From the Star Ledger:
N.J. faces $10.5B budget deficit heading into next year
New Jersey faces a $10.5 billion budget deficit heading into next year — nearly the same size as the gap that opened up before this year’s spending plan passed, according to an analysis by a nonpartisan legislative office.
The internal report, obtained by The Star-Ledger, means next year’s budget challenges could be just as difficult as this year, when Gov. Chris Christie slashed funding for schools, municipalities and property tax rebates.
The Office of Legislative Services calculated a $10.5 billion shortfall by counting all mandatory increases in state funding and assuming all programs now in the budget would be included next year.
But David Rosen, OLS’ chief budget official, wrote the numbers “will no doubt shift” between now and when the next budget is crafted.
…
Christie closed the gap in the $29.4 billion budget that took effect July 1 largely by avoiding costs such as funding for schools and rebates, rather than making major policy changes. He put off a $3.1 billion pension payment; next year, that bill is expected to increase to $3.5 billion, the OLS report says.The analysis said many of the big items that made up this year’s deficit would return for the next budget, noting that schools will be due $2.3 billion more, and the state will owe $2.1 billion in tax rebates.
From the Star Ledger:
N.J. towns could take income tax refunds from homeowners late on property taxes
New Jersey property owners late on their taxes could soon say goodbye to their state income tax refunds.
A bill up for consideration today in a state Senate committee would give municipalities first dibs on the income tax refunds and put the money toward the unpaid balance.
From the WSJ:
Senate Set to Extend Jobless Benefits
The Senate, after weeks of contentious debate, is poised to extend unemployment benefits Tuesday for more than 2.5 million Americans.
The issue has become a flash point in the parties’ attempts to define themselves for the fall election campaigns. Congress has voted six times since June 2008 to extend benefits, but Republican resistance has grown along with concerns about the deficit.
GOP senators say they want to help the jobless but that the extended benefits must be paid for so as not to add to the deficit. Democrats say the spending is justified, given the struggles of the long-term unemployed.
From MarketWatch:
Double-dip looks doubly certain
Economists and financial analysts are currently arguing whether the economy will experience a “double dip,” a recession followed by a short recovery, followed by another recession.
Some think the worst is behind us, and that output and employment will slowly but steadily increase during the next few years. Others believe we are headed for another crash. The lessons from the last business cycle favor the case for pessimism.
It has been said that if one laid all the world’s economists end to end, they wouldn’t reach a conclusion. Even so, a surprisingly large number of economists now agree that then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan made a tragic mistake. After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, Greenspan opened the monetary floodgates.
…
The housing market eventually collapsed, as all bubbles do. At this point, Ben Bernanke was at the helm of the Fed. Unfortunately, he got his policies out of Greenspan’s playbook, except Bernanke doubled down.
…
It makes no sense to “rescue” the economy by having politicians borrow and spend trillions of dollars. It also makes no sense to fix the horrible mistakes of the housing-bubble years by having the Fed create electronic money out of thin air to buy “toxic assets” from investment banks that would otherwise be insolvent.
The alleged economic recovery is unfortunately just as illusory as the prosperity of the housing-bubble years. It is disturbing to consider that if this is the calm before the storm, then the pending crash will be painful indeed. In the current debate on the direction of the economy, those predicting a “double dip” have the stronger — if more depressing — case.
From Bloomberg:
Drop in U.S. Housing Starts After Credit Ended Probably Extended Into June
Housing starts fell in June to the lowest level of the year as a slump in sales following the expiration of a government tax incentive caused U.S. builders to cut back, economists said before a report today.
Work began on 577,000 houses last month, down 2.7 percent from May and the fewest since December, according to the median estimate of 75 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
The retreat following the end of government support shows it will be difficult for the industry that precipitated the recession to sustain a recovery. Mounting foreclosures will swell the supply of houses on the market and pressure prices, while prospective buyers shy away as a lack of jobs shakes confidence in the world’s largest economy.
“We’re going to see general weakness in the housing market, at least into the fourth quarter,” said David Sloan, a senior economist at 4Cast Ltd. in New York. “Sales were boosted until April by the tax credit and now we’re seeing a sharp falloff.”
The Commerce Department’s homebuilding figures are due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Estimates ranged from 525,000 to 620,000.
From the WSJ:
Townhouse Price Cut Hits Ritzy Neighborhood
The sale of a sharply marked-down townhouse on one of Manhattan’s most exclusive blocks could deflate sale prices for townhouses throughout an elite neighborhood.
Brokers were in disbelief when Shelley and Donald Rubin, founder of a giant health-care network and proprietor of a Himalayan art museum in Chelsea, slashed the asking price of their East 70th Street townhouse by 25% to $14.9 million in May after it had sat on the market for about a year.
That was one of the steepest one-time markdowns for a high-end residential property in recent memory, but it did the trick: the Rubins accepted an offer this month and the deal is in the contract stage, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Listing broker Kathy Sloane of Brown Harris Stevens declined to comment.
Some say this deal, in effect, re-prices the market for East Side townhouses because buyers and brokers will now use the Rubins’ pricing as a benchmark for similar properties.
“That sale is going to color any buyer’s impressions on the Upper East Side,” says Wolf Jakubowski, a Brown Harris Stevens agent who specializes in Manhattan townhouses. “Owners are going to need to pay attention. If they are not already planning markdowns, they should at least expect to see lower offers.”
The # 3 comment on the above MarketWatch article sounds
like it is right out of Doom’s playbook.
New Trend?
Actually, we’re not sure which is more improbable, that Maywood, California, the city that fired and outsourced every single public employee is doing just fine, or that the New York Times has written a seemingly glowing account of a city that has practiced this extreme form of austerity.
Either way, it seems broke city of Maywood is about to set the muni community upside down, showing that you can sack everyone from the cops to the crossing guards, without anarchy breaking loose.
After the city fired everyone, several employees were rehired on a contract basis, and the city (which is outside of LA) hired a neighboring town’s police and firefighters for the outsourcing.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/maywood-california-doing-fine-2010-7#ixzz0uDh2MKVU
I wonder where it all stops – breaking people’s contracts and thinking that it’s ok to go as low as people will bear means that we’re all going to be working for minimum wage pretty soon – which will be ratched down progressively until we’re wearing loin clothes and tire strips for shoes. Everyone needs to step back a little bit and get real.
From yesterday Hyde, I’m traveling the rest of the weel I’ll shoot you an email on Friday about shooting
Nom , I didn’t think you would want to make the trip up to Morris county, for an hour or two of shooting
So when will NJ start to impose a sales tax on apparel and when will retail stores be open on Sundays in Bergen County?
Anyone know how much $$ NJ takes in on other sales tax and how much incremental revenue would be taken in by enacting the above?
Frist!
“we’re all going to be working for minimum wage pretty soon”
Gravy train has left the station for the public employees. Welcome to the real world. The Chinese and Indians took all our private sector jobs for less now all the private sector employees will take the public employees jobs for less. Sucks to be a public employee.
“A bill up for consideration today in a state Senate committee would give municipalities first dibs on the income tax refunds and put the money toward the unpaid balance.”
Nothing left after alimony and child support.
“It makes no sense to “rescue” the economy by having politicians borrow and spend trillions of dollars.”
[3],
You mean papering debt with more paper is not the path to prosperity? If doubling down does not work, try tripling down.
