Both Cook County and the City of Chicago say they need more money and are asking for tax increases. After all, if you’re a government and you need money, what else is there to do but raise taxes? An article by Amity Shlaes on Bloomberg.com tells how it was done in Medellin, Colombia. First, the people of Medellin elected a new, reform mayor. To help people who lived in hillside shacks get down the hills to jobs in the city, the mayor came up with an ingenious idea: Build ski lifts and bring them down in eight-person gondolas. But where could a place like Medellin find the money to build the ski lifts: "[Mayor] Fajardo says funding the concrete-and-wire Metrocable wasn't so hard: ‘It's remarkable how much money there is to spend when you don't keep it for yourself and your friends.’" Why do I think this idea will never be tried in Cook County or Chicago? ------------------ "On State Street that great street I just want to say
Note: The title to this post is, obviously, taken from the lyrics to "Chicago":
They do things that they don't do on Broadway - say
They have the time the time of their life
I saw a man and he danced with his wife
In Chicago, my home town"
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