From the NYT:
Banks Fail to Comply With Parts of Mortgage Settlement, Report Says
Three of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders are still failing to comply with key requirements of a national settlement over mortgage abuses, according to a new report that suggests that some borrowers are still trapped in a tangle of red tape and errors as they try to save their homes from foreclosure.
Citibank, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase failed seven tests of the settlement’s requirements, according to a report from Joseph A. Smith Jr., the court-appointed monitor of the settlement terms. The rules say mortgage servicers must eliminate mistakes, misinformation and lengthy delays from the process of granting loan modifications.
Wells Fargo passed all the tests in the first half of this year, as did Ocwen, which now services the bulk of the mortgages once held by Ally Financial.
This report does not include new tests that were developed in response to complaints that homeowners are still bounced from representative to representative, or that foreclosure proceedings begin while a loan modification request is still pending. Those tests take effect next year.
The mortgage settlement, which resolved complaints about improper and fraudulent loan documents, was agreed to by 49 states and five mortgage lenders. It provided two major remedies: one, the lenders would make financial reparations to states and homeowners valued at $25 billion, and two, they would improve their labyrinthine customer service for frustrated homeowners seeking help.
The banks have fulfilled the bulk of the financial obligations ahead of schedule. But the new report says that in the first half of this year, there were failures in areas like ensuring that a loan was actually delinquent at the time that a foreclosure was initiated, and that the homeowner had been given accurate information in writing, and notifying homeowners of missing documents in their file in a timely manner.
Banks are subject to fines of up to $5 million if they do not improve their performance on a failed test. The banks report their own performance on 29 loan servicing tests and their findings are then reviewed in a random sampling by outside consultants overseen by the monitor. A certain number of errors are permitted, normally 5 percent, before the bank is deemed to have failed.
From CNBC:
Soaring new home sales: Not what they seem
It was the sharpest jump in more than three decades, but housing watchers are already poking holes in the new home sales numbers. After delays due to the government shutdown, data for both September and October were released together, in addition to a large downward revision for August. Follow the numbers, and the gains are not quite what the headline seems.
Contracts signed to buy newly built homes jumped 25.4 percent in October month to month, after falling 6.6 percent in September from August. The seasonally adjusted annual rate went from an originally reported 421,000 units in August, which was revised down to 379,000 units, and to 354,000 units in September. The number for September was a 10 percent drop from September of 2012. It then rose to 444,000 units in October. There is a nearly 20 percent margin of error on all these numbers.
“The October ‘preliminary’ report released this morning, along with the terrible August and September data, is the outlier and will be revised lower next month in line with the new trend lower that began in July,” noted housing analyst Mark Hanson.
August sales estimates were revised down by 15 percent on an unadjusted basis and September sales dropped from there.
…
The short drop in mortgage rates may not, in fact, have had as much of an impact on sales as some think. Lower prices may have. The median price of a new home sold in October was $245,200, a drop of 1 percent from a year ago. While that may not seem like a lot, it is the lowest monthly median since November of 2012. Prices have been going up dramatically on an annual basis for both the builders and for existing home sales.
The mortgage rate card can actually be played both ways. Steven Alloy, president of Virginia-based Stanley Martin Homes, said rising rates will drive more home sales, not less.
“If you are somebody considering buying a house, one of your great fears is that rates go up, so if they start to move, people will start to believe that they will keep moving, and as soon as they believe they are going keep moving they are going to come out in droves,” he said.
libtard you made a huge mistake and lots $$$ by listening to chifi
@WSJ: Breaking: China Mobile has signed a long-awaited deal with Apple to offer iPhones on its network. http://t.co/lKrNmJAH3I
What’s the deal with naming buildings after politicians before they are dead. I thought this was an honor reserved post-mortem. Why do we stand by idle and let NJ politicos deify themselves? Robert Menendez School? Are you f*kcing kidding me? Lautenberg rail station? Disgusted.
The End Is Nigh (Cheech and Chong Edition):
Entrepreneur Justin Hartfield is hoping to smoke the competition with his passion for pot.
The 29-year-old Californian has raised roughly $10 million from investors — money he will soon invest in marijuana-related companies as states start to roll back laws that banned cannabis concerns.
“With changing legislation, someone’s going to be the Anheuser-Busch of marijuana,” Hartfield told The Post.
To that end, Hartfield and two partners launched Emerald Ocean Capital this past summer. The idea at first was to have EOC serve as a venture capital fund — but it morphed into a PE firm.
A Cal-Irvine graduate, Hartfield estimates that the marijuana market, now a $35 billion to $45 billion market, will grow larger than the $75 billion tobacco business — to about $150 billion in 10 years — if the government lifts federal laws restricting its use, as some state have done.
That would take the financial might of the cannabis business nearly as high as the $188 billion alcohol market, Hartfield said.
Emerald Capital is hoping to make a lot of green investing in everything from retail stores and growers to related credit processors, noted Hartfield, who dropped out of his final year of business school at Irvine to pursue his pot passion.
A diversified sort, he also founded the venture, WeedMaps.com, which serves as a Zagat guide-like social-media forum of sorts of weed purveyors, and SearchCore, which he sold for millions three years ago.
“I was like, ‘F- -k this, I’m going to be rich,’ ” Hartfield said of his decision to drop out of business school in 2010.
Emerald Ocean represents just a handful of companies intent on striking it rich off medical and recreational use of marijuana in the US.
Much of that marijuana mania was kicked off by Washington and Colorado, which have both passed laws broadly legalizing marijuana.
So far, Emerald Capital has taken longer than it expected raising funds from wealthy investors willing to fork over a $500,000 minimum for as long as 10 years.
The longer investment period is based on the expectation that federal legislation will lift the floodgates by eventually lifting its prohibition of marijuana use.
According to the HuffingtonPost.com, Hartfield had hoped to raise as much as $25 million for his marijuana fund by this time.
Hartfield says that he’s extended his capital-raising efforts until end of the first quarter of next year.
Emerald had originally planned on structuring his business as more of a venture capital fund, which would provide seed money to a wide array of start-ups.
But recently, Hartfield realized that these nascent pot-focused businesses may require more hands-on management than he previously expected and thus a PE firm set-up would be better.
For Hartfield, his experience in pot dates back years, he said.
“I smoke weed every single day of my life and I have for a while,” he said. “I believe in marijuana as a product.”
His business has spent $1 million last year on marijuana lobbying efforts.
The End Is Nigh (Xanadu Edition):
A Long Island businesswoman wants to build a massive “Chinese Disneyland” in the Catskills — which would include an amusement park, huge mansions and a “Forbidden City” laid out according to the principles of Feng Shui.