12. “real world” I love when that is thrown around.
Beachbum
we have gleefully consumed our own seedstock and are now shocked and dismayed that the fields are looking barren.
There is often a middle ground in this mess but neither side of the debates are happy with middle ground. We have been living on borrowed money for the lady 20 years. The correction is going to hurt and be nasty across the board.
serenity (6)-
My current outlook is for much, much worse than that. IMO, we’re now headed for the wall at 140 MPH. Print, repudiate, declare war are the last three steps before we enter oblivion.
On another note, you should see the new tenant who moved into the underwater house next door to mine. We’ve already been warned by her old neighbors that she’s an unfit mother, serial FK (two houses), layabout, mooch and possible petty thief. We now lock our doors all the time.
This was the only (and therefore, best) tenant our idiot neighbor could get. Of course, he now lives at the Shore in another underwater house his shrew of a wife forced him into buying.
BTW, the house next door to mine sold for 500K at the height of the boom. I don’t live in the ‘hood.
Bum (8)-
I think the fear comes from the fact that it’s dawning on people that the loin cloths/tire shoes thing is a very real possibility.
“…means that we’re all going to be working for minimum wage pretty soon – which will be ratched down progressively until we’re wearing loin clothes and tire strips for shoes. Everyone needs to step back a little bit and get real.”
“I wonder where it all stops – breaking people’s contracts”
[8],
Ask O how the union pushed senior bondholders to the back of the line? Contracts are broken every second of the day. No blood left for the parasites.
Sanctity of contracts implies rule of law. We tossed rule of law out the window several years ago (see post #20).
We are now a nation of feelings, not a nation of laws. The feelings that trump all are those of victimhood.
I decided to stop supporting the constant cycle of negativity and angst here. Just out of principle. Just a daily bitch-fest from hard working Americans.
sx (22)-
Take a look at what the BOJ did overnight. Then, tell me you’re not a little scared.
You know I’m not scared. Never have been. Just not my style. Maybe it comes from growing up with economic failure. Living simply, close to the edge — without concern for credit scores or permanent records. Working in private and public sectors and simply knowing how ‘the real world’ works. Really. Fear is for the weak.
What I really object to is mindless sound bytes. Mindless rants laying blame on working people. Simpletons.
Doom, Rusty sent this over for you:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d6e_1279516627
Doom
This was the only (and therefore, best) tenant our idiot neighbor could get. Of course, he now lives at the Shore in another underwater house his shrew of a wife forced him into buying.
A prearranged ACCIDENT while on a surprise trip to beautiful Brazil would have been substantially cheaper. Its unfortunate how easily a tourist can be affected by the crime on some of the south american nations.
Essex, there’s always fear in all of us. Fear and greed are the tightly strung and interwoven ligaments that form the foundation of every decision we make as the human animal.
To say that you have no fear and “fear is for the weak” is a self-serving and obvious admission of your lazy ego and the unwillness to put more than scant and superficial thought into the act of dismissing the opinions of others.
This is one example of the times I want to slap you into awareness.
Essex,
It is the real world. It’s nothing personal to the public employees. Some of them are lazy bums some of them are good workers like anyplace else. Thank the plutocrats who ran this country into the ditch.
/ripping a new one
29. Thanks for the insight. You officially bring nothing to the table. There was a time when someone could learn something from the posters on this site.
28. Awareness is for the weak.
Ok, random question, perhaps even silly – if this board had the real estate collapse and the economical tailspin pegged … what are the chances they could solve it?
The End of Days bellyaching is funny. It has been funny for months/years.
What about a solution? And a logical one, too. (I’m sure some will go the humorous route – it is the internet, that is to be expected.) It can’t involve death panels or the phrase “let it burn.” Who’s got the black swan answer?
You’re suddenly added to Obama’s dream team. What’s your plan to get out of this malaise?
It’s obvious to me that if you spend all day posting here (no offense Grim) you are part of the problem. A bored and unproductive populous intent on blaming someone else for their problems.
Essex,
“You don’t need a weatherman to know the
way the wind blows”
Bob Dylan
[9] knife
More busting your chops than anything else.
As for distance, Brigadoon isn’t that far, is it? Still getting used to distances here. I have noticed that what I consider a short drive isn’t considered short by NJ standards. Probably due to traffic.
[34] sx
“It’s obvious to me that if you spend all day posting here (no offense Grim) you are part of the problem. A bored and unproductive populous intent on blaming someone else for their problems.”
Yeah? And your point?
wow – those were some real crap housing numbers this morn…….
priceline 33
Different versions of the “answer” have been posted here by numerous posters many times. They will ever happen as you would have to wipe out TBTF in the process.
In short and perhaps not comprehensive:
-Kill TBTF ( not let it burn but let TBTF die and let the healthy small banks and businesses take their place. The government has a legitimate hand in easing the transition, but not in picking winners and losers)
-Kill the service industry illusion. immediately direct the majority of any government spending/stimulus to the crash construction of an American industrial base. Focusing on building an alternative energy infrastructure would be a good way to start.
-Cut the pork. HAHAHAHA LOL NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. O would have to roast his top supporters to do this one.
-Institute protectionist trade policies. This is no silver bullet. It has some potentially nasty side effects and will spark trade wars. The other side of the coin is that american employment is doomed as long as it is forced to compete with asian slave labor. institute equalization tariffs on any nation that does not at a minimum meet US environmental and manufacturing standards. in this scenario europe doesnt get hit with tariffs.
-Enforce US borders with mexico. if we want to stabilize the US job market then you must also cut off the cheap illegal mexican labor pool.
Dont kid yourself. there is no free lunch! we have lived on borrowed money for over 2 decades as a nation. On top of that we have maintained our lifestyle by leveraging off of 3rd world nations. Both of those games are at an end and any transition is going to be unpleasant. Any FIX is going to take at least a decade to fully take hold and the average american is conditioned to expect results in days/weeks.
Shore guy has posted fairly details proposals a number of times as well. look up his comments
[33] baconator
If you can filter through the doomsaying, and have followed this board for awhile, you will find suggestions, nuggets, pearls, etc. that people post or postulate as to how to fix the problem. It is also a lively topic at GTGs, along with beer and the local restaurants.
Grim doesn’t do thematic posts (we don’t pay him enough), but they develop sometimes if we manage to stay reasonably on topic. Whether it is the issue du jour or something that someone tosses out as a hot or controversial suggestion (like a nompound or boomer hunt), it stimulates debate.
Separating the wheat from the chaff is tough, always has been, but there is a debate and a vein or thread of wisdom gets developed and vetted. You just have to work for it a bit.
Besides, if we had all the answers, think we’d be posting them here? Nope, I would advocate for a well-paid position in the administration.
Nom 37
about 45 min drive for you
37. Well there’s people and more people
What do they know know know
Go to work in some high rise
And vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico
Ooh yeah
And there’s winners and there’s losers
But they ain’t no big deal
‘Cause the simple man baby pays for the thrills, the bills,
the pills that kill
sx (26)-
Quite a rebound.
Calif. city fires all staff, outsources everything
‘Our residents have been somewhat pleased’
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38320264/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times/
sx (25)-
I don’t blame working people. I blame the crooks who organize them into parasitic unions.
At some point, though, you’d think the people in the unions would realize their bennies and pensions were unsustainable and begin negotiating a deal that would allow them to continue being employed.
baconator (33)-
I’m pretty sure my first move would be to pull a Valkyrie on Bojangles.
