Sniffing Out Dirty Money In Real Estate
The New York Times reports on the new money-laundering actions. “More than a quarter of the all-cash luxury home purchases made using shell companies in Manhattan and Miami were flagged as suspicious in a new effort to unearth money laundering in real estate, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. As a result, officials said they would expand the program to other areas across the country. The expansion of the effort to identify and track the people behind shell companies, begun in March, means that there will now be increased scrutiny of luxury real estate purchases made in cash in all five boroughs of New York City, counties north of Miami, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, the three counties around San Francisco and the county that includes San Antonio.”
“The areas being added to the order are places where buyers frequently purchase luxury real estate using shell companies, the officials said. The dollar values involved purchases of more than $500,000 or more in Bexar County, which includes San Antonio; $1 million in Florida; $2 million in California; $3 million in Manhattan; and $1.5 million in the other boroughs of New York City. Title insurance companies, which are involved in virtually all real estate transactions, are charged with carrying out the order.”
“The broadening of the rule signifies that the Treasury Department thinks the benefits to law enforcement from this sort of data collection are likely worth the cost to the industry, said Eric Berg, a lawyer at Foley & Lardner in Milwaukee and former member of the kleptocracy unit at the Department of Justice. ‘There’s a lot of pushback from industry,’ Mr. Berg said. ‘Clearly some sort of internal dialogue came to the conclusion that this is worth doing.’”
The Miami Herald. “‘The information we have obtained from our initial GTOs suggests that we are on the right track,’ Jamal El-Hindi, acting director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Treasury agency that issued the order, said in a statement. ‘By expanding the GTOs to other major cities, we will learn even more about the money laundering risks in the national real estate markets, helping us determine our future regulatory course.’”
“Roughly a quarter of reported transactions in Miami and Manhattan involved people who were separately the subject of suspicious activity reports by banks and other financial institutions, indicating possible criminal activity, according to FinCen. In April, the Miami Herald revealed how people accused of corruption in Latin America helped fuel Miami’s luxury condo boom and inflate local home prices. The series was part of a partnership with journalists around the world called the Panama Papers.”
The Los Angeles Times. “Los Angeles has long attracted wealthy individuals willing to spend millions of dollars for a sprawling estate in the chaparral hills above the city or along its fabled coast. But in addition to movie stars, financial executives and foreign billionaires, Los Angeles real estate has also attracted criminals seeking to launder ill-gotten gains by purchasing its tony mega-mansions. Amid heightened concern that such individuals are using shell companies to hide stolen funds, the federal government is cracking down.”
“Just last week, when the Justice Department accused Malaysian officials of using shell companies and bank accounts located across the globe to launder at least $1 billion stolen from a public development fund. Federal prosecutors alleged that among the assets purchased with the stolen funds were a stake in the 2013 film ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ a Beverly Hills hotel and four posh L.A.-area homes.”
“In California — and in states across the country — owners can set up LLCs without telling state officials who they are. That secrecy has turned shell companies into a important tool for criminals to hide their money gained from misdeeds and has stymied law enforcement investigations, said Heather Lowe, legal counsel for Washington advocacy group Global Financial Integrity.”
“‘You are giving them a license to use the company for pretty much anything,’ Lowe said. ‘They are used for tax evasion and any form of money laundering — drug money, human trafficking and fraud.’”
“The requirements for additional disclosure are temporary and are meant to provide guidance for possible permanent rules. The requirements take effect in late August and run through late February. In California counties covered, they apply to all-cash transactions of $2 million or more — a market that included more than 3,500 sales last year in Los Angeles County, according to real estate firm CoreLogic.”
The San Mateo Daily Journal. “Federal officials are turning an eye to the Bay Area’s hot housing market as they investigate whether some pricey real estate transactions could be a front for money laundering. Under the U.S. Department of the Treasury, FinCEN announced Wednesday it is expanding its research as well as reporting requirements into the Bay Area, including San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties. ‘Areas with attractive luxury real estate markets may also attract criminals,’ said FinCEN spokesman Steve Hudak. ‘There are many ways to launder money, but real estate is certainly a concern.’”
“The Bay Area popped up as a potential region for this type of criminal activity based on reports from law enforcement and the fact that the area has an attractive luxury real estate market, Hudak said. San Mateo is one of the five California counties where title insurance companies must report purchases of homes worth $2 million or more that are bought by limited liability corporations or shell companies with cash.”
“Information about how homes are paid for is not readily available at the local level, as buyers and sellers are not required to report to the San Mateo County Assessor’s Office whether a home was bought with cash, said Jim Irizarry, assistant assessor-county clerk-recorder. Irizarry noted having LLCs purchase property is not uncommon and the state Board of Equalization has reporting requirements as to who may have a financial interest in a particular company. No further information as to whether there’s been an uptick in corporations purchasing San Mateo County homes was available.”
The Real Deal. “L.A. real estate professionals say the Treasury Department’s latest attempt to sniff out dirty money in real estate deals has missed the mark. The majority of agents, mortgage brokers and title insurers surveyed by The Real Deal said they expect new regulations governing the use of LLCs will do little to curb money laundering, since there are wide loopholes. Instead, the inability to hide the identity of all-cash buyers through such entities will put additional pressure on title insurers and escrow companies, minimally slow down deal flow, and put the privacy and personal information of high-net-worth individuals in jeopardy, they said.”
“Some said they were surprised that the price threshold for deals that would be scrutinized was so low. ‘I’m shocked,’ said Rad Vasile, vice president of sales at Property ID Title Company in L.A. ‘Two million for L.A. — that’s just your regular residential home. Homes that would sell for $100,000 in Texas would sell for $1 million here.’”
“Some L.A. agents admitted it can be difficult even for them to determine the source of funds when it comes to a high-end purchase. ‘In the past, I don’t think brokers have questioned it very much,’ said Greg Harris of brokerage Compass in Beverly Hills. ‘We had a Chinese buyer once who disappeared in the middle of the Escrow and then miraculously came back from China with the rest of the money. It’s hard to know how many people are buying a property sometimes. It looks like one buyer but they could be bringing money together from family and friends.’”
“The expansion of the effort to identify and track the people behind shell companies, begun in March, means that there will now be increased scrutiny of luxury real estate purchases made in cash in all five boroughs of New York City, counties north of Miami, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, the three counties around San Francisco and the county that includes San Antonio.”
Farmer leaves barn door open.
Horse flees barn.
Farmer closes barn door.
Problem solved.
yup, no one could see what i see….$1100+ sq ft empty apartment building sold out and dark at night from the 7 train. in hunterspoint and long island city
they have some apartments on timers and put furniture on the “Patio” and its so obvious that the local police precinct is paying to use the underground parking garage in at least 2 buildings.
When I grew up in Queens, Long Island City was nothing but factories and shell buildings. Now hipsters pay millions to live there. World turned upside down.
yup all your high end electronics from the 60’s 70s were made in LIC fisher klh marantz even macintosh.. those big wood consoles some of those old ads even give the address in LIC the fisher speaker building on 44th dr, is still there
Speaking of electronics being made, let’s all not forget that the corruption is at low levels also, not just in high end real estate.
You can get an Amazon firestick Kodi enabled that allows you to view for free all the pay channels and movies and porn for about $75 on eBay. For free.
Now I know why no one cares. Bread and Circuses. Netflix and Chill. Free On Demand and medical Mj. All you gotta pay for is your Panda Express Orange Chicken.
75 channels and Internet porn go a long way towards opiation of the herd creatures.
