From CNN:
Foreclosures off 30% this year
On the surface, the foreclosure crisis seems to be easing. The number of foreclosure notices filed during the first three months of 2011 fell 27% compared with the first quarter of 2010, according to a report from RealtyTrac released Thursday.
Only 681,000 properties got hit with some type of filing — a notice of default, a scheduled auction or a foreclosure sale — during the quarter, one for every 191 households.
There were 215,046 borrowers who lost their homes, down 17% year-over-year.
…
“The nation’s housing market continued to languish in the first quarter, even as foreclosure activity fell to a three-year low,” said James Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s CEO.The explanation for this contradiction is that the foreclosure improvement has been artificial, fueled by banks reacting to paperwork processing issues — the infamous “robo-signing” scandal — by cutting back on filings until they can clean up their procedures.
According to RealtyTrac spokesman Rick Sharga, without the cutback there would have been 900,000 filings during the quarter instead of 681,000. There would have been 280,000 to 300,000 bank repossessions instead of 215,000, he added.
From HousingWire:
Processing delays cut foreclosure activity by 27% in 1Q 2011: RealtyTrac
RealtyTrac’s March housing study reports a 15% decrease in foreclosure activity between the fourth quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011, as well as a 27% decline compared to the same period a year ago. The online foreclosure property marketplace cites extended processing timelines as the main culprit for the drag.
While the numbers sound encouraging, RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer James Saccacio said the numbers are artificially manipulated, and the decrease in activity is only temporary.
“The nation’s housing market continued to languish in the first quarter, even as foreclosure activity fell to a three-year low,” Saccacio commented. “Weak demand, declining home prices and the lack of credit availability are weighing heavily on the market, which is still facing the dual threat of a looming shadow inventory of distressed properties and the probability that foreclosure activity will begin to increase again as lenders and servicers gradually work their way through the backlog of thousands of foreclosures that have been delayed due to improperly processed paperwork.”
Good Morning New jersey
From the Fed:
Beige Book – NY
The Second District’s economy has strengthened further since the last report. Firms in various industries report widespread increases in input prices and some increases in selling prices, while retail prices are generally reported to be stable. Labor market conditions improved moderately, with increased hiring reported in a number of industries. Retail sales were robust in February and March, with particular strength in auto sales. Consumer confidence has been mixed but generally steady since the last report. Tourism activity rebounded somewhat in March, after weakening modestly in February. Commercial real estate markets have been mixed. Housing markets have been generally stable, with relative strength at the lower end of the market. Finally, bankers report some weakening in household loan demand, and a moderate increase in delinquencies on commercial and industrial loans.
…
Construction and Real Estate
Housing markets across the District have been generally stable since the last report, with the lower end of the market generally performing a bit better than the higher end, and re-sales performing better than new home sales. An authority on New Jersey’s housing industry reports that market conditions remain weak: despite some uptick in resale transactions, the spring season, thus far, has been unusually slow. Brokers report that there have been more all-cash deals but also more distress sales. Sales and construction of new homes remain at exceptionally weak levels. A Buffalo-area real estate contact reports that selling prices have increased modestly from a year ago, but that sales activity has been mixed–brisk at the lower end of the market, with some sellers receiving multiple offers, but sluggish at the middle and upper ends of the market.
Lets not forget the winter we had when the poor mailmen could not get up the sidewalks to deliver the notices
From the Record:
Foreclosure activity down in N.J. and U.S.
Foreclosure activity dropped dramatically during the first quarter — 27 percent nationwide and 44 percent in New Jersey — as mortgage servicers sorted out questions about their legal procedures, RealtyTrac reported Wednesday.
The lower foreclosure rates do not signal a rebound in housing, which “continued to languish in the first quarter,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks the foreclosure market nationwide. He predicted that “foreclosure activity will begin to increase again as lenders and servicers gradually work their way through the backlog of thousands of foreclosures that have been delayed due to improperly processed paperwork.”
In New Jersey, six large mortgage servicers recently agreed to have a retired judge monitor their foreclosure processes, settling a case brought by the state in response to reports that lenders’ employees and agents were signing affidavits without verifying them, among other irregularities.
Yesterday someone asked about drive by BPO’s. I do more than a thousand of them a year. Done properly (most are not), a drive by should provide a snapshot of market activity and competition for the subject property. It cannot be expected to be accurate as there are far too many assumptions involved in most exterior BPOs. Typically when I receive my BPO assignments I research tax records and MLS listings on the subject and then make my exterior inspection. This is typically the only information used to evaluate the subject. Assumptions must often be made on interior condition, room count and other important information. This does not stop many lenders from requesting that I make adjustments between the subject and comparables for items I cannot confirm about the subject property.
For a variety of reasons drive by BPOs are a useful tool for companies requiring broad stroke information on a property, but they are by no means accurate.
From the WSJ:
Senate Report Lays Bare Mortgage Mess
Some call the concept of owning a home the American dream.
Wall Street bankers called it something different: “Pigs.” “Crap.” A “white elephant, flying pig and unicorn.”
Those descriptions of the U.S. mortgage market were highlighted in a U.S. Senate report Wednesday that offered one view of the events leading up to the financial crisis of 2008.
Senate investigators spent two years gathering and analyzing 5,901 pages of confidential emails and documents from Washington Mutual Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, and regulators including the Office of Thrift Supervision. Though lacking evidence of outright fraud, the report shows Wall Street in gritty, day-to-day detail, angling to profit from a booming mortgage market, and then scrambling to cope with its collapse.
I believe late Q2, BOA will complete the sale of it’s Balboa forced placed insurance unit to QBE. Once that happens, BOA will start to accelerate the process to clean up it’s mtg portfolio. Perhaps other institutions will follow.
Some big money looking to pick up distressed portfolios on the cheap and run them through the washing machine and sell them.
“Weak demand, declining home prices and the lack of credit availability are weighing heavily on the market, which is still facing the dual threat of a looming shadow inventory of distressed properties and the probability that foreclosure activity will begin to increase again as lenders and servicers gradually work their way through the backlog of thousands of foreclosures that have been delayed due to improperly processed paperwork.”
For those visiting from the Kannekt site; if you need further explanation, just ask and we’ll use simpler terms.
Good read on how some countries with abundant resources save for a rainy day:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-safest-bonds-in-the-world-2011-04-12?pagenumber=1
DejaVu
Debt – I believe in yesterdays MarketWatch they indicated that there were elevated levels of I-131 in three Philly water plants. Levels were claimed to be within the safe range and no direct link with Japan was established.
Unless TMI has recently had an unannounced meltdown then the only source of increasing I-131 is Fukushima. The only non-trivial source of I-131 is nuclear Fission reactions. I-131 has a half-life of 8 days. This means that to see an INCREASE in level the source must be generating the I-131 NOW.
“Safe Levels” is also relative. A safe level for an adult exposure can easily be dangerous to pregnant/nursing woman and young children.
As a side note, commercial Reverse Osmosis system are capable of removing the majority of radioactive contaminants. Note that I am not says that I-131 is currently at dangerous levels or that anyone should be running out to buy an RO system.
And just to make sure i dont get any fellow bloggers panties in a wad, i am not an expert in nuclear physics or nuclear medicine. I am however an expert in mopping floors and emptying garbage cans.
Debt
Vodka, from what I remember from 100-level physics, uncontrolled, open-air fission isn’t a good thing. Right?
Areva produced a private report that says they believe the SFP in reacor 4 cracked during the original quake and went dry. There is a good chance that since the entire core of reactor 4 was in that pool, that enough heat has been generated to cause a partial meltdown in open air and that intermittent criticalities have been occurring as a result. Even if the pool is not cracked, the heat generated from such reactions is hot enough to potentially burn through concrete. There is a good chance that they end up with “magma” flows of radioactive corium dripping out of the damaged pool and into the lower superstructure of the reactor building (the same thing happened at Chernobyl).
