Tavis Smiley, the syndicated talk show host who has been a vocal critic of President Barack Obama's policies on behalf of African-Americans, will bring his national "poverty tour" to Chicago this weekend, putting the spotlight on economic hardships in the president's hometown.
The tour, organized by Smiley and Princeton professor Cornel West, is the latest effort by the two to highlight what they see as deficiencies in the Obama's administration and to force the president and Congress to pay more attention to poor people who have been hit hardest by the recession.
The events, scheduled for Sunday in Joliet and Chicago, come on the heels of the deal approved Tuesday by Congress to raise the country's debt ceiling while allowing for at least $2.1 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years. Smiley called the legislation, signed by the president, "a declaration of war on the poor."
"I don't understand how the president could agree to a deal that does not extend unemployment benefits, does not close a single corporate loophole and doesn't raise the taxes on the rich," said Smiley. "The poor are being rendered more and more invisible in this country. Nobody, not the president, not the Republicans in Congress, is speaking to the truth of the suffering of everyday people."
After signing the legislation, the president said he would now return his attention to job creation and called for Congress to consider several measures including the extension of middle-class tax cuts. The president also has called for higher taxes on the wealthy.
"We can't balance the budget on the backs of people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession," the president said. "Everyone is going to have to chip in. It's only fair."
Smiley and West have planned town hall meetings in 16 cities, from Washington to Memphis, where families will have the opportunity to talk about their difficulties making ends meet. When the tour ends Aug. 12, the men will continue to use their national public radio program, "Smiley & West," as a platform to keep the conversation going through the November elections, they said.
A couple of hundred people, mostly black and Latino warehouse workers, are expected to attend a private forum Sunday afternoon in Joliet, followed by a public town hall meeting at 7 p.m. at St. Sabina Church, 1210 W. 78th Place in Chicago.
"The conversation in the nation has shifted dramatically to nutrition, especially with the first lady on this campaign about eating healthy," said Juan Andrade Jr., president of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, which is participating in the Joliet event. "But it's kind of difficult for that message to resonate among people who barely have enough to eat. When you are hungry, you eat what you can."
Smiley said Chicago was chosen as one of the tour cities because of its high rate of poverty. Across the country, Smiley said, families that were once middle class have fallen into poverty.
The recession has pushed the national poverty rate to the highest point in 15 years, to 14.3 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In Chicago, 21.6 percent of residents have incomes below the poverty level. In Illinois, the poverty rate is 13.3 percent.
Some local supporters said the events should not be seen as an attack on Obama, but as a means to provide a forum for poor people who have no political voice.