Bits Bucket for October 9, 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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I’ve linked to some of his stuff before — he thinks we need to reverse the damage done by “free trade” by changing trade and tax policies — and now this comes up.
There are some great comments after the article…it seems like he lost the re-election for Lousiana governor because he didn’t “play the game” with the corrupt folks. Would love to hear more about him from anyone here who is familiar with his time in LA.
IMHO, this guy is worth keeping and eye on.
—————-
“I just spoke by phone to GOP presidential candidate Buddy Roemer, the former Louisiana governor elected in 1987 as a reformer heading what was then called the “Roemer Revolution.” He was driving himself to a TV interview in New Hampshire when I reached him by cell. I was intrigued by his statement earlier today in support of the Occupy Wall Street protests. In the press release, Roemer said:
Wall Street grew to be a source of capital for growing companies. It has become something else: A facilitator for greed and for the selling of American jobs. Enough already.
Could Buddy Roemer, a one-term Louisiana governor and a 67-year-old Baton Rouge banker, be a real conservative populist? I caught him shortly after reading his tweet upbraiding Herman Cain’s criticism of the Occupy Wall Street protesters as “un-American.” Roemer told me that Cain had unfairly insulted “young men and women who are protesting business as usual. And business as usual has gotten us eaten alive with crony capitalism.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/2011/10/06/buddy-roemer-occupy-wall-street-folks-good-americans/
That is refreshing to hear. Of course that means that the GOP establishment will do everything they can to obstruct him and prevent him from getting anywhere in the primaries.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/8813668/Occupy-Wall-Street-protests-spread-from-New-York-to-other-cities-in-the-US.html
While the corrupt Establishment GOP will naturally be smearing anyone who stands up to their Wall Street patrons, any of the protesters who were Obama Zombies back in 2008 need to come clean over their own role in perpetuating political top cover for crony capitalism. Unfortunately, a lot of these young people are products of an educational and cultural systems that has left them with no capacity for original or independent thought and analysis, not to mention principled opposition to wrong-doing, be it from the Establishment or troublemakers in their own ranks.
But they get hired FIRST…….Its pitiful in America that smart out of the box people are tossed to the gutter.
———-
that has left them with no capacity for original or independent thought
Conform or be cast out.
Exactly, they don’t want original thinkers who might dissent from the corporate line. They just want drones.
Conform or be cast out.
Subdivisions :-).
It’s been a tough year. Work is behind about $100K in paychecks, but the struggling company is showing some hope. Savings took a huge beating, as well.
I was late paying my property tax on my 10 year old car. But I finally did it. There is a lock that prevents me from renewing my DMV registration because of it as well.
So I get this new bill that shows I paid the old bill, plus a new $52 fee. I’m getting the feeling the $52 fee is for them to tell the DMV that I can now pay for my registration.
Is it possible to demand a breakdown of the time and costs associated with this fee? It seems ridiculous. It’s a 1k database query that would take a faction of a second on a computer from 1990.
It’s a 1k database query that would take a faction of a second on a computer from 1990.
Maybe they use Ticketmaster….
Why would you assume it is a “notification” fee? Isn’t is just as likely it is a late payment fee? Maybe $2 of interest and $50 for being late?
Most DMVs have extensive websites. Check there for fee and/or penalty schedules. You’ll probably find an explanation there.
But there is a late fee on it also? There is a specific penalty for being late, which was paid. The bill was about $125 total, with $12 or so being a late fee.
The additional “misc charge” that was added on after it was paid was for another $52. Perhaps there is a late fee after paying the late penalty, we’ll see tomorrow.
“It’s been a tough year.”
+1
i had forgotten to include proof of insurance with my registration renewal (in CA)…the dmv cancelled of my registration until i sent proof on insurance…along with a $15 reinstatement fee. it had to be done by mail only.
Since when do we need proof of ins. in CA to renew? I just sent in my registration renewal four days ago, just a check and the statement. My only hope is that you’re wrong, or that you meant to type “VA” and missed the V.
Here in the Centennial State the property tax portion is included with the DMV bill. I just renewed our 2008 MINI Cooper. The total bill was $160.
Property taxes? You ain’t seen property taxes, until you’ve tried to register a car in Kansas. Just ask anyone who has moved here.
Over $200 for an 11 year old Caddy Seville.
I don’t put “Antique” tags on my old cars, because it’s just a matter of time before they start billing them on “appraised value”. So why volunteer to put a big bullseye on your chest?
“Work is behind about $100K in paychecks…”
I thought there were laws against payroll stacking…certainly the withholding taxes. Must be a 1099 contractor?
No they just pay partial paychecks until back on their feet. Signed an agreement regarding more equity.
that would take a faction of a second on a computer??
Ditto with the eye in the sky at intersections nowadays…About $300. per picture around here…
Yankin ‘em out in CA!
A property tax on cars? We don’t have that in NY, where a large share of the population uses transit. I didn’t think a tax existed that we didn’t have here.
Do they tax bicycles too?
Do they tax bicycles too ??
Don’t give them any ideas…..
How much does it cost to register say a brand new $30 K car in the Empire state? What I’m saying is that maybe the property tax is embedded (hidden) in the registarion fee.
