Illinois’ finances make state resilient if a recession occurs: report

Some economists are predicting that the country could fall into a recession within the next few years, but if it happens, Illinois is in a better place than it was in December 2007 or March 2020, which saw the "Great Recession" and the "COVID-19 Recession,” according to a recent report by researchers at the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal (PMCR) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“Despite dire predictions from many economic commentators, a national recession was avoided in 2022, 2023 and 2024,” says the report, ‘Resisting the Next Recession: Measuring Illinois’ Economic Resiliency.’ However, the risk of a recession remains elevated in 2025 and beyond.”

A recession is a downturn in economic activity that is usually defined by at least two consecutive quarters of decreasing inflation-adjusted Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and an increase in unemployment lasting more than a few months.  The worst recession in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s.

The three recessions that have occurred since 2000 were the “dot-com bubble” of the early 2000s, the

Great Recession of 2007-2009, and the COVID-19 Recession, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

For Illinois, researchers Frank Manzo IV, Bob Bruno and Grace Dunn examined nine key fiscal and economic metrics "on which the state has made dramatic gains over the past several years."

Manzo, an economist with the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, says, "From significant improvements in budgeting and fiscal management to long-term investments in infrastructure, education, healthcare, and the stability of its pension system, Illinois has developed a far stronger resilience to economic downturns than at any time in recent history. Collectively, these improvements will help to mute the impact of any future national recession on critical public services, employment, and the economy as a whole."

The report concedes that “Illinois would not be immune to a national recession. The Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability is currently projecting a $618 million budget deficit in Fiscal Year 2026. Additionally, the state’s unemployment rate remains above the national average.”

The scholars intentionally use the term “resilience,” first used in the 1970s to assess ecological systems. Studies categorize resilience into four different system outcomes: “ability to bounce back,” “ability to absorb,” “positive adaptability,” and “system transformation.” These outcomes in research about regional economic resilience have been defined as recovery, resistance, reorientation and renewal.

The report positive observations include:

* Illinois rebuilt its Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance to $2 billion.

“This is due to a $1.8 billion transfer of state funds due to better-than-expected state revenues, which was also used to pay off a federal loan borrowed during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report says.

* Illinois improved the funded ratio of its State retirement systems to its highest level since 2008.

“Illinois has made important strides in its public pension system by making required contributions that had been jettisoned in prior years, offering $2 billion in buyouts to retiring employees and inactive members and making $700 million in supplemental contributions designed to reduce the system’s unfunded liabilities,” Manzo says. “It is important for the state to continue on this trajectory, which would bring the system 90% funded by 2045—well above the 80% standard used by the Government Accountability Office.”

* Through the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, Illinois has reduced its number of residents without health insurance by nearly 1 million, a 56% decrease.

Illinoisans who are covered increased from 86.2% in 2010 to 93.8% in 2023, the report says – a greater percentage of covered people than the nation.

* Illinois committed to investments in climate resiliency and carbon-free nuclear power that are creating thousands of jobs on the path to 100% clean energy.

* Illinois invested $2 billion more annually in public education—reducing the number of school districts in financial deficit by 55%—while increasing grants to make college more affordable by 77%.

* Illinois established dedicated revenue streams that, together with federal funding, will invest $41 billion in roads, bridges, public transit systems, rail, and aviation infrastructure over the next six years.

“In Illinois, every dollar invested in road and bridge construction returns $1.80, and every dollar spent on road and bridge maintenance returns $2.30,” the researchers say.

* Illinois implemented a work-share program that allows employers to avoid layoffs by temporarily reducing employees' hours while enabling workers to receive prorated unemployment insurance benefits.

* Illinois eliminated the General Fund deficit and bill backlog, earning a total of nine credit rating upgrades since 2020 that will allow the State to borrow at lower interest rates.

Illinois achieved its largest ever Budget Stabilization Fund (or "rainy day" fund) balance at more than $2 billion – almost 700% larger than it was prior to the Great Recession.

“The elimination of the bill backlog and reductions in the General Fund deficit, the improvement in the Budget Stabilization Fund, the dedication to making full pension contributions with supplemental payments when possible, and the rebuilt Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund are each positive factors making Illinois more resilient to the next recession,” says the report. “However, Illinois still lags the national average on these metrics, and lawmakers should consider ways to continue building on this momentum with each budget cycle that passes without an economic downturn.”

