Tag: Chi newspapers

Burke’s statism revisited: Industry spoke, he and Emanuel listened

Whoa.  Slow down there.  This morning’s story, “Burke: City should consider seizing ‘underwater’ homes,” on which an earlier blog posting was based, has been superseded.  Its very idea has been erased from the hearts and minds of Ald. Burke and Mayor Emanuel, and surely from those of the aldermanic finance committee which met to do the considering.

There was complete turnaround on the issue, backtracking, by Burke from serious consideration of the move, an exercise of dominant domain.  The hearing was “quite informative and [it had been] worthwhile to spend the time learning about what is happening around the country,” he said after it and after retreat by Mayor Emanuel from the fence he was sitting on in the morning story, when he was “still evaluating” the idea, as his press aide told Sun-Times reporter Fran Spielman. 

But by early afternoon, the mayor was convinced it was a bad idea:

“The idea of using eminent domain is not one I support,” the mayor said at an unrelated news conference called to showcase CTA improvements and ridership gains

What happened to make him so sure?  Maybe or probably the instant opposition, unsurpising after all, from the mortgage industry:

Timothy W. Cameron–managing director of SIFMA Asset Managers Group comprised of securities firms, banks and 30 of the nation’s largest asset managers–argued that the use of eminent domain would “do more than good” [sic] to Chicago.

“The worst harm will be felt by Chicago residents themselves, as they will find it harder or impossible to obtain credit,” Cameron said in a statement distributed to reporters prior to Tuesday’s hearing.

So Spielman’s piece was well timed to quash Ed Burke’s can-you-top-this piece of statism at the local level, alerting industry opposition from deep in the morning’s paper. 

The extended new lead online story, “Actor John Cusack addresses foreclosure epidemic at City Hall” — Cusack was there because a friend was pushing the local (eminent domain) solution — seems careful not to be in-Burke’s-face about it, which is not Spielman’s style and would do nothing for her continuing important reportage.

And that, my friends, is my new lead on my morning posting, which you can read here.

Ed Burke’s new statist adventure

Candidate for nation’s most statist pol, allowing for circumstances such as inherited societal proclivity towards (ugh!) democracy?  Presenting Ald. Ed Burke (D-Chi), whose latest — in a long and distinguishing career, if not distinguished except ironically speaking — statist brainstorm is to seize underwater houses and condos.  (this morning’s hard-copy Sun-Times, p. 50, Fran Spielman reporting: link is to on-line new lead of a.m. hard copy story). 

Off-with-their-heads Ed, Red Queenie to his colleaagues (no? should be).  Public housing here, 667,000 units masquerading as mortgages!  A statist’s moist if not all-out wet dream.  Seize the mortgages.  (We can afford it, it’s not our money anyhow.  Sound of eyebrows raising, like drawbridges or Michigan bridge at rip tide.)

“Steep discount” on loans at “fair-market value” to be determined by apparatchiks in city govt.  What could be more fair?  Serfs get new affordable mortgages from the lords of the manor, and the system works!  (System? Seat of pants system if any.)  In long, run we’re all dead, said Lord Keynes, he of the Bloomsbury crowd —sexual cut-ups all, by the way.

FHA not so sure about this mortgage seizure: something about “sound operations” and “taxpayer expense.”  Oh?  What are they? aldermanic Finance Committee members ask, turning to each other in shock and awe.  What the hell is that FHA talking about?  Then back each to his coloring book, or drawing board the expression is, shaking head at the mystifying gaucherie of that mysterious agency with its talk of “chilling effect” on market.

Mayor R. is not sure if he likes it.  Wind not blowing strong enough yet to dry his wettened forefinger held at eye level, his best determinant for seat of his pants decision-making.  But the first rule of statism is bound to win out, don’t just stand there, do something, or look like it.

(Besides, as Steve Bartin points out, “If this passes, the potential for corruption will be unlimited.”  So who needs statism as a ruling orthodoxy?)

Rev. Wright calls it like it more or less is . . .

Rev. Jeremiah Wright at New Tabernacle Baptist Church, 531 North Kedzie, yesterday:

“Some of these things [black-on-black crime] have to do with the government and some of these things have to do with our relationships with each other,” [italics mine] Wright told a group at an anti-violence program . . .

Parallel structure demands “Some . . . with the government . . . some . . . with us.”  But you can’t be direct in that situation.  Rev. Wright can’t alienate his base, no.  And so he holds back, just a little.

And the government’s role as partially responsible? 

Making a good point nonetheless, in truncated manner nonetheless.

