illinois

New Data Shows Poverty Rates In Illinois On The Rise

by on September 14, 2011

Huffington Post…

Some depressing statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau Tuesday show that Illinois is currently home to more poor people than was the case nearly two decades ago. As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, more than 1.82 million people lived at or below the poverty level in Illinois last year compared to 1.69 million in the year before — percentage-wise, that’s an increase of 14.1 percent from 13.2 percent in 2009. While Illinois’ poverty rate is high, it is still lower than the current national average, which is a whopping 15.1 percent, or just more than 46 million Americans. The number is the highest-ever since the Census Bureau began reporting poverty rates in 1959. The number of uninsured Illinois residents is also on the rise. The Sun-Times reports that 1.91 million people, or 14.8 percent of the state’s population last year are without health insurance, up from 14.2 percent or 1.81 million in 2009. Relatedly, the number of long-term unemployed Illinoisans, those who have not found a job in more than 26 weeks of searching, is also at a near-record high. The Chicago Tribune reports that the poverty figures are being felt locally at food pantries, low-income resource centers and homeless shelters throughout the Chicagoland area . Bob Dolgan, a spokesman for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, said his organization, which operates some 650 shelters and pantries in the area said they’ve serviced 5.1 million individual visits during the most recent fiscal year. Three years ago, that number was only 3.2 million. As recently as 1999, the Illinois’ poverty rate was just 10.7 percent . According to a report issued late last year by the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights, emphasized that child poverty rates and “extreme poverty” rates — the number of those living on less than half the federal poverty threshold — has also been steadily on the rise over the past decade. The Census Bureau defines poverty as having a household income of $11,139 or less for one person and $22,314 for a family of four. Without unemployment insurance or other government assistance, the reported poverty rate would have been even higher. According to the Associated Press, University of Chicago professor Bruce Meyer said the worst still be coming down the pike in terms of poverty levels both in Illinois and nationwide as demand continues to increase for food stamps and other government assistance — a safety net that is under serious threat of drastic cutbacks given the state’s dire financial straits . Photo by gregorywass via Flickr .

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New Data Shows Poverty Rates In Illinois On The Rise

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‘NO MORE DEBT’: Municipal Bond Issuance Down By Half This Year

by on June 3, 2011

Huffington Post…

NEW YORK — As cities and states struggle with historic budget shortfalls, governments have put one item squarely in the cross-hairs: their debt. Restricting the debt burden has proven to be a politically feasible way for a local government to address its larger fiscal problems — or at least to give the impression it’s doing so. While local politicians clash over pension reform, tax increases and other divisive issues, debt-reduction has emerged as a relatively popular measure. Issuance of long-term municipal bonds dropped by 51 percent during the first five months of the year, compared to the same period a year ago, the Bond Buyer reported, citing data from Thomson Reuters. Limiting bond sales constricts governments’ ability to pave roads, repair bridges and build hospitals and parks. And while the budget relief won from this austerity isn’t large, even for the governments that pay the most interest to bondholders, it sends a message to taxpayers and investors that a government is at least attempting to get its house in order. “I just don’t think people are in the mood to have governments issuing debt at this time, when they’re making service cuts,” said Howard Cure, director of municipal research at Evercore Wealth Management. “The optics of issuing debt,” he said, do not “play very well.” The first five months of the year saw about $83.7 billion of new municipal debt, less than half of the $170 billion that came to market during the same period last year, the Bond Buyer noted, adding that the volume so far this year is the lowest it’s been since 2000. This restricted supply has helped boost the value of bonds. It’s been a difficult several months for municipal bonds, as predictions of widespread defaults have roiled markets, and investors have steadily pulled money from municipal mutual funds. But limited issuance has helped curb adverse effects, the Wall Street Journal reported last month. Municipal yields have fallen this year as the value of bonds has risen, making it cheaper for governments borrow money. The difference, or spread, between yields on an index of municipal bonds and equivalent Treasury bonds was 0.85 of a percentage point at Thursday’s close, down from a January high of 1.04 percentage points, data from Bloomberg show. The states with the most bond issuance saw dramatic year-over-year drops. Issuance in New York, California and Illinois — the top three states for issuance this year and last — dropped, respectively, 38 percent, 70 percent and 48 percent, the Bond Buyer noted. In Illinois, the state legislature voted down a sale of more than $6 billion in bonds on Sunday, and there’s no new bond issuance planned for the coming fiscal year, said Illinois Treasury spokesman Matt Butterfield. For the state that bears the second-lowest credit rating of all 50 states from Standard & Poor’s, borrowing is costly. “Any bonding that is not done here, it’s because it’s expensive,” Butterfield said. “We’re paying a premium because of the credit rating we’re suffering from.” In Illinois, as elsewhere, debt has been painted as an enemy. “Some policy makers want to continue to spend more dollars than the state brings in. Some are advocating long-term, significant borrowing which will spread the state’s challenges into the future. I respectfully disagree,” Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford said in a recent release entitled “NO MORE DEBT.” In California, the strategy is similar. S&P has given California the single lowest rating of all 50 states, prompting investors to demand higher yield from the state and also from its local governments. No bonds have been sold at the state level so far this year, when typically there would have been a spring sale, said Tom Dresslar, a California Treasury spokesman. As a portion of the budget, debt payments are dwarfed by spending on services such as education, corrections and health care. But debt has nevertheless been targeted for reduction. “It’s not the biggest by any means, but it’s been growing,” Dresslar said. “Every dollar that you have to pay in debt service is a dollar that you cannot spend on schools, public safety, health care — the whole gamut of public services.” Yields on the state’s debt have indeed fallen. As of May 27, California’s 10-year paper was yielding 3.60 percent in the secondary market, compared to 4.01 percent that time last year, according to data provided by the state Treasury. Restricting bond issuance, though, limits a government’s ability to spend. California will not be able to start some new infrastructure projects it had planned for this year, Dresslar said. But as long as the state sells bonds this fall, the projects that are already in the works will be funded, and new ones will eventually commence, he added. “Whenever you defer capital improvements you’re going to have a bigger problem later on,” said Cure, of Evercore. “Inevitably [bond] issuance will bounce back because infrastructure is in bad shape in this country, but right now the more immediate issue is balancing the budget.”

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‘NO MORE DEBT’: Municipal Bond Issuance Down By Half This Year

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Company Unfairly Fired Worker Over His Facebook Posts, Say Feds

May 24, 2011

WASHINGTON — The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced today that it has filed a complaint alleging that a Chicago-area car dealership wrongfully fired an employee after he posted commentary critical of the company on his Facebook page. The complaint is the latest in a string of moves by the labor board indicating that it wants to clarify workers’ rights when it comes to Facebook and labor law. In the Illinois case, a car salesman at Karl Knauz BMW , in Lake Bluff, took to Facebook to complain about the lame food and drinks served at a dealership event promoting a new BMW model. He and a few co-workers apparently felt that Sam’s Club hot dogs and bottled water were no way to hype a luxury car — and they thought their sales might suffer because of it. The salesman’s critical commentary included photographic evidence of the unremarkable snacks. At the behest of management, the employee pulled down his post the following week, but he was later fired for it anyway. In its complaint, the NLRB counsel argues that the Facebook posting is “protected concerted activity” — that’s labor-speak for things your employer can’t retaliate against you for. The case suggests, once again, that the labor board views Facebook and other social networking sites as a kind of open forum where employees should feel free to discuss working conditions without fear of being punished. Just last week, the labor board ruled that a Buffalo, N.Y., nonprofit wrongfully fired five of its workers after they criticized their employer in postings on Facebook. In that case, a worker at Hispanics United hopped on Facebook and floated a colleague’s allegation that employees at the nonprofit didn’t do enough to help their clients. The post drew some heated commentary from other employees, and management later canned five of them, saying their comments amounted to harassment of the employee who originally criticized co-workers. In a case brought by the NLRB last fall, an employee at a Connecticut ambulance company was fired after disparaging her boss on Facebook . The case was settled in February, and the company, American Medical Response, agreed to no longer discipline employees for discussing their working conditions on Facebook or elsewhere. An NLRB spokesperson says that in the wake of the American Medical Response case, the agency has received a number of complaints regarding firings due to Facebook posts. Barring a settlement between the car dealership and the feds, the Illinois case will go before an administrative law judge in July. When asked about the complaint over the phone, a manager at Karl Knauz BMW said, “I don’t know anything about that.” UPDATE: According to trade publication Dealer Communications , a lawyer for the dealership disputes the NLRB’s complaint , saying the worker was fired for reasons other than criticizing his employer in a Facebook posting.

