Wednesday, September 30, 2009
I Did Not Mean To Become A Polanski Blogger
I didn't, because I figured there would be various arguments people would make, honestly or not, about judicial conduct and legal procedure, or whether this is really serving justice, or whatever, and all that's fine. I don't much care and and prefer to occupy my beautiful mind with different things. I really didn't expect that people would be suggesting the little slut wanted it or, that because Polanski's a Daddy he's entitled to a get out of jail free card for raping someone else's kid.
I think our society has become a bit hysterical about teen sexuality, and that age limits and punishments for statutory rape have, in some states, started to get a bit exteme even if such relationships are inappropriate.
But the undisputed facts of this case are that she was given booze and drugs and raped. There may be other procedural legal issues as I said, but I really can't believe people are minimizing what happened. What is wrong with these people?
I think our society has become a bit hysterical about teen sexuality, and that age limits and punishments for statutory rape have, in some states, started to get a bit exteme even if such relationships are inappropriate.
But the undisputed facts of this case are that she was given booze and drugs and raped. There may be other procedural legal issues as I said, but I really can't believe people are minimizing what happened. What is wrong with these people?
"The Right"
The Whitewater nonscandal was entirely a creation of the New York Times, though I'm not actually surprised that the Mustache of Understanding is unaware of this.
A Little Sanity
I'd have a bit more sympathy for those who obsess about "illegal immigrants" if our immigration system wasn't a total bureaucratic nightmare for people. One small improvement..
Redefault
Mortgage modification programs aren't helping people keep their houses. People who are underwater don't really have an incentive to keep paying, even with reduced interest rates, and people who have lost their jobs can't.
And the ARM default wave is starting to break...
And the ARM default wave is starting to break...
The report covers 34 million loans, representing more than 60 percent of primary home mortgages. Consistent with other reports, it showed borrowers are continuing to fall behind as job losses mount. More than 11 percent of borrowers covered by the report had missed at least one payment as of June 30, up from 10 percent in April.
It also highlighted mounting problems with an especially troubling category of loans - "pick-a-payment" or option ARM loans, which allowed borrowers to defer some of their interest payments and add them to the principal. At the end of June, 10 percent of these loans were in foreclosure, more than triple the rate for all mortgages in the survey.
More Complexity!
I had the same reaction when I heard Shiller speak awhile back. He seemed to think that the big problem is risk and wanted to invent new insurance/derivative products to take care of it. But for most people the issue isn't risk, but complexity and lack of transparency. Exciting new insurance and derivative products add to that.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
It's the Savings Stupid
As Atrios mentioned in an earlier thread, the CBO estimated that a public option would save the country billions. The Republicans, talking heads, and some Democrats, have focused intensely on the cost cost cost of health care. Why is everyone suddenly silent when it comes to the CBO estimating that a public option would save the country money? Oh wait, don't answer that.
Rooting For Failure
The real test will be when Dems do or don't filibuster a good health care bill or amendments. I'll be rooting for any of those who do to lose. If 60 votes doesn't mean shit, then... who needs'em.
NAIRU
I saw these stories yesterday about some people thinking that the full-employment-without-accelerating-inflation rate had increased, but there wasn't any explanation for their reasoning. Felix Salmon tracks down the reasoning.
Getting Hungrier
FDIC has increased its bank failure tab estimate from $70 to $100 billion.
I think I'll take the over.
I think I'll take the over.
Special Classes Of Special People
I don't care personally because it isn't something likely to ever impact me, but I've long been puzzled over journalists' desire to be seen as a special class of people, especially given the total lack of any sort of professional credentialing (not that I think there should be such credentialing).
But I guess Luke Russert needs a shield law.
But I guess Luke Russert needs a shield law.
Blogger Ethics
Some of you may remember that it was all the rage a few years ago, with journalists fretting that some random blogger might earn an undisclosed $5 which might somehow influence their writing. The basic issue was about how bloggers were supposed to conform to ethics and disclosure standards which did not exist anywhere else in the known universe. One does wish they'd police their own publications a bit more.
And Speaking Of Starbucks
Unlike some I don't have any hate for the chain, but don't love that that in some places they're omnipresent. However, Philly is not New York and there are only 27 within 5 miles of my house.
I've Known Them Too
Quite a few "liberals" are squishy on abortion, or at least are until they/their wife/their daughter needs one. It's kinda depressing.
VIA
I was at a Starbucks the the other day (not where I go normally, but it was what was available) and they were touting their new VIA product with advertisements without actually saying what it was. You know, VIA IN 5 DAYS!!!
Apparently it's instant coffee. Oh boy.
Apparently it's instant coffee. Oh boy.
Just to be Clear
In light of the last post, I think it's important to point out that many of us on the Left have serious reservations about that Charles Manson fellow.
Monday, September 28, 2009
More Evening Thread
by Molly Ivors
Feeling more like November than September here on Liberal Mountain.
UPDATE: Here's something to entertain you while we wait for tweety updates:
Feeling more like November than September here on Liberal Mountain.
UPDATE: Here's something to entertain you while we wait for tweety updates:
Every Time I Try To Get Out...
I really was going to try to avoid Polanski blogging, but then Richard Cohen referred to drugging and raping a 13 year old over clear objections as her being "seduced."
What is wrong with these people?
What is wrong with these people?
The HCR Strategy
Booman gives his rather optimistic take on the Obama strategy. It's my take, too, when I'm in a particularly hopey mood.
Not always in that mood.
Not always in that mood.
Applause Lines
It's difficult to really know how to think about a political movement for which advocating torture becomes an applause line, and this is treated as perfectly normal by The Villagers.
Media Mysteries
For some reason the New York Times really thinks its readers are interested in finding out more about Secretary of Defense and Torture Liz Cheney.
Big Papers All Agree: Need To Listen To Even Nuttier Right Wingers
As Josh says, Matt Drudge has for years ruled their world but now our elite journalistic institutions are concerned that they aren't enough aware of what right wing crazies are concerned about. I guess we can conclude that they never noticed Drudge was particularly right wing.
A major issue in Washington - including the Village press, but basically the entire political-industrial empire - is that voices to the left of the right wing of the Democratic party go unheard by basically everyone. We can mock Kent Conrad for not being aware of the fact that not every European country's health care system is like the NHS, but consider the bubble he must operate in for that to be the case. None of his legislative staffers ever exposed him to this idea? Not once during this whole health care discussion did anyone break through his brain shield and communicate this to him? And this isn't about some crazy left wing idea or opinion, it's a basic and relevant fact about health care systems.
A major issue in Washington - including the Village press, but basically the entire political-industrial empire - is that voices to the left of the right wing of the Democratic party go unheard by basically everyone. We can mock Kent Conrad for not being aware of the fact that not every European country's health care system is like the NHS, but consider the bubble he must operate in for that to be the case. None of his legislative staffers ever exposed him to this idea? Not once during this whole health care discussion did anyone break through his brain shield and communicate this to him? And this isn't about some crazy left wing idea or opinion, it's a basic and relevant fact about health care systems.
Big Tobacco, TNR, and Andrew Sullivan
Even the liberal New Republic has been damaging our discourse for some time.
Big Train
The lack of a domestic passenger rail industry has its disadvantages.
Never fear, though, I imagine we'll be the "greatest country in the world" for a very long time.
Bombardier Inc.'s (BBD.B.T) Chinese joint venture, Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd., has received a $4 billion contract to build 80 high-speed trains for China's Ministry of Railways.
The Montreal plane and train maker's share of the contract is estimated at $2 billion.
The Bombardier joint venture will supply 80 ZEFIRO 380 high-speed trains, which will include a total of 1,120 rail cars, for China's growing high-speed rail network. China is developing more than 6,000-kilometers of new high speed lines to create one of the most advanced high-speed rail networks in the world.
Never fear, though, I imagine we'll be the "greatest country in the world" for a very long time.
