Thursday - February 02, 2012

There He Goes Again

Saying that he is issuing administrative maneuvers for a “homeowners bill of rights” and other means to investigate and prevent abuses in the mortgage industry, Obama told an audience in Falls Church, Va., that he wants the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee refinancing for families who are current on their mortgages.

...

Obama said the bill of rights would compliment the work approved by the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

“Now that our new consumer watchdog financial agency is running at full steam, now that Richard Cordray is in as the director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, they’re moving forward on protections like this,” he said.

...

“I’ll be honest, the programs we’ve put forward didn’t work at the scale we’d hoped,” Obama said. “Not as many people have taken advantage of it as we wanted.”

The administration proposal faces a major hurdle in Congress. The program would cost between $5 billion and $10 billion, depending on participation, and the administration proposes to pay for it with a fee on large banks. The administration has tried unsuccessfully before to win support for such a tax on large banks.

Gee I wonder why. Hey Mr. Banker, whaddya say we put a new law in that forces you to make less money, and we tax you to cover the overhead costs of the whole program? No? You don’t like that? Why not?? Boo hoo, you’re so unfair! Capitalism sucks!!!

snake graphic lifted from Maggie’s Farm.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/02/2012 at 08:47 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Obama, The One •  
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   Wednesday - February 01, 2012

Just shut up already

"Seriously”, I think “unexpected” ought to be purged from the lexicon.

January: Unexpected Lack Of Job Creation!

The pace of job creation by private employers slowed more than expected in January after a sharp gain the month before, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

The private sector added 170,000 jobs last month, the ADP National Employment Report showed, shy of economists’ expectations for a gain of 185,000 jobs.

The ADP figures come ahead of the government’s more comprehensive labor market report on Friday, which includes both public and private sector employment.

That report is expected to show the economy created 150,000 jobs, and a gain in private payrolls of 170,000.

ADP also revised down December’s private payrolls to an increase of 292,000 from the previously reported 325,000.

Obama’s policies hard at work: the best economy in the world continues to flatline.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/01/2012 at 01:05 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics •  
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   Sunday - January 29, 2012

Taxing? Yes, and Vexing too.

“The reason I say that liberalism is the philosophy of the stupid is because we can look at what’s going around in the country today. If, in your own lives, you were pursuing policies that were destroying your own home ownership, that were destroying your own job, that were creating a massive, impossible debt for your family and your children in particular, you’d stop it. You wouldn’t keep doing it!

“And yet for the liberal, if it’s imposed on you—and they feel that they can be immune from it—they’re for it.

Doug Ross scores again!

Ok, Ok, demand more than a balanced budget, demand a dynamic budget that never spends more than 75% of received revenue, and immediately pays the other 25% back to our creditors. Immediately, so the money isn’t there in two weeks to be borrowed by some “emergency”. This is how real kitchen table economics works: if you’re in the hole, not only do you stop digging, you do whatever you can to put dirt back in the hole. Lean, mean, and going without. And yeah, to be on the safe side, and to prepare for those real emergencies, you’re going to have to spend no more than 60% of what comes in, leaving the extra 15% on the side, just in case. Come the end of the year, and you haven’t had a real emergency, you can take the family out for ice cream. Once. Double scoop cones only, no sundaes. And then the extra cash goes against the debt, putting a few more shovels of dirt back in the hole.

And that’s the one and only way you or I can ever pay ourselves out of debt ... so why should the government be any different?

Posted by Drew458     on 01/29/2012 at 06:15 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Economics •  
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   Monday - January 23, 2012

Let The Cheating Begin

Is it just old cynical me, or was your very first thought “here comes another Oil for Food scandal”?

BRUSSELS – The European Union formally adopted an oil embargo Monday against Iran and a freeze of the assets of the country’s central bank, part of sanctions meant to pressure the country to resume talks on its nuclear program.

Diplomats said the measures, which were adopted in Brussels by the EU’s 27 foreign ministers, include an immediate embargo on new contracts for crude oil and petroleum products, while existing contracts will be allowed to run until July.

EU diplomats are calling the measure part of a twin track approach toward Iran: increase sanctions to discourage what they suspect is Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons but emphasize at the same time the international community’s willingness to talk. Iran says its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called the embargo part of “an unprecedented set of sanctions.”

“I think this shows the resolve of the European Union on this issue,” Hague said.

Rrrriiiight. Sure, I believe it. Embargo. Uh huh. Big noise now, but it won’t even start until July. So this is just a lot of noise right now.

Except they cut a deal where poor little Greece, who lives for cheap Iranian oil, can do an end run, right? No? Wanna bet? Wanna watch Greece suddenly become a next exporter of oil when the embargo starts?

To protect Europe’s economy, struggling with a two-year-old debt crisis, foreign ministers agreed to delay full implementation of the oil embargo until July 1, an EU diplomat said.

That will give countries such as Greece, which rely heavily on Iranian oil, to find alternative sources.

