Bits Bucket for December 21, 2012
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here. And check out Chomp, Chomp, Chomp by a regular poster!
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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GM recalls pickups for missing hood latches
General Motors Co. said Thursday it is recalling 145,000 pickups that may lack a secondary latch to prevent the hood from unexpectedly opening.
The recall covers the 2010-12 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks that may not have a back-up hood latch, including 118,800 in the United States, 15,264 in Canada, 7,492 in Mexico and 4,069 in other nations.
If the primary latch isn’t engaged while the vehicle is in motion, the hood could strike the windshield and potentially cause a crash,
“General Motors Co. said Thursday it is recalling 145,000 pickups that may lack a secondary latch to prevent the hood from unexpectedly opening.”
“If the primary latch isn’t engaged while the vehicle is in motion, the hood could strike the windshield and potentially cause a crash,”
Roll another one
Just like the other one
You’ve been holding on to it
And I sure would like a hit
Don’t Bogart that joint my fellow United Auto Worker
Pass it over to me
Don’t Bogart that joint my fellow United Auto Worker
Pass it over to me
“In a Sept. 20 field report, GM became aware of a 2012 Chevrolet Colorado with a missing secondary latch; GM learned of a second report of a 2012 model without the latch on Nov. 1. Both were built Aug. 31, 2011.”
“An analysis of one hood showed the latch assembly had no evidence of welds for the secondary latch, suggesting the latch assembly missed the weld station at the latch plate supplier.”
This is what happens when a Kenyan communist muslim Indonesian bails out your auto industry with a socialist bailout.
Good point, no Asian cars are ever recalled.
I haven`t seen any Toga parties at the lunch hour of Asian car plants either.
Aug. 31, 2011 11:50 am weld station GM assembly plant
Toga! Toga! Toga!
I wasn’t aware welding robots could wear togas…must look kinda funny.
I guess it was nobodys “job” to see if the the secondary latch was welded on. How much of a bailout would it take to have someone check that?
President Obama on Thursday said his administration’s $60 billion bailout of the auto industry may not have been popular but saved some 1 million jobs in the midst of a deep recession.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/5/obama-auto-industry-bailout-saved-1-million-jobs/ - 96k
The moony-paper again, jethro? I’m beginning to think you’re a subscriber.
Aren’t a lot of GM pickups assembled in Mexico these days?
Good point, no Asian cars are ever recalled.
There is no excuse for leaving out a basic secondary safety mechanism. This is an item that’s very easy to seen.
Can anyone recall a similar recall of Asian cars over this kind of fundamental goof?
I posted this article because it was like so many other fundamental GM goofs.
After all the build up and fanfare, she must be pretty ticked the Mayan apocalypse didn’t come to pass as prophesied.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik4bnjUCTbE
It is coming - have you seen the DOW futures??
Now lets see if NYC get s a country staion? or a new oh gee lets play Lady GaGa…
Cumulus Acquires WFME
By Jerry Barmash on October 16, 2012 2:06 PM
Cumulus has added a third station to its New York stable. WFME, the Religion station part of evangelist Harold Camping‘s Family Stations, covers much of the New York area from a West Orange, New Jersey tower.
WFME, a Newark based station, joins WPLJ and WABC under the Cumulus ownership.
All Access reports the deal is for an undisclosed price.
“This strategic acquisition of our second FM in the nation’s largest market will enable us to provide compelling new programming for our listeners and a powerful marketing vehicle for our advertising partners,” said Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey said in a statement.
The acquistion is expected to be completed by the end of the year, with format plans to be released at that time.
Don’t mix up the Mayan apocalypse with the Congressional
Cliffpocalypsemageddonacaust.
“Cliffpocalypsemageddonacaust”
+1 I’m really enjoying your descent into madness. Awesome!
I don’t think I’m any madder than I ever was; merely channeling Jon Stewart here…
Did Ms. Angelou prophesy that too?
The day is still young.
Since they believed it would be destroyed and recreated, how do you KNOW it didn’t happen? You’re a recreation with memories stuffed into your head from the copy that was destroyed several hours ago.
You’re a recreation with memories stuffed into your head from the copy that was destroyed several hours ago.
We are now all virtual simulacra of our previous incarnations. This is the new Matrix, pretty much the same as the old one, but deeper in debt.
“…pretty much the same as the old one, but deeper in debt.”
Great observation!
Just like rent only better!, 0% downpayment, no PMI w/$200 toward closing cost. I wonder when we return to “don’t even have to fog a mirror” status. I don’t like it when they target our military. They’ve put their life on the line. They deserve better than being turned in to a debt slave.
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VA loans have some benefits for those in the military who do not have much of a down payment. People in the military have a job and “back in the day” did not make much. So it made some sense in some markets. Also, the cap on a VA loan used to be pretty limited (I remember about $100,000 back in 1995).
Some “downsides” that VA loans have.
They are usually .25%+ higher than regular loans.
They require an in-depth house inspection that requires all defects to be fixed by the seller. These inspections are notoriously picky and tough. The house can not be bought until the inspector is satisfied.
These loans can be assumable!
Back in the day - VA loans were just about the only loans “guaranteed” by the US Government so people put up with alot to get them.
Today - ALL loans are guaranteed by the US government so who cares?
Just get me on the property ladder!!!!
Just get me on the property ladder!!!!
You mean like these guys ??
http://cl.exct.net/?ju=fe621378776604757714&ls=fe1b1d777d6c017e741275&m=fefc1172766306&l=fed1157376640678&s=fe35157277640d7d711074&jb=ffcf14&t=
Fiscal cliff sell and save mucho taxes today …
They require an in-depth house inspection that requires all defects to be fixed by the seller. These inspections are notoriously picky and tough. The house can not be bought until the inspector is satisfied.
My present house was bought on a VA loan in 1980. I don’t recall the inspection as being particularly tough. Maybe I was a particularly tough buyer. I put 10% down, even though I didn’t have to, and caused a bit of confusion on the other side.
Here’s a link so we can find out who “they” are.
https://www.thefederalsavingsbank.com/
I wonder how many people who apply are actually approved?
Cleveland HUD will no longer sell distressed homes to Cuyahoga Land Bank for $100
CLEVELAND - Officials with the U.S.. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) say they can no longer afford to sell distressed properties to the Cuyahoga Land Bank and other agencies for $100.
HUD announced it will not renew its contract to sell foreclosed properties, an agreement that was reached with the land bank in 2009 and helped keep 800 blighted homes off the open market over the past three years.
Land Bank CEO William Whitney told NewsChannel5 the end of the HUD discount program could leave hundreds of vacant homes susceptible to unqualified buyers and house flippers.
There is a lot of irony here:
susceptible to unqualified buyers and house flippers.
Just how “unqualified” do you have to be to buy a $100 house anyways?
Banana, the point is that you, the general public, couldn’t buy those houses for $100. I have a longer post above that’s still in moderation.
Land Bank CEO William Whitney told NewsChannel5 the end of the HUD discount program could leave hundreds of vacant homes susceptible to unqualified buyers and house flippers.
I call BS.
