From Reuters:
Rising bank repossessions push up U.S. foreclosure activity in April
A surge in bank repossessions of properties last month pushed overall foreclosure activity across the United States to an 18-month high, according to a report by industry firm RealtyTrac released on Thursday.
Overall, 125,875 homes across the country were at some point in the foreclosure process in April, a 3 percent jump from March. The increase drove foreclosure activity up 9 percent from year-ago levels, RealtyTrac said.
April’s jump in foreclosure activity, which includes foreclosure notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions was mainly driven by a 25 percent rise in repossessions.
A total of 45,168 homes were reclaimed by banks in April, up 50 percent from a year ago, bringing bank repossessions to their highest levels in 27 months.
RealtyTrac said the spike in repossessions was the aftermath of a surge in foreclosure starts that happened in October and that properties are going back to the foreclosing lender.
“In this particular market, an influx of distressed inventory could actually help stimulate sales during the spring and summer buying season as new listings become available, often in the middle to lower ranges of the market,” said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac’s vice president.
The U.S. housing market has been steadily recovering, but is still plagued with a shortage of inventory that is driving prices up.
April was the second consecutive month in which banks reclaimed an increasing number of properties, but repossessions remain far below the peak in September 2013 when 102,134 properties were reclaimed.
Logjam continuing to break up. Almost as if it were scripted, no?
Newark GO bonds rated junk by Moody’s
Given that NY is #2 – We’re going to be #1 for a looooong time.
From the WSJ:
New York Regulator Seeks Faster Foreclosures
A chief financial regulator for New York called on Tuesday for a broad revamp of the state’s mortgage-foreclosure process, as the state grapples with one of the largest backlogs of delinquent home loans in the U.S.
Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the Department of Financial Services, in a speech at a Mortgage Bankers Association conference in New York City, called for the state legislature to adopt measures that he said would shorten the timeline for processing foreclosures. The changes would include streamlining foreclosures on homes that have been abandoned or are vacant, and on some commercial properties.
In the first quarter, more than 5.5% of mortgages in New York were in some stage of foreclosure, according to the association, well above the national average of 2.2% and behind only New Jersey. New York is among more than a dozen states that process foreclosures through the court system, which can drag out a foreclosure for years.
Relative to nonjudicial processes, the court-based process is typically friendly to consumers who fall behind on loans. But it can lead to extra expenses for mortgage servicers and hurt surrounding property values if a borrower abandons a home that falls into disrepair. So-called judicial states experienced a slower ramp-up of foreclosures during the financial crisis but have also taken longer to work through their backlogs.
Mr. Lawsky said on Tuesday that the prolonged foreclosure crisis in New York is “due, in significant part, to problems in the way our state’s broken judicial foreclosure process is currently applied.” He said foreclosure in New York takes on average more than 900 days.
Mr. Lawsky called for legislation that would require lenders to tell borrowers that they don’t have to leave a home until the foreclosure sale occurs, a measure he said could prevent homes from going vacant and unmaintained.
…
Shortening foreclosure timelines “as a general objective is a good idea,” Mr. Stevens said. “Everybody is prepared to protect the consumer, but you don’t want to put unusual obstructions in place for homes that should be foreclosed upon.”
As yet unknown is when and if Mr. Lawsky’s proposals could make it through the state legislature. Mr. Lawsky said on Tuesday that he doubts the state’s foreclosure problem would be addressed “definitively” this legislative session, scheduled to end in late June.
State Sen. Jeff Klein, a Democrat who represents the Bronx and Westchester and has sponsored bills on foreclosure issues, said many of Mr. Lawsky’s proposals could be palatable to the broader legislature.
“If we can streamline the foreclosure process, we can solve a lot of the problems with distressed properties and help the borrower and the bank at the same time,” he said.
By the way, has a single property been repossessed under NJ’s accelerated foreclosure law yet? Probably not.
The housing market is the opposite of the new car market right now. Imagine how much a Camry would sell for if dealers were only allotted 20 per month.
4 Grim
By the way, has a single banker spent any time in jail? Are they going to? Probably not.
Six Banks Pay $5.8 Billion, Five Guilty of Market Rigging
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/todays-billion-banking-settlement-31188693
Let’s see if this primes our local idiot pump:
http://www.ibtimes.com/brandon-bostian-gay-activism-factor-amtrak-train-crash-conservative-radio-host-1924661
A conservative radio host is trying to make an issue of Amtrak train engineer Brandon Bostian’s history of gay activism, suggesting it may have played a role in the derailment in Philadelphia that killed eight people. On her American Family Radio program, “Sandy Rios in the Morning,” Rios said Bostian’s sexual orientation could have been a “factor” in the crash, adding, “I think it’s something to be discussed.”
Bostian, 32, lived in San Francisco before moving to New York City, according to a Midtown Gazette article from 2012 that quoted him talking about his support for legalizing gay marriage. He was involved in fighting California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state in 2008.
“I’m not inferring that this accident happened because he was gay,” said Rios. “But I do think it’s an interesting part of the story, and I bet it will be edited out.” She implied that people dealing with “confusion that has to do with the very core of who they are” are more prone to emotional breakdowns under stress. Rios said she knew of an airline pilot who was undergoing gender transition and “put his entire plane at risk because he had an emotional, angry outburst at something that happened.”
Bostian has said he doesn’t recall anything that led up to Tuesday night’s fatal accident, which also left hundreds of people injured. The engineer, who was operating the train as it entered a sharp turn at over twice the speed limit, said he had “no explanation” for why the train was traveling at such an excessive speed.