Realtors Are Liars®
CHICAGO (CBS) — It’s sticker shock in the mail. Tax bills went out to Cook County homeowners this week and the big jump in the amount due to many homeowners has some wondering if they can keep their house.
CBS 2′s Dana Kozlov takes a look at how the dramatic jump in property tax bills is affecting people and what you can do about it.
According to the Cook County Clerk’s office, tax rates are up for schools, park districts, municipalities and other government bodies. Some of those tax levies have made double-digit increases in tax rates.
The property tax reality was setting in with Markham homeowner Patricia Taylor on Wednesday.
Asked if she can keep her house after receiving an $8,100 property tax bill, Taylor said, “I don’t know right now. It’s bad right now, it’s really bad.”
That’s because her property tax bill for her three bedroom, one bathroom house shot up from $6,400 last year to $8,100 this year — a whopping 27 percent jump.
Taylor took time on her day off to head to the Cook County Assessor’s office to see if anything could be done for herself and her mother.
“What do they expect? I don’t live in Beverly Hills, I stay in Markham and this is ridiculous,” Taylor said.
Kelley Quinn, spokeswoman for Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios, said the office has had thousands of taxpayers like Taylor walk through their halls this week, wondering what was going on with their bills.
Countywide, property tax bills will jump an average of almost 2.7 percent, according to Quinn.
“What we’re seeing are a lot of anxious people,” Quinn said. “But what we’re also seeing is once they leave here, they’re satisfied and many of them are happy because they are seeing a tax bill that does go down a bit.”
Quinn said many of the people voicing complaints about their tax bills are senior citizens who didn’t apply for their senior exemption, which they must do every year, because of a new law.
Those seniors can still get their exemption with help from the county.
But everyone else? They could be out of luck, because taxing districts — from schools to parks — needed the extra revenue and the taxpayers were forced to foot the bill.
“So your local tax rates are going up, even though your assessments are going down, which results ultimately in a tax bill that could be a little bit higher,” Quinn said.
People who believe their tax bills are incorrectly assessed can appeal through the Cook County Board of Review, but dates for that are very specific and depend on your township.
This has been the situation in Central NY. This year the town of Cicero raised the property taxes randomly on every 3rd house. A friend of mine who lives in Cicero researched it and pointed it out to the town assessor. Her comment was “it’s just a coincidence”. The taxes in our county (Onondaga) are quite high that middle class people who after they retire in most cases cannot afford to live here. I know of a 92 year old man who is selling his house as he cannot afford the school taxes. It’s just a shame. Our local politicians are asking for a 12 to 16 percent raise this year.
Similar issues were the seeds of Proposition 13 in California.
Exactly rms………
Is that so?
The State of New York put a 2 percent limit on property tax increases. But made an exemption for pensions.
The tax bill came out latter this year. The increase took place before the tax cap bill.
That’s because her property tax bill for her three bedroom, one bathroom house shot up from $6,400 last year to $8,100 this year — a whopping 27 percent jump.
Wow, the increase alone is more than our entire proprty tax bill.
So why haven’t Illinois taxpayers revolted yet? It seems to me that they are due for a prop 13 or TABOR type of tax ammendment. Or is there no referendum system there?
So why haven’t Illinois taxpayers revolted yet?
Something like half of Illinois voters pay no taxes, and have no objection to voting themselves benefits the other half will have to pay for. Since both political parties pander to different sets of parasites - the Dems to the vast and evergrowing entitlement classes created since the Great Society, and the Republicans to the crony capitalists who are engaged in financial warfare and asset-stripping against the productive economy - taxpayers, especially unborn ones, will continue to get squeezed. And since the great mass of voters are too lobotomized to make the connection between their votes for the likes of Obama and McCain, and the perpetuation of the statist, corporatist status quo, they will continue to be fleeced like the sheep that they are.
“Wow, the increase alone is more than our entire proprty tax bill.”
You and I do live in different worlds. I met a recently retired Fire Chief from Detroit last week. He and his wife bought a condo on Singer Island that needs to be remodeled. He liked me a hell of a lot better than the GC who had me there for the estimate. I talked with him for about 1/2 hour on several different subjects from him being a Detroit Lions season ticket holder for the last 20 years (until this year) talk about bad luck, to him being ready to receive his first pension check next month from the city of Detroit. At 62, which I thought was the way it should be here and so did he. He also said he could have taken it earlier but he waited so it would go up, it went down. But this dude is only getting a $60k pension after 40 years of fighting fires in Detroit! As I thought it would be and he says it is those guys do nothing but work, fires everywhere all the time. He and his wife also commented on the fire dept. here. They were shocked at all the new stations, trucks and gear with well dressed firemen standing in line at Publix with there $200k fire ride in the lot, 2 days on 3 days off $100k salaries, gold plated bene packages and pensions starting in their mid to late 40s. So you are right it`s not that way everywhere, but it is where I live.
Anyway nice people, I gave them a price to skim the entire condo that was probably too good. But hell if I brake even for people like that it`s good enough.
with well dressed firemen standing in line at Publix with there $200k fire ride in the lot, 2 days on 3 days off $100k salaries ??
