Bits Bucket for December 24, 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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Living in a rental will never feel like a real home.
Going home after your Realtor has had sex in it will never feel like a real home.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/236909301_Agents_accused_of_sex_in_home.html
Is it legal for Realtor®s to have sex in homes they don’t own, which they are supposed to be selling on behalf of their clients?
You have to ask?
One time I was in a band with a Realtor’s kid. We always had high end practice space.
Too Many People Buy Homes When They Should Rent
Dec 19, 2013
MANISHA THAKOR:
Wealth Management Report
http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2013/12/19/too-many-people-buy-homes-when-they-should-rent/ - 102k
We haven’t yet run out of buyers with buckets of money and boxes of stupid.
renting a tuxedo for prom will never get you the girl
Oh, it did.
It is true, ZZ top gives good advice.
Renting a house from the bank might get you the wife, though.
Her glowering eyes and rattlesnake twitch…he swallows his pride. Finished!
Comment by Amy Hoax
2013-12-23 09:33:36
Have fun spending Christmas in a rental with all the other losers who failed at life.
Thanks for showing your true colors shill.
Go out and ruin some more lives.
I have so much money left over after “throwing money away on rent” every month that I don’t know where to throw it.
You can’t blame a Realtor® for showing his true nature.
Put that coffee down!
“realtoR”
For the regulars here renting is the better option. Single, childless and miserly folks are better off renting a bare bones apartment. No need to H8 on them. I can respect their decision.
On the other hand, I want a little more out of life. I also have kids and I truly think it is close to a form of child abuse to raise kids in an apartment. (just kidding, kind of).
So I bought the big house with lots of big rooms and bathrooms. The kids have their rooms, we have ours, I have an office which I soundproofed (good luck getting that in a rental). The kids each have their own bathroom and a huge basement for all their stuff. The house is on acreage in a valley with 360 views of mountains. We have a pool. Yes, most apartment complexes have pools too, but I prefer the privacy of my own. Over the summer, I built the kids a swing set and a playhouse. I suppose you could do that in a rental, but once that stuff gets built, it ain’t never coming out of the ground. So you’re building this stuff for someone eIse in reality. I have a 4 car garage for the 3 cars cars and a boat. Again, I suppose I could keep the cars outside like in an apartment, but scraping ice off the windshield really isn’t much fun. And I’d have to pay $100/mo to store the boat. Also over the summer, I built a fire pit. Sitting by the fire, watching the sun set with a beer in hand in the summer..ahhhh. Also have the big deck with a built in BBQ. I realize apartment buildings have public BBQs for use, but it’s really not the same. I also have 3 dogs who need a lot of room to run. So I fenced off about an acre…which also is good to keep the kids fenced in, so I don’t have to worry about them when they go outside. I can’t say for sure, but I think renting anything with 3 dogs is just about impossible.
Here’s something you probably can’t do in the 1 bedroom apartment….ski. Yes, ski. My property has a gentle slope on it, essentially a bunny run. My oldest daughter is learning to ski in our back yard. I ski with her down, then we take the skis off, and walk back up. She’s also taking lessons at a ski resort but being able to just go out a few times a day to practice is amazing. All the snow melted yesterday, so this will be on hold until the next storm blows in.
Another benefit…the quiet. I can see my neighbors, but I can’t hear them. Closest house is 500 feet away. Maybe it’s just me, but I prefer not hearing what my neighbors say and do 24/7.
And do I pay more for a mortgage than a 1 bedroom? Sure. Is it worth it? By all means.
And you overpaid by 250%.
So your entire point of telling us you got ripped of is what?
If he allegedly has such a perfect life, something must be missing if he needs to post here for external validation.
Seeking validation? I certainly didn’t get that from Smither’s post. But since you brought it up, the opposite appears to be true, i.e. many regular posters come here to seek validation of their decision to forgo buying. Any contrary opinion is shouted down, accusations of being a paid shill are made, etc.
Still stinging from your losses? Or is it from getting schooled daily?
“the opposite appears to be true, i.e. many regular posters come here to seek validation of their decision to forgo buying. Any contrary opinion is shouted down, accusations of being a paid shill are made, etc.”
Bingo! Sums this place up perfectly. It’s all or nothing with them.
I want all of it. Every last penny you’ve got.
You have to appreciate the appropos monikers the latest cohort of HBB Realtor®-trolls have adopted to describe themselves:
“Amy Hoax”
“Lame”
“EddieTard”
etc…
Actually the “lame” handle was meant to accurately describe people of your ilk, but thanks for playing. I don’t play realtor on here or in real life if you had any reading comprehension skills.
“EddieTard”
I don’t recall anybody here with that moniker. That’s something the tolerant, coexist liberals came up with. You know - the ones who often accuse others of ad hominem attacks…?
Let me help you; I guarantee the appreciation of the house; Promise. You often read here that houses depreciate; That doesn’t occur while you’re working with me but you’re on your own after you buy the place.
Deal?
Just like clockwork… Here comes whac-a-bubbles’ alter ego: Realtor Fun!
What do you mean by bubble; There is no housing bubble; there was never a housing bubble; Do not fear; I will not steer you wrong;
It backfired though, didn’t it?
Michael Viking
We have Realtor®s coming out of the woodwork these days. Shouldn’t you guys be out selling homes?
It backfired though, didn’t it?
there, I fixed it since you can’t read into sarcasm very much.
So many news stories about Realtor® fraud, so little time to post them all.
Realtor testifies in Lewiston fraud trial
Sun Journal Staff
CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS, Staff Writer
Lewiston-Auburn |
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 at 9:20 pm
AUBURN — A Lewiston Realtor testified Wednesday that he sold two buildings to a couple who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash for them. Prosecutors said the couple, Roda Abdi, 45, and Ali-Nassir Ahmed, 53, both of Lewiston, was bilking the federal government out of tens of thousands of dollars in housing benefits at the time.
It was the second day of the couple’s bench trial in Androscoggin County Superior Court. Each is charged with one count of felony theft, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors said the couple continued to live in subsidized housing while owning a business and building real estate with cash.
…
Local Realtor sentenced in mortgage fraud
Posted: Thursday, November 28, 2013 1:00 pm
By JOE AIELLO jaiello@bladenews.com
U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Michael Abobor, 38, of Glenn Dale, to 51 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme involving intended losses of at least $2 million.
Messitte also entered an order that Abobor forfeit $2,026,205 and pay restitution of $1,832,650.
According to his plea agreement, in the spring and summer of 2007, Abobor, a licensed Realtor, submitted fraudulent loan applications for the purchase of homes in Maryland. Abobor purchased two homes in his own name, and purchased the rest of the homes using the names, and credit, of various friends and family members. Each loan application contained fraudulent information about the borrower’s earnings including their monthly income and their assets and employers, of which Abobor had full knowledge.
Abobor arranged at least seven fraudulent real estate transactions, caused more than $2,000,000 in intended losses to victim financial institutions, took in excess of $20,000 in fraudulent real estate commissions, and collected over $270,000 in extra money from the transactions in the form of third party disbursements for renovations that were never completed.
The Maryland Mortgage Fraud Task Force was established to unify the agencies that regulate and investigate mortgage fraud and promote the early detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of mortgage fraud schemes. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the task force, demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement agencies to protect consumers from fraud and promote the integrity of the credit markets.
Abobor is the fourth local Realtor to be found guilty of mortgage fraud in the last 18 months.
…
David Crisp, wife Jennifer entered guilty plea to fraud, conspiracy charges
Posted: 12/16/2013
Last Updated: 8 days ago
FRESNO, Calif. - Former Bakersfield realtor David Crisp and his wife Jennifer pleaded guilty to fraud relating to real estate and bank fraud Monday at the Federal Courthouse in Fresno.
David Crisp pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud. Jennifer Crisp pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, and one count of wire fraud. The couple pleaded guilty to various charges relating to the Crisp & Cole real estate fraud case.
According to the plea agreements, Carl Cole, who pleaded guilty in November, and David Crisp, owned and operated real estate brokerage firm Crisp, Cole & Associates, also known as Crisp & Cole Real Estate (CCRE), and Tower Lending, an affiliated mortgage brokerage.
According to court documents, between January 2004 and September 2007, others at CCRE and Tower Lending carried out a conspiracy to defraud mortgage loan companies and federally insured financial institutions, in part by using straw purchasers to acquire properties at inflated prices with funds borrowed from lenders, often using 100 percent financing, based on false and fraudulent loan applications. The properties were nominally owned in the names of the straw buyers, but were controlled by the “The defendants falsely inflated real estate prices knowing that the foreclosures that followed would do harm to local builders, consumers, and lenders,” said U.S. Attorney Wagner. “The conduct of Crisp, Cole & Associates was emblematic of the recklessness and lawlessness in the mortgage industry in the mid-2000s that caused the financial crisis. Since that crisis hit, this office has charged more than 350 people with crimes related to mortgage fraud schemes, and our work is not yet done.”and held for the benefit of the conspirators and CCRE.
The conspirators frequently resold the properties from one straw buyer to another, each time at an inflated, higher price so that the conspirators and CCRE could extract the purported increased “equity” from the property for their benefit.
…
Pleas of ‘Not Guilty’ Entered by Three In Mortgage Fraud
Courts | Fri, 12/20/2013 - 3:28 pm | Updated 3 days 23 hours ago | Read 2378
By Helen McCaffrey
CAMDEN – Kathryn Lockwood, Frederic Diantonio and Louis V. Catarro had a scheduled Status Hearing in Federal District Court in Camden Dec. 9 before Judge Renee Marie Bumb. The Cape May County residents have pled “not guilty” after being indicted by a grand jury in January of this year.