Alternative sources, like old Hugo down in Venezuela, who isn’t part of the embargo and will probably act as front man for the mullahs? Or China, who, despite assurances from the Saudis that they would match production, isn’t part of the embargo?

Oh, and of course the price of oil just jumped $12 a barrel, to $111, on top of the 30¢ price jack you’ve seen at the pump over the past couple of weeks. Here we go again, $4-5 gas coming soon.

Thank God Obama killed the pipeline. As politics shuts down one international source after another (Nigeria will tip soon), it’s so reassuring to know that our Fearless Reader has done whatever he can to stop our supply from any and all other sources. Not.

The only way to make an embargo real is to do it at the point of a gun. Genuine old school naval blockade at sea, and armies along the borders. And let them do what they do best. Anything less is just an exercise in bullshit.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/23/2012 at 09:28 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • EUro-peons • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices • War On Terror •  
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   Friday - January 20, 2012

when somalis aren’t out - a - pirating

When Somalis aren’t out – a - pirating
They’re here in the former GB collecting. Could this be land piracy?
Of course, they aren’t the only ones, and membership in the EU doesn’t help this problem either.

That’s THREE BILLION ONE HUNDRED MILLION in US dollars. And trust me, bad as things are, this won’t be the end of it. 

The foreigners being paid £2billion in benefits a year including 371,000 on the dole (and 5,000 claiming £42m in illegal handouts)
· DWP fraud probe after 5,000 illegal immigrants claim £42m in handouts to which they are not entitled
· 371,000 foreign nationals on out-of-work benefits
· 6% of all benefit claimants are foreigners, study finds
By TIM SHIPMAN

More than £2billion is being claimed in benefits by foreigners every year, including thousands of illegal immigrants, figures reveal.
The Department for Work and Pensions announced a fraud investigation last night after it emerged 5,000 illegals claimed handouts worth £42million to which they are not entitled.
Ministers acted after the first-ever study of claimants’ nationality, which found 371,000 foreign nationals are on out-of-work benefits.

Taxpayers will rightly worry the rules designed to prevent benefit tourists are steadily being eroded by a meddlesome EU, leaving Britain to pick up a bigger welfare bill than it needs to.’

Somali asylum seeker Saeed Khaliif was given a £2million home in one of the country’s most exclusive neighbourhoods at the taxpayer’s expense.

The 49-year-old was granted housing benefits of almost £8,000 a month to live in the six- bedroom property with his wife Sayida and children.

The unemployed couple demanded to be moved to West Hampstead, north-west London, after deciding their home in the Midlands was inadequate.

The payments, revealed last year, are among the largest ever given in housing benefit.

Their new home has a 90ft garden and has been recently refurbished, with an en suite master bedroom and modern kitchen.

It is minutes from West Hampstead Underground station and the neighbourhood is home to comedian Stephen Fry.

It is understood Mr Khaliif has up to eight children and lives on benefits. He has not worked since arriving here three years ago.

Sought-after: The Khaliffs’ new home in West Hampstead

It is understood the family left £600 worth of damage to their old home in Coventry and did not pay the final month’s rent.
Housing benefit was recently capped at £400 a week, but the Khaliifs were able to claim more because they moved before the change came into force.
According to property sources, the house was being advertised to rent at £7,800 per month.

READ MORE AT SOURCE

We’re in the money,
We’re in the money;
We’ve got a lot of what it takes to get along!
We’re in the money,
The sky is sunny;
Old Man Depression, you are through,
You done us wrong!

We never see a headline
‘Bout breadline, today,
And when we see the landlord,
We can look that guy right in the eye .

We’re in the money
Come on, my honey
Let’s spend it, lend it,
Send it rolling around!

(From 42nd Street)

bmews readers are encouraged to see the source link, scroll down to the comments. I can imagine how those Brits feel. Not too good. Not good at all.

Posted by peiper     on 01/20/2012 at 11:28 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life • Economics • Insanity • UK •  
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   Wednesday - January 18, 2012

A SOCIALIST PARADISE FOR ALL BUT THE TAXPAYER

There are a couple of rcob items I’d like to share.  Or maybe ‘like’ isn’t exactly the correct term here. 

Pick up any paper on any day, turn on radio news (TV too I guess) and someone is going to be speaking about the economy, the cuts being made and the many protests over cuts.  Unless you are personally affected the whole subject is probably a crashing bore.  But hold on.  Maybe not.  Because what makes the subject more then interesting to me, personally, is watching this nation and culture which I had long admired, tear itself apart and commit national suicide.  I do not like that at all.
I can forgive dumb mistakes because I make them all the time.  But what I am seeing is no mistake.  I’m no economist, I never managed to balance a check book. Not once in my many years. Maths was never my subject. But it doesn’t take rocket science to know when people have been led down a garden path and lied to.  And bad as the previous left wing Labour govt. was, I don’t see great strides being made by this
coalition govt., and I don’t see evidence of the Conservative promise to alter the squatting laws.  What I see is more of that and more spending outside the country while being told cuts must be made everywhere inside.  Cept those cuts do not include all members of the ruling class. 
Among the many cuts on tap is money for things like, national parks. In this case, the beautiful Dartmoor National Park.

