Chicago

Winter has officially come, and children across the country will spend the next few months stuck in classrooms, gazing longingly out the window while they eagerly wait for spring break.

One of the heights of lowness that government cronyism has reached is a company managing to so master the favoritism processes, they get multiple states to simultaneously fill its trough.

John and Donny continue their weekly exploration of think tanks across the country in episode #62 of the In The Tank Podcast. Today’s podcast features work from The Heartland Institute, the Galen Institute, the Illinois Policy Institute, and MacIver Institute.

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel’s administration reached a tentative agreement to avert what would have been the second teachers strike in Chicago in four years.

Why have prices fallen so low? Because government subsidies created a glut – and the market is flooded. This government money warps and distorts the marketplace – as otherwise productively-directed time and effort is instead spent chasing the government coin. Producers produce not what the marketplace needs – but for what the government pays.

In today’s edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, Lennie Jarratt, Heartland Project Manager for Education, and Policy Analyst Tim Benson join host Donny Kendal to talk about a new Policy Brief titled “Saving Chicago Students: Strike Vouchers and SOS Accounts.”

While the vast majority of Americans say that their nation’s not headed in a good direction, there’s a minority that are optimistic about the future. Indeed, author Michael Lotus believes America’s greatest days are yet to come.

In today’s edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, Project Manager for Education Lennie Jarratt and Policy Analyst Tim Benson join Host Donald Kendal to discuss the recently released report by the Inspector General of the Chicago Board of Education. The report showed a disturbing pattern of corruption throughout the system.

Chicago faces a significant and growing public pension problem. Instead of tackling the problem head-on by holding down cost increases, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposes several new or expanded taxes, which he says will slow down the debt growth from the revenue end. Emanuel’s half-billion-dollar property tax hike is getting most of the headlines, but he has also been pushing for taxes on e-cigarettes, ridesharing, and cloud computing.

Chicago is facing an unprecedented budget crisis thanks to a massive increase in pension payments. In order to solve the problem, Chicago’s mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed the largest property tax increase in city history.

Oreos have been for years made in Chicago, Illinois (and several other American cities). Mondelez International, Inc. – the company that delivers us the chocolatey, spherical goodness – announced they would make their next wave of Oreo manufacturing investment not in Chicago, but in Mexico. This move will reduce – not end – Chicago’s role in production. Jobs in the Windy City will be halved – from 1,200 to 600. (Other cities will continue their current roles.)

The Heartland Institute celebrated its Grand Opening on Friday, August 21 and Saturday, August 22 in his new building in the affluent suburb of Arlington Heights on Chicago’s Northwest side at 3939 North Wilke Road. This puts Heartland closer to O’Hare Airport – as well as to supporters and audiences who better align with “Heartland values.”

Americans are less inclined to be fooled again, or to “smile and grin at the change all around”