Goo-Goos Are Not a Working Man's Pal - Claypool Rolls the Bus Over CTA Employees

Policy killed politics. Politics is what made government effective. Politics responds to people's needs. Policy is the pathway to power.

The goof who first said, "There ought to be a Law" opened the door to government for Progressives. Progressives entered that smoke filled room and immediately went shopping for judges to get smoking banned; the rest is government that pads the few and pounds the rest.

Witness this swell photo of Armani clad CTA Brahmin ( appointed, n'cest pas) Forrest Claypool standing on the platform for a CTA L Train, clad in his Progressive Work Clothes. Shucks, he's just like folks.

However, folks seem to scan for the train in the correct general direction that the train will take.

Working Folks are about to get another world-class, transcendent, post-racial screwing, from Goo-goo Progressive Forrest Claypool.

Fifteen minutes of paid “coffee time” before the start of each shift. Twenty-minute paid bathroom breaks for customer assistants with easy access to washrooms. Paid lunch breaks for CTA rail operators and Sunday bus drivers. Paying workers convicted of drunk driving to do nothing for 180 days while they appeal and attempt to get their driving privileges back. Starting the clock on emergency overtime when employees get the phone call at home instead of when they arrive at work.

Those are some of the CTA work rules that CTA President Forrest Claypool wants to change in order to fill a $277 million shortfall in the CTA budget without raising fares or cutting service.

Yeah, taking a leak is killing this City. Thus, always the way of reform. It does not matter that policies begun by people like Frank Kruesi and continued by Forrest - people who have absolutely no working experience in the field of transportation -and deals cut to make a few people rich and not a bathroom break has crippled the Chicago Transit Systems. Did we really beg for accordion buses? Green buses? Faux Parisian benches?

Forrest Claypool never drove a bus, or a train. I doubt if Forrest Claypool has ever been on the business end of a janitor's broom, mop, or brush. I'd venture to offer that, Forrest Claypool does not drop by CVS, Jewel-Osco, or other fine venues to purchase a CTA Red Pass at a modest $85.00 good for a full month of rides anywhere in Chicagoland.

I have one in my wallet. In fact, I ride the CTA in order to ease my carbon-footprint off of Mother Earth's back and to save a few shekles. I generally get on the 5:06 Bus at 104th & Western to 79th Street Terminal and grab and east bound ( Red Line) to 79th & Morgan and legendary Leo High School.

I have never seen Forrest, or Rahm on that run. They keep different hours.

I am a working stiff. A College and Graduate school degree'd mope. I ride the bus with a Mr. Duckworth ( 'Duckie') a Coast Guard Veteran who works at Calumet Harbor, Vanessa, a cook at Perspectives ( formerly Calumet H.S.) and Bertina, a nurse at Jackson Park Hospital. We are very happy with the working men and women at the wheel who not only safely and promptly get us to work, but also maintain command presence and authority over drunks, crack-pipe artists, thugs and idiots. They (Bus and Train drivers) are in harm's way, all day and every day, and do not wear Kevlar.

Driving in Chicago traffic is a bitch and a half on a good day; driving a bus is a labor fit for Greek Gods. God Bless Our CTA Folks!

Sorry for your looming troubles, folks.




Then there is the Goo-goo appointee - Forrest Claypool who gets conveniently slotted into an elective spot when someone dies and his opponent is in an iron-lung, or more commonly appointed to a six figure salary. Forrest Claypool is the Rula Lenska of Chicago*. One always wonders - "What exactly did he/she do?" Rula was the sexy Limey broad who did Clairol commercials staged in what was supposed to be a theatrical dressing room. Forrest Claypool bounces from Parks, to Staffs, to Hospitals, to Boards, to Executive Suites.

The guy can't keep a job.

Forrest is a Goo-goo Brahmin - that is a life-long sinecure - he is a professional 'Ain't He Great-er' and therefore will always collect a huge paycheck.

American Labor, like the Democratic Party has snuggled up to the Goo-goos for forty year. Why? God only knows. Unions are now learning what Old Time Ward pros have known all along. Goo-goos ( Mike Quigley, Pat Quinn, Forrest Lenska, Deb Shore, Sheila Simon, Quentin Young, Dawn Clark Netsch, Ralph Martire, Terry Cosgrove, and always hilarious Jan Schakowsky) are not friends of working people.

