We're #1 Again!
But not in a good way:
Chicago, the city that brought us deep-dish pizza, Oprah and "da Bears," is also home to the nation's highest tax burden for travelers.
The lowest taxes imposed on travelers can be found in the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach.
Those are among the findings of new research by the GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Assn., a trade group for travel managers.
The foundation created a ranking of the destinations with the nation's highest and lowest tax burden on travelers by combining general sales taxes and taxes charged to travelers each day for car rentals, hotel stays and meals.
Labels: dumb ideas
posted by SCC at 12:02 AM
70 Comments:
OT: Is it my imagination, or are we seeing fewer of these stories since Obama has taken steps to protect himself and his administration from the Fast & Furious scandal? Maybe the cartels have slowed the violence. Maybe the media have grown bored with these stories.
Probably just a coincidence.
Mexico Violence: Police Find 16 Bodies With Signs Of Torture
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/10/mexico-violence_n_1871654.html
Soon Rahm Emanuel will implement the leaving town tax.
Notice to Travellers: STAY OUT OF CHICAGO!!!
The police dept is dangerously undermanned and what resources there are left, are deployed to the nontaxpaying areas to babysit the godforsaken excuses for human beings known as Obama's people
First on taxes, first in homicides, first in gas prices... Welcome to Chicago!
i think SNL should redo the skit: "the sinatra group" and have burt reynolds, rahm emmanuel, karen lewis, barack and sean connery.
OT -
From todays Trib:
" quirk in Illinois traffic laws has complicated Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to pepper the city with speed cameras and slowed down bidding on a multimillion-dollar system scheduled to begin issuing $100 tickets by early next year.
The problem: a 38-year-old opinion by the Illinois attorney general that says children must be "visibly present" before school zone speed limits can be enforced.
What that means is those robotic safety-zone cameras must not only capture high-definition images of speeding cars and their license plates, they also must seek out and photograph a child as much as a football field's distance away — preferably in the same shot."
Detroit here we come.
And Rahm is really a closet Republican. . .
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/paul-ryan-chicago-teacher-strike-stand-rahm-emanuel-211106035--election.html
we the police have republican ideals but democratic needs.
The bankers and politicians have nearly destroyed this country filling their own pockets, but the unions somehow are getting the blame.
Do not visit chicago. Do not drive through chicago. Do not spend money in chicago. Do not! Danger! Stay away! Caution! Come to chicago if you are a criminal and want the least amount of punishment, possibly none. Come to chicago if you are a illegal alien (criminal). Come to chicago if you want free money and housing.
" Killing the tourism industry, one dollar at a time ";
And then of course there are the roaming bands of " pilgrims " preying on tourist & locals.
I'll turn off the lights, its over.
It takes large sums of money to keep the Democratic Criminal Enterprise of Shitcago running.
Whenever the powers to be are ready to stick it in the citizens butts they use the phrase" But it's for the children".
These assholes have really worn that line thin !!!!
A hearty Fuck you to rmd & mhar, slimeballs supreme.
It's called "rahming it to the tourists !
And after spending all that money to visit here you might attacked by a "Flash Mob" or some wandering individual that's not "wrapped too tight" but manages to move about downtown undetected. What a Funhouse Chicago is, like Cracker Jacks, a surprise in every package.
Two things of note about the economy.
Summer movie ticket sales down 100 million from 10 years ago
and..
U.S. Consumer Credit Surprises With $3.28 Billion Drop in July
"...the Federal Reserve said today in Washington. Economists projected a $9.2 billion rise, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Revolving credit, which includes credit card spending, decreased $4.82 billion, the most since April 2011.
The drop in credit-card borrowing coincides with a slowdown in hiring this year and a rise in consumer pessimism that indicate households are wary of taking on debt. Employers added fewer workers to payrolls than forecast in August, while a gain in average hourly earnings from a year earlier matched the smallest increase since records began in 2007. "
***
"The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 46.5 in the week ended Sept. 2, the fifth straight week below minus 40, a level typically associated with severe economic discontent."
So the so-called "expert economist". Look at how much their estimated missed by! Maybe these guys should be brought in to do crime stat estimates?
Anyways, not a good sign for Rahm and Obama. People not going to the movies. People not running up the credit cards.
Chicago or Shitcago being Flushed
Well, we have to pay for corruption and the entitled class to have free shit from communists in charge. That's why we vote democrat.
they tax the shit out of the people who live here so it should come as no suprise that travelers are also fleeced coming and going--- we do have the best pizza and beef sandwiches in the country, new york doesn't even come close...
