From the NY Post:
Earlier this year, Gov. Chris Christie declared that New Jersey’s comeback had begun. Since then, the state’s unemployment rate has risen and tax collections have slowed. Last week, Standard & Poor’s revised its outlook on the state’s credit rating from stable to negative.
The governor’s critics have been quick to declare that his agenda of austerity and reform isn’t working. But Christie’s biggest mistake has been to raise expectations so quickly in a state hamstrung by more than a decade of gross fiscal mismanagement and bad economic policy.
Christie has done much to set Jersey in the right direction, but he has much more he needs to do before a true Jersey comeback emerges.
After all, Jersey hadn’t legitimately balanced its books in more than a decade. Instead, the state consistently spent more than it took in, while relying on gimmicks like borrowing to pay its bills. The impact of those gimmicks continues to haunt the budget.
For one thing, the state didn’t pay its pension bill for years. Since 2001, it has allotted just $3.7 billion out of its budget for pensions, when its own pension experts say it should’ve put in about $27 billion.
…
Lawmakers also drained the state’s unemployment trust fund to keep growing the budget, forcing the state to take a $2 billion loan from the feds once unemployment began rising in 2008 — more debt the state must now repay.
…
But now Christie has passed three budgets without raising taxes and held down the rate of spending increases despite the past gimmicks the state is now forced to pay off. He’s also signed into law pension reform that begins to dig the state out of its retirement-fund mess, easily one of the nation’s worst.
…
Perhaps most encouraging is that in the last 12 months, Jersey had added about 60,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jersey hadn’t added that many jobs in any year since 1999.But New Jersey is nowhere near out of the woods. The state desperately needs to cut its sky-high taxes to attract investment. Yet there’s little room to do that now.
The state faces still-growing pension costs thanks to the years of mismanagement. Just getting back to proper levels of payments into the pension systems will gobble up a big chunk of any increase in tax collections as the economy recovers. The annual bill for paying off the 1998 pension borrowing, meanwhile, will jump in a few years to $500 million.
Given Jersey’s challenges (and the nation’s), Christie would’ve been wiser to tell the state’s residents that much has been achieved, but much needs still needs to be done.
…
As Christie well knows, most voters in the state just want officials to be candid with them now about the task at hand.
Everything you ever wanted to know about Blue Ribbon, from the Record:
Blue Ribbon award spotlights exemplary schools
When New Jersey’s 17 new National Blue Ribbon Schools got word of their awards this month, they were quick to festoon their front doors with huge blue bows and balloons.
Capturing the award for excellence is a moment of great pride and a potent marketing tool, vivid blue proof that a school’s students did very well on standardized tests and their programs impressed judges. Bergen and Passaic counties had seven winners, and some immediately sent out news releases to let their neighbors know.
Nationwide, 219 public schools and 50 private schools got the award this year. It’s a huge coup to get one, but there’s a common misconception that schools with Blue Ribbons rack up the very best results in America. One winner even boasted on its website that its Blue Ribbon places it “among the 50 top-performing private elementary schools in the nation.”
But the award does not make quite such a bold statement.
Many schools aren’t even in the running. Among private schools, only a fraction of those with good enough test scores to apply actually do so. Thousands of eligible schools don’t bother. It’s voluntary, much like Math Olympiads and robotics competitions, or individual challenges like the Intel Science Talent Search.
Frist!
Damn. And my daughter starts one of those Blue Ribbon schools today. Thanks for the buzzkill.
From RealtyTrac:
Why Property Flipping is Flying High in 2012
Doug Clark and Mike Baird of Spike TV’s Flip Men provided a glimpse into the adventurous, risky and rewarding world of property flipping on recent RealtyTrac webinar.
Although flipping foreclosures as an investment strategy has taken a backseat to buying rental property, more than 1,300 folks registered for the webinar, with 47 percent of them classifying themselves as new investors and an additional 13 percent claiming to be experienced investors.
And Doug and Mike did not disappoint, providing attendees with engaging but still practical instruction on how to go about leaping into the flipping business, peppering the conversation with colorful stories from their many years of flipping nearly 1,000 Salt Lake City foreclosures and other properties — the last two in front of the cameras on their reality TV series.
Data I pulled in preparation for the webinar showed that the Flip Men may have some competition on their hands, however. I was somewhat surprised to find that flipping is on the rise in a fairly big way, with nearly 100,000 property flips through June of 2012, up 25 percent from the same time period in 2011 and up 27 percent from the same time period in 2010.
For the purposes of this data, we considered a flip any property that was bought by a third party (not a bank) and then resold again within six months. Of course most flippers aim to turn around a property in less than half that time, and in fact our data shows that the average time to flip nationwide was 106 days.
Maybe the increase in flipping should come as a surprise given that foreclosure prices in many markets appear to bottoming out and heading higher — a more forgiving market for a flipper although Doug and Mike were quick to point out they’ve been flipping all through the down market.
