Bits Bucket For October 1, 2010
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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
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Thousands show up in LA for free mortgage help (AP)
LOS ANGELES — Armed with folding chairs, coolers and jugs of water, thousands of people who want to avoid losing their homes lined up around the Los Angeles Convention Center on Thursday seeking help with mortgages they can no longer afford.
The nonprofit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, which is offering homeowners the chance to restructure their loans at lower rates, said about 5,000 people were in line when the doors opened at 8:30 a.m.
Thousands more were expected over the next five days, during which counselors will be helping people at risk of foreclosure around the clock.
Bruce Marks, chief executive of NACA, said at similar events around the country, one-third of the applicants have reduced their mortgage rates on the spot.
About 80 percent have reduced their payments within 30 days, Marks said. The reductions typically come through agreements NACA has with lenders to reduce interest, cut the amount owed, and in some cases extend the life of the loans.
Any prediction on how long we’ll be reading news stories about this kind of thing? I had hoped things would have settled down by 2012, but with all the extending and pretending going on, who knows?
What’s your prediction for how long unemployment will stay north of 10 percent? The period of housing desperation is conditionally dependent on jobs.
Unemployment will stay high as long as house prices keep falling. Feedback is a wonder.
The West Coast was usually the leader in trends for many decades; things started “happening” there and eventually found their way back here in flyover country. Now, things seem to be in reverse. I’m hearing groaning about how the lingering unemployment seems to be feeding a cycle of falling home prices and accompanying economic malaise. I’ve got news for a lot of you. Its been a “happening” here for a generation. We grew tired of asking for help in reversing the hollowing out of our industries. What we got was derision and the nickname “Rust Belt”, visits and promises from politicians ever 2 years and the resultant poverty that received an occasional bone from DC. Not the $45,000./year California brand of household poverty, but the kind of poverty where no one in a family has seen a job for decades. Soon to be in theaters near you.
Carlos4…Since the destruction wasn’t stopped in Flyover Country
it spread to the East and West coasts .
“We grew tired of asking for help in reversing the hollowing
out of our industries .”
My God you people were the original bell ringers to no avail .
I agree 100% Carlos. While you burned to the ground the coasts laughed it up. Some of us did show concern when we lived there (on the coasts) but we too were ridiculed. The proud fools really believed “it was different here” and that the malaise would not spread and infect the coasts.
While you burned to the ground the coasts laughed it up.
Not just the coasts. I’ve lived in AZ for 23 years, and there’s been more than a little sneering at the Rust Belt emanating from this state.
More recently, the AZ PTB has begun to wake up and realize that the so-called Rust Belt had — and still has — a productive manufacturing sector.
We don’t.
We have an economy that’s based on building houses for people who are coming here to sell houses. Not sustainable, to say the least.
“While you burned to the ground the coasts laughed it up”
Right ( and spot on this morning I might add ) who needs heavy equipment etc. when there’s IPO’s to fake on (1) coast and underwrite/pump & dump on the other?
Not the $45,000./year California brand of household poverty, but the kind of poverty where no one in a family has seen a job for decades. Soon to be in theaters near you.
This is why it’s important this November to vote GOP. The Republicans are the only party that has tried for years to protect American Rust Belt manufacturing jobs. They are the one’s looking out for the little guy.
Yes. Those that thrived on hollowing out the Midwest moved on to feed on the FIRE economy; the savings and loan feeding frenzy (about 200-400 billion $$) was a mere run up to the Big Bang. Now what? An estimated $20 to 30 trillion $$ more of taxpayer boning to “solve” the financial “problem”. My. Dont you just love the terms they’ve gotten us used to using in the name of civility? Company that secures and cleans up REO homes, next door to relative’s employer, has moved to much larger quarters. Old building was monstrous but they ran out of parking for the 100+ employees. That’s one way to use up some of those “AVAILABLE” commercial properties. This mess has legs.
This is why it’s important this November to vote GOP. The Republicans are the only party that has tried for years to protect American Rust Belt manufacturing jobs. They are the one’s looking out for the little guy.
I only agree with Rio about half the time, but that’s funny right there*…I don’t care who you are.
* This in no way should be construed to suggest that I think that voting D this fall will solve any problems either.
+1 Carl
For the Larry the Cable Guy reference when talking economics/politics. Most of our leaders seem to be at that level of discourse when dealing with our economy anyways.
We’ve got the EPA in Calif run by the RINO Governator which are chasing out jobs lewft and right. It takes ONLY a fish kill of 32 smelt to shut down the pumps of the Calif water project. $40-50% unemployment in Modesto/Merced. The environmental wackos save the whale crowd don’t care if you loose your job and home.Vote Yes on Prop23.
Rio is being droll today.
If the terms of trade reflected economic reality, we’d have low unemployment at low wages, because we’d have to sew our own $150 blue jeans for the minimum wage.
Somehow the value of the dollar and the willingness to lend 10% of GDP to the federal government are preventing this outcome. But in the long run, we have an oncoming labor SHORTAGE of people who can do what needs doing, without the ability to attract workers by raising pay.
Why do people keep saying that jeans will cost $150 if they are sewn here in the US? I used to be able to buy American made jeans just a few years ago and they were the same price as the improrted jeans that replaced them.
Italy still produces clothes, why can’t the US?
“Why do people keep saying that jeans will cost $150 if they are sewn here in the US?”
Well, DD’s school uniform skirt cost $45, and it was 100% made in the U.S.A. Compare that to the $10 or $15 one would pay for a made-overseas kiddie skirt at any big box retailer (or even mall shop), and you can see why $150 jeans aren’t out of the realm of possibility. However, if nearly all the jeans Americans consumed were made in America, then I could see the economies of scale bringing down the price.
BTW, that U.S.A.-made skirt is of incredibly good quality. There is a swap closet at the school, and these uniforms get years and years of use and they still look great, even after being worn several days each week. You’d be lucky to get a full year or two out of that $10-$15 skirt wearing it only occasionally.
Why do people keep saying that jeans will cost $150 if they are sewn here in the US?
Because they are wrong but it’s not surprising. We have been literally brainwashed for an entire generation in the “free-market” dogmatic lies of the Business Rountable, Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute’s self-serving destructive agenda.
We gave away our manufacturing for maybe a 17% average reduction in landed costs. And ALL of that 17% went towards CEO’s, shareholders and lobbyists. We’ve been had. With a minimum of governmental common sense trade policies there would have been no rust belt.
Is Manufacturing In The United States Toast?
Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center’s Dan Luria Analyzes The Numbers
http://www.manufacturingnews.com/news/07/1017/art2.html
at MMTC, we have concluded that the true landed cost advantage of a typical low-wage offshore producer is really more like 17 percent.
Even though the average U.S. manufacturer’s costs are about 17 percent higher than the average low-wage-country manufacturer’s landed cost, 20 percent of U.S.-based manufacturers already have lower costs than their low-wage-country competitors (see below). In some industries, 35 percent of U.S. plants are lower-cost. Just as important, another 30 percent of U.S. manufacturers are within striking distance of LWC producers’ average landed cost.
There’s still a strong bipartisan consensus in Washington that it’s anti-business to get in the way of “free trade.” This means that — unless something drastic changes in American politics — manufacturers are on their own.
40 percent of the imports into the United States, which totaled $1.8 trillion (or 13 percent of GDP) in 2006, weren’t from “foreign competitors,” but from U.S.-based corporations’ facilities and contractors offshore.
An expensive skirt made in the U.S.A. that lasts will lose out to a cheap skirt made overseas that doesn’t last. That’s because, in the U.S.A., there is a massive shortage of spending cash.
It may be logical over the long-term to fork over lots of cash for something that endures rather than something cheap that falls apart, but if people haven’t the money then they haven’t the choice.
Hence the producers of cheap win over-and-over again over the producers of quality because they can sell their product over-and-over again to the cash starved while the producers of quality can’t even sell their product once.
that U.S.A.-made skirt is of incredibly good quality. There is a swap closet at the school, and these uniforms get years and years of use and they still look great, even after being worn several days each week. You’d be lucky to get a full year or two out of that $10-$15 skirt wearing it only occasionally.
As you point out, more expensive quality can be cheaper long-term.
“This is why it’s important this November to vote GOP. The Republicans are the only party that has tried for years to protect American Rust Belt manufacturing jobs. They are the one’s looking out for the little guy.”
That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in weeks! Thanks.
“This is why it’s important this November to vote GOP. The Republicans are the only party that has tried for years to protect American Rust Belt manufacturing jobs. They are the one’s looking out for the little guy.”
Oh…. do you mean the party that only the other day decided that putting tariffs on Chinese goods and perhaps suggesting the Chinese also more fairly value their currency was a bad idea? Yeah…
I don’t know that any party is looking out for the small guy
or middle class or the majority anymore . Haven’t you guys watched whenever a bill is up the Lobbyist move in on Washington and things change .
You would think that one of the duties of the lawmakers would be is to look at the long term consequences of anything they
pass . All you got is short term thinking and structures built on sand and bribes . Somehow bribes from the power/wealth elite have to be disconnected from the Politicians .
The price of a jean at retail has very little to do with the actual cost of manufacturing unless we are talking about the mass market retailers such as Target, Walmart, Sears etc. The majority of costs for premium jeans is related to marketing including advertising and profits for the top brass. We could manufacture a great jean in the USA for $20 - 30 per pair whereas Mexico or Morocco could produce the same for around $15. Whenever a company can reduce the cost of manufacturing, they will try and more often than not the savings are distributed to the shareholders (if lucky) and upper management.
Danny DeVito - “Other People’s Money”
A great movie of exactly what and how it was happening back then.
The other was “Greed”.
Neither movie is an exaggeration.
“Why do people keep saying that jeans will cost $150 if they are sewn here in the US?”
Because they are the brainwashed sheeple who buy into GOP talking points, and corporate BS. The lie was that we had to outsource our manufacturing in order for people to afford the products, or at least enable them to save a bundle of money, and improve their quality of life. What’s never talked about is the fact that most of the products prices remained the same, while quality deteriorated with CEO’s and shareholders pocketing the savings at the expense of American jobs.
Speaking of American made products and quality, I love well-made clothes and boots. And, I’ll happily spend more for them. I used to buy Danner boots. They were made in Portland, Oregon, and they were proud of that. Well, Danner finally caved and joined the Greed Party, sending most of their manufacturing to China, and producing a boot of Grade AAA sh!t quality.
Normally frugal Slim here.
Although I seldom spend into the three figures for any item of clothing, I did so for a pair of pants. Yeah, I see you guys out there. Getting all excited about my pants.
Well, sorry to break the news to you, but they’re about the most un-flattering pair of pants on this planet. But why would they be so expensive? Because they’re made tough and durable.
I wear them when I do event photo shoots. When I’m doing this kind of work, I’m often down on the ground, shooting upward toward the subject. If you were wearing wimpy pants, you’d shred ‘em in a hurry.
If you search around, you can find good quality US made jeans under $50 - not $150. Longhorn, Union Line, All American…there is a good list.
Dickies right now is selling a pair of US made work pants for $50 that are top notch quality & construction, with a portion of the profits used to work programs in Detroit…
You guys are on a roll today. Rio…. you’re top shelf my brother.
Grizzly. I’m with you on the footwear. I began wearing RedWings about 10 years ago because the rubbery spongey arches on cheap boots screwed my back. It got to the point where I’d have to sit after standing or walking for just 20 minutes. Back in 2005 Redwing offshored their boots to China. I bought a set(same type I always bought every year) and they didn’t fit correctly. Anyways, I tried a set of Chippewa’s and to my surprise, they’re twice the boot the domestic Redwings were and made in the states too. Try them. You won’t be disappointed.
Cool! An FB “sleep-over”.
Many waited in line to get into their houses, it’s only fitting they wait in line to get out of them.
I don’t understand. Why would anyone want to get out of a house??
They are the road to riches. If they are having trouble making the payments, perhaps they should go out and buy another one. “Appreciation”. That’s the ticket. Then just flip it, or do a “cashout refi”. Real Estate Pays you. It’s not an expense, it’s an “investment”.
Ah yes, they can make it up on volume. Hey, it works for the USPS!
Did anyone see the gentleman interviewed by Joe Kernan about a week ago that suggested a path to citizenship with a 50% downpayment on a $500,000. purchase? Thought it was a good idea. Emailed cnbc 3 times for his name but they ignored me.Would like to see his other ideas but need his name.
I disagree with this idea. Our immigration policy is not supposed to be biased toward the wealthy/privileged. As a matter of fact, it’s sort of based on the idea that disadvantaged individuals from other countries will appreciate their new-found freedoms and opportunities.
I’d hate to live in a country that only offers opportunity to people who don’t really need it.
I don’t want to see a bunch of broke loosers getting green cards and property. Look at Canada: $300k and they let you in. Vancouver is booming !
Yeah we need more poor illiterates.
Particularly “losers.”
Henry Ford said on February 11, 1934: “Let them fail; let everybody fail! I made my fortune when I had nothing to start with, by myself and my own ideas. Let other people do the same thing. If I lose everything in the collapse of our financial structure, I will start in at the beginning and build it up again.”
You never hear statements like this in today’s world, it just wouldn’t be “fair”. Can’t have failure, because everyone is a winner, baby.Keep on printing and bailing.
I remember working at a large Title company as a software writer thinking what a waste of time my talents were there (apart from the big weekly check). Indeed where is the American spirit of independence and creativity and that fierce entrepreneurial spirit that drove our nation in the early part of the century?
Keep in mind that the primary recipient of the bailout were investors, bond holders, retirees etc. In other words, those OWED money, not those who OWE money. Had the banks been allowed to fail, millions of retirees would almost certainly NOT be receiving checks today, not that I care, since they invested poorly in their future, choosing high returns at high risk. Where was the risk? On the tax payer of course!!!
I was lucky. In the early part of my career I was able to actually work on algorithms and other cool stuff (imaging related). Now its boring moving data into and out of databases over an ASP.NET interface.
Did we really have that fierce entrepreneurial spirit back then? I seems to me that the country was being run by robber barons back then (so it wasn’t all that different than today).
I still have it. I’ve been self-employed my whole career. Started out doing that boring database stuff, and moved on to making games when I couldn’t take it anymore. It’s always been on my terms though. When an inept client has tried to take over the design of something, I’ve always managed to maintain control, or bailed. Bailing is bad, but it’s better than the software abomination and workplace shooting that would ensue if I tried to submit.
I think aversion to risk is what stifles everybody. You have to be willing to risk everything to start a business, and people just don’t have that in them, so they spend their lives having their souls ground out of them, for security that is a mirage.