Everybody please sit down for this one;
Just went to a wedding a few weeks ago…My youngest son was the best man for this firefighter…He is a 32 year old and has been on the force for 4 years…He knocks down around 130k..
But that’s nutten….He is now on his honeymoon…Through taking some paid vacation days and some shift swapping, he has 37 straight days off with pay…Life is good..
He is a 32 year old and has been on the force for 4 years…He knocks down around 130k..
”
and when he retires in a few years he can knock down about 130K for the next 50 years life is good
have to rasie your taxs a bit to pay for this
None of these people were complaining when their (ficticious) property values were soaring.
Soaring property values increase tax revenues which allows governments to expend expeditures - an inflationary environement.
Tax rates can be cut in such an environment as long as the revenues taken in more than offset the revenues that are given back.
Declining property values decrease tax revenues which forces government to cut back on their expenditures - a deflationary environment.
Governments don’t like to do that so they end up increasing tax rates.
Lots of people see these increasing tax rates as a sign that inflation is raging (too much money chasing too few goods) but the root of the tax increases is deflation (not enough money coming into the government’s coffers).
“expend expeditures” = “expand expenditures”
“Those seniors can still get their exemption with help from the county.”
In Washington state seniors can apply to forgo their school taxes, but they accumulate on the books, and must be paid when the home’s title is transferred.
Paying for the ongoing mistakes of electric deregulation
The cost of electricity for most Houston consumers is going up by another $1.7 billion.
This time, the price hike for customers in the competitive market comes from one of the most arcane and long-forgotten aspects of deregulation.
Known as stranded costs, they represent the investment that the old monopoly utilities made in things such a nuclear power plants before deregulation. Back then, utilities could recover these costs through higher rates. With deregulation came a big battle over who should have to pay them.
Apparently the “Producers” made out just fine…
Stranded costs are actually a billion-dollar joke on consumers. CenterPoint sold the generating plants that had been owned by Houston Lighting & Power in 2004 for $3.7 billion to a group led by billionaire investor David Bonderman. A year later, Bonderman sold the same plants to NRG Energy for $5.8 billion.
Turns out the costs weren’t stranded at all. CenterPoint left them on the table, and they wound up in a billionaire’s pocket. Don’t blame Bondo for this boondoogle, though. He simply exploited a flawed system.
http://www.chron.com/business/steffy/article/Paying-for-the-ongoing-mistakes-of-electric-2197679.php
Electricity is a monopoly in more ways than one. It has no business being degregulated in any form whatsoever.
+1. Deregulation was a ploy pushed by Republicans to allow energy pirates like Enron - George W. Bush’s biggest campaign contributers - to loot at will until falling victim to their own greed and hubris. The energy grid should be a monopoly, with reasonable but regulated profits. Ditto for the landline telecommunications system.
“Electricity is a monopoly in more ways than one. It has no business being degregulated in any form whatsoever.”
It’s a great deal if you don’t mind much higher rates for inferior service. It’s interesting to see Texas get done they way they did California a decade ago. How much is a summertime monthly electric bill now in Dallas or Houston?
Depends on where you live and how well your place is insulated and which energy company you have.
Ex: An old 3bdr vs a new 3bdr house, the cost can vary as much as $300 per month, starting with the best case at $175 month. (that’s with good insulation, highly rated Energy Star everything AND trees)
Does that include an electric water heater, clothes dryer, and stove (in other words no gas utility)? Also, was that true when every day in this summer’s billing cycle topped 100 degrees?
How does that go BBWWWAHHHHHHHHHAHAHA!
Trees where? How many of those McMansion were built around the tree?….nah cut those suckkkers down and broil in the texazzz heat!
Probably the worst aspect of the bubble…
AND trees
alpha-sloth
Here is a “little guy” from Occupy Wall Street that I am with 100%. I responded to your post at the end of yesterdays bits.
“We don’t have one central argument,” said Jed Brandt of Brooklyn. “We have a lot, but the basic issue is our democratic structures are broken in this country.”
And when a Congressman showed up - Rep. Charles Rangel, who told protesters, “We have to take our country back” - demonstrators made it clear government isn’t working.
“You, sir, have no business being here - you’re part of the problem,” they retorted.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/01/national/main20114373.shtml - 110k -
Dennis Kucinich is the only person in Congress who would agree with most of what OWS is protesting, the rest are all bought and paid for. Now back to Dancing With The Stars…
The trouble is, OWS has yet to state any coherent objectives or platform other than slogan-spouting about Wall Street greed. Yeah, we all know they’re greedy, but what are you proposing to do about it? And more to the point, if you’re so opposed to Wall Street avarice and ripping off the taxpayers, why on earth did you vote for Obama in 2008?
How about a transaction tax on all stock trades?
