Bits Bucket for September 27, 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.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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We had an apartment project fall through yesterday when the buyer couldn’t secure financing. They were going to turn an old downtown YMCA into “workforce housing” ($800/mo+ apartments, $800 being the studio.)
To make points on the local newpaper site I did a quick count. Over 700 listings on Craigslist Thursday early evening in housing for rent. DC metro area craigslist had over 3700. That sure is a lot of rental property.
We’ve got a good number of expensive projects underway here. Most of it “high end” with two bedrooms running around $1700+ a month. I haven’t been in the building I used to have the commercial space in that is now being converted to apartments, but from the outside the spaces look tiny.
Crazy thing was my commercial property landlords got around 13 years in prison.
We do a lot of cat siting around the holidays, nice little cash business…And it fun to see what people have today….a lot of their lives revolve around a big screen tv…and/or a large computer monitor…with everything HDMI sometimes just one big TV, and usually multiple computers.
But surprisingly i see people spend good money on a nice couch….and bed . Hard not to miss the very thick DUX bed
http://www.duxiana.us/
Most of the rest is Ikea or if they are into vintage the thrift store, very little have an extensive collection of records or cd’s like I do, guess its all on their Iphone. Most have 1 or 2 tall Metro type shelving units.
So it seems a lot easier to live in 600 sq ft or less for a couple today.
but from the outside the spaces look tiny.
And yet, Hampton Roads area is red hot for foreclosures. I used to work at a firm that had a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac contract to handle the entire foreclosure process for MD and VA, all the way from the first deficiency letters to the required mediation to the foreclosure sale and writ for possession. What a shit show. Hampton Roads was easy for me to manage my assigned portfolio bc there was a whole cottage industry of guys who would make appearances in Hampton, Chesapeake, VA Beach, etc. so I could handle the DC area dates on my own. I’d usually be able to give the Hampton Roads areas some ridiculously low rate like $150 per file, too, since they were already in court every day there was a civil docket and it was basically free money for them.
I guess the foreclosures are beind held off the market?
It was much, much harder to manage properties in western and southern VA (anything below or west of richmond).
The hardest thing about that job was the fact that Fannie and Freddie staff are blithering idiots so it was hard to get documentation sometimes. I pictured them as chimps sitting at computer screens.
If you take on mortgage debt at current massively inflated housing prices, you’ll enslave yourself for the rest of your life.
“Debt is bondage.”~ Suze Orman, May 11, 2013
Don’t Be A Debt Donkey®
“Considering current asking prices of resale housing are 40% higher than new construction, why buy a used house? Rent for half the monthly cost of buying.”
And don’t you forget it mister……..
For Sale signs are growing like weeds across the northeast and mid Atlantic. This is in addition to the sea of signs that were already there. Empty houses everywhere and no buyers in sight.
The most ominous sign?
Rental rates are falling.
Wait until all the conversions of obsolete commercial property to rentals come on line!
I saw quite a few new locations sporting For Sale signs this week. It’s feeling very 2007ish again.
“Housing’s ‘Shadow Inventory’ Still Haunts Banks”
http://news.yahoo.com/housings-shadow-inventory-still-haunts-banks-152949909.html
With 25 million excess, empty and defaulted houses on the horizon, the risk of losses buying a house at current grossly inflated asking prices of resale housing is massive.
BEWARE
Public unions + long term democrat rule = bankruptcy and ruin.
What is the solution?
More and more other people’s money.
This is only the start.
Because nothing has changed.
As the free sh*t army votes.
———————–
Feds to direct $100M in grant money to help broke Detroit
Foxnews - 9/27/2013
The federal money being directed Detroit’s way by the U.S. government totals more than $100 million and will be augmented by millions of dollars more in resources from foundations and Detroit businesses, but it falls far short of a the wider bailout some in the city had sought.”Something is better than nothing,” said Bridgette Shephard, 47, a social worker who lives in Detroit. “A bailout would have been better, but if we can sustain some of our needs with grants
There is no way out of the public union dilemma until a) they all go broke and b) the idea that you cannot bargain with your own government in good faith any better than with corporate overlords is overcome.
I posted this yesterday…come on someone can afford this…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/23/eminem-childhood-house-home-for-sale-detroit-_n_3975359.html
The GOP sucks as well, Bananarama.
Here is what the GOP wants in order to raise the debt ceiling:
a one year delay of Obamacare,
Paul Ryan’s tax reform,
the Keystone XL pipeline,
partial repeal of the Clean Air Act,
partial repeal of bank regulation legislation,
Medicare cuts,
cuts in several anti-poverty programs,
making it harder to launch medical malpractice lawsuits,
more drilling on federal land,
blocking net neutrality,
changes designed to make it harder for regulatory agencies enforce laws
Joe, is this for real? That’s a hella lot of extortion for a credit rating. Why didn’t they ask for Ryan’s vouchercare and carve-outs for social security too?
Only in America…
Where a government program makes something MORE expensive…
——————————–
ObamaCare Rate Shock Is Real, and Will Be Worse Next Year
Investor’s Business Daily | 09/26/2013 | IBD Staff
Health Costs: No amount of White House spin will change the reality of the huge rate spikes millions of Americans will find in the ObamaCare exchanges. But as bad as this rate shock is, it’s just the beginning.
Days before ObamaCare goes into effect, the administration released information on premiums people can expect next year. Just $328 a month! And lower than expected!
The mainstream press largely went along with this spin. But you don’t have to look very hard to see that it’s totally misleading.
In other words, even with the taxpayer subsidies, ObamaCare will be more expensive than what’s available in the market today.
First, the administration delayed the law’s caps on out-of-pocket costs. These were supposed to be $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for families, starting in 2014. Now they won’t go into effect until 2015.
