Mondays with Mike: Presidents, Amazon doesn’t heart NY, Foxconn con, plus wine and beer!

Well folks, it’s Presidents Day, and—who knew—it’s also National Drink Wine Day. Not that we need an excuse to have a glass when we need to do whatever it takes to quell our anxiety during this grave time of national emergency.

Anyway, today, I got nothing except a couple or three links that are worth sharing, in my humble opinion.

First, I was inspired by New Yorkers’ successful effort to say “No” to Amazon. I only hope Chicago doesn’t somehow “win” some part of the foiled plans. Look, economic development is good. Foolhardy giveaways by localities in a race to the bottom isn’t. States and municipalities have got to learn that game is hollow. Apparently, Wisconsin will likely learn that the hard way as the realities of it’s Foxconn boondoggle play out. (Foxconn is the electronics giant that Wisconsin has more or less bribed into locating a plant—err—something in southeastern Wisconsin just over the Illinois border.)

Here are two good cautionary pieces that should make plain that anyone in a state or locality that is courting companies looks at those plans very carefully.

One, “Inside Wisconsin’s Disastrous $4.5 Billion Deal With Foxconn,” is at Bloomberg.com, the other, “Wisconsin’s $4.1 billion boondoggle,” is at The Verge. There both long but very well reported. I hope you’ll give one or the other a read, but you may read it and weep—for those nice people with the cheesehead hats.

Here in Chicago, I found yet another reason to vote for any mayoral candidate who’s not linked to Daley, Burke, or the Cook County machine. As I wrote in an earlier post, there’s been a racket in Cook County for eons whereby machine people like Ed Burke throw their considerable resources behind chosen candidates for the Cook County Assessor. Why, because in exchange, the Assessor over assesses properties for companies, condo associations, and other entities with the wherewithal to hired an appeals attorney. And Burke and other cronies get that legal work more often than not, because—wait for it—they have the most influence over the assessor.

Well, we Cook County voters took a piece out of that scam last year when, in the primary, we ousted the incumbent hack, Joseph Berrios. (Besides that scam, Berrios slimed county citizens in myriad other ways, including hiring family and political supporters.)

Well, the Sun-Times and Tribune reported today on a shouting match between mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot and State Representative Robert Martwick. From the Sun-Times piece:

Martwick filed a bill in Springfield that would dramatically change the way Cook County assessor is chosen.

Starting in 2022, after newly elected assessor Fritz Kaegi completes his first term, the assessor would be appointed by the county board president and confirmed by the Cook County board.

If it weren’t Cook County and Illinois, it would be unbelievable. Lightfoot rightly called this out as the undemocratic machine power grab that it is. And by the way, Martwick is a Toni Preckwinkle supporter. Just another reason I’m supporting Lightfoot, and fellow Chicagoans, I hope you will, too. Regardless I hope you don’t throw your vote to Daley, Preckwinkle, Mendoza, or any of the usual suspects.

Finally, some good news here in Chicago. As we cry in our beer about politics, we can take heart that we pay less for it. And we have more breweries than any U.S city.

We don’t need no stinkin’ Amazon.