Keeping The Party Going
Obviously I'm a bit more interested in programs which will ultimately help low income people than other ones, but I still worry that the basic thinking is that once the housing party gets going again everything will be ok.
Certainly much better than giving it to the banksters!
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is close to committing as much as $35 billion to help beleaguered state and local housing agencies continue to provide mortgages to low- and moderate-income families, according to administration officials.
Certainly much better than giving it to the banksters!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Late Night
I guess I'm supposed to have an opinion on Roman Polanski, but I sorta feel like it's the I-P of sex crimes. Without deep knowledge of the arcane details, one should just step away...
Memories
I do remember when the New York Times appointed a reporter to pay more attention to the concerns of The Nation Magazine and Air America Radio.
Though that memory is from my glue huffing days, so it may be a bit faulty.
Though that memory is from my glue huffing days, so it may be a bit faulty.
Heckuva Job
I'd like some evidence that any of the people involved had any shame, but I doubt such evidence exists.
- But during the years of the housing boom, the pleas failed to move the Fed, the sole federal regulator with authority over the businesses. Under a policy quietly formalized in 1998, the Fed refused to police lenders' compliance with federal laws protecting borrowers, despite repeated urging by consumer advocates across the country and even by other government agencies. The hands-off policy, which the Fed reversed earlier this month, created a double standard. Banks and their subprime affiliates made loans under the same laws, but only the banks faced regular federal scrutiny. Under the policy, the Fed did not even investigate consumer complaints against the affiliates.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Face the Nation has Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Lindsey Graham.
Meet the Press has Bill Clinton, Governor Paterson, Kyl, and Webb.
This Week has Robert Gates and President John McCain.
Document the atrocities!
Meet the Press has Bill Clinton, Governor Paterson, Kyl, and Webb.
This Week has Robert Gates and President John McCain.
Document the atrocities!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
They Go Pro!
Just heard that loooongtime Eschatonian, recent WF cob-logger, & general all-around blog-genius extraordinaire Julia has landed a gig at the Village Voice Runnin' Scared blog: as per here.
Schweeeet.
Schweeeet.
Saturday Date Night
by Molly Ivors
Not the Eagles, alas, but thanks to all you fine Atriots for helping me suss this out. This is truly a fine community.
And here is where one can acquire this terrific song.
Not the Eagles, alas, but thanks to all you fine Atriots for helping me suss this out. This is truly a fine community.
And here is where one can acquire this terrific song.
Doing What They Do
Propping up the banking system might have been necessary, but it's difficult to see how propping up a dysfunctional banking system is, longer term, a recipe for success. Casinos sometimes encourage gamblers to stay and keep gambling, but that's only because the odds favor the house and they win when the gamblers lose.
Facts Are Stupid Things
And it's so hard to get the Villagers to be aware of them. Robust public plan is popular and cheaper.
A quarter of the American people (26 percent, to be exact), according to Friday morning’s New York Times/CBS News poll, believe that the health-care reform bills floating around Congress will create governmental death panels, while just 23 percent say they won’t. Another 30 percent believe that the bills will allow federal tax dollars to go towards the purchase of insurance by illegal immigrants, while just 22 percent say they won’t. The right-wing noise machine has evidently reached many right-wing ears.
But here’s the stunner: In the very same poll, respondents were asked whether they favored a Medicare-like public option for everyone. The right-wingers were out there in roughly the same numbers that they registered in answering the other questions: 26 percent of respondents said they opposed the public option. But a whopping 65 supported it.
Policy and Politics
These things do not always line up.
But I have been finding it very strange that the obviously good tactical political position ("People don't want to be forced to buy shitty, expensive health insurance") corresponds to the obviously good policy position ("Everybody should be able to get sick and not go bankrupt.") creates difficulties for our elected officials.
FWIW Joan has been great on this. The proper policy decision has been clear, for some time.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Playground Fight
Wonder how this stuff will play out.
Click through to read the rest...
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Incsued Morgan Stanley on Friday for breach of contract, saying the Wall Street firm owed it $245.4 million for protection it bought on a loan.
Click through to read the rest...
We've Been Saying This All Along?
Public option is cheaper for people, businesses, and the government. I look forward to the Villagers pressing the fiscally responsible "centrists" on why they'd rather waste money.
CRE
While there are certainly CRE projects which were absurd and no amount of help will rescue them from failure, it is also the case that there are some projects which are near-completion but which are having a hard time finding that last bit of financing. I'm not interested in bailing out the developers, but it's probably not such a bad thing to try to bail out near-completed projects so that they can at least be completed.
My point is that letting developers go bankrupt is one thing, but having them go bankrupt and leaving projects 3/4 completed due to lack of financing is another.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday a government program intended to spark lending to consumers and businesses is still necessary even with other emergency lending programs winding down as the economy recovers.
''An ongoing need still clearly exists'' for the program, which also is aimed at making sure loans flow to the troubled commercial real estate market, Bernanke said in brief remarks to a conference here sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
My point is that letting developers go bankrupt is one thing, but having them go bankrupt and leaving projects 3/4 completed due to lack of financing is another.
Unpopular
From the few tea leaves I get to see, I'm getting the sense that people on The Hill are not even having the conversation about just how unpopular forcing people to buy shitty insurance they don't want is going to be.
End Of The Social Compact
For a time California was a model for a thriving middle class economy, and Arnold's just about finished up destroying that.
And The Crazies
Years ago, before I started blogging but after I started paying attention to politics on the internets, there was some Freeper freakout over something innocuous that happened at a school and they were getting a lot of harassing phone calls. This was in the earlier days of the internet, and I figured that the school officials probably had absolutely no idea where it was coming from. So I emailed and phoned the principal to let them know. They didn't have any idea.
Anyway, point is now schools probably know when these freakouts happen because they're fully mainstreamed.
Anyway, point is now schools probably know when these freakouts happen because they're fully mainstreamed.
And In That Other War
What are we trying to accomplish again?
KABUL, Afghanistan — A roadside bomb and assault-rifle fire killed four United States soldiers and a Marine in three different attacks in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, where new American brigades are pressing offensives against a resilient and dug-in Taliban and other insurgents.
The attacks on Thursday in Zabul and Nimroz provinces pushed the number of American military deaths in Afghanistan to 219 this year, already 41 percent more than in all of 2008.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
I Suppose It's Good That They're Capable of Learning
But it is useful every now and then to reminder ourselves that plenty of people in Congress really just don't know anything about anything.
Slightly Good News
When I first read that Obama was pulling back on a preventative detention law I actually thought it sounded like bad news, as he was still relying on 9/11-lets-me-do-anything reasoning, but Glennzilla explains why it's actually sorta good news.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
530K new lucky duckies, down from the upwardly revised number from the previous week.
Number is very slowly decreasing, but still indicates rising unemployment.
Number is very slowly decreasing, but still indicates rising unemployment.
All Contracts Should Have An Amend At Any Time Provision
Whatever works.
And class conflict everywhere.
Today, like many other Sunbelt developers, Bonita Bay is being squeezed by debt and plunging sales. But its biggest problem is a dispute over the deposits homeowners plunked down for memberships in the golf clubs, a marina and other clubs. Many members want to quit the clubs and get their money back for reasons ranging from cheaper golf elsewhere to the desire for ready cash. Their membership agreements say the deposits -- up to $185,000 per member -- are refundable on demand, a relatively unusual stipulation homeowners say was a big part of the appeal of joining.
Yet Bonita Bay says the agreements also stipulate that the rules "may be amended from time to time," thus allowing it to cancel the refund policy at its discretion -- and that at any rate, it can't pay the money.
And class conflict everywhere.
Some residents say the issue of buying the clubs has created bitterness between the wealthiest homeowners, who often have golf memberships, and less wealthy residents who enjoy the landscaping but resent pressure to contribute to the purchase of the clubs.