“San Diego County”
How are they going to be able to move the high-end luxury tear-down build-up flip homes with ocean views without money laundered from abroad?
“The dollar values involved purchases of more than $500,000 or more in Bexar County, which includes San Antonio…”
Those are starter homes, right?
“Some said they were surprised that the price threshold for deals that would be scrutinized was so low. ‘I’m shocked,’ said Rad Vasile, vice president of sales at Property ID Title Company in L.A. ‘Two million for L.A. — that’s just your regular residential home. Homes that would sell for $100,000 in Texas would sell for $1 million here.’”
And $2 million is just barely enough to get you into a regular residential home in L.A.
The Most and Least Affordable Places to Buy Your First Home
By Wei Lu, Victoria Stilwell and Christopher Cannon
July 28, 2016
Being a first-time homebuyer often comes with a lot of advice. Make sure you can afford your mortgage. Pick a real estate agent who knows the market. Scrape together a good-sized down payment.
We’ve got one more to add to the list: Don’t buy out West.
Bloomberg News analyzed the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas to determine the least and most affordable places for people between ages 25 and 44, a proxy for those in their prime home-buying years. We ranked places by the difference between the median household income for that age group and the estimated minimum earnings needed to purchase a single-family home in the region as of 2015.
…
In areas such as California, “really it’s a combination of strong job growth and little new housing supply” that’s led to an affordability crunch, McLaughlin said. “If you want to find a home it’s going to be difficult, and even if you do find one, it’s going to be expensive.”
Meanwhile markets in the Midwest have bigger supplies of available housing that can better absorb any increases in demand, McLaughlin said. That makes the region “a great place to buy a home,” although “job growth in those markets isn’t necessarily leading the pack by any means,” he said. In Iowa payrolls have climbed by 3.5 percent since June 2013. Compare that with 8.8 percent in California.
…
While the statistics in this article are shocking, and the situation has doubtless deteriorated since last summer when it was written, it at least debunks the myth that the average LA area home costs $2 million.
If you make the median income in LA County, you still can’t afford a home, study says
By Gregory J. Wilcox, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 08/20/15, 6:33 PM PDT | Updated: on 08/20/2015
Rising home prices across California have eroded affordability to the point that only seven counties, including San Bernardino, have housing that a family earning the median income can afford to buy, according to a study released Thursday.
The analysis of second-quarter home prices and income levels in 32 counties by the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors found that 25 counties have housing stock priced out of the reach of families earning the median income.
Home prices have been rising around the state for several years and some markets have approached or matched their pre-recession highs.
“It’s pretty shocking,” said association Vice President and chief economist Leslie Appleton-Young.
And the inventory of housing stock within the reach of first-time buyers is dwindling.
“I think that the big risk is with the millennials in California. Where are they going to live? There are some that have parents that can help them with the down payment. They are the lucky ones. But the others are on their own,” Appleton-Yound said.
For example, less than 33 percent of the state’s inventory of available single-family homes, condominiums and town homes for sale was priced at or below what a household earning the California median income of $60,244 could afford, the association said.
“The significant disparity between what homebuyers can realistically afford and actual home price is discouraging,” association President Chris Kutzkey, said in a statement. “While housing is affordable in some regions of the state, California lacks an adequate supply and mix of affordable housing in locations where the majority of the state’s workforce resides.”
In the second quarter of 2015, the statewide median price of $446,980 was nearly 50 percent higher than what a California household with the median income could qualify for, the analysis said.
But in San Bernardino, where the median-household income is $50,640, wage earners at that level could afford a home costing 13 percent more than the median price of $222,310.
San Bernardino remains one of the state’s most affordable markets, according to the analysis.
Fifty-six percent of the county’s households could afford the median-priced home costing $223,830. And they needed a minimum annual income of $44,290 to qualify for the mortgage.
Not surprisingly, Los Angeles County is one of the state’s least affordable markets.
In Los Angeles, where the median income was $54,510, a family earning that amount could afford a home costing $275,530. But the median-priced home here was 58 percent higher at $436,010.
According to the affordability index, only 30 percent of households in the April through June quarter could afford a $445,190 median-priced home and they would need a minimum qualifying income of $88,080.
Not surprisingly, San Francisco was the least affordable county.
Households in San Francisco earning the median income of $75,910 were only able to afford a home costing $383,670, a difference of $863,900 or 225 percent. That’s compared with the actual second-quarter median home price of $1.2 million.
And during the second quarter, just 10 percent of families cold afford a median-priced home costing $1.35 million and they would need to earn a minimum annual income of $267,780 to qualify for the loan.
…
Does a recovery these days mean stock and home prices go up?
I think some people would rather have a good job.
‘barn door’
What two markets went under scrutiny first? Manhattan and Miami. Which two are down the most in the US?
London: stamp duty, registered foreign buyers and reduced tax benefits: crater.
Hong Kong: 15% tax on off-shore buyers: crater. Singapore did even more with the same result. And both countries keep at it!
Australia: multiple actions against foreign buyers, down in several markets, even Sydney. Some of their lenders are cutting off loans to foreigners entirely (where are the PC police?).
Did the white knight save us from the bubble? Of course not. That’s all at least a decade, maybe 2 or 3 in the making. But what’s happened has happened. In Canada, it took the bankers and economists pleading with the government to do something about the money laundering. So they just got baby steps.
Barn door? Are we talking 1983 or 1986 or what? This is just something that is happening along this strange, terrible course of events. Did Greenspan pop the bubble by raising rates? Was it “too late”? Should he have left the rates low? Or did he keep it from being worse that it could have been? What should Janet do? Should the treasury department do nothing in this case, now that the New York Times embarrassed them and they found there was fire with the smoke?
Jeebus. At least something was done for a change.
“Did the white knight save us from the bubble? Of course not. That’s all at least a decade, maybe 2 or 3 in the making.”
Who is the ‘white knight’ and how is he going to save us from the bubble?
The Comrades of Proven Worth, whether in Venezuela or in our coming collectivist kleptocracy once the DNC gets its permanent Democrat supermajority, must always take their of themselves for doing The People’s Work. Forward!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-30/let-them-eat-cake-venezuela-celebrates-chavez’-birthday-100000-cake-while-citizens-s
Being ground zero for the Zika virus is bullish, right?
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/article92788467.html
Britons fed up with the open-borders globalism of their oligarch-captured elites were the silent majority who voted for BREXIT.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1528756/hundreds-of-syrians-in-uk-arrested-over-string-of-offences-including-rape-and-child-abuse/
‘Two million for L.A. — that’s just your regular residential home’…’We had a Chinese buyer once who disappeared in the middle of the Escrow and then miraculously came back from China with the rest of the money’
And the “limit” in China is $50,000 per person.
Chinese embezzlers are scrupulously honest when it comes to obeying laws. That’s why we need more of them in our country.
$1 Tr a year leaves China.
Wait until the rest of the off shored dollars come home to roost.
Bitcoin wallets are easy to use to escape capital controls.
And at this time (noon PST) the Chinese are buying Bitcoin like crazy. Check the realtime chart below
http://fiatleak.com/
That’s crazy. You almost get the impression the Chinese people are expecting a currency devaluation.
Oh wait…
Opinion
Jul 31, 2016 @ 12:01 AM
Everyone’s Favorite China Bet: A Cheaper Yuan
Gordon G. Chang
Contributor
“Where are they going?” Tom Keene asked Geoffrey Yu of UBS Wealth Management on Bloomberg Surveillance late last week, referring to the Chinese central bank. “I can’t get a handle on that.”
