We don't want the Games

[IndianaGreen]

We don't want the Games

Bob Quellos, a founding member of No Games Chicago, explains why Barack Obama would best serve the interests of working people in his hometown by not going to Copenhagen to lobby for the 2016 Olympics.

September 29, 2009

Dear President Obama:

This summer has not been easy for many people who reside in Chicago. As the city entered into the final leg of competition for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Chicago citizens witnessed cuts in services, and city employees were forced to take furlough days to balance the budget. At the same time, many state programs and jobs were slashed.

While funds were nowhere to be found for basic services, the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid committee, the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois lined up nearly $2 billion in taxpayer funds for the 2016 Olympics.

A recent WGN/Chicago Tribune poll found that less than half of Chicagoans support the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid, and that 84 percent were opposed to using tax revenue to cover any losses incurred. Only recently did the Chicago 2016 bid committee make any effort to engage the community in citywide meetings where it was evident that many in Chicago had deep concerns about hosting the Olympics, including the potential for cost overruns and resident displacement.

As a longtime resident of Chicago, you are well aware that in this city, cost overruns and delays of large civic construction projects go hand in hand.

Millennium Park came in four years behind schedule and three times over budget. The recent construction on the Dan Ryan Expressway came in at twice its original budget. And last summer, construction was halted on a "super-station" for express trains between Chicago-area airports and the Loop business district--$213 million has been spent on the project, and today, there isn't much more than a concrete hole in the ground to show for it.

Costs overruns and the Olympics also go hand in hand. The city of Vancouver, which will host the 2010 Winter Olympics, is $6 billion in debt, a tab that will be picked up by taxpayers. And the 2012 Summer Olympics in London are four times more expensive than the initial budgeted figure--with a total cost running currently at $20 billion, nearly three years ahead of the opening ceremonies.

http://socialistworker.org/2009/09/29/dont-want-the-games

[FrenchieCat]

1. Shouldn't it be titled...."I don't want the Games"......?

[IndianaGreen]

2. The 'WE' is quite appropriate and accurate

We are a diverse group of citizens who have come together from across Chicago to oppose the city’s bid for the 2016 Olympics. We are all volunteers.

http://nogames.wordpress.com/about/

Live From Copenhagen!

No Games Chicago is in Copenhagen! The same team that went to Lausanne, Switzerland in June is now in Copenhagen. Our goal remains the same – to convince the International Olympic Committee that the 2016 Olympics for Chicago is the wrong project for the wrong city at the wrong time.

We;re still raising funds to pay for this trip – so please do use the PayPal button on the right!

Follow the news of our efforts on the “Live From Copenhagen” page on this web site!

http://nogames.wordpress.com/

[ProSense]

4. Who cares? Every Olympic Games in every city is opposed in the same way. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

7. You don't give a shit about the people in Chicago that will get stuck with the bill

All you care about is berating and belittling any news that cast a less than divine view of what Obama does (in this case in cahoots with Mayor Daley and his cronies).

[ProSense]

10. Get a grip. This is nothing new, and the arguments are tired. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

13. No, your bullshit is the one that is getting tiresome

and you don't give a shit about the people in Chicago and the financial burden the Olympics will be to their city. Ask the people of Athens how they fared in the 2004 Olympics?

[ProSense]

14. Why don't you launch a committee to abolish the Olympic Games?

Just as ridiculous as your whining.

[IndianaGreen]

16. There you go again with your broken record of 'whining'

To be followed shortly by you saying we don't live in reality.

You are intellectually bankrupt.

[ProSense]

18. "You are intellectually bankrupt." Aren't you from Indiana? Suddenly you're opposing the Olympics on

behalf of Chicago because Obama, the former Senator from Illinois and now President, is trying to bring the Games to the city.

You're transparent.

[IndianaGreen]

21. It is a grassroot Chicago group that is opposed to have Chicago's scarce resources

wasted on an event that will hit their pocketbooks.

[Name removed]

46. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[leftynyc]

66. Excuse me

I been going to Greece on vacation every summer for the last 15 years and have made many friends among the locals. They were THRILLED with the Olympics being in Athens. Yes, it cost them money but it got more than paid back by having the city cleaned up and given a facelift for the games. It has also increased tourism. Try again.

