From the Star Ledger:
N.J. unemployment rate rises as ‘discouraged workers’ resume job search
New Jersey added 7,500 jobs in February, but the state’s unemployment rate actually edged up as formerly “discouraged workers” re-entered the workforce, according to data released today by the state Department of Labor.
The unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent, from 9.1 percent in January, as discouraged workers — used to describe those who gave up looking for work — are now resuming their job search, department officials said.
The workforce participation rate, which is used to calculate the unemployment rate, includes those who are employed and anyone who is looking for work. Due to the new additions, that rate increased to 65.5 percent last month, from 65.3 percent in January.
New Jersey also shed more jobs in January than previously estimated, according to the revised data. The state lost 15,800 jobs in the first month of the year, substantially higher than the preliminary estimate of 13,000.
But the data still shows considerable improvement compared to a year ago, when the state’s unemployment rate hit 9.7 percent.
From New Jersey Newsroom:
N.J. Labor Officials: 7,500 found work last month but unemployment at 9.2 percent
Long term job figures show growth of 17,200 private sector jobs between February 2010 and February, in contrast to the previous year’s loss of 96,600 private sector jobs between February 2009 and February 2010.
In January, 15,800 people lost their private sector of government jobs. If the department’s figures are correct and 7,500 people found work, that would mean 3,836,400 New Jerseyans are employed but another 399,500 remain jobless.
In addition, New Jersey personal incomes are on an upswing, labor officials said. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the state’s aggregate personal income — an estimate of income earned by all residents — was $450.7 billion (at an annual rate) for the fourth quarter of 2010. This is a new record high and is 2.9 percent above the value for the fourth quarter of 2009.
“The income gain is one of the most encouraging signs yet that New Jersey’s economy is emerging from the recession,” Charles Steindel, the state Treasury Department’s chief economist.
The majority of the employment gain was recorded at private sector businesses, which added 6,800 jobs over the month as six of ten industry super-sectors recorded job gains. The number of government jobs increased by 700 in February.
Good Morning New Jersey
From the Edgewater View:
Single ladies top home-buying charts
Almost twice as many single women (20 percent) are buying homes than single men (12 percent), according to the most recent statistics from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The reason? Because they can.
“discouraged workers” re-entered the workforce and “distressed homes” back on the market
Grim Number 2 Funny you should post that because two single women just made a purchase together by me and they’re not bad looking for lesbians
From the WSJ:
Fannie Report Warned of Foreclosure Problems in 2006
Fannie Mae was warned in a 2006 internal report of abuses in the way lenders and their law firms handled foreclosures, long before regulators launched investigations into the mortgage industry’s practices.
The report said foreclosure attorneys in Florida had “routinely made” false statements in court in an effort to more quickly process foreclosures and raised questions about whether some mortgage servicers or another entity had the legal standing to foreclose.
…
At the time of the report, foreclosures nationally stood at relatively low levels. The report didn’t identify the practice of “robo-signing” that initially sparked the foreclosure-document inquiries last fall. Robo-signing occurs when affidavits are signed without someone fully reviewing underlying documentation.
But the report raised other red flags that have roiled the industry, including improper legal filings by foreclosure attorneys and questionable practices surrounding the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, an electronic-lien registry set up by the mortgage industry to reduce paperwork and lower costs.
Fannie’s legal department suspected that in order to reduce time-consuming efforts to track down documents, “foreclosure attorneys may be taking short cuts by misrepresenting that [original loan documents] are lost,” the report said. Fannie hadn’t authorized such conduct. The Fannie spokeswoman said the company began requiring Florida law firms to notify Fannie about every filing of a “lost-note” affidavit in 2006.
From the Record:
Legal Services seeks more protections for homeowners facing foreclosure
Legal Services of New Jersey said Thursday that an agreement between the state and six large mortgage lenders doesn’t go far enough to protect homeowners facing foreclosure and wants the judge to consider more safeguards.
Legal Services filed court papers in Trenton in connection with a settlement that would appoint a retired judge to oversee the foreclosure activity of the six lenders — Ally Financial (parent of GMAC Mortgage), Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, OneWest Bank and Citibank.
The six lenders were responsible for about 29,000, or almost half, of the foreclosure cases in New Jersey last year. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner ordered the lenders in December to show why their foreclosure proceedings should not be suspended in light of concerns over “robo-signing” — when bank employees sign affidavits in foreclosure cases without reviewing their accuracy.
The lenders reached an agreement with Edward Dauber, a Newark lawyer hired by the state, recommending the appointment of Richard J. Williams, a retired Superior Court judge from South Jersey, to oversee the lenders’ foreclosure activities for 12 months. Edison-based Legal Services, which provides help to low-income people in civil matters, including foreclosures, said it was not included in discussions leading to that accord.
From MarketWatch:
Housing is dead; it can’t hurt the economy
Housing is dead. There is no doubt about that. Housing is as dead as a door nail.
Someday, the housing market will live again. Carpenters, plumbers, painters and electricians will build houses again, which will be sold to young families who want to own a part of the American dream. However, that someday is still years away.
Some people will tell you that housing isn’t quite dead, that it’s a zombie that has the power to destroy the economy yet again. For example, here’s what economist Beth Ann Bovino of Standard & Poor’s says about the big drop in new-home sales in February: “If we see this extended into basically the spring season, then we’re going to see a real hit to the economy.”
Don’t believe it.
Housing is just too small to do any real damage to the economy any more. How small is it?
Residential investment has fallen to a 2.2% of gross domestic product, compared with the long-run average of nearly 5%. The record low was reached in 1933 at 1.1%. Residential construction employment has fallen from 2.5% of all jobs to 1.6%. Housing has little direct impact on the economy.
True, another downturn in home building or sales would undoubtedly lead to more job losses among construction workers. It could lead to lower prices, which could mean more foreclosures and more losses in home-equity wealth.
As tragic as those outcomes would be to individuals, they wouldn’t push the economy into a recession, as they did in 2007. In terms of housing’s impact on the economy, we just don’t have that much left to lose. We’ve already lost $8.3 trillion in wealth.
It was very painful, and it was very slow, but the market is adjusting to the shock of the bursting of the housing bubble. Supply is adjusting, so are prices.
From the Financial Times:
US banks in ‘cash for keys’ foreclosure talks
The five biggest US mortgage servicers were told this week at a private meeting with regulators to consider paying delinquent borrowers up to $21,000 each as part of a broader settlement of the foreclosure crisis .
People who attended the meeting, chaired by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Monday, said the industry-wide “cash for keys” programme would involve the biggest servicers, led by Bank of America, paying borrowers as an incentive to leave their homes.
