Headlines...

The BS of the WSJ shines through.



Did they actually do any reporting, or just regurgitate the company line? What's next? press releases from Heritage?



For instance, for the 1000 "missing" millionaires, how many of them actually filed tax returns showing lower than 1M income? It wouldn't be surprising to me if a lot of those people's income dropped with the stock market.



How many of those 1000 actually picked up and moved to FL for instance? or restructured their pay to slip under the 1M level?





A grade school newspaper reported could do a better job.
 
The point is, they RAISED tax rates and will recover LESS tax revenue. Proof that higher tax rates do not equal higher tax revenues. Whether people make less money, move out of state, or increase their write-offs, they are all results of higher taxes
 
<a href="http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/HomebuyingGuide/the-3-worst-reasons-to-buy-a-house.aspx">3 bad reasons to buy a home</a>



This is actually a good article.
 
[quote author="lendingmaestro" date=1243401562]The point is, they RAISED tax rates and will recover LESS tax revenue. Proof that higher tax rates do not equal higher tax revenues. Whether people make less money, move out of state, or increase their write-offs, they are all results of higher taxes</blockquote>


But the nation's economy has been tanking, so it is quite possible that the number of millionaires would still have gone down the same amount if they hadn't raised taxes. Far too many variables to make a simple conclusion.
 
[quote author="lendingmaestro" date=1243401562]The point is, they RAISED tax rates and will recover LESS tax revenue. Proof that higher tax rates do not equal higher tax revenues. Whether people make less money, move out of state, or increase their write-offs, they are all results of higher taxes</blockquote>




What I was saying is that with the decline in the economy, what evidence is there that any of those things happened?



Why wasn't it purely natural that people have less income, regardless of the marginal tax rate in MD?
 
[quote author="freedomCM" date=1243418683][quote author="lendingmaestro" date=1243401562]The point is, they RAISED tax rates and will recover LESS tax revenue. Proof that higher tax rates do not equal higher tax revenues. Whether people make less money, move out of state, or increase their write-offs, they are all results of higher taxes</blockquote>




What I was saying is that with the decline in the economy, what evidence is there that any of those things happened?



Why wasn't it purely natural that people have less income, regardless of the marginal tax rate in MD?</blockquote>


California sales taxes in April fell 50.9% from 2008.
 
[quote author="No_Such_Reality" date=1243421506][quote author="freedomCM" date=1243418683][quote author="lendingmaestro" date=1243401562]The point is, they RAISED tax rates and will recover LESS tax revenue. Proof that higher tax rates do not equal higher tax revenues. Whether people make less money, move out of state, or increase their write-offs, they are all results of higher taxes</blockquote>




What I was saying is that with the decline in the economy, what evidence is there that any of those things happened?



Why wasn't it purely natural that people have less income, regardless of the marginal tax rate in MD?</blockquote>


California sales taxes in April fell 50.9% from 2008.</blockquote>


And why was that? because the sales tax rate for a $100 pair of trousers went from $7.75 to $8.75?



or because there were a lot more unemployed people, and people scared of being ue so they put off purchases not essential?
 
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/business/05insider.html?_r=1">S.E.C. Accuses Countrywide's Ex-Chief of Fraud </a>



The government is charging Angelo R. Mozilo, the former chief executive of the mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, and two other company executives with civil fraud. The Securitiesand Exchange Commission said Thursday afternoon that its case also accused Mr. Mozilo of illegal insider trading.
 
[quote author="caycifish" date=1244173733]<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/business/05insider.html?_r=1">S.E.C. Accuses Countrywide's Ex-Chief of Fraud </a>



The government is charging Angelo R. Mozilo, the former chief executive of the mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, and two other company executives with civil fraud. The Securitiesand Exchange Commission said Thursday afternoon that its case also accused Mr. Mozilo of illegal insider trading.</blockquote>


Beat 'ya! I figured this one deserves it's own thread so I posted it in economy/finance just a minute before you. I'd like to follow this one from beginning to end somewhere, I think it will be another fascinating way of educating the American public on how and why they got so screwed.
 