[Aramchek]

109. All you care about is berating and belittling Obama, apparently

[cherokeeprogressive]

3. As a non-resident, my view doesn't count for much...

but I'd counsel against it as well. Too much money out of the pockets of Chicagoans would be the number one reason. Chicago has issues that are much more important than hosting the Olympics would be the second reason.

I understand the connection between Chicago, the Olympic Games, and Obama, but would we as a country really ask a single region to take the hit so we could be proud and say "See! Chicago, Obama, Olympics! Huh, Huh? Get it? He's FROM there!"

Send the Olympic Games to Rio. Carnaval started in Rio in 1641. You think they don't know how to put on a show?

Lastly, in the previous century, the United States hosted the Olympic Games four times. American exceptionalism is a notion I see doggedly trashed here at DU, and rightly so. Let South America shine... Let them come together as a continent and burst upon the world stage as a stone cold playah.

[IndianaGreen]

6. 84% of the people of Chicago oppose the bringing of the 2016 Olympics to Chicago

From the No Games Chicago website:

Our purpose then and now is to take a simple message to the members of the IOC – the people of Chicago do not want the 2016 Olympics. 84% of them, according to a recent poll conducted by the Chicago Tribune. 45% don’t want the games under any circumstances and 84% don’t want public funds used for the party. Since the city has already spent or committed over $240 million for the games (see our tally below), that threshold has already been crossed.

Hence 84% of the people of Chicago oppose the bringing of the 2016 Olympics to Chicago, That’s a big number, too big to be ignored.

We didn’t come on a chartered jet and we’re not wearing clothes designed by the First Lady’s dress maker. No TV crews saw us off and none will welcome us back. We did grassroots fund raising up the last moment to pay for the trip.

When we went to Switzerland in June we took 100 copies of our “Book of Evidence” (download your very own copy – 12MB PDF file) that laid out our arguments as to why Chicago would not be an ideal host for the 2016 Olypics. Each of these arguments has been strengthened by developments since then.

We’re well armed with new evidence.

Will the arrival of President Obama blind them to the defects in Chicago’s bid and the angry mood of the people who feel abandoned by their government?

Will the press continue to fawn over the bid team and repeat their spin as gospel?

http://nogames.wordpress.com/copenhagen/

[Hutzpa]

47. You're are sooo transparent

it beats the bejeezus out of me.

[ieoeja]

67. Read more carefully. Only 45% opposed.

84% opposed the taxpayer guarantee for the IOC. The 39% knows about the money already spent. It is that no-lose guarantee they opposed.

This author is using FOX Newspeak, aka lying.

[krawhitham]

102. WTF 72% support the 2016 Olympics being held in Chicago

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/olympics/1796626,chicago-olympics-poll-092909.article

Do you always lie, are you a republican?

another WTF, you live in Indiana

[BlooInBloo]

107. hahahah! That's almost as good as the poster who makes up quotes.

[AngryAmish]

96. I saw City of God

I assume the Brazilians will do pretty good in the shooting events also.

[Cha]

5. Not everyone in Chicago agrees..

mohinoaklawnillinois (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-28-09 09:25 PM
Response to Reply #14

21. Are you sure Obama will be gone 48 hours?
At 6:00pm tonight during the WMAQ (Chicago NBC affiliate) newscast they said the President would be in Copenhagen to answer questions after the winner is announced and then return immediately to DC.

I'm as upset as anyone about the lack of prosecution of those cretins that made torture acceptable for Americans, but I don't see how you can blame Obama for going to Copenhagen to try and persuade the IOC to give the 2016 Summer Games to his adopted hometown.

My husband is unemployed right now and if we get the Olys, maybe, just maybe he'll get called back to work. There are an awful lot of unemployed construction workers in Chicago right now and getting the Games would be literally a godsend for some of them.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6650465#6650710

[IndianaGreen]

9. Here is the evidence. Read it and weep!

Now you can pretend you're a member of the International Olympic Committee! Download your very own "Book of Evidence." This is a 12MB PDF file of the 160-page book we took to Switzerland on June 15!



http://nogames.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/book_of_evidence.pdf

[cherokeeprogressive]

11. Not everyone in California agrees that smoking should be banned in bars.

Your point?

