Budget Woes Solved!

Thank goodness for aldercreature Mary Ann Smith (48th):

• An elephant never forgets. Apparently, neither does an alderman.

  Emboldened by a new complaint filed against Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) has re-introduced her elephant cruelty ordinance for the third time since the 2005 death of three elephants at Lincoln Park Zoo.

  Last year, an admittedly “heartbroken” Smith accepted a watered-down substitute for her proposal only to have it derailed by aldermen scared off by the ridicule that followed Chicago’s now-repealed ban on foie gras.

Let the ridicule begin again:

• The new version, introduced at Wednesday’s City Council meeting, is virtually identical to the bill derailed last year. It makes it unlawful “to use on an elephant any device or instrument with the intent to cause pain and injury, except as necessary to administer legitimate medical treatment to the elephant.” Chains and “similar restraining” devices are also prohibited, except for use for medical purposes.

  Violators would face daily fines as high as $5,000 and up to six months in prison.

Evidently, Smith's plan is to fine Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus the full $5,000 approximately 100,000 times to close Daley's half-a-billion dollar deficit. It's brilliant! It's the type of thinking we've come to expect from the $100,000- year-part-timers sitting on the City Council.

Not only are city politicians incapable of saving convention business at McCormick Place and unable to get their heads out of their asses concerning "big box" stores, they seem determined to drive the circus into making a permanent home in Rosemont.