Creating A Glut Of Vacant Units
A report from Mansion Global on California. “The last remaining condo unit owned by serial home flipper Ellen DeGeneres at the Beverly West building in Los Angeles is pending sale as of December 19, according to listing records. The two-bedroom spread was most recently asking $6.95 million, after receiving a $1 million price cut in June. It first hit the market in February asking almost $8 million, listing records show. Ms. DeGeneres purchased two neighboring units at the building in July 2014 for $13.2 million, records show. One of the apartments sold earlier this year for $6 million, according to records, so it’s likely that the TV star is primed to take a loss on the properties.”
“Meanwhile, her Tuscan-style villa in Montecito is on the market with an asking price of $39.5 million, less than the $45 million it was asking when it first hit the market in March.”
From AM New York. “Some fortune may indeed be forthcoming for those renting in 2018, according to market analysts tracking rent rates’ plateau and the rise of rental concessions. As several new developments open, landlords have had to offer more to lure in tenants, including paying brokers’ fees on their behalf or waiving a month or two of rent. Particularly in areas like Long Island City, Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn, where the number of apartments has surged, rents may be poised to decrease, according to Grant Long, senior economist at StreetEasy.”
“‘In many parts of the city rents will fall,’ Long said. ‘There’s a lot of new rental housing, and landlords are having to compete against each other and offer concessions, and inevitably cut the headline rents that they offer to folks.’”
From WESA 90.5 in Pennsylvania. “Apartment buildings have sprouted up across the East End since 2015, with cranes rising over neighborhoods including East Liberty, Lawrenceville and the Strip District. ‘If you came into town in 2013, you probably had four choices for newer buildings,’ said Paul Griffith, the senior managing director with Integra Realty Resources, a company that studies real estate valuation. ‘Now, you have 10 different choices that have been built in the past 18 months.’”
“Griffith said that developers may have overbuilt, though, as there are only so many renters looking for new construction apartments. ‘Right now we’re concerned going into 2018 or 2019, that the number of units under construction are going to outpace the demand and that we’ll see a softening of the market,’ he said, which can be seen in rent concessions offered by apartment complexes.”
The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. “Looking back on the year, all of the major real estate sectors in Charlotte seemed to prosper. Home prices shot up, thousands of new apartments hit the market. Still, there were a few cracks beneath the veneer of strength. The thousands of new apartments opening uptown pushed its vacancy rate to almost 22 percent, nearly four times the city’s average.”
“According to Charlotte-based Real Data, an apartment-tracking firm, there were 11,674 apartments under construction across Charlotte in August – and another 12,645 on the planning board. ‘The pricing of the land has gotten to a point that when you couple that with where construction prices are right now, the economic prices are not making sense,’ said Michael Tubridy, managing director of Crescent Communities. ‘The costs to develop are far exceeding rent growth.’”
The Des Moines Register in Iowa. “Nearly 2,000 new apartments opened in downtown Des Moines in 2017, creating an issue that property managers haven’t seen in years: a glut of vacant units. Des Moines has been in a building boom for the past decade, with more than $3 billion invested in downtown projects in that time, according to the Greater Des Moines Partnership. With an unprecedented wave of apartments coming online this year, many property managers have turned to move-in specials to get potential renters in the door.”
“‘This is the first year that supply exceeds demand,’ said Jake Christensen, president of Christensen Development in the East Village, which opened 350 units in two downtown buildings this year.”
“CBRE/Hubbell Commercial, which monitors the metro’s apartment market, estimates that 30 percent of new units — or about 600 apartments — are unoccupied. Until recently, it wasn’t unusual for a new 100-unit building to be fully leased within 60 days, Christensen said. But with so many units coming online in a single year, developers and property managers have been forced to offer incentives, including free parking, gift cards, free TVs and iPads and even two months rent free to entice would-be renters to sign leases.”
