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As we head into another round of the never-ending fight over the so-called 7 percent property tax cap, I think it's wise for Chicagoans to brace themselves for a significant rise in taxes when the next installment comes out this summer.
This realization hit me yet again at a press conference put together yesterday by Cook County assessor James Houlihan and several ministers from around the city. Held on the steps of First Baptist Congregational, at Washington and Ashland, it was intended as a show of support for the cap--which in fact is not a cap at all but a home owner's exemption of $20,000. Passed in 2004 to help limit the hit taxpayers were taking as a result of rising reassessments, the "cap" is set to expire this year, in which case the home owner's exemption would plummet back down to $4,500.
It's not as though Houlihan's press conference was without heavy hitters. There was the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who spoke pretty accurately about our property tax system when he said, "There's always some scheme afoot that rewards the wealthy and punishes the poor." But it wasn't so much who was there as who wasn't--Mayor Daley--that mattered. Despite the mayor's rhetoric about how he worries John and Jane Bungalow may get taxed out of their longtime family homes, he's never really lifted a finger to push tax relief through the Illinois General Assembly.
He was supposed to show up at yesterday's press conference, or at least send a representative. But no one from the mayor's office came. Instead Daley hastily put together his own press conference unveiling a new proposal for an independent police oversight board. Set at City Hall at the same time as Houlihan's press conference, it drew most of the mainstream media away and became front-page news. There was next to nothing about Houlihan's press conference.
It's unfortunate that the property tax issue doesn't receive more attention. Sure, it's complicated; sure, there are sexier topics. But it's hardly as though this is a minor issue without relevance to anyone's life. By Houlihan's calculations, taxes on the west and south sides could more than double without the tax cap. I've been studying the impact of coming tax bills on the west side, where land values are soaring because of approaching gentrification. Come August, people can expect to get tax bills of upwards of $5,000, nearly four times what they had to pay last year. If I were cynical, I'd say the rising property taxes were all part of the mayor's plan to force west-side homeowners into foreclosure, so the city can claim their tax-delinquent property and auction it off for cheap to well-connected developers.
In actuality, Daley's probably playing a different game, holding back his support for the 7 percent cap until he sees how much school funding the state will pony up for. Only after that's decided will Daley will know how much of a property tax break he's willing to give the little people. Don't expect much.
The real losers are the taxpayers - and the reform county commissioners who are left without any options.
That’s what we get for electing these morons.
Skillfully, blatantly, and right to your face.
Anytime.
Anywhere.
To Anyone.
Always.
"insider
April 1st - 9:42 p.m.
Let's take a peek into the Political Hack's Playbook:
1) If telling the truth HELPS you, tell the truth. (however rarely this is true for an incumbent).
2) If telling the truth HURTS you, tell a lie, particularly a lie that is impossible to prove is a lie.
3) When lying, coat your lies with as much truth as possible, so the lie APPEARS to be true.
4) When confronted with your lies, vigorously assert that you're NOT lying and accuse those who say you are, OF LYING.
5) avoid lying about things that can be PROVEN to be lies, tho, you can ALWAYS challenge the honesty of those who present the proof of your lies.
6) Do your very best to keep some sort of track of your lies, so you don't waste energy lying when you are confronted with conflicting lies.
7) Whenever possible, always have OTHERS lie for you, so you can denounce them, if and when they are caught lying.
8) When caught in a lie, change the subject and focus on telling those lies that have, so far, not been proven to be lies.
9) Tell the truth sparingly, as, if the truth were helpful to you, you wouldn't have to tell so many lies in the first place.
There's a lot more stuff in the Political Hack's Playbook, but I think this is enough for now, don't you?"
and
"deep pockets?
March 24th - 5:13 p.m.
Sometimes I wonder if those who don't vote or don't register to vote understand how much of their hard earned income is wasted by the gross mismanagement and misuse of the tax dollars we all are forced to 'pony up'.
Property Taxes, (part of your rent, if you don't own property AND part of the price you pay for everything you buy, goods and services, 'cause the businesses you buy from pay the same or greater taxes than you do.)
Sales taxes of all kinds.
Income taxes, both state and federal.
Licenses, Fees, Fines, Permits, etc. (also passed on to the consumers)
Utility taxes, in addition to the sales taxes, which juice your utility bills.
Mystery taxes you may or may not see, and couldn't know what they're for anyway.
What's the calculation now, something like 40% - 45%+ of our GROSS income is taken from us in taxes.
Every year we work from January 1st until mid May and ALL of our income earned during that time goes directly into the pockets of some government agency.
Granted, many things that government uses our tax dollars for are beneficial to us all.
Many, however, are not.
Yet, year after year, decade after decade, there still seems to be a steady 70% - 80% of our fellow citizens who either don't vote or don't even bother to register.
Our 'elected officials' pay lip service to 'getting more people to register', and only make efforts to do so that benefit their particular political party.
WAKE UP, WAKE UP, SLEEPY VOTERS!
Our fates are in our own hands."
and
"remember
April 3rd - 7:39 p.m.
