Bits Bucket for May 15, 2011
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Realtors Are Liars
Uh anyone who relies on commission has a hard time surviving on honesty.
I could not disagree more. I think the most sucessful sales people are more honest / customer focused. Referral and repeat customers make good business.
Agreed. But apparently, a bevy of Realtwhores missed the memo on your point…
I dunno…maybe if they had a salary plus commish or commish vs draw that is true, but at 100% commish and you pay expenses..
The first missed rent payment or scrambling to keep the utilities on, might change the game a little.
Commercial Realtors are less than truthful.
Commercial Real Estate Revival Seen On Way, Branching Out
Leasing and investment sales activity shows that the nation’s commercial property recovery is expanding beyond New York, Washington, D.C., and other large cities, the natural next step in a real estate cycle coming out of a downturn.
The clearest evidence comes from the office sector. The average vacancy rate in office buildings edged down to 17.5% in the first quarter from 17.6% at the end of 2010, according to research group Reis. This slight improvement marked the first vacancy decline on record since the third quarter of 2007.
Office landlords nationwide also boosted asking rents in the first quarter to an average of $27.66 a square foot, up from $27.53 at the end of 2010.
“I would say we’re at a point in time where half of the U.S. markets are showing improvement in vacancies and rental rates, and about half are bouncing along the bottom,” said Brett White, CEO of Los Angeles-based brokerage CB Richard Ellis Group (NYSE:CBG - News). “About this time next year, I would be very surprised if I didn’t tell you that virtually all of the markets were in a recovery phase of one sort or another.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Commercial-Real-Estate-ibd-2844807831.html?x=0&.v=1
Surge in nail shop growth will replace the loss of Best Buy and other big box stores…
Falling vacancy rates and rising demand for retail real estate should finally bring about meaningful rent growth for landlords in most U.S. retail markets by the end of 2011, according to CoStar Group economists.
Retail sales have already returned to 2007 levels, with year-over-year growth in the 6% range for the last couple quarters — well above the historical range of 4.5% to 5%. Spending should remain strong if jobs and economic growth stays on track, Mulvee said.
Though appliances, electronics and other big-ticket purchases are still down, spending on health care and personal care is up over 13%, with increases also reported in online sales, food and beverage, general merchandise, clothing and sporting goods spending. The level of sales per square foot of retail space has also moved well above pre-recession levels — evidence that retailers are doing better and may eventually need more space, providing a platform for rent growth, Mulvee said.
http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Rising-Occupancy-Should-Bring-Growth-In-Retail-Rents-By-Year-end/128718?ref=/News/Article/Rising-Occupancy-Should-Bring-Growth-In-Retail-Rents-By-Year-end/128718&src=rss
I stepped into the “nice” Walmart in our town the other week. The nail salon was closed, and all fixtures were gone.
Out here the nail salon biz is a Vietnamese racket (or so my hair stylist daughter tells me). THe few that I see always do seem to be staffed by Asian women.
She also said that most of the nail techs in those salons are unlicensed, and that it’s possible the WalMart salon was shut down because of that.
Come on, license to cut nails? No wonder this country is fooked…..
+1
We are overgoverned
Licensing has been around for decades, probably before most of us were even born. So its not some new “big government” thing. And as Carrie Ann mentioned below, my understanding is that its done for sanitary reasons.
Licensing is usually a response to problems in an industry.
No Bile…. “we” aren’t overgoverned. You’re merely under-brained.
There were some nasty infections making the rounds about a year or two ago when a number of these businesses were not sticking to the proper cleaning requirements. You can probably google the news report video. Seeing a few images of the damage done to people’s feet and hands by those infections will keep me going to the licensed establishments.
We seem to be inundated w/Vietnamese and other Asian establishment nail salons too. Too many in my estimation but they must have some degree of support because they didn’t shake out like the coffee shops and gift centers did. You know what else I think we have too many of? Sushi bars. They’re everywhere. Wegmans and Tops (grocery stores) even offer sushi.
When my daughter took the licensing test for hair styling it was the sanitary stuff that really ran them through the ringer. She says a lot of people fail the test because they screw up the sanitary stuff.
Come on, license to cut nails? No wonder this country is fooked…
There is no shortage of licensed practitioners, even though the pay sucks. Most of the staff at the chain hair cutting places are paid minimum wage and are very dependent on tips. Bear in mind that they had to attend a trade school, pass a state test and get a license to cut hair.
Any disease that can be transmitted by blood can be transmitted by a manicurist. Having your cuticles “done” isn’t for wimps. So, if you are dealing with a service that could give you HIV or hepatitis, I think a short course of study concentrating on sanitation is entirely appropriate.
I guess since this guy is screwing the monetary world he figured everything else was fair game… Gotta love a bankster!
Item: IMF head Strauss-Kahn charged with attempted rape of hotel maid
~The New York Post
The French political bigshot who heads the International Monetary Fund was arrested for allegedly sodomizing a Manhattan hotel maid yesterday — hauled off an Air France flight just moments before takeoff from Kennedy Airport, police sources said.
Three Port Authority detectives pulled Dominique Strauss-Kahn from the plane’s first-class cabin just two minutes before it was due to depart for Paris, according to the police sources.
Strauss-Kahn, 62 — who was expected to challenge French President Nicholas Sarkozy in the 2012 election — was turned over to NYPD officers and brought to the Special Victims Unit’s uptown squad room.
Strauss-Kahn is awaiting arraignment on charges of a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
The trouble began at around 1 p.m. yesterday when a 32-year-old housekeeper entered Strauss-Kahn’s $3,000-a-night suite at the luxury Sofitel on West 44th Street — apparently unaware he was still inside.
The married Strauss-Kahn was in the bathroom, and emerged naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where “he jumps her,” a source said.
“She pulled away from him and he dragged her down a hallway into the bathroom where he engaged in a criminal sexual act, according to her account to detectives,” Browne said. “He tried to lock her into the hotel room.”
Soon afterward, Strauss-Kahn got dressed and headed off to JFK for a flight to Paris.
““She pulled away from him and he dragged her down a hallway into the bathroom where he engaged in a criminal sexual act, according to her account to detectives,” Browne said. “He tried to lock her into the hotel room.”
And of course this was all caught on cameras in the hallway! What? There’s a five minute gap in the tape.
I’m sure it means the hallway in the suite. $3000 a night suites have hallways.
