(Source: USDA.)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
O God, Please Help Me Sheer the Sheeple!
The venereal New York Times reports: Believers Invest in the Gospel of Getting Rich.
Onstage before thousands of believers weighed down by debt and economic insecurity, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and their all-star lineup of “prosperity gospel” preachers delighted the crowd with anecdotes about the luxurious lives they had attained by following the Word of God.
“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” preached Mrs. Copeland, dressed in a crisp pants ensemble like those worn by C.E.O.’s.
Even in an economic downturn, preachers in the “prosperity gospel” movement are drawing sizable, adoring audiences. Their message — that if you have sufficient faith in God and the Bible and donate generously, God will multiply your offerings a hundredfold — is reassuring to many in hard times.
The preachers barely acknowledged the recession, though they did say it was no excuse to curtail giving. “Fear will make you stingy,” Mr. Copeland said.
But the offering buckets came up emptier than in some previous years, said those who have attended before.
Many in this flock do not trust banks, the news media or Washington, where the Senate Finance Committee is investigating whether the Copelands and other prosperity evangelists used donations to enrich themselves and abused their tax-exempt status. But they trust the Copelands, the movement’s current patriarch and matriarch, who seem to embody prosperity with their robust health and abundance of children and grandchildren who have followed them into the ministry.
At the convention, the preachers — who also included Jesse Duplantis and Jerry Savelle — sprinkled their sermons with put-downs of the government, an overhaul of health care, public schools, the news media and other churches, many of which condemn prosperity preaching.
But mostly the preachers were working mightily to remind the crowd that they are God’s elect. “While everybody else is having a famine,” said Mr. Savelle, a Texas televangelist, “his covenant people will be having the best of times.”
“Any time a worried thought about money pops up in your mind,” Mr. Savelle continued, “the next thing you do is sow”: drop money, like seeds, in “good ground” like the preachers’ ministries. “Stop worrying, start sowing,” he added, his voice rising. “That’s God’s stimulus package for you.”
At that, hundreds streamed down the aisles to the stage, laying envelopes, cash and coins on the carpeted steps.
This is fucking awesome! It's like a scene out of Brazil or India or Italy.
BWAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Onstage before thousands of believers weighed down by debt and economic insecurity, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and their all-star lineup of “prosperity gospel” preachers delighted the crowd with anecdotes about the luxurious lives they had attained by following the Word of God.
“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” preached Mrs. Copeland, dressed in a crisp pants ensemble like those worn by C.E.O.’s.
Even in an economic downturn, preachers in the “prosperity gospel” movement are drawing sizable, adoring audiences. Their message — that if you have sufficient faith in God and the Bible and donate generously, God will multiply your offerings a hundredfold — is reassuring to many in hard times.
The preachers barely acknowledged the recession, though they did say it was no excuse to curtail giving. “Fear will make you stingy,” Mr. Copeland said.
But the offering buckets came up emptier than in some previous years, said those who have attended before.
Many in this flock do not trust banks, the news media or Washington, where the Senate Finance Committee is investigating whether the Copelands and other prosperity evangelists used donations to enrich themselves and abused their tax-exempt status. But they trust the Copelands, the movement’s current patriarch and matriarch, who seem to embody prosperity with their robust health and abundance of children and grandchildren who have followed them into the ministry.
At the convention, the preachers — who also included Jesse Duplantis and Jerry Savelle — sprinkled their sermons with put-downs of the government, an overhaul of health care, public schools, the news media and other churches, many of which condemn prosperity preaching.
But mostly the preachers were working mightily to remind the crowd that they are God’s elect. “While everybody else is having a famine,” said Mr. Savelle, a Texas televangelist, “his covenant people will be having the best of times.”
“Any time a worried thought about money pops up in your mind,” Mr. Savelle continued, “the next thing you do is sow”: drop money, like seeds, in “good ground” like the preachers’ ministries. “Stop worrying, start sowing,” he added, his voice rising. “That’s God’s stimulus package for you.”
At that, hundreds streamed down the aisles to the stage, laying envelopes, cash and coins on the carpeted steps.
This is fucking awesome! It's like a scene out of Brazil or India or Italy.
BWAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Shoot the Greens
Some totally ding-dong journal from Ohio reports: Double-digit unemployment hits 41 markets.