It might be appropriate, at this time, to point out, to those with selective memories, that the Harold Washington days were preceded by the Rule of King Richard the 1st, the Bilandic fiasco and by Byrne's chaotic reign.
Also, that fucking ALL of the WHITE, MACHINE MOTHERFUCKERS, aldermen and lackeys alike, conspired to actively impede EVERYTHING that Washington tried to do.
AND, that, FOR FUCKING DECADES, these same WHITE MOTHERFUCKERS exploited EVERY SINGLE BLACK CITIZEN of our city.
Take a ride through the West and South sides of the city and ask yourself who's truly responsible for the miles and miles of empty lots and boarded-up buildings.
Who's truly responsible for the decades of heinous neglect of these neighborhoods?
Who's truly responsible for the CONTINUING neglect of these neighborhoods?
Here's a clue: IT AIN'T HAROLD WASHINGTON.
And guess what group of people STILL control the economic and political policies of our city and county: THE SAME WHITE MOTHERFUCKERS.
Maybe you missed this elsewhere:
>Da Chicago Way
Let's step back a bit, and look at things from an historical perspective.
Immense wealth can be gained from the manipulation of real estate values.
Here's how it's been done in Chicago:
1) determine which areas have the potential of being attractive to those blessed with high incomes and ample financial resources.
(Transportation facilities, classic architecture, established parks and recreation facilities, proximity to the Loop, etc. are all pluses.)
2) Neglect the chosen target areas for as long as possible, for the purpose of depreciating property values by, among other means, decreasing safety related activities, (or encourage the perception of same), neglecting the infrastructure, pandering to prejudices, harassing individual, clout-less homeowners through punitive building code citations, etc..
3) Buy up, through dummy corporations and such, properties of those fleeing the neglected area, then neglect and milk said properties or demolish same.
4) Continue accumulating properties, with or without buildings on them and continue to neglect the areas' remaining residents' basic needs, as property prices drop even further.
5) Entice the ever optimistic and gutsy 'urban pioneers', with dirt cheap rentals and a few reasonably priced building sales, (tho still making you double-to-triple on what you paid for them)
6) Watch and Wait, while the 'urban pioneers' do all your work for you.
7) As the time to cash in approaches, stimulate the progress of the process by beginning the work of repairing and improving those past neglected infrastructures and increasing the activities effective in increasing the safety of residents, (or the perception of same).
8) Raise rents on all your previously neglected and milked properties, thus forcing out any remaining 'undesirables'. (and remember NOT to thank them for their past contributions relative to depressing property values)
9) Cash in, BIG TIME, when those previously mentioned individuals with high incomes and ample resources now flock to the new 'hot' neighborhood.
10) Oh, don't forget to juice the builders and contractors who'll also be gathering at your doorstep, begging for the chance to build on those vacant lots you've been sitting on or buy them for 20 to 50 times what you got them for.
and
DATS DA CHICAGO WAY<
and
"spock
March 10th - 7:20 a.m.
//FIRE THE BASTARDS//
In the 'private sector', (ie. everyone OTHER THAN the bloodsuckers feeding at the taxpayer-financed, self-defined & manipulated trough of tax-generated revenues), if a business fails to provide satisfactory services and/or goods to their customers and, if an employee fails to perform their assigned duties, the business fails to earn profits and the employee, sooner or later, gets fired.
In the so-called 'public-sector', this natural solution to the problem of failure to satisfy is, for all practical or effective purposes, absent.
Why this is so, is obvious; the voters don't bother to even register to vote, let alone show up on election day to cast their votes, let alone invest anything remotely resembling intelligent thought into deciding who to vote for, and why.
There are several main reasons or excuses commonly used by the voter to explain or excuse themselves of actively and sincerely participating in their own governance. Many of these reasons or excuses are accurate and, without suggesting approval of them, valid and true results of the very successful strategies employed by those individuals whose interests are well served by the results of same.
Here are a few of the more common ones:
1) All the candidates competing for a given public office are crap, so why should I bother even voting at all?
2) I'm getting what I want from my 'elected representative', at least
as much of what I want as I can expect to get, so, unless I've been told that my vote is needed, (as in an incumbent being challenged by a strong contender), there's no need for me to vote.
3) Every time I bothered to vote, the candidates I voted for always
lost, so why bother, it's a waste of my time.
4) Vote? Why? Is there an election coming up?
5) There is never any understandable information available on what the candidates for office are saying they'll do, if they're elected and, anyway, politicians are always going to say what they think the voters want to hear BEFORE the election, and then do whatever they want to, AFTER they are elected, so what's the use?
6) The media are bought and paid for by the 'powers that be', so you can't believe anything, about anyone, anymore.
7) I don't have the time to get involved in the political process,
and/or I've got better things to do with my time.
8) All anyone can do is determine how to get what they want by
dealing with things as they are, so you just gotta make the best
of a bad bargain. The more things change, the more they stay the
same. Just deal with it.
9) It's just human nature to look-out for number one, so you can't blame the politicians for being human!
