From the NY Daily News:
Mortgage fraud hits New York City hard as economy tanks and home scams rise
With the U.S. housing market down, mortgage fraud is up – and New York is near the top of the heap when it comes to getting fleeced, a new FBI report said.
Mortgage fraud schemes were on the rise in 2010, the last year for which data is available, as a sputtering economy, high unemployment, increasing delinquencies and foreclosures and limited credit availability created a breeding ground for scammers to take advantage of harried homeowners and the system, according to the bureau’s Mortgage Fraud Report.
“The current and continuing depressed housing market will likely remain an attractive environment for mortgage fraud perpetrators, who will continue to seek new methods to circumvent loopholes and gaps in the mortgage lending market,” said the report, which was released yesterday.
“Mortgage fraud enables perpetrators to earn high profits through illicit activity that poses a relative low risk for discovery,” the report said.
The number of pending investigations for mortgage fraud was 3,129 in 2010, a 12% increase from 2009 – and a 90% spike from 2008.
Although total dollar losses attributed to mortgage fraud is unknown, the FBI said 71%, or 2,222 of all pending cases last year, involved dollar losses totaling more than $1 million.
New York and New Jersey were among the top 10 states with the most fraud cases, and New York City was third in pending FBI investigations last year with 185, behind Las Vegas (292) and Los Angeles (195).
From Newsday:
http://www.newsday.com/business/li-home-sales-median-prices-up-data-show-1.3094181
The median prices of homes sold on Long Island were up last month, and more homes were sold compared with the same month last year, according to numbers released by the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island.
The median closing price in both Nassau and Suffolk saw a month-over-month increase, with Nassau’s rising to $415,000 from $406,750 in June and Suffolk’s growing to $315,000 from $310,000.
Interesting!
good morning all. just finished the first night home with little boken. he and mom are doing great, thanks for all the well wishes.
It’s all a scam: your gubmint, your bank, your media.
re 3,
congrats
“Scrambling to keep employment high while also keeping inflation low, the Chinese government is throwing all sorts of ingredients into the mix – building ghost cities, raising interest rates, stockpiling commodities, clamping down on dissent, hacking everyone – but in the end, the irrefutable laws of economics must prevail. And so the Chinese government will have to atone for the massive inflation it unleashed in 2008, and for the equally disruptive misallocations of capital that are the hallmark of command economies.
While the blowup in China will wreak havoc in world markets, including many commodities, a bright side for gold investors is that the country’s rising inflation should help keep the wind in the sails of monetary metal. It’s no coincidence that the World Gold Council’s latest data show investment demand for gold in China more than doubling in the first quarter of this year.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/too-much-good-thing-not-good-thing
Got it, bitchez?
More from #6:
“In the face of broad weakness in the global economy and in most commodities, the fact that gold has held up so well is a clear indication that there has been an intrinsic change in the gold market. Barbarous relic no more, it has clearly been returned to its longstanding role as sound money – unique and increasingly valued when compared to the fiat competition.
This role will only become more crucial as the world’s desperate nation-states fire their currency cannons in the war to remain viable. The Fed’s return to Treasury markets will be, in the rear-view mirror of future history, seen to be a seminal event – the beginning of the end of the current fiat monetary system.
Simply put, too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing. And make no mistake, the decades of operating under a fiat monetary system have been a very good thing for the political classes and their pandering cronies.
Those good times are coming to an end.”
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/edison_chief_financial_officer.html
another wonderful town servant
LONDON (ESPN) — Tottenham’s opening match of the Premier League season against Everton on Saturday has been postponed following protests in the London neighborhood and a wave of rioting and looting across England.
The decision to call off the Tottenham game was taken Thursday by the league after being discussed at a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, known as COBRA.
Although there are still safety concerns in the area around Tottenham’s White Hart Lane stadium, the remaining nine top-flight matches this weekend are set to go ahead, including two others in London.
“Everything is subject to change if there is a major incident in any of the cities tonight or on Friday night,” Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said Thursday on the launch of the season.
Senator Debbie Wasserman Schultz just stated that the Tea Party is to blame for the economic woes and the credit downgrade. She said that the Obama recovery was underway and the Tea Party derailed it. So, now you know. Just sayin’.
(3) boken,
Congrats on the little deduction. Your life as you knew it is over. Enjoy the new ride.
(10) Gary,
She is the congresscritter I would most like to see thrown into a woodchipper.
gary (10)-
What will she say when the bullets start flying?
