CoreLogic: Home prices up 12.4% in August

From MarketWatch:

Home-price growth fastest in more than seven years

Home-price growth accelerated to the fastest pace in more than seven years, showing gains across the country, according to a report released Tuesday.

Home prices, including distressed sales, rose about 0.9% in August and were up 12.4% from a year earlier, the highest annual rate since February 2006, according to CoreLogic, an Irvine, Calif.-based analysis firm. Excluding short sales and other distressed properties, prices rose 1% in August, and were up 11.2% from the year-earlier period, also hitting the fastest annual pace since February 2006.

The housing market in Nevada, where prices crashed during the housing crisis and remain far below peak levels, saw the largest year-over-year price growth in August. Including distressed properties, annual home-price growth in Nevada reached 26%.

Despite that growth, prices in Nevada in August were about 42% below peak. Meanwhile, the state with the lowest annual price growth, including distressed properties, was New Mexico, where prices were up 1.5%.

Including August’s increase and distressed sales, U.S. home prices were about 17% below a 2006 peak.

The report echoes other recently released housing data that show fast year-over-year gains. Still, there’s been concern about the toll that rising mortgage rates are taking on the housing market’s recovery. A recent reading on pending home sales — these are deals that typically close within two months — showed that they fell in August for a third month of declines.

There is some evidence that the growth in home prices is decelerating. But that’s not all bad. Sellers like hot markets and higher prices can help struggling owners. However, a slower pace also gives more first-time buyers and others a chance to participate in the market while affordability remains relatively high.

This entry was posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

159 Responses to CoreLogic: Home prices up 12.4% in August

  1. grim says:

    From Reuters:

    US mortgage applications dip slightly though rates fall: MBA

    Applications for U.S. home loans dipped slightly in the latest week, as a drop in demand for purchase loans outweighed an increase in refinancing demand, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

    The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 0.4 percent in the week ended Sept. 27.

    MBA data showed 30-year mortgage rates dropped 13 basis points to 4.49 percent, after earlier in September matching the 4.8 percent high for 2013. The figure for the latest week was the lowest since June.

    The refinancing index gained 3.1 percent after recently hitting the lowest level since June 2009.

  2. grim says:

    From the WSJ:

    Fears of Stalling Housing Recovery Are Overblown

    Fear that the housing market’s recovery is stalling has been overdone, say economists at Goldman Sachs in a new report.

    The paper — entitled “Where is the pent-up housing demand?” — suggests that housing demand among the young has been suppressed due to cyclical issues not structural ones.

    Homeownership hasn’t fallen out of favor and student-debt levels aren’t the main culprits for lower housing demand among young buyers, write economists Hui Shan and Eli Hackel. Instead, they suggest that the economic downturn is most responsible for muted homeownership gains among younger households, and that the “pent-up” housing demand will improve in step with economic gains.

    The bear case on housing goes something like this: the current “recovery” has been driven to an unhealthy degree by low interest rates and investor purchases of homes, particularly by large institutions. Meanwhile, traditional owner-occupant buyers can’t qualify for loans, due to some combination of having too much debt (especially student loans for younger buyers), stagnant incomes and tight credit standards.

    Ms. Shan and Mr. Hackel aren’t convinced. “We think the pessimism about the housing recovery is overdone,” they write.

    The authors focus on the homeownership rate among those between ages 25 and 44, the largest cohort of first-time buyers and move-up buyers. Compared to the 1985-1994 period (when the overall homeownership rate was mostly flat), homeownership among 25-to-44 year olds was reduced by around 1.1 million owners last year. Most of the shortfall, they conclude, comes from medium-to-high income households. They turn to three reasons that might be the case:

    First, could it be that homeownership simply isn’t cool anymore? Not really. Surveys show the vast majority of non-homeowners under age 49 still aspire to homeownership.

    Second, could it be that young renters don’t have enough money to make a down payment or enough income to qualify for a mortgage? Not so much, they find. Using data from the 2010 Census, they find that among 25-44 year-old renters with incomes above $50,000, around 40% have at least $25,000 in financial wealth — enough for a 10% down payment on the median priced U.S. house. Nearly half of younger renters with at least $50,000 in income have total debts of less than 5% of their incomes, meaning they should have the capacity to take out a mortgage for a home purchase.

    Third, could young households have delayed purchases due to the severe shock that housing and labor markets went through? The authors conclude that this is the most likely explanation. Homeownership rates declined less in states where the job market experienced less stress.

  3. grim says:

    From Bloomberg:

    U.S. Government Shutdown Threatening Housing Recovery

    A U.S. government shutdown will immediately slow approval of thousands of mortgages. If it lasts more than a week, it threatens housing and the broader economic recovery.

    Congress forced the first partial government closure in 17 years after failing to pass a budget, meaning borrowers in the process of obtaining home loans could be delayed as lenders are blocked from verifying Social Security numbers and accessing Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts.

    The process may also lengthen the wait for borrowers seeking approval for mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration because its fulltime staff is now less than a tenth of its normal size and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which backs mortgages in rural areas, won’t take on new business during the shutdown.

  4. Brian says:

    NYC road rage: Wife of motorcyclist struck by SUV says her husband is paralyzed

    http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/wife_of_motorcyclist_struck_by_suv_in_nyc_says_he_husband_is_paralyzed.html#incart_m-rpt-1

    “There’s no hope for his back,” Dayana Meises told reporters. “They crushed his spine. They broke it in two different places, so he will be forever, forever paralyzed.”

    Another man also was injured. Bikers chased after the SUV, then beat the driver, police said. A portion of the Sunday altercation, captured on a helmet-mounted camera worn by another rider, was posted online anonymously. Since then, Dayana Mieses said, the bikers have been portrayed as villains who ambushed an innocent man driving his family. But she said her husband is the victim.

    “Everyone wants to blame the bikers for something this man did,” she said.

    Edwin Mieses, known as Jay Meezee, is an aspiring rapper from outside Boston, and the couple has two children, ages 15 and 9. Dayana Mieses told Boston station WBZ-TV that her husband got off his bike to help another rider who was struck in an initial collision with the SUV.

    “When all the bikers stopped, my husband got out, parked his bike to walk over to try to help his friend,” she said. “He walked over towards the front of the vehicle when, at this point, I don’t know what happened: the man was scared, the man just peeled off and ran over my husband.”

  5. Fabius Maximus says:

    Brian,

    The bikers were at fault end of story. I generally don’t like people in Chelsea Tractors, but I can’t find fault in anything the driver did. This crowd make life for responsible bikers much harder.

    NYPD will be looking though all this high quality HD footage pulling tags and documenting infractions. Traffic court will be a busy place for the next couple of months.

    http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/the-footage-that-the-nyc-bikers-didnt-want-you-to-see-1435594427/1436603736

  6. anon (the good one) says:

    seeing that video made me think about gun ownership. a young adult, minding his own business is on Sunday stroll with his young family. sure this guy has worked very hard to obtain his accomplishments, isn’t he somehow related to Columbia University.
    enters another set of young ppl, punks and thugs with an agenda to create damage – rebels without a cause.
    do you feel lucky, punk? Would had been the words of the SUV driver while pointing his colt 45 to the thugs. say that in all likelyhood he takes a couple of them. if that was the end of it, then I would support gun ownership.
    the second chapter, however, is that if the SUV driver had a right to carry in NYC, so would the rest of the easy ride gang. this would not had been a movie with Clint driving into the sunset. an armed gang would had taken the husband, wife and the 2 yr. old.

    No one was armed, no one died.

