Existing Home Sales Tank

From CNBC:

US existing home sales unexpectedly fall in July

U.S. home resales unexpectedly fell in July to their lowest monthly level of the year due to a lack of properties for sale, which also continued to push up prices.

The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday existing home sales fell 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.44 million units last month. June’s sales pace was revised slightly lower to 5.51 million units.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast sales rising 0.9 percent to a rate of 5.57 million units. Sales were up 2.1 percent from July 2016.

Supply was down 9.0 percent from a year ago. Housing inventory has declined for 26 consecutive months on a year-on-year basis.

A dearth of properties on the market has crimped the housing recovery and forced price appreciation to significantly outstrip wage gains.

The median house price was $258,300, a 6.2 percent rise from one year ago, reflecting the paucity of properties.

“Demand remains strong but inventory shortage is the choke point,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said.

At the current sales rate, it would take 4.2 months to clear inventory, down from 4.8 months one year ago. Economists view a 6-month supply as a healthy balance between supply and demand.

The median number of days homes were on the market in July was 30, compared to 36 days one year ago.

Across the regions, the Northeast saw a decline of 14.5 percent and in the Midwest sales were down 5.3 percent. They jumped in the West by 5.0 percent while sales increased 2.2 percent in the South.

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113 Responses to Existing Home Sales Tank

  1. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Fristy, baby!

  2. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Who wants to buy a “used” home? Only the pumpkin class, so long as you can convince them they are

    We’re Movin’ on up,
    Movin’ on up to the Morris County line,
    To a Dee-Luxe crapshack on a highway…
    We’re Movin’ on up,
    Movin’ on up to the Morris County line,
    We finally got a piece of the scrapple and potato pancakes

  3. grim says:

    From HousingWire:

    Americans haven’t been this good at paying their mortgages since 2000

    Over the last few weeks, report after report after report after report all show the same thing – more Americans are paying the mortgages on time right now than at any time since the housing crisis, at least.

    The most recent report, from Black Knight Financial Services, showed that there were fewer loans in foreclosure in the month of July than in any month in more than 10 years.

    Recent data from Transunion showed that mortgage delinquency rates fell to the lowest rate in 10 years during the second quarter, while a recent report from S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian showed that in July, the average mortgage default rate hit its lowest level in a decade.

    And the most recent report from CoreLogic showed that mortgages in some stage of delinquency – that’s 30 days or more past due and includes those in foreclosure – fell to a 17-year low in the month of May.

    Now, a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that the delinquency rate for mortgages on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.24% of all loans at the end of the second quarter of 2017.

    That’s the lowest that figure has been since 2000.

  4. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    We love, love, love it when when pretend owners of everything pay their installments on time. People usually have the right instincts, so look out for deflation around the next corner.

  5. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    ^^^the right instincts, except when it comes to stocks, bonds, and precious metals.

  6. D-FENS says:

    Your Tax dollars at work

    AUGUST 24, 2017 NJ SPOTLIGHT
    How soft corruption works in New Jersey

    http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/106683-book-highlights-how-easy-it-is-for-politicians-to-steal-money-legally-?_topstory

    -snip-

    Soft corruption is much more pervasive in public office than most people realize. Consider just a handful of examples, which will be covered in greater detail later in this book:

    In 1989, four legislators who would soon occupy their party’s top-ranking seats in the assembly invited twenty high-powered lobbyists to a meeting, ostensibly to solicit their ideas regarding the upcoming election campaign. The real purpose: to shake them down for major campaign contributions from their clients. Those who failed to comply could lose any chance of having legislation favorable to their clients see the light of day.

    In 2011, the capable, respected executive director of the state commission charged with investigating violations of the conflict-of- interest law was pressured to resign, so that the governor’s office could replace her with someone of its own choosing.

    County clerks are responsible for deciding “by lot” which party’s candidates will be listed on the preferred first line of the general election ballot. By remarkable luck—or something more—the Republican county clerk in Hunterdon selected the GOP for Column A every year from 1999 to 2009. In heavily Democratic Essex County, the Democratic clerk drew his party for the first column thirteen times in a fourteen-year stretch—a streak broken only in the year that the county party was feuding with the Democratic governor.

    In 2002, the prominent head of a Newark congregation was appointed as state commerce secretary while retaining his pastorate. It was an unusual arrangement that would soon become untenable. At the same time that the church’s community development program, which he controlled, was actively seeking funding from nearby Jersey City for a housing development with the pastor directly lobbying council members, Jersey City was applying for grants from a state authority chaired by the very same man. Jersey City received funding from the state, and the project proposed by the pastor’s church got its approval and financing from Jersey City.

