Bits Bucket for July 27, 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
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So, if Italy & Spain are “to big to save” wonder what the U.S. is? Are we still “to big to fail”?
Item: Italian, Spanish Bonds Drop on Concern European Aid May Not Be Sufficient (Bloomberg)
Italian and Spanish bonds slid, increasing the additional yield investors demand to hold the securities instead of benchmark bunds, on speculation Europe’s aid package may not be sufficient to prevent contagion.
German bonds rose for a fourth day after Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the government is against a “blank check” for the euro-area rescue fund to purchase bonds on the secondary market. The yield on benchmark bunds fell to a one- week low as U.S. lawmakers struggled to reach an agreement over the nation’s debt ceiling, boosting demand for the safest European assets. Cyprus’s bonds fell after the Mediterranean island was downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service.
“If you look into the details of the EU summit decision, it doesn’t take you long to get to where the weak points are,” said Marius Daheim, a senior fixed-income strategist at Bayerische Landesbank in Munich. “You still have two countries which are too big to save and are not effectively protected from negative market sentiment. The U.S. debt crisis is also a factor that supports German bunds.”
Comment by wmbz
02:37:26 am ???
Wow, seems you’re down the river Worry and stuck in a churning undertow of Fear! Fear! Fear!
Someone left the irony on…
USA: Too Disconnected from Reality to Change.
We have a winner.
Um America is SOS
Stuck On Stupid…….. Do I win????
Uptick in home prices is no panacea for troubles
WASHINGTON(AP) — Home prices rose for the second straight month in most major U.S. cities and are stabilizing after years of declines, but analysts said the trend in prices hardly signals a rebound for the troubled housing market.
A flurry of spring buyers is helping boost sales. At the same time, millions of foreclosures are in limbo, awaiting the results of a government investigation into improper practices by lenders. Once that probe is complete, banks will resume seizing homes and prices will likely fall again.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday showed that prices rose in May in 16 of the 20 cities tracked.
The article fails to mention that home prices normally go up this time of year. A better comparison to measure price trend is year-over-year.
Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Fell 4.5% in Year
By Shobhana Chandra - Jul 26, 2011 7:20 AM MT
Home prices in 20 U.S. cities dropped in the year ended May by the most in 18 months, adding to evidence the housing market is struggling.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities fell 4.5 percent from May 2010, the group said today in New York. The decline matched the median forecast of 32 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
A pipeline of foreclosures and uneven demand will keep prices from rising this year, discouraging new-home construction and delaying a rebound in housing. Shrinking home equity and an unemployment rate at 9.2 percent are weighing on consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy.
“Home prices have yet to find a bottom,” said John Herrmann, senior fixed-income strategist at State Street Global Markets LLC in Boston. “Buyers are incredibly cautious. They are concerned about the unemployment rate. There is uncertainty about the economic outlook.”
…
Even as home prices drop, they become less and less affordable.
That makes sense for some reason.
On All Levels of the Economy, Concern About the Impasse
By JULIE CRESWELL and LOUISE STORY
Published: July 26, 2011
Economists and analysts are trying to gauge the costs to the economy and consumers if the United States loses its solid-gold credit rating — a move that appears more likely now that the standoff in Washington over government spending has calcified.
…
The prospect of a downgrade by one of the credit rating agencies once seemed almost unimaginable. But the impasse in Washington over the government’s deficit and $14.3 trillion debt limit has led some global financial players to expect the change.
A downgrade on debt issued by the United States would have less severe consequences than a default, which takes places when a government fails to pay its creditors. Many Wall Street bankers on Tuesday said they still believed a default would be avoided because its consequences for the markets and economy could be catastrophic. They were less certain, however, what the cumulative effect might be of a downgrade.
The view among many on Wall Street on Tuesday was that long-term Treasury yields could edge up by 0.10 percentage points, to 0.70 percentage points. That would eventually increase the amount of interest the United States pays on its debt by as much as tens of billions of dollars each year. The government now pays $250 billion a year on interest costs to service its debt.
…
Talking to a couple of Canadians this morning. They really hope we will not let the world come to an end on August 2. HAHA!
No worrie$, they’ve a plentiful bounty of “real-estate-always-goes-up” + Energy commoditie$…tell ‘em they should relax, be patient, wait for the U$A Implo$ion…then dive head first into Vega$ babeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
So if I am to understand this correctly, if a country strives to live within its means then it should have its credit rating downgraded?
So in order to prevent this downgrading the country must promise to continue to live beyond its means?
Does anyone anywhere ever question any of this?
Refusing to raise the debt ceiling is refusing to pay the bills we already have. Refusing to pay your bills affects your credit rating, even if you think you’re doing it for the ‘good’ of everyone.
Refusing to BORROW money to pay the bills is more accurate.
Raising the debt ceiling is a signal that the country intends to continue to live on borrowed money. This should be a signal to creditors the the country is not serious about geting its financial house in order.
Not raising the debt ceiling should be a signal to creditors that the country is finally getting real abbout its finances and it’s credit rating should rise to reflect this process of getting real.
Dear Credit Agencies,
I am refusing to pay this month’s bills because I spent too much, and I am not going to pay my bills until I promise myself that I will quit being such a spendthrift.
I assume you realize this is for the good of us all, and therefore you will lower my interest rates, and ignore any non-payment penalties.
Dear Credit Agencies,
I cannot pay you the money I owe because I am fresh out, so I need you to extend to me another loan that I will not be able to pay back so that I can make the payments on the money I borrowed from you in the past.
Raising the debt ceiling is a signal that the country intends to continue to live on borrowed money. This should be a signal to creditors the the country is not serious about geting its financial house in order.
–True.
But
Not raising the debt ceiling is telling creditors that it intends to stiff the people it currently owes money to (whether bondholders, retirees, suppliers, or contractors) rather than borrow more money.
Really, the government certainly does need to stop borrowing so much money. But you can’t really get there except by some combination of spending less and taxing more. Simply saying neener neener, I’m not going to borrow more doesn’t accomplish much, except inform everybody that SOMEBODY isn’t getting paid. It’s like trying to control your credit card habit by not sending the payment in for one month. What you NEED to do is spend less.
Or:
Dear Prince Abracadabra, we’re going to have to stop the security missions. You’ve been charging us too much for oil for us to afford it. Good luck.
Dear Grandma, Can’t subsidize your kibble this month, we have to pay for what we sent you last month.
Dear little Sis, We’re sorry you keep getting knocked up, but we really can’t feed all those little ankle biters, and we really can’t afford to support your Oprah subscription.
Dear Al Gore, Bite me.
risk of a downgrade is probable….whether the debt ceiling gets raised or not.
Blue Skye — that was a good chuckle.. thank you.
So you mean we’re getting to that checkmate stage of the game?
Not raising the debt ceiling is telling creditors that it intends to stiff the people it currently owes money to (whether bondholders, retirees, suppliers, or contractors) rather than borrow more money.”
won’t be bondholders that would spark a sudden rise in interest rates and limit credit.
Its like the strategic defaulter who continues paying his Credit card but not his mortgage.
bad time to depend on the government for income esp. if you’re retired.
I actually suspect that the interest rate fears are somewhat overblown. Does anybody really check Moodys and S+P etc before buying treasuries? Certainly most holders who are required to hold AAA assets are busy getting permission to hold Treasuries as if they were still rated AAA. And if interest rates went up 1% accross the board, that’s nothing compared to how much they’ve already gone up. Rumor has it that many of the big players are hording cash preparing for the possibility that the rates on treasuries go up so that they can lock in higher returns.
I’m a bit confused. These are the same rating agencies that rated Trillions of dollars of CDO’s as AAA, then testified to congress that thier ratings are “just our opinions” and should not be relied on (watch “Inside Job”).
So, I guess I’m wondering why anyone gives a rat’s patoote what rating they give.
it is ironic that we get all upset when the fed creates money to lend us…but we sure as heck don’t mind borrowing it.
Nobody is saying that the U.S. can live beyond its means forever; what we are looking at is a timing issue.
The Republicans are insisting that spending needs to be reined in this week, in order to crash the economy in time for the 2012 presidential election.
Their hatred for all things O (skin color) knows no bounds.
Conservative editorialists are coming right out and admitting that a key appeal of the Boehner plan is the prospect of using it to club Obama in the 2012 presidential race. Reining in the deficit is an afterthought.
It’s also very important to step back from the political wrangling and reflect on how we got here: Namely, W cut taxes for the very wealthy, and got us into two wars. We are still in two (or so) wars, and the tax cuts are still there, and now the Republicans are working their hardest to squeeze the Lilliputians just a little bit more to make up the difference.
Cutting the deficit is an afterthought to protecting the interests of the Superrich.
The 2012 argument for John Boehner’s plan
By ALEXANDER BURNS | 7/27/11 8:33 AM EDT
The Wall Street Journal editorial page and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol both weighed in strongly in favor of John Boehner’s debt ceiling plan today, arguing that the bill will help Republicans defeat President Obama in 2012, in addition to having a positive impact on the deficit.
…
IMO, there’s no racism from the elite. All that’s happening that corporations are looking for next year’s source of profit. Since they haven’t had enough growth in customers for 10 years (remember they wnat 12% return), they made their profit by cutting expenses one by one. They’ve already cut the fat out of employees, so they have to resort to cutting some vital flesh, generally by purchasing Congress and gleaning savings from the tax code and/or taxpayer “bailouts.”
Obama and the Dems are just obstacles to be overcome, like any other business disagreement, and using racism to garner racist votes is just one page of the playbook.
You’ve got that right oxide. The 1%ers probably dislike the poor white trash whose votes they try to buy at least as much as they dislike Obama.
and by poor white trash you mean the bottom 98%.
I would say it’s not so much as dislike as view with contempt.
Poor old race baiters, they are a sad lot. They sit with one old dog eared card and wonder why it doesn’t play anymore. Everyone sees what you are holding. It’s passed played out but they are to dim-witted to understand that.
It’s also very important to step back from the political wrangling and reflect on how we got here: Namely, W cut taxes for the very wealthy, and got us into two wars.
Previously:
A Country in Denial About Taxes:
Leonard Burman The Impertinent Economist
“Back in the olden days, we acknowledged that wars cost money and didn’t think that our children should pay the entire cost, with interest. (Imagine that!) There were huge tax increases to finance World War II and the Korean War, and fairly significant ones to pay for Vietnam.”
Race baiting is the last refuse for losing arguments……
“Poor old race baiters, they are a sad lot.”
If you believe that there aren’t a lot of people who hate Obama simply because he’s half black, then you are either in denial or are simply naive.
And if you believe Obama’s policy opposition mainy stems from hatred to his race, you my friend are losing the argument period.
Race baiting is the last refuse for losing arguments……
Race and racism played a huge role in American history as they still do today. They are a fact of life. Since they are a fact of life, their mention and discussion in issues that they are a factor in, is not only appropriate but necessary to understand the issue. Do people really believe they are not a factor in issues? Do people believe if we ignore race and racism that they do not exist? Is this intellectual honesty? Does denying race and racism’s existence asuage our individual or collective guilt?
A large section of our population simply dismissing such important issues by scoffing “race card and race baiting” is denying reality. More dangerous, it is an attempt to stifle free-speech when dealing with the issues that race and racism are factors in.
“Back in the olden days, we acknowledged that wars cost money and didn’t think that our children should pay the entire cost, with interest. (Imagine that!) There were huge tax increases to finance World War II and the Korean War, and fairly significant ones to pay for Vietnam.”
Yeah, silly that was when we were the world’s largest net creditor not the worldn’t largest net debtor.
Note the Vietnam war spending is the where we eliminated the control mechanism of our spending being tied to the collateral of gold.
But I have to ask who “we” is in the above quote. Because I don’t think any administration has required a consensus before deciding that’s where we were going to be spending our not yet earned money.
If you believe that there aren’t a lot of people who hate Obama simply because he’s half black, then you are either in denial or are simply naive.
I am not saying that. I am saying that, although there are plenty who hate Obama because he’s half black, those racists are generally NOT The Powers That Be. TPTB don’t want Obama to fail because he’s half black. TPTB don’t want him to lose in 2012 because he’s half black. TPTB don’t hate him because he’s half black.
What TPTB wants is to make him GONE because, whether he’s black/white/green/blue, he’s keeping them from “their” money. And if stressing that he’s half-black will help to make him gone and get him away from “their” money, then that’s what they will do.
I’ve always wondered why he’s considered black instead of white. He’s not dark at all, and he was raised by his white family.
i like obama because he is half black.
i dislike obama becuse his policies suck.
I’ve always wondered why he’s considered black instead of white. He’s not dark at all, and he was raised by his white family.
One quick look at the man’s physical appearance is all it takes. The man is black, even if he is light-skinned.
BTW, you can have both light-skinned and dark-skinned people within the same family. One of my friends hails from such a family. He’s much darker complected than his mother and his sisters. Not to mention his late father.
“BTW, you can have both light-skinned and dark-skinned people within the same family. One of my friends hails from such a family. He’s much darker complected than his mother and his sisters. Not to mention his late father.”
He cannot be darker than his genetic father. Genetics makes it impossible for parents to have a child darker than the darkest of the two parents. Look it up; try
http://multiracial com/site/content/view/459/27/.
+1 +1 Rio……
“Race and racism played a huge role in American history as they still do today.”