The China City of America scheme could bring thousands of wealthy Chinese immigrants to the tiny Sullivan County town of Thompson, under a federal program that lets foreigners get visas by investing $500,000 in the US.
The mastermind behind the plan, Sherry Li, says the development would eventually draw $6 billion in foreign investment.
“We can kind of view it as a Chinese concept of Disney — so it’s going to have lot of attractions for families,” she said.
The designs for China City include a college, 1,000 residences, a Chinese-themed retail center and possibly a casino.
The place would feel like a trip to China just 90 miles outside New York city, as one area would mark parts of the Chinese Zodiac while another would have 16 buildings representing the major Chinese dynasties.
“Each dynasty will have its building and will have rides go with it,” Li said at a town council meeting in May where she pitched the original plan.
China City’s web site features golden dragons, and projects an initial investment of $325 million — with $10 million going to a “Temple of Heaven,” $24 million on a hotel and entertainment complex and $20 million to construct a “Forbidden City.”
It also projects a $65 million infusion from the U.S. government – without naming what agency would make the contribution.
“It’s multiple phases. No project is going to happen in one day. It’s going to be step-by-step,” Li told the Post, saying the amusement park component would get built in a later phase.
The plan is now under consideration by the leaders of Thompson, population 15,000.
It’s already getting a lot of opposition.
“It actually seems surreal but unfortunately it is real,” said Paula Medley, an activist who heads a local environmental group.
“This is kind of a combination of pie-in-the-sky and ethnic solidarity and showmanship and a federal program that sort of facilitates this sort of thing. It’s really an odd mix,” said David North, who authored a new report picking apart China City’s proposal for the D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies.
Others questioned its link to the federal visa program, known as EB-5.
“It sounds like an EB-5 scam,” said Laura Corruzi, a New York City attorney who vacations in the area. “The financials don’t really support the $6 billion project.”
The Thompson town council has had at least five meetings on the project, with the latest Tuesday night.
Li wouldn’t reveal the number of investors she has lined up, but she said most were Chinese nationals.
“Whoever is interested [will] invest with us. At this point we don’t have [Chinese] government investors at all,” she said, describing her own background only as being in the “financial industry.”
“It’s in the thousands of apartments, houses — it’s huge,” said Thompson town supervisor Tony Cellini. He said the total population of Chinese coming in eventually could equal the town’s if the developers “fulfill’ all their wishes.
“We’re not certain we have the infrastructure to handle all that at this point,” he added.
“I believe China City is very serious but they’ve got a long road ahead of them to get all their approvals.”
Thank you for that clarification …..
Retired figure skater and NBC Olympics commentator Johnny Weir got himself into some hot water for comments he made at an event earlier this week — dismissing Russia’s strict anti-gay legislation in advance of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Weir, who is openly gay, offhandedly characterized the laws as “no anal sex in front of libraries,” according to Gay City News, which reported on Weir’s Monday talk at Barnard College on the role of Olympic athletes.
I hope you all got your offers in yesterday. $150k for a colonial on 3 acres in a good NJ town with million dollar homes all around…there’s probably more mold in the typical Bergen county sh!thole. Besides, its the country, you gotta expect some wildlife.
http://www.njpinnacle.com/listings/detail.php?lid=81007501&hdoor=&state_id=&listingcid=0333&fid=&navn=&&posc=&post=&cfq=&
Wow big drop in weekly claims, down 23k to 298k. Possible data issues due to the holiday/seasonal adjustment.
Q3 GDP revisions in at a big 3.6%, well over consensus (3.2%), and well over the initial estimates (2.8%).
Bad day for mortgage rates, but jobs numbers tomorrow will trump all.
Ottoman,
What storm damage? Did the roof leak? House was abandoned? What’s the deal on it? Did I miss something?
7- $150,000 for a 3 acre lot AND I get to tear down the existing house? Awesome!
grim,
Why is it a bad day for mortgage rates?
I wish we’d pull the plug on the Olympics already. I can’t find any redeeming value in the whole spectacle.
Just browsing through the prior sales in Califon and looking at vacant build able land prices, I’m going to say they got a bidder. I don’t know the neighborhood and don’t quite feel like googling, but if it is in a nice neighborhood, what’s the problem? Doom – thoughts?
Probably cost less than $15k to take that down to dirt and dispose of the waste, assuming the town allows it to be rebuilt on the existing footprint (at a minimum), it very well may be a good deal for 3 acres in a good neighborhood.
What’s the big deal with tearing a house down? Takes 2 or 3 days, max. Houses aren’t expensive folks, it’s the dirt that is expensive. Do you think I’m being facetious when I say it? I’m not.
Grim [8];
Data problems? Maybe data fixing? Either would be unheard of from this administration…
JJ,
This is for you…
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=471436056305804&set=a.303498823099529.73644.302649426517802&type=1&theater
My buddy knew a rich guy used to feast on these houses. Get them make them barely function-able, then his realtor would hunt down the absolute worse known tenants. The tenants that wreck houses, destroy, section 8, known groupie houses you name it. The worse the tenants the bigger commission. Then take out max rental insurance and home insurance like clockwork. Like clockwork they would destroy house and when lease was up he evict them and of course that pissed them off more, so wreck the place more. Then he would file a huge insurance claim. Rebuild house and flip it for 4x profit plus pocket most of the rent and all of deposit. He did it 13 times last I met.
Thundaar says:
December 5, 2013 at 8:49 am
7- $150,000 for a 3 acre lot AND I get to tear down the existing house? Awesome!
Or you do what a guy did to house in Randolph gutted it to the studs including outside walls remediated it and rebuilt. figure it this way million dollar homes 3 acres. Pay the vig, get into it for 500 K selling at 750K in 10 weeks although at a lousy time of year. 100 large for a builder in 10 weeks is a good pay day.
It is like 50K to take down a house. When you count in all the bs. 15K to hire guys to knock it down.
grim says:
December 5, 2013 at 8:56 am
Just browsing through the prior sales in Califon and looking at vacant build able land prices, I’m going to say they got a bidder. I don’t know the neighborhood and don’t quite feel like googling, but if it is in a nice neighborhood, what’s the problem? Doom – thoughts?
Probably cost less than $15k to take that down to dirt and dispose of the waste, assuming the town allows it to be rebuilt on the existing footprint (at a minimum), it very well may be a good deal for 3 acres in a good neighborhood.
What’s the big deal with tearing a house down? Takes 2 or 3 days, max. Houses aren’t expensive folks, it’s the dirt that is expensive. Do you think I’m being facetious when I say it? I’m not.
Everybody oogles over $350k new homes in bumblef*ck as if there is some kind of magic economic force that makes the price of lumber, copper, roofing, windows, and labor in those markets making it possible for builders to sell these places at drastic discounts.