I wonder what his per diem rates are?
When the head of the World Bailout Coalition (IMF) routinely stays in $3k/night rack-rate rooms, the World has a problem.
You don’t expect a plutocrat to stay at the La Quinta Inn , do you (he could even use a coupon to save $20)?
La Quinta is Spanish for “next to Denny’s”.
“hauled off an Air France flight just moments before takeoff from Kennedy Airport, police sources said.”
De plane! De plane!
Tattoo Fantasy Island 1978
A socialist elite? Hard to believe, isn’t it?
$3000 a night? Is everything made out of gold in that room?
That’s why I never trust a socialist. Deep down they are as corrupt as the next capitalists but pretend otherwise. Hate the pretenders…..
Heads of any large financial organization are by definition, NOT socialist.
He got caught in the right country. We got the best judicial system money can buy, so he will get away……
I fear you are right. Which will further cement our reputation as a banana republic.
I have European acquaintances who have visited the US for the first time in ages. From what they tell me the increased poverty and overall infrastructure decrepitude is noticeably visible and they ask me what the h e double hockey sticks is happening here.
“they ask me what the h e double hockey sticks is happening here.”
Tell them we’re nearing the end of our grand experiment with trickle-down economics.
“…grand experiment with trickle-down economics.”
The end result is morphing into trickle-up poverty…
Corporate Communist Capitalism©®™, that what’s going on here.
It’s the new and improved fascism with 20% more corporatism and a convenient carrying handle!
If a French politician and a Manhattan hotel maid had a child, what language would the kid speak? Spench? Franish? Well at least the child would be eligible for benefits in this country.
Strauss-Kahn = 62
Chamber Maid = 32
(1/2)*62 + 7 = 38 — she doesn’t even satisfy the “1/2 his age + 7″ rule…
I have never had much respect for the extortionist IMF; even less now…
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, was arrested in New York in connection with the sexual attack of a hotel maid.
The plutocracy believes its above the law. Which is why a strong middle class is a thorn in their side, since it demands and expects a rule of law as it can’t pay people off to get what it wants.
Of course once the middle class starts to come apart at the seams it adopts the behavior of the plutocrats, forgetting that the little people don’t get bailouts and other perks.
Unfortunately for our French Plutocrat, rape is still a crime in the US, even though we have begun our transformation into a banana republic. He was just ahead of his time.
The story does seem a little odd. Still, you make too much of a conspiracy out of one sick man’s behavior.
The story does seem a little odd. Still, you make too much of a conspiracy out of one sick man’s behavior.
It is odd and I don’t even like bankers. 62 years old, top of his profession and now he does this? idk
The dudes French too.
“…the extortionist IMF…”
Chasing the maid with a plan to bugger her seems to fit right in with their approach.
BA DUMP BA!
Everyone knows the debt ceiling is going to be raised, so why keep up with the BS scare tactics. As for the “double dip” no way to stop it, that is a given.
Tiny Tim sez…
Geithner Says Default Damage May Be ‘Irrevocable’
~Bloomberg
Timothy Geithner, U.S. treasury secretary, said that failing to extend the debt ceiling could cause “irrevocable damage” to the economy and risk a “double-dip” recession.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said a default arising from failing to raise the debt limit could cause “irrevocable damage” to the economy, risk a “double-dip” recession and increase unemployment.
“Default would not only increase borrowing costs for the federal government, but also for families, businesses and local governments — reducing investment and job creation throughout the economy,” Geithner said in a letter dated yesterday to Senator Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat.
Failing to raise the $14.29 trillion debt ceiling would “force the United States to default” on obligations such as payments to service members, citizens, investors and businesses, Geithner wrote. “This would be an unprecedented event in American history. A default would inflict catastrophic, far- reaching damage on our nation’s economy, significantly reducing growth and increasing unemployment.”
The damage that Alan Greenspan and George W. Bush did to the U.S. economy and the middle-class is irrevocable.
And perhaps intentional as well.
It did serve to concentrate more of the Nation’s wealth in the hands of the Republitard base.
Perhaps?!
And now o’blama makes those 2 look small time!
Can’t wait till his final speech.. “I could have been
a great pres but George bush screwed me!!”
ha ha haha!! Long live Jimmy C, but move over
your time is over as the worst!! In all 57 states!!!
Hope and change!
“And now o’blama makes those 2 look small time!”
While I doubt that Obama will go down as one of greatest presidents (I think he’s rather mediocre), how has he been worse than Bush? Did he lie to us to start wars in the middle east? Did he foment policies to export jobs? Did 9/11 happen under his watch?
What does disappoint me about him is that like Bush, he’s a Wall St. lap dog.
Libya??
Libya??
Disappointing, but we didn’t go there because of non existent WMDs.
1) sold us on hope and change and then chose a cabinet of the guys that got us into this mess
2) proceed to double down on our debt despite the outrage aimed at the last administration
3) threw away a pivotal point in history when outrage could have been harnassed to unite the country to invest in infrastructure. Instead we propped up the industry that’s been the parasite for decades.
4) oversaw administration with few prosecutions. Most aggregious players see no more of a wrinkle than they have to take part in the Congressional dog and pony shows
I voted for this guy because our voting machines did not allow write ins but I have far more contempt for Obama then I ever had for Bush. You always knew exactly what Bush was. Obama, however, is more polished and duplicitous than Clinton ever was.
then chose a cabinet of the guys that got us into this mess ??
And who was President when these “guys” got us into this mess ??
Right on, CarrieAnn!
I voted for Barr because I knew from the day one that Obama was a giant hoax. Bush raped the country for 8 yrs, now it’s Obama’s turn. That seems to be the only “change” that transpired.
see hope and changey reference: No change means the guy before him did the same thing.
I voted for Barr because I knew from the day one that Obama was a giant hoax. Bush raped the country for 8 yrs, now it’s Obama’s turn.
There is a big difference. Bush’s Supreme Court nominations swung the Citizens United case in corporate favor.
This put the final nail in our democracy.
That was the big f*&((&g deal.
It will go down in history as such. Obama would have never nominated such tools.
Long live Jimmy C, but move over
your time is over as the worst ??
Yeah right….Bush is the worst hands down…Jimmy Carter may have been soft but he did not run the country into a ditch so large that it may have changed the country forever…
Bush will not accomplish One Tenth of what Jimmy Carter has accomplished nor gain even a fraction of the respect that Jimmy Carter has…
WTF? I thought Barry was going to fix it all!