As long as the majority of the voting public accepts the definition of politics as being a variety of competing interests vying for power and influence, instead of said definition being the striving to determine what is fair and best for ALL citizens, we will continue to see ourselves,our children, and our children's children living in a world of lies, hypocrisies, manipulations and deceptions.
It is commonly accepted that we, the human species, are the end
result of a process called 'evolution'.
I suspect that the truth is precisely the opposite, that we are actually no more 'evolved' than the so-called 'lower species' and, in fact, are devolving, as each successive generation is conditioned to comply with the dictates of the few, all the while being told we are somehow in control of those small minority of manipulators who direct the social and economic policies imposed upon us, create the laws they force us to obey and, thus, gain wealth and more power to continue and expand their control every day.
There are only two viable forces that the common citizen possesses:
1) Economic (the power of BOYCOTT)
2) Political (the power to VOTE OUT/FIRE)
Should enough citizens choose to selectively refuse to purchase a
product/service from a business,( ie. BOYCOTT), that business will eventually strive to determine why they have been boycotted and make
the necessary adjustments to their business practices, albeit quite
reluctantly, or, they will be replaced by a business more responsive to the needs of the citizens.
Should enough citizens choose to fire/vote out ALL incumbents
presently holding the powers of public offices, those seeking to have political power will, eventually, have to convince the voting public that they are honestly and sincerely dedicated to act in ONLY the BEST interests of ALL citizens, not merely in the best interests of themselves and their chosen few associates.
All problems inherent in determining which specific businesses to boycott and the purposes of said selections require the citizen to engage and participate.
All problems inherent in determining which politicians to fire/vote out of office are easily solved by firing all current incumbents, continuing to do so, until authentically honest candidates begin to run for office.
All problems inherent in determining whether a political candidate for office is, in fact, honest and sincere about truly serving the best interests of all citizens require the citizen to engage and participate.
Thus, it may seem to be difficult, at best, and, impossible at worst, to reverse the process of devolution.
A depressing thought. But likely true.
Any comments?"
1) Abusive, wasteful and excessive taxation
2) Fraudulent, ie. CRIMINAL, 'spending' of our tax dollars
3) Unfair, economically and socially harmful taxation schemes
Until such time as our 'public servants', our 'people's representatives', our elected 'leaders', our 'guardians-of-the-citizen's-best-interests', etc., choose to create taxation and spending schemes that truly benefit us, rather than benefit themselves and their buddies, we will all be the victims of continual 'dog-and-pony' shows, 'shell-games', 'slight-of-hand' manipulations, criminal frauds, sham 'public hearings', repeated 'con-jobs' and blatant exploitations of our hard-earned incomes.
Basing property taxes on 'fair' market values is the problem.
The solution is to base taxation of our real property on the ORIGINAL PURCHASE PRICE, to the present owner, of same. Period.
Additionally, since the honest purpose of taxes is to pay for essential governmental services, ostensibly for the benefit of the people, an exhaustive audit of every single dollar spent by 'our' government officials must be performed.
A public review of the results of this audit/inventory, made available through the Internet, will allow those interested to clearly see whether their tax dollars have been, are and/or will be spent wisely, honestly and for the sole benefit of the citizens.
Every HONEST elected official will approve of these actions.
Every DISHONEST elected official will object to, and act, to prevent same.
The 'rotten apples' in our barrel of elected 'public servants' will rise to the top, publicly expose themselves for who, and what, they are and, thus, provide the voters with ample evidence of their natures.
Then, it will be up to the voting citizens to decide whether to retain their 'services' at election time, or not.
Thanks for your plug on the “Save our Homes” rally and for keeping the public informed about the 7% Expanded Homeowner Exemption. You have a good grasp on the issue and realize how important the 7% plan as been at protecting homeowners by keeping property tax bills stable.
However, I do want to point out that Mayor Daley has been a vocal advocate for the 7% EHE. He was a key figure in getting the measure approved in 2004 and has been just as supportive in its renewal. Assessor Houlihan and Mayor Daley have held a number of press conferences together to show they are both committed to making sure this important piece of legislation passes.
Keep up the good work and thanks again for letting people know about the 7% plan.
Lucio Guerrero
Spokesman
Cook County Assessors Office
While the Mayor has shown strong support in press conferences and has been "vocal" - where is his active commitment to bringing this issue directly to Speaker Madigan and getting it passed in Springfield?
There are many who believe that were the Mayor to throw his complete political will behind supporting our homeowners and the preservation of our neighborhoods - this bill would have passed immediately upon coming out of the Senate, and not drag out to the last minute.
Speaking out for an issue in a press conference - and throwing down - are two separate things.
Refering to "May 7th - 2:41 p.m." I could not agree more, Acquisition-Based Assessing is the REFORM to be pursued. Lacking that, the 7% bridge should be used to help get us there.