#7 – The people I evicted in Hackensack last week, the moving and storage bill arrived. Bill for the 2 day move came to about $8500. Add this to the fact that the sheriff sale took place in August of 2010 (7 months carrying costs) and the idea of $21,000 for vacating within 30 days after sheriff sale doesn’t appear to be unreasonable.
Gov. promises facelift to NJ’s ‘ugliest’ building
NUTLEY, N.J. – Gov. Chris Christie wants a longtime New Jersey eyesore to get a makeover.
Calling it the ugliest building in New Jersey, and possibly America, Christie said Thursday that any deal to finish developing a troubled multibillion-dollar retail and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands will have to include a new exterior.
More at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110324/ap_on_re_us/us_christie_xanadu
Dynamite and return it to wetlands. no other option.
Or internment camp for eventual liquidation of the productive in this state
“regulators to consider paying delinquent borrowers up to $21,000 each as part of a broader settlement of the foreclosure crisis .”
Rent free for over 2 years plus incentive of $21,000 to vacate the home.Any reason this homeowners can not buy a home cash after saving PITI + $21,000.Forget a messed up credit time to play the system.
Re #7&8 If this becomes a precedent, we are talking
$ 21, 000.00 per house X how many houses?
Millions or billions more up in smoke?
Looks like more incentive to default to me.
Duke messed up my bracket
Fed mulls mortgage bond auction. The Fed is considering an auction of a large portfolio of subprime-mortgage bonds, sources say. The securities are held by Maiden Lane II.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/260122-wall-street-breakfast-must-know-news?source=hp_wc&wc_num=1
Crap in, crap out.
“Duke messed up my bracket”
Sorry about your bracket but any day those douchebags lose is a glorious day in my book.
“Don’t believe it.
Housing is just too small to do any real damage to the economy any more. How small is it? ”
The damage has already been done for 20 years of stagnant economic growth. Why don’t we make the banks recognize their losses and see if that leads to recession?
The five biggest US mortgage servicers were told this week at a private meeting with regulators to consider paying delinquent borrowers up to $21,000 each as part of a broader settlement of the foreclosure crisis.
Nope. Delinquent borrowers should decline. Live in the house for nothing and let the place fall apart as the maintenance costs rise while appreciation deteriorates. Tell the banks you are using their assets for leverage at 0% risk. Tell them you learned this technique from them.
Gary,
Let’s take a trip down the yellow brick road; at least 10-20 years of stagnation, decline, and desperation.
#18 Gary
Strategic defaulters learned a few tricks from companies.
1) Buy with as little as possible down
2) Saddle it with debt and strip it of all equity (home equity loans/cash out refis)
3) When the deal turns sour, default, but squat as long as possible first and use increased cashflow to recover downpayment and other housing costs
4) Do a short sale/get a deed in lieu of plus get banks to pay you to leave.
Gary, Bravo!
Anyone who trades mortgage bonds knows about burn rate, default rate etc. Mortgage bonds undergo a “seasoning” process. Usually in first 7 years there are higher defaults or refinancing if a high interest rate loan. For instance in 2001 a 1994 era junk suprime portfolio was worth more than a 2000 junk suprime mortgage portfolio. For whatever reason the the remaining 1994 people never refinanced when rates were low in 1995- 1999 and never defaulted. Seven years in both risks are lower. The 2000 portfolio has two risks default and a high percentage of people refinanicing those 10% mortgages and you getting money back in 2003 when rates are low.
Junk in junk out is actually junk in good out.
Mikeinwaiting says:
March 25, 2011 at 6:39 am
Fed mulls mortgage bond auction. The Fed is considering an auction of a large portfolio of subprime-mortgage bonds, sources say. The securities are held by Maiden Lane II.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/260122-wall-street-breakfast-must-know-news?source=hp_wc&wc_num=1
Crap in, crap out.
Only problem is most good jobs do credit checks if someone has a BK in last 7 years good luck job hunting. I turned down a guy with a BK for a 300K job. He can’t manage his money don’t want him near our money.
gary says:
March 25, 2011 at 6:45 am
The five biggest US mortgage servicers were told this week at a private meeting with regulators to consider paying delinquent borrowers up to $21,000 each as part of a broader settlement of the foreclosure crisis.
Nope. Delinquent borrowers should decline. Live in the house for nothing and let the place fall apart as the maintenance costs rise while appreciation deteriorates. Tell the banks you are using their assets for leverage at 0% risk. Tell them you learned this technique from them.
JJ,
He can’t manage his money don’t want him near our money.
Good money management includes debt, high risk, bankruptcy, leverage at 30X, theft, deception and slight of hand. That’s the new model for growth. You should have hired the guy.
He was the a real nice guy but worse credit I have ever seen, BK primary residence, Back Child Support, Back Alimony and an IT Consulting business that had a BK in 2002.
gary says:
March 25, 2011 at 8:00 am
JJ,
He can’t manage his money don’t want him near our money.
Good money management includes debt, high risk, bankruptcy, leverage at 30X, theft, deception and slight of hand. That’s the new model for growth. You should have hired the guy.
“Only problem is most good jobs do credit checks if someone has a BK in last 7 years good luck job hunting.”
JJ is right. We turned down two top candidates recently for BK.
Oh man, oh man. I love it when someone advices my pureness.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/22/real_estate/doomsday_bunkers/index.htm?hpt=C2
Nompound real estate prices up over 1,000%. greenshoots?
well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with succeeding post
serenity (13)-
There is no incentive to pay anymore.
Paying the mortgage is for suckers. The only smart play is default.
(206) fabius
Okay, I will concede that you are the original, and the flocks at CTJ and Cbpp are following yr lead on tax policy.
In reality, groupthink doesn’t need a leader to be groupthink. So perhaps it is a coincidence that you sound alike. But bottom line is that if you sound alike, you sound alike, regardless of why.
is it just me or does she really not belong in a bikini?
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/florida/meet-panama-city-bk-brawler-653092
looks like she was beaten senseless by the ugly stick
Debt,
Have you heard of any upside home owners renting out the house, collecting the rent checks, and leaving the state and/or country as they collect rent for 3 or more years without paying the mtg?
ranger (26)-
What are you going to do in a few years, when virtually everyone will be BK or FK?
What will you do when everyone gets a credit do-over after the Great Default?
(28) make
I hope so.
As long as we are on the Hope Slope, I might as well strap on the skis.
Praise the Lord and pass the … Lip-itor?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42256829/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/
As of today, there have been 21 lis pendens filed in Somerset County for the entire month of March.
One of the lis pendens was recorded along with the borrower’s official objection to the foreclosing servicer’s standing and a demand for the lender to produce the original mortgage note.
On a side note, it appears to date that there have been no completed Somerset Co. sheriff sales in March.
shore (36)-
You ever see the crap these people wolf down after church? Makes a trip down the line at Luby’s Cafeteria seem like Canyon Ranch.
