http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/us/01midway.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

Midway Airport is poised to become the first large privately run hub airport in the country, officials said Tuesday, after an investment group bid $2.52 billion to win rights to a long-term lease.

Almost all commercial airports in the United States are owned and operated by local or state governments, and Midway is no exception. But Midway is eligible for leasing because the city applied to the F.A.A. to take part in an experimental program begun about 12 years ago to explore privatization as a means to generate capital for improvements.

Congress has allowed the agency to permit up to five airports to take part in the program, and if the Midway deal is approved, it will be the first.

Airports in the program are subject to the same federal oversight as public-use airports.

“As the first privatization of a major American airport, this transaction will provide unprecedented benefits for the traveling public, the airlines and the taxpayers of Chicago,” Mayor Richard M. Daley said Tuesday at a news conference here. “For the traveling public, the lease will mean the benefits of a world-class airport operator whose airports have been acclaimed for the range and quality of their amenities and service.”

This isn’t a priviatization as in a capitalist private institution is “priviate.” This is corporatism. The lease is owned by a company which now has a monopoly on that service an a particular area. They are also under the thumb of the federal government so they’ve just privitized the gains. In this case this priviatization may lead to a better result if completely cut from local interference or money. If they are being paid by the government in any way they will likely ripoff the taxpayer.

http://money.cnn.com/…

• “NO NO NO. Not just no, but HELL NO,” writes Richard, a reader from Anchorage, Alaska.
• “This is robbery pure and simple,” Anna from Denver posted on CNNMoney.com’s TalkBack blog this weekend.
• “I’m tired of rewarding institutions and people for the bad decisions they have made,” said Dean from Madison, Wis. “Sure, it will hurt tax payers if/when some of these institutions fail, but perhaps we need to let that happen. We do not need more big government involved in our lives. Enough is enough.”
• “Companies, like individuals, should be held responsible for their decisions,” wrote Jorge from El Paso, Texas. “This buyout does not address the other problems in the pipeline such as personal credit default and market slowdowns in most industries. No new jobs will be created.”
• “It is time for the financial institutions of this country to be called to the mat. We should be expecting and demanding responsible and ethical business practice, not rewarding it at the expense of taxpayers.” Paul from Portsmouth, N.H.
• “The government does not have $700 billion dollars. WE have $700 billion, and it is being taken from us. If this is passed then the next administration and the next will be extracting this one from the people who are supposedly being protected by this bailout.” John from Springfield, Va.
• “Why not take the billions and … make funds available to home owners stuck in the loans these idiots created, marketed and sold,” asked Don from Coarsegold, Calif. “It will put the money where it should be with the little guy who made a mistake, instead of the big guy who created the problem.”
• “Once I invested in something and lost money. Maybe I could just change the rules of investing so that my loss turns into a gain? Oh, I forgot only banks can do that!” Jordan from Charlestown, Ind.
• “I will be watching to see which of our representatives vote for this bailout,” said R. Kidd in Troy, N.C. “Let the American people see how many we can fire come election time.”
• “Call your Congressman. Stop blogging, posting comments, and call your congressman. This is the patriotic thing to do. Let them hear your opinion, show them this is still America and that you will not stand for this!!” Danny from Texas

Not everyone is upset about this though:

• “I was opposed to the bailout at first, but realized that the scope of this thing is global and so massive that the entire global economy could collapse if nothing was done. …The priority has to be resolving the present crisis of confidence in our economy. Remember, if Wall Street collapses, Main Street will go with it.” Bill from St. Louis
• “This money is not a handout to companies. It’s simply giving banks and mortgage companies loans, since the banking system itself is too unstable to raise this kind of capital. And no, the government cannot just use the $700 billion to pay back all the citizens that will be hurt by this. If the companies like AIG fail, the cost will be far far greater than $700 billion. Wake up!!” Andy from Chicago
• “It’s NOT a bailout. The government is not handing out cash, they actually stand to make a great deal of money out of this, which will trickle down to YOU. First priority should be to try to control and fix the problem, then regulate sufficiently to make sure this NEVER happens again.” Surfta from Brooklyn, N.Y

From Answers.com:

bailout: n. A rescue from financial difficulties: corporate bailouts.

