Bits Bucket for April 3, 2014
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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
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Realtors are liars.
…. pathological liars.
House prices are still rising thanks to low interest rates as the FED buys treasuries from the primary dealers to suppress rates.
In addition to low rates home buyers r lured to real estate due to no capital gains if you have used the home for your primary residence 2 of the past 5 years when sold.
In addition to these notable items the yield suppression in safe havens such as treasuries forces people to chase yields in assets such as stocks.
I thought they changed that rule in 2007 or so - isn’t it apportioned over the period you owned it?
It must be your primary residence for 2 out of the last five years to qualify for up to $500k tax free…
That’s meaningless considering there isn’t a house on the planet worth that much.
The first rule to understanding housing is that paying more than reproduction costs of $55/sq ft, is a money losing proposition.
Remember…. housing depreciates rapidly.
lmao your still preachn that rhetoric?
The fact that housing depreciates is a reality my friend.
….and rents never appreciate?
Rental rates are falling my friend. And to your advantage, they’re a fraction of the cost of buying at current grossly inflated asking prices of resale housing.
hmmm: http://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public/rental/ZRI.Boise%20City.394399.pdf
I’m greatly concerned with Boise and rents have increased 8.7% annual. My Neighborhood where I wish to stay has increased 11.2%.
Please explain how these annual increases = “rental rates are falling…”. Don’t tell me about Manhattan again. I don’t care about it and am not renting there.
And rentals are still half the cost of buying at current grossly inflated asking prices.
Your shelter issue is your problem. Fix it.
Brandon,
We’ll have to take your word for the rent trend in your neighborhood. Data which is not off a realtor site is only available for up to 2012 and that shows a downward trend. Maybe Boise has been building lots of low income housing over the past years to push the median down, but I rather doubt this was going on after the bust.
http://www.deptofnumbers.com/rent/idaho/boise-city/
You can drill down into year by year numbers at the US Census if you care too. But if you understood that we were in a bubble in 2006 (especially in Boise) prices are back up to the same crazy price range, why would you be so anxious to buy?
Blue. Since everyone always talks about NOMINAL rents (not adjusted for inflation), you need to click the “NOMINAL” link.
http://www.deptofnumbers.com/rent/idaho/boise-city/
On a NOMINAL basis, rents seem to be up 3.6% year on year in Boise.
On a REAL basis, rents seem to be up 1.8% (outpacing inflation) in Boise.
Blue Sky,
I’m trying to objectively compare renting again with buying….and putting down some roots.
Both rent and housing prices have increased this year - especially on the side of town where I live and my kids go to school. One reason I’m strongly in the mood to buy is to offer some stability for myself and kids. My current landlord is not renewing the lease and it was quite jarring to realize I’m not in total control of my shelter. The price of rent and whether or not my lease gets renewed is at the total whim of someone else. This is a big intangible which can’t be neatly, charted, graphed, or monetized for a rent vs. buy decision.
My lease ends Jun 30 so I’m facing either locking in a new rent in the area of about a $1000 per month (or more) or buy and pay about the same per month (before the tax advantages) - yes I understand I’m not taking into consideration potential depreciation, maintenance, etc. - life is full of risks isn’t it?
Brandon,
During the bubble, while we weren’t making investments in residential, we were still presented with opportunities. One such opportunity was to buy residential land west of Boise proper. There were two things about it that struck me, and still to this day:
1. Prices were a lot higher than incomes seemed to support; but MORE IMPORTANTLY (IMHO);
2. There seemed to be massive amounts of supply that was able to be built based on land availability (and willingness to approve that land for development by the local jurisdictions).
I think it is important for you to understand what is happening in land markets in Boise today (I haven’t followed that particular market…and it’s been almost a decade, so lots may have changed).
IF those maps just went dormant, and are coming back to life, it could foretell a significant amount of supply to be built once folks get comfortable/complacent, etc. And, IF that were to occur, I’m willing to wager that with the next recession, the opportunity to buy will look a lot better then than today, and the math on the rent vs. own in the intervening years will be completely irrelevant.
Blue Sky - you make a good point. I’m locked into Southeast Boise due to the kid’s school. If you go out to Meridian and into Canyon Country prices are MUCH lower - those areas simply are not an option for me.
They are building south of me but both subs are pricing at minimum about 4x median income. It’s all desert but have no idea what future plans are out that way.
” objectively compare renting again with buying….and putting down some roots…”
Well you can’t have both, objective thinking and emotional need. Want to put down roots? Join clubs and make friends. The bank will never love you.
I’m also struck with the need to control whatever. Yes when you rent you move if costs go up. It’s not like you would expect to move every year when you rent. It is only a huge deal if you have tons of stuff. When you have a mortgage, you can’t move for the better part of a decade unless the market keeps going up or you have lots of money left over after your down payment! That’s control of a different sort.
The key point is that you think there was a bubble in Boise that lasted two years and is over. It hasn’t gone away is our claim. It will though.
I don’t get out my credit card to stock up on things that have just doubled in price. I get out my cash to stock up on things that are offered at depressed prices. That works for me, but not for everyone.
Let us know what you buy, it seems you are set on it. Just get a place big enough that your grandkids can come for the holidays.
The guy that put up “Dept of Numbers” is a consultant working for NAR.
And it was just yesterday that RenTroll Hogwash attempted another one of his grand distortions by posting “Zillow Home Value” and insisting it’s an actual valid metric.
At this point I’m leaning towards buy - and yes while I’m trying to be objective there is also an emotional component. I suppose no different than the the fears we may have of buying before a bottom, catching falling knives, buying depreciating assets, etc. We may all look at data and say the charts are saying this or that and trying to divine trends one way or another but in the end there’s a fear of when/if to pull the trigger on real estate.
I didn’t vet him. My mistake. Still the article says Boise rents are down. I did look at enough of the Census data to be convinced claims of skyrocketing rents in Boise was suspect. Of course 2013 data will not come out until September. So many people just cannot keep themselves out of debt and will run with whatever line of thought supports them buying stuff they cannot afford. Unfortunately, that makes things more expensive for the rest of us. I don’t care how may people “buy a house”. Let them cement themselves into it. My problem is that the debt junkies are dragging us all down with them. I am used to swimming upstream, but it shouldn’t have to be so.
Realtor Sentenced To Prison For Fraud
http://kfor.com/2014/03/27/former-oklahoma-realtor-sentenced-24-months-in-prison-for-mortgage-fraud/
I’m tired of watching this country fail. The economy, the job market, education, health care - its all one big pile of fail and we’re at each other’s throats about it. We need to chill out and laugh a little.
Biden 2016! For the lulz!
Very funny. That would be wonderful.
dont fight the money printers!!!
Biden/Howard Dean, slogan: We’ll out crazy, crazy, yeeeeaaahhhhh!
It’s all due to greed.
Is a 1987-type market crash 37 days away?
Investors marveling at the striking similarities of the bull market today to the one that ended in 1987 are hoping history doesn’t repeat itself.
http://marketsblog.usatoday.com/2014/04/02/is-a-1987-type-market-crash-37-days-away/
There have been lots of recent stories about similarities between the current stock market picture and that in 1987.
But not to worry — this time is different, and the stock market will always keep going up from now on.
as long as people keep talking about it, surely it wont happen.
bernake and yellen have basically taken the risk out of the stock market by saying they will print to keep it afloat.
inflation for the poor, increased asset prices for the rich.
Rich people have it pretty dam good.
“as long as people keep talking about it, surely it wont happen.”
My vague recollection is that people kept talking more and more about the runup in home prices circa 2006-07, right up until the point of collapse.
Is the stock market different than housing in this respect?
how many years have you been predicting a stock selloff?
a closely watched pot never boils over my friend!!!
Look, to some extent I agree, on a very broad macro level if this works, the QE and all the shenanigans, in keeping the economy afloat and then eventually allowing it to pick back up without too much time going by then we’ll all have to say we were dumb a$$es and it was probably the right thing to do. Wasn’t that Bernanke’s argument over the Great Depression, that they should have intervened earlier and more?
But I happen to think 2+2=4 so it won’t work and is doomed to fail and maybe lead to something worse. Who knows, maybe with the ever expanding productivity from tech 2+2 does equal 5 now.
Bernanke’s actions are in line with what we’ve done as a country during the past 15 years:
Preserve existing wealth.
No one seems interesting in PRODUCING wealth. They want to preserve it and redistribute it.
This is what happens when the middle class is under attack.
The middle class redistributed their wealth to the upper class by borrowing themselves out of existence. They are voting our country out of prosperity by continually electing short sighted spendthrifts just like themselves. The poor middle class and their sagging backs. It’s not their fault!
We are on the dawn of a golden age. Pretty much everyone has plenty of food, clothing, shelter and entertainment. And less than half the people have to actually work!
didn’t we know about printing presses back in ‘87?
“bernake and yellen have basically taken the risk out of the stock market by saying they will print to keep it afloat.”
You’d think the “shorts” would have a case with the SEC.
Now there’s a 1987 chart to get worried about
April 2, 2014, 4:14 PM ET
Remember the scary Dow 1929 chart? (Of course you do). But now comes another chart showing similarities between the current five-year-old bull market in the S&P 500 Index and the one that ended in 1987 with the October crash.
