Bits Bucket for June 30, 2012
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Now that the Republican congressmen are done working over Holder, is Bernanke up next?
‘Audit the Fed’ bill advances in House
By Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Rep. Ron Paul, Texas Republican, speaks at the University of California at Berkeley on Thursday, April 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
The House oversight committee voted Wednesday to demand a broad audit of the Federal Reserve system by congressional investigators - a major move lawmakers said is designed to bring accountability to the murky workings of the independent board.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who turned the push for an audit into a powerful campaign slogan and whose criticism of the Fed’s monetary policy drew hundreds of thousands of voters into the political process.
It passed by voice vote, signaling the growing sense among lawmakers that the time has come for a full review. Committee members said they hope for a vote in the full House next month, and the legislation has been sponsored by 263 members, virtually assuring its passage.
“Clearly the Fed must be made too big to fail, and too big to fail requires a considerable amount of oversight,” said Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican and chairman of the committee.
…
Would not have this been a great things to do when the dems controlled the house by a huge margin, controlled the senate by a filibuster proof majority and controlled the white house?
Think of that hope and change.
Instead we had to wait for the repubs to take over one chamber of power to get the ball rolling…
My guess - it dies in the senate. Quietly.
Speaking of which - will this be the third year that the dems in the senate fail to produce ANY budget? And PS - Budgets needs only a simple majority in the senate to pass (ie - they can not be filibustered)
“Would not have this been a great things to do when the dems controlled the house by a huge margin, controlled the senate by a filibuster proof majority and controlled the white house?
Think of that hope and change.”
Ignore the Republican party troll.
These used to be our jobs.
Miami loan officer sentenced to 54 months in $9.2M mortgage fraud scheme
A Miami loan officer has been sentenced to 54 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his involvement in a $9.2 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Alejandro “Alex” Curbelo, 32, was also ordered to pay $9.2 million in restitution to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/blog/morning-edition/2012/06/miami-loan-officer-sentenced-to-54.html
As I’ve said, it will take time because the scope of the fraud is historical.
But the wheels of justice ARE turning.
Good find Hard Rain.
NAR Is Corrupt®
The Cult recruit$ have to learn a new technique in this current “Job$! Job$! Job$!” National economy:
Exerci$e #12, “enthu$iastically bending over backwards whilst $tuck in the mud … keep $milin’!”
http://tinyurl.com/8yvlq34
Ni$e handle!
From whence does this guy expect the demand to come which will possibly drive up home prices by 10% next year?
No idea? Uh-huh…
Anyone who wants to know why I think sufficient demand to drive prices 10% higher next year is not going to materialize can find plenty of reasons provided in this past week’s HBB posts by me, FPSS and a few others who are paying attention to economic reality on the ground.
Published: June 26, 2012 Updated: 12:30 p.m.
Realtor guru: 10% home-price jump possible in year
By JEFF COLLINS / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said he “would not be surprised” if U.S. home prices jumped 10% by June of next year.
If true, that would be significant after three or four years of falling home prices.
“The market is healing,” Yun said recently at the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference in Denver.
Several factors triggered Yun’s enthusiasm: Strong demand among buyers, higher sales, lower number of homes for sale, and a level of foreclosures that – while high – has steadily decreased over the past two years.
Distressed sales – foreclosed and underwater homes – account for a fourth of the market this year, compared to a third last year, he said. By next year, they’re expected to account for 15%.
“This time next year, there could be a 10% price appreciation. I would not be surprised to see that,” Yun said.
But he quickly amended his comments after fellow speaker David Crowe, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, challenged Yun’s prediction on housing starts.
Yun believes that starts – the level of new homes breaking ground – would increase by 70% to 80% next year if construction loans become more available, especially for small builders.
If so, Yun told journalists, “then the prices will increase much faster,” he said. “The housing market in 2012 will show a recovery after a long bottoming.”
But Crowe challenged Yun’s vision of 70% to 80% increases in housing starts, mainly because the homebuilding infrastructure has been cut drastically during the crash. Homebuilders have laid off up to two-thirds of their staff, and plants have been mothballed.
“I don’t think we can increase starts dramatically,” Crowe said. “We’ve lost a lot of capacity.”
That prompted Yun to retrench – but only slightly. NAR’s official forecast calls for home prices to rise 3% to 5% this year and next, Yun said.
But, he added: “If the housing supply remains muted, I would not be surprised if price appreciation increased by 10%.”
…
But then again, maybe if the guy is a fawkin’ awesome real estate guru, we’d better believe him without thinking about it much.
does yun have any credibility left? I wonder where david lereah ended up? Is he scrubn toilets?
“We’re going to drop significantly, but it’s not a balloon bursting,” Lereah says. “This is a soft landing for the housing markets.” (Business Week May 23rd, 2006)
At some level, you have to admire people who are persistently wrong but never stop lying or ever admitting it.
“At some level, you have to admire people who are persistently wrong but never stop lying or ever admitting it.”
For anybody still in doubt, please tune in to C-Span immediately.
So far, this HAS been a soft landing.
Yes, the price drops have erased the bubble in many areas (especially if you factor in inflation), but where is the cratering to 1987 prices, as predicted by Charles Hugh Smith?
At some level, you have to admire people who are persistently wrong but never stop lying or ever admitting it.
That would be a very…very…low level.
So far, this HAS been a soft landing.
I agree, and I was expecting otherwise…I honestly didn’t realize the lengths they’d go to. So the question remains of whether it really was a safe landing, or if we’ve managed to land it on a frozen lake with ice that’s only about an inch thick. And making funny sounds.
I’ll see you your analogy and raise you a little more:
They landed the plane on the frozen lake, and they’re drilling for oil at the site, hoping to make enough gas to take off before springtime.
Pope is Catholic!
Posted: 5:12 p.m. Thursday, June 28, 2012
Florida can now apply to $1 billion mortgage assistance program
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Florida homeowners can now apply to a $1 billion mortgage assistance program under new eligibility guidelines created to allow more people to benefit from the federal plan.
The Florida Housing Finance Corp. approved a revamp of the Hardest Hit Fund in April and the Treasury Department signed off on the changes in May.
But before the new guidelines could go into effect, counselors from 90 agencies statewide who deal directly with homeowners and their Hardest Hit applications needed training in the standards, which increase the amount of money homeowners can receive while eliminating some eligibility roadblocks.
The corporation announced that the new rules were in place as of Thursday.
“We know that the public is anxious for these changes to take effect,” said Florida Housing Finance Corp. communications director Cecka Green earlier this month.
Homeowners who previously applied for the Hardest Hit program, but were not eligible at that time, may request their application to be reconsidered by contacting the advising agency they initially worked with. They do not need to fill out a new application.
The Hardest Hit Fund is meant as a bridge for homeowners looking for work or higher-paying jobs. Those who are eligible can receive up to a year of mortgage assistance with a cap of $24,000, and up to $18,000 to bring a mortgage current on payments. Homeowners seeking only to have their mortgage arrearage paid can get up to $25,000.
The program was announced nationally in 2010 and began statewide in Florida in April 2011.
As of last month, 28,556 Floridians had completed applications for Hardest Hit money. Statewide, 5,747 homeowners have been approved.