 

UIUC Professor Bruno, PMCR Director, adds that “Periodic economic contractions present real challenges to employers, working families, and policymakers alike. While no state is recession-proof, Illinois has prioritized prudence in its fiscal management, long-term competitiveness in its public investments, and has pursued public policies that prior recession resiliency research indicates can minimize the impact of economic disruptions.

“Illinois’ current tax structure is a mixed bag that can be both a help and hindrance when it comes to recessions,” he continued. “Our sales tax system doesn’t cover most services, which can invite fiscal headwinds during lean times. And, while our reliance on property taxes and flat income tax structure promotes more stable and predictable public service funding during downturns, it can also constrain the state’s ability to invest higher-than-expected revenues into rainy day reserves or other long-term economic fortifications during good times.”

‘Moderate’ Republican is Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor

The old proverb “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” seems relevant this month, when the U.S. Senate begins its confirmation hearings for hundreds of Trump nominations to his administration, including Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the former Oregon Congresswoman picked to serve as Secretary of Labor.

Defeated in her swing district in November, Chavez-DeRemer’s supporters point to her co-sponsorship of the labor-reforming PRO Act as a sign of relief, if not hope. But despite opposition from some Republicans and business lobbies, skeptics remain in and around the labor movement.

Chavez-DeRemer actually has backed two of labor’s top legislative priorities (both of which failed): The Protect The Right To Organize (PRO) Act, and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, plus voting for the Social Security Fairness Act, which will help government workers whose benefits had been limited for years. (It passed the House 327-75 in November, with dozens of Republican No votes, including Peoria U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood.)

The PRO Act passed the Democratic-run House in 2020 and 2021 but was killed by anti-union Senate Republicans threatening a filibuster. Even when Democrats gained a narrow Senate majority in 2020, conservative Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema opposed it, so Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) didn’t bring it up in the face of a GOP filibuster

The public service bill, the top legislative goal of AFSCME, would order state and local governments to bargain with unions that win recognition votes, even in so-called Right-To-Work states, effectively making the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus ruling that make unionizing difficult for public employees.

“Her record suggests real support of workers and their right to unionize,” said Teachers President Randy Weingarten. “I hope it means the Trump [administration] will actually respect collective bargaining and workers’ voices from Teamsters to teachers.”

In her only term in the House career, Chavez-DeRemer cultivated an image of a Republicans willing to work with Democrats. During one House Education and Workforce Committee meeting, she said, “Unions aren’t the

Don McIntosh, editor of Oregon’s Northwest Labor Press, commented, “Unlike most House Republicans, Chavez-DeRemer worked to build relationships with organized labor, but last year said she had concerns about the PRO Act.”

Plus, not being outright anti-union doesn’t ensure a pro-worker voice within a Trump administration.

“One thing to keep in mind is that the [cabinet] secretaries serve at the pleasure of the president,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute and a former Labor Department economist in the Obama administration.

“It is not an independent role,” she continued. “There’s a real, very clear restriction on how far they can go, away from what Trump and his key advisers want.”

Trump’s first term had a forceful anti-worker tone, weakening overtime protections and workplace safety standards, so if Trump is consistent, Chavez-DeRemer would have to implement his policies or face the consequences.

However, Chavez DeRemer could influence workers’ issues apart from the National Labor Relations Board (which is an independent agency). The Labor Department could address wage theft enforcement, safety inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, overtime pay thresholds, and immigration status protections, among other issues, according to the worker-oriented Economic Policy Institute.

“If Trump wants to prove that he is really on the side of American workers, he’s going to have to do more than one cabinet nomination,” commented Farah Stockman of the New York Times. “She embodies the contradiction that is the Trump coalition. It won political power with widespread support from blue-collar workers but has up until this point looked poised to hand the federal government over to business-friendly billionaires.”

The daughter of a Teamster, Chavez-DeRemer had some support from Oregon unions in her 2024 campaign, but several national unions refrained from backing her.

The AFL-CIO’s voting scores give Chavez-DeRemer a 10% lifetime score and the same score for the last year tracked. (The average Republican’s lifetime score is 6%.) Some of her votes were against the AFL-CIO’s positions, affecting her 10% rating. Chavez-DeRemer didn’t agree with labor’s position on companies’ health-care plans or jobless benefits, to name two.

