What money?

From News 12:

NJ has billions of extra revenue; Republicans accuse Murphy administration of keeping them in the dark

After years of scrounging for funding at budget time, New Jersey lawmakers say that the state now has more money than they know what to do with. And with just three weeks go to before the state budget deadline, Republicans say that the Murphy administration is cutting them out of choices on how to use the $4 billion tax windfall.

“It’s unprecedented. The whole time I’ve been here, we’ve been dealing with shortfalls,” says Republican state Sen. Declan O’Scanlon.

Since Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget message in February, the state has found itself with an extra $4 billion than it planned for, as the economy roars back from the pandemic.

“We have a lot more money than we anticipated and it’s time to give it back to the taxpayers,” says Republican state Sen. Sam Thompson.Republicans on Thursday demanded the Murphy administration include them in talks about where the money should go before the final budget is signed on June 30.

“We’ve been essentially shut out, left in the dark,” says Republican state Sen. Mike Testa.

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161 Responses to What money?

  1. BoomerRemover says:

    Frist!

  2. Phoenix says:

    Don’t worry,
    They will find a way to spend it.

    They always do.

  3. EarlyMorningRantBeforeYouKnowWhoGetHisFirstShot says:

    Give it back to the taxpayer,BS.

    So that the next real republican, not the “traitor” ones can gut everything again like Christie did? Gee, what another traffic tie up in Fort Lee or next time in the Lincoln Tunnel, let’s hit Weehawken, Union City or North Bergen.

    If anything all types of republicans have showed to be little spoiled brats that need a good smacking across the forehead. Use the money to fix roads, and rebuild the State’s coffers. According to Pumpkin NJ is bleeding wealth so property owners don’t need money back.

    NJ does need massive, forced regionalization. Nothing said it better than the NJ.com graphic with cop salary. A massive amount of the state is patrolled by the NJ State Police (surprised me).

    The highest salary towns are all in the northeast of the state. And the top two explain themselves by reason of being. Alpine which is a non-gated gated community, cops act as the gate. East Rutherford which is the closest to a mob town, next to North Bergen or Cliffside Park, cops are there to enforce the rackets.

  4. 3b says:

    They can fund the public sector pensions, the special class of employees should be take care of first.

  5. Phoenix says:

    They could take the money and do like California wants, subsidize forty-five percent of your housing and help people buy houses. Call it the NJ Dream-for All program.

    A nice parting gift to the boomers as they sail off into the sunset of low tax areas of the country.

    They need more.

  6. 3b says:

    Phoenix: It will keep house prices high in this area, we all know high prices and property taxes are a good thing.

  7. Phoenix says:

    Gen Z don’t mess around. They are coming for you. Some Z’s painted a rainbow on a wall where painting was around, a Karen came calling with her typical steatorrhea diatribe. Within 24 hours she lost not one, but two jobs. Now look at this one.

    https://dailyvoice.com/new-jersey/burlington/news/social-media-post-leads-to-misconduct-criminal-sex-charges-for-longtime-nj-police-officer/810557/

  8. Phoenix says:

    3b,
    What, no /s?

    But I think that’s what you mean.

  9. Phoenix says:

    Joyce,
    Haha on the 3 legged stool reply yesterday. TY.

  10. Phoenix says:

    Sorry.
    Painting was ALLOWED. Time for coffee.

  11. EarlyMorningRantBeforeYouKnowWhoGetHisFirstShot says:

    The reason I differentiate between real and traitor republicans is that “traitor” republicans are a bunch of wack jobs that will spend their time in Bedminster helping Fast Eddie – The Crew Chief spread the Dear Leader Orange Horse Poo. And like any good fanatics they are not good for anything else.

    PS. I will predict that the greatest TV event of 2021 will be the O.J.Simpson high speed highway chase of Trump hightailing with or without Secret Service on a helicopter or by SUV on Rt 78 from Bedminster heading out to Maryland or West Virginia where a republican governor that he can bully will offer him cover. As Trump tries to escape from his arrest/indictment warrants issue by NY State.

  12. Phoenix says:

    Uh Oh.
    This one hits close to home.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yYFO9G03MY

  13. Grim says:

    Love it when people are angry while being right

  14. 3b says:

    Use the money to force regionalization, could do so much in Bergen Co alone.

  15. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Nailed it…look at that. On the year. End of 2014 I said 5 years out. Crack…it’s out of here.


    The Great Pumpkin says: 
December 30, 2014 at 12:41 pm 
Yes, you know how many times I have beaten this drum. Wait till 5 years from now when wage inflation has taken hold. All aboard, this train is about to get moving…..get invested asap in stocks and real estate. Let the good times roll.
    
““Overall, the economy finally appears to be gaining enough momentum to help provide the support that the housing market has needed for stronger recovery. The combination of stronger employment growth and especially millennial job growth makes for solid footing for the real estate market,” the report said.”

  16. The Great Pumpkin says:


    The Great Pumpkin says: 
December 29, 2015 at 11:19 am 
Jcer, you are usually on point, but you are wrong about the millennials. I’m a millennial, I should know. Ever hear the saying that 30 is the new 20? Well, apply that to my generation. They hit their 20’s in pretty much a depression(even though technically we call it a recession). That’s why they lived the way they did…in parents basements or renting in city areas (can’t rent in suburbs, can’t afford a car and rent). So had to be close to whatever crappy job you were offered. The millennials who did well for themselves by getting a good job, also flocked to major cities. Why? Everyone their age was in the city, and want to party and go drinking. 
Here is what is happening when they hit their 30’s. They are finally getting “real jobs”. Not some bs job that you can’t survive on. They are getting career jobs now. Guess what they want to do next? Yes, get married. Guess what happens after? They have kids. As soon as they have kids, they all leave the city for the nice suburbs. Every single millennial I know, is moving away from the cities for the burbs as soon as they are mature and ready for a family. When these other millennials start getting jobs from baby boomer’s that are retiring, the housing market will get going and will go hard. Will be so many people competing to buy a house at all levels. Meaning the starter home gets purchased, which pushes someone up into a bigger house, which in turns pushes someone to a nice house…and so on. It’s coming. Life will be good in the 2020’s. 
jcer says:
    December 28, 2015 at 5:39 pm
    80, property taxes are a huge part of the problem. As for millenial hipsters, good luck. Only certain suburban towns apply, you need a downtown and a train, think Ridgewood,Montclair, Summit, Maplewood(Already Brooklyn west), etc and they prefer smaller homes with smaller lots and lower taxes. By and large millennials do not put huge emphasis on the big suburban home, they are looking for just enough, hence the city living and lack of cars. Home owners are dreaming if they think property values are going to shoot up from where they are now, if anything suburbia will just about keep pace or even fall behind inflation. The incomes drive the property values and Millennials aren’t making the money, they are the poorest generation in decades and have a wealth distribution that is incredibly uneven with a small group of extremely skilled and talented people taking home the vast majority of the wealth. Certain places will benefit others will not my money is on the best towns in great commutable locations being a good investment, everything else in NJ will decline.

  17. The Great Pumpkin says:

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    December 29, 2015 at 11:26 am
    Millennials that are pot heads are moving there. They will leave, once they are done with their 20’s and ready to start a family.

    You do understand where the money will come from…you just stated it. From their wealthy parents, who exactly do you think is going to get all their parents money? Parents sell the house and eventually that money will be for their kids home, if they don’t outright just give them their house. Combine this with a growing economy and there will be plenty of money to drive up these prices.

    WALKING BYE says:
    December 29, 2015 at 10:59 am
    Grim, From Bloomberg headline today, “The Return of the Affordable Starter Home” in of all places Denver. a quick look thru zillow, plenty of nice millennial newer starter homes 2,500 sf homes, on small lots for under $250k with tax under $1300. Try and do that in Bergen County and you get $400k POS cape that needs $50k in updates and a tax of 10k. Or one can read through Fast Eddies coffee table book “Better Homes and Catastrophes, a review of NJ RE” get the unrated version as its much more entertaining.

    And yes there are plenty of people buying into towns with taxes of 25k plus. As has been suggested they may be getting help from Bank of Dad. The question is how long will these prices last ? as the Boomers will be caught in a fixed income trap, stagnant wages will continue to drive millennials out, and taxes creep up to 30k by 2020? Make no mistake its not just North Jersey facing this problem, Its Rockland, Westchester, LI as well.

  18. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Like going down memory lane!!

    Will be so many people competing to buy a house at all levels. Meaning the starter home gets purchased, which pushes someone up into a bigger house, which in turns pushes someone to a nice house…and so on. It’s coming. Life will be good in the 2020’s. 
jcer says:
    December 28, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    Again, knocked it out of the f’ing park. All these “experts” getting paid millions to give bs advice. Meanwhile, a teacher in an urban school, you all put down, consistently knocks it out of the park.

    Mocking me with “im special.” I sure am.

  19. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Wall st getting pushed out, and tech moving in. Aka tech is the king of our economy.