I see plenty of fat and happy hobos running around. If that’s the worst that can happen, then that risk is far outweighed by the near certainty of being turned into a soulless automaton churning out busywork in some megacorp machine.
“I think aversion to risk is what stifles everybody. You have to be willing to risk everything to start a business, and people just don’t have that in them, so they spend their lives having their souls ground out of them, for security that is a mirage.”
+1
Indeed where is the American spirit of independence and creativity and that fierce entrepreneurial spirit that drove our nation in the early part of the century?
Fear not, it’s still here.
Why would retirees have lost out?
I doubt more than a handful had close to $250k in a single bank.
Most people don’t have 250k total in insured accounts. That kind of scratch is usually in some kind of investment- bonds, equities or other non-insured fund.
Jim,
I think you need a stronger adjective than “most.”
I’m the only person I know that has to have multiple accounts due to the FDIC limits.
Mom said that she had to give one of us up. Sorry that it we never got to meet as adults, Dennis.
Indeed where is the American spirit of independence and creativity and that fierce entrepreneurial spirit that drove our nation in the early part of the century?
Mercilessly crushed by the crippling costs and terror spread by Blue Cross, Wellpoint, Anthem, and their highly paid lobbyists.
I confess to not having very good health insurance. (Hence my frequent advocacy for things like the public option.)
And I’ll admit that the paucity of health insurance options for the self-employed keeps me up at night. Not to mention Obama’s comprising the public option away.
However, despite the above, there are still people who decide to bail out of lousy job situations and make a go of it for themselves. In my own case, after I left my last full-time employer, I found my health improving markedly.
So, I can’t help wondering if that, sometimes, health insurance is there to cover the illnesses caused by toxic work environments.
I am not a great fan of Obama, but I would argue that his “socialist” health reform will do more to foster entrepreneurship than anything that Republicans have cooked up in recent history. And, of course, not one of them voted for it.
I am not a great fan of Obama, but I would argue that his “socialist” health reform will do more to foster entrepreneurship than anything that Republicans have cooked up in recent history.
I agree. And, as disappointed as I am in the current phase of health care reform, I also think that it’s like a 1.0 software release. More versions are on the way.
Also, recall from Canadian history that the national system did not roll out in all the provinces and territories. Rather, it began as a provincial program in Saskatchewan. The driving force behind it was Premier Tommy Douglas, who was voted as “The Greatest Canadian” in a 2004 CBC competition.
With respect to health care, I see few groups loving the bill (not doctors, insurance companies, or even necessarily patient advocates).
Does that mean it might actually be a good balance?
Perhaps the worst part of all this is that a lot of people are expending a lot of energy and money to stay in situations that they’d probably be better off leaving. We’re already four or so years into this and prices are still falling - four years of life and labor spent on what?
“You never hear statements like this in today’s world”
( Well didn’t WB say that just earlier this week? ) But… you’re right, it’s altogether too rare in today’s mega-corp world, but as Slim notes below, us independents weren’t gettin’ any love ANY way?
It’s -always- “Gird your loins!” time. Sadly. Oh well, one more time won’t kill us?
Speak for yourself, West Coast . We here in povertyville (one out of three in Cleveland, and that’s mostly native born) have no more loins to gird. Legless. We’re what you’d call financial para paraplegics.
Also don’t forget that innovation has a VERY high failure rate, 80% at least.* For every big hit like Henry Ford, there are likely 99 failures who died in the street for lack of social security and basic health care. You don’t read about THEM in the textbooks.
Innovation makes the rate of return on investment far lower than the 10-12% that big-boy investors now demand. It’s no wonder that Westinghouse all but closed down its nuclear division in favor of buying Mickey Mouse. And it’s no wonder that Big Pharma has closed down its upstream “innovation” in favor of buying their proof-of-concept drugs from the university system for a song. Pharma made an art of offloading that 80% failure rate onto professors and poor grad students who are — you guessed it — taxpayer funded!!
———-
*The going figure is that 0.5% of patents make it to the commercial shelf.
You don’t hear statements like that any more because it’s not true.
Ford had investors just like anybody else.
You can have failure, but only at the individual level. And only for individuals who haven’t already garnered a lot of influence. Except for maybe beautiful people, and maybe people with exceptional cats.
The Center for Housing Policy, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and the Urban Institute have compiled and released the first data on seriously delinquent mortgages for all 366 U.S. metro areas…
Austin metro area had the lowest share of seriously delinquent mortgages in March 2010 (4.4 percent) while, at the other extreme, 26 percent of mortgages in the Miami metro area were seriously delinquent. ”
for more detail:
nationalmortgageprofessional dot com news20795 study-finds-sharp-rise-mortgages-90-plus-days-delinquent
I saw a sharp rise in MLS listings for short sales and foreclosures. Prices are definitely resuming their downard trend. You can now get a decent house in a decent n’hood for around $150K. While prices are getting affordable you still have to deal with property taxes that just went up 12.2%.
“While prices are getting affordable you stilll have to deal with property taxes that just went up 12.2%.”
What the bank gives in reduced mortgage rates the state takes away in taxes.
One of our county leaders is threatening for county taxes to potentially double in some towns. In one house we looked at online that would mean the $3600 bill would go to $7200. Then there were the $9500 school taxes on top of that. Beautiful house at a considerably reduced price but I wouldn’t touch those taxes. It wasn’t that big of a house.
which town? Manlius? Dewitt?
Oh, I’m so happy being an evildoc renting a nice clean apartment (1400sq ft. 3/2. all utilities including air con) $890/month.
Maybe, after the chaos ends, I’ll buy house in cash. If we have some sort of tax limit law. Meanwhile, plenty of cash for vacations and savings. Not the worst thing, not owning Moby-House in Manlius
Manlius
Would that be Manlius, NY? In Upstate NY, where America’s toughest people hail from?
My mother’s from that part of the world. Don’t mess with her. Just don’t.
There’s a quip in there somewhere about your Manlius Mom, but I won’t go there. I don’t want to get my butt kicked.
Aren’t property taxes assessed every three years or so? So you pay 2003 taxes (low) for a 2006 house (high), but now you pay 2010 taxes (high) for a 2007 house (not quite as low).
In CA property taxes are reassessed upon change in ownership also.
Every year they compute market value of your home and base tax off that.The tax is 1% of market value.They can raise it 2%/ year via prop 13.They send out your property valuation notice around august.If you think it is high you can appeal it.A lot of people have been appealing because values fell off a cliff.
1.5 % is my belief.
State tax is 1%. Mello Roose and local taxes can raise it up to a maximum of 1.5%. Californians complain about this, even though it’s one of the lowest percentages anywhere, especially after you consider the way Prop 13 protects you from inflation.
In Texas, it’s done every year.
And we get to protest our property values every year (or maybe that’s just my windmill to tilt).
In Texas, the protests that fail are due to ill-prepared presentation and evidence.
In Texas…
Yeah, even without presenting evidence, the woman tried running the numbers a few different ways until she came up with something lower. It was actually lower than I was going to argue for, so my evidence really wasn’t important (I had a list of comps, though, to back up my assertion).
The couple in the next cube over weren’t so lucky. They didn’t consider their home purchase (a short sale or foreclosure) as an open-market transaction, so they were unwilling to use the purchase price as a consideration when computing the tax appraisal.
(This was Travis County, in 2008).
Ouch!
“VANCOUVER - The developer of the $1-billion Olympic Village project is in default on its loan payment, Vancouver’s mayor told reporters today.”
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Vancouver+Olympic+Village+developer+defaults+loan+payment/3605636/story.html
I’m going to be in Vancouver next summer. Any recommendations about stuff to do? I mean, I don’t think anyone will let walk in and review the financials on the Olympic Village project, however entertaining that might be….
Buy a few condoze while you are there. Canadian real estate only goes up.
Check out Stanley Park. It’s gorgeous.
I hear herion is easy to get there.
Use Google Earth to do a virtual fly over and through. Be sure to activate parks, events, arts and restaurants, special sights, etc, in the “Places” settings.
Yes, you should stand on the street corner telling jokes about Canadians for tips.
“So, a Canadian walks into a bar …”
Van Dusen Gardens, and if you have a car, head for Richmond (south suburb). Best sushi and dim sum in North America.
My niece wrote me a letter this week asking for some money as her home had flooded in Minnesota. In the letter she mentioned that she had to pay the guy from whom the bought their house. They had promised him $5,000 of the $8,000 tax credit for purchasing the house.
I did not think of that before but the tax credit might not have gone to people purchasing new homes but to flippers and bankers owing foreclosures. Makes me a bit sick.
Anyway, I sent money to cover some of the flood damage.
So I guess you’re her insurance guy?
I guess so.
I hope she 1099’s him…..
I hope she stiffs him. What recourse does he have?
Speaking of having fun with IRS forms…
If you’re in business, you can use the IRS to help you collect from your deadbeat customers. There’s a Tucson-based collection agency that does quite a business using this method.
Personally, I haven’t used this method, but I know one of the principals of this agency.
Wow! Clever. Got to remember that one.
“I did not think of that before but the tax credit might not have gone to people purchasing new homes but to flippers and bankers owing foreclosures.”
It always went the sellers in the form of increased purchase price (i.e., driving up demand). I guess, having a real aversion to money, she decided to give him even more. Sellers never benefited, nor were intended to benefit from the credit. Sellers would have been better off paying a lower purchase price. The ads regarding the tax credit should have have more accurately stated sell today to take advantage of the tax credit. If she doesn’t care about wasting her money, you should not feed her habit. Let her learn how money works and how important it is to understand the economic fundamentals of major purchases.
The second and third lines should have said buyer not seller. It is way too early for me.
Why did she promise him $5k to begin with? Is this like promising to feed the squirrels?
I agree with you on her financial decision. That is why I just paid for the flood damage to replace things in the basement. I don’t think the first floor was damaged so it is just a new waterheater and things like that.
Ask her husband to pitch in. It’s so sad that I see so many young women carrying deadbeat husbands these days. I guess it’s love…….
I see so many young women carrying deadbeat husbands these days. I guess it’s love…….
And/or the reality of this recession.
Recession hits men harder
Men’s unemployment rate outpaces women’s at steepest level ever
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-this-recession-is-hitting-men-harder
The current recession is hitting workers in just about every industry, but men are taking a much bigger hit than women.
Recession hitting men harder
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/recession-hitting-men-harder.aspx
Fields dominated by men are among those that have seen the biggest job losses in this downturn…There’s a gender gap in this recession, and this time men are on the losing side of it.
Recession Harder on Men Than Women, Study
Says
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,508635,00.html
LONDON — Recessions gripping economies around the world will hit men harder than women as job insecurity threatens an inherent sense of masculinity, damaging mental health, a British researchers said this month.
Who said she’s married?
Well it’s been mostly the husbands getting laid off the past few years, hasn’t it?
I wasn’t talking about men who got laid-off. I have nothing but sympathy for them although I may not agree with their career choices. I was talking about men who are in their late 20’s to mid 30’s, never clean shaven, slightly overweight, hooked on social media and texting and video games, and so on…….
Dang kids these days! Hey! You kids off my lawn!
Not long ago, there weren’t many women in the workforce because their husbands actually supported them. Made it possible to have an actual family. Then the girls starting being forced to work for the mortgage, but at cut rates. Now, the men don’t work at all, and the girls have to support them off of much lower salaries than the guys once got.
This is a sucky situation.
I wish they would all just F their mortgages and let the guy get a job that just pays the rent for a while so people’s babies don’t have to hit the streets.
Not long ago, there weren’t many women in the workforce because their husbands actually supported them.
True in my household. What was also true was that my mother thought that staying at home was boring.
Once I was in grade school and it was certain that we’d be in one place for a while, off to grad school she went. Then she got a teaching job, which she adored. I still don’t think she’s gotten over the loss of camaraderie that she found among her fellow teachers.
‘While you’re up, get me a Grants’.
So… how did you manage to cause this flood in Minnesota again?
It’s nice that she has such a loving uncle but the story sounds like she stretched to buy this house leaving nothing in case of emergencies. This is the same MO that leads to buyers getting behind in the first place. I’m sorry to hear she did not find herself a deal that allowed her to continue to save. What will happen to her should the currency wars go the wrong way and asset (as in heating, food) prices start to rise?
It’s fear of spikes in taxes, heat and food that have me still renting (although the currency wars have me quite worried about keeping that cash in the bank as I wait for home prices to fall)
I sure don’t know how they qualified for a mortgage. The husband does work unless she is lying to me. I was just pointing out that this tax credit goes to flippers who sell houses to my relatives in flood zones. That needs to stop.
The flood was on the Zumbro river late last week.
Whole swaths of almost male only industries were shipped out of the Midwest 20-30 years ago. Rarely a peep of sympathy; we got NAFTA and then China instead. Now that the disease is endemic it becomes a crisis? We look at it more like a replacement industry. For example, Boston has set up something like 148 feeding kitchens for their young and restless to augment the freebees they get in school. Think of the jobs it creates. Reduced grocery bills. My question is, are they (the feeding stations) now permanent? If so, what happens when the new austerity hits next year? Greece? Ecuador anyone?
The tax credit thing doesn’t surprise me at all, nor does it bother me.
The whole tax credit thing served to increase home prices by about $8,000. In other words, the tax credit was going to the seller anyway by virtue of a higher home price.
The seller could either ask for that $8,000 up front in terms of a higher sale price, or in the case of your niece, not demand the $8k up front, but ask for a portion of it later. Without knowing what she paid relative to others on day one, it is hard to say whether or not the seller made some sort of non-distorted-market deal or not.
But wasn’t it UP to $8,000? Its my thinking that only the buyers of expensive homes actually got the full amount. They could have received $1500 for all we know.
It was 10%. You only had to spend 80k to get the full amount. Heck, I got 4 grand just by buying a used double-wide at the right time :-).
OOOoooooo, a kickback! I agree - She should stiff him. What can he do about it? The joik.
Repost from Housing Wizard’s post of yesterday evening:
So what I want to know is, did Megabank, Inc plan it all out that way, or did it just “happen” to turn out this way? Why would a parasite believe it could kill off its host without killing itself?
“So what I want to know is, did Megabank, Inc plan it all out that way, or did it just “happen” to turn out this way? ”
THey certainly did nothing to stop and even assisted it with toxic loans. So I vote for “plan”.
Is there any possibility of subpoenaing some Megabankster business plans before the crisis? Otherwise, I don’t see how this question could be resolved.
I think you will find that after a large crisis of this nature hits, many of the businesses involved get very interested in bringing in counsel to review their governance procedures, including document retention policy. A lot of stuff gets shredded assuming it isn’t subject to some sort of formal record retention requirement (for tax or securities law reasons). And there is nothing illegal about it as long as they haven’t been served with notice of a law suit or investigation.