Morning Thread
by Molly Ivors
From the front lines of pandemic preparedness: every classroom in my school now has its own ginormous bottle of Purell.
But I guess that's better than this.
Remember when we all going to die from Avian flu? Good times, good times.
From the front lines of pandemic preparedness: every classroom in my school now has its own ginormous bottle of Purell.
But I guess that's better than this.
Remember when we all going to die from Avian flu? Good times, good times.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Horrible Things Happen
And I think it's generally a mistake to jump to conclusions about precisely why they happen, but obviously one reason has been suggested.
The Spoils
We don't talk about it much, but to the victors go the spoils. The Republicans may not be very interested in governing, but they are looking forward to being in control of the goodie bag again.
From The People Who Brought You Big Shitpile
Credit card defaults hit new record, and the Fed extends its cash for trash program for a few more months.
Saving the banking system, particularly this banking system, isn't enough to save the economy.
Saving the banking system, particularly this banking system, isn't enough to save the economy.
The Al Franken Decade
Might keep things interesting.
Just in case he wasn't familiar with it, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) decided to read the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution to David Kris, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's National Security Division, who was testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee today to urge reauthorization of expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act.
Franken, who opened by acknowledging that unlike most of his colleagues in the Senate, he's not a lawyer, but according to his research "most Americans aren't lawyers" either, said he'd also done research on the Patriot Act and in particular, the "roving wiretap" provision that allows the FBI to get a warrant to wiretap a an unnamed target and his or her various and changing cell phones, computers and other communication devices.
Noting that he received a copy of the Constitution when he was sworn in as a Senator, he proceeded to read it to Kris, emphasizing this part: "no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Afternoon Thread
I've got nothing to say, so I'll go forage for food around my urban hellhole instead.
Democracy
Backroom deals must be honored!
Not surprised he thinks it, slightly surprised he's brazen enough to say it.
Not surprised he thinks it, slightly surprised he's brazen enough to say it.
Flood
There is still a tremendous amount of homes in the foreclosure sale pipeline.
The joke used to be that everyone should just buy their neighbor's home in a short sale and move one house to the left. But you have all of these people who are now out of the housing market because they're trashed their credit. Low interest loans are great for those who have access to them.
It's not over...
The joke used to be that everyone should just buy their neighbor's home in a short sale and move one house to the left. But you have all of these people who are now out of the housing market because they're trashed their credit. Low interest loans are great for those who have access to them.
It's not over...
Nobody Could Have Predicted
I guess I'll always wonder whether Obama and his people really thought Republicans might be good faith participants.
Hopefully I won't have to wonder why the ultimate bill will be a complete "compromise" anyway.
Hopefully I won't have to wonder why the ultimate bill will be a complete "compromise" anyway.
I Worry He's Right
I don't know enough to claim to really know, but I worry that Pearlstein is right. The Fed has swapped lots of cash for trash, and all that money has got to go somewhere.
Let's start with the $1.45 trillion that the Fed has committed to propping up the mortgage market -- money that, for the most part, was simply printed. Effectively, most of that has been used to buy up bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from investors, who turned around and used the proceeds to buy "safer" U.S. Treasury bonds. At the same time, the Fed used an additional $300 billion to buy Treasurys directly. With all that money pouring into the market, you begin to understand why it is that Treasury prices have risen and interest rates fallen, even at a time when the government is borrowing record amounts of new money.
As it was printing all that money, the Fed was also lowering the interest rate at which banks borrow from the Fed and each other, to pretty close to zero. What didn't change was the interest rate banks charged everyone else. As a result, "spreads" between what banks pay for money and what they charge are near record highs.
So who is borrowing? By and large, it's not households and businesses, which are reluctant to borrow during a recession. Rather, it's hedge funds and other investors, who have been using the money to buy stocks, corporate bonds and commodities, driving prices to levels unsupported by the business and economic fundamentals.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sausage
Occasionally I get tiny glimpse into how news stories are made, and to point out the obvious they're often made by journalists attempting to create a story...and a story with a particular storyline. This is obvious, but not something journalists usually admit. They're just reporting!
Maybe It's A Pretty Good Bill After All
And maybe we can wonder why the corruption of the military-industrial complex is much less interesting to our media than certain other things.
One For The Cyclists
I applaud the new bike lines on Spruce and Pine, which are real lanes and not some barely navigable or visible tiny strips. Actually took a car lane away, though I always thought these roads were more like 1.75 lanes anyway, not quite wide enough for 2 especially if you throw in a delivery vehicle or some illegal parking.
Hopefully True
The SEC previously cut a sweetheart deal with BofA, but a judge chucked it out.
The Securities and Exchange Commission says it will “vigorously pursue” Bank of America Corp. in court with allegations that the bank misled shareholders when it prepared to purchase Merrill Lynch & Co. late last year.
Land Use Rules
As I've written many times, despite my fondness for SUPERTRAINS in all of their forms I do agree that there's much less point in building them if land use rules along corridors/around stations aren't changed to allow more transit-friendly and denser development. Tempe land values around the new light rail system have been going up, while values in Mesa and parts of Phoenix haven't, because Tempe changed their codes.
Overhead Wires
I realized when I lived in California that some people think overhead wires of any kind are a capital aesthetic offense. Never understood it, but apparently it's so.
(not just Californians of course)
(not just Californians of course)
Seniors In The Urban Hellhole
I don't think my urban hellhole is optimally designed for senior living, but I think much more than people generally realize it's superior to other options. Mobility becomes a real issue with age, both walking and driving of course, and the city offers additional transportation options, including public transit, affordable taxi rides, and greater home delivery option variety. Obviously individual preferences matter to a great degree - not trying to force granny to move to Manhattan! - but with an aging population senior living is increasingly going to be a pressing policy question.
Data!
I did not know such a high proportion of foreign born in the US were from the Philippines and El Salvador.
Or You Could Walk Or Take The Subway?
This presumption of driving annoyed me, especially on WORLD CAR FREE DAY.
The Piazza is sorta interesting, not perfect but they're trying. Mostly I just linked to this because I do so love the haters in the comments!
Since the Piazza at Schmidts opened in May, the 80,000-square-foot plaza has "become a real neighborhood," said Avery Amaya, who moved here from Old City last year with his wife, Cheryl, and their bulldog, Nyla. "Everybody's just gathering. For something that was absolutely manufactured in what seems overnight, they did a really good job."
The first time is a shock to everyone. You park in a big, free gravel lot on the edge of some gritty North Philadelphia streets, follow a walkway between new high-rises, and find yourself in the midst of a European oasis.
The Piazza is sorta interesting, not perfect but they're trying. Mostly I just linked to this because I do so love the haters in the comments!
Monday, September 21, 2009
World Car Free Day
Never sure what I think about events of this type, and obviously participating will require exactly zero sacrifice on my part. But, what the hell, consider giving that SUPERBUS to work a try and see how it works, if such a thing is possible.
Perhaps He Should Send A Sternly Worded Letter?
Ignoring Congress isn't just for the Bushies anymore.
Saving The Internets
Elections have consequences, and one consequence is hopefully better rulemaking and regulatory oversight by the various agencies. Moving towards codifying net neutrality principles is good news.
Decisive
I really have no idea what is supposed to happen in Afghanistan that will make next year "decisive" or what the pony is supposed to look like.
Our Very Serious foreign policy community seems to think that "winning" a war involves leaving behind paradise, and then are a bit surprised when our Bombs of Love don't produce that outcome. The rationalization is that we have to stick around until the pony appears. Because.
Our Very Serious foreign policy community seems to think that "winning" a war involves leaving behind paradise, and then are a bit surprised when our Bombs of Love don't produce that outcome. The rationalization is that we have to stick around until the pony appears. Because.
Accelerating Pace
I don't know how we get past this problem.
