The Housing Bubble

“so much cash, gotta keep it in Hefty bags!” — Ice T

You can’t just cancel a contract with a private party. And to the extent that you can exercise an option to discontinue, you still have to pay out that clause on the contract and they are very expensive for a reason. The reason is that they are essentially NEVER to be used. These things are part of a months-long procurement process, trust me the contractors have thought this through.

…the ‘far-right faction’ of the party ‘represents 15 percent of the country, but they’re trying to control the entire debate.’

We can count on those rich white guys to ensure Democrats will get elected to the WH for the next forty years!

The GOP has gerrymandered itself into a corner.

‘Have you traveled around the South much?’

He was sitting opposite of the Dutchess.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/8192972/Tuition-fees-protesters-attack-car-carrying-Prince-Charles-and-the-Duchess-of-Cornwall.html

You’d think the predominantly white (81% per the census bureau) Colorado would be a GOP stronghold.

He should have qualified it as “white or ex-Californian…”

Would it be because of the move, or because they are “20 years older”?

AKA….. lapsing into the “keep them young whippersnappers off my lawn” phase.

I don’t know how much age would contribute. I just know that living out there you get to see many many in your face examples of the federal govt interfering in places it shouldn’t, much to the detriment of the locals. It tends to skew your thinking a bit compared to being on the coast where the govt policies and decisions seem to make more sense. Large group thought processes versus small group thought processes, once again.

Ah the new birther movement begins right here in HBB.

Can we trust a man born in Canada? How do we know he’s not a secret “Manchurian candidate” liberal, who will instate Canadian-style single-payer health coverage if he gets elected?

By virtue of his American-born mother

Then why did Obama need to show his birth certificate at all? That’s why birther heads are exploding. They can’t support Cruz without being serious hypocrites themselves. Birthers are trying to deflect the dilemma by blaming dirty libs or whatever, but the parallel is SO exact that even the birthers can’t deny it for long.

I should also add that even if you have American-born parents but were born somewhere else, you STILL have to be naturalized. But my data is from years ago, it may have changed.

That’s why birther heads are exploding

Luckily it’s only tiny explosions.

They can’t support Cruz without being serious hypocrites themselves.

It’s only hypocrisy when the other guys do it.

Oxide, that has never (at least not in the last 100 years) been the case. Now it DID used to be the case the government insisted that those entitled to dual citizenship CHOOSE which country they wanted to be a citizen of when they turned 18. But that changed and now your right to citizenship at birth is in no way diminished by any right to citizenship that other countries may grant you. Of course a precondition of naturalization is that you renounce any citizenship to other countries. What has always amused me about the “birther” movement is that very few of them made an issue of the fact that McCain was born in a foreign country (Panama).

The Dems held three branches of government with almost 60 Dem Senators. That’s not slight by American historical standards.

That’s correct. So in theory they should have been able to pass almost anything…so why were they so quick to give up on single payer and pass this instead?

’so why were they so quick to give up on single payer’

Couldn’t get the Democrats to vote for it.

If Obamacare is going to be such a disaster (with Republicans in the background backstabbing it at every opportunity), why are the Republicans shutting down the government to prevent it’s implementation, instead of letting the “disaster” unfold, and pinning it on the Dems in 2014-2016?

Sounds to me like they are worried that it actually might succeed.

Dumb as the old guy holding a “Repeal Obamacare” sign, as he’s turning laps riding his Medicare-paid-for electric scooter.

Sounds to me like they are worried that it actually might succeed.

Probably. I personally hope it does succeed, but I’m concerned about how much power it leaves in the hands of the insurance companies. As long as they are involved I wouldn’t be surprised to see worse care at even higher prices.

f Obamacare is going to be such a disaster (with Republicans in the background backstabbing it at every opportunity), why are the Republicans shutting down the government to prevent it’s implementation, instead of letting the “disaster” unfold, and pinning it on the Dems in 2014-2016?

Sounds to me like they are worried that it actually might succeed.

Some Republicans might be concerned that it will “succeed”, but the reality is that Republicans, and especially Tea Party members are doing everything they can to stop the ACA because it is a terrible law that is already hurting Republican constituents.

The ACA is the worst kind of big-government socialism and it needs to die:

*People are losing their employer-provided insurance because of it.

*Workers are having their hours cut down to part-time because of it.

*People are losing their jobs in the Medical Device industry because of the off-shoring happening. Why off-shoring? Because medical device companies have to deal with a new tax on their products in the ACA.

* Premiums are going up for middle class families because the ACA requires insurance companies to cover everyone, including those with pre-existing conditions, while limiting premiums on those who consume the most medical care (elderly).

* Lastly, but most egregious, is the penalty you must pay if you opt not to be covered. In an attempt to force healthy people into plans to help cover the expense of covering those not covered today. Wealth redistribution through the point of a gun, the worst kind of socialism.

Obamacare, the ACA, needs to go and I fully support the Tea Party members in the House of Representatives for taking this stand.

it is a terrible law that is already hurting Republican constituents.

People “losing their jobs” is a canard. Studies show ACA will create more jobs than are lost or it will be a wash. That is fact. ACA is not “socialism”. That’s a farce. ACA will unleash more capitalism because people can now start their own businesses.

Of course there will be some pain before the gain. Nothing is free. That always happens before monumental legislation takes effect. Things are getting shook up now but the gain comes when ACA is put in full force.

The Republicans want the pain but are scared to death of the gain to come. Because the gain of ACA will be huge. Huge in jobs, huge in health, huge in risk taking and huge in piece of mind.

This is why the Repubs have people so shook up. They are scared ACA will be good for America.

’so why were they so quick to give up on single payer’

Couldn’t get the Democrats to vote for it.

I don’t think that Oaba has ever stated that he was in favor of single payer.

Rio :
Let me google that for you:

https://www.google.com/search?q=who+has+had+hours+cutbecause+of+ACA

23 million results for that query
the first of which is:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/30/us-employers-slash-hours-avoid-obamacare

So uhh, you’re wrong, it is hurting people.

“Of course there will be some pain before the gain. Nothing is free. That always happens before monumental legislation takes effect.”

