Is Stroger getting a raw deal from the media?

He is doing some good - got the county budget balanced. Why do we never see those things???

H#ll Absolutely Yes he's getting a raw deal from the Media....

Balanced and impartial reporting is long gone!

I really hope the suburban folks of Cook County remember what this guy has done come election time. I know this tax-payer is tired of funding the City of Chicago on the backs of those in the suburbs. I wish we in the suburbs could break away from Crook County and form a collar county away from the special interests in Chicago.

of course, Pres. Stroger is getting a raw deal..Did you notice how quick the media buried his comments on the nine tax increases of the Chicago mayor in two years. How could we have so much media coverage on the county's 1% sales increase and fleeting commentary on Daley's NINE tax increases. Final point, the Sun-Times is on record in support of a tax increase for Illinois government.

I guess in the Chicago media's eyes, there are some tax increases they like better than others.

Poor, poor Todd. Anyone can balance a budget when you tax your constituents to do it. No, he's not getting a raw deal. He's simply inept.

Tracy- Stroger balanced the budget by jacking up taxes and doing bond offerings that should be reserved to capital projects (not to pay day to day operating expenses-- we WILL pay for this down the road). He promised to cut heads; heads have increased. He hired his cousin out of patronage to be CFO who believed she was qualified because she had an MBA from Kellogg (wow, I have an MBA too!); she failed. He has hired felons without doing background checks. He doesn't pay his taxes and yet expects us to pay ours.

Folks, he and many of his board members are charlatans- make no mistake. Most of these guys would not be qualified or have the requisite accomplishments required to get a job in middle management of an average company, let alone be talented enough and demonstrate the ethics required to run one of the largest counties in this country. It is egregious.

He may be not getting every good thing he's done covered, but he's done so many stupid things, and acted SO smug with the public that he pretty much deserves every negative piece of press he's gotten.

A 1% bump in sales tax when we already have one of the highest in the nation even before the raise, I mean come on! It's absurd. Instead of the tax, how about dealing with the obscene pensions public workers get?

I don't blame those in the suburbs wanting to break out of Cook County but the County IS separate from the city. If the County Hospital were in your neck of the woods, that is where the people that use it would live, but since it is in Chicago, they live here. I detest living in the city but am stuck due to the lousy economy, but please remember that the suburban criminals aren't in suburban jails, we are stuck with them in Chicago at 26th and Cal. The County and the City ARE separate taxing bodies so suburban convicts are living here.

Is not a fair balance to have Stroger explain his $12,000 debt and theres no front page story detailing how The Sun Times is handling their $300 million dollar IRS debt.

The just one day after Mayor Daley tells Stroger not to raise County taxes to address the County budget deficit, The Mayor then announces that HE wants to raise City taxes to handle the City budget deficit with no media frenzy!!

Todd Stroger should not have been in office in the first place. If you remember when his father John Stroger had taken ill, Todd was hand picked to take his place. Since their was a primary between John Stroger and Claypool, I think Claypool should have been the one running against Tony Pirikah (sorry for the misspelling)since Claypool came in second. Todd was not qualified to do the job of a county president and he is still not qualified. What a hypocracy at its finest.

State, County, and City government need a complete over haul.

No, I don't think Stroger is getting a raw deal, I feel it is par for the course. I don't think Todd Stroger has the best interests of the county tax payer in mind. I believe he is more interested in maintaining and growing his patronage army that keeps him in power. I mean just look at his hiring of the thug bus boy. What qualified this thug bus boy for a $60,000 job with the county? Besides that Stroger and his cuz were smitten with him that is. And how many others like that bus boy thug are picking up fat salaries thanks to Stoger for do nothing jobs they aren't qualified for? But then again that is how life has worked for Todd Stroger....he was handed a job with a big salary he wasn't qualified for and didn't earn.

tracy must nuts. tod stroger has not balanced the budget. he has continued to raise taxes to pay for his patronage hirees. he has done nothing for the people of cook county but assure them that he will continue to have no apathy, continue to be secretive and continue to spend money on crap that only benefits county employees.

It's not that Stroger is getting a raw deal so much as that the media gives Daley a pass.

Todd for President! It is time to tax and spend as much as we have to today to pay for things today. Who cares about deficits? Who cares if the County can't pay the rich people who buy its bonds? Who cartes about the debts the kids will inherit? They are too spoiled anyway. Let's take all the deeds to all the County property to the PayDay Loan Store and get as much as we can and spend it now. Live a little. The people need health for all the poor babies and immingrants that are here now. Todd's critics are racists. Todd should not have to pay his federal income tax either. He is a child of a ruling class that has the votes to always win because his constituency will always vote Democratic. So you had better support him because the Daley Machine needs the Stroger machine and they are going to win anyway because the rest of the County voters are lazy and hardly vote anyway.