[Cha]

23. Since you don't get it..

There's no use in explaining.

[tinkerbell41]

19. I don't live in the city.

But I am counting on this. We have approx. 3000 electricians out of work this and O'hare will help.
Right now there are NO jobs coming in. I feel sorry for the residents, I understand the problems, but I need work.

[Cha]

24. And, the President is trying to make

that happen.

[tinkerbell41]

27. Thank god

And thank you for pointing out that not everyone agrees.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

68. I live in Chicago and I want a job

bring them here I say.

[Cha]

70. Good Luck to you

in getting a good job!:bounce:

[Hutzpa]

8. The same idiots

who are opposing today will the ones more excited than anyone else when the games
comes to their city.

The stupidity is rising unprecedentedly, if the media where doing their job none of
this nonsense would be made public.

[IndianaGreen]

12. Name one city hosting the Olympic games that ended up in the black afterwards?

Buehler? Buehler?

[PBS Poll-435]

22. Atlanta made an operating profit of 10 million.

And received 500 million in state and federal block grants to improve the city's infrastructure.

Not bad.

[IndianaGreen]

25. Pssst, it was the taxpayers that got stuck with the bill

It will cost over $2 billion dollars to stage the Olympics in Chicago. We don't have that kind of money to throw around, particularly while city services are being cut.

[PBS Poll-435]

28. Except for security, not one cent of taxpayer money was used in the "staging" of the Games.

And for 1/2 a billion, the city's airport was expanded, public housing and transportation improved, roads fixed, blah, blah, blah.

Yeah, and not only that, the overall worldwide stature of the city was raised.


And not one cent of taxpayer money was used for the operation of the games, except for security and the capital improvements mentioned above.

[harkadog]

38. How about the 500 million? Did that come from magic?

It came from taxpayers. It is interesting how you try to separate the operating budget from the infrastructure budget. So with that slight of hand you have a 10 million dollar "profit" instead of a 490 million dollar loss. Go join a wall street accounting firm. You will do well there.

[PBS Poll-435]

40. But the 500 million did not disappear. It was invested as a renewal of Atlanta

Public housing, public transportation, improved roads, Centennial Park, a building that was converted into dorms for UGA.

Those things didn't disappear when the Games ended.


Those were/are PUBLIC things that were paid with PUBLIC funds.

[harkadog]

49. You can say that about any project

Including the military. All of the money the military is allotted provides jobs to give them their products and services. The interstate freeway system in this country was built for the military in the 1950s so troops could be moved around quickly. Does that mean they should have unlimited funds?

[WeDidIt]

52. And Atlanta has reaped the benefits of that infrastructure improvement

The "L" needs a lot of help, and the money that would flow in for infrastructure improvement's would do a lot to improve the CTA and Metra rail systems.

[Hutzpa]

45. Where do you get this idea

that the tax payers are footing the bill?? The main reason cities fight to host world
games is because of tourism nothing more nothing less.

Business entities are the ones that will pay for hosting and the only thing the city
will provide is security, so get your facts right.

[harkadog]

50. Get your facts straight

Does business pay for the stadiums and all the other "improvements" required to host the games? No, the taxpayers do.

[Hutzpa]

64. Prove it.

show me the facts....

[harkadog]

77. You are the one who said business pays for everything

Prove it yourself.

[Hutzpa]

93. I think you should go back

and read your post;

Get your facts straight

Does business pay for the stadiums and all the other "improvements" required to host the games? No, the taxpayers do.

looks like you have a short attention span problem by forgetting your own statement.

[joeglow3]

95. What business would pay to build a stadium?

Unless you are a professional sports team. It is not like Target is going to build a $350,000,000 stadium for the hell of it.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

59. Los Angeles also turned a profit in 1984.

As did the Seoul Olympics of 1988.

The 1992 Barcolona games were not immediately profitable, but long-term tourism increases attributed to the games have more than paid for the expense of hosting.

1996 -- Profitable, see post upthread.

2000 -- Close to breaking even, but the tourism boom didn't materialize (as with Barcelona), probably because of 9/11.

2004 -- Lost money.

2008 -- Hard to tell. Officially declared profitable by the Chinese government, others are skeptical.