This year, Beijing has adopted every currency policy in the book, pushing the renminbi stronger, driving it lower, and trying to hold the line.
As Keene’s comment suggests, there has been some confusion in the market as to what Beijing ultimately wants for its beleaguered currency.
Yet there is a consensus slowly emerging that the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, is willing to let the yuan weaken, so it will probably fall during the remainder of this year. Beijing thinks it can control the descent, but that appears optimistic.
One thing is clear. The central government is trying to reassure. Embattled Premier Li Keqiang has, this year as in the past, said China would keep the currency at a “reasonable” level.
This month, Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao, speaking to CNBC, said China had no reason to devalue. “With strong economic fundamentals, we believe the renminbi will continue to keep stability,” he said.
Zhu’s words were not especially comforting, however. As evident from Q2, China’s fundamentals are weak. The official National Bureau of Statistics reported 6.7% growth for the period—the same rate as Q1—but underlying numbers suggest a far weaker expansion.
…
Create a paper wallet is easy with bitaddress.org
Navigate to that page above in a browser.
Assuming you have WiFi,
Assuming you have a window 7 system
Control Panel \ Networks and Internet \ Manage Wireless Networks
right Click on one of your networks and select properties.
For the connection tab, uncheck the box “Connect Automatically when the network is in range”
Do this for all your other networks.
Shut off your wifi (look on the lower right of your task bar for the five-bar symbole and right click. Then disconnect your wi-fis.
Now your network is disabled and will not automtically try to reconnect. You will only be able to manually connect.
Now on your web browser page, follow the directions. Type in the text box, move your mouse around. Wait until you get 100% and then your wallet will appear.
Print out your wallet with the QR tab symbols that appear. If you do not have a printer, use your own digital camera (not your smartphone) to take pictures of your address. You can also use a USB flash drive to copy the address pair or a snapshot of your screen to the USB flash drive.
All that goes to your safe. You can leave your public address available.
That is how you make a cold storage wallet. No app knows the secret address and the funds cannot get stolen from your wallet unless someone gets your flash drive, SD card from your camera, or your printed-out paper wallet.
By all means, close the browser and reboot your computer to wipe the memory.
Most of your crypto currency should be stored in paper wallets. There are paper wallet generators. also for Litecoin and other cryptos.
A more paranoid way of creating paper wallets is for those who have linux skills on computers that are never connected to the internet.
The oligarch bankrollers who control the Republicrat duopoly have laid down the way forward: globalism and multiculturalism. Their minions will scurry to obey.
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/30/globalist-kochs-preach-open-society-happy-talk-gathered-elites-adoring-msm/
Well, this should do it right? End all those one here who have screamed and railed against the Koch Brothers? They’ll now be supporting the only candidate who has a chance of beating the Koch Brothers pro globalist candidate Hillary right?
Can’t wait to hear the mental contortions coming
S&P 500 Foreign Sales at 44.3%, Lowest Level Since
2006
NEW YORK, JULY 27, 2016: S&P Dow Jones Indices (“S&P DJI”), one of the world’s leading index
providers, announced today that, for S&P 500® companies with full reporting information for 2015, the
percentage of sales from foreign countries decreased to levels last seen in 2006.
According to S&P DJI’s annual S&P 500 Foreign Sales Report, the percentage of products and
services produced or sold by S&P 500 companies outside the U.S. equated to 44.3% in 2015, down
from 47.8% in 2014 and the 46% average from 2009-2013; in 2006, it was 43.6%.
Additional findings from the report include:
Geographic Breakdown
European sales continued to increase in 2015, with Europe becoming the dominant region
and accounting for 7.79% of all S&P 500 sales, up from 7.46% in 2014 and 6.80% in 2013.
After declining four years in a row, U.K. sales increased to 1.86% from 0.89% in 2014.
Asian sales reversed their course and decreased, representing 6.77% of S&P 500 sales,
down from 7.80% in 2014 and 7.71% in 2013.
Canadian sales decreased to 1.17% from 3.51% in 2014, partially due to declines in oil and
commodity prices and less demand for the industry’s related services and equipment.
African sales decreased to 3.16% from 4.09% in 2014 and 3.55% in 2013.
This market wont go down substantially until the election is over.
If hilary wins it win be the same old bs.
If trump wins they will let sh@ hit the fan and blame it on him.
‘This market wont go down substantially until’
‘Slower sales and a glut of inventory has led to a buyers’ market for South Florida luxury properties…There are hundreds of unsold luxury homes priced above $500,000 in the Flagstaff area’
‘Hamptons home sales cooled in the second quarter…Town & Country Real Estate noted ’significant drops’ not only in the number of sales but also in dollar volume and median price in most of the 12 hamlets and villages it covers on both East End forks. ‘I think the glaring trend is, there were declines in markets that are normally strongholds’
‘Thousands of house sales across London have collapsed since the Brexit vote as alarmed buyers scramble to pull out of ‘overpriced’ deals…‘desperate vendors’ are prepared to accept previously unthinkable price cuts…‘There are definitely people more eager to sell than previously who have instructed us to take quite substantial discounts. The rule of thumb is that people are offering 10 per cent below, but we have had offers at 50 per cent below and plenty at 20 to 25 per cent’
‘it’s primarily sellers of pricier homes who are seeing values fall and days on the market exceeding a year or more…buyers now have more choices as a period of tightness in Anchorage’s housing market appears to have ended’
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=9709
I’ll have some more for you tomorrow.
I was actually talking about the stock market in that post . The housing market seems to be highly dependent on low rates which will stay low for a long time.
I can see home loans down at 2% to keep prices high.
Oh, yeah, stock prices never go down, do they?
Most China stocks drop as small caps retreat on investment curbs
Thursday July 28, 2016
03:55 PM GMT+8
SHANGHAI, July 28 — Most Chinese stocks dropped, with a gauge of smaller companies extending its steepest loss in six weeks, on concern the regulator will restrict investments in the equity market.
The ChiNext Index of smaller companies fell 1.2 per cent at 2.23pm local time. Shanghai New Culture Media Group Co. sank by the daily limit to lead losses on the 100-member gauge. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2 per cent, with more than three shares declining for every two that advanced, while a measure of Chinese shares traded in Hong Kong retreated 0.7 per cent.
The China Banking Regulatory Commission is said to be planning a crackdown on the US$3.5 trillion (RM14.16 trillion) WMP market. The initial draft states that cash from “mass market” wealth products can only be invested in money or bond markets, and not in domestically listed shares, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Concern was fueled also by a Xinhua News Agency report Tuesday that said the nation will curb asset bubbles. It was citing a government statement after a Politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping.
“The market is more sensitive now,” said Banny Lam, Hong Kong-based head of research at CEB International Investment Corp. “After the dive yesterday, there wasn’t a strong recovery this morning, so the market became worried. It seems like generally regulation is becoming stricter, which can affect market sentiment.”
…
I’ll have some more for you tomorrow.
But…but…nobody could’ve seen it coming.
Lots of people, including many regular posters here, are doomed to remain in denial for a protracted period of time as the correction gathers steam.
This brings to mind Albuquerque Dan’s aggressive response to falling Chinese stock and oil prices through early last year. Despite his denial and vehement protestations, those markets collapsed and failed to recover. And then he was heard no more.
‘I can see home loans down at 2% to keep prices high’
Artificially high price creates it’s own destruction. Every day this goes on the worse that will be.