If only Geithner’s appointment were revokable.
Skunks on both sides of the aisle.
Barry sez…Drill baby drill! This should please Barry’s “green” kook base…
Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time
~ The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.
The proposal — a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations — would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean.
Under the plan, the coastline from New Jersey northward would remain closed to all oil and gas activity. So would the Pacific Coast, from Mexico to the Canadian border.
The environmentally sensitive Bristol Bay in southwestern Alaska would be protected and no drilling would be allowed under the plan, officials said. But large tracts in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska — nearly 130 million acres — would be eligible for exploration and drilling after extensive studies.
The proposal is to be announced by President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Wednesday, but administration officials agreed to preview the details on the condition that they not be identified.
Yeah thanks to those kooks…..my GF cant go over her brothers house until they get rid of the bedbugs they probably got from their trip to Paris.
a little DDT would eliminate them….but nooooooo we cant have bedbugs with a Failure to thrive.
kooks
Maybe the kooks on the right will finally acknowledge that even if we opened up all of America to drilling it would very little effect on oil prices, but I’m sure the flat earth society will stick with their beliefs.
Are you talking about Obama?
I’m guessing that he’s allowing more drilling in the gulf because he knows it won’t happen, at least not until the trans oceanic conga line thins out.
Wake up folks…all this business about new oil
leases is a sham. What is important is the PERMiTS, which you WON’T see issued. The suit
can sell or open every bit of available land for
oil leases, but not one single permit will ever be
granted.
Look at what happened to Shell on the North Slope.
Four years of development and 5 billions bucks down the drain because the EPA said their supply
ship didn’t meet their exhaust stake emissions.
What a Fricking joke.
This story is over a year old. Better check the dates closer when trying to post something as current.
Real estate companies named least reputable company in America
http://tinyurl.com/5rjwyjv
But I just don’t understand how this could be…..
~Realtors Are Liars
You HAVE to be special to beat out car salesmen!
Wow!
Found a site that might be of interest to folks. To determine if Fannie or Freddie own a mortgage:
http://www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup/
https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/
captcha code hell
One telling fact about the quality of our leadership both within Congress and within the Federal Reserve and is the notion that high housing prices are somehow a good thing… and that an economy where housing prices continue to rise indefinitely and decouple from wages is actually sustainable… Of course, once you are hooked on the junk (high housing prices), its tough to withdraw from it and flush it out of your system… just like a heroin junky… yes, that’s an appropriate analogy in my opinion.. an economy hooked on housing heroin….
The biggest mistake President Obama made so far in office was not to let housing and the mortgage industry completely implode during his first 6 months in office.. we’d probably be pulling out of it (for real) by now, instead of the zombie like death crawl our economy is still on with excesssive mortgages and other debt serving as our ecomomy’s ball and chain..
And speaking of “other debt”, does anyone see a tie to the housing bubble and the student loan bubble ?… I sure do… wJust another wonderful gift from our generation to the next because of the housing mafia and housing mania in this country…. what a shame…
Flush it all…
20% down payments…
Eliminate all housing related GSEs and let the private market handle all home financing..
Scale out of the mortgage interest deduction…
Just get the heck out of housing…
That would send an appropriate, strong message to the next generation about where they should focus their energy and brain power…
Car prices are too high too. I can do with a scent house selling for $100,000 in a decent quiet neighborhood, but to pay $40 k for one car, $80 k for two, with that house is absurd.
From what I can tell, almost everyone is leasing. A 40K car is an $800 monthly nut for 5 years, from the ads I’ve seen in the paper you can lease those for 400-500 per month (still a lot).
The worst thing is that these days a 40K car isn’t even all that fancy. A Ford Edge or a Chevy Traverse. 20K only gets you a compact car. Even Korean compacts are near 20K. I’m surprised that the Chinese haven’t made their move yet. Then again, once they build a car that meets US or European safety standards maybe it wouldn’t be all that cheap.
And used cars? I’m seeing asking prices for 2 year old cars that are 70-80% of what a new cars costs.
Used cars seem to be used as sub-prime loan cars. They sell for about what a new car would sell for at very high interest rates. I looked into a used car a few years ago and ended up with the “one at this price” car at $2,000 under invoice, which of course we all know is not really invoice, but some weighted number car dealerships come up with.
One telling fact about the quality of our leadership both within Congress and within the Federal Reserve and is the notion that high housing prices are somehow a good thing… and that an economy where housing prices continue to increase indefinitely and decouple from wages is actually sustainable… Of course, once you are hooked on the junk (high housing prices), its tough to withdraw from it and flush it out of your system… just like a heroin junky… yes, that’s an appropriate analogy in my opinion.. an economy hooked on housing heroin….
The biggest mistake President Obama made so far in office was not to let housing and the mortgage industry completely implode during his first 6 months in office.. we’d probably be pulling out of it (for real) by now, instead of the zombie like death crawl our economy is still on with mortgages and other debt serving as our ball and chain..
And speaking of “other debt”, does anyone see a tie to the housing bubble and the student loan bubble ?… I sure do… Just another wonderful gift from our generation to the next because of the housing mafia and housing mania in this country…. what a shame..
Flush it all…
20% down payments…
Eliminate all housing related GSEs and let the private market handle all home financing..
Scale out of the mortgage interest deduction….
Get the heck out of housing… period..
That would send an appropriate, strong message to the next generation about where they should expend their time and brain power …
“And speaking of “other debt”, does anyone see a tie to the housing bubble and the student loan bubble ?… I sure do… Just another wonderful gift from our generation to the next because of the housing mafia and housing mania in this country…. what a shame..”
No. What I saw was that the banks got the government to change the BK laws at the same time they were handing out money to anyone who could fog a mirror so that they recourse to go after the pickings on the carcass during the BK court hearing. Student loans and IRS taxes non dischargeable.
taxes, subject to certain limitations, can be discharged in a bankruptcy - fyi.
taxes, subject to certain limitations, can be discharged in a bankruptcy ??
Thanks…If that is correct I learned something today…I always believed that IRS taxes were never able to be discharged in a BK…
well lawyers can work for legal aid and probably earn too little to get wages garnished.