Just booked a room at a hotel downtown for a wedding on Priceline. The room was about half price but the disclaimer that there is a 16.4% City tax on the ORIGINAL price to be added had me in disbelief. That's before valet parking which I'm guessing will be north of $40 for the night.
WHY would anyone want to come here?
Cool......That’s great, no better way to kill a city. Nice job Rahm, I knew you could be the man.
For those of you with deep pockets and afford to visit and stroll the Magnificent Mile, now can have them turned inside out by our misguided youth, aka flashmob.
When is the award ceremony????
But all that tax money......it's for the children, right?
Shots fired at and by the police in the west end of 019 last night
And let's not forget that some of those taxes hit working stiffs like me. There's an extra sales tax on restaurant food in the loop and near north side. I, a native not a tourist or conventioneer, get to pay an extra point or so on my loop lunch every danged day.
Somebody has to pay for the Maggie boxes and Maggie park.
Sure the taxes are high, gas prices are the highest in the nation, parking prices are through the roof. We have used the money to produce the best educational system in the country. It is for the Children
Rahm
To 4:42 A.M. The unions are getting the blame because they openly backed and caused the democrats to win the election in 2008 giving us a communist president who wasn't born in the USA.
Welcome to Chicago!!!
Come for our taxes, stay for your funeral!!!
Anonymous said...
Notice to Travellers: STAY OUT OF CHICAGO!!!
The police dept is dangerously undermanned and what resources there are left, are deployed to the nontaxpaying areas to babysit the godforsaken excuses for human beings known as Obama's people
9/11/2012 12:31:00 AM
Notice to Residents: GET OUT OF CHICAGO!!!
TRENTON NJ here we come..Mayor was arrested by feds for corruption..rahm is not far behind!!!!!
OT: Has anyone tried to report a property crime lately? I did yesterday, theft of vehicle. 1st attempt; called 911 and was put through to alternate response section. Was on hold for 15 minutes before being disconnected. 2nd attempt; called 911 and was again put through to alternate response section. Was on hold for 18 minutes before being disconnected a second time. 3rd attempt; Called 911 and was on hold with alternate response section for 22 minutes before giving up! Called 911 for a 4th time and explained what was happening and asked if an officer could be send out. Was told they could no longer send officers out for theft of vehicle reports and that I would have to keep trying the altenate response section. I would have said just screw it but I needed the report for the insurance company, so I just walked to the police station where they kindly took the report. Crime isn't down in this city, YOU JUST CAN'T FUCKING REPORT IT!!
"but the unions somehow are getting the blame."
Maybe the ctu problem is union teachers getting paid $76k + benefits for 9 months of work while turning out kids who can read or write. The average household income in Chicago is $47k. We don't have much sympathy for these union "teachers". Yes, politicians suck, but so do public sector unions. It's not a choice between a high or low raise it's a choice between reasonable cuts or bankruptcy. Greed = bankrupt pensions.
Anonymous said...
OT -
From todays Trib:
" quirk in Illinois traffic laws has complicated Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to pepper the city with speed cameras and slowed down bidding on a multimillion-dollar system scheduled to begin issuing $100 tickets by early next year.
The problem: a 38-year-old opinion by the Illinois attorney general that says children must be "visibly present" before school zone speed limits can be enforced.
What that means is those robotic safety-zone cameras must not only capture high-definition images of speeding cars and their license plates, they also must seek out and photograph a child as much as a football field's distance away — preferably in the same shot."
9/11/2012 02:50:00 AM
You just made my day!!!!!!
Bwahahahahaha!
The number of accidents involving children is down anyway, isn't it?
Somebody published the stats--I don't know where to find them, but if someone knows, I'd love to see it again!
Anonymous said...
Detroit here we come.
9/11/2012 03:50:00 AM
As a native of Detroit, I find your comment insulting.
What did Detroit ever do to you???? :)
It hits residents too. And we hit back...we do a lot of our shopping in nearby 'burbs.
We do, however, do our best to support the Heuttenbar and Red Lion Pub!
"Mexico Violence: Police Find 16 Bodies With Signs Of Torture"
--9/11/2012 12:15:00 AM
A. Slow day.
B. "March For Peace" coming up here from Mexico to blame us for it.
OT --
They actually got around to arresting that rich kid in Highland Park -- the one who was "driving crazy," huffing or something, and KILLED someone.
MISDEMEANOR
DUI.
off topic: Glad to see we got our finest on the mayors detail, Wow these coppers sitting in front of his house don't care how they look Lol. I love it. I guess working mayors house detail means let yourself go to shit lol. Keep up the good work if thats what you want...
off topic: Hey Thanks to all the bosses last night that can't look at the pdt to see the dogs staying down on their jobs, over an hour on alarm calls hitting on scene down on bullshit to eat, lunches and personals when all the cars in district were down. It's a fucking joke we can't do anything were not bosses so we get screwed all the time.