Folks are angry because in order to cover the shortfall caused by the cuts, for the very first time, Dartmoor authorities are talking about parking charges. Now this is just one tiny example but added to everything else going on, it’s frustrating for the camel carrying all that straw. Speaking of straws.

IMF confirms plans to expand bailout fund to around $1 trillion, as French banks face write-downs on Greek debt.
And guess what?  Britain may be forced to give 15 BILLION to the IMF.  Pretty big straw that.

Unemployment is expected to reach new highs and it’s touted that by next year, they could be the highest since 1990.

No job?  What? Me worry?
Not the filthy foreign slag who is shown here.  Of course she’s happy.  The Brit taxpayer is spending over £27,000.00 on the NON English speaking bitch.
Let me convert that to American dollars.  Rounding things out, the mommy of four (don’t know where dad is or if there is one) that comes to $41,725.00 added to the txpayer’s payload, while cuts are being made in country. Foreign aid in the multiple millions continues.

The Big Issue is a newspaper for the homeless. And oh btw. Her lack of English sure didn’t stop her from getting legal help when she was first refused ADDITIONAL money.

Romanian Big Issue seller given legal right to claim housing benefit (on top of the £25,000 she already claims)

The mother-of-four currently claims £25,547.60 in benefits each year

That will rise by a minimum of £2,600 when she receives her additional housing allowance

By LUKE SALKELD

As a Romanian immigrant living in the UK, Big Issue seller Firuta Vasile already qualified for more than £25,500 a year in benefits.

But one state handout she wasn’t entitled to was housing benefit. Until now.

Yesterday the 27-year-old mother of four was celebrating having won the extra payout – worth at least £2,600 a year – after her local council was over-ruled by a judge.

Miss Vasile, whose marital status is unknown, said the benefits money would help her pay rent on her £130,000 three-bedroomed home, while she continues to earn around £100 a week selling copies of the homelessness magazine.

Housing benefit has previously been provided to Romanian citizens only if they fit into one of three categories. They must either be registered with the Home Office to work in specific sectors such as agriculture or construction, have highly skilled jobs, or be self-employed with a National Insurance number and tax registered.

Miss Vasile has persuaded officials that she should be considered as part of the third category because she uses her own money to buy copies of the magazine in the hope of selling them at a profit.

Speaking through an interpreter, Miss Vasile said she came to the UK in 2007 to look for work, but could find only a post selling The Big Issue in Bristol.

‘I can keep half of the money I take and I usually make around £100 per week,’ she said. ‘This isn’t enough to meet all my family’s needs so I asked the council for housing benefit to help with my rent. My claim was turned down.

‘I was told that because I am Romanian I could not get benefits unless I have a job or I am in self-employment. They said work for The Big Issue didn’t count. I got legal support and was helped with an appeal.’

Miss Vasile claims £25,547.60 annually in benefits. Every week she receives £326 in tax credits, £60.50 in child benefits, £49.30 in disability living allowance and £55.50 in carers’ allowance.

She would now be entitled to around £160 a week in housing benefit – although this will be reduced to around £50 due to her other income.

Unlike other European Union nationals, Romanians and Bulgarians are subject to strict employment rules in the UK because their countries were late entrants to the EU.

Their rights will be brought into line with other European member states at the end of next year.

Let me guess.  Ah .... gee this is a hard one.  Their RIGHTS translated means more money then allowed now.
Jackpot.  For them.

Miss Vasile, whose children are 11, seven, six and two, first applied for housing benefit from Bristol City Council on November 15, 2010. It was refused six days later.

A social security tribunal ruled that she should be paid the benefits because selling The Big Issue counted as self-employment.

But the city council appealed and the case was taken to an Upper Tribunal in London last year.

Judge Mark Rowland released his written judgment on January 10 and the council has said it would not appeal again.

Miss Vasile – who has one disabled child – was represented by welfare benefits adviser Andy King, of Avon and Bristol Law Centre.

He said: ‘This is a victory for people struggling to work to support their families. Anyone who thinks selling The Big Issue on a British street in winter is a soft option should have a go themselves.’

But Chris Grayling, minister for employment, said: ‘We disagree with the court’s decision.

‘We have to remain in line with our national and international obligations. However, it is absolutely necessary to protect the taxpayer and the benefit system from possible abuse.’

SEE ALL THE PHOTOS HERE

But the problem is, all these folks have to do is ..... show up here and .....  BINGO!

Meanwhile, there’s this possibility to contend with.
Take a serious look at this.

Would you want a clipboard- wielding jobsworth telling your parents it’s time to leave their home?
By BRENDA ALMOND

Elderly people have a hard enough time in modern Britain. The private pensions crisis, the scandal of neglect and abuse in the NHS, the erosion in the value of their savings and the crippling cost of care are all increasing problems for older generations at the very time in their lives when they are at their most vulnerable.

