Bits Bucket For October 20, 2010
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The Housing Bubble
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It’s simple… If they are currently in office
vote them out.. New blood
Does that mean voting out all the Congresscritters who voted against the bills you didn’t like?
them too. and I am considering voting Eddie off the blog.
Agree totally…vote them all out every time. Keep em dancing on a pin.
Pure joy is:
Watching the millions of dollars that was poured into backing a shmuck of a candidate do down the drain when the candidate loses.
Ohhhh, I like the way you think, and not just about that cash is king stuff either!
It’s especially nice when
A) They outspent their opponent. (the one who won.)
B) They bankrolled a lot of it with personal money. (How else will they learn?)
Like Meg Whitman~!
CA is so doomed, doesn’t matter who is gov.
It’s always the people’s blood. And you can interpret that any way.
No matter which of those two parties control Congress after the election, it’s the people’s blood.
There are a lot of things in life that I am not sure of, but I am 99.99% sure that this will not happen.
I don’t know about you, but I’M voting for the Aqua Buddha.
I’m going to vote for the high class hooker for governor. Let’s let the pros take a turn.
I want to see medicare and social security wither on the vine. They are socialist programs so I’m voting republican across the row. We don’t need social security and medicare.
We don’t need social security ??
So do I get a refund plus interest for the 41 years I have been paying in or do I just Ben Dover ??
EX:
Wither on the vine sounds ok, if its 20 years down the road
SS was original intended for widows orphans blind, and old age…and most old women were homemakers with part time or no income for many many years, so the man had the main income like my mom and she is doing ok today, not well off but ok.
But what happened it expanded a heck of a lot to include all sorts of “disabilities” and there was never a means test,for your civic duty to help the less fortunate.But now all Americans have to work and contribute to their own old age.
So wither is a good term….with some cuts today, a bigger penalty for retiring early, raising the age, means testing.
My guess is that if the GOP gets what it wants SS recipients will get a miniscule lump sum payment. Maybe they can buy a new car with it.
And then its back to the salt mines, until you drop dead.
But I don’t expect them to repeal the payroll tax. They’ll just use it to fund more wars.
Just don’t drop the soap.
“I want to see medicare and social security wither on the vine. They are socialist programs so I’m voting republican across the row. We don’t need social security and medicare.”
Then chalk me up as an American Socialist. The vote is an active expression of a political opinion and used to keeps us from throwing bombs at each other.
While neither officially a dem or a repuke, I will vote dem “across the row” to stop your “wants” and attempt to address the “needs” of the American People… every single time.
Hey, whether actively voting or tossing bombs, ain’t life Great ?
By “American People”, do you mean the Wall Street firms?
Good job exeter. Apparently no one paid attention to your name as the tongue-in-cheek originator of this thread.
As a SS recipient myself, I am very much in favor of making SS and Medicare needs-based, just like Medicaid is now. You can’t (and shouldn’t) try to change it overnight, but phase it in over perhaps a 5 to 10 year period. Also jack up the retirement age and increase the current 6.2/6.2 percent “contributions” as actuarially needed.
Yeah, it’s a third rail. Who will have the cojones to push for it? Probably no one.
I don’t think most people would need 5-10 years to spend all thier savings to qualify for SS/Medicare.
LOL. Yeah just another spend-down like the one for Medicaid/nursing home.
More work for Elder Law lawyers!
“As a SS recipient myself, I am very much in favor of making SS and Medicare needs-based, just like Medicaid is now. You can’t (and shouldn’t) try to change it overnight, but phase it in over perhaps a 5 to 10 year period. Also jack up the retirement age and increase the current 6.2/6.2 percent “contributions” as actuarially needed.”
Yeah, sure, jack up the retirement age, and increase contributions, but do all this after you’ve enjoyed it in it’s current form and are on your death bed. Typical for you, Bile.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing. Bullseye Grizzly.
And ScDave, my post is sarcasm.
Damn right go for it, at least she knows how to run a business for profit! If I lived up there I’d vote for her.
Also efficient. She doesn’t have to dig for dirt on rivals, she can make it happen!
“I’m going to vote for the high class hooker for governor. Let’s let the pros take a turn.”
…well at least she is up front about what she is/does, not like the other whores who say/do anything to get there and once there look for the next highest bidder.
Absolutely … “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
Amen. Get term limits! Cut down on the “lobbying money to them. They will not be years and years in office to bribe!
Around here that would mean voting out a very good incumbent and voting in a Gravy Sucking, Gun Hating, Granola Crunching, Commie Loving, Tree Hugging, pinko liberal.
Not that I am all biased.
Who has seen the movie collaspe? What are
your thoughts?
Who has seen the movie collaspe?
I thought the movie Inception pretty much collapsed - but then I’ve never had dreams with Heat amounts of gunfire in them.
Here’s my two-point review:
1. There’s not much new in it that you won’t have already gotten from various blogs (From the Wilderness, The Oil Drum, Clusterf*ck nation, Club Orlov, etc) and from Michael Ruppert’s books (especially Crossing the Rubicon).
2. Mike really needs to cut back on those ciggies. Just saying.
Wow, this Tamarack ski resort sounds like a marvelous investment opportunity.
When the work is done in 10 to 15 years, Tamarack will be a $1.5 billion destination resort with 62 runs, 7 chairlifts, at least one 18-hole golf course, a medical clinic, a fire department, an amphitheater and some 34 stone and wood buildings in a base village area that will merit its own ZIP code. Property owners will have access to exclusive resort benefits: unlimited skiing, unlimited golf, early-bird ”fresh-tracks” chairlift services on powder days, the best tables in the best restaurants and catering services. …
Tamarack, however, has made it through the financial-bureaucratic mogul field largely thanks to astute legal alliances forged by a French former ski instructor named Jean-Pierre Boespflug, 50.
Hey, the NY Times just couldn’t have gotten the story wrong, could they?
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E5DC1439F932A05751C1A9629C8B63
LOL! I love this historical stuff.
“Plans for similar resorts — Catamount in Colorado and Early Winters in Washington, to name two — have popped up all across the West for decades. (One is currently under way outside Missoula, Mont. [currently TU - ed.])”
Sounds like what Bobby Ginn promised us here in Watauga County that had the county commissioners smacking their lips and rubbing their greedy hands together, anticipating all the bucks in property taxes Ginn told them his development would generate. Ginn’s Laurelmor went bankrupt, and now the county is millions of dollars in debt.
Southern California home sales remain weak
Sales of homes in Southern California slumped for a third consecutive month in September but prices ticked up, underscoring a weak but stable real estate market headed into the traditionally slow fall and winter months.
Sales of newly built and previously owned houses, town homes and condominiums fell 2.4% from August and 16% from the same month last year, according to real estate research firm MDA DataQuick of San Diego. A total of 18,091 homes were sold last month in the region.
U.S. Shopping-Center Vacancies Rose in Third Quarter, Reis Says
Vacancies at U.S. neighborhood and community shopping centers rose in the third quarter as unemployment lingered near a 26-year high and consumer confidence fell, according to Reis Inc.
The vacancy rate at shopping centers climbed to 10.9 percent from 10.3 percent a year earlier, the New York-based property research firm said today in a statement. Vacancies were unchanged from the second quarter, when they reached the highest level since 1991. The record of 11.1 percent was set in 1990, according to Reis data going back 30 years.
Buh buh buh I thunk CRE had already bottomed out?
BTW, they haven’t run out of “For Lease” signs around San Diego just yet…
There was an article in the Fort Collins rag about “increased occupancy” in local CRE. Someone commented that it had to be true, as a new retail chain called “Now Available” had signs all over the town
zing!
I visited the Phoenix area last week. Near the Arizona Cardinals’ new stadium, I spotted an entire office building that was vacant. It was three or four stories high — and you can see it from the 101 freeway.
There are currently at least 2 empty storefronts at street level on the block of Pennsylvania Avenue between the Old Executive Office Building (next to the White House) and the World Bank.
It would be interesting to see what the price per square foot is and how it compares with other ground-level storefronts in the area. I’ll betcha money that the wishing rent is wa-a-ay above the market rate.
Interesting idea. The only newly rented space is for two restaurants which makes me think they aren’t very useful for comps since the space is more specialized.
I wonder if the price is properly discounted for closures due to world bank demonstrations.
Not as big a deal as you might think. I mean, yeah, there are a few protests, but they usually take place on Friday and Saturday. Well, Saturday is fairly dead around here and it doesn’t mess things up all that badly on the Friday. There were some enthusiastic protestors in front of the Citibank branch a while ago, but they stayed in a small circle in front on the branch. We have no White House “stuff” stores right around here. They are on the other side of the section of Pennsylvania blocked from car traffic. There are two t-shirt vendors, but they are a sidewalk thing and don’t need a store front.
Interesting, someone should open a competitor to the terrible CVS (slow, rude, and epxensive) in that area. Just sell some snacks, sodas, cigs, and toiletries, and hire fast retail checkers.
Hey, bluto.
This should not be a problem for BOA, just call up TTT he’ll fire off some “free” money, then they buy back the mortgages. Problem solved!
~ “The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has joined a group of investors demanding that Bank of America buy back billions of dollars worth of mortgage securities that are plagued with shoddy documentation and lending standards, according to people familiar with the matter”.
My guess is they will continue scratching their butts and watching Dancing with the Stars…
Will Americans Follow French Example Of Mass Civil Unrest?
Infowars.com
How will Americans react when the government begins to impose the same austerity measures that are causing riots, street battles, fuel blockades and other assorted chaos in France? Will we witness mass civil unrest or will the sleeping middle classes continue to scratch their butts and watch Dancing with the Stars?
Back in June we forecast that the imminent onset of so-called austerity measures, which in reality represent nothing more than an elevated phase of government-run looting of the taxpayer, would herald an “age of rage,” leading to “riots and even revolutions as people react with fury in response to their jobs, savings, basic public services, pensions and welfare money being seized by the financial terrorists who caused the economic collapse in the first place.”
“… so-called austerity measures, which in reality represent nothing more than an elevated phase of government-run looting of the taxpayer …”
“… elevated phase …”
The elevated phase of looting happened on the UPSWING of the insanity - and it wasn’t just the government that did the looting nor was it just the government that went insane.
Now we are on the DOWNSWING phase of what used to be the elevated phase. The MONEY IS NOT THERE for any of this “elevated looting” to take place. The money is not there for much of anything to take place except to dribble through our economy and heal wounds as everybody slowly comes to their senses. IMHO.
“… jobs, savings, basic public services, pensions and welfare money being seized by the financial terrorists…”
The money HAS ALREADY BEEN SEIZED by these so-called “financial terrorists”.
And just who is it that should be called “financial terrorists”? Shouldn’t the idiots that cashed out all their home equity join the ranks of those being called financial terrorists?
The other day there was presented to us a statistic that said thiry-percent of households that make over a hundred-thousand dollars a year are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Now THAT is financial terrorism.
Combo, I concur. How can raising the retirement age, cutting pensions, laying off government workers etc “loot” the taxpayer? If anything, it’s the exact opposite.
It’s hard to call the individual HELOC-ers financial terrorists. That’s a harsh label to put on anybody, but if I had to, I would put it on the corporate management who are effectively holding jobs hostage at every turn; ie, if you don’t bail us out, we’ll fire the voters. If you don’t allow us to be a monopoly, we’ll go overseas. If you don’t allow us our bonuses, we’ll fund even more negative political ads. If you don’t allow us to keep our high-end capital gains tax breaks, we’ll take them to the Cayman Islands.
On a side note, I do know a couple people over $100K who are living paycheck-to-paycheck.
“And just who is it that should be called “financial terrorists”? Shouldn’t the idiots that cashed out all their home equity join the ranks of those being called financial terrorists?”
I would call them suckers.
“The other day there was presented to us a statistic that said thiry-percent of households that make over a hundred-thousand dollars a year are living paycheck-to-paycheck.”
I know people like that. They have no savings, no 401K (and of course no pension).
Of course they have his and hers $60K vehicles in the driveway, take expensive vacations, kids in private schools, live in a depreciating McMansion, etc.
One of them even told me that they “don’t believe in saving”. I suppose they plan on starting a wildly successful biz someday.
“I would call them suckers.”
Suckers = their own worst enemies.
Pogo lives.
“Pogo lives.”
I wonder what Walt Kelley would have Pogo say about our current situation.
Pogo always had that pirogue to keep from getting underwater……
I have an over $100k income household in my family (in addition to me). And I know she does not save. She will work until she drops, she told me. I am always worrying about her and the others in my family who fiddled and accumulated material possessions but never took my advice about saving. And I advised them over and over for the last 20 years. That one could have had $100k in cash for emergencies easily by 2008 when she was forced to take a job outside of California. Now back in California she has an hour drive to work. That’s gotta take a toll on her workout habit - she has been an extremist on fitness like I have for over 33 years.
Funny how going into this recession I felt financially secure, given my amount of cash and government securities and precious metals. Yes, I am personally good for ten years of no job if that is what happens, but with close family members in severe financial/job danger, I cannot sleep easily. I am living frugally these days as a result. I feel no elated mood like I thought I would have, going into this recession.
I think the people who are fiddling these days are those who entire families are government employees in Washington D.C.
“I cannot sleep easily. I am living frugally these days as a result. I feel no elated mood like I thought I would have, going into this recession.”
No man is an island?
“I think the people who are fiddling these days are those who entire families are government employees in Washington D.C.”
I know plenty of private sector fools. People who insist they have no money left to save. I remind them that if they drove a Chevy or a Ford sedan instead of their trophy cars they would have plenty of money to save. They give me dirty look as if I asked them if I could have my way with their teenage daughter.
They also say “I don’t believe in 401Ks”. When I remind them that they are leaving the company match on the table they just shrug their shoulders.
Bill,
We’ve discussed this before. I think you are sliding more into a dark mood about things as we go forward. For me, I am also OK for 10 years in a duck and cover situation and have taken to living so frugally that it might be enough for indefinitely. I have a bunch of kids and grandkids that haven’t any backstop put away. These days they struggle just to get by and when there is a speed bump they show up here. I sometimes wonder if I will end up getting a farm again just so they all have a shelter and food to eat! Yet I am upbeat. Still working and enjoying life day to day. One can only prepare so much for the unknown. Staying in the right mindset is the key thing to be ready for whatever in the future. Pretty sure you will not be enjoying life 10 years from now if you aren’t factoring in enjoying today. It is necessary.
I am living frugally these days as a result.
You’re a good man, Bill.
“Bill,
We’ve discussed this before. I think you are sliding more into a dark mood about things as we go forward…”
Dr mikey concurs with this consult Bill, your therapy here is not going well as it stands.
Have you considered divesting yourself of all worldly possessions, going nekked into an Ojibwe sweat lodge for the winter and eating only berries and nuts until you have that “Happy Whole Earth Vision” ?
Did I also mention that Dr mikey would be glad to hold all of you gold, money and tangible assets safe and secure so that no wyld woman swipes them while you are gone on your sabbatical ?
Here Mikey, would you hold my shotgun for me while I dig up the money stashed in the backyard?
////They also say “I don’t believe in 401Ks”. When I remind them that they are leaving the company match on the table they just shrug their shoulders.////
Tables are gettin bare these days … I haven’t heard yet of anybody who lost their match (including yours truly) getting it back, despite the talk that the move was “temporary.” Still, I dump in my same old 6% and hope for the best. All in a stable-value fund since fall 2007, going with the word here.
I’m in high tech and we lost our match for about a year, but we got it back a few months ago once we started making a profit again. Like you, I just continued with my same percentage through that time.
Trouble with having some financial resources when your family members don’t is that you are at extreme risk of having VERY CLOSE family members.
accccccccccck!!!!!!
I think Bill should get married (just kidding!)
We’re a small company and *MUST* offer the safe harbour match or risk having the plan being ruled top heavy by the IRS. If the 2nd scenario sounds ugly, it is. It means having to take back out 401K contributions, filing a 1040X to account for the increased taxable income and paying back-taxes. Ugh.
So this is a good way to force a company to give back the match. The rank-and-file simply needs to stop contributing to their 401K and instead using a personal IRA. The management/officers/owners will then be stuck with tax headaches at a personal level and the advice from their accountants will then be “safe harbour match”.
The one sister who earns $112k annually has had an ultrasound and some nodules detected. She has been a fitness fanatic for decades. So I feel awful for her and am anxious. My family is the only thing I got that I value (my net worth is nothing, just a security blanket - and I don’t show it either, since I live well below my means). She gets regular doctor checkups and her doctor will review the ultrasound in a few days.
Kudos to REHobbyist and hope you are mending.
The one sister who earns $112k annually has had an ultrasound and some nodules detected.
I’m sorry. I hope she is and chances are, she will be OK. I’m also glad she is still earning which means she still has insurance which wasn’t dropped for one reason or another.
Thank goodness she hadn’t been laid off a year or so ago.
Good luck to you and yours.
“… so-called austerity measures, which in reality represent nothing more than an elevated phase of government-run looting of the taxpayer …”
I believe what he means by that is this:
1. The social safety (public and private) net has ALREADY been seriously reduced and damaged the past 30 years public and private. And our job base has given away. Is this not looting in a way and who did it benefit? The group in #2 below.
2. The past 30 years top marginal taxes on the super-rich have dropped from about 60% of income to about 16%. And the richest 1% now make 27% of the total income compared to 9% in 1976. NYT Let’s think hard about those figures. In addition, corporations now pay a much lower tax rate than 30 years ago while they reap huge profits from outsources. Also, we have the largest wealth disparity in the USA in any of our lifetimes. (Unless you are over 80)
3. Now, to talk of “austerity measures” because we “can’t afford” our already much reduced safety-net in light of the fact of #1 and #2 above DOES represent an “elevated phase” of looting by the government HOWEVER this looting was passed on to the richest of the rich and the huge corporations listed in #2 above.
