Gov. Pat Quinn’s new TV ad is 60 seconds of one positive message after another. “Pat Quinn sees problems, takes action and gets the job done,” the ad claims. “Now, Illinois is making a comeback,” it continues. But the spot is being slammed by longtime campaign insiders in both parties as “spitting in the wind.” […]
minimum wage
Posted inOpinion
A bold shift in America’s minimum wage debate
At last, our political leaders in Washington are taking action for low-wage workers and the middle class, striking a bold blow for America’s historic values of economic fairness and common good. Gosh, I hope you don’t think I meant Washington, D.C.! No, no – the same old corporate mentality of stiffing workers and stripping any […]
Posted inOpinion
From farm workers to cheerleaders
It doesn’t take an IQ much higher than room temperature to realize that it’s way past time to raise America’s sub-poverty minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. But let’s also pay attention to the millions of people trying to make ends meet on – believe it or not – America’s sub-minimum wage. Some of our […]
Posted inOpinion
Finding populism today
Mass movements don’t just appear out of the fog, fully grown, structured and mobilized. They emerge in fits and starts over many years, just as the American Revolution did, and as did the Populists’ original idea of a “cooperative commonwealth.” In 2011, a serendipitous moment for the populist cause rumbled across our land. That September, […]
Posted inOpinion
Minimum wage woes on campaign trail
If Bruce Rauner manages to successfully back away from his recently unearthed statement from December that he favored reducing the state’s minimum wage by a dollar an hour he will have dodged a very serious political bullet. According to a new Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll, the idea is absolutely hated in Illinois. Asked if […]
Posted inOpinion
Do more than the minimum on minimum wage
“In the wealthiest nation on earth,” President Obama declared in his State of the Union speech, “no one who works full time should have to live in poverty.” Right! Way to go! Not only does his call to raise America’s minimum wage put some real pop in populism, but it could finally start putting some […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