Though I choose to post my opinions, viewpoints and ideas without a consistent monicker, you'll have no problem recognizing my points, syntax and vocabulary. :)
Also, I have humbly requested, elsewhere, that if anyone utilizing these comment boards is willing to compose and post essays on the specifics of our current political processes and procedures, as in the steps required to both be slated by the established political parties and to be placed on the ballot as an independent candidate for any elected public office, there are many interested citizens who would be very thankful for same.
Others have previously posted comments that strongly encourage the 'average' citizens to realize that the established political parties are a 'members only' enterprise, and have advised that the people have to rid themselves of the 'old-school' politicos, before any hope of fair, just, efficient and economical government can be a reality.
This means that, while fully complying with the presently skewed political candidate nominating system's rules, statutes, procedures, etc., the common citizen can still force reform, by emulating David, (of the David v Goliath fable), and by using the bloated weight and arrogance of our political Goliaths to topple the beast.
What we all need to know are the details of these procedures, rules, statutes, etc......
""OnceAgain
April 28th - 11:10 a.m.
Well, Randy, you just get better and better with every post.
Truth is what I, for one, am seeking, truly.
Whether that truth is what I was expecting, or a complete surprise and contradiction of my opinions, doesn't matter, at least to me.
At this late stage of my life, I've had about all the exciting entertainment a single human being can handle, and still remain relatively sane.
As I suspect you've noticed, my perspectives, to date, are that there does exist a small, but proportionally harmful, number of 'people' who, by hook and/or by crook, do much damage to the large number of ordinary folks, my being one of these many, who simply want to earn an honest day's pay, for an honest day's worth of work, without having a painfully large percentage of my earnings snatched from my pocket, for no reasonably good purposes, by the aforementioned little group of 'not-so-petty' thieves.
I can determine when someone in the 'private sector' is attempting to 'sell' me 'less' for 'more', when someone in the 'private sector' is trying to get 'more' from me, while paying me 'less', and I'm relatively free to decline doing 'business' with those in the 'private sector' who I believe are not being fair and honest in their dealings with me.
I, as with the rest of us 'ordinary' folks, don't presently have an effective option to do the same, when 'dealing' with our elected officials, those they employ, and/or those who participate in activities directly concerning the hard-earned dollars that are plucked from my pockets through the force of taxation.
Without opening the other can of worms, namely the social and day-to-day living conditions that are impacted by the same 'elected officials, government employees, etc.' enforcements of the force-imposed 'laws, rules, regulations, policies, etc.' created by same, just the effects of taxations do much to diminish our potential quality-of-life experiences.
One can decide to accept these factors as if they were just another 'force of nature', like a passing thunderstorm, and do one's best to make the best of the day, and that may end up being the only sane and rational thing to do.
My desire to understand the practical mechanics of our present political workings is a result of my observations that these 'workings' are too often overly beneficial to the small, minority of those 'connected', and painfully detrimental to the vast majority of the rest of us all.
Your observations on your experiences with 'journalists' reveals the fundamental weaknesses in the individuals who think of themselves as journalists, but fall far short of the definition of same.
Seeking the truth, however far the truth is from one's expectations, ambitions and desires, is what a true journalist is all about.
Like the character of detective Joe Friday, from Dragnet, a true journalist is seeking 'just the facts', letting the readers determine what those facts mean.
Your suggestions to the Chicago Reader are excellent and insightful.
I hope that the Reader's editorial authorities will jump at the chance to act on them, no matter how difficult it may be to execute these ideas and suggestions.
An active 'post-a-question and get-an-answer' type service, combined with an open comment board, for the rest of us non-journalists to offer our 'two-cents worth' on any question, would do much to help the Readers' readers to begin to understand the means and methods of their own governance, and, thus, hopefully lead to a much more informed and effective citizen participation in the 'political processes'.
Whether a voting publics' increased understanding will lead to improvements in all of our lives, to greater participation and to changes in the way our 'elected' public 'servants' behave, remains to be seen.
I, for one, would like to see if a more informed electorate will result in a more honest, fair, beneficial and truly helpful crop of 'public servants' being elected.
While there are elements of 'drama' in many of my posted comments, that drama comes from the activities I observe, namely, the contradictions, deceptions, and convoluted mumbo-jumbo that our present bunch of 'public servants' routinely 'appear' to feed us, whenever, wherever and in whatever way 'appears' to serve their own purposes.
It may not be that they are ALL shitheads, but, as the saying goes, it only takes a few rotten apples to spoil the barrel, and, I suspect that we're burdened with more than just a few.
Thank you for improving with every post, I wouldn't be surprised if the Reader were to offer you the job of running the 'alternative' you suggested, though I know you've got better things to do.
Randy Gordon
April 29th - 12:01 a.m.
"Running the alternative"? Well, I would love to be involved, anyhow.
Like everyone else who posts publicly, I too have an agenda, and it is this.
After this horrendous election, I want peace, in my community, and in my city. I want to remind everyone of what we, as a city and a community have achieved, and what we will achieve in the next decade.
But you are incorrect in thinking it would be difficult to implement.
In actuality, the only software you would need for what I envision is the open source and free Drupal wiki (http://drupal.org/). It would only take a few hours to set up.
