CTA Tattler

Where was Daley two, three years ago when any half-interested idiot could see the trouble the RTA was in? Now he gets to pretend he really cares about transit.

Why Chicago keeps electing these self-interested morons is beyond me. By the way, where are all the aldermen on this now? Paging Moore.

It's interesting that in Hilkevitch's column that Blago-Blago is unwilling to pass this collar county tax rise b/c he believes it will affect downstaters.

Now I'm not trying to create an us vs. them situation, but I'm sure that if you break down the IL state taxes you'll find that some of the $$$ you pay out every year go to farm subsidies. And I'm okay with that. As long as they put some $$$ on the table for my train ride...

I guess the state and the country are doing what they do best, waiting until something goes horribly wrong and people get hurt to do anything about it.

Eventually something is going to go very wrong on this system if we keep this debauchery up.

tome75, you're dead on. Mayor Daley only woke up from his slumber when he realized his precious Olympic bid might be threatened. And he's still far too inactive on this issue, if you ask me. He should be out there day and night screaming bloody murder. I'll be curious to hear what he has to say--and how he says it--at the rally this morning.

How'd the rally go? Did we win?

Cliff,

I live downstate and I basically agree with what you have to say. The main/only reason I look at this blog is because my wife lived in Chicago for schooling for a while and I would commute up every weekend, but I'm glad that I do because it keeps me connected with things like this, and also I will likely be moving back up that way when I resume schooling as well. I guess my only disagreement or, I guess, gripe with the words used was to kind of generalize that transit is the main concern of Chicago and farming is the main concern of downstate Illinois. I know, like you said, you aren't trying to create an us vs. them and I am not taking what you said in a bad way, but there is definitely much more to downstate Illinois than farming.

Unfortunately though, although like I said, I know you weren't trying to be a dick or anything, it's a big difference down here. When people from down here talk about Chicago they talk about it as if it is some hell-hole where everything is horrible and you'll get murdered for walking on a street at night. Obviously, things couldn't be more from the truth.

To end my kind of pointless comment back to you, I think the state should give the RTA/CTA the damn money they need; I think it is complete B.S. for them to be jerking around not only the company/corporation/organization of the RTA/CTA but basically jerking around the residents of the City of Chicago and surrounding communities that rely on the transit system every day. The problem is peoples' ignorance for things they do not know/have not encountered, and unfortunately a lot of downstate has this fear of Chicago/Chicagoland.

I went to the rally. All the big players were there, Daley, Hamos, Madigan, many others. The stage was filled with elected officials, suburban mayors, alderman, etc. More than one person claimed that they will vote on Senate Bill 572 next Tuesday. They also urged us this week more than ever to call, email all our elected officials and especially someone try to get through to the governor and urge him to end his veto threat. However, it was pointed out the same majority to pass the pass is needed to override a veto, if necessary.

Joe Blow, the real issue isn't whether downstaters are farmers or Chicagoans are criminals, etc. The issue is that Cook County and a few surrounding counties are paying taxes for roads, airports, bridges, schools, and other facilities that disproportionately benefit downstaters per capita. This wouldn't even bother me, except when Chicago/Cook County want a little of their taxes to go to public transportation and OUR infrasctructure, schools, etc., a cabal of downstate and suburban pols start talking about "bailouts" and "rescues" like giving us back some of our money calls for them to be some kind of heroic charity.

Have you ever heard anybody talk about "bailouts" for the I55 or I80 endless money pits? Or the Prairie Parkway that added so much to Denny Hastert's ill-gotten fortune? What we need is just a little equity and some new thinking. Probably the only way we'd get that would be for Cook and Lake County to just quit paying taxes to Illinois. I personally hope it comes to that.

Adam, I had to miss the rally. Thanks for showing up. How many people do you think were there? Did anybody but the culprits get to talk?

So, uh...did we sock it to them criminals then?

