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February 26, 2010

ROLLER "Candy It Up" Video of Chicago's Best Hard Rock Band

February 25, 2010

Chicago Clout rocks with ROLLER a knockout Chicago Rockband

Chicago's Best Rock Band Roller.jpg I had a great time making video for a great Chicago Rock and Roll band. More on this band soon. Review by Emery Joe Yost Roller is a high energy rock band. If Bad Company and Lynard Skynard had a baby they would sound like Roller, with the exception of lead vocalist Rusty Bullets,who has a twinge of Bon Scott in his vocal delivery and or dna. I'm really not sure, it could be a rumor, but Rusty allegedly got his stage name when he got a tetanus infection from the strings of his rusty Flying V. I would buy their record and lookout for this hot rock outfit as they pull up their bootstraps and rock the world just like KISS.

February 23, 2010

Notable websites for Chicago Clout Fans Disabled Cops.

I enjoy several websites in Chicago. One of the best is by Rich Miller. Rich has The Capital Fax Blog. I also enjoy the Chicagoist. I hope everyone takes a look at this new blog site and tell me what you think. It seems to take a pro-gun, pro cop view. It is named DisabledCops here is the link http://www.disabledcops.blogspot.com/ They have a sister website that is very funny but the name is too wild for us. Good Luck.

Another long day for City of Chicago Employees on the hunt for theft

The City of Chicago has a residency law that is designed by the Mayor of Chicago to keep a well oiled political machine in place for election time. Many of the unions have a bizarre relationship with Daley, they are there to skim money off the top of worker's paychecks and then deliver a percentage to the current Administration. They call this a symbiotic relationship; it is like those fishes that attach to the sharks. Chicago has system that mixes private contractors and municipal employees. The idea is to play the two sides against each other to increase the production, keep friction, and increase management power over both sides of the equation. I would say without a doubt Mayor Daley and his entire Administration have failed the taxpayers at this game resulting in complete and total chaos. Today I had to call the police on a car with City of Chicago vests and City of Chicago employee identification. One could certainly make the assumption the card in this picture was issued by the Department of Water Management. The owner of the car illegally parked in an intersection blocking traffic, both pedestrian and automobile. The owner of the car was responding to a pulled water service. The owner seemed to assume he had some rights reserved for City employees. I called the Commissioner's office and the Office of the Inspector General. This is theft of City property or false impersonation from my experience. I really hate, really f-ing hate when a private contractor assumes they have the same privileges as city workers. They do not have background checks, drug tests, and pay union dues to the same extent. The owner of this car told me he is not a City employee. Lucky him, he is Mark St**ge, he lives allegedly on Lincoln Avenue, not in Chicago, but in the suburbs. Are you glad Mayor Daley allows these people to live outside the city when Chicagoans have no work? I made a report with the CPD today on the incident. If you are out of a job in the construction industry and you live in Chicago, I would be really mad. If you work for the City of Chicago, put your kids in private schools, and get furlough days, I would be mad. If you are Saul, fighting for your job on a residency beef, I would be really, really mad. Photo by Patrick McDonough.

February 17, 2010

Fox News expose more silly, silly, silly things at the Chicago Department of Water Management

The Chicago Low Income Housing-discrimination against working folks?

Chicago Housing 1 I have watched the housing market in Chicago for quite some time. There are a couple of more bubbles that need bursting in the next few years before thing can get back to a semblance of sanity. It is going to take a while but you can find some nice property if you have good credit or you have an inside like many Chicago high ranking employees. This is a low income property that could command rents of $1500.00 or more and has apartments that could sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars in certain Chicago neighborhoods. You can only rent in this exclusive hidden area if you are very low income. The government makes up the difference. I think it makes no sense to show up to work every day in America when people with no motivation live better than the everyday working stiffs. Many hard working families continue to be throw out into the streets despite the fact they work very hard and contribute to the economy. Some people do not work, get free food and lodging, and enjoy spending money without working at all. Their apartments are professional maintained and staffed to handle any complaints. Just remember one simple thing, someone is getting a big piece of the action on top, and you are paying for it. If you want to rent here and you are an everyday working stiff, you are not allowed, you make too much money. That's discrimination. Photo by Patrick McDonough

