CTA Tattler

Looks like this is what Daley was waiting for. He's wanted gambling in Chicago for so long, but has been stymied by the state legislature. If he can tie it to saving the CTA (and get those constituents behind him)it becomes a win-win. He will appear to have brought his big city weight to bear on the RTA issues, and he gets the casinos he's wanted for so long.

We don't need a casino. Let's just put slot machines in all of the museums.

how about slot machines at the train stations. You know, something to pass the time during the 3 track hell.

Isn't Huberman just upholding the CTA's slogan on the CC cards.... "On-Time, Clean, Safe, Friendly" There's something to be said about truth in advertising.

Even as a diehard no-limit hold 'em player, I know casinos in the city are a bad idea. Even with the complete lack of corruption that Chicago's model government proudly boasts of. (I actually haven't been to a regional casino, but friends say they're understaffed and a little dismal. So putting more in is a good idea? People don't want to work in them and people don't want to play in them.)

There's plenty of money lying around. There's no need for new taxes and no need for new sources of income. Fix the TIFs, then fix the funding formulas.

Does anyone know if Cook County has the authority to raise sales taxes w/o approval of the legislature? I highly doubt it.

In any case, why should sales taxes be raised when the stores that collect it retain 1.75 percentage points of the tax collected? It raises the effective price of goods in a way that's hidden to the consumer. I bet most people don't realize that not all the tax goes to the government.

On this "loophole" Blago's right and I don't support raising the sales tax when stores keep so much. Being right doesn't necessarily mean much, but it's a start.

That said, I liked SB572 (or whatever) if you got rid of the 1.75% business. And Blago's veto threat wasn't good politics and probably not good government either since I doubt the above loophole will go anywhere.

Actually Daley hasn't been trying to get a casino. As I recall he actually turned down the idea some years ago.

Casinos are a pathetic idea for funding government. They do nothing but shield bad legislators and governors from making real decisions on taxes and spending. So in one sense, Madigan and Blagojevich are right about the House bill, EXCEPT the reason we've gotten to this point is that both of them miserably failed to to do their jobs, along with Jones. As a result the House bill is the best hope we've got for fair funding of infrastructure.

And then it will be time to get rid of the Three Preening Asswipes.

Davey's exactly right- the legislature is doing everything it can to avoid dealing with this issue head on and voting on a sales tax for transit. Get the capital bill taken care of so we can focus on transit. This should not be rocket science.

Has anyone noticed that the floors of the red line trains have been waxed or varnished? When I first saw this a week or so ago, I thought the floors were flooded with water. Also, other passengers almost don't know what to make of it. :)

I too have noticed the very slippery looking red line train floors. It almost looks greasy. Its a poor use of resources to have the rubber floors waxed, my trains have been just as dirty as ever. I still do not understand why the Red line is consistantly so dirty. If people are truly that ignorant to litter and create that much more filth/trash on the Red line, then do a sweep with a ton of police and ticket the heck out of people littering, eating, etc on the trains. I'm sick and tired of having to ride in a trash can every single day!

Yesterday evening's commute home on the Red line was so horrible I decided to bike to Ravenswood Metra today, which was a nice change. My train last night had door issues at Monroe, Lake and Grand. Each time stopping in the station with doors shut for 5-7 minutes. Trains were already late so conditions were extremely overcrowded even before the door problem delays. There was a slight altercation when tempers flared between a man and woman which would not have happened if trains had not been so late and overcrowded. Then of course the A/C was out in my car as well, causing a girl on her way to Wrigley to pass out while standing. Thankfully, several passengers caught her fall, gave up their seats and another passenger gave her a water bottle. Of course NO annoucements as to the reason or length of delays while it kept recurring at each stop. Then, after trudging along through horribly overcrowded stations and the endless slow zones they finally decided to run my train express Wilson to Loyola. 3/4 of the train got off at Wilson to wait for the next train, the next train was very full as well and many people had to wait for yet another train. All said, my commute home Jackson to Berwyn last night was 1 hr 10 minutes. All I can say is from the news out of Springfield this week, the trains or the CTA will never be world class in my lifetime. I wait in anticipation for the day I can sell my Edgewater condo and move very close to work, or perhaps by then to another city completely.

I don't get the people who add time and another mode of transit to their commute to save time on their commute, totally mystifies me.

Tom,
You have the effect of the 1.75% sales tax deduction exactly backwards. If it were repealed, the increase in taxes due from businesses would be passed on to consumers in order to maintain profit margins. Probably not all 1.75% would be passed on, but a good chunk of it. So just repealing that deduction would hit consumers harder than a .25% hike.

I was on the exact same train the Ed described above, and it was infuriating. ZERO announcements! At Grand, after we'd been sitting for about 7 minutes, the drive had to go admonish people who were pulling the emergency exit" door-open" handle in order to escape the crowded train. He asked them sharply why they were doing so(????), to which many people replied, "because nobody knows what's going on!" Of course, he STILL gave us no answer......

The other day, I was on the Brown Line and I saw a Red Line headed the opposite way at Fullerton. This was how the rollsigns identified the train:

Car 1: blank
Car 2: blank
Car 3: Howard
Car 4: blank
Car 5: blank
Car 6: 95/Dan Ryan
Car 7: blank
Car 8: blank

Nice. Or like when Blue Line trains are signed as both Forest Park AND 54/Cermak. Hmm, who wants to guess which it is?