From Jackson Hole Daily in Wyoming. “When you drive by the new apartment complex on the corner of Milward and Kelly at night, the lights aren’t on in many of the windows. That’s because only two of the 12 units of St. John’s Medical Center’s most recent workforce housing project have been filled. When the project received preliminary approval from the Jackson Town Council last fall, developer Greg Prugh estimated rent would be about $1,800 a month.”
“According to the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information Economic Analysis Division, the average rent for a two-bedroom, unfurnished apartment, excluding gas and electric, in Teton County in 2015 was $1,654. Chief information officer Karen Connelly said lowering the prices to attract more tenants was not really an option. Rent is set at the ‘low end of the market rate to avoid tax implications for tenants,’ she said. If the price were set substantially lower, it could be seen as nonwage income for employees and therefore could be taxed.”
“‘While that’s a possibility, that could be a headache to employees who have to deal with that,’ she said. ‘We keep a close eye on the market.’”
Oh dear…
‘it’s likely that the TV star is primed to take a loss on the properties’
Just since 2014. Now why hasn’t the LA Times told us prices are falling? I mean, they warned us in 2005, right?
“…serial home flipper Ellen DeGeneres…”
Who knew she was in the same club as Nicholas Cage and Johnny Debt?
So that’s why she’s hosting that ridiculous show they’ve been advertising non stop.
And I’m sure we’ll be seeing more adventures of Captain Jack.
Not sure what Cage is doing these days.
Straight to netflix movies
Just saw a commercial where Johnny Depp was hawking a perfume. I commend him for working off his debt. Depp is in esteemed company; Mark Twain worked his way out of similar pickle over a hundred years ago.
[to be fair, Twain lost his money investing in a typesetting machine that didn't work out. I wonder what ol' Mark would have thought about Depp's going broke over expensive wine... heh, whatever Twain's thoughts were, I'm sure they would have been humorously phrased.]
I highly recommend Mark Twain’s autobiography published in the last 10 years.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2007/09/mark-twains-instructive-approach-to-copyright-in-1906/
“Twain concocted a scheme whereby he would augment his existing copyrighted works on the eve of their entry into the public domain in order to create a new, copyrighted work. The original work would pass into the public domain, but Twain reasoned that the newer, augmented works would outsell public domain materials if they offered something extra. In short, he speculated about trying to create value from his older works that would be copyrightable.”
He really thought Teddy Roosevelt was a POS. Also the GOP.
The original work would pass into the public domain, but Twain reasoned that the newer, augmented works would outsell public domain materials if they offered something extra.
That reminds me of how drug companies deal with drugs coming out of patent today… All they have to do is essentially get a small variant of the drug approved—e.g. right-hand vs left-hand chemical structure, approval for a new use, or some other nonsense—in order to start the patent clock countdown all over again.
What it’s like to be Nicolas Cage’s Agent:
https://youtu.be/eExfV_xKaiM
I’m curious whether the big losses are limited to high-end flippers, or is the DeGeneres tale the tip of the iceberg for a ubiquitous downturn in California property prices?
I used to enjoy driving past this building at night - there were never more than 2 or 3 lights on, except the overlit lobby and its lonely security guard. I’m 99% sure no one ever lived there.
This and The Century (Candy Spelling’s building in Century City) never made even the slightest bit of sense, especially for the smaller apartments on the lower floors. Who would/could buy a 2000-4000 sq ft apartment for $4-$8 million, considering you could get a beautiful house for that price or less? Even in fantasyland the numbers never pencilled out.
Looks like The Century developer took a hit this year too:
“Matthew Perry negotiated a steep discount on a posh penthouse condominium at the ultra-plush, Robert A.M. Stern-designed Century tower in the Century City area of Los Angeles, paying exactly $20 million for an immense, full-floor residence that was originally saddled with a brutally unrealistic $28.95 million price tag and was last listed at a still far too optimistic $26.5 million.”
http://variety.com/2017/dirt/real-estalker/matthew-perry-century-city-condo-1202507240/
I guess $29 mil is “brutally unrealistic” for an apartment with only 3 parking spaces, but $20 mil is just right…
‘The thousands of new apartments opening uptown pushed its vacancy rate to almost 22 percent…there were 11,674 apartments under construction across Charlotte in August – and another 12,645 on the planning board. ‘The pricing of the land has gotten to a point that when you couple that with where construction prices are right now, the economic prices are not making sense’
You don’t say Mike.