Most people take whatever they can get. Thus the churn and burn at most employers. They realize that the only power any one of them can really achieve, the only leverage the little guy has, is to organize.
My thought is that you have to look at the bigger picture. Blaming unions because American automakers design and build ugly cars that no one wants to buy?
Blame collective bargaining for a desire to protect older and more expensive workers from the purges that occur after years of loyal service sending? Most thinking beings would try to insulate themselves from that. It shows an understanding of the “real world”.
I blame autoworker unions for buying a large chunk of the presidency, then subverting the rule of law to place themselves ahead of senior debtholders in a sham bankruptcy.
Again, no autoworker did any of the above. It’s the criminals who organize the union.
BTW, do you really think any union bigwig actually gives a damn about constituents? If so, that’s a little piece of reality you’re missing.
I have a lot less of a beef with private sector unions than I do with public sector.
Private sector unions at least have theoretical exposure to the fortunes and failures of their particular sectors. Public unions, OTOH, are like ringworm in human form.
I’m not that concerned with ‘reality’ as I am pretty sure it is not a genuine concept.
Or, as Robin Williams once said….”Reality is a crutch for those who can’t handle drugs.”
33.Priceline Baconator says:
July 20, 2010 at 8:49 am
Ok, random question, perhaps even silly – if this board had the real estate collapse and the economical tailspin pegged … what are the chances they could solve it?
The End of Days bellyaching is funny. It has been funny for months/years.
What about a solution? And a logical one, too. (I’m sure some will go the humorous route – it is the internet, that is to be expected.) It can’t involve death panels or the phrase “let it burn.” Who’s got the black swan answer?
You’re suddenly added to Obama’s dream team. What’s your plan to get out of this malaise?
To Late, can’t be done, as Rosanna Scotto said on Channel 5 today, we have become a “Reality Show Degenerate Society”. Smoke em if you got em!
33. You’re suddenly added to Obama’s dream team. What’s your plan to get out of this malaise?
1. Fire B.O.
2. Fire Biden
3. Hire a real dream team instead of the smoke and mirrors snake oil salesmen that a large portion of the population voted in to office.
Rosanna Scotto is kinda hot.
Jim (53)-
You can’t fire the president & VP. You have to kill them.
In theory, that is.
OT, but I expect this story to gain a lot more traction in the news shortly. All very strange. Unarmed professional shot in broad daylight. The detective was immediately taken to the hospital. medicated and did not give any statement to authorities for 3 days. Almost no attention paid to this in the mainstream press. The Credit Union Times has posted more on this than the hometown Star Ledger.
Atlanta CEO fatally shot in Newark park by Essex sheriff’s detective flew in for school reunion
NEWARK — DeFarra G*ymon spent a year planning his Montclair High School 30th reunion, making sure to block out the date well in advance of his busy schedule as president and CEO of a credit union in Atlanta.
G*ymon, 48, flew to New Jersey Thursday night for the gathering, which was to take place the following evening at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the Meadowlands.
He would never make it.
G*ymon — whom everyone called “Dean” — was shot and killed Friday evening by an undercover detective from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office during a confrontation in Newark’s Branch Brook Park.
The detective, who went to the park at 6 p.m. after receiving complaints about people engaging in s*xual activity in public, fired a single shot into G*ymon’s chest, authorities said.
G*ymon, married with four children, died at University Hospital in Newark at 9 p.m., said the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, which is now investigating the shooting.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/credit_union_ceo_fatally_shot.html
Not in Denville’s McCarter Park, you don’t.
Last week, the Morris County town passed an ordinance that prohibits smoking in all of the township’s public parks and recreational areas and adjacent parking lots and sidewalks.
“I want to … encourage all of you to be less accepting of smoke addiction,” said Denville resident Alex Adams, a 68-year-old former smoker who encouraged the township to pass the ordinance.
In the past month, Union County and Chatham Township have enacted similar bans, joining a growing list of more than 100 municipalities and counties that prohibit lighting up in municipally-owned public spaces. Chatham Borough is seeking to pass one by the end of the summer.
In Denville, a person convicted of breaking the new law faces a fine of up to $100 or two days of community service. A third offense could bring a $500 fine and 10 days of community service or jail time.
Last month, Union County freeholders enacted a smoking ban at all county recreation facilities. Union County is the second county to pass such a far-reaching plan, following Bergen County’s 2004 law. The Union County law carries a third-offense fine of $1,000, but county spokesman Sebastian D’Elia said none had yet been issued.
And not all towns have jumped on the smoke-free bandwagon.
“Personally, I think it’s a little ridiculous,” Madison Mayor Mary-Anna Holden said. “It’s bad enough they’re killing themselves.”
Holden said she had not received any complaints regarding smoking in Madison, where there are no municipal smoking bans.
“I think we have bigger problems,” Holden said. “If someone’s smoking, you walk away from them.”
Still, Blumenfeld said having signs erected empowers non-smokers to speak up against secondhand smoke.
“There is no Constitutional right to smoke,” she said.
Interesting to see if they will wave part of the Municipal Tax for Smokers, as Public Facilities are only for Non Smokers. Be a good legal test case. Not in Madison though. Also be interesting to see if they post the other Non Constitutional Activities they don’t like in Public Places like Cocaine & Sodomy?
55.Final Doom says:
July 20, 2010 at 9:43 am
Jim (53)-
You can’t fire the president & VP. You have to kill them
Don’t you wind up with Nancy Pelosi?
Everyone gets a pony.
The US Senate is expected to break a stalemate today over extending unemployment benefits for millions of out-of-work Americans, The New York Times is reporting.
The debate has been stalled since June, with Democrats being one vote short of Senate approval.
Today Carte Goodwin is scheduled to be sworn in to succeed Robert C. Byrd, the Democratic Senator from West Virginia who died last month. Along with the support of Senators Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, both Maine Republicans, Senate Democrats believe they have the 60 votes needed to prevent a Republican filibuster of the measure, The Times is reporting.
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2010/07/senate_poised_t.html?comments=all#readerComm
http://showhype.com/video/bob-dylan-subterranean-homesick-blues/
35 – BC –
One of my all-time favorites…”The pump don’t work ’cause the vandals took the handles.”
“New Jersey faces a $10.5 billion budget deficit heading into next year”
its alot higher than that baby!
you better get back to work.
SAS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolution_Trust_Corporation
#33 – Priceline
end market-to-fantasy
RTC
Haircuts for everyone
Live in reality
Ala Dylan
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/07/19/dodd-casts-doubt-on-warren-for-consumer-agency/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Feconomics%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Real+Time+Economics+Blog%29
What a bunch of crap.
Essex,
You want something constructive:
1) Don’t buy sh*t you don’t need or can’t afford
2) Pay off your debts and see #1
3) Enjoy life
Cindy,
Dodd is retiring. He’s probably saving that job for himself:) Pad his pension and make sure nothing gets done.
Cindy (64)-
The crooks are simply solidifying their stranglehold on everything of value. Can’t have somebody busting the greatest daylight bank robbery in history…especially when the crooks are so close to completing the theft.
re: #64 – Cindy For now there are still the trillions of dollars of underwater mortgages, CDO’s and CDS’s on the banks books. The mark to market rules have been replaced with mark to fantasy and the long term plan (perhaps decades?) is for the banks to hide their losses and “earn” their way out from under those losses the banks have. To do this they are going to soak the consumers with new fees to balance out whatever they eventually will claim in loan losses.