I call rank hypocrisy.
http://www.cuyahogalandbank.org/
The Cuyahoga Land Bank is the first enterprise capable of receiving tax and private foreclosed, abandoned properties directly without sheriff’s auctions. This allows properties to be more responsibly moth-balled and repositioned for rehabilitation or demolition.
Translation: “We wanna buy houses and flip them before the general public gets a chance!” (HBB has talked about this before.)
The pretty listings on their home page feature “renovated” houses in the $65-90K range, and “houses to renovate” in the $6K to $18K range. Oh, I get it! Buy a house for $100, “renovate” it for $30K and flip it for $70K. Or, if the house is beyond hope, buy it for $100 and flip it for $6K for some other sucker “to renovate.” Where do I sign up for that deal? Oh, right, with the US Government.
Note that HUD is NOT renewing this contract.
“”I don’t think the people in Washington understand what’s going on in Cleveland,” said Whitney.
Oh, I think the “people in Washington” understood very well. The article doesn’t give details, but I suspect HUD is going to go back to sherrif’s auctions. Whitney is just pizzed off that HUD didn’t renew his contract, and that HUD is going to open the houses to the market and gain more than $100 per house.
Sounds like yet another real estate scam in the name of “doing good.”
All real estate is a scam considering the grossly inflated prices.
Cleveland it the new Detroit. Another formerly “white” town that has been demographically “Shifted” to a majority black town. Like all other cities that fall prey to such a situation, the new “leaders” always see the town as a cash cow for their friends and associates (along racial lines), providing no economic increases, but draining away whatever past generations have built.
I realize most people take my commentaries about the influx of Black people and the results and characterize them as Racist, rather then fact.
So, yesterday, I came upon a post by a prominent Black man who has much the same thing to say that i have.
Congratulations. It’s not all because of racism and it’s not all ‘whitey’s’ fault.
Here is a brief summary and link:
JoAnn Watson, Detroit city council member, said, “Our people in an overwhelming way supported the re-election of this president, and there ought to be a quid pro quo.” In other words, President Obama should send the nearly bankrupted city of Detroit millions in taxpayer bailout money. But there’s a painful lesson to be learned from decades of political hustling and counsel by intellectuals and urban experts.
In 1960, Detroit’s population was 1.6 million. Blacks were 29 percent, and whites were 70 percent. Today, Detroit’s population has fallen precipitously to 707,000, of which blacks are 84 percent and whites 8 percent. Much of the city’s decline began with the election of Coleman Young, Detroit’s first black mayor and mayor for five terms, who engaged in political favoritism to blacks and tax policies against higher income mostly white people. Young’s successors, Dennis Archer and Kwame Kilpatrick, followed his Third World tyrant policies, but neither had his verbal vulgarity. Kilpatrick (2002-2008) went to jail and is on trial today on charges of corruption. Mayor David Bing is making an effort to revive Detroit. His problem is that he’s not God.
Policies that ran whites and other more affluent people out of Detroit might have been Young’s and his successors’ strategy. After all, why not get rid of people who aren’t going to vote for you anyway? The problem is that getting rid of these people left Detroit with a lower tax base, fewer jobs and fewer consumers. Fewer whites might be good for the careers of black politicians, but it’s not in the best interests of ordinary blacks. Blacks have political control of Detroit, but the relevant question is whether some control of something is better than 100 percent control of nothing. By most measures, Detroit is one of the nation’s most tragic cities, and it’s mostly self-imposed.
http://lewrockwell.com/williams-w/w-williams150.html
I realize most people take my commentaries about the influx of Black people and the results and characterize them as Racist
We get it Dio. You are a racist and you don’t like Black people. Why bore us with your head problems?
Most black statist politicians either ignore or fail to understand the big picture of our economy. It’s all about the religion of politics and how they can get whitey. What an incredible disservice that are providing their constituents.
Wake up black community!!!! I have seen your enemy and it is you!
And outsourcing this country’s manufacturing base had nothing to do with it?
It’s all because of Racist® whitey.
Suburbanization and white flight has nothing to do with it?
Wealthy Swiss banker takes disabled elderly husband on ‘holiday of a lifetime’ to India - and leaves him there because she was fed up paying for care bills
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2251043/Wealthy-banker-takes-disabled-elderly-husband-holiday-lifetime-India–leaves-fed-paying-care-bills.html#ixzz2FgiNjECr
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
You’ve got to love the bankers, they are such …..
Huh? What happened to FREE socialized medicine and health care?
Switzerland has a private health insurance system.
And helping someone eat breakfast isn’t health care.
Stop blurring the meme with distracting facts.
What happens when OPM runs out and then printing money does not work anymore:
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/two-dead-supermarket-looting-argentina-135903302.html
From Fox News, our future:
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentine President Cristina Fernandez faced another protest Wednesday led by a union boss who used to be one of her most loyal supporters.
Thousands of people marched from the capital’s iconic obelisk to the Plaza de Mayo main square in front of the presidential palace demanding pay raises and a solution to Argentina’s spiraling inflation.
The demonstration was called by Hugo Moyano, the head of the powerful General Labor Confederation union. He was once a close ally of Fernandez and her late husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, and his support helped Fernandez win re-election.
“Let the (president) take care of inflation eating up our salaries and the insecurity that is affecting all Argentines,” Moyano told a cheering crowd of union members who set off fireworks, banged on drums and waved Argentine flags.
Most union workers won pay hikes of 25 percent or more this year, in line with what private analysts say is Argentina’s true annual inflation rate. The government’s widely discredited inflation index puts the annual rate at a much lower 10 percent.
The pay increase put most union members over the threshold to begin paying income tax, something many lower-paid workers never had to do before.
For a single worker, income tax begins at an annual salary of about $15,600. The initial rate is 35 percent, and the new income-tax paying workers are seeing about a fourth of their take-home earnings go to the state.
Moyano and some other union leaders broke away from Fernandez this year as she tried to tame the demands of a now-divided labor movement by supporting a rival slate in union elections.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/19/argentina-unions-protest-against-president-fernandez-demand-boost-in-pay-curb/#ixzz2FhUVdf3k
Gee, what a surprise.
But it just proves the point: No Banksta left behind!
I wonder if that “life of luxury” in Zurich included a younger man.
Wow. Since when is 74 “elderly”? And she’s 65–not exactly your classic May-December marriage.
Posted: 12:01 a.m. Friday, Dec. 21, 2012
Palm Beach County home prices rose 20 percent from a year ago, Realtors say
By Jeff Ostrowski
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
WEST PALM BEACH —
In a sign of continued strength for Palm Beach County’s housing market, prices and sales showed double-digit gains from a year ago.
The median price of a single-family home sold in November was $219,500, up nearly 20 percent from November 2011, according to a report released today by the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.
Sales also spiked. There were 1,104 home sales last month, up 15 percent from a year ago.
The number of homes for sale shrank considerably. There were only 6,550 homes listed for sale in November, down 43 percent from a year ago.
Compared to October, however, the market cooled a bit. Sales were down slightly, and the median price dipped by $3,000.
The housing market has hit extreme highs and lows in the past seven years, and now it’s in another strange situation, said Barb Kozlow, president-elect of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.