Yep, if he were a white man everyone would be happy to pay more money for services they never use. In fact, if Stroger were white, all the white people would write checks directly to him. Don't you know, all white people are racist!

Is Stroger getting a raw deal from the media? Heck no, and keep the presses rolling on this guy. Facts are facts, and when you're a politician, you are naturally expected to have the media keeping tabs on you.

Without the reporting, and the frequency of it, things soon fade to the past, and disappear. People won't remember when it comes to election time.

I hope the northern part of Crook County succeeds in their efforts of breaking away from Crook County. Without their tax money, Stroger would have to get real and quit his patronage hiring. I'm absolutely in favor of exposing Stroger for what he is. An incompetent hack that only got the position by real strategy planning by real-time cronies. Keep him in the limelight - do your Crook County in the limelight.

I have one question though: how is it one of his employees got hired because she "knew" someone "who knows someone in Stroger's circle) and lives in Indiana? Are there residency rules for those who serve the county or state of Illinois? Just wondering.

i wonder why there are schools in need of funding that are ignored. i wonder why the never ending rise in taxes does not wake up our voters. i wonder why our childern continue to die, when a solution as simple as after school programs can minimize the death and crime.

why do chicago citizens continue to vote for incomptent idiots. i would solve the graduation rate, the crime rate and reduce the taxes for everyone in the city of chicago and the surrouinding suburbs.

i ran for alderman in 2003, bu t guess i was too imprtant to remain on the ballot since i was knocked off.

It isn't that the Toddler is being mistreated. It is that other politicians aren't having their feet held to the fire.

When the economy is good, government grows because the money is there. When the economy is bad, government grows because "people need our help." Do you see a pattern?

Part of the reason people are hurting is because of the burden of taxes, at all levels, including hidden ones. Death by a thousand cuts (or shall I say increases) of taxes, and then the government is going to help us. The only reason many people need help is because of the burden the government has put upon them.

Stroger is not being covered critically enough. The county is in a lot of trouble financially and ethically. There are serious questions that need to be answered about Todd Stroger's fiduciary responsibility to the citizens of Cook County. The county government is scandal plagued and Todd Stroger is the leader of that government and Todd Stroger received the nomination to the executive seat amidst suspect circumstances.

I believe the media has unfairly characterized Todd as corrupt. He the elecled County Board President with the other duly elected commisioners. If you believe the opposing commissioners they Todd is runnning the county single-handily. If they disaprove of his policies they can vote against them. I remember when Stroger proposed budget cuts previously the so-called reformers publicly opposed the cuts. Now Stroger is the irresponsible one. By the way when did the former Park District Chief and former DALEY CHIEF OF STAFF Claypool become the fair-haired outside REFORMER. One more thing. Twenty-four city employees convicted(Duffs, Al Sanchez, Hred Truck scandal) Why isn't Daly responsible for all of the corruption at City Hall. According to the media Daley's a hands on leader. Oops! I forgot only hands-on outside of scandal.

I've lived in Chicago 58 years enough is enough between him and Richard Daley.... and the other politicians. The end is near. It's gross mismanagement and I hope thry all end up in jail.........

When will the people wake up and realize that this media continues to pit the races against each other to distract us all from the corruption that has been running this state for years! Stop buying into this nonsense. Todd Stroger is incompetent,arrogant, and another politician who appoints leadership by using the friends and family plan, as most in the Chicago political arena have done for years. Mayor Daley is arrogant, incompetent, and also believes in the friends and family plan. There are very few competent leaders in this state, mostly corrupt politicians! When the people demand more from ALL politicians, for ALL people, perhaps things will change. If you continue to vote by race, nothing will change...for anyone!

Yes, President Stroger is getting an unfair deal from the Media. Its crazy, this man raised one tax, that hasnt been touched in over 10 years and all of this. I read all the messages on this blog, one complains about the Tony Cole issue, well hey I wonder how many people out there took a chance on someone and got burned. Stroger got burned trying to help out someone, plain and simple. People cry about taxes being too high, well look I dont like paying taxes either but if its going to go to keeping criminals in jail, and to keep a health bureau functioning that has the best survival rate functioning then yes I will pay 1% more on a flat screen tv, or 1% more on a pair of 70.00 shoes. I bet most people dont even know what's exempt from the sales tax. Stroger has done both cut his budget and raised one tax!One last thing you want to say Stroger is this and that, go online I bet you can find a line by line county budget can you say the same for most of the suburbs you live in, or the city of chicago, or the state of illinois?