#31 nom
Very ad hominem. I thought you had given that up.
Bad credit is definitely a reason why we don’t hire people. I also discriminate
against bald people, and anyone over 6 ft that never played any kind of high school or college sports.
[url=http://www.tokobaju.in/]grosir baju[/url]
30% of Homes have no Mortgage
58% of homes with a mortgage have positive equity
12% of homes with a mortgage are underwater
So at most 12% of people can consider walking away. But being 1-10% underwater may not make much sense to walk away. It is really only the 12% of homes that are more than 10% underwater where there is a big walk away risk.
I also wont hire anyone who got poked in the eye during High School while looking through a “glory hole”.
Juice Box says:
March 25, 2011 at 9:07 am
Bad credit is definitely a reason why we don’t hire people. I also discriminate
against bald people, and anyone over 6 ft that never played any kind of high school or college sports.
got an email from kettle 1 twins are here look cute and healthy
Twin girls, god help him. I kid ofcourse, Congrats Kettle1 and Ms. Kettle1 may the new additions to your family bring you lots of joy and a nice tax deduction!
re: #43 – JJ nice pass I will dunk it for ya. So how was your first glory hole? Did he spit or swallow?
http://www.mrc.org/bmi/commentary/2011/Unreported_Soros_Event_Aims_to_Remake_Entire_Global_Economy.html
This guy Soros really scares me. He’s smart, has billions and a clear agenda and goal in mind. The only thing working against him is his age.
Talking of default while renting. It is very hard to evict in NJ if there are kids involved. Talking to a friend, she only rents to single professionals. She estimated that a renter with kids could stretch out two years of default.
Fab – I had no issue with renting to a single mom … if the child’s dad was on the lease as well. Also offered financial incentives for paying on time. Lease was for $100 /mo more than advertised. If paid by the 1st, they could take a $100 deduction. When asked, I just said there would be no issue if rent was paid on time. Also had a clause in the lease where the lessee’s would be responsible for any and all fees associated with the collection of non-payment.
JJ – I’m happily underwater now, despite purchasing in 1993, because I cashed out in ‘2005. Took the equity and invested it in the market to hedge against price declines. Renting wasn’t an option due to the limited inventory of 4br/2ba houses in my town; this holds true today. There’s 1 – 4br/2ba (ranch) for rent and it’s on the busiest road in town.
I don’t care if I have to bring a check for the entire mortgage amount, I will never default.
Great news, but with twins in order to make enough to afford them you are in AMT so no tax deduction. A catch-22
Juice Box says:
March 25, 2011 at 9:27 am
Twin girls, god help him. I kid ofcourse, Congrats Kettle1 and Ms. Kettle1 may the new additions to your family bring you lots of joy and a nice tax deduction!
Blind[50],
Going long equities in 2005 was your “smart move”. Mortgages rates in ’05 were around 6%. What have equities returned since ’05? Now if you would have pulled a make move and bought shiny back then you’d be sitting pretty and think of yourself as a genious. Tutti says from time to time that she thinks I’ll be the dos equis guy when in my 50’s.
The end is nigh:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localnyc/new-jersey-man-hawks-his-212-phone-number-on-ebay-wants-1-million-for-swanky-area-code
Make – was 50% cash and invested 50% long until Jan ‘2008. Then took a short position until from Jan ‘Sept ‘2008. Sold 2 weeks before the market drop. Lost 30% on the latter. Then went 100% long 2X latam – UBPIX in Nov ‘2008. Hold the same position today.
Interesting, thanks for your effort!
JJ re: AMT – $175k is not allot these days, perhaps staying single and living together is a better alternative.
I thought being in proximity to NYC makes NJ economy the envy of Michigan?
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies have added jobs for 12 straight months, but the gains have been uneven. The latest government data suggest some states are recovering much faster than others from the recession, including a few that were hit the hardest.
The Labor Department says the unemployment rate dropped in 27 states in February. It rose in seven states and stayed the same in 16.
Forty-four states have added jobs from February 2010 through last month, including some that were badly battered during the downturn. California added nearly 200,000 net jobs, and Michigan created a net 71,000 jobs.
Still, six states reported a net loss in jobs in that time, including a few that weren’t considered trouble spots: New Jersey, New Mexico, and Kansas.
re [53]
That’s ridiculous; I just got a 212 number for a VOIP line a few weeks ago. Whoop-dee-doo!
(39) fabius,
You haven’t seen me very ad hominem
And may we assume you consider it insulting to have your views compared to those of CTJ and CBPP?
Whitney coming on cnbc to push muni meltdown view.
Fabius [202, prev thread]
With twins for two and three, you have an interesting time ahead of you. The first child is always difficult as you have the learning curve. Number two as a single is usually a breeze but twins boot you straight to three. That can only be described as moving from man to man coverage to zone defense.
I disagree about the degree of difficuly going from one to two. Things didn’t double, they squared. With one, you can double team. With two, you have to go man-to-man. Any more, you’re playing prevent zone. In the Moose house right now, no. 2 has made a convincing push for the title of “Youngest Child”.
Okay, heard wrong. Commenters trashing Whitney, not she herself.
(62) moose
I am often required to cover 2 alone. Also due to spouses erratic shifting out of coverage, I have to move btwn kids or into zone coverage repeatedly.
JJ [25];
He was the a real nice guy but worse credit I have ever seen, BK primary residence, Back Child Support, Back Alimony and an IT Consulting business that had a BK in 2002.
I read that as “Huge house, trophy wife, kids, entrepreneur.” I thought a real go-getter, risk-taker, baller, etc. was just the kind of guy that any Wall Street firm can never have too many of?
Speaking of regular NJRER commenter’s expanding families, nice to see this trend interrupted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSROlfR7WTo
Buffett Says Avoid Long-Term Bonds Tied to Eroding Dollar Value
I see that Glen Ridge house on Midland Ave. dropped price $30k to $359k. Gee, who would have thought that being only seven houses away from East Orange wouldn’t make house sell at a premium?
Any mention of EM bond funds? TGINX has a 13.35% 10 yr annualized return.
Easy call for Buffet, the dude is 80 and eats Big Macs and Cherry Cokes all day long. Will he be here in 30 years when the long term bond matures?
OK I am saying in 100 years we can clone people and my great grand son will be banging an SI Model clone instead of jerking off. Prove me wrong.
yo’me says:
March 25, 2011 at 11:26 am
Buffett Says Avoid Long-Term Bonds Tied to Eroding Dollar Value
Yes, folks, this is Wall St’s best and brightest.
Debt,
LOL!
# 60 Nom
Its not the comparision I have an issue with, its the extrapolation into a guilt by association.