When a Goo-goo, Reformer, Progressive, Activist, Mobilizer, or glue-sniffer gets power, grab your ankles, make sure you have a good athletic mouthpiece firmly fitted between your uppers and lowers, and wait for the screwing of the Ages!


*"

Who the hell is Rula Lenska?" The question was first asked on the air by Detroit TV News Anchorman Don Lark, then echoed in print by Washington Post Columnist Roger Rosenblatt. She is, as many TV watchers know, a glamorous redhead who appears regularly in commercials for Alberto VO5 hair spray. She tosses her long locks, identifies herself as R-u-ula Lenz-z-zka and speaks of herself as though she were a famous actress. But, as the newscaster asked, who is she?
Chicago Adman David Lewis knows the answer, and he is telling everyone who will listen: Rula Lenska is the 31-year-old daughter of a Polish émigré count and lives in London. She was featured as a rock singer in the British TV series Rock Follies and as a character in a never released film, Queen Kong. What fascinated Lewis, who had nothing to do with the hair spray commercials, was this obscure actress's hopeful pretense of being a famous star. As a lark, he founded the Rula Lenska Fan Club—and soon found that some 600 other people were ready to join the cult.
In London, "The Fair One," as she is known to her U.S. fans, confesses to be "stunned and astonished" by her unexpected fame but more preoccupied with the imminent birth of her first child. Lewis urged fans to "name the nipper." The winners: Octavia and Llewellyn.


Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,920557,00.html#ixzz1aCK9sxop

Fun Before the Run - Give to Special Olympics

People give. They give of their time, talents and treasure. My talents are about as limited as my treasure, but I have all the time in the world.

That is why when Skinny Sheahan sent out a call for help at the Fun Before the Run fund-raiser on October 6th at 115 Bourbon Street ( 6PM), I gave the running giver a call and offered my time.

Goo-goos, Chicagoese for professional do-gooders, the people who try to legislate life by bullying City Hall, the County and Springfield for tax money, never seem to have time, or treasure for good works. Their talents go flat-out making policy statements and pi$$ing in the ears of the news media.

Helping people is active participation in your parish, your schools, your neighborhood and with your kids. Calling Carol Marin with an idea about child-rearing policy will not keep your Young Che away from a twelve pack of Tall Boys and a bag of weed before school. You must actually, in some way, be a part of their lives.

My poor kids. I and my family and neighbors wear them like old tighty whities on a fat man.

James "Skinny' Sheahan stays svelte, because he is always giving to good works. Get Skinny. Get busy.

Here's what Skinny says,

Dear Chicagoans,

Since my retirement last year I have been volunteering my time with Special Olympics Chicago. This organization raises funds for the nearly 5,000 athletes that participate in programs throughout the city. On October 9 I will be running my 40th and last marathon to raise funds for this incredible organization.


Special Olympics was founded in our great city with the first games taking place at Soldier Field in July, 1968. 1,000 athletes participated at the first games and today more than 3,000,000 athletes participate in competitions around the globe. Special Olympics is truly one of Chicago's proudest achievements.



On Thursday, October 6, I will be hosting a Fun Before the Run Event at 115 Bourbon St Thursday from 6:30-9:30pm. 115 Bourbon St is located at 3359 W 115th St in Merrionette Park, IL. I would love it if you could join us. All the proceeds go to Special Olympics Chicago. Your $30.00 tax deductible donation includes food and beverage.

If you cannot make the event, I would really appreciate it if you would make a donation in my name towards Special Olympics Chicago. You can do that by clicking here ( on Hickey's post title). Donating through this website is simple, fast and secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.



I would like to thank you in advance for anything you can contribute. If you know of anyone that might be interested in participating, I appreciate you forwarding them this email.


Hope to see you there, !

Sincerely,



Jim "Skinny" Sheahan

Thirty One members of the Leo High School Class of 1954 joined Bill Hession for lunch at Ken's restaurant on Western Ave. to brainstorm about helping the young men at Leo High School.

Six girls from Mother McAuley heard about the Special Olympics party hosted by Skinny one week from tonight ( October 6th at 6PM) and want to help.

You have been told about good work. Get Skinny and get over to

115 Bourbon Street
3359 West 115th Street
Merrionette Park, IL

OR CLICK MY POST TITLE AND COUGH UP SOME TREASURE!

Bishop Bernard James Sheil the Victim of Co-Opting Clowns and Cardinal Cody

There ain't no clout, when your clout is dead. That is a Chicago Commandment. Shakman Decree killed clout in Chicago - "hey, can you help me? - " Not a chance;Tell me about it, walking. Shakman, Dude! No Bosses. Hit the door."