This looting is being vigorously defended now by the “free-market” pirate looters. Are we surprised?
The past 30 years top marginal taxes on the super-rich have dropped from about 60% of income to about 16%.
Slight correction: Top marginal tax rates on top earners have dropped from about 70% to 35% the past 30 years and the richest of the rich pay an effective TOTAL tax of around 16%. Yea, less than us.
There were a lot of tax shelter available back then. Nobody paid anywhere close to 70%.
As there are plenty of them today.
..As there are plenty of them today.
..like a 401k plan? or have poverty-level income?
there are today’s tax shelters, and then there are REAL tax shelters.
Because of credit American’s have been unaware that their salaries/benefits have declined rather than kept up with prices and the salary increases on the top. While people are feeling pain they are unaccustomed to rational thinking and can’t connect the dots most respond by fighting shadows rather than engage in real conversation which would lead to some sort of activism whether it is is just making plans to stop consuming and working toward alternative social systems or going to the streets without shirt and screaming “down with the imperialism”. Our European brothers and sisters live with a whole different system of expectations and have a history of social engagement. American’s are also completely unaware of the level of well being present in most European countries and continue to think America represents the best of the best. Most would benefit from taking a month long trip to Europe and coming back via NY Kennedy; this would high light dramatically the state USA has slipped into.
Yup. The culture of materialism is bar none the most effective system ever devised to deflect criticism away from the PTB and towards one’s peers. It is the perfect mousetrap.
Yup. When I point out these issues to others I get told that I’m a “half empty glass” kind of person.
This is why I don’t believe there will be protests or riots. Americans are conditioned to be optimistic, to always believe that the rainbow/candy crapping unicorn is just around the corner.
Americans will work 3 part time minimum wage jobs, be up to their eyeballs in debt, drive a beater, have no access to healthcare and will insist that they are “middle class” when in fact they are “working poor”.
In that context, CO, the line between persistence and futility is but 1/10,000 the width of a human hair.
Don’t bet your last dollar on American optimism. The fact that a huge percentage of the kinds of jobs that made the middle class the middle class have either been offshored or displaced with technology. For a while this has been masked by bubble after bubble and easy credit that allowed a vast segment of the middle class to live beyond sustainable levels.
When it becomes widely recognized that the new normal real unemployment rate (not the poppycock published by the BLS) is 15%, for young men maybe 40% and for minority young men 60% or more and that the chances of that changing are minimal at best, many parts of the country are going to look like Watts in the 1960’s. Dispair breeds anarchy. Been there, seen that, and its coming to a city near you again.
This is why we need the Big OH to demand they learn to read, write and speak English, not ghetto hip hop in order to lower that percentage and avoid rioting and overflowing the jails like in Watts.
and for minority young men 60% or more and that the chances of that changing are minimal at best,
So how exactly did you measure the ‘level of well being present in most European countries’?
I’ve been to Europe (england, spain, france, ireland) several times by the way - mostly for work and not staring at old stuff.
I’d say the ‘level of well beingness’ is the same as in the US, ie on a scale from 3rd world country to pig in poop. I would say that Europeans care less about customer service than Americans do. You can take that as a good thing or bad thing.
” I would say that Europeans care less about customer service than Americans do.”
I wonder if their media refers to them as “citizens” asa opposed to the US Patriotic “consumers”
I can only imagine history will describe our society in the distant future. We will be lumped in with decadent imperial Rome?
We can make an awesome contribution to Europe by pulling all our bases and allow them to finance and organize their own defense as they see fit, etc.
It will also put some major moolah back in our own pockets and maybe we’ll get a crack at those care-free, six week vacations.
Hater!
palmy, we wont get that moolah back. it will be used to start more wars. how will you fund those war services industries.
So how exactly did you measure the ‘level of well being present in most European countries’?
Here’s one way I guess.
European Countries Top World’s Happiest BusinessWeek
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2006/gb20060731_857805.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5
A new survey measuring health, wealth, and other factors ranks Denmark at No. 1, and 11 of the top 20 countries are on the Continent
People living in European countries are among the happiest in the world, according to a new survey measuring health, wealth, education and sense of identity.
The survey showed that happiness is found to be most closely associated with health, followed by wealth and then education.
…when people are asked if they are happy with their lives, people in countries with good healthcare, a higher GDP per capita, and access to education were much more likely to report being happy,”
Denmark tops the list of 178 countries closely followed by Switzerland, Austria and Iceland. Also in the top 20 are Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Norway.
Define “alternative social systems”.
That’s when a dick-sh*t group of pissant countries across a wide body of water decides to eliminate their own defense and allow a large country on the other side of the water to provide bases and defense and personnel and other aid, then with the savings, the said citizens of these pissant countries can enjoy six week vacations, 35 hour work weeks, etc. and look down their noses at the ugly working folks on the other side of that wide body of water and disparage them, and impose their crappy systems of government on them.
EU? Naw. PU.
How have the Europeans imposed their systems of government on us, other than by inventing democracy?
Democracy? We don’t need that! It’s a known fact that Corporations know what’s best for us.
No, we fought two world wars (and WWIII aka the cold war) to PREVENT the Europeans from imposing their systems of government on us.
We were successful in our efforts.
Most would benefit from taking a month long trip to Europe and coming back via NY Kennedy; this would high light dramatically the state USA has slipped into.
Okay. Can you float me a HELOC for that?
Give them another Big Mac, cable TV, tell them to sit down and shut up.
Bread and circuses.
Austerity will never happen here. Our leaders only know how to write checks.
Britain announced huge cuts in government spending/tax increases with the goal of decreasing the deficit to 2% of GDP within one year. Wow. The only things spared are the national health service and foreign aid. Will the Brits riot? I bet not.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Britain_Announces_Sweeping_Austerity_Measures/2196108.html
I have no idea if they will riot or not, but if it passes, I would not make a lot of plans that involve trains or other public transportation in Britain until after folks have had a chance to figure out what it all means.
My daughter wants to do a “Study abroad” semester in Europe and I have been patiently explaining to her why at this time it might not be a good idea. While she understands the reasons, she’s still pouting. She’ll live.
“Study Abroad” is a cash cow for the colleges..lol.
I studied abroad in college. Quite a few broads, actually. (rim shot)
““Study Abroad” is a cash cow for the colleges..lol.”
FWIW she would just pay her regular tuition and room and board. Airfare is extra.
I bet the police and firefighters in many cities would walk off the job too if thier retirement age was increased to 62.
I have a buddy just over 40 about to retire from the military with his 20.
And he should NOT get his pension unless he is fully retired….no other job
We don’t have a choice anymore. Its too expensive he could live to 100.
But military have low pay and when they retire after 20 years their pension is 50% of salary. And most of them retire after 20 years, for obvious reasons. This is more like a traditional pension, not like the juiced-up 90% pensions California created ten years ago during the dot com bubble.
Are you sure it’s really that bad? Where would the people be without the military?
Military pay isn’t as bad as it used to be. Enlisted basic pay can be as high as $6000 per month. If you’re based in Camp Pendleton in SoCal the housing allowance is another $2000/month for E9’s.
C, 6000+2000 a month. sign me up for that.
If you want to be a Sergeant Major, pucker up for about 20 years of butt-kissing first.
I have no problem with big retirement pay at an early date for military, fire fighters and police officers who risk their lives to protect the rest of society. The deal is there for anybody sufficiently brave to face ongoing risk of losing their lives for twenty or so years.
How about big pensions for lumberjacks, fishermen and convenient store clerks? They too risk their lives.
Police/fireman are very safe jobs with low mortality rates. Lumberjack/construction workers are much more dangerous.
“fire fighters and police officers who risk their lives to protect the rest of society. The deal is there for anybody ….”
Have you ever tried to become a firefighter? I can’t remember where I read that …”You can tell if a profession is over paid by how many people are trying to get in (ie. how difficult it is to get in). From what I’ve heard they just don’t take everyone who walks in.
From what I’ve heard they just don’t take everyone who walks in.
They don’t.
The training is pretty rigorous, and it doesn’t stop when you graduate from fire academy. In the fire service, training and drills are an ongoing activity.
There are long lines of volunteer firefighters who wait patiently for their ship to come in.
They should lower the pay until the line is only five deep.
Sure, if the five biggest losers in the line are the ones you want (I know, sometimes that IS what you want).
It won’t happen. Even the Republican governor candidate, Meg Whitman has agreed to leave police pensions alone. And they’re doing some very nice television ads for her.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/oct/19/when-police-unions-flex-their-power/
This past summer the California Highway Patrol agreed to a new pension formula that allows future recruits to retire at age 55 with 3% of highest salary X number of years worked. Currently they can retire at at 50 with the same formula (as can firemen and the 30,000 prison guards). This means that they’ll still retire young with 90% of their salary. Hardly going to make a dent in the pension deficit.
Its going to be spectacular when the money finally runs out. I can already see the CHPs protesting and being offered 20 cents on the dollar for their promised, but insolvent benefits. Who’s going to pay for it? The illegals?
I thought the money already ran out.
As a comparison, people currently starting to work for the federal government can get 1% of highest 3 (I think it’s 3) years with a maximum of 40% if you work 40 years or more. I believe you can retire at 55, but, obviously, you can’t get the max pension at 55 since you can’t start at 15. No overtime is ever included in calculating highest 3.
“I bet the police and firefighters in many cities would walk off the job too if thier retirement age was increased to 62″
And take one of those juicy private sector jobs that pay less and where you never retire?
Yeah, right. Sure they’ll bitch and moan, but they know sugar when they see it. They ain’t going nowhere.
They wouldn’t quite, just stop working until the public worked themselves up in a frenzy over who would protect their precious snowflake from the evil murder-arsonists that will soon be running wild in the streets.
Yeah, they could strike. And run the risk of the populace realizing how useless they (the cops) really are.
As for firefighters … we have TONS of volunteer firefighters in my town who are biding their time for the day when they can reach out and grab the brass ring (and become well paid professional firefighters). A strike would make their dreams come true.
maybe in Colorado, they are useless. not here in my city.
There will be “Wailing and Knashing of Teeth” on the big screen nightly.
How will Americans react when the government begins to impose the same austerity measures that are causing riots, street battles, fuel blockades and other assorted chaos in France? Will we witness mass civil unrest or will the sleeping middle classes continue to scratch their butts and watch Dancing with the Stars?’
I think our creditors will demand austerity and we’ll see another deflationary depression. When ? I don’t know a few more years.
kinda scary
No, our “shipple” will never react “America is the greatest”. They never protest when jobs are going to China or…., we are in Global economy , but no chines is paying taxes to IRS , they pay taxes to China, and no capitalist pays taxes for moving his money that he mad in U.S. , to China…. why are capitalist privileged over to ordinary Joe, because he can bribe his way? God Bless America!
“How will Americans react when the government begins to impose the same austerity measures…”
The American Government imposing austerity measures…BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHA!!
Never going to happen.
Got Liberty?
The Chicoms have been reducing their exports to the U.S. also. Since they control/mine around 90% of the elements, they are calling the shots…
Decline in Rare-Earth Exports Rattles Germany
BERLIN — China’s curtailing of rare earth exports is causing so much concern in Germany that industry and government are joining forces by appealing to the European Commission and the World Trade Organization to intervene, industry officials said Tuesday.
China’s exports of rare earths declining by as much as 40 percent worldwide over the past ten months, according to the Federation of German Industry. That decline has set off alarm bells in Germany, one of the world’s largest export-driven economies and whose industry relies heavily on rare earths.
So great is the anxiety by the business community here that a special conference dedicated to the issue will be held next week in Berlin.
Hoss would be lovin this.
“The Chicoms … they are calling the shots.”
More to come, and not just in rare-earth mining.
China has been mining the entire US economy for last decade or so and it seems nobody cares - in fact everyone thinks it is wonderful.
Party on.
Ooops, I mispoke, the party is over.
Mining rare earth metals is one of the most labor intensive and environmentally destructive procedures out there. Nobody wants to do the dirty work. Those mining operations in western countries would be prohibitively expensive due to labor and environmental costs. Not to mention legal manuvers to keep those kinds of operations out of my backyard.
sounds like a great jobs program.
Money trumps all, and when there is money to be made these mines will be developed. We just need to break our addiction to slave labor.
” We just need to break our addiction to slave labor.”
Details, details.
Yeah mike just like those environmentalists stalling the Alaska pipeline for 4-5 years that gave OPEC the opening they needed to screw us good……seriously the amount of daily oil from Alaska would have been equal to the arab cut off back in the 70’s….no lines no price hikes…..just piece together the timelines
Hmm…it’s almost like the oil companies planned it.
Yup Exxon Mobil could be underwriting the Sierra Club….to get much higher prices
“…seriously the amount of daily oil from Alaska would have been equal to the arab cut off back in the 70’s….”
For about the six months the oil in ANWAR lasted.
That decline has set off alarm bells in Germany, one of the world’s largest export-driven economies and whose industry relies heavily on rare earths.
Put my hand on a dollar bill
And the dollar bill blew away
But the sun is shining down on me
And it’s here to stay
That’s why I’m telling you
I just want to celebrate…
Last year China produced more than 97 percent of the world’s rare earth minerals even though it has only 36 percent of the world’s reserves.
The U.S. holds about 13 percent, and the rest is distributed in other countries.
Basically the Chinese are going hog-wild at extracting rare earths from their 1/3 share of the Earth’s reserves. There’s a lot of debate now about starting rare earth mining in the three known strikes in Idaho.
http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2010/10/04/rockybarker/rare_earth_minerals_put_idaho_middle_us_china_relations
i heard that mothballed sites here are being prepped for producing again. australia is also gearing up to start producing a lot next year. china’s problem is that it has extracted about a third (if my memory serves me right) of its reserve this last decade. they do not wnat ot run ot of it in a decade.
Chrysler Group starting to name some Fiat dealers for the US; wants them in 119 US markets.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Chrysler Group LLC is starting to name Fiat dealers for the U.S.
The automaker said Wednesday that it wants Fiat dealers in 119 U.S. markets — mostly in areas that have a high number of small-car registrations — and will name more dealers by year’s end.
Chrysler, which is now controlled by Italy’s Fiat, previously said it hoped to have 165 Fiat stores in the U.S. by early 2011, with the ultimate goal of having 200 locations.
The company wants the Fiat 500 minicar to become a strong contender in the U.S. small-car market, where the Detroit automaker has struggled for years.
They’re hoping the 500 will have the same cachet that the MINI Cooper has.
It won’t happen. The “Fix It Again Tony” jokes will be resurrected, even if they are unwarranted.
The Mini dealer down the street from me has an abundance of cars sitting on the lot now.
It wasn’t too long ago they had a 1 month wait to buy one.
We have two dealers in the state.
The one in Littleton has a decent inventory. The newer one in Loveland does not.
But you are quite right in that there used to be zero inventory. The global depression took care of that.
Anyway, just saying that people won’t be buying the Fiat 500 because its “cool”. It’ll just be another econobox.
Fiat had the hottest models at our Auto Show this year. Those chicks were poured into their form fitting shiny white dresses - oh what curves! If their cars can handle curves as well as their models, those cars might be worth a looksee.
Just sayin’.
NEW YORK (AP) — Free checking as we know it is ending.
The days when you could walk into a bank branch and open an account with no charges and no strings attached appear to be over. Now you have to jump through some hoops — keep a high balance, use direct deposit or swipe your debit card several times a month.
One new account at Bank of America charges $8.95 per month if you want to bank with a teller or get a paper statement.
Almost all of the largest U.S. banks are either already making free checking much more difficult to get or expected to do so soon, with fees on even basic banking services.
It’s happening because a raft of new laws enacted in the past year, including the financial overhaul package, have led to an acute shrinking of revenue for the banks. So they are scraping together money however they can.
“… an acute shrinking of revenue for the banks.”
Same with everyone else.
“So they are scraping together money however they can.”
Same with everyone else.
“acute shrinking”
No jokes yet? Lavi? Cold weather? I’m so disappointed.
First there is no regulation/enforcement, which allows them to merge into megabanks - then there’s a burst of reactionary regulation that only serves to put the squeeze on megabank’s customers. Meanwhile megabank’s bonuses flow uninterrupted. Government and the banks - what a pair!
Luckily there are credit unions.
Credit Unions are going fee oriented too. Ours in charging a fee if you don’t maintain a $500- daily average balance. Friends tell me their CU is doing the same.
My credit union is charging an “in activity fee”. That money is out of there.
Ok, perhaps bad form to respond to one’s own comment.
Short rant: (please excuse me)
ok, getting longer…
Why is it so hard to put money INTO a bank?
True story: I was held at gun point, and arrested, because I was a “person of interest” in a bank robbery last year. All I did was try to deposit a check. I never tried to take money out of the bank, just put it in.
The bank didn’t like my address (a PO box) and told me to pick up my sh*t and leave. I did so with in 20 min of the phone call. The bank was robbed a month later. Now I’m a “person of interest”? Because I put money INTO a bank?
So now I bank and the evil Bank of America, which if not is, is a close relative to the AntiChrist. As much as I distrust and hate BofA. At least they get sh*t done. And no one has put a gun to my head. When I put money in they say “thank you”.
/rant off
They probably reviewed the security tapes.
I did so with in 20 min of the phone call.
What phone call???
Cassandra
I was with a CU that put me on a security risk alert, because of my comment about an illegal needing a translator, and holding up the line for us Americans. I made a comment about Spanish only customers.