“It’s a great time for buyers and sellers, which is generally not the case,” said Kozlow, a manager at The Keyes Co. in Palm Beach Gardens. “With buyers seeing we are rebounding, they want to buy. And you’ve got sellers who, as soon as they put their house on the market, it’s selling.”
Properties in the $100,000 to $200,000 price range are in demand, sometimes selling for more than the list price, she said.
Palm Beach County’s housing market is still recovering from a dizzying boom and bust. The median home price rocketed above $400,000 in 2005, then plunged below $200,000 last year.
“We’re seeing some good news,” said Jack McCabe, a housing analyst in Deerfield Beach. “But have we really returned to a normalized market? I don’t think so. We still have 40 percent of homeowners who owe more on their homes than they’re worth.”
To avoid flooding the market, lenders have been holding onto foreclosures rather than selling them. But those properties could create a drag on the market for years to come.
“The flow of foreclosure sales is really going to open up again next year,” McCabe said. “It will have the effect of putting downward pricing pressure on the median price.”
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/real-estate/palm-beach-county-home-prices-rose-20-percent-from/nTbxF/ - -
The Shortest Day
by Susan Cooper
And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Happy Winter Solstice! It’s all uphill from here!
“It’s all uphill from here.”
I’ll give it 6 months.
Thanks for keeping this in our hearts, Polly. A lovely sentiment!
Worth every penny.
WILMINGTON, N.C. — A former New Hanover County ABC administrator is getting almost $195,000 in annual retirement benefits despite his conviction on charges of taking property by false pretense.
The StarNews of Wilmington reports (http://bit.ly/12fvGlW) that the State Treasurer’s office says Billy Williams is receiving a retirement benefit of $16,238 a month. Williams had gotten attention for his $232,000 annual salary as administrator.
Also, Williams’ son is getting $4,564 a month. Bradley Williams was never charged with a crime. He worked for his father for about 15 years and had advanced to assistant administrator. Bradley Williams retired in June 2011 after an extended period of sick leave. He was 36 when he retired.
http://www.wral.com/former-abc-chief-gets-pension-despite-conviction/11883578/
And Remember - only bigger and bigger government can solve our problems.
Public employees - “Even when we go to jail, we still screw the taxpayers!”
No, this is what happens when law enforcement is underfunded.
“No, this is what happens when law enforcement is underfunded.”
LMAO! What an incredible statement.
Only to someone who has no idea how law enforcement works.
Thanks for letting us know.
Please explain, feco? Underfunded and vastly overpaid?
“No, this is what happens when law enforcement is underfunded.”
U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ - 213k - Cached - Similar pages
US National Debt Clock : Real Time U.S. National Debt Clock.
So the absurdly high salaries and pensions of government employees are due to underfunded law enforcement? No it is spend thrift politicians and not enough voters (yet) to curtail them. But the money eventually runs out.
Law enforcement? he shakes down liquor stores.
In Dallas, the biggest liquor store chain just declared bankruptcy.
Notice that Billy Williams full name would be William Williams. Well, I think it is funny. Way to go mr and mrs Williams!
I just noticed, William Williams is from Wilmington. Hilarious!
Kinda gives us the willies, don’t it?
Notice these are county employees, making obscene salaries and ridiculous pensions. (Same with all the police and firefighters.) And I bet it’s a conservative county.
Just goes to show that local government, inner city or rural, is very often more corrupt and wasteful- much more- than the big bad federal government. Decentralizing power is no panacea, it’s often the ticket to even more corruption. And less civil liberties.
+ indeedy
Hope and Change kids. Your future is to be a debt slave for life living in your parent’s basement with a job at Starbucks.
It is what you voted for So live the dream!
———————————————-
Don’t Fear The Higher Ed Bubble, Obama Will Keep Reflating It
Forbes | 12/20/2012 | Jay Schalin
A few years ago, the country became aware of a “bubble” building in higher education, as it had in housing.
Excessive demand – based largely on easy credit, government subsidies and the overselling of a college education – caused academia to expand unsustainably.
Then came the economic downturn. With underemployed graduates and dropouts increasingly unable to repay loans, state legislatures cutting appropriations, and innovative competition making inroads, the bubble appeared ready to burst, or at least deflate.
That could mean – so the theory goes – devastation for traditional academia: declining enrollments, with some colleges forced to close, perhaps; a shift in emphasis from academic to vocational courses; more online education; an end to faculty tenure, and other drastic changes.
Now, however, it might be time to rethink that scenario. President Obama’s re-election could postpone any such bubble deflation. Given his penchant for rewarding big supporters, he is likely to make sure academia is taken care of.
University employees gave overwhelmingly to the president’s reelection campaign. Indeed, four of the 10 largest donors to his campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records reported on the CampusReform.org web site, were the collective employees of the University of California, Harvard, Columbia and Stanford.
Cash might be the least of academia’s contribution to the president’s reelection. Universities also provide Democratic votes. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by three or four to one among faculty, according to survey data; in some departments avowed communists outnumber registered Republicans.
Not surprisingly, studies show that students’ political beliefs often move to the left during their college years. It shows in their voting: according to USA Today’s post-election analysis, the president won 59.8 percent of the 18-29-year-old vote.
Pure spin and speculation.
Yeah - obama is going to reign in skyrocketing college costs by….
Giving even MORE Federal dollars to the colleges.
And guaranteeing even higher amounts of loans to the students.
Because only bigger and bigger government can solve our problems.
Let me rephrase that: you are a liar.
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-03-30/politics/student.aid.faqs_1_student-loans-pell-grant-program-white-house?_s=PM:POLITICS
Tucked into the legislation President Obama signed Tuesday is an important change that didn’t get near the attention of health care reform: a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s student loan program.
The law changes how student loans are administered. Borrowers used to be able to get college loans from either banks or the federal government. In return for administering loans to students, private banks received federal subsidies to provide student loans.
Under the new law, private banks will no longer handle federally backed student loans. Instead, the federal government will be the only lender to students. Supporters say the overhaul ELIMINATES the fees banks get to act as the middlemen, SAVING the government billions of dollars.
obama is going to……..
….Because only bigger and bigger government can solve ALL our problems.
Dude, you forgot the word “all”. Koch is going to be pissed!
The Koch Brothers Propaganda Manual for Dullards 2011, Up Theirs Press
Page 363:
…...”when a subject cannot be grasped in the necessary time to fire off half-truth posts, it is important to paint the subject as still the government’s fault. If the subject is entirely out of your league of understanding, invoking the name Obama and implying it is the fault of Obama will gain you some distraction from your incomprehension, and effectively rile up the less attentive section of our influenceable base. It is also important that after doing such, that you distract a final time and end your blog post with one of the 22 boiler-plate, strawmanesque blog conclusions that we’ve provided below. ”
………#15. Because only bigger and bigger government can solve all of our problems! (exclamation point optional)
Add “socialist” in their for some added emphasis too. That always helps.
I heard that ’socialist’ was retired because it was deemed too soft. Now, it’s Communist or nothing!!! (must be capitalized).
Of course, facist, Marxist and the newest kid on the block - Maoist - are always acceptable.
Heavy handed statism by any name is nothing to laugh about. You too will fall victim some day…just watch.