That is true…Progressives hate whitey. That puts white progressives in the tough spot of having to hate themselves.
Wow what a deal: any opposition to Obama is because of racism. The guy can’t lose!
……. and all the bigots wheel out the denials left and right.
Job well done RAL.(patting self on back)
There is a certain skill set required to get people to respond to “have you stopped beating your wife yet?”.
I know it would never happen, but for entertainment value I’d love to see Obama himself play the race card, either in a debate, or at a news conference. Not because I would agree, but because the resulting polarized race “discussion” across the country would be something to behold. And heck, maybe it would get more young blacks who voted for him in ‘08 back into the booth in 2012!
I know it would never happen, but for entertainment value I’d love to see Obama himself play the race card, either in a debate, or at a news conference.
He did that at a news conference after Henry Louis Gates was arrested. Called the police behavior stupid. A beer summit followed. Then the topic got buried.
Quite frankly, I wish he would revisit the topic again and again. If, for no other reason, to make his opponents squirm. ‘Cuz when you come down to it, they’re all mad because a black man’s in the White House.
“He did that at a news conference after Henry Louis Gates was arrested.”
I had forgotten about that. But I mean that he should play the race card for himself only, as in “It’s all good, I get it, a black president just isn’t gonna catch a break”, or “there are those who, because I am black, will always oppose any policy I put forth”. Something along those lines.
‘Cuz when you come down to it, they’re all mad because a black man’s in the White House.”
Or that!
“Timing issue”
If not now, then when?
1) When the labor market is on a more solid footing.
2) When there is not a presidential election right around the corner, so that all rationality goes out the window in the interest of punishing political opponents.
According to most people, some other time. It’s a well thought out plan!
2) When there is not a presidential election right around the corner that my guy might lose.
Fixed it for ya.
2) When there is not a presidential election right around the corner that my guy might lose.
There’s always a freakin election around the corner. Every two years. There is never a “good time” because there’s always one coming up.
Who the f* cares about elections. The people involved should be doing what is right for the country - WHAT THEY WERE ELECTED TO DO - regardless of whether it hurts their chances for re-election or not.
At least that’s what someone with integrity would do….
Ask any kid, there’s never a good time to eat one’s peas.
We’re coming off of six decades of cheese fries.
There’s always a freakin election around the corner. Every two years.
Your point on the elected’s responsibility notwithstanding, presidential elections only occur every 4 years which makes a difference in the political intensity.
Got the first notice that the 2012 election season has started.
Local TV scaremonger ad, about how the UN and Obama are going to take everyone’s guns from them.
If I were a D I’d really want to take that issue off the table and never have it used against me again.
how the UN and Obama are going to take everyone’s guns from them.
….only gay married couples will be allowed to keep their guns and if they can’t afford a gun, one will be provided to them by George Soros.
When? When the housing market “turns around”.
Hasn’t that been the answer for getting out of all financial jams, for quite a while?
If not now, when?</i?
If you look at why they don’t have the deal. Two word, Next Election!
Reptards want a small raise so that they can talk about it once again before the election.
Demtards want a large enough raise so that they dont have to talk util the day after the election.
Who’s right? It will largly depend on your biases.
“……really want to take that issue off the table…..”
They pretty much have. Obama and the Democratic leadership haven’t said/done a peep about it. Me thinks that they’ve been clubbed into submission.
Of course, if you are the one using the club, and you get paid to beat the stiff (whether he’s dead or not), you would probably continue the beating.
Local TV scaremonger ad, about how the UN and Obama are going to take everyone’s guns from them.
A couple of inconvenient truths intrude:
1. The rate of gun ownership has been falling in this country. As it has for decades. Back in the 1970s, just over half of American households owned a gun. Now it’s down to just over a third.
2. Most gun sales are made to people who already own at least one other gun. Which belies the oft-repeated notion of the “virgin” gun owners rushing out to by their first guns for protection.
A large portion of the deficit is predictable based on demographics (SS, Medicare, etc.). In other words, we KNOW with a fair degree of certainty what the ugliness is going to look like years into the future.
When I think of fixing the problem NOW, I don’t think of a balanced budget amendment that would essentially force either a) massive tax increases (for everyone, since there aren’t enough rich to tax to balance the budget), or b) cutting the knees out from many people who have been essentially planning their lives for the past several decades on the assumption that SS and Medicare would be there, either of which would plunge us back into recession…or worse.
When I think about solving the problem now, I think about putting a plan in place that, while unpalatable to most, would put us on a track to shrink the deficit and debt over time, and convince the world that we are serious about solving the very real entitlement spending issues.
Simpson/Bowles was this plan. It was a credible glide path to a more fiscally stable position–among other things, it extended eligibility ages over a period of decades, not days.
The idea that we can have a balanced budget starting now is completely insane and would be like curing a pneumonia by cutting out the infected lung today instead of taking a multi-week course of antibiotics.
They pretty much have. Obama and the Democratic leadership haven’t said/done a peep about it.
They’ve done a pretty good job of not picking at it lately. But when you were the last party to push it, and you (as a party) tend to be tone deaf to people who care a lot about it, that’s not enough. Simply being silent or neutral does nothing to stop the other side from beating you with it. Red America needs much stronger assurance that they will never get screwed by the Ds again on it before they will consider joining with the Ds against TPTB, IMO. That assurance is not there right now.
A couple of inconvenient truths intrude:
1. The rate of gun ownership has been falling in this country. As it has for decades. Back in the 1970s, just over half of American households owned a gun. Now it’s down to just over a third.
2. Most gun sales are made to people who already own at least one other gun. Which belies the oft-repeated notion of the “virgin” gun owners rushing out to by their first guns for protection.
Both of those statements sound true to me. But I don’t think that changes anything in the minds of the people that are making their decisions based on 2nd Amendment issues. Do you need those people on board to take on TPTB? It would appear that you do.
But I don’t think that changes anything in the minds of the people that are making their decisions based on 2nd Amendment issues.
I’m well acquainted with such a person. And he’s no longer of sound mind. Alzheimers, I think.
I live in fear of his losing his temper, aiming something from his collection at others, then killing himself.
If you’re lucky he’ll just forget he even has them.
Slim,
If you are seriously concerned about this person’s mental stability, you MUST contact your local sheriff and inform them. Ask to speak to someone trained in community interface and they will refer you, but whatever you do, get a paper trail going!
I’ve had to deal with this very issue, and believe me, you don’t want a deranged, paranoid next door neighbor who cleaves unto their firearms. One of my elderly neighbors used to unload her shotgun at another every time he went down to pick up the mail. (Fortunately out of range, but still….) Said that George Bush 1 had spoken to her through her ceiling fan and told her he was a danger to the country.
Seriously. Tell them.
in order to crash the economy in time for the 2012 presidential election ??
So a neocon is going to come to the rescue of all those at the middle and lower end of the food chain ?? Did you see the wealth disparity numbers the last few days ?? The losers “are not” republican voters…And the republican candidates have been eerily silent over the last week or so…Makes me wonder…Why aren’t they out in front of this supporting all those freshman tea party republicans ??
The thing I never understood about Republicans and the debt/deficit: Republicans tout themselves as “Smart business people” and “CEOs of the government” and “Im gonna run government like a business” and “I ran some pizza company no one ever heard of, so I know how to run a business”
My question: If you ran a business and didn’t pay your bills and didn’t increase your credit, what do you think is gonna happen to your business? Do you think its gonna be OK?
A business leader I am not, however I see businesses finding different revenue streams to increase their bottom line all the time (Airlines and the billions in bag fees come to mind. Didnt exist a few years ago and now they pocket a boatload). If you are a true business leader you need to do both: Cut spending and increase revenue somewhere.
Increasing revenue for more spending? That defeats the who purpose of specnding cuts, doesn’t it?
“Increasing revenue for more spending?”
Increase revenue to pay for previous spending. We have to pay back what Bush borrowed for 2 unnecessary wars while cutting taxes. We have to pay back what Bush and Obama borrowed to mitigate a financial crisis and recession. We have to pay back what Obama borrowed to continue 2 unnecessary wars (and provide air cover for a 3rd).
Increasing revenue can come from two major sources - increased taxes or improved economic conditions. The major driver of our current deficits is the Great Recession. For example, we are spending more on supporting unemployed folks and getting less in income taxes. To reverse this, we may need to institute taxes on imported goods.
We should not pursue austerity for austerity’s sake, but to rebuild our economy.
Sean, a true business leader would shed all the non-performing assets. In a government sense, this means the healthy elderly eat cat food and the sick elderly suffer in pain until they die. Employees pay everybody next to nothing (no minimum wage, remember) to work 60 hr a week. Low-income families (ie, everyone) live in boxes by the river, the blind sit in the street to beg for their bread, the poor starve.
And yes, this is what WILL happen. We know that because businesses have been running their businesses like businesses, and it’s already happening.
The biggest fallacy to the “government has a spending problem” argument is that most of the spending is put into place by laws written years ago, and driven by demographics today.
Laying Medicare spending on the feet of the current politicians is insane.
We have a problem, the cause of which is primarily laws passed decades ago, and cash management that was decided on starting decades ago (spending the surplus SS funds, and issuing notes to the trust).
So a neocon is going to come to the rescue of all those at the middle and lower end of the food chain ??
Yep! All you need to do is to let them keep their guns, and send them a box of Freedom to their doorstep, and they are saved!
(yeah, wait until the Teabaggers gain their freedom from government cheese. They’re in for a rude shock.)
“We have to pay back what Bush borrowed for 2 unnecessary wars while cutting taxes.”
BHO’s spending spree makes Bush look like a piker.
“BHO’s spending spree makes Bush look like a piker.”
If you had read the next sentence, you would see that I did not let Obama off the hook. Are you letting Bush off the hook?
Compare the situation that Bush inherited to the one that Obama inherited. Bush - peace, surpluses with a declining deficit, the beginnings of a mild recession. Obama - 2 ongoing wars, large and increasing deficits, the worst economy in 70 years. One took a normal situation and drove us off a cliff. The other has been fighting to save a desperate situation.
Much of Obama’s spending was driven by the attempt to right the economic ship. And a significant portion of recent deficits was also due to a decline in revenue caused by the recession.
“Are you letting Bush off the hook?”
Absolutely not. He was a financial disaster, but that does not mean it’s time to double down.
“Absolutely not. He was a financial disaster, but that does not mean it’s time to double down.”
Good. So to get back to my point - we need to increase revenue to pay for previous spending.
Total BS.
As long as they get the blame, I’m all for it.
Much better than the “mainstream” Republican plan — keep borrowing and eliminate all public services and benefits for those under age 55 only.
I agree with you about the under/over 55 split in benefits. It is intentionally divisive and will be bad for people on both sides of the divide. If the politicians cannot muster support for changing benefits among the over 55 set, then their plan should not be foisted on the under 55 group.
Just one question?
So when do they introduce changes that are any more “fair”?
I’ll be 55 in a little over a year. Maybe if I join the Teabaggers, I can stir up enough crap, to delay things long enough to get a 100% share of government cheese.
If that happens, screw you 54 and unders…..
Old paradigm = E Plurbus Unum
New paradigm = I’ve got mine.
“Just one question?
So when do they introduce changes that are any more “fair”?”
I am not sure what your question is or if it is directed at me. What does fair mean?
My take on this is that if changes are passed that affect only those younger than 55, eventually those changes will be forced on those in the protected group at a point when those in the unprotected group out vote the protected group and probably in the extreme old age of those now protected. It is better to deal with it honestly now and come to a policy that works for everyone.
If we maintain our current course, I expect both Medicare and Social Security to be inflated out of existence. We already have doctors who will not accept new Medicaid patients because payments do not cover costs. So we have to do something and the cost of medical care is key. I think Social Security is more easily fixable.
I applaud Obama for trying, although I am not really happy with the health insurance reform bill. I think he recognized the impact of ever rising health insurance on our competitiveness and new business formation. He tried to work with the Republicans and heal the divisions created by the Bush presidency, but Republicans saw no political beneifit in cooperation. We would have been better off if he had pushed for single payer.
There are options that have not really been discussed by politicians. I have advocated for free basic care for everyone combined with an insurance market for more than basic care. In an emergency, there is no meaningful market competition. Infectious diseases are a public health threat. It makes sense to provide pre-natal and infant care and catch problems before they become expensive and life-long.
You don’t understand correctly. A downgrade would be because the US refuses to deal with its debt problem and Dems and Repubs instead fight each other.
I’ve been negative on the whole spending plans of both Bush, Obama and their predecessors. But you can’t keep the Left from constantly increasing spending. When the conservatives try to stop it, the press blasts them as killers of children and haters of the world. They just can’t win.
The most amazing thing in the recent past with “budgets” is the use of a “baseline”, which is already in deficit spending. The Left likes to use a baseline and any money that is less than the “baseline” is a CUT, even as spending increases.
The media even reports it as such. How we are lied to.
Harry Reid’s “budget” uses increases in troop spending for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as the “baseline”, then says under his budget we will save 100’s of billions when we don’t increase the war spending, even as Obama says he has no plans for increasing spending. The entire process is a big lie, in plain site, which the PRESS reports as a truthful accounting of the facts. It’s just unbelievable.
But what is most amazing of all:
The press reporting downgrades from Moody’s and S&P on US Sovereign debt. These are the same private companies that reported AAA ratings on subprime lending, until the loans collapsed.