Michael Savage is not a favorite of mine, but he is right about one thing: liberalism is a mental disorder.
(12) redux
Bonus points if she is alive and gagged, and fed in feet first.
(10) gary,
I really want to see some prominent publicly say “Schultz is so full of crap, she has to dye her hair to keep it from turning brown.”
Congrats homeboken my advice to you is keep hydrated with strong spirits.
Kansas bank fails; 64th in U.S. this year
U.S. regulators announced the failure of a Kansas bank on Friday, the first in that state this year and the 64th across the country.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed First National Bank of Olathe, based in the Kansas town of that name, and appointed the FDIC as receiver.
Overall, U.S. bank failures have slowed in 2011 from recent years, and smaller community banks dominate the ranks. However, a backlog of remaining stressed banks is expected to keep the failure rate relatively high for some time.
More at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kansas-bank-fails-64th-in-us-this-year-2011-08-13
I see from the end of yesterday’s thread that folks are starting to see what I see.
If you want to get those trendy foreign goods, and if the dems control the gov, buy before 2014. After that, no guarantee you could afford them or even get them. Heck, even domestic will cost more. Go into debt and stock the beach house or nompound with goodies, then pay off the cards with fiat money.
I guess claiming it was Bush’s fault was getting long in the tooth so a new victim was needed. I suppose when a republican candidate is named, said person will be the reason for the collapse of western society. Geez… if Hillary Clinton was smart, she’d announce her candidacy.
Meat [7],
Fiat is dead. Bergabe’s statement shook Perth.
gary (19)-
The really sad thing is how many Amerikans swallow this line of bullshit.
Marry our stupid, passive nature with a billion or so of bankster campaign money, and we get four more years of Bojangles.
By the time that retard takes his last flight on Air Force One, we will have devolved into a giant, unstable and explosive mix of all the worst features of Japan, Argentina, Zimbabwe and Greece.
BC (20)-
Perth ain’t exactly the picture of health, either. All those 40K first-time homebuyer credits in Victoria are gonna be one expensive vomit when they get puked up into the final reckoning. At least they can strip mine the continent a little longer to perpetuate the illusion that their fiat is of a more agreeable degree of stink than the rest.
We might be entering the bell lap in the race to the bottom.
It suddenly occurs to me that we have devolved from melting pot to giant vat of diesel and fertilizer.
Meat [22],
Shook the vault, not the zombies.
Meat (21),
America has become one big reality TV show… mere entertainment for the rest of the world. The debate in this country has become asinine and embarrassing. What’s even more absurd is the subject of the debate. We’ve become snookied and snickered… a mocked bunch of monkeys… an empty, deep fried xerox of our former selves.
China can control inflation and over heating economy by simply inreasing the value of their currency.Let imported goods come in at a cheaper price just like what the US did in the 80’s.It might create job shortage but that is another story
Yome
the Chinese face a high risk of revolt if they walk that path.
Heard on radio just now: “we are the only radio station in this area not downgraded by Standard and Poors”
#26/27 Speaking of inflation, has anyone noticed how small Brillo pads have gotten??
Bulldozers may be part of the answer, but its not that simple. Look at towns and cities financial obligation from bonds to pensions. They are massive and are all predicated on continued exponential growth. Housing is just an over-sized symptom of the larger debt crisis.
Bulldoze all you want. The immediate outcome will not be a solution to the housing “problem”, but a complete and utter revelation of the emperors nudity. Towns will be forced to recognize that their pension and bind obligations are a farce. What do you think happens to a town that raises it property taxes and town fees by 100, 200, 300+% to compensate for all of those bulldozed homes that they were still counting on for revenue.
At the end of the day the only course of action that doesn’t screw the “people” is default. Default, accept the consequences of spending multiple times your income at all levels ( from personal, to municipal, to state, to federal) and begin rebuilding without the debt addiction.
The supposed masters of the universe bankers must have accounted for the possibility of default in all of the plans right? if they didn’t i guess they aren’t quit the master they thought they were.
Nom,
When you identify your nompound property you should add a suitably sloped waterway to the list of things to look for. the ability to construct a micro-hydro system would be a HUGE benefit.
http://www.canyonhydro.com/micro/index.html
As a VERY rough guess, you would be looking at a ball park figure of 15k – 25K for a basic 10KW micro-hydro setup. The plus side is that maintenance is minimal and one of its few weaknesses is drought.