Actually much as I detest the community organizer he did make several policy proposals in speeches about cutting aid to schools if they don’t keep tuition increase under a certain level. No idea if he was serious / will follow thought but addresses the problem.
According to Federal Election Commission records reported on the CampusReform.org web site,
You know, folks really ought to start typing in these websites. Amazing what you find. From the Campus Reform mission statement:
CampusReform.org is designed to provide conservative activists with the resources, networking capabilities, and skills they need to revolutionize the struggle against leftist bias and abuse on college campuses.
The other two paragraphs are even purpler.
” he is likely to make sure academia is taken care of.”
And what Congress?
You must understand that Argentina is 90% Roman Catholic. According to Papal writings and the position of the Church, though the Bible says “thou shalt not steal”, the church says that Poor people stealing from rich people is not a sin.
If a man has “need” and sees a person has an abundance, it is okay to “take” from him.
OF course, the concept of “need” always goes way beyond food.
It usually includes video games, big-screen tv’s and cellphones, etc.
Argentina is 90% Roman Catholic.
Are you prejudiced against Catholics too Dio or do you admire their church saying that Poor people stealing from rich people is not a sin?
(I’m a Protestant. I don’t even know if what you said above is true.
You should consider converting. The papacy holds many doctrines that fit your way thinking perfectly.
For example, “In Catholic teaching, human rights include not only civil and political rights but also economic rights . . .‘all people have a right to life, food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, education, and employment.’”7
I will include a link, but here is an excerpt to what I was referring: The Vatican teaches thusly,
Whatever the forms of property may be, as adapted to the legitimate institutions of peoples, according to diverse and changeable circumstances, attention must always be paid to this universal destination of earthly goods. In using them, therefore, man should regard the external things that he legitimately possesses not only as his own but also as common in the sense that they should be able to benefit not only him but also others. On the other hand, the right of having a share of earthly goods sufficient for oneself and one’s family belongs to everyone. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church held this opinion, teaching that men are obliged to come to the relief of the poor and to do so not merely out of their superfluous goods. If one is in extreme necessity, he has the right to procure for himself what he needs out of the riches of others.17
Here is a link for further study:
http://www.the-highway.com/ownershipandtheft_Bennett.html
I don’t care what your parish priest told you. The postings are Vatican and Papal writings, teachings and “rules” to live by. Often the parish priest needs a refresher course in pure Catholic doctrine.
So where was this actually supposed to be posted?
Someone posted a link to an article about some shopping malls that were invaded by gangs and robbed. I think there is a new term called “flash mobs” used here by the media in the US for gangs of thugs breaking into stores.
The story was about ARgentina. I only recently read Papal Encyclicals about Roman catholic philosophies that have evolved concerning theft. I thought that it was relevant that “Stealing” is approved by the Church if it is poor people stealing from rich people.
You will also note that the “rich” countries are the Protestant nations, and the poor countries are typically Catholic.
There is a lesson to be learned here about prohibitions to ’stealing’, but i don’t think the lesson will be learned.
While Dio I do not know the context of the “teaching” but I have never been told by any priest that stealing is acceptable.
…I have never been told by any priest that stealing is acceptable.
Agreed. In addition to the other things Dio hates, it now appears he also hates Catholics.
I’m beginning to wonder what group he belongs to, and what type of uniform they wear. /sarc
Does he hate Catholics? Or does he hate “tanned” Catholics?
Bloomberg - American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals:
“Generation Y professionals entering the workforce are finding careers that once were gateways to high pay and upwardly mobile lives turning into detours and dead ends. Average incomes for individuals ages 25 to 34 have fallen 8 percent, double the adult population’s total drop, since the recession began in December 2007. Their unemployment rate remains stuck one-half to 1 percentage point above the national figure.
“This generation will be permanently depressed and will be on a lower path of income for probably all of their life — and at least the next 10 years,” says Rutgers professor Cliff Zukin, a senior research fellow at the university’s John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development.
Only one fifth of those who graduated college since 2006 expect greater success than their parents, a Rutgers survey found earlier this year. Little more than half were working full time. Just one in five said their job put them on a career path.
About 61 million people, one-fifth of the U.S. population, work at jobs where median earnings have declined since 2007 even as the 1.2 million households whose incomes put them in the top 1 percent saw their pay rise 5.5% last year.”
So who is going to fund my retirement? I was really looking forward to a red European mobility scooter.
Guess you’ll just have to borrow the ones already provided at the Super Wal-mart. Remember to bring sanitized wipes!
Guess you’ll just have to borrow the ones already provided at the Super Wal-mart.
Just rig some ramps on your turbocharged diesel pickup, you can drive that sucker right up into the truck bed & make a clean getaway before the clerks know what you’re up to.
“This generation will be permanently depressed and will be on a lower path of income for probably all of their life — and at least the next 10 years,”
We’ve been cutting taxes on the rich for 32 years.
We’ve been deregulating industries for 32 years.
We’ve been globalizing our economy for 32 years.
They told us if we did that, we’d all do better. Only the rich did better. Now this is not an academic theory to ponder anymore. We did all those things. It is fact. And here we are.
And it happened without any notable resistance from the one who lost the most. The whipping will continue till morale improves.
Of course this where we are. The US is no longer the sole industrialized economy. Cutting taxes on “the rich” (not sure why you don’t define them) is not so much about growth but fairness. The government is not entitled to 50% + of anyone’s income.
Life is not static. Life does not come with guarantees. Middle class American life style of the 1950s / 1960s was an economic and historical anomaly. Probably not coming back any time soon. The conditions are totally different today. Get over it and adjust.
P.S Still PLENTY of opportunity for those willing to work and work hard - that’s always been the case through whether in the US and some other places. But if someone things they are going to have some nice comfty life pushing papers in an office 9 - 5 or teaching school -that career will return to a subsistence career or many other jobs that someone describes as lucky ducky jobs, they need to get their head examined. Wages in the US will continue to decline to what the market will bear. My neighbor makes $85K plus benefits and retirement for teach 3rd grade. Insanity.
“the rich” (not sure why you don’t define them)
A common right-wing talking point tactic. “You can’t tax the rich because we can’t agree on a definition.”
PLENTY of opportunity for those willing to work and work hard
Bull, there is not “plenty” of opportunity for those willing to “work hard” compared to the history of past American opportunity and relative to wealth inequality. 50% of Americans “work hard” and have lousy benefits and make less than $500 a week. This does not equate to “plenty of opportunity” when compared to the opportunity of the rich to make millions and not even have to “work hard”.
“not so much about growth but fairness.”
and then
“Life does not come with guarantees.”
Cognitive dissonance?
“the rich” (not sure why you don’t define them……)
We will have to wait for the President to tell us what “the rich” means. There is a Big Lie in there no matter what the voices of authority tell us “rich” means.
As for 50% of Americans working “hard” and making less than $500, well it’s unpossible. Out of 300 million peoples in the U.S. 100 million do not work at all. 100 million who work make $26K or less. That’s 1/3 in my book. That includes many who are not working full time.
I really think this $500 thing that keeps getting posted here is quite funny. I live quite well on less than that and I am not the only one. I do not live a very Spartan life either.
I do not live a very Spartan life either.
Don’t you live on a little boat?
