The Housing Bubble

“Let the American people go into their debt-funding schemes and banking systems, and from that hour their boasted independence will be a mere phantom.” - William Pitt

Sharyl Attkisson: If You Cross Obama Admin They Will Treat You Like “Enemies Of The State”

Former CBS investigative correspondent testifies at the confirmation hearing for Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch

by Real Clear Politics | January 31, 2015

SHARYL ATTKISSON: In 2013, Reporters Without Borders downgraded America’s standing in the global free press rankings, rating the Obama administration as worse than Bush’s. It matters not that when caught the government promises to dial back or that [FOX News'] James Rosen gets an apology. The message has already been received. If you cross this administration with perfectly accurate reporting they don’t like, you will be attacked and punished. You and your sources may be subjected to the kind of surveillance devised for enemies of the state.

For much of history, the United States has held itself out as a model of freedom, democracy, and open accountable government. Freedoms of expression and association are of course protected by the constitution. Today those freedoms are under assault due to government policies of secrecy, leak prevention, and officials contact with the media, combined with large scale surveillance programs. The nominee if confirmed should chart a new path and reject the damaging policies and practices that have been used by others in the past. If we aren’t grave enough to confront these concerns, it could do serious long-term damage to a supposedly free press. Thank you.

“Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create money, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take away from them the power to create money, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create money.”

~ Josiah Stamp – Bank of England Chairman, 1920s

Housing is cratering once again.

anyone looking to offload some overpriced assets on some greater fools this month?

I’m trying to raise capital to pay for some health insurance.

Homeschooled children seized by authorities still in state custody

Michael F. Haverluck (OneNewsNow.com) Tuesday, January 20, 2015

What began as an investigation ignited by an anonymous report turned into a nightmare for an Arkansas homeschooling couple and seven of their children last week – and it’s not over yet.

A Closer LookArkansas sheriff’s deputies in Garland County have “stolen” seven homeschoolers from their parents in a home raid spurred by an anonymous caller who told authorities the family’s house contained a “poisonous substance” — which turned out to be a mineral supplement/water purifier that isn’t FDA-approved. It’s been more than a week since the officers and the Department of Human Services (DHS) seized the seven homeschoolers. They remain in state custody.

False accusers protected — not families

The ludicrous nature of the removal of her children from her home was addressed by Michelle Stanley, who emphasized that federal authorities admitted the call could have been from someone intending to cause her family harm.

“We asked who made the charge and if anyone could just make any accusation and they have to act on the call regardless of its validity,” Michelle Stanley noted in her email after the incident. “They said it could be a hateful neighbor, a prank caller, someone with malicious intent and they still would have to act on the call.”

She also stressed that the government puts an emphasis on protecting the anonymity of the person making the complaint.

“The call was anonymous and therefore the caller was protected while all our rights were taken away,” Michelle Stanley continued.

Michelle Stanley, the mother of the seven children, is still in shock that the police and DHS have gotten away with abducting her children — taking them into custody under what she calls false pretenses.

“The DHS has come and stolen our kids from us under the guise of ‘protecting our children,” Stanley wrote in an email shortly after her home was raided by police and the DHS, according to Health Impact News.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/…schooled-children-seized-by-authorities-still-in-state-custody - 79k -

U.S. Homeownership Rate Falls to a 20-Year Low

Many would-be buyers stayed on the sidelines, giving the rental market a boost

by Bloomberg Business | January 30, 2015

The U.S. homeownership rate fell to the lowest in more than two decades in the fourth quarter as many would-be buyers stayed on the sidelines, giving the rental market a boost.

The share of Americans who own their homes was 64 percent in the fourth quarter, down from 64.4 percent in the previous three months, the Census Bureau said in a report. The rate was at the lowest since the second quarter of 1994, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Rising prices and a tight supply of lower-end listings have put homes out of reach for some entry-level buyers, who also face strict mortgage standards. The share of U.S. homebuyers making their first purchase dropped in 2014 to the lowest level in almost three decades, the National Association of Realtors reported last week.

“The improving economy helps, though affordability is a growing challenge,” Jed Kolko, chief economist for San Francisco-based Trulia Inc., said in an interview Wednesday. “I suspect we’re closer to the bottom” of the ownership declines.

Does this have a bearing on these bond yields?

‘It has been common usage for months to say we have entered Cold War II. This is wrong for several reasons, and it is time we understand them.’

‘One, the thought gives surreptitious comfort, since the Cold War never came to blows. But to take such comfort now is to miss what is going on before our eyes. There is no argument for comfort or ease.’

