Progress Illinois

Be sure to read the Chicago Sun-Times' lead editorial this morning on Illinois' budget deficit, in which the paper comes out in favor of a "substantial" income tax increase and echoes themes you've read on our site for months:

Even with massive budget cuts, substantial government restructuring and pension reform, there is no way to balance the state budget -- and maintain quality schools, social supports and other vital services -- without a major influx of new revenue. lllinois' 3 percent income tax rate, you'll recall, is among the lowest in the country. The overall tax burden for Illinois residents, as a percentage of personal income, also is among the lowest in the country.

The editors also lament how Gov. Pat Quinn "backed himself into a corner" when he promised to veto any tax increase larger than 1 percent. By dropping his emphasis on fundamental tax reform and offering "a measly compromise" this past March, Quinn left himself with few weapons to tackle what's turned out to be a massive crisis.

Coming to the defense of Sen. Bill Brady, the Tribune editorial board wrote a piece over the weekend arguing that Illinois' minimum wage -- which is currently set $1-per-hour above the national level -- "will keep some people from finding jobs because there will be fewer jobs to find." The argument is pretty flimsy. For starters, the paper doesn't use any local evidence to back up their job-loss claim. Reviewing job growth patterns between 2003 and 2005, Michael F. Thompson of the Indiana Business Review found that "Illinois' increasing minimum wage rates did not reduce overall employment growth for private employers."

Furthermore, they suggest that supporters back a higher minimum wage because it "translates into a more diligent and efficient work force." Progressives don't argue that minimum wage hikes improve the economy by motivating workers. Rather, they contend that putting additional cash into the hands of low-wage workers spurs the economy by boosting demand, a position held by some economic outfit called the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Like Illinois' own Sen. Dick Durbin, the Sun-Times editorial board is appalled that U.S. Senate Republicans -- defenders of wasteful tax breaks for the wealthy -- won't extend the filing deadline on unemployment benefits because of misguided deficit concerns.

Millions of Americans are unemployed through no fault of their own during the worst economic times in generations. All they're looking for is for a little more help in weathering the storm -- something for the groceries and the mortgage.

Meanwhile the GOP, while stiff-arming ordinary Americans, runs to the defense of the wealthiest Americans and -- for that matter -- an international oil company responsible for destroying the economy and environment of the Gulf.

Read the full piece here.

UPDATE (1:33 p.m.): After a more robust jobs bill crashed and burned in the U.S. Senate last week, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has introduced a standalone piece of legislation to extend the filing deadline for emergency unemployment benefits. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has signaled that she might move in this direction, as well.

If you're not reading John Conroy and Steve Rhodes' daily dispatches on the trial of fomer Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge, there is still time to start (though final arguments are scheduled for later this week).  Here is Rhodes today highlighting the imbalance in local media coverage:

Who cares if a decorated Chicago police commander tortured dozens - if not more - of African American men, some of whom wrongly ended up on Death Row, when our former governor is caught on tape musing about trading a U.S. Senate seat for the ambassadorship to India? Don't be such a downer! Blago is fun! Burge is a drag. [...]

This is what happens when news is defined in large measure by its entertainment quotient. If I had a nickel for every time I heard a reporter describe how much fun it was to work in a town with such brazen political schemes. Fun? You have to live here too. It's disgusting.