ExPat (5),
Exactly. Nothing to buy. One half decent house becomes available and the stup1d b@stards over pay. I’m standing on a train platform but I would love to share yet another tale of woe told to me. Maybe later. The matket in our area is very unhealthy.
What are N.J.’s fastest growing and shrinking towns?
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/what_are_njs_fastest_growing_and_declining_towns_m.html#incart_river
This made me chuckle:
https://twitter.com/pspoole/status/567788981975543810
[7] expat
Earlier I posited that his orientation was possibly an issue if his work history shows that he had run ins with mgt and co-workers, and was made an engineer to shut him up. I considered the instability issue but that’s a can of worms I’m not sure a court would allow opened. But in discovery, his mental state is fair game.
[9] DFENS
The hollowing out of the ACE corridor is an interesting visual.
9 Dfens
This was also in the article. Changing demographic
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/millennials_are_the_first_nj_generation_without_a_white_majority_census_data_shows.html
Good for Jersey City, now if we could just get them to stop leeching off the rest of the state. Christie doesn’t have the balls for that fight.
@THEHermanCain: WHOA: Gallup shows 26 percent of blacks now identify as conservative http://t.co/nlEBN9VlpU http://t.co/xZZ4gDBJnb
Remember this when you fly your flag over the weekend, the sacrifices that were made by many so we can enjoy freedom.
To put this in its plainest terms, the American Dream that’s at the center of our national identity is not, in fact, in danger of slipping away. For most Americans, it’s already long gone, like Oldsmobiles and New Coke.
But mostly what we’re seeing, Shapiro says, is the inevitable result of a global marketplace that forces industry to keep its prices low and its dividends high in order to compete for customers and capital, even as fixed costs continue to rise.
https://www.yahoo.com/politics/what-presidential-candidates-need-to-understand-119490857141.html
For Joyce, watch out for Cicada’s…
The CICADA (which stands for Close-In Covert Autonomous Disposable Aircraft) is relatively cheap, easy to make and totally disposable. Best of all, they’re as hard to destroy as the cicadas in your backyard during summer.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2015/05/20/cicadas-locusts-and-the-new-innovation-of-military-infestations/
Near-Record Haul: 820-Pound Shark Caught off New Jersey Coast
The crew of the Missfit had to contact the U.S. Coast Guard to let their families know they were OK, but they would be later than expected Saturday night.
Much later.
The five-man crew of the 31-foot Cape May County-based boat was busy reeling in the second biggest shark ever caught in the state inside the Canyons off the coast of Cape May following a day of yellowfin tuna fishing on Saturday, the Asbury Park Press reports.
It took over an hour to get the 820-pound, 11-foot mako shark on board the ship once it was hooked, according to the report.
The shark fell 38 pounds shy of the state record 858-pound shark captured in 1991, according to The Press of Atlantic City.
The shark “breeched” three times before the crew was able to get it on board, and the whole crew was exhausted by the time the ordeal was over, according to the report.
This house below is $100,000 overpriced and that’s not taking the property taxes into consideration nor the flat salaries. They seller paid 615K for this house back in 2004 and the final price will be nowhere near it. And it’s on a main street. If someone handed me a bag of money with a half million in cash, I still wouldn’t find a house that was appealing or worthwhile.
http://www.njmls.com/listings/index.cfm?action=dsp.info&mlsnum=1519593&dayssince=&countysearch=false
I bet he said it with a straight face too.
Gov. Christie loses his marbles on national TV
For months, we have wondered how Gov. Chris Christie thinks he can win the presidency when New Jersey is in such rotten shape after his six years in office.
Now we may have our answer: The man has lost touch with reality.
In a national TV interview Monday, Christie was asked to explain why 65 percent of New Jersey voters think he’d make a bad president.
His answer: We love him so much that we want him to remain our governor.
“They want me to stay,” he told Megyn Kelly of Fox News. “A lot of those people in that 65 percent want me to stay. And I’ve heard that from lots of people at town hall meetings.”
http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/05/gov_christie_loses_his_marbles_on_national_tv_edit.html
The market is anemic… like a junkie hiding from the sunlight. I look in many towns besides the “fake” Bergen towns and it’s the same thing. It’s the same offensive, overpriced sh1t begging for a bailout. First time buyers are truly f.ucked.
[11] Nom – my uneducated guess is he’s just part of this current bumper crop of run-of-the-mill narcissists who believe checking their twitter feed to see if they’re internet-famous yet trumps all immediate matters of safety or potential loss of life – including their own.
[7] expat
Earlier I posited that his orientation was possibly an issue if his work history shows that he had run ins with mgt and co-workers, and was made an engineer to shut him up. I considered the instability issue but that’s a can of worms I’m not sure a court would allow opened. But in discovery, his mental state is fair game.
Chi,
On the $15 minimum wage. In my opinion, and for the record, I have an economics minor…the $15 minimum wage is really hardly a serious economic issue at all. It has been adopted by both parties as a separator. The cost to the economy is negligible and it will almost entirely impact the small businesses that serve the same financially challenged class to which it employs. The arguments for and against pale in comparison to what it really is about. Maintaining the voting base for the Democrats. Will some positions be replaced by self-serve options? Sure. Will prices be raised in these small businesses to cover the wage increases? Absolutely. Just as you can’t force a kid in Paterson to value education with the proven benefit it has on ones future quality of life, you can’t simply manipulate the free market without negative repercussions. The net result of raising the minimum wage, ignoring the laws of supply and demand, might make one feel good about themselves for helping those less well off than you. But you are taxing the wrong people. You are not affecting the fat cats and the 1% you espouse. You are going after solid middle class entrepreneurs. These are the ones employing the dregs in our society. It reminds me of the battle between the public and private middle class workers. No one can impact the top with our bought government, so we are left to battle each other for the crumbs offered up to us. It really is just sad. Yet we cheer the actions of the blue and red team like we are watching a Monday night NFL matchup between the Giants and the Cowboys. I suppose we are getting what we deserve.
