By Steve Rhodes

In the wake of the Tribune’s report last week about the backdoor pension deals of a select few union leaders, a faithful Beachwood reader sent me this note:
“I, as a union member and staffer at my Local, am shamed by the Trib expose of the last two days. (for the record I read those articles in the Library, because I would never give money to a filthy union-busting outfit like the Tribune.)
“But isn’t an equally important story the fact that the deal for these pensions was put in place right when Daley was running for election and his brother John was the state senator who was pulling much of the weight for the bill downstate?
“And Daley had to have city agencies approve the deal. That was treated in barely two paragraphs in the story. But it is the basis for the whole thing. Why risk enhancing union leaders’ pensions if not to secure there support and the support of their membership for political gain?
“And if no one can remember 15 years ago whose fingers are on the papyrus of the bill, how about the board members of the Municipal Benefit Fund. Didn’t any of them have a comment on a state law that would cripple the financial status of the funds and conflict with the fiduciary responsibility of the board members? My father was a building engineer for the Bd. of Ed and paid into that fund his whole working life.”

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Posted on September 29, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

“Despite being the third debate in the same number of weeks, the Fox News/Google-organized debate last Thursday night clocked in as the most-watched debate on television of the 2012 cycle, and netted Fox News its high-rated primetime hour this year,” Mediaite reports.
Let’s take a look. This transcript edited for clarity and comedy.
BRET BAIER: What makes this debate unique is that not only did you submit the questions, you voted on them, letting everyone know which questions you think the candidates should be asked tonight.
RHODES: Of course, those using the finest tuned SEO strategies had their questions rise to the top. Plus, a lot of Santorum questions for some reason.

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Posted on September 25, 2011

By The Woodstock Institute

Chicago region foreclosure cases are taking longer to complete the foreclosure process, resulting in a dramatic drop in foreclosure completions from the first half of 2010 to the first half of 2011, new data from Woodstock Institute show. As fewer cases complete the foreclosure process each quarter, it is likely that the number of homes tied up in the foreclosure process is growing.

The data show that:

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Posted on September 23, 2011

Uploaded to YouTube by soulscribe1913

6 p.m. Wednesday.

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Posted on September 22, 2011

By The Sunlight Foundation

Today, the Sunlight Foundation releases its latest Clearspending report, a website and scorecard that analyzes how well U.S. government agencies report their spending data on USASpending.gov. The analysis is a follow-up to last year’s inaugural report and covers federal spending for fiscal year 2008 through FY 2010.
According to Sunlight’s analysis, $1.3 trillion in federal spending was misreported in 2010. These data inaccuracies account for 94.5 percent of the total grant spending data reported last year, a less than one percent decrease over the previous year. Misreported funds for FY 2008 were 96.5 percent.

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Posted on September 19, 2011

Running The White House Like A (Bad) Bank

A Bill Daley narrative is shaping up in Washington. Let’s take a look.
The Huffington Post: “When [Bill] Daley does get involved, he leaves progressives wishing he’d stuck to his laissez-faire approach. Democrats have taken issue with Daley for cozying up to Republicans and conceding too much, too soon, in negotiations with them. He routinely reminds GOP leaders how his business background colors his politics, trying to get across the message that he’s not so different from them. ‘He constantly feels the need to tell [House Speaker John] Boehner and [Majority Leader Eric] Cantor that he agrees with us on regulations,’ said one House Republican aide. ‘It’s almost an obsession.’
“Last month, Daley was reportedly a driving force behind Obama’s decision not to roll out new draft ozone standards. The move outraged environmental groups but Republicans hailed it as a step in the right direction, saying it freed up businesses to create jobs by freeing them from cumbersome regulations.
“‘He’s working with Congress? Which side of the aisle?’ said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a frequent Obama administration critic.
“‘The few people I know who have had conversations with him came away less than satisfied,’ DeFazio said. ‘He’s not responsive . . . I never even hear the leaders talk about him.’
“Daley’s Democratic critics, however, fail to recognize one of the main purposes of bringing him on as the campaign season ramps up: He’s there to raise money.”

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Posted on September 16, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

This transcript has been edited for sanity, clarity and comedy.
CNN: Tonight, eight candidates, one stage, one chance to take part in a groundbreaking debate. The Tea Party support and the Republican nomination, on the line right now.
RHODES: Seven candidates go home!
*
WOLF BLITZER: And welcome to the Florida State Fairgrounds here in Tampa , the site of the first ever Tea Party/Republican presidential debate.
One year from now, right here in Tampa, the Republican National Convention will nominate the Republican candidate for president of the United States.
Candidates, please take your podiums. And while you do, I want to tell all of our viewers, everyone here a little bit more about how this debate will work.
RHODES: I will ask the most obvious questions that have been asked many times before and will be again. You will respond by repeating the rehearsed statements you and your advisors have been working on regardless of the question. I will fail to follow-up and you will pretend this is a real debate. Later, my news colleagues and peers will write and produce news stories and segments that also pretend something important happened here tonight, as if this wasn’t a staged pseudo-event designed for TV for the benefit of select interests.
Of course, if you say something that could be interpreted as a “gaffe,” no matter how inconsequential, we will blow it out of proportion in order to develop a narrative reflecting what we secretly think about you but are unwilling to report as news. True or not, you will then have to live with it. Is everyone ready?
BLITZER: Governor Huntsman, we’ll begin with you.

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Posted on September 14, 2011

By Marian Wang/ProPublica

New documents in recent days have brought up several new details about the shadowy practice of snatching terrorism suspects from one country and rendering them into the custody of another. As we noted last week, several documents on rendition emerged as part of an obscure court case in the state of New York. Others were discovered by Human Rights Watch in Libya.

Of course, it’s been known for years that the Bush administration practiced (and on several occasions, botched) rendition.

What’s less appreciated: While the Obama administration has tried to distance itself from the some of the harshest counterterrorism techniques, it has also said that at least some forms of renditions will continue.

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Posted on September 9, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

Once again our Mystery Debate Theater team gathered at Beachwood HQ . . . well, not really. I went solo on Wednesday night. This transcript edited for clarity and comedy.
NBC’s BRIAN WILLIAMS: Tonight, from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library, in a place dedicated to the memory of this Republican icon, in the 100th year after his birth, we will hear from the eight candidates who would like to claim his legacy.
RHODES: Hey, that’s mean!
WILLIAMS: Thank you especially for joining us here in this spectacular space, this spectacular presidential library, where we are all gathered under the wings of Air Force One.
RHODES: And to celebrate Ronald Reagan’s legacy, this is the Air Force One used in the movie, not the real one.

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Posted on September 8, 2011

By Dory Rand/President of the Woodstock Institute

With home values continuing a steep decline, little change in the unemployment rate, and 26 percent of Illinoisans owing more than their home is worth, little has been done to buoy confidence that an economic recovery is at hand. A settlement of the investigations surrounding last year’s robo-signing scandal that, among other things, achieves widespread principal reduction commitments from major servicers, could change that – but only if done carefully.
During the past four years, Illinois communities have experienced the worst decline in housing prices and the greatest wholesale neighborhood disinvestment that we have observed in our organization’s nearly 40-year history. Struggling homeowners would clearly benefit from the modest gains in equity, affordable payments, and local housing market stabilization that effective servicer oversight and principal reduction could provide. If settling the robo-signing investigations now means better outcomes for homeowners who are still (barely) hanging on to their homes, we think that is a cause worth pursuing.

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Posted on September 7, 2011