Illinois Taxpayer Welfare for the Billionaire Ricketts Family to rebuild Wrigley Field?

“Socialism, communism, whatever you want to call it, is never the answer.“ - Hank Steinbrenner. Unless, that is you are a Billionaire baseball Team Owner, then the taxpayers, middle class, and working class people need to give you money to finance the building of your stadium, as when Steinbrenner received $1,200,000,000 Billion dollars in Taxpayer money to finance the building of the new Yankee Stadium.

It's funny how when a "private" business wants huge wads of taxpayer "relief" to finance some project, the discussion becomes a Grandiose debate on Utilitarian Principles and the greatest good for the greatest number. The ancillary benefits to businesses, the community, the neighborhood. The indirect sales and tax gains and so forth. But...

When discussing the closing 7 Chicagoland mental health facilities [OccupyChicago Reports: Mental Health Movement / Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP) - Mental Health Clinic Facing Closure Occupied by Patients and Advocates. Members Bbarricaded inside Woodlawn Clinic until Rahm Emanuel backs off clinic closures.] or the salaries of Chicago Public School teachers, the discussion is how much to slash, slash, slash, slash! That cutting and reducing government spending is the only option and those directly affected and the subsequent thousands indirectly affected are given short shrift, if they are considered at all.

It's almost as if the 1% has set up a Government to cater to their whims and wants and has designed the Body politic to funnel and transfer wealth upwards to them in a Reverse-Robin Scheme.

Capital belongs to the Capitalists, Poverty belongs to the Poor.

The Ricketts Family had a net worth of $2,700,000,000 in 2007. That placed them in the Forbes 400 Richest Americans. But, who should pay for the rebuilding of Wrigley Field; why the poor hardworking blue-collar Chicago Cub fan, who can maybe scrape together enough money to take himself and his family to the game a couple times a year.

After stating last week the Wrigley Field Renovations and Facelift discussion were "in the final stages" Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel clarified,

"Always remember that I'm here to represent taxpayers, but I'm not here to subsidize private investors with public dollars."

Okay Rahm. Then prove it.

Prove you aren't doing the work of the obscenely wealthy and providing them with Chicagoans tax dollars when the Ricketts easily purchased the second most profitable Baseball Franchise behind the Yankees. Prove to us Rahm that you aren't a tool of the Oppressors. A willing accomplice of the 1%. A lackey of Hedge Fund Vulture Kenneth C. Griffin CEO of Citadel LLC. A man who has created nothing but has made Billions off of Legerdemain and paper shuffling. And all the other Rich Elitist Bastards who view the Government of Chicago and Illinois as nothing more than their hired hands transferring Hundreds of Millions of dollars up from the Poor to the Rich.

But, at least I can finally say thank you to Governor Quinn and 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney. From Greg Hinz comes this column,

"I'm not excited about that at all," Governor Quinn said on the "Don Wade & Roma Show" on WLS-AM/890. "Our state has severe fiscal challenges, so the very idea of the state of Illinois spending millions and millions of dollars on Wrigley Field, I don't think that's in the cards at all." Quinn continued, The Ricketts family "bought the team, and they should make the lion's share of the investment to fix up the park."

And Tunney put the brakes on Rahm Emmanuel's "final stages", when he said, "I think the deal is not in the final stages," he said. "This is a deal that involves a lot of complexities." Tunney also added, "With the city still facing future budget deficits in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the economic benefits to the city as a whole will have to be clear."

Private business, the Free Market, "Job Creators", and a Government not involved in "picking winners and losers" is a the biggest myth peddled by the evil Republican Party and their Right-Wing lackeys. What the Republicans want and what they get their Conservative Media Goons to report ad nauseam is a Government controlled by the 1% and aligned to cater to the Plutocracy's interest.

And that is what's strangling and destroying America. State, Local and Federal Governments being co-opted and taken over by the Wealthy.