Commentary
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Leading with Empathy: Beto O’Rourke on Gun Violence Policy and Healing in America
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Beto O’Rourke has held many political titles but would center each on his identity as a Texan. After serving as an El Paso City Council member, O’Rourke served as the U.S. Representative to Texas’ 16th Congressional District from 2013 to 2019. O’Rourke ran for the Senate in 2018, for President…
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The Dublin Convention: Bad for Host Nations, Worse for Migrants
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The calamitous earthquake that rocked Syria and Turkey killed over 46,000 people. As host to more Syrian asylum seekers than every other country combined, the disaster has thrust the refugee crisis back into the news. While more effective government could have limited some of the physical damage and casualties, the…
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The Continual Pursuit of a More Perfect Union
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“The only thing certain about the United States is it remains an experiment that requires our serious and sustained attention to thrive.” -Thomas E. Ricks While the 117th Congress may have passed multiple significant bipartisan bills with potentially enormous impact, the average American feels that polarization has frozen the legislature…
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The Illinois SAFE-T Act: Eliminating Racial Bias in Pretrial Detention
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In January 2023, Illinois became the first state in the nation to completely abolish the cash bail system. Governor Pritzker signed the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, abbreviated as the SAFE-T Act, into law in February 2021 after a 32-23 vote in the Illinois Senate. This Act proposes a…
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Accountability to Humanitarian Aid Respondents: The Need for Institutional Change
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“They’re sending us to die,” lamented a 40-year-old Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh facing a planned repatriation program to the country from where he had just fled. Another man nearby broke down into tears, “The military came, killed our people, set fire to our houses, and threw our kids in the…
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Investor Opportunities and Corporate Risks: China’s Emerging ESG Framework
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When examining official Chinese state policy regulations, one would not expect to see text in English, yet the Latin letters “E,” “S,” and “G,” stand out in pages full of Mandarin text in the “Plan to Improve the Quality of State-Owned Listed Companies.” The plan is representative of the larger…
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Has the city done all it can to make its lead service line replacement program accessible?
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Chicago leads the country in one dubious statistic: the number of people who receive their drinking water through lead pipes. Some 400,000 Chicago homes have lead service lines, though the service line material inventory is incomplete, and there could be thousands more. After decades of neglecting the issue, Chicago launched…
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Shifting Sentiments: Public Opinion on Policing in Chicago
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Did you know that, currently, Chicago’s most underprivileged, historically targeted, and over-policed communities have begun to show improved sentiments towards the Chicago Police Department (CPD)? Did you know that Chicago’s most wealthy, favored, and protected communities have shown sentiments moving in the opposite direction? In 2018, CPD partnered with survey…
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The Arlington … Bears?
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While the Bears continue to garner headlines within Chicago, it is most certainly not due to their stellar play. If you’re not a football fan in Chicago, then perhaps the only news you hear about the Bears is on Monday mornings following another one of their losses. Yet, the more…
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More Assessors Should Follow Cook County’s Online Initiatives
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In the November 2022 general election, Fritz Kaegi won his second term as the Cook County Assessor with a striking 81.9% — the highest percentage of any Illinois county-level race. The people have spoken: Kaegi must be doing something right. Kaegi’s high public approval can partly be attributed to his…
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The Early Bets Are In
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All eyes are set on Chicago’s upcoming casino opening. Chicago Mayor Lightfoot has put her support behind the Bally’s casino development, with the promise of $200 million worth of annual tax revenue for the city and the creation of thousands of jobs, many targeted for minority workers. Nonetheless, the high…