Saturday, February 11, 2012

Tim Hawkins - "The Government Can"



You still know that the government is inept, if not immoral, but now you're smiling.
Posted by at
Labels: ,

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."

George Washington.

Mayor Dickert is going to burn Racine to the ground and enjoy doing so. Since you get to pay for the show, you might as well enjoy it.

TSE

February 11, 2012 at 8:06 AM
Anonymous said...

Tom Barrett has it even worse! Looking around the web I found this juicy bit:

"Barrett said all of the $31.6 million coming directly to the state should be used to help homeowners and foreclosure mitigation programs, especially those in Milwaukee. The city has 6,000 properties in foreclosure plus another 4,800 that have been abandoned, he said.

As part of the settlement, Walker on Thursday proposed a $1 million statewide anti-blight program to demolish such homes. But Barrett said tearing down the abandoned housing in his city alone would cost $48 million."


Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/barrett-others-rip-plan-to-use-part-of-mortgage-settlement/article_253b8bdc-53fb-11e1-b9e3-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1m5CYMTHy

Government taxation and spending programs have consequences. YEP - it's true. Why don't you raise taxes more - Tom B., Johnny D., and Tom F.?

TSE

February 11, 2012 at 8:22 AM
kkdither said...

Just a question... who should pay for the mortgage disaster?

Is it solely the people's fault that they have lost their jobs, can't find another, and are defaulting on homes that are unsellable and half the value that they were when they were purchased? Many honest, working people are upside down in their mortgages, meaning they owe more on a home than its real value.

Has anyone noticed the pages and pages of foreclosures in Racine? It isn't just people who bought outside of their capabilities, these homes are located ALL across Racine, at all price points. Honest people are stuck in homes, unable to sell them because of so many foreclosed homes out there as competition.

We paid to have the large financial institutions bailed out of trouble with the understanding that they would fix the mess that they caused with their shady loan deals. That hasn't happened. Banks are recording record profits, while John and Jane doe are losing their homes. Big interest and lobbyists are protecting laws to protect the banking interests.

Cleveland is tearing down habitable housing because the value has declined and no banks will offer loans for purchase. There is so much vacancy, the vandalism rate to these "abandoned" homes has skyrocketed. It is time the general masses say ENOUGH. Have you seen the people in the streets????

February 11, 2012 at 1:10 PM
Anonymous said...

kkdither - that's quite a question.

The easy answer -

A mortgage is a contract.

That contract was entered into voluntarily.

The buyers agreed that the price was reasonable and agreed to pay.

There was NO guarantee that the price paid was accurate, or that any future changes in price would benefit them.

The Lenders voluntarily chose to lend money to the buyers and deemed the risk acceptable.

ANSWER: The people who default on a mortgage should have their property taken away and the bankers should absorb the losses for their bad loans, even if it means the ruin of the Bank and those who bank with them.

kkdither ASKS: "Is it solely the people's fault that they have lost their jobs, can't find another, and are defaulting on homes that are unsellable and half the value that they were when they were purchased? Many honest, working people are upside down in their mortgages, meaning they owe more on a home than its real value."

ANSWER: Irrelevant to the Contract they signed. They agreed to "Specific Performance".

kkdither ASKS:"Has anyone noticed the pages and pages of foreclosures in Racine? It isn't just people who bought outside of their capabilities, these homes are located ALL across Racine, at all price points. Honest people are stuck in homes, unable to sell them because of so many foreclosed homes out there as competition."

ANSWER: YES - I read the print JT just for legal notices. Many of those people being foreclosed on are my friends and people I grew up with.

We have a DISHONEST system of money - it is a debt-based monetary system that requires an ever expanding creation of credit to sustain itself. No new borrowers = no new money created = economic contraction. That's DEFLATION.

The Federal Reserve is neither - it is a private central bank that creates money out of thin air - your money system is "faith based" - a fiat currency has value because you believe it so. It is a debt-based money system - a dollar is evidence of debt, and not an asset. When you go to the bank to borrow money they loan you the principal only - never the interest amount - yet they require you to pay back the principal plus interest with the same "stuff" they loaned you - how would this be possible if others did not borrow more of this "stuff" into circulation? (Do you understand the problem - is the TRUTH becoming evident?)

What is the value of a home? It changes with ones income and is subject to supply and demand. History shows prices are cyclical - we are now in a downcycle. Great time to buy - lousy time to sell. There are no guarantees in life. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

kkdither ASKS: "Have you seen the people in the streets????"