The idea that the city is being funded by the surburbs is insane. People who live in Chicago are paying big dividends too.

However, as for Stroger's media complaints, i do believe he's whining and has a point. The local media has NOT berated Daley for the same practices.

YES I have never seen more biased reporting and outright lying by the media and the northside comissioners. Peraica lies just about everytime he "tweets"..is this cute to anyone? What if Stroger spent time "tweeting" instead of paying attention to the facts and meetings? What would the media report.."Stroger not Paying Attention tot eh Meeting" would be the headline, The Affordable housing scandal is bigger than any scandal that Cook COunty has had. There is not federal investigations, no corruption, no one has gone to jail under Todd Strogers watch but you would think that the county is about to collapse. This is just like Harold Washington..Instead of Burke and Vrdolyk its Peraica and Claypool...They say and do anything to discredit Stroger ture or not. Run on the merit and accomplishments not rhetoric. Peraica put out how he would cut the budget, but it all falls on pushing the debt the municipalities..THEY DONT HAVE THE MONEY TONY.

Stroger is a left-over of old school machine politics that his old man and Richard M Daley's old man put together. This machine is not interested in using taxpayer dollars wisely, only about keeping machine candidates in power, and keeping control of county govt. through patronage hiring/appointees. It's a disgusting cancer, and we the people pay a lot of extra money to keep this cancer within our city and county governments. Throw the bums out!!!

For a county that is perhaps 80% incorporated and much of the rest is preserve, just how much county government is needed? As the amount of population and land it directly maintains has reduced, the county government and spending has increased. To be fair Stroger did not start this anomoly, but he is taking it to a new stratosphere. Is the media being fair to the county government? A better question might be, is the county government being fair to the people residing in that county.

No. He is getting what deserves.

Yes he is getting a raw deal. As some have stated, no one including the media seems to care that Daley is jacking up taxes and creating more taxes to fund this stupid olympics. No one seems to care that people on the south and south west sides need that fudning for things that those in the North West Suburbs take advantage of. I was born in the North West burbs and currently stay out south and trust me people out in the North West burbs aren't hurting over this tax increase. It's caleed shared prosperity. Same thing president 44 is talking about. Most people in the North west burbs don't frequent the south side nor the south burbs. The schools, roads, stores and communities are ten times better. Plus there is a big income differene in terms of the people that make a honest living. Not saying that we should just always pay for others that have been less fortunate, but just like you donate money or clothes to the church or whatever Donors you subscribe too, that's what this tax is. Im pretty sure those up north don't really want to see many folks from the south side end up going to their hospitals or standing on their corners begging for cash. Did anyone see that Quinn also is raising taxes as well? In my honest opinion this has to do with Race. If Todd was white, the media would back off. They don't go after Daley and he is bleeding this city dry for every dollar to sponsor somthing he cant afford without taxing us. What about the tiff money while city workers are losing jobs over what? I'm not letting Todd off the hook because he came in here to arrogant and just gav his own people big raises and promotions while laying off others. That was not smart at all. If it's not Tood, it Forest Claypool or any other potential Board president is going to raise taxes. The folks down in springfield talked about Blago raising taxes, and see what Quinn is doing. There is no reset button. This is life and we have to do what we need to do. The media forgot that Todd was and is willing to decrease some of the increase, but that doesn't help their ratings by reporting real news. The media is phony just like our Politicians and that Includes Daley.

why pick on Tom Daley is not doing much either and nobodies saying nothing to him

He's gotten a pass from the media. They've handled with him with kids gloves because he's African American. Media have objectively told the facts. Editorials are another matter, but actually have been pretty objective.

Yes he is getting a raw deal. If you look at the posts many are filled with LIES from the Northside commissioners then all the suburbanites believe it without any fact checking on thier own. I dont think anyone would mind if you secede so stop your crying and do it already. Stroger has cut the payroll, balanced the budget, appointed independent HR and Inspector genera;l...but all you hear is Tony Cole...1 hire out of 22,000 employees?????No indictments, corruption at the county level while people from the city are being hauled off everyday. Is that not reform???? Not only is this political but racial (oh no not the race card). White people and the media have branded Claypool as a reformer.. How does this happen when you are Daleys chief of staff not once but twice 8 YEARS, then you fire all the blacks from the park district then leave our parks in a mess. Is that what YOU PEOPLE call reform..I will stick with Stroger. Just one thing please stop believing everything you read with out checking the facts for yourself. Oh yeah,he pulled a move that whites have done for years, but when we learn the game, the rules change and he BEAT PERAICA which means more people wanted him than Peraica.

