Daley Will Soon be Chicago’s Longest Serving Mayor
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on December 17th, 2010 5:42 am by HL
Daley Will Soon be Chicago’s Longest Serving Mayor
On December 26, the Chicago Sun Times notes Richard M. Daley will surpass his late father, Richard J. Daley, as Chicago’s longest-serving mayor, having served 7,917 days — 21 years and eight months.
“Comparing father and son is difficult because of the vastly different eras in which they served. The mayor’s powers have been diminished by demographic changes, union contracts and the Shakman court decree banning political hiring and firing. A prolonged recession, shrinking federal and state funding and a more aggressive news media have also made the mayor’s job more difficult. But comparisons are unavoidable, particularly about which Mayor Daley was more powerful.”
Congress Extends Bush-era Tax Cuts
Late last night, Congress approved an $801 billion package of tax cuts and $57 billion for extended unemployment insurance. Supporting the overall measure were 139 Democrats and 138 Republicans; opposed were 112 Democrats and 36 Republicans.
New York Times: “The White House and Republicans hailed the deal as a rare bipartisan achievement and a prototype for future hard-bargained compromises in the new era of divided government. But the accord also showed that policy-makers remain locked in an unsustainable cycle of cutting taxes and raising spending that has proven politically palatable in the short term but could threaten the nation’s fiscal stability in years ahead.”
Washington Post: “But for Obama, the two-year window represents an opportunity to tackle the ambitious task of overhauling the federal tax code. By sunsetting current policies immediately after the 2012 presidential election, lawmakers in both parties said the measure sets a natural timetable for developing a tax-reform plan – an essential step toward reining in the rising national debt.”
President Obama is expected to sign the package into law today.
Wyden Could Miss Votes Due to Surgery
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) will undergo surgery on Monday for early-stage prostate cancer, the New York Times reports, “potentially denying Democrats a crucially needed vote at the end of an extremely busy lame-duck session.”
Said Wyden: “I scheduled the surgery for the Monday before Christmas anticipating that the Senate would have recessed by that time and that there would be no disruption to my work in Oregon or Washington. However it now appears that I will be missing votes tomorrow and possibly next week while I prepare and undergo this procedure. I expect to be back to work full-time when the Senate reconvenes in January.”
