What Are Buyers Willing to Pay for that High Rise 2/2? 501 N. Clinton in West Town

501 n clinton

This 2-bedroom at the Kinzie Park Tower at 501 N. Clinton in West Town came on the market in September 2016.

This building was constructed in 2000 and has 208 units.

It is part of Kinzie Station, which also has townhouses.

At the time this development was built, this was no-man’s land west of the river. Now, the city has boomed all around it.

The listing says it’s a “current renovation” with 3/4″ dark oak flooring in the living/dining areas.

The kitchen has white cabinets, quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances.

The unit has views of the Loop high rises.

It has the features buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and parking is available for $35,000.

Originally listed at $625,000 in September (I’m not sure if that included the parking), it has come back on the market in 2017 for $595,000 plus $35,000 for parking. That means it’s now listed for $630,000, which is $5,000 more than in 2016.

At 1285 square feet, is $600,000+ for a 2/2 in a 17 year old high rise the new Green Zone reality?

Harold Blum at Berkshire Hathaway KoenigRubloff has the listing. See the pictures here.

Or you can go to the Open House on Sunday, January 22 from 12 to 3 PM.

Unit #1904: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1285 square feet

  • Sold in March 2001 for $311,000 (no parking listed)
  • Sold in May 2003 for $385,000 (included the parking)
  • Sold in September 2009 for $435,000 (included the parking)
  • Originally listed in September 2016 for $625,000 (not sure if it included the parking)
  • Withdrawn
  • Re-listed for $595,000 (plus $35,000 for parking) = $630,000
  • Assessments of $802 a month (includes heat, a/c, doorman, internet, cable, exercise room, pool, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger and snow removal)
  • Taxes aren’t listed
  • Central Air
  • Washer/Dryer in the unit
  • Bedroom #1: 13×12
  • Bedroom #2: 11×11
  • Deck: 7×5

 

95 Responses to “What Are Buyers Willing to Pay for that High Rise 2/2? 501 N. Clinton in West Town”

  1. For some reason, I feel this is still part of River North

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  2. Yawn. Nothing about this unit or this neighborhood does anything for me.

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  3. It is West Town but it’s also Fulton River District.

    So this same agent sold unit 904, also billed as a “current renovation” for 550K with tandem parking. Looks to me like it was at the same level. 2904 seemed a bit more dated and sold for 592K with tandem parking.

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  4. “this was no-man’s land west of the river. ”

    Still kinda think that this east of the Metra area is no man’s land. You’ve got this development, slef-storage, salvation army and Tribune property. Once Tribune gets that property redeveloped, that will change, but for now Kinzie Station is still really an island that orients toward EBC.

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  5. “It is part of Kinzie Station”

    Correction, “Kinzie Park” is the name of the whole complex, not Kinzie Station. K station are the apartment buildings south of this.

    My brother and brother-in-law have lived here for several years. The building and grounds are very well-kept. One thing about this location is the noise from the Metra trains. It’s quite loud if your windows are open. And you’re “treated” to Blommer’s Chocolate, if you like chocolate.

    It does feel more River North, even if it’s west of the river.

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  6. I always thought the area was called ‘river west’

    not really a fan of the location or building, but some folks like it I guess

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  7. Great job staging the place. Overpriced though…really should just include the parking. It isn’t like anyone who doesn’t live in that development is going to buy the parking.

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  8. “The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it suspended the reduction of Mortgage Insurance Premiums, effective immediately. HUD sent out an announcement just an hour after President Trump was sworn in on Friday, stating that the cuts have been suspended indefinitely.”

    http://www.housingwire.com/articles/39003-hud-suspends-fha-mortgage-insurance-premium-cut

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  9. “Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it suspended the reduction of Mortgage Insurance Premiums”

    Hate to say it, but this was a good decision. The 2% reserve number is grounded in the same faulty logic used by the ratings agencies in 06/07–that nothing is ever going go worse than it has in the past.

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  10. FHA mortgage insurance premiums are ridiculously expensive compared to conventional mortgages. The worst part is that the MI doesn’t even drop off anymore at 78% LTV as required of other mortgage insurers.

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  11. “FHA mortgage insurance premiums are ridiculously expensive compared to conventional mortgages.”

    And the “seriously delinquent” rate is ridiculously (ie over 50%) higher for FHA loans v conventional. And that’s with FHA delinquency currently 20% below pre-crash average, and conventional delinquency 60% above pre-crash average.

    Use the pre-crash (05-08) averages, and FHA delinquency is 2x or more higher.

    Thus, the expense mirrors the risk.

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  12. You’re coming to come to love Mr. Trump’s presidency, anon(tfo), I just know you will. You’ll never admit in public b/c it’s heresy within the city limits, but, in private conversations after a few beers, you love for sound fiscal policy, infrastructure projects and decreased illegal immigration will come out. You may not like Trump personally that’s OK, but you will like what he’s done over four year.

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  13. “You’re [go]ing to come to love Mr. Trump’s presidency”

    No, I’m not. He’s going to fail, spectacularly, on the issues that matter most to me.

    I admit that there is a glimmer of ‘not hating’ the next 4 years, but I don’t have high hopes.

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  14. Fox News released a poll yesterday showing Trump with a 42% approval, Obamacare at 50% approval and Obama at 60% approval.

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  15. “No, I’m not. He’s going to fail, spectacularly, on the issues that matter most to me.

    I admit that there is a glimmer of ‘not hating’ the next 4 years, but I don’t have high hopes.”

    I’m disappointed in you; I was hoping for a bit more rationality and less emotion. But I’ve got many friends whom I consider to be very smart and rational people who completely crumble when the name ‘Trump’ is spoken. It blows my mind people aren’t listening to what he’s saying, this is a great time to be an American.

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  16. HD posted: “..It blows my mind people aren’t listening to what he’s saying…”
    No imo what blows your mind is that people listen & then quote what T says which isn’t the way true believers think Trump speak should work. Ignore what T says but believe what’s truly in his heart isn’t it?

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  17. southbound:

    “The press took Republican Donald Trump “literally, but not seriously,” she wrote, whereas Trump’s supporters took him “seriously, but not literally.”

    My family members and social circle cried on Friday and they were tears of joy. I just hope that Trump brings more hope and change than Obama did in 2009. And considering that Obamacare has already started to get repealed, and the nightmare that was Obama’s presidency has finally ended, I’ve never had more hope for America’s future than I do today. The fact that (D) party is the minority in Federal government alone makes me jump for joy.

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  18. Isn’t buying a generic (not a waterfront) townhome in Kinzie Park a much better value then paying $630K for 1285 sq ft 2/2 w/ $802/mo. assessments or have prices of K Pk townhomes prices skyrocketed?

    Hd posted his family members cried tears of joy Friday. I think hd’s an educated version of ‘Joe the plumber’ (who when last heard from was employed as a union autoworker thanks to Obama ramming thru auto industry bailout in ’09, saving the midwest’s & arguably US’s economy. Still hd & Joe believe their nightmare is over ‘cuz DT reps real hope and change?). Hey that reminds me hd – you never answered whether you’re better off in ’16 than in ’08, the last time R’s ruled the whole roost? We know you are but of course like all R’s you’re certain 100% of your success since ’08 is completely due to your innate talent not the rising tide or D sponsored assistance like student loan programs.

    Clarence Page in today’s Trib. “..an old and vastly underappreciated quirk of human nature. Journalists are conditioned to value facts as closely tied to one’s credibility. Trump talks like a stand-up comedian or family yarn-spinner. He mangles facts that sound to willing ears like he has touched a deeper truth…” hd & Joe are deluded believers in DT’s ‘deeper truths’. I believe very little of what any sociopath says.

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  19. “The fact that (D) party is the minority in Federal government alone makes me jump for joy.”

    There are three parties in Washington now. The Dems, the Republicans and the Trump party.

    I don’t think many would argue that Trump is a Congressional type Republican, right? Most of his proposals are way left of conservative Republican agenda as espoused since Reagan. And many are down-right Democratic (the infrastructure plan, more federal spending.)

    It’s been a long time since DC had 3 different parties. Should be interesting to see how it all plays out.