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George Goehl: Illinois Taxpayers Demand that Wall Street Pays Their Fair Share

May 13, 2011

Unwilling to be baited into a false debate about budgets that put all the responsibility on hard-working families, more than 500 Illinoisans joined together to launch Make Wall Street Pay Illinois on Thursday. In the face of Illinois’ $6 billion budget deficit, the state says there is no alternative but to continue to cut mental health services, funding for public education, programs for low-income children and care for seniors. Meanwhile, Wall Street and big banks are foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of Illinois families and neglecting to pay their fair share of taxes. Wall Street and big banks like JP Morgan Chase are projected to cost Illinois taxpayers $7.4 billion dollars alone in costs associated with foreclosures by 2012. Yesterday, in response, protestors in six cities delivered the message to JP Morgan Chase and Illinois elected officials that it is time for Wall Street to end the revenue crisis, create jobs and stop illegal foreclosures. “This isn’t a spending crisis. We’re in a revenue crisis because corporations and the rich aren’t paying their fair share. In fact, they are costing us, and we’re picking up their tab. We don’t want to hear about deficits anymore. We found the money and we’re going to get it back,” said Curtis Smith of Lakeview Action Coalition. “Make Wall Street Pay Illinois” was launched through a series of actions at JP Morgan Chase locations and offices of state legislators in downtown Chicago, Skokie, Homewood, Peoria, Springfield and Bloomington yesterday. The campaign presented a plan to get much-needed money out of the hands of Wall Street and big banks and back in the Illinois state budget: Hold hearings on rotten deals, “Interest Rate Swaps” that overcharge interest to the state and our cities and towns. These rip-offs cost the state budget $88 million per year and our cities and towns hundreds of millions more and we want out. The campaign has an online petition asking Illinois State Attorney General Lisa Madigan to investigate bad deals with banks that cost taxpayers millions that they will hand deliver on May 24th. Pass HB 1810 to enact a $500 fee on banks for foreclosing on homeowners. This would fund mediation programs that would allow 75% of homeowners to modify their loans, stabilize communities and put $20 million back into our state budget. Pass HB 1109 to allow communities to charge fees for bank owned vacant property that is not kept up. These fees can be used to keep up property, reduce crime, stabilize home values, return property taxes to local communities and boost the Illinois economy. Get Illinois out of the ridiculous federal rules that allow corporations to write off costs far in advance of spending them. This corporate welfare costs Illinois as much as $1 billion per year. At J.P. Morgan Chase Bank’s main downtown branch, a group of community leaders were able to enter the bank and secure a meeting with VP James Gilliam before they were escorted out of the bank lobby by police who had set up checkpoints in advance of yesterday’s action. These actions are part of a series of campaigns to ensure that big banks pay their fair share for breaking the economy, stopping passing on costs to taxpayers and simply pay their fair share of taxes. Make Wall Street Pay Illinois is now preparing to send a delegation to the Showdown in Ohio at JP Morgan Chase’s May 17th shareholder meeting in Ohio. For more information, visit www.makewallstreetpayillinois.org

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15,000 Jobs Could Be Lost if Sears Leaves Illinois

May 9, 2011

Since Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a controversial income tax hike into law, several big businesses with headquarters in the state have publicly considered leaving . On Monday, Gov. Quinn told reporters he was working to keep Sears Holdings Corp. from flying the coop. According to Crain’s Chicago Business , Sears has been in talks with North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and New Jersey about leaving the Hoffman Estates-based headquarters after their state and local tax incentives expire in 2012. “We do owe it to our associates and shareholders to consider options and alternatives and intend to be very thoughtful and thorough in our deliberations,” a Sears spokesman said in a statement. “It is still very early in the process.” Sears Roebuck and Co. moved into the Hoffman Estates offices after leaving its home in Chicago’s Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) 22 years ago. It was reportedly set to open up shop in North Carolina, when Illinois offered them $100 million in state infrastructure money to stay. The company has since become a vital part of the community: at least 6,000 Sears employees live in the Chicago suburbs, and an additional 9,000 have jobs with nearby businesses, vendors and contractors, according to the Daily Herald . The Daily Herald sums up how destructive the move would be to the area: Besides the loss of roughly 15,000 jobs, a Sears move out of state would lead to the loss of millions in tax revenue, according to the impact study Sears commissioned from Gruen Gruen & Associates and the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory. “Annual tax revenues to the state of Illinois will decline by $130.7 million,” the study said. “Annual tax revenues to the Chicago region will decline by $112.4 million.” This is not the first time Gov. Quinn has been asked to expand tax incentives for big businesses to keep them in the state. On Friday, Motorola announced that the state agreed to a $100 million deal to keep their headquarters in suburban Libertyville. The company agreed to spend nearly $600 million in research and development in return. “We will sit down with the Sears people and their representatives and their elected representatives who are in the area of Hoffman Estates and I’m sure we’ll work out something that will work for the company but, more importantly, work for the common good, for the workers, for the jobs,” Quinn said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times . Legislation is also pending in Springfield that would extend Sears’ deal 15 years if the company keeps a certain number of local employees.

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Nuclear Regulators Criticized For Close Ties To Industry

May 8, 2011

In the fall of 2007, workers at the Byron nuclear power plant in Illinois were using a wire brush to clean a badly corroded steel pipe — one in a series that circulate cooling water to essential emergency equipment — when something unexpected happened: the brush poked through.

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President & First Lady Paid $453,770 Taxes On $1.7 Million Income

April 18, 2011

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, reported income of $1.728 million for last year, much of it from the sale of the president’s pre-presidency books. They paid federal taxes totaling $453,770 after receiving a $12,334 refund. The Obamas paid their taxes at lowered Bush-era rates, even as he campaigns to end them for households with adjusted gross incomes above $250,000 – a category into which the first family clearly fits. Joining the flocks of Americans filing their taxes near the end of the federal filing period, the Obamas made withholding and other payments to the Internal Revenue Service last year totaling $466,104. That was an overpayment, so they got their refund. The president and first lady reported donating $245,075 – about 14.2 percent of their adjusted gross income – to 36 different charities. The largest single gift was a contribution of $131,075 to the Fisher House Foundation, a charity that offers a scholarship fund for children of soldiers who die or are disabled. The Obamas’ adjusted gross income for 2010 of $1.728 million was well below the $5.5 million they reported for the year before, both totals mostly driven by royalties from books written earlier by Obama. They included his 1995 memoir “Dreams From My Father” and his 2006 political book, “The Audacity of Hope.” The White House released the returns on the day that federal tax returns are due this year, although Obama signed his 1040 form last Tuesday. Michelle Obama signed the tax return on Wednesday. They also released their Illinois income tax returns showing they paid $51,568 in state income taxes for last year. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, reported more modest earnings, a combined adjusted gross income of $379,178, on which they paid $86,626 in federal taxes for 2010. The Bidens’ withholding and earlier payments came to just $79,446 – so they had a tax bill of $7,180 to settle. The Obamas paid 26 percent of their adjusted gross income in federal income taxes. The Bidens paid 23 percent. The Bidens paid $14,479 in Delaware income taxes and $3,515 in Virginia income taxes. Jill Biden is an adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College. The Bidens contributed $5,360 to charities. ___ Associated Press writer Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report

