Illinois Proposal Would Allow Chicago Schools To Declare Bankruptcy And Put Under State Control

Illinois Republican lawmakers are unveiling legislation today to allow the financially-strapped Chicago Public Schools to declare bankruptcy and to place the state's largest school system under the control of the state according to the Chicago Tribune. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has in the past opposed the idea of bankruptcy, instead wanting the state government, which has its own insurmountable debt problems, to bail out the troubled school district. Emanuel is seeking a half billion dollars from the state to bail out the troubled school district.

Democrats are criticizing the bankruptcy idea because it would allow CPS to get out from under its union contracts. Illinois' Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, appeared open to the idea when asked about it by reporters. "I'm worried that the mayor is failing," Rauner said. "The mayor gave in and caved on the (teachers) strike 41/2 years ago. Hurt the taxpayers, hurt the schoolchildren as a result. I'm very concerned about the trajectory of where we're going with CPS. And right now, the mayor's only real message to the state government is 'Hey, we failed financially our schoolchildren, send us half a billion dollars. That's not a reasonable position for the mayor to take,'" Rauner told reporters.

I've said it before, and I still maintain that there is no path to solvency for CPS, the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois unless they all go through bankruptcy. CPS and Chicago can file for bankruptcy under existing federal law, but the state would require permission from Congress, which it has granted on a number of occasions in the distant past. Indiana went bankrupt back in the 1840s because of its reckless infrastructure spending on constructing a series of canals around the state.

An interesting side story to CPS's financial woes. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the school district lost track of thousands of laptop computers, desks, text books and other equipment left over when it closed 50 schools because of low enrollment.

Some Allen County Republican Officials Upset Greater Fort Wayne Is Using Taxpayer Money To Lobby For A Tax Increase

It's a common occurrence for taxpayer-funded organizations in Indianapolis to go over to the State House and use our taxpayer dollars to lobby state lawmakers for state laws to raise taxes on Marion County residents. Who do you think lobbied to get that referendum on the ballot here in November to allow our income taxes to be raised to fund a mass transit boondoggle sought by the corrupt political insiders looking for more return on their campaign contributions? Some Allen Co. Republican officials don't like the idea that they are providing taxpayer dollars to Greater Fort Wayne, which is now over at the State House trying to convince state lawmakers to put a referendum on the ballot in Allen County to levy a 1% county-wide sales tax to help pay for the Regional Cities initiative. The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette quotes from the letter:

“Naturally, there is some concern that as City Council and County Council appropriates funds to GFW, those funds are used by GFW to lobby the very entities that appropriated those funds,” the letter states.

“Moreover, the advocacy for increased sales tax, while a state issue, may create the perception that these local legislative bodies are supportive of lobbying activity upon the state. As elected officials, we have fiduciary responsibilities of safeguarding taxpayer’s interests. The potential use of taxpayer funds to advocate for additional taxes upon the very people we represent is contrary to that goal.”

According to the Journal-Gazette, the 1% sales tax would generate about $24 million a year, which would supplement the $42 million Christmas gift from the state that Gov. Mike Pence announced late last year for the city's regional initiative. Greater Fort Wayne is the product of a merger between the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce and Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance in 2013. The group gets $250,000 each from the city and county. Public money makes up close to 20% of its annual budget. Eighteen Allen County officials, including six city council members, five county council members, four state representatives and three state senators all signed the letter questioning the lobbying activities of Greater Fort Wayne in support of the tax increase.

Gannett Continues To Propagate RFRA Fraud

The psyop operated out of Langley, Virginia on the people of Indiana continues. The Gannett-owned Indianapolis Star provides a completely bogus survey of convention planners to try to make the case that the lies it told last year about Indiana's RFRA law are having a lasting damaging impact on the decision of convention planners and tourists to visit Indianapolis.

This survey was commissioned by Visit Indy, which spends tens of millions of our tax dollars each year bribing incentivizing convention planners to host conventions in Indianapolis. They first have to sidestep Visit Indy's admission that the number of rooms it claims it booked last year actually exceeded its goals for the year. Visit Indy paid Research Market Planning & Walker Research to survey national meeting decision makers and Chicago residents. Why Chicago residents? Supposedly because they are Indy's largest source of leisure travelers.