Second, there’s little hope the administration will convince enough young people to sign up for ObamaCare this year.
“Where a government program makes something MORE expensive…”
One of the issues facing Floridians is the cost of flood insurance, which has “suddenly” spiked. People are freaking out. I was talking to my insurance agent yesterday and he told me that the cost of the insurance wasn’t really going up, it’s just that it has been subsidized by the federal government for years and that subsidy is going away, so now folks have to pay the entire amount. In other words, they’ve taken away the punch bowl.
This is where subsidies can really hurt, because it gives a false sense of cost. It’s like credit. Cars, houses, and other things wouldn’t cost so much if it weren’t for credit.
This is all unsustainable.
Where’s jeff? I feel a song coming on here and I don’t have his talent for lyrics, but here’s the beginning:
“Unsustainable, that’s what you are
Unsustainable, tho’ near or far…”
New flood insurance rates spark anxiety in Gulf
AP | 24 Sept 2013 | Tamara Lush
When Colin and Joyce Elston bought their Florida dream home in May, they were confident they could afford the three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch with a pool and a backyard overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.
Now they are not so sure.
The retirees said they had enough in savings and investments to pay the mortgage and the $1,482 yearly flood insurance on the home, which sits on palm tree-lined Paradise Boulevard on Treasure Island, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico.
But within two months of moving in, they received a stunning surprise: Due to a recently passed federal law, their flood insurance was slated to jump from less than $1,500 to $12,000 a year.
The rate hikes, which go into effect on Oct. 1, are due to the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. The measure was passed to keep the National Flood Insurance Program solvent after an onslaught of claims from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Essentially, what it does is remove federal subsidies from properties in flood zones.
The Elstons and others who bought property in flood zones after the act was signed into law on July 6, 2012 will see their premiums increase nearly tenfold. Residents and businesses that already owned property in flood zones will see incremental increases of 25 percent annually.
“But within two months of moving in, they received a stunning surprise:”
Their mortgage broker or realtor should have known this change in the flood insurance program was in the works. Seems like a disclosure issue, IMHO.
what exactly are you buying with the re max ipo?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/19/remax-ipo-idUSL3N0HF25620130919
I usually complain about the stupid morons who can’t do the math on a house….but this time how would a retired couple who probably have limited computer knowledge beyond emails and Facebook, know about this? Nobody wanted to lose the commission if they backed out
Hopefully they didn’t pay cash or even 20% down. Time for a lawyer.
$1000 a month?
Oh my lord that’s alot of money!
I would rather live on water and pay for landslide insurance with that kind of money.
Me too.
For how many years can something be “unsustainable” before it cannot qualify as such anymore? It is something I ask myself. I am in awe of how long many “unsustainable” situations can go on. It’s like the zombie that you can’t kill.
Just changed and renewed homeowners and EQ insurance three days ago. $2,000/yr, of which $1,123 is EQ. Man, it’s pricey. Then add another $850 for two autos and you’re talking real money. Necessary evil.
In my city, FEMA moves flood areas around in a rotation pattern, with no rhythm or reason. Most of us have concluded they don’t want premium fatigue to set in and people to wake up. 100 yrs since a flood around here, and that was before good infrastructure. I know what happened in Colorado, but this is So Ca.
We don’t have to worry about FEMA insurance. No mortgage.
With this one, no amount of spin is going to help. Actual people will be affected and they will be able to make up their own minds based on their own wallets. If it goes up for most, bad for the Messiah.
If it goes up for most, bad for the Messiah.
Millions of retired GOPsters shout in unison, “We want OUR government cheese!”
(Remember: It’s not welfare if wealthy white guys get it. Just ask a farmer.)
Slob has entered the building!
Thanks for the fanfare.
There will always be fanfare for flamboyant liars.
At least the farmer is working and producing something valuable instead of thinking of ways to “community organize” for his free government cheese…
At least the farmer is working and producing something valuable
Except when they get paid not to grow something. Or when they get paid to waste energy by growing corn for ethanol.
But if they do some work, then they’re entitled to government cheese?
How much work entitles you to how much cheese?
The average small farmers that I know work 12-15 hour days.
Six Days a week.
Only about 10 hours on Sunday.
Most of the subsidies don’t go to small farmers they go to land barrons. Many who do almost no physical work many who sit in Congress.
You forgot to mention food stamps and the gov buying up crops and giving them away or letting them rot.
2banana: is that supposed to make me feel sorry somehow for farmers? I bet if you set it up so that the majority of current “employees” could work as many hours per day as they wanted with every extra dollar going directly into their pocket, and not 50% first to their employer, then another 50% directly to uncle sam, you would get more people willingly working those hours.
Farmers have it pretty good. Employees trapped in the city are the ones who have it bad. They are working 2-3 minimum wage jobs, don’t own thier own property, are stuffed in shitbox housing, and basically have no access to open space to go blow off some steam and get a bit of R&R. Plus they have some dumbass manager breathing down their neck at all those jobs.
Almost none of the farming in this country, on a % basis, is done by small farmers.
The subsidies are pork, pure and simple.
2Ban is a mixture of dumb and dishonest.
I think that depends on your vantage point. I am surrounded w/small (couple hundred acre) family farms. Some look like they’re doing well. But many are in terrible condition. There’s this one giant barn I keep waiting to collapse in a wind storm. It’s built like a brick you know what house and despite much of the roof being half gone, the rest just will not come down despite some 70 mph gusts on storm fronts. There was a barn that collapsed last year, in to the road actually, and people had to scramble to get it cleaned up. I hope no one got hurt when it came down but I think it happened overnight.