  7. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I was catching up on yesterday’s comments early this morning, which brought that SUV vs. Motorcycle group onto my radar for the first time. Interesting/disturbing stuff if you dig into it a little deeper. Here’s a comment I found that might explain how the incident may have been not only intentional, but possibly specifically targeted:

    Marc Roffman wrote: “Here is some additional information you all might want to read. This is my personal experience with this situation. I made sure to post this on the support site as well. As a trucker that would deliver in north jersey and New York I am familiar with these gangs. I can hopefully clarify a few things. First the initial “accident” is part of a game they play. They ride in a huge group and will operate together to slow down traffic. Next they pick out high end vehicles targeting people with families in them, the targets will usually be white or Asian. Then one of the riders will do a “brake check” and stop suddenly in front of the target vehicle causing a minor bump. In some cases they will just roll back into their target vehicle. They will then mob the vehicle demanding money and or begin attacking the person inside. It is their practice to also slash the tires to prevent the vehicle from escaping. Truckers are well aware of them and are advised not to stop. You can clearly see in the video how they are well practiced in this style of attack. The police in NY have backed off them after an officer ran one down using his vehicle a few months back. The video was all over the net so I advise you to check it out. These “bikers” ride dirt bikes and sport bikes very few of which are street legal and even fewer have plates. They run red lights, stop signs, and have no regard for the law. If you are ever in this situation do not stop, immediately call the police and do whatever you have to to keep them from boxing you in. NEVER leave the scene of an accident if you are not under direct threat!!! Only run if you have no other choice, and again immediately call the police. This is not rare by any means, the only reason this incident got any attention is because of the helmet cam video being posted on the net. If you see anyone in this situation, call the police. Make no mistake confusing these punks with true bikers. You will rarely if ever see a member of these gangs on a Harley. Do not for a minute blame true bikers for this kind of behavior. Bikers like those involved in the 2 million Bikers to DC Rally are American Patriots and would be among the first to come to your aid. A final note, always be aware of motorcycles and share the road. Check your mirrors and don’t ride anyone’s bumper, motorcycles have a much smaller profile then a car and are harder to see.”

  8. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Here’s a personal video from the guy who got ran over and is still in the hospital with serious injuries. The video shows what style of riding they do on plateless bikes even in small groups. Also, this guy has never had a motorcycle license and has so many license-less traffic violations that the Massachusetts Registry has entered him into the national database as a habitual offender who is not even eligible to apply for a license until 2017.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDjV08KZpNA

  9. grim says:

    Sorry – but the riders that stopped in front of the SUV did so to forcibly restrain the driver from escaping from the situation. They might not have been doing the physical aggression, but they aided in enabling that behavior (no different from holding someone down as someone else is punching them). They are accessories to the assault, they are not innocent bystanders who were injured.

  10. Ragnar says:

    Expat, 7,
    Is that a valid source? That initial maneuver of getting in front of the SUV, looking backward, and slowing down seemed very odd, and fits in with how hooligans might act, as described.
    Those other videos suggest these bikers were behaving totally out of control. Hard to imagine they get through any outing without some accidents or conflicts.

  11. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Here are the helmet cam videos from earlier in the day that the guy yanked from his youtube account to “frame” the incident better as just a bunch of innocent bikers minding their own business:

    http://www.carscoops.com/2013/10/the-footage-that-nyc-bikers-didn-want.html

  12. Ragnar says:

    He’ll get millions of dollars of Obamacare and disability benefits.

  13. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [10] What is a valid source these days? I just copied and pasted from the “Justice for Jay MeeZee” facebook page.

  14. anon (the good one) says:

    @Nouriel: Well worth reading: “Millions Flee Obamacare” http://t.co/eOvhV2ooPc via @NewYorker

  15. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Coincidentally, I’m sure, the motorcycle “club” known as “The Hollywood Stuntz” took down their blog:

    http://hollywoodstuntz.blogspot.com

  16. Brian says:

    7 – If that is what was going on then they really give riders a bad name. Why didn’t the NYPD talk about any of this? I don’t remember comissoner Kelly suggesting this is what was going on.

    I’ve been on the road when people in cars try to intentionally fcuk with me so, my thoughts instantly went to how I felt during those situations. You really feel like the guy in the car or suv is trying to kill you and they think it is funny. My feelings were probably misplaced in this situation if you are correct.

    That said, I don’t really like taking my bike to the city unless there is an official sanctioned ride or something. I prefer an open county road where you have a greater chance of crashing into a deer or a farm tractor than ever seeing a car.

  17. anon (the good one) says:

    UNITED STATES (The Borowitz Report)—Millions of Tea Party loyalists fled the United States in the early morning hours today, seeking what one of them called “the American dream of liberty from health care.”

    Harland Dorrinson, 47, a tire salesman from Lexington, Kentucky, packed up his family and whatever belongings he could fit into his Chevy Suburban just hours before the health-insurance exchanges opened, joining the Tea Party’s Freedom Caravan with one goal in mind: escape from Obamacare.

    “My father didn’t have health care and neither did my father’s father before him,” he said. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let my children have it.”

    But after driving over ten hours to the Canadian border, Mr. Dorrinson was dismayed to learn that America’s northern neighbor had been in the iron grip of health care for decades.

    “The border guard was so calm when he told me, as if it was the most normal thing in the world,” he said. “It’s like he was brainwashed by health care.”

    Turning away from Canada, Mr. Dorrinson joined a procession of Tea Party cars heading south to Mexico, noting, “They may have drug cartels and narcoterrorism down there, but at least they’ve kept health care out.”

    Mr. Dorrinson was halfway to the southern border before he heard through the Tea Party grapevine that Mexico, too, has public health care, as do Great Britain, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Belgium, New Zealand, Slovenia, and dozens of other countries to which he had considered fleeing.

    Undaunted, Mr. Dorrinson said he had begun looking into additional countries, like Chad and North Korea, but he expressed astonishment at a world seemingly overrun by health care.

    “It turns out that the United States is one of the last countries on earth to get it,” he said. “It makes me proud to be an American.”

  18. Brian says:

    I don’t know much about this group or how they operate but I know they like to do tricks and wheelies or whatever. Some have said that they were trying to illegally block traffic so that they could have the run of the highway for a little while to do all their crazy stunts. Who knows if the blog Expat read was credible. I would think if it were true, we would have heard more of it in the news. I think it was just a road rage incident that got completely out of control.

    10.Ragnar says:
    October 2, 2013 at 8:37 am
    Expat, 7,
    Is that a valid source? That initial maneuver of getting in front of the SUV, looking backward, and slowing down seemed very odd, and fits in with how hooligans might act, as described.
    Those other videos suggest these bikers were behaving totally out of control. Hard to imagine they get through any outing without some accidents or conflicts.

  19. grim says:

    What’s with the lack of license plates, I watched a number of those videos and was only able to see at most a half dozen plates. Do these guys normally ride without plates so that they can’t be identified later? What’s with the dirt bikes and quads? I was under the impression that these types of vehicles are not street legal.

    Every second of those videos shows numerous traffic violations. Driving on the wrong side of the road, driving in the shoulder, illegal passing, running red lights, reckless driving, driving on the sidewalks, obstructing traffic, etc etc. Nothing but reckless and lawless behavior.

    This was not a motorcycle rally, this was a mob full of idiots out to cause trouble, and they knew it, which is why there are no plates.

  20. Happy Renter says:

    [7] and [9] – that says it all.

    “Jay Mezee” can continue his rapper aspirations from a wheelchair. (Just watch out for him on the sidewalk, he’ll probably move on to “brake checking” women pushing babies in strollers. Effing thug.

  21. nwnj says:

    It’s a stretch to call those morons “bikers”. Most of them are wearing and riding dirt bike gear. The guy going against traffic in the wrong lane is riding a 250cc dirt bike, which isn’t street lega. Now they’re on notice of how they’ll be dealt with if they try that crap again.

  22. Brian says:

    Even the plates that you see probably don’t belong to the bikes that they are on. I must have missed the quads….I did see dirtbikes….did you see quads in the video?

    19.grim says:
    October 2, 2013 at 9:04 am
    What’s with the lack of license plates, I watched a number of those videos and was only able to see at most a half dozen plates. Do these guys normally ride without plates so that they can’t be identified later? What’s with the dirt bikes and quads? I was under the impression that these types of vehicles are not street legal.

    Every second of those videos shows numerous traffic violations. Driving on the wrong side of the road, driving in the shoulder, illegal passing, running red lights, reckless driving, driving on the sidewalks, etc etc. Nothing but reckless and lawless behavior.

