Bits Bucket for September 13, 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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Poll: 15% of NC and Ohio Republicans think Mitt Romney killed Osama bin Laden
Consider this, then consider your own one, sad vote.
“…Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling asked 1,081 likely voters a series of questions related to the presidential election over September 7-9. According to the poll’s crosstabs, 15 percent of Republican respondents said that Mitt Romney was more responsible for the al Qaeda leader’s death than President Obama, while 56 percent said they weren’t sure….”
A subsequent poll of Ohio Republicans yielded the same 15% results.
http://palmettopublicrecord.org/2012/09/10/poll-15-of-nc-republicans-think-mitt-romney-killed-osama-bin-laden/
OMG!
Not surprised at all…..
Obama still thinks he did it too, so what are you saying?
What are YOU saying? Are you trying to spread more propaganda manure right here on the HBB?
Obama was the president that found him and gave the order.
To say otherwise is to show yourself for a fool.
I’ll bet you think we’re still at war in Iraq.
Obama didn’t find OR kill Osama. The CIA and DIA found him. DEVGRU/SEAL 6/Or whatever they call themselves now killed him.
But hey, it was one gutsy call, amirite? Don’t hand the credit to the guy who says do it, he didn’t do it. Remember him saying you didn’t build that on your own? Sound familiar?
Remember him saying you didn’t build that on your own?
I’m pretty sure Obama isn’t claiming he personally flew in and shot Bin Laden dead.
But hey, it was one gutsy call, amirite?
Yes, you’re right.
I’m pretty sure the media framed it as such and Obama sure didn’t go out of his way to correct anyone.
I’m pretty sure the media framed it as such
Sounds like you’ve been well-convinced. Any relevant examples or quotes you’d like to share with us? Or are you ‘pretty sure’ based on gut feelings?
The question did not ask “Who fired the bullet?”. The question is, who is more responsible.
Obama authorized the planned mission.
Romney….. Off shored the jobs so that the pullet was made in Mexico instead of the USA????
-Whole lot of speeches with a lot of I’s and me’s in them. Not a whole lot deferring to the special operatives who went into harms way to make all of it possible. Obama makes the call, the gutsiest call by any administration. Worst case scenario for Obama? Mission goes bad, media blames him for making a tough decision (for which he transferred the authority to McRaven, whose head would have surely rolled if Obama’s gutsy call went south). Worst case scenario for the SEALs, well you know how that goes, right?
-Hollywood producers given classified data to create “0 dark thirty”, betraying opsec rules that the little people have to follow.
Tell me I’m wrong, tell me the mainstream media doesn’t believe that Obama farts glitter?
Whole lot of speeches with a lot of I’s and me’s in them.
Ah! So it’s all a ‘gut feeling’, since you can offer no examples except what’s going on in your own head.
Not a whole lot deferring to the special operatives who went into harms way to make all of it possible ??
You mean like
“Shock & Awe” ??
Or
Aircraft carrier landing with “Mission Accomplished” ??
I hear all the parroting of the media sales pitch about how ‘GUTSY’ it was to agree to have a Seal Team raid a building in Pakistan, where we already have troops stationed, wherein it is believed the AL Quaida Leader is living. What was “gutsy” about it?
Please explain.
Let’s see. Mr. President. WE have information that OBL is living in a townhouse outside some village. Do you want us to raid it?
OBAMA: WEll, yea, i think you should.
Seal Team: If we find him, what would you like us to do, sir? do you want him taken captive, if possible?
Obama: Well, yea, take him if you can, but use any force necessary to remove him.
Seal Team: Is deadly force acceptable, sir?
Obama: WEll, yea, do whatever you have to.
There you have it. Real Command decisions.
REAL GUTS? What in the world are you people talking about?
Are you talking about all the so-called “unrest” we are seeing today. Aside from the deaths of several American diplomats, the rest is just trumped up by the media as far as I can see from their video reports.
Do I feel threatened? no. Do you?
Give me a break.
The reality is this:
Many, many years of work hunting Bin Laden went into getting the intelligence. This started under Bush, and continued under Obama.
The actual decision to go in was done on Obama’s watch.
The reality is that while definitely a gutsy call, probably 50-75% of presidents over time would have made the same call.
Giving Obama the credit for making the gutsy call is right.
Giving Obama credit for finding Bin Laden diminishes the work of our forces that have been on the hunt for years.
Whole lot of speeches with a lot of I’s and me’s in them
So it’s a gut feeling, since you have nothing to back it up, except what’s inside your head.
Obama didn’t find OR kill Osama. The CIA and DIA found him.
To parse it such, when the question addressed political responsibility for a gutsy military mission inside a sovereign country, makes you sound either hopelessly biased or a borderline moron.
If I were you, I’d accept hopelessly biased.
…about how ‘GUTSY’ it was to …have a Seal Team raid a building in Pakistan…..What was “gutsy” about it?
Please explain.
You just did.
I take option three. Reject your point of view altogether.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Based on what this says, I have my doubts about how much spine Obama would have shown should the raid gone badly.
Excerpt from Obama’s speech announcing the raid in Pakistan:
“And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against Al-Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.
“Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.
“Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
Based on what this says, I have my doubts about how much spine Obama would have shown should the raid gone badly.
Sure. Written by MICHAEL B. MUKASEY a Reagan and Bush appointee and BFF with Rudy Giuliani.
Mukasey’s obviously not a borderline moron but I’d wager he’s hopelessly biased.
Excerpt from Obama’s speech announcing the raid in Pakistan:
You’re flailing. That speech greatly weakens your “point”. So you don’t like Obama. You don’t like the “I”s?
Ok, we’ll all write letters to Obama and ask him to refer to himself in the 3rd person. (for Ryan)
Leon Panetta…after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community… my national security team…A small team of Americans carried out the operation …they killed Osama bin Laden
Yep. He’s really claiming all credit for himself. In your head.
So no issue with the content, specifically this: ” A recently disclosed memorandum from then-CIA Director Leon Panetta shows that the president’s celebrated derring-do in authorizing the operation included a responsibility-escape clause: “The timing, operational decision making and control are in Admiral McRaven’s hands. The approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the President. Any additional risks are to be brought back to the President for his consideration. The direction is to go in and get bin Laden and if he is not there, to get out.”?
Just a critique of the author?
And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against Al-Qaeda…
Doesn’t this kind of work against your argument that Obama didn’t do anything at all?
A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability.
Or the argument that Obama didn’t give credit to the people on the ground?
Are you sure you want to post Obama quotes?
Many, many years of work hunting Bin Laden went into getting the intelligence. This started under Bush, and continued under Obama.
One comment
Tora Bora
So no issue with the content, specifically: ” A recently disclosed memorandum from then-CIA Director Leon Panetta shows that the president’s celebrated derring-do in authorizing the operation included a responsibility-escape clause: “The timing, operational decision making and control are in Admiral McRaven’s hands. The approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the President. Any additional risks are to be brought back to the President for his consideration. The direction is to go in and get bin Laden and if he is not there, to get out.”?
Just a critique of the author?
The question was whether to send in the team or just bomb the whole compound into dust. Sending in the team allowed the raid to kill fewer people, confirm that Bin Laden was actually there and captured or killed, and collect a bunch of records but risked the whole thing going belly up. Just bombing the whole thing to splinters means you have no visual confirmation that Bin Laden was dead or captured, every person within the walls would be a gonner (possibly a bunch of others), and Pakistan would be epically more p-ssed than they were about the small strike (which was already pretty p-ssed).
I’d say that making the call was a significant decision and that just bombing the heck out of the compound and then pretending to “know” that you got Bin Laden was the much easier call. He didn’t take it.
Comment by oxide
2012-09-13 10:34:18
And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against Al-Qaeda…
Doesn’t this kind of work against your argument that Obama didn’t do anything at all?
A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability.
Or the argument that Obama didn’t give credit to the people on the ground?
So let me get this straight. You think that prior to Obama taking office, that Osama wasn’t a top priority of Operation Enduring freedom? Based on Obama’s statement it would seem that killing Osama was not a high level priority, do you believe that? He injected himself into the hunt for Bin Laden after it had gone on for 7 years but as soon as he stepped in and directed Panetta, that’s when things really changed, right?
You also left out the phrase “at my direction” from the second section. Let’s be clear about something here: As Obama says it, he was the cog in the wheel of this whole thing. By saying “Go” the whole thing happened. I don’t see it that way and further based on the content from the WSJ article I posted, it appears that the word “Go” probably looked more like “Go*”
*so long as it goes well
“The timing, operational decision making and control are in Admiral McRaven’s hands. The approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the President. Any additional risks are to be brought back to the President for his consideration.” Just a critique of the author?
No. But what’s the problem? What is so “odd” about this arrangement? Obama makes the strategic decision and the military initiates the tactical operation based on a prior agreed upon strategic criteria. And any additional risks not included in the agreed upon strategic criteria are to be “brought back to the President for his consideration”.
It sounds like Obama knows how to do his job and knows enough to let the military do theirs.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/12/president_bush_discusses_defen.html
“We reorganized our intelligence community to better meet the needs of war against these terrorists, including increasing the number of intelligence officers.”
“We’ve expanded America’s special operations forces. With more forces — more of these forces on the battlefield, we can respond more quickly to actionable intelligence on the terrorists who are in hiding. Over the past eight years, we have more than doubled funding for special operators. We created the first-ever special operations command within the Marines. We have given the Special Operations Command the lead role in the global war against the terrorists.”
Look, I’m not a fan of Bush…I didn’t vote for him…either time. However, what his administration did in terms of increasing resources to intelligence and special forces did lay the groundwork for Bin Laden to be killed.
Continuing those efforts was on Obama’s watch, as was the decision to act on intelligence.
You gotta respect Obama’s decision to act, but at the same time, you have to recognize that he stepped into a role where a lot of the military machinery had been put in place starting years before to give him the intelligence and resources to act.
I agree, I respect Obama for doing the right thing; but to hold him up on a pedestal for doing what’s right when that’s your job is something else.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like Obama. My distaste for Romney is the same as it is for Obama. I couldn’t think of two people I respect less and don’t consider my leader. Hell, throw Bush in there too…..I thought he was on the right track until he signed the Patriot Act, created the Homeland Security apparatus and sent us into Iraq.
Y’all don’t really think bin Laden’s dead do you?
I think he’s permanently retired at that resort retirement destination, Guantanamo Bay.
[Well, maybe not. But as far as conspiracy stories goes it makes a lot more sense to me than explosive paint in the twin towers.]
“Whole lot of speeches with a lot of I’s and me’s in them. Not a whole lot deferring to the special operatives who went into harms way to make all of it possible.”
At least Obama doesn’t forget to thank those who serve in the armed forces for their service.
After Criticism of His Convention Speech, Romney Thanks Nation’s Armed Forces
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Mitt Romney spoke at the National Guard Association Convention in Reno, Nev., on Tuesday.
By ASHLEY PARKER
Published: September 11, 2012
RENO, Nev. — Facing criticism for failing to mention American troops or the Afghan war effort in his convention speech, Mitt Romney spoke before National Guard members on Tuesday and called for robust support of the nation’s armed forces, saying that “the return of our troops cannot and must not be used as an excuse to hollow out our military through devastating defense budget cuts.”