Thousands of applications were ruled ineligible for reasons that don’t exist under the new guidelines, such as the mortgage payment was more than 180 days past due or the loan was obtained after a cutoff date of Jan. 1, 2009.
For information and applications, visit flhardesthithelp.org or call (877) 863-5244.
——————————————————————————–
Two programs are available under the Hardest Hit program
• Unemployment Mortgage Assistance provides up to a year of loan payments with a cap of $24,000 and up to $18,000 that can be paid up-front to bring a delinquent loan current.
• Mortgage Loan Reinstatement Payment provides up to $25,000 as a one-time payment to bring a delinquent mortgage current.
“Those who are eligible can receive up to a year of mortgage assistance with a cap of $24,000, and up to $18,000 to bring a mortgage current on payments. Homeowners seeking only to have their mortgage arrearage paid can get up to $25,000.”
So the question is, do they also get to deduct the interest paid on their mortgage gift on their end of the year end tax reporting?
Tax break for short-sellers expires at end of year
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 10:23 p.m. Saturday, June 23, 2012
Struggling Floridians have saved untold fortunes with a nearly five-year-old federal tax break that is about to go away.
Since 2007, homeowners whose banks have forgiven unpaid mortgage debt after a short sale, principal reduction or foreclosure have not had to count that money as income on their tax returns.
It’s meant savings of tens of thousands of dollars on the so-called “phantom income” depending on the amount of debt canceled and a person’s tax bracket.
But the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 will sunset Dec. 31.
With just six months before the scheduled expiration, accountants and Realtors are urging homeowners considering a short sale to put their properties on the market now so they can sell before year’s end.
“People are unaware that they could get a huge whack from this,” said real estate attorney Clifford Hertz of Broad and Cassel in West Pam Beach about the tax break expiration. “If they know what’s coming, they can make the right business decision.”
That’s just what Palm Beach Gardens homeowner Jeff Shingledecker did.
He put his home up for a short sale in April after researching the best exit strategy from his underwater mortgage. Within 24 hours of listing the home, he had a full price offer of $105,000 and is currently under contract.
Still, a successful sale will leave him with $118,000 in unpaid loan debt. If the bank forgives that balance, the money is taxable income. Considering Shingledecker’s tax bracket, he would owe about $29,500 in taxes on that canceled debt. Under the debt relief act, he won’t owe anything.
“This made the most sense,” Shingledecker said about his short sale decision. “I looked at all the angles and assuming everything goes as planned this is the best route.”
Sorry shingle putz…the banks will approve your short sale on Wednesday Jan 2 2013….and you will be free to go.
If the bank forgives that balance
I know someone here in Salinas doing just that in case relief is not renewed. The clock is ticking ladies and gents.
I hope the “gridlock” in DC lets this law die…
please, please, please…
This seems like a great year for bad laws to die, no?
DC won’t be doing anything for a few days.
There are a million people without electricity in the DC/MD/VA area, due to strong storms last night. Could be a multi-day power outage.
I’m now at Sbux in Frederick sucking e- to charge my computer.
“I’m now at Sbux in Frederick sucking e- to charge my computer.”
Whew! With a quick read I thought this was the naughtiest post I’ve read in a long time.
Who is that guy named e-?
The United States still has incredible infrastructure. I saw a thunderstorm on the Internet and knew roughly where the areas of damage would be, and who would only be lightly hit. When I realized that we’re in a for long power outage, I had a car, I had gasoline, I had roads in good condition to reach the next town with power. I knew the roads were good because the radio station, operating on battery backup I guess, broadcast it. A couple roads were blocked by fallen trees, but were cleared very quickly. Every county is opening cooling centers. We can still drink the water.
Say what you will about insane public unions, but I feel I’m getting something for my taxes. And I can see why foreigners are buying property for retirment in the US.
The United States still has incredible infrastructure.
We also won the geography lottery, e.g., navigable rivers, irrigable land and ideal weather to name a few.
“And I can see why foreigners are buying property for retirment in the US.”
You know this is a lie and so do we.
So why did you say it?
“You know this is a lie and so do we. So why did you say it?”
So, she really can NOT see why foreigners are buying property for retirement in the US, but says that she can? Please tell us how you know this.
Apparently you’re the only one that doesn’t know it’s a lie.
Which part is the lie? That foreigners are buying property, or that they are doing it because of the infrastructure?
Look, not everybody is obsessed with scoring a rock-bottom bargain. Do you think a rich guy from China or India or South America or Bahrain gives a flip if he pays $600K for a $450K house? He’d probably make up the $150K difference just in protection fees he wouldn’t have to pay to the local druglord/ganglord/police force. And he’s heard that relatively clean air and 24-hour electricity are pretty nice too.
So WunHungLo paid an inflated price for a depreciating asset in your neighborhood means “foreigners are buying property”?? Seriously? Yet housing demand is at 15 year lows.
Either you believe the lie or your part of the lie.
Which is it?
‘Do you think a rich guy from China or India or South America or Bahrain gives a flip if he pays $600K for a $450K house? ‘
What matters for most of us is, are they speculating? Because that is a whole different ballgame from some ‘rich’ guy pissing away his money. Speculation can be devastating to any market, and the question of is it is happening with housing concerns everyone who lives in a house.
Ben, I suspect it’s both. Some rich foreigner buys a house in the US. If it increases in value, great! If not, it’s a place to live in case the biofuel hits the wind turbine in the motherland.
“Struggling Floridians have saved untold fortunes with a nearly five-year-old federal tax break that is about to go away.”
Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that they have underpaid their taxes?
Tax break for short-sellers expires at end of year
Six months left, huh?
Get out those knee pads and close! This message brought to you by the MBA, NAHB and the NAR. Void where prohibited by law. Destination and/or service charges may apply.
Technically, only mortgages equal to the original acquisition indebteness and equity loans used for home improvements are available for relief. Helocs or cash-out refi used for anything else are exempt from relief.
That being said, the IRS has not engaged in any speical efforts to examine taxpayers with 1099-A or 1099-C (the 2 forms upon which cancelled debt and abandoned property are reported to the taxpayer and IRS) forms that I am aware of.
“But the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 will sunset Dec. 31.”
I have thought about writing some offers based on this fact. Loanowners aren’t going to care about the sale price, they’ll simply want out.
The lowballs won’t be insulting, they’ll be a gift.
Some fundamental market reality for the housing liars and pimps from Rithoz
Post Bubble Pricing Behavior
There is one last factor that requires some discussion: How asset prices behave following a bubble.
Regardless of the asset class — stocks, bonds, commodities, homes, etc. — assets do not merely mean revert. We have never seen a stock market that has run up into bubble territory, and then merely reverted to fair value of a 15 P/E. Instead, we careen wildly past that level, to deeply undersold, and exceedingly single digit P/E cheap.
That is the marvelous mechanism of markets. It is how assets are repriced, distressed holdings liquidated, capital markets stabilized, fools revealed, speculators punished — and money finally returned to its rightful owner, the prudent investor.