Why are they treated with such reverence>? They are just shills for some Pols who butter their bread. After all, they get their special place in the USA for CONgress, as you will recall did FANNIE and FREDDIE, the junk bond kings of America.
We should ignore them and get the budgetary problems of US of A solved. Starting NOW.
Stop throwing away TRILLIONS of dollars and GET RID OF THE FED.
These are the same private companies that reported AAA ratings on subprime lending, until the loans collapsed. Why are they treated with such reverence?
Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner!
“But you can’t keep the Left from constantly increasing spending.”
If you had said politicians, I would agree with you.
There are 2 ways that spending increases - demographics and new or expanded programs.
The population has increased by 50% since I graduated from high school. That increase alone will drive increases in spending.
Politicians are driven to increase spending on new or existing programs by their constant need to sell themselves to their constituents. They have to look like they are doing something to solve our problems.
We need to have a review process to determine the effectiveness of programs and weed out the dead weight. Unfortunately, this process would probably be usurped by the politicians and bureaucrats and would eventually become dead weight. Note that this is not a slight on government per se. Corporations are prone to similar problems. The larger the organization, the more dead weight it seems to accumulate.
Affluent Buyers Reviving Market for Miami Homes
By DAVID STREITFELD
Published: July 26, 2011
MIAMI — South Florida is the default capital of the country. Here in Miami-Dade County, one out of five households with mortgages is in foreclosure. Nearby Broward and Palm Beach counties are not far behind. Nearly 200,000 South Florida families are stuck in the mire of
And yet much of Miami is gripped by a housing mania as the oversupply of distressed homes dries up and foreigners and investors swoon. Only a few years after it seemed there were so many unwanted high-rise condominiums that the only solution was to tear some of them down, there are plans to build even more.
Home sales in the metropolitan area during the first half of the year rose 16 percent from 2010 for the best spring since 2007, according to the research firm DataQuick, far outpacing the negligible growth in the rest of the country. Two-thirds of the sales were all cash.
…
You have the desirable areas near the coast that attracts affluent buyers from all over the world. Further inland you have the crack infested ghettos that cover hundreds of square miles. At the peak in 2006 a slum shack (including bullet holes and leaking roof) would run about $250K. Now you can get one of those gems as “investment property” for $25 - $50K.
Thanks Mike!
You paint a great picture with your words…
-T
Now if we could just get them flipping amongst themselves again…
Red, White and Blue Chips Archives
July 26, 2011, 11:50 a.m. EDT
Builders years away from recovery
We’re no longer seeing the very steep declines in home sales and prices, but there are no signs that these, or any, housing indicators are about to break out of their “depressed” levels anytime soon, says Wells Fargo economist Anika Khan. And home builders are years away from recovery.
Cry me a river. They should have taken their hints from Joseph’s dreams of the seven fat cows and seven lean cows, and socked away accordingly.
Bachmann benefitted from federal home loan program
By Kimberly Kindy, Published: July 26, 2011
Like many members of Congress, Rep. Michele Bachmann has been a fierce critic of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, blaming the government-backed loan programs for excesses that helped create the financial meltdown in 2008.
…
Just a few weeks before Bachmann called for dismantling the programs during a House Financial Services Committee hearing, she and her husband signed for a $417,000 home loan to help finance their move to a 5,200-square-foot golf-course home, public records show. Experts who examined the loan documents for The Washington Post say that they are confident the loan was backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
Seeing problems with the programs — especially the high costs to taxpayers — hasn’t stopped a concerned public or other members of Congress from taking advantage of the lower interest rates that come due to government backing.
Bachmann has been the most outspoken critic of the loan programs and other government subsidies among Republican presidential candidates. Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty also has called for dismantling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Experts who reviewed his mortgage documents said that there was no way to tell whether his home loan from 1994 had government backing.
Bachmann’s mortgage was part of a package of debt that she and her husband, Marcus, assumed to buy their home, public records show. They also have other loans, including a home equity line of credit, a business mortgage and another business loan for their Christian counseling clinics, bringing their liabilities to more than $1 million, according to the most recently available public records.
…
It’s great to learn that millionaire Congress folks are able to take good advantage of the affordable housing programs they publicly denigrate.
…and it’s good to see they can still be objective about said programs.
$417K .. my o my what a co-inky-dink.
I wonder if she was a friend of Angelo.
You’d have to be bat-$hit crazy yourself to agree to be “counseled” by these bat-$hit crazies. Good God talk about the blind leading the blind.
Bachmann’s mortgage was part of a package of debt that she and her husband, Marcus, assumed to buy their home, public records show. They also have other loans, including a home equity line of credit, a business mortgage and another business loan for their Christian counseling clinics, bringing their liabilities to more than $1 million
heheeeheeeheehaahaaahaaheeehaahaaa… (Hwy50™)
$elf-applied merit badges:
“TruePurity™ / “TruePathtoPro$perity™ / TrueAnger!™”
This badge of dis-honor covers the whole right side of their cult uniform:
“TrueHypocrite™”
I’m not so concerned about Bachmann’s financial hypocrisy, as that garbage happens on both sides of the aisle.
What concerns me more are the knuckle headed policies that legislators of both parties love to champion.
Let’s not forget about the government aid she is receiving as well.
“A counseling clinic run by her husband has received nearly $30,000 from the state ofMinnesota in the last five years, money that in part came from the federal government. A family farm in Wisconsin, in which the congresswoman is a partner, received nearly $260,000 in federal farm subsidies.”
I keep reading about how the prospect of a U.S. debt ratings downgrade will result in higher interest rates, but it seems like they remain at generational lows. I guess I will believe this when (and if) I see it.
Debt ceiling deal may not stop downgrade of U.S. credit rating
By Elizabeth Aguilera, Reporter
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 8:30 p.m.
Even if Congress and the president wrangle a debt-ceiling deal before the looming Aug. 2 deadline, it is unclear if such a last-minute move would save the U.S.’s top-notch credit rating from being downgraded, which would trigger higher interest rates.
…
I’m really murky on what the hoped-for outcome of the Congressional wrangling over the debt ceiling is. Are they trying to get a lower U.S. credit rating, slower economic growth during the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, or both?
U.S. 30-Year Yield Falls from Almost 2-Week High on Prospects for Slowing
By Susanne Walker - Jul 26, 2011 10:26 AM MT
Treasuries gained, pushing 30-year bond yields down from almost a two-week high, amid speculation a deadlock on raising the $14.3 trillion federal debt limit and cutting the budget deficit will slow economic growth.
Benchmark 10-year note yields dropped from the highest level in two weeks as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was told by credit-rating companies his deficit-cutting proposal would not prompt a downgrade of U.S. debt. Sales of new U.S. homes unexpectedly declined for a second month in June. The Federal Reserve purchased $3.1 billion of Treasuries.
“Most people believe that by passing the limit, it will lead to some drag on the economy,” said Ray Remy, head of fixed income in New York at Daiwa Capital Markets America Inc., one of 20 primary dealers that trade with the Fed. “Nobody knows how much. The biggest market concern is that they may do something in a temporary way and kick the can down the road.”
…
Would it trigger higher interest rates when we’re our own top buyer?
I’m thinking maybe if #2 and #3 back off more but timing would be murkier.
For RIO:
I read somewhere yesterday that FDI to Brazil dripped by 70%. If that is true, Brazil’s bubble may be about to burst.
FDI?
Foreign direct investment
Brazil will probably survive. What I hope will NOT survive is stuff like this:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=397&letter_id=6611508911
Letter to Jeff Bingaman: (D-NM)
“I am appalled that the State Department is spending $770M rebuilding mosques and supplying them with computers! According to a report by WSBTV (see below), this is taking place. And the people who are getting this money think it is just to appease them!
This money has not even been allocated, so it is just added to our deficit. Why do you allow this to happen? Why aren’t you spending money here helping people with jobs, education, infrastructure and fixing the federal budget?”
—- Albuquerque , NM
(the link includes the second link to the TV news story video)
If this happened in the US, wouldn’t it be unconstitutional?
That cost needs to be factored into the true cost of oil.
Nation building isn’t cheap!
I think their gov has put some barriers up to outsiders investing there. They didn’t want a flood of US dollars to drive up the value of their currency.
I read somewhere yesterday that FDI to Brazil dripped by 70%. If that is true, Brazil’s bubble may be about to burst.
I think a slowdown has begun. There is too much inflation, irrational (sambaesque) exuberance and credit growth. The new president is only 6 months into her term so the timing for a slowdown would be good for the ruling party. Of course I hope it will be a slowdown and not a crash.
Now I finally think I get it: The debt ceiling debate is being driven from behind the scenes by a wrassler.
House speaker’s Ohio neighbor leads conservative fight against compromise debt plan
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, July 27, 1:09 AM
WASHINGTON — When President Barack Obama complains about House Republicans unwilling to compromise on a deficit reduction package, he’s talking about Rep. Jim Jordan, a former wrestling champion from Ohio who is becoming a driving force in the debt debate on Capitol Hill.
Jordan’s district is right next to Speaker John Boehner’s in the western part of Ohio, but ideologically, he is miles apart from the Republican leader.
As Boehner and his lieutenants scrambled Tuesday for votes for the speaker’s latest debt bill, Jordan announced at a news conference that he opposed the package, and he boldly predicted the speaker didn’t have enough Republican votes to pass it. Tuesday night, GOP leaders postponed a vote planned for Wednesday as they worked to rewrite the package.
“If you look at this, it’s about a $7 billion reduction in spending from what we’re currently at,” Jordan said. “We advocated something much more than that.”
…
The 2 congressional districts may touch each other, but they are hardly similar.
Boehner’s house, and the population base for his district, sit in the norther Cinicnnati suburbs. I live about 1 mile outside his district, about 6 miles from where I believe his house is located. I work in his district, about 3 miles from his house.
His district has been one of the fasted growing areas of the country in the past 2 decades. In fact, I think his home county (Butler) may have been the single fastes growing county in the country around 1999, and stayed up there for many years. We are talking exurb growth of converting agricultre fields into endless bland subdivision. That his his area.
Jordan, on the other hand (I had to look up his district) is from the very heavily agriculture part of the state that is north of Columbus. The biggest city in his vast district is Lima, about 70k. Not sure where he personally lives.
The 2 districts are diametrically opposite in make-up, but are expansive enough that they do share a border in the sparsly populated part of the state.
Thanks for clarifying this, the coastal elite MSM never do their homework about flyover.
Now I finally think I get it: The debt ceiling
debaterepubican-manufactured-crisis is being driven from behind the scenes bya wrasslerthe $tandard & Moody & Fitchety “True$erialEnabler’s™” + other “varmints”.Alternative POV
I am beginning to think that the only way out is for Boehner to stop trying to get the Tea Party caucus on board and to write a package that Democrats can support.
Are the Tea Party reps a majority of the Republicans in the House? Is Boehner’s speakership at risk if he does this?
Rating cut almost certain for U.S. Treasuries
TORONTO, BURLINGTON, ONT.
From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Jul. 26, 2011 2:32PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Jul. 27, 2011 5:08AM EDT
Washington’s debt standoff is bruising the U.S. dollar, fraying nerves in Ottawa and other capitals, and even beginning to hurt business operations as it nears the point of no return.
As the deadline to raise the U.S. government’s debt ceiling draws closer, the warring factions appeared to be digging in even deeper Tuesday. And worries about the impasse are escalating as it becomes clear that rating agencies, notably Standard & Poor’s, are likely to cut America’s triple-A rating even if a last-minute deal is reached and a full-on crisis is averted.
…
And worries about the impasse are escalating as it becomes clear that rating agencies, notably Standard & Poor’s, are likely to cut America’s triple-A rating even if a last-minute deal is reached and a full-on crisis is averted.
After what the ratings agencies did/did not do during the housing/credit bubble, why should anyone listen to them all?
While I agree with this (credit ratings agencies should be ignored) it will be interesting to see how this plays out with pension funds and others that are only allowed to invest in AAA rated securities. This might be a clever ruse by wall street and the ratings agencies to bump pension and 401k funds out of treasuries into wall street products in a kind of pump and dump scheme. If this happens, I think I will pull out of the market for a bit after the initial bump in prices as retirement, endowment, etc funds move out of treasuries into other AAA funds. Of course, if T-Bill prices drop on a credit downgrade, it might be a good opportunity to park a small amount of cash in them.
My balanced budget. I ran some numbers from available online info. Here’s what I cam up with. I know, nobody will like it since everybody gets hit. Too damn bad. So here it goes:
The federal budget 2012
Income
1. All income is equal. Yes, that includes capital gains and inheritance.
2. The first $24K of income is tax free (double if married). The remainder is taxed at a flat rate of 33%. This includes all taxes, social security, medicare/caid, income and capital gains. This is about tax neutral to the current system. (estimated $1850 billion)
3. Corporate income tax is replaced by a 7% federal sales tax. Since GE and others don’t pay taxes anyway there is no point to go just after the little guy. (estimated $470 billion)
4. Energy tax of $0.03/kWh and $2/gallon of gasoline. That shifts the true cost of energy (like various Middle East military missions) onto the consumer and encourages less energy consumption. (estimated $700 billion)
5. Total estimated income of $3020 (versus current income of about $2300)
Expenditures
1. Pensions receive 22.5% of total federal income. We try to give everybody $1000/month but no more than what they’re entitled too. If money is left over it is distributed on equal percentage according to entitlement. So you might get 40% of your claim above $1000. ($680 versus current $793)
2. Medicare will receive 22.5% of federal income. It is distributed to help everybody a little. Extremely expensive procedures are not covered. We have finite resources and unlimited demand. Something got to give. ($680 versus current $882)
3. Military spending (including wars) will receive 17% of federal spending. ($513 versus current $964) This is a lot less than currently but still as much as the next 9 countries combined (China+ UK + France + Russia + Japan + Saudi Arabia + Germany + India + Italy). So we can still be the chief war mongers on this planet, just not as much as we used too.