Among U.S. homeowners with mortgages, a record 7.58 percent were at least 30 days late on payments in August, up from 7.32 percent in July, according to the data obtained exclusively by Reuters.
August marked the fourth consecutive monthly increase in delinquencies, and the report showed an accelerating pace. By comparison, 4.89 percent of mortgages were 30 days past due in August 2008, while in August 2007, the rate was 3.44 percent, Equifax data showed.
The Media
They just can't stop talking about Gale Norton.
Oh, wait...
...oops, I killed balloon juice. link pulled
Oh, wait...
...oops, I killed balloon juice. link pulled
The Cost Of Dropping Out
For reasons I have never quite figured out, our media always seize on any excuse to tell pleasing stories about how women should quit work and live out some sort of fantasy version of the 1950s family. Dropping out of the workforce to take care of children has incredible long term career consequences, and can be financial devastating especially in the case of divorce or recession.
Major Important News Story
Through all the talk, I have yet to hear anybody actually explain what ACORN does or why this story has any relevance for the Obama administration.
Right wingers fling poo, media usually follow it.
Right wingers fling poo, media usually follow it.
Morning Thread
by Molly Ivors
Thers is heading off to visit the president here. I hope he watches his mouth.
Thers, I mean. Obama can swear all he wants.
Thers is heading off to visit the president here. I hope he watches his mouth.
Thers, I mean. Obama can swear all he wants.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
ARM Time Bomb
94% of option ARM borrowers have been making the minimum neg-am payments. Basically they're just paying the minimum rent necessary, since most of them are underwater they'll stick around until the loan rates recast and then just stop paying. California's going to get pummeled.
Bankruptcy cramdown would have helped, but nobody listens to Atrios...
Bankruptcy cramdown would have helped, but nobody listens to Atrios...
Paying Off Incumbents
Like Matt, I'm all for bribing current stakeholders to encourage better policies for future ones. Outside of but near the business district of Philadelphia, most neighborhoods have permit parking. Some spots are 2 hour parking meter spots and some, like ones on my block, are two hour free parking spots. But residents can get permits which allow them to park any time, and also temporary permits for visitors. These permits are absurdly cheap. They're $35 for the first year, and it's only $20/year after that. There are no limits on the number of permits a household can have, as long as the cars are registered to that address.
Discussions of all such issues are complicated by the fact that all such money goes to the parking authority, where the money seems to just disappear, but in fantasy world we should grandfather in all permits at current prices, keep the price on the first household permit fairly low, and then really jack up the rates on any additional household permits.
I don't drive much, so I don't personally give a crap about the availability of on street parking. But what I do care about are fears about lack of availability of on street parking leading to neighborhood groups demanding that all development projects come with their own massive parking lots. That's bad!
Discussions of all such issues are complicated by the fact that all such money goes to the parking authority, where the money seems to just disappear, but in fantasy world we should grandfather in all permits at current prices, keep the price on the first household permit fairly low, and then really jack up the rates on any additional household permits.
I don't drive much, so I don't personally give a crap about the availability of on street parking. But what I do care about are fears about lack of availability of on street parking leading to neighborhood groups demanding that all development projects come with their own massive parking lots. That's bad!
Sunday Bobbleheads
Estrogen free this week.
Meet the Press has Obama, Lindsey Graham, and Boehner
Face the Nation has Obama
This Week has Obama
All shows will undoubtedly address the very important question of whether Obama is overexposed, whatever the hell that means.
Document the atrocities!
Meet the Press has Obama, Lindsey Graham, and Boehner
Face the Nation has Obama
This Week has Obama
All shows will undoubtedly address the very important question of whether Obama is overexposed, whatever the hell that means.
Document the atrocities!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Saturday Night Pirate Thread
Arrrrrrr!
(danced around with the Liberal Mountain Miniature Red Brigade to this today.)
(danced around with the Liberal Mountain Miniature Red Brigade to this today.)
Policy
Sen McCaskill on twitter:
When did preserving insurance companies who have abused customers become a policy objective?
Still hope we can get some public OPTION or non profit coop. Also must make sure private can compete so gov doesn't swallow competition.
When did preserving insurance companies who have abused customers become a policy objective?
PowerTools
PowerTools' idea of a "reliable source" is a publication that today has this Exciting Scoop: "Obama Follows Hitler, Stalin and Mao Zedong, Building Death Camps in USA." Expect Hindrocket to be blowing his hind-trumpet about the Obama Death Camps sometime this afternoon.
PowerLine! Time Magazine Blog of the CENTURY!
PowerLine! Time Magazine Blog of the CENTURY!
Friday, September 18, 2009
BFF
Starting early.
Irwin Union Bank, F.S.B., Louisville, KY and Irwin Union Bank and Trust Company, Columbus, IN go down.
Irwin Union Bank, F.S.B., Louisville, KY and Irwin Union Bank and Trust Company, Columbus, IN go down.
Gone Green
It's the little things that make me happy. Earlier I bitched that my local transit authority didn't have consistent branding of their trolleys, and in fact left one of them off their system map entirely. I'd still like them to creatively sketch out the complete routes on the map, but now they're all green and the missing one (#15) is no longer missing.
Even though it isn't a SEPTA service, they should put the New Jersey River Line on there too, but still we have progress...
Even though it isn't a SEPTA service, they should put the New Jersey River Line on there too, but still we have progress...
Ruh-Roh
Norton has some problems.
Look over there! ACORN!
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is investigating whether a former secretary of the interior, Gale A. Norton, violated the law by granting valuable leases to Royal Dutch Shell around the time she was considering going to work for the company after she left office, officials said Thursday.
Look over there! ACORN!
Low Traffic Growth
This might be a pretty good way to think about, and communicate, the whole development/parking issue. Relatively dense urban living isn't how everyone wants to live, but in places that are pretty dense but not particularly urban, the problem with growth isn't people but parking and traffic. And concerns people have about parking and traffic lead them to advocate for policies which... create more traffic, because they demand lower density development and greater parking availability.
Even within dense cities, such as mine, residents push for increased parking requirements for new developments. In isolation, perhaps their demands make sense (though I think often they are self-defeating), but across numerous projects they make the city less pedestrian friendly, ultimately increasing the amount of traffic.
The point is that development is inevitable lots of places given growing population. People understandably object to development which they think will make their lives worse. But if you create development which in various ways manages to get the car/driving age people ratio a bit below one, a lot of the perceived negative effects of development vanish. Getting people to understand that is tricky.
Even within dense cities, such as mine, residents push for increased parking requirements for new developments. In isolation, perhaps their demands make sense (though I think often they are self-defeating), but across numerous projects they make the city less pedestrian friendly, ultimately increasing the amount of traffic.
The point is that development is inevitable lots of places given growing population. People understandably object to development which they think will make their lives worse. But if you create development which in various ways manages to get the car/driving age people ratio a bit below one, a lot of the perceived negative effects of development vanish. Getting people to understand that is tricky.
Probably Gonna Eat It
As I think I've written a few times, awhile back...probably about a year and a half ago... I met a guy who was a mortgage broker. He told me then that all the action had just moved to the FHA, meaning they were buying up big shitpile...
The Naughts
It's been a heckuva decade.
INCOME SHIFTS
Change in median income from 2000-08 (in 2008 dollars):
Age Men Women 15-24 -9.7% -3.3% 25-34 -11.7% -2.9% 35-44 -6.8% -0.8% 45-54 -11.2% -4.8% 55-64 -2.3% 20.6% 65-74 8% 8.7% 75+ 1.9% 3.5% Source: Census Bureau
Overnight
Joe Klein, according to John Derbert Derbert Shire, is the embodiment of Modern Liberals, who would hate to have Barack Obama in their living room, that's what bigots they are.
Or something.
Or something.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
It's Kind of Depressing
I go back and forth on whether such senators are truly this stupid or if it's all just their way of pretending to be kinda for something they're really against. I don't know what they're trying to achieve.