Yeah, but if the goal is to get more people covered, why is the law written so that people get their hours cut and lose their work sponsored healthcare? They could have just opened insurance exchanges without imposing any new requirements on employers. Any idiot can see that. Or they could have instituted a portion of law that said any company with over 50 employees has to provide proportional $coverage based on the number of hours worked.

With hundreds of pages in the law its not like they were trying to keep it terse or uncomplicated.

Sorry, you fail in saying this was well planned and there just happen to be some unavoidable consequences.

Sorry, you fail in saying this was well planned and there just happen to be some unavoidable consequences.

I don’t think so. Look at the raw numbers. Run the math.

Is Obamacare a job-killer?

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505143_162-57595475/is-obamacare-a-job-killer/

One reason to think Obamacare isn’t doing much to stifle job-creation: More than 9 out of 10 businesses subject to the law already offer health coverage, while companies with fewer than 50 employees are exempt (About 60 percent of these smaller firms offer health insurance, and under the ACA they also may qualify for a tax credit for offering coverage.) Of the 28 million small businesses in the U.S., 96 percent won’t be subject to the rules, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Meanwhile, relatively few of the roughly 4 percent of smaller firms that fall under the ACA are around the 50-employee threshold. Baker notes in a research brief that no more than about 1 percent of job growth this year would come from employers whose headcount puts them near that statutory cutoff.

In short, the health law is a non-issue for the vast majority of small businesses. And while some of these employers may ultimately choose to curb hiring or even shed workers to stay below 50 employees, such firms are too few to make much of an impact on overall hiring or economic growth.

The view that Obamacare threatens smaller companies is “strictly a talking point by those who want to kill off the ACA,” said Frank Knapp, head of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. “We’re not going to hurt the economy. If we have more people with health insurance, we’re going to reduce the cost of health insurance for most people.”

The ACA defines a full-time worker as one who works at least 30 hours a week. So what of the claim that many employers are cutting employee hours so they don’t qualify for health benefits? In examining U.S. Census data, Baker and economist Helene Jorgensen found that employers haven’t rushed to shift workers to shorter schedules this year. In fact, fewer people — 0.6 percent of the U.S. labor force, or less than 1 million people — worked just under the 30 hour per week threshold this year than did so in 2012.

If many companies had been slashing employee hours this year in anticipation of ACA penalties taking effect, the number of workers being shifted to shorter schedules should be rising sharply. For now, that doesn’t appear to be happening.

“While there may be some employers who make a show of cutting worker hours to just below the 30-hour threshold, this is clearly not a widespread phenomenon affecting large numbers of workers,” Baker and Jorgensen wrote in a research brief.

Another reason to question the depiction of Obamacare as a job-killer: Some surveys show hiring by small businesses picking up, a sign companies aren’t slimming down ahead of the ACA going into force. Employers with fewer than 50 workers added 84,000 jobs in June, according to payroll processors ADP, the biggest gain among small business since February.

That hiring spurt came before the White House said on July 2 that it was postponing the employer mandate to offer health insurance until 2015. In other words, many smaller firms boosted hiring even before the Obama administration delayed the sanctions for failing to comply with the ACA.

Still, most small business owners are far more focused on the usual rigors of running a company than on Obamacare, said Knapp, who is also co-chair of the ASBC Action Fund, a policy advocacy group. As ever, the top priority remains getting customers in the door.

“The ACA is no different than other laws — some will try to find their way around it,” he said. “But the vast majority of small businesses are going to hire the people they need to serve the customers they have to in order to make money.”

Sounds to me like they are worried that it actually might succeed.

My thoughts exactly. If it blows up as they claim it will, the GOP would sweep both houses and the White House, and the new prez could grin like the Cheshire Cat as he signs the repeal legislation into law.

My statement in regards to people losing jobs was specifically related to the medical device tax imposed by the ACA to attempt to pay for subsidies for those who can’t currently afford health coverage.

Cook Medical president Kem Hawkins, who made a point of illustrating the potential impact of the tax on local business while promoting the opening of a new plant in Illinois last week. Hawkins proclaimed to the Herald-Times of Bloomington, IN, recently that the chances of opening any additional plants stateside would be bleak unless the tax was repealed. He added that plans for five additional U.S. manufacturing facilities had been put on hold until the impact of the tax was assessed, and the company would likely look to set up shop overseas, instead.

We think [the tax] will have more impact on businesses than is generally appreciated. That’s a cash expense paid every 15 days starting in January,” he said at the time. “We think that the medical device excise tax with that new cash outflow every 15 days will have unintended consequences. We think that it will reduce the level of investment that medical device companies have available. We think that reduced level of investment is going to impact jobs and result in reduced jobs. We think that the reduced level of investment and increased outflow of cash to this excise tax will impact company valuations.”

medical device tax imposed by the ACA to attempt to pay for subsidies for those who can’t currently afford health coverage.

This maybe a good bargaining point to help end the shutdown.

If you don’t think the extra regulation and cost will make it even more affordable to offshore jobs you are flat out living in fantasy land.

Answer this question:

Does higher cost of the US labor force put an incentive in place to offshore labor?

Why is there no provision that companies importing products into this country provide even basic working standards to their workers, let alone environmental protections, or healthcare?

If you want to help Americans you make them more competitive as a labor force. The problem isn’t increased medical costs, it’s decreased standard of living due to offshoring of huge sectors of our economy. It’s great that this is bringing up the living standards of the rest of the world, but it’s happening too fast so that the benefits are going primarily to other countries and to this country’s rich instead of to the middle and working class.

Taxing and regulating the american worker and business more is not going to help this situation at all. ACA is a tax as defined by the supreme court.

“Employers with fewer than 50 workers added 84,000 jobs in June, according to payroll processors ADP, the biggest gain among small business since February.” What is the point of this, these companies are exempt from ACA? Are you making my point for me that the biggest growth is happening in companies NOT subject to ACA? Also the statistics you quote basically mean nothing. This is the relevant statistic : how many people total over the next 5 years will not be employed more than 30 hours per week or even lose their job due to this bill? This number is absolutely non-zero as you have already agreed. In return, we get a bill that is highly debated in terms of potential effectiveness and cost.

If we want to experiment with the economy, fine (wow), but lets agree it is an experiment, put some clear parameters around what would define “success”, and include a sunset clause by default so we can end the experiment, evaluate, then choose to continue or not based on evaluating data, not based on being held to free cheese promises.