‘I can see home loans down at 2% to keep prices high’
If the 2.0% loans are sold or for short duration I agree. But I can’t see 30 year product at 2.0% unless we have Negative interest rates. I doubt banks would want the risk of keeping 30 year product on the books for less than a 2% spread.
Oil prices look to be heading lower with the global economic slowdown. But while the MSM focuses on The Narrative, one of the world’s most underreported conflicts is pitting fierce, warlike Houthi Yemenis against Saudi Arabia, which has spent billions on building up its military but can’t seem to instill much fighting spirit or military prowess in its armed forces.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-talks-idUSKCN10B01T
“I doubt banks would want the risk of keeping 30 year product on the books for less than a 2% spread.”
What if the Fed were willing to swoop in and buy the loans for above market value. Would that change the picture?
Markets | Thu Jul 14, 2016 2:07pm EDT
U.S. Fed buys $7 billion of mortgage bonds, sells none
A man walks past the Federal Reserve in Washington, December 16, 2015.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
The Federal Reserve bought $7.029 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities in the week from Jul. 7 to Jul. 13, compared with $7.311 billion purchased the previous week, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said on Thursday.
In a move to help the housing market begun in October 2011, the U.S. central bank has been using funds from principal payments on the agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, or MBS, it holds to reinvest in agency MBS.
The New York Fed said on its website the Fed sold no mortgage securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Government National Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae, in the latest week. It sold none the prior week.
If trump wins they will let sh@ hit the fan and blame it on him ??
You bet they will because they will be scared $hitle$$…
“Extend and pretend” is running out of road in Europe as Merkel’s ability to put German taxpayers on the hook for the debts of her bankster puppetmasters is being challenged by the rise of populist-nationalist parties, aka “the far right” in Narrative parlance.
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/07/30/portugal-spain-stability-pact-fines-italian-banks/
The systemic distortions and malinvestment that QE and ZIRP enabled are starting to become dangerously unstable.
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/07/29/central-bankers-are-driving-us-all-into-the-dirt/
I am in St. Louis this weekend. Visiting ‘good’ parts of burbs and downtown. Not a sign of depression or recession as I was expecting. I will try to get out to the depressed areas including ferguson. Lets see what I find.
Many of the white families who used to live inside the city limits moved to the suburbs by the 1960s, and west of the Missouri River by the 2010s. The westward escape from inner-city crime and violence has been ongoing since freeway construction opened up new possibilities in the 1950s.
M.L. Mencken Quote of the Day. No social commentator and humorist better foresaw our national descent into IDIOCRACY.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/07/31/quote-of-the-day-508/
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/07/30/the-democratic-party-no-longer-exists/
The Democratic Party that once was concerned with workers’ rights, the elderly, civil rights, and the constitutional protections of America liberty no longer exists. As the just completed Democratic presidential primaries and the Democratic presidential convention have clearly demonstrated, the United States now has two Republican parties in service to the One Percent.
The organized Democrats–the Democratic National Committee–have shown themselves to be even more venal and corrupt than the Republicans. Leaked emails document that the Democratic National Committee conspired with the Hillary campaign in order to steal the nomination from Bernie Sanders. It is clear that Sanders was the choice of Democratic Party voters for president, but the nomination was stolen from him by vote fraud and dirty tricks.
“… the United States now has two Republican parties in service to the One Percent.”
Yes, a job well done.
The American prole; Dumb ‘em down, and profit.
Mission accomplished.
Yep, nuthin’ to it.
The Comrades of Proven Worth must make all of America a gun free zone in order to take their collectivist kleptocracy and redistribution of the wealth to the next level. Forward!
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/07/30/do-gun-free-zones-work/
First the West Coast…then the East Coast…then everything in between: a “coalition of gun control groups” (funded by the same handful of billionaire oligarchs) is calling for a West Coast gun ban on semi-automatic “assault rifles.” It’s for the children….
http://www.ammoland.com/2016/07/anti-gun-coalition-calls-west-coast-ban-commonly-owned-semi-auto-firearms/
But…but…we must have gun control…for the children!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-30/chicago
Nothing is quite as enjoyable to a freedom lover as to watch Venezuelans get exactly what they voted for: a socialist “paradise.” Their kids will be inoculated for a generation against any such stupidity in the future.
http://americanlookout.com/socialist-paradise-of-venezuela-may-now-force-its-people-to-do-farm-labor/
“’A new decree establishing that any employee in Venezuela can be effectively made to work in the country’s fields as a way to fight the current food crisis is unlawful and effectively amounts to forced labor,’ Amnesty International said in a statement released on Thursday.”
I like it.
CBS Sunday Morning is going all out on gun control this morning.
I would love to read the lost email that directed that.
The MSM goes all out on gun control every morning. Their oligarch owners who dictate The Narrative demand nothing less from their Real Journalist stenographers.
I’m very happy to let them prattle on about gun control. Poll after poll shows it is a huge losing issue for the Ds. Their “let them eat cake” elitist media fellow travelers can’t seem to accept and understand this. Good.
Meanwhile, the people who have to live with “fundamental transformation” are voting with their wallets. If Obama was Gun Salesman of the Century, Hillary will smash all previous records.
http://freebeacon.com/issues/record-gun-sales-continue-may/
Moar stimulus as the Goldman Sachs alumni at the central banks escalate their “No Billionaire Left Behind” monetary swindles against the 99%.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/07/30/bank-of-england-poised-to-slash-growth-forecast-by-biggest-margi/
Also no deadbeat left behind as the Dole has been massively expanded. It’s the working man in the middle who is most screwed.
“The working man in the middle” is getting exactly what he voted for: crony capitalism and the warfare/welfare state.
Not the time. This time there is actually a realistic choice.
Yes, but are you saying the Obama Zombies, McCain Mutants, and Romney Retards have grown a brain since the last elections? It’s more likely they will be joined by the latest vegetable crops from our NEA indoctrination mills, and in November a tidal wave of stoopids will converge on the voting booths and do what stupid people always do: make the worst possible choice, i.e. vote for Hillary and her fellow collectivist kleptocrats.
We are so screwed.
It’ll probably turn out that nearly everyone who voted for McCain and Romney will vote for Trump.
Do you mean the choice between the Republican Goldman Sachs candidate and the Democrat Goldman Sachs candidate?
that nearly everyone who voted for McCain and Romney will vote for Trump ??
I don’t think there are 50 million “Burn The House Down” voters out there…especially after taking out the majority of the woman, blacks, hispanics & Muslims along with college educated white males…
But there are 20 million MT skulls that Mr. Trump lives in, rent-free. Including yours
Even the MSM can no longer ignore the growing indicators of distress in the housing market.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/29/apartment-market-increasingly-jittery-for-investors.html
When will Yellen the Felon use the ailing REAL economy as an excuse to lavish more QE on her .1% cronies?
http://www.businessinsider.com/earnings-season-warnings-for-economy-2016-7
Increasing the money supply is a desperate hail mary attempt to spur demand that simply isnt there.
Increasing the money supply and gifting it to Yellen’s Wall Street cohorts allows them to buy up distressed assets from the vanishing middle class on the cheap.
How Would a New Democratic President Affect the U.S. Housing Market?
http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/democratic-president-how-would-affect-housing-market/
In every utopian/dystopian novel I read the elites at the top lie to and keep the people at the bottom down and uninformed. They do this because they need the labor of the people at the bottom.
BUT 50 percent or so of our working age population does not work. Their labor is obviously not needed, probably due to technology and automation.