And of course have a little cash side income
Yup there are people who live out their entire adult lives with these monsters sitting on their backs. Mostly as the result of a decision to take the wrong courses or trade school shenanigans. Some probably lacked the intelligence to begin with to get any value out of school or ended up with some worthless liberal arts degree.
A good friend graduated some 10 years ago - I forget which university with some $50k in student loans and a degree in “logistics”. He has been unable to get work and even went through a period of homelessness. The loan people are all over him and have close to doubled the original amount with fees and interest. Prior to this he had a good job as a site inspector for the county of Orange, a home and great credit…
No ??? you have got to be kidding
Oh there are plenty of people of all generations who got that “gift.”
Ben… if you are monitoring, my last post did not take… I’ll repost again in a few if I don’t see it.. thanks
One telling fact about the quality of our leadership both within Congress and within the Federal Reserve and is the notion that high housing prices are somehow a good thing… and that an economy where housing prices continue to increase indefinitely and decouple from wages is actually sustainable… Of course, once you are hooked on the junk (high housing prices), its tough to withdraw from it and flush it out of your system… just like a heroin junky… yes, that’s an appropriate analogy in my opinion.. an economy hooked on housing heroin….
The biggest mistake President Obama made so far in office was not to let housing and the mortgage industry completely implode during his first 6 months in office.. we’d probably be pulling out of it (for real) by now, instead of the zombie like death crawl our economy is still on with mortgages and other debt serving as our ball and chain..
And speaking of “other debt”, does anyone see a tie to the housing bubble and the student loan bubble ?… I sure do… Just another wonderful gift from our generation to the next because of the housing mafia and housing mania in this country…. what a shame..
Flush it all…
20% down payments…
Eliminate all housing related GSEs and let the private market handle all home financing..
Scale out of the mortgage interest tax deduction….
Get the heck out of housing… period..
That would send an appropriate, strong message to the next generation about where they shouldn’t be spending their time and brain power …
Three time’s a charm.
Or as Winnie the Pooh once told Tigger (after he pounced the bear of very little brain and reintroduced himself for the umpteenth time): “You said that”
Right direction but too little too late to impact oil prices by Nov. 2011:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/With-gas-costs-high-Obama-to-apf-475286155.html?x=0
That should be “2012″. He still seems to want to impact the futures market more than he want to create more production. The oil is in ANWR and off the coast of California.
It’s Good to be rich in a banana republic!
With Credit Bureaus, It Pays to Be on the V.I.P. List
NYTimes
The credit rating bureaus, whose reports influence everything from credit cards to mortgages to job offers, have a two-tiered system for resolving errors — one for the rich, the well-connected, the well-known and the powerful, and the other for everyone else.
The three major agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, keep a V.I.P. list of sorts, according to consumer lawyers and legal documents, consisting of celebrities, politicians, judges and other influential people. Those on the list — and they may not even realize they are on it — get special help from workers in the United States in fixing mistakes on their credit reports. Any errors are usually corrected immediately, one lawyer said.
For everyone else, disputes are herded into a largely automated system. Their complaints are often electronically ferried to a subcontractor overseas, where a worker spends, on average, about two minutes figuring out the gist of the matter, boiling it down to a one-to-three-digit computer code that signifies the problem — “account not his/hers,” for example — and sending a dispute form to the creditor to investigate. Many times, consumer advocates say, the investigation translates to a perfunctory check of its records.
It’s good to be the king!
Its also a reminder to the top 10% that the 1%er’s consider them to be serfs, just like the illegals working at McDonalds.
Good point- It’s good to be an oligarch (or a celebrity) in a banana republic! Upper middle class, or ‘little rich’, not so much, as many will learn to their own chagrin, after tirelessly championing their own future oppressors.
And the money quote in the article:
…electronically ferried to a subcontractor overseas…
Where’s that HBB guy who occasionally pops up to tell us that India can get along just fine without the US?
I admit, this one is tempting. Cute as a button.
I would say it’s only about $30-50K over what it should be, assuming it’s in good shape, which is probably is not.
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/7432-Muncaster-Mill-Rd_Gaithersburg_MD_20877_M67753-61888
Warning signs: no pictures of interior, no mention of square footage, bedroom(s) and bathroom in basement
You are correct… which is why I’m much less tempted. Zillow also says it is 775 sq ft or so, which means illegal bedroom. For $120K someone could snap it up and make something very cute. But it’s clearly not a house for a family.
What I’m waiting for is for the $199K price range to be the normal price, not a short sale or a trashed hovel or a foreclosure with a dodgy title. And I wnat to choose from 10-15 of them. So prices are beginning to come down in the real outer burbs of DC, but it’s too spotty so far.
How far out is this house from DC? What’s the commuting time?
Over an hour to the business district in DC from Muncaster Mill, due to the traffic.
You’ve got to be $hittin’ me Oxy…. MD is that overpriced???? 40-50k for that place in marginally commutable areas outside NYC.
It isn’t that far from the last stop on the western side of the red line. You could take public transportation. It would still take at least an hour total. Likely more.
“What I’m waiting for is for the $199K price range to be the normal price…”
Oxide, I hope you have a two income household because $199k is a lot of money when you have to pay it back with interest.
I’m hauling down $82k/yr in fly-over country, and my $125k place with $50k down has frequently been tight as other family expenses arrive with little notice. We honestly couldn’t make it in most of the country’s metro places these days; it’s a truly sobering realization. My problem of course is that I like to have a little something left over each month when I pay the bills.
Only one picture? Not a good sign.
IMF Head Arrested Over Hotel Sex Attack
Slate
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn was pulled from an airplane moments before it was supposed to depart and was being questioned Saturday night regarding a sexual assault against a hotel maid. Strauss-Kahn, a likely French presidential candidate, was removed from the first-class section of a Paris-bound Air France flight at JFK airport in New York and was taken into custody. He has not been charged but formal charges are expected to be filed Sunday morning. “He is being arrested for a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment,” according to a New York Police Department spokesman.
He forced his austerity on her.
Did this guy overdose on Viagra or something…??
No, just too long away from his office.
Update on my Good Time neighbors who I walk Dozer by every day. Bought in 2002, refied up big time, quit claimed wife off, new cars, big parties, out on the boat or the golf course every weekend (except for this one). Well, auction day was 5/5/2011 and the Pod is in the driveway. I saw Eric last night walking back and forth on the sidewalk talking nervously on his phone. Welcome to the world of renters Eric.