So the survey question is whether those surveyed agreed that Indy "welcomes all." According to the survey, 45% of the decision makers agreed with the statement while only 43% of Chicago residents agreed with the statement. The survey result dropped to 28% and 38%, respectively, when the question was broadened to include Indiana in general. While those surveyed were not asked directly about RFRA, they were asked to comment if Indianapolis had been in the news lately. supposedly 58% brought up RFRA or LGBT rights without being prompted. So Gannett uses its national newspaper chain to talk negatively about Indiana's RFRA law and LGBT rights non-stop for the past year, and it wonders why that issue would pop into minds of those surveyed. Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Gannett says that a separate survey by Smith Travel Research that Indianapolis was only second behind St. Louis for having negative publicity that might deter convention planners and travelers from visiting the city. Apparently there's no "Houston, we have a problem" after the city's voters there voted last year to repeal the city's human rights ordinance protecting its LGBT community from discrimination. The most truthful finding in the poll was the fact that the vast majority of those surveyed had a vanilla reaction to Indianapolis, another way of say it's boring. But Leonard Hoops, who earns more than a half million buck a year thanks to Indianapolis taxpayers wants to blame RFRA for the fact that he's got fewer conventions in the pipeline.

. . . Many of those surveyed had no opinion at all of Indy, reflecting past perception data showing Indy as "vanilla," Hoops said. About 70 percent of Chicago residents who hadn't visited Indy said the city either had no image or that it was boring. Among those who had visited Indy, most described it as fun but didn't recall specifics.

“With the exception of RFRA, there are no significant negative perceptions of Indy; rather there is a void,” the poll summary says.

Further muddying the waters, early indications from industry officials are that tourism was strong in 2015, with Visit Indy surpassing its goal of 775,000 hotel night bookings. But those who have seen data that's expected to be released next week say there are also troubling signs that RFRA's true impact will be felt in years to come, because of a delay in when conventions are booked.

"Jan. 1, 2016, we have less in the pipeline today than we did in '15, '14, and '13," Hoops said. "It’s better than '12, but it’s worse than the last 3 years.”

Hoops suspects his staff is competing for fewer conventions than in prior years because event planners may have crossed Indy off the list over RFRA concerns. But, he acknowledges, that's difficult to prove . . .

Why won't the lying scumbags at the Indianapolis Star won't talk about is the wars playing out between the taxpayer-financed tourism agencies across the country to lure conventions to their respective cities? There is a bidding war taking place, particularly between cities like Indianapolis and Chicago which pour tens of millions of dollars into these taxpayer-funded tourism agencies to essentially bribe convention planners to come to their city. They offer discounted convention rooms. They give away free use of their convention facilities, and in some cases, actually provide direct subsidies to help underwrite a group's convention costs. That's on top of all of the wining and dining, free sports and concert tickets and other freebies they throw at key decision-makers, which would be front-page news when lobbyists use the same tactics to convince lawmakers to support their legislation at the State House. No, the Indianapolis Star and the rest of the useless news media in Indianapolis are covering up that criminal enterprise, which they actually approve of. The Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune have been doing everything they can to pry open records to show what's going on. Not here. They want the dirty secrets kept away from the public because it doesn't fit their agenda for us.

November Referendum Planned On Mass Transit Vote

The Marion County power brokers have ordered a referendum be placed on this year's November ballot to pay for the expanded mass transit system, including the controversial Red Line rapid bus transit line planned. It is expected to easily get approval from the Democratic-controlled council, and would allow a local income tax to be levied to pay for mass transit on top of those property tax levies you've been paying for decades to pay for mass transit.

The quarter percent increase in the income tax rate will lift Indianapolis' total tax rate to one of the highest in the state and comes on the heels of a 10% increase in the income tax increase that taxpayers were socked with last year to pay for public safety, giving people yet another reason to get the hell out of Indianapolis.

There is no possibility of defeating a referendum once it is placed on the ballot. It will not matter how voters feel about the issue. When you have a referendum like this pushed by both political parties, the computer-tallied vote is rigged by agreement of the two corrupt political parties so it cannot possibly lose. It's more important that contracts be let immediately to pay off their campaign contributors who financed last year's campaign than do what's in the best interests of the taxpaying public.

