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“Deficit Complicates Push on Jobs,” - The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders pressed President Barack Obama on Wednesday to extend more elements of the existing economic-stimulus package, and to possibly add tax cuts that were rejected the first time around, despite a record budget deficit that is giving some lawmakers pause.

On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the federal deficit for fiscal 2009 will be $1.4 trillion. That is somewhat better than the nearly $1.6 trillion the CBO projected in August, but much of the change stems from different accounting treatments for losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage companies the government took over last year.

“Putting America’s Diet on a Diet,” - The New York Times

On his first day in Huntington, W. Va., Jamie Oliver spent the afternoon at Hillbilly Hot Dogs, pitching in to cook its signature 15-pound burger. That’s 10 pounds of meat, 5 pounds of custom-made bun, American cheese, tomatoes, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard and mayo. Then he learned how to perfect the Home Wrecker, the eatery’s famous 15-inch, one-pound hot dog (boil first, then grill in butter). For the Home Wrecker Challenge, the dog gets 11 toppings, including chili sauce, jalapeños, liquid nacho cheese and coleslaw. Finish it in 12 minutes or less and you get a T-shirt.

So much for local color. Earlier that day, Oliver met with a pediatrician, James Bailes, and a pastor, Steve Willis. Bailes told him about an 8-year-old patient who was 80 pounds overweight and had developed Type 2 diabetes. If the child’s diet didn’t change, the doctor said, he wouldn’t live to see 30. Willis told Oliver that he visits patients in local hospitals several days a week and sees the effects of long-term obesity firsthand. Since he can’t write a prescription for their resulting illnesses, he said, all he can do is pray with them.

“Universal healthcare coverage appears elusive,” - Los Angeles Times

As a key Senate committee prepares today to pass its plan to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system, senior Democrats are acknowledging that it may be impossible to provide coverage to all Americans — a central goal of President Obama and his congressional allies.

That is fueling growing alarm among hospitals and insurance companies, which have made universal coverage a condition of their support.

“Slums of Suburbia,” - Newsweek
Sorting through the rubble of California’s foreclosure tsunami.

John Cowgill is standing in the rain on quiet Victory Avenue in Manteca, Calif., a gridlike town of 65,000 people located just outside of Stockton. A realtor with PMZ, the biggest real-estate firm in the northern San Joaquin Valley, he is responsible for the vacant and vandalized house standing behind him; inside, grafitti covers the walls, the banister is torn off a staircase, and glass shards from a broken chandelier peak out from the carpeting. Blocks away, the road comes to an abrupt end as rows of neatly planted crops replace rows of houses.

“Look at this house and the one over there. What’s different?” Cowgill asks. At one house, the lawn is neatly trimmed and a small purple bicycle leans near the front door. At the other house, black iron bars are affixed to the door, a sight more commonly associated with the heart of the inner city than the outskirts of suburbia. Nearby, a rusty sports car sits in the driveway. “Manteca was a desirable place to live,” he explains. “But this Wild West financing meant anybody could end up here. That’s what this thing did. It scrambled communities.”

“Unhealthy glut of options: Fast food dominates eating choices in vulnerable Brooklyn neighborhoods,” - The New York Daily News

In Brooklyn, you are where you eat.

Close to 60% of the borough is overweight or obese, according to recent state Health Department data.

“Cutbacks pinch homeless programs,” - USA TODAY

The homeless are having more trouble getting help because of state budget cuts, and federal stimulus funding in September will fill only part of the gap, service providers for the homeless say.

“It’s a perfect storm” of falling revenue and rising need, says Joel John Roberts of PATH Partners, a group that advises communities on services for the homeless. “The holes in the safety net are getting bigger.”

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“Tennessee Experiment’s High Cost Fuels Health-Care Debate,” - The Wall Street Journal

In 1994, Tennessee launched an ambitious public insurance program to cover its uninsured. The plan, TennCare, fulfilled that mission but nearly bankrupted the state in the process.

