AG Lisa Madigan Says Fannie and Freddie Borrowers Deserve Debt Reduction

Attorney General Says Principal Reductions Needed to Stabilize Housing Market, Economy

Chicago — Attorney General Lisa Madigan today called on the Federal Housing Finance Agency to immediately implement appropriate principal reductions to home loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In a letter to Edward J. DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie, Madigan demanded the agency reassess its blanket refusal to reduce any mortgage debts for Fannie and Freddie borrowers who are underwater. Based on FHFA data, Madigan stressed that targeted principal reductions can avoid unnecessary harm to homeowners and communities and help the housing market recover.

“Principal reductions for borrowers can prevent the likelihood of defaulting and in turn, prevent unnecessary foreclosures,” Attorney General Madigan said. “This is a critical step to repair the widespread destruction caused by the housing market’s crash that has reverberated in communities across Illinois.”

In issuing her letter, Madigan noted emerging media reports early Friday citing a new internal analysis conducted at FHFA that reportedly shows the benefits of principal mortgage reductions. The Attorney General stressed the urgent need for FHFA to address the reports and immediately begin taking steps to implement debt reductions.

Some of the country’s largest banks have begun offering debt forgiveness – so-called principal reductions – to home loans for underwater borrowers, who owe more on their homes than they are worth, in an effort to stabilize the housing market. Madigan said FHFA’s refusal to follow suit raises particular concerns because Fannie and Freddie hold a considerable share of all home mortgages nationwide.

Importantly, Madigan fought hard to include principal reductions during negotiations leading up to last month’s $25 billion settlement reached by her office, her counterparts and federal officials with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers – Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and Ally Bank, formerly GMAC.

The settlement addressed allegations of widespread “robo-signing” of foreclosure documents and other fraudulent practices in the servicing of loans of struggling homeowners. It is the largest settlement ever obtained through joint action of state attorneys general and the federal government, and it is estimated to provide more than $1 billion in relief for Illinois borrowers.

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Primary Winners in Selected IL Congressional races

Some Quick Reactions to March 20 congressional primary elections.

It was no surprise that Mitt Romney won the Presidential Primary. Not only was he more moderate -- in a Blue State -- but simple math worked for him, as Santorum had not filed a full slate.

But this primary did produce results that may well hold significance for the fall, and the future of Illinois.

In Congressional races -- Adam Kinzinger was a huge winner, by winning the primary against fellow incumbent Republican congressman, Don Manzullo. The GOP voters decided ultimately to not pull the plug on one of their more promising freshmen. Kinzinger is an attractive young congressman, and is likely he can now look forward to serving in congress for another term.

On the Democratic side, Tammy Duckworth, won a hard-fought primary against Raja Krishnamoorthi. And Duckworth won with 66% of the vote ! Raja Krishnamoorthi is a friend of President Obama. But so too is Army Veteran Tammy Duckworth, who previously led the IL Dept of Veterans Affairs, and was Undersecretary at the US Dept of Veterans Affairs. She is also a veteran of running for congress, having lost previously to Peter Roskam in 2008.

A young man, but an old name-- Jason Plummer -- who ran as Bill Brady's Lt Governor teammate in 2010, won the GOP nomination to try to win the congressional seat held by Rep Jerry Costello, in the Metro-East area across from St.Louis. Plummer, whose family made a fortune in the RP Lumber chain of stores, will face off against Democratic nominee, Brad Harriman. Now this seat, the newly formed 12th Congressional district, has been in Democratic hands since Noah got off the arc. But interestingly we see far more votes cast in the Republican primary than in the Democratic primary. There were about 38,000 votes cast on the Democratic side, to 46,000+ in the GOP primary.

One of the tighest races was in the Democratic nomination for Congress in the new 13th District, which takes in parts of the eastern and central part of the state.

David Gill 14,245 51.9%
Matthew Goetten 13,220 48.1%

Gill won a squeaker, and now takes on Repubican veteran Tim Johnson

In the 2nd Congressional District

Democratic Votes Pct.
Jesse Jackson, Jr. 55,118 71.2%
Debbie Halvorson 22,336 28.8%

Jesse Jackson Jr easily defeated former Democratic congresswoman, Debbie Halverson. Halverson was counting on Jackson's ethical cloud -- a leftover from the Blagojevich investigation, in which it is alleged that Jackson may have been interested in buying the US Senate seat. The new district also included some areas where Halverson had represented in the past. But clearly the Jackson had no significant treat from his former congressional colleague.

