patrick.net

The original post misses the entire point of this country. We are a nation that gives (mostly false) hope to the unwashed masses that yes, you Mr. J6P can live the American Dream, own a home, take nice vacations, drive a nice car, own some nice "toys" to show the neighbors how well you're doin', and maybe even some nice "investment properties." It's the ultimate drug for the masses. Homeownership is a major part of that government sponsored opium.

That is why Congress, the Pres, and all the hangers-on are working furiously to keep this Boomer-conceived clusterfuck that is today's housing situation and economy. This country will never pass any laws to shoot down the "American Dream" of homeownership.

We all thought religion was the opiate of the masses? Well, we were wrong. It's tract homes and crap made in China.

All food has risks. Especially Fugu.

Is death a sufficient deterrent when it comes to good food? I think it shouldn't be.

Not dietary advice.

PeeterPee I think lutefisk has kimchee beat, so that takes care of that.

Sure, I love Chinese, Korean, etc food after being fed a steady diet of McFood, anyone would. But the real European cuisines are every bit as good as the Asian ones and the Europeans won't chop up your kids they've abducted from the school yard and stir-fry 'em.

Food is the very lamest excuse to invite our enemies into our country.

We all thought religion was the opiate of the masses?

Religion is good. Faith is essential.

O.K let's try... THIS angle?

I want to buy 1,000 tillable acres in IA. Now eventually... I'll build a house on it but for now it's rows of corn and maybe I'll pull up a 5th wheel trailer when I'm on vacation? Can I write off the interest I pay on that? Why shouldn't that qualify for MID?

But the real European cuisines are every bit as good as the Asian ones and the Europeans won’t chop up your kids they’ve abducted from the school yard and stir-fry ‘em.

But I want varieties. I cannot stand eating the same thing every day.

RE: European cuisines

I prefer Contemporary French.

Skibum - the ability for the average guy to live decently is what the turmoil of the 1930s was all about, and it was realized right after WWII. It was that or have a bunch of very PISSED OFF vets hanging the rich from the lampposts.

We had a flattening wealth structure, plumbers were sending their kids to college, it was great. The old GI bill was the last great change for Mr Joe Average White Guy to get into college and get that degree he'd been dreaming of. It was a great time. It was also a time of living Jim Crow laws, very restrictive immigration, and the US gauged how well it was doing by its factories.

Then the moneylenders started tearing that all down, contempt for people who make things with their hands was encouraged, and we went from Mr Honest Joe Lunch Pail to the hippies to Gordon Gekko.

That's ok, really, what you sow, you will reap.

PeeterPee - back before McFood, there were seasonal variations, and a huge variety of dishes. Look in cookbooks from the 1920s and earlier, look into food history.

The food arguement is lame, lame, lame.

I don't eat McFood and I love seasonal variations.

I like Chicken a la King and Oyster Rockefeller. Both are old recipes.

Food from earlier days tend to be very rich though. (Hence the reference to Rockefeller)

The food arguement is lame, lame, lame.

Not arguing with you.

Religion is good. Faith is essential.

But there's a distinction. "Faith" is fine by me. Organized "religion" has done the world no good, and it's been misused in every part of the world for secular and evil purposes.

I believe in God, but I find almost all organized religion offensive.

I believe in God, but I find almost all organized religion offensive.

Want to start one?

"Want to start one?"

Yes!

The Faith Ministries of Eternal Real Estate Appreciation Church!

Humans can misuse anything. This is why I have zero faith in humanity.

The Faith Ministries of Eternal Real Estate Appreciation Church!

I am thinking about one that allows people to worship themselves. It is about feeling good about oneself. :)

I find ignorance offensive. Sadly, it's in no short supply these days; and worse yet seems to be in high demand.

To wit, some ignoramus jackass quoting you-know-who. Hey, did you manage to crawl out of your cave long enough to actually research your misstatements denying your hero's murders in Ohio in 1987? Care to clear the record? Or do you get a wet spot in the pants playing pretend white warrior from behind your pseudo-anonymous screen name?

(And for the record, "Fuhrer" is not a verboten term in German. It is used for things like "boy scout leader", for example. But Wehrmacht wannabees don't speak German, as a general rule.)

Jeebus,

Has everyone forgotten that the main reason that rental properties are profitable over for-consumption housing has nothing to do with interest tax deduction, but the deduction of depreciation?

Let me be the first to ask a simple question:

Why do we allow people to take a tax depreciation expense over 30 years when property values "always go up"?

If that truly is the case, wouldn't you be charging landlords extra tax every year for the capital gains? Worst part is... it just gets 1031'd until the person dies and no tax is ever paid on it. Think about that for a minute. If you want to make it a level playing field, make it truly level so landlords can only deduct what homeowners can deduct, and you'll see prices change on their own and we won't be giving tax breaks to some of the richest.

Chuck Ponzi

PS, I'm a capitalist, not a socialist.