No public worst case scenario run by the nuclear industry has ever posited an entire core would reach melt down/recriticality conditions in an open air environment. But look at the good side! It would be very difficult for a hydrogen explosion to occur with an open core since no hydrogen can be built up due to the lack of containment!!!
Pop goes the bubble.
BEIJING (MNI) – Prices of new homes in China’s capital plunged 26.7% month-on-month in March, the Beijing News reported Tuesday, citing data from the city’s Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission.
Average prices of newly-built houses in March fell 10.9% over the same month last year to CNY19,679 per square meter, marking the first year-on-year decline since September 2009.
Home purchases fell 50.9% y/y and 41.5% m/m, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified official from the Housing Commission as saying the falls point to the government’s crackdown on speculation in the real estate market.
Beijing property prices rose 0.4% m/m in February, 0.8% in January and 0.2% in December, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.
The central government has launched several rounds of measures since last year designed to cool the housing market, though local government reliance on land sales to plug fiscal holes mean enforcement hasn’t been uniform.
The NBS is expected to release March house price data on April 18.
http://imarketnews.com/node/29203
vodka (11)-
My feeling is that whatever the worst possible outcome can be at Fukushima, it will happen.
Combine nuclear disaster with a corrupt, degenerate, bankrupt society that is eyeball-deep in deceit and denial, then mix well.
#14 could just as well be a reference to Amerika.
I was on the phone with a recruiter yesterday and this is the second time in two weeks where the brazenly asked my age – obviously a growing trend. I tell them the truth, even though I know this is an ethics violation because I want to play this riduculous game to hear their reaction. They tell me how “young” and “energetic” I sound! lol! I ask them what’s the difference, if one is qualified. The response is classic. Just think of any bullsh1t line that comes to mind. I say this as just another reminder to all who dispute the notion that Amerikan tradition and values still exist. The rules of the game have changed dramatically and we are seeing the beginning of a serious decline in a way of life we previously knew. Again, I’m just a reporter outlining the events. This isn’t opinion, it’s fact.
Debt,
Arvea’s claims and TEPCO’s aren’t matching up. An open air pool should be readily boiling if there are active fission reactions going on even in a small fraction of the fuel elements. If the pool is capable of holding water and considering the boron casing that the fuel elements are placed inside of, a self sustaining fission reaction (criticality) shouldn’t be possible.
If Areva is correct and the pool cracked and ran dry then the fuel elements would have probably begun to crumble from the oxidation driven by decay heat. TEPCO adding water after the pool ran dry would have accelerated the disintegration of the fuel elements and you end up with a pile of fuel elements and oxidation components falling into the bottom of the pool outside of the boron casing. At that point a criticality could occur.
Consider that they decay heat from the fuel elements alone WITHOUT a criticality is enough to boil the water out of the boil if it is not actively circulated. Now TEPCO expects us to believe that the water in the pool is below boiling (90C) while intermittent criticality reactions are occurring in suppodily intact fuel elements that are surrounded by boron casings????? I suppose it is possible but about as likely as flipping a coin and having it land on its side. TEPCO is basically telling us that 1+1 = 3
jobless claims up to 412,000
Craptastic numbers this AM on UE, inflation.
I can already smell QE3.
gary (16)-
I’m 51 y/o, with deep management and ownership experience in two industries. I can’t get as much as a whiff of an interview anywhere.
However, my former employer thinks they can walk on thousands of $$$ they owe me.
Come to think of it, another round of QE in the face of massive UE and a hot inflation number should be just enough to trigger hyperinflation and currency collapse.
Good times.
lets face it,the white male over 45 is finished unless your in your own deal
Cor-ee-um, C-O-R-I-U-M, cor-ee-um, want to shout it out loud, cor-ee-um, a radioactive cloud, cor-ee-um, C-O-R-I-U-M….
Debt,
The funny thing is that people reading here think it’s bitterness or whatever term they can conjour up but we’re merely just calling it as we see it. Give me something to cheer and I’ll gladly do so. Unfortunately, we’re living in very ominous times.
Gary,
I am not at all bitter at anyting; however I am angry at those who who have set us on our curtent course and those who continue driving us towards the cliff, whilst asduring us that all is well.
sas3 (prior thread0
Maybe I misread your post, but if keeping Indian citizenship presents no significant tax hardship (I know nothing of Indian tax laws), then I would advise against surrendering your Indian passport.
The only reason that you should surrender Indian citizenship it is if (a) Indian taxes on foreign source income are onerous, and (b) you can always get it back later with little effort.
Otherwise, you have the Golden Ticket, my friend: The ability to skate on the US and walk into a consulate elsewhere in the world to turn in your debt serf title.
And I am angry at Android.
[25] shore
Remember, to go forward, you put the car in “D”.
That’s what Thelma and Louise did.
And did anyone notice how quickly that Democratic catch phrase disappeared? Probably a few editorial cartoons involving cars and cliffs prompted that.
Nom,
India is demanding that Indians with citizenship in anothet country surtender their Indian passports and then pay hefty fees for visas to travel to India.
I thought D was for daylight driving
318 gary: and last weeks revised up 3000. So what who cares.It is all good.
[27] Shore
My HTC Incredib[ly bad] died two days ago. Wouldn’t stay on for more than a few minutes before shutting down. Even did it for the teck in the VZ store. They are sending me another phone. Great, I get Crap 2.0 to replace Legacy Crap.
And more time and effort on my part to manage their rickety network. The day this contract ends, I am skating to ATT. I had no issues with them.
I am giving serious thought to producing my own commercial for ATT to put on Youtube; it will end with me dropping the verizon phone into a trash can and saying “Can you hear me now?”
20. Debt Supernova. If what you said is true (deep management and ownership experience in 2 industries) whatever the f**k that means, you would have the network, the connections, you would know enough people, especially at age 51, to be hired somewhere. That’s how you get a job, through your network, through the reputation you’ve built in these alleged 2 industries over the decades.
Talent with this much experience has options….the options you built and accrued for yourself during your career. Your problem is like most people’s, they think too much of themselves, they think they are a valuable asset, they have talent, etc. and so forth, but the market says otherwise.
You’re kind of like a personification of these properties you rant about here all day. Not worth even close what you think you are. I am sorry to be blunt, but that’s probably, more likely the case.
People are baffled their $700,000 home bought in ’05 is can’t get more than $425K today, and people are baffled their $150K job they had in ’05 is gone and why no one will hire them. Same thing. The house was never worth what it got at the time, and you probably were never worth what you earned when you had a job.
You can make lots of excuses, but at the end of the day if you did not build up reputation over the decades and don’t have a network where a company is not snapping you up and hiring you? The problem is not the job market, it’s you. your delusion of yourself, no different than an overpriced McMansion bought in boom times.
Just as you all say, ANY house of quality is not on the market long, right? Even in this economy, That’s the mantra here, correct? Same thing with workers. And you all say most of the inventory out there it total crap, right?….yeah…just like most of the unemployed.
You Debt Supernova are basically a 3 bedrom/2 bath 1800′ colonial in West Orange bought for $600K in ’07 and asking $450K with $18,000/year property taxes. The only explaining you have to do is why your network, the people you’ve known throughout your career have not hired you or referenced you another company, that’s how you get a job.
Nom,
The peoole who dismiss out borrowing 40-odd cents if every dollar we spend and asdert that cutting spending will hurt some people ignore the fact that continuing to borrow will cripple all of us.
Trickle-up poverty, if you will.
13.Debt Supernova says:
April 14, 2011 at 8:18 am
vodka (11)-
My feeling is that whatever the worst possible outcome can be at Fukushima, it will happen
Sad, but you are probably right. Still think we need a place for the Japanese to move to, when they finally give up. The Japanese land mass is too small to survive these types of incidents. It was a mistake for them to go Nuclear to begin with, owing to their size & location.