So there's your answer.

[bulloney]

62. Why would 9/11 have affected the 2000 Olympics when they were held a year BEFORE the attacks?

[nemo137]

69. I'm guessing they're counting post-Olympic tourism.

People seeing Barcelona or Sydney or Lillehamer or Nagano and saying "oh, that's nice, let's take a vacation." Sydney would have gotten slightly less than a year of that before 9/11 made taking a 20-hour plane ride to Sydney less appealing.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

76. You're correct

Sorry for being a little vague there.

[PBS Poll-435]

15. Too bad, Bob

Ya'll are gonna get them.

I just can't believe it will have been 20 years since Atlanta.

[w4rma]

17. I have a better idea. Why don't *you* spend your time more wisely rather than trying to keep the

Olympic Games out of America?

[IndianaGreen]

20. Will you put your money where your mouth is, w4rma?

Because it is the people of Chicago, and ultimately Illinois, that will find themselves in a deep financial hole after the Olympic torch is put out, just like many other hosts cities before them.

[w4rma]

26. Money well spent. Have fun at the games. I'll be watching them on TV. (nt)

[WeDidIt]

55. You like high unemployment, don't you.

Because bringing the Olympics to Chicago will ahve an almost immediate effect on teh dismal jobs situation.

[IndianaGreen]

78. The jobs will go to Dailey's cronies

not to the average Joe or Jane.

[WeDidIt]

99. Tell that to the construction workers who currently ahve no work

but will be working overtime after Chicago wins the bid.

[IndianaGreen]

29. Daley's priorities: Olympics over hospitals

Daley's priorities: Olympics over hospitals

Bob Quellos reports that the city of Chicago has decided to build an Olympic Village for Olympic Games that may not be held in Chicago.

July 15, 2008

OVER THE past month, the city of Chicago has revealed its intent to borrow $85 million for the purchase of the land where Michael Reese Hospital currently stands, at the tip of the city's historically Black Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side.

Why? The site is being remapped as the home of the Olympic Village for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Under the city's original proposal, the Olympic Village was set to be located over a truck-staging area. But Mayor Richard Daley explained the reason for the change with the same peeved tone he always takes with reporters. "It's a better approach to always build on land," Daley declared. "This is common sense. This is why the print media is in trouble--because you didn't use common sense. If you have land, you build on the land."

Actually, what's lacking in common sense is the decision to spend tens of millions to build an Olympic Village when your city hasn't been awarded the Olympics yet.

The International Olympic Committee won't be choosing a host city for the 2016 Games until the fall of 2009. When the narrowed-down field was announced this past spring, Chicago was third among contenders that included Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo.

But Daley and the city seem to be going ahead with plans to construct the Olympic Village--and no one is batting an eye at the closing of the privately run hospital Michael Reese Hospital. The 127-year-old hospital is beset with budget problems, and currently uses less than half of its 360 available patient beds.

Meanwhile, Chicago's hospital system is in crisis. Last year, the Cook County budget deficit led to the slashing of millions of dollars in funds set aside for health care--seven health clinics were shut down, 230 nursing positions axed, and 25 beds at Stroger Hospital eliminated.

http://socialistworker.org/2008/07/15/olympics-over-hospitals

[Ikonoklast]

42. Is this even relevant?

But Daley and the city seem to be going ahead with plans to construct the Olympic Village--and no one is batting an eye at the closing of the privately run hospital Michael Reese Hospital. The 127-year-old hospital is beset with budget problems, and currently uses less than half of its 360 available patient beds.

It is privately held, soooo, what, exactly? It has had monetary problems for a number of years before being closed.

Does the author want public monies spent propping up a decrepit privately-held enterprise that can't compete enough to keep its beds filled with patients?

Seems like a poor example to bolster his argument.

[Beacool]

30. As I said before, I hope that Rio gets it.

Mainly because South America has never hosted the Olympics and it's about time that they have their chance. But also because the financial burden is large and most Olympics do not make a profit for the host city. Chicago has enough problems as it is.