I really know how to amuse myself. Using Notepad, Find/Replace and just a couple quick edits I just wrote this in less than 5 minutes:
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
Ever since I was a tiny boy
I don’t want no candy
I don’t need no toy
I took a finger and my Mommy’s iPad
I touch on that thing til I got
Blisters on my hand because
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
Yes, I do
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
That’s right
When I get older they think I’m a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me touching on the desk with my hands
But my clicks was so hot
I made the teacher wanna dance
And that’s why
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
Hey, why not?
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
The boss is a jerk
And I get my fingers and my mini iPad
And I touch on that screen, then touch myself bad
Because
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
I can bang that drum
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
Hey, you wanna take a bang at it?
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
I can do this all day
Damn. I missed one drum reference.
[23] Lib – well said. I just wanted to bold that nugget in the center in case anyone missed it.
On the $15 minimum wage. In my opinion, and for the record, I have an economics minor…the $15 minimum wage is really hardly a serious economic issue at all. It has been adopted by both parties as a separator. The cost to the economy is negligible and it will almost entirely impact the small businesses that serve the same financially challenged class to which it employs. The arguments for and against pale in comparison to what it really is about. Maintaining the voting base for the Democrats. Will some positions be replaced by self-serve options? Sure. Will prices be raised in these small businesses to cover the wage increases? Absolutely. Just as you can’t force a kid in Paterson to value education with the proven benefit it has on ones future quality of life, you can’t simply manipulate the free market without negative repercussions. The net result of raising the minimum wage, ignoring the laws of supply and demand, might make one feel good about themselves for helping those less well off than you. But you are taxing the wrong people. You are not affecting the fat cats and the 1% you espouse. You are going after solid middle class entrepreneurs. These are the ones employing the dregs in our society. It reminds me of the battle between the public and private middle class workers. No one can impact the top with our bought government, so we are left to battle each other for the crumbs offered up to us. It really is just sad. Yet we cheer the actions of the blue and red team like we are watching a Monday night NFL matchup between the Giants and the Cowboys. I suppose we are getting what we deserve.
[23] lib,
Spot on. No one who takes this issue seriously buys the argumentum ad baculum that the sky will fall. But there will be externalities. There always are. Even supporters acknowledge that jobs will be lost but that is a price they openly admit they are willing to pay.
My two questions are thus: Who are the true beneficiaries? (Apple? Software and robotic companies? Lawyers? Low income housing landlords?) and what effect on the underground economy? To put it more crassly, will my sitters and housecleaner want more or will they accept compression because there will be more competition at the low end wage?
[22] expat
“The Original NJ ExPat says:
May 21, 2015 at 9:16 am
[11] Nom – my uneducated guess is he’s just part of this current bumper crop of run-of-the-mill narcissists who believe checking their twitter feed to see if they’re internet-famous yet trumps all immediate matters of safety or potential loss of life – including their own.”
And that kids, is a textbook application of Occam’s Razor.
Whenever I get some time today, I’m going to try and analyze this report. I’m interested in seeing what his recommendations are to fix this stagnation problem. His statement below is my fear with income inequality and stagflation. We can’t keep this up, it will lead to irrational behavior…aka revolution. I do not want to live through that type of useless chaos where this is no getting through to either side.
“Another decade like the
last 12 years will change
American politics and society
in unpredictable and almost
certainly disturbing ways.”
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2015/03/05-income-growth-decline-economic-prosperity-shapiro/shapirov3.pdf
“Second, in an era that has already given us the tea party and Occupy Wall Street, we should understand just why Americans are so angry at their political system. And we should face the reality that the longer this economic trend continues, the more unhinged our politics will likely become, as voters search for scapegoats and easy answers.
When we talked this week, Shapiro pointed to the bizarre situation in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott put his National Guard on alert over a routine U.S. military exercise in the state, allegedly to forestall the threat of a federal invasion.
“It sounds psychotic,” Shapiro said. “It is psychotic. So the question is, how can significant numbers of Americans come to believe this? How has their view of government turned so incredibly dark?””
https://www.yahoo.com/politics/what-presidential-candidates-need-to-understand-119490857141.html
CNBC report on existing home sales data, below. You would have to be absolutely insane to buy in one of these markets unless you are looking to stay in the place for the better part of the mortgage term. Classic short squeeze, everyone piling into the same trade with no inventory and easy financing. Usually does not end well.
The Data:
April existing home sales down 3.3% (v expectation of +1%)
Median price $219k (up 8.9% YOY)
38th straight month of gains
Largest jump since Jan 2014
40% of homes going above ask
Lagging supply
Inventories down 1% YOY
DOM at 39 (second lowest since record keeping began)
thanks W
@EjmAlrai: In the month of May 2015, #ISIS took two cities, #Ramadi & #Palmira, in two countries, #Syria and #Iraq, close to their respective capitals.
Puts to rest the bs explanation that only globalization is to blame for the stagflation in the U.S. People always claim that factories were destroyed around the world during WWII, leaving America as the sole manufacturer for the world. They claim that this is why there has been stagflation in American earnings. Oh yea, then how did you have growth across the board during the 1980’s and 1990’s? A lot of you bash the millennials, but this report shows that they have been at huge disadvantage to prior generations and you can’t blame it all on globalization because the data says otherwise.