February 14, 2010

The Chicago Parking Meter Problems Continue this winter

Chicago Parking Meter Problems 1.jpg GreekTown is a section of Chicago known for some great Greek restaurants. A couple of days ago, I went down to get some cheese that made my tummy feel great. I also met my new and famous teacher that is going to clean up some unfinished ends in my photo skills. Before I had the meeting, I had to find a spot and everything was taken except some metered areas. I was getting ready to pay when an older lady was trying to walk through the snow and feed the machine. The least Daley could do was make sure the access to the meters meet handicap access rules. People should not have to feed the meters if there is not proper accessibility for everyone. Daley made chumps of everyone when he made this deal. Photo by Patrick McDonough

February 9, 2010

Mayor Daley tells everyone about Patrick Daley serving da Country

Patrick Daley 1.jpg It seems funny the Chicago Newspapers are going gaga over Patrick Daley heading back into the Army. It made all the television stations even though most the people I know just want an honest answer about Mayor Daley son's involvement in the sewer business. Sneed had another great scoop, but I am certain Mayor Daley tipped off the media to get favorable treatment for his son, again. I want every soldier in the U.S. Armed Forces to know the vast majority of everyday Americans care about each and every one of you equally. We have no favorites unless it is a son, daughter, mom, or dad. I do not think any favoritism should exist where life and limb is at risk. Amazing how long it takes to fight these wars and who is chosen to fight them. Photo of Patrick Daley courtesy of a Chicago Clout contributor. It is time for all soldiers to return home, enough have died long ago. Patrick McDonough

February 8, 2010

Chicago Clout witness brave Chicago Cops arresting future City employees

Chicago Drug Bust 1.jpg It seems like a couple of white kids hooked up with a gangbanger to score some drugs around Division and Cicero Avenue in Chicago, Sunday February 7, 2010. I do not know what tipped off the Chicago Police Officers, but the dude in the red stood out. When the police cuffed these three, they were very sad. These police officers were very courteous and professional. Just say no to drugs, just like Oprah does to food and texting! Photo by Patrick MCDonough

February 6, 2010

LABOR BEAT made a Video of your Union brothers that were real men!!!

February 4, 2010

Ask Your Plumbing Inspector explains the Illinois Plumbing License Law Video.