#62 moose
When I say that the move from one to two is easy it is from the perspective of the first you handle like a Faberge egg. The second is more like the cat picking up the kitten by the scruff of the neck.
I scraped under the wire for Irish Triplets.
Was reading ZH, those guys are grim to the bone. According to them we are looking at Japan as a wasteland in less then a month. This site is equivalent to kannekt when compared to ZH.
“Buffett Says Avoid Long-Term Bonds Tied to Eroding Dollar Value”
This site told you the same over a year ago. The fed is creating the worlds greatest bubble. This will be a massacre. The only possible savior in sight, for the long term bond, is a stock market implosion. That said, if it’s future inflation that rocks the stock market long term bonds will also get crushed.
If you’re long, ltb, pray for a depression with continuing deflation.
make (75)-
ZH just presents stuff without the brain-numbing happy talk that MSM uses to keep everyone in a narcotic trance. Funny thing is, my pal who works at the SEC and a couple of good friends of mine on WS don’t go anywhere else for their news.
My SEC friend says things are even worse there than what ZH reports, and the morale is at about the same level as Stalag 13.
ranger (76)-
I think the odds have dramatically tilted toward a hyperinflative currency collapse which will hasten the collapse of civil society.
Fuzzy cartoon bears, black swans and silver.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bears-are-back-presenting-part-5-silver-thesis
Tom Brady sold his NYC apt for profit over $3 mil. Not sure I heard that right, but would be nice to see.
Buyer owns EZ Wider. Figures I supported both parties.
Buffet is saying avoid long term treasury bonds, long term AAA Munis and Corporates with low coupons.
If Buffet could get a long term bond with a low default risk at 10% he would grab it. Like he did with Goldman.
Lone Ranger says:
March 25, 2011 at 12:41 pm
“Buffett Says Avoid Long-Term Bonds Tied to Eroding Dollar Value”
This site told you the same over a year ago. The fed is creating the worlds greatest bubble. This will be a massacre. The only possible savior in sight, for the long term bond, is a stock market implosion. That said, if it’s future inflation that rocks the stock market long term bonds will also get crushed.
If you’re long, ltb, pray for a depression with continuing deflation.
(73) fab,
If u don’t object to the comparison, where’s the guilt coming from? I say your fellow travelers acknowledge the same data and u take it as an attack? I think you misprehend ad hominem.
But, since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, let’s put it to a vote. Anyone here think that it is a personal attack associating Fabius with Center for Tax Justice or CBPP?
Anyone going to the Rock tonight? Just got tics $35 over face, per tic, for tonight and Sunday.
Thank you Lib.
Debt,
Give my best to the Hunt’s.
If a single women has a home why does a single man need a home?
Women attract men by being hot, cooking and having a nice neat place we can do them and examine their potential homemaking skills. Clean apartment, good cook, good in sack, check please.
Guy, good looking, good job, fast car, spends money on you check please.
grim says:
March 25, 2011 at 5:14 am
From the Edgewater View:
Single ladies top home-buying charts
Almost twice as many single women (20 percent) are buying homes than single men (12 percent), according to the most recent statistics from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The reason? Because they can.
plume (82)-
Don’t forget he’s also a Gooner fan.
Much, much worse, IMO.
Oh snap, this attitude will make Chris Matthew’s job harder:
http://money.msn.com/tax-planning/down-and-out-on-250000-dollars-a-year-fiscal-times.aspx?gt1=33005
[85] debt
Now that may be ad hominem, but as I can’t stand watching europeans flop whenever they get shoved, I have no opinion on that.
[85] debt
I hear he is also a Dook fan.
Now that is an ad hominem attack
“an SI Model clone”
There are models on Staten Island?
#82 if that is the case I can put you in the same box as your birther and wingnut friends.
[90] fabius
Whatever blows yer skirt up.
Some tax news from the Left Coast. Something about the Law of Unintended Conseqeuences
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/us/25bcphonebook.html?_r=1
This is classic!
http://boston.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel11/bs032411.htm
Who will watch the watchman?
#85 clot
Are you throwing stones from the barcodes submarine? 4 points from the drop and you have to go through Chelsea Liverpool and ManU to get to a possible drop game with West Brom on the last day of the season.
More real estate and tax news (and more later on why this signals the death of yet another canary):
http://blogs.forbes.com/williampbarrett/2011/03/24/irs-targets-family-real-estate-transfers/
This points to a topic in taxation that I always thought would have been taboo, but the Cass Sunsteins of the world have a way of making the once unpalatable (like monkfish), palatable.
“Kirk J. Stark (UCLA) presents Bribing the States to Tax Food and The Federal Role in State Tax Reform, 30 Va. Tax Rev. ___ (2010), at NYU today as part of its Colloquium Series on Tax Policy and Public Finance convened by Daniel Shaviro (NYU) and Mihir Desai (Harvard Business School).”
I have to get a copy of this paper.
The point here is that the authors think that the feds can, and should, influence how states tax their citizens and businesses. This is one of the most sensitive areas of state sovereignty, and signals a willingness on the part of the left (and I know much about these guys–they’re left) to neutralize the structural supports of our federalist system.
I will leave to your imagination what might happen when federalism dies.
93 Nom Rorshach but then he weill jus tbe dematerialized by Dr Manhattan anyway.
Fan of the novel, movie was meh
One of these days, someone is gonna point out the fact that the President that said “not one thin dime” is floating all kinds of new tax proposals.
Here is the report on one of the loonier ones. Paradoxically, if it were used to replace the gas tax, the liberals would have heart failure.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/121xx/doc12101/03-23-HighwayFunding.pdf
Gov’t failure Friday?
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/960565–conservatives-out-of-touch-and-out-of-control-liberals?bn=1
Got Leaf?
One thing i don’t understand. How does the American public allow a foreign general to command our troops? Isn’t the President called the Commander in Chief? I mean WTF?
Talk about a one world gov’t. Forming a one world army is beggining.
[96] redux
Excerpted from the paper referenced, which is avail. on the NYU website
“Of course, respect for state fiscal autonomy should not be (and indeed has not been) an absolute principle. Departures from the principle of base composition neutrality [i.e., not interfering in state political choices regarding taxation] are most warranted where there is a compelling federal interest at stake. To the extent that minimizing the risk of state fiscal crises is such a compelling interest, a case can be made that the federal government should encourage the adoption of state tax systems that reduce overall state revenue volatility.”
BTW, the author and the colloquia presenters are contemporaries of Cass Sunstein, the professor that Obama hired, and that has Glenn Beck all worked up. Whether Beck is right or wrong to be concerned, I leave to history.