People like Todd Stroger and his ilk, unqualified, self-serving do nothings, deserve the very treatment they get from the press. I would say the presses go easy on them. What did you expect? Roses and ballons and maybe a mariachi band to celebrate every time he raises taxes to finance the hiring of his family and friends???
Sad thing about it, though, come election time, he will still get re-elected. Why? Because the machine really works....!!!
I will vote against him, for one, though I am afraid it won't be enough.

Raw deal, my *ss! Just like Mayor Daley, Stoger is a machine hack who takes care of his friends and relatives with our taxpayer money. While I'm terribly disappointed with several of the subtle racist comments posted here, I don't think that race has anything to do with the way the media is treating Stroger. It's got to do with his sense of entitlement to succeed his father and the incredibly incompetent manner in which he has ruled (I hesitate to write "govern" because, like his father and Daley and his father, none of them actually govern).

We need a blue ribbon set of candidates in the Democratic primary to rid ourselves of the machine hacks like Stoger, Michael Madigan, John Cullerton, and all the others.

The problem is the media tends to take a position that Mr. Todd Stroger is guilty or not a worthy County Board President. I mean this is clear from the day he took office. When you have a citizenry that is polarized by race; then, the media plays into this-it sells newspapers. But I think it is wrong because I feel newspapers are suppose to be objective. I mean, the county has had financial problems way before Todd took office, way before his dad held office; yet, the media doesn't point this out. The Cook County Hospital, has been a financial drain on the county budget even when Mr. Dunne held office. It is up to the media to be upfront and truthfull and lay the ground work about how much the hospital has effected our budget. Our major newspapers could do a lot of moving this city forward if they would stop placating to "racial reporting".

Newspapers in Chicago have never said anything good about Mr. Stroger: negative, negative, negative! In fact, they have supported Forest Claypool, and have been, obstensively, apart of his campaign to win the Cook County Board presidency. And, when Mr. Claypool wins, the media will not be so negative. They will print the positive about Mr. Claypool, balance the reporting. Mr. Stoger doesn't get this balance reporting. Insidiously it is because of his Race. The paper will deny this, but this is what it is.

Stroger isn't getting a raw deal. Daley is getting a great deal! If you can't see that, something is wrong with you.

The way Stroger ascended to the position of board president set the tone.

Chicago maching politics at its worst put him in his father's seat.

Even if he's qualified, he was handed to us on a garbage lid.

Yeah, he's getting a raw deal, and only a few folks feel sorry for him.

I think the media has been easy on Todd, even easier on Daley, and non-existent on Madigan. Toddler has been a tool for the machine his entire career. I followed him as a state rep., alderman, and commissioner. He does have it harder than Daley but its by no means a raw deal! Toddler just wants a free pass like Daley. His father pulled the same race shinanigans when ever he needed protection from the media. Notice how Daley, Stoger, and Madigan avoid appearing on Chicago Tonight. Wake up folks, we are ruled by thieves and no one has figured out how to deal wit them. Their fathers and grand fathers set these scams in place before we were born. Case in point, that bum Robert Steele was anointed a commissioner. When Topdd retires he will collect pensions from the state, city , and county. Now thats a gangsta!

Yes he's getting a raw deal. But it should be even more harsh. He should be ousted for not lowering taxes.

After seeing the effects of not being able (or unwillingly not paying) his own taxes, and then not to lower taxes when 9.6% of the nation is unemployeed and the figure is going up, he should just be voted out.

I hope a Repub runs against him and wins just to show the MACHINE how P!ssed we are with all the cr@p that goes on in this county.

Lets tell the truth folks.... People in illinois are going through a rough spot. Todd makes it worse by raising taxes. He does alot of dumb things while people who can't afford food right now are expected to pay higher taxes. Let's face it... we pay the highest taxes in the nation....... People are fed up... If white people say anything they are racist... If blacks say anthing they are picking on him.. give me a break..... it doesn't matter what color you are when it comes to your pay check... when you don't have the money to pay your bills you don't want to pay more taxes..Stop playing a racist card every time he gets bad media..... Todd is going out the door in the next election... He hires crooks to work for him.. he blows alot of money on personal agendas. He hires family members to fill positions they are not qualified for. His budget is a complete joke.. look at the paper work you would freak out..This man spends more money on pet projects than anyone in the nation..... He doesn't pay his taxes but expects us too. Stop looking at race and look at the paper work...look how he is spending the money then make your decision...... you might change your point of view.....

Yes, the treatment he is receiving in the press is unfair. It's not nearly tough enough. Stroger is an idiot. His excuse for not paying his taxes was that "he was busy with other things." Keep his feet to the fire. Vote him out.