I would do it myself, but I really need the Reader to do it, not me. The Reader is Chicago's own community newspaper, supported by local businesses, and I feel strongly that newspapers should be one of the pillars a community is built on.
The Reader can do more than Investigative reporting and entertainment news, the Reader, and the thousands of small businesses that support the Reader, can work together to strengthen the community, as well (and make a nice profit at the same time).
Let me explain further. Back in the 1990's, there was a television show on PBS, called "Ethics in America" free at http://www.learner.org/resources/series81.html)
I want the Reader to do something like that, but updating it for the internet, turning it into an interactive game, and involving their advertisers, as well.
Here is how it would work.
Drupal is a free pre-built PHP/MySQL web application, that you can customize with a browser, that can handle enormous numbers of hits, multiple languages, and most importantly, collaborative book creation.
Whoever maintains this website could put it up in a few hours. If they have problems, the Drupal community is one of the friendliest on the web.
Then the real work begins. The Reader needs to recruit prominent politicians and civic leaders to contribute their thoughts on a specific scenario, say, a proposed development of an abandoned theater (To use an example from Westridge).
The scenario is posted as a chapter in Drupal's book module, and the public is solicited to submit their comments on what they would do.
Note that the submissions go into a moderation queue, and are not yet readable by anyone but Reader staff. The reader staff picks out the most interesting ones, and publishes them, along with the comments by the civic leaders and politicians on what they would do in the scenario.
Then, like in "Ethics in America", the scenario is picked further apart, and the process is repeated.
The end result is that the Reader has just now written a chapter in a book (with Drupal, you can generate a publishable book easily from its collaborative book module) that it can market.
But it does not end there. The Reader staff gives points for each submission, and these points can be redeemed at local Reader advertisers for discounts (Drupal has a very nice rating system). You can even add in an "American Idol" like user voting mechanism.
The top points winner could also get some sort of civic award (perhaps not from the Pew Institute, but at least from the city. I bet Chicago politicians would love to see something from the Reader that didn't involve suggestions for incarceration). The grand prize could be something spectacular, like no city taxes for that year. Lesser prizes could include bonus grade points for students in CPS, as well as things like partial scholarships.
Everyone wins. It promotes faith in our city government, promotes the Readers advertisers, promotes the Readers circulation (and the rates the Reader can charge), and best of all, since Drupal can handle multiple languages, it can bring the non English speaking ethnic groups into the discussion, which, when the book is published in June , 2009, should make one impressive statement to the International Olympic committee and bolster Chicago's bid to become the "first city" for international business.
The software and maintenance is free (Drupal pretty much runs itself) the bandwidth is probably already in the Readers web budget, as is the disk space.
The real cost is the human effort, to recruit the political leaders and the advertisers, promote the idea, and judge the results.
However, I am willing to bet that the City and the various political and civic stakeholders would back this to the hilt, and there would probably be no dearth of volunteers to help with the judging.
Like I said, the Reader has enormous untapped potential and revenue streams. This is just one of the ways it can tap them.
WOW!!!
April 29th - 1:35 p.m.
Randy, you're full of surprises, indeed.
Brilliant idea, well thought out details, the best of intentions.
God, I hope this isn't destined to be one of those 'no good deed goes unpunished' experiences!
I'll do what I can to spread the word on this concept; with a little bit of 'pre-anticipation' , on the part of the readership of the Reader, the evidence of a 'demand' for this interactive medium MIGHT spur the Reader to actually implement it!
Oh joy!
Randy Gordon
April 30th - 7:34 a.m.
Well, look at it this way.
Just how badly could the board object to having every student in the Chicago public school system being given the Reader as a homework assignment for their social studies class? I bet the advertisers aren't going to hate having hundreds of thousands of school kids will disposable cash seeing their advertisements, as well.
Look, the Reader was founded in the 1970's to provide an alternative to the mainstream papers, and an outlet for "hard hitting" articles.
Two generations later, there are plenty of alternatives, and in a polarized society as this, hard hitting is hard to distinguish from spin.
But the changing times have hit the mainstream as well. The Trib and Sun are outmoded in an age of Internet news and videophones.
The one newspaper format that still has an advantage is the Readers long format. Journalism is still a profession, not an avocation, despite all evidence to the contrary, and the skill to produce such articles is still something that requires training.
Thanks to the Internet, everyone has the means to be a newspaper publisher. It does not mean, however, that they have the talent or skill to be a journalist.
But journalism has never been about investigation, that was just a fad inspired by the Post and Watergate. It is about communication, and about education.
And right now, the public the Reader serves needs that more than anything. We live in a polarized world, never hearing anything but what we want to hear.
And this week, millions of illegal immigrants are in our streets, because they think everyone else can't hear them. And, many others, throughout the city, keep quiet for fear of being singled out.
This isn't a proposal for some silly school project. This is an attempt to open up channels of communication that are rapidly closing, to give voice to those that are afraid to speak.
We can't live like this, at war with ourselves.