Also, the previous year she declined to support the PRO Act, or other key measure.

“There’s the whole world of all of the other employment rights, minimum wage, overtime, [Equal Employment Opportunity] rights, paycheck equity, and paid leave,” said National Employment Law Project government affairs director Judy Conti, speaking to Vox.com. “And she hasn’t co-sponsored any of those bills.”

So, some observers see her co-sponsorship as symbolic or a campaign talking point.

In a prepared statement, the AFL-CIO said, “Donald Trump is the President-elect of the United States — not Rep. Chavez-DeRemer — and it remains to be seen what she will be permitted to do as Secretary of Labor in an administration with a dramatically anti-worker agenda.”

Trump’s nomination of the 56-year-old businesswoman – who founded a network of medical clinics that’s reported annual revenues of millions of dollars – may be a slight acknowledgment that the U.S. public supports organized labor, or another way to attempt to convince working people the multi-millionaire is on the side of working people.

Even in Oregon, some unions were reluctant to endorse her and have a wait-and-see attitude.

“SEIU in Oregon has had very little experience working with Ms. Chavez-DeRemer since she has declined to engage directly with our 85,000 members,” said Alan Dubinsky, communications director for SEIU Local 49. “If she is successful in her appointment to Secretary of Labor, we look forward to her keeping her campaign promises of supporting Oregon’s unions and working families.”

As for business, some of its prominent lobbies seem to be against even a mild moderate, as shown by misgivings of the nomination expressed by the National Right To Work Committee, the anti-union Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and similar groups, and “her selection is also fueling tension among more traditional Republicans with long-standing ties to business trade groups,” report Lori Aratani and Lauren Kaori Gurley in the Washington Post.

For now, then, organized labor seems to accept Trump’s gesture but expect little, reminiscent of another old saying: “It’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stock.”

Thousands of Social Security recipients should benefit from labor-backed reform

Thousands of Illinoisans will see more money from Social Security in the coming months, as President Joe Biden on Jan. 5 signed the Social Security Fairness Act, which repealed two laws that had cut hundreds of dollars in monthly Social Security benefits for more than 2 million Americans.

The act eliminated the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset. Created in the late 1970s and early ’80s, the WEP and GPO affected workers who’d worked at jobs where they paid into Social Security and had enough covered employment to qualify for benefits, but unfairly penalized those retirees by cutting benefits because they’d also earned public pensions in jobs that didn’t pay into the Social Security system. GPO likewise reduced benefits for those workers’ surviving spouses and family members.

“This historic victory restores retirement benefits for 150,000 public servants in Illinois and millions nationwide, including teachers, nurses, firefighters, and law enforcement officers,” said Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery.

Nationwide, the years-long effort had widespread support from public-sector unions. Many advocates said both programs fell heavily on those who held public-sector jobs that had low pay or a small pension, or those who were left widowed by a spouse with a public pension and received a low survivor’s benefit.

Although the repeal isn’t retroactive any further than 2024, “it gains real justice going forward and is a tremendous victory,” said American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein.

The repeal was supported by the AFL-CIO, the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the National Education Association, among others.

Another union supporter, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), reported that the states most affected are Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Texas. Local governments likely to be most affected are Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, and Chicago and Cook County, AFSCME added.

“The bill I'm signing today is about a simple proposition,” Biden said during the White House signing ceremony at the White House. “Americans who have worked hard all their life to make an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity – that's the entire purpose of the Social Security system.”

The law says it will apply to benefits paid after December 2023, apparently meaning that any reductions reflected in Social Security benefits last year will be calculated and sent to beneficiaries this year. Beneficiaries affected by the measure could receive thousands of dollars in one lump-sum payment to cover 2024’s shortfall.

As soon as the Social Security Administration updates its system, recipients will start to get their full, restored benefits. Biden said that Social Security benefits will increase by an average of $360 a month for more than 2 million recipients.

"That's a big deal in middle-class households like the one I grew up in and many of you did," he said.

The bill – the White House said it’s the first Social Security reform in 20 years – passed the House of Representatives by a 327-75 vote on Nov. 12, and was approved in the Senate by a 76-20 vote Dec. 21.

Hundreds of lawmakers felt it was unfair to reduce retirees’ earned benefits because they had public pensions. After all, the vast majority of U.S. workers get their full Social Security benefits, while also receiving funds from their 401(k) and IRA contributions over their working years.

