I haven't had a chance to check in on Chicago in a couple of days, and then, well...
HOLY SMOKES
A Brandon Johnson clip exploded all over X this afternoon, and I have to share it with you all.
HAVE TO
Hizzoner was holding a weekly press conference, although, while he really wasn't answering many questions, he was having a grand old time taking potshots at Trump.
...On Tuesday, Mayor Johnson met with the media at City Hall for his standard weekly briefing, but it was far from standard, as the mayor addressed comments made by the president criticizing him and the governor.
“He is one of the biggest threats to humanity that we have seen in an entire generation,” Johnson said during the briefing.
It had been going for a bit when his aides wanted to wrap it up. One dogged reporter (William J. Kelly) just kept at the Bear of Little Brains, who finally said, 'Since you're begging, I'll answer the question,' which pertained to President Trump calling Johnson 'incompetent.'
HO, BOY
What spewed out of the Bear's mouth was pure Goldiwhuttheflocks.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson: “I do believe Donald Trump has always been intimidated by the intellectual prowess of black men.”
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 13, 2025
?????? pic.twitter.com/WVd3wiDKBd
PETITE AND PUERILE TERMS
I swear, this clown is a gift from the Gods to everyone but Chicago.
The mayor was out on a picket line at a packaging company first thing this morning, rah-rahing with striking workers and hatin' on Trump.
Union demands have sure changed though. These guys are all about fair wages, good benefits, and *checks notes* stopping ICE agents at the factory door.
You can bet old Brandon's right there with them on that.
Local leaders joined workers of Mauser Packaging Solutions in a picket line on Wednesday.
...Teamsters said the company "broke the law and refused to bargain in good faith."
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois U.S. Representative Jesús "Chuy" García joined the workers.
Workers are demanding safer working conditions, guaranteed break times and affordable healthcare.
"This union and this strike is leading the way to ensure that this country knows that workers run this country," Johnson said.
Teamsters said workers also want measures to "prevent ICE from entering the workplace without a judicial warrant."
And for all his maneuvering and posturing and firing of school superintendents who got in his way, the intellectually superior Bear of Little Brains still can't seem to strongarm anyone he puts in office to sign off on that $200M payday loan he needs the schools to take out to save the city's butt. This is all thanks to the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU).
I find this quandary he's in to be absolutely hilarious. It's a never-ending soap opera that has to be driving the already mentally fragile mayor to distraction.
Chicago Public Schools interim chief Macquline King is resisting pressure from Mayor Brandon Johnson to make a controversial pension payment and borrow millions of dollars to settle the district’s budget, a notable twist in what has become a deeply uncertain budget cycle for the fourth-largest school district in the nation.
Several city officials met with CPS leadership last Thursday without King to lay out recommendations aimed at helping her close a $734 million deficit by the end of August, according to several board members who spoke to the Tribune.
Among their suggestions was taking out a $200 million loan and asking for new state revenue, while accepting responsibility for a controversial $175 million pension payment, previously covered by the city. King initially opposed all of their major proposals, board members who spoke to the Tribune said.
...But King’s resistance to the city’s proposals could have far-reaching consequences, not just for the district’s financial outlook, but for its political future. Johnson, a former teacher and longtime Chicago Teachers Union organizer, has strongly supported borrowing as a way to avoid deeper school-level cuts to staffing and classroom services. His appointed school board president, Sean Harden, has echoed that stance.
Critics warn the city’s proposed loan — likely a high-interest, long-term borrowing plan — could further harm CPS’ already fragile credit rating.
About that credit rating - under the careful ministrations of the CTU's favorite tool, the city's credit rating now stands at one teensy tiny step above junk bonds.
Oh, yeah.
BRANDON JOHNSON, INTIMIDATING SUPER GENIUS
Johnson's team released 26 'ideas' at the end of July. These are ways they might start to raise some additional cha-ching to plug their billion-dollar deficit hole.
...The biggest potential moneymakers are an increase in property taxes, with a high-end estimate of $396 million, and an increase in the $9-a-month garbage collection fee, with a potential yield of $296.9 million.
The perennial idea of extending the state sales tax to professional services has a potential annual yield of $305 million, but that’s a change that can only be made by the Illinois General Assembly and would have to be signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, who has given a cold shoulder to the idea.
Other big-ticket items include: imposing a congestion surcharge ($103 million); raising taxes on liquor ($90 million), restaurant meals ($20 million), bottled water ($27.9 million) and checkout bags ($13 million); extending the amusement tax to resellers ($38 million); and imposing a city tax on sports betting ($17 million).
Lump-sum “payments in lieu of taxes” imposed on hospitals, churches universities and other nonprofits exempt from paying property taxes made the chart compiled by the mayor’s finance team with an annual revenue estimate of $52 million.
Reviving the $4-a-month per employee head tax condemned as a “job killer” and eliminated by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel would raise $25.6 million. The list came in a 61-page memo sent to Council members.
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), the Budget Committee chair, agreed with Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), Finance chair, that the Council needs to reinstate the automatic escalator imposed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot that would lock in annual property tax increases to match the rate of inflation.
The mayor is emphasizing 'progressive revenue' schemes to do so, which always means more of the wealthier folks who can afford to leave the city finally decide to do so. 'Eat the Rich' always backfires, as most superior intellects are aware.
- But Johnson says he's prioritizing progressive revenue by asking the "ultra-rich" to put more "skin in the game."
Sounds like a well-thought-out plan.
If you don't believe me, just ask the Bear.
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