…
“Based on what this says, I have my doubts about how much spine Obama would have shown should the raid gone badly.”
Had the raid gone badly, the Republicans would be reminding the American people 24/7, the same way they did about the failed rescue of Iranian hostages under Jimmy Carter.
And that’s what made this a gutsy call.
And BTW, I agree with absolutely nothing you have posted about it, and have to wonder if you are one of those paid Republican propaganda trolls who pretend to be sharing an independent view. Either that or you are kind of dumb.
Which is it?
On a moment’s reflection, the descriptions aren’t really mutually exclusive.
Ryan, what does the Republican party pay you for your trolling here?
It’s funny really, I voted for Obama. I voted for him not because I like him or agree with him but because I wanted the incumbent party voted out. I did the same thing for all elected positions on the ballot.
Unless you have been living under a rock you will note that Obama hasn’t really done anything a whole lot differently than Bush. It’s unlikely that our current position would be much different had McCain been elected. So until we as a society wake up and bring a third choice into existence, I will continue to vote against the incumbent each time.
On a separate note; I am not paid by anyone to say what I say and I really couldn’t care less whether you or anyone else agrees with what it is that I say. My contention on this subject isn’t really with Obama; it’s with the media, as well as his supporters who are blinded by what it is he does. Do you honestly believe Democrats would be so quiet on the subject of drone strikes in all of these new places (to include U.S. citizens) if it had been McCain who ordered them? Whatever happened to the frothing rage from Democrats regarding Gitmo?
My problem is the intellectual dishonesty on display by these people.
“Had the raid gone badly, the Republicans would be reminding the American people 24/7, the same way they did about the failed rescue of Iranian hostages under Jimmy Carter.
And that’s what made this a gutsy call.”
Again, this isn’t guts. This is doing the right thing. Had he not acted and the intel got out, then the ramifications would have been far worse than a failed raid.
Gutsy is riding that helicopter behind enemy lines and taking out Bin Laden. These macho terms being attached to pencil-neck politicians (R’s and D’s alike) who say go has to stop.
It’s funny really, I voted for Obama. I Ryan
B.S.
So who killed Bigfoot?
Bigfoot is still alive. Saw him last winter.
Was Bigfoot bad or was Bigfoot good?
Just wondering because if Bigfoot was good, Bush probably killed him. But if Bigfoot was bad, Obama probably killed him.
“So who killed Bigfoot?”
Actually it was two different cars so either could have been responsible.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/08/montana-man-killled-during-bigfoot-hoax/
[Sometimes the Darwin Awards just write themselves.]
That’s a good one Jethro. So true with some of the commentators here….you know who you are…
“Obama still thinks he did it too”
How much responsibility for the embassy violence should be placed on killing Bin Laden? There was a report on one of the talk radio shows that the people storming the Egyptian embassy were chanting “Obama, there are a billion more Osamas”. Can anyone verify this? They also brought up how the Dem’s kept hammering that they killed bin laden at their convention. Unintended consequences?
no coincidence that it occurred on Sept. 11. I am not sure I buy this whole movie trailer thing being the sole cause of this.
The Honey Boo Boo demographic
USA! USA! USA!
Oh man…at a coworker’s strong suggestion I watched that last night…
I want to see how the question was worded.
Question: If equal rights are to be extended to all citizens no matter what the gender, should women suffrage be abolished?
How many voters do you think would say “yes”?
How many voters do you think would say “yes”?
Apparently about 15%.
Give me the dumbest question you can think of and I guarantee I can find “15%” of Democrats who will answer incorrectly.
The bottom 15% in intellect of either party is pretty appalling…
The top 15% in intellect of either party is pretty appalling…
8% of the people who said Romney was more responsible for OBLs death were described as “somewhat liberal” or “very liberal”.
Um, yeah. Charts are hard. It’s actually 4% of each of those groups.
kimmel and carolla did this on the man show. most everyone said yes. but this type of humor…finding stupid people and making fun of them…is lazy and boring to me. most folks get off on it for some reason…i guess it just makes them feel better about themselves.
it’s like watching honey boo boo.
it’s like watching honey boo boo.
I had no idea what you all were talking about until I just youtubed it. Man.
Here’s some comments:
This family is why the world hates us.
You know there’s something wrong with you when people need subtitles to understand what you say.
At least we aren’t a bunch of batsh!t crazy, homophobic religion morons over here in the UK. F*&kin moron.
“This family is why the world hates us.”
i see not much difference between honey boo boo’s family and the Kardashians.
one family just has alot more money than the other.
Having watched the show for the first time last night, once I got over my initial horror I was more bothered by the production than I was by the family. The effort to create spectacle from nothing got old quickly. But then once in a while you’d get a nugget of something real and it was kind of funny.
Should middle-level teachers be allowed to freely present and even teach the concept of improper fractions to their students?
I figured out when I was in HS that improper fractions are the ticket to a high SAT math score. I am pretty sure I did not learn this in the classroom, though, as all fractions in our textbook were proper, reduced to lowest terms, written as mixed numbers as necessary, etc.
“I am pretty sure I did not learn this in the classroom, though, as all fractions in our textbook were proper”
i studied accounting in college…i remember the first set of books i looked at on the first day of my first job after graduating…the company had negative equity.
i was completely confused. in all of my textbooks…after four years in accounting…i had never seen negative equity.
i was completely confused. in all of my textbooks…after four years in accounting…i had never seen negative equity.
Reminds me of the physics problems in freshman textbooks that ignore real world issues. Air friction? Just ignore it.
A chemist, an engineer and a mathematician wake up in the middle of the night and see their waste basket is on fire…[fill in the rest of the joke as you see fit].
LOL, Polly.
A chemist, an engineer and a mathematician wake up in the middle of the night and see their waste basket is on fire…
The chemist heads to the store to buy some baking soda, knowing that when heated, it will give off CO2 and smother the fire.
The engineer begins designing a a better fire extinguisher using the CAD software on his laptop, as the house begins to burns down, but eventually loads the design into the CAM sub-app and discovers that it can’t be built cost effectively.
The mathematician calculates the 2nd derivative rate of increase in the rate of increase in the spread of the fire, then determines the exact last instant that he has to escape.
Pretty good. The version I heard was a lot more simple.
The chemist runs to the bathroom for a bucket of water, dumps the water on the waste basket which puts out the fire, and goes back to sleep, proud of a job well done.
The engineer quickly calculates the exact amount of water needed to put out the fire (adjusting for the time needed to make his calculations and a reasonable margin of safety), goes the bathroom and measures that amount into a bucket, dumps the water on the wastebasket which puts out the fire, and goes back to sleep, proud of a job well done.
The mathematician calculates the amount of water needed to put out the fire, derives an equation that will predict the amount of water that will be needed to put out the fire any time in the next 12 hours and goes back to sleep, proud that he could put out the fire if such an action was needed.
[You can adjust the exact titles and actions depending on your preference/profession.]
Is it okay to pray while smoking?
Is it okay to smoke while praying?
Here you go, combo:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_OH_9912.pdf
But it’s not really a fair question because everyone knows that OBL actually died of kidney failure in 2002 and the CIA kept him frozen on ice for a decade until he was unthawed for the SEAL raid, then shot full of holes while his “wife” and “daughters” propped him up in front of a window.
Boy. They must really think we’re ijits.
PDF warning:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_OH_9912.pdf
15% of the 6% of respondents who gave Romney more credit for OBL death were described as “very conservative” and 4% of same were described as “very liberal”.
What percent of the respondents who gave Romney more credit for OBL death were described as “very stupid”?
8%, for sure.
LOL.. Pbear….Would you say genetically challenged ??
Not into that PC sugar coating crap…
what percentage of them know the difference between conservative and liberal?
Not surprising these are the same working class people that believe in trickle down economics and that the gov should get its hands off their medicare benefits.
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-12/mississippi-whites-not-used-to-help-back-republican-aid-cutters.html
Great idea
Give the money to the states
States can then give the money to contractors who can siphon off some of medicare medicaid food stamp dollars.
I’m sure they would repay the state politicians with donations.
I am not sure if you understand it either. What kind of “economics” is being practiced under OBAMA? The concept of ‘trickle down’ is to keep the big banks whole and lending and supporting the Wallstreet/bankster crook machine.
Isn’t this EXACTLY what has been done under the Obama Regime?
Aside from all the government give-aways to friends and supporters, the basic engine running the economy is now the Federal REserve, under the direction of Obama Appointee Ben Bernanke.
SO, yes, Virginia, Obama is a supporter of the trickle down economic policy.
The concept of ‘trickle down’ is to keep the big banks whole …Isn’t this EXACTLY what has been done under the Obama Regime?
Not exactly. The Bush bailouts of the banks that had no strings attached - they were given a blank check on our dime. The Obama bailout of Detroit had many strings attached, it was not a blank check.
There lies the difference in reference to bailouts.
if i decide to do “x”…and then three month’s later…you are in charge…and decide to continue doing “x”…then you are now responsible for doing “x”.
Not exactly
Trickle down is directing tax cuts and benefits to the elite and telling the collapsing rich, upper middle class, middle class and poor that by making these elites richer you will prosper as well.
TARP occurred prior to obama
The Fed Chairman was appointed by the GOP.
You think a guy who made 250 million stripping wealth from US companies and workers is going to make things better?
Obama’s far from perfect but not as far as the other side.
while 56 percent (of Republicans) said they weren’t sure….”
(about much of anything nowadays)
Comment by Arizona Slim
2012-09-12 13:58:52
Part-time, full time! Or full-time, part-time! However you want to look at it, it spells “never owning a house.”
But they’re freelancers! And freelancing is SO hip and cool!
It would appear your a Slashie Slim
Meet the Slashies… the savvy Londoners holding down more than one job
Entrepreneurial Londoners are ditching the nine-to-five to make more money and have more fun with more than one job. Life might be busy for a tailor/DJ, a PA/presenter or an electrician/model, but that’s not going to stop them doing it all. Hannah Nathanson meets some very savvy moonlighters
http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/meet-the-slashies-the-savvy-londoners-holding-down-more-than-one-job-8113327.html
Trend forecaster The Future Laboratory first coined the term ‘Slash/Slashers’ in 2009 after carrying out a survey looking into millennials’ attitudes to work. Co-founder Martin Raymond says: ‘Nobody could tick the boxes of the usual careers, like engineer, technician or civil servant. People were saying they do a bit of everything so we were seeing a new compound definition of a job.’ Their findings showed that on average, Slashies held down three jobs at a time, with a predicted seven to ten career changes throughout their working life, compared with the average three career changes of their parents’ generation. When The Future Laboratory followed up investigations in 2011, it found that the Slashie notion had solidified and six to eight per cent of the population was holding down multiple jobs, indicating an established trend rather than a simple fad.
So what will become of the Slash/Slash Generation? The Future Laboratory has already coined a convoluted term for its graduates: ‘betapreneurs.’ ‘A slightly older Slashie who doesn’t necessarily divide his or her different career activities but sees their career trajectory as a continual line,’ explains Raymond. ‘The betapreneur launches ideas in ‘beta’ mode and wouldn’t spend time planning like the traditional entrepreneur. If they wanted to do a restaurant, they would do a pop-up.’
