Behind Administration Spin: Bailout Still $123 Billion in the Red - ProPublica

 

ProPublica, we've provided a comprehensive bailout database [4] since TARP's launch. It shows not only how much money has gone to each recipient [4], but how much each has paid in interest and dividend payments. With all this data, we're able to clearly show how deep in the hole the program remains [5]. And the answer as of today is $123 billion.

Add that to the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which our site also tracks and is separate from the TARP -- and taxpayers are $257 billion in the hole [5].

Click on the following for more details:  Behind Administration Spin: Bailout Still $123 Billion in the Red - ProPublica

Geneva council considers allowing pedicab service - DailyHerald.com

The Geneva city council is inclined to allow the human-powered bicycle-based vehicles on a trial basis. It discussed the matter at committee of the whole meeting last week and is due to take a formal vote Monday.

Green Street Pedicabs of Naperville expressed interest in serving Geneva last summer, and staff began work on the city’s licensing laws. However, that firm has not asked for a license.

But another firm, Prairie State Pedicabs, is interested. David Bus, of Batavia Township, began the service last summer, and gave rides at Festival of the Vine before police stopped him because he did not have a permit

Under the proposed licensing law, pedicabs would not be allowed on state or county highways that run through Geneva, including Routes 25, 31 and 38, Kirk and Randall roads and Fabyan Parkway.

Naperville has allowed pedicabs for the last two years
Click on the following for more details:  Geneva council considers allowing pedicab service - DailyHerald.com

Northwest Herald | Crystal Lake firm headed to Wisconsin

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced the move Thursday morning at a news conference with Catalyst Chief Executive Officer Tim Roberts and local Wisconsin officials at the 144,000-square-foot plant it will call home this summer….Catalyst planned to bring 85 jobs to the new plant, with the promise of adding at least 24 positions by 2014, all with a minimum annual salary of $55,000.Although Walker said the move would bring 105 jobs to Wisconsin, a Kenosha News report said

Incentives to move

Catalyst Exhibits Inc. in Crystal Lake was granted $500,000 by the state of Wisconsin to offset moving costs and was given a $1.25 million low-interest loan by the Kenosha Area Business Alliance.

In addition, a new Wisconsin law forgives corporate and personal income taxes of companies that relocate to Wisconsin for two years.

Click on the following for more details: Northwest Herald | Crystal Lake firm headed to Wisconsin

NY Archbishop: Sex scandal needs to haunt church - 60 Minutes - CBS News

(CBS News) 

Calling the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal "hideous" and "nauseating," New York's Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan says the scandal "needs to haunt" the church for some time to come.

• Play CBS Video Video Archbishop Dolan on sex abuse

  New York's Archbishop Timothy Dolan explains why he thinks the sex abuse scandal "needs to haunt" the church for some time to come. Morley Safer profiles the archbishop for "60 Minutes" Sunday, March 20, 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Click on the following for more details:  NY Archbishop: Sex scandal needs to haunt church - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker releases e-mails about union rights | Green Bay Press Gazette | greenbaypressgazette.com

Walker first mentioned the e-mails on Feb. 17, the same day 14 Democratic state senators fled to Illinois in an effort to keep the legislation from passing. As thousands of protesters banged on drums and blew whistles outside his office door, Walker told reporters he had received 8,000 e-mails - the bulk of which he said supported his efforts.

The AP review found that a mass e-mail Walker sent to state workers on Feb. 11, the day he introduced his proposal, thanking them for their service was met with a stream of negative responses.

AP and Isthmus, a weekly Madison newspaper, both filed open record requests with Walker's office on Feb. 18 seeking the 8,000 messages the governor referenced at his news conference. The AP amended the request a week later, seeking all e-mails Walker had received through that day.
After receiving no response from the governor's office, the AP and Isthmus filed a joint lawsuit on March 4 seeking the e-mails. A settlement reached March 16 called for Walker to release the messages and pay the organizations' attorney fees, which came to $7,000.

The agreement specified that Walker did not acknowledge violating the state's open records law.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker releases e-mails about union rights | Green Bay Press Gazette | greenbaypressgazette.com

Wisconsin judge blocks contentious collective bargaining law | Sheboygan Press | sheboyganpress.com

A Wisconsin judge on Friday temporarily blocked the state’s new and contentious collective bargaining law from taking effect, raising the possibility that the Legislature may have to vote again to pass the bill.

Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi granted the temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by the local Democratic district attorney alleging that Republican lawmakers violated the state’s open meetings law by hastily convening a special committee before the Senate passed the bill.

Sumi said her ruling would not prevent the Legislature from reconvening the committee with proper notice and passing the bill again.

Click on the following for more details:  Wisconsin judge blocks contentious collective bargaining law | Sheboygan Press | sheboyganpress.com

F.D.I.C. Sues Kerry Killinger in Washington Mutual Collapse - NYTimes.com

 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sued the former chief executive of Washington Mutual and two of his top lieutenants, accusing them of reckless lending before the 2008 collapse of what was the nation’s largest savings bank.

The civil lawsuit, seeking to recover $900 million, is the first against a major bank chief executive by the regulator and follows escalating public pressure to hold bankers accountable for actions leading up to the financial crisis.

Click on the following for more details:  F.D.I.C. Sues Kerry Killinger in Washington Mutual Collapse - NYTimes.com