Our sizable account wasn’t important to them, and we were told we could no longer be a member. When we told them to play back the tape from my CU visit to prove my innocence, they refused. You’re not alone, however your situation was much worse. Did you get legal advice?
I believe it AW. I did get legal advice. The legal part is over.
But after being jailed for the day, paying attorney’s fees, and impound fees for my truck, being handcuffed and tossed in the back of a patrol car, I still am not happy.
There were two patrol cars that picked me up. One had one of those brand new expensive dash cameras. It was conveniently turned off.
All I did was try to put money into a bank.
——
Steve - when the bank called me, they asked be to come down, empty, my accounts, empty my safe deposit box, and get out. I live next to the bank, that’s why I chose them. So I came right down and did what they asked.
——–
Blue Skye
“They probably reviewed the security tapes.”
I’m sure they did. I hadn’t been in the bank in months. Apparently all of depositors look the same.
The bank didn’t like my address (a PO box) and told me to pick up my sh*t and leave. I did so with in 20 min of the phone call. The bank was robbed a month later. Now I’m a “person of interest”? Because I put money INTO a bank?
Did they think you were landering money or somthing ??
When you launder money, don’t you have to take it out again?
Cassandra
Your story just makes my blood boil. What a bunch of self righteous a-holes, the law enforecement was. Did you get that expunged?
As God is my witness, that happened to me at my former CU. I have less rights than an illegal. I used no fowl language, no threats, nothing. I just wanted them to take her aside, and let the English crowd proceed.
But what happened to you is unreal. Goes to show you ,what kind of country this has turned into. What year did this happen in?
Now, I do know of solvency comments about the bank or the FD*C which is illegal to say in a bank. (Great Depression Laws still on the books.)
This happened in January 2010. Interestingly, the bank was insolvent and was taken by FDIC sometime later.
I don’t think the word “expunged” is used in Arizona. Any court filing is recorded, but the disposition (dismissed in my case) is also recorded. Every parking ticket on up is carved in stone, or at least on a hard disk someplace. It’s all a matter of public record.
Now I have zero respect for the police. None. I’m not willing to do it, but if I saw someone else shoot a police officer, I might have serious memory problems as a witness. Personally I will never call the police for anything.
Cassandra
I just read your reply to me. What happen to you is just wrong. I understand your disconnet from any law enforcement loyalty. I truly feel for you.
You might want to order your pre-employment report my ChoicePoint (Lexis Nexis) and see what it says. Just a suggestion, so you can see what perspective employers might. It’s free once a yr. Be well.
I just moved from one free checking/no minimum account at a local bank to another free checking/no minimum account at a regional bank (closer to my house). Those accounts are still out there, and competition will keep them around. Let BofA and the other big boyz shoot themselves in the foot by charging for what you can get for free elsewhere. Their smaller, more agile competitors will pick up a lot of new customers.
Is $500 is too much ask to keep in a free checking account? I don’t think it is. But then, I never had a problem keeping a $500 buffer, even when I made near minimum wage as a grad student in the 90’s.* And anyway, I would be afraid to keep less money in the account just so I don’t bounce a check.
*but at the same time, I was single, rent was $425, I got around by bike, and health insurance cost $12 a month. I realize that nowadays even fixed expenses — no iPod no Sbux — are too high now.
Our CU accounts are our operating accounts, and this new $500- rule just showed up one day. No notice. We have our cash for our home purchase in a more secure place, where it is insured up to $900K by a private insurer.But I see your point, oxide.
I only bounced one check in my life, when I was taken to ER, and lost control of my life. It taught me the lesson of transfering funds first, before mailing out payments! It was on my to do list that morning. My training is in Accounting.
$500 min? I get a better deal driving 5 hours to Las Vegas. At least the casinos are really nice to me, and sometimes I get free drinks.
“So they are scraping together money however they can.”
The fact that ten or so U.S. banks are now almost the entire banking sector should make it far easier for them to gouge their customers going forward.
The CEO bonus is at risk, all hands on deck, man battle stations, shoot at will.
All the more reason to Move Your Money.
Free checking was a teaser designed to get accounts that produced fee income. Not too different from all the credit card accounts that pay off every month being cheap because of merchant fees and huge interest payments paid by those who don’t. Now that the fee income is pretty permanently reduced, free checking no longer serves a prupose.
This is about as surprising as a sunrise.
AP October 19, 2010 (SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — Energy-efficiency work on homes in the Chicago area funded by federal stimulus program money was sub-par, overpriced and poorly monitored, an audit released Tuesday said.
The U.S. Energy Department’s inspector general criticized Illinois’ handling of part of its $242 million, three-year share of the $5 billion home-weatherization portion of the stimulus.
“Substandard weatherization work can pose health and safety risks to occupants,” the audit said. “Payment of excessive materials costs to contractors reduces the amount of funding available to weatherize homes … and reduces the amount of funding for direct job creation.”
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity disagreed, saying work the audit reviewed was not completed, that no contractors were overpaid and that it had made improvements in the way it assigns and oversees work done.
Some of the problems arose from the federal government’s huge infusion of cash so quickly that staff members and contractors were hired who were trained but inexperienced, said officials from the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County Inc., or CEDA.
Interesting that the press singled out price-gauging in the Chicago area. Must be that liberal media.
It’s no secret that proprietors immediately jack up the price when they sniff government money — everything from $700 hammers to raising market rent to match military housing allowances to raising prices $8K when there’s a tax break. And it happens in every county in the US.
I’ve been pricing out materials for a DIY weatherization project here at the Arizona Slim Ranch. Much to my amazement, caulk, sealants like Great Stuff, and batting insulation are cheap. So, looks to me like the markup is on the contractor’s end.
As for hiring help, I know a local fellow who’s a home energy auditor. I’ve worked with him on volunteer weatherization projects, and I’m very impressed with his approach. So, when I get the rest of the money rounded up for this project, I’ll hire him to audit this place and help me devise a weatherization plan.
Then it will be time to do the actual weatherization. I’ll be working with a handywoman whom I’ve hired before. She’s good, and I enjoy working with her.
So, weatherization will be done on a low-cost, DIY (with a little hired help) basis here at the Ranch.
They are targeting Welfare people lately on CL and job fairs… lots of oHbahma subsidized “green” jobs available through Workforce 1
They are targeting Welfare people lately on CL and job fairs… lots of oHbahma subsidized “green” jobs available through Workforce 1
I’ve volunteered for several weatherization projects at older homes here in Tucson. And it’s not the most skilled of work. You’re using tools like caulking guns, screwdrivers, and spraycans of sealant like Great Stuff.
But, for someone who may be a welfare recipient with very little, if any, work experience, weatherization is a good entry level job. And, for those who have some smarts, it’s a stepping stone to careers as electricians, plumbers, or home energy auditors.
True slim.
And this isn’t just in NYC, its being reported on the unemployment boards…very little stimulus money for any training above bare entry level.
very little stimulus money for any training above bare entry level.
That’s a shame, because the workers who have any brains should have the chance to move up to apprenticeship programs, which often require community college coursework.
(Reuters) - Wall Street’s reaction to the allegations that some banks cut corners while foreclosing on 3 million homes since 2007: Pay your mortgage in the first place.
The building furor over whether the largest U.S. mortgage lenders used so-called robo-signers and incomplete paperwork to force delinquent borrowers from their homes has mushroomed into a probe by the attorneys general in all 50 states, with U.S. Congressional hearings not far behind.
Those on Wall Street, however, are largely unsympathetic, insisting that possible errors in the foreclosure process are beside the point, that the process begins only when a borrower starts missing mortgage payments.
“If you didn’t pay your mortgage, you shouldn’t be in your house. Period. People are getting upset about something that’s just procedural.” said Walter Todd, portfolio manager at Greenwood Capital Associates.
Some said the issue is one of personal responsibility for one’s own debts.
“… personal responsibility for one’s own debts.”
What an alien concept.
“People are getting upset about something that’s just procedural.”
But of course there is NO such thing as a corporate/professional responsibility to do due diligence when filing legal papers, pay title transfer fees, etc.
How about personal responsibility for one’s bad business decisions?
I haven’t seen many of those Wall Street CEO’s paying back those over sized pay checks.
“… foreclosing on 3 million homes since 2007.”
There are a lot of lemmings involved in these three million, a lot of lemmings that owe a lot of money. It is very dangerous to be a lemming among these lemmings because once someone finds a way to get this lemming money then they will become enormously rich because there is so much lemming money to go after.
Sometimes there is safety in numbers, but not this time.
Little guy to Wall Street: “Do your due diligence in the first place!”
Combo, I was expecting a comment on “pay your mortgage.” Banks are playing on the FB’s “morals” to keep the checks coming — right up until the time that the bank gets around to evicting him.
“Banks are playing on the FB’s ‘morals’ to keep the checks coming - right up until the time that the bank gets around to evicting him.”
A sheephearder shears a sheep for as long as he can. If he can’t shear it any more, he skins it.
“If God did not want them sheared He would not have made them sheep.” - Valdez
As Blankfein said Wall Street and GS are doing “God’s work”
I’m beginning to think the best outcome (of a bad situation) would be for the bulk of the questionable mortgages (MERS tainted) to be invalidated. It really does no good to make a bunch of people who are squatting homeless. The squatters don’t have title to their homes and can’t sell it. They still “owe” money as unsecured debtors to the banks so if they win the lotto the banks can sue individually. The squatters still pay taxes. The market isn’t flooded with a bunch of homes in vacant neighborhoods.
The banks and/or MBS bondholders (up to the courts) take big losses as they should for their ridiculous underwriting. The big banks (B of A especially) may need to become nationalized - and this time shareholders and bondholders get wiped out. I realize a bunch of people currently underwater may also decide to become squatters but their credit will be trashed and they will become debt prisoners in their own homes.
One could raise the moral hazard argument, but I think we are way beyond that….
Here is a novel idea; how about “we” do nothing about it. Let the losers be losers and the winners be winners. Let the States sue the MERS gang for evaded fees. Let the banks get their ducks lined up orderly and get the foreclosures done. Let the bleeding heart deadbeats get thrown out on the street for not paying their bills. Let BoA fail or stand, it is not up to “we”.
‘…it is not up to “we”.’
It is up to “we” to have in place and to enforce a rule of law which is fair to all parties concerned. Banks and borrowers can do whatever they want to financially hang themselves, so long as they don’t expect others to be forced to bail them out.
I’m more of a “Foreclose, sell, and then we’ll find out what what the actual market price for all this property is.” kind of guy. Yes, the banks have screwed up. But the biggest screw up isn’t in the details of the foreclosure process, regardless of how important those details are. The bigest screw up is that they made a ton of loans in ammounts that were bigger than the borrowers were willing, (or indeed able in most cases) to repay. Keep in mind that Florida is a full recourse state. Short of bankruptcy those FBs owe the money whether the servicer can foreclose or not. At the end of the day, bankruptcies are what we need, and plenty of them. The FBs have debts that they have no reasonable expectation of paying. Until we get those bad debts to disappear, we’ll never be able to move forward.
“I’m more of a “Foreclose, sell, and then we’ll find out what what the actual market price for all this property is.” kind of guy.”
That makes perfect sense to me. No reason there can’t be both a foreclosure on the FBs AND some kind of fine-plus-community-service on each and every one of the robosigners (and their overlords too, if we can’t send those banksters to jail).
Send them 1099s.
“One could raise the moral hazard argument, but I think we are way beyond that…”
IMO, the touchy feely bankster term “moral hazard” is a bit lame all things considered.
They have created the Perfect Storm, ships are going down with all hands or heading for the sharp and dangerous rocks and most survivors will be lucky to look like nekked drowned rats. We then allow all MSM Fools and bankster Friends to escape responsiblity of the carnage with the terms like, Ooops “moral hazard”
This entire US Housing and Financial Fiasco was a well planned Criminal Enterprise just waiting to happen…and we as a nation, voters and taxpayers ALLOWED it to happen.
Moral hazards my butt, it’s more like the more like the new age “Mafia Happens”
“It really does no good to make a bunch of people who are squatting homeless.”
How would you feel if you loaned someone else the money to buy a home, on the condition that they signed promissory notes to repay the debt, and they suddenly stopped repaying you, while continuing to live in the home they bought with your money? Would this seem fair to you? Do you think other such deals would be likely to occur going forward if the legal system enabled this to happen very often?
PB - what’s fair got to do with anything? Wall Street is set to pay out $140 BILLION in bonuses this year after getting bailed out in many different ways with trillions of government dollars.
If we have 10+ million of empty houses that the government will end up subsidizing to the broke banks one way or another and millions of homeless people, you are asking for a violent breakdown of society.
I don’t want them to squat homeless. I want them to be forced to live at one tier below what they think they deserve, at least. Example: your $60K household has no business in a manse with granite countertops. Make them rent a 3-bed ranch, which is where they belong. Make them sell their new SUV to get the cash for a security deposit maybe a used Windstar. Destroy their FICOs so they have to pay for their Venti Cappachino in cash.
And let the price of their former manse fall to where the more deserving can make it a home.
I too, don’t want them to squat homeless. I want the houses to be semi-reasonably priced and the banks to be forced to take the write-offs that would make that so. It IS about the moral hazard. The best preventative IMHO is to force the idiot borrowers to go through bankruptcy and rent, while at the same time we force the lenders to eat the losses.
And, in the case of recourse loans, go through reasonable proceedings to get some of the losses paid by the borrowers.
How do bankers walk with testicles that large? Are they rolled around on luggage carts to their oversized leather chairs facing giant mirrors so they can gaze upon themselves all day?
No, they bounce on them like those 80’s giant rubber balls with handles.
“If you didn’t pay your mortgage, you shouldn’t be in your house. Period. People are getting upset about something that’s just procedural.”
Yes they are getting upset.
The Curious Capitalist
Commentary on the economy, the markets, and business
Will Bankers go to Jail for Foreclosure-gate?
Posted by Stephen Gandel Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Foreclosure-gate is getting uglier by the day (Carlos Barria/REUTERS)
More and more, Foreclosure-gate is looking like the housing bust’s Enron.
One of the amazing developments of the unraveling of the financial crisis has been the fact that there have been so few people we can actually point to and say without a doubt that guy or gal is a crook. Yes, Bernie Madoff and his fellow ponziers, but they were only flushed out by the financial crisis. They didn’t really cause it. The Bear Stearns hedgies beat their case. The mastermind of AIG’s demise Joe Cassano looks to have made a clean getaway. Lehman’s Dick Fuld is still in the clear. Goldman and just last week Countrywide’s executives had to pay out large fines. But none of them are headed to jail. John Paulson and other hedge funds that help construct CDO debt bombs and bet against them, haven’t even been forced to give some of their winnings back. I can’t think of anyone of any real consequence who is facing hard time.
Thanks to foreclosure-gate that may soon change.
…
from the article:
But the real blood on the Street would be if the Feds are looking into the some of the more salacious charges that are coming out about the securitization of mortgage bonds. One being that the bankers knew many of the loans they sold to investors were deficient, and got a discount when they bought them, but then passed those loans along to investors at full face value anyway. Or, two, a charge that surfaced again today, that bankers sold the same mortgage to numerous bond pools ensuring that investors would lose money.
As I was saying yesterday, this ‘foreclosuregate’ is the best chance we’ve had yet to really stick it to the large financial institutions that caused, and wildly profited from, this whole mess. We may even be able to bring down TBTF with it. They can buy the government, but they can’t buy all the juries out there, juries that will not be sympathetic to the banksters.
Unless we all dance to our puppetmasters’ commands, and blame it all on deadbeat FBs. The choice is ours.
“…the bankers knew many of the loans they sold to investors were deficient, and got a discount when they bought them, but then passed those loans along to investors at full face value anyway.”
I don’t see how one could get to the bottom of this without subpoenas of Megabank, Inc to see who knew what when, and to what extent they saw this whole thing coming and planned accordingly. I don’t buy the “nobody could have seen it coming” refrain that we hear again and again from the Fed and from Megabank, Inc. I certainly hope the Department of Justice gets busy and takes action against top managers who orchestrated this debacle, so we can soon restore the integrity of the U.S. banking system before it is too late to act.
Not only can they not buy juries, they can’t buy time. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they grind to dust. Even if banks have assets coming to them, the wheels will turn too slowly for to save the banks. The legal system will run out the clock.
Given the choice, would the banks like to stretch out the day of reckoning to infinity or take the quick shot?
That’s assuming the banks can stretch it out to infinity. I suspect they cannot. Fannie/Freddie appear to be done buying trash at 100 cents on the dollar. Financial reform and hard enforcement of regulations is shutting off the spigot. One of these days the Fed is going to stop lending money to banks at 2% interest and buying the same money back for 3.5% (or whatever it is). FB’s will be in court instead of sending in checks. Banks have no cards left in their hands.
These two years already seem like an eternity. I certainly underestimated how they could stretch this stuff out. I see the key in your observation about lending to the member banks at 0.25% and paying them higher interest on depositing the money back with the Fed. It’s a quiet infusion of cash and why couldn’t it go on for a very long time? Considering that keeping the system alive is for them imperative, and also that they are pathalogical, why assume that one day this will all just stop.
BINGO
This is why we have greedy lawyers to counter greedy CEO’s. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Gov is bought and paid for lawyers will hopefully go for the jugular. This is our best hope to find out who knew what and when. Don’t look at what people say look at how they invested their money and that will tell you everything. I”m talking to you Mozillo and Hank Paulson.