Good Morning New Jersey
From the LA Times:
San Francisco experiments with 300-square-foot micro-apartments
The tiny apartments are touted as “affordable by design.”
New York City has launched a pilot project to test them out. Boston is doing it too. But here in San Francisco, where a growing number of residents are being priced out of the housing market by a revived tech economy, city leaders are considering the smallest micro-units of all.
At a minimum 150 square feet of living space — 220 when you add the bathroom, kitchen and closet — the proposed residences are being hailed as a pivotal option for singles. Opponents fear that a wave of “shoe box homes” would further marginalize families of modest means who are desperate for larger accommodations.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will consider tweaking the city’s building code, which requires newly constructed units to be at least 290 square feet.
The number of micro-units that could be built under the proposal would not be capped, although critics are pushing for controls on the experiment. New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, for instance, has signed off on just 60 apartments that would be 275 to 300 square feet small.
…
So in a metropolis where 41% of residents live solo, Wiener said, the units would fill a niche by allowing people to stay who might otherwise have to take on roommates or leave town.
“Although in our fantasy world everyone would live in a single-family home or a huge spacious flat, the reality of life is that not everyone can afford that,” he said, noting the micro-units with shared common space would be ideal for students, artists and seniors.
From NJ Spotlight:
Interactive Map: Census Shows Continued Economic Suffering from Recession
The typical New Jersey household’s income dropped again last year, the fifth consecutive decline, according to new data released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Not surprisingly, as incomes fell, the ranks of the poor rose.
“The latest federal statistics show there are more people in our state struggling in poverty than during any period in half a century,” says Melville D. Miller Jr., president of Legal Services of New Jersey. “That can cripple the development of our children and our state’s economic and social future.”
The latest Census estimates put the median household income in the state at $67,458. When adjusted for inflation, that was 3.4 percent less than in 2010 and 8.1 percent less than in 2008, the first full year of the recent recession. It’s also less than the actual, unadjusted, median incomes for the prior three years and only slightly above 2007’s actual median income of $67,035 — $72,666 in 2011 inflation-adjusted dollars.
New Jerseyans are not the only Americans with declining incomes. According to the Census estimates, Vermont was the only state in which the median household income rose between 2010 and 2011.
As income dropped, the percentage of people living in poverty in the state rose, from 8.8 percent in 2008 to 10.3 percent in 2010 and 10.4 percent last year. In 2011, the federal poverty level for a family of four was $22,350.
“Essentially, since the onset of the recession, nearly 170,000 more New Jerseyans, including many from the middle class, have fallen into the ranks of the impoverished, and that’s just at 100 percent” of the federal poverty level, said Shivi Prasad, senior researcher and policy analyst for Legal Services’ Poverty Research Institute. “They have seen their circumstances deteriorate and unfortunately, with unemployment remaining so high in New Jersey, the situation does not appear likely to improve anytime soon.”
I had a two hundred square foot apt. Plenty big. Only downside was no room to keep summer clothes and winter clothes, and had to shop a lot as no space and no dishwasher or oven. But upside was it simplified life. And was much more a healthy lifestyle as you went out a lot more for walks, park as the apt was too small. Also other side thing is you could not really do projects in house and even stuff if you wanted to move furniture or put in a rug you had to move furniture to hall way. You pay rent by square foot and purchase price is by square foot. Having more space is stupid. Plus my unit had a fire escape and faced a court yard garden of rich coop next door which was free space. I was once in a 125 square foot apt and it is all relative as that made my 200 square foot place look huge.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/09/qe-infinity-and-us-stock-market/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Keep printing
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443890304578010721904480326.html
Happy days for the builders . Hurry
In asia 200 sq ft is plenty for a couple living in the city.They have small Ref about 18 inches wide by 60 inches high.Cook top sits on top of a base cabinet run by LPG.A couple of Kitchen cabinets with counter top for storage,fold away bed and a small table with 2 stools.Tv on the wall on your all set.Imagine,most size bedroom with all this in it.
Treasuries Rise 6th Day on Europe Concern, Slowdown Signs
time to lock in those 30 year mortgage rates!
re #9 – “The deficit of the US is financed by a combination of short-duration and long-duration instruments.” Actually no the US deficit is financed by Foreign Governments.
If you used the premise of that paper to bet on the NIKKEI after Japan started their money printing decades ago you would have been homeless for 20 years by now. Assuming that QE to infinity will juice the markets long term is foolish. If anything the Fed is going to cause a crisis in the bond markets and our deficit spending of over a trillion year after year is going to cause our Foreign Partners to reduce their holdings in UST. None of this bodes well for 2013.
Pimco’s Gross’ bet on munis paying off
September 24, 2012, 10:00 AM
The manager of one of the world’s biggest bond funds has done fairly well investing in municipal bonds. And he’s not alone.
The asset class has returned 6.08% so far this year, according to an index compiled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. That’s much more than U.S. Treasury bonds, which have returned 1.7%.