This is where a Flat Tax makes more sense everyday
How G.E. made $5.1 billion in the U.S. tax-free
http://business.newsvine.com/_news/2011/03/24/6338149-how-ge-made-51-billion-in-the-us-tax-free
Don’t we have the highest Corporate tax in the world? There is a study,with corporate tax lawyers and corporate lobbyist they really pay 25% after finding the looop holes.And the loop hole is sending the manufacturing abroad with the jobs with it and sell the product in the US.Avoid tax in the US.
Google paid zero in taxes too.Only the poor pay taxes
yome if you eliminate the loopholes as with a flat tax GE would not be able to write off 5.1 billion.
Only the middle class pay taxes, there I fixed it for you
Pain
The middleclass got wiped out.Income above $250K joined the rich
nom [101]
If we are now trying to prevent the RE purchases with less than 20% down to reduce the number of individual defaults, shouldn’t we discourage the state revenue plans that are likley to cause the states’ defaults? DC can’t force it on the states…
Any idea what’s wrong with the recent FICO algorithm update? Got a second car as a lease (dirt cheap $123/month, no money down just acquisition fee and plates) and my FICO jumped by 25 points.
WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration has approved a breakthrough cancer medication from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. that researchers have heralded as the first drug shown to prolong the lives of patients with advanced skin cancer.
The federal health agency approved the injectable drug, called Yervoy, for late-stage or metastatic melanoma. Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer, but the FDA has only approved two other drugs for advanced melanoma. The newest of those drugs was cleared more than 13 years ago. Neither drug has been shown to significantly extend patient lives.
Known chemically as ipilimumab, the biotech drug only worked in a small segment of patients studied, and on average they lived just four months longer than patients given older medications. But experts say the drug is an important milestone in treating melanoma, which is often unresponsive to therapy
Nom,
About “one thin dime,” one has to be quite literal for his pledge to be true. he is going to raise billions of dimes in taxes every month, not one.
confused [109]
Talking about death panels:
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) plans to charge about $120,000 for a standard regimen of its newly approved skin-cancer drug Yervoy, the company said Friday.
The drug, which was approved by U.S. regulators Friday to treat advanced melanoma, is to be given in four infusions over three months. Bristol will charge $30,000 per infusion, spokeswoman Jennifer Fron Mauer told Dow Jones Newswires. Prices may vary because the dosage is dependent upon the weight of the patient.
The price exceeds the estimates of several analysts, but the company is defending the cost based on clinical data showing the drug could extend survival.
“Bristol-Myers takes great care to price medicines for the value they bring patients and the innovation they represent,” Mauer said. “And we believe Yervoy is appropriately priced based on these factors. It’s the first medicine to significantly extend the lives of patients with one of the most deadly forms of skin cancer.”
The New York company has a financial assistance program to provide the drug to eligible uninsured patients, and to assist with co-pays for insured patients. Mauer said Bristol has doubled the household income limit for eligibility for uninsured patients to $150,000 from $75,000.
Bristol shares jumped 5.5% to $27.90 Friday afternoon.
The drug extends life all of four months. how much per day is that?
plume (96)-
Federalism? Good luck with that one, pal. It’s a dead concept.
There probably aren’t 5 kids in 500,000 HS graduates who can remotely describe Federalism as a basic premise of our governance.
However, “feelings” and the “common good” are concepts that every single HS grad in Amerika can at least describe in rudimentary terms and agree that same should trump the rule of law.
We get the liberal version of it every day here from sas3 and Gluteus…and we get the conservative version from dickclowns like moose.
make (100)-
Wait until George Soros can reach through your TV and bitch slap you out of bed.
15th century straight ahead, folks.
shore (112)-
BMS sided with Bojangles on healthcare for zombies. Gotta toss those brothers a bone now and then.
Goddam Yervoy probably makes your dick fall off while in the process of extending your life four months.
Got skin cancer? Slice it off with a mf’ing sharp knife, and put on some goddam sunscreen if you’re a skinny-ass, cadaver-white Mick.
(110) shore
I know. HCERA eliminates tax breaks for everyone, but the admin denies that this is a tax increase.
Semantics. Or as we said in first year contracts, it’s a distinction without a difference.
The three workers were exposed to radiation amounting to 173 to 180 millisieverts while laying cable underground at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s No. 3 reactor, and two of them were taken to Fukushima Medical University Hospital due to possible radiation burns to their feet.
The two men were not wearing rubber boots as they stood in water that contained radioactive materials 10,000 times the normal level, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.
The two, who were working in contaminated water up to 15 centimeters deep, had their feet and lower legs below the knee soaked as the water seeped through their protective suits.
Electrical engineering firm Kandenko Co., which employs the two, said its workers were not required to wear rubber boots as its safety manuals did not assume a scenario in which its employees would carry out work standing in water at a nuclear power plant.
112.Shore Guy says:
March 25, 2011 at 8:05 pm
The drug extends life all of four months. how much per day is that?
$120K for 120 days is $1K per day. The FDA approval of this shows how dysfunctional they really are.
confused [120]
4 Months is a sort of misleading number, as most averages are. Small subset of patients had been actually cured which is amazing (6 years remission, and ongoing). The issue is that nobody is interested in doing the genetic profiling of these patients and their tumors to figure out for whom the drug will be a life-saver, and for whom 120K thrown away by their family.
Couple of good games right now.
121.cobbler says:
March 25, 2011 at 10:10 pm
confused [120]
4 Months is a sort of misleading number, as most averages are. Small subset of patients had been actually cured which is amazing (6 years remission, and ongoing). The issue is that nobody is interested in doing the genetic profiling of these patients and their tumors to figure out for whom the drug will be a life-saver, and for whom 120K thrown away by their family.
Yervoy carries several side effects related to its effect on the immune system, including: diarrhea, swelling of the colon, rash and fatigue. It can cause fatal immune system reactions. The most frequent severe reactions included inflammations of the colon and small intestine, liver, and skin, as well as nerve damage and endocrine disease. Those side effects usually occurred during treatment, but some occurred after treatment ended.
The FDA said severe to fatal immune reactions occurred in 12.9 percent of patients during clinical trials. The agency is requiring Bristol-Myers Squibb to create a risk evaluation strategy designed to identify and reduce the severe risks associated with the drug.
My best friend died in 2004 with a death certificate which said Melanoma. I was with him the entire four months that they fed him intravenous chemotherapy like dycarbazine, cisplatin, etc. In that four months I watched FDA modern medicine kill him. He turned into a broken bag of water as every organ failed. Two months later the Journal of Oncology had an article titled “First Do No Harm”, written by a Wisconsin Oncologist on his exact treatment for Melanoma, which rather then help makes the cancer spead and become more agressive. Believe them if you will, but I don’t think they have a clue outside of making money.
The father of Chemotherapy is Josef Mengele circa 1944.
Wow. Two great games in the dance. And I wanted both UK and VCU.