    “While Manhattan offices emptied out during the pandemic, four Big Tech companies — Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google — swooped in and expanded their footprint. Silicon Alley is now more a Valley of the East.
    And things soon may get much techier.
    “The Covid-19 pandemic really pulled us into the digital future,” said John Paul Farmer, the chief technology officer for the de Blasio administration.
    The city is planning to expand affordable high-speed internet and 5G technology and ramp up its solar capacity. Transportation is undergoing a tech makeover, with shared electric mo-peds and scooters, Tesla-only ride-hailing apps, electric school buses and more electric-vehicle charging stations.

    The city and state, along with real estate developers, are also making a push to turn New York into a biotech hub. A company called c16 Biosciences, which is working to create lab-created palm oil and has backing from Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund, is taking 20,000 square feet at the Hudson Research Center on West 54th Street.
    The so-called Brooklyn tech triangle, encompassing Dumbo, downtown and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, is a hotbed of start-ups in emerging fields such as blockchain and artificial intelligence.

    And whoever takes over Gracie Mansion in November will have to make sure the Wi-Fi is working.
    While Andrew Yang, a dot-com-era tech entrepreneur, is often viewed as the tech candidate, with plans to provide Wi-Fi in public housing and homeless shelters and convert brownfields to solar farms, rival candidates have visions of a wired, green city, too.

    Eric Adams wants to lure start-ups and incubator investment with tax breaks and cheap space. Scott Stringer has visions of Rikers Island as a green energy hub.
    And as New Yorkers return to their former stamping grounds, they will be greeted by a gleaming, 21st-century metropolis, thanks to infrastructure upgrades the pandemic did little to slow.
    The airy Terminal B opened at La Guardia Airport last summer, filled with art, indoor parks and shiny new gates. Glassy new terminals are planned for John F. Kennedy Airport. And the light-filled Moynihan Train Hall opened in January across the street from the dingy Penn Station, a modern new front door for the city. Even the gritty Port Authority Bus Terminal may see a dramatic makeover.
    Along the Hudson River, a fresh crop of supertall glass spires have sprouted at Hudson Yards; the futuristic Little Island designed by Heatherwick Studio is nearing completion in the meatpacking district; a former bus parking lot at Pier 57 is being converted into a mixed-use campus with shops, performance spaces and Google offices; and the Javits Center is expanding by more than one million square feet.”

  20. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    The traitors line is so played out and lame. Internet circle jerk fodder.

    What do you call someone who is sworn to uphold the laws and allows foreigners to enter freely and flout your immigration system?

  21. Phoenix says:

    Not surprised.

    USA TODAY: Nearly two-thirds of millennials have homebuyer regrets, new survey says.
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/06/11/millennials-facing-financial-and-physical-regrets-after-buying-homes/7594826002/

  22. JCer says:

    Pumps, we are in a very unusual circumstance. Next if you look at the trend before the pandemic suburbia was lagging except very particular suburbs. With the advent of WFH, it is much more viable to live further out. Even still the “first ring suburbs” are outperforming places further out it is just that people are being pushed further out.

    Realistically there are too many challenges for those raising kids to raise them in an urban environment, frankly the space is unaffordable and cars are tricky so it is tougher to raise kids unless you’ve got a big budget.

    As previously mentioned suburban trends were driven by employment patterns hence train towns way outperformed non-train towns. COVID and WFH has put this on it’s head, no need to commute, a need for more space and outdoors space as common areas like parks, etc were really not usable, no need for vibrant downtown or restaurant scene as there was no dining out. These factors and free credit, nothing else to spend money on have really driven the resurgence of certain suburban communities.

    If you notice in 2015 I said the best towns, in the best commuting locations would be a sound investment(Ridgewood, Glenrock, Montclair, Millburn, Summit,Westfield, etc). That has proven absolutely true, places like Wayne are decently commutable if not in that same category and therefore are dependent on spillover from the coveted towns. COVID and the rate climate have caused massive spill over, you have no idea.

    I lived in Jersey City and have tons of “Millenial” friends with kids who stayed, the pandemic really forced them to reconsider. Imagine being trapped in a 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom apartment with 1 or 2 kids,2 spouses working from home and if you are lucky you found a babysitter to watch the kids handle the e-learning, etc. That’s a lot of people in a very small space who are all engaging in various tasks, no longer could the kids use the pool in the building, the play rooms, playgrounds, etc that all of these buildings added. You have no idea how desperate to get out these people were, mind you their apartments are worth at least 700k if not more, they are paying for private school if their kids are school age(although some got their kids into the good charter schools which saves a bundle). Some of these folks got really tired of being outbid on million dollar shacks(we are talking 100-200k over ask) so they said f-it, and moved to places like Basking Ridge. My wife had employees who needed to up-size from starter homes and yep they got top dollar for a tiny cape cod and were able to buy a real house in Basking Ridge for about the same money.

    Seriously if not for kids and even then if we could afford it, it was better to live there, closer to work, tons of activities, restaurants abound, no yard work. But the reality is I couldn’t buy a 3 bedroom for the cost of a 6k Sqft house and that was in 2016 arguably it’s gotten even worse. Now again the first three are irrelevant at the moment(closer to work…WFH, activities…all cancelled/out of business,restaurants…out of business), there isn’t a lot keeping people in cities and many things are appealing about leaving.

  23. JCer says:

    From the prior thread that claim from buffet is utter nonsense.
    I really doubt these claims that the avg schmuck lives better than Rockerfeller did. Regardless of technological innovations, what really contributes to quality of life? Listen my house was built in the 1920’s short of computers,TV and air-conditioning what do I have that is better than what they had? They had servants, just think of that alone, all of the time consuming stuff we have to do they had someone to do it for them, they didn’t cook, clean, do landscaping, home maintenance, etc. I assure you Rockerfeller had a series of nice homes, ate quality food, traveled and lived quite well. Have you seen places like Hearst Castle? Industrialists at the beginning of the 20th century lived quite a bit better than the average American today even with TV, computers and air conditioning. Does the average American live in a place like this….

    https://hudsonvalley.org/historic-sites/kykuit-the-rockefeller-estate/

    or this
    https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/a22575207/rockefeller-family-private-playhouse/

    and there were many others. Maybe Buffet should stick to what he knows and it’s not the lifestyle of early 20th century robber Barrons.

  24. JCer says:

    Phoenix, one of the examples in the article is someone buying a place in Newark, I’d have regrets if I sunk money into a place in Newark. Hopefully it becomes a real city someday but at this point it’s sketchy, especially today without the office workers, it’s very frightening after dark downtown. Unless it was impossibly cheap I wouldn’t suffer living there for the sake of an investment.

  25. BidenIsTheGOAT-GoodOldAmericanandnotTraitor says:

    Corrected for you,

    The traitors line is so played out but real. Internet circle factual fodder

    Oprtion 1
    What do you call someone who is sworn to uphold the laws and allows foreigners to enter freely and flout your election system?

    Option 2
    What do you call someone who is sworn to uphold the laws and allows traitors re-fighting the civil war to enter freely and as you flout to overthrow legal system

    BidenIsTheGOAT says:
    June 11, 2021 at 2:16 pm

    The traitors line is so played out and lame. Internet circle jerk fodder.

    What do you call someone who is sworn to uphold the laws and allows foreigners to enter freely and flout your immigration system

  26. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Jcer,

    It’s as simple as this. The majority of millennials that were living in cities were not going to raise their family there.

    It’s the same with the fallacy being spread now. That cities will die and WFH will take over. The same people pushing this are the same lemmings that thought suburbs were dead for good.

  27. The Great Pumpkin says:

    People are unable to look at the big picture. They only see the short term.

  28. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Yes, Rockefeller had the giant house, but how much better was his life than yours? Not much. And this was the richest guy in the world.

    You have access to better food, healthcare, education, transportation, and amenities that he could only dream of.

  29. Fast Eddie says:

    O’Biden said Russia was the biggest threat to America, then he said white supr3macy is the biggest threat and now it’s climate change. We all knew he had a low IQ but his dementia is slowly increasing by the day. His trainers need to figure out a better plan or are they also on the traitor payroll from China? You notice O’Biden never mentions China as the biggest threat? The biggest threat to America is the democrat party and their hopes for a s0c1alist utopia.

  30. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Jcer,

    You can stop working right now if you wanted. You can go to Costa Rica or Alabama, and live out your days with the money you have. You choose to maintain this high end lifestyle as do I. I wouldn’t change a thing, but I also know that if I lowered my lifestyle needs, I can already retire. Won’t be great, but at age 40, I will have a roof over my head, access to heat and air conditioning, while having a sufficient amount of food. What more do you need? It’s only that our expectations for life are high. Again, I have high expectations and embrace it, but it’s all excess, and not really needed if things hit the fan.

  31. The Great Pumpkin says:

    That’s what the author of that article was implying. The individual of today demands a lot to deem life “satisfactory.” They moved the goal posts.

    Man, if you had a two car garage, and a pool…you were the man at one point in our society. Now, the goal posts have been moved.

  32. No One says:

    Before you get too excited about the few spare coins NJ has rattling in its piggy bank, remember that NJ has the highest public debt per capita at about $58k per person, and got an “F” on the Financial State of the States report, where NJ was ranked as having the worst finances in the nation. Also keep in mind that the USA ran a fiscal deficit of over 15% of GDP in 2020, and according to OECD forecasts will again have a 15% deficit in 2021 and a 9% deficit in 2022. The two biggest deficit years since 1944/45. At the end of WW2, US debt/GDP was 118%, just surpassed last year at 129% of GDP.
    After Reagan’s “reckless tax cuts,” at the end of his term US debt to GDP was 50%.