But now an insidious new source of pressure is looming on the horizon — the growing belief within the Government that private properties belonging to the elderly should be used as a solution to Britain’s chronic housing shortage.

Houses are no longer viewed as beloved homes, safe havens, and welcome private assets for hard-pressed families. Instead, they are to be regarded as a potential source of state-run accommodation, ripe for exploitation.

That is certainly the thinking behind the scheme outlined by Conservative Housing Minister Grant Shapps, which said that local councils should help the elderly downsize to smaller properties, with their homes then rented out to families on local waiting lists.

READ ALL THE REST HERE

Posted by peiper     on 01/18/2012 at 12:24 PM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Economics • UK •  
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   Saturday - January 14, 2012

And Over They Go?

France has been stripped of its AAA credit rating for the first time as Standard & Poor’s downgraded nine countries on fears that policymakers were failing to get to grips with the eurozone debt crisis.

• S&P downgrades nine eurozone nations
• France and Austria lose prized AAA rating
• All except Germany and Slovakia face further downgrades
• German legislator: If S&P cuts France, it should also cut UK
• Bond yields rise on Greek debt writedown fears
• UK ‘teetering on brink of recession’, warns BDO

Difficulties that began more than two years ago in Greece and were initially viewed as a problem that could be contained to smaller, less significant economies in Ireland and Portugal, have now spread to once-thriving economies.

Europe’s leaders have been criticized for months for not taking decisive action to stem the crisis and S&P echoed that criticism.

“In our view, the policy initiatives taken by European policymakers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the eurozone,” S&P said in a statement announcing the downgrades.

S&P also criticized European leaders for in S&P’s view misidentifying the crisis as one stemming solely from the “profligate” fiscal policies of “peripheral countries” such as Greece, Italy and Portugal. In reality, the problems are far more systemic and won’t likely be fixed by austerity measures alone, according to S&P.

France CUT one notch to AA+
Austria CUT one notch to AA+
Italy CUT two notches to BBB+
Spain CUT two notches to A
Portugal CUT two notches to BB (junk)
Belgium AFFIRMED at AA (the country was cut in November)
Malta CUT one notch to A-
Cyprus CUT two notches to BB+ (junk)
Luxembourg AFFIRMED at AAA
Germany AFFIRMED at AAA
Slovenia CUT one notch to A+
Slovakia CUT one notch to A
Ireland AFFIRMED at BBB+
The Netherlands AFFIRMED at AAA
Estonia AFFIRMED at AA-
Finland AFFIRMED at AAA

All outlooks are negative (meaning these countries face a one-in three chance of a further downgrades [within 18 months]) EXCEPT Germany, and weirdly, Slovakia.

The first link above is a live blogging coverage of the events of the past 2 days. The second link is a news article. This link goes to a gateway news page that provides all the details you could ever want.

The EU is going over the edge. This is the time when the shit of Socialism finally hits the fan of Reality; they’ve run out of other people’s money to spend.

Maybe they’ll figure that out, along with the wisdom of not sending more than a third of their spendable cash to China or Saudi Arabia. Make stuff at home, live within your means, don’t let foreigners own your strategic assets, and limit immigration. That’s a start.

PS - how did the UK escape the downgrade flail this time around?

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2012 at 08:45 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • EUro-peons •  
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   Friday - January 06, 2012

TooDaze Stoopid Newz, Part 1

For once it wasn’t unexpected!

The nation’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly three years at the end of 2011, as a burst of private-sector hiring helped sustain what has been a positive trend lately in the job market.

The rate, which dipped to 8.5 percent in December, has dropped for four straight months. The direction of the numbers could help soften the political blow of what remains a tough economy for President Obama, who is charging into a competitive re-election year.

“It’s good news that more Americans found work last month despite a sluggish economy, but both parties must come together and do more to address the ongoing uncertainty that small businesses face,” House Speaker John Boehner [aka Crybaby] said. “Today marks the 35th consecutive month of unemployment above eight percent, and too many Americans continue to struggle to find their next job.”

The December report painted a picture of a broadly improving job market. Average hourly pay rose, providing consumers with more income to spend. The average work week lengthened, a sign that business is picking up and companies may soon need more workers. And hiring was strong across almost all major industries.
...
Manufacturing added 23,000 jobs. Transportation and warehousing added 50,000 jobs. Retailers added 28,000 jobs. Even the beleaguered construction industry added 17,000 workers.

Don’t read this part:

The drop in the rate, the lowest since February 2009, was driven by a net payroll increase of 200,000 in December. The rate also came down in part because the size of the labor force shrank by 50,000. Many who are unemployed have stopped looking for jobs. The government only counts people as unemployed if they are actively searching for jobs.

When including those groups, the broader “underemployment” rate was 15.2 percent. That’s down from 15.6 percent the previous month, but still high. The figure has dropped for three straight months.

Also please don’t think about the stats: 28,000 new jobs in retail is 14% of the gain, yet this could be almost entirely seasonal help brought on for the holidays. If half of them get let go in January, we’re right back up to over 9% again. Grain of salt? No, a bucketful.

