Bits Bucket for March 15, 2013
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.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
To donate by mail, or to otherwise contact this blogger, please send emails to: thehousingbubble@gmail.com
PayPal is a secure online payment method which accepts ALL major credit cards.
Links
-
August 2025 M T W T F S S « Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Photo Submission: hbbphotos@gmail.com
View the HBB Photo Gallery *updated 4/13/2008
Beware, people. And no Caesar Salads today — just to be on the safe side.
Sad, i planned to hit up olive garden and celebrate pay day with endless “bread” and caesar “salad” and take in the scene, which looked like a diabeetus convention that last time i was there.
The future of USA:
http://versatilehealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Mcdonalds-fat-kids.bmp
Bucky the Retarded Fundamentalist is going to have more kids than you and me combined. I don’t know if this should be funny or scary.
If you appreciated freedom, it would be neither.
Yeah, I’ll definitely enjoy paying to lock up many of the kids of retarded, selfish, unreflective parents.
Great future we have to look forwad to.
I wish I hadn’t clocked on that link.
Sorry, but having obese kids that young is a form of child abuse.
clocked= clickedStill nursing my first cuppa.
The kidz in that photo are the leaders of tomorrow.
They are America’s future.
cnbc has wheeled out greenspan to tell everyone he sees no irrational exuberance in stocks right now, LMFAO!
Beware the ides of March.
Parabolic price blowout on falling volumes? Yup…no bubble here.
March 14, 2013, 5:47 p.m. EDT
As stocks extend gains, volume gets even thinner
Trading volume drops below averages for month, year
By Wallace Witkowski, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — As the Dow Jones Industrial Average logged its 10th day of gains and the S&P 500 Index neared a closing high Thursday, one thing has been missing from the rally: volume.
That’s a telling difference from when the Dow industrials DJIA +0.58% last had a run of ten consecutive sessions of gains in November 1996.
On Thursday, the Dow industrials finished up 83.86 points, or 0.6%, at 14,539.14, for a new closing record, its eighth in a row. Read more on Thursday’s stocks.
Also, the S&P 500 Index SPX +0.56% advanced 8.71 points, or 0.6%, at 1,563.23, just 1.92 points shy of its all-time high close set in October 2007. Read S&P 500 all-time high stocks most since 2004.
But like much of March, Thursday trading volumes were below average. Daily volume for stocks on the NYSE Euronext’s NYX +1.05% New York Stock Exchange topped 3.4 billion shares, and stocks listed on the Nasdaq OMX Group’s NDAQ +1.49% Nasdaq Stock Market topped 1.6 billion shares.
Daily trading volume for NYSE-listed shares has steadily declined from its 3.76 billion shares traded on March 1, according to WSJ/Dow Jones data.
The average daily volume over the 10 days ended Thursday, the period of the Dow streak, was 3.47 billion shares, below the average of 3.5 billion for the past 50 days. Also, the March average is about 12% off last year’s.
…
Would this be a good time for dips to buy stocks?
Your answer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n5pd9eKapY
Was Greenie wearing his bubble vision beer goggles?
how many up days in the market will it take to suck retail back in?
I’d give it from now till October to get the full suckers-in effect.
Oh no! Just when we thought we’d seen the last of him.
I thought Greenspan was slobbering all over himself, and crapping his drawers, in some assisted living facility.
The tabloids are reporting that GWB has alzheimer’s.
http://www.globemagazine.com/story/975
Wouldn’t surprise me. How convenient.
That may explain his halting speech during his second White House term. Same thing’s happening to my father.
I think that was best explained by inappropriate alcoholic intoxication. But the idea of GW wandering off nekkid into the cypress brush trailed by a secret service detail does charm….
“Et tu, Brute? Then fall Caesar!”
I made my own salad. From lettuce grown by neighbors. (Their community garden plot has been a tad too productive. And my re-seeded lettuce garden isn’t quite ripe.)
Hmmmmnnn …….should I attend that Toga party I was invited to? To go or not to go….that is the question. (Ok wrong play, but still)
If you buy a house now at these massively inflated prices, you’re going to lose alot of money. ALOT of money.
If you bought in 09; take your profits sooner than later.
Next door went up for sale on Teusday.
159k. It is under contract. The current owners bought in 09 for 130k. So they’ll be making a return on their ” infestment”. Probably not too much, granted.
Lady I sold my home to, a realtor, moments before we signed our sales contract, said “I shouldn’t tell you before you sign, but in six months this home is gonna be worth more,” I believe her; but don’t think it will be worth more six years from now, so she is welcome to it. I (finally) have other things to do with my money than invest it in housing.
In our area, folks who bought in 2009 for 60-65K range are able to sell not for 135K range. Moreover, there is hardly any inventory and interest rates are low.
I can now only bet on correction when interest rates go up, stocks go down and so does RE as soon as the bond bubble deflates with yields shooting up.
not=now
Are you in Western MD or actually over the line in WV?
Eastern Panhandle.
$60K sounds like a 1980’s condo conversion price, even in bubble-burst Jeff Co.
Given that he’s in WV, it’s probably mostly SFH’s out there. I doubt there are many condoze.
Do you even bother to look at Zillow?
No, because Zillow is for lying liars. You use Zillow because you’re secretly a Realtor.
Ok ok,
. Zillow did have some 1980’s style condo conversions in Jeff Co., but I didn’t look in great detail. There were also some bubble row houses built in the mid 2000’s. The only time I’ve seen SFH for $60K were run-down housing in the total boondock… almost in the Shenandoah valley.
Townhomes in zip code 25404. They were built in 2005, 1800 Sq. Ft. with garage and the community is called Manor Park. They sold for 60-65K in 2009 (all foreclosures) and builder is still there building more.
Samsung is going to crush apple. galaxy 4s for the win!
Is Cramer still telling mom and pop investors to buy apple?
I also want google glasses, but i thing were going to have to wait another year or two?
I really am astounded at how fast Apple is going to go from the pole position to being #3 or 4 in consumer electronics. It seems like Google, Samsung, and Microsoft caught/surpassed them in no time.
I have to admit I’m feeling the peer pressure for one of these gizmos. Those smartphones and tablets seem so useful.
But I’m still resisting the pressure for FB.
I don’t use fb and I resisted smartphones until I realized I could do a few minutes of work on the train just reading and sorting email, forwarding relevant things, etc. Work picks up the data plan portion as well. I still read books and newspapers in printed form, usually.
Even if I bill only .2 hours/day working from the train, that’s 1 hr/week or approx 50 hours a year.
A few other ways my samsung saves me money/time compared to my old beater phone:
- basic directions
- using GPS to find nearby locations of banks, stores, metro stops, etc.
- control or program my home thermostat from anywhere
- read product reviews while you’re browsing in a store to see if the price matches the quality/features
- never have to print/carry paperwork - can print via bluetooth to a printer or transfer to anyone’s bluetooth device
- has delayed me from purchasing a new, lighter laptop or having to lug the old one back and forth
Joe:
Here is a basic problem can you do legal or any kind of in depth research effectively on a smart phone?
No but via WestLaw or Lexis I can easily run the search before I leave home or office, and click in 2 places and they’ll email me my search results as PDFs and I read them on the smart phone w/o a problem.
I didn’t say the smartphone was going to replace any of my computers, just extend their life and let me bill a few day’s worth of time per year while effortlessly commuting.
Sitting and reading the decisions is where the ideas come from and also you can just cut & paste any interesting cites into an email and pull them up later. I rarely start looking for cites from scratch and if I do have to do that, I go visit one of the account reps who visit our office a few times a week. I let them do the search and email me
Sitting and reading the decisions is where the ideas come from
That has been true for centuries. The handheld computer stuff has greatly increased opportunities for “sitting & reading” by effectively turning the world into a huge research library.
I am thrilled to have *almost* the sum of human knowledge accessible through my smartphone in my pocket.
What’s fascinating is the fact that throughout history, people have always worried about how new technology is ruining our minds.
Very interesting summary of this phenomena:
Don’t Touch That Dial!
A history of media technology scares, from the printing press to Facebook.
Worries about information overload are as old as information itself, with each generation reimagining the dangerous impacts of technology on mind and brain. From a historical perspective, what strikes home is not the evolution of these social concerns, but their similarity from one century to the next, to the point where they arrive anew with little having changed except the label.
Socrates famously warned against writing because it would “create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories.”
The French statesman Malesherbes railed against the fashion for getting news from the printed page, arguing that it socially isolated readers and detracted from the spiritually uplifting group practice of getting news from the pulpit.
When radio arrived, we discovered yet another scourge of the young: The wireless was accused of distracting children from reading and diminishing performance in school.
CNN reported that “Email ‘hurts IQ more than pot’,” the Telegraph that “Twitter and Facebook could harm moral values” and the “Facebook and MySpace generation ‘cannot form relationships’,” and the Daily Mail ran a piece on “How using Facebook could raise your risk of cancer.” Not a single shred of evidence underlies these stories, but they make headlines across the world because they echo our recurrent fears about new technology.
I still use paper to scribble down short cites to check later. It doesn’t require a lot of paper to scribble down “s.rep. 106-161 at 34″ or similar.
“Meanwhile, excessive study was considered a leading cause of madness by the medical community.”
i would agree with that…educating myself about the credit crisis and our government’s reaction to it has driven me mad…at least some of my blissfully ignorant friends think so.
“Socrates famously warned against writing because it would “create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories.”
maybe Vizzini was right.
Facebook is for depressed, narcissistic loosers.
Smart phones are the best thing to come along since Al Gore invented the internet. And no, we have never owned an Apple product.
And no, we have never owned an Apple product.
The whole corps? Or just your squad?
I’ve never played with any other tablets, but I will say my daughter’s ipad that her grandparents got for her handles streaming video from our home server better than any of our laptops or desktops do by far, and my work laptop was like $2k.