    This was not a motorcycle rally, this was a mob full of idiots out to cause trouble, and they knew it, which is why there are no plates.

  23. Ragnar says:

    Anon,
    The presumptions built into that joke says more about the laziness of thought going into it than anything else. Funny that populists now think of themselves as an elite that should ridicule the ignarant middle classes.

  24. Happy Renter says:

    I think I’ll send a case of Skittles to the young aspiring rapper Mezee, in honor of what a Good Samaritan he was, you know, just innocently trying to “help” his motor-monkey friend that was being ruthlessly harrassed by that crazy dad with his wife and baby in the car.

  25. Brian says:

    If these guys are operating in a way that Expat is suggesting, I’m surprised that they haven’t caught the attention of the OMG’s. I can’t believe that they would allow these guys to do that stuff on their turf.

  26. zieba says:

    RE: 4

    Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

  27. grim says:

    The real tragedy here isn’t what happened to the guys that got run over, it’s that this now means it is open season on riders.

    Perhaps someone driving an SUV in traffic won’t be so hesitant to execute a lane change when some idiot rider is coming up behind him, between lanes, at 80 miles an hour.

    By the way, I don’t run red lights on my god dammed bicycle.

    I expect a flurry of new legislation regarding motorcycles in both NY and NJ. Outright bans of unsanctioned group rides, outright prohibition of lane splitting, increased penalties for stunting (I’ll go so far as to say this will result in an immediate loss of license), the nations first anti-wheelie laws, impound of motorcycles without visible plates in DOT approved locations, potentially even starting to require front plates for motorcycles, forfeiture of vehicle if caught driving a non-legal or uninsured vehicle on the road, etc.

  28. zieba says:

    I only run lights on 9W past Englewood Cliffs on my way to Nyack, and select three way intersections. I tried this in Fort Lee and was promptly ticketed.

    south on FDR off the GWB yesterday, saw a bunch of these riders riding all over the street/sidewalk in the projects on the upper upper east.

    Heads should roll at the NYPD over this annual “event”.

  29. Brian says:

    Son of a B1tch. Riding a motorcycle was one of the last bits of freedom I felt I had. Christie did away with all inspections. You technically don’t even need turn signals if you use hand signals. I hope it doesn’t turn out like the gun thing, where legislators rush to protect us and pass all sorts of irrational laws about something they don’t even understand.

    27.grim says:
    October 2, 2013 at 9:25 am
    The real tragedy here isn’t what happened to the guys that got run over, it’s that this now means it is open season on riders.

    Perhaps someone driving an SUV in traffic won’t be so hesitant to execute a lane change when some idiot rider is coming up behind him, between lanes, at 80 miles an hour.

    By the way, I don’t run red lights on my god dammed bicycle.

    I expect a flurry of new legislation regarding motorcycles in both NY and NJ. Outright bans of unsanctioned group rides, outright prohibition of lane splitting, increased penalties for stunting (I’ll go so far as to say this will result in an immediate loss of license), the nations first anti-wheelie laws, impound of motorcycles without visible plates in DOT approved locations, potentially even starting to require front plates for motorcycles, etc.

  30. joyce says:

    6

    A car never killed anybody.

  31. Fast Eddie says:

    grim,

    Serious question: where is the inventory? Houses are moving like crazy and prices are up. Why aren’t more houses being listed? Where are the fence sitter sellers, especially now with the threat of rising rates in the discussion? Anyone care to have an answer here?

  32. JJ the Welfare Queen says:

    They sell online this clear plastic stuff you put over your plate that distorts the plate when being filmed or if a flash picture at a blown red light.

    Cops see this stuff all the time. Once in my 20s I got pulled over and the address on my insurance card, drivers license and registration were three different addresses. None were my actual home address. Now I just pay huge car insurance and have an umbrella policy.

    The worst was my buddy. He would just pick a name and address out of phone book in a town with cheap insurance then buy insurance in person at broker with a money order then register used car he bought cash in someone else’s name and address. He did this for three years. Funny I looked up address, it was a huge mansion out in Southampton on dune road. So first year ends and he goes to pick up his new insurance card and pay, damm insurance company automatically mailed it to owners house. So now it is January friend goes want to take a ride. So we drive out to Southampton turns out it is a vacation home completely empty we get insurance bill and cards from mail box, next year we drove out again for registration and that years cards. Funny stuff. If owner only knew at 4 am a 200 dollar car is going 80mph from clubs with a bunch of drunks all in his name he would of had a heart attack. But nothing ever happened. Always wonder what would have happened. I mean a car is insured and registered at your address. Bills and stuff go to that address, somehow they are paid. Then in year 3 claim you know nothing about it. What if friend was driving by himself, nails a parked rolls royce and runs off.

  33. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Brake checking a cop and later comrades in pickup truck hand off drugs to motorcyclist.

  34. The Original NJ ExPat says:
  35. JJ the Welfare Queen says:

    When real estate is hot in an odd way stuff does not always hit the tape. When times are tough like 2009 you are more likely to use a realtor. Right now a two bedroom pre-war coop in a good building you need a realtor like a supermodel needs match .com to get a date.

    Fast Eddie says:
    October 2, 2013 at 9:36 am

    grim,

    Serious question: where is the inventory? Houses are moving like crazy and prices are up. Why aren’t more houses being listed? Where are the fence sitter sellers, especially now with the threat of rising rates in the discussion? Anyone care to have an answer here?

  36. Bozo the Clown says:

    Re the Obamacare shutdown – anyone know whether his insurance bills are going up or down next year?

  37. grim says:

    Read a comment saying that the NYPD issued a statement this morning that they will not pursue groups of motorcycles for public safety reasons.

    So I suppose it is open season.

    Going long dash-cams, Go Pro has a not new market. Hear the 2015 Range Rovers will have factory installed front and rear cams.

  38. joyce says:

    37
    Meaning, NYC’s finest is scared they might get hurt.

  39. Fast Eddie says:

    When real estate is hot in an odd way stuff does not always hit the tape.

    If it’s so hot, why aren’t more sellers coming out of the woodwork? I’d sell today if I had something to buy. And, I know I can get more today than a year ago.

  40. Brian says:

    They can’t catch them anyway. There’s a video of a guy on a Suzuki GSXR1000 that I found at the bottom of Expat’s post where they guy outruns a helicopter.

    37.grim says:
    October 2, 2013 at 9:51 am
    Read a comment saying that the NYPD issued a statement this morning that they will not pursue groups of motorcycles for public safety reasons.

    So I suppose it is open season.

    Going long dash-cams, Go Pro has a not new market.

  41. Brian says:

    By the way Grim, they buzz by you at 80mph? That’s pretty slow. Some of those sport bikes right off the dealer floor with no mods are freakishly fast. Try 180mph.

  42. grim says:

    I have no problem with the capabilities, top speed or acceleration.

    To tell you the truth, I don’t so much care about speeding. I have no problem when a bike buzzes by me on 287 or 80 going well over 100 (I know, I’m going 80, and they can pass me like I’m standing still). The difference here is that I’m talking about clear, open highway. I firmly believe that the speed limit in NJ should be raised to 75, and that NJ highways should have mandated minimum speed limits as well, and stiffer penalties for left lane drivers.

    What I do hate are lane splitters and shoulder riders, especially at speed. This is incredibly dangerous, not because the rider can’t manage it, but because the car driver doesn’t expect for it, and doesn’t account for it. Frankly, I’m surprised that more riders aren’t killed when they do this kind of thing.

  43. McDullard says:

    Does anyone know what the premiums for Obamacare in NJ are, and what options are good for a “small business”/temp-worker? The website let me in once but didn’t work half-way.

    I am working through a staffing company (still! and they won’t offer me an option to purchase healthcare till 2015). My Cobra runs out in a few months. We are paying $2k/month [PPO, no deductible, very low co-pay — used to get it for $0 though in exchange for soul-sucking work].