My favorite part:
A number of the robo-signers have already admitted that they didn’t know what they were signing. Jeffrey Stephan, the robo-signer at GMAC who got the current crisis started, has said that it wasn’t actually his job to review the loans, just sign the paperwork. So clearly someone must have told him that was his job. Federal prosecutors are trained to use the small fish to catch the big ones.
The question when it comes to the paperwork is just how high up the chain of command the order to sign without reviewing goes. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan was B of A’s chief legal officer for a brief time. Did he know that the bank was filing potentially fraudulent documents with courts around the country?
Did he know that the bank was filing potentially fraudulent documents with courts around the country?
He may have chosen not to be bothered by what was going on.
He may have chosen not to be bothered by what was going on.
If he knew about it, the he better be worried. The fed prosecutors will just walk it up the chain, telling each one they catch, ‘We’ve got you by the short and curlies. Wanna go to federal prison (no parole), or do you wanna work with us? Now who above you knew what?’
You’d be surprised how effective that is- especially on sissy-boy white collar types.
And then there’s the RICO laws.
“possible errors in the foreclosure process are beside the point, ”
How many of these possible errors will cloud the title of homeowners who are paying their mortgage? If I were current on my mortgage, I might be concerned.
Disclaimer: I am a “bitter renter” and am current on my rent. Bitter in quotes, because I am actually happy that I missed the whole bubble fiasco. (And my children were just fine being raised in rental housing.)
“If you didn’t pay your mortgage, you shouldn’t be in your house. Period.”
I concur! So, Mr. Bank, please go ahead and foreclose, sell the asset on the courthouse steps at market price, and use the proceeds to make your balance sheet whole again. If all else fails, you still have that 20% down paym..
Oh, that’s right… you didn’t collect a 20% down payment, did you. The market price isn’t anywhere close enough to make you whole. You yourself are underwater to your creditors, which is why you needed to ask for a bailout, right? Maybe your bank shouldn’t be in business, period.
Like.
‘Deadbeat’ fights back against foreclosure process
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 9:14 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010
WEST PALM BEACH — This deadbeat took on Wall Street, and Wall Street was cowed.
Lisa Epstein, a 45-year-old cancer nurse, mother to a 3-year-old girl, and prolific blogger, has spent the past year growing a grass-roots foreclosure-fighting coalition that is partly credited with forcing the nation’s largest banks to take a step back and review their home repossession machines.
She got tangled in the system herself when she was served with foreclosure papers last year, lost her top credit rating and was slapped with the deadbeat label.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ - 111k
Tea Party
I was a bit taken back by the tea party debate here 2 days ago.
There was mostly opposition to the movement based on the following.
1) Supports are merely mindless corporate minions.
2) Murdoch and Koch bros back the party.
3) Supporters don’t want to cut medicare or ss.
4) Supporters are retards.
5) Supporters are birthers and question if O is a Muslim.
6) Party is actually pro- corporations
7) Supporters are Bush-Cheney retreads.
I see a combination of name calling, ad hominem attacks, straw men, …etc. Instead of a discussion of the merits of the tea party’s and its supporter’s positions we mostly heard attacks.
Funny, the Rinos and Liberals can be supported by corporations and big money.
This blog is full of intelligent discussion that illuminates the problems with our massive and growing govt and spending. It seems to go into the gutter when the left side of this blog feels a need to argue their position.
Too bad.
LOL, coming from you of all people, exeter!
And we still want to hear your realtor story!
I don’t start these topics but the day after day sanctimoniousness and pandering by very ignorant people who vote against their own economic interests is lame.
Nothing to report on the offer yet. (Other than it expires today at 5pm). And quite honestly I hope they don’t respond before my deadline so I can revise it downard.
We should also never discuss gold or sex.
Nice fallacy Blue. Got anymore?
No matter how many time you spray, you can never get the gold bugs out of your blog.
LOL
Slim here.
As a general rule, I try to stay out of the political food fights here on the HBB. Why? Because I like you guys and gals. And I keep thinking back to Oly, who made her politics quite clear, yet she managed to be a friend to all.
Think of it this way: When we meet up in person, I want to raise a glass with all of you, not fight with you.
Yeah, good point. I think Ben should ban all the pesky liberals.
He didn’t even ban the Realators.
Hi Charlie. Yesterday you posted that you build houses for the state of California that they are providing for state employees. I was amazed by this. I have never heard of this, other than the governor’s residence (which has never been built.) Where does the money you receive from the state come from and what kind of employees receive a house at government expense?
Prison Wardens have historically received free housing.
I’m a sub-contractor not a builder.
I just checked with my foreman and the 1st project that I was referring to at the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Labratory is in fact a labratory building not housing, my bad.
The 2nd project is housing for the Devil’s Postpile NATIONAL Monumment’s employees. My Bad again, the owner is the United States Forest Service. This project got shut down for the season due to early winter weather. Looks like we will be working there next April or May.
No California funded housing this year for me, sorry.
Thank goodness. I was about to go out and riot in the streets.
And I thought that whole prison warden living in the prison only happened in movies.
I was in Knoxville last year and the prison Warden’s house was up for sale. Not too sure if I would want to move my family in there.
I actually went to an early Tea Party even, when I thought it was going to be about bailing out banks. We all know they left that issue for a foaming mouth mish mash of right wing talking points. Electing people like Odonnel or Angle tells you everything about the Tea Party.
Just like electing- over and over- Dingy Harry Reid tells “you” everything about the Democrats?
Sheesh.
‘opposition to the movement based on…’
Look, it’s not just here that you get that, it’s just about everywhere in this country, at every election level. I spent several years volunteering in campaigns, erc, and I came to the conclusion that people generally like to complain. Then when somebody takes the time/$/effort to try to make a change, people generally fall in with the establishment in attacking the new group based on just about everything but the issues.
For example, years ago in central Texas, there were a couple of small groups that were opposed to the rampant development in the hill country. One was the green party and the other was one of those eastern religion outfits that built a huge temple just southwest of Austin. The latter had an odd name, but their ideas were pretty good, I thought. The two party machine went to work on these groups, calling them every name in the book, but rarely touching the issue of development. The elections came, the dems/reps took their respective seats and the developers continued to pave over every inch of the countryside they could. Many voters in that area were concerned about the issue, but the only opposition to the developers were ‘radical tree-huggers’ or belonged to a ‘religious cult,’ and so were marginalized and there was no real chance on election day.
The problem with the discussion, IMO, is we can’t expect some perfect candidate with a perfect party to ride in and save us. I like to see anybody step up and challenge the system; the reform party, the greens, the libertarians, even that Rents 2 High guy in NY. Anybody that is willing to step up and call BS on what’s going on is OK with me. And at this point, what do we have to lose? These career idiots running this country have done such a terrible job, we’d be better off randomly picking people out of a crowd than to ‘elect’ incumbents.
Even better, I liked the way young people in France protested recently. And not some street corner poster waving; they got out there and raised hell. What ever you think about their position, consider how things might be different if people in this country got off their ass and told Washington DC to pound sand every once and a while.
There is a good movie/documentary called “The Unforeseen” that details the fight over development around Barton Springs. Spoiler - Karl Rove and the political machine won and the hippies lost.
Spoiler - Karl Rove and the political machine won and the hippies lost.
Damn! ;-(
Tankxs, its on netflix via snail mail.
The Unforeseen
(2007) NR
Robert Redford and Terrence Malick executive produce director Laura Dunn’s vivid examination of unchecked development at the expense of environmental sustainability, specifying the Barton Springs aquifer of Austin, Texas, as case in point. The documentary draws on archival footage and interviews with Redford, former Gov. Ann Richards, lobbyist Dick Brown and Austin land developer Gary Bradley to contemplate the true cost of the American Dream.
Genre:Political Documentaries, Science and Nature Documentaries
Format:DVD
“Look, it’s not just here that you get that”
I agree Ben, but your blog is more about reasonable discussion then most places.
“Even better, I liked the way young people in France protested recently. And not some street corner poster waving; they got out there and raised hell.”
I always knew deep down that you were a rad Ben.
(mikey frantically passes out the pitchforks, torches and ropes at the HBB backdoor)
“Whoa Bill…you’ve gotta SIGN for that pitchfork…”
CT–
Singapore’s national sport is shopping and America’s appears to be watching network television shows with a platter of nachos at hand. France’s pastime of preference, however, is and always has been, taking to the streets in spirited protest.
I was fortunate enough to be an exchange student in Paris in 1968 and saw firsthand the absolute glee with which the student movement joined the labor movement joined the just-plain-crank movement to protest well, actually, the number of hours per week they had to work back then (38,) and the “scant” pensions they were to receive for doing so. (And almost incidentally, the Vietnam war–which for those of you who weren’t yet cognizant– was begun by the French in Fr.Indochine.)
While Americans take their marches oh-so-seriously, the French bring les picnique to their protests, complete with cheeses and wines and chocolates, and spread them out on the periphery to enjoy in between bouts of chanting and reviling. While Americans rant and rail, the French frequently join arms with fellow protesters to dance and sing songs. Even when Parisians tear up cobble stones to hurl at the objects of their wrath, they do so with a certain reverence for their long tradition of unrestrained editorial against the forces of bureaucracy. It’s just an altogether more civilized and ironic effort than the blowhard anti-government gatherings I’ve witnessed here in Murka.
My point here being, the several TeaParty rallies I’ve observed here in Bakersplat, CA — where such things are taken very seriously indeed– have had NONE of the Gallic joie de vivre or sense of community that actually informs French governance. They’re basically just bitch sessions being led by the mouth organs of $pecial interest$, much like the (also prevalent,) evangelical tent revival meetings put on to rouse the faithful and bilk them for their money. The attendees here are not the most nuanced of voters, and their grasp of the issues they decry is somewhat tentative at best. Sloganeering takes the place of reasoned discussion, and any polite attempt to shed light upon what facts might inform their opinion is generally met with hostility rather than thoughtful analysis. (Being charitable here.)
When I first heard stirrings of an independent political movement to oppose GWB’s market bailouts and codified socialism for the uber-rich, I was all for it. “Sign me up!” I said. I’m an anarchist, you see, and thought the idea of the complete disintegration of the Murkin economic system a charming conceit.
Moreover, I was intrigued with the idea that progressive science-types such as myself could join in common cause with knee-jerk Fox reactionaries to effect the systemic changes implied by the election of an entirely new political machine in DC. But it soon became apparent that the dissent was being co-opted by simpletons without the slightest civic clue or even a modicum of critical analysis to call their own, and what began as an experiment in integrative social activism rapidly devolved into an ideologic clusterhump.
As soon as the Murdoch/Koch cabal set their imbecilic PTA-president spokesmodels to barking, I opted out. “Keep your government hands off my Medicare” sums the movement up to perfection, and I’ve not seen the slightest indication that the caliber of the political discourse has improved one iota since then.
But it was a cool idea there for awhile….
But it was a cool idea there for awhile….
Good post Ahansen. I hope Charlie read it twice. I did.
Yawn.
Yawn.
I know. Big words huh?
Well I went to two of them here and they were fine, peaceful and sociable events. Being active in the GOP, I recognized some people but others I’d never seen before. I saw few of the active Republicans and surprisingly no members of the new breakaway conservative club. Nor did I see the local libertarian leader. At a Republican club I am secretary for, the old dowagers were still asking, who ARE these people? Everyone suspects third party renegades..
Anyway, I haven’t had cable in nearly a year, and when I was at the gym today I saw on Fox supposedly some guy from Tea Party Express, which did NOT organize anything here…but it looks like some people have put themselves forward become the “face” of the tea party movement now, and that’s sad but to be expected. The old rads called it “co-opting.”
“the French bring les picnique to their protests, complete with cheeses and wines and chocolates”
Dang, maybe I’ll bring that to the Stewart/Colbert rally.
Have fun, oxide.
I’m stuck here on the left coast keeping fear alive, but do tell them that I took one for Steven Colbert.
(For YEARS he’s been warning us about bears, but did I listen…?)
Could there be anything more ironic than a Tea Partier calling for rational political discourse?
The leaders of your movement are Glen Beck and Sarah Palin, for chrissake! Would you know rational political discourse if you heard it?
And speaking of bullsh!t attacks, you give a nice rundown of all the horrible ways you were attacked, but give zero actual examples.
I think it might help if you got a dictionary and found out what ’straw man’ and ‘ad hominem’ mean. Because you’re the one using them.
Alpha Sloth and any other loveable Lefty,
I am not a “Tea Partier” but I do know that it’s a leader”less” grass roots movement where the people [generally white middle class] are sick and tired of the status quo big government spender and taxing machine.
What do you have a beef about, I mean to you like the higher taxes and/or the profligate spending?
Of course there are few kooks in the Tea Party movement. Have you ever been to a good sized lefty political event?
Peace,
Lip
It seems to go into the gutter when the left side of this blog feels a need to argue their position. Too bad.
To bad it’s not true. Your side just can’t argue effectively because the facts are not on you side. So you all ignore stuff.
For example, the “left” has continually provided sourced stats regarding the following that the “right” ignores because they have nothing to hang their hat on. I’ll prove it.
What do you or the Tea Party have to say about the following. Nuthin that means much I would bet.
1. We have the greatest wealth and income disparity in America than we’ve had the past 80 years while…..
2. Taxes have dropped substantially the past 30 years for the rich while…
3. The rich and powerful have outsourced our jobs for their benefit while
4. Safety nets have been gutted and now “need to be gutted more” according to the rich and powerful. (don’t these guys ever have enough) Good God.
5. USA spends 7K per person on health-care and has 50 million with no insurance and 50 million under-insured while Canada spends 3.5K per person and insures EVERYONE and has medical stats comparable to ours. America spends 17% of GDP on health care and Canada spends 10%.
6. Most Americans favored the public option and we didn’t get it.
7. Most Americans like their SocS and Medicare and dont’ want to cut it.
Now, what in the heck is the Tea Party doing about these most important issues? Nothing? In fact, worse than nothing. They fight for the people who HAVE MADE THE ABOVE HAPPEN.
So what’s the problem with many of our opinions of the Tea Party? You don’t see why a lot of thinking, fact-seeking people see the Tea Party as a big fat joke? I don’t understand your protest.
For example, the “left” has continually provided sourced stats regarding the following.. ..I’ll prove it.
..Safety nets have been gutted..
—–
We’d like to see you try to prove that one.
We’d like to see you try to prove that one.
Forget you. Do some work for a change. Come up with some factual arguments that attempt to prove your point. For a change. LOL
Prove why I’m wrong. Your won’t, can’t and are unable. That is why history will judge you wrong.
Instead of surrendering, you’re gonna make me google “entitlement spending” and post a link.
sigh.. ok. Lets see what we got..
Entitlement Spending Chart in United States 1995-2015 - Federal …
News Flash: Entitlement Spending Grows Like Giant Cancer on U.S. …
Entitlements Spending -Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid - Will …
Michael Gerson - Facing up to bringing down entitlement spending
——-
Pick one, rio.
I’ll copy/paste some statistics, and the URL…. and then you can continue to deny reality.
Pick one, rio.
I’ll copy/paste some statistics, and the URL…. and then you can continue to deny reality.
Pick as many as you like. Adjust them for inflation, then adjust them per capita.
lol do even know what I mean?
Then adjust them as a percentage of GDP per capita while at the same time showing their ratio compared to the top 1%’s sucking America’s life-blood.
You don’t have the capacity or the facts don’t enable your capacity?
Do you even get it Joey? Or do your interest’s not allow it?
Pick one, rio.
On why our social safety nets have been gutted? Why just One? I’ve posted many, many, many, Here’s another.
Collapsing empire watch
http://www.salon.com/news/healthcare_reform/?story=/opinion/greenwald/2010/10/11/empire
It’s easy to say and easy to document, but quite difficult to really internalize, that the United States is in the process of imperial collapse. Every now and then, however, one encounters certain facts which compellingly and viscerally highlight how real that is. Here’s the latest such fact, from a new study in Health Affairs by Columbia Health Policy Professors Peter A. Muennig and Sherry A. Glied (h/t):
In 1950, the United States was fifth among the leading industrialized nations with respect to female life expectancy at birth, surpassed only by Sweden, Norway, Australia, and the Netherlands. The last available measure of female life expectancy had the United States ranked at forty-sixth in the world. As of September 23, 2010, the United States ranked forty-ninth for both male and female life expectancy combined.
Just to underscore the rapidity of the decline, as recently as 1999, the U.S. was ranked by the World Health Organization as 24th in life expectancy. It’s now 49th. There are other similarly potent indicators. In 2009, the National Center for Health Statistics ranked the U.S. in 30th place in global infant mortality rates. Out of 20 “rich countries” measured by UNICEF, the U.S. ranks 19th in “child well-being.”
Instead of surrendering, you’re gonna make me google “entitlement spending” and post a link.
You want me to again and again prove what I said today? That: The social safety (public and private) net has ALREADY been seriously reduced and damaged the past 30 years
Read it and weep everybody but Joey and his feedbag.
A brief history of pensions. Pay attention because you may be about to lose yours
http://www.thestar.com/article/674978
The drive to dismantle the welfare state has a new target. Governments have already gutted unemployment insurance and social assistance. Out-of-date labour laws make it tough to organize unions in the new, decentralized, service-based economy. Now, thanks in large part to the dynamics of the recession, pensions are under attack.
Curiously, the war against pensions has received less attention than it should. People understand taxes, and usually complain when they rise. They also understand the notion of wages, and raise a similar stink when they go down.
But pensions appear to baffle most of us. They shouldn’t. Pensions and other retirement benefits are simply deferred wages – money you earn now and sock away (or have someone else sock away for you) so that you’ll have something to live on when you’re too old, tired, sick or unwanted to work.
