That's right, Illinois, it's an exciting day as the new Fiscal Year has begun and- what? There's no budget but rather a huge budget hole? Between $7 billion and $9 billion? Shit. Didn't we just boot a corrupt as all Hell governor so that the state government could right this sinking ship? Well...crap. more ›

While the only visible change inside WaMu’s Seattle-headquarters after being purchased by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. was a portrait of Kerry Killinger--the CEO tossed out earlier this month--being replaced by a picture of an abacus, bank officials announced on Friday that as many as 400 retail branches will close. Chicagoland is likely to be hit hard because of the overlap: Chase has 340 branches, while WaMu has 117. A study conducted in March showed 160 Chase branches had a WaMu branch within 1.5 miles. more ›