[Prism]

31. Most Chicagoans don't want them

And people have not been shy about making that known. However, the politicians and media have actively colluded to stifle dissent and make the Olympics seem like a universally beloved and wanted event in the city.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Chicago and Cook County are practically bankrupt. Cook County is already one of the most highly taxed places in the country, and the Olympics will make it worse. Yes, the taxpayers will be the ones who gets the bill. We always do. No matter how many times city and county officials promise all these projects will be cheap and self-financed, they implode, and the rest of us get screwed.

Massive cuts in health care are happening right now in Cook County. Massive. Hospitals are being closed. The streets are full of violence. The unemployment rate is staggering, and the patronage system in Chicago will ensure that all that money being funneled towards the Games will go to the wealthy and well-connected.

The people who live here know that this is all about the powerful.

People here are always complaining about the media, but somehow they don't care that the Chicago media have totally steamrolled the people. People here are always complaining about affordable health care, but don't care that Cook County's system is in the midst of a violent collapse. People here are always saying they're for the poor, but do not care that poor urban minorities will be displaced with all the construction on the South Side.

Why? Because the President wants it?

Nice. Way to have no principles whatsoever. As long as the "right" powerful politicians are involved, whatever the people suffer is just fine by them.

[IndianaGreen]

33. +1 rec

Excellent points as to how the rich and well connected are conning the public. The only people that will benefit from this are Daley's cronies.

[WeDidIt]

54. 72% of Chicagoans support the bid

see the poll results below.

[Prism]

61. No, they don't

A poll commissioned by the people who want it the most. Not buying it. Local polls have the support pretty evenly split, and again, even those polls are being run by media organs who have been actively supporting the games and suppressing stories of opposition. A recent Chicago Tribune poll had it at 47% vs 45%.

And remember, that is after one of the most aggressive propaganda campaigns in recent memory, along with months of repeated lies that taxpayers will not be paying for any of it (a cursory glance shows we certainly will end up with the bill).

If people think Chicagoans are ticked now, just wait and see what happens if we're awarded the games. Once the stories of the Daley Patronage system feeding at the Olympic trough start rolling out, there's going to be hell to pay.

Well, not really. Elections are fixed here. But, in theory, there would be hell to pay.

[truebrit71]

111. Bullshit, but thanks for playing...

...:eyes:

[saltpoint]

32. One of the competing cities will host the Olympics. Obama, understandably,

hopes it is Chicago.

I hope it is, too.

[saltpoint]

34. Cities also benefit when they host big-time marquee events.

More hotel rooms are rented. More coffee is slurped in cafes. Restaurants' lines grow longer. The souvenir market goes wild. Taxis get more fares.

It's a big deal.

[MadBadger]

35. Its not just Chicago either. I know Madison would host the cycling events

I'm sure other parts of the country will host soccer games, etc. They will profit greatly off of the Olympics too.

[saltpoint]

37. Agree. There are very positive regional reverberations. I had read that

the cycling events would involve Madison. Beautiful town.

[saltpoint]

36. Whichever city hosts the Games there will be kids for hundreds of miles

around who pay more attention to the events and competitions and athletic elegance than would ever otherwise have been the case.

The Games elevate athletics to the art form they once enjoyed in the ancient world.

I'm for anything that reconnects to that far-ago time and in the process fills merchants coffers and inspires a city's kids.

Tax money on those things is tax money well spent.

[IndianaGreen]

39. The ancient games in Athens did not cost $2 billion dollars

and the ancient Greeks did not funnel public funds into the pockets of political cronies.

[saltpoint]

41. Actually, Alexander's games did cost a pretty penny. I agree that

there are costs and don't see that as a point in dispute. I do argue, though, that the dividends -- financial and artistic and historical and cultural, etc. -- far outweigh cost to tax payers.

The inspired 8-year old girl or 11-year old boy is worth a lot of tax dollars, IMO.

[rvablue]

44. If I recall correctly, didn't the ancient Greeks enslave people for labor purposes?

EPIC. FAIL. ON. YOUR. ARGUMENT.

[saltpoint]

84. Cultures throughout history and across the globe, including ours,

have sanctioned slavery.

If you were to press me on my personal view of slavery, I'd tell you I oppose it.

[dionysus]

43. oh for christ's sake.