Personally, I’m glad the unemployment situation is improving, however the numbers may be diddled. Every new job helps us get back on our feet. And I’m rather proud that the American economy can show some signs of life no matter what the Commie In Charge tries to do to it. But even if it should catch fire tomorrow, and a record setting hiring spree go on all year long, I won’t give him or his policies a milligram’s worth of credit. Any economic good news is coming in spite of the government, not because of it.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/06/2012 at 11:32 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • News-Briefs •  
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   Sunday - January 01, 2012

Another Reason New Jersey Sucks

"One of these things is not like the other ...” but all of them have something in common.

Spending a little time on the PC playing my wife’s favorite game, Let’s look at real estate.

Here are a few links to three stupendous, gigantic, homes in Greenwood Indiana, a very tony suburb of Indianapolis. Palacettes? McMansions? Call them what you will, I wouldn’t mind living in any of them.

http://www.homes.com/listing/146672855/1875_Dockside_Drive_GREENWOOD_IN_46143
http://www.homes.com/listing/153018054/4690_Waters_Edge_Wa_GREENWOOD_IN_46143
http://www.homes.com/listing/150875754/1188_Old_Eagle_Way_GREENWOOD_IN_46143

Lovely places, all of them; each home is at least 5600 square feet on at least half an acre, and most of them have every possible amenity and luxury feature built in. Nice.

Here is a condominium a couple miles from us, in the nice little town of High Bridge New Jersey.

http://www.weichert.com/40684422/?countyid=33675&ptypeid=28%2c21&maxpr=180&minbr=1&minba=1&exc=adc

There is nothing wrong with this place, nor with the condo park that it is in. I’ve been there before. They have a bit of extra parking out front, and a very small bit of grass (25 feet?) out back where a long concrete wall rises straight up 12 feet or so to carry the road behind the park. The units are around 1000 square feet, perhaps a little less. So the whole “park” is nothing more than a couple dozen units built into a little cutout between the roads, right off of downtown. Thankfully, High Bridge isn’t that busy or big of a town, so the traffic noise shouldn’t be too bad.

It should be noted that, in a healthy real estate market, if the above linked luxury homes were built in any of the nicer parts of New Jersey, they would all be in the 1.5-2.5 million dollar bracket. At least.

So, what does these McMansions in Indiana have in common with a decent but somewhat cramped condo in New Jersey? They all pay pretty much the same thing in property taxes. Actually, if you roll in the condo association fee (which is half that of other condos around here) and consider that another kind of tax, the place in NJ suffers from a much greater burden. Sure, sure, you can point to million dollar apartments in New York City that pay $20,000 in taxes per year, but are hardly better than slums. Different world; apples and oranges. All the homes linked to here are in nice suburban towns, with a moderate but not terrible commute to the nearby urban centers. My point is that NJ is being bled dry with property taxes, and this is destroying the upper-lower and lower-middle classes. $150K for a place to live isn’t too bad if you have a steady job. But the tax bite eats up a full third of your mortgage payment, making the place pretty much unaffordable.

There is no possible way that the tax burden here will be reduced either. Perhaps not ever. Too much government, too much waste, too many people with their hands out for generations.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/01/2012 at 11:27 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics •  
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   Thursday - December 29, 2011

Meanwhile, Back in the USSA

How ironic that it took the Republican Governor of the state of Maine to admit that his state is the first one provably belly up: Welfare Recipients outnumber taxpayers in Maine. Maine has never been a rich state, and they have had a lot of folks on welfare for a long time. On the other hand, there really aren’t all that many people up there, so it hasn’t amounted to much in total. Now? Maybe the numbers are getting steeper. Seems to me like there could be a really large Workfare labor force just sitting around up there, waiting for some shovels.

Paul LePage, the Republican governor of Maine, mentioned an uncomfortable truth in a radio address this month: Maine has more welfare recipients than income tax payers.

Democrats challenged the accuracy of this assertion.

The Bangor Daily News fact-checked LePage and discovered that 445,074 Mainers paid state income tax, while 453,194 received some sort of state aid.

In Maine, Medicaid, welfare, food stamps and subsidies for education have a combined enrollment of 660,000.

Not to worry, Lord O Bambam gonna save us all, right? I mean, when he’s done playing golf or back from his latest vacation. Right? Right? Oh right - Obama has a plan: let’s borrow more money to spend on my pals and their Green Energy scams:

Obama seeks $1.2 trillion debt ceiling increase

President Obama plans to ask Congress this week to raise the debt limit by $1.2 trillion, an increase that should get the government through most of next year, a Treasury department official said Tuesday.

Fortunately, though, the increase should come without the fireworks that accompanied this summer’s debt battle, as it comes in line with the deal struck back then.

That deal, signed into law in August, authorized a phased increase of the debt ceiling by up to $2.4 trillion, with $400 billion of that kicking in immediately and another $500 billion coming in September.

