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Stroger wants to cut the county’s sales tax rate from 1.75 percent to 1.50 percent, according to a statement issued by his office.

In the statement, Stroger said the county can afford the cut because it is getting more money from President Barack Obama’s stimulus package and additional state health care funding.

* StreetWise to Close? Non-Profit Magazine Faces Budget Crunch

* StreetWise on the ropes, council panel to hear

* Brill, Crovitz, Hindery Launch E-Commerce Venture For News Business

* ESPN looks to own Chicago

* More Layoffs In Chicago Area

* Local job market not all doom, gloom

* Mixed Income Homebuyers Offered $15,000 by CHA

The housing slump is forcing developers in some of Chicago Housing Authority’s mixed-income neighborhoods to get creative.

* Grieving widow? No insurance for you

* Shimkus Repeats False Claim About Cap-And-Trade “Tax”

* Shimkus at Citizens Club

* Shimkus, Schock criticize Obama’s economic plan

* County board gets key, but unknown, new member

* Not many sign on to city’s water meter plan

Mayor Daley’s plan to entice homeowners along Chicago’s Bungalow Belt to make the switch to water meters — instead of paying a flat fee for unlimited use — is off to a slow start: Only a trickle of homeowners have volunteered.

Water Management spokesman Tom LaPorte refused to reveal the precise numbers. But, he acknowledged that homeowners are not exactly jumping at a seven-year guarantee that water bills during that period will be no higher than they would otherwise have been when the water spigot was flowing freely for a flat fee.

Other sources described the number of volunteers as embarrassingly low.

* Chicago may trash 3-person garbage crews

* Lawyer wants Burge on stand in Cortez case

* Officer charged with DUI returns to duties

* Sabonjian gets standing ovation from Lake County Board

* Proposal would change building permit pricing

posted by Mike Murray
Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 9:35 am

Comments

Google/Yahoo killed street wise. Damn you, Eric Schmidt.

But seriously, that’s sort of sad. Street Wise was a great program that did some great things.

Comment by dan l Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 10:00 am
The “Shimkus at Citizen’s Club” link must be a sick joke. It is shallow, ignorant, misinformed and embarrassing to read.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 10:07 am
Well, money is fungible. If all this money will be pouring into the state’s school districts from the feds, why does the middle class need an income tax increase. And if Stroger can see his way to reducing the sales tax, why can’t Quinn reduce or eliminate his income tax increase…which falls almost entirely on Illinois’ struggling middle class in its current proposal. We’ll actually spend the extra money, which is what the economy needs right now.

Or will he use the extra cash generated by the stimulus monies to reduce the proposed tax on corporate interests or other favored groups. He certainly doesn’t seem to be interested in making any substantive cuts in state government. And he is obviously terrified of AFSCME.

Amazingly, whatever his past transgressions, Stroger gives the impression of understanding why the feds are doing a stimulus plan. Quinn, equally amazingly given his aspirations for 2010, does not.

Comment by Cassandra Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 10:11 am
Mr. Term Limits is a sick joke. This guy is toast in 2010.

Comment by Bill Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 10:11 am
I dunno, Bill. He kinda fits the district.

(cymbal crash)

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 10:15 am
Elimination of the three-man garbage truck? Is Chicago trying to move into the 1970s? Lot of streets and sans guys will be out looking for health insurance coverage, because their, um, side jobs don’t offer it.

You can only laugh. There’s a great story in Royko’s “Boss,” written in 1972, in which Richard J. explained why when other cities had two-man trucks and were moving to one-man trucks, Chicago still had three-man trucks.

Richard J said, “You need one man to drive the truck, one man to get the cart, and one man to look out for the kids when you back out of the alley.”

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 10:15 am
Shimkus Claims on Cap & Trade: Maybe some journalists need to do a bit more research as well. If carbon dioxide trades at $100/T the electric bills in Illinois will increase by over $160 per month. The monthly outflow of consumer cash would also be increased through the consumption of LP and Natural Gas, Auto Gas, Groceries, etc. How much will soda and beer increase? Reach your own conclusion about the total but don’t fool yourself with carbon dioxide costs being low. Whatever happened to Global Warming anyway? The last 10 years of global temps have been much cooler than the proxy year of 1998. Maybe there is a story there as well.

Comment by Hiker Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 10:22 am
Well said Hiker,

The true cost of the carbon tax is often hidden. While Al Gore predicts environmental catastrophe, maybe someone should truly examine the potential for the true economic effects of a poorly thought out carbon tax and/or a carbon trading system not truly developed of regulated.

Comment by downstate hack Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 10:31 am
Cap & Trade is a tax gimmick fashioned for today’s gullible green idiots.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 10:45 am
Is calling people idiots bashing? You seemed to be concerned about bashing yesterday, VMan, while giving your usual thoughtful, informed, synergistic analysis regarding biology, evolution, history, politics and other disciplines.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:08 am
VanillaMan reminds me of my dog. When I take him for a walk (my dog, not VM), he urinates on every possible tree, hydrant, fence, etc., leaving his scented mark for the rest of the dogs in the neighborhood to enjoy. I call it pee-mail.

I wish I had VM’s free time.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:14 am
Cap and Trade and/or a Carbon Tax are really gimmicks to raise money for the Federal Government and any other government that does it. It is clothed in goo-goo environmental benefits. Costs will be passed on to the utility user — households who might have saved their money or spent it in the private sector.

And a unilateral as opposed to world wide C&T ir Carbon Tax has economic and national security effects.

I yield no no one in my desire to get off the carbon bandwagon, but as long as we do not replace our carbon based energy with nuclear (the small bright pebbles system would be a case in point) wind oiwerm tidal or river based hydro power, solar power and the rest, we are handicapping this nation and making non Kyoto restricted PRC and India ever more attractive manufacturing centers.at the expense of our economy.

Comment by Truthful James Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:16 am
By lowering the County sales tax in response to stimulus revenues and not by cutting waste, Mr. Stroger either expects the stimulus to be permanent or expects to raise it when the stimulus goes away.

This is not sound economic planning, this is political froth.

Comment by Truthful James Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:20 am
LOL! Now Stroger will claim that he rolled back sales tax.

Comment by Stones Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:24 am
By lowering the County sales tax in response to stimulus revenues I’ll wager that Pres. Stroger plans on claiming he “cut” taxes during his run in 2010.

Comment by Lou Grant Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:24 am
Lou Grant - looks like great minds think alike!

Comment by Stones Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:46 am
Seconds apart. We could say it’s a meme. LOL

Comment by Lou Grant Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 12:46 pm