Chicago can do without the grandstanding Mr. Mayor

The diatribe aimed at President Trump amounts to barber shop banter

Congratulations Brandon, your outburst regarding President Trump’s comments about stopping funding for school districts, including Chicago, that don’t comply with his anti-DEI mandate got you scads of media attention-something we have learned you cherish. The President also is threatening cities with sanctuary city ordinances in place.

To some, and obviously you, it was clever to juxtapose the President’s threat to terrorism. Hyperbole often makes for great theater. However, in Chicago we need solutions-not hyperbolic statements that are rooted in opinion (yours). Granted President Trump’s favorable rating averages in the mid-40 percentile in the nation’s most credible polls, but there is little a mayor can do when Trump offers something they don’t like.

For those who missed Johnson’s soliloquy, he said “Trying to force your will to break the spirit of working people in order to have a conversation, that’s terrorism. We’re not going to negotiate with terrorists,” Johnson said.

Asked if he was calling Trump a terrorist, the mayor continued: “No. What I’m saying is trying to hold people hostage and manipulating them to succumb to his will and then hold up our tax dollars, that is how terrorists behave.” Let’s be clear. To date, Trump’s actions have been limited to empty threats.

Rather than focus on what might be, it seems Johnson’s time and focus could be much better spent on searching for and finding ways to help resolve the city’s looming $1 billion budget deficit: or the Chicago Transit Authority’s projected $577 million upcoming shortfall. And we can’t overlook the $500 million that the Chicago Public Schools will soon be in the hole for. And the fact the COVID19 funding they had will be used up this year only worsens the financial picture.

Johnson is on record saying “we’re gonna sue” was the city’s position if the Feds cut funding to the school district. By the time such a suit meanders through the courts Chicago schools will be deep in session and the city or district still won’t have those dollars that thinks should be forthcoming.

Johnson seems to forget or ignore that on the governmental food chain he is at the bottom- below both the President and the Illionois governor. That reality involving the governor still should be relatively fresh in the mayor’s mind. It was only four ago that Johnson chose to proceed with building a migrant encampment at 38th and California streets. Johnson defied the governor’s caution that there was no state money for the project and proceeded with the project. After Chicago had dumped nearly $1 million into the site; state officials shut it down over environmental concerns. Chicago wound up with what amounted to a smooth, new parking lot. The city had no recourse.

Essentially the same is true if Trump sticks to his threats. Johnson, and the citizens of Chicago will be best served if the mayor abandoned his kneejerk rhetoric and focus on solutions involving our over-the-top rate of violence, as well as mitigating the massive budget deficits.