Clearly, the way people work is changing and through ambition, resourcefulness and skill, the internet-savvy Slash/Slash Generation is leading the charge. Only one question remains: ‘What do you do/do/do?
In my humble opinion this article is fluent bollocks; lets make necessity look cool.
“You work three jobs? How uniquely American” - George W. Bush
And apparently British too.
Bullocks.
Never mind the Bollocks, here’s the Sex Pistols!
With special guests The Slash, and their new album, ‘London Culling’.
And new lead singer Hairy Kerry featuring her new Zombie hit “i’m a cutter watch me bleed”
I just want to see the pictures of the girl on page 4.
Oh. Bullocks. I thought you said “buttocks”.
Sorry.
In my humble opinion this article is fluent bollocks; lets make necessity look cool.
At least your lucky duckies don’t have to worry about healthcare.
I’ve heard of this trend described in the US as having a”career portfolio”.
Betapreneurs? I wonder who made that whopper up?
Betapreneurs? I wonder who made that whopper up?
Betapreneurs won’t wait to get a garage to start a car detailing business. These can-doers will wipe your car windshield at traffic lights!
Here’s a youthful betapreneur starting his own aluminum commodities brokerage:
http://www.bloomberg.com/image/i3.uODOAPhJQ.jpg
From the article “Rich poor gap widens to most since 1967 as income falls”
a youthful betapreneur starting his own aluminum commodities brokerage
Now there’s a can-doer.
I am indeed a slashie.
Why? Because I live in a small-market town.
Here in Tucson, I don’t have the luxury of just being a writer. Or just being a photographer. Or just being a designer.
I have to be versatile. It’s a fact of life here.
“Here in Tucson, I don’t have the luxury of just being a writer. Or just being a photographer. Or just being a designer. I have to be versatile. It’s a fact of life here.”
Yes, it’s modern life. But why do I have this feeling you’ve always been a sortof do-it-all person?
Pure pimping? Or byproduct of inventory being held off the market?
http://www.azcentral.com/business/realestate/articles/20120904phoenix-area-rental-homes-red-hot-commodity.html
Having not looked for a rental in 10 years, nor am I looking for tenants, I really have no idea if the rental market is tight because of manipulation or if this story is pure BS….
I mean, the example story is a guy looking to rent a 4300 sqft home….. that can’t be typical. What is the market for 700-1000 sqft?
Hello liar.
“Gale applied to rent four properties, losing one after being a day late. He later found the property he wanted — a 4,600-square-foot home in north Scottsdale — and drafted a cover letter for his application, including his personal story and a promise to treat the house like his own. He included pictures of his children. Gale admits he “pulled all the heartstrings” and believes it helped him get the house.“
Nobody cares about your litter, Greg.
And that includes me.
To which I’d like to add: Dude, get over yourself. Humans have been reproducing for as long as humans have existed. You’re not special.
It is actually a negative. Who’d want those rug-rats tearing up their fine property?
Good call on the town house purchase. Bernanke is all in on housing, and has investors’ backs.
U.S. Economy
Ben Bernanke Really Wants You to Buy a House
By Peter Coy on September 13, 2012
The Federal Reserve is doing everything in its power to get you to buy a house. On Thursday the Fed’s rate-setting committee said it will start buying $40 billion of mortgage-backed bonds every month from now until—well, it didn’t say when. Buying those bonds should translate into lower mortgage interest rates, speeding up the tentative recovery of the housing market. The Fed is betting that a stronger housing market will help lift the overall economy, which remains stuck in low gear more than three years past the end of the 2007-09 recession.
The Fed’s announcement—immediately dubbed QE3 by the markets, for round three of quantitative easing, or buying bonds to drive down long-term interest rates—had an electric effect on the mortgage market. Investors clamored for mortgage bonds, bidding up their price and thus pushing down their yields. The yield—that is, the effective rate that new investors receive—fell to just 1.01 percentage points above the yield on Treasuries. That was the narrowest spread in almost 15 years, signaling that investors are demanding only a small premium to own mortgage bonds instead of Treasuries. (Technically, that 1.01 is the difference between the yields on a Bloomberg index of Fannie Mae-guaranteed mortgage bonds and the average of 5- and 10-year Treasury notes.)
Mortgage rates are already at historic lows. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in August was 3.6 percent, says Freddie Mac, down from 6.1 percent at the start of the recession in December 2007.
…
Heh…. Massive multi year housing stimulus yet housing demand is still at 1997 levels and falling (15 year lows) and prices continue to slip.
They’ll give up eventually…. make no mistake. And when they do, the public will finally understand just how little houses are worth. And it’s not going to be a pleasant reality for them.
“They’ll give up eventually…. make no mistake.”
Why would you even suggest this? Can’t you see their resolve? They are never going to give up, ever.
Posted: 5:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012
Florida ranks second in nation for foreclosure activity
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
For the first time in nearly two years, Florida took a top ranking nationally for foreclosure activity, coming in second only to Illinois.
Florida overtook the western states of Arizona, California and Nevada, which had traded the first place and runner-up spots since December 2010, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. The last time Florida ranked second was October 2010.
A 26 percent increase in new foreclosure filings in August from the same time in 2011 helped push the Sunshine State to No. 2. The jump, which included a 35 percent increase in new filings in Palm Beach County, could be attributed to the National Mortgage Settlement, experts said.
Banks likely held off filing some of their foreclosures until the February settlement spelled out new requirements on how to handle home repossessions, said RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist.
But Florida’s backlog of about 377,700 foreclosure cases in the court system as of June also contributed to the ranking, Blomquist said. According to RealtyTrac, it takes an average of 861 days — more than two years — to foreclose on a home in Florida. About 25 states don’t require a court to sign off on a foreclosure.
He believes banks are moving through their foreclosure backlog now because the $25 billion national settlement absolved them from some civil litigation.
“They are full steam ahead,” said Harrison, adding that the new filings are “cleaner”. “The bank lawyers are making many fewer mistakes, which means that these new cases should pass faster through the system.”
Lenders are also making an effort to complete foreclosure alternatives as part of the settlement. One of Harrison’s clients got a letter this week from Bank of America forgiving a second mortgage worth $570,100.
“My clients are receiving these on a regular basis,” Harris said about principal balance reductions. “I have seen a lot forgiven, but nothing like this.”
A report released Wednesday by CoreLogic found that 42 percent of Palm Beach County homeowners with mortgages owed more on those loans than their homes were worth during the second quarter of the year. That’s a decrease from 43.7 percent in the first quarter.
What that means to a full housing recovery is unclear.
Playing off this is an article on CNBC titled: “Foreclosure starts fell on annual basis in August”
DON’T LET THE HEADLINE FOOL YOU
The article is about how judicial states (like Florida and New York) are increasing foreclosure filings, and non-judicial states (like California and Arizona) are decreasing. Here’s the most applicable quote:
“At the same time, so-called foreclosure starts increased almost exclusively in states like Florida and New York, where the courts must sign off on foreclosures, the firm said.
Conversely, in many so-called non-judicial states, like California and Arizona, the number of foreclosure starts declined versus August last year.”
BTW, “start” doesn’t mean sale. The big question remains what happens once the process starts in these places…does it result in a foreclosure sale? Or simply another in the backlog?
Pimp,
Who cares when prices and demand are falling in AZ and CA.
I find this interesting reading, as the local radio stations have been most recently airing ads for “FLIP THIS HOUSE”.
That’s right, kiddies. The folks who run the FLIP this HOUSE TV series have been airing spots in the Tampa BAY area saying that TAMPA is one of the best areas for flipping houses. There are plenty of foreclosures and lots of opportunities and if you give them a call, a “select few” will be shown the way you can get rich in your spare time with other peoples money, running up the cost of housing.
Don’t miss this opportunity.
Can you believe this?
Does it ever end? RE-start the Mania.
Here we go, again. OMG.
Paradigm will continue until another paradigm emerges.
Or, put another way, they will cling to the last hope, until a new hope to cling to becomes available.
The Onion really nailed it 4 years ago when they ran the spoof article, “Americans Demand New Bubble to Invest In”.
$40T looking for somewhere to go to get a reasonable RoI.
As much as Obama has been criticized for posturing as “The One”, the same could be said of Romney, who certainly comes across as if he pretty much thinks he’s a superior being.
He’s gonna get beat, and beat badly. BTW, excellent article in Vanity Fair magazine this month on how much of a force Karl Rove has become, quietly behind the scenes in the Republican Party. And boy, is he ever messing it up. Or maybe not. Rumor has it his main goal is Jeb 2016.
Anyway, my point is, if you can’t win against this president in this economy, pack it in.
Wouldn’t be so sure, the fat lady hasn’t even started to warm up yet.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
Robert A. Heinlein
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the the universe.
- Einstein
Interesting that “the Architect” is effectively in charge of Romney’s campaign, apparently through proxies. It’s been said of Rove that he’s in it for the long run. Now, if one wanted Jeb in 2016, getting Romney elected this time around wouldn’t be the thing to do. After all, let’s say Romney does get elected. Should he have a successful presidency, you can pretty much bet he’ll want to go for another term. If he has an unsuccessful presidency, the next Dem candidate has a pretty good chance of getting in.
What to do, what to do? Ahh, well, ok, just shore up the Republican House and Senate candidates and dog it on the Presidential campaign. Mildly mis-advise Romney, let him shoot himself in the foot here and there. Because chances are that if Obama has another four years, the people will elect just about anyone from the Repub party, including another Bush.
You are right about Carl Rove ..His thinker has always been on a blinker.
If you look at the State -by -State Electoral Numbers , it’s already over ,unless Romney really wakes up and campaigns for it like he means it.
The News Media is 120% behind the incumbent President ,and Romney just goes off and rides his jet ski on the lake. Maybe he wants to lose it .
“Romney just goes off and rides his jet ski on the lake. Maybe he wants to lose it.”
Could be he took a closer look at the job he has been trying to get for the past eight years and changed his mind.
Maybe he decided he’d rather be an LDS “Apostle”?
Maybe he knows that within a few weeks it will be too late to even register to vote in many states. This low key campaign where he is building up his war chest and not firing up the other side might just be the way to go. Minority registration is way down from 2008 and not doing anything to fire it up makes some sense.
Not qualified — too arrogant.
I read somewhere that the LDS upper hierarchy consists mostly of wealthy, retired businessmen. If that’s true then Romney would be a perfect fit.
“I read somewhere that the LDS upper hierarchy consists mostly of wealthy, retired businessmen.”
Correct.
“If that’s true then Romney would be a perfect fit.”
Humility is also a qualification.
“…Minority registration is way down from 2008….”
Do you suppose that might be because so many registered in 2008?
Don’t want them minorities voting! They ain’t smart like us!
i agree with you on most things palmetto…and perhaps indivudally they both have equal delusions of grandeur…but who can really say what goes on in their heads.
but there is no friggin’ way on God’s green earth anyone could conclude that the Romney media hype is any where close to what Obama’s hype was.
it’s just not so.
no friggin’ way on God’s green earth anyone could conclude that the Romney media hype is any where close to what Obama’s hype was.
