pic pulled from the omnimagonline blog - Doesn't matter if he's in Bridgeport or Beijing, even Da Boss has to pay up for public transit.
DALEY NEWS
Wednesday's edition, posted in the early AM hours of Thursday morning
Mayor Daley took hump day off - from the media, at least. He had no public appearances scheduled this Wednesday.
DALEY CHATTER
"Mayor Daley has this one right," proclaims NBC5 Chicago. "Hey, it happens," they reluctantly admitted.
When Steve Rhodes opined for the Peacock on their local beat this Wednesday, he supported statements Mayor Daley had made to end free rides for seniors.
Hizzoner looks to 2010 as he prepares to present next year's budget to a special session of the City Council next Wednesday. He does so under the dark cloud of projections that put the CTA $300 million in the hole. And with fare hikes and services cuts being the only solution thus far proffered by the transit authority, Mayor Daley winced at what he described as, "very, very ugly" state of affairs on Tuesday.
Perhaps he was struck by some midweek inspiration when Daley proposed on Wednesday that the State Legislature needs to end free rides for senior citizens:
"They have to revisit everything," Daley said. "And that is one of 'em they have to revisit. Definitely."
You may remember the free-ride program was added to the 2008 CTA bailout by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich shortly before he was arrested on federal corruption charges. It was the first of many stunts he'd soon pull to gain public sympathy and a peice of the spotlight. The final chapter of his epic downfall is yet to be written.
pic from Sun-Times - Blago dashes headlong into an uncertain future
Transit politics aside, Daley has a $520 million budget gap of his own to worry about. But the Mayor has so far spoken out against raising city taxes:
"You can't [raise property taxes] ... That would hurt people tremendously," Daley said.
"You can only take so much. People are being laid off on a daily basis. People are getting cut back. They don't have the money anymore. Government has to look at itself and find out what they can live with and what are their priorities. Simple as that."
Some sources suggest rather than raise taxes, Daley will propose pulling cash from the city's long-term fund which holds money from the city's controversial parking meter and Skyway privatizations.
Print
E-mail
Len Kody
South Sider. Comics Writer. Daily Daley Contributor. Editorial Intern. More
Comments
Post new comment