 ”Poll: 57% don’t see stimulus working,” - USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Six months after President Obama launched a $787 billion plan to right the nation’s economy, a majority of Americans think the avalanche of new federal aid has cost too much and done too little to end the recession.

 ”New Orleans Neighborhood Housing Services to run $20 million home repair effort,” - The Times-Picayune

The city is negotiating a deal with the nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services to run a home-repair program that would make nearly $20 million available to owners of storm-damaged property, according to a recent city memo describing the proposal.

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“First Lady Steps Into Policy Spotlight in Debate on Health Care,” -  The New York Times

WASHINGTON — She has become one of the Obama administration’s most visible surrogates on health care, announcing the release of $851 million in federal financing for health clinics, calling for tougher nutritional standards in the government’s school lunch program and urging Democrats to rally around the president’s efforts to revamp health care.

The high-profile emissary? Not Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, or Nancy-Ann DeParle, the White House health policy adviser. It is the first lady, Michelle Obama.

“Highway spending isn’t the stimulus it was envisioned to be,” - Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington — In February, when Congress approved President Obama’s mammoth plan to stimulate the economy, transportation projects were supposed to be among the fastest-acting pieces of the $787-billion package.

All 50 states moved quickly to qualify for their share of the money. But since then the pace has slowed considerably, particularly in California and Florida, where the effect of the economic crisis has been especially severe.

“Orleans Wants Ex-Residents Counted,” - The Wall Street Journal
Census Bureau Says Mayor’s Plan to Boost Numbers Is Illegal

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is calling on former residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to claim their old city addresses in next year’s census, drawing criticism for trying to circumvent rules for winning federal funds.

The mayor — encouraged that New Orleans has thrown off its post-Katrina malaise to become the U.S.’s fastest-growing big city by percentage — wants the U.S. Census Bureau to grant an exception for its former residents, currently living elsewhere, who want to rebuild homes in New Orleans.

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“A First Lady Who Demands Substance,” - Washington Post
Michelle Obama Wants to Be Part of Events That Have Purpose And a Message — and That Parallel the President’s Agenda.

For weeks, Michelle Obama had been telling her staff and closest confidantes that she wasn’t having the impact she wanted. She is a woman of substance, with a background in law, public policy and management, who found herself relegated to role model in chief. The West Wing of the White House — the fulcrum of power and policy — had not fully integrated her into its agenda. She wanted more.

So, earlier this month, she changed her chief of staff, and now she’s changing her role.

“When jobs go, so do a city’s people,” - MSNBC.COM (Newsvine.com)

REDMOND, Wash. - For a cautionary tale, communities hard-hit by the current recession don’t have to look much further than Youngstown, Ohio.

Like many other manufacturing-dependent cities struggling in this recession, Youngstown’s economy was once booming mainly because of the success of one dominant industry. And also like those cities, Youngstown saw its fortunes fall fast and hard when that industry suddenly bottomed out, leaving many of its residents jobless and unsure what to do next.

“Unemployed Hit the Road to Find Jobs,”  - The Wall Street Journal

LINCOLN, N.H. — After seven months without a paycheck, Tim Ryan turned into a werewolf.

Laid off from a construction job, Mr. Ryan finally found work last month playing the wolfman at Clark’s Trading Post, a tourist attraction in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. For $12 an hour, about half what he made before, he dons furry rags, a coonskin cap and an eye patch and jumps out of the woods when the Trading Post’s steam train chugs by, snarling and growling at passengers.

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“Despite everything, more Americans see sunny skies ahead,” -   USA TODAY

 ”Not Paying the Mortgage, Yet Stuck With the Keys,” - Washington Post
Foreclosure Backlog Imperils Recovery

“How not to help the poor,” - The Boston Globe

Kayce T. Ataiyero
Chicago Tribune
May 14, 2009

If you’re a renter, there are some things you should know if your landlord is facing or in foreclosure. Among them:

–Even if you’re current on paying your rent, you can be evicted if the landlord has lost the property due to foreclosure.

