30 Comments - Honeybear - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 2:13 pm: Add to this the prospect that Rauner will probably not request the “work requirement” waiver for SNAP in November and you’ve got a perfect storm for places like East St. Louis, IL. - Piece of Work - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 2:23 pm: Further proof the dems are killing the lower and middle class. Don’t believe the narrative they help those classes. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 2:25 pm: Democrats need to step up and decide that if they want to serve their constituents reports like this should make them, collectively, active in putting forth a solution that could be cobbled together and make the governor, and actually put the governor, notice the state needs to do better. At some point Democrats need to deliver and jobs, minority jobs, would be a big step to building governmental goodwill, and seek business-friendly ideas that create jobs, outside the Turnaround Agenda. These numbers need to be unacceptable and should be a call to action. - JS Mill - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 2:30 pm: =Add to this the prospect that Rauner will probably not request the “work requirement” waiver for SNAP in November and you’ve got a perfect storm for places like East St. Louis, IL.= I didn’t know about that, thanks for sharing. It will have a double whammy for schools as well. - JDuc - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 2:30 pm: The title of this post sums it up perfectly - Lech W - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 2:38 pm: undoubtedly due to the the demographics of Illinois the vast majority of the unemployed African Americans live in Cook county which has enjoyed Democratic rule for over 7 decades - time to let change happen - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 2:53 pm: One more example of Illinois dealing in the extreme and Texas dealing in moderation. - uptown progressive - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 2:59 pm: A mental exercise for the Dems: image that Rauner being a venture capitalist, declares success in 2018 and decides to move on to a new challenge. The Republicans nominate a thoughtful civic type (think a younger Jim Edgar) who exudes moderation. Your union voters are getting older. Younger people are looking for something else. What will you offer? - Earnest - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:13 pm: A stable, balanced budget is the main thing that will positively impact Illinois’ economy. Michael Madigan has consistenly said this should be done with a combination of cuts and revenue. However, much like Governor Rauner’s “reforms,” his statement lacks specifics and real numbers. His caucus doesn’t campaign on the need for revenue either. Part of me wants to cut them some slack because I think it would be disastrous if they weren’t there to try to stop Rauner’s destruction (and they’re not doing a very good job from the perspective of human services and higher education). How can they win an election admitting it will take more than the fantasy of “cutting waste and being more efficient and gutting those exhoribant pensions?” But, Quinn campaigned on this for his re-election against Bill Brady. And quinn won in a very Republican year. He did lose to Rauner, but I don’t think was because he was continuing to be honest about the need for revenue. So, for both Democrats and Republicans, I do think there’s a decent precedent for campaigning on real numbers, and that voters can handle more information than numerical fantasies. - illini - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:14 pm: Agreed - my party has been been more reactive rather than proactive on, not only this, but other issues. We are always going to be ready for the right fight, but also need to think out of the box and begin formulating positions and programs that will address the serious issues we have. - benniefly2 - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:24 pm: The African American unemployment rate, especially in Cook County, is an embarrassment. The democrats should take a very hard look at themselves and take most of the blame. The African American community has learned over time that the GOP really hasn’t had anything to offer them since the 1960s, but they really should be treated better by the democrats. That being said, before people start talking about how awesome it is in Texas and the Texas miracle and whatnot, I am going to throw this out here from the US Census: Income and Poverty Median household income (in 2014 dollars), 2010-2014 Texas: $52,576 Illinois: $57,166 Per capita income in past 12 months (in 2014 dollars), 2010-2014 Texas: $26,513 Illinois: $30,019 Persons in poverty Texas: 17.2% Illinois: 14.4% This doesn’t even account for the oil crash since it is from 2014, so these numbers may start getting worse over time. There is also this study from UT Austin about employment and wages by race in Texas from 2013: http://liberalarts.utexas.edu/iupra/_files/Income%20and%20Poverty%20Brief_7.1.13.pdf - PublicServant - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:26 pm: As Mike Madigan said, the most important issue facing Illinois is the budget deficit. He’s correct. All Illinoisan’s job prospects will be helped by its elimination. Properly funding social services, paying off the backlog of bills that Rauner has run up, and funding Higher Ed would help too. First things, first. Restoring a functioning Illinois economy with a proper mix of public and private spending is what’s needed. - Arock - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:36 pm: Seriously PublicServant, when 20-25% of the spending is going for the $113 billions in government pension cost that were run up in the past and somehow this is Rauner’s fault? - Arock - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:38 pm: Mike Madigan has not passed a balance budget for over a decade but now it is a problem? - Anon221 - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:38 pm: Just a question to ponder… What percentage of those unemployment figures may be attributable to the “squeezin’”??? - Ducky LaMoore - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:39 pm: Wow that’s bad. Really really really bad compared to everywhere (except maybe Pennsylvania). All partisanship aside, we need some action on this. And now. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:43 pm: - Arock - Read McKinney on pensions, get back to us Also, Rauner is required to propose a budget, a balanced budget. Rauner refused to do so. Thanks. - Juice - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:45 pm: The unemployment rate among African Americans in Illinois for the second quarter of 2015 was 11.5%, so a 3.5% year over year increase is pretty remarkable. It should probably also be noted that the study doesn’t even provide an unemployment rate for African Americans in more than half the states, so a place like Wisconsin could be worse, but difficult to statistically track. - atsuishin - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:51 pm: - benniefly2 - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:24 pm: Illinois is hostile to African Americans this is why so many are moving down south particularly Texas. The cost of living is much lower and there is no income taxe, so you might want to adjust your figures for that. - Belle - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:52 pm: No one seems to have an easy time of it but there are def people who have it worse than I kind of assumed the best remedy to all of the Chicago shootings is jobs. Maybe that sounds too simplistic? How do we get them back or something close to the old jobs? - Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:54 pm: ===Illinois is hostile to African Americans…=== Cite please? Thanks. - atsuishin - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:56 pm: Also black unemployment goes beyond Madigan, he is just representative of the attitude Dems have toward AAs: they’re taken for granted. As long as AAs give up there votes to Dems they will not receive any attention from Dem politicans. - Chicago 20 - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:59 pm: The worst part is every tax increase is a regressive tax which punishes people for spending money. If only poor people could pay the same effective tax rate that Rauner and Thump have been paying. - atsuishin - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 4:00 pm: - Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 3:54 pm: You should leave Oswego more. Maybe a trip to englewood, n. lawndale or robbins would open your eyes. There are third world conditions here which would not be tolerated in any civilized society. Don’t pick a fight with me over the disgraceful conditions of Americans Americans in this state. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 4:03 pm: You used the word “hostile”. You said Illinois, as a state, was hostile. Please cite where the state itself is hostile. Not picking, I want clarity to your words. Thanks. - atsuishin - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 4:13 pm: ===You said Illinois, as a state, was hostile.=== Are you looking for academic study? My sources are a lifetime of living in the chicago area. From grinding segregation to third world levels of crime to high rise public housing complexes to lack of jobs illinois is a hostile place for African Americans. This is why 200,000 evacuated from chicago and why more are leaving by the day. Hope I am being clear enough. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 4:22 pm: Where is it not hostile? Chicago, along with Boston, is one of the most segregated cities in the United States, that’s true and I understand your lifetime of experiences, even though you blindly think o may not know anything about segregation or Cook County. My point in this is Illinois, with 15% AA unemployment is awful. There has to be better. If you’re saying Texas is more welcoming, how do you measure that, given the criteria you just listed for me in your experiences. With respect. - atsuishin - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 4:31 pm: ==If you’re saying Texas is more welcoming, how do you measure that, given the criteria you just listed for me in your experiences. With respect.== Texas has more jobs, a lower unemployment rate, low taxes and lower cost of living. It is not a utopia, and of course there is racism there. but I rather my family be there than here. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 19, 16 @ 4:37 pm: ===It is not a utopia, and of course there is racism there. but I rather my family be there than here.=== Hostile was the wrong criteria, given that trade off above. With respect. Thanks, appreciate the give and take. Sincerely. OW - Arock - Monday, Aug 22, 16 @ 11:48 am: McKinney states the pension problem was pre-Rauner and happened on Madigan’s watch. Fact is Madigan has passed a lot of unconstitutional budgets over the years and hasn’t passed a constitutional one yet under Rauner. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.