  33. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Bottom line, life keeps getting better, not worse. It’s only in our nostalgic minds where we think it was better.

  34. TenPercentForTheBigGuy says:

    why are Democrats traitors? It’s obvious. American patriots at the founding this country reflected the views and attitudes of rural America today and built those principles into the United States Constitution. The people 180 degrees opposed to those patriots were the traitors to the American revolution, the Tories.

    The people 180 degrees opposed to the views and attitudes of today’s rural Americans are clearly the Democrats living within the urban sprawl of large cities. Rural Americans = Patriots/Republicans. Urban Americans = Tories/Democrats.

    So, yes, it can be said without a doubt that Democrats are traitors to America as in the ideals, views and attitudes upon which America was founded and this further explains their hatred for the Constitution as the Constitution reflects the independent, self-reliant attitudes of rural America and not the “big government is the answer to all things” attitude of traitorous Tories.

  35. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Steadily rising real-estate values have helped Palm Beach do what other municipalities cannot. This is true even when it comes to picking up trash from doorsteps four days a week. The town’s reserve funds have grown to $129 million alongside the taxable value of real estate, which last year jumped almost 7% from 2019.
    The town is anchored to the tax base, which must keep growing to pay for increasingly expensive climate defenses. Spaziani, the local appraiser, said the median single-family home in Palm Beach increased 27% from a year ago to more than $7 million. The value of new construction last year rose 139% to $267 million, more than the previous three years combined.
    Billy Fleming, a landscape architecture professor at the University of Pennsylvania, sees a dangerous dynamic developing. The faster values grow, he warns, the bigger the crash will be when homes start flooding. Of course, the rich pay significant property taxes—Peterffy alone pays more than $600,000 a year—but those bidding up home values now are also adding to the expense of protecting low-lying land and might one day need rescuing when floodwaters come.
    “This real estate boom is the last hurrah,” said Fleming. “These guys are smart. They know the end is near and they are going to squeeze every last dollar out of that place before the rest of us are left to manage its decline.”

    https://apple.news/AAaowQrlwRJelzXk6CDMJdw

  36. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Let’s say these improvements succeed, for a time, in protecting coastal megamansions from the ravages of climate change. That still raises the question of who in the decades ahead will continue to pay ever-rising prices on Palm Beach. Two thirds of residents are over 65, a demographic that can discount long-term risks. Transplants with school-age kids aren’t necessarily focused on the idea of passing the homes on to future generations, said Gavin Guinan, the chief operating officer of Woolems Luxury Builders. He’s found some of his younger clients who’ve accumulated vast wealth on paper have time horizons of five to 10 years.
    The billionaire Peterffy has talked to his grown children and found they have no interest in moving into his waterfront home. As a Hungarian immigrant whose father toughened him up by telling him to go find work if he wanted to eat, he doesn’t let it bother him.
    His children “think this is a bubble and a completely unrealistic way of living,” Peterffy said with a laugh. “But you know I say to them, ‘Look, I was born in a basement during the bombing raid and I starved for the first 20 years.’ So I don’t have to apologize.”

  37. Bystander says:

    Damn, Paterno’s career got blasted apart and statue taken down but he reported it up the chain to University president who did nothing. Bo Schembechler lets pedo Dr. finger his own son and then Bo punches kid after telling him. Pretty stick stories in Ann Arbor. Hail to the M0lesters. That statue has to come down.

  38. BRT says:

    Only Miami can flood, not NYC!!!

  39. EddieGetBackToSpreadingOrangeHorsePooNoWebForYou says:

    Ten Percent;

    I can see only 10% of your brain is working.

    OK, so you want the USA to be like Amish and Mennonites and live in the country side. Very cute. Frankly peaceful. But a lot of hard work, I guess by your rhetoric you want some “darkies” to do the work for you.

    I have no problem with your views as long as you go back to West Virginia (try not to OD) or Mississippi (try not to humpp your relative or Eddie’s for that matter).

    We here in the Metros3xual, foreign car driving areas will build “that” wall around you guys and let the new but still tarded “Confederate States of America” be. Between your IQ and you poverty, you’ll be migrating to Haiti.

  40. GuyMightMake11IQIfHeIgnoreOrangePoo says:

    Ten percent,

    Here see this article. You IQ might go to 11, just like your shoe size.

    Will explain why we are a great nation as is and we balance out. If one side gets to uppity like your inbred tard side in the south, you throw off the balance

    https://www.businessinsider.com/the-11-nations-of-the-united-states-2015-7?r=DE&IR=T

  41. Fast Eddie says:

    Looks like Trump was right again… A new study shows that hydroxychlor0quine touted by Trump increased the survival rate of severely ill coronavirus patients. That, and the fact that covid seems to have “escaped” from a Wuhan lab and the fact that Lafayette Park wasn’t cleared for a photo op has Trump on a winning streak. Not that any of it was ever in doubt. Nor is Trump wrong about a fixed el3ction, either. It seems the democrats can’t find anything to make their l1es stick. When asked what the democrat agenda is, their answer is always, “Orange man bad.”

  42. joyce says:

    Absolutely the best part of this well written opinion was the ending:

    She lives in Montclair.

    https://www.nj.com/opinion/2021/06/were-falling-apart-at-the-seams-opinion.html

  43. Libturd says:

    How about bleach? Was bleach affective too?

    Gary, I know the press is biased, but Trump was an absolutely abhorrent individual and a terrible present by all measures. History will prove this out.

    Are the current clowns angels? Nope. But when Covid was clearly a global threat, I really doubt a Biden or even an unqualified Kamala would be more worried about their reelection prospects than perhaps, developing testing kits or PPE. Or even assembling a real task force.

  44. Libturd says:

    As to the extra 4 billion in the Jersey budget. Didn’t Murphy just borrow about the same amount without the regularly required referendum. Just pay off the damn loan.

    Will never happen. Let’s go further into debt.

    The worst part of all of the borrowed money is that a sh1t ton of it went to pay to keep NJ Transit running when no one was using it. It would have been infinitely cheaper to just pay all of the employees time in a half to sit home.

  45. TheBigOrangeBossButStillPutinsWhoo says:

    Eddie,

    What are you doing posting here?

    Didn’t I tell you to fill up hole 6 with my orange horse poo! And make sure the Chevy Suburban is fuel up, park it where I told you and don’t told anyone else, has 3 rolls of Charmin extra strong TP, and maps to all McD’s on Rt 78W to Rt 81S.

  46. Libturd says:

    Worse yet Gary, look how effectively Murphy used the pandemic to his advantage. I can’t stand the guy, but he’s a political wizard next to Trump. No one is even running against him. You would have thought Trump might have learned something from Rudy about capitalizing on a catastrophe? But Trump really is that much of a block head. It’s embarrassing to see you cheerleading for him.

  47. Fast Eddie says:

    And make sure the Chevy Suburban is fuel up, park it where I told you and don’t told anyone else…

    Geezus, take some grammar lessons. I don’t know what’s worse, your attempt at satire or your writing skills.

  48. Fast Eddie says:

    It’s embarrassing to see you cheerleading for him.

    And pulling the lever for O’Biden isn’t?

  49. TheBigOrangeBossWithGreatestBestestVocabulary says:

    Eddie,

    Respect me, you Jersey bridge and Tunnel trash. I’m still the POTUS in mind and the Q world and you’ll see after the AZ and PA recount, Putin says I’ll be back on top.

    My vocabulary is great, is the greatest and bestest. Yuo wish you had some great words like mine. My 15 year old told me so, whatever its his name.

  50. 3b says:

    No One: Shovel it all into the pensions of the public sector employees, we work t o ensure they have a wonderful retirement.

  51. Phoenix says:

    3b,

    It’s a drop 💧 in the bucket. That deficit is over 200 billion.

  52. 3b says:

    Phoenix: It’s a start and they believe they should come first. The rest will come from increasing property taxes.

  53. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Go move to Somalia. Do you buy a product from Amazon and act like you own Bezos? So why do you do it to govt employees? Whether you like it or not, they earned it. We are all playing a game called survival in our society.

    3b says:
    June 11, 2021 at 7:15 pm
    No One: Shovel it all into the pensions of the public sector employees, we work t o ensure they have a wonderful retirement.

  54. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Just sold. I told you guys to buy in Wayne for value in 2018/19, but no one listened.

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/68-Atwood-Pl-Wayne-NJ-07470/39794949_zpid/

  55. JCer says:

    Pumps, I suggest you study some history. Besides healthcare i would think you’d find rockefeller’s life pretty plush. Travel was way slower but much plusher, first class rail travel, first class in a ship, lots of service, food and drink. Big houses and lots of incredible places to be. I spend my time staring at a screen fixing stupid problems for stupid people. I work because I have responsibilities to my children, I need to pay to educate them and need to raise them in an acceptable place, I can’t just move to Costa Rica and lounge on a beach, I would lose my mind as well.

