CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Mayor Daley said Saturday that he believes he made a good case during his Thursday visit to Capitol Hill for federal funding to support the city's 2016 Olympic bid, a national minimum wage and an Internal Revenue Service agent assigned specifically to do battle with the Chicago area's drug trade.
WBBM's Bob Roberts reports.
"When we talk about the Olympics, we're really talking about an opportunity to showcase our city," Daley said. "the opportunity is both economic opportunity, with jobs and contracts, basically rebuilding communities and bringing millions of people to the city and identifying the city as a global city."
Federal support is important because Chicago would expect the federal government, as Atlanta and Salt Lake City did in recent years, to foot much of the bill for security and transportation improvements.
Daley said Chicago is well-positioned when it comes to security, but continued to make his case for a fully-funded and quickly-built CTA Circle Line.
"You have to go west of here to move people north and south," Daley said while speaking at a community celebration at 79th and May Streets, in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood. "They can't all be put on the Dan Ryan and brought downtown."
Daley has said that would be especially true of the great crowds that would move from venue to venue during an Olympic Games.
The mayor is adamant that Chicago taxpayers not pay the cost of an Olympic Games.
The Internal Revenue agent is something Daley's wanted for years.
"They (IRS officials) tell me that they're very, very busy," Daley said. "the thing I don't understand is that we're busy arresting the young dealers, but we're not busy following the trail of money."
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) indicated Thursday that he would try to help Daley obtain the agent.
Even half an agent -- for half a day," Daley said.
Daley said at the very least, it would recoup for public projects some of the money spent on illegal drugs, and perhaps persuade some youngsters not to enter the drug trade.
Daley defended his proposal for a national minimum wage that could not be increased locally, saying attempts to go above the minimum hamstring those localities that do so.
"That has to be increased (nationally) because if we increase ours and no one increases theirs in the suburban area, we're up here and you're down there."
Daley has said that the difference can create an exodus of jobs from Chicago.
The mayor disagrees on the issue with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has already implemented a statewide minimum wage of $6.50 an hour for workers over 18 and $6 for those under 18. The federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour.
Daley said he believes he won wide acceptance of the idea among Democrats Thursday, when he spoke with House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), and said he believes some Republicans are beginning to accept the idea.
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