[hileeopnyn8d]

48. New polls show

72% support the 2016 Olympics being held in Chicago.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/olympics/1796626,chicago-olympics-poll-092909.article

[WeDidIt]

53. +1

The Olympics in Chicago will have an IMMEDIATE effect upon the unemployment situation here because projects will have to begin almost as soon as it is announced.

This means jobs for Illinoisians and most Illinoisians know it. Only lame brains who have no clue how this shit works are against it.

[IndianaGreen]

79. The jobs will go to companies owned by Mayor Dailey's cronies

not to the average worker.

[hileeopnyn8d]

81. That's bullshit!

My husband isn't one of Mayor Daley's cronies, and his company has already benefited from the bid committee. Which means that the companies 12 US offices were able to weather the past year without major layoffs.

Which is great news for us, and many of my friends because the first jobs to go are usually support -anyone without project billable hours.

You are looking at this in the narrowest of ways, PEOPLE work at those companies you're dubbing "cronies" - people with families, people whose livelihood depends on construction related industry - architects, drafters, CAD operators, structural engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, urban planners, landscape planners, graphic designers, interior designers, LEED accredited professionals, IT departments, copy & print operators, equipment maintenance technicians....and that is just a fraction of ONE area/company.

That's all that happens BEFORE the building stage.

[joeycola]

110. Probably true to a big degree.

[Cha]

57. Thanks for bringing more reality

to this issue, hileeopnyn8d.

[WeDidIt]

51. As a Chicagoan, all I can say is FUCK BOB QUELLOS

and any moron who sides with him.

[Rebubula]

60. And...

...it is that type of attitude that keeps debate lively and uncivil here.

Anyone that disagrees with me is a moron that can fuck himself - Check.

[Blue_Tires]

56. i think Rio has a stronger case than Chicago

and that Chicago seems to me better fitted for a winter Olympics...


that being said, this guy is still a moron -- if he's too ignornant to see any benefit of having the summer games and the eyes of the world there (hint: the city and her people will get back exactly what they put into it) then I don't know what to say...And even then, I don't know what writing to Obama is supposed to do about it -- he's making this last-second, one-day appearance as a favor to the city despite the other demands on his time...Quellos should be griping to the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Chicago 2016 team...

[WeDidIt]

58. Where you gonna hold the ski events?

Chicago can't do the winter Olympics.

[Retrograde]

82. Down the sides of the skyscrapers?

They can have the skating events on the lake (and if it isn't solid enough they can have a new skate/swim biathalon). Seriously, I think Chicago is too cold for the outdoor winter events - think of the poor camerapeople!

[saltpoint]

85. The downhill races could be held on Roland Burris' approval ratings.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

89. Snarf!

:rofl:

[MidwestRick]

63. This Chicagoan

would love to see the games come to twon. Sure the weeks the games are going on will make life pretty tough to get to my office inthe loop, but the amount of expose the city will get will be well worth it. I just hope they plan to extend the existing METRA hours for the games. Last train out of town (on my line) is 12:40 AM. I hate the fact I have to cut my weekends short if I don't take a cab ride home.

[Cha]

71. Thanks for letting us hear from another Chicagoan

on this controversary.

[alcibiades_mystery]

72. this Chicagoan would also like to see the Games here

Ditto that for the wife and kids. We're all pulling for them.

[AngryAmish]

97. Then all the visitors can get tattoos to memorialize their time here

http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/TmTk2BrOZLbMzVFKHPbe4w/l

[SemiCharmedQuark]

88. This Chicagoan wants the games too.

[mucifer]

91. This Chicagoan doesn't want these games. I want better schools and programs

for the needy.

[MidwestRick]

92. Call me greedy...

but I'd like better schools, better programs for the needy and the Olympics in our city.

[ipaint]

65. The financially comfortable and elite will love it, the poor will pay the price.

According to the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions and University of Toronto sociology professor emerita Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, about two million people have been displaced since the late 1980s in cities that hosted the Summer Olympics.

“It’s a good excuse to have a crackdown,” Lenskyj told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview from Toronto. “The argument is that the eyes of the world are on the city, which means we don’t want any international embarrassment of journalists filming panhandling or journalists filming shantytowns or whatever it might be.”