ANSWER: Yes. Americans at all levels will learn to live with less - austerity is coming. We can no longer afford to live an energy intensive waste-based lifestyle. Due to 7 billion people on the Planet, "PEAK" resources being reached at many levels, and increasing input costs - we are well into OVERSHOOT, which is usually followed by collapse. That's not pleasant, but that will solve the problem.

Suggested Reading:

OVERSHOOT - by William Catton - http://www.jayhanson.us/page15.htm

DEAD MONEY - http://www.economic-undertow.com/2011/06/27/dead-money/

The OLDUVAI THEORY - Sliding Towards a Post-Industrial Stone-Age. - http://dieoff.org/page125.htm

TSE

February 11, 2012 at 2:47 PM
OrbsCorbs said...

AIG, "too big to fail," had to be bailed out and then went to a resort to party after they got it. They just posted record profits.

Millions of people lose their homes, but we can't let an insurance company take it on the nose in a free market. It has to be protected from its failure, just like lying John uses Racine taxpayer's money to cover his failures.

The pigs are protected. Unless you're willing to physically challenge the pigs, I don't see any way out. No one is going to give up "free" government money. You have to TAKE it from them.

I think this spring is going to be very interesting. I know of a couple of big stinks that will soon be raised in Racine along with lying John's trial. Oink-oink! The parade of pigs is about to begin.

February 11, 2012 at 2:56 PM
OrbsCorbs said...

They may be bulldozing habitable homes in Cleveland, but Racine is putting up more housing in the party district. They better hurry and shut down The Place. Whites drunkenly fighting, vomiting, and urinating will be acceptable to the new tenants, but we can't have any coloreds doing that downtown.

February 11, 2012 at 3:29 PM
kkdither said...

I don't agree with your assessment.

The figures show that the top of the top income earners have had their incomes dramatically soar. This is anything but simple economics. The middle class is getting screwed by political mongers who want to push through legislation which protects their millions/billions (and the bottom line of corporations who support their lies and their power hungry campaigns) though tax avoidance and tax payer funded corporate renovations and incentives.

When I speak of "people in the streets" I am speaking of millions of American's who are finally and desperately expressing their anger and voice, those who are fed up with the lies and the loopholes. I am not referring to the homeless or those who have had to downsize.

And it is not a good time to buy a house. With property continuing to be devalued due to the glut of empty housing, the only people who can buy a house are those who have cash to use and mostly are bought as investment, not as primary housing. The American dream is no longer available to many, despite the fact that our tax dollars bailed the banks out when it was illegal lending that got us in this mess. While lending needed to be cleaned up and more closely regulated, (duh) loans are not being issued as they should... despite huge profits to the banking industry.

I get so tired of this circular banter. People aren't angry about paying their fair share. They are tired of paying an unfair share because of empty promises of jobs or recovery, while they are fully aware that their pockets are being picked.

February 11, 2012 at 4:53 PM
Anonymous said...

oRBScORBS - Bailing out those corporations kept the pension funds of America solvent.

It was kicking the can down the road for another day.

The Politicians will do this until utter collapse. It is what they do.

Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment, etc. are all taxes - there are no actual "trust funds" -they are an intergenerational wealth transfer scheme. They work as long as there is enough growth in the system to maintain them - usually at least 7% +.

Growth of 7%/annum is an exponential function over time, requiring a doubling every ten years. It works like this, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, etc.

See the problem? The first 20-30 years it's possible, then it progresses to where it is impossible - unless you have infinite resources.

SO - the premise upon which the system is based on is faulty - and it is no longer sustainable. Then, you get collapse. Then - when food production, water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, energy production, and transportation systems are impaired you get to die of starvation, disease and cold.

Bailing out those Corporations kept the base systems for large scale civilization financially viable for another day. When they collapse - you will become a cannibal, or be cannibalized.

Day of reckoning is coming.

February 11, 2012 at 6:38 PM
Anonymous said...

kkdither - The people of America demand cradle to grave government and to have government supply all their demands and wants. Government is trying to do that. That takes money - lots of money - in fact- all you got. In fact, government is taking so much and giving away so much that it no longer makes sense to work anymore. Hard work doesn't get one ahead, it just gives the government more to take, Why work?

Lots of those people out on the streets are so because they overbought and mortgaged their future. No one forced them to buy huge McMansions, large SUV's and all the toys they thought they needed. It's a material society now - they couldn't keep up. They will need to adjust, once they overcome the shock and anger. They will learn to live like people did during the Depression.