The charges involve accusations of conspiracy “to devise, scheme and defraud Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of $15 million.” The grand jury findings included the names of several unindicted co-conspirators including Cape May county resident, real estate developer and attorney Louis Dwyer of Sun Ray Beach and Thunderbird Development. The grand jury alleges that mortgage lenders, many from Pennsylvania and some from New Jersey, conspired with mortgage brokers, developers and Realtors to defraud banks and ultimately taxpayers. The indictment alleges that they did this by obtaining mortgage loans from unqualified borrowers using fraudulent loan applications. HUD set up the Insurance Program to Promote Home Ownership in order to encourage private lenders to provide mortgage loans to borrowers who did not have enough money for a down payment or adequate credit. It also states that some of the buyers were given kickbacks.
…
“…ad hominem attacks…”
So far as I am aware, there is no HBB rule against pointing out that a Realtard® troll is a stupid jerk.
At any rate, I’ll plan to rely on Ben Jones to let me know if I’m out of bounds, rather than Michael Viking.
Dear Housing Analyst, you remind me my fiend’s father in law, who was going to visit his grand kids with his wife in Paris, France and asked my friend if he can put a tent next to their apartment building… because hotels were expensive… . I think you are planning to live at least 500 years…
And don’t forget….
The losses you’ll take from buying a house at current grossly inflated asking prices will last a lifetime and are irrecoverable.
Lastly, realtors are liars
Dear Housing Analyst, which life this one or the one after that…?
If one lifetime of losses isn’t enough you can always double down on another rapidly depreciating asset at a grossly inflated price.
I’m sure you should replace Jim Cramer… same analytical quality…but only for this life… even though I’m atheist, for the other one, housing will be free and you will chose anything with no “inflated prices”and without procrastination…
You’ve backpedaling right out the back door of your underwater depreciating house.
Can we see that again?
My life is going nearly as well as yours, now if only I could get a table at Applebees!
If only my Atlanta real estate investments would pencil out…
you can rent a place just like that if you have the money. you can even rent more. you just have to pay. not everyone rents apartments. some renters go for the luxury, like you do.
but-but-but-but you overpaid for all that. Just look at the market! Housing is not an investment. You should be able to keep all that in a 1 bedroom apartment so you can save loads of cash that you won’t even know what to do with like the rest of us!!! How dar you stray from the norm on this blog! Realtors suck and housing is not worth buying.
+1
You couldn’t have rented it for half the monthly cost.
Why buy it?
Buying at near peak of the biggest housing bubble in our history probably means you are overpaying. That is a lame thing to do. Buying with a big pile of borrowed money in the face of a massive credit contraction is lame. Buying more than you need so your kid can slip and slide in the yard while you toil for thirty years to pay the bank interest is lame.
Dear lame:
I’m glad you apparently bought a house recently. I like it when ppl make very bad financial decisions, then mock everyone else for refusing to ruin their own lives, and then get all sheepish in a few years when they have to apply for welfare ’cause they’re homeless now.
Thanks for playin’.
“So I bought the big house with lots of big rooms and bathrooms. The kids have their rooms, we have ours, I have an office which I soundproofed (good luck getting that in a rental). The kids each have their own bathroom and a huge basement for all their stuff. The house is on acreage in a valley with 360 views of mountains. We have a pool. Yes, most apartment complexes have pools too, but I prefer the privacy of my own. Over the summer, I built the kids a swing set and a playhouse. I suppose you could do that in a rental, but once that stuff gets built, it ain’t never coming out of the ground. So you’re building this stuff for someone eIse in reality. I have a 4 car garage for the 3 cars cars and a boat. Again, I suppose I could keep the cars outside like in an apartment, but scraping ice off the windshield really isn’t much fun. And I’d have to pay $100/mo to store the boat. Also over the summer, I built a fire pit. Sitting by the fire, watching the sun set with a beer in hand in the summer..ahhhh. Also have the big deck with a built in BBQ. I realize apartment buildings have public BBQs for use, but it’s really not the same. I also have 3 dogs who need a lot of room to run. So I fenced off about an acre…which also is good to keep the kids fenced in, so I don’t have to worry about them when they go outside. I can’t say for sure, but I think renting anything with 3 dogs is just about impossible.”
+1 Good morning Gandhi
“Here’s something you probably can’t do in the 1 bedroom apartment….ski. Yes, ski. My property has a gentle slope on it, essentially a bunny run. My oldest daughter is learning to ski in our back yard. I ski with her down, then we take the skis off, and walk back up. She’s also taking lessons at a ski resort but being able to just go out a few times a day to practice is amazing. All the snow melted yesterday, so this will be on hold until the next storm blows in.”
Put in a runway for the Cessna 185, and you’ll win me over.
Mr. Smithers;
I robbed you blind.
Mr. Smithers
You work hard and built a great life for your family. More power to you. I’m happy for you. You’re a long term thinker, dreamer, and family guy. I like that.
We’ve had our 5+4. Maybe not as grandiose as your setup, but I thank my lucky stars for the experience of a view (of the mountains and hills) luxury home. It was a great life. This one is more modest, but the weird thing is the “topers” in this neighborhood. Modest shacks with “I’ve got better than you” attitudes. Weird.
Merry Christmas everyone. We’re volunteering to feed the indigent tomorrow. Time to give back.
So you knowingly and deliberately overpaid by 250% and then threw more money in enlarging your losses.
Are you sure you’re not one of the indigent?
Ah, the true spirit of Christmas!
That’s fantastic. Seriously.
The problem I have with housing is that it was driven to absurd prices by fraud, and held there by Federal Reserve and political intervention.
I have to say, I do feel bad for new families because there’s truth to the concept that it’s better to raise kids where they can run around a bit in a yard, rather than having to be quiet in a multilevel apartment building.
And it doesn’t need to be like that. But it is like that. Due to central bank interventions and politicians getting kickbacks from Wall Street, out of a portion of the money that’s directed to Wall Street. This is all part of the “War on Consumer Surplus” where Wall Street continues to claim larger and larger portions of consumer surplus, aided and abetted by politicians who receive a portion of the proceeds.
With a million-plus dollar house like you describe (around DC metro at least), property taxes, utilities and maintenance are going to be quite substantial and will exist well after the mortgage. If you’ve got a good enough job to swing it, that’s great. But going forward, people will have to go deeper and deeper into debt, and fewer and fewer people will be able to do so, for much less august of a residence. Eventually, the tables will turn, as more people feel they are harmed by the current system than benefited.
As far as HBB regulars go, don’t weep for us: http://i.imgur.com/4GIlWoJ.gif - even the brokest probably have net worths higher than many “living the housing dream.”
“The problem I have with housing is that it was driven to absurd prices by fraud, and held there by Federal Reserve and political intervention.”
+1 One sentence says it all.
So Smithers’ house has a ski mountain, an Olympic-size swimming pool, boarding facilities, world class views, spa like creature comforts- what’s Larry Ellison doing posting on the Housing Bubble Blog?!
In reality, we’re probably talking about a single-wide trailer on a rural acre of land sloping to the east into a drainage ditch with a kiddie pool and a Home-Depot gas grill. Impressive.
:clapping:…. you should be writing comedy.
Hey Slithers:
You are so dense. I just own rental properties, then I use my profits to pay my own rent. I rent two houses, each in a different city. I go between the houses so I can “get away” on the weekends and holidays. I can change jobs whenever I want or need to, and I can go to any city for the job. I don’t have to worry about the timing, so I can’t get stuck in a jobless city just because I happen to own a house that is underwater by three years’ pay.
Both of my houses have everything I want in a house. Great locations/sizes/views, etc.
Living in a rental is THE BEST.
Living in a house declining in value will never feel like a home, but like a prison!
Maybe he intends to live in in and not value it as an investment/asset. renters can’t seem to figure this out.
Thanks for all the lame posts, troll boy.
Aww are you cranky because the heat went out in your studio apt today? i’m sure the landord will be by around 4pm to fix it.
I will lie through my teeth.
The loanowners defending their purchases here are the ones who got suckered into paying too much, and are angry at the world for pointing out their folly. Ordinary folks with reasonable mortgages, and who live in the house for shelter purposes and not an “investment,” have much better things to do than troll a housing bubble blog. Foreclosure is the likely outcome for those venting here, as only severe financial straits, or mental illness, fuel such venom. “Lame” is apropos. Merry Christmas, dolt!
Haha another whac-a-bubble minion. Gave it away with the last line there, buddy. Your post was one big ASSumption, so you know what that makes you, correct? (do you need a minute still?) Merry Christmas to you also, and-make sure you pay your rent on time this month, the landlord says your 2 months behind!
Merry Christmas to you too; don’t forget to pay your mortgage payment on time this month; the bank has you on the foreclosure roster and you’re underwater.
We have scores of beautiful houses for rent that are much less costly than your mortgage; feel free to call me; I will be there for you once again.
Buy now or be priced out forever!
the party will continue after the superbowl!!!!
I have alternative investment in China. E-mail for detail.
The China edition of the housing bubble is just starting to come into plain view.
China’s Ghost Cities
2013-12-25 14:26:27
CRIENGLISH.com
Web Editor: Fei
Susan Susan Susan
Benghazi wasn’t a “false controversy”, it was one of many phony scandals.
Susan Rice: Haven’t Got Time for ‘False’ Benghazi Controversy
By Amy Woods
Monday, 23 Dec 2013 05:50 PM
Although television interviews that National Security Adviser Susan Rice gave after the deadly terrorist attacks in Libya exploded in backlash over their credibility, the former U.S. diplomat expressed no regrets during an appearance on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
“I don’t have time to think about a false controversy,” Rice said on the Sunday-night show. “In the midst of all of the swirl about things like talking points, the administration’s been working very, very hard across the globe to review our security of our embassies and our facilities. That’s what we ought to be focused on.”
