Can Cities Lead the Way on Inequality?

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/can-cities-lead-way-inequality



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1. Taking on Corporations: Demanding a Living Wage

The longest locally focused effort to lift family income began 20 years ago when Baltimore required businesses paid with tax dollars to pay a living wage. Today over 140 cities and counties have living wage ordinances and at least 20 percent of the country's population lives somewhere that has such a law on its books.

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2. Taking on the Banks: Keeping People in Their Homes

Since the financial collapse, about 10 million people have been kicked out of their homes. In 2013 banks repossessed over 460,000 homes while initiating foreclosure proceedings against 1.36 million.

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3. Taking on the Banks: Generating Affordable Credit

Since the financial collapse the biggest banks have grown even larger and less socially useful. They’ve slashed their small business lending and expanded their investments in highly risky derivatives. They’ve bankrupted several cities with their aggressively marketed interest rate swaps.

[Chisox08]

1. I believe that cities and states can lead the way on income inequality but will they?

I know in Chicago our mayor really don't give a shit. He is privatizing city services left and right and often the private company that took over the services are paying the minimum wage. Where as the city employee would have made a decent wage for doing the same work.

[ananda]

2. I never liked Emanuel.

And I never liked Obama's association with him.

[Chisox08]

3. Obama's association with him is the only reason he was elected.

[Laelth]

4. Interesting theory.

Care to expand on that? I am genuinely curious.



-Laelth

[Chisox08]

5. During the election I volunteered for one of his opponents

In my conversations with people especially within my own community most of them said they were voting Emanuel because of Obama's backing. Very few of them knew what Rahm stood for or what he was planning to do. The people who he hurt the most are the same people that backed him and voted for him the most.

[Laelth]

6. Sad, but that does make sense.

Thanks for the response.

-Laelth