This one’s for JJ:
http://stixblog.com/files/2012/09/jobless.jpg
re: small apartments. I had a 405 sq ft apartment in a West Village high rise for a few years. Great neighborhood and all but I would not want to be living there long term even if I was single. The neighbors would knock on the walls, doors, floors etc whenever I turned on the stereo. I had a neighbor that played the flute in Broadway shows etc and she would practice regularly early in the morning. It was OK for her to blast her flute at 8 am on a Saturday morning but it was not ok for me to play some tunes on a Friday night when I was entertaining. Other thing was in these high rise buildings the older folks started getting sick and dying. Nobody wants to live in a nursing home and some of these high rise buildings with small apartments filled with older people and it started to feel like one.
My previous place in Manhattan was a 450 sq ft 1 Br in Chelsea I shared with a roommate we added a privacy wall in the living room for the other bedroom. The building was mostly gay and no families. I didn’t mind the occasional ogling I would get from the neighbors in the elevator and common areas but I did have one older gay neighbor to the left of my place who to get upset when I would not invite him over for parties. He would blast classical music to drown out my tunes and the noise we used to make. Then he started slipping handwritten long angry notes under more door as to why we never invited him over. These notes then became invites over for dinner or to watch some movie. I started feeling like he was grooming me for some man boy stuff and I quickly moved the hell out of there.
So one neighbor played the flute and the other neighbor wanted to play with your skin flute.
Juice Box says:
September 24, 2012 at 10:54 am
re: small apartments. I had a 405 sq ft apartment in a West Village high rise for a few years. Great neighborhood and all but I would not want to be living there long term even if I was single. The neighbors would knock on the walls, doors, floors etc whenever I turned on the stereo. I had a neighbor that played the flute in Broadway shows etc and she would practice regularly early in the morning. It was OK for her to blast her flute at 8 am on a Saturday morning but it was not ok for me to play some tunes on a Friday night when I was entertaining. Other thing was in these high rise buildings the older folks started getting sick and dying. Nobody wants to live in a nursing home and some of these high rise buildings with small apartments filled with older people and it started to feel like one.
My previous place in Manhattan was a 450 sq ft 1 Br in Chelsea I shared with a roommate we added a privacy wall in the living room for the other bedroom. The building was mostly gay and no families. I didn’t mind the occasional ogling I would get from the neighbors in the elevator and common areas but I did have one older gay neighbor to the left of my place who to get upset when I would not invite him over for parties. He would blast classical music to drown out my tunes and the noise we used to make. Then he started slipping handwritten long angry notes under more door as to why we never invited him over. These notes then became invites over for dinner or to watch some movie. I started feeling like he was grooming me for some man boy stuff and I quickly moved the hell out of there.
According to the US treasury,the foreign debt held by countries is only over 5 trillion and the rest is held by Americans.The national debt which includes all debt including banks,businesses is 50.5% held by foreigners and the rest is by Americans
BTW Juicebox if you look closely at most rent stablized leases there are rules when noise is allowed to be loud enough so it can be heard in a neighbors apt.
It does not really care if it is Friday or Saturday night. So a party that you think is early lets say 11:30pm on a Saturday night is too late. I only threw two parties in my first apt and had a neighbor who knew all the rules, first party was a Sunday brunch and I could make as much noise as I wanted, second was a night party and neighbor rightly complained. Lots of those piano playing people jump on keyboards as soon as they can. Also piano or flutes are odd, I heard one in a distance from my apt every sunday morning and I liked it. However, from a distance is a lot different than six feet below my bed. Although if I had a women in my building who like to put hard long objects in her mouth and blow them for hours on end I highly doubt after I was done with her she would have energy to play the flute
While investors outside the U.S. own 50.4 percent of outstanding Treasuries, up from 49 percent in May 2011, their share has declined from 55.7 percent in 2008. China, the biggest foreign owner, has cut its holdings to $1.15 trillion from a peak of $1.31 trillion in July 2011.
Foreign holdings of U.S. debt have been cited as a sign of vulnerability by Republicans in this year’s election campaign. Borrowing costs for European nations from Greece to Portugal and Spain surged as nondomestic investors pulled back from their debt markets as deficits soared
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-24/fed-recovery-doubts-spur-investor-bid-for-treasuries.html
JJ – Turning the stereo on not up JJ, she could not hear my tunes she was just a PITA. The flautist yes she was a flautist not a flutist was a 50 something frumpy never married curmudgeon with a small yapping dog. The dog made more noise than I ever did day and night, every-time the elevator door opened that little fker would bark for 15 minutes and it needed doggie proza*c, since it would bark and try to bite anyone when it had the chance. If it wasn’t for the fact she developed terminal cancer and would knock on my door to borrow food and ask me to run errands I would have stayed there longer. Living in small apartments in high rises can be hell on earth and I won’t do it ever again.