Oh, wait, can’t interfere with the invisible hand of the free market with its high-frequency trading by algorithms and made faster by $300M undersea cables. God’s work indeed…
+1. Something like 70% of all stock transactions are being done by high frequency trading (HFT) algos that typically buy and hold for a few fractions of a second before selling at tiny profit, but magnified millions of times a day, those profits add up. Combine that with front running of the markets and it is a dangerously rigged, unstable market, a demonstated by the May 6, 2010 flash crash. I’d love to see a transaction tax, as it would put small retail investors back in the drivers seat by effectively banishing the algos. I think such an initiative is underway, called the Tobin Tax. The Republicrats, for obvious reasons, are opposing it.
http://www.tobintax.org/
We already have different capital gains tax rates based on the length of time the investment is held: ordinary income and long term capital gains for investments held longer than a year.
Maybe we should have an even higher rate than the ordinary income tax rate for holding periods of less than a day (or hour, or minute, or second…).
“if you’re so opposed to Wall Street avarice and ripping off the taxpayers, why on earth did you vote for Obama in 2008?”
As someone here pointed out a couple of days ago, you can’t damn people who feel betrayed by Obama and have learned a lesson. Which is no doubt a huge chunk of the crowds we’re seeing. I know you would say they should have known. I disagree, even if GS was throwing cash at his campaign. In this era of dollars = usually winning, folks realize that you’ll take the money where you can get it, with a few exceptions.
CEO of the latest bank failure. Couldn’t have seen this coming….
Shaun Hayes, a small-town boy from Thayer, Mo., has had a decidedly big-time banking career. He transformed a tiny rural bank into a regional giant, Allegiant Bank, with $2.5 billion in assets, and sold it in 2004 for $500 million.
But these are not the glory days. Hayes lost a $10.2 million summary judgment to Bank of America for unpaid loans tied to a stalled development project in Gulf Shores, Ala. He is facing garnishments on assets at six banks and levies on three homes on the $6.9 million balance owed on the judgment.
Three community banks where he has had a leading role are operating under restrictions imposed by bank regulators. Sun Security Bank, where he is president; Excel Bank , where he is majority owner; and Truman Bank , where he is a shareholder and had served as a consultant, all are under orders from their regulators to revamp business practices.
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2011/04/13/ceo-shaun-hayes-leaves-sun-security-bank.html?page=all
Appropriately enough he also rakes in 1/4 million a year as a casino director.
http://people.forbes.com/profile/shaun-r-hayes/45609
The article should have been titled - “Divided we stand”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wooed evangelical Christian voters on Saturday with promises he would protect families, but found his Mormon religion at center stage at a conference of social conservatives.
The former Massachusetts governor, front-runner in the race for his party’s nomination to oppose President Barack Obama in 2012, promised at the annual “Values Voter Summit” he would oppose marriage rights for homosexuals and seek to overturn the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision allowing legal abortions.
But Romney, who is viewed skeptically by conservatives for his past support for abortion rights and gay rights, kept to a relatively moderate line as he pushed back at those who denounce his faith.
“Poisonous language does not advance our cause,” Romney said. “The blessings of faith carry the responsibility of civil and respectful debate. The task before us is to focus on the conservative beliefs and the values that unite us — let no agenda narrow our vision or drive us apart.”
Romney’s Mormon religion emerged as an issue at the summit, where some participants questioned the validity of Romney’s faith, which some evangelicals do not consider a form of Christianity.
The speaker who immediately followed Romney took veiled shots at the candidate’s religion and said only an “authentic” Christian should be president.
On Friday, Texas pastor Robert Jeffress, a supporter of Texas Governor Rick Perry, said Republicans should not vote for Romney because he is a Mormon. He described Mormonism as a cult to reporters at the conference after introducing Perry, one of Romney’s main rivals for the nomination.
Told ya.
Protestant Fundamentalists see Mormonism as being closer to Islam than Christianity. Many truly believe that the LDS want to take over the USA and will NEVER vote for a Mormon.
I know a Fundy who once turned down a job offer with HP in Boise once he learned that Boise is a very Mormon town. He refused in his word to “raise his family in a Mormon town”.
“Many truly believe that the LDS want to take over the USA…”
Isn’t that a goal of all the religious franchises?
Yes.
But the anti-Mormon attitude towards presidential candidates seems border-line hysterical. Don’t Retardicans realize that Mormons have regularly served in high government office since at least the 1930s, when Marriner Eccles was Federal Reserve Chairman? Ezra Taft Benson, who later served as LDS Prophet, was John F. Kennedy’s Secretary of Agriculture. Harry Reed and Orrin Hatch represent opposite sides of the political aisle in Congress. The list goes on.
What is it about the U.S. presidency that sends the illiterati into fits of hysteria?
Stoopid is as stoopid sez.
BwhahwhHahajHAHAHAHAHAHASHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
My fundy father-in-law votes straight Republican out of a perception that they will appoint “conservative” supreme court judges who will oppose abortion. While I personally am anti-abortion, I agree with Ron Paul that that should be an issue left to the individual states. I also think Fundies like my father-in-law are completely myophic when it comes to single-issue focuses that miss the overall picture. They are the easiest people in the world to manipulate into backing frauds like Sarah Palin or other phoney “conservatives.”
I agree with Ron Paul that that should be an issue left to the individual states ??
Along with a lot of other things….
