Chicago shuts down to save money

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: BBC

Public services in the US city of Chicago have been shut down for a day in an attempt to deal with a $300m (£184m) budget deficit.

Non-essential services such as rubbish collections, libraries and health centres were closed, in the first of three planned Reduced Service days.

City authorities hope the move, with workers taking an enforced unpaid holiday, will save an estimated $8.3m.

Other cities in the US have already introduced similar measures.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8206433.stm

[havocmom]

1. How many taxpayers (or tax protesters) will not get it?

The worker bees will likely be abused when they get to go back to being wage earners.

[NightWatcher]

2. love the source of the story, British News. All we have here is BS and nonsense

most states (if not all) have already mentioned furloughing workers, cops, teachers, garbagemen, or some other essential employees in order to save money.

Schools will feel another forced furlough around here next school year (Jax, Fl)

[LadyJ333]

3. and yet somehow we can afford to host the Olympics?

....explain how that works.....
totally pathetic. This city is totally a mess and only getting worse.....

[surrealAmerican]

13. It's because Daley can siphon off tax money via the TIF ...

... districts to use for his "pet projects", while the city is short on funds for day-to-day operations. I assume you already knew that.

Welcome to DU, neighbor.

[BadgerKid]

4. State universities want this, too.

There is policy set up to declare "furlough days" (days off without pay) should they be necessary.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Already have them in MD. nt

[Demeter]

12. Been Doing It for Months In Michigan

all state offices, including motor vehicles registration

[Winterblues]

11. The Right is gleeful over this

The less government for them the better. They see this as starving the beast and are patting themselves on the back for causing it. Chicago has stated they already have twelve furlough days in place for the next year, which means twelve working days of less government. Most months have twenty to twenty one working days, so this is equivelent to a half a month a year without services.

[Oldtimeralso]

6. These Days Will Also Happen

on the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve for Chicago city employees.

[feedthephishes]

7. Hmm...

Maybe, before we came to this ridiculous stage, we should have looked at our expenditures? I shudder to think at what this could lead to, and who calls libraries non-essential?

[DBoon]

8. Somewhere Grover Norquist is celebrating

gleefully watching government drown in a bathtub

[Javaman]

9. it's going to get really stinky around there.

no trash pick up for a day in a city as large a Chicago doesn't make a pretty picture.

[gratuitous]

10. No, no, no

See, if they don't pick up the trash, there isn't any trash to pick up. People who were accustomed to Monday trash pick up knew in advance not to have any waste yesterday. See?

There was a report on this on ABC News, and to the Holy Rodent Empire's credit, they did have someone on who said that what was being done was to force five days' worth of work out of a four day week. Governmental services continue to be needed even when the governmental office is closed. A smarter move would be to furlough a third of workers this week, another third next week, and the last third the week after that. Keep the offices open, and not have quite such a backlog build up.