There is no Shakman anywhere else, but Chicago, Cook County and the dumber parts of Illinois. Shakman helped Michael Shakman amass millions of dollars and soulless people get elected, prevents any possible human contact in government and is destroying public service. Shakman like abortion is what passes for progressive thought.

Clout means assistance from someone at a personal level. Clout is a good thing. Goo-goos hate Clout. I have yet to experience a Progressive who ever took an active empirical interest in another carbon life-form. I have been told that they are out there, but, Dog My Cats, I have yet to meet, learn by word-of-mouth, read-about, or tripped over a Progressive (a devout disciple of John Dewey/Hegel/Jane Addams/Roger Baldwin/Margaret Sanger)who would ever dig-in past the pocket lint and fugitive Breath-Savers and claw up a nickel for another human being. I get out a lot too.

Good Works are not Programs. Programs are bureaucracies run by managers with staffs and salaries. Programs are tax-generated by cash. Cash can not do good works; metaphysical impossibility.

Progressives rail against good works, especially good works by public persons. Public Persons who do good works are called Bosses. Bosses are targets of Federal, State and local investigations by Blue Ribbon Goo-goo panels comprised of academics and political outsiders. Political outsiders are people who never do anything for anyone but themselves and call that civic virtue. Rather, Goo-goos badger their enthralled editorial boards, community activists and political suits into legislating programs that cost tax-payers but create armies of dependants. No saloon-keeper alderman can match a loudmouth with a microphone, TV time and politicians who already rented out their souls and principles.

Today, I am reacting to a reaction to my post on Bishop Sheil. Bishop Sheil is out of the general public collective memory. Shiel was co-opted to death, by the Church and the Progressives. As I noted in my previous post, Bishop Sheil was ecumenical long before Vatican II.

Born in a mixed black-white, Catholic-Jewish, Irish-Polish neighborhood on Chicago's West Side, Sheil was lace-curtain Irish. His grandfather had been an alderman, his father was Democratic leader of the 14th Ward. Entering St. Viator's College in Bourbonnais (a later pupil: Fulton J. Sheen), Sheil was ordained in 1910 and assigned to a middle-class parish. He caught Cardinal Mundelein's eye, however, and began to receive promising assignments. He served as chaplain at the Cook County jail, as an assistant at Holy Name Cathedral and was named chancellor of the archdiocese in 1923. A year later, on his first visit to Rome, he was received by Pius XI, and in 1928 he was consecrated bishop.

I got an interesting e-mail from of pal, Elias Crim, who forwarded me a note from a gent who reacted to my recent offering of Bishop Bernard James Sheil. This person noted that a Jewish branch of B'Nai B'rith had established programs similar the CYO ten years before Bishop Shiel put his ideas into action.

This was the Old Testament preceding the New Testament.

The B'nai B'rith Youth Organization began in Omaha in 1924 and spread rapidly, reaching Chicago within a year. Very quickly BBYO became organized in Jewish neighborhoods throughout Chicago, with prominent basketball and boxing programs, in particular.

There were (and are) a boys' arm, called Aleph Zadik Aleph (a/k/a "AZA", using Hebrew letters in Greek fraternity style), and a girls' arm, B'nai B'rith Girls (BBG). Heavy on sports, after-school programs, service projects, and dances, with a typical American emphasis on self-government (teens conducting business meetings with parliamentary procedure, electing officers, publishing newspapers, sending delegates to regional, national, and, by the 1940s, international conventions, etc.)

Bishop Sheil liked that model a lot.

Sheil knew what he was doing, it seems because he had some great roots dug out of the Nebraska soil and brought to Chicago, where Catholics and Jews crowded together around Halsted Street. The athletic/social activity element founded in Faith must have had an impact upon Sheil to be sure.

Catholic Social programs were well established before the arrival of George Cardinal Mundelein, but it was by Mundeleins fiat that talented underlings like Bernard Sheil and Msgr. Hoban were directed to actively improve direct Catholic Action.

The origin of the CYO in 1930 was certainly the most impressive and most dangerous to Progressives. Action was a reflection of Faith and not taxes - bureaucratic programs would sanitize Action of Faith.

The Catholic Church, no stranger to politics, had ambitious clergy who were willing to advance themselves over the bones of good people.