Still not sure how heavy handed statism is going to benefit the middle class in this country. Someone please explain.
“Don’t you live on a little boat?”
Mostly. Not in the ice. It’s not really “little”. You know I have accomodations on land, so what do you mean?
More information makes a person less right-wing? Who knew?
It’s pretty deceptive how they lump “the collective employees” into ONE “large donor.” I guess universities are one people like corporations are one people?
Correction: More “propaganda makes a person less “right-wing.” I knew.
I’ve been to college. I know what ideologies they are selling, and it’s not a “balanced” agenda, wherein you can make decisions based on “information”.
Information exclusion and selective ideologies are the hallmark of “education” in America.
So, forget about “more information”.
Students are drones. Put down the “right” answer now, or you will fail, for sure.
Probably make them less left wing as well.
Probably makes a person less left wing as well.
Your future is to be a debt slave for life living in your parent’s basement with a job at Starbucks.
I guess when your parents die it should be an easy move to just take their room if you want it.
No. You don’t get to “inherit” anything they had.
You must pay taxes on the stuff they were going to leave you. The government must always be taken care of before any of the plebes.
Not unless the house is worth over $10 million (more?) bucks.
If we go over the cliff, I think it’s one million bucks.
really? you think so?
If my parents leave me $100,000 and a house worth 200,000, then I get to keep it all, tax-free?
You don’t think that would be considered income??
I’m no tax lawyer, but i’m pretty sure anything of value that you receive from another person is “income”.
I know that there are ways to set up trust funds to do wealth transfers to avoid many taxes, but i think most people just get a settlement via the courts for estates, a division of the property based on a will.
Tell me i’m wrong, please.
I was hoping i could get some tax-free income when my parents pass on.
I know that there are ways to set up trust funds to do wealth transfers to avoid many taxes, but i think most people just get a settlement via the courts for estates, a division of the property based on a will.
Tell me i’m wrong, please.
Savings accounts can easily be set up to be ‘payable on death’ or ‘joint accounts’. These bypass court settlements aka probate altogether. There is a grey area of joint accounts IIRC. What one person deposits into a joint account can be considered income for the other person, by the rules.
It’s far cheaper to set up some kind of payable on death or trust arrangement to handle elderly parents’ home ownership than to divide property in probate court. A local probate judge has been on a major campaign for years to get elderly homeowners to do this while they still can. In his opinion, establishing house inheritance after death is a major waste of time for the probate court, taking up the bulk of their cases, and a major waste of money for the estate, all preventable for very little effort and expense while the owners still live.
You’re wrong.
There’s no estate tax in 2012 for estates less than $5 million. And the top bracket after that is 35%. Thank Barack W. Obama for that.
It reverts to $1 million and a top rate of 55% in 2013, but the marxist Kenyan is pushing for Bush’s 2009 rates.
“…Given his penchant for rewarding big supporters…”
WTF?
If you pay the grossly inflated asking prices of resale housing, you’re going to lose alot of money. A LOT of money
I think I saw a character with that name in a gay porn years ago.
And he’s living in your head. Rent free.
“I think I saw a character with that name in a gay porn years ago.”
Top or bottom?
Washington Post - D.C. house inspires 168 bids in red-hot real estate market:
“It didn’t look like a house anyone would pay $400,000 extra for.
Several walls inside the gray townhouse with blue trim were streaked with water stains. The first floor was noticeably uneven. And termites had dined in front.
The big pluses: It was 2,850 square feet, had off-street parking, and was within walking distance of Union Station and the bars and restaurants along H Street NE. Then there was the list price: $337,000. Similar houses in the neighborhood were going for closer to $500,000.
Two weeks and 168 bids later, the house — in the 800 block of Fourth Street NE — was sold this month for $760,951 to an unidentified buyer.
While much of the nation is still struggling to emerge from a historic housing-market meltdown, the District is reliving its boom days. High rents, low interest rates, low inventory, and a flood of new residents in their 20s and 30s are making parts of the city feel like it’s 2005 again.
Seattle, Boston, and Palo Alto, Calif., are experiencing the same kind of scramble as Washington, with offers being made before open houses are held. One house hunter in the Boston area told the Boston Globe this year that the desperate buyers reminded him of “people trying to get on the last lifeboat on the Titanic.”
I will give obama credit.
He HAS re-inflated the housing bubble. He has done it.
An amazing feat considering the head winds.
It will be one of his many legacies.
The name of this blog should the HBB for progressives.
Because nobody here really cares of a housing bubble and out-of-control government spending unless there is a republican in the white house.
HBB for progressives
No, more like HBB for copy-and-paste Drudge Report links.
What is a Drudge?
A drone.
+1000
My comment posted under Goon but it should have posted under 2 bananna. It expresses my view, that the easy money policy of Obama has reinflated the housing bubble but it is all good since Obama caused it. Except for the few that try to deny he is responsible for the policy despite appointing the people that are carrying out the policy.
Never-ending HBB Obama blame game set to continue beyond the end of the Mayan calendar…
So he did not appoint the Fed members, what does he have to take blame for CIBT? I guess only republicans have to take blame for the actions of their appointees.
That socialist commie rag, The WSJ, says you’re full of it… as usual.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/04/25/has-obama-stacked-the-fed-not-really/
“…says you’re full of it… as usual.”
Stop challenging the HBB’s resident polling expert.
Like usual Eco, you are full of it the article does not say anything about easy money just says that he may not have stacked the Fed for decades. ECO do some research and tell me how many of the fed members he has appointed and how they are voting. You will see they are for the easiy money. As far as CBIT he just shows he has not information just personal attacks and he cannot find one thing to say bad about Obama, so sorry Colorado, he is nothing but a democratic shill.
So no post Eco? How about this six out of the seven Govs appointed by Obama.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47675850/Dunkelberg_The_Politics_of_the_Federal_Reserve
Obama “Caused” easy-money?? Wrong.
You need a dictionary Albuquerquedan. (And you still are lousy at stats, graphs, trends and facts and I’ll show you why below)
The easy money gravy train began under Greenspan and Barebackie, both initially appointed under Republicans.
Therefore, the easy money Fed policies were caused by Republican appointed Fed Chairmen.
Obama appointed Feds continued the easy money caused by Republican appointed Feds. Obama is not blameless but he “caused” nothing.
Here. Let’s look at the chart. Scroll the chart for the dates. The easy money went parabolic in October 2008 under Bush. It’s like nothing the world had ever seen on such a scale. The TRENDS were in place. (Now stay with me.)
By the time Obama reappointed Barebackie in 2010 there was no turning back the trends. By the time Obama had the most appointed Fed Govs the easy-money gravy train CAUSED by Republican appointed Fed Govs was already rising off the charts. The trends had begun. It’s all here Albuquerquedan. Your lame talking points and attempting to re-write economic history do not trump facts.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/09/13/a-look-inside-the-feds-balance-sheet-15/tab/interactive/
Problem solving 101. Solutions to present problems are not to be found by blaming those who are no longer here.
The current administration owns the entire thing. Solutions will come from the current administration or they will not come at all. At this rate, the current administration is on track to go down as worse than Hoover.
True blue, and how many trillion dollars has been added to the money supply by Obama.