    In the city of Elizabeth, the school board acts as a political machine. Its nine members have accounted for the appointment of twenty relatives to jobs on the district payroll, and the board has leaned on teachers to purchase tickets to political fund-raisers— soliciting right on school property.

    • When the police director of New Brunswick retired in 2010, he received more than $375,000 in unused vacation and sick time, along with a $115,000 annual pension from the police and firemen’s pension fund. Six months later, he took advantage of a provision of the fund and applied to be rehired. He soon was earning an annual salary of $120,000—while still collecting his $115,000 yearly pension for the exact same position.

    -snip-

  7. D-FENS says:

    “Among the many consequences of soft corruption, three are particularly troubling for states like New Jersey: higher-cost government, bad governmental decisions, and an apathetic public.”

  8. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Does anybody else hate, hate, hate the current E-Trade marketing campaign as much as I do? I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials, they all have the theme Don’t get mad (that someone else is way wealthier than you), get E-Trade..

    It annoys me on so many different levels, but particularly that it is a complete watershed divergence from the values of my generation. I’ve never been jealous or mad about someone else’s success, but apparently E-Trade execs and whatever marketing firm they hired both either bought off on, or have market research to confirm, that that is effective marketing for millennials. (The dumbest guy in your high school just a got a boat. Don’t get mad, get E-Trade)

    I couldn’t get this at all until I started reading stories that there is a huge increase in new brokerage accounts being opened, so the discount brokerages are in high gear trying to sweep in neophyte investors. The next class of lesser fools are entering the auditorium for the last show, perhaps?

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/charles-schwab-profit-rises-as-new-accounts-surge-1492523886

  9. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I guess that should be greater fools.

  10. D-FENS says:

    http://www.nj.com/atlantic/index.ssf/2017/08/richard_stockton_bust_temporarily_removed_from_uni.html#incart_river_index

    GALLOWAY — A bust of Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and slave owner, has been temporarily removed from the New Jersey state university that bears his name, according to a report.

    Stockton University President Harvey Kesselman said Richard Stockton’s personal history was “controversial” even at the time of the school’s founding four decades ago and the conversation has been going on for several years, according to PressofAtlanticCity.com.

    The decision to remove the bust from the college’s library was made this week in response to the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, the report says.

    Richard Stockton, who was born in Princeton, was a signer of the Declaration of the Independence.

    -snip-

  11. D-FENS says:

    Grim…comment in moderation. Kindly release it. Thanks…D

  12. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    @D-FENS – change each word one-by-one to “cunt” and you’ll eventually find the objectionable word;-)

  13. grim says:

    We should really just outright ban any monuments to political figures. Seems silly that those who are in charge of monuments pretty much exclusively give themselves monuments.

    Going to vomit when a monument dedicated to Menendez goes up.

  14. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    This whole statue BS movement is so obvious in it’s choreography.

    1. Confederate statues – out
    2. Slave owners – out
    3. All white men prior to 1920 – out (they oppressed women,”enslaving” them by denying them the vote.
    4. All white people – out
    5. All Native Americans – out, because they are drunks who gave away the country to white people.

    This whole movement is geared to genocide against the Red Man people and nobody sees it coming except for me.

  15. joyce says:

    Should this be celebrated in the same discussion with hard work and sacrifice? Should this be celebrated at all?

    The whitest guy says:
    August 24, 2017 at 5:00 pm

    Some of us claim it’s impossible. Others figure out how to make fake NJ Transit rail passes cause we don’t have mommy and daddy helping us.

  16. joyce says:

    Certain businesses (and people I guess) “needed” them. They are not and do not represent all.

    Phoenix says:
    August 24, 2017 at 11:15 pm
    Dfens,

    When you needed them for cheap labor you loved having them here.

  17. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Our landlords are up from Florida for a wedding this weekend. I asked them a week ago what they usually do with the greenery surrounding the yard. My guess is our yard is 1/3 acre and I do the lawn, but 3 full sides of the yard are bordered by many types of tall growth. I was expecting they would just give me free rein to just cut away, but to my surprise(and delight) they called up their “guy” and stopped by yesterday to drop off a check to pay him when he comes tomorrow and to walk me around the yard to tell me how they want each section cut. They told me their guy works so cheap that he’ll be here all day and only charge them $70. They dropped off a check for $100 to pay him.

  18. D-FENS says:

    @Breaking911
    Following
    More
    NYC Mayor DeBlasio said statue of Christopher Columbus among those being evaluated to be removed because they’re ‘deemed hateful’ – NY Post

  19. 3b says:

    So the police chief collects his pension collects his new salary what happens when he ultimately retires? Does that impact the existing pension he is collecting?

  20. Fast Eddie says:

    I’m disgusted, truly disgusted over the stupidity that has overwhelmed my country. This is really a sign of bad times.