To date, we have not fully mean reverted, much less fallen far below fair value. In order to form a lasting recovery, we need to see homes cheap enough that they fall into “good hands” — i.e., long term owners who can afford to make their monthly mortgage payments..
‘In order to form a lasting recovery, we need to see homes cheap enough that they fall into “good hands” — i.e., long term owners who can afford to make their monthly mortgage payments.’
What if government authorities instead decided to hand over the homes at inflated prices to future foreclosure victims, funding the purchases with low-downpayment, federally-guaranteed mortgages? Wouldn’t that tend to thwart and delay the return to a normal market that Ritholz claims is going to eventually occur?
Not to suggest this could ever actually happen in real life…
press release
May 31, 2012, 4:30 p.m. EDT
LPS’ April Mortgage Monitor Shows Sharp Jump in FHA Foreclosure Starts; Overall Foreclosure Starts Decreased Slightly
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 31, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — The April Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services (LPS +2.22%) shows that while overall foreclosure starts were down 2.6 percent in April, FHA foreclosure starts spiked significantly, jumping 73 percent during the month. The rise was driven primarily by defaults in 2008 and 2009 vintage loans, though all FHA vintages saw increases in foreclosure starts in April, despite that fact that the more recent vintages - from 2009 forward - have shown improved relative credit performance.
“In 2008, when the loan origination market virtually dried up, the FHA stepped in to fill the void,” explained Herb Blecher, senior vice president for LPS Applied Analytics. “FHA originations tripled that year, and increased to five times historical averages in 2009. High volumes like that, even with low default rates, can produce larger numbers of foreclosure starts. That represents a lot of loans to work through - the 2008 vintage alone represents some $14 billion of unpaid balances in foreclosure, and the overall FHA foreclosure inventory continues to rise.”
…
We’re not going to get any long-term owners if we don’t get any long-term jobs.
Was in a B of A branch this morning in L.A. and noticed its sign displaying loan interest rates. The 15 year loan rate captured my eye. It was somewhere in the 2’s, below 3%. Just so happens to equal the yield of AAA municipals. Someone born with a gold spoon in his mouth and maybe $1.5 million in California AAAs would still be better off keeping his stash bearing interest and providing tax free $60,000 to $80,000 income, just to be able to rent an ocean view beach shack within staggering distance of the pubs on the pier.
The LPS data was wrong. FHA raised te issue with them and they are correcting…no foreclosure spike last month. I linked the article to yesterday’s long string.
I read the article and saw the foreclosure spike in the graph we discussed last night.
What gives?
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-29/review-finds-report-of-april-fha-foreclosure-surge-inaccurate
1. The report came out showing the spike.
2. FHA caught wind of the report (I’m sure they read the data each month like me), and called LPS telling them that they were wrong.
3. LPS reviewed the data and after determining that their method of data collection included time lags that caused distortions, agreed to change their data collection methodology.
In other words, the spike in the report was inaccurate.
That’s ok because May 2012 jumped anyways.
http://www.lpsvcs.com/LPSCorporateInformation/NewsRoom/Pages/20120620.aspx
Which number is the “jump”?
The 1.1% increase in mtm delinquency rate? (not 1.1 points, 1.1%–there is a difference); or
The 9.6% decrease in yoy delinquency rate?; or
The 0.5% decrease in mtm pre-foreclosure rate?; or
The 0.2% increase in yoy pre-foreclosure rate?
You spin the numbers even worse than Yun, which is quite a feat.
The only number of any significance on the page is the year on year decrease of delinquencies, because more loans are exiting this category than entering (either through mod, cure, or moving into pre-foreclosure). Once the delinquencies get to a more normal level, we’ll then see pre-foreclosure inventories start to fall (as there are simply fewer delinquent mortgages tok go into that pool).
The rest of the numbers point to flat…no jump, no big decrease.
Pimp,
It would be the 1.1% increase in the delinquency rate.
When are you going to stop lying to the public?
If a price (or anything else) is to revert to a mean and the price had spent time above mean then it will also have to spend some time below the mean or else the mean that it is reverting to will be changed. That’s because a mean is a type of average, and as an average it “averages” all the prices in order to form the mean.
The longer in TIME the price is above the mean and the greater the INTENSITY the price is above the mean during this time the longer in time and/or intensity the price will have to go below the mean in order to average out the mean and to keep it the same as it was before.
Great post, as regards an accurate definition of “mean reverting.”
However, I still suspect there is an unprecedented amount of top-down intervention in play during the current housing bust to oppose the fundamental forces which favor mean reversion (overshooting to the downside needed to balance the parabolic price runup during the recent mania). I can offer no predictions about whether these interventions will ultimately succeed or fail.
Don’t be mean! Ha!
Appears the NRA is doing a better job attracting first time buyers then the NAR.
Smith & Wesson posts record year
Smith & Wesson Holdings Corp. of Springfield, Mass., said booming demand for its polymer-based pistols and sporting rifles were largely to credit for the quarter’s strong performance, as were efforts to consolidate and outsource some of its operations. The company surpassed 1 million unit shipments and ended the period with $439 million in backlogged orders, both records.
In a June 28 conference call with analysts, CEO James Debney said first-time buyers as well as gun aficionados were triggering the rise in business. He said a drawdown in inventory during the most-recent quarter and Smith & Wesson’s massive order backlog should propel the company to new financial highs in the months to come.
then
than
outsourcing
We’re on our way to guns made in China, customer service routed to India. It was inevitable. Wonder how that will go over with the flag-wavin’ truck drivin’ Proud-To-Be-An-American-Where-At-Least-I-Know-I’m-Free crowd.
Thank Goodness: Obamcare Saves Home Prices in DC Again
Townhall.com | June 30, 2012 | John Ransom
In the end the Supreme Court of the United States didn’t untie the Gordian Knot, but as Alexander had done, they cut it instead.
And by doing so they demonstrated what we have known all along: The only new ideas Democrats- and D.C. bureaucrats- have are new ways of taxing Americans and new bureaucracies for spending that money.
Obamcare, when shorn of its Euro-Metro sophistication, is a tax.
A really big, fat, ugly tax, with a really big, fat, ugly bureaucracy attached to it.
Thus the Democrats- and D.C. bureaucrats- have created a system that promises to raise taxes on everyone. And still not make healthcare affordable for all.
Instead, we have just created another pot of money that can be used for cronies, anti-capitalists and special interests to keep D.C. as the one major metropolitan area where home prices are steady.
The one on top is the median sales price of all properties in the Washington, D.C. area since Jan 2000- which starts at $130,000. The real estate market peaked in 2007 at $460,000, yet home prices have remained remarkably steady, despite “the worst recession” since the start of time. The current median sales price for all homes in D.C. according to Trulia is $410,000. That’s about a 10 percent average annual return.
The chart below is the chart for the median sales price for homes listed in Chicago, IL. Remarkably, in January of 2000, median homes prices were at $145,000, higher than D.C. Chicago real estate values peaked at $329,000 in 2007 and now stand at $180,000. That’s about a 1.9 percent average annual return.
The rate of inflation over the same periods is just a tad higher. Chicago median sales prices
The six million people who live in the D.C. bubble may only add up to two percent of the population, but they truly are the One Percent that we’ve been warned about.