Gary but isn’t that the point of the recruiter in the first place? To screen candidates. My buddy told me he wants people 21-30 and people 55-65. Young folks work hard cheap, old folks who have been downsized are hard up for work and are happy to do the job and not ask for a promotion. The 30-45 year old crowd with an MBA are the worst, they want raises, bonuses all the time and goal is to push the boss out the door and take his job, the old snake guarding the chicken. He tells recruiters this. Another place I worked boss prided herself on diversity, kept department 50/50 men/women and made sure blacks/asians/indians etc. were equally represented. I heard her tell headhunter one of my black women quit send me a new one.
gary says:
April 14, 2011 at 8:21 am
I was on the phone with a recruiter yesterday and this is the second time in two weeks where the brazenly asked my age – obviously a growing trend. I tell them the truth, even though I know this is an ethics violation because I want to play this riduculous game to hear their reaction. They tell me how “young” and “energetic” I sound! lol! I ask them what’s the difference, if one is qualified. The response is classic. Just think of any bullsh1t line that comes to mind. I say this as just another reminder to all who dispute the notion that Amerikan tradition and values still exist. The rules of the game have changed dramatically and we are seeing the beginning of a serious decline in a way of life we previously knew. Again, I’m just a reporter outlining the events. This isn’t opinion, it’s fact.
[30] shore
I see. That it still manageable however. First, you simply delay accepting US citizenship for as long as possible–no real benefit to it anyhow. Then, if the visas only affect travel to india, you assess whether it is necessary to travel there, and decide accordingly.
Makes one wonder if India is a tad concerned that they would be overrun when things melt down in the West, and the lifeboat would be in danger of being swamped.
John,
For the plaintiff’s bar, this sort of thing, especially uf ever put in e-mail, a text, or voicemail, is the golden ticket.
#24 gary: I have found most people equate trying to have a serious converation about serious matters, as bittterness. The they look for a reason to attribute to that bitterness. So it becomes soemthing like, well you are just saying that or you feel that way because…………., and so you are bitter.
Also most people cannot be bothered, and do not care, or say simply, not my town, or we are America we are the best we will be back. People are not informed, or ill informed. I have found it is just much easier to say nothing. It is easier to stay here, or go back in your cave. When self proclaimed experts on occasion start discussing a serious topic of which they know little to nothing, just nod and smile. Baseball has started, American Idol and Dancing with the Stars is in full swing, that is all that matters.
Sadly the art of serious informed conversation is dead in this country.
Confused.
I still think that nuclear is technically feasible and practically feasible assuming that it is designed and run from an “engineering” standpoint as a necessary utility ( not for profit:. Running them for profit in a corporate environment is probably suicidal at the end of the day. Trying to run duel purpose ( weapons material and energy production) reactors, of which the majority of existing reactors are, is a VERY risky proposition from a risk analysis standpoint (PFMEA).
[35] shore
Trickle up poverty is not an entirely unintended result. It is called “economic justice” though, and don’t use the word “poverty.” The PC crowd will come after you and call you a racist for using it as a pejorative.
And I think we are about to get our first glimpse at “means testing” in decades. It will have to be called something else, and couched heavily in regulatory fluff so it doesn’t appear that the USG is about to break its compact with people who were told to pay into an insurance system, then told that they aren’t going to get it.
Once they go to means-testing SS, that will be evidence of the tipping point; a government that will abrogate the contract it made with its citizens will abrogate any other contract. There will be an effect on Treasury rates, government contracts, and any other area where the Feds are responsible for writing checks. And if it doesn’t give most americans pause, even those that aren’t screwed by means-testing, then we are truly doomed.
“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, bouncing back above the key 400,000 level, a government report showed on Thursday.”
spot the keyword
I’m just stating what I’m witnessing. None of us are exempt from anything. That’s all.
3b [40],
Amen. I agree!
And how about that campaign speech yesterday? The Narcissistic Kenyan doesn’t miss a beat!
#46 And the annoying parent lecturing the child finger pointing.
3b 40
There is also the issue of people not wanting to call their perception of reality into question. Many highly informed people, will simply ignore obvious conclusions simply because the cannot or will not perceive of a reality that is counter to the one they believe in.
shore (31)-
“D” is for d*ckhead.
“Sadly the art of serious informed conversation is dead in this country.”
As is the art of serious informed debate. We seem to live in an age where if one believes something different from another, the one must be crushed.
The Constitutional Convention would be impossible to hold in today’s political environment.
know (34)-
F*ck you, and f*ck your mother, too.
I suggest this as BHO’s new campaign clogan:
Barack Obama, not as paranoid as Dic-k nixon, not as competent as Millard Filmore.
Oh, and not a chance he will lose to Mike Huckabee, Mit Romney, and the rest of the Republicans who stand a chance of winning Iowa, NH, and SC.
slogan even
know (34)-
Why troll here? 1031 Rt 202, Branchburg, anytime, M-F. Walk through my door, and say that crap to my face.
Debt,
If downwind of TMI saw a 10X increase then what do you think might be seem from a nuclear core fissioining in open air and 3 other reactors in meltdown with breached containment?
Give it a few years and a Fukushima necklace will be all the rage!
Dr. Steven Wing, associate professor of epidemiology at the UNC-CH School of Public Health, led a study of cancer cases within 10 miles of the facility from 1975 to 1985. He and colleagues conclude that following the March 28, 1979 accident, lung cancer and leukemia rates were two to 10 times higher downwind of the Three Mile Island reactor than upwind.
A paper Wing and colleagues wrote appears in the January issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, scheduled to appear Feb. 24. They first presented their findings last July at the University of Portsmouth in Portsmouth, United Kingdom, at the International Workshop on Radiation Exposures by Nuclear Facilities.
“I would be the first to say that our study doesn’t prove by itself that there were high-level radiation exposures, but it is part of a body of evidence that is consistent with high exposures,” Wing said. “The cancer findings, along with studies of animals, plants and chromosomal damage in Three Mile Island area residents, all point to much higher radiation levels than were previously reported. If you say that there was no high radiation, then you are left with higher cancer rates downwind of the plume that are otherwise unexplainable.”
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb97/wing.html
In the end, we’re all dead.
Debt 58
Indeed. The question is what do you do in the space between.
Not really, you have to be a protected class. College educated White males under 40 are not a protected class. If someone makes a rule not to hire 30-40 year old waspy white good looking male MBAs so be it, they can do it. Also being a male single parent is not a protected class. One can choose not to hire one as they are running home all the time. Also gets dicey when you choose to hire a black women over an asian women in order to make dept more balanced. All in all a tough call. Finally, you have to prove how it impacted you financially, lets say guy who does not want to hire good looking, college educated male go getters between 30-45, 99% of time by not getting the job they got a better job elsewhere, they can’t sue.
Shore Guy says:
April 14, 2011 at 9:05 am
John,
For the plaintiff’s bar, this sort of thing, especially uf ever put in e-mail, a text, or voicemail, is the golden ticket.
Is this a form of networking?
Debt Supernova says:
April 14, 2011 at 9:22 am
know (34)-
F*ck you, and f*ck your mother, too.
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign exchange reserves soared to a record of more than $3 trillion by end-March, while its money supply growth blew past forecasts, threatening to aggravate the nation’s inflation woes and trigger more policy tightening.
Over 40 is a protected class everywhere and, as you are in NY, and hire people, I am sure that you know that the NYS Human Rights Law protecte everyone over 18. Yup, 18.
protects, too
41.Kettle1^2 says:
April 14, 2011 at 9:09 am
Confused.
I still think that nuclear is technically feasible and practically feasible assuming that it is designed and run from an “engineering” standpoint as a necessary utility ( not for profit:. Running them for profit in a corporate environment is probably suicidal at the end of the day. Trying to run duel purpose ( weapons material and energy production) reactors, of which the majority of existing reactors are, is a VERY risky proposition from a risk analysis standpoint (PFMEA).
I agree, it can be done relatively safely here. But if I lived on a small Island, situated over volcanic faults, I think it’s too dicey.
#34 Wow. You don’t need a sign that says “A$$hole.” Just open your mouth. After several years here, I can honestly say that your post was the only one to get me totally and completely pi$$ed off. Congratulations.
