Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Six years after the Supreme Court’s malignant Citizens United ruling, nearly every American plainly sees how our nation’s historic, political ethic of citizen equality – “one person one vote” – has been buried in a roaring avalanche of corrupt, corporate money and voter suppression. There’s no need to […]
economy
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Building a modern tax code
As the May 31st legislative deadline looms, tax experts are making one more push to extend the state’s sales tax to services. The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA) and the Taxpayers Federation released a report last week calling for Illinois to tax services the same way products are taxed. Illinois sales tax covers […]
Posted inOpinion
Makers
In “Three strikes and you’re in,” I endorsed the idea that what Springfield needs to make its economy perk is the entrepreneurial energy and enterprise that immigrants supply. Turns out that the Small Business Administration commissioned a report on that idea in 2012. Robert W. Fairlie, an economics professor at the University of California at […]
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Does minimum wage boost help or hurt?
Increasing the minimum wage doesn’t cause job loss as commonly thought, according to researchers pushing for a higher minimum wage in Illinois. State lawmakers will likely consider a bill this month that could mean higher pay for 1.1 million low-wage Illinois workers. The report, released Jan. 30 by the Washington D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute, touts […]
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‘I see a whole lot of opportunity here’
Henrik Rasmussen calls himself a “Springfielder by choice.” A native of Denmark, Rasmussen moved his family to Springfield in 2009, seeking opportunity, freedom and space to innovate. Now a U.S. citizen, Rasmussen is launching his own public affairs consulting firm in Springfield on Aug. 1, after seven years at another consulting firm. Addressing the crowd […]
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Legalized video gambling stalled
A gambling expansion that is supposed to raise $300 million a year and help pay for statewide infrastructure improvements has yet to be implemented, more than a year after it became law. Gene O’Shea, spokesman for the Illinois Gaming Board, which regulates video gaming, says the board has no timeline for implementing the system. The […]
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Group wants local rail jobs
A Springfield-based community group is hoping to make the contentious arrival of high-speed rail into a blessing by making sure 30 percent of the jobs from the project go to local disadvantaged workers. The Faith Coalition for the Common Good hosted a public meeting Aug. 19 at Union Baptist Church to discuss the coming project’s […]
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Cohen: ‘Illinois needs honesty, not perfection’
Illinois hasn’t heard the last of Scott Lee Cohen. After winning the Democratic Party’s nomination for lieutenant governor in the February primary election, Cohen bowed out of the race, and he is now running for governor as an independent instead. Last week, he met with the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce as part of his […]
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Census shows more minority businesses
When Michael Pittman first began publishing the Capital City Courier newspaper in Springfield in 2006, he wanted to address issues facing an African-American audience – issues he says often aren’t important to mainstream media. “It was something I always wanted to do,” Pittman says. “The emphasis for me was being an alternative source of news […]
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Big changes at the SJ-R
Tough economic conditions and a new approach to news distribution have prompted changes at Springfield’s daily newspaper. The State Journal-Register newspaper, owned by Fairport, N.Y.-based Gatehouse Media, last month underwent a change in strategy and leadership possibly tied to Gatehouse’s troubled financial position. On May 25, SJ-R announced the resignation of Scott Bowers as publisher […]
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Central Illinois group fights for bank accountability
Trenda Kennedy has seen the recession up close and personal. The Springfield resident lost her job when the economy tanked because her company closed its Illinois office, and she soon fell behind on her mortgage payments. When Kennedy approached her bank about refinancing her mortgage, however, she was basically put on hold. That was more […]
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Wal-Mart reduces dairy business with Prairie Farms
Carlinville-based dairy producer Prairie Farms will no longer supply milk under Wal-Mart’s Great Value brand, but Prairie Farms chief executive officer Ed Mullins says the company will certainly survive, even if it has to make a few cuts. Prairie Farms has provided dairy products to Wal-Mart for more than 20 years, Mullins says, and Wal-Mart […]