In fact, the reason it is possible, is because it only costs $200k to build the house, the dirt is worth $50k MAXIMUM (probably $0 in reality, the $50k really represents the improvements the builder needed to make to build the community, roads, water, sewer, tec), and the builder is walking away with $100k profit.
It is like 50K to take down a house. When you count in all the bs. 15K to hire guys to knock it down.
Sure it is … for a post-Sandy homeowner getting fleeced by a “reputable contractor”. In addition to paying them $50k, I’m sure they probably won’t even let you go in and gut the scrap metal, since they are hoping to do it themselves and bring in another $2-3k for the copper, brass, iron, and aluminum (some extra play money for the owner, of course).
Phone company, electric company, gas company, oil company, soil samples, permits, one women got hit with a Police Fee as they charged back the cost of officers who showed up on demo day. Engineering reports, town permits. Mortgage payoffs and tax payoffs, insurance. dumpster fees.
The Environmental Inspection before teardown if they find Lead or Absestos in house is a nightmare. It all has to be abated.
The house might be in Tewksbury not califon, not sure where the line is. There is a link on the page to 17 pics of the inside in case you missed them–make sure you scroll through, stainless steel fridge! LOL
Grim, did you see the shipping container house on that same street? Sold for $795k last year, again not sure if Cali or Tewksbury.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3-Big-Oak-Way-Califon-NJ-07830/63745346_zpid/
Hah, no I never saw that house, I might need to head out and drive by.
Couldn’t the architect have specified that the containers be painted or powdercoated a more neutral color? Or at least get rid of the Triton Shipping logos on the house. For chrissakes, we can tell they are containers, don’t need to emphasize it.
$795k huh? Jesus.
Re: Oblamma Care
The offices of Ron Wyden, Tim Johnson, Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray and Thomas Carper, all Democrats, said they were exempting some of their staff. Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, has not responded.
I notice the king is now talking about the economy this week. Equality is the new buzz word. The media will comply in redirecting focus and the meek will lap it up. I don’t have to explain any further, though. I think those with half a brain are starting to realize we have a professional con man working the strings. And when I mean a con man, I really mean a con man. The guy is a pro. He had a lot of people duped for a long time and they fell for it. I’m probably in the wrong business. I really didn’t think people were this gullible.
Moose,
Did you see that? They used the F word in the main article today.
Phone company, electric company, gas company
In NJ – all will disconnect services and remove lines for free. Utilities will come out to mark subsurface lines and piping for free. Water and Gas company will shut off service at the curb for free. You’ll need to cap water, sanitary connections, but that isn’t a big deal.
oil company, soil samples
Huh? I’m not talking about a problem house with two dozen abatement and remediation problems. Why would you even get involved with a disaster. I’m talking about a builder or owner GC coming into a property, not someone who owns a shithole.
permits
Should be around $500, max, including all inspections (including health department for vermin), and costs for the surety bond if you don’t want to front the cash (where applicable).
one women got hit with a Police Fee as they charged back the cost of officers who showed up on demo day
Let them know they are trespassing and should leave. If they want to babysit the street, that is their prerogative. There is no law requiring this. Perhaps she should have met them with a box of donuts and coffee, and let them enjoy their relaxing day off the beat.
Engineering reports
Ok, in the case where these are required (they aren’t required), I call my buddy the engineer and ask him for something, throw him a couple hundred to use his seal.
Mortgage payoffs and tax payoffs
Irrelevant figures, even if you needed to pay something early, you are paying down a liability, it’s not an additional fee. If you are talking about getting the necessary releases, there are no fees for these documents.
dumpster fees.
Included in my amount. I can get 50 yard dumpsters for construction debris at $800, all day long from my russian buddies Peekup and Dropoff. A 2000 square foot house will probably take 4. Maybe 5, maybe 6, who cares the cost is minor.
Grim (9):
Looks like over half the GDP was inventory buildup. There will be great deals to be had after the holidays as retailers will want to dump all of their excess goods.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-05/q3-gdp-soars-36-massive-inventory-accumulation-consumption-contribution-lowest-2009
Caveat, I would *not* demo the foundation, instead I would look to expand the existing foundation for a larger footprint to build a larger house if necessary. Unless the house is in a terrible location on the lot, it’s nonsensical to remove the foundation versus simply expanding it where necessary.
LIPA for non Sandy houses the disconnect and reconnect fee is up to $3,000.
Environmental Inspection AND soil samples are mandatory now for tear downs.
Trouble is you get one neighbor who is half way smart and does not want house torn down. OMG. My neighbor the real estate attorney who is a slim bag who blocked my driveway by planting trees at four am on a Sunday ended up taking them down.
Did not realize we are on a snow emergency street, violated tree planting rules, trees lined up too close are a “living fence” which need a CO and permit, did not know corner house zoning rules. Did not realize the school bus stop was moving to his side of street and he was putting lives in danger. That is only time I did it. But you got to look at worse case scenario.
My primary house is now on the DEC site as a toxic spill site over Sandy. My lawn is full of asbestos, oil and lead paint even. A builder can do a quick tear down. But someone wants to tie him up. They can. Remember, a neighbor could just toss the stuff on your front lawn.
Out in sticks by you it is easy to tear down. By me, I am jammed on top of neighbors house. If both my neighbors tore down and built up. Right now cause of Sandy they can go up an extra ten to 15 feet. If both neighbors did it my house would be in shade all the time and would s
Why is it a bad day for mortgage rates?
+0.25%
Environmental Inspection AND soil samples are mandatory now for tear downs.
Sounds like the mayor’s brother’s inspection and soil sample business is about to take off. Imagine … the foresight!
Trouble is you get one neighbor who is half way smart and does not want house torn down.
You don’t need approvals from neighbors, you only need to prove you notified them, besides, for the house posted above, the neighbors would welcome it. How are you now turning this into a zoning variance issue?
But someone wants to tie him up. They can. Remember, a neighbor could just toss the stuff on your front lawn.
Probably easier to break one of the basement windows and drop a whole bunch of pet store rats into your basement. Not sure where someone would find asbestos contaminated construction waste. Or is the idiot going to dump out a couple of bottles of 30 weight lawnmower oil and claim that he lives next to a superfund site? By the way, inspectors aren’t that dumb.
4. Is this the end… Or just beginnnnnning. (Led Zep)
does anyone remember laughter?