Forty-one of the nation’s 100 major labor markets, including Dayton at 12.1 percent, are now saddled with double-digit unemployment rates, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Forty-one of the nation’s 100 major labor markets, including Dayton at 12.1 percent, are now saddled with double-digit unemployment rates, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Delusional, Retarded or Both?
Yahoo! reports: A superstar real estate agent plots his comeback.
It's the perfect Miami morning at Carlos Justo's penthouse -- warm and bright, with luxury yachts powering through the sparkling blue Atlantic Ocean some 30 stories below.
Justo, a 53-year-old real estate agent, has been awake since 3:30 a.m. but he shows no sign of fatigue. His eyes scan back and forth, from the high rise condos, to the water, and back to the condos.
An assistant, sitting at a glass table with her back to the stunning view, is talking business. She wants to know whether he will receive any commissions or checks anytime soon.
"Right now, we don't have any money," Justo says. He continues talking. Fast. Pacing back and forth, he gazes out the window.
In fact, Justo is $20 million in debt. He is five months into a massive bankruptcy filing. The IRS is after him for $6 million.
And yet, he dreams.
Like so many of our modern titans -- think Donald Trump -- he inspires both admiration and contempt. Greed, he acknowledges, fueled his rise. Hubris ensured his fall.
Next time, he says, it will all be different.
In 2005, Justo was worth $20 million. He and the agents who worked for him sold $200 million in real estate in a single year. He was also the owner of 12 multimillion dollar estates in the county's most exclusive enclaves; he intended to eventually flip them and make a profit. Justo and his business partner, Irving Padron, were awarded a prestigious Sotheby's franchise and opened its offices in one of the few historic mansions in downtown Miami.
Justo spent $1,000 on sushi lunches, $3,000 a month on life coaching. He didn't accumulate many things -- he enjoyed sparsely decorated, all-white furniture and rooms -- and freely let his friends stay in the various homes he owned.
For three years, Justo had tried to avoid filing Chapter 7, even borrowing $15,000 from his 85-year-old mother and $75,000 from his 83-year-old aunt to pay his monthly debts. But he was underwater on too many mortgages. There were other creditors, too, including the IRS, which claimed that he should have filed his taxes in the United States, not in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which Justo says is his principal residence.
Justo had no savings, no stocks, no bonds.
His checking account hit bottom at $49.73. His financial picture was summed up in one dry sentence in the bankruptcy filing: "At the current time, the debtor has no income due to the state of the real estate market."
"In the past, I created my own hell. I needed to be brought to my knees," he says. "Whatever you believe, you create. Today, I live in a world with all possibilities."
But for Justo, those possibilities still include luxury. "I've been rich and I've been poor, and I like being rich a lot better," he says.
He says that after he pays his family back, he wants a yacht. And maybe a personal chef.
Which begs the question: Has he really learned from his mistakes?
Next up: Justo gives handjobs by the Marina for $1. Cash only!
It's the perfect Miami morning at Carlos Justo's penthouse -- warm and bright, with luxury yachts powering through the sparkling blue Atlantic Ocean some 30 stories below.
Justo, a 53-year-old real estate agent, has been awake since 3:30 a.m. but he shows no sign of fatigue. His eyes scan back and forth, from the high rise condos, to the water, and back to the condos.
An assistant, sitting at a glass table with her back to the stunning view, is talking business. She wants to know whether he will receive any commissions or checks anytime soon.
"Right now, we don't have any money," Justo says. He continues talking. Fast. Pacing back and forth, he gazes out the window.
In fact, Justo is $20 million in debt. He is five months into a massive bankruptcy filing. The IRS is after him for $6 million.
And yet, he dreams.
Like so many of our modern titans -- think Donald Trump -- he inspires both admiration and contempt. Greed, he acknowledges, fueled his rise. Hubris ensured his fall.
Next time, he says, it will all be different.
In 2005, Justo was worth $20 million. He and the agents who worked for him sold $200 million in real estate in a single year. He was also the owner of 12 multimillion dollar estates in the county's most exclusive enclaves; he intended to eventually flip them and make a profit. Justo and his business partner, Irving Padron, were awarded a prestigious Sotheby's franchise and opened its offices in one of the few historic mansions in downtown Miami.
Justo spent $1,000 on sushi lunches, $3,000 a month on life coaching. He didn't accumulate many things -- he enjoyed sparsely decorated, all-white furniture and rooms -- and freely let his friends stay in the various homes he owned.