It’s pretty much a done deal. The thieves in DC may make all sorts of noise about cutting spending, but nothing happens. What the hell, let’s saddle the great-grandkids with even more bills to pay, and they aren’t even hardly born yet.

Not to worry, the employment situation is getting better, right? Um, well, maybe not. Even with the new and vastly reduced size of the official labor market, the numbers are creeping upwards. Hey, that’s really unexpected, isn’t it?

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, but the underlying trend continued to point to improving labor market conditions. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week’s claims data was revised up to 366,000 from the previously reported 364,000.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 375,000. A Labor Department official said that because of a public holiday on Monday, claims from seven states - including California and Virginia - had been estimated.

The four-week moving average — a better measure of trends — fell 5,750 to 375,000, the lowest level since June 2008.

So, with half a million or so folks now rolled off of the extended benefits train, the seasonally adjusted numbers can be tweaked to appear at under 9%. And the fact that the average number of new claims for unemployment is 375,000 PER WEEK is good news, because it could be higher? Really? Who is left at this point? But I digress ... yeah baby, look at that economy growing! Go go go! Why, (until next week’s unexpected upward revision) this week’s numbers all point in the right direction. Yee ha!

A question for any pilots out there: If your airplane is falling out of the sky, and the best thing you can do to remedy that is to decrease the rate of descent from 10,000 feet per minute to 2,000 feet per minute, is this still going to be good news an hour from now?

Posted by Drew458     on 12/29/2011 at 12:56 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics •  
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   Thursday - December 22, 2011

CHRISTMAS FUTURE?  not a good sign if it is.

OK first of all I think those leaders mentioned here are a bit OTT saying the stores are ashamed to sell religious cards.  But they should be for joining the oh so tacky and crude pandering to bad taste.  I might be way off base here. Maybe it’s age.  But I really see nothing witty, or clever or funny about these cards.

Last month I sent what many would think of as a crude birthday card to an old and dear friend in Franklin, Tn.  Since we’re both of an age and both experiencing those damnable things that accompany old age, the card addressed the funny side of aging (there really isn’t any) and although a bit crude it wasn’t vile and addressed head on our experiences.  It was a personal thing between friends. 

Somehow though, I see this in a different light altogether.  There’s something not right about it.  OK, free speech and free expression and some of it would be called art by some ppl. Which naturally makes it all okay.  Really?
I wonder if the ppl who produced this material would be so brave as to do a number on islam and the prophet.
Yeah. Sure.  When pigs learn to fly.

Stores ‘ashamed’ to sell religious cards… but obscene ones litter the High Street

By ANDREW LEVY
Supermarkets have become ‘ashamed’ of selling Christmas cards with religious themes, Christian leaders said yesterday.
They claimed a creeping ‘multicultural indoctrination’ had led to an aversion to Christianity, and that shops were worried about stocking cards that might offend other faiths.
The rebuke to Britain’s big four supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – came as a snapshot poll by the Daily Mail revealed the tiny number of religious cards on sale.

THE OBSCENE CARDS

Christmas cards emblazoned with obscenities are on sale across Britain’s High Streets.
One card showing a quintessential 50s family inside a wreath reads ‘Merry Christmas W*****’, while another depicts a pair of carol singers with the words ‘Merry F****** Christmas.’ A third says: ‘Merry Christmas You F****** F*****.’
In total, dozens of the explicit cards are on sale in branches of Scribbler. Each costs around £2.50.
Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute, said: ‘You don’t have to be a prude to see this is inappropriate at what is, after all, a special time for families.’
Christian Concern’s Andrea Williams added: ‘Christmas is a time when we remember the birth of Jesus, a message of hope and peace for all people.  It is a great shame if Scribbler use it to promote obscenities.’
In the branch of the store in London’s Kensington High Street, the filth-ridden cards are part of a large display containing other family-orientated festive greetings.
One shows Santa saying: ‘Shh! Nobody knows I’m gay’ while another shows him with a cigarette in hand and the words: ‘F*** off! I’m smoking.’
A third shows a cheery-looking Father Christmas with the phrase ‘YOU ain’t getting s***!’
But Scribbler’s managing director John Procter described the cards as having a ‘schoolboy’ sense of humour.
‘It’s our company policy not to use expletives or such words in a gratuitous way. If we think it makes a joke then we will use one,’ he said.
‘We do group all of these rather rude cards together and keep them at eye level so children can’t see them.
‘I understand why some people might find them offensive. But they really are our best sellers and in reality we get very few complaints.’

LOTS MORE TO SEE HERE

Could someone enlighten me on something please. You’d think at my age and having traveled a few places in the world, I might know every single swear word there is.  I’ve even made a few up induced by computer malfunctions.
But I am stymied by this in the article. Cos I haven’t come across it before.

The second line in the article says Merry Christmas W*****.  Well, I guess I’m way behind the cuss curve on this cos I can’t think of a bad word that starts with a ‘W’ can you?

What the heck. I guess this is the way of this new world. 