Man over the years i have come to despise led zeplin
New Shore Bubble? At this rate there should be talk of rebuilding Asbury in the next year or so.
http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2013/12/movin_on_up_shore_town_approves_luxury_oceanfront_high-rise_despite_objections.html#incart_river_default
#34 Essex
There is only one answer to that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcYZlRWWxO0
grim,
Half full, half empty. I see the rise in rates as a good thing. Those with means can manipulate the rate. A rising rate means resistance to price and since the beginning of time, it’s always been about the price. Let the rate rise to around 6% and then we’ll see who has the stomach. This artifical support needs to be removed now. It’s gone on too long.
Owning a high rise fema compliant huricane and flood resistant condo after Sandy will be popular. Flood insurance is in maintenance and is cheap. Shared use of pool, tennis, clubhouse is easy. Just show up and enjoy. Beach bungalows now are seen in a different light.
grim says:
December 5, 2013 at 10:58 am
New Shore Bubble? At this rate there should be talk of rebuilding Asbury in the next year or so.
http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2013/12/movin_on_up_shore_town_approves_luxury_oceanfront_high-rise_despite_objections.html#incart_river_default
Houses that are OK can raise them for very little money. Houses that were destroyed will be replaced with brand new raised homes twice the size (if not more). All of the shore towns where condos were scarce, will still be scarce.
Will it take 3-5 years when it’s all said and done, yes of course.
Houses that were destroyed will be replaced with brand new raised homes twice the size (if not more)
And twice the price
[62] fabian
Wow, quite a rant. Okay comrade, lets get into it:
Fabius Maximus says:
December 4, 2013 at 10:47 pm
#27 Eddie Ray
Ok Eddie, let me take this slowly so you can keep up. When you say “Santorum and Warren both relied on the data” that is wrong.”
Really? Well, so far that conclusion is wholly unsupported but lets keep going and see if we find any support, shall we?
“Warren relied on the data and wrote an economic analysis of the two income issue. The main arguments she made have been discussed in here and most are in agreement with them. The moment you spend one dollar of the second income on the buy up you are in the trap.”
I don’t think we disagree on what Warren is saying. Moving on.
“There are a lot of positions Warren holds that “Shock Horror, I disagree with!” she is in support of school vouchers because if they are in place the parents don’t have to move to the better district to get their children a better education. I understand and accept her point but I have two big issues with it. The first is that I disagree with school vouchers as a whole. I won’t get into it here as it is a bigger discussion, if someone wants to have the discussion we can break it out. The second is that the district is not the only factor for the move and a lot has to do with social perceptions and networking for their kids. If you give her the benefit of the doubt and say that vouchers mean they don’t have to buy into the top tier, it allows them to buy into the tier below which may be still out of their range.”
You are getting off on a tangent here so I’ll not waste time responding to an issue of first impression.
“Santorum “wrote” a political puff piece to go up against Hillary’s “It takes a village”. I put “wrote”, in quotes because when TSHTF he blamed the feminist comments on his wife. You quote a Mother Jones article where you allude that it refers to Santorum. The article was written a year before Santorum came out with his book.”
So? I never said I was quoting from his book. Once again, you try to drag the audience back to this suggestion that I am hawking Santorum’s book or his views. Point out where I said that. What I am saying is that Santorum has pointed to the same issue Warren raises, that of the effect of dual earner households on our economy and culture.
“Why don’t you go off and try and find an actual quote from Santorum on Dual incomes, because, all I can find are his positions on a mother’s role at home with her kids and how she should be supported and applauded for it. . . . ”
Well I must concede I cannot put him on the proverbial stand. And MSM isn’t about to post transcripts or stories on noncontroversial stuff he may say to buttress the really juicy stuff he says later. If you want to feel all vindicated because I cannot find a link on Huffpost or Salon about the historical facts he uses to buttress his views, so be it. But he has discussed this topic in the past, I’ve heard it, and there is some stuff on the web confirming that he has raised these issues: http://thepoliticalexpress.com/2012/02/22/why-santorum-lost-his-u-s-senate-seat-in-2006/
“So yes comparing an economic assessment against a social commentary gets you a big M’Kay!”
Whatever. See prior point about the fact I wasn’t talking about his book.
“You throw up the marriage penalty as a big progressive tax, well what about the payroll tax. Is that not a regressive tax and isn’t Social Security the same!”
Depends on your definition of regressive.
“In the past I have posted up this as a starting point for a regressive vs. progressive discussion. http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/wp/03-10-Tax_Incidence.pdf . You have cried off in the past citing Tax Season, the need for a retainer before you can refute, your dog ate your homework (yes that last one was made up but you get the point). I have always said that if you want to have this debate, then step to the plate and let’s go!”
Okay. I’m not so busy anymore. But you do have to wait for it. Or rather, anyone who cares will have to wait for it as they are the end audience. Your technique is akin to being chased by cops and knocking over objects in an attempt to slow them down with the end belief that if you get away, you were innocent in the first place. Doesn’t work that way.
Further, you put up a study by a liberal policy group that relies heavily on CTJ materials. Really? So do I win if I say “okay, I’ll see your liberal piece and raise you two conservative pieces”? As much as I want to insult you, I don’t plan on insulting the folks whose opinions matter here. So it will be examined and dismantled.
ATEOTD however, all of the pieces you can cite will rely on one fundamental “truth” in the liberal world, which is that any tax policy that doesn’t redistribute wealth is “unfair”. This is not only circular, it is unsupported insofar as none take up the mantle of what is “fair”. This will be a constant theme; be prepared to address it.
“It’s funny when you mention “your ilk!” I won a motion a few weeks ago against a Lionel Hutz. He bypassed any attempt settling and seems to have taken a position that unless a Judge rules it, he will not move on anything. He just put his client on the hook for $20K and now wants to fight fees. I saw his hourly rate, and it is LOW, so me thinks he is churning. He lists on his bio “post-graduate study in taxation at New York University School of Law”. Must be something in the coffee over there.”
I have no idea why this is relevant except that I went to NYU for my tax LL.M. and you are suggesting that NYU grads are hacks. Here’s a poll and the interesting thing is that NYU’s position has never changed. http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2012/03/new-2013.html
[62] fabian
Wow, quite a rant. Okay comrade, lets get into it:
Fabius Maximus says:
December 4, 2013 at 10:47 pm
#27 Eddie Ray
Ok Eddie, let me take this slowly so you can keep up. When you say “Santorum and Warren both relied on the data” that is wrong.”
Really? Well, so far that conclusion is wholly unsupported but lets keep going and see if we find any support, shall we?
“Warren relied on the data and wrote an economic analysis of the two income issue. The main arguments she made have been discussed in here and most are in agreement with them. The moment you spend one dollar of the second income on the buy up you are in the trap.”
I don’t think we disagree on what Warren is saying. Moving on.
