TresSugar

CNBC Reporter Treated to White House's Wrath

CitizenSugar — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:30:42 -0800

Yesterday fired-up CNBC reporter Rick Santelli laid into the president. He implored Obama to ask Americans whether they really want to "subsidize the losers' mortgages." The traders on the Chicago trading floor cheered for Santelli and booed at the mention of Obama's plan.

Today the White House officially addressed the rant, and Santelli by name. Press Secretary Gibbs asserted:

I think we left a few months ago the adage that if it was good for a derivatives trader than it was good for Main Street. I think the verdict is in on that. Mr. Santelli has argued, I think quite wrongly, that this plan won’t help everyone. . . . This plan helps people who have been playing by the rules. . . . I would encourage him to read the president’s plan . . . I’d be more than happy to have him come here to read it. I’d be happy to buy him a cup of coffee - decaf.

I guess Gibbs thinks Santelli has had enough caffeine. Gibbs also pointed out that when a home is foreclosed on, the homes surrounding lose about 9 percent in value.

Did Santelli's rant strike a chord with you, or do you agree with Gibbs?

Trading Spaces: 4 Changes For US Economic Landscape

CitizenSugar — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:30:54 -0800

If there's one thing we can agree on (or not!) is that innovation is needed to lead America out of its economic mess. Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, tackles how the greatest recession will reshape America in March's Atlantic.

If Florida's right, city living may be the future. He argues that the US needs to move away from its postindustrial setup (suburban sprawl) to denser megaregions (systems of multiple cities and their surrounding suburbs). While the Internet may have brought us together (aww), the world's 40 largest megaregions produce two-thirds of the global economic output and nearly 9 in 10 new patented inventions. Proximity, he says, will allow ideas to move freely in areas where college graduates and entrepreneurial spirits congregate.

So what has to change? To find out, read more.

Knock home ownership off its pedestal: What could possibly be its cons? Areas with high home ownership have higher unemployment rates; people tend to stay put when better opportunities could be elsewhere. The tax breaks for low-interest loans could be invested in technology or alternative energy, important sectors for economic growth.
Stimulate growth in regions poised for it: Ensure America's top megaregions, and the smaller cities inside them, succeed. Make housing affordable to all classes and address congestion issues.
Let dying cities go: Bailouts are only Band-Aids for areas built on dying industries. Demand for today's products should let a new order reign.
Reinvent urban and suburban space: Find ways for people to live more densely while improving quality of life. Cities should increase residential development, and mixed-use development should be utilized in both the suburbs and cities. Since cities will never be for everyone, suburbs should be better connected to each other. (Maybe Obama is on the right track?)

Ready to put on your walkin' shoes, or are you running for the hills?

Image courtesy of Friends of the High Line

Front Page: Obama Readies $75 Billion Housing Rescue

CitizenSugar — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:00:55 -0800

After signing the $787 billion stimulus bill, President Obama unveiled a new $75 billion housing program that will cut mortgage payments for millions facing foreclosure. - Reuters
General Motors says it needs as much as $16.6 billion in new loans from the US government to survive. - Bloomberg
After arriving in Indonesia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US seeks to deepen relations with the Islamic world. - Wall Street Journal
Hundreds of people in Antigua lined up to withdraw cash from a bank, after its Texas billionaire baker Allen Stanford was charges with $8 billion fraud. Antigua's prime minister urged the public to remain calm. - Business Week

In a press conference yesterday, Alex Rodriguez answered questions about his drug use, offering many more details than players previously under a cloud of steroid use. - ESPN
Zimbabwe will pay 130,000 government workers in US dollars to help revived the hyperinflation-ravaged country. - BBC News

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Civil Disobedience 2009 Edition: Resisting Home Foreclosures

CitizenSugar — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:00:47 -0800

Homeowners soon to lose that title are finding support form neighbors, community activists, and law enforcement officials alike. A civil disobedience campaign is sweeping the country, and many facing foreclosure are refusing to leave their homes.

Community activist group ACORN has launched a Home Defender campaign, training teams to organize on short notice before an officers arrives to evict a family. The teams will gather family and friends to meet at the home, while others will alert the media that a family is about to resist an eviction. ACORN is also recruiting lawyers to defend the civil disobeyers free of charge.

In some counties, government officials are refusing to enforce evictions, too. A sheriff in Ohio said: "This is a cold place in the Winter and I will not give people a death sentence for not paying their debts."

If banks and corporations get help facing the consequences of bad financial decisions, should individual homeowners get a break, too?

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Country on Sale: Foreclosed Home Tours For China's Wealthy

LibertySugar — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:30:20 -0800

I've heard stories of savvy English people hopping across the pond for a shopping holiday in New York City thanks to the strong pound; but believe it or not, the Chinese are taking shopping trips with the mission of buying million-dollar homes.

These aren't rogue bargain hunters. Rather they're part of organized tours targeted at Chinese investors looking to take advantage of deflated American real estate prices.

The AP reports that growing incomes and isolation from the global crisis have created a rising Chinese upper class, looking for smart investments internationally. Companies, eager to steer the investors toward their dream homes, are organizing tours. From Feb. 24 to March 6, a group from China will visit foreclosed properties in New York, California, Boston, and Las Vegas. Such trips go for $2,000, plus the cost of airfare.

The buyers plan to rent out their new homes, or use them on business trips. One dad hopes his son can live there if he goes to university in the US. Since there are fewer investment options at home, the American dream is becoming China's, too.