Better yet, let the states experiment so we won’t F up the whole country if it turns out badly. Isn’t that the point of state government in the first place?

Also,
“We’re not going to hurt the economy. If we have more people with health insurance, we’re going to reduce the cost of health insurance for most people.”

Well, maybe, if we guessed right. Also, if more people have health insurance, i guess that means more insurance customers. More customers = more money for insurance companies.. oh now I get it. The people who happened to be the main sponsors of the bill… Ha! imagine that!

Well if the insurance companies get more money, where did that money come from? It didn’t magically appear. People were making what they thought were better economical choices for their money than buying insurance.

Yes, that’s right, all those young healthy people who the insurance companies couldn’t get on board. They will now be subsidizing the old via insurance. “Oh it’s a social good” you say. Glad you are now making that choice for them..

Screwing the young is not the best way to ensure they get on board with government assistance. Every step of the way the young have been getting screwed. Offshoring their jobs, excluding student loan debt from bankruptcy law (and creating education cost bubbles), blowing asset bubbles in housing making their first purchase of a home unaffordable…

The whole Ron Paul revolution which is(was?) decidedly NOT republican was driven by the energy of young people who realize what a screw job they are getting, and by older folks who actually want to give the younger generations a shot at a great american lifestyle they had with sound money and smaller government. ACA is just one more bullet to the brain of independent people making their own choices without big brother deciding what is best for them.

Does higher cost of the US labor force put an incentive in place to offshore labor?

Yes but the raw math in that article I posted shows that the affected jobs are much less than the Tea Party type are screaming about. Much less. And that there will be jobs that ACA creates.

The offshoring ship sailed 20 years ago. The few jobs left that can be offshored (and that ACA will affect) are a drop in the bucket compared to what has already been offshored and compared to the benefits Americans will receive from ACA. Example: Now the millions who have lost their jobs to offshoring can get healthcare. Millions.

“Employers with fewer than 50 workers added 84,000 jobs in June, according to payroll processors ADP, the biggest gain among small business since February.”

Small businesses are almost always the main engine of job growth. Now with the ACA, more Americans will be free to start their own companies which will be the engine of job growth.

Better yet, let the states experiment so we won’t F up the whole country if it turns out badly.

Mabye. But the point is moot. ACA is the law of the land and it is happening. I’d put the odds at 99.5%.

Screwing the young is not the best way to ensure they get on board with government assistance.

It’s health insurance. They are not getting screwed. They are getting health insurance. Many times where they could not before.

Wanna talk screwed?

Do you know how screwed you are if you’re young and you get sick without health insurance. I’ve seen it. You can die. You can be maimed. You can be sick the rest of your life and you can be 100K in debt.

Or if you’re young or even a child and can’t get insurance because of a pre-existing condition? What can happen? See above. See the history of the USA the past 40 years. This is not theory. This is fact.

ACA, for young people is a nice step forward in the USA.

First google result: forbes.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cost+of+health+insurance+for+young+people+under+ACA&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

“Based on a Manhattan Institute analysis of the HHS numbers, Obamacare will increase underlying insurance rates for younger men by an average of 97 to 99 percent, and for younger women by an average of 55 to 62 percent. Worst off is North Carolina, which will see individual-market rates triple for women, and quadruple for men.”

Not a nice step forward.

” the worst kind of socialism”

What is the best kind of socialism?

What is the best kind of socialism?

The kind that benefits the rich. You know: privatize the gains and socialize the losses.

Not a nice step forward.

It is a nice step forward. You referenced a joke study by the Manhattan Inst. designed to obfuscate.

It compared junk insurance that the ACA outlaws, that covers almost nothing to ACA coverage which is damn good coverage. It is a joke study.

we conducted two comparisons between pre-ACA data and post-ACA data, as reported by HHS. The first comparison is between the cheapest plan available to 27-year-olds pre- and post-Obamacare…..Obamacare will increase underlying insurance rates for younger men by an average of 97 to 99 percent,

“Lastly, but most egregious, is the penalty you must pay if you opt not to be covered.”

Aren’t you in Massachusetts, Northeasterner? Didn’t Romneycare have a mandate?

Aren’t you in Massachusetts, Northeasterner? Didn’t Romneycare have a mandate?

Yes. And I despise it. I won’t make any excuses for Romney being a RINO when he was governor. Not only did he push the insurance mandate, which is nauseating to anyone who embraces free markets and limited government, but he also passed an Assault Weapons Ban for the state after the Federal AWB expired.

Before some posters attempt to crucify me with prior comments supporting him in the Presidential election against Obama, he was the lessor of two evils…

he was the lessor of two evils…

Can you lease evil if you just want to try it out?

“My statement in regards to people losing jobs was specifically related to the medical device tax imposed by the ACA to attempt to pay for subsidies for those who can’t currently afford health coverage. “

Are you in the medical device business?

“Can you lease evil if you just want to try it out? :-P”

LOL. Good one, Carl!

The ACA will fail because it is a bad law based on bad policy. Medicare is a fiscal mess. The fact that liberals try and hold up big-government socialism and wealth redistribution like Medicare as an example of what the ACA can become is laughable. Medicare has unfunded liabilities of 35 trillion over the next 75 years.

When will socialists learn there isn’t enough money to make everyone equal? Medicare is a mess because socialists don’t understand that there aren’t enough productive people in our society to support the unproductive. Life isn’t fair… get over it.

The ACA will fail because it is a bad law based on bad policy.

If that were true the Repubs would not be so afraid of it. You don’t know how politics work?

The ACA will help Medicare because there will be people entering Medicare in better health than without the ACA. Why? Because of the ACA health care pre Medicare.

Life isn’t fair… get over it.

LOL. What a farce. You guys want to have it both ways. But you can’t. “Life’s not fair, get over it”?
Then why don’t you “get over” the goals of the Constitution?

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Your new motto:
The US Constitution………Get over it.

I say his is a failed presidency regarding this because he is divisive. He used the power of a slight majority to abuse carelessly. The President is charged to be president of all, not just his cronies.

Yes, I am old so I might benefit personally, but not as much as insurance companies will.

