Beachwood Reporter

The Weekend Desk Report

2012-02-11T13:46:32Z

Natasha Julius has been detained at the border of motherhood and insanity. The B Team is on the case.

The Mayor, The Lobbyist And The Dead 6-Year-Old Girl
"Mayor Rahm Emanuel has refused for months to release public records that could shed light on his controversial speed camera plan while he persuaded state lawmakers and Gov. Pat Quinn to turn it into law," the Tribune reports.

"Now that the mayor has released a small number of the requested documents, even that incomplete portrait raises new questions about how the plan was developed and sold.

"The records, many of them heavily censored, offer clues into City Hall's misstatements about a pedestrian safety crisis, the role of a well-connected speed camera lobbyist and how the mayor linked the death of a little girl to his campaign for cameras even though the devices wouldn't have saved her."

In other words, Rahm Emanuel has been exposed as a liar who pimped a six-year-old's death in order to fake the real reason why he pushed so hard for speed-camera legislation. Which, of course, was for the money, not the children.

]]> "The mayor, in a spirited interview in his City Hall office last week, said his camera push was 'upfront and public' and will make the streets safer.

"'I think what people want to know and they will judge me on, as you said the taxpayers, am I getting the job done?' Emanuel said. 'They will hold me accountable, and their job is to see what I am doing on a day-to-day basis and to see if I am doing what I pledged to do . . . I am making government information available. I am making sure people have access to it. I am bringing back a level of trust.'"

I am making heavily redacted government information available after vigorously fighting off requests under the law to do just that! I am bringing back a level of trust by releasing against my will information that shows how duplicitous I am!

"During the 90-minute interview, Emanuel repeatedly accused the newspaper of downplaying the safety benefits of cameras by ignoring a city study that he said shows red light cameras have reduced nearby fatalities by 60 percent.

"'I've had people call you with it, and you refuse to publish it,' he said.

"'If the report is wrong you should go analyze that report,' Emanuel said.

"But his press secretary later said the report could not be provided to the newspaper because key portions were 'confidential.'"

Just like Rahm's requests that the Tribune publish it! Those requests must have been confidential because he refused to release them!

"The mayor equated some public records requests to asking for a seat at the table."

Um, yes. It's called democracy.

"He scoffed at the notion that anything would get done if he didn't have leeway to work outside the glare of public scrutiny."

In Russia, scrutiny glares you!

"'I have been in an executive position, and - I mean this insulting so get it right - you haven't,' said Emanuel, a former top aide to Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. 'You have not been in the White House. You have not been in the mayor's office.'"

Wow. Has a more arrogant statement ever come out of City Hall?

It's not a new sentiment, though.

"'They have never worked the legislative process," Emanuel said of critics like the Times columnist Paul Krugman, who argued that Obama's concessions to Senate Republicans - in particular, the tax cuts, which will do little to stimulate the economy - produced a package that wasn't large enough to respond to the magnitude of the recession. 'How many bills has he passed?'"

Only fellow legislators - and now mayors - can critique Rahm. Only they know what it's like. Everybody else, shut up and sit down!

"The Tribune also has long-outstanding requests for similar records on two other major administration revenue initiatives: increases in water rates and the fees paid to renew vehicle stickers. No substantive documents have been forthcoming concerning those matters.

"Near the end of the interview, Emanuel said he would reconsider releasing more records: 'Between what you want and what I've got to do to be able to govern, we will find where we can find a happy middle ground.'"

I wonder how long that will take. The Tribune last wrote about those requests in November. I bet they were already longstanding by then.

"'If it wasn't for the fact that both the police chief and the head of schools came to me and said that we have a problem that is distinct from other cities, I would not have pushed something forward just because I'm looking for another unpopular issue to tackle,' Emanuel said last week.

"That assertion runs against a bare-bones log of speed camera-related e-mail correspondence involving administration officials over the summer and fall. The log, shorn of all content but sender, receiver, subject and date, was also prepared in response to the paper's open records request.

"The log shows that Emanuel staffers swapped hundreds of emails on speed cameras over that time frame, but none of those was sent from or to McCarthy and Brizard - or for that matter Emanuel, himself. Aides to the police and school heads were copied only days before the administration went public with the plan in late October, the log shows.

"One top administration official who shows up repeatedly in the log, going back to the very first e-mail on speed cameras sent on May 31, is city Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein. He has publicly taken credit for generating the speed camera idea.

"Emanuel, in the interview, said the lack of e-mails doesn't mean the police and schools chiefs weren't responsible, only that he communicated with them by phone. The administration previously has declined a Tribune request to review Emanuel's phone records."

In fact, a cursory review of stories shows Klein as city's leading advocate on the issue - besides Emanuel - not McCarthy or Brizard. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but why would Rahm insist otherwise?

"The logs also show lobbyists weighing in on the shape of Emanuel's legislative plan, among them Michael Kasper, an attorney who helped Emanuel last year fend off a residency challenge to his campaign for mayor. In Springfield, Kasper represents the interests of Redflex, the Australian camera vendor that supplies the city's red light equipment and could greatly benefit from the addition of speed cameras."

Ding ding ding ding ding! We have a winner.

"Kasper did not return a telephone message."