This makes me proud.
Signed: DICK Daley.
crook county , chitcawgo welcomes the mexican drug cartels to our city . keep voting democratic and this crap will be in our town.
Glad I have my National FOP mail this week:
http://blog.workingamerica.org/2012/09/10/national-police-union-refuses-to-endorse-romney-first-such-refusal-in-98-years/
National Police Union Refuses to Endorse Romney, First Such Refusal in 98 Years
For the first time in 98 years, the 330,000-member Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) will not endorse a candidate for president this year. The FOP supported the Republican candidate for President in 2008, 2004, and 2000, and its non-endorsement is seen as a refutation of Mitt Romney.
Why the change? One big reason was Mitt Romney’s support of Senate Bill 5 in Ohio, which stripped collective bargaining rights from police officers.
People familiar with the group’s decision said leaders had been disturbed by Mr. Romney’s statements of strong support for several antiunion initiatives, particularly the move in Ohio to restrict the collective-bargaining rights of public-union employees, including police and firefighters. The measure was overturned by voters in Ohio last year.
Certainly, this isn’t front page news – but perhaps it should be. A couple of the swing states that Romney needs to win in November happen to have a great number of FOP members:
In recent presidential elections, the group’s backing has been much sought after because of the heavy concentration of law enforcement officers in several of the key states. The group counts 39,225 members in Pennsylvania alone and another 24,181 in Ohio and 19,912 in Florida.
its ok liberal love welfare rats and illegal popping out babies. im glad liberal dont reproduce as much,can you imagine it they did.
rahm your such a joke, surrounded him self with kids and probably went straight to the bathroom to get rid of all the kids germs after his speech..
Anonymous said...
Shots fired at and by the police in the west end of 019 last night
9/11/2012 08:54:00 AM
No, Just shots fired By the Police, get your facts straight.
9/11/2012 08:30:00 AM
Court?
A Paycheck?
Free Sex?
Can't think of a 4th one except for a Chalk Outline.
Anonymous said...
OT: Has anyone tried to report a property crime lately? I did yesterday, theft of vehicle. 1st attempt; called 911 and was put through to alternate response section. Was on hold for 15 minutes before being disconnected. 2nd attempt; called 911 and was again put through to alternate response section. Was on hold for 18 minutes before being disconnected a second time. 3rd attempt; Called 911 and was on hold with alternate response section for 22 minutes before giving up! Called 911 for a 4th time and explained what was happening and asked if an officer could be send out. Was told they could no longer send officers out for theft of vehicle reports and that I would have to keep trying the altenate response section. I would have said just screw it but I needed the report for the insurance company, so I just walked to the police station where they kindly took the report. Crime isn't down in this city, YOU JUST CAN'T FUCKING REPORT IT!!
9/11/2012 12:11:00 PM
Anonymous said...
" Killing the tourism industry, one dollar at a time ";
And then of course there are the roaming bands of " pilgrims " preying on tourist & locals.
I'll turn off the lights, its over.
9/11/2012 06:40:00 AM
You DO understand the Pilgrims are us, right? As in, 'those bad Pilgrims came here on the Mayflower and ruined everything'?
the city where you work for those who dont want to...
off topic: Glad to see we got our finest on the mayors detail, Wow these coppers sitting in front of his house don't care how they look Lol. I love it. I guess working mayors house detail means let yourself go to shit lol. Keep up the good work if thats what you want...
9/11/2012 02:16:00 PM
they're undercover, trying to infiltrate the vegetable mafia.
Maybe the ctu problem is union teachers getting paid $76k + benefits for 9 months of work while turning out kids who can read or write. The average household income in Chicago is $47k. We don't have much sympathy for these union "teachers". Yes, politicians suck, but so do public sector unions. It's not a choice between a high or low raise it's a choice between reasonable cuts or bankruptcy. Greed = bankrupt pensions.
9/11/2012 12:13:00 PM
first, eliminate the political clout bloated contracts, thus eliminating the kickbacks, then come here bitch ragging about the working public sector unions.
it's a choice between eliminating political corruption and revolution.
greed = politicians
and as for that 'we', fuck you.
3:41. Ok I get that Romney is against collective bargaining but u need to look at the big picture! We cannot afford to have a socialist president. Obama doesn't care about the constitution. Obama doesnt want the mention of God in our country. These are critical facts. No candidate will perfectly reflect everyone of ur ideals. So u must vote for Romney for the sake of keeping the United States of America a free God loving country.
