By Ray Cardello for February 19, 2026, Season 34 / Post 19

The walls are crashing down, or maybe more accurately, the Piper wants to get paid, and two of the Socialist poster children, who hoodwinked their constituents, are caught in the spotlight, and neither is looking very good. Brandon Johnson and Zohran Mamdani were supposed to be the answer to the problems created by their predecessors, Lori Lightfoot and Eric Adams. But the people of Chicago and New York City are experiencing a severe case of voters’ remorse, and realizing that the old model they had wasn’t working, but the new model is a pure lemon. These folks thought that TDS was a problem, but they are now realizing the reality of Trump doing all he can to put money back into their pockets as quickly as these Socialist charlatans are sucking it out.

Both Johnson and Mamdani believed they could promise the world to the voters, and when elected, they would put on their Robin Hood costumes, hold up the ultra-rich, and have all the money they needed for their “everything is free” agendas. These economic geniuses even thought there would be enough cash on hand to support the millions of new voters, oh, I’m sorry, illegal aliens that they welcomed into their neighborhoods. Well, Milton Friedman, these two mayors are not, and I would venture that these two never balanced a checkbook, let alone a multi-billion dollar budget. To be blunt, these guys are toast, and there is nobody riding in on a white horse to rescue them. It is also interesting to see that Johnson owes thousands to the city of Chicago in back taxes and fees. When asked about it recently by a reporter, Johnson said he was on a payment plan with the city. I think the city could do a direct payroll deduction!

The residents of both cities are irate, but they did get what they asked for and are either going to have to ride out the terms or try to institute a recall election. The good people of New York may be getting the worst of a bad situation. Mamdani has given Governor Hochul what amounts to an ultimatum. She can approve a tax hike on the richest residents and businesses, which she has already said she will not do, or Mamdani will be forced to implement a nearly 10% property tax increase for all properties in New York City. Needless to say, this idea has the people in NYC up in arms. Not even two months in office, and Mamdani has gone from the chosen one to the most hated. Johnson already had hit the lowest approval rating in Chicago, but he is not going to close this fiscal gap by taxing shopping bags and booze.

Neither of these politicians shows an ability to perform their jobs, and that is not going to play well with the Democrats, especially those who will remember the long line of supporters of Mamdani in the election. You probably won’t find Bernie, Cortez, Nadler, Warren, or others anywhere near the now toxic mayor, but you can rest assured that the Republicans are having a field day prepping signs and commercials to use this year linking all of them.

Johnson is Pritzker’s problem to solve if he thinks he stands a chance in 2028. JB may be shedding pounds in prep for the campaign trail, but he cannot shed Johnson.