Even before this recession hit, it was clear that pensions were under the gun. Good retirement benefits, like good wages, interfere with what economists call labour market flexibility – that is, the willingness of workers to take low-wage jobs.
Put simply, 65-year-olds who can get by on the pension income they earned earlier in their careers may not be willing to work as Wal-Mart greeters.
THIS IS WHAT JOEY DEFENDS.
..The drive to dismantle the welfare state has a new target…
Retired government workers are twice as likely to get a pension as their counterparts in the private sector, and the typical benefit is far more generous.
The nation’s 6 million retired civil servants — teachers, police, administrators, laborers — received a median benefit of $17,640 in 2005, according to the Congressional Research Service. Eleven million private-sector retirees covered by traditional pensions got $7,692.
[snip]
….Only 18% of private workers now have traditional defined benefit pension plans, compared with more than 80% of government employees.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-20-pensions-cover_x.htm
—–
A point is reached where even the working class in a wealthy country like the USA simply can’t afford to support the welfare state. This is only natural.
It happens every time.. It’s happening now around the world. Socialists think money grows on trees, and remain oblivious.
A point is reached where even the working class in a wealthy country like the USA simply can’t afford to support the welfare state. This is only natural.
The USA can afford it’s meager attempt at a “welfare state” by raising taxes on the rich. This is only natural.
lol good one, see how I used some of your own words and stuff?
“…We’d like to see you try to prove that one.”
Um, banking deregulation?
I’ll bet you that no matter how twisted the logic you use to connect banking deregulation to disadvantaging the needy, I can invent an even twistier twisted logic which shows how they benefit from it.
You’re on.
You didn’t say “needy” you said “safety net.” Protecting people from getting in over their unthinking heads on over-leveraged home loans is certainly one way regulations keep folks from being gutted by big money interests.
As is a reasonable assurance their hard-earned retirement funds won’t have evaporated in a demonitized market. Or their pitiful-arse pensions.
That doesn’t seem all that twisted to me, but maybe we’re talking about two different interpretations of what you posited?
soo..
Thanks to deregulation, stupid people with no money and bad credit were allowed to buy big houses, and are now back where they started.
Meanwhile, clever infestors bought as much property as they could with borrowed money, and they are also back where they started…
Who suffered the losses? The banks and lenders and businesses did, which nearly collapsed the economy.
And this is an argument AGAINST financial deregulation? You claim little people were hurt by this?
You win, ahansen. I can’t top that.
No. BECAUSE financial safety stops were deregulated, people who normally would have been living safely at or below their financial means would not have been encouraged (tacitly or explicitly,) to get themselves into financial dealings they could not sustain.
BECAUSE mortgage backed securities were hedged and tranched instead of regulated and tracked, pension funds that invested in them are now functionally bankrupt. Our money supply is vastly inflated, and our kids and their kids will have to deal with the mess…and probably not to their best advantage.
..Safety nets have been gutted.. ME
—–
We’d like to see you try to prove that one. Joey
Here’s more never-ending, obvious, in your face proof that you and yours will ignore:
The Disappearing Pension
Jonathan Tasini is president of the Economic Future Group and writes his “Working In America” columns for TomPaine.com on an occasional basis.
Here’s a basic moral value: taking someone’s money without their permission is stealing. Except in America, where, if you’re a corporation that takes away someone’s pension, it’s okay. And the question is: Why isn’t the progressive movement making a huge deal out of this?
With very little public outcry, we are letting corporate America dismantle the private defined-benefit pension system. At the same time, huge salary and pension benefits are lavished on executives. Remember, pensions are deferred compensation—people put off getting money in their paychecks today because of a promise that they would receive a specific amount of money (hence, the term “defined benefit”) many years later. It’s their money, not the companies’ money. The private pension was a fundamental pillar of the American middle-class dream: If you saved now, you could still have a middle-class life in retirement, and you wouldn’t have to gamble in the stock market to do so.
Here are the amazing numbers: the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the government agency that is supposed to protect the private pension system, recently estimated that the amount of money currently owed to cover pension liabilities is $450 billion; 851 pension plans are underfunded by at least $50 million. United Airlines may have been the biggest pension default ever but we’re looking at a looming financial catastrophe: The PBGC, which takes over defaulted plans, had a $23 billion deficit in 2004 and that’s just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Part of the crisis stems from the 1990s collapse of the stock market and low interest rates (which keeps returns on bonds low).
Joey, We’ve really got it good here in the “richest country in the word” huh??
In focusing on the dearth of pensions available to many workers in the private sector, we need to remember who gutted these benefits in the first place: the very corporations, big banks and Wall Street bond traders who also facilitated the outsourcing of jobs to foreign cheap labor (all hail “free-trade”) and consolidated economic power into fewer and fewer hands of monopoly capital.
It should be noted that the average CEO in the U.S. receives about 200 to 400 times the average wage of his or her workers, while in the public sector, the gap is more like 8 to 12 times. Many public sector workers earn so little that they are eligible for food stamp assistance and are regular “customers” of the pernicious payday loan industry.
Pensions for such workers are similarly meager. The decline in private sector unionization is emblematic of this decrease in adequate wage and benefit growth and lack of job security. ventura county reporter
..Total funding of the nation’s 100 largest corporate pension plans fell by $303bn in 2008, going from a $86bn surplus at the end of 2007 to a $217bn deficit at the end of 2008. wiki
And the question is: Why isn’t the progressive movement making a huge deal out of this?
..because even the radical Left knows it was caused by the recession.. and you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.
Meanwhile, every state in the union is drowning in public pension quicksand.
Chicago residents are liable for about $71,000 per household. New Yorkers owe close to that.
Rio,
Since I am not a formal Tea Party person, I’ll have to answer for myself. Note that no one is addressing any of these at this point. My comments to your points:
1. I have no reason to doubt this point re: greatest wealth and income disparity in America. [I think this is a deep question that no one is really addressing, Dems/Repubs/TPs. IMO this is partially due to our tax code and also due to our relatively liberal import laws. We have allowed other countries to become the manufacturers and suppliers of our products, putting many people out of work. IMO we should raise the tariffs on these imports because no one can compete with the wages, limited labor laws and limited environmental laws that the other countries now have.]
2. Taxes have dropped substantially the past 30 years for the rich while… [IMO this is a good thing since the more money they have, the more money they can invest back into the economy. Now we have the rich [and corporations too] holding their money back because there are so many uncertain tax laws hanging in the balance plus too many extra costs.]
3. The rich and powerful have outsourced our jobs for their benefit while [they have to to stay in business, no? I have talked to these business leaders and "they think" the only way they can compete is by outsourcing.]
4. Safety nets have been gutted. (what safety net has been gutted? Medicare, oh the Dems did that with Obamacare)
5. USA spends 7K per person on health-care [ so lets put the government in charge of it, add a few layers of bureacracy, and see if the costs or the services get better! Come on open our eyes!]
6. Most Americans favored the public option and we didn’t get it. [ Wrong, the Dems are going to pay for their stuffing this Obamacare through. At least 60% of the people do not want it!] “Rasmussen: Obama’s Approval Rating Drops to 44%, 63% Favor Repeal of Obamacare”
7. Most Americans like their SocS and Medicare and dont’ want to cut it. [SS is a ponzy scheme where government has stolen the money and spent it on their pet projects. At some point our inability to raise enough money is going to force us to reduce these payouts. The Dems cut $500 billion out of Medicare with Obamacare because they want to spend it in Obamacare. Health care programs all over the US are going up, up, up all because Obamacare mandates coverages but doesn't allow an increase in revenue.
IMO all that I want my government to do is secure the borders, keep the population safe from outside attackers and then get the hell out of the way. Our government is bloated, out of control, unable to be audited and a total mess. We should vote them all out, especially McCain [that sack of doggy sh#@]
I’ll have to answer for myself. Note that no one is addressing any of these at this point. My comments to your points:
Thank you Lip. That is a thoughtful answer. I will respond.
On your point #2: Taxes have dropped substantially the past 30 years for the rich while… [IMO this is a good thing since the more money they have, the more money they can invest back into the economy.
They are not “investing it back” into OUR economy these days. In they past, they created American jobs. Now they create jobs in China or multiply their money on Wall Street but for their own good and not America’s.
I have talked to these business leaders and “they think” the only way they can compete is by outsourcing.
Yes it’s true, because we have no tariffs to protect our jobs as you mentioned in your point #1.
What safety net has been gutted?
What safety nets have been gutted? Affordable education. Affordable health-care. Steady jobs. Well paying jobs. Pensions. Job security. Soc Security benefits in comparison to cost of living. Etc etc. In my post, I mentioned private and public safety nets were gutted.
USA spends 7K per person on health-care ……government bad etc.
Western GOVERNMENTS spend ½ of what we spend in the USA on health-care and kick our asses on results. We can’t do it? Have faith in America. Not Blue Cross.
MO all that I want my government to do is secure the borders, keep the population safe from outside attackers and then get the hell out of the way.
How about our government keeping us safe from our parasitical “capitalist” masters? We now have enemies within. These are our most dangerous threats to our American way of life. These enemies fund our political campaigns but not for you nor I.
Our constitution is not protecting us from them.
Rio,
Classical Lib here:
1. Blame the machines, if you own a machine (or a bunch) or are “tied” into the income stream they produce (accounting, management, government, executive, and of course trading securities based on the income they produce) you’ve done very well. If you compete with them, well even china sheds manufacturing jobs, so you’re going to lose and lose badly. The difficult part is you basically need an iq about 1.5-2x average to hold one of those winner jobs and we can’t make people smarter, so we’re left with the Hobson’s choice of to have to take lots of real production from those who own/optimize the output or having 2/3 the population subsistance farming. Until now, it’s been harder to identify high performers and inefficencies. Lots of jobs today can have several orders of magnitude in difference of output between similarly trained people.
A good comparison is the transition to industrial labor from farm labor, except this transition is from industrial labor to work that can’t be retrained easily. Machinists aren’t always good or even average CAD/CAM designers.
2.The big correction IMHO is to start taxing capital gains along with dividends at regular income rates. I think a fair trade would be ending the corporate income tax, and am fine with treating all corporations as partnership/chapter s corps (even though I’ve file a form K and wouldn’t wish it upon anyone.
3. Outsourcing is a drop in the bucket compared with automation. If outsourcing were mostly to blame, we wouldn’t be producing more real goods than we ever have.
4. There are two sets of safety nets, economic and regulatory. As far as economic ones go, we’re both spending too much, but will probably have to spend more due to automation. There aren’t any good answers to this since one either must violate due process and property rights to a high enough degree that capital will flee, or have massive shifts in living standards for the majority of the population. Regulatory safety nets are much too difficult to navigate as things are and are preventing some of the current working/middle classes from becoming part of the ownership class.
5. Every other nation has much lower paid doctors than the US, but a huge margin. Insurance isn’t likely to survive Obama care (that seems to be a feature not a bug, but that’s another percent or two). Realize though that medical research is a cost that is almost entirely borne by US consumers, and that global innovation will suffer when the US stops paying for it.
6. I’d like to see some polls on this, especially of likely votors. Seniors self interestedly realized that the public option would cut into their medicare benefits.
7. Everyone likes a free lunch, the costs of these two programs isn’t sustainable in current form for more than a generation. I believe it’s foolish to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs for even a nice free lunch, but when push comes to shove, I have marketable skills and have enough liquidity to leave no matter the state of the dollar, most people won’t.
Oops, 1.5-2x average should be 1.5-2 standard deviations above average.
Goldman Sachs pay and bonus pool hits $13bn
Goldman Sachs has so far set aside $13.1bn (£8.33bn) for pay and bonuses this year despite reporting a 40pc fall in earnings for the third quarter.
The American investment bank said it had reserved $3.83bn for compensation in the third quarter which, or 43pc of its revenues. The remuneration pot, which equates to $370,000 for each member of staff for nine months work, is about 21pc smaller than it was this time last year but its size will still be controversial in light of Wednesday’s spending review.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8074417/Goldman-Sachs-pay-and-bonus-pool-hits-13bn.html
I haven’t bought or read a newspaper for years now. The last time I placed an ad in one was about 6 years ago. Not worth it.
Print declines continue to drag down publishers; shares of NY Times Co., McClatchy take hit
NEW YORK (AP) — The country’s largest newspaper publishers still haven’t been able to reverse a slump in advertising sales more than three years after it began.
The latest prognoses for the newspaper business came Tuesday in a pair of third-quarter earnings reports from The New York Times Co. and McClatchy Co. Both showed that print advertising fell compared with a year ago, when ad sales had already taken a big plunge from 2008 levels.
And neither company was able to draw enough new business from its digital operations to make up for the losses in print.
The outlook entering the holiday season isn’t much better.
I bet you have followed links from this blog to online versions of newspapers.
What will we link to when they are all gone?
Corporate News - By for and of Corporate Leaders. Investigative journalism is being replaced by talk opinion ranting and raving, another sign of our countries decline. There is no democracy without an educated public.
There is no democracy without an educated public.
YOU LIE!
This little twerp is completely full of $h!t! Yet no one in the MSM will ever call any of them on it.
“It is very important for people to understand that the United States of America and no country around the world can devalue its way to prosperity, to (be) competitive. … It is not a viable, feasible strategy and we will not engage in it.”
–Timothy Geithner Oct 18, 2010
“Yet no one in the MSM will ever call any of them on it.”
Hence the emergence of blogs, such as this one.
BTW, thanks for all your posts.
“Hence the emergence of blogs, such as this one”.
I agree 100%, blogs like this have and do make a big difference, and I think it really bugs many in the ‘media’.
Thanks, and happy to post.
Blogs are great but the majority of the posts are from MSM with commentary.
Comments at the MSM sites allowing them are also great. People are really pushing back now.
Competitive devaluation. FPSS called it.
When is tiny tim going to get fired?
I think TTT is really dumb enough not to see a correlation between massive QE and inflation. At least that is what he will claim at his trial.
forget fired. when is he going to get paraded down shuttered rural main street and pelted with rotten fruit by the angry jobless citizens.
when is he going to get paraded down shuttered rural main street and pelted with rotten fruit by the angry jobless citizens.
Speaking of being pelted with edibles, that very thing happened to Herbert Hoover when he campaigned for re-election in 1932.
* OCTOBER 20, 2010, 8:46 A.M. ET
WORLD FOREX: Dollar Resumes Sell-Off As Investors Reverse Course
By Andrew J. Johnson
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–The dollar fell broadly Wednesday as investors turned away from seeing Tuesday’s Chinese interest rate hikes as a negative for global growth.
Investors trimmed some of the positive dollar bets they placed after China’s surprise rate rises.
The euro and the Australian dollar in particular gained ground, while a broad swath of emerging-market currencies also rallied.
Early Wednesday morning, the euro was at $1.3866 from $1.3730 from late Tuesday, according to EBS via CQG. The dollar was at Y81.24 from Y81.58, while the euro was at Y112.63 from Y112.01. The U.K. pound was at $1.5735 from $1.5697. The dollar was at CHF0.9624 from CHF0.9709.
The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, was at 77.615 from 78.218.
Investors didn’t take long to decide that Chinese interest rate hikes demonstrate just how strong China’s economy remains, rather than indicating a risk for global growth.
“The turning point for risk appetite came when Shanghai equities were seen to brush off the China news and, after a shaky open, they soon turned positive,” said Gareth Berry, currency strategist for UBS Global FX in Singapore.
“The decision to raise rates [reflects] the solid outlook for the Chinese economy over the next year,” said RBC Capital Market analysts in Toronto.
…
WTH? A goobermint progrum full of fraud and shoddy workmanship, so it ain’t so. I guess team Barry will need to expand it.
Report: In Obama’s Chicago, stimulus weatherization money buys shoddy work, widespread fraud.
Projects to weatherize homes are a key part of the Obama administration’s fusion of stimulus spending and the green agenda. But a new report by the Department of Energy has found serious problems in stimulus-funded weatherization work — problems so severe that they have resulted in homes that are not only not more energy efficient but are actually dangerous for people to live in.
The study, by the Department’s inspector general, examined the work of what’s called the Weatherization Assistance Program, or WAP, in Illinois. Last year, the Department awarded Illinois $242 million, which was expected to pay for the weatherization of 27,000 homes. Specifically, Energy Department inspectors took a close look at the troubled operations of the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, known as CEDA, which is the largest recipient of weatherization money in Illinois with $91 million to weatherize 12,500 homes.
The findings are grim. “Our testing revealed substandard performance in weatherization workmanship, initial assessments, and contractor billing,” the inspector general report says. “These problems were of such significance that they put the integrity of the entire program at risk.”
“problems so severe that they have resulted in homes that are not only not more energy efficient but are actually dangerous for people to live in.”
It is difficult to imagine what could have been done in an attempt to make homes more energy efficient that would result in them being dangerous to live in.
They got a great deal on some asbestos insullation and a old can of lead based paint.
And let’s make this clear - this was a Federal gov’t audit of my state’s handling of stimulus funds. What’s more, this is only one of the stories I’ve heard about my state’s lack of financial stewardship with stimulus funds.
Folks, the worst thing a Federal gov’t can do is throw money at state/local gov’ts. For pete’s sake, HS poly sci texts make it clear that the lion’s share of corruption and waste is at the state/local level. This was a big mistake with ARRA. In the drive to get quick results there was a lot of waste and that makes it easy to label the stimulus a failure.