Your key word is “was”. And the reason the media hype was what it WAS is because Obama WAS a truly hype inspiring candidate in 2008.
It wasn’t a media conspiracy; in 2008 it was what it was.
It wasn’t a media conspiracy; in 2008 it was what it was.
All it was a hollywood production and the biggest hoax ever.
Maybe it works differently in presidential politics, but so far as I am aware, armchair quarterbacking has never led to a position as quarterback in the NFL.
” Rumor has it his main goal is Jeb 2016.”
Perhaps you missed it but the Daily Show named their entire week of the RNC convention ‘2012 RNC: The Road to Jeb Bush 2016′.
The Daily Show ranks just behind C-SPAN as the best news source in Amerika.
True, and SOOOOO sad.
Even sadder is how Jon Stewart is totally lost without a script. The guy can’t ad lib to save his life.
Wasn’t he a stand up comedian earlier in his life? I thought those guys had to be able to ad lib and improvise.
Stand up comedians work on their routines for weeks or months. Small new things get subbed in for old bits. Their stuff changes gradually. Stewart is doing something almost new four times a week and he doesn’t write all his own lines, though I’m sure he does some of it and has some control over what gets put in the show each night. You don’t even have to watch the show with the sound on to know he is dependent on the teleprompter. Those blue cards are there in case the prompter goes down. He still does a good job.
stewart once had a talk show (i hink on MTV or something) it was pretty funny…then his career took a dive for awhile…then he got the daily show gig.
He’s gonna get beat, and beat badly.
I agree. Methinks that RMoney will be defeated the way Alf Landon was in 1936.
Or think Barry Goldwater in 1964. George McGovern in 1972. Walter Mondale in 1984.
That’s my theory, Slimmie. And it’s happening with a little help from his “friends”. Or should I say “fiends”.
Everybody’s got a story to tell. I can tell one, too.
IF you haven’t got a story, then you can take polls and Polling Data is designed to provide cover for news bias. It’s as useful as the “news” to figure out what’s going on in the world. You have to do a lot of sorting and digging to determine what’s really happening.
At this point in time in the American media complex, PRAVDA is a much more reliable source.
This foreign policy, which was considered a breath of fresh air, is finally starting to bear fruit!
“The world is quite ruthless in selecting between the dream and the reality, even where we will not.” - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
ha-ha, yes. I’ve envisioned one of those sado/masochistic liberal types trying to fend off a thug mob, waving their hands and shouting, “No, no, it’s not ME you want, it’s those guys over there. I’m on your side! Over there! Over there! Kumbaya, kumbaya!” (As the first rock hits his head).
LOL! Picturing some libtard with a BA in Gender Studies driving a Subaru/Volvo with a COEXIST sticker from Boulder or Ann Arbor, the typical Bobos In Paradise demographic.
Yep. They are just as stupid and sheltered (and dangerous) as their conservative counterparts.
Precisely, yet these are the only two choices we are given to run this country. Right or left, they both seem like dead ends.
They are the extremists and controversy sells.
There’s an old saying in the news business: “if it bleeds it leads”, and it’s just as true today as it ever was.
In fact, today, MOST of it is contrived and manufactured. Manufactured controversy can hide a multitude of real crimes. Mass media is NOBODY’S friend. Never forget this should you ever become famous or even semi-famous.
“Precisely, yet these are the only two choices we are given to run this country. Right or left, they both seem like dead ends.”
What percentage of the country feels this way? 10%? 45%? I’ve never seen so many people anti both parties.
I can’t do anything but vote against both of the two main candidates. But if enough of us did that maybe someone would finally take notice.
Ron Paul. Gary Johnson. Green Party. Communist Party. Mickey Mouse. None of the Above.
There is always another choice.
¨Don’t even try to blame the builders. They are just supplying the market. If they couldn’t sell Huge McMansions, they would not have been building them. When the FED starts a mania with cheap money and the Congress aides and abets with lending rules for the undeserving, then the “MARKET” has been manipulated to support a BIG house buying craze.¨ by Diogenes (Tampa, Fl); yesterday.
Was the ¨mania¨ confined to just the FED? Was the FED causing it or was it reacting to the mania. From my vantage point, there doesn´t seem to be any end to the mania, enough mania blame for everyone.
Here is something that I often think about.
I have rather extensive knowledge of my father´s family history, so it is easy to see the progression of the mania. My thorough understanding all begins in the rather humble South-central Kentucky where everyone is living on small farms. Along with small farms are small farm houses. My grandmother shared a one-room cabin on her grandmother´s farm with her mom and dad and subsequent next sister until age 4. Her dad migrated to Illinois to work shucking corn and eventually stayed in Illinois where they always lived in the hired-mans house; all 12 of them, sometimes sleeping as many as 4 to a bed especially in winter. Late in life nearing his death, my great-grandfather finally owned an old house in a tiny town.
My other great-grandfather sprung from almost exactly the same sort of background but landed in Oregon( making seed money as Paul Bunyan) before eventually popping up in Illinois. Investing his seed money in farmland and eventually doing rather well( owning a bank), he built a mansion for his 10 head household. I´ve seen this so-called mansion, and of course, even if it was in perfect condition( it has a dumbwaiter), you would not think mansion( it probably is not 3000 sq. ft.)
My grandparents married on Roosevelt´s 1st Inauguration Day at the courthouse; my great-grandfather´s bank having already folded years before was permanently closed. After being carried over the threshold and put down in the old hired-man´s house, grandma´s modest heel on her shoe punctured the rotten floor. Things slowly improved and after ten years, grandpa was tenant-farming and the two different tenant-farmhouses were big( about 1500 sq. ft.) for 6 but old.
A handy-man my grandpa along with my dad and older uncle would build houses in town for my dad and uncle( again about 1500 sq. ft.) and a couple more to sell. Nice houses but not extravagant. This has all been over 40 years ago and these houses still stand, look good still; I doubt they have ever been rented.
Not a one of my fellow gen x and later boomer cousins live in anything smaller than 1500sq. ft.; no one has more than 2 kids. One cousin has 2 kids, wife and 5000 sq. ft. in Northwest Indiana; He´s a likeable guy, makes good money and I´ll be damned if he doesn´t spend it too.
My Uncle´s grandaughter( gen y) has done well, worked for a big agriculture company for almost 10 years( ever since ending college). Talked to my aunt the other day, and gen y along with her husband( no kids) are building on the outskirts of their nearby little city.
You know they don´t call it a mansion anymore, just a mcmansion, but I will bet you it is at least twice what they used to call a mansion.
Great story!
Dad and his buddies worked for one of those big Midwest ag processors to earn money while he was in college. One of his friends, who was less scholarly than dad and didn’t end up going to grad school, instead ended up as one of the VPs of said company, rolling in dough. Some times it’s the chances you miss which pave the way for an even better opportunity!
One of his friends, who was less scholarly than dad and didn’t end up going to grad school, instead ended up as one of the VPs of said company, rolling in dough ??
Reminds me of a revelation that I got when I bumped into a high school friend about 8 years ago….He bought me a beer and told me that he had just retired from fire department…Gets $11,000. per month + benies…Not bad at 52…He was on his way to his house in Hawaii…Spends 6 months there and 6 months here…After I left, I was just mumbling to myself; “what the hell was I thinking going the self employment route”….
“…Gets $11,000. per month + benies….”
Not for long, sc, not for long.
Oh, thank you so much.
Nice to hear encouraging words from someone whose comments and writing I highly admire.
To be honest, in my presentation I do show the extremes. But can´t everybody see the same insanity that I see?!
Love my aunt, she is a real solid, capable, but slightly haughty woman; and for that very reason, I would not counsel her on the insanity of building a house like they have in mind; in failing Illinois of all places.
And yea, incredible years for some of these agriculture conglomerates.
I am not really trying to be down on Illinois, like I am not really down on the U.S. in the long term; they have alot going for them.
THEY JUST NEED ONE HELL OF A CORRECTION.
starting with Springfield of course
goes without saying, Washington too
Your story and comments made my day. Thank you, Bobby.
Why are you so down on Illinois? After all the other jobs have been outsourced to Chindia, agriculture will be the only thing left.
I note that your young cousin has been steadily employed since graduating. That’s not “uniquely American”.
“They are just supplying the market. If they couldn’t sell Huge McMansions, they would not have been building them.”
Someone has NEVER met a real developer. Real developers build all the time on speculation. In fact, that’s how their industry works.
Most developers if they want to build speculatively need to find a willing investor. That is pretty hard to do these days (but getting easier).
Yesterday I was in Ormond Beach, Fl and drove by The Casements, the summer home of John D. Rockefeller. At the time, he was the richest man on Earth. This is a nice little mansion, but I personally know people who live in larger (not nicer) abodes. And those are just regular people.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Casements
when will mortgages get to 1%?
Wow, you are being quite optimistic ……..er pessimistic!
when will mortgages get to 1% ??
If they did, would you buy a house ??
1% mortgages = prices through roof.
Lower interest rates give diminishing returns when rates are already low. The reason is that the principal still has to be repaid.
Assumption: $400k mortgage, 30 year fixed conforming
PITI at today’s 3.5%: $2463/month
PITI assuming 1.0%: $1964/month
Therefore, all else being equal, lowering rates to 1% would increase house prices by (2463/1964 - 1)*100 = 25%.
So it would elevate prices, but certainly not “through the roof,” and nowhere near their peak levels in most regions.
Is QE3 in the bag? And is it already priced into stocks?
September 13, 2012, 7:40 A.M. ET
The Real QE3 Question: What Can It Really Achieve?
By Michael Aneiro
Strategists continue this week to churn out predictions about what QE3 will look like, since it seems to be an accepted fact that there will be a QE3 announcement from the Fed later Thursday. (Some dissenters posit that the Fed may still opt to punt on QE3 for now, but will likely deliver later this year.)
…
Could the Fed officially punt on QE3, but then do some kind of stealth intervention to keep the stock market from selling off?
I wonder what the FED will do when the treasuries they bought with printed cash come to maturity? Isn’t the FED suppose to get that money back eventually depending on duration?
The FED prints cash to buy the treasuries from the primary dealers who buy them from open market.So the FED has a sh@tload of treasuries on the balance sheet. I wonder if there is a trash can where all the bonds go when they mature and the FED is suppose to get that cash back?
I wonder what the FED will do when the treasuries they bought with printed cash come to maturity?
Roll them over into new ones?
do you really think they even get the money back?
Here’s the other question (with an answer I learned this morning):
What happens when the Fed is insolvent because the value of their long treasuries falls with higher rates, which decreases asset values too low relative to their equity? Since the Fed is leveraged today ~100 to 1 one would think this is a big problem…
Answer, the “loss” doesn’t become a loss, but a liability of the Treasury…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/21/us-usa-fed-accounting-idUSTRE70K6OK20110121
Problem solved…hooray!
After today’s QE3 announcement, I’m wondering where one purchases a pair of those beer goggles?
Oil is hovering around $100 per barrel, food prices are off the charts, and when the next QE hits, the pain is going to grow exponentially. Bernanke is desperately trying to create inflation, but all he’s doing is running up prices in commodities and the stock market. QE is nothing but a wealth transfer from the poor to the wealthy.
exactly my man, well said.