Cats FTW.
Carolina-Kentucky will be the game of the tournament. Both teams could score 100+.
Mish’s take- waste of time and money
FDIC “Cash for Keys” Proposal Would Pay Underwater Homeowners $21,000 to Walk Away; In Prison for Taking a Liar Loan
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/03/fdic-cash-for-keys-proposal-would-pay.html
I didn’t have time to go into my life altering experience with Duke fans yesterday as I was late for work. Two years ago Duke played my alma mater Xavier out at the Meadowlands. Duke won by like 20. Anyway I am sitting next to this 40ish Duke fan and his 5ish son. We are chatting a bit before the game all nice etc. Anyway Duke is killing them in the first half. They are shooting like 70% from 3 point land. Can’t miss. I tell the Duke guy, “They are really having a great shooting night”. His exact words, “Nah they shoot like this every night”. Exact words, no sense of irony, not said to illicit a chuckle, the guy meant it as much as if you asked him what day of the week it was. Really? They shoot 70% from 3 pt every night. Really? Went on to tell me how great each guy was on the roster – by his assesment, no statistics or anything. I wanted to tell the kid good luck having such a doucebag for a father.
I got up and went to sit with my friends in the cheap seats. That was an adventure in itself, walking through the thrall of nordic Ambercrombie & Fitch models with f’g Duke plastered all over them. I can only imagine how ACC people feel about these clowns.
HE (128)-
Dook = University of New Jersey
Dook = University of Kids Who Cheat
Dook = Finishing Skool for Sociopaths
In the words of Will Blythe, to hate like this is to be happy forever.
http://www.amazon.com/Hate-Like-This-Happy-Forever/dp/006074023X
I’m looking forward to Kyle Singler taking a lot of slam dunks to the face in the NBA.
He’s like a skinny Kent Benson.
Clot,
What really amazed me was the rundown I got of the entire Duke roster. Completely unsolicited. If you ran into the guy at the gas station he would probably run them down for you too. Each player had individual marks of greatness that I did not know about. The point guard that year “could have played QB at Notre Dame but gave that up to come to Duke.” Funny thing is I saw that kid get his ass kicked the next year playing QB for Syracuse – I guess he had eligibility remaining. Can’t remember his name. I think Notre Dame got the better end of that bargain.
Nom [98];
Here is the report on one of the loonier ones. Paradoxically, if it were used to replace the gas tax, the liberals would have heart failure.
Nom, I think you’re referring to the mileage tax proposal. This would probably be unobjectionable if it involved a simple periodic odometer inspection. Of course the liberals want to put a GPS tracking device on each and every individual vehicle.
I highly suggest “Liberal Fascism” by Jonah Goldberg.
Beer garden in Newark last night, Mulberry St. I may have to agree with Essex. The lady cats were awesome.
He,
Greg Paulus (spelling?)
ranger (135)-
Yet another forgettable Dook thugballer. Such a stiff that Coach K cut his playing time going into the tourney in his last season.
Maybe he couldn’t handle the chronic as well as JJ Redick could.
he (132)-
I went to a private HS that taught kids to be humble, polite and interested in serving others. It also had an honor code that was enforced by expulsion if you broke it. It was not a perfect place by any means, but they tried to turn out good people.
8-10 kids would apply every year to Dook, and at the time I graduated, no one had ever been accepted. At the same time, we regularly sent 25-30 grads to Vanderbilt, UVA and various Ivies.
Ever notice how often a HS cheating scandal or theft/impostor SAT thing involves kids going to/wanting to go to Dook?
US experiencing uneven job growth across states New Jersey Among the worst http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-experiencing-uneven-job-apf-3340430580.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=
Brooklyn Federal Savings looking pretty bad…..just replaced their CLO….
http://banktracker.investigativereportingworkshop.org/banks/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-federal-savings-bank/
GE pays zero in taxes, and now some poor schmuck is in jail for lying on a liar loan, and when he is released in 21 months has to make restitution to the lending company (countrywide/Boa).
The head of GE (Immelt) is one of Obam’a senior economic advisors, and the justice department declined to prosecute Mozzillio. Is this the stable economic legal and financial system that some poster on this baord said we shoudl be proud of??
Is this the country too that he or she said we should be proud of??
Like I said we are no better or worse than many other places, the difference is they are not running around the world telling everybody else that they should be just like us??
Mozilo gave various members of our federal government interest free mortgages. There’s a reason that he was not prosecuted. There’s also a reason that those who received these loans, which in my opinion is grounds for impeachment as well as imprisonment, are all still serving. But continue wasting your time thinking that one party is better than the other. You are much better off focusing on how best to retire somewhere far from this hell hole of unethical leadership and moral hazard.
Silicon Valley Hiring Perks: Meals, iPads and a Cubicle for SpotBy CLAIRE CAIN MILLER and JENNA WORTHAM
Published: March 25, 2011
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SAN FRANCISCO — Eric Firestone began a new job at a Web start-up here three weeks ago, and he’s already thinking about what he might do next. But that’s just fine with his new employer.
The company, a service to turn cellphones into credit card readers, lured Mr. Firestone from Apple partly with an unusual pitch: it promised to give him weekly lessons about starting his own business someday, including how to find venture capitalists to finance it.
Mr. Firestone, a 28-year-old software engineer, said he could try to get financing for a start-up from venture capital firms now, “but I feel like I’d be having a hard time. Here you get to learn.”
Computer whiz kids have long been prize hires in Silicon Valley. But these days tech companies are dreaming up new perks and incentives as the industry wages its fiercest war for talent in more than a decade.
Free meals, shuttle buses and stock options are de rigueur. So the game maker Zynga dangles free haircuts and iPads to recruits, who are also told that they can bring their dogs to work. Path, a photo-sharing site, moved its offices so it could offer sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay. At Instagram, another photo-sharing start-up, workers take personal food and drink orders from employees, fill them at Costco and keep the supplies on hand for lunches and snacks.
Then there are salaries. Google is paying computer science majors just out of college $90,000 to $105,000, as much as $20,000 more than it was paying a few months ago. That is so far above the industry average of $80,000 that start-ups cannot match Google salaries. Google declined to comment.
Two executives at a small start-up who spoke on the condition of anonymity said it recently lost an intern when one of the biggest start-ups offered the candidate a 40 percent bump in stock options, potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — but only if the candidate accepted the job before hanging up the phone.
“The atmosphere is brutally competitive,” said Keith Rabois, a Silicon Valley veteran and chief operating officer at Square, where Mr. Firestone works. “Recruiting in Silicon Valley is more competitive and intense and furious than college football recruiting of high school athletes.”