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Front Page: Plan to Aid Homeowners, Huge Blasts Hit India, Economy Officially Shrinking

CitizenSugar — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:56:11 -0700

Plan to Aid Homeowners:
The Bush administration is discussing a plan to help three million homeowners with their mortgages so they can stay in their homes. In what could be the most comprehensive effort directed at the housing crisis, the government would absorb half of the losses on home loans if mortgage companies lower payments for five years. The $50 billion cost would be part of the $700 billion bailout.

Huge Blasts Hits India:
A series of bomb explosions in India has killed at least 50 people and injured more than 150. There were at least 18 blasts, most in the main city of Guwahati. No one has yet claimed responsibility but police suspect the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam. The police chief says, "No other group can trigger so many blasts in so many places in such a coordinated fashion."
Economy Officially Shrinking:
The US economy shrank 0.3 percent during the period between July and September. Consumer spending, which makes up two-thirds of the US economy, shrank by 3.1 percent, the first contraction since 1991. The shrinkage means the US is halfway to the standard definition of a recession, which means two consecutive quarters of negative growth, though in the US, there's never a recession until the National Bureau of Economic Research decides there is.

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Front Page: Foreclosures Grow by 70%, US Hands Province to Iraqis, Pirate Attacks Up 75%

CitizenSugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:58:31 -0700

Foreclosures Grow by 70%:
The number of homes in a state of foreclosure grew 70 percent in the third quarter of this year, compared with the same time last year. Almost 766,000 homes received at least one foreclosure related notice between July and September. By the end of the year it's thought there will be a million bank-owned properties for sale, or a third of all houses on the market.

US Hands Province to Iraqis:
Iraqis have been given control of security of the province of Babil by the US military. This marks the 12th of 18 provinces to be given back to Iraqi control. Babil has seen much sectarian violence including a clash two days ago between militants and tribesmen which killed 15 people.

Pirate Attacks Up 75%:
On the Ukranian arms ship hijacked by Somali pirates, food and water are running low. So far only $1 million has been collected toward the pirates' initial $20 million ransom demand. Pirate attacks are up 75 percent this year off the coast of Somalia. A NATO flotilla is sailing to the waters now to begin anti-piracy operations in the next few days.

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France Weathering Credit Crisis Better: Pourquoi?

LibertySugar — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:15:00 -0700

Thrifty household spending in France means the economy grows more slowly, but it also means that it slows down more moderately, too. In France, it's nearly impossible to spend money you don't have.

French credit cards are essentially debit cards, so there's no need to cut them up when you want that new Chanel bag, and banks aren't keen on providing a home loan unless you have 20 percent down, and the mortgage payments make up no more than 30 percent of your income. As a result many French homeowners buy their first property at a later age; and compared to the UK, where 70 percent own property, 57 percent of the French own a piece of earth. As you can imagine, this also means France has not seen a subprime housing meltdown.

While the French indulge in good wine, food, and sinful cigarettes, at least they don't treat themselves to hefty credit card debt and unrealistic mortgages. Do you think Americans and Brits should borrow some of the French economic je ne sais quoi, or is the extreme slowdown worth past and future growth?

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What Ties Do Campaigns Really Have to Mortgage Giants?

LibertySugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:03:39 -0700

Late last week John McCain criticized Barack Obama for his alleged ties to Fannie Mae, a mortgage giant that, along with counterpart Freddie Mac, received a sweeping federal bailout. In a video McCain inaccurately linked Obama to Franklin Raines, who retired four years ago as the CEO of now bankrupt Fannie Mae. McCain also has been hitting Obama for tapping former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson to lead his VP search team, before he was asked to step down.

Well this line of attack has had somewhat of a boomerang effect on the McCain campaign, which employs 26 advisers or fundraisers who have lobbied or are currently lobbying for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. To find out how the top of McCain's campaign is connected, read more.

McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis' firm reportedly received $15,000 a month from Freddie Mac from 2005, until the mortgage firm was taken over by the federal government last month. Davis is on leave from his firm, but remains as an equity holder. As late as Sunday, McCain asserted that Davis' firm had no connection to the mortgage companies.

As for campaign contributions, since 2004 Obama has received around $126,000 from employees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. McCain has received $22,000 over the last 10 years. Are you surprised McCain is calling out Obama for his connections to the failed mortgage companies, when the top of McCain's campaign has been financially benefiting from Freddie Mac up until last month?

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Michigan Asks: Does Foreclosure Take Away Right to Vote?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:15:45 -0700

The housing crisis suddenly has a whole new address: voting rights. Yesterday the chairman of the Macomb County Republican Party was quoted in the Michigan Messenger as saying he's set to assign election challengers with "a list of foreclosed homes and [we] will make sure people aren't voting from those addresses." The statement voting laws, which require an address and a desire to make sure proper election procedures were followed. Furor erupted immediately, with Project Vote issuing the following statement:

The Macomb County GOP's plan is a cynical partisan attempt to suppress the vote of thousands of low-income and African-American voters. . . . Just because you're behind on your mortgage doesn't mean you lose the right to vote. . . the challengers will still achieve nothing but to slow down voting and create an intimidating atmosphere at strategically chosen polls.

The chairman has since announced to the Detroit News, "I never said anything even close to that. We won't be doing voter challenges on foreclosures, and we've never had a plan to do it." Challenges are allowed at the polls if the challenger "knows or has good reason to suspect" a voter isn't eligible, a rule the Secretary of State has clarified to need "reliable sources or means." There's also a new state law requiring voters to produce photo identification.

Outdated addresses could be a very real problem this election. Ohio earlier this summer said that 3,700 people are registered to vote at vacant addresses, and another 27,000 have filled out change-of-address notices without updating their registration. Will foreclosures and outdated voter lists affect the accuracy of the results?

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