#50 Shore The country that was founded on honest principled dissent, no longer tolerates it. It is all group think now. If you do not agree then you must be crushed, or stay silent. Apart from some rare occasional sporadic outbursts due to sheer frustration, and exasperation, I elect to remain silent.
#48 Critical thinking I guess is a curse. The choice is to be informed but tormented, or uninformed, clueless and living in la la land.
34,
The situation is not that simple. Most of the people in my network are in the same situation as I am. Most of the jobs in my industry (pharma) just vanished. Many drugs were dropped from development, jobs moved to India/China, generic competition and mergers all happening at the same time compounded the problem. I know many highly qualified people with lot of publications in reputed journals and big pharma experience are not able to find jobs. They used to actively participate in meetings/conferences and network very well. The jobs are simply not there! Go to Indeed.com and type “medicinal chemistry”/NJ. Let us see how many jobs show up!. Game over for many pharma middle managers in NJ or elsewhere. Same thing is true for any other profession too. Why would anybody pay 100K for a job here to someone if that can be done for 10K in India or China?
#69 Yeah. You said it better. I just got mad.
We seemed to be focused on fighting over pieces of a shrinking pie rather than baking new pies so there are more than enough pieces for everyone. Until we have an economy that allows the bottom 75% in terms of IQ or education to survive comfortably we are sunk.
I though post 69 was reserved for JJ?
Pine,
It was something like 2 years ago, a guy I know was downsized from a jon that was paying him something like $150m a year and it was shiped to a subsidiary in India. He was offered a relo package to India but his salary would have dropped to something like $15-25m/yr.
3b (68)-
It’s worse than that. Those who are on the inside of the groupthink are very actively creating more and thicker barriers against reality. They create the barriers around family, friends, workplace, even cyberspace (look at kannekt or baristanet).
I have even had posts of mine on Realtor.com discussion boards removed by moderators (and no, not because they were profanity-laced tirades) for taking our industry to task over clunkers-for-houses, over our not challenging the banksters to release the shadow inventory for listing and over our begging for bailouts and 8K tax credits instead of restructuring our businesses to address the new sales environment.
I am also routinely called “negative” and “too down on the industry” by people who haven’t sold a house in over 12 months and are working 1-2 other jobs to make ends meet. A mortgage guy whose personal business is on the edge actually said this to my face last week. Somehow, these dolts see the prospects for their personal sales getting better…if only Mr. Clotpoll could change his attitude.
The neurosis and idiocy of this kind of thought is so overwhelming, I usually can’t respond when faced with it.
“The neurosis and idiocy ”
Ahh, you have clearly spent time in the halls of government.
In the Know you are an a hole in spades. That being said a white male over 45 is screwed in just about any area of employment. This will work out well.
Wait until Realtors and the mortgage industry get poleaxed by the removal of tax deductions for property taxes and mortgage interest. IMO, this is not a matter of if, but when.
We’ll probably fight it with massive amounts of lobbying, graft and influence-peddling, rather than preparing our industries to deal with housing-as-commodity and lower rates of homeownership going forward. Then, when the change actually comes, we’ll be both tapped out financially and unprepared to respond to the new realities.
In the end, either we deal with reality, or reality will deal with us.
30 year fixed up for the fourth week in a row.
tick… tick… tick… tick…
#74 I have given up as I said trying to challenge the neurosis and idiocy. ” They want the independent thinkers to remain silent, for fear that their different thoughts or views may infect the group think, and upset the status quo. They have won.
shore (75)-
No, just spent too long in real estate. I have had both contemporaries and people under me assert- in good markets and bad- that my thoughts, attitudes and opinions weighed in an undue fashion on their performances.
Funny: whenever my peers or agents did well, they never attributed any of that to me.
“removal of tax deductions for property taxes and mortgage interest”
The folks in te south, midwest, and mountain west will be okay with the loss of the property tax deduction as they pay little and it will be seen as scr-ewing Democrstic-majority states. The mortgage interest deduction may be a harder sell, but, it will fly if it is targeted at the “rich,” like those earning $200m+/yr, again targeting the Democrats in the NE and California, and the big cites where Dems tend to congregate.
#77 I thought I heard O bought that up yesterday (Mtg ded), cap or removal.
#81 shore: I think if them mtg ded is capped at say 200K, away from the Northeast and west coast, most AMericans will not have a problem with it.
3b (82)-
He most certainly did. IMO, whatever budget deal gets worked, there’s not enough folks on either side of the aisle to go to the mattresses during negotiations over the final package to preserve these deductions.
I am beginning to believe that we should eliminate payroll taxes and fund all government spending through the income tax (tarrifs as well but those don’t directly affect most people). That way we can all see and feel the real cost of government. So much is really hidden from people.
It will be packaged and sold as a soak-the-rich feature.
And the whole damn problem is that poor people don’t pay enough taxes.
3b,
Never underestimate the willingness of one group of citizens to toss anotther group of citizens off the cliff.
Gary: FWIW….in 1990 when I was looking for my first job, I was complaining to a headhunter at his office that I couldn’t get an interview. He said…”kid…Ivy Leaguers with 3.7 GPAs looking for their first job are a dime a dozen in this environment…” I thought ……HOLY FUK………reality? I shit a lot bricks for a good while but …it’s always darkest before dawn….
Honestly, on April 13, 2011 I just decided on the next Presidential Election. I am pretty patient about a lot of stuff, but this guy just made a public statement that he is a nothing.
“it’s always darkest before dawn….”
In the vein of:
“Did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
off to the salt mine.
clot: a heartwarming story on a stunning spring day…….
NY CRIME
APRIL 14, 2011
By TAMER EL-GHOBASHY
A suspected burglar was killed and another critically wounded when the homeowner of a Long Island house opened fire on the pair as after they allegedly forced their way through a back door early Wednesday, police said.
According to police, one of the alleged burglars was armed with a .22-caliber rifle and shot the homeowner’s dog once he and two others entered the house on Adams Street in East Islip at about 12:19 a.m.
A man who lived there emerged, armed with a shotgun, and shot two of the suspects, police said.
One of the suspects, who wasn’t identified because his family hadn’t been notified of his death, died at the scene.
Justin Benkov, 25 years old, was taken to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore where he was in critical condition, police said. He has been charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and was awaiting arraignment late Wednesday.
A third suspect, who was able to flee, was later tracked down by police and arrested. He was identified as Philipe Robinette, 27, and was awaiting arraignment on charges of burglary, police said.
A law-enforcement official with knowledge of the case said the homeowner had a permit for the shotgun and isn’t expected to face any criminal charges.
The wounded dog, a pitbull, is expected to survive, the official said.
Are you drawing the Albanian connection? As an aside, look what they accomplished…..”All is well…”
Shore Guy says:
April 14, 2011 at 10:48 am
“it’s always darkest before dawn….”
In the vein of:
“Did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
ChiFi [89],
Agreed. We’ll keep fighting! :)
[89] “It’s always darkest just before it goes pitch black.”
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3218/2686117914_9fba862097.jpg
#90 ???
Tailor made for evil Lemmy and better than the original:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKNLApfJNe4
Shore 91 Only John Belushi could have said it better!
Debt 80
Schrodinger’s cat strikes again!
#86 debt: And of course we will have local experts tell us that thsi will nevr happen.
The same people who told us the following:
There is no housing bubble.
The banks know hat they are doing.
There will be no recession.
Property taxes don’t matter.
73 shore,
Pharma is entering another model. At least in big pharma, most of the work done was in house. These days, they prefer to outsource either to a CRO or send it abroad to their own division. No more labs in USA. Manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and final drug product involves lot of work and requires good amount of man power. All the manpower needed is mostly sourced in India. The only job left in USA is in regulatory affairs. This requires good writing skills and technical knowledge. This profession is safe for now for the natives. Sadly smaller companies like the one I work, also want to follow their model and stop all lab work here and outsource completely. I don’t know how long I can work in this industry. I am 41 and the thought of forced retirement at this age terrifies me and most of my colleagues.