“There are a lot of positions Warren holds that “Shock Horror, I disagree with!” she is in support of school vouchers because if they are in place the parents don’t have to move to the better district to get their children a better education. I understand and accept her point but I have two big issues with it. The first is that I disagree with school vouchers as a whole. I won’t get into it here as it is a bigger discussion, if someone wants to have the discussion we can break it out. The second is that the district is not the only factor for the move and a lot has to do with social perceptions and networking for their kids. If you give her the benefit of the doubt and say that vouchers mean they don’t have to buy into the top tier, it allows them to buy into the tier below which may be still out of their range.”
You are getting off on a tangent here so I’ll not waste time responding to an issue of first impression.
“Santorum “wrote” a political puff piece to go up against Hillary’s “It takes a village”. I put “wrote”, in quotes because when TSHTF he blamed the feminist comments on his wife. You quote a Mother Jones article where you allude that it refers to Santorum. The article was written a year before Santorum came out with his book.”
So? I never said I was quoting from his book. Once again, you try to drag the audience back to this suggestion that I am hawking Santorum’s book or his views. Point out where I said that. What I am saying is that Santorum has pointed to the same issue Warren raises, that of the effect of dual earner households on our economy and culture.
“Why don’t you go off and try and find an actual quote from Santorum on Dual incomes, because, all I can find are his positions on a mother’s role at home with her kids and how she should be supported and applauded for it. . . . ”
Well I must concede I cannot put him on the proverbial stand. And MSM isn’t about to post transcripts or stories on noncontroversial stuff he may say to buttress the really juicy stuff he says later. If you want to feel all vindicated because I cannot find a link on Huffpost or Salon about the historical facts he uses to buttress his views, so be it. But he has discussed this topic in the past, I’ve heard it, and there is some stuff on the web confirming that he has raised these issues: http://thepoliticalexpress.com/2012/02/22/why-santorum-lost-his-u-s-senate-seat-in-2006/
“So yes comparing an economic assessment against a social commentary gets you a big M’Kay!”
Whatever. See prior point about the fact I wasn’t talking about his book.
“You throw up the marriage penalty as a big progressive tax, well what about the payroll tax. Is that not a regressive tax and isn’t Social Security the same!”
Depends on your definition of regressive.
“In the past I have posted up this as a starting point for a regressive vs. progressive discussion. [redacted for moderation]. You have cried off in the past citing Tax Season, the need for a retainer before you can refute, your dog ate your homework (yes that last one was made up but you get the point). I have always said that if you want to have this debate, then step to the plate and let’s go!”
Okay. I’m not so busy anymore. But you do have to wait for it. Or rather, anyone who cares will have to wait for it as they are the end audience. Your technique is akin to being chased by cops and knocking over objects in an attempt to slow them down with the end belief that if you get away, you were innocent in the first place. Doesn’t work that way.
Further, you put up a study by a liberal policy group that relies heavily on CTJ materials. Really? So do I win if I say “okay, I’ll see your liberal piece and raise you two conservative pieces”? As much as I want to insult you, I don’t plan on insulting the folks whose opinions matter here. So it will be examined and dismantled.
ATEOTD however, all of the pieces you can cite will rely on one fundamental “truth” in the liberal world, which is that any tax policy that doesn’t redistribute wealth is “unfair”. This is not only circular, it is unsupported insofar as none take up the mantle of what is “fair”. This will be a constant theme; be prepared to address it.
“It’s funny when you mention “your ilk!” I won a motion a few weeks ago against a Lionel Hutz. He bypassed any attempt settling and seems to have taken a position that unless a Judge rules it, he will not move on anything. He just put his client on the hook for $20K and now wants to fight fees. I saw his hourly rate, and it is LOW, so me thinks he is churning. He lists on his bio “post-graduate study in taxation at New York University School of Law”. Must be something in the coffee over there.”
I have no idea why this is relevant except that I went to NYU for my tax LL.M. and you are suggesting that NYU grads are hacks. Here’s a poll and the interesting thing is that NYU’s position has never changed. http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2012/03/new-2013.html
“It’s well past the time to raise the minimum wage,” President Obama, who favors a $10.10 minimum wage, said in a recent speech. “It means workers have more money to spend, to save, maybe to eventually start a business of their own. It will be good for our economy. It will be good for our families.”
How does one even read this statement and not laugh out loud? I would cringe if I had to read this statement publicly. Does he actually believe what he says or just what his 1diots are telling him to say. It really is embarassing. Wow!
Silk City Distillers looking for an Attorney – Pay commensurate with distillery experience (which will be in Whiskey) – Any takers?
And twice the taxes
grim says:
December 5, 2013 at 11:56 am
Houses that were destroyed will be replaced with brand new raised homes twice the size (if not more)
And twice the price
@BillMoyersHQ: Will Washington ever grasp that the so-called debt crisis is a big myth? http://t.co/BjKuNBnRHT
“Secondly, Republicans don’t really care about deficits and debt. After all, they created both — largely through tax cuts for the wealthy and unpaid-for wars during the George W. Bush administration. Their whole argument is a smokescreen for their core agenda — massive wealth transfers from the poor and what’s left of the middle class to the rich — through regressive tax policies and dismantling the safety net.”
Okay, Fabian, I scanned the study and I have some preliminary observations:
First, taxes that most people regard as proportional, they regard as regressive, notably property taxes. Much more later on why property taxes are not regressive, and on balance are actually progressive (using your Warren data to support that).
Second, the study is an argument that tax incidence, not direct taxation, is a better metric for determining progressivity. But not only does incidence divorce effect from rates, it is again a circular and fallacious measure. Incidence is where the effect ultimately falls but the author does not (because he cannot) suggest that making a tax system more progressive will change tax incidence. In fact, the very nature of tax incidence suggests that it can’t be changed. Were you to increase the taxes on corporations dramatically, the ultimate effect would always be passed to the consumer (after allowing for an adjustment period for stockholders, employees, etc). Tax incidence is a real enough effect but it is one that policy makers don’t focus on because they cannot change it. Organizations like CTJ like to use it because it sounds helpful for bolstering their arguments but it is a useless measurement in real terms.
Finally, the conclusion isn’t. There is a conclusion section and it has no real conclusion. I’m not surprised about that but I am curious as to why you think this article (well written, looks like fun to read) is at all helpful. You said it was a starting point so I guess that’s all its worth. But I warned you, ATEOTD, you have to justify your inevitable conclusion that progressive taxation is “fair” by defining “fairness.” That still holds.
This is what I came up with in two minutes and a quick scan. More later.
Entitlements moron. Sure bush didn’t help especially with his big fat wet kiss to my industry. but it saying it was tax cuts is asinine. You did say one thing right though republicans do not care about deficits.