Eric and Ashley buy in 2002 for $204k
Name: MALCOLMSON ERIC
Mailing Address: 1 PINEHILL TRL W
TEQUESTA FL 33469 2161
Aug-2002 $204,000 WARRANTY DEED MALCOLMSON ERIC &
———————————————————————-
Let the Refi games begin!
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 10/15/2003 09:36:06
CFN: 20030627948
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 16021/1544
Pages: 15
Consideration: $227,200.00
Party 1: MALCOLMSON ERIC
MALCOLMSON ASHLEY
Party 2: RIVERSIDE NATIONAL BANK OF FLORIDA
Legal: TEQUESTA PINES L86
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 4/18/2006 11:16:53
CFN: 20060226562
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 20213/127
Pages: 6
Consideration: $50,000.00
Party 1: MALCOLMSON ERIC
MCCOY-MALCOLMSON ASHLEY
Party 2: WACHOVIA BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Legal: TEQUESTA PINES L86 L
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 12/8/2006 09:46:45
CFN: 20060679999
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 21172/1867
Pages: 17
Consideration: $270,000.00
Party 1: MALCOLMSON ERIC S
MALCOLMSON ASHLEY
Party 2: MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC
WACHOVIA MORTGAGE CORPORATION
Legal: TEQUESTA PINES L86 L
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 8/22/2007 09:18:42
CFN: 20070401265
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 22046/241
Pages: 14
Consideration: $87,000.00
Party 1: MALCOLMSON ERIC S
MALCOLMSON ASHLEY
Party 2: WACHOVIA BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
———————————————————————–
A year or so before this it was time to stop paying and start living Freeeeee.
Type: LP
Date/Time: 10/19/2009 14:46:20
CFN: 20090363320
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 23500/1110
Pages: 2
Consideration: $0.00
Party 1: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS TRUSTEE
Party 2: MALCOLMSON ERIC S
TEQUESTA PINES PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION INC
MALCOLMSON ASHLEY MCCOY
WACHOVIA BANK NA
MALCOLMSON SPOUSE
Legal: TEQUESTA PINES L86 L
———————————————————————–
Dum Da Dum Dum (Dragnet music)
Type: JUD
Date/Time: 8/20/2010 09:49:01
CFN: 20100310696
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 24024/1210
Pages: 6
Consideration: $0.00
Party 1: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS TRUSTEE
Party 2: MALCOLMSON ERIC S
TEQUESTA PINES PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION INC
MALCOLMSON ASHLEY MCCOY
WACHOVIA BANK NA
MALCOLMSON SPOUSE
Legal: TEQUESTA PINES L86 L
———————————————————————–
5/13/2011
Eric and Ashley have become the Pod Squad, and I have not seen any of the good time friends helping them load it. Normally I would ask someone like that if they needed a hand. But knowing what I know, Naaaah.
PS
There were satisfactions mixed in so they didn’t get all that in cash. But they got plenty, plus a few years of living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood for free.
“Dum Da Dum Dum (Dragnet music)”
Dum Da Dum Dum Do’hhhhhh
————————————————————————
Sounds to me like they enjoyed many years’ worth of living large off other people’s money. Now they get to learn about “The Joy of Renting.” Someone should write a book by that title to help the Eric’s of the world make their renting experience more enjoyable.
Do I have this right? They buy in August 2002 for $204k and then in October 2003 - thirteen months later - they cash out $227K?
Is this what I am seeing?
“Do I have this right? They buy in August 2002 for $204k and then in October 2003 - thirteen months later - they cash out $227K? Is this what I am seeing?”
I didn`t post the satifactions after the refis for space, there was a satisfaction on…
MALCOLMSON ERIC ABN AMRO MORTGAGE GROUP INC 10/31/2003 REL
They only got about $20k on that one. As near as I can figure they got about $190k cash out in all and 3 years of no house payment. But that is enough for me to not help them move.
Bet they spent all the money too….or else they would have hired real movers and gone happily to their new apartment in style…
The problem with Eric and his squeeze moving into apartments is they have no clue or consideration of others living there…
The quality of the renters I’ve lived amoungst has declined significantly over the past 7 years I’ve been renting in the New England area. The steady curn of renters at my current complex consists largely of failed home owners with too much stuff and too little money and even less consideration for others.
Anyway, in other news I haven’t posted because the deal isn’t done yet, the Chile’s are finally renting a house payment, after seven years of looking. Just a small 3br house on a small plot of land with room for a garden. Standard long-term HBB poster requirements: payments on par with our rent [with 20% down - where all the equivilancy calculators go out the window - the lost opportunity of down payment - grrrr], smaller house on one-partner’s salary, secure in our positions and ability to find other work, healthy emergency savings and house repair fund, etc. We close near the end of the month. The current owners are selling at a 15% discount from the 2004 price they paid (consistent with C-S for the region) and we estimate they dropped about another 15% of their purchase price on all their updates. It sat for a year on the market (occupied) as they started last spring wildly overpriced, then having chased the price on a monthly basis.
We’re purchasing this house with the expectation that in 30 years the only value it will have to us is in the form of shelter. If we can sell it for a dollar in 2041 that will be a dollar more than we expect today. Trust me, I still think housing is overpriced, but we found a house we like at a price we can easily afford.
We will also be welcoming Micro-Chile into the world next month. Mini-Chile is almost two.
“but we found a house we like at a price we can easily afford.”
“We will also be welcoming Micro-Chile into the world next month. Mini-Chile is almost two.”
Congratulations on all of the above.
“We will also be welcoming Micro-Chile into the world next month ??
Congratulations hard rain on Mini-Chili and the new bungalow,
Hopefully you won’t be so busy w/life’s happy additions to visit the hbb and keep us up on the Boston market.
You’d be missed.
Sounds like the proverbial “I am the KING of my castle” routine i used to get a lot in the south as a renter, Imagine some redneck banging on your door at 630 am on a sunday, wanting the rent money for beer with his boat hitched to his truck outside…after all it is the 1st!
failed home owners with too much stuff and too little money and even less consideration for others.
I was in that exact situation in 1990 in Clarksville, TN. He did me the favor of coming by the night before to save us both the hassle of the early morning knock. So I paid my rent a day early to make his weekend more enjoyable. But hey, he was only charging me $175 a month, and was a nice old redneck military retiree, so I found it more amusing than annoying.