    What options do the gurus here suggest?
    a) Employer-funded Obamacare + HRA [use our S-Corp as employer: high-deductible silver or no-deductible gold/platinum]
    b) Individual-Obamacare [cannot use HSA, so go with no-deductible?]
    c) Get a real job? There is a hiring freeze, but a small chance that things may work out before Cobra runs out, but I should have a Plan B in case I run out of time. Don’t want to look elsewhere for a while if this place works out…

  44. grim says:

    44 – I played with it yesterday, and for a family of 3, no subsidy, it was around $10k per year.

  45. grim says:

    Serious question: where is the inventory? Houses are moving like crazy and prices are up. Why aren’t more houses being listed? Where are the fence sitter sellers, especially now with the threat of rising rates in the discussion? Anyone care to have an answer here?

    They are being listed, and they are selling. Here is a good example:

    Montclair Inventory
    September 2012 – 165
    September 2013 – 168

    No inventory, right? Except look at the new listings, we have lots of new inventory, 60% more in fact:

    Montclair New Listings
    September 2012 – 45
    September 2013 – 72 (+27 over last September)

    So where are all the new listings going? Here:

    Montclair Contracts
    September 2012 – 19
    September 2013 – 28 (+9 over last year)

    Montclair Closings
    September 2012 – 43
    September 2013 – 73 (A whopping +30 over last year)

  46. 1987 Condo says:

    #19.. from watching local news…seems these bikes are prevalent in Bronx and elsewhere, seems folks who can not get license and/or insurance due to legal reasons (wants and warrants?) and costs are driving these “illegal” bikes all over the inner city. Clot has this one right…

  47. Brian says:

    43 – Don’t encourage the legislators to enact any more dumb laws. 99% of the people I know ride safely.

  48. Essex says:

    Holy crap – some bikers take great pains to get a liscense and a legal plate. Meanwhile these folks are able to enjoy freedoms most of us never dreamed of. Welcome to the new normal.

  49. Fast Eddie says:

    Ok, so the inventory is increasing, right? Just a month or so ago, you posted something (can’t remember what) that said still rather bare. So, what do you think the next few months are going to look like trend wise?

  50. Juice Box says:

    From from Bill Gross, many of us will be dead before zirp ends.

    Survival of the Fittest?

    “As the accompanying chart shows, the last time the U.S. economy was this highly levered (early 1940s) it took over 25 years of 10-year Treasury rates averaging 3% less than nominal GDP to accomplish a “beautiful deleveraging.”

    http://www.pimco.com/EN/Insights/Pages/Survival-of-the-Fittest.aspx

  51. grim says:

    It is a little early to pull September contracts, I usually wait 3 days or so into the new month to make sure I’ve got the right stats. But, I’ll do it anyway.

    Bergen
    2012 – 641
    2013 – 679 (Up 6% YOY)

    Essex
    2012 – 263
    2013 – 311 (Up 18.3% YOY)

    Hunterdon
    2012 – 95
    2013 – 113 (Up 18.9% YOY)

    Morris
    2012 – 331
    2013 – 431 (Up 30.2% YOY)

    Passaic
    2012 – 179
    2013 – 224 (Up 25.1% YOY)

    Somerset
    2012 – 231
    2013 – 270 (Up 16.9% YOY)

    Sussex
    2012 – 98
    2013 – 168 (Up 71.4% YOY)

    Union
    2012 – 233
    2013 – 346 (Up 48.5% YOY)

    Warren
    2012 – 82
    2013 – 73 (Down 11% YOY)

  52. grim says:

    Little evidence of mortgage rates having a negative impact to September contracts, if anything, folks were piling in en masse.

  53. Juice Box says:

    re# 53 – A bump in rates just pushed the fence sitters into the game. There is no shortage of of demand.

  54. McDullard says:

    Grim, what was the composition of the plan? I am guessing high deductible silver?

    The dumb site takes me to “select security questions” and the question list is blank [may be some Ajax stuff and server craps out on that session then?]

    Do you know anyone that is planning to buy from the exchanges? I ended up by mistake at the older NJ’s individual health insurance page and the premiums listed there are atrociously high [some going to 4k+ per month]

  55. grim says:

    55 – No idea, I entered in a number of values and clicked next next next until I got a figure. I don’t recall anything asking me to select a type of plan.

  56. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Reminds me of a joke from the early 70’s that my FIL told me:

    BMW 2002 tii – The only German car that comes with a factory installed Connecticut license plate.

    Going long dash-cams, Go Pro has a not new market. Hear the 2015 Range Rovers will have factory installed front and rear cams.

  57. Libturd in the City says:

    “No one was armed, no one died.”

    This is perhaps the dumbest, and most lacking of causation of a statement ever posted here. At least when you regurgitate Kos, there is some thought (often misguided), or cause and effect about what is written.

    Anon, when my company decides to stop paying for a portion of my healthcare, since I can now buy it easily on a public exchange… I’m gonna come and kick your ass, or perhaps convince you to pay for my families health care.

    You don’t fix healthcare by not attacking the primary cause of the outrageous cost of it. Dumb liberals who can’t think for themselves are really scary. Enjoy that Subaru sheep. Keep donating to a political party too.

  58. JJ the Welfare Queen says:

    Better Call Saul would say
    1) in NY state when you rear end someone you are always at fault. It means if you could not stop in time you were tail gating.
    2) when you ran over biker on ground, that person was in not way threatening you, he at that moment was a pedestrian, in NYS the pedestrian always has the right of way
    3) would argue bikers were ones fearful of life as you tried to run one of them over with a massive SUV
    4) By having an super expensive show off range-rover a vehicle known for attracting attention and car-jacking and placing young children in said vehicle in New York City an area know for crime you were like Bernie Goetz asking to be robbed so you can attack and most likely an unfit parent as you put your children’s life in jeopardy.

    I would sue for around 500 million in the civil and seek two counts of attempted manslaughter.

    I also would sue the Hedgefund, Columbia and Rangerover as those three put him in the position to be behind the wheel of such an expensive car.

  59. All Hype says:

    This one is for Anon:
    Jonathan Chait ✔ @jonathanchait Idea: fortify WWII memorial with tank traps and pillboxes manned by elderly Germans.

    This New Yorker magazine tweet is a slander to the WWII veterens who went past the barricades to visit the WWII memorial the other day. These men and their familes just wanted to see the memorial and reflect with honor and dignity one last time before they pass away. Now we get an elitist who makes a stupid comment. Real nice Anon, guess I did not get the joke. It just may be above me considering I only get the magazine for free.

  60. Pete says:

    McDullard,

    This site will give you a good sense of what you will pay for what type of coverage.

    http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/

  61. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Brian – Maybe you should petition the pols to exempt Sussex County. Maybe it will attract a new 99% you haven’t met yet.

    43 – Don’t encourage the legislators to enact any more dumb laws. 99% of the people I know ride safely.

  62. McDullard says:

    Pete, thanks… That site gives some general numbers, whereas the exchanges give full deatils (multiple plans from different providers within each category).

    For applying as an employer, it gets weirder — we need to apply by paper, and “by mid-November” we’ll know if we are eligible or not. Fast e-governance at play!

  63. Libturd in the City (Channeling JJ) says:

    It appears that the majority of people impacted by the loss of government services during this shutdown are those who most need a handout. Now I know why guys like Anon are so pissed about it. The Repubs should try to pass a bill to make those non-essential employees not receive retroactive pay for their furlough too. What are we? 14 days away before the debt limit is reached? I’m still looking for a way to get back to the surface after falling off the fiscal cliff.

  64. Juice Box says:

    Obama Care’s cost-cutting board the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) AKA “Death Panel” is what you should really be worried about. I have two relatives one a 101 year old little lady and another an 82 year old with heart issues, that probably would not still be around if the death Panel decided to cut out their Medicare.

    And before we hear from the Daily Kos copy and paste king ANON The American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and the pharmaceutical lobby have supported IPAB repeal, saying the panel would cut providers’ pay arbitrarily and cannot be appealed in the courts.

    IPAB was setup to cut Medicare expenditures effectively throwing Grandma under the bus.