A Federally coordinated large scale project(s) would have been much slower to start but would have paid dividends down the road. For example, that tunnel under the Hudson - most of the country never heard of it until NJ threatened to pull funding. Why didn’t the administration make that a centerpiece to ARRA, publicize it, get it in the news? The shovel ready thing was a sham - the only thing ready about those projects is that politically connected contractors were ready to shovel the money into their pockets.
“The shovel ready thing was a sham - the only thing ready about those projects is that politically connected contractors were ready to shovel the money into their pockets’.
+100
~ Even “The One” stated last week “there is no such thing as a shovel ready project”
Now I know he didn’t mean that it’s a sham, but they are. A great way to funnel tax dollars.
We are still paving over good roads in Yates County NY. What a waste of money, not to mention a waste of oil.
“In Obama’s Chicago”
Speaking of Obama’s Chicago.
Chicago sheriff says no to enforcing foreclosures
Published: Tuesday, 19 Oct 2010 | 2:48 PM ET
The sheriff for Cook County, Illinois, which includes the city of Chicago, said on Tuesday he will not enforce foreclosure evictions for Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase and Co. and GMAC Mortgage/Ally Financial until they prove those foreclosures were handled “properly and legally.”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39745284 -
If an eviction notice is issued by a duly constituted officer of the court (judge), then by what logic, law, or mandate can the Sheriff choose to not enforce the ruling by a court or any lawful statute?
Wait, I forgot; the Federal government via the Justice Department and INS choose (have chosen for thirty years) which laws they enforce everyday so why shouldn’t a lowly Sheriff have the same right?
That dude is just trying to run for mayor. He tried this foreclosure thing before. His peeps are out on the street right now getting signatures so he can even be on the mayoral ballot.
This is a non-story.
Tom Dart should stay where he’s at. He’s going to be needed to bust all of the hookers and drug dealers that are going to congregate at the casino in Des Plaines.
It’s also telling that the Chicago PD doesn’t care much for him.
This was a good comment too:
I read the post and about half of the comments. I am personally assisting a friend in her foreclosure battle against Chase Home Finance. I am not a lawyer, but I know the law (now), and was in the mortgage business for over 10 years. One individual commented on the courts judging equity in a case vs. following the law exactly, in order to be fair to all parties concerned. True. But the problem with this mortgage mess as judges are finding out, is that if you ignore the law regarding chain of tile, inseparability of the note and mortgage, and procedures regarding negotiable instruments, you are in effect going to overturn principles of law and precedent going back 200 years. If you do this, make a ruling not in accordance with the law, to be “fair”, then those rulings become precedent and spill over into all areas of commerce. We are not talking about homeowners just skipping out on a justly owed debt here. The individuals who mentioned that they had paid their just debts and were tired of hearing about the banks and homeowners trying to get out of paying what they owe is missing the point. You say you have paid off your mortgage? How do you know that? You have a piece of paper saying so? What if I show up with a Note saying you haven’t? Your response would be that I am crazy but that is the point I am making here. The state statutes regarding property transfers and negotiable instruments (which is what a Note and Mortgage are) were developed over many years to protect everyone, prevent fraud, and instill a sense of certainty in the system. That certainty has now been destroyed by the banks because of their greed. The banks did this, not the homeowners. I personally hope all the banks get screwed and the whole system comes crashing down. Because the system sucks and we need to start over.
“I personally hope all the banks get screwed and the whole system comes crashing down. Because the system sucks and we need to start over.”
+1. I want to see mega-yachts on sale for the price of the unpaid dockage.
“…you are in effect going to overturn principles of law and precedent going back 200 years..”
I think the Federal government toppled that precept beginning a couple of years ago.
How about 100 or more years ago. There has been a creeping power grab that disregards the Constitution for at least that long.
I’m reading a book entitled “The Promise of American Life” by Herbert Croly. Written in 1909, it has been called the original bible of the “progressive” movement. Croly was the editor in chief of The New Republic magazine for many years.
I’m only two chapters in and already Croly says that individual liberty must by reduced for the good of the people. Also that the Constitution is getting in the way of the progressive agenda.
Makes one wonder if foreclosuregate’s reach will bust at the seams eventually causing the REIC to have to counter the effects with ads about how buying a home is not like crossing a mine-field.
+1
Google “broken chain of title”
Tell your friend to request the original “wet” signature note in court.
Where did the comment come from?
Former homeowners stop throwing money away on mortgages:
http://www.ajc.com/business/housing-woes-drive-many-685534.html
Everybody know about it and nobody does anything about it.
Matt Taibi - Magic Money Printing Machine at The Fed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwhMVB0XzPU&feature=player_embedded#
Ok guys call in or email him. weeknights 6-8 est
http://www.schiffradio.com
met him monday night, my host is on from 8-10pm
http://wstcwnlk.com/
Not sure who is going to snap up all those $500K+ homes in SoCal, given the dismal state of the Main Street economy. I guess it will be up to the all-cash Chinese investors?
Home / Business
REGION: Poverty stuck at record highs in Southern California
By PAT MAIO - pmaio@nctimes.com North County Times - Californian
September 28, 2010 6:43 pm
San Diego County’s estimated poverty rate of 12.6 percent continues to hover at the highest level recorded for the area in nearly half a century, according to data analyzed by a local think tank from a 2009 survey of American life that was released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
In Riverside County, meanwhile, the count of poor grew to 13.9 percent in 2009 over the 11.7 percent reported in the 2007 pre-recession era, according to the analysis by the San Diego-based Center on Policy Initiatives. The think tank is a nonprofit research and advocacy center funded mostly by organized labor.
In 2009, the federal government defined the poverty level as household income below $21,954 a year for a family of four and $10,956 for an individual.
The data for San Diego County show a decline in median household income of about 4 percent to roughly $60,231 in 2009 from $62,739 in 2008, while the portion of those who have slipped into poverty throughout the North County area has ratcheted up a few percentage points depending on location, said Murtaza Baxamusa, CPI’s director of research and policy, who led the group’s analysis.
In Riverside County, the median household income fell 2.6 percent to $55,352 in 2009 from $56,882, and nearly 8 percent since 2007.
“There’s a pretty stark picture so far of the recession. These are sober numbers,” Baxamusa said. “More people are falling into poverty. They are having difficulty making ends meet with housing costs increasing during this time. So if incomes fall and rents increase, you can see the kind of squeeze it puts on families.”
…
The middle class is quickly vanishing in SoCal. The last time we were there my teenage son commented that peoples cars were either “awesome or beaters” with almost nothing in between.
I guess the well to do will own the houses in the “desireable” areas while the rest will commute from the inland empire to their menial jobs in LA and Orange Counties.
Lots of the “awesome” cars are leased…(cue up the band to play “Puttin’ on the Ritz”)
They are, but a 7 Series Beamer is still $800 a month.
Been pondering the appearance of a recent policy shift to let markets work, rather than to throw in a wrench of intervention to jam the gears (case in point: rather than letting Megabank, Inc shut down the foreclosure system for an indefinite period of time, Obama stepped in to suggest this would damage the housing market).
Is this due to the recent ascendancy in the WH of freshwater economics (Goolsbee / Chicago) over saltwater economics (Summers / Harvard, Romer / Berkeley)? So far as I am aware, Chicago School economists are more apt to recognize the absurdity of presuming that one can have a housing recovery while propping up home prices at levels that almost no qualified buyers can afford.
“propping up home prices at levels that almost no qualified buyers can afford.”
The alternative is underwater economics.
“…underwater economics…”
Is it better to be underwater in fresh water or salt water?
Might depend on if you are leery of sharks.
Loan sharks, or other types? And how about lampreys?
Realtors and intestinal parasites are the same thing.
You can’t live without intestinal parasites.
Parasitology was one of my favorite classes in medical school. My crazy professor had live versions of these lovelies in his lab, and had us identify them on the final exam (hopefully not permitted in the current terrorist environment.) Most of them have evolved pernicious means of obtaining access to their human hosts. Enjoy!
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/most-horrific-parasitic-worms/10497
“Most of them have evolved pernicious means of obtaining access to their human hosts.”
Which came first: Human parasites or the banking industry?
These were so wonderfully ewky, RE. Love ‘em. But sure wished you posted appropriate anthelminics after each one. Or maybe just a big dose of Zymectrin/Romectrin in my oatmeal in the morning would do the trick….
Realtors and intestinal parasites are the same thing.
some intestinal parasites are beneficial.
But most parasites will harm you.
No, by definition a parasite is harmful. Some organisms are commensal, like intestinal bacteria, but they aren’t defined as parasites.
Morgan Stanley profit plunges
Morgan Stanley is the latest bank to enter the trading twilight zone.
Third-quarter profits fell 67% from a year ago, Morgan Stanley (MS) said Wednesday morning. The culprit: weak volume in the trading businesses that only a year ago were fueling Wall Street’s resurgence.
Consolidating at lower levels
Morgan Stanley made $313 million, or 5 cents a share, from continuing operations for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That compares with a year-ago profit of $936 million, or 50 cents a share. Revenue tumbled 20% from a year ago, to $6.8 billion.
Even that modest profit was bolstered by a tax gain, without which the firm would have lost 7 cents a share for the latest quarter.
NASCAR attraction shutting down
DAYTONA BEACH — The continuing economic downturn has led to the shutdown of the Daytona 500 Experience, Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood III said Tuesday.
“This is a challenging economic environment right now and we’re seeing attendance challenges, not just at racetracks, but at our attraction as well,” Chitwood said.
Chitwood said he met with all employees losing their jobs in the next three weeks. He would not say how many jobs will be lost.
“It’s something you never want to do,” he said of the coming layoffs. “You don’t want to have those conversations. If you sit in this chair, it’s something you have to do.”
The attraction’s closing is part of International Speedway Corp.’s plan to cut expenses at every level of business. ISC, a publicly owned company, operates 13 major auto racing facilities in North America, plus Americrown (food services, souvenirs) and MRN (sports radio network).
Like I said yesterday. At the end of this there will be many in this country who thought themselves elite who will find out that they have been thrown in with the masses.
The only people to watch are the Wall Street/banking elite and Washington elite who are doing their bidding.
Looks like J6P is broke.
Hey states, since you can’t print money, you can either get on your knees and beg uncle sugar. Or raise taxes, or cut spending! Nah, just get on your knees and raise taxes.
Comptroller: More revenue trouble ahead
~ Business First October 20, 2010
New York state is once again coming up short of needed revenue, the state comptroller’s office has warned.
Revenues must grow nearly 12 percent in the second half of the year to meet budget projections, according to the September Cash Report issued by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Although overall year-over-year general fund tax collections were up 4.1 percent, revenues would have to grow nearly three times faster to meet year-end projections.
“Last year was a fiscal train wreck,” DiNapoli said. “And now, half way through the state fiscal year, we’re heading down the same track.”
It took the state Legislature and governor an extra four months to put a budget in place and DiNapoli said that spending plan is based on too much risk.
and then the sh1t hit the fan.
Massive state and municipal lay offs, combined with increasing taxes, fees, and decreased layoffs.
Cue Combo
Meredith Whitney is suggesting this will be the next TARP.
Southern California home prices rise from August
Sales lag historic count
By Roger Showley
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 11:47 a.m.
Southern California home prices rose from August levels in September to a median $295,500, MDA DataQuick reported Tuesday.
However, the increases were limited to Los Angeles , Orange County and San Bernardino. Riverside and Ventura were unchanged, while San Diego, as previously reported, was down 2.1 percent to $330,500.
On a year-over-year basis, the latest median was 7.5 percent ahead of September 2009’s $275,000. San Diego was up 1.7 percent from $325,000.
Sales lagged historic levels for September, totaling 18,091, 16 percent below year-ago levels and off the long-term average for the month of 24,578 since DataQuick began keeping records in 1988.
“Today’s market can be characterized as much by activity that’s not happening, as by the activity that is happening,” said DataQuick President John Walsh. “We’re seeing distress selling, bargain hunting and entry-level buying, while the rest of the market is still largely on hold.”
…
“Today’s market can be characterized as much by activity that’s not happening, as by the activity that is happening,” said DataQuick President John Walsh. “We’re seeing distress selling, bargain hunting and entry-level buying, while the rest of the market is still largely on hold.”
In Phoenix, almost half the home sales are foreclosures.
I think the prices in LA county are only up because more super-high dollar houses are selling, usually at a pretty big chop from last year’s ask. Selling more houses at $2 mil marked down from $3.5mil or more, as opposed to a lot of houses in the midrange, tends to up the average!
We’ve got houses near me that were bought in 07 for $500k that are asking $700K… on a SHORT SALE. Ouuuuch. Heloc much? Yeek!
“…asking $700K… on a SHORT SALE…”
Sounds like they are wildly optimistic about the Fed somehow creating more inflation than expected?
Where are the banksters hiding all those foreclosure homes, in order to maintain the financially-engineered artificial shortage of homes for sale?
Inventory pushes sales down, prices up
INLAND HOME MARKET: Riverside County’s September decline of nearly 24 percent is Southern California’s steepest.
07:38 PM PDT on Tuesday, October 19, 2010
By LESLIE BERKMAN
The Press-Enterprise
A lean inventory of homes for sale continues to drive down sales and push up prices in Inland Southern California’s slowly recovering housing market, according to a report released Tuesday.
Home sales in September fell nearly 24 percent in Riverside County compared with a year earlier, which was the steepest sales decline in Southern California. San Bernardino County experienced the second steepest year-over-year sales decline in the region at nearly 7 percent.
MDA DataQuick of San Diego also reported that last month the median price of homes sold in Riverside County, where half the houses sold for more and half for less, rose over 8 percent to $200,000, which was the biggest percentage jump in Southern California. The median home price in San Bernardino County last month increased almost 7 percent compared to September, 2009.
…
This foreclosure probe is turning into a good ole-fashioned witch hunt.
* HOMES
* OCTOBER 20, 2010
U.S. Probe Criticizes Handling of Loans
Obama Administration Investigation Finds Considerable Variation Among Operations of Five of the Largest Loan Handlers
By DAMIAN PALETTA And DAVID WESSEL
WASHINGTON—A four-month-long Obama administration probe into five of the country’s largest mortgage servicers has discovered “a significant variation” among their operations, with some servicers “significantly worse than others” in how they handle home loans, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan said in an interview.
Mr. Donovan wouldn’t identify which companies were laggards in the HUD review, but he said the administration plans to make the results of its investigation public in the next few weeks.
The White House’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes the Justice Department, is at the early stages of investigating the way mortgage companies handled their documents. Tuesday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro confirmed her agency is looking into related disclosure issues. The White House has tried to hold meetings to coordinate the government’s response, but probes appear to vary in pace and intensity.
The scrutiny was prompted by allegations mortgage-company employees signed hundreds of documents a day without verifying the underlying information, but has since broadened into a general examination of how banks handle mortgages and foreclosures.
The investigations have reignited criticism of Wall Street at a time when several of the country’s top financial firms appeared to be on more solid ground, reporting strong third-quarter earnings. Bankers have said many of the servicing issues were technical in nature and didn’t lead to unwarranted foreclosures. But the growing number of probes could put pressure on them to reach a settlement.
“If banks are going to resolve it and settle these matters, it’ll be difficult to get everybody in the same room,” said Ronald Glancz, a partner at law firm Venable LLP, who represents banks. “You are never going to get a global settlement, which is what the banks will want, unless you can get all the investigators in the room. This just drags it out and prolongs the agony.”
Fifty state attorneys general have launched a joint investigation into allegations that banks mishandled foreclosure documents known as affidavits. In addition to the SEC and Justice Department, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has demanded reviews at top banks, as has the Office of the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said Tuesday her agency is looking into “issues with respect to disclosure, misrepresentations or omissions.”
…
Shovel-Ready White Elephants
When it comes to infrastructure, Uncle Sam’s arteries are hardened.
It took 410 days to build the Empire State Building, four years to erect the Golden Gate Bridge. The Pentagon took a year and a half, the Alaska Highway just nine months. These days it takes longer to build an overpass.
For instance, planning for Boston’s “Big Dig” officially began in the early 1980s with a budget of $2.6 billion, but ground wasn’t broken until 1991 and the last ramp wasn’t opened until 2006. The final estimated cost: $22 billion. According to the Boston Globe, it won’t be paid off until 2038.
Meanwhile, the “race” to rebuild the World Trade Center as some kind of remorse theme park approaches its second decade.
And across the harbor from Ground Zero, in New Jersey, Republican governor Chris Christie has earned scorn for thinking that a proposed underwater rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey might be too pricey. Under discussion for decades, it was originally projected to cost $5 billion. Estimates are now $9 billion and rising.
Christie still might reverse course if he can cut a better deal for his state. But the underlying fact remains the same: This country can’t build stuff the way it used to. It’s taken President Obama nearly two years and billions of dollars in misspent stimulus money to discover that there really is “no such thing as shovel-ready jobs” when it comes to public works.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/250297/shovel-ready-white-elephants-jonah-goldberg
“the Alaska Highway just nine months”
It took years to add a third lane in each direction on I-25 between Denver and Longmont.
Here in southern Arizona, the I-10 widening project was finished ahead of time and under budget.
The first Alaskan highway sank. I think they mean the second one.
cause we didn’t have public sector unions
But the guys who actually build the roads are private sector contractors.
Not only that, it’s an area of contracting that you can’t just shift over to from housing construction. The go-to road construction guys (and they are mostly guys) have been at it for years. And they’re good.
On a related note: On Disnet theme park blogs people often complain about how it now takes longer to build a new ride at Disneyland or Disneyworld than it took to build the entire original Disneyland
Da Bears…
P.S. Remember when the home builder corporate officers dumped their stock holdings well in advance of the big Fall 2008 bust? (I DO!)
