Yesterday we told you about the illegal immigrant living in Chicago who was arrested nine times in nine months for various crimes, getting released back onto the street every time until he finally committed a more serious felony. This is how things go when pro-crime "progressive" policies meet pro-illegal immigration "sanctuary" policies. It's a caricature of dysfunction and lawlessness. While some Chicago Democrats have started rebelling against this approach to governance, even calling to rescind the city's sanctuary status, others are burying their heads in the sand. One elected official, for instance, has decided to simply stop posting crime alerts, because doing so creates a bad 'perception.' And what better way to improve perception than to actively ignore dangerous realities?
Big brain stuff from this woman, whose smug smile matches her performative 'pride' pin. She wants LGBT people to feel "safe," I'm sure she'd explain, but not so much that she's willing to inform them about crimes in their neighborhoods. A perfect encapsulation of empty woke signaling:
Bold new anti-crime plan by Chicago Democrat — reality is bad for perceptions, you see: pic.twitter.com/sHfK6gKuQK
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 30, 2024
Then we have this horrifying vignette, underscoring the danger that a depleted and demoralized police force -- demonized and scapegoated by many of the elected Democrats who run both Chicago and Illinois -- can pose to public safety:
Devastating lede from @judgeglock, on a piece that should make you more pessimistic about Chicago’s future https://t.co/swpnmxyuHz pic.twitter.com/12PXuHFSxK
— Santi Ruiz (@rSanti97) June 4, 2024
Chicago's new mayor not only isn't keen on fixing the city's budget disaster, he's literally bought and paid for by a radical teachers union that is trying to fleece taxpayers for even more money with insane new contract demands, guaranteeing even more ruinous city finances. Congratulations on your many years of choices, Chicago. One-party rule in action:
According to the group Truth in Accounting, Chicago continues to live up to its moniker “Second City” in at least one respect: it has the second-worst debt load of any big city in America—about $43,000 per taxpayer, or almost $40 billion in total. The first is New York City, but Chicago residents also have to deal with Illinois’ debts, which total $42,000 per taxpayer, third worst in the nation. Thus, a family moving to Chicago suddenly becomes the inheritor of almost $85,000 in liabilities. By this metric, Chicago is no longer second but has by far the worst debt burden of any major city. Chicago’s accumulating debt might be bearable if the city had low taxes and therefore room to raise them and pay down some of the liabilities. But taxes in the Windy City already rank among the nation’s harshest. According to a national study, Chicago’s combined city and state taxes would eat up over 12 percent of a U.S. median family income. The only large cities with higher proportionate taxes are Rust Belt towns with much smaller populations, such as Detroit and Newark. Chicago imposes the highest sales tax of any major city (10.25 percent) and punishing property taxes, too.
Chicago’s taxation is also brutal on businesses. A recent study of 53 cities found that Chicago’s tax on industrial properties was nearly double the average of other cities. Chicago’s commercial property-tax rate, at more than 4 percent per year, was by far the worst of any major city and more than twice the average. High debt and taxes might be manageable if the city’s economic fundamentals were strong. They’re not...Making matters worse, Chicago’s population is shrinking...The city is also losing its most successful workers and business owners. Data from Allied Van Lines show that Chicago in 2021 saw the most outmigration of any U.S. metro area, and Illinois the most of any state...newly elected Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson will aggravate all these problems. A former member of the Chicago Teachers Union, he has made it clear that he wants to expand spending. When asked about the dire state of Chicago’s schools, he said that he would evaluate them not by their outcomes but by how much money they spent—the more, the better.
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Bleak, painful, predictable. Read the whole thing. This is the city where Democrats have -- quite fittingly -- decided to hold their 2024 national convention. This is their governance, on parade. What can one even say about sickening scenes like this?
BREAKING: A husband and his pregnant wife were viciously attacked and beaten by a group of 10 teenagers in Chicago. During the attack, the teens were repeatedly yelling "We own these streets."
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 4, 2024
The wife was struck multiple times in the stomach and later found out she suffered a… pic.twitter.com/FvLsKhlV0T
They taunted and beat these people, assaulting a pregnant woman until she lost the baby, then the local "authorities" elected to only file single misdemeanor charges:
The husband and wife were walking on the street when they were surrounded by an unknown number of teens Friday evening near Grand Avenue and McClurg Court, FOX 32 Chicago reported. The woman, whose name is Nina, told the outlet they were kicked, stomped on and punched repeatedly. She was pregnant at the time of the incident and found out afterward she lost the baby, according to FOX 32...Nina shared photographs of her injuries with FOX 32. The images show a chunk of her hair was pulled out and her eye was bruised in the assault. She said her husband was also viciously attacked by the group, which held him down during the assault. She told FOX 32 the teens used pepper spray and kicked her stomach..."They didn't steal anything. They say like, ‘we own the street. We own the street. You can't walk around.’ I was wearing like a nice dress and heels. Like I was out on the date with my husband, and they dragged my dress on the ground, and they said, like, ‘we own the street. You can’t just walk around prancing in your little dress.’...The victims were treated on scene but declined further medical attention, police said. [Two of the] teens were taken into custody and each charged with one count of misdemeanor battery.
The kids are right about who owns the streets these days, and the mayor has already warned against "demonizing" juvenile criminals and their "silly" antics. Speaking of Brandon Johnson, I'll leave you with this quote about how ugly things could get during the August convention:
For all the 1968 clips now being replayed of Chicago police clashing with protesters, it’s the prospect of disorder outside and inside the arena this summer that so alarms Democrats, because either display could hand Republicans fodder. “The mayor owns the street but the party owns the inside,” Daley told me. “What happens inside the hall is reflective of our party.” ...There’s already a joke going around Democratic strategist circles that the main difference between 2024 and 1968 is that the Chicago mayor this year will be on the side of the protesters, not the cops. Forty-eight-year-old Brandon Johnson, who was elected mayor last year after incumbent Lori Lightfoot failed to even make the runoff, was an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union and has yet to fully make the jump from activist to mayor of one of America’s largest cities. It’s ironic because soon after he became mayor, he hosted DNC Chair Jaime Harrison for lunch and, according to a Democrat familiar with the conversation, immediately pronounced that “nobody else represents the city but me.” He also asked if Harrison would have his back as a fellow Black man...
That may be the 'joke' in Democratic circles, but I'd bet it elicits very nervous laughter. Perfect choice, Democrats, and I mean that sincerely.
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