CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Me too, especially at local levels. I could probably support a Bernie Sanders type in the House or Senate just to have that perspective there. I would never want that type running Chicago or being President though.

Vallas is hard to listen to (lots of "uh ums", as if he hasn't formulated an opinion yet), but he seems like a safe, middle of the road kind of guy.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by mark0

When its your wife in the cross fire and five year old playing on the ground floor inside you can judge me. They are out of control and until we discuss the behavioral problems ingrained in the culture of the projects nothing, NOTHING will change. We bought near north side after Cabrini came down, well Cabrini part 2 is well on its way back up. Peace out, it's Wilmette or possibly Coastal CA if the job change happens. We've paid enough in taxes and will probably lose a little bit but the culture, the open dealing thats not even attempted to be stopped, the lazy ass cops just waiting to get a pension, um no thanks. The decline is structural at this point.

That sounds awful. Isn't there a police station like right next to Cabrini? I guess it doesn't matter if the cops don't bother doing anything.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Vallas is hard to listen to (lots of "uh ums", as if he hasn't formulated an opinion yet), but he seems like a safe, middle of the road kind of guy.

Things like that don't bother me, especially if the candidate has solid ideas and credentials. I am likely in the minority though.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Things like that don't bother me, especially if the candidate has solid ideas and credentials. I am likely in the minority though.

It's almost better... that way you know they didn't get to where they are by their charisma alone.

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by mark0

When its your wife in the cross fire and five year old playing on the ground floor inside you can judge me. They are out of control and until we discuss the behavioral problems ingrained in the culture of the projects nothing, NOTHING will change. We bought near north side after Cabrini came down, well Cabrini part 2 is well on its way back up. Peace out, it's Wilmette or possibly Coastal CA if the job change happens. We've paid enough in taxes and will probably lose a little bit but the culture, the open dealing thats not even attempted to be stopped, the lazy ass cops just waiting to get a pension, um no thanks. The decline is structural at this point.

wow that's crazy! Do you live on Sedgewick or something? The idiots that own those homes had an opportunity to revamp them and get rid of that plight on the entire north side but developers and landlords love that guaranteed federal government money as a safe investment... its so sad how awesome that area could have been

[Notyrview]

Originally Posted by mark0

When its your wife in the cross fire and five year old playing on the ground floor inside you can judge me. They are out of control and until we discuss the behavioral problems ingrained in the culture of the projects nothing, NOTHING will change. We bought near north side after Cabrini came down, well Cabrini part 2 is well on its way back up. Peace out, it's Wilmette or possibly Coastal CA if the job change happens. We've paid enough in taxes and will probably lose a little bit but the culture, the open dealing thats not even attempted to be stopped, the lazy ass cops just waiting to get a pension, um no thanks. The decline is structural at this point.

The decline has always been structural. Black people were slaves until 1865, and couldn't even go to the same schools as white folks until the 1960s. Why do you think nearly 30% of black people live in poverty in the U.S.? And then there's just regular ole prejudice that's made it 10 times as hard for black people to get jobs, housing, loans. It's structural racism and there's no excuse for it, or your calling black folks "wild animals". I'm really glad you're wife is ok, but you've chosen a really ugly path to cope with it.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Uh guys he's probably leaving because his pollsters have told him it's now or never to make a run for the Oval Office. Trump is an extreme, but Rahm might be one of the few Dems tough enough to deal with his bombast. If he gets the nomination that would be the best presidential debates ever...

Think about it, 2020 campaign starts right when he is out of office. He can go out saying "look what I did for Chicago's fiscal state, Trump has trashed the US budget, I'll fix it", he can point to massive economic expansion in Chicago to challenge Trump on the economy angle. Who else do the Dems have? Biden? Good luck.

Sucks for Chicago, but Rahm has already done a lot of what really needed doing. He may even know something we don't about Amazon, the announcement will be before he leaves and give him enough time to pass the entitlements they need. Besides, Rahm might get to play kingmaker on the Mayoral election anyhow. Whoever he puts his weight behind will probably win. One wonders if he isn't considering backing Vallas already given how Vallas has started to converge with his policy talking points.

[the urban politician]

One great thing is that Rahm can pretty much pass whatever entitlements he wants because he doesn't have to make anyone happy. This is the best time to get something controversial approved if you're a developer and have Rahm's ear.

Rahm's program for allowing density bumps downtown in exchange for putting money into a fund that helps businesses in struggling neighborhoods was a great idea, and I hope the next mayor continues it.

Do you really think Rahm is running for president? I highly doubt it

[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by Notyrview

The decline has always been structural. Black people were slaves until 1865, and couldn't even go to the same schools as white folks until the 1960s. Why do you think nearly 30% of black people live in poverty in the U.S.? And then there's just regular ole prejudice that's made it 10 times as hard for black people to get jobs, housing, loans. It's structural racism and there's no excuse for it, or your calling black folks "wild animals". I'm really glad you're wife is ok, but you've chosen a really ugly path to cope with it.

I'll chime in: Be that as it may...nobody cares. I understand the hardships many blacks have gone through historically, but when it comes to personal safety and the safety of ones family, all of that goes out the window. If a bunch of gangbangers want to kill each other in the Ghetto, that's fine by me, but when it happens in nice parts of Chicago, where hard working, high tax paying citizens live, that is when it becomes an issue.
The hardships of a certain class of people receive no sympathy from me when they resort to gun violence.

[Investing In Chicago]

we just need Viachicago to join Kenmore and Notyrview and we'll have ourselves a full blown bleeding heart party in this thread.

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Uh guys he's probably leaving because his pollsters have told him it's now or never to make a run for the Oval Office. Trump is an extreme, but Rahm might be one of the few Dems tough enough to deal with his bombast. If he gets the nomination that would be the best presidential debates ever...

