Every American should pay close attention to what’s happening in Chicago, and I don’t just mean the Democratic National Convention.
While Kamala Harris and Tim Walz lay out the Democratic vision for America this week, the consequences of their agenda will already be on full display across my hometown. The plight of Chicagoans is directly related to the promises that Democrats will make on stage, because the party has been fulfilling similar pledges here for decades.
Americans should start by looking at Chicago’s children – the future of the city. Some 329,000 public-school students are scheduled to start class the week after the convention ends, but hardly any will learn. Barely 12% of the city’s elementary school students are proficient in math, while only 16% are at that level in reading. The math numbers don’t budge by the time they reach high school. The reading numbers fall, to just 14% proficiency.
Chicago police officers train at McCormick Place, June 6, 2024, in preparation for the Democratic National Convention. ((Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images))
Why are so many students failing? It’s not for lack of taxpayer funding. Democrats have nearly doubled per-student funding in the last 12 years, yet educational outcomes have plummeted over the same time.
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Instead of helping students, taxpayers are mostly propping up teachers unions, the Democratic Party’s most important special-interest group. The Chicago Teachers Union is now demanding the most extreme contract in the country, one that the city’s union-backed Democratic leaders will meet at least in part, if not in full.
When Harris and Walz promise to invest in public education, that’s what they mean – paying off teachers unions instead of empowering students.
Chicago also shows that Democrats will oppose or close any escape routes. Last year, state lawmakers killed a scholarship that let 9,000 low-income kids avoid the failing schools that trap their peers. No national Democrat will fight for school choice, either.
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Many Chicago kids have escaped from school via a less-than-ideal road – crime. The city is infamous for roving bands of teenagers who pummel residents and tourists alike. See the three teenage boys and one 11-year-old girl who beat and robbed a man on a Chicago train last month.
A 2021 report found that 49% of those arrested for carjackings and 32% of those arrested for robberies were under 17 years old, along with 8% of those arrested for murder. Speaking of murder, as of last year, young people in Chicago faced a higher death rate than active-duty combat soldiers during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Regardless of their age, criminals know it’s open season in Chicago, thanks to the Democrats who run the joint. In 2021, they cut over 600 police-department jobs, along with the department’s funding. Within a year, crime soared by 30%. While funding is back up, police morale is still low, with less proactive enforcement to keep the peace.
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Officers know the city’s leaders don’t have their back. Does anyone think Kamala Harris, who’s supported ending cash bail and mandatory minimum sentences, will stand with police? What about Tim Walz, the governor of the state that saw riots and rage in 2020?
More and more Chicagoans no longer see a future here, with nine consecutive years of population decline. The soaring crime and failing schools aren’t the only culprits, either.
Democrats have pursued their wildest tax hike dreams in both the city and the state. Today, Chicago has the second-highest sales tax in the country, along with the second-highest property taxes. Like many Chicagoans, I spend part of the year in Florida, where I pay 60% less in property taxes on a house that costs nearly 60% more.
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Florida also has far better schools and far less crime, so where is Chicago’s tax money going? Unions and Democratic allies, not public services – another warning to America.
Businesses are running from the Windy City, too. Major companies like Boeing, Caterpillar, Tyson Foods and dozens of others have all moved their headquarters out of the metropolitan area or downsized their footprint in recent years. Downtown Chicago has set multiple records for office vacancy rates this year, while other cities have bounced back from the pandemic.
As someone who talks with business executives and entrepreneurs on a weekly basis, I’ve lost track of how many have told me they see no long-term future in Chicago. Yet rather than acknowledge the city’s largely tax-driven economic decline, Harris and national Democrats want unprecedented tax hikes on families and businesses, stifling the engine of job creation and wage growth.
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When the Democratic Party announced that it would hold its convention in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson said the city "looks like America and demonstrates the values of the Democratic Party." He was only half right:
Chicago does indeed show what Democrats stand for, and it’s nothing less than American decline. But Mayor Johnson may yet be proven fully correct, because if Kamala Harris and Tim Walz win in November, Chicago’s mounting failure will surely spread across America.
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