Budget
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Whose stuff is that near the CTA Purple Line?
Stacy Gardner wrote to "Going Public" with a Purple Line mystery. "Going Public" visited the space between the Metra and CTA tracks on Wednesday morning and noted the piles of clothes, garbage, and suitcases.The area was protected by a fence (a sign warned against trespassing), and Budget rental vans parked...
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Give me your tired, your poor, your BrokeAsses
And just like that, Adam Sandler is relevant again. Image via Fanpop.Hello, world!I'm Katie, RedEye's social media intern and your resident BrokeAss blogger. A self-admitted rehabbing spendthrift, I've made it my mission to find the best ways to live young, fabulous and broke in the Windy City. But that's not...
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What's up with the exits on CTA Brown Line?
Brian Kaempen wrote to "Going Public" with a question about exits on the Brown Line. The CTA response is after the jump."I have to wonder why there's so many 'exit onlys' on the now fully reconstructed Brown Line. At many of the stations, like Addison and Irving Park, there's exits...
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Obama's 2011 budget a setback for White House open government initiatives
Where's the data, Mr. President? The Flash map that allows us to drill down to the state level is so last century, why can't we sift and sort the details so we can compare how Illinois is doing in comparison to, say, any other state?
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Illinois is Broke
That's the message from one of the most influential business groups in Illinois, and the warning couldn't come soon enough.The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago has gotten into the state budget brawl with some good analysis and an action plan. It's new web site, IllinoisIsBroke.com lays out some...
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Chicago fireworks whining
The gnashing of teeth has been heard throughout the land as Mayor Richard M. Daley announced that he was revamping the city's fireworks display to save money.Replacing the traditional downtown fireworks display that has drawn millions with three smaller ones has drawn condemnations and even suggestions that it is racially...
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Barack, we're not as dumb as you think
In his state of the union speech last night, President Barack Obama promised to freeze discretionary spending for three years, as his way to address the huge federal deficits. Are we impressed?Not really. It'll have barely any effect, and most Americans know that. A new Rasmussen poll finds that just...
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Huge majority favors tax cut over government spending
By a roughly six-to-one margin, Americans favor cutting taxes, as opposed to increasing government spending, as a way to create jobs. The latest Rasumssen poll shows that "59% of voters nationwide believe cutting taxes is better than increasing government spending as a job-creation tool."Remarkably, only 15 percent think that increased...
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Wanted: Illinois pols to challenge public employee unions
The primary election is Feb. 2. Do you know who will take on the public employee unions and their pensions?Because if we can't elect people who are committed to figuring out how Illinois will crawl out of an $80 billion-plus debt owed to public employee pension funds, the state surely...
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Bus, rail cutbacks will test patience
If you ride the CTA, chances are you will have to wait longer for a bus or train starting Feb. 7. The CTA last week released its detailed list of service cuts, which take effect next month as part of a CTA plan to plug its $300 million budget hole....
