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PI Original
by Micah Maidenberg
2:25pm
Fri Oct 8, 2010
1 comment

Freeze Foreclosures, But Don't Forget The Bigger Picture

Housing

The home foreclosure crisis was upended this week by escalating probes into the banks' foreclosure paperwork. But the freezes on foreclosure proceedings and sales need to be accompanied by more principal write-downs and loan modifications by the banks, advocates say.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
11:04am
Fri Oct 8, 2010

Obama: Giannoulias "Doesn't Shift With The Wind"

President Obama, in town for an Alexi Giannoulias fundraiser yesterday, had some kind words for the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee. "He's comfortable in his own skin," the president told a group of supporters. "He doesn't shift with the wind. He doesn't pretend to be something that he's not."

The subtext, of course, is U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk's recent batch of flip-flops, whether it be on health care strategy, climate change, gay rights, or high-speed rail. It's becoming clear that the self-proclaimed "social moderate and fiscal conservative" throws his convictions out the window if he can gain some edge politically. Giannoulias' latest ad, called "More," hits the Republican hard for his votes on the deficit-busting Bush deficits. Watch it:

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
10:28am
Thu Oct 7, 2010
123 comments

Number Of The Day: 7

That's how many days Congress will have when it returns from the fall recess to reauthorize an emergency unemployment benefits program. It took the U.S. Senate 50 days to pass the last extension, which is set to expire November 30. Over 115,000 Illinois residents had exhausted their benefits when Congress stepped in last time. Expect another big drop in consumer demand if folks in Washington don't come through once again.

Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
12:32pm
Wed Oct 6, 2010

Hare Introduces New Bill To Stop Wage Theft

Congressman Phil Hare, of the 17th District, recently introduced a bill that would create a new grant program within the Department of Labor. His office says the program will provide resources and assistance to workers centers, legal aid clinics, and other community-based organizations working to stop wage theft, a pervasive issue that hurts employees across the country. In her 2008 book about the topic, Kim Bobo, executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice in Chicago, found that some 2 million workers are paid less than the minimum wage, 3 million are wrongly classified as independent contractors instead of employees, and millions more are illegally denied overtime pay.

Hare has followed this issue closely; he co-sponsored legislation in July 2009 meant to provide additional enforcement power for investigators during wage theft inquiries. The issue has gained traction over the last two years in other venues as well. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis launched a campaign last year to inform workers who've been bilked of their pay about the resources offered by the federal agency. At the state level, Gov. Quinn signed a bill in July that imposes penalities on employers who shortchange or fail to pay their employees.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
10:53am
Wed Oct 6, 2010
62 comments

Unemployment And The Output Gap

If you are trying to figure out why the national unemployment rate is persistently high, do yourself a favor and read this series of posts from Washington Post economics reporter Neil Irwin. "About 7 million working-age people and 5 percent of the nation’s industrial capacity are sitting idle," he explained yesterday, "[and] not producing what they could." In other words, the economy is still struggling because of a lack of consumer demand. This graph clearly shows what Irwin calls the "output gap."

If growth remains slow, Irwin estimates that unemployment won't return to 5 percent for another 10 years. The government does have a number of tools at its disposal to kickstart demand, like boosting infrastructure spending or extending unemployment benefits. But deficit hysteria and the Senate filibuster make legislative action nearly impossible. Before the congressional recess, a bill authored by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) that would have added 20 weeks of benefits in states where the unemployment rate is above 7.5 percent was spiked. Congress may extend during the lame-duck session its current four tiers of emergency benefits, which are scheduled to expire at the end of November, but even that humane option is in question. No wonder the electorate are angry.

Quick Hit
by Aricka Flowers
12:18pm
Mon Oct 4, 2010

Editorial Boards Start Making Their Picks

Newspaper editorial boards are starting to offer readers their two cents on which candidates they think are best suited for some of the offices up for election this November. Today, for instance, the Tribune endorsed Independent Forrest Claypool for Cook County Assessor, arguing that Democratic candidate Joe Berrios "is a one-man conflict of interests" because of his roles as a member of the county's tax appeals board, head of the Cook County Democratic Party, and lobbyist. Over the weekend, the Tribune also endorsed Toni Preckwinkle, the Democratic candidate for Cook County Board President. Of the candidates looking to replace current Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, the Tribune thinks Preckwinkle is the most likely to take the steps they deem necessary to clean up county government:

His successor needs to repeal the remaining half of Stroger's sales tax hike, modernize and consolidate fat bureaucracies, and enforce the same headcount discipline that lets private-sector firms keep their doors open (and keep paying high taxes to Cook County). Of the candidates on the ballot, we think Preckwinkle has the best chance of achieving those ends. Today the Tribune endorses her for County Board president. If she does all she says she will, county government will begin to earn back the taxpayer respect that previous administrations squandered.

The Sun-Times has endorsed Democrat Dan Seals over GOP candidate Bob Dold for the 10th Congressional District seat, citing his intellectual depth and thoughtful approach to governing as reasons for their approval. The paper also chose to endorse Republican Adam Kinzinger over freshman-incumbent Debbie Halvorson for the 11th Congressional District seat, even though they think he's dodging some issues and disagree with some of his views, like the fact that "he says he's not sold on the research on global warming."