Must be something wrong with me. I always mail the rent the week before the first.
In my case the place I was renting shared a wall with him. Didn’t make any sense to use the mail.
Bad Chile Good luck! And Congrats on Micro Chile!
Hey, thanks all.
It is a small house - I thought I’d be the last person to buy a house as most my peers are on their second or third house But (and I’ve said this about every apartment I’ve rented in the past), as long as Ms. Chile, Mini-Chile, and the soon to arrive Micro-Chile have a room to run around, a kitchen to make pancakes in on a Saturday morning, and a bathtub to spash around in; I’ll not only be happy, but I’ll consider it my castle.
But I sure don’t expect someone else to think that and pay three times what I am in five years.
I am seeing this too in San Diego at our complex. Hundreds of people moved in each with 3-4 babies/toddlers stuffed into a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment. Zero consideration for anyone and an “our children have rights” attitude.
For the past few days I have been getting an banner ad on this page for a certain Armando Montelongo, who will be hosting a seminar in Colorado Springs on how to flip real estate.
I of course clicked on it so Ben can get the hit fee.
Still deliciosly funny that they are trolling for would be flippers on this blog. It goes to show that google’s “narrowcasting” isn’t all that.
“I of course clicked on it so Ben can get the hit fee.”
Wow, thanks for the tip!
I keep getting banner ads for American Apparel- Yowza! That’s a fun one to click on. It’s becoming quite a distraction…
I get insurance ads. Am I really that boring?
(Cue Pixies/Durden)
Oh, I’m sorry what was your question? I lost interest halfway through your post.
Mr. Montelongo was the protagonist of one of those HGTV “follow the flipper crew” tv shows back when I had cable.
Must have been 2008?
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”
~Thos.Paine
Like the idea that the income of the wealthy- capital gains- should be taxed far below the rate at which the income of everybody else is taxed.
It makes no sense, morally or economically, but is accepted as a given. A triumph of the PTB’s brainwashing.
A postmortem of The Great “Silver Crash”
The paper gamblers were stung, not the bloke holding actual silver.
“Anyone who had bought silver futures using leverage and without a substantial cash holding was forced to immediately sell their silver futures. The result was a drop in silver futures prices from near $49 to below $34 in a matter of hours.
“So, what’s the first moral of the story? If you are buying gold and silver to distance yourself from the highly manipulated and rapidly failing monetary system then don’t buy gold and silver in forms that are under the control of the central planners.”
~Jeff Berwick, The Dollar Vigilante
← Have no doubt futures markets are rigged. There’s big money to be gained (and lost!) in a system where paper contracts can be bought and traded with little actual cash invested. Buying “on the margin” always has some risk to it.
A recent succession of sharp margin hikes knocked the wind out of silver’s perceived price. It’s being called unfair, even criminal.
The person with a few silver coins in their sock drawer was not hurt by the collapse of the paper bubble. Each Silver Eagle still contains exactly 480 grains of pure silver and their value in terms of paper currency is still considerably higher than only a few weeks ago.
The lesson: Stick with real value, not paper bets.
“A recent succession of sharp margin hikes knocked the wind out of silver’s perceived price.”
Interesting phrase, “perceived price”, which seems to suggest the price is something other than the price.
Why not just more accurately refer to it as “bubble price”?
Gambling with borrowed money has always been dangerous, expecially when you borrow the money from the house.
And that comment about keeping one’s stash in the sock drawer, that rat! No one can keep a secret.
The SD Union-Tribune has come a long way since 2006 in their editorial stance on housing.
Brace yourselves, folks: This party is just getting started, as the housing market has only just begun to reap the bitter harvest the banksters sowed in the first half of the last decade with their toxic financial sludge of subprime, liar and pick-a-pay loans.
Do San Diegans still believe in home ownership?
Yes, but many face hurdles that were nonexistent 10 years ago
By Lily Leung and Roger Showley
Saturday, May 14, 2011 at noon
The dream of homeownership is still alive in today’s tough economy, but it has become harder to achieve.
The strongest evidence came from the latest census figures that a small percentage of San Diegans own their own homes today than they did 10 years ago.
Five years ago, loose lending policies made buying easy, and many consumers considered their homes as an investment that would never lose value.
Now, housing prices are down 37.8 percent from their peak of 2005 and mortgage terms have tightened up, calling into question both the reason to buy and the ability to buy.
Norm Miller, a real estate professor at the University of San Diego, said he still recommends home buying as a good financial decision.
“Just don’t count on getting rich,” he said.
…
John Burns, a real estate consultant in Orange County, predicts San Diego’s ownership rate will drop an additional 5 percentage points to less than 50 percent, and Chris Nelson at the University of Utah thinks the national rate will drop to 60 percent in the next decade due to a variety of economic and demographic factors.
“I’m now calling it the decade of calamity,” Nelson told a journalists conference at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy last month. “We will see a lot of changes in the U.S.”
Among the challenges facing prospective homeowners:
•Tougher lending rules: Home prices in San Diego County may be off 37.8 percent to $321,750 last month from their late-2005 peak, but tougher financing makes buying much more difficult. Now, buyers have to document their income and savings, demonstrate high credit worthiness and make a substantial down payment.
•Rising mortgage rates: Interest rates are near historic levels — 4.63 percent for the 30-year, fixed-rate loan, according to the latest mortgage survey by Freddie Mac. But most economists believe those rates will increase sooner rather than later because of the federal government’s rising debt levels and expected demand for more loans from improving business conditions.
• Sufficient income to pay the mortgage: Economic challenges remain daunting, especially at a time of chronically high unemployment rates and stagnant wage levels. San Diego’s affordability level of 51.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 is near its peak of the past 20 years, according to the National Association of Home Builders. But demographic shifts from the latest census figures throw doubt on the ability of many San Diegans to own a home, particularly Hispanics, in the future.
Median income for non-Hispanic whites was $91,100 in San Diego County in 2010, compared with $87,000 for Asians; $52,700 for African-Americans; and $48,500 for Hispanics. And Hispanics represent the fastest growing group, projections show.
Consequently, affordability varies widely for those groups. Only 23.1 percent of homes for sale last year locally were affordable to Hispanics, based on the regional income of $75,500. For whites, the affordable level was more than twice as much — 64.6 percent. This gap has not changed markedly in decades.