I’ve met some of the local farmers. Usually you’re talking that the family’s owned the land for the last 80-100 years. Hmmm, since the last Great Depression. We have the corporate farms around too but they’re pretty easy to spot. Lots and lots of buildings, all sparkly and new. Unlike many of their neighbors it kind of appears like money is no object. When I pass one I’ll look for the sign and sure enough there’s the LLC. Ahhhh…..your tax dollars at work.
Yeah, those poor farmers. It must be excruciating to sit in the cab of that air-conditioned $500k combine, sipping tea, and counting your millions as you blissfully pass back and forth across your thousands of acres of privately owned earth.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a person with no money worries driving the equipment.
“Locking into a mortgage at current massively inflated prices of resale housing is locking yourself into losses from which you’ll never recover.”
So when you hear a mortgage pimp invoke the phrase “lock in”, this is what they really mean.
Amen. I am surrounded by suckers and fools who drink the NAR koolaid and believe that $500,000 is a reasonable price for a “starter home”.
This has been in the national news.
NFL star has a nice upstate NYS vacation home (hate to see the taxes on something he uses a few weeks a year but that is another story).
Teens break into the place to party and trash it.
The NFL star was pretty level headed about it. He wanted the teens to come back and fix what they had done. ONE family showed up. The rest got lawyers and threatened to sue the NFL star for using the social media pictures he was collecting.
Morals of the story:
Teens are stupid and do stupid things
Their parents are even stupider
Are vacation houses worth it?
Nobody wins except for the lawyers
If you are going to trash a house - don’t take pictures
If you take pictures - don’t put them on facebook
————————
Six people arrested for trashing NFL star Brian Holloway’s house….
The Daily Mail Online | September 27, 2013 | ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTER and DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Six people were arrested Thursday on charges they were among hundreds of young partygoers who trashed a former NFL player’s vacation home, and police said more arrests were expected.
The arrests came after former New England Patriots and Los Angeles Raiders offensive lineman Brian Holloway said he signed papers authorizing the Rensselaer County sheriff to bring charges in the Labor Day weekend party, which was attended by up to 400 teenagers.
He said investigators have told him the number of people charged could end up in the hundreds as they work through the sheer volume of participants.
I can’t believe parents lawyered up. I checked that guy’s site when the story broke. He was sincere — perhaps a little over-the-top with the “help me save the kids” rhetoric — but the “just come back, clean up, and make it right” is one of the most level-headed things I’ve seen in a while.
If my kid(s) were involved, they would have been there ready to work their asses off until that house was clean.
“Everyone that broke the law, I’m pressing charges against,” Holloway said. “The parents had a chance and students had a chance to come forward, and only four did.”
I agree. A sad reflection on America.
I am sure the lawyers told the parents that going over to the house and cleaning it would be an admission of guilt and not to do it.
If my kids, I would have brought a tent and some MREs.
“Don’t come back home until the mess you created is cleaned up.”
my kids would have been there cleaning it up…would be funny too watching thim clean with my foot stuck up their ass.
Those children are lucky. In some places it would be the children who contacted the police because their cars would be torched.
“Everyone that broke the law, I’m pressing charges against,” Holloway said. “The parents had a chance and students had a chance to come forward, and only four did.”
Sounds like he’s pressing charges on those that showed up to clean, too.
When laws takeover, common sense evaporates.
This is American Exceptionalism in a nutshell. Laws and Lawyers have wrecked this country to a point of no return.
Although I won’t be surprised if some parents (their lawyers anyway) weren’t thinking they can make some quick bucks by suing the rich NFL star.
The only party benefits by lawyering up is Lawyers themselves…when will we learn?
Welcome No Lawyer. And your wisdom. Proceed.
Outside of few good defense lawyers, most lawyers are waste of space and drag on economy.
“is it just me bri…or did this whole trip turn to shit when we ran out of lucky lagger?”
I resent that remark.
Lawyers = Foot Soldiers of (Legal) Terrorism
When laws takeover, common sense evaporates.
are you suggesting the rule of men over the rule of law?
There’s rule of law and there’s tyranny of law.
You know which one we are closer to. The justice system is so stacked against the poors and average Joes, I think rule of men would be more welcome.
Bring back the duel! At least you have an equal chance there.
There’s rule of law and there’s tyranny of law.
there would be little tyranny if the law applied to everyone, if no one was above the law, if no one could be exempted from the law.. then the makers of law would be subject to the laws they pass.
The justice system is so stacked against the poors and average Joes, I think rule of men would be more welcome.
yes, this what i thought you thought. you believe in the rule of men that brought us the likes of nero, caligula, hitler, mao, stalin, kim jung il, pol pot and many other despots.
Bring back the duel!
actually, i’m in favor of bringing back the duel. it would bring civility and responsibility with it. no one was forced to duel. it was always two willing participants.
I dont think so. What I found is the justice system discriminates against the severely stupid.
granted the poors and the average joe are more severely stupid then the rest of America.
But lets compare things equally find me 10 cases of white redneck yahoos in a pickup chaining up an atm and dragging it off and then 10 blacks Hispanics etc doing the same with some old beater suv….then compare the sentences.
I’ll bet they are equal.
The justice system is so stacked against the poors and average Joes, I think rule of men would be more welcome.
no one was forced to duel. it was always two willing participants.
Then what’s stopping it now?
you believe in the rule of men that brought us the likes of nero, caligula, hitler, mao, stalin, kim jung il, pol pot and many other despots.
Even with rule of law, we have had people like you mentioned.
IMO, Truman’s decision to drop nuclear bombs in Japanese cities have caused more damage than Calligula would have in his 10 lives.
What about Bush II and Obama? Their indiscriminate killing and maiming of moosleems can rival any of the men you mentioned above if we look at it objectively.