  21. Juice Box says:

    re: “We should really just outright ban any monuments to political figures. ”

    How about renaming a bridge after your father?

    http://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/editorials/2017/08/24/mario-cuomo-bridge-subs-tappan-zee/592942001/

  22. No One says:

    Monuments generally reflect the values of a people and what they admire. The oldest ones are generally military heroes, likely admired for their ferocity and skill in battle. Religious icons are also popular. Kings and princes who were particularly popular. Founders of towns, states, countries.
    Now with so many modern artists to subsidize, there tends to be a lot of crap sculpture put up. Montreal is terrible for that garbage, because the government has a dedicated tax and mandate to spend it, so the town is full of terrible modern sculpture, like piles of dog poop one isn’t allowed to clean up. That reflects modern artistic and cultural values.

  23. Juice Box says:

    Deblaiso and Cuomo better get busy then. The City and State of New York are named after the Duke of York AKA King James II of England.

    That guy ran the “Royal African Company” in the late 1600s, a slave trading company.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_African_Company

  24. chicagofinance says:

    Connecting dots for those that need the connecting……..

    chicagofinance says:
    August 24, 2017 at 2:04 pm
    I have no problem leveling the playing field philosophically.
    The problem is that we have yet to find a way that doesn’t waste, and ultimately destroy, finite resources in the process.
    Further, the people we put in charge seem to have a nasty recurring characteristic of sticky fingers and influence peddling.
    Finally those in charge seem to forget that they have the sacred duty of the public’s trust. Their primary guidepost should be the society’s needs, not ego gratification…….

    D-FENS says:
    August 25, 2017 at 7:55 am
    Your Tax dollars at work

    AUGUST 24, 2017 NJ SPOTLIGHT
    How soft corruption works in New Jersey

    http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/106683-book-highlights-how-easy-it-is-for-politicians-to-steal-money-legally-?_topstory

    -snip-

  25. 3b or Not 3B that is the question says:

    3B:

    The pension rules changed over the last 15 yrs. So generally he can’t add his income to his pension for a higher payout.

    BUT, He’ll have a State Deferred Plan (457b) with the State putting in 5% of income (3% if part time) up to Social Security Income Tax cut off. Plus he, like all State Pension employee can put money into the SACT (Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust) a grandfathered pre-403b 403b that is an one S&P fund, with the State paying all expenses.

    He can make himself an even bigger tax sheltered kitty between the 18,000 in 403b + 18,000 in 457b + contribution + any over 50 catch up features. That is on top of receiving the pension + salary.

    It’s good to be a political whoe in Jerzy.

    3b says:
    August 25, 2017 at 9:01 am
    So the police chief collects his pension collects his new salary what happens when he ultimately retires? Does that impact the existing pension he is collecting?

  26. 3b says:

    Unbelievable!! Public sector is a racket!!

  27. D-FENS says:

    Oregon Free tuition collapsing as state runs out of money….

    http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/22/pf/college/oregon-free-tuition-promise-scholarship/index.html

    Coming soon to NJ. Enjoy!

  28. D-FENS says:

    Loretta Weinberg (NJ State Senator) who rarely tweets…

    @SenatorLorettaW 2h2 hours ago
    More
    Thank you @PhilMurphyNJ for your clear support of gun safety in NJ. Looking forward to working with you

    It’s been reported she has dozens of gun control bills ready to go. Governor candidate Phil Murphy has publicly said he would sign everything Christie Vetoed.

  29. D-FENS says:

    ‘-cough- -ack-‘ Pumpkin ‘-cough-‘

    chicagofinance says:
    August 25, 2017 at 9:28 am
    Connecting dots for those that need the connecting……..

  30. D-FENS says:

    Antifa (ANTI-FASCIST) man arrested unjustly for punching someone… he was trying to fight racism by punching a Trump supporter after all (watch the video)

    http://www.foxla.com/news/local-news/275728234-story

  31. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Public sector? What isn’t a racket? Anything that a human touches becomes a racket. You think human nature is any different when at play in the public or private sector? Come on, it’s a weak argument to believe private and public are any different.

    3b says:
    August 25, 2017 at 9:51 am
    Unbelievable!! Public sector is a racket!!

  32. D-FENS says:

    True. Keep more of your tax money. Don’t let them touch it with their racket.

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    August 25, 2017 at 10:51 am
    Public sector? What isn’t a racket? Anything that a human touches becomes a racket. You think human nature is any different when at play in the public or private sector? Come on, it’s a weak argument to believe private and public are any different.

  33. Nomad says:

    Grim,

    With regard to Americans paying their mortgages on time, I would think its a simple function of new mortgage standards and downpayments that result in homeowners with skin in the game. During the housing crisis, if memory serves me correctly, the default rate on mortgages by people who owned prefabricated Clayton home (Berkshire Hathaway) products was very low due to the required 10% down even though this population would be viewed as more likely to default.