“Most importantly, Shapiro writes, the data show that the incomes problems that most households face today are not a long-standing feature of the American economy, but rather reflect the particular conditions and policies of the last decade or so.
Other important findings from the report include:
Through the 1980s and 1990s, households of virtually every type experienced large, steady income gains, whether they were headed by men or women, by blacks, whites or Hispanics, or by people with high school diplomas or college degrees.
This broad income progress stopped around the turn of this century: From 2002 to 2013, the incomes of most households stagnated or declined even as they aged through nine years of expansion and two years of recession. The only types of households with rising incomes over this recent period were those headed by people in their mid-to-late 20s and those headed by college graduates — and their gains were much smaller than those achieved by young and college-educated households in the 1980s and 1990s.
This evidence contradicts the narrative told by those who simply track the value of aggregate median income from the 1970s to the present and claim that most Americans have made little progress for decades. The data used here report the median incomes of cohorts of households based on the age of the heads of those households each year, as those household-heads age. Unlike the dataset for a time series of aggregate median household income, the samples for this “age-cohort” series are stable over time.
This age-cohort analysis also highlights a distinct life cycle in the income progress of most Americans as they age. Throughout this period and across all of our tested demographic groups, households headed by people in their mid-20s to mid-30s experience the largest percentage gains in median income, after which those increases generally slow and finally stop when they reach their 50s.
The analysis of these extensive data establishes that our current challenges are not a long-term feature of the U.S. economy or an after-effect of the 2008-2009 financial upheaval. Shapiro’s analysis further shows that these problems also are not driven by economic impediments based on gender, race and ethnicity, or even education.
To promote strong, broad-based income progress again, Shapiro urges policymakers to draw on both historical memory and new analysis. Shapiro first identifies the economic strategies and policies that helped support strong income gains through the Clinton and Reagan presidencies. Second, he assesses the economic developments and policies of the last decade that have contributed to the erosion of income gains and suggests how policymakers could better respond to the effects of globalization, technology, inequality, and wage stagnation on Americans’ incomes.”
http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2015/03/05-income-growth-decline-economic-prosperity-shapiro
Anyone here have a surveyor they can recommend for Bergen county. Received one quote for $900 plus another $650 for adding corner markers.
it is already irrational behavior. try to have a normal conversation and you are ferociously attacked for ‘coveting’ billionaires
The Great Pumpkin says:
May 21, 2015 at 10:22 am
Whenever I get some time today, I’m going to try and analyze this report. I’m interested in seeing what his recommendations are to fix this stagnation problem. His statement below is my fear with income inequality and stagflation. We can’t keep this up, it will lead to irrational behavior…aka revolution. I do not want to live through that type of useless chaos where this is no getting through to either side.
[29] LOL. It’s always good to open with joke.
The Great Pumpkin says:
May 21, 2015 at 10:22 am
Whenever I get some time today, I’m going to try and analyze this report.
[29] Pumps – have you tried the new Hemlock Ice?
I do not want to live through that type of useless chaos where this is no getting through to either side.
21.
>First time buyers are truly f.ucked.
CNBC on realtors report said first time homebuyers at 30% of total v. 40% historically.
@BernieSanders:
In this economy, college is the new high school.
We need to make it affordable for all Americans so that we can compete on the world stage.
Make credit less attainable
anon (the good one) says:
May 21, 2015 at 10:48 am
@BernieSanders:
In this economy, college is the new high school.
We need to make it affordable for all Americans so that we can compete on the world stage.
make it free
joyce says:
May 21, 2015 at 10:51 am
Make credit less attainable
anon (the good one) says:
May 21, 2015 at 10:48 am
@BernieSanders:
In this economy, college is the new high school.
We need to make it affordable for all Americans so that we can compete on the world stage.
Free isn’t affordable when the only one who will be charged will be the middle class public sector worker. It’s where both teams have been finding the funding for our ever expanding government.
Joyce is right. End student loans and college will once again become affordable to all.
and grade hard and fail kids out. Have you even heard of anyone failing out of college in the last decade? It used to be a common and necessary occurrence , but why would you send kids packing instead of welcoming them back to soak for another $50K the following year?
joyce says:
May 21, 2015 at 10:51 am
Make credit less attainable
anon (the good one) says:
May 21, 2015 at 10:48 am
@BernieSanders:
In this economy, college is the new high school.
We need to make it affordable for all Americans so that we can compete on the world stage.
How does that bring the cost down?
anon (the good one) says:
May 21, 2015 at 10:53 am
make it free
Anon on fire:
31, re: ISIS “thanks W”
Anon, I spent more than a few years working in the MidEast. The issues are millennia old and convoluted. It is sophomorically simple to assume that anyone in eight years can affect outcomes there.
34. “it is already irrational behavior. try to have a normal conversation and you are ferociously attacked for ‘coveting’ billionaires”
Hahaha. Where you stand depends on where you sit. I suppose in your cohort a ‘normal conversation’ does actually include appropriation of others’ belongings.
Hey Anon, what kind of car are you driving. I know a family living in section 8 housing in Montclair whose car just got totaled. I’ve decided that you should give it to them. Cars should be free.
One of my old buddies was talking about this company. If you are still in the planning stages in deciding where to go this summer.
GOLF
Our Other Favorite Kind Of Shooting
Golf is about exclusivity and we are the only ones that can reserve the world’s most exciting tee times. From the Mount Everest of Golf at Kabul Golf Club in Afghanistan to sharing th fairway with penguins while teeing off in the Falkland Islands, you will no doubt comeback with the best story of any one at the clubhouse. No course is out of reach and for us, nothing is out of bounds.