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Marty Robins: Economic Policy Makers Need to Get Real

March 25, 2011

I wonder if other economic observers were shaken to the extent I was by recent comments by seemingly disparate actors, William Dudley, president of the New York Fed, and President Obama. The former sought to downplay the extent of price inflation by explaining that as is true with iPad devices and other consumer electronics, we are often receiving more for our money today than in the past. “Today you can buy an iPad 2 that costs the same as an iPad 1 that is twice as powerful,” he said referring to Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) latest handheld tablet computer hitting stories on Friday. “You have to look at the prices of all things,” he said. The latter, referred to cars getting eight or ten MPG as having poor fuel economy. When our policy-makers are out of touch with economic reality to this extent and not even embarrassed about it, it’s hard to be confident about our economic future. Mr. Dudley shows an appalling insensitivity toward and ignorance of economic reality when he invokes the iPad as an indication of anything having to do with the broader economy. While the device evokes a great deal of attention among the glitterati, one sees relatively few actual devices being used in public settings and virtually none in the business environment. One questions the significance to the information technology environment of this development and wonders whether Dudley has any familiarity with the day-to-day affairs of this function in Corporate America. More importantly, while advances in information technology are genuinely relevant to our price levels and individual productivity, which often drives wage levels, they are relevant much more in the long term than in the short term. It is in the short term where people and companies are feeling the effects of substantial price increases for things like food and energy, which they buy every day, and ever-rising state and local taxes, which are constantly in evidence in some form, such as the recent drastic increase in the Illinois income tax. No one updates their computer capability every day or every week, month or year, so that even to the extent that IT advances do moderate inflation, their benefits are not readily apparent. It’s perfectly understandable that someone in the audience for Dudley’s speech would note that “I can’t eat an iPad.” In that the New York Fed has a, if not the, central role in development and implementation of our monetary policy, it’s quite disconcerting when its leader appears to be so far removed from the day-to-day experience of so many economic actors and gets caught up in economic theory as opposed to observation of actual prices. When our President sought to demonstrate his empathy for the common man bedeviled by rising gas prices, he famously declared : “You may want to buy a fuel-efficient car,” quoth Obama, “but you may not be able to afford it. And so you’re stuck with the old clunker that’s getting 8 or 10 miles a gallon.” As anyone who drives or has purchased a vehicle in the past ten years knows, it is virtually impossible to obtain any vehicle, new or used, which gets only 8-10 mpg. Even today’s ‘gas guzzlers’ do far better. No such vehicles have been mass produced for 20-30 years. Even if one wished to waste their money on gas, they would have to buy either an antique or very limited production current vehicle to do what the President has in mind. While there is certainly good reason to seek to improve fuel economy from today’s levels — has anyone heard about the situation in Libya, Yemen and elsewhere in the MidEast? — the credibility of this message is substantially undermined when its lead messenger has so little grasp of reality. In today’s interconnected economy, with the U.S. being the world’s biggest debtor, credibility of leadership is invaluable. No one can rely upon natural resources or military force to shore up their economy when private and governmental counterparties lose confidence. Even the values of intellectual property and technical innovation are increasingly nullified when leadership is called into question. We must have far better from those in positions such as Messrs. Dudley and Obama.

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Bank Watch: Bank Failures Reach 23 for the Year

March 3, 2011

One more bank failed in the past week, bringing the total number of U.S. bank failures for 2011 to 23. Valley Community Bank, St. Charles, IL, was closed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation – Division of Banking, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) as receiver. The FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with First State Bank of Mendota, IL, to acquire essentially all of its…

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Brown & Brown, Inc. Promotes Linda Downs to Regional President

January 6, 2011

DAYTONA BEACH, FL and TAMPA, FL–(Marketwire – January 6, 2011) – The Board of Directors of Brown & Brown, Inc. ( NYSE : BRO ) today announced that Linda S. Downs, CPCU, AAI, currently serving as Senior Executive Vice President of the Company, has been elected a Regional President. This promotion reflects Ms. Downs’ assumption of responsibility for the oversight of additional retail operations of the Company in Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Ohio .  She will continue to be responsible for certain of the Company’s retail operations in Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin, and for Halcyon Underwriters, Inc., a wholesale brokerage division operation in Orlando, Florida. Ms. Downs will also continue to oversee certain corporate matters, including the Company’s Benefits Department and its Leadership Schools.

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The One State Budget Crisis No One’s Talking About

January 3, 2011

You know the story and you know the names: states like Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and California are supposed to be in huge financial trouble thanks to bloated governments, business-unfriendly regulations, and strong public sector unions.

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Princeton National Bancorp, Inc. & Citizens First National Bank Announce Retirement of James B. Miller, Executive Vice President & Commercial Banking Manager

December 23, 2010

PRINCETON, IL–(Marketwire – December 23, 2010) – Princeton National Bancorp, Inc., Princeton, Illinois ( NASDAQ : PNBC ), the holding company of Citizens First National Bank. 

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Video: Durbin Says More Disclosure Needed on Credit Card Fees

December 17, 2010

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — U.S. Senator Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, discusses proposed rules by the Federal Reserve that could cut debit-card transaction fees by 90 percent. Durbin, speaking with Peter Cook in Washington on Bloomberg Television’s “InBusiness,” also discusses Congress’s decision to pass an $858 billion bill that extends for two years all the Bush-era tax cuts. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. Hires Financial Services Veteran to Advise on Branch Development

November 22, 2010

Roger Buller Joins Firm and Named to Board of Directors; Company Also Adds Illinois Satellite Location and Four Financial Professionals

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Dory Rand: Low Credit Scores Challenge Recovery in Illinois Communities of Color, but All Is Not Lost

September 17, 2010

As the recession drags on, policymakers and community leaders are searching for strategies to encourage job creation, investment in neighborhoods, and a return to economic stability. The findings from Woodstock Institute’s latest report, however, depict troubling barriers to recovery — particularly in communities hit hardest by the financial crisis. In ” Bridging the Gap: Credit Scores and Economic Opportunity in Illinois Communities of Color ,” our researchers found that Illinois communities of color had high concentrations of individuals with very low, “non-prime” credit scores. For example, in highly African-American communities, 54 percent of individuals had credit scores below 620 — that’s more than three times the percentage of very low score individuals in white communities. This bears repeating: Over half of the people in Illinois’ predominantly African-American communities likely would not qualify for low-cost, prime credit. What does this mean for these neighborhoods’ chances for revitalization? For one, communities of color were disproportionately devastated by the foreclosure crisis. Stretches of vacant homes, many of which have fallen into serious disrepair, are common sights in many parts of Chicago, but local families may want to invest in rebuilding their communities. Obtaining a mortgage may be difficult or costly, however, if someone in the household saw their credit damaged because they were unable to pay certain bills due to a period of unemployment. Even finding a new, good paying job may not be enough to get a mortgage, given many lenders’ increasingly tight underwriting standards. Access to affordable credit cards, car financing, or small business loans will also likely be limited. And while the data and findings in our report are from Illinois, neighborhoods across the country are struggling with similar challenges. A high concentration of low credit scores can affect employment and housing in a neighborhood as well. Increasingly, employers are incorporating information from credit reports into hiring decisions, and landlords routinely check credit data during tenant screening procedures. It’s clear that high concentrations of low credit scores will challenge Illinois’ communities of color, but there are solid strategies available that can help individuals build credit histories and increase access to sustainable, affordable credit. The Credit Builders Alliance has developed a five-step toolkit to build a positive credit history. Policymakers and funders should support efforts to make curricula like this one widely available to credit counselors. Additionally, data from this report can be used to better target these resources to communities with high concentrations of individuals who need credit repair. Some individuals have low credit scores because of a lack of credit history or “thin file,” not because of a poor payment history. Reporting positive payment history on services like utilities, phone bills, insurance premiums, and rent can build credit and reward positive behavior. Finally, financial institutions should expand efforts to use relationship-based underwriting. While the increasing reliance on automated underwriting has lowered costs, automation can overlook borrowers who are potentially good credit risks but lack a traditional credit history. Lenders such as Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago and Self-Help Credit Union in North Carolina have proven that taking a more expansive view of the factors that make someone a good credit risk can be a successful model for borrowers and lenders alike. I believe that a solid credit history is an asset that greatly contributes to an individual’s opportunities for economic security. If you can get favorable terms on credit for buying a home, starting a business, or continuing education, you’ll have more to invest and save over the course of your lifetime. With so many families reeling from unemployment, foreclosures, and loss of income, continued advocacy for strategies like credit building that promote economic security is more important than ever.