Somehow a laptop has to buffer, but the ipad will play any video on demand and you can fastforward to any point in the video immediately. If the ipad could handle flash video, I’d be an Apple convert.
If the ipad could handle flash video, I’d be an Apple convert.
Same here. I’ve been in the website creating biz since 1995, and the extent to which Flash has taken over truly amazes me. For Apple to say “We’re not gonna play!” strikes me as arrogance.
For Apple to say “We’re not gonna play!” strikes me as arrogance.
Doesn’t the Samsung Galaxy have the same “flv” issues, e.g., it won’t play video from MSNBC, IIRC?
See if you can find my literary style strategically placed in this article.
“the Modification Enabling Pilot Program”
Posted: 6:00 a.m. Friday, March 15, 2013
Homeowners could get $50,000 under Florida proposal
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Florida’s key foreclosure prevention program may dedicate $50 million to paying down mortgage principal amounts, a once taboo practice gaining traction as foreclosures continue to plague communities.
The plan, which homeowner advocates feared was on the chopping block earlier this month, is scheduled to be voted on today by board members of the Florida Housing Finance Corp.
A minimum of 1,500 homeowners would be helped by the program, which would use a portion of Florida’s $1 billion Hardest Hit allocation and partner the state with the New Jersey-based nonprofit National Community Capital group.
But the new plan, dubbed the Modification Enabling Pilot Program, would only be available to homeowners whose loans were sold by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at a discount to groups with more flexibility to reduce mortgage payments. In September, the department sold 4,100 loans in specific regions, including 249 in Tampa.
New Jersey Community Capital, parent company to National Community Capital, was the high-bidder for the Tampa loans. A second sale is scheduled for later this month of loans in areas that include Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando.
“This is a great group to start with but I hope the program gets expanded to include more families,” said Laura Johns, a community organizer with the Home Defenders League, a national organization whose Florida base is in Orlando. “We just hope that there’s no hesitation because this is the last step for many homeowners before foreclosure.”
If approved today, the plan would still need the go-ahead from the U.S. Department of Treasury.
In general, the corporation and the non-profit would combine resources under the proposal to reduce principal amounts on home loans so that payments don’t exceed 35 percent of the borrower’s monthly income. Each borrower could receive up to $50,000 from the Hardest Hit fund.
Critics of principal reduction say it induces people current on their mortgages to default so as to get a lower loan amount.
But William Stronge, a senior fellow at the Economic Development Research Institute in West Palm Beach, said homeowners are less likely to purposely default because of sentimental attachment.
“They take a risk if they go into foreclosure that they’ll lose a home they have a great deal of affection for,” he said.
(WHAT! The beats are leaving the houses trashed with their GD dogs and cats in them)
The Florida Housing Finance Corp. has two other Hardest Hit programs already helping homeowners by providing up to a year of mortgage assistance with a cap of $24,000 and up to $18,000 to bring a mortgage current. Homeowners seeking only to have their mortgage arrearage paid can get up to $25,000.
For more information on the Florida Hardest Hit program go to http://www.flhardesthithelp.org or call (877) 863-5244.
A couple of thoughts:
1,500 households is a drop in the bucket.
The banks will, of course, figure out how to take 100% of this money and give nothing to the homeowner. My guess, they will use the money to pay of 2nd mortgages and HELOCs (which would become worthless in a bankruptcy anyways).
A better title of this article would be “Banks bailed out again with $1 billion.”
And yes - when some people, who are current in their mortgage, hear that other people just got a $50,000 “gift” (whether true or not) - there are going to be alot more than 1,500 people stopping payments in order to get their share of the free cheese.
Bigger and bigger government. More and more government programs. What could go wrong?
work 129 hrs a week in ca for an apartment:
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2013/03/13/12917/the-129-hour-work-week-how-to-afford-a-2-bedroom-a/
That 129 hours is for a one-income household making $8/hour AND spending only 30%/month on rent. The ways to get around this are to spend 60% on rent and/or get a roomie.
Also note that the 30% is of gross income, not net.
get a roomie
Or for the Sons of Aztlan, get twenty roommates.
No fault of the banks whatsoever, eh?
“Florida’s $1 billion Hardest Hit allocation and partner the state with the New Jersey-based nonprofit National Community Capital group.”
I am not a big nonprofit fan.
Added some offices in an existing and operational comercial space for the regional SE Florida Muscular Dystrophy Association about 10 years ago. The girls who worked there were really nice. A few days into it one of us mentioned how they bought their shamrocks and one of the girls said…… Yes, be sure to buy them because after x number of them are sold we all get a week cruise. Near the end of the job one of the girls told our punch out guy that they will never find a cure, only 3 cents of every dollar taken in goes to research. It makes too much money to find a cure.
I have not bought a shamrock since.
It is easier than that. If someone calls you on the phone asking for donations, say no. Always. If you like the sound of the group or its cause, you can look it up on the internet, do more research and find a way to give it money directly. But never give through professional fundraisers, most of whom you will encounter through phone solicitations. The professional fundraisers are huge scam deals.
I just say, “I never give money to organizations that contact me over the telephone.” Then I hang up.
I just say, “I never give money to organizations that contact me over the telephone.” Then I hang up.
I don’t even go that far. I screen all my calls & only answer those I believe have some legitimate business to transact. Asking for money is not a legitimate business.
Anyone can screen their calls this simple way: Pretend you’re an answering machine. Answer all calls the same way: “You have reached 555-1212, leave a message after the tone”. Then push any key on your machine. This is indistinguishable from an answering machine. Tell your friends to simply interrupt the ‘answering machine’ and you will start talking to them. Solicitors, etc. usually hang up before you get to the tone part. Some robocallers will interrupt you before you can finish your spiel, so just hang up on them. Legitimate business can be attended to, depending on what kind of message they leave. These works with any phone, even one in a motel room.
I do have an answering machine at home & it sounds very much like my pseudo answering machine.
“I hope the program gets expanded to include more families,”
…to include more people who spent too much for a house and now want their money back.
“to reduce principal amounts on home loans so that payments don’t exceed 35 percent of the borrower’s monthly income. Each borrower could receive up to $50,000 from the Hardest Hit fund.”
There are a lot of middle class whose rents exceed 35% of their monthly income. There are no “Hardest Hit Funds” for them. There are also many renters for whom $50,000 would be almost 5 years of free rent. Can you imagine a program that would give them 5 years of free rent simply because they signed a lease for a place they couldn’t afford?
It is easy to beat inflation. Just make the 500 gram loaf a 400 gram loaf in the same package and keep prices the same.
See - no inflation!
—————————————–
China Sounds Warning Bell For What’s Coming Our Way (Inflation)
TMO | 3-15-2013 | Graham Summers
Why do I bring all of this up? Because it was China’s stimulus and China’s economy that supposedly lead the world back towards growth again. China is the proverbial canary in the coalmine, the economy that most quickly reveals what’s coming and where we’re all heading…
Well, China’s heading for inflation.
BIG INFLATION.
China should be on “high alert” over inflation after February’s figures exceeded forecasts, central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said, signaling a heightened focus on controlling prices.
Monetary policy is “no longer relaxed” and is “relatively neutral” as demonstrated by a 13 percent target for money-supply growth that’s tighter than expansion in the last two years, Zhou, head of the People’s Bank of China, said at a press conference today during the annual gathering of China’s National People’s Congress…
“The central bank has always attached great importance to consumer prices,” Zhou said. “Therefore we will use monetary policy and other measures to hopefully stabilize prices and inflation expectations.”
China’s new leaders including Li Keqiang, set to become premier this week, inherit the task of sustaining a recovery from the slowest growth in 13 years while reining in asset prices and credit. February inflation, distorted by the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday, accelerated to a 10-month-high of 3.2 percent.
Bear in mind, the above story is greatly downplaying the REAL increase in inflation in China. A recent study shows that prices in some Chinese cities are in fact higher than in NEW YORK. And China’s per capita income is less than 25% of the US’s!
A South China Morning Post survey of some commonly bought grocery items found that a 500 gram loaf of bread that sells for HK$8.60 in Hong Kong and the equivalent of HK$9.93 in London, cost the equivalent of HK$13.52 in Beijing.
The latest annual cost of living survey by the compensation-consulting firm Mercer found Beijing and Shanghai to be pricier than New York and London. Shanghai was ranked 16th followed by Beijing at 17th, ahead of London (25th) and New York (32nd).
This is a MAJOR warning sign to investors worldwide. Indeed, inflation is so out of control in China, that the country suffered 71 strikes in January 2013 alone.
The cause of these strikes?
Workers were demanding higher wages because prices had risen to the point that their old paychecks weren’t cutting it anymore.
History has shown us countless times that you cannot print money without prices soaring. There is not one single instance in which currency devaluation has not done this. And the US Federal Reserve is now printing $84 billion every single month.
The USA is in a stagflationary depression:
“The cost of living in the U.S. rose more than projected (there’s that “unexpectedly” again) in February due to the biggest jump in gasoline prices in more than three years.
The consumer-price index was up 0.7 percent, the first increase in four months (they’ve been lying to us since October?) Since June 2009, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington.”
Welcome to the recoveryless recovery. The future belongs to Lucky Ducky.
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-15/consumer-prices-in-u-s-climb-as-gasoline-jumps-most-since-2009.html
“The cost of living in the U.S. rose more than projected (there’s that “unexpectedly” again) in February due to the biggest jump in gasoline prices in more than three years.”
I’m sure Bernanke has a “little known” tool to deal with it.
Bernanke doesn’t have a tool, he is a tool.