    And before our resident copy and paste king put up more talking points you need to ask yourself why is there no IPAB for Medicaid? It was too PC to add it to Medicaid to the legislation since the race card would have been played up during the passing of the legislation in 2010.

    It is ok to kill off Granny but cut abortion for the indigent? No way.

  65. Libturd in the City (Channeling JJ) says:

    Looks like I pissed off a chink.

  66. chicagofinance says:

    In my mind, for NJ as a densely populated state, the mild inconvenience of a speed limit far outweighs the damage done by inattentive drivers who need to go from highway speed in normal conditions to dead stop ASAP.

    I had to drive the 24/78 split and by Short Hills mall for a long time, and it was a learning experience not soon forgotten……

    grim says:

    October 2, 2013 at 10:03 am

    I have no problem with the capabilities, top speed or acceleration.

    To tell you the truth, I don’t so much care about speeding. I have no problem when a bike buzzes by me on 287 or 80 going well over 100 (I know, I’m going 80, and they can pass me like I’m standing still). The difference here is that I’m talking about clear, open highway. I firmly believe that the speed limit in NJ should be raised to 75, and that NJ highways should have mandated minimum speed limits as well, and stiffer penalties for left lane drivers.

  67. Juice Box says:

    Many of Federal employees are paid monthly. The shutdown won’t matter too much to them as they were all paid last week and can sit on the beach for a month and relax and enjoy their extra paid vacation time.

  68. chicagofinance says:

    Completely on the money ….no pun intended…..

    JJ the Welfare Queen says:
    October 2, 2013 at 10:41 am
    4) By having an super expensive show off range-rover a vehicle known for attracting attention and car-jacking and placing young children in said vehicle in New York City an area know for crime you were like Bernie Goetz asking to be robbed so you can attack and most likely an unfit parent as you put your children’s life in jeopardy.

    I would sue for around 500 million in the civil and seek two counts of attempted manslaughter.

  69. grim says:

    Can someone help me understand why Obamacare allowed for rate differences on a state by state basis? This makes no sense to me, especially considering the subsidy is based on a federal income level (shouldn’t the subsidy be based on the state poverty income levels)?

    Sounds like if you are poorer in a wealthy state, you get screwed.

  70. chicagofinance says:

    I have to fly out of EWR on Sunday morning…..do you think there will be an impact on the TSA workers or air traffic control due to the shutdown (if still in effect)?

  71. Libturd in the City says:

    ChiFi: TSA are essential. Gator’s brother works for customs and he is still working. I think you’ll be fine.

  72. joyce says:

    Air traffic controls are essential and still working as well

  73. joyce says:

    controllers

  74. grim says:

    Flew on Monday evening, no impact, but that was still early. Flying on Wednesday/Thursday/Friday of next week and really hope there isn’t a problem. Not quite lucky enough to be TSA Pre, but I might imagine the TSA Pre lines might be first to shut down.

  75. Brian says:

    Gunman reported in Pt. Pleasant. Local schools on lockdown.

  76. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Before I got side-tracked with the hooligan bikers, I actually meant to post this earlier:

    Failure to Launch – The next generation of (not) home-buyers.

    http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/172493289?access_key=key-1tnzw59xy8aeoqvjoqxd&allow_share=true&view_mode=scroll

  77. AG says:

    Day 2 of the glorious shutdown. The chains of tyranny are resting a little bit easier on my shoulders today. Yes today is a good day.

  78. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [77] Feeling decadent and un-green today, I was retrieving the 76th and final page from my (company’s) color laser printer, I noticed the last page indicates that there is also an executive summary available:

    http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/FTL_ExecSum.pdf

  79. Brian says:

    It’s over folks. This is it. Don’t bother showing up at election day. Sorry Lonegan.

    Sharpe James endorses one-time rival Cory Booker
    http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/sharpe_james_endorses_one-time_rival_cory_booker_sort_of.html#incart_river_default

  80. Statler Waldorf says:

    But that would serve as a deterrent for both – a microcosm of the MAD Doctrine, keeping the peace, and the entire incident may not have occurred. Put another way, it’s unlikely a gang like this would harass random vehicles in Texas.

    “the second chapter, however, is that if the SUV driver had a right to carry in NYC, so would the rest of the easy ride gang.”

  81. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    “The age at which young adults reach the median wage increased from 26 to 30 between 1980 and 2012”

    In the early 1980’s an engineering degree meant you exceeded the median *household* income the day you started your first job.

  82. zieba says:

    grim,
    I posted photos of driver being dragged out of SUV. went to moderation.

  83. grim says:

    Maybe this is too much to share, but I will, because I had in the past.

    Reminds me of the good ol’ days when my friend and I were attacked by a mob of hoodlums from Paterson who came to Clifton HS to make trouble.

    My first lessons in vigilante justice and thug mob mentality.

    I vividly remember beating down a number of thugs with a 6 D Cell Maglight. They had my friend on the ground, one on top punching him, as a number of others were standing around kicking him (similarly, they had pulled him out of the car through the driver side window). I ran to the circle and started swinging. I saw one guy kick him in the ribs, so I cracked him clean across the back of his head with the flashlight. He stumbled, turned around with his hand on the head, looked me straight in the eyes and said “What did you do that for?”

    All you need to know … my baby is a good boy, he is innocent, he is a good boy.

    Later, when we were driving around with the police trying to round up the mob, the detective told us straight up, “You should have gotten a baseball bat and hunted them down one by one.” Perhaps his statement was somewhat questionable given his position, but he was right, absolutely nothing came of the arrests or court cases (my friend had thousands of dollars worth of damage done to his brand new car, almost every body panel kicked in, numerous scratch marks from keys, etc).

  84. JJ the Welfare Queen says:

    Funny part about pissing off chinks you have no way of knowing. They look the same no matter what you say to them. Kinda like reading a gerbils feelings.

  85. Brian says:

    Not only has it happened in TX on more than one occasion, there have been shootings when these incidents escalate.

    81.Statler Waldorf says:
    October 2, 2013 at 11:59 am
    But that would serve as a deterrent for both – a microcosm of the MAD Doctrine, keeping the peace, and the entire incident may not have occurred. Put another way, it’s unlikely a gang like this would harass random vehicles in Texas.

    “the second chapter, however, is that if the SUV driver had a right to carry in NYC, so would the rest of the easy ride gang.”

  86. JJ the Welfare Queen says:

    Bill Gross just released his Monthly Rant

    It’s the policy rate, both spot and forward, that prices markets and drives economies and investment decisions. QEs were simply a necessary medicine for rather uncertain and illiquid times. Now that more certainty and more liquidity have been restored, it’s time for the policy rate and forward guidance to assume control.

    If you want to trust one thing and one thing only, trust that once QE is gone and the policy rate becomes the focus, that fed funds will then stay lower than expected for a long, long time. Right now the market (and the Fed forecasts) expects fed funds to be 1% higher by late 2015 and 1% higher still by December 2016. Bet against that.

    And here’s Gross’s investing take-away:

    In betting on a lower policy rate than now priced into markets, a bond investor should expect a certain pastoral quietude in future years, much like that grazing cow, I suppose. Not that exciting, but what the hay, it’s an existence! Portfolios should emphasize front end maturity positions that are stabilized by the Fed’s forward guidance as well as volatility sales explicitly priced in 30-year agency mortgages. Because of the inflationary intention of low policy rates, TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) and the avoidance of anything compositely longer than say 7–10 years of maturity should be favored (long liability structures such as pension funds excepted). PIMCO believes that such a modeled portfolio could likely return 4% in future years.

    A bond investor’s focus must simplistically be this: In this new age where short-term yields cannot go lower, let the yield curve, volatility and acceptably priced credit spreads be your North Star. Duration and its empowering carry are fading from the nighttime sky, especially for 10- and 30-year maturities. Mother Nature nor Mother Market cares not a whit for your losses nor your hoped for double-digit return from an equity/bond portfolio that is priced for much less. Be a contented cow, not a voracious crow, and graze wisely with increasing certainty that the Fed and its forward guidance is your best bet for survival.