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died during the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
Rice suffered consequences that cost her the secretary of state post after she described the attacks as spontaneous when they were, in fact, acts of terrorism. The White House, in defending Rice, said she was revealing the intelligence that had been gathered up until that point.
When “60 Minutes’” Lesley Stahl asked Rice why the White House didn’t dispatch then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to handle the political talk shows, Rice answered:
“She had just gone through an incredibly painful and stressful week. Secretary Clinton, as our chief diplomat, had to reach out to the families, had to greet the bodies upon their arrival at Andrews Air Force Base. If I were her, the last thing I would have wanted to do is five Sunday-morning talk shows. So, I think it’s perfectly understandable.”
On the topic of government surveillance and having to contend with that controversy, Rice said she supports the cellphone monitoring program, The Hill reported.
“It’s been worth what we’ve done to protect the United States,” she said. “And the fact that we have not had a successful attack on our homeland since 9-11 should not be diminished. But that does not mean that everything we’re doing as of the present ought to be done the same way in the future.”
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Susan-Rice-Benghazi-false-controversy/2013/12/23/id/543514 - 71k -
Ain’t nobody got time for that.
I love that woman. That was funny.
And it was all caused by a video on YouTube that NO ONE ever watched.
I wonder if the “director” of that video is still in jail. The only person arrested for the killing of four Americans including the ambassador.
Hope and change from the messiah
We have successfully swept this story down the memory hole.
Did you see Miley Cyrus’ new video?
And how about that Phil Robertson guy?
Obama could not stand Putin having all the political prisoners.
Putin can’t stand Obams gets away with spying on anything that moves.
‘Obama can’t point to a single time the NSA call records program prevented a terrorist attack’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/23/obama-cant-point-to-a-single-time-the-nsa-call-records-program-prevented-a-terrorist-attack/
A comment:
“…continuing to invoke 9/11 to protect the program”…
what’s the difference between 9/11 and a cow?
you can’t milk a cow for 12 years
saddam hussein and his iranian terrorists baked the yellow cakes and threatened our friend and ally israel and flew planes into our world trade centers and pentagons and we have to fight them over there so we wont have to fight them over here and freedom isnt free and lets roll and power of pride and mission accomplished and these colors dont run and flag and eagle and magnetic ribbon and edward snowden is a traitor who attacked us on 9/11 because he hates our freedom
I may have to put a boot up your azz, it is the American way.
When you are shot standing next to CIA operatives, why is it not a spy mission gone bad?
Isn’t the Secretary SUPPOSED to disavow all knowledge?
“WASHINGTON — The former Countrywide Financial Corp., whose subprime loans helped start the nation’s foreclosure crisis, made hundreds of discount loans to buy influence with members of Congress, congressional staff, top government officials and executives of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, according to a House report.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/countrywide-loan-discounts_n_1650650.html
It worked great until they blew up! Same with Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s influence peddling.
Isn’t it great that the people who write laws regulating the banking and mortgage industry (cough - Frank-Dodd) receive such nice gifts from the people they are regulating?
—————————-
Among those who received loan discounts from Countrywide, the report said, were:
_Former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
_Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D.
_Mary Jane Collipriest, who was communications director for former Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, then a member of the Banking Committee. The report said Dodd referred Collipriest to Countrywide’s VIP unit. Dodd, when commenting on his own loans, said that he was unaware of receiving preferential treatment but knew his loans were handled by the VIP unit.
The Senate’s ethics committee investigated Dodd and Conrad but did not charge them with any ethical wrongdoing.
_Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
_Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., former chairman of the Oversight Committee. Towns issued the first subpoena to Bank of America for Countrywide documents, and current Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., subpoenaed more documents. The committee said that in responding to the Towns subpoena, Bank of America left out documents related to Towns’ loan.
_Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif.
_Top staff members of the House Financial Services Committee.
_A staff member of Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, a member of the Financial Services Committee.
_Former Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif.
_Former Housing and Urban Development Secretaries Alphonso Jackson and Henry Cisneros; former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. The VIP unit processed Cisneros’ loan after he joined Countrywide’s board of directors.
_Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, was an exception. He told the VIP unit not to give him a discount, and he did not receive one.
_Former heads of Fannie Mae James Johnson, Daniel Mudd and Franklin Raines. Countrywide took a loss on Mudd’s loan. Fannie employees were the most frequent recipients of VIP loans. Johnson received a discount after Mozilo waived problems with his credit rating.
Saw a sign along the highway yesterday in South Carolina that said “complete new build homes from $59/ sqft.”. would have taken a pic if I could have.
Mostly in my area (fl) things are 90-130/sqft for resale housing.
That’s about right. As I’ve stated all along, resale housing is priced at 200-250% of long term trend.
Brother jimmy, do you remember the name of the company on the billboard? We could look them up.
Get over it and get on with your life.
I desired only to identify this villainous imposter in order to pinpoint their inferiority as compared to YOUR company, such that I might appreciate and worship you better, HA. Surely you won’t deny me?
Still stuck I see.
-the materials are the same price…. because they’re the same materials.
In all seriousness, I am having trouble finding these cheap materials. I’m ooking to build a steel shop. Could you point me in the right direction, HA? Not interested in Home Cheapot, etc. Also not sure if red steel, galvanized c-channel, or square tubing is the best.
It sounds like you need a system no? Least costly option is pole barn then packaged systems like Butler, Varco Pruden, etc.
Are you erecting?
realtors are incorrigible liars
Looking forward to spending another Christmas living in mom’s basement?
Yes. I don’t have two dimes to rub together but a realtor cold called and said he could get me into a rapidly depreciating shack at a grossly inflated price.
Actually - being stone cold broke is better than the 50% of Americans in debt up to their eyeballs.
You are a reasonable good credit risk in the eyes of the banks and government.
I thought being up to debt in your eyeballs was a good indicator that Megabank, Inc might be able to get you into a high-interest federally guaranteed subprime loan?
Yes I’m broke…. and if I buy a house, will I be up to my eyeballs in debt?
Amy, I think you slept with the teacher and you were home schooled. Am I right?
New armored tank for town police sparks fear, war of words
Joe Saunders
bizpacreview.com
December 23, 2013
A war of words has broken out over police force in California getting a new armored vehicle built more for a state of war than patrolling in the Golden State.
The Salinas Police Department recently issued a news release proudly announcing the arrival of the armored truck built to survive minefield explosions, which it got compliments of federal taxpayers as part of a program to convert military equipment to law-enforcement use.
Critics took to the police department’s Facebook page to ask exactly why a city of 150,000 on the northern California coast really needs a vehicle designed for battlefield use. It’s more likely to be used against its own citizens, they said..
“That vehicle is made for war. Do not use my safety to justify that vehicle,” one wrote. “The Salinas Police Department is just a bunch of cowards that want to use that vehicle as intimidation and to terrorize the citizens of this city.”
‘To stop gang members?” another wrote. “Hmmm gang members don’t riot in mass numbers. It’s right in front of our faces and we don’t see it. Why would the ARMY!!! give something like that for FREE!!! Let’s think for once people.”
Police Chief Kelly McMillin said he doesn’t understand the problem.
“I knew this was going to come up,” he said in an interview with the Salinas Californian. “It’s the militarization-of-the-police issue. People are like, ‘Why do you need this?’”
He said it’s not what the department has, it’s what it does that’s the point.
“An allegation that we are militarizing has to be that we were patrolling the streets in platoons in greater numbers, that we were setting up checkpoints and searching people in and out of neighborhoods,” he told the interviewer.
The Salinas PD isn’t doing any of that, he said.
Maybe not. And maybe it never will under Kelly McMillin. But that’s not the point, and it’s hard to believe McMillin and the reporter from the Salinas Californian don’t know that.
This country only two months ago saw rangers for the National Park Service – National Park rangers, for God’s sake – turn into a bunch of storm troopers keeping World War II vets out of their own monument, and visitors from “recreating” at Yosemite.
And Chief McMillin doesn’t understand why citizens don’t trust the government with ever-greater weaponry in the hands of a “civilian” police force?
Just ask the commenters on the Salinas Californian article.
“It could be used to deliver a whole bunch of shut the hell up to the citizens of this fair town,” one wrote.
Another agreed.
“And Obama said we don’t need military weapons in hands of citizens”
H/T: The Daily Mail
Tags: domestic news, police state
1827 comments
Jay Redd
24 minutes ago
“If you like your armored vehicle, you can keep your armored vehicle.”
“If I had a son he’d be driving one of these.”
“My pledge to you is this will not be used against the populace of Salinas California.”
C’mon, Michael Dukakis had a tank! Let this guy have his hummer. Maybe he can live in it when the Calpers goes bust.
The cops will turn on the population in 5 seconds. Especially of the population tries to get rid of their pensions.
“The cops will turn on the population in 5 seconds. Especially of the population tries to get rid of their pensions.”
Already happening in Detroit. Their public safety “heroes” and “finest” are both getting retirement haircuts, possibly crew cuts.
Well, it’s final then. The residents of Salinas, CA are going to have to barricade the police department with Prii. If one of the cops tries to bust through the line, then everyone can throw their trannies in reverse, and annoy the cop to death with that STUPID beeping sound that the Prius makes when it that gear.
By Bloomberg News The Star-Ledger
on December 18, 2013 at 2:00 PM
Bernanke, in the final weeks of his eight-year tenure, is curtailing the purchases that swelled the Fed’s balance sheet almost to $4 trillion as he sought to put millions of jobless Americans back to work. The policy, supported by his designated successor, Vice Chairman Janet Yellen, stirred concern it risks inflating asset-price bubbles even as its economic benefits ebbed.