That's because he represents Redflex, not us. So he gets a seat at the table.

"The records released to the Tribune raise questions about the accuracy of other administration claims. They included talking points used by Emanuel and surrogates to sell the camera program that highlighted this claim:

"'Chicago has a higher percentage of pedestrian fatalities than other major U.S. and global cities - Chicago's pedestrian fatality rate is 68 percent higher than New York City's.'

"McCarthy repeated that claim while testifying for the mayor's bill at a legislative hearing in Springfield in October.

"The claim is wrong, refuted by the city's own five-year study that shows Chicago with a lower pedestrian fatality rate than New York as well as most other large U.S. cities."

A) But I thought McCarthy - and Brizard - brought the idea to the mayor because they thought Chicago had a particularly unique problem with dangerous intersections.

B) Isn't that perjury?

"Also among the released material was a daylong e-mail string among Emanuel public relations aides concerning the death of 6-year-old Diamond Robinson. The youngster was hit by a car late on Saturday, Oct. 29, as she crossed a South Side street headed to a Halloween party.

"The Tribune reported on the accident on its website the next morning, and soon afterward, Emanuel's then-press secretary, Chris Mather, forwarded it to colleagues. As the e-mail chain grew for hours, Mather and others attached comments that were mostly scrubbed from the copies supplied to the paper."

Like, how can we use this child's death to our advantage?

"Days later at a news conference, Emanuel sought to link Diamond's death to his speed camera push.

"'While we're speaking, Diamond Robinson, who was hit by a car near a school . . . they're actually having her funeral,' Emanuel said. 'That is a reminder of what we're talking about today and the full price and consequences of what we're talking about today.'

"Emanuel's legislation, if it had been in effect, would not have protected Diamond. The accident occurred on a weekend, and the new law restricts use of cameras near schools to weekdays.

"Jeanette Tucker, the girl's great-grandmother, said she backs the idea of speed cameras but realizes they would have done no good for Diamond.

"'The speed cameras wouldn't have helped save Diamond's life,' she said. 'What you need is stop signs and lights.'

"Tucker said she was unaware that Emanuel had invoked her great-grandchild to promote speed cameras, adding that she was interested in learning why Emanuel's aides were so interested in the girl's death when it was so fresh."

The mayor's office didn't even contact the family before invoking their child's name.

"'Yes, I would like to see what they said,' Tucker said. 'Can you tell me how I might do that?'"

No, that's confidential.

* Proof That It's Not About The Children

* Rahm's Fake Transparency

Home Front
Will Mortgage Settlement Avoid Repeating Obama's Foreclosure Failures?

Killinois
Riverdale. Roseland.

A Super Bowl Housecleaning
Tales from the front.

The Weekend Desk Tip Line: Safety first!

The Sound Opinions Weekend Report: "Love is in the air! Tune in for our Valentine's Day celebration and go back to those thrilling, terrifying feelings of First Love. Plus, much-hyped pop singer Lana Del Rey has made it to #2. But what about the music?"

The CAN TV Weekend Report: CAN TV brings you local, relevant issues from Chicago's neighborhoods and communities. See what's happening around the city in education, the arts, government, cultural events, social services and community activities.

Windy City Queer

Author Emma Vosicky reads from the anthology Windy City Queer: LGBTQ Dispatches From the Third Coast, a celebration of queer life in Chicago.

Sunday, February 12 at 9 a.m. on CAN TV21
45 min

Aging with Pride: Health Issues Facing LGBT Older Adults

Dr. Magda Houldberg and Cecilia Hardacker from the Howard Brown Health Center explore the healthcare disparities and barriers to care faced by LGBT older adults.

Sunday, February 12 at 10 a.m. on CAN TV21
2 hr

The Midwest Green Economy: Past, Present, and Future

A panel of experts discusses the potential for green business and job growth in Chicago and the region.

Sunday, February 12 at 12 p.m. on CAN TV21
1 hr 30 min

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Killinois

2012-02-11T07:44:21Z

Tags: Chicago Harvey World Roseland 40Cal Riverdale Mal Montana Dead or in Jail Loyalty Wild100z

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New mixtape: Dead Or In Jail

Comments welcome.

Will Mortgage Settlement Avoid Repeating Obama's Foreclosure Failures?

2012-02-11T06:57:58Z

On Thursday, administration officials stood alongside state attorneys general to announce a $25 billion mortgage settlement. It was reminiscent of a big announcement by administration officials three Februarys ago involving an even bigger number: $50 billion. That money was supposed to go to the administration's signature mortgage modification program, which eventually became HAMP.

Three years later, HAMP (the Home Affordable Modification Program) is widely considered a failure. That failure provides key context to yesterday's announcement.

]]> According to the state attorneys general and the administration, a major selling point of the new settlement is that it won't repeat HAMP's mistakes. This deal, they say, is different.

"If people are eligible for a loan modification, the banks won't screw up those decisions anymore," said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper made a rather pointed reference to HAMP: "I think strong, court-ordered enforcement with teeth distinguish this deal from those earlier efforts to help homeowners."