The banks cannot earn their way out if there is a new Sherriff in Town, this is where defeat of the nomination of Elizabeth Warren becomes critical for the banks.
I have no illusions about Elizabeth’s chances. Her nomination is DOA.
Do you guys think that the consumer advocate position is anything more than a bread crumb for the masses who still foolishly think the government represents them? Morons, all of you. Stop paying attention to the circus. As long as there are corporate lobbyists and campaign finances, you will never be represented by your elected officials. That’s the straight dope yo.
Why Banks Are Withholding High-End Foreclosures
“Bergen County, New Jersey
Finally, let’s take a look at the Northeast. Bergen County is made up of fairly affluent communities that are located in northern New Jersey just west of the George Washington Bridge. Although home prices have dropped rather substantially since the peak, it hasn’t been nearly as bad as in California or Florida.
RealtyTrac listed 615 repossessed properties as of July 16. Roughly 120 have been owned by the banks for more than a year without having been placed on the market. Two-thirds have been repossessed since the beginning of 2010.
Similar to the three other counties, many of the foreclosed properties in Bergen County are expensive homes. More than 100 are listed on RealtyTrac for $500,000 and above. More than 350 of these homes are listed for at least $300,000.
Are the banks withholding most foreclosed properties from the market as banks have in the other three counties? Absolutely. On July 16, there were only 31 repossessed homes on the market. A total of four were listed higher than $300,000. That’s four out of more than 350 foreclosed homes in Bergen County that are listed on RealtyTrac for more than $300,000.”
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/print.php?a=29230
66 through 68
Thank you gentlemen,
I will continue to hold out hope for Elizabeth because we are still working with a Democratic majority. The people do know who Warren is at this stage of the game. I feel she will garner some support and have a fighting chance. Those who oppose her should come off as self-interested buffoons.
Cindy,
The day we decided to bail out Wall Street was the day I stopped paying attention for good. The purpose of our federal government is to transfer our wealth. Any so-called social services are simply riot prevention. I would love to offer a solution, but outside of armed revolution (why I support the right to bear arms), there is none. They have the power and the wealth. You are a Pavlovian dog with little worth.
It’s a dog and pony show. Dodd and Frank? These guys were the most guilty men in Congress as far as this whole fiasco is concerned. Why would anyone put their trust in these two buffoons to act in the public interest?
Lib 72
????? what happened? did you go out drinking with Doom?
Cindy – Whomever is chosen by Obama to run Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will most likely be given a cramped office in the basement at the Federal Reserve building in DC right underneath Bernake’s bathroom. Putting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau inside the Fed is simply another way to stop any kind of reform.
69/72 Stu
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/19/AR2010071904966.html
“Battle looms over new job heading financial watchdog”
I cannot concede the battle.
The director would also have a seat on the board of the FDIC and would serve as a member of the FSOC, a council charged with monitoring potential threats to the financial system.
I would rather have someone at the forefront who is likely to report exactly what is going on. The fact that Tim, Dodd et al don’t want her speaks volumes to me. Yes we bailed out Wall Street, but Elizabeth is not about to let anyone forget GS got 100 cents on the dollar from AIG. Maybe just a thorn. Better than letting them run free.
58
Actually we do have a constitutional right to smoke:
NJ State Constitution:
ARTICLE I
RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES
21. This enumeration of rights and privileges shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people.
US Constitution:
Amendment 9
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
(full disclosure, I do not smoke and think it’s disgusting)
This can’t be helping the residential real estate market:
From the Miami Herald –
David Kosowski has a full-time job, a sky-high credit score, a solid debt-to-income ratio, and enough cash stashed away to put a 20 percent down payment on the three-bedroom, two-bath home he’s had his eye on since Spring.
But when he applied for a mortgage to cover 80 percent of the $495,000 purchase price of the Coral Gables home last month, he was flatly denied.
His story is one that has played out with head-scratching regularity across the troubled housing market, industry analysts say, even as mortgage rates have dropped to historically low levels.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage held at a record-low 4.57 percent this week, according to government-sponsored mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. Fixed-rate 15-year mortgages dipped slightly to 4.06 percent, also a record.
But even as rates fall, lenders are raising the bar ever higher for applicants, making it harder for even financially stable homebuyers to qualify, and in some cases making homes affordable only to those able to pay with cash.
Kosowski, who seems to have weathered the recession and the housing market downturn better than most South Floridians — he’s employed and has considerable equity in the three-bedroom home he purchased 10 years ago — said his application was rejected because the company he works for (and owns a 25 percent stake in), saw its earnings drop between 2008 and 2009.
That was enough, he said, for the bank to turn down his loan application — despite his 817 credit score, a history of meeting all debt obligations and a 21 percent debt-to-income ratio.
[snip]
More at http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/16/1732719/mortgage-rates-are-low-but-require.html#ixzz0uEaSbE00
Cindy (71)-
Why? The demmerkrats are all fascists and criminals, too.
“I will continue to hold out hope for Elizabeth because we are still working with a Democratic majority.”
Sorry Hyde,
I have felt this way for a while. Watching incredulous decision after decision made on the federal level since about 2000 (and perhaps back to 1980 when I was just old enough to understand it), there is simply no other rationale explanation. Just about every elected senator and congressman as well as almost all federal appointees are friggin criminals. How Rangel is still representing is a god damn disgrace. Geithner didn’t pay his taxes, Bernanke is a compulsive liar and Paulson was the world’s greatest conflict of interest for Wall Street. Not to mention the damage that moron Greenspan that replaced the tech wreck with the housing bubble. They are all a bunch of criminal liars. But go on and cheerlead for them. Send in your campaign contributions. You are simply making their job of robbing you blind easier. High frequency trading anyone? Sure, that’s a great way to encourage job growth. It’s all a sham.
Cindy, even if you got your way, Lizzy won’t be around forever. That legislation is pure garbage and will blow up in our faces the second someone else obtains the position.
Cindy,
The FDIC and SEC are enabling crooks. Our banks are absoultely, undeniably insolvent. Yet their earnings are terrific. How can this be?
Libtard
No need to apologize. I feel the same way. Just about every elected senator and congressman as well as almost all federal appointees are friggin criminals. seconded!
You usually seem to be a bit more reserved, thats all.
Sorry…Working too hard these days for less and less pay. Yet somehow, the rich keep getting richer.
new (78)-
I always thought that when TSHTF, I was going to run up a ton of debt, then default on it and kill my credit score.
At the end of last week, I realized I won’t need to do any of that, as my credit has been killed for me. Like a dumbass, I paid down debt on some lines of credit a couple of months ago. Slowly but surely, the lenders have cut the limits on the lines…and in one case, the lender (thanks, JPM) cancelled the line altogether. Both cutting limits and cutting lines do tremendous damage to credit scores.
I have never had as much as one late payment in nine years on these credit lines. I never maxed out any of the lines. However, I have sustained more damage to my credit by paying down debt than I would have had I defaulted on my mortgage and short sold.
FD,
I lost many of my longstanding credit lines when annual fees were added or when they were involuntarily closed due to non-use (most occurred last year), but my 300K of available credit card credit must somehow be sustaining my credit scores. I just need to hang on long enough until I finally buy my next home.