Where does that lead? They aren’t needed as soldiers (most wouldn’t or wouldn’t qualify) or as labor in factories or on farms. They aren’t needed as any kind of productive resource. They just cost. Has there ever been a society in this situation with a huge percentage of the population entirely unproductive ?
But we seemingly can afford it.
Has there ever been a society in this situation with a huge percentage of the population entirely unproductive ?
You have to look at this from the vantage point of the Comrades of Proven Worth at the DNC. You see unproductive people. They see a massive and growing dependency voting bloc, that once augmented with millions of Democrat-on-Arrival amnestied illegals and other Third World imports, will finally make the cherished goal of a permanent Democrat supermajority a reality. Then the collectivist kleptocracy can take the looting of the productive classes, redistribution of the wealth, and patronage and graft schemes to levels unimaginable when America was still a republic with too many decent, intelligent people to ever allow such massive swindles. So rally to the red banners - Forward!
They already control everything. Why share? Coffee is for closers only. There are about 150 million non closers.
BUT 50 percent or so of our working age population does not work.
It’s only around 22%.
Has there ever been a society in this situation with a huge percentage of the population entirely unproductive ?
A larger portion were not employed before the mid-1980s.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4detz1FXowY/VyyX6ZzVpNI/AAAAAAAAngI/GhbnYtJFNToKIfU5iupg4OimEIdLchAuQCLcB/s1600/EmployPop2554Apr2016.PNG
That graph is RIDICULOUS even if you accept BLS screwed up figures. Do you really believe there are only 22 percent not working? And why the artificial age range of 25-54? Retirement age ain’t 54, but guess what, this helps exclude a huge swath of people who have “retired” with some phony disability so they can get on the Dole. Welfare reform was later undercut by giving all those deadbeats “disabilities.”
The reason it was higher back then was also because of the move of women into the workforce in the 60s and 70s.
There are now far far more nonworking nonproductive individuals than ever before. But Mikey doesn’t want to hear that.
What a New GOP President Would Mean for Homeowners?
http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/republican-platform-real-estate/
Here’s something for the bright minds on this board to ponder. Try not to let your heads explode.
Finance Election 2016
Here Is Who Donald Trump Wants for Treasury Secretary
by Dan Primack
July 19, 2016, 10:49 AM EDT
Believe it or not, the job may go to a former Clinton donor if Trump is elected.
Donald Trump has told prospective donors that, if elected president, he plans to nominate former Goldman Sachs banker Steve Mnuchin for U.S. Treasury Secretary.
That’s according to Anthony Scaramucci, a high-profile hedge fund manager and Trump fundraiser.
Mnuchin, who is a former donor to Hillary Clinton, spent 17 years with Goldman Sachs, where his father also had been a prominent executive. He later worked with investment groups affiliated with George Soros, including as chairman of controversial mortgage lender OneWest Bank Group (which would later be acquired by CIT Group). He also has spent time as both an art dealer and film producer.
Earlier this year, the 53-year-old Mnuchin joined Donald Trump’s campaign as national finance chairman.
…
The alternative is Hillary. ‘Nuff said.
Classic Hillary deflection tactics: When unknown hackers release incontrovertible evidence of the DNC’s rigging of the electorate process, Hillary attacks the messenger while refusing to address the rigged process.
http://www.businessinsider.com/clinton-we-know-that-russian-intelligence-services-hacked-into-the-dnc-2016-7
If this story is indicative of Donald Trump’s degree of self control, then America is in trouble if he makes it to the White Housed.
Donald Trump Attacks Parents of Fallen War Hero in the Press
FINANCIAL TIMES
Republican Party US
Trump dispute over slain soldier keeps his character centre stage
Response to speech by grieving father Khizr Khan criticised by both parties
Khizr Khan offers to loan Donald Trump his copy of the US Constitution at the Democratic convention. His wife Ghazala looks on
© Reuters
6 hours ago
by: David J Lynch in Washington
A mushrooming dispute between Donald Trump and the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq has put the Republican candidate’s temperament and character centre stage as the US presidential campaign hurtles into its final 100 days.
Mr Trump’s response to a Democratic National Convention speech by Khizr Khan, the slain soldier’s father, was criticised by members of both parties.
Mr Khan, a Pakistani immigrant to the US, electrified the convention when he assailed Mr Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the US. He added that the Republican had “sacrificed nothing” for his country.
Mr Trump fired back over the weekend, saying he had sacrificed by “working very hard” and “employing thousands and thousands of people”. He also suggested that the Khans had been doing the Clinton campaign’s bidding and suggested the soldier’s mother had stood silently alongside her husband during his speech because “maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say”.
Ghazala Khan, the mother of Army Captain Humayun Khan, subsequently explained that she finds it difficult to speak of her loss and still becomes emotional whenever she sees his picture.
“Walking on to the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could?” she wrote in an article for the Washington Post published on Sunday.
“Donald Trump said he has made a lot of sacrifices. He doesn’t know what the word sacrifice means.”
Her son was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his actions in saving his men from an explosives-packed taxi in Baqubah, Iraq, in 2004.
…
Election 2016
The dividing of America
Donald Trump’s nomination in Cleveland will put a thriving country at risk of a great, self-inflicted wound
Jul 16th 2016 | From the print edition
Timekeeper
…
The most worrying aspect of a Trump presidency, though, is that a person with his poor self-control and flawed temperament would have to make snap decisions on national security—with the world’s most powerful army, navy and air force at his command and nuclear-launch codes at his disposal.
…
David Stockman on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Trump campaign and what it means.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/07/31/donald-trumps-candidacy-the-good-and-the-bad-of-it/
This could be a lie - the media apparently lied claiming Trump had second thoughts about selecting Pence for VP, he said he had no such reservations. We KNOW the media is completely corrupt and in the tank for Hilliary so why should we believe anything they say about Trump?
The media loves to take Trump out of context and then clutch their pearls about what he “said.” They are massively partisan lying clowns. It seems almost everyone with the antiTrump mental illness suffers from this same fault. I remember last week when they were all fainting over Trump telling Russia to hack Hillary’s server, you know the one wiped then destroyed a few years ago. Brain dead like PB just rely on the biased reporting second hand and never bother to investigate the primary source material, which is kind of ridiculous for someone who claims to be an academic.
“antiTrump mental illness”
In a Trumpling’s mind, anyone who doesn’t obsequiously fawn over their Dear Leader must be mentally ill.
He’s a brilliant builder with a bevy of busty beauties.
“…brilliant builder with a bevy of busty beauties…”
Which in your mind(s) qualifies him to be commander-in-chief?
Hmmmmmmmm…
So far he is. The whole party shithouse is on fire. Thank you Mr Trump.
If your hope is to see the current two-party system blown up, then I see your point. Mission accomplished.
While 95% of the ‘Murican electorate meekly bent over for Wall Street water carriers in 2008 and 2012 with their votes for the crony capitalist status quo, it won’t be too much longer before these dolts start making the connection between their votes for more of the same and the “Deliverance” style reaming the 99% are getting from the Oligopoly. In Europe the sheeple are already ahead of us in making the connection and voting for alternatives.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-31/real-reason-behind-surge-populist-anger-central-banks
Thousands of Germans demonstrate against Merkel, millions stay home. Germans are getting exactly what they voted for, and exactly what they deserve.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-31/thousands-germans-demand-merkels-resignation-protest-open-door-immigration-policy
Where are the Funnies?
Ask, and ye shall receive….
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/07/31/sunday-funnies-123/
3 thoughts on “SUNDAY FUNNIES”
“So that’s what five dollars gets you, huh?”