I moved to Iowa last year and go back for family things, but I never stay in Chicago, the pols don't deserve my money. DuPage has a lot of nice restaurants and hotels...
I also love that my vote will actually be counted for once in my life... There is life outside of Chicago, get out while you can.
I have a friend that works for the Democratic Party. Nice guy, so I let that slide. Once in a while he has some good inside information. This one was great:
Apparently they had to lower the podium so Rahm could speak at the Democratic convention. They originally wanted to have him stand on a small platform (box) so he didn't look like some one brought their angry little 12 year old that didn't get enough sleep.
I guess the box looked funny, so they rebuilt it with a pedal to slyly lower it without making it look like they were doing it.
Put a cone hat on him and he can stand in my garden.
Anonymous said...
off topic: Glad to see we got our finest on the mayors detail, Wow these coppers sitting in front of his house don't care how they look Lol. I love it. I guess working mayors house detail means let yourself go to shit lol. Keep up the good work if thats what you want...
9/11/2012 02:16:00 PM
You've got to let go buddy. Who gives a shit. Don't waste your time even thinking about it. Find something positive, even though it's hard to do. It took me a long time to realize that. The sooner you do it the better....otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy.
Certainly, this isn’t front page news – but perhaps it should be. A couple of the swing states that Romney needs to win in November happen to have a great number of FOP members:
-------
Both candidates suck. It's choosing the lesser of two evils is all. Romney wants to strip unions, but wants to let Wall St. run wild with derivatives and financial instruments that are quite simply a figment of traders' and brokers imaginations.
The biggest money makers in this country are financial instruments. Billions of dollars are swapped in thin air. Romney is a big part of that.
I think I hate them both. One wants us to lose our (middle class) money to Wall St., and the other wants us to support the entitlement crowd.
How do you choose? At least Romney might stimulate the economy, where Obama will just keep taking more to support those who won't help themselves.
Seriously, the best candidate we could come up with is Romney? Good article in Rolling Stone about his past. Worth a look.
Anonymous said...
they tax the shit out of the people who live here so it should come as no suprise that travelers are also fleeced coming and going--- we do have the best pizza and beef sandwiches in the country, new york doesn't even come close...
9/11/2012 08:20:00 AM
Not to mention Philly cheese steak sandwiches. Some guy got bored with hot dogs and threw some beef in a hot dog bun...then added some cheese. Seriously, that's all they are. Gross. Bland as shit. I totally agree with you.
Shots fired at and by the police in the west end of 019 last night
9/11/2012 08:54:00 AM
No, Just shots fired By the Police, get your facts straight.
9/11/2012 05:13:00 PM
Actually, it was at the police first. I guess you didn't read the sups.
It's no "quirk" as the Tribune reported, it's the law as it should be. Note that the signs in a school zone say "On School Days When Children Are Present".
1) It has to be a school day
2) Children must be physically present in the area; not in the building, etc.
Does this mean during the CTU strike school zones are unenforceable?
" quirk in Illinois traffic laws has schin complicated Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to pepper the city with speed cameras and slowed down bidding on a multimillion-dollar system scheduled to begin issuing $100 tickets by early next year.
The problem: a 38-year-old opinion by the Illinois attorney general that says children must be "visibly present" before school zone speed limits can be enforced."
"Thanks to all the bosses last night that can't look at the pdt..."
We only have bosses. No supervisors and definitely few leaders.
Most of them were never the police and have no grasp whatsoever about what's going on.
That, plus they don't really care. They're still getting paid.
Nobody cares about patrol.
off topic:
If a cop works security off duty at a school are they a scab?
May be one of those FOP scientist can chime in it came up at roll call since are glorious leader waived the rule of working for an organization while a strike is happening.
cpd supervisors have no balls , they are afraid to discipline any copper . many of cpd supervisors are merit appointed sgt & lt.
The bankers and politicians have nearly destroyed this country filling their own pockets, but the unions somehow are getting the blame.
9/11/2012 04:42:00 AM
******************
Those evil bankers. The ones that loan you money for your car, home and credit purchases, those banks? Bankers are not saints, but they are near insolvent because of politicians and bureaucrats demanding they loan money to UN-creditworthy individuals. Remember that when Carter was president, they wanted to increase minority home ownership. They did this by changing some of the lending rules. When Clinton was president they told the banks that if they didn't increase lending to those that couldn't pay back loans or the government would prosecute them for discrimination. That's when the no income, no verification loans started. If you're older, you remember how hard it was to get a home loan. Income tax papers, verification of income, couldn't have too much debt and had to have a real down payment. That's when the NINJA loans, no income no job no asset loans were born. I was able to refinance my home with almost no documentation. It was a joke. Then the banks were able to sell off these shit loans to Fannie Mae. During the Bush administration they warned of the impending crash and Barney Frank excoriated the Bush administration and said that more of these loans were needed, minority home ownership is at an all time high! Look how well it worked.