If you plan on spending 400 – 500K on a nompound then a hydro power system at less then 10% of the property cost is an excellent investment assuming that it will be needed for a SHTF scenario at some point
Nom,
you could even do a “DIY” micro-hydro system for probably 1/3 – 1/5 of the cost of a professional microhydro system. Although you will be sacrificing some amount of reliability and the ability to maximize power output by using professional design.
http://www.microhydropower.com/our-products/
Meant 1/2 not 1/5
kettle [30]
For most towns, their bond obligations are very small part of the budget unlike pensions and retiree health (the latter is the worst as the growth rate is huge and unpredictable), so stiffing the bondholders is a patently bad idea – you will need to borrow later for all sorts of capital improvements, and hard to do it with the big black eye. Methinks the Congress should charter a guarantor for the muni pensions (like PBGC for the private pensions), and have the towns pay premiums to this outfit. Health coverage wise, the precedent should be established to include muni retirees over 65yo into Medicare. If any of them have less than 10 years of Medicare contributions (I think that’s what one has to have to get there, please correct if I am wrong), the town will have to compensate Medicare for the expense – I think somewhere around 6K/yr per beneficiary which is way less than what the town pays now.
Bulldozers are not a solution for a specific town’s finances (though they may help somewhat) but a way to resolve a catastrophic glut of the resource (housing) that we face. Also, there is a need to discourage new construction, at least until the RE prices stabilize – maybe be increasing the required DP to 30-40% for the new developments.
[21] “By the time that retard takes his last flight on Air Force One, we will have devolved into a giant, unstable and explosive mix of all the worst features of Japan, Argentina, Zimbabwe and Greece.”
Unstable? Explosive? Don’t you mean “beautiful” and “vibrant”?
Cobbler,
Most of it comes back to the banks. if they actually enforce lending standards and have to hold the loans in house then you wont see excessive construction as no bank that wishes to remain solvent would fund it. Glass Steagle.
A secondary issue is quality of construction. Due to many factors, including illegal labor the quality of construction has become abysmal. of course there is a large cultural component as well. People want it cheap and fast forgetting the 3rd leg of the triangle. Cost-Speed-Quality. You can only ever choose 2 of the legs of the triangle.
Renter,
an album for you
Appetite for Destruction
Guns N’ Roses
kettle
I had actually thought of that. I saw it done on some home special years ago. Remarkably simple, and the only maintenance was disassembling and cleaning the turbine, and keeping the intake clear of leaves and debris.
With the right topography and hydrology, it’s pretty easy. Otherwise, I would be looking at constructing a catch basin system of some sort, and a fish pond below to catch runoff (unless runoff was diverted to irrigation or household use).
Interesting. Ever wonder why some tax laws were vague even though it seems simple enough to clarify them? Perhaps that is by design. This from a description of a tax law journal article:
“Against a backdrop of ongoing angst regarding release of tax guidance, an important idea has surfaced in the tax compliance literature. Prominent tax compliance scholars have argued that the strategic use of tax law uncertainty may cause taxpayers to report higher tax liability. While these arguments have strong economic appeal, this Article counsels against their acceptance. “
Rob Peter to pay Paul? What happens when Peter is tapped out?
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Spanish-towns-face-funding-crisis-rack-up-debts-1947911.php#page-1
Well BC if they were in the good old USA they would just print more.
Oh my… Bachmann wins Iowa straw poll.
Bachmann photo op courtesy of zerohedge
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2011/08/bachmann%20corndog.jpg
Christian States of Amerika?
E Pluribus Bitch?
Bachmann is multitalented.
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2011/08/bachmann%20corndog.jpg
Meat
I wonder if she’s thinking of JJ as she eats that corndog
Grim should devote a whole thread to that Bachmann photo.
I’m sure some p0rn producer is looking for a Bachmann look-alike right now.
#35 Cobbler: Define small the land of Unicorns has 40 million outstanding in bonds just for school construction. 11k people and no rateables except SFH’s.
Come on 3b, 1 million+ per person in bonds is nothing
Can anybody tell what is the average cost of building a house these days (excluding cost of land). I am looking at a lot for sale, just wondering what it would cost to build a 3500 square feet house. I know this is a very generic question, but looking at some ball park estimates.
vodka (52)-
1mm+ per person in bonds is the modern definition of slavery.
zack (53)-
The average cost is all your future hopes and dreams. Also, those of your children.