[46] grim,
Send me details.
[50] pain,
No one inside the beltway cares about deficits. And anon seems to think that there was no national debt prior to 2009.
I am beginning to think anon is a 12 year old with an iphone set to twitter.
Holiday Retail Shopping Report (JJ Edition):
A topless woman sprinted through a Kohl’s department store to nab the Peeping Tom who allegedly shot video of her trying on bras in the dressing room.
“I just screamed and chased him topless through the store,” Jeanne Ouelette told KCTV. “I know I shouldn’t be chasing someone … I was just enraged. I was at a store in a very private place, and I was enraged and I wanted to get the phone.”
Ouelette, of Kansas City, Mo., said she didn’t catch the man she saw sticking a smartphone under the dressing room wall to record her bare breasts — but the cops did.
Jeremy Bradley was busted about three blocks away from the Lenexa, Kan. store.
Jeanne Ouelette chased the man to the entrance of the Kohl’s store, but stopped short of running outside to pusue Jeremy Bradley.
He was charged with breach of privacy, a misdemeanor. If convicted he faces up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Ouelette said she is disgusted Bradley only faces a misdemeanor. She thinks he is clearly mentally ill and needs treatment, fearing that his alleged behavior might escalate, KCTV reported.
After all, this is the man who allegedly compelled her to take off full-blast, half-naked from a Kohl’s dressing room to the store’s front doors.
“Common sense took over and said, ‘You shouldn’t go outside half-naked,'” she said to the station. “At that point, I just started crying because I was so upset that he was getting away. When you feel violated, what you really want is for justice to be done.”
Holiday Retail Shopping Report (JJ Edition):
A t0pless woman sprinted through a Kohl’s department store to nab the Peeping Tom who allegedly shot video of her trying on bras in the dressing room.
“I just screamed and chased him t0pless through the store,” Jeanne Ouelette told KCTV. “I know I shouldn’t be chasing someone … I was just enraged. I was at a store in a very private place, and I was enraged and I wanted to get the phone.”
Ouelette, of Kansas City, Mo., said she didn’t catch the man she saw sticking a smartphone under the dressing room wall to record her bare br5asts — but the cops did.
Jeremy Bradley was busted about three blocks away from the Lenexa, Kan. store.
Jeanne Ouelette chased the man to the entrance of the Kohl’s store, but stopped short of running outside to pusue Jeremy Bradley.
He was charged with breach of privacy, a misdemeanor. If convicted he faces up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Ouelette said she is disgusted Bradley only faces a misdemeanor. She thinks he is clearly mentally ill and needs treatment, fearing that his alleged behavior might escalate, KCTV reported.
After all, this is the man who allegedly compelled her to take off full-blast, half-naked from a Kohl’s dressing room to the store’s front doors.
“Common sense took over and said, ‘You shouldn’t go outside half-naked,'” she said to the station. “At that point, I just started crying because I was so upset that he was getting away. When you feel violated, what you really want is for justice to be done.”
[42] redux
BTW Fabian, you said you won a motion. First, winning a motion isn’t winning a case.
Second, what was the motion? Did he move for dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim and the judge denied it? Big deal, to win that means that the complaint is practically frivolous on its face. No one wins those. Or did you win a discovery motion? Again, yawn, hardly earthshattering or dispositive of the case.
Let me know what the final disposition is. Then I might care.
[62] [prior thread] fabian
Oh, but I will see your environmental group research associate paper and raise you one nonpartisan tax policy group paper.
http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/1001349_corporate_tax_incidence.pdf
BTW, there is precious little research on tax incidence and progressivity. Care to guess why?
http://nypost.com/2013/12/05/global-warming-proof-is-evaporating/
That admission came in a new paper by prominent warmists in the peer-reviewed journal Climate Dynamics. They not only conceded that average global surface temperatures stopped warming a full 15 years ago, but that this “pause” could extend into the 2030s.
Mind you, the term “pause” is misleading in the extreme: Unless and until it resumes again, it’s just a “stop.” You don’t say a bullet-ridden body “paused” breathing.
Remarkably, that stoppage has practically been a state secret. Just five years ago, the head of the International Panel on Climate Change, the group most associated with “proving” that global warming is man-made and has horrific potential consequences, told Congress that Earth is running a “fever” that’s “apt to get much worse.” Yet he and IPCC knew the warming had stopped a decade earlier.
Joyce shhh! Al Gore has not made his additional millions yet. A lot of us who are classically trained degreed scientists laugh at the headline chasing consensus is settled set. Especially at the AGW climatologists. Every method they use has flaws, it is like diagnosing a patients illness by only looking at their skin and measuring their perspiration rate.
Joyce,
I’ve read that solar cycles have a far greater impact on our climate than greenhouse gasses. So much so that their effects can outweigh them.
The current cycle, 24, is supposedly the weakest in 100 years.
http://www.universetoday.com/103803/solar-cycle-24-on-track-to-be-the-weakest-in-100-years/
The Maunder Minimum was a period from 1645 to 1715 where almost no sunspots were seen. This span of time corresponded to a medieval period known as the Little Ice Age. During this era, the Thames River in London froze, making Christmas “Frost Fairs” possible on the ice covered river. Several villages in the Swiss Alps were also consumed by encroaching glaciers, and the Viking colony established in Greenland perished. The name for the period comes from Edward Maunder, who first noted the minimum in papers published in the 1890s. The term came into modern vogue after John Eddy published a paper on the subject in the journal of Science in 1976. Keep in mind, the data from the period covered by the Maunder Minimum is far from complete— Galileo had only started sketching sunspots via projection only a few decades prior to the start of the Maunder Minimum. But tellingly, there was a span of time in the early 18th century when many researchers supposed that sunspots were a myth! They were really THAT infrequent…
Just what role a pause in the solar cycle might play in the climate change debate remains to be seen. Perhaps, humanity is getting a brief (and lucky) reprieve, a chance to get serious about controlling our own destiny and doing something about anthropogenic climate-forcing. On a more ominous note, however, an extended cooling phase may give us reason to stall on preparing for the inevitable while giving ammunition to deniers, who like to cite natural trends exclusively.
Jeremy Bradley was “busted” about three blocks away from the Lenexa, Kan. store.
so for looking at a lady’s bust he was busted?
If JJ doesn’t mind buying a sissified home from such a pussy, this one just came on the market:
http://www.bankrate.com/lite/real-estate/celebrity-house-for-sale-chuck-norris-1.aspx
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The End Is Nigh (Haute Cuisine Edition):
Their burgers might be squares, but their employees clearly aren’t.