So, in answer to your the bankers are bad, maybe they are, but they were forced to make loans to people that couldn't afford them and they were clever enough to try to sell the loans off. The problem with the whole situation is the politicians, they wanted to show the poor and minorities how big their hearts were and as usual, they used your money to do it. they never get held to account for their misdeeds, they just do as they please and someone else cleans up their mess.
Anonymous said...
Somebody has to pay for the Maggie boxes and Maggie park.
9/11/2012 09:38:00 AM
******************************
It woulda been much cheaper and served the same purpose if they just built a few birdhouses in Douglas Park.
Greed = bankrupt pensions.
**************************
It's what Shitcago politicians do , raid & bankrupt employee pension funds. Greedy, evil lowlife Mo-Fo's !
Maybe the ctu problem is union teachers getting paid $76k + benefits for 9 months of work while turning out kids who can read or write. The average household income in Chicago is $47k. We don't have much sympathy for these union "teachers". Yes, politicians suck, but so do public sector unions. It's not a choice between a high or low raise it's a choice between reasonable cuts or bankruptcy. Greed = bankrupt pensions.
9/11/2012 12:13:00 PM
Yeah public sector unions are bad.It probably took that teacher 20 yrs to make $76 k and have to live in the city.She worked her 8 hrs and then worked another 3 at home to mark papers and do weekly planner.She needed supplies it came out of her pocket. She had animals for students and parents who didn t give a shit and would threaten them.And bu the time she was ready to retire to a $50 k pension our corrupt politician want to take some of that back.I know all this because my mom was a teacher..
when the economy was great all the private sector people laugh at what lil money we (public sector)made and they would never do our job.But now that some have lost their jobs making $100k and living in the suburbs its not right that we get a pension.Well the trade off for making avg pay compared to the private sector and having to live in the city was the pensions.
Don t forget the reason we had a middle class was because of unions back in the day.If the goverment would just had paid what they were suppose to instead of starting all these different programs for entitled animals the lil we get paid for a pension would not be an issue.
9/11/2012 12:13:00 PM
Anonymous said...
Somebody has to pay for the Maggie boxes and Maggie park.
9/11/2012 09:38:00 AM
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
that's a lot of money wasted just because maggpie was married to an asshole all those years !!!
If a cop works security off duty at a school are they a scab?
May be one of those FOP scientist can chime in it came up at roll call since are glorious leader waived the rule of working for an organization while a strike is happening.
9/11/2012 11:25:00 PM
Yes. Because they are taking a job from another city union employee that works CPS Security for SEIU 73.
9/11/2012 02:16:00 PM
You've got to let go buddy. Who gives a shit. Don't waste your time even thinking about it. Find something positive, even though it's hard to do. It took me a long time to realize that. The sooner you do it the better....otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy.
9/11/2012 09:49:00 PM
You are right, don't sweat it, they put the dogs nobody wants to work with on that detail, so I guess the bosses don't care who sits out front of his house either Lol. It is a joke
off topic: How could you have the balls to ask to leave early, just because it's your Friday?? And when your a do nothing dog that just shows up and bitches. Don't you even care?? If your scared and your a dog, how about just show up to work do any jobs you get and don't bitch and leave at the end of tour. We all know who you are and it's a bigger slap in our faces when the bosses take care of you. What the fuck? I just don't get it....
Anonymous said...
Shots fired at and by the police in the west end of 019 last night
9/11/2012 08:54:00 AM
No, Just shots fired By the Police, get your facts straight.
9/11/2012 05:13:00 PM
Actually, it was at the police first. I guess you didn't read the sups.
9/11/2012 10:42:00 PM
Really?? Any weapon recovered? or shell casing from offender? or where the shots hit??
Anonymous Anonymous said...
"Thanks to all the bosses last night that can't look at the pdt..."
We only have bosses. No supervisors and definitely few leaders.
Most of them were never the police and have no grasp whatsoever about what's going on.
That, plus they don't really care. They're still getting paid.
Nobody cares about patrol.
9/11/2012 11:18:00 PM
So fucking true, and how the rest of us get screwed. There a joke, this place is a joke Lol.
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