    Realistically I don’t actually spend very much on goods, most everything I own is well worn. During this pandemic I think I spent more money on wine than anything else. Under normal circumstances I actually spend mostly on travel and dining out. I go skiing in the winter, usually weekends in VT, maybe a trip for a week out west or to the Alps. Then a few weeks in the summer someplace nice (Greek islands, Italy, France, Croatia, etc), a week or so at to the Jersey shore. My lifestyle doesn’t depend on lots of modern crap, but because of modernity I can afford to go places and do things formerly reserved for the rich. Rockefeller never had these issues he could afford it, what ever it was. I deal with the Bs so I can afford to live well, this pandemic has kind of made this all pointless. I’m not about to buy a bunch of crap but the money doesn’t do anything for me at the moment. I really miss life pre-pandemic, I’m hoping we return to normal soon.

    On to the millennials, pumps you clearly don’t know many successful millennials. Heck all of my friends from college are all very successful to went to havard post graduate business or law and living in NYC with children, same goes for the tech folks out in SF and Seattle, all dwelling in cities and others are in Washington DC and others in live in Chicago. I don’t know too many people who live in suburbia. I know sitting the pandemic some of these people picked up and moved to very random places generally near their retired parents, Jersey and NY suburban markets really threw them off and the idea that they’d be paying 20k or more in property taxes didn’t sit well either. All I know is the folks I knew with good income were living in cities. I really believe without the pandemic a lot of these millennials were going to raise their kids in cities, way more than previous generations.

  56. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Now that I have called the good times. I soon have to concentrate my energy on figuring out when this millennials buyers bloc will peak. I haven’t read enough yet, but my gut says somewhere at the beginning of next decade. I’ve read that 2038 is supposed to be the resistance pt for this buyer’s bloc. That’s when they will do what the boomers did…be in the peak earning years of their career buying big homes along with vacation homes.

  57. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Why do you think I’m keep trying to get the participants of this blog to realize NYC is changing right before your eyes to world leading tech hub. Place is changing fast. When I saw West Jersey City last weekend and then looked out upon NYC…so much money! This place is only getting stronger!

    I’ve been trying to get you guys to understand that millennials have money and are highly educated…but no one wants to listen.

    “On to the millennials, pumps you clearly don’t know many successful millennials. Heck all of my friends from college are all very successful to went to havard post graduate business or law and living in NYC with children, same goes for the tech folks out in SF and Seattle,”

  58. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Unless we go through a baby boom this decade, 3 b is going to get his wish of lower priced assets as less people to support pricing. Aka deflation. I wonder how the FED will handle it and if they will be able to produce inflation despite such deflationary headwinds.

  59. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Like I said in the past…northeast the best real estate in America. West can’t support that population with their water supply. No way, no how.

    “7 Shocking Satellite Images Reveal the West’s Megadrought

    The megadrought hitting the western United States has yielded no shortage of horror stories to start the dry season. Record heat last week has seared in drought, turning the region from an already well-done steak into a charred crisp. Almond growers are ripping up orchards, and 17 million endangered salmon are being shipped to the sea because rivers are too hot to navigate. Horror stories abound.
    But the toll of the megadrought is perhaps most visible in the state of reservoirs across the West, from California to Utah. Lake Mead hit a record low, touching a level not seen since the Hoover Dam was constructed. The images of boat docks sitting on now-dry land are visceral, but so too are the state of the West’s reservoirs from space.”

    https://apple.news/A0jXpxEheQYKqZ0Aap-MMZA

  60. JCer says:

    pumps don’t hold your breath, stimulus will need to stop, the pent up demand from the pandemic will subside and the economy will absorb the loses of the pandemic. My money is on recession/depression within 5 years. At some point the fed loses control and it is over. What we are seeing here is not normal, the chickens will come home to roost and there will be consequences, don’t count your money yet.

  61. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Not ruling that out. Have to see what happens in the next year or two.

  62. BRT says:

    Remember when they tried to fearmonger any use of HCQ with the possibility of heart complications that were totally false. Now that the mRNA vaccine is likely showing mycarditis in many patients, do we give it the same treatment? I doubt it…and IMO, I don’t think it’s a big deal. But, you’ll easily see the hypocrisy of the media’s position on the issue.

  63. grim says:

    As to the extra 4 billion in the Jersey budget. Didn’t Murphy just borrow about the same amount without the regularly required referendum. Just pay off the damn loan.

    ding ding ding ding

  64. Phoenix says:

    West can’t support that population with their water supply. No way, no how.

    But we can put millionaires into orbit on a flying phallus for entertainment purposes.

    We have come a long way pumps. Yeah, way better now. I’ll take the old MTV myself. You can keep your cell phone.

  65. Juice Box says:

    It’s 5.3 Billion estimated surplus plus another 6 billion from the Feds for
    Covid relief.

    Paying down debt? Lol they cannot use the federal money for that it must be spent and not used for tax cuts or debt.

    It’s an election year money will be spent, and only a token will be held in reserve. The trust fund for the roads is empty and so are others. They are expecting even more money in the next two federal bills for infrastructure etc.

    I wonder if they will any of it to even fill potholes.

  66. Juice Box says:

    BTW they want to spend a 1/2 billion to modernize the states computer systems. This is guaranteed to be a giant CF of cost over runs.

  67. Phoenix says:

    “TW they want to spend a 1/2 billion to modernize the states computer systems.”

    The Russians will still hack them in under 30 minutes.

  68. BRT says:

    Murphy is no political wizard. He just has an entire statewide press that refuses to ask him even a single tough question. This is the danger that the media is moving towards. You cannot hold your politicians accountable for anything if the press colludes with them, runs cover for them, spreads disinformation for them, or ignores their transgressions.

    I recall twice him being asked a difficult question. Only one single reporter in his entire history even asked him on his stupid decision to send patients into nursing homes. And what happened when he was asked that question? The guy literally almost cried like a kid who was being bullied.

  69. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Having said that, many employers will still want a portion of their workforce to continue to work remotely. If — a big “if” — employees maintain the quantity and quality of their work, employers reap the benefits at reduced overhead.

    There will be savings on everything, from rent, fewer office supplies to a reduced need for positions such as office managers. How many office managers do you need when the office is working remotely? Businesses will employ the “hotel” concept. There will no longer be assigned workspaces. Instead, employees who must attend the workplace for meetings will book an office space or boardroom.

    However, an employer cannot force you to work at home if that was not already part of your employment agreement. To do so would be a material change in the employment contract that would constitute a constructive dismissal.

    So, we have a situation where an employer can compel you to work at the office, but not from your home unless you agree.

  70. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Should an employee agree to work remotely? This is not necessarily a good idea, particularly for those who want to advance their career.

    All organizations have a centre of power and it isn’t in the “cloud.” There is usually one individual who is the nominal head and those who have trusted personal relationships with that “Boss” form the centre of power. By powerful, we mean individuals with the authority and ability to influence careers. Employees want, or should want, to be one of those trusted few. These kinds of relationships are difficult if not impossible to foster online.

    Being far from the centre of power can be damaging to an employee’s career. The more an employer encourages an employee to work remotely the less important that employee is seen to be, and the more difficult it will be for that employee to advance.

    This is not new. As long as there has been work, being sent to the “minors” or the satellite office has been recognized as deleterious. It is no different because an employee is exiled virtually instead of physically.

    After all, who is more likely to get promoted? An individual who has developed a personal relationship with their superior? Or an employee who, at best, is seen occasionally online at predetermined times.

    Likewise, when it comes time to cut staff. Who is going to be retained? Employees are constantly surprised when relationships trump merit in promotion and dismissal discussions.

    Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase agrees. He recently commented that working remotely “does not work for young people.” It doesn’t work for those who “want to hustle.” In other words, if you are working from home you are just not that important.

    If you need more proof of this, we were at the tailor’s last week, in the heart of Toronto’s financial district, to purchase a couple of sport jackets. We discussed who were buying clothes to return to the office and his response was all the “high ups” or “important” people were anxious to get back to their office. He obviously felt those who were not anxious to get back to their offices were not “high up” or “important.”

    If your employer is encouraging you to work from home when it is not legally required you may not be as blessed as you believe. So, to all the WFH fans, be careful what you ask for.

  71. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Exactly what lefty and I have been trying to get you to understand about WFH. Career suicide even if you don’t realize it.

  72. Phoenix says:

    Pumps,

    It’s Saturday. A nice day for you to visit a homeless shelter and see how the other half lives. Maybe hang out with a veteran, someone who, unlike you, has been left behind by his government, his wife, and the people of his country like you who have disdain for the homeless.

    Maybe you could team up with a buddy of yours from shop class and maybe do some Habitat for Humanity homebuilding crap instead of Master baiting to Cathie.

    Have a piece of humble pie for breakfast, it will do you some good, it is the one slice of pie that lowers your BMI.

  73. Brt says:

    Phoenix, wood shop has essentially been eliminated from high schools. Because….you know… everyone should code.

  74. leftwing says:

    “But when Covid was clearly a global threat, I really doubt a Biden or even an unqualified Kamala would be more worried about their reelection prospects…”

    “…look how effectively Murphy used the pandemic to his advantage. I can’t stand the guy, but he’s a political wizard next to Trump…You would have thought Trump might have learned something from Rudy about capitalizing on a catastrophe?”

