On 6 fake Democrats force Wis. primaries in recalls

Posted on July 12 at 11:27 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

I think that it is interesting that these candidates are referred to as "fake"; but the press terms the Dems that are doing the same thing as "placeholder" candidates. Perhaps some bias by the press? Ya think!

On Driver in crash will be ticketed

Posted on April 1 at 10:56 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

Why did they close HWY A, the accident was on HWY 12 near Hwy O? HWY A is miles south of 12 in that area. Perhaps too much helicopter traffic! LOL!

On Archbishop defends handling of sex assault case

Posted on February 17 at 2:25 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

This is more cover up and complicity by the Catholic Church. When it is one word against the other, the Church has no choice but to remove the accused for the good and safety of the congregation. Siding with the accused or covering up and transferring the accused creates what they have today. A mess with abused carnage lying along the way. Boy, am I glad I left that organization many years ago!

On Local businesses push back over credit card company fees

Posted on January 25 at 9:41 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

Be as it may, a business that doesn't offer the convenience of a credit card will lose a lot of business. There is a cost to that for the credit card providers. As has always been the case, there is no free lunch. Even those who go the way of providing their own credit card end up paying. And even these are funded by the big box banks. Remember the golden rule? He who has the gold makes the rules.

On Elkhorn woman finds mortgage modification program an exercise in frustration

Posted on December 12 at 2:55 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

A number of points to consider:
1) the economy has affected a lot of people
2) there is always the obligation to honor a contract one enters into (i.e. a mortgage)
3) the modification process has been a debacle eminating from the treasury department with demands being made on the servicers who are understaffed because of the volume of requests created by the hype.
4) About the time the servicer feels they can do something new rules come out of the Fed.
5) The bigger the institution the bigger the backlog and the more people it takes to process, it is like a snowball rolling down the hill.
6) The Fed recently beat up on B of A for not getting permanent modifications done in a timely manner but using the timeline published by the Fed it was impossible to meet mainly because the fed never gave the tools to accomplish the task.
7) There is a lot of hype pointing to the lenders but they did not create the problem, the government did and now they are pushing programs not thought out down the throats of the lenders.

And, oh by the way, I administer the modification process for a major lender. Most lenders and modification departments are working their tails off to help but the task is a mighty one. We work a triage method taking the most serious cases and putting them first to keep people in their homes. The result is that some who are not yet delinquent or past due must wait but we do explain this when taking in the application. Then there are others who waste our time because they just want a hand out --- that paperwork, too, is required to be processed.

And it's not over yet, the local economy is still struggling. Janesville is not done, wait until the GM sub pay goes away, there'll be another surge of foreclosures. And then there are all the option ARM resets that will come due in the next year or two. Hang on, folks, this is going to be a bumpy ride and if you aren't affected, count your blessings!

On Swine flu spreads through area

Posted on October 22 at 11:55 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

If you die from the disease, the last I checked that, too, resulted in permanent paralysis!

On Protesters greet bishop in Janesville

Posted on March 15 at 10:09 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

This discussion is hilarious. If one does not want to be a Catholic, quit being one. I saw the hypocrisy in the Catholic church already in the second grade when I was taught in a Catholic grade school. I remember raising my hand and asking "Sister Celeste" to run that theory of the trinity by me one more time. A mystery. LOL! Even a second grader saw through that. I learned many years ago --- Falsehood can have a little truth mixed in but truth can have no falsehood. God has spelled out how he wants to be worshipped. Problem is so many don't get it and certainly the turmoil in the Catholic church should wake a few people up.

On Darien could vote Monday on police chief

Posted on February 15 at 10:01 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

Wonder if there is any conflict of interest seeing the acting police chief and the board president dining out at the West Wind Diner yesterday.

On Defeat of bailout frustrates UAW members

Posted on December 13 at 2:03 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

The matter is just a simple math problem. GM says its costs are $69 an hour and they need to get to $48. If 30% of their workforce is laid off on average for changeovers or reduction in production. Cut out paying for people who don't work. $69 x 70% = $48.30. Voila! No company can afford to pay people for doing nothing. No other industries when they lay people off continue to pay them. All those in our community are whining but if you are a GM worker why are you complaining still getting 90% of your pay? That is where the UAW needs to give in. If they do that they will almost be there with the concessions needed.

On Local credit union announces moratorium on foreclosures

Posted on November 27 at 11:17 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

There are some who have posted on this news item that truly do not have a clue, like piznat. Blackhawk has never had a reputation of risky lending nor do they have sub-prime mortgage products. Having worked in the financial field my entire life, one realizes that lending is a gamble on the odds of all of life's circumstances. Lending too tight will cause an institution to lose a lot of good business, too loose and there can be tremendous losses. That is what we see now with the entire economy. The non financial people in DC decided to delve into an arena they knew nothing about which brought about a field day for the sub-prime originators. This "loose lending" finally caught up with those who delved into that market. Problem is it spiraled into the morass we see with the whole economy and affected quality lenders like Blackhawk. The loans were good but the economy and things like the closing of GM which has affected the whole Rock county area take some of the good people down. The article and the news item on NBC 15 from Madison explained that this moratorium probably just helped less than a dozen families right now. For an institution like Blackhawk who boasts over 30000 members and has served the Janesville area for over 40 years, a few foreclosures mentioned in the news story does not constitute "delving into risky mortgages" (piznat)or blaming it on an underwriter again shows no clue by piznat. If underwriters had crystal balls and could foresee every event that is going to happen to people, there would be no problems but then again a lot fewer people would own homes nor investments to allow others to rent them. I agree with chazzy that what has happened does not paint the individual nor the underwriter as irresponsible nor neglectful. Life altering events like death, divorce or loss of job or income are events that are unpredictable. These things are part of the gamble that financial institutions factor into their decision making but it is not factored into an individual decision but rather in the pricing of the product knowing that a certain percentage will go bad. I have to take my hat off to Blackhawk for wanting to work with those who might still have enough ability to perform on some type of an altered program. For the rest of us who pay our mortgage on time, yes, we may not get the same new terms but we benefit when fewer homes do not go on the market as bank owned and drag down the value of our investments.