19 Lake Co. board members refuse raises; 4 still in line for pay hikes

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 644,356 people in Lake County compared to Boone County’s 41,786.

2009 fiscal year, the annual salary for nearly every county board member was $39,370. County Board Chairwoman Suzi Schmidt earned about $80,000, plus extra stipends, because of her extra duties.

Daily Herald | 19 Lake Co. board members refuse raises; 4 still in line for pay hikes

US auto sales struggle to gain much ground; GM, Ford, Toyota are steady; Chrysler sags again

Sales were flat compared to last November, according to Autodata Corp. Even higher incentives couldn't push the needle much beyond the dismal lows seen a year ago, when a credit freeze and the financial meltdown kept car buyers at home.
Fuel-efficient cars showed continued strength, as did crossovers …. Truck sales were again weak.

Sales incentives rose 2 percent to $2,713 per vehicle

Chrysler continued to underperform the industry, selling only 63,560 vehicles last month, a decline of 25 percent. Chrysler's sales dropped 38 percent in the first 11 months of the year, steeper than the 24 percent drop for the industry overall. The automaker announced an array of sales incentives, including zero percent financing and cash rebates.  One good sign: Chrysler's market share rose to 8.4 percent from 7.9 percent in October, an indication that consumer have gained confidence in the company after getting details of its five-year business plan earlier this month.

Click on the following for more details:  US auto sales struggle to gain much ground; GM, Ford, Toyota are steady; Chrysler sags again -- chicagotribune.com

39 Chicago-area banks with seriously delinquent loans on books

A Texas ratio tallies up a bank's past-due loans and bank-owned real estate and compares them with the levels of a bank's core capital, typically shareholders' equity, and the money set aside for potential loan losses. A score of at least 80 percent is considered a cause for concern. A Texas ratio puts a bank's asset problems in the context of its capital and reserve levels, so it's considered a good predictor of difficulties.

accelerating crisis in the community banking sector in Chicago," Barr said. If the trend continues, it will hurt the area's economic recovery

Click on the following for more details:   39 Chicago-area banks with seriously delinquent loans on books -- chicagotribune.com

McHenry County Board Bans Video Slot Machines 13-10-1

with the help of all three Democrats on the county board. (Counting only Republicans, the vote would have been tied 10-10.)

Perhaps also influencing the vote was the leadership that Democratic Party State Rep. Jack Franks has taken on the issue. He attended a Patriots United debate on the subject after returning from one of this fall’s veto sessions.

Click on the following for more details:  McHenry County Blog | McHenry County Board Bans Video Slot Machines 13-10-1

Food stamps and the poverty debate

food security" in 2008 – the highest number since tracking began in 1995. That suggests almost 15 percent of households nationwide struggled to get enough to eat, versus about 11 percent in 2007.

for a family of four to be eligible, their annual take-home pay can't exceed about $22,000.

most of America's poor "are not on the verge of literal starvation." But they may not get adequate nutrition, and if they're using food stamps, may not have access to high-quality foods

Click on the following for more details:  Food stamps and the poverty debate | Daily Chronicle

Robert Reich: The Housing Crisis and Wall Street Shame

Sunday, November 29, 2009

One out of four homeowners is now under water, owing more on their homes than the homes are worth. Why? The biggest single factor behind the housing crisis is rising unemployment. According to the latest ABC-Washington Post poll, one out of every three Americans has either lost their job or lives in a household with someone who has lost a job. Today it takes two and sometimes three incomes to buy the groceries and pay the mortgage or the rent. So if one of those incomes is gone, a homeowner can't make the payment.
The scourge of unemployment is splitting America into three groups: (1) the third just mentioned, whose households are in danger of losing their homes and whose kids are surviving on food stamps (that's up to one in four children in America today); (2) the vast majority of Americans who are managing but worried about keeping their jobs and homes; and (3) a small number who are taking home even more winnings than they did in the boom year 2007.
Prominent among category (3) are Wall Street bankers, many of whom are now concluding their most profitable year ever. Goldman Sachs is so flush it's preparing to give out bonuses in a few weeks totaling $17 billion. That will mean eight-figure compensation packages for lots of Goldman executives and traders. JPMorgan Chase is rumored to have a bonus pool of around $5 billion. The three other major Wall Street banks are ratcheting up their compensation packages so their "talent" won't be poached by Goldman or JPMorgan.
Wall Street is booming again in large part because the rest of America -- categories (1) and (2), above -- bailed it out to the tune of $700 billion last year. The Street has repaid some of that but, according to the bailout program's inspector general, much of it is gone forever. For example, the taxpayer money that bailed out giant insurer AIG went directly through AIG to its "counterparties" like Goldman Sachs -- to whom Tim Geithner, according to the inspector general, gave away the store. As Goldman Sachs prepares to dole out some $17 billion to its executives and traders, it's worth noting that Goldman received $13 billion a year ago from the rest of us via AIG and Geithner, no strings attached.
Which brings us back to homeowners who are falling further behind. The $75 billion federal program designed to bribe banks to modify mortgages has been a bust. No one knows the exact number of mortgages that have been modified (that will be reported next month) but housing experts I've talked with say it's a tiny fraction of the number of homeowners in trouble. Seems that the big banks can't be bothered. "Some of the firms ought to be embarrassed," Michael Barr, the assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions told the New York Times.
Barr says the government will try to use shame as a corrective, publicly naming institutions that have moved too slowly. But the banks have done almost nothing to date. "We've made dramatic improvements, and we continue to try to get better," says a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, but as a practical matter JPMorgan has done squat.
Shame? If we've learned anything over the last year, it's that Wall Street has none. Ten months ago Wall Street lobbyists beat back a proposal to give bankruptcy judges the right to amend mortgages in order to pressure lenders to reduce principle owed, just like Wall Street lobbyists are now beating back tough regulations to prevent the Street from causing another meltdown.
Shame? For Wall Street, it all comes down to PR, at minimal cost. Goldman Sachs, attempting to preempt a firestorm of public outrage when it dispenses its $17 billion of bonuses, is setting up a crudely conceived $500 million PR program to help Main Street.
Shame won't work. Only political muscle and courage will. Congress and the Obama administration should give homeowners the right to go to a bankruptcy judge and have their mortgages modified.
And while they're at it, resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act that used to separate investment from commercial banking, so Wall Street can't continue to use other people's money to gamble.
Finally, before Goldman hands out $17 billion in bonuses, claw back the $13 billion Goldman took from AIG and the rest of us and add it to the pool of money going for mortgage relief.

For more of Mr. Reich’s opinions and analysis go to:  http://www.robertreich.blogspot.com/