So long as you raised the “tax / not a tax” issue, what, exactly, does F.I.C.A. stand for, and is it a tax, or not a tax?
Why do you try to cloud the issue with your dem talking points?
Obamacare is a huge new tax.
Obamacare is a huge new bureaucracy.
Which means lots of new high paid bureaucrats in DC.
Which means housing in DC stays in the bubble…
1. I’m not a Democrat.
2. I have no idea what Democratic talking points are, as I literally never pay any attention to what Democratic politicians or their party hacks have to say.
3. You are a snake-in-the-grass Republican troll, dishing propaganda right and left on this blog, while accusing others partisanship in order to cover up your motives.
Urban Dictionary: snake in the grass
1. snake in the grass
A shady, conniving person who could strike at anytime without warning.
Could you please spell out the differences between Obamacare and Romneycare so we will know why Romney is so much holier than Obama on health care reform?
The latter was supposed to be for a state only. I think you know that, too.
“The latter was supposed to be for a state only.”
It was a libruhl state, too, where Romney was governor. Doesn’t that make Romney a libruhl?
It was a libruhl state, too, where Romney was governor. Doesn’t that make Romney a libruhl?
I don’t know, but it does seem to imply that he’s capable of at least leading liberals. Romneycare doesn’t bother me…I’m more concerned about his ties to big money and being a possible (likely?) closet d-bag (the bullying of nonconformists in his younger days).
Could you please spell out the differences between Obamacare and Romneycare so we will know why Romney is so much holier than Obama on health care reform?
I am asking this same question to colleagues at work who are praising Romney and upset about Obamacare.
The top two candidates from the Demopublican party just make me want to turn around and do my own party (but not at all political). I feel much better ignoring the State.
“The latter was supposed to be for a state only. I think you know that, too.”
So the government forcing people to buy something at the state level is okay but absolutely NOT okay at the federal level? That’s the difference?
“I am asking this same question to colleagues at work who are praising Romney and upset about Obamacare.”
As am I for people (the Obama hating hard core right) whose supposed biggest gripes are O’care, spending, and jobs but who plan to vote for Romney.
I actually couldn’t care less if people vote for Romney. In fact, I can see why people (moderates) would. But let’s not pretend a Romney admin will be an enemy of O’care, has any real plans to cut spending, and will be employee-centric.
Sleepless, the idea is to allow the states to set their own levels and compete. Better to have a weak federal government and allow states to compete with their own forms of government. States where people do not want to live naturally tend to want to attract people. States where many people want to live take advantage of their people. So yes, tit is NOT okay at the federal level. Way too big.
I think the only difference between Romney and Obama is that one of them is a white Mormon and the other is not.
“the idea is to allow the states to set their own levels and compete.”
Not sure I understand why states should compete.
“So yes, tit is NOT okay at the federal level. Way too big.”
And that just made me LOL. I thought we were going with “teat” to keep it clean!
Let’s take a look at the ways your costs will be cut
1. You and your children can’t be denied car because you are sick. If you loose your job you can still have insurance even if you are sick.
2. Insurance companies can strip no more than 20% of the dollars they make for ceo pay, advertising and management. They should cut down on the 124 million dollar a year pay packages. Too high in my opinion seeing as Medicare does the same thing for less than 5=6cents on every dollar of care they provide.
3. If you get a chronic illness insurance companies can’t cut you off. Many now cap benefits.
4. Insurance companies can’t drop your coverage if you get sick. Or they catch an error. United Health did this to breast cancer patients. They’d review their chart and if they found say a high blood pressure that was not reported they would drop them.
5. Free preventative benefits
Again 2 bananna you are already paying for this health care just in the most inefficient way possible. Poor sick people clogging up ER’s and ending up in intensive care when preventative care would have kept them out of the hospital all together. You are being taxed by the CEO’s of insurance corporations that are making 10’s to over 100 million dollars a year in salary, you can bet the next layer of management is well paid as well. I think they’ve been way too generous with the insurance companies, and should have added a medicare for all plan to keep insurance companies honest. Seriously the US spends 2x as much and does not have better outcomes. How can you defend such a system.
I second the request to tell us how Romney’s plan differs from Obama. Of course Romney got the plan from the Heritage Foundation. youtube.com/watch?v=3ugtS60oVts
5. Free preventative benefits
Will the vegetables and fruits I buy be subsidized from now on? I think I am going to love this.
Fixing peoples teeth are a must in a face to face economy…no need for all your teeth if you are on an assembly line or a nightwatchman.
5. Free preventative benefits
You get more and more dogmatic and unhinged with every post. You make it embarrasing to be conservative
Either label shuts down the conversation.
The right wing is pushing the tax-increase talking point HARD, very hard. I’m not sure it’s going to stick, not outside the fire-breathing base. The thinking independents are more pleased about the exchanges than they are displeased about the tax.
On Thursday afternoon, I turned on one of the conservative radio shows (Crowe?). The radio host kept saying that he was going to open the phone lines, and repeating the phone number. But he seemed to stall actually talking to callers. I was pretty puzzled about that. Then the radio host said: “Gee I don’t know why we’re not getting the volume of calls we expected…” and finally took two callers. One talked about health care being Christian. The other call was someone in favor of Obamacare, and told the host right out that he didn’t care that it was a tax. The host went apoplectic about how “misinformed” the callers were.
It was pretty plain that the radio host was waiting for like-minded dittoheads to call in, and wasn’t getting anyone.
It was pretty plain that the radio host was waiting for like-minded dittoheads to call in, and wasn’t getting anyone.
Interesting. Could be a game changer if it turns out most J6Ps really want universal health care. And I would think most of them would.
[libruhl talking point test]
Obamacare, when shorn of its Euro-Metro sophistication, is a tax.
The only people who have to pay this tax are those who can afford to buy insurance but choose not to. But of course they’ll just freeload off the emergency room if they get sick. Why I should *I* pay for these FREELOADERS to leech off the emergency room that *my* premiums pay for?
I say, if these freeloaders want their freedom from this little emergency room tax, then give it to them. Let’s give them a Freedom Bracelet, and when they show up at the emergency room, the doctors there will leave them alone, just like they asked. But don’t make *me* pay for these health care welfare queens.
[/libruhl talking point test]
Pay or wear a bracelet? wow.
I admit, the bracelet was my addition. But the “freeloader” talking point is making the rounds.
Why do couples have such a hard time with religious differences? Can’t we all get along?
And what is the appeal to some humans of make-believe fairy tales about implausible stuff that probably never happened? I know this may seem off-topic to some, but I see little difference between susceptibility to bizarre cult beliefs and the tendency of many individuals to fall for Realtor®’s endless lies (”real estate always goes up,” “Suzanne researched this,” etc).
…
Suri is 6 years old, the exact age Connor Cruise was when reports of religious differences surfaced between his father and Nicole Kidman over how he and his sister Isabella would be raised.
“I’m a Catholic girl,” Kidman said at the time. “It will always stay with you.”
Holmes attended an all-girl Catholic school in Ohio for 12 years. Perhaps Cruise objected to some of her beliefs; perhaps she did not want Suri studying L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology tenet that says 75 million years ago galactic dictator Xenu brought aliens to earth.