As we've reported extensively over the past several years, homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure by gaining a loan modification have often been frustrated by banks' errors and delays. In the worst cases, the banks' shoddy mortgage servicing has led to wrongful foreclosures. The errors have sometimes continued even after homeowners got an elusive modification.

When HAMP was launched, it came with the promise that mortgage servicers would have to abide by clear rules. The handbook laying out these rules now approaches 200 pages. But as we've detailed, enforcement of those rules has been lacking.

According to the state attorneys general, the settlement directly addresses that. The five big servicers - Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial (formerly GMAC) - that will sign on to the not-quite-finalized deal have agreed to follow a raft of new rules. Some of these rules, like how quickly a bank must respond to a homeowner's completed modification application, come straight from HAMP.

What's different this time, they say, is that there are clear consequences for rule-breaking. But plenty of questions remain, and only time will tell if the latest promises of mortgage-servicer accountability will be kept.

"The big picture is that these new rules are only good if servicers follow them," said Alys Cohen of the National Consumer Law Center. "Enforcement will really matter."

As critics like Firedoglake blogger David Dayen have pointed out, the new system relies to some extent on "self-assessments" by the banks to identify violations of the new rules. But Miller, the Iowa attorney general, notes that consumers will be able to complain to their state's attorney general, who will make sure their complaints are heard.

The settlement does create a "monitor" who will have the power to impose penalties. The administration says a bank could be fined up to $1 million per violation and up to $5 million for repeat violations. But the details released so far don't show how violations will be applied or counted. (If thousands of homeowners, for instance, have been wrongly denied modifications, will that be counted as one violation or thousands?)

HAMP came with no penalties for participating mortgage servicers that broke the rules. It was only in the past several months that the Treasury Department decided to address servicer noncompliance - by temporarily withholding the program's subsidy payments. (As for the millions of dollars in incentives that Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and the other servicers were paid over the previous years, they get to keep that.)

The settlement is not only supposed to have more sticks than HAMP, it's also a chance for the administration to breathe life back into the old program. Treasury recently made major revisions to HAMP to allow more homeowners to qualify for modifications.

"The extension and expansion of HAMP are designed to be complementary to the settlement," said Treasury spokeswoman Andrea Risotto.

For instance, the program was set to end at the end of 2012 but now will accept new homeowners until the end of 2013. (The banks will operate under the umbrella of the settlement through 2014 or so.) In addition, Treasury has broadened some of the criteria to make it easier to qualify.

Some of the millions of homeowners who were rejected might be eligible for a second shot. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners were originally granted "trial modifications" through the program in 2009 and early 2010, only to be denied permanent modifications many months (and sometimes more than a year) later. Most of those homeowners started those trials by just giving their income information over the phone. They'll be eligible to reapply, according to the proposed rules.

One of the recent changes to HAMP could reduce the cost of the settlement for banks 2014 and leave taxpayers footing a chunk of the bill.

As part of yesterday's deal, the five banks agreed to reduce billions in mortgage debt for homeowners in danger of foreclosure. Most of those principal reductions - about 85 percent according to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan - will likely be for loans that the banks hold on their own books.

HAMP also has long offered investors incentives to encourage principal reductions. For loans owned by banks, the money goes right to them. In January, Treasury tripled those incentives. In cases in which a loan qualifies for HAMP, the government will now pay investors, often the banks themselves, up to roughly two-thirds the cost of a principal reduction.

The banks have agreed to perform at least $10 billion worth of principal reductions as part of the settlement. Because it's unclear how many of the principal reduction modifications will be done through HAMP, it's impossible to say how much of that will be covered by the government subsidies.

So far, about 40,000 HAMP modifications have been done through HAMP's principal reduction program at a median reduction of $67,196, meaning that roughly $2.7 billion in principal has been reduced. If the banks find HAMP more attractive because of the increased incentives, that amount might increase sharply, and HAMP could experience something of a renaissance.

Previously: Why Millions Won't Get Help From Obama's Big Mortgage Settlement.

See also:
* Tribune editorial: Help For A Lucky Few.
* Rolling Stone: Why The Foreclosure Deal May Not Be So Hot After All.

Comments welcome.

Super Bowl Housecleaning

2012-02-10T22:59:05Z

* The coin on the toss hit a Giants player on the foot. Is that legal?

* Kelly Clarkson wore a little black dress and did not bare her midriff. But in doing the due diligence I should have done before placing that prop bet, I learned she doesn't really have the tummy for it. Her rendition of the anthem was less than two seconds past the over. I had the under. And did we need all that twang on "God Bless America?" How about giving the great Glen Campbell a chance at it?

* When Victor Cruz scored the first touchdown, I was already profitable for the day.

]]> * The Super Bowl was a lousy game. More an award for the least worst team. But don't blame the Giants for exploiting it.

* Aaron Hernandez's drop on second down was at least as bad as Welker's non-catch. And why did Welker get all the heat when Brady's throw was heinous?

* I now know why I never watch Sunday night football on NBC. Al Michaels was half asleep and Collinsworth is a smarmy buffoon. But that's not news.

* Contrary to popular opinion, you always take the points. Cats stalk, dogs fetch, and football players march to the goal line. And football players on defense try to tackle them.

* One of the props was whether Madonna would use a headset microphone or a handheld. She used both.