How is a 450 square foot apt small. For a single person that is pretty big by manhattan standards, actually way bigger than I have now per person.
People today are spoiled. I was recently looking at bungalows. An old guy near me was selling his 747 square foot bungalow. Told me back in day it was set up as a three bedroom and he, his wife, two kids, brother in law, wife and two kids and motherinlaw would stay there for the summer. Back when they lived in hot as heck walk ups in brooklyn and this was heaven . I saw the place, cant imagine nine people staying there. That is 747 square foot total, which includes bath, kitchen and closet space. We are talking 83 square foot a person. Bungbeds, pull out couch, cots etc. Said they used to have guests out and would throw a net over front of garage, open door and another 4 folks would sleep there. One bathroom, 13 folks staying over fourth of july weekend and 747 square feet and he called it heaven
Juice Box says:
September 24, 2012 at 11:57 am
JJ – Turning the stereo on not up JJ, she could not hear my tunes she was just a PITA. The flautist yes she was a flautist not a flutist was a 50 something frumpy never married curmudgeon with a small yapping dog. The dog made more noise than I ever did day and night, every-time the elevator door opened that little fker would bark for 15 minutes and it needed doggie proza*c, since it would bark and try to bite anyone when it had the chance. If it wasn’t for the fact she developed terminal cancer and would knock on my door to borrow food and ask me to run errands I would have stayed there longer. Living in small apartments in high rises can be hell on earth and I won’t do it ever again.
Read this one and judge for yourself. Immigration laws in Alabama chased away illegal Hispanic immigrants. They were replaced by Legal immigrants from Africa, Haiti, and Puerto Rico through Labor brokers.
I understand that the lawmakers thought native Alabamians would apply for the jobs but, isn’t the fact that the replacement immigrants entered the workforce legally a good thing?
Africans Relocate to Alabama to Fill Jobs After Immigration Law
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-24/africans-relocate-to-alabama-to-fill-jobs-after-immigration-law.html
Doom is imminent.
BTW, Grim, Terredora Aglianico is pretty darn good. One of the best, IMO.
Might as well chug Aglianico. It is the end of days.
Obama…Illinois…Federal guarantees of their busted-out pension system…the mark of the beast…666…game over.
JJ we used to squeeze in two families with 8 kids total into our 960 sq ft waterfront shore house in Snug Harbor in Tom’s River NJ. My uncle purchase it new in 1966 for a few grand. Similar bungalows are listed today in the mid 300’s and were up around 500k at the height of the bubble.
I drove by during the summer to reminisce everything is the same on our old house except for the insane prices. Most of the bungalows are still being demolished and
now you get one of these massive 5 brs new for 500k instead of a bungalow for 500k back in 2006.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1833-Starboard-Ct-Toms-River-NJ-08753/39603928_zpid/
re: # 23 – Brian – The unemployment rates in some Alabama counties are as high as 25% for minorities and average 15% overall in the state for minorities. There is another dynamic going if they still need to bring in minority immigrants to do the work.
[26] money,
I believe that was one of the larger canaries I said I was watching. In fact, I consider it the 600 lb canary.
When the feds go to bail out gov pensions, or do a pension bailout outside of PBGC, it’s game over. That giant sucking sound you hear will be the chinese selling treasuries as quickly as they can. And the best investments will be metals (gold, silver, brass, lead . . .)
Perhaps NJ can solve its “exotic animal crisis” by setting them loose here:
“While the stock market in the US continues to surge (if not so much in China where the composite is back to 2009 lows) as the relentless liquidity tsunami makes its way into stocks, and other Fed frontrunning instruments, and only there, reality for everyone else refuses to wait. Last week we saw reality striking in Greece, where a section of Athens literally shut down after it ran out of all cash. Today, reality comes to the US, and specifically its poorest city, Camden, which is a twofer, doubling down also as America’s deadliest city. It turns out Camden is about to become even deadliest-er, as its police force is set to be disbanded following a budget crisis in this effectively insolvent city.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-09-24/americas-deadliest-and-poorest-city-disband-its-police-force-over-budget-crisis
From CR:
LPS: Mortgage delinquencies decreased in August
LPS released their First Look report for August today. LPS reported that the percent of loans delinquent decreased in August from July, and declined about 10% year-over-year. The percent of loans in the foreclosure process also decreased in August, but remain at a very high level.
LPS reported the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) decreased to 6.87% from 7.03% in July. The percent of delinquent loans is still significantly above the normal rate of around 4.5% to 5%. The percent of delinquent loans peaked at 10.57%, so delinquencies have fallen over half way back to normal. The percent of loans in the foreclosure process declined to 4.04%.
30 –
It’s worth mentioning that they will not be going without a police force, rather, using a county wide police force.
Darrelle Revis has torn ACL
r u reddy for this?
http://www.newsmax.com/US/BNALL-BNSTAFF-BNTEAMS-BTX/2012/09/24/id/457364
#28..Alabama, since my company HQ is in Birmingham….what I understand is that it is very hard work and no “regular” person is going to do the work in the fields (especially) under those conditions when they can collect welfare or assistance….