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  20. “Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it suspended the reduction of Mortgage Insurance Premiums”

    Those involved in the policy in DC are saying this was done immediately not as some kind of statement but because it was set to go into effect on Jan 27. If they didn’t cancel it by this weekend, it would have impacted closings if it went away later. It saved a lot of hardships later by just suspending it now, before it started being used.

    They just suspended it until their own policy people could look at it which is going to take a few months.

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  21. AM I better off in 2016 than 2008? Yes, and no. Yes in the sense that my household has a much higher income; but that comes at the expense of less security, and far, far, far more expensive health care. Obamacare had the effect of throwing millions into high deductible plans with negligible adjustments and discounts.

    Many of my friends and family members are far, far worse off, and they aren’t the rural or ‘small town types’ but working class city and suburban folks – people southbound you are unlikely to know or interact with on a daily basis, if ever, and correct me if I’m wrong…but your utter contempt and bigotry for the working class is so sad.

    Many of my working class clients are also far worse off, earning less today inflation adjusted than they did in 2008, and that’s BEFORE they lost their job. The average worker with no or some college is scared out of their pants that if they lost their job they would never be able to replace it.

    And what about brainwashed millennial who are not only worse off than 2008, but are worse off than 1988, because they make less money as a generation than their parents did.

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  22. “And what about brainwashed millennial who are not only worse off than 2008, but are worse off than 1988, because they make less money as a generation than their parents did.”

    Even if that is true (I don’t know that it is) you have to adjust for the fact that they have so many more products and services available to them for what they earn than we did 29 years ago. The Internet, smart phones, better cars, better medical care, better entertainment.

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  23. hd posted “.. people southbound you are unlikely to know or interact with on a daily basis, if ever, and correct me if I’m wrong…but your utter contempt and bigotry for the working class is so sad…”

    Like DT of course hd offers no facts to support his slander. Ironic a Pk Ridge res attempts to defame me who grew up w/ blue collar neighbors about alleged ‘contempt and bigotry for working class’. I paid for college working as janitor, railroad laborer & CTA driver in summers – none of my co-workers had law degrees. My best friend for 50 yrs skipped college & became union bodyman @ auto dealership in mid-70’s, earning $60k/yr. back then! But auto dealers were offended skilled tech workers earned so much (despite making exc. money splitting incentivizing ‘book’ rates charged customers) & unified to break their union. My friend hasn’t earned equivalent $ since mid 80’s. Ime mid 80’s are when security for working class, particularly an opportunity to earn middle class wages began disappearing, not in the past 8 years.

    I’ve experienced first hand how people who are likely hds neighbors in Pk Ridge (mostly but not all R’s) treat people who are working class.

    My work creates jobs for mostly union construction workers. I don’t begrudge their pay (ok imo unskilled union laborers are grossly overpaid due to politics but so long as dev’ts get built competently & quickly god love them too).

    Imo hd slanders me to misdirect from facts. hd bitches about his/his employer’s ins. cost rising by what $500-$1K/mo while his salary doubled due to economy improving? In exchange formerly uninsured get affordable coverage, people w/ issues can get insured & young adults are covered ’til 26. What will R’s replace ACA with? Will hd’s relatives cry tears of joy when R’s announce their plan to privatize/voucherize Medicare & Soc Security? It’s clear to me who has ‘contempt & bigotry toward working class’ – it’s not me.

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  24. “What will R’s replace ACA with?”

    Trump has promised insurance for *everybody*. He’s said that some say “that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.” Thus, he’s promised some sort of subsidy!

    And it’s not going to be some crappy plan–DJT has promised “great health care. It will be in a much simplified form. Much less expensive and much better.”

    See, HD, I’ve listened to what he says. I think that he either (1) is presenting alternative facts, or (2) thinks he’ll be able to ram some *MASSIVE* cost controls thru Congress.

    I don’t see massive cost controls as a good thing, outside of very limited circumstances.

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  25. so southbound if you’ve worked with your hands in the past (As have I) and you have plenty of working class friends, it absolutely blows my mind that you haven’t joined on the Trump bandwagon. It shocks the conscious actually, knowing all that you know, and the experiences that you’ve had in the past, that you’re not a trump voter. I guess you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink…

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  26. “Obamacare had the effect of throwing millions into high deductible plans with negligible adjustments and discounts.”

    Who was thrown into it?

    Those who have Obamacare had no access to it before or chose not to buy it (young and healthy etc.) Obamacare isn’t corporate insurance. Too many people make this mistake. If your employer had an Aetna policy in 2007 and you still have Aetna or Humana through your employer, then you’re NOT on Obamacare (and never have been.)

    My 53 year old uncle who owns a small business with 3 employees is on Obamacare. He used to buy insurance in the high risk pool in his state (due to his age and being a smoker). His premiums have been cut by 2/3rds under Obamacare and the exchanges. It’s been a lifesaver. Yes- still high deductibles. But he had $5,000 deductible in the high risk coverage before too.

    What Obamacare did do for all insureds was provide complete coverage of a physical, mammograms, general blood tests, birth control and other preventative care. Will we get to keep that? It’s a huge deal. My uncle with his $5,000 deductible didn’t get a physical for 6 years due to the extra cost. That’s when people die. They never get the colonoscopy or the prostate exam until its too late.

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  27. “Many of my working class clients are also far worse off, earning less today inflation adjusted than they did in 2008, and that’s BEFORE they lost their job. The average worker with no or some college is scared out of their pants that if they lost their job they would never be able to replace it.”

    This has been happening since the late 1970s. As union membership has declined, so has worker security.

    Go figure.

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  28. Sabrina, so your uncle is old and smokes, and his health care premium was cut by 2/3rds; no doubt some people have been helped, especially those in states where medicaid has expanded. But the flip side is a family of four who the government says ‘can’ afford healthcare insurance now suddenly pays significantly higher premiums and is likely on a high deductible plan; which discourages them from using the healthcare system. I have personal experience with this after being balance billed for thousands of dollars after an emergency ER visit. Makes me think twice about going to the doctor for anything when on my EOB I see only a small adjustment to the master charge, little to no insurer payment, and a large co-pay every time I go to the doctor. What are the $1,000+ per month premiums going to if the insurer isn’t paying anything and the discount sucks? That’s Obamacare because it wasn’t like that even 9 years ago before I was thrown into a high deductible plan like everyone else

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  29. “a family of four who the government says ‘can’ afford healthcare insurance now suddenly pays significantly higher premiums and is likely on a high deductible plan”

    Oh, someone like me, who is on a company plan? Paying significantly higher premia than on 9 years ago, on a high deductible plan, which wasn’t the case 9 years ago.

    Why should people in the individual market get treated *better* than those in the group market?

    So, you want to eliminate the parts of the ACA that people like: pre-existing conditions, lifetime caps, and kids staying on family plans longer. Have the courage of your convictions as SAY IT. Trump is way too wussy to say it.

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  30. hd posted more whining. Redlining legal drafts with pens isn’t working with your hands in my eyes.

    Second re “…It shocks the conscious actually,…that you’re not a trump voter. I guess you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink…”. You can lead a horse to water in an attempt to get him to support a lying narcissistic sociopathic horse’s a– but the horse and I do have free will. Aren’t you concerned this truly f’ed up mess has near unlimited power & access to nukes?

    Re cost of ER visit making hd “think twice about going to doctor for anything.. “. That kind of rationale results in a greater likelihood making future expensive visits to ERs. Ime an ounce of prevention costs much less than a pound of cure.

    “…What are the $1000+ per month premiums going to if insurer isn’t paying anything…”. It’s ironic and telling that hd, a licensed attorney needs this explained – insurance is designed to protect us from low likelihood issues w/ catastrophic costs. It’s an added benefit if health insurer also provides discount rates at ERs but that’s not why we need it.

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  31. Health care for a family of 4 or 5 people cost well over $1000 per month, and the deductibles are easily $500 and up. So a family is paying $20,000 for health care before the “insurance” even kicks in to help. Why should anyone pay that? Ron Paul said people would be better off cutting side deals with their doctors and dentists for cash payments! Besides only suckers PAY with their own money. 1/2 of the country are pure parasites on food stamps and Sec. 8 etc. They simply use the ER for any problems and then never pay that bill. Only white suckers pay.

