leo's blog

Photos from the County Chair Breakfast and then the Rally at the State Fair later on.

Get well soon, Senator Durbin! We all rely on you.

David Waldman over at the Orange Satan nicely defines the frustration House members must feel living in an era:

... during which the Senate routinely sees over 100 cloture motions during a two-year Congress, plus countless holds and other related delays, not to mention being handed back the toothless and disemboweled hulks of once-ambitious legislation along with a demand that it be swallowed whole by the House, because it was the "best they could hope to get" given the 60 vote "requirement."

My only question is, Is there some sort of billboard somewhere in America keeping tally of all these cloture moves, holds and related delays? Or do we only see that when it's about the deficit?

http://www.layofflist.org/

http://www.nojobsurvivor.com/

http://www.unemploymentlifeline.com/

http://www.unionofunemployed.com/

http://www.onenationworkingtogether.org

[h/t Annie Lowrey, Washington Independent]

I'm not too up on the agreement between Walmart and Labor about opening a 2nd WalMart store in Chicago but Progress Illinois is reporting that part of the deal is a $8.75/hr. starting salary and then an increase of 40-60 cents after the first year.

Just a thought: will the increase in salary these employees are getting -- will that be credited to the efforts of the UFCW and CFL? You know, something along the lines of 'A buck or more an hour -- Courtesy of the UFCW/CFL'.

Would be nice.

From their 'About Us' page:

The Good Jobs Chicago Coalition (city-wide religious and community coalition) advocates for the importance of quality jobs to stabilize and grow our communities. The Good Jobs Coalition is made up of community partners with a commitment to responsible growth and corporate accountability.

http://goodjobschicago.org/

Here's an interesting question:

Walmart is trying to bust into the Chicago market with a 2nd store, thus dragging down the wages and working conditions of employees at competitor companies, many of whom are represented by the good people at UFCW.

So, in order for them to grease the way so to speak, this monster corporation has flooded the airwaves with testimonials supposedly from employees of how awesome Walmart as an employer is.

I've heard the same commercial over and over again on the CBS affiliate WBBM the whole week.

Suddenly I just heard a 'news' report on the same station: it was about the wonderful opportunity Walmart was giving to employees through the Internet-based 'American Public University'.

So here's the question, was it legitimate for a 'news' organization to run what literally was an 'info-mercial' without any input from educators as to the real value of such a program -- particularly considering who's buying all the ads this week?

Not a big deal but Kimbriell Kelly, editor of The Chicago Reporter, rattles off this cheap shot as her contribution to 'losers of the month' on WBEZ's 'Month in Review: Winners and Losers in May Headlines':

Kimbriell Kelly (18:55): "I would say losers -- the taxpayers a little bit with this pension bailout. I mean, essentially people are told that if you're in debt, don't use your credit card to pay your bills and then the State is doing this and we as taxpayers have to pay for it. So we're the losers in that category." [emphasis added]

Someone please explain to Kelly that it's precisely when you're broke that you hit up on the plastic. If grandma has to go to the hospital or junior has to go to school, you don't sit around thinking how much it'll add to your debt. You just pull out the plastic and hope for better days. Ditto for government.

When times are good you worry about deficit reduction; when times are bad you worry about getting back to when times are good -- otherwise you risk following in the footsteps of Herbert Hoover.

UPDATE: Krugman this week on "fiscal austerity":

...Both textbook economics and experience say that slashing spending when you’re still suffering from high unemployment is a really bad idea — not only does it deepen the slump, but it does little to improve the budget outlook, because much of what governments save by spending less they lose as a weaker economy depresses tax receipts.

I'm not against development per se but why in the world do they call this a 'park'?

Socialism: An intolerable state of affairs where right-wingers are no longer in a position to call the shots, generally on the heels of a decision by the electorate. See Popular Sovereignty.