SOME PAST STORIES UPDATED AND REWORKED

SOME PAST STORIES UPDATED AND REWORKED On November 24th I posted a blog, “Chicago Board of Education Expense Accounts,” where I questioned the use of the expense accounts and credit cards of the members of the Board. I wrote that “The Chicago Tribune requested records on board spending practices on November 2nd. The school board’s Inspector General James Sullivan began investigating board members' spending after the schools administration gave a copy of the Tribune's request for board spending records to him. How does that fit with the timing that school officials said Scott had begun paying back the money, writing a check on November 8th? Would Scott have written a check if the Tribune had not asked questions?” Well, today we learned that Ron Huberman, Chicago Public Schools CEO, cancelled 89 credit cards of employees on January 19th because of investigations into the spending of the last two Board presidents and their staff. According to the Sun Times, “If employees at board headquarters want their credit cards back, they will have to justify their expenses dating back to June 30, explain why they need a credit card, and receive training on how to use it, Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Monique Bond said.” In my November blog I also wrote, “At Michael Scott’s first meeting as Board President on March 25th of this year, the expense accounts of the Board members were doubled from $12,000 a year to $24,000. Scott's allowance rose from $19,200 a year to $36,000. According to the Chicago Tribune, the allowable expenses include telephone charges, transportation to and from board events, purchase of newspapers and journals, and miscellaneous supplies. The Board members are not paid a salary, so while I have no problem with their expenses being reimbursed, I don’t understand how someone can spend $3,000/month on such trivial supplies unless one is buying Mont Blanc pens and engraved Tiffany stationery.” Those monthly stipends have now been cancelled. The Board is now spending up to $100,000 for an outside law firm who has been hired to investigate the expense accounts and credit card charges. So we taxpayers have not only paid for limousines, high-priced meals and liquor; we are now paying someone to tell us how much we got screwed out of. Chicago Teachers Union spokeswoman Rosemaria Genova questioned the $100,000 tab for an outside attorney, saying "The Inspector General’s office is working on this. How many people do you have investigating this and why does it cost so much money?'' We are awaiting the answer to that question.

On November 18th I posted a blog, “Brother Can You Spare a Pepsi,” about how the high costs at McPier were driving conventions from the city. I questioned why we needed a task force that was meeting to discuss how to make Chicago more competitive. The answer was easy; lower prices. McPier has a projected operating deficit of $28.8 million this fiscal year.

So with the announcement that 61 of 95 eligible employees ( 64%) opted for an early retirement package—20 of them are top paid employees—McPier will be able to lower its payroll costs. The rats are jumping from a sinking ship; but will be highly compensated to do so. They will continue to receive huge paychecks for doing nothing. But the money will now come from the pension system and not from the McPier budget. Of the 52 employees earning more than $100,000, 16, or 31% have opted for the early retirement program. “Some of those positions will have to be refilled, but the number is not yet determined,” McPier Chief Executive Juan Ochoa said. It will be interesting to see how many of the positions will be filled and how many were just like bloated fish floating on Lake Michigan and not necessary. On May 14th I posted a blog, “Risk Your Life for a Dog?” about a woman who jumped into Lake Michigan to save her dog. I outlined all the reasons she was stupid and quoted blog follower Kevin as saying, “I think they should make her pay the cost of her rescue for being so stupid. A stupid tax perhaps?” Our latest stupid person in Chicago is Kendra Coffey who, according to the Chicago Tribune, “Coffey said she was wearing headphones as she walked Sunday afternoon near her apartment when the purse snatcher struck. The thief warned that he had a gun, she said, but "it looked like a piece of wood painted black. Coffey put up a fight, she said, but the robber fled with her purse and jumped into a car driven by another man. She gave chase and tried to get in the car, Coffey said, but the driver took off down the wrong side of the street with the door open. She was still clinging to her purse as the car began moving. "I was half in, half out," she said. "They were dragging me about half a block." Coffey said she held on until the driver started to speed up, causing her to fall off the side of the car. Her thick winter clothing cushioned her fall and protected her from more serious injuries, she said.” The upshot was that she did not get her purse back because the suspects threw it away. She lost her driver's license, keys, about $20 and other valuables. So she risked her life for $20. How much stupid tax should she have to pay? All three of these stories are related because they have to do with money. In the cases of the first two stories millions of dollars are involved and the last story only $20. People are risking their reputations and lives because of personal enrichment. If only the concept of the Stupid Tax were real, we could balance all the budgets in Illinois if we could collect on it.