GrizzlyBear interesting when I said the same thing at the beginning of QE and pointed out that Obama by supporting BB by reappointing him transferring wealth to the rich, I took quite a beating by this board. But better late than never. welcome aboard to my view.
And as I continue to tell anyone who is giving a free pass to Obama for NOT vigorously pursuing the Simpson Bowles plan, the result of doing nothing (and continuing to run deficits) is that the little guy is going to get hurt disproportionately as compared to the wealthy.
the little guy is going to get hurt disproportionately as compared to the wealthy.
That’s why I’m going Romney 2012.
As much as I almost vomit at the thought, QE3 may make me vote Romney 2012. Bernanke has to be stopped.
“QE3 may make me vote Romney 2012. Bernanke has to be stopped.”
Uh-huh…
Romney won’t meddle with Fed, says Larry Meyer
September 12, 2012, 4:57 PM
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have been very vocal critics of the Federal Reserve recently, but no one should think that this is anything more than campaign rhetoric, said Larry Meyer, a former Fed governor and the head of the big economic consulting firm, Macroeconomic Advisers.
Romney’s critical comments about the Fed reflect nothing more than his desire to placate the tea party, not a signal about what he’d do as president, Meyer said.
If he’s elected president, “Romney will protect the Fed. You can take it to the bank,” Meyer said at his firm’s annual Washington policy seminar. Meyer said a Romney administration would continue the long-standing policy of not meddling in the Fed’s affairs.
Romney has said he would not renominate Ben Bernanke as Fed chairman when Bernanke’s term expires in January 2014. “Do you think [John] Taylor, or [Glenn] Hubbard or [Greg] Mankiw would take the job if Romney shot off his mouth about monetary policy?” Meyer asked, mentioning the three people thought to have the inside edge at replacing Bernanke if Romney wins.
…
At least Romney is on record saying he would fire Bernanke. FIRE BERNANKE!
At least Romney is on record saying he would fire Bernanke.
Etch-A-Sketch.
Can the President fire the head of the Fed? I thought they were appointed to 10 year terms and could not be fired.
If my understanding is correct, Romney is saying he will not re-appoint Bernanke. But he can’t remove him until his term ends.
The Fed governors go for 14 years, the Chairman is appointed for 4 years. The Bernanke is done with his most recent appointment in 2014.
The next President has the power to appoint someone else.
QE is nothing but a wealth transfer from the poor to the wealthy ??
I would agree…Kinda….The poor don’t have much to transfer…Its really more of a transfer from the middle & upper middle class to the wealthy…And, I am not quite sure of the “transfer” part….The fed easing allows the former to stay alive…Tread water you might say….The latter are making truck loads of money…
It all depends on where you spend the money and how fast you let it leave the system with free trade.
Bernanke is desperately trying to create inflation, but all he’s doing is running up prices in commodities and the stock market.
Bingo! Plus positive infinity!
Bernanke is desperately trying to create inflation, but all he’s doing is running up prices in commodities and the stock market.
Which will of course decrease spending on services and luxury goods and manufactured goods and vacations etc.
Until that money flows to the masses and the holes are plugged it’s down the toilet we go.
Then give all of us a $3000 check to start with… we will spend it on items we’ve neglected..
Bernanke is desperately trying to create inflation
QE is nothing but a wealth transfer from the poor to the wealthy……..yes, it is.
But, under the Administration’s Voodoo economic plans, the BAnks will ‘trickle down’ the wealth to the poor. KEEP the Big Ten Bigger and Richer and skimming money from ALL of America. (The Obama Plan).
Of course, we need to tax the INCOME of the rich, meaning companies and executives, I guess.
I would be curious to see any DETAILS, aside from all the talk.
Stock dividend income? Special deals to Banksters?
We’ll never know because we won’t know what’s in the Bill until after the pass the bill- Pelosi.
In this case, it was “Buy the rumor, buy the news.”
Here’s your “Recovery” in the Washington Post:
“The middle class lost ground again last year, falling to an all time low in their share of how much income they take in, census data released Wednesday showed.
People with incomes between $20,263 (this is “middle class”?) And $62,434 collectively earned less than 24 percent of all income in 2011, even though they make up 40 percent of the population.
In contrast, the census data show, the bottom fifth held its own as the poverty level flattened out, while the top fifth increased its share to half of all income. The top 5 percent gained the most income, rising almost 5 percent in a single year.”
Oh ,lets not raise taxes on the top 20% because that wouldn’t be fair and they are creating all these jobs with the increase in income they got .500 billion dollars of China goods isn’t going to make a different along with closing 20 factories a day in the USA .
The fall of the middle class won’t be on the news .
Yes it will, but nobody will pay attention or believe it…. because we’re already past that point.
Yes it will, but nobody will pay attention or believe it…. because we’re already past that point.
Yeah and pay no attention to all those folks that just need to take a shower and get a job, they’re just a bunch of hippies and freaks playing drums anyway.
Close acquaintance recently went to a job interview. Job was to manage the books, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll for the business (~25 employees). Almost seems like the poster child for a “middle class” type of job…
Seemed like a good opportunity, nice people, good work environment, flexible hours, etc. Of course, as they were entrusting the companies finances, relevant experience and degree were required.
Then the punchline: they indicated pay would be $9/hr, no benefits.
A standard full time (40hr/wk) work year is around 2000hrs. That’s $18Kyr, before taxes. Before health insurance. Before (ha!) saving anything towards retirement/future.
thats a slap in the face.
and they wonder why employees steal to make up the difference…
The most amusing thing to me is that the company would want to hire somebody for this position, who must - almost by definition - be very bad at math.
My thought was do you really want to intrust your checking account to someone that your only willing to pay and would accept $9.00 per hour….
That doesn’t even deserve a “thanks for your time” as I leave without another word.
Sniff all you want, but I guarantee you that someone in Changi or Bangalore or Oaxaca or Lawndale will jump at that job and consider it a paid apprenticeship when it goes online.
Sounds like the company has an “ideal candidate” in mind.
Employers are selling jobs as much as prospective employees are selling themselves and their skills. If the compensation isn’t to your liking, don’t take the job. Eventually, the employer will either have to increase the compensation to attract a qualified candidate or someone will settle for the $9/hr job. That’s the market…
And you, as a taxpayer, will make up the difference via Earned Income Tax Credit, SNAP, et cetera.
Right. Because everyone who deigns to take a low paying job is definitely going to be a burden on the state.
Not everyone … but many will.
the employer will either have to increase the compensation to attract a qualified candidate or someone will settle for the $9/hr job.
Or the job will go overseas to a country where $40K/year is rich enough to hire servants. Your free market will hang suicide nets for us all.
increase the compensation to attract a qualified candidate or someone will settle for the $9/hr job. That’s the market ??
But the real question is what are the qualifications for a person to be a controller of a 25 person company ??
Because, if that person is in fact “qualified” for that job and is willing to accept $9.00 per hour then its a sad commentary on the state of affairs in America…McDonalds gets $8 bucks an hour here for gods sake…
I can put my house on the market for $500,000… doesn’t mean anyone will buy it. Same goes for that employment ad. Just because they are advertising for $9/hr doesn’t mean anyone will bite.
Especially when you consider the average accountant college graduate [Accountant I] earns $45,000 right out of school with no experience. Experienced accountants and those with advanced degrees earn quite a bit more…
doesn’t mean anyone will bite ??
Well, the assumption, at least from the guy running the ad is that there is possibly somebody out there for it…If not, you may as well put $1. per hour…
So now you need skills and a degree for a lucky ducky job.
manage the books, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll for the business (~25 employees)—$9/hr, no benefits
Sign me up so I can buy that $300 a month health-insurance policy that covers nothing!
“Romney 2012″
+1 Rio….
Is this person under 55? Because if he is, then he won’t need Medicare and Social Security, because he will have “time to adjust.”
Time to adjust… ha, ha, ha, he, he, he gafah, short… ha, ha, ha.
“time to adjust.” ??
Yeah….Lots of time like, work until you die…
$9 an hour? My mom was making $15 an hour as an accountant, 35 years ago.
Looking on the bright side of this news, at least real estate is going up again.
ECONOMY
Updated September 12, 2012, 8:18 p.m. ET
Household Income Sinks to ‘95 Level
By CONOR DOUGHERTY And ANNA WILDE MATHEWS
The income of the typical U.S. family has fallen to levels last seen in 1995, a long and pernicious slide that likely means it will be a generation before Americans regain the peak income levels reached at the close of the ’90s.
A report from the Census Bureau Wednesday said annual household income fell in 2011 for the fourth straight year to an inflation-adjusted $50,054.
Median annual household income—the figure at which half are above and half below—now stands 8.9% below its all-time peak of $54,932 in 1999, at the end of the 1990s economic expansion.
Other measures of well-being in the report were more positive. The poverty rate, which had risen in the past four years, held steady in 2011, and the number and share of people without health insurance fell. The shift in health coverage is in large part due to more Americans getting covered by government programs, such as Medicare.
The report covers the second full year of the economic recovery. However, it doesn’t capture the income gains that, though slow, were notched in 2012. It also doesn’t reflect gains in assets, such as growth in the stock market or home values that, while still depressed, have started to inch up.
“The economy took a huge hit and most people are still on the floor,” said Lawrence Katz, an economics professor at Harvard University. “This is not just losses of the recession and slow recovery. The entire new millennium has been one of declining incomes.”
…
Cueing NAR-scum and their media fluffers to remind us again about “pent up demand” LOL!
1999 isn’t necessarily the best year to choose as a baseline. Average income was inflated in part by the stock mania/dot com bubble. I’d be surprised if incomes had managed to stay at that level, after adjusting for inflation.
I got the best pay raises in my career during the late 90’s.
Everyone in the tech industry benefited mightily, even those of us not at dot-com companies. There was a serious shortage of skilled engineers, so salaries shot up rapidly. Mine nearly doubled between 1995 and 2000. I doubt we’ll ever see that happen again.
“I doubt we’ll ever see that happen again.:
Agreed
Key, of course, is “inflation adjusted”. Wages are still creeping up, just not as fast as inflation. So, we’re still not in the full deflationary spiral of falling nominal prices and wages as would be seen in a plunge into depression.
Darryl The Liar,
Do you enjoy lying or are you paid to lie?
“The economy took a huge hit and most people are still on the floor,” said Lawrence Katz, an economics professor at Harvard University. ………..except College professors who give a continual commentary on the world about them, while skimming huge salaries and benefits under tenured plans that provide only upward gains in wealth.
The best gig going. University fees are at all time highs and the pay and benefits have followed suit.
It’s nice to watch the world go by and comment on the collapse of everybody else’s economy while sipping a glass of wine on your 3 month cruise in Europe.
These professors create the aforementioned libtards in the Subarus/Volvos with the COEXIST stickers.
Some of these libtard stoodents have trust funds and move to Brooklyn to start a band or go out west to be ski bums. The rest of them get to be B.A. baristas paying back their student loans on $9/hour.
Be nice to the Vulva driving sneaker wearing fools.
“…Vulva driving…”
How does one do this?
For those who think pet insurance should be offered through work since there are employees out there who don’t have kids, but might have pets…I’m all for it - if I can get my child covered for $19 - $35/month, too.
http://www.petinsurance.com/
Not apples to oranges. Not even close.