If he does run in 2016 and people who were demanding to see Obama’s birth certificate (e.g. Donald Trump) support him,

The commenters on this site are already are supporting Cruz. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/19/ted-cruz-releases-birth-certificate-and-is-apparently-a-canadian-citizen-but/

If you actually read about the health care system, what you would find is that Medicare is much more efficient than private sector health insurance. It could be cheaper still if it used its bargaining power to get better prices for things like prescription drugs. There is a health care delivery system in this country that is more efficient than Medicare. It’s VA health care system, which could actually be called “government run healthcare” - the hospitals are federal facilities and the doctors and nurses are federal employees.

Regarding the unfunded liabilities of Medicare, think about what that means. The estimated expenditures over the next 75 years have been found to be much than the amount that will be collected in the dedicated Medicare taxes. Now consider the Dept. of Defense. Someone could estimate the total amount of money that will be spent on the DOD over the next 75 years. That amount would have to be considered a completely unfunded liability, because unlike Medicare, the DOD has no dedicated taxes. So, yes, the projected growth of Medicare spending is something that needs to be addressed. In fact, the Obamacare legislation includes setting up a group to research that issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Payment_Advisory_Board

I say his is a failed presidency regarding this because he is divisive.

Aren’t all presidents divisive? Does that make all presidencies failed presidencies?

I meant to write “The estimated expenditures over the next 75 years have been found to be much lessthan the amount that will be collected in the dedicated Medicare taxes.”

Medicare is much more efficient than private sector health insurance.

Efficient for whom? Medicare is more broke than social security! This is held up as an example of good management?

He used the power of a slight majority to abuse carelessly.

Which president was the last to NOT do that?

The efficiency I’m referring to has to do with the amount of money spent on bureaucracy as opposed to payments to healthcare providers It may be counterintutive to many Americans, but Medicare is less bureacratic than private health insurance. It spends a smaller portion of its budget on administrative expenses than insurance companies do.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/may/30/barbara-boxer/barbara-boxer-says-medicare-overhead-far-lower-pri/

I first read about this in the New England Journal of Medicine 25 years ago. This is one of the reasons that other countries that we compare oursevles to spend so much less on helath care.

I say his is a failed presidency regarding this because he is divisive.

He’s divisive because Faux News and the Kochtopus have chosen to portray a very middle-of-the-road president as a socialist devil, to their easily-duped audiences.

He’s divisive because Faux News and the Kochtopus have chosen to portray a very middle-of-the-road president as a socialist devil, to their easily-duped audiences.

Middle of the road to who? Liberals? He isn’t left enough for you?

Obama passed the ACA which is about as socialist as anything Franklin D. Roosevelt ever passed. Obama pushed another Assault Weapons Ban. He told the Justice department to not enforce immigration law in some cases. The list goes on. His actions since his first election show the president is a socialist devil…

Bingo

Rio is a serious socialist. He pretends to be a disgruntled Republican and even a libertarian. The other day I told an HBBer that Rio said he was a libertarian. This person said, ‘but Rio’s a socialist?’ Heck, we ALL know it!

Who do you think you are fooling? Like we’ve never met a socialist before? Why don’t you come out of the closet and just tell people, “I am a proud socialist and I support Obama Care. All socialists do.” Because at the end of the day, this law is about advancing socialism. It doesn’t have a damn thing to do with making anything better or worse. That’s why it’s so half assed; whether it works or not isn’t the point

Obama passed the ACA which is about as socialist as anything Franklin D. Roosevelt ever passed. Obama pushed another Assault Weapons Ban. He told the Justice department to not enforce immigration law in some cases. The list goes on. His actions since his first election show the president is a socialist devil…

Gee, it’s been a little over five years since the words socialism and socialist became really popular among right-wingers. They sprinkle it through their arguments like it’s some sort of seasoning which enhances the flavor.

I don’t believe in right or left. I could tell you all sorts of things that libertarian minded people support that would blow the whole left right thing apart. I’m also not afraid to say what I am. A capitalist, who believes in individual freedom, and all the civil liberties that are inseparable from that. That the US government gets it’s right to govern from the people. And that the best government is the smallest government.

So are you saying the concept of socialism is a conspiracy theory? It’s been made up, and there are no historical facts to show it does exist? Interesting that in other countries, many with socialized health care, they actually have socialist political parties. Maybe even communist parties. When I was in college, I had professors who identified themselves as socialists or Marxists. What’s the big fear? If that’s what you are, that’s what you are. Why the shame in admitting it?

Rio is a serious socialist.

That’s a hoot. I don’t think most Americans know what socialism is. I think I just make a few far-right people nervous because my politics is left of theirs and I can express some ideas effectively. Sorry. But let’s seriously look at the word. Where is my socialism? Where? Please explain.

so·cial·ism (ssh-lzm) n.
1. Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.

Now does ObamaCare fit the definition of Socialism? No. It has some aspects but not enough to be called Socialism. All insurance has some aspects of Socialism. All. But in Obamacare, the government or Americans do not collectively own the means of production of health-care - not even the distributing of it in practice as that is done by private health insurance companies and private doctors etc.

I don’t think Socialism means what you guys think it means. You are misusing the word. Supporting ObamaCare is not supporting the definition of the word Socialism. Period.

‘I think I just make a few far-right people nervous’

Nobody is nervous about a guy who gets toilet paper stuck in his ear.

‘I don’t think Socialism means what you guys think it means.’

That’s what? Your OPINION. You are afraid to identify yourself as a socialist because it’s a failed concept. And the majority of people in this country know it. Now, go on one of your anti-capitalism rants, and let us judge who is a socialist.

BTW, I’ll admit your nut-job re-distribution positions may be communist, but let’s tackle one failed economic model at a time.

Rio said he was a libertarian

I don’t think I said that. Ever. I think you are very wrong. If I said it I was not clear.

I recall that I said I led a life of liberty that most libertarians only dream of. Or that I led a libertarian life (small l) I said I was NOT a Libertarian (capital L) because most that movement was FAKE.

I also pointed out that I’ve led the life of liberty of an independent Capitalist on two continents and in two languages. I’ve lived the Capitalist “libertarian” life that most Libertarians just squawk about while they’re collecting their Medicare or paycheck from some Corporation.