US home ownership is plunging as hope n’ change continues taking a wrecking ball to the real, productive economy as opposed to the rigged Wall Street casino.
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/07/28/american-dream-homeownership-rate-record-low/
Follow the money, and you see how oligarch money makes a mockery of Hillary’s claim to be “fighting for us” (unless “us” is Goldman Sachs).
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2016/07/28/nobody-knows-whos-paying-for-the-privately-funded-democratic-national-convention/
U.S. GDP Grew a Disappointing 1.2% in Second Quarter
By Eric Morath and
Jeffrey Sparshott
Updated July 29, 2016 6:23 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON—Declining business investment is hobbling an already sluggish U.S. expansion, raising concerns about the economy’s durability as the presidential campaign heads into its final stretch.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Seven Years Later, Recovery Remains the Weakest of the Post-World War II Era
By Eric Morath
Jul 29, 2016 10:39 am ET
Even seven years after the recession ended, the current stretch of economic gains has yielded less growth than much shorter business cycles.
In terms of average annual growth, the pace of this expansion has been by far the weakest of any since 1949. (And for which we have quarterly data.) The economy has grown at a 2.1% annual rate since the U.S. recovery began in mid-2009, according to gross-domestic-product data the Commerce Department released Friday.
Now that European voters are getting a healthy dose of the globalists’ fundamental transformation, the “nationalist” candidates - those who put their countrymen ahead of the globalists and banksters - are seeing their popular support surge. What happens when Merkel and the ECB can no longer force EU taxpayers to ante up for the endless bailouts of insolvent Eurozone banks?
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/07/31/right-wing-nationalist-set-win-rerun-austrian-presidential-race/
The German sheeple voted for globalism. Their children are paying the price.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/gentrification-s-victims-berlin-fears-rise-of-new-slums-a-748532.html
The gullibility of the sheeple is breathtaking.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hfwjkmUIZcw/V5pszIAXc8I/AAAAAAABKYk/feP2iAfApucjulR2xZDEbufVpaZRru7vgCLcB/s1600/politicianslie.JPG
I saw that photo the other day and wondered what’s that dark spot on her tongue?
Satan’s ownership brand?
Remember…. nothing accelerates the economy and creates jobs like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing
Hope n’ change = Renter Nation.
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/chart-of-the-day-a-nation-of-renters-2/
I saw this image today and thought one of the comments nailed it: “The facts are skewed but I understand the frustration. Decades of greed and short term thinking have destroyed what made the US great.”
Short term thinking. The entire focus of central bank and government policy has been to kick the can down the road. Keynes “clever” observation, “In the long run, we are all dead” and the observation that “the future is infinite” has provided “intellectual” cover for policies which are destructive in the long term but beneficial right now.
Basically, the mindset of a drug addict - “It feels good right now and damn the consequences.”
Encouragements and enticements for ever greater debt, currency debauchment, encouragement of corporate looting and bankruptcy for profit, de facto legalization of political bribery, offshoring of manufacturing and technical know-how, and preying on the young with skyrocketing college costs and its “fix”, student debt.
I’ll provide another pithy slogan to describe the situation: “Eventually, the chickens come home to roost.”
“Decades of greed and short term thinking have destroyed what made the US great.”
And made me rich. Bahahahahahahahahahahaha.
I’ll give credit where credit is due, Mr. Banker. It takes a diabolical genius to con 95% of the electorate into voting for your water carriers, who are screwing them nine ways to Sunday, election after election. Granted, the congenital stupidity of the Obama Zombies, McCain Mutants, and Romney Retards has been a huge factor, but keeping these herd creatures moving in the desired direction takes some inspired Narrative creation by your MSM sheepdogs.
“It takes a diabolical genius to con 95% of the electorate into voting for your water carriers, who are screwing them nine ways to Sunday, election after election.”
There was no genius - diabolical or otherwise - involved on my part. Our fine educational system did a fine job of dumbing down the “water carriers”, as you put it; all I had to do was to step and grab my share - and everyone else’s share as long as everyone else is willing enough - eager enough - to sign their shares over to me.
A nation of dummys.
One other thing I realize is that the demonization of savers as being bad for the economy is like saying, “Don’t prepare for a rainy day. Spend all you have, and go into debt, and then trust us (the PTB) to provide for you (in the manner that we see fit) if your economic situation goes bad.”
So they’re encouraging a dependent class and a powerful, controller class. I’m confident none of the Federal Reserve executive staff, or federal politicians or economic pundits take their own advice which is peddled to the population. They’re very keen on building their own net worth.
“So they’re encouraging a dependent class and a powerful, controller class.”
The institution of slavery in more ancient and primitive times involved much coercion; This institution of slavery in our up-to-date modern times involves nothing more than persuasion.
“Don’t prepare for a rainy day. Spend all you have, and go into debt, and then trust us (the PTB) to provide for you (in the manner that we see fit) if your economic situation goes bad.”
What could be more to the banksters’ advantage than to have a broke dependency class desperate to get their hands on dumb, borrowed money with a federal guarantee against loss if the bankers loan it to broke, high-credit-risk borrowers?
Apparently we can afford to have half of the population as a double drain. Not productive and also on the dole. How long til the oligarch wise up and start to plug that leak?
How long til the oligarch wise up and start to plug that leak?
You’re missing the point. Until the oligarchy gets its permanent Democrat supermajority, they and their adjuncts, the Comrades of Proven Worth at the DNC, will not have a free hand to engage in the unfettered neoliberal looting of what’s left of the productive economy. So those free sh*tters will see their bennies cut further and further, but that won’t deter them from voting straight D - and as long as they do, they are serving as Useful Idiots for the oligopoly.
The Clinton Foundation has a new theme song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suvxVcdRlr8
Here’s one way to beat high rents.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/no-rent-lifestyle-argentine-mans-lived-40-years-160425497.html?nhp=1
It’s also destiny for a wide swath of America’s Baby Boomers…
Here’s another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKTQ1IssClg
If you’ve never seen Alone In The Wilderness, you’re in for one heck of a treat. Here’s an approx. 10-min. snippet. Highly recommended.
The DVD will set you back $25, but well worth it.
You’re welcome.
Looks much better than life in a cave…
Dystopian crime and disorder that are the hallmarks of “fundamental transformation” are bullish for housing, right?
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/2016-missouri-ferguson-gubernatorial-election-racism-214127
crushing.housing.losses.
when will they determine we need to rinse the little people again?
Let your conscience be the only law you obey.
If you’re a member of the 99%, that’s a great way to end up in a federal pound-me-in-the-azz prison.
Hi Ben,
Great blog. I’ve been reading regularly since I discovered it a few weeks back.
The one thing I don’t like about the new Treasury regulations is that it doesn’t include wires. That’s sort of a “wtf?” part of the story that might be getting glossed over.
If a person or group of people is making a transaction for say, $5 million, I’m thinking that their last concern would be a $20 wire fee. Or maybe I’m missing something.
‘it doesn’t include wires’
It’s not in their jurisdiction. Senator Levin is putting together a bill that would change that. If any part of the transaction are checks, etc, they can look at wires. Escrow, for example. International wires are easily noted.
Lots of interesting things here. They’ve said we found enough to expand it. Once they start turning up rocks they’ll find more. And they also said the expansion is to prepare permanent laws. In Australia they went from doing zero investigation to forcing Chinese buyers to sell. In Canada 3 weeks ago the Chinese government sued a guy with 3 expensive houses he got with zero down loans from Canadian banks. I’m sure the bankers are on notice that they can lose big doing this kind of business. And increased scrutiny just turned up a Chinese guy with a bad history who has bought $500 million in BC real estate. And the Malaysian criminals got caught with $200 million in NY real estate.
