Chicago’s radical Democrat Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson has tried to blame the violence and poverty in Chicago on big corporations not paying their fair share in taxes.
Johnson says the lack of funds from corporations not paying taxes causes “disinvestment” in communities that allegedly leads to poverty and then to violence.
To say this guy is naive and not ready for primetime is an understatement.
However, Johnson’s comments have sparked renewed concerns that corporations and wealthy individuals they will leave the city.
Chicago’s violent crime has already been driving companies away.
Targeting the city’s remaining businesses could set off a chain of events that will see Chicago go bankrupt like Detroit.
Johnson’s real problem is the underfunded pensions for city workers.
Johnson won with the backing of the teachers union so he will not raise the retirement age or cut benefits.
So the only solution is for Chicago to grow its economy.
And to do that he needs to attract business not drive it away.
But Lightfoot left him a mess: Major crimes are up 46% in Chicago this year, according to CPD’s latest internal report.
While there have been 21 fewer murders so far, homicides remain 33% higher than in 2019.
And if he follows through on his plan he will make it worse.
Johnson said: “We have large corporations. Seventy percent of large corporations in the city of Chicago — in the state of Illinois, did not pay a corporate tax.
“And it’s that type of restraint on our budget that has caused the type of disinvestment that has led to poverty, of course, that has led to violence.
“Well, what we’re going to have to do is to find the revenue from individuals who have the means to actually contribute to a safer city.
“You know, the words that President Biden indicated in his Union Address, he said that a teacher and a firefighter should not pay the same tax rate as a millionaire and a billionaire.
“Unfortunately, for too long, the people of Chicago and, quite frankly, people all over the country have been given a false choice on how we actually deal with public safety.
“What our campaign proved is that you can actually demonstrate, in a real way, how critical investments are the necessary dynamics in order to prevent crime.
“I mean that’s the ultimate goal, to prevent crime.
“There is a direct correlation between youth employment and violence reduction.
“There’s a tremendous correlation between providing mental health care services and reducing crime.
“You know this notion that the only way in which we can protect the people of Chicago, and the people of our country, is this notion of being tough.
“You know, what is required in this moment is for us to be smart about our investments, to be critical in our thinking, and then to make sure that what we are doing actually works.”
When asked about his past support of the “Defund the Police” movement, Johnson said, “It’s not so much a retreat, it’s more of having a better understanding of the impetus behind that hashtag.
“Look, there were organizers all over the country who wanted to work within the confines of the system…whether it was body cam cameras, dashboard cameras..all of these implementations of formations that were ostensibly provide more accountability within law enforcement…and it didn’t work.
“We’ve been pushing this ordinance called ‘Treatment Not Trauma.’
“In essence, first responders, social workers, counselors, EMT, these individuals would show up to calls that require those of interventions.
“In fact, in Chicago, almost 40% of the 911 calls are mental health crises.
“We’re asking police officers to do their job and someone else’s. That’s not strategic.”
New Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson blames the city’s poverty and crime on corporations not paying enough taxes. Chicago gets everything it deserves with this one. Voters had a chance, and they said, “Hey, let’s get someone even crazier than Lori Lightfoot.” pic.twitter.com/Oie8ne5sFp
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) April 6, 2023
Johnson said earlier about his plans for the city:
“There’s already a model that exists.
“We’re just simply saying we have to expand it…There’s actually a model that exists in the city of Chicago where mental health crises, professionals show up.
“What we need is to actually codified, expanded, grow it and then make sure that local communities get a chance to participate and how it looks ultimately, here’s the problem.
“We have allowed politics in the city of Chicago to be top-down, not under my administration, we all have a collective responsibility to build a better, stronger, safer one.
“We want to make sure that the people who are actually closest to the pain, get to actually help develop and solve the crisis in our community.
“Look, as Cook County Commissioner, I’m the only person who built an entire budget around Black lives for this very purpose.
“And President Preckwinkle uses it as a guiding line to implement the Equity Plan, which has put &5 million, now $100 million dollars into crisis prevention.
“That’s real money. And so I’m the only person on this stage who has actually put forth a budget plan.
“And I understand why,” he said.
“Because when Paul put forth his budget plan four years ago, he came in ninth place.
“I understand why you would want to hide that. And so what does my budget plan do?
“We eliminate the structural deficit that he calls, we make up to $1 billion of investments to make sure we’re sustaining and growing these programs.
“And we do it without paying raising property taxes.
“We already have a $2.5 billion property tax bill because of his failures.
“I live on the west side of Chicago, it takes two years to become a police officer.
“Do we have two years to wait for public safety in Chicago?
“Not to mention, even when you go into our communities, think about how powerful this is.
“Many of the black men and women who want to serve on the police force are being raised in some of the most violent communities.
“Do you understand how powerful that is?
“When you are raised in drama, and you see violence, and then you say listen, sign me up for it.
“But here’s the problem though, the individuals who actually want to serve on the police force.
“They’re being excluded,” he claimed.
“Because of their FICO score, or misdemeanors, the type of trauma that they’ve been raised in that have left families behind, and there are black folks and brown folks who still want to serve.
“Such remarkable human beings to want to serve a system that hasn’t served us.
“And so all what we’re simply saying is we need to solve crime.
“How do you engender confidence in policing, and the police that we have right now are not solving crime?
“Not to mention, you might have a co-worker who was a part of a white supremacist organization.
“So, there are 200 officers who will start working today now that they’re just coming out of the academy.
“15 of them are black people.
“We have already filled the ‘vacancies’ that will be the result of me promoting and training 200 more detectives.
“Listen, we’ve already figured this out.
“The fact that we are spending so much time about policing and we’re not talking about economic, economic opportunity to get jobs, that is the failure of all of this.
“We know what works,” he said.
“The safest cities in America have one thing in common you know what they do?
“They invest in people, and that’s what I’m gonna do as mayor of the city of Chicago.”
