From the Press of Atlantic City:
Few in NJ upbeat on state’s economy, Stockton researchers find
The vast majority of New Jersey residents believe that they’re either falling behind economically or barely keeping up, a Stockton University study reported Monday.
Fifty-five percent of people in the state told researchers from Stockton’s William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy that they believe their income is “falling behind the cost of living.” Another 37 percent said their income is “just keeping pace” with increasing costs.
Only 14 percent now see the New Jersey economy as good and 6 percent rate the state’s economy “excellent,” says Kelly Sloane, a Hughes Center public policy researcher who released the study, “Views on Economic Inequality in the State of New Jersey.”
About 70 percent told Stockton pollsters that they believe the U.S. economy is still in a recession.
While most of the 802 respondents were personally pessimistic in the polling, large majorities also said that neither they nor anyone in their households had any major economic misfortunes over the previous year.
…
Still, when asked about their own status, about 55 percent of New Jersey residents said they think they’re personally doing better economically than other Americans, and 27 percent said they’re doing about the same as others in the country. Just 15 percent said they believe they’re personally worse off than the rest of the country.
Good Morning New Jersey
Considering the state of the rest of the country, sure, we here in NJ are doing great! Bit of a relief to know that not everyone is fooled by TPTB.
Thinking of you and your family, Stu. Just read yesterday’s thread.
Hopefully Stu’s doctors are not using gluteus’ or Plumpty’s brains as paradigms of ‘normal’.
“The effects of all this fundamental dishonesty have thundered through our national life to the degree that American society is now divided into the swindlers and the swindled, loosing the monster of collective Id known as Trump on the public. This is what comes of attempting to divorce truth from reality, which has been the principal business of American life for several decades now. When truth and reality become de-linked, a society literally doesn’t know what it is doing. With that goes the collective sense of purpose, replaced with bromides and platitudes such as Trump’s “make America great again,” and Hillary’s “In America, every family should feel like they belong.”
Unbeknownst to the cable news hustlers, events are in the driver’s seat, not the personalities of the puppets and muppets in the spotlight. Come July, there may not be anything that could be called the Republican Party. And Hillary is the first leading contender for the highest office with a possible indictment looming over her. Yes, it’s really there percolating on the FBI’s front burner. Even if the machinery of justice trips over itself again on that, imagine how the questions behind it will color the final battle for the general election. We also fail to appreciate how, if there is just a little more trouble in banking and financial markets before November 8, we can’t even be certain of holding the general election.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-07/birthing-trumps-america-swindlers-vs-swindled
Gary (from yesterday’s thread)-
If I had my whole life to do over again, the one thing I’d change is to name my son “Crowbar”.
Lib – that is one tough little boy you have, my prayers are with your son for a quick recovery.
Lib-best wishes for your kid prompt and complete recovery
@toddzwillich
Bloomberg, terminal.
not how i wish, but how it will be. bernie only has a chance in an enlightened society. read all the posters round here, these are a bunch of right wing centipedes
after Vietnam, after Iraq I, after Iraq II, they can’t wait to get into Iran. centipedes, I tell you
Trump vs Bernie – Trump Wins
Trump vs Clinton – Clinton Wins
Cruz vs Bernie – Cruz Wins
Rubio vs Bernie – Rubio Wins
Cruz vs Clinton – Clinton Wins
Rubio vs Clinton – Clinton Wins
Stu…..mojo sent. No words…
[10] twitiot,
Doesn’t it bother you that the GOP establishment would prefer Clinton to Trump?
As long as you’re going to be down there, please scrape the tar off the driveshaft, will ya?
people are really frightened of Trump. go figure.
My dad’s in Florida. He says you can’t turn on the TV without being bombarded by anti-Trump commercials.
I’m sure there are people who are afraid of Trump, particularly if you violated our countries laws and are here illegally.
With that said, there is a large swath of people who think he’s a POS and simply don’t like him. Not on the level of Hillary but as people learn more about him I think that segment will grow.
you are asking if it bothers me that the GOP is broken?
how broken is it that they will be voting Democrat
Comrade Nom Deplume, Newspeak Editor says:
March 8, 2016 at 8:03 am
[10] twitiot,
Doesn’t it bother you that the GOP establishment would prefer Clinton to Trump?
[13] Essex
Personally, I’m not frightened of Trump, but I do see his ascendancy as a symptom of the continued downward slide of this country and this society. FWIW, I think the same thing of Sanders’ ascendancy. The appearance of candidates like this is a portend of deep division and deep anxiety. It is a portend of difficulties ahead.