Any profit the government would make on this is going to be completely negated by price inflation and interest on the debt accumulated. There is no money to perform this bailout. The money will be borrowed or printed. If the market was allowed to unwind this those issues would not occur and recovery would be far faster. Malinvestment needs to be liquidated and prices recalculated… not arbitrarily inflated.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

Call it campaign growing pains. Or bad luck. Or a combination of the two.

By any name, Sen. John McCain is hampered by missteps and self-generated controversy in the early days of the general election campaign for the White House.

Take his most recent trip through several states and the Canadian capital, a five-day span during which he courted conservatives and independents alike, raised more than $10 million and began detailing his considerable differences with Sen. Barack Obama on energy policy.

Still, on Tuesday, he criticized his rival for proposing a windfall profits tax on the oil industry. The attack was complicated by McCain’s earlier statement that he would consider the same thing.

The following day, he met with a group of Hispanics in Chicago. Aides who had kept word of the event secret were placed on the defensive within hours after one participant criticized some of McCain’s comments.

On Thursday, the Arizona senator flew to Iowa, a likely battleground state in the fall, where he expressed sympathy with victims of severe flooding and pledged support for federal recovery aid. The event was overshadowed by President Bush’s appearance elsewhere in the same state on the same day.

Friday’s trip to Canada brought more controversy.

McCain arrived aboard his chartered campaign jet, yet told reporters at a news conference, “this is not a political campaign trip.” The senator added he didn’t feel it was appropriate to have the government to pay “while I am the nominee of my party.”

The centerpiece of the six-hour visit was a speech to the Economic Club of Canada that amounted to a cross-border political attack. McCain criticized Obama, without mentioning him by name, for his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“Demanding unilateral changes and threatening to abrogate an agreement that has increased trade and prosperity is nothing more than retreating behind protectionist walls,” he said.

McCain’s schedule also included mention of an unspecified “finance event.” While that is customarily campaign jargon for a fundraiser, foreigners may not donate to U.S. candidates, and one aide was quoted in advance as saying that money from $100-per-person event would simply defray the cost of the earlier luncheon.

The non-fundraiser, which may or may not have cost $100 to attend, was held on the top floor of a building with a commanding view of the city skyline. McCain said he knew some of those in attendance had homes in Arizona in the cold weather, and at one point, referred to his campaign themes of “reform, peace and prosperity.”

Reform? Like what? Is that like Obama’s “change” which equates to more of the same?

Peace? Like bombing brown people who happen to be a little pissed that the US federal government has invaded their countries, propped up dictators and otherwise force our way on them?

Prosperity? Like continuing the status quo corpatisim that exists in this country? By continuing the incredibly destructive and immoral system known as the Federal Reserve? By offering bailouts of failing companies and subsidizing big businesses?

It’s sad the man took two thirds of another presidential candidate’s slogan. Freedom, peace and prosperity sounds better though. And we know the man who was saying it meant it.

Record prices have prompted a slew of bills to curtail the role of investors, but traders say they could backfire:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Fed up with soaring oil prices and a chorus of people blaming Wall Street speculators, Congress is considering a host of rules aimed at limiting the inflow of investor money into oil contracts.

But oil traders urge caution. While more disclosure is a good thing, they say making it harder for speculators to invest in oil futures could have the opposite effect intended, and send prices higher.

In light of oil’s phenomenal climb from under $50 a barrel to nearly $140 in less than 18 months - and the public belief that Wall Street traders were behind the rise - Congress is awash in bills that attempt to limit the role of speculators. Several have bipartisan support and could soon become law.

“In two days, the price of oil rose $16,” said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., at a joint hearing of two Senate panels on oil speculation Tuesday. “Did I miss something, was there some war in the Middle East?”

Read More…

http://www.chicagotribune.com/…

Mayor Richard Daley said Saturday Chicago police officers will he armed with high-powered assault rifles when they’re on the streets fighting gangs and other criminals.

“Many times they’re outgunned, to be very frank,” Daley said at an event in the Englewood neighborhood. “When they come to a scene, someone has a semi fully-automatic weapon and you have a little pistol, uh, good luck.”