Cut Out The Fizzy Sugar Water
It should be obvious, but cutting out fizzy sugar water should be first step for anyone concerned about weight gain for whatever reason.
Flashback
I just had a flashback of this.
Sometimes it's useful to remember that as absurd as things are, it's hard to top the peak crazy of those days.
Sometimes it's useful to remember that as absurd as things are, it's hard to top the peak crazy of those days.
They're All The Same... And Racist
Rusty's really on a roll today. Expect another Time magazine cover in a few weeks.
Someone tell all the white ACORN members!
Someone tell all the white ACORN members!
Urban Theme Park
As I said, reading the comments (I do love the haters!) of this article about Philadelphia center city retail highlights the belief that many suburbanites have that the city is a poorly run mall and theme park with not enough parking, a poorly functioning monorail ride, and too many undesirable types running around. The premise - right or wrong - is that center city has sufficient local demand for more high end retailers, yet commenters complain about lack of parking.
Obviously it benefits the city to attract outsiders, but it isn't all about them, and providing sufficient parking isn't really the city's only purpose.
Obviously it benefits the city to attract outsiders, but it isn't all about them, and providing sufficient parking isn't really the city's only purpose.
Build Stuff
Aside from the need for more stimulus, I don't think it's crazy to suggest that the US has underinvested in public infrastructure in recent years, and private investment was horribly misallocated towards real estate projects. A lot of public infrastructure isn't very exciting - things like fixing sewer systems - but still necessary.
Desperately Seeking Hitler
I think the great failure of the Right since their awesome adventure in Iraq has been to create a new Hitler for us to fear and fight. They tried with Iran, but didn't quite manage. Their hero Bush looked in Putin's soul and declared it pure, so that one won't work. The business side of the coalition won't let them go after China. We need an enemy damnit!
The Monorail Wasn't Working Correctly
I know CoT hit this already, but I don't think the full just laughing at anti-government protesters demanding better government service. This is also about people not from cities seeing cities - especially DC - as big urban theme parks. The monorail ride broke down.
Surrendering To The Commies
Apparently the communist czar infiltration of the administration has caused us to surrender to the USSR. Or something.
WOLVERINES!
WOLVERINES!
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
545k new lucky duckies!
Since this was slightly less than expected, the stock market will probably go UP UP UP!
Since this was slightly less than expected, the stock market will probably go UP UP UP!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Teabaggers Demand Answers
But should you really take public transit to an anti-government protest?
This post was suggested by Jeffraham Prestonian, photoshopper.
This post was suggested by Jeffraham Prestonian, photoshopper.
Deja Vu All Over Again
A glitch in the Matrix, or a temporal loop back to the 1990s? The WSJ Opinion section opines:
Shoot me.
Obama and Acorn
Is there a case for a special prosecutor?
Shoot me.
Not Much Hope For Homeowners
I really don't see how the economy turns around meaningfully until the foreclosure crisis is over. There's no perfect way to modify loans systematically, but cramdown would've been preferable to the current state of affairs.
By Another Name
I had considered the possibility that co-ops could be a way to just have a public-option-by-another name. Nope.
Here's A Crazy Idea
Instead of a fine, perhaps the government could just sign you up to... oh, I don't know what we should call it... a public plan? And then send you a bill.
It's all so complicated and Rube Goldbergesque.
It's all so complicated and Rube Goldbergesque.
Hep Cat
While I don't think Bush referring to Obama as "this cat" is really racist, in the sense of suggesting some sort of animosity towards people of color, but I think there's a reasonable chance that race played a part, in the sense that Bush would've been much less likely to refer to a white guy with that term. People can have an odd awareness of race, in that I wouldn't call them racist but their awareness of race occasionally makes their brain go to strange places. I mean, I don't think the fact that Saint Tim Russert asked Obama about comments made by Harry Belafonte made him a racist, but it certainly demonstrated that perception of race made him link up black people randomly for no particular reason. That kind of thinking can take a person to darker places, but while not entirely harmless doesn't mean the person is Hitler.
Certainly Racism Has Nothing To Do With It
The cable gasbags find the notion that there might be a wee bit of racism in this country to be a controversial topic, and then they invite crazy people on to discuss the controversy. Oh and then randomly link things which are connected by...well...something.
I'm sure some people just answered yes because they thought the question was funny, but I wonder what it is that would lead people to think Obama was the anti-Christ. Thinking...thinking...
I'm sure some people just answered yes because they thought the question was funny, but I wonder what it is that would lead people to think Obama was the anti-Christ. Thinking...thinking...
Rubes
While I still remain cautiously optimistic that the ultimate HCR result will be an improvement, it's still important to remind ourselves of just how crazy all of this is. Essentially we apparently need to come up with a bill which: lowers costs, preserves absurd industry profits, widens care, is affordable, has a nice round number from the CBO, is subsidized for low income people through tax credits, is mandated, is popular.
Any plan which does all of this is a very stupid plan at best.
Any plan which does all of this is a very stupid plan at best.
The First Thing I Read This Morning
Was a Michael Gerson column obsessing about when people are supposed to get married. Just to follow up on my post yesterday about how journalists and editors should have some clue about the business side... why would anyone pay for that crap?
Lying Stupid Racist Crazy
Like the "are they lying or are they stupid" chestnut, there's been some debate as to whether the current teabag/birther/deather wingnut crap is just more of the usual right wing hysteria as we saw in the 90s and since, or is to do with the advent of a dusky-hued occupant of the White House.
Personally I vote "all of the above." But anyhow, this sort of thing is pretty good evidence of a hysterical racial angle.
Personally I vote "all of the above." But anyhow, this sort of thing is pretty good evidence of a hysterical racial angle.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Alright
I got your crappy music video right here.
Except I have to concur with Kevin K., that this is in fact actually one of the best music videos of all time. Beyonce has nothing on the Galifianakis/West double threat.
Except I have to concur with Kevin K., that this is in fact actually one of the best music videos of all time. Beyonce has nothing on the Galifianakis/West double threat.
Max Baucus Isn't The Only Person In The Senate?
I had no idea.
"There is no way in its present form that I will vote for it," he [Senator Rockefeller] told reporters. The Senate Finance bill, under negotiations for months, could be the focus of an ultimate congressional compromise on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.
And They Should Care About The Business Side
I think a common problem with the general genre of "how we must save journalism" and its hilarious companion "how we must save journalism by telling our readers how important we are" is that quite often it's clear that the journalists writing them have little or no idea what exactly their business/revenue model is. They aren't supposed to worry their beautiful minds about such things, with the fake wall between the advertising and journalism desks. But of course that's also why the concept of a "newspaper" got somewhat frozen in time, as people creating content just did things the way they did them because that's what journalism is, instead of spending time thinking about what kind of product people/advertisers might actually want. It took a large bit of willful blindness, as of course there are whole sections in newspapers which are there so that advertisers have a place to put stuff.
There are certain ethical boundaries, mostly obvious, that one doesn't want to cross. Journalists shouldn't be tasked to write puff pieces about major advertisers, for example. But there's nothing wrong with journalists thinking about and being acquainted with what the marketing side thinks sells, either to readers or advertisers. There's nothing wrong with trying to give the people what they want. Now I'm not confident that doing so will necessarily make for a product that I think is better, but I also don't think there's any reason to cling to recently established norms which are neither appealing to readers nor particularly helpful with respect to informing them.
There are certain ethical boundaries, mostly obvious, that one doesn't want to cross. Journalists shouldn't be tasked to write puff pieces about major advertisers, for example. But there's nothing wrong with journalists thinking about and being acquainted with what the marketing side thinks sells, either to readers or advertisers. There's nothing wrong with trying to give the people what they want. Now I'm not confident that doing so will necessarily make for a product that I think is better, but I also don't think there's any reason to cling to recently established norms which are neither appealing to readers nor particularly helpful with respect to informing them.
