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* Matt Paprocki with the Illinois Policy Institute writing in the Daily Herald…
If lawmakers want transit to thrive, they should focus on safety, reliability and efficiency, including increasing police presence on public transit, consolidating duplicate roles across agencies, cutting wasteful spending and enforcing on-time and on-budget capital projects, and aligning service with demand. They also could encourage denser housing development and upzoning near transit to grow riders.
Um, he just basically described the mass transit bill. And there’s no way to finish the job without providing more revenue, which he of course rejects.
* Star:Line Chicago responds…
I dunno, maybe newspapers should vet their op-ed submissions a bit more?
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 10:05 am
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Couldn’t agree more on papers vetting their submission better.
Comment by ;) Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 10:08 am
Gross intelectual dishonesty. That should be IPI’s tag line.
Comment by King Louis XVI Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 10:17 am
A great illustration of how ideologues, especially on the right, exploit democratic freedoms to undermine democracy.
If we asked the DH why they publish rubbish like this, they’d say “freedom of speech” and “marketplace of ideas.” Critics can respond and they’ll publish them, too.
(Also the case that they’ll take any free content to save money, given the ongoing decline of newspapers. And, while it’s true people want reliable information, it’s sadly also true that many are not willing to pay for it.)
But, that is a hopelessly naive and idealistic perspective. It also ignores decades of research about how lies and propaganda work.
Misinformation and disinformation is corrosive, it causes real harm. Newspapers that rely on democracy to exist should not be in the business of spreading rot.
Comment by Moe Berg Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 10:26 am
I believe IPI were big defenders of the Bruce Rauner Turnaround Agenda - short-term pain will lead to long-term success
Credit downgrades, social service net destroyed, etc, etc.
Comment by Frida's Boss Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 10:38 am
It always amazes me how many people insist that there should be more/better transit service before transit funding is increased. Do they honestly think the transit boards are sitting on a funding source they aren’t using?
Comment by Just Me 2 Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 10:39 am
== no way to finish the job without providing more revenue, which he of course rejects==
It’s the IPI. I suspect if you asked him he would say take away pensions and health insurance from state employees to fund it.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 10:41 am
“I dunno, maybe newspapers should vet their op-ed submissions a bit more?”
Are you implying this is some kind of new phenomenon? The op-ed page has always been the place you go to for uninformed opinions from people or groups the publisher likes.
Newspapers shouldn’t have op-ed pages at all, they lack the intellectual capacity to make them worthwhile.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 11:03 am
Sorry, that ship has sailed.
Comment by Walker Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 11:09 am
IPI (and most/all right leaning ‘think tanks’) are not serious people.
That being said, I’ll give them a tiny itty bitty crumb of credit for coming around on upzoning.
Comment by Homebody Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 11:17 am
As an observer that fights every day to stay moderate in this climate, it’s not moderate to always think more money, and more bureaucracy, is the solution.
I’m sure there are fantastic ideas being floated how to accomplish that list without too many structural changes, sans unexpected maintenance costs.
Comment by 40,000 ft Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 11:19 am
I honestly thought the Illinois Policy Institute closed its doors.
Comment by Scoot Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 11:26 am
No way to finish job without more revenue
That is the Illinois Democratic Party in a nut shell
Comment by Harrison Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 11:30 am
=That is the Illinois Democratic Party in a nut shell=
No way to have rights or feed your family.
The ILGOP in a nutshell.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 12:08 pm
Lost in the noise on this is the fact that the CTA was paying people to stay home and not work; according to various IG reports published on this blog. The solution of “more revenue” is what gets tapped after you cut the waste, fraud and abuse. Make some reasonable efforts to cut the waste and then go look for more revenue. Gotta lay out a plan to clean up the mess, identify where existing expenses can be cleaned up, provide some better oversight, then come with a reasonable request for revenue. The CTA/METRA/RTA has handled this entire issue by mistaking the guide for “What Not To Do” for an instruction manual. Frankly, I think any bill should require new leadership across the board in all agencies. Better the risk of new, different idiots than the surety of the current fools.
Comment by Just Another Anon Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 12:11 pm
The Governor in the past week said the best way to get more revenue is to grow the economy. That is preferable to tax hikes or budget cuts.
What proposals are on the table to incentivize that during the veto session?
Sounds like there are plenty of tax hikes coming, not too many budget cuts and zero pro business legislation.
Comment by Harrison Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 12:14 pm
legislation was proposed before the CTA decided to get with reality and talk about fare increases. bottom lining the projected difference between fares expected and total revenue needed will help all dialogue. and please, stop talking raises….that happened through the years as NO fare increases happened. idiotic.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 12:40 pm