“History doesn’t repeat …. but does it rhyme???” is the question Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist and economist at Wells Capital Management, poses in a note Wednesday.
…
The 1987 “crash” was a blip on the radar. The calendar year 1987 stock market was a break-even year at worst.
But not to worry — this time is different,
For one thing, in 1987 the stock market wasn’t propped up by The FedRes’s Fantasmagical QE Machine.
And in 1987 there weren’t millions of 401K’s held hostage in the market. And at the time, the Boomers were young and had time to make up losses.
To listen to “experts” the stock market is fairly valued, and should continue going up. No matter what something is priced at, there will always be those who try to justify it.
the one that ended in 1987 ??
I have always felt that the Reagan’s 1986 Tax Reform Act played a role in that meltdown…
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CEEQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fberniekent%2F2011%2F10%2F21%2Fwas-the-1986-tax-reform-really-simplification-was-it-fair%2F&ei=Bmw9U85Gg8TJAdPAgcgP&usg=AFQjCNHJp7×8ljCIQvW7JDgSFqqgvuoF_Q&sig2=_s97WZbBMkkElyHiePlw3w&bvm=bv.63934634,d.aWc
I have always felt that the Reagan’s 1986 Tax Reform Act played a role in that meltdown…
What if it did, the 1987 crash only hurt speculators not investors. It also demonstrated the value of doing very little. Reagan did not propose a trillion dollar stimulus to deal with a stock market crash and the real economy was stronger for it. It is Obama making Wall Street’s problems main street’s problems which is the real reason for the slow recovery.
1987 crash only hurt speculators not investors ??
Please demonstrate how….
Isn’t it obvious? Speculators use a lot of margin and get squeezed out when a market turns against them. That is one of the reasons market fall so fast, margin calls are made, the speculator cannot meet the call and the stock positions are liquidated. Investors only suffer paper losses and hold on to the shares go back to their intrinsic value.
BTW, that is why the Obama administration is talking BS when it says that Putin and his cronies are being hurt by the Russian stock market falling. Six months from now the market will recover to its intrinsic value and Russia will be even better off since it is going to get world prices for its NG and we are going to pay for it.
1987 crash only hurt speculators not investors ??
Please demonstrate how….
I remember a lot of people freaking out as their mutual funds tanked. Those were people saving for their retirements, not speculating day traders.
1987 also was of very short duration.
Lots of 1980s Legal Eagle-yuppie speculator types got slapped around for a month, then quickly recovered their losses and a great deal more during the next 12 years.
Big freaking deal.
1994 wasn’t a good year for stocks, either, but I don’t hear anyone romanticizing it. It, too, was no big freaking deal.
Colorado, I explained above, however freaking out and being hurt are two different things. The economy did not go into a recession as many predicted at the time, the market recovered rapidly and nobody that stayed invested was hurt. In fact, people that had a regular investment schedule, actually made additional money since they bought shares cheap. Another way we are being hurt today is the Fed by artificially keeping up the market is precluding people from benefiting from an undervalued market which makes it harder to save for retirement. Conversely, Bill and I both believe that the PMs suppression by the PTB will only make us more money when China’s Yuan becomes a reserve currency and the dollar loses its exclusive status as the currency for oil.
Dan -
I suspect there’s a few people on this board how got side-swiped in 1987 and decided then that the stock market was inherently evil and have stayed out of the market since.
Likely these are the same people who believe that corporations are inherently evil. It makes sense.
“Conversely, Bill and I both believe that the PMs suppression by the PTB will only make us more money when China’s Yuan becomes a reserve currency and the dollar loses its exclusive status as the currency for oil”
Interesting. I missed this as I’m not on the HBB day-in and day-out. Care to explain? if so, thanks in advance.
The dollar has a special role in the world and it goes back to the ultimate globalist Henry Kissinger who got OPEC to price their oil in dollars. Much of the strength of the dollar and our ability to run the twin deficits, fiscal and trade can be explained by the world’s need to acquire dollars to buy oil. Saddam Hussein by trying to sell oil for other than dollars probably wrote his own death warrant.
China seems to be acquiring gold to become a reserve currency and seems to be making deals with oil producing countries to break this stranglehold of the dollar. Also, just yesterday I posted how Putin was creating a trade deal with Iran that seem to avoid this need to acquire dollars. The PTB fear anything that can be used to acquire oil that is not the U.S. dollar, which includes obviously gold but also a currency backed by gold. If China creates such a currency the value of the dollar would plunge and the ability of the U.S. to maintain both massive trade and fiscal deficits would end. Obama, by overexploiting our privileged status by printing dollars like crazy to monetize the deficits and his foreign policy, has moved up the day we lose our special reserve currency status and on that day, you will want to be holding gold because it will be an ugly time with the dollar losing much of its value.
The PTB have suppressed gold to keep it from becoming the alternative to the dollar but their use of paper gold cannot stop it much longer.
Got it - thanks. And it makes sense to keep assets fungible and mobile, since who knows what the U.S. government will do to land and other immobile “property” if what you foresee as possible actually does occur.
Again, thanks.
You probably won’t live long enough to see China’s Yuan become a reserve currency.
Do you have hit out on me or is it Obama?
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1578602-china-maneuvers-to-take-away-u-s-dominant-reserve-currency-status
Colorado, I explained above, however freaking out and being hurt are two different things.
Unless you had a crystal ball an hung in there, you probably panicked and sold. Some did, some didn’t. So some people did get hurt.
Most people owned most their stock at least in 1987, in pension funds so they probably did not sell since they were not in control. Those that did sell did get hurt but then they were not approaching it as real investors. If you sold at the bottom you were not making your decisions based on things like book value, PE ratios and dividend yields and if you don’t make decisions considering those things, perhaps you do not belong in the market because you will be sheared on a regular basis.
Dan, what I’m saying is that I can’t say that your prediction won’t happen because you didn’t put a date on it. You’ll probably die of natural causes decades from now and the U.S. dollar will still be the world’s reserve currency. On your deathbed you may continue to claim that the yuan will replace the USD any day now.
April 5, 2015 at 9:00 A.M.
Seriously Mike, the Yuan replacing the dollar is a gradual process and it is already gaining steam and it will happen long before decades have passed:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/03/us-markets-offshore-yuan-idUSBRE9B204020131203
Excerpt:
(Reuters) - China’s yuan currency overtook the euro in October, becoming the second-most used currency in trade finance, global transaction services organization SWIFT said on Tuesday.
The market share of yuan usage in trade finance, or Letters of Credit and Collection, grew to 8.66 percent in October 2013. That improved from 1.89 percent in January 2012.
The yuan, also known as the renminbi, now ranks behind the U.S. dollar, which remains the leading currency with a share of 81.08 percent
“The PTB have suppressed gold to keep it from becoming the alternative to the dollar but their use of paper gold cannot stop it much longer.”
This is one of the most asinine comments I’ve ever seen on this blog. Gold is in a massive speculative bubble. Your comment is akin to somebody stating oil prices were artificially suppressed when they were $140 per barrel.
:reading:
umm… the economy sucked 1990 - 1996… then more massive tax cuts to get to the suckass economy of 2001 - 2014…
+1…Exactly C-dog…Adan conveniently forgets that…
And your don’t ever sell strategy only holds true when, Captian obvious, you don’t need to sell…Your supposition is that unless you are investing for the long term say, 30 years, then you are a speculator…Nothing could be further from the truth…
+1…Exactly C-dog…Adan conveniently forgets that…
Sorry but 1990, is not 1987 or 1988, I did not conveniently forget anything. The stock market had fully recovered in 1988 and Reagan was no longer president in 1990.
It seems to me that the difference between investors and speculators is the speed at which one hopes to realize one’s gains.
True but it is more than that. It is investing in a stock since you believe it is intrinsically undervalued and being willing to wait for the market to recognize that value. Today, momentum investing is the norm, you invest in Tesla or FB because it is going up and has a “story”, to me it is the bigger fool type investing. Don’t get me wrong, if you are nimble enough you can do quite well, I may even engage in it a little when I retire and can watch the market like a hawk.
is the speed at which one hopes to realize one’s gains ??
And what timeline would that be ?? 1 day…1 month…1 year…1 decade…Everyone is different…I know my brother after the 2008 meltdown moved all his 401k money to safe harbor investments…I can already anticipate Adan & Bill pounding there keyboards with their rear-view-mirror saying; “Yeah…And he missed the whole bull market over the past 5 years”…
He does not need a Bull market…What he needs is preservation and at his age, he does not have the risk tolerance NOR the time for a comeback if it does happen..Many people are not interested in how much growth they get…They just don’t want to lose what they got…Thats why the retail investor is not in the market anymore and least as compared to the past…They know the market is rigged against them…
FYI, this is Michael Lewis talking about HFT on Bloomberg video. It’s 20 minutes long, but quite interesting:
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/michael-lewis-on-high-frequency-trading-and-markets-U~cBjPhkSyir_u9M0N85RQ.html
scdave,
It sounds like your brother would be a good candidate for an age-based fund. The only reason I say that is that he acted out of emotion, and if you have a tendency to act out of emotion, it can be a very bad thing to have your finger on the “sell” or “buy” buttons on your keyboard. That emotion will tend to cause you to buy too high, and sell too low.
