Daley Goes Round the Bend

No grasp of reality:

• Daley agreed that, “We’re in a serious economic crisis. ...Taxpayers are feeling the pinch.”

  Today, the mayor changed his story — by pointing fingers at the union.

  “In all fairness, I did not take this off the table. They took it off the table. Let’s set the record straight so you understand that,” Daley said after launching the annual Spring Clean program at Harper High School, 6520 S. Wood.

Really? The above is the Sun Times report. They quote FOP President Donahue as saying, "That’s absolutely not true. ... I can’t believe he said that."

The Tribune's Clout Street blog goes a bit further:

• After the news conference, Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard acknowledged that in fact it was the administration that had withdrawn the 16 percent offer.

  “The spirit of what he said is absolutely true. The offer of the 16 percent increase in pay had been on the table for about a year. That’s a clear indication that [the police union] thought it was inadequate. The reaction to that was to withdraw the offer. The city’s response was to the union’s reaction," she said.

  Heard said the mayor’s comments today were meant to counter an “effort to lead the public to believe he doesn't value [police] enough to offer them a raise.”

So what do you do when your boss goes completely around the twist and out-and-out lies to the media who reported just over a week ago that the City (Daley) is the one who pulled the offer off the table, contradicting actual published reports? Jackie is spinning fit to burst because she knows Shortshanks has been caught in a provable lie, so she says "The spirit of what he said is absolutely true."

The spirit? The spirit ain't paying the bills Jackie. And the spirit isn't covering the tax raises by the city, county or state that are sucking our wallets dry.