Thank goodness we don’t count gasoline, or there would be real inflation…
I am constantly amazed at any article that seems to not realize we have had double digit inflation for the last 30 years.
ben b says that inflation is under control and < 2% so it is ok to monetize DEBT so wall street party can go on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n5pd9eKapY
Given that actual inflation is higher than reported, largely due to changes in the BLS calculation method starting in about 1980 (does anyone disagree with this?), I’m surprised that people still tout Shiller’s 1890-current inflation-adjusted home price index as the reason we haven’t hit bottom in home prices, but are within ~15-20% of the trendline.
If you use the pre-1980 BLS calc methods going forward, his graph would show that we have WAY overshot the trendline (less than 1% per year understatement in inflation would put us past the trendline–and many people think inflation has been understated by many points per year).
Permapimp.
True or false: BLS has been understating CPI since around 1980 when they started to change how they do the math.
True or false: Shiller’s long-term inflation-adjusted home price graph is correct when it says we haven’t yet reached the long-term trend in home prices.
One statement being true necessarily makes the other one false…and vice versa.
Which statement do you believe?
Rand Paul all over the news today. What do the posters on here think of him? I’ve always been a supporter of his father, and it seems like his message is similar, perhaps identical, wrapped in a younger (and less crazy looking; all the respect in the world Dr. Paul, but he’s just got that “crazy uncle” look to me) package.
I’m hoping that the Republican party starts to lean away from it’s social conservative roots and more libertarian, which, of course, the “Paul’s” generally favor. Frankly, the current situation is pretty good/bad for me. When Dems win, I’m happy because they aren’t trying to take us back to the stone age with their religious beliefs (except for global warming, the religion of that party), but I’m in pain thinking about my taxes and their big spending programs. When Repbs win, I’m happy because they likely won’t raise (and may actually lower) my taxes, but their bible thumping “holier than thou” BS is like nails on a chalkboard to me. The “Pauls” cut a nice compromise for me, and I’d be very happy to see one of them at the top of the Republican ticket. Doubt it will ever happen, but, frankly, I’m not sure there’s a bigger “name” the Republicans could nominate. Maybe Rubio or the NJ gov (assuming he doesn’t keel over first, poor man really needs to get his health back to run for any major office.
The gop’s social positions are indeed like nails on a chalk board. The dems aren’t different enough from the gop on economic issues because the dems haven’t cut the military enough and their new spending addiction is “homeland security”.
I never worry about taxation issues because if you have enough money, you can use loopholes to effectively lower your rate. Neither party is serious about tax reform. This isn’t a bug, it’s a feature of our system.
Ah yes - the old “I could support fiscally sounds candidates who might help America avoid bankruptcy if only they they would support aborting a baby by partially delivering it, cutting open it skull with scissors and sucking out the brains” argument.
Or the old “I could support fiscally sounds candidates who might help America avoid bankruptcy if only they they would ban any reference or mention of God but fully support mandatory only-bigger-government-can-solve-problems propaganda classes in our schools” argument.
It is a nice smoke screen.
The funny thing. All those big government programs go right out the window once a country goes bankrupt and turns into Greece.
At some point, as a matter of survival, Republicans will change their game plan to a more Libertarian view. Unless they really are stupid, in which case they will cease to exist.
Social conservatives and Progressives are both scum, it’s all about their forms of control. Their egotism is a disease, to believe they know how to live other peoples lives better than they do and better yet to believe that they have the divine right to force them to comply.
“Unless they really are stupid, in which case they will cease to exist.”
Don’t underestimate retarded elephants’ potential to drive themselves extinct.
Bobby Jindal summarized it very well.
Rand Paul filibustered and spoke out on the most bi-partisan of issues, liberty and government overreach (to put it mildly).
And yet, people reduce it to sniping back and forth about partisan politics and other garbage.
Disgusting. Ben Franklin (or whoever) was right, people get the government they deserve.
Rand Paul filibustered
And McCain and his butt-boy Lindsey called them “wacko birds” for it.
As long as they are Republican and you are paid to voice your support, I am sure you will…
does howmuchamonthharvey have any money left to invest in pieces of paper called certificates?
Looks like McCain won in 2008 after all:
“Mr. Obama, who will travel to Israel and Palestinian territories next week in his first presidential visit, told Israel’s Channel 2 television that an Iranian atomic weapon was a “red line” that threatened Israel and the U.S.
Mr. Obama told Channel 2 the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security was “unbreakable.”
http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB10001424127887323393304578360771653810446?mg=reno64-wsj
One unspoken subtext of Rand Paul’s American Libertarianism seems to be that Israel’s declared “right to defend itself” will no longer automatically come with the expectation that the US military act as its proxy.
Even more than a message of social laissez faire coupled with economic restraint, this suggested schism with AIPAC might be the defining break with an increasingly irrelevant GOP — and more historically troubling, the one that convinces independents to cross over.
We can worship gay marriage and obamacare or we can live within our means and worship nature and birds! I haven’t been to a church since my nephew got married but if someone asked me what church i go to, i’d say the Rastafarian Church! Hail Jah!
This a book written by my 12th grade english teacher!
Nonfiction Review: Rastafarian Children of Solomon: The Legacy of the Kebra Nagast and the Path to P
http://www.publishersweekly.com
Hausman first went to the north coast of Jamaica in 1985, and for 10 years he led an outdoor-experience summer school there. He came to know Jamaica from the “inside out,” developing deep friendships with an intriguing cast of Rastas, who trace their lineage to King Solomon, “the wisest man on earth.” Hausman skillfully connects the lives and beliefs of these peaceful and resourceful people—fishermen, wicker weavers, Rasta preachers, respected elders, and wise men and women—through heartfelt conversations that arise spontaneously while sitting under the shade of a pimento tree, in a dusty yard, or by firelight in the cool evening ocean breeze. Rastafarian spiritual wisdom, recounted here in authentic Jamaican patois, emphasizes equality: an unwavering faith and hope in the holy spirit that lives in each human being. As followers of the Kebra Nagast—the African gospel excised from the King James version of the Bible—these Rasta “old ways” are epitomized by a statement from Jesus: “According to your faith, be it unto you.” (Mar.)
“Ah yes - the old “I could support fiscally sounds candidates who might help America avoid bankruptcy if only they they would support aborting a baby by partially delivering it, cutting open it skull with scissors and sucking out the brains” argument.
Or the old “I could support fiscally sounds candidates who might help America avoid bankruptcy if only they they would ban any reference or mention of God but fully support mandatory only-bigger-government-can-solve-problems propaganda classes in our schools” argument.”
Huh? I’m not “for” either of those issues. Abortion, while not exactly one of the prettiest points of modern society, is a reality. We know how to do it, that genie is never going back in the box. The only thing that we can hope to accomplish with legislation is to make abortion inaccessible to poor people. Rich people and the middle class can fly anywhere in the world that’s needed, get the procedure, and by home 2 days later. The problem is framed wrong; it’s not “limit abortions” it’s “limit access for those without the means to get it elsewhere”.
I’m not “for” more God in politics, pols who wear their religion on their sleeve make me exceedingly nervous. And I’m also not for bigger government. I’m a libertarian; I want smaller government, less restrictions and less intrusion into personal freedom. I’m also an atheist, so more god in government is just about the last thing that I’d want to see. I like to think for myself, not at the direction of some guy in a big hat at the front of the room (sorry, I grew up Catholic and I’m still trying to get over the hour of mass every day when I was in school).
The “family values” types are not pro-life, they are pro-birth, and could care less of the consequences after unwanted kidz are born. And they have zero qualms about paying $60,000/year to the Prison Industrial Complex to incarcerate all of these “God’s little miracles” once they grow up into criminals.
Yeah, right, since you say it, it must be so. Not like anyone out there can be opposed to the rate of abortion and still want it legal, be opposed to the prison industrial complex and still want there to be a strong rule of law, be opposed to the military industrial complex and still want a strong national defense… Nope, it must only be the one way YOU see things…
opposed to the rate of abortion and still want it legal, be opposed to the prison industrial complex and still want there to be a strong rule of law, be opposed to the military industrial complex and still want a strong national defense…
You sound like a lot of Democrats.
Conservative = respecting individual civil liberties
Family Values = government control over your body
What do the posters on here think of him?
My take on Rand is that I don’t like him as much as Ron…his ethics seem a little more flexible. But I did like that he did a real filibuster, and it would probably be a good sign for the Rs if someone like him could get anywhere at the national level in their party. So far people like him have only survived on the fringes while the big money people remained solidly in control. Which is what is killing the party, IMO.
Ron is the better Paul. Rand will do what his party wants, Ron has been a thorn in the side of partyline types for a long time.
The Republicans’ best strategy would be to revive themselves as the Party of Opportunity and focus on middle-class job creation. Young voters aren’t buying that R mantra of tax breaks and producers and the lazy 47% etc, that much is clear. No, if the R’s want the young vote, they will have to produce actual stable careers, not just talk about it every blasted Sunday morning.
Problem is, the R’s like their profit. And lots of jobs and lots of profit are mutually exclusive. Until they resolve this fundamental conflict, the R’s will be the party of June Cleaver (who died 18 months ago btw).
produce actual stable careers
You’re two weeks early for April Fools’ Day.
I think it is a good sign that members of both parties dislike him. But 2016 will be a replay of the last Republican primary. Last time it was Romney VS Paul and they backed Romney. Next time it will be Rubio VS Paul and they will back Rubio.
How this fake recovery will end in most large cities.
Just wait until 2% of the free cheese is cut off…
The NYPD Declares Martial Law in Brooklyn
USACOP | March 14, 2013 | Gregory Malandrucco
On the heels of three nights of protests over the police slaying of 16 year old Kimani Gray, the NYPD has turned the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn into a State of Exception, claiming emergency powers to suspend the constitutional guarantees of the citizenry.
“If I had a son, he’d look like Kimani” — Barack Obama
We’ve already seen it happen and the rich threw a hissy fit.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/where-do-you-fall-on-the-income-curve/
They really should have used a logarithmic y-scale.