I offer two pieces taken from Time Magazine that are the post mortems of the CYO and Bishop Shiel.

One is from 1954:

Christmas in Chicago used to include one famed celebration. Among as many as 800 children, ecstatic before a mountain of toys and candy-crammed paper bags, workers of the Catholic Youth Organization would labor happily to distribute presents and keep order. And in the middle of the maelstrom would move the founder and father of C.Y.O., The Most Rev. Bernard J. Sheil—a firm-faced Friar Tuck kneeling nimbly beside the toddlers, leading other children by the hand, talking to twelve-year-olds with the dignity becoming their years. To Bishop Sheil, the C.Y.O. Christmas Party was a symbol of his life and work—cheerful, practical action among the big-city poor.

But this Christmas there will be no party. The toys people have offered so far have been rejected or sent to some other charity. The second-hand paper bags C.Y.O. staffers saved all year to fill with candy were thrown away unused. The staff itself was decimated and depressed; Bishop Sheil of Chicago never goes to the C.Y.O. offices any more.

"The Thing You Desire." The Christmas party is only one of many good things that began to vanish from the archdiocese after Shell's dramatic resignation as C.Y.O. director-general last fall (TIME, Sept. 13). He never told why he resigned, nor did his superior, Samuel Cardinal Stritch, but the reason is becoming as plain as the old Water Works on Michigan Avenue. Bishop Sheil, a generous and sometimes over-generous man, had undertaken a great number of ambitious projects and had spread his resources thin. His long-standing liberalism and impatience with reverse-collar bureaucracy had brought him enemies. By the time Bishop Sheil made his well-aimed attack on Joe McCarthy (TIME, April 19), which earned him considerable dislike in some places among the Roman Catholic clergy and laity, the reaction of a few big financial contributors was enough to cause serious trouble. When money sources on which he relied to meet the bulk of the C.Y.O.'s million-dollar budget began to dry up, the cardinal's office began to move in on the C.Y.O., and Sheil quit.

"The C.Y.O. will continue to benefit from your counsel," said Cardinal Stritch to Bishop Sheil publicly, "and will become the thing you desire." But today the C.Y.O. and much of the "empire" of do-good organizations he created are being whittled away.

The Casualties. Of 27 major activities related to C.Y.O., twelve are dead or have been served with a death warrant, four have been transferred to other agencies, two have been cut down and turned over to Catholic Charities, four have their fate in doubt. Among the casualties: If Sheil Institute, a commercial college. Attended mostly by young adults with daytime jobs, it required all students (15% Negro, 30% non-Catholic) to take a course in business ethics along with their other work. It will close in January. ¶ The Sheil School of Social Studies, set up to provide adult education in the liberal arts and philosophy. It has been attended by some 20,000 in its eleven years, was at its record enrollment of 700 when it closed last fortnight. ¶ The Sheil Social Service, which collected food and clothing for poor children, closed in September. ¶FM station WFJL, which promoted religion along with its boxing matches, closing December 31.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,821045,00.html#ixzz1MnOCx96M

The political clout of Bishop Sheil died along with the mortal husk of George Cardinal Mundelein in 1939. Cardinal Stritch began to undo many of the direct actions for social justice established by Bishop Sheil. Following WWII, the boys who had boxed at CYO came home, established the greatest standard of living the world has ever seen and no longer needed a leg up in life. They had the G.I.Bill, the Taft Hartley Act and the most robust labor movement on earth. The CYO?

Well, another Prince of the Church followed Cardinal Stritchs successor Albert Cardinal Meyer - the ecclesiastical mirror of the political Governor Pat Quinn or Senator Dick Durbin. John Cardinal Cody was akin to Mayor Rahm Emanuel -change came hard, fast and impersonally.

When he moved to Chicago last year from New Orleans, the Most Rev. John Patrick Cody brought along a well-founded reputation as a tough clerical administrator who likes to cut out deadwood. Last week Roman Catholic Cody lived up to his no-nonsense fame by firing one of the patron saints of Chicago-style liberalism: Auxiliary Archbishop Bernard J. Sheil, pastor of St. Andrew's parish and founder of the vast Catholic Youth Organization.

A fire-eater who publicly denounced the "phony antiCommunism" of Joe McCarthy in 1954, Sheil is now 78 and subject to ailments (most recently a broken ankle) that have kept him from performing pastoral duties. Cody visited Sheil with the suggestion that he let a younger man take over financial administration of the parish. Sheil at first consented, but then told a newsman: "I didn't retire. This is a removal." Cody expressed his regret that the matter had been made public—and coolly named a new pastor of the parish.