Put the money in the age based fund, and simply forget it.
Chicago’s pension reckoning - Chicago Tribune
Rahm Emanuel finally is ready to file legislation that would reduce the city’s dangerously unfunded pension liabilities for municipal workers and laborers.
The agreement includes a mix of politically risky property tax increases and benefit cuts. The remedies will hurt. That is, this deal would hurt taxpayers and employees alike. And there will be more deals and more hurts. The numbers are that bad:
City Hall faces $19.5 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. CPS is desperate to find money for another $9.5 billion in pension obligations.
Remember: City Hall’s entire annual budget is roughly $7 billion. The school district’s entire annual budget is $5.6 billion. Even if every penny went toward pension and borrowing costs for a whole year, that money still wouldn’t be enough to fill those gaps. Not. Even. Close.
And so, the city that I love faces monumental financial difficulties. What a shame.
better get busy on this in your county/state - gov workers can retire at 55-57 w a thing called a db pension (French word)?
you get to pay for it
Are you the poster Highway56 or whatever that poster’s on-screen ID was?
Just wondering.
poster Highway56 ??
Hwy had a very distinct rant…We would know it was him quickly from any of his post…I have not seen him post in maybe a couple of years…Ditto with Ahansen…
Ahansen was here very recently.
Oh cool…I am glad to hear that…If she returns ask her if she has heard from Hwy at all…They live near each other…
better get busy on this in your county/state - gov workers can retire at 55-57 w a thing called a db pension (French word)?
you get to pay for it
So why haven’t you sold your house and moved to Hotlanta or someplace in Texas?
“City Hall faces $19.5 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.”
That figure sounds conspicuously similar to the Detroit city bankruptcy tab, except Detroit’s figure included other liabilities besides pension.
U.S. News
Detroit Bondholders, Pensioners Get Less Under New Plan
Current and Retired Police and Firefighters Would Get 6% Cut Under New Plan
By Matthew Dolan
Updated March 31, 2014 10:25 p.m. ET
DETROIT—The bankrupt city of Detroit said it would pay some of its bondholders and pensioners less than originally offered, according to a revised version of the city’s debt-cutting plan filed in federal court late Monday.
According to city officials, if current and retired police and firefighters vote to approve the new plan, they would see a 6% reduction in their pension benefits and the elimination of cost of living adjustments. If they voted against the plan, the reduction would increase to 14%. Other employees and retirees would see greater cuts under the revised plan.
The figures are generally lower than the original plan proposed by the city’s emergency manager in February.
Some unsecured bondholders owed hundreds of millions of dollars would see their payout reduced to 15 cents on the dollar from 20 cents in certain cases, according to Bill Nowling, a spokesman for the city’s emergency manager. The lower payouts were the result of creating a separate funding class for those eligible for retiree health care, reducing the amount available to other creditors, according to Mr. Nowling.
The bankrupt city has been spending months trying to convince its major creditors that it needs to restructure an estimated $18 billion in long-term obligations by paying secured creditors in full, paying pension funds a reduced amount and giving other unsecured creditors a smaller fraction of the debt outstanding the city owes.
So far, since filing for Chapter 9 protection in July, only a pair of banks have reached an $85 million settlement with the city to resolve about $288 million in debt, increasing the pressure on the city’s emergency manager and the governor who appointed him.
In the coming weeks, more than 100,000 creditors will have a chance to vote on the proposed debt-cutting plan, but the final say will rest with a federal bankruptcy judge.
“The City continues to make progress with its creditors and retirees and hopes to reach agreement in the near term on a number of outstanding issues,” said Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, who was appointed by Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder one year ago. “The Plan puts the focus back on providing essential public services to the City’s nearly 700,000 residents.”
…
6 percent cut really? Big whoop.
and the elimination of cost of living adjustments
“and the elimination of cost of living adjustments”
This one is the biggie, and I’m sure they cops and firefighters aren’t happy about it. All it would take are a few years of low double digit inflation and they’ve lost half their buying power.
This one is the biggie, and I’m sure they cops and firefighters aren’t happy about it. All it would take are a few years of low double digit inflation and they’ve lost half their buying power
Exactly. Notice everything is being put into place to allow inflation to destroy the middle class but allow government and the crony capitalists to escape the consequences of too much debt in the economy. Cost of living adjustments on pensions have been eliminated and even private pensions which often did not adjust for inflation after retirement but did allow you to use your highest paying years to set your pension are being eliminated. Homebuyers are being steered into either adjustable mortgages or at least shorter duration mortgages. Meanwhile corporations are selling fixed thirty year bonds, thus corporations will benefit from an extended period of high inflation. While the PTB through the MSM are telling people that high inflation is just thought up by the tin-foil hat crowd, everything is in place for government and the crony capitalists to inflate away their debts and stick the middle class with the bill.
What happens to all these urban centers when police forces get cut by 50 percent?
Got RoboCop?
“The Plan puts the focus back on providing essential public services to the City’s nearly 700,000 residents.”
That last sentence is a doozy. Funny how it’s pensions for police, firefighters and teachers* that are largely responsible for the cutting of essential services.
* = I’d add city government workers to the mix, but didn’t since most city government workers aren’t interested in providing essential services in the first place.
ALSO - the largest pension cuts should be aimed at firefighters, who don’t do much throughout their careers. (And, as I said a while ago, it’s not as if a fire is intentionally out to kill them).
Are Chicago’s pension woes the mere tip of a sizable iceberg?
Chicago Among Many Ill. Cities in Pension Straits
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. April 2, 2014 (AP)
By JOHN O’CONNOR and DON BABWIN Associated Press
Associated Press
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan for fixing part of the nation’s worst municipal pension crisis is now in the hands of state lawmakers — and it’s likely just the first of many from cities across the state seeking legislative help for their employee retirement funds.
The Democratic mayor’s proposal comes just months after the General Assembly finally tackled a plan — challenged in court — to deal with its own $100 billion pension problem. But Emanuel hasn’t yet addressed shortfalls in the city’s fire and police pension programs, a problem that nearly every large city in Illinois faces.
Chicago has the worst-funded public pension system of any major U.S. city, a distinction that could threaten its attempts to position itself as a modern transportation hub and a place for high-tech development.
Emanuel announced he had reached a deal with several municipal and laborers unions to cut in half a $19.5 billion pension debt over 40 years in accounts that cover more than 50,000 employees and retirees. The agreement would raise property taxes by $250 million over five years, require higher contributions from employees and reduce the annual benefits retirees receive.
Less than a year from facing the voters for re-election, Emanuel’s plan is politically risky.
“Voters did not elect me to think about my political future,” Emanuel said in a statement Tuesday. “They elected me to think about Chicago’s future.”
He suggested the effort with the unions could be a template for solving $10 billion in police and fire shortfalls, but didn’t suggest specifics, including how the city can meet a required $600 million balloon payment to police and fire funds next year.
And despite Emanuel’s claim of widespread union support, a coalition of labor groups representing firefighters, police officers, teachers, nurses and other city workers called We Are One Chicago all but promised a lawsuit if lawmakers OK the plan. A similar group has filed a lawsuit over the state plan.
In Springfield, Republicans were noncommittal, saying they wanted to see the details and who would have to pay for the plan before they signed on. Democrats, who control supermajorities in both legislative chambers, already begun drafting language for the necessary bills in the House.
Other cities wrestling with their own pension shortfalls are watching.
“Chicago drives things throughout the state and it also gets the majority of funding from Springfield and Washington, D.C.,” Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis said. “A healthy Chicago means more scraps for the Peorias, Rockfords, Danvilles of the state.”
…
Meredith Whitney was early and she did not seem to consider that QE inflating asset prices would buy the pension funds time but she is right that we are going to see a lot of government entities go broke and it will be the next major drag on the economy. Of course, trying to fix the problem will also be a short term drag on the economy.
Alas, the Geographic Distribution of Wealth rears its ugly head once again, this time at the state level.
Illinois is a land of corruption. Definitely not a place to take on a mortgage or purchase property.
I wonder how rural Georgia stacks up against Atlanta. Illinois and Georgia are similar in having a sole major metro area.
Drudge link, shows Chicago becoming rich and poor with the middle class disappearing:
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/04/03/amazing-graphic-shows-chicagos-middle-class-disappear-before-your-eyes/
Chicago becoming rich and poor with the middle class disappearing
In New York City people were talking about that phenomenon since the 1960s. When I lived in Boston in the ’80s there was probably exactly one middle class neighborhood in the whole city. There are probably many other cities that have gone through this.
There was also a time when people spoke of a class called the working class that existed between the poor and the middle class. They were all promoted to middle class at some point.
I think the “working class” have been demoted to the poor/lower class these days. I keep hearing about the need to raise the minimum wage to help working class folks. By definition, the middle class is not making minimum wage…
yellen will print some cash so their returns on stocks are higher than normal.
Yeah. How much are they hiding?
When you think about the state financial woes plus the city, IL taxpayers are going to be taking a hit. This will be ugly.
“Rahm Emanuel finally is ready to file legislation that would reduce the city’s dangerously unfunded pension liabilities for municipal workers and laborers.”