    Trump is a RE guy, 40 plus yrs. in the business, therefore he is a master with spreadsheets and operating statements. I’ll agree with anon(tfo) that it doesn’t make “spreadsheet” sense to include all these new expenditures (e.g. coverage for pre-existing and road infrastructure spending) without having a revenue source to cover it. However, I believe Trump is going to save money on prescription drug expense by negotiating with Big Pharma, maybe that saving covers the expense to cover the pre-existing conditions of all the obese welfare diabetics etc.

    We’ll see. But it’s refreshing to see a businessman as our President. Obama was woefully underqualified for the the job and his lack of results show this. Obama added $9 trillion to our national debt and didn’t accomplish much with that money, dontcha say??

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  32. “Most of his proposals are way left of conservative Republican agenda”

    No, Trump is the conservative. The “congressional” GOP agenda has been Neocon and Neoliberal, and neither of these are conservative. They’re Jewish and globalist, the antithesis of conservative. Soros and the NeverTrumper RINOs are two-sides of the same anti-American coin.

    Trump wants to INVEST in infrastructure, which has the potential to return a positive IRR on the expenditure. Obama, the clueless puppet, wasted money, produced no return on the investment — because his “stimulus” was a big bank bailout, not an investment in the country. Remember Occupy Wall St.? That happened under Obama’s watch.

    It is conservative to:

    Invest in your own country
    Be a non-interventionist
    Want fiscal responsibility

    The RINOs are neocons, not conservatives. Trump is the conservative and he’s finally gotten the GOP back to its roots and base, and pushed the Neocohens to the sidelines, for the better sake of humanity.

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  33. Lastly, I woke up to WBBM 780 this morning saying that our once legitimate Newberry LIbrary is looking to collect items and oral histories of the pink menopause march last week in Grant Park. How pathetic for that institution, it loses all credibility. Chateau Heartiste, as usual, gets to the heart of the matter:

    “It turned out to be a bunch of well-fed white women wearing $150 running shoes and holding $500 cell phones, with more life options than they know what to do with.

    Practically speaking, there are no more rights left to give women. So when they find out that all jobs frankly kind of suck, everybody forms hierarchies, everybody has to compete, and successful men don’t enjoy their company, what then? Answer: find a lightning rod for all your inchoate rage about your sucky life and go on a stupid, pointless march.

    Judging by photos, there were a lot of menopausal fatties and hippie boomers at the Menopause March, which convinced me to change my preferred name for it from the Menstruation March. Even the pre-Wall chicks looked old for their age. Shrieking Leftism notably accelerates aging in its adherents.”

    I bet southbound was there as a typical beta male schlub.

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  34. “So, you want to eliminate the parts of the ACA that people like: pre-existing conditions, lifetime caps, and kids staying on family plans longer. Have the courage of your convictions as SAY IT. Trump is way too wussy to say it.”

    It’s more than just that, everyone has their hand in the medical market…insurers making large profits insurer, or running ERISA plans for corporations; medical device makers earn $$$ – I personally know two medical device sales techs who earn far, far, in excess of $100,000 per year for what, recommending their product; don’t even get me started on pharma – yes I understand there is R&D but these days the little companies do the R&D and are bought by the big companies who charge ridiculous rates; and there’s the pharma middle men, the wholesalers who also make billions…there’s the well paid CEO’s who live like kings, and the C level execs who live like princes; and the doctors are surprisingly paid the worst with the longest hours and most stressful jobs. It’s a huge, well paying racket that fleeces the american consumer. There’s plenty of room for cost savings across the board, reduction in staffing levels, less billing and so forth. COuld easily keep the up to 26 year old and lifetime caps which likely cost insurers negligible amounts anyways; the pre-existing issue is a problem, could possibly be paid for by reducing the pharma expense.

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  35. “That kind of rationale results in a greater likelihood making future expensive visits to ERs. Ime an ounce of prevention costs much less than a pound of cure.”

    I’m not alone in this thinking and has been well documented. The high deductible plans scare people away from doctors visits because they can’t afford it. Great for the insurers who don’t have to pay any claims on a policy where the first $10,000, like my family plan, is covered by the insured, which is likely more medical care than they’ll even use in any given year.

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  36. hh the expat from bridgeview apparently’s returned to post to confirm why DT loves the ‘poorly educated’. hh’s stab at doing math re insurance is telling – $1k/mo. & $500 deductible x 4 equals $20K? DT needs hh to help itemize the 3-5 mil votes cast by illegals against DT.

    I love hh’s DT like calculation that 1/2 of country are pure parasites too – just b/c most other asshats cheering DT near hh’s bar stool are also unemployable doesn’t mean anything statistically speaking. hh of all people should know the “1/2 of the country are pure parasites on food stamps and Sec. 8 etc.” don’t pay for health care – they’re on medicaid. And hh surely knows 42% of non-elderly medicare recips are white, more than double the % of black or brown people.

    And who should be more concerned about a noninsured’s cost of keeping hiv in check than a halsted st cowboy? (whether hh frequents halsted st bars hoping to lasso women or men is irrelevant to me & to the virus).

    Trump isn’t a ‘RE guy’ – he’s a nearly clueless heir who’s ‘expertise w/ spreadsheets’ resulted in many of DT’s entities ending in bk courts. Here’s a tip for the truly clueless – the only way $ invested in infrastructure can “return a positive IRR on the expenditure” is if we privatize sewer & water lines, make all newly paved roads tollways & sell off parking meter franchises – never a great proposition for us rate payers. Imo hh is a clueless hate filled simpleton – again confirming hh is DT’s favorite kind of supporter.

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  37. typo alert “…42% of non-elderly medicaid (not medicare) recips are white…”

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  38. southbound: I said “well over $1000” per month. Take the midpoint between monthly premiums btw $1000-$2000 = $1500, times 12 plus $2000 for the deductibles equals $20,000. Moron.

    Trump trolling of the CNN jews and their liberal twit collaborators over the illegal voting is hilarious! All the whining on CNN is comical, they’re blowing their tops, and then Trump smashes these crying hiysterical losers with the pipelines in the same day. LOL!! It’s so great to watch them wet their pants. Go Trump!

    Trump is a successful RE guy. We’ve been through this already: RE is a highly leverage business, there are always foreclosures and failures as a result. Chicago’s own Sam Zell and the JMB jews all failed bigly. Remember the Reichman family of Toronto? Olympia & York? Failed! Only Trump came back to the highest level. Sam Zell is probably second, but that troll-like ogre could never have landed a beauty like Melania, or created a hit TV show, or became the most powerful man on the planet. Lol. Keep on bashing Trump, southbound. Who the hell are you? A schlub nobody, beta male, and a collaborator with anti-white racists. Loser.

    The Interstate highway system produced a return to the US taxpayer, didn’t it? You have to think big. Compare that to Obama’s jewish-run stimulus to bail out the likes of Jon Corzine, or GWB’s colossal waste of trillions in the Neocohen sponsored Iraq War?

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  39. PS People should “never forget” how the JMB shysters, Neil Bluhm and Judd Malkin, lost hundred of millions of people retirement money in their loser schemes. Their biggest investors were pension plans of people like school teachers. The pensioners were never paid back by Bluhm. So, who cares he donates his new ill-gotten greedy money to the modern wing of the Art Institute in a vulgar form of display. He never paid back the money he owes to pensioners. Trump loves the USA, unlike the creeps that southbound has his bizarre “anti” DNA is aligned with.

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  40. “Compare that to Obama’s jewish-run stimulus to bail out the likes of Jon Corzine, or GWB’s colossal waste of trillions in the Neocohen sponsored Iraq War?”

    The House passed a $350 billion highway transportation bill just last year. They had to do something because our infrastructure is falling apart- in ALL of their districts. I don’t think it’s going to waste.

    Trump supported the Iraq War so he has nothing to say about the spending there.

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  41. “Here’s a tip for the truly clueless – the only way $ invested in infrastructure can “return a positive IRR on the expenditure” is if we privatize sewer & water lines, make all newly paved roads tollways & sell off parking meter franchises – never a great proposition for us rate payers.”

    Yeah- that’s the problem with “privatizing” the infrastructure. You can do it with some of it. Sure- we sold the Skyway to the Australians. They charge a $5 toll to drive on it. They’ve fixed it up (have you driven it lately? It’s great now.)

