Chicago is sinking. The city is in the midst of a funding crisis brought about by Mayor Brandon Johnson's allegiance to his old employers at the Chicago Teacher's Union (CTU) and his desire to fill up his city with illegal aliens.
There's a billion-dollar budget shortfall largely due to the ongoing crisis in funding the Chicago Public Schools. The new contract proposal by the CTU would see more than 13,000 new employees for the union, including 7,000 teachers' assistants, at a cost of more than $10 billion.
When you own the mayor and half the city council, you can make demands like that with a straight face.
“The fiscal reliability of the school system, just as the fiscal reliability of the city, that’s a fundamental issue for the prosperity and continued success of the city,” said David Axelrod, former adviser to Barack Obama. “Everybody is dealing with the same thing. Where are the resources?”
That's a good question, David. The citizens of Chicago know damn well where those resources have been spent. More than $500 million has been allocated to feed, clothe, house, and educate illegal aliens.
At a city council meeting on Monday, residents stood up and told Brandon Johnson to his face that he's the "worst mayor in America."
"I got a great way what we can do with this budget. First, let's start with cutting off illegals getting free everything, free housing, free schooling, free food. Yeah, let's start with that. That'll save us a lot of money," one woman told Johnson.
"Let's start there. Then, let's start with you. Your salary. You are going down in history as the worst mayor in America. Let's start with cutting yours. You making too much money," she continued.
Johnson makes around $212,000 a year.
Residents of Chicago are blasting Mayor Brandon Johnson over the city spending more than half a billion dollars on sheltering migrants, with one telling the Democrat to his face during a City Council meeting that he’s the "worst mayor in America."
The criticism surrounding Johnson and Chicago’s New Arrivals Mission – which so far has cost the city $574.5 million since its inception in August 2022 – comes as the mayor is trying to overcome a $1 billion budget shortfall by the end of the year. The City Council held a meeting Monday during which residents voiced their opposition to an approximately $60 million property tax increase floated as one way to help close the gap.
A woman who legally emigrated to America said she was "very, very embarrassed for what my other fellow Latin American citizens are doing in this city on behalf of the people that work, on behalf of the people that pay taxes, on behalf of the people that contribute to the city."
"I like to make clear that not everyone is the same. These people came with a wide door open, and they feel entitled to many things that nobody has. There are U.S. citizens suffering from poverty," she said. "There are U.S. citizens on public aid, and these people are here just enjoying the benefits, becoming delinquents, and they have no consequences."
The budget crisis, the crisis with the CPS, and especially the shootings and other crimes in the city have accelerated capital flight from Chicago. It's also kept young families from moving into the city.
“The city’s financial disrepair has already had an impact, especially in the business community,” said Pete Kadens, a solar power entrepreneur who co-founded Hope Chicago, an education nonprofit. “When you have great education, that drives young, working-class families that we want here to the city. But instead we’re driving them away.”
Brandon Johnson may be the worst mayor in America. But he's also a city-killer. His mismanagement and his incompetence have brought the city of Chicago to its knees.
What will the city look like in three years when Johnson's term is up?
