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A Chicago pro-business group that pushed back at New Jersey’s efforts to steal Illinois business is now setting its sights on Wisconsin.
The latest shot by the new group, For a Better Chicago, is in the form of print ads in Wisconsin much like those taken out in New Jersey a couple of weeks ago. Governors in both of those states tried to lure away businesses after Illinois lawmakers in January raised state income taxes on individuals and corporations.
In vetoing two bills Monday that would have paved the way for two coal-to-gas plants to be built in the state, Gov. Pat Quinn signaled his support for cleaner uses of Illinois coal but said he would not support the technology at the expense of consumers.
The bills would have forced state utilities to buy synthetic natural gas, which was expected to be more expensive than natural gas for the next two decades, from a $3 billion plant on Chicago’s Southeast Side proposed by New York-based Leucadia National Corp. and a $1 billion southern Illinois plant proposed by Power Holdings of Illinois. Get the full story »
From The Huffington Post | A months-long investigation into abusive mortgage practices by the Federal Reserve found no wrongful foreclosures, members of the Fed’s Consumer Advisory Council said Thursday.
When it comes to protecting consumers, American politicians in China don’t always practice what they preach, unpublished U.S. diplomatic cables show.
In 2007, two U.S. congressmen private admonished a Chinese official about the spike in potentially harmful made-in-China products being shipped around the world, according to a cable from the U.S. embassy in Beijing obtained by WikiLeaks and provided to Reuters by a third party. Get the full story »
A bill that would allow people to sell home-baked goods at farmers markets is slowly making its way through the state Senate.
Senate Bill 137 would make it legal for people to sell their home-baked “non-potentially hazardous food,” such as bread and cookies, at farmers markets and community events. Get the full story »
Melissa Bean. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
By Becky Yerak and Melissa Harris | Melissa Bean, the Barrington Democrat recently ousted from her U.S. House seat after three terms, has been hired as the new chief executive of the Executives’ Club of Chicago.
Before entering the world of politics, Bean worked in sales and management for high-tech companies, including a Motorola unit, Nortel and Arrow Electronics. She later started her own consulting firm to the tech industry, advising clients that included Anixter, Intel and Microsoft. She was elected to Congress in 2004.
Bean replaces Kaarina Koskenalusta, who resigned from the business forum last October after 25 years at the helm. Get the full story »
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday that there is substantial capacity across major world economies in strategic oil reserves in the event of a supply disruption. Get the full story »
Elizabeth Warren, the point person creating an agency to protect consumers of financial products, said she was surprised there are efforts afoot in Congress to kill or disable the agency before it’s born.
Warren, in Chicago for a speech at Northwestern University, told the Tribune in an interview Thursday that it’s crucial the agency is created and that its funding remain independent from the political process. She also held an olive branch to community banks and credit unions wary of more regulation. Get the full story »
President Barack Obama plans to offer new financing for joint infrastructure projects between U.S. and Brazilian companies when he visits Brazil next month, part of efforts to strengthen ties between the Western Hemisphere’s two biggest economies, sources say. Get the full story »
From The New York Times | Global oil companies said Monday that they were making plans to evacuate employees in Libya after some operations there were disrupted by political unrest. The country holds the largest crude oil reserves in Africa.