Remember when Reagan quipped, “My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”
I weigh 138 lbs and my height is 5feet 7 inches tall. I am a vegetarian and only eat carbs and veggies including potatoes. I avoid sugar and fat as much as possible. I spin on a bike for 1 hour 5 to 6 times per week. A little bit of weight lifting twice a week.
I am not lying when I say I have to try and over eat otherwise I lose more weight. My unscientific theory is that when I eat sugar and then later on say some fat then the sugar fat mixture in my body makes me gain weight. Perhaps this fat sugar combination should be avoided. I thought perhaps someone else might have encountered the same so I decided to post this.
Have you tried protein supplements? (Not sure this meets your self-imposed dietary regimen, though…)
Thanks for the suggestion Wac. I get a lot of protein from the beans and legumes. I won’t call this a diet as I eat everything but only limit sugar and fats. I cook at home and I know what is being added to my food and avoid eating out as much as possible. I eat fruits and they contain sugar such apples, pears, Clementine’s and buy most of my groceries from the produce section of the super market. Being a vegetarian (vegan) makes me feel great. Yes I am looking forward to all the fresh fruits and vegetables just like you. Please remember most people die of heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
I avoid cakes, candies, pies, cookies, white bread, cheese and other fats. I noticed my metabolism did not go up but my hunger went down. I have been at this life style for over a year now.
Proof is in not tasting the pudding
Following this regiment has resulted in my sugar levels, bp, heart rate, cholesterol levels to be very low. My doctors are quite surprised as most doctors do not expect their patients to do this well and I can see the surprise in their language and on their faces. I look quite good and get smiles from hotties in their 20’s – 40’s.
What can a man to do??
“get smiles from hotties in their 20’s — 40’s”
With my pockets bulging and overflowing with cash from all the money I have left over after throwing money away on rent every month, I get that alot too
I get the same results eating a lot of salmon, nuts and blueberries. I eat pretty much what I want besides that but I do try to avoid white bread and sugar. I can lift over 400 pounds with my legs multiple times and with my arms over 265 pounds. I weigh 180 on a 5′11 frame but people are surprised at that weight since muscle is heavier than fat. To each his own, but eating more like a caveman has worked for me for decades. I decided to eat like that since I do not think a million years of evolution can be undone in decades. I love a good steak and hit buffets hard. I have set off the alarms at the Albuquerque airport several times since my muscle density seems to mimic prohibited items and the machines are set to detect more than metal.
BTW, I sink like a stone in the water but swim well underwater.
5′7 138lbs is not getting a second look from the ladies, sorry to tell you. Women do not want someone that is shorter than them and prob weighs less too.
I guess Cheetos won’t help in that case.
5′7 138lbs is not getting a second look from the ladies, sorry to tell you. Women do not want someone that is shorter than them and prob weighs less too.
LOL. And what is the average height of a woman in the US these days? About 5′4″. I tend to agree with your theory, but in this case, I don’t necessarily think it hurts the OP unless the women he interacts with every day are wearing 4″ heels…
I’m serious now….
Breakfast: bag of Cheetos, 1 liter Coke.
Snack: half dozen krispy kremes
Lunch: a big honking sammich like pastrami or a couple quarter pounders. Don’t forget the coke, chips, fries and pies.
Snack: half dozen krispy kremes
Dinner: half pound pasta topped with whatever.
7pm-10pm- This is important. Set up the kitchen for an endless stream of snacks….. Doritos, nachos with cheese, tirimisu, hostess cupcakes, pies, deep fried chicken or calimari, gallons of ice scream and Cheetos. Now the important part. Set yourself on the couch and just start consuming. Do this for a month and if you don’ t pack on 20-30 lbs minimum, I’ll stand on my head and spit jellybeans.
No beer? I call shenanigans.
You are the envy of pretty much everyone and don’t know it. Go to Genentech right now and ask them to patent your genes. You can eat whatever you want!
Seriously about what age are you, metabolisms slow down once you start seeing 30 in the rear view.
Yeah… early thirties it starts packing on and the yo yo begins.
I have also figured out how to find happiness (clue absence of unhappiness). Get out of bad moods and get all the sleep my body needs. This helps avoid over eating in most cases. I enjoy working out most days.
You’re attempting to gain weight no?
Stay heathy with lots of hotties
oh… I misunderstood. You know how to pack on the blubber now.
A “cheat day” is very beneficial. It gives you a psychological break from wanting but not getting some bad food. It also throws the body a curveball and doesn’t let it drop the normal down too easily (Broscience, but also my experience).
Cheeto Days are beneficial.
LolaLOL-
I’ve done precisely that - one cheat day a week - for many years. It works great for me.
Interesting that there’s some research backing it. Any websites?
The wrong assumption you folks are making that I eat food that is not delicious or I miss the sugars fat laden food. I love what I eat.
I am glad it works for you, but most vegetarians I know either look like they just were released from a concentration camp or actually look dumpy. I think Bill Walton actually ended his NBA career by being a vegetarian and making his bones fragile. I know the “science” of being a vegetarian has improved since then but it seems to too much work to figure out how to substitute combinations of foods to replace what you get from foods like salmon and red meat. I will go with one million years of being a meat eater. When evolution puts our eyes on the side, then I think we should change our diets. However, since our eyes are in front, I think we need to stay predators.
A-dan, SUguy admits upthread that he is vegan, not vegetarian. The paleo community did establish a modified diet for vegetarians which depended mostly on eggs, cheese, legumes, and whey powder. You can’t get close to paleo as a vegan.
SU guy, my suggestion is the same as Whac — protein supplements. You can buy hemp or pea protein. And spin less and lift more.
The “dumpy” look you describe has a name too: “skinny fat.” This describes people in the normal weight range but they have atrophied muscles and fat pockets everywhere. For this reason, the paleo community doesn’t pay much heed to BMI. Instead, they look at waist size and how well clothing fits. Another feature of paleo is that people lose more weight than they thought they could — most importantly they lose that “last” 10-15 pounds that calorie counting alone can’t seem to shake.
Unfortunately, I myself fell off the paleo wagon over the winter, and my weight is up 7 pounds, which is a lot for me. I’m trying to get back on track.
From The Independent THURSDAY 03 APRIL 2014:
Vegetarians are less healthy than meat-eaters, a controversial study has concluded, despite drinking less, smoking less and being more physically active than their carnivorous counterparts.
A study conducted by the Medical University of Graz in Austria found that the vegetarian diet, as characterised by intake of fruits, vegetables and whole-grain products, appeared to carry elevated risks of cancer, allergies and mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
To Oxy
Waist size 31 chest size 38. I consume mike as I drink milky tea every day. No fat pockets or deposits. My main objective was to be healthy. The hotties smiles are a side benefit.
A-dan, SUguy admits upthread that he is vegan, not vegetarian
So? Vegans are the fundamentalists among vegetarians. Even John the Baptist ate honey and grasshoppers.
If you have milk in your tea, then you aren’t vegan, at least not religiously so. You have very lucky carb resistant genetics. Most of the population does not.
Sounds hideous. But more power to you.
I’ll think I’ll continue to eat small portions of everything I like, which includes carbs and veggies, but also fruit, ice cream, crepes (blueberries and whipped cream - tasty!), lasagna, candy, almond chicken, hamburgers, fish and pizza.
Variety is the spice of life around here and will remain so.
Summer melons and berries - can’t wait! Fresh blackberries, cherries (freeze ‘em like grapes!), cantaloupe, watermelon. Wow…
LOL
Some Brazil news:
“According to a survey released late last week, 65.1 percent of Brazilians think if a woman is “dressed provocatively” she deserves to be “attacked and raped.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/03/i-dont-deserve-to-be-raped-campaign-responds-to-shocking-brazilian-survey/
Article also notes that the number of reported rapes in Rio del Janeiro increased from 3,846 in 2008 to 6,029 in 2012.
We are so focused on the United States and Western Europe we think that the world is changing on issues such as gay rights and women’s rights but the truth is many countries such as India, Brazil and the countries of Africa are going in the other direction. There are probably more countries moving to criminalize homosexuality than moving to recognize gay marriage. Moreover, many of our immigrants are from these countries so history may look back at what is going on in the United States now as an aberration.
You’d be surprised. Even in Macho Mexico they have Gay Pride parades and the Mexico City municipal government recognizes same sex unions.
Don’t fight the Fed and hold onto your cash and do not take on any debt.
Isn’t holding onto cash fighting the fed? Sure wish I could get a billion dollar loan at 0% interest
Isn’t holding onto cash fighting the fed? Sure wish I could get a billion dollar loan at 0% interest
Pretty much anyone on this board would become rich if we had such access. That is why this claim that banksters need to be heavily compensated due to the profits they are generating is BS. The Fed has created conditions so that a trained monkey can generate a profit at a bank.
That’s a concern. What or how much are they hiding???
Losses on housing and mortgages?
This didn’t post where I intended.