    But who is going to “buy” the bridge in the middle of Iowa that was built in 1945? No one.

    This is why the Feds give out the money as they recently gave the CTA $1 billion to re-do the subway stations in Chicago that are 100 years old. Sure- some “private” organization could provide the money but what are they going to do- charge to get into the station?

    Some things have to be government supported. We are the richest nation on earth. Why can’t we have decent airports, high speed rail and decent roads. Go to Europe. Heck, go to Mexico. The Mexican airports are nicer than ours.

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  42. “COuld easily keep the up to 26 year old and lifetime caps which likely cost insurers negligible amounts anyways; the pre-existing issue is a problem, could possibly be paid for by reducing the pharma expense.”

    You can’t keep the pre-existing conditions without a mandate. The numbers don’t work. Over 50 million Americans have pre-existing and they tend to be older.

    HD- it sounds like you are advocating socializing medicine as many other countries do so that there isn’t so much “profit” with medical device sales techs making, gasp, over $100,000.

    You can’t have it both ways. You can’t have private insurers whose sole goal is to make a profit for their shareholders AND have cheap care. You either accept the capitalist aspect of the healthcare industry or you pay doctors what we pay teachers – like $50,000 a year and have government healthcare.

    Who’s paying for my preventative care? Who is going to tell the insurers they have to pay for my mammogram and my husband’s prostate test?

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  43. the clueless hate filled simpleton spewed more contradictory bs (Iiuc it’s ok for DT to repeatedly bk his entities & stiff investors, lenders and subs b/c shit happens but non-christians must be held to a higher standard?). Hh ends w/ “DT loves the USA, unlike the creeps that southbound has his bizarre “anti” DNA is aligned with.”

    Wtf could that mean? Hey hh, I recommend in future you hold off posting ’til the crank wears off.

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  44. “It turned out to be a bunch of well-fed white women wearing $150 running shoes and holding $500 cell phones, with more life options than they know what to do with.”

    Please stop with your elitist shit when you just elected an alleged billionaire (except he’s not. He’s most likely “worth” less than the Clintons) with a trophy wife. The man has never lived outside of Manhattan except for 2 years in Philadelphia. But he “understands” those people in Ohio. Lol.

    Thank god they have “more life options than they know what to do with.” That’s America! Long live America. Long live our amazing cities that provide job after job after job in all kinds of professions- including ones that were never invented until 5 years ago.

    The women’s job market is actually much better than that for men. Service jobs now dominate so that means nurses and the like are in demand. Men can do those jobs too- but choose not to. Women’s wages are also rising faster right now than men’s (although women make less, on average.)

    We just elected a man who has his staffers print out articles, he makes handwritten notes, they scan it in, and send the printed article (as a PDF?) to whomever he wants to send it to via e-mail. He doesn’t even know how to use a computer!

    Lol!

    But he’ll bring those automated manufacturing jobs (that he has no idea about) “back.” Why not get people education in engineering, tool & die, welding, electronics, computers, coding?

    And all the comments about the women’s weight? Thank you HH. It’s clear it WORKED.

    That’s the oldest insult in the world. Want to attack a woman? Call her fat.

    Lol!

    Pulease.

    Again- we just elected the most obese man since Taft.

    There are more women voters than men in this country. And Hillary won the economy of this country. Her counties account for 64% of the country’s GDP. Vast majority living in those counties (since she won every major city) are women.

    Whine, whine, whine HH. It was the largest protest in 40 years.

    Just so you know- protests like that usually evolve into public change. And presidents who face mass protests, never survive long in office. They get voted out, resign, or choose not to run again. This time will be no different.

    Meanwhile, these elite women will continue to get their good jobs and hopefully will cash in on this Trump economy. The tax cuts will be terrific for women. Means more high paying jobs for us. Our wages should rise quicker this year.

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  45. “Trump wants to INVEST in infrastructure, which has the potential to return a positive IRR on the expenditure.”

    Oh- so “invest” is the new code word for spend, spend, spend???

    Lol!

    Why didn’t Obama think of that?

    There’s no way to do his “plan” without busting the budget. I’ll be laughing my ass off when the Freedom Caucus, those Congressmen who believe in balancing the budget and deficit “neutral” spending get their hands on his budget. Will they spend, spend, spend too?

    Reagan spent us into oblivion because he had a willing Democrat Congress. Will they control Trump’s worst democratic impulses? Will they be able to pull off a good balance like they did under Clinton’s second term when the deficit came under control but things also got done like welfare reform?

    We’ll see.

    Trump has always been a Democrat (hence his pictures with the Clintons over the years.) There is NOTHING conservative about his policies except his sudden anti-choice view. Hell- in the debates, he supported Planned Parenthood- just not on abortion funding. Lol!

    Obama’s big stimulus plan in 2009 actually built roads. But it’s hard for you to remember that far back HH. Revisionist history. And his stimulus was needed as the country was literally going down. Why do we need stimulus now with the best job market in 15 years?

    We don’t. The construction industry already can’t find enough workers. Home builders keep complaining they’d build more houses if only they could find the labor. Lol!

    It’s all inflationary anyway. Fed is going to have to raise multiple times to try and keep it all under control. But they’re always late to the story.

    Oh- and why are we spending $30 billion on a stupid wall? It’s a disgrace when we don’t have high speed rail. A disgrace. Morocco just got high speed rail. Morocco! 200 mph trains. Lol.

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  46. “Wtf could that mean?”

    Only DT loves the USA and no one else does???

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  47. “Trump is a RE guy, 40 plus yrs. in the business, therefore he is a master with spreadsheets and operating statements.”

    He doesn’t know how to use a computer so I doubt he’s seen a spreadsheet in 20 years.

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  48. “Oh, someone like me, who is on a company plan? Paying significantly higher premia than on 9 years ago, on a high deductible plan, which wasn’t the case 9 years ago.”

    My company has changed insurance companies 3 times in the last 10 years in an attempt to keep costs down (insurers will do what apartment rentals will do- give you a discount for “joining” and then raising it later.) We haven’t changed in the last 3 years, however. Are costs still absurd? Of course.

    But I haven’t heard a single Republican plan that says “hey- those $1,000 a month premiums for a family of 4? We’ll make them $500 with our plan.” In fact, they haven’t said ANYTHING about making it cheaper (or better- but that’s a different story.) Either for those in the ACA or those out of it.

    What’s really the gamechanger for the ACA was the expansion of Medicaid. Suddenly some states like Arkansas went from 30% uninsured to only 9% uninsured. Same in Kentucky. This is life changing. And, for the first time for many, they can go to the doctor for a general physical and pay NOTHING.

    Shouldn’t medical care be preventative first?

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  49. “That’s Obamacare because it wasn’t like that even 9 years ago before I was thrown into a high deductible plan like everyone else”

    Your employer doesn’t have a group plan HD? Why not?

    Even small law firms can use the Bar Association benefits to get group rate insurance.

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  50. “Only Trump came back to the highest level.”

    Like I’ve said before, Jorge Perez in Florida is a much more successful developer and real estate magnate than Trump. It’s amazing how you never mention him HH. And he never inherited the business from his father. He’s built over 60,000 units in South Florida. Has also not gone BK. He’s the America Dream personified.

    There’s just so much opportunity in this country. It’s amazing.

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  51. Trump did not support the Iraq War and he was the only candidate that ran who was non-intervenitionist besides Bernie. Electing Hillary would all have but assured we’d have more wars and perhaps conflict with Russia because that’s what Soros and Neolib and Neocon jews want, war between white nations. That happened before, you know, WW1 and WW2, and the last thing the civilized world needs is a war between the only 2 legit Western Civ nations left, and that’s why the jews want the war with Russia, they hate us.

    “Why can’t we have decent airports, high speed rail and decent roads. Go to Europe. Heck, go to Mexico. The Mexican airports are nicer than ours.”

    Bingo. That’s why Trump won. People like McCain, Kasich, and Hillary and Obama never helped America and wanted more war spending.

    “The man has never lived outside of Manhattan except for 2 years in Philadelphia. But he “understands” those people in Ohio. Lol.”

    Trump grew up in Queens. He gets the real American and the worker. He’s a “blue-collar billionaire” and that’s correct. He’s a builder, not some HFT hedge fund jerk or some Silicon Valley person rich off corporate stock from companies that don’t even produce profits yet.