Read “The Big Short” and you’ll realize that the
bankers themselves didn’t have a clue to what
was going on. All they cared about was the
insane amount of money they were taking home and didn’t have a clue to how it was being done.
You’d think that some one at the top would have
some brains, but after reading excerpt after
excerpt about their bank divisions that were
actually working at cross purposes and not
knowing it, it’s a wonder we have a banking
system…..uuups..that’s an oxymoron
‘Read “The Big Short” and you’ll realize that the
bankers themselves didn’t have a clue to what
was going on.’
…according to the “unbiased opinion” of the author…
I haven’t read that book, but I’ll bet it was written from an “on the ground” perspective. Sure - 99% of the bankers don’t know what’s going on. But it’s the other 1% of them that make the really important decisions.
Bear, read the book, then you can question.
Nope don’t agree that they didn’t know what was going on .Greed makes you close your eyes .
I vote for “stepwise series of short term plans to benefit the next six months.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about this. It’s like the Tragedy of the Commons. Does the one evil shephard intend to kill off everybody — the ultimate result — when he adds that first fatal sheep to his flock and initiats a catalytic process that cannot stop and can end only in final destruction? No, he’s just thinking of increasing his profit just a little bit that day.
IMHO ,I think by 2001 Wall Street/Banks were seriously down on their profit margins .Scott trade and other competition was also taking a share of the pie . People were disenchanted with the stock market and Industry in general needed more consumption
by people who were not seeing wage increase along with inflation in areas like health care and other needs ,(not to mention the increase in hallowing out of local manufacturing and the jobs that come with that and a increase in outsourcing ).
With the lowering of interest rates people were turning their attention to real estate which had been kinda dead /static for a number of years .Add to that the new Capital gains tax exemption of up to 500k every 2 years and this was a incentive . Add to that the removal of Glass-Steagel and Wall Street could play Lender /Middlemen and they turned it into a house flipping Ponzi-scheme that artificially raised prices .
Business/Corporations benefited by the easy credit with
people using their equity like a ATM machine while going into unsustainable debt with all this fake wealth creation . It’s all about wealth creation to skim off the top however fraudulent or unsustainable it is .Wall Street/Lenders breached their duty to underwrite loans and breached their duty to market securities with proper risk ratings . The real estate boom turned into a mania .The Market Makers weren’t making millions they were making billions and all industries benefited by the buying power this fake creation of wealth by real estate and debt created ,not wages .It also took the peoples eyes off just how much outsourcing and transfer of jobs were going overseas. It took peoples eyes off the price fixing and growing in power of the Monopolies and the Politicians allegiance to these power groups .
Not only did Wall Street think it could take the money and run with a greed that knew no bounds ,the people were conned into thinking that by buying real estate they could escape all the economic factors that were tearing away at buying power and job security or retirement goals . Every age bracket bought into
the lure of the easy money by real estate wealth creation .
You look at a guy like Mozillo (CEO of Countrywide )and you can see he was just pumping up the stock so he could take the money and run . You look at the person on Main street and they mistakenly thought they could sell a piece of real estate to a greater fool . The main stream media and the experts and
the government and the advertisers became cheerleaders for the absurd real estate /wealth by debt Ponzi/scheme . Than it crashed .It was all fake and fraudulent .I’m not even going to go into how absurd 40x reserve lending was with the Wall Street
firms and all the other casino game playing that took place and is still taking place because of lack of financial reform .
Do the wealth destroyers care that they were killing their hosts
and sitting up one of the biggest financial crashes in History ?
Do the Corporations care if they outsource or move industry to foreign shores at the expense of the American job force?
The answer is no and they are fighting to maintain the wealth distribution going their way .These are Mad Men and they can’t see their treason .
“These are Mad Men and they can’t see their treason .”
And then they wonder why they are vilified and have gall to complain about it! They just can’t understand why all the shiftless, poor, lazy losers are upset.
“So what I want to know is, did Megabank, Inc plan it all out that way, or did it just “happen” to turn out this way? ”
What you are skipping here is the role of government in all this and the CARTEL nature of the banking system. The banks didn’t plan on disaster, they just didn’t care. The “government” was going to bail them out. The Treasury/FED/Bank /Congress relationship guaranteed them that no matter how risky their business model, they would not be allowed to fail. What do they call it? Moral Hazard.
The “system” was rigged, and still is rigged to allow Bankers to speculate with our money. Greed has always existed, and bad behavior is not particularly exceptional. What happened was the “understanding” of the Greenspan “put” and the concept of “too big to fail”. This always leads to bad business decisions for the greater economy.
The MARKET would have allowed over-leveraged businesses that had crashed in a downward spiral of debt to FAIL. This is how the market prevents bad behaviour. IT PUNISHES financial folly.
The new “rules” of the FED/Wallstreet/Banker/Gov. system said: “You are too big to fail”. “The country will collapse.” Save the debtors. That is the reason this happened:
Government guarantees. Fannie/Freddie. Failures. Oh, no! They can’t be allowed to fail, so now they make 90% of the housing loans, with low down payments and bad credit. Get the Government support structures out and let the market punish risky behavior. That will fix it. It was not “planned”, but it was unintentionally set up. Remember some of the remarks, after the fact? Some bankers commenting on the HELOC. It was intended to provide some flexibility in getting loans, not to STRIP EVERY LAST DIME OF EQUITY out of the house. Even some exec’s were shocked at how the “financial innovation” had been applied.
“What you are skipping here is the role of government in all this and the CARTEL nature of the banking system.”
My post was short; totally agree with your longer one, though, and did not mean to ’skip’ the point about how the system was ripe for banksters to play ‘heads-we-win, tails-you’se-screwed’ high risk gambling strategies at the collective expense of those who don’t hold top management positions on Wall Street.
“at the collective expense of those who don’t hold top management positions on Wall Street”
( read the -rest- of you schmucks! ) Or am I just off base here?
Housing Wizard/Diogenes,
It’s almost as if you guys have written as co-authors before? If you’re writing, I’m reading! Going back to 2001 ( which granted, takes some patience ) is watching on w/ the same amazement as to how an arson investigator can somehow determine a fire’s origin!
I don’t have any relation with anyone on this blog, other than as a Poster, who uses this forum to occasionally vent about what’s happening. Since I haven’t been working in nearly a year, I have had more time to idly comment in the past few months.
I think Wizard and I just see some things in similar ways. The world is complex and there are many interconnecting parts to any event. The workings of Government/Business/Banking/Wallstreet/Oversight and Regulations/Federal Reserve (which is neither Federal and has no reserves)/and the actions of Millions of participants, makes trying to focus on the major reasons for events somewhat difficult. Everyone will find different things that contribute to the course of events.
Lately, we have seen countless commentaries on the GREED of Wallstreet and the Corruption of Corporations. These things have always existed and did not create a financial crises. Unregulated Derivatives did. As did the removal of Glass-Steagal. Greed can be contained by LOSS. Greed is countered in the market by FEAR. Fear of Loss. We don’t speculate with our money because we can’t afford to lose it.
When the fear is gone………………..look out!
Unfortunately, now we are all fearful. About everything.
Washington let the markets “get drunk”, as GWB was quoted as saying. But the FED was the one passing out the drinks.
And as Mozilla was quoted as saying, when there’s a party going on, you need to get up and dance……………before the music ends.
Well, the party’s over. The place still looks a mess, and the only solution the Administrations have provided is MORE booze. They just don’t want us to have the hangover we are due. (Oh, by the way, I didn’t go to the party. I stayed home. But some of my neighbors did and they crashed their cars onto my lawn and made a mess of my place. Now, I need to call a wrecker and the cops and fix the lawn and the broken mail box. I’d like to send them a bill, but I think they are too broke to pay for the damages. Dammit.).
Diogenes,
Yeah, and make mine a gin & tonic will ya’?
Where I think credit is due is in simply staying-on-task. This thing got so gnarly and OOC how much does it take to find yourself “chasing the story” until you’re so far off the trail you look like Leslie Nielsen in the Naked Gun?
But we can’t KNOW that until we’re done investigating each and every lead! Just b/c your end of the investigation was to check out… phone numbers, doesn’t mean that’s where the case is centered?
My problem ( and I -love- PB’s “what a normal budget should look like” post ) is that, I’ve been saying we’ve been getting off kilter for years! With the avg. consumer so massively over-extended, just how much of ‘anything’ would it take for them to walk into what turns out to be your telling blow?
People can add so many factors to the essential story and greed
has always been around ,so why did it get out of control this
time ? So many of our long term structures were set up after the Great Depression I ,including SSI, FDIC ,unemployment insurance ,etc. etc. .Apparently those structures and regulations were good enough that it prevented a repeat of a wide-spread crash like 1929 and allowed for the working stiff to get ahead and America developed a strong middle class . Deregulation , improper tariffs /trade balances and globalism brought on a attack to those long term structures and protections ,including wage protection . The inflation game has always been attacking those long term structures .The illegal invasion has taxed the resources of the host . The mis-allocation of money to real estate and its final crash was the opposite of what America
needed right when problems that had been brewing for a long time were rearing their ugly head .You can add the Fed
reserve banker game to one of the major variable that has
created fake wealth by the fractional reserve system .
Diogenes …..If people could ever understand the unregulated derivatives /casino games of Wall Street and just how much
greed is involved with that they would be shocked I tell you ,they would be shocked .
The place still looks a mess, and the only solution the Administrations have provided is MORE booze.
Have a drink, you’ll feel better.
Why did it go out of control this time?
One word: deregulation.
And it began 30 years ago.
Doubt it. Not smart enough to figure out the potential outcome. Well, except for designing and putting their algorithms in place, they seemed to be good at that! I blame it on the mathematicians………..lol
You forgot the probably 30-40% going to interest. (CC interest, mortgage interest, auto interest, etc.).
E.g. if you buy $1000 of food on your credit card, and spread the payments over 2 years, paying say $1,500 total, then you haven’t spent $1,500 on food. You’ve spent $1,000 on food, and $500 on interest.
Same for mortgage. If you buy a house for $200,000, and pay $350,000 over the life of the loan, then you’re still only paying $200,000 towards housing; the other $150,000 is for interest, not housing.
My point being - we need to get back into that mindset, in order to get out of this neverending problem we’re in.
Oh come on packman, $150K in interest is no big deal, as long as you’re not throwing money away on rent….
Seriously though, I remember hearing a report on the radio 15-20 years ago about Sears making a bigger profit from it’s credit division than from it’s sales division. Being smarter than your average bear, I realised Sear’s credit division profits were its customers expenses. At that moment, 0 consumer credit became a lifestyle choice for me.
Yes.
Same for GM, GE, etc.
(That light still hasn’t come on for most people, BTW.)
Yup. That’s why I don’t gamble. I was born in Vegas, so it was always plainly obvious to me. If Vegas is the winner, then who is the loser? Why, the gambler of course. Every game has it’s patsy, so if you don’t know who it is, then it’s you.
Taking your argument a step further…
Houses seem to remain a big part of many peoples’ retirement strategies. So, after this bust is played out - the buyer your $200k example will need the sales price of his house to exceed $350k - not $200k in order to say that it contributed anything to their retirement cause. Otherwise, they’re just spinning their wheels. If the house price dives to $100k - the trip back to $200 (still a large lifetime loss) is a hefty lift in and of itself.
In my neck of the woods people love to point to senior parents who bought the family house in the 1950s or 1960s (usually for less than $20k). They extrapolate the price behavior experienced by their parents to justify spending too much on housing. What they forget is that their parents (in many cases) paid that $20k house off in ten years or less (very common the area - because prices were realistic when they bought). Meanwhile the kiddies are strapping on a loan that has no possibility of being paid off early - it at all.
Well, since they can’t depend on as high of an appreciation rate going forward, that means they have to buy a bigger more expensive house to end up with enough profit to retire on.
Your second paragraph is bang on - the reason that the houses were such good “investments” for the parents is mostly because 1) their parents didn’t pay the “step to a nicer house” game so the house that was affordable when they were 25 was cheap as all get out when they were older and 2) the inflation of the 70’s. Also, 3) because people went from assuming one working adult per household to two working adults per household which vastly increased prices.
1 and 3 aren’t going to repeat. 2 is still up in the air.
But I have to disagree with your first paragraph. I don’t think you should compare it to the total outlay. You have to compare it to what they would have saved if they had rented and saved/invested for retirement in other ways (in addition to whatever ones they did/are doing anyway). I think that most people don’t save much. If they didn’t use the money to overpay for a house, it would disappear into shoes and clothes and eating out and vacations. So using the house as a means to “save” is real but only because most people seem to consider cash a horrible disease that needs to be fixed by spending it. Not my personal stance on the matter, but somewhat common.
) because people went from assuming one working adult per household to two working adults per household which vastly increased prices.
This is the central premise of Elizabeth Warren’s Two Income Trap.
So if you really believe in QE- it’s the time to buy a house to take advantage of the coming inflation. And gold.
So if you really believe in QE- it’s the time to buy a house to take advantage of the coming inflation
Except for one thing. Not all assets will inflate equally. Some that are/were already inflated well above their fundamentals (e.g. housing) may inflate less or not at all.
Also - you may be surprised to hear me this - at this point gold’s price is not as an inflation hedge. At least if we’re talking about normal run-of-the-mill 1970’s-style inflation. If that’s what were expected then gold would probably only be at $800-1000 right now.
No, IMO gold’s price now is due to it being a currency hedge - against a complete breakdown of the dollar - i.e. hyperinflation. There are a lot of people out there who see this as a valid scenario (just read zerohedge some if you want a sampling).
It seemed back then that people bought houses rather reluctantly, too. Like, oh crap now we have a mortgage. But there was a housing shortage after the war..then later maybe the job at the aerospace plant looked pretty steady, so we might as well move into the new housing tract on a VA loan. It was not such a huge emotional deal.
“of course the higher income classes have more money for each
need”
Well, they are still dealing with that 110% limit.
In my experience, it is easier emotionally to accept a higher percentage of debt as income grows.
Is it?
What about the “I make $X dollars a year. Why am I still in debt?” phenomenon.
Being in debt drove me nuts when I first got out of law school and my salary right out of school was almost 3 times what I had been making right before I started.
I admit that my psychology about debt is atypical in the US, but it can’t be unique.
I share your aversion to debt, but have watched many who do not.
Reminds me of the old joke: “how can I be broke? I still have plenty of checks!”
So what is the modern version?
How can I be broke? The magnetic strip on my credit card still works?