Professor and author Thomas Piketty pimps class warfare:
“Since 1980, however, their fortunes have swelled again — at the expense of everyone else. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher slashed taxes on wealth, workers lost the ability to bargain for wages and, crucially, the population growth of many nations ground nearly to a halt. Capital, again, was accumulating faster than the overall economies were growing. In the United States, Piketty shows, the incomes of top 1 percent have grown so high — chiefly due to the linkage of top executive pay to share value, a form of capital — that they soon will create the greatest level of income inequality in the recorded history of any nation.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harold-meyerson-how-capitalism-enriches-only-the-few/2014/04/02/f2295a5e-ba95-11e3-9a05-c739f29ccb08_story.html
I wonder if the people living in coastal areas across the United States are willing to depart with their wealth, since wealth is concentrated in those areas.
So how about it?
Dan - wanna cough up more dough?
Whac = wanna cough up more dough?
Polly = wanna cough up more dough?
Oxide = wanna cough up more dough?
SC dave = wanna cough up more dough
Joe = wanna cough up more dough
Northeasterner = wanna cough up more dough?
Bill = wanna cough up more dough?
You live in wealthy areas. Time to redistribute! I think a 25% one-time confiscation of your personal, liquid assets is in order for everyone listed above. Because it’s unfair that you have more, that’s why. Who cares is everything costs more where you live? That’s YOUR problem.
Carl, Goon and In Colorado - you’re next. Mountain areas are becoming too wealthy.
Storm the Wealth Enclaves!
Macbeth, Albuquerque is not coastal unless a really big earthquake has hit Mexico in the last few hours and caused a major chunk to move far enough to allow the ocean to border New Mexico.
Sorry, Dan.
Forgot you were in Albuquerque. I’ve been to Albuquerque Quite high, dry and dusty. Been to Gallup, too, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Yikes!
We actually were quite wet and green last September. It has been a long drought but cycles come and go. As far as Gallup, you do not need to go far to see some nice country. Head to the Zuni Reservation south of Gallup next time you are in the area and then take the loop to the Ice caves and come out by Grants, amazing terrain.
Carl, Goon and In Colorado - you’re next. Mountain areas are becoming too wealthy.
We have TABOR, dude. And legal MJ. It’s all good. Next door Wyoming doesn’t have a state income tax, and property taxes there are low. Utah is Mormon, so you can forget about high taxes there too. Don’t know about Montana, though.
TABOR doesn’t protect you from Washington.
I think it’s high time to raid your banks accounts and 401Ks and take the 25% that should not be yours.
TABOR doesn’t protect you from Washington.
Yeah, but Washington rapes everyone equally, and thanks to the 1% the trend in Federal taxation is that it will remain low.
It’s the local taxes that get you, as we’ve seen documented on this blog repeatedly: astronomical property and local income taxes The Rocky Mountain West has historically been a low tax region and thanks to constitutional amendments like TABOR it will stay that way.
Carl, Goon and In Colorado - you’re next. Mountain areas are becoming too wealthy.
Hmmmm. Trailer park wealth stripping…
You could always move your trailer to Guymon, Oklahoma.
C’mon, be a sport!
Tornadoes are included, free of charge!
So you’re saying I wouldn’t have to live there very long and I’d get relocated for free?
So you’re saying I wouldn’t have to live there very long and I’d get relocated for free?
You catch on quickly!
I think a 25% one-time confiscation of your personal, liquid assets is in order for everyone listed above.
I live in a high-tax and high-cost-of-living state, have an old house that is in constant need of fixing or upgrading, a wife, and two children in private school. Your first mistake is thinking I have a large amount of liquid assets…
You think I’m Bill in LA or Goon, living the life as a bachelor?
No his mistake is assuming that everyone who lives in a (relatively) high income area has a lot of wealth or income. That’s a poor assumption.
From the article on the main page: “A family of four would need about $5,900 in savings to carry them for three months through a job loss or other emergency, but more and more middle-class homes in Nevada ‘fall short of that amount,’ the organization has said.”
Any adult American with less than $5,900 is a financial minnow. If you have no money, are you really “middle-class”?
Linked from Drudge:
“Since 2008, the number of people who call themselves middle class has fallen by nearly a fifth, according to a survey in January by the Pew Research Center, from 53 percent to 44 percent. Forty percent now identify as either lower-middle or lower class compared with just 25 percent in February 2008.”
http://news.yahoo.com/more-americans-see-middle-class-status-slipping-155155857–finance.html
welcome to the recoveryless recovery
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/business/economy/out-of-work-out-of-benefits-and-running-out-of-options.html?hp
because the future belongs to lucky ducky
That Abe dude in the article is hosed. He is no doubt considered damaged goods and will never get another job in marketing, not even his Ivy League credentials will save him.
This lesson is not lost on me, even though I’m younger than he is. What I have observed now is that not only is being unemployed or underemployed the professional kiss of death these days, any past employment gap or having been part of a RIF is also very problematic.
What this means is that you to be very alert and start looking for a new job at the first sign of trouble. If you wait until they hand out pink slips, you’re screwed.
Functional resume. Chronological resumes are for 25 and under. Maybe up to 30 if you haven’t moved around much.
What this means is that you to be very alert and start looking for a new job at the first sign of trouble. If you wait until they hand out pink slips, you’re screwed.
And I’m looking. China again in June if I haven’t found anything yet. At least I know I have that much time.
Good comments, too.
JerryNew York 10 minutes ago
“I’m not in my basement, unshaven, unshowered, drinking a bottle of Scotch a day”
I think this is a telling quote. Gorelick enriched himself, for years, creating the modern advertising machine. This machine is a life destroyer, focused as it is on convincing as many people as possible to buy goods they don’t need with money they don’t have. The contempt of Gorelick’s statement (implying the set of lazy and drunk unemployed is large enough to make his comment meaningful) is not surprising. Can you imagine the size of the house with a kitchen containing (at least) an island and a solarium…and a basement? Its value?
This article would be much stronger if it showed a single mother buttering some Wonder bread for her four children, wearing the grease stained uniform of whichever employer pays her a minimum wage to service customers of a multi-billion dollar multinational conglomerate. Because that’s who is being hurt. And this pain is not a new development — it is has been a permanent condition ever since Mr. Gorelick’s friends at the University of Chicago convinced Ronald Reagan to open the treasury to those with the right cut of suit, and to ensure the poor will never have a chance to succeed.
What we are witnessing is not a sad, temporary, tarnishing of the storybook lives of rich white people, but the successful routing of the poor and middle class, as planned, by those same people, several decades ago.
Functional resume. Chronological resumes are for 25 and under. Maybe up to 30 if you haven’t moved around much.
You can do that, but when you fill out that job application form they want to see that job history. And from what I have seen, they verify it. At my current job I was required to show W2’s for the past 5 years or so as proof that I was employed where I said I had been.
I went 9 months without a job. Wasn’t the kiss of death, in fact, it led to a significant payout. (my path led to that, not specifically being unemployed).
Folks who have been around here a while know I was unemployed. That’s when I worked on the JTree extension.
I scrounged up some small contract gigs while unemployed, and jumped on the first offer that crossed my path, which was contract rather than FTE. After about a year, left for another job at a startup in the area I had interviewed with when I moved here. That startup has been very successful, and went public a year ago.
It may make things difficult. It may require more effort on your part to network, find available opportunities, and to pursue them. But I provide myself as a data point that this is not a necessary outcome.
Well, when people hear nonsense such as $100,000 a year income is middle class, they tend to view themselves as lower class.
The joke’s on everyone. $100,000 a year in income is not middle class (at least in income production). That’s upper-middle class, or even upper class.
$100K annually goes a long way if you’re not a moron with a $400K mortgage and new cars.
If you can’t make it on $5K a month after taxes, then the problem isn’t costs. The problem is you.
$100K annually goes a long way if you’re not a moron with a $400K mortgage ??
That mortgage appears affordable to me…
That’s the problem (assuming it wasn’t sarc). It ain’t. Everyone I know in that boat is saving zippo for retirement and is always strapped.
Really? 4x income is “affordable”?
I hope I do not hear complaints from you about money or ridiculous housing prices.
Me also hopes your comment to be sarcastic.
If it isn’t sarcastic, then the only thing I can surmise is that people from California really are that dumb.
then the only thing I can surmise is that people from California really are that dumb ??
Which is a really “dumb” statement…
Not hardly.
You’re just mad because you sacrificed freedom for status.
Yeah right….
$100K annually goes a long way if you’re not a moron with a $400K mortgage and new cars.
If you can’t afford a late model car, are you really “upper” class? (Note: I do agree with the 400K mortgage part).
A late model car costs $30K. Easily affordable on a $100K salary - assuming you’ve bothered to save cash along the way. Saving $30K in cash can be done easily in two years if you make $100K annually.
A two-year-old car IS a new car. Only the dimmest of morons would buy a brand new, never-driven car off the lot Few upper class people ever do something that dumb.
Now, if your goal is to keep up with other image-conscious Coloradoans, the car better cost $50K.
If that’s the case, the problem is you.
“Only the dimmest of morons would buy a brand new, never-driven car off the lot Few upper class people ever do something that dumb.”
Spoken like a man who hasn’t known any upper class people. People who are really wealthy don’t have to think much about the cost of a car. They are much more impressed with the level of service they get. For people who are actually wealthy, their time is more valuable to them than their cash.
really wealthy don’t have to think much about the cost of a car ??
Or much else for that matter young or old…I don’t select him out for anything other that a example;
Do you think the Romney children have ever or will ever worry one moment in their lives about affording health insurance ??
