Wilmette President Joins Illinois Leaders, Urges Debt Action from Obama

More than 40 Illinois politicians, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Wilmette President Chris Canning, sent a letter to Washington Thursday that presses a deal to raise the debt ceiling.

The missive specifically urges Illinois Congressmen and President Barack Obama to come together before the United States defaults on Aug. 2.

The Illinois leaders highlighted the potential local implications of federal inaction:

Our businesses depend on us to provide infrastructure to allow them to move their goods and services. However, we cannot provide all of these on our own; we rely on federal programs such as the Community Development Block Grant, Community Oriented Policing Programs, and Federal Transportation subsidies to help provide these much needed services. Our seniors rely on Social Security to make ends meet. As we listen to the discussion in Washington surrounding the debt ceiling crisis, we fear that all of this is in jeopardy.

Read the entire letter on Lynn Sweet's blog at the Chicago Sun-Times. And join the conversation on the debt ceiling deal on our Facebook page.