John Bartlett, executive director of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization, said he has seen figures suggesting that roughly half of the Chicago-area families who are displaced due to foreclosure are renters. Tenants have no right to stay in a property once a landlord loses ownership, experts say.

–In Cook County a tenant whose rent is current generally has up to 120 days to vacate a foreclosed property, according to the sheriff’s department. An eviction order naming the tenant must be entered before the person can be removed from the property. Landlords and mortgage holders are required to notify tenants when a property has been foreclosed.

–If you’re behind on your rent, an eviction can occur much more quickly.

–What’s more, a landlord can sue a tenant for non-payment of rent even if the property is in foreclosure as long as the process hasn’t been finalized, said Douglas Pensack, associate director of the Illinois Tenants Union.

“While [tenants] are in possession of the property, they continue to accrue rental liability,” Pensack said. “What the landlord does with the rent money is his business.”

–To keep information about your eviction private, you must petition the court to have those files sealed, said Mark Swartz, staff attorney for the Lawyers Committee for Better Housing. Swartz said this is important because it is becoming increasingly difficult to rent in Chicago with an eviction on your rental record.

Ofelia Casillas and Azam Ahmed
Chicago Tribune
10/09/08

As the nationwide mortgage crisis puts the squeeze on homeowners, the Cook County sheriff’s office is on pace to evict more people than ever from foreclosed homes.

At least it was until Wednesday, when Sheriff Tom Dart announced he wouldn’t do it anymore.

Dart cited the growing number of evictions that involve rent-paying tenants who suddenly learn their building is in foreclosure because the landlord neglected to pay the mortgage. By refusing to do any foreclosure-related evictions, the hope is that banks will change their policies.

As it happens, the decision also will spare from eviction those legitimately in foreclosure.

It is the latest, and perhaps most curious, government response to the soaring number of foreclosures. Even as federal bailouts and rescues are under way, the local action provoked a mixture of respect and confusion from housing advocates and banks.

Indeed, some mortgage experts suggested Dart’s vow could compound problems by making lenders reluctant to extend credit at a time when loans are already hard to get.

In Cook County, foreclosures are expected to reach a record high of 43,000 this year, compared with 18,916 in 2006.

The sheriff’s office is on pace to conduct 4,500 foreclosure-related evictions, compared with less than half that number in 2006. About one-third of those are rent-paying individuals.

Katrina McMullin, 34, was paying her rent on time, but that didn’t stop a deputy from coming to her Northwest Side door with a notice of eviction. She had received no notice from her landlord.

“How dare they take my rent and still evict me?” said McMullin, who is staying in the apartment after hiring a lawyer. “It wasn’t fair.”

Then there are the homeowners on the brink, including Rossana Trujillo. She has been in negotiations with the bank to come up with a means to pay down her $340,000 debt without losing her home, the first for her husband and three children.

She’s not hopeful.

“Our home, we are going to lose it,” she said. “Paying the mortgage, there was not enough money for gas or for food.”

And although the sheriff’s move may spare her in the near term, ultimately it will not keep her from facing foreclosure.

Dart acknowledged he is at risk of violating court orders to evict and could be found in contempt. But he says he also is responsible for making sure justice is being done. “We will no longer be a party to something that’s so unjust,” he said.

Cook County Circuit Chief Judge Timothy Evans could not be reached for comment. Dart planned to meet with judges Thursday.

The move relates to evictions based on mortgage foreclosures, not those involving violations of rental agreements.

Still, most officials in surrounding counties, also struggling with unprecedented levels of foreclosures, found the move beyond the scope of a sheriff.In Will County, Sheriff Paul Kaupas was apprehensive about halting evictions and suggested the courts should suspend eviction orders.

Pat Barry, spokesman for Kaupas, said, “If we disregard the law, what kind of message are we sending?”

Kane County Sheriff Patrick Perez said he understood Dart’s motivation, having worked in the civil division dealing with evictions.

