Next time you complain about the government, remember this

Saw this one Second City Cop about a fella who decided to punch a police horse during Lollapalooza.  Hahaha, what an idiot, insert cheap dumb joke here, blah blah blah.

But as Second City Cop points out things get a little interesting:

"So, a citizen of Mexico without a local address? Illegal? Oh wait, we can't ask that. Never mind."

The Chicago Public Schools face the same problem (really any major public institution in this country faces this problem) -- in fact it becomes a major headache for CPS because it makes identifying and labeling students extremely difficult.  Why?  Because CPS can't use Social Security numbers to register students.  That's the stupidest thing you've ever heard you say... why don't they?  Because public education is available and accessible to all young people in this country no matter what their situation may be.  Since a students Social Security number can't be used to check if they're in the system, CPS (again, all large public schools) faces problems with duplicates in the system, especially at the early school year levels (K, 1, 2, etc). This makes streamlining information and data all that more difficult -- and part of the reason why everyone thinks CPS can't get their act together.  Too many people -- from coordinators to administrators to data analysis -- spend too much time tracking down data on students or making sure they do not have duplicates in their files.  

No matter where you stand on the illegal immigration issue, it's little policies or regulations like this that slip though the cracks of media coverage and seem like they don't matter, but have a huge fall out.  I have no clue how many hours CPS or the police department loses per year chasing down information like this but it's a lot.  And that's a lot of tax dollars and creates huge inefficiencies in the all public departments.  So when a bleeding heart liberal says that everyone has a right to public education -- no matter where they're from if they walk though that door, they should receive an education -- I hope they don't complain about the red tape at these public institutions.  I'm sure CPS or CPD administrators could spend their time much more productively if they could, you know, ask for a Social Security number.

Next time your complaining about whatever public department or government agency, remember that part of the reason they're so slow or so bad at their jobs is because of the regulations put in place to protect everyone -- you, your friends, even the illegal immigrant.

Crime Crisis Averted... back to the Olympics! UPDATE

UPDATE 10amish 8/12 -- HOLY FUCKING SHIT -- They released the guy they arrested. So back to lock down on the North Shore! Forget about the Olympics, forget about covering the Olympics, forget even thinking we're going to get the Olympics, there are white people getting mugged on the North Side! And the Cubs played last night on top of it! How is the city going survive this crime wave on the North Side?!?!?! Whatever you do, do not read any of this.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Phew, the city can go back to Full Olympic Mode! The North Side Mugger has been caught! White people are once again safe! Back to the Olympics!

I was getting worried that white people here in Chicago were going to start paying attention to crime! But, Daley and company can breath a sigh of relief... North Side Lakefront whites won't be focusing on crime any time soon now that they won't be mugged again for a few more months. So let's get back to focusing on getting the Olympics and Clout!

Meanwhile, for those who are a tad more interested in the fate of Chicago (and the country)... read this tragic story. Seems like there is one of these every month, at least, here in Chicago. But as they said in the Season Five of the Wire: Wrong Zip Code.

Now We're Talking

Wow, nice find by the Trib this morning... this is more like it, I like it.

The Trib is connecting the dots and just tied Michael Scott, Daley (aka Shortshanks if you're a Second City Cop reader (and you should be))... where was I... oh yes, Michael Scott, Daley ally and President of the Chicago Public School Board, has some prime real estate that he'll be able to develop if/when Chicago (sadly) gets the Olympics. Scott of course says he's done nothing wrong. And I guess he's sort of right this being Chicago at all... but let's face it, this stinks of graft.

This Scott story comes just a day after it's been alleged that people close to him were able to get their kid into one of CPS' selective enrollment high schools though back channels. The kid later pulled out after CPS started asking questions... but you've got to wonder now how much longer Scott will be around City Hall and CPS.

Oh wait, this is Chicago. It's the city that works! Yuppie whites will smile and shrug and say, "Hey, it's Chicago, this stuff is supposed to happen" and tell everyone that they think it's cute. This is a city were alderman, like say, Ed Burke (one of the biggest Hacks to ever walk these city streets) should be able to redo his office with taxpayer money right now even though thousands of city employees are getting laid off.

This Scott and Olympic story should come as no surprise. It's just the first. And it wouldn't shock me if someone either at CPS or City Hall tipped off the Tribune on this one (this is so far out of left field that I sort of have to believe the Trib got help on this one considering it's been a five alarm fire drill in the Tower for the last year). Anyway, if you're cool with stories like these, then sure, keep rooting for the Olympics. The corruption will be off the charts. But if you don't want you tax money to be going to the likes of Michael Scott, then it's time to call your alderman and tell them to vote down the Olympic money.

Trib Website Redesign

Kudos to the Chicago Tribune for its new website design.  I know, I know, it's 2009 and their site now feels very 2004 -- but what they launched last night is about the price for war in Iraq (a.k.a. $3 trillion) times better than what they had yesterday.  So let's all raise our coffee mugs to the Trib this morning and welcome them to the 21st century!

Now on to much more important things... CLOUT!  The story that won't go away and is past the point of anyone caring is the Trib's main story which sets a new record for "Most Consecutive Days a Newspaper Carries a Story that No One is Talking About" at 162 days.  Maybe it's just me and my dorky policy friends who aren't talking about it... but the only people that I talk about this story with is other Trib people and how sick they are of the story too.

