March 2004

Homeless Count

ArchPundit March 23, 2004 No Comments

The City of Chicago Department of Human Services and 45 Chicago Police Officers will be conducting a count of homeless persons overnight. The point of this will become clear in the next few weeks, but this is first step in a new Daley initiative.

Say One Thing about Mickey Segal

ArchPundit March 23, 2004 No Comments

He appears to hire hookers that cost more than $2.

Gambling on Don

ArchPundit March 23, 2004 No Comments

Blagojevich has called for an inquiry into the choice of the Isle of Capri Casino proposal for Rosemont by the Illinois Gaming Commission.

The Gaming Commission has blamed the Governor for not giving them the resources to make complete decisions. Of course, he hasn’t.

If they don’t watch it, the Gaming Commission will be Schillerstered (current Blagojevich target and State Superintendent of Schools).

Regardless of whether the Board has adequate resources, the decision was bound to be controversial and they knew it. Rosemont is a run by Don Stephens, a crony of former Governor George Ryan, and also a man with ties to several figures that have relations with organized crime. In one of the most hilarious pieces on the Outfit since Royko ate at the same restaurant as his favorite target, John Kass details Don’s life as a pool boy to the Giancanas.

Any casino that does business in Rosemont is going to go through Stephens and as such, will be tainted with fears over Outfit connections. To make matters worse, Bernie Goldstein, the head of Isle of Capri, was given a one-way ticket out of Illinois Gaming several years ago.

The other choices in this case were Des Plaines and Waukegan. Waukegan is the case best fitting the need for economic revitalization. Remember originally, the casinos were designed to be tools of economic revitalization in river towns hit hard by economic changes. So towns like East Saint Louis, Peoria, Joliet, and Elgin were naturals. And in several places the strategy has helped.

Des Plaines was the choice of staff. Waukegan was also the favorite of other casino towns because it was farther away from existing casinos. One complaint out of Elgin is that a Rosemont casino will draw a lot of business away from Aurora and Elgin negating some of the impact of the 10th license. I’m not sure this is as serious as some think simply because Rosement would probably be full from travellers and city dwellers who now go to Indiana.

Instead of following the staff recommendation or the community in most need, the board chose the casino spot most likely to raise a lot of money. The question that Illinois Attorney General needs to answer is who is it going to raise that money for: Illinois taxpayers or the Outfit?

The Administration’s Commitment to Democracy Shines Through Again

ArchPundit March 19, 2004 1 Comment

Largely because everyone is ignoring Latin America, I haven’t had much to say, but it is a place that has a special place in my heart. I don’t have much to say about Haiti because while I am not comfortable with how Aristide was overthrown, I have little faith in Aristide himself.

However, the retrograde jackasses from the Reagan administration are inserting themselves into the El Salvadoran elections.

During past Salvadoran elections the U.S. has maintained a hands-off policy. The American ambassador has said the U.S. will respect the electoral process again this time and work with whoever is elected. That’s a wise policy. It is not, apparently, a policy shared by everyone in the Bush administration.

Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega was quoted by Salvadoran media as warning voters to think twice about their choices and the possible impact of an FMLN victory on relations with the U.S. During a recent visit, Noriega met with almost all of the candidates, but snubbed the FMLN’s.

More troubling were White House Special Assistant Otto Reich’s remarks last week that the “U.S. could not have the same confidence in an El Salvador led by a person who is an obvious admirer of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.” He also mused about the impact on commerce and migration policy if the FMLN were to win.

Reich’s analysis may be correct, but the decision to voice those thoughts just a few days before the election undercuts the U.S. ambassador’s pledge of neutrality. It sounded more like a warning to vote “the right way.”

Reich is uncommitted to democracy and for those that wonder why I don’t take the administration’s word for it when the neo-cons start spouting claims about democracy, you can look to him and Noriega.

I have little use for the FMLN either, but they aren’t the ones trying to subvert Democracy in this case.