Meat 55
not if u have a good default plan in place from day 1
meat 54
I suspect most towns in nj are close to that #
Zack,
Unless you have a sick amount of money to spend without making a dent in your net worth, then by all means. Otherwise, whatever finite calculation you arrive at, double it.
#57
I figured so…
I am slowly getting tired of living in my rental and every once in a while I imagine relaxing in a backyard and doing a barbeque and watch my kids play, which I am currently unable to do in my townhome rental. I have this mid 6 figure cash pile sitting in my account. I stare at it and it stares back at me. Sometimes I think of exchanging this cashpile for a house. I don’t know which is worth more. Cash or pleasure of owning house free and clear.
Maybe I just need to take a small vacation, come back and wait out the downturn till 2018 which is when I expect this market to turn. What I am experiencing is fatigue..
58,
Better do something with that cash pile before you see it go up in smoke.
Zack,
My $0.02 is that, in this highly mobile society, it is pointless to own a house unless it is a retirement/vacation/nompound property. For my part, I am looking at yet another broken promise that if we bought this house, we’d stay here a long time. The wife is getting career wanderlust again, and we may be moving to Mass.
So, for my part, I will insist that we rent. If this federal rental idea comes on line, it will depress the market, giving renters a leg up for years to come. If she wants to buy another house, I’ll tell her “fine, buy it yourself. My name won’t be on the mortgage, and don’t count on using our savings (emphasis on “ours”) to do it though.” Instead, so long as our careers will take us up and down the BosWash corridor, its better to rent our day-to-day residence and own our second home.
That’s my $0.02. Won’t work for everyone but it is what I think will work for me.
[47] meat
I’d rather have Bachmann throating my corn dog, than Obama up my cornh@le.
3b [51]
Do your math better, you’ve got problems with it… $40M for 11,000 people is less than $4K per person, that is about 12K per household. At 4% interest on muni bond this is only about $500 a year – 5% of an average NJ property tax. I don’t believe there’s a place in NJ where bond interest is more than 15% of the property tax bill.
nom[61]
If your income is the same as 3 years ago, if anything you are paying somewhat less tax now… what bothers you besides sloganeering that hadn’t hurt your income even when the Dems controlled Congress?
Another sign of the times. . . .
http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/13/pf/safe_vault_sales/index.htm?iid=Lead
Stench of death, indeed.
#62 I did not do the math. Be that as it may, 12K a year per household just to finance the school addition renovation etc. appears to me alot of money to me just for the period 2003 through 2008. Prior to that an additione in 2002 for another 7 million. So you can update your 12k number to reflect that. Keep in mind all just on renovation/additions. So take the 12K number and add to that. We went from one of the lowest taxed townd in Bergen Co to one of the highest. As far as the municipal portion we had a surplus for years all gone.
#58 We are already in the downturn you dont have to ait until 2018.
3b[65]
First of all, you voted (or had a chance to vote) for the bonding related to the school project – unlike the bennies of the employees; if the referendum had failed, the BOE might have tried to get the job done cheaper. Secondly, $500 or $600 a year it added to your property tax is small compared to the overall tax increase of at least $3K for the same period, from which way more than $600 went to pay for the healthcare and pensions.
every once in a while I imagine relaxing in a backyard and doing a barbeque and watch my kids play
I do too, maybe some day we’ll actually have grass growing again. Local landscaper wanted $15,000 to lay down sod. That mud is looking nicer already. You will burn cash at a prolific rate, your townhouse look good again after a few months of unexpected problems.
Sometimes I think of exchanging this cashpile for a house.
Just use debt, and fill your pool with the cash to swim in Scrooge McDuck style.
“I’d rather have Bachmann throating my corn dog, than Obama up my cornh@le.”
Nom,
LMAO. Maybe this was the change that O was touting?
#67 cobbler: I don’t know what your point is in all of this. My point is simply this, 47 million dollars spent on schools in 6 years in a small town with no rateables besides SFH’s, is IMO self inflicted financial suicide for a small town.
You seem to think that 12k ( I am assuming your numbers are correct as I have not checked them), is a small price to pay for each household just for that constructon is a well I think it is too much, as I noted your 12k covers just that construction spending. And not what it costs to operate the schools on a yearly basis over that 12k.
As far as the vote I voted yes for the 7 million one which was supposed to do us for years. One year after it’s completion the BOE came back with their referendum for an entire new school at a cost to tax payers of 23 million; I voted no for that one.