What about the Fed? The Fed obviously a construct of rule of law has stolen and destroyed money and wealth from people all over the world that Genghis Khan could only dream of.
Then what’s stopping it now?
dueling as been against the law since shortly after hamilton was killed.
IMO, Truman’s decision to drop nuclear bombs in Japanese cities have caused more damage than Calligula would have in his 10 lives.
there may have been more damage caused by the continuance of the war. we were attacked by the japanese and we had to attack back. to compare truman to the despots i named is ludicrous.
What about Bush II and Obama? Their indiscriminate killing and maiming of moosleems can rival any of the men you mentioned above if we look at it objectively.
they didn’t follow the constitution.
The Fed obviously a construct of rule of law has stolen and destroyed money and wealth from people all over the world that Genghis Khan could only dream of.
the FED is doing what the congress mandated it to do. then congress passed a law to put the US tax payer on the hook for FED losses. This more of your ‘rule of men’ that you love. you’re for tyranny and you don’t even know it.
This more of your ‘rule of men’ that you love. you’re for tyranny and you don’t even know it.
If it gets me duel, I will take the rule of men. I think I have a better chance of succeding at that than the current “rule of low.”
If it gets me duel, I will take the rule of men.
dueling happened when there was rule of law.
dueling as been against the law since shortly after hamilton was killed.
link?
I still don’t see what’s stopping two willing participants from dueling.
tell you what.. why don’t you just continue to believe that dueling isn’t against the law. much easier that way.
When it comes to Bush 2 and Obama (and Clinton and Bush 1 and Reagan and Carter, etc.) killing civilians around the world, what you’re talking about is many vioations of international law. We need to get our government to obey international law, which consists of treaties that we have signed. Using those violations of international law as an excuse to get rid of law at home wouldn’t make sense.
But lets compare things equally find me 10 cases of white redneck yahoos in a pickup chaining up an atm and dragging it off and then 10 blacks Hispanics etc doing the same with some old beater suv….then compare the sentences.
I’ll bet they are equal.
Did you miss this article from a few months ago?
Blacks Are Singled Out for Marijuana Arrests, Federal Data Suggests
WASHINGTON — Black Americans were nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested on charges of marijuana possession in 2010, even though the two groups used the drug at similar rates, according to new federal data.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/us/marijuana-arrests-four-times-as-likely-for-blacks.html?_r=0
Also who makes the laws? Last time I checked it was men.
Last time I checked it was men.
So what’s the solution? Let cats make the laws?
Also who makes the laws? Last time I checked it was men.
yes, it is being made by corrupt men that exempt themselves from it. the law makers are now above the law. which means we no longer have the rule of law, but the rule of men.
So what’s the solution? Let cats make the laws?
I like it. Cats will certainly make better laws than corrupt men you vote for.
Lawyers are both parties, bro. And when you have a nonlawyer like Bush, he’s going to delegate all the lawmaking anyway, so it still ends up in backroom deals.
You need to kill the 2 party system, then you’ll have killed lawyers. Look at the GOP primary last year, the only nonlawyer I can think of was Herman Cain. Even unhinged Santorum and Bachmann were lawyers and Mittens copped that HLS sheepskin just like Obama.
I support killing the 2 party system, its the only way the U.S. will ever improve.
I support killing the 2 party system, its the only way the U.S. will ever improve.
More parties would be better, but improvements can happen with out exising two-party system.
For example, a hundred years ago women didn’t have the right to vote. A political movement was formed and eventually they got that right. This happened within the two-party system
But now we have Monsanto voting.
Respect for the family that showed up to clean.
“vacation home” in Rensselaer County? who the hell vacations in Rensselaer County? That’s like vacationing in Frog Balls, Arkansas
‘That’s like vacationing in Frog Balls, Arkansas’
You made that up. You had to.
No.. I read it here on the HBB.
‘No.. I read it here on the HBB.’
Queen ( the rock group) predicted that fall of the newspaper ‘News of the World’ :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_News_Of_The_World.png
Don’t you get it man, the Matrix is the blueprint for the future, man?
Public unions + long term democrat rule = massive corruption, bankruptcy and ruin
———————
Detroit Spent Billions Extra on Pensions
nytimes.com | September 25, 2013 | MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
Detroit’s municipal pension fund made payments for decades to retirees, active workers and others above and beyond normal benefits, costing the struggling city billions of dollars and helping push it into bankruptcy, according to people who have reviewed the payments.
The payments, which were not publicly disclosed, included bonuses to retirees, supplements to workers not yet retired and cash to the families of workers who died before becoming eligible to collect a pension, according to reports by an outside actuary and other people with knowledge of the matter.
How much each person received is not known. But available records suggest that the trustees approving the payments did not discriminate; nearly everybody in the plan received them. Most of the trustees on Detroit’s two pension boards represent organized labor, and for years they could outvote anyone who challenged the payments.
“It was like dandelions,” said Joseph Harris, who served as Detroit’s independent auditor general from 1995 to 2005. “You just accept them. They were there, something you’ve seen all your life.”
When asked on what legal authority the trustees made the payments, Mr. Harris said, “My understanding was, it had to be approved by City Council, and council was under the belief that the money was there — that the pension funds were earning the money — with the consideration that in bad times the city would be making up the difference. I hate to say that. Ultimately the fund has to be funded by the taxpayers.”
“Ultimately the fund has to be funded by the taxpayers.”
Lol, in Detroit? What taxpayers?
there will be a federal bailout
what the goons want, the goons get
I don’t think so. Not this time. Bailouts are for banks and coffee is for closers.
There will be a bailout because of Detroit’s racial makeup. To do otherwise would be racist.
