Progress Illinois

Back in May, the Tribune cited a study by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University which predicted some troubling trends in teen summer employment. Now the Center has analyzed recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data and determined that their unsettling employment forecast has come true. From a press release put out yesterday by the Alternative Schools Network:

- Between 2000 and 2008, the national summer teen employment rate for 16-19 year olds fell from 51.4% to 37.1%, a drop of almost 30% -- a Depression-era reduction in job opportunities for American youth and the lowest youth employment rate in 60 years.

- Only one in every five Black 16-19 year olds worked during June 2008.

- Low-income teens fare worst in the labor market. During summer 2007, only 30% of 16-19 year olds from households with annual incomes below $20,000 worked and only 15% of low-income Black youth held a job, versus an employment rate of 50% for teens in households with annual incomes between $75,000 and $100,000.

Unfortunately, little has been done to ease the pain at the federal level, where the report's authors say youth joblessness could really be tackled. Bills in both chambers to set up for a summer jobs programs were left out of the 2008 fiscal stimulus package.

You can download the entire report here.

It goes without saying that many Chicagoans -- particulary from low-income brackets -- are distrustful of a city police force that repeatedly abused citizens over the past few decades with little repercussion. The most notorious example is the widespread torture of suspects under Commander Jon Burge (pictured right). In a well-reported article published on AlterNet today, Chicago-based journalist Jessica Pupovac shines a light on the two dozen men still behind bars for crimes to which they confessed only after hours of abuse by Burge-led officers:

[Michael] Tillman is one of at least 24 African-American men that the People's Law Office in Chicago claims are still serving sentences for crimes they say they confessed to only after enduring hours of torture at the hands of Chicago police officers under Commander Jon Burge between 1972 and 1992. Although 10 of Burge's victims have been pardoned or given new trials after their illegally obtained confessions were exposed, the vast majority of the 100-plus cases have yet to be reviewed by the state of Illinois. Those men have either served out their sentences, died in custody or, like Tillman, continue to live their lives behind bars, hoping that one day they will have a fair trial.

And what about the officers who elicited the false confessions? Were they brought to justice for their abuses? Not really, says Pupovac:

Nevertheless, almost 20 years later, not a single police officer has been made to face charges in the massive scandal. They were all let off the hook, first by a succession of judges and legal professionals who looked the other way, and later by a statute of limitations that expired before the Illinois state attorney considered filing charges. According to Taylor, there is no state or federal law criminalizing torture by law enforcement officers. While possible offenses for torture can include attempted murder, aggravated battery, battery, assault, assault with a dangerous weapon or hate crimes, the statute on these crimes is generally five years for federal prosecution and three years in the state of Illinois.

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It's great that the Tribune's Swamp blog is publicizing John McCain's latest lie about Iraq, in which he falsely credits America's troop surge for the "awakening" of Sunnis in Anbar province. As MSNBC's Keith Olbermann noted last night, the Anbar Awakening in fact began long before the troop increase.

But rather than directly address McCain's revision of history, the Tribune's Mark Silva decided instead to report on MSNBC's segment about McCain's lie. Indeed, Silva refers to Olbermann's statement that McCain got "the basic timeline and history of the surge entirely wrong'' as an "assertion."  And check out the headline:

Why the quotation marks? This isn't a he-said/she-said debate. McCain is wrong -- plain and simple -- and the Tribune should say so in its own words.

Below are a few links laying out why McCain's claim is flat false.

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Want the Senate Democratic Whip to send your favorite Congressional candidate some love? In a poll on his campaign website, Sen. Dick Durbin is asking readers to pick from six Illinois Democratic candidates: Jill Morgenthaler, Dan Seals, Debbie Halvorson, Scott Harper, Bill Foster, and Colleen Callahan.  Whoever nets the most votes will be featured first in a fundraising email sent to the full DickDurbin.com community. To cast your ballot, visit the poll here. 

Rep. Phil Hare is all for improving the Trade Adjustment Assistance program (TAA) by expanding benefits to service-sector workers and those displaced because of trade imbalances with countries like China and India. That's why he's excited the Senate Finance Committee may take up a TAA reform bill tomorrow. He's just not too thrilled that Republican leaders are insisting on pairing the legislation with the proposed Colombian free trade agreement that Speaker Nancy Pelosi tabled indefinitely earlier this year. Here's Hare's response:

Let me be clear. I strongly support modernizing TAA. I voted for the House bill and lobbied for many of the provisions in it. My constituents fully understand the real life consequences when bad trade deals are combined with an inadequate safety net for displaced workers.

But the completely unrelated Colombia FTA should remain dead. Trade unionists are being murdered at a rate of one per week in 2008. Yet few if any of the perpetrators are being brought to justice. America should have zero tolerance for this type of violence.

Passing the Colombia agreement—based on the job-killing NAFTA model—would actually force more Americans into TAA while sending a terrible message about our commitment to basic human rights.

Hare is right to fight the Colombian FTA. As he pointed out in April, 39 trade unionists were murdered in Colombia in 2007 and they're being killed at a rate of over one per week this year. What's more, of 2,500-plus murders in the country since 1986, only 68 cases -- around three percent -- have resulted in convictions. Some trading partner, eh?

Instead of pushing through more lobbyist-ridden legislation, Hare suggests Congress take up the TRADE act, which aims to make American trade deals more just and humane:

What Congress should be moving is the TRADE Act— legislation that mandates a review of existing trade agreements and a renegotiation of those agreements if necessary. It also sets the terms of what must be included in future trade deals—including strong, enforceable labor and environmental standards.

The American people are desperate for a new direction on trade—including a modernized TAA. The Colombia FTA simply continues the failed policies of the past. Tying the two measures together is a bad idea any way you cut it.