Still, co-sponsor U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said he was surprised that the approval was so lop-sided.

“We expected pretty much 49 Democrats and a dozen – 15 at the most – Republicans,” Brown said. “We got to 76 votes because people understand the fairness of this, of fixing this.”

The vote came a day after Brown gave his farewell address in the Senate, losing his seat in November to Trump-backed Bernie Moreno. Brown stressed his focus during his 30-year career on Capitol Hill has been on unions and workers’ rights, and after years of pushing the Social Security Fairness Act, helping to pass it was especially pleasing, he said.

“It's a wonderful way to end the year,” he said. “It really is to me about the dignity of work and fighting for workers.”

Voting for the bill were 76 senators (46 Democrats, 27 Republicans and 3 independents). The 20 No votes were all Republicans; four senators did not vote.

Illinois lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the bill. Both Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin voted Yes, as did 15 of Illinois 17 members of the House – all 14 Democrats including West Central Illinois’ Eric Sorensen (17^th Dist.) and Nikki Budzinski (13^th), plus Republican Mike Bost (12^th).

The only No votes from Illinois’ delegation were Republicans Darin LaHood (16^th) and Mary Miller (15^th).

Brown’s co-sponsor, Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, said, "I have fought for this change since 2003, when I held the first-ever Senate hearing on repealing the WEP and GPO, and I am proud that this law will ensure public service no longer comes at the expense of the retirement benefits earned by an individual or their spouse. This is a win for fairness and for those who have dedicated their lives to serving their communities."

According to the Social Security Administration, those who have previously filed for Social Security benefits don’t need to take any action if the agency has your current mailing address (or direct-deposit information, especially if your address has recently changed). Most beneficiaries would be able to verify this on their personal "My Social Security" account without calling or visiting a Social Security office. The agency recommends visiting www.ssa.gov/myaccount to sign in or create your account.

Investment adviser Terry Savage, co-author of the book “Social Security Horror Stories,” recommended, “If you want to know the ‘correct’ benefit you should receive (without the WEP or GPO), you can go to www.MaximizeMySocialSecurity.com and – for a $49 fee – run the software, without including the fact that you have a public pension. That should give you the correct calculation of future benefits.”

It's going to be a year...

Well, 2025 started out with violent incidents that few people hope are omens. Then, days into January, billionaires advising Donald Trump outlined government cuts clearly harmful to regular Americans. That was followed by a self-serving willingness to support immigration that would let foreign workers replace U.S. workers, earn less wages, and be virtual wage slaves to the whims of influential employers.

Also on Jan. 1, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said that House Republicans are "doubling down on their extremism" with an agenda that rewards billionaires and large corporations.

“Here’s what I see,” McGovern commented. “Nothing to help workers. Nothing to bring down grocery prices. Nothing to lower rent or make housing more affordable. Silent on inflation and health-care costs. Next to nothing on jobs and the economy.

"Instead, I have no doubt they'll find time to pass tax breaks for billionaires and massive corporations at the expense of everyday Americans."

An American Electorate Voter Poll backed by SEIU and other groups, conducted by BSP Research, showed about 60% of Americans fear that the incoming administration with “promote hate and division,” sparking violence and bloodshed.”

That seemed understandable New Year’s Day, when a 42-year-old Texan and Army veteran who said he backed Islamic State terrorists plowed a truck into New Orleans pedestrians, killing 14 and injuring 15 before dying in a shootout with police. Hundreds of miles west, a 37-year-old Colorado man and active-duty special forces soldier triggered a blast in the Tesla truck he’d loaded with fireworks and fuel outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, shot and killed himself, leaving behind notes suggesting a takeover of Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, Trump’s wealthy inner circle is considering butchering the budget not to prevent inefficient spending like the infamous $50 hammer, but to trim enough spending to get Congress to extend Trump’s notorious 2017 tax cuts that mostly benefited corporations and the already-rich. According to the centrist Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Trump advisers propose eliminating the Education Department, repeal clean-energy programs, impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients to discourage the needy from using it, block obesity treatments from Medicare coverage, enact tariffs (which would cost consumers more since affected importers would raise prices), and cut food-stamp benefits, among other notions.