    So which is it Stu. Is DJT the equivalent of Dr Evil or no? Hard to have it both ways…

    On the topic of political callousness in the face of the pandemic, are you kidding? You can’t seriously believe what you type…the ONLY criterion for the Left agreeing/disagreeing with anything related to the pandemic was the origin of the idea…if it had anything to do with DJT or would have bolstered his standing they were firmly opposed. Body count be damned.

    DJT was an idiot and didn’t know better. The Left knew better and were just downright horrible people. Both have blood on their hands but only one had the requisite intent.

  75. leftwing says:

    Transitory…….JFC

    So did my first major shop in a while for a smoke….eight butts and four brisket…..plus sides and other proteins to stock the freezer….since about six months ago….

    Chicken up 41%. And that’s without accounting for quantity discount as now I can only buy in 50lb increments vs. the previous (higher priced) ten pound increments.

    Fresh dayboat scallops up 32%.

    Crabmeat has doubled.

    Salmon up around 20%

    Ice cream, and other sundries, I’ve noticed not just portion size deflation but also from the major supermarkets the disappearance of the perpetual sales/markdowns.

    Breyers always came in at $2.50 a gallon with no sweat…if it weren’t a store sale the loyalty card always got me 2:1 at $4.99 sticker price each. Last several weeks the twofers or other ongoing discounts have all but disappeared…..Headline, prices have stayed “stable”….out of pocket, I’m paying 2x.

    I’m a solo household these days so my grocery store habits don’t vary greatly, actually they are too often disappointingly constant, lol…..my bill each time I went, every second day or so, would be low $30s. Last few weeks I’m low $40s….no time or desire to parse it more finely than that but there is a 30% increase……

    Fresh produce from the veggie market has held stable, so far…..except fruit and berries, which seem to have popped.

  76. crushednjmillenial says:

    BRT at 8:41 . . .

    Very good comment and great observation about the NJ-based media.

    I recall another Murphy-gets-flustered-from-a-legitimate-hardhitting-media-question incident.

    To paraphrase what happened, a reporter framed a question like this – is it not riduculous to not reopen some kind of business, because some other kind of similar business type is open. And, when will you reopen them? Murphy uttered something like “that will re-open when I say it will re-open”.

    To my sensibilities, this was a politically-damaging this for Murphy to say. So bad, I wonder if the Ciattarelli campaign might use it in an ad for a sound clip.

    The above incident was like the one tough question I heard in my time listening to Gov. Murphy press briefings. From March 2020 – August 2020, I was a fairly frequest listener (especially since you can listen at 1.5x speed on youtube and fast forward past the daily three memorials to people who passed from covid and other fluff). The NJ media is failing to even ask straight down the middle politically, but tough, questions; and, somehow rightist partisan journalists don’t seem to get near Murphy somehow.

  77. crushednjmillenial says:

    ^Murphy’s breaking character and responding that way was reminiscient of Pelosi and Wolf Blitzer on stimulus.

    It’s sad that there are such a limited number of times where journalists are actually asking the hard but obvious questions.

  78. Juice Box says:

    Cancel this Airline Captain he did not use the right pronouns.

    the captain asked that “all able-bodied men please come to the front of the plane for an emergency.”

    What is with flying these days? It seems every other day someone has to be subdued and hogtied on a flight.

    https://viewfromthewing.com/passengers-take-down-man-who-tried-to-open-aircraft-door-while-delta-flight-diverts/

  79. Phoenix says:

    What is with flying these days? It seems every other day someone has to be subdued and hogtied on a flight.

    Can’t prescribe as much Xanax as in the past. Can’t go to three different doctors to get more like in the past.

    Guess half a bar isn’t cutting it anymore.

  80. Phoenix says:

    “Very good comment and great observation about the NJ-based media.”

    Or US media. Go to the Daily Mail, they have no qualms about posting anything. And they love and pay for American freakout videos.

  81. Phoenix says:

    “Cancel this Airline Captain he did not use the right pronouns.”

    Pronouns? He should be cancelled for being sexist. How dare he think that women are less competent than men are.

    I’m surprised all of the feminists aren’t donning their pink hats and parading over this.

    Oh yeah, that’s not the “equality” they are concerned about. My bad.

  82. TheBigOrangeBossNotShrimpingToday says:

    Eddie, eddie,

    Where are you? Melania wants a foot rub, but no shrimping. I know you are a Mississippi perv. Once done I got more orange horse poo for you to spread in hole 7.

    BRT & Crushed Millenials,

    My alter ego once delivered the morning paper for them. Is behind the paywall unless you reset cookies. This is how reporters used to be before the curse of the web. Of course Me, Myself and I, great orange poo would not have had a chance with these reporters on the beat.

    https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/27/nyregion/recalling-the-glory-days-of-the-hudson-dispatch.html

    Phoenix,

    That is not how is done. This is the old fashioned way https://youtu.be/i0GW0Vnr9Yc

  83. grim says:

    I wonder if they will any of it to even fill potholes.

    That’s enough money to go out and dig new potholes, then send out crews to fill them.

  84. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    The nj fake news industry never challenged Murphy for hiring someone accused of raping a member of his campaign. He approved the hire of course.

    They never got to the bottom of the catastrophic decision to send the sick into assisted living. NJ has the highest per capita covid deaths.

    No accountability at all. Every bit as pathetic as the double standard that Cuomo is held to in ny.

  85. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    I don’t think that can prepay the 6B that Murphy borrowed and was not needed. It’s financed they way. Pay up.

  86. Brt says:

    Orange man didn’t get off easy. He had a media content to fabricate stories about him.

  87. nomad says:

    JCer,

    re: depression

    Thoughts from Nouriel Roubini, NYU prof who called the housing bust. I think its going to be a very difficult decade.

    https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/coming-greater-depression-2020s

  88. 3b says:

    Roubini just does not understand, this is a new market and economy. The Fed has engineered this perfect environment where debt does not matter, and asset prices only rise. We are lucky to have these geniuses , who still humbly put their pants on one leg at a time. We also have the millennials who are the largest, smartest , wealthiest, bestis generation ever. Money for them is not an issue they make scads of it and their super smartness means this economy will continue for another 20 years or so, this massive party is just getting started. It took the meds I have been taking for hip surgery to finally see the light! Get out there and spend, spend, spend!!

  89. Phoenix says:

    Every day George Carlin’s predictions become clearer and clearer.

  90. BRT says:

    Roubini actually didn’t call any bust in 2008. The NY times ran an article about him doing so, but right after that came out, I scanned his entire website/blog and every video he was in. There was nothing. He’s like the Dane Cook of economics. He created his own success through promotion. If you’ve looked at any of his predictions the past decade, they’ve all been way off, with him telling you, don’t buy anything other than maybe treasuries.

  91. BRT says:

    But that being said, I’m not going to deny that the next decade is going to have a lot of problems.

  92. nomad says:

    BRT,

    what do you know about this guy’s credibility, he says this inflation is transitory, makes a pretty compelling case in some of his writings. Mainly, the spike in demand will subside this fall as production ramps back to “normal” levels. He worked for some big houses in nyc in the past.

    https://twitter.com/econguyrosie

  93. 3b says:

    Nomad: Transitory or the new baseline?

  94. BRT says:

    I took a look. Not quite sure about his investment themes. I read a January article by him. He claims, inflation is not coming, stock market is in a bubble, and his solutions were buy gold and oil?

    People define inflation differently. If you have supply and demand issues, I’m not so sure I would classify that as inflation. My take on the inflation is that what we are seeing now actually is a head fake, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have real pain that’s going to come. The math of perpetual deficits only gets worse with this accelerating spending binge. We are in much worse shape than we were in 2008.

  95. Chicago says:

    Rosenberg is a permabear, and has been for decades. He is notorious. Also, we are far better off now than in 2008. JMHO

    MBRT says:
    June 12, 2021 at 9:52 pm
    I took a look. Not quite sure about his investment themes. I read a January article by him. He claims, inflation is not coming, stock market is in a bubble, and his solutions were buy gold and oil?

    People define inflation differently. If you have supply and demand issues, I’m not so sure I would classify that as inflation. My take on the inflation is that what we are seeing now actually is a head fake, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have real pain that’s going to come. The math of perpetual deficits only gets worse with this accelerating spending binge. We are in much worse shape than we were in 2008

  96. Nomad says:

    Chi,

    When you say we are better off now vs 08, how better off and who is better off? Home lending today more measured without the CMO stuff and stock mkt booming along w housing but isnt this all artificial juiced by low interest rates? How can this not end badly, as a nationed were are leveraged to the hilt and dont you think consumption will start to slow in the fall? Lumber prices dropping in the futures market, how long until reflected at retail?

    Whose writings to you look to for accurate views on inflation?

  97. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Wow, if you could just understand what you said is the truth. Let the good times roll. We are going to have a big fight with deflation in the next decade or decade after that…f inflation. Assets don’t always rise, but they also are not guaranteed to fall like you believe.

    Does anyone understand how rapid the population growth was last century? Does one person out there understand this? Inflation is a problem of yesterday, not tomorrow. Just look at Japan for a case study on what happens when the population stops growing and gets filled with old people. Now apply this to the world in 20 years. Stagnation may become real, or innovation might overcome it…by allowing machines to support the older population and continue to grow the economy without human growth. No easy task.