Ring ring…
Hello?
Mrs Thimblefull?
Speaking.
My name is Roy, I’m with Puerto Gringofleecer timeshares in Mexico. We haven’t received your payment for December.
Oh my Roy, in all the commotion about my husbands pension being cut, I forgot all about it. I’m afraid we may have to give that condo back.
“Puerto Gringofleecer timeshares”
That’s just too funny right there, I don’t care who y’are.
Seriously, though, how does the timeshare industry even hang on? I would imagine AirBnB is giving them a run for their money.
Given all the kidnappings, murders and swindles I’l surprised anyone still vacations in Mexico. But they do.
Also dubious alcohol.
That wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me, since I’m not a boozer; though I could see it being an issue for some patrons at those all inclusive resorts.
We took a Danube river cruise a couple of years ago. Open bar was a $150 option (per person) for the week. While I passed, quite a few of my fellow travelers did go for it, and boy, they’d get plastered at the end of the day. It made me wonder if as the evening progressed if the bar switched to the cheap hooch.
extend credit , create debt and demand, forgive debt when defaults occur, start over
So how did we get here? An example from Tennessee:
‘Last month, a package deal for several Knoxville apartment complexes was finalized. According to deeds filed with the county, a Nashville entity was the buyer and the transaction was valued at more than $75 million. Four of the five properties were located in West Knoxville, with the largest being the Woodlands West Apartments, in a deal valued at $34 million.’
‘So what’s the broader story behind the transaction? On a macro level, it’s the ongoing interest in Knoxville-area commercial properties from investors outside the region, an interest that has paid dividends in the apartment sector.’
‘Heidi Adams and Rick Ross, colleagues of mine who focus on apartment transactions, said that in markets like Nashville, Atlanta and Charlotte, cap rates - i.e., the ratio of net operating income to sale price - are so low that investors have begun looking to smaller markets like Knoxville for acquisitions.’
“They’re showing strong interest in (smaller) markets and properties that typically, two years ago, they would not have,” Ross said, “because they can still buy them and infuse capital in many cases, reposition them and make it a good return … The good news for the (sellers) is that they are bringing lower cap rates than you would normally have seen two years ago.”
‘It’s not just existing properties that are hot, though. New development remains strong, even as the Knoxville-area market has been adding units in recent years. Will White, managing member of Columbus, Ga.-based Greystone Properties, said markets like Nashville are getting overbuilt, but demand in Knoxville is still solid.’
‘Greystone owns a pair of apartment complexes in West Knoxville and is developing a 328-unit project called Greystone Pointe that is scheduled to open in March. White said that while construction costs in Knoxville have dented profitability, he likes the city’s location, its long-term growth prospects, and the fact that unlike Columbus - which is home to Fort Benning - it isn’t dependent on the military sector.’
“demand in Knoxville is still solid.” Because Will said so.
Livin’ on a Prayer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mgF35Yt1oc
lol. Just, LOL.
“buy them and infuse capital”
Apt word, infuse. Like saturate, steep, overwhelm. They’re just looking to stuff money into places that don’t need it like force-feeding a foie gras duck. And what a common story: taking something affordable, throwing money at it and making it expensive.
Like Ben says, Yellenbux looking for a place to die.
