Finally, Ben's take on the Bears stadium

Let the plan quietly expire instead of selling out to rich guys [View this email in your browser]( [READER Logo]( Daily Reader | April 30, 2024 Up is down and down is up since Mayor Johnson and the Bears came together last week to unveil their big plans to build a domed stadium on the lake. I think everyone, if they’re being honest, would agree with me that this is an obscene waste of time, money, and energy that will benefit no one except the Bears. Well, the Bears probably wouldn’t agree with me on that as they probably believe—if it's good for them, it’s good for the rest of the world too. As a card-carrying lefty of the New Deal variety, I must denounce this proposal as I’ve denounced all the other wastes of money proposed by our mayors since Harold Washington died. It’s a long and painful list of money-wasters that includes an airport in Hegewisch (I haven’t forgotten that one, Mayor Daley), the Olympics, and pretty much every major “take from the poor and give to the rich” TIF scheme—right on down to Lincoln Yards. Or to [quote candidate Brandon Johnson]( on the idea of a publicly-financed Bears stadium: “I want the Bears to stay. But Chicago could also use $2 billion to remove lead pipes, house thousands of unhoused Chicagoans, fully fund public schools, generate neighborhood and business development in communities across the city, pay down our pension and general obligations, or meet dozens of other urgent needs—all of which would also generate much-needed economic and quality of life returns.” Yes! That sounds like the guy I voted for. Now here’s the upside down part. Generally, my beloved lefties would join me in outrage over this proposed Bears stadium. At least if the mayor proposing it were Daley, Rahm, or Lightfoot. But out of loyalty to Mayor Johnson, lefties are either quiet or carefully parsing their words. Their logic has been explained to me by a millennial lefty I’ll call Brian . . . Selling out to rich guys sorta comes with the job of being mayor, so you have to sell out every once in a while if you want to get reelected. And then sell out some more. Hey, don’t get mad at me, it’s Brian’s theory. Also surprising to me are my newfound allies in corporate Chicago who are quoting my criticism of the stadium as part of their effort to make the mayor look bad so they can defeat him with whatever bum they come up with for the 2027 mayoral election . . . which they have been preparing for almost from the moment Johnson beat Paul Vallas last year. I have to laugh when they quote me. They were missing in action in the fights against all those money-wasting schemes proposed by Mayors Daley and Rahm. Including the Olympics—which was far worse than the Bears stadium in terms of its potential parkland destruction and wasteful spending. So here’s my advice to Mayor Johnson . . . Just let this plan quietly expire. Sorta like Daley did with that airport at Hegewisch. My guess is you signed on to the stadium to win over the business crowd that will never support you no matter whatever little sweet things they mutter into your ears. To quote [the O’Jays]( “They smilin’ in your face / All the time, they want to take your place / the back stabbers.” [Logo with text: The Ben Joravsky Show. 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