They can’t come after you once you are dead?
“did Megabank, Inc plan it all out that way, or did it just “happen” to turn out this way?”
Attention span. Don’t assume conspiracy when stupidity is an adequate explanation. My theory is akin to young drivers and accidents. Most of us did not become safety minded drivers until after a crash or two. A younger generation of financial managers, who had no experience other than growth and prosperity, stopped using seat belts and put the pedal to the metal.
“Don’t assume conspiriracy when stupidity is an adequate explanation.”
Lol.
Do lemmings conspire before they jump off the cliff?
Why would a parasite believe it could kill off its host without killing itself?
Don’t forget that unlike actual insects and microbes, these particular parasites can stock away extra blood in Switzerland and Grand Cayman, enough blood to spend 30-40 years sipping mai-tais in Tahiti.
They CAN kill the host without killing themselves.
+1
Let’s not forget that the parasite here isn’t “the U.S.”, and it’s not even the U.S. government - it’s the megabankers. Amid even total economic, political, and social collapse many of them would remain unscathed.
That being said - they would be better served if the host didn’t die; they’d be just fine if it got just really sick and perhaps merged with other hosts; in fact in the long run it may be better for them that way.
That’s exactly why I advocate asset confiscation and jail time for banksters who planned and executed illegal actions which contributed to the financial collapse. But I see precious little evidence that justice will be served.
And ,does anybody think that American innovation is going to save the day and bring back all those lost jobs ? What is to prevent new innovation being outsourced and manufacturing taken off shore
regarding any new potential industry ?
“Innovation” has been bought and either squashed, hidden or offshored for decades.
Little known fact: most of Sony’s early imported products were created from inventions and designs sold to them by… RCA.
Sony TVs in the 1970s were of such a high quality you had to see it to believe it. Even to this day, Sony is THE last word in professional TV production.
Sony TVs in the 1970s were of such a high quality you had to see it to believe it. Even to this day, Sony is THE last word in professional TV production.
Agreed.
A very dear friend (now deceased, unfortunately) was a broadcast engineer in Chicago and in Tucson. As far as he was concerned, Sony was *it*.
Both small Piranha’s & great White Sharks have been know to use a nutritional intake mode known as: The Feeding Frenzy
This sort of “destructive consumption behavior” sometimes appears as instant chaos, but actually requires some we rather consistent environmental conditions to be present in order for it to erupt.
The first of course, is that the victims need to actually be “In the water”.
The second is that the Piranha’s & Sharks communicate between themselves about the location of the victims, movements displaying stress by the victim are usually are sufficient.
Third, any indication of blood in the water tends to draw further attraction to even more “destructive consumption behavior” and thereby magnifying the Feeding Frenzy.
If the parasite is too big to fail, then the host will be administered IVs as necessary to feed the parasite. Is that not exactly where we are right now?
Who pays for the injections? Nobody. The money is all fictitious. Real blood must come from somewhere.
Why would a parasite believe it could kill off its host without killing itself?
Because “Greed is Good…”
..and apparently these days, so are the other 6 Deadly Sins.
The way the math changed is partially due to continued statements and pressure from parents/MSM/RE establishment that you don’t actually need savings because.
Housing=Savings
So really, the main part of the equation that changed in their mind was medical care…
And onto medical care, how many people would be willing to go back to the medical technology that was prevalent in the years where medical was 5-10% to reduce their cost (and forego the benefits of modern care)?
I’m guessing not very many.
How many are willing to give up end-of-life decisions to their doctors (like in France–which would dramatically reduce medical expenditures)?
I’m guessing not very many.
Until these items are addressed, how to deal with costs/profits associated with new/novel procedures/drugs, and end of life issues, regardless of how much insurance companies are trying to extract out of us, costs will continue to rise.
These are the tough questions that have not been addressed.
And onto medical care, how many people would be willing to go back to the medical technology that was prevalent in the years where medical was 5-10% to reduce their cost (and forego the benefits of modern care)?
No way, I don’t. I just want to go to a structure like Canada where they spend $3,600 per person and cover everyone and have as good of results as us, as opposed to USA spending $7,000 per person and leaving 1/2 the population with junk or no coverage. (And worried all the time)
How many are willing to give up end-of-life decisions to their doctors (like in France–which would dramatically reduce medical expenditures)?
I think I would. After all, they don’t call it “end-of-life” decisions for nothing. Anyway if someone really wanted, they could always buy an “end-of-life” private insurance rider so they could “party-on” during their last 3 months in a coma.
No way, I don’t. I just want to go to a structure like Canada where they spend $3,600 per person PER YEAR ON HEALTHCARE (as opposed to USA’s $7,000 per year)
Rio-
Try $16,000- a year for Kaiser on an Individual Plan, and watch the illegals get it for nothing, not even a co-pay.
We need universal coverage after a study of the ones that are decent around the world. We are sold a bill of goods that it doesn’t work. I watch a unbiased Documentary, pros and cons.
They knew and like most greedy people, they didn’t care and justified what they were doing as right because everyone else is just shiftless, lazy loser who deserves to be f’d over.
Contrary to popular belief, Marie Antoinette did NOT die in the French Revolution.
Because the Megabank CEO knew he could make enough moolah in the meanwhile to live like a king for the rest of his life. Who cares if it were only to last for a decade or so? He still has all he needs.
1. How can you know in advance whether the Bush cuts will expire?
2. Once it is common knowledge, won’t the market instantaneously price in the effect of the anticipated change, rendering moot the MarketWatcher’s sage advice?
Why you should time markets
If the Bush tax cuts expire, how can you protect your portfolio before year-end?
Will California Republican voters support a gubernatorial candidate who (apparently) hired an illegal immigrant domestic?
* POLITICS
* OCTOBER 1, 2010
Whitman Accuser Stokes Dispute
By TAMARA AUDI And MIRIAM JORDAN
LOS ANGELES—A Mexican immigrant showed a letter Thursday she said bolstered her claim that gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman employed her as a housekeeper despite knowing her illegal status, raising the stakes in a dispute that threatens support for the Republican among the Latino voters she has courted.
In a second day of dueling news conferences, Ms. Whitman and her accusers produced more details supporting their claims. The California candidate has been accused of taking advantage of her former housekeeper’s legal status to treat her poorly.
Ms. Whitman, the former eBay Inc. chief executive, said she believed the Mexican woman was in the U.S. legally, and fired her in 2009, a few days after learning her status.
A spokesman for the Whitman campaign said the letter made no mention of the housekeeper’s immigration status, and didn’t “change the substance of Ms. Whitman’s beliefs or statements.”
Gloria Allred, a lawyer for the former housekeeper, Nicky Diaz Santillan, distributed copies Thursday of the 2003 Social Security Administration letter—with a handwritten note at the bottom asking the housekeeper to “please check this.” The writing, according to the housekeeper, belonged to Ms. Whitman’s husband.
…
PB
As Californians you and I have God awful choices for Govenator. IIRC (R=read) Whitman has ties to Goldman Sachs and Brown isn’t a good choice either. The rest is noise and distraction, imo.
I don’t vote lesser of the two anymore.
The proposition are so convoluted in their presentation, who the heck knows the truth.
I agree politics in ca are a total joke.Even when you vote on propositions they take it to judges who can reverse the peoples decision.If you dont have money in ca dont even bother running for office.
Even when you vote on propositions they take it to judges who can reverse the peoples decision.If you dont have money in ca dont even bother running for office.
That’s called the rule of law, no? You can’t simply pass a proposition that goes against other laws on the books (or the constitution). That would make no sense.
If you want to avoid that, make the proposition include amendments to any laws that might be at odds with the main point of the proposition.
+1
That’s why we have a constitution that needs far more than a simple majority to amend. The rights spelled out in the constitution are too important for a simple majority to overrule.
It will be interesting to see whether the ruling stands on appeal. It could be a major backfire for those in other states that helped fund the Prop 8 campaign. It would be quite ironic if the net result of all this would be for the supreme court to definitively state that it is not constitutional for states to in any way restrict gay marriage. That ruling might irk the folks in states other than CA that spent money on Prop 8 (I’m looking at you, UT).
And I hope and pray that Whitman wins the race. We need to have someone who actually understand what it takes to run a business in Sacramento.
Judge Walker just resigned, he should have reclused himself. A gay judge deciding Prop 8. Who would have known?
“I agree politics in ca are a total joke.Even when you vote on propositions they take it to judges who can reverse the peoples decision.If you dont have money in ca dont even bother running for office.”
As I was telling someone here and they didn’t believe me.
I’ll gladly swap either of California’s choices for Governor for New York’s.
And I’d take either over the last few California Governors too, along with those of New Jersey.
You think Christie is bad? From what I have read, he’s a socially liberal and fiscally conservative and actually mean it. Someone I could actually root for. Then again I don’t live in NY/NJ area so I may have only gotten the bits and pieces.
I am no fan of Meg Whitman. However, much as I may have enjoyed Meg’s discomfort, she did nothing wrong. First of all, the parasite she hired came through an employment agency and was supposedly vetted. Secondly, the “letter” that she and her husband received was a notice from the Social Security administration regarding earnings and a discrepancy in reporting. Such a notice clearly states that it may not be used to take adverse action against the employee. So Meg’s hands were tied. She could only fire the housekeeper at such time as the housekeeper revealed she was in the country illegally, and that was exactly what Whitman did.
If the housekeeper has committed Social Security fraud, she’s a liar and a felon.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/30/MN931FME32.DTL
Parasites? Come on, let’s be kind to the misfortunate ones.
Banksters, politicians and trial lawyers are the true parasites IMO.
palmetto,
No fan of Meg’s either, but you’re familiar w/ the story my nephew went thru when he applied for a Stafford Loan. Seems Maria Rodriguez Alonso Lopez had been using his SS# for a decade or two while he was growing up.
When we asked the folks at Sallie Mae just ‘who’ this person was and how they could be reported, they utterly clammed up! She get’s to keep her anonymity and my nephew had to jump thru hoops to ‘prove’ he was who he said he was!
Great system.
“Will California Republican voters support a gubernatorial candidate who (apparently) hired an illegal immigrant domestic?”
I don’t see why not. Most of them probabaly have illegals do their yard work.
They give them free healthcare, why the big deal about some of them wanting to make a few dollars. Police can’t deport them, so what if they get bored and work a little?
Steve J,
Too funny ( but that’s going to have to stay between you & me, ok? )
Umm, those illegals work harder than many Americans I know!
Wonder what it must feel like knowing you have to leave your family in order to support them? What sort of bravery does it take to cross a border and be hounded by coyotes (real), coyotes (human) and border patrol. And all you want to do is feed your family.
What’s that expression you religious folks use: there but for the grace of god go I?
Its nice to be smug, isn’t it?
So their failure of a government and society is our fault?
Talk about smug.
That’s one thing that you can say about American History and that is people fought for their gains and a lot of what took place was trial and error. The Constitution was a great piece of work
Mexico has a corrupt government and hardworking people have
taken the risk of being illegal for the purpose of supporting their families ,but the corruption in their own Country needs to be cleaned up so those people can prosper in their own Country .
In contrast, the candidates for Governor in Idaho seem to be sent over from central casting.
In one corner: Republican Butch Otter!
In the other: Democrat Keith Allred!
Who ever heard of a Republican named “Butch”? And why would any Democrat keep the name All-red - makes him sound like a commie rat!
Mostly they appear to be running for cowboy in chief. Who will be the roughest, toughest hombre west of the Pecos? Or is that north of the Snake?
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/10/01/1362535/cowboy-credentials-idahos-governors.html
Allred’s husband was appointed by Jerry Brown to be a JUDGE. Get it you morons!
What is the proper spelling of “bugger” when used as a verb?
* REVIEW & OUTLOOK
* OCTOBER 1, 2010
Beggar the World
Monetary instability is a threat to the global recovery.
Brazil’s finance minister caused a stir in financial markets earlier this week when he committed a Lady Godiva moment by declaring that “We’re in the midst of an international currency war, a general weakening of currency. This threatens us because it takes away our competitiveness.”
Thanks for noticing. Now if only the world’s political and finance leaders—especially in the world’s leading economy, America—would do something about it.
***
Since the financial panic began in 2008, global leaders have been at pains to stress their “cooperation” on numerous issues—stimulus spending, new bank rules, trade. Yet they still insist on going their own parochial, self-interested way on monetary policy and exchange rates. It’s as if world leaders had consciously decided to deal with every economic issue except the most important one—the price of the global medium of economic exchange.
The result has been a world of monetary disruption and growing commercial and political disputes. Brazil has had to cope with surging capital inflows and a rising real, with government bond yields hitting double-digits. The rising yen has roiled Japanese politics and led its central bank to intervene. Other Asian nations—part of what is, or was, the dollar bloc—have taken to devaluation or interest rate adjustments to stop their currency shifts against the dollar.
Meanwhile, what Nobel economist Robert Mundell calls the world’s single most important price—the euro-dollar rate—continues to fluctuate wildly. The nearby chart shows that the swings have become more frequent and severe since 2005, from 1.2 euros to the dollar to 1.6, then down to 1.25, back to 1.5 in a matter of months, down again to 1.2 and now back above 1.36.
…
TTT sez it’s all good - no trade wars, no currency wars (at least with China). We’re just one big happy global family.
TTT is a worried little elf with ulcers and nothing to lose by lying.
“Meanwhile, what Nobel economist Robert Mundell calls the world’s single most important price—the euro-dollar rate—continues to fluctuate wildly”
See, once,…when Hwy was more youthful & full of foolish enthusiasm, I found myself doing 140 mph on a motorcycle down a long desert highway near Palm Springs. I was calculating in my head how long it was taking me to go 1 mile…(and holding on with all my youthful strength) …roughly, 2 1/4 miles…knowing that down the road 8 miles there was the intersection with the freeway on-ramp one went south on a curve posted 25 mph, the other went north on a long gentle uphill curve posted at 55mph, I quickly figured I had apprx less than 4 min to reduce my speed to 55mph. So, I decided to slowly release the WFO throttle, that’s when the trouble ALL began.