INSPIRATION
+ Tee off at on the world’s highest course in Bolivia
+ Take a helicopter to play among the Himalayas in Nepal
+ Play the heart of Africa in the Congo
+ A round with diplomats in Ethiopia
+ Take a mulligan due to the local wildlife in South Africa
http://www.cavalryandcompany.com/golf/
[47] cont
You are accompanied by former Special Forces vets which is an added bonus in my book.
not a fukcing comment about War. nothing as to why we pay for it? how much does it really cost or who benefits from it, how is middle class affected, or how to bring the costs of it down. No, nothing. silence
but, on the other hand, mention free education…..
LOL, good. Was just thinking you may not return from the diplomats outing.
“not a fukcing comment about War.”
At some point in our lifetime, we will have to take on the fundamentalist towel heads. Is there a lot of waste in military spending? Absolutely. The government is running it. The government you love Anon. Bet you’ll be first to fly your flag proudly after World War Three. And as for ISIS, Obama just sits back as their numbers grow and grow. If we were smart, we would ask ISIS to surrender and then drop a nuclear bomb on all of the countries where they are supported. Get it over with now before it’s too late. Turn Damascus into Hiroshima.
49 – People speak out against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan all the time here. You brought up “free” college education and people responded to it. People make fun of you because whenever you emerge from pasting tweets containing leftist propaganda, your best argument is a straw man argument. It isn’t even worth the time and effort to debate you.
No one responded cause the entire point of your post was to bait the people on here who love to debate politics like it’s fun.
“thanks W”
by the way, answer the question jack@ss
Hot Dog vendors vs Hospitals
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=230154
Medicare tax receipts, last fiscal year and all-in, were $224 billion. That’s it. Medicaid received zero since there’s no tax associated with it.
But between Medicare and Medicaid last year $1,187 BILLION was spent, resulting in a deficit between spending and tax receipts of nearly a trillion dollars. In fact last fiscal year the US Federal Debt increased by $1,085 billion which means that essentially all of the actual deficit was due to this disparity.
You got that folks? The entire reason that we have a budget deficit — all of it — is that we are spending $963 billion more than we take in through taxes on Medicare and Medicaid.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=230151
Pay special attention to that last line, it’s already happening today. This current path can not last without significant upheaval.
“These data show, therefore, that the incomes of nearly two-thirds of American households have fallen for more than a decade. Even among households headed by college graduates, their median incomes since 2002 increased at less than half the rate of comparable households in the 1980s and 1990s. If the American economy and government can no longer ensure that most people who work hard will get ahead, we should expect to see broad popular anger and distrust of government and business.”
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2015/03/05-income-growth-decline-economic-prosperity-shapiro/shapirov3.pdf
Apparently, analyze = paste random snippets as he reads through it
The Original NJ ExPat says:
May 21, 2015 at 10:39 am
[29] LOL. It’s always good to open with joke.
85 bingo, I have always thought that price transparency needed to be a part of Healthcare reform and that the discounting that goes on should be illegal. There should be no discriminatory pricing in healthcare. UHC, Aetna,BCBS, and the cash paying person should not pay different amounts for the same services.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services dispatched its Office of Inspector General to review Medicare payments for vacuum erection systems, less formally known as *enis pumps. Its recent report revealed that Medicare was paying “grossly excessive” prices for these devices (which draw blood into the *enis, creating an erection that allows a man to have intercourse).
From 2006 through 2011, the investigators found, Medicare paid on average $451 per pump. Medicare beneficiaries were responsible for a $90 co-pay; Medicare put up the remaining $361. That was more than twice what the Department of Veterans Affairs paid per pump: $186.
60. for joyce, they could start here for a little savings…..
The amount of abuse in everything the govt touches (from providing services, to prosecuting (or not) crimes) is staggering… not to mention completely expected and predictable.
Has there been any progress with this bill? Sweeney, who is the NJ senate president, is pretty cozy with the Norcross family, which has an interest in Camden County Hospital. Will the bill ever even be voted on?
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/05/nj_lawmakers_seek_to_limit_out-of-network_health_care_costs.html
This site needs more Cow Bell
Joyce,
How many free hot dogs does the vendor give out??
How many reduced priced hot dogs does the vendor give out??
How long does a hot dog vendor wait to be reimbursed for the hot dog he sold?
Way too many variables in healthcare, unless you are dealing with something like plastic surgery, go get your facelift or tummy tuck and I am sure they will give you a price, as they are dealing with cash customers that pay up front only.
Everyone else in the USA thinks healthcare is a right, that doctors take an oath and should not ask you for your co-pay.
Problem with pricing is it can assume perfect conditions and worse case scenario.
You have bad blood vessels from smoking your Lucky Strikes, diabetes or plaque deposits? Genetic issues? Hygiene issues that may cause an infection post-op?
Are you a compliant patient(I don’t wanna take my medications, I don’t wanna go to physical therapy or don’t have a ride.) Who gets to re-do things for your laziness, mistakes or non-compliance? Ever deal with stubborn older people- or ones that are forgetful (missed or overdosed meds) with children that have to work so they cannot take care of parents?
A hot dog. A lousy hot dog comparison. A set price/set amount of time/set equipment comparison of a simple hot dog to a medical procedure.
Get your surgery in Mexico or India. I’m sure you can get a set price there.
Good luck if anything goes wrong…..
set pricing:
http://www.denvillediagnostics.com/self-pay-prices/
http://www.surgerycenterok.com/pricing/
The fix is not a simple as listing prices. The comparison is the fact that the government is actually looking into this hot dog guy…. the fact that nyc law mandates hot dog vendors post pricing… the fact that this made the news. All the while the larger problems are ignored and/or covered up.