Illegal lending? How about criminal borrowers?

No one forced either party -

The Bank didn't enter the borrowers lives, the Borrower went to the Bank, full of lies.

I WANT - defines Americans today. NEVER Satisfied, empty inside, a desire for endless entertainment and trinkets - a Society only fit for destruction.

February 11, 2012 at 6:51 PM
Anonymous said...

A heart warming story - illegal immigrant families get free health care for their children!

Through Primary Access for Kids, which started in May 2010, about 450 uninsured children receive check-ups, immunizations and medications at clinics assigned to each school.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/health_med_fit/program-gives-free-basic-health-care-to-hundreds-of-madison/article_5be251f8-5454-11e1-94e4-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1m7oscF8x

"Sanders said most of the students are uninsured because their parents recently lost employer-provided insurance, the families are waiting for BadgerCare to kick in or they don't quality for state coverage because they are in the country illegally.

The program helped Andrea Silva, an eighth-grader at Wright Middle School, sleep better after she got her tonsils out, she said.

The 13-year-old also got a mole removed and met with a dietitian, who encouraged her to eat more vegetables and exercise.

Her brother, Kevin Silva, 8, a second-grader at Leopold Elementary School, has had annual check-ups and vaccinations at Group Health's Hatchery Hill clinic near the family's home in Fitchburg.

"We are really appreciative of all the help," their father, Raul Silva, said through a Spanish interpreter. Without the program, "we would be very much in debt."


That's very nice - but there was still a debt there - it was passed to others. So one could get "free" health care- another lost their job, home or business. There was still a debt and a cost there - it was just passed to others. But the WSJ ran a nice article and made everyone feel happy.

There is another side to this story - those who provided the health care could have done it for free - but then, that's not American and free services don't pay for McMansions and SUV's.

TSE

February 11, 2012 at 7:09 PM
kkdither said...

WE are the government, we the people. I am not alone in my belief that things can be fixed. We've allowed doublespeak and irresponsible politicians to be in control too long. I have not lost hope in the power of the people. I am proud of those who are taking a stand and speaking out.

"criminal borrowers?" I think you are just looking to get a rise out of us... or for someone to argue with. I don't care to do that, especially with someone who hides behind anonymity.

February 11, 2012 at 7:11 PM
Toad said...

KK, Your 100% correct In your comments (Plural) The mystery person Is achieving the "rise" part, but Facts are Facts, and Facts alone don't make It RIGHT. This person can state ALL the facts they want, but what YOU are stating Is COMMON SENSE. We are at a time In this country, perhaps REALLY never seen before, and I will keep this sort of short by stating, FACTS are NOT going to change the outcome. What If this country had a Board Of Directors, ALL with NO affiliation to any person or organization (Maybe we could get the Board to sign a contract stating thus) Could we get something done then?.

February 11, 2012 at 8:45 PM
Anonymous said...

kkdithers - "criminal borrowers" is because of my understanding of money and our system. Being a "criminal borrower" pays good - just ask Donald Trump.

I had a very wealthy man once advise me, many years ago, when I asked him about declaring bankruptcy for a minor situation, to first run my debt up as high as I could, hide and transfer the assets around in various ways, and make declaring bankruptcy worth my while. This is why you see some people or Corporations doing this in a repeating pattern.

I'm NOT trying to make you angry - I'm educating you. You never realized that you can do this. NOW - I didn't either - and I didn't do it - but that is how a criminal mind thinks.

NOW - "GOOD" people were caught in a mess by borrowing. WELL, there is something wrong with a Society and a societial mindset that says borrow for today, and pay it off tomorrow. I don't subscribe to that. You don't realize it, but I am about to educate you, that USURY, or INTEREST is actually a weapon of war, one that works in the interest of the lender, and properly applied, the lender winds up with every asset of the borrower at very little cost to himself. SEE THE PROBLEM? If the people didn't borrow, they wouldn't be in trouble. SO-whose fault is it?

NEXT - you will tell me there is no other way to do it. WRONG - I lived in Europe for some time after I was discharged in Germany from the military. In Italy, my Italian friends saved money - when they married they already had a home FULLY PAID FOR (no mortgage), there were no "PROPETY TAXES" (allodial title), the marriage did not put them in debt, they worked hard and saved - everything was paid in full in cash.

