CapitolFax.com - Latest Comments in Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Snidely Whiplash — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:57:05 -0000

Nice press pop, Alexi. Governor's race, anyone? ;)

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Arthur Andersen — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:40:57 -0000

Just remember fellas, Stu the Stoolie did a lot of singing, too, but all his tunes turned out to be off-key, to be polite. Cut Alexi some slack.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Plutocrat03 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:21:42 -0000

If the state has a billion to park, could they just pay their bills?

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

VanillaMan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:42:29 -0000

==And his name is Alexi, not Alex. Sheesh.==

Yeah. Alexi! It sounds even cuter than Alex! Maybe the next Illinois Treasurer will have "Candy" or "Bambi" for a first name!

"Alexi and His Daddy's Big, Big, Bank" - yeah, that's even better!

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

VanillaMan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:39:04 -0000

==Your sarcasm doesnâ€™t really hit the mark.==

And some bloggers don't have a sense of humor either.

As Governor Palin would say, "God love ya!". It takes a village to create this great big blog of Rich's!

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Loop Lady — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:05:59 -0000

yeah, this could be interesting although off topic:
Is Rezko singing about Broadway Bank, or Banks' bank, or neither? VM and I are thinkin' da same ting here...

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

publius — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:28:04 -0000

the problem is that we can't get trustworthy appraisals of collateral in this crisis---by the way,if the state is sitting on $8 billion, why don't they help the state economy by paying their bills instead of helping the bankers?

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Captain Flume — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:23:07 -0000

Hey, didn't I read about this bank story early this morning in the Morning Shorts section? Who posted that, I wonder.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Upstate — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:16:20 -0000

I'm not sure its going to do much for lending if the banks have to set aside collateral, especially with every financial institution scared to do anything but hoard cash and protect their balance sheets.

On Daley, someone should find out how much debt is on the city's books and what a sustained downturn could mean. He's had nothing but boom times until now and, like a lot of Americans, he borrowed heavily while the national economy soared.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

wordslinger — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:16:18 -0000

Collateral, thanks, don't know how I missed that.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Grim Reaper — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:05:46 -0000

â€œWe think next year will be worse,â€ Daley said....

The analysis in the mainstream media have focused primarily on current; and some near term operating budgets and the impact the more immediate impact that the economic conditions will have.

Just wait until the actuarial valuations for the already woefully under-funded defined benefit public pension systems get released next year. The asset values of the investment portfolios will have likely taken large double digit losses, and the funded ratios of many of these plans will likely fall exponentially, and could not come at a worse time.

There are more than 37 million Americans 65 and older, a number that is expected to nearly double by 2030, according to the Census Bureau. More importantly, there are about 78 million baby boomers, those born from 1946 to 1964 and the oldest of which begin turning 62 this year and are looking to retire if they have not already done so. The number of "retirement age" public employees is set to grow exponentially each year for the next 20 years as well.

The defined benefit public pension plans have promised them a fixed annuity; and many with an annual COLA benefit, for the rest of their lives. The life expectancy tables for the oldest of these people is about 17 years for men; and almost 22 years for women, and that number grows longer for those younger but who have not yet reached traditional retirement age, but will soon.

The pool of beneficiaries collecting benefits is about to explode, at the same time that the assets side aside to pay them from is imploding.

Where is the money going to come from now to pay for all of this?

As you pull up a seat at this poker table; if you look around the table and you can't tell who the sucker is, it's you. ...

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

North of I-80 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:05:00 -0000

Chicago must be racing Detroit to the bottom:

Fewer cops? What will businesses do with rising crime AND rising taxes?
Giuliani reversed & cut crime in NYC by 1) adding 3400-3800 cops to flood the streets [some say 12,000 more] 2) community policing on foot [more cops accessible] and 3) empowered & held district captains responsible for everything that happened in his/her precinct. Do all 3 here & it could work.... not fewer cops.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Collateral — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:03:56 -0000

Banks are prohibited from making campaign contributions.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:00:19 -0000

Who picks the lucky banks?

