At first Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed to “be careful in choosing my words” when asked about Republican President Donald Trump’s actions since his COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalization and subsequent release.
She blasted his brief exit from the Walter Reed hospital Sunday so his motorcade could drive him past admirers as well as his exhortation to the public, upon his return to the White House yesterday, not to fear the virus.
“I don’t even know what that means, in the context of over 210,000 Americans dead,” Lightfoot said this afternoon. “I don’t know what that means (with) millions who have been affected, and then even more individuals, families, communities, neighborhoods that have been themselves impacted by COVID-19.”
But her restraint was short-lived.
Saying this is proof he should be voted out of office, the mayor intercepted my Tribune colleague Alice Yin’s question to the city’s top public health officer about how the White House, which is seeing an outbreak beyond the president, could have better protected itself.
“Follow the public health guidance, follow the guidance of the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Infection), follow the guidance of CDPH (Chicago Department of Public Health) – any of the above,” the mayor said. “Wear a mask. Social distance. … Don’t be stupid. That’s what they could have done.”
Staring down a $1.2 billion budget gap in 2021, Mayor Lightfoot is considering slashing $200 million in the Chicago city government workforce to close some of that gap, sources tell the Tribune. Furloughs and layoffs are in the mix, the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt writes. And labor unions are working on alternate proposals.
At a news conference later in the day, the mayor didn’t go into details but called the budget discussions painful and said they keep her up at night. All eyes should be on what this means as the city hammers out a contract with Chicago’s rank-and-file police officers. At least publicly, it’s been a contentious process.
More Top Picks Best Weighted Vests For Adults With Autism
In a new video released today, former first lady Michelle Obama makes the case for the Biden-Harris ticket to undecided voters and Americans who are not planning to cast a ballot. While touting Biden, the former vice president to President Barack Obama, she called Trump’s rhetoric and policies at times “racist” and accused him of mishandling the nation’s response to COVID-19.
And while the pandemic has put the brakes on much of life as we know it, in Illinois it doesn’t seem to have curbed pot smoking. September was another record-setting month for legal cannabis sales, my Tribune colleague Robert Channick reports. Dude.
Welcome to The Spin.
Lightfoot considering up to $200 million in city staffing cuts to balance budget: sources
Facing a $1.2 billion budget shortfall for next year, Mayor Lightfoot previously has said that “all options are on the table” She’s also said that property taxes and job cuts are at the back of her list. As Gregory Pratt reports here, Lightfoot is considering possible cuts of up to $200 million in Chicago’s city government workforce to help fill the 2021 budget deficit, sources told the Tribune.
Chicago has spent at least $222 million in overtime so far in 2020, already over budget for the year: COVID-19 is largely the reason why OT is soaring, but rising crime and civil unrest also have contributed to the city’s financial hole. The Tribune’s Gregory Pratt and Alice Yin have the details here.
Mayor announces $8 million in mental health grants largely focused on Chicago’s South and West sides: The city’s top public health official, Dr. Allison Arwady, said during a news conference today that some efforts would be focused on helping “continuous riders” on Chicago Transit Authority trains and buses. Pratt has that story too — read it here.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
The Tribune’s Dan Petrella writes: “Accusing his Republican counterparts of engaging in “political theater” ahead of the Nov. 3 election, the Democratic chairman of a special Illinois House committee investigating the conduct of longtime Speaker Michael Madigan said Tuesday that the panel won’t meet again until the polls close.
“State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside said in a statement that the three GOP lawmakers on the special investigating committee, formed in response to a petition from House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, ‘are wearing two hats.'”
Petrella notes that “Republicans have accused Welch of acting in defense of Madigan by blocking a vote last week to issue subpoenas to compel testimony from the powerful Southwest Side Democrat and other witnesses.
“Earlier Tuesday, the leading Republican on the committee, Rep. Tom Demmer of Dixon, accused Welch of trying to slow-walk the investigating by requesting ‘a data dump’ from Commonwealth Edison, which is at the center of the investigation” Read the full story here.
Democratic state Treasurer Michael Frerichs called a news conference for this morning, only to abruptly cancel minutes beforehand. He was expected to discuss comments he made in June that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature graduated-rate income tax amendment proposal could lead to the taxing of retirement income for those who can afford it, the Tribune’s Rick Pearson writes. The measure is on the November ballot.
