Chicago Seeks To Overturn Ban On Political Hiring

Mayor Daley wants to quietly get rid of a political hiring ban so even more of his old neighborhood can live off the taxpayers:

City officials have continued their push to overturn a decades-old, court-ordered ban on political hiring.

The city filed a motion in federal court on Friday to void the 1983 Shakman Decree, said Jennifer Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the city's Law Department. The decree, which applies to most of the city's 35,800 jobs, prohibits the city from allowing politics to enter into the hiring process.

Patronage workers with city payroll jobs were the backbone of the Chicago Machine.

The decree is named after attorney Michael Shakman, a former political candidate who has been fighting city hall over patronage abuses since the 1970s. A lawsuit filed by Shakman led to the decree.

Shakman criticized the city for filing the motion on Friday before the Christmas holiday.

That's the Chicago way.