With that said, how many of us have had to worry about it…
A late model car costs $30K. Easily affordable on a $100K salary - assuming you’ve bothered to save cash along the way. Saving $30K in cash can be done easily in two years if you make $100K annually.
A two-year-old car IS a new car. Only the dimmest of morons would buy a brand new, never-driven car off the lot Few upper class people ever do something that dumb.
You can get a decent car in the low 20’s.
As for two year old cars, unless you buy American they retain their value like crazy. I’ve seen 2-3 year Subarus with 30-50K on the odometer (i.e. expired or soon to expire warranty) go for 80% of what a new one costs.
Truly upper class people buy new and expensive because money isn’t an issue. Posers lease their German luxo sedans because they can’t afford to by them, and German cars fall apart after 3 years and are expensive to fix.
People who are really wealthy don’t have to think much about the cost of a car. They are much more impressed with the level of service they get.
Exactly. Getting a new Benz or Audi periodically is like buying new clothes, not a big deal.The wealthy pay to have the dealer pick up their car and leave the loaner Benz in its place when their car needs to be serviced.
Only middle class wage slaves worry about car depreciation or “true cost of ownership”.
Only the dimmest of morons would buy a brand new, never-driven car off the lot
Then call me a dim moron. When I was looking, I found that any reliable car held its value too high and racked up far too miles for my taste. For the extra $2-3K at least I knew the car hadn’t been in a flood or abused or overdriven.
The days when a 2-3 year old car lost half its value are long gone. Even rental fleet cars hold their value better than that.
$100K annually goes a long way if you’re not a moron with a $400K mortgage and new cars.
Doesn’t go as far as you’d think, even in the trailer park. It only works like you’re saying if you have TWO of those incomes.
Sure it does. Move out of Boulder.
Sure it does. Move out of Boulder.
And give up dining at “Frasca”? I don’t think so!
$100K annually goes a long way if you’re not a moron with a $400K mortgage and new cars.
Doesn’t go as far as you’d think, even in the trailer park. It only works like you’re saying if you have TWO of those incomes.
This. Within my social group, we all earn combined incomes of $125k-175k. I would say 1 out of 5 families in that group is saving a decent amount for retirement (no, it’s not us). The rest is juggling act between private school tuition, saving for the kids college, saving for our retirement, extracurricular activities (swim team and soccer and such isn’t cheap for 2 kids), car repairs, house repairs, tax bills, health insurance bills, etc.
I’m not complaining, but if you think a six figure income for a family of four buys you easy street in MA, it doesn’t. Not even close. Six figures is the new middle class on the coasts.
Sure it does. Move out of Boulder.
Dude…I’m living just as cheap in Boulder as I could live anywhere else. Trust me. The only significant expense I have that could have been avoided is one car payment. And pesky stuff like insurance, which is where those on less income all seem to be cutting. Where my money goes is that my wife has expensive tastes in food. But you would still think we would have way more excess money than we do.
And give up dining at “Frasca”? I don’t think so!
Hah hah…had to Google that. Never heard of it until now…sounds like a typical Pearl Street place that will last a year or two.
Any adult American with less than $5,900 is a financial minnow. If you have no money, are you really “middle-class”?
In today’s America, sadly yes.
In Brazil, you are the elite.
Charles Koch: I’m Fighting to Restore a Free Society
“A truly free society is based on a vision of respect for people and what they value. In a truly free society, any business that disrespects its customers will fail, and deserves to do so. The same should be true of any government that disrespects its citizens. The central belief and fatal conceit of the current administration is that you are incapable of running your own life, but those in power are capable of running it for you. This is the essence of big government and collectivism.”
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303978304579475860515021286
The eeeeeviiiiillness of the Koch brothers!
Two guys hell-bent on destroying the country, almost single-handedly.
Ignore what billionaires say. Instead, watch what they do (also applies to politicians).
For them “Freedom” means the ability to buy and own politicians.
“Charles Koch: I’m Fighting to Restore a Free Society”
I don’t recall anyone electing this guy to represent their interests.
Hip, hip, hooray! for the FBI, they raided some old geezer’s home to get at his collection of artifacts. He didn’t do anything, other than have a lot of “stuff” that he collected over the years, for that he’s under suspicion. But all the academics, tribal hustlers and museum geeks are beside themselves with excitement.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/03/thousands-cultural-artifacts-seized/7244431/
Somebody ratted him out. This used to happen in the old USSR. The US has gone commie. You better believe it. Nobody really owns anything.
from a recent new york times room for debate opinion piece titled ‘tax the childless to help parents?’
‘the federal income tax system delivers substantial benefits to low-income workers with children, but few to those without children.
the tax policy center estimates that in 2013, the tax system delivered $171 billion in child-related benefits through five provisions: the earned income tax credit, the child tax credit, dependent exemptions, head of household filing status, and the child and dependent care tax credit.’
Machiavelli wrote 500 years ago that you can’t depend on mercenary soldiers…
Obama is neither feared nor love ( with some exceptions).
He’s loathed by tens of millions.
Love =Loved. Putin has no fear of him, so he is actually mocking him. The Middle East may have loved him for a month but now despises him. Obama should have read the Prince since he seems to have thought he could make the world love him and thus avoid any problems.
What happened when we had feared and loathed president?
What happened when we had feared and loathed president?
You had a stange trip to Vegas.
A bunch of smart GOP commentators have started mocking the Paul Ryan budget proposal. Here’s a pretty funny and astute observation from David Frum:
“In the aftershock of 2008, large numbers of Americans feel exploited and abused. Rather than workable solutions, my party is offering low taxes for the currently rich and high spending for the currently old, to be followed by who-knows-what and who-the-hell-cares. This isn’t conservatism; it’s a going-out-of-business sale for the baby-boom generation.”
So in other words, the GOP really is going to try to build a base around supporting the .01%, the old, and the military and screwing everyone else. I suspect it won’t work so well once the black guy is gone and they won’t be able to count on 90% support from white rednecks.
Symptomatic of NeoCons=Progressives.
Liberace!
Hey Lib.
just feels good to be here, man
You should stick to the harpsichording. It’s more effective than your other activities.
nearly any musical activity is superior to commenting on things like the economy, the housing market, or politics. I take a lot of liberties at work but I’m not sure they’d be cool with a jam session :-/
my political schtick here is to point out how deluded people are to root for either of the parties. our founding fathers knew that rooting for factions is an act of utter foolishness. the federalist papers in particular make a mockery of the concept. the fact some people can’t comprehend this way of thinking isn’t my problem, brother. this board has more GOP backers than DEMs or else I’d have more opportunities to riff on sh*tlibs. sh*tlibs are insane, so it’s kind of a shame we don’t have many here.
the fact some people can’t comprehend this way of thinking isn’t my problem, brother. this board has more GOP backers than DEMs or else I’d have more opportunities to riff on sh*tlibs
Actually, Joe when you first started posting it had more Dems than GOP backers. Coincidence?
“..this board has more GOP backers than DEMs or else I’d have more opportunities to riff ..”
You must be reading posts that my computer does not receive.
my political schtick here is to point out how deluded people are to root for either of the parties. our founding fathers knew that rooting for factions is an act of utter foolishness.
Well, zerohedge is reporting that MI is the 34th state to ask for a Constitutional Convention, so it appears that the contents of the entire Constitution and Bill of Rights will be up for debate. I wonder if any of those lessons from the founding fathers will be heeded?
this board has more GOP backers than DEMs or else I’d have more opportunities to riff on sh*tlibs
Lies, lies and j-j-j-joe-lies.
“feels good to be here”
Considering you’re the only HBB poster who gets a personalized greeting on your first post of the day, I hope it does.
Considering you’re the only HBB poster who gets a personalized greeting on your first post of the day, I hope it does.
We try to do the same for Lola, it is a D.C. paddles’ thing.
paddles is in NYC (Chelsea), unfortunately.
Another distinction without a difference.
Numbers out today show a rise in jobless claims and a rise in the trade deficit despite the U.S. producing more oil. Just last year, the MSM had numerous stories on how jobs were coming back to America and we were on the verge of a revival of American manufacturing. So what happened? I think two things, the dollar has had a dead cat bounce due to people thinking that the Fed is actually going tighten the money supply and a rise in natural gas prices.
If you remember last year it was the cheap NG prices that were going to lead the way in giving us an advantage. While NG prices are still cheap compared to the world, they have risen substantially since last year. Of course, one of the major reasons is NG has been substituted for coal to produce electricity. This is a waste of NG. A smart energy policy would use coal by using coal plants to the end of their economic lives. The plan would be replace them at the end of their lives with wind, solar and new nuclear plants but not to their economic lives has run. Right now, to immediately replace coal plants we are building new NG electric plants which actually will impede wind and solar for decades since NG plants are cheaper. We should raise NG prices the intelligent way which is to use NG in vehicles. This energy policy would cut our deficit, employ more Americans and actually be better for the environment then what we are doing now. However, you have to have a basic understanding of economics to pursue it and know why building NG electricity plants now will impede wind and solar development over several decades.
We should raise NG prices the intelligent way which is to use NG in vehicles.
Which will impede the development of an electric car refueling infrastructure for decades. But never fear, the moment those LNG facilities are complete, the price will rise anyway as energy hungry India and China gobble up the gas at any price.