Seems everything was somewhat fine until that moment of de-accelration, when to my sudden surprise, there exploded an enormous shaking & wobbling vibration that made the motorcycle seem like I was atop a very disturbed 3,000 lb raging bull. (Henceforth known as a “High-Speed Wobble”) meanwhile the mile posts where whizzing by and the time to effect a solution quickly evaporating. I soon found that if I increased my speed, the death-spiral vibration would rapidly diminish, however this was no solution as the curving 55mph approaching on-ramp was non-modifiable. Trying application of the brakes created a situation equivalent of trying to stand on one leg atop a wild bronc horse. Finally, I concluded that the only option available was to let go the throttle and hold on for dear life…after violent side to side vibration, (the likes of which the English language would struggle itself to describe) the vibrations began to slowy, slowly, slowly diminish. 1.3 miles speed 125, 1.1 speed 120 mph, 3/4 mile 110 mph, 1/4 90…80…70 swisssssssssssssssh, leaning, leaning, past the 55 mph warning sign,… up the merge-ramp…well, that was fun, and Hwy lives for another day…
PS, Ever since that youthful experiment, Hwy’s been rather keen to the words velocity, vibration & wild fluctuations.
correction:
“roughly, 2 1/4 miles per 60 seconds”
“Thanks for noticing. Now if only the world’s political and finance leaders—especially in the world’s leading economy, America—would do something about it.”
We are doing something about it. We started it.
I just thought of a possible remedy to end these recurring high frequency systemic risk crises in the banking sector: PERSONAL ASSET CONFISCATION FOLLOWED BY JAIL TIME FOR THE PERPETRATORS.
Why didn’t any of the banking regulators think of this rather obvious solution to the never-ending problem of systemic risk in the globalized banking sector?
* BRUSSELS BEAT
* OCTOBER 1, 2010
Dublin Gambles on Strategy for Bank Bailout
* By STEPHEN FIDLER
It’s almost an iron law of financial crises: Private debt becomes public debt. So it has been in Ireland. The ratio of Ireland’s government debt to the size of its economy stood at 25% at the end of 2007. At the end of 2010, according to Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, it will be 98.6%.
Most of that increase comes from the fact that the Irish government has chosen to pay the creditors of its decrepit, mostly state-owned banks in full.
Shareholders have already been hammered. In a decision over who should suffer the pain of covering the remaining losses caused by years of excessive and evidently foolish lending by its banks, the government has decided that that burden should fall on the shoulders of Irish taxpayers.
Depositors will be kept whole. More controversially, so will the holders of the bonds the banks issued to fuel their lending spree, as well as other creditors. The only exceptions are a minority of holders of subordinated bonds.
It’s a gamble. Swelling the government’s own debts instead of allowing the banks to default on payments to creditors increases the risks that the government itself will default.
The government’s “guarantee of most of the unsecured bank liabilities cannot but create doubt about the ability of the Irish state to prevent default on the sum total of its own debt and the bank debt,” said Willem Buiter, Citigroup’s chief economist, in a research article last month.
The government, however, decided it would pay creditors in full. The reason, as described by Mr. Lenihan: Allowing the banks to default would be almost as bad as the government itself defaulting.
…
Don’t forget about the paycuts to government employes to free up more money to divert to the banksters.
The LEAST they should do in this circumstance is reduce the pay out so the unsecured creditors are only getting what they would have gotten if they had been secured creditors in the first place.
So, if the secured/guaranteed creditors got 3% return (beacause it was so safe) and the unsecured/not guaranteed contracted for 5% returns because they were taking on the risk of default, the least that should happen is the payout should be reduced so the total return of the unsecured is down to the 3% they would have gotten if they had been secured in the first place. Of course, if they had been secured in the first place, the payout on the secured credit would have been less than the hypothetical 3%, but, reducing it that much is at least a tiny acknowledgement that this is not really the right thing to do.
Anything more than that is not just offensive but should fall under the doctrine of unjust enrichment which is a common law concept, so probably applies in Ireland.
I don’t understand why they did not let the banks fail. The only reason to bail them out is to bail out the rich folks who own the bonds and stocks. And that is called corruption.
They keep saying here that TARP will not lose that much money after all. It was corruption and is corruption and the country will suffer until the guilty are brought to justice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/business/01tarp.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage
TARP Bailout to Cost Less Than Once Anticipated
By JACKIE CALMES
Published: September 30, 2010
WASHINGTON — Even as voters rage and candidates put up ads against government bailouts, the reviled mother of them all — the $700 billion lifeline to banks, insurance and auto companies — will expire after Sunday at a fraction of that cost, and could conceivably earn taxpayers a profit.
Iceland JAILED the banksters.Like to see Dodd and Franks jailed as well.
Nope don’t agree that the Middlemen didn’t know what was going on .Greed makes you close your eyes .
They are not going to talk about all the hidden bail-outs that add up to trillions that will never get paid back .
Big Bank Foreclosure Delays Signal Big Trouble
CNBC
JP Morgan Chase told CNBC on Wednesday that it will delay more than 56,000 foreclosure proceedings due to paperwork that was signed, “without the signer personally having reviewed those files.”
JP Morgan announced it will delay more than 56,000 foreclosure proceedings. Will more big banks follow as potential lawsuits loom?
Repres
JP Morgan announced it will delay more than 56,000 foreclosure proceedings. Will more big banks follow as potential lawsuits loom?
That came on the heels of GMAC halting foreclosures and evictions in 23 states for roughly the same reason. All this leads anybody with a heartbeat to figure that other large servicers will likely follow suit, as potential lawsuits abound.
So what will that mean to the larger foreclosure crisis and the already weakening housing recovery?
“It’s clear the pace of foreclosures will slow down,” says Laurie Maggiano, Policy Director in the Treasury Department’s Homeownership Preservation Office.
“I would suspect that most responsible lenders are going to be looking at their processes and making sure that they’ve done everything properly, so they’re not subject to the same accusations and lawsuits.”
“Big Bank Foreclosure Delays Signal Big Trouble”
Playing the Devil’s advocate, shouldn’t additional foreclosure delays help support high US housing prices, by keeping latent supply off the market?
That appears to be the plan.
(But then - it also appears your comment was quite the slow lob for my response.)
shhhhhh…..only if it is a secret.
Obviously they were getting waaaaaay too much inventory and had to think of a scam to slow down the rushing flood. Nobody could convince me that the big banks didn’t generate the entire story and basically sue themselves to get things started.
I wouldn’t doubt it either.
BankUnited’s CEO Kanas Says U.S. May Lose a Third of Its Banks
The U.S. may lose about a third of its banks as the weakening economy weeds out the least healthy institutions, said John Kanas, chief executive officer of BankUnited.
“Most of us in the business think we probably need 5,000 and think we are on our way to 5,000 as this cycle, if this is a cycle, unfolds,” Kanas, 63, said today at the Bloomberg Dealmakers Summit in New York. “We simply chartered too many banks.”
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it insured deposits at 7,830 financial institutions as of June 30. Kanas became CEO of Miami Lakes, Florida-based BankUnited last year by joining a group of private equity investors who agreed to inject about $900 million into the collapsed Florida lender. The other investors include Carlyle Group, Centerbridge Capital Partners, WL Ross & Co., and Blackstone Group LP.
U.S. May Lose a Third of Its Banks
That appears to be the plan.
Bigger and fewer:
link1
link2
link3
(Isn’t it weird that as the amount of debt is rising - the number of banks is falling?)
(That was a rhetorical question)
We may have more banks that we need, but we don’t have fewer big money center banks than we need.
You’re talking about a lot of one or two branch outfits. Meanwhile, most of the country now banks with a small oligopoly that is too big to fail.
Ideally, we’d have 20+ big banks with national reach, but we don’t.
I think we’re saying the same thing - my point was that we actually have less banks than we need; not in terms of number of physical branches though, but in terms of number of financial entities. In other words wealth - and risk - have become too concentrated.
We wouldn’t want banks getting any bigger. Then they might get too big to fail. I’m glad “they” are on top of this.
At the rate of 2-5 FDIC closures a week, this could drag out for a decade.
I’m guessing the U.S. asset markets will have a very good day, given this latest PIIGS crisis news from across the pond, thanks to the “flight to quality” effect.
Crisis in Ireland Shakes Europe
Ireland said additional costs of propping up the country’s banks could stretch its budget deficit to nearly a third of the country’s total economy — a record for any euro-zone nation.
I’m going “all-in” in Ecuador. They only take the president hostage every so often. You can barely notice the instability.
IRS issues Chinese drywall guidance
South Florida Business Journal
The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance for homeowners who want to claim losses as a result of having defective Chinese drywall installed in their homes between 2001 and 2009.
The new procedure allows taxpayers to treat damages from corrosive drywall as a casualty loss and provides a formula for determining the amount of that loss.
Last year, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., asked the IRS to consider allowing homeowners to claim tax deductions for repairing their drywall.
“This is welcome and long overdue news,” Nelson said in a news release. “This tax relief is just another important step to help drywall victims piece their lives back together.”
Defective drywall causes blackening or corrosion of copper electrical wiring and copper components of household appliances. It also puts out sulfur gas odors.
In June, a Miami couple won a $2.47 million verdict against a supplier of the drywall in the nation’s first Chinese drywall jury trial.
Can I get a tax credit for the lawn guy that broke my hose guide too?
Seriously - WTF is with tax credits for people who buy defective products? Shouldn’t the proper solution be to make the seller and installer of such products be the ones who pay all the damages?
How many $2.5 million judgements can the supplier pay off before it is bankrupt? Letting it lie *only* with the people who imported the defective product (the real perpetrators are the makers who are overseas and probably judgement proof) means that only the people with the fastest lawyers get anything at all. Now, doing this with a tax deduction is hardly the right solution, but I’ve always though casualty losses was sort of a weird doctrine in tax law as it related to personal property. Not sure it really makes any sense at all.
The real right answer is to somehow get the money out of the Chinese company that made the stuff since they were in the best position to know that their product was defective. Good luck with that one.
“…the real perpetrators are the makers who are overseas”
Mainly benevolent Chinese “bidnessmen” subservient to a communist legal system which generously and consistently provides for rapid financial compensation towards recifying any damage claims that might present themselves forthwith.
The real right answer is to somehow get the money out of the Chinese company that made the stuff since they were in the best position to know that their product was defective. Good luck with that one.
They have actually. Knauf (the multinational manufacturer with the Chinese plasterboard subsidiary) settled out of court for quite a bit, including the $2.6M for seven VA homeowners. There was a big class action suit pending, not sure what’s become of it.
polly, packman,
+..2?
While I truly feel for innocents who’s ceiling sheetrock ( is now on the floor? ) we’re again having our cake and eating it too! Under the old sys. this would have been perfectly allowable.
Since we opted for the CGE we’re no longer permitted to write off improvements etc. REIC can’t have it both ways ALL the time!?
Is it not natural to buy the cheapest drywall? Why is this not being treated as a natural disatster?
LOL
Why isn’t the EPA bringing suit against the Chinese drywall manufacturers for emitting sulphur fumes illegally in the US?
And the geysers in Yellostone too…
DennisN,
Good question! If ever there was a case for their very existence, wouldn’t this be it? Please stop trying to protect me from things that ‘may’ happen at some point in the future and deal w/ the here and now for a change?
The consumer protection agencies were gutted.
“Financial institutions have long been required to report all cash transactions, whether domestic or overseas, exceeding $10,000 as well as transactions that they deem to be suspicious. Proposed regulations would expand the requirements so that banks would have to report all cross-border transfers of any size, whether or not cash is involved. (For money-transfer businesses, the threshold would be $1,000 as opposed to that at banks, which would report all amounts.)” ~Bloomberg News
Bill Bonner picked up on this item and wonders where it’s leading. Possibly to common folk having to seek permission to send $500.00 to friends or family overseas? Alas, a typical response from the modern American is: “Why not? I have nothing to hide.”
Illegals send most of the transactions. This reg will be called racist next year.
Bottom line, the government wants a cut just like the banks do.
October just began, and we already have a fresh new major international banking crisis underway. Yawn…
* HEARD ON THE STREET
* OCTOBER 1, 2010
Irish Eyes Are Watering
By SIMON NIXON
For Ireland, this is the beginning of the end. Whether it is a happy ending won’t become clear until the Irish government next tries to issue bonds early next year. Its decision to pump another €12 billion ($16.36 billion) into the banking system at least ends two years of uncertainty that has helped drag down the economy and contributed to Ireland’s soaring borrowing rates. But there is still one more hurdle to clear, when the government must lay out yet more tough austerity measures as the deficit spikes to 32% of gross domestic product this year. Until this last piece of the jigsaw is in place, Ireland will remain in limbo.
…
Sucks not having your own currency eh? Have you noticed all the smaller countries on the Euro are now falling flat?
Ireland went from being a place where you could buy a nice home for a few tens of thousands of pounds to one of the more expensive places in the world in short order. Talk about incomes and prices coming unglued!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but each of those of countries was subject to intense RE speculation and played the securitization game to the hilt.
It had nothing to do with the Euro.
NY Fed Chief Dudley today:
“We have tools that can provide additional stimulus at costs that do not appear to be prohibitive. Thus, I conclude that further action is likely to be warranted unless the economic outlook evolves in a way that makes me more confident that we will see better outcomes for both employment and inflation before too long.”
Thus yet another new record for gold - $1,317. Oil back above $81. (I guess “prohibitive” is subjective.)
Yeah, nothing is as stimulative as high fuel prices.
They stimulate stimulus.
nothing is as stimulative as high fuel prices…….
I would beg to differ with you on that one. I don’t believe in “stimulus” in the first place, as it’s just government diverting resources under a “five year plan” mentality.
However, I read a well-reasoned summary of the effect on fuel prices on the global economy and reached the conclusion that $80 per barrel was the breaking point in world fuel usage.
Because it is part of fixed expenditures for shipping, factory production and energy, it causes reductions in business and travel when that point is reached to such an extent that we see a downward spiral in business. Poorer countries are affected most.
This could be the beginning of the “double dip” that every economist trotted out by MSM says absolutely cannot happen.
tools?
The only tool they have is the printing press, why the plurality?
They also artificially set interest rates. If housing demand was rapidly rising and loans were reaching epic proportions, the rising demand for money would also create a spike in interest rates.
(in a free market).
By holding down rates, the FED was able to stoke the flames of profligacy. When money’s cheap, you might as well gamble.
The gambling would be continuing today, but the debt levels are so high, no one can take on any more debt, and with the bubble burst, there’s just no gain in buying used houses.
So it’s another “tool” the FED has to manipulate and distort the market.
Not sure to what area this chart applies?
New Housing Stock Looks for a New Bottom
September 30, 2010 | Peter C. Burley
Housing production has dropped in recent years to historic low levels and contributed to a falling vacancy rate in apartments.
Housing production has dropped in recent years to historic low levels and contributed to a falling vacancy rate in apartments.
Once again with the correlation = causation mistake.
I’m not seeing a falling apartment vacancy rate here in Tucson. Seems like every complex is advertising move-in specials. It’s especially noticeable around the University of Arizona, which has been in session for over a month.
