Thursday July 23 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Get Rich Or Go Broke Trying: Rapper 50 Cent Files For Bankruptcy - (www.zerohedge.com) In January, Curtis Jackson, aka 50-Cent, appeared on CNBC proclaimed as a multi-platinum rapper, and also a successful entrepreneur with a range of businesses. Just six months later he is broke, as WSJ reports, he filed for chaper 11 bankruptcy protection today. Court papers (below) show the rapper's assets and debt in the range of $10 to $50 million (after WaPo reported his net worth "at nearly half a billion dollars" in 2007). The bankruptcy filing comes just days after a jury directed Jackson to pay $5 million to the ex-girlfriend of a rap-rival over a sex-tape.

CPS warns of drastic cuts without pension help - (www.chicagotribune.com)  Chicago Public Schools on Monday unveiled dire financial projections for the coming school year, warning that cuts will be even worse than those announced earlier this month if pension relief is not granted in Springfield. The individual school budgets distributed to principals rely on $500 million in pension help from Springfield, something neither the governor nor state lawmakers have so far been willing to provide. If that help does not arrive, there could be more budget cuts halfway through the school year, officials said. Per-pupil spending levels are not changing from last year, but CPS no longer will cushion the funding losses to schools whose enrollment has dropped. At least 65 schools will have $200,000 cut from their budgets, Chief Financial Officer Ginger Ostro said. "We're trying to keep cuts from the classroom door, (but) we're not keeping them from the school door," CPS interim CEO Jesse Ruiz said.

Law school to give unemployed grads money back - (money.cnn.com) Brooklyn Law School said Monday that it will refund graduates 15 percent of the total they paid in tuition if they are still searching for a job nine months after receiving their degree. The program is called "Bridge to Success" and will begin with the incoming class of 2015. The payment will be made in a lump sum and is meant to act as a safety net that will help give students more time to find "meaningful, full-time employment," the school said in a statement. According to the law school -- which has total enrollment of about 1,100 -- its job placement record in the last two years has been approximately 90 percent. The partial tuition refund program is the latest in a series of initiatives undertaken by the school in an effort to help students and alumni.

CPS tells charter schools to expect only 15 percent of first-quarter payout – (www.chicagotribune.com) Chicago Public Schools has told its independently operated schools to expect a fraction of their normal payout from the district for the first quarter of this budget year. The city's charter, contract and alternative schools will receive as little as 15 percent of funds normally distributed by CPS at the end of this month, the district said in a letter to school operators. At least one charter operator plans to borrow money to manage its expenses. An advocate for the privately operated, publicly funded schools said the reduced payment raises new concerns about how charters will be affected by the district's financial problems. "Chicago has never delayed charter payments in this fashion," said Andrew Broy, head of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. "This is not crying wolf." CPS says it will eventually make the full payment but did not say when that might happen. Last week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the district's acting chief outlined $200 million in cuts — reductions that already include close to $16 million in startup funding for newly approved charter, contract and alternative option schools. To get through the budget year that began last Wednesday, the school board has authorized borrowing nearly $1 billion.

Tsipras Faces Syriza Mutiny After Capitulating to Demands – (www.bloomberg.com)  Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras returned to face a mutiny within his coalition after he surrendered to European demands for action to qualify for up to 86 billion euros ($95 billion) of aid Greece needs to stay in the euro. Tsipras arrived back in Athens to confront lawmakers from his Syriza-led bloc who rebelled this weekend when he sought their endorsement for spending cuts, pensions savings and tax increases. He met with his closest aides to chart the path ahead, as the Greek parliament faced a Wednesday deadline to pass into law key creditor demands including a value-added tax overhaul, broadening the tax base to increase revenue and curbing pension costs. With the threat of defections rippling through his bloc, Tsipras will “have to change his administration and clear out hardliners and radicals from his party,” as well as rely on opposition support to pass the necessary measures, said Eurasia Group analysts Mujtaba Rahman and Federico Santi. “But it is a tough call to determine how Tsipras will go about doing this.”

OTHER STORIES:

Euro zone strikes Greek deal with tough conditions - (www.reuters.com)
Tsipras Faces Syriza Mutiny After Capitulating to Demands - (www.bloomberg.com)
European Stocks Are Rallying After The Greek Deal - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bonds Show Greek Risks Persist on Path Set for Bailout Accord - (www.bloomberg.com)
Euro’s Greek Boost Evaporates as Analysts Predict Losses to Come - (www.bloomberg.com)
Greek Banks to Stay Shut for Now, Finance Ministry Says - (www.reuters.com)

ECB Keeps Greek Bank-Aid Cap in Place as Parliament Vote Awaited
What’s in the Bailout Deal for Greece and What Happens Next?
Greece crisis talks: the July weekend that saved the euro but broke the EU? - (www.theguardian.com)
[El-Erian] Hard-Won Greek Deal Was the Easy Part
Deal on Greek Debt Crisis Exposes Europe’s Deepening Fissures - (www.nytimes.com)
Why a deal might be too late for Greece - (www.washingtonpost.com)