The number of people in poverty has risen to unparalleled levels. According to the most recent Census Bureau data, there were 46.2 million Americans living in poverty in 2010, up from 43.6 million in 2009 (an increase of 2.6 million). In other words, more than one in six...

In this era of justified public cynicism about our political process, let's give the politicians credit when they get it right. The Illinois General Assembly got it right when it voted to double the state's earned income tax credit (EITC) as part of the tax package. Governor Quinn...

Illinois will lose 27,000 jobs in 2012, and its unemployment rate will increase from 10% to 10.5%, unless Congress approves extending the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program, according to the Economic Policy Institute. EPI's projection that failure to extend the EUC program will have such a dramatic effect...

This post co-authored by John Bouman, president, Shriver Center.

Here is how the long-term budget plans recently put forth by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and President Barack Obama compare on several critical factors.

Deficit Reduction
All agree that reducing the United States'...

In the waning hours of the lame duck legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly approved a temporary increase in the state income tax along with a series of spending restrictions designed to ensure that the new revenues go towards paying down the state's massive debt and bringing financial stability to...

It has become fashionable to attack President Obama for a perceived lack of leadership and resolve. These attacks have come from all directions. Undoubtedly the tax cut compromise brokered by the President will give new fodder to his implacable critics on the Right and the Left. The bottom line, however,...

This fall Congress will be considering whether to extend the Bush Administration's tax cuts for families earning more than $250,000. Proponents of extending these tax cuts for the wealthy, which are scheduled to expire this year, argue that allowing the tax cuts to expire will place an enormous strain on...

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), otherwise known as President Obama's economic stimulus plan, included a small funding stream that states can use to create a subsidized jobs program for parents in low-income families who have been displaced from employment by the recession or otherwise are in...

The Illinois General Assembly recessed on their planned adjournment date of May 7, having failed to enact a state budget for fiscal year 2011. May 7 was an artificial deadline. The real deadline is May 31, after which bills may not take effect before Jan. 1, 2011 unless they pass...

"Act like leaders, not like fools, Save our services, save our schools!"

So chanted 15,000 people gathered in front of the State Capitol on Wednesday, in the largest Springfield rally ever. The demonstrators demanded that the General Assembly not return to their home districts on May 7 as scheduled, or...