Partisan Misperceptions of Chicago

By | October 22, 2013

Public perceptions can be a fickle thing, and a common method of forming (or reinforcing) public perceptions is in the incessant and never-ending e-mails that get composed and forwarded by partisans of whatever stripe you may choose.

Today I received one such e-mail that was obviously written by a Republican trying to demonstrate how terrible Democrats are in managing the country. Their case study? The deplorable fiscal and living conditions in the city of Chicago.

CloudGateI decided to do a little fact-checking on what the e-mail asserted (more on that in a moment). The bottom line? I found that the e-mail gave just as warped a view of reality as the famous Cloud Gate sculpture does for its Chicago surroundings.

Here’s the body of the e-mail:

A wonderful State with ZERO Republicans

There are more people on Welfare in Illinois than there are people working. Chicago pays the highest wages to teachers than anywhere else in the U.S. averaging $110,000/year. Their pensions average 80-90% of their income. You can’t blame that on republicans because there aren’t any. Wow, are Illinois and Chicago great or what? Be sure to read till the end. I’ve never heard it explained better. Perhaps the U.S. should pull out of Chicago? Body count: In the last six months 292 killed (murdered) in Chicago, while 221 killed in Iraq AND Chicago has one of the strictest gun laws in the entire US. Here’s the Chicago chain of command:

President: Barack Hussein Obama. Senator: Dick Durbin. House Representative: Jesse Jackson Jr. Governor: Pat Quinn. House leader: Mike Madigan. Atty. Gen.: Lisa Madigan (daughter of Mike). Mayor: Rohm Emanuel. The leadership in Illinois–all Democrats. Thank you for the combat zone in Chicago.

Of course, they’re all blaming each other ….Can’t blame Republicans; there aren’t any! Chicago school system rated one of the worst in the country. Can’t blame Republicans; there aren’t any! State pension fund $78 Billion in debt, worst in country. Can’t blame Republicans; there aren’t any! Cook County (Chicago ) sales tax 10.25% highest in country. Can’t blame Republicans; there aren’t any! This is the political culture that Obama comes from in Illinois. And he is going to ‘fix’ Washington politics for us??? George Ryan is no longer Governor, he is in the big house. Of course he was replaced by Rob Blajegovitch who is…that’s right, also in the big house. And Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned a couple of weeks ago. That is because he is fighting being sent to…that’s right, the big house. The Land of Lincoln, where our governors make our license plates.

But you know what? As long as they keep providing entitlements to the population of Chicago, nothing is going to change, except the state will go broke before the country does.

I don’t think any unbiased source could claim that Chicago doesn’t have problems—it does. However, it isn’t “circling the drain” as the e-mail would make it seem.

I decided to take a look at some, but not all, of the claims made in the e-mail, just so I could try to substantiate what was being said. Stick with me as I walk through a few of them.

A wonderful State with ZERO Republicans

This headline is misleading, to say the least. Illinois has serving Republicans, including the following who were elected to state-wide office:

Based on the above, it could be argued by opposing partisans that Republicans control the purse strings in the state, since they hold positions of both treasurer and comptroller. In addition, there are many Republicans holding local office within the state.

There are more people on Welfare in Illinois than there are people working.

This is incorrect and appears to be based on second-hand information gathered from a discredited e-mail that misinterprets information in a 2012 Forbes magazine article.

Chicago pays the highest wages to teachers than anywhere else in the U.S. averaging $110,000/year. Their pensions average 80-90% of their income. You can’t blame that on republicans because there aren’t any.

It is true that teachers in Chicago have the highest average pay in the country, but the amount cited is incorrect. (Actually, it is debatable if the average teacher pay in Chicago is the highest in the nation. By some reports, the highest average is for teachers in New York City.) Teachers in Chicago make an average of just under $75,000, while the average for the State of Illinois is $64,509—sixth behind New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, and New Jersey.

Chicago school system rated one of the worst in the country. Can’t blame Republicans; there aren’t any!

This is misleading. Some (but not all) Chicago schools are ranked the worst in the country. However, that list also includes schools in other states in which there are Republicans.

State pension fund $78 Billion in debt, worst in country. Can’t blame Republicans; there aren’t any!

Remember that both the state comptroller and treasurer are Republican. And, evidence shows that Illinois’ pension fund deficit is not the worst in the country (but it is among the top five worst).

Cook County ( Chicago ) sales tax 10.25% highest in country. Can’t blame Republicans; there aren’t any!

This is simply not true. While the Chicago sales tax is high, it is not the highest in the nation. Two cities—Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama—have higher sales tax rates. (See the information at the non-partisan Tax Foundation.)

Such sloppy fact checking does more to paint the perceptions of the writers (and senders) of such e-mails than it does to discredit a troubled town like Chicago.