4. Interest on debt will receive 100% funding. Current $206 of 6.8% of proposed budget.
5. Welfare/unemployment. The housing subsidies are eliminated. All else is cut by 10%. ($382 versus $495) This accounts for 12.6% of proposed budget.
6. Other spending (education, protection, general government, transportation. “other”) is $476. We eliminate 10% or more of that spending by cutting all subsidies. ($430 versus $476)
That leaves $129 billion.
Half are used to pay down the debt the other half are used to make the US energy independent.
- Electric rail
- Alternative energy (Wind, solar, geothermal, SAVE nuclear, etc.)
- Better energy efficiency in homes (insulation, heating, cooling, hot water)
- Public transportation
- Bike lanes
No more subsidies or bailouts to anybody. No more deficits. Of course debt is also money, so we have to seriously start thinking about a new monetary system of debt free money. Under the current system it is simply not possible to pay back all debt and have growth. Over 90% of money today is somebody’s debt.
“I know, nobody will like it since everybody gets hit.”
That’s the crux of the matter, in my opinion. We no longer have statesmen and stateswomen in Washington.
In my opinion the political process is broken and as a result the most we can hope for is endless tinkering with the current system because we will never get the partisan politics.
There are too many stakeholders who have an interest in the status quo and they will not give up their stake soley because doing so is in the interest of the greater good. They will look for something in exchange for what they’re being asked to give up.
“…never get beyond the partisan politics.”
Nice work.
I disagree with this: The first $24K of income is tax free (double if married). This punishes single people big time.
And I REALLY disagree with the 7% federal sales tax. That favors corporations: especially outsourcers, and heaps the burden entirely onto the backs of consumers.
Corporations pass the cost onto the consumer one way or another. That Corpaorate taxes get more or less money out of corporations is an illusion. They just raise or lower the prices accordingly. No corparate taxes will draw corporations into the US, not away from the US. That means more jobs, less unemployment. The sales tax applies to every product and service sold, including all imports.
As for taxes, everybody files tax as “single”. If people want to get married or not, that’s their business. I fail to see how that punishes single people.
Mike is right. Corporations really don’t pay taxes. If their tax rate goes up or a new tax is instituted, it’s the consumer of their product or service who ultimately pays.
http://shotimesports.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Foghorn-Leghorn.jpg
You mean supply and demand don’t determine prices consumers pay? Say it ain’t so!
“You mean supply and demand don’t determine prices consumers pay? Say it ain’t so!”
When tax rates go up on all suppliers, the capital model says the consumer will pay more to keep the supplier businesses profitable. If they are not profitable they go under. The competition remains and is subject to supply and demand.
Ah! But paying income tax doesn’t make you unproftable, it just makes you less profitable. If you are unprofitable you don’t pay income tax, right?
Corporate taxes?
RUN! IT’S THE BOOGEYMAN!
Study says most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes | Politics | Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1249465620080812
OK…….what happens when everybody moves what’s left of our manufacturing base abroad, where they don’t have to pay 7% sales tax on their vendor supplied parts, raw materials, etc?
Many places are already dealing with 8-9% state and local sales taxes.
Most other countries have a sales tax too. In Mexico its 10%.
In Mexico it’s a VAT (or as they call it: IVA.
That Corpaorate taxes get more or less money out of corporations is an illusion. They just raise or lower the prices accordingly.
This is not entirely true. I owned a business that sold products for 20 years. One can’t simply raise or lower prices to negate the effects of taxes or expenses. If this were so, CEO’s would triple the prices on everything. A balancing act of supply, demand and the price of the good is always in play.
One can’t simply raise or lower prices to negate the effects of taxes or expenses.
Sure you can, if it’s a “need,” and there is informal semi-collusion among competitors. Just look at what Enron did to electricity prices, and what is happening to food, gas, health care and college now. Now matter how high the price, is, demand will never go to zero.
“This punishes single people big time”
I don’t see how Oxide, it’s still the same per person. As it is, married folk are punished somewhat.
Same argument as “poor people should pay the same rate as rich people”. Single people pay a much higher percentage of their gross for basics.
I assume that the $24K figure is the threshold income for basics like housing payments and food. Not taxing that income helps people pay for basics.
However, for a married couple, that threshold figure is not much more than $24K, because they are sharing housing. Therefore a married couple gets some extra amount tax free, which is presumably NOT spent on basics.
The work around then is to partner up and forget the marriage liscense. Works already for retirement.
And for roomies.
But at least it won’t be codified into the tax code.
Blue It works for lots of government benefits…one can have a high income and the other nothing and still get pell grants food stamps medicaid… It all about combining income if you are “married”
replace sales tax with a VAT.
Not sure on the details. How does that capture taxes from imports? It is important that imports get taxed as well, not just stuff Made in USA.
Also do we we leave state and county intact while we initiate that federal tax? That put’s us at 16.5% tax. Yeah, all you’re going to do is shut down trade w/those numbers.
I fail to see how a flat tax rate shuts down trade. Yes, states are free to charge whatever tax rate they see fit. If you don’t like it move to a state that charges less.
Easier said than done.
I disagree with this: The first $24K of income is tax free (double if married). This punishes single people big time.
Speaking as a lifelong single person, I agree. I’m tired of being punished because I’ve neither wed nor bred.
I could be wrong here but I think the gov encourages families because they need more workers to support all the boomers.
When we first married, I made significantly more than my husband. But when I became pregant w/the 2nd one I gave the career up to stay home when daycare in Newton MA where I worked was $350 /week/infant mid 1990s. If we were being taxed as 2 singles maybe I just would have stayed at work and we would have stuck w/the one. I was already 37 when I had the 2nd so if I didn’t have her then it wasn’t gonna be happening.
Once we’re half way through the boomer bulge meaning 1/2 of them have gone “on to Jesus” the gov will probably encourage singles.
4. Energy tax of $0.03/kWh and $2/gallon of gasoline. That shifts the true cost of energy (like various Middle East military missions)
The consumer has yet to bear the true costs of the empire. (besides all those airshows aren’t really free)
So people on SS will only get $1000 a month? So your average geriatric will have to live on $12k a year? You realize that these people form the majority of the voting block right?
Also re medicare: extremely expensive (and necessary) procedures is what should be covered. How is this $12k a year person going to pay for a $100k surgery?
So people on SS will only get $1000 a month? So your average geriatric will have to live on $12k a year? You realize that these people form the majority of the voting block right?
No one ever said SS was supposed to be enough to live off. It’s supposed to keep people from being destitute, no?
$12k/year is a nice supplement to help from family, friends, non-profits, and savings.
Depends on what your definition of “destitute” is.
Being dependent on “family, friends, non-profits and savings” (yeah, right……what savings?) is pretty much my definition of destitute.
Told my doctor yesterday I’m going for the “Early stroke/heart attack retirement plan”. Better to check out early, than being an Alzheimer’s riddled 70 year old living in a Chevy van down by the river.
Actually, I’d rather check out early than get Alzheimers, regardkess if have money or not.
Other than that, your point is well taken.
What’s really fun is when it’s obvious to the family that someone needs to be institutionalized, but the docs won’t certify that they are no longer functional.
My dad needed to go to a nursing home about 3 years before he actually did. He was still marginally functional about 50 of the time, and refused to go voluntarily. So he’d be out on the highways, running into people with his truck. Of course, in the end, he blamed everyone in the family for taking his keys away, and (finally) getting the docs to sign off on getting him into assisted living.
He had a $hitload of gold/silver coins at one time. After he passed, they turned up missing. I’m sure they are buried/hidden somewhere.
There is such a thing as being too cheap for your own good.
He had a $hitload of gold/silver coins at one time. After he passed, they turned up missing. I’m sure they are buried/hidden somewhere.
My assumption would be somebody snagged them…probably a relative.
That is possible, but I doubt it. The immediate family was totally shut out in the end. He was convinced that everybody in the family was trying to “steal his money”. Not that he had that much to “steal”.
He gave some stuff to his sisters/brother, but they gave us all that stuff, because they thought it should go to us.
I’m going to have to believe that my aunts/uncle didn’t turn into scumbags over it.
Read my suggestion. I said 22.5% of federal income goes towards SS. We try to get everybody at least $1000. IF money is left over then people will get more. Example: Your claim is $1800/month.
So you get $1000 everybody gets. You still have a $800 unsatisfied claim, as do other pensioners. There still is enough money in the pot to pay out 50% of unsatisfied claims. So you get 50% of the remainig $800 for a grand total of $1400.
Makes sense? That way everybody gets the bare minimum, the rest is distributed according to the size of the remaining claim.
I think the issue is that $1000/month is not enough to be bare minimum.
your distirubution scenario is just one example of means testing. It’s just that your numbers are off.
$1000 will pay for food, gas, utilities and property tax and maybe toilet paper. It IS barely doable, but only IF that person lives in a paid-off house in a low-tax area with a paid off car and fully paid medicare. Hopefully that person can get good free TV reception to keep them from going insane from isolation.
Good luck.
How is this $12k a year person going to pay for a $100k surgery ??
It won’t…So you just die…But don’t worry, there will be cheep generic drugs that will dull the pain on your way down and who knows maybe the overdose will kill you before the disease thereby saving even more money…
The “TruePathtoPro$pertiy™”…they have plan$…to insulate & indemnify themselve$: “pay-the-fee$ or die-from-the-disease”
USA citizen National Healthcare = “Evil”
Relax scdave, we all know that the little people are expendable. Just keep charging them the full payroll tax, return only a fraction of what gets paid in as benefits and spend the rest on wars.
Its the American way!
But have no fears, after all we live in a “Christian Nation” and the USA’s believers would never, ever allow a child or a senior to go hungry.
I should know, because in my little burg the “Bible Believing” churches send the poor who ask them for help to my Pagan Catholic Parrish, telling them that “St. John’s will help you. Oh and before you go, have you accepted Jesus as your personal lord and savior?”.
I should know, because in my little burg the “Bible Believing” churches send the poor who ask them for help to my Pagan Catholic Parrish, telling them that “St. John’s will help you. Oh and before you go, have you accepted Jesus as your personal lord and savior?”.
Same thing happens in my parents’ town. Their church (Holy Trinity Episcopal) has hosted a community dinner for the homeless and poor for many years.
They’ve asked other churches for help. According to Mom, the response from the Baptist church was a firm “no.” Because they don’t want to associate with THOSE people.
Baptists are FIRM believers in Protestant Calvinism. (Social Darwinism)
They are in for one BIG surprised when they get to the pearly gates.
“Baptists are FIRM believers in Protestant Calvinism. (Social Darwinism)”
Yet so many don’t believe in ACTUAL Darwinism. Ai-yi-yi!
How is this $12k a year person going to pay for a $100k surgery ??
Good point. Our health-care system needs to be totally redone to “balance” any budget. Without that, fogettaboutit. Medicare should be scrapped and USA should go on single payer with private options.
USA spends almost 18% of GDP on health-care. Canada spends 10% of their GDP for better results. If we had their plan, we’d have 8% more GDP to devote to more productive areas of our economy.
I agree Rio…I will add one other thought…In the interest of saving even more money, you can have a option of using a lower cost MD or hospital whether it be in Louisiana, Brazil or Taipei in return for a lower premium…Makes sense to me…I would have no problem traveling to Tenn. or out of he country for a procedure such as knee replacement or Hernia as long as the system there was properly vetted…Life threatening issues I would rather stay home…
In the interest of saving even more money, you can have a option of using a lower cost MD or hospital whether it be in Louisiana, Brazil or Taipei in return for a lower premium…
Great idea. That would also introduce global competition into health-care. Why is global competition good for toasters and not for a knee replacement?
A lot of Brazilians do med and dental stuff when they are back visiting Brazil. (sometimes for free)
I have a 60% off Brazilian dental implant that I did when I lived in the USA.
How is any amount of SS pay for $100K surgery? Should we allocate 110% of federal income to SS so every pensioner can have a million $$ surgery? Demand for health care is unlimited. Should we fund unlimited demand?
1. There still is medicare
2. You can get private insurance
3. Everybody dies, no matter how much money you throw at the problem. It is part of human nature. Not pleasant but still an irrefutable fact. No amount of taxation will make that “problem” go away. We can choose to ruin our finances over it (and other expenditures like military or SS) or we can allocate an amount that is sustainable for furture generations.
Does your 22.5% pay the current level of Medicare benefits? The estimate I saw was $355k per couple of benefits.
That’s a lot of $…
Frankly, one of the ways to cut down on Medicare costs is to significantly curtail end of life costs of care.
This is an incredibly difficult conversation to have…and so it won’t be had.
You simply take the money that the young and healthy already pay into private plans and redirect that to Medicare. It’s called single-payer.