For sure – We have a mess on our hands. I just want to hear a voice once in a while I can believe. Clot – the democrat comment was related to the article @ 64.
I am actually off in a few hours to WA – Get together with old friends for several days.
http://www.explorehoodcanal.com/shellfish.html
Private property with their own oyster beds and clams. Backs up to a rain forest. Hiking, card games and wine – just what I need.
See you all in about a week..may check in @ my daughter’s place. Enjoy.
“The FDIC and SEC are enabling crooks. Our banks are absoultely, undeniably insolvent. Yet their earnings are terrific. How can this be?”
Borrow at 0% and lend at 5%; borrow at 0% and use money to buy stocks at market bottom.
Just checked my credit scores and I’ve dropped by 10 across the board at the three reporting agencies. Have never paid late or carried a balance in my life. Eh, F it.
OT
Not like there will ever be any real justice, but….
The Deepwater Horizon’s blowout preventer — the key device for shutting off a wild oil well — had a leak in the days before it failed to operate and BP did not comply with a federal regulation requiring the rig to suspend operations, a BP company man testified Tuesday.
77.joyce says:
July 20, 2010 at 10:51 am
58
Actually we do have a constitutional right to smoke:
NJ State Constitution:
ARTICLE I
RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES
21. This enumeration of rights and privileges shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people.
US Constitution:
Amendment 9
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
(full disclosure, I do not smoke and think it’s disgusting)
Interesting point, but in todays society the Government reinterprets the Constititution to suit it’s needs on an Adhoc basis. Even many of the Churches reinterpret the Bible to suit their needs on an Adhoc basis. I personally don’t agree with the Montana school board that felt it was necessary to teach kindergarten children about anal sex and alternative marriages. I believe the Parent should impart those values, not the state.
He won’t be making it to the Montclair High School Reunion.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/credit_union_ceo_fatally_shot.html
WASHINGTON – The unemployment rate fell in most states in June, mainly because more people gave up searching for work and were no longer counted.
Fewer states saw job increases, the latest evidence that the economic recovery is slowing.
The jobless rate declined in 39 states and Washington, D.C. last month, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That’s a slight improvement from May, when 37 states saw their rates decline.
But only 21 states saw net job gains in June, the government said. That compared to 41 the previous month and was the fewest for the year.
The decline in job creation reflects the layoff of thousands of temporary census workers. Those jobs inflated total payrolls in May and then reduced them in June.
The report also indicated that businesses aren’t hiring many new workers. Nationwide, private employers added a net gain of only 83,000 jobs last month. The national unemployment rate dropped to 9.5 percent in June from 9.7 percent the previous month, as about 650,000 people stopped looking for work.
Nevada, battered by a housing slump and a drop in tourism, posted the nation’s highest unemployment rate of 14.2 percent. That’s the state’s highest since records began in 1976.
In May, Nevada displaced Michigan from the top spot for the first time in more than four years. Michigan’s unemployment rate fell to 13.2 percent in June, the nation’s second-highest. It was followed by California with 12.3 percent and Rhode Island with 12 percent.
Now how does the Government track people not looking for work?
#87 – cindy – We have a mess on our hands. I just want to hear a voice once in a while I can believe.
I don’t blame you. I like Elizabeth Warren a lot. Even if I have disagreed with her on a few things regarding credit cards I think she is a very smart, informed person and exactly the type who *should* be heading a consumer protection agency.
I don’t think she’ll get it though. Even if she has no real power it’s a very visible position for a person to speak from. I don’t think anyone, on either side of the aisle, with a few exceptions, really wants that.
She won’t get it, because she should. I’m guessing we’ll get someone with a history of consumer deception. Maybe they can find someone who worked at BP?
lib (95)-
I figure they’ll take a former financial industry lobbyist…or someone from the SEC.
“I figure they’ll take a former financial industry lobbyist…or someone from the SEC.”
Nah, the head of investor relations at GS.
Jamil would make a great consumer advocate. He’s very good at repeating the party line.
A scary description of our out of control government…
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/07/19/secrecy/index.html
U.S. Authorities Shut Down WordPress Host With 73,000 Blogs
Written by enigmax on July 16, 2010
After the U.S. Government took action against several sites connected to movie streaming recently, nerves are jangling over the possibility that this is just the beginning of a wider crackdown. Now it appears that a free blogging platform has been taken down by its hosting provider on orders from the U.S. authorities on grounds of “a history of abuse”. More than 73,000 blogs are out of action as a result.
snip
http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-authorities-shut-down-wordpress-host-with-73000-blogs-100716/
So, Carte Gooodwin has just re-given the Dems carte blanche to spend without paying.
New in NJ, Shore,
it looks like we are following the soviet model quite well.
Comrade Nom,
Your name shows you are clearly a visionary amongst the proletariat!
Shore,
Whats up with the recent troop movements to costa rica?
Krasny Zvezda for everyone.
It could be that BO wants to get a pair of Ortega sun glasses.
You didn’t hear Hyde? They were responsible for 9/11. Oh wait that was the Mexicans. A Liberian spy did say that they had WMDs though.
Proximity to Panama and Venezuela can’t be part of the equation.
Hyde,
It gets even better:
“BP Had Blow Out Preventer Modified in China to Save Money
July 20th, 2010
Via: Guardian:
BP ordered the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, whose explosion led to the worst environmental disaster in US history, to overhaul a crucial piece of the rig’s safety equipment in China, the Observer has learnt. The blow-out preventer – the last line of defence against an out-of-control well – subsequently failed to activate and is at the centre of investigations into what caused the disaster.”
http://cryptogon.com/?p=16537
We HAD a BOP. Isn’t having one just as important as having one that works?
SHore,
While the costa rican troop movement isnt an invasion force, it isnt just a security detail either. They seem to have some real hardware.
Our history of central/south american drug intervention seems to be more about supporting/removing various government factions that need to be dealt with then with actual drug interdiction.
I know a guy who spent a lot of time down their with the Rangers and it wasnt for drug interdiction
HEHE
it keeps getting better:
Under withering questioning during Monday’s resumption of the joint Coast Guard-Department of the Interior inquiry into the BP Gulf of Mexico well blowout,, the rig’s chief engineer revealed the possibility that alarms and other critical systems were bypassed or not functioning at the time of the explosion.
The engineer said the rig had been experiencing mechanical failures for months before the explosion. Bertone, an employee of Transocean, said the vessel’s thruster, or propeller system, had been “having problems” for the previous eight months. In addition, the computer station where the rig’s driller sits had temporarily lost electrical power some days prior to the blowout, he said.
Bertone said on the night of the explosion, he heard no general alarm, there were no internal communications and no power to the engines, and none of the Deepwater Horizon’s backup or emergency generators were working.
“We were a dead ship,” he said.
Because there was no power, the crew was unable to engage the emergency disconnect system that would have halted the flow of oil from the wellhead.
In his questioning of Bertone, Ronnie Penton, the attorney for the Deepwater Horizon’s chief electronics technician, implied that some of the vessel’s safety monitoring systems were regularly bypassed, including a general alarm and a device that purged trapped gas from the drilling shack. Another attorney implied that the gas-purging device, which is designed to expel any unanticipated buildup of natural gas, had not been operating for five years.