I don’t think so. Not this time. Bailouts are for banks and coffee is for closers.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
There will be a bailout because of Detroit’s racial makeup.
It’s only fair. Rural white America has been in one long government bailout for generations. Just ask a farmer. Or all the hicks on disability. And SNAP. And voting conservative, because they want to take America back from the ‘takers’.
Don’t tread on them!
“Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
lmao, you just made my day.
Can people in Detroit not get SNAP or disability?
So why don’t the farmers shoot up midnight basketball games and have “Devil’s Nights?”
It’s only fair. Rural white America has been in one long government bailout for generations. Just ask a farmer. Or all the hicks on disability. And SNAP.
Farmers and rural folk shoot each other all the time. It just doesn’t make the big city news. Because they don’t care.
the rich one’s silly.
Rich = 40,000/yr income and some savings in 401k.
“Ultimately the fund has to be funded by the taxpayers.”
I manage a [fund], or I [fund] college expenses; entity or action.
“Ultimately the fund has to be funded by the taxpayers.”
Or (door number two) not funded at all.
If the money ain’t there then somebody will maybe have to learn to do without.
(Pay ‘em with promised money. It’s cheaper.)
“If the money ain’t there then somebody will maybe have to learn to do without.”
Is that you, Jon Corzine?
Q: What is the first things a public union goon does when he/she retires at age 55 with an OT spiked and a 100% pension? And tax free with a “disability”?
A: Move to a low tax and right to work state.
—————————————
The 8 Cheapest States for Retire
Wall St Cheat Sheet | September 26, 2013 | Kurtis Droge
While some are sure to head for the warmth of Southern weather, the coziness of the countryside, or the long sought-after home of their youth, many will be looking to their bank accounts rather than their hearts to determine a final place of residence. For those monetarily conscious retirees, here is a list of the eight best states to retire to, by the numbers, according to analysis from Kiplinger.
1. Alaska
2. Wyoming
3. Georgia
4. Arizona
5. Mississippi
6. Delaware
7. Nevada
8. Louisiana
Delaware??????? As for the rest, nothing really appeals to me, except maybe for the northwestern sector of GA along the Carolina borders.
i would love to retire in oxford, mississippi.
Wait until the bubble pops before you consider moving to Wyoming. And yes, it’s snowing there RIGHT NOW if that sort of thing matters to you. But ridiculous real estate prices will add insult to injury if you try to buy and retire there right now.
The idea that retirees are flocking to Alaska and Wyoming is absurd beyond words.
wall street journal - u.n. says humans are ‘extremely likely’ behind global warming
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303342104579100593218822558.html
Dont get caught holding the bag again! Cash out why the gettins good. Got equity?
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
“Fifty-five percent of Americans and 7 out of 10 young people support allowing gay couples to marry. A majority of Republicans, 52 percent, oppose it.
Forty percent of Republicans say state legislatures should continue pushing for laws curbing abortion rights. That’s almost double the 22 percent among all Americans who hold that position, according to a Bloomberg National Poll conducted Sept. 20-23.
The findings reflect challenges for the Republican Party at a time when it’s working to boost its appeal with young people, women and minority voters to improve its national electoral prospects after 2012 losses.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-27/young-voters-backing-gay-rights-69-is-republican-hurdle.html
I always love these polls issues and why don’t the people in congress vote the way of polls?
Did you the know the vast majority of American favor some restrictions on abortion? So why do the democrats block any restrictions at every turn?
Did you know the the majority of American do NOT want obamacare. So why do the democrats shove it down our throats?
Did you know the the majority of American do NOT want gun control. So why do the democrats shove it down our throats?
Did you know (when put up to a vote) that Americans vote down gay marriage nearly every single time by wide margins? TO include California? So why so democrats find unelected judges (both state and supreme) to undo the direct will of the people?
The same is true for affirmative action, TARP, insane government spending, insane public unions, school choice, kill lists, bombing Syria, bombing Libya, NSA spying, etc.
So why do democrats stand on the wrong side of all of that?
Hmmm…
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
One step on the road to totalitarianism.
I’m not advocating it, just stating its demographic inevitability.
Once marriage is expanded to the point it is meaningless, men will find it meaningless to get married.
A society on the way out always goes this route. Didn’t some Roman emperor marry his horse?
Didn’t some Roman emperor marry his horse?
Caligula? I read “I Claudius” last year and I don’t think I came across him marrying a horse. I would have remembered that. His love for one of the horses was mentioned and IIRC he wanted to make him a consul.
Here’s a book on ancient Rome:
THE LIVES OF THE TWELVE CAESARS
By C. Suetonius Tranquillus
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6400/6400-h/6400-h.htm
Caligula? I read “I Claudius” last year and I don’t think I came across him marrying a horse.
caligula made his horse ‘incitatus’ a senator to prove his power and humiliate senators.
Once marriage is expanded to the point it is meaningless, men will find it meaningless to get married.
I think we are already there.
There’s already an oversupply of desperate women. $hit is going to get worse.
“Once marriage is expanded to the point it is meaningless, men will find it meaningless to get married.”
didn’t Henry the VIII start that?
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
The inevitable result of 40 years of offshoring jobs and dismantling the middle class.
55+% of the Federal Budget goes to entitlements.
The Federal government borrows 49 cents of every dollar it spends.
The free sh*t army votes.
We will end up like Greece.
BTW - did anyone see on ZeroHedge of a possible near term coup in Greece?
War or Revolution - the “final solution” to insane government spending and insane fiscal policy.
The inevitable result of 40 years of offshoring jobs and dismantling the middle class.
And the inevitable result of the GOP becoming a party of extremists. You can’t pander to the nut cases and still get the votes of the middle of the roaders.