I’m also not afraid to say what I am. A capitalist, who believes in individual freedom,

And I’m not afraid to say that ObamaCare supports individual freedom in that it gives Americans the liberty to find other work or change their lives. That’s freedom in fact. Not theory.

(Rio) pretends to be a disgruntled Republican

No. No way. You are wrong. I’ve never said I was a disgruntle Republican or acted like one. I’ve never been a registered Democrat or Republican in my entire life.

What I’ve said is that I HAVE VOTED Republican BEFORE and they were once a proud party that stood for some things that I believed in. But I have not for a long time because they’ve become BatS%5!t crazy. That is what I’ve said.

There is a big difference from what you are saying about me and what I am, and what I’ve said about myself.

” the ACA which is about as socialist as anything Franklin D. Roosevelt ever passed.”

So the Heritage Foundation is now a bunch of socialists? Yikes.

Nobody is nervous about a guy who gets toilet paper stuck in his ear.

I beg to differ sir. I know when people are getting nervous when their set world does not look so set. It is obvious.

‘their set world does not look so set’

Oh sure. The freedoms I prefer haven’t existed in this country for many years. All some of us can do is try to keep us from becoming more socialist/communist/globalist than we already are.

I’m resigned to what we have, with a hope that we can get back some freedom. But I didn’t start this fight, you and your people did. No one said, hey we’ve got this great health care plan that you can join if you want. No, it your way or the highway. And the IRS will come take me away if I don’t go along with it. That’s unacceptable to a free people.

You are afraid to identify yourself as a socialist because it’s a failed concept.

How am I afraid of anything like that? I support ObamaCare. You guys say it’s “socialism”. (But it’s not) But I support it.

So in your eyes, I am supporting “socialism”. Do I seem afraid to support what some think is socialism? Do I seem afraid to identify with ObamaCare?

But the fact is, ObamaCare is not socialism. And I am not a Socialist by any definition of the world.

I don’t express radical ideas. My ideas are mostly at the very center of American ideals. Some are a little right and some are a little left. Now that’s fact.

‘I HAVE VOTED Republican BEFORE and they were once a proud party’

The Republican party is infested with scum bags and authoritarians. There are a few people associated with it that I have voted for, but like both major parties, the people pulling the strings just use its “two party status” to make people believe there isn’t really one party; the War Party.

So tell us, which Republicans did you vote for? That should tell us a whole lot.

‘My ideas are mostly at the very center of American ideals’

That’s the problem, isn’t it? Your “set world”.

This little argument helps make my point. It’s an argument about the meaning of a word. That can make for an interesting disucssion sometimes, but not in this case.

So take this sentence from Mr. Northeasterner:

Obama passed the ACA which is about as socialist as anything Franklin D. Roosevelt ever passed.

If different people have different understandings of the meaning of the word socialist, this sentence isn’t a very useful way to express an opnion. He should just drop the word and write a sentence that explains why he doesn’t like the ACA.

So tell us, which Republicans did you vote for?

I could tell you which Republicans I’ve voted for but I won’t. Why? Because I’m an American with American traditions.

And as you know, (Especially from our generation and older) it was a common code in America, that who we voted for is none of the business of others. Especially in the Mid-West and South.

I’ve never even professed to have voted for Obama. Ever. Why? 2 reasons.
1. I might not have ever and
2. It’s none of anyone’s business.

But I will tell you for a fact, that I’ve voted for Repubs for major office.

I sat in the Church parking lot for over an hour on election day contemplating Bush vs Gore. Remember……Bush ran as a “Uniter not a Divider”. What a crock of s$!t that was.

‘It’s none of anyone’s business’

But you’re anonymous.

But you’re anonymous.

True. Mostly. But I try to not let any “anonymity” I might have too much affect my moral, American or personal codes and traditions.

It just doesn’t feel right.

‘It just doesn’t feel right’

Kinda like being financially hammered unless I buy something I don’t want, need or agree with?

Kinda like being financially hammered unless I buy something I don’t want, need or agree with?

lol I don’t think so.

But maybe.

Keep stomping on that weasel, Ben. I do enjoy that.

Keep stomping on that weasel, Ben. I do enjoy that.

LOL. Why?

Because you can’t?

You get schooled and stomped daily here. Strange fetish you’ve got.

I find this whole conversation personally offensive. Obamacare is a godsend for people like me, and I’ve paid into the so-called “private” health insurance scam for over thirty years.

Our health care and hospital system doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Like our educational, transportation, defense, food production and distribution systems, it is built over generations, and cannot be suddenly pulled out and ready to function whenever someone decides it might be nice to get their broken femur set, or avoid dying of cholera.

Our public health system is not a commodity, it’s an element of a civilized society, and one we ALL use every day. As far as I’m concerned, the “socialists” in the current system are the insurance companies and their middlemen, and those who reap the benefits of the public health system without paying their fair share of the bill.

Rio is right, the word “socialist” is too often misused in the extreme here and trotted out as a pejorative whenever the rhetoric starts to get a little bit too close to the truth. For all its flaws, the ACA is at least a start in addressing some of the inequities in who gets subsidized. If only we could do the same with our banking industry….

You get schooled and stomped daily here..

In a pig’s eye.

And we take pleasure in delivering it.

you are going to being whining about home prices for a long time at this rate of printing. this could go on for years.

I guess you missed the memo from the Fed that tapering will begin some time soon?

Maybe you missed this speech, too?

Fiscal Policy. Oy! (With Reference to Ben Bernanke, Ken Arrow, Thomas Jefferson, William Shakespeare and the Oracle of Omaha)
Remarks at the 2013 National Association for Business Economics Conference
Houston, TX
May 16, 2013

I have advocated that we should begin to reef in the sails, beginning with our MBS purchase program. In my view, the housing market is on a self-sustaining path and does not need the same level of impetus we have been giving it.

– Dallas Fed President Richard W. Fisher

well i knew that was a chirade. so if they cut back 10 billion a month, who cares? they could taper for years. printing money is suppose to make us feel wealthier?

“this could go on for years.”

till the dollar loses it’s reserve currency status…which is beginning.

till the dollar loses it’s reserve currency status…which is beginning.

I’m not seeing it. What could take its place and why?

It seems like everyone is trying to debase their currencies.

I’m not seeing it. What could take its place and why?