Rising stocks and home values are boosting household wealth, giving consumers the wherewithal to keep spending. Many have invested in improvements to their homes, lifting profits at companies such as Home Depot Inc., the largest U.S. home- improvement retailer.
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/12/fed_announces_modest_cut_to_ec.html - 95k
S Fla. gains $83 billion in home value
by Kim Miller
South Florida home values are expected to gain $83.3 billion by the end of the year, ranking the region fourth in the nation for increasing worth and confirming that 2013’s climbing sale prices buoyed overall value.
Nationwide, home values will gain almost $1.9 trillion in cumulative value this year compared to 2012, according to a report released today by the Seattle-based Zillow.
That’s the largest increase since 2005 and the second annual gain since home values fell every year from 2007 through 2011. The nation’s housing market lost $6.3 trillion in total value between 2007 and 2011.
“In 2013, the housing market continued to build on the positive momentum that began in 2012, after the housing market bottomed,” said Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist. “We expect these gains to continue into next year, though at a slower pace.”
Zillow measured 485 metro areas for value changes between 2012 and 2013 finding about 90 percent had increases in worth.
The areas with the largest gains were Los Angeles ($323 billion), San Francisco ($159 billion), New York ($123 billion), South Florida ($83 billion) and San Diego ($71 billion).
South Florida includes Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The projected value for all homes in the region this year is $647 billion.
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 19th, 2013 at 7:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
swelled the Fed’s balance sheet almost to $4 trillion
So if the curtailing is 10 billion a month, 120 billion a year, it will take about 15 years to cut it down to2 trillion.
What was the balance sheet before all this pumping started?
“What was the balance sheet before all this pumping started?”
“The Fed’s assets rose to a record $3.99 trillion on December 11, up from $2.82 trillion in September 2012, when it embarked on a third round of bond buying. It’s balance sheet has ballooned by more than $3 trillion or 300% since September 2008 when it was at just $0.91 trillion.”
A million seconds = nearly 12 days.
A billion seconds = nearly 32 years.
A trillion seconds = nearly 32,000 years.
A dollar bill is a little thicker than a typical human hair.
A stack of a thousand one-dollar bills is more than 4 inches high.
A million would be about as high as a 40-story building.
A billion would be nearly 68 miles high.
A trillion would be nearly 68,000 miles high.
If you earn $50,000 per year, it would take you 20 years to earn a million dollars.
It would take you 20,000 years to earn a billion dollars.
It would take you 20 million years to earn a trillion dollars.
Next time you see a headline about a $10 trillion debt, or a $700 billion financial package, think about it in terms of these examples. Perhaps it will mean more.
http://www.greatreality.com/natdebt/trillion.htm - 13k -
No, they are not cutting it down $10 billion a month, they are adding to it $10 billion a month less so at the end of the year they will have 4.9 trillion. We had less than a trillion when they first started the Zimbabwe money scheme.
It is free money to Obama. Create a trillion dollars and then buy governmental bonds at 3%. That will generate $30 billion in income. The Fed returns any money not used to pay for its operations to the treasury. That is already more than covered by the existing debt. The government now has $30 billion more to spend without raising the deficit. What could go wrong?
SnowDEN, SnowDEN, SnowDEN!
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/24/edward-snowden-i-already-won
Lol, in one fell swoop he twits both Bush (Mission Accomplished!) and the O-man (I won!). Gotta love it.
SnowDEN!
Is there really a difference from a “dead man’s switch” and a “fake suicide switch?”
——————————–
There has been speculation that Snowden has rigged up a type of “dead man’s switch” so if the NSA, or a similar spy agency, hurt or kill him, then a cache of thousands of documents would be released on to the internet.
Snowden denied this and likened the scenario to a “suicide switch”, alluding to people who might want the information on the internet, unchecked and unredacted, and would kill him for the sake of it.
Greenwald has already said he has all the documents.
Another day - another lie.
2banana’s definition.
A conservative is more than happy to live under the same laws he/she wants for everyone else.
A liberal/progressive/socialist expects to be exempted from the laws and taxes they want for everyone else.
—————————–
President Enrolls In Obamacare Exchange (Not really…)
Time | December 23, 2013 | Zeke J. Miller
President Barack Obama symbolically enrolled in a new health insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act over the weekend, a White House aide said Monday.
[Snip]
But Obama’s move is only symbolic, because as president he receives coverage from military physicians of the White House Medical Unit.
[Snip]
The President selected a bronze plan.
The aide added that Obama only signed himself up, and not the rest of the First Family. Obama also did not enroll through the troubled Healthcare.gov or the D.C. exchange’s website. Aides signed him up in person over the weekend, due to the “complicated nature of the President’s case,” the White House aide said. Some of Obama’s personal information is not readily accessible on the government databases used by the website for identity verification.
“White House Medical Unit”
How elitist. He should self-medicate using tree bark and poultice and leeches like how real bootstrappers do it.
That would be better medical care than the bronze plan.
It’s not just symbolic, it’s also illegal to enroll in Obamacare if you have employer provided health insurance.
But kings tend to disobey laws they don’t like.
the “complicated nature of the President’s case,”
“Some of Obama’s personal information is not readily accessible on the government databases used by the website for identity verification.”
Really? How come?
The Kenyan birth place is a state secret. JK
did you check Uranus?
No, but if Obama can find a proctologist on the bronze plan which is doubtful, he should since his head is far up his azz, he does not even know that Obamacare has failed.
Uranus, hisanus and Nairobi….I bet they all smell the same.
They smell like the bronze plan. Hence its name.
Greenshirtwebcamtransient….
Are you in brazil?
Hope and Change
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/24/duck-dynasty-gear-flying-high/4183277/
Hope and Change
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-24/-duck-dynasty-dad-risks-500-million-with-gay-sin-remark.html
This bigot needs re-education
http://dcclothesline.com/2013/12/22/gay-group-calls-re-education-phil-robertson/
Anyone remember when the gays just wanted a little tolerance?
I guess that is a one way street.
I wonder when the re-education camps were going to start up under Obama. I thought they were in the stimulus plan but I never received my invitation.
wonder = wondered
America IS a re-education camp.
One that you get to build and maintain yourself.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”- Voltaire
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”- Voltaire
Not too long we were scolded for criticizing wars. Did wars ruled us then?
Republicans are experts at tolerating ignorance.
Anyone remember when the gays just wanted a little tolerance?
I just don’t want gay sex to go from illegal to mandatory in my lifetime.
illegal to mandatory in my lifetime.
Not only mandatory, you will have to enjoy it, too.
I’ve explained this before but it’s been a while.
First Obama takes all of the white women and redistributes them to the browns and blacks. Then Obama rounds up all the white males, sends them to the re-education camps, and forces them into Sharia law gay marriages. No more white children are born, and within a few generations all existing white people will be dead.
This is what Obama means when he says he will “fundamentally transform America”.
“If you like your white people - you can keep your white people!”
‘you will have to enjoy it’
the penalty for not giving a reacharound will be the greater of 95 dollars or 1 percent of income in 2014, increasing to 2 percent in 2015, and 2.5 percent in 2016.
If you like your white people
What is some thing Obama would never say, Alex?
“I just don’t want gay sex to go from illegal to mandatory in my lifetime.”
Coming soon to a California public school district near you: Mandatory gay sex education.
The bits bucket is rock’n today. Not only do the gloves come-off, but the brass knuckles are slipped on.
You’ll recall that the verbal equivalent of trench warfare with trolls preceded the last major U.S. real estate crash.
I don’t expect it to be much different this time.
“You’ll recall that the verbal equivalent of trench warfare with trolls preceded the last major U.S. real estate crash.”
Precisely.
I’d be going bonkers too if I was on the hook for 400k in losses while watching the wheels come off this thing.
“Manufacturing Outrage”, by Guy Somerset over at Takimag. Some choice excerpts below, and link to the full article.
“There was an A&E media employee present during Robertson’s interview whose sole responsibility should have been to deflect inflammatory queries or to immediately stop Robertson from answering any which were asked. This is de rigueur and because it didn’t happen it’s suspicious.
Duck Dynasty‘s program concept is based on the principals’ personalities. That is a highly volatile situation because if the stars become disliked then the money machine is in jeopardy.
This suggests that what is happening is precisely what was intended to happen. People who view this as an assault on “traditional values” will support the program more than ever. Those who previously had no interest will watch out of a perceived solidarity. Those who have never watched Duck Dynasty (including the newly enraged) will tune in at least once to see a program they had likely been unaware of earlier. Letters will be written, ratings will increase, and ad revenues will flow.
Walmart, which sponsors Duck Dynasty and just happens to sell everything from T-shirts to linens, can expect a run on merchandise—and on Christmas Eve, which is very convenient.
It is also an excuse for politicians and pundits of every inclination to garner exposure. Sarah Palin will appear on Fox News. Louisiana’s Governor Jindal will be cast as a moderating voice. Various spokesmen for social organizations will issue editorials and send envelope appeals showing how intolerance is resurging in the heartland.”
Once again, the roobs have been shilled.
Please share this article by using the link below. When you cut and paste an article, Taki’s Magazine misses out on traffic, and our writers don’t get paid for their work. Email editors@takimag.com to buy additional rights. http://takimag.com/article/manufacturing_outrage_guy_somerset/print#ixzz2oP0O9Xnz
I don’t know what this “Takimag” is but it certainly isn’t staffed with real journalists.
Ah, my son, let me educate you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taki’s_Magazine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taki_Theodoracopulos
http://takimag.com/article/same_old_neocons_taki#axzz2oLmouuI7
Although the wikipedia article says the mag publishes neocons, that’s BS. Taki is pure paleocon and despises neocons, as you can see. He also publishes the lovely and talented Jim Goad.
Fringe websites and magazines are not real journalists.