They’ve gerrymandered themselves into a corner.
“The Federal government borrows 49 cents of every dollar it spends.”
Your lie is getting worse. You used to say 47 cents. That was a lie too. This year is slated to come in at around 32 cents. Haven’t seen a good analysis of how a shut down would impact that. If we hit the debt ceiling and default the increase in interest rates makes the whole thing an unknown.
You are correct. I am glad you are paying attention.
U.S. borrows 46 cents of every dollar it spends
Washington Times - Stephen Dinan - December 7, 2012
The federal government borrowed 46 cents of every dollar it has spent so far in fiscal 2013, which began Oct. 1, according to the latest data the Congressional Budget Office released Friday.
Note the date, banana - December 7. The news that you’re missing is that the deficit has been coming down significantly. You can’t trust the Washington Times to tell you that.
The Republican plan to appeal to young people, women and minorities seems to involve a great deal of wishful thinking. Their policies and actions are the direct opposite of appealing to any of those groups.
You’re just bitter about not getting into Onwentsia
Until they get a job, want to start a family or buy a house.
Then bigger and bigger government, higher and higher taxes and more and more government regulations are not so fun anymore…
Young people aren’t getting jobs, starting families, or buying houses.
You are correct! Democrats win!
Actually, that’s probably good for the Republicans. Young people vote less than middle-aged people and senior citizens. Poor people also tend to vote less than the middle-class and rich.
Until they get a job, want to start a family or buy a house.
——————————————————————–
The late Patrice Oneal called this phenomenon: “joining white world.”
“once you start owning some stuff, you love the police. I used to never hang out with cops; now they my best friends” — Patrice Oneal
Except if you’re white you don’t think of it as white world, you think of it as joining the grown up world. White kids usually aren’t very conservative until they have something to conserve.
I still don’t trust the police in general but now that some of my peers that I like are police I’m not as nervous around them as I used to be. And I notice they are a lot nicer around me than they were when I was 20. I’m not sure if it’s because they see me as a friendly peer, or if it’s just that now they can tell that I can afford a lawyer.
Thats interesting Carl.
I try to explain to young people that law enforcement is just a job; and often a sh*tty job like any other.
Politics, back stabbing, gossip… most cops can’t wait to get the f*ck up out of there so they can go home, just like me. The general public is generally stupid; you couldn’t pay me enough to be a cop.
I would be offended if the only reason people tried to act right is because Im walking around with a badge and a gun.
Imagine all the dumbsh*t cops witness?
(((shakin my head)))
All this time I still dont understand why people and religious institutions don’t want gay people to be Monogamous?
sounds bizarre to me.
They can be as monogamous as they want, but if you don’t value a man who dedicates his life to one woman, enough to make it an exclusive state supported valuable category; you deserve all the bastard sons of single moms that result.
*just sayin*
Maybe I dj’ed a bunch of gay type parties…..there are almost NO gay mobile dj’s seriously but 1/2 of the dj’s in clubs are gay, and probably 90% of the women.
But to own a station wagon or van buy and haul your own equipment set up do the gig then breakdown and drive home …gay people seem to be afraid of doing this type of work….so someone has to do the gigs
…gay people seem to be afraid of doing this type of work…
I’ve seen gay people do hard physical labor so I question that. I wonder if it’s more about straight males just being safer doing that kind of work where you’re out in public with drunken mostly-straight strangers who don’t get out that often and no security except what you can provide for yourself?
Every DC Government Worker Is Essential!
——————–
D.C. may use contingency fund in event of shutdown
The Washington Times | 27 September 2013 | Andrea Noble
D.C. Council members are looking to keep the city government running through a federal shutdown by paying employees with funds from the city’s contingency cash reserve fund — a tactic that could avert a showdown with federal officials.
A bill circulated to council members Thursday would designate all city employees as “essential personnel,” allow D.C. Council employees to work voluntarily until federal appropriations are approved and pay employees from the city’s contingency cash reserve fund. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson is expected to introduce the bill at a council session Tuesday — the same day the federal government shutdown would take effect unless congressional lawmakers reach a budget deal.
the contractors on our contract are immune from this but the feds are not.
and yes, we are hiring. every senior fed that retires is backfilled with a contractor.
that’s what grover norquist would call ’shrinking the size of government to the size where you can drown it in the bathtub’ except that it’s not shrinking anything, the overhead and profits raise the personnel costs by 25 to 50 percent.
feds drool, contractors rule!
Hooray for the private sector!
$500,000,000,000+ a year of taxpayer dollars go to contractors
That’s about 6X of what is spent on foodstamps.
I personally witnessed about $500k of that in action earlier in the week. I’d only get a small fraction of that amount, but it was breathtaking watching them treat it like chump change.
Hmmmm….
———-
Government shutdown threat paralyzes contractors
CNNMoney - April 7, 2011
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — MicroTech CEO Tony Jimenez is 24 hours away from sending his 400 employees home for the weekend — with no idea when, or if, they’ll be able to return to their jobs.
“This is just not something you build into your business plan,” he says of the government’s looming shutdown.
The government’s 2 million civilian workers — up to 800,000 of whom would likely be furloughed — are also in the dark, wondering if their jobs count as “essential” and if not, if they’ll be paid retroactively for the days they’re barred from working. For contractors, the uncertainty is even worse.
Government shutdown: What about contractors?
Ed O’Keefe - 02/23/2011 - Washington Post
A potential government shutdown won’t just impact employees collecting government paychecks, but could also severely impact hundreds of thousands of contractors and the companies employing them to provide goods and services to federal agencies.
Federal funding for government operations expires March 4, leaving President Obama and lawmakers less than two weeks to decide whether to pass a short-term funding extension, a measure that funds the government for the rest of fiscal 2011, or to partially shut down government operations as negotiations continue.