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/23/AR2009062303500.html">Not Paying the Mortgage, Yet Stuck With the Keys</a>

<em>

"A growing number of American homeowners are falling into financial limbo: They're badly behind on payments, but their banks have not yet foreclosed.



The backlog of seriously delinquent mortgages, which so far affects about 1 million borrowers, is a shadow over hopes for a rebound in the nation's housing markets. It masks the full extent of the foreclosure crisis and threatens to depress prices even further just as some parts of the country are hinting at recovery. For lenders, it could portend even more financial losses tied to the mortgage meltdown.



"It just means foreclosure rates are going to keep rising," said Patrick Newport, an economist for IHS Global Insight. "</em>



The word about shadow inventory is starting to leak out.
 
I just want to kill this guy.



<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1111982.html?ref=patrick.net">Rick Rochon's Boca Raton mansion headed to auction block</a>



Richard ''Rick'' Rochon's Boca Raton estate, the subject of a foreclosure action, is slated to go on the auction block next month after failing to sell for $21.9 million.



Rochon is president of Deerfield Beach-based private-equity firm Royal Palm Capital Partners and the former president of Fort Lauderdale billionaire H. Wayne Huizenga's private investment firm.



Rochon insisted the foreclosure action was not a sign of personal financial problems.



<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">''My position is, you know what, why throw good money after bad?'' he said. ''I'm treating this as an investment. This is not my house.'' </span></span>Rochon has lived alone in the mansion.
 
Man, I hope it never comes to this or I am in deep trouble...Gulp!



<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1194891/Pensioners-kidnap-financial-adviser-lost-2m-batter-Zimmer-frames.html?ref=patrick.net">Pensioners battered a financial adviser with Zimmer frames before kidnapping and torturing him</a>
 
Do you think the Obama Administration will follow through on this one:



<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31711461/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/">Administration plans for end of ?too big to fail?</a>

Megabanks may be slimmed down, told to prepare plans for own demise
 
IMO, they should of never let them get that big in the first place.



A repost from Calculated Risk:



<a href="http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/07/cnbc-interview-with-bryan-marsal-ceo-of.html">http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/07/cnbc-interview-with-bryan-marsal-ceo-of.html</a>



<blockquote>This is an interesting interview from early this morning with Bryan Marsal, CEO of Lehman Brothers Holdings, who is unwinding Lehman Brothers ... especially at the 18 minute mark:



<em>One of my partners said yesterday that we are going to call this phase the "extend and pretend" phase in our economy. Which is you extend someone's maturity - because they are going to default - and you pretend that business will come back or that leverage factor is going to come back.



Then we'll enter phase two, which he said is the request to extend or "amend".



Then "send". In other words send the keys.



That is the phases we are in right now. Everyone is trying to buy time, as opposed to dealing with the leverage, they are trying to buy time. Whether you are a banker or a company, they are all trying to buy time. I don't see the leverage coming back, and I don't see the consumption of good and services coming back.</em>

Bryan Marsal, CEO of Lehman Brothers Holdings.

This applies to all kinds of debt - extend and pretend - that sounds like most of the residential loan modifications! But eventually many of those same loans will reach the "send" phase.

</blockquote>


With the passing of MEW into the pages of history, and the onset of lowered expectations, get ready to refer to 2002-2008 as "The Roaring Oughts".
 
[quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1246877617]Do you think the Obama Administration will follow through on this one:



<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31711461/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/">Administration plans for end of ?too big to fail?</a>

Megabanks may be slimmed down, told to prepare plans for own demise</blockquote>


Watch the video at the above CR post at 2:30 when he talks about how the board of directors of Lehman was shocked at the freefall BK with 1.2 million derivitaves and 7 billion in assets.



If I had a signature, it would read "Bryan Marsal is my hero"
 
[quote author="no_vaseline" date=1247048844][quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1246877617]Do you think the Obama Administration will follow through on this one:



<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31711461/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/">Administration plans for end of ?too big to fail?</a>

Megabanks may be slimmed down, told to prepare plans for own demise</blockquote>


Watch the video at the above CR post at 2:30 when he talks about how the board of directors of Lehman was shocked at the freefall BK with 1.2 million derivitaves and 7 billion in assets.