The amusing thing is that the mainstream media hasn’t bothered to report on these events at all. Almost like they don’t want this chaos to spread to other parts of the country…
The New York Daily News reported that the cops who wasted him are an Egyptian immigrant who grew up in Staten Island and the other has a Hispanic name.
That won’t stop the race hustlers from turning this into “Get Whitey”, as they did with half-Peruvian George Zimmerman.
And the “protesters” will seek social justice by looting Rite Aid.
They all just need more COEXIST stickers. And some more “our differences only make us stronger” diversity training.
They all just need more COEXIST stickers. And some more “our differences only make us stronger” diversity training.
New York just arrested their first victim of the newly passed gun law. An upstate man was arrested for allegedly selling a now “banned” weapon semi-automatic rifle to another NY resident, who was in fact undercover State Police.
That’s right, this menace to society, this criminal supplying illegal arms to the underworld (not), was just doing a private transfer of a legally owned firearm to another resident of the state… something that happens thousands of times every day throughout the country and was perfectly legal in NY prior to Democrat thugs forcing this new legislation down NY citizens throats.
It’s almost “Go Time” and I for one can’t wait. The liberal trash in this country is going to get a wake-up call if they think the right will roll over on the 2nd amendment like this. We’ll see how smug and pleased the moonbats are when American cities resemble Aleppo and their neighborhoods are filled with the staccato of AR and AK fire…
http://i.imgur.com/aVZgT.gif
lol
It’s almost “Go Time” and I for one can’t wait. The liberal trash in this country is going to get a wake-up call…neighborhoods are filled with the staccato of AR and AK fire…
Northeastener……. you sound mentally ill.
Northeastener……. you sound mentally ill.
And you sound like a typical apologist for the left. A man was arrested and will face felony charges because he tried to sell a legally owned firearm to another resident of his state, an act that was legal just 60 days ago and is legal in every other state of the Union currently.
If you aren’t outraged by this blatant attempt to turn law-abiding citizens into criminals while relieving them of their 2nd Amendment protected rights, then you are the enemy and deserve nothing but the utmost disdain.
then you are the enemy and deserve nothing but the utmost disdain.
Violent and whacked out people talking mayhem are the “enemy” and well earn my disdain.
I was in a rush this morning to get to work and my battery was dying (thus my zoom on my phone wasn’t working properly, sorry for picture quality). These pictures were taken from 1 typical average street corner in NW Washington DC. K Street @ 5th Street. I only moved a few feet between pictures, mostly because the sun was interfering. Because my back was to a huge building, this is only ~180 degree panorama along K Street; there are many more cranes on the side. Also many other sites where the cranes are gone or where the cranes are too low/hidden by taller buildings in front. Like I said, my battery died or I could’ve gone about 2 blocks down and shown you 15 more large cranes. Almost all this construction is for private companies (Class A office space) or high end condoze. The building sites all have signs in front talking about how they are LEED certified. Materials being delivered daily–steel, “green glass”, marble, travertine, dark woods. The trucks line up in the mornings on NY Avenue coming into the city from Maryland (on days I drive I could take many pictures of this).
Presented without further comment:
http://picpaste.com/4fca86b125ba6f3591204faf65603ff1.jpg
http://picpaste.com/a9762ef9e7f2f204ee89a5a7378858e1.jpg
http://picpaste.com/e183cc6dcb742739a43e901d7c353750.jpg
http://picpaste.com/22330e84b42eac632862a7bd54049f0c.jpg
I missed this one http://picpaste.com/8826a7c6222dbaa5120b8260051b41ea.jpg
Most of the new buildings are 12+ stories and take up either the entire city block or nearly the entire block.
I may post pictures of areas near me in Baltimore sometime. Tons of construction, probably only about 10 cranes though - seems like a lot but it’s nothing compared to DC. In B’more they are building tons of Class A office space (new Exelon operations headquarters, for example) and hundreds of luxury apartments (slightly shorter than the DC buildings, usually only 8-10 stories). Some townhouse projects being built on formerly-vacant land where warehouses were torn down (there is no empty land, so when new housing is built, it’s on a tear-down site). Also construction on the Red Line (subway/light rail) is starting soon.
When we get a nice day in Spring, I’ll post a bunch of pictures. I usually don’t get home until it’s pretty dark. But this is all within a few blocks of me.
Something tells me that the DC area is heading for a huge surplus of newly built residential and commercial space.
Craterton, D.C., coming soon.
It will be a bittersweet fall because when you look at those cranes, dozers, and supplies, that is our tax money
We bought private contractors some sweet digs.
I will have more pictures next week from a different area closer to the White House where the buildings are more close to being finished and the “green glass” is being raised into place on upper floors. The size of these buildings is staggering and my phone cam doesn’t really allow me to capture it, I may have to take video.
And they will all be aimed at people who don’t mind living in 600 square feet or less as long as the closets are big and there is a communal internet cafe on the ground floor.
Sigh.
Hey, that block I posted today is right next to Busboys & Poets… a readymade hipster hangout!
I know that area. It has potential, but I won’t live in a microscopic apartment to be near places to hang out (a lot of the fringe festival venues are in that area). I want to be able to hang out in private space as well. Which, of course, means buildings that were built a few decades ago when they expected people to live in their apartments, not live in Starbucks/et al and just sleep in their apartments.
B-b-b-but ALL the pretty young things want to live in DC? Cus it’s “where the jobs are”, or “where the action is”, et cetera…
How long does it take a DC resident to drive in a car on a Friday night or Saturday morning to go somewhere where they can camp in solitude, hike in solitude, ski with liftlines under 30 minutes, ski for free in the backcountry (just kidding, know that’s not an option in Dee Cee), or do anything fun outdoors without being surrounded by 100’s of other fun-seekers?
Sounds like you’re not really understanding the importance of being where the action is.
“…ski with liftlines under 30 minutes…”
I thought long lift-lines were a thing of the past given the new high speed quad seats? These rank up there with the wheel, IMHO.
Because the path to recovery is overpriced used houses:
“JPMorgan Chase & Co more than doubled its forecast for U.S. home price gains in 2013 to 7 percent this week, and predicts a more than 14 percent increase through 2015. Bank of America Corp said last week property values will jump 8 percent this year, up from a prior estimate of 4.7 percent in a report titled “Someone say house party?”
The two biggest U.S. banks are predicting an accelerating rebound as homebuyers and investors rush (hurry! hurry!) to acquire a dwindling supply of properties (because they’re sitting on 10+ million units of shadow inventory) and the
FederalCriminal Reserve pushes down borrowing costs by buying mortgage bonds.”http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-15/jpmorgan-sees-home-prices-up-14-as-bofa-touts-party.html
Forbes ran a piece a few weeks ago called, “America’s Most Miserable Cities.” Any city that had a drop in house prices got a minus rating. For New York it said, “The only things saving New York from a worse ranking on the Forbes list: few foreclosures and rising home prices.”
WHY is it always reported that falling prices are a bad thing? Do the reporters at Forbes say, “I’m so glad prices are still so high that I get to pay more for a house than I can afford.”
They like to spin that increasing prices of used houses makes consumers feel wealthier, that they’ll respond by spending more, and contribute to the alleged recovery.
I’ll confess to not caring a whit about what my house is worth this week. It’s my house. A box that I live in. Got a cool yard, but that’s more for my enjoyment than anything else.
As for spending more, when I have more buckaroos in my pocket and in my checking account, well, cowabunga! I’ll spend more.
I’ll confess to not caring a whit about what my house is worth this week. It’s my house. A box that I live in. Got a cool yard, but that’s more for my enjoyment than anything else.
Took the words right outta my mouth.
I love where I live, my PITI is 23% of our net, and I really like gardening.
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/what-150-of-the-worlds-smartest-scientists-are-worried-about
thought some folks here would find this article interesting.
“A scarcity of water resources. –Giulio Boccaletti, physicist”
^^^^This. And yet, one of the other “great minds” is concerned about an “underpopulation bomb”. As if. Unless, of course, we have another “Spanish flu” event that wipes out a large segment of global population. Because I guess the wars aren’t doing the job.
i thought it was interesting that out of 150 great minds not one of them said global cilimate change.
the motorcycle comment was pretty good though.
“i thought it was interesting that out of 150 great minds not one of them said global cilimate change.”
I did too, but then I re-read the intro. The purpose of the survey was to “identify *new* problems arising in science, tech, and culture that haven’t yet been widely recognized.”
there’s quite few things on that list that aren’t new.
“there’s quite few things on that list that aren’t new.”
There were a few, but most seemed to want to get into the spirit of things, as in coming up with something that others possibly hadn’t thought of. Meaning that to these guys, climate change is too obvious an answer, gotta come up with something better.
I loved Terry Gilliam’s response: “I’ve given up asking questions. l merely float on a tsunami of acceptance of anything life throws at me… and marvel stupidly.” Same here!
and also…i’m hooked on reading about “singularity” now.
13. The dearth of desirable mates is something we should worry about, for “it lies behind much human treachery and brutality.” –David M. Buss, professor of psychology at U of T
They would make that one 13th on the list.
151. Success in finding a ‘desirable mate’ “lies behind much human treachery and brutality.”
Testosterone poisoning?
China and the worst-ever, man-made gender gap
BEIJING, China — It’s a fact so frequently repeated and well known, it often seems taken for granted: China has too many men.
Three decades after China implemented its contentious one-child policy, coupled with a lingering cultural preference for boys and the advent of cheap and accessible ultrasound technology, the country’s skewed gender ratio has only gotten worse. Social scientists in China say the upcoming census results could reveal a gender ratio of 122 boys born for every 100 girls.
By 2020, sociologists expect an “extra” 35 million Chinese men — males for whom there are simply no available female partners. That’s slightly more than the population of Canada.