Though federal employees earned retroactive pay for time lost during previous shutdowns, many contractors didn’t after the 1995 and 1996 shutdowns — and Congress has never passed legislation compensating contracting firms for time and work missed, because the government has never relied on contracting as it does now.
Our program manager just told us that we will be working on Tuesday 10/1 regardless. Feds drool, contractors rule!
They may be working……but are you getting paid?
My brother was given the briefing last week. They are expected to report to work. But instead of money, they will be given IOUs.
He’s got a mortgage payment. I guess we’ll see of the banksters accept IOUs.
My guess is (at best) they might get away with deferring some payments (with interest and penalties, of course)
At minimum, anybody given an IOU in lieu of pay, is going to go into “bunker mode” as far as personal spending is concerned. Thus exacerbating the economy’s basic problem…….lack of paying customers.
Of course, this could be part of the Republican’s “Master Plan”…….quit paying government employees long enough to force them to quit, and replace them with contractors, or hire them back eventually, while hitting them with a 40% pay/benefit cut.
how many of you are going to get a piece of the RE MAX IPO and support a realtor?
Is that Federal reserve hack Margaret Kelley still the CEO?
probably what exactly are you buying here?
Sell now while u still can.
Especially when he put his boyfriend in as an executive at Fannie Mae while he was on the House Banking Committee…
It is not corruption when democrats do it. It is for the children.
Bigger and bigger works. It makes everything better and more affordable.
——————————-
Barney Frank Fesses Up: Gov’t Shares Blame For Financial Crisis
IBD | 09/27/2013 | Paul Sperry
In a startling admission, the architect of the biggest regulatory hit on Wall Street since the New Deal now agrees with critics that Washington deserves as much blame for the financial crisis as Wall Street.
Former Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, co-author of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, said in a recent forum on the crisis that the government — through its decades-long national homeownership campaign and affordable housing goals — “propelled” lenders and investors to excesses they would not have otherwise gone to in the absence of such political incentives.
Fannie and freddie…. cash cows for corrupt congressman.
in a startling admission,
too little, too late barney.
too little, too late barney.
Any word from Gramm, Leach, or Bliley?
Hormone disruptors rise from the dead
Broken-down pollutants reform in the dark, casting doubt on environmental risk assessments.
Hormone-disrupting chemicals may be far more prevalent in lakes and rivers than previously thought. Environmental scientists have discovered that although these compounds are often broken down by sunlight, they can regenerate at night, returning to life like zombies.
“The assumption is that if it’s gone, we don’t have to worry about it,” says environmental engineer Edward Kolodziej of the University of Nevada in Reno, joint leader of the study. “But we’re under-predicting their environmental persistence.”…Last year, a bioassay found androgens in 35% of freshwater samples tested, far more than chemical assays would suggest. “What you really want to know is if there’s anything in there that can cause biological activity,” says molecular biologist Gordon Hager, at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, who developed the assay. Yet current environmental monitoring procedures still rely on checking “a list of chemicals, and they only know how to look for one thing at a time”, he says. “It’s a fool’s errand.”
Before everybody here gets all alarmed and goes a bit crazy, Wiki-up “trenbolone acetate” - the hormone mentioned in the article - and read for yourself just how it is that this hormone can find its way into the bloodstream (hint: It is not by ingestion).
Where’s my mules today…… cmon out donkeys.
Nursing their bruised egos?
Realtor Convention
http://strawstickstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/clowncar.gif
A friendly message for you all on Friday…
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Lawyers just doing God’s work. Grab your cash, gift cards, and rebate checks today. No proof of purchase required.
Liberace!
^^ Did you visit the link, RAL? I’ve gotten a couple hundred bucks this year for like 15-20 min of my time on that website.
Where you gigging with the tricked out harpsichord this weekend Lib?
I’m gigging rent free inside your skull, sir.
I just signed up for the Naked Juice rebate… no time for gigging.
———-
Thank you for filing your online claim in the Naked Juice Settlement on 9/27/2013. Your Claim ID is: NJPA1-4549434.
Please retain this information in your records and use your Claim ID in any subsequent communication with Gilardi & Co. LLC regarding this settlement. You may use the settlement website at http://www.nakedjuiceclass.com for further updates 24 hours a day.
Gilardi & Co. LLC
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Original that is Liberace.
When potty training your youngins’, make sure you train them well and show them how to wipe their realtor when they’re done taking a dump.
“U.S. Federal Housing Administration to tap $1.7 bln in taxpayer funds”
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/09/27/usa-housing-bailout-idINW1N0G702P20130927
Yep… because housing is doing so well that these corrupt organizations are self supporting… Right?? Right???
So what do you think about this corrupt mess Liberace???????
Republicans have made ENDING NET NEUTRALITY part of what the Democrats MUST agree to in order for them to raise the debt ceiling.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/26/us_house_republicans_end_net_neutrality_or_no_debt_ceiling_deal_report/
But… but… I thought the GOP was all about freedom and “are country”?!?!??!
“Get a brain, Morans!”
The -fixr has been busy for the past couple of weeks, but I’ve got a new one for the “Why People can be D**ks” file………
Some “partners/friends” are acquiring a new airplane, the search being led by the guy who uses the airplane the most.
A budget for “fixed” and “variable” costs for the chosen aircraft was projected, which were supplied to the primary partner/friend.
Some of the partners are balking due to the fixed and variable costs. This was strange, because the new costs weren’t that much different (approx 5%) than what they were already paying.
Evidently, the numbers that were generated for the “fixed” costs were adjusted by the primary “partner” with what (for the lack of a technical term) can be referred to as a “I make money off the deal, no matter what” fee, in the six-figures.