Think about it, 2020 campaign starts right when he is out of office. He can go out saying "look what I did for Chicago's fiscal state, Trump has trashed the US budget, I'll fix it", he can point to massive economic expansion in Chicago to challenge Trump on the economy angle. Who else do the Dems have? Biden? Good luck.

Sucks for Chicago, but Rahm has already done a lot of what really needed doing. He may even know something we don't about Amazon, the announcement will be before he leaves and give him enough time to pass the entitlements they need. Besides, Rahm might get to play kingmaker on the Mayoral election anyhow. Whoever he puts his weight behind will probably win. One wonders if he isn't considering backing Vallas already given how Vallas has started to converge with his policy talking points.

he's not running for president with this Van Dyke case looming over his head... although I feel like he would be an excellent candidate and Im not a democrat at all

[Chicago E]

Urban Politician you make a good point. In 2007/2008 the whole financial system was being questioned. This is clearly not the same today. Just one more question to anyone.....(and this applies to all proposals moving forward as well as the City negotiating with potential headquarter relocations etc). With the announcement today from Mayor Emanuel not running does this stymie the pro growth/ relocation movement? I was not a huge fan of Emanuel but I have to give him some credit in how successful he was in negotiating and luring big corporate companies to relocate to Chicago. Also does this jeopardize the Tesla people mover to O'Hare? And sorry for the questions but does this decision by Emanuel jeopardize in anyway Amazon's decision for Chicago?......One heck of news day here in Chicago.....Thanks in advance!

[k1052]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Uh guys he's probably leaving because his pollsters have told him it's now or never to make a run for the Oval Office. Trump is an extreme, but Rahm might be one of the few Dems tough enough to deal with his bombast. If he gets the nomination that would be the best presidential debates ever...

Think about it, 2020 campaign starts right when he is out of office. He can go out saying "look what I did for Chicago's fiscal state, Trump has trashed the US budget, I'll fix it", he can point to massive economic expansion in Chicago to challenge Trump on the economy angle. Who else do the Dems have? Biden? Good luck.

Sucks for Chicago, but Rahm has already done a lot of what really needed doing. He may even know something we don't about Amazon, the announcement will be before he leaves and give him enough time to pass the entitlements they need. Besides, Rahm might get to play kingmaker on the Mayoral election anyhow. Whoever he puts his weight behind will probably win. One wonders if he isn't considering backing Vallas already given how Vallas has started to converge with his policy talking points.

I think this is extremely unlikely. Rahm is looking at 2020 I suspect but you've got the wrong office. Much more probable Durbin is going to retire since he's already 73 and would be in his 80s by the time his next term would be up if he won re-election. There was a fair amount of rumor, IIRC, back in 14 that he might retire then so maybe he's ready by now.

[the urban politician]

I would argue that Rahm's choice not to run is less of a positive thing (springboard to higher office) and more of a negative thing.

Remember, it was shortly after Chicago lost the 2016 Olympics bid that Daley decided not to run for reelection.

It's very possible that, in a similar way, Rahm has "lost his steam". What could it be? We may perhaps soon find out. It could be Van Dyke, but it could also be news about HQ2, which was sort of Rahm's "Olympics".

[urbanpln]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I would argue that Rahm's choice not to run is less of a positive thing (springboard to higher office) and more of a negative thing.

Remember, it was shortly after Chicago lost the 2016 Olympics bid that Daley decided not to run for reelection.

It's very possible that, in a similar way, Rahm has "lost his steam". What could it be? We may perhaps soon find out. It could be Van Dyke, but it could also be news about HQ2, which was sort of Rahm's "Olympics".

I believe it is both. His polling number were in the negative, and the Van Dyke trial is going to leave him exposed. Rham does not strike me as a person who will not run because he wants to spend more time with the family.

[Vlajos]

^ The last polling that was made public showed Rahm's numbers improving quite a bit. I think he is probably just tired of the job.

[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

^ The last polling that was made public showed Rahm's numbers improving quite a bit. I think he is probably just tired of the job.

IMO, this is it. Mayor of Chicago is a thankless job, and the burden of having to fix the southside is an impossible task, that nobody can fix.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by Investing In Chicago

we just need Viachicago to join Kenmore and Notyrview and we'll have ourselves a full blown bleeding heart party in this thread.

If you're trying to insult me you're failing

But your attitude is a prime example of why as long as people of your particular worldview (and those of rahm) continue to lead the city, nothing will change. By your definition, I live in the ghetto (a deragatory term in itself , so you're already alienating people right off the bat) and therefore crime that impacts myself and my neighbor's dosent matter from your perspective. You place a higher value on a rich life than a poor life and act like this is just a normal belief system to hold. You're out of touch with the way the vast majority of the citizens in this city are living, and I couldn't really care less what you think.

[mark0]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

If you're trying to insult me you're failing

But your attitude is a prime example of why as long as people of your particular worldview (and those of rahm) continue to lead the city, nothing will change.

Get off your high horse. Do you bring your kid to Stanton Park and play with the kids from the projects every day after work? Sometimes entertaining a few toddlers while their mommas smoke weed on the bench oblivious to what their kids are doing? Do you tell kids to pick up Cheetos bags they throw in your bushes only to have them say "F**ck yo ass". Theres only so much one can do. It's institutionalized poverty by design. So go ahead and defend it all you want, you are the problem by not demanding the individuals change their lifestyles. Ive spent more time with these folks than most anyone on this board, enough to say Im done giving a shit about them, they dont give a shit about themselves or anything else.

[SIGSEGV]

I wonder if Valerie Jarrett is more likely to run now. She has the national profile that Rahm does. Apparently she's on the board of Lyft, which should make all the taxi drivers happy.