‘Two, there can be no Cold War II because the Cold War as we knew it never ended. NATO’s eastward creep, Georgia in 2008, Ukraine now, the merciless, reckless sanctions—all that has changed since 1991 are tactics, not strategy. Which leads to point three.’

‘Three is that the object of the war I assert we are now waging is destruction. To put this precisely, Washington’s intent is not to destroy Russia: It is to destroy what we may as well call “Putin’s Russia.” The implications here should be evident. This is “regime change” on the grandest scale.’

‘We can now comprehend Washington’s logic—a perverse, almost diabolical logic, Strangelovian logic. In last week’s column I used the term “monomania,” single-minded obsession. I hesitated to keep it in—too strong, I worried—but there was no need. The policy cliques in Washington have no intention of desisting in this war until they win it. Recognize this and you will find the prospect of hot war staring you down.’

‘We can also understand the apparently nonsensical risks Washington is taking and forcing Europeans on the front lines to accept. Five thousand Ukrainians dead, the arming of hyper-nationalist Nazis, Russia provoked into full-frontal hostility, the E.U. economies at the precipice: All this amounts to the “small battlegrounds.” It goes down among the policy cliques as collateral damage and nothing more. I find no evidence of concern in Washington for any of it. This is what I mean by monomania.’

‘Third new apprehension: It is not merely unlikely that Vladimir Putin will not step back in Ukraine or buckle under the sanctions regime. It is impossible. Russians far afield from the Kremlin share the thought that they are in a war with Americans. The bitter truth, available to us as of these past weeks, is that they are right.’

‘Many readers make the argument—to say “accusation” is to enter into the nonsense—that this column propagates on Putin’s behalf. The thought (not really the word) misses the point entirely, as follows: In my read, the war we have entered upon brings into sharp focus the 21st century’s single most vital zone of conflict. This is the non-West’s historically unprecedented insistence that it is the equal of the West, that its values are as valid as the West’s, that the world is multiple now and that “to become modern” no longer means “to become Western.”

‘It is this the American elite thinks is worth a war.’

7:00 am local time in region viii, rolling in the backseat up westbound i-70 in three lanes of traffic

do -not- move here expecting to be some kind of weekend warrior, unless you like sitting in your clown car for hours every weekend

region viii

Mexican children cross Texas border to attend school

Febe Ara lives in one country but goes to school in another.

This 16-year-old girl begins her day in Ciudad Juarez, in northern Mexico, before crossing one of the most active international borders in order to study in El Paso, Texas.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31051630

Genuine question does she have to be an American citizen to be able to do this?

Forward

Illegal immigrants released from custody committed 1,000 new crimes

One thousand of the 36,000 illegal immigrant criminals the government released in 2013 have gone on to commit other crimes

by Stephen Dinan | The Washington Times | January 31, 2015

One thousand of the 36,000 illegal immigrant criminals the government released in 2013 have gone on to commit other crimes, including child sex abuse, hit-and-run and child cruelty, according to new data released Friday evening by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley.

The information, which the Homeland Security Department provided to Mr. Grassley, details all 1,000 convictions including dozens of drunk-driving convictions, drug offenses and weapons convictions. But the more serious crimes include domestic abuse, carjacking and aggravated assault.

One of the illegal immigrants, identified as No. 960, was subsequently convicted of inflicting injury on a domestic partner; child cruelty, with the possibility of injury or death; probation violations; speeding; driving without a license; and failing to appear for court.

“The Obama Administration claims that it is using ‘prosecutorial discretion’ to prioritize the removal of criminal aliens from this country. But this report shows the disturbing truth: 1,000 undocumented aliens previously convicted of crimes who the Administration released in 2013 have gone on to commit further crimes in our communities,” Mr. Grassley said.

Data from the article - remember, they are victims of a racist country.

From the article:

July 1997
The Boatengs arrived in the United States
DEBT: $0

1999
Purchased a used Toyota Corolla for $2,000
CARS: $2,000
DEBT: $2,000

May 2000
Took out a mortgage on a three-bedroom town home in Germantown.
CARS: $2,000
MORTGAGE: $128,900
DEBT: $130,900

2000
Purchased a new Nissan Altima for $12,000.
CARS: $14,000
MORTGAGE: $128,900
DEBT: $142,900

2003
Comfort began to take out student loans.

2002-2005
Refinanced their Germantown home several times to fund improvements and to pay off some debt, including the cars.
MORTGAGE: $128,900
CASHOUTS: $95,000
DEBT: $223,900