As the rest of the country fights stubbornly high unemployment, the shortage of qualified engineers has grown acute in the last six months, tech executives and recruiters say, as the flow of personal or venture capital investing has picked up. In Silicon Valley, along the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay in California, and other tech hubs like New York, Seattle and Austin, Tex., start-ups are sprouting by the dozen, competing with well-established companies for the best engineers, programmers and designers. At the same time, all the companies are seeking ever more specialized skills.
And there has been a psychological shift; many of the most talented engineers want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg, not work for him.
Shannon Callahan, who recruits engineers for the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz’s portfolio of companies, said a third of the engineers she called ask for financing to start their own companies instead.
“They have that entrepreneurial spirit and you want to talk to them because you know they’d do great in a small environment working a million hours a week, but those folks are saying, ‘Actually, I think I want to do my own thing,’ ” she said.
In an only-in-Silicon-Valley twist, start-ups are acknowledging this phenomenon by recruiting ambitious engineers with promises to help them to leave someday to start their own, potentially competitive companies.
“It’s less about us competing against start-ups and more against the person who wants to start their own thing,” said Dave Morin, co-founder and chief executive of Path. Mr. Morin, an early Facebook employee, knows the type because he was one of them. He tells recruits that he will help them start their own companies down the road, by advising or investing in them.
Redfin, an online real estate brokerage in Seattle, sets up one-on-one meetings between recruits and venture capitalists on its board to talk about starting their own companies, and runs twice-monthly classes on entrepreneurship — a perk that Redfin says has helped attract and retain recruits.
“It helps people stay but also helps them to go,” said Glenn Kelman, Redfin’s chief executive.
At Square, the co-founder and chief executive, Jack Dorsey, who also co-founded Twitter, gives employees 20-minute lessons on topics like how to raise venture capital. Every employee can view Square’s product plans and financials to learn about building a business.
Nationwide unemployment among computer scientists and programmers is higher than in other white-collar professions — around 5 percent — in part because many jobs have vanished overseas. But even with a glut of engineers on the job market, few have the skills that tech companies look for, said Cadir Lee, chief technology officer at Zynga.
Colleges rarely teach the newer programming languages like PHP, Ruby and Python, which have become more popular at young Web companies than older ones like Java, he said. Other skills, like working with large amounts of data and analytics, can be acquired only at a few companies.
“There are few programs that actually teach those things, and yet that’s the primary people we hire,” Mr. Lee said.
Tech recruiters have also expanded their searches. They still scout college campuses, particularly Stanford’s computer science department, where this year it was common for seniors to receive half a dozen offers by the end of first semester. But since college degrees are not mandatory, recruiters are also going to computer coding competitions and parties, in search of talent that is reminiscent of the dot-com mania.
The push to impress recruits was fully evident at the dozens of parties hosted by tech companies at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Tex., this month, where start-ups tried to one-up each other with free beer, sushi, cocktails, ice sculptures, costumed acrobats and big-name bands and D.J.’s.
SimpleGeo, which makes tools for smartphones, was co-host at a dance party at the festival. Jay Adelson, chief executive of the company, explained that the festival was an ideal place to find talented engineers.
“The message being sent is that this is a cool, cool place to work,” Mr. Adelson said. “That matters when you are a young, hipster developer.”
Flat tax!!!!! Corporate, individual, everyone, everything the same.
Right now our tax code is like buying goods in a third-world market, where the price is not really the price and everyone ends up paying a different price. We need a Wegmans/Macy’s/ etc. pricing system.
I like how the female IRS agent ensnared this liar loan cheater, 400k stated income? Doing what exactly that seems to be omitted. Fact is this guy was a total moron for even meeting with the female IRS agent and falling for any kind of persuasion she used. All dealings with the government in any fashion need to be arms length. Never ever talk to the FEDs, IRS, or even the local dog catcher without an attorney doing the talking for you preferably in writing at all times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/business/26nocera.html?_r=2&ref=global
[133] moose
I am discussing that. Admittedly, it is DOA, but here is why I think liberals would object, particularly if there is an offset via gas tax reduction or elimination:
It penalizes all cars the same. So if you are a big, gas-guzzling, GOP lovin’, SUVehemoth, driving type, you are paying the same tax as a liberal, quiche-eating, brie-nibbling Prius driver. The real “progressives” (we used to call them socia1ists before the re-branding), particularly the Critical Mass types, won’t mind throwing some of their own under the bus for the greater good, but the rest of the dems, esp. those in the enviro crowd, might object Arguably, they would have a decent point: The gas tax is a better proxy for assessing damage done to the environment and roads than a mileage tax. If you drive heavier vehicles, you use more gas. Use more gas, pay more tax.
Of course, this would be an add-on tax, so that mollifies the libs somewhat, but what isn’t said is the next step, and that is finding a way to mitigate the tax for the “right people” (i.e., democrats, and so the Chosen One can say he didn’t break his pledge). So the tax may be graduated based on vehicle weight, or it may be deductible on federal returns for those in lower brackets.
That isn’t being disussed openly, but trust me, it is being discussed.
re # 142 – Just try and go Dumpster diving at Bob Mendendez’s house. That will be a fast track career move to the furthest IRS outpost in Siberia. Everyone forgets that down in Washington DC influence peddling is not illegal, and neither is insider trading. Need a lift on the Company Jet? How about joining our executive Mortgage loan program, or even trading stocks on insider knowledge on who will get the next big fat Defense contract. All perfectly legal and beyond scrutiny of the government agencies. The low level SEC and IRS staff aren’t allowed to look at the books, accounts etc or travel records or anything of top government elected or otherwise without running it up the food chain where it will get lost in someones inbox.
[145] Juice,
Unfriggenbelievable.
Well, not to me, anyway. I know to what depths the IRS and the CI division in particular will go.
Anyone who tries to deal with the IRS on their own is stupid if there is a prospect of criminal charges, or significant liability. IRS can and does fcuk up regularly, and unless you know your stuff, you can get seriously screwed by them, even if you were never wrong. In fact, I am in the process of preparing to ream them in Tax Court for one fcuk-up.
Also, I sit on an advisory panel that oversees IRS, and while they are generally responsive, trust me, the exchanges can get testy at times, especially when we call them on their lip service or b.s. blow-off responses. They don’t always like it when we question how they do things and we take our “job” seriously. Makes for some good theatrics (and having the commissioner come and kiss our behinds once a year).
[139] Mike
Quel surprise. Job losses in an expensive, over-taxed, dem-controlled state? I am shocked, shocked, I tell you.
If we are still in the ‘brig in three years, I plan to sell when my older daughter is about to exit her current elementary school, but before my younger daughter would start there. At that point, I can rent anywhere in the town (though I would probably still want North side) and have school continuity.
