Quotes from Richard M. Daley

And the political system is changing rapidly in this country, and we better realize that. The elephants or donkeys are not what younger people look to. They look at individual candidates' philosophy, and I think it's a different time and a different generation.

I'm the one who gets called up about a problem. I'm the one who gets called up about the street lighting and the abandoned car. I'm the one who gets blamed if the police don't arrive. I'm the one they blame if a city truck is broken down.

First National Bank laid off 1,000 people; where do they go? There are no jobs for them. So we are having serious economic problems in this country. We are in a real economic crisis.

They really do a disservice because these men and women came out of the Depression, they came out of the war.

You have nothing coming into a major metropolitan area to relocate or locate your business and employees. And you can go across the country and you'll see that.

I believe the way I describe the problems in Chicago is that it's a metropolitan area. I've said that everywhere. The uneducated child is not just my problem, it's the state's problem. It's also the federal government's problem.

It has to be because unemployment problems in northwest Indiana are similar to those in southeast Chicago.

I've very proud to be mayor of our great city. It's a city with a heart and a soul. Chicago has a unique spirit. Our business community wants to give back.

Why should a city be mandated to do something by the federal government or state government without the money to do it?

My dad came out of the Roosevelt era and the Depression. One person and one party made a difference in his life. That's what everybody forgot when they called my father and other people political bosses.

I don't fight the suburban areas or collar counties. I get along with them; they're former Chicagoans anyway.