Shortly after that the regional BOE came up with a 26 million dollar referendum for the middle and High School (all during the real estate bubble by the way),and I was absolutely amazed; I voted no for that one too.. By the way so did the other town that shares the regional school system (Oradell).
As far as the BOE and the local 23 million dollar addition, they wanted that approved. period.Oh they had alternatives but they emphasized all the negatives with the alternatives. I find it quiet interesting that the one that cost the most, had no negatives. Any one that went to these meetings that voiced opposition or caution was shouted down, by the gung ho lets spend, spend, spend crowd. Yes we got some funding from the state (about 3 million), but in the end the tax payers had to pay 23 million.
Do you know how many people that I spoke to after the referendum was approved never stopped to think hey once this thing is built, we have to hire new teachers, and light it and heat it and increased maintenance etc.
So all I am saying to you is it is my opinion that the town spent itself into oblivion on both the school side, and the municipal side.
I will spell it one more time we went from one of the lowest taxed towns in Bergen Co with good schools, to one of the highest taxed. (Just FYI there are 77 towns in Bergen Co.) Do we still have good schools? Yes, is that because we spent 47 million, IMO no.
[58] “every once in a while I imagine relaxing in a backyard and doing a barbeque and watch my kids play”
I hear you. Why not rent a house? It took me only a month or two of looking before I found a rental house that fit our needs after we sold our last place a few years back.
Now, I kick back and relax in the backyard and watch my kids play … with the added pleasure of knowing I can (and likely will) bail from NJ whenever I want, without worrying about a shrinking property value and being held up at virtual gunpoint by the real NJ mafia when it comes to ballooning property taxes.
“The signing of this bill is a victory for California homeowners who have been forced to short sell their home only to find that the lender will pursue them after the short sale closes, and demand an additional payment to subsidize the difference,” says association President Beth L. Peerce.
“SB 458 brings closure and certainty to the short sale process and ensures that once a lender has agreed to accept a short sale payment on a property, all lien holders—those in first position and in junior positions—will consider the outstanding balance as paid in full and the homeowner will not be held responsible for any additional payments on the property,” she adds.
http://rismedia.com/2011-07-25/california-realtors%c2%ae-applaud-new-law-on-short-sales/
3b[70]
I have no opinion on how smart the investment decisions of the BOE (that you had elected) were, or how persuasive the referendum supporters or opponents were. I only tell that if the town went from the lowest to the highest property tax rate in the county, the debt service of $500 a year per household was a fairly minor factor.
INTERESTING
More than half the amount you spend on products made in China actually stays here — going to American companies, workers, marketers, retailers, and transport providers. The amount is least 55 cents per each $1 spent, says a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. So for that $70 pair of sneakers, $38.50 of it boosts bottom lines here in the U.S.
And despite what you may conclude from shopping at Wal-Mart (WMT) or other large stores — or hearing big, scary figures about the trade deficit with China — imports from China make up just a very small portion of our total economy: just 2.5% of gross domestic product in 2010. Overall, products from around the world accounted for only 16% of our GDP last year. “The vast majority of goods and services sold in the United States is produced here,” according to FRBSF report authors Galina Hale and Bart Hobijn. The exceptions are furniture and household items, electronic goods, and clothing and shoes. A third of U.S. consumer purchases for clothing and shoes in 2010 carried a “Made in China” label. For furniture, it was one fifth
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/08/12/made-in-china-makes-money-for-the-u-s-a/?iid=HP_River
#73 1. I did not elect them. (BOE)
2. It is more than $500.00 per year, but I am exhausted from trying to explain that one to you.
3. At the end of the day, I really don’t give a krap because I am moving.
Cobbler is correct, there is not a municipal debt problem and there are legislative restrictions on municipal debt in nj (3% of total taxable base, which no municipality ever gets anywhere near anyway) so they can’t over indebt themselves even when they try to. Most town or sd debt service payments make up less than 10% of a municipal budget.
#76 Nean: I am not arguing any more. But if you believe 40+ million in 6 years was prudent for a town of approximatley 3000 SFH’s and 1100 rental apartment, with little to no commercial rateables, you are entitled to your opinion.
3b, I don’t know situation or other debts in portfolio but $40m new capital projects is not a crazy number by itself, depending how long it amortizes and what money was used for. 4,000 homes/units (@ $300k each?) Is a decent sized taxable base $1.2billion?, plus the people are wealthier than avg in the brig on hack, I would imagine…
H.K. Apartment Sellers Cut Asking Prices
…Hong Kong home values, which have risen more than 70 percent in the past two-and-a-half years and outperformed stocks, are set for their biggest decline since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed in September 2008 as land supply increases and global growth slows. Midland Holdings Ltd. (1200) and Centaline Property Agency Ltd., the Chinese city’s two biggest real estate agents, said home prices are being reduced by as much as 10 percent.