Instead, Frerichs issued an emailed statement saying everyone from him to the General Assembly to fellow Democrat Pritzker opposes a retirement tax.
Pearson notes: “Illinois does not currently tax retirement income and nothing in the proposed graduated-rate income tax amendment would change the law to allow that.”
Yet opponents to the amendment, which calls for taxing wealthier residents at a higher rate, have seized on Frerichs’ June comments, contending the proposal would open the door to taxing pensions, 401(k) plans and other benefits. A GOP-aligned group referenced them in a lawsuit against the state, saying that it seemed passing the graduated tax amendment was a precondition to taxing retirement income.
What Frerichs said in June: “One thing a progressive tax would do is make clear you can have graduated rates when you are taxing retirement income,” he said, according to the Daily Herald. “And, I think that’s something that’s worth discussion.”
What he says now: “I oppose creating a retirement tax in Illinois, along with the General Assembly, and governor.”
Reminder: “Under the proposal, which is the first item on the Nov. 3 ballot, voters are being asked to change the state constitution to remove the mandated flat-rate income tax and allow for a graduated-rate tax structure that increases rates as income increases,” Pearson writes. Read the rest of his story here.
Aamer Madhani with the Associated Press writes, “President Donald Trump abandoned COVID-19 relief talks on Tuesday, saying they won’t resume until after the election. The move came as the chairman of the Federal Reserve said that further fiscal intervention is needed to prevent the economy from spiraling downward.
“Trump tweeted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was “not negotiating in good faith” and said he’s asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to direct all his focus before the election into confirming his U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.” Read the full story here.
Lightfoot on how Trump, administration officials could have better protected themselves from COVID-19: ‘Don’t be stupid, that’s what they could have done’: The Tribune’s John Byrne has the story here.
More Top Picks Balance Bike
Trump, back at the White House, again compares COVID-19 to seasonal flu: ‘We have learned to live with it’: “Still sickened by COVID-19, President Donald Trump plunged back on Tuesday into playing down the disease that hospitalized him for three days and has so far killed more than 210,000 Americans,” The Associated Press writes. “He compared it anew to the seasonal flu and signaled he plans to return soon to the campaign trail.” Read the full story here.
White House blocks new COVID-19 vaccine guidelines — The New York Times has the details: “Top White House officials are blocking strict new federal guidelines for the emergency release of a coronavirus vaccine, objecting to a provision that would almost certainly guarantee that no vaccine could be authorized before the election on Nov. 3, according to people familiar with the approval process.” Read the full story here.
In Illinois: 1,617 new known COVID-19 cases and 32 additional deaths. Read the latest here.
Indiana is again in danger of being added to Chicago’s quarantine list: The Tribune’s Alice Yin has the details here.
Column: Why the Rose Garden COVID-19 fiasco was dismal news for the return of live entertainment — Tribune theater critic and culture columnist Chris Jones reflects on what rapid testing portends for music venue and theaters. That same testing was used ahead of the formal announcement that Amy Coney Barrett would be Trump’s Supreme Court nominee last month at the White House; days later, the president and several in his circle who attended the event tested positive for the virus.
“While it rarely has been entirely clear who infected whom where in this crisis, and that is true here, the evidence of multiple infections at this event suggest that the hopeful idea that rapid tests could be used as a kind of instant pandemic metal detector, a notion that has been floated well beyond the White House, is not a viable plan. The virus appears to be way too tricky a beast for that hopeful solution to our current problem.
“These rapid tests have been especially beguiling to producers of indoor live entertainment. The Rose Garden debacle last weekend did not help the crisis in that sector.” Read the full piece here.
Michelle Obama final pitch for Biden-Harris, blasts Trump
CNN reports: “Former first lady Michelle Obama made her closing message to Americans in a campaign video released less than a month before Election Day, saying President Donald Trump and his allies are ‘stoking fears about Black and Brown Americans” to win an election and calling the President’s actions ‘morally wrong’ and ‘racist.’ Read the story here.
The New York Times notes that “(i)n a 24-minute video, Mrs. Obama appealed to parents and young people, white working-class Americans and people of color, lashing President Trump’s mismanagement of the coronavirus — “he continues to gaslight the American people by acting like this pandemic is not a real threat,’ she said — and warning that Mr. Trump’s habit of stoking division could be an effective political tool. She urged voting as the best remedy.” Read the full story here. Watch the video here.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at [email protected].
Twitter @byldonovan