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Video: Elvis Statue Highlights Auction of Blagojevich Items: Video

August 20, 2010

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) — A moving company auctioned off some of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s personal items because he failed to make payments on a storage unit. Items included a life-sized statue of Elvis. Bloomberg’s Margaret Brennan reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Illinois Authority Sells 11B In Debt

August 10, 2010

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority if Illinois has raised nearly 11 billion through a debt sale in the municipal bond market

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Andrea Kovach: Payday Lenders Beware: Financial Reform Law Promotes Alternative Small Dollar Loans

July 28, 2010

This year is providing a growing opportunity for mainstream financial institutions to offer affordable small-dollar loans while proving to be a difficult one for predatory lenders. First, Illinois passed legislation closing a gaping loophole in payday lending regulation. Now, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act , signed into law by President Obama on July 21st, has the potential to significantly increase the number of affordable small-dollar loans available to consumers. Title XII of the Act “encourage[s] initiatives for financial products and services that are appropriate and accessible for millions of Americans who are not fully incorporated into the financial mainstream.” Specifically, the Act will incentivize financial institutions to offer low-cost, small-dollar loans that serve as safe alternatives to payday loans. Rather than regulating high-cost payday lenders, the Dodd-Frank Act seeks to provide financial incentives to institutions to offer more competitively priced small-dollar loan products through loan loss reserve funds, technical assistance funding, and other programs and grants to promote financial access and education. The Act authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to establish grants to eligible entities to provide low-cost small-dollar loans. In this case, eligible entities include any federally insured depository institution , state, local or tribal government entities, community development financial institutions (CDFI) and 501(c)3 organizations. In order to receive a grant, the loan provider must offer financial literacy and educational opportunities to each small-dollar loan consumer. The Act also includes several provisions that are exclusive to CDFIs. A CDFI is a financial institution that expands the availability of credit, investment capital, and financial services in economically distressed communities. The new legislation allows for the creation of loan loss reserve funds in order to help defray the costs of any defaults. Concerns regarding defaults are one of the primary obstacles cited by bankers who have expressed interest in starting a small-dollar loan program. However, after offering small-dollar loans for two years, the charge-off ratios were in line with industry standards for unsecured loans to individuals and charge-off rates compared favorably with credit cards . In order to qualify for the grant, the CDFI must offer a small-dollar loan program that offers loan amounts of $2,500 or less, to be repaid in installments with no pre-payment penalties, as well as any other requirements established by the fund administrator. Not all payday loan alternatives are created equal. Therefore, it is necessary to define the parameters of the eligible loan programs in a way that creates products that are truly safe , reasonable, appropriate, and accessible for consumers. One tool to help create a consumer-friendly product is the template proposed in the FDIC’s Small-Dollar Loan Pilot Program . According to the FDIC, the essential elements of safe, affordable and feasible product design include: • Loan amount of $2,500 or less; • Term of 90 days or more; • APR of 36% including fees; • Streamlined underwriting with proof of identity and income; • Credit report (but not necessarily score) to determine loan amount and repayment ability. This two-year pilot program, completed in the fourth quarter of 2009, included 28 participating banks that made more than 34,400 small-dollar loans with a principal balance of over $40 million, all with an APR of 36% or below, including any fees. Three banks headquartered in Illinois participated in the FDIC study: Community Bank – Wheaton/Glen Ellyn, Lake Forest Bank & Trust , and State Bank of Countryside. Lake Forest Bank was able to earn a small profit on the loans and intends to develop long-term relationships with performing borrowers. Losses on their small-dollar loan product were no higher than those on other consumer loans. Lake Forest Bank reported one of the most successful changes made to its program was reducing the minimum loan amount to $250 to accommodate borrowers who did not need large amounts of credit. Also on the state level, the Illinois Asset Building Group (IABG), a diverse statewide coalition invested in building the stability and strength of Illinois communities through increased asset ownership and asset protection, is working to promote alternative small-dollar loans in Illinois. For more information, see the IABG brief Alternative Small-Dollar Loans in Illinois: Creating Sound Financial Products Through Regulation and Innovation. With 2010 just half over, there are even more changes on the horizon for the alternative small dollar loan landscape. This article was coauthored by Hannah Weinberger-Divack, a VISTA working at the Shriver Center.

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Obama To Visit Big Three Auto Plants In Michigan, Illinois Next Week

July 23, 2010

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will visit U.S. auto plants in Michigan and Illinois next week to highlight his administration’s decision to rescue General Motors and Chrysler last year and revitalize the U.S. auto industry. Obama plans to use trips to General Motors and Chrysler plants in Detroit on July 30 and a Ford assembly plant in his hometown of Chicago on Aug. 5 to discuss the progress in the U.S. auto industry following the government-led bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that Obama will acknowledge the decisions to save GM and Chrysler were unpopular with many Americans but necessary to save hundreds of thousands of jobs and help rebuild the auto industry for the future. “The president believes that the decisions that we made around the auto industry are a parable for where we are economically. We had to make some tough and even unpopular decisions but those decisions are laying a new foundation for economic growth and a brighter future,” Gibbs said. GM and Chrysler received tens of billions of dollars in federal aid to undergo swift bankruptcies last year and have begun to show signs of rebounding. GM, which is majority-owned by the government, posted a quarterly profit in May and has repaid nearly $7 billion in loans from the U.S. government while preparing for an initial stock offering that could further repay taxpayers. Chrysler, which was placed under control of Italian automaker Fiat as part of its bankruptcy, posted a $143 million first-quarter operating profit. It has made sales gains during the spring and summer months. Ford did not receive federal aid, and announced a second quarter profit of $2.6 billion amid sales that far outpaced the rest of the industry. It was Ford’s fifth straight quarterly profit. Obama has tried to sell the administration’s work with the auto industry as one of the success stories of his recovery program. Obama will visit GM’s Hamtramck plant, which is gearing up to make the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car. The plant is one of nine plants that the automaker will keep open during the typical two-week summer shutdown to boost production of popular models. In nearby Detroit, Obama will tour the Jefferson North Chrysler plant. It recently added a second shift of production, adding about 1,100 jobs to the plant. Workers there recently launched the new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The following week, Obama will tour the Chicago plant where Ford is building the new Explorer sport utility vehicle. The redesigned SUV, which will be revealed on Monday, is expected to show major improvements in fuel efficiency. The president will also raise money for Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, the Illinois state treasurer who is seeking Obama’s old Senate seat. Giannoulias has been outpaced in fundraising by Republican Mark Kirk, a congressman from Chicago’s northern suburbs.