The city’s police officers carry pistols, and Daley suggested they will start carrying “M4 rifles.”

Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said the department still is working out details about the M4 carbines.

“It’s very preliminary. It’s really under review. It is something being reviewed. As far as all of the logistics, the training component, might be premature to discuss it at this point,” Bond said.

Daley pointed out that the Illinois State Police, Chicago SWAT units and other police departments around the country already carry high-powered assault weapons. He said the weapons will better match the Chicago police officers against criminals with sophisticated weapons, such as high-powered assault rifles.

“We’re finding out that the weapons of criminals are getting bigger and bigger, AK47s, all types of different weapons, because they can carry assault weapons, it’s not a violation of federal law, and that is a concern for all of us,” he said.

You mean to tell me that Chicago’s strong gun laws aren’t reducing gun crimes? That part about not a violation of federal law is bullshit. Any fully automatic weapon is considered a machine gun and a 70 year old federal law prohibits the public from owning them. A semi-automatic “assult rifle” is no more dangerous than any other semi-auto weapon. Why don’t they loosen gun laws so that individuals can carry and repeal all the drug prohibitions that create the high risk black market which the gangs happily work in? No illegal substances with high demand, no high risk black market, no need to have AK-47’s for self defense, no more reasons to put police in harms way, no more reasons to restrict the rights of innocent individuals.

http://www.suntimes.com/…

On Friday, 15 people were shot — four fatally — between noon Friday and midnight Saturday, police said.

About 7 p.m., Marcus Hendricks, 34, of Flossmoor, was fatally shot in the abdomen in the 700 block of West 115th Street and pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 8 p.m., said the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Bennie Teague, 39, of the 6200 block of South Sacramento Avenue, was charged with one count of first-degree murder in Hendricks’ death. He was also charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder for allegedly firing shots at responding officers. Police recovered an AK-47 assault rifle from the scene, police said.

About 9:30 p.m., two 18-year-old men were fatally shot in the 7500 block of South Phillips Avenue, authorities said. Killed were Melvin Thomas, of the 14900 block of Washington Avenue in Harvey, and Rhonell Savala, of the 9700 block of South Hoxie Avenue, the medical examiner’s office said. One of the men suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and back and the other was shot in the neck, police said.

Calumet Area detectives are investigating, but nobody is in custody Sunday.

About 10:50 p.m., Ricardo Sanchez, 65, of the 8400 block of South Exchange Avenue, was fatally shot outside his home in an attempted robbery, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at Christ Medical Center at 12:47 a.m. Saturday, the medical examiner’s office said.

Calumet Area detectives are investigating, but nobody is in custody Sunday.

The violence continued Saturday, as 13 more people were shot — two fatally.

About 5:50 a.m. Saturday, Michael Giles, 26, of the 300 block of North Avers Avenue, was fatally shot in his home, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at 6:50 a.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Harrison Area detectives are investigating, but nobody is in custody Sunday.

About 11:20 a.m., Raul Lemus, 28, of the 4600 block of South Talman Avenue, was fatally shot in the abdomen in an apparent gang-related shooting at an auto shop at 2520 W. 59th St., authorities said. He was pronounced dead at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County at 4:16 a.m. Sunday, the medical examiner’s office said.

Wentworth Area detectives are investigating, but nobody was in custody Sunday.

On Sunday, police have reported three shootings — none of which were fatal — and a stabbing that critically injured two people.

About 12:30 a.m., a 17-year-old man was shot in the left shoulder in the 6800 block of South Parnell Avenue in a drive-by shooting. He was taken to Christ Medical Center in good condition, police said.

About 2:30 a.m., a 24-year-old man was shot in the 1900 block of West Howard Street. An unknown gunman approached the man and shot him in the left thigh, police said. Hospital information was not available.

About 6 a.m., a man broke into an apartment in the 1900 block of West Winona Street and stabbed a man, 26, and woman, 30. Both people were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition. The attacker is in custody, but charges have not been field as of Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

About 11:25 a.m., one person was shot in the ankle in the 2700 block of South Indiana Avenue and taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in “stable” condition.

Likely all of these were directly or indirectly related to the war on drugs. How many of the guns used where legally obtained?