Woodlands West is now closed, but there are some legacy pictures of the complex: https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0×885c25234d653b8d:0×70590a5c04b93617!2m22!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m16!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e5!2m2!1m1!1e4!2m2!1m1!1e6!3m1!7e115!4shttps://www.knoxvilleapartmentguide.com/property.asp?ap%3DWOODLANDS%2520WEST%2520APARTMENTS!5sWoodlands+West+Apartments+knoxville+-+Google+Search&imagekey=!1e1!2shttps://www.knoxvilleapartmentguide.com/img/property1130×500/woodlands_west_ext102.jpg&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_qcPvlLrYAhWvl-AKHXpuAzgQoioIggEwCg
*sigh* This is decent Grade B that could house many a working man…
We’re turning into a banana republic for sure. Not only are middle class jobs being destroyed, so are middle class cars and middle class housing, and middle class clothing (JC Penney). For a while, middle class restaurants were struggling (Applebees), but I guess an infusion of cheap soybean oil and illegal cooks is saving that.
Great comment. I never thought of it like that before, but that’s a novel perspective vs. the conventional wisdom that middle class institutions fail *because* of a declining middle class rather than a coordinated assault on middle class jobs and institutions all at once.
Monetary policy has engineered a world too expensive for its inhabitants. Then leaders point to all the unaffordable, underutilized luxury and call it prosperity.
‘Right now we’re concerned going into 2018 or 2019, that the number of units under construction are going to outpace the demand and that we’ll see a softening of the market’.
That’s a lie. Every idiot Realtor can tell you “If we had more inventory we’d sell more inventory”! Well, here it is folks! A.B.C.!
Mexico hit with more snow and bitter cold
http://cnycentral.com/news/local/mexico-hit-with-more-snow-and-bitter-cold
http://www.northernchateau.com/northernchateau.htm
You do realize that this report is from a town called Mexico, in upstate New York.
That said, I’m ready for the current polar express to be over. December was very pleasant in my neck of the woods (with highs near 60) until just before Christmas. We did get a brief two day reprieve last week (one day hit 64), but now it’s just cold again.
Yes and the second link shows all the real tine snow cameras in tug hill measured in Feet…
upstate New York…
We call that region Central NY. When I was a kid everything outside of NYC was called Upstate.
I don’t like driving through there in January. In Feb it is better if the lake has ice on it.
About 70F here in Moorpark CA maybe that’s why my 1600 square foot 2 story house in now worth north of 600K and one of the cheapest in town. Starter home for millennial’s with dogs.
Like my new pot smoking millennial neighbors who bought a perfectly good house and spent months remodeling…
Pot smells like a brush fire … I guess its legal here now.
I wouldn’t brag about living in Kraproom…
https://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Moorpark-California/market-trends/
Moorpark market trends indicate an increase of $56,000 (9%) in median home sales over the past year. The average price per square foot for this same period rose to $312, up from $292.
cratering upward
that’s why my 1600 square foot 2 story house in now worth north of 600K…
Must be a very special place. Full of impoverished high earners no doubt, but special.
It costs me less than a grand a year to keep it 70 degrees here.
It costs me less than a grand a year to keep it 70 degrees here.
Wood-stove?
I spend less than a grand to heat the house with NatGas. And that includes about $25 a month for the water heater and the stove.
It costs me nothing to keep my house at ambient temperature.
Pot smells like a brush fire …
Pot probably smells like a brush fire to you because the brush you’ve smelled going up in smoke had illegal pot plants hidden away in it…
With this development, you can stick a fork in Bitcoin.
The Criminal Underworld Is Dropping Bitcoin for Another Currency
By Olga Kharif
January 2, 2018, 2:00 AM PST
- Monero and others lure criminals as bitcoin’s privacy weakens
- Some coins post fake blockchain entries to hamper surveillance
Bitcoin Starts 2018 With a Tumble
Bitcoin is losing its luster with some of its earliest and most avid fans — criminals — giving rise to a new breed of virtual currency.
…
Bitcoin is so yesterday’s news as an instrument of appreciation. The blanket term “cryptocurrency” is a better handle for the overall phenomenon. And the best analogy to the trading in cryptos is forex trading. That’s one aspect.