Since Cody had already replaced 35 other overage pastors, many Catholics agreed that he could hardly fail to seek Sheil's retirement as well. Nonetheless, there were plenty of complaints about the abrupt manner of the dismissal from priests and laymen who felt more comfortable under the free-and-easy regime of the late Albert Cardinal Meyer.

Chicago's Catholics freely credit Cody with a number of notable reforms: he has modernized the archdiocesan seminary, raised the salaries of lay teachers in parochial schools, let assistant pastors elect two representatives to Chicago's influential board of priest consultors (previously all members had been appointed by the archbishop). By the same token, Cody is something of an authoritarian; both his priests and his parishioners complain that his communications, far from being two-way, consist of his sending the word on down. Last month an ad hoc committee organized three meetings attended by 400 Chicago clerics, recommended that priests have a greater share in formation of archdiocesan policy and that assignment procedures be revised. In effect, the committee formed the closest thing yet to a union of priests.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,835601,00.html#ixzz1MnYkQLjt

Clout is direct action to do good. When your clout is dead, and nothing is deader than dead clout, the game is over.

The Church and Government chose programs over personal acts of good.

Clout is as dead as the CYO.

Governor Pat Quinn Turned the Corner - From Activist to Statesman

Carol Marin is mad at Governor Quinn. That is a sure sign that the Illinois Governor has turned the corner from activist gadfly to Illinois Statesman.

Like Governors Altgeld and Dunne, Governor Pat Quinn has earned the ire of the fatuous and the glib celebrity dilettantes. Carol Marin tried to bully-rag Governor Quinn into a corner demanding that he sign the Death Penalty Abolition and receive the high Hosannas of the Carol and the Goo-gos who never run for political office but control the debate.

In today's column Carol howls "Memo to Quinn: We’ve thoroughly studied Illinois’ disastrous record on the death penalty for a decade. That includes the Ryan Commission on which noted Chicago attorney and author Scott Turow served from 2000-2002."

The Big Guns! Scott Turow! Shake that Mont Blanc Fountain Ink Squirter and Get to Signing, Guv! Scott Turow, the Illinois Charles Evans Hughes is backing Carol's Play!

I am being 'close-knit and ethnically' ironic. Dear me.

Governor Pat Quinn is governing. He will decide whether or not to sign the Death Penalty Ban. I hope that he does not. Consider the last Illinois Governor who did what Carol and Scott propose. George Ryan commuted the death sentences of 167 monsters in an act that a cynical person might think was a slight of hand during the very campaign Carol Marin helped lead to put Ryan in Terra Haute. The Goo-goos want what they want and always immediately.

When Gov. Ryan issued a blanket commutation to every man and woman on Death Row in Illinois, he knowingly spared the lives of some of the most vicious killers in the state's 185-year history. The governor acknowledged as much Saturday but said that fundamental flaws in the system necessitated his actions. Here are some of the most infamous killers saved by Ryan:

Danny Edwards
To make the point that he has been personally touched by the horror of murder, Ryan on Saturday described the murder of an old family friend, Kankakee businessman Stephen B. Small, in 1987, in a kidnapping plot. Danny Edwards, who at the time was a small-time drug dealer and electrician in Kankakee, was found guilty of burying Small alive in a wooden box. Edwards made an air hole in the box and apparently thought Small could survive for some time while he--Edwards--attempted to extort a $1 million ransom from Small's wealthy family. But Small died within four hours of being buried. While conceding that the evidence against his client was "overwhelming"--Edwards was seen building the box, and his fingerprints were found inside--defense attorney Thomas Allen expressed surprise at the quick guilty verdict, calling the jury "the coldest I've ever seen."

Henry Brisbon
Brisbon and three other men decided to rob somebody. When they couldn't find the right pedestrian to rob in Kankakee, they drove toward Chicago on Interstate 57. While riding along, they came up with the idea of robbing motorists by staging phony accidents. One of the killers tricked motorists out of their cars by asking them to inspect minor collision damage, then led them to Brisbon, who brandished the shotgun and robbed and shot them. Betty Lou Harmon, 29, of suburban Darien, was forced to undress at gunpoint. She ran away, but was caught by Sanders, who led her to Brisbon, who fatally shot her in a field. An engaged North Side couple, Dorothy Cerny and James Schmidt, both 25, who were returning from a family gathering in Matteson, also were shot to death by Brisbon after being stripped of their valuables. Brisbon told the couple to "kiss your last kiss" before firing shotgun blasts into their backs as they lay on the side of the highway. But Brisbon was not on Death Row for the I-57 murders. He was put there because he used a sharpened spoon to kill another inmate while in prison.

