LeAlan Jones: The Dine and Dash Economics of Cook County Real-Politiks
Will new Cook County State's Attorney Eileen Burke being tough on crime break the political piggy bank of the Democratic leaning Cook County Board
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announcing he will no longer be administering the pretrial electronic monitoring program for people charged with crimes to await trials, is an unconscious admission that Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. A hyper-neo-liberal from Hyde Park. Has been the single greatest accomplice to violent crime, from repeat offenders in Cook County.
Jose M. Osorio/ Chicago Tribune
Between the duplicitous white liberals and unconservative Republicans. A Cook County voter would have better odds surviving a game of Russian Roulette with a fully loaded, fully automatic handgun. Neither party are trustworthy stewards of efficiently managing public capital. Nor, making the tough choices taxpayers should require.
To be a participant in Cook County politics is to be naive, gullible but gratuitous. Irrespective of party affiliation.
Disingenuous and incompetent politicians in-and-of themselves are a growth industry in Cook County; that taxpayers are willing to bank-roll. As long as the County's budgets are balanced and require no additional revenue from them.
Now the budgetary shell-game has concluded, as a result of pretrial electronic monitoring ending for people charged with crimes in Cook County. Both parties are equally unprepared to tell their constituents the inconvenient news of future debt loaded Cook County budgets. How did liberal Democrats and unconservative Republicans perfectly align under Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle tenure, to fleece their constituents with a public policy that increased crime and violence, with no credible descent from the minority opposition party?
Although Democrats have been the administrators of wasteful, ineffective, local government in Chicago. Cook County government has been better mis-managed until recently. Unconservative Republicans are not beyond being scrutinized for being useful idiots with low rigor. In condoning public policy that has been expensive and ineffective at redressing systemic social issues, that has worsened as the resources have been ample; to have supported a more resilient sustainable solution.
Screen shot from USA Today coverage of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson
Criminal Justice reform was presented by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle as “progressive reforms.” When in reality it was nothing more than a political magic show to maintain political power at the expense of marginalizing public safety. Unconservative Republicans were Preckwinkle's allies that benefited in the short-term while exposing their constituents to the long term financial burden.
Now that Preckwinkle is lacking a Cook County State's Attorney she can't control and is willing to push back on her hyper-neoliberalism public policies, related to Criminal Justice. The ability for people charged with crimes to be detained and not have it be accounted for in future Preckwinkle Cook County budgets. Should not be expected to be the political benefit it once was.
If unconservative Republicans ever had foresight, they would be the talk of the 2026 midterm elections across the country.
However, The 2026 midterm elections won't see a major shift in voters' sentiment. The current Cook County Board of Commissioners, from both parties; and the Cook County Board President should be removed. They have more than earned it. Yet, it is unlikely to manifest because both parties have equally and consciously destroyed democratic principles in Cook County, for their long-term political survival.
Cook County Board President Preckwinkle years of leading the Cook County Board are in its sunset, and the future budgets of Cook County will be adversely impacted from her flawed leadership around Criminal Justice reform.
There are no Cook County Board Commissioners who have been asked how they voted for balanced budgets that were only possible because it exposed both: commercial and residential property owners to confront long-term property tax increases. All done while knowing repeat offenders of violent crime were preying upon victims in working poor communities. Many of them are victimized by repeat offenders on pretrial electronic monitoring.
The Cook County Board Commisioners
Let's consider how much violent crime goes unreported when potential witnesses to crime knew the repeat offenders ankle monitors didn't inhibit them from being killers of “snitches, or ankle monitors not diminishing retail crime that contributes to the thefts of high-end retail stores on the Gold Coast–where commercial and residential property taxes are substantial.
Since Board President Preckwinkle has been in office. Thousands of murder victims and murderers have been under her executive administrative responsibility. Justice for the victims of violent crimes in Cook County were jettisoned for her political survival.
Why aren’t Cook County Board Commissioners, who are unconservative Republicans, vigorously investigating the impact of pretrial electronic monitoring contributions to violent crimes in Cook County?