It’s a start. There are powerful forces that opened this door. Take a look at this if you haven’t already:
‘The World’s Favorite New Tax Haven Is the United States’
‘Moving money out of the usual offshore secrecy havens and into the U.S. is a brisk new business.’
“Once they start turning up rocks they’ll find more.”
Once you see a cockroach, you can be sure there are hundreds more nearby in hiding.
Comrade Stalin has shown the way for the collectivist comrades of the DNC, once they have installed their People’s Republic. Fear and terror must be employed to eliminated disarmed resisters and terrorize the population into submission…for the children. Forward!
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-research-reveals-misconceptions-about-joseph-stalin-and-his-great-purge-2016-7
Pay no heed to those alarmists and their fiction-peddling that our financial house of cards is headed for a collapse. Our betters and the MSM pundits assure us that all is well.
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/07/31/stock-markets-should-be-down-but-investors-hypnotized-nothing-can-go-wrong/
This entire article is suggesting Real Estate agents act in an ethical manner and perform due diligence on cash buyers.
It will be some time before I stop laughing.
Transcript: Hillary Clinton’s Speech at the Democratic Convention
JULY 28, 2016
Bernie Sanders and I will work together to make college tuition-free for the middle class and debt-free for all!
We will also liberate millions of people who already have student debt.
Yes, because debt just disappears into the ether.
Classic collectivism: vote yourselves benefits that someone else will have to pay for.
Can’t the Fed just buy up the securities that package the student loan debt, the same way they are already snapping up MBS?
Will there be a student loan debt jubilee if Hillary wins the election?
And what does The Donald propose to remedy the $1.3 trillion student loan debt overhang?
The few remaining locals on Martha’s vineyard are seething over “Mansionificaiton” by the superrich who have been the sole beneficiaries of hope n’ change.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/31/marthas-vineyard-holiday-homes-barack-obama
Lookout below!
Top-end real estate is at a tipping point from seller’s market to buyer’s market
Published: July 30, 2016 7:11 a.m. ET
By Anne Machalinski
It’s essential for real estate agents to understand the current marketplace so they can get the best deal for their clients. And after years of watching the market favor sellers, many agents say they’ve seen a recent shift that has affected luxury property sales across the globe: We’ve entered a buyer’s market.
Jed Garfield, president of Leslie J. Garfield & Co., a New York–based brokerage that focuses on town houses, said he saw signs of this trend in late 2015, when properties that were listed at a fair market price didn’t sell. But recently, the impact has been dramatic. For example, a town house on East 70th Street between Park and Lexington avenues that was bought for $31 million in 2013, re-listed for $32.5 million a year and a half ago—and then dropped down to $22 million three months ago.
…
How many more years are we gonna be in a recovery?
I’d guess up until about the time of the next real estate downturn, which, by the way, has already begun.
Note to libtards: if you have to teach the men settling in your country how to treat women, maybe they don’t belong in your country.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/31/male-refugees-settling-in-britain-need-to-be-formally-taught-how/
Great point, Raymond.
Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved With Women in Private
Interviews reveal unwelcome advances, a shrewd reliance on ambition, and unsettling workplace conduct over decades.
By MICHAEL BARBARO and MEGAN TWOHEY
MAY 14, 2016
Donald J. Trump had barely met Rowanne Brewer Lane when he asked her to change out of her clothes.
Ms. Brewer Lane, at the time a 26-year-old model, did as Mr. Trump asked. “I went into the bathroom and tried one on,” she recalled. It was a bikini. “I came out, and he said, ‘Wow.’ ”
Mr. Trump, then 44 and in the midst of his first divorce, decided to show her off to the crowd at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Palm Beach, Fla.
“He brought me out to the pool and said, ‘That is a stunning Trump girl, isn’t it?’ ” Ms. Brewer Lane said.
…
Everyone wants to be a superb statesman……. with a squad of sexy strumpets.
Professor
You can expect the MSM to be putting those thumbs on the scale from here to November.
Former Trump girlfriend blasts New York Times and demands APOLOGY for ‘false’ retelling of how she met Donald Trump:
By David Martosko, Us Political Editor For Dailymail.com
Published: 07:49 EST, 16 May 2016
A former girlfriend of Donald Trump blasted The New York Times on Monday for fabricating part of a front-page story about the Republican presidential candidate’s history with women, calling the paper’s retelling of her story ‘false’ and demanding an apology.
The Saturday Times story described the billionaire’s first meeting with the young model as ‘a debasing face-to-face encounter between Mr. Trump and a young woman he hardly knew.’
‘Donald J. Trump had barely met Rowanne Brewer Lane when he asked her to change out of her clothes,’ the newspaper reported, describing a moment where he offered her a swimsuit to wear at a pool party.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3592787/Former-Trump-girlfriend-BLASTS-New-York-Times-false-retelling-met-Donald-Trump-gentleman-feel-like-need-make-look-bad.html#ixzz4G2VWUcGH
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Obviously there is a vast conspiracy between liberal and conservative writers alike to put Donald Trump’s genteel attitudes towards women, and other people in general, in the worst possible light.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Opinion Commentary
Why Donald Trump Is No Gentleman
Like Machiavelli, he makes clear that winning dishonorably is better than losing honorably.
By Harvey C. Mansfield
July 29, 2016 6:23 p.m. ET
The most obvious observation about Donald Trump is one rarely made: He is not a gentleman. “Not a gentleman” is a designation and reproach he richly deserves but has not received. And why is that? “Gentleman” is no longer a standard we enforce or even a term we use. The outstanding person in this election is Donald Trump, in that he attracts the most attention, but the outstanding fact is the voters behind him who excuse Mr. Trump for his ungentlemanly behavior.
A gentleman—to define him quickly—is a man who is gentle by habit and character, and not because he is somehow forced to be. Character is key. The Donald has said in one of his performances on Bill O’Reilly’s television show that he “likes to be a gentleman” with women, a generous gesture of his. And one of his girlfriends declared that the New York Times had got her story wrong: She was not demeaned or offended by Mr. Trump; to her he was a “gentleman.”
This is pretty thin testimony. What would Carly Fiorina and Megyn Kelly say of their experience as Mr. Trump’s targets? Also, a gentleman would prefer to be thought of as a gentleman rather than be praised as one, let alone boast of it himself.
John McCain would expect, though not require, us to recognize his honorable conduct in a Communist prison camp during the Vietnam War as being beyond just reward. To Mr. Trump, however, Mr. McCain was a loser for having had the bad luck to be captured by the North Vietnamese. (“I like people who weren’t captured,” Mr. Trump said.) When the Republicans put Mr. McCain up for the presidency, Mr. Trump implied, they were nominating a loser.
They compounded their mistake in the next presidential election by nominating Mitt Romney, another gentlemanly loser. Now Republicans have the opportunity to put up a winner, or at least one who believes in winning, namely himself. With his disdain for Mr. McCain, Trump makes it clear that, for him, winning dishonorably is better than losing honorably.
This is Machiavelli in a nutshell. But Machiavelli said that one should either caress or eliminate a rival, never merely insult him. With an insult, you leave the rival alive to seek revenge. Yet Mr. Trump does not fear the revenge of John McCain or Mitt Romney or their Republican supporters. He “tells it like it is,” meaning that he is bold enough to say what he likes about his rivals and enemies. He is free; the rest of us are afraid, but we have the admiration of the timid for one who is fearless, he believes.