...She notes that COHRE, a Geneva-based nongovernmental organization, has documented the following housing trends in Olympic host cities: evictions of tenants from low-rent housing; evictions resulting from gentrification; significant decreases in boarding-house stock; inflated real-estate prices; weakened legislation protecting tenants; criminalization of poverty; temporary or permanent privatization of public space; and temporary or permanent suppression of human rights and, particularly, freedom of assembly.

“As well as the 1.25 million already displaced in Beijing, COHRE predicts a further 250,000 displacements in 2007-08, in addition to about 400,000 migrants whose temporary housing in the urbanized core has been demolished,” Lenskyj writes in her book.

http://www.straight.com/article-156489/summer-olympics-displace-poor

[TheKentuckian]

73. You cannot calculate economic impact by looking at a single ledger

Government invests in order to create a multiplier effect, not to turn a quick profit like a company. There is almost no question that the money invested will have a much broader and long term return than just what the cost is. Over time the taxpayer will be rewarded and in the short term there will be additional taxpayers that also can stay in their homes, save, invest, and generally live life.

If they get the bid please sneak the Olympics down I65 to Louisville because we'd love the jobs, attractions, tourism, and additional infrastructure though we're populated by a lot of obstinate mules that have to be beat into submission to make any investment that would grow the city too.

[Renew Deal]

74. Clueless idiots

[jefferson_dem]

80. +1. Some people will whine about anything.

n/t

[high density]

75. So Vancouver is a fiscal failure before the games even come to that city?

Seems quite dishonest to say that at this point. Plus the fact remains that the infrastructure improvements last long after the games are gone. Yes it will cost money in the short run but the cities do get a return on their investment. This isn't like pissing money into the sand over in Iraq or Afghanistan.

[bhikkhu]

83. What the games did for Atlanta

I'm not an authority, but I did live there in 94/95 while they were preparing. I can say there was a palpable excitement - there were construction projects everywhere and things going on continually. There was great cost, of course, but Atlanta remade itself into an international city, and has benefited to this day. After the games (aside from the bombing incident) I never heard anything negative. There was no fiscal disaster, and the city was left with a revitalized infrastructure and prestige. Why not Chicago?

The case against the Olympics in Chicago sounds like the case against health care reform: in America, every thing goes wrong - we'd just screw it up and wind up broke, so we shouldn't even try. RW thinking.

[saltpoint]

86. Now yesterday in this thread, I argued in favor of the Games in Chicago.

Today I want 'em in Chicago even more.

[boppers]

87. CHICAGO DOESN'T WANT MONEY. PLEASE STAY AWAY!!!!

Wait, what?

Chicago doesn't want, or need, millions in international input?

Okaaayyy....


edit:typo

[HamdenRice]

90. Looks like WSWS wasn't crazy enough for people. Now it's "socialist worker"...

and even fringier and crazier group that is getting cited these days.

[truebrit71]

94. Sorry, but YES WE DO!!

Fuck the socialist worker...

[AngryAmish]

98. I know it entertains the half-wits that like that sort of thing

Really, though, wouldn't they be happier with a wet t-shirt contest or the ilk?

[anonymous171]

100. You are right, entertainment is bad. Get off the internet and go back to work.

[joeycola]

101. I doubt that Obama would spend his pol. capital if the games were not

already in the bag for the US.

[Gabi Hayes]

103. Jon Stewart just showed a clip of Obama from sept. 16, in which he

stated that he would NOT go to Copenhagen because of the importance of the Health Care debate.

???????

[Cha]

104. PO is allowed to change his mind..he

must have thought the Olympics in Chicago in 2016 was worth a shot anyway.. and he could actually get away for the interim.

[Gabi Hayes]

105. looks good, huh?

that said, I can't imagine him going without being almost totally certain that it's in the bag

didn't realize Daley's hooks reach that far

[Cha]

106. It's a puzzler..I read on DU that there have never

been any Olympics in South America.

And, it's so far away(2016)but one has to plan for these things.

I also read at one point Daley didn't want the Olympics in Chicago..so if true that's another change.

[blue_onyx]

108. The other countries sent their leaders too

I don't think Obama going is any indication of Chicago's chances.

I have no opinion of whether Chicago gets the Olympics. I think Rio makes sense considering that South American has never held the Olympic games.