Paul West of Chi Trib as Dem campaigner

Chi Trib and its sister, LA Times, are off to a flying start for the campaign to make sure Paul Ryan never becomes vice president.  This batch of stories I offer as evidence in globo, but today’s Chi Trib hard copy offers something worth analyzing.  (It’s also among the batch.)  I speak of “Romney’s choice of Ryan pleases both left and right,” a textbook-worthy case of campaign literature coming on to us as “analysis,” a favorite Chi Trib fig leaf from years back.

Yes, Virginia and all you listeners at sea and all you Trib editors, we do read your Sunday-morning hard copy, even if it’s by an LAT fellow, in this case the inimitable Paul West, fresh off his 8/9 prediction, where all the smart money was lying, that Portman would be THE MAN.  What a guy.

“With every passing day,” he wrote,

it’s increasingly likely that Mitt Romney will reject a more ideological, movement-style conservative and announce instead that he’s running with Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, a well-regarded member of the party establishment.

This is only a guess, of course, and hardly rates as a “wow” if it turns out to be accurate.

I love that declining to be named a very sharp fellow, since it was so obvious.  Where does our favorite newspaper company get such stalwarts?

So he took a sucker punch with the Ryan pick, so today he was constrained to make the point of what a bad choice this was for Romney.

Both sides were happy at the Ryan choice, he pundited, observed, analyzed, whatever, which means one side is being foolish.  Which one?  Well, for one thing,

Romney appears to have concluded that success was iffy on his original course — to make the election a referendum on Obama. The new and decidedly different trajectory will make the fall election more of a choice between contrasting visions of the future — a frame that Obama had already been attempting to put around the contest.

Hapless fellow, he, seeking to make silk purse from sow’s ear.  It must be true.  Take the word of the guy who ran Bob Dole’s campaign in 1996!  (Still on West’s tickler after all these years, long since transferred to his I-Whatsit.)

“Romney must have recognized that what he was doing was not working and he needed to shake the race up,” said Scott Reed . . .

who added that the choice energized the base.

A top Bush strategist from the 2004 election sniffed at this:  “This Ryan pick isn’t going to help close the gap with Latino voters. This isn’t going to persuade suburban, middle-class moms to support the ticket.  . . .”  Uh-oh, even Republicans aren’t happy.

So why the heck was EVERYBODY HAPPY on Larry Kudlow’s radio show Saturday afternoon, where waves of ecstatic commentary were enough to make a grown man weep for joy.  Oh wait.  The base.  Bad idea to pay them any mind.  Euphoric base-members need not apply for entry into the World of West and Fellow Newsies.

Anyhow, even the base isn’t so sure.

. . . influential conservative voices, including the Weekly Standard magazine, had launched an aggressive push for Ryan — even while acknowledging, as the Wall Street Journal editorialized in making the case for the Wisconsin congressman, that some leaders of his own party consider the 42-year-old too young and too risky and feared that his selection “would make Medicare and the House budget the issue, not the economy.” [italics mine]

And then a quote from Ralph Reed, and that does it for the tickler, so thin it is with base members.

Then a generic nod to Romney-Ryan strategy coming up, devoid of hard-hitting specifics as if there were none, followed by a trove of Dem talking points (with which West and Newsie Friends are considerably more familiar):

Democrats will attempt to use the budget proposals to amplify attacks they’ve been making against the Republican presidential candidate. Ryan’s proposal to eliminate capital gains taxes would do away with much of Romney’s own tax liability, allowing Democrats to remind voters that Romney refuses to disclose his taxes from before 2010. Democrats will argue that Ryan’s plan shreds the social safety net in the same way that Bain Capital, Romney’s former firm, laid off workers and left them without health insurance.

At the same time, Democratic candidates at all levels will blast away at hot-button issues that, for decades, they’ve managed to turn to their advantage at election time — protecting Medicare and Social Security against the presumed perils of Republican overhaul proposals.

Seniors, a group that narrowly supports Romney over Obama, are particularly sensitive to changes in programs that most of them rely on for their income and healthcare. Even though Romney says his plan wouldn’t affect current recipients, adding Ryan to the ticket could affect GOP chances in senior-heavy Florida, the biggest battleground state, where the presidential race is currently a tossup.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, in an email to supporters, said Ryan “would end Medicare as we know it and slash the investments we need to keep our economy growing — all while cutting taxes for those at the very top.”

