That's The Chicago Way

In one of the greatest quotes from the 1987 movie "The Untouchables", Sean Connery told Kevin Coster, "He brings a knife, you bring a gun, he sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue...that's The Chicago Way!"

Unfortunately "The Chicago Way" has morphed to "The Obama Way". And it's not a pretty sight.

Obama Exporting Chicago's Misery to a City Near You

Lurita Doan

If you want to get a good glimpse of what America will look like if President Obama continues to push his “change” agenda, take a close look at Chicago. But brace yourself: it is not a pretty picture.

Chicago, as we all know, is Mr. Obama’s home and the place where he served as a community organizer, a state legislator, and a US Senator. Obama championed a variety of jobs creation programs, advanced ideas to reduce crime, and sought earmarks totaling some $800 million dollars to boost the Chicago economy. By all accounts, he was energetic, determined, and successful pushing these programs.

But while many, including Obama, have focused almost exclusively on Mr. Obama’s noble intentions, few have focused on the results. Which of Obama’s efforts in Chicago delivered the promised benefits? None.

Chicago is a city in crisis. Crime rates have surged despite the many, Obama-led, community-building efforts. The number of Americans murdered in Chicago this year is about the same number of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past year. Two State Senators have argued that Chicago’s crime problem is too big for locals to solve and have called for deployment of the National Guard.

Nor is crime the only problem in the windy city. Unemployment is at 11.2%, 1.3 points above the national average. Worse yet, minorities are particularly hit by a failing Chicago economy that continues to shed jobs as the unemployment rates among minorities top 20%.

Alas, the index of misery in Chicago earned the city the distinction as the third most miserable city in America, as high taxes cripple job growth, innovation, and entrepreneurialism.

No suprise at any of these things...Democratic controlled cities show failures...but this line put it simply:

Is it possible that Mr. Obama made Chicago’s problems worse by championing a philosophy of greater federal support, avoidance of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility? Was the nearly $1 billion of Obama earmarks spent, not on investments that might have helped spark economic activity, but instead directed to dubious causes aimed at rewarding key supporters such as the Unions? Did Obama help choke off economic vitality and entrepreneurialism by acquiescing to high taxes and growing regulatory burdens?

I think so.

Agreed. Leftist want people defendant on government. If they are independent they don't have the need of politicians and bureaucrats. I recall (going by memory) how early in the 2000s the unions and the city council (there are one in the same) kept Wal-Mart from opening a store in Chicago. Why you ask? Wal-Mart is not a union shop. So after enough aggravation Wal-Mart simply opened its first store in a small suburb of Chicago...it would bring millions into the city treasury and most of the people to be employed at the place were Chicago residents. All those jobs and taxes out of reach because the unions and leftist don't like industry...like our current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington DC.

Mr. Obama did not set Chicago on a path of ruin single-handedly. He had lots of help. Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat Party Whip, White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. Valerie Jarrett and other Chicagoans occupy key positions in the Which House. Like Obama, Durbin and Emanuel have, for years, directed funding, both directly and indirectly to Illinois and to Chicago for assistance, entitlement programs, pork projects and perks. And yet, the problems in Chicago only grew.

Here is the scary part: now they are in Washington, working hard to duplicate on a national scale the failures they achieved in Chicago.

None of the powerful Chicago politicians now in Washington have practical experience creating jobs. All of them have a mistaken belief that the federal government can generate job growth by turning the spigot of taxpayer money in the intended direction. They also believe that ever larger and more intrusive government and regulatory regimes added to every level of American life are a prescription for economic growth. This same, failed philosophy that guided their actions in Chicago now guides their efforts in Washington.

As I've often said, Barry Obama isn't qualified to run the night shift at a McDonalds. The concept that people are best left alone to pursue their own self interest without the interference of government is something that is foreign to him and the rest of his followers. We can only pray conservatives (not necessarily Republicans) take control of the Congress and stop him....