    3b says:
    June 12, 2021 at 3:36 pm
    Roubini just does not understand, this is a new market and economy. The Fed has engineered this perfect environment where debt does not matter, and asset prices only rise. We are lucky to have these geniuses , who still humbly put their pants on one leg at a time. We also have the millennials who are the largest, smartest , wealthiest, bestis generation ever. Money for them is not an issue they make scads of it and their super smartness means this economy will continue for another 20 years or so, this massive party is just getting started. It took the meds I have been taking for hip surgery to finally see the light! Get out there and spend, spend, spend!!

  98. TheGreatOrangeBossHasADream says:

    My alter ego nightmare scenario is simply several things at same time.

    Acombined coordinated Axis (China, Russia, Iran and the other usual suspects) for lack of better word attack – massive sell off of Chinese inventory on the the Treasury market (lacking a physical hot war, which would cause everyone to run to Treasury) forcing the interest rate up.

    At the same time the Manchins/Sinema of the world still behave like old GOP, and decisions and laws that need to passed are held back. Those laws mainly falling in 2 areas.

    Revenue aka Taxes. The IRS papers that just leaked last week showed how really billionaires pay no taxes. So addressing the lack of minimum AMT equivalent for that crowd is a big issue. Add to it the Global 15% corporate tax agreed by the G7 and will be agreed by G20, plus taking out Carried Interest Private Equity loophole, plus the 1031 Real Estate preference, all the RE billionaires made their money with this loophole.

    Social and Physical infrastructure. We need to move forward, frankly rebuilding the highways and railroad network so that is easier and safer for self driving vehicles to operate, along with rebuilding the air traffic system for the upcoming self-flying taxis. And just getting it over and create a Universal Basic Income and Medicare for All and start enforcing anti-trust rules would do a lot.

    However, my nightmare is that we get the Treasury market attack, along with the constipation caused by big money, big corps, big everything blocking changes. At that same time that the sizeable regressive element in the south wants to fight the civil war again (See the South Baptist Convention fight – how they go, is how the south goes). At the same time the boomers have decided to go full fascist with The Great Orange Boss.

  99. TheGreatOrangeBossHasADream says:

    Economically, just keep an eye on the states ( Alaska, Iowa, plus 2 more this weekend) that will stop the extra unemployment aid this month.

    See how their economies behave during the rest of the summer. If by August those economies are in the hole. Expect the same in the rest of the country by Xmas time.

  100. TheGreatOrangeBossHasANightmare says:

    Treasury market attack along with constipation would mean;

    – High interests that the Fed can’t control.
    – Run on and rapid devaluation of USD.
    – Massive price inflation on imported stuff (basically everything).
    – Fed would have to print even more USD so real monetary inflation.
    – People praying on Paul Volcker’s grave.

  101. tripstar385 says:

    TheGreatOrangeBossHasADream , on taxes –

    I am no fan of tax loop-holes, corporate or personal. I am a huge supporter of a flat or consumption based tax system.

    That said, I don’t get the impression you read the paper you cite regarding the IRS leak. Or maybe you did read it and just did not understand it all.

    There are holes in that “leak” big enough to fly a plane through. Most notably, the paper equates income with unrealized gains. If you are calling for a wealth tax, that is another story but taxing unrealized gains in the manner that would satisfy those that say “the rich don’t pay their fair share” is a disastrous idea that you haven’t thought though properly.

  102. Phoenix says:

    “I am a huge supporter of a flat or consumption based tax system.”

    Most boomers are too cause they have already purchased or own everything they need before taking their last breaths.

    A twenty year warranty on their roof just about covers it for them.

  103. Juice Box says:

    Sad day today, wife has to slog into NYC for work. First time since March last year. Commuting schedule by boat on NY Waterway is screwy as it used to be on the hour but since ridership is down over 50% it’s less boats on the half hour etc. So cannot be at desk by 8:00 AM unless on the 6:30 AM boat…

    Anecdotal several if of my wife’s co-workers are playing chicken. They have moved out of NY Metro to places like Maine and Michigan. Told the boss they are not coming back to NYC, as they bought homes and enrolled children in the local schools etc. There have been several people leaving and it has gotten thin in the ranks and work is piling up on those that are left, they are hiring but it will be a gap for a while. That is 3+ hours a day that could be used to work and make their clients happy now has to be spent on mass transit….

  104. grim says:

    Interesting, I know of multiple places that required people moving out of area during COVID to inform the company of such moves, and in some cases get approvals.

  105. grim says:

    Ballsy to play chicken with that, but the WFH exec job market seems fairly strong right now (at least in my world).

  106. grim says:

    Had my first in-person meeting last Thursday, down in Princeton.

    Was nice to walk into an office again (not my office), but there were a grand total of 4 people there.

  107. Juice Box says:

    Grim – it’s Wall St, they aren’t short of ballsy people. I know a few that left recently to go do crypto whatever. Sitting at a trading desk all day is not for everyone, whatever makes you happy.

    Anecdotal friend and I were recently discussing the old Wall St and used be lots of people taking antidepressants and antacids etc. Nowadays allot of them are walking around with the prescription testosterone patches and they start using them around 30 years old lol!

  108. Juice Box says:

    Grim – it’s Wall St, they aren’t short of ballsy people. I know a few that left recently to go do crypto whatever. Sitting at a trading desk all day is not for everyone, whatever makes you happy.

    Anecdotal friend and I were recently discussing the old Wall St and used be lots of people taking ant*idepres*sants and antacids etc. Nowadays allot of them are walking around with the pre*script*ion tes*toste*ro*ne patches and they start using them around 30 years old lol!

  109. BRT says:

    Had my first in-person meeting last Thursday, down in Princeton.

    Was nice to walk into an office again (not my office), but there were a grand total of 4 people there.

    Princeton will be the last town in NJ to give up on the pandemic based on my observations. Their brewery, Triumph, has a sign on the window saying they are closed until the pandemic ends. They still haven’t opened.

    Princeton is also the cicada capital of the world right now. If you go there, they a dropping out of the sky like rain drops. Dead ones all over the place.

  110. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Juice,

    By November, most of those people playing chicken will most likely realize they have lost. If they wait too long, company will move on without them. The logistics of being “flexible” and “getting to work when you want” don’t work in the real world of business. It’s just too difficult to manage a company when you don’t control their working hours.

  111. Fast Eddie says:

    Princeton is also the cicada capital of the world right now. If you go there, they a dropping out of the sky like rain drops. Dead ones all over the place.

    How ironic. A town consumed with liberalism beset by a plague of a different order. As they continue to fear covid, they will be suffocated by an army of Auchenorrhyncha.

  112. Juice Box says:

    Pumps you again have no idea as you work in the pubic sector, obsession with benchmarks is what it is about in the private sector.

    You don’t need to be visible at a desk all day, playing wack a mole in an office. Human Resources does not walk around anymore with clipboards and check off who is working and who has followed the clean desk and work clothes policies.

    All companies can monitor their employees time working and do so already. 80% of the larger companies have software to monitor extensively all employees, time on vpn, keystrokes, # of emails read and sent, time on meetings etc and even what you are doing on social media. It’s all there in reports for the executives to see as part of automated key performance indicator reports. The tracking is there for the executives to see and work on improving their work experience and help them or fire them becuase of their their productivity score.

    Yes you get a productivity score in the private sector and it’s automated to boot…

    Example from Microsoft….There are many other vendors with various versions of productivity scores and studies from Gartner and other says this obsession with with benchmarks on productivity will drive policies like WFH.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8te3OmHnlg&t=5s

  113. 3b says:

    Juice; I know someone, rain maker. Just took a fully remote position, basically wrote the contract as what he wanted. I was shocked, younger guy, but old school mentality. As for the younger people they are very outspoken , and they have no problem criticizing management. I am shocked at times.WFH genie is not going back in the bottle.

  114. leftwing says:

    3b, the dirty little secret is your top producers have always written their own tickets. If this go around it’s formalizing remote work, so be it.

    They are the outliers – the highest ranked performers on the corporate scale – that make up the top 10%.

    I would suggest they are not representative of the fat middle part of the bell curve, who unlike the top performers can be replaced easily.

    As I said a few days back, know where you land. I agree WFH will be the great differentiator…if you’re not in the office you either have the juice to be out, whole…or your employer is ‘suggesting’ you take it while they quietly relocate and streamline your job.

    The large majority of people insisting on WFH will fall in that second bucket and most will not realize it until too late…..

  115. chicagofinance says:

    https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5ETNX?p=%5ETNX

    https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/HG=F?p=HG=F&.tsrc=fin-srch

    Nomad says:
    June 13, 2021 at 6:01 am
    Chi,
    Whose writings to you look to for accurate views on inflation?

  116. Bystander says:

    ‘Employer is ‘suggesting’ you take it while they quietly relocate and streamline your job.’