The right hand cannot war against the left forever, we need both hands to build a future, for ourselves, and for our children.
We need a way to talk to each other, not at each other. So I proposed this as a moderated format, so cyberbullies cannot intimidate anyone, and in multiple languages, so everyone has the ability to give voice to their thoughts.
And, most important, it is by the Reader, famous for their anti-establishment articles, who can give credibility to the assurance that posting your thoughts does not mean exposing yourself to retaliation by the authorities.
re Randy
April 30th - 11:05 a.m.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but I gotta tell you, you just keep getting better and better at this essay writing thing you once stated you were not all that good at. :)
If the Reader doesn't pick up on this, (pardon my 'French'), fuckin' brilliant idea, then they must have lost interest in both being a paper worthy of being called 'journalistic' AND a profitable business.
Hell, SOMEBODY could implement this, and do well just selling ads on the Web!
Well, it's only been a few days that your post has been up, I've been posting it a bit, (hopefully with no objection from the author), with the nature of this form of communication being quite rapid, some reaction should be forthcoming.
Ben and/or Mick, are you out there???
Do you guys ever read the comments on your articles????
I'll keep on plugging away on this, Randy, as it's the first really practical idea I've come across, sort of a focused Wiki, with the goals being just as lofty, ie., "to give voice to those that are afraid to speak." & "to build a future, for ourselves, and for our children." & "and in multiple languages, so everyone has the ability to give voice to their thoughts."
Like I said, BRILLIANT IDEA!!!
Randy Gordon
April 30th - 3:58 p.m.
I suspect that we have been the only two reading this thread for some time.
If you are interested in the issues that this proposal is addressing, Katherine Barrette & Richard Greene of Governing Magazine, have spent years looking at these issues, and their latest article http://www.governing.com/articles/5manage.htm
discusses a related issue. They are quite knowledgeable and respected regarding applications of technology to state governance, and could be both quite supportive and establish this form of government auditing and management as a franchise for whoever implements it.
You are welcome to full ownership of the idea, for whatever it may worth, if anything. Run with it, I have no further interest beyond making the original proposal, I have to get back to my own work.
Good luck.
Thanks, Randy
April 30th - 4:34 p.m.
By the tone of your most recent post, I suspect you've determined that the 'addictive' nature of posting comments has worn off, and that this last post may well be your last.
Hopefully not, but, in the event that it is, I thank you for this wonderful idea, I'm kicking myself for not thinking of something similar!
But then, what this lack of inspiration on my part teaches me is that I am still vulnerable to not seeing the forest for the trees.
Thank you for the entirety of the rationality of your comments, you've remained civilized in an environment that is not commonly all that civil.
Good luck to you, in all that you choose to do.
Randy Gordon
May 1st - 6:59 p.m.
"Midway in the journey of our life
I came to myself in a dark wood,
for the straight way was lost.
Ah, how hard it is to tell
the nature of that wood, savage, dense and harsh --
the very thought of it renews my fear!
It is so bitter death is hardly more so.
But to set forth the good I found
I will recount the other things I saw.
from Inferno, Canto 1 http://etcweb.princeton.edu/dante/pdp/
The greatest gift of G*D was to forgo robbing each of us of that small share of glory that results from choosing our own path through those woods, even if we choose to ascend to Heaven via a path that winds through Hell.
The Reader doesn't seem interested in walking this particular path. Neither did the Sun Times (mainly because I wasn't related to the publisher) or the Tribune (mainly because of a total lack of courage)
I wish you luck in getting any traction. One suggestion, you might want to ally with Pete Zelchenko http://zelchenko.com/ a community activist, aldermanic candidate, techie. He probably has a more jaundiced view of Chicago politics than you do , but he would love this sort of thing.
If you do, I would suggest your first topic be illegal immigration. I want to propose a compromise that I think would benefit all sides, without leading to unwanted political, ethical or economic repercussions, based on my decades of research and experience in the competitive strategy of nations.
However, I cannot even propose it because the din of irrelevant discourse would drown it out. I need to get the public discourse to a far less hysterical level before the idea has even have a chance of a fair hearing. I suspect many others also have their own suggestions.
I have always felt that there are very few problems that cannot be solved when rational adults sit down together and discuss a solution. But to attempt that, we need to talk out the irrational fears, first, on both sides.
That means a moderated forum, where amateur spin artists and would be demagogues cannot divert the discussion from the issues. I have tried. I cannot make it happen. Perhaps you will have better luck.
If you get anywhere, let me know. I can help you flesh out the business case.
re R G
May 6th - 4:17 p.m.
I'm still banging on doors, but nobody seems to be home.......
Ah, the life of a salesman.....
As my papa always said, "Never give up hope, never stop trying, always get back up when life knocks you down and you can't catch fish if you don't put your line in the water".
Oh, and the only thing that one can control is one's own efforts, never the outcome of same, so do your best and be thankful for every breath you're blessed with.
Randy Gordon
May 7th - 4:27 a.m.
I wasn't kidding about that "Inferno" quote, though I have yet to post a complicated literary allusion and have anyone get it.