  87. JJ the Welfare Queen says:

    Financial markets seemed cool with the whole government-shutdown thing yesterday but they’re not so happy about it today, and that’s pushing bonds higher. The ten-year Treasury note is up 14/32 in price to yield 2.594%, per Tradeweb data, and the 30-year bond is up 26/32 to yield 3.674%.

    Time to lock in low mortgage rates one last time!!

    But really who is buying 30 year taxable treasuries at 3.674?

  88. grim says:

    Was this posted? From the Boston Globe:

    Though Mieses is a Massachusetts resident, he has never had a valid Massachusetts driver’s license for a passenger vehicle and has never applied for a motorcycle license, the Registry of Motor Vehicles said.

    Registry records show that Mieses applied for a learner’s permit in 1999 and 2000, but that he never obtained a full license because he failed to pay fines imposed after he was ticketed for speeding in Lawrence in 1999. His last contact with the Registry was in 2001, when he obtained an identification card, registry records show.

    Since 1999, he has been ticketed by police 16 times, in Lawrence, Methuen, Roxbury, Andover, and New Hampshire, according to registry records.

    In June, the Registry notified the National Driver Register that Mieses was a habitual traffic offender whose right to drive in Massachusetts was revoked until 2017, records show.

  89. McDullard says:

    Juice, the arguments against Obamacare are somewhat similar to the ones used against Medicare. I heard some GOP rep mentioning that the people may get “hooked on to” Obamacare like they did to Medicare and Social Security. The insurance plans in Obamacare seem to be better than the alternatives offered currently (often, by the same companies). I think people still like Medicare and will continue to — and it may be better to make it available to all…

    Granny vs abortion coverage is a tricky subject. What is your take on a hypothetical case of someone costing millions to get a couple of months extra time (sometimes against their wishes) vs someone costing a few hundred bucks to terminate an unwanted pregnancy (that could have life-long effects on the parents and the child) ?

  90. ccb223 says:

    #70 Grim, very simple. The bill wasn’t going to pass with a federal plan. You know, state’s rights stuff…I can see Bobby Jindel and Rick Perry now crying about Obama telling them how to run their state if he had done that. I am sure he tried (would certainly be a lot simpler, and afford the govt and the insureds more leverage with the insurance cos) but that was likely a non-starter.

  91. grim says:

    I’m an idiot for spending an hour and twenty minutes at DMV two weeks back having to renew my license. I didn’t realize it was now optional.

  92. 1987 Condo says:

    Auto insurance is even more optional…

  93. Juice Box says:

    re # 91 – McDullard – Flip the coin over then. Financing for 48% of all births in the United States is paid for by Medicare. A a whopping 49 percent of the 6.7 million pregnancies per year in the United States are unintended of that 40.7% are to unmarried women. Any idea of the cost overruns on giving a c section to a fat bloated drug addicted indigent? Perhaps if they knew they could not get a free ride they would change their behavior? If you are living off of government handouts you should not be bringing children into this world. Any before ANON plays the racist card that goes for the the folks in Oklahoma and North Dakota where 65% of births are financed by Medicare.

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/09/12/half_of_american_births_are_covered_by_medicaid_guess_who_s_to_blame.html

  94. Brian says:

    When you get your learner’s permit for your bike, you’re supposed to ride with somebody experienced near you. I rode for like 2 years with nothing, then got the permit. They tell you you have to go to the testing center to get your full license, but you have to bring your own bike, and technically you’re not allowed to ride it by yourself. Found out later there’s a guy you can hire who will meet you there with a scooter if you want.

    I ended up taking a bike saftey course in lieu of the test that the offered at morris county college.

    93.grim says:
    October 2, 2013 at 12:30 pm
    I’m an idiot for spending an hour and twenty minutes at DMV two weeks back having to renew my license. I didn’t realize it was now optional.

  95. Brian says:

    I guess the penalty for someone who does not follow government rules should be spine crushing.

  96. grim says:

    I have a motorcycle endorsement, I did NJ Rider Education. It took two days and less money than my helmet cost. This was back when you still needed a permit and had to take the written test to get it, which isn’t even necessary anymore. I got my license before I even owned a bike.

    Don’t know many folks that take the motorcycle road test in lieu of Rider Ed, it’s less of a pain in the ass to just take the class, *ESPECIALLY* if you have a big bike.

  97. Brian says:

    98 – I drove a bike I bought for $400 and the guy gave me the helmet for free. It was an old Kawisaki KZ 550 LTD (1983 I think). Total rat bike. That course was pricey….

  98. Brian says:

    I did register it and get insurance though….

  99. Brian says:

    http://rider-ed.com/

    Huh, you don’t need a permit to take the course…

    I might just go back for the advanced rider course. They say if you learn one thing that could save your life it’s worth it.

  100. Happy Renter says:

    [97] No, but the penalty for a thug who attacks a man, his wife, and baby should be a spine crushing.

    Shocking that the cops have been negligent in keeping these gangs under control, but beautiful to see a citizen standing up to protect his family and giving the thugs a taste of their own.

  101. ccb223 says:

    I am guessing it’s been a while since many of you have read something from the times…just for sh*ts and giggles:

    Our Democracy Is at Stake
    By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
    Published: October 1, 2013 952 Comments

    This time is different. What is at stake in this government shutdown forced by a radical Tea Party minority is nothing less than the principle upon which our democracy is based: majority rule. President Obama must not give in to this hostage taking — not just because Obamacare is at stake, but because the future of how we govern ourselves is at stake.
    Josh Haner/The New York Times

    Thomas L. Friedman
    Go to Columnist Page »
    Opinion Twitter Logo.
    Connect With Us on Twitter

    For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT.
    Readers’ Comments

    Share your thoughts.

    Post a Comment »
    Read All Comments (916) »

    What we’re seeing here is how three structural changes that have been building in American politics have now, together, reached a tipping point — creating a world in which a small minority in Congress can not only hold up their own party but the whole government. And this is the really scary part: The lawmakers doing this can do so with high confidence that they personally will not be politically punished, and may, in fact, be rewarded. When extremists feel that insulated from playing by the traditional rules of our system, if we do not defend those rules — namely majority rule and the fact that if you don’t like a policy passed by Congress, signed by the president and affirmed by the Supreme Court then you have to go out and win an election to overturn it; you can’t just put a fiscal gun to the country’s head — then our democracy is imperiled.

    This danger was neatly captured by Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, when he wrote on Tuesday about the 11th-hour debate in Congress to avert the shutdown. Noting a shameful statement by Speaker John Boehner, Milbank wrote: “Democrats howled about ‘extortion’ and ‘hostage taking,’ which Boehner seemed to confirm when he came to the floor and offered: ‘All the Senate has to do is say ‘yes,’ and the government is funded tomorrow.’ It was the legislative equivalent of saying, ‘Give me the money and nobody gets hurt.’ ”

    “Give me the money and nobody gets hurt.” How did we get here? First, by taking gerrymandering to a new level. The political analyst Charlie Cook, writing in The National Journal on March 16, noted that the 2010 election gave Republican state legislatures around the country unprecedented power to redraw political boundaries, which they used to create even more “safe, lily-white” Republican strongholds that are, in effect, an “alternative universe” to the country’s diverse reality.

    “Between 2000 and 2010, the non-Hispanic white share of the population fell from 69 percent to 64 percent,” wrote Cook. “But after the post-census redistricting and the 2012 elections, the non-Hispanic white share of the average Republican House district jumped from 73 percent to 75 percent, and the average Democratic House district declined from 52 percent white to 51 percent white. In other words, while the country continues to grow more racially diverse, the average Republican district continues to get even whiter.”

    According to Cook, the number of strongly Democratic districts decreased from 144 before redistricting to 136 afterward. The number of strongly Republican districts increased from 175 to 183. “When one party starts out with 47 more very strong districts than the other,” said Cook, “the numbers suggest that the fix is in for any election featuring a fairly neutral environment. Republicans would need to mess up pretty badly to lose their House majority in the near future.” In other words, there is little risk of political punishment for the Tea Party members now holding the country hostage.

    Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s inane Citizens United decision allowed a single donor, Sheldon Adelson, to create his own alternative universe. He was able to contribute so much money to support Newt Gingrich’s candidacy that Gingrich was able to stay in the Republican presidential primary race longer than he would have under sane campaign finance rules. As a result, Gingrich was able to pull the G.O.P.’s leading candidate, Mitt Romney, farther to the right longer, making it harder for him to garner centrist votes. Last month, for the first time ever in Colorado, two state senators who voted for universal background checks on gun purchases lost their seats in a recall election engineered by gun extremists and reportedly financed with some $400,000 from the National Rifle Association. You’re elected, you vote your conscience on a narrow issue, but now determined opponents don’t have to wait for the next election. With enough money, they can get rid of you in weeks.

    Finally, the rise of a separate G.O.P. (and a liberal) media universe — from talk-radio hosts, to Web sites to Fox News — has created another gravity-free zone, where there is no punishment for extreme behavior, but there’s 1,000 lashes on Twitter if you deviate from the hard-line and great coverage to those who are most extreme. When politicians only operate inside these bubbles, they lose the habit of persuasion and opt only for coercion. After all, they must be right. Rush Limbaugh told them so.

    These “legal” structural changes in money, media and redistricting are not going away. They are superempowering small political movements to act in extreme ways without consequences and thereby stymie majority rule. If democracy means anything, it means that, if you are outvoted, you accept the results and prepare for the next election. Republicans are refusing to do that. It shows contempt for the democratic process.

    President Obama is not defending health care. He’s defending the health of our democracy. Every American who cherishes that should stand with him.

  102. McDullard says:

    Juice,

    Any idea of the cost overruns on giving a c section to a fat bloated drug addicted indigent? Perhaps if they knew they could not get a free ride they would change their behavior?

    I know it is a complex problem, but here is my take:
    I doubt they’d change their behavior at all. If there is free contraception, they may be more likely to pop in the extra pill along with other pills and it may work out better for everyone.

  103. joyce says:

    ccb223,

    The author makes valid points in some arears; in others, not so much. I’ll just say that the concept of majority rule is anathema to a Constititutional Republican form of government.

  104. JJ the Welfare Queen says:

    ccb223 how is it going with the beach house?

  105. Pete says:

    “IPAB was setup to cut Medicare expenditures effectively throwing Grandma under the bus”

    I would say its more like Granny and co. throwing people like me under the bus by refusing to accept ANY sort of reduction in their Medicare. Talk about entitlement mentality.

    “The American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and the pharmaceutical lobby have supported IPAB repeal, saying the panel would cut providers’ pay arbitrarily and cannot be appealed in the courts”

    You mean those groups who directly benefit from Medicare’s largesse don’t want to see a reduction in it?! Shocker.

  106. joyce says:

    Brian,
    For someone who’s a moderate with such an open mind, you seem to be pretty biased in favor of your fellow “bikers.”

  107. joyce says:

    Well said, Pete.

  108. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:

    ccb that is weapons grade stupid just start with we are not a majority rule democracy and work back from there. unfortunately, the public education system has effectively filtered out what our form of goverment is long ago including separation of powers, and the role of congress. If the legislature is the peoples house and a whole bunch of those people are voting the values of their constituites then the griping and caterwalling of coastal elites is just that. Sorry you don’t liek the government constitutionally mandated. For the record I like the governmetn being shut down but since the morons in the republican party don’t control the media and can’t effectively convey their message they screwed themselves.

  109. Libturd in the City says:

    A few years back in the PRM, Mayor Boob (Fried) did not like that the council voted against one of his resolutions. So he started a petition to have the resolution heard in referendum. If I recall, it was about extending his council’s term by changing the election date for upcoming non-partisan elections. The minority didn’t like how the representatives of the council voted, so they decided to try to let the public vote on it, even though they elected representatives to serve on the council. If I recall correctly, the whole thing was dropped when Mayor Boob couldn’t get enough names on his petition in time for the referendum to make it on the upcoming ballot.

  110. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    grim-See my post [8] – I summarized his (lack of)license status and provided a link to Mieses and friend lawlessly riding their plate-less “stunt” bikes (wheelying through red lights, etc.) and being recorded from a following car, then set to his own rap music. Here’s the link again:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDjV08KZpNA

    Was this posted? From the Boston Globe:

    Though Mieses is a Massachusetts resident…

  111. Bystander says:

    Another day in the recovery..two legal entity controllers escorted out this morning. Both key members on large migration project. 20 plus years of expertise wiped away from group. But hey there are millions of good paying back office jobs waiting, right? Banking recovery is full steam ahead alrong with housing.

  112. Anon E. Moose says:

    Pain [110];

    that is weapons grade stupid

    Its Thomas Friedman. ‘Nuf said.

    And CCB, I do read the time with some regularity. I’m drawn to Krugman so thoroughly whoring himself out to his wife’s leftist ideology that he got a Nobel Prize for it — its like a train wreck you just can’t look away from.

  113. nwnj says:

    Spine crushing has always been the penalty for putting someone else’s family in danger. Meezee is a fool.

  114. anon (the good one) says:

    @ianbremmer: Biggest demonstration I’ve seen post-shutdown. For A-Rod. #ugh http://t.co/I9UkvCp6gf

  115. anon (the good one) says:

    @subaru_usa: It’s National Name Your Car Day, and we want to know: does your Subaru have a name? What is it?

  116. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Video at the bottom of this page showing the group in Times Square last year.

    http://triplethreatlifestyle.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/catching-blocks-with-the-king-of-nyc-hollywoodstuntz/

    “Catching blocks with the king of NYC Hollywoodstuntz

    Came down to NYC and as always the bike seen is heavy down here. What a lot of people don’t understand is that, the bike culture has been big since the 80′s. The crown from Al Capone was given to Wink1100 and now is sitting on Hollywoodstuntz. His current ride the Hollywoodsblockparty has brought together so many city’s all well as riders to come together and be one. My trip was last minute and he still was able to bring out hundreds of riders for the night to kill the streets of NYC and shut down time square. It was my first time on a dirt bike 2stroke and NYC made it epic for ya boy. S/o to the east coast for holding me down and showing me how the east coast does it.Much love to all my riders, Chopshop, and Hollywoodstuntz.”

  117. Libturd in the City says:

    anon…sucker.

  118. xolepa says:

    note to self: Next time driving BMW in city, bring several 6 foot thin metal poles

  119. Ragnar says:

    Yes lefties, I’m against the government expansions of FDR, Lyndon Johnson, GW Bush, and Obama. Popularity doesn’t equal correctness.

  120. Brian says:

    triple threatlyfe yo. my peeps.

    108.joyce says:
    October 2, 2013 at 1:49 pm
    Brian,
    For someone who’s a moderate with such an open mind, you seem to be pretty biased in favor of your fellow “bikers.”

  121. Libturd in the City says:

    I love my peeps. Too bad they only come out around Easter.

  122. JJ the Welfare Queen says:

    My only brush with bikers is we met some girls by mall when I was 19. I kinda said I would pick them up that night and take them to a party.

    So pick them up in my uninsured 1968 $200 dollar fake muscle car, meaning I put E 78s on front and big G 60s bias belted snows on rear, then I put Sears Booster shocks on rear, painted rear end axle red and cheap ten dollar self stick black out kit with a Earl Schreib $29 dollar paint job. That car looked like a bad a$$. No biker would have messed with me.

    Highlight through night they announce the are Pagan Motorcycle girls and one was drinking heavy and announces she is pregant and it is win win getting drunk and smoking as it could save her old man $200 bucks on abortion.

    But bottom line I was not a nancy boy Range Rover driving hedge fund sissy. If he had my old car, a case of tall boys, and long hair and ripped jeans they would have pulled him over to give him some props and respect.