The other aspect is that these cryptos are more about replacement than they are investment.
“And the best analogy to the trading in cryptos is forex trading.”
Not quite the same, as so far as I am aware, the number of countries with foreign currencies to trade is not rapidly expanding.
List of cryptocurrencies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of cryptocurrencies. The number of cryptocurrencies available over the internet as of 31 December 2017 is over 1381 and growing. A new cryptocurrency can be created at any time.
…
Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s dominance of the cryptocurrency market is at its lowest level ever
- Bitcoin’s dominance of the entire cryptocurrency market is at its lowest level ever.
- Bitcoin hit a record high of $19,783.21 in December before plunging, but still rallied by over 1,300 percent in 2017.
- The fall in bitcoin’s supremacy is due to the rise of other cryptocurrencies such as ethereum and ripple.
Arjun Kharpal
Published 9 Hours Ago
Updated 2 Hours Ago
CNBC.com
Bitcoin is off to a rough start in 2018
1 Hour Ago | 01:07
Bitcoin’s dominance of the cryptocurrency market is at its lowest level ever thanks to rising interest in alternative digital coins.
On Tuesday, its market cap was $231.8 billion, or around 36.1 percent of the total value of all cryptocurrencies. This is the lowest share of the market that bitcoin has had in its history.
Bitcoin’s previous low was 37.6 percent in June. By contrast, at the start of 2017, its market share stood at over 80 percent.
…
If Bitcoin’s total market cap is $231.8 billion and it is only 37.6 percent of the total cryptocurrency market, then that would imply that there is around $630 billion in total cryptocurrency. That is an astounding number.
http://i.imgur.com/FAVyM.gif
Get yours today.
I just saw on my news feed that Peter Thiel is buying bitcoin:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/02/bitcoin-rises-after-report-says-early-facebook-investor-peter-thiel-is-buying-massive-amounts.html
Buttcoin, indeed!
And how bout them falling housing prices…. Now we’re talkin’.
Alameda, CA Housing Prices Crater 8% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/alameda-ca/market-trends/
“…that would imply that there is around $630 billion in total cryptocurrency. That is an astounding number.”
Sadly, it’s destined to shrink when the Fed normalizes policy.
“A new crypto-currency can be created at any time.”
Then how is cryptocurrency different from the fiat currencies in common use these days?
As I understand it, the blockchain technology places a ceiling on the amount of any given cryptocurrency that can be created (”mined”?). But if there’s no limit to the number of cryptocurrencies that can exist, then doesn’t continued creation of them, de-value all of them?
(Not sure I’m articulating my thoughts well, hopefully you can understand my point.)
Bitcoin was imagined up to take earned money from fools, on the premise that they would become rich without effort.
Then how is cryptocurrency different from the fiat currencies in common use these days?
cryptos are priced by speculation, although i’ve read lately that some are trying to establish a gold backing. it might work if done right, but the value of the crypto would always have to exceed the value of the gold it’s backed by. for instance, the swiss franc, a gold backed fiat, is backed by 1/4 its value in gold. the gold backing gives trust in a few different ways. but a big drawback to cryptos is the energy needed to maintain the blockchain. will even the gold backed ones work? unknown. maybe they’ll find a form of encryption that can be maintained without constant electricity?
fiats like the dollar are backed by nothing and are ultimately priced by the efficiency of labor. there’s a risk of losing all the money you’ve saved if the currency gets destroyed.
But if there’s no limit to the number of cryptocurrencies that can exist, then doesn’t continued creation of them, de-value all of them?
there would be a natural creation limit to the cryptos backed by gold.
i’ll add that i don’t know much about blockchain. only what i’ve been told by others.
Six places you can spend your bitcoin fortune.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-31/6-places-you-can-spend-your-bitcoin-fortune
“Of course, none of this really addresses whether or not you want to spend your Bitcoin. Some people see it as an investment. But a more accurate description is a speculation, seeing as there is no solid way to know the future of Bitcoin.