UK Parliament Debates Banning Trump From Entering Country

The British government rolls out the red carpet to some of the world's worst and most brutal dictators, notably the Saudi king and the sexually-abusive princes who populate the House of Saud, and every tin-pot dictator on the African continent with whom it conducts business on the down low. Even more disturbing, its top political leaders, including many members of parliament, past prime ministers and cabinet members, and some of the country's top cultural icons have been part of an elite pedophile ring that has operated in the British Commonwealth with impunity for decades. Yet these clowns seriously debated whether Donald Trump should be banned from entering their country because of his immigration views? I've never traveled to Great Britain and now I have a perfect excuse never to visit the country.

It's quite fascinating that America's most prominent Muslim leader, Louis Farrakhan, sides with Donald Trump on this issue. That's something the mainstream media won't discuss. Farrakhan's comments are remarkably prescient. Farrakhan has a much better pulse on how Muslims in war-torn countries like Iraq, Libya and Syria feel about America than most of the so-called experts. Our nation has earned the distrust and hatred many Muslims have towards our country because of the policies we've pursued to exploit their natural resources that have brought nothing but devastation and human rights deprivations to their countries.

RIP Glenn Frey

America lost a music legend today. Glenn Frey, a guitarist, song writer and founding member of the Eagles, my favorite rock band of all time, died today at the age of 67. According to TMZ, Frey had been battling intestinal problems following surgery last November. A combination of pneumonia, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis contributed to his untimely death in New York City today.

Opposition To Red Line's College Avenue Route Grows

The Indianapolis Star's John Tuohy has a story about the growing opposition of north side residents to the proposed bus rapid transit line running down the already highly-trafficked and narrow College Avenue. The first leg of the Red Line would include dedicated bus lanes on which electric buses would run from 66th Street in Broad Ripple to the University of Indianapolis on the South Side. The route would follow College to 38th Street and then Meridian Street and Capitol Street south to downtown. The bus line would follow Virginia Street from downtown to Shelby Street. There would be about 28 stops in all with buses running about every 10 minutes.

Residents in the Broad Ripple area were already fuming over the placement of Blue Indy electric car sharing stations in the busiest areas of College Avenue where parking was already tight. They fear the dedicated bus lane will consume remaining parking that is available on College, further slowing traffic on it to the point motorists will divert to other neighborhood streets to avoid the bottlenecks. The proponents see the cost of the $100 million first phase of the Red Line as a cleaner way of transporting people, lessening dependence on fuel fossils and the supposed problem they pose for global warming, even though global temperatures haven't been rising as predicted. Eventually, the Red Line would extend at least as far north as Carmel and as far south as Greenwood.

According to Tuohy's article, IndyGo anticipates there will be about 11,000 riders daily on the Red Line. One of the opponents of the Red Line route, Brian McGuire, wonders where all those riders are going to be found. "Other than rush hour, that College bus runs empty all day long," McGuire said, adding that expectations of new dwellings to “create ridership" are far-fetched. "Are they going to pull 11,000 riders out of midair?"

It sounds like there is going to be a lot of re-engineering work that will be necessary along the route. There will be boarding platforms much like you have at train stations. The boarding platforms will be placed every one-third to three miles. Some of the platforms planned along College will actually be located in the center lane. Motorists would no longer be able to make left turns at most intersections along the route. Traffic signals will be manipulated to allow the buses to travel through intersections without waits.

City-County Councilor Joe Simpson, whose district the proposed Red Line partially runs, is opposed to the route. "They are going to come in and rearrange our streets for people who are not from Indianapolis," Simpson said. "A few years ago we reconstructed 38th Street. Then we rearrange the streets for all these bike lanes, and now we are going to do it so people from Carmel don't have to drive? The people who live here aren't going to have anywhere to drive their cars anymore. It seems like this is not a benefit to the community." Newly-elected City-County Councilor Colleen Fanning, whose district includes many of the opponents, supports the proposed route. "I truly believe it is a net positive, but if I am wrong, I am flexible," said Fanning, a Republican. "This is not change for change's sake. Not having reliable transportation is holding us back as a city. Change is always scary, but it frustrates me when people form an opinion with incorrect or incomplete information. That's why I am glad we can have a discussion."