Nice timing right before an election...wonder how much campaign donations may improve? Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Bill S. Preston, Esq. — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:59:38 -0000

VM- Your sarcasm doesn't really hit the mark. Not only does Broadway Bank not get to participate in the program and is strictly forbidden from doing any business with the Treasurer's office, the Treasurer has been successfully managing the state's portfolio for almost 2 years now. So let's get over the fact that his dad started a bank and then let his son - who had a degree in economics and a law degree - work in the bank. He's proved himself to be worthy of the office he holds.

And his name is Alexi, not Alex. Sheesh.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Collateral — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:50:24 -0000

Here's the collateral agreement. The last two pages list the legally permissable types of collateral and the amount of collateral that must be pledged depending on the type. For collateral that has fluctuating value, those assets are priced daily and any reduction in value that brings the total pledged collateral below the necessary value triggers a requirement of the bank to pledge additional collateral by 2pm of that day to make up the difference.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

wordslinger — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:43:08 -0000

Pat Collins, understood. I'm interested in the collateral guidelines and if there are any requirements to make local loans. Didn't see anything on the Treas. website.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

LTM — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:38:45 -0000

Has anyone seen more about the CPD reorganization? It seems like they are moving a lot of people around with minimal cuts to any of the Deputies or exempt positions. CPD is by far the biggest chunk of the City Budget and there seems to be very little budget oversight with any of the beat writers for CPD or City Hall.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Pat collins — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:37:01 -0000

These are collateralized short-term loans to the banks.

What it does is increase the bank's capital, and so it's ability to make loans.

Essentially, the same thing the Fed is doing at a massive scale by lowering the rate it loans money to banks at.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

cermak_rd — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:36:43 -0000

Do more police hired actually reduce crime? From my perspective, the police usually come when they're called, after the crime has occurred. Certainly more detectives means more crimes can be solved and since many crimes are committed by repeat offenders, that can reduce crime by a lot. So why not reduce traffic patrols and wondering patrol cars and concentrate on keeping detectives and parole officers?

I will say, though, that a lot depends on how the police are used. In Oak Park, which is the 'burb to the north of where I live, I can walk most of the perimeter (Roosevelt & Austin to Harlem & Nroth Ave are the corners) on a weekend morning (it's a 9+ mile walk) and see at least 8 police cars (or perhaps sometimes it's the same car, I don't look that closely) during that 3 hour walk. In a similar walk in Berwyn, I might see 1 police car. I would imagine the 2 'burbs have similar police staffing. Oak Park's policing model might actually reduce crime simply by its omnipresence, whereas Berwyn's doesn't seem to.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

wordslinger — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:30:46 -0000

The treasurer's expanding an existing program. That's fine in normal times, but as we know these aren't normal times.

And we can't think of these as deposits as you and I make, which, if we're smart, are guaranteed by the FDIC. These are collateralized short-term loans to the banks.

My question is, what's the collateral and who's ascribing the value? And are there any requirements for local lending? The press release from the treasurer's office was silent on both points.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Heartless Libertarian — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:29:19 -0000

Would this billion dollar deposit force the banks to do anything, or could they put this money into their reserves and not loan the money out? Just wondering, because this could be a "bright spot on a dismal day" or could be just one more idiot move by a chicago democrat.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

VanillaMan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:25:38 -0000

I'm writing a children's book for Illinois voters, "Alex and His Daddy's Big Big Bank"

It is the story of a Greek basketball player who gets the nod for state treasurer from a basketball buddy newly elected Senator, so Alex registers to vote and uses his daddy's big, big, bank as proof of his political acumen and banking knowledge.

He is a hit during his first couple of years, but discovers that a guy named Tony Rezko mentioned Alex and his daddy's big, big, bank to the FBI as an informant.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

The Doc — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:21:39 -0000

Daley got a huge pass from just about everyone regarding that sweetheart deal with the unions.

$150 million per year growth in wages in benefits is excessive even in the most robust of economies, and the deal only includes a fraction of the unionized city workforce. What a boondoggle this is turning out to be, and as usual, it's all about the Olympics at any cost.

At least, at this point, Blagojevich is relatively impotent, his power having been significantly drained by the GA and the courts. But Daley continues his hatchet jobs unabated, with a compliant city council and a local media that seems very reluctant to scrutinize his decisions as opposed to Blago or Stroger.

Re: Giannoulias a bright spot on a dismal day

Rich Miller — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:21:32 -0000

You saying I'm wrong about the headline?