Apartment vacancies could drop to 3.5 percent by 2015
Low construction rates, foreclosures key causes
By Roger Showley
Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 2:27 p.m.
San Diego County’s apartment market is tightening as landlords fill up spaces, leading to lower vacancies, higher rents and dwindling concessions.
“It amazes me how tight the market is,” said Peter C. Burley, editor of Real Estate Issues in Denver, told the annual apartment perspective breakfast Thursday, sponsored by the San Diego County Apartment Association and CCIM Institute’s local chapter for commercial brokers.
Burley projected that vacancies will drop from their present 5 percent level to about 3.5 percent by 2014. He did not forecast where rents will go, but already they have gone from a 1.5 percent quarterly drop in early-2009 to a 1 percent increase this year.
…
Is San Diego like some kind of “Grapes of Wrath destination”? Who is going there and why?
70, warm and sunny every day of the year. What’s not to like?
1. Housing is still unaffordable
2. Many people are broke
3. The economy is limping
4. Traffic is still bad
“4. Traffic is still bad” ( Was it ever ‘good’? )
One thing I found maddening about Sand Dog ( Navy term ) was that much of the year is just shy of swimsuit weather?
Go to PB, Coronado etc. and it can get windy/chilly on the beach. Just about any time of year.
Go to PB, Coronado etc. and it can get windy/chilly on the beach. Just about any time of year.
Yup. Beaches are cold, and the water is icy. Outsiders think of SoCal as a tropical paradise. It does get warm there, just not at the beach.
70, warm and sunny every day of the year. What’s not to like?
Its 70 if you live on the beach, but if you live there they have this thing called “marine layer” which makes mornings nice and over cast.
And every mile you move inland it gets hotter and hotter. When we lived in Escondido our A/C always got a good workout between March and October.
In Colorado,
My take is probably a bit biased. The first time I was stationed there, I was so young I didn’t notice anything but girls, girls, girls. And it certainly was warmer than Chicago!
The second time, I had just rotated back from the Philippines and I thought… “This was a mistake”. ‘When’ is it summer here again?” In terms of duty stations, I thought, well, it could be worse but I never saw the sense of paying a premium just to live there?
“And every mile you move inland it gets hotter and hotter. When we lived in Escondido our A/C always got a good workout between March and October.”
Likely those mountains between Escondido and the coast.
I lived in Poway for 1 year that was enough
back in Moorpark although its not as crowded as N San Diego co its still as expensive
sometimes I miss Phoenix AZ for the same pay and job I would go back it was easy living compared to the coast even on 10K per year less money.
You didn’t like snobby Poway?
“…easy living compared to the coast even on 10K per year less money.”
It is tough out here, especially given efforts to keep housing prices propped up on a permanently high plateau.
Medicaid enrollment spikes to 48M in weak economy
WASHINGTON – A record number of Americans signed up for Medicaid last year, as the recession wiped out jobs and workplace health coverage.
A report released Thursday by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation found that enrollment in the safety-net medical insurance program jumped to more than 48 million — a record 15.7 percent share of the U.S. population. With the economy barely improving, states are forecasting a 6 percent increase in the rolls next year, meaning another strain on their cash-depleted budgets.
The Medicaid numbers are the latest piece to emerge in a grim statistical picture of the recession’s toll. The ranks of the working-age poor climbed to the highest level since the 1960s last year, according to a recent Census report. Nearly 12 million households received food stamps, a record.
Those being added to the rolls, former workers and their families, do not cost a lot of money.
Seniors and the disable cost a lot of money, and they are already on Medicaid/Medicare.
Well if you consider the avearage cost to insure a family of 4 is 13-14k I’d say it will add up.
Medicaid reimbursement rates are significantly lower than Medicare reimbursement rates which are somewhat lower than private insurance rates, at least for hospital care. I believe it also holds true for doctor reimbursments. This holds true in nearly all states, but not, oddly enough, Maryland where reimbursment rates are set by schedule.
Also, Medicaid isn’t aiming to make a profit.
Agree
I’m just saying that it ain’t chump change. The state’s are already hurting and this will be another nail in the coffin.
Its not like the money is real anyway, so why not?
Medicaid enrollment spikes to 48M in weak economy
Wait. 50M in the USA uninsured and 48M on Medicaid? Are these the same people or different?
If different, 50M uninsured, 48M on Medicaid, and 50M with “junk” insurance……1/2 of the American population?
In government stats, being on Medicaid, S-chip, etc. is definitely considered being insured. It is stunning the first time you look at the census stats and realize that the poorest counties don’t have the highest percentages of people who are uninsured. Then you figure out where the coverage is coming from in those counties and it all makes sense.
Like my boss said, we already have national health insurance. The problem is that it is Medicaid, and it sucks.
The co-payment? You pay all your money first, aside from your principle residence, the vehicles you use to get to work or school, and retirement and college savings funds (yes the middle class can exclude all those).
Then you are poor, assuming you are too sick to work, and Medicaid pays the rest.
“It is good for families, small business owners and businesses”.
Yeah, free money is good for just about anybody.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Tens-of-thousands-lose-cnnm-3509483947.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=
Thus spake BizWeek:
Time for a Debt Haircut
A pretty accurate summary of the situation.
Obama is now speaking so shut up everybody! Shhhhh.
Let me get out my compass so I can bow in the correct direction.
More than 1,200 NASA workers to lose jobs
Part of massive layoffs for end of Shuttle program
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla - More than 1,200 NASA contractors will lose their jobs Friday.
It’s all a part of massive layoffs as the Space Shuttle program heads toward retirement.
Many of the employees being let go have worked on the historic program since its glory days in the 1980’s.
More than 9,000 workers are expected to lose their jobs when the Shuttle program is retired in 2011.
Uh, the “glory days” were the early 70s when we could send men to the moon.
The 80s were all about a delayed and flawed shuttle program.
I can’t imagine a high dollar kiddie clothes store going under in Palm Beach.
Cloud 10 children’s boutique files Chapter 7 bankruptcy, closes Royal Poinciana Way store
After moving locations three times in less than four years, Cloud 10 Palm Beach, an upscale children’s boutique at 209 Royal Poinciana Way, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, an attorney for longtime island retailer Pearl Wortham has confirmed.
The filing came less than six months after a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge ruled in a “default final judgment” that Wortham owed nearly $90,000 to a previous landlord for space Cloud 10 had occupied on Hibiscus Avenue.
Oregon to close prison, lay off 63 workers in $2.5 million budget cut
For the first time in its history, Oregon will shut down an operating prison as part of a $2.5 million budget cut that lays off 63 people, relocates 120 prisoners and ends alcohol and drug treatment for 50 of those inmates.
By the end of the month, the state Corrections Department will shutter the Salem minimum-security prison it operates in the shadow of the Oregon State Penitentiary. The smaller, 176-bed unit opened in 1964 as the state’s first woman’s prison.
I think that this country does way too much incarceration. Now, I may be a bit biased on this point because a very dear friend was our county’s probation department head for many years.
From what he told me, probation was quite an effective correctional tool. It’s not exactly a walk in the park, and, if you don’t toe the line, you do go off to the hoosegow.
More and more citizens are starting to realize the outrageous punishments for petty things. Victimless crimes, for example. I have read about one young guy getting two felony charges for mooning someone recently. Of course. this was in Arizona. It is usually Arizona where such insane convictions are made.
Getting back to my friend, who’s now deceased and may he rest in peace:
One of the things he did with his probationers was to write what he called “very flowery” letters about their restitution obligations.
Now, you might think that the last thing a criminal needs is a flowery letter, but not so fast. By writing those letters, my friend set a Pima County record for success in collecting restitution.
I don’t know if that record still stands, but it speaks well for taking a non-punitive approach.
Slim,
Here in OR ( that’s the problem ) The judge has bent over backwards to keep these guys out of the slammer, but they keep wanting to come back.
My daughter worked across the street and there were several escape attempts and I’m just glad she’s outta’ there. When your mom comes with bolt cutters to bust you out..?
I think prison spending is a win win. Employs one and takes a criminal off the street.
I would not jail drug offenders but violent crime and break in property crime would get punished much harder in my system. I’d jail a lot of bankers too but that’s just dreaming.
The number of Adults not affiliated with either major party is now at 32.3%.
Partisan Trends
For Second Straight Month, Number of Democrats in U.S. Falls to Record Low Friday, October 01, 2010
For the second month in a row, the number of Americans who identify themselves as Democrats has fallen to a record low.
In September, 34.6% of American Adults identified themselves as Democrats. That’s down nearly half a percentage point from a month ago, a full percentage point from two months ago, and is the smallest percentage of Democrats ever recorded in nearly eight years of monthly tracking.
At the same time, the number of Republicans slipped from 33.8% in August to 33.1% last month.
The number of Adults not affiliated with either major party is now at 32.3%.
This is how things have been in AZ for years. There’s still a slight Republican majority, but that party is losing members to the Independents (go team!). Same thing’s happening to the Democrats. We indies are winning them over too.
I was happy to see the 32.3% not affiliated #. The more folks that stop towing either parties line, the better. Sad part is during is that during Presidential elections only the two parties are invited to attended debates.
Here in S.C. we have a higher percentage of repubs. However there is some growth toward independent and libertarian the sooner the better IMO.
Independents (go team!)
LOL - a bit oxymoronish, eh?
(or was that tongue-in-cheek?)
Tongue very much in check.
I think the independents are the most misguided bunch. At the end of the day, either they will vote republicans or democrats. So, what’s the benefit if you are going to keep on voting the evil parties?
If we had viable choices beyond the Republicrat duopoly, we indies would be the first to vote for them.
I don’t kid myself, I know I’ll never see a wave strict Constitutional conservatives in congress and the WH. A large number of people that do vote are willing to give up more of their freedom in exchange for being looked after by a huge nanny government.
Future generations will get to experience the crack up of our system and will have the chance to re-build and start over.
The reason to join a party is to vote in the primary elections - to keep the party from going off the deep end. As the astute William F. Buckley often said, vote for the most conservative candidate who can win in the general election.
In California you had to register by party quite a bit ahead of the primary elections. I re-registered with regularity due to conditions at the time. For example, in 2004 I re-registered as a Democrat (since obviously Bush would be re-nominated) so I could vote for the decent Joe Lieberman.
Here in Idaho you don’t register by party at all. You just show up at the primary election and ask for either a Democrat or GOP ballot. Sorry - no cross-party voting in primaries here.
The decent Joe Lieberman?????????????
You should take a look at who pays his bills. A neocon scum bag as well. In no way is he a fiscal conservative. What exactly do you like in the guy?
What exactly do you like in the guy?
i can’t think of a thing that i like about him either.
Ditto.
decent Joe Lieberman
LOL!!!!!!
Meredith Whitney Predicts 80,000 Layoffs for Wall St (Bonuses will disappoint)…………….
Whitney points out that the reason for Wallstreet’s great performance over the previous year was that the Accounting Rules changed. They booked profits on losses, so of like ENRON. They did not make more money, the FASB rules just allowed them to eliminate their losses on their bad loans. This made the businesses look profitable and they all got big bonuses on the “profits”.
Her point it that they don’t have that happening any more. So no big “gain” in the businesses, and bad loans still on the books. Uh-oh.
She says first they will layoff a small number. Then bonuses will dry up. Then the big layoffs. This is U.S. Only.
How’s that Park Avenue Real estate market? Hamptons? Ha.
Story was from Bloomberg Radio. Link is on YouTube.
I honestly can’t think of anything snarky to say except, “Welcome back to the real world.”
I honestly can’t think of anything snarky to say
Maybe you shouldn’t seek to be snarky….
your posts make much more sense now, though, knowing that’s your goal
Tens of thousands lose stimulus-subsidized jobs ~ cnnmoney
Tens of thousands of low-income workers lost their jobs Thursday as a stimulus-subsidized employment program came to an end.
About a quarter of a million people in 37 states were placed in short-term jobs thanks to a $5 billion boost to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. States used about $1 billion to provide subsidized employment, with the remaining funds going to cash grants, food programs, housing assistance and other aid.
About half the jobs were summer employment for youth and the rest were for disadvantaged parents. Each state configured its initiative differently. Some covered all the workers’ wages for a few months, while others paid for a portion of their salary.
With the program expiring, many of the adults have been told not to report to work anymore. And it won’t be easy for them to find a new position at time when the unemployment rate continues to hover at 9.6%
“They are just joining the millions of other people looking for permanent work,” said Elizabeth Lower-Basch, senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy, an advocacy group known as CLASP.
The TANF jobs initiative was one of several stimulus initiatives that ended Thursday. Also running out are a $2 billion subsidized child care program and a $2.1 billion boost for Head Start, an early learning program for needy children.
“Tens of thousands lose stimulus-subsidized jobs.”
Okay, how many posters here believes this to be inflationary?
what’s the chance they are extending this program? the article did say they could extend it by 2 months at the state level.
werid that gold keeps going up though its like all these Gold bugs are fighting the last war 1970’s inflation.
my brother’s big into this buying gold coins , ammo, etc.
well time will tell, looks deflationary to me though
my brother’s big into this buying gold coins , ammo, etc.
Be nice to him.
Yes.
The official “stimulus” is a very small fraction of the actual money being created at this point.
Thats the best of both worlds.
If you have deflation you win and your brother can protect you from the hoards of starving people with no job.
If you have massive inflation, you can hit him up for a loan.
Just when I think my fascination with the collapsed housing bubble is waning, a story like this one comes along. It seems some of the longest and deepest denial about the housing market collapse lives on among those owning the priciest homes money could buy circa 2006.
Take a clue from JP Morgan’s CEO, people: If you want to sell, lower your wishing price to a level the market will bear, take your lump, and move on in life. It’s high time to move on from the denial phase of the housing bubble stages of grief to the bargaining phase. If you hold on much longer, higher interest rates are likely to happen, further eroding the market value of your palatial estates. Sell now, or get priced in forever.
* HOME FRONT
* OCTOBER 1, 2010
The Holdouts
Some of the nation’s wealthiest home sellers refuse to lower their asking prices. ‘I feel the property is worth every penny.’
By JULIET CHUNG
More than four years after the housing market peaked, many of the nation’s wealthiest homeowners are slashing prices in earnest. The asking price on the late Brooke Astor’s Park Avenue duplex has plummeted to $24.9 million from $46 million. Thursday Peter Sperling, son of the University of Phoenix founder John Sperling, dropped the price on his San Francisco limestone mansion to $47 million; he had been asking $65 million since 2006.
Housing Holdouts
Tour the multi-million dollar homes of some sellers who are refusing to cut asking prices.
