Things aren’t going well for Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago. Despite being known as one of America’s great cities, once a bastion of wealth and culture in the windswept, sparsely populated Midwest, Chicago is now known as one of those cities that you just shouldn’t visit.
Though a few cities such as New Orleans and St. Louis might edge it out in terms of homicide rates, Chiraq is known for being particularly bloody and crime-ridden, as a place where cops, many of whom are corrupt, either can’t or won’t keep the peace.
And the sad truth for Chicago is that being compared to Baghdad makes it something other than an enticing place to do business. So a massive hedge fund left. And the Bears. And now the CEO of McDonald’s is warning that more businesses are preparing to pull up stakes and leave rather than deal with constant crime and living in a state of fear thanks to rampant criminality. In fact, things have gotten so bad that now he’s having to dispell worries that he is considering moving the McDonald’s HQ.
CBS News, reporting on what that CEO, Chris Kempczinski, said at a meeting of the Economic Club of Chicago, quoted him as saying:
“The truth is, it’s more difficult today for me to convince a promising McDonald’s executive to relocate to Chicago from one of our other offices than it was just a few years ago. t’s more difficult for me to recruit a new employee to McDonald’s, to join us in Chicago, than it was in the past.”
Continuing, Kempczinski then went on to say that the city is in crisis. In his words:
“Everywhere I go, I’m confronted by the same question. ‘What’s going on in Chicago?’ There is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis.”
Indeed there is a crime crisis. As ZeroHedge noted, “The Illinois city has seen over 494 homicides so far in 2022, which is at least 100 more deaths that it saw in the first 8 months of 2019. Burglary is up at least 36% and theft overall is up 70% from a year ago.”
Ending his speech, however, he pledged to remain committed to the city and state, saying: “While others are leaving Chicago and Illinois, McDonald’s is doubling down. I can tell you, we’re going to be here. ”
But, while he’s committed to the city, others aren’t. CBS News, adding context to the speech and noting some of the massive firms that have left Chiraq for greener, less bloody pastures, reported that:
Three large companies this year announced they were leaving the Chicago metropolitan area.
Ken Griffin-led hedge fund Citadel said it would relocate to Miami, citing rising crime in Chicago, while aerospace firm Boeing in May said it would move to Arlington, Virginia.
Manufacturing giant Caterpillar announced it would leave Chicago for Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
Notably, all three are headed to red states, places where state leadership at least tries to tamp down on crime, unlike in Illinois. And even if those cities aren’t bastions of the right-wing, they’re far from being controlled by leftists of the Lori Lightfoot mold.
By: Gen Z Conservative
This story syndicated with permission from Will, Author at Trending Politics
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