This army of single young men is coming of age now. Looking at the next decade and the questions loom large: What risks do they pose and how will China handle them? The questions are particularly relevant in the wake of uprisings in the Arab world, where restless young men are often pointed to at the heart of protests.
In 2005, two researchers took on the dicey question of skewed gender ratios in Asia, particularly China and India. In their book, “Bare Branches,” Valerie Hudson and Andrea den Boer argued that the surplus males of Asia could pose security risks. In more recent years, China’s staggering economic rise, double digits growth rates and a new position as the world’s second-largest economy, have helped stave off trouble by creating jobs and economic opportunity.
Still, Hudson said, problems and the seeds of unrest remain. The country has an estimated 100,000 protests each year, mostly in rural areas, related to everything from environmental damage to labor issues.
“I would suggest that China is not as ‘calm’ as one might imagine,” Hudson said. “The number of protests and riots has increased in an almost exponential form over the last 10 years.”
“Crime rates, especially violent crime rates, are rising,” she added. “These are the harbingers of the social unrest which we believe will result from about 15 percent of the young adult male population being surplus to the number of women in that age cohort.”
In their book, “Bare
BranchesButtocks,” Valerie Hudson and Andrea den Boer argued that the surplus males of Asia could pose security risks.Protests and violent crimes are internal problems. The traditional use for excess young males was to put them in an army and point them at something you want to conquer. This was an issue when death in childbirth was very common leading older/richer/powerful men to take, on average, new wives several times in their lives.
Something I’ve noticed over the years: If I hear that someone is adopting a baby from China, it’s a girl. I have yet to meet a boy adoptee.
And, guess what, something tells me that those girls, after being raised in the United States, won’t be that interested in dating disaffected men back in the Old Country.
I’m now curious about the Chinese mores regarding wanking.
If I hear that someone is adopting a baby from China, it’s a girl. I have yet to meet a boy adoptee.
I’ve seen it twice. The first one had medical problems that were easily (but expensively) fixed here and would not have been fixed in the orphanage. The second was to the same family and I’m not sure what the story was there. If he had medical problems they were less obvious.
“11. That there will be another supernova-like financial disaster. –Seth Lloyd, professor of Quantum Mechanical Engineering at MIT”
It’s ridiculous that so many physics peeps are wrapped up in financials.
Print more matter.
“70. That Idiocracy is looming. –Douglas T. Kenrick, psychology professor”
Why does he worry about this? The idiocrats will be happy ‘batin their lives away.
“78. That synthetic biology will spiral out of control. –Seirian Summer, lecturer in behavioral biology”
THIS ^^
Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has scored a deal with Crown Publishers, a unit of Random House, to write a memoir due out in 2014. According to Crown, the book will be “a ‘play book’ that future policy makers can draw on and that the public can use to understand how and why governments act in crisis.”
Wow, I’m going to run out and buy this right now. NOT!
“a ‘play book’ that future policy makers can draw on and that the public can use to understand how and why governments act in crisis.”
Suggested title: “How to bail out nearly every bank on the planet without really trying”
“how to screw savers” by Timothy Geithner
“The art of being a government shill” by little Timmy.
“How to cheat on your taxes and nonetheless get put in charge of the I.R.S.” by Turbo Tax Timmy
I’ll borrow it from the library. If, for nothing else, to see how much of it was ghostwritten. (My money’s on 100% ghosted.)
i agree…the notion of purchasing that book with my hard earned, W-2 wages really makes me sick.
Recent library reads: Sheila Bair’s book, Bull by the Horns. If you’re into the wonky side of financial policy and regulation, you will absolutely love this one.
If you’re looking for a faster paced book, well, there’s Neil Barofsky’s page-turner, Bailout.
You picked a Feinstein to lead me you seal.
Kenny Rogers / YOU PICKED A FINE TIME TO LEAVE ME LUCILLE …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RShRoz8aqXQ - 220k -
Yesterday I described the common practice here of un-noted cash trading hands upon a home sale and Blue Sky implied I can’t be trusted because of that practice. Say what Blue Sky?
Why can’t I be trusted? Because I’m lying about the practice? I’m not. Because I invented the practice? No. Because I did it? No. Because I condone the practice? No. Where is the logic for the insult? Where? I told what is.
Trust?
Blue Sky, if something can’t be trusted, it is your “logic” and judgement when applied to one who you’ve disagreed with before.
Is he denying that buyers sometimes put one amount on the paperwork but include some cash “under the table” to the seller?
This definitely happens. In Maryland, when you buy a house, you can immediately appeal the assessment after your purchase to have it changed to your purchase price. For example, my house was assessed at something like 220k but our purchase was for 150k so we appealed and it knocked a nice chunk off the property taxes. If you wanted to be very aggressive (and break the law) you could fill out the paperwork for 100k and pay the seller 50k on the side. They get their money in cash, you get an even lower tax basis. (And future increases are limited to a max of 4%/yr because of the homestead tax program.)
If you wanted to be very aggressive (and break the law) you could fill out the paperwork for 100k and pay the seller 50k on the side.
Doesn’t that mean the seller can hold a possible future confession regarding this fraud over your head? Use it as part of a plea bargain for some other offense?
It would require the recipient to admit that he also did something illegal and be more credible (beyond a reasonable doubt is the criminal standard vs preponderence of the evidene in a civil one). He’d have to be more credible despite, as you say, having committed another offense which was serious enough to need to plea bargain.
Keep in mind, the buyer is giving cash, not a check, and the seller is not currently in trouble, that comes at least a little while later. Presumably the seller isn’t a f***ing idiot and either a) never deposits the cash, except maybe in a safe deposit box or b) deposits it slowly over an extended period of time. The fact that the seller hides the money only digs him in deeper - unless there is a 50k deposit soon after the sale or he has you on tape, the odds of him being credible are laughable.
Of course, if you’re dealing with an idiot you’re screwed from the start. Someone who would deposit a large amount of cash from an illegal transaction deserves to be drug out in the middle of the street and shot at high noon.
I was thinking along these lines:
Seems like the ingenuity & persistence of prosecutors has a lot to do with catching something like this.
Sure, but prosecutors are outgunned and outresourced in all but the most glaring cases of illegality. I saw that article the other day and for every person prosecuted for cheating on crop insurance there are probably ten more who do it without an issue.
but prosecutors are outgunned and outresourced in all but the most glaring cases of illegality.
This has a lot to do with the current national financial disaster. That, combined with a willfully ignorant electorate, is leading towards a collapse.
When there are cuts to government, it’s telling that they are to programs that help the least influential/wealthy people. Or they are cuts to regulatory agencies that regulate or prosecute industries that have lots of power. We still prosecute the heck out of drug offenders and crimes committed by the little people. But effective regulation or prosecution of white collar types? Nope, we need to cut those programs to stop hassling the “boot strappers” and wasting money on prosecution.
The USA is in an endless, stagflationary depression:
“Those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing are said to be cynics. Americans can be forgiven for being a bit cynical, though, when it comes to prices. Their own cost of living rarely seems to be as low as official statistics claim it is.”
Because inflation is under-reported by at least 50 percent? Because 59 ounce “half-gallons” of orange juice don’t count? Because i-pads are cheaper now?
Welcome to the recoveryless recovery. The future belongs to Lucky Ducky.
http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB10001424127887324392804578360553019755538?mg=reno64-wsj
i-pads are cheaper now
———————————-
Ipad prices are going to craaaaaater in 2013. I’d not want to be an AAPL shareholder.
Yes, but they will NEVER replace paper. (also post below, but this is a much better place to post this little gem)
http://vimeo.com/61275290
The USA is in an endless, stagflationary depression:
I really notice it when I come to the USA after being away for a year or so. I’m still thinking of 2008 prices but most of those prices are long gone. Middle-class pay is lower though.
‘Bankers’ New Clothes’ Leave Too Little Skin In The Game’ (book)
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/15/174332346/bankers-new-clothes-leave-too-little-skin-in-the-game
At a hearing in Washington on March 6, Attorney General Eric Holder admitted to senators why it has been hard to go after big bank executives:
(I assume the premise.)
Too big to fail, too connected to jail:
“Washington dealt a double blow Thursday to JPMorgan Chase as a Senate report accused its iconic chief executive of hiding information about a massive loss from regulators while the Federal Reserve unexpectedly (ah, that word again) said it had found a “weakness” in the bank’s capital plans.
The twin announcements, both unveiled late in the afternoon, escalates the problems for JPMorgan, the nation’s largest bank and arguably its most prestigious. Once viewed as the strongest bank to emerge from the 2008 financial crisis, the firm on Thursday watched its weaker rivals, Bank of America and Citigroup, sail through the Fed’s examination.”
http://m.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/jpmorganchase-ceo-jamie-dimon-is-accused-of-hiding-data-about-big-losses/2013/03/14/d95d6394-8ce7-11e2-9838-d62f083ba93f_story.html
… escalates the problems for JPMorgan, the nation’s largest bank and arguably its most
prestigiousprestidigitous.Hope and Change:
“A federal grand jury in Miami is investigating Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), examining his role in advocating for the business interests of a wealthy donor and friend, according to three people aware of the probe.”
http://m.washingtonpost.com/politics/grand-jury-investigating-sen-robert-menendez-d-nj-people-familiar-with-probe-say/2013/03/14/2eb4fad4-8b24-11e2-9838-d62f083ba93f_story.html
On the one hand, I’m glad the focus is on an issue of political corruption and advocacy for private gain.
OTOH, isn’t this what Congress does EVERY SINGLE DAY collectively for Wall Street and other business interests?
Dang it, isn’t it time we took out the trash?
Vote. In primaries.
Not possible in some states because the primaries are only for the 2 major parties. And, yeah, no thanks on that. I don’t vote in primaries because I *can’t* vote in primaries.