But make no mistake, this is important. If there is no mechanism for differing segments of the public to talk to each other, our society will continue to grow more partisan, till the lack of cohesion causes it to fall apart.
The various political bodies, from local city councils to the US Congress, were supposed to fulfill that function, but the ubiquity of spin and the media prevents them from doing so. Reaching out, being reasonable, is too dangerous, it would be used against you in the next election.
We have had partisan eras before in our nations history, in the early 1800's, for example, the Whigs and the Democrats hated each other with a passion that makes our present polarization seem genial.
But always, in the past, there have been social forces to pull us together, to keep the lines of communication open.
There are no such forces now. It used to be that politicians could meet privately, out of the glare of the media and the spin, and work together without fear of their reasonableness being turned against them.
However, thanks to various laws that prevent elected officials from conducting business in private, that is no longer possible.
Open meetings is not a bad thing, per se, but we need to replace the social function that they performed. I am hoping this proposal will achieve that.
P.S. Just in case you were wondering, I am not the n.g.f.a. Randy Gordon, or the Democratic lawyer Randy Gordon, neither of them is part of the Westbridge community, as far as I know. (I really didn't want them to get the blame for my posts).
I am just the political wonk and nerd Randy Gordon, and pretty much invisible to most of society, deliberately. I would rather my actions speak for me.
re R.G.
May 7th - 7:05 a.m.
"(I really didn't want them to get the blame for my posts)."
I think you really MUST mean the credit.....
"But always, in the past, there have been social forces to pull us together, to keep the lines of communication open."
This, of course, was before we all, as a society, became effectively separated by the very technologies which we thought would help in increasing our abilities to communicate, (telephone, radio, television, and, ironically, computers & the 'World Wide Web'), though, maybe the error is in assuming that a greater ability to communicate would automatically equal a greater understanding and appreciation of each other.
Perhaps the incredible amount of information, both accurate and bogus, we have access to, about each other, leads not to a recognition of our commonalities, but to an irritating awareness of our differences.
I knew a fellow, once upon a time, who had this theory that the behaviors of mankind can be easily seen in every 'lower' species, (the herd instinct, fear of the 'other', the 'birds of a feather, flock together' principle, laws of the jungle, etc.), but, at the time, I thought he was over-simplifying human social motivations.
Maybe he had a more insightful understanding of people than I thought.
I wholly agree that some venue is desperately needed to provide at least the opportunity, for those who wish to avail themselves of it, to feel and believe that they can participate, in a truly meaningful way, in affecting the powerful and unavoidable forces that governments, at all levels, impose upon us all.
After all, even the most cynical of our politicians wouldn't suggest that they are much different than the rest of us, that they don't bleed red, that they don't breath the same air, drink the same water and that their own shit doesn't stink, just like everyone else's.
One thing I've learned is that, while not a motivation to do nothing, one must find some satisfaction in appreciating what one has, regardless of how 'less' one perceives it may be from what one would like to have.
Balance, my friend, balance is what we seek, what we need, and, sadly, what we often lack.
I'll keep on trying, what else is there to do?
Thank you, again, for your insightful concept.
Randy Gordon
May 8th - 11:26 p.m.
And that irritation is exactly why this project is so important.
When we become aware of something new or different, we decide how to respond by comparing it to the stories embedded deep within our souls.
And to me, "new or different" isn't irritating, it means the possibility of a new story, an exciting and uncertain future filled with as many endless possibilities as the first day of summer.
That was my generation, the generation that grew up believing in the magic, the future, grew up viewing Norman Rockwell paintings on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.
In reality, it was a horrible time, far worse than today, but there was also those stories, inspiring us, a small circle of firelight that kept the darkness of the times from extinguishing the hope that the stories of magic we grew up with wasn't all lies.
Then, in the 1960's, journalism had it's greatest triumph, the Washington Post and a couple of lowly journalists took down the most powerful man in the world at the time, Richard Nixon, the President of the United States.
There is a legend that if mankind ever successfully stormed the gates of Hell, the fall of Heaven would not be far behind.
It was never better illustrated than by what happened next.
Seeking new victories, journalists took down everyone else, even themselves.
And finally,the journalists, those whose ancient heritage was to be the guardians of the stories, lacking anything else to attack, destroyed the stories themselves.
And so we come to where we are today, standing alone in the burnt out, shattered remnants of the stories that once nurtured our souls, and the only feeling that we can summon is irritation, because we can't figure out what we have forgotten, because we no longer even have the memory of all that has been lost.
It is not that investigative journalism is a bad thing, far from it. But there is more to journalism than spin and attack.
In the heady aftermath of the victory of Watergate, journalists forgot their own special story, the one they inherited from Aesop so many millennia ago, that journalism was part of government, as just as important as the executive, legislative or judicial branches.
People need to feel and believe they can influence the government, because they no longer remember that they actually do.
The only stories they know is the Hollywood ones, that there is always a villain, and that the heroes must struggle against insurmountable odds to eventually win total victory.