High transaction fees for Bitcoin transfers are another issue that has yet to be addressed. Other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Dash may hold more promise for the daily use of digital cash.
But never-the-less, those awash with newfound Bitcoin wealth can, in fact, spend it.
As always, the best advice is to diversify. Bitcoin might not remain the gold standard, but cryptocurrencies are here to stay.”
It’s like I said, as long as bitcoin or another other cryptocurrency is accepted in exchange for goods and service, you’ve got money. So that’s the “medium of exchange” aspect. As to the investment aspect, as the author notes above, it is not an investment, but a speculation.
Hope Joe Smith — our resident “non-consumerist —
is smart enough to sell more than 25% of his bitcoin stash. Otherwise he might not be able to afford his desired mansion just NW of Baltimore.
Hope Joe Smith” he needs to post on Boogleheads with all the other 30 something millionaires who get smacked down by the 50 year old 10 millionaires.
Typical question I’m 33 and make 600K a year and have 2.1 million in net worth can I afford a 2 million dollar house and retire at 40?
Typical answer No you can’t not until you have at least 10 million like I did at your age..
for real ? IDK who can say ?
“‘In many parts of the city rents will fall,’ Long said. ‘There’s a lot of new rental housing, and landlords are having to compete against each other and offer concessions, and inevitably cut the headline rents that they offer to folks.’”
Expect a lot more of this in 2018
From the Jackson Hole article:
Rent is set at the ‘low end of the market rate to avoid tax implications for tenants,’ she said. If the price were set substantially lower, it could be seen as nonwage income for employees and therefore could be taxed.”
I smell BS. So what if the rent is low enough to trigger a tax? For example: say I’m a tenant and the LL sets a rent that is $100/month too low. The city treats it as if the LL is paying me that $100 in nonwage income, and taxes it at 20%, or $20.
At the end of the day, I’m *still* paying $80/month less in rent. I’d take that deal. What am I missing?
Sounds like the hospital owns the complex, so it is like employer provided housing. To the extent rent is under market, it’d be an employer to employee transfer which is taxable.
In the absence of the employer / employee relation, there’s imputed income issue for below market rent.
s/b ‘ there’s NO imputed income issue for below market rent.’
It is 24 degrees here, too cold to type correctly!
Still doesn’t answer the question why the hospital can’t cut the rent $100 and let the renters pay $20 back. Still $80 net.
You’d have $100 of imputed income (with certain exceptions) a month that would be subject to federal and state employment and income taxes. Your W-2 would be $1,200 more than your actual gross paychecks. Maybe it’d still pencil out to employee’s advantage. The article said it’d just be a hassle to deal with, from grossing up w-2’s and FICA, Medicare, etc.
Yet taxes are never more than the extra income. How could it not “pencil out”?
I think you’re right Oxy.
The most expensive mile of subway track on Earth:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html
Wow
“Nobody knew what those people were doing, if they were doing anything,” said Michael Horodniceanu, who was then the head of construction at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs transit in New York. The workers were laid off, Mr. Horodniceanu said, but no one figured out how long they had been employed. “All we knew is they were each being paid about $1,000 every day.”
Lol. Hey, what do you expect, it’s New York.
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I wanted to see how close the 1k a day boys came to the MLB minimum and I found this site.
Major League Baseball
Evolution of the minimum salary
1970
Minimum Salary $12,000
Average Salary $29,303
1980
Minimum Salary $30,000
Average Salary $143,756
1990
Minimum Salary $100,000
Average Salary $578,930
2000
Minimum Salary $200,000
Average Salary $1,998,034
2012
Minimum Salary $480,000
Average Salary $3,650,000
2019
Minimum Salary $555,000
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Minimum_salary
havent seen a game in years
I loved baseball as a kid, was passionate about it into my 20s and what I would consider a fan up until the Marlins bought a bunch of Free Agent talent, won the World Series and Wayne Huizenga let the whole team go and put a AAA team on the field the next year.