For three years, Justo had tried to avoid filing Chapter 7, even borrowing $15,000 from his 85-year-old mother and $75,000 from his 83-year-old aunt to pay his monthly debts. But he was underwater on too many mortgages. There were other creditors, too, including the IRS, which claimed that he should have filed his taxes in the United States, not in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which Justo says is his principal residence.
Justo had no savings, no stocks, no bonds.
His checking account hit bottom at $49.73. His financial picture was summed up in one dry sentence in the bankruptcy filing: "At the current time, the debtor has no income due to the state of the real estate market."
"In the past, I created my own hell. I needed to be brought to my knees," he says. "Whatever you believe, you create. Today, I live in a world with all possibilities."
But for Justo, those possibilities still include luxury. "I've been rich and I've been poor, and I like being rich a lot better," he says.
He says that after he pays his family back, he wants a yacht. And maybe a personal chef.
Which begs the question: Has he really learned from his mistakes?
Next up: Justo gives handjobs by the Marina for $1. Cash only!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Various D-words All in Tandem
The New York Times reports: When Debtors Decide to Default.
Melissa Birks is being stalked. Her cellphone keeps ringing, always from a caller marked “unknown.” She says she knows it is her credit card company wondering why she stopped making payments. Ms. Birks, who owes $28,830, has nothing to say.
Those on the front lines of the debt industry say there is a small but increasingly noticeable group of strapped consumers who, like Ms. Birks, are deciding they will simply stop paying. After loading up on debt eagerly provided by the card companies during the boom times, these people now find themselves trapped in an endless cycle where they are charged interest on interest and fees upon fees while the lenders get government bailouts.
The lending industry term for these people is “ruthless defaulters.” In a miserable economy where paychecks, savings and expectations are all diminished, their numbers will surely grow.
DUHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
They should default. It's the only rational solution for them and their personal finances. Creative default is the name of the game in the US bubble economy and they should do their bit.
Oh, and surely all of y'all realize that default = deflation, right?
Melissa Birks is being stalked. Her cellphone keeps ringing, always from a caller marked “unknown.” She says she knows it is her credit card company wondering why she stopped making payments. Ms. Birks, who owes $28,830, has nothing to say.
Those on the front lines of the debt industry say there is a small but increasingly noticeable group of strapped consumers who, like Ms. Birks, are deciding they will simply stop paying. After loading up on debt eagerly provided by the card companies during the boom times, these people now find themselves trapped in an endless cycle where they are charged interest on interest and fees upon fees while the lenders get government bailouts.
The lending industry term for these people is “ruthless defaulters.” In a miserable economy where paychecks, savings and expectations are all diminished, their numbers will surely grow.
DUHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
They should default. It's the only rational solution for them and their personal finances. Creative default is the name of the game in the US bubble economy and they should do their bit.
Oh, and surely all of y'all realize that default = deflation, right?
We Haven't Had a Flashy Suicide in a While ...
Reuters reports: Kuwait Financier Facing U.S. Fraud Suit Found Dead.
A brash Kuwaiti financier facing a fraud suit by U.S. authorities was found dead Sunday in an apparent suicide that sent shockwaves through the Gulf Arab financial sector.
A security source told Reuters that Hazem Al-Braikan appeared to have died from a single gunshot wound to the side of the head, while a policeman standing outside Braikan's house said the well-connected financier, 37, had shot himself.
Braikan was the chief executive of Al Raya Investment, which is 10 percent owned by Citigroup Inc, and had been at the center of a financial scandal that erupted last week.
BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
A brash Kuwaiti financier facing a fraud suit by U.S. authorities was found dead Sunday in an apparent suicide that sent shockwaves through the Gulf Arab financial sector.
A security source told Reuters that Hazem Al-Braikan appeared to have died from a single gunshot wound to the side of the head, while a policeman standing outside Braikan's house said the well-connected financier, 37, had shot himself.
Braikan was the chief executive of Al Raya Investment, which is 10 percent owned by Citigroup Inc, and had been at the center of a financial scandal that erupted last week.
BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
More Californication (Are We Bored Yet?)
The venereal New York Times reports: California Pension Fund Hopes Riskier Bets Will Restore Its Health.
