creating a new grant program that's basically tailor-made to CTA's needs, and then tipping off CTA so they could be first in line. But that's way harder to do than an earmark, and only possible because Durbin is the #2 Democrat in the Senate (and possible Majority Leader after November).

We've been a net contributor state for too long. We're essentially insolvent and need federal funds more than most states. Our congressional representation is terrible.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...XgAAydA--1.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...58974930_n.jpg


The CTA is using its 8-car 2400 Series Boeing Historical Fleet in special service serving the Chicagoland Baseball Classic. The cars ran on Monday. Today, Wednesday, train will leave 95th around 4:52pm, getting downtown around 5:15pm and to Addison about 5:35pm. I'm surprised we haven't seen photos. The door chain signboard will be different. Photos: CTA.

I hope this becomes a more regular thing with the CTA where heritage fleets are used during sports games. Would definitely be great for both sports and rail fans

Durbin, Emanuel, Members Of Illinois Delegation Announce $25 Million TIGER Grant For Garfield Green Line Gateway
https://s32.postimg.org/llbx9btol/TI...t_Project2.jpg
https://s32.postimg.org/8snt9ei2t/TI...t_Project1.jpg
http://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroo...n-line-gateway