John McCain says Barack Obama lacks the requisite experience to make sound judgments. It's hard to buy that theory, considering McCain has been wrong on every single decision about Iraq, particularly before 2003. But recently, the Arizona Republican seems to have taken a break from judging ... anything.

Chicago Public Radio highlights his Senate absenteeism:

In the past three months, Obama's missed more than 3 out of every 4 votes in the Senate. No gold star for attendance there, but Obama's numbers blow away those of his campaign rival, John McCain. The Arizona Republican hasn't cast a single Senate vote since early April, which is about 90 straight absences.

A spokesperson for McCain could not be immediately reached for comment. Obama's office stuck to its standard statement, insisting the senator balances his campaign and Senate responsibilities.

I guess we shouldn't complain. Non-votes are better than bad votes.

Bad news for Chicagoans who value the Fourth Estate: Maurice Possley, a Tribune investigative reporter who helped bring about the state’s death penalty moratorium, is resigning from the paper before it trims roughly 60 newsroom staff positions.

From Crain's:

Mr. Possley’s decision was based on what he referred to as the “stunning . . . dismantling of our newspaper in such a short time,” according to his note.

“I always had envisioned retiring from the Tribune, but events of the past year, including (Editor) Ann Marie (Lipinski’s) resignation, convinced me that now is the time for me to seek my fortune elsewhere,” Mr. Possley wrote.

It's been said before, but the decision by Sam Zell and the Tribune front office to focus on a not-so-snazzy redesign of the paper just isn't a sound use of resources. Steve Rhodes elaborates:

Redesigning newspapers, by the way, as the Trib is now doing, will not garner many new readers no matter how snappy. It's too late for that. The cycle of habit has been broken. The purpose of the print product now ought to be as a supplement to the website. And putting consumer and entertainment news front and center is an awful idea. Strip the paper down to news and news only. You can't compete with stale entertainment news. Then develop new print products, like a sports weekly, a photo weekly, a local Onion . . . it's time for newspapers - and their websites - to disaggregate. Ironic, isn't it?

Some Illinois lawmakers just won't give up on gaming.

Although House Democrats nixed Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposal to fund a capital program through gambling expansion, it's long been a go-to option for Illinois lawmakers looking to generate revenue without increasing taxes. But while our representatives in Springfield repeatedly return to the gaming well, they've forgotten to provide for the problem gamblers who account for at least a third of the receipts. Joseph Ryan at the Daily Herald has the goods:

A Daily Herald review of the state's casino industry reveals that Illinois falls far short compared to other states in helping gambling addicts even though their tremendous losses bolster the state's bank account, allowing lawmakers to avoid unpopular tax hikes.

This has left a safety net riddled with holes for a projected 384,622 adults in Illinois who are problem or pathological gamblers. [...]

Between 1995 and 2007, the state took in a total of $13.5 billion from legalized gambling and spent $7.3 million on treatment or awareness campaigns.

How do other Midwestern states deal with the problem? Indiana, Michigan, and Iowa all set aside between three or four times as much as Illinois for treatment, research, and awareness. In Minnesota, for example, devotes $2.5 million to treatment and research, allowing a problem gambler to receive inpatient treatment free of charge. In Illinois, a similar 90-day treatment program would cost the patient nearly $30,000, which few gambling addicts can afford.

The saddest part of this whole mess is that gaming isn't even a valuable revenue generator, as Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, explains in his State Journal-Register column today.

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Daniel Biss isn't the only progressive challenger running for the Illinois statehouse that's bringing in some heavy dollars. Aurora Austriaco, the 43-year old Park Ridge Democrat attempting to become the first Asian-American member of the Illinois General Assembly, significantly outraised 65th District Rep. Rosemary Mulligan (R-Des Plaines) during the first two quarters of 2008.

According to the semi-annual reports filed with the Illinois Board of Elections, Austriaco brought in $81,754.38, almost doubling Mulligan's take of $43,962.08. That gives the Democrat a $20,000 cash-on-hand advantage over the 16-year incumbent.

Unseating an entrenched pol like Mulligan is certainly going to take some major dollars, so this is a great sign. You can bet Austriaco will be talking this up as she makes her rounds throughout the district.

(H/T Capitol Fax)

Three months after the state legislature and Gov. Rod Blagojevich enacted the National Popular Vote bill in Illinois, the Tribune's Stevenson Swanson examines the growing number of legislatures that support scrapping the Electoral College:

Buoyed by a long presidential primary season that focused attention on states that usually are overlooked in the calculus of winning a nomination, states as far-flung as Massachusetts and Hawaii have passed or are considering legislation that would guarantee that the candidate who got the most votes nationwide would win the White House.

That would have the effect, advocates say, of creating a truly national presidential election campaign.

Four states, including Illinois, have agreed to cast their electoral votes for the winner of the national popular vote, and similar bills have been introduced in 43 other states. In Massachusetts, the Senate is to debate the measure after it recently received overwhelming support in the House of Representatives.

The piece tries to present both sides of the debate, quoting opponents like the American Enterprise Institute's Walter Berns, who argues the current system helps small states keep their issues in the national spotlight:

"Why should Nevada give up its votes to California?" said Berns, pointing to the proposal to build a radioactive waste storage site at Yucca Mountain, which is widely opposed in Nevada. "That's a state interest that's not likely to survive in the case of a national popular vote. If you ask me where that stuff should go, I'm likely to say, What better place than in the desert?"

But as we pointed out at the time of the bill's passage in Illinois, this argument simply doesn't hold up.

Why? Because 12 of the 13 least populous states are non-competitive in presidential elections; so the Electoral College disadvantages them already. Also important to remember is that the current system ensures that a shrinking number of battleground states play a role at the presidential level, which diminishes the number of issues debated and depresses turnout. Simply put, it's time for the antiquated system to go.