    “Wtf could that mean?”

    1) Trump never utilized pension funds’ equity to the levels shysters who ran investment funds did.
    2) You’re a freak. You are an anti-white racist white person. Obama’s people call that Uncle Tomism and it’s not something they tolerate, so why should we, with losers like you?? You are Joe Zekas, aren’t you? Baby boomers really screwed the youth over, and you still are unrepentant for your evil.

    “He doesn’t even know how to use a computer/spreadsheets”

    That’s what the RE Analyst/Associate position is for. There are thousands of Wharton or Harvard MBAs who would kill for that job right out of school. Banks wouldn’t lend the Trump Org, billions of dollars without properly run numbers and projections and budgets.

    “It was the largest protest in 40 years.
    Just so you know- protests like that usually evolve into public change. And presidents who face mass protests, never survive long in office. They get voted out, resign, or choose not to run again. This time will be no different.”

    LOL. There was no purpose to the protests other than whiny hate because of Trump. The Democrat party does nothing, but identity politics. They don’t work, they don’t create jobs, wealth, or policy. Today, now that Trump has taken the whites and labor away, the Dems are big losers. They are a circular firing squad. Left to their miserable selves we will be internal squabbling as Black lives Matter people hate the white feminists, who hate the Muslims, who have nothing in common with LaRaza who compete and dislike the blacks, who don’t like white homosexuals. This is supposed to be a political party? No chance, it’s based on nothing but hate and complaints, and creates nothing positive or of consequence for society. Trump has started a new movement, that will attract the sane from all corners. The 1% in the blue sh!tlib cities hate Trump primarily out of jealousy, since Trump is so far superior to them in business, wealth, media and now politics, they can’t stand it. They thought they were something, but Trump proves how they really aren’t. I may be the only RE person on a RE blog who seems to give Trump credit for what he’s done. It’s magnificent, and again, no Chicago RE person comes even close.

    “Only DT loves the USA and no one else does???”

    Sure seems that way. That’s why he called out all the politicians during his inauguration speech. They don’t win. They don’t do anything. Obama is not even coming back to help his own people! Liberal loser Rahm whined about Trump earlier today, and did you see Trump’s tweet just now?

    Trump: “If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible “carnage” going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!”

    Where is Obama? playing golf? He should be coming “home” not moving to rich parts of suburban Maryland near Comet pizza. Traitor to his own people. Shame. Not even southbound/joe zekas can swing that one around.

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  52. “I may be the only RE person on a RE blog who seems to give Trump credit for what he’s done. It’s magnificent, and again, no Chicago RE person comes even close”

    What has he “done” in real estate?

    Please. I beg of you. Please tell me.

    Jorge Perez = 60,000 units.

    Donald Trump = how many???

    He licenses out his name. He only “owns” Trump Tower in NYC and in Chicago and in Chicago he only owns 10% and manages the hotel portion. And he hasn’t managed to lease out any of the retail at the base of that tower despite it being steps from Michigan Avenue and steps away from the water taxi boat dock. You’d think at least a Starbucks or SOMETHING would go in there (at least before the election but now, probably not. After all they are shutting down the street in front of the building often now.)

    Why is the retail still empty???

    He hasn’t done anything in Chicago. His Tower has turned out okay but it’s not an iconic building in the city.

    Why does Trump care about Chicago “carnage”? He doesn’t live here. It’s a city matter. Rahm hasn’t asked for the Feds. If he asks, then he’ll get them. Lol. It’s laughable.

    The country is on great financial footing. Obama got us the strongest job market in 15 years. The numbers are just fantastic. Should last at least through this year. Trump should thank his lucky stars. Other than W, Trump has inherited one of the strongest economies in the last 40 years of the presidential transition (and W’s went into recession fast later that first year- in part thanks to 9/11’s shock but also the dot-com bust.)

    So Trump needs to worry about other things than how superior he is in real estate. There’s no real estate involved in being president. That part is over.

    Oh- and HH, it’s nice you’re so concerned with where Obama is. I’m sure he’s touched.

    But he’s not the president anymore. A real estate developer who owns golf courses is. Lol.

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  53. “The Democrat party does nothing, but identity politics. They don’t work, they don’t create jobs, wealth, or policy. Today, now that Trump has taken the whites and labor away, the Dems are big losers.”

    White % is shrinking. Or maybe you haven’t gotten the memo. In 2020, the Dems have a good shot at taking back Texas. It’s all just demographics.

    I feel sorry for those who don’t see that we really ARE a very unified country. The women’s march showed that. It was all ages and races. And it wasn’t organized by the Democrats.

    Spontaneous mass protests are rare in US history. Have only happened a handful of times. It never ends well for those on the other side.

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  54. “The country is on great financial footing.”

    LOL. Obama doubled the national debt, by $9 TRILLION dollars! He is a banana republic leader and this nation is going to be not a banana republic again!

    Re: The feminist march. It was inconsequential. It was just a rant event with no purpose but inchoate hate. Democrats are losers. If the Chicago public cannot figure it out by now, with Trump’s glorious future, plus Chi and IL’s obvious failures, then this city is no longer worthy of world status or being called the City of Big Shoulders. If we’re now a city of black shooters, latin king idiots, and lgoan square commies, then we can never make Chicago Great Again.

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  55. I repeat (wake up young generations, this is not historical Chicago):

    If we’re now a city of black shooters, latin king idiots, and logan square commies, then we can never make Chicago Great Again.

    Chicago has fallen in stature. Bigly. Because of Obama idiots and satanic Madigan types. It’s going to be interesting if Chicago can be great again, or end up off the map or worse like Detroit where all the “flight” occurred incl. the Jews who hated the blacks and moved to Bloomfield Hills, MI to avoid any vibrancy.

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  56. HH: You gotta cut out the anti-semetic rants in every post. It’s really annoying. Most of your points are well taken but as soon as you start mentioning jews it just makes you look foolish and idiotic. Please, for the love of YHWH, cut it out, or stop posting. I beg you. If you truly can’t stop, I suggest you visit a psychiatrist to proscribe you some prozac or something to stop the ruminations because all you talk about are jews, all the time. You can stop most of those unhealthy ruminating thoughts with just one pill.

    Sabrina, on the one hand I think it’s great that a bunch of uninsured people got insurance; but on the other hand, they’re getting it for free while people like you or I are paying through the nose. Same care, same doctors, totally different price. That’s not even socialist, that’s just unfair.

    Also, the ‘demographics is destiny’ argument sounds great in theory but doesn’t really work in practice. (D) operatives have been saying this for 30 years now, and here we are, with the (D) party having the least amount of local and national power in a century. Texas will never go blue as suburban and exurban minorities in the state adopt the ‘white’ identity and vote red; the color of one’s skin doesn’t automatically make someone believe one way or another; the red state culture is Texas and it ain’t going away as the state browns; unless of course, the northern Yankees keep moving there and turning it blue.

    And also, the protest weren’t spontaneous. they were organized by (D) operatives like soros et al, the same who organized the violent anti-Trump rally in Chicago. There were major $$$ backers behind the protests. the only problem is that the message got muddled with all the people and no one really knows what the heck the protests were even about.

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  57. Thank you homedelete. HH probably has a few good points here and there if he’s stating facts. But when he starts spewing all that bigotry he loses any credibility he might have otherwise had.

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  58. I was buying insurance on the individual market before and after Obamacare took effect.
    Before: $72 a month premium $5000 deductible
    4 years later: $287 a month premium $6650 deductible.
    Obamacare was a disaster for the young, healthy, and non-poverty level people.

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  59. hd posted:
    ..” Most of your points are well taken but as soon as you start mentioning jews it just makes you look foolish and idiotic. Please, for the love of YHWH, cut it out, or stop posting…”

    I disagree – very few of hh’s points are well taken b/c he is foolish, idiotic & hate-filled. hh lives to spew hate. He’ll never stop jmho.

    ..”and no one really knows what the heck the protests were even about.”