I haven’t watched an entire inning since and most years no more than a pitch while changing channels.
I do however still watch a few little league regional and World Series games each year,
I noticed the phrase “declined to comment” appears a lot in that article…
What a cesspool. And yet, so many people want to live in that City.
You live in Las Vegas, if you are the Anon posting lately, right?
San Diego(North City), CA Housing Prices Plunge 10% YOY As Speculators Dump Properties
https://www.zillow.com/north-city-san-diego-ca/home-values/
https://snag.gy/m5EzRB.jpg
get out now while there is still liquidity!
Dont get GREEDY.
Zillow has this really crazy graphic that shows the expanding value of total US real estate by month and year for each state:
https://www.zillow.com/research/total-value-homes-31-8-trillion-17763/
The most recent valuation is $31.8 trillion but the animation graphic starts in 1998 at about $14 trillion.
Sounds interesting but “value” doesn’t mean much. And remember…. Nothing accelerates the economy and creates jobs like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing.
Plano, TX Housing Prices Crater 5% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/plano-tx/market-trends/
That graphic is mesmerizing. The bubble and rebubble as a living, breathing organism.
anyway, big doings tomorrow, folks. Big doings. We will find out whether we are, in fact, a Constitutional Republic, or whether we are a fascism ruled by the whims of the DOJ and FBI. It all hinges on whether or not Devin Nunes gets what he has asked for. If not, we’ve got an even bigger problem than we thought.
Wow, what did he ask for? I’ve blanked out all this Russia probe stuff (I assume that’s what this concerns).
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/28/nunes-blasts-doj-fbi-for-failure-to-produce-records-relating-to-anti-trump-dossier.html
“Unfortunately, DOJ/FBI’s intransigence with respect to the August 24 subpoenas is part of a broader pattern of behavior that can no longer be tolerated,” the California Republican wrote to Rosenstein.
Nunes demanded that all records – and available dates for witnesses to testify – be provided to the committee by Jan 3.”
Forgot this part: “Nunes previously said he has instructed committee staff to begin drawing up a contempt of Congress resolution for Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray unless their demands are met.”
This is the battle between the “permanent state”, the bureaucracy, the unelected government, vs what “they” call the “transitory” government, the elected officials. Nunes is forcing it into the open.
Honestly, if they don’t ante up the goods, we do have a Constitutional crisis on our hands. We’ve had it for quite some time, just not out in the open.
Nunes has some stones. I hope he runs for Prez after Trump’s two terms are done.
For Hillary and Abedin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygbeGtG4qMM
Thanks for the vid.
It’s a strange day today already, and looks like it might get even stranger. National Guard unit from AZ deployed to Gitmo, among other things. And I didn’t even know that the airport passport system was shut down for a while yesterday, nationwide. NoKo reaching out to SoKo via cross-border hotline. Weird storm off the Southeast coast of US.
Lots of chatter on the interwebs this morning.
we need more stimulus and debt to keep the bubble economy from defalting!
LOL
I don’t know if you intended to type “deflating” or “defaulting.”
Or maybe “defalting” will be the word of the year for 2018. It’s got a nice ring to it.
Prices cannot fall far or the collateral for all the home loans will go to sh@T and bankrupt your master bankers.
These phony markets will drive u crazy.
Dont fight the wall street credit machine.
I think there was a reason for sound money.
Tukwila, WA Housing Prices Crater 13% YOY On Billowing Housing Inventory
https://www.movoto.com/tukwila-wa/market-trends/
For cripe’s sake HA, give it up.
Inventory is at record low levels in the entire Seattle area right now. It’s so bad that the UHS people are having a hard time finding any work.
Hello my good friend…
Seattle(Capitol Hill), WA Housing Prices Crater 8% YOY On Plunging Housing Demand
https://www.zillow.com/capitol-hill-seattle-wa/home-values/
Don’t forget to select price from the dropdown menu on the first chart