Anybody thinks this will happen?
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/04/recession-by-end-of-year.html
How far ebhind the uK are we on this?
1.8 million pensioners live below the poverty line
Despite inflation falling slightly, the Retail Price Index is still at 5.3pc with food and fuel rising rapidly, yet pensioners will only see the basic state pension increase by 4.5pc this year and other benefits by just 3.1pc.
In fact, even the standard Retail Price Index can understate older people’s living costs. Age UK Enterprises’ Silver RPI measure shows that since 2008 inflation has been higher for older people than for those under the age of 55. This is partly due to low mortgage interest rates – which are less likely to impact on older people – as well as cost increases on products and services like food and energy that over-55s spend proportionately more on.
As a result, we know these are difficult times for many older people and growing numbers are struggling to make ends meet. 1.8 million pensioners live below the poverty line and research that Age UK will release tomorrow shows millions more are teetering just above it. Bills accrued over the cold winter months have put a huge amount of pressure on people’s finances and many are still paying the price now.
Of course the options to increase your income once you have retired are few and far between. Nearly 1 million people are now working past 65 in part-time and full-time jobs in order to boost their retirement incomes. But for many people in their 60s, ill health and caring responsibilities for partners or elderly parents mean carrying on working simply isn’t an option.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/uk-pensioners-living-below-poverty-line
illegals can apply for our snap program
https://www.benefitscheckup.org/forms/nj_fs_application.pdf?CFID=4423797&CFTOKEN=77981267
Not much difference in what Know said in 34 and what JJ has been saying all along. I truly feel for those that are caught up in this mess. When laid off a while ago, I could look back and see the mistakes that I made and wished that I did things differently. There were signs around me that my industry was in trouble and I looked at expanding sales territories as a chance to make more money instead of a wake up call that there was trouble ahead.
Over and over again we hear that America is not sharp. Yet we don’t make the individual adjustments to personally reach our potential. I’m more guilty than most. Most of us aren’t willing to move 100 miles away from home yet our great grandparents jumped on boats with absolutely nothing.
3b: I am lefter than you but you are clearly a thoughtful individual. I’m starting to want you to move to my town. :-)
Debt [189-192, prev thread];
Amazing that simply reading you own words can send you into such a fit of rage. You really should do something about this self-loathing. My suggestion, and I think I’ve shared this with you, is a change in occupation. I even think I congratulated you on your apparent departure. Alas, it seems used house sales is like many other illicit trades, you can’t just retire or move on to something else. http://youtu.be/UPw-3e_pzqU
#107JC Thanks. A tormented thoughtful individual.!
And it looks like you will get your wish. We have pretty mcuh made the decesion, that is where we will go.
3b says:
April 14, 2011 at 10:59 am
#90 ???
no passion; no thoughts; no leadership
#110 Nothing new.
1990 was a recession. Last thing we needed was some punk snot nosed kid from ivy league schools telling us what to do.
And you know I love you chifi, but since when is any ivy league school in Chicago. In fact I say your deep dish pizza is just a pile of dough with tomato sauce on top!
chicagofinance says:
April 14, 2011 at 10:45 am
Gary: FWIW….in 1990 when I was looking for my first job, I was complaining to a headhunter at his office that I couldn’t get an interview. He said…”kid…Ivy Leaguers with 3.7 GPAs looking for their first job are a dime a dozen in this environment…” I thought ……HOLY FUK………reality? I shit a lot bricks for a good while but …it’s always darkest before dawn….
#54 Shore
Nice to see you are finally embraceing the inevitable. I think O’s 2012 slogan should be “No Compitition!”
Slate had a nice breakdown of the speech
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53153.html
106
yet our great grandparents jumped on boats with absolutely nothing.
–
I’m seriously considering relocating. My brother lost his big pharma job, moved from Paramus to Birmingham, AL (ranked 4 in the US in medical research industry). The same house was half the price, he only works 1 job and no more than 40 hours a week. Seems to have less stress and his kids are just as happy.
#13 fabius: Saw your hurling link yesterday. Incredible sport; getting more popular over here. The U.S. Army recently established a team, after troops coming home from Iraq saw it being played during a lay over at Shannon.
I heard about this madness at lunch and logged on to see if it was true or not. Watch this and get sick to your stomach:
“Critics are again taking aim at the Transportation Security Administration’s screening procedures, this time after an enhanced pat-down of a 6-year-old girl was caught on video and posted on YouTube.
snip
The incident in question happened earlier this month when the vacationing Drexel family was returning home to Kentucky from New Orleans’ Armstrong International Airport. That’s when 6-year-old daughter Anna was selected for additional screening.”
snip
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2011/04/tsa-screening-controversy/155793/1
John,
No Ivys in Chicago but, there is one in Ithaca. Pay attention.
Nom/Shore,
India does not allow dual citizenship [never allowed it, and only in recent years started allowing for an “Overseas Indian Citizen” thing, and even a “Person of Indian Origin”]. So, things have been sort of improving for people that want to take up US (or other) citizenship and still have flexibility to travel to India, own property, etc.
The Indian passport after getting a US citizenship is basically useless for any purpose other than for sentimental reasons [like hanging on to a knife (or bed linen) used in betrayal :) ]. In fact, use of the passport for travel purposes after 3 months of getting another citizenship is a major offense.
The only issue now seems to be that the government is requiring that the passport be surrendered (at a somewhat steep cost, inconvenience, and with potentially large fines if one doesn’t surrender the passport in a reasonable time period). They will take the passport, do some paperwork and send the canceled passport back, so nothing else changes. Even the cost is not very high in relation to corresponding charges Indians encounter in US, [e.g. employment authorization and travel documents were close to $400 a year per person a few years ago, so $175 one time isn’t a big deal]. So the issue really seems to be a storm in a tea cup.
The new rule seems to be aimed at assuring that they are closing loopholes that “bad guys” can exploit. Like the “six point verification” for driving licenses, the only tangible effect is that people stand longer in lines.
On an other note, it was a bit depressing experience over the weekend … Pathmark and Blockbuster near Middlesex mall closing, nearby Hollywood closed a few years ago, another K-Mart and Pathmark near N.Plainfield/Greenbrook closed a while ago. Borders in Watchung mall is gone. Meanwhile two Walmarts have propped up.
On a positive note, there were a lot of people playing cricket in the really large Kmart/Pathmark complex parking lot — the world cup win by India has been a really big deal…
Shore,
That’s when 6-year-old daughter Anna was selected for additional screening.
I think the TSA agent saw too many trailers of “Hanna” and got the names confused!
If that were my daughter, I would likely be in jail right now awaiting trial.
“1990 was a recession.”
JJ,
Walk in the park compared to this one. Current bust is one for the record books. Come to think of it in 1990 there was no mark to fantasy, derivatives required margin/ cleared on an exchange, the fed’s balance sheet did not explode, swap lines were not burning up, Strigapolous was sipping Ouzo not throwing bottle rockets; no hamp, tarp talf, etc.. MERS? Even Kettle had never heard of them.
This is the Big Kahuna. It will go longer than most can begin to imagine.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/01/weekly-summary-and-look-ahead_10.html
Shore, agree… I read the link and it is a horrible thing — no alternatives offered, and the whole thing would have been horribly traumatic for the kid and the parents.
There is this peculiar comment from ACLU (though from ACLU-Louisiana)…
“A 6-year-old child shouldn’t be subjected to this kind of treatment in the first place if there’s no reason to suspect her or her parents of being criminals.” The”if clause” is not needed and is a bit offensive.
3b (#109): Post links for the houses you actually look at. I’m reasonably familiar with most neighborhoods in town. What price range are you looking at? (BTW, I’m not a real estate agent, but my sister is one in NC. I just have an unhealthy interest in all things residential RE, which is why I put up with the people on this blog. *grin*)
#23 Will do. I appreciate it. Won’t start looking until the summer, and will take our time. looking for 3 bed 1.5/2 bath Cape Bi-Level, possibly Ranch. 350k looks to be doable; don’t need a lot of house, just comfortable.