In May, Douglas Brown, the rig’s chief mechanic, testified that he believed a sudden influx of gas onto the rig’s deck caused an engine to rev uncontrollably and touch off an explosion. A system to stop that scenario was not functional at the time, he said.
“If I would have shut down those engines, it could have stopped [them] as an ignition source,” he told the panel in May.
Later in Monday’s hearing, an attorney for Halliburton asked Leo Linder, a drilling fluid specialist, if gauges monitoring the drilling mud had been bypassed. Linder said he did not know.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-hearings-
HEHE
that link is dead for some reason, here you go
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/07/deepwater-horizon-engineer-unaware-of-problems.html
HEHE
trying one more time. THIS is the correct link
http://tinyurl.com/2albhot
#101 Shore
That’s terrible, Fillibuster should be a GOP right. How else can they continue their job of the past 30 years of flushing this country down the toilet.
Look at the PPT pump the markets! Go HFTs!
We cannot have a down day evah>>>>
Nom,
What’s the employment situation? Did you ever have that “meeting”?
Confused; re 59. Please give us a full report after a certain 3 letter agency pays you a visit.
Points for honesty at least. Michael Lind of Salon wants to turn banking into a public utility:
“Finance is another industry that American liberals think should be treated as a regulated public utility, not a competitive market. For progressive Americans, the provision of basic financial services like checking and small loans to households and businesses is as essential as the provision of water and electricity. The institutions of the financial sector that provide these basic, essential services should be carved off and converted into regulated utilities, as they were before Republicans and Democrats united to tear down the New Deal regulatory system in the 1980s and 1990s . . . .”
I love this, not only for its honesty, but at its core, this is paternalistic thinking that will disproportionately affect their constituents. The unstated message is that a certain segment of the populace cannot handle their financial affairs so their choices will be limited and regulated, and their access to credit will be curtailed because “those people” can’t handle credit.
But, on balance, this makes sense. Unless you see the borrowers as blameless victims, they had a pretty big role in the meltdown. In order to prevent a future meltdown, banking must be made safe, and one way you do that is to stop lending to people you know can’t handle credit. The fact that these people are a core constituency for the dems is an inconvenient truth.
[116] jurisprude
I did. I am a free agent now.
Ironically, I called up an old client today to follow up on my solicitation. She told me that she got a call from the old firm today, informing her that I was no longer there. She found it pretty ironic.
Haven’t entered into a release yet. Plan to discuss that with them today. They will be “shocked and insulted” to hear my counteroffer, but from where I sit, they have a lot more to lose than I do since the depressive effect that me and my peers can have on thier billing (and the effect that my solicitations will have on their billing and model vis-a-vis current clients).
Since I intend to offer a brief non-solictitation period as an incentive for them to offer more for my silence (especially about some of their practices that I am pretty sure clients won’t like), I am calling up former clients now.
arrgh, baby’s up again. Later.
plume (118)-
The people who really pose a problem by not being able to handle credit are the banksters.
They are idiots in suits. Without access to unlimited, free money, they’d be working squeegees at the Lincoln Tunnel right now.
Welcome to the New World Order.
“PHOENIX – Seven other Latin American countries want to join Mexico in supporting a lawsuit challenging Arizona’s immigration enforcement law.
Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru filed separate, nearly identical motions to join Mexico’s legal brief supporting the lawsuit filed by U.S. civil rights and other advocacy groups.
A federal judge formally accepted Mexico’s filing July 1 but did not immediately rule on the latest motions filed late last week.
Mexico says the law would lead to racial profiling and hinder trade, tourism and the fight against drug trafficking.
The law is to take effect July 29. It requires that police conducting traffic stops or questioning people about possible legal violations ask them about their immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion” that they’re in the country illegally.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100720/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_latin_america
plume (119)-
Clean the bastards out. And, air all the dirty laundry the minute your non-compete ends.
The best earth is scorched earth.
The Doom is far worse than initially thought and accelerating. Smoke em if you got em. Panic sex for those that dont smoke. Strap on your adult diapers and get ready to vomit with fear.
We are just a few yards away from the abyss.
Speaking of the abyss (gotta love the last sentence):
NEW ORLEANS — Scientists huddled Tuesday to analyze data from the ocean floor as they weigh whether a leaking well cap is a sign BP’s broken oil well is buckling.
Oil and gas started seeping into the Gulf of Mexico again Sunday night, but this time more slowly, and scientists aren’t sure whether the leaks mean the cap that stopped the flow last week is making things worse.
The government’s point man on the disaster, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, will decide again later Tuesday whether to continue the test of the experimental cap — meaning the oil would stay blocked in.
He said Monday the amount of oil leaking was so far inconsequential. But ever since the flow of oil was closed off Thursday, engineers have been glued to underwater cameras and pressure and seismic readings, trying to determine whether the cap is displacing pressure and causing leaks underground, which could make the sea bed unstable and cause the well to collapse.
snip
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7116251.html
117.DL says:
July 20, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Confused; re 59. Please give us a full report after a certain 3 letter agency pays you a visit.
I was just pointing out third in sucession is Speaker of the House, so even if you impeached P & VP, you wind up with Pelosi. Better to vote them ALL OUT.
Shore,
if you want to play the doomsday game, the leaking well could actually produce a few spectacular ones. fortunately the odds of any of those scenarios occurring remain fairly small.
#123 Al, would you care to elaborate? Anything in particular causing you to vomit with fear or just the same old free-floating anxiety that curses all of us? Great imagery, btw.
For those of you in pharma – heard someone suggest getting a xanax air freshener for everyday use and a xanax inhaler for immediate anxiety. Sounds good to me, what do you guys think?
If there is any justice, the BP well cap will fail while the Prime Minister is still here.
Perhaps he could also comment upon the release of the Lockerbie bomber while he’s here.
Al,
I thought the great war between the U.S. and the Zionists was supposed to have started by now.
129.
Anyday now, although I really thought they would wait until winter.
Nevertheless, I was watching the ROV Olympic Challenger 1 yesterday. The sea floor was vibrating like a lid on top of a pot of boiling water. They cut that feed. Then I listened to a Matt Simmons interview. Once I was done with that doom I watched a video of a chemist testing ocean samples from the gulf and the beaker exploded.
Once I was done with that doom I listened to Gerald Celente predict WW3.
All in a days doom. If you need me Ill be in the bathtub with my guns.
Nom [119],
Let us know exactly what transpires in that meeting. No detail is too small to omit.
I have to say, not a bad article for someone who is poles apart from me politically.
http://www.slate.com/id/2260968/
Funny how the headlines change:
The Deepwater Horizon’s blowout preventer — the key device for shutting off a wild oil well — had a leak in the days before it failed to operate and BP did not comply with a federal regulation requiring the rig to suspend operations, a BP company man testified Tuesday.
a few hours later:
The Deepwater Horizon’s blowout preventer — the key device for shutting off a wild oil well — had a leak in the days before it failed to operate, which may have required BP to suspend operations under a federal regulation, a BP company man testified Tuesday.
source article
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/hearings_bp_did_not_suspend_dr.html
123. Neat.
118. Wtf are you rambling about!???
The White House signaled Monday that the administration may seek another renewal of benefits in November if unemployment remains painfully high. Unemployment is not expected to drop to normal levels until the middle of the decade.
Gee I wonder what the deficit will be in 2015 with $60B a year in unemployment extensions? Oh I forgot 12/20/2012 “Game Over” anyway.