Brian [32];
they will not be going without a police force, rather, using a county wide police force.
Just like all the NJ townships that will fight consolodation tooth and nail until it is the last choice available — probably after a default.
“And then finally, when theres nothing left, when you cant borrow another buck from the bank or buy another case of booze, you bust the joint out. You light a match.”
Less dramatic example — My wife and I were involved in leadership of our former church. There were several stuggling churches of the same denomination in the area, some in better shape than others. Our church approached some of them to discuss merger or combination of various services to save costs. All such inquiries were (politely) refused. When the first of them goes under, its remaining parishoners will start to attend other other churches of the denomination, thereby strengthening them.
I call that the “merger by default” plan. People are just plain weird.
’93 [35];
no “regular” person is going to do the work in the fields (especially) under those conditions when they can collect welfare or assistance….
I think Krugman said something similar in his economics textbook about generous unemployment benefits demotivating the unemployed to look for work. Of course, that was before he said the exact oppositie in his cheerleading for Obama’s stimulus including extended unemployment benefits; in fact his only fault with Obama’s stimulus was we didn’t borrow enough money to really screw the job up right.
I think Krugman said something similar in his economics textbook about generous unemployment benefits demotivating the unemployed to look for work. Of course, that was before he said the exact oppositie in his cheerleading for Obama’s stimulus including extended unemployment benefits; in fact his only fault with Obama’s stimulus was we didn’t borrow enough money to really screw the job up right.
I can pretty much guarantee you that Krugman probably didn’t write his textbook. The language in it is entirely different than all his writings. I think they had some random authors write it and they slapped his name on it to make it more marketable. Rachel Ray does it with cook books. They used to do the same thing with recording artists.
So I guess when all of you get laid off, we can look for you in the fields of Alabama or with the tomato pickers in Immokalee, Florida, doing hard backbreaking work for pennies a bushel instead of collecting unemployment.
Jill: While I understand and appreciate your sentiment, I don’t think I can agree with you. Yes, there are clear arguments that support the social net of this country that is funded through our government programs. However, what is bedeviling us right now is the reality that the social net has in fact become a web or a trap. The prima facie evidence in Alabama is not going to support your sense of derision. In fact, what were doing is training people to destroy themselves……
Jill says:
September 24, 2012 at 1:39 pm
So I guess when all of you get laid off, we can look for you in the fields of Alabama or with the tomato pickers in Immokalee, Florida, doing hard backbreaking work for pennies a bushel instead of collecting unemployment.
were = we’re
ExPat(34):
If I remember correctly, students now get 100 points for showing up. So these scores are artifically inflated. This is terrible trend and follows Doom’s thoughts that we are purposefully dumbing down our students to make them better sheep.
#1 grim: Actually 3b, as in myself, pretty much explained the whole blue ribbony thing quie some time ago here on this very blog. Just saying.
artifically = artifcially
Duh, maybe I need to back to school.
artificially = !!@@@#!!!!!!!!
[42] AH – You may also have noticed that nowhere does a student receive any education whatsoever on personal money management. Not even the rule of 72.
Sucks a bit as I am taking whole family to the Jets/49ers game. My five year old will have to do with watching the Jets beat the 49ers by 3 points instead of 21 points now that Revis is not in the game. Hopefully, Revis will stop by my seats, Damm Eva Longeria and Ray Romano I can only take so much of.
chicagofinance says:
September 24, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Darrelle Revis has torn ACL
Textbook what is that? Schools have books on IPADs now, you are showing your age.
Ben says:
September 24, 2012 at 1:36 pm
I think Krugman said something similar in his economics textbook about generous unemployment benefits demotivating the unemployed to look for work. Of course, that was before he said the exact oppositie in his cheerleading for Obama’s stimulus including extended unemployment benefits; in fact his only fault with Obama’s stimulus was we didn’t borrow enough money to really screw the job up right.
I can pretty much guarantee you that Krugman probably didn’t write his textbook. The language in it is entirely different than all his writings. I think they had some random authors write it and they slapped his name on it to make it more marketable. Rachel Ray does it with cook books. They used to do the same thing with recording artists.
hype spelling aside how is the wife?
IIRC, the labor requirement for picking one head of lettuce is 7 cents. If we eradicated all the illegal immigrants in a very short time all the lettuce would be picked by legal citizens, probably at a rate much higher than minimum wage. For a 21 cent rise in pass-through to the consumer the labor rate could be quadrupled and the work that “nobody else will do” would somehow magically get done by, dare I say it, Americans.
So I guess when all of you get laid off, we can look for you in the fields of Alabama or with the tomato pickers in Immokalee, Florida, doing hard backbreaking work for pennies a bushel instead of collecting unemployment.
Ben [38];
If anyone ghost-wrote Krugman’s textbook it was his wife. Either that, or she’s ghost-writing his columns.