Big as California’s budget woes are today, so are the problems lurking in its biggest pension fund.
The fund, known as Calpers, lost nearly $60 billion in the financial markets last year. Though it has more than enough money to make its payments to retirees for many years, it has a serious long-term shortfall. Meanwhile, local governments in the state are pleading poverty and saying they cannot make the contributions that would be needed to shore it up.
Mr. Dear wants to embrace some potentially high-risk investments in hopes of higher returns.
Calpers has a lot riding on Mr. Dear’s effort to achieve above-market performance. The fund just posted a loss of 23 percent, the worst in its history. That leaves it 66 percent funded, the lowest level in two decades, meaning it has only $66 on hand for every $100 in benefits promised to 1.6 million California public employees and their families.
They were so astute that they lost 23% in a year. Now, they are so astute that they want to "embrace" riskier strategies.
The EE will provide a simple translation:
Dear California-Taxpayer, you are fucked!
Big as California’s budget woes are today, so are the problems lurking in its biggest pension fund.
The fund, known as Calpers, lost nearly $60 billion in the financial markets last year. Though it has more than enough money to make its payments to retirees for many years, it has a serious long-term shortfall. Meanwhile, local governments in the state are pleading poverty and saying they cannot make the contributions that would be needed to shore it up.
Mr. Dear wants to embrace some potentially high-risk investments in hopes of higher returns.
Calpers has a lot riding on Mr. Dear’s effort to achieve above-market performance. The fund just posted a loss of 23 percent, the worst in its history. That leaves it 66 percent funded, the lowest level in two decades, meaning it has only $66 on hand for every $100 in benefits promised to 1.6 million California public employees and their families.
They were so astute that they lost 23% in a year. Now, they are so astute that they want to "embrace" riskier strategies.
The EE will provide a simple translation:
Dear California-Taxpayer, you are fucked!
Monday, July 06, 2009
We're Still Californicating, Baby!
Reuters reports: As California struggles, Fitch cuts debt rating.
California suffered a new setback in its financial crisis on Monday when Fitch Ratings cut its rating on the state's general obligation debt to just two notches above junk status.
Fitch cut its rating on California's long-term bonds to "BBB," two notches above speculative grade, citing the state's budget and cash crisis. The state last week started issuing "IOU" promissory notes to pay for some bills in order to conserve cash.
AAA to BBB. That was just grade inflation!
How long before it's CCC?
California suffered a new setback in its financial crisis on Monday when Fitch Ratings cut its rating on the state's general obligation debt to just two notches above junk status.
Fitch cut its rating on California's long-term bonds to "BBB," two notches above speculative grade, citing the state's budget and cash crisis. The state last week started issuing "IOU" promissory notes to pay for some bills in order to conserve cash.
AAA to BBB. That was just grade inflation!
How long before it's CCC?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Bair Bitch Project
The WSJ reports: FDIC's Bair Cancels Listing After Cutting Home Price.
The property slump is hitting home for Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. -- one of the few regulators who saw trouble in the housing market before the bust.
Last week, Ms. Bair removed her 14-room colonial in Amherst, Mass., from the market after cutting its sale price by $100,000 from an initial $795,000 in April, according to the listing sheet.
Ms. Bair, and her husband, Scott P. Cooper, paid $355,000 for the house in 2002. In "02 and "03 they received building permits valued at $89,500 to renovate the 1860s house., including new roofing and a counter-current basement pool.
After listing the five-bedroom property in April, the couple cut the price to $745,000 less than three weeks later, then reduced it again before withdrawing the listing. Ms. Bair's real-estate agent, Stephen Feldman, of Prudential Sawicki Real Estate, declined comment. An FDIC spokesman said Ms. Bair decided to remove the listing and wait for the market to improve on the advice of her real-estate agent.
We've met this bitch before, of course (here and here.) She is stupider than a rock for which one must actually apologize to the rock.
Needless to say, these are the people regulating the financial industry which tells you something about their "acute" financial acumen.
The EE will bet even money that the house sells for less than $355K before 2013. The cow in question is literally that dumb!
The property slump is hitting home for Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. -- one of the few regulators who saw trouble in the housing market before the bust.
Last week, Ms. Bair removed her 14-room colonial in Amherst, Mass., from the market after cutting its sale price by $100,000 from an initial $795,000 in April, according to the listing sheet.