If you want to sign an online petition opposing the currently-proposed Red Line, click here.

"13 Hours" Worth Seeing

I don't often promote movies on this blog, but I highly recommend going to see "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi." The movie is the screen adaptation of the real-life events as recounted in the book bearing the same name describing the attack on the off-the-books diplomatic outpost and CIA mission in Benghazi, Libya in September 2012, which claimed the lives of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, his communications assistance, Sean Smith, and two contacted special force operatives, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.

The mainstream media has not been giving this movie the same hype it gave to "American Sniper," the mostly-fictional account of the life of a special forces sniper, Christopher Kyle, a movie I refused to watch because it was nothing but a CIA propaganda movie. The movie's director, Michael Bay, avoided politicizing the movie, which would have been easy enough to do. You won't hear the names of President Barack Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned once during the two-and-half hour movie, although their glaring lack of leadership in this fiasco should loom permanently over their heads

It tells the story through the eyes of the heroic, highly-trained, contracted special operative forces who undertook themselves to save the lives of those at the diplomatic mission after the local CIA chief gave them a stand-down order. This is the most controversial element of the movie. Top military officials and the CIA deny any stand-down order was ever given. I believe the guys on the ground forced to defend the two facilities which officially didn't even exist over the brass in Washington who were obviously more concerned about covering their butts than defending the lives of Americans under attack.

Unfortunately, despite their valiant efforts in risking their own lives the special forces could not save the lives of Ambassador Stevens or Smith, although they were able to successfully rescue several of the State Department personnel based there against great odds. Incredibly, their efforts were hampered by nobody sharing the intelligence a U.S. military drone, which had arrived relatively quickly on the scene, was sending back to the brass in Washington, who apparently were enjoying the make-shift, live snuff film the drone provided to them too much to find the time to dispatch a rescue team to assist the endangered American personnel.

The only back-up the Benghazi team received was provided by a small team led by Glen Doherty, who was based in Tripoli where he was helping the U.S. government recover dangerous weapons that had fallen into the wrong hands somehow during the allied efforts to overthrow Gaddafi. He had to commandeer a private jet to make his way with his small back-up team from Tripoli, only to be held up for hours at the Benghazi airport. His team arrived just in time for the final and most sustained assault on the CIA annex, which claimed his life and his good friend, Tyrone Woods. I think our government fully wanted all of the Americans in Benghazi to perish so they wouldn't live to talk about their highly-secretive mission there, which was not in the least bid noble, unless you believe providing arms to radical Islamists to wreak havoc throughout the Middle East is a noble mission.

It is truly a remarkable story about how this small group of off-the-books contracted military operatives, none of whom should have ever been in the place they found themselves thanks to our country's awful foreign policy, were able to prevail against all odds. The most memorable line of the movie to me was at the end when the second plane arrived to take the remaining special forces and the bodies of the four Americans lost in the battle back to Tripoli. It was a Libyan plane. "And still no Americans," quipped one of the men. I was also reminded of that infamous Hillary Clinton ad from the 2008 presidential campaign--the "It's 3 a.m. and the phone is ringing." Both Hillary's and Barack's phones were ringing before they went to bed in Washington, D.C. on that fateful night of September 11, 2012, but they both chose to sleep in the comfort of their homes rather than lead at that critical moment while hell rained down on their fellow Americans in Benghazi.

Indiana Republican Senate Primary Race

A few readers have asked about coverage for Indiana's Republican Senate primary race. To be honest, none of the three candidates--Eric Holcomb, Marlin Stutzman and Todd Young--have waged campaigns talking about issues in any way that has caused this blog to take an interest in their campaigns. I have no opinion on which of the three candidates is preferable. I just know none of them have said anything that have made me want to take time to write about them with less than three months before the primary. That's unfortunate because Hoosiers need a strong voice in the Senate which they currently don't have in either Dan Coats or Joe Donnelly.