“… the other half are used to make the US energy independent.
- Electric rail
- Alternative energy (Wind, solar, geothermal, SAVE nuclear, etc.)
- Better energy efficiency in homes (insulation, heating, cooling, hot water)
- Public transportation
- Bike lanes
No more subsidies or bailouts to anybody. ”
I’d like to point out that the listed items are all subsidies, provided to: transportation and electric utilities, insulation manufacturers and installers, public transit users, bike commuters/riders.
You’re right, energy is special. Without energy it is lights out for our economy. With peak everything looming we don’t have much of a choice. You can’t expect private industry to pay for bridges, bike lanes, etc. Electrifying the rail system is crucial for our transportation needs. We also need a modern high voltage DC electric grid to get the energy from where it is produced (solar in desert) to where it is consumed. the costs are too high for private industry to tackle. Similar for medical research. Profits typically are 10 - 20 years down the road. No company would invest in that. You do enjoy modern medical care, don’t you?
The subsidies I am after are in no specific order:
- FANNIE, FREDDIE
- farm subsidies
- bailouts of any kind
- tax loopholes, all of them
- interest tax deduction for home owners
- tax breaks for corporations
This is what I keep trying to explain to everyone. A lack of a tax can be considered an “incentive”.
We tax the financiers less than people that make stuff. So we kill the manufacturers, and the financial class breeds like rabbits.
By helping defend Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Europe, we are directly subsidizing their manufacturers, and taxing our own out of existence.
Hell, the whole US Navy is a direct subsidy to the world’s exporters. Who else has the muscle to ensure “freedom of the seas”?
Our problem is not our “empire”. Our problem is that we (meaning the Bottom 99%ers) aren’t getting any financial benefits from paying for the empire.
Our problem is not our “empire”. Our problem is that we (meaning the Bottom 99%ers) aren’t getting any financial benefits from paying for the empire.
So true, too bad our masters don’t care. I suppose I should parrot their party line: Just be glad you have a job! Now pay more taxes while we shop around for a new jet.
Thanks X-GS Fixer,
I thought I would cut and paste what you posted above…
It is too valuable to let pass only once-
“By helping defend Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Europe, we are directly subsidizing their manufacturers, and taxing our own out of existence.
Hell, the whole US Navy is a direct subsidy to the world’s exporters. Who else has the muscle to ensure “freedom of the seas”?
Our problem is not our “empire”. Our problem is that we (meaning the Bottom 99%ers) aren’t getting any financial benefits from paying for the empire.”
It is far past time to have countries we are taking care off to pay for the protection we give them.
-T
Or pay retail to buy our gear, to protect themselves.
The “World War 2 ended the Depression” statement needs clarification. It ended when the Brits/French/Dutch/Belgians/etc. started ordering airplanes, guns, ammo, and trucks in 1938.
Japan wants to buy the F-22. We won’t sell it to them, because the USAF is 99% sure that the technology would get leaked out to Russia/China.
ended when the Brits/French/Dutch/Belgians/etc. started ordering airplanes, guns, ammo, and trucks in 1938.
That helped but industrial production and GDP were trending sharply up from 1933-1938 before those weapons orders and unemployment was headed downwards between 1933-38.
The orders were in 1938-39. Deliveries didn’t start happening until 1940-41.
At which point, there was an embargo on deliveries, because many of the countries were occupied by the Germans.
Historical tidbit: The “Flying Tigers” aircraft were a ready to ship order of 100 Curtiss P-40B “Tomahawks” that were supposed to go to the UK.
The Brits didn’t want them, because they were obsolete for operations in NE Europe. So Nationalist China “bought” them.
‘38 is a little early. Europe went to war in ‘39 with an appallingly inadequate arsenal. Even the German war machine was in mostly peacetime production mode until “total war” was declared in 1942. Meanwhile in 1940 the low countries and France were using WW I surplus. Both sides relied more on horses than trucks. Lend Lease (1941) meant the Brits and Soviets were the primary customers for our arms - the rest were occupied by then.
A lot of the photos of WW II familair to most Americans depict the latter stages of mobilization. The first few years of WW II were actually quite disorganized all around.
What I want someone to do one of these days is find out why they decided to use “Higgins boats” on D-Day, instead of building as many “Amtracs” as they could. Or at least have the first wave of troops come ashore in Amtracs.
The Marine invasion of Tarawa in November 1943 illustrated what could happen if the people defending the beach got to their guns before you came ashore. Especially if you had to wade ashore from the bow ramp of a Higgins boat, instead of having a little bit of armor protection the Amtrac provided, to get you across the beach.
“Not Invented Here” by the US Army?…….Political/money kickback to Higgins via giant military contract?
Here in beautiful Spokane the PTB’s have decided that it would be wonderful to have a three mile long electric trolley connecting one neighborhood, downtown and the fledgling University District, at a cost of (drum roll please) $36 million dollars. Notwithstanding that we already have bus system that gets about 70% of its operating revenue from a local sales tax levy.
And you wonder why /states and local government are flat broke.
At our local airport, they just built a state of the art control tower for about $50 million (not a lot of air traffic at GEG) and now are spending $25 million to take a hump out of the main runway. Now that hump has been there since the airport was built in 1948, so I am wondering why its critical that the hump be removed now (union wage rates required). But that’s just me.
My understanding is that personal income taxes would bring in about $1T this year. How is $1.85T “tax neutral”? Are you shifting corporate taxes to personal?
Today’s House is exactly what I DON’T want:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/17416-Gallagher-Way-Olney-MD-20832/37207985_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-list-address}
Built 1982. 3/3 1200 sq ft end-unit townhouse on next to no land. Two “assigned” parking spaces (on the street?) The inside has top-of-the-line everything, described in puke-inducing re-al-TOR speak, but there are no pix to show all this highquality.
Jan 2002: Sold $172K
2006 Zestimate: $373K
2011 Zestimate: $309K
Listed now: $365K (!!!)
Days on market: 264. GEE, YA THINK?!?
How much you want to bet this FB was a serial refinancer who needs $360K so he wouldn’t have to bring anything to the table?
My wife and I are looking at Olney. We like the area/neighborhood and really think that area is for us, as we are getting tired of the people around N. Bethesda.
I saw that townhouse and laughed. They look like all the others, but all the others are plummeting in value.
If your looking for a new house for tomorrow, check out this one:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3430-N-High-St-Olney-MD-20832/37200318_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-bubble-address}
(Make sure you click on the full price history, and see what it sold for on 8/12/2005)
I’ve run into that one on Zillow.
The entire price history is out of whack. $250K to $1.2 million, chase down to $600K, $130K auction price for a month, back up to $440K wishing price, chasing down to $350K…. wtf?
Sounds like multiple frauds. I wouldn’t touch that house with a 40-foor pole. It’s unattractive anyway.
How far out of whack do you think that is for your market?
A comparable house in that area should be at least $100K less, even with the high-end goodies. Lesser townhomes are $150K less.
And it comes with Stainless Steal
Rick Santelli :
He seems to be the most sensible guy on CNBC. Why doesn’t he asked by the Govt. for his 2 cents to the financial mess the country is in. Or has politics taken over right or wrong for the country. Or I must say has the greed taken over politics and that in turn has taken over the country.
“Rick Santelli : He seems to be the most sensible guy on CNBC.Why doesn’t he asked by the Govt. for his 2 cents to the financial mess the country is in.”
Well, one of his simplistic rants supposedly ignited the founding of the TeaKoch party, so I guess his views are considered to be well-represented amongst their newly-elected, hell-no-we-won’t-compromise-because-God-is-on-our-side-and-He-hates-deficits-and-taxes-on-the-wealthy reps.
simlistic rants, eh?
common sense is not so common anymore…..
I don’t know anyone that was paying attention to the “rant heard ’round the world” that thinks the current formation of the Tea Party is anything Santelli intended his protests to be. The current drivers of that bus hijacked the momentum and it seemed Santelli couldn’t distance himself fast enough. I was going to attend that first Chicago Tea Party and by the time it came around it was quite obvious that this was not what I first thought it was. Oh, maybe that was when Palin started draping herself all over the cause.
I’ve still got my unworn shirt that I purchased shortly after his rant in my closet. Now I wouldn’t be caught dead with it.
Agree.
one of his simplistic rants supposedly ignited the founding of the TeaKoch party
Ron Paul had a single day fundraising drive on 12/16/2007, which was the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. The whole ‘tea party’ idea has since been totally perverted into something I can’t support.
I attended a speech of CO gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo last October, there were many ‘tea party’ supporters in attendance and they were very scary people.
How is it possible that I can agree with both Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich? And sad that neither of their ideas can gain any political traction…
How is it possible that I can agree with both Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich? And sad that neither of their ideas can gain any political traction…
I’m guessing that’s not a coincidence.
Santelli is something of a media economic saboteur. When I see him standing in the snake pit of the futures market passing out political advice I doubt it will improve the economic prospects of 90% of regular americans. Caution advised.
I don’t think most of us think he is our economic messiah. It’s just that his rants often contain the closest thing to what used to be referred to as common sense that we’ve heard out of anyone’s mouth in a long time. It’s so refreshing to hear something that gets beyond the groupthink corportist push your book/talking points we hear out of most.
I gave up cable quite a while ago now and I have to say Santelli is the one thing I miss.
Employee pay set to rise 3% in 2012
CNN MONEY - July 27, 2011
Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, companies are betting on their best workers — and are willing to pay more to prove it, according to a recent compensation survey by human resources consulting firm Mercer.
After years of stagnant wages, nearly all — or 97% — of the 1,200 U.S. employers polled by the consulting firm said they plan to increase salaries in 2012. The average increase in base pay is expected to be 3% in 2012, up slightly from 2.9% in 2011 and from 2.7% in 2010, Mercer said.
Half of the businesses that plan to hike pay said they plan to do so in order to retain top talent.
The top-performing employees — just 8% of the workforce — will see their salaries increase by an average of 4.8% next year, the survey said, compared to average workers who will see their salaries rise 3.1%. The weakest performers will be lucky to see anything at all. On average, they will receive a 0.3% pay increase in 2012, the survey found.
With many employees doing the work of two, or even three, people, employers are using compensation as a way to convince top talent to stay put, said Catherine Hartmann, a principal at Mercer.
Although available jobs remain scarce, “if you are a top performer in a critical role, you are still valuable in the marketplace,” Hartmann said. “But it’s a select group of folks.”
For those few, “this is good news,” she said.
My friends at HP say that it will be business as usual with raises this year: few will get one.
Translation: boards of directors only and a few professionals.
Realtors Are Liars®
Realtors Are Bankrupt.
Morally bankrupt.
And today’s “I can’t believe they’re building this” homes:
http://www.beazer.com/new-homes-for-sale/Maryland-DC-MD-Arora-Hills-2-2-Condos.aspx
Beazer’s “Aspen” ($265K) and “Vail” ($296K) models are stacked townhomes. It’s basically a four floor townhome with two one-car garages on the first floor. The Aspen family lives on floors 1 and 2, the Vail family lives on floors 3 and 4. Could you imagine carrying groceries up two flights of stairs, or climbing three flights of stairs to get from your car to your bed?
Location: The homes are a canyon development located about 25 miles from the Washington Monument, nowhere near a Metro, and a good 10-minute drive distance of the parking lot known at 270.
Bloody insane.
How about lifts and elevators like a normal multi-level arrangement?
Not Beazer. Beazer…….. Builders of the most substandard defect junk on the planet.
Nope. On the right, there’s a link to the floorplans. No sign of an elevator. Maybe that’s how they got those homes to be Energy Star! People power!
I want to know who’s gonna pay $300K for what is essentially a fourth-floor walk-up. i can understand this arrangement if you were deep downtown, but this is across a two-lane road from a you-pick farm, and you’re surrounded by countryside. It’s one of those developments where they bought a 200-acre field and crammed as many houses onto it as they could. Unbelievable.
It will look like Detroit *if* DC ever gets control of growth.
No problem if you lived here in NYC.you have your groceries delivered and pay the grocery boy a nice tip to climb to your 6th floor walk up!!!!
In my city, they are building 4 story apts complexes without elevators.
Almost half of mortgages in Arizona are ‘underwater,’ report says
by Anthony DeWitt - Jul. 25, 2011 06:45 PM
WASHINGTON - Just under half of all Arizona mortgages were “under water” in spring of this year, the second-highest percentage in the nation, according to a report from a private research firm.
Bankers in Arizona said they sense that foreclosures are starting to slow down, as the market attempts to stabilize.
“We may be bottoming out here,” said Paul Hickman, president of the Arizona Association of Bankers.
Large surpluses of housing are still keeping both housing and banking in gridlock. But experts don’t believe the situation can get worse than it is right now.
Hickman said the banks are trying to avoid foreclosures, if only to avoid having to pay to maintain them — a cost that can grow exponentially with about 100,000 foreclosed homes in the state.
“Foreclosures are flattening, they are not putting all that inventory on top of current inventory,” Hickman said.
Rieve said that the department got more than $267 million from a federal program that targeted states with the biggest losses in the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2008. The Principal Reduction Program could allocate up to $50,000 toward a homeowner’s principal if the lender matched that amount, up to 31 percent of the mortgage, according to the state housing department.
But Rieve said few big lenders came on board with matching funds. He said Bank of America was one of the few to come on board, while the state “can’t get Chase (Bank) or Fannie (Mae) and Freddie (Mac)” to sign on.