Ms. Bair, and her husband, Scott P. Cooper, paid $355,000 for the house in 2002. In "02 and "03 they received building permits valued at $89,500 to renovate the 1860s house., including new roofing and a counter-current basement pool.
After listing the five-bedroom property in April, the couple cut the price to $745,000 less than three weeks later, then reduced it again before withdrawing the listing. Ms. Bair's real-estate agent, Stephen Feldman, of Prudential Sawicki Real Estate, declined comment. An FDIC spokesman said Ms. Bair decided to remove the listing and wait for the market to improve on the advice of her real-estate agent.
We've met this bitch before, of course (here and here.) She is stupider than a rock for which one must actually apologize to the rock.
Needless to say, these are the people regulating the financial industry which tells you something about their "acute" financial acumen.
The EE will bet even money that the house sells for less than $355K before 2013. The cow in question is literally that dumb!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
How Many Days Since We Last Californicated?
The Washington Post recounts: Calif. Aid Request Spurned By U.S.
The Obama administration has turned back pleas for emergency aid from one of the biggest remaining threats to the economy -- the state of California.
Top state officials have gone hat in hand to the administration, armed with dire warnings of a fast-approaching "fiscal meltdown" caused by a budget shortfall. Concern has grown inside the White House in recent weeks as California's fiscal condition has worsened, leading to high-level administration meetings. But federal officials are worried that a bailout of California would set off a cascade of demands from other states.
After a series of meetings, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, top White House economists Lawrence Summers and Christina Romer, and other senior officials have decided that California could hold on a little longer and should get its budget in order rather than rely on a federal bailout.
Let us recap the situation.
California Legislature to California Voters: Fuck you!
California Voters to California Legislature: Fuck you!
Candy-Crappin' Unicorn™ to California: Fuck you!
Lovely.
The Obama administration has turned back pleas for emergency aid from one of the biggest remaining threats to the economy -- the state of California.
Top state officials have gone hat in hand to the administration, armed with dire warnings of a fast-approaching "fiscal meltdown" caused by a budget shortfall. Concern has grown inside the White House in recent weeks as California's fiscal condition has worsened, leading to high-level administration meetings. But federal officials are worried that a bailout of California would set off a cascade of demands from other states.
After a series of meetings, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, top White House economists Lawrence Summers and Christina Romer, and other senior officials have decided that California could hold on a little longer and should get its budget in order rather than rely on a federal bailout.
Let us recap the situation.
California Legislature to California Voters: Fuck you!
California Voters to California Legislature: Fuck you!
Candy-Crappin' Unicorn™ to California: Fuck you!
Lovely.
Alert All Battle Stations! Coffee Bubble Collapses
The WSJ reports: Retailers Head for Exits in Detroit.
They call this the Motor City, but you have to leave town to buy a Chrysler or a Jeep.
Borders Inc. was founded 40 miles away, but the only one of the chain's bookstores here closed this month. And Starbucks Corp., famous for saturating U.S. cities with its storefronts, has only four left in this city of 900,000 after closures last summer.
More Starsucks in Times Square than all of Detroit! Isn't there a joke in there somewhere?
And needing to leave town to buy a Detroitdisaster car is just too funny!
They call this the Motor City, but you have to leave town to buy a Chrysler or a Jeep.
Borders Inc. was founded 40 miles away, but the only one of the chain's bookstores here closed this month. And Starbucks Corp., famous for saturating U.S. cities with its storefronts, has only four left in this city of 900,000 after closures last summer.
More Starsucks in Times Square than all of Detroit! Isn't there a joke in there somewhere?
And needing to leave town to buy a Detroit
Monday, June 15, 2009
Protecting Your Family
The Orlando Sentinel reports: 4 dead in murder-suicide in Heathrow.
A man shot and killed his wife and two children, then turned the gun on himself inside their upscale Heathrow home, Seminole County sheriff's officials said today.
Deputies identified the victims of the murder-suicide as John Dillon Wood, 41; Cynthia Wood, 40; Aubrey Wood, 12; and Dillon Wood, 10. Their bodies were found today inside their Trentwood Court home in the Lakeside subdivision.
"[Wood] apparently shot his entire family," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said. "It's a huge tragedy. There's no other way to describe it."
Eslinger said the family was having financial issues.