Posted by peiper     on 12/22/2011 at 03:14 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Holidays •  
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   Wednesday - December 14, 2011

Truly Unexpected News

Son of a bitch. I just heard this on Fox News ... I missed it yesterday ...

Data on sales of previously owned homes from 2007 through October this year will be revised down next week because of double counting, indicating a much weaker housing market than previously thought.

The National Association of Realtors said a benchmarking exercise had revealed that some properties were listed more than once and in some instances new home sales were also captured.

“All the sales and inventory data that has been reported since January 2007 is being downwardly revised. Sales were weaker than people thought,” NAR spokesman Walter Malony told Reuters.

“We’re capturing some new home data that should have been filtered out and we also discovered that some properties were being listed in more than one list.”

The benchmark revisions will be published next Wednesday and will not affect house prices.

Realtors: We Overcounted Home Sales for Five Years

... The depressed housing market is one of the key obstacles to strong economic growth and an oversupply of unsold homes on the market continues to stifle the sector.

Malony said the Realtors group had developed a new model that would allow frequent benchmarking instead of waiting 10 years for the population Census data to revise their figures.

There was some hint of this back in February, when an outside group ran the numbers and saw the problem. Looks like they were quickly hushed up ...

[02/15/2011] Decline in real estate sales greater than stated? CoreLogic: NAR methodology appears to inflate home sales by 15-20%

Statistics published by the National Association of Realtors appear to overstate sales of existing homes by 15 to 20 percent, mortgage and property data aggregator CoreLogic says in a new report that concludes home sales fell more sharply last year than previously thought.

A NAR spokesman said the CoreLogic claim “is premature at best,” and NAR will be making some benchmark revisions to its historic sales data later this year.

NAR’s figures—based on data collected from multiple listing services and large brokerages—show sales of existing homes fell 5 percent in 2010, to 4.9 million. But CoreLogic, which collects public sales records from county recorders and courts, estimates that home sales actually fell 12 percent, to 3.6 million.

The implications are not trivial: A slower rate of sales means that it will take longer to burn through unsold inventory, and a glut of homes for sale in a given market can undermine prices. CoreLogic says the unsold inventory on the market in November represented 16 months of supply, compared with NAR’s estimate of 9.5 months.

Weak sales following the expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credits, an excess supply of unsold homes, and the impact of sales of distressed homes is driving home prices down, CoreLogic said. A national, repeat-sales home-price index compiled by the company was down 5.1 percent in November from a year ago.

If that trend continues, national home prices will probably be down 10 percent year-over-year by spring, CoreLogic said.

Yeah that’s right, poo-poo their findings and sweep it under the rug. Nothing to see here, move along.

Let’s ask a simple question: How do you miscount an actual sale? A sale is a sale is a sale, right?  NAR gets its data from the various MLS systems and of course we the general public should trust the professionals and their data, yes?

In point of fact I was called all sorts of names by some of those professionals when I ran down a report sent to me in the fall of 2010 claiming that the MLS data was incorrect on sold price—a key element used when performing market analysis for clients who are interested in both buying and selling. At the time I made the audacious recommendation that nobody should trust Realtor data and should instead insist on a pull of the public records at the County level before performing any real estate transaction.

There was plenty of controversy at the time over the original claim and I spent a lot of time running down the facts, including calls to county tax authorities—and later posted a follow-up later to the original Ticker.

This issue of bad counts of sold homes is, in my opinion, much-more serious, as it’s damn hard to claim this is a result of misunderstanding between an industry professional and a naive client.

Let’s face reality here folks: Counting how many things sold is pretty simple if there’s any sort of verification and integrity in the process, especially when ownership changes are filed with county authorities in public records and thus a spot check should catch any material error almost instantly!

So I must ask—why now, some eight months after Corelogic first raised the issue?  Did it really take eight months to actually.... well..... count?  How many fingers do these people have again?

i am really starting to believe that i live inside the matrix.

Horry Clap.

Oh, and ... I could be wrong, as I’m not a Realtor, but I read on some realty forum that when a bank takes back a house in foreclosure it counts as a sale. Um, no, that’s a load of crap. But if that is part of the current “accounting method”, then even the downwardly revised figures are going to be upwardly inflated. Let’s all just join hands and say it’s time to cut the bullshit. We all already KNOW we’re in the shitter. Stop the lies, and let’s all work together to try and get out of this mess. And Socialism isn’t the answer, Professor Asshat.

PS - if the housing market is and has been 20% worse than admitted for the past 5+ years, what do you think the actual health of Fannie, Freddie, and the rest of the mortgage industry is then?

Posted by Drew458     on 12/14/2011 at 01:32 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics •  
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   Friday - December 02, 2011

Crunchy Crunchy Numbers

Unemployment Rate Falls to 8.6 Percent, Lowest Since March 2009

WASHINGTON – The unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level in more than two and a half years, as employers stepped up hiring in response to the slowly improving economy.

The Labor Department says the unemployment rate dropped sharply to 8.6 percent last month, down from 9 percent in October. The rate hasn’t been that low since March 2009, during the depths of the recession.