“We should see at least a 5 percent further correction in the second half if the crisis in the U.S. and Europe deepens,” said Sylvia Wong, a Hong Kong-based analyst at UOB Kay Hian Ltd. “If there’s enough panic in the market, we expect to see more price cuts.”…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-14/h-k-apartment-sellers-cut-asking-prices-as-surge-ends.html
I wonder if this will prick the Vancouver bubble, as well…
Tome, this is not that surprising and is sad that our media is putting positive spin on something like this. 45% of each transaction going to china is way too much, and will be our undoing. Walmart/ chinese goods are pure garbage and need to be represented as such. The american people need to wake up the this soon.
“INTERESTING More than half the amount you spend on products made in China actually stays here —”
Need some numbers for a small amount of knob and tube to be disconnected and new electrical in its place. I’m seeing some crazy numbers for what will be at the most, an afternoon’s worth of work.
GE CEO JEFFREY IMMELT, THE HEAD OF OBAMA’S JOBS COUNCIL, IS MOVING THOUSANDS OF JOBS TO CHINA At A BLISTERING PACE
08-13-2011 7:16 am – theEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Jeffrey Immelt, the head of Barack Obama’s highly touted “Jobs Council”, is moving even more GE infrastructure to China. GE makes more medical-imaging machines than anyone else in the world, and now GE has announced that it “is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing”. Apparently, this is all part of a “plan to invest about $2 billion across China” over the next few years.
But moving core pieces of its business overseas is nothing new for GE. Under Immelt, GE has shipped tens of thousands of good jobs out of the United States. Perhaps GE should change its slogan to “Imagination At Work (In China)”. If the very people that have been entrusted with solving the unemployment crisis are shipping jobs out of the country, what hope is there that things are going to turn around any time soon?
Earlier this month, Immelt made the following statement to a jobs summit at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce….
“There’s no excuse today for lack of leadership. The truth is we all need to be part of the solution.” Apparently Immelt’s idea of being part of the solution is to ship as many jobs overseas as he possibly can.
“GE is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing”
Number of politicians focusing on this problem? Zero, it seems. More health care pandering, more giveaways, more idiocy, as the nation slowly sinks beneath the surface.
[63] cobbler
Geez, you must take me for a complete fool. I seem to recall that Obama wanted to RAISE taxes on those earning over 250K. Further, he has already broken his promise not to raise taxes “one thin dime” on those earning under 250K (I’d give you citations, but you would quibble over language because the tax increases weren’t in the form of changes to marginal rates). And when you tell me that the Dems haven’t raised my taxes, that is technically correct. But it is correct for the same reason that I never nailed that girl I was hot on in high school: I wanted to but she wouldn’t let me.
[63] cobbler,
and sadly, my income is considerably less than it was three years ago.
Hope and Change.
nom [84,85]
Sorry to hear about your income decline… I guess being your own boss instead of pulling a salary provides some silver lining in terms of job satisfaction, otoh – and you leaving your old firm was not O-related…
Regarding taxes, the most what upper incomes could have feared from O was the return to pre-2001 rates which were not that confis-catory; they didn’t do even this despite Dems controlling both houses for 2 years. To me, this was an incredible show of lameness resulting from a desire to appease everybody at the same time.
My take on tax reform is quite different:
– Make corporate tax rates very low (less than 10-12%) but tax whatever capital the company is exporting at a rate equal to the differential between the rate in this country and the U.S. rate; if the company brings the capital from the overseas and uses it to invest here, give it a similarly calculated rebate
– Make cap gains in excess of say 100 K/yr taxable at a standard rate
– Get rates at 50% or so on >$1MM incomes (low corporate tax above should encourage the move from S-corporations to C-corporations, so the argument about damage to small businesses won’t hold water)
– Eliminate 106K threshold on FICA earnings
– Restore the estate tax back to 1990s levels but exempt non-financial and non-RE assets (that is, factory or farm – but not a pile of bonds or some office buildings)
– Get VAT in place
Great info…How about checking this out http://www.insiderpages.com/b/15257320557/muljat-group-commercial-real-estate-bellingham-1
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