Perino
Some more interesting stuff in this article/excerpt from a former Bush speechwriter, but this gave me a chuckle.
When White House press secretary Dana Perino was told that 77 percent of the country thought we were on the wrong track, she said what I was thinking: “Who on earth is in the other 23 percent?” I knew who they were—the same people supporting the John McCain campaign.
Because Flying Really Sucks?
Obviously the recession has much to do with it, but I do wish it would occur to our great captains of the airline industry that one reason people are flying less is that it the experience has become so incredibly shitty. Some of this is not the fault of the individual airlines, such as stupid security theater, but plenty of it is. I mean bag fees, what the fuck? And it isn't simply the money, it's the extra hassle and just general sense of being screwed and harassed throughout the entire process.
How Health Care Reform Fails
Basically my concern is that in the Senate, once there's actually a bill to be voted on, there will be enough details in the bill which sound bad - some of which probably are bad - such that Republican can legitimately make the case that the bill is not something people want. They'll start throwing around numbers - maybe true, and maybe false, but hey, views differ - like "the government will force you to spend 20% of your income on health care." They'll make it sound like a tax, they'll hype the fines, they'll point out that the bad ungenerous bill they encouraged Dems to put forward is, in fact, a bad ungenerous bill.
So far criticism of the bill has involved death panels, undocumented workers, and abortion. Just wait until the (somewhat) real criticisms start!
So far criticism of the bill has involved death panels, undocumented workers, and abortion. Just wait until the (somewhat) real criticisms start!
Disaster
I recognize that Max Baucus and his Republican BFFs aren't going to write a bill that will please me very much, although he outlined one which did just that a year ago, but my big concern is that he's being suckered into creating a bill which, if it became law, would be a political disaster of epic proportions.
This thing doesn't just have to be good, it has to be popular.
This thing doesn't just have to be good, it has to be popular.
On The Other Hand
The WaPo does have an article on the plight of the extremely rich.
Hard times for them, you see.
Hard times for them, you see.
Fiddling
As Herbert says, it's weird how disconnected the media is from the reality of the unemployment situation. It's not that there's no coverage, of course, but overall there's little sense of the economic reality for so many people. The double whammy of the recession and foreclosure crisis has caused immense pain.
Compromise
An actual compromise on health care reform would be Howard Dean's proposal. Medicaid for everyone 25 and under (Dean actually says 30) and Medicare eligibility at 50.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Priorities
Stephanopulos: So what's the problem with the public health option?
Landrieu: Well, many of us believe, George, that it will undermine the private insurance system.
Landrieu: Well, many of us believe, George, that it will undermine the private insurance system.
Accountability
Unpossible.
This is not the America I know.
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) ―
Wells Fargo & Co. has fired an executive who reportedly partied and stayed at a bank-owned $12 million beach house in the exclusive Malibu Colony.
This is not the America I know.
Charging Banksters
This is America, such things are just not done.
The New York Attorney General's office is preparing charges against several high-ranking Bank of America executives over the bank's alleged failure to disclose details about its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office is likely to file civil charges against the executives over their role in failing to alert shareholders to mounting losses as well as accelerated bonus payments at Merrill, said the person, who requested anonymity because no charges have been filed yet.
Other People Are Getting The Goodies
Just adding on to Glenn's post, much opposition to the government actually doing anything decent for people comes from the idea that the government is going to take my tax money and give it to people who don't deserve it. The problem is that for decades the Dems have tried to get around this by making sure policies and programs were relatively small and incremental, everything targeted and means tested. But doing that effectively confirmed the critics' point. The big (giant) government programs which are most popular are the ones which are universal - Social Security and Medicare - and other less controversial government programs, like highway spending, are also perceived to benefit people across the board.
But This Place Is Different
I admit to be somewhat surprised by CRE woes in the D.C. metro area. I guess it's always a bit easy to fall into bubble thinking, and the idea that demand for office space in the DC area would continue to increase isn't a particularly crazy one.
Now He's Really Pissing Me Off
John McCain has no intention of taking the train between any of his several residences.
Purity Of Essence
The obsession with fake garbage collection narratives is about seeing others as filthy and unclean, barely human.
Strange people.
Strange people.
Thanks For Giving Us Arnold,Too
The hell he is unleashing.
In short, Profeta has made it possible for Duran to live where he's independent and happy and comfortable.
But in six weeks, she'll be gone. And no one will take her place, because of state and county budget cuts whose impacts are starting to emerge.
To close a mind-numbing state budget deficit, Gov. Schwarzenegger recently erased nearly $10 million for senior programs.
Lighten Up
Contemporary conservative "ideology" is a complete muddle and its leaders are, at best, complete idiots.
They Don't Care
I know the people who run the Washington Post have a slightly different sense of what they're for than what I think they should be for and, more importantly, what they probably ever admit publicly what they imagine their role in the universe is. Still, as a mainstream journalistic enterprise which notionally clings to, for better or for worse, the norms of contemporary journalism one would think that "not completely misleading readers" would be part of their mission. But, no, it isn't.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Overnight
When my oldest kid was toilet training he liked to talk a lot about how suburbs suck. And parking!
Sunday Cat Blogging
No new picture, but Gizmo, the Cannibal Tuxedo, has lately developed an obsession with glasses of ice water. Fridge has filtered water spout and ice maker, and when he hears someone getting water from the fridge he runs over and starts totally freaking out. You know, MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Only happy when given glass of ice water to drink from.
Wiley, on the other hand, is confused by all of this. He tends to run over to see what the excitement is, but then gets very upset because he is completely uninterested in the ice water and doesn't understand what the fuss is all about. Still he knows there is Something Awesome that he is not being given.
Cat lovers might enjoy this post, the rest of you probably appreciate it about as much as you do tales of potty training.
Wiley, on the other hand, is confused by all of this. He tends to run over to see what the excitement is, but then gets very upset because he is completely uninterested in the ice water and doesn't understand what the fuss is all about. Still he knows there is Something Awesome that he is not being given.
Cat lovers might enjoy this post, the rest of you probably appreciate it about as much as you do tales of potty training.
Cautious Optimism
While this process has been rather maddening, I've still remained just on the side of cautious optimism about the final result of health care reform. I don't expect it to be awesome, but it might just be good enough.
Wingnut World
Their particular brand of lunacy sort of makes sense when they're out of power, though we had the horror of having them be in power for so long.
Your Liberal Media
Still never quite figured out what Kaplan's financial interest in the Iraq war was, but presumably there was one.
Selling Briskly
I wish them all the luck in the world, but I think we have a credulous reporter who didn't bother to actually get hard numbers.
It's even possible they're selling briskly, but at $1 million they're selling way way way below initially expected.
Rob Zuritsky, whose company has developed five million square feet of space over the years, also is a partner of developer Tom Scannapieco in 1706 Rittenhouse, "a different niche market," where units start at $1 million and are selling briskly.
It's even possible they're selling briskly, but at $1 million they're selling way way way below initially expected.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Meet the Press has Durbin, Cornyn, Dean, and Czar Gingrich.
Face the Nation has Axelrod and President Snowe.
This Week has Sebelius, Jello Jay Rockefeller, Landrieu, and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Pawlenty.
Document the atrocities!
Face the Nation has Axelrod and President Snowe.
This Week has Sebelius, Jello Jay Rockefeller, Landrieu, and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Pawlenty.
Document the atrocities!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Sigh
President Obama Travel to Philadelphia
WASHINGTON- On Tuesday, September 15, 2009, President Obama will travel to Philadelphia on Air Force One. The arrival and departure are open press but closed to the public. In Philadelphia, President Obama will give remarks at a fundraiser for Senator Arlen Specter. The event is pooled press.
Parents
Got several emails from parents about letting children walk alone. Basic consensus seems to be that abductions happen and if they ever let it happen they'd feel like the worst people ever.
