What Budget Hole?

We trust everyone heard about the little "affordable" housing scandal that popped up? Where the connected and the clouted (who already owned one or more houses, condos or other property) manage to get mortgages, in some cases with taxpayer-funded subsidies paving the way?

• Matis was among 89 people who received one of those taxpayer-funded subsidies that ranged between $10,000 and $25,000, property records show. But there are no records of anyone repaying those subsidies when they resold their homes.

Even if every subsidy was the barest minimum of $10,000 that's almost a cool $1,000,000 the city laid out to assist the connected in increasing their assets.

Guess what Shortshanks said Sunday?

• Mayor Daley said he doesn't expect the city will ever be reimbursed by people who got government subsidies to purchase "affordable" housing, only to flip the property for a profit.

  A Chicago Sun-Times investigation revealed that 50 taxpayer-subsidized affordable homes at University Village were resold -- often within just months -- for huge profits.

No raises available for police or firemen, but we can let a bunch of his business buddies and their cronies steal $1,000,000 from the taxpayers. Oh, he'll put rules in place that will prevent this from ever happening again, you know, for normal people. But he won't seek to recoup a million dollars.

If you don't pay those $75 parking tickets right away, he'll boot your car, tow it, charge you $125 for the tow, $10 per day storage fee and then when you still can't pay the ticket, sell your car for pennies on the dollar.

But if you steal a $25,000 subsidy to make another $75,000 flipping property, you're all good.