Neighbor Ed Evans said John Wood had worked at Lowe's home improvement store, but more recently had been working for Dick's Sporting Goods in Melbourne.
Cynthia Wood also recently lost her job, said Evans, who described them as a "nice couple."
The media is not allowed into the gated community, but aerial images from televised newscasts showed several deputy patrol cars parked outside the home.
Please note that they lived in a "gated" community.
The "gated" community is supposed to protect "the children" from harm (read: blatant racism and anti-Semitism up the wazoo!)
Pity the children weren't "gated" from their parents' financial stupidity!
Who "gates" the "gaters"?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
A man shot and killed his wife and two children, then turned the gun on himself inside their upscale Heathrow home, Seminole County sheriff's officials said today.
Deputies identified the victims of the murder-suicide as John Dillon Wood, 41; Cynthia Wood, 40; Aubrey Wood, 12; and Dillon Wood, 10. Their bodies were found today inside their Trentwood Court home in the Lakeside subdivision.
"[Wood] apparently shot his entire family," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said. "It's a huge tragedy. There's no other way to describe it."
Eslinger said the family was having financial issues.
Neighbor Ed Evans said John Wood had worked at Lowe's home improvement store, but more recently had been working for Dick's Sporting Goods in Melbourne.
Cynthia Wood also recently lost her job, said Evans, who described them as a "nice couple."
The media is not allowed into the gated community, but aerial images from televised newscasts showed several deputy patrol cars parked outside the home.
Please note that they lived in a "gated" community.
The "gated" community is supposed to protect "the children" from harm (read: blatant racism and anti-Semitism up the wazoo!)
Pity the children weren't "gated" from their parents' financial stupidity!
Who "gates" the "gaters"?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Californication (in perspective)
A friend provided the following analysis:
California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.
Population of California = 36M
Percentage below 18 = 26%
Percentage above 65 = 11%
(Source: Census Quickfacts.)
There are 22 million productive adults which means they need roughly $1,000 per head in taxes!
To fund those taxes, the productive capacity of those 22 million adults has to be much much higher. And most of them couldn't even write you a $100 check tomorrow morning!
How do you say `fucked' in Californese?
California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.
Population of California = 36M
Percentage below 18 = 26%
Percentage above 65 = 11%
(Source: Census Quickfacts.)
There are 22 million productive adults which means they need roughly $1,000 per head in taxes!
To fund those taxes, the productive capacity of those 22 million adults has to be much much higher. And most of them couldn't even write you a $100 check tomorrow morning!
How do you say `fucked' in Californese?
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The Countdown Begins
Reuters reports: California nears financial "meltdown" as revenues tumble.
California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.
Underscoring the severity of California's cash crisis, Controller John Chiang, who has previously warned the state's government risks running out of cash without a budget deal, said revenues in May fell by $1.14 billon, or 17.7 percent, from a year earlier.
"Without immediate solutions from the governor and legislature, we are less than 50 days away from a meltdown of state government," Chiang said in a statement.
California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.
Underscoring the severity of California's cash crisis, Controller John Chiang, who has previously warned the state's government risks running out of cash without a budget deal, said revenues in May fell by $1.14 billon, or 17.7 percent, from a year earlier.
"Without immediate solutions from the governor and legislature, we are less than 50 days away from a meltdown of state government," Chiang said in a statement.
Well, Hello There!
Bloomberg reports: Option ARMs Threaten U.S. Housing Rebound as 2011 Resets Peak .
Shirley Breitmaier’s mortgage payment started out at $98 when she refinanced her three-bedroom home in Galt, California, in 2007. The 73-year-old widow may see it jump to $3,500 a month in two years.
Breitmaier took out a payment-option adjustable rate mortgage, a loan popular during the housing boom for its low minimum payments before resetting at higher costs later.
Option ARM borrowers hit with unaffordable monthly payments are another threat to the housing recovery and the economy, said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in Philadelphia. Owners who surrender properties to the bank rather than make higher payments for homes that have plummeted in value will further depress real estate prices and add to the inventory of properties on the market, she said.
“The option ARM recasts will drive up the foreclosure supply, undermining the recovery in the housing market,” Wachter said in an interview. “The option ARMs will be part of the reason that the path to recovery will be long and slow.”
Option ARM recasts will mean more pain for California, the state with the most foreclosures in the U.S.