Regarding abortion, California would likely approve…But many states would not…I don’t think one southern state would…So where would the women in the south turn ?? To the legal states ??…But here is the kicker; Allow the womens right to choose BUT, you must be a verifiable resident of the state for at least 18 months…Let the south deal with the fall out of their choice… Driving all those women back into a closet or out of the country…
Of course, it’s no problem at all if you have enough money. If a rich man’s teenage daughter were to get
knocked up in the Bible Belt it would be no problem to for that man to drive or fly his daughter to a state that allowed abortion. Even if it was banned in every state, the rich could fly to Canada.
This is why Wall Street is willing to make an alliance with the religious right. They know that they can get around changes in these kinds of laws.
Who give a flip what you think my wife and daughter ought to be doing with their plumbing? You got enough problem managing your own. My wife and daughter can manage theirs just fine.
pffft.
The issue is that some people think that it’s more than just “plumbing”. Anyway, this is the housing bubble blog, not the abortion rights blog. Maybe we should just calmy back away from this subject and resume our discussions about over aid firefighters in Florida and other “union goons”
That’s their problem. Bulletin-Proceed at your own risk when you decide to approach my wife or daughter and tell them what they can/can’t do with their plumbing.
Agree.
All-time low mortgage rates are a big tease to most borrowers
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 2:40 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011
WEST PALM BEACH — Much of South Florida can gaze longingly at today’s record-low interest rates, which dipped under 4 percent last week, but can’t touch.
For this region of the country, where nearly 47 percent of borrowers have no equity in their homes and credit scores have been thrashed by mortgage and employment woes, the 3.94 percent on a 30-year fixed is a tantalizing tease.
Mortgage brokers and economists say the sad truth is that the very thing that is supposed to lift the economy has very little muscle. That’s especially true in real estate-challenged Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
While theories are mixed on whether interest rates will continue to drop, the consensus is that only the most stellar candidates with top credit scores - 760 or above - solid incomes, home equity and a little luck will win a rate under 4 percent.
In Palm Beach County, 42 percent of all homeowners with mortgages owe more on their loan than the home is worth. That negative equity is a barrier to refinancing.
And Thomas is lobbying for banks to ignore negative equity when top-notch borrowers want to refinance. He argues someone with an 800-credit score and pristine financial record is a good candidate even if the home is underwater.
“Brazilians come here with suitcases of cash and make deals but our own citizens of South Florida can’t get anything done,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t seem right.”
“Brazillians come here with suitcases of cash and make deals but our own citizens of South Florida can’t get anything done.”
Yeah? Well maybe that’s because in this economic environment cash is truly the king and debt truly sucks.
“The negative equity is a barrier to refinancing.”
Which means mortgages rates could go to zero and it still would not help these people because these people will not be able to get access to the money.
For those who still do not get it:
In a liquidity crisis interest rates are high but nevertheless money is still made available to borrowers.
In a solvency crisis interest rates are low but the rates don’t matter a whit because people cannot borrow if they have no assets to back up the loan.
And how, pray tell, did the Brazilians end up with “suitcases of cash?”
Maybe because their government seems to have a coherent trade/business development/protection plan, and ours listens to the “Free-Trade is a universal good” mafia?
cash is truly the king and debt truly sucks ??
Not really…Debt is cash if you can service it…
“Debt is cash if you can service it…”
There’s the rub, as one needs cash to service debt, except perhaps for mortgage debt, in case one has a long-term, rent-free living arrangement in place.
as one needs cash to service debt ??
If you mean “income” I agree…
Debt is a cruel mistress, who will be served.
‘If you mean “income” I agree…’
Aren’t most incomes paid in cash these days?
Fretful Americans cut back on borrowing in August - MSNBC
Consumer borrowing fell in August by the most in 16 months, suggesting many Americans are worried about taking on new debt while the economy is stuck in neutral, according to The Associated Press.
Total U.S. borrowing fell by $9.5 billion in August, according to the latest Federal Reserve data, following an increase of $11.9 billion in July. Before August, consumer borrowing had risen for 10 straight months. The August decline was the biggest drop since April 2010, the report said.
Fewer Americans used credit cards in August, and student and auto loan demand also fell, according to the newswire. Borrowing for auto and student loans fell $7.2 billion, while credit card borrowing tumbled $2.3 billion.
Fretful Americans cut back on borrowing in August
or
Fretful Banks cut back on lending in August
Fewer Americans used credit cards in August
or
Fewer Americans had credit cards that weren`t maxed out in August
“and student and auto loan demand also fell”
Hmmmm… the beginning of a trend perhaps? Maybe the young uns are beginning to wise up and are shunning expensive private schools? Or maybe skipping college altogether?
Mine are…..
Oldest- Assistant Manager @ Nationwide chain clothing store. Supervises many college grads. One year of college, before the money ran out.
Middle- 21 years old. One year of college (ditto the money running out). Nothing she wanted to get a degree in pays squat. Went to dog-grooming school, currently on commission. Doing something she likes, and the money is decent. No debts.
Youngest- 18 years old. No money for college. Job market sucks, part time work only, keeping our nation’s military fully supplied with beer and Buffalo wings (at least she is moderately “hot”, so she has more options). Rent/transportation subsidized by the Bank of Dad. No debts, because she has no credit. Trying to keep her head above water.