This recession is nothing. People who actually lived through the great depression laugh their butts off as people with severance, 99 weeks unemployment and COBRA sit in their houses watching color TV in air conditioning complain tonight because of the recession I have to eat at Outback instead of Peter Lugars.
Lone Ranger says:
April 14, 2011 at 1:20 pm
“1990 was a recession.”
JJ,
Walk in the park compared to this one. Current bust is one for the record books. Come to think of it in 1990 there was no mark to fantasy, derivatives required margin/ cleared on an exchange, the fed’s balance sheet did not explode, swap lines were not burning up, Strigapolous was sipping Ouzo not throwing bottle rockets; no hamp, tarp talf, etc.. MERS? Even Kettle had never heard of them.
This is the Big Kahuna. It will go longer than most can begin to imagine.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/01/weekly-summary-and-look-ahead_10.html
Can straight people live in bi-levels?
3b says:
April 14, 2011 at 2:19 pm
#23 Will do. I appreciate it. Won’t start looking until the summer, and will take our time. looking for 3 bed 1.5/2 bath Cape Bi-Level, possibly Ranch. 350k looks to be doable; don’t need a lot of house, just comfortable.
99 weeks unemployment and a Cobra payment of 1k a month. I imagine one must be doing cartwheels, thrilled with that predicament.
3b (#124): I’ll keep my eyes open. Something tells me that the link I sent you will still be there in summer…as will others. For what it’s worth, I did a tax appeal with professional appraiser and appraisal of my 4/2 cape with 6-year-old siding/windows/roof, 15-year-old 200 amp electric panel, nice curb appeal, remodeled basement family room and not much else updated came in @ $360K.
Recent sales in that price range:
http://www.bergentagsales.com/housesalesmar1-15-2011.htm#washington%20township
http://www.bergentagsales.com/housesalesjan1-15-2011.htm#washington%20township
A 4/2 cape in need of some interior updating just went under contract on Beech St. near Jessie George School… no info yet on what sales price was but it went under contract soon after asking price dropped to $365K (OLP was $405K!!)
they would be hungry, shoeless and coat less on a cold winter day with tin cup in hand begging on the streets if this was depression.
Lone Ranger says:
April 14, 2011 at 2:31 pm
99 weeks unemployment and a Cobra payment of 1k a month. I imagine one must be doing cartwheels, thrilled with that predicament.
re #12 – China pop.
Few months ago new rules came into effect to curb speculators.
Local residents with Beijing hukou, who already own two apartments, and non-locals who already own one apartment, will be temporarily forbidden from purchasing houses, China Central Television reported on Wednesday, citing the new guidelines.
http://en.huanqiu.com/business/china-economy/2011-02/623836.html
“they would be hungry, shoeless and coat less on a cold winter day with tin cup in hand begging on the streets if this was depression.”
Yeah, you’re probably right. After all, if this was a depression the fed would be forced to aggressively expand their balance sheet and prostitute the currency.
#28 The listings look decent (without seeing the inside), Cosmetics not an issue, do not want to get into major rehab. Taxes look decent (Keep in mind where I am 11 to 12K is the norm now for similar).
Spring market from my own observations looks dead, so I would not be surprised if as you say the listing you linked to was still there in the summer( although the tobacco road matte would be an issue). We will take our time, prices are not going up,a nd will IMO continue down. Thanks again.
I think there are few in here that will appreciate this.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/wacky-edibles/c399/
Here’s a tidbit for Fabius
http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-17350-9_things_the_rich_dont_want_you_to_know_about_taxes.html
To me, this is more op-ed than tax analysis (in fact, I would not deign to call it scholarship). As for the “analysis”, his argument is of a sort that is common in liberal scholarship, which has forgotten the rules of Rhetoric. This is best compared to a conversatoin I had with a VSF (very smart friend), who was on a full boat to Washington Univ. for his doctorate in economics. He and I were speaking one day, and he decided to tell me his doctoral thesis. It went kind of like this:
Jay: Well, my thesis will be [something about housing and regulation].
Nom: I have a problem with your basic premise.
Jay: Why?
Nom: Well, the easiest way to explain it in latin: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc.
[dead silence]
Jay: Fcuk you Deplume. I worked on this thesis for months and in ten seconds, you torpedoed it.
Nom: Sorry.
[Jay never did complete his revised thesis or get his doctorate in economics.]
[133] fabius
cleaning coffee and spittle off screen now. Thanks for the laugh.
I think Kettle posted something similar many months back. Kettle, this look familiar?
#29 JJ Just looking at zillow, what is the area around Colonial Blvd.Sussex Rd. by IHA like?
#134 nom
Music to my ears
“lower federal deficits by $4 trillion over the next 12 years through tax increases on the super-wealthy and the elimination of tax loopholes and deductions for individuals and corporations, as well as targeted cuts in defense spending, reductions in health-care spending and expire the Bush tax cuts.”
Nothing quite as disturbing as pork in a can.
By lower, do they mean actualy below current levels or lower than it would otherwise be with contined out if control spending?
I also love how in DC every plan to fix spending relies on actions 8-10 years out. CUT NOW.
The WSJ said this week, if you made the tax rate 100% for everyone who makes over 100K for the next 12 years it would not plug that 4 trillion deficit. You need to cut entitlements and/or raise taxes for people under 100K. This is all nonsense.
Fabius Maximus says:
April 14, 2011 at 3:58 pm
#134 nom
Music to my ears
“lower federal deficits by $4 trillion over the next 12 years through tax increases on the super-wealthy and the elimination of tax loopholes and deductions for individuals and corporations, as well as targeted cuts in defense spending, reductions in health-care spending and expire the Bush tax cuts.”
Had a chance conversation with a recently retired public servant. The topic of salary caps in sports came up and they opined that “these guys should get maximum $2.5MM per year and if they don’t like it they can go scratch”. They repeated several times the amounts involved in the largest contracts and were dismayed by “how much money that is”. This, to my understanding completely misses the point that there is a cap and the lockout is over the respective % split of profits, among other things. Not caring about what either side makes or if they made anything at all, I pointed out that at issue was an an expanding pool of revenue. Based on your thinking, I followed, were the pool to decrease to the point where your hypothetical $2.5MM was no longer feasible, you would agree that these contracts would have to be recalibrated, no?
Silence. Mumbling… I’d have to think about that.
Sharing is a lot more fun when it’s not your stuff.
Nom from that article
Gretchen Carlson, the Fox News host, said last year “47 percent of Americans don’t pay any taxes.” John McCain and Sarah Palin both said similar things during the 2008 campaign about the bottom half of Americans.
Ari Fleischer, the former Bush White House spokesman, once said “50 percent of the country gets benefits without paying for them.”
Actually, they pay lots of taxes—just not lots of federal income taxes.
Yes you idiot and income taxes are what funds alot of the profligate government debt. By asking the ninnies in the lower rungs to pay a fraction of their way not 30 percent not 20 but a fraction lets say 1 percent we are better off. 1% of 10K is 100 bucks. Not getting a tax retuurn for not paying taxes but instead paying a hundred bucks. $hit most of the lower mouth breathing organisms spend that on cheap beer, satellite TV and Mickey Ds in a month. Not to get into class warfare but how much is enough, I am not rich but why shouldn’t they keep the money they earned (this includes capital gains it is income sorry JJ) and tax it with out loopholes. Crap if anything the tax code in this country infringes on my rights and liberties because it forces me to pay for things that are not mandated by the constitution that I do not want. End the new deal BS enact a fair tax code and lets move on. FDR was a commie. Republicans lament the moral decay of the american family, it wasn’t moral it was the government. Why take care of grandma when social security will, why get a job when I can get welfare, personnel responsibility meh, I got mine. Snow isn’t shoveled governments fault. I’m just tired of it.