Dennis Gannon steps down after asking Mayor Daley's permission

Dennis Gannon Steps Down February 4, 2010 New labor boss will be put in place to continue screwing Chicago Union membership out of dues and benefits. I suggest James Sullivan just to get him out of the Plumber's Union. Job description for new labor leader, kiss Daley butt. Photo of Dennis Gannon by Patrick McDonough. Chicago labor boss Dennis Gannon quits 'I'm just drained,' February 4, 2010 By FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter Chicago's most powerful labor leader is calling it quits. Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon -- who went toe-to-toe with Mayor Daley in the fight against Wal-Mart -- has decided not to seek re-election to another four-year term. Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon has decided not to seek re-election. The federation -- which represents more than 300 unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO -- will choose a new president in June. "I'm just drained," Gannon said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times this morning. "I'm just tired. Between the politics and the labor stuff and trying to keep people together and making sure labor's issues are front and center -- it's just time for somebody else to take the reins." Gannon, 56, has been with the CFL for 17 years. That includes eight years as president, eight before that as secretary-treasurer and one year as assistant to the president. "You need to give this job 120 percent every single day," he said. "If you're only giving it 75 or 50 percent, you know it's time to turn it over. I'm at a point in my life where me and [wife] Diane have made this decision. Will I miss things? Sure. But, politically, it's time." The changing of the guard comes at a difficult time for organized labor. Amid pressure to create jobs and boost city revenues, labor is still trying to fend off a furious push by Wal-Mart to build as many as five Chicago "super-centers" that sell groceries. The CTA is poised to lay off 1,100 employees and impose dramatic service cuts on Sunday, despite Gannon's public plea for CTA unions to make the concessions necessary to avert those layoffs. Last year, Gannon helped engineer a package of cost-cutting concessions--including furlough days, comp time instead of cash overtime -- that helped Mayor Daley avert more than 1,000 layoffs. But the relationship between Daley and Gannon has hardly been a cozy one. During the battle royal over a big-box minimum-wage ordinance, Daley and Gannon were at loggerheads. At one point, the mayor went so far as to lay Gannon out in an expletive-deleted tirade in front of AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. Gannon exacted his revenge four months after the mayor used his first-ever veto to kill an ordinance that would have required Wal-Mart and other retailing giants to pay their employees at least $13 an hour in wages and benefits by 2010. For the first time in the CFL's modern history, in 2007, the powerful organization decided not to endorse an incumbent Chicago mayor for re-election. Union leaders also put up millions to elect a City Council more independent of Daley. The big-box veto might have been forgiven if it had been labor's only beef with Daley. But it was more like the straw that broke the camel's back. The bill of particulars also included the mayor's privatization frenzy, hundreds of employee layoffs, the 28-month wait for a new union contract that ultimately denied retirees back paychecks, charter schools and the demand for right-to-work legislation for striking hotel workers. After the election, Daley and Gannon buried the hatchet in a way that guaranteed labor peace through 2016, when the mayor had hoped Chicago would host the Summer Olympics. The 10-year contract with 8,000 city tradespeople locked in the prevailing wage paid to their counterparts in private industry. The agreement was subsequently reopened when the city ran up a $500 million-plus shortfall. Gannon said he met with Daley Friday to inform the mayor of his decision. And despite their sometimes-rocky relationship, he said the mayor wished him well. "Don't forget -- when he ran for states attorney [in 1980], I was with him. I was with him again for mayor the time he lost against Harold" Washington in 1983, Gannon said. "But, at times, we just seem to find ourselves on different sides of issues I'm not gonna back down from, and he won't back down from." Gannon is a former steamroller operator for the city of Chicago. He also collects the largest pension of any retired city employee, though his city pension of $153,649 a year isn't based on the salary he earned as a steamroller. Instead, Gannon used a little-known state law that allows him to have the amount that he gets for his city pension be based on the salary he made as a top union boss. Even as Gannon collected a city pension based on his Chicago Federation of Labor salary, he was able to continue working for the CFL, which, according to the most recent records available, paid him $215,484 in 2007. Daley called Gannon "a very good labor leader" who will be "missed" and downplayed their differences. "Dennis has been a very good labor leader," Daley said. "He started working many, many years ago, worked his way up to it. He was always helpful -- not only to labor, but to the city. He'll be missed. "The media portrays when you have disagreements with someone that there's hatred there -- there's not," Daley said. Then, referring to his wife, he added, "Maggie has disagreements with me all the time -- I don't know why the media tries to portray this as you against them or them against you. People are gonna differ with you every day." Although Gannon routinely stood his ground, Daley said he would miss having a labor leader with the strength to deliver what he promised. "You have to be able to sit down and work things out," the mayor said. "If you don't, then the issue you're trying to confront will just get bigger and bigger, and it's gonna cost the taxpayers more and more money in the end result." Contributing: Tim Novak

February 3, 2010

David Hoffman: a special moment in Illinois history February 2, 2010

David Hoffman February 2, 2010 I was downtown last night, a night of great expectation for all of Chicago and Illinois. I was looking forward to watching a man that I admire greatly in Chicago, David Hoffman. Within a few months he assembled a loyal, caring, classy bunch of loyal political fighters of the like I have never seen. I am proud of the work I did to help. I am proud to be part of one of the noblest adventures I have ever embarked. David's work at the Chicago Inspector General, with a limited budget, and against all odds, is the stuff reformers dream about. The campaign I witnessed is one I will never forget, ever. I do not think I will really ever admire another public servant to the degree I have with David Hoffman, unless were talking about Patrick J. Fitzgerald. I can see why the people of Chicago and Illinois have a hard time voting, the results. I already miss all the e-mails from David Hoffman's campaign, but I am waiting for the next battle. I picked my leader, who will you follow to make America better? Photo by Patrick McDonough

February 1, 2010

David Hoffman and his son Grayson enjoyed their interview with Fox New's Nancy Pender!

David Hoffman and son's interview.jpg David Hoffman and his son Grayson enjoyed the night before the U.S. Senate primary race in Illinois. Good Luck to David Hoffman and your family. This Polaroid moment by Patrick McDonough (picture taken at Deerfield Hyatt February 1, 2010)