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* State plans program to reduce foreclosures
The program will offer 30-year fixed-rate mortgages guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration. The interest rate will not exceed 8 percent for loans capped at $417,000, with no prepayment penalties and no income requirement for borrowers.
* Firm lands 2-year deal to run Midway
The Daley administration has chosen a new manager for Midway Airport, signing a two-year, $21.2 million contract that will tide the city over until the airport is privatized.
Skyline Management Group has replaced a clout-heavy partnership that’s held the contract since 2001 and includes former Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Elzie Higginbottom, Mayor Daley’s chief fund-raiser in the black community.
* City may ban little baggies
* State takes over control of controversial hotel
* Good owner, money needed for Lincoln hotel Developers think need exists for downtown site
* The Budget Push
Illinois’ Transportation Secretary says the need for improving roads and bridges is becoming clear to legislators, which may lead to quicker action on a capital budget.
* Ill. House scales back moment of silence
Bill sponsor Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, said the bill would make the moment of silence optional as it was before the law was passed last year. He added that students should be able to think about anything they wish rather than the “anticipated activities of the day” as the law mandates.
* 2nd thoughts on moment of silence
* No class time for God, but a license plate?
* Repeal of act requiring students to report their HIV status defeated
* Poe seeks answers for problems at fairgrounds
posted by Kevin Fanning
Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 9:03 am
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Is there any chance the endless series of press releases on Illinoize can be curbed?
It’s crowding out the REAL Illinoize posters…..
Comment by Pat collins Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 9:16 am
What do you mean?
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 9:31 am
Most Illinoize posts are short to moderate in length. The GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips ar so long, and formated in such a way that I personally find it hard to see the “normal” posts.
I totally missed Dan L’s post and Bethany’s posts due to it.
And, to be frank, I thought Illinoize was for local bloggers having THEIR say on the various issues. Not a place to post press releases and various newspaper postings.
Not to mention the “majority accountability project’s” dredging through Foster’s divorce records. UGH
Comment by Pat collins Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 9:37 am
Well, you did find those other posts, so it couldn’t be too bad. I’ll look at it and see if we can somehow tighten it up. But if you set aside his obvious bias (which almost every Illinoize writer has) then it’s a pretty good daily news roundup.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 9:53 am
So, I’m a nice person, and I don’t necessarily want to see people thrown out on the street. HOWEVER, I have to say that as part of a married couple that saved for many months for a down-payment, and only bought a house with a FIXED rate we could reasonably count on being able to pay off, I find this bailout of irresponsible home-shoppers rather unfair.
Sure, maybe some lenders made it sound like a VARIABLE rate mortgage was a good way to go, but if we’re going to allow adults to live their lives, we have to allow them to make adult decisions and live with adult mistakes. This reminds me of the irresponsible college kid who spends whatever he wants and Mommy and Daddy just pay off the card - never teaching any financial responsibility whatsoever.
VARIABLE is not a difficult word, even for someone without a college degree. “Buyer Beware” is a phrase as old as dirt. At some point, adults have to live with the consequences of their poor decisions, businesses that break the law have to pay for that, and those that are smart and work hard should get ahead of the rest of the pack. Our society/government leaders apparently don’t believe in that with bailouts like this.
The lesson I hear NOwhere is: Don’t buy more home than you can afford. Period.
Comment by Home-owner Of AFFORDABLE home Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 10:22 am
The obvious bias is what makes Illinoize so great
Well, if I am the only one complaining, then I guess no action need be taken. Still, it makes my eyes swim to scroll through it all.
Comment by Pat Colllins Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 11:49 am
AFFORDABLE, this more than a fixed v. variable rate issue. Example: you start out with a good fixed rate and a great credit rating, but you’re naive enough to opt for an escrow for your insurance and taxes. You use plastic cautiously as a good little consumer and pay everything on time, over the minimum, and often pay credit card balances in full.
You hit a tough patch (someone gets sick on an 80/20 policy), you get RIF’d, and are out of a job for a year or two, having to tap into whatever equity you have.
Send ONE credit card payment in late BY A SINGLE DAY, and you start getting walloped on a monthly basis with $39 dollar late fee, higher interest rates, AND over the limit fees–even though you cut up your plastic months ago–because all of the credit card companies’ “special fees” are hiking you up over the limit.
Your credit rating goes down, your insurance on your car and home are up for renewal, and your rates go up SUBSTANTIALLY because of your new rating–if you can even get them to cover you now. Your taxes go up and your escrow just got adjusted so you’re mortgage payment is now $400-700 higher (per month) and you have a home equity loan to pay now, too, which comes due in five years. Plus your escrow for last year ran short, so please send a couple of thousand dollars by theh end of the current month.
You pay your mortgage and HEL on time, but THAT counts for very little because you’re now maxed out, your credit rating is poor because your credit card company says your accounts have been delinquent for months only due to the “special fees” they keep tacking on monthly so that they can hire people to hound you daily.
If you’re lucky, your HEL gets turned into a fixed rate several points higher for the rest of your life because of your credit rating, which will only get worse because of the credit card companies. Utilities are going up. Food is going up. And, you can’t sell your house, really, because the value just plummeted.
So instead of 20-25% of your higher income going to debt, you’re now paying closer to 75% of your the much lower salary you’re getting from your new job to your debtors–and they still can’t get enough, fast enough.
THAT’s how it happens.
Comment by Annonymous Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 8:19 pm
Oh, and AFFORDABLE, guess who is contributing very heavily to ALL campaigns while they’re waiting for overseas investors to bail them out of THEIR “financial woes”.
Comment by Annonymous Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 8:31 pm
That scenario might bring a tear to the eye if you didn’t in one sentence say you pay your credit card balances in full, then you say your whole world falls apart because of your credit card late fees. What late fees? I thought you didn’t have credit card debt?
Believe me, credit card debt is the epicenter of any financial difficulty I have right now. That doesn’t make me feel sorry for someone who got a good-paying job, bought a house they could barely afford the payments on with a variable rate mortgage, started spending more (some on credit cards) because, “…hey, I’m making real money now” and when the variable part of the mortgage finally VARIES, the bottom falls out and it’s everyone’s fault but the consumer.
Not all, but much of this is symptomatic of our society’s inability to hold individuals accountable for the decisions they make in life. If we only took care of those that truly are “less fortunate” and THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN struggle, those at the government teet would be considerably fewer.
Just my opinion of course, but as a guy trying to play by the rules, I have a hard time feeling sorry for those that have to deal with the consequences of choosing NOT to play by those same rules. Call me crazy.
Amazing how uncommon common sense has become.
Comment by Home-owner Of AFFORDABLE home Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 10:48 pm
You’re not very good at reading, grasping, or applying scenarios, are you? You also seem to have completely missed the punchline.
Comment by Annonymous Wednesday, Mar 5, 08 @ 11:25 pm
You’re not very good at discussion when someone doesn’t agree are you?
I am good at pointing out serious flaws in scenarios that discredit the entire premise.
Comment by Home-owner Of AFFORDABLE home Thursday, Mar 6, 08 @ 8:19 am