But never fear, the moment those LNG facilities are complete, the price will rise anyway as energy hungry India and China gobble up the gas at any price.
The LNG facilities will not get built if we consume the NG here and drive up the price closer to the world price. It costs a lot of money to create and ship LNG, you need very cheap gas to make it work. Why would want to send it to India and China instead. Oxide, as far as electric cars we have had this argument for years, first it was the Volt and now it is Tesla. But as I said before, Tesla still needs almost $40,000 per vehicle in subsidies to make it work. Those battery powered vehicles lose range almost the first day they are taken home. Lithium is not without environmental problem. Electric car refueling stations are a pipe dream. Swap out batteries? Think about it, would you swap out batteries on your laptop at a site, not knowing whether the battery you receive is getting close to end of its life. How many recharge cycles has it gone through? The practical problems are there for anyone to see that does not have the ” green religion”. Too many people that reject the “sky man” are too eager to adopt the “green religion” instead of keeping science and religion separate.
Of course on the batteries I am talking about the swap-out plan. The “fast recharge” is fifteen to 45 minutes and that is if no one is ahead of you in line.
While this has not ended well for Pakistan due to a shortage on NG, we are talking about millions of vehicles placed on the road in a short time. Tesla is producing just over a thousand vehicles per month, in a country that now sells around 16 million vehicles per year.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/25/cars-pakistan-compressed-natural-gas-rationing
Why would want to send it to India and China instead.
Ask the gas companies who are clamoring to build those facilities. Obviously they think there’s some profit in it or they wouldn’t do it. I know we’ve had the NG car discussion before. My issue is that if we start putting NG in cars, we’ll just run out much quicker and we’ll be stuck. At that point, bad batteries is all we may have.
Ask the gas companies who are clamoring to build those facilities
They want to build the facilities precisely because we are not pushing NG vehicles. This year the federal incentive for NG vehicles expired without Obama saying a word. We have a minimum of 40 to 50 years of NG and it could be longer if don’t waste it producing electricity, which is more than a sufficient bridge to the use of electric cars when the right batteries are available. Of course when they are available we can and would use them even if NG was still available.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/05/us-autos-tesla-europe-idUSBREA2419W20140305
I honestly do not understand the logic that it is better to sell a few thousand electric cars per month than hundred of thousands of NG vehicles per month which could happen in a relatively short time. It terms of beneficial environmental impact (even ignoring the amount of coal fired electricity) it is at least 50 times as positive (estimate of a NG vehicle being 1/2 as valuable as an electric vehicle) you really are talking about the perfect being the enemy of the good. In fact, due to the coal factor, NG cars emit less co2 and certainly less real pollutants than electric cars.
‘Merica f* yeah
“Employees only use 51% of their eligible paid vacation time and paid time off, according to a survey of 2,300 workers who receive paid vacation. What’s more, 61% of Americans work while they’re on vacation, despite complaints from family members”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-only-take-half-of-their-paid-vacation-2014-04-03
What’s more, 61% of Americans work while they’re on vacation, despite complaints from family members
One thing I noticed back when we used to take those pricey Disney vacations (which are much pricier now), is that when Joe Upper Middle Class Family would check into one of the insanely expensive Disney owned hotels, mom and dad always had their laptop bags hanging from their shoulders. So not only would they pay $400+ a night to stay at the Grand Californian, they would catch up on work in the evening or even during the day.
They’ve already sacrificed their freedom to a stupid life of work (rat race).
—————
“The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness. Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.
But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful, it’s that they’re unconscious. They are default settings. They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing.
And the so-called “real world” will not discourage you from operating on your default settings, because the so-called real world of men and money and power hums merrily along in a pool of fear and anger and frustration and craving and worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving and displaying. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day.
That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the “rat race,” the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.
I know that this stuff probably doesn’t sound fun and breezy or grandly inspirational the way a commencement speech is supposed to sound. What it is, as far as I can see, is the capital-T Truth, with a whole lot of rhetorical niceties stripped away. You are, of course, free to think of it whatever you wish. But please don’t just dismiss it as just some finger-wagging Dr. Laura sermon. None of this stuff is really about morality or religion or dogma or big fancy questions of life after death.
The capital-T Truth is about life before death. It is about making it to 30, or maybe even 50, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head. It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us.”
- from David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech @ Kenyon College
+1,000 on the David Foster Wallace, was just re-reading parts of Infinite Jest this week.
he was much better than franzen. can’t figure out why hipsters like franzen
RE: contemporary lit, read Gary Shtyngart, he is hilarious.
“Employees only use 51% of their eligible paid vacation time and paid time off, according to a survey of 2,300 workers who receive paid vacation. What’s more, 61% of Americans work while they’re on vacation, despite complaints from family members”
I use every hour of mine, it’s all about attitude and no fear.
You think giving up your vacation for money is making a sacrifice? You do not know what a true sacrifice is:
http://news.iafrica.com/worldnews/911228.html
mmm…gold! Good to keep stacking! I keep working so that I can continue to stack. Yesterday at the coin shop I bought another 2 months worth of VRBO for another summer vacation.
25 MILLION excess, empty and defaulted houses CHECK
Housing demand at 18 year lows and falling CHECK
Housing transactions collapsing YoY CHECK
Housing prices inflated by 250% CHECK
Household formation at multi decade lows CHECK
Rampant housing fraud CHECK
Public denial formed and supported by a corrupt media CHECK
Population growth the lowest in US history CHECK
Immigration flat to slightly negative CHECK
Oh my word……
I was thinking about the absurdity of the statement, “Economics is not a morality play.” A statement which is justification to reward and protect the criminal and/or incompetent. I was browsing a history of the LTCM crash and bailout (1998). Look at the pedigrees on those partners. Wow. Lots of MIT, University of Chicago, and Harvard PhD’s and professors. And they ran LTCM into the ground. Crash and burn.
There’s a lot of appeal to authority in economics. Remember LTCM next time someone attempts that. Krugman and Fama disagree famously and they are both Nobel laureates. Hayek was a Nobel laureate (1974).
And the Fed bailed LTCM out back then, instead of letting the insanity they were involved in burn itself out. And they laid the groundwork for the 2008 financial crisis bailouts which were in the hundred of billions if not the trillions. I can’t wait to see what the next one looks like.
So a bunch of really smart guys - impeccable academic and Wall Street pedigrees - run a massive hedge fund into the ground and get bailed out to the tune of just a few billion. Laying the groundwork for committing many trillions in bailouts ten years later. None of those involved either in LTCM or the architects of the mortgage crisis have suffered any consequences. No, they’ve actually been shielded from prosecution (See Lanny Breuer in Frontline’s “The Untouchables” - candor for which he lost his job -and Eric Holder’s statements on the issue where he somehow managed to avoid blaming himself for that despite being the nation’s top law enforcement official).
In summary, Economics is in fact a morality play - if you reward destructive behavior, you’ll get more of it.
“In summary, Economics is in fact a morality play - if you reward destructive behavior, you’ll get more of it.”
Waaaaiiiit a minute. Economics is a morality play? Nonsense. Morals and ethics don’t matter.
Consequently, neither does law. Funny, that.
Waaaaiiiit a minute. Economics is a morality play? Nonsense. Morals and ethics don’t matter.
I agree that true morals may not matter but “moral hazard” certainly does apply. We would have had a brief period of severe economic disruption by allowing the Wall Street fat cats to go under in 2008-09 but the country as a whole would have benefitted by now.
True morals matter most. Always have. Always will. (My comment was sarcastic.)
Constitutional law stems from accepted morals and ethics. Constitutional law always is subservient to morals and ethics.
Always.
Moral hazard? That’s a given. I very much agree with you.
Not to nitpick but I left out ethics when I said morals may not matter. I did that because to the degree that morals reflects ethics, I agree with you that they always matter in business. However, a businessman that sleeps around but is honest in his business dealings can still prosper. Thus, if you have sound business ethics, you might still prosper even if your morals or personal ethics are not great. However, people that can compartmentalize are rarer than most people seem to think.
The constitution was created when we had a view that natural law existed and man could not create law that conflicted with God’s law. The legal system does not believe that anymore and positive law (man-made written law) governs all judicial interpretations of law. So while I agree with you that the constitution valued moral law, I do not think most judges interpreting statutory law or the constitution have a similar view. Consequently, the check on government power based on morality is no longer there and yes, I think we do suffer as a society because of it.
Again, agreed.
I think that morals and ethics should be rewarded by companies and societies alike. Not monetarily, necessarily, but somehow in a very real, tangible manner. Perhaps via first choice. Perhaps by being set free of paying ANY taxes the rest of their lives.
Morals and ethics are difficult to achieve and maintain. They require conscientious work and effort.
. Constitutional law always is subservient to morals and ethics.
What does that mean, MacBeth?
One more point - those people are connected insiders. The central bank bailed them out under the same old pretense - “If we don’t bail them out, it will collapse the entire US financial system!” As a result of a 3 billion dollar shortfall. Right.
It seems to me that the Fed is more of a crony than a regulator.
I am stunned that this just popped up on yahoo:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-cooling-real-inconvenient-truth-140500879.html
Warmists gonna warm, Dannyboy.