It is a pity that most of us, plebeians and politicians alike, are neither heroes nor villains.
There is a place for heroes. It is called the Olympics.
Today, the US Olympic Committee is meeting with Patrick Ryan, head of the Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics, to plan strategy to convince the international community the Olympics should be held here in Chicago.
An essential part of that strategy is to demonstrate that Chicago is not provincial, that visitors from all over the world can feel at home here.
Talk to Ryan. Convince him that this proposal can demonstrate that.
And more than that. Once we get people and societies talking to each other, we can weave a new story, a story of how Chicago fits into the wider world, how a city, a people, Chicago, can be a hero also, and lead the world into a better time, a time of trade and peace.
Yes, maybe it is a lie, maybe it will never happen, but I, for one, will never surrender quietly to the darkness, I will keep the firelight burning as long as I can.
After all, isn't that the true meaning of the Olympic flame?
Damn, Randy!
May 9th - 12:46 a.m.
I, for one, don't ever want to see you post anything, ever again, suggesting that you're no good at essay writing.
Period.
Reading your post leaves me with the desire to read more, though I understand your reticence at posting anything you deem to be too long.
I suspect that, with regards to your essays, there isn't such a thing as 'too long', as this particular one is an example of the wealth of wisdom you have to offer.
I hope that the reporters working for the Reader will read and absorb the contents of your posts, (at the very least the contents of this one, single, brilliant piece of truth), if only to take the opportunity you have so generously presented, to learn some things about their chosen profession, and to realize how far each has to go in actually being journalists, not merely irritating tattle-tails.
Can you imagine what living in this great city and county could be like, if there were no longer any valid reasons for the poverty of those neglected areas all around us, no lack of jobs, decent paying jobs, no sub-standard schools, no profiteering speculators driving so many out of their homes, no 'need' for obscene taxes paying for those back-room deals, no tolerance for liars, manipulators, schemers, exploiters, and fraudulent 'leaders', both public and private, because everyone would have the opportunity to create and build that "time of trade and peace" of which you spoke.
Not a lie, Randy, but perhaps a hope-less hope, one that could come true, if we all do what it takes to make it happen, if we all want to do what it will take to make it happen, not what we many have been doing, allowing our better selves to be diminished by buying into the deceptions of those who have no better self.
I haven't been participating in this comment board for very long, so I don't know if the high level of intelligence and insight displayed by your posts is the rule, or the exception to same.
But what I do know is that this site alone can be the beginning of something big, really BIG, and something good, really GOOD, for all the citizens of this city, county, state and country.
If those 'in power' are interested in anything more than using the 2016 Olympics for their own personal, financial gain, some, at least, will embrace your proposal and give it the chance to flourish, as it well deserves to.
Those who fear the participation of the 'common' citizens are, as you would expect, 'all the usual suspects'.
Those who purport to be the 'Guardians of Truth', the true journalists, will jump on this idea, as surely and as swiftly as the strike of a cobra or a flash of lightning.
Hey BEN, MICK, et.al., are you paying attention???""
For there to be even the remotest chance for a better future, thinking people everywhere have to not only think, but act.
We've been bamboozaled for so long, for so many generations, to believe that it's just fine for people to base all their decisions and actions on ruthless self-interest, that it's gonna take some real efforts to bring out the 'better selves' in all of us.
For all the credit we give ourselves, telling ourselves we're good Christians, good Catholics, good Muslims, good Zionists, good Vedantists, good Buddhists, good Humanists, good Mormons, good neighbors, good citizens, good people, etc., take a look around and see how little we value each other, how often we condemn, ignore and discard our fellow human beings.
Look around at how rarely our self-proclaimed 'leaders', both political and social, actually do anything that improves our lives, actually even do what they've said they would do to improve our lives, actually do many things that prevent, or obstruct us, from doing those things that would improve not only our lives, but others' lives also.
The above idea, for an open, easy to use and honest forum for everyone to have the opportunity to voice their opinions, to compel, by the sheer numbers of potential voters involved, the present crop of elected 'public servants' to actually listen and take heed, is an opportunity to act, an opportunity to do more than resign ourselves to taking the social, economic and political ass-whooping we've put up with for so long.
Read, think, consider and act.
Many property owners, however, do garner some benefit from increased property value, when they borrow on their equity in same, whether through refinancing for more than the original mortgage balance or when taking out a second mortgage, for whatever purposes.
So, I think that the fair value of a person real property would be better calculated by using either the most recent appraised value used in the most recent debt instrument applied to the property or the most recent/current actual balance of debt on same.
The gist of the basis of property taxes should certainly be no more, or less, than the benefit the owner of same has most recently enjoyed.
Given that there may be several clever ways to circumvent the fair intent of this basis, those in government with advanced mathematical deduction skills could surely figure out a formula that would be accepted as fair by most voters.
The basic premise that property taxes should be based on real life value benefits to the present owners is both fair and sound.
Now, if only we could elect people who are as stingy with our tax dollars as my uncle Joe was with a dime!