    WFH has no impact here. The employer is doing it anyway. The exec board will do anything to save a nickel. It is all about what government will allow to be outsourced and risks firms are willing to take. Do you want to expose secret trade or client data to third world countries where employees come and go? How much FA work can be processed off-shore which limits amount of CPA needs? We deal with this sh^t all the time. Anything and everything will be done elsewhere up until it creates too much exposure risk. These people are smart. Data governance is huge for this very reason. Enforcement is asleep right now. No one digs into anything too hard. It won’t matter if in or out of office. If you are in high cost, there is target on your back. Sales and people with certain certifications are only ones saved right now. I am shocked at the Indian population who want BA jobs yet have passed CFA level and remote degrees from top tier schools. They have them but serve no purpose as some work just can’t be done in India. Lots of lobbyists are working on it though.

  117. chicagofinance says:

    Without belaboring the discussion, because answering in a couple of sentences is inadequate, the credit markets are functioning and clearing. Yes, the root reasons are incredibly problematic. In 2008, the life blood of the economy (money) was coagulated. I understand that we need to lift the moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. That is the true litmus test.

    As far the the MMT. It is a crock. Completely. That said, we are not the only ones executing it, and it is not entirely clear that we will be punished appropriately. If China implodes, one could build the argument that the MMT was a critical strategic and military response to this rising threat. It is possible that the MMT will be considered a “good value” in the sense that we were able to use money in today’s environment, yet repay it in the future at a discount.

    The problem we have is that it appears Biden et al. have the attitude that if we “sort of” gotten away with it so far, let’s bet the house that it works. I say fcuk that…..

    Nomad says:
    June 13, 2021 at 6:01 am
    When you say we are better off now vs 08, how better off and who is better off? Home lending today more measured without the CMO stuff and stock mkt booming along w housing but isnt this all artificial juiced by low interest rates? How can this not end badly, as a nationed were are leveraged to the hilt and dont you think consumption will start to slow in the fall? Lumber prices dropping in the futures market, how long until reflected at retail?

  118. chicagofinance says:

    Access Bloomberg Surveillance simulcast at 8AM when the market opens. Keene, Ferro and Abramowicz. Whatever guest they have on…… it is more important in my mind to hear as many opinions as possible and start to hear repeated themes. If more than half are repeating similar themes, it is relevant to consider. Alternately, sometime you just hear something incredibly shrewd or insightful that is out of step with everything else. To be clear, this trio of interviewers is a cut above everything else. They managing to wring out much more information from the same people interviewed elsewhere. They make CNBC appear as Sesame Street.

    Nomad says:
    June 13, 2021 at 6:01 am
    Chi,
    Whose writings to you look to for accurate views on inflation?

  119. Ez says:

    If you held stocks….by and large….you are better off.

  120. 3b says:

    Left: It will play out however it will play out. I think most of us agree WFH is a game changer for better or worse. I will bang out a few more years and I am done, so does not really matter for me. We can debate back and forth on the merits in/ out of the office vs who the producers / rainmakers are. But there are many high value positions involving multiple complexities, etc that can be preformed from home. Now if it’s a case of in person face time, then that’s a different story, but again based on senior management preferences rather than any real difference. It seems Zuckerberg has changed his tune, over the last few days, while Google has not. In addition to WFH geographically agnostic as far as where the employee is located has also been where corporate America has been going over the last several years. Of course we can keep going with the geographically agnosticism and locate almost all the positions overseas, and well
    than it will be all over at that point for the US economy. As Clot used to say people will be out warming themselves with fires built in oil drums, or something like that.

  121. No One says:

    Princeton is the capital of self-hating wealthy white people. Per-capita readership in Princeton of stuff like “White Fragility” and “How to be an anti-racist” has got to be off the charts. They read the NY Times, and are the people who are keeping MSNBC viewership above zero.
    These people think they need to wear their crappy cloth masks while riding their bicycles alone outside, and also think most of Florida will all be underwater in 20 years, because they follow “the science” as told to them by their propogandists.
    They have degrees but are just as dumb as the QAnon types.
    They also usually enjoy reading novels about psychos and perverts, because that’s how they see humanity. They also plant their rainbow heart signs in their front yards, while having security cameras making sure no brothers actually try to get near their house.
    They talk about how the rich never pay their fair share while spending tons of money on tax lawyers to minimize their own tax bill.
    They think that spending $60 per person on “farm to table” dinners is “saving the earth”.

  122. The Great Pumpkin says:

    It’s not about what can be performed at home, it’s about what is optimal.

    Again, long term, this will fall on its face like every case study before it. You need face to face to develop a “company.” Why do you think they call it a company as opposed to a business. It’s not just about getting the job done, it’s about creating a constant flow where the young learn from the best (old with year’s of experience). How you replace all this from WFH? You don’t. A company is only as strong as the bonds between the company. You will never understand this.

    Anyone looking to rely on a remote network of independent workers will never be able to compete with a group of in person workers. You will get it done cheaper with the network of independent workers, but the Iphone would have never been created with a “remote” workforce…facts. You just ignore the most important factor for innovative growing companies…

    “But there are many high value positions involving multiple complexities, etc that can be preformed from home”

  123. The Great Pumpkin says:

    If you are offering a cheap crappy product, then remote work is for you. Aka this is not for tech giants like Apple, Google, etc..their management knows it, but their stubborn employees don’t.

  124. The Great Pumpkin says:

    It’s not about “I can do this from home.” It’s what platform allows for the fastest optimum growth of innovative products. In person will never ever be replaced in the best jobs and best companies.

  125. Bystander says:

    3b,

    It is utter chaos in the job world right now. I had 3 resignations last week alone with about 50% perm turnover in Pune since February. We have 24 perm and 12 have resigned. The other 12 are mostly people who only joined perm late last year and have not been through the year end f-job yet. We have 60 vendor staff as well with 30% turnover already and many more coming per Wipro. One of perms who quit was a young guy IT rockstar who operated two levels above pay grade. He wanted a raise and our management would not even counter offer. They tried to tell him to stay and see what happens at year end. Nonsense, he is gone. Locally, there seems to be great demand but US labor is downright insulting. I just had Wells Fargo looking for program manager to run FRTB project. I was part of that for my old IB and not really qualified but they threw me on it as they got rid of everyone else. I was more BA but the program manager was brilliant guy who understood entire credit risk process, resolved numerous complex risk model changes, static data set-up problems, IT enviroment issues, MO/FA MTM checkouts and 100s of other issues to get company aligned for FRTB. Not many people can handle this type of responsbility. Pay? 75/hr..this is a huge disconnect, beyond anything I have ever seen in my career. It will be crazy times ahead trying to figure it all out. Labor/productivty/global wages/WFH are in a big bag of sh*t right now and caution anyone sticking their hand in.

  126. 3b says:

    Bystander: Read over the weekend in WSJ people are quitting jobs left and right. If it’s not working for them they are gone. Whether it’s raises/ promotions or not offering WFH people are leaving. As you point out chaos in your field and that probably will continue.

  127. Juice Box says:

    Yes Yes Yes come to the dark side.

    “The great resignation”: Upwards of 40% of workers are thinking about quitting their jobs

    https://news.yahoo.com/great-resignation-upwards-40-workers-100240012.html

  128. leftwing says:

    3b, agree. At the risk of making an analogy that taints my view for some people I would suggest there will likely be a type of “Laffer Curve” for remote/WFH…..

    Zero WFH is not the answer, there are always low value added, commodity type tasks that just shouldn’t be burdened with the overhead and other costs of physical presence. Plus there are the top 2% of performers who have perfect job mobility that would be gone if an employer were that dogmatic with respect to them.

    Likewise, 100% WFH flexibility doesn’t work either because there is such a thing as culture, mentorship, leadership, accountability…you were/are GS, right? Anyone can bang out a debt offering or equity follow-on, mechanically absolutely nothing differentiates GS from, say, Jefferies in that regard. GS is GS because of culture.

    I think what we are seeing are these concepts being brought front and center to more corporates…..Google and Zuck are taking a really hard strategic look post-pandemic at what/who are mission critical and who exactly defines what their companies are…before the pandemic it was a neat flirtation, a checking-her-out-from-across-the-bar-glance but not really serious.

    If you land in the former bucket, it’s a compliment to be in and needed.

    If you are strategically expendable, you are locationally expendable.

    As I’m typing this, literally, Gorman is on CNBC saying exactly the same thing….it is not coincidental the best companies are the ones taking the hardest line on WFH…they are the ones with the most ingrained cultures.

  129. BRT says:

    lol No One, epic rant. Was in Princeton yesterday. One of our favorite past times is going to the bookstore and making fun of their displays. I literally picked a book up to trigger my wife. It was on “White Fragility”. Another good one was on Vladimir Lenin and the “strong females” that he relied on. It was hard to see whether or not the women were being praised for helping him exterminate people. On to the kids section, children’s book on Fidel Castro.

  130. leftwing says:

    “It is utter chaos in the job world right now. I had 3 resignations last week alone with about 50% perm turnover in Pune since February. We have 24 perm and 12 have resigned.”

    Right there you are literally dealing with the definition of commodity, low end product.

    “One of perms who quit was a young guy IT rockstar who operated two levels above pay grade. He wanted a raise and our management would not even counter offer.”

    And here you are not.

    It comes down to your value in a corporate entity and your personal leverage to extract that value.

    Same as it ever was…..

