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"What's come clear to me is that you probably don't want to be the favorite going into the vote"DALEY CHATTERBack home on the front lines, Daley reports only blue skies for Chicago should the Olympics be granted. Daley says that the Olympics would infuse $22.5 billion back into the economy, while providing 315,000 jobs over the duration of 11 years and creating a spike of about $1.9 billion in tourist revenue after the Olympics.But experts who spoke with Crain’s Business, think Mayor Daley’s predications might be overzealous. Victor Matheson, a professor of economics at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, tells Crain’s "That's crazy," and “anyone using this $22.5-billion number as justification to vote for the Olympics is being led down the garden path." The last summer Olympics was hosted by Atlanta in 1996 and the revenue expected for Chicago significantly trumps Atlanta’s earnings. Take a look at Crain’s info-graphic depicting the variation in Atlanta’s revenues to Daley's predications..  ...

"...unconstitutionally obligates the city to expend public funds in order to police, enforce and maintain the privately held and privately controlled parking meter system" -- a violation of the Illinois Constitution which states "public funds, property or credit shall only be used for public purposes."Independent Voters of Illinois have filed the suit in addition to resident Aviva Patt. The Tribune reports that it could be as long as six months before the lawsuit goes anywhere.If columnist Don Rose is right, this is a frightening anecdote about the lengths to which Daley and Co. will go to secure Chicago’s 2016 bid. Rose alleges that a friend of his, who is close with the Mayor, offered him $25,000 to write positively about the 2016 games in his Chicago Daily Observer column. Read it for yourself here. On a lighter note, here’s an interesting band singing about Chicago clout, the band is appropriately dubbed The Clout Meisters. We hope you enjoy their tribute to the mayor.   ...

Chicago aldermen have used their newly expanded, taxpayer-funded expense accounts to hire relatives, lease expensive vehicles and pay for downtown parking.For 2008, Mayor Daley increased each alderman's expense account by $73,280 after much complaining on their part that their "allowance" wasn't high enough. The expense accounts of all the aldermen now total $3.7 million, a figure which is more than double the amount allotted prior to 2008....

“He's not involved, he's supporting the Olympics, everyone's supporting the Olympics," the mayor said. "You come to conclusions! He's a volunteer basis, he has no interest in that."   Daley Chatter Daley’s nephew, Robert Vanecko, swayed five city of Chicago pension funds to invest in his company by promising to contribute $7 million into a real estate project; as proof of a sure thing.  It worked. The new real estate venture, DV Urban Realty, scored $68 million in pension funds. Turns out Vanecko and his cohorts only wanted to invest half of their original offer, contributing $3.5 million.   Vanecko and his company have already spent $4.7 million on a deal in the South Loop that plans to knock down the National Association of Letter Carriers headquarters, replacing it with a 220-unit apartment building.  ...

DALEY NEWS ...

Aldermen approved leasing 41 acres of city owned land in the West Pullman neighborhood yesterday for construction of one of the country's largest urban solar power plants....

"Now officers will be able to fire upon the driver or passenger in a vehicle if that person is a forcible fleeing felon, someone who has committed a very serious offense resulting in bodily harm or has threatened to commit great bodily harm." Drew's statement quickly put people on edge, which forced Mayor Daley to assure the public that the policy has not been enacted yet. City officials have been down this road before and are not taking the issue lightly.Chicago police officers fatally shot LaTanya Haggerty, a passenger in a fleeing vehicle. After fleeing from officers in his vehicle, Robert Russ was stopped and then fatally shot during an altercation with police officers. The Sun-Times reports both of these cases cost the city a combined total of $27.6 million.  However, Supt. Weis said the policy is still being considered by the police department. If the policy should be officially enacted, it will definitely open the city to serious liability issues. ...

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“It looked like it was very random. This has nothing do with [me]. They...