by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
The Meyers Report got it right again. Just as we had predicted in our June 14th, 2010 newsletter, Rod Blagojevich was convicted on only one minor count out of a 24 count indictment; his brother was convicted of none. The jury was hung on all other counts. Score [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
The Illinois legislature recently increased the remedies available to employees under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (WPCA). The amendment, which takes effect January 1, 2011, strengthens an employee’s ability to bring claims against employers who fail to timely pay an employee’s wages, final compensation or wage [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
The federal government has pumped almost two trillion dollars into the economy and yet unemployment is roughly at 10%. Job losses have been so severe that it would take us until 2012, or later, to recover the jobs lost in the last year even if the economy fully [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
Good news. Steel sales are good and they are going for domestic manufacturing of automobiles for export to China. GM is the beneficiary of this large increase in Chinese buys. The hot brands that the Chinese want are the Chevy Malibu and Buick Regal.
These export sales are enabling [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
A “Fair Trade” bill is currently pending in Congress to make changes to this country’s open-ended free trade policy most visibly exemplified by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
This agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico took effect on January 1, 1994, with the “promise” of [...]

It appears that the Obama Administration has finally found an issue where there’s bipartisanship. There is bipartisan silence on the leaking oil well in the Gulf. Who says Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on anything?

The Stolen Valor Act would make it a crime punishable by up to six months in prison to make inaccurate or misleading statements about one’s military service record.

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
In the 1960’s and well into the 1970’s it was sport to laugh at the Eisenhower Administration as a do-nothing Presidency. People joked that someone else must have written his “beware the military-industrial complex speech,” because good ‘ol Ike couldn’t put two sentences together without stumbling.
It turned out [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
The latest Iraqi election results deserve the respect of Iraqi leaders and US policy-makers. According to one government source who knows all of the parties, “It astounds me to see US Iraqi policy being a stoic indifference to Iran’s active and central role in attempting to frustrate the [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt

Economic Resurgence Beginning in Construction

Anecdotally, we are getting reports of increased activity all across the country. While bankers are at least talking about lending, they are making decisions about getting rid of their OREO, property taken back from their borrowers. Locally and elsewhere we also are seeing dormant [...]