A great battle continues across the technological corporate landscape. Whoever wins this battle could dictate the role computers play in the foreseeable future. The arsenal on both sides includes hardware, software and the power of the Internet. It hasn’t been pretty, and it’s likely to get even uglier.On one part of the battlefield is Microsoft, a corporation founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. In June 2010, Microsoft was trading at $26 a share on the NASDAQ and its market value was $227 billion [source: Wolfram
Jill [39];
So I guess when all of you get laid off, we can look for you in the fields of Alabama or with the tomato pickers in Immokalee, Florida, doing hard backbreaking work for pennies a bushel instead of collecting unemployment.
Since you want to make it personal: you’re proposing that I should just forget about and walk away from the tens of thousands of dollars skimmed from my paychecks over a lifetime in the form of employer unemployment contributions, in order to please some random leftists who irrationally hate me anyway?
But, since you’re feeling like being wrong — the answer to your question is yes. I did not head for the fields, but when I was ‘laid off” in 2010 (actually I was magically transformed from an employee into an independent contractor doing the same job at half the pay less benefits — at least until the first opportunity to jump ship arrived), I did not apply for unemployment even though I probably could have easily qualified for it.
However, on a policy level – yes, social welfare programs (like unemployment) should be a safety net, not a hammock.
Daughter’s English teacher explained during back to school night that she didn’t want to assign any reading yet because many of students waited until the end of August to finish their summer reading. That was three weeks ago! She doens’t believe in reading assignments to be done at home either due to the many distractions of electronic devices. Crazy enough many of the parents were nodding their heads in agreement.
Ben [38, redux];
They used to do the same thing with recording artists.
Milli Vanilli! “Blame it on the rain…”
Fantastic! Obama should use that music at his next campaign event. He blames everything on everyone else anyway. (Buck? What buck? I didn’t see any buck! That’s not in my job description!)
This is Long Island, but I could resist posting…Based on some of the discussions about youth sports, parents, coaches, etc…
LI youth baseball coach spent $50G on ‘revenge’ kids team
The Long Island youth-baseball manager arrested for allegedly stalking an opposing coach shelled out more than $50,000 to personally finance a revenge team that fell flat on its face, The Post has learned.
Angered after his own son failed to flourish on the Long Island Infernos traveling baseball team for 10- and 11-year-olds, Robert Sanfilippo used his own money to create and fund the Long Island Vengeance to even the score against his boy’s former squad, a law-enforcement source said.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/on_revenge_kids_team_oDWu9dRSY6kMW35dUDvCyN?utm_source=SFnewyorkpost&utm_medium=SFnewyorkpost
#50..from what I understand, the folks that did try to do it had to bail after a day or so since the job was so physically demanding that they could not continue on…
I hate lettuce. What am I a god damm rabbit?
Moose #53: You’ve just proven my point. It’s very easy to talk about how the unemployed (many of whom have paid in just as much as you have) should go pick lettuce for seven cents a head, but if YOU are ever in that position, YOUR unemployment is somehow “different”…and you DESERVE your UC, as opposed to THOSE OTHER people. Who are those “other people” anyway? And if you lost your job and no one would hire you because you were over 50 and overqualified for grunt work, would you put yourself in that category? I didn’t think so.
It was mostly people in the poultry industry in AL.
Sorry no onions
[57] ’93HB – They tried it at what rate of compensation? I’m seeing the reverse right now at my company. We were acquired by an international US based public company that specializes in setting up their manufacturing operations in impoverished areas where any stable job is welcomed by the community. Consequently the pay is crap and the benefits are crappier. Well they would have instant mass attrition if they tried to switch us over to their benefit plan in one day so they have come up with an 8 year phase-in plan for our existing employees. In the mean time we are still hiring new people and they start at the same rate of pay as before, but they get the crappy benefits on day one. I’ve noticed an *obvious* reduction in the quality of employee we are now hiring to entry level jobs.
#50..from what I understand, the folks that did try to do it had to bail after a day or so since the job was so physically demanding that they could not continue on…
Being over 50 is not an issue at all as long as you dont look over 50. My brother in law is like 56, has a full head of hair, 175 pounds, no wrinkles and had younger kids, people when they hear him saying he was coaching his 14 year olds soccer game last night and since he looks around 43 he has no age discrimination. Now if he got married young, had grandkids, a pot belly and no hair and was 56 he would be SOL>
Fortunately for me I have timeless good looks, I can do the work of 12 mexicans in a single hour.
Jill says:
September 24, 2012 at 3:11 pm
Moose #53: You’ve just proven my point. It’s very easy to talk about how the unemployed (many of whom have paid in just as much as you have) should go pick lettuce for seven cents a head, but if YOU are ever in that position, YOUR unemployment is somehow “different”…and you DESERVE your UC, as opposed to THOSE OTHER people. Who are those “other people” anyway? And if you lost your job and no one would hire you because you were over 50 and overqualified for grunt work, would you put yourself in that category? I didn’t think so.