66 Joyce
http://www.surgerycenterok.com/pricing-disclaimer/
Read about the post op care you will get for your money.
How many indigent patients are seen at the surgery center?
Any trauma? If not, no delays, it is more like a factory as you can control time and scheduling, no wasted staff time standing by for emergencies-many that are non paying or poorly reimbursed.
What-they don’t do colon resections? Very common procedure with many different outcomes. Sometimes can’t wait till tomorrow to have one done. Are they staffed 24 hrs for those issues? Naaah. Big difference. Much more controlled. A hospital is more like a firehouse. When you need it it has to be there and that costs money.
Never understood why Joan Rivers went to a surgi center instead of a hospital.
Not sure if her outcome would have been different. Hospitals have more resources at hand during emergencies. I guess that is personal choice.
@BlindFaithBook: @blackrepublican USC Economist Arthur Laffer: Minimum wages should be called “the Black Teenage Unemployment Act”
@BlindFaithBook: @blackrepublican Thomas Sowell: The 1st minimum wage laws passed in 1931. Prior to that Black unemployment was less than White. Never since
@blackrepublican: A [race-conscious] GOP would have attacked the increase of #mimumiwage laws as an assault on black boys.
@mandj052002: @blackrepublican why?
@blackrepublican: @mandj052002 http://t.co/xFj3Q4jr2S
Kinda boring around here this week, does that mean the market has t0pped?
I’m not holding up the concept of posting prices as the end all be all. Certain providers won’t even answer the question of how much something will cost even if you stipulate that you’re asking for the ideal free from all problems scenario.
Some providers won’t even tell you how much something like an x-ray costs. Again, in my opinion, there are several problems in the healthcare industry… and lack of price transparency is one of them.
phoenix says:
May 21, 2015 at 1:00 pm
Heard this story on the radio this morning. The perfect complement to a high deductible catastrophic health policy.
http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2015/05/direct-primary-care-doctor-availability
BOSTON – For 10 years, Jeff Gold showed up to a job he wanted to love: being a family doctor.
“I was busy as a bee,” says Gold, 39, with up to 2,500 patients, seeing 20 or so a day.
Rushing from one patient to the next, calling insurers who wouldn’t approve prescriptions, filling out paperwork that didn’t seem relevant to his patients, Gold kept asking himself, is this what I signed up for?
“I thought I was gonna help everybody and spend time with everybody and it’s impossible to do,” Gold says.
So Gold quit, wrote a business plan to be a doctor who does not take insurance, hired one staff member (a nurse), and borrowed almost $400,000 to outfit a two-exam-room office next to a candy shop and café in Marblehead.
Gold may be the first physician in Massachusetts practicing under a model called direct primary care. For a flat monthly fee, Gold offers patients one-hour same-day appointments, no wait. The doctor is available 24/7 in person, at the office, at the patient’s home, via text, email or Skype.
His fee is a sliding scale based on age. It starts at $30 a month for children age 0 to 21, and caps at $125 for patients 65 years and older. Patients get 12 visits a year. Anything more is a $20-$25 charge.
Anything done in a hospital costs easily 4x what it would cost elsewhere. They milk every dime out of every test to offset their ER losses and turn an overall profit.
Some providers won’t even tell you how much something like an x-ray costs. Again, in my opinion, there are several problems in the healthcare industry… and lack of price transparency is one of them.
All the reasons you guys gave me for income inequality is wrong. Look below, still want to call me an idiot? You all blamed globalization as the single factor which I didn’t agree. You blamed education. Clearly not. Let me read more and get back to you later on.
“What we can do about the incomes crisis
The analysis of these extensive data establishes that our current problems with incomes are neither a long-term feature of the U.S. economy nor merely an after-effect of the 2008-2009 financial upheaval. Our analysis further shows that these problems also are not driven by economic impediments based on gender, race and ethnicity, or even education. To promote strong, broad based income progress again, policymakers will have to draw on both historical memory and new analysis. ”
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2015/03/05-income-growth-decline-economic-prosperity-shapiro/shapirov3.pdf
All the evidence you guys gave me for why the moon landing wasn’t fake are wrong. Look below
http://listverse.com/2012/12/28/10-reasons-the-moon-landings-could-be-a-hoax/
re: 72 – Stocks topped in China perhaps?
China’s richest man, Li Hejun, is having a really bad week.
The chairman of solar panel firm Hanergy (HNGSF) lost $15 billion on Wednesday when shares in the company plummeted 47% in Hong Kong trading — in about an hour. The company saw $18.6 billion wiped off its market value.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/21/investing/china-hanergy-stock-plunge/index.html
68 how do we set prices in any other industry? Often times procedures are routine. If the doctor doesn’t have a good idea of what his billing is for a procedure before he starts, how does he stay in business? The VAST majority of medical care is routine, and the doctor has assigned a value to his time and can bill accordingly. There are many variables and there may be perfectly acceptable reasons like a better surgeon, as to why the procedure costs more with a particular practitioner than another, the problem is we do not shop price. With price transparency everything from insurance reimbursements to setting billing rates becomes easier, it will allow the forces of capitalism to work.
lumber liquidator is a true train wreck today. Good I love the smell of a wipe out
Lets not beat around the bush, the biggest cause of healthcare costs spiraling out of control is a combination of the absolute pure inefficiency of the entire healthcare complex(From a technology standpoint they are behind even banking and realestate in adopting modern technology), this notion of billing other people to account for those who can’t pay, and greed on the part of certain practitioners. Very often the patient isn’t getting the most prudent care but rather what reimburses the best for the doctor or facility.