They all know friends and people they work with who are debt slaves, paying of $40-50K in student loans on $8-10/hour salaried. In fact, that pretty much describes 90% of the college grads they know.
They all know friends and people they work with who are debt slaves, paying of $40-50K in student loans on $8-10/hour salaried. In fact, that pretty much describes 90% of the college grads they know.
Not long from now we’ll look back to when only 50% of workers earned $500 a week as the “good old days”.
My wife makes $35 per day as lunch lady; does playground duty for free right in the middle of her split shift; volunteers in my son’s classroom, and is one of the most revered figures at the school. More people look up to her than they do the principal who makes more like $500 per day plus bennies.
She also coaches the boys fifth grade basketball team.
The payoff is watching the kids grow up in their element; it is terrific fun to work with youth!
I substitute teach for $70-150 dollars per day; given it is much easier than my wife’s lunch lady position(her department demands quite a bit and gives quite a little! if it was not at the kids’ school believe her she would not be there); But hey, I gots a degree an all….So both of us work; one of us earns a “professional rate”, but it is not enough sadly.
So right now, even with three paid off cars, one paid off house, we make nowhere near enough to keep the wolves from the door (i.e. keep health insurance or not taking food stamps), cuz we are making $650 per week. At least 2/3 of our pay goes to keep up on medical/health insurance; Dental care?? HA!
Believe me we are exploring options to help our kids get things like braces, etc. but I don’t wanna sell my house as it provides some rental income without so much as lifting a finger as we have a pride of rentership tenant who is great.
Mom and Dad are helping us short term until one of our feet, which are thankfully ensconsed in the door, allows us a job with health benefits. Hopefully that time will come before I need to liquidate my house.
I recently heard of a guy at my GFs company who graduated with an MBA…and over $100k in debt. He was hired as a TEMP and pays over $1600 per month on the debt. And yet, he has not dialed back his lifestyle AT ALL. She says he’s out with friends for drinks/dinner > 3x per week. He also just spent ~$1000 to travel to Las Vegas for a friend’s bachelor party. A sense of entitlement along with a go-along-to-get-along attitude.
This go-along-to-get-along attitude parallels what we saw with houses. Whether it’s houses or bachelor parties, instead of refusing to play, people seem to think, “well, this is the going rate so I guess I’ll pay it.”
BC Ferries President and CEO David L. Hahn this week announced plans for a major cost containment effort - and said that, as part of it, he had “elected to retire effective December 31, 2011.” Mr. Hahn noted “I want to be clear on one thing. It’s my choice to retire and it is on my terms that I’m leaving. I believe it to be in the best interests of the organization, otherwise I would have never considered it.”
Mr. Hahn said, “Over the last month, I have conducted an extensive review of our operating and capital costs and the following is a list of cost saving actions to be undertaken:
* Hiring freeze of all non essential positions
* Wage and salary freeze for next two years
* Select early retirements
http://www.marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1413:2011sep00306&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=107
Scratch Canada of the list for dual citizenship. $315,000 a year for life for six years work…nice
Mr. Hahn, 60, will receive no severance, but his pension benefits will begin when he leaves the corporation at the end of this year, 15 months ahead of schedule, as part of a cost-cutting exercise as the corporation grapples with ridership that has hit 20-year lows.
Public controversy over his $1-million annual salary led to legislation last year that ensures that pay and benefits for the top executives at BC Ferries will, in future, be comparable to other public-sector corporations.
But his pension, negotiated in 2006 with the board of BC Ferries, will stay in place. Under B.C.’s Public Service Pension Plan, Mr. Hahn was entitled to an annual pension of $75,948 if he retired on March 31, 2013. The supplemental pension would have been an extra $237,100 if he had stayed on. Mr. Hahn said leaving early will reduce that figure, but he could not say by how much.
“The issue isn’t my compensation,” he said. “All this is distracting from the discussion of who is going to pay.
Stupid distractions…
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/bc-ferries-ceo-takes-smaller-pension-bows-out-early/article2181737/
Anybody see the new Gail Vaz-Oxlade show last night - ‘Til Debt Do Us part: Home Edition? Same general idea as her other one, but in this a huge amount of the debt causing the problem is because of a house. Much larger sums of money involved than in some of the others. I think one couple last night was overspending their income by over $6000 a month. And boy their original home inspections had certainly been inadequate. They are a little too formulaic to be really interesting, but this twist might make it worth a little time.
Certainly worked for me while I waited for it to be late enough to take another dose of cold medicine before bed.
Fri- Bill Maher, 10pm
Sat-Orman, 9-10pm, Debt Do Us Part 10-11pm.
Good stuff.
A couple days ago HBB was discussing how the roughneck jobs in North Dakota haven’t been taken over by the illegals yet, but they soon will be.
“Drivers’ license requirements:
Out of state permits, licenses, and ID cards will not be accepted as proof of name and date of birth.
All applications for permit, license, or identification card must contain a social security number. The social security number will be verified with the Social Security Administration. However, the social security number will not be used as the driver license or identification card number.