If pet insurance starts to be offered as a benefit the cost of pet health care will go through the roof for those without it.
Imagine what health care would cost today if no one had insurance. My guess, it would be a lot more affordable.
And yes, I spend a lot on health care for my “kids.” But I can still afford to. Let’s not ruin it the way people care was ruined.
“Imagine what health care would cost today if no one had insurance. My guess, it would be a lot more affordable.”
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaup!
Maybe you can help me out with something that puzzles me. Why is it that Republicans think it is OK to show the world national disunity by attacking a sitting president at a moment of crisis? Are they hoping to help the terrorists win?
CCIBT……Because the Politicians are all traitors today and they have now become a National Security problem .
Let me put a finer point on my post: No Democratic presidential candidate could get away with launching a political attack on his Republican rival in a moment of international crisis, period.
If I am incorrect about this, please offer a historical counter example, rather than an ad hominem attack (unless, you are a Republican, in which case ad hominem attacks are of course expected).
Were you in exile during Bush Jr presidency? Look for some speeches by Harry Reid, Obama, Hillary Clinton, etc.
I agreed with Dems back then and I agree with Romney now. National unity, my behind. You meddle in other people’s business, you get burned. What was it Hillary said….we came, we saw, he died?
More like they rose, they fought, they killed……
“Were you in exile during Bush Jr presidency?”
Sadly, no.
Dennis Kucinich. Not on his own “rival” but toward the GWB administration.
Doesn’t look like Rmoney got away with it either.
Rmoney
If Romney was a rapper his name would be R-Money LOL!
Are they hoping to help the terrorists win ??
If thats what it takes to defeat the black man then the answer is YES…
It worked for Reagan. (google October surprise)
He was up against a weaker candidate.
Obama is much weaker. He’s already having problems with lame candidates like Romney.
He’s already having problems with lame candidates like Romney ?
What President wouldn’t in this economic environment….
It worked for Reagan.
But Reagan NEVER apologized for America being America. He just secretly provided much-needed arms to our enemy Iran, in exchange for hostages.
Now THAT’S patriotism.
Arms for drugs for hostages. (Iran/Contra)
Sometimes you have to be a traitor to be a True Patriot and create a problem so you can solve it!
Why is race injected into this debate over foreign policy?
Why is race injected into this debate over foreign policy ??
He was born in Kenya…Haven’y you heard ??
Where he was born and the color of his skin don’t change the fact that a lot of his policies stink. A lot of Romney’s policies stink too but that has nothing to do with his Race, country of origin or even party affiliation.
He was born in Kenya…Haven’y you heard ??
We want to forget but you keep on reminding.
A lot of Romney’s policies stink too but that has nothing to do with his Race ??
Well sure it doesn’t…. He is fricken lilly white for crying out loud…If you are trying to suggest that many of the southern neocons are not racists then you have not spent much time in the south my friend or red states for that matter…
After the way the democrats under cut Bush II in Iraq, they have no argument here. To call this a crisis is an overstatement, it is just a continuation of attacks by Muslim fanatics. Are you a little upset because Ronmey is now back ahead in the Rasmussen poll?
I suppose you are on the right Adan…You better hope he wins because if he does not the party that you support is DEAD…Thankfully….
Actually, I do not support either party, people like Romney and Obama support a globalist agenda which I oppose.. However, four more years of no growth will not hurt the Republican party or conservatives. They will will all branches of the government four years from now with an even more conservative candidate.
The people on this board on the left that think the reasons for the lame recovery are beyond the power of the president to fix should actually want Romney since he and his party will take the blame if the economy tanks but I suspect they know he will do a better job and they would rather it not be proven.
four more years of no growth ??
Pretty damm bold prediction….Smarter than I….
all branches of the government four years from now with an even more conservative candidate ??
And another one….I smell desperation….Because if neither of your grand plans occurs, your neocon fringe is DEAD…The “wooden stake” in the heart those neocons will be 8 more years of Hilary….
The good news is that the “real” republicans will run from the neocons & Norquist like they have they plague and maybe out of that will formulate a party that I recognize….
I suspect they know (Rmoney) will do a better job and they would rather it not be proven.
Rmoney/Ryan’s economic “plan” would just accelerate America’s path towards a 3rd world/1st world country combo.
Why is it that Republicans think it is OK to show the world national disunity by attacking a sitting president at a moment of crisis?
To their credit, many Republicans think that it is NOT OK. Romney is an out-of-touch, opportunistic slime-ball. I can’t believe the Republicans nominated him.
Romney’s gamble ends in scramble for damage control
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019139777_uslibyacampaign13.html
Statements by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney about the developing crises in Libya and Egypt led to a day of tumult for him, with leading voices in his party criticizing him and top aides scrambling to prevent further damage.
Crises overseas tend to create moments of joint resolve back home, a time to pause from the daily bickering of partisan politics. But as news was streaming in from attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions in Egypt and Libya, Mitt Romney broke from that protocol.
Statements the Republican presidential nominee made slamming President Obama led to a day of tumult for Romney, with leading voices in his party criticizing him and top aides scrambling to prevent further damage.
I just can’t bring myself to vote for this puke. There’s no way.
Steve Brown of the Dallas Morning News just can’t shill enough for the real estate industrial complex:
http://tinyurl.com/9fj7q3a
Apparently, buying is “much cheaper” than renting, and “the spread between owning and renting is still staggering.”
I’ve been emailing this loser since 2005 when I first started reading the blog to let him know he’s nothing more than an advertising cheerleader for the RE industry. Glad to see we’re rocking and rolling again in Dallas. Maybe they can put up some more ghost condo towers around downtown.
“A new study by Trulia Inc. finds”……. and that’s all you need to know.
the worst boss i have ever had in my life was this guy that continuously made bad mistatkes and was constantly either backtracking his decisions or blaming someone else.
…and yet somehow keep making money.
I hate people like that. They think they did it all and have no clue how lucky they are.
And they are legion.
Yes we have one as President.
“Yes, we have one running for president.”
There. Fixed that for you.
“Yes, we have TWO running for president.”
I think it was one of the laws in “48 laws of power.”
The IEM US Presidential Election Market Winner Takes All futures prices have Obama way out in the lead now, and by a widening margin.
Graphs of midnight closing prices in these markets
IEM Daily Price Graph - Pres12_VS
IEM Daily Price Graph - Pres12_WTA
Nationwide polls are useless. This is worse than useless. It falls distinctly in the realm of “who cares.”
You’re incorrect. But I don’t have time to explain advanced statistics to you, and besides, I already know you would ignore me.
It’s a futures market, not a poll.
That is why I called it “this” rather than a poll.
When I criticised the nationwide polls (some of them on small sectors of the electorate) that bananas used to post, I got accused of claiming something was useless when it didn’t support the candidate he assumed I was supporting.
I continue to do it for nationwide polls. Yes, because they are useless. Do they often go the same way as the actual election? Yeah. But that doesn’t mean they have to this time. Since the advent of TV you could predict who would win by picking the taller guy for a long time. Until Kerry came along and you couldn’t.
This other thing, these “bet on who you think is going to win” futures markets are just crowd sourcing predictions that even the experts are bad at making. When I want to know the weather, I don’t ask a bunch of friends what they think the weather is going to be. I ask a meteorologist. And even then I recognize he can be very, very wrong if we are talking about more than a few days out. Think of elections like the weather.
This other thing, these “bet on who you think is going to win” futures markets are just crowd sourcing predictions that even the experts are bad at making.
Recommended reading:
The Wisdom of Crowds [Paperback]
James Surowieck
Synopsis: Sans distortionary intervention, the market is smarter than you think.
(Of course, these days one can never know when a market is being manipulated.)
“Sans distortionary intervention, the market is smarter than you think.”
Until it isn’t. Look. I’m not saying that the president is going to lose. I’m saying that the fact that a bunch of people who are sufficiently geeky and wealthy to want to bet money on it think he is, doesn’t tell you anything. For pete’s sake, the debates haven’t happened yet. We don’t even know how much of the electorate is going to be told they don’t have the right sort of picture ID in the swing states. Don’t waste your brain cell.
“I’m saying that the fact that a bunch of people who are sufficiently geeky and wealthy to want to bet money on it think he is, doesn’t tell you anything.”
Just to clear up your ginormous brain on this, your point about the electoral college is relevant: The IEM WTA market only looks at share of the popular vote, not the electoral college outcome.
“Don’t waste your brain cell.”
It’s pretty hard to out-insult an attorney, no matter how shallow her thought process.
electoral-vote.com compiles state polling into electoral votes and currently predicts Obama winning 332 - 206.
note: site leans libtard.
A census report showing median household income fell last year puts a new focus on the biggest issue of the U.S. presidential election. And it’s likely to be deployed by both candidates to reinforce their campaign themes.
The U.S. Census Bureau figures released yesterday underscored the struggles of American families in a sputtering economic recovery. The report also showed the income gap between rich and poor people grew to the widest in more than 40 years in 2011 as the poverty rate remained at almost a two-decade high.
“Weirdly, I think you’re going to see both sides take these numbers and suggest it’s evidence why ‘I should be elected,’” said Steve Jarding, a lecturer at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a former Democratic political consultant.
Median household income dropped 1.5 percent last year while the proportion of Americans living in poverty was 15 percent, little changed from 2010. The 46.2 million people living in poverty remained at the highest level in the 53 years since the Census Bureau has been collecting that statistic.
bloomberg
Even though QE1.1, QE1.2 and QE2 were abject failures in bringing about green shoots of recovery, QE3 is certainly going to get it done, as QE3 is forever!
A quick poll:
QE today or not?
I say, No.
bring it QE 10 too
what is the likely outcome of a default on bonds to another country?
Bernanke gives finger to every saver in this country.
Romney is toast as well.
QE to infinity. Abolish the fed!
Hope this decision wises up republicans, but I doubt it.
Etch-a-sketch
Romney won’t meddle with Fed, says Larry Meyer
September 12, 2012, 4:57 PM
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have been very vocal critics of the Federal Reserve recently, but no one should think that this is anything more than campaign rhetoric, said Larry Meyer, a former Fed governor and the head of the big economic consulting firm, Macroeconomic Advisers.
Romney’s critical comments about the Fed reflect nothing more than his desire to placate the tea party, not a signal about what he’d do as president, Meyer said.
If he’s elected president, “Romney will protect the Fed. You can take it to the bank,” Meyer said at his firm’s annual Washington policy seminar. Meyer said a Romney administration would continue the long-standing policy of not meddling in the Fed’s affairs.
…
The private equity firms profit from the FED why would they bite the hand that feeds them.
Yea Obama inflate away my mortgage. He is destroying the country but helping me.
I see this as a desperate attempt to stay in office if you think the FED is independent you believe in the tooth fairly.
Of course, now that he is done this he will have to release oil from the SPR to keep gasoline from going through the roof but it will not work for long and will endanger our security since his raids on the SPR have left us poorly prepared for a true supply disruption. Rumors are already being floated on the stock market.