In the year 2000, there were 2343 traffic fatalities for kids 0-14, though in about a fifth of those they were pedestrians.
Anyway, I'm not being judgmental here, it is just an interest case where exaggerated fears have combined with immense social pressure to produce a sad outcome.
In the year 2000, there were 2343 traffic fatalities for kids 0-14, though in about a fifth of those they were pedestrians.
Anyway, I'm not being judgmental here, it is just an interest case where exaggerated fears have combined with immense social pressure to produce a sad outcome.
Things Change
I'm curious at what age parents will ditch the leash.
In 1969, 41 percent of children either walked or biked to school; by 2001, only 13 percent still did, according to data from the National Household Travel Survey. In many low-income neighborhoods, children have no choice but to walk. During the same period, children either being driven or driving themselves to school rose to 55 percent from 20 percent. Experts say the transition has not only contributed to the rise in pollution, traffic congestion and childhood obesity, but has also hampered children’s ability to navigate the world.
In a study of San Francisco Bay Area parents who drove children ages 10 to 14 to school, published this summer in the Journal of the American Planning Association, half would not allow them to walk without supervision, and 30 percent said fear of strangers governed their decision.
Tragic fail
Domestic violence is not taken seriously enough in our system.
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- After months of trying to use the legal system to protect herself from her former fiancé, 29-year-old Amanda Ross was found shot to death early Friday outside her home in downtown Lexington.
Friday, September 11, 2009
EATED
Corus Bank, N.A., Chicago, IL gets officially EATED.
Brickwell Community Bank, Woodbury, MN gets EATED.
Venture Bank, Lacey, WA gets EATED.
re: Corus:
Brickwell Community Bank, Woodbury, MN gets EATED.
Venture Bank, Lacey, WA gets EATED.
re: Corus:
- The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $1.7 billion.
Banksters
Nice work.
A Wells Fargo executive who oversees foreclosed properties hosted parties and spent long summer weekends in a $12 million Malibu beach house, moving into the home just after it had been surrendered to Wells Fargo to satisfy debts, neighbors told The Associated Press.
The previous owners of the beachfront home in Malibu Colony — a densely built stretch of luxury homes that has been a favorite of celebrities over the years — were financially devastated in Bernard L. Madoff’s massive fraud scheme, real estate agent Irene Dazzan-Palmer told the news service.
Crazy
Glennzilla has a bit more on those crackpot hippies.
As cynical as I am, I get rather distressed about how little success undisputed facts have in swaying Village opinion. And it's because, in part, undisputed facts have their disputers. Not long ago CNN hired Stephen Hayes, who wrote this book.
Those crazy liberals and their conspiracy theories!
As cynical as I am, I get rather distressed about how little success undisputed facts have in swaying Village opinion. And it's because, in part, undisputed facts have their disputers. Not long ago CNN hired Stephen Hayes, who wrote this book.
Those crazy liberals and their conspiracy theories!
Probe
I imagine plenty of people knew the truth about Big Shitpile, or at least the truth about some of its stinkier tranches, but that doesn't mean that no one should be held accountable.
NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - U.S. investigators are probing the former head of American International Group Inc's (AIG.N) Financial Products unit, Joseph Cassano, and other executives for securities fraud, a law enforcement source familiar with the case said on Friday.
They Have Cars In Yurp Too, And Boston, New York, Chicago, DC...
A commenter at Matt's place writes:
This just isn't true. All dense, vibrant cities have huge numbers of cars. The balance just needs to be changed a bit, and other options provided. Urban policymakers need to understand that car-centric policies will work against the creation of vibrant cities, and they should scale back things like parking requirements, but don't worry, the cars we will always have with us...
Actually, I just don’t think there’s any good way to make dense, vibrant cities coexist with huge numbers of cars.
This just isn't true. All dense, vibrant cities have huge numbers of cars. The balance just needs to be changed a bit, and other options provided. Urban policymakers need to understand that car-centric policies will work against the creation of vibrant cities, and they should scale back things like parking requirements, but don't worry, the cars we will always have with us...
The Other Way
During the urban highway craze, things that even today we would have thought to be insane, were done. Neighborhoods were destroyed or divided from the rest of the city. Waterfronts were cut off. Projects which just barely didn't happen - such as the destruction of the French Quarter in New Orleans - should serve to remind us of the projects which did happen.
Still the presumption is that urban highways are necessary, even if we try to consider kindler gentler ones. But they aren't necessary. London doesn't have them, and it hasn't vanished from the map yet.
Still the presumption is that urban highways are necessary, even if we try to consider kindler gentler ones. But they aren't necessary. London doesn't have them, and it hasn't vanished from the map yet.
Bank Branches, Explained
One of the weird mysteries, to me anyway, of the past several years was the proliferation of retail bank branches. Perhaps this was why.
I just assumed it was mostly marketing. Perhaps there was more to the thinking, right or wrong.
Bankers have long assumed that “people who like online banking have no money, and people with money don’t like online banking,” said Seamus McMahon, a former regional president for HSBC Holdings Plc’s U.S. banking unit. Now, “there is a group of people who were in their 20s and are now in their 30s, and actually have some money.”
I just assumed it was mostly marketing. Perhaps there was more to the thinking, right or wrong.
South Carolina
Even Politico has noticed that Strom Thurmond's state is a little....different.
Congressman Wilson, of course, has his own proud history.
Of course, the real issue goes unstated, other than this sentence:
The state has a long history of stridency in national politics, having produced legendary opposition figures from Vice President John C. Calhoun, who helped pave the way for the Civil War, to the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, who filibustered historic civil rights legislation.
Congressman Wilson, of course, has his own proud history.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Late Night
Tomorrow's bank failure Friday, when the little banks fail as the big banks stay propped up.
Evening Thread
by Molly Ivors
Observation: it's a good, if somewhat expensive, week to be a Beatles fan
UPDATE: By popular demand.
The first day.
Observation: it's a good, if somewhat expensive, week to be a Beatles fan
UPDATE: By popular demand.
The first day.
Good Luck With That
Please give money to that guy who lied and called the president a liar and who has since apologized.
Gone And Forgotten
Given how things were from 2001 until the presidential campaign heated up, it's really quite stunning how George W. Bush is utterly missing from our discourse. The conservative movement was for that period all about elevating Dear Leader, and now he's just gone.
Falling Median Incomes
The system isn't really working. Note this is from '07-'08, before the recession fully kicked in.
...and the highest poverty rate in a decade. Heckuva job.
...and the highest poverty rate in a decade. Heckuva job.
Not Over
The foreclosure crisis isn't even close to being over.
I think there's a general tendency even now to pretend that the housing bubble didn't happen, that homes were not selling for crazy overvalued prices, and a belief that once the recession is over the party will continue. It won't. Home prices won't return to their peak levels in bubble areas for a decade or more, and then only in nominal terms.
Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Foreclosure filings in the U.S. exceeded 300,000 for the sixth straight month as job losses that boosted the unemployment rate to a 26-year high left many homeowners unable to keep up with their mortgage payments.
A total of 358,471 properties received a default or auction notice or were seized last month, according to data provider RealtyTrac Inc. That’s up 18 percent from a year earlier, and down 0.5 percent from July, the Irvine, California-based company said in a statement. One in 357 households received a filing.
I think there's a general tendency even now to pretend that the housing bubble didn't happen, that homes were not selling for crazy overvalued prices, and a belief that once the recession is over the party will continue. It won't. Home prices won't return to their peak levels in bubble areas for a decade or more, and then only in nominal terms.
What Are They For Again?
I don't know if this reflects a general unwillingness to correct Republican horseshit, or just a general lack of interest in knowing the facts about any policy issue. But in any case, informing readers of what they need to know is apparently not an especially high priority.
Maybe people really do just want politics as gossip and theater criticism. There's space for some of that, I guess, but I'd expect that people who want that would just go watch Entertainment Tonight and read People.