Acceptable Forms of Identification are:
1. U.S. Birth Certificate (state certified; Government-issued; includes U.S. territories).
2. Valid unexpired U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport Card
3. U.S. Government-issued Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Certificate or FS240-seal required).
4. Valid Foreign Passport with an I-94 card or an I-551 stamp.
5. U.S. Active Duty/Retiree/Reservist Military ID Card.
6. U.S. Court Order for adoption containing the legal name and date of birth (Court seal required). Divorce decree and marriage certificate are not acceptable for proof of date of birth.
7. North Dakota state issued permit, license, or ID card
8. The following Immigration documents (unexpired):
I-551 Resident Alien or Permanant Resident Card
I-766 Employment Authorization Card
N560 Certificate of Citizenship
N550 Certificate of Naturalization
I-94 card stamped Refugee, Asylee or Parolee
Only original documents and certified copies will be accepted. ”
So it looks like illegals will have a tough time being professional drivers. As for other jobs… I don’t know. Will those oil companies perform e-verify or similar?
Good for North Dakota.
I’m sure that Mickey D’s will look the other way. Also, a lot of illegals have forged documents. Unless employers perform E-Verify they won’t catch them.
North Dakota is the “giant sucking sound” for the 18-30 year old males looking for work around here.
Anybody who knows anyone working up there is either already there, or thinking hard about it. Especially those that can pass a drug test.
A lot of the airplane refuelers at the local airports are heading that direction, since they already have the training, and have been under a drug test program.
Id still like to know what its like to live in a mobile home at 20 30 or 40 below. and no garage…..
We hit about 10 below last winter here in Colorado. Ours was built in 91 and the heater had no problem keeping up. The skirting is sealed up pretty well. We don’t really get the high winds like they get in Wyoming…I don’t know if ND is the same way.
And out here in Flyover, it’s all the government bureaucrat’s fault…..for noticing that people have been violating the law since 1932
“Corners were cut, banks weren’t asking for surveys, nobody asked about setbacks. A lot of stuff got built where it shouldn’t have, and nobody noticed.”
“Now we’ve got a hell of a mess down here……..”
http://tinyurl.com/3lw8d6
Meanwhile, the banks are addressing the Robo-signing fiasco with
wait for it…….
MORE Robo signing…….
http://tinyurl.com/5t3gt32
I hereby propose that the “Stars and Stripes” be replaced with a new flag;
S##t brown field, with three giant stars at the top (representing the 1%ers, the banksters, and the federal government) raining crap down on 97 tiny little stars along the bottom edge of the flag.
How does this Dream Act pencil out for California households that pay taxes?
And won’t it provide massive incentive for new illegal immigration into California, further straining the broke-back budget?
Student-aid bill for illegal immigrants signed
California Dream Act gives access to state-funded grants, tuition assistance
Christopher Cadelago
12:16 p.m., Oct. 8, 2011
Updated 7:27 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation allowing illegal immigrants to apply for state-funded college financial aid, the second chapter of a package known as the California Dream Act.
“Going to college is a dream that promises intellectual excitement and creative thinking,” Brown said in a statement issued Saturday after signing the bill. “The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us.”
…
This is one of the reasons I’m not a Democrat.
We’re flat broke and we want to give freebies away to illegals. Where are these people supposed to work upon graduation? Or is there an expectation that they will simply use forged documents upon hiring time?
This is one of the reasons I’m not a Democrat.
Oddly enough. This is one of very few things I like about democrats. I know, as a libertarian I am not supposed to have a heart. I also know that the Dems do it for wrong reason…. I wish they did for compassion note votes.
I have a heart, but it extends to taxpaying citizens who might not want to create new programs at the height of a budget crisis to draw in an ever-expanding pool of illegal immigrants who don’t pay taxes, yet by fiat, get to enjoy the fruits of law-abiding citizens’ tribute.
X2
If we were running surpluses I could see helping illegals. But really, why subsidize their college education if they can’t legally work upon graduation?
We’re flat broke and we want to give freebies away to illegals.
It’s one of the reasons I’m not a Democrat, either. This seems patently stupid on the surface; what deeper wisdom am I missing here?
It’s nice to be a price-discriminating monopoly bank. It’s only possible for banks to play this game when they have overwhelming market power. Whatever became of the Sherman Antitrust Act?
Banks offer cash for completed short sales
Lender incentives range from a few thousand dollars to as much as $35,000
Written by Lily Leung
6 a.m., Oct. 8, 2011
The nation’s largest banks are luring a select number of San Diego County homeowners to complete short sales with the promise of cash, in some cases as much as $35,000 for each deal.
These incentive offers, which require lenders to accept less than what the borrower owes on their mortgage, have surfaced in recent months locally and around the U.S. As straightforward as they seem, they’ve baffled real estate agents and the courted borrowers, many of whom are jobless, behind on mortgage payments, or facing some other financial hardship.
They wonder: Why are the likes of Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo aiding homeowners with lump-sum cash offers? And why are certain homeowners chosen and not others?
Lenders won’t say. But they will divulge this: Don’t bother seeking out the incentives. If you qualify, they will come find you.