CNBC power lunch.
Wild runup in Denver prices, contraction in supply. Big influx of relocations from California. Even after, they highlight three listings below. LOL the taxes.
Houses are in prime relocation suburbs with direct access to downtown. For those who don’t click through ranges are as follow:
$559k, 5B/4BA, 2700 sq ft, $3200 taxes
$800k, 3/3, 4500 sq ft, $5900 taxes
$1150k, 4/4, 5400 sq ft, $10,200 taxes
http://www.zillow.com/homes/752-hughes-way,-80126_rb/
http://www.zillow.com/homes/9721-sunset-hill,-80124_rb/
http://www.zillow.com/homes/9905-south-shadow-hill,-80124_rb/
Denver broker on CNBC says any listing under $300k they don’t even bother photographing for MLS. Gone on listing weekend, multiple offers.
Interviewed one entry level buyer. Lost 10+ houses hitting the ask. Finally got one with a letter about how he grew up in neighborhood, wanted to move back, etc (grim). Still had to hit ask and waive inspection and appraisal contingencies.
[75] punkin
Skimmed it and it doesn’t strike me as terrible but I could see rather clearly that he viewed economic history through the lens of presidents and policy, and downplays or ignores the effect of external or exogenous events and trends, or explains them as an outgrowth of policy decisions. While the latter is true in part, no good economist should ever does exclusively that unless he is trying to push an agenda or policy himself.
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/05/vincent_corso_traffic_stop.html#incart_river
The incident is documented in a dramatic video and multiple police reports obtained via a public-records request. The video, taken from the dashboard of one a Robbinsville police officer, shows one officer telling Sgt. Vincent Corso, the Jersey City cop, that he is too “f***** up” to drive, while just off camera there is an apparent struggle after the officers tell Corso they plan to confiscate his gun.
News of the traffic stop first surfaced two weeks ago when Robert Cowan, the former Jersey City police chief, cited the incident in a civil lawsuit he filed against the city, Mayor Steve Fulop and Public Safety Director James Shea.
Cowan alleges in his lawsuit that he ordered an internal affairs investigation into Corso’s traffic stop over the objections of Fulop and Shea. The ex-police chief, whose allegations have been dubbed fiction by city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill, says Fulop tried to conceal the incident involving Corso, a local union official, because he wanted to curry favor with the union in advance of a possible gubernatorial run in 2017.
[71] DFENS
I absolutely agree that min wage hikes will have a deleterious effect on minority employment. But it would truly box the dems in to make the argument that the GOP is being racist by voting FOR min. wage hikes. I’d love to see the Attack Poodle make that argument. Wouldn’t be her worst.
WATCH: Jersey City cop ‘highly intoxicated’ in traffic stop, but not charged; why not?
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/05/vincent_corso_traffic_stop.html#incart_river
News of the traffic stop first surfaced two weeks ago when Robert Cowan, the former Jersey City police chief, cited the incident in a civil lawsuit he filed against the city, Mayor Steve Fulop and Public Safety Director James Shea.
Cowan alleges in his lawsuit that he ordered an internal affairs investigation into Corso’s traffic stop over the objections of Fulop and Shea. The ex-police chief, whose allegations have been dubbed fiction by city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill, says Fulop tried to conceal the incident involving Corso, a local union official, because he wanted to curry favor with the union in advance of a possible gubernatorial run in 2017.
“this notion of billing other people”
Yeah, the fact that hardly anyone sees their bill is a huge problem. Whether it’s someone with insurance, or someone without insurance (and without cash).
Patent Monopoly keeps the Manufacturers of the product protected and can sell products to what the market can take. There is no competition. One reason for the Trade deals is to keep Countries outside the US being able to copy and sell the products cheap on their market. We are protecting this manufacturers. One example is a Cancer Drug that sells $2,000 per pill in the US. India made a copy of the same drug not using the name but same chemicals and sells it for $20. The US company is suing the Indian manufacturer. India refuses because they dont see that the company copied the manufacturers patent.
In away Shapiro’s statement is correct but not to Government protected Patent Monopoly
“But mostly what we’re seeing, Shapiro says, is the inevitable result of a global marketplace that forces industry to keep its prices low and its dividends high in order to compete for customers and capital, even as fixed costs continue to rise.”
and now for something completely different . . . .
http://fox2now.com/2015/05/20/ferguson-paving-project-may-impact-michael-brown-memorial/
@pdacosta:
“It is very difficult to imagine that you can have equality of opportunity if you have large inequalities of income.”
OECD Sees Continued Rise in Growth-Harming Inequality
Two-fifths of the population of developed countries have gained little in recent decades, research body says
By PAUL HANNON
Updated May 21, 2015 5:50 a.m. ET
Two-fifths of the population of developed countries have gained little over recent decades, driving a rise in income inequality that is damaging economic growth and that can only be reversed through a wide range of government measures, including higher taxes on the rich, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Thursday.
It’s good to be above the law
86
yome,
It’s so they won’t copy it and so they won’t reimport it to the US and sell it for less. Many drug manufacturer’s voluntarily sell their products for much less elsewhere compared to the US because that’s all their markets will allow. And they’re OK with that as long as they can’t import it to countries where it sells for much much more.
No patents, no new drug development.
Very simple equation.
Take away patent protection and all the drugs you now have will eventually become ‘cheap’ but don’t expect any more advances.
