WBEZ’s Rundown Of Today’s Top News: Giving People Free Money Is Popular
By Hunter Clauss
WBEZ’s Rundown Of Today’s Top News: Giving People Free Money Is Popular
By Hunter ClaussHey there! It’s Thursday! Last night, my husband and I were watching Casino Royale, and he asked me if anyone has ever referred to James Bond as “Jimmy” or “Jimbo.” Here’s what you need to know today.
(By the way, if you’d like this emailed to your inbox, you can sign up here.)
1. Three-quarters of voters support Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan
That’s according to a new poll from Politico and Morning Consult, which found that a majority of Democratic and Republican voters support President Joe Biden’s economic relief plan.
About 76% of all voters — and 60% of Republican voters — support the proposal, which includes $1,400 stimulus payments to many Americans, enhanced unemployment benefits, small business relief and aid to states and cities. [Morning Consult]
The House is expected to take its first vote on Biden’s plan tomorrow. Democrats hoped the legislation would receive bipartisan support, but Republicans largely remain opposed to the bill. [USA Today]
Meanwhile, about 730,000 new unemployment claims were filed last week, a decline of 111,000 from the previous week, according to the Labor Department. That’s the largest drop since August, and it’s fueling optimism among some analysts that the labor market is recovering.
But the weekly jobless claims remain above 700,000, a historically high number that not even the Great Recession surpassed at its height. Robert Frick, a corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, told The Washington Post that getting weekly unemployment claims below 700,000, and keeping it there, will signal real improvements in the job market. [Washington Post]
Today’s episode of The Pie podcast looks at how the expansion of unemployment benefits during the pandemic coincided with spending and job search patterns that “counter common economic assumptions.” [University of Chicago]
2. House passes civil rights protections to LGBTQ Americans
The Democrat-controlled House today passed the Equality Act, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex in employment, housing and other key areas. The bill’s future in the Senate remains uncertain.
[NPR]
The bill comes as more American adults are identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, and the growth is likely to continue. According to a recent Gallup poll, 5.6% adults say they are LGBT, up from 4.5% in 2017. [New York Times]
The debate in the House over the Equality Act got personal this week. Lawmakers are accusing U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of cruelty after she posted a transphobic sign outside the office of U.S. Rep. Marie Newman, D-IL, whose daughter is transgender. [Chicago Tribune]
3. Illinois reports new daily record of more than 130,000 vaccinations
State officials today announced that 130,021 vaccine doses were administered yesterday. That breaks the previous daily record of 95,375 doses on Feb. 11. [Chicago Tribune]
Illinois is averaging about 66,500 vaccines per day, a 1% increase from the previous week, according to The Washington Post. About 14% of the state’s population has received the first dose of the vaccine, while it has supplies for nearly 18% of the population, according to the newspaper. [Washington Post]
Meanwhile, Crain’s Chicago Business reports that Chicago’s United Center will become a mass vaccination site with the goal of inoculating 5,000 to 7,000 people a day as soon as next month. [Crain’s]
4. Trump’s tax returns have been handed over to Manhattan DA
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has obtained copies of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, which prosecutors have long sought in a probe into whether Trump or the Trump Organization changed the values of property assets to gain favorable tax benefits.
Eight years’ worth of tax returns and other financial documents were handed over to prosecutors after the U.S. Supreme Court this week rejected Trump’s last-ditch effort to shield his tax returns.
Trump has called the investigation into his tax returns a “witch hunt.”
The New York Times obtained a trove of Trump’s tax returns and reported last year that the former president paid just $750 in federal income tax in 2017. The newspaper also reported Trump claimed no taxable income in 11 of 18 years because of major losses. [AP]
5. More than 60 business leaders back Lightfoot in prominent newspaper ad
After Mayor Lori Lightfoot suffered a brutal week that called into question the leadership of the Chicago Police Department, more than 60 business leaders signed a letter in support of the mayor in a full-page ad published in the Chicago Sun-Times today.
The ad also comes after Crain’s Chicago Business reported earlier this month that business leaders in the restaurant and real-estate development industries have quietly been searching for other candidates to back in the 2023 mayoral election.
Among the signatures listed in the Sun-Times ad are Obama Foundation President Valerie Jarrett, Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts and Ariel Investments co-CEOs John Rogers Jr. and Mellody Hobson.
It’s not clear who paid for the ad. According to Crain’s reporter Greg Hinz, “One source close to the matter says Lightfoot did not prompt the letter, but a copy was sent to me by a political ally of the mayor’s.” [Crain’s]
Here’s what else is happening
- Federal prosecutors say a longtime Chicago political player bribed former Ald. Danny Solis and a public schools official in connection with a janitorial deal. [WBEZ]
- Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch signaled he wants voters to have a second say on a proposed graduated-rate income tax. [Chicago Tribune]
- Former state Rep. Michael Madigan picked another successor to his seat after his first choice resigned after just three days on the job. [Chicago Sun-Times]
- Chicago teachers say the district is punishing them for sharing their concerns over in-person learning with parents. [WBEZ]
Oh, and one more thing …
Chicago today declared the end is coming for dibs.
The city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation said it will start trashing objects placed in cleared out parking spots on Tuesday. People have very strong feelings about dibs. For example, I got a death threat last year when I mentioned that someone used a statue of Jesus Christ to mark a cleared out parking spot on a street. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Tell me something good …
What book have you recently read and loved?
Joyce from Uptown writes:
“One of the books I’ve been recommending to everyone is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. All about connectedness and the ripple effect of consequences. I wanted it to go on forever and think of the characters often.”
Feel free to email me at therundown@wbez.org or tweet me at @whuntah.
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