Mark Hulbert
Oct. 20, 2010, 12:01 a.m. EDT
Those bearish insiders
Commentary: Uncertain what recent insider behavior really means
…
Here’s the data: According to the Vickers Weekly Insider Report, corporate insiders — companies’ officers, directors and largest shareholders — last week sold 5.29 shares for every one share that they bought. The comparable figure for late August was 1.02-to-1.
In other words, the insiders’ sell-to-buy ratio is more than five times higher today than then.
While that would seem to be unequivocal evidence that the insiders are not betting on the continuation of the stock market’s recent rally, there are some qualifications.
First, as Vickers’ editor David Coleman points out, “the wildcard in all of this is that insiders are broadly restricted from trading during earnings season — which leads to a decline in both trading volume and ‘evidence’ of sentiment.”
Secondly, as Jonathan Moreland, editor of InsiderInsights, also points out, the various insider indicators have exhibited more than the usual amount of volatility in recent weeks and months, which makes it “particularly difficult … to feel confident about what overall insider trends are indicating.”
How, then, to translate the insiders’ recent behavior into a trading strategy? Moreland, for one, is choosing to remain bullish: “As negative as insider buy/sell ratios have become, we … fully expect them to get much more negative in the coming weeks — just as they did time and again during the bubble years when something about the seemingly robust U.S. economy spooked executives.”
…
Hoooo boy. Good catch PB.
I got out of stocks in Nov. 08, DIA around $14k, because of reading about that right here on this blog. Saved me tens of thousands.
Joe Miller’s Private “Guards” Were Active-Duty Military
“One of the more disturbing election incidents took place in Alaska on Sunday night, when private “guards” working for GOP Senate nominee Joe Miller forcibly detained and handcuffed a journalist as he tried to ask the candidate questions which he did not want to answer. This photograph shows the journalist, Alaska Dispatch’s Tony Hopfinger, handcuffed in a chair, surrounded by Miller’s guards.”
http://tinyurl.com/2d52d4z
In Iraq these American soldiers would murder everyone in the room then blame the mass killing on insurgents.
This Joe Miller story involving the use of active duty US military to violate the first amendment rights of Americans on American soil is plain horrific. Just horrifying.
I think you mean the posse commitous (how do you spell that??) act.
The fact the Miller still might win shows how low we have fallen in the US. A scandal like this should be the final nail in his campaign coffin.
Yeah…They should keep the RINO or the Marxist.
Yeah, facist is preferable.
GOP Senate nominee Joe Miller = CSA (Confederate State of Alaska!)
Wonder sometimes if trends start in Europe and then come to America, as in Beatlemania?
PARIS (AP)– Workers opposed to a higher retirement age blocked roads to airports around France on Wednesday, leaving passengers in Paris dragging suitcases on foot along an emergency breakdown lane.
Outside the capital, hooded youths smashed store windows amid clouds of tear gas.
Riot police in black body armor forced striking workers away from blocked fuel depots in western France, restoring gasoline to areas where pumps were dry after weeks of protests over the government proposal raising the age from 60 to 62.
Riot officers in the Paris suburb of Nanterre and the southeastern city of Lyon sprayed tear gas but appeared unable to stop the violence.
After months of largely peaceful disruptions, some protests erupted into scattered violence this week over the government’s push to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed that his conservative party would pass the reform in a Senate vote expected Thursday.
Many workers feel the change would be a first step in eroding France’s social benefits — which include long vacations, contracts that make it hard for employers to lay off workers and a state-subsidized health care system — in favor of “American-style capitalism.”
Sarkozy ordered all fuel depots forcibly reopened and vowed Wednesday that he would “carry the retirement reform through to the end.” And despite France’s tolerance for a long tradition of strikes and protest, official patience appeared to be waning after weeks of actions that have snarled traffic, cancelled flights and dwindling gasoline supplies and, now, rising urban violence.
Feh. Let ‘em rot, I say. Let ‘em cannibalize their own country and implode.
Interesting take WSJ
Many observers say China’s move Tuesday to raise key rates is a textbook response to the country’s strong growth, rising inflation and the risk of a dangerous property bubble. More increases are likely, they say, as China tries to slow the frenzied borrowing that helped it through the recent recession.
But the rate move—which comes just days before finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations meet in South Korea—has implications for China’s currency, too. In most economies, higher interest rates attract foreign investors looking for better returns. The cash flooding into the economy boosts the local currency. But China’s economy is mostly closed, limiting—though not eliminating—the impact of higher rates on the yuan.
****
Allowing the yuan to rise could slow the economy’s heated growth just as effectively as raising interest rates. But China appears to have little interest in a quick yuan appreciation, despite loud complaints from the U.S. and elsewhere that its currency is too cheap, giving it an unfair trade advantage.
****
If China decides to temper the yuan’s gains, then the factors driving the currency feud will remain unchanged.
Beijing will need to continue to buy large quantities of U.S. Treasury debt in order to keep the dollar strong and the yuan in check. That could weaken U.S. exports, potentially countering Federal Reserve efforts to kick-start the U.S. economy.
Regarding all the murmuring of the foreclosure flood-gates opening soon, and many economists now agreeing that purge is necessary, I say I’ll believe it when I see it. Banks racing each other to purge their inventory first was what we expected three or four years ago, but it has not happened at all.
This sounds like the typical politician move of talking about doing what you know people want you to do while actually doing the exact opposite. Dissembling, as it were.
Ben, wasn’t it almost a full year ago that you were hearing that the foreclosure pace was going to pick up after New Years? Have you seen that borne out in the reality on the ground with your business?
Ben’s recent posts on this suggest a disconnect between the pace of foreclosures on the ground (fast) and what the MSM suggests is occurring (somewhere on the range from moribund to moratorium). It will be quite interesting to watch this perceptions gap narrow over the next couple of years, accompanied by the familiar refrain of “No one could have seen it coming!”
I’m sure most cities across the country are trying to raise taxes in one form or the other. Here’s what’s happening in our little burg…
Shall we raise the local sales tax…again?
On the ballot in Richland County, S.C. November 2nd is a question on a county-wide sales tax increase of 1 percent, with 1/3rd of the revenue going to the bus system and 2/3rds going to road, pedestrian and bicycle projects yet to be determined.
It would be lunacy to lay another tax on the sale of goods in Columbia and Richland County. The 1 percent sales tax is being heavily promoted by interests that do not understand the strain the economy is under right now. Their “snotbut” argument appeals to many voters. (”Snotbut” = “S’not but a penny!”)
The fact is the sales tax on certain goods in the city of Columbia would rise to as high as 10 percent.
Part of the new revenue would be earmarked to subsidize the local bus system. The rest? Well, no one can say for sure, except that it would be applied against the cost of fixing roads, building sidewalks, bike paths, and “greenways.”
These amenities look lovely when citizens feel flush, but they aren’t feeling that way right now. We urge a “NO” vote on the sales tax increase. There are other means for subsidizing bus rides.
Here in Tucson, there are propositions aimed at changing the city charter and raising the local sales tax. They’re predicted to go down in flames on 11/2.
11 State Pension Funds That May Run Out of Money~ Source Yahoo News
#1 Illinois
Year pension fund runs out: 2018
Bill in the following year: $13.6 billion
Share of state revenue: 32%
#2 Connecticut
Year pension fund runs out: 2019
Bill in the following year: $4.9 billion
Share of state revenue: 27%
#3 Indiana
Year pension fund runs out: 2019
Bill in the following year: $3.6 billion
Share of state revenue: 17%
#4 New Jersey
Year pension fund runs out: 2019
Bill in the following year: $14.4 billion
Share of state revenue: 34%
#5 Hawaii
Year pension fund runs out: 2020
Bill in the following year: $1.7 billion
Share of state revenue: 24%
#6 Louisiana
Year pension fund runs out: 2020
Bill in the following year: $4.3 billion
Share of state revenue: 27%
#7 Oklahoma
Year pension fund runs out: 2020
Bill in the following year: $3.7 billion
Share of state revenue: 30%
#8 Colorado
Year pension fund runs out: 2022
Bill in the following year: $7.8 billion
Share of state revenue: 54%
#9 Kansas
Year pension fund runs out: 2022
Bill in the following year: $2.5 billion
Share of state revenue: 23%
#10 Kentucky
Year pension fund runs out: 2022
Bill in the following year: $5.3 billion
Share of state revenue: 35%
#11 New Hampshire
Year pension fund runs out: 2022
Bill in the following year: $1.0 billion
Share of state revenue: 30%
The Colorado pension situaton is going to be “interesting”.
TABOR will prevent new taxes to cover the shortfalls, unless voters approve them (fat chance of that happening).
Plus there are constitutional amendments that mandate K-12 spending that are consuming an ever larger share of the shrinking state budget, further reducing contributions to the state pension fund. The fact that it will take half the state budget to pay the pensions is the handwriting on the wall. It ain’t gonna happen, so state employees and retirees might as well brace themselves for the inevitable.
What is breathtaking is not that these pension funds will merely short, but that they will depleted with 10 years or so. There’s going to be a lot of disappointed cops, firefighters, teachers and state employees. Muni employees in Colorado, who mostly have 403b plans, will actually be better off.
You haven’t seen TARP2 state municipality edition, written by Ben Bernanke
The printing press might be broken by 2022.
Sounds like changing the allowed retirement age for newly hired employees isn’t going to be enough.
For Polly
(I haven’t had a chance to see the video - I won’t until I get home, but what I’ve read about it reminds me of Polly’s “insider” comments)
Hilarious! Well written!
Of course I never went to law school, but by reading some of the comments it sounds on target.
Hahahahahaha!
“You’re going to make me orphan my daughter. I haven’t seen her in 3 years.”
“You’ll have even less fun practicing law than I did. Which is really hard to believe.”
“I do not like my Blackberry. I want to torture it until it begs me to kill it.”
From one of the comments and relevant to the discussion yesterday about people making $100K who live above their means.
“When you owe $140K in student debt, get married, etc., even making $100K a year means you’re broke if you drive a used Nissan Sentra, live in a middle class neighborhood,and never vacation.”
Thanks. I’ll take a look when I get home.
20-year-old woman student is police chief of violent Mexican town
Indo-Asian News Service
Mexico City: A 20-year-old criminology student, the only candidate for the position, was designated as police chief in the violence-plagued town of Guadalupe Distrito Bravo, Mexican media reported Tuesday.
Marisol Valles Garcia took charge on Monday of security in the town, population 10,000, on the US border. The community is around 80 km east of Ciudad Juarez, itself regarded as the most violent city in Mexico.
The former mayor of Guadalupe Distrito Bravos, Jesus Manuel Lara Rodriguez, was killed on June 19 at his home in Ciudad Juarez, after receiving death threats.
Valles Garcia said she will not have to fight the drug gangs, which is the responsibility of other law enforcement agencies. Instead, she will pursue preventive programmes in neighbourhoods and schools, and she will be in charge of reclaiming public spaces for the community.
Instead, she will pursue preventive programmes in neighbourhoods and schools, and she will be in charge of reclaiming public spaces for the community.
True story: The park just to the west of the Ranch is one such public space. Not that we had violent drug gangs shooting at each other, but it wasn’t the sort of place that respectable people hung out in. Hanging out was for the drug dealers, gangbangers, and homeless.
Almost a decade ago, one of the neighborhood associations wrote a grant for the installation of a walking path. That path was dedicated in early 2004. Nowadays, you can see people walking, jogging, strolling and flirting, riding bikes, pushing strollers, etc., from dawn until the park closes at 10 p.m. The drug thugs and the gangers have taken the hint and gone elsewhere.
We also have a neighborhood center in the middle of the park. It underwent extensive renovation and was re-opened in 2006. The end result has been that more wholesome activity has come into our park. Matter of fact, on Friday evening, the nabe center and the park are co-hosting a children’s movie night. Everyone around here is invited — I got a door hanger on Monday — and I may just go.
There are also quite a few neighbors, Yours Truly included, who don’t hesitate to call 911 if we see activity that just doesn’t look right. And the cops do come.
In short, it is possible to reclaim public space.
We have drug activity near my house in Columbia. It is not like the movies. They are nice people. Want to fit in and not be noticed. They keep the yard up. One group down the street was evicted with the help of the police as they insisted on one guy kept wearing a gun stuck into the back of his belt. That was not OK.
The neigborhood is full of children and it is very, very safe.
My grandfather was a bootlegger back in Minnesota. If people want to take drugs, just make it legal. It is the illegal distribution of drugs that causes the crime. And before people complain about overdoses and ruined minds remember that if it was legal then the doses could be very, very small and the drug would be much safer. Happiness in a bottle is what I call it and for some people, they need that happiness.
“Valles Garcia said she will not have to fight the drug gangs, which is the responsibility of other law enforcement agencies”
Smart girl, she knows that’s a fight she can’t win.
So much for uncle bucks bounce.
Through the rear view mirror’s lens, it is starting to look like it was a dead cat bounce.
I can’t wait until a similar perspective comes into view for housing prices…
If it’s that simple why hasn’t ‘it’ been working?
Fed to Buy $500 Billion in US Debt: Medley
The Federal Reserve plans to launch a program to buy $500 billion worth of U.S. Treasury’s over six months and leave itself room for more buying, said a report from influential consultancy Medley Global Advisors, a source told Reuters Wednesday.
“The Fed will reach a majority consensus to embark on a new round of sizable Treasury purchases at the end of its two-day November meeting, aimed at raising inflation expectations and gradually … satisfying both sides of its inflation/growth mandate,” the source said, reading directly from the report.
In a 1-1/2-page report titled: “Fed: Cutting Off The Tail”, Medley said, according to the source: “they will try to manage expectations that this will immediately cause the unemployment rate to fall or produce (an) immediate growth spurt.”
Combine this with the article above suggesting China my ramp up Treasury purchases to keep the dollar up and you might see a few people who are shorting treasuries get burned.
Did you hear about the lady who walked into a Massachusetts bank wanting to cash a $10,000.00 bill? There are some real $10,000.00 bills in circulation, although collectors have most of them.
It’s redeemable to the bearer on demand. However, suspicious bank staffers quickly determined that the bill the woman brought into the Lowell bank was a fake.
The highest denomination Federal Reserve note circulating these days is the $100.00 note. But $500.00 and $1,000.00 notes are available from dealers…at a premium. Old paper money is still legal tender, even those big “horse blanket bills” issued before 1928. However, the government long ago reneged on its promise to redeem paper money in “lawful money”, so if you are holding old silver certificates with the hope of one day redeeming them in silver - forget it. Uncle Sam has broken many promises with regard to coin and currency since 1792.
Whose face did she put on the bill? If it was Bernanke’s they should have given her the change.
Capitalization
In this world of hi-tech, it has been noticed that many, who text messages &
email, have forgotten the “art” of capitalization.
Those of you who fall into this travesty, please take note of the
statement below.
I cannot stress enough that correct grammar is very important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a
horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
Capital idea!
Such as you knew the honeymoon was over for Nelson Rockefeller when he stopped feeling (H)happy;
And Richard Nixon must have really liked oral because
he was always trying to get it down (P)pat;
but actually Pat Nixon didn’t know (D)dick.
Points of history:
When Nelson Rockefeller died of a heart attack in 1979, he was with a woman who was named Megan Marshack. Officially, she was a Rockefeller aide, but there were rumors that the relationship was a tad more personal.
As for the Nixons, they didn’t seem to have much of an, ahem, close relationship other than the activities that led to their two daughters. Aides recall Mr. Nixon being extremely cold to his wife, to the point of ignoring her when she was standing right next to him.
It’s called Marriage.
Coupled with substance abuse (at least in the Nixon case)…
Coupled with substance abuse (at least in the Nixon case)…
From what we know now, that indeed was the case. Nixon would now be considered a prescription drug addict — his White House physician was one of his biggest enablers.
He also had quite the taste for alcohol. Nixon didn’t care much for the Oval Office. Too public for his taste.
So, he had a little hideway office in the Old Executive Office building. That office was one of his favorite boozing places.
After the Nixons left the White House, they lived in San Clemente, CA. Western White House, as you may recall. Pat Nixon was once seen crawling across the lawn because she was too drunk to stand up and walk.
BTW, I bicycled right past the Western White House in November 1981. Was pedaling around the country, and, after being run off of Jimmy Carter’s place in June 1981, I was hoping for a friendlier reception at Nixon’s.
Well, I was too late. The Nixons had sold the property and it was being turned into a gated community.
I once made a house call to Ronald Reagan in BelAir.
The lure for catfish farmers is sinking
USA TODAY ~ GREENSBORO, Ala.
Townsend Kyser looks over the 750 acres of catfish ponds scattered over his Hale County farm and wonders about the future.
The 33-year-old is a third-generation catfish farmer. The family business started in 1969 when his grandfather, Joe Kyser, built some of the first ponds designed to raise catfish in the state. Now it’s up to him, his father, Bill, and his brother, Ashley, to keep things going.
It isn’t easy, he says.
The American catfish industry has hit hard times of late, largely because of two factors: the tremendous increase in feed costs and of cheaper Asian fish flooding the market, Townsend Kyser says.
“We want to compete on a level playing field; we feel like we can win on a level playing field,” he says. “But the foreign fish is so much cheaper than what we can produce. … But the market is the market. The cheap imports are competition, but they also deflate prices that the market can stand.”
The biggest reason foreign fish is cheaper is labor costs, says Mitt Walker of the Alabama Farmer’s Federation.
“We want to compete on a level playing field; we feel like we can win on a level playing field,” he says. “But the foreign fish is so much cheaper than what we can produce. … But the market is the market. The cheap imports are competition, but they also deflate prices that the market can stand.”