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Obama To Visit Big Three Auto Plants In Michigan, Illinois Next Week

July 23, 2010

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will visit U.S. auto plants in Michigan and Illinois next week to highlight his administration’s decision to rescue General Motors and Chrysler last year and revitalize the U.S. auto industry. Obama plans to use trips to General Motors and Chrysler plants in Detroit on July 30 and a Ford assembly plant in his hometown of Chicago on Aug. 5 to discuss the progress in the U.S. auto industry following the government-led bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that Obama will acknowledge the decisions to save GM and Chrysler were unpopular with many Americans but necessary to save hundreds of thousands of jobs and help rebuild the auto industry for the future. “The president believes that the decisions that we made around the auto industry are a parable for where we are economically. We had to make some tough and even unpopular decisions but those decisions are laying a new foundation for economic growth and a brighter future,” Gibbs said. GM and Chrysler received tens of billions of dollars in federal aid to undergo swift bankruptcies last year and have begun to show signs of rebounding. GM, which is majority-owned by the government, posted a quarterly profit in May and has repaid nearly $7 billion in loans from the U.S. government while preparing for an initial stock offering that could further repay taxpayers. Chrysler, which was placed under control of Italian automaker Fiat as part of its bankruptcy, posted a $143 million first-quarter operating profit. It has made sales gains during the spring and summer months. Ford did not receive federal aid, and announced a second quarter profit of $2.6 billion amid sales that far outpaced the rest of the industry. It was Ford’s fifth straight quarterly profit. Obama has tried to sell the administration’s work with the auto industry as one of the success stories of his recovery program. Obama will visit GM’s Hamtramck plant, which is gearing up to make the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car. The plant is one of nine plants that the automaker will keep open during the typical two-week summer shutdown to boost production of popular models. In nearby Detroit, Obama will tour the Jefferson North Chrysler plant. It recently added a second shift of production, adding about 1,100 jobs to the plant. Workers there recently launched the new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The following week, Obama will tour the Chicago plant where Ford is building the new Explorer sport utility vehicle. The redesigned SUV, which will be revealed on Monday, is expected to show major improvements in fuel efficiency. The president will also raise money for Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, the Illinois state treasurer who is seeking Obama’s old Senate seat. Giannoulias has been outpaced in fundraising by Republican Mark Kirk, a congressman from Chicago’s northern suburbs.

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Goldman Sachs, Oaktree Seek to Invest in Company to Buy Failed U.S. Banks

May 25, 2010

By Brian Louis May 25 (Bloomberg) — A Goldman Sachs Group Inc . private equity fund is seeking to join Oaktree Capital Management LP and the Illinois teachers’ pension fund as an investor in a company planning to buy failed U.S. banks, according to public records. Goldman Sachs applied to acquire as much as 25 percent of SKBHC Holdings LLC, a Corona del Mar, California-based firm trying to win approval to become a bank holding company, according to an announcement on the Federal Register website. Oaktree is also seeking 25 percent of the company and the Illinois fund voted to invest $100 million. SKBHC is trying to purchase Starbuck, Minnesota-based Starbuck Bancshares Inc. and acquire assets and liabilities from failed U.S. depositories, the company said in its application to the Federal Reserve. Scott Kisting, the former co-head of global banking at Merrill Lynch & Co., is SKBHC’s chairman and chief executive officer, according to the application . U.S. banks are collapsing amid losses on residential and commercial real estate loans. The FDIC’s list of problem lenders has ballooned to 745, the most since 1992. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has said she expects the number of failures in 2010 to exceed last year’s total of 140. Andrea Raphael , a Goldman Sachs spokeswoman, declined to comment. A telephone message left for an attorney listed on SKBHC’s application with the Fed wasn’t returned. Neither was a message left at an address listed as SKBHC’s headquarters in records filed with the California Secretary of State’s office. SKBHC’s application to the Federal Reserve listed GS Capital Partners VI Fund LP and “certain related funds” among its potential stakeholders. Teachers’ Role The Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois voted to invest in SKBHC, the fund said in a May 21 statement. SKBHC told the board it plans to raise $1.25 billion, said Dave Urbanek , a spokesman for the Springfield, Illinois-based retirement fund. “The return that is anticipated long-term, that is something that would be helpful to the retirement fund,” Urbanek said in a telephone interview. The retirement system had $32 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, it said in a statement. SKBHC plans to buy a failed bank with assets of up to $10 billion within the first year of its operation, according to a letter Goldman Sachs sent to the Fed about its application to invest in SKBHC. The New York-based investment bank will be a passive, non-controlling investor, according to the letter. Starbuck Assets Starbuck , the first bank SKBHC is trying to buy, operates the First National Bank of Starbuck, which had $18 million in assets as of March 31, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. records. The town is about 137 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Other investors in the company are expected to include Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital, which has $73 billion in assets under management, according to SKBHC’s application. SKBHC said Oaktree would take an almost 25 percent stake in the bank holding company. A representative who answered the telephone at Oaktree said the firm declined to comment. SKBHC also listed San Francisco-based private equity firm Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC as an expected investor. A message left with Tully Friedman , co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Friedman Fleischer, wasn’t immediately returned. To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Louis in Chicago at blouis1@bloomberg.net .

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Goldman Donations Spurned by Kirk in Illinois Campaign for Obama’s Seat

April 19, 2010

By John McCormick April 20 (Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ’s problems with the Securities and Exchange Commission are spilling over into the U.S. midterm elections. Congressman Mark Kirk , the Republican nominee for an open Senate seat in Illinois, said he will return contributions made by Goldman employees because the SEC is investigating the bank. Kirk, 50, made the announcement after his Democratic opponent, Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias , criticized him for taking the donations. The two men are vying for the Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama that will help determine whether Democrats retain control of the chamber. “We are calling on Congressman Kirk to explain why he voted against Wall Street reform,” said Matt McGrath, a spokesman for Giannoulias. “And we are challenging him to give back his tainted Goldman Sachs campaign contributions.” Kirk has taken $54,010 from Goldman employees, including $21,600 for his Senate bid, McGrath said. The congressman said that his campaign is still determining how much Goldman employees donated to him, and that he hasn’t accepted money from the bank’s political action committee. “I want to set an example on ethics for others to follow,” Kirk said yesterday during a Chicago news conference. “I will err on the side of caution and watch this case unfold.” A Goldman Sachs spokesman, Lucas Van Praag , declined to comment. Goldman Targeted Kirk said he made his decision over the weekend after reading about a civil suit filed by the SEC that targeted Goldman Sachs , alleging it created and sold collateralized debt obligations linked to subprime mortgages in early 2007 without disclosing that hedge fund Paulson & Co. helped pick the underlying securities and bet against the vehicles. “Obviously, this hits a number of other candidates as well,” he said. Kirk, a five-term congressman from Chicago’s northern suburbs, raised $2.2 million during the first quarter of 2010 and ended the period with more than $3 million in the bank, his campaign said in an earlier statement. Giannoulias, 34, raised $1.2 million during the first quarter and ended the period with that same amount in the bank, his campaign said last week. Kirk criticized Giannoulias for not releasing his 2009 tax return, as he has done. “I knew that I had to finish my taxes on time because I was running for a very high-profile office at a time when transparency is everything,” he said. Giannoulias Taxes Kirk pointed to financial troubles experienced by a community bank run by Giannoulias’s family as one possible reason why his opponent filed for an extension. “I worry that the coming implosion of his family bank may have tax implications for him and therefore he’s not willing to release his taxes,” Kirk said. Giannoulias routinely files for an extension on his taxes as he awaits documents from the family business, said Kathleen Strand, a spokeswoman. “Alexi, as he has for all of the years he has been in public office, will release his tax returns in full as soon as they are filed,” she said, adding they will be released “as soon as possible.” Broadway Bank Broadway Bank in Chicago, whose wealth helped finance Giannoulias’s successful 2006 bid for state treasurer, has been operating since January under a consent agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. because of commercial real- estate loan losses. The family must raise at least $75 million by later this month to meet regulatory demands. Kirk has suggested that Giannoulias exercised bad judgment while working from 2002 through 2006 as a senior loan officer and bank vice president. Giannoulias has responded by saying the bank was healthy when he left and that just 9 percent of about $240 million in nonperforming assets on the bank’s books originated while he was there. Lenders are collapsing nationwide amid losses on residential and commercial real estate loans. U.S. banks with problems climbed to the highest level since 1992 in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to FDIC data. Kirk said he is opposed to legislation to overhaul U.S. financial regulations being pushed by Obama and Democrats in Congress. He said that proposal would “continue the ‘too big to fail rule’” with “even more taxpayer dollars” on the line. Blagojevich Trial The Senate seat in Illinois is held by Democrat Roland Burris , who isn’t seeking a full term. Republicans are trying to take advantage of ethical problems experienced by Illinois Democrats, including a public corruption trial set to begin June 3 for former Governor Rod Blagojevich , who appointed Burris to complete Obama’s term. The topic of Kirk’s news conference, held inside a federal courtroom and managed by his congressional staff, was to make the case that Illinois taxpayers and businesses are hurt by what he called a “corruption tax” they face through rigged contracts, kickback scenes and other fraud. He called for added funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and federal prosecutors. A poll by Public Policy Polling released April 6 showed Kirk leading Giannoulias by 37 percent to 33 percent, with 30 percent undecided. The survey of Illinois voters was conducted April 1 to April 5 and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. To contact the reporter on this story: John McCormick in Chicago at jmccormick16@bloomberg.net