(Food stamps – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – makes up more than 70% of USFDA funding, but less than two-tenths of 1% of the federal budget.)

Such ideas have dire consequences for public services and working people, according to Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), who said, “The American people should brace themselves for cuts to their benefits and services if President-elect Trump implements his anti-families policies.”

Listing austerity policies such as weakening job safety and labor rules and enforcement, rejecting EPA recommendations, cutting school lunches, outsourcing veteran health care, and eliminating three-fourths of the federal work force, Kelley remained defiant, adding, “We've faced challenges like this before, and we know what’s at stake. We know what’s coming – and we’re ready.”

The non-governmental “Department of Government Efficiency” led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy has reportedly targeted federal “discretionary” spending, which Congress must authorize. “Mandatory” spending, incidentally, means ongoing commitments, including Social Security, veterans benefits, Medicare, jobless benefits and interest payments on the national debt.)

As for immigration exemptions: When Ramaswamy and Musk aren’t plotting how to enrich the wealthy at the expense of everyone else, they’re scheming how to specifically line the pockets of their ilk. But they ignited a firestorm of Tech Titans vs. MAGA faithful through H-1B guest-worker visas.

People across the political spectrum said H-1B workers are used as leverage against U.S. workers competing against tech workers from other countries who accept lower pay and must comply to almost anything or risk deportation.

Journalists report that last year Musk laid off thousands of workers and then requested thousands of H-1B visas for non-citizens.

Musk’s pushback to critics or Trump’s base crying betrayal revealed a petty tyrant when he posted, “Take a big step back and F*CK YOURSELF… I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you ca not possible comprehend.”

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wasn’t deterred, saying that H-1B visa are a way for employers to exploit workers and pocket savings.

“The main function of the H-1B visa program and other guest worker initiatives is not to hire ‘the best and the brightest’,” he said., “but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad. The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make."

It’s going to be a year.

U.S. ballots: Where's the working class?

Americans need more political candidates for – and from – the working class.

In Illinois, more than one-third of votes in November’s election were early – more than in 2020, says the state Board of Elections, which also noted that while voting by mail remained popular (with some 1 million casting ballots that way), that’s only about half the 2020 elections. Overall, the turnout was the lowest in 40 years, meaning 20 federal elections.

There are many possible reasons, but one deserving more attention of citizens, if not civic organizations and political parties, is the lack of candidate from the working class.

In communities, whether in business, education, labor, religion, etc., it’s common and effective to draw on the experience and expertise of people who’ve been in the trenches, whether construction sites, hospitals, classrooms, offices, sanctuaries… We turn to those familiar with the jobs and the problems for insights. If people dislike an assembly bottleneck, it makes sense to go to a factory worker on the line; price of gas or groceries get your attention? A filling station owner or grocer might explain now the consolidation and near-monopoly practices of big corporations limits prices at the pump and on the shelves more than the government.

Most Americans work for a living and are in the working class or are struggling but at least half of members of Congress are millionaires. Because most political candidates aren't working class, few people vote, or settle for promises we may suspect are hogwash.

The working class is usually written off or taken for granted by the professional political class, their paid consultants, and the PACs and campaign contributors.

“Working-class voters have been cut adrift,” wrote Dustin Guastella, a Teamsters official in Philadelphia active in the Center for Working Class Politics (CWCP). “Their views and voices are invisible in Washington, and they see no real champions for their interests.

“The lack of working-class representation in government is also one major factor in explaining the dysfunction in our politics and the persistence of economic policies that seem to only benefit the rich,” he said.

Maybe this fall’s disappointing turnout will alert some people, along with the impressive results by independent Dan Osborn, the first-time candidate running without party support for the U.S. Senate from Nebraska who lost the race by 8 points (while Kamala Harris lost the state by 21 points).

Another independent, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (who caucuses with Democrats), after the election asked, “Will the Democratic leadership learn the lessons of their defeat and create a party that stands with the working class and is prepared to take on the enormously powerful special interests that dominate our economy, our media and our political life?”

Osborn’s campaign was straightforward, relating to people suggesting there are culprits to blame, and explaining what he’d try to do in Washington, where the one-time union president and Navy vet (who earned about $48,000 last year as a steamfitter and mechanic) described the Senate as “a country club of millionaires that work for billionaires.”