Jim Goad
Great writer and fellow redneck from Vermont. I can match his relatives any day of the week.
Jim Goad rocks. The paleocon Hunter Thompson.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/24/us-usa-economy-mortgages-idUSBRE9BH0IK20131224
Wait to mortgage rates really rise.
Never gonna happen. Low mortgage rates are here to stay.
Or so I have been told…
From the article:
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 6.3 percent to the lowest level since December 2000
Did you dump your bonds yet?
Dec. 24, 2013, 9:20 a.m. EST
10-year Treasury yield creeps toward 3% after data
By Ben Eisen
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices fell Tuesday, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note closer to 3%, after data showed increasing confidence in the economic recovery.
The 10-year note 10_YEAR +0.85% yield rose 2.5 basis points to 2.958%, on track for its highest close since mid-September. The benchmark note yield briefly touched 3% on some trading platforms late on the day of Sept. 5, but had otherwise last closed above that level in July of 2011.
The 30-year bond (30_YEAR +0.65%) yield rose 2 basis points to 3.872%, and the 5-year note (5_YEAR +1.47%) yield rose 2 basis points to 1.726%.
…
Dec. 24, 2013, 8:31 a.m. EST
Don’t dump your bonds just yet
Commentary: Three reasons to wait before you sell
By Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve’s decision to buy fewer bonds going forward does not mean that it is time to sell yours.
Since the Fed first hinted last spring that it was considering cutting back the volume of bonds it buys every month as part of its program of massive monetary ease, the fixed-income market has had its share of ups and downs. On average, bond yields are about a percentage point higher today than they were about six months ago.
That said, bond prices are not likely to collapse — at least for a while — so you don’t have to rush to get out while the getting is good. There are three good reasons why you can still hold onto your bonds so you can earn at least a modicum of interest on your money.
First and foremost, the Fed is still buying bonds — and at a prodigious pace, I might add. Seventy-five billion dollars’ worth of bonds a month is not $85 billion, but neither is it chopped liver. In other words, the Fed is still very much supporting bond prices, suppressing interest rates in the process.
Then there is the relationship of long-term interest rates to short-term rates. The textbooks say that long-term rates generally equal the amount that could be received by purchasing a succession of short-term instruments over the same period. Since the Fed has said that short rates will remain close to zero for an “extended period of time,” it is safe to conclude that long rates will remain low too.
Finally, inflation and the expectation of inflation remain low. This can best be observed by comparing the yield on plain-vanilla Treasury notes with the yield on inflation-indexed Treasurys, known as TIPS.
According to data compiled weekly by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, inflation-indexed Treasury yield spreads are well below their recent highs reached earlier this year, with the spread on the 5-year note especially low.
All this said, this does not mean you should run out and buy bonds. With Fed purchases of bonds set to taper until the program ends later in 2014, it is reasonable to conclude that while bond prices are not likely to collapse, neither are they likely to rise from current levels.
Meanwhile, stocks continue to be another asset favored by investors. If earnings rise in 2014 by as much as the Street now expects, then equities can rise another 10% without the kind of expansion in multiples we saw in 2013. This is just as well, since price-earnings ratios are at pretty lofty levels as we close out the old year.
…
Why anyone would own bonds now instead of stocks is beyond me.
Bloomberg News
U.S. 10-Year Yields Reach Three-Month High as Data Beat Forecast
By Susanne Walker and Cordell Eddings December 24, 2013
Treasury Note Options Pit
Clerks review buy and sell orders outside the two-year and five-year U.S. Treasury Note options pit at the Chicago Board of Trade in Chicago. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Treasury 10-year note yields reached a three-month high after a report showed durable-goods orders rose in November more than forecast, boosting the case for the Federal Reserve to slow bond-buying further.
U.S. government securities fell for a second day. The Federal Open Market Committee said after its Dec. 17-18 policy meeting it will cut its monthly asset purchases by $10 billion to $75 billion starting in January. Treasuries reached the cheapest level relative to stocks in 3 1/2 years yesterday.
“The durable goods number was strong, a good indication that the economies contributors to growth are expanding,” said Adrian Miller, director of fixed-income strategies at GMP Securities LLC in New York. “One month doesn’t make a trend, but it’s something the market wanted to see and confirms what the Fed has been seeing that gave confidence for their taper.”
…
Bulletin Dow industrials start firmer, aim for 5th straight record close »
Dec. 24, 2013, 9:35 a.m. EST
U.S. stocks open higher after durable-goods data
By Polya Lesova
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Tuesday bolstered by an upbeat report on durable-goods orders in a holiday-shortened trading session. Markets will close at 1 p.m. Eastern and will be closed on Wednesday for Christmas. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA +0.22%) gained 19 points, or 0.1%, to 16,314 and the S&P 500 index (SPX +0.09%) rose 1.14 points, or 0.1%, to 1,829.14.
…
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-23/facebook-twitter-shares-rise-to-records-on-social-ad-optimism.html
It people who are worried about return of their investment and not return on their investment.
It’s been another day of bond market losses for the Fed and anyone else who is foolish enough to own long-term Treasurys.
Dec. 24, 2013, 1:35 p.m. EST
10-year Treasury yield closes in on 3% after data
By Ben Eisen
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices fell after a round of data Tuesday, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to the brink of 3%, as trading volume waned ahead of the Christmas holiday.
The 10-year note (10_YEAR +1.50%) yield climbed 5.5 basis points to 2.986%, its highest close since mid-September. The benchmark yield briefly touched 3% on some trading platforms late on Sept. 5, but had otherwise last closed above that level in July of 2011. The 30-year bond (30_YEAR +1.06%) yield rose 4.5 basis points to 3.898%.
Thin trading volume on a holiday-shortened trading day is partly responsible for the move higher in yields. Sifma recommended an early bond-market close of 2 p.m. Eastern.
“The stronger data and thin trading has combined to drive us up higher here to test some key levels,” said John Canavan, bond market analyst at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates.
…
Here is to a cold free Christmas for everyone:
http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2013/12/24/study-alcohol-can-boost-your-immune-system/
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/12/24/Santa-and-helper-may-face-drunken-driving-charges-in-Poland
At least he will not catch a cold and the 50 something Santa has a thirty something female helper. Way to go Santa and I hope she is naughty. You seem to be well on your way, candy is dandy but liquor is quicker.
Red wine is what kept me from getting a colleagues cold a couple weeks ago. That and CVS Pharmacys Air Shield, plus washing hands and being careful about door handles.
“…plus washing hands and being careful about door handles.”
+1 Washing hands, being mindful of door handles, elevator buttons, etc., and my personal favorite…avoid touching your face. Habits.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Bubble.
The business secretary, Vince Cable, has warned that interest rates may have to rise to constrain a “raging housing boom” in London and the south-east.
Speaking on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show, he said if interest rates were not increased by the Bank of England, there was a danger that large parts of London could be inhabited only by foreigners and bankers as house prices spiralled.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/dec/22/vince-cable-interest-rates-housing-boom
But obama told me that printing money is the way to prosperity.
As long as you are a banker or foreigner.
Why does he hate foreigners?
This blog kills me sometimes. It doesn’t matter if you have: a great salary, invested wisely, have plenty of rainy day fund, and set your retirement up, people still insist that you rent. News flash! Many people that buy don’t look at housing as an investment. I bought mine because I want to stay in my area. I don’t want to pay a landlord. I don’t want to move. Could I save more buy renting? After running numbers, I don’t think so. And also guess what? At the end of my mortgage, I’ll have a home to keep and is paid off, (minus tax payments) to retire in. The thought of paying for a rental for the rest of my life is a depressing thought. So go ahead and push renting like a pimp, buying makes more sense to more than one demographic.
Lame….perfectly sums up the post.
behold! another rental bot. how are the neighbors?
Broke and underwater. Paying 50% more monthly than for renting comparable homes. Some are getting foreclosed and moving away.
You took the words out of my mouth. The tension homeloaners (many are friends and families) feel about their mortgage/taxes/insurance is palpable.
Our friendly HBB Realtor® trolls are advertising here to dupe more debt donkeys into a state of permanent financial ruin.
CAVEAT EMPTOR!
“The tension homeloaners (many are friends and families) feel about their mortgage/taxes/insurance is palpable.”
+1 We know quite a few in families in California who are in desperate financial straights. Many are so close to the edge that the gust from a butterfly’s wings would send ‘em over the edge, and most are too old to get back on their feet again. That HELOC high was fugg’n awesome, but damn…what a hangover. Kinda like the stars in the night sky…many are long dead and burned out, but you can still see the light.
If you can afford your house
Bought your house to “live in” and not for appreciation
Understand your mortgage
Understand ALL the other costs with owning a house(taxes, upkeep, etc.)
AND
Understand that it is NOT your house until you have not ONE penny of debt on it (the bank will always try to screw you on any debt).
Then we all say “go for it and buy the house”
Yeah go ahead and do it. I’ll be long gone by the time you realize you made a horrible mistake. And no; you cannot get your money back. You’re stuck.
You were warned.
Try not to get stucco!
If you are a hyper-inflationist, buying a house is the smart thing to do.
… yet the deflationary spiral rages on….
Hold onto your cash…. you’re going to need every last penny of it.
Lame, many on this board actually own a house. That said we do know that housing prices have been inflated, in some areas more than others. I have no doubt that housing prices in real terms will fall more. I define that as a house bought with gold, real money. The key question that I have is whether nominal prices will fall. Those that think we will be hit with deflation believe they will and those that believe that an inflation burst will hit the country due to the QEs do not. But in the end, I believe that other people and governments should not micromanage an individual’s life, so if you are who I think you are, enjoy your home and have a Happy Christmas and/or any other holiday you celebrate.