Well, DUH!!! Those morons couldn't afford the house in the first place. That's the whole point of these absurd exploding Option-ARM's.
And there's only one "solution" - either earn more income, or house prices fall steeply.
The solution is left as an easy exercise to the reader.
Shirley Breitmaier’s mortgage payment started out at $98 when she refinanced her three-bedroom home in Galt, California, in 2007. The 73-year-old widow may see it jump to $3,500 a month in two years.
Breitmaier took out a payment-option adjustable rate mortgage, a loan popular during the housing boom for its low minimum payments before resetting at higher costs later.
Option ARM borrowers hit with unaffordable monthly payments are another threat to the housing recovery and the economy, said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in Philadelphia. Owners who surrender properties to the bank rather than make higher payments for homes that have plummeted in value will further depress real estate prices and add to the inventory of properties on the market, she said.
“The option ARM recasts will drive up the foreclosure supply, undermining the recovery in the housing market,” Wachter said in an interview. “The option ARMs will be part of the reason that the path to recovery will be long and slow.”
Option ARM recasts will mean more pain for California, the state with the most foreclosures in the U.S.
Well, DUH!!! Those morons couldn't afford the house in the first place. That's the whole point of these absurd exploding Option-ARM's.
And there's only one "solution" - either earn more income, or house prices fall steeply.
The solution is left as an easy exercise to the reader.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!
The New York Daily News reports: City turns upscale building in Crown Heights into homeless shelter.
Granite countertops. Terraces. Marble bathrooms. Walk-in closets.
The homeless are livin' large in Brooklyn.
The city is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to rent luxury condos in a CCity officials said the condos - which couldn't attract buyers in the fizzled housing market - are part of an effort to help an "unprecedented" number of homeless families who have ended up on the street because of the tough economy.
Units priced at $350,000.
Neighbors were furious the 67-unit building on East New York Ave., where apartments were supposed to sell for $250,000 to $350,000, has been turned into a shelter.
PUNK'D!!!!!
And that's why, muchachos y muchachas, it's a bad idea to buy from a builder during a bubble.
BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHH!!!
Granite countertops. Terraces. Marble bathrooms. Walk-in closets.
The homeless are livin' large in Brooklyn.
The city is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to rent luxury condos in a CCity officials said the condos - which couldn't attract buyers in the fizzled housing market - are part of an effort to help an "unprecedented" number of homeless families who have ended up on the street because of the tough economy.
Units priced at $350,000.
Neighbors were furious the 67-unit building on East New York Ave., where apartments were supposed to sell for $250,000 to $350,000, has been turned into a shelter.
PUNK'D!!!!!
And that's why, muchachos y muchachas, it's a bad idea to buy from a builder during a bubble.
BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHH!!!
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
In Which Turbo-Tax Timmay Still Can't Manage Econ 101
We've already talked about Turbo-Tax Timmay and his Larchmont, NY house.
Here's an update.
The real estate market's troubles are hitting close to home for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
After reducing the price on his house in a tony New York City suburb to less than he paid for it, Geithner still couldn't sell and recently rented it out instead, according to real estate agents familiar with the deal.
Geithner put his five-bedroom Tudor near leafy Larchmont on the market for $1.635 million in February, after heading to Washington for his job as the nation's top economic official.
A few weeks after the asking price was dropped to $1.575 million, the home was rented for $7,500 a month on May 21, said the agents, Scott Stiefvater of Stiefvater Real Estate and Debbie Meiliken of Keller Williams Realty New York.
Neither was directly involved in the rental; the name of the broker and agency that arranged it were not immediately available.
Although $7,500 might seem like a lot of rent, it probably falls a bit short of the monthly mortgage payments on the Geithners' two loans totaling $1.25 million, plus $27,000 a year in property taxes.
Records show Geithner and his wife, Carole Sonnenfeld Geithner, paid $1.602 million for the home in 2004.
And this man is the Secretary of the Treasury. He can't do basic financial literacy on his own home!
No wonder the Chinese students are laughing at him.
TIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!
Here's an update.
The real estate market's troubles are hitting close to home for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
After reducing the price on his house in a tony New York City suburb to less than he paid for it, Geithner still couldn't sell and recently rented it out instead, according to real estate agents familiar with the deal.
Geithner put his five-bedroom Tudor near leafy Larchmont on the market for $1.635 million in February, after heading to Washington for his job as the nation's top economic official.
