Another Chicago Brick in the Wall: Hey! Teachers! Leave Them Kids Alone!

An interesting wrinkle has surfaced in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s failed Bring Chicago Home ballot referendum on Tuesday.

David covered the mayor’s miserable puling over why his real estate transfer tax increase initiative failed at the ballot box, and that was pretty surprising as excuses go considering the location.

It was truly on par with Jesse Smollett’s level of illogical and improbable events.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has a superb explanation for why his proposed tax increase was rejected by the voters.

It was MAGA. Chicago is MAGA country!

Mayor Brandon Johnson is now blaming Donald Trump voters for the failure of Bring Chicago Home.

What?

Literally the opposite is true.

Bring Chicago Home lost because Biden voters didn’t vote for it.

More than 82% of Chicago voted for Biden in 2020.

Biden won every ward.… https://t.co/GN7bY3XPNq pic.twitter.com/tiJQspB6FS

— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) March 21, 2024

If the mayor’s tortured accusations are accurate, Trump is going to sweep up because Brandon’s measure got whomped by a majority of the city’s voters – 53.6% HELL NO to 46.4% yes – signaling a definitive, across-the-board rejection of the mayor’s big plans to raise big bucks.

Critics of the Bring Chicago Home ballot referendum said Chicago’s business community was “breathing a sigh of relief” Wednesday – a day after the referendum apparently failed at the polls.

…”This is not the result that we wanted,” said Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th). “It is devastating.”  

The measure asked voters to authorize the City Council to increase the real estate transfer tax on the sales of properties for $1 million or more in Chicago, while lowering the tax rate for less expensive properties:

• The transfer tax for properties valued at less than $1 million would drop from 0.75% to 0.60%.
• Properties sold for between $1 million and $1.5 million would pay a 2% transfer tax, nearly triple the current rate.
• Properties sold for $1.5 million or more would pay a 3% transfer tax, four times the current rate.

Bring Chicago Home’s backers originally tried to convince the Illinois General Assembly to pass the tax plan, but with no action from state lawmakers, their only other option was to seek a voter referendum in Chicago.

The mayor’s also whining about “the rules for campaigning” cramping his style. I’ll bet he thinks his innate natural charisma and the terrific job he’s doing for his constituents would have been enough to push this over the top…IF ONLY those darn rules didn’t get in the way.

Brandon’s a “gamer,” yo.

…Mayor Johnson, a former teacher, said many Chicagoans did not understand the assignment.  

“No one said it’s going to be easy. The fact of the matter is in this moment, you have very low turnout,” Mayor Johnson said Wednesday. “The progressive agenda is not limited to one issue…this is the unique thing about running an entire city of Chicago – you get to address everything.”

Johnson said the rules on campaigning for the referendum limited his ability to push back on opponents who used the mayor as a reason to vote no.

“I wanted to campaign more. I wanted to be out there. You all know, I’m a gamer. Heck yeah, I wanted to be out there. That sucked,” said Mayor Johnson. “When you’re a gamer, and you knock down shots, and you can’t be out on the court?” 

WAAH! PUT ME IN, COACH!

Personally, I think the smoked-his-shorts margin would have been even worse had Mayor Ineptitude been out on the streets talking smack, but I suppose it’s a great way to save face.

And let’s get back to that “rules” thing for a second, shall we? Now we all know Chicago has never been a place for strict rule enforcement. I can only assume that Hizzoner’s fragile mental state plus voters’ personal antipathy towards him were what really kept him from “knocking down” proverbial shots. Hardly “rules,” especially as a former teachers’ union toadie.

Rules and laws certainly didn’t have the same effect on any other of the ardent advocates for this tax initiative. One group working extra hard and being especially vocal in the measure’s defense was?

Why Brandon’s old employers, the Chicago Teachers’ Union! They certainly were active.

Let me clarify: not “teaching” active – they pretty much suck at that.

No, they were pretty active hustling on the ground to rustle up enough voters to bring Brandon’s Bring Chicago Home home. What voters they couldn’t convince during rallies while telling sob stories about homeless Chicago students who would be helped by the monies this referendum raised, they made up for by just marching classrooms’ worth of 18-year-olds down to the polls to cast their very first votes on election day.

WE DON’T ABIDE BY NO STINKIN’ RULES

MUST WATCH: New footage shows organizers pushing Chicago Public Schools students to vote “yes” on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $100 million real estate tax hike during a “Parade to the Polls” event held yesterday during school hours.

This is blatant exploitation of public schools for… pic.twitter.com/Xrchvf4Frf

— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) March 16, 2024

…The event was organized by the Chicago Teachers Union ahead of the March 19 primary election. And CTU leadership promised district officials, journalists, teachers and parents that it would not be political. But this footage shows they lied. 

…On Monday, CTU Vice President Jackson Potter emailed union members telling them to pull students from class to attend a “Student Power Forum” co-sponsored by Bring Chicago Home. CTU has contributed $400,000 to Bring Chicago Home, which is an advocacy organization created to push Johnson’s tax hike referendum. 

@illinoispolicy immediately filed an ethics complaint with the @ChiPubSchools ethics office and @cpsoig.  Per the CPS Code of Ethics, “Employees are permitted to engage in Political Activity on a voluntary basis during non-work hours, vacation, or personal time. Employees are not permitted to engage in Political Activity during any other Board compensated time.”

…By asking teachers to prepare for and organize students to participate in the Student Power Forum, which was occurring during school hours and organized by a political group pushing Johnson’s tax hike, it was clear the union was asking members to violate the CPS Code of Ethics. How did the union respond to that complaint? First, they called the Illinois Policy Institute racist for filing it and said it was an attempt at voter suppression…

“Voter suppression.” Yeah. It’s the same concept as lining totes adorbs 3-year-olds up and having them all hold a rope to go to the library. Only this was teenagers being escorted in a mob as a teacher chanted and read instructions off of a placard the entire way to the polling station. During school hours.

Racist voter suppression.

Unbelievable.

Here’s even more footage of Chicago Teachers Union organizers openly pressuring students to vote for Brandon Johnson’s tax hike at an event held during school hours at the union’s headquarters.

They were literally leading chants in support of the tax hike while… pic.twitter.com/grwmB6AHkK

— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) March 16, 2024

Rules, schmools are for fools.

But occasionally, they can be tools for those who know how to use them.

The CTU might not be educating any of those kids in scholastic pursuits, but they surely are making them subject matter experts in rule avoidance and the Chicago Way.