View Slideshow
Then there are the ultimate holdouts: a rarefied slice of extremely wealthy sellers who are holding the line on today’s deal-making, price-slashing mentality. Even as their properties have lingered on the market, these sellers haven’t budged on initial asking prices, some of which were set in the waning days of the housing bubble.
Suzanne Saperstein, ex-wife of Metro Networks founder David Saperstein, is still asking $125 million for “Fleur de Lys,” a 41,000-square-foot, French chateau-inspired mansion near Beverly Hills with gold-embossed leather wall coverings and a ballroom. The listing has been on the market since at least April 2007, a month when the Dow passed 13,000. Mr. Saperstein has an equestrian estate that’s been asking $75 million since at least August 2007.
More than four years after the housing market peaked, many wealthy homeowners are slashing prices. Then there are the holdouts: extremely wealthy sellers who are holding the line on today’s deal-making mentality.
Also sitting on the market is the 600-acre Carmel Valley, Calif., ranch owned by Jim Kirk, who founded rental equipment company NationsRent, which sold for $600 million in 2006. Purchased for about $10 million after a five-year search, the property—with a four-bedroom main house, hiking trails and other structures—has been listed at $33 million since November 2006.
With housing prices off about 28% from their peak in 2006 according to Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Index, some real estate agents say waiting is a risky strategy. “Everyone, from bottom to top, got hurt in the financial panic, and it’s reflected in the high-end of the housing market being frozen,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. He adds that price declines, originally confined to the bottom of the market, have begun migrating upward.
“We’ve never been in a more price-sensitive market,” says Janet Owen of Sudler Sotheby’s International Realty, who recently got the listing for the Chicago mansion of J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon.
Some holdouts and their brokers defend their prices, arguing that their estates would be difficult, if not impossible, to replicate today. “I feel the property is worth every penny—and probably then some,” says Tommy Hilfiger co-founder Joel Horowitz, who has been asking $100 million for his 210-acre estate in Zephyr Cove, Nev., since July 2006, when the National Association of Realtors’ then-Chief Economist David Lereah said that housing appeared to be headed for a soft landing in most markets.
Mr. Horowitz notes that he and his wife Ann spent a year designing the home and three years building it and bought items for the home on their travels before it was even built—including lighting fixtures, fireplace mantels and 400-year-old flooring from French châteaux.
…
SCHWARZENEGGER DECRIMINALIZES MARIJUANA POSSESSION IN CA…
Less than an ounce? $100 fine, no trial, no jail…
‘The courts cannot afford to prosecute’…
The city of Ann Arbor, MI, has had a $5 dope fine for decades. It was in effect when I was a University of Michigan student back in the late seventies. ISTR that it was enacted a year or two before I came to A2.
Even so, enforcement was rather lenient. One of my housemates, who wasn’t known for her discretion in any setting, was toking away on the U-M Diag. A city cop spotted her and said, “I don’t like the looks of that cigarette.”
She put it out, and that was that. No fine for Merry.
In 1978 a work mate got a $17 ticket from one of Fenix Finest for smoking the demon weed.
Slim is holding!
By “holding,” do you mean “bogarting” that joint?
I never did that. Oh, not me, not ever!
“‘The courts cannot afford to prosecute’…”
Hence no $100 fine.
If the evil possessor of less than an once of marijuana refuses to pay the fine and there is no money to procute him, then what?
procute = prosicute
er, prosecute.
prosciutto?
Prosciutto? How meloncholy….
The state sells the debt to a collection agency for $40.
Haarrrooooooffffff!!
Whoa. Dude.
Death of the office joke: Coalition enacts Harriet’s PC equality law which means ANYONE can sue for ANYTHING that offends them
Labour Party Deputy Leader Harriet Harman ~ UK
Vegans, teetotallers and atheists are to be given the same protection against discrimination as religious groups while gipsies and travellers will get special favours because of the ‘many socio-economic disadvantages’ they face. There is also protection from ‘third party harassment’ which means bosses could be sued for jokes or comments that staff overhear and find offensive - even if they are not directed at or about them.
If that’s for GB (and it isn’t clear from your post ) then stick a fork in GB, it’s done.
Dropout Rate at 16 For-Profit Colleges Was 57%
About 57 percent of students at 16 for-profit colleges who started classes in the 2008-2009 academic year have dropped out, Senator Tom Harkin said.
During the three years, an estimated 1.9 million students left the institutions, most with nothing to show for their time except debt, Harkin said today at a hearing in Washington, quoting from a report by his office. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is holding a hearing today into whether the schools misled students on employment prospects after graduation.
“Going to college should not be like going to a casino where the house usually wins,” Harkin said at the hearing.
The report didn’t disclose comparable dropout rates for public universities or nonprofit colleges. About 38 percent of students at for-profit four-year colleges graduate within six years, compared with 53 percent at public institutions and 64 percent at nonprofits, according to an April report from the National Center for Education Statistics. The April report is based on first-time, fulltime students who enrolled in 2002.
The report didn’t disclose comparable dropout rates for public universities or nonprofit colleges.
And therein lies the rub. These legislators spend a lot of time demonizing the for-profit colleges while letting the public and nonprofits off the hook. They need to be on the hook too. IMHO, a lot of the dropout rate is caused by the too-high cost of higher ed.
I think its also caused by people being in school who don’t belong there.
It could also be affected by transfer rates, but suspect that’s a small number. I did transfer during my under years, so I suspect that school #1 counts me as a “drop out”.
It’s pretty much the case that everyone expects to go to college, and State Us accept everybody. Then they flunk them out. They perceive it as giving everyone a chance.
Schools that are more selective about who they let in have fewer drop out.
Schools that are more selective about who they let in have fewer drop out.
I went to one of those schools. And, around the hallowed halls of the University of Michigan, we were fond of quoting a line from the British band Genesis’ mega-album, “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.” Here’s the line:
“Ya gotta get in to get out.”
The context of that line was that, when I was a student there, the dropout rate was very low. I can only think of two people in my circle of acquaintances who dropped out, and one was my junior high school boyfriend.
He was taken out of the public school system after, IIRC, eight grade, and put into a private military school. I believe it was Valley Forge, and he stayed there through high school.
Then, lo and behold, in the fall of my freshman year, there he was in Ann Arbor. We made a brief attempt at rekindling our relationship, but, unlike junior high when I was more interested in him than he was in me, he was the ardent suitor. And I just wasn’t that into him anymore.
I heard through the grapevine that the U-M’s lack of military school discipline proved to be too much for him. He couldn’t handle all the freedom. He became more interested in hanging out in his dorm’s pinball room than in going to classes and studying, and I think he only lasted a couple of semesters.
During the fall of my sophomore year, I was walking up State Street with my parents. It was Homecoming Weekend, and, wouldn’t you know it, we spotted Martin.
He said hello to the three of us, and we responded in kind. But my parents were aghast at his appearance. He looked like one of those Ann Arbor street people, and I figured that was what he became after he left school.
Haven’t seen him since.
Harvard reserves half it’s admissions for offspring of graduates - is that really selective??
I am sure Warren Buffet disagrees.
Not a word on WHY they dropped out? Methinks these ‘deadbeat’ dropouts were people working a day job and going to night school, lost the job, and had to cut the school. Simple as that.
Dropout rates at public universities are 50%….the private ones will be higher due to the cost.
Nobody Cares About the Fed’s Low Rates
Michael Pento ~ Euro Pacific Capital
Mortgage Applications continue to fall despite the fact that interest rates are now being set artificially at an all time low. The Mortgage Bankers Association released its Weekly Mortgage Application Survey for the week ending September 24, 2010 today. The Market Composite Index which measures the total mortgage application volume fell 0.8% from last week on a seasonally adjusted basis. The interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage declined to 4.38% from 4.44%. This is a new low for a 30-year fixed contract, compared to the low 4.43% from the week ending August 27, 2010. Applications fell for the fourth week in a row.
Interest rates are at a record low despite the fact that the dollar is falling, the national debt is soaring and the Fed is doing its best to destroy the value of what little savings is left in this country. But even though the government is devastating the economy in order to bring about a temporary decline in the level of interest rates, nobody is buying a house because we are destroying our country’s ability to produce viable employment.
…nobody is buying a house because we are destroying our country’s ability to produce viable employment…
Nobody’s buying a house because (A) prices are falling.
If you buy, and then lose your job (or similar) and are forced to let go of the house, you (B) can’t sell it without a taking loss.
Even neophytes chess players can think one move ahead.
Premise: …nobody is buying a house because we are destroying our country’s ability to produce viable employment…
Response: Nobody’s buying a house because (A) prices are falling…Even neophytes chess players can think one move ahead.
It’s not either/or. However, knowing American’s love and worship for real-estate, I’d say a lousy economy and job market is the biggest factor.
US Real Estate Sector Hurt by High Unemployment
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/42260/
The biggest obstacle to the U.S. economic recovery is the high unemployment rate experienced in many regions across the country.
It’s a vicious cycle that ultimately affects all industries, businesses, and consumers. If consumers don’t have jobs, they cannot buy or rent homes—or make timely mortgage payments. Without jobs, people won’t step into stores or make purchases.
Lets suppose the job market improves.
Headline: Unemployment dropped to 5% !! Lets go buy a house!
well.. i dunno.. there’s like 20 million foreclosed homes in inventory and untold millions to add..
And even if one is employed, houses are still priced about 5 or 10 times income. Very dangerous. One slip and you’re drowning.
So, no. Employment is not a concern. Bubble prices must fall to affordability before the thinking person pulls the trigger, regardless of any other economic factors.
However, knowing American’s love and worship for real-estate
Do we really love real estate? Or do we just love making a killing with no effort whenever we get lucky and do something ahead of the crowd?
Do we really love real estate? Or do we just love making a killing with no effort whenever we get lucky and do something ahead of the crowd?
Well, it was the “American Dream” way before the housing bubble.
If you are worried about losing your job, it doesn’t matter how low housing prices go - you don’t want to commit yourself to payments for 30 years. Not unless the thing is practically free (or in the case of a squat, literally free, but then you don’t really own it either).
It isn’t just loss of income, although that is undoubtedly a huge part of it. It is the concern that a new job may force you to relocate somewhere else, and that nice cheap house you just found will turn into a PITA.
Everyone’s always worried about losing their job. It’s a constant worry, no matter current economic conditions.
Buying a house is a very long term bet. Economies will go through bad times in the 20 or 30 years it takes to pay off a mortgage. Your job will surely be at higher risk than normal at some point.
and yet, people still buy houses.
So, job security is important, but not a primary concern. Lose a job and just sell the house. House values were understood to always rise in the past. But today, that’s not true..
Things are different.
You KNOW the house will be worth less a month from now. You KNOW you will lose your down payment AND trash your credit if forced to sell for any reason
You can apply the same logic to other things that people do, even though life is uncertain. Falling in love, getting married, and having children come to mind.
Everyone’s always worried about losing their job. It’s a constant worry, no matter current economic conditions.
Right now, it’s way more “constant” than at most other modern times.
There is a big difference in worry between 5% UE and 10+% UE.
A BIG difference.
A trillion and rising: Britain’s £1,000,000,000,000 debt means we now pay as much in interest as we do for defence ~ UK
Unprecedented levels of spending under Labour saw the Government borrow nearly £450million a day under Gordon Brown
Britain’s debt has grown to a hitherto unimaginable level, it emerged yesterday – smashing the £1trillion barrier for the first time.
Government borrowing hit £1,000,389,000,000 at the end of March – or £40,000 per household – the Office for National Statistics said.
The figure is so enormous, equivalent to more than one million million pounds, that the country must pay £40billion interest on it in this year alone – roughly what is spent on the entire defence budget.
It follows unprecedented levels of spending under Labour which saw the Government borrow nearly £450million a day under Gordon Brown.
Wow! They only spent £40billion on defense for the whole year? How many days does it take us to spend that much? 30?
2010 military budget.. $685 billion. So $40 billion is spent every 21.3 days.
2009 was a bit higher. $782 billion.
SSecurity, Medicare Medicaid 2009 was near twice that. $1.354 trillion.
(Military spending) 2009 was a bit higher. $782 billion.
SSecurity, Medicare Medicaid 2009 was near twice that. $1.354 trillion.
You’re serious?
Our yearly military spending is equal to almost 60% of EVERYTHING we spend yearly on SSecurity, Medicare AND Medicaid combined???!
Every year? Good Lord. What a society.
well.. We at least partially protect the entire free world.
If we only protected ourselves, it’d be much less expensive for us, and more expensive for other countries, like Canada and Britain and Japan and .. well, the list is almost endless.
But being the charitable sort, we don’t really mind it as long as we can afford it.
If we only protected ourselves,
“Protect” ourselves? From job loss, sickness, illegal labor, poverty, needless worry, protect our middle-class, protect from 3rd world wealth concentration, crippling student debt, crippling housing debt?
There is more to “protecting ourselves” than protecting ourselves from the the Iraqi army.
sickness.. poverty.. as noted earlier, we spend twice as much on those things as on military, so take them off the list.
So, money taken from military spending might cure other problems.. OK.
Job loss. Where would you put the money?
illegal labor.. again. Spend whatever you like. Where would you spend it?
protect our middle class.. If cash can do that, where would that cash be spent?
Pick any of your list of needs, and tell us where you’d aim the money.
It’s too bad gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman spent so much money ($119 million) on fruitless TV commercials. If she had sent $1 million each to 100 or more charities, she would have been hailed as a fantastic person who really cares. Maybe she could have asked voters to submit their charity choices and probably would have been a shoo-in for governor. Think about it. WE NOWHOLD OUR NOSE AND MAKE THE HORRIBLE CHOICE OF BROWN..CALIF IS IN FOR A WORLD OF HURT…CAN U SAY 3RD WORLD
so you’re gonna vote for someone who will make CA a third world country because the opposition did not donate her campaign funds to charity?
charity must be kept secret. Reveal it or brag about it, and you don’t score points with the big guy.
MAtt 6:3
“But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth”
and it’s certainly not charity if it’s purpose is to buy votes.
charity must be kept secret. Reveal it or brag about it, and you don’t score points with the big guy.
That’s true but then she could have given another 119 million anonymously to make up for that.
Maybe.
its her lies,that will force me to vote for brown
Brown originally opposed Prop 13 and may be able to overthrow it.
Without it’s income and property tax limitations, money and business and jobs will leave Calif. in a hurry
Can you say 3rd world?
Can you say 3rd world?
California?
i was jsut mimicking SOLD’s little quip in the previous thread:
“CAN U SAY 3RD WORLD”
and yeah.. it applied to calif.