# 59 Jill – Strike two. Those “other people” aren’t collecting unemployment anymore that is so 2008 and the 99 weeks ended a long time ago for them. These days it is long term social security disability.
“About 11 million people receive disability benefits from Social Security, an increase of more than 23 percent over the past five years”
http://news.yahoo.com/report-social-security-lax-disability-claims-080001597.html?_esi=1
Come on…..your point is not really applicable……it seems as if it should be, but if you were to go research it and draw appropriate conclusions, you would understand. Do you think people make up stories about food stamps (debit cards) and iPhones? UE benfits is fine…..99+ weeks of UE benefits and still no job when you had almost 2 years to retrain yourself is something else…..
Jill says:
September 24, 2012 at 3:11 pm
Moose #53: You’ve just proven my point. It’s very easy to talk about how the unemployed (many of whom have paid in just as much as you have) should go pick lettuce for seven cents a head, but if YOU are ever in that position, YOUR unemployment is somehow “different”…and you DESERVE your UC, as opposed to THOSE OTHER people. Who are those “other people” anyway? And if you lost your job and no one would hire you because you were over 50 and overqualified for grunt work, would you put yourself in that category? I didn’t think so.
re # 63 – JJ – When you apply the Just for Men do you wait the full five minutes and then rinse it out or do you go a little longer? A new hire here in his 50s has Jet Black hair that could have only come from picking the wrong color and waiting way too long to wash it out. It actually worked he got the job over a much younger applicant. He also looks like he did a crash diet too, and he knew how to shake a hand and answer questions correctly which most of the Gen Y crowd fails at miserably.
Jill [59];
You’ve just proven my point.
What part of “I did not apply for unemployment even though I probably could have easily qualified for it” did you not understand?
But the fact remains that the predicate of my post was that I have paid into the system for years and have only once even had the opportunity to apply. Lefties love to scream “HYPOCRITE!” — conveniently ignoring the balance of payments involved. Cut me a check for the money I put in, and I’ll forego the benefits. Oh, you mean its only after I paid in that I have to prove my bona fides by leaving my money on the table? Funny how that works out.
My second-hand experience is that certain people will work for six months, then F- off to get themselves fired so they can go back on ‘vacation’ for six months. And this was all before 99 weeks was the norm. My friend’s brother was frequently ‘working for the state’ until he actually did get a job working for the state (teaching).
Guy who is my age got let go from three jobs in a row between 2007 and 2011, after last job he decided to not look at all for almost a year. In that year he hired a personal trainer, dyed hair, shaved beard, joined some non-profit boards, networked, but no applications for jobs, then around month nine 40 pounds lighter in shape with darker cut short hair and no beard and new clothes he hit the streets and got a job in a few months.
Sadly, you got to look the look. People zone out very quickly in an interview. They say 90% of the time people make the decision to hire you during the handshake. Which reminds me of time I interviewed for a job at the Fed once and had eight interviews scheduled back to back, first seven as usual with energy enter room, give some quick wit and a strong handshake. Well I was on a roll sticking my hand out and shaking hands like I was running for congress. So I get to last interview go into her office flash the pearly whites and stick my hand out for a firm handshake only to discover she only had one arm. Quickly I pulled my arm back in and tried my best but it was done. No fed job for me. In this case just like they say in the interview books, I lost the job at the handshake. Funniest thing it was a entry level job and I got turned down as I was not qualifed enough. I half heartly called the HR dept to ask how can you not be qualified enough for an entry level job, she was nice, but I felt she was about to scream JC did you have to try to shake hands with a women with no hand
Juice Box says:
September 24, 2012 at 3:50 pm
re # 63 – JJ – When you apply the Just for Men do you wait the full five minutes and then rinse it out or do you go a little longer? A new hire here in his 50s has Jet Black hair that could have only come from picking the wrong color and waiting way too long to wash it out. It actually worked he got the job over a much younger applicant. He also looks like he did a crash diet too, and he knew how to shake a hand and answer questions correctly which most of the Gen Y crowd fails at miserably.
JJ gets post #69. Classic.
JB, btw how long did you old neighbor apply the Just For Gay Men cream to you?
Juice Box says:
September 24, 2012 at 3:50 pm
re # 63 – JJ – When you apply the Just for Men do you wait the full five minutes and then rinse it out or do you go a little longer? A new hire here in his 50s has Jet Black hair that could have only come from picking the wrong color and waiting way too long to wash it out. It actually worked he got the job over a much younger applicant. He also looks like he did a crash diet too, and he knew how to shake a hand and answer questions correctly which most of the Gen Y crowd fails at miserably.
But, could it be the opposite?
He wrote the textbook and somebody else is writing his colum? The book came first, after all.