Maybe people really do just want politics as gossip and theater criticism. There's space for some of that, I guess, but I'd expect that people who want that would just go watch Entertainment Tonight and read People.
Morning Thread
by Molly Ivors
I, for one, am disappointed that President Obama did not address the remastered Beatles mono vs. stereo question last night.
I, for one, am disappointed that President Obama did not address the remastered Beatles mono vs. stereo question last night.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Deep Thought
If only it had occurred to me previously that hurling random invectives was an effective media strategy.
Sex Scandals
I remember once upon a time people in the media would fret over whether adultery by politicians was really newsworthy, or whether they should be granted some zone of privacy, even if the application of any kind of standard was rather inconsistent (in the 90s that meant covering up Republican affairs, of course). And while there are obvious angles here - "family values hypocrite," shagging a lobbyist - I get the sense that we all just accept that any politician/adultery story is newsworthy as long as there's a thin reed to hang it on.
Not necessarily disagreeing, just pointing out that things have changed.
Not necessarily disagreeing, just pointing out that things have changed.
Housing Bubble: Local Edition
At least from what I've seen there never was all that much of a housing bubble here in Philadelphia. There certainly was some overexcited flippers who though they were going to be able to rehab buildings and sell them for absurdly inflated prices, and condo developers who thought similarly, but I'm not sure all that many properties actually exchanged hands at those crazy prices (probably some condos were snapped up by speculators).
On my way to Drinking Liberally yesterday I walked by this house, one I curiously wandered into during an open house when I was house hunting. It was a wee bit out of my price range, listed for I believe about $1.6 million at the time. It still hasn't sold, and can be had for the bargain price of $1,150,000.
On my way to Drinking Liberally yesterday I walked by this house, one I curiously wandered into during an open house when I was house hunting. It was a wee bit out of my price range, listed for I believe about $1.6 million at the time. It still hasn't sold, and can be had for the bargain price of $1,150,000.
ONE MILLION STUDENTS
All those parents in New York unaware that raising their kids there is child abuse.
Making Me Work The Evening Shift!!
I suppose it's my duty as a blogger to watch the speech tonight, though I admit that increasingly by about that time I'm sorta... done for the day. I rarely even watch the Daily Show and Colbert anymore, not because they're not funny but because I'm ready to start thinking about something else for a bit by then.
CRE Meltdown
Continues.
The bottom is here!!
Three years ago, the sale of the 110 red brick apartment buildings at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan amounted to the biggest American real estate deal of all time.
Now the buyers are running out of time and money. Jerry and Rob Speyer and their partner, BlackRock Realty, who together paid $5.4 billion for the quiet middle-class redoubt near the East River, have nearly exhausted an additional $890 million set aside for apartment renovations, landscaping and interest payments. Rents are down 25 percent from their peak.
The bottom is here!!
Local Apocalypse
Every other week trash collection is going to be so awesome.
I, at least, have outdoor space. Not everyone does of course. Just gonna pile up on the streets...
I, at least, have outdoor space. Not everyone does of course. Just gonna pile up on the streets...
Impugning K Street
One of things I've learned over the past couple years is how highly regarded the paid liars known as corporate lobbyists are by everyone. They are considered to be part of the respectable Village set, and it is bad form to be mean to them or suggest that there might be something unseemly about being a paid liar.
Not all lobbyists are evil liars, of course, some advocate ethically for good causes. But for many of them it's their job to be an advocate for their position using deception if necessary, and Villagers are OK with that.
Not all lobbyists are evil liars, of course, some advocate ethically for good causes. But for many of them it's their job to be an advocate for their position using deception if necessary, and Villagers are OK with that.
Cramdown
Frank's going to bring it back again, and I hope this time the Obama administration actually supports it (they supposedly supported it before, but didn't put any pressure on anyone).
If this had been enacted 2 years ago, things would be so much better now. It isn't a perfect solution to the burst housing bubble and foreclosure crisis, but there is no perfect solution. I'd even support a very limited version, one which exempted 30-year fixed rate mortgages and one which only covered, say, mortgages taken out during 2002-2007, when lending standards went out the window entirely.
If this had been enacted 2 years ago, things would be so much better now. It isn't a perfect solution to the burst housing bubble and foreclosure crisis, but there is no perfect solution. I'd even support a very limited version, one which exempted 30-year fixed rate mortgages and one which only covered, say, mortgages taken out during 2002-2007, when lending standards went out the window entirely.
Joke Line
Actually I think he just doesn't have any idea what he's talking about.
Not like it would be the first time.
Not like it would be the first time.
Not Over
If you ignore all the timebombs, you can pretend it is.
...Apparently it's Option ARM day! The Washington Post has discovered them too.
Taken together, these articles suggest that this problem is bigger than I thought, with the number of interest only loans out there being much greater than the number of Option ARMs (I had assumed they were lumped together).
Like millions of buyers during the boom, the Mollers leveraged their way into a house they could not otherwise afford by taking out a loan that required them to make only interest payments at first, putting off payments on the principal for several years.
...
Interest-only loans are not the only type of exotic mortgage hanging over the housing market. Another big problem is homeowners with “pay option” loans; in many of these loans, principal balances are actually increasing over time.
Still, interest-only loans represent an especially large problem. An analysis for The New York Times by the real estate information company First American CoreLogic shows there are 2.8 million active interest-only home loans worth a combined total of $908 billion.
...Apparently it's Option ARM day! The Washington Post has discovered them too.
About 70 percent of the $189 billion in outstanding option ARMs will reset by 2011, the report said, which would be another setback to a teetering housing market still struggling to recover from the mortgage meltdown that precipitated the financial crisis.
...
Option ARMs, also called pick-a-pay loans, allow borrowers to choose how much to pay each month. Nearly all the borrowers who took out this type of loan from 2004 to 2007 chose to pay less than the interest due. Sometimes they paid as little as 1 percent interest. But the loans eventually require the borrowers to start paying the principal and full interest rate, so the payments shoot up.
Taken together, these articles suggest that this problem is bigger than I thought, with the number of interest only loans out there being much greater than the number of Option ARMs (I had assumed they were lumped together).
Who Cares?
NPR seems to believe that the country cares what disgraced former Speaker Newt Gingrich cares about anything.
Gaspé
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
The Czar Of All The White Houses
I wonder what it is about Obama that makes Bill O'Falafel hold him to a different standard...
Thinking... Thinking...
Thinking... Thinking...
Low Wage Workers
Baucus plan is slightly better in some ways than expected, but making it more expensive for companies to hire low household income workers...
Give It A Try
I have no idea if it'll be any good, but I don't think there's necessarily any reason to think that the NYT expanding into a local edition for San Francisco will be a net negative development. Local newspapers, by accounts the Chronicle especially, have squandered their local monopolies so badly (nice trick!) that another player should be welcomed by the people. Right now people generally have a choice of one daily with relatively sparse local coverage supplemented by wire stories for most of the national news, or something with more comprehensive national news like the NYT and zero local news.
I doubt the NYT's local edition will be as comprehensive in its coverage as newspapers like the Chronicle once were in theirs, but we're long past those days anyway.
I doubt the NYT's local edition will be as comprehensive in its coverage as newspapers like the Chronicle once were in theirs, but we're long past those days anyway.
No Second Kitchen For You
Aside from the parking issue, and you know how it pains me to leave it aside, most people probably can't legally install a second kitchen without some sort of variance/permission. All those McMansions+aging population might serve a useful purpose for people who want their elderly parents to move in with them, particularly if they could be subdivided into separate living areas. But good luck with that!
Joking Aside
Given the high unemployment rate of high school dropouts, it's probably true that not graduating high school is a serious impediment to career success. But having said that, it shouldn't be the case! Certainly nothing wrong with people getting a bit of education, including formal education, but the need for diplomas and degrees has become an unnecessary barrier in too many professions.
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