    Disingenuous even for hd. DT knows – the size & energy of protests put DT on notice millions don’t like DT/what he stands for The protests put all pols on notice those millions will vote (bigly as hh would say) against pols who support the hateful & divisive parts of DT’s agenda

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  60. “Disingenuous even for hd. DT knows – the size & energy of protests put DT on notice millions don’t like DT/what he stands for The protests put all pols on notice those millions will vote (bigly as hh would say) against pols who support the hateful & divisive parts of DT’s agenda”

    gee whiz, maybe they should have actually voted DURING THE RECENT ELECTION THEN?

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  61. sonies: “.. maybe they should have actually voted DURING THE RECENT ELECTION THEN?”

    Maybe protesters voted maybe they didn’t. Maybe Putin’s releasing hacked emails turned off enough & they then didn’t vote. Maybe some protesters were turned off when FBI announced it was re-investigating Clinton re emails. Maybe they didn’t vote b/c they couldn’t imagine enough other citizens voting DT in. In any event DT won.

    Imo protesters are declaring DT’s election is not the end of the story (as R’s did when O took office in ’08). We’re in for an interesting ride while our megalomanic in chief has to face his harsh reality – a majority of US voters oppose him & most of his policies. (“Megalomania is a psycho-pathological disorder where in the person experiences delusional fantasies of greatness, wealth, grandeur, omnipotence and superiority.” – sound like anyone you’ve read about recently?)

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  62. “I haven’t heard a single Republican plan [snip] In fact, they haven’t said ANYTHING about making it cheaper (or better)[.]”

    DJT has. He promised cheaper and better and available to *EVERYONE* regardless of ability to pay.

    Oh, right, he’s not a “Republican” (no argument there).

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  63. “a majority of US voters oppose him & most of his policies.”

    That’s not true, you’ve been reading too much HuffPo. No one garnered a majority in the popular vote (Hillary only had 48.2% of the vote) and of the third party vote, 3.27% was libertarian, which tends to align more with (R) than (D) votes. Green Party Stein barely had 1% of the vote. So technically, you can say that a majority US Voters (R) issues; while slightly under 50% voted for traditional (D) issues.

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  64. “DJT has. He promised cheaper and better and available to *EVERYONE* regardless of ability to pay.”

    Rand Paul’s plan, just out today, would remove the individual mandate, give a $5,000 tax credit to everyone in the form of an HSA, remove the employer tax deduction for health insurance but transfer an unlimited medical insurance deduction to the taxpayer instead. It would allow for less comprehensive plans and the $5,000 HSA tax credit would fill the gap, which is a major problem for most people with high deductible plans.

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  65. southbound: Your hate is so infantile. You’re like a petulant child. Trump doesn’t suffer from “delusions” or “fantasies”. YOU DO.

    Here we have a man (Trump) who through sheer individual will defeated all the Neolibs, Neocons, RINOs, anti-white bigots, Democrats, the dishonest mass media complex, Bezos, (NYT, WaPo, HffPo aka Fake News), etc. Before he did that he became a billionaire business man and TV personality and executive producer.

    That’s a pretty impressive resume. It’s not delusion. Trump’s critics are the delusional.

    The PROBLEM we have is when hate-filled nobodies and losers like “southbound” or do-nothing politicians like Obama or all the temper-tantrum low sexual market value feminists think that they are equals with an individual like Trump. This is why the “equality” mantra is demonstrably false and easily proven false. Feminists came out in mass to protest because of (((Soros))) funding and meddling, but also because Trump so butt-hurt their false ideas of equality as to totally destroy the fantasy they were brainwashed with.

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  66. “an unlimited medical insurance deduction”

    You should *hate* that, given your anti-corporate-med rant above, as it’s just another opportunity for rent-seeking by “insurers” and tax sheltering by everyone.

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  67. hd re “a majority of US voters oppose him & most of his policies.”

    From Chgo Trib (that well known left wing mouthpiece!):

    “..44 percent of Americans say they believe Trump is qualified to serve as president, compared with 52 percent who say he is not…
    Just 40 percent say they have a favorable impression of him, and 54 percent view him unfavorably — with 41 percent saying they have a strongly unfavorable impression of him.”

    Where I come from if 52% believe DT is unqualified & 54% have unfavorable/ strongly unfavorable impressions of DT that represents current majority opinions.

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  68. hd re “”No one garnered a majority in the popular vote (Hillary only had 48.2% of the vote) and of the third party vote, 3.27% was libertarian, which tends to align more with (R) than (D) votes.”

    From Chgo Trib (again);”…the numbers who voted for Trump (almost 63 million) or against him (about 74 million, including almost 66 million for Hillary Clinton).” Despite hd’s attempt to split hairs 66 million vs 63 million sounds conclusive to both DT (why else does he focus on blaming losing pop vote on an imaginary 3-5 million illegals casting votes for Clinton?) and me too

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  69. “Where I come from if 52% believe DT is unqualified & 54% have unfavorable/ strongly unfavorable impressions of DT that represents current majority opinions.”

    But Southbound, *millions* of them are illegals, or moooslums, or fat ladies who wish DJT would look at them, or something else out of DJT’s fever dreams.

    If you narrow it down to “real Americans”, his approval rating is over 90% strongly favorable (and given how strong “real Americans” are, that’s saying something).

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  70. “Feminists came out in mass to protest because of (((Soros))) funding and meddling, but also because Trump so butt-hurt their false ideas of equality as to totally destroy the fantasy they were brainwashed with.”

    You really need to get over the delusion that Soros has anything to do with anything. 99% of the women at that march don’t even know who Soros is or what he does. You’re a moron if you think anything else.

    But desperate people have to grasp at straws. It can’t simply be women being pissed off. That would be WAY too scary for you HH. As I’ve said before- women don’t need men. And all the complaints about the marchers being “elite” show what a threat women who work and earn as much as men really are.

    Trump is not a billionaire businessman. If he was, he’d release his tax returns to make sure we all knew. Believe me. He’d be the first to let us all know.

    Since he is doing everything he can to NEVER release them, that means he’s not. Oh, we’ll also learn for sure that he’s never paid taxes for decades and that he hasn’t given any of his own money to charity in 8 years. Oh- and we’ll learn what a bad investor he is as it will list all of his stock gains/losses too. (In his defense, Hillary and Bill are also bad stock investors. They made just $80,000 income on $4 million in stock investments last year. And why do they only have $4 million? Should be $40 million.)

    I still believe the Clintons are actually richer than Trump.

    California is likely to pass a law that any presidential candidates appearing on the ballot in 2020 will have to provide their tax returns. So we’ll eventually find out Trump’s.

    Trump is a circus performer. And that’s what he’s doing right now. Performing. It’s going to get old real fast both for him and the rest of us.

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  71. “Texas will never go blue as suburban and exurban minorities in the state adopt the ‘white’ identity and vote red”

    You are very, very wrong on this HD.

    The Mexican-Americans, just like in Chicago’s suburbs and exurban areas, are all voting Democratic. Which is why HRC won all of Chicago’s collar counties.

    You DO realize that the suburbs are now turning blue? Look at Austin in 2000 and then in 2016. The collar county next door to Austin has already turned blue. By 2020, it’s possible that there will be a long blue line connecting from San Antonio all the way over to Austin with all of those counties voting Democratic. It’s considered one huge metropolis by urban planners now and the voting is baring that out.

    Obama lost the state by 1.6 million votes. Hillary lost it by only 800,000. The margin of “loss” has declined in all 4 of the last national elections.

    Also, all those from the north who are moving to the big cities are even more Democratic voters.

    So yes. If Texas doesn’t turn blue by 2020, it will by 2024 as long as the Mexicans-Americans are voting for the Democrats. Given what is happening in the White House right now, I doubt that will change. Also, if Trump does attempt to build the wall against the wishes of all 32 Republican Texas Congressmen, who all think it’s stupid, the state could swing democratic even faster.

    Oh- and Trump taxing remittances headed back to Mexico? That will ensure that Mexican-American voters are lost to the Republicans forever.

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  72. “Chicago has fallen in stature. Bigly. Because of Obama idiots and satanic Madigan types. It’s going to be interesting if Chicago can be great again,”

    Yawn.

    Everyone said the big cities were doomed in 1975. And again in 1985. And again in 1995.

    They have never been safer.

    Hey everyone- remember when you used to go to old Chicago Stadium and the prostitutes would harass you on the way in the door? Good times.