This is what happens when growth stops. Growth was what gave rise to the large middle class, which I always viewed as something of an historic anomaly. And history teaches us that when growth stops or retrenches, unrest ensues.
The only reason we haven’t devolved into eurosclerosis is because of the different political and economic structures in this nation. There really is such a thing as American exceptionalism that is very concrete. It isn’t just an attitude, it is supported by our federal structure, and the property rights and other freedoms enjoyed under our constitution which don’t exist elsewhere. And it will be tested.
This is not the first time the country has faced an existential crisis. Indeed, I feel it has faced them many times in the past, more than we are taught. We are about to enter a period will strongly resemble the 60s and 70s in a number of respects. Already I see lots of parallels. However, I don’t know that we will merge with an 80s-like period on the other side.
[16] twitiot,
They aren’t voting democratic, they just aren’t voting Trump.
How’s the old adage go? Better to deal with the devil you know ….
W had two terms.
Sarah Palin was on the ticked for VP
Harriet Miers almost got nominated to the Supreme Court
the bushes got us into Iraq, not once but two FUKCING times!
you bet we are sliding down
Comrade Nom Deplume, Newspeak Editor says:
March 8, 2016 at 8:24 am
[13] Essex
Personally, I’m not frightened of Trump, but I do see his ascendancy as a symptom of the continued downward slide of this country and this society.
Stu: I was showing my wife your post yesterday and her first comment was “what is cankle fluid”?
ECONOMY
Housing Market Takes On Split Levels
Lower-priced homes sell quickly while inventory on the higher end piles up
Redfin real-estate agent Alec Traub at a Los Angeles-area home recently sold by
By JOE LIGHT
A two-bedroom house in Los Angeles listed for $585,000 received 10 offers in the first week it hit the market, with the winner agreeing to pay $640,000.
Meanwhile, a four-bedroom house a few miles away, priced at $3 million, sat on the market for more than a month with no offers before selling for $2.75 million in January.
The divide in Los Angeles is typical of what is happening across the country. Housing has become a tale of two markets, brokers and economists said, with lower-priced homes selling quickly even as inventory of expensive ones piles up.
Nationwide, the number of homes for sale priced below $100,000 fell 8.6% in January from a year earlier, while the number of homes priced above $1 million rose 15%, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Price bands in between those levels show a similar trend: The less expensive the price, the smaller the growth in the number of homes on the market.
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Economists said a number of factors are creating the divide. On the low end, after a slow recovery from the housing bust, first-time buyers are finally returning to the market, bolstered by still-cheap mortgages. But after years of little new construction, inventory is still tight.
High-end buyers, meanwhile, are more sensitive to the stock market’s struggles this year.
“In certain price points, it’s really tough for buyers right now. There’s limited inventory and lots of demand,” said Los Angeles real-estate agent Alec Traub. But for high-priced homes, Mr. Traub said, “things may be sitting on the market a little longer.”
At January’s sales pace, it would take about four months to exhaust the supply of existing homes for sale, according to the National Association of Realtors, compared with 4½ months in January 2015. About six months is considered a balanced market.
Mark Cospito, 58 years old, plans to close on a newly built condominium in Naples, Fla., in mid-April. In October, he visited the wealthy city for the first time, and before the trip was over, he paid asking price for a $240,000 condominium in a building now under construction. That is below Naples’s median price of $340,000.
“When we visited, there were people in the sales office with checkbooks. They were buying,” said Mr. Cospito. “I did feel a little bit pressured.” Mr. Cospito said he received an email three weeks later saying that the condominium project had sold out.
On the other hand, Brendan Duffy, Mr. Cospito’s real-estate agent, said buyers in Naples willing to pay more than $2 million have much more to choose from than they did a year ago.
“There’s so much coming out of the ground in those higher price ranges,” Mr. Duffy said.
According to the Naples Area Board of Realtors, while the number of homes for sale priced below $300,000 fell 9% between January 2015 and January 2016, the number of homes for sale listed above $300,000 rose 23%.
Phoenix real-estate agent Cami Elliott said one buyer she recently worked with who wanted a home for about $750,000 had more than 45 potential homes to look at. If that buyer were looking for a home priced closer to $400,000, she said there would only be three or four.
While rising prices typically entice more home sellers and builders to come into the market, that trend has been slow-going for low-priced homes. At real-estate broker Redfin, prices in the bottom third of homes rose 38% between 2012 and 2015, while the number of homes for sale fell 39%. For the upper third of homes, prices rose 23% while inventory jumped 36%.
“It feels like the laws of supply and demand are broken,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman.
Some low-priced homes on the market have been foreclosed on, vacant and need extensive rehabilitation, driving potential buyers to the even smaller subset of homes that are ready to live in, said Sam Khater, an economist for CoreLogic.