He would not be doing this if he was not plenty scared and he should be. Rasmussen: 46-45 Romney, when the undecided and others are split up. means a 52-48 win for Romney. If the election was held today that would be an electoral landslide for a Republican. a
If Bernanke can do QE to infinity, hell ya Obama can release the oil from SPR. Obama just has to do it for less than 2 months.
“I see this as a desperate attempt to stay in office if you think the FED is independent you believe in the tooth fairly.”
(Raises hand…)
It’s on:
1) 40 billion a month of agency mortgage security purchases going forward, open ended committment: “the Committee agreed today to increase policy accommodation by purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month.”
2) ZIRP extended through mid-2015: “Committee also decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate are likely to be warranted at least through mid-2015.”
3) Operation Twist continues through the end of the year: “The Committee also will continue through the end of the year its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities as announced in June, and it is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities. These actions, which together will increase the Committee’s holdings of longer-term securities by about $85 billion each month through the end of the year, should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative”
4) Will print as it deems fit: “If the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially, the Committee will continue its purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate until such improvement is achieved in a context of price stability. In determining the size, pace, and composition of its asset purchases, the Committee will, as always, take appropriate account of the likely efficacy and costs of such purchases.”
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/monetary/20120913a.htm
Interest rates aren’t going anywhere but down (and negative). There is a global easing response underway currently by the BoC, ECB, and the Fed, and it is stoking massive inflation.
The only way any of this ends is with the eventual collapse of the dollar and fiat currencies in general. It will happen, and I think the end is closer than any of us think… the unrest in MENA has more to do with food and energy inflation and collapsing economies than corrupt dictatorial governments being overthrown in favor of democracy. Wait until the unrest peaks in China, the EU and the US…
QE3 Arrives (good call people!)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/13/us-markets-stocks-idUSBRE8890AY20120913
swell
Whee.
Up, Up and Away!
$5 gas, here we come!
Still 3 to 10 Obama wins (bet $10 to win $3), Romney at 9 to 4 (bet 4$ to win $9) in casino-land. But they’ve added Gary Johnson at 500 to 1!
A good business to be in - printing money.
Cash machine
The business of printing money thrives on financial crises
Aug 11th 2012
The Economist
FEW businesses do well in a climate of global political instability and mistrust of banks. De La Rue, the world’s largest commercial banknote printer, is one of them. The Basingstoke-based firm’s profits rose by a fifth in 2003 thanks in part to a contract to supply a new currency to Iraq.
Their challenge is to provide hundreds of millions of perfect copies of a product that is cheap to make but impossible to fake. Designs need to blend aesthetics with durability and security. There is no strict formula but some broad rules apply, says Alan Newman, De La Rue’s design chief. Notes are often folded in half, so the security strip should never be in the middle. Paper currencies have no intrinsic value and need the appearance of worth to inspire public confidence. “It can’t look like a theatre ticket,” says Mr Newman. Engraved images in uncommon shades have the required seriousness. They are also hard to reproduce with colour photocopiers.
http://www.economist.com/node/21560275
party on wayne!
Closing this afternoon.
I’ll believe it when I have the keys in my hand. Does feel unreal: two school teachers with no family money buying a SFH in San Francisco.
I’ve been reading HBB for 7 years or so, and my choices/plans have been greatly influenced by what I’ve learned here.
I don’t think RE in SF has hit bottom, but getting away from landlords, locking in our monthly (PITI) costs at $2100 month, and buying with (barely) enough time to pay it off before I retire all makes sense right now.
90K down payment asst. from the city (0% interest, 40 years deferred payment), my own cash contribution less than the cost of a new car, 3.6% interest, toe tag house: I think we’ll be ok.
Yippee!
PIMP/RAL shaddap. JT Extension blocks you anyway, so don’t bother.
I’ll save the congratulations for tomorrow when you tell us you have it.
Ditto here.
Another sucker gets scammed. lmao
Lalalalala, she can’t hear you.
Of course she can. She hasn’t the fortitude to ignore me…. Just like you.
Bernanke has her back!
Signed my loan paperwork this morning for closing tomorrow.
$294.92 PITI on 15 year + $120 HOA.
Darryl,
Were you suckered or are you just lying? (again)
sweet darryl.
When the key fits the lock….
Almost there, sf. Let us know.
Congratulations. Many of my friends are having landlords sell houses out from under them; the escalating market rents; others still trying to market time; etc.
Peace of mind or you.
A humble San Fran abode.
Many happy years.
Good luck to you, SF. I comfort myself with one of RAL’s lies: yes my housing was relatively expensive, but it’s always been expensive around here. The next guy who buys my house is going to pay an expensive price too.
This is rich folks.
Psst… hey oxy….. the only lies are the ones you acted on. Theres no going back now… no recovery.
BB is all in on housing now. Can’t you see the housing recovery is Fed-funded, and in the bag?
sfrenter
Best of luck to you and your family. Enjoy your new home.
Ignore RAL at your own peril.
QE-Infinity…. and away we go.
“They may be pursuing a failed strategy, but they sure are pursuing it with conviction!”
–Stephen Stanley
chief economist, Pierpont Securities
- 9/13/2012
commenting on the Fed’s announcement of QE3
quote taken from a MarketWatch article
Isn’t insanity doing the same thing and expecting different results?
Are you making the case against Obama?
Don’t be so cruel. Slim like Polly, ahnasen, oxide are all voting Obama hook line and sinker.
No, they are not insane. (no in their mind, anyway)
Obummer is the only thing that matters to them. They’ll even argue the sun sets in the east before ever being honest about him.
Sad isn’t it?
Except Slim. She’s much too sharp to be bound by partisan BS.
Blinded again by your presumptions, you’ve not the slightest clue whom I’m voting for. Nor will you.
Obummer is the only thing that matters to them
Have you changed from challenging to stupid to rude to moronic? WTF is going on with you??
Yep. The Fed is quadrupling down on QE. I guess the die is cast now regarding whether the returns to string pushing are diminishing.
“They may be pursuing a failed strategy, but they sure are pursuing it with conviction!”
Fed policy comment of the century!
I like spoofs of movies and song mashups. He looks different here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3oGg0mcM-M
Been a huge fan of the man ever since his 1971 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but standup just ain’t his metier. Even ironically.
See: William Shatner poetry jam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvQwXOCKNLY
I remember seeing the SciFi awards, on our B&W TV, with Shatner when he sang that song. Thanks for the lol. Oh, to see ‘Space 1999′ again with the same amusement and wonder like I did back then. I like comedy more now.
Posted: 5:58 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012
Mortgage firm Ocwen buys chairman’s house for $2 million more than he paid at peak
By Jeff Ostrowski
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
In a generous perk for a billionaire businessman, mortgage firm Ocwen Financial Corp. bought Chairman William Erbey’s Atlanta mansion for $2 million more than he paid at the peak of the housing market.
Ocwen (NYSE: OCN) said in a regulatory filing last month that it paid $6.48 million for Erbey’s house in Atlanta so Erbey could move to St. Croix, where Ocwen opened a subsidiary earlier this year. Ocwen collects loan payments from subprime borrowers, some of whom accuse the company of hardball tactics that push them into foreclosure.
“It is really ironic that a company that is a subprime mortgage processor would give a sweet deal to its executive chairman that its own customers couldn’t get,” said Vineeta Anand, chief research analyst at the AFL-CIO’s Office of Investment.
Erbey paid $4.39 million for the 10,452-square-foot house in May 2006, according to property records. Since then, Atlanta home prices have plunged 31 percent, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index.
The Fulton County Board of Assessors values the home at $3.11 million. Zillow.com says it’s worth $3.36 million.
Ocwen said it reimbursed Erbey for his “cost basis” in the home, indicating that he made improvements to the house after buying it. Ocwen also shelled out $24,000 for transaction costs.
“The purchase of Mr. Erbey’s residence in Atlanta by Ocwen is consistent with the company’s senior executive relocation policy and practice,” Ocwen said in a statement. “The purchase price was within the market value range provided by an independent third-party appraiser.”
But Anand called the transaction “inappropriate” and “a sweet deal.”
Now that Ocwen owns the house, it has not yet put it on the market, according to Realtor.com.
Erbey launched Ocwen in West Palm Beach in the 1980s and lived in Palm Beach until 2006, when he moved to Atlanta. While the company lists its corporate headquarters as a 2,000-square-foot office in Atlanta, many of its executives remain in West Palm Beach.
Ocwen paid Erbey a $500,000 salary and a $1.4 million incentive last year, but his real wealth lies in his large stakes in Ocwen and spin-off company Altisource Portfolio Solutions (Nasdaq: ASPS) of Luxembourg. Erbey’s 19.5 million shares of Ocwen are worth $534 million. His 6.6 million shares of Altisource are valued at $593 million.
Aaron Boyd, director of research at executive compensation company Equilar, said publicly traded companies increasingly have bought executives’ homes in recent years. During the housing boom, executives could sell homes without relying on their employers’ help.
“This has really become an issue over the past four years, as housing prices have dropped,” Boyd said.
This sounds similar to the sort of housing transactions at above market value for which people go to prison in San Diego.
Cunningham defends real estate deal
June 14, 2005 12:00 am • By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer
NORTH COUNTY —— Controversy continued to swirl Monday over U.S. Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s sale of his Del Mar home to a Nevada company which then resold the home at a $700,000 loss.
Mitchell J. Wade is a corporate officer for the Nevada company that bought the home, records with the Nevada Secretary of State show.
The real estate deal has raised ethical questions because Wade is also president of a Washington D.C.-based contracting firm that has benefited from millions of dollars in defense contracts, some of which were approved by a committee on which Cunningham is a member.
Neither Cunningham, R-Escondido, nor his staff returned phone calls Monday. Officials with the contracting firm, MZM, Inc., also did not return phone calls.
However, Cunningham’s office sent a written statement in response to a San Diego Union-Tribune article Sunday about the deal.
In that statement, which was issued Monday, Cunningham said he could assure his constituents that “this was an above board transaction.”
While the deal may have been perfectly legal, it raises questions, an expert on government ethics said Monday.
“Even if it was absolutely above board, someone should have pointed out that you don’t do business with someone looking for favors from you,” said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies, a nonpartisan think tank that studies campaign finance.
UCLA Law School Professor Daniel Lowenstein said one must be careful not to pass judgement before knowing exactly what occurred.
“There might be something wrong here, and there might not be,” Lowenstein said. “It is possible that a prosecutor might want to look into it, but that doesn’t mean that after he looks into it, he would necessarily conclude that anything wrong has been done.”
In late 2003, Cunningham sold his Del Mar home for $1.675 million to the Nevada company for which MZM president Wade is a corporate officer, according county property records and corporate records filed with the Nevada Secretary of State.
A short time later, the Nevada company, 1523 New Hampshire Avenue LLC, put the house back on the market. County property records show that it sold about eight months later for $975,000 —— a $700,000 loss.
Cunningham purchased an 8,000 square-foot home in Rancho Santa Fe a short time later.
…
“Now that Ocwen owns the house, it has not yet put it on the market, according to Realtor.com.”
We’ll know from the size of the loss when they sell how bad this scam was compared to Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s scam that landed him in prison
Of course, I don’t expect the Chairman to go to suffer Cunningham’s fate. Prison is for Congressmen who get caught, not corporate chairmen.
