Dogs and Ends
November 29th, 2007Michael Vick is being made to set aside a million dollars to care for the dogs he fought and tortured. Smart move by the Prosecution to make sure that he can’t cry poor at a later date and not give any money for these creatures.
Let’s talk about the news from Chicago today, regarding our public transit.
The newest plan to stave off fare increases and major cuts for bus and train service in the Chicago area never left the station Wednesday.
The Illinois House voted down the idea of using gas tax money to bail out the Regional Transportation Authority, the measure defeated because many lawmakers want a statewide construction program paid for by a gambling expansion before they’ll agree to help Chicago and suburban riders.
The yearlong atmosphere of one-upmanship continued unabated at the Capitol, even as the CTA is threatening drastic cuts and fare increases come Jan. 20, the latest doomsday deadline.
“People are sick and tired of the fighting and the rhetoric and the gotcha mentality. It’s not about policy. It’s not even about politics,” said House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego. “It’s more about getting even with people and the political rhetoric and name calling.”
Now Gov. Rod Blagojevich and lawmakers must find an elusive compromise — one the governor on Wednesday suggested “could be just a matter of days away.” It’s familiar rhetoric: the same group of leaders this month claimed a solution was seven to 10 days away. Blagojevich called another special session for Thursday.
The failed measure would have pumped $440 million to the region’s transit agencies. The key new component was a redirection to the RTA of $385 million from the sales tax on gasoline in Cook and its five collar counties.
But the overall infusion of funds still would have been about $90 million short of what transit agencies wanted, which officials acknowledged eventually would have led to fare increases of as much as 15 percent. The increases probably would not have come until 2009, however, as there would have been enough gas tax money to keep fares stable for CTA, Metra and Pace riders until then.
This is government at its worst. The CTA, which is a private-public hybrid, refuses to concede that its management is abysmal and it’s slightly inflating its budgetary issues; the state government is trying to “stick it” to Chicago by forcing them to wait in the cold for their buses which might never come; the city government is nowhere to be seen, instead paying for popsicles.
Chicago’s supposed to be the most well-run city in the nation. It usually is, but unless Mayor Daley wants to lose that reputation around the world he’d better fix this soon. “The garbage is picked up on time” is not enough, Mr. Mayor.