Trump Tower Chicago and Obama Center
The Obama Center had its star-studded opening this week with four former presidents and their wives showing up along with Oprah, Bruce Springsteen, and other music, movie, and television stars.
The opening was marred by numerous reports of contractors not being paid for their work on the center. I covered some of that controversy in last week’s newsletter, and we covered the story with Mike Owen on The Real Story – Listen Here https://www.youtube.com/live/9Abcnva6BKo?si=fPQSn9t8-84GAIWT&t=410
In addition, members of the surrounding community protested the opening as the development has gentrified the area, raising rents and pushing people out of their homes. If you are on X, check out this post: https://x.com/250_Revolution/status/2067947230321926472.
From a FOX News article:
“It’s a monstrosity. It’s over budget, it’s taking way too long to finish, and it’s going to drive up prices and bring headaches and problems for everyone who lives here,” one Chicago resident who grew up in the area near the campus’ location told the Daily Mail. “It feels like a washing away of the neighborhood and culture that used to be here.”
Social media was flooded with comparisons of the Trump Tower to the Obama Center (I noticed the picture above from a post by Eric Ivers), noting that they both cost about the same amount of money, $850 million, but are dramatically different. Yes, Trump Tower was built in 2009, so the inflationary cost would be $1.3 billion, but given the grandeur and size of the Trump Tower, 92 stories with luxury rooms, condos, and restaurants, compared to seven floors of a digital museum, meeting spaces, and two condos, one can easily say there is no question that Obama overpaid for his monstrosity.
More importantly, a comparison should be made with the Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center (LEOC), which Pastor Corey Brooks and his organization, Project H.O.O.D (Helping Others Obtain Destiny), are building in Englewood.
I got a personal tour of the center on Saturday. Pictured above is the center of the full double-court basketball playing area. Motivational words of Discipline, Faith, Opportunity are emblazoned on the floor. The four-story building includes the massive court, locker room facilities, a workout center, swimming pool, theater, community spaces, business spaces, and an entire training facility to teach the trades – roofing, HVAC, mechanics – to get people trained in marketable skills.
Pastor Corey Brooks weighed in on the Obama Center in his recent Rooftop Revelations opinion article in FOX News. Below are a few excerpts from his article – please read or listen to his entire commentary at the link in the title.
Obama’s legacy project offers little hope for Chicago’s South Side residents
“Obama was born in Hawaii and shaped far from these blocks. Yet, he, of anyone, has learned how to use Chicago for his ambitions. “Obama from the South Side” sounded better than “Obama from Hawaii.”
He built a compelling story here, then moved on to higher office while the neighborhoods he claimed to champion were largely left behind. That’s carpetbagging dressed up in hope and change rhetoric. The South Side wasn’t his home, it was his launching pad.
Our community doesn’t need more monuments or political nostalgia. It suffers from a culture that too often excuses personal responsibility, rewards dependency and trades faith for false political hope. I’ve buried too many young men. I’ve counseled too many fathers locked out by bad choices and broken systems.
Our children don’t need a distant tower to admire. They need mentors teaching trades, discipline, fatherhood, education and the God-given dignity of work. They need safe streets, strong families and leaders who reject excuses and demand excellence.
Project H.O.O.D. is living proof it works. In what was once O-Block territory, the most dangerous block in America, we’re training people for real jobs, interrupting violence and building economic opportunity from the ground up. No federal mandates. No foundation photo-ops. Just hard work, conservative principles of self-reliance and faith, the same principles that sustained strong families and neighborhoods long before the welfare state expanded and hope became a slogan.“
The LEOC will cost about $43 million, a fraction of the cost of the Obama Center. Project H.O.O.D. also runs an alternative school for about 70 youth aged 16-21 to get them through high school with the mentorship they need. If you want to help, you can donate at this link: https://projecthood.networkforgood.com/
Governor Pritzker signed his FY 2027 budget this week, roughly two weeks after it passed the House and Senate in the early morning hours of June 1st. As per normal, there were quite a few surprises in there that folks are just finding out about.
First up, the crypto trading firms are reportedly SHOCKED that the Democrats would dare to tax their industry. Crain’s Chicago Business relayed the remarks of Don Wilson, founder and CEO of DRW, a crypto trading firm, in an article titled “DRW’s Don Wilson says new tax threatens Illinois’ reputation as crypto hub”
From the article:
A new digital asset tax tucked into the Illinois budget at the last minute threatens the state’s potential to become a major cryptocurrency hub, DRW’s Don Wilson said today.
“That just tells everybody, ‘Just leave. Pack up your bags and leave,’” Wilson, founder and CEO of the local trading firm, said during a Crain’s Q&A event for business leaders. “It sends the message, ‘We do not want you here.’”