I will gladly vote for Brown over Gollum’s candidate.
born April ‘38.. so he turned 72?
First time he was governor he was exactly half that age.
Dudley-Do-Wrong sez…We needs mo money!
More action by Fed may be warranted, top official says
Current conditions of high unemployment, low inflation ‘unacceptable’
NEW YORK — More action by the U.S. Federal Reserve to boost growth will likely be needed if the economic outlook doesn’t improve, a top Federal Reserve official said on Friday.
William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said current conditions of high unemployment and low inflation are “unacceptable”.
“Further action is likely to be warranted unless the economic outlook evolves in such a way that makes me more confident that we will see better outcomes for both employment and inflation before too long,” Dudley told a conference of business journalists in New York.
we will see better outcomes for both employment and inflation before too long
Hmmm, so what’s even better than low inflation?
At last, Gerald Ford’s “Whip Inflation Now” program has finally kicked fully into gear.
With a crook & a flail how can we fail
Hey why not try what worked so well before. 0 down, 0 interest, 72mos, no payment for 90 days, to anybody with a pulse! Problem solved. Oh and you can always gets mo money from the gubmint.
US auto sales remain sluggish despite new models, but automakers hopeful for autumn gains
DETROIT (AP) — New models and Labor Day promotions didn’t do much to fire Americans’ appetites for new cars in September.
Sales at Chrysler Group LLC and Ford Motor Co. rose slightly from August. They fell at General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. and were flat at Toyota Motor Corp. Car companies say a recovery is still happening, but it’s not as strong as they had hoped following a terrible 2009.
“We’re not going to bust loose as you sometimes see after a downturn, but we’ll see steady growth,” said Don Johnson, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales.
I always wondered what happened to Don Johnson after his Miami Vice gig was up…
Al Gore failed to mention President Barack Obama at a campaign rally in Florida as Democrats extended their new tactic for next month’s elections - ignoring the man who so inspired them in 2008.
~UK Telegraph
Representative Kendrick Meek, the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in the November 2nd mid-terms, also neglected to let Mr Obama’s name pass his lips during an appearance with the former vice-president in a union hall.
Instead, the black congressman lauded “President Gore” - a reference to the 2000 election, when hanging chads in Florida and the US Supreme Court cost the Democrat the White House.
With their party facing a possible landslide defeat in a month’s time, Democratic candidates are running away from Mr Obama and his record. Polls indicate Democrats could lose control of the House of Representatives and perhaps even the Senate, a result that could cripple to Obama presidency.
In Tampa, neither Mr Gore nor Mr Meek made direct reference to Mr Obama’s historic health care legislation, his proudest achievement, or the financial bailout. Both measures are unpopular with all but hardcore Democratic supporters.
Why not, they were unemployed. They paid in.
Some 3,000 Millionaires Claim Jobless Benefits, IRS Data Show
Bloomberg
After the economy slipped into recession in 2008, millions of Americans received unemployment benefits to make ends meet — including almost 3,000 millionaires.
According to U.S. Internal Revenue Service data, 2,840 households reporting at least $1 million in income on their tax returns that year also collected a total of $18.6 million in jobless aid. They included 806 taxpayers with incomes over $2 million and 17 with incomes in excess of $10 million. In all, multimillionaires reported receiving $5.2 million in jobless benefits.
Those numbers are a minuscule fraction of the 9.5 million taxpayers who reported receiving $43.7 billion from jobless benefits in 2008, up from 7.6 million recipients reporting $29.4 billion in benefits in 2007. Still, economists said they are surprised so many people with seven-figure incomes claimed benefits.
“Some 3,000 Millionaires Claim Jobless Benefits, IRS Data Show”
I’m sure they didn’t get to be millionaires by passing up opportunities.
Once again, UE is paid by the EMPLOYER, not the employee.
And I’ve known some who did this. Gotta love rich people. No sense of shame what-so-ever.
And noblesse oblige? Never heard of it.
No sense of shame what-so-ever.
why should someone be ashamed of cashing in on insurance paid on their behalf?
Would you be ashamed of using the medical insurance paid by your employer? Life insurance?
(please don’t answer - those are rhetorical questions)
Found myself in an elevator today with 3 gentlemen who are in the debt consolidation business. Only one of them had arms that were completely covered by tattoos. When I told them I was on my second LL in 5 years who was collecting rent and not paying the mortgage one of them proudly proclaimed, I haven`t payed my mortgage in 25 months, and it`s a 300sq. ft. house. My look turned from shock to anger as I looked at the next guy and said you think that`s O.K. he said I live with him, as he looked at captain 25 months. At that point I know I looked pissed and they realized they were bragging about this to the wrong guy. The tattooed guy had his head down, the roommate looked scared and the elevator door opened and they scurried out and down the hall to screw some more people at a couple of grand a pop who already can`t pay their bills.
That’s the game, isn’t it? Those not paying a mortgage can buy ipods, laptops, or that new 3-series. If everyone just stays cool for a few more years while our leaders look the other way and keep rates at low, low prices…it’s all good.
Frankly, I’m disappointed you didn’t pull out the brass knuckles and exact a little HBB justice.
It was 3000 sq. ft. not 300 and as far as the brass knuckles go, I don`t own any but with these jokers I wouldn`t need any either. But there is still hope, I go to that building at least once a week.
“Only one of them had arms that were completely covered by tattoos.”
Were those subprime arms?
The newspaper bidness is fast becoming a dinosaur.
Sacramento Bee announces staff reductions
The Sacramento Bee today announced it’s eliminating 29 more jobs, citing a continuing slump in advertising revenue.
In a memo to the newspaper’s staff, Publisher and President Cheryl Dell said the cutbacks will include voluntary buyouts and layoffs. In addition, some vacant positions will be eliminated.
“While there are a few bright spots on the horizon, we need to adjust our expenses as we enter the fourth quarter,” she said in the memo.
There are so many media outlets these days that everybody’s advertising dollar is being pulled every direction.
I don’t know about you, but I only pay attention to the color inserts and never even look at the ones inside the paper itself. And for the last 30 years, real disposable income has been shrinking for everyone but the rich. Nothing any amount of advertising can change.
“And for the last 30 years, real disposable income has been shrinking for everyone but the rich.”
Borrowing made up for this shrinking. Then the ability to borrow vanished, leaving our consumer-based economy high-and-dry.
“Nothing any amount of advertising can change.”
There it is.
CNN has fired anchor Rick Sanchez following a radio rant Thursday night where he called Jon Stewart a “bigot,” blamed CNN brass for discrimination against him and insinuated that the media industry is controlled by Jews.
More ‘good’ news for some FB’s…
BofA delays foreclosures in 23 states
The Associated Press
Friday, October 1, 2010; 5:11 PM
WASHINGTON — Bank of America says it is delaying foreclosures in 23 states as it examines whether it rushed the foreclosure process for thousands of homeowners without reading the documents.
Bank of America is not yet able to estimate how many homeowners cases will be affected, a spokesman for the nation’s largest bank says.
A bank official acknowledged in a legal proceeding in February that she signed up to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month and typically didn’t read them. The Associated Press obtained the document Friday.
The executive’s admission adds the nation’s largest bank to a growing list of mortgage companies whose employees signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.
A bank official acknowledged in a legal proceeding in February that she signed up to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month and typically didn’t read them. The Associated Press obtained the document Friday.
Talk about the action that comes back to bite you in the arse.
“…she signed up to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month and typically didn’t read them…”
I’m not an expert in financial fraud law, but wouldn’t this constitute financial fraud?
Anybody who cannot see what is wrong with trusting Megabank, Inc to properly service home mortgages is either a fool, a liar or both.
Anybody know what sort of info is in these foreclosure documents in question, and how much of it needs to be somehow verified?
Apparently much more than Megabank, Inc can afford to verify. Wall Street Megabanks should stick to industries where they are clearly the experts, such as automotive manufacturing or commercial real estate, and leave residential mortgage lending operations to small local banks who have the time and staff to get to know their customers.
Being somewhat rare, none of the banks were too familiar with foreclosures prior to the bubble collapse.
I can’t think of anyone with expertise in the field, except maybe some attorneys.. tax consultants.. even then only in a small percentage of their cases. But they probably kept themselves up to date.
This is practically new to banks… Dealing with millions of foreclosures.. property management.. property sales..
I won’t be surprised if this particular hangup is only the first of many as the mess unwinds. It’s like.. learn as you go.
I took my son to Tampa today for some fun. I still cannot believe the Channelside area — everything is brand freaking new, and nobody around.
CA Renter,
Not sure when this will open in San Diego, but I suggest we consider it as an alternative to “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.” E-mail me if you are interested.
‘Inside Job’ Director Charles Ferguson, Taking Wall Street Firmly To Task
Categories: Politics as Pop Culture, Movies
05:33 pm
October 1, 2010
by Trey Graham
‘Inside Job’ director Charles Ferguson
Mariusz Cichon/Sony Pictures Classics
In his before-movies career, Inside Job director Charles Ferguson (an Oscar nominee for his film No End In Sight) spent three years at MIT researching interactions between high technology, globalization, and government policy — and went on to found the company that created FrontPage, an early Web-authoring tool.
“I thought I was prepared,” says documentary filmmaker Charles Ferguson — prepared for what he’d learn about the “bad behavior” among Wall Streeters that led to the global financial meltdown.
Not so much.
“I had grossly underestimated the level of extraordinarily unethical and even fraudulent behavior that had occurred on such a large scale,” Ferguson tells All Things Considered host Melissa Block, in a conversation airing Friday.
Investment banks selling defective securities — even designing securities to be defective, so they could make a profit betting against them?
“If somebody had told me in the fall of 2008 that this had gone on on a huge scale — tens of billions of dollars — I would have said, ‘No, that’s just too extreme. People don’t do that. And if you do do it, you would go to jail.’ They did do it, and nobody’s gone to jail.”
The movie, opening Oct. 8, includes a testy exchange between Ferguson and former Bush adviser Glenn Hubbard, who’s now the dean of Columbia Business School — and, Ferguson argues, part of an academic culture that has allowed the financial services industry to corrupt the study of economics itself.
“Very prominent professors of economics, often people who’ve also held high government posts, are paid to testify in Congress,” Ferguson explains. “They are paid to be expert witnesss in both civil and criminal trials. They’re often paid to write papers that praise the financial services industry, and argue on behalf of deregulation of the industry. They make millions, in some cases tens of millions of dollars, doing this. And this is usually not disclosed.”
That analysis might be why Hubbard, when Ferguson asks him whether he’s got ties with financial services firms, responds with a cool one-word answer: “Possibly.”
“You don’t remember?” Ferguson presses.
“This isn’t a deposition, sir,” Hubbard replies. “I was polite enough to give you time — foolishly, I now see. But you have three more minutes. Give it your best shot.”
Ferguson says meeting Hubbard and other powerful figures in the industry was a eye-opening experience.
“These people were not used to being challenged,” he says. “They’d never been questioned about this issue before. They clearly expected to be deferred to — by me, and I think by everybody.”
Of all the confounding things he discovered, Ferguson says two of the most mind-boggling are these:
…
“…part of an academic culture that has allowed the financial services industry to corrupt the study of economics itself.”
I hope to learn more about this form of corruption over the next few years.
The Fed breaks the law of conservation daily. That’s all.
I hope to learn more about this form of corruption over the next few years.
you should find a few distinctions interesting..
the two major schools of economics are keynesian and austrian. one is named after a man and one is named after a country.
keynesian economics just also happens to be founded by one man, john maynard keynes. of course it is easy for one man to be mistaken. it is harder for many to be mistaken over a longer period of time. (he probably wrote the book in less than 5 years).
austrian economics has contributions from many brilliant men through the decades. men such as von Mises and FA Hayek. economic principles that have been proven to work were refined through the decades. they were open to criticism for all those years.
quite a difference, since keynesianism has never been proven to work. just the opposite in fact. it is a myth of guesswork and belief, instead of knowledge.
these days i think about 90% of economists are keynesians. they are the ones that have corrupted the real, time tested, proven, austrian economics.
I hope to learn more about this form of corruption over the next few years
i’ll retry this post:
the two major schools of economics are keynesian and austrian. one is named after a man and one is named after a country.
keynesian economics just also happens to be founded by one man, john maynard keynes. of course it is easy for one man to be mistaken. it is harder for many to be mistaken over a longer period of time. (he probably wrote the book in less than 5 years).
austrian economics has contributions from many brilliant men through the decades. men such as von Mises and FA Hayek. economic principles that have been proven to work were refined through the decades. they were open to criticism for all those years.
quite a difference, since keynesianism has never been proven to work. just the opposite in fact. it is a myth of guesswork and belief, instead of knowledge.
these days i think about 90% of economists are keynesians. they are the ones that have corrupted the real, time tested, proven, austrian economics.
When the beginning, the story line, the message and the ending of a movie are known to me, good acting may still make it worthwhile.
so.. Who’s starring in this movie?
“The Housing Rubble” Ruh-roh, Scooby-dooby-doo!
The battle for Stuyvesant Town
The housing rubble
Hedge funds are losing their fight for New York’s largest apartment complex
Sep 30th 2010 | NEW YORK
IT IS an iconic property. It is an iconic disaster. Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village is a sprawling series of brick apartment buildings with 11,000 rental units that line New York’s East River. Residents of “Stuy Town”, as it is called, number around 25,000. Most are middle-class. The property, which opened in 1947 as a place to house veterans and their families, has seen people fight several wars to control it.
In 2006 investors competed to buy Stuy Town as aggressively as New Yorkers cheer for the Yankees. Tishman Speyer, a property firm, and BlackRock, a fund manager, were the victors. They paid $5.4 billion for Stuy Town, the highest price ever for a single property. But soon afterwards the commercial- and residential-property markets faltered. The new owners’ plan to boost cashflow by hiking rents ran aground after a court ruled that they weren’t allowed to. Rents on the majority of apartments are controlled; politicians flocked to defend the occupants. Tishman and BlackRock defaulted on their debt payments in January, relinquishing the once-prized property to creditors.
…
I think it’s pretty silly that some people think that the Banker Middlemen Crooks didn’t know what they were doing .In part the bail-outs prevented
the discovery of the crimes . The regulators were sleeping on the job and
what occurred was the same thing that would happen if a police force left a town and the criminal mentality could commit any crimes they wanted .And here we had Hank Paulson who was one of the culprits riding in on his black horse obstructing justice with his bailouts that helped out his prior employer.
And Paulsons “Good Bank ,Bad Bank ” analogy was a joke .
Nobody talks to much about all the hidden bailouts to that industry and the culprits.
I would love to see that new movie .
that industry