Obama’s next move? Probably not until we lose our reserve currency status.
http://blogs.barrons.com/emergingmarketsdaily/2013/12/23/venezuela-devalues-bolivar-by-44-wiping-out-fords-latam-profit/?mod=yahoobarrons&ru=yahoo
Rent for thirty years and be left with nothing but an empty bank account.
Buy a home, build equity with every mortgage payment, deduct the interest on your taxes, and retire with a paid off home.
amy, day after day you drone on with the same spiel over and over. it’s tiresome and makes many people not want to do business with you.
you seldom make a logical argument about anything. just the same tiresome message over and over.
don’t you have the capacity to at least try to argue your position? are you incapable of anything but cheerleading?
even a moderately intelligent realtor should be able to argue his/her position. you sound like you should be selling mary kay cosmetics on the side.
Amy is just the flip side of HA. She is a most excellent parody troll. So chill and enjoy.
two things..
first, HA is not trying to drum up business for himself and get people to follow him on twitter.
second, HA does make logical arguments, and has proven that he understands much, and continues to advance in understanding.
You also have to love the consistency of HA’s message!
I agree with both posts. HA does make great contributions to the site. However, Amy is just a parody and should be just used and abused by the blog for fun.
“Amy is just a parody and should be just used and abused…”
I’m on board with that. She’s probably a prostitute pretending to be a Realtor®.
She is a he.
Real Estate Agents Arrested on Pimping, Prostitution Charges : Thousand Oaks: Two women are accused of running the business at a townhouse. Deputies investigate similar operations.
CAROL WATSON | TIMES STAFF WRITER
A Thousand Oaks real estate agent allegedly running a prostitution operation that brought in several thousand dollars a week has been arrested on vice charges at her luxury townhouse, authorities said Tuesday.
Donna Jones, 33, offered to sell an undercover detective an hour of sex for $200 last week at her Shadow Brook Lane home, where she and another real estate agent were involved in a prostitution business, Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Pentis said.
The two-story residence, which neighbors said has been for sale for about a year, is advertised in a flier as a four-bedroom structure “excellent for entertaining.” Priced at $375,000, the townhouse overlooks a brook that wends through a neighborhood dotted with cherry trees and traditional-style town homes.
Pentis said the case has alerted detectives to similar operations in the Thousand Oaks area. He estimated that at least two other prostitution rings are working the area with at least 10 women. He said investigations are continuing.
“The city’s getting a lot larger,” Pentis said. “A lot of problems with vice and narcotics are moving up here from Los Angeles.”
Both Jones and Cindy Graves, who was arrested on a pimping charge, are listed with the Conejo Valley Assn. of Realtors as sales representatives with Jon Douglas Realtors. A Jon Douglas spokeswoman confirmed that both have been affiliated with the firm, but would not discuss their current employment status.
“This has just come to our attention,” said Debra Fink, vice president and general counsel of the Beverly Hills-based firm. “We cannot comment further on their affiliation with us.”
…
“She is a he.”
How do you know we aren’t dealing with a hermaphrodite?
So the police haven’t got the time to investigate all the shenanigans on Wall Street….
“So chill and enjoy.”
+1 My POV too.
When this sucker blows we’ll look back fondly on the rants. Maybe HA and Amy will hook up, buy a duplex and rent the other half; imagine the kidz?
Can hermaphrodites even have kidz? I guess there is cloning…
The difference between renting and buying a house (in some places in America) is easily approaching 200%. This does not include taxes and upkeep.
For example -P/I of house that is $3000 can be rented for $1500.
Take the extra $1500/month and invest it properly you will have much more IN THE BANK than any equity on your “home.”
ALSO
There was time (not than long ago) when buying a house was CHEAPER than renting.
WHY?
Taxes. Upkeep. And little to NO appreciation.
SO WHAT CHANGED?
And we will revert back to the mean eventually.
Aren’t you in the DFW area though? I don’t think the rent / buy scenario is so stark in this area. Places like CA, sure, but housing is still pretty affordable in DFW.
Buying is double the cost of renting, minimum, irrespective of location.
Renting in DFW is more expensive than buying(even in the trendy new downtown high rise condos due to the property tax abatements).
That’s false.
Median transaction price in DFW is $202k. Add in taxes, insurance and maintenance translates to $1500/month. Median rental rate in DFW is $1200.
Why is a Realtor giving me financial advice? You have no background to do so. Go bake some cookies and mail some calendars and leave the financials to the experts.
I just noticed this afternoon i got an additional $3000 capital gain and dividend for a mutual fund that had a $33,000 balance - all in my 401k.
I am glad I invested for 25 years. Renting most of that time freed me up money to invest. If I was instead a home moaner, I would be destitute.
Here is my Net worth $1,762,000. And I am renting an apartment!
Now THAT is success.
Why buy a house and be poor for your entire life when you can rent and become a multimillionare?
Well done Brother Bill.
and if you read closely the numbers I wrote, I can become a millionaire by buying a $762,000 depreciating crap shack!
Hey Lame:
I think you should run the numbers again, this time assuming that if you buy a house today, it will be worth much less in a couple years. Imagine how much better your life would be if you waited? You bought it in 2013, didn’t you?
Lame is a greater fool!
It’s a good day to travel to Phoenix - and I’ll be back home in Phoenix this afternoon.
The nice Christmas eve present I noticed this morning on waking was Vanguard did the rest of its dividend distributions.
I bought another $1200 worth of DODFX in my Vanguard Voyager account as well as converted my 2013 non-deductible IRA to my Roth IRA. You are taxed only on any gain in that conversion. Still not many people know about it and think they earn too much income to do a conversion.
Excellent fund - VFIAX. Expense ratio 0.05. DODFX is a well-managed fund. I notice when years are flat, there are people who say it’s a terrible fund. When years are good they say it’s an excellent fund. Well those people don’t understand markets are cyclic. They want funds to never go down.
.
I have funds for them. VMMXX - never goes down! Or funds that have more up years than down years: VWESX, an excellent high yield corporate bond fund, and AAZAX (for Arizonans).
My 2013 goals are complete! Zero debt, all bills paid, bought more of an international fund and converted another year’s IRA to Roth!
“It’s a good day to travel to Phoenix - and I’ll be back home in Phoenix this afternoon.”
Cue Glenn Campbell.
Definitely! I’ll be listening to 60s music in the dead zone - the high desert part with only one or two spanish stations between Blythe and Indio
Hey Bill,
I’ll admit…I’ve been mostly in I-bonds, short term corporate bonds, old CDs, cash, and gold since 2009. I honestly believed that the market bottom wasn’t in then, and even though I believe we are long overdue for a stock correction…it never happens (kinda like real estate never goes down, right?! )
Anyway, I’ve noticed you also are relatively conservative…what are your thoughts on 2014. Yes, I admit I am a big Hussman fan just because I like his quantitative analysis. However, he has badly missed this up-cycle. Should I maybe consider the Wellington fund for my extra cash? My Roth IRA is mainly in the T Rowe Price Capital Appreciation fund which is also fairly conservative.
Thanks…again just asking for your opinion…
There is a housing bubble bursting once again. You are quite right.
If you are the type to want to follow market cycles, it is rare for a stock boom to go beyond five years. It is five years. My way is to sell my individual stocks going into 2014 and getting a big lump of cash that will last me for years of slowly shifting into stock mutual funds. I do not time stock funds at all. That said, I think your 2009 asset allocation is a good allocation for 2014!
However I do like the Wellington Fund. It is a balanced fund, so by implication, the ratio of stocks to bonds should fit with your overall asset allocation strategy.
I think if you want two separate funds you are better off in a corporate bond fund and a stock fund. You have a good amount of government securities in I bonds and cash. Or if you want cash, why not T-bills? They haven’t purchase expense. VMMXX has a .16 expense ratio while yielding below the expense.
I am plann g on being less aggressive for sure in 2014. So the “conservative” term is welcome.
Thanks, Bill.
I’ve found that I-bonds are a nice way to keep cash on hand, despite the annual purchase limitations. Too bad it isn’t like the late 1990s when they first came out, yielding a fixed rate of 3%!
I read a blog post a few years back from a lucky guy. He and his wife put a combined $250,000 into Series I Bonds those first few years. Back then you could buy $30,000 electronic, $30,000 paper, and so could your spouse. Do it for two years and just sit on the bonds. You are done, invest elsewhere. There’s is very close to $500,000 value now.
I might buy I bonds in May or November if the fixed rate is reasonable. $5,000 limit is sad.
Just a quick check-in. Last week with new boss was still pretty crazy even though he needs me bad now. He just can’t shut off the obnoxiousness. Several of us in critical positions tried to stage a coup…got about 90 minutes of uninterrupted time with the CEO and CFO to say what we needed to say. If nothing else I was impressed they gave us that much time. We laid it all out that in the long run new guy was going to destroy the company, they tried to sell us on how bad we need him in the short run and how badly they needed us to “hang in there” through the project we’re currently on and then everything will be on the table.
In the meantime I’m being sent to China for the entire month of January to try to save the project and won’t even have time to job hunt. I guess we’ll see where we’re at in February.
In the meantime, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic about the HBB. I’ve read every post (that came in within the first two days or so) for about 8 years now and had no plans to change that, but I’ve gotten days behind already and with this China trip may have to “bless and mass delete” as they say about old unread email that gets out of control. End of an era…but who knows. I may have more free time in China with an internet connection than I think.
Have fun telling the Chinese how little you pay in rent and what the average house costs in Denver. Don’t forget to tell them how the sky is always blue here and we don’t have to wear surgical masks when we go outside.
Speaking of which, I’m trying to make sure I take plenty of asthma mediation. And I hardly need it normally.
Another day, some bad retailing news…stock market UP!!! Again.
