Bigger than you think. “In 2000, the EITC [earned income tax credit] provided roughly the same level of federal assistance to low-income families nationwide as the TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] and food stamp programs combined,” reports Alan Berube of the Brookings Institution (“Rewarding Work Through the Tax Code: The Power and Potential of the Earned Income Tax Credit in 27 Cities and Rural Areas,” January). Chicago’s public and private campaigns to increase awareness of EITC have borne fruit. “Before the citywide campaign began in late 1999, growth in EITC earnings citywide lagged somewhat behind that in other Midwestern cities, and in large metropolitan cities across the nation. As the campaign was introduced during the 2000 filing season, however, the dollar value of EITC claims that year grew 6.7 percent over the previous year–far outpacing growth rates in Midwestern cities and cities nationwide. Between 1999 and 2000, as the strong economy lifted wages and overall growth in EITC claims slowed, credit earnings in Chicago still continued to rise.”
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So much muck, so few rakers. “Every time someone talks about how Chicago is a ‘Democratic’ town and a great place, think twice,” advises the author of “Subscripts” in Substance (December). “Just review the bigger corporate con jobs of the past dozen years….Chicago’s had more Enrons than Houston….The difference is that here the boosterism of our media colleagues is so thorough.”