While the percentage of homes sold within 30 days is back to its housing-boom peak, Mr. Khater said, the percentage that has been on the market for more than six months is eight points higher than in the boom years.
Home builders’ reluctance to tackle the entry-level market hasn’t helped. In 2015, the average home size rose to 2,720 square feet, according to the National Association of Home Builders, from 2,660 square feet in 2014.
Tim Lewis, a luxury home builder in Northern California and Nevada, said he has seen sales slow for homes priced above $500,000 and is starting to search for lots on which he can build cheaper homes. He said buyers in expensive communities are still coming in to look but are more hesitant to buy.
“They’re more conservative. They wonder if we’re entering a recession,” Mr. Lewis said.
The few large builders, like D.R. Horton Inc., that have tackled the starter-home market are seeing success.
“Certainly, the entry level of the market is the strongest right now, and any time we see that in the market we expect further competition,” D.R. Horton Chief Operating Officer Michael Murray told analysts earlier this year.
Barclays analyst Stephen Kim said thus far, other large builders have been content watching and waiting, but that as the luxury home market stalls, more will be driven to construct cheaper homes.
“If you continue to see first-time home buying grow faster than the industry over all, it will happen,” Mr. Kim said. “It’s only a matter of time.”
Is Cortana a lesb!an? Not that it matters, but I was curious……
[19] twitiot
Actually, I took Obama’s election of proof of the slide. In fact, it’s been going on since Johnson.
Nice company Fabian keeps…
http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/07/f-the-jews-arsenal-fans-chant-sick-anti-semitic-song-about-tottenham-hotspur-fans-on-the-tube-5739088/
17. so true
Anti-Semitic or not, Gooners en route to their inevitable fourth place finish and CL exit in the round of 16.
Chat shit, get banged.
Hillary is the prom queen of Goldman Sachs. She represents continuity. Trump represents change.
@PatrickBuchanan
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Narrow victories in the Kentucky caucuses and the Louisiana primary, the largest states decided on Saturday, have moved Donald Trump one step nearer to the nomination.
Primaries in Michigan, Mississippi and Idaho on March 8, and in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina on March 15, may prove decisive. If Marco Rubio does not win his home state of Florida, he is cooked, as is Gov. John Kasich if he does not win Ohio.
Ted Cruz already looks to be the last man between Trump and a GOP nomination that has gone, in the last seven elections, to George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney.
All five of those nominees since 1988 seem appalled by Trump’s triumphs, and only slightly less so by the Cruz alternative.
Not in memory has the leadership of a party been so out of touch. The Republican rank and file are in revolt, not only against the failures of their fathers but the policies of their present rulers.
Some among the GOP elites, who have waited patiently through the Obama era to recapture control of U.S. foreign policy, are now beside themselves with despair over Trump’s success.
Fully 116 members of the GOP’s national security community, many of them veterans of Bush administrations, have signed an open letter threatening that, if Trump is nominated, they will all desert, and some will defect – to Hillary Clinton!
“Hillary is the lesser evil, by a large margin,” says Eliot Cohen of the Bush II State Department. According to Politico’s Michael Crowley, Cohen helped line up neocons to sign the “Dump-Trump” manifesto.
Another signer, Robert Kagan, wailed in the Washington Post, “The only choice will be to vote for Hillary Clinton.”
Are they serious?
Victory for Clinton would mean her remaking the Supreme Court, killing all chances that Roe v. Wade could be overturned, or that we could get another justice like Antonin Scalia before 2021.
What are these renegades and turncoats so anguished about?
Trump calls the Iraq War many of them championed an historic blunder. Trump says that, while a supporter of Israel, he would be a “neutral” honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians in peace negotiations, as was Jimmy Carter at Camp David.
Trump says he would “get along very well” with Vladimir Putin, as Richard Nixon got along with Leonid Brezhnev and Mao Zedong.
Trump would launch no new crusades for democracy. He would not oppose Russia bombing ISIS. He would build that wall on the border. He would transfer from U.S. taxpayers to rich allies more of the cost of defending themselves.
Do not most Americans agree with much of this?
Yet this neocon ultimatum about deserting should the voters nominate Trump testifies eloquently to their loyalty.
With every ex-president and ex-nominee repudiating Trump, and foreign policy elites going rogue, the GOP hierarchy is saying: We will cut Trump dead, just as the Rockefeller-Romney crowd cut Barry Goldwater dead.
This is pure my-way-or-the-highway politics.
But it raises anew the question: Can the establishment stop Trump?