A CWCP study showed that among working-class voters, hypothetical candidates with elite or upper-class backgrounds performed significantly worse than everyday Americans. And the working class encompasses different races, faiths, ages, genders, geographies, and so on.

“As a working-class populist, Osborn’s appeal cut across the various divisions to unite working people, because to be working class, and to proudly identify as such, is not just to show voters that you ‘feel their pain,’ as Bill Clinton said,” Guastella said. “But that you actually understand the world from their position. And that’s one reason Osborn thinks that getting more workers represented in office is such a good idea.

“Only 2.3% of Democratic candidates worked exclusively in blue-collar jobs before entering politics,” he continued. “Even if we broaden the category to professionals like teachers and nurses, the number is still under 6%.”

Obstacles include time and money. Time off from their jobs and funds to compete with the rich or the juggernaut of cash raised by the elites.

Organizations of mass constituencies, such as labor unions, can help. Osborn has another concept, and he’s formed the “Working Class Heroes Fund” to advocate for working class candidates, for unions and for union strikers.

“The idea is to help other people like me – teachers, nurses, plumbers, carpenters, bus drivers – to be able to run for office in their particular counties, states, areas, and we can help them accomplish that," he told ABC News.

Sanders commented, “The American people are sick and tired of seeing the rich getting richer. They think billionaires dominate both political parties. They want real change, and Dan’s campaign raised those issues in a very significant way.”

He continued, “We need strong working-class candidates who are prepared to run on working-class issues, [asking], ‘Why in the wealthiest country in the history of the world are 60 percent of our people living paycheck to paycheck? Why do 60,000 people a year die because they don’t get to a doctor on time? Why can’t young people afford higher education?’

“Trump had an appeal to working-class people,” Sanders conceded, “but his ‘solutions’ will make a bad situation even worse.”

Indeed, with an economic plan including more tax cuts to corporations and the affluent, and mor tariffs, the working class is going to bear the burden of even higher prices and lost jobs.

Nevertheless, last month, many working-class voters went for Trump even though they were not liars, insurrectionists or racists because it seemed that even if Trump was – or even an aspiring dictator -- those weren’t dealbreakers if the price of eggs got cheaper.

But that’s unfair and probably inaccurate.

“Eight years ago when Trump won, the analyses proclaimed he secured the working-class vote,” said Natalie Y. Moore in the Chicago Sun-Times. “A closer look by political scientists debunked myths about that support.”

So now, looking ahead, will wealthy candidates, almost all of whom depend on rich contributors, really put in the effort to make life better for the working class, whose interests are different?

Really.

The working class needs candidates from our ranks – the rank and file.

BILLIONAIRES: King Wenceslas wasn’t American, so his riches were missed

In one way, this holiday season does not reflect a joy to the world.

True, one Wise Man, Warren Buffett Thanksgiving week donated $1.1 billion, if not gold, frankincense and myrrh. But hundreds of Scrooges backed Donald Trump’s campaign for the White House, and some of them are likely to get cabinet posts.

The British newspaper The Telegraph reports that this coalition of the super-rich collectively are worth $408 billion, and Forbes magazine reports that Trump’s biggest backers have a combine net worth of $143 billion.

David Kass, the executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, told The Guardian that the goal of Trump’s “government by the billionaires for the billionaires” was huge tax cuts for the super-rich, which would be achieved at the cost of slashing services such as education, Social Security and Medicaid.

“Voters wanted a change,” Kass said. “I think what’s going to happen is that people will say, ‘That’s not actually what I wanted. The rich are rich enough and don’t need more tax cuts. How about helping me?’

“I think there’s going to be a huge mobilization against this.”

A few others have weighed in:

* “The combined net worth of America's 12 wealthiest people just passed $2 trillion. Twelve people: $2 trillion. The bottom half of America collectively holds $3.5 trillion. Wealth inequality is eating this country alive.” – former Labor Secretary and economist Robert Reich

* “Why are the ultra-wealthy pumping hundreds of millions into both the presidential election and critical down ticket races? Because these hedge fund executives, crypto companies and union-busting CEOs aren’t satisfied with just their massive unearned profits and mega yachts. They want total control of our democracy, too.” – AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler

* “We’ve said all along that no matter who is in the White House, our fight remains the same. It’s time for Washington, D.C. to put up or shut up, no matter the party, no matter the candidate. Will our government stand with the working class, or keep doing the bidding of the billionaires?” – UAW President Shawn Fain

* “The next four years are going to be a smash and grab under Trump. [The] special interests who put Trump back in office expect a return on their investment – all the more reason not to let up on oversight.” – U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Finance Committee

 

TRUMP’S BILLIONAIRES

Beyond Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, other wealthy Americans supported Doanld Trump, and some have been nominated for influential positions in the new administration, such as multi-millionaires Doug Burnum (nominated to be Interior Secretary), Dr.. Oz (named administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services), David Sacks (appointed AI and crypto “czar), and Scott Turner (nominated to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development).