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FDIC Closes Four Banks: Bank Of Illinois, Sun American, Waterfield, Centennial Bank

March 5, 2010

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Regulators on Friday shuttered banks in Florida, Illinois, Maryland and Utah, boosting to 26 the number of bank failures in the U.S. so far this year following the 140 brought down in 2009 by mounting loan defaults and the recession. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Sun American Bank, based in Boca Raton, Fla., with $535.7 million in assets and $443.5 million in deposits. Also seized were Bank of Illinois of Normal, Ill., with $211.7 million in assets and $198.5 million in deposits; Waterfield Bank in Germantown, Md., with $155.6 million in assets and $156.4 million in deposits; and Centennial Bank in Ogden, Utah, with $215.2 million in assets and $205.1 million in deposits. First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., based in Raleigh, N.C., agreed to assume the assets and deposits of Sun American Bank and to share losses with the FDIC on $433 million of the failed bank’s loans and other assets. It was First-Citizens’ fourth acquisition of assets of a failed bank since last July; the others were First Regional Bank of Los Angeles, Venture Bank of Lacey, Wash., and Temecula Valley Bank of Temecula, Calif. Heartland Bank and Trust Co., based in Bloomington, Ill., is buying the assets and deposits of Bank of Illinois, and is sharing losses with the FDIC on $166.6 million in loans and other assets. For Waterfield Bank, because no buyer was found, the FDIC set up a new savings institution that will operate until April 5 to allow customers access to their deposits and give them time to open accounts at other banks. The FDIC was also unable to find a buyer for Centennial Bank, and it approved the payout of the institution’s insured deposits. As a result, checks to the retail depositors for their insured funds will be mailed on Monday. Zions First National Bank in Salt Lake City agreed to accept the failed bank’s direct deposits from the federal government, including Social Security and Veterans’ payments. The failure of Sun American Bank is expected to cost the federal deposit insurance fund $103.8 million. The cost of resolving Bank of Illinois is estimated at $53.7 million; that of Waterfield Bank is $51 million; and Centennial Bank is $96.3 million. The pace of bank seizures this year is likely to accelerate in coming months, FDIC officials have said. As the economy has weakened, with unemployment rising, home prices tumbling and loan defaults soaring, bank failures have mounted, sapping billions of dollars out of the deposit insurance fund. It fell into the red last year, hitting a $20.9 billion deficit as of Dec. 31. Banks, meanwhile, have tightened their lending standards. U.S. bank lending last year posted its steepest drop since World War II, as the volume of loans fell $587.3 billion, or 7.5 percent, from 2008, the FDIC reported recently. President Barack Obama recently promoted a $30 billion plan to provide money to community banks if they boost lending to small businesses. The program, which must be approved by Congress, would use money repaid by banks to the $700 billion federal bailout fund. But many lawmakers want the $30 billion sent directly to the federal Small Business Administration. It would then decide which businesses should get loans. The number of banks on the FDIC’s confidential “problem” list jumped to 702 in the fourth quarter from 552 three months earlier, even as the industry squeezed out a small profit. Banks earned $914 million, compared with a $37.8 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. Still, nearly one in every three banks reported a net loss for the latest quarter. The 140 bank failures last year were the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. They cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. There were 25 bank failures in 2008 and just three in 2007. The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to grow to about $100 billion over the next four years. The agency mandated last year that banks prepay about $45 billion in premiums, for 2010 through 2012, to replenish the insurance fund. Depositors’ money – insured up to $250,000 per account – is not at risk, with the FDIC backed by the government. Apart from the fund, the FDIC has about $66 billion in cash and securities available in reserve to cover losses at failed banks. ___ Augstums reported from Charlotte. Gordon reported from Washington, D.C.

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U.S. Regulators Shut Four More Banks as Failure Count This Year Reaches 26

March 5, 2010

By Dakin Campbell March 5 (Bloomberg) — Regulators shut banks in Maryland, Illinois, Florida and Utah, pushing the number of U.S. failures to 26 this year and placing more pressure on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to dispose of a growing pile of toxic assets. The FDIC was unable to find buyers for two banks — Centennial Bank in Ogden, Utah, and Waterfield Bank of Germantown, Maryland — according to statements posted on the agency’s Web site. In the largest of today’s failures by assets, Boca Raton, Florida-based Sun American Bank was purchased by First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co. “South Florida is a great market for our company, especially with our focus on individuals, small- to mid-sized businesses and the medical community,” Frank B. Holding Jr ., chief executive officer of First-Citizens, said in a statement. Lenders are collapsing at the fastest pace in 17 years amid losses on residential and commercial real estate loans made at the height of the market. U.S. “problem” banks climbed to the highest level since 1992 in the fourth quarter and FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair warned Feb. 23 that the pace of failures will “pick up” and exceed last year’s total of 140. The FDIC sold $1.81 billion of notes today that are backed by mortgage securities collected from failed banks. It may issue $4 billion of bonds this month, people familiar with the matter said last week. Sun American is First-Citizens’ second acquisition through the FDIC’s resolution process this year and fourth overall, according to the bank’s statement. The Raleigh, North Carolina- based lender bought Sun American’s $443.5 million in deposits and shared losses with the FDIC on $433 million of assets. Illinois Transaction Heartland Bank and Trust Co. of Bloomington, Illinois, will pay a 3.61 percent premium for Bank of Illinois’s $198.5 million in deposits, after state regulators closed the Normal, Illinois- based lender. The FDIC will share losses with Heartland on $166.6 million of assets, according to the statement . Zions Bancorporation , the lender that operates banks in 10 western U.S. states, was named to take over some operations of Centennial Bank. Utah regulators closed Centennial and put Zions in charge of direct deposits related to government benefits like Social Security. Zions has said that similar arrangements in the past have steered banking customers its way. The Office of Thrift Supervision closed Waterfield Bank. The bank’s $155.6 million in assets and $156.4 million in deposits will go to a newly chartered lender that will stay open until April 5, the FDIC said. The FDIC said last month it had included 702 banks with $402.8 billion in assets on the confidential “problem” list as of Dec. 31, a 27 percent increase from the third quarter. To contact the reporter on this story: Dakin Campbell in San Francisco at dcampbell27@bloomberg.net .