    Chicago has more cranes and construction right now than any other city in America (beating out even Seattle, which is building a ton.) It is selling out sports stadiums. It is getting top art exhibits. It has some of the best restaurants in the world. We just had record number of tourists, including foreign tourists. We have one of the biggest airports in the country. We keep attracting corporations. The new Riverwalk is fantastic.

    The city has problems, that much is clear. The gangs and the disparity of income are an issue. Many schools stink. Many citizens don’t get to partake of all the things that are great. But it’s always been Chicago’s strength to work through its problems.

    There’s no “flight” here HH- except in your own racist mind.

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  73. “The feminist march. It was inconsequential. It was just a rant event with no purpose but inchoate hate.”

    If it was so inconsequential, why’d you bring it up? No one on this blog even brought it up except you. And you can’t let it go.

    It was the largest mass protest in 40 years. Completely organic. And yes, unorganized. That’s what made it so powerful. These kind of events don’t happen in a vacuum. Get ready.

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  74. Sabrina, the protest was not completely organic and unorganized. I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you if you believe that. There are powerful forces behind these marches, powerful forces and the media coverage only fuels it.

    There’s going to be a march of nearly the same size on Friday, the pro-life march. Oh that’s right, you didn’t hear of it until now? neither did I until yesterday when Trump mentioned that the media doesn’t cover it. And there are powerful forces behind that march too. Not a peep about in anywhere in Google news (I’ve made sure my feed is not personalized) but so so so many mentions of the infamous women’s march last week.

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  75. Not for long Sabrina, when the federal funding dries up due to Rahm’s ignorance and reluctiance to follow the federal law regarding sanctuary cities (why the fuck does he care anyway, illegals “can’t vote”) Chicago will once again kick itself in its own ass and fall behind like it always does.

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  76. The sanctuary cities will fold within weeks of not receiving federal funds. There will be a few stubborn holdouts but they will all fold. There will likely be informal ‘resistance’ the policy even if on it’s face they accept it. But that won’t matter, because sanctuary cities will receive even less infrastructure project money. I see the red line improvements are on Trump’s list…the may come off the list if Chicago continues to be a sanctuary city to illegals.

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  77. “why the fuck does he care anyway, illegals “can’t vote””

    Oh, they can’t vote, but they do, they most certainly do. There’s no enforced penalty for voting as a non-citizen, and do you think the clerk at the counter registering you to vote actually cares and reviews the documents? President Obama practically encouraged illegals to vote. I don’t care about the politicized Snopes with it’s ‘fact checking’; I know what i hear, and Obama said

    “: Not true. And the reason is, first of all, when you vote, you are a citizen yourself. And there is not a situation where the voting rolls somehow are transferred over and people start investigating, et cetera. The sanctity of the vote is strictly confidential in terms of who you voted for. If you have a family member who maybe is undocumented, then you have an even greater reason to vote.”

    This was in response to a question where the interviewer said, and I quote “Many of the millennials, Dreamers, undocumented citizens — and I call them citizens because they contribute to this country — are fearful of voting.”

    He calls illegals ‘citizens’. He changed the meaning of the word citizen and then said that these ‘citizens’ are fearful of voting.

    And then Obama responded to the new definition of ‘citizen’ and said it’s OK to vote because they won’t investigate voting rolls.

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  78. So somebody explain to me how the process works where the feds give Chicago $1 B for CTA. Does anyone look at ROI on this or is it 100% political? Why not raise fares to pay for this? Have the people who benefit from it pay for it. If they are not willing to pay for it then clearly the value to them is worth less than the cost (negative ROI) and it shouldn’t be funded by anyone.

    And to save us all some time:

    1) I do not want to hear about all the subsidies the government gives out. There should be none in my opinion. It’s bad policy to increase subsidies on the basis that you already have some so you might as well have more.
    2) I do not want to hear about money given to roads and bridges because that should also be paid for by the people who benefit in the form of higher gasoline taxes.

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  79. “There’s going to be a march of nearly the same size on Friday”

    There’s going to be a marches in over 600 cities around the world?

    Are you seriously comparing a single location march (one that’s in its 44th year) to something that happened globally?

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  80. HD epitimized a core problem w DT supporters: “…I know what i hear..” which I translate to mean “I believe what I hear from sources I like whether those sources disregard fact while supporting our positions”.

    Imo facts matter. It’s well established poor people are least likely to vote “..in 2014 election, 80 percent of poor people did not vote.” DT’s unsupported allegation 3-5 million illegals voted has been thoroughly investigated including by R’s responsible for insuring legitimacy of voting process & there’s zero evidence to support DT’s allegation.

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  81. Jesus Gary go back to school. Not everything is about monetary return, some things are for the public good and can’t be quantified simply or solely in fiscal terms. Deciding which projects to fund in an equitable manner to benefit all manner of citizenry, with ROI but a part of the equation, is an essential role of government.

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  82. “You really need to get over the delusion that Soros has anything to do with anything.”

    Oh sure, there’s a woman-owned printing company that donated all its time & money for all the pre-printed protest signs? Who do you think pays for all the anti-Trump signage?

    I believe Trump has plenty of income. Far more than the Clintons. It’s my speculation that Trump doesn’t want to release his taxes because he does take huge deductions. That’s just a guess. Who doesn’t try and maximize their deductions? Why should Trump be any different than any other billionaire, corporation or local GZ resident who BS’s his Salvation Army donation deduction?

    The women’s march was organized and many anti-Trump orgs participated in it, even though they had no central message about “women”. The marxists who ran the show EXCLUDED women who are Pro-Life. Talk about hypocrisy. Trump had a great line in the David Muir ABC interview: That the Lugenpresse of which homosexual pervert Muir is part will not give any coverage to the Pro-Life march in the WashDC mall which is expected to have hundreds of thousands of people just like the recent Soros bitch-bash with the pink hats.

    I did see some feminists with “don’t grab p*ssies’ signs, etc. This is a joke. Most of these types of women aren’t attractive, are past their sexual peak (“hit the wall”), will remain childless, were never able to attract men ever. So they are now bitter and lash out. Well adjusted women don’t attend these things. The Pro-Life marchers are far more healthy looking and attractive in general.

    I don’t know about anybody else here, but I recall plenty of times in college and post-collegiate life where I would end up making out with some chick at a bar etc., take them home for one-nighters. It happens all the time. So, when Trump is saying they LET billionaires and celebritys “grab them by the…” he’s just saying in locker room talk that celebrities, wealthy alpha men, and athletes, etc. get laid alot and it’s easy. The feminists who twist this basic stuff and turn it into a hate-filled rampaging march are dishonest people at their core. Bill Clinton was the rapist, women love Trump incl. his ex-wives who still support him.

    RE: SANCTUARY CITY

    Look at little prick Rahm, He is willing to screw over his own citizens and deprive us of Federal Funds that Chicago desperately needs, to instead side with non-citizens of the USA who have broken the law. I guess we’ll just pay even MORE taxes now as a result. Thanks Rahm.

    Rahm Emanuel has jewish privilege that we do not have. After he left the Clintons, Wasserstein Perrella paid Rahm a $17 million investment banking fee for some deal with Exelon. He didn’t earn that. Is was Bruce Wasserstein making Rahm a “made man” in the kosher nostra privilege network. See? So Rahm could stick it to us, while not having to work or worry for his own family. Rahm, furthermore, is a dual-citizen and his Israel would never fund sanctuary cities there, so Rahm is just a total hypocrite. It’s not about morals, otherwise we wouldn’t be supportive of an apartheid state!

    “Deciding which projects to fund in an equitable manner to benefit all manner of citizenry, with ROI but a part of the equation, is an essential role of government.”

    Agreed! That’s why Trump is correct that the Iraq War was a total waste of trillions and Rumsfeld said oil would reimburse the US taxpayer but GWB and Obama just blew that off! Oh, sure, just don’t follow up on trillions of revenue. That’s why people voted Trump in. Basic common sense stuff. Duh.

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  83. PS Trump’s comments about Chicago were epic. He said that he’s not going to stand for a great American city having over 4,000 people being shot in a year. “Not while I’m President”

    Here is case where his ego is helping. Why isn’t Obama embarrassed by his failure? Rahm too? Rahm has been here since 2011. Obama had eight years to do something and didn’t do ANYTHING!!!