…
So these religious differences suddenly popped up after six years? They somehow didn’t exist before they decided to get married?
Do any of these people ever think things through?
When you are young and foolish, you are young and foolish. I bet she thought he would change for her.
Imagine a young woman’s delight at realizing that Tom Cruise is interested in her?
At that point, rationality is trumped by biological considerations.
Zsa Zsa Gabor was once asked why she only fell in love with men who were millionaires.
“Dahling, I won’t date any man unless he is a millionaire.”
There is some good advice here, IMO, and that’s do not give away your heart if doing so conflicts with what your brain is telling you.
To get a bit biblical about the matter: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
- Proverbs 4:23.
I married late, which in retrospect helped me balance rationality and biology.
Well it is one answer to how we got here….since just evolution could not have produced humans so quickly ….maybe another billion years or so…
75 million years ago galactic dictator Xenu brought aliens to earth.…
I would not take Katie Holmes. I would like a woman who doe not get herpes breakouts around her mouth. Once dated one. I never kissed her and was relieved I did not when she had a blister breakout. I had the blood tests. All negative for herpes I, II, and all the STDs.
Pipe down Russell or they’ll take your house as well.
Face off with the Feds
A landmark case that could limit the tactics of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is coming to trial in November in Boston.
The case involves a family-owned Tewksbury motel that police say is riddled with drug deals. Prosecutors allege the Motel Caswell is prime territory for drug dealers and they are seeking a federal judge’s approval to seize the 56-unit property which has an assessed value of $1.5 million. Civil forfeiture laws allow government to take property used in the commission of crimes, even if the owner hasn’t been criminally charged.
“They admit I haven’t done anything,” said Russell Caswell, the motel owner. “It’s unbelievable. It’s like something you might expect to hear about in some Communist country.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate/2012/06/face-off-with-the-Feds.html
So don’t rent to welfare, section 8 or cash customers and the ACLU will sue you for discrimination…..what an Ohboozoo country.
Isn’t it simpler and far less costly to just legalize all drugs and just severely enforce all DUIs as felonies at the minimum?
Can anyone offer reasonable predictions on how long from now it will be when the FHA gets a bailout?
And which presidential candidate is more likely to wind down all the federal programs designed to drive U.S. households towards buying homes they cannot afford? I thought these would go away after the housing bubble popped, but evidently they are alive and well.
FHA Underestimates Mortgage Delinquency Rates, Study Says
By Clea Benson - Jun 28, 2012 5:26 PM PT
More than 40 percent of the U.S. Federal Housing Administration loans originated from 2007 through 2009 will be delinquent within five years and the agency’s data underestimate that risk, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and New York University.
The research published today used loan information from data provider CoreLogic Inc. (CLGX) to track FHA-insured mortgages and predict default rates based on borrower characteristics.
The FHA, part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, underestimates risk because it counts refinanced mortgages as successful loan terminations, even though the same borrowers are refinancing into new mortgages backed by the government insurer, according to the paper published on the website of the National Bureau of Economic Research. The researchers computed the risk of default by linking all of the loans connected to each borrower.
“Having such a very large fraction of the people who borrow from you become delinquent could never be regarded as good public policy,” said Andrew Caplin, a professor of economics at New York University and one of the study’s authors.
…
“And which presidential candidate is more likely to wind down all the federal programs designed to drive U.S. households towards buying homes they cannot afford? I thought these would go away after the housing bubble popped, but evidently they are alive and well.”
I honestly don’t think even Ron Paul could wind them down. I don’t see how he could get Congress to agree. Both parties like the free money for their constituents…it’s one of the few ways the government can still buy people’s votes.
If you voted to shut them down, you’d be out of office so fast…
The best way forward, IMHO is to made a shutdown a LONG, gradual process, raising the down payment requirement by 1% every 6 months, for instance.
Congress can argue that it is to “strengthen the system” as opposed to shutting the system down. In the immediate elections, the difference will be minor. 10-years in, we will be at 20% down payments, and people would have forgotten who voted for it…
Is Wall Street back in bubble-era rally territory?
S&P 500 Caps Best June Since 1999 on European Agreement
By Rita Nazareth and Julia Leite - Jun 29, 2012 2:27 PM PT
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) capped the biggest June rally since 1999 after European leaders reached an agreement that alleviated concern banks will fail.
All 10 groups in the S&P 500 rose as industrial, technology and commodity shares had the biggest gains. Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Apple Inc. and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) climbed at least 2.6 percent to pace rallies among the biggest companies. Exxon Mobil (XOM) Corp. jumped 3 percent as oil surged 9.4 percent, the most in more than three years as commodities surged. KB Home climbed 13 percent after the homebuilder reported a narrower loss.
The S&P 500 jumped 2.5 percent, the most in 2012, to 1,362.16 at 4 p.m. New York time. It rallied 4 percent this month for the biggest advance since February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 277.83 points, or 2.2 percent, to 12,880.09. It had the biggest monthly advance since October, rising 3.9 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index and the Russell 2000 Index rose at least 2.9 percent today, the most in 2012. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was 7.9 billion shares, or 16 percent above the three-month average.
“We are getting a pretty nice relief rally,” said Christopher Orndorff, who helps oversee $450 billion as senior portfolio manager at Western Asset Management Co. in Pasadena, California. He spoke in a telephone interview. Europe’s deal “appears to be a step in the right direction in terms of solving the problem from a longer term perspective.”
…
Casual observation: The big Wall Street rally yesterday seemed to stem solely from a breakthrough in the Eurozone debt crisis negotiations. Meanwhile, the U.S. domestic economic picture is deteriorating again.
Consumer Spending in U.S. Stalls as Hiring Weakens: Economy
By Alex Kowalski - Jun 29, 2012 1:35 PM PT
Consumer spending stalled in May as stagnant wages and slackening employment held back the biggest part of the U.S. economy.
Purchases were little changed after a 0.1 percent rise the prior month that was smaller than initially reported, according to Commerce Department figures issued today in Washington. Another report showed household sentiment dropped this month to the lowest level of the year.
A lack of jobs may prompt Americans to keep focusing on replenishing depleted nest eggs, hurting sales at retailers from CarMax Inc. (KMX) to Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (RRGB) Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley were among those cutting forecasts after the figures, indicating the economy slowed further in the second quarter.
The data are “consistent with a weakening growth backdrop,” said Neil Dutta, head of U.S. economics at Renaissance Macro Research LLC in New York. “There’s still this propensity for consumers to boost their rate of savings, which is what you’d expect in an environment where they are very skeptical about the outlook for the labor market.”
Stocks jumped, joining a global rally, after European leaders reached an agreement that eased concern banks will fail. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 2.5 percent to 1,362.16 at the 4 p.m. close in New York, capping the biggest June advance since 1999. Treasury securities fell, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year note up to 1.64 percent from 1.58 percent late yesterday.
…
Meanwhile, the U.S. domestic economic picture is deteriorating again.
the US economic condition does not go up and down with the news stories that you post. It is in long term decline, all the tax and spend has caught up with us and more tax and spend isn’t fixing it.