  34. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    I couldn’t get this at all until I started reading stories that there is a huge increase in new brokerage accounts being opened, so the discount brokerages are in high gear trying to sweep in neophyte investors. The next class of lesser fools are entering the auditorium for the last show, perhaps?

    Another sign of a market top in my opinion. When I was in college in 1998, a lot of kids were randomly buying stocks with the 1 or 2k they had because everyone knew one kid who “made 50,000”. By year 2000, I didn’t hear any of those stories.

  35. 3b says:

    Pumps if all of private sector was a racket than the private sector would go bankrupt. Public sector just goes to the piggy bank that never runs dry (although that is changing) of the tax payer. Tell me any private sector job where someone can retire collect a 100k plus pension than get rehired at the same company and collect another salary along with the 403 plan etc ? As far as I know they don’t exist. So yeah it’s a racket.

  36. chicagofinance says:

    Private company has professional oversight and potentially external stakeholders (e.g., shareholders, bond holders, lien holders, banks) that enforce discipline and standards. Also, a bad functioning company will have punishment meted out either due to poor performance or ceasing to function as an ongoing concern.

    Public sector has weak versions of all of the above, and does not produce anything. It just has the coercive and legal ability to extract revenue from the public (i.e. taxation), and allocate in a sub-optimal way.

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    August 25, 2017 at 10:51 am
    Public sector? What isn’t a racket? Anything that a human touches becomes a racket. You think human nature is any different when at play in the public or private sector? Come on, it’s a weak argument to believe private and public are any different.

    3b says:
    August 25, 2017 at 9:51 am
    Unbelievable!! Public sector is a racket!!

  37. D-FENS says:

    any bets as to how long it takes pumpkin to accuse us of “beating up” all public workers?

  38. Walking bye says:

    Blue ribbon, 1998 is a long time for Etrade to sit on the sidelines and not throw some money at marketing to a whole new generation.

    the commercial that annoys me more is the northern trust spots featuring a dad and his daughter. She just finished college and is setting up her apartment in a distant city and dads northern trust advisor is calling her on skype to get her to start an annuity or life insurance policy.

  39. The Great Pumpkin says:

    How many companies have been bailed out by the govt? How many times has the private sector used bankruptcy laws? Come on, man!

    3b says:
    August 25, 2017 at 11:24 am
    Pumps if all of private sector was a racket than the private sector would go bankrupt. Public sector just goes to the piggy bank that never runs dry (although that is changing) of the tax payer. Tell me any private sector job where someone can retire collect a 100k plus pension than get rehired at the same company and collect another salary along with the 403 plan etc ? As far as I know they don’t exist. So yeah it’s a racket.

  40. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Public sector also responsible for most of the great inventions driving our economy. Of course, this blows past most people. Put it this way, what would this economy be without things like the internet or cures for things like polio?

    “Public sector has weak versions of all of the above, and does not produce anything. It just has the coercive and legal ability to extract revenue from the public (i.e. taxation), and allocate in a sub-optimal way.”

  41. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Only in the private sector can you drive a company into the ground and receive a 20 million retirement package to leave for another job in which you will also get paid millions to drive another company into the ground.

    3b says:
    August 25, 2017 at 11:24 am
    Pumps if all of private sector was a racket than the private sector would go bankrupt. Public sector just goes to the piggy bank that never runs dry (although that is changing) of the tax payer. Tell me any private sector job where someone can retire collect a 100k plus pension than get rehired at the same company and collect another salary along with the 403 plan etc ? As far as I know they don’t exist. So yeah it’s a racket.

  42. 3b says:

    Pumps How many? You tell me! The auto companies. Yes. The banks yes. And had we not that would have been the end. Of course no one went to jail and that’s the way it is. As for bankrupticies how many have come back to be successful companies enploying people who pay taxes. To compare that to some guy who retires collects a pension and than gets rehired is bs. Who benefits from that only him. And talke about greed. What about giving that spot to someone else? Which in turn may create a new hire spot. No. Let’s have the state taxpayers of NJ pay for this type of bs. Meanwhile the private sector employees get nothing like this. Not even close!! And you a moron for somehow trying to justify this.

  43. Fast Eddie says:

    Let me be the first to say that the media and the lefty snow cherubs are going to go full on ballistic after the destruction of Harvey stating that all of it is Trump’s fault; from the storm itself through the clean-up effort.

  44. Bagholder says:

    ‘Let me be the first to say that the media and the lefty snow cherubs are going to go full on ballistic after the destruction of Harvey stating that all of it is Trump’s fault; from the storm itself through the clean-up effort.’