July 2004
Refinanced their Germantown home to borrow $60,000 for the down payment on a new house in Fairwood, outside of Bowie.
CARS: $14,000
MORTGAGE: $128,900
CASHOUTS: $155,000
DEBT: $283,900

November 2005
Took out two loans to buy the new home in Fairwood.
GERMANTOWN MORTGAGE: $128,900
GERMANTOWN CASHOUTS: $155,000
FAIRWOOD MORTGAGES: $554,683
DEBT: $838,583

September 2006
Refinanced to consolidate the two loans on Fairwood home and some debt.
GERMANTOWN MORTGAGE: $128,900
GERMANTOWN CASHOUTS: $155,000
NEW FAIRWOOD MORTGAGE: $612,276
DEBT: $896,176

2006
Took out personal loans after their tenant in Germantown failed to pay rent. Comfort obtained two $20,000 business loans.
GERMANTOWN MORTGAGE: $128,900
GERMANTOWN CASHOUTS: $155,000
FAIRWOOD MORTGAGE: $612,276
PERSONAL LOANS: $15,000
BUSINESS LOANS: $40,000
DEBT: $951,176

2013
Comfort completed a master’s degree after taking out roughly $60,000 in student loans.
GERMANTOWN MORTGAGE: $128,900
GERMANTOWN CASHOUTS: $155,000
FAIRWOOD MORTGAGE: $612,276
PERSONAL LOANS: $15,000
BUSINESS LOANS: $40,000
STUDENT LOANS:$60,000
DEBT: $1,011,176

January 2015
The Boatengs are still living in the Fairwood home. They have not made a mortgage payment in more than six years.

—————–

Swamped by an underwater home
Washington Post | 1-26-15 | Kimbriell Kelly

When they moved into the house in November 2005, Kofi was earning $82,740 as an IT consultant for a government contractor, and Comfort, then 43, was making $30,000 as an administrative assistant. But in the overheated mortgage market of the time, they said everyone told them that they could buy a $600,000 house.

They made a $60,000 down payment and all their mortgage payments for more than 2½ years — through September 2008. But the house was financed with subprime loans, which reset to higher rates after short time periods, creating what are known as “shock payments.” The Boatengs said they could not make their new higher payment, and, in the middle of the 2008 mortgage crisis, they could not refinance.

AZ Federal Judge suspects Federal attorneys of fraud in a former ATF agent’s suit
A federal judge suspects that seven attorneys representing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives committed fraud in the case of a retired federal agent who infiltrated the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Arizona.

Court of Federal Claims Judge Francis Allegra banned the attorneys from filing documents in his court, and he ordered additional hearings to investigate the attorneys’ actions, essentially creating a trial within a trial.

The accusations are spelled out in newly unsealed court documents in the case involving former federal agent Jay Dobyns. The judge had previously ruled in Dobyns’ favor, but later withdrew his own decision after learning about the ATF attorneys’ conduct.

Former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Paul Charlton said he has never heard of a federal judge taking similar action against government attorneys.

“That’s extraordinarily unusual, and if the basis for that order is true, greatly disappointing,” said Charlton.

‘greatly disappointing’ understates the issue greatly

The specific order that names the banned attorneys remains sealed.

Up to now, my opinion has been that prosecutors, like the king, can do no wrong.

The newly unsealed court documents disclose:

— An ATF attorney attempted to thwart an investigation into arson at Dobyns’ house, and fellow ATF attorneys failed to report the incident to the court. Those actions put the integrity of the trial at risk, according to the judge.

—Dobyns’ attorney, James Reed, has been under relentless surveillance for months by several unidentified people.

The court previously found that two now-retired ATF executives, George Gillett and Charles Higman, allowed Dobyns to be treated as a suspect in the 2008 fire as a form of payback for a previous settlement he had received against ATF for largely ignoring earlier death threats against him.

“DOJ attorneys had been misrepresenting facts,” Dobyns alleged in an interview with The Arizona Republic. “They have been withholding evidence. And I think Judge Allegra, whatever the basis for the decision was, I think it’s appropriate.

“Judge Allegra not only has the obligation to be the finder of fact, he has the obligation to protect the dignity and integrity of the United States justice system.”

Unsealed court records reveal at least two instances in which ATF attorneys may have committed fraud, Allegra wrote in a Dec. 1 opinion.

The second instance of possible fraud occurred when ATF attorneys failed to report to Allegra that an ATF agent who testified in the case was threatened by another witness, according to Allegra’s Dec. 1 decision.