Dude — I never claimed to rule the economy. But read the article that I posted closely: It clearly suggests the economy is currently slowing down (never mind the long term).
Or feel free to attack me, if you’d rather. I’m used to it.
Its not an attack, its a valid point. Much like the stock market’s volatility based on the economic news of the day. It is not rational, our economic condition doesn’t fluctuate like that but it is what the press sells us daily.
Have a look at what these guys read in current data if you don’t want to take my word for it.
Of course, signs of a near-term renewed slowdown neither support nor negate the point you raised about long-term decline due to tax-and-spend.
Fed officials eye darker U.S. growth, jobs picture
Dudley, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, answers questions during a lunch at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York (ANDREW BURTON, Reuters / May 24, 2012)
Jonathan Spicer and Mark Felsenthal Reuters
11:53 a.m. CDT, June 29, 2012
NEW YORK/LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - Federal Reserve officials on Friday said they were keeping an eye out for any signs that slowing growth is raising deflation risks but differed on how worrisome sluggish job markets are for the modest U.S. economic recovery.
New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley, a close ally of the U.S. central bank’s chairman, Ben Bernanke, said he had modestly lowered his expectations for inflation in coming months.
He said he would need to see more information on the U.S. jobs market and the unfolding of the European sovereign debt crisis before having a clearer sense of the health of the U.S. economy.
A permanent voter on the Fed’s policy-setting panel, Dudley said employment growth has “slowed considerably of late” as the economy has lost momentum.
The New York Fed leader has a reputation as a policy dove and has supported aggressive measures to boost growth and bring down high unemployment. He focused on the economic outlook and did not discuss in any detail the Fed’s decision last week to boost monetary stimulus for the sluggish U.S. recovery or whether more monetary easing might be needed.
“Although some of the current uncertainties will take time to resolve, I can imagine material data on a number of dimensions could become available in the coming weeks and months that could lead me to adjust my forecast further,” Dudley told the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce.
“I will be paying particularly close attention to whether domestic momentum and hiring picks up now that the pay-back for the mild winter is over, and whether financial conditions, which are heavily influenced at present by developments in Europe, ease or tighten further,” he said.
…
Austerity America 2013 will clinch that prediction.
It’s not tax and spend that’s the problem, it’s borrow and spend that’s killing us.
I agree that the economy is slowing down, but I do NOT agree that it is a result of “tax and spend,” not exactly. The slowdown is due to the United States spreading the wealth of 300 million people over about 1.5 billion people, via outsourcing. THAT’s what’s catching up with us.
Ha ha! Good joke!
The truth is because America has been partying since the late 1970s in a credit bubble spending other peoples money. My net worth is mainly from OPM. But I confidently say the same for every HBBer’s net worth.
The credit bubble was used to hide the outsourcing. Do you seriously think the trade imbalances could have occurred without the credit bubble. People were glad to trade in their manufacturing job for interior decorator or realtor job. Now that is all going poof revealing the reality of outsourcing. Didn’t the elite tell us that this would be good for the US?
Greenspan Says Europe Like a ‘Leaking Boat’ With Holes
By Caroline Fairchild - Jun 29, 2012 3:54 PM PT
Alan Greenspan, a former Federal Reserve chairman, today compared Europe to a “leaking boat” and said political consolidation is the only solution to the region’s financial crisis.
“The problems in Europe are the fiscal deficits of all the various countries that are involved,” Greenspan said in an interview on CNBC television. “It’s like a leaking boat in which we keep bailing it out and we’re very pleased with ourselves that we’d be able to keep bailing it out. The problem is we haven’t fixed the holes yet.”
European leaders in Brussels this week held their 19th summit since the sovereign-debt crisis started more than two years ago. Euro-area nations granted immediate respite to the stressed bond markets of Spain and Italy, leaving investors looking to the European Central Bank to provide more lasting relief.
“The only solution to the European crisis is political consolidation of Europe. I think we’re gradually moving in that direction; in fact I know we are,” Greenspan, 86, said in the interview. “The only issue is, will we ever reach that?”
By addressing flaws in their bailout programs, moving toward a banking union and trying to break a negative loop between troubled sovereigns and banks, euro-area officials triggered the biggest rally in Spanish bonds and the euro this year.
…
I wish Greenspan was in a leaking boat with holes.
Poor Merkel; she is trying to do her best to protect her people from the ravages of Southern European profligacy, but she is vastly outnumbered in the deliberations on the Eurozone.
I recognize that expression on Merkel’s face. It is similar to those which Hank Paulson and Elliot Spitzer wore at points of extreme stress in their lives over the past decade.
Merkel seen as big loser in euro zone showdown
German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks on before delivering a government policy statement in the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, June 29, 2012. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
By Erik Kirschbaum and John Irish
BERLIN/PARIS | Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:50am EDT
(Reuters) - Angela Merkel was portrayed across Europe as the big loser of a euro zone showdown in Brussels after the German chancellor was forced to accept the crisis-fighting measures championed by countries struggling with their debts.
Newspapers in Spain, Italy and France on Saturday toasted the triumph of their leaders - Mario Monti, Mariano Rajoy and Francois Hollande - in pushing Merkel into a U-turn that would long have been unthinkable.
Even German newspapers said Merkel had been made to accept demands for the euro zone rescue fund to be able to inject aid directly into stricken banks from next year and intervene on bond markets to support troubled member states.
“There’s no doubt about it - the chancellor was blindsided at the euro summit,” wrote influential columnist Nikolaus Blome of Bild, a daily with 12 million readers.
…
Not yet. She will have the last laugh. The Germans will never vote for what she supposedly agreed to.
Cool. I always enjoy those “last laughs” when they occur.
Poor Merkel nothing. She and the central bankers are magnifying the problem so that they can gain more political and financial control. I guarantee that she would blast the dam holding back all the printed money herself if she got the control she wants. The European money wave is coming, what you see now is theater.
Turns out HARP works very well for bankers. They capture the risk premium, and taxpayers will be handed the foreclosure tab.
Bank coffers swelling with profits from mortgage sales
Mortgage profits
A San Jose house that sold this month. Record low mortgage rates are generating fat profits for lenders. (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)
By E. Scott Reckard
June 29, 2012, 2:53 p.m.
Independent mortgage bankers and the home-loan arms of major banks are making the highest profit in years on loans they make and then sell, thanks to rock-bottom interest rates.
The record-low rates have been a recent boon to borrowers, who have enjoyed 30-year fixed-rate loans starting with a “3″ for the first time.
But the rates could be still lower if lenders cut their profit margins, according to data released Friday by the Mortgage Bankers Assn.
Instead, bankers have been making extra money by keeping the rates higher than necessary, which makes them more profitable when they are sold to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or other buyers in the secondary markets, the Mortgage Bankers Assn. figures show.
The lenders made an average profit of $1,654 on each loan they originated in the first quarter of 2012, up 51% from $1,093 per loan a year earlier.
Secondary-market income rose from an average $3,827 per loan in the first quarter of 2011 to $5,011 in the latest quarter, a gain of 31%. The average gain on the sale of a loan was the highest since the trade group began tracking mortgage banker production profits in 2008.
