Chicago Daily Observer

State Rep. Robert Rita has a strange take on government employment. When news broke that Senate President Emil (I Need a Raise) Jones was trying to hand his seat over to his son, Emil III, Rita’s justification was:

“Give him a chance to prove himself.”

Astonishing. Yet, odds are that Chicago and Democratic voters, if given the chance, would elect Emil Jones III to succeed his father. Demonstrating again that they are gratified to be led by the nose by a political system that is more akin to an oligarchy than a republic. Naturally, Rita would jump to defend such a system, in that he, like so many others, is a beneficiary of the system. His father, John, is the longtime Calumet Township Democratic committeeman.

Perhaps there’s no other person qualified in Jones’ South Side district to fill father Emil’s shoes. Of course, Emil the Younger’s credentials are ... Read More...

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are the platypuses of the financial world. As shareholder-owned companies which rely on state guarantees, the two government-sponsored enterprises are neither public fish nor private fowl. They are also evolutionary relics from another time. The US Treasury looks increasingly likely to bail out the two mortgage giants. But before it does so, Hank Paulson, the Treasury secretary, must think about an intelligent design for what he would like the GSEs to evolve into.

The Federal Reserve and the Treasury are right to try to prevent the collapse of the GSEs. But they must now work to get rid of them. Conservation efforts have kept the duck-billed platypus alive. Freddie and Fannie do not deserve the same protection.

Commodity prices have fallen dramatically in the past five weeks. As recently as mid-July, gold was trading at $975 per ounce. Now it’s roughly $800, down about 18%. Meanwhile, oil has dropped from $145 per barrel to roughly $115, a decline of nearly 21%. As a result, many analysts are saying the Federal Reserve can be less concerned about inflation and can postpone raising interest rates.

I find this argument wrongheaded for two reasons. First, because inflation is running far above where the Fed ever should have let it go; second, because it contradicts the arguments about inflation and the Fed many of these same analysts have been making since last summer.

In the past twelve months, consumer prices are up 5.6% and producer prices are up 9.2%. The last time inflation was a bigger problem was when disco balls still hung in clubs throughout the US, and not because ... Read More...

First the librarians told Kurtz yes, come look. But by the time Kurtz landed in Chicago, the librarians changed their minds. The donor of the documents hadn’t cleared his research. Perhaps they’ll let him look at the documents on Nov. 5.

The relationship between the ambitious Obama and the unrepentant Ayers is a subject that excites Republicans, who haven’t really thwacked that pinata as hard as they might. It really irritates Obama and his political champion, Chicago’s sovereign lord, Mayor Richard M. Daley.

“This is a public entity,” Kurtz told us Wednesday. “I don’t understand how confidentiality of the donor would be an issue.”

You don’t understand, Mr. Kurtz? Allow me to explain. The secret is hidden in the name of the library:

The Richard J. Daley Library.

Eureka!

The Richard J. Daley Library doesn’t want nobody nobody sent. And Richard J.‘s son, Shortshanks, is now the mayor.