    The rarely-seen preemptive Persecution Complex.

  45. Fast Eddie says:

    Perception is reality.

  46. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Blue ribbon, 1998 is a long time for Etrade to sit on the sidelines and not throw some money at marketing to a whole new generation.

    the commercial that annoys me more is the northern trust spots featuring a dad and his daughter. She just finished college and is setting up her apartment in a distant city and dads northern trust advisor is calling her on skype to get her to start an annuity or life insurance policy.

    I don’t think so. It’s a sign of the times. 10 years ago, instead of e-trade, they were throwing no income down loans at the 20 somethings. The stock market wasn’t going crazy. The market has gone up way too much and now all of the sudden, everyone wants a piece of the action. Last ones in are always the biggest losers.

  47. The Great Pumpkin says:

    The point that flies over your head is the corruption you are blind to see in the private sector. I know you don’t want to think of your holy grail private sector like this, but right now every company has a percentage of its employees partaking in some form of corruption, prob along the same exact percentage points as the public sector. You just never hear about corruption in the private sector, so you mistakenly assume it’s all peaches and cream. How can human nature differ in the public sector or private sector….it doesn’t. Same fools at play trying to make a quick buck in the dirty way.

    3b says:
    August 25, 2017 at 1:16 pm
    Pumps How many? You tell me! The auto companies. Yes. The banks yes. And had we not that would have been the end. Of course no one went to jail and that’s the way it is. As for bankrupticies how many have come back to be successful companies enploying people who pay taxes. To compare that to some guy who retires collects a pension and than gets rehired is bs. Who benefits from that only him. And talke about greed. What about giving that spot to someone else? Which in turn may create a new hire spot. No. Let’s have the state taxpayers of NJ pay for this type of bs. Meanwhile the private sector employees get nothing like this. Not even close!! And you a moron for somehow trying to justify this.

  48. The Great Pumpkin says:

    How many honest business owners do you know? Are they really paying their true cost of taxes, or hiding(stealing) it? I don’t know one, including my brother. No one in business ownership pays what they truly owe in taxes….no one.

    And don’t even get me started on the pricks putting up false business fronts and laundering god knows what kind of money. Dirty world out there, don’t just act like the public is the devil and the private the angel. They are twins, run by the same human nature.

  49. Bagholder says:

    ‘Perception is reality.’

    But you haven’t perceived what you’re describing. Precognition is what you mean. Should’ve used this great skill on the lottery.

  50. No One says:

    It’s rare for public companies to not pay the taxes they should. Of course they are looking to minimize them within the law. But straying from the law is the exception not the rule.

    Similarly, most companies don’t get driven into the ground, because owners have an incentive to hire people who will protect their interests and help the business survive and grow. So big management payouts for failing businesses are a very rare exception to what commonly happens. There’s a whole industry of people who are auditing taxes and accounting, looking for and criticizing overpaid corporate management, and activist investors looking for ways to benefit from throwing out such managers.

    So how’s the corporate governance of that pancake in a can company, and what are you as a shareholder doing about it?

    This is the real world of business, as opposed to the selective imagination of Michael Moore.

  51. joyce says:

    What a crap statement this is.

    3b says:
    August 25, 2017 at 1:16 pm
    Pumps How many? You tell me! The auto companies. Yes. The banks yes. And had we not that would have been the end. Of course no one went to jail and that’s the way it is. As for bankrupticies how many have come back to be successful companies enploying people who pay taxes.

  52. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Exactly what happens with the public sector. Like I said, one in the same.

    “So big management payouts for failing businesses are a very rare exception to what commonly happens”

  53. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Meaning, the rare exception gets highlighted instead of what commonly happens. For example….Let’s highlight a double dipper, which is the rare exception.

  54. Phoenix says:

    The banks and the rating companies got off easily.
    It was under Obama’s watch that none of these cretins ever spent 5 minutes in prison.
    There was more than enough evidence to convict all of them.
    In America, an 18 year old girl with a joint does more jail time than a banker that steals 100 million.
    I guess she is more of a threat to society….

  55. Phoenix says:

    Pumps, I agree with your statement here about the public side. Does not absolve the private side, however.
    48 billion is a big chunk of change to pay back. Letting grandma and grandpa off the hook does not appeal to me. Everyone who cried for lower taxes did not help balance the budget. Everyone who overspent (politicians , unions, etc) are part of the problem. Kicking the can down the road only rewards those whose feet should be held to the fire to pay it back. Maybe a large tax on sale/transfer of property/residences with a combined cut in pensions are in order. On the Federal side, higher copays for Medicare and Social Security cuts are in order.