No kidding Mr. Wilson. The Democrats have been telling everyone, including the Bears, just leave. The Democrats don’t care about business or residents suffering under ever-escalating property taxes, regulations, and terrible public schools.
Wilson said all they wanted was to be left alone and was dismayed that the tax was added at the last moment with no debate in the middle of the night. Hello?? This is how they do everything!
From the Crains article:
Wilson said the industry was not asking for special handouts or legislation, but needed the city of Chicago and state of Illinois to “not do any harm.”
“We just need them to not do anything stupid,” he said. “Unfortunately, they could not help themselves.”
He added he had “zero inkling” a tax was coming as legislators were finishing the budget. “Everybody in the industry is caught off guard,” Wilson said. “Literally, in the middle of the night, they slipped it in.”
The tax, which would take effect Jan. 1, is projected to bring in $60 million, but Wilson said a cryptocurrency exodus will cost the state billions.
Frankly, the crypto industry shouldn’t be surprised and it is amazing how politically naïve they are as to think that they would somehow escape the “Tax the F***ing Rich” movement of the progressive Democrats in Springfield.
Remember this rant by State Senator Graciela Guzman – Listen HERE.
Literally, the Democrats have an entire caucus that is organized for the purpose of taxing anyone and any business they think represents the wealthy in Illinois.
More about the budget and Pritzker’s remarks on signing it. Read his official press release HERE.
Here are just two statements from his press release that need to be challenged.
1 – The budget is balanced. Not so fast. Maybe on paper, but not in reality. The budget includes $800 million in new taxes and half of that money is expected to come from two new taxes on social media. One tax is based on the number of users a social media company has in the state and the other tax is based off of social media ad revenue. The latter is already is jeopardy in court in another state and is likely to be found illegal. The former is also expected to be challenged in court. If those taxes are found to be illegally constructed, the whole budget will be a disaster.
Here is a graphic from Pritzker’s press release on the budget numbers. It shows only a $6 million surplus on a $55.94 Billion budget. This is like a family budgeting to the penny. Not prudent or believable.
What jumps out at me are the pension costs. Overall, the pension cost is over 19% of the budget. But this amount is set by statute and is not actuarially sound. If the budget had a pension amount that was based on what actuaries say prudence requires, the state pension cost would be $5 billion more and amount to 26% of the budget.
Also note, total state spending on higher education is nearly equal to total state spending on higher education pensions – $2.636 B compared to $2.091 B. If total higher ed spending is $4.727 B, the pension cost is 44% of the entire cost.
And K-12 pension cost is 61% of the spending on K-12 education expense, or if you add in the Chicago Teacher Pension cost it is 40% of the overall cost ($17.4B) of all K-12 spending.
2 – The Budget is Affordable. From the press release below:
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch. “Every day since, we have led with a simple focus: People who work hard shouldn’t feel like every day is such a struggle. Opening a bill shouldn’t feel so scary. No one should have to choose between their medication or putting food on the table. So, while Washington’s agenda makes everything more expensive, we have focused on affordability. We make smart investments in the life-saving services Washington is trying to slash. And we deliver a state budget that works for families’ budgets.”
The number one affordability issue in Illinois is property taxes, and there is zero property tax relief in the budget except for a special carve-out of $50 million for specially picked school districts.
Additionally, taxpayers are still funding numerous non-profits; many do very good work in their communities, but many are politically connected and serve political interests. Our analysis shows the budget includes over $819 million for non-profits.
For affordability, Pritzker is touting his 1.3-cent suspension of the gas tax increase. This tax will be reinstated after the election on January 1, 2027.
Meanwhile, tolls are going up dramatically. Tolls will go up beginning January 1, 2027, costing drivers an average yearly increase of $329. Like the gas tax, there will be an automatic increase in tolls beginning in 2029.
But that’s not all. Sales taxes are set to increase in Cook and the collar counties to support transit beginning July 1st. Those taxes are expected to bring in $478 million. Read more about the transit funding taxes in this Illinois Policy Institute article.
Pritzker also highlights $70 million for his FRESH Program. This gives $400 to people found to be ineligible for the federal food stamp program. They are ineligible because they are single able-bodied adults who should be working. This is an affront to every other taxpayer, especially the working poor.
More on the budget and specific NGO funding in upcoming newsletters.
The bottom line is that this is Pritzker’s eighth budget, and it has broken another record of spending and relies on new taxes amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars – actually over a billion dollars when you include the new tolls and sales taxes that he authorized other governments to impose.
As Don Wilson said, “We just need them to not do anything stupid,” he said. “Unfortunately, they could not help themselves.”