Much as I like my house and neighborhood, I want to throw off the shackles of NJ homeownership. Worst decision I ever made, and I have made some bad ones in life.
Yahoo reporting that Geraldine Ferraro is dead
Plume,
This isn’t the case of trying to deal with the IRS on your own but the fact they sent in a young flirty female wearing a wire. I still think the IRS stories from the 70s are worse than now but yeah, the IRS uses a lot of angles to get their money, no doubt.
Lib – (#142)
Fact Check – regarding activities involving the Friends of Angelo Mozilo – Some quick research shows that loans were not interest-free but were at favorable or shaved-rate discount to the rates available at the time. Senator Kent Conrad (ND-D) is still serving but Dodd (CT-D), who was head of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, didn’t run for re-election.
I’m not aware of any other members of Congress with respect to loans granted by Countrywide at “favorable” rates.
Favors granted by corporations and their executives to members of Congress, at the very least, smacks of impropriety. I’ll reserve further judgement.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031898/posts (conservative posts)
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/6162008_Friends_of_Mozilo.asp (liberal posts)
If there is any evidence to the contrary with respect to the loans and loan rates then my apologies in advance.
#152 – Correction – I’m not aware of any other members of Congress who received loans granted by Countrywide at “favorable” rates.
plume (150)-
Did her son sell her some bad blow?
Vigoda…will…not…die…
Lots of deadpool resets Monday.
Think I will take Ireland in my next one.
The poor don’t pay nearly enough in taxes. Time these SOBs put some skin in the game.
Clot,
Everyone but the most destitute should pay something in taxes. In order to prevent government being “something someone else pays for, and thus something that is allowed to grow without limit, everyone should have some skin in the game. Government is nothing more than all of us hiring people to do things for us, and we should all pay for it. As long as the food is free, nobody cares how much it costs.
Yeah, it was that Paulus kid:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Paulus
In any event, I learned to never pay a Duke fan a compliment about their team because their team is apparently better than any non-Duke fan can fathom.
[151] dan,
It was IRS abuses that led to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights under Clinton. This changed IRS procedure, beefed up thoe Taxpayer Advocate Office, and created the Taxpayer Advisory Panel.
Aside from this, however, IRS and DoJ still are notoriously aggressive when it comes to investigation and prosecution, and the courts will allow evidence gathered in unseemly ways. I clerked in DC for a court with tax jurisdiction, and worked in DC on regulatory matters. I also interned for the Bank Fraud Task Force. I have studied IRS enforcement in my LLM program. Finally, I have had dealings (mostly pleasant) with the CI division and auditors generally.
What I can tell you is the government will dirty deal, double-cross, ignore, prevaricate, lie, cheat, and steal, to win. They will even screw whistleblowers. You never, never, never turn your back on the feds.
Butler!!!
(Sorry gator)
Nom,
And never trust assurances that all will be okay or that a government official hasyour best interests in mind.
[162] shore
I believe I said that. But point well said.
Damn, Butler is falling back. No real dog in the fight, I just like rooting for underdogs.
Replace Duke with Yankees and all basketball references with baseball…..whenever I meet Red Sox fans, they always say “well at least you don’t have to beat them for the division”….I respond, yeah but we have to live and work with these people….
Dissident HEHEHE says:
March 26, 2011 at 7:06 am
I didn’t have time to go into my life altering experience with Duke fans yesterday as I was late for work. Two years ago Duke played my alma mater Xavier out at the Meadowlands. Duke won by like 20. Anyway I am sitting next to this 40ish Duke fan and his 5ish son. We are chatting a bit before the game all nice etc. Anyway Duke is killing them in the first half. They are shooting like 70% from 3 point land. Can’t miss. I tell the Duke guy, “They are really having a great shooting night”. His exact words, “Nah they shoot like this every night”. Exact words, no sense of irony, not said to illicit a chuckle, the guy meant it as much as if you asked him what day of the week it was. Really? They shoot 70% from 3 pt every night. Really? Went on to tell me how great each guy was on the roster – by his assesment, no statistics or anything. I wanted to tell the kid good luck having such a doucebag for a father.
Butler in final 4! What a game!!
>>Butler in final 4! What a game!!<<
Yes!! We're back again!!
Sterling GM: OK, you got me. It might have been only two members of congress, but the list included a lot more than just congressman. It was obviously Mozilo’s plan to buy as much influence that was humanly possibly, and offering discounts, waived points, free rate floatdowns, etc., was a lot cheaper and easier to high than campaign contributions. All you need to know is right here.
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/07/16/Countrywide-Deals-Exposed/index.html
Mozilo should be in jail as should Dodd for more reasons than I could possible write about in a blog post.
Butler just may have saved my bracket. If somehow they beat Kansas, then I win.
Tomorrow is the day when real basketball will be played.
Just kidding. :)
Butler or UConn could easily win the whole thing.
(168) libtard
Careful or you will be sleeping on the couch.
stu (167)-
Anyone who created loans with the idea that they could be packaged, sold down the line and r@ped for bonuses should not simply be jailed. These people should be tried for treason, found guilty and executed.
plume (170)-
He can console Gator with the fact that their womens’ lacrosse team might win it all this year.
Not only do I want Tangelo executed…I want to do it myself, William Wallace-style.
“Replace Duke with Yankees and all basketball references with baseball”
Now replace the Yankees with the Johnny Most Celtics and all the baseball references with Larry basketball.
Nothing will ever top McDirty & McNasty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu8Da3pe9h0
Where’s Johnny;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7r6vXeOfyQ&feature=related
[176] Lone
Dead?
Remind me to throw you a brushback pitch sometime.
Fabius, I think these tax law professors need to get a piece of your mind, so that they can see the error of their ways.
http://taxprof.typepad.com/
From the article at TaxProfBlog:
“Nearly half of California’s income taxes before the recession came from the top 1% of earners: households that took in more than $490,000 a year. High earners, it turns out, have especially volatile incomes—their earnings fell by more than twice as much as the rest of the population’s during the recession. When they crashed, they took California’s finances down with them.
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois—states that are the most heavily reliant on the taxes of the wealthy—are now among those with the biggest budget holes. A large population of rich residents was a blessing during the boom, showering states with billions in tax revenue. But it became a curse as their incomes collapsed with financial markets. …
As they’ve grown, the incomes of the wealthy have become more unstable. Between 2007 and 2008, the incomes of the top-earning 1% fell 16%, compared to a decline of 4% for U.S. earners as a whole, according to the IRS. Because today’s highest salaries are usually linked to financial markets—through stock-based pay or investments—they are more prone to sudden shocks. The income swings have created more extreme booms and busts for state governments. …”
Fabius, are you gonna let them get away with that???
If that top 1% would just pay their fair share….
Make the goddam poor pay some damn taxes.
Order logical games now!