Answer: It is possible, and we shall know by midnight, March 15. If Trump loses Florida and Ohio, winner-take-all primaries, he would likely fall short of the 1,237 delegates needed for nomination on the first ballot.
How could the anti-Trump forces defeat him in Ohio, Florida and Illinois? With the same tactics used to shrink Trump’s victory margins in Virginia, Louisiana and Kentucky to well below what polls had predicted.
In every primary upcoming, Trump is under a ceaseless barrage of attack ads on radio, TV, cable and social media, paid for by super PACs with hoards of cash funneled in by oligarchs.
But Trump, who is self-funding his campaign, has spent next to nothing on ads answering these attacks, or promoting himself or his issues. He has relied almost exclusively on free media.
Yet no amount of free media can match the shellfire falling on him every hour of every day in every primary state.
Our Principles PAC, backed by Nebraska’s billionaire Ricketts family, has poured millions into trashing Trump. American Future Fund is dumping $1.75 million in Florida this week; Club for Growth $1.5 million.
Hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer is backing the Conservative Solutions PAC, which has dumped millions into anti-Trump ads and plans to spend more than $7 million between March 1 and 15, with $4 million of that going into Florida. The super PAC pile-on is unprecedented.
How well Trump fares in Michigan and Mississippi, measured against how well he was doing in polls last week, will reveal just how successful super PAC savagery has been in changing hearts and minds.
Can millionaires and billionaires who back open borders, mass immigration, globalization and the disappearance of nation states into transnational collectives overwhelm with their millions spent in ads the patriotic movements that arose this year to the wonderment of America and the world?
Has that proud 18th century boast of Americans, “Here, sir, the people rule!” given way to the rule of the oligarchs?
Share Pat’s Columns!
Great post.
Comrade Nom Deplume, Newspeak Editor says:
March 8, 2016 at 8:24 am
[13] Essex
Personally, I’m not frightened of Trump, but I do see his ascendancy as a symptom of the continued downward slide of this country and this society. FWIW, I think the same thing of Sanders’ ascendancy. The appearance of candidates like this is a portend of deep division and deep anxiety. It is a portend of difficulties ahead.
This is what happens when growth stops. Growth was what gave rise to the large middle class, which I always viewed as something of an historic anomaly. And history teaches us that when growth stops or retrenches, unrest ensues.
The only reason we haven’t devolved into eurosclerosis is because of the different political and economic structures in this nation. There really is such a thing as American exceptionalism that is very concrete. It isn’t just an attitude, it is supported by our federal structure, and the property rights and other freedoms enjoyed under our constitution which don’t exist elsewhere. And it will be tested.
This is not the first time the country has faced an existential crisis. Indeed, I feel it has faced them many times in the past, more than we are taught. We are about to enter a period will strongly resemble the 60s and 70s in a number of respects. Already I see lots of parallels. However, I don’t know that we will merge with an 80s-like period on the other side.
I could use some help here. I realize I’m way off topic, so please forgive me, but I need to find a good reputable mortgage broker.
This is story…
I bought in late 2008 (after Fannie & Freddie were bailed out), so it was definitely past the peak but not the bottom either. I knew it wasn’t the bottom, but personal reasons came into play. However, the house did okay holding its own at least we have some decent equity at this point.
Things have been going well and we were seriously considering moving up, but ultimately I couldn’t justify doubling my property taxes (For what? The garbage gets picked up, the roads get plowed, and the kids have a school to attend). Besides, I think NJ is a train wreck waiting to happen when you look at our unfunded liabilities (pensions & healthcare) with a diminishing tax base from businesses leaving and significant outmigration of the middle class along with their taxable income. I’d rather not have to unload a high cost home in a further out suburb (we were looking at Kinnelon) when the wheels come off.
So, we are staying put in our more modest home, with the plan to bang out the mortgage and leave NJ once we can buy a house for cash someplace else (so we won’t need much income) .
Which leads me back to the original; we want to refinance into a 15 year fixed… but looking for the best place to go.
Renting.
Get your absolute best internet price online. Then go to my broker. Carl Nielson.
http://www.mortgagemaster.com/cnielsen/
Thank me later and tell him Stu sent you.
He’s no nonsense and won’t rip you off.
Oh…and forgot the banks. They are always more than brokers.
Say what you want about Trump, but the dude saved us from another Bush presidency.
I do not see a Hillary presidency much different than a Bush presidency. Neither should you.