What do ya think, should I just put all my $ in the market as it seems like the fed has indeed provided a backstop? Have thought for years this sucker would go down, but no matter what the news it keeps going up. Any ideas from you investors when/if the bust will ever arrive?
Glad aladinsane isn’t here anymore…he would say buy gold! (which I still have some, unfortunately).
the fed has indeed provided a backstop
The fed is actively buying the stocks. There you go.
Few years down the road, I will be proven right.
Remember the old advice, buy low, sell high? Well, you seem to be getting all excited now that prices have risen to a high. If you had 50k sitting in cash, I might say use 2-5k to see if you can find a stock or two that is in a slump… moving wholesale into the market right now is not something I would do. I’m a buy and hold kind of person though. I would check out some bond funds if you need to get your money making a return. Pimco has several. The PIMCO CA muni fund is a tax free fund if your have money outside a 401k or IRA. Remember not to invest in tax free bonds inside your already tax free retirement accounts.
“…moving wholesale into the market right now is not something I would do.”
Given that the stock market always goes up and everyone knows that bonds are a money loser, why not allocate 100% to stocks?
When it comes to stock mutual funds, don’t time the market. Just buy regularly. I added a Vanguard REIT this summer. I barely am at the same $3,000 level I began with. However my average cost is coming down. Got a dividend out of it for this year too. REITS are the only way to dollar cost average into real estate, something small home moaners or apartment moaners cannot do. They have to time the market.
If you have such caution about buying stocks, why not just start into a single low expense stock index fund with $3,000 and merely invest $50 per month there? In 30 months you will have 30 payments and your initial investment of $3,000, total $$4,500 invested. If it produces dividends, reinvest them. In 30 months you might be slightly below your cost if we get the overdue correction. In 60 months your cost basis will likely be below the market value of your fund. Your cost basis will be $6,000. The point is you catch the cycles and take advantage.
Finally, you might not like to see this, but you have no business being in stock funds unless you commit to them for at least ten years. That is enough time to take advantage of market cycles. The longer the duration in stocks funds, the less risky it is to be invested in them. Cash is the opposite. The longer you are in cash, the more likely you will lose to inflation.
Yes, Markab. Buy stocks now. At these nose-bleed prices, there is no way they could ever go down. The higher the prices get, the more assured you can be that they will go up some more.
In the meantime I’m being sent to China for the entire month of January to try to save the project and won’t even have time to job hunt. I guess we’ll see where we’re at in February.
I do not envy you. I was offered a free trip to China to give a training on a energy topic. No pay, just plane, hotel etc. I refused, I will not expose myself to that level of pollution. Life is already too short, I do not need to make it shorter.
http://blogs.barrons.com/emergingmarketsdaily/2013/12/24/china-smartphone-sales-slowed-in-q4-apples-iphone-5c-not-popular-says-wedge/?mod=BOLBlog?mod=BOL_article_snippet_blog_em
Not good news for Apple.
obama housing bubble 2.0
mission accomplished
——————–
What Bubble: Average New Home Sale Price Rises To All Time High
Zerohedge - 12/24/2013
First, following the release of the “revised” seasonally adjusted New Home Sales data, we learned that homebuilders somehow sold an extra 88 thousand annualized homes in the months of September, October and November: the same months when the sellside and economist crew was screaming home sales would plunge due to the government shutdown… just so there is a buffer when sales dropped and/or disappointed (because apparently nobody buys houses when the government isn’t around). Instead what happened was a massive 18% jump in New Home Sales in the month of October, when the US government was shut down for over half the month, and the final print was 474K sales, the highest since July 2007.
But where things get outright bizarre, is when one looks at the series showing the average sales price for New Homes. Keep in mind that an hour ago we showed that mortgage applications have tumbled to a fresh 13 year low, while refi apps slid to the lowest in 5 years. So what happened to the average new home sales price in the month of November? Well, it just hit a new all time high! Why, because why it can.
Come to me suckers. Let me be the one to hose you.
“Come to me suckers. Let me be the one to hose you.”
Let me guess that is a quote from Obama during his Chicago bathhouse days. Do I win a prize?
It’s Christmas in the homes of my newly minted home owners; What is that I hear? Do you hear it? It’s coming closer; listen closely; There it is;
http://goo.gl/q67EsG
Yes. That’s the sound of Christmas of my newly minted homeowners.
“What is that I hear? Do you hear it?”
Jingle mail?
“Real estate agents plead guilty to bank fraud in short sales”
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/crime-courts/real-estate-agents-plead-guilty-bank-fraud-short-sales
In every state, in every town in America, there are people getting ripped off on housing.
San Diego Housing Prices Down 12% YoY, Inventory Up A Whopping 56%
http://www.movoto.com/statistics/ca/san-diego.htm
Hold onto your hat cowboy because you’re in for the ride of your life.
Thank god. It was turning into idiotville here for a while.
Spot on. I was beginning to believe that trees really do grow to the sky, at least so far as San Diego real estate is concerned.
HA:
You would not believe the psychology of homedebtors in California. I just heard the other day that it doesn’t matter if prices are down 12% y-o-y. The dead-cat bounce is proof that the market will always “recover”, so everyone should always buy a house in California, where “it’s different there”.
The conventional wisdom talks of the “PITI” - Principal, Interest, Taxes, Insurance.
But, think of a moderate-to-large home. The utilities are going to be quite substantial. Maintenance is an ever present cost as well. The real concept should be the PITI-UM (”pity ‘em”) when considering the true cost of ownership.
This thought occurred to me when contemplating the utilities and maintenance on this elegant New York property.
Of course, with a property like this, if you have to consider such bourgeoise details, you can’t afford it.
(But seriously, how much does it costs to upkeep that monster? I wonder what the property taxes look like, at both 20 million and 114 mill).
Only in NYC…
here’s a 19th-century Manhattan townhouse that just this weekend hit the market for a jaw-dropping $114,077,000
Built in 1883, the property, which has an annual $178,246 property tax was bought by the NHL’s Florida Panther’s owner Vincent Viola and his wife Teresa in 2005 for $20 million.
Over all, though, the property must have been priced by its owner. No one with the purchasing power will offer more than $60m, despite the massive improvements.
Don’t forget the capital losses part of the real estate investing equation:
PITI-CL
PITI-UM!
I love it! Pity their loss of freedom as they are slaves to the bank.
“Local Realtor sentenced in mortgage fraud”
http://www.capitalgazette.com/bowie_bladenews/news/local-realtor-sentenced-in-mortgage-fraud/article_7cbf8ee4-9baa-5e3b-ad89-3472409d1bdd.html
Ten-year just under 3; higher than September:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/bond/10_year
When it gets to 5 I will start slowly buying.
It’ll be several years before the 10-year T-bond yield gets to 5 percent (maybe not until after 2023 or so)…
OT, can anyone provide a link to the philisophical arguments against polygamy that are used as a basis for the laws against it?
I keep finding the laws but not the reasons for the laws?
Is it because monogamy means each wife would need her own house and this would increase sales?
If one man had 4 wives and they all lived in the same house, that would mean 3 realtors are LOOSING out on commisions right?
Thanks in advance.
Bill Hendrickson in the show “Big Love” had 3 adjacent houses for each of his 3 wives.
Biblical reason?
D&C 132
Why not one wife and three girlfriends? The French and Italian men have wives and mistresses. Both widow and mistress were present at Mitterand’s funeral.
The problem in any case is wives and mistresses are expensive.
The trick is to not reveal your net worth. Yeah you might have a great place to live and a great set of wheels, but they do not know your net worth!
Spook, let’s imagine you had a net of $10 million. Nice huh? Well if you put half that in the Vanguard 500 index fund and laddered the other half in five year T-bills and rebalanced every year, you skim $200,000 per year from it, well you can live in a nice apartment with water view somewhere. And your lady friends would know you have money but they would not know you are very well off.
Spook:
It’s because there is approximately one woman for every man in the world. If a guy had multiple wives, then some other guys would not be able to have one.
It’s also because of problems with inbreeding.
The natural ratio of 1 to 1 makes much more sense than the Christian deal. Although 1 to 1 is so obvious that religions claimed a “man and a woman” relationship came from religion.
Comment by “Uncle Fed, why won’t you love ME?”
2013-12-24 18:42:11
It’s because there is approximately one woman for every man in the world. If a guy had multiple wives, then some other guys would not be able to have one.
————————————————————————-
Actually, its the complete opposite; and as a consequence, serves as a justification for polygamy.
Men are killed off, get injured and become “unmarriageable” for a variety of reasons, but the net result is lots of women aint gonna be able to get husbands and as a consequence, the bastard army is gonna swell.
Do you think “Obamas sons” grow on trees?
If you start with 100 babies; 50 males and 50 females, by the age of 30, the qualified male husband materials have been substantially reduced by:
deaths (murder and job related) prison, homosexuality, video games, laziness, alcoholism, stupidity…
Because remember, a males value is based on his ABILITY not his looks.
Women can be as stupid as a bag of hammers, but if they look good, they can always be wife material.
I have read articles that claim the ban on polygamy was a joint program by the church and state to give every man a woman so he would work harder as a tax cow and not cause trouble?
I know some women who would not mind being the 3rd wife of an athlete as long as he provided her a certain lifestyle.
Does this news mean I have to spend less of my income paying for my neighbor’s mortgage?
U.S. News
End of Mortgage Tax Break: Big Bills for Borrowers?
A tax break for struggling mortgage borrowers ends Jan. 1 and that could mean big tax bills for them - and financial hits for their neighbors. Real estate attorney Shari Olefson joins the News Hub with advice. Photo: Getty Images
12/19/2013 9:48:23 AM3:53
Not if you are a creditor.
Merry Christmas!
This had me cracking up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw
Bilocki
My name is Blake. Do you wanna go to war Bilocki?