    Obama isn’t even coming here to help now, he’s going to live around rich people near Comet pizza in Chevy Chase, MD.

    So, it takes a Trump to deal with it? to solve it? to show leadership? Another reason why Trump is POTUS. A true leader.

    PRESIDENT TRUMP: I want them to fix the problem. You can’t have thousands of people being shot in a city, in a country that I happen to be president of. Maybe it’s okay if somebody else is president. I want them to fix the problem. They have a problem that’s very easily fixable.

    They’re gonna have to get tougher and stronger and smarter. But they gotta fix the problem. I don’t want to have thousands of people shot in a city where essentially I’m the president. I love Chicago. I know Chicago. And Chicago is a great city, can be a great city.

    DAVID MUIR: And if they’re unable to fix it?

    (OVERTALK)

    PRESIDENT TRUMP: It can’t be a great city. Excuse me. It can’t be a great city if people are shot walking down the street for a loaf of bread. Can’t be a great city.

    DAVID MUIR: And if they are unable to fix it, that’s when you would send in the feds?

    (OVERTALK)

    PRESIDENT TRUMP: But so far they have been unable. It’s been going on for years. And I wasn’t president. So, look, when President Obama was there two weeks ago making a speech, very nice speech. Two people were shot and killed during his speech. You can’t have that.

    DAVID MUIR: Let me ask …

    PRESIDENT TRUMP: They weren’t shot at the speech. But they were shot in the city of Chicago during his speech. What — what’s going on? So, all I’m saying is to the mayor who came up to my office recently — I say, “You have to smarten up and you have to toughen up because you can’t let that happen. That’s a war zone.”

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  84. Illegal aliens also provide a boost to the local economy. Rahm likes his dolla dolla bills so he’s not about to stop anyone from coming here who wants to spend their monies.

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  85. “Jesus Gary go back to school. Not everything is about monetary return, some things are for the public good and can’t be quantified simply or solely in fiscal terms. Deciding which projects to fund in an equitable manner to benefit all manner of citizenry, with ROI but a part of the equation, is an essential role of government.”

    So save me the effort of going back to school and explain how government makes those decisions. How does some bureaucrat decide between CTA udpates and a peanut museum in Georgia that also “benefits the public good”? At the margin this money gets borrowed and interest gets paid on it. If you’re not looking at the ROI you would eventually end up with a ton of debt that’s not getting repaid. Oh…wait a second….that’s exactly what’s happening to us.

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  86. “Obama had eight years to do something and didn’t do ANYTHING!!!”

    Like I said. You don’t live in Chicago HH or you wouldn’t post something as stupid as this.

    But since you did- can’t wait for Trump to snap his fingers and “solve” it. Just like he’s going to get Mexico to pay for the wall. Lol. He just got his butt kicked by the Mexican President. Jeez. Does he know how to negotiate anything? Evidently not.

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  87. “Oh sure, there’s a woman-owned printing company that donated all its time & money for all the pre-printed protest signs? Who do you think pays for all the anti-Trump signage?”

    Um… yes. But not women owned. They spent $16,000 printing them. Thanks to them.

    Can’t believe the rest of the women made their own signs? Then you weren’t there or didn’t see the pictures.

    Soros had NOTHING to do with that march. And it’s TERRIFYING to you. Yes! The women organized and paid for it themselves! The Chicago-based group raised over $25,000 on a gofundme page to pay for the chairs, tv screens etc. If they need more, they’ll raise it.

    It was ALL just newbie organizers (even more terrifying- I know.)

    Get over yourself, HH. Those women were wearing $150 sneakers and had $500 cellphones. You think we can’t pay for a march?

    Pulease.

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  88. “Look at little prick Rahm, He is willing to screw over his own citizens and deprive us of Federal Funds that Chicago desperately needs, to instead side with non-citizens of the USA who have broken the law. I guess we’ll just pay even MORE taxes now as a result. Thanks Rahm.”

    You don’t even live here HH. What a joke. Quit complaining.

    This is America. The land of the free. If you don’t like your government, move to another city. Oh, but wait, there are 200 sanctuary cities. And Chicago has been one since 1985.

    Trump doesn’t have the guts to cut the funding. You think he’s going to screw over cities like his beloved NYC which he lost by 30%? No.

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  89. “Agreed! That’s why Trump is correct that the Iraq War was a total waste of trillions and Rumsfeld said oil would reimburse the US taxpayer but GWB and Obama just blew that off!”

    Trump was FOR the Iraq War. It’s quite easy to confirm this. Yawn.

    And “taking the oil” is war crime. NO ONE in GWB’s administration ever said we’d take the oil. You WANT Iraq to have the oil so that it can survive and pay for its own troops etc.

    Some of us who are older remember the arguments of getting the Saudis to “pay” us to save their butts from Saddam in Gulf War 1.

    His statements right now about the oil could get our troops killed. There are 5,000 in Iraq right now. What an idiot. But he doesn’t care. He’s never sacrificed anything in his life. No one in his family has ever served in the military. He has NO CLUE.

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  90. “So somebody explain to me how the process works where the feds give Chicago $1 B for CTA?”

    How do you think we got the new red line Grand stop? Or the one on Division? Most of it was Federal money.

    The DoT has a lot of cash. Chicago has gotten $8 billion since 2011 for the stations, rail line fixes, buses.

    It helps to have the President from your city!

    From DNAInfo:

    The federal Department of Transportation will contribute $957 million through a grant via the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant program and $116 million through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program, federal officials said.

    The funds will be provided annually over nine years and are subject to annual congressional approval, officials said.

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  91. By the way, Gary, Chicago isn’t the only city getting billions of dollars for public transportation.

    The Obama Administration also gave Los Angeles $1.6 billion this month for its purple line subway extension.

    Here’s where the money came from:

    The $1.187-billion federal grant for section two is from the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program, which helps local transit agencies build big capital projects.

    •The $307-million loan is from the U.S. DOT’s TIFIA program that provides low-interest loans to help build infrastructure projects.

    •The subway project is also receiving $169 million through the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program.

    •Funding for the second phase includes $747 million from the Measure R half-cent sales tax approved by L.A. County voters in 2008. Section two is expected to cost about $2.4 billion to build. Bottom line: without the Measure R funds, Metro would almost certainly not have received the federal funding.

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  92. “The sanctuary cities will fold within weeks of not receiving federal funds.”

    For Chicago, HD, it’s $29 million.

    Cry me a river. 1% of the budget.

    And they’ll all sue to block them from taking it anyway. So it will be wrapped up in the courts for years.

    It’s NOT going to happen. As I said before- Chicago has been a sanctuary city since 1985.

    Red line improvements, as well as the Belmont flyover, are already paid for thanks to Obama.

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  93. “Sabrina, the protest was not completely organic and unorganized. I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you if you believe that. There are powerful forces behind these marches, powerful forces and the media coverage only fuels it.”

    You are SO wrong HD. But this will be your failure. Biggest protest in 40 years. They don’t happen often. PAY ATTENTION. It had NOTHING to do with the media. It was women talking to their friends saying, “are you going to that march thing on Saturday? I’m tired of being ignored. I think I’m going to go.” And her friend responding, “me too.” And suddenly, there they were at the El station or the Metra station or the bus going down to Grant Park.

    If you think it was anything else, again, you are really blind.

    But men like to be blind when women are breaking out.

    If you think that rally was “organized” (in any of the cities) then you didn’t watch the news very closely. Because it clearly was very chaotic (in a good way.) Not enough space. Too many people showing up. Bad sound systems. No clear message. Nowhere to go once they had to cancel the march.

    Lol.

    If it’s organized, it’s not as scary.

    Sorry to be scary.

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  94. I know where the money comes from. I know the federal government is like a big blender, taking in money from multiple sources, mixing it up and then pouring it into everyone’s glasses. My point was that if you don’t look at ROI how in the heck do you decide between all these very worthy causes?

    I’ll give you the answer. In the absence of an ROI analysis it ends up being a messy political process and the money does not go where it is needed most or where it provides the most value.

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  95. ” if you don’t look at ROI how in the heck do you decide between all these very worthy causes?”

    That’s how we end up spending so much $$ on medical care for old people, and a military budget approximately the same as the rest of the world.

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