“I saw more misery in those two years than I did in the 14 or 15 years of criminal law enforcement before it,” he said.

Some commended Dart’s move as a way to slow things down and allow for a more clearly defined process.

“There a lot of things going on that are not proper procedure, and the Sheriff’s Department has been caught in the middle,” said Kathy Clark, executive director of the Lawyer’s Committee for Better Housing.

The sheriff’s complaint stems from the extra work his office does on behalf of lenders. Dart says he is tired of his deputies showing up at homes for an eviction and finding tenants who are not on the mortgage. Taxpayers foot the bill for that work.

Dart said he will resume foreclosure-related evictions when lenders agree to do their own due diligence in figuring out who is living in foreclosed properties.

But the bold step could make matters worse for aspiring homeowners and the market, some experts say.

“It would have a significant impact because obviously lenders would be hesitant to lend if they knew that if someone defaulted they wouldn’t be able to take the property back,” said Frank Binetti, vice president of the Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association. “It would create higher risks for lenders and they would have to price that into the loans, if they even chose to lend in Cook County.

“The only thing you have as a lender is the collateral, and if you aren’t able to retrieve the collateral, why are you even lending in the first place?”

Tribune reporters Mary Owen, Liam Ford, Lisa Black and freelance reporter Cliff Ward contributed to this report.

Mary Ellen Podmolik
Chicago Tribune
10/15/08

Saying it is well aware of the problem in its own Chicago backyard, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today announced $68 million in local grants and low-interest loans to help stop the rising number of home foreclosures.

The foundation said its initiative, which began in March but was announced Wednesday, should help 10,000 Chicago households, including counseling to 6,000 borrowers and preventing 2,700 foreclosures by 2010. It also will offer legal counseling to renters affected by foreclosure.

A portion of the funds will be used for a partnership between the city of Chicago and Mercy Housing Inc., to help acquire and redevelop up to 3,500 properties in neighborhoods hard hit by foreclosure.

Foreclosure filings in Chicago rose 85 percent between 2005 and 2007, and the hardest-hit neighborhoods were those that were starting to see a turnaround, including Englewood, North Lawndale, Woodlawn, Grand Boulevard, Humboldt Park and Auburn-Gresham, said Jonathan Fanton, foundation president.

“As families lose their homes, neighborhoods suffer,” he said. “A wave of foreclosures is threatening to flush away all that progress.”

Two-thirds of the funding will be provided this year with the rest in 2009. The initiative includes:

–More than $4.5 million in grants to Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, the Chicago office of the Local Initiative Support Corp., the Spanish Coalition for Housing, and the Greater Southwest Development Corp. for homeowner outreach and foreclosure counseling and referral.

Bruce Gottschall, executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services, said he has already doubled his counseling staff and hopes to assist 800 families a year in foreclosure prevention. “More than 100 people a week are calling us,” he said.

–A $400,000 grant to the Legal Assistance Foundation to provide legal services to borrowers.

–Almost $400,000 to the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing to provide legal assistance to renters affected by foreclosures.

–A $15 million deposit in ShoreBank’s $100 million Rescue Loan and Prevention Program. The bank hopes to rescue 600 troubled borrowers or more a year.

“We’re having about a 70 percent success rate in saving people we reach,” said Michelle Collins, ShoreBank’s senior vice president of mortgage lending.

–A $9 million investment in the $150-million mortgage program operated by Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, in partnership with Park National Bank, MB Financial, the City of Chicago, and other financial institutions.

–Up to $36 million in additional program-related investments and $750,000 in grants for programs that offer a rent-to-own option and other efforts to buy, repair and resell or rent foreclosed properties.

–$1.5 million in grants to the Woodstock Institute and other organizations to collect and analyze data on foreclosures in Chicago neighborhoods.

–$500,000 in grant funding to the Center for Responsible Lending for national and state policy advocacy and technical assistance for local entities.

–$250,000 to the MB Financial Charitable Foundation for technical assistance to financial institutions engaged in creating new mortgage products and strategies.