The problem with credit - if you can't pay for it now, how will you pay for it in the future? With credit, the price is ALWAYS higher. NOW - what you see, with the credit contraction, house prices are moving back to the CASH price - see, the price of a house with CASH + CREDIT is much higher. Look at the historical prices of houses. When buyers don't have credit, prices fall to their actual CASH price.

Is the light going on kkdither? Please read and think on the words some. I am trying to educate you. Don't let your anger and ignorance blind you to the truth. This has nothing to do with who I am, it has to do with your mindset and former lack of education in these matters.

February 12, 2012 at 7:56 AM
Anonymous said...

BTW - Today's JT had an article about the problem with Student Loans. It illustrates the problem very well. The student graduates into debt and is unable to make a living right from the moment of graduation.

The problem with education in America is that Educators are overpaid, over compensated, retire too early, and the Facilities are overbuilt and too costly.

Whatever happened to "Live Simply, so Others May Simply Live".

Yesterday I found myself at the Racine Library. I took some time and looked at some buildings Downtown - and pondered the thought of buying one - but with all the costs involved - it is possible to make it profitable - Most likely - NO. I suspect very few Downtown Businesses are profitable - most are "hobby", or like we see, supported by initail loans and grants, and when the money runs out, the business closes - another empty storefront.

What do you think is paying for all those City of Racine and RUSD Big $$$ salaries?

There are many historical precedents for this. My favorite is the Roman Empire. There was a point in their history where the tax policies were so onerous to the Romans that approx. 26 families of Rome owned the entire Italian Peninsula. Due to taxes and costs, a Roman was broke before he even had his first crop in - so land was undesireable and unwanted. Rome imported food from Africa, Italy was largely uncultivated. The Vandals took the African colonies, stopped the grain shipments, and the Roman people starved to death.

kkdither - let's take that young lady from today's JT article about student loans. Fantasy - She buys a building downtown, opens a clothing store - will she be succesful and will you buy her clothes? Do you know how to figure the price of the clothes she offers?

Price of clothes = Building Payment + Property Tax Payment + Student Loan Payment + Insurance Cost + Utility Costs (electricity, sewer, water), + her living costs + cost of clothes.

OH BOY! She is BROKE BEFORE SHE BEGAN - unless you and many others are willing to pay big $$$ for clothes. BUT - you choose to shop where it's cheaper - so she's out of Business.

SO - what she needs to do is get rid of the student loan cost, keep building costs as low as possible (preferably no building loan), and the City has to keep property taxes low. Then she can have a viable, though not necessarily wildly successful business.

Those conditions don't exist - and RUSD and the CIty of Racine are LOOTING the City - soon there will be nothing left.

SO -I see that. I don't own any taxable assets here. I don't shop in the City. This Spring I am planning on leaving - like many others - so Racine has an exodus of people and money.

Good luck funding Racine, RUSD and City Government. Racines date with destiny ends in economic collapse. A new TIF District and more borrowing for Porters is only another nail in the coffin by a criminal/clueless City Government.

TSE

February 12, 2012 at 8:34 AM
Anonymous said...

Racine = Greece

A cesspool of lies, overpaid bureaucrats, government employees, and living on borrowed time/money.

"Schaeuble said Greece would be supported "one way or another" but warned the country needed to do its homework on improving its competitiveness and hinted it might have to leave the euro zone to do that.

"Greece needs to do its own homework to become competitive -- whether that happens in conjunction with a new rescue programme or by another route that we actually don't want to take..."

When asked if that meant Greece would leave the euro zone for that, Schaeuble said:

"That is all in the hands of the Greeks themselves. But even in the event (Greece leaves the euro zone), which almost no one assumes will happen, they will still remain part of Europe."

When/IF Greece leaves the EURO - who will accept Drachma - a fiat currency, for OIL - a hard commodity? Since Greece has no oil of it's own - and oil is a very necessary ingredient in maintaining modern large-scale civilization it would mean the collapse of Greek civilization.

NO OIL = COLLAPSE OF LARGE SCALE CIVILIZATION.

Perhaps the Greeks can move to Racine Wisconsin - since we have so much empty houses and Businesses.

http://news.yahoo.com/schaeuble-warns-greek-promises-no-longer-suffice-083242461.html

February 12, 2012 at 9:50 AM
Anonymous said...

Educate yourself:

Money as Debt :http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2550156453790090544#

February 12, 2012 at 4:13 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)