Rio is getting increasingly testy maybe because his socialist paradise is right behind Argentina?
From AP yesterday:
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s Central Bank has lowered its growth projection for 2012 to 1 percent in the latest sign of disappointment about economic performance.
Three months ago, the bank was predicting 1.6 percent growth this year. Earlier it projected 2.5 percent growth.
With 6% inflation, 1.6% growth isn’t very encouraging.
As I have said earlier. Brazil is just China’s bit*h. It is all about the raw materials. The rest of the growth was caused by debt being extended at interest rates that the mafia would feel guilty to charge. The working class in Brazil are the real debt slaves.
http://brazilianbubble.com/analysis-household-debt-service-ratio-is-very-high-in-brazil/
Great graph in there about the debt ratio being twice what it is in the U.S.
This is from: thebrazilbusiness.com site from May 29, 2012:
The study “Retail Banking Latin America”, made by Lafferty consultancy established that in 2012, Brazil had 182.192 million credit cards, 275.959 debit cards and 275.385 cards issued by stores.
According to Proteste, which is the Brazilian association to consumer defense, revolving credit is subjected to an interest rate of 237,9% per year. This rate is almost five times higher than Argentina’s, placed in the second position in the ranking of Latin countries, with an interest rate of 50% per year.
As credit cards offer the option of minimum payment (that varies from 5% to 15% of the total value, according to the credit card company) it is very easy to lose control and limit your payment to the minimum amount. At some point, with interest rates of at least 15% a month and up to 463,30% a year, it is impossible to pay the bill, even the minimum amount, that increases every month as it is proportional to the total value. At this point, the consumer will probably be using another credit form: its overdraft limit or, in Portuguese, his “cheque especial”.
At this rate, the current administration is on track to go down as worse than Hoover.
Hoover didn’t get re-elected.
Hoover ran against an actual opponent. Nothing personal, but I don’t think Obama had a viable plan for economic reform ever or now, so I can’t imagine where the changes will come from other than from the wind in general. I’m not thinking about how things would be different if they were different, rather how things will be in the next decade. Got anything aside from increased fragility?
Got anything aside from increased fragility?
How about ever increasing destitution, from the bottom of the economic ladder going up?
“Because nobody here really cares of a housing bubble and out-of-control government spending unless there is a republican in the white house.”
Tru Dat. It’s amazing to watch the sudden change of standards and the countless posts justifying the current government action especially from the GBOTs, PBOTs and CBOTs.
“people trying to get on the last lifeboat on the Titanic.
It’s a lot more like people rushing to get in the titanic.
lol… no doubt.
It’s a lot more like people rushing to get in the titanic.
I was imagining people trying to get on the last train car to Auschwitz because they were tired of life in the ghetto.
Those $40 bn in Fed funded MBS purchases each month have to go somewhere…
Since you aren’t buying right now the fed’s B^2 is buying them at par from the FB members of his flock. FWIW, you are buying them.
We are all FBs now.
It’s just one of those ultra trendy areas. It was destroyed by the 1960s riots and only in past few years have started to be gentrified helped along with the re-introduction of trams street cars. $700K is typical for a Capitol Hill* town house. Realtir manipulation of ultra low price to attract multiple bids and generate and a news article.
*This is just north and east of union station not sure if technically called Cap.Hill.
It’s just one of those ultra trendy areas. It was destroyed by the 1960s riots and only in past few years have started to be gentrified helped along with the re-introduction of trams street cars. $700K is typical for a Capitol Hill* town house. Realtor manipulation of ultra low price to attract multiple bids and generate and a news article.
*This is just north and east of union station not sure if technically called Cap.Hill.
I just walked by there 40 min ago. Nice but not amazing. 20 min walk to the capitol. Maybe ten to union station
Bulletin U.S. stocks slump after scrapping of so-called Plan B vote; Dow’s down over 100
Nasdaq paces early U.S. retreat over ‘Plan B’ failure
Wall Street’s in a decidedly bearish state of mind, ignoring upbeat U.S. economic data to focus exclusively on what comes next as Washington appears stymied on how to avert to so-called fiscal cliff.
…
As of 11:19 EST DOW is down 149.
Wall Street’s in a decidedly bearish state of mind
They haven’t been in a real bearing state of mind for over 3 years now.
They haven’t been in a real bearing state of mind for over 3 years now.
Wall Street’s been out of its mind since 2007. Wall Street will probably stay crazy longer than most of us can stay solvent.
I still can’t believe he called it “Plan B”!
Isn’t that the pill that sluts take to abort their babies when they’re 8 1/2 months preggers?
Born again?
No, just born sarcastic.
“No, just born sarcastic.”
I totally missed the sarcasm; unsophisticated b me.
Hey, MissMouse! Long time no post! Still up for a Tucson HBB Meetup at one of our local brewing establishments?
Filed under “How uniquely American”
Bloomberg - Georgia Town Ordering Gun Ownership Undaunted by Massacre:
“Kennesaw, Georgia, is a quiet Atlanta suburb of newer subdivisions and strip malls around a huddle of older homes and storefronts. It is asking churches to ring their bells 26 times today for the victims of last week’s elementary school massacre in Connecticut.
And it has no plans to change a law requiring residents to own guns.
No town in the U.S. has been as public about its support for guns as Kennesaw, population about 30,000, where city leaders for 30 years have required that every household have at least one gun. The Dec. 14 killings of 20 children and six adults, the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, has done little to change that, residents say in interviews.
Most called President Barack Obama’s push to tighten gun restrictions worrisome at best and a conspiracy at worst, exemplifying resistance to such controls in the South.
“They’re trying to confiscate our guns,” said Dent Myers, 81, who wore a pistol on his hip and a red beret at his Wildman’s Civil War Surplus and Herb Shop. The store, draped in Confederate flags, is the most prominent business in Kennesaw’s two-block downtown.
Myers, who owns the surplus store, has been the law’s chief proselytizer.
In an inventory that includes shirts honoring the Ku Klux Klan and racist bumper stickers, he says his best seller is a t-shirt displaying two crossed pistols and the motto, “It’s the law in Kennesaw.”
So, let’s see. We are comparing a Southern Georgia town, with a huge stockpile of guns and virtually no crime, to a Connecticut town, a bastion of anti-gun Leftists who have had a massacre because no one could defend themselves.
While not really comparing the situations, but simply taking an opportunity to highlight GUNS, due to the horrific tragedy in Connecticut, they do take special care to verify that all gun-owners must also be bigots and racists, with supporting details.
Ergo, if you oppose “gun control” you are a bigot, a homophobe, a racist and a kook.
I see. But this is “educational information” in this story, not propaganda by any means.
Ummm…the crazy dudes mother owned a bunch of guns and was well able to defend herself.
What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? She failed to lock them up, she was killed in bed, most likely while sleeping. How does that have anything to do with the Elementary school students and faculty being sitting ducks?
More gun owners are killed by their own weapon than kill assailants.
Please. That is a bogus global progressive argument based on no facts whatsoever. I am going to have to say that the 90’s called and they want that argument back.
How many gang bangers are killing themselves in drive by shootings? Were those people in Colorado and Connecticut shot by their own guns?