It seems like everyone is trying to debase their currencies.

A strong currency is a net exporter’s nightmare. And since almost every nation wants to be a next exporter …

I guess you missed the memo from the Fed that tapering will begin some time soon?’

that’s funny

And since almost every nation wants to be a next exporter …

So what do net exporters like to store their excess income in the form of? Dollars? Or ??? Seems like that storage mechanism is where the net exporter paradigm breaks down.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100461159

enormous debt…unsustainable spending…no end to fed money printing…sooner or later they could be the only buyers of U.S. treasuries.

also the money printing causes an increase in oil prices which props up and enbolden’s Russia.

IMHO the president failed miseably in the ME by uniting the Russians and Chinese agains the U.S. I’m not sure if the president should get 100% of the blame or if it’s just another poltical sign of the U.S’s. diminishing influence. Hell…Britain wasn’t even with is.

perhaps the “yeah it’s bad here but it’s worse everywhere else” will pan out…but i doubt it.

So what do net exporters like to store their excess income in the form of? Dollars? Or ??? Seems like that storage mechanism is where the net exporter paradigm breaks down.

They quietly purchase our assets. Every once in a while they overstep and try to but something they shouldn’t (like a port).

the u.s. dollar always goes up…buy now or be priced out forever!

I’m sure the older guys like us are OK. I got a few coins back in the 90s about the same time I picked up a few personal defense tools but never thought of them as investments, more like insurance. But after 9/11 and much more since Obama took office the obsession with gold and guns has reached mini-bubble status. My great weakness is all kinds of tools and I must have $15-$20k tied up in my shop so I admit to being somewhat obsessed with it.
* Any body need their 1968 Mercedes fuel injectors removed? I got just the tool for it.

Hey old dude. You realize the biggest entitlements are SS, Medicare, and VA benefits, right?

You know, things that the GOP _loves_.

But yet any talk about cutting the absolutely insane levels of borrowing/debt under obama to just the merely insane levels of borrowing/debt under Bush/Clinton/Bush is meet with jeers and threats of starving kids and hypocrisy.

Anyone who agreed with the vice president when he said that deficits don’t matter could fairly be accused of hypocrisy, or at least absurd inconsistency.

NWS meteorologists that works rotating shifts and uses science to keep you safe at night…and let me assure you, unlike the STATE of CALIFORNIA, our pensions & health care are not outrageous.

Are you saying our lives are in danger now? I must have worshiped the wrong god all my life. I must be worshipping you for keeping me safe at night.

Why compare with california? Why not comapre with median income/benefit/pension of an American family?

But as usual…the military is the protected class…

Too much so.

Exceptional debtor, maybe because the education and skill set required for the job is far, far higher than the median person. Ever think of that?

education and skill set required for the job is far, far higher than the median person.

Wasn’t this the argument bankers used to make? I know many highly educated and people with skills working for peanuts. Oh I forgot, you are an government employee, you are entitled. My bad.

And knowing when to get to the tornado shelter can save lives.

Tornado Alley is more prone to tornados than the rest of the country, but no place is immune.

It’s not Climate Change. It is man worshiping himself.

It’s not Climate Change. It is man worshiping himself.

How is recognizing that we are fouling up our home a form of self worship? Where I come from its called being responsible.

recognizing is easy…just put a green ribbon on your lapel.

Have the Blue Angels been grounded too? Not the Blue Angels!!

On 1 March 2013 the US Navy announced that due to sequestration actions aerial demonstration team performances including that of the Blue Angels would cease from 1 April 2013. wiki

Oh no! What will you do Liar?!

Seriously HA give it a rest. Name calling and badgering adds nothing, it’s OK as condiment for debate but on it’s own provides little sustenance.

This is the HBB… not a place to drive an agenda with lies.

LMAO!!

This just in: President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Civility for the wild success of ObamaCare.

Civility?

My report said it was 2 nobel prizes; economics and medicine.

‘if congressional leaders are unable to come to an agreement to avoid a government shutdown, the roughly half of federal employees who will be affected won’t even have the solace of watching the panda cub to distract them from their lack of paychecks.’

I come to deliver solace to the non-working federal workers.

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/

http://zooatlanta.org/panda_cam

Even better:

http://seaworldparks.com/seaworld-sandiego/Animals/Webcams/Penguin-Cam

https://www.scz.org/animal_exhibits-penguin_cam.php

A Shamu cam!

http://www.inteveo.com/demos/hospitality/seaworld/Animals/Webcams/Shamu-Cam.html

A polar bear cam!

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/polarcam/

That should keep you busy until Oprah comes on.

“This just in: President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Civility for the wild success of ObamaCare.”

Careful there, Boss. You’ll upset the whiny sycophants who have solved all of the societal ills in South America and now feel obligated to ‘help’ with their ‘expertise’ here.

Nobody outside the Beltway understands how much Washington dotes baby pandas. It’s a sort of blind spot we have. But to be fair, the pandamonium was much worse in 2005 when Tai Shan arrived.

and now feel obligated to ‘help’ with their ‘expertise’ here.

Oh Hi Beer and Cigar Guy,
I can’t tell you how much that hurts. Because it doesn’t.

Your just mad because you can’t often gather your “thoughts” in an original coherent paragraph.

Most every one of your posts are bad versions of AM radio talking points - totally unoriginal and using buzzwords that are spoon-fed to you by your propaganda masters.

You know what I’m talking about.

‘who have solved all of the societal ills in South America and now feel obligated to ‘help’

I have it on good authority that Rio has pulled on some greens and re-named a large section of jungle, Sherwood Forest:

http://shechive.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/men-tights-11.jpg

…and is now redistributing wealth with the aid of Friar Tuck:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zGNuAbIU2OI/TmUPjh5Hw6I/AAAAAAAAAFc/S5jfyA1P_gQ/s1600/tuck.jpg

But I have to thank Rio too, for he was right. This morning there was a basket of money at my door. And as I took this loot to the banks, I discovered I could see better and I was a little taller! Get this; my car’s tires had more tread on them! As I walked into the branch office, my knuckles no longer dragged on the ground! Returning, I was drawn to the NPR station that plays classical music; and I enjoyed it. Not only am I thriving, I am civilized! So here I sit, in a yoga position, playing my harpsichord to the Baroque masters, eagerly anticipating the open air symphony later today at the local Urgent Care clinic, where young cute girls will no doubt have painted toenails. Pandamonium!