That is why Congress, the Pres, and all the hangers-on are working furiously to keep this Boomer-conceived clusterfuck that is today’s housing situation and economy. This country will never pass any laws to shoot down the “American Dream” of homeownership.

But without false hope, what would there be?

False hope is essential to any organization in succeeding:

-Startups: Stock options will turn you into googlaire.

-Religion: Heaven, reincarnation into something better, etc.

-America: Mentioned above

-Stores: Buy your way into happiness and success

Without false hope, you'd end up churning out very disgruntled people with too much free time on their hands - like suicide bombers, etc.

But I rather be a net seller of false hope. :)

Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod.

Real estate is saved!!!

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-stimulus25jan25,1,2503104.story?track=rss

The package also includes a provision to make refinancing mortgages easier by raising the limit to $625,500 for government-backed loans. That is expected to make more funds available to homeowners in expensive real estate markets such as Southern California who want to get out of their adjustable rate mortgages.

Mountain View condos median to be $625,500 immediately after the 4th quarter of the SuperBowl. (Go Pats!)

GLD is way up.

The legislation would temporarily raise that limit to $625,500...

Nothing is more eternal than a "temporary" government program.

They charged two bits to cross the Golden Gate bridge "temporarily" until the construction bonds were paid off. The bonds were paid off 50 years ago. Do they still charge tolls?

The more I think about it, the more I like my plan: tax cap gains as ordinary income BUT increase the basis figure year-by-year with an inflation multiplier. I think this is the thinking behind the current system but it's much too crude.

So here we are having a discussion about being altogether too generous toward 'real estates' and they raise the Jumbo limit to 6 and a quarter.

Yea Team....

What do they mean by "temporary"? Is this going to go on just long enough for FB's to re-fi out of their loan-from-hell or is this (obviously) intended for new purchase loans as well? That we could get the NAR some much needed commissions.

And I wonder what the definition of a "high cost area" will be.

And I wonder what the definition of a “high cost area” will be.

Wherever people will vote for democrats.

am not a fan of Korean food but we must respect the civil liberties of those who like kimchee.

My grandmother was born in Korea in 1893, so to me kimchee is soul food. Hey, it's just Korean saurkraut!

I do like bean sprout and anything with oxtail. :)

Bad news for those who love kimchee. Seoul University published a paper linking kimchee consumption to the very high incidence of stomach cancer among Koreans (Koreans have the highest rate of stomach cancer in the world). Interestingly, statistics show that even Korean Americans have the highest and earliest incidence of stomach cancer among all Asian Americans.

The Seoul University paper was released at a time when Korean government was trying to promote Kimchee as a health food to the world. So the researchers were silenced by denied further grants for their research.

DinOR, about the "super-outrageously-generous-beyond-belief tax treatment 2nd homes get", I'm with you. I don't believe the tax code should encourage or discourage home ownership. Not even for 1 house. Imagine that, buyers assessing the actual cost of ownership instead of deluding themselves that mortgage debt is actually "wealth"?

So where were the Dems on this one? Instead of insisting on addressing the very issues we're discussing Pelosi wants to make sure even people that don't make enough to PAY taxes get a "rebate" check?

Why didn't they at least demand we enforce our current tax code? Are things really this bad?

This is actually not paranoia, I know quite a few Koreans who started having stomach cancer in their 40s.

http://tinyurl.com/ysxvxn

"Stomach Cancer a Concern Among Koreans

Stomach cancer is much more common among people of Korean ancestry than other Asian groups, and death rates from this disease are highest among Koreans. The typical Korean diet, which includes many foods that are high in salt and nitrates/nitrites, may be part of the reason stomach cancer rates are so high."

Be happy, at least it is not $700K.

Now HelloKitty can stay in the US instead of moving to France.

LSR,

Can you believe this? Well... we often joked about "where was the bail-out for daytraders" and I guess we got our answer.

Hank looks a mess btw, necktie askew, shirt looks like he slept in it. Must have pulled a lot of all-nighters to come up w/ this "great steaming turd". If they're THAT concerned about shriveling tax bases from foreclosed subdivisions why don't we just enforce the tax code we have now?

Like Randy said, can't we have a little... faith in free markets? This is totally embarrassing.

I am thinking about one that allows people to worship themselves. It is about feeling good about oneself.

It already exists. It's called Boomerism.

When can we expect to get the increased conforming loan limit in effect? This will probably boost house prices, at least in the short term.

Actually, if you read some of the news articles regarding this mateer closely (i.e., CNBC) , the increase in the comforming limit is only temporary - one year.

Don't worry, the one-year temp limit will stick.

We are already on this track of "fuck the dollar, fuck the USD bagholders". If housing price starts coming down drastically, this limit will be extended for another year, another year...

So the researchers were silenced by denied further grants for their research.

Triumph of food!!!

Cancer is caused by stress, not food.

Koreans are also hyper-competitive. They lead high-stress lives.