Delusional Sun-Times columnist writes of Rahm's 2016 comeback

Abandoned home, Englewood,
South Side

Chicago Sun-Times political reporter Fran Spielman must be writing her columns from the International Space Station--without internet access. In her latest piece she claims that Rahm Emanuel made "a political comeback" in 2016 after being "left for dead" after the release of the damaging video of Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke repeatedly shooting Laquan McDonald.

"He appears to have succeeded, to the point that the conversation has shifted to whether Emanuel will decide to seek a third term instead of whether he will resign," Spielman writes.

Comeback? That sounds like the well, praise, that Chicago Bears coach John Fox has earned. The Milquetoasts of the Midway are 3-12 this year, but they are even worse than that record.

Last year 416 people were murdered in Chicago, so far there have been 785 homicides in 2016. Does anyone seriously expect a major decline in killings next year? An increase seems more likely to me. Also last year Emanuel, aided by the useless but compliant City Council, enacted the largest property tax hike in Chicago history. But Moody's still rates Chicago's bonds as junk.

While Chicago's population loss began before Emanuel was born, the city continues to hemorrhage residents.The tax hikes, put in place bail out public worker pension funds that were woefully underfunded before Rahm was sworn in five years ago, may exacerbate this exodus. The deadly 1967 riots in Detroit only hastened the departures brought on by the municipal income tax that were enacted four years earlier.

Different tax, same end-result?

And let me drive my point home--that new tax revenue won't improve municipal services in Chicago.

Why stay? Last weekend thousands of ticket-holding Bears fans asked this question, "Why even go to the game?" Many didn't.

Spielman: Please return to Earth. While two years and a couple of months is seemingly as infinite as outer space in politics, I just don't see how your Rahm "comeback" will aid his 2019 reelection effort, if he chooses to run for a third term.