Fedell Caffey & Jacqueline Williams

Caffey and Williams decided they wanted a baby. So they stabbed to death a pregnant woman, Debra Evans, in her Addison apartment and cut her nearly full-term fetus from her body, according to prosecutors. To eliminate witnesses, they also murdered Evans' 10-year-old daughter, Samantha, and 8-year-old son, Joshua. Another child, Jordan, was spared in the 1995 murder--children under the age of 2 aren't likely to be good witnesses. And the newborn boy also survived. Fortunately, Jordan's grandfather, Sam Evans, says Jordan has no recollection today of the horrors he witnessed.

Gabriel Solache
In an eerily similar case, little 2-month-old Guadalupe Soto and her toddler brother Santiago had both parents ripped away by vicious killers who wanted to steal a baby in 1998. One of them was Solache, who agreed to help kill Jacinta and Mariano Soto and snatch the baby so Adriana Mejia could pretend it was hers. Mejia targeted the Bucktown family after seeing Jacinta with the children at a local health clinic. She followed them home on a bus to see where they lived. Early the next morning, Solache, Mejia and Arturo DeLeon-Reyes surprised the family, stabbing the parents more than 60 times as the sleepy toddler looked on. Mejia and DeLeon-Reyes got life in prison.

Luther Casteel
At JB's Pub in Elgin in 2001, Casteel was booted out for harassing female customers and employees. Roaring drunk and enraged, he shot straight home, shaved his hair into a mohawk and changed into military fatigues, armed himself with several guns and returned to the bar. Screaming, "I am a natural born killer," he shot bartender Jeffrey Weides and customer Richard Bartlett to death and wounded 16 others before being wrestled to the ground by bar patrons and employees. At his trial, Casteel almost dared a Kane County jury to impose the death penalty. "I'm not someone who asks for mercy or pity for my actions," he said during a stunning half hour of testimony. "I have absolutely no fear of anything anyone can put upon me."

Latasha Pulliam
In 1991, 6-year-old Shenosha Richard was playing in her South Side Chicago neighborhood when she was approached by Pulliam and Pulliam's boyfriend, Dwight Jordan. She went with them after they purchased her a bag of chips and promised to take her to a movie. At Pulliam's apartment, over several hours, Pulliam and Jordan sexually assaulted the girl with a shoe polish applicator and a hammer, and then used the hammer to pulverize her skull, according to prosecutors. Pulliam also beat and strangled the girl. Attorneys for Pulliam said she was drug-crazed at the time, but a court psychologist described her as "a female John Gacy" who got sexual satisfaction from hurting someone weaker than she.

& etc.

Pat Quinn was elected over Bill Brady, because real working families -skilled trades union families -hit the streets for Pat Quinn, when Brady signalled war on Labor. Brady painted with a very broad brush; he did not single out public sector monster activist unions and PACs like SEIU; Brady put Labor in the crosshairs.

Governor Pat Quinn stood up for Labor -real labor -as he continues to do for Veterans.

Quinn promised to raise taxes and to cut waste in Illinois government.

Governor Pat Quinn is doing Okay. Illinois is not doing so hot, but that is not Quinn's fault. I lay it at the feet of Goo-goos and pie-chart tax wizards like Ralph Martire whom the Goo-goos just love.

It will be nice to watch Governor Quinn over the next few months. Personally, I hope that he sheds Planned Parenthood, SEIU, Ralph Martire and the other Goo-goo play things. Perhaps, then Illinois will be able to work its way out its current jackpot.


http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/illinois.htm

If You Like Shakman Monitors, You Gotta Love Todd Stroger!

That's Boss Shakman! Right there in the Middle! Boss Shakman!

In fact, the revolving door of employees has picked up speed in the wake of Stroger losing the February primary, according to a report issued Tuesday by Mary Robinson, the Shakman compliance administrator charged with ensuring the county adheres to a federal court-ordered ban on political hiring.

Todd Stroger is where he is today thanks to more than forty years of Shakman! In fact, young Todd is a Shakman Baby - born of the death of the vile but effective Cook County Machine!

