Progress Illinois

Just three days after Dick Durbin relaunched his effort to let judges alter the terms of distressed mortgages in bankruptcy cases, a coalition of activists rallied outside the senior Illinois senator’s Chicago office to commend his efforts and push him to offer more expansive assistance.

Organized by Chicago Jobs With Justice (JWJ), a group of around 50 gathered to hear testimony from Antoinette Chambers, a West Side resident facing eviction from her apartment because her landlord is being foreclosed upon. The coalition also delivered a letter to a Durbin staffer (right) calling on Congress to support his bankruptcy bill, impose a freeze on all mortgage foreclosures, and pass a job-creating stimulus package as outlined by the Institute for Policy Studies.

“This is a letter,” said James Thindwa, JWJ’s executive director, “that we’re sending to Senator Durbin to thank him, to acknowledge his good efforts, and to ask him to do more and push other members of the U.S. Senate and the Congress at large to really understand what an emergency this is.”

While a federal stimulus package was put on hold during the lame-duck session this month, Barack Obama has expressed support for a plan that would provide billions to state governments struggling with budget shortfalls. It’s likely that portions of the bill would also go towards green infrastructure investments. Carl Rosen, a representative from the United Electrical Workers, says progressives must push Obama and other legislators to ensure they deliver what the coalition is calling “a bailout for Main Street.”

“There’s a feeling that leaders in Washington have their priorities backward,” he says. “That they are taking care of the rich and wealthy and not taking care of average Americans, who needs jobs that pay a living wage and health insurance.”