Progress Illinois

From the 2005 World Series Trophy raised on Chicago's South Side rather than the North, to the rebirth of one of the NHL’s most storied franchises after years of failure, to the dominance of the Bulls in the 90’s, to the renowned formula of the ‘85 Bears, I've witnessed several different paths to building winning organizations.

Of these, some have been successful, some heartbreakingly familiar in their result, and some woefully misguided (Cade McNown, anyone?).

But any fan will tell you that process matters little to them – only that they can hoist a championship banner.

That being said, Vince Lombardi’s mantra -- “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” -- doesn’t apply to politics, policy, and people’s lives.  Winning a campaign is an achievement in itself, but one that matters so much more if the candidate goes on to implement policies that fix real problems.

Progressives should strive to build organizations and back candidates that serve this purpose.  But they need to do so intelligently.

In his recent In These Times column on Tom Geoghegan's candidacy, David Sirota wrote: "There is a value in backing long shots, even if those long shots lose."  But his logic fails when applied to the 5th Congressional District primary, as he attempts to do.  A more robust understanding of the nature of the race and the relative progressivism of the candidates offers more concrete lessons by which to make decisions about activism in future contests.

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Our nation is mired in the current economic crisis in part because corporate America dictated the rules for too long and did so while fixated on generating the largest profits at whatever cost.  These tactics led to the overextension of credit, job reductions, and the erosion of the middle class.  The corporate greed on Wall Street and failed policies of the Bush administration have contributed to the staggering unemployment figures we now face. 

Media outlets report on these issues daily and have exposed many of the most flagrant schemes.  Yet still Wal-Mart is touted by some in the local press as the potential savior of Chicago communities.

Wal-Mart has long been the leader in establishing business practices that put profits over people.  When Americans elected Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, the message was clear: The time has come to change the direction of America.  Stop allowing our workers and our communities to be exploited so large corporations can grow their bottom line.  Now in office, President Obama and his administration are seeking to restore the necessary balance between corporate America and the rest of us.

As the president works towards these ends in Washington, we should follow his lead, especially relating to Wal-Mart. 

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Chicagoans saw the cost of downtown parking meters go up in January and we expect this hike will lead many to explore other modes of transportation.  Last summer’s gas price spike caused the same thing to happen: Americans drove about 100 billion fewer miles from November 2007 to November 2008, according to AAA. Not coincidentally, the number of traffic fatalities sharply fell by about 10 percent in 2008.

The Active Transportation Alliance’s vision for the Chicago metropolitan region is one with 50 percent fewer crashes and where half of all trips are made by walking, biking, and mass transit.  We are a powerhouse when it comes to enabling communities to experiment with such alternatives. But if we want to see total success, we must also build support around policies that reduce driving accessibility.

There is no such thing as a free lunch and there is no such thing as free parking.

Indeed, free or low-cost parking encourages more driving, which results in congestion and more crashes, according to Donald Shoup, an urban planning professor at University of California-Los Angeles and the author of The High Cost of Free Parking.

In fact, the full price of parking -- from the spatial value to the resulting cost of crashes --  is unfairly absorbed by those who can’t afford to drive or choose not to do so. Shoup suggests that charging fair-market prices for parking would reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled, and would increase carpool trips, off-peak travel, and bicycling, walking, and mass transit use.

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Now that President Obama has signed the economic stimulus package into law, the question remains: at the local level, will those in greatest need receive the helping hand they deserve?

The answer will determine whether working families -- struggling against a destructive headwind of rising unemployment, stagnant wages, unaffordable healthcare, and foreclosures -- will find the path to safer ground.

The final price tag on the federal stimulus came to $787 billion and Illinois’ share should begin arriving by spring. Chicago will see the bulk of those funds.  But the city’s specific plan for how it intends to use these dollars remains under wraps at a time when more than 7,000 municipal governments across the nation have already released their “shovel ready” plans. It does not bode well that, last month, Mayor Richard Daley’s roundtable meeting on the federal stimulus excluded the voices of organized labor and community groups; two important advocates for working families.

That’s why we are calling for Mayor Daley to make these three objectives the centerpiece of all meaningful recovery initiatives at the local level:

- Create good jobs that pay a living wage and provide decent health care.
- Stop home foreclosures.
- Use TIF dollars for their intended purpose.

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