By Rich Kozlovich
As we watch the insanity going on in America's cities it's important to define how this occurred, and who's responsible. First, let's cut to the chase. America's major cities are crime infested sewers, and the Democrats own that completely. So, I've now given you the answer, here's the evidence, and we're going to view the evidence one city at at time, starting with Chicago.
Stephan Moore in his April 11th article, The left has killed our great cities, points out:
Tuesday, April 4, as the night Chicago died.That's when we learned that Second City voters narrowly elected Brandon Johnson as their next mayor. This is a city that was flattened during the reign of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who lost in the first round of voting for Chicago mayor because she didn't finish in one of the top two spots. Lightfoot, elected in 2019 after a career as a federal prosecutor who then held several appointed positions in Chicago, shut down the city for more than a year during COVID-19. She also bankrupted small businesses, allowed rioters to burn down whole neighborhoods, presided over the worst crime wave in 50 years and let the schools go to hell............Now, the voters have selected Johnson..........The incoming mayor may turn out to be a worse mayor than Lightfoot...........The fact that Chicagoans have elected not a reformer, but a deformer, suggests that inner-city residents still don't get it -- or they don't care. Or they are all on the payroll of the city governments that are going bankrupt. Alas, our cities can't be saved if the voters in these metropolises don't want to be saved.
Well, it turns out Brandon Johnson is most likely going to be far worse than Lightfoot. Last week rioting broke out, vehicles were burned, people were beaten, and had their lives threatened, and the police did nothing, and made it clear as long as Johnson was mayor, that was the way it was going to be. The police are sworn to protect, but the left sent a message long ago, if they do what needs to be done, they're going to be prosecuted and possibly sent to prison. In Seattle they've been told they have to offer a "sincere apology" for enforcing the law. They're left with crossroads decisions daily; "to be or to do". Guess which one they've chosen?
Mayor Johnson's response to all this?
In no way do I condone the destructive activity we saw in the Loop and lakefront this weekend. It is unacceptable and has no place in our city.
Okay, that makes sense, and it sounds like responsible thinking, but is it reality, or just nice sounding talking points? Then he goes on to demonstrate what he really thinks by babbling irrationally saying:
However, it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities. Our communities must work together to create spaces for youth to gather safely and responsible, under adult guidance and supervision, to ensure that every part of our city remains welcome for both residents and visitors. This is one aspect of my comprehensive approach to improve public safety and make Chicago livable for everyone.
He continued to blather this same nonsense, "In on-camera comments that Julio covered yesterday, the incoming mayor doubled down" saying:
Demonizing children is wrong.....they're children, and children sometimes make silly decisions...."
- Starved of opportunities? Really? What opportunities have been denied them and if so, who's responsible? Democrat mayors have run Chicago for as long as I've been alive and longer (1931 the last Republican mayor left office) and Democrats have ruled Illinois for decades, so who is responsible for this alleged starvation of opportunities?
- Silly decisions? Really? Choosing to commit violent crimes are "silly decisions"? These aren't children, they're violent criminals and thugs, I don't care what their chronological age may be. They are what they do. Law enforcement in Chicago is expecting a lot more "silly" decisions as the weather warms, and yes it is right to demonize those who riot and commit crimes of property destruction, violent harm to others, and theft.
- Because of leftist insanity these aren't criminals, "they're misunderstood victims of an impoverished society", and people on the left, just like Mayor Johnson, are responsible for promoting this "entitlement" mentality, and are even pushing to legalize their criminal behavior.
Here was another "silly decision" by a "mob" of thugs who violently beat a helpless woman in Chicago. The video of this has been taken down, I wonder why? Here's another piece about Johnson's "children", hundreds of them, making "silly decisions" as Violence
Erupts in Chicago as Hundreds of Thugs Destroy Parts of the City:
There are consequences for all this. Migration, closed businesses, and a dropping tax base. This is the starvation of opportunities Johnson blathers about, and his party is to blame. Corporate America is leaving, even after so many of them grovelled in the sewer with Antifa, BLM, and totally embraced this insane Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Marxist economic suicide pact.
As Silvio Canto, Jr. points out in his shoplifting article, with just the right amount of snarc:
Who knew that uncontrolled shoplifting and allowing criminals to run out of stores with jewelry and whiskey bottles would eventually translate into stores closing their doors for good? Where did we hear that before? Of course, it's more than closing stores to shoppers. A retail store hires people and pays taxes. In many locations, it may be the only drugstore around. There are broad consequences to shoplifting. As stores close in our cities, local governments will lose the tax base that pays for a lot of social services. The bottom line is that the community will lose. Are you listening, Democrats?
No, they're not because leftist ideology means you never have to apologize or change, it's always someone else's fault. Well, Walmart has had it and is closing stores all over the country, including 4 Chicago Stores, because they've lost tens of millions of dollars, and the Democrats are outraged.
How dare they put their profits over the need of these Marxists have for their tax dollars? Dollars they need to fulfill leftist demands and redistribute that money in order to keep being elected, in order to ultimately put them out of business. Imagine that!
Well, Walmart isn't the only one seeing this insanity for what it is, as Dan Mitchell points out in his January 2022 piece, Chicago’s Downward Spiral:
The Chicago area saw an exodus of corporate headquarters in 2022, including investment firm Citadel, which moved to Miami along with its billionaire founder, Ken Griffin; Caterpillar, which relocated from north suburban Deerfield to Irving, Texas; and aerospace giant Boeing, which moved to Arlington, Virginia, after more than 20 years in the West Loop. The most recent high-profile departure was announced in November, when Lake Forest-based auto parts manufacturer Tenneco said it was shifting its headquarters to Michigan. …vacancy rates in the central business district rose to 19.6%, while the Chicago metro ticked up to 21.8%… Meanwhile, Citadel principals and employees generated billions of dollars in tax revenue for the city and state over the past decade, according to the firm, money that has also headed south.And why are businesses escaping?
The economic mismanagement of Chicago, and the entire state of Illinois, is getting worse, and this was before Johnson was elected. The real hidden economic viper in the fruit basket? Pensions!
Pension costs will consume more than $2.3 billion of the city’s budget, or 21.4 percent of its own source revenue, excluding state and federal grants. That’s more than a $967 million increase in pension spending since Lightfoot became mayor and $461 million more than last year alone.............To make matters worse, Chicago still has major problems with corruption.
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