“I think Krugman said something similar in his economics textbook about generous unemployment benefits demotivating the unemployed to look for work. Of course, that was before he said the exact oppositie in his cheerleading for Obama’s stimulus including extended unemployment benefits; in fact his only fault with Obama’s stimulus was we didn’t borrow enough money to really screw the job up right.
I can pretty much guarantee you that Krugman probably didn’t write his textbook. The language in it is entirely different than all his writings. I think they had some random authors write it and they slapped his name on it to make it more marketable. Rachel Ray does it with cook books. They used to do the same thing with recording artists.”
You want to fix the unemployment insurance problem? Make it pay out for 26 weeks whether they get another job or not. Nothing to lose by going back to work; can even afford to take a lower-paying job that prvides downstream growth potential.
JJ – I get mine done professionally by a woman in a salon. Since you squeak when you walk $6.79 is about all you will spend on hair care and that is only with the coupon from King Kullen for Just for Men products.
Fortunately no Just for Men yet for me. However, my days are numbered.
Juice Box says:
September 24, 2012 at 4:37 pm
JJ – I get mine done professionally by a woman in a salon. Since you squeak when you walk $6.79 is about all you will spend on hair care and that is only with the coupon from King Kullen for Just for Men products.
I have seen some bizzare looking houses, but this one is surely up there!!!
http://www.njmls.com/listings/index.cfm?action=dsp.info&mlsnum=1233596&dayssince=&countysearch=false
cepr.net
Robert Samuelson used his column today to urge Mitt Romney to make the welfare state the major issue in the presidential race. For some reason Samuelson’s indictment of the welfare state missed many of the largest items.
For example, in listing the beneficiaries of government largess, Samuelson missed obvious ones like homeowners who benefit from the mortgage interest deduction, the deduction for property taxes, and the subsidy provided by government guarantees of mortgage debt. He also misses the benefit provided by the tax deduction for employer provided health insurance.
While most people may not have a sufficient understanding of the tax and budget system, Samuelson surely knows that if we give someone a $4,000 tax break by making their mortgage interest tax deductible, it is the same thing as if the government wrote them a $4,000 check as a housing subsidy. In both cases they fit the bill as “takers.”
Of course the really big beneficiaries of government largess are the folks who Samuelson neglects altogether. These would be people like the top executives at the Wall Street banks who benefit from the $60 billion in too big to fail insurance that is provided at no cost by the government. He would also talk about the hundreds of billions of dollars that the government transfers to the pharmaceutical industry each year by providing patent monopolies on prescription drugs. A similar amount goes to the tech industry. Samuelson could also talk about the selective protectionism in U.S. trade policy that redistributes income from most of us to highly paid professionals like doctors and lawyers.
These highly distortionary government interventions do not feature prominently on Samuelson’s list. He only seems interested in attacking government interventions that primarily benefit lower and middle class people.
Everything looks better with a tower, even a cape.
There is a single common theme across many of those bizarre houses.
They all had contractors who thought they could do a better job than an architect at designing a house.
No less than 5 different window types on the front of that house, a travesty.
I expect at least 6 different types of cultured stone and 3 architectural styles.
Grim: agree all around. I think at this point it ranks number 1 as ugliest house posted to date on this blog!!! Brigadoon. Blue ribbony ugliest house!!! Boy I am good!!
jill (59)-
You are speaking to a water-carrier for a bunch of bankster thugs. He has about as much of a grip on the reality of the working poor as Mittens. Maybe less.
God hates poor people. So does Amerika.
jj (63)-
If that’s true, go shit in your yard 12 times, and post the picture here.
“Fortunately for me I have timeless good looks, I can do the work of 12 mexicans in a single hour.”
3b (76)-
I think you can squeeze off quality head shots in close to a 270-degree arc from that top window.
Does this mean Barca will be thrown out of La Liga?
“Do not play with the feelings of the Catalans” is the totally unveiled threat after Catalonia’s beggars-can-be-choosers demand for an unconditional bailout fell on deaf ears. The traditionally separatist-minded province has decided, according to ANSAmed, has decided to pull a Greece – and escalate with a move to secession. A resolution, on the right of the Catalan people to cut off ties with the Spanish state, will be voted on Thursday by the regional parliament. This statement of “the will of Catalan people to vote on the bond with the State of Spain” opens the way for forthcoming elections on November 25 to become a referendum on the sovereignty of Catalonia. The Spanish military are not taking this lying down with the counter-threat that these ‘separatists’ and their ‘inappropriate and unacceptable’ threat to break-up Spain shall be, according to El Economista, charged with high treason. We are sure Draghi has a ‘grand plan’ for this.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-09-24/spanish-miltary-threatens-treason-catalonia-seeks-secession-referendum
Textbook what is that? Schools have books on IPADs now, you are showing your age.
Ipads and iphones are the most overrated tools in education. I’ve banned phones from my classroom.
3B with that high tower at least it has a sniper nest and a spot to dump boiling oil on the marauding hordes. I concur one of the ugliest houses ever posted!
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