Helicopter Ben = MBS cookie monster. Got sugar rush shock-and-awe?
Federal Reserve announces QE3
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Chairman of Federal Reserve Board Ben Bernanke speaks during a news conference Sept. 13, 2012 in Washington, D.C.
by Heidi N. Moore
Marketplace for Thursday, September 13, 2012
Today, news of nothing less than the future of the American economy. It comes to us — as it usually has the past four years or so — in the person of Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve. The Fed wrapped up a big meeting today by doing what a lot of people had been hoping it would do. The central bank’s going to try one more time to kick the economy into gear. It’s gonna buy up debt — bonds, that is — drive long-term interest rates even lower, thereby convincing people, and banks, it’s OK to borrow money and spend it.
A lot of people are wondering whether this third round of quantitative easing will help out the jobs situation here in the U.S., but the fact of the matter is, the Fed is really just helping the markets, because that’s all it can do — it has no power over the economy. Think of the Fed as the Cookie Monster. It’s giving the markets a sugar rush.
“The problem is that the Fed doesn’t have anything nutritious on its shelf right now,” said Anthony Sanders, a finance professor at George Mason University and a senior scholar at the Mercatus Center. “They’re just doing sugar highs. The stock market is getting a sugar rush. But the economy can’t thrive on sugar rushes. It thrives on nutritious foods, which the Fed can’t give out.”
The Fed acknowledges that it can’t fix employment. Its only hope is to make it easier for corporations to borrow money, or boost the housing market. The Fed hopes that those moves will create the kind of confidence that will lead to more hiring and more spending.
Either way, QE3 won’t have any effect on the economy before Election Day this November. Ben Bernanke, the Fed chief, said the stimulus will be open-ended, so it could go on for three months or 30. He’s watching the entire economy to see if it improves. It will take more than just one economic measure to know when it has.
“The Fed acknowledges that it can’t fix employment. Its only hope is to make it easier for corporations to borrow money, or boost the housing market. The Fed hopes that those moves will create the kind of confidence that will lead to more hiring and more spending.”
At what point will the whole world openly acknowledge that the whole premise of Fed policy action during this episode in financial history was fraudulent?
So when an MLS listing headlines “Short Sale”, can you reaaaaaally believe it? How do you know? How can you confirm it’s a shortsale?
The seller should be able to provide you the preliminary title report. The PTR should include the recorded deed of trust, including when the loan was obtained, who lent the money, and for how much. If there is a second, that should show up too.
ft dot com
Mohamed El-Erian
September 13, 2012
America • Finance • Global Economy
QE3 is a sign of the Fed’s policy purgatory
Through both its actions and what it refrained from doing, the Federal Reserve confirmed on Thursday that it is operating in policy purgatory: incapable of delivering the good economic outcomes it desires, yet unable to exit from an experimental policy stance that risks a widening array of collateral damage and unintended consequences.
To grasp the Fed’s policy dilemma, we must first discuss the why and what of additional unconventional Fed measures.
Three realities anchor the case for additional measures, notwithstanding the fact that the results of prior policy interventions actions have consistently fallen short of policymakers’ own expectations.
First, the FOMC reiterated concerns about the country’s economic prospects, and rightly so. It echoed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech at Jackson Hole on August 31. There he cited America’s “daunting economic challenges,” including the “grave concern” of a stagnant labour market where high unemployment – even if predominantly cyclical in nature as Mr Bernanke believes – would get embedded in the structure of the economy were it to persist for long.
Such worries were accentuated in the last week by the disappointing August employment report, as well as the more recent high frequency jobless claim data released earlier on Thursday. Both confirm weak job dynamics. They come at a time when long-term and youth unemployment is way too high, Americans are dropping out of the labour force, poverty is on the rise, and income inequality is widening.
Second, the Fed is not helped by the fact that it is the only entity properly engaged in addressing America’s challenges. Others, including those paralysed by deep congressional splits, are standing on the sidelines even though they have better suited policy instruments.
Then there are the unusual “tail risks” facing the economy and additional policy insurance they appear to warrant – from the threat of the European debt crisis to the self-inflicted fiscal cliff in the US and mounting political risks in the Middle East. If even one were to materialise, America would soon find itself again in a recession which would accentuate economic, financial, political and social fragilities.
With this in mind, Fed officials decided to experiment even more. They extended forward guidance, stating that policy rates are expected to stay exceptionally low “at least through mid-2015”. Importantly, they also committed to additional, open-ended purchases of mortgage-backed securities (what will likely be labeled “QE3”).
History and detailed analyses of the problems underpinning America’s prolonged economic malaise suggest that these well-intentioned measures will again fail to secure a much better economic situation. This is also behind the widening gap between economists urging the Fed to do even more and those favouring less.
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Here are some more of those meaningless poll numbers. Just ask Polly if you don’t believe me about how meaningless they are; she is the HBB’s resident expert on the meaninglessness of polls.
Obama widens lead over Romney to seven points: Reuters/Ipsos poll
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Florida September 9, 2012. REUTERS/Larry Downing
By Alina Selyukh
WASHINGTON | Thu Sep 13, 2012 7:40pm EDT
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama widened his lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney to 7 percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters on Thursday, the latest survey to show the Democrat ahead in the run-up to the November 6 election.
The daily online poll asked 990 likely voters over the previous four days which candidate they would pick if the vote took place today, with 48 percent choosing Obama and 41 percent picking Romney.
The gap has been widening since Obama grabbed the lead in the rolling poll on September 7 when he scooped up 46 percent of likely voters to Romney’s 44 percent after the Democratic convention.
“What that really means is that Obama is in good shape,” said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark, attributing some of Obama’s uptick to the slowly improving sentiment toward the direction of the country shown in Wednesday’s telephone poll.
Among all 1,231 registered voters surveyed online, Obama led with 45 percent to Romney’s 39 percent.
Thursday’s online poll also found far more registered voters preferred the incumbent’s policies and approach on taxes (41 percent picked Obama, 30 percent Romney), healthcare (44 percent Obama, 28 percent Romney) and Social Security (39 percent Obama, 27 percent Romney).
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Quantitative Easing Revisited
Uploaded by malekanoms on Feb 1, 2012
The bears are back to discuss the latest doings by the Federal Reserve and The Bernank.
It’s over.
Romney foreign policy attack was disgraceful
By John Avlon, CNN Contributor
updated 12:33 PM EDT, Thu September 13, 2012
Mitt Romney used the tragedy of the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya to score political points, says John Avlon.
Editor’s note: John Avlon is a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He is co-editor of the book “Deadline Artists: America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns.” He is a regular contributor to “Erin Burnett OutFront” and is a member of the OutFront Political Strike Team. For more political analysis, tune in to “Erin Burnett OutFront” at 7 ET weeknights.
(CNN) — “Partisanship ought to end at the water’s edge” is a longstanding adage of American politics.
But in the hours after the death of the first U.S. ambassador killed in decades, Mitt Romney — panicked as his poll numbers have slipped — punched hard against the president, unleashing an unwise, inaccurate and unpresidential attack on the Obama administration.
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AP News
GOP elector resigns, says she can’t support Romney
By Mike Baker on September 13, 2012
One of the Republican appointees to the Electoral College abruptly resigned from her post Thursday after publicly questioning whether she would support the party’s presidential ticket when casting official votes after the November election.
Melinda Wadsley of Ames, Iowa, told The Associated Press that she could not in good conscience vote for party nominee Mitt Romney. Wadsley was among three electors who had told the AP for a story published Thursday that they were exploring alternatives should Romney win their states.
“I have always been a straight ticket Republican, and for the first time in my life I am an undecided voter, therefore, I need to resign my position as a Republican presidential elector,” Wadsley said in an email exchange.
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SoCal’s housing market is on fire, and now Ben Bernanke is pouring gasoline all over it. There has never been a better time to be an all-cash flipper in SoCal housing!
Southland housing market ends summer with rising prices and sales
Southern California’s median home price rises to a four-year high in August and sales hit their highest level for the month in six years.
Southern California home sales and prices rise
Southern California’s median home price hit $309,000 last month. That was up 1% from July and 10.8% from a year earlier. (Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images / September 13, 2012)
Federal Reserve stimulus program aims to fire up housing market
By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
September 13, 2012, 4:20 p.m.
Southern California’s housing market finished out the summer on fire, with the region’s median home price climbing to a four-year high and sales hitting their best level for an August in six years.
Housing has outpaced the broader economy this year. In the Southland, cash-rich buyers dived into the market during the winter to scoop up foreclosed homes, while rock-bottom interest rates and low prices brought move-up buyers and higher-end sales back in the spring and summer.
The pace of foreclosed properties coming onto the market slowed this year, and foreclosures as a share of the resale market also dropped, helping boost prices.
New national data released this week showed that the number of borrowers who were underwater — with mortgage balances exceeding the value of their homes — fell dramatically this year as home prices improved, meaning one of the most stubborn roadblocks to the housing market’s recovery is slowly lifting.
A rising market characterized by low inventory, strong demand, cheap prices and low interest rates will help lift household balance sheets, but a full-throttle rebound is unlikely as long as job growth and household incomes remain stagnant, economists said.
“Prices are coming back, and they are snapping back faster than anybody expected, but when you tie it back to fundamentals, income is flat,” CoreLogic economist Sam Khater said. “Some markets are coming back at double-digit rates, and you are beginning to see some activity that makes it seem like there are mini boomlets occurring … but it is divorced from the fundamentals.”
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Sept. 14, 2012, 1:22 a.m. EDT
It hurts so good
Commentary: It’s been four years since Lehman went belly-up
By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (MarketWatch) — It’s somehow fitting that the stock market would celebrate the fourth anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy by staging a huge rally in the wake of the Fed announcing more quantitative easing.
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And this leads me to another important lesson that I think investors should be drawing on this fourth anniversary of Lehman’s demise: It’s probably asking too much of your adviser to anticipate calamities like the one that took the market by surprise in September 2008.
If insiders are unable to figure out what’s going on, how can we expect outsiders — even smart and shrewd ones — to know?
If you’re like most investors, however, you cling to the belief that there is someone out there who can save you from such huge risks.
If so, consider what the advisers I monitor were saying in early September 2008, a couple of weeks prior to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.
Here’s a sampling; I mercifully omitted their names:
“I am ready to be a bull again! Not now of course, the exact time is still difficult to tell, and we will in all likelihood be early to the game, but three crucial elements necessary for a new bull market are getting our attention. The housing market is beginning to show serious signs of a bottom. … Quietly, the financial sector has been slowly healing.”
“The stock market and the economy continue to battle the same demons. They are not going away easily, though one would have to think the sub-prime mess is largely behind us. … I think a 75% invested posture is about right at this juncture.”
“We expect the S&P 500 index to challenge its previous record closing high of 1,565 next year as investors move beyond the current economic malaise and look forward to improving corporate-earnings prospects as the economy moves into its recovery phase.”
Let me stress that all three of these advisers have creditable long-term records. None is a fool.
And yet, in retrospect, it seems preposterous that anyone would think that the housing market was close to a bottom in early September 2008 — and almost laughable that the stock market would be soon challenging its previous all-time high.
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