A few weeks after the asking price was dropped to $1.575 million, the home was rented for $7,500 a month on May 21, said the agents, Scott Stiefvater of Stiefvater Real Estate and Debbie Meiliken of Keller Williams Realty New York.
Neither was directly involved in the rental; the name of the broker and agency that arranged it were not immediately available.
Although $7,500 might seem like a lot of rent, it probably falls a bit short of the monthly mortgage payments on the Geithners' two loans totaling $1.25 million, plus $27,000 a year in property taxes.
Records show Geithner and his wife, Carole Sonnenfeld Geithner, paid $1.602 million for the home in 2004.
And this man is the Secretary of the Treasury. He can't do basic financial literacy on his own home!
No wonder the Chinese students are laughing at him.
TIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!
Choo Choo - All Aboard the Schadenfreude Special!
The WSJ reports: From Ordering Steak and Lobster, to Serving It.
Carlos Araya used to order lobster, filet mignon and $200 bottles of red wine at the Palm Restaurant in midtown Manhattan.
Now, he seats customers at its Tribeca branch.
Mr. Araya, 38 years old, lost his job in 2007 as a crude oil trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange. After visiting dozens of headhunters with no luck, he applied in August 2008 to be a host at the Palm to support his wife, two young daughters and mortgage payments. His salary has plunged from $200,000 to $25,000.
Last month, for the first time, the Arayas didn't make a mortgage payment. Their savings are almost depleted. The mortgage, taxes and fees for the family's condo cost $6,200. Combined, he and Denise bring in $4,000 a month. Three months ago, he and his wife applied to restructure their mortgage. The bank told them it is still processing the request. They fear foreclosure and bankruptcy.
Mr. Araya, the son of a cab driver, grew up in a working-class neighborhood in nearby Queens. Like thousands of New Yorkers, he used a Wall Street job to vault into a comfortable lifestyle that included his apartment -- bought for $960,000 four years ago -- in Manhattan's Battery Park City neighborhood and family vacations to Cabo San Lucas, Disneyland and Las Vegas.
The Arayas purchased the condo in 2005 with a 20% down payment and a pre-construction price. The proximity of the two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment to the trading pit allowed Mr. Araya to spend more time with his family and less time commuting. Ms. Araya diligently managed the family budget with Excel charts to ensure that they had no credit card debt, good credit histories even an emergency fund saved over five years that is now depleted. Mr. Araya says he would be lucky to find a buyer and break even on the apartment now.
$960K for a two-bedroom.
Carrying cost = $6,200
Monthly income = $4,000
Stupid is as stupid does.
Carlos Araya used to order lobster, filet mignon and $200 bottles of red wine at the Palm Restaurant in midtown Manhattan.
Now, he seats customers at its Tribeca branch.
Mr. Araya, 38 years old, lost his job in 2007 as a crude oil trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange. After visiting dozens of headhunters with no luck, he applied in August 2008 to be a host at the Palm to support his wife, two young daughters and mortgage payments. His salary has plunged from $200,000 to $25,000.
Last month, for the first time, the Arayas didn't make a mortgage payment. Their savings are almost depleted. The mortgage, taxes and fees for the family's condo cost $6,200. Combined, he and Denise bring in $4,000 a month. Three months ago, he and his wife applied to restructure their mortgage. The bank told them it is still processing the request. They fear foreclosure and bankruptcy.
Mr. Araya, the son of a cab driver, grew up in a working-class neighborhood in nearby Queens. Like thousands of New Yorkers, he used a Wall Street job to vault into a comfortable lifestyle that included his apartment -- bought for $960,000 four years ago -- in Manhattan's Battery Park City neighborhood and family vacations to Cabo San Lucas, Disneyland and Las Vegas.
The Arayas purchased the condo in 2005 with a 20% down payment and a pre-construction price. The proximity of the two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment to the trading pit allowed Mr. Araya to spend more time with his family and less time commuting. Ms. Araya diligently managed the family budget with Excel charts to ensure that they had no credit card debt, good credit histories even an emergency fund saved over five years that is now depleted. Mr. Araya says he would be lucky to find a buyer and break even on the apartment now.
$960K for a two-bedroom.
Carrying cost = $6,200
Monthly income = $4,000
Stupid is as stupid does.
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