By Steve Rhodes

“The largest banks are larger than they were when Obama took office and are nearing the level of profits they were making before the depths of the financial crisis in 2008, according to government data,” the Washington Post reports.
“Wall Street firms – independent companies and the securities-trading arms of banks – are doing even better. They earned more in the first 2 1/2 years of the Obama administration than they did during the eight years of the George W. Bush administration.”

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Posted on November 7, 2011

By Natasha Julius

After a wave of criticism we’ve decided the unincorporated sections of this Report won’t have to be funny after all.
Market Update
Meet the new 9-9-9 Plan: 9% unemployment; nine days of scandal; and the 99 percent.

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Posted on November 5, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

1. “To convince smokers to ‘go cold turkey’ during the American Cancer Society’s 36th Great American Smokeout, organizers are planning to utilize the real thing – frozen turkeys – for a bowling event Nov. 16 on the SIU Carbondale campus,” the Southern reports.
It’ll look a little bit like this:

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Posted on November 4, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

Thank you, Huffington Post Chicago!
Now, was that really so hard?
Deposing Daley
“For the second time in four months a federal court judge has ruled former Mayor Richard M. Daley can be sued in an ongoing legal battle over allegations of police torture,” Carol Marin and Don Moseley report.
“U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer on Wednesday denied a motion to reconsider her prior ruling, setting the stage for Daley to be deposed by attorneys representing men who claim they were tortured by a small band of Chicago Police officers in the 1970s and 1980s.”
*
“We have patiently awaited this decision before proceeding to question Daley under oath at a deposition,” said plaintiff’s attorney G. Flint Taylor. “Now the path is clear, Daley has no legitimate grounds to object, so we will [Thursday] subpoena Daley for questioning in early December.”

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Posted on November 3, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

I’ve been working on a Bill Cellini piece for a couple of weeks but I’ve been sidetracked by Occupy coverage and other things, so I’ll reserve any Cellini commentary today for that post, which I expect to get up Thursday or Friday.
Meanwhile . . .
“A majority of the Chicago City Council fired off a letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday, expressing concerns about the administration’s proposed cuts to libraries, public health centers, graffiti removal teams and the city’s 911 center,” the Tribune reports.
Too bad the Tribune neither posted the letter on its website, leaving us instead with 23 excerpted words, nor bothered to tell readers which aldermen signed the letter.
The first offense is an offense to digital journalism; the second offense is an offense to Journalism 101.

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Posted on November 2, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

No column today, but please enjoy these fine pieces:
* Songs of the Occupation: Johnny 99.

Like several other songs on the Nebraska album, “Johnny 99” is a song about complete despair. It has direct links with certain songs on Nebraska: the protagonist in “Johnny 99” notes that he has “debts no honest man could pay,” repeating a line used by the protagonist in “Atlantic City”, and, like the title song, “Johnny 99” is about a murderer – though rather than being a psychopath like the protagonist in the title song, “Johnny 99” is motivated by his economic circumstances.

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Posted on November 1, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

“The family that owned Mutual Bank of Harvey pocketed millions in dividends, spent bank funds on a lavish wedding and held a board meeting in Monte Carlo, all as the politically wired bank careened toward failure, regulators allege,” Crain’s reports.
“The allegations come in a lawsuit filed last week against members of the Veluchamy family and other former officials at the south suburban bank, which failed in 2009 after what the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. describes as a spree of reckless real estate lending.
“The tales of excess add drama to a case already riveting local bankers and their lawyers. It’s the biggest government suit against insiders at a failed local bank since the banking crisis began two years ago. The FDIC expects to suffer a $775-million hit to its insurance fund from the failure of Mutual Bank, which had $1.7 billion in assets at its peak.”
Harvey is a long way from Wall Street, but banks (apparently) are banks no matter where they’re located; dens of iniquity, you might say.

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Posted on October 31, 2011

By Natasha Julius

Special Halloween Edition
Hey, you just managed to get poorer; you may well get fatter as well. If you’re still looking for the perfect last-minute Halloween costume, here are our suggestions:
1. The One Percent
Who wouldn’t want this costume, right? You can lock out anyone you want and you always get to keep the treats.

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Posted on October 29, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

“Proposed tax breaks for Chicago’s financial exchanges, which could cut state tax revenue by as much as $110 million a year, won endorsement from a key Illinois Senate committee Thursday but still face big obstacles,” the Tribune reports.
Let’s focus now, people, because this is important.
“The measure continues to encounter resistance from Republicans, who are pushing for broader tax relief for all businesses as part of any package.”

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Posted on October 28, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

“With the White Sox losing more than they won last season, a new restaurant across the street from U.S. Cellular Field gave fans a place where they could drink away their sorrows.
“But Bacardi at the Park was not brought to the north side of 35th Street by a generous corporate sponsor or the team’s marketing department.
“Taxpayers covered the tab.
The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, the government agency that built and owns The Cell, paid $3.2 million for construction of the restaurant plus just about everything inside the place, from walk-in refrigerators to bar stools, the Tribune and WGN-TV found in a joint investigation.”

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Posted on October 27, 2011