    “How many honest business owners do you know? Are they really paying their true cost of taxes, or hiding(stealing) it? I don’t know one, including my brother. No one in business ownership pays what they truly owe in taxes….no one.”

    “And don’t even get me started on the pricks putting up false business fronts and laundering god knows what kind of money. Dirty world out there, don’t just act like the public is the devil and the private the angel. They are twins, run by the same human nature.”

  56. 3b says:

    Joyce perhaps it was. I don’t have hours to post away like some posters do. So it was a hurried response but it gets my point across in that like it or not the banks had to be saved. Perhaps the auto companies less so but than thousands would be unemployed. Being able to collect a pension and than be rehired and collect another salary is wrong and should be easily justified. I’ don’t buy pumps belief that all private sector companes are bad and that they all engage in wrongdoing. He works for the private sector. And because of his belief we should just somehow be ok with the guy collecting a pension and a salary on the backs of state tax payers.

  57. D-FENS says:

    It’s not rare in NJ. It’s rampant. The article I posted is an excerpt from an entire 300 page book about it that cites numerous examples.

    Nothing can convince you otherwise I suppose.

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    August 25, 2017 at 3:48 pm
    Meaning, the rare exception gets highlighted instead of what commonly happens. For example….Let’s highlight a double dipper, which is the rare exception.

  58. No One says:

    Pumpkin just hangs out with sleazebags, so thinks everyone is like that, reinforced by reading left wing blogs that focuses on criticisms of capitalism.

  59. JCer says:

    The government has had some wins and isn’t always a sink but lets face it the incentives are not around efficiency or effectiveness. As someone who works for a company that is pretty terrible, what you see in dysfunctional private sector companies is a pattern of dysfunction. I see our even more dysfunctional clients engaging us for services and advice because as bad as we are, were are still better then they are. I also see good people, products, and services keeping total money losing dysfunction afloat. Within an organization things can be a total disaster but overall the organization can be profitable. The difference between companies and government is that if a company is dysfunctional it either needs to find a profitable business to engage in or go out of business….the government just institutes higher taxes.

  60. ex-Jersey says:

    9:02 kill yourself. Once that occurs the collective IQ goes up!

  61. Grim says:

    Going to buy a new handgun next week.

  62. The Great Pumpkin says:

    My point has always been to prove to you that the private sector is no better than the public sector. Can’t stand when people think the private sector solves all, as if a govt serves no purpose. If govt is not needed, then why does it exist? Why did our founding fathers create one?

    D-FENS says:
    August 25, 2017 at 5:07 pm
    It’s not rare in NJ. It’s rampant. The article I posted is an excerpt from an entire 300 page book about it that cites numerous examples.

  63. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Those are numerous examples based on how many participants? Don’t come away from that book thinking all govt employees/politicians are bad or gaming the system. If that was the case, it would have crashed and been replaced with something else a long time ago.

  64. Grim says:

    Who hired you again? Looking for a good short.

  65. joyce says:

    This is what’s wrong with your statement.

    3b says:
    August 25, 2017 at 4:36 pm

    “it gets my point across in that like it or not the banks had to be saved.”

  66. 3b says:

    Joyce we can agree to disagree on that point.

  67. 3b says:

    Pumps are you really comparing the founding fathers vision of government to what passes for government today??

  68. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Whatever, I’m the naive one. No one robs or cuts corners in the private sector.

    When I was in high school, a friend of mine worked at a fast food joint. He memorized the prices and added up the bill in his head, took the cash(this was before credit cards were accepted at fast food joints), and never put the order through on the books, pocketing the money. Knew girls that did the same thing at Dunkin’ Donuts while working there in high school. If that happened in the public sector, it would be front page news, but because it’s the private sector, not a word, no one cares. I DONT GET IT.

  69. The Great Pumpkin says:

    New a kid that worked at Bloomingdales when I was in college. He would rob clothes and sell them to his boys that were guido clubheads. I can go on and on.

    How bout this one. My friend worked for Hoffman La Rouche as an IT guy. He would rob computers and sell them. The list goes on and on.

    So I ask, with such prevalent corruption why does one act as if the private sector is superior to the public sector when it comes to corruption? I see absolutely no difference.

  70. leftwing says:

    Pumps, we all agree you DON’T GET IT. No need to provide all caps for our benefit.

    Re: ETrade generally agree but you do have to admit the ‘dumbest kid in HS just got a boat’ one is absolutely hilarious.

    On bankruptcy the US is the outlier. American law has as its premise ‘rehabilitation’, keeping sick entities afloat under a trustee ie chapter 11. Most jurisdictions go directly to liquidation, ie chapter 7. The US model of sustaining the operations of a busted entity while repudiating most of its liabilities under a third party is certainly not beneficial to the ‘private sector’ as a whole.

