No Games Refutes Absurd 2016 Bid Ratings
No Games went on NBC News to refute the claim by aroundtherings.com that Chicago’s bid for the 2016 is on top.
Category: Cost
2016 Committee Drops $480k on Lobbyists
As reported in the Chicago Tribune: As Chicago awaits judgment of international Olympics evaluators, the city’s bid committee has been hard at work in Washington lining up White House backing and employing a well-connected lobbying firm to lay the groundwork for shaking loose federal dollars in the event the 2016 Summer Games come to northern …
Parking Meter Deal Lost City AT LEAST $974 Million
The City of Chicago’s Inspector General, David Hoffman, today released a critical review of the parking meter deal and concluded that the deal was under-valued by at least $974 million! The report finds that if the City were to keep control of the parking-meter system and operate it under the same terms as the private …
WHOOPS! London Olympic Village Now TOTALLY on the Back of Taxpayers
You can always trust the government when they tell you that the Olympics will entirely funded by private investment and that the tax payers will not be soaked for the private five-ring party, right? Well the 2012 London summer games just made a big WHOOPS! -as reported on Regen Daily: The 2012 Olympic Village development …
Olympic Village May Require Up To $400 Million Of YOUR Money
Crain’s Real Estate News reports the results of a meeting at The Chicago School of Real Estate at Roosevelt University that covered the proposed 2016 Olympic Village. This project is estimated to cost $1 billion (we think that is a grossly UNDER estimated number) and will be placed on the site of Michael Reese Hospital, …
Public Schools Face $475 Million Deficit, City an Additional $300 Million
As reported in Catalyst, which covers Chicago’s education scene… With a looming $475 million deficit, central office is abuzz with rumors of impending layoffs this month. Today, a CPS spokeswoman confirms that layoffs are “anticipated,” but declined to say when they would occur. Such steps are in line with what is happening at City Hall, …
High School Students Ask More Questions Than Chicago’s So-Called Watch Dog Groups
A member of the No Games Chicago Coalition visited a public high school history class on Thursday, April 30. The students were studying the Olympic bid process. They had one large, over-arching question: “What will be the impact of the Olympic Games on the poor, working class and people of color?” Here is the complete …
London Olympic Excesses a Preview of Things to Come
Simon Jenkins writes in the London Guardian, ” Any fool can raise a tax. But it takes a gutless one to splurge it on this stuff. Austerity vanishes when it comes to the prestige projects saddled on Britain. Ministers fear the IOC more than the IMF.” He writes at the witless and seemingly endless river …
Chicago Broke But Finds $86 Million to Buy Hospital and Tear It Down
The New York Times reports today that although the city is $300 million in the red, it is proceeding with plans to purchase the Michael Reese Hospital site and tear it down for the Olympic Village. Just weeks after inspectors with the International Olympic Committee visited here as part of a bid for the 2016 …
Tribune Reports Olympic Claims of Benefit Just Another Soap Bubble
Steve Chapman reports online the results of a recent economic study by scholars from the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. These authors confirm what No Games has said from the beginning, namely that grandiose claims of economic benefits from producing the Olympics is just another soap bubble …