However, there also are billionaires expected to help shape Trump’s second term beyond Musk and his “Department of Government Efficiency” partner Vivek Ramaswamy.

Here are some of them

Bill Ackman is a hedge fund manager who endorsed Trump despite supposed misgivings, Reuters reported.

Miriam Adelson is a physician and part owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino and the Dallas Mavericks. Widow of long-time GOP campaign contributor Sheldon Adelson, Miriam is one of Trump’s largest donors, having given $100 million to the Political Action Committee Preserve America to back his candidacy, according to the Center for Responsive :Politics.

Marc Andreessen is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who’s said he supported Trump because the Republican is expected to help the tech industry through deregulation and tax cuts.

Scott Bessent is a hedge fund manager who advised Trump’s campaign, according to Politico reports, and has praised Trump’s economic philosophies. Trump’s nominated him to be Treasury Secretary.

Diane Hendricks co-founded ABC Supply, a distributor of roofing supplies, siding and windows, and was featured at the GOP National Convention. Forbes reported that her net worth of $20 billion makes her the top “self-made woman” in the country.

Robert Wood Johnson IV owns the New York Jets, and was ambassador to the United Kingdom in Trump’s first term.

Howard Lutnick is chairman and CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald who once appeared on Trump’s “Apprentice” TV show. He co-chairs the Trump 2024 transition team.

Timothy Mellon is the grandson of Andrew Mellon, and an heir to the Mellon banking fortune. He’s helped fund Trump endeavors for years and donated some $115 million to Trump’s campaign, Reuters reported .

Linda McMahon helped husband Vince McMahon develop the World Wrestling Entertainment business and led the U.S. Small Business Administration in Trump’s first term.   Trump nominated her to be Secretary of Education.

John Paulson, another hedge-fund billionaire, endorsed Trump in 2024 but has supported his campaigns since 2016, according to Politico. Paulson also has advocated deregulation and lower taxes for years, Reuters reports, and has backed tariffs.

 to for national security and to counter unfair trade practices, as has Trump. 

Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and investor in Facebook, is a strong supporter of Ohio Senator and Vice President-elect JD Vance. USA TODAY reported that Thiel has spent more than $49 million on campaigns since 2000.

 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SEEMS TO BE GETTING ‘MUSK-Y’

Sometimes described as “a Bond villain,” Elon Musk for years has bought his way into business, and now seems to have bought an entrée into government.

The 53-year-old entrepreneur, whose net worth is $344 billion, according to Forbes magazine, spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump, NBC reports, based on Federal Election Commission data.

His “investments” in Trump range from his own super PAC (America PAC) – which was responsible for his $1 million daily giveaways that urged swing-state residents to register to vote and sign a petition he made supporting conservative ideals (reportedly sent by checks from Musk’s Texas company “United States of America, Inc.”) – and the separate RGB PAC funded by his additional $20.5 million contribution that sought to convince voters that Trump’s views on abortion rights are like those of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which they’re not, Ginsburg family and other observers say.

Growing up in a prosperous family in the emerald business in apartheid South Africa, Musk moved to the United States in 1995 to attend college, becoming a U.S. citizen in 2002.

In 1999 he co-founded a company that became PayPal, but eventually was ousted as CEO.

In 2003, he was brought in as an $6.5 million investor in Tesla, which was launched earlier that year by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who made Musk board chair. After becoming CEO in 2008, he cut about 20% of Tesla’s employees and forced Tarpenning and Eberhard out.

In 2009 Musk arranged a partnership with Diamler, which invested $50 million in Tesla, and a year later got another $40 million in debt financing.