  71. D-FENS says:

    What are you looking at?

    Digging wheel guns myself lately. Shot a friends 44 magnum.

    Grim says:
    August 25, 2017 at 6:35 pm
    Going to buy a new handgun next week.

  72. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    I don’t think the banks themselves had to be saved. The deposits had to be backed. But the bailout as a whole was disgraceful. Bailing out bondholders and paying banks 100 cents on the dollar for crap assets was stupid…but the Ivy Leaguers needed to save face and pretend that they still did a good job.

  73. Grim says:

    Looking for a compact 9

  74. D-FENS says:

    Me too. I keep coming back to the shield. Kahr offerings are nice too.

    Who’s at the door pocket gun.

  75. D-FENS says:

    Need to move to PA. Total pita here.

  76. 3b says:

    If the banks were let go. It would have reverberated around the entire world financial system. How that would have turned out no one wanted to risk it that. Should they have been broken up? Yes. Should people have gone to jail yes. They did not. Ain’t that America.

  77. No One says:

    Pumpkin,
    The founders clearly explained in the Declaration of Independence why governments were created. To secure inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
    Not to brainwash, feed, provide daycare, or provide comfortable retirements for all.

  78. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    left – I do admit that. I can’t not watch it.

    Re: ETrade generally agree but you do have to admit the ‘dumbest kid in HS just got a boat’ one is absolutely hilarious.

  79. Chi says:

    You understand that being this incorrigible lends credence to the idea that you are a troll.

    Once again to connect the dots.

    Stealing from Bloomingdales if left unchecked means that the company as an entity is damaged and potentially degrades. Government can persist because it has coercive taxing authority.

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    August 25, 2017 at 9:04 pm
    New a kid that worked at Bloomingdales when I was in college. He would rob clothes and sell them to his boys that were guido clubheads. I can go on and on.

    How bout this one. My friend worked for Hoffman La Rouche as an IT guy. He would rob computers and sell them. The list goes on and on.

    So I ask, with such prevalent corruption why does one act as if the private sector is superior to the public sector when it comes to corruption? I see absolutely no difference.

  80. Chi says:

    Adding maybe it’s not clear the issue is not black-and-white. When it happens private company it’s very obvious when it happens in the public sector you can be concealed for a very long time

  81. Glocky McGlosky says:

    Grim – Glock 26/43

  82. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Please don’t think I’m trolling, and please don’t become frustrated to the point that you think I’m incapable of understanding. This is good conversation that must be debated.

    Let me try this from a different approach.

    In the passage below, you take the position that the only people being harmed by this private entity corruption are the individuals associated with said private entity. All the other players in the economy are not harmed. This is what I’m arguing, that this is simply not true. Private corruption is just as harmful to the overall economy as public corruption, but because one is financed by tax dollars, somehow individuals take personal issues with it, like corruption of tax dollars is any different than the corruption of non tax dollars. Last time I checked, they belong to the same damn monetary system making non tax dollars and tax dollars exactly the same exact thing under the monetary system of our economy.

    So why do people ignore private sector corruption, but flip out over public corruption. Why do they feel like they are unaffected by private corruption, but directly being robbed by public corruption? Why?

    Are you not being robbed when the business must account for corruption in its day to day pricing artificially raising the price? This should be ignored? How is this any worse than robbing tax dollars? If tax dollars and dollars are really one in the same, how can robbing one carry a different value, yet people take this position over and over again, and only care about public corruption when the real devil is private corruption which is out of control since it carries such a large part of the economy. These private Devils who accrued massive wealth through corrupt means, then go and use this money to buy govt (aka the law of land) which is the nail in the coffin in terms of harm on the economy.

    This is where we are. Massive corrupt businessmen have hijacked the govt, and you people still blame the govt, like the govt has anyway to defend itself from corrupt wealthy interests.

    “Once again to connect the dots.

    Stealing from Bloomingdales if left unchecked means that the company as an entity is damaged and potentially degrades. Government can persist because it has coercive taxing authority.”

  83. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Don’t get frustrated with my position, just try to show me, no matter how difficult it is, that I’m seeing this in the wrong light.

  84. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Why do you think every govt has failed in human history? You can’t juat tax into oblivion. You also can’t have a bad economy for the majority of the participants or that govt will soon die, just like private business.

    “Government can persist because it has coercive taxing authority”

  85. 3b says:

    Pumps you can’t just tax into oblivion? I thought you were fine with high taxes? The price we pay to live in this uber affluent sophisticated area.

  86. The Great Pumpkin says:

    You just don’t understand me, maybe it’s my fault for not having the ability to write at a higher level, one in which I can clearly and concisely transfer the thoughts to paper.