That is lukewarmist for me or cool hand Luke.
I just listened to the “Econtalk” podcast from 3/24/14:
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2014/03/john_christy_an.html
Here was what I got from the talk:
1. Higher levels of CO2 should raise temperatures based on sound science, but no one knows by how much or over what timescale, in part because the global climate system is highly complex, and in part because there are trends that occur independent of CO2 concentrations that impact global temperature.
2. I have a lot more respect for climate scientists on both sides who say “we just don’t know” the true extent of the effect of CO2 on the climate, or the extent of the future problems, because that seems to be the agreed-upon truth. One guy had a range of temperature change over the next 100 years between 2 degrees F and 9 degrees F.
3. The best argument that the guy who was more concerned about warming (the guy from MIT) had was that while even though he thinks the risk of catastrophe based on climate change could be small, they impact is large enough to warrant serious discussions about mitigating those risks (but he stopped short of massive efforts that would impact human life considerably today).
4. The best argument that the guy who was less concerned about warming had was that with all of our complex models, every single one OVERestimated the amount of warming we should have had so far based on the CO2 concentrations. This was evidence of either a) our models being wrong, or b) things OTHER than CO2 having a much bigger impact on the climate (solar activity, volcanic activity, etc.), in which case putting lots of resources toward reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere may not be resources well-spent.
One of the best lines (and I don’t remember who said it–it may have been the guy from MIT, who studies hurricanes) was that people in Florida near the coast should probably be less worried about the 1 foot rise in sea level over the next century, and should be more worried about the 15 foot storm surge that will come overnight with the next major hurricane.
Overall, a pretty well balanced discussion. No hysterics, relatively little politics (if any), and both sides got to express their opinions.
I was watching a goofy movie from 1998 called Pleasantville last weekend. I had to chuckle at the global warming message from the science teacher.
Pleasantville (1998) movie script
by Gary Ross.
Shooting script.
SCIENCE TEACHER
…From just four years ago when ozone depletion was at
ten percent of its current level. By the time you are
twenty years old, average global temperature will have
risen two and a half degrees, causing such catastrophic consequences as typhoons, floods, widespread drought and famine.
REVERSE ANGLE. STUDENTS.
They stare back in stunned silence. One of them, DAVID WAGNER,
sits in the front row with a pencil in his mouth. Nobody moves…
SCIENCE TEACHER
(chipper “classroom” tone)
Okay. Who can tell me what famine is?
http://sfy.ru/?script=pleasantville - 347k -
I hope the NWS is correct about this warm and wet sounds good for Albuquerque:
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-u-crimea-annexation-accept-move-141100544.html
Yoga? Everyday I think Russia cannot disrespect us more and they find another way to laugh at the America they perceive as decadent and declining.
Perceive?
What About The Dollar: Russia, Iran Announce $20 Billion Oil-For-Goods Deal
Zero Hedge
April 3, 2014
Spot what is missing in the just blasted headline from Bloomberg:
IRAN, RUSSIA SAID TO SEAL $20B OIL-FOR-GOODS DEAL: REUTERS
If you said the complete absence of US Dollars anywhere in the funds flow you are correct. Which is precisely what we have been warning would happen the more the West and/or JPMorgan pushed Russia into a USD-free corner.
Once again, from our yesterday comment on the JPM Russian blockade: “what JPM may have just done is launch a preemptive strike which would have the equivalent culmination of a SWIFT blockade of Russia, the same way Iran was neutralized from the Petrodollar and was promptly forced to begin transacting in Rubles, Yuan and, of course, gold in exchange for goods and services either imported or exported. One wonders: is JPM truly that intent in preserving its “pristine” reputation of not transacting with “evil Russians”, that it will gladly light the fuse that takes away Russia’s choice whether or not to depart the petrodollar voluntarily, and makes it a compulsory outcome, which incidentally will merely accelerate the formalization of the Eurasian axis of China, Russia and India?”
In other words, Russia seems perfectly happy to telegraph that it is just as willing to use barter (and “heaven forbid” gold) and shortly other “regional” currencies, as it is to use the US Dollar, hardly the intended outcome of the western blocakde, which appears to have just backfired and further impacted the untouchable status of the Petrodollar.
More from Reuters:
Iran and Russia have made progress towards an oil-for-goods deal sources said would be worth up to $20 billion, which would enable Tehran to boost vital energy exports in defiance of Western sanctions, people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.
In January Reuters reported Moscow and Tehran were discussing a barter deal that would see Moscow buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods.
The White House has said such a deal would raise “serious concerns” and would be inconsistent with the nuclear talks between world powers and Iran.
A Russian source said Moscow had “prepared all documents from its side”, adding that completion of a deal was awaiting agreement on what oil price to lock in.
The source said the two sides were looking at a barter arrangement that would see Iranian oil being exchanged for industrial goods including metals and food, but said there was no military equipment involved. The source added that the deal was expected to reach $15 to $20 billion in total and would be done in stages with an initial $6 billion to $8 billion tranche.
Surely an “expert assessment” is in order:
“The deal would ease further pressure on Iran’s battered energy sector and at least partially restore Iran’s access to oil customers with Russian help,” said Mark Dubowitz of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a U.S. think-tank.
“If Washington can’t stop this deal, it could serve as a signal to other countries that the United States won’t risk major diplomatic disputes at the expense of the sanctions regime,” he added.
You don’t say: another epic geopolitical debacle resulting from what was originally intended to be a demonstration of strength and instead is rapidly turning out into a terminal confirmation of weakness.
Also, when did the “Foundation for Defense of Petrodollar” have the last word replaced with “Democracies”?
Finally, those curious what may happen next, only not to Iran but to Russia, are encouraged to read “From Petrodollar To Petrogold: The US Is Now Trying To Cut Off Iran’s Access To Gold.”
IMF Warns: Global Stagnation If Ukraine Not Bailed Out
IMF boss recycles scary mantra used in 2008 to bailout too big too fail banksters
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
April 3, 2014
IMF boss Christine Lagarde has recycled the bankster mantra as the globalists push for a bailout of Ukraine. “Geopolitical tensions” in Ukraine “could cloud the global economic outlook” and “could have broader spill over implications,” she told an audience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Lagarde fails to mention the same Orange Revolution kleptocrats who bankrupted the country previously will do the same after the IMF bailout.
Last week the IMF set aside around $18 billion to “rescue” Ukraine’s destroyed economy the West blames on the rule of Viktor Yanukovich, a democratically elected president who was replaced by a junta installed by the State Department.
In addition to IMF booty, large numbers on either side of the partisan divide in Congress voted recently to kick in an additional $1 billion.
Lagarde also said Russia’s reaction to the manufactured crisis and the vote by 97 percent of Crimeans in a referendum to join the Russian Federation have contributed to destabilizing the country.
Ms. Lagarde did not mention what the IMF package will do to the average Ukrainian. The package “puts virtually all the pain on average Ukrainians,” writes Robert Parry. “There is nothing in the economic ‘reform’ package that extracts some of the ill-gotten gains from Ukraine’s ten or so ‘oligarchs,’ the multimillionaires and even billionaires who largely plundered Ukraine’s wealth after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.”
Parry notes what the corporate media has assiduously ignored: the IMF package will “reduce public spending, slash social programs, eliminate energy subsidies, devalue the currency, raise taxes, impose triggers for more austerity if inflation rises, etc.” and will, according to economists, “result in a 3 percent contraction of Ukraine’s already depressed economy, which fell into a severe recession after the Wall Street crash of 2008 and has been inching along at almost zero growth the past two years.”
The impending economic hardship and globalist looting of the country is scheduled to be implemented before Ukrainians have the chance to vote for a new government. This is a situation preferred by the IMF and the banksters because democracy and elections invariably get in the way of neoliberal fire sales and looting.
According to The New York Times, the United States and the European Union have decided not to press for early parliamentary elections because “the priority now is stabilization in Kiev and de-escalation with Moscow,” an escalation engineered to rekindle the Cold War, push more Eastern European nations into NATO, and pile up additional missile defense systems on the Russian border.
“Given such bleak economic prospects — and evidence of Western manipulation of the political process – is it any wonder that more than 90 percent of the voters in Crimea opted to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia?” Parry writes.
Former congressman Ron Paul put it succinctly on Wednesday:
All this nonsense we hear now of bailing out Ukraine — it’s going to the bankers; it’s going for the politicians; it’s not really even going to help the people in Ukraine. It’s criminal. And yet the people here in this country are going to suffer.
These bailouts are always designed to bail out the banks. They are not designed to help the people — just like our bailouts were in ’08 and ’09. They were there to bail out the rich, the bankers, and the military industrial complex.
Finally, while a spate of polls show disapproval of military involvement in Ukraine in response to Russia, the establishment media has not yet conducted one asking Americans if they approve of sending a billion dollars to the faltering kleptocracy now run by a junta installed through fascist violence.
Such numbers, of course, for the global elite, are irrelevant. Increasing poverty is not simply a problem suffered by Ukrainians and others subjected to bankster austerity. It is also a fact of life in the United States.
On Thursday, the Associated Press reported the results of a General Social Survey poll. It reveals the number of Americans who consider themselves middle class is at the lowest level in the survey’s 40-year history.
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