From MarketWatch:
Why the mortgage tax break isn’t helping many taxpayers
For generations of U.S. homeowners, the tax deduction on mortgage interest has been a sacrosanct loophole that no one in Congress dare touch.
But the collapse in interest rates is producing a bizarre and, so far, underappreciated result. It is making that loophole less and less valuable.
Indeed, for growing numbers of homeowners the loophole is now almost completely worthless. The mortgage-interest deduction is no longer a middle-class tax break. It is becoming an increasingly regressive break that is aimed mostly at the upper classes.
…
This math is new. As recently as 2008, 30-year mortgage rates were over 6%. In early 2000 they were north of 8%, and back in the early 1980s they were in double digits. Back then people were paying a lot of interest, and the deduction was really valuable.I’m not a political fan of this deduction. It makes no sense. It’s regressive and drives up home prices. The only justification, which is slim, is that it’s one of the few tax loopholes that have benefited middle-class people and not just the connected or the very wealthy.
…
But for millions of people, the tax benefits are now virtually nil.
Good Morning New Jersey
People who don’t qualify for HARP benefit from it.
libelous? settlement forthcoming ASAP?
Fox station apologizes to Black Lives Matter protester for editing chant to say ‘Kill a cop’
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/fox-station-apologizes-to-black-lives-matter-protester-for-editing-chant-to-say-kill-a-cop/comments/#disqus
A Baltimore Fox affiliate station apologized to a Black Lives Matter protester on Monday after the station deceptively edited a chant by protesters to say “Kill a cop.”
According to Talking Points Memo, the chant, led by protester Tawanda Jones, actually said, “We won’t stop, we can’t stop, ’til killer cops, are in cell blocks.”
On Monday, Gawker noted the deceptive editing, juxtaposing Baltimore Fox station WBFF’s footage against actual footage from the protest event, which the site acquired via C-SPAN.
The Fox station apologized to the protesters and to Jones both on its Facebook page and in an interview with Jones.
The Facebook post claimed that the station’s engineers misheard what the protesters were chanting and called it an “honest misunderstanding.”
Jones appeared on WBFF’s 5 p.m. newscast on Monday to address the issue. She expressed skepticism that the station hadn’t doctored the recording of the protest chant to deliberately inflame viewers.
“The interesting part that really gets to me is, where you guys edited it and stopped,” Jones said. “Like, how could that be a mistake?”
http://www.johncardillo.com/blog/breaking-exclusive-nypd-cops-fly-anti-deblasio-banner-over-nyc
Sure sign of wage inflation starting to come around.
“Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(WMT) is about to hike wages of its workers in 2015, according to an internal memo examined by Reuters earlier this month. The wage hike will come into effect in 21 U.S. states on or around Jan 1, 2015 and will impact around 1400 stores. This will also include more than 200 Sam’s Clubs in those states. The memo reflects the hike that would take place, given the changes in state minimums.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wal-mart-wmt-raise-minimum-140502125.html
The only thing inflating is Punkinhead’s limitless capacity for stupid.
Gag on some fruitcake, loser.
[5] That’s right punkin’. In just a short time Walmart workers will be renting your grammy’s house and cooking meth in her kitchen.
Sure sign of wage inflation starting to come around.
uh oh, Wal-Mart is giving a 50 cent raise. Maybe we can lower FHA minimums down to 3.0% from 3.5% now.