What we really need to ban is progressive indoctrination and programming at the grade school and college levels.
Don’t know if its unique but certainly refreshing that some people can think and realize that inanimate objects such as guns are not responsible for murder. And that said people don’t become hysterical and instead of banning guns - get ready you might need to sit down ’cause this will be too much for soft headed bleeding heart liberals*- expect people to not commit murder.
I am still waiting for Obama, Bloomberg, and others to disarm their security details. Said politicians should not endanger themselves by being in such proximity to “dangerous weapons.”
*recently re-brand as “progressives”
Michael Reagan, the man who is most famous for being the son of a president (and mentioning it in nearly every single column he’s written in the past 25 years) is siding with the NRA’s proposal to put armed guards in every school, saying that is the only way to stop shootings.
The irony being his father was the most protected man on the planet, and was surrounded by armed guards every moment he was outside the White House, and he STILL managed to get shot.
Funny how they expect one armed guard to ward off a shooter when even the Secret Service do it.
*couldn’t
Let’s see. Hinkley got off a couple of rounds before the SS agents had him on the ground. He did not get to EMPTY his gun, reload and continue shooting. Your thinking is really poor.
In the case of anyone coming onto a campus with a rifle, it would be easy to assume he was there to do harm. Brandishing a weapon is an open threat and gives you the right to shoot him down.
IF anyone in the office of the Connecticut school had a gun, i am certain most, if not all, the innocent victims could have been spared.
It sound like you are simply an anti-gun nut that want to turn facts on their head to try and prove a point.
the incidents are not comparable.
“…Brandishing a weapon is an open threat and gives you the right to shoot him down….”
That worked so well for the kids at Kent State….
So, my take from this article is that it is the overt racism that deters criminals from committing violent crime and not the guns. Maybe we should ban all guns and require racist ideologies, this will clearly solve our problems!
How many murders-by-gun in Kennesaw in the last 30 years?
New York Times - With Farm Bill Stalled, Consumers May Face Soaring Milk Prices:
“Forget the fiscal crisis and the automatic budget cuts. Come Jan. 1, there is a threat that milk prices could rise to $6 to $8 a gallon if Congress does not pass a new farm bill that amends farm policy dating back to the Truman presidency.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/us/milk-prices-could-double-as-farm-bill-stalls.html
milk prices could rise to $6 to $8 a gallon if Congress does not pass a new farm bill ”
then they will pass it. What a bunch of drama queens in Congress and the press. They love this stuff it justifies their existence
“Preppers” are busily preparing themselves for a ride over the fiscal cliff.
Breaking News: Boehner says House leaders, Senate leaders and Obama will have to work together to avert fiscal cliff
A woman raises her arms to receive energy from the sun at the Mayan pyramid El Castillo (The Castle), in Chichen Itza, in the southern state of Yucatan, Mexico March 21, 2009. Hundreds of Mexicans and tourists gather at Chichen Itza to welcome Spring at the Mayan pyramid El Castillo (The Castle). REUTERS/Argely Salazar(MEXICO ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY)
Phil Burns demonstrates the air purifying SCape Mask at his home in American Fork, Utah, December 14, 2012. While most “preppers” discount the Mayan calendar prophecy, many are preparing to be self-sufficient for threats like nuclear war, natural disaster, famine and economic collapse. Picture taken December 14, 2012. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart (UNITED STATES - Tags: SOCIETY)
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, December 18, 2012. Signs of compromise in U.S. talks to stop automatic tax hikes and spending cuts hurting the economy next year pushed world shares to their highest level since September on Tuesday and weakened investor appetite for safe-haven bonds and the dollar. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK | Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:05am EST
(Reuters) - Stocks sank more than 1 percent on Friday after a Republican proposal for averting the “fiscal cliff” failed to pass, diminishing hopes a deal would be reached soon in Washington.
Trading is expected to be volatile as investors view a fiscal agreement between the White House and Republicans before the year-end as increasingly unlikely. With volume thin ahead of the holidays, market swings could be amplified. The CBOE Volatility index jumped 11.5 percent.
Late on Thursday, Republican House Speaker John Boehner conceded there were insufficient votes from his party to pass a tax bill, dubbed “Plan B,” to help avert the cliff, $600 billion of tax hikes and spending cuts due to start in January that could tip the economy into recession.
…
paying back debt is boring
buying new stuff is cool
“Preppers” are busily preparing themselves for a ride over the fiscal cliff.
Does that call for a new suit?
Crazy condo sale in Austin….200k gain in 3 years? WTF
MLS#: 4843136
Sq. Ft.: 732
Nov 12 2009 - Sold (MLS) $278,390
Dec 19 2012 - Sold (MLS) $475,000
Pull the trigger right now. It will be 300k gain next year.
Should I buy two then?
What’s your take on this one in Bethesda?
http://www.redfin.com/MD/Bethesda/8505-Halston-Way-20814/home/10701724
Buy for 1 mil, sell for 2 after “housing recovers”. Sound good?
It does.
“It does.”
I’ll see your $1m and raise it by $200k!
Hi HBBers
Moving into today. Our home isn’t quite ready, but storage rent has got to end. We’re elated to have minimal housing costs going forward. We couldn’t rent a room for what our monthly overhead costs will be. What a great start to the new year. Now, if they could just find a cure for Glaucoma.
Enjoy your losses.
maybe this event is just the beginning of the long awaited wipeout?
Been a while mike. How are things going?
“storage rent has got to end…”
Feeling a little short of money?
I was wondering that too, Blue. Hundreds of thousands of dollars and they can’t afford even one month of more storage?
Maybe it was the granite counter tops?
I pay cash for things too. There is a huge drawback to paying cash…you have less money.
Congratulations. Enjoy your new place. Just remember. Unpacking takes at least twice as long as you think it will. Maybe longer.
Happy for you guys, Inch. At least you’ve now a stable/familiar environment and a fine excuse to smoke a lot of pot until medical science comes up with a viable fix. Keeping my fingers crossed for your guy.
Have a wonderful first holiday in your new home. Life does have its rewards.
People are kind of learning to vote themselves higher-priced housing. What kind of gravy train will that end up being?
News from Tucson: Get those poor old folks outta Downtown. And, instead of tearing down the apartment tower that was considered so inadequate for them, re-purpose it as new units for the more, ahem, upscale. Story:
Armory Park Apartment complex being refitted, renamed ‘Herbert’
Was low-income; now will feature studios and 1-bedroom units
From CNBC:
More From Predictions 2013
Burns: Home Prices Set to Skyrocket
“Don’t be surprised if home prices begin to appreciate rapidly. Why? The ratio of homeownership costs to income is at an all-time low, and people are not going to continue renting homes at a monthly cost that exceeds a mortgage payment.”
– John Burns, CEO and owner, John Burns Real Estate Consulting.
“people are not going to continue renting homes at a monthly cost that exceeds a mortgage payment.”
That’s my plan, liver chops!
A big piece to watch still is the new legislation in places like IL and NJ that are going to allow accelerated foreclosure of abandoned and empty properties in 2013. This will impact Mr. Burns prediction in those states.
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20121211094719-3073844-big-idea-2013-home-prices-set-to-skyrocket
The complete post.