* At 9-4, Eli Manning as the MVP of the game was a profitable no-brainer.

* The dreamer in me thought for a moment that Jason Pierre-Paul might have been on his way to the MVP award. Then New England adjusted.

* Here's a new game I just invented: Where's Wilfork?

* A great pass rush is a very good thing. But the other guys fearing you have a great pass rush is just as good.

* Considering the time Brady had to throw on many plays, he really stunk. Or was it the Giants' DBs who shined?

* Perhaps the Giants' MVP should have been Bill Belichick. What a malaise he had going on there. Could he be on the way to Marv Levy-land?

* Did you know Dan Reeves was the first coach to lose four Super Bowls? I remember when he played. Good player.

* Great to see all the warm and fuzzy New York Football Giants make their salary demands before they even had the confetti swept up from Broadway.

* Ever been to a New York ticker tape parade? Pretty cool.

* Do not deny that Tom Brady is prettier than Giselle Bundchen. She'll kick your ass. Brady? Not so much.

* I had the under (3.5) on how many times they would show Peyton Manning during the game. He was hiding somewhere, not wanting to steal any spotlight from Eli's special day. Pretty classy.

* Halfway through the game, I remembered that I was supposed to pay attention to the commercials. And it's kind of telling that Betty White was one of the few to deliver.

* I thought Madonna did a great job. Greater: How quickly they assembled and disassembled that stage.

* Clint Eastwood's message was good, but I'd rather see him hold a .44 Magnum to a few foreheads in Washington and dare them to get their heads out of their asses.

* Why don't the Rush Limbaughs and Karl "With a K" Roves of this world understand how great America is when it allows people like them to exist?

* I did, but did you get the feeling that despite the score at the half, the Patriots were in no way going to win the game? It hit home when I saw Brady sitting on the bench during a long New York possession. He really didn't look into it.

* Did you hear the one where Belichick told his defense to make Manningham beat them?

* Why did Barney throw a tomato at Otis Campbell? Why don't the Bears have even one receiver?

* I was thinking that if the Packers had not coasted down the stretch, they would have won that game by two touchdowns and a field goal. FYI, they're still going to be in the not-even-close Bears' division next season.

* Let Mark Potash dream and the youngster Sean Jensen continue to kiss butt all you want. They're playing right into the hands of wiseguys like me. I wub doze Bearsss.

* Don't you love the low-key way Eli Manning seemed so satisfied with the win? What a pro. Comes with expecting to win instead of hoping to just make the playoffs.

* I wonder how many of the Bears even watched the Super Bowl and how many of them were stewing about not being there.

* They must be coached that way, but the Patriots kicked and clawed even after the plays were over. It paid off against Baltimore. But the Giants kept their composure.

* Three-coach monty: Bill Belichick, Lovie Smith or Tom Coughlin. Remember: never go for the middle one.

* I'm already down on Philly (12-1), Green Bay (6-1, favorite), Detroit (18-1), Houston (12-1) and San Francisco (16-1) to win it all next year. Bears are 25-1, but I wouldn't take them at any price lower than 250-1.

* Listen up, Goodell. Without being able to "play" the Super Bowl, I wouldn't have even watched it.

* Hawthorne's spring meet opens next Friday.

Comments welcome.

The [Friday] Papers

2012-02-10T14:05:13Z

Like a Supreme Court justice nominee who pretends he or she has never formed an opinion about Roe v. Wade, Transparency Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pretending he has no opinion worth sharing about this week's city sticker controversy.

"That was yesterday," he said. "My job is to focus on what is essential to the city."

Where do these creatures come from? The Chicago River? A secret lab?

]]> You are the mayor. You brag about making tough choices. You scream at teachers. You crack down on protesters. Can you just tell us what you think about the city sticker? Because the rest of us are confused.

Did you have a conversation with City Clerk Susana Mendoza? Did you discuss the issue with your advisers? Did you talk to your police chief? Did you commission a poll to see if you should comment?

What's in your heart, Rahm? The medical evidence suggests you have one, no matter how cold and dark.

Would it really have been that hard to say, oh, something like this:

"You know, it's a tough call. It's hard to tell if those are gang symbols or we're only seeing that after having the idea implanted in our minds. It's hard to know what's up with the kid - his Facebook postings didn't help but his tears sure seemed real. So Clerk Mendoza had a tough choice to make. She didn't consult with me, but it makes a certain amount of sense that if this is the way the public is going to perceive the sticker, it can't be used."

But that was yesterday. And Rahm likes to control the message - every day.

(The Chicago's News Cooperative's Jim Warren recently illuminated a slice of how that works; when reporters weren't broaching the subject of a longer school day, which the mayor wanted to discuss, "An aide suggested to some attendees that Emanuel would be amenable to an inquiry on the topic." It would have been nice if reporters said, No thanks, we have some other questions we'd like to ask.)

For years - for the whole of my career, really - I've expressed my exasperation at how a compliant media allows its behavior to be shaped by political messaging strategies more sophisticated than the strategies journalists use to hold public officials (and others with power) accountable.

In this case, having failed at the front, I would suggest attacking from the back. The mayor's refusal to address the city sticker controversy is a blaring, top of page one headline in my book. So is a running tally of such topics and instances.