I don’t think I’m supposed to be laughing though.
Merry Christmas Housing Bubble Blog members.
Feliz Navidad to you Patrick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrVpG2nMBcE - 134k -
Best to all (except Realtors). I think 2014 is gonna be a real breakout year of going full-on Bill in Los Angeles, and accelerating the savings rate to well above 50% of income. Thanks to BiLA, Joe Smith (who is working on my behalf), and all the anti-Realtors here for putting me onto a trajectory of increased savings and moving toward building up a big pile of FU money and retirement on my own terms at my own time.
Enjoy! My former company’s stock went up another half percent today. It is on a roll. And I will look forward to converting much more into cash. How’s $700,000 in short term government issues, municipal bonds, and cash sound! My goal for December 2014!
Then all of my new investing will be strictly stock funds and a few bouts of precious metals buying. Will have too much cash!
Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas to all 0.1% Ownership Society members!
Signed, Bernanke Claus
Dec. 24, 2013, 1:18 p.m. EST
S&P 500, Dow rise to record closing highs
By Anora Mahmudova
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rising to record closes after an upbeat report on durable-goods orders.
In a holiday-shortened session, the Dow (DJIA +0.39%) recorded its 49th record close this year after rising for five consecutive days. The blue-chip average rose 62.94 points, or 0.4%, to 16,357.55. The S&P 500 SPX +0.29% also reached a record level after three consecutive days of gains. The benchmark index closed 5.33 points higher, or 0.3%, to 1,833.32.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite COMP +0.16% closed up 6.51 points, or 0.2%, at 4,155.42, its highest level since September 2000.
The market closed early at 1 p.m. Eastern and will be closed on Wednesday for Christmas.
On Monday, both the Dow and the S&P 500 closed at record highs after upbeat consumer-spending data added to the perception that the U.S. economic recovery is poised to accelerate in 2014.
Investors welcomed Tuesday’s durable-goods report showing that orders for big-ticket U.S. items, such as aircraft and transportation equipment, rose 3.5% last month. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected durable-goods orders to rise 2%.
In a separate report, U.S. home prices rose 8.2% in October from the same month last year, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Prices rose 0.5% from September.
…
I’ll never be a 0.1%er, but I want to enjoy the financial freedom that Bill in Los Angeles / Orange County / Phoenix does.
The Realtortards will continue trying to steal Christmas (and siphon off every penny to Wall Street), and I will continue to say NO, f* u*, and you’re not taking a penny off of me.
You know what is fun? Having close to $2,000,000 while owning a ten year old car (it did a great job in cruise control on the 10 to Phoenix) and renting for a fraction of the PITI-UM a home moaner pays.
Blessed and happy Christmas to you my friend.
I am going skiing tomorrow ($32.25 for a day at Loveland on a 4-pass) with the squad sibling. Neither of us are married or have mortgages to pay. Christianity is not about consuming or owning things, but we’ll splurge tomorrow and enjoy some of Colorado’s finest pow-pow on the slopes.
Bill, you are a positive and productive contributor to the HBB, who has influenced the decisions of younger readers like myself, in ways you can not count. Thank you.
Just stay healthy. I am more fortunate than most because I avoided excess. If I die in my 70s I hope it is with a smile on my face after i am shot by a jealous former lover of the young woman I was just with.
Thanks and Merry Christmas. I remember I spent New Years Eve partying with a sibling at Mammoth Lakes back in our early 30s. The live band was great. We skied all day the next day and returned to my house I had back then on New Years evening. Our mom had prepared an oven baked goose. A month earlier I helped slaughter that goose. My first such slaughter.
Real Estate
Buy This House … in Bitcoin
The seller in Southampton, N.Y., is asking $799,000 for his ranch-style home—or its equivalent value in bitcoin. Candace Jackson reports on the News Hub. Photo: Brown Harris Stevens.
12/17/2013 4:11:59 PM2:40
Bloomberg: Trans Pacific Partnership Is “Corporatist Power Grab”
“As Democratic And Transparent As A One-Party State,” Shrouded In “Big Brother-Like Secrecy”
Washington’s Blog
December 24, 2013
The U.S. Trade Representative – the federal agency responsible for negotiating trade treaties – has said that the details of the Trans Pacific Partnership are classified due to “national security”.
A Congressman who has seen the text of the treaty says:
There is no national security purpose in keeping this text secret … this agreement hands the sovereignty of our country over to corporate interests.
It will increase the cost of borrowing, make prescription drugs more expensive, destroy privacy, harm food safety, and – yes - literally act to destroy the sovereignty of the U.S. and the other nations which sign the bill.
To give an idea of what would happen to American law if TPP passes, just look at Equador …
It’s courts awarded billions against Chevron for trashing huge swaths of rainforest. But then a private arbitration panel simply ignored the country’s court system.
If TPP passes, American courts will be sidelined as well. (Conservatives might want to read this and this.)
William Pesek writes at Bloomberg:
The Big Brother-like secrecy enshrouding the treaty on the U.S. side [is stunning.]
***
WikiLeaks did what Barack Obama’s White House refuses to: share portions of the document with the public. The draft of the intellectual-property rights chapter by Julian Assange’s outfit validated the worst fears — that TPP is a corporatist power grab. Rather than heed the outcry, the U.S. doubled down on secrecy, refusing to disclose more details.
***
You know you have a transparency problem when citizens of a democracy need to rely on WikiLeaks for details on changes to laws on Internet use, labor, environmental and food-safety standards, and the cost and availability of drugs. It’s worth considering something Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt told CNBC in December 2009: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” So why is the Obama administration behaving as if it runs a closed Communist Party state? The answer can only be, To circumvent the legislative process.
***
Last month, 151 House Democrats, members of Obama’s own party, sent a letter to the White House stating their opposition to granting him fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements, citing a lack of congressional consultation.
***
What would America’s founders make of this process?
***
Asians should say no to a trade deal that’s as democratic and transparent as a one-party state.
This article was posted: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 at 5:32 am
Tags: business, economics, money
Cop Tells College Grad ‘You’re Lucky I Didn’t F-ing Shoot You’ After Raiding Wrong House
Man held at gunpoint in handcuffs on his own front lawn
Adan Salazar
Infowars.com
December 23, 2013
Connor Guerrero didn’t exactly get an apology after police erroneously raided his home last week and handcuffed him on his front lawn.
Instead, Guerrero says a Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy told him he should be grateful he wasn’t killed.
Guerrero, a recent college graduate, says he was enjoying a nice Wednesday evening at home when he heard someone outside.
“Just trying to enjoy my evening. All the sudden, I see a flashlight shining through my doors…,” Guerrero said. “I’m thinking this could be a dangerous situation for me.”
Assuming he was the target of a robbery, Guerrero went to his door to ward off the potential thieves. That’s when things got out of control.
“I come over to my door and I slap it to say hey someone is in this house and they’re not going to let you come in here… Right as soon as I opened this door, and it’s dark outside – it’s very dark and all I can see is a pistol,” Guerrero recalled.
Guerrero heard a man yell, “Sheriff’s Office” and complied with an order to step outside of his home.
Police held him at gunpoint, handcuffed him and accused him of breaking into his house.
“They directed me to take a knee, well both knees,” he said. “The gun [was] still drawn.”
When police finally looked at Guerrero’s ID, they realized they had the wrong house, but deputies weren’t about to admit their mistake.
Instead, Guerrero says an officer told him, “You’re lucky I didn’t [expletive] shoot you.”
Police were in the area investigating reports of a suspicious vehicle but “went to the wrong house,” according to KREM.
“We went to the wrong house yes…” Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich admits.
One Sheriff explained the error, saying Guerrero was partially to blame. “You don’t pound on a door, open it and slam it that way. Put yourself in the deputies’ position,” Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich stated.
Sheriff Knezovich says the department has already offered an apology, but Guerrero would like it to personally come from the two deputies involved in the raid.
It’s simply incredible that, despite the expansive surveillance network and advanced law enforcement technologies, raids on incorrect houses are still commonplace, but it’s even more incredible when police terrorize the public and refuse to own up to their mistakes.
As Texas and other states clear a path for search warrants to be obtained on “predictions of future crimes,” the potential for error will increase accordingly, and erroneous raids such as the one just described will occur with increased frequency.
H/T Opposing Views
This article was posted: Monday, December 23, 2013 at 12:06 pm
If the police feel that it is a gift for them to let you live, then everyone else might start to feel like they need to shoot first and ask questions later.
Another example of tyranny by our own government.
This very thing happened about twenty years ago in San Luis Obispo, CA when a snitch gave drug enforcement a phony address. The husband and wife were cuffed and hog-tied on their front lawn while swat escorted their children from the home. The wife never recovered from the experience, and the family left the state with a huge undisclosed settlement.
Here is a funny one.hawaii real estate reality show. A couple from Canada buying a house in the $562,000 price range and want a garden.
Isn’t organic produce at Whole Foods and rent a place cheaper?
Yes.
“want a garden.”
The excuses I’ve heard to commit financial suicide are truly stunning. “I need the land to hunt” is one of my favorites. I personally know at least a couple dozen guys who lease land for hunting for a chump change.
Que
Question: suppose you rent a house and it has an awesome swimming pool. Suppose a neighbor kid drowns in it or your party guest drowns or gets hurt. Would you be liable?
Landlords problem. And thank your lucky stars you’re not the landlord.
Yes my parents owned a house with built in pool. They were pretty much scared of any neighbor kid getting hurt. They would not have bought the house in the 1960s if it was not for the separately fenced pool, with padlock on chain link fence. However as a kid I demonstrated even I could climb the fence. And I was a chubby boy.
I asked the question because I think I would more likely rent if I found a great North Scottsdale address with a pool.