There is nothing that prevents you from registering in the party that looks to have the candidate that you like best running in the primaries and then switching back to independent later. It is a voter registration. Not a declaration of eternal love.
Emergency financial manager appointed for Detroit
The state took the unprecedented step Thursday of taking over Michigan’s largest city, as Detroit’s new emergency manager said he hoped to turn around the city’s finances and avoid the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Gov. Rick Snyder chose Washington, D.C., bankruptcy attorney Kevyn Orr to take control of Detroit’s finances and operations starting March 25. Detroit becomes the nation’s only major city to operate under some sort of state control.
The appointment means the unelected Orr can run the city and possibly rewrite labor contracts when a new emergency manager law takes effect [March 28].
Orr, 54, a University of Michigan law school graduate, represented Chrysler in its 2009 bankruptcy and billed the Auburn Hills automaker $700 an hour.
“This guy is a gift at that rate,” said James McTevia, a Bingham Farms turnaround specialist
Orr’s appointment means he will join emergency managers in six other communities and three school districts who will get sweeping powers that take effect March 28. Public Act 436 will strip the fiduciary responsibilities from Bing and the City Council as well as immediately end their pay and benefits, said Michigan State University economist Eric Scorsone. The emergency manager can partially or fully restore them.
In Michigan, Benton Harbor, Allen Park, Pontiac, Highland Park, Ecorse and Flint as well as the Detroit, Muskegon Heights and Highland Park school districts currently operate under emergency managers.
That makes it a hot-button issue for critics who note nearly two-thirds of the state’s African-Americans are
not reallyunder state oversightif anyone insists on mangling the statistics.two thirds of the state’s African Americans
They need some real strong black leadership. Not like that Oreo cookie in the White House. Somebody like Herman McCain, with his bold and visionary 9-9-9 Plan.
Herman “Mc”Cain?
What that on purpose or are you calling Herman an Uncle Tom?
Honest typo. We were too preoccupied with his comment calling Rand Paul a “wacko bird”. Herman Cain was a moron, but at least he made for great TeeVee.
An apparently black columnist for the Detroit Free Press had this to say:
The correct answer is to form study groups, committees and councils, issue policy statements, publish white papers, and make proclamations.
Boots on the ground action? That’s somebody else’s underpaid job.
Or do you solve the problem?
Declare bankruptcy.
Void all union contracts.
Void all bank and wall street contracts
Become a “right to work” city
Void every wacko left wing regulation
Live within your means
And Detroit will make a rapid comeback.
It will never happen.
The democrats will not give up one shred of power.
Defecting to Obama’s gay marriage Sharia law objective:
“Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is now supporting gay marriage and says his reversal on the issue began when he learned one of his sons is gay.
Portman’s reversal makes him the only Senate Republican to back gay marriage.”
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Ohio-Sen-Portman-now-supports-gay-marriage-4356742.php
My youngest brother is gay, everyone in my generation of the family knows it. I wonder if my parents know or if they are just oblivious (my brother is in closet and he’s only 25 - - too early for them to start dropping hints about why isn’t he married). My parents remain steadfastly conservative and in favor of “traditional marriage”. I think they are probably just in denial, like this: “Oh, he just likes musicals and redecorating, it’s not like he’s one of those scary gays who have a grindr.com profile or hold meet-ups with Republican Senators in airport bathrooms.”
he’s only 25
Do you think it’s too late for Michele Bachmann’s husband to administer therapy and make him straight again?
It’s never too late, especially since doesn’t Bachmann’s husband get government money for that operation? Or at least tax breaks (as a non profit)?
BTW what are the best cruising spots in DC for some downlow?
GOP fundraisers, church prayer groups, and this guy’s house: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Graham#Personal_life
(the link is “must read” material)
But we don’t want to hook up with those olds. Where are the twinks?
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=twink
One of my cousins was gay and I strongly suspect that one of my uncles was too. Interestingly enough, the gay cousin had one of the longest lasting marriages in the family, even though it wasn’t legally recognized in the two states where he and his husband lived.
One of my cousins was straight in HS, gay in college/early 20s and now is happily married in a non-gay relationship.
So are they born that way?
Or is it a decision?
Well, either way, I could not support a fiscally conservative candidate who may help America avoid bankruptcy until they also support teaching 1st graders homosexual propaganda, make reading the Bible a hate crime and banning God in all aspects of public life.
One of my cousins was straight in HS, gay in college/early 20s and now is happily married in a non-gay relationship.
So are they born that way?
Yea, he was born bisexual.
Crazy huh?
So are they born that way?
Or is it a decision?
————–
Is it a decision? If that is a sincere question I don’t know whether to laugh or feel really sorry for you.
I really hope your postings on HBB are just an attempt to be the court jester/minstrel.
So are they born that way?
Yea, he was born bisexual.
Crazy huh?
Bisexuality is mind-blowing for black and white thinkers.
“So are they born that way?”
Don’t know why I’m indulging you here, but think of it as a continuum. You can be 99.99999% straight and .00001% gay, and vice versa. You can be 90/10, 80/20, etc. As you approach 50/50, the % of the population that this represents falls through the floor. There is a tiny subset that can go either way, and they have the luxury of choice. The vast majority of gays do not. Oh, I forgot–there’s also the 100% straight/0% gay person. That would be me, and presumably you
So are they born that way?
Yea, he was born bisexual.
Crazy huh?
Bisexuality is mind-blowing for black and white thinkers.
If you were blindfolded, could you tell the difference between a M or F eating it?
The face-stubble is a dead give-away….
I suspect Arizona’s cousin is a she, not a he.
In my experience women are much more likely to move between genuine attractions to male and female partners than men are.
When men switch, it’s generally closeted gay guys coming out and quitting their female “beard” for male partners.
I’ve never known of a gay man to “go straight” where religious brainwashing wasn’t involved.
There are genuinely bi men but there seem to be very few of them.
Sorry, I meant 2banana’s cousin…
It gives me an idea on ending wars. If the children of these idiots have to go to wars, there will be no wars. Let’s bring back the draft.
“It gives me an idea on ending wars. If the children of these idiots have to go to wars, there will be no wars. Let’s bring back the draft.”
+1 But I think several Black Caucus members beat you to it.
“gay marriage Sharia law objective” - never heard both of these in the same sentence before… wow, i mean just the ignorance dripping from this combination is breath taking if someone were to take it at face value - please tell me ppl. do understand the Sharia stand on illicit s e x .
It’s a meme.
Some conservatives “worried” that Obama was a backdoor to Sharia Law. Others “worried” that he would force gay marriage on all the states.
Neither has happened. “Gay marriage Sharia Law” just makes fun of the idea that he would do both those things, because of course it makes no sense. People got all hysterical for the wrong reasons because, duh, most ‘murkans are stupid.
This is what “the future belongs to Lucky Ducky” means:
“In this country, the expectation is that every generation does better than the previous generation,” said Signe-Mary McKernan, an author of the study. “This is no longer the case. This generation might have less.” The authors said the situation facing young Americans might be unprecedented.
A broad range of economic factors has conspired to suppress wealth-building for younger American workers, the trend predates the Great Recession. Younger Americans are facing stagnant pay — the median income, when adjusted for inflation, has declined since its 1999 peak — as well as a housing collapse and soaring student loan debt.
In interviews, a half-dozen young adults — men and women, with families and single, in a broad range of industries — described economic conditions that left them just barely keeping their heads above water.”
The future = there is no future
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/03/15/business/younger-generations-lag-parents-in-wealth-building.xml
Don’t worry.
Bigger and bigger government that raises taxes higher and higher will make all things better.
The 47% told me so.
Before you get your panties all Drudged into a twist remember that the economic conditions that contributed to the dependancy of the 47% on government cheese were a bipartisan creation.
When Republicans are in power (in the White House): They are truly evil. All the bad, evil and rot in the world can be traced to the administration. They must be voted out of office immediately. Everything is their fault. They are solely responsible. In fact, they caused so much damage that we can blame them for the last five years for all the issues that never got fixed or were made even worse.
When Democrats are in power (in the White House): Well, gosh, this all started 30 years ago anyways. You really can’t blame them. There is not much difference between the parties anyways so we might as well keep what we got. There would have been no difference no matter who won the election. Big corporations and the banks control everything so what difference does it make who sits in the Oval Office anyways.
When Republicans are in power (in the White House): They are truly evil. All the bad, evil and rot in the world can be traced to the administration.
No, just half the public debt.
“Tax Cuts, Wars to account for nearly half the public debt by 2019″
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/28/the-single-best-chart-on-the-policies-driving-our-deficits-now-updated/?tid=pm_business_pop
They did?
See, I KNEW you were a Wall St. tool!
Oh, you meant poor people.
Missed my chart above?
A broad range of (Supply-side induced) economic factors has conspired to suppress wealth-building for younger American workers
Wanna know how to destroy a city or a country?
Run it like a worker’s leftist socialist utopia.
It is pretty ironic. All these utopias have to put up fences/gates to keep people FROM LEAVING.
Lord help you if you own property in Atlanta.
——————————
Race cards fly as Whites flee corrupt, Black-controlled Atlanta
3/15/13 | Doug Book
Blacks officials in the rapidly deteriorating city of Atlanta decided to sue rather than allow successful White “evacuees” to incorporate prosperous new cities in the Northern suburbs of Dekalb and Fulton counties.
For years government scandals, rackets, political corruption and charges of bribery have plagued a city which is becoming known as “The Detroit of the South,” all culminating in the threatened 2013 loss of accreditation for the Dekalb County School System. During that time, communities in the North Atlanta suburbs “…began the process of incorporating into cities,” with 6 having been carved out of the Atlanta hinterland by 2011 as hundreds of thousands of taxpayers were lost from the city’s tax base.
But the continued electoral fortunes—and perhaps, increasing personal wealth– of Atlanta’s politicos depend upon preserving the lynchpin of Democrat politics–robbing from the rich in order to acquire the votes of the poor.
