In today's paper, Tribune business columnist David Griesing absolutely lambasts Mayor Daley for his flip-flop on a taxpayer guarantee for the 2016 Olympics. A few choice excerpts:
This was, at once, a surprise and a foregone conclusion. Daley had said all along that no such thing would happen, but anyone who has paid attention in Chicago during his very long reign likely did not believe him. It would have been more surprising, in fact, had Daley not backed down. [...]
Daley decided to sign because Daley is determined to get the Olympics, and nothing -- no prior promises, no worry about costs -- is going to get in his way. We may as well get used to seeing the 2016 Games as the latest exercise of Daley's unrivaled power.
It is a potentate's prerogative to change his mind, and if that means putting taxpayers at risk for the cost of the Chicago summer games, so be it. [...]
With a shrug of the shoulders and stroke of the pen, Daley is giving Chicago 2016 a momentum that will roll over anything in its way. The same sort of hubris has caught up with other Olympic cities that lived to regret the cost.
Yowza. Read the whole thing.
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