And on Thursday, we got a two-fer.

As the Tribune reports, Rahm also refused to discuss the city's whopping $6.2 million settlement with anti-war protesters. That kind of money could keep the city's libraries open 24/7.

The settlement is just the latest instance of taxpayers having to pony up for the misdeeds of the Chicago Police Department. (You may have missed this one earlier this month.)

But that was "yesterday."

Sticker Bicker
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the sticker flap. For example, there seems to be some question as to whether there were 10 police officers on the committee that chose the winner. None of the 10 apparently saw gang signs.

Also, apparently Mendoza didn't talk to the student artist, his family or his art teacher (who says she gave him a book to use as a guide for the drawing's hands) before making her decision to pull the sticker. She did, however, consult with former police chief Jody Weis. Did she consult with the current police chief?

And, why couldn't the design simply be altered? The hands look weird anyway. Why not just show regular outstretched hands and fingers?

Sticker Ticker
From the Beachwood Twitter feed:

CPS announces it will remove forks from school lunchrooms because they are gang symbols.

Rahm upset at new city sticker because it shows a teacher as one of Chicago's Heroes.

New proposal: Different city stickers according to gang boundaries.

City agrees to let ThyssenKrupps sponsor city sticker. Oops!

More trouble: MLDs bought a stretch of highway to clean.

True Blue Blues
When I read the Tribune's "Home State Remains True Blue For Obama" yesterday it wasn't hard to spot the fallacy behind the paper's interpretation of its latest poll.

"Outside the Chicago metropolitan area, 56 percent of voters disapprove of Obama's job performance," the Tribune noted about halfway in. Ouch.

Rich Miller expounds on that nettlesome finding today on his Capitol Fax Blog:

"The Tribune's latest poll shows President Obama, who split the Downstate vote with John McCain in 2008, is in bad shape in the region," Miller writes.

The fact that Obama split Downstate with McCain only reinforces the notion that states aren't blue or red; each is mixed almost equally and often along geographical lines.

A more accurate reading of the poll is that Chicago remains true blue for Obama, while the rest of the state doesn't. But that should be enough for the president to carry the state in the fall.

Settlement For Suckers
Another instance of the the tenor of a headline not matching reality.

Market Opportunity
Wait a minute. BBQ-infused clothes? Sounds like a winner to me.

Eat The Rich
Because John Rowe is the best deliverer of electricity to your home ever!

Governor Gumby
More reckless spending on daydreams.

When Walter Payton Danced On Soul Train
Just like Rerun!

Big Fat 49 . . .
. . . To Strawberry Town.

From Bread To Shred
Chicago's secret BMX facility.

Next: The Ghost Of Some Chick . . .
. . . Who Knew Al Capone.

The Week In Chicago Rock
Briefly.

The Beachwood Tip Line: Halftime.

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Why Millions Won't Get Help From Obama's Big Mortgage Settlement

2012-02-10T13:35:11Z

The Obama administration is billing Thursday's $25 billion agreement between most states and five banks that engaged in flawed or deceptive practices as a big win for struggling homeowners.

Most of the money in the settlement isn't a penalty, or a fine levied on the banks. Instead, the biggest slice of the settlement will be money banks put toward principal reduction - reducing the amount owed by struggling or underwater borrowers. (Banks will also put smaller amounts toward refinancing and other ways of helping people get back in control of spiraling debt.)

Getting a break on their mortgages could help the millions of homeowners who owe more on their home than it is worth. But many of them won't qualify - thanks to government-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

]]> The two mortgage companies, who were bailed out by the government in 2008, were described by former Obama economic advisor Jared Bernstein as "the boulder" in the way of principal reduction. Their federal regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is tasked with maximizing profits from the companies - and thus minimizing taxpayer losses. The head of the agency, Edward DeMarco, argues that allowing principal reductions would result in a big loss for Fannie and Freddie and ultimately taxpayers.

The two companies aren't directly part of the settlement. They don't service mortgages, or deal directly with borrowers. But Fannie and Freddie do guarantee or own roughly half of the mortgages in the U.S. They also hold more than 3 million of the nation's nearly 11 million underwater mortgages. Since Fannie and Freddie are backing the loans - and are the ones who will take a loss if the mortgage isn't paid back in full - they often have a veto on whether homeowners get a break.

Even if Bank of America, for example, services your mortgage, you would not be eligible for principal reduction if Freddie or Fannie back it.

Principal reduction is being pushed heavily by the Obama administration as a way to lower the rate of foreclosures. The administration recently tried to encourage Fannie and Freddie by offering to triple incentives for principal reduction. So far, the companies and their federal overseer, DeMarco, have declined to do so. An FHFA spokesperson said that the agency is "not a party to the agreement. We await a copy of the agreement to determine its implications."

Lowering the amount of money owed on a loan would result in at least short-term losses for Fannie and Freddie, as well as to any other investors in mortgages that are reduced. But many economists and analysts argue that Fannie and Freddie would ultimately benefit since such moves could help restore the health of the housing market as a whole.

The reluctance by Fannie, Freddie and others to take on principal reduction is partly why the administration's mortgage modification programs have been so ineffective.