House GOP Leader Tom Cross Calls for Rep Derrick Smith to Resign

“In light of the extremely damaging charges contained last week's federal indictment of Representative Derrick Smith (D-Chicago),

I believe he should resign his position immediately.

Representative Smith, who stands indicted on the charge of attempted bribery of a day care operator in exchange for official action,

has brought deep disrespect and damage upon the Illinois House of Representatives and the people of the State of Illinois.



Rep. Smith should spare the House of Representatives any further embarrassment and step down immediately."

Statements by Sen Mark Kirk and Rep Robert Dold, on Blagojevich Beginning Prison Term

Washington, DC - As former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich begins serving his sentence in a federal prison in Littleton, Colorado today, Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Representative Robert Dold (R-IL) encourage implementation of bipartisan, bicameral ethics legislation that would curb public corruption.

"Let the sentencing for Governor Blagojevich be a clear warning to all elected officials that public corruption of any form will not be tolerated. Illinois families have long suffered from an estimated $500 million hidden corruption tax," a Kirk spokesperson said. "We need to make sure our laws help federal prosecutors crack down on public corruption and restore integrity to Illinois."

Congressman Robert Dold, from Illinois' 10th District, released the following statement: “Today we are seeing justice served for Governor Blagojevich and the people of Illinois. I am pleased that the final version of the STOCK Act included a provision that Senator Kirk, Congressman Quigley and I worked on in the Senate and House to ensure that taxpayer-funded Congressional pensions do not go to convicted felons in the future like the former Governor. Now we need to continue to focus on the important issues of the day and work together to spur the economy and stop wasting hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”

Remarks of President Barack Obama on Energy and Gas Prices

Prince George’s County Community College

Largo, MD

March 15, 2012

The skills you learn here will be the surest path to success in this economy. Because if there’s one thing we’re thinking a lot about these days, it’s energy – how to use less and produce more right here in the United States of America. And with gas prices spiking all across the country, we’re getting another reminder of just how important that is right now.



If it feels like we’ve seen this movie before, that’s because we have. Gas prices went up around this time last year. They shot up in the spring and summer of 2008. This has been happening for years. And every time prices start to go up – especially in an election year – politicians dust off their three-point plans for $2 gasoline. They head down to the pump, make sure a few cameras are following them, and start acting like they can wave a magic wand and you’ll have cheap gas forever. Sound familiar?



Well here’s the thing: we know better. You know better. There’s no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to high gas prices. We know there’s no silver bullet. And anyone who tells you otherwise isn’t really looking for a solution – they’re probably just looking to ride the political wave of the moment.



Now, the most common thing we hear from these politicians is that if only we drilled for more oil here at home, gas prices would immediately come down and all our problems would go away.



Well, Maryland, there are two problems with that.



First, we are drilling. Under my Administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. That is a fact. We’ve quadrupled the number of operating oil rigs to a record high. That is also a fact. We’ve approved dozens of new pipelines to move oil across the country, and just announced our support for a new one in Oklahoma that will help get more oil down to our refineries on the Gulf Coast.



Over the last three years, my administration has opened millions of acres of land in 23 different states for oil and gas exploration. Offshore, I’ve directed my administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential resources. That includes an area in the Gulf of Mexico we opened up a few months ago that could produce more than 400 million barrels of oil.



So don’t tell me we’re not drilling. We’re drilling all over this country, and you have my word that we will keep drilling everywhere we can while protecting the health and safety of the American people.



But here’s the second problem with an energy strategy that only relies on drilling. In America, we use more than 20 percent of the world’s oil. But even if we drilled in every square inch of this country, we still only have 2 percent of the world’s known oil reserves. Use 20 percent; have 2 percent.



Now, you don’t need a math degree to realize we’ve got a numbers problem there. If we don’t develop other sources of energy – if we don’t develop the technology to use less energy – we will always be dependent on foreign countries for our energy needs. Every time there’s instability in the Middle East, we’ll feel it at the pump. As rapidly-growing nations like China or India keep adding more cars to the road, the price of gas will rise.