We shall see how far this policy takes him. Mr. Trump is not quite a liar, because a liar tries to conceal truths inconvenient to him—or her. It’s more that he doesn’t care, or doesn’t even know, whether he lies or not.
…
Democrats Should Stop Pretending Trump’s Misogyny Represents the Conservative Movement
by Alexandra DeSanctis
July 29, 2016 4:00 AM
He makes for a convenient straw man, but the underlying argument is dishonest.
“A person who is flat-chested is very hard to be a ten.”
“She’s a disgusting pig, right?”
“You wouldn’t have your job if you weren’t beautiful.”
“They said, ‘How are you going to change the pageant?’ and I said, ‘I’m going to get the bathing suits to be smaller and the heels to be higher.’”
One by one, Donald Trump’s misogynistic statements were aired in a video at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Tuesday night. The video, presented just before Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards’s speech, showcased a recurring claim of this year’s DNC: Trump is living proof that Republicans, conservatives, and pro-lifers are perpetrating a war on women.
Trump’s attitudes toward women are indefensible, and the fact that he’s the Republican presidential nominee surely says something unwelcome about the direction of the party. But it is dishonest for Democrats to use his remarks as a cudgel with which to club the entire conservative movement.
…
Our economy isn’t working the way it should because our democracy isn’t working the way it should?
Why was Hillary peddling fiction in her speech at the Democratic Convention?
Transcript: Hillary Clinton’s Speech at the Democratic Convention
JULY 28, 2016
We’re still facing deep-seated problems that developed long before the recession and have stayed with us through the recovery.
I’ve gone around our country talking to working families. And I’ve heard from so many of you who feel like the economy just isn’t working.
Some of you are frustrated — even furious.
And you know what? You’re right.
It’s not yet working the way it should.
Democrats are the party of working people.
But we haven’t done a good enough job showing that we get what you’re going through, and that we’re going to do something about it.
So I want to tell you tonight how we will empower Americans to live better lives.
My primary mission as President will be to create more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States.
From my first day in office to my last!
Especially in places that for too long have been left out and left behind.
From our inner cities to our small towns, from Indian Country to Coal Country.
From communities ravaged by addiction to regions hollowed out by plant closures.
And here’s what I believe.
I believe America thrives when the middle class thrives.
I believe that our economy isn’t working the way it should because our democracy isn’t working the way it should.
That’s why we need to appoint Supreme Court justices who will get money out of politics and expand voting rights, not restrict them. And we’ll pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United!
Democrats are the party of working people.
That’s why 99% of their funding comes from billionaire oligarchs. Out of kindness, I suppose, no quid pro quo from the collectivist Comrades of Proven Worth.
I believe America thrives when the middle class thrives.
The parasites - on Wall Street and the Free Sh!t Army - are killing the productive host, and the middle class is dying with it. Hillary is the tool of the parasites and grifters, as well as being a mega-grifter herself.
“My primary mission as President will be to create more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States.”
“From my first day in office to my last!”
“Especially in places that for too long have been left out and left behind.”
After Promising New Upstate NY Jobs, Clinton Called Out For Same Broken Promise
Hillary Clinton - April 5, 2016
Clinton’s Broken Promise To Create 200,000 Jobs Is Still Fresh On The Minds Of Many New Yorkers
In 2000, Clinton Promised To Create 200,000 Jobs In Upstate New York While Campaigning For Senator. “She’s reminded of it all the time around here, so Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton couldn’t have been surprised when her failed 2000 campaign promise to bring 200,000 jobs to economically desperate upstate New York became part of the latest presidential debate.” (Carolyn Thompson, “Fact Check: Clinton And Jobs Promised,” USA Today, 2/28/08)
The Region Clinton Sought To Help Actually Lost Nearly 26,500 Jobs During Her First Term As Senator, According To The Business Council Of New York State. “In her first term in the Senate, the region saw a net loss of 26,500 jobs, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics by the Business Council of New York State.” (Carolyn Thompson, “Fact Check: Clinton And Jobs Promised,” USA Today, 2/28/08)
While Failing To Uphold Her Promise To Her Constituents, Clinton Was In India Claiming The Outsourcing Of American Jobs Was “An Inevitability”
In Remarks From A 2005 Closed Door Presentation In India, Clinton Declared That Outsourcing Is “An Inevitability There Is No Way To Legislate Against Reality… Outsourcing Will Continue.” CLINTON: “Perhaps some economic incentives to at least think very hard before those decisions are made, but you know it is an inevitability there is no way to legislate against reality, so I think that uh, the outsourcing will continue.” (Hillary Clinton, Remarks At India Today Conclave, New
WHAT WILL SHE DO THIS TIME? AS SECRETARY OF STATE IN 2012, CLINTON SAID OUTSOURCING “BENEFITED MANY PARTS OF OUR COUNTRY”
In 2012, Clinton Said Outsourcing Has “Advantages” That “Have Certainly Benefited Many Parts” Of The United States. QUESTIONER: “Good morning ma’am, I am also a part of the youth advisory council for the U.S. government. So, I have two simple questions for you, first one is, with the possible cut down on outsourcing, it leads to a lot of protectionism, and do the Indian people have to be worried about their jobs?” HOST: “Ok, let’s take one question at a time so we can get other people to respond.” CLINTON: “So, you’re talking about outsourcing from the United States to India? Outsourcing from the United States to India? Well, you know it’s been going on for many years now and its part of our economic relationship with India, and I think that there are advantages with it that have certainly benefited many parts of our country and there are disadvantages that go to the need to, you know, improve the job skills of our own people and create a better economic environment, so it’s, like anything it’s, you know, got pluses and minuses.” (Secretary Hillary Clinton, Remarks In India,
https://gop.com/after-promising-new-upstate-ny-jobs-clinton-called-out-for-same-broken-promise/ - 103k -
Why was Hillary peddling fiction in her speech at the Democratic Convention?
Because she cynically but correctly calculates that the same dolts who fell for hope n’ change will still be in the market for snake oil.
i am really disgusted at hillarie….. i saw this a lot working in radio tv stations when you want to satisfy the FCC you put a public service program on against a blockbuster so no one will watch or complain.
WTNH8 new haven had some serious education and gang related school crime so they had the mayor the governor all sorts of high ranking people plus people from the community in our studio, and they timed it perfectly against a Mike Tyson fight!!!!
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/07/31/nfl-presidential-debate-schedule/
Speaking of peddling fiction, poor Melania just can’t get a break. Now her status has been degraded to a “former business interest.”
Doubts about Melania Trump’s bio show it’s insane to lie on your resume in 2016
Published: July 30, 2016 7:22 a.m. ET
Your résumé will get checked, even if you’re not a future First Lady
By Maria LaMagna, Reporter
Melania Trump, the former model and current wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, has faced questions for several months about whether or not she actually graduated from the college her website said she had a degree from, the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.
CBS News alleges that Melania Trump didn’t graduate from the school with a degree, according to the university’s public records.
The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to our request for a comment.
Earlier this week, the content on her site was taken down, and melaniatrump.com now redirects users to a website for the Trump Organization. A tweet from Melania’s account says “The website in question was created in 2012 and has been removed because it does not accurately reflect my current business and professional interests.”
…
But…but…the Fed assures us inflation is under 2%.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bye-bye-discounts-telecoms-appear-set-to-jack-up-smartphone-prices-2016-07-31?link=MW_latest_news