And a final very gloomy summing up from a Democrat source:

Romney now faces “the same risk that the Republicans faced four years ago in the selection of Sarah Palin,” Democratic pollster Peter Hart said. “It can look good on Day 1, on Day 10. The question is, can it make it to Day 30? Ryan obviously brings substance and knowledge to their campaign. But on the other hand, he is now wrapped neatly around the neck of the Republican ticket.”

OK, P. West, we get it.  So you didn’t think Romney had it in him to pick the author of a controversial plan.  You were wrong, but you’re right about the un-wisdom of the pick.  Sure you are.  This time is the time for you.  Good luck.

Kenya girls saved by Anne & friends

Our daughter-in-law in Kenya, her report on her work with refugee women and girls:

Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2012 1:48 PM
Subject: Nairobi News!

Hello Everyone,

I hope this finds you all very well!

I can’t thank you enough for your patience and understanding with my lack of communication throughout the past several months!  I would like to share some updates with you, and to also thank you for supporting the Yoga Challenge and our second annual Fashion Challenge in October – it is going to be an amazing event!

It has certainly been a whirlwind couple of months for my husband and me since arriving in Kenya last January, but it’s also been amazing to be back and to witness the tremendous impact of Heshima Kenya’s programs.  I’ve worked with refugees for nearly 14 years, and I unequivocally find the refugee crisis in Kenya to be among the most horrifying humanitarian situations in the world, not only in scope but also because the majority of these refugees will never return home – this includes many of the 200,000 refugees who fled DR Congo two weeks ago. I think what is most daunting for myself – and our staff – is when we think about these girls’ lives without our programs and the support network it provides.  It makes us believe more in what we do each day.

131 young girls and women have been supported by Heshima Kenya’s programs since January 2012: 40% are from DRC, 31% Somalia, 16% Ethiopia, 1% Sudan , 7% Rwanda, 2% Burundi and 4 % Kenya.  We get to know the girls on such a personal level and witness their lives with peace; to know the profound impact that education will have on their futures and for their children; to see girls smile after grieving for so long.  Adnan, a 15-year-old girl from Somalia who joined our programs a year and a half ago, couldn’t speak after being assaulted by a gang of street boys.  Not only is she mentally challenged and epileptic, she also was abused by her mother who left her abandoned on the streets after the assault. Heshima Kenya was able to get a placement order for Adnan to stay at our Safe House and she is now attending a special education school during the day. Adnan is writing her name, speaking Swahili, and is helping staff and the girls look after the little kids at the shelter, twelve of whom are children of young mothers in the program. Other girls like Clementine from DR Congo are also thriving within the peace and security of Heshima Kenya’s programs. 17-year-old Clementine came to Heshima Kenya in January after losing her family and fleeing Congo to Kenya.  After finding a place to sleep at a local church in Nairobi, she was raped on the steps and became pregnant. When I first met Clementine, she couldn’t speak and slept for days.  She was completely traumatized, both physically and emotionally, and refused to hold her baby boy after being born. Six months later, Clementine is now one of our leaders – she is still residing at the Safe House but hopes to join the Maisha Collective soon where she will earn money, care for her baby independently, and possibly live with another Heshima girl within Nairobi. The other week Clementine presented a doll she made as part of a larger art therapy project. She spoke proudly in front of a group of 30 peers and talked about what her doll meant to her. It was truly humbling to witness. Clementine is learning tools to recover with peace, raise her baby with confidence, and believe in herself and the possibilities she has in life.

Some updates to share:

Recently Heshima Kenya has been receiving increased referrals of younger children, mainly siblings below 12 years of age, including 4-year-old Flora and her 11-year-old brother, Emilie, who is HIV positive and from DR Congo.  Along with the challenge of identifying safe foster care families, securing education sponsorship has also become an issue because of cost – nearly $600 per year a child because of transportation and general fees. 

The Maisha Collective has experienced exciting growth in the past couple months. IOM, the international organization responsible for arranging travel for refugees to the United States, recently ordered 1,200 scarves for its refugee travel kits. This means you may see a Maisha scarf on a newly arrived refugee in Chicago! We’ve also had a slew of other orders because of the tremendous work of the Chicago team and our new partnership brochure.  This success truly speaks to the grassroots efforts of our supporters in the US and the power and beauty behind each scarf, especially when we’ve done minimal marketing.  We still search for seed support to help manage the overall program in Chicago and Kenya, but with the help of a local Kenyan designer who is consulting with HK twice per week, we are finally on the path to creating new items – most importantly, the girls are committed to balancing their classes in the morning with making Maisha scarves in the afternoon – all while attending to their babies!