29
I would try contacting your current Mortgage holder and try to refinance your loan through HARP,if you’re mortgage is under Freddie or Fannie. I did mine 2 years ago and got 3.0 percent 15 years. No closing cost. Wells Fargo even paid for Federal Express and got the Papers Notarized at their bank for free. Totally no cost to me
http://www.harp.gov/eligibility
Thanks!
can’t argue that logic
rentinginNJ says:
March 8, 2016 at 10:50 am
This is story…
NJ is a train wreck waiting to happen…
So, we are staying put….
It says a lot about Establishment Republicans that they would vote for Hillary over Trump.
Fcuked up.
People trapped massive building fire in Chicago
Would it be out of line to consider that Christie should just lock out all of the NJ Transit workers, lay them off….similar to what Reagan did to the Air Traffic controllers in the 80’s?
Would anyone who rides a train be sympathetic?
[38] DFENS
Trump is a disruptor in every sense of the word. He is turning over all the tables.
And while the Dems are gleeful over the implosion of the GOP, they are almost as apprehensive as the GOP establishment. And for good reason–nature abhors a vacuum.
Did you see that Christie is going to be on a pre-planned vacation and out of NJ during the proposed strike? RECALL CHRISTIE
D-FENS says:
March 8, 2016 at 12:08 pm
Would it be out of line to consider that Christie should just lock out all of the NJ Transit workers, lay them off….similar to what Reagan did to the Air Traffic controllers in the 80′s?
Would anyone who rides a train be sympathetic?
I find it ironic that both Clintons will owe their presidencies to a disruptive, populist billionaire.
He needs a vacation? Really?
Egregious.
Meanwhile, CNN’s top story is still the missing Malaysian airplane.
Lib,
Just catching on posts. Truly I wish nothing but the best for you guys and the little one. Speedy recovery wishes. I am off to pick up my little one who is sick at daycare. He certainly will get extra hug today.
I wish Steve Lonegan was our Governor right now. I was disappointed to hear Christie was the GOP nominee in NJ.
Re: Lib [30];
I used Carl on Lib’s recommendation. Very happy with my rate.
Chi, you would have to get 1.3 million signatures…and each and every petition requires a notary….they must be physical signatures.
Suggesting a recall is a waste of time…the recall law in Jersey is in name only. It’s probably slightly easier to get a concealed weapons permit in NJ.
GOP’sbroken (the good one) says:
This is story…
NJ is a train wreck waiting to happen…
So, we are staying put….
Yeah, I get it. Why would we stay put waiting for a train wreck?
Because I wouldn’t be able to replace my income somewhere else.
So, I’m going to ride it out for as long as possible, while reducing my exposure to NJ by not buying more house or putting myself in a position where I can’t afford to cut the price and sell if I need to.
51. I feel very similarly. I keep pushing off a home upgrade. I just got a one year reprieve.
Thanks Moose. Did he give you any hockey tickets?
30th wedding anniverssary
grim says:
March 8, 2016 at 12:37 pm
He needs a vacation? Really?
is it xx, xy or xxy?
https://youtu.be/KY3mBkRenAM?t=52s
Libturd questioning the gender of Hillary’s Cankle fluid. says:
I hear AC is nice
Lib [53];
No; but that’s OK, I’m a Rangers fan.
At Secretive Meeting, Tech CEOs And Top Republicans Commiserate, Plot To Stop Trump
Karl Rove shared focus group findings that give hope to the GOP establishment.
03/07/2016 07:22 pm ET | Updated 3 hours ago
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/aei-world-forum-donald-trump_us_56ddbd38e4b0ffe6f8ea125d?ir=Politics§ion=us_politics
By July, the Rethuglican party could be in tatters, and the Dumbocrat candidate for prez may be under indictment.
Good times.
Please, Rethugs and Dumbos, call me.
I can help. Bwahahahahaha!!!
[60] splat
Ok, I’ll supply the guns and ammo but you don’t know me, okay?
Another Thing Asbury Park Editorial – Chris Christie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrpLIFMnPJw
D [58];
At Secretive Meeting…
Oooooo, scary.
Its a good thing for Hillary that Dem voters (including notably Anone, Fabu, et al.) have the attention span of a goldfish and long-term memory just as short. “Secretive” wasn’t a problem for Move-on types when it was unelected first lady Hillary herself holding the secret meetings in the white house to plot the destruction of health care in 1993.
I see we still haven’t learned the ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’ lesson.
joyce (64)-
Two wrongs make for great good fun for types like me.
It’s like starting a human centipede with Beavis & Butthead.
Secret meeting..
I don’t like the idea of oligarchs vetoing candidates in a so called Democratic country.
Gives me the creeps. If Trump looses it should be on its own merit….
clot: if you want deviant healthcare service professionals……here you go…..
http://nypost.com/2016/03/08/horror-dentist-goes-on-trial-for-mutilating-patients/