“It’s not something people can apply for,” Chase spokesman Gary Kishner told the Union-Tribune in a recent phone interview. “We look at case-by-case situations. Even the amount (offered) is case-by-case.”
…
Consider the position of a Megabank, Inc mortgage customer who wants a short sale with cash incentives, but does not receive an offer. Is there scope here for a class action lawsuit among such people, to insist that Megabank, Inc disclose its secret formula? Otherwise, how can we know that discrimination is not involved with the choice of cash recipients?
I sincerely hope there is a sizable legal exposure here, as I always take great pleasure in seeing Megabank, Inc share its taxpayer-provided bailout largess with the masses.
I realized how much I rant about housing with the Mrs. today, the family was playing the LIFE game and nobody, not even my 8 or 11 year old, wanted to buy a house….lol….
Maybe they should play “Illegal LIFE”
They buy one house, and have 20 players move into it.
Or put $3000 worth of rims and tires on a $800, 1980s Chevy Caprice.
“…not even my 8 or 11 year old, wanted to buy a house….lol…”
I see that as evidence of good parenting.
How does one get on the receiving end of one of these “steals”?
San Diegans take the short-sale gamble
They can be a way out for underwater borrowers - if everyone’s on board
Written byLily Leung
6 a.m., Aug. 4, 2011
Short sales can be lifesavers for consumers who want to shed real estate and avoid foreclosure or are steals for house hunters, from first-timers to move-up buyers.
That’s if everything goes right and everyone’s on board. Emphasis on “if.”
Short sales — transactions in which borrowers owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth but the lender agrees to a discounted payoff — made up 18.7 percent of San Diego County’s home resale market in June, up from 2 percent five years ago, says local real estate tracker DataQuick.
Even though short sales have become more common locally and throughout the state, the process of closing the deal from the buyer’s and seller’s sides remains lengthy, uncertain and ever-changing — qualities that could leave a cast of interested parties in a bind.
“Short sales are changing all the time,” said Kurt Wannebo, a San Diego broker who has specialized in such transactions for more than six years. “The banks change their processes all the time … and there are new laws and new short-sale government programs.”
Short-sale insiders say one particular state law signed in July that’s meant to further protect short sellers could actually make the process more lengthy, uncertain and costly for the seller.
What kind of homeowners sell short, and why?
…
MADE OFFER ON HOME TODAY… REO (not BOA)
We weren’t the only offer on this property, but we were the only cash one I have a feeling. We got a $10K discount for being cash right off the top, and then we went from there. The pool & spa might need resurfacing (or an acid wash) not sure (pool man inspection ). Resurfacing was taken off the top too, $10K.
We aren’t going to go up, but we will take an escrow days haircut. We’ll walk before paying more.
Good luck; hats off to you and anyone else who is still in the game at this point as a prospective buyer.
Multiple rents are killing us, and the Glaucoma & Virus issue has taken away from my other half’s EE career. Surgeries and other issues, so we need to lock in a fixed housing cost. $350/mo sounds good!
I need feedback from the HBB crowd. Did you have a I really like this/but not this with your last home purchase? We’ve never bought resale before. We’ve always picked the floorplan and decor.
I have only been an “owner” once, but I find in other areas of my life that being flexible is empowering. If nothing bothers you, or can impact your happiness, then “the man” cannot keep you down.
So, yeah, don’t worry about the floor plan.
YES!!!!!
I’m so happy for you, Awaiting!!!
It’s not ideal in so many ways. I already have buyer’s remorse and we haven’t even signed a contract. Is this telling me something?
We’ve been renting a long time, Muggy. We need to settle into a home and stop the financial bleeding. We sold in 2005. OMG, 6 yrs ago!
I’ll miss calling the LL on issues, and it was his tab. That I’ll miss.
We sold in 2005. OMG, 6 yrs ago!”
I guess you want to stay in CA forever ? I am 51 but think about a retirement in a state like Nevada where CA can’t tax my 401K when I start cashing it out, of course being 10 Plus years away from retiremnet ( unless some bad thing happens ) the game could change.
I lived in Phoenix AZ for 3 years, it was nice and cheap, too bad the job sucked , and 50 is a bad age to get let go in the Engineering field. so I bailed back home where I hope I don’t get let go.
Make sure your neighbors aren’t bad in some way, I had the pit bull girl in my first rental home in Phoenix, that was bad esp. since they never cleaned up the dog poopy, never.
If you have any staying power left, there should be plenty of more homes coming on the market over the next five years or so. I personally would not lock in to something that didn’t feel right, but it is certainly your call…
Oct. 10, 2011, 12:00 a.m. EDT
How Wall Street scammed Mom and Pop — again
Commentary: Investors in this year’s fund IPOs should be protesting
By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — The question isn’t why some people are “occupying Wall Street” in protest right now.
It’s why so many others aren’t.
Among those missing? How about all those investors who got suckered by Wall Street this year in the disastrous initial public offerings of closed-end mutual funds. Their investments have been absolutely massacred by fees and poor performance.
Their total losses — hard to believe — total about $1 billion. Many of these investors are regular Moms and Pops.
Thomas Herzfeld, who’s been following closed-end funds for decades, says the losses are the worst he can ever remember.
…