Hizzoner Unveils New Chicago Beer

"Mmmm," sez Da Mare. "TIIIIIF."

From the Sun-Times:

Mayoral hopefuls riff on TIFs

BY CHERYL V. JACKSON cjackson@suntimes.com Dec 17, 2010


Five mayoral candidates seeking to make the grade with Chicago teachers discussed education leadership and funding Thursday night.

All agreed for transparency in tax-increment financing (TIF), which diverts property tax dollars from designated districts to boost development in blighted areas.

But some areas not considered hard up for business have gained the designation, and when those tax dollars are diverted, other entities pick up the slack, some noted.

William “Dock” Walls suggested sunsetting TIF status in districts that are not truly blighted.

“We’re all saying the same thing,” City Clerk Miguel del Valle said at Operating Engineers Hall, 2260 S. Grove. “The question is what’s going to happen after April 5? What are we going to do to make sure that never again will a TIF be awarded to an area that’s not blighted?”

State Sen. James Meeks called on his fellow candidates to be more assertive in challenging the TIFs, a favorite of Mayor Daley. “If we all agree, we should all start saying it,” he said.

Radio show host Cliff Kelley moderated the event — sponsored by Cook County Teachers Union Local 1600, international Union of Operating Engineers Local 143, SUIE Local 73 and Access Living--where educational resources was a major concern.

“The money is there. It’s just a matter of prioritizing,” former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun said
...

See, Chicago is broke and...except it's not.

Chicago is running huge deficits and facing the possibility of bankruptcy...

Thinking the unthinkable: Bankruptcy in Chicago

Himself, Mayor Richard M. Daley, was the one who brought up the unthinkable: Bankruptcy.

Financial ruin. Fiscal discipline of the unknown kind. Sacrifice. Pain. Disgrace. Creditors lined up, fighting over whatever scraps are left. Favored contractors left holding the bag. This, Daley was suggesting, is what the spreading government financial crises could come to.

Bankruptcy, he had first suggested, might be the easiest way to fix the city's starving pension funds. But the consequences apparently dawned on him and he quickly backed off. Just pointing out, he said, what could happen if we don't face reality.

Maybe, though, his first thought was right. Bankruptcy would be a reality if Chicago, the state and its subdivisions that are stiffing their creditors for billions were private businesses. More than likely, their creditors would already have forced them into bankruptcy, and they'd be reorganizing or liquidating their assets.
...

...while its TIF accounts groan under the weight of the tax revenues with which they've been stuffed for the last 20 years.

Chicago is looking down the barrel of service cuts and layoffs worse than anything anyone has ever seen...except it's sitting on a billion dollars.

In Chicago-ese, this is Hizzoner's way of saying-without-saying that no matter how much mud gets splashed, though the Heavens may fall, if you're in The Club

we've got a little sumptin set aside for you, so don't freak out and go doin nothin' stupid.

"TIF Beer," Da Mare chuckled before departing for a restful Christmas far, far away from the cares and woes of the crippled city he will be leaving behind. "Dere's plenty of it...if you know da right people."