Ongoing for the last 50 years in every city no matter who controls it.
Were you born yesterday?
Labor unions, food stamps, Earned Income Tax Credits, and uppity Negroes are bankrupting this country. It’s true, it was in the Washington Times.
Wanna know how to destroy a city or a country?
Yes. Implement right-wing, trickle-down, anti-worker, rich favoring economic policies for 3 decades.
Be happy. You’re living the dream.
higher and higher gas prices
higher and higher taxes
bigger and bigger government
more and more borrowing
more and more printing from the fed
I think it should lead to record markets!!!!
————————————–
Gas Lifts Consumer Costs but Not Enough to Alarm Fed
Wall Street Journal | March 15, 2013 | By SARAH PORTLOCK And JEFFREY SPARSHOTT
WASHINGTON—A monthly reading of U.S. consumer prices rose the most in nearly four years in February because of higher fuel costs, though a recent drop in gasoline prices suggests temporary inflation pressure that isn’t likely to alarm Federal Reserve officials.
The seasonally adjusted index of consumer prices jumped 0.7% last month, the biggest increase since June 2009, the Labor Department said Friday. The gasoline index alone surged 9.1%, accounting for nearly three-fourths of the gain. Overall energy prices climbed 5.4% after declining the previous three months.
“Despite the sharp rise in headline prices and some modest firming in core consumer-inflation pressures, the overall backdrop for consumer prices remains favorable, providing further breathing room for the Fed to remain accommodative,” said Millan Mulraine with TD Securities.
It has. The Fortune 500 have been making record profits for the last 2 years, now going on 3.
The DOW is at all time record historic high.
Quick - How many HBBers expect to make 62% more money in 10 years???
Now get back to work and pay your fair share.
Yeah, I know. It is a democrat budget. No one takes it seriously. We don’t hold democrats fiscally responsible as long as they support drone strikes on kids and unlimited abortions funded by the government.
And the democrat budget comes no where close to balancing even with massive tax hikes.
Hohum. Quick, someone find a republican “toe-tapping” scandal we can talk about.
——————–
Senate Democrat “Budget” Expands Spending By 62% Over 10 Years, Debt Increases to $24 Trillion
Confounded Interest | 03/15/2013 | Anthony B. Sanders
Nobody spends like government, when it is other people’s money.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the former pre-school teacher who morphed into the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, announced that the Democrats have a new budget requiring an additional $1 trillion in tax increases. Rather than release a copy of the budget like Paul Ryan (R-WI) did, they just hinted at what it has in it. Much of Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) infamous, “But we have to pass the [health care] bill so that you can find out what’s in it….”
Let’s take a look at what little we know. Federal spending in 2012 hit $3.77 trillion This compares with $2.844 trillion when the Democrats took control on Congress in Q1 2007.
Under the Democrat’s plan, spending will rise to $5.7 trillion over the next ten years. That is DOUBLE the Federal spending from when they took control of Congress in 2007.
Under the Democrat’s plan, the government will borrow an additional $7 trillion over the next ten years, resulting in overall debt of over $24 trillion. That is a whopping 176% increase in Federal debt since Q1 2007.
And, of course, it doesn’t balance the budget.
How can it expand in the next ten years when it hasn’t even been approved yet?
Oh, and from what publication is this?
Quick, someone find a republican “toe-tapping” scandal we can talk about.
Like the Iraq War?
In the past week two people have given me the number of a guy who does pre approval for house hunting. Why should I get PA when Im not going to buy until the market craters again and you guys give the go ahead!
Should I see if I can buy something in san diego and just be a reporter for HBB? or run like hell!
how many of you are Pre approved?
Pre approval doesn’t seem to mean much right now. If you want to make their eyes light up (be considered a “strong” offer) you have to be a full price (or higher) “all cash” buyer. You can get pre approved in a day or two if you have a good credit score and an income.
Always lie about how much you’re preapproved for. Our realtor lady wasn’t interested in showing us much until we got preapproved for some absurd amount back in 2011. Of course, it took us several months to convince her that just because we were approve for X, we really didn’t want to spend more than 1/3 X. And then since prices kept falling, we ultimately paid about 1/4 X (because we still wanted the same medium-sized house in an un-fancy area). And we made sure on each offer we made and each seller’s agent we talked to to point out that “our preapproval isn’t that high”.
If realtors know your preapproval amount, they will try to get you to spend that amount. They’re wired that way, primed to make you run on the debt treadmill!
You need to hide your finances from your realtor as much as possible. Both the selling realtor and the buying realtor’s compensation is directly linked to the price of the house. Hence the desire to jack that number up as high as possible.
It’s a system where there is a basic conflict of interest from the get-go. You want as low a price as possible and your realtor, who is purportedly working on your behalf, wants a high a price as possible. That’s in your realtor’s interest.
It’s a conflict of interest the buyer needs to be aware of.
The standard response is, “But you don’t pay the realtors, the seller does.” It’s a silly statement because the reality remains that how much they get paid is based on the price of the house so both have an interest in seeing that number as high as possible.
Never… ever…… EVER disclose what you plan to spend. EVER.
Okay, all of you growling housing bears, it’s Slim with some good news. Yeah, I know. Me in the Winter of My Discontent. But here goes:
On February1, I submitted my first-ever exhibition proposal. It was for a photography exhibit with an opening night featuring Yours Truly telling stories of bicycling in all 50 States. First guy who received the proposal told me that his job responsibilities had changed. That was on Valentine’s Day. Nothing like unrequited love of the proposal variety.
But First Guy asked me to send it to another guy, who has deep roots in the local arts and performing communities. He’s the curator of exhibits for the place where First Guy works.
Well, guess what happened this past Wednesday, March 13?
Second Guy accepted my proposal! Game on! WOO-HOO!
Congrats, where is the exhibit? This isn’t for part of photo week in DC, is it?
I imagine it takes courage to do these proposals, having one’s art judged seems a lot different than other sorts of job performance.
Thanks for asking, joe smith. The exhibit will be in Tucson later this year.
Speaking of which, I’m gathering ideas for my exhibition catalog. I need to create one to show to the people I hope will fund the exhibit through print purchases.
Way to go Miss Slim!
“I imagine it takes courage to do these proposals, having one’s art judged seems a lot different than other sorts of job performance.”
I imagine it does take courage, I also imagine Arizona Slim is not a timid soul.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Careful there, Slim…if you get too successful, you will find yourself in the reviled 1% club…
Yikes!
Don’t worry, Slim. There is a far distance to pedal between a first exhibition in Tucson and the 1%, but we will be here cheering you on the whole way. Congratulations and good luck. Is there a particular way to reach out to people who live in Tucson but used to live elsewhere in the US? I think they would be a good group to target for publicity.
Thanks for the idea, polly. In my publicity, I’m going to note that Tucsonans come from all over the U.S. — and the world. So, they’ll probably find something to relate to in my show.
the housing lies are getting more frothy.
more frothy
Amy Hoak has rabies.
Email me bish.
Posted: 6:03 p.m. Friday, March 15, 2013
Obama says US must shift cars, trucks off of oil
By MATTHEW DALY
The Associated Press
LEMONT, Ill. —
Envisioning cars that can go “coast to coast without using a drop of oil,” President Barack Obama on Friday urged Congress to authorize spending $2 billion over the next decade to expand research into electric cars and biofuels to wean automobiles off gasoline.
U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ - 216k -
spending $2 billion over the next decade
How dare he!!!!
The only thing holding this economy back is that the Job Creators need more tax cuts.
Yes! We must tax more, borrow more and spend more!
Federal Government Funds $1.5 Million Study to Find Out Why Lesbians Are Overweight
March 13, 2013
Washington, D.C. – The federal government is funding a $1.5 million study that will be conducted by a Harvard-affiliated hospital on why lesbian women are overweight.
The National Institutes of Health, through its Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, provided two grants to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston to conduct the study, which it states is an issue of ”high public health significance.”
The study reportedly will analyze the biological, psychological and social factors of why three-quarters of lesbian women are obese, while homosexual men have lower obesity rates.
“The study is examining reasons why the risk of obesity varies according to sexual orientation, in order to inform the development of future strategies to prevent obesity,” NIH spokesperson told CNS News.
“Lesbian and bisexual girls and women make up almost 5 million Americans,” added Bryn Austin, project leader. “In terms of sexual orientation and obesity, lesbians and bisexual girls and women – along with heterosexual men — seem to be the hardest hit. Why is that? We don’t know, but our study is designed to find out so we can come up with better ways to combat the epidemic for these communities.”
http://christiannews.net/2013/03/13/federal-government-funds-1-5-million-study-to-find-out-why-lesbians-are-overweight/ - 70k -
U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ - 216k -
Chelsea Clinton to buy $10.5 million apartment on Madison Square Park (PHOTOS)
Chelsea Clinton and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, are in contract to buy a four-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot apartment in The Whitman, on the north end of Madison Square Park.
By Philip Caulfield / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, March 14, 2013, 3:14 PM
Updated: Thursday, March 14, 2013, 3:14 PM
Chelsea Clinton and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, are buying a sleek, $10.5 million apartment overlooking Madison Square Park, sources said.
The 5,000-square-foot pad, in The Whitman at 21 E. 26th St., is just a few blocks from the couple’s rented Gramercy Park loft. Sources said staying nearby was a top priority for the pair.
Last Sunday, Clinton, 33, and her husband, 35, planned to take a hush-hush tour of the New Georgian-style pre-war with her parents, former President Bill Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/chelsea-clinton-buys-10-5-million-article-1.1288710 -
Oligarchy: It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it.
http://rlv.zcache.com/oligarchy_2012_yard_signs-r4e906029ae344f8bb80592bbe50eb604_fomuw_8byvr_512.jpg
How much is the mortgage for a 10. 5 million dollar house?