Nobody outside the Beltway understands how much Washington dotes baby pandas. It’s a sort of blind spot we have.

You mean the pretentious rich white people. Of course, they have to fill their vacous lives with some $hit like that. Poor and working people don’t give a flyin’ F about a bamboo eating mammal.

WOW. Too many perverts out there checking out naked animals.

LMAO Jonesy. Beautiful.

Don’t forget to don the pink leotard.

But I have to thank Rio too, for he was right.

Thank you.

You know you’re doing a good job making your factual case and instilling some doubt in people’s set realities when you’re getting attacked with nonsense and being called names.

Now me being rebutted with facts, figures and concepts would be harder for most of my debaters and more of a challenge for me. But I’m not seeing it. MathGuy yesterday did a good job making his case although I countered it with my case. That’s debate.

‘who have solved all of the societal ills in South America

I can’t. It is illegal for me to be involved in Brazilian politics. I hold a Brazilian “greencard” not Brazilian citizenship. I am an American.

Monty Python Dennis Moore Lyrics

Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore
Riding through the land
Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore
Without a merry band
He steals from the poor
And gives to the rich
Stupid b*tch

‘fill their vacous lives’

‘Many restaurant owners are worried, too. Andy Thompson, a co-owner of the Thornton River Grille in Sperryville, Va., says many of his customers come to visit the nearby Shenandoah National Park — especially now during the peak of leaf-viewing tourist season.’

‘If federal workers in Virginia lose paychecks and the park gates remain locked for long, then his restaurant could feel the pinch.’

OMG, this is heart-breaking. First the panda cam and now leaf-viewing! And no dining out afterward? Barbarians.

The best part of this is that they shut down nature… LOL NATURE! As if the park rangers magically somehow keep the lights on. I JUST saw a news article that indicated WWII vets had stormed the national WWII monument that extra effort went into blocking off from public access during the shutdown. HA!

Your just mad because you can’t often gather your “thoughts” in an original coherent paragraph.

More misspellings and bad grammar from the master of criticizing others in this regard. You’re probably just mad because he did something wrong with “his just”.

Oh the sad panda……. (and lying realtors )

Mathguy, here is the article…

http://hypervocal.com/news/2013/world-war-ii-veterans-shutdown/

Classic.

“More misspellings and bad grammar from the master of criticizing others in this regard. You’re probably just mad because he did something wrong with “his just”.”

“his just.”

Fixed.

“More misspellings

I don’t mind mispellings per se. (see, I do it all the time?) What amuses me (at first) are the posters lacking original thought or a coherent idea expressed (sometimes) in at least a paragraph.

Instead, they constantly write one or two line “zingers” simply parroting talking points they hear on the radio.

Grammar and spellings are secondary to the original thought and the coherent message imo.

Glad to know we have our priorities. Shun the families, shun the friends, shun the sun, rain and snow. Cook yourself up in a room in fornt of a computer so that you can make the CEO dude and the Partner dude richer every year.”

oh the H1B visa worker. we need more of them because Americans are too lazy to kill themselves for the shareholders

H1B’s actually have limited options and they provide for their families back home. In a way it’s a good deal for them…I am talking about the US American keyboard jockies.

Sound like it’s Feds rule, contractors drool!

The Feds have had a pay freeze for 3 years now. In that time I have worked for 6 (yes, six) different contractors and my gross income has increased almost 23 percent

Feds drool, contractors rule!

not a bad return for the taxpayers…getting 10 times the work out of you for only 23% more.

Except you are forgetting that Goon’s company strips all of that benefit and more. Show me one study that shows contractors are 10 x as efficient?. Now if there’s competition for the work then there may be an advantage but as noted in the post above, much of the work is handed out to the politically connected and there is no competition.

How would you know, you didn’t even post it?

Don’t be too surprised. There are people who don’t understand that the Colbert Report is satire.

Don’t be too surprised. There are people who don’t understand that the Colbert Report is satire.

As somebody who believes in government lies, propaganda and statistics as facts and as somebody who takes other people’s conjectures as facts, you must be speaking of yourself.

As somebody who believes in government lies

You obviously haven’t read my posts where I question the official inflation, unemployment and GDP growth numbers.

Just because I disagree with you doesn’t mean I’m a Democrat or an Obama fan.

the half that Obama didn’t halt anyway. Hey, how can he just pick and choose which parts of a “law” to implement?

I didn’t know if that were legal either. It turns out it is.

Delaying Parts of Obamacare: ‘Blatantly Illegal’ or Routine Adjustment?

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/07/delaying-parts-of-obamacare-blatantly-illegal-or-routine-adjustment/277873/

The GOP says Obama’s decision to postpone implementing the “employer mandate” stomps all over the Constitution. It doesn’t, and here’s why.

…….a president cannot “refuse to enforce a statute he opposes for policy reasons.” ……

(But) The Administration has not postponed the employer mandate out of policy opposition to the ACA, nor to the specific provision itself. Thus, it’s misleading to characterize the action as a “refusal to enforce.” Rather, the President has authorized a minor temporary course correction regarding individual ACA provisions, necessary in his Administration’s judgment to faithfully execute the overall statute, other related laws, and the purposes of the ACA’s framers. As a legal as well as a practical matter, that’s well within his job description.

Some animals are more equal than others… haven’t you read Animal Farm?

As to the “It’s law” comments, I opposed it as did many that I know. I fully support any group in Congress who refuses to bow down and accept bad legislation because of the electoral calculus of poor, urban, government-dependent Democrat voters outnumbering hard-working, middle class Republican voters.

calculus of poor, urban, government-dependent Democrat voters outnumbering hard-working, middle class Republican voters.

What a joke. Northeastener’s new motto:

“The US Constitution….Get over it”

‘that’s well within his job description’

Like refusing to prosecute wall street donors, I mean criminals? Or using drones to kill innocent people in countries we’re not at war with? Or wiretapping half the globes communications? This clown can’t even keep a panda cam going. I’m sure he’ll spend my money well.