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Indicted Ex-Governor Blagojevich Lectures on Government Ethics in Illinois

March 2, 2010

By John McCormick March 2 (Bloomberg) — Rod Blagojevich , the former Illinois governor who faces a June trial on federal corruption charges, proclaimed his innocence at a college campus appearance tonight where he lectured on government ethics. He also took note of the oddity of the speech he was making. “Many of you must think it’s kind of ironic that I would agree and accept an opportunity to come here and talk to you about ethics in government,” he said. “For all the courage and testicular virility you think you have, if I did the things they said I did, and I did wrong things like they want you to believe I did, I’d be nowhere near this event.” Blagojevich, 53, spoke in front of about 1,000 people at an event billed as “Ethics in Politics: An Evening with Former Governor Rod Blagojevich,” sponsored by student Democrats at Northwestern University , in Evanston, Illinois. The former governor, a Democrat, started his speech by echoing remarks made by one of his heroes, Elvis Presley , at a press conference at Madison Square Garden in 1972. “I want to quote Elvis and tell you: I am innocent of all charges,” he said, adding that he was “illegally and unethically hijacked from office.” Blagojevich, who received an undergraduate degree from Northwestern, said he recently learned that federal agents have subpoenaed his school records for his trial. “That was 30 years ago,” he said. “They subpoenaed all the financial records. They subpoenaed, evidently, my classroom participation, my grades.” High Profile Blagojevich has maintained a high profile since the December 2008 arrest that cost him his governorship. He has made numerous television appearances to promote a book he authored last year and debuts as a contestant later this month on NBC’s “ The Celebrity Apprentice ,” a reality television program that features Donald Trump . Jeffrey Cramer , a former federal prosecutor in Chicago, said lawyers typically encourage defendants to keep a low profile in advance of their trials. “He’s doing the exact opposite,” said Cramer, a managing director and head of the Chicago office of Kroll Inc. , the New York-based risk consulting company. “Anything he says could possibly be used against him, so it is unusual that a criminal defendant would go out there and be so public.” Influence Jurors Cramer said Blagojevich may be motivated by money or trying to influence future jurors. “It does seem like he needs money,” Cramer said. Among other charges, Blagojevich is accused of trying to trade President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat for campaign cash or other favors. Blagojevich, who was impeached by state legislators and then removed from office following a January 2009 trial in the state Senate, is scheduled to stand trial June 3. He and his brother Robert, 54, who was chairman of his campaign finance committee, were first indicted April 2, along with two former chiefs of staff, Alonzo “Lon” Monk , 51, and John Harris , 47. The four were re-indicted Feb. 4 and are accused of plotting to use the governor’s powers to enrich themselves. Blagojevich told reporters earlier this month that he plans to testify at his trial. The ex-governor has also said he would waive his constitutional right to seek suppression of any of the more than 500 hours of eavesdropping and wiretap recordings collected by the government during its investigation of him. ‘Anti-Nixon’ “I’m the anti-Nixon,” he said at Northwestern, referring to former President Richard Nixon and the White House tapes that helped drive him from office in the Watergate scandal. “Play the tapes, they will prove me innocent,” Blagojevich said. Political observers have said the spectacle of his trial may cast a shadow over other Illinois Democrats, including Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias who is in a U.S. Senate race with Mark Kirk , a five-term Republican congressman from Chicago’s northern suburbs. Blagojevich faces charges that include racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion. Conviction on any of the most serious counts, including racketeering or attempted extortion, could result in a prison sentence of as long as 20 years. Jordan Fein, 20, president of the Northwestern University College Democrats , declined to disclose how much Blagojevich was paid for the appearance. He said the money came from student activity fees. Fein said the goal for the evening was for students and faculty to get a “greater understanding of what’s happened in Illinois the last few years.” Blagojevich is the fourth of the past eight Illinois governors to face criminal charges. His predecessor, Republican George Ryan , was convicted in 2006 of trading political favors for trips and cash and is serving a 6 1/2-year sentence at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Democrat Otto Kerner , who held the office from 1961 to 1968, was convicted on corruption charges after being appointed a federal judge. Democrat Dan Walker , who held the job from 1973 to 1977, was found guilty of crimes committed after he left office in 1987. To contact the reporters on this story: John McCormick in Chicago at jmccormick16@bloomberg.net ;

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Republican Leads Race in Illinois for Obama’s U.S. Senate Seat, Poll Finds

February 4, 2010

By Jonathan D. Salant Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — Republican Mark Kirk leads Democrat Alexi Giannoulias in the race for the Illinois U.S. Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama , a new poll finds. Kirk, a U.S. representative, led Giannoulias, the state treasurer by 46 percent to 42 percent in the Feb. 3 survey of 500 likely voters by Rasmussen Reports. The poll, taken one day after the Illinois primary in which both men won their parties’ nominations, had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points. A Public Policy Polling survey of 1,062 likely voters taken Jan. 22-25 gave Giannoulias an 8 point lead, 42 percent to 34 percent, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points. A Dec. 9 Rasmussen poll of 500 likely voters showed Giannoulias leading Kirk by 42 percent to 39 percent. Both parties wasted little time in attacking the opposition candidate yesterday. Republicans posted an online video called “Making Tony Soprano Proud,” which cites loans that the Giannoulias family’s bank made to a bookmaker as well as to convicted Illinois influence peddler Antoin “Tony” Rezko. Democrats called Kirk, who supported President George W. Bush’s tax cuts that contributed to record federal deficits, “a Washington insider who wants to return to the failed policies that created the economic mess we now face.” The incumbent, Roland Burris , appointed to succeed Obama, is not seeking re-election. The race is considered one of the most competitive U.S. Senate contests this year by the three Washington-based publications that rate congressional races: Congressional Quarterly, the Cook Political Report and the Rothenberg Political Report. To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net .

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Nicholas Docous, AIA, Named American Institute of Architects, California Council President, the Country’s Largest Component of the National AIA…

December 16, 2009

SACRAMENTO, CA–(Marketwire – December 16, 2009) – The American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC) elected Nicholas Docous, AIA, as the new incoming, 2010 president for The AIACC, the nation’s largest state architectural organization representing more than 11,000 members. Docous received a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Design from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1980, and went on to earn Master’s Degrees in Architecture and Business Administration at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1985. Licensed in Arizona, Nevada and California, Docous is currently a principal at Lionakis, a multi-discipline architectural/engineering firm, headquartered in Sacramento.