” $60B a year in unemployment extensions”
It’s about the only thing I can support from this government. It would actually be money well invested if they allowed the proper economic adjustments to occur so we could start anew rather than trying to prop up a dead system.
Burden of cots for obese may fall on taxpayers
Monday, July 19, 2010 02:55 AM
By Suzanne Hoholik
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Chris Russell | Dispatch
Firefighter/paramedic Erin Slatzer’s strongest cot holds 650 pounds, but the city says that’s not enough for all patients.The Columbus Division of Fire has bought stretchers over the past few years that can move patients who weigh up to 650 pounds; now, the city is considering buying even-stronger equipment – for those weighing up to 1,000.
When paramedics have to move patients weighing more than 650 pounds, which generally happens twice a month, the current stretchers often aren’t strong enough.
For the morbidly obese, paramedics use a tarp with eight to 10 handles.
“We’ll put the patient in … the back of the truck on the floor, which presents a safety issue because they’re not fastened down,” said Capt. Scott Krummel, an emergency medical supervisor with the Fire Division.
At the hospital, the medic unit is met by staff members who help move the patient from the floor of the truck to an ambulatory bariatric bed.
Federal health officials estimate that the health cost of obesity in the United States is $147 billion annually. Part of this cost is paid by local governments that provide emergency medical services.
Columbus has 18 stretchers that can move patients up to 650 pounds; those stretchers cost about $5,000 each. The city plans to buy 34 more cots this year so that every medic unit has one, Krummel said.
A stretcher that could safely handle patients who weigh up to 1,000 pounds, along with the hydraulic system to move it up and down, costs about $10,000.
The larger, wider cots require an ambulance retrofitted with a ramp and an automatic-winching system to pull the cot inside. That helps reduce injury to paramedics trying to move the large patients. The retrofitting can cost more than $6,000.
“We’ve talked about this for years, and this is something that’s needed,” Krummel said.
Columbus should have two of the bariatric medic units, he said. “If paramedics got to the point where there was a 1,000-pound patient, they could put out a call for that unit.”
George Speaks, deputy director of the Department of Public Safety, said he hadn’t received a request for larger cots or to retrofit ambulances. “However, we would strongly consider obtaining these cots, despite the cost,” he said. “Obesity is detrimental not only to the individual but society in general. Our community may have to pick up the additional cost.”
State Sen. Kevin Coughlin, chairman of the Senate health committee, said such medical equipment could become a financial burden for cities, but the state could help with interest-free loans.
“Money is very tight in the state government right now, but I could look at what’s possible, seeing if there’s any money that can be reallocated for that purpose,” Coughlin said.
MedFlight of Ohio’s critical-care ground unit added two bariatric ambulances with the bigger cots to its fleet a few years ago after seeing an increase in the number of patients too big for the 650-pound cots.
The private ambulance company transports 30 to 40 morbidly obese patients a year, said Tom Allenstein, chief clinical officer at MedFlight.
“We saw for even the few that we do, we needed” a bariatric system, he said. “You just can’t have any ambulance transporting them.”
Dr. Teresa Long, Columbus’ health commissioner, said the need for the costly cots is another call for people to change their behavior and reduce obesity in America.
“The human and fiscal cost is tremendous,” she said. “The thought is sobering, and yet we can’t be paralyzed. We have to take action
anyone post this? most leaving mortgage mod programs
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38328728
confused [139]
Couldn’t they simply retrofit the equipment used to move dead cows?
States unemployment chart:
http://link.businessinsider.com/view/f7b.47k/7f9c8734
Grim,
Please delete #143, thanks.
118th
Final Doom says:
July 20, 2010 at 8:10 am
On another note, you should see the new tenant who moved into the underwater house next door to mine. We’ve already been warned by her old neighbors that she’s an unfit mother, serial FK (two houses), layabout, mooch and possible petty thief. We now lock our doors all the time.
Doom, sorry, couldn’t help but laughing at “possibly petty thief.” Question: Did you NOT lock your doors at all times prior to the new neighbor?
I always found this weird – when we bought our house, the owner said they NEVER locked their door, not even at night. The day after we bought, we had an alarm put in (hasn’t been a crime in the neighborhood in over a decade – i called the cops to ask).
A few days later the previous owner showed up to drop something or other off … he was stunned to see an alarm already put in.
141.cobbler says:
July 20, 2010 at 4:57 pm
confused [139]
Couldn’t they simply retrofit the equipment used to move dead cows?
The cost they indicated is stagggering:
Federal health officials estimate that the health cost of obesity in the United States is $147 billion annually.
Yet you never read much about this. Maybe Denville also should ban Ding Dongs along with Cigarettes in Public places. Channel 2 today said third offense in Denville for smoking in public is prison. Don’t think we can afford that, so I would recommend Denville hire snipers to execute people smoking in Public a third. That should make the 68 year old ex – smoker who started that, happy. If a skinny person who use to be heavy complains about the ding dong crowd they can do likewise.
yikes (145)-
Left doors unlocked during the day; virtually no crime in my area (property crime, that is). I don’t own lots of “stuff” that burglars like, so I always figured f-it, let them have it. Just take the crap and don’t break my windows and doors.
Need advice…
We put an offer in on a short sale in January 2010 with BoA at 375K, they just got back to us and countered at 400K plus they want us to bring 6K in cash to the closing to cover the sellers expense. We agreed to the 400K but said no to the 6K in cash, it sounds bogus and we’ve never heard of such a request. The sellers attorney’s claim that they will not budge. This is a house that has not been lived in for a year, no electric, no gas and roof is in need of replacing, overall in need of a lot of work. The sellers attorney claims that she can’t put a counter in because they’ll just close the file, is this ridiculous? Other than walking or accepting to pay the 6K in cash at closing what are our other options? Does it seem weird/shady to ask for 6K in cash?
LT (148)-
Sounds like that 6K isn’t going to end up on the HUD-1 statement. If the whole thing were on the up-and-up, why didn’t they just counter you at 406K?
If the cash gets disbursed ex-HUD-1, that is illegal. Many lenders are engaging in POC (payment outside closing) scams on short sales…even the big guys like BAC.
Tell the bank scum (or the person who prepped it) to show you the HUD-1 that was submitted in the short sale approval process. If no one will produce it for you, tell everyone on the other side of the deal to shove the house up their asses sideways, and walk away.
whats going on with google spies?
someone sent me a link telling me to google…google spies.
like I told you day 1 sometime ago, back in the 90s, I worked in telecommunications out in California and in Korea…there came a point where I couldn’t tell the difference btw an employee & govt agency the higher I climbed up that ladder.
and damn it…I pulled the rug from under those Koreans..shot me right up that ladder.
PS: careful what you wish for..
SAS
#146 confused
How to cure obesity, tax the sh1t out of HFCS and force the manufacturers back to sugar.
How to solve Medicare / Medicaid , tax the sh1t out of HFCS to resolve the Obesity and Diabetes explosions.
Simple answers to simple questions.
Immigration reform, trying to seal borders is like p1ssing in the wind. Don’t go after the immigrant, go after the people who hire them or those that hire the subcontrators that supply them.
Oh, this will end well.