The settlement does have potential benefits for future borrowers, including new protections and disclosures to prevent what Attorney General Eric Holder called "abusive practices" by the mortgage industry.

A small portion of the overall settlement - about $5 billion - will amount to penalties for past abuses by the banks. Some of it will go to state governments that were afflicted by banks' shoddy practices, and some of it will go directly to about 750,000 homeowners who were foreclosed upon. If you lost your home, you could get up to $2,000.

Comments welcome.

From Bread To Shred

2012-02-10T13:17:59Z

"Brian Kachinsky has converted an old Chicago bakery into one of the biggest, baddest private BMX facilities in the country. After 90 years, Corey Martinez and Seth Kimbrough bring the place from bread to shred, but where this secret sweet spot is, they'll never tell."

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More:

Next: The Ghost Of Some Chick Who Knew Al Capone

2012-02-10T12:58:24Z

"Commercial for the next episode of Paranormal Generation. The team travels to Big Al Capone's in Pipe, WI, to investigate one of Chicago crime boss's former haunts; and to look for Becky, the resident specter. And Matt has an experience in the old basement."

But then, what man hasn't?

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Comments welcome.

Chicagoetry: Big Fat 49 To Strawberry Town

2012-02-10T12:06:08Z

Big Fat 49 to Strawberry Town
For Nello Ferrara (1919-2012), Chicago Candy Giant

I spilled out into the black breeze
like a leopard in jeopardy.

Electric light ahead on Hirsch
beckoned a bejangled, fat
49er, the southbound CTA Western 49.
I could just about see it shine.
49 to the Blue Line,
big blue lime.

]]> My objective was Strawberrytown.
There's a candy factory there

and the black breeze
smells often of strawberries.
I wanted to catch that bus.

Things were lookin' good
but then I got a little cute.
This is a hazard,
like a blizzard of buzzards.

I melted into my calloused paws
but I sprung too late. I blew the call.
O dammit all!

My fresh, white whale--
white flesh for a water leopard--
blew right past me, man.

It was remarkable strategic failure.

The night hawk/horizontal sheath
of the grid, tinged

with the diesel of Western Avenue
enveloped me completely.
My eyes were sculpted into shivs.

But then I rallied.

I imagined a beacon of bells
and then indeed did bells beckon.
The shadows simmered with imagined hells
then I pretended I heard a deacon of bells.

Again: it was a remarkable strategic failure
but the objective remained

Strawberryland!

Due to the candy factory there,
with its monumental neon sign
like a Sphinx in the dusk

the black breeze smells
often of strawberries.

J.J. Tindall is the Beachwood's poet-in-residence. He welcomes your comments. Chicagoetry is an exclusive Beachwood collection-in-progress.

More Tindall:

* Chicagoetry: The Book

* Ready To Rock: The Music

* Kindled Tindall: The Novel

When Walter Payton Danced On Soul Train

2012-02-10T06:19:58Z

It happened. From Jeff Pearlman's Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton:

"If [Mary 'Bullet' Jones] was Jackson State's Ginger Rogers, its Fred Astaire was Walter Payton. Throughout a freshman year noteworthy for gridiron excellence, Payton generated equally rave reviews for his improvisational dance talents. Wherever one looked, he could find Walter dancing. Inside classrooms. Within the corridors of Sampson Hall. Standing in line for lunch. On the bus rides to away games. 'He danced just like Rerun from What's Happening!!' said Jackie Slater, an offensive lineman who went on to a twenty-year NFL career. 'The moves were crazy and wild and extremely athletic.'

"'There was a porch in front of our field house, and as we were getting ready to play the football games Walter would stand there and dance, dance, dance, dance,' said Porter Taylor, a quarterback. 'Coach Hill would walk by, take a look at Walter moving all around and say, 'OK, we're ready.'"

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"Yet unbeknownst to the Tigers coach, the sly back wasn't merely pondering pigskin. Like nearly all Jackson State students, Walter was a rabid fan of 24 Karat Black Gold, a half-hour television program that aired every Saturday morning on Jackson's NBC affiliate, channel 3.

"The program's concept was simple and in the age of American Bandstand and Soul Train, unoriginal: Invite a large number of local black high school and college students to a television studio and have them dance to the latest hits. 'That was it,' said Lee King, 24 Karat Black Gold's creator and one-time radio engineer for James Brown. 'Our show was eighty percent dancing, and the other twenty percent was videos and appearances by regional and national artists. It worked so well because it was an outlet for African-Americans in Mississippi. Their ambitions were at a low level because they didn't have a lot of recreational things to do in the area. So when our show came out, it was their Bandstand.'

"Without telling Hill (who would have certainly objected), on a Tuesday evening in early September 1972, Walter and a couple of friends drove to the WLBT studio on South Jefferson Street, where auditions were being held for the new season. The line stretched down the block and around the corner - hundreds of young blacks in search of stardom. 'We had to introduce ourselves, say what college we attended, what our major was,' said Jones. "Then we formed a Soul Train line and danced. If we were good, they invited us back the following week. There was no salary, but we didn't care. It wasn't about that.'

