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Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (36831)	9/6/2010 4:10:10 PM
From: John	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 103300

The same is true for failing banks, investment houses, and corporations! Why rescue them and reward their CEOs millions or billions of dollars for their failures?!?!?!?! It is because the CEOs of the rescued firms are closer with senators and congressmen/congresswomen than a man is to his wife!!!

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (36831)	9/6/2010 5:33:00 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 103300

Re: "The BEST way for the government to help the housing market is get the hell out of the way and let the free market work, the housing market will eventually hit bottom, and then the real recovery would begin..." That is EXACTLY what was argued in this opinion piece today (and exactly what I believe will happen!) Don't look at all the diversionary fluff coming out of Washington --- nothing they are doing or talking about doing has near-enough real money behind it to affect the market much at all. ---------------------------------------------------------- My words: Do nothing and let house prices continue to fall until they find a natural bottom? Or continue trying using government actions to prop-up home prices (thereby making a house purchase more expensive for someone who wants to buy?) According to the most recent Case-Schiller housing data that is available, from the beginning of the popping of the house prices bubble in late 2007, until early 2009, (the "end-of-the-Bubble" period), right after the new administration was sworn-in a bit over a year and a half ago, the AVERAGE HOUSE in America LOST 32% of it's value. Probably safe to guess that at least a point or two of further decline has happened since then... so let's just call it an even one third decline in value on average. (Of course the national average does not guarantee ANYTHING when it comes to any particular house, or any particular location. It is just the average. Still, it's probably safe to say that on average single family homes probably haven't produced a positive return on investment going back for at least the whole decade. The popping of the Bubble wiped-out all of the gains from earlier in the decade....) The average home also now takes more than a year to sell now.... So... the question is: do nothing (no more federal home buyer special tax credits and such), and let prices reach their natural level? That would probably be the fastest way to turn things around: have the country 'take it's medicine', the short-term pain, and get it over with instead of dragging the process of price adjustment out longer.... And --- just my guess --- but since Congress seems to be completely dead-locked as far as "stimulus" stuff and housing price supports goes, *my guess is that is exactly* what will happen: Nothing. No additional big federal programs to keep house prices from falling. So... what that means is that house prices will probably find a true floor (then start slowly climbing again) in about ONE YEAR more.** The article: nytimes.com

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (36831)	9/6/2010 8:08:09 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	2 Recommendations Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 103300

An Interesting Analysis SHORT & SWEET... BUT, IT IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF Obama's SKILL.... ...It seems like a miracle that our beloved leader was able to convince BP to establish a $20 billion slush (oops, escrow) fund to compensate those hurt by the ongoing oil plume in the Gulf of Mexico. After all, he had no constitutional power to force them to do so; so had to resort to Chicago-style negotiating. But, let us take a closer look at the effect on BPs finances: 1. BP will establish a $20 billion fund, but will pay only $7 billion into it during 2010. 2. BP is a British corporation, but has a very large operating entity in the US but only about 30% of its income is derived from the US. 3. By Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), BP must book the entire $20 billion expense in the year accrued. Therefore, they will book a $20 billion expense in 2010, reducing their US tax liability by $7 billion. 4. Our dear leader also convinced this massive corporation to show their concern for the small people by withholding dividends to their shareholders for the last 3 quarters of 2010 This reduces their outward cash flow by about $7.5 billion, including approximately 40% of that amount to US citizens. Assuming that the Bush tax cuts will survive through 2010, the US Treasury will lose another $450 million in taxes on that amount. We wont even discuss the effect on the US economy. Let us put the results into a table easily understood by the small people (including me): BP Cash Flow: o Escrow funding ($7 billion) o Dividend saving $7.5 billion o Tax savings $7 billion o Net favorable cash flow : $7.5 billion US Treasury Tax Receipts: o BP Corporate income tax .... minus $7.5 billion o BP Shareholders ..... minus $450 million o Net unfavorable tax receipts ..... minus $7.95 billion I guess we really should expect this. After all, our dear leader is the most inexperienced man in ANY room he enters. Now tell me, did the enlightened one Kick Ass, or did he get Sucker Punched? This is just one more reason why a community organizer should NOT be negotiating anything dealing with money and finances! Bottom line: The $20 Billion BP is putting up will create a $7.5 Billion positive cash for BP flow this year. But, Obama actually thinks he really did something special and kicked ass (in his own words). In reality, BP executives are laughing at him and kicked his ass.. Oh well, whats new with this President anyway??? It's all for show to those that do not understand what really happened, now you do. He is in over his head when he starts dealing with real business people. "In God We Trust"