Precisely the reason why some of my ancestors had to come to America during the 1800s.
But it wasn’t because of cheaper catfish. It was because of cheaper tin that the British Empire had gotten its hands on in Malaysia.
This caused the collapse of County Cornwall’s mining-based economy. According to my aunt, people were starving to death.
MarketWatch News Break
Oct. 20, 2010, 11:45 a.m. EDT
RE/MAX CEO: Mortgage mess could delay recovery
The real estate landscape in America remains “quite fragile.” So says RE/MAX CEO Margaret Kelly. She tells MarketWatch News Break the real focus right now must be on creating jobs. She also warns the mortgage foreclosure mess could delay a housing recovery. Plus, hello car? Just call it and a new vehicle will pick you up. Listen to MarketWatch News Break.
Fed Survey: U.S. Economy Growing, but at Sluggish Pace- AP
The economy is uneven around the country, with more than half the regions expanding modestly while others are struggling to advance, a report shows two weeks before the central bank’s next meeting.
Sluggish, like a wet sponge?
Tried to post a link but the filter said no … anyway, interesting post, “The Normalization of Sociopathology in America”, go to nakedcapitalism and it should be in the links section for today.
Good article, but unfortunately it only scratches the surface of the issue.
The Great Recession’s toll mounts - it is being reported that the Liberace Museum will be closing. Excessive mortgage debt is cited as a primary reason.
Back when I lived in Pittsburgh, a nearby hospital played a prominent role in Liberace’s life. Seemed that he had a gig in the ‘Burgh, and he tried to clean his costume with dry cleaning fluid. He almost died as a result.
Well, good old St. Francis Hospital to the rescue. The world’s greatest showman had his life saved there, and he never forgot it.
Years later, when the hospital expanded, the new section included a Liberace Lobby with a grand piano. It was there for anyone who wished to play it.
Alas, St. Francis went out of business a few years ago. The University of Pittsburgh took over the space and tore down all the buildings. I have no idea what happened to the piano.
I was born at St Francis.
NY to hold lawyers accountable on foreclosures
NY chief judge puts foreclosure lawyers on notice: No cutting corners on bank paperwork
NEW YORK (AP) — The chief judge of New York’s courts implemented a new rule Wednesday requiring every lawyer handling a foreclosure to sign a form verifying that all paperwork in the case is accurate.
The move comes amid an uproar over accusations that mortgage lenders nationwide cut corners on paperwork and legal procedure as they moved to seize millions of homes. It follows a slew of other state efforts to challenge the foreclosure debacle.
Attorneys general in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are jointly investigating whether mortgage companies have violated state laws. In Maryland, an emergency measure approved this week by the state’s highest court outlines how state judges can review foreclosures and stop them if documents are invalid.
Dollar Hits 15-Year Low vs Yen as Fed Cites ‘Modest’ Recovery- Bloomberg
The dollar dropped to a 15-year low against the yen as a Federal Reserve regional survey showed the economy expanded in September at a “modest pace,” fueling speculation the central bank will increase quantitative easing.
“fueling speculation the central bank will increase quantitative easing”.
“Speculation” my arse everyone knows that BB & company will print baby print! On into QE3,4,5,6… Infinity and beyond.
Like one so called economist wrote recently and I am sure jerks like Krugman would agree, we will need an additional 6 or 7 trillion to get things back “on track”, whatever it takes.
I agree with this guy. The housing market cannot heal without a functioning mechanism for processing foreclosures.
Oct. 20, 2010, 3:05 p.m. EDT
White House sees no ‘structural’ foreclosure issue
Nation’s top housing official repeats opposition to foreclosure halt
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — There’s no “structural” issue requiring a halt to foreclosures and the government won’t interfere with Bank of America’s decision to resume them, the nation’s top housing official said Wednesday.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan again repeated the White House’s opposition to a national foreclosure moratorium so that the “fragile housing recovery that has begun can continue.”
…
William K. Black, America’s foremost control fraud-ologist, weighs in:
Nine stories the press is underreporting — fraud, fraud and more fraud
Key point from the above:
“The accounting lies are stalling the recovery. Markets cannot clear promptly when one creates an incentive to hold massively overvalued assets for years.”
BTW, Black’s book, The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One, is quite good. Your HBB Librarian urges everyone to read it.
“William K. Black on Capitol Hill in April. (AP)”
Mr. Black goes to Washington… that guy is my hero!
“The accounting lies are stalling the recovery. Markets cannot clear promptly when one creates an incentive to hold massively overvalued assets for years.”
The Best Way to Rob a Country is to Own:
“the-private-bank-that-prints-the-money-without-an-audit-and-with-and-endless-supply-of-digital-ink”
Bungee-cord Theory = 1
Rope-around-the-Throat = 0
That’s just the way it’s still gonna be Mr. Bear…
(”fraud, fraud and more fraud”,… sounds very much like a John Cage echo performance to Hwy)
Let’s get an “independent rating” from S&P / Fitch / et. al.
NY To Hold Lawyers Accountable On Foreclosures
by The Associated Press
NEW YORK October 20, 2010, 01:38 pm ET
The chief judge of New York’s courts implemented a new rule Wednesday requiring every lawyer handling a foreclosure to sign a form verifying that all paperwork in the case is accurate.
The move comes amid an uproar over accusations that mortgage lenders nationwide cut corners on paperwork and legal procedure as they moved to seize millions of homes. It follows a slew of other state efforts to challenge the foreclosure debacle.
Attorneys general in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are jointly investigating whether mortgage companies have violated state laws. In Maryland, an emergency measure approved this week by the state’s highest court outlines how state judges can review foreclosures and stop them if documents are invalid.
In New York, attorneys there already have an obligation to ensure that the documents they present to the court are valid, but New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said having them sign something affirming that all papers got a proper review will hold them accountable like never before.
“We want to make sure that everyone is focusing like a laser on these particular types of proceedings,” he said. “It puts them on notice. That’s what this is all about. We all have to make doubly sure that we are doing what we should be doing in the first place.”
The rule requiring a signed affirmation applies to both new cases and the 78,000 foreclosure actions already under way in New York courts.
The Financial Times
Foreclosure crisis tops Obama agenda
By James Politi in Washington
Published: October 20 2010 18:57 | Last updated: October 20 2010 18:57
The crisis surrounding mishandled foreclosure paperwork rose to the top of the Obama administration’s agenda, as senior officials met to discuss the next steps for agencies and regulators.
Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, Shaun Donovan, housing secretary, and Tom Perrelli, associate attorney-general, held a closed meeting on Wednesday to co-ordinate the administration’s response to the problem, amid fears of paralysis in the US housing market.
The White House has been treading a careful line between taking a tough stance towards banks that improperly processed foreclosure documents and steering clear of a broad moratorium on home repossessions, as some lawmakers and consumers groups are demanding.
“The administration is showing its serious concern about these practices, but addressing the bad actors and fixing the problem is separate from whether a moratorium makes sense,” said Peter Swire, a fellow at the Center for American Progress and former official on Barack Obama’s National Economic Council.
…
..treading a careful line…. showing its serious concern..
Lets elect an alpha male the next time around..
Interesting how the stock market is simultaneously rallying and grinding to a halt, no?
The Financial Times
From COMPANIES 7:05pm
Morgan Stanley suffers $91m loss
Trading momentum grinds to a halt
What is the safest bank in Panama that does not share info?
Multibank?
hasn’t been a bank failure in panama for about 100 years.. that’s not the problem. Nor is info-sharing.
problem is you can’t just walk in and open an account.
Attacks on Wall Street Don’t Win Votes in JPMorgan’s Ohio Home
By Patrick O’Connor and Lisa Lerer - Oct 19, 2010 9:00 PM PT
Mary Jo Kilroy is running against Wall Street again, echoing a message that won her a first term in Congress two years ago. This time, the Ohio Democrat is in danger of losing her seat to a former bank lobbyist.
In the fall of 2008, as financial markets tumbled and lawmakers approved a $700 billion bank bailout, Barack Obama led Kilroy and other Democrats in harnessing voter anger to win the White House and score big gains in the House and Senate.
Kilroy defeated Republican Steve Stivers by about 2,300 votes after a monthlong recount. Her struggle to get re-elected in a rematch with Stivers sums up her party’s failure to replicate that strategy even after passing the most sweeping new financial-market rules in seven decades. For many voters, concern about jobs overwhelms ill-feeling toward the banks.
“We need Wall Street,” said Peggy Kolodziej, 63, a nurse from Columbus in Kilroy’s 15th congressional district. “We don’t need those million-dollar bonuses, but we need them to help the economy grow.”
The populist tone seems off-key in Columbus, Ohio’s capital and largest city, because this is where Wall Street meets Main Street. In the McCoy Center, an office complex on 150 acres on the outskirts of the city, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Columbus’s largest private employer, has its biggest facility in the world. Some 10,000 employees are housed in a four-story building so wide that it has roughly the same square footage as the 102- story Empire State Building in New York.
…
We need Wall Street,” said Peggy Kolodziej, 63, a nurse from Columbus in Kilroy’s 15th congressional district. “We don’t need those million-dollar bonuses, but we need them to help the economy grow.”
Let me guess Peggy is in an abusive relationship at home. The cops show up at the door for the 8th time this year. I need him at home, don’t arrest him, it’s all my fault. I walked into a door 50x he didn’t have anything to do with it. Don’t arrest him Pllleeeaaase !!!!.
Fade to scene 2 where unsuspecting Peggy is having her head bashed in by the formerly repentant Mr. Kolodziej.
BWAHAHAHicHAHAHicHAHAHAHAHicHAHAHic* (DennisN™)
“TrueRogue™” Sarah The Barracuda
“TrueMaverick™” / “TrueFamilyValues™”
By Amanda Paulson, Staff Writer / October 20, 2010
“…Sarah Palin came out on Wednesday with an endorsement for Toomey, as well as the Republican Senate candidates in West Virginia, Alaska, Kentucky, Nevada, Arkansas, and California.”
“Sarah Palin said,…”
“Sarah Palin said,…”
“Sarah Palin said,…
“The label on the her “TrueAnger™” PeeParty tea toadlers dance dress given to her by the ““TruePurity™” repubican establishment” reads:
“Used & Abused Inc.”
(Designed by: “kick’em-to-the-curb” Inc.)
(Imported from Glenbeckinstan)
Joe Sestak distances himself from Democrats in close Senate race
The biggest problems for Rep. Joe Sestak, a Pennsylvania Democrat running for US Senate, might be that he is a Democrat and a member of Congress, analysts say. National polls show Americans turning against both, and Sestak’s race is local proof.
Senate hopeful Rep. Joe Sestak (D) of Pennsylvania today backed President Obama’s call on Labor Day for $50 billion in new stimulus spending to create infrastructure jobs – and, anticipating the president’s speech in Cleveland on Thursday, another $200 billion in research-and-development tax credits for business.
[snip]
His opponent, Mr. Toomey, has focused on trying to connect Sestak to the Democratic Party as much as possible.
csmonitor
—-
wow.. even Dems don’t want to be associated with the Dems.
Ha,
Glebeckinstan: “Fear & pray for America! (and buy GOLD!GOLD!GOLD!)
“Diz ALL the Gov’ts fault!”
“lil Opie,… is destroying America!”
Dispense with Hope!,…dispense with change! …use “witchcraft & toads eyes, rub the belly of the Aqua-Buddha!”
BWAHAHAHicHAHAHicHAHAHAHAHicHAHAHic* (DennisN™)
Artisan cheese-making brings them a new slice of life
Dairy farmers hit by a sour economy find renewed purpose as makers of handcrafted cheese.
By Kirstin Jackson, Special to the Los Angeles Times
October 21, 2010
“…As the dairy’s bookkeeper, Bianchi-Moreda spent nights awake worrying about her two sons, who had also decided to go into dairy, “not for the money,” she says with a laugh, but for the life it offered them. Around her, she felt the farm crumble.
After a large producer switched contracts from the Bianchi-Moreda’s 450-cow Jersey dairy to a 5,000-cow Central Valley producer, the lively former high school athletic director, welder and farmer decided to shake things up. Certain that “her girls” produced high butterfat and protein-rich milk worth more than producers were paying, she headed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to learn how to make cheese.
For five generations, Karen Bianchi-Moreda’s family had been dairy farmers in the Sonoma town of Valley Ford. The year 2009 almost changed all that as she watched her neighbors leave the business one after another. Then she found cheese.
They needed to add value to their milk, and after researching and talking to local artisans, they decided to do it with cheese. Aware that the $200,000 price tag of their future cheese-making equipment, education and research could be the final nail in the coffin for their business, the Erbs approached cheese-making with equal parts fear and hope.
Soldier gets 5 months for stealing from Mavi Marmara
These Israelis mass murdered 9 including an American in international waters and one gets slapped for petty theft?
“Israel’s military court sentenced an Israel Defense Forces soldier to five months in military jail for stealing equipment from the Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship Mavi Marmara.
The Mavi Marmara was one of several ships in a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade on the Gaza. When Israeli commandos intercepted the ships on May 31, a deadly clash erupted aboard the Mavi Marmara. Nine activists were killed on the ship.
The convicted cadet, who was training to be an officer, was sentenced as part of a plea bargain. As part of the bargain, he confessed to having taken a computer, two camera lenses and a compass from the ship while it was docked in the Ashdod port. He then sold the stolen items, which had belonged to protesters taking part in the flotilla.
In addition to the jail term, the soldier was fined NIS 700, demoted to the rank of private and ousted from the officer training course.
After the sentencing, the soldier expressed remorse and said he had made a mistake.”
DennisN — Do you think you could do this sort of work?
* REAL ESTATE
* OCTOBER 21, 2010
Niche Lawyers Spawned Housing Fracas
By ROBBIE WHELAN
The paperwork mess muddying home foreclosures erupted last month. But the legal strategy behind it traces to a lawyer’s gambit in 2006 that has helped keep one couple in their home six years beyond their last mortgage payment.
Lillian and Robert Jackson stopped paying on their home in Jacksonville, Fla., in 2004 when business dropped off at their cleaning company. Eviction might have seemed inevitable when they faced a foreclosure hearing two years later.
But their lawyer, James Kowalksi, had the idea of taking a deposition from the signer of the mortgage papers. When a document processor for GMAC Mortgage admitted she routinely signed such papers without being familiar with details of the loans, she was tagged as one of a species now known as robo-signers.
It was a first step in the growth of a legal sub-specialty called foreclosure defense that has sown confusion and turmoil in the housing market. Lawyers in the field now commonly use a technique more identified with corporate litigation: probing depositions, designed to uncover any lapses in judgment, flaws in a process or wrongdoing. In the 23 states where foreclosures entail a court hearing, the bank may be ordered to pay the homeowner’s legal bill if a lawyer can convince a judge that the bank has submitted false documents, such as affidavits saying employees personally reviewed the details of loans when they didn’t.
The housing-market uncertainty stemming from the foreclosure fracas is unabated, despite moves by Bank of America Corp. and GMAC to resume some suspended foreclosure sales. In Florida, with over half a million foreclosure cases, banks that are reviewing their documentation have canceled hundreds of court hearings in recent weeks. Big banks that have said they are finding few or no flaws in the foreclosure process have encountered skepticism from some of the state attorneys general probing the mess, and those authorities are pushing ahead.
The great majority of delinquent borrowers don’t hire lawyers but leave the home right before getting evicted. Some lawyers who represent financial institutions take a dim view of the growing ranks of lawyers pushing for a different outcome.
“There is a movement afoot by [state attorneys general] and private lawyers to use technical problems to avoid foreclosures where the borrower is in default and the foreclosure is in all respects substantively appropriate. These are lawyers where the best job they can do for their clients is to keep them in their houses without paying the mortgage,” said Andrew L. Sandler, a Washington securities lawyer who represents banks and firms that service mortgages.
Mr. Sandler added: “The class-action lawyers are swarming around this issue right now, because they perceive that it can result in significant fees for them. But they’re not well-founded cases, and the banks will vigorously contest any class action around these issues.”
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More asset price waterboarding soon to come from the Fed?
Fed eyes flexible approach to stimulus
By Robin Harding in Washington
Published: October 20 2010 21:02 | Last updated: October 20 2010 21:02
Officials at the US Federal Reserve are considering a fresh monetary stimulus that would combine guidance on the provisional scale of a new programme and a time frame for buying assets with the flexibility to adjust its size at regular meetings.
Although no decision has been made to launch a new round of quantitative easing, Fed officials are weighing an approach that allows more discretionary meeting-by-meeting decisions than the unconditional “shock and awe” stimulus it launched during the depths of the crisis in 2008 and 2009.
The US central bank is considering a return to buying assets because unemployment remains stubbornly high at 9.6 per cent and core inflation of about 1 per cent is below the Fed’s goal of about 2 per cent.
There is likely to be debate about whether to go ahead with further QE at a meeting on November 2-3 but many officials, including Ben Bernanke, chairman, have said there is a case for further action.
The framework under consideration would have three elements: guidance on the amount of purchases, a rate or time frame over which to buy them, and a condition under which the Fed would review the amount.
Some officials argue that the Fed should not commit itself and should decide on a small amount of purchases at each meeting. Others say only a large amount will move markets and so achieve the lower long-term interest rates the Fed wants.
By announcing a total or intermediate goal for purchases the Fed could shape market expectations but still leave itself flexibility to raise or lower the amount it eventually buys depending on economic data and how well the programme works.
Most officials say the initial goal for any purchases should be substantially smaller than the $1,725bn the Fed bought in the crisis conditions of 2008-09.
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