Jeez I sound like 50.5
Pain, it might just be your name that’s making you crotchety
re 142, “taxes” such as SS, Medicare, Unemployment, Disability out of your paycheck are not taxes. They are insurance policies for your retirement, illness, if you are fired and injured. They are not a source of revenue, in fact nearly all pay our more than they get in.
income taxes is a profit center. I paid 40% income on my salary. Then I took some of that income income via trading in 2010 and made 70K on the side, in turn I paid cap gain taxes on it. My junk bonds from 2009 I still own paid me a lot of interest and I paid 40% on that. I am in a 60/40 trading relationship with US govt on my taxable bonds where the govt gets 40% of my profit puts up no capital and takes no risk on the downside.
I love the Levitown Cop who goes JC I paid 5k in school taxes meanwhile they have four kids in school district at a cost of 40K to town. I am overtaxed. So you are overtaxed when you pay 5k to get 40K in benefits, yep that is right, the rich folks should pick that up
Saw this on a FB post.. too funny:
The government today announced that it is changing its emblem from an Eagle to a Condom because it more accurately reflects the government’s political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of d*cks, and gives you a sense of security while you’re actually being screwed.
When the Kennedy tax cut dropped the top income tax rate from 91% to 70%, or when the Reagan tax cut dropped it from 70% to 50%, it is quite possible that the lower rates raised more revenue than the old, higher rates would have. On the other hand, few if any of today’s tax rates are so high that cutting them would generate a surge of income-producing activity so large that revenue would rise. There will certainly be a feedback effect, just not such a massive amount. When revenue rises after cuts in a moderate-to-high tax rate, it is usually because of economic activity that would have occurred without the tax cuts. Furthermore, a significant chunk of the cost of the Bush tax cuts has little effect on marginal economic behavior, such as the 10 percent rate creation, the increase of the standard deduction for married couples and the child tax credit increase. (These specific provisions could even cost more than their static score due to the “income effect.”)
John,
The Dems could confiscate every asset the rich and “rich’ have and still not make a dent. The problem is spending.
Grim,
In mod for some reason
Another great component of that article nom posted
Americans take on $85 billion of debt each year for higher education, while college is financed by taxes in Germany and tuition is cheap to free in other modern countries. While soaring medical costs are a key reason that since 1980 bankruptcy in America has increased 15 times faster than population growth, no one in Germany or the rest of the modern world goes broke because of accident or illness. And child poverty in America is the highest among modern countries—almost twice the rate in Germany, which is close to the average of modern countries.
Love that the idiot used Germany as an example. My wife is a German citizen and I family by marraige there. Lets rip his little uber utopia to shreds. most Germans have to test into college and if they do not meet the requirements they do not get to go. Tell that to the parents of precious Ellerly, who is too dumb for any thing other than a frat house door knob, but can pay to go Bucknell on the backs of mom and dads heloc. They don’t want to hear their snowflake is in fact a step above tarded. It is a choice they don’t have to do it. No where in the constitution does it say thou shall have a dollege diploma. Know how I got mine hard work and loans that I, shockingly enough, paid off! Not my parents, me.
My wife’s cousin does not work as well as most of his friends rather he travels the world thanks to the kindness of the German welfare system, but he does use some of that money to fund additional health insurance because, well the general heath insurance just isn’t that good.
While I really do feel bad for children who grow up in poverty, Americans who grow up in poverty are among some of the best treated poor people in the world. Want to see poverty go to fcuking Johannesburg South Africa out in the real nice sections you’ll see real poverty. Hell can’t afford the ticket go to Haiti or some of the fun parts of the Dominican Republic. don’t copare those places to here. In the US you get a court mandated education, at least a meal a day and go hoem to play xbox. the funny thing is if you want to pull yourself up from a hardscrabble existence this was once upon a time the best place to do it. I fear not anymore but that is because of the leaches and hangers on who refuse to contribute to society and want something for nothing or it is the rich persons fault because they don’t pay enough taxes. I’m not mad at the rich I want to be them.
The Bush Tax Cuts till 2010 cost the Treasury $2.5 T
The only place we could find a recent hindsight estimate of the cost of the Bush tax cuts came from the liberal Citizens for Tax Justice who used it as an opportunity to compare the Bush tax cuts’ cost to health care reform. According to CTJ, the Bush tax cuts that were passed up through 2006 (the 2001 and 2003 cuts as well as other smaller cuts in 2004, 2005 and 2006) ended up costing the Treasury approximately $2.1 trillion in foregone revenue from 2001 to 2010. CTJ claims that if you add interest payments, that number goes up to around $2.5 trillion.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/26314.html
Damn world class rant in moderation don’t know why guess the FBI is on to me.
John,
Thr Dems could take away from the rich and the “rich’ every asset they have and not fix the problem. We have a spending problemand defining some spending as “entitlements” is a big part of it.
y’ome other than debt service why should the US government have that money? I’ll gladly pay more in taxes if I know that it is going to do nothing but pay down the debt so if and when I have children they don’t inherit a third world cesspool. Since the drunks in congress can do nothing more than spend other peoples money why should we give them any more of it.
Going to Congress is like going to the strip club with a bag full of singles you didn’t earn
Where do I sign up?
The 50% of workers not making enough do pay their taxes,through automatic payroll tax.At the end of the year they end up getting a refund because of having many dependents and not making enough.
The last 30 years income gap between the rich and the poor has been growing.With the poor getting hit harder because of income not catching up with inflation.If the bottom can make their income grow and catch up to the top 10% income,not paying taxes will not be a problem.
We had the opportunity to equalize this in 2008.We could have let the rich get wiped out.But we bailed out the Banks and Wall Street.As a result,the Middleclass and the Poor are the ones that suffered.The Rich that got bailed out saw their assets grow back to pre recession level while the middleclass and the poor got hit the hardest.Now the Rich are calling for tax cuts on their income level and cut some more benefits to the ones that got hit the hardest.
“If the bottom can make their income grow and catch up to the top 10% income,not paying taxes will not be a problem.”
If Jim Rice was white, there would be a statue of him on top of the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square.
For all I know real estate right now is starting to rise and I hope this will continue for my Denver real estate venture.
Will not happen.He got to greedy!
“If Jim Rice was white, there would be a statue of him on top of the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square.”
Not that it matters but CNBC is reporting blogger conjecture as facts again. All that matters is Core, nothing to see here move on already.
Inflation, using the reporting methodologies in place before 1980, hit an annual rate of 9.6 percent in February, according to the Shadow Government Statistics newsletter.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42551209
Rockies,
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
“reporting methodologies in place before 1980”
Juice,
Move on, most will look at you like you have 2 heads.
“Will not happen.He got to greedy!”
LMAO.
A schill must schill and I will take the opportunity as it presents itself.
Gold $1,474.80 $1,475.80 $20.20
Silver $42.21 $42.26 $1.95
Have fun with your green trash with the all seeing eye on it you illuminous bastards.
Full faith in the Federal Reserve? Bwah Bwahahahahaha!
Warburgs, Loeb, Schiff, Rothschild. These are you Daddy’s. Dont you forget it you low life scum. Bwahaahaa!
21.
Debt,
14% real inflation by the end of the year. QE 3 named or unnamed = hyperinflation by 2013. Mmm Mmm Mmm. Barack Hussein Obama. Mmm Mmm Mmm.
I just love this doom. I cant get enough of it.
46,
Gary,
That Kenyan usurper is trying to starve you out. Dont let him. Hes just another asset for the real puppet masters. An ugly one at that. Not to mention his disgusting neandrathal, knuckle dragging wife. You cant paint lipstick on a pig and call it pretty. Its ugly and you have to call it that.
Looks like the TSA perverts are assaulting kids on a daily basis now. Anyone want to take bets on a timeline where some pissed off mother f_cker comes in and puts a .45 right through their fat f_ckin head?
