David Zirin is The Nation’s sports editor. He writes about Chicago’s bid in his September 22 column: Recently Barack Obama criticized planned protests at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh because, as he knew from his Chicago days, “focusing on concrete, local, immediate issues that have an impact on people’s lives is what really makes a …
As reported in today’s Crain’s Chicago Business: Mayor Richard M. Daley and Patrick Ryan assure Chicago taxpayers that a safety net of insurance would insulate them from the financial risks of hosting the 2016 Olympics. But the insurance policies Mr. Ryan says he’ll secure would cover only about $1.1 billion of the $3.8-billion operating budget …
From an essay by Steve Bartin in Newgeography.com: Most American cities chose not to bid on the 2016 summer Olympics and with good reason. With the exception of the 1984 Los Angeles games, the Olympics has proved a big time money loser in city after city. More often than not, it has been staged more …
Jay Stone is the son of Alderman Bernie Stone of the 50th Ward. Jay has created a web site, No Chicago Games, that outlines Chicago’s long history of political corruption. He makes the case that President Obama should NOT endorse or support Mayor Daley in his fanatic quest to host the 2016 Olympics. The Top …
The CTA is now airing promotional spots for the 2016 bid on our buses! To complain, call them at 312-664-7200 press 2, then press 4. We called and the customer service representative told us that these new promos started yesterday and were paid for by the 2016 Committee. In response to the question “Is this …
So the City Council is set to sign the Mayor’s 2016 blank check and will give oversight of our taxes for the games to Alderman Ed Burke, Chairman of the City Council Finance Committee. This clearly won’t work for Chicago’s taxpayers. The Alderman has so many conflict of interests representing firms that do business with …
As reported online by the Chicago Sun-Times: The City Council’s Finance Committee today set the stage to remove the single-biggest impediment to Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid — by authorizing Mayor Daley to sign a host-city contract that amounts to an open-ended guarantee from Chicago taxpayers. Chicago’s reluctance to match the blank-check promise to cover Olympic …
Patrick Kissane of Chi-Town Daily News thinks that public subsidies of for-profit sports stadiums are rip offs. And he thinks the 2016 Olympics would be one, too… We live in a truly Orwellian place called Chicago. Guided by the mayor and the local Olympic boosters, we are being sold tripe about the economic benefits to …
Mindful Metropolis’s Jacob Wheeler reviews the Olympic possibilities in the September issue: Will Chicago’s bid for the 2016 games adorn the Windy City in beautiful rings or lock it in handcuffs? Imagine two glorious weeks of summer when the entire world comes to nearby Chicago — which is our local city, judging by the number …