Wendy’s employee Amy Seiber was arrested and soon became an ex-employee on Nov. 1, when a customer at the chain’s Lovejoy, Ga. location called 911 on Nov. 1 and reported there was a half-smoked blunt inside her burger, TMZ reported Thursday.
Police say when they showed up, Seiber, 32, told them the blunt belonged to her, and that she “misplaced” it inside the cheeseburger. She was arrested for possession of marijuana.
The customer told TMZ she suffered from symptoms similar to food poisoning and had to be hospitalized. She also said that Wendy’s offered to pay for her medical bills, and also gave her a $50 gift certificate.
If you’d like your dining experience to be totally disturbing but Wendy’s really isn’t your jam, fear not: Alarming things have happened at many other establishments.
In July, a Subway “sandwich artist” admitted to HuffPost Weird that he placed his pen!s on the store’s sandwich bread, and posted photos of the foot-long sausage sandwich to Instagram.
Earlier that month, the owner of a San Diego pizzeria was allegedly caught on video masturbat!ng in the restaurant’s kitchen.
[44] “It’s well past the time to raise the minimum wage,” President Obama, who favors a $10.10 minimum wage, said in a recent speech. “It means workers have more money to spend, to save, maybe to eventually start a business of their own. It will be good for our economy. It will be good for our families.”
Hmmm. Wait a minute, I think he might be onto something . . . raise the minimum salary to $250,000/year and we’d instantly bring everyone into the upper-middle class! Just think of all the money people will have to spend . . . all the businesses that will be started with all this money . . . all the children named Graydon and Ellery!
Someone get Chairman O his Nobel Prize in Economics – STAT
I’d love to see politicians pass a $50/hr minimum wage.
[62] chifi
After reading that (and these aren’t new stories), I don’t care if they raise min wages for fast food workers. It is not going to directly affect me.
In fact, eating out in general is something I try to keep to a minimum for those reasons and because of the high incidence of hepatitis among food service workers, something my wife warned me about.
“eating out” I think gave Michael Douglas his mouth cancer
Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:
December 5, 2013 at 4:22 pm
[62] chifi
After reading that (and these aren’t new stories), I don’t care if they raise min wages for fast food workers. It is not going to directly affect me.
In fact, eating out in general is something I try to keep to a minimum for those reasons and because of the high incidence of hepatitis among food service workers, something my wife warned me about.
Any IT or investment wonks have suggestions about what technologies or companies benefit from a min. wage hike?
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/a-robot-friendly-way-to-raise-the-minimum-wage/
This is really campy and borderline illegal, but you get the idea. . . .
http://mattkelland.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-avoid-paying-minimum-wage.html
Mandela < Vigoda
Squished by the Fish
chicagofinance says:
December 5, 2013 at 4:48 pm
Mandela < Vigoda
“When the last tree has been cut down,
the last fish caught, the last river poisoned;
only then we will realize that one cannot eat money.”
In Memory of Mandela
Eddie [44];
How about the OFA Obama campaign soliciting volunteers to work at raising the minimum wage?
https://twitter.com/ofa/status/408293214878060544
Nelson dead. Newark closed for the week
Unless Abe Vigoda dies it is not really news
there is hope for you
@frontlinepbs: “No one is born hating another person…if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.” – #Mandela http://t.co/sUqSfnueM9
[72] freedy
Not unexpected. His obit was written years ago.
Here and in Europe, I predict a spate of dust ups in majority white small cities or large towns as liberals in certain of those communities try to rename streets after Mandela and folks on or near those streets go ballistic.
Anon:
Stick to twitter.
Yeah..thanks but no thanks…
http://live.wsj.com/video/viewpoints-working-with-the-obama-white-house/5A0ED9CD-CFC8-4898-8ADB-B0B8196D7E5A.html#!5A0ED9CD-CFC8-4898-8ADB-B0B8196D7E5A
HOMES
Luxury Homeowners Hope to Score Big During Super Bowl
High-end homes, even yachts, in the New York metro area are being offered for thousands a day
By AMY GAMERMAN
Dec. 5, 2013 8:16 p.m. ET
Even if your favorite five-star hotel is booked solid, you can still find luxury accommodations in the New York metro area during the Super Bowl. High-end homes, even yachts, are being offered for thousands a day.
Planning on attending Super Bowl XLVIII in style? Almost every five-star hotel in Manhattan is already booked. But Brian Krauss’s four-bedroom manor in Saddle River, N.J., its fridge stocked with beer, can be yours for $5,000 a night.
Located 18 miles from New Jersey’s MetLife MET -0.43% Stadium and a half-hour’s drive from New York City, the upscale suburb is home to rap royalty such as Wyclef Jean, Mary J. Blige and Ja Rule, who lives “just around the corner” from Mr. Krauss’s 5,700-square-foot house with its imposing stucco facade, the homeowner says. Mr. Krauss, chief executive of Praxis Footwear and a 49-year-old divorced father of two, has transformed his home into a luxe bachelor pad. There is a professional-grade home gym, a basketball court and a sprawling media room complete with a 70-inch TV, a baby-grand piano and three vintage pinball machines. Daily maid service is included, and you can play his acoustic-electric guitar—all for $35,000, the cost of one week’s minimum stay.
“I priced it for what I thought was reasonable. What would it cost for eight people in a nice hotel?” said Mr. Krauss, who purchased the house for $1.375 million in 2011, then spent $300,000 on renovations and landscaping. Renting it out was his business partner’s idea. “At first, I was really against it,” he said. “Then I thought of all the times I’ve been a renter, in St. Barts, Malibu…..Here was an opportunity.”
The Super Bowl, to be held Feb. 2 in East Rutherford, N.J., marks many firsts: the first ever to be co-hosted by New York City and New Jersey, and the first to be played in an open-air stadium in cold weather. It is also the first Super Bowl to showcase the costliness of New York metro-area real estate. An array of mansions, penthouses and luxury condos are featured on rental accommodation websites such as SuperBowlRentalz.com and EventHomes.com.
Most of these homeowners have never been landlords before—certainly not in their own homes. But they are willing to padlock prized possessions and pack up the kids to cash in on their proximity to football’s premier event. They are betting that wealthy ticket-holders and corporations will pay top dollar for their suburban manses, which can accommodate more people and offer more luxury amenities than some hotels. With high-end hotels doubling their usual rates for Super Bowl weekend, $35,000 a week may not be out of line. Even the North Bergen Lincoln Tunnel Holiday Inn Express is charging five-star prices: $3,556.80 for a double occupancy room for the weekend—and they are going fast.