N.J. Gov. Christie plans takeover of Atlantic City casino district, sale of Meadowlands Racetrack
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/nj_gambling_atlantic_city_takeover_meadowlands_racetrack_shut.html
“New Jersey faces a $10.5 billion budget deficit ”
Should that not be a $7.5 billion defecit as I assume CC won’t pony up next years payment to the pension fund.
lol State is gonna run AC now?
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/politics/Christie-Planning-Takeover-of-AC-Casino-District-98869144.html
Final Doom (149)
Thank you for your feedback. I guess the gov’t backs the banks now so they can do no wrong? Pardon my ignorance, can you explain the HUD-1 to me? I thought this was something the buyers attorney prepares and submits? Is there any way to threaten them (BoA) into submission? We’re so bummed because we already paid for inspections since we were initially told our offer of 400K was acceptable minus the 6K. Ugh!
Final Doom (149)
Also, wouldn’t this 6K request of cash be somewhere on the equator screen print response from the bank for our counter? We viewed the screen print and couldn’t find the 6K anywhere, the only statement from the bank was negotiate down to 400K. Could this be the attorney fighting for money for their clients?
Sorry I missed today’s Bob Dylan Retrospective……earning my daily bread gets in the way sometimes.
For insight that’s pertinent to almost any situation, I like to refer to Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again. Bob could see into the future, I swear. Pick a verse, any verse. Here’s a couple of my favorites….
“Now the senator came down here
Showing ev’ryone his gun,
Handing out free tickets
To the wedding of his son.
An’ me, I nearly got busted
An’ wouldn’t it be my luck
To get caught without a ticket
And be discovered beneath a truck.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again.
Now the preacher looked so baffled
When I asked him why he dressed
With twenty pounds of headlines
Stapled to his chest.
But he cursed me when I proved it to him,
Then I whispered, “Not even you can hide.
You see, you’re just like me,
I hope you’re satisfied.”
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again.
Now the rainman gave me two cures,
Then he said, “Jump right in.”
The one was Texas medicine,
The other was just railroad gin.
An’ like a fool I mixed them
An’ it strangled up my mind,
An’ now people just get uglier
An’ I have no sense of time.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again.”
Lt (156-157)-
The HUD-1 is the closing statement, listing debits/credits to both buyer and seller (in the case of a short sale, the bank normally doesn’t care about the buyer’s side of the document, so the submitted statement only reflects credits/debits on the seller side…since buyer info isn’t included, this gives crook lenders an opening to try and gouge POC payments from the buyer) . In order to obtain short sale approval, this statement must be generated and submitted to the bank in advance, so that the bank can verify their net proceeds at closing and ensure improper charges and payments aren’t made to peripheral parties. Ideally, it should be prepared by the RE agent of the seller, although it often falls to the seller’s attorney, since most RE agents are too stupid to prepare the document.
If this 6K demand is kosher, it should sure be in writing somewhere. If it doesn’t show up on the bank’s internal docs, you can be pretty sure some underhanded shit is happening. Most likely, I’d guess it’s one or both of two things:
1. The bank is going to use some, or all, of that 6K as an inducement to a second lienholder to get out of the way and allow the short sale.
2. The bank is going to use some, or all, of that 6K as “cash-for-keys” to the borrower.
fiddy (158)-
Being a Memphis kid, I still like this one:
Well Mack the Finger said to Louie the King
I got forty red, white and blue shoestrings
And a thousand telephones that don’t ring
Do you know where I can get rid of these things
And Louie the King said let me think for a minute son
And he said yes I think it can be easily done
Just take everything down to Highway 61
Final Doom (159)
I believe we’re dealing with option #1 but hey the RE already gave us the keys to the property because she was too lazy to show up for the inspections, perhaps we should just squat our way into ownership!
“How to cure obesity, tax the sh1t out of HFCS and force the manufacturers back to sugar”
how about get rid of corn subsidies?
SAS
Final Doom (159)
Interesting though, I found the following statement made by a BoA rep to CNBC:
Bank of America denied the practice to CNBC in a written statement:
“Bank of America enforces a policy that all disbursements are documented on the settlement statement for short sales. When we are servicing a first mortgage with a second lien held by another investor, if the second lien holder asks for off-HUD payments, we will not approve the transaction (if we have knowledge of it). It is also against Bank of America’s policy to accept off-HUD payments on its second liens.”
Yes, Doom, I see what you mean…….very pertinent indeed —
“Now the rovin’ gambler he was very bored
He was tryin’ to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes I think it can be very easily done
We’ll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61”
Cue the Slide Whistle
how about get rid of corn subsidies?
What, and shut down the corn belt? McDonalds would need to raise the price of the McSlopwich by 35 cents to compensate for rising beef costs and there would be uprising.
Besides, Daddy Cargill wouldn’t ever let the American Farmer get hurt by something like that.
“What, and shut down the corn belt? McDonalds would need to raise the price of the McSlopwich by 35 cents to compensate for rising beef costs and there would be uprising”
is that you Earl Butz?
SAS
is that you Earl Butz?
SAS
Farming corn in the midwest is as American as Apple Pie *
* Now made with Chilean apples, sweetened with HFCS, crust made with genetically engineered roundup-ready grains, hydrogenated soy and vegetable oils, and the remaining 40% will trace its way back to some other corn byproduct, pumped out of a machine into a cardboard box, now 10% smaller but carrying the same price tag and an image reminiscent of a time and place that never really existed, but is damn good at sellin’ pie.
And somehow, as a buyer’s agent, I’ve become the crook in this story.
Corn subsidies vary from around 13B-20B yearly varying on how bad the exports are. Those subisdies aren’t that bad compared to the subsides given to Real Estate and the banks.
Real Estate alone via the Fed actions of buying MBS got 1.25 trillion subsidy in the last year. Federal tax deductions for mortgage interest, local property taxes, and capital gains on house sales, and then the behemoth bastards Fannie and Freddie,FHA subsidizing trillions in loans make anything given to the farmers a mere pittance.
We should go after Finance, Insurance,Real Estate, and Energy subsidies first before we go after the farmers.
It is too early for scotch? Just askin’
sl
LT (163)-
Keep in mind these are the same cretins who paid $26/share for an investment bank that was one day away from insolvency.
grim (167)-
Who needs apple pie, when you can have a Chinese bun made of shredded cardboard?
Bear in mind this sleaze of BoA is really the remnants of Countrywide, so these are really Mozilo zombies that haven’t been fumigated from the carcass…..not that BoA is a paradigm of virtue, but still……
Final Doom says:
July 20, 2010 at 11:39 pm
LT (163)- Keep in mind these are the same cretins who paid $26/share for an investment bank that was one day away from insolvency.
Chi (173)-
Very true. Except the worst of the Mozilo zombies migrated to flogging FHA product.
When you’re building a plutonium bomb of bad debt, only go with the pros.
When I have some energy, I’ll post the story here of a guy I know who got a loan mod from BAC last year, redefaulted and just got put into another loan mod a couple of weeks ago.
This could actually be the best counseling move I’ve ever pulled. I told the borrower (after his first redefault) to wait a few months, then start calling BAC constantly until he got somebody on the other end to agree to put him into a new loan mod.
It only took three calls.
BTW, it’s an absolute slam-dunk that this borrower is going to default on his latest mod.
He told me so.
#61 Bob Dylan’s only good song
Surprise. The douchebag doesn’t like Dylan.
Doom,
Met Bob F today. Went well.
Thanks.
sl
I still need scotch, however.
sl