The Scandal of Chicago's Olympic Bid

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal provided fairly deep coverage of the dynamics of Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

There is so much wrong with this initiative, on so many levels, that it's difficult to know where to begin.

Certainly, with all the pressing issues of state calling for solutions by Wonderboy- Iranian nuclear weapons ambitions, North Korean nuclear proliferation, Russian obstinacy on disarmament, Afghanistan, to name just a few- you'd think he has more to do than have taxpayers fund his trip to Copenhagen to plead before the IOC on behalf of his adopted hometown.


Actually, our First Rookie took not one, but two jets over the pond to lobby on Dick Daley's behalf.

Then there is the Valerie Jarrett connection. Here's Michell Malkin's take on it, and Jarrett. Yesterday, Glenn Beck devoted most of his program to Jarrett, Wonderboy and the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid.

About Jarrett, perhaps the most concise way of stating her corrupt involvement is this. Her former company, Habitat, Inc., was and is involved in the mismanagement of what is now a slum housing development. Jarrett simply refuses inquiries made to her on the subject. The slum is believed to be near locations that will become, if Chicago wins its Olympic bid, prime athletic facilities sites. Being in dilapidated condition, the slum development will be ideal for condemnation and rebuilding as athlete housing. Jarrett's old firm actually owns quite a bit of land in Chicago, according to news sources. And the city has mandated that all Olympic venues will be within the city limits.

Then there's the Chicago way.

Do you recall the Big Dig in Boston some years ago? When they decided to move an entire freeway beneath the city? In effect, the largely federally-funded project was a transfer of money from taxpayers everywhere to corrupt unions and organized crime syndicates in Boston.

Well, the Chicago 2016 Olympics will be a lot like the Big Dig. In fact, in yesterday's Journal, one local observer allowed as how the Olympic effort was sure to run over budget. Any guesses as to some of the people who will pocket those overruns?

Then there's the clear split among Chicagoans over the Olympic bid. About half of the city's residents don't want the Games. Some of this is due to the reasonable suspicion that they will be taxed to make good on the city's losses on the 2016 Games.

In fact, Daley first insisted that Chicago would not be liable for any losses on the Olympics. Then, he modified his stance and rammed through the city council a resolution allowing for the city to absorb $500MM in losses on the Games. According to the Journal, the city plans to lay off its risk on this $500MM exposure for about $63MM in insurance premiums.

The Olympics seems to be a sort of capstone for Daley. His poll numbers are at career lows, with approvals down below 40%, and disapprovals above 40%. He's been likened to a banana republic dictator in a local paper, and has been attracting the ire of the city's citizens in recent years.

Anyone remotely knowledgeable about how Chicago operates knows that, if it secures the Olympic bid, much graft will flow into the city and around and through political operatives, organized crime, unions, and anyone else Democrats need to reward.

Since the US president and one of his closest aides are involved in the effort, the mind reels at the added sources of swag being planned for this Olympics, and the additional corrupt mouths which will be fed by those national taxpayer dollars.

But the real lesson may best be summed up by reading one passage in the Journal article. It reads,

"Mr. Daley, who didn't attend the meetings, has responded to questions about the Games' risks by asking rhetorically: If the Olympics are such a bum deal, why are so many cities vying for the 2016 Games?"

That's almost too easy to answer. But also very embarrassing. Here's why.

Like Chicago, it's a good bet that most other cities' residents and taxpayers do not want the Games. That's because they know that, on average, an Olympic Games do not make much, if any money for the city, but carry enormous risk of losses. Those losses will be borne by those taxpayers.

I believe it's the mayors of all of those cities to which Daley refers that want the Olympics.

Those mayors want the Olympics because the Games constitute a new, fresh, large stream of revenues to be skimmed, allocated to unions, crime syndicates, friends, relatives, and various others to whom favors are owed. It builds a politician's prestige, power, and connections.

It may not be a "bum deal" for the mayors, but I think most of the residents of the cities bidding on the Games understand, deep down, that the Games are more than likely going to be a "bum deal" for them.

At least the likes of Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin are already shining bright lights on the people and places where you can expect torrents of Olympic cash to flow if Chicago gets its Olympics.