Thursday, April 21, 2011

Fiat aims to control Chrysler sooner - The Boston Globe

 

Chrysler owes the US and Canadian governments about $7.53 billion. Marchionne needs a refinancing deal with banks to pay back the government before he can exercise his option to buy the additional stake

Fiat SpA will pay $1.27 billion to reach a 51 percent stake in Chrysler Group as chief executive Sergio Marchionne is set to gain control of the US automaker two years earlier than planned.

saving money by making the purchase earlier because the cost is linked to the company’s earnings. Marchionne is pushing Chrysler to post its first net income this year since emerging from bankruptcy.

Chrysler expects to almost triple what it calls modified operating profit (excluding interest, taxes, and some pension costs) to more than $2 billion from $763 million last year and to earn as much as $500 million in net income.

Click on the following for more details:   Fiat aims to control Chrysler sooner - The Boston Globe

Pensions to be paid without borrowing, first time in two years | Illinois Statehouse News

 

The General Assembly approved a plan to pay about $4.5 billion into its various pension systems during the upcoming fiscal year using cash instead of borrowing. It's the first time that has happened in two years.

It wasn’t just Democrats who applauded the idea of using cash on hand to fund the pension system. The plan had the support of most Republicans in the Legislature, too.

The state’s unfunded pension liabilities — how much the state has promised to pay employees when they retire minus funds that will be available for pensions — stands at $79 billion, according to a recent report from the University of Illinois’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

Giertz said that If the state had made all required payments the system would be close to fully funded, though the state would still be facing financial problems if it borrowed to make those payments.

talk of further changes, including possible changes to current employees’ benefits, though the constitutionality of that has come into question and no legislation has been introduced.

Pensions to be paid without borrowing, first time in two years | Illinois Statehouse News

Quinn hires ex-lawmaker Careen Gordon for another state job - chicagotribune.com

 

An ex-lawmaker whose appointment to the state parole board ran into trouble amid Senate questions about a potential quid pro quo has landed a new state job.
Former Democratic Rep. Careen Gordon started Monday as an $84,000-a-year associate general counsel for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
Gordon landed in the new post a month after resigning her spot on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board instead of facing a difficult Senate confirmation vote. Critics questioned whether Gov. Pat Quinn gave Gordon the nearly $86,000-a-year job as political payback for key vote in favor of a tax increase in January.

Click on the following for more details:  Quinn hires ex-lawmaker Careen Gordon for another state job - chicagotribune.com

What does it take to get a non-profit corporation to comply with the law?

Here is an update on long story on Boone County Crime Stoppers. 

I previously provide information indicating that its charitable status with the Illinois Attorney General was in question.  SEE:  http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/04/is-boone-county-crime-stoppers.html  As shown by the letter from the Illinois Attorney General (AG) shown below, Boone County Crime Stoppers is not complying with state law.

Click on the photocopy to enlarge:

AG 2-15-2011 Highlighted

AG 2-15-2011 -2 Highlighted

Based upon the AG’s letter I made the following request to Boone County’s State Attorney, Michelle Courier:

March 21, 2011

Michelle J. Courier

Boone County States Attorney

601 North Main

Belvidere, Il 61008

Dear Ms. Courier:

I wish to notify you of Boone County Crime Stoppers’ apparent failure to provide required filings to State Of Illinois. I believe your office should be concerned because Boone County Crime Stoppers (BCCS) has a page on Boone County’s website (http://www.boonecountyil.org/content/crime-stoppers) and receives periodic contributions from the Seventeenth Circuit Court’s felony fine account.

As shown by the six attachments, BCCS has not provided annual reports to the Illinois Attorney General since 2003 and based upon the Attorney General’s Letter of February 15, 2011 is “no longer in good standing”. This could in part be an address problem, in as much as the address of the “old post office” at 103 South State is being used, however no reports have been apparently submitted since 2003.

I have contacted BCCS at the phone number stated on Boone County website (815 547 7867) and they have not returned my call.

BCCS should comply with State Law and BCCS’s financials should be available to the public on the Attorney General’s website: http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/charities/search/searchItems.jsp. I am seeking your assistance to insure that these citizen’s rights will be preserved, however I believe that your office has more specific legal duties regarding BCCS.

You are the county’s attorney and the county’s website is involved. The BCCS’s web page indicates that contributions to BCCS are tax deductible. However BCCS apparently does not comply with the state charities and trust acts. Lacking such compliance, BCCS’s page on the county’s website should be reviewed and corrected to insure that the public is aware of BCCS proper classification as a charity under federal and state law.

You are the chief prosecutor for the Circuit Court and the court is a primary funding source for BCCS. I request that you as an officer of the Circuit Court inform the judges in writing of BCCS’s legal situation with the Attorney General and initiate a suspension of further payment to BCCS.

I have enclosed copies of all documents received from the Attorney General Office’s in their letter of February 23, 2011.

Thank you for your cooperation. I would appreciate a reply in writing to my requests.

States Attorney Courier replied immediately with the following letter:

States Attorney reply

As it turns out Mr. Nathan Noble is not Boone county Crime Stoppers’ legal counsel but BCCS assumed he was and used him as their designated counsel on its last corporate registration.  Ms. Courier has  contacted the Boone County Crime Stoppers’ board.  She stated to me orally that BCCS has submitted the required forms to the state and that BCCS stated that the AG’s office stated it was “OK” to continue operating as an Illinois approved charity.

As of yet I have received no direct response from BCCS.

Jesse's Package::Three Down, Five To Go In Wisconsin Recall Petitions Against Anti-Union GOP State Senators- 04/20/11::Workers Independent News

 

now been turned in for three of the eight Republican state senators targeted for voting to gut collective bargaining for public workers. State Senator Luther Olsen joins Senators Dan Kapanke and Randy Hopper

Click on the following for more details:  Jesse's Package::Three Down, Five To Go In Wisconsin Recall Petitions Against Anti-Union GOP State Senators- 04/20/11::Workers Independent News

Rockford police: Masked person tried to use victim's ATM card - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Police are looking for an individual who tried to use the debit card of a woman found dead early Sunday in her home.

Cleary, 30, and her two children, Marquwon Owens, 12, and Katarion Friar, 2, were found dead Sunday morning inside their home in the 2700 block of Canterbury Lane. A coroner’s report revealed all three had been shot to death before the home was set on fire.

Click on the following for more details:  Rockford police: Masked person tried to use victim's ATM card - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Donald Trump's Companies Filed for Bankruptcy 4 Times - ABC News

Trump has built an American empire from Las Vegas to New York with towering hotels and sparkling casinos. Forbes estimates he's worth $2.7 billion. But not all of Trump's business ventures have been constant money-makers. In 1991, 1992, 2004, and again in 2009, Trump branded companies or properties have sought Chapter 11 protection

"I've used the laws of this country to pare debt. ... We'll have the company. We'll throw it into a chapter. We'll negotiate with the banks. We'll make a fantastic deal. You know, it's like on 'The Apprentice.' It's not personal. It's just business," Trump told ABC's George Stephanopoulos last Thursday.

 

. "There's that old saying, 'If you owe your banks a little, you're at their mercy. If you owe the banks a lot, the banks are at your mercy. They saw the best way for him to repay the money was to keep the Donald afloat."

Click on the following for more details:  Donald Trump's Companies Filed for Bankruptcy 4 Times - ABC News