    Two years later I ended up in a biker bar and was chatting up this girl, one comes up and I am like OMG he goes that your car out front. Parked illegal, top down another relic of a car, this one a 1967, 400 ci V8, ladder bars, B@W shifter, jacked up in rear and ripped bucks and rusty quarter panels. But man bad a$$ This mother was a $900 car not no $200 car. We walked out beers in hand and I lit that baby up and did not even spill my beer. Bikers are cool. Today at my age in business casual driving a boring late model car. I deserve what ever beating I get. Pretty much if you have a good job a college degree, nice car stay away from bikers

  123. JJ the Welfare Queen says:

    when I left hand in hand it was with the biker girl not biker guy. but come to think of it if the biker guy wanted to I really had no choice. that alone is reason enough not to go to biker bars. but at 4am I dont make smart choices.

  124. Libturd in the City says:

    Any of you guys watch Shameless. I completely envision JJ (or his pseudo online character) as Jimmy, Fiona’s boyfriend.

  125. Ragnar says:

    Motorcyclists are frequently jerks. They weave and dodge through traffic, don’t bother to signal. Overtake or pass between lanes. Then when something happens, they get violent, since they’re already out of a vehicle.

    A minor incident happened to me 20 yrs ago. I’m signaling and merging onto a highway from a ramp, while a bike behind me decides to try to zoom past me through a solid white line. Just as I’m starting to merge where the dotted white line, making me almost cut off the motorcyclist. Of course he takes this as a personal attack and starts yelling at me at the next stop light, and tries to break off my side view mirror, which fortunately was the foldable kind so just folded in. I had friends behind me, they were getting their baseball bats ready, but the guy took off.

  126. chicagofinance says:

    Obama just spits out the same vitriolic (ostensibly) populist crap repeatedly….WE need to move forward, but these (INSERT SMALL SIZED IMPEDING GROUP HERE) are responsible for all of our problems……you are a leader (in title)…..GO LEAD!

    Ragnar says:
    October 2, 2013 at 2:53 pm
    Yes lefties, I’m against the government expansions of FDR, Lyndon Johnson, GW Bush, and Obama. Popularity doesn’t equal correctness.

  127. ccb223 says:

    JJ – regarding the beach house…we are agreed on a purchase price but now trying to get into contract with the beachhouse…the lawyers are going back and forth on terms and I am hoping they don’t screw this up for me. The appraisal came in only $4K above the purchase price so should be good there (funny that it was so spot on). Financing is all set, locked in at 4.625% (not bad for a jumbo on a second home). I just offered to pay for/do the inspection prior to signing the contract since the lawyers are haggling over provisions relating to the inspections…so hopefully that will move things along.

  128. Ragnar says:

    chifi,
    Obama I don’t worry about. He’s being himself.
    What worries me is that the media is framing the story in a way that doesn’t even touch on the merits of the debate itself. Bloomberg TV is especially horrid. Every morning I hear the pinhead and his airheads talk about this as if the answer is obvious to anyone who can read the NY Times. Then they ask the conflicted opinions of bankers or government types who depend on government credit and/or spending. Stockman was on a couple days back, and they made sure to give him minimal time to actually speak.

    Some of the fault for that is that these allegedly extremist tea party politicians aren’t even capable of explaining what they are trying to do. In part because Obamacare is indeed the logical and moral continuation of numerous government programs that they dare not challenge. So them refusing Obamacare now is sort of like one of JJs gals saying she doesn’t do the backdoor entrance, after he’s already gone repeatedly in and out the other entrances. What difference does a couple inches make?

    The Republicans and tea partiers will eventually fold, as they always do, because they don’t know what they want to accomplish, and more importantly, they ultimately accept a code of ethics that justifies the sacrifice of individuals to the alleged good of others.

  129. Comrade Nom Deplume, knee jerk savant says:

    [90] grim,

    Lawrence, Methuen, and Roxbury tell me all I need to know.

  130. chicagofinance says:

    Thank you for the post. It just (sadly) reminds me that there is no one in elected government that is representing my interests. I seem to forget that reality from time and time, and get engrossed in all the oxygen sucking that occurs by the vast cults of personality….

    Ragnar says:
    October 2, 2013 at 6:02 pm

  131. Comrade Nom Deplume, knee jerk savant says:

    [6] anon,

    There’s a reason that won’t happen in ChesCo. Usually, it can be found in my glovebox.

    There’s a reason it used to be called a Peacemaker.

    Figure it out.

  132. I am looking forward to a future for myself with no gubmint, where I can cruise the streets on my dirt bike and assault innocent people at will.

  133. Brian says:

    You are being naive. I knew people would make this a ccw issue.

    There was a story in Fort Worth Texas in 2007 where a group of bikers attacked a driver. Hell, I posted another case in Texas with video. It happens all over. They’re not afraid do die or they wouldn’t be riding those crotch rockets in the first place.

    Comrade Nom Deplume, knee jerk savant says:
    October 2, 2013 at 6:14 pm
    [6] anon,

    There’s a reason that won’t happen in ChesCo. Usually, it can be found in my glovebox.

    There’s a reason it used to be called a Peacemaker.

    Figure it out.

  134. Hughesrep says:

    Go Tribe.

    Not about Stu’s.

  135. Essex says:

    Once whilst living in Bowling Green I was practicing music with my band at full volume. Marshall Tucker, Joe Walsh covers. When we flung open our second story door there was a biker club lounging on the stairs up to our place. They were about the nicest meanest looking people we’d seen. They liked the music. So they let us live.

  136. Hughesrep says:

    I know that is western KY.

    Ohio hikers would have taken your drugs.

  137. I’m starting a motorcycle gang.

    Who’s in?

  138. grim says:

    Can I join? I have a riding mower. How about the Hells Satans? If not the mower, I can do about 25 on my road bike, is spandex OK, or do I need to wear leather?

  139. Libturd at home says:

    Can I ride my dog?

  140. Fabius Maximus says:

    There is good and bad to this shutdown.

    KKK can get into Gettysburg, Good
    Navy / Air Force Football canceled, BAD

  141. Fabius Maximus says:

    #183
    can =can’t

  142. Comrade Nom Deplume, knee jerk savant says:

    [135] Brian,

    I know the risks. So do they. But if they are intent on putting me in imminent danger of grave bodily harm, I’m intent on putting them down. As least I take a few with me.

  143. chicagofinance says:

    Dude….you are sick :(

    Libturd at home says:
    October 2, 2013 at 9:58 pm
    Can I ride my dog?

  144. Brian says:

    Who put someone in danger of harm first?

    145.Comrade Nom Deplume, knee jerk savant says:
    October 2, 2013 at 11:29 pm
    [135] Brian,

    I know the risks. So do they. But if they are intent on putting me in imminent danger of grave bodily harm, I’m intent on putting them down. As least I take a few with me.

  145. Brian says:

    Official: Biker may have been trying to help SUV driver

    http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/02/us/new-york-bikers-attack-video/index.html

  146. Brian says:

    I don’t think these guys were an OMG like the pagans or hells angels or anything. They were certainly risk takers..

    It appeared to me from the beginning that these guys don’t even know each other that well. They just organize an event online throught social media or whatever and have fun in NYC. Like a flash mob on wheels or whatever. I maintian that some of the bikers over reacted, and Lien over reacted in turn. No evidence I’ve seen suggests Misses deserved to have his spine crushed.

    145.Comrade Nom Deplume, knee jerk savant says:
    October 2, 2013 at 11:29 pm
    [135] Brian,

    I know the risks. So do they. But if they are intent on putting me in imminent danger of grave bodily harm, I’m intent on putting them down. As least I take a few with me.

  147. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I was just looking over recent Morris County foreclosures and noticed some strange goings-on. Several houses that went to back to the lender with approximate judgement amounts far below the home’s value or sold to 3rd parties at amounts well above the approximate judgement. I can understand that some going back to the lender might be a cat-lady tear-down, but the ones that were attractive enough to investors that they exceeded the approx judgement at sheriff’s sale mystify me. Why wouldn’t the owner just sell? Is that because they may be loaded up with defaulted second mortgages that don’t show up in the foreclosure listing?

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