Forget the mortgage…you ultimately can pay that off.
How much are the property taxes (which go on forever).
I don’t know what the rates are in NYC, but in CA, a $10.5MM home would have property taxes of about 1.1%, or about $10k per month…forever.
Is Vince Foster invited to the house warming party?
Btw, Ben’s blog has an ad for bio mats. I have one, so does anybody want me to tell them how great it is?
This is an interesting read…
http://www.minyanville.com/business-news/markets/articles/The-Smartest-Man-in-Global-Capital/3/15/2013/id/48715?refresh=1
“They were lying about home sales.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=49703
Is it fairly typical for Republican presidential candidates to support this kind of contest when they are not on the campaign trail pretending to be holier-than-thou?
Big Breaks for B**wj*bs: The Dark Underbelly of the Miss USA Pageant
Katie J.M. Baker
Ashleigh Blake never dreamed of becoming a beauty queen. The 21-year-old amateur model and part-time tutor fantasized about being a movie star or the next Glee triple threat, and posted her resume on the casting networking site GotCast in hopes that Hollywood might call. But when a recruitment associate for Miss California USA, the splashiest state franchise in Donald Trump’s Miss Universe pageant ecosystem, sent Ashleigh a message in November 2012 expressing interest in scheduling a meeting, she responded right away. “I didn’t expect them to pick me in a million years,” Ashleigh said. “When they did, I thought it was the start of my dreams coming true.”
What happened next was more like a nightmare.
Miss USA competitors get a bad rap; they’re known for being party girls (Tara Conner, Miss USA 2006), porn stars (Melissa King, Miss Delaware Teen USA 2013), and homophobes (Carrie Prejean, former Miss California USA 2009 and Miss USA 2009 first runner-up).
But our investigation found that the people behind the scenes — not the camera-ready women they hide behind — are the ones truly worthy of a spotlight. Some of the men who recruit and run the organization’s lucrative pageants are scam artists with lengthy track records of manipulating desperate clients with false promises of fame. Chasing the dream can be pricey, but sources told us it’s possible to pay up with sexual favors.
Miss America girls want to be doctors and lawyers. Miss USA girls want to grow up to be Victoria’s Secret models.
MUO co-owner Donald Trump has made his name milking controversy for cash, but it’s hard to imagine that even he would advocate profiting off the activities some high-level Miss USA representatives have been involved with for years. State directors and recruiters sign contracts promising to uphold the “upstanding reputation and image” of the Miss Universe Organization (MUO), but no one’s watching to make sure they actually comply. And when power runs unchecked, things can sour faster than a runner-up’s fake smile.
Last December, millions of people — “one billion,” according to Trump — in approximately 190 countries watched Rhode Island resident Olivia Culpo beat out 88 other beauty queens to become Miss Universe. It was the organization’s most-watched competition since 2008. The day before the pageant aired, a judge awarded the MUO $5 million in damages against ex-Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin over her claims that the Miss USA pageant was rigged.
…
‘Detropia’ sees Detroit as a reflection of the U.S.
Interview by Kai Ryssdal
Marketplace for Tuesday, September 4, 2012
It’s no secret that Detroit has its problems. Economic troubles and the fall of the auto industry loom over the city.
The new film “Detropia” by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing chronicles the frustration of the city and how what is happening in Detroit is a reflection of the rest of the United States. The film describes the degradation of the city, the newcomers moving into the area, and the people that stayed after the economic downturn.
“Things were really bellying out in the city and I kept wondering why and what happened here? I thought that maybe there was a film to be made here” Ewing said. “So we went in sort of blindly and moved to Detroit with our crew. We waited for the city to speak to us and see what story it would tell us and I think we found something compelling.”
Heidi Ewing and Tommy Stephens discuss the film and its portrayal of the city. Stephens is owner of the Raven Blues Lounge in Detroit and is profiled in the film. Throughout the movie, Stephens deals with trying to wade through the changes happening in the city and how he can use them to make his business prosper.
The film is set to make its theatrical release on Sept. 7.
Wall Street banksters got bail-outs, multi-million dollar bonuses, plus an avoid-jail-for-free card.
Main Street America got pay freezes, pension cuts, layoffs, foreclosures and a future life of poverty.
Families face tough choices in the shadow of the Great Recession
A gripping image in Portland from the filmmakers behind “American Winter.”
Interview by David Lazarus
Marketplace Money for Friday, March 15, 2013
When you think about poverty you might think about hunger and homelessness, but you also should think about the tough financial decisions that families in need have to cope with. A new HBO documentary, “American Winter” takes a look at the tough choices Americans face. The documentary follows the stories of eight families struggling to survive in the aftermath of the Great Recession, and reveals the impact of cuts to social services, the decline of the middle class, and the fracturing of the American Dream. The makers of that documentary, Joe and Harry Gantz wanted to make the documentary to provide an intimate snapshot of the state of the nation’s economy as it is playing out in the lives of many American families.
“We saw that so many people were losing homes, losing jobs, working in jobs that didn’t support a family even if they were working overtime. Then we saw that that was followed by cuts to social services across this country. With more need than at any time over the last 80 years, with all these cuts going on, we decided that we would do documentary that kind of looked at the human side of the equation. There’s been films and books written about how Wall Street’s affected, how banks were affected, so we wanted to look at how ordinary American families were affected across the country,” says Joe.
How did the Gantz brothers find the families?
“We actually found all the families through monitoring calls at the 211 service in Portland, Ore. 211 is the number you call in most cities — some cities it’s 311 — if you need some type of social services. We listened to hundreds of calls a day and asked some of them if they’d be willing to allow us to come out and film their attempt to get social services and get back on their feet,” says Harry.
…
That trailer depicts people who have made a variety of poor life choices including but not limited to lack of exercise and obesity. A municipal HR department might select some of these folks based on a blind checklist, but a small businessman or manager could see right through these people before they were comfortably seated.
The Real Cost of Obama: $19 Trillion
Posted on 15 March, 2013
by John Ransom
There’s a super storm raging over our economy that’s been seeded and fueled by the federal government over a period of the past several decades. And it’s literally costing the country trillions of dollars in GDP per year.
It’s not merely garden-variety government waste that’s the problem either. It’s monumental stupidity by the government, combined with venial cupidity by voters who think they can get others to pay for their free lunch.
This government-created storm has, more than any other factor, contributed to the fiscal crisis; a crisis that is creating more expansive government programs, robbing us of more GDP, thus ensuring the political class will take more actions that punish the most productive and dynamic elements of our society.
You know? The people who create economic growth?
In order to understand how this storm is being fed, you need only consult some official government figures.
The labor participation rates released recently by the Bureau of Labor Statistics now stands at 63.6, near Carter-recession levels.
According to policy scholar and historian, Professor Richard Vedder of Ohio University, that means as many as 14 million of people are officially out of the labor pool. And the professor from Ohio says it’s the government’s own unemployment program that’s helping to reduce the number of bodies willing to work.
“If you give people money to not work,” says Vedder, “some people will say ‘Gee that’s a pretty good option.’… There have been a lot of studies over the years going back to the 1970s that show these programs on balance added a bit to the unemployment rate.”
Because unemployment compensation has lasted so long, however, unemployment rates have gone up “a couple of percentage points” from where it would otherwise be.
Vedder’s back-of-the-envelope calculations that he shared with me says that those missing workers could be costing the economy as much as $800 billion in GDP per year. “That’s $2500 for every person, or $10,000 for every family” in GDP he says.
But that’s not all: Multiplied and compounded over 10 years, that’s not $8 trillion missing from the economy, but rather $9 trillion.
If you want to know why we have an entitlement crisis, why some cities, like Detroit, can’t afford to pay for basic services or why teacher pension plans have to cut back benefits, it’s not because tax rates are too low, or spending has been cut to the bone. It’s because politicians have made off with $9 trillion from our GDP. That’s not just missing GDP, you see; it’s missing payroll taxes, income taxes, sales taxes and teacher pension contributions.
While our political and cultural elite like to pretend that there is a settled science that supports the notion that government creates “revenue” by Acts of Congress and the generosity of the Executive Office, once again they have it exactly backwards: All public revenues first start out as private money in the economy. When that money is missing from the private sector, it can never afterward make its way to the public sector.
Now here’s the bad news: Labor participation rates, and the effect they have on GDP, are just long spring showers that someday will end compared to the storm created by the regulatory burden in the country. According to a report in 2011 by the Heritage Foundation, the government’s own Small Business Administration estimates that compliance with various federal regulatory structures cost the economy another $1.75 trillion every year. And that’s before we even account for the costs of Obamacare and Dodd-Frank financial “reform” – both of which appear to have higher price tags than originally touted.
While we will never have a regulation-free government- nor should we- it bears asking how long we can afford to pay 13 percent of our GDP to comply with federal mandates, over and above taxes that we pay to support basic services like the common defense.
Because doing my own back-of-the-envelope calculation says that by cutting regulatory costs to half of what they are currently means we can add another $9.8 trillion in GDP as well. If we combine that growth with policies that encourage employment, we can add $19 trillion to GDP over ten years.
$19 trillion could go very far toward righting our fiscal ship even as the fiscal storm continues.
Because the fiscal storm that we see happening in western, industrialized counties isn’t just fiscal, it’s also demographic. With aging populations and near zero internal birth rates, we can no longer rely, as we once did, on a riding tide of population to lift all boats in our economy.
We need to get back the private GDP that politicians today are so happily squandering through myriad government schemes like Sarbanes-Oxley or emergency unemployment benefits. Since it’s unrealistic to expect politicians to make meaningful cuts in government spending, we have to reduce the burden of government- over 40 percent of our GDP in 2013- by growing the private sector more rapidly.
Or we risk being swamped in the face of this man-caused, government sponsored super storm.
townhall.com