“Rather, the President has authorized a minor temporary course correction regarding individual ACA provisions, necessary in his Administration’s judgment to faithfully execute the overall statute, other related laws, and the purposes of the ACA’s framers. As a legal as well as a practical matter, that’s well within his job description.”

so that’s what the kids are calling “buying votes” these days.

Like refusing to prosecute wall street donors, I mean criminals? Or using drones to kill innocent people in countries we’re not at war with? Or wiretapping half the globes communications?

These acts are in sync with contemporary American values, given that so few Americans are upset by them.

And yes, I am upset by them.

‘It is law’

rio would have made a great slave owner.

“Or using drones to kill innocent people in countries we’re not at war with?”

ben…you really need to get inside these liberals’ head…be the liberal.

using drones to kill innocent people in lieu of using “boots on the ground” is civilized. think of all the “boots on the ground” that are not being put in harms way to kill those innocent people.

‘using drones to kill innocent people in lieu of using “boots on the ground” is civilized’

Of Mice and Mud
The allure of the quick solution

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/of-mice-and-mud#axzz2gNjZxKHQ

By the way, the house passed a spending resolution to fully continue operation of the government. Did you miss that? They aren’t holding anything hostage. The government starts up as soon as the Senate passes that bill.

Could you not clearly see that I was talking about refusal to pass budget law as blowback to passing ACA?

No because it was not clearly expressed and/or you were trying to be tricky - like hide-the-pea. The entire conversation today was about ACA and how the Republicans want to defund the existing law. Why try to obfuscate the actual issue?

They aren’t holding anything hostage. The government starts up as soon as the Senate passes that bill.

Bravo. Now you are dreaming at the same time that you are obfuscating.

Right, the conversation about ACA where I mention that refusal to pass the current budget is blowback from passing ACA… ok good, now we’re clear on that.

” They aren’t holding anything hostage. The government starts up as soon as the Senate passes that bill.”

“Bravo. Now you are dreaming at the same time that you are obfuscating.”

Do you dispute that this is the case? This is a shit ton of spin that wants to put all the blame in one place or another, but the FACT is, the house has passed a resolution and the senate has passed a resolution. Either one can sign and send to the president. The dems could just defund ACA for this week, then re-pass it next week if they can still get the votes.Just because you disagree with their proposal, you can’t deny that the House put out and passed a budget that is ready to fund basically all current government expenditures other than ACA.

Now you are dreaming at the same time that you are obfuscating.”

Do you dispute that this is the case?

I do not dispute the case that you are obfuscating. That the “the House put out and passed a budget that is ready to fund basically………” is a non-starter and was told it would be a non-starter from the beginning. Its DOA. You don’t hold a country hostage and launch a futile protest to a passed and signed law. (deemed Constitutional by the SCOTUS) And because 15% of your party are whackjobs?

And it is reckless and dumb. And it hurts the Repubs and America. And it won’t work.

In a democracy, there is no “told”. Told is what happens from dictators. And when did the dems become dictators? You could equally say dems were told that no budget would pass with ACA in it, and therefore they are holding the country hostage. See.. spin does jack shit to solve the problem. The reality is that both sides are refusing to budge. The is no “right” in this situation. “Right” is what more than 50% vote on and pass, and the country still continues to support. A bunch of the ones that passed the ACA got thrown out on their butts. In my book that puts the ACA on very shaky ground politically.

They will move here and .. what.. steal your job in accounting?

Why not? If an accountant is paid $700 in the third world, why not come here?

like i said.

Why do defensive? If you think me pointing out that racism is prevalent and racists don’t like being called on it is McCarthyism, than you don’t know what that word means.

However, there is some justification to your assertion. But that does not negate mine.

That’s racist rio.

One would think that advocating gay marriages and imposing Sharia law would be conflicting positions, but when memes have legs, the memes run…

but when memes have legs, the memes run…

Go, meme, go! Look at those memes go!

“Do you like my Gay Marriage under Sharia Law?”

“No, I do not like your Gay Marriage under Sharia Law!”

With apologies to P.D. Eastman.

Also I want to make it clear, I will not be responding to you or engaging you in the future. I better engage and learn from people who are actually more open minded and do not repeat the lies as much as you do.

Dude, get some help.

Why? It’s easy putting together facts that easily counter your one-line jive. I need no help in debating you.

I will not be responding to you or engaging you in the future.

See? I told you so.

Dude, get some help

Uh … Rio posts facts and backs them up. You post opinions.

Uh … Rio posts facts and backs them up. You post opinions.

Awww….we have a sycophant right here.

Have you clicked in any of the article links? Editorials are facts? Omabacare will make the country civilized, is that a fact? Entrepreneurs will take more risks, is that a fact?

Mine are opinions and never said they are not.

Jesus, I must be live in a different world.

Have you clicked in any of the article links? Editorials are facts?

Jeeze. It isn’t all or nothing. Sure I post opinion. Who doesn’t? Are you kidding me?

But I base my opinion on many presented facts. And I present a lot of facts - MANY more than by my debate opponents.

Jesus, I must be live in a different world.

Yea. You are if you believe in the validity of your post.

I love how liars attempt to legitimize themselves by suggesting they post facts when the truth is something entirely different than “facts”.

Awww….we have a sycophant right here.

Ah, the hallmark of someone with no facts to back up their opinions … they resort to insults. Like clockwork.

Like this?

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/30/five-reasons-americans-already-love-obamacare-plus-one-reason-why-theyre-gonna/

“Ah, the hallmark of someone with no facts to back up their opinions … they resort to insults. Like clockwork.”

That’s classic coming from someone pimping for the power structures.

Keep hiding boi.

Keep hiding boi.

Housing Analyst……3 Years ago you were highly respected by me and many, many more. Damn, you used to write influential things in complete paragraphs. It was really good…… And your opinions on housing might be correct. Heck yea.

But you’ve turned into one hateful, predictable and one weird dude. Really.

(OK, u will insult me now) (Like it matters)

Your flattery is meaningless Fraudster.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/30/five-reasons-americans-already-love-obamacare-plus-one-reason-why-theyre-gonna/

Eh, you might want to think about that.

Will this have implications for DC area housing prices?

“Will this have implications for DC area housing prices?”

Those furloughed dc peeps will now have more time to shop for that dream home. Better hurry!