We received a $150,000 grant from Bright Future International for our Safe House program in January. This has allowed up to build the resource and staff capacity of our shelter program, including hiring a nurse, additional security guards, and purchasing a second van.  We also received a two-year grant of $100,000 from American Jewish World Services. This grant will allow us to focus on outreach in the Somali community, especially identifying and supporting unaccompanied refugee girls and young women who fled drought and violence in Somalia in 2011 and remain undocumented and without protection in Nairobi.  We will also be mobilizing graduates of our programs to support with outreach and training.

We are in the final stages of completing our customized database that will capture demographic data of the girls served in our programs since January 2008 to date.  We hope to share this information with partner organizations, including UNHCR and the State Department, to help close significant gaps in knowledge about this specific population. We are also preparing to produce a larger research piece early next year about migration trends and violations experienced by girls and young women near the borders of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Uganda/DR Congo.

Imgrad Krop, a local Kenyan journalist, will be volunteering with Heshima Kenya next month to help create a series of video news stories written and produced by the Heshima girls. Our goal is to produce a news piece each quarter and share on our new website that we will hopefully launching next month.

Our Safe House is the first shelter of its kind for refugee children in Kenya to be legally recognized by the Children’s Department of Kenya.  This is a tremendous victory after 22 years of refugee crisis and will hopefully be the first among a handful of wins led by Heshima Kenya in helping the government recognize the specialized needs and rights of refugees. 

Finally, I feel extremely privileged to know first-hand about the power behind the army that got us here — that army is made up of all of you, and I know with certainty that Heshima Kenya could not have grown to where we are today without your support.  There are thousands of non-profits here in Kenya and the US that are built from the bottom-up, just like Heshima Kenya.  They are simply trying to survive and will most likely not make it because they lack opportunities to connect with supporters. Yes, of course leadership and donations are critical, but without Heshima Kenya’s fundamental base of auxiliary members, I know that we would have only remained a great idea.  You are our ambassadors that drive Heshima Kenya’s story and get people to care about the thousands of vulnerable girls and young women in Nairobi who are trying to find their voice.

All the best to you,

Anne
 
Anne Sweeney
Executive Director
Heshima Kenya
heshimakenya.org

Heshima (Swahili): Respect, Honor, Dignity

On the range is heard . . .

. . . an encouraging word:

Of course, if Romney were a corpse as yet unburied on the model of Bob Dole and John McCain, he would lose. If you do not all that much care whether you win or not, you will lose. But Romney wants to win. He is a man of vigor, and he has a wonderful case to make. He is a turn-around artist, and this country desperately needs turning around.

This fellow sees a Literary Digest moment in our future, taking polls as the too certain trumpets in each case, 2012 and 1936.

Say it ain’t so, Harry, please

Oh brother (where are thou when we need thee?), not only must we wonder if Harry Reid’s parents were married, pending production of a wedding certificate, but now a worse allegation has arisen, in the much-acclaimed or at least -consulted Urban Dictionary:

“Harry Reid,” the dictionary now says, is defined as “[a]n unofficial rap sheet of alleged pederasty and sexual abuse of minors by anonymous sources that may not exist.”

The definition emerged, the dictionary notes, “after an explosion of reports surfaced online and on the airwaves, that [Reid] is a serial pederast. The outlets reporting the allegations all protected the anonymity of their sources, and no one knows if the allegations are true, but they’re out there. A spokesperson for Reid declined to deny them.”

Come onnnnn!  A majority leader about whom such important matters are uncertain?  We can’t have it, I say.  We simply can’t have it!

(Mature readers only)

Mark Brown has his red-meat issue, defense of welfare mothers

Baaaad Marky Brown here.  None of the cool, calm, collected columnist he usually demonstrates — more like his 2008 primary campaign against racist Dems who did not vote for Obama.

Mitt Romney on Tuesday reclaimed welfare as a central issue for Republicans this campaign season based on a specious and cynical claim that President Barack Obama has “dismantled” Clinton-era welfare reform.

Specious and cynical: the issue is joined, gloves off, aiming at jugular.

It’s been 16 years since former President Bill Clinton led a bipartisan effort to fix the nation’s welfare laws, most notably by requiring recipients to work or go to school.

And ever since, Republicans have rued the loss of one of their favorite red-meat issues on the campaign trail. It’s tough to rail against “welfare mothers”— long a favored target of political panderers of all stripes — when you’ve already taken credit for fixing the welfare system

Oh gosh, those old welfare mothers and political panderers.  Go Mark!  (At this point the careful reader went to the next thing, unable to deal for the moment with the baaaaad Marky B.