"'I was from Augusta, Georgia, so I had no idea who Walter was,' said King. 'But he auditioned with this freestyle dance that was crazy and different. He had a great way of carrying himself, too. He radiated something unique.'

"The tapings took place on the first Monday of every month - four episodes shot in one exhausting evening. Though he often walked onto the dance floor straight from football practice, muscles aching and knees throbbing, as soon as the TV cameras rolled and the sounds of Earth, Wind & Fire or the Jackson 5 blared across the room, Walter came to life. His wardrobe was, even for the times, outrageous - bright purple cutoff shirts, baggy velvet pants, tight jeans, some sort of fedora-esque hat. The popular dance style of the time was called 'Pop 'n' Lock,' a precursor to break dancing that incorporated fluid and wavy isolated movements with tight robotic illusions. His go-to move was the Centipede, slinking to the floor and moving his body in wavelike motions. 'Oh he was an excellent dancer,' said Jones. 'Walter used to inject a lot of the techniques they did in football . . . some of the calisthenics and exercises. He was really flexible with his body; more so than the rest of us.'

"Because the Tiger football program was still finding itself, Payton the running back had yet to establish himself as a household name in Jackson. Payton the dancer, on the other hand, was huge. 'The show aired every week, so people became familiar with us,' said Jones. 'Throughout the fall and spring, we turned into celebrities. Kids would yell out when we drove by and people would stop and ask about the dances. It was thrilling.'"

"Midway through the academic year, King announced that 24 Karat Black Gold was affiliating itself with the first-ever Soul Train National Championship Dance-Off. Throughout the country, each state would host its own competition, with the winning couples flying to Los Angeles to appear on Soul Train and vie for the title of America's Best Dancers. At the time, Payton and Jones were teamed on Black Gold with fairly mediocre partners. 'So Walter came up to me one day and said, How about entering the Soul Train contest together?' Jones said. 'I really think we can win this thing if we team up.' For the next two weeks the two met in a second-floor room of Jackson State's student union building and danced until their toes blistered. 'We had forty-fives and LPs, and we practiced for endless hours,' Jones said. 'We expected to win.'

"The first round of the competition was held at the College Park Auditorium on Lynch Street. Hundreds of couples took to the floor as the judges cruised the room, tapping out those who didn't make the cut. Along with forty-nine other couples, Walter and Mary survived the first week, then lasted again as the total was reduced to twenty-five, and then again to a mere ten. The championship round was held on a Sunday, ten couples dancing for the right to appear on one of black America's most popular television programs. 'I'd never left Mississippi in my life,' said Jones. 'I'd never even been on an airplane. So the possibility was breathtaking.'

"The ten couples were pared down to five, then three. Walter gazed at Mary. Mary gazed at Walter. They locked eyes, knowing to ignore the judges and just move. Finally, the music stopped. The couple looked around, and nobody was left. 'I was overcome with joy, and so was Walter,' said Jones. 'To be chosen to represent the entire state of Mississippi! What an honor!'

"By the time Walter and Mary flew to Los Angeles, it was the summer of 1973. The local radio station, WOKJ, presented both students with plane tickets and five hundred dollars in spending money. ('Five hundred dollars!' laughs Jones. 'I couldn't believe it.') They stayed at the Hyatt in Los Angeles, and were given tours of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Upon arriving at Soul Train's studio, they met Don Cornelius, the famed deep-voiced host and producer.

"The show was taped the night after they arrived. Couples from across the nation danced away, until fifty were whittled down to thirty, and thirty were whittled down to fifteen, and fifteen were whittled down to two. The victors would be gifted two brand-new olive green Dodge Chargers - 'and we really wanted those cars,' Jones said.

"Walter wore jeans with wide legs, a cutoff shirt that revealed his muscular stomach, and Gene Simmons-esque platform heels. Atop his head was an apple cap, a style staple for black men in the ealry 1970s. He and Mary danced as well as they ever had. So, unfortunately, did the couple from Louisiana. 'Mississippi and Louisiana were the last two standing,' Jones said. 'They were just a little bit better than we were.'

"Walter and Mary left empty-handed.

"'But the story of dancing with Walter,' said Mary, 'has lasted me a lifetime.'"

Comments welcome.

The Week in Chicago Rock

2012-02-10T06:03:10Z

You shoulda been there.

1. Dierks Bentley at Joe's Bar on Thursday night.

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2. Rusty Chains at the Darkroom on Wednesday night.

3. Still Alive at practice on Thursday night.

Comments welcome.

The [Thursday] Papers

2012-02-09T13:28:16Z

"Hearings won't be held in the Southland on the closing of the Tinley Park Mental Health Center," Phil Kadner writes for the SouthtownStar.

"Last October, hundreds of people packed a banquet room at Georgios Comfort Inn in Orland Hills for a legislative hearing on the closing of the mental hospital.

"Former patients, their relatives, mental health experts from Will County and local hospital officials were among those who opposed Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to close Tinley Park Mental Health Center.

"And the closing was postponed.

"But the governor has now set a July 1 shutdown date for the hospital, and the same legislative panel, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, is again holding mandated public hearings.

"But this time the hearings are being held in Springfield. That pretty much assured that interested Southland residents couldn't testify."