But hey, in a town were crime is though the roof, the Olympics are about to fleece every resident, and the state is out of money -- Clout should be the #1 story for 162 days.  

It's Not About Jobs, Stupid

Who needs jobs when the Olympics are coming and will solve all of Chicago's problems!

See when you say things like: "Construction of the store would create200 jobs. The store, once it was running, would provide nearly 500jobs" you're totally missing the point of Chicago and the City Council.  The point isn't to create jobs for Chicagoans today because we're talking about hundreds of jobs for Walsh Construction in 2013. See, building a Wal-Mart in Chicago makes too much sense, but of course it will piss off rich, liberal whites who the city needs more than anything else in the world... other than the Olympics of course.

So you're barking up the wrong tree.  We don't need Wal-Mart, we need the Olympics.  Because it will solve everything.  And it won't cost a dime.

Where The New York Times Misses the Boat

Remember way back in February when Obama decided that getting the stimulus done quickly was more important than getting it done efficiently? Remember how it was a flawed bill that no one really liked? Remember how the Republicans in the House all voted against it and how Snowe, Collins, and Specter flipped in the Senate and were the only reason as to why it was passed? Remember all that?

I remember telling people at the time that this was political stupidly by the G.O.P. Obama asked them to be apart of the bill and the G.O.P. leaders got upset because it wasn't what they wanted, so they decided to give America and Obama the middle finger by not voting for the bill... it was only a matter of time before that came back to bite them in the ass.

And that time is now. With Specter deciding that he HAS to be a Senator and thus switching parties, the G.O.P. is panicking. The change in the Senate pretty much means that the Republicans are completely shut out of the political process.

So when I saw yesterday that the New York Times finally figured this out, I was disappointed that it took until page 22. But as the paper points out, there have been a mad dash of Republicans trying to work with and voting for Democratic bills.

Scores of House Republicans joined Democrats in recent days in pushing through measures meant to rein in credit card companies, increase federal resources to pursue financial fraud and crack down on predatory housing lenders — all legislation opposed by top House Republicans. On the credit card and financial fraud bills, only a minority of Republicans ended up opposing them.

This shouldn't come as any surprise because, as I am now repeating myself, the G.O.P. is currently shut out of the law making process. If they don't work with the Democrats, then they'll get nothing. In other words, they don't bring back the bacon to their home districts. No bacon, no reelection. No reelection, no job...

But here is where the article gets it all wrong:

Democrats say the fracturing suggests that rank-and-file Republicans are growing nervous about their leadership’s near-blanket opposition to the agenda that Congressional Democrats and President Obama are pursuing, particularly on measures that have obvious popular appeal.

They aren't nervous about opposition to Obama, they're nervous about their jobs.

This is where the media really drops the ball, why not tell us that the reason why Republicans are working with Democrats is because if they don't... they get nothing. They HAVE to work with the Dems if they want to stay on the Hill.

There is not a breakdown of Republican unity on the Hill. And to write that there is a problem within the party is lazy and anti-intellectual.

And yet another reason why newspapers are dying.

David Souter: Kicking A Party When It's Down (Even Though It Doesn't Change Anything)

Republicans never liked David Souter and they probably hate him now. He's stepping down (yeah old news) which means Obama gets to name a Supreme Court justice some time this summer. I'm not going to guess who it's going to be because...

It doesn't matter.

I mean it matters, but it doesn't matter. Souter was a liberal justice (despite being appointed by George H.W. Bush) and the way the Court is currently constructed his leaving probably won't change anything. Obama will appoint another liberal justice who may or may not be further to the left of John Paul Stevens.

So while the media writes stories in the past tense about Souter, his retirement does not change much of anything. Unless Obama's pick to replace Souter is to the right of Justice Kennedy (and let's face it, the Cubs have a better shot at winning the World Series), the Supreme Court will continue to look much like it does now. Only the names behind one of the votes will change.

Right now, the most 'important' member of the Court is Justice Kennedy who is currently the median voter. He is the swing vote. Justices Stevens, Ginsberg, Souter, and Breyer are liberals. Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas are conservatives. In a controversial case, things pretty much always work out that way, it is 4 to 4 and Justice Kennedy comes in and casts the deciding vote. Souter leaving doesn't change the math.

So what really matters on the Court is when/if Scalia or Kennedy decides to retire (they are 73 and 72 respectively). If one (or both) retire when Obama is President, the the nature of the court changes.

The most recent shift in the Court was back in 2005 when Justice O'Connor retired. She had been the swing vote. When Alito/Roberts replaced her (remember Cheif Justice Rehnquist died after O'Connor announced her retirement) the Court did take a step to the right as Kennedy then became the swing vote. Here is an old (for blogs) post on that shows that and touches on how the court was going to change after O'Connor's retirement.

[I should note that being the median voter on the Supreme Court makes you one of the more important and powerful persons in the United States. While, Kennedy probably leans to the right, he votes with the liberal justices enough to prevent total conservative domination on the Court.]

While it's fun to write really crappy articles/posts about who will replace Souter, the fact is, it doesn't REALLY matter. It's a fun Beltway story to talk about over a gin-fizz. Whomever replaces Souter will most likely be young, much like Roberts and Alito (and Thomas), to give the Court a Baby Boomer liberal voice. He/she will probably be to the left of Breyer and maybe Stevens and Ginsberg, (which then puts Breyer in position to be the median voter if Kennedy or Scalia retire). However, other than that, don't expect the Court to change all that much in the short term.