{"id":1535417,"date":"2025-05-11T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1535417"},"modified":"2025-05-11T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T18:30:00","slug":"theyve-destroyed-jobs-and-opportunity-for-black-chicagoans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/theyve-destroyed-jobs-and-opportunity-for-black-chicagoans\/1535417\/","title":{"rendered":"They’ve Destroyed Jobs And Opportunity For Black Chicagoans"},"content":{"rendered":"

They’ve Destroyed Jobs And Opportunity For Black Chicagoans<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

By Ted Dabrowski of Wirepoints<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Illinois and Chicago politicians have made a mess of opportunities for blacks in Chicago. In preparation for my Chicago Tonight\u2019s Black Voices<\/a> appearance last week \u2013 more on that later \u2013 I pulled together several key facts on how Chicago blacks were fairing vs. the nation\u2019s other big cities. The data, straight from the U.S. Census or the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, is dismal.<\/p>\n

Chicago is stuck in a vicious spiral, where too much spending<\/a> has led to too much debt, including massive pension debts<\/a>. Taxes, as a result, have become increasingly punitive<\/a>. Pile on top of that failing schools<\/a> and crime<\/a>, and that\u2019s chased out<\/a> people and businesses, driving down job creation and investment. Based on the data, minorities are paying a big price relative to their peers in other big cities.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

At the core of Chicago\u2019s failure is a lack of economic growth. The metro area\u2019s GDP, after adjusting for inflation, has grown only 4% since 2019. That\u2019s the worst economic growth among the nation\u2019s 15 largest metro areas.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s quite the opposite for cities with pro-growth, pro-business policies. The economies of booming metros like Dallas, Seattle, Miami and Phoenix have all grown 17% or more. That\u2019s more than four times the growth rate of Chicago.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, jobs are a problem. At 12.3%, Chicago\u2019s black unemployment rate was the highest among the nation\u2019s 15 biggest cities<\/strong>, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jacksonville\u2019s black jobless rate was half that of Chicago\u2019s, and Charlotte\u2019s was just a third.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A less dynamic economy also means lower paying jobs. The median income for black households in Chicago is just $44,413 after adjusting for cost of living. That\u2019s the third-lowest amount among big cities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Chicago\u2019s black poverty rate also leads among the nation\u2019s 15 biggest cities.<\/strong> Over 26% of black Chicagoans are below the poverty line \u2013 nearly 200,000 people.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s government dependency. Nearly 57% of black Chicagoans are enrolled in the food stamp program SNAP<\/strong> \u2013 the 3rd-highest percentage among America\u2019s 15 big cities.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite the above, my fellow panelists on the Chicago Tonight show<\/a> called for even more spending and tax hikes in the 2026 Illinois budget in the name of supporting the black community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One panelist laid out a long string of programmatic spending he wanted to see, including money for schools and healthcare and early childhood and transit funding. The other panelist laid out how to pay for it. A CTBA staffer, she called for a 1.5 percentage point hike in Illinois\u2019 personal income tax rate to 6.45%, and if not that, then an expansion in the sales taxes to include services. A link to the segment is here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m generous about their ideas, yes, tax increases in the short term can generate more money for more social programs. But more spending and tax hikes will only exacerbate the downward spiral Chicago is already in, creating even more dependency.<\/p>\n

Chicagoans need the opposite. Instead of more spending and the tax hikes that go with it, lawmakers need to obsess about jobs, investment and economic growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Businesses and investment will only return when lawmakers tackle what makes the city so costly. Its massive $53 billion in pension debts<\/a> need major reform. Chicago Public Schools can bring down its $30,000 per student spend by closing near-empty schools<\/a> and cutting back on its bloated bureaucracy<\/a>. The city\u2019s transit agencies need to stop running near-empty trains and buses<\/a> and instead right-size their operations. And the public unions, in particular the teachers union, need to be de-powered<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The problem is that our current leaders wear as a badge of pride how many people they can get on Medicaid<\/a> and food stamps. They ignore the fact that people, no matter their color, can\u2019t thrive without good jobs and good pay.<\/p>\n

Illinois needs a new set of lawmakers that will prioritize economic growth over government dependency.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Steak Lover’s Bundle<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Wagyu Grill-Out Bundle<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

80\/20 Ground Beef<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSun, 05\/11\/2025 – 10:30<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/markets\/theyve-destroyed-jobs-and-opportunity-black-chicagoans<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They’ve Destroyed Jobs And Opportunity For Black Chicagoans By Ted Dabrowski of Wirepoints Illinois and Chicago politicians have made a mess of opportunities for blacks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1535418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1535417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-6rqN","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/4.30.25-Chicago-Tonight-768x432-uh2MaF.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1535417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1535418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1535417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1535417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1535417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}