Wait a minute, hold the phone - Shakman Monitor's have been on the case saving all of us from poiltical crooks, cut-purses and ne'er-do-wells!

Really, Murial?

Shakman, Michael Shakman, the Cook County Michael Shakman Decree, like Andy Shaw on the case for the BGA, is the best bet for tax-payers to not get good government and have their wallets lifted.

Michael Shakman was running to join the Illinois Constitutional Convention, CON-CON - Dig this from Chicago Encyclopedia - afixed bag of special interests re-telling history. Fixed you say? Yes, read on!

Shakman Decrees
In 1969, one man made his stand against the Chicago political machine. Michael Shakman, an independent candidate for delegate to the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention, battled against one of the most enduring traditions in Chicago's politics: political patronage, or the practice of hiring and firing government workers on the basis of political loyalty. With many behind-the-scenes supporters, Shakman's years of determination resulted in what became known as the “Shakman decrees.”

Shakman filed suit against the Democratic Organization of Cook County, arguing that the patronage system put nonorganized candidates and their supporters at an illegal and unconstitutional disadvantage. Politicians could hire, fire, promote, transfer—in essence, punish—employees for not supporting the system, or more particularly, a certain politician. The suit also argued that political patronage wasted taxpayer money because public employees, while at work, would often be forced to campaign for political candidates.

In 1972, after an exhaustive court procedure and much negotiating, the parties reached an agreement prohibiting politically motivated firings, demotions, transfers, or other punishment of government employees. A 1979 ruling led to a court order in 1983 that made it unlawful to take any political factor into account in hiring public employees (with exceptions for positions such as policy making). Those decisions along with companion consent judgments—collectively called the Shakman decrees—are binding on more than 40 city and statewide offices.

Roger R. Fross

Now that's historical, Roger - you were co-counsel on the Shakman case and yet you do the that patented Movie Preview "ONE MAN" in your opening sentence! Que Hombre!
More than One Man, Rog - as you make two and two makes a . . .conspiracy? No, an enterprise.

Roger Fross has extensive experience handling mergers and acquisitions, financings, business successions, and general corporate matters for privately-held firms, not-for-profits and high net-worth owners.

He approaches estate planning from a business planning perspective whether it is dealing with the personal and generational issues of business succession or the dollars and cents’ objectives of minimizing wealth transfers.

Mr. Fross’ clients cut across many segments of American industry and are geographically dispersed throughout the United States. He has worked with numerous individuals and companies on their capital-raising, disclosure, compliance, and securities matters. Much of Mr. Fross’ work has addressed the day-to-day concerns of corporate ownership, such as customer, supplier, and distributor arrangements; key employee contractual and compensation matters; licensing of property rights; joint ventures and ownership succession and wealth-transfer strategies for privately owned businesses.

His experience also includes representing marine transportation companies in financing and operating matters, insurance companies in capital-raising transactions, and community banks with acquisition, regulatory, and Community Reinvestment Act problems. He has also been active in the demutualization of insurance companies and representation of nonprofit organizations.
Mr. Fross serves on many boards of directors and committees, including The Joyce Foundation, the Chicago Metro History Fair, and the Southeast Chicago Commission. In addition, for more than 30 years, Mr. Fross has participated with co-counsel in the landmark anti-patronage case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Shakman v. Democratic Party, et al. He is listed in Who’s Who in America.

Mr. Fross served as managing partner of the Firm from 1981 to 1987, and has served four terms on the firm’s executive committee.

Education
J.D., University of Chicago Law School, 1965

B.A., Mathematics and Physics, De Pauw University, 1962
Gold Key, Rector Scholar

Talk about cozy insidered, Roger and Michael. You boys must have known one another and that's Anti-Shakman . . .well, now.

The Shakman Decree ham-strings good government services and opens the public troughs to real cretins, feebs, dummies and crooks.

Here's the deal -

1.Good people can not be hired to serve Cook County and Chicago government if they are in any way related, familiar with, hold a nodding acquaintance or brushed up against the hiring boss at church, thanks to Michael Shakman.

Shakman is a straw dog. It is a phony dodge that kills political organization and the precinct and Ward levels.

The intent of Shakman was the goof could not get himself elected to CON_CON in 1969 and was percieved by the outsiders who wanted to get inside as a means of power.

Take it to the streets? Hell, no take it to a Judge. Courts gave us Shakman - not a vote.