TSA Agent Pats-Down 8 Year Old Boy (That’ll Harsh Your Disneyland Buzz!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFsMiE6S6AY
Yo [155];
The problem with your envy-based class warfare approach is that you presume that “the rich” and “the poor” are monolithic across generations. Poor kids from humble beginnings can and do become rich in America. Trustafarians squander all that was handed to them and slip downward. Unlike other (poorer, I might add) societies the left would have us emmulate, there are not (yet) fixed castes here, where one’s opportunity for upward or downward mobility is strictly limited by who your great-grandfather was.
Al Mossberg, very racist comments I see. No surprise. This site is a circle jerk of malcontents. You fit right in.
Al Mossberg, very racist comments I see. No surprise. This site is the malcontent circle jerk.
Moose, Exactly my point!This country was not built by greed.Ford built its cars not for the rich but for the masses.He increase their salary so they can afford a lifestyle.Same as other companies before it.The poor had a chance to be somebody.Trickle down economy did not work for the last 30 years and never will.We are becoming more and more a third world were the rich have their servants and get paid peanuts.This is not the America the world envied.
“The problem with your envy-based class warfare approach is that you presume that “the rich” and “the poor” are monolithic across generations. Poor kids from humble beginnings can and do become rich in America. Trustafarians squander all that was handed to them and slip downward. Unlike other (poorer, I might add) societies the left would have us emmulate, there are not (yet) fixed castes here, where one’s opportunity for upward or downward mobility is strictly limited by who your great-grandfather was.”
RE; 167
Moose,
There was a link posted here sometime ago to a study that argued the exact opposite. That may have been the case 40-20 years ago but – as with most of the 60’s nostalgia and contrasts drawn here – currently the US does not rank anywhere near the top of their list of countries with a high “upwards mobility” quotient. This could be an academic vacuum for all I know, just sayin’. If I come across it, I’ll link.
White mediocrity is screwed going forward, deal with it. Indian and Chinese professionals are the growth sector. We’re smarter than you, we work harder than you, and we’re taking over your neighborhoods, just look around.
sex suit filed against the very rev.jesse jackson
Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman received a $14 million compensation package for his first year as chief executive officer, less than the $15 million he was awarded for 2009
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-14/morgan-stanley-s-gorman-gets-14-million-pay-for-first-year-as-bank-chief.html
Yo [170];
Henry Ford got bloody rich selling his cars, and that was the big idea. By paying his people enough to afford to buy one, he created a baseline demand that made his economy of scale profitable. You can’t drive unit costs down unless you have a large number of units over which to ammortize the fixed investment. That’s what I see Ford was doing, and it obviously worked for him.
Moose,how can squeezing the middleclass and the poor work well for the economy while the rich are getting all the breaks? Who will buy their products?
I ran across this site called trulia.
So I typed this in the search box.
“Is it better to buy or rent a home?”
Guess what the First answer was???
“buy! you will be receive tax benefits and you won’t be paying your landlords mortgage payment. Buying a home is great investment and now is a great time to buy!
thanks for your question”
What are the chances of anybody going to jail
The U.S. Justice Department and regulators will have to determine whether employees and executives of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) violated any laws when they traded securities tied to the housing market and testified to Congress about the transactions, Senator Carl Levin said.
“Warburgs, Loeb, Schiff, Rothschild. These are you Daddy’s.”
Al,
Even Pedro knows this.
#157
http://www.homesincolorado.com/p/16/956697
7825 W GLASGOW PL
Littleton, CO 80128
$99,900
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 3
Square Feet: 1800
Taxes: $1060
High School: COLUMBINE
#174 less than the $15 million he was awarded for 2009
So I guess he will have to use his price plus cars at Shop Rite.
#181 Card
168,
I call it like I see it. I dont care how you label it. So long as racism is used to supress free speech it will continue. I am only getting warmed up.
#136 Sorry The post was meant for you JC. not JJ.
““Warburgs, Loeb, Schiff, Rothschild. These are you Daddy’s.”
Al,
Even Pedro knows this.”
I dont believe so. Look at how many fat faced, donut eating Americans would sell out for a 10 buck an hour job at the TSA. My AR-15 says Im free.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people would be added to the lengthy list of social and ethnic groups that public schools must include in social studies lessons under a landmark bill passed Thursday by the California Senate.
If the bill is adopted by the state Assembly and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, California would become the first state to require the teaching of gay history.
WASHINGTON – Soaring food and energy prices, still-fragile financial systems and continued tensions between the United States and China over trade and currency issues will all be on the agenda at meetings over the next three days of global finance officials.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Thursday that food prices are 36 percent higher than they were a year ago and already have pushed 44 million people into poverty. He called on major countries to do more to help poor countries meet the challenge of feeding their populations at a time of surging prices
Mossberg #165: Racist much?
Al [185],
Pedro knows;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnVZoh2JFs
3b #136: Got a link? Both streets are nice. Colonial is a thru street from Ridgewood Road to Washington Ave. and then on through to Hillsdale Ave. Sometimes cars tend to speed a bit through there but it’s posted @ 25mph. housing stock ranges from capes to ranches to bi-levels to a few bash & builds. Walking distance to strip mall (such as it is), elementary school and high school, depending on where on Colonial you are.
Sussex is a bit more upscale; I think it’s part of the Washington Lake community. Not all the lake community houses are on the lake, some have a view, some don’t even have that. But they think they’re better than everyone else in town and don’t let riff-raff like the rest of us participate in their community barbecues.
If you’ve got links I can give you a better idea of the specific neighborhood, block, property, etc.
moose (108)-
Fcuk you, and fcuk your mother, too.
Lone (131)-
You’re talking to a wall.
187,
JC,
“Racist much”
I see nothing racist about calling a Kenyan a Kenyan. Do you? Of course you do. You weaklings need to hide behind the splc and the adl. I dont. I just call it out. Tell me about revalations 2:9.
Open invite to jj to step out of his cubicle and spend one week with me. I’ll even provide beer for the whole week.
Then, we can talk about how severe the current depression is.
Debt by the time they see it it will be to late.
JJ’s livelihood depends on the scam. He knows it.
Scam?
http://jsmineset.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/SP-500-vs-Fed-Balance-Sheet.pdf
Scam?
Other Fed Assets….
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/bernanke/Fed%20Other%20Asset%204.14.jpg
The wheels are starting to come off the train. QE to infinity!
“Housing markets have been generally stable, with relative strength at the lower end of the market.”
Wow. This is the exact opposite of what was being claimed in that article the other day with otteau. These so called economists are basically just making stuff up and speaking with conviction.
Debt, just remember that intheknow is a person who thinks home prices are up 15% this year.
veets (199)-
I just think of him as someone who needs a 30.06 round fired into his cerebellum immediately.
Then again, I feel suddenly serene. I think it’s a safe bet for us to conclude that Evo Morales will do the absolutely wrong thing now:
“Silver is now trading at $42.10: the highest price since 1981, and ever closer to the all time Hunt Brother high, which is now just over $8 away. At this rate, and if Bolivia indeed nationalizes its silver mines, we give it a month for a new all time notional high in the metal.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/goodbye-42
I never read the comments at ZH, but today I took a look at 1-2 threads.
The crowd there makes us look like learned men of letters.
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/569117/201104141804/The-High-Toll-Of-Tax-Complexity.aspx?src=HPLNews
Despite Pledge, Obama Makes Tax Code More Complex
By JOHN MERLINE, INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY
When Barack Obama was running for president, he promised voters a simpler tax code. “When I’m president,” he said, “we’ll put in place a system where 40 million Americans . .. can do their taxes in less than five minutes.”
But President Obama hasn’t made good on that promise. Not only is there no five-minute tax form, but since he took office the byzantine tax code has grown increasingly complex. This year, it will take the average taxpayer 23 hours just to fill out form 1040 — up from 21 hours last year, according to the IRS. It now takes seven hours to fill out the so-called 1040 EZ.
Anyone waiting for striper season? Boat going in the water tomorrow. Maybe Ill catch me a central banker. Just give me something to shoot at.
When i visit a blog, chances are that I notice that most blogs are amateurish
Where exactly is the facebook like button ?