Employers added 120,000 jobs last month. And the previous two months were revised up to show that 72,000 more jobs added—the fourth straight month the government revised prior months higher.

Still, one reason the unemployment rate fell so much was because roughly 315,000 people gave up looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.

Sure. Sure, I believe it. Riiight. Let’s ignore how many of those newly added jobs are seasonal retail; extra help hired for the Thanksgiving to Christmas surge. Then let’s merely note in passing that the numbers are so much better perhaps because such a huge crowd of folks have finally used up their super-extended unemployment benefits. But hey, let’s completely ignore the utterly flawed counting system that considers people who no longer get an unemployment check to not be part of the workforce any longer. Nonsense. And don’t go saying that they’ve given up. They may not have; they’re just out of benefits.

You want more realistic numbers? Go to Social Security, and find out how many people between the ages of 15 and 70 have an SSN. Then have the IRS count how many folks reported an earned income. Now hit up the VA and the other side of Social Security and subtract off the folks who are listed as permanently disabled. That’s still not a perfect accounting, but it’s closer to the truth. Then watch those numbers go up and down month after month, year after year. 

Posted by Drew458     on 12/02/2011 at 09:51 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • work and the workplace •  
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   Friday - November 18, 2011

senior conservatives calls for ‘permanent, universal opt-out’ from European laws

If there is one things Europeans and most especially Germans do not want, it’s for the Brits to have any kind of referendum on any of this.
Cos it isn’t any closely held state secret that if given a clear choice .... I truly believe the majority of Brits would tell the Euros to, ‘Drop Dead.’
Well, not exactly.  Most Brits polite and would put it another way but heck, a rose by any other name .....

Merkel’s plot to scupper OUR referendum with ‘limited’ treaty change… as German colleague claims Britain will scrap the Pound and join the sinking Euro

Finance minister’s astonishing claim comes despite deepening crisis that threatens the existence of the single currency

Cameron and Merkel ignore disagreements over eurozone solution as they describe their ‘strong friendship’

German Chancellor says EU needs ‘limited treaty change’ which won’t trigger a referendum in Britain

PM was in Berlin today to discuss repatriation of EU powers

UK is pressuring Germany to allow euro bank to print more money

Senior Tory calls for ‘permanent, universal opt-out’ from European laws

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Germany’s Chancellor today denied the British people the chance for an EU referendum as as she said the eurozone crisis would be resolved without the UK’s involvement.

Angela Merkel called for a ‘limited treaty change’ for further eurozone integration - exactly as spelled out in a leaked German memo which outlines an attempt to prevent a British referendum that could lead to powers being clawed back from Brussels.

Her extraordinary announcement came on the day that finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble predicted that the UK will have to adopt the euro ‘faster than people think’, despite the ongoing crisis in the single currency.

Germany’s attempts to impose EU control on Britain, and the minister’s astonishing outburst, will have increased the tensions between David Cameron and Mrs Merkel as they met in Berlin this morning.

The leaders are have clashed over German plans for a new tax on bank transactions and treaty change to shore up eurozone finances.

But at a press conference this afternoon, the pair ignored their differences and insisted that Britain and Germany will work together in a spirit of ‘strong friendship’.

The leaders steered clear of most areas of disagreement and insisted they had had ‘very good discussions between very good friends’, but could not stop some evidence of discord slipping out.

When asked whether the European Central Bank should start printing money to guarantee eurozone debts, Mr Cameron said officials should ‘do what is necessary’ to defend the euro.

But Mrs Merkel warned that Europe’s resources were not infinite as she insisted: ‘One should not pretend to be more powerful than one really is.’

And when the pair were asked about the arguments over a European financial transactions tax, the German leader admitted they ‘did not make any progress’ on the issue.

In a blow to British hopes of a referendum on repatriating powers from Brussels, she also said that any move towards closer economic union in the eurozone would take place through ‘a limited treaty change, only for the members of the eurozone’.

This would mean that Mr Cameron could avoid fulfilling his pledge to hold a referendum on EU powers the next time Britain is required to sign up to a new treaty, and will outrage Tory backbenchers hoping to claw back sovereignty from Europe.

WHY NO REFERENDUM?
The Conservatives have long promised a referendum on repatriating powers from the EU, but have not yet delivered one.

Angela Merkel’s comments today make a referendum less likely, as her ‘limited treaty change’ will not have to be approved by countries outside the euro, including the UK.

The Coalition’s ‘referendum lock’ commits the Government to holding a public vote the next time Britain is supposed to sign up to a new treaty which would hand more power to Brussels.

But if the eurozone countries try to solve the debt crisis by closer economic integration, the UK will have no say - even though this could have a massive impact on Britain.

Although no referendum will be held, there is nothing to stop the Government from trying to repatriate powers by itself, but without a popular mandate it will be taken less seriously by other EU countries

SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 11/18/2011 at 11:35 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • EUro-peons • Judges-Courts-Lawyers • UK •  
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