“Republican” Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison
Because they would rather be political ostriches than prepare their constituents for the financial commitment they will now incur. From the increased funding that will be required from the increase in the pretrial inmate population, in Cook County Jails.
The ignominious and poorly administered Cook County Department of Corrections, where unionized guards and administrators will have to be expanded and retrained, are also proven liabilities and expensive when factoring in the Class Action Lawsuits, the Cook County Jails has been held liable for in the past.
How much will their services add to the emerging debt in the 2025 and 2026 Cook County Budgets?
Suburban property taxpayers in Cook County grab your wallets with both hands and feet, because you're now expected to pay the tab for the crimes of repeat violent offenders, to sit in custody while they wait for justice. Progressive Democratic politicians have financed and refinanced political chicanery around public safety. Yet, it's produced no resolve to the challenges of repeat violent criminals with financial efficiency.
Please don't forget to thank the modern Vichy, unconservative Republican leadership in Cook County. Who have been fragile and submissive to liberal Democrats while earning pensions voting for budgets that didn't reflect reality. The National Maga Republicans should descend upon the leadership in the Cook County GOP with insect repellant.
Essentially, the Cook County Board of Commissioners and President are at a Michelin rated restaurant and have ordered everything on the menu–family style. They've all feasted. Now comes the time to review and pay the massive bill accrued. And they all know they lack the cash to pay for it.
As the bill circles their hands. One of the hyper-liberal Cook County Commissioners asks the server to split the tab. As the server walks away to make the adjustments to the receipt. The table of Cook County Board of Commissioners and President, with full stomachs and empty pockets, rapidly removed themselves from the table. Then they all sprint through the restaurant doors like political track stars.
Cook County taxpayers are the entrepreneurs who own the restaurant.
Unconservative Cook County Republicans are the bus boys and girls that knew the empty pocket Democratic diners at the table had no cash before they dashed. Now their friend-,the server/property taxpayers, is on the hook to pay the bill for the hyper-liberal diners and dashers.
Facebook photo of ILGOP leadership dining with activist George Blakemore
The predictable debt loads on the city of Chicago, State of Illinois, Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Transit Authority books in 2025 are a by-product of unchecked government obesity. Adding hundreds of millions of debt to the budgets of Cook County is now the cherry on top of a poop Sundae that liberal Democrats have traditionally been serving with truculence to their voter base in Chicago.
The same poop Sundae will now be served with truculence to the constituents of unconservative Republicans, in all the Suburbs of Cook County.
Tricky white liberals have always been fascinated with the political voyeurism in Chicago politics. The County's socioeconomic and ethnic dynamics, has been what defined the character of the chaos that produces regress/progress, and the leaders who benefitted from it.
The pretrial electronic monitoring, alternative sentencing and jail reforms pushed over the last decade in Cook County government were political canards that sacrificed public safety to balance Cook County budgets. Which were all based on sacrificing public safety in poor and working communities. Where they knew unsophisticated voters are intractable at voting against duplicitous African-American and Latino political leaders.
Repeat violent offenders have been allowed sanctuary in Cook County by keeping property taxes from rising in suburban Cook County. With the South and North Suburbs of Cook County already under staggering property tax increases. Where will the new revenues come from to house and feed thousands of daily detainees in the Cook County Department of Corrections come from?
With a populist Maga Republican in the White House, and both Houses of Congress under marginal Republican leadership. Cook County unconservative Republicans have been exposed in this period of time for being generous supplicants; to the agenda of pimpish liberal Democrats–who have used them like a cheap tool in their political garden.
The faux concerns from white liberal public policymakers and their conduits of incompetent Latino and African-American political puppets, has exposed all of the Cook County property taxpayers to a massive liability they can't afford and shouldn't have to finance.
Now it’s unavoidable because Vichy, unconservative Republicans in Cook County never thought they had to lead or prepare to lead, while the liberal Democrats coddled, misled and fed them by hand. That day is no more–maybe.
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