Dobyns said the case has made him question everything he stood for during his career.

“They have been so dirty and so corrupt,” he said. “That was not the system that I believed that I was working for and within.”

The only answer is bigger and bigger government with more and more power and higher and higher taxes.

And to shoot the protestors on sight!

————————-

Oil Cash Waning, Venezuelan Shelves Lie Bare
New York Times | JAN. 29, 2015 | WILLIAM NEUMAN

Mary Noriega heard there would be chicken.

She hated being herded “like cattle,” she said, standing for hours in a line of more than 1,500 people hoping to buy food, as soldiers with side arms checked identification cards to make sure no one tried to buy basic items more than once or twice a week.

But Ms. Noriega, a laboratory assistant with three children, said she had no choice, ticking off the inventory in her depleted refrigerator: coffee and corn flour. Things had gotten so bad, she said, that she had begun bartering with neighbors to put food on the table.

“We always knew that this year would start badly, but I think this is super bad,” Ms. Noriega said.

Venezuelans have put up with shortages and long lines for years. But as the price of oil, the country’s main export, has plunged, the situation has grown so dire that the government has sent troops to patrol huge lines snaking for blocks. Some states have barred people from waiting outside stores overnight, and government officials are posted near entrances, ready to arrest shoppers who cheat the rationing system.

Because Venezuela is so dependent on oil sales to buy imports of food, medicine and many other basics, the drop in oil prices means that there is even less hard currency to buy what the country needs….

One of the nation’s most prestigious public hospitals shut down its heart surgery unit for weeks because of shortages of medical supplies. Some drugs have been out of stock for months, and at least one clinic performed heart operations only by smuggling in a vital drug from the United States. Diapers are so coveted that some shoppers carry the birth certificates of their children in case stores demand them.

A mistrust of government, 0.001% interest rates and then obama going after 529 plans.

Nope. No negative repercussions there…

Hope and change. Literally, under your mattress.

————————

Forget the bank: Why many Americans are hiding cash
Yahoo Finance - 1/30/2015

Where to stash your cash? Some Americans are sleeping on it-literally.

While banks are still the go-to solution for most consumers, 29 percent say they’re keeping at least some savings in cash bills and coins, according to a new survey of 1,820 adults from American Express (AXP).

Of those holding cash savings, 53 percent are hiding it in a secret location. Millennials are even more apt than other generations to go the mattress or freezer route, with 67 percent of those saving cash saying that they hide it outside a bank account.

“We’ve long asked people about how they’ve planned to keep their savings, and for the past few years, we’ve seen an uptick in people saving cash,” said Kimberly Litt, public affairs manager at American Express.

Hows are Free Shitters, Empty Pockets and socialism disciples today?

I am excited! Just got a notification from Zillow that a Scottsdale House I am watching for sale dropped its price by $1000. From $719,000 to $718,000.

Yawn.

Won’t be watching the super bowl this year either. But I wonder what government crimes will be stepped up while the sheep are lulled to brain numbness glued to a team sport?

Home prices up, ownership down, Wall Street a mega-landlord: Welcome to Rental Nation.

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/new-housing-bubble-prices-up-ownership-down-wall-street-a-mega-landlord-america-is-becoming-a-nation-of-renters_01312015

“what these prices mean isn’t clear right now, but the message couldn’t possibly be louder.”

When you print too much money you should get serious inflation. The Fed has achieved the edge of deflation. Bond yields have gone done creating higher values for older bonds. We can see that housing prices are being set at how much the buyer can afford to pay monthly - not what the house is worth. Pricing structures are obeying the most for the least.

I would really like to know in advance what that “message” will be.

I think it is too late to allow the markets to find their own equilibrium and too early to allow politicians to try and right the ship.

Comment by rms
2015-01-31 11:03:10

“Did you sell your Treasurys too early?”

Been waiting for deflation to make them more valuable.

Given that central bankers have a standing plan to create 2% annual inflation forever, how do you expect this to ever happen?

Most college students literally have no idea how much they’re paying to go to school

By Christopher Ingraham December 11, 2014

A majority of first-year undergraduates can’t correctly estimate how much student loan debt they’re taking on. More surprising, among college freshmen who have taken out federal student loans, more than a quarter (28 percent) don’t think they have any federal debt, and 14 percent don’t think they have any debt at all.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/11/most-college-students-literally-have-no-idea-how-much-theyre-paying-to-go-to-school/

these students need loans to support high admin costs of the schools. Do it for the students!

Good Night from Region IV

97% of home sales price statistics are made up.