That’s not the future I want for the United States of America. We can’t allow ourselves to be held hostage to events on the other side of the world. That’s not who we are. In this country, we control our own destiny. We chart our own course. An energy strategy for the last century is one that traps us in the past. What we need now is an all-of-the-above strategy for the 21st century that develops every source of American-made energy – not just oil and gas, but wind power and solar power; biofuels and fuel-efficient cars and trucks that get more miles to the gallon. That’s the future. That’s where I want to take this country.



Thousands of Americans have jobs right now because we’ve doubled the use of clean energy in this country – and I want to keep making those investments. I don’t want to see wind turbines or solar panels or high-tech batteries made by other workers in other countries. I want them manufactured right here in the United States of America.



After three decades of inaction, we raised fuel economy standards so that by the middle of the next decade, our cars will average nearly 55 miles per gallon – nearly double what they get today. That will save the average family more than $8,000 over the life of the car. That means you’ll be able to fill up every two weeks instead of every week. And those are exactly the kind of cars we need to keep building in America.



To fuel these cars and trucks, we’re investing in clean, advanced biofuels that can replace some of the oil we currently use. Already, we’re using these biofuels to power everything from city buses to UPS trucks to Navy ships. I want to see more of these fuels in American cars so that we buy less oil from foreign countries and create jobs here at home.



All of these steps have put us on a path to greater energy independence. Since I took office, America’s dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year. In 2010, our oil dependence was under 50% for the first time in thirteen years.



Now, we have to do better than that. And I know we can. But only if we tell the folks who are stuck in the past that our future depends on an all-of-the-above energy strategy. That’s our job.



Lately, we’ve heard a lot of professional politicians talking down these new sources of energy. They dismiss wind power and solar power. They make jokes about biofuels and electric cars. They were against raising fuel standards because apparently they like gas guzzling cars better. We’re trying to move towards the future, and they want to keep us stuck in the past.



Of course, we’ve heard this kind of thinking before. If some of these folks were around when Columbus set sail, they probably would have been founding members of the Flat Earth Society. Maybe they would have agreed with one of the pioneers of the radio who apparently said, “Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan.” Or one of Henry Ford’s advisors who was quoted saying, “The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only…a fad.” I can’t prove this, but I do not think that man got the promotion he was looking for. They might have even sided with one of my predecessors, President Rutherford B. Hayes, who reportedly said this about the telephone: “It’s a great invention but who would ever want to use one?” I hear that quote kept him off Mt. Rushmore.



The point is, there are always cynics and naysayers who want to do things the same way we’ve always done them. To double down on the same ideas that got us into this mess in the first place. But the only reason we’ve come this far as a nation is because we refuse to stand still. Because we put our faith in the future. Because we are inventors and builders and makers of things. We’re Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers and Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. That’s who we are. That’s who we need to be right now.



And if you want an example of exactly what I’m talking about, consider a very important issue before Congress right now . The question is whether or not we should keep giving $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies to the oil industry. They’ve been getting these subsidies for a hundred years. One hundred years. These are companies making more money right now than they’ve ever made before. And on top of the money they’re getting from you at the gas station, they want some of your tax dollars too.



That is outrageous. It’s inexcusable. And it’s time for this oil industry giveaway to end. So in the next few weeks, I expect Congress to vote on ending these subsidies. And when they do, we’re going to put every single Member of Congress on record: They can either stand up for oil companies, or they can stand up for the American people. They can either place their bets on a fossil fuel from the last century, or they can place their bets on America’s future –American workers, and American ingenuity, and the American-made energy we can produce right here in our own backyard. That’s the choice we face. That’s what’s at stake right now.



Maryland, we know what direction we have to go in. We can let these politicians take us back to an energy strategy for the last century, or we can invest in a serious, sustained, all-of-the-above energy strategy that develops every resource available for the 21st century. That’s the choice we have – the past, or the future. And it’s a choice we have to make.