If I had a signature, it would read "Bryan Marsal is my hero"</blockquote>


I watched that one this morning. I always enjoy those rare segments on CNBC when they get someone on the show who thinks clearly and cuts through the BS.
 
<a href="http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/07/white-house-pleads-for-more-mortgage.html">White House Pleads for more Mortgage Mods</a>



<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/09/AR2009070902928.html">White House Prods Banks</a>



Is anyone surprised that the great Obama bailout plan is failing?

<blockquote>

In a two-page letter [to the country's largest banks], Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Shaun Donovan, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, acknowledge that the government program, known as Making Home Affordable, has yet to gain traction since being launched in March.



"We believe there is a general need for servicers to devote substantially more resources to this program for it to fully succeed and achieve the objectives we all share," the letter said.

...

The banks were also told to designate a senior liaison for the program and to prepare for a July 28 meeting with senior Treasury and HUD officials ...



"We are asking that all servicers expand servicing capacity and improve the execution quality of loan modifications in order to help the sizable number of homeowners at risk of foreclosure and eligible for the program," the letter said.



The administration will begin issuing monthly reports by Aug. 4 detailing lenders' performance ...</blockquote>


The results have been disappointing so far, with few modifications and a high re-default rate. Also most of the modifications so far have been the "extend and pretend" type, with a capitalization of missed payments and fees, lower interest rates, and longer terms - leaving many borrowers with significant negative equity and high likelihood of a future default.
 
[quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1247227383]<a href="http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/07/white-house-pleads-for-more-mortgage.html">White House Pleads for more Mortgage Mods</a>



<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/09/AR2009070902928.html">White House Prods Banks</a>



Is anyone surprised that the great Obama bailout plan is failing?

<blockquote>

In a two-page letter [to the country's largest banks], Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Shaun Donovan, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, acknowledge that the government program, known as Making Home Affordable, has yet to gain traction since being launched in March.



"We believe there is a general need for servicers to devote substantially more resources to this program for it to fully succeed and achieve the objectives we all share," the letter said.

...

The banks were also told to designate a senior liaison for the program and to prepare for a July 28 meeting with senior Treasury and HUD officials ...



"We are asking that all servicers expand servicing capacity and improve the execution quality of loan modifications in order to help the sizable number of homeowners at risk of foreclosure and eligible for the program," the letter said.



The administration will begin issuing monthly reports by Aug. 4 detailing lenders' performance ...</blockquote>


The results have been disappointing so far, with few modifications and a high re-default rate. Also most of the modifications so far have been the "extend and pretend" type, with a capitalization of missed payments and fees, lower interest rates, and longer terms - leaving many borrowers with significant negative equity and high likelihood of a future default.</blockquote>


You forgot "Send", as in <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=send+it">Send It!</a> or the closely related <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ship+it">Ship It!</a>.



Extend. Pretend. SEND. lol.
 
I still can't understand why the powers that be can't see the ways in which they are prolonging everyone's agony with these schemes.

Question: How do you make someone afford something they can't?

Answer: Pretend they can, then find lots of crazy ways to make them believe it.



This has truly gone beyond stupidity. Someone needs to stop it all by simply saying: YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT.



Years ago I did my Master's thesis on financial literacy for kids. We have failed our people so badly in this area. If we hadn't failed, this problem would never exist because people would understand the loss of power you have over your own life when you incur a debt load that is far greater than your ability to pay, it never turns out well. My biggest problem with the current foreclosure crisis is not the general public, it's the banks. They know damn well that no matter what they do, these people will end up in foreclosure anyway. They just want the foreclosures to trickle instead of pour. The rest of us are damned to decreasing property values as they fudge with the logical way in which this mess should have played out. The majority of people who are duped into a modification are basically just giving up their money to the banks until they decide that it is no longer worth it.
 
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