Chicago Daily Observer

I was riding in a taxi to the Ogilvy Transportation Center when, delayed by construction, the driver explained “Republicans, all of these delays are because of the Republicans”

“What do you mean”, I said, “is the President in town”?

Cabbie: “No, no, no, the Republicans steal the land and do these crazy condo projects where no one lives, then they go bankrupt, then we are left holding the bag on the empty buildings. This place (the Loop) is always under construction, but nothing gets finished”

“But”, I exclaimed “How can this be the Republicans fault. The Mayor is Democrat, the Governor is Democrat, the County Board is Democrat, and both State Legislatures are Democrat”

“That is what the Republicans want you to think” revealed the Cabbie.

Well, he has a point, albeit 180 degrees reversed from the actual case in Chicago. The media seems dead set to obscure negative information ... Read More...

Just because you can make a creative mortgage product that allows just about anyone to buy a house doesn’t mean you should. That’s a charge that needs to be answered—but to the shareholders of Countrywide, not Congress.

Not long ago John McCain was almost boasting that he knew little about economics. That kind of candor, a distinctive McCain trait, is likable but has its limits. His days of making jokes about his ignorance appear to be over. Worries about the economy began to dominate public opinion even before the current slowdown was properly under way.

Why confine the choice to eliminating the Bush tax cuts entirely or preserving them as they stand?

Between now and November, those worries will only mount: The faltering economy is likely to get worse before it gets better. McCain is going to need an economic program, and he had better get used to talking about this subject as though it matters.

Democrat Bill Foster’s election as 14th district congressman over Jim Oberweis by a margin of 5,000 or so votes…winning 53 to 47…proved several things—to me at least.

1. Are we going to have to wait until Big Jim Oberweis spends ALL his money in primary elections after primary elections before we’re through with him? This exercise has little to do with politics of public policy but to prove to himself that he is loved—and after he loses, to prove at least one time that he’s loved. Those who know Oberweis well know this is clear. A string of consecutive losses are not hard to explain and may have more to do with this intransigent effort to prove something to himself to compensate for a shriveled ego rather than anything else. Suppose the nation had to endure re-runs for the presidency with Bob Dole, with ever diminishing returns in an ... Read More...

Illinois businessman Stuart Levine, an associate of Republican former Gov. George Ryan, had dinner one evening in 2004 with fellow businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko — an associate of Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich — at the Standard Club, a ritzy members-only hotel near Chicago’s downtown financial district.

While John Daley was recently leading the county board through bitter budget negotiations, one of his most impassioned enemies was officially launching a revolution to seize control of the 11th Ward. Of course, even Carl Segvich would admit that these plans are—well, let’s just say they might take a little while to come to fruition. As followers of Chicago politics know, the 11th Ward, centered in Bridgeport, is the home base of the Daley clan, and by extension the Chicago Democratic machine. And John Daley, in addition to being the finance chairman of the county board, is the ward’s longtime Democratic committeeman—the official title for what amounts to “ward boss.”

When precocious 3rd grader Austan Goolsbee noticed that pencils were in short supply at school, he got his dad to front him money to buy a bulk package, then sold individual Ticonderogas to fellow 3rd graders at a profit.

That was the first successful experiment in microeconomics for someone who has become a star professor at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business.