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Prompt corrective action directive against Bank of Illinois

December 1, 2009

Prompt corrective action directive against Bank of Illinois

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But of course they are against it…. : Straight Talk About …

November 2, 2009

In particular, the 10% credit risk retention requirement may be inappropriately applied to all loan sale transactions regardless of whether the loan purchaser intends to permanently hold the loan , according to Courson. … Oh, and the FDIC is going to lose $2.5 Billion on it. That’s going to leave a mark. Tom VanderwellCalculated Risk: Bank Failures 107 through 115: Nine Failed Banks in Arizona, California, Illinois and Texas From the FDIC : U.S. Bank, NA, […] …

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Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Commercial Real Estate …

October 16, 2009

What would that do to California jobs and California commercial real estate prices? How many tax breaks will Phoenix give to get corporations to relocate? Will California, Illinois, New York, and other places quietly let businesses …

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Tavis Smiley Says He’s Cutting Ties to Wells Fargo Over Subprime Scandal

September 20, 2009

Prominent author, commentator and PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley has announced that he’s cutting all business ties to Wells Fargo & Co. The move comes in the wake of a TWI story last week about Wells Fargo “Wealth Building” seminars held in black neighborhoods starting in 2005, headlined by Smiley, which a recent lawsuit filed by the Illinois attorney general charged were nothing more than sales pitches for high-rate subprime loans. Richard Prince reported Friday in his “Journal-isms” column that Smiley said he would sever all ties with Wells Fargo until charges that the company steered minorities into higher-rate loans are resolved.

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How Robin Beaton Became Exhibit A in Obama’s Case Against Health Insurers

September 13, 2009

By Holly Rosenkrantz Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) — Robin Beaton found out in a phone call from a member of her cancer support group that President Barack Obama cited her insurance ordeal as a reason to overhaul the U.S. health-care system. “I cried when I finally watched him talk about my case in his speech” to Congress, said Beaton, 59, of Waxahachie, Texas, who is battling breast cancer. She saw a rerun of Obama’s Sept. 9 speech to Congress on cable television. “If he’s able to bring this fight back to what it’s really about, I’ll feel so honored, like my story made a difference,” said Beaton, who runs a booth at an antique mart. “Every day I live in fear of them canceling my insurance.” Beaton said she had her health insurance canceled once before in 2008, days before she was scheduled to undergo a double mastectomy. “She forgot to declare a case of acne,” Obama said in his speech. “By the time she had her insurance case reinstated, her breast cancer more than doubled in size.” “Pure and simple, I had pimples,” Beaton said in an interview yesterday, the morning after Obama discussed her case, without mentioning her name. “The hospital suddenly wanted a $30,000 deposit, and nobody on this earth has $30,000 unless you are really rich.” Fighting back after critics said his proposals would result in “death panels” and a government takeover of medicine, the president used his speech to portray the worst of the existing system, said Robert Blendon , a Harvard University health-policy professor. The president’s horror stories were of insurers that find reasons to drop coverage once people get costly illnesses. Real, Not Dominant “These stories are real, but they are not necessarily the dominant stories, since this is really a problem in the individual insurance market, not the group insurance market,” Blendon said in an interview yesterday. Most Americans with private health coverage get it through their employers and aren’t subject to being dropped. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas , the company that Beaton said dropped her health insurance, supports changing the health system so that people with pre-existing medical conditions are covered, as long as all Americans are required to carry health insurance coverage, spokeswoman Margaret Jarvis said. She declined to discuss Beaton’s case, citing privacy laws. Under a deal with the Obama administration, the insurance industry supports efforts to end the denial of health coverage because of pre-existing conditions. In return, insurers would gain millions of new customers as Obama’s plan would require that almost everyone get insurance. Past Gallstones Obama cited a second person with cancer to make his case. The president said a man from Illinois lost his health coverage when his insurer found he hadn’t reported a past case of gallstones that he never knew about. “They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it,” Obama said in his speech. In fact, the insurer reversed its decision to rescind coverage, and the planned treatment went ahead as scheduled, according to testimony to a congressional panel in June by Peggy Raddatz, the sister of Otto Raddatz, the man who later died. “He was reinstated without any lapse” in coverage after she appealed the cancellation to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, Raddatz testified. She called the original decision by the insurer, Fortis Insurance Co., unethical. Denial ‘Cruel’ “To deny a dying person necessary medical treatment based upon medical conditions a patient has never had knowledge of, never complained about or never been treated for is cruel,” she said. The White House didn’t return a call seeking comment, and Raddatz didn’t return a message left with her Illinois law office yesterday. Peter Duckler , a spokesman with a public relations firm representing New York-based Assurant Inc., which owns Fortis, declined to comment, citing confidentiality issues. Obama also used anecdotes to make his case for a “public option” that he said would introduce competition. Consumers sometimes have little choice and insurers lack incentives to keep quality high and prices low, he said. “Unfortunately, in 34 states, 75 percent of the insurance market is controlled by five or fewer companies,” he said. “In Alabama, almost 90 percent is controlled by just one company.” That company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama , was “disappointed” at being cited by the president, spokeswoman Koko Mackin said yesterday. “We have been really proud of our market share,” said Mackin. The company controls about 75 percent of the state’s insurance market, not 90 percent as Obama stated, she said. “We also have some of the lowest health insurance premiums and lowest administrative costs,” she said. “We hope his speech won’t have any detrimental effects on our state.” To contact the reporters on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net

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Illinois State Board Gets New Trustees

September 7, 2009

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has appointed four new trustees to the Illinois State Board of Investment.

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Female Doctor Becomes CEO of Saint Joseph Hospital

September 3, 2009

Roberta Luskin-Hawk, M.D., Is One of Four Female Physician CEOs in Illinois

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Coal City Medical Staff at Riverside Medical Center Welcome Two New Doctors

September 2, 2009

KANKAKEE, IL–(Marketwire – September 2, 2009) – Internal Medicine Physician Rahul Deepankar, M.D. and Pediatrician Jane Kapral, M.D. are the two newest team members to join the Riverside Medical Center – West Campus in Coal City. After receiving his medical degree from Meerut University, Dr. Deepankar interned at SVBP Hospital and completed his residency at Chicago’s Grant Hospital. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and a member of the American Society of Internal Medicine and the Illinois Society of Internal Medicine.

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Video: Health Care Momentum

August 7, 2009

Analysis and discussion with Illinois Senator Richard Durbin. He says the Democrats are not in trouble and when the voters across America hear the basic goals of health care reform, they come back. (Political Capital)

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Five U.S. Banks Are Seized by Regulators, Bringing This Year’s Tally to 69

August 1, 2009

By Ari Levy and Margaret Chadbourn Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) — Banks in New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, Oklahoma and Illinois were shut, pushing the toll of failed U.S. lenders to 69 this year, amid a 26-year high in unemployment and the worst economic slump since the Great Depression. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp

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NACEL Energy Announces Executive Appointments — CEO Paul Turner, Ph.D and CFO Mark Schaftlein

July 20, 2009

DENVER, CO–(Marketwire – July 20, 2009) – The Board of Directors of NACEL Energy Corporation ( OTCBB : NCEN ) ( FRANKFURT : 4FC ) (“NACEL Energy”) today is pleased to announce two outstanding executive appointments; Paul Turner, Ph.D incoming Chief Executive Officer, and Mark Schaftlein, incoming Chief Financial Officer. Paul Turner earned his B.Sc. in electrical engineering (power concentration) from the University of Illinois in 1987, his M.Sc

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NACEL Energy Announces Executive Appointments — CEO Paul Turner, Ph.D and CFO Mark Schaftlein

July 20, 2009

DENVER, CO–(Marketwire – July 20, 2009) – The Board of Directors of NACEL Energy Corporation ( OTCBB : NCEN ) ( FRANKFURT : 4FC ) (“NACEL Energy”) today is pleased to announce two outstanding executive appointments; Paul Turner, Ph.D incoming Chief Executive Officer, and Mark Schaftlein, incoming Chief Financial Officer. Paul Turner earned his B.Sc. in electrical engineering (power concentration) from the University of Illinois in 1987, his M.Sc.

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IN THE PIPELINE: CoStar Development and Construction News for July 12-18

July 14, 2009

This week’s edition of In The Pipeline includes a report on a American Institute of Architects forecast that commercial construction will continue to slide for the rest of 2009 and 2010; the state of Illinois, however may see a $ 31 billion boost in institutional…

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