Tome75 and Triplecynic: It doesn't matter to Daley. He is coated with enough Teflon to have made Reagan jealous. The public will look past his years of transit indifference and remember only the fiery 12th hour speech he gave at the rally today. I wish our dimwitted mayor would show this much passion for the CTA when he is not in front of cameras.

just lettin Davey know, although he kind of misinterpretted/took my message a bit too far, that the on these comments, the person who posted the message is directly below the message, not above. For future reference.

I think it's stunning that the mayor did not figure out the situation earlier. The defining moment ought to have been when London almost got kicked out of the 2012 bidding process for having transport problems that, frankly, are significantly less serious than Chicago's. That was three years ago. Of course, during the following 12 months, we all know what happened. But if Chicago is to have any chance of mounting that kind of a recovery, we cannot wait until the IOC winnows down candidate cities -- because we WILL get kicked out with the way things are now.

Everywhere you look it's falling apart. Train cars that are like riding jackhammers because of the un-machined wheels. New buses with broken springs. The neglect is unbelievable. We've got so much to do simply to get to the starting line on expansion.

Adam,
You're absolutely right. My generalization of downstate Illinois was overly sweeping and very incorrect. This transit issue is one of those that polarizes us in the wrong ways.

I'm glad to see that there are plenty of folks from outside the city limits chiming in on this issue. It means that our leaders like Hamos, Huberman and Hizzoner have to make strong, well-stated arguments that make Springfield aware that this problem is not Chicago's alone.

The hilarious thing to me is that suddenly Rod Blagojevich is pretending to care about people downstate. A relatively small amount of money is indeed taken from the state's general fund as a match for transit funding in Northeastern Illinois. However, a large percentage of that money was generated in Northeastern Illinois through various taxes here. The cost to people outside the RTA service area is really pretty small.

If Rod wants to suddenly pinch pennies, maybe he should stop buying flu shots as a knee jerk reaction to a media-created flu epidemic; or stop pledging $100,000 to rebuilding a south side church that burned. Or maybe he could stop flying back and forth to Springfield daily at a taxpayer expense of nearly $6000 a day. How about an emergency review of all bridges in the state after the Minneapolis incident, despite a surprisingly solid inspection program already in place. It's amazing to me how he has no issue with blowing the state's limited funds, and now he wants to pinch pennies.

Patrick,
I'm surprised that you're surprised. After all, Blago-Blago is the guy who had State Troopers on duty to transport and protect his hairbrush!

Cliff, I never said I was surprised- believe me- suprise is the last thing his behavior evokes in me at this point!

I was just in London a few weeks ago riding around in the Tube. If Chicago has to catch up to London in the public transportation department before we get the Olympics, sorry to say, the Olympics are never going to happen here.

They even have signs on the platform in London telling you in how many minutes the next train is coming. And the train cars are actually carpeted. In Chicago, the carpet would have to be replaced every night because people here are just too gross.

WHAT A JOKE! Mr."Oh I'll speak up at the LAST FRIGGIN' MINUTE" Daley and his cronies could give a RATZ AZZ about the PUBLIC, we are just MONEY to them,and NOTHING MORE. If he REALLY gave a sheiss , he would have held this rally (POLS POSING FOR THE CAMERA SHOW), ALOT sooner. As for the Olympics... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.......HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA........HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - who do they THINK they're effin' kidding??!! This is a WORLD CLASS CITY , with a Third World Transit System, that,had ANYONE put forth the effort and FORESIGHT (like BURNHAM had...) 20-25 years ago, WHEN THE LAND WAS STILL VERY CHEAP, to TOTALLY rebuild the CTA Train System (as well as Bus Operations), from the GROUND UP, we would NOT be dealing with the current state of dilapidation and sewer like conditions of the sub-surface lines and the 'Patch-It Before It FALLS Down' (the VERY expensive 2007 version ) station re-builds. The CTA cuts will damage this city FAR WORSE than the $110 million price tag currently being thrown about. Just the FARES losses ALONE are reason alone for SOMEBODY to pony up and CUT THE BULLSHIT! We Are NOT your political HOSTAGES, so STOP acting like we are, YOU POMPOUS ASSES.