Our Shakman monitors help the Chicago Media tell us who received . . .gasp! . . .Overtime! Everytime stories appear about how much some poor slob is paid and who put in a seventy-hour week and finds that he is portrayed as Todd Stroger's boot-black, you can bet that Shakman Industries - Monitors, Goo-Goo Clusternuts, Media darlings and sharp University of Chicago trained activist lawyers are amassing more power to prevent good government services.

My precinct captain, my Ward Committeeman knows my neighbors and their needs. Michael Shakman? Noelle Brennan? Roger Fross? I don't think so.
Instead Shakman Industres has become the clearing house -paid mightily don't you know-for political hiring and outsources to Public service unions (SEIU & etc.).

Ain't that nice! Oh, Tut! They'll protest - "we only monitor!" Now, I know that common sense is a stretch, but let's try this.

Look Goo-Goos -People who worked more hours than they are normally asked to work get OVERTIME! News Flash?

If a Metra cop is told that due to cut-backs, he must work more hours -OVERTIME

If a Streets and Santitation Snow Plow Driver is told by Tom Skilling that a blizzard will last 48 hours -OVERTIME!

Who hired the Shakman Monitors? Who's their clout? Why can't my alcoholic, half-wit, and larcenous pals get jobs with Shakman?

Why is the Shakman Machine doing all the hiring? Who pays Shakman? I do.

But after five years under the shackles of a federal hiring monitor, aldermen said Thursday they no longer have a dog in this fight.

“We can't touch hiring. [Daley] can't touch hiring. [Monitor] Noelle Brennan does the hiring, so what do we care?” said Ald. Tom Allen (38th).

Sun Times, June 24, 2010.


Shakman Decrees and all of their nepotism and in-bred pay-to-play looters of the tax-payers need to go!

Click my post title and monitor YOUR Cook County Shakman Monitors!!!

James 'Popeye' Durkin - 'IllinEYE Can't Stan's Na 'More!'

"I think it would be in the best interest of the state if he resigned because I don't think the state can stand this anymore.'' -- Illinois state Rep. Jim Durkin on Sen. Roland Burris.


Pencil -Neck Wit Eric Zorn is huffing out the Progressive Response - Ban the word 'Goo-Goo' as it makes fun of Progressive Good Government. Whenever there is a problem, the hysterical always have the solution at hand that requires someone else to do something. 'Somebody Do Something!' Eric Zorn offers that Everyone stops/stop saying Goo-goo and Good Government will happen! 'Like Unicorn Dust Showered on our Dandy Dell it will be so! Yes. Yes.' ( finger-tips touching ever so delicately)

Eric, Goo-goo is a word that makes fun of the hysterical.

Eric it is meant to do just that.

“Goo-goo,” as you may know, is a derisive term for advocates of reform. The New York Sun coined it in 1890s as a back of the hand to Good Government Clubs in New York City. Teddy Roosevelt picked it up and was quoted as referring to “those prize idiots, the goo-goos.”

It works well as a slur because the mash-up of the first letters in “good” and “government” is reminiscent both of “goody-goody”—a term for an insufferably well-behaved person—and of the gurgling sound made by infants.

Infants are naïve, trusting and innocent. Cynics apply these same adjectives to those who believe we can reduce graft, fraud, waste, patronage and nepotism in government.

Good Government is Ironic - in that, often, the very worst human beings want to improve government.

'When I see a Reformer, I hold on to my hat and put both hands into my pockets!'

'Kids, that's a Reformer - he'll steal your worst fears.'

Reform comes not from Committee Fiat by the labors of strong people - Illinois Rep. James Durkin is a fine example.

He is a quiet, 'who's he' kind of elected official - like Mary Flowers, Jackie Collins,Ed Maloney and Kevin Joyce among Democrats and Sandy Cole, Sue Bassi, Dan Cronin, Tom Cross across the aisle.

Jim Durkin nailed Roland Burris for allowing his ego to get the better of him by accepting Blago's lure of Senatorial Office. Too bad for Mr. Burris - instead of lasting fame as an effective and honest public servant, he will be treated to eternal scorn, laughter and ignominy as a stooge.

Jim Durkin, like Popeye, spinach-ed up and took a swing for Illinois. It was a knock-out punch.

Eric Zorn is marshaling the forces of napkin scorn to 'do away with another hurtful and nasty old word.'

Give me Popeye over Freddie Bartholomew, or Caspar Milquetoast any day. Goo-Goo. That Kills me.