One factor in the bonanza is big banks charging higher than market rates when they refinance their customers using the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program. HARP lowers the risks for banks despite the fact that the borrowers owe more than their homes are worth.
…
Which presidential candidate is more likely to finally wind down the GSEs over the next four years? It’s already been four years since they were turned into taxpayer-funded zombies, with no apparent end in sight to the status quo.
Bond Traders Shunning Freddie Means Taxpayers Lose: Mortgages
Jody Shenn
Published 07:24 a.m., Tuesday, June 26, 2012
June 26 (Bloomberg) — The bond market is telling Freddie Mac it’s not wanted even as taxpayers support two similar mortgage-finance companies.
Securities it guarantees are hovering near record low prices relative to the debt of its larger rival Fannie Mae. That’s forcing Freddie Mac to rebate lenders that package loans into its bonds to compensate them for investors paying less for the debt, according to its disclosures and people familiar with its Market-Adjusted Pricing program. Banks slice off part of homeowner payments to buy its insurance.
Freddie Mac still competes with Fannie Mae even now that they’re both 80 percent owned by the government after their 2008 bailouts. Expenses from the program may reach about $750 million annually, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts. The costs and the McLean, Virginia-based company’s dwindling share of the $4 trillion market are adding fuel to discussions about introducing interchangeable Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities, a potential step toward reforming the $10 trillion U.S. housing-finance system as lawmakers ponder its future.
It’s “amazing” that Freddie Mac is disrupting the way markets normally work, said Scott Simon, who helps run the world’s largest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co.
‘Artificial Supply’
“The market is essentially saying they don’t want them,” said Simon, the mortgage-securities head at Newport Beach, California-based Pimco. “There’s no demand and artificial supply because Freddie is paying originators to make them.”
…
Did a “Creature from Jekyll Island” constitutional moment just pass, and nobody noticed it?
Good luck to Germany at preventing the global central banking cartel from destroying your economy through a course of repeated financial crises and bailouts, as they already have so many others.
ft dot com
June 29, 2012 7:14 pm
Eurozone off on journey to central control
By Alex Barker in Brussels and James Wilson in Frankfurt
Eurozone leaders have embarked on a process to surrender sovereign control of banks to a powerful central supervisor within six months, in a political pledge that kick-starts highly complex talks to forge a nascent “banking union”.
Proposals will be hastily drawn up over this summer to give the European Central Bank ultimate power to oversee euro area banks. While leaders chose to empower the ECB in Frankfurt as the new supervisor, there are a host of unanswered questions, including defining its exact powers, the banks it covers and its relations with countries outside the new regime. “It is a big decision that opens a Pandora’s box,” said one senior official involved.
…
“Good luck to Germany at preventing the global central banking cartel from destroying your economy through a course of repeated financial crisis and bailouts, as they have so many others.”
” … destroying your economy …”
I’d change that to ” … seizing your economy …” but otherwise I agree with everything else you said.
It’s amazing to me to see how effortless it is for the banker’s to do this.
“… seizing your economy …”
I like “destroying” better, but my definition of destruction is probably different than many. I lean towards Stiglitz on the subject of the destructive effects of wealth concentration on long-term economic performance and societal well being. These issues probably don’t seem like a big deal to bankers raking in millions of dollars in pay and bonuses every year, but they worry me a lot, as I want my children to enjoy a better society than the current one.
I like the term seizing, as expressed in the concept of an efficient parasite not killing the host.
For wealth to be gathered and concentrated by the few it first has to be produced by the many.
Hopefully the banking parasites will figure out how to get more efficient before they kill the host.
But then again, the death of the host might be the first necessary step in financial industry reform.
How does that quote go about Marie Antonette not quite getting it?
Does anyone at the Fed admit their complicity in driving America towards ever-increasing economic inequality? Bailouts handed out easy money to the banksters, while leaving America’s economic Main Street gasping for air.
The 1 Percent’s Problem
Why won’t America’s 1 percent—such as the six Walmart heirs, whose wealth equals that of the entire bottom 30 percent—be a bit more . . . selfish? As the widening financial divide cripples the U.S. economy, even those at the top will pay a steep price.
By Joseph E. Stiglitz
Illustration by Stephen Doyle
Adapted from The Price of Inequality, by Joseph Stiglitz, to be published in June by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. (U.S.), and in July by Allen Lane (U.K.); © 2012 by the author.
Let’s start by laying down the baseline premise: inequality in America has been widening for decades. We’re all aware of the fact. Yes, there are some on the right who deny this reality, but serious analysts across the political spectrum take it for granted. I won’t run through all the evidence here, except to say that the gap between the 1 percent and the 99 percent is vast when looked at in terms of annual income, and even vaster when looked at in terms of wealth—that is, in terms of accumulated capital and other assets. Consider the Walton family: the six heirs to the Walmart empire possess a combined wealth of some $90 billion, which is equivalent to the wealth of the entire bottom 30 percent of U.S. society. (Many at the bottom have zero or negative net worth, especially after the housing debacle.) Warren Buffett put the matter correctly when he said, “There’s been class warfare going on for the last 20 years and my class has won.”
So, no: there’s little debate over the basic fact of widening inequality. The debate is over its meaning. From the right, you sometimes hear the argument made that inequality is basically a good thing: as the rich increasingly benefit, so does everyone else. This argument is false: while the rich have been growing richer, most Americans (and not just those at the bottom) have been unable to maintain their standard of living, let alone to keep pace. A typical full-time male worker receives the same income today he did a third of a century ago.
From the left, meanwhile, the widening inequality often elicits an appeal for simple justice: why should so few have so much when so many have so little? It’s not hard to see why, in a market-driven age where justice itself is a commodity to be bought and sold, some would dismiss that argument as the stuff of pious sentiment.
Put sentiment aside. There are good reasons why plutocrats should care about inequality anyway—even if they’re thinking only about themselves. The rich do not exist in a vacuum. They need a functioning society around them to sustain their position. Widely unequal societies do not function efficiently and their economies are neither stable nor sustainable. The evidence from history and from around the modern world is unequivocal: there comes a point when inequality spirals into economic dysfunction for the whole society, and when it does, even the rich pay a steep price.
Let me run through a few reasons why.
…
Read Joseph E. Stiglitz’s “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%,” from the May 2011 issue and his Q&A on innovation, and the Reagan administration.
First, growing inequality is the flip side of something else: shrinking opportunity. Whenever we diminish equality of opportunity, it means that we are not using some of our most valuable assets—our people—in the most productive way possible. Second, many of the distortions that lead to inequality—such as those associated with monopoly power and preferential tax treatment for special interests—undermine the efficiency of the economy. This new inequality goes on to create new distortions, undermining efficiency even further. To give just one example, far too many of our most talented young people, seeing the astronomical rewards, have gone into finance rather than into fields that would lead to a more productive and healthy economy.
Third, and perhaps most important, a modern economy requires “collective action”—it needs government to invest in infrastructure, education, and technology. The United States and the world have benefited greatly from government-sponsored research that led to the Internet, to advances in public health, and so on. But America has long suffered from an under-investment in infrastructure (look at the condition of our highways and bridges, our railroads and airports), in basic research, and in education at all levels. Further cutbacks in these areas lie ahead.