]]> Pat Quinn is a Democrat.

"When I challenged state officials about the proposal to close Tinley Park Mental Health Center during a SouthtownStar editorial board meeting, it became clear that they knew mental health patients weren't going to be getting better care [elsewhere, as claimed].

"The state has to cut its budget because it is billions of dollars in the red. The Tinley Park center is a casualty of that process."

Gay Bill
"A year after Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation creating civil unions, four House members introduced a bill Wednesday to allow gays to marry in Illinois," the Springfield State Journal-Register reports.

It's a good thing Barack Obama isn't still in the legislature because he opposes gay marriage.

"Mr. Obama has said in the past that he opposes same-sex marriage on religious grounds; as a Christian, he has said, he views marriage as the union of a man and a woman," the New York Times and others have reported.

"I do not support gay marriage," he wrote once in a candidate questionnaire. "Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman."

"'I'm a Christian,' Obama said in a WBBM-AM 780 interview in September 2004," Eric Zorn noted last July. 'And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs, say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.' In August 2008, when he was running for president, he added to this sentiment: 'God's in the mix.'"

Does he try not to have his religious beliefs determine his political views on this - or any - issue?

"At Prayer Breakfast, Obama Says Christian Faith Guides His Policies," the Washington Post reported last week.

Sticker Shock
"As controversy swirled, Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza weighed concerns from some quarters that gang signs adorned the new city sticker against the feelings of a 15-year-old boy who said winning the contest to design the decal was the best thing that ever happened to him," the Tribune reports.

"In the end, perception trumped emotion.

"On Wednesday, Mendoza yanked the teen's version of the vehicle sticker and replaced it with a safer design, one that doesn't include hands drawn in a way that some experts associated with a notorious street gang symbol."

Yada yada yada. Here's what got me:

"'Nobody should be putting down that picture. It's wrong,' the teen told WGN-TV. The Tribune is not naming the boy because he is a minor."

Not naming the boy? He was just on TV!

Not only that, you already named the boy - last week! With photo!

And this:

"In less than 24 hours, the teen's sticker was felled by a cop blog with a dirty name and a Facebook page that left some questions about the winner."

With no links - or even an explanation of the posts and Facebook page. By now many of you have already seen what the Tribune is only willing to allude to, but for those who haven't:

* The blog is Detective Shaved Longcock.

* This is the post that kicked off the whole thing.

* Second City Cop then pushed it along.

* Here are the Facebook messages the Tribune references without explanation.

Gang Bang
"There were at least two gang stories in Chicago on Wednesday: One that's getting the buzz and another one that's soft and weepy," John Kass writes for the Tribune. Click through to read about the other one.

Baseball Is Better When . . .
. . . one of your owners isn't a lying boob.

My Body Is Not An Amusement Park
(I am) MORE.

'L' Car No. 1
It was from Delaware.

The Beachwood Tip Line: Faithful.

ADVERTISEMENT

(I am) MORE

2012-02-09T09:52:46Z

"NiqKush (Niq James & Kush Thompson) at Young Chicago Authors' WordPlay, a weekly open mic every Tuesday at 1180 N. Milwaukee."

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Uploaded by CovalKevin on Feb 7, 2012

Also:

EarthBody.

Housewives.

Comments welcome.

'L' Car No. 1

2012-02-09T08:50:57Z

"How do you move an L Car into a Museum? Very carefully. Listen to Russell Lewis, Chief Historian and Executive Vice President of the Chicago History Museum, talk about the historical significance of the L, and watch as the first L Car makes the Museum its home. If you would like to see and board L Car #1, visit the Museum's Chicago: Crossroads of America exhibition."

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* Remnants of the 'L'.

* The Chicago 'L': Wikipedia.

Comments welcome.

No, Cubs, Baseball Is Better When . . .

2012-02-09T07:29:51Z

"To me, baseball is better with tradition, baseball is better with history, baseball is better with fans who care, baseball is better in ballparks like this, baseball is better during the day. And baseball is, best of all, when you win," Theo Epstein said the day he was announced as the team's new president.

A marketing slogan was born.

But Theo only got it partly right. We'll fill in the rest of the picture.

* Baseball is better when your flat beer doesn't cost $8 a cup.

* Baseball is better when you're left fielder doesn't hop.

* (To the Sox: Baseball is better when pitchers don't take the bump, infielders don't glove two-hopper, double-choppers, and outfielders don't catch cans of corn.)

]]> * Baseball is better for everyone except Yankees fans when Jim Hendry works for the Yankees.

* Baseball is better when you no longer have wood.

* Baseball is better with facial hair.

* Baseball is better with religion.

* Baseball is better when bleacher bums are really bums.

* Baseball is better than this stupid generic marketing slogan.

* Baseball is better when you don't scalp your own tickets.

* Baseball is better when you don't have to urinate in a trough.

* Baseball is better when it's not gentrified.

* Baseball is better with Afros.

* Baseball is better with folk heroes.

* Baseball is better when one of your owners isn't a lying boob.

* Baseball is better when everyone can afford to go see it.

Contributing: Thomas Chambers, Marty Gangler, Jim Coffman, Steve Rhodes.

Comments welcome.