    I’m fine with current nj taxes and federal taxes. I don’t feel we are being taxed into oblivion. Myself and many others are able to build real wealth under this current system of taxation. I believe some feel they are overtaxed due to property taxes, and that’s because they can’t afford what they once had anymore. Have to constantly make money to sustain your standard of living in a high cost area, some fail to realize this.

    3b says:
    August 26, 2017 at 11:36 am
    Pumps you can’t just tax into oblivion? I thought you were fine with high taxes? The price we pay to live in this uber affluent sophisticated area.

  87. The Great Pumpkin says:

    And at the end of the day, some just don’t belong in high cost areas. Instead of putting on their big boy pants and go compete for more money, they cry about the costs. If you want something cheap, go live somewhere cheap. Don’t come to northeast nj, just miles away from manhattan and complain about the costs.

  88. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Again it’s like buying a Porsche and complaining about the cost of the tires. Don’t buy the Porsche!! Now apply that to real estate, if you are crying about the costs, go live somewhere less desirable, no one is telling you to live in the premium location (safe, good schools, good commute to NYC, nice roads/community, and good emergency services).

  89. The Great Pumpkin says:

    So don’t choose the Porsche (premium) locations.

  90. D-FENS says:

    The discussion was never about private vs public services. It was that corruption is significantly more prevalent in NJ than other states. The book\article provided numerous examples.

  91. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    The great Pumpkin Saturday Jizz show – degrading a blog near you.

  92. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    ^^^Held over for one more day!

  93. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    You could buy a Porsche, downsize the brakes to older ones so you could fit smaller wheels and then you could buy cheaper tires.

    Of course it would be a lot like buying an expensive house designed for raising a family on a busy, dangerous street.

    Hahahhahahahahaha

  94. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Pumpkin Logic:

    1. Pumpkin comes from a criminal family, so it’s no wonder that all of his associates are criminals.
    2. This makes everyone a criminal so all forms of criminality are OK.

  95. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    ^^^^ Maybe you would fit in on Urban Club Road, but you need to have a vowel on the end of your name; a real vowel, that is.

  96. Grim says:

    I like that shield 9 – I think my hand is going to be too big for the Glock.

  97. The Great pumpkin says:

    You are a idiot

    The Original NJ ExPat says:
    August 26, 2017 at 4:39 pm
    Pumpkin Logic:

    1. Pumpkin comes from a criminal family, so it’s no wonder that all of his associates are criminals.
    2. This makes everyone a criminal so all forms of criminality are OK.

  98. The Great pumpkin says:

    An

  99. The Great pumpkin says:

    At a party for the fight. Some brewers in the house. Talking about Suarez family brewery in Hudson valley. Nice job, njcoast!

  100. The Great pumpkin says:

    3b, changed the topic. I was focused with chi.

    D-FENS says:
    August 26, 2017 at 3:04 pm
    The discussion was never about private vs public services. It was that corruption is significantly more prevalent in NJ than other states. The book\article provided numerous examples.

  101. The Great pumpkin says:

    Expat,

    Where can I find no corruption in the private sector? My father was the black sheep, my family makes money in the honest way.

  102. The Great pumpkin says:

    Multiple family members have contributed to the nj economy in a major way.

  103. D-FENS says:

    Shield magazines stagger the rounds. Not quite double stack and not quite single stack. It allows for a few more rounds for that class of firearm. Interesting design.

    Check for rebates too.

  104. grim says:

    Texas a disaster and CNN can’t stop talking about Trump, 24/7. This is infuriating.

  105. NJCoast says:

    The Great pumpkin says:
    August 26, 2017 at 11:46 pmAt a party for the fight. Some brewers in the house. Talking about Suarez family brewery in Hudson valley. Nice job, njcoast!

    Thanks Pumpkin!

  106. 3b says:

    Pumps I did not change the topic. And there are many places that offer good services schools etc and manage to do it at less cost and less corruption. To get back to the original story my taxes should not be paying for some guy to collect a pension and than get rehired and collect another salary. And when will you ever say your taxes are too high? You live in a town that is not deemed to be exclusive and live on a main drag and pay 17k in taxes!! Do you really think it’s worth it?

  107. D-FENS says:

    Podesta group subpoenaed by Mueller. Difficult story to find but an interesting development.

  108. Phoenix says:

    Grandma and Grandma get another free take at the buffet.
    They have pensions, social security, medicare, -all things being downgraded or cut, yet they can’t handle an increase in fees for a park pass.
    Locusts….

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/huge-demand-for-seniors-lifetime-national-park-passes-ahead-of-700-percent-fee-hike/2017/08/18/9498234e-8453-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_1_na&utm_term=.a448f8d40d97

  109. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    The carpet-munching buffet?

    Grandma and Grandma get another free take at the buffet.

Comments are closed.