The department has since redirected $36 million to an unemployment assistance fund that pays up to $2,000 a month in mortgage to unemployed homeowners who meet other requirements. The new program has been far more successful, he said.
Lenders said they are also offering loan modification programs and financial counseling programs to assist borrowers with underwater mortgages.
Chase spokeswoman Mary Jane Rogers said the bank is opening more than 25 new homeownership centers nationally in 2011. The bank already has two centers in Arizona, one in Phoenix and one in Tempe.
She said borrowers can come into these locations six days a week to meet with a Chase adviser to work on alternatives to walking away from their homes.
“We do not want to own people’s homes,” Rogers said
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/07/25/20110725arizona-underwater-mortgages.html - 76k
Introducing the Chase Scuba Diving and Snorkeling Store for the Underwater Homeowner.
Borrowers can come into these locations six days a week to meet with a Chase Scuba Diving Store adviser. We offer a large range of scuba diving and snorkeling equipment for borrowers with underwater mortgages.
Our range of scuba diving equipment comes from the worlds top Banks including Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and many more. We also offer an extensive range of loan modification programs for all levels of snorkeling ability. Our store provides products for well seasoned investors as well as unemployed homeowners who meet other requirements.
I read that 3.35 million homes are in foreclosure or 12+ month delinquent. Since most foreclosures are happening in Californina, Nevada and Florida is is a safe bet that those homes have loans attached to themn that are significantly higher than the median home price in the US. Conservatively I would assume that the banks will loose $100K per home (underwater amount + 6% sales comission + tax liens and municipal fines + decline in values due to neglect and vandalism).
That’s a cool $335 billion in losses that’s still hidden in mark to fantasy accounting being very conservative and assuming no additional defaults. So more realistically we’re probably looking at $500+ billion in hidden losses. Considering the current budget constraints the chances for another banking bailout are considerably lower than in 2008.
“We do not want to own people’s homes,” Rogers said
We just want to own their lives.
Specifically, their productive capacity.
Gee, that sounds a lot like…what’s the word again? I know it starts with an “s”.
Sucker….serf…..slave….so many good ones to chose from.
Careful Carl, you know too much. You’ll be assigned a number and taken to “The Village”
Meanwhile in Tucson, the timeshare beat goes on. Anyone care for a lugg-zhury timeshare?
Housing occupancy declines, but rentals up in some spots
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
Updated 10h 55m ago
Empty housing has been on the rise since the recession and real estate bust, but occupancy is starting to pick up in some places — largely because of soaring rental demand.
By Scott Eklund, for USA TODAY
Neighborhoods from Tacoma, Wash., to New York’s Bronx borough and parts of Albuquerque are showing an uptick in occupied housing, according to an analysis of U.S. Postal Service data.
“There are quite a lot of variations in how metropolitan areas are weathering the current economic conditions,” says Justin Hollander, urban planning professor at Tufts University who led the research conducted with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Hollander studied data on mail delivery to residences in nearly 30,000 ZIP codes in the contiguous 48 states during the housing boom and collapse. When a unit is vacant, the Postal Service scratches the address off its delivery list.
Occupied housing has declined in about a third of ZIP codes since 2009. From 2000 to 2006, before the recession hit, there were 26% fewer postal areas that experienced an increase in vacant homes.
Widespread decline
Suburban areas, where most new residential development was concentrated during the real estate boom, were hit hard: The number of ZIP codes in the suburbs that suffered drops in occupancy grew the most in the latter half of the decade.
“Across the southern United States, from Atlanta to Fort Myers (Fla.) to Phoenix, massive new housing developments are largely unoccupied, while older housing is abandoned due to foreclosure,” Hollander says.
…
Analysis: QE3 may do more harm than good
(Reuters) - There may be a point at which global investors get indigestion from U.S. money printing.
A fresh round of U.S. monetary easing may even do more harm than good for long-term investors as another flood of easy money into fast-growing emerging economies risks refueling oil and commodity price inflation, sapping consumption and growth.
Prospects for a third round of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program (QE3) grew this month after Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was prepared to ease further if economic growth and inflation falter again.
Nearly in one in two fund managers surveyed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch this month said QE3 was likely.
The temptation for risk-loving investors is to rub their hands with glee. Traditionally risky or high-yielding assets such as global equities, energy and commodities and emerging markets surged in the months after the Fed gave the green light for Round Two of QE — which involved $600 billion in new money in the form of Treasury debt purchases and which ended last month.
I seem to recall that they were pretty ticked off with QE2. And for good reason, we’re monetizing the debt.
The law of diminishing returns is going to bite them in the butt.
come on, what’s wrong with $6 gas?
$200 to fill up the tank on the manhood extender (AKA: the pickup truck). What a concept!
I was watching James Goldsmith vs Laura Tyson on Charlie Rose show circa 1994. You should watch it. What amazed me was how right he was back then, almost prophetic and why Laura Tyason still has Obama’s ears.
–youtube
I hope she wears her hair long to cover them, poor thing.
Wall Street Opens Lower on Debt Deadlock- Reuters
Stocks started toward a third straight day of declines Wednesday as the political deadlock over raising the debt ceiling and a decline in durable goods orders kept investors away.
Durable goods orders fall 2.1 percent in June- AP
Businesses cut back on orders for aircraft, autos, heavy machinery and computers in June, sending demand for long-lasting manufactured goods lower for the second month in the past three.
Computers are durable goods? You might get 20-30 years of use out of a lathe or an injection molding press. PCs? Maybe five years.
Aetna Rises After Boosting Medical Forecast
(Bloomberg)
Aetna Inc., the third-largest U.S. health insurer, rose as much as 5 percent in early New York trading after it raised its profit forecast and beat analysts’ estimates amid a drop in demand for medical care.
Aetna expects full-year earnings excluding some items of $4.60 to $4.70, up from an earlier target of $4.20 to $4.30, the Hartford, Connecticut-based insurer said today in a statement.
Insurers have benefitted from the decline in the consumption of medical services that has plagued hospital operators like HCA Corp., which reported lower earnings July 25. WellPoint Inc., the third-biggest insurer by enrollment, also increased its forecast today as membership rose.
WellPoint Inc., the third-biggest insurer by enrollment, also increased its forecast today as membership rose.
WellPoint and the rest of you insurance thieves, I have news for you: It’s only a matter of time before this country has a real-live public option. Or single payer. The people are that pissed off at you.
So, party on while you can, okay?
That’s with free money out the wazoo for megacorps…
“TruePurityChupacabra’s™”
Goes good with coffee:
heheeeheeeheehaahaaahaaheeehaahaaa… (Hwy50™)
Forget Anonymous: Evidence Suggests GOP Hacked, Stole 2004 Election
By John Thorpe / Benzinga Staff Writer / July 21, 2011
Ironically, it won’t be for any of the things that liberals have been harping on the Shrub Administration, either during or after his term in office. Sure, misguided tax cuts that destroyed the surplus, and lax regulations that doomed the economy, and two amazingly awful wars in deserts half a world away are all terrible, empire-sapping events. But they pale in comparison to what it appears the Repubican Party did to get President Shrub re-elected in 2004.
“A new filing in the King Lincoln Bronzeville v. Blackwell case includes a copy of the Ohio Secretary of State election production system configuration that was in use in Ohio’s 2004 presidential election when there was a sudden and unexpected shift in votes for George W. Shrub,” according to Bob Fitrakis, columnist at www freepress org and co-counsel in the litigation and investigation.”
Ohio was the battleground state that provided George Bush with the electoral votes needed to win re-election. Had Senator John Kerry won Ohio’s electoral votes, he would have been elected instead
In case that seems a bit too technical and “big deal” for you, consider what he was saying. SmarTech, a private company, had the ability in the 2004 election to add or subtract votes without anyone knowing they did so.
“…the architecture further confirms how this election was stolen. The computer system and SmarTech had the correct placement, connectivity, and computer experts necessary to change the election in any manner desired by the controllers of the SmarTech computers.”
SmarTech was part of three computer companies brought in to manage the elections process for Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a Republican. The other two were Triad and GovTech Solutions. All three companies have extensive ties to the Republican party and Republican causes.
In fact, GovTech was run by Mike Connell, who was a fiercely religious conservative who got involved in politics to push a right-wing social agenda. He was Karl Rove’s IT go-to guy, and was alleged to be the IT brains behind the series of stolen elections between 2000 and 2004.
“These f@!king Guys!,” Jon Stewart.
Ho ho, hah hah, hehehehehehe, BwaHaHaAhHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb-thrower™)
Oh, and about Connell?: tsk, tsk…
Connell was so scared for his security that he asked for protection from the attorney general, then Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Connell told close friends that he was expecting to get thrown under the bus by the Rove team, because Connell had evidence linking the GOP operative to the scandal and the stolen election, including knowledge of where Rove’s missing emails disappeared to.
Before he could testify, Connell died in a plane crash.
I’ve read some anonymous posts lately of people claiming to be at the conventions and saying it was all dirty pool. He didn’t even want to go back. He reported being really excited to be there until he realized how it really all worked. He said the McCain people were especially nasty to Ron Paul people.
Another reported vote fixing. Apparently being from a teeny town w/few voters he knew there was a decent size block that were going in voting for Ron Paul but at the end of the night the tally showed no votes for RP.
Hard to tell what’s real or not when it’s anonymous.
I am Ron Paul Supporter but it’s ludacris to suggest he lost because of vote fixing.
He lost mainly because Republican party is not the party of libery, individual freedom, minding our own business and free market. It’s a party of mainly three groups; bible thumpers, believers of economic principles spouted by Larry Kudlow and Neo-Cons.
I don’t think that was implied in my post at all. The post was about one person who got close to the action that ended up repulsed by what he saw. In the vote fixing comment that person was repulsed by what they deduced must have happened.
No one claimed these actions stole the election. They’re merely additional sources reporting the activity exists.
+1 for Fitrakis. I saw him speak at the Columbus Library several years ago and enjoyed his book ‘What Really Happened in Ohio’.
“America’s welfare-warfare state is finished right now. It’s only a matter of time. It cannot be funded indefinitely by such huge borrowing. The borrowers won’t roll it over forever. They have too many other better alternatives.”
~Mike Rozeff
Like what?
Filed under: “Ok, lets manufacture a debt ceiling cri$is while America is fighting x2 War$, now that’s Patriotism!”
heheeeheeeheehaahaaahaaheeehaahaaa… (Hwy50™)
Boehner to GOP on debt ceiling plan: ‘Get your ass in line’:
By JAKE SHERMAN & JOHN BRESNAHAN | 7/27/11
The hard line from Boehner came as there was a serious internal blowup over the Republican Study Committee, a bloc of conservative lawmakers chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio). Jordan, who is opposed to the Boehner plan, was forced to apologize on Wednesday after an RSC staffer sent out e-mails to outside conservative groups asking them to target GOP lawmakers to oppose the leadership proposal. A number of House Republicans were infuriated by the RSC tactic, with some threatening to quit the group.
The RSC dispute dominated much of Wednesday’s morning GOP conference. The RSC missive angered some rank-and-file Republicans who came under fire from outside groups, including Rep. Renee Ellmer (N.C.), Todd Young (Ind.) and Bill Flores (Texas). Elmers stood up at the GOP Conference meeting and blasted the RSC for the move, saying she was ashamed to be part of the group, according to sources in the room. Afterwards, Elmers said she may quit the RSC.
Looks like old Lurch had a true hero helping him out…
John Kerry was introduced at the 2004 Democratic National Convention by Wade Sanders, a retired Navy Captain and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy who served as a Swift Boat officer in Vietnam. Like Kerry, Sanders was the recipient of a Silver Star for gallantry in action. During the 2004 campaign, Sanders functioned as Kerry lead attack dog against the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, repeatedly denouncing the veterans on the air as liars and comparing them to Nazi propagandists.
Wade Sanders is now in Federal prison, serving a 37-month sentence for possessing child pornography. Now the Navy Times reports that Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has revoked Sanders’ Silver Star. The highly unusual decision appears unrelated to Sanders’ felony conviction. A Navy spokesman cited “subsequently determined facts and evidence surrounding both the incident for which the award was made and the processing of the award itself.” John Kerry has to be hoping this doesn’t become a trend.
-From The American Thinker
John Kerry has to be hoping this doesn’t become a trend.
I thought John gave his back already?
Nice, Carl.
Funny how ideology trumps fact. The irony of the TeaParty/Randulans attacking John Kerry for pointing out that Vietnam was a corporatist scam — and having the integrity to throw away his Silver Star in public protest — is just toooooo Shakespearean for words.
And so is using the same corrput war to advance his political career when it suited. I am ready for the duty or whatever it was……
Because in the history of America, the politically ambitious NEVER use the military to gain experience and establish their patriotic credentials, do they? Kind of a spurious argument.
Kerry had the gonads to speak out when most of the country was gung-ho Killa Commie for Christ. He could have taken his medals and successfully run for office without putting it all on the line by criticizing his own complicity in the war.
That said, I agree that “I’m John Kerry and I’m reporting for duty” was perhaps one of the lamest, most cringe-worthy opening sentences in the history of acceptance speeches.
Sorry, that was just hanging in the perfect spot and I had to swing :-).
I’ve got nothing personal against John and respect that he was there, unlike some others.