  131. The Great Pumpkin says:

    All the commentators gushing over how wonderful it is to see Biden at these international meetings — America is back! — can’t name a single concrete thing that Biden’s supposedly doing differently, except being more rhetorically genteel than his mean and bad predecessor.

  132. No One says:

    Speaking of Stalin, I recommend the movie “The Death of Stalin” currently on Netflix. It’s an ultra-dark comedy that highlights the kind of mentalities that rise to power in collectivist-statist societies.

  133. Phoenix says:

    NoOne,

    Your post.

    Haha. Yup.

    Thanks for the 😂😂😂😂😂

  134. Phoenix says:

    The Princeton one.

  135. No One says:

    Pumpkin,
    If you watch Fox News I’m sure they will point out every possible criticism of Biden’s meetings. But most of the press are lickspittles who will cover for Biden’s infirmities just as they did for FDR’s long ago.

    It’s such a joke, this Biden/Putin summit. Biden can’t really handle live questions so of course he cannot do a joint presser. Instead he’ll read something off his teleprompter sounding tough on Russia that the like of CNN will eat up. Meanwhile Putin will separately tell his captive press how tough he was to Biden.

    And Kamala will cackle about how she hasn’t been sent to fun places in Europe yet.

  136. 3b says:

    Left: Basically agree with you, although not sure how
    Ugh culture matters these days. And away from WFH it’s difficult to have a culture whatever it still might be worth, when team members are geographically dispersed. I was at GS for many years, when it was a partnership, and it had a real culture. I loved the place. It annoys me that GS claims it still has that culture from its partnership days. It’s impossible and a bunch of crap!! When I started there as a kid, Weinberg and Whitehead rode the subway every day. And Corzine was fantastic, saved the firm in the early 90s. I don’t know what happened to him after he was forced out.

  137. 3b says:

    No One: I watched the Stalin movie; it was excellent.

  138. Libturd says:

    Check out this mess of our government.

    https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2021/05/12/eviction-moratorium-new-jersey-ending-but-nj-rent-relief-still-available/5035709001/

    There’s 20,000 applications of a likely 75,000. Less than 300 have been processed. Way to go Phil.

  139. JCer says:

    3b GS is NOT the same GS. Morgan Stanley isn’t the same either, both are now following the cost cutting trend. There has been massive brain drain at both places. I don’t know about the banking side but the tech teams are incompetent they have lost all their best people to Google and Amazon because they don’t pay anymore. My wife manages like 50 people over there and has been with the firm for like 15 years, half the people she has working for her would not have gotten a job there 15-20 years ago. They have lowered the standards because they are not willing to pay. What Bystander experiences is the new norm in IB’s, too cheap with employees and vendors so everything is just sh*t. Back in the day they had VERY smart people working for them where as today GS is really no different from any of the other banks.

    People like leftwing will say it’s a cost center, it doesn’t matter, etc but without working technology the bank is out of business, Ask the folks at Knight Capital how much they saved, that is what is at risk. The future of finance IS technology, eventually technology will fundamentally transform how business is conducted.

  140. 3b says:

    Jcer: GS was a fantastic place to work at in my day,as I said. Ironically, GS then was not an innovator but a follower, they would wait for a competitor to do
    Something then do it better. They were careful with committing firm capital. 85 Broad St was the most dull buildings you would find. Partners offices would look
    Just the same as a non partner. One thing they did spend on was technology at the time. I agree I think an IB needs a robust well
    Paid IT department. It’s a shame these IB, don’t see that.

  141. Bystander says:

    Left,

    It is certainly not ‘same as it ever was’. There were alot of very good, highly rated people in the 12 resignations, probably 5. The other 6 were probably not-best admittedly but many were crazy expectations by company. We have 4 QA and 3 quit last few weeks. They all sucked apparently but we have 10 apps to support and only two have access to UAT data. We have 25 releases a year. The quality of their work was always going to be bad. You have all developers outsourced to Wipro who do not SIT before handing it to them. They were stretched beyond belief. This is company sacrificing quality for cheapness. You would never let a a great young resource leave years ago, particuarly a one that only wanted a just a little more in rupee…geez. Exec mgt basically has no match policy. You are a traitor for even considering to leave this great IB. What the f is that?

  142. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Inflation…or is it just the market going to work like it always has and always will.

    “September lumber futures closed at a limit-down $852, down almost 50% from the $1,686 peak of May futures reached on May 7th”

    https://twitter.com/conorsen/status/1404539201216040969?s=21

  143. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Big tech is moving into NYC hard. This is without subsidies like other parts of the nation( aka giving away the house). This area is dominant. That’s all I can say.

    America wins or loses on the back of the northeast over and over again.

  144. Libturd says:

    Left,

    Forget the politics.

    How about that VEEV call? Over 300 now.

    Let me know when I blow one.

  145. The Great Pumpkin says:

    My wife couldn’t believe the parks being created for millions for the Facebook employees to explore and interact. Multiple park like terraces on their campus high above the air. Only a Facebook job card gets you access. I wish I could go back in time and instead waste my precious time on Facebook, Google, or Apple instead of public education. TRUE f’ing STORY!!!

  146. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Nice call.

    Libturd says:
    June 14, 2021 at 6:53 pm
    Left,

    Forget the politics.

    How about that VEEV call? Over 300 now.

    Let me know when I blow one

  147. Bystander says:

    Facebook’s strangle hold will be gone in 5 years, dipshit. Millenials think it is for old dumpers.

  148. Bystander says:

    It was $390 before the pandemic. How dumb are you? These huge jumps will stick. Stagflation is here.

  149. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Bystander, learn to see the forest for the trees. Only then will you see the economy’ through the eyes of pumpkin. Only then, will you acknowledge the good job of the fed over the last 12 years…their role is stability, they just don’t realize it yet. They have done a hell of a job of constraining and popping the bubbles.

  150. 3b says:

    Jamie says rates will be rising, and he is sitting on half a billion in cash waiting to invest at higher rates.

  151. 3b says:

    As my Daughter half jokingly says old people ruined Facebook!

  152. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Apple rules. The spice to their jalapeño is in house collaboration. Why in the world would they want to give away their cutting edge value in the race to the bottom with “remote” work. Wake up.

  153. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Their team that handle “returns” will no doubt be able to WFH. Also, software development which don’t need human element. Only a problem to solve.

  154. leftwing says:

    “I was at GS for many years, when it was a partnership, and it had a real culture. I loved the place. It annoys me that GS claims it still has that culture from its partnership days. It’s impossible and a bunch of crap!!”

    Imagine how it is in other places away from GS now….everything is relative, no?

    “It is certainly not ‘same as it ever was'”

    JCer/ByS….please, I hope you guys know by now how much I respect your opinions, backgrounds, and knowledge….so there is nothing personal here, no trolling or baiting…but….look at the long paragraphs you typed…..

    Your entire content supports my point….your corporations – right or wrong – are telling you in flashing neon letters twenty feet high from the top of a skyscraper that the areas reporting to you are COMMODOTIZED. Low value added, easily replaceable. Period, full stop.

    You have the knowledge and experience to set their viewpoint in the context of a Knight to (historically) evaluate the move. But no one, neither you nor the corporation, has a crystal ball to evaluate the impact prospectively with accuracy…

    But the one undeniable fact from your own lips to God’s ears is that it is in fact more of the same….

    What is your value in a corporate entity and what is your personal leverage to extract that value.

    Been that way since the advent of the modern corporate. WFH is just Exhibit N on a long pathway….

  155. leftwing says:

    Lib, you’re too smart on some picks.

    You need to text me those separately with a smiley or wink face or something……

    Good for you man. Outstanding call on that one.

  156. Libturd says:

    Thanks.

    It’s impossibly hard to find value as we near the end of the longest bull market in history.

    Pumps will like this one.

    Back up the Civic Hatchback and fill it with MDC holdings. This is a pick even the Pumpkin can get behind.

  157. JCer says:

    I’m no longer at a bank for that very reason left. My wife is left with the fallout, GS wants to replace humans with AI and machine learning but no longer has the chops to build it, the senior management is so stupid they do not understand the technology they want to leverage and instead want to magically replace ops people with AI and get very confused at the prospect that short term they need even more humans to train the AI.

    Point being when you realize how much money flows through systems, what the regulations are, and what is at risk you realize these corps are running in front of the steam roller to pick up pennies. Knight learned that when they duped orders, not investing in a good testing strategy and adequate QA caused them to go out of business. Or even more pertinent to the times Boeing, 737’s fell out of the sky because they offshored the MCAS software to some outfit in India, I’m glad they saved a few million on the development of the plane but it has cost them billions. The issue isn’t commoditization, the issue is by the time the problems surface the management will have moved on and realized the savings. It’s a problem of motivation, senior leadership at your biggest companies manage perception juicing profitability and cutting expenses, it doesn’t matter if it’s ultimately successful as long as it can be sold as such. What happens after the fact is ultimately irrelevant.

    The people we are talking about aren’t paid like bankers, to bystanders point he’s talking folks in India making 40k a year, were are talking about probably paying a guy an extra 20k a year to retain talent and not derail projects that are likely driven by regulation. I’d tell you to short his (unnamed)firm but it probably would be considered insider trading as I’m fairly certain they’re my client.

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