None of this should come as a surprise—it is simply what happens when a society’s wealth distribution becomes lopsided. The more divided a society becomes in terms of wealth, the more reluctant the wealthy become to spend money on common needs. The rich don’t need to rely on government for parks or education or medical care or personal security—they can buy all these things for themselves. In the process, they become more distant from ordinary people, losing whatever empathy they may once have had. They also worry about strong government—one that could use its powers to adjust the balance, take some of their wealth, and invest it for the common good. The top 1 percent may complain about the kind of government we have in America, but in truth they like it just fine: too gridlocked to re-distribute, too divided to do anything but lower taxes.
Brilliant and right on target.
It won’t change a thing. The elite would rather dine on a dieing carcass then give up their control. The supreme court, the destruction of campaign finance, the destruction of unions and the middle class has cemented their power over all of us for 100 years in my opinion. Some are just not smart enough to understand this, they get pumped full of propaganda about job creators and individuality and nazi communist socialism and foam at the mouth about any attempt to narrow this gap even though it would almost certainly improve their lives and the lives of most of the people they know. Eventually things will get bad enough that propaganda does not fix things and that’s when your right wing dictator comes in, usually portrayed as a savior.
C: Good luck to Germany at preventing the global central banking cartel from destroying your economy through a course of repeated financial crises and bailouts, as they already have so many others.
M: Cantankerous did you even read the article you posted.
C: Eurozone leaders have embarked on a process to surrender sovereign control of banks to a powerful central supervisor within six months, in a political pledge that kick-starts highly complex talks to forge a nascent “banking union”.Proposals will be hastily drawn up over this summer to give the European Central Bank ultimate power to oversee euro area banks. While leaders chose to empower the ECB in Frankfurt as the new supervisor,
1. You can bet that the proposals they say will be hastily drawn up were written long ago, ie they knew this day was coming. Just like the white paper that lead us into Iraq.
2. Merkel is worried about her fellow German the same way Clinton was worried when he signed NAFTA, and GWBush was concerned when he pushed the wars, medicare prescription drug plan, and massive tax cuts for the elite during a time of war which drove up our debt, TARP etc. These leaders care nothing for their own countries they work for the banking elite and corporate CEO’s.
‘…forge a nascent “banking union”…’
A EuroFed is born?
Truth’s flames threaten lies:
We all know the market is turning
Hurray for Fannie
and Freddie and you.
All the while the shadow is burning
quite figuratively some lit’rally too.
believe a Realtor at your own risk…
More truthful prose from Liz.
I still appreciate;
The market is booming,
but where are the buyers?
Inventory is looming,
Realtors Are Liars.
“Read Joseph E. Stiglitz’s “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%,” from the May 2011 issue”
Note that this article, along with the Washington Post piece “(Not) spreading the wealth” from June 16, 2011, were largely responsible for bringing light to wealth inequality in the U.S., well before the Adbusters Magazine inspired Occupy Wall Street movement flared and fizzled…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/income-inequality/
Way off topic … and a message to Proffessor Bear:
Wiki-up “stradivarius” for an interesting and informative read about violins.
It’s about economics.
Rare violins are one of the few assets whose value tends to always go up (unlike housing). The only period of which I am aware when this did not occur was the Great Depression, but I don’t claim to know the full history of rare violin price movements.
There is also an interesting “reputation effect” in violin prices: similar to fine wines, whose price may be far out of line with their flavor, the reputation effect on the value of rare violins can the effect of how they sound in the hands of a virtuoso.
Aesthetics and money
Fiddling with the mind
Old, expensive violins are not always better than new, cheap ones
Jan 7th 2012 | from the print edition
THOUGH individual tastes do differ, the market for art suggests that those who have money generally agree on what is best. The recent authentication of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, for example, magically added several zeroes to the value of a work that had not, physically, changed in any way. Nor is this mere affectation. In the world of wine (regarded as an art form by at least some connoisseurs), being told the price of a bottle affects a drinker’s appreciation of the liquid in the glass in ways that can be detected by a brain scanner.
…
http://m.theatlantic.com/business/print/2012/06/the-myth-that-entitlements-ruin-countries-busted-in-1-little-graph/259056/
There is no Euro debt crisis. It is just a symptom of a Euro crisis.
But the article’s main point is: The Myth That Entitlements Ruin Countries, Busted in 1 Little Graph
They are running out of OPM. So is the U.S. All the developed nations are.
This is the dawn of the realization upon the middle class that the real slaves are the middle class.
Next comes the shrug by Atlas - Atlas being the middle class. The shrug is already in the form of reduced birth rate. Europe has been shrugging this way for decades. Why bring more serfs into the world if this world of serfdom is not so fun, as people in Europe quickly find out when they start working for a living. Another form of the shrug is the end of college education, since the student loan crisis will eventually put it that way. Another form of the shrug is the refusal to take out loans on houses. interest rates on homes will come down below 2% to try to hook more people into becoming mortgage slaves.
The expense of all these wars and entitlements America is having (by way of BIG Government) will soon be seen and no longer obfuscated as the tax rates go significantly higher and the spending cuts on entitlements and defense kick in, very very soon!
The end of big government is at hand.
Atlas being the middle class.
LOL. You don’t even understand your favorite crappy philosophical romances.
And you obviously didn’t read the link, or perhaps did, but didn’t understand it either.
The coming new wave of lawyers…..
http://www.bustedinacadiana.com/2012/06/attorney-pleads-guilty-to-prostitution/
Where the hell is Acadiana?
And legalize it. She is pleasant looking anyway.
“She is pleasant looking anyway.”
and
“…Bajaj reportedly offering to perform a sexual act for $50.”
This is the kind of deal I am looking for with a house.
Your health is much much safer with a high class CSW. Those women insist on protection and discriminate who their customer is, hence the high fees.
Those high class CSWs cost over $1,000 per session.
“Your health is much much safer with a high class CSW. Those women insist on protection and discriminate who their customer is, hence the high fees.”
My analogy stands; I want a cheap house.
Bajaj was sentenced to two years of court supervision, 50 hours of community service and $2,500 in fines and costs.
It’s gonna take a lot of $50 and $100 tricks to pay off that fine…
Actually it Lafayette Louisiana area…but you should read some of the stories of the weird….im bookmarking this
http://www.bustedinacadiana.com/
“Florida will do nothing to comply with health care overhaul, governor says”
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/article1238123.ece
Comments:
xenu0022 minutes ago
This state continues to be an embarrassment on a daily basis. If I could sell my house in this $h!thole I would leave.
I expect you to consider moving back to socialist utopia New Yawk now.
I don’t care about NY or FL for their political scenes. I care about nature and quality of life.
NY = winning.
Bill
1. How is the Obama care plan socialist. Seriously it was produced by the Heritage foundation and pushed by Romney. It’s in my opinion a gift to private insurance companies despite the mandates to cover the sick. A socialist plan would have pushed a medicare option for all plan.
Saw this in the New York Times, if true it’s amazing.
The Republican Party of Texas’s 2012 platform has a plank on “Knowledge-Based Education” that reads:
We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.