“We’re going backward in per capita income between 2000 and 2020,” Nelson said.
•Demographic shifts that reset the market: Baby boomers and their parents will be selling their homes in the next 10 years, even as demand cools.
“This is the decade of resetting our housing markets big time,” Nelson said. “Seniors may not be able to unload their homes in many states, so they will have to find ways to age in place or maybe rent out a room.”
Differing social norms as well as economic stress point to another twist in traditional housing pattern: multigenerational households and larger households.
From 25 percent in 1940, such households hit a low of about 12 percent in 1980 before rising again. Nelson projects the trendline to reach 25 to 30 percent in 20 years. Household size also dropped from 3.4 in 1950 to 2.59 in 2000 before rising to an estimated 2.63 last year.
That trend is showing up in real estate offices, when agents ask what buyers need.
“One of the common things we hear in the market and didn’t hear so much five years ago is people would like to be able to accommodate a relative living at home with them,” said Peter Dennehy, a San Diego housing analyst with John Burns’ firm.
…
Most of the article is correct except for this line:
“Interest rates are near historic levels — 4.63 percent for the 30-year, fixed-rate loan”
Uh… wrong. If they meant ” historically LOW levels” then yes, it would be correct.
Don’t buy until 2036.
THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR
MAY 14, 2011
Hedging Your Home Value: The Greatest Idea Never Sold
By JASON ZWEIG
With home prices in what seems like an endless fall, why is it so fiendishly difficult to protect yourself against the risk of a further drop?
This week, Zillow.com reported that real-estate prices fell nationwide in March for the 57th month in a row, echoing other home-price indexes that have kept dropping and defying hopes of a recovery in housing values. Economists are forecasting a decline of 1.4% for 2011.
And, while unlikely, “a 30-year decline in home prices [adjusted for inflation] is certainly a possibility,” says Yale University economist Robert Shiller.
It wouldn’t be the first time prices dropped over three decades’ time; they fell by 14% cumulatively, after inflation, between 1912 and 1945, according to Prof. Shiller’s data.
…
“while unlikely”
When an economist says, “unlikely” one might conjure up images of an anvil above Wile E. Coyote’s head.
BwaHahAhahhAHHAAHHAHAAHAHAAA!!!!!!!
Well in Phoenix prices for most houses are below 2001. Two decades to go!
Denial ain’t a river in Egypt. What else should we expect of a criminal class which considers itself above the reach of international law?
Fawking banksters…
From WORLD 11:00am
IMF head charged with attempted rape
A member of the NYPD’s crime scene unit enters the Sofitel
Strauss-Kahn ‘will deny all charges’ says defence lawyer
By Richard McGregor and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and Peggy Hollinger in Paris
Published: May 15 2011 03:13 | Last updated: May 15 2011 11:00
A crime scene unit van sits outside the Sofitel hotel in New York
A New York Police Department crime scene unit van sits outside the Sofitel hotel
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund and a potential Socialist candidate in next year’s French presidential election, has been charged with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment following an investigation by New York police authorities.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is expected to appear in a New York court on Sunday.
Benjamin Brafman, the lawyer representing Mr Strauss-Kahn, told Reuters that the IMF chief “will plead not guilty’’ to the charges laid against him.
…
Easy predictions:
1) Thanks to an unholy alliance of bankers with buckets of fiat money and overpaid attorneys, Strauss-Kahn will get off with a wrist slap rather than serving hard time like someone without buckets of money probably would under similar circumstances.
2) His political career is dead in the water.
Yup
“His political career is dead in the water.”
You mean like Bulusconi’s? Ok that was prostitution and not rape but this is the IMF. They’ll undermine her story like that basketball player a few years back. Or pay her to go away.
And about that basketball player… Even his wifiepoo accepted a larger than life colored diamond to just sit back and enjoy the high life while she’s young and beautiful.
So many people sell their souls and self respect for a lifestyle. A truth as old as time.
No, I mean like Spitzer’s. It’s Spitzergate without the mitigating factor of mutual consent.
However bad it sounds, care should be exercised to presume innocence, which is the American way of justice. But if it is a set-up (as some French citizens have suggested), who could have perpetrated it, and how?
Strauss-Kahn no longer electable for many French
Sun May 15, 2011 1:11pm EDT
* French public shocked, concerned for country’s image
* Scandal grips country, some suspect a set-up
By Alexandria Sage
PARIS, May 15 (Reuters) - French voters of all stripes were shocked on Sunday by news that a man opinion polls had predicted could be the country’s next president had been charged with sexually assaulting a hotel chambermaid in the United States.
IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York after a maid alleged he had chased her naked down a hotel hallway, sexually assaulted her and tried to lock her in a hotel room.
Strauss-Kahn’s wife Anne Sinclair said she did not believe the accusations for a second and had no doubt he would be proved innocent. His lawyer said he would plead not guilty.
“It’s distressing for France. We have two intellectually and professionally worthy men, (Jean-Claude) Trichet and him. It’s a pity to ruin a career with sex,” said Odile, a painter who lives near Strauss-Kahn’s home in Paris’s plush 16th district.
…
Brain bleach anyone? Yech!
Let us not forget that sometimes the accuser is the sociopath. Lacross anyone?
I guess he is guilty until proven innocent. He does have a track record of such behavior. But could be a political set-up.
With a track, record you ARE guilty until proven innocent.
And damn well should be.
The Financial Times
Big banks take hit on capital surcharge
By Brooke Masters in London
Published: May 12 2011 23:09 | Last updated: May 12 2011 23:09
The world’s biggest banks are likely to be hit by capital surcharges that increase progressively based on a lender’s size, how connected it is to other banks and how easily it could be replaced in a crisis, global regulators have told the Financial Times.
The proposals would be good news for the huge, but domestically focused Chinese and Japanese banks and for second-tier European and US banks.
Financial regulators and central bankers from the world’s biggest economies, meeting as the Financial Stability Board, are expected to decide this year which banks are systemically important financial institutions, or Sifis, and how much additional top-quality capital they will be required to hold against unforeseen losses.
…
Chalk one up for World Government.
Maybe chalk one up for the sitcom writers.
