Hello from Illinois — or is it California?
Quite a bit of the troubles and quarrels occurring in California seems to be repeated here in Illinois.
The Chicago city council voted not to do business with Arizona because of that state’s new immigration law. But the council decided not to break all contacts with Arizona. Seems the Windy City gets its photo street enforcers from Arizona and the city needs the revenue because its finances are in a mess.
Meanwhile, a local talk radio host blasts the council for spending time on the Arizona issue while ignoring the many problems of financially stressed Chicago.
Echoes of Los Angeles.
The public employee pension issue is still hot here even though the government has actually taken a step to reform the system.
A newspaper editorial this week complained, "While other states gradually reformed their pension systems over the past decade, our state has resorted to gimmicks. … This year, the Legislature finally passed reform, but it left out police and firefighters. There was talk of borrowing money to pay pension obligations; there was talk of skipping payments."
Entering a museum, the docent pleads for memberships sign-ups because the state can’t help fund the museum because it’s broke. Even when a visitor has no intention of talking politics, residents volunteer how a bad a fiscal shape the state is in.
And if that’s not enough, the first two stops on the Chicago commuter train on the north end of the red line that goes to Wrigley Field are Howard and Jarvis.
I ask you – Illinois or California?
At least our former governor is not on trial for corruption.