You know where I stand. And I think most of you agree. Ending these subsidies won’t bring down gas prices tomorrow. Nothing will. But if we’re tired of watching gas prices spike every year – if we want to bring them down for good – we need to look beyond the energy of the past and put ourselves on a path to a real, sustainable energy future.



That’s the future you deserve. So let’s make our voices heard. Get on the phone, write an email, send a letter, and let your Members of Congress know where you stand. Tell them to do the right thing. Tell them we’ve got the tools and the toughness to win this fight. And if we combine our creativity and our optimism – if we keep harnessing our brainpower and manpower and womanpower – then I promise you, we will come back stronger than before. We will create an economy that’s built to last. And we will make this century another American century.



Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

Newt Gingrich on Why Gas Prices Can Fall to $2.50/gallon

Gov Quinn Announces $31.6 Million in Capital Money for City Colleges

CHICAGO – March 13, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today was joined by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor Cheryl Hyman to announce $31.6 million from the Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program for a new Transportation, Distribution and Logistics (TDL) Center at Olive-Harvey College. The facility will be the first comprehensive TDL education center in the state and supports Governor Quinn’s commitment to growing high-tech jobs. The facility will prepare students for work in transportation logistics and other high-tech careers such as automotive technology, applied engineering and avionics.



“By investing in our community colleges, we can better prepare Illinois residents with the skills they need to compete for these high-technology jobs,” Governor Quinn said. ”We’ll put people to work building this new facility, and we’ll empower students with state-of-the-art tools and training they need to go out and get these good-paying, high-tech jobs.”



The project is expected to create nearly 300 construction jobs and cost a total of $42.2 million, which includes a $10.6 million contribution from City Colleges. Officials will pursue a LEED certification for the 200,000 square foot building, which will house: a high-tech warehouse environment, laboratories, workshops, classrooms and virtual reality simulation facilities. The new building will replace almost 112,000 square feet of temporary classroom space near the main Olive-Harvey College building.



“With this funding, Governor Quinn is supporting our ‘College to Careers’ program that re-engineers, re-imagines, and revolutionizes our City Colleges in order to meet the demand of the high-growth sectors of the future,” said Mayor Emanuel. “This shared investment reflects our shared determination to strengthen our economy together.”



The project is administered by the Capital Development Board, which oversees state-funded, non-road construction projects. Construction is expected to start in spring 2013 and be completed in spring 2015.



“City Colleges’ main goal is to equip our students with credentials of economic value that prepare them to compete and win the jobs of today and tomorrow,” said Chancellor Cheryl Hyman. “The TDL industry is increasingly reliant on high-skill, technology-driven jobs, and this facility will embed technology into our training programs to prepare students to hit the ground running in this fast-growing field.”



Under City College’s “College to Careers” program, industry experts are teaming up with City Colleges, to help students as teacher-practitioners and to help create training programs in City Colleges’ classrooms. This unique partnership also gives students direct access to facilities for training purposes, internships and job interviews.



Training at the Olive-Harvey TDL facility will expand to include: repairing and maintaining heavy equipment; expanded commercial drivers’ licensing; forklift operation; freight expediting, warehousing and logistics information technology; sheet metal technician; automotive technology; avionics technician; and applied engineering. Careers in these high-tech fields can have starting salaries as high as $21 per hour.



The “College to Careers” partnership currently focuses on two industries: transportation, distribution and logistics at Olive-Harvey College, and healthcare at Malcolm X College. Over the next three years, programs in other high-demand sectors will be added. Mayor Emanuel and City Colleges just announced a $479 million, five-year capital plan which includes a new $251 million campus for Malcolm X College, including an Allied Health Academy.

City Colleges’ “College to Careers” partners in transportation, distribution and logistics include: Coyote Logistics, UPS, Canadian National Railway, Union Pacific, AAR Corporation, BNSF, Schneider Finance Inc. and United Airlines. Its healthcare partners include: Rush University Medical Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, University of Chicago Hospitals, Advocate Health Care, University of Illinois at Chicago, Jesse Brown VA, Walgreens, CVS, John H. Stroger Hospital of Cook County, Baxter and the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council.

Governor Quinn’s Illinois Jobs Now! program includes $1.5 billion for higher education, including $788 million for public universities and $400 million for community colleges. The overall $30 billion program is expected to create 439,000 construction jobs.