Another reason to be a renter - your neighbors could be nuts. In this case, both sides appear to be a bit out there.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015057287_badneighbor15m.html
“Neighbors’ dispute escalates into all-out legal war
A neighbors’ dispute that began with a wrecked motorcycle has escalated into a saga of police investigations, allegations of dog poisoning, ruined careers and the disbanding of the Sultan Police Department.”
You steal and destroy my property and don’t pay to fix/replace, I will hound you to hell.
The plan to inundate the Atchafalaya basin to save NOLA reveals the limitations of U.S. flood control policy on the lower Mississippi. There is an interesting New Yorker article by John McPhee on the history of this policy, including the account of when they last opened the spillway to flood the basin in 1973.
Mississippi floods threaten New Orleans
US army engineers open floodgate in attempt to save New Orleans from the river’s worst flooding since 1927
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 15 May 2011 18.29 BST
Mississippi floodgate is opened to try and protect New Orleans. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP
Residents in swampy areas of Louisiana’s Cajun country are waiting for the rising waters of the Mississippi to engulf their homes, after army engineers opened a key floodgate in an attempt to save New Orleans from the river’s worst flooding since 1927.
Units of the US Army Corps of Engineers opened up the first gate on a structure known as the Morganza spillway, sending about 10,000 cubic feet of water per second into the Atchafalaya river basin.
Water shot through the gates like a waterfall, hurling fish through the froth, witnesses said. The Associated Press reported that 100 acres were under a foot of water in the space of 30 minutes.
It was the first time the corps, which is in charge of managing the Mississippi flood controls, had to resort to the spillway since 1973.
Engineers were expected to open up at least two more gates on Sunday.
The operation was designed to divert water from the Mississippi, and reduce pressure on the levees protecting the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
The planned diversion will send the water into the Atchafalaya Basin, and then onwards to the oil service town of Morgan City.
But it will drown about 3,000 square miles of low-lying, swampy land beneath up to 25 feet of water.
A number of small towns in what is known as Louisiana’s Cajun country will be destroyed, driving 25,000 people out of homes they have occupied for generations.
…
This article doesn’t pass the smell test at all. In the 80’s I worked in New Iberia and went crawfish trap lining with one of my contractor buddies in the Atchafalaya in spring. We boated through the woods in at least 15 ft of water. I saw homes, they were floating or on stilts. If in the past couple of decades of mania, outsiders built “permanant” houses, or even yuppie towns at essentially sealevel in the old path of the river, they deserve a lesson in nature which others learned generations ago. Then of course, the government is supposedly responsible for everything.
Hey Blue Skye! My wife and I flew to Syracuse from JFK, Friday. She wanted to go shopping so we went to the Carousel Mall. Hardly anybody there.
Help me out here… you couldn’t find clothes in NYC?
Not like you find in Syracuse!
Hey 45!
I was up toward Ottawa this weekend. Watched some georgious Ruby Breasted Grossbeaks at the feeder. More fun than the Carousel Mall I guess. I haven’t been there since they started the close parking for green vehicles only.
‘…outsiders built “permanant” houses…’
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=186157
Best comment I’ve seen on IMF head’s alleged forcible sodomy on a maid at his $3000-a-night hotel room, after years of forcible sodomy on US taxpayers.
Which comment? There are plenty of “juicy” ones in there:
“That doesn’t seem all that far out of character, to be frank. After all the taxpayers and citizens in Iceland, Greece, Ireland, and now Portugal and The United States (including the million or so homeowners dispossessed of their homes) have all been financially sodomized by various banksters over the last few years. Given that track record what’s a little forced head here and there…… right? And let’s not forget that head is not really sex (so said Clinton if you recall.)”
Banksters are rapists…
The Chart That Should Accompany Every Discussion of Deficits
By James Fallows
May 11 2011, 9:39 PM ET
All the time, and every day.
It’s this one, from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, released yesterday (and also highlighted by Andrew Sullivan and Ezra Klein today).
Why does this chart matter? Because it makes clear, in that wonderful “worth 1,000 words” way, two realities that are fundamental to sane discussion of public finance, but that most of the public doesn’t realize and that the Republican leadership is actively working to obscure. They are:
- The very large, but temporary and self-limiting, expenditures for TARP and other measures proposed by both the Bush and Obama administrations to avoid a second Great Depression, plus Obama stimulus spending. And;
- The very large, but permanent and worsening, budgetary impact of the “Bush tax cuts” — which when first proposed back in the pre-9/11 era, were supposed to end in 2010 and were in response to what back then seemed to be the “problem” of a burgeoning surplus in federal accounts! Since “extending” those cuts just sounds like business as usual, I think it is hard for most people to envision the profound and growing effect they have. The chart above helps toward that end — and doesn’t even go into how heavily those cuts are skewed to the “haves” of society. Last year Austan Goolsbee had a marvelous chart of his own on that point.
And, as a bonus half-point, the chart clarifies that budget problems would be on the path to self-correction, if the Bush cuts had lapsed as originally planned.
So: print out this chart. Carry it around. Take it to Tea Parties and say you share their determination to get to the root of this deficit problem. Make sure people at least have to grapple with the argument it conveys. Ross Perot changed people’s minds with charts 20 years ago. These things make a difference. Thanks to reader Bruce Johnson.
…
* EUROPE NEWS
* MAY 16, 2011
New Details in IMF Sex Case
Fund Chief Consents to Physical Exam by Police After Accusations He Attacked Maid
By TAMER EL-GHOBASHY, SUDEEP REDDY and DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, center, departs a New York Police Department precinct on his way to Manhattan Criminal Court in New York late Sunday.
The arrest of International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on sexual-assault charges threatened to upend French politics and weaken the IMF’s central role in resolving Europe’s deepening debt crisis.
The arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has thrown into disarray the fund’s leadership. The Journal’s Bob Davis and J.R. Whalen discuss.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62 years old, was expected to be arraigned Monday morning on charges of attempted rape, criminal sexual assault and unlawful imprisonment of a maid in the New York City hotel where he was staying, police said.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s arraignment was delayed after he “willingly consented to a scientific forensic examination tonight,” said his attorney William Taylor, outside of Manhattan Criminal Court Sunday night. Prosecutors requested the exam, Mr. Taylor said. The IMF chief agreed to it after police had earlier requested a search warrant to look for scratches and DNA evidence belonging to his accuser. His client is “tired, but he’s fine,” Mr. Taylor said, and was expected to spend the night in police custody.
…