Give an award for valor, then take it back because of some future transgression. In fact, erase any record of it.
Sounds like something Stalin would do.
Can you believe that there are more Administrators than Teachers in the Calif State Univ System. The Calif Dream Act will allow Illegal Immigrant students to attend calif univ w/out paying out of state tuition. If an American Kid from Colorado,wants to go to a Calif school his parents will have to pay out of state tuition….Thanks Gov Brown,more taxtakers coming,and many more taxpayers leaving..Can u say 3rd world state…LOs Angeles is already a 3rd world city, i take public transportation to work.The Metro from Van Nuys to Downtown LA. I am always the only white person on the train….i do love public transportation. 1.50 One way takes 35 minutes….Wonderful…
Mr Rodicks see’s thru “TruePurityChupacabra’s™” di$guise:
If John Boehner is a moderate, we have a problem:
The nation needs jobs, not ideological war
Dan Rodricks, July 27, 2011/ The Baltimore Sun
Mr. Harris, of course, is in Washington now, part of the tea party-beholden freshman class that has created the mess over the nation’s debt ceiling. Their agenda is extreme — repeal the health insurance expansion that Congress enacted only last year, cut as much federal discretionary spending as possible, encourage the continued concentration of wealth by the richest Americans by sparing them new taxes, and force cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. These aren’t sober grownups acting prudently to get the American house in order; these are extremists trying to gut the house and reduce its reason for existence.
Most of us are out here, working — or looking for work — trying to keep up with bills, trying to figure out what comes next for the economy, and for our children. In Washington, we have zealots who want to defy even a compromising president and rewrite the Constitution — Andy Harris insists on a balanced budget amendment — in the midst of a stagnant economy.
It was his Republican successor and his accomplices in Congress who led the nation back to a string of annual deficits caused by big tax cuts and expensive wars.
Then came the Great Recession, and things got worse just as Barack Obama was taking the oath of office. Two years later, we had the tea party revolt, a full-fledged attack on the federal system at a time when Wall Street, and not the government, deserved popular anger. Claiming to be all about “creating jobs,” the tea party Republicans have instead embarked on an ideological battle.
So here we are, with this new breed of Republicans and, with them, a stalemate and near full crisis at a time when the nation’s economy is still fragile as a house of cards and millions have been out of work for six months or longer.
The Tea Partiers are the same bunch who fought for “State’s Rights” in the Civil War. But didn’t want to give “State’s Rights” to black people. As late as 1964.
They want “Freedom from the Government”, but they insist on banning abortions and making same-sex marriage illegal.
They want the “Right to Bear Arms”, but they don’t have a problem with Wall Street taking money out of their pockets, so they don’t have enough money to buy guns or ammo.
They want to limit government’s ability to tax, but they don’t want to limit governments ability to go on arbitrary military adventures overseas.
Any attempt to put a limit on this, or expenditures on equipment is a “failure to Support our Troops”.
Don’t forget that they want the government’s hands off their Medicare!
The old joke is that there are three types of Republicans:
Those who are still angry they lost the Vietnam War
Those who are still angry they lost the Civil War
Those who are still angry they lost the Crusades.
Republicans lost the Civil War? Need a link for that one.
Oxide did not say that Republicans lost the Civil War. Simply that there are Republicans who are angry that the South lost the Civil War.
Me too. I was listening to Tom Woods from Mises Institute on how racists the Unions were in the early days. They would not want “colored folks” taking jobs from them. Even went to courts few times. Of course I didn’t learn that in College.
Sure Tom Woods can be considered a person with an Agenda but it’s on my list of things to verify in next few days/weeks. I did a quick search on Wikipedia, it only has few lines. Hopefully I will find a few unbiased historical books and articles on this matter.
Simply that there are Republicans who are angry that the South lost the Civil War.
So are the democrats.
“Simply that there are Republicans who are angry that the South lost the Civil War.
So are the democrats.”
Yes, there are some southern Democrats that are still angry that the south lost the war. But after Nixon’s southern strategy, most Dixiecrats switched parties.
Oxide’s post was quoting a joke about classifying Republicans, so the mention of democrats is not really relevant. And I was not agreeing with the joke, simply attempting to clarify it — obviously failed.
Yep, the good old party of A.Lincoln.
A. Lincoln would not recognize it.
If Teddy Roosevelt were alive today, he would probably be to the left of Obama.
I wasn’t really referring to a particular party (it seems the Dems and R’s have directly exchanged philosophies anyway.)
OK, here’s the NON-PC version of the joke —
modern republicans are made up of warhawks, racists, and evangelical intolerant churchgoers.
Bank of America business model:
1) Pay bubble prices for houses
2) Establish TBTF status
3) Sell bad paper to FED (taxpayer)
4) “Donate” homes…
5) Make taxpayer pay to demolish homes
6) Repeat entire process by financing new construction
I am not making this up:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/BofA-Donates-Then-Demolishes-bloomberg-946456059.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=
“5) Make taxpayer pay to demolish homes”
Why doesn’t the taxpayer get a voice in this process? Since BoA and the other Megabanks would have probably collapsed without the taxpayers’ support, the least they could do is to offer the homes at (no reserve price) auctions to the highest bidders. Any homes which did not sell for above $0 could then be demolished.
Why anyone would think it is a good idea to bulldoze homes with positive resale value is beyond my comprehension.
$olutions people,…houses that resemble American wage$!
http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/113203/worlds-skinniest-house-fastcompany
Obama urged to invoke 14th Amendment as debt ceiling deadline nears
- POLITICO
‘I believe that something like this will bring calm to the American people,’ Clyburn said.
Rep. James Clyburn and a group of House Democrats are urging President Barack Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling if Congress can’t come up with a satisfactory plan before the Tuesday deadline.
Clyburn, the third-ranking House Democrat, said Wednesday that if the president is delivered a bill to raise the debt ceiling for only a short period of time, he should instead it and turn to the phrase in the Constitution that says the validity of the U.S. government’s debt “shall not be questioned.”
“If that’s what lands on his desk, a short-term lifting of the ceiling, the debt ceiling, he should put it on his desk next to an executive order,” Clyburn said at a press conference. “He should sign an executive order invoking the 14th Amendment to this issue.”
If he attempts this, perhaps impeachment would preclude re-election.
If he attempts this, perhaps impeachment would preclude re-election.
Many writers are saying the Roberts SCOTUS would affirm a president’s right to invoke the 14th Amendment in this case.
You know, the Constitution and all.
Jim Clyburn is from my state S.C. He is without a doubt the most ignorant man in the cesspool.
“Obama and others in his administration have said they will not rely on the 14th Amendment. At a town hall last week, Obama said that he has “talked to my lawyers” and “they are not persuaded that that is a winning argument.”
~ http://www.politico.com
If John Boehner is a moderate, we have a problem
The nation needs jobs, not ideological war
Dan Rodricks
11:58 a.m. EDT, July 27, 2011
I heard someone use the term “moderate Republican” the other day, and I looked around for Mac Mathias. Of course, the great Maryland senator departed this life in January 2010, at the age of 87. He had retired in 1987, having served in Congress for 25 years. Once upon a time, Senator Mathias was aligned with something called the “influential liberal wing of the Republican Party,” a phrase you could never conjure today without first doing some herb — and, even then, it would have to be really good stuff.
Once upon a time, there were Republicans in the middle and the middle-left. Rockefeller Republicans, they were called — fiscal conservatives, skeptical of big government social programs, but supporters of sensible government investment in education, health care and the environment for the good of the nation.
Wayne Gilchrest, an Eastern Shore Republican and Vietnam veteran, was among the last of that crowd, and he survived long past his expiration date. It was the far more conservative Andy Harris who finally unseated Mr. Gilchrest in the 2008 primary.
Mr. Harris, of course, is in Washington now, part of the tea party-beholden freshman class that has created the mess over the nation’s debt ceiling. Their agenda is extreme — repeal the health insurance expansion that Congress enacted only last year, cut as much federal discretionary spending as possible, encourage the continued concentration of wealth by the richest Americans by sparing them new taxes, and force cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. These aren’t sober grownups acting prudently to get the American house in order; these are extremists trying to gut the house and reduce its reason for existence.
When I heard the term “moderate Republican” the other day, it was used to describe the speaker of the House, John Boehner. A man who proposes cutting federal spending by $1.2 trillion in a first round and by another $1.8 trillion in a second round, while standing firm against new taxes even for the wealthiest Americans, is now considered middle-of-the-road.
…
heheeeheeeheehaahaaahaaheeehaahaaa… (Hwy50™)
Investors downgrade the rating agencies
By Paul R. La Monica / The Buzz / CNNMoney July 27, 2011
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) – The big rating agencies may eventually downgrade the debt of the United States. But it looks like Wall Street is already downgrading the stocks of the big rating agencies.
But here’s the irony. Moody’s and its rivals are likely to face a tougher third and fourth quarter due to the very debt ceiling drama that they are all key supporting players in.
It is somewhat sublime that the stern finger-wagging by Moody’s and other rating agencies could damage their own businesses going forward. It’s even more comical when you consider these companies were all roundly criticized in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis.
Who’d be a dustman in Cairo? Revolting pictures of piled-up rubbish give Egyptian capital label of Garbage City
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2019390/Whod-dustman-Cairo-Revolting-pictures-piled-rubbish-Egyptian-capital-label-Garbage-City.html#ixzz1TKZ62syC
Who’d a thunk…
Greece Will Default on Debt After EU Plan: S&P
(Bloomberg)
Greece will partially default on its debt once European officials push through a plan that will see bondholders foot part of the bill of a second bailout agreed to last week in Brussels, Standard & Poor’s said.
The rating company also cut its ranking for Greece to CC, two steps above default, from CCC, according to a statement published in London today. The outlook on the debt is negative.
“The proposed restructuring of Greek government debt would amount to a selective default under our rating methodology,” S&P said. “We view the proposed restructuring as a ‘distressed exchange’ because, based on public statements by European policymakers, it is likely to result in losses for commercial creditors.”
EU leaders agreed last week that bondholders will contribute 50 billion euros ($72 billion) to a new rescue package, with euro-region governments and the International Monetary Fund putting up a further 109 billion euros.
The cost of insuring against a default by Greece was at 1,695 basis points today, implying a 76 percent chance the government will fail to pay its debts within five years. The price of the contracts soared to a record 2,568 basis points on July 18, when the probability of default approached 90 percent, according to CMA.
Trichet was doing his Tarzan imitation earlier - daring folks to short Greece.
“Minority Rules: Scientists Discover Tipping Point for the Spread of Ideas”
This research seems to be important in explaining why we are imploding as a cohesive society. Since the Tea Party may have passed this point already, >10%, the next question should be when will they fulfill their manifest destiny?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110725190044.htm
Good find.
Good thing the recession ended two years ago, this will just be a soft patch.
Fed Survey: Growth Slows Across Much of the U.S.- AP
The economy worsened in about half the country earlier this summer because of weak home sales and signs of a slowdown in manufacturing.
Rasmussen survey- “New High: 46% Think Most in Congress Are Corrupt.” It would be progress if the other 54% were certain that ALL in Congress are corrupt.
The U.S. Congress- A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of Wall Street and Corporate America
School Shut Down After Meth Found Inside
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A West Virginia public vocational school has been shut down indefinitely after traces of methamphetamine were found throughout the building during an investigation of the principal and a teacher.
State Police Sgt. Andy Perdue said Monday that traces of the drug were found in the ducts, principal’s office, hallways and bathrooms of the Boone County Career and Technical Center. Perdue says the teacher admitted he smoked meth with the principal in the principal’s office.
He says police do not have evidence the school was used as a meth lab.
Teacher Jack Turley faces charges of manufacturing meth and procuring Sudafed for making meth. Principal Keith Phipps faces charges of purchasing over the legal limit of Sudafed.
whoa
Morons.
If the second half of 2011 is spooking corporate America, wait till 2012.
~ Fears of Second-Half Slowdown Spook Corporate America- Reuters
Corporate America’s hopes for a second-half pickup in the U.S. economy dimmed on Wednesday, as companies from Emerson Electric to Corning warned of weakening demand for everything from industrial equipment to televisions.
“If the second half of 2011 is spooking corporate America, wait till 2012.”
So then you agree with me that the Tea Party scheme to crash the economy over the debt ceiling, then blame it on Obama, is likely to succeed?
“Tea Party scheme”
I believe the direction we are headed fair bigger than any party. Much less the tea party. The blame game is BS I for one could not care less. Barry is weak period, but the repubs don’t have a sole that’s worth a damn. A third party won’t even get close, it’s a closed 2 party system, all others need not apply.
Our road to austerity has been decades in the making, yet most voters are completely clueless.
Dow down 200 points.
And counting……
That would be kind of exciting except the way things have been post 2007 it could all be made up days later.
No worries, in a few days once all the “drama” is over a huge sigh of relief will sweep over w street and off the races again.
BofA Donates Then Demolishes Houses to Cut Glut
(Bloomberg)
Bank of America Corp. (BAC), faced with a glut of foreclosed and abandoned houses it can’t sell, has a new tool to get rid of the most decrepit ones: a bulldozer.
The biggest U.S. mortgage servicer will donate 100 foreclosed houses in the Cleveland area and in some cases contribute to their demolition in partnership with a local agency that manages blighted property. The bank has similar plans in Detroit and Chicago, with more cities to come, and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Fannie Mae are conducting or considering their own programs.
