Mayor Daley Looking for Piece of Stimulus Pie

Ahh, Illinois, land of corruption. The negative connotations of the phrase "Chicago politics" are well-earned and widely known. The Chicago machine has, of course, been under increased examination over the last several months, what with Obama and many of his closest advisors the product of that machine; not to mention the Blagojevich sideshow we've all been treated to. It seems, though, the news never stops flowing from the Land of Lincoln.

Brand-new Governor Pat Quinn was in D.C. today, hoping to ensure that Illinois gets their cut of the economic stimulus package being debated in congress. He's fresh from a reportedly very productive and very friendly meeting with that other long time fixture of "Chicago politics" Mayor Richard Daley. It should be safe to assume that Daley had some suggestions about where the money should go.

At the top of the Daley wish list? Certainly it has to be the nearly $20 billion dollar albatross he's hung around Chicago's neck, the O'Hare Modernization Program, or OMP. The OMP is a massive project to expand the vital hub and Daley' pet project. Despite FAA studies showing that the proposed expansion won't relieve delays or other problems, and despite the fact that the economically challenged airlines are in no position to pay for it, Mayor Daley isn't ready to give up. It seems he's interested in foisting Chicago's problems onto the rest of us. Starting to be a familiar plan, isn't it?

The prohibitive costs and lack of funds to pay for this project are not the only criticisms. In order to expand, Chicago has undertaken a massive land grab, ousting families from nice, well-kept neighborhoods to make way for tarmac. Jim Johnson, city manager from Bensenville, Illinois, is none too pleased with the grab. (see the end of this story for some video of the neighborhoods to be destroyed.)

I spoke with Johnson about the project this afternoon. Johnson is roundly critical of the plan. He reiterated to me that the FAA has little confidence the OMP will tackle any of the problems it is supposed to address. He also filled me in on an absurdity in the OMP that is perfectly in keeping with with congress' propensity for wasteful spending. Call it ... a terminal to nowhere.

Part of the massive project contains an inexplicable provision for a "western terminal" that the airlines themselves have little or no interest in. Johnson points out that anyone using the terminal, or simply parking there, would be forced to take a bus ride on existing surface streets to reach the rest of the airport, a ride that could take upwards of 45 minutes to an hour in heavy Chicago traffic. The airlines don't want it, the passengers surely would despise it, but Mayor Daley still wants it. You know, that does sound like the sort of thing Congress would go for, doesn't it?

I asked Johnson what could possibly motivate Mayor Daley to keep pushing the project. "It's about jobs and contracts," he said. "Contracts for friends and pay-to-play and all the other stuff" we've been hearing about with Blagojevich and typical Chicago politics. Rick Moran at Pajamas Media also indicates a growing feud between Daley and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. as playing a role.

There is a good chance that Daley will get what he wants. Money for the OMP would technically produce new jobs in the area and, judging by the bill that passed the House, Congress isn't setting the bar high for the stimulus package, nor looking deeply into secondary impacts. It is definitely possible they'll consider this an infrastructure improvement and a source of jobs and that will be that.

The people of Bensenville know that the economic impact of the OMP can be decidedly negative. Though given a fair compensation for their homes, the area was decidedly low-cost versus much of the rest of Chicago and environs. According to Jim Johnson, many of those residents, some of whom have lived there for fifty years or more, will not be able to find comparable space and quality anywhere nearby. They've had to uproot completely and find new homes, schools, and in some cases jobs, all during this terrible economic crisis.

The OMP is an example of one of those monstrous creations that come from bad governance and a corrupt political environment like Chicago. It would be a shame to see $20 billion dollars diverted from Washington to pay for something that the local residents, taxpayers and businesses just plain don't want.