By 2018 Musk himself left Tesla after a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit about Musk allegedly falsely claiming that he’d secured funding for a private takeover of Tesla. To settle the case Musk paid a $20 million fine and agreed to step down.

He bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, after which the platform was renamed X and became more of a Right-wing site espousing disinformation and hateful rhetoric in the name of free speech.

“We’ve never really seen anyone be that directly connected with a campaign unless they were the candidate,” says Jason Seawright, a Northwestern University political science professor and co-author of the book “Billionaires and Stealth Politics.”

Trump named Musk and fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy to lead an independent “Department of Government Efficiency,” and the two vowed to cut $2 trillion in federal spending despite existing agencies responsible for such activities, including the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability Office (an auditing organization that cut $70 billion from federal agencies in fiscal year 2023. Also, of course, Congress itself has the sole constitutional power to spend federal funds.

After the November election results were announced, Musk posted on X, “Novus Ordo Seclorum,” Latin for “New World Order.”

In the days following the election, Musk’s personal wealth grew about $70 billion higher CNBC reported. Tesla stock jumped more than 25% since Nov. 5, adding around $225 billion of market value, Axios reported; Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI, maker of the chatbot Grok, is raising up to $6 billion at a $50 billion valuation, CNBC reported; and his SpaceX company is preparing a tender offer that would value the rocket company at more than $250 billion, up $40 billion from earlier this year, according to the Financial Times.

 

Election aftermath: Labor held the line

Some parts of Democrats’ traditional coalition may have broken ranks in Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump, but organized labor stayed true, nationally and in Illinois.

Labor supported Harris at a level comparable to Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump – 54% to 43%, Four years ago, Biden finished with 56%; in 2016 Clinton has 51%.

“The labor movement put together probably its most expansive [campaign] program overall, and it had results,” said Jimmy Williams Jr., the head of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.

In Illinois, “We had a very aggressive member-to-member program and had success throughout the state,” said Tim Drea, President of the Illinois AFL-CIO.

Indeed, the state legislature should maintain labor-friendly Democrats’ supermajority in Springfield (78-40 in the House and 40-19 in the Senate), according to the Associated Press’ election results.

Nationally, Trump exaggerated the condition of the economy and claimed he’d bring down prices. But he was vague except for pledging to institute tariffs, which would affect imports’ prices, so such increases will be passed on to consumers, who’d bear that burden. Further, Presidents have little power to control prices, compared to the independent Federal Reserve and to corporations that have been price-gouging since the pandemic.

Still, many “voted for their wallets,” Drea said, noting, “All our political offices stressed kitchen-table issues, bread-and-butter issues.”

Labor’s conventional outreach efforts were effective, but turnout – especially in swing states – was disappointing, according to Illinois AFL-CIO Political Director Bill Looby, who told the Labor Paper that union efforts were successful in Illinois.

“We were strong in many county races, in statewide offices, and in keeping the state’s Congressional delegation overwhelmingly Democratic,” Looby said.

Mentioning U.S. Reps. Eric Sorensen and Nikki Budzinski, Looby added, “We knew where the hot spots were and concentrated on turnout there.”

Organized labor now must remain engaged and vigilant.

In Illinois, “There’s a couple of fears,” commented Jason Lee, senior adviser to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “One is implementing a plutocracy, upward redistribution, governing on behalf of billionaires and not for everyday working people, which is what the mayor’s vision is based on.

“The other fear, obviously, is the authoritarian impulses,” Lee continued. “The enemy within. Going after political dissidents. Curtailing freedom of speech, freedom of movement. Curtailing rights as it pertains to women.”

Trump could upend:

* law enforcement by sending National Guard troops into some neighborhoods and replacing key personnel at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, affecting prosecutions for gun crimes;

* women’s health care by following through on some federal legislators’ idea for national restrictions;

* climate and environment by restricting efforts to meet climate goals and to reduce emissions, and

* immigration  by deporting millions of undocumented immigrants, including an estimated 400,000 in the state – some of whom are working in the agriculture, health and hospitality sectors.

 

A Trump administration with loyalists replacing nonpartisan staffers also could take aim as federal support for ongoing building projects, including the expansion of O’Hare airport and the extension of the CTA’s Red Line.

Statewide, Gov. Pritzker’s administration is determined to persevere. On Nov. 7, Pritzker said, “To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior.

“You come for my people, you come through me.”