This “fee”, BTW, is not disclosed to the others.
I guess this is why yours-truly is such a poor, bottom feeding slug. It would never even occur to me to do a deal like this with “friends/partners”. I’d be a lot more likely to voluntarily err in the other direction.
Have you appeared on any Airplane Repo episodes? Many times the repo guys approach mechanics in the hangar. Discovery’s gone way downhill with their shows lately and I take the “reality” of it with a grain of salt but that one intrigues me.
Boy, everyone is sure hating on the lawyers today…… let me walk you haterz thru it, in small, easy to understand terminology……..
Hey, the parents/kids were given the chance to do the right thing. Starting with not tearing the crap out of somebody’s house.
The guy gives them the opportunity to “make it right”. We saw the response.
A couple of hundred years ago , the guy’s options would be:
-Bend over and take it, especially if the kid’s parents were the rich/powerful, or
-Fixing it yourself, by killing/kicking the crap out of either the kids, or their parent’s property as payback.
#2 can be really disruptive to society and commerce. So the legal system and lawyers were developed, to settle any and all disputes in a fair and equitable manner, no matter who was involved. (Gee, sounds “Socialist” to me…..)
I might note at this point that lawyers and the legal system were designed to be a pain in the ass, to give people an incentive to handle minor disputes without involving the legal system.
So, both sides essentially “lawyered up”…..the homeowner, by “filing charges” after his appeal to make things right failed has stepped it up a notch, and the parents, by suing the homeowner, and (with or without an attorney’s advice) declining to participate.
So here it is, a perfect example of why the system exists. The criminal system (in an ideal world) doesn’t care about how much money you have, if the crime is bad enough.
Some people think that the alternative, letting everyone dispense their own justice (if possible) is preferable. In which, as far as this case goes, would mean that 40 or 50 Tiffanys, Heathers, Aidens and Christophers would end up dead, or maimed for life……plus whatever retribution/payback that would occur, if any of the parents felt the “punishment didn’t fit the crime”
“…..I hate the goddam system! But until someone comes along with some changes that make sense, I’ll stick with it.”
Inspector Harry Callahan
2Banana = “A sad reflection on America”
And to think, Brony-nana is about to free ride on my generation (and your kids) by collecting SSN and Medicare for a few decades, all while complaining about “too much government spending” (on pet projects of BOTH parties).
But — oh no, anyone who points out stupidity is being mean. LOLz.
If he had any integrity, he would forsake SS and Medicare.
But you know he won’t. He’ll demand and collect every penny he’s entitled.
Just five years after China’s high-speed rail system opened, it is carrying nearly twice as many passengers each month as the country’s domestic airline industry. With traffic growing 28 percent a year for the last several years, China’s high-speed rail network will handle more passengers by early next year than the 54 million people a month who board domestic flights in the United States.
Li Xiaohung, a shoe factory worker, rides the 430-mile route from Guangzhou home to Changsha once a month to visit her daughter. Ms. Li used to see her daughter just once a year because the trip took a full day. Now she comes back in 2 hours 19 minutes.
Business executives like Zhen Qinan, a founder of the stock market in coastal Shenzhen, ride bullet trains to meetings all over China to avoid airport delays. The trains hurtle along at 186 miles an hour and are smooth, well-lighted, comfortable and almost invariably punctual, if not early. “I did not think it would change so quickly. High-speed trains seemed like a strange thing, but now it’s just part of our lives,” Mr. Zhen said.
China’s high-speed rail system has emerged as an unexpected success story. Economists and transportation experts cite it as one reason for China’s continued economic growth when other emerging economies are faltering
Trains we don’t need no stinkin trains. Wait until fuel costs skyrocket then see how countries with an advanced high speed electric train system crush countries who invested in wars, SUV’s and highways.
Only commies and effete Euros ride on high speed trains. Real men get around in their F-350s! Vroom, vroom!
You sure do have a penchant for hating on large trucks. It’s been going on for years now. Just curious- is someone who drives a Toyota 4-Runner ok in your world? Because, the fuel mileage is actually worse than the new full size trucks. How about someone who drives a Prius 50k miles per year, and actually uses more fuel than someone who drives a large truck about 1/3 the miles? Is that ok because they are driving a Prius? Does total carbon footprint even matter in your seemingly black and white world?
Eisenhower Interstate Highway = Reason we will never have a killer train system in the US.
I guess there are unintended consequences of central planning after all.
My personal opinion is non-committal on Ca’s high speed train connecting southern and northern Ca, but I’m all for light rail. I use the LA subway when it makes sense, and love it. MetroLink is really expensive in my area, but the subway system is inexpensive and needs expanding. $1.50 each way or a $5 day pass (as many trains and buses as you like). What a great deal.
A few comments for those interested in how screwed up the financial regulatory environment is…
I had lunch yesterday with a guy who used to be an executive at a massive hedge fund. He experienced “examinations” from a few government entities. They each required hundreds of thousands of printed pages, and of the people who came from government to review the documents: 1 was clearly hung over, reeking of alcohol when they arrived to do the inspections, and another “exam” team was doing completely redundant work, where he needed to have teams of the hedge fund’s employees essentially re-ordering the same documents for the next group of “investigators”…and those investigators left his office early so they could catch a baseball game while they were in town.
In the end, they noted one easily corrected “deficiency” in order to justify their existence.
Was thinking about Olygal tonight and wanted to celebrate her life here. Died 10/28/2009-time flies!
http://www.funeralalternatives.org/keepsake.asp?GBObitKey=1642&ObitKey=1642
What ever happen to muggy?
Thanks for posting that.
What ever “happened” to muggy?
(It’s late!)
” R e s i s t o r “