I don’t suggest getting rid of patents… however, that’s not true. Less development, I’d agree with. Zero? Nope
leftwing says:
May 21, 2015 at 3:47 pm
No patents, no new drug development.
Sorry, may be overstated but not by much.
Per drug, development expenditures are north of $1B and timeline is over ten years. No company in its right mind would make that kind of investment, particularly given the failure rates, without some guarantee that the guy down the block couldn’t copy a new compound and undercut the price. The economics just don’t work. Financial suicide.
It’s why you have 52 companies crowded into statins and helping old men get it up by re-purposing angina research. Lower the cost of development (in time and dollars) and increase the probability it makes it to market, quicker. Even if the return is less than a blockbuster it is more certain. Better NPV.
As an aside, even the Feds realize it. That’s why ‘orphan’ drugs are given even better protection. Addressing diseases with small patient populations (less than 200,000) they receive a guarantee of seven years of no competition.
If I may restate what you’re saying, companies in that industry are going where the money is due to the current legal and regulatory structure. (if you agree) I think we’re saying the same thing for the most part.
God I hate wiki but they are convenient (assuming they are correct).
Interesting patent behavior data:
The Orphan Drug Act (ODA) was passed in 1983. In the preceding decade only 10 drugs were approved in the US to treat diseases designated as such.
With the additional protections by the ODA during the decade following enactment 249 new drugs treating these diseases were approved.
249 v. 10 isn’t exactly the same as ‘zero’, but close.
Joyce, I think so, we tend to agree.
Drug development cost has spiraled out of control. Pre-clinical and clinical. Pre- is more basic research and can be discovery related.
Clinical includes post-clinical (patient monitoring) and can have more regulatory and legal shade to it.
I was involved with the clinical testing company that ran Merck Mevacor studies in the late 80s. That trial IIRC encompassed nearly 30,000 patients and was one of the first required to have “Stage 4” clinicals, ie post marketing approval studies. Was crazy expensive and complicated back then in a very different environment. Can’t imagine what it is like now.
To easy to get patents for non-novel inventions or things that shouldn’t even be considered inventions. The fact that an entire industry exists to do nothing but buy patents and sue people based on those patents makes it very clear to me that too many things that are patented that shouldn’t be.
First re-write, now it’s Weird Al session-ready:
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
Ever since I was a tiny boy
I don’t want no candy
I don’t need no toy
I took a finger and my Mommy’s iPad
I touch on that thing til I got
Apps I need bad because
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
Yes, I do
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
That’s right
When I get older they think I’m a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She didn’t catch me touching my phone on the glass
Because her own phone blown up
Instagram pics of her ass
And that’s why
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
Hey, why not?
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
The boss is a jerk
And I get my fingers and my mini iPad
And I touch on that screen, then touch myself bad
Because
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
I can bang that S7
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
Hey, you wanna take a bang at it? (get your own)
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to work
I want to touch on the glass all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to touch on the glass all day
I can do this all day
The government can pay for the research just like the internet,space exploration etc and create competition. Another way is for the government buy the research. Patent takes away competition and able Companies charge what the market can take. Apple suing samsung because of same color. Even the size can be patented. Come on
The government can sell the patent from research companies. It can make money that way. It did this with air space. When it went digital it sold different airwaves to companies
Airwaves space
“The government can pay for the research just like the internet,space exploration etc and create competition. Another way is for the government buy the research.”
So much wrong here I don’t even know where to begin.
Government funded research? Has a role, not toward commercialization. The Feds would still be sequencing the genome if it weren’t for Ventner leaving NIH in frustration and founding his own company to do same. And I do thank Al Gore every day that I can type on this forum.
Government purchasing research? Six of one, half a dozen of another. If a private company needs to see ‘X’ return on a project how does that save money? Either the consumers are paying for it through the product, or the taxpayers are paying the same amount for the research. Same amount of money spent for same outcome.
yome’s ideas are usually horrible.
“Either the consumers are paying for it through the product, or the taxpayers are paying the same amount for the research. Same amount of money spent for same outcome.”
With respect to this limited subject of paying for the cost of research, business operations, and profit (irrespective of how much it is)… THE problem is the fact that the USA is subsidizing other countries as I mentioned before.
Someone please shoot me in the ass.
“THE problem is the fact that the USA is subsidizing other countries as I mentioned before.”
Very true, and with very large numbers.
How about we just let old people die?
Someone posted a stat the past few days, like 80% of medical spending is done on the post 80 crowd for the last two years of life?
Where do I sign up for the death panel? It’s just math. Eskimos and Vikings had this figured out ages ago. Instead we pay for old guys to get it up and spread disease at La Boca Vi@gra.
104
Careful. JJ might be up.
106
When you want more money to go towards your industry, simply insert the government (Medicare/Medicaid).
106,
The problem with that Stat is that thanks to medical advances, at the time the treatment is given, you don’t know that it’s the at 2 years of life. If you have a cancer treatment 50% effective, you will still end up with a lot of money spent on last to years of life, due to the unlucky 50% who die. Would you turn down cancer treatment that has a 50% chance of extending life 10 yrs?
No. If I could afford to pay for it I would not, unless it made economic sense. Sound familiar?
My point is, at what point is it not worth paying for extending the life of a person who has a terminal disease. 80? 90? 112? Factor in the quality of life or lack their of. We have a medical industry that essentially drags people on forever to suck up the last few dollars wherever they can for no logical reason.
Want to try to live forever? No problem. Pay for it. I’m guessing you will need a few more tax breaks.
Apparently Ayn did not mind sucking the government teet when it suited her life extending purposes, you will fit right in.
I used to be able to find good information from your articles.