On the Event Homes website, a studio apartment in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood is listed for $3,000 a day—with day passes to the Equinox gym and two new Frette bathrobes thrown in. Near Times Square, a five-bedroom penthouse in the Cassa Hotel and Residence is available for a 30-day Super Bowl rental for $65,000: Owned by Assa Properties, the building’s developer, the Cassa duplex is for sale for $20.33 million. Finished in Venetian plaster, pale oak and limestone, the duplex is perched above “Super Bowl Boulevard”—the 14-block stretch of Broadway that the National Football League will transform into a football fan zone before the game, complete with a toboggan slide and a giant display of NFL footage on the facade of Macy’s M -0.96% at Herald Square.
Neither place has found a taker yet. “The problem with the Super Bowl is it’s like a wedding, but you don’t know who the bride and groom are until two weeks prior,” says Neal Sroka of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, which has the penthouse listing.
Although the most high-profile parties and events will take place in Manhattan, New Jersey residents are quick to highlight the charms of their state. Montclair, an affluent town about 10 miles from the stadium with its own art museum, has been declared an official place to visit by the Super Bowl host committee. You can rent Anne Geller’s seven-bedroom Victorian house there for $6,999 a day. Selling points? “We have flat-screen TVs and Internet and anything a family would need,” said Ms. Geller, a 66-year-old territory manager for the Minnetonka Moccasin Co., adding, “We would leave spices and coffee.”
She has never rented out her home before, she said. “We just thought it would be a good opportunity because the Super Bowl is so close by,” she added. “It would pay our taxes this year.”
Brian McCarthy, an NFL spokesman, warns wannabe landlords that it isn’t easy to score off the Super Bowl. “Every year, people are trying to rent out their houses, only to be disappointed,” he said. Some of the game’s corporate sponsors and network partners are already based in the New York metro area, he pointed out, and “most fans want to stay in a hotel room right in the heart of the city.” For its part, the NFL has reserved 18,000 hotel rooms—14,000 in New York City and 4,000 in New Jersey—for the two teams and their families, Super Bowl sponsors, staff and vendors.
Homeowners who find renters must navigate legal issues, ensuring that the rentals comply with local ordinances, and that profits and expenses are documented for tax purposes. Hefty security deposits are a must: Mr. Krauss wants $15,000. “I’m not going to rent it to a frat house—there’s artwork in the house,” said Mr. Krauss, who plans on vetting potential lodgers.
Carolyn Wheeler plans to remove the silver and crystal if she rents out her family’s 100-acre estate on a private lake in Kinnelon, N.J. But guests will be able to enjoy its heirloom furniture, oriental rugs and museum-quality antiques if they pay the $40,000, four-day rental fee. Ms. Wheeler, 39, a stay-at-home-mother who resides in Coconut Grove, Fla., said the estate has never had paying guests before, although it has been the setting for films and commercials. “We just thought that it was such a unique property with close proximity—so why not?” she said. A cook, a driver and an in-house masseuse are available on request.
However, Ms. Wheeler can’t provide a Super Bowl parking pass—a must-have for ticket-holders planning on driving, or being chauffeured, to the game. “There’s no drop-off in the stadium,” said the NFL’s Mr. McCarthy. “It’s going to be a long walk.” With added security and hospitality facilities, the stadium’s parking spots—about 27,500—will be whittled down to between 12,000 and 13,000, he said.
The stadium is a short train ride from Shirael Pollack’s riverfront condo in Hoboken, N.J., which may be why her neighbors include several players for the New York Giants. Ms. Pollack, like Ms. Wheeler, is charging $10,000 a day with a four-day minimum stay. The fan who rents her family’s airy four-bedroom at Maxwell Place might run into linebacker Zak DeOssie or punter Steve Weatherford, who live in the luxury development. Condos for sale there are listed from $609,000 to $1.69 million.
“People who are going to be able to afford this are athletes’ families coming in from out of town,” said Ms. Pollack, 33, owner of two pediatric-therapy centers in Manhattan. If the right family wants her condo, she will decamp to her parents’ home with her 17-month-old, her 4-year-old and her husband.
Guests who stay aboard Nick Stergiou’s 63-foot yacht, the Agios Nikolaos II, can’t cruise from Weehawken, N.J., to the landlocked stadium, but they can be there in 15 minutes by train. The yacht, appraised at $500,000, has three staterooms and offers sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline. Capt. Stergiou, 61, will host up to six people during Super Bowl weekend for $8,500 a day—couples only please. (“With the guys, it’s a little bit wild,” he says.)
He has never had overnight guests before. “Whatever they want, it’s going to be on the boat,” said Capt. Stergiou. “They want caviar, I will have the caviar. Beer, water, sodas—it’s on me.”
#43 Eddie Ray
You are getting off on a tangent here so I’ll not waste time responding to an issue of first impression.”
It’s not a tangent School Vouchers are one of the core pillars of her book. And yes if she does run it will come back to bite her.
“So? I never said I was quoting from his book.”
“Then what relevance does the Mother Jones piece have if you are not referencing Santorum.
“Well I must concede I cannot put him on the proverbial stand. And MSM isn’t about to post transcripts or stories on noncontroversial stuff he may say to buttress the really juicy stuff he says later. If you want to feel all vindicated because I cannot find a link on Huffpost or Salon”
Anything on Fox or Drudge, because he’s never off those and they quote him like Gospel. Is there the possibility that there nothing there because it doesn’t exist? Don’t forget the point you are defending. Santorum did not get ripped by the left on comments on Dual Income or Democratic policies. He got ripped on he comments on Feminists saying that going into the work place was the only way a woman could define her self-worth.
“Depends on your definition of regressive.” Probably about the same as the definition of pedantic.
“Okay. I’m not so busy anymore. But you do have to wait for it.”
Punt!
“Further, you put up a study by a liberal policy group that relies heavily on CTJ materials”.
Well it is nice that you stopped posting from the Tax Foundation. The source is not as important as the content. Anything put up will have the bias of the author and should not be taken at face value. But the points contained can be used to kick of the discussion.
Where is it a “fundamental truth”. I keep hearing “redistribution of wealth” I put it this way two guys go to lunch A earns $50K and B $250K. A orders a $10 Cheeseburger and B orders a $40 Steak and Lobster. B complains that he has paid 80% of the tax. The owner comes over and says I’m giving all customers who come in here $10 each, B now complains that A got a free lunch. The owner comes over again and tells B that as he is such a good customer, he can have a free desert, B says nothing.
I bring up NYU as you two have a lot in common. Aside from the JD there is never any attempt at finding middle ground and getting either of you to concede a point is like pulling teeth. You both seem to want your views and arguments taken without question, but the other side has to be on all fours.
“BTW, there is precious little research on tax incidence and progressivity. Care to guess why?”
Because it is as hard to model as Wesather Forcasting and probably as accurate.