Chicago has long been infamous for graft and corruption, but it had a reputation for at least being functional.
That’s not the case today.
The city already is ranked in the bottom 10 for economic liberty and local politicians seem determined to pass NYC, LA, and Oakland and claim last place.
Lori Lightfoot, the previous mayor, was a disaster of epic proportions.
And the current mayor, Brandon Johnson, wants to be even worse, which seems almost impossible.
Let’s start with a Washington Post column by Jim Geraghty shortly after Johnson was elected earlier this year.
When a deeply troubled city chooses to double down on all the policies that aren’t working, it’s like watching sailors on a sinking ship bailing water in instead of out. Welcome to Chicago. Brandon Johnson, …a former Chicago Teachers Union organizer, promises to govern from the same progressive playbook. …Large companies are moving out of the downtown area, citing high crime rates that make their employees feel unsafe. In just the past few years, Boeing, Caterpillar, Citadel and Tyson Foods have moved out of Chicago. So far this year, Old Navy closed its flagship store in the Loop, and Banana Republic said it will not renew the lease on its Michigan Avenue store. …The city’s schools are a worsening mess: Only about 20 percent of Chicago Public Schools students can read at grade level, and just 15 percent met proficiency in math. …The unfunded liability for the city’s four pension systems is now $33.7 billion, more than twice the city’s annual budget. …Johnson does want the city to spend a lot more… He has proposed a slew of new taxes and tax increases, including reinstating the monthly $4-per-employee “head tax” on large corporations. He also wants to raise $98 million by “making the big airlines pay for polluting the air” in Chicago neighborhoods, and seeks a 66 percent increase in the city’s already-high hotel tax rate.
Here are some excerpts from a Wall Street Journal editorial shortly after he was inaugurated.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was inaugurated last week, and two days later his allies released a report with their agenda for the next four years. Title: “First We Get the Money.” They mean your money. …To get the cash, the mayor should collect $6.8 billion by “making the wealthy and corporations pay what they owe”…The city lost 81,000 people from mid-2020 to mid-2022, according to the latest Census numbers. The mayor’s pals say a “city budget is a moral document.” Readers can decide what kind of morality lets criminal gangs run wild while shrinking the police force and chasing taxpayers out of the city.To be fair, these criticisms were written before Johnson did anything.
Is it possible that he said crazy things to get elected, but then came to his senses?
Sadly, the answer is no. As the following headlines suggest, he has been a typical greedy and grasping politicians. Except maybe even worse than typical.
From the Chicago Sun-Times.
From Crain’s Chicago Business.
From the Chicago Tribune.
From Fortune.
Another one from Crain’s Chicago Business.
I could share many more, but I’ve made my point. Johnson is a parasite looking for more victims to fleece to enable ongoing profligacy.
One can only wonder what he will say when he “runs out of other people’s money.” Especially since the geese with the golden eggs already are flying away.
However, as bad as Mayor Johnson is on fiscal policy, here are some excerpts from a story that is an even better illustration of his economic illiteracy.
Mayor Johnson has announced that Chicago has partnered with the Economic Security Project to work on a pathway toward opening a city-owned grocery store. …“The City of Chicago is reimagining the role government can play in our lives by exploring a public option for grocery stores via a municipally owned grocery store and market,” said Ameya Pawar, Senior Advisor at Economic Security Project and former alderperson. …The city mentioned potential funding from the Illinois Grocery Initiative — which commits $20 million for grants and technical assistance for grocery stores across the state. Chicago would be the first major city in the U.S. with a municipally-owned grocery store if advanced.
Given the pervasive incompetence and corruption of Chicago’s government, I can only imagine how much of a failure this would be.
The only good news is that a government grocery store presumably would cause far less damage than government mortgage-finance companies.
Though I wonder whether Johnson is being too timid. Why doesn’t he propose collective farms and other policies that have made places such as Cuba and North Korea beacons of prosperity?
P.S. I am very happy that Johnon was not mayor of Houston in the late ’80s.
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Image credit: SHYCITYNikon | CC BY-NC 2.0.