By the way, when my post with the Burns link shows up, look at the graph in the linked article, check out how high the number is in the early 80’s! Shocking.
People often cite home budget constraints as the reason prices won’t rise…clearly in the early 80’s, the housing market was negatively impacted by high interest rates, but SOME people still figured out how to buy a home.
Household budget constraints matter for each individual homebuyer, but not absolutely when trying to figure out the direction of the market as a whole.
It seems John Burns is a liar considering rental rates are a small fraction of the cost of buying at current inflated asking prices.
I hope everyone is well. I haven’t even been able to check the blog late night…
The “abandoned” house behind me is getting a new roof today. I guess the “bank” is going to make it “livable” now, with the hopes of selling it.
Empty 3+ years.
I hope the bank got a good inspection on the place. Because I’ll betcha money that there’s more wrong with it than the roof.
What state are you in? I’m curious as to whether you can find out (Zillow or otherwise) when title changed hands most recently, and based on when construction started, whether it seems like the entity who took title last acted quickly, or waited for a long time.
It still won’t answer the question as to WHY it took so long for them to take possession (whether they slow played their hand, etc.), but if it’s a judicial state, the process is an obvious culprit.
Hi Rental Watch. I am in Florida, where it is HOT and HUMID most of the time.
Can you check Zillow to see when it changed hands last…I’m curious as to when the bank actually took ownership.
“The chief financial officer for a real estate services firm has been charged with embezzling more than $560,000 from 10 condo associations and his employer for several years, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Roberto Martin Velez, 45, 12978 89th Ave. N., Seminole, faces a charge of grand theft. He is being held on $560,000 bond.”
http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2012/dec/18/man-accused-of-embezzling-560000-from-pinellas-con-ar-585542/
CRA and housing: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-perspective/122012-637924-faults-community-reinvestment-act-cra-mortgage-defaults.htm?src=SeeAlso
Apparently FHA loans also fit some kind of category for banks. Perversely, it means that banks would rather make FHA loans than loans to folks with better credit (who may not qualify for FHA).
Better to have a 10% chance of default with a guarantee from the FHA to make you whole, than lend to a better credit with a 1% chance of default, but no guarantee from the Feds.
From IBD:
New Study Finds CRA ‘Clearly’ Did Lead To Risky Lending
By Paul Sperry
Posted 12/20/2012 06:56 PM ET
Democrats and the media insist the Community Reinvestment Act, the anti-redlining law beefed up by President Clinton, had nothing to do with the subprime mortgage crisis and recession.
But a new study by the respected National Bureau of Economic Research finds, “Yes, it did. We find that adherence to that act led to riskier lending by banks.”
Added NBER: “There is a clear pattern of increased defaults for loans made by these banks in quarters around the (CRA) exam. Moreover, the effects are larger for loans made within CRA tracts,” or predominantly low-income and minority areas.
To satisfy CRA examiners, “flexible” lending by large banks rose an average 5% and those loans defaulted about 15% more often, the 43-page study found.
The strongest link between CRA lending and defaults took place in the runup to the crisis — 2004 to 2006 — when banks rapidly sold CRA mortgages for securitization by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Wall Street.
CRA regulations are at the core of Fannie’s and Freddie’s so-called affordable housing mission. In the early 1990s, a Democrat Congress gave HUD the authority to set and enforce (through fines) CRA-grade loan quotas at Fannie and Freddie.
It passed a law requiring the government-backed agencies to “assist insured depository institutions to meet their obligations under the (CRA).” The goal was to help banks meet lending quotas by buying their CRA loans.
But they had to loosen underwriting standards to do it. And that’s what they did.
“We want your CRA loans because they help us meet our housing goals,” Fannie Vice Chair Jamie Gorelick beseeched lenders gathered at a banking conference in 2000, just after HUD hiked the mortgage giant’s affordable housing quotas to 50% and pressed it to buy more CRA-eligible loans to help meet those new targets. “We will buy them from your portfolios or package them into securities.”
She described “CRA-friendly products” as mortgages with less than “3% down” and “flexible underwriting.”
From 2001-2007, Fannie and Freddie bought roughly half of all CRA home loans, most carrying subprime features.
Lenders not subject to the CRA, such as subprime giant Countrywide Financial, still fell under its spell. Regulated by HUD, Countrywide and other lenders agreed to sign contracts with the government supporting such lending under threat of being brought under CRA rules.
“Countrywide can potentially help you meet your CRA goals by offering both whole loan and mortgage-backed securities that are eligible for CRA credit,” the lender advertised to banks.
“New Study Finds CRA ‘Clearly’ Did Lead To Risky Lending”
Cue up the Dumbocrat propaganda brigade to serve up a heaping helping of denial.
Link.
“IBD” means nothing
Part of the demographic question, and article on home health workers:
http://www.npr.org/2012/10/16/162808677/home-health-aides-in-demand-yet-paid-little
Note the second-to-last sentence in the article:
“Demand is set to soar, with polls showing that baby boomers overwhelmingly want to age in their own home.”
Demand is set to soar
When home health assistance is necessary 24×7x365, even minimum wage help gets pretty expensive. Skilled help on immediate call (within 3 minutes) is even more expensive.
3 Hoosiers arrested in murder, arson, insurance scam plot
INDIANAPOLIS — Three people charged in a gas explosion that devastated an Indianapolis neighborhood deliberately set up the deadly blast to collect a big insurance payout, authorities said 21 Dec 2012.
The home’s owner, Monserrate Shirley; her boyfriend, Mark Leonard; and his brother, Bob Leonard, were arrested Friday and charged with murder, arson and other counts in the Nov. 10 blast that killed two people.
Shirley, 47, was facing mounting financial woes, including $63,000 in credit card debt and worsening bankruptcy proceedings, court documents say.
The Marion County prosecutor called the successful timed explosion a “thoroughly senseless act” that killed Shirley’s next-door neighbors.
“Sometimes money makes people do stupid stuff,” said the head of a local crime watch group.
A probable cause affidavit says Shirley filed for bankruptcy this year but stopped making her court-arranged payments and failed to appear at a July bankruptcy hearing. The home’s original loan was for $116,000 and a second mortgage was taken out on the home for $65,000, the affidavit also says.
The county prosecutor said that the day before the blast, the Leonard brothers asked an employee of local gas utility Citizens Energy several questions, “including the differences between propane and natural gas, the role of a regulator in a house and controlling the flow of natural gas and how much gas it would require to fill a house.”
Rebuilding questions after Superstorm Shirley:
Edwin Wright, 69, a now retired shop teacher, bought a piece of land in Mantoloking, N.J., 30 years ago and drafted the plans for his dream home. He insisted that it be built on pilings, and that the walls around the ground floor be made to break away in the face of floodwaters. His contractors thought he was eccentric.
Outside, bulldozers whined, clearing away the remains of his neighbors’ homes. Eighteen of them were gone, reduced to rubble or swept out to sea. Mr. Wright’s house stood alone now on a bare plot of sand. At one point he began to weep.
“We hope that other people would look at it and say, ‘Wow, maybe we want to do something like that,’ ” he said, regaining his composure. “If they just put up what they have before, they’re going to lose it again.”