Disposing of repossessed homes is one of the biggest headaches for lenders in the U.S., where 1,679,125 houses, or one in every 77, were in some stage of foreclosure as of June, according to research firm RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, California. The prospect of those properties flooding the market has depressed prices and driven off buyers concerned that housing values will keep dropping.
“There is way too much supply,” said Gus Frangos, president of the Cleveland-based Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp., which works with lenders, government officials and homeowners to salvage vacant homes. “The best thing we can do to stabilize the market is to get the garbage off.”
BofA’s 40,000
Bank of America had 40,000 foreclosures in the first quarter, saddling the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender with taxes and maintenance costs. The bank announced the Cleveland program last month, has committed as many as 100 properties in Detroit and 150 in Chicago, and may add as many as nine cities by the end of the year, said Rick Simon, a company spokesman.
The lender will pay as much as $7,500 for demolition or $3,500 in areas eligible to receive funds through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Uses for the land include development, open space and urban farming, according to the statement. Simon declined to say how many foreclosed properties Bank of America holds.
Ohio ranked among the top 10 states with the most foreclosure filings in June, according to RealtyTrac. The state has 71,617 foreclosed homes, Cuyahoga County 9,797 and Cleveland 6,778, RealtyTrac said.
The tear-downs are in varying states of disrepair, from uninhabitable to badly damaged. Simon said some are worth less than $10,000, and it would cost too much to make them livable.
HNN showing DOW down 107. But Marketwatch and Bloomberg both say 198/199. This at 4:14. Any traders w/ the true numbers?
DOW Down 198.75
Thanks wmbz…4:48 and HNN still can’t get it together.
Turns out it was a really good year to “Sell in May and Go Away.”T The market seems more worried about the indirect and induced effects of debt ceiling wrangling and eventual govt spending cuts they will produce on lower future economic growth than they are on the short-term hammering of Uncle Buck.
Of course, if you include the falling value of the dollar to come up with the real value of stock losses, this week’s market action looks far worse.
Dow slides on debt fears
By Ken Sweet, contributing writer July 27, 2011: 5:01 PM ET
U.S. stock market
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Stocks retreated deep into negative territory on Wednesday as Congress remained stalled on resolving the debt ceiling, and an economic report showed a significant slowdown in the U.S. manufacturing sector.
The Dow has now fallen four days in a row as investors grow increasingly worried that Washington won’t solve the the country’s budget woes in time to meet the August 2 debt ceiling deadline.
“We will continue to see selling each day until this debt ceiling issue is resolved,” said Stephen Carl, head equity trader at Williams Capital.
…
I am as clueless as the next guy regarding the outcome or the ultimate effect of the debt ceiling standoff, but I am fairly confident that as a side effect, a few more nails are inadvertently getting pounded into the U.S. housing market’s coffin.
Is that what Congress and the CIC were hoping for?
ECONOMY
JULY 27, 2011
Home Sales, Prices Reflect Malaise
By WESLEY LOWERY
Home prices and sales of new homes lost ground in recent months, with real-estate agents and builders saying the debt-ceiling debate in Washington is rattling an already-fragile market.
According to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home price index, released Tuesday, prices for existing homes in 20 major U.S. cities fell 4.5% in May from a year earlier, with declines stretching from coast to coast. Only Washington, D.C., saw a year-over-year increase. Compared with April, prices in May were virtually unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis.
“If you’re looking for the light at the end of the tunnel, we don’t have it,” said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P’s index committee, “We all agree the market ain’t going anyplace at all.”
…
“If you’re looking for the light at the end of the tunnel,
we don’t have it,it’s definitely there, and it’s a train.”The Treasury is “prioritizing” who gets paid.
If they were smart, they’d make the bondholders “whole”, and use the (valid) excuse that screwing the bondholders will cause interest rates to go up, and making the deficit problem worse. God knows that we can’t penalize the bondholders.
Better to screw the retirees and people living on government assistance. What are those bottom-feeders going to do about it?
Make sure they have the phone number and address of their Congressman’s local office.
I’m going “long” on torches, matches, and pitchforks.
Woman gets jury trial for displaying plastic testicles on truck
BONNEAU, S.C. (AP) - A Berkeley County woman will get a jury trial for a ticket she was given by police for displaying big plastic testicles on the back of her pickup truck.
Virginia Tice of Bonneau was given a $445 ticket July 5 that accuses her of violating the state’s obscene bumper sticker law.
Police Chief Franco Fuda asked for a jury trial, saying questions of obscenity should be determined by community standards.
Tice’s attorney, Scott Bischoff, expects a trial next month. A relative said Tice didn’t want to talk about the case before the trial.
She was ticketed after pulling into a gas station in her truck with big red fake testicles hanging from the trailer hitch.
Virginia Tice of Bonneau was given a $445 ticket July 5 that accuses her of violating the state’s obscene bumper sticker law.
I’ll bet that this law was passed to keep all sorts of un-fundamentalist sentiments away from the sensitive eyes of South Carolinians.
Sheeple are no longer allowed to have balls.
That’s nuts.
eunuchs make a better more controllable voting base.
Does Diebold(?) run on Unix?
I know, I know, freedom of speech/freedom of expression. There’s a guy across the street who has a “Fcuk Fear” (spelled correctly) bumper sticker on the ginormous truck that he can’t afford to fuel. Sure, you have that freedom, but really? It’s just so whiskey tango. Same with the testes. I wouldn’t fine anybody, but it’s pretty jejune. And yes, I have the temerity to accuse people of jejunosity.
For a while there I was seeing a lot of those on trucks. Never heard of anybody getting in trouble over them. Odd that the one person I hear of getting in trouble ended up being female. I always assumed that level of stupid was uniquely male.
You can’t fix stupid. But you sure can satirize it!
…or sterilize it.
The CDS market is scrambling to price in the suddenly realistic risk of a U.S. debt default.
“Nobody could have seen it coming!”
The Financial Times
July 27, 2011 7:54 pm
Insurance cost against US default hits record
By Michael Mackenzie and Nicole Bullock in New York
The cost of buying insurance against a default by the US rose to a record on Wednesday, in a sign of growing unease that gridlock in Washington over raising the federal debt ceiling may result in the Treasury failing to pay interest to bondholders.
The market for buying and selling insurance on the creditworthiness of the US is thinly traded, denominated in euros and dominated by European and UK banks in London. But trading in so-called credit default swaps has picked up as the threat of a default has grown.
In a CDS, a buyer of protection is compensated by the seller should there be a default or missed payment, known as a “credit event”.
“The US CDS market is much less liquid than other sovereign markets as up until recently no one thought the chance of a US credit event was very high,” said Ira Jersey, strategist at Credit Suisse. “The market is getting nervous over the risk of a default.”
Premiums for one-year US sovereign CDS rose sharply this week and traded at about 90 basis points in London on Wednesday, overtaking the previous high set in March 2009.
In a sign of greater concern of a near-term default, US one-year CDS was trading higher than premiums for the more liquid five-year sector, at about 65bp, for the first time.
Otis Casey, director of credit research at Markit, said: “Typically you see an inversion of the short end in [issuers] that are fairly well distressed.”
The net size of the US CDS market, or actual market exposure, is $4.9bn. The US has risen above Greece’s $4.6bn in net exposure but is below the UK’s net size of $12.3bn, according to data at the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp.
Analysts said that, given the cost of buying protection for one year and the risk of the Treasury missing a debt payment in the next month, there is potentially a massive pay-out for investors under that scenario.
But that must be weighed against the likelihood that the debt ceiling is raised and the prospect that the Treasury would strive to make good on its obligations during the three-day grace period before a credit event was officially called.
…
The Republicans seem narrow-minded in their determination to have it their way and blacken a bad labor market picture in the process.
House Republicans delay vote on Boehner debt plan
Responding to Obama’s appeal in a speech Monday night for Americans to contact their members of Congress to urge them to adopt his “balanced approach” to deficit reduction, callers flooded Capitol telephone circuits Tuesday morning, and several lawmakers’ Web sites — including Boehner’s — reportedly crashed Monday night as huge numbers of people tried to send them messages.
According to a new poll , 68 percent of Americans — including majorities across the political spectrum — now say lawmakers should compromise to strike a deal on the debt, up from 55 percent in a poll taken in April.
…
In a speech in New York before the Council on Foreign Relations, meanwhile, Christine Lagarde, the new managing director of the IMF, urged American officials to demonstrate the kind of “political courage” she said was shown by European leaders last week in a summit that agreed on new financing for Greece and gave greater powers to a regional bailout fund.
“On the debt ceiling, the clock is ticking, and clearly the issue needs to be resolved immediately,” Lagarde said. “Indeed, an adverse fiscal shock in the United States could have serious spillovers on the rest of the world.” She said a default or downgrading of U.S. debt “would be a very, very, very serious event, not just for the United States but for the global economy at large.”
Lagarde also urged caution in adopting large deficit-reduction measures, saying that “the impact is likely to be negative” in the short term. “Our research has found that a 1 percentage point cut in the deficit could lower growth by about one-half percentage point over two years,” she said. “This is why measures that are legislated now — but only reduce deficits in the future, when the recovery is more robust — would be particularly helpful.”
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=190801
There go more American jobs - GE moving HQ to China, without a peep of protest from the Republicrats or their voters.
At what point does an “American/US” corporation become a “foreign” corporation?
Seems to me that a “foreign corporation” should be limited in it’s ability to lobby/bribe US politicians.
An aging and shrinking U.S. population with fewer growing families portends problems for those with McMansions they might want to sell at some point over the next thirty years.
U.S. NEWS
JULY 13, 2011, 5:22 P.M. ET
Census: Percentage of Children in U.S. Hits Low
Associated Press
WASHINGTON—Children now make up less of America’s population than ever before, even with a boost from immigrant families.
And when this generation grows up, it will become a shrinking work force that will have to support the nation’s expanding elderly population—even as the government strains to cut spending for health care, pensions and much else.
The latest 2010 Census data show that children of immigrants make up one in four people under 18, and are now the fastest-growing segment of the nation’s youth, an indication that both legal and illegal immigrants as well as minority births are lifting the nation’s population.
Currently, the share of children in the U.S. is 24%, falling below the previous low of 26% in 1990. The share is projected to slip further, to 23% by 2050, even as the percentage of people 65 and older is expected to jump from 13% today to roughly 20% by 2050 due to the aging of baby boomers and beyond.
In 1900, the share of children reached as high as 40%, compared to a much smaller 4% share for seniors 65 and older. The percentage of children in subsequent decades held above 30% until 1980, when it fell to 28% amid declining birth rates, mostly among whites.
“There are important implications for the future of the U.S. because the increasing costs of providing for an older population may reduce the public resources that go to children,” said William P. O’Hare, a senior consultant with the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, a children’s advocacy group.
…
A couple of years ago, I was reading the New York Times real estate section. ‘Twas in late 2009, I was visiting family, and Mom had banished this section of the paper to the recycling bag. Glad I rescued it before it went out to the curb.
Any-hoo, story said that, in the next 25 years, a large manse in the suburbs will become a real liability. Why? Because much of the homebuying population will consist of empty nesters, couples without children, and single people.
Maybe Slim….up here its not the house but the zoning you’d have a hard time even making a MIL apartment in them and get it by the town council. let alone a B&B, a rooming or half way house, or subdivide into smaller lots Greenwich as 4 acre zoning…4 acres in he richest town in America The burbs are strict on 1 family to a house.
Without a young workforce the old can forget about a comfortable retirement because the money has already been spent. Retirement schemes are pyramid schemes, and even an upside-down pyramid still needs new investors to keep the game alive.
Interesting…….
Just got off the phone with a “recruiter/headhunter” for aircraft industry jobs. The third in the past two weeks.
Of course, they are looking for people they don’t have to train (in this case, guys with Rolls-Royce engine experience).
Told them sorry, got a job now. In fact, I’m working two other corporate jets on the side. Only guys I know that aren’t working are the guys working single engine piston stuff, or newbies with no experience/training.
Them, and the guys who are so fed up working in the airplane maintenance business, they have left forever and gone on to places they can make more money. Like the railroads, and the companies making medical devices.
She seemed:
-disappointed, and
-like she’d heard the story before.
Maybe the dipchits running the aviation business have finally gone and done it…….pizzed off so many mechs, that there are now more jobs than people to fill them.
Expect to see/hear the whining about “not being able to find qualified people to work on airliners” bleats to start any day now…….
Maybe the dipchits running the aviation business have finally gone and done it…….pizzed off so many mechs, that there are now more jobs than people to fill them.
I think that this very thing is happening in a lot of industries. We’re not reading about it in the MSM — yet. But, on an anecdotal basis, I’m hearing stories like the Fixer’s.
Only guys I know that aren’t working are the guys working single engine piston stuff
Geez my brain read that the first time as “single piston engine stuff” and my brain about fried :-).
Geez my brain read that the first time as “single piston engine stuff” and my brain about fried :-).
A single-piston engine. Now there’s an engine with a bright future.
Got one of those on my chain saw. And my leaf blower. And my portable generator. Nope, no lawnmower here (yay!).
“Federal prosecutors seize blue-roofed Skaneateles mansion they say was built with drug money.”
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/federal_prosecutors_seize_blue.html