According to an excellent report from the Council of Foreign Relations from July of 2024, the 2016 Summer Games cost Rio de Janiero a staggering $24 BILLION!

According to an excellent report from the Council of Foreign Relations from July of 2024, the 2016 Summer Games cost Rio de Janiero a staggering $24 BILLION!

Thanks to education journalist Jim Vail for this extensive and generous interview! Sibscribe to Jim’s reporting via Substack – “Second City Teachers“!
Join me on Wednesday, November 6 at 7:30pm at Temple Sholom Chicago where I will be talking about the book in the context of fighting mega-projects that seek massive public subsidies of land and dollars. Right now, in Chicago, three billionaire sports team owning families want to build three new stadiums and are pushing hard for up to $6 billion in public dollars to help them build these private projects! Hell, no! There is no charge, and the event will be in person plus streamed. Registration is required.
Get the book with $5 BILLION in sustainable and progress (fair) revenue solutions for Chicago! With new material upding all solutions for 2024! Get the book online via Issuu or in a printed version (2016 version) from Ingram On-Demand Publishing.
Wow! I just received the hardback version of my book on the No Games Chicago campaign! What a thrill to hold it and flip through the pages. Order your copy now at www.tinyurl.com/Get-NGC-book and use promo code “AFLY03” to get 20% off PLUS free shipping. What a civic deal! After all, No Games saved every taxpaying adult in the city at least $1,000!
I am thrilled to announced that my book on the No Games Chicago campaign from 2009 is now on sale from Routledge Press! Use this link (feel free to share widely)-> www.tinyurl.com/Get-NGC-book. It’s a dramatic story with international intrigue, a few Davids going after many Goliaths, daring tactics, civic thuggery, attempted bribes, and a real-life spy! Although the organizing took place in 2009, the lessons learned and unlearned are striking for Chicago and the rest of the country. For one thing, three white billionaire families who each own a sports team are all angling for BILLIONS of public dollars to build new stadiums! Sound familiar? And, across the USA, another eight cities are proposing massive public subsidies for stadiums – over $10 billion for those places. The price tag for Chicago’s greedy team owners has been estimated to be at least $3 billion and perhaps DOUBLE that! Buy the book. Sign the petition demanding NO PUBLIC SUBSIDIES for stadiums.
Read my op-ed from Crain’s Chicago Business from July 29, 2024, “Let the billionaire owners pay for their teams’ stadiums themselves.”
Get a hard copy or an e-book version of “Chicago Is Not Broke. Funding the City We Deserve” via Ingram Publishing. $15 plus tax/shipping (for hard copy). It’s a real civic bargain! This slim volume contains short articles by noted Chicago civic experts describing $5 BILLION in progressive and sustainable revenue solutions for Chicago! Click the link or scan the QR code and get busy. Get a copy for someone you love!
Chicago’s billionaire families that own teams and stadiums are lining up to demand at least TWO BILLION public dollars to build or upgrade new/existing stadiums! The Mckaskey and Reinsdorfs hae combined wealth of OVER $2 billion. Let them build their own damn stadiums! Sign the petition here.