patrick.net

Housing --

Agreed. But it's a start....

tohit76 flagged this data by Patrick as incorrect:

As of date = 2011-05-22

Apartment number

2 bedrooms

0 bathrooms

Type is SFH

Monthly home owner association fee (HOA) is $0

Square feet is

Estimated rent is $1130

Asking price is $63000

tohit76, please say what part of that data is incorrect.

Patrick, please say why you think that the data is correct.

Troy says

Tea party candidate Jack Davis took 8 percent of the vote.
Man I love the Tea Party. Maybe it’s not a GOP astroturfing but a deep-cover Democrat Party instigation.

Yes, and in this particular case, it was. A Democrat running as Tea Party candidate took 8%. The majority of those votes would have likely gone to the Republican.

What a great flanking approach: Simultaneously attack the Republican position with whatever hyperbole one can (no real criticism here - politics is politics), along with putting up a shill candidate to siphon votes! That's the spirit!

Even if the Tea Party guy did not run, the Republican would have still lost.

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/six-months-after-midterm-disaster-hopeful-signs-for-democrats/

Most Americans are Socialists and don't realize it. The Tea Party is made up primarily of Socialists.

Chris, you do know that you are a Socialist, right? That's right, you, like everyone else in America, are a Socialist. But don't worry, therer is hope. You can take the Anti Socialism Pledge:

pledge to eliminate all government intervention in my life. I will abstain from the use of and participation in any socialist goods and services including but not limited to the following:

Social Security

Medicare/Medicaid

State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)

Police, Fire, and Emergency Services

US Postal Service

Roads and Highways

Air Travel (regulated by the socialist FAA)

The US Railway System

Public Subways and Metro Systems

Public Bus and Lightrail Systems

Rest Areas on Highways

Sidewalks

Public Water and Sewer Services (goodbye socialist toilet, shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, outdoor hose!)

Public and State Universities and Colleges

Public Primary and Secondary Schools

Sesame Street

Publicly Funded Anti-Drug Use Education for Children

Public Museums

Libraries

Public Parksand Beaches

State and National Parks

Public Zoos

Unemployment Insurance

Municipal Garbage and Recycling Services

Treatment at Any Hospital or Clinic That Ever Received Funding From Local, Stateor Federal Government (pretty much all of them)

Medical Services and Medications That Were Created or Derived From Any Government Grant or Research Funding (again, pretty much all of them)

Socialist Byproducts of Government Investment Such as Duct Tape and Velcro (Nazi-NASA Inventions)

Use of the Internets, email, and networked computers, as the DoD's ARPANET was the basis for subsequent computer networking

Foodstuffs, Meats, Produce and Crops That Were Grown With, Fed With, Raised With or That Contain Inputs From Crops Grown With Government Subsidies

Clothing Made from Crops (e.g. cotton) That Were Grown With or That Contain Inputs From Government Subsidies

If a veteran of the government-run socialist US military, I will forego my VA benefits and insist on paying for my own medical care

I will not tour socialist government buildings like the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

I pledge to never take myself, my family, or my children on a tour of the following types of socialist

locations, including but not limited to:

Smithsonian Museums such as the Air and Space Museum or Museum of American History

The socialist Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Monuments

The government-operated Statue of Liberty

The Grand Canyon

The socialist World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials

The government-run socialist-propaganda location known as Arlington National Cemetery

will oppose and condemn the government-funded and therefore socialist military of the United States of America.

I will boycott the products of socialist defense contractors such as GE, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Humana, FedEx, General Motors, Honeywell, and hundreds of others that are paid by our socialist government to produce goods for our socialist army.

Upon reaching eligible retirement age, I will tear up my socialist Social Security checks.

Upon reaching age 65, I will forego Medicare and pay for my own private health insurance until I die.

To whom do they owe the money? Windex?

FN/FR have to go. It is a giant ponzi scheme designed to benefit the wealthy bankers and builders while screwing the poor and the middle class in the process.

bgamall4 says

NAHB is joining Wells Fargo, the IMF, Bernanke, and NAR

Talk about an axis of evil. Can the Justice League even stand a chance against that magnitude of suckage?

But it's a great time to buy. That's what my Realtor says.

As AF says just abolish the mortgage, until then the evil will keep resurfacing in different ways.

bgamall4 says

Exactly, it is a cabal. The central banks will get their way regardless of whether Fannie or Freddie exist or not, which is why Chris in LA is not really getting this. He has his heart in the right place though.

they will always get their helicopter drops of money, but at least it won't be via screwing people into 30 year indentured servitude in the process.

A lot of our productivity is leveraged on the backs of Chinese and Mexican low-wages, so this is double-counting.

Their cost of labor goes up, our productivity will be negatively impacted as the increased cost of imported capital and intermediate goods reduce our margins.

China does have a coming demographic collapse, though.

vs

Currency strengthening is also problematic. The yuan doubling against the dollar will also double the Chinese nation's resource purchasing power footprint, ie. ceteris paribus they'll be able to import twice the oil they are now for the same cost. This sounds like a supply-shock to me, basically the weakening dollar is going to push up the price we have to pay for oil, proportional to the weakening, if not more.

Higher wages are the silver lining that is necessary to get some balance in this system, though unfortunately for them higher wages are just going to be sucked into higher land values ; )

Unfortunately, China has one big advantage.

Chinese red army can shot the workers if they go on strike. Thus Chinese labor force is more "cooperative" than US.

Human rights is really bad for economy and companies.

human rights are one thing, union thugs killing business is another.

twisted and disgusting, those two have no morals what so ever. Prison is too good for these people, should be flat out taken out back and shot.

ChrisLA says

human rights are one thing, union thugs killing business is another.

Truly these people:

Are much more fearsome than these:

This picture by the way puzzles most Chinese youth of today, so thoroughly has their government acted to erase all distribution of information and images of Tiananmen.

Many companies hire people pretend to be union thugs.

They throw stones at the police during picketing.
Then the police has excuses to arrest everyone.

It is really a dirty world we live in.

US manufacturing will never be competitive with chinese manufacturing, because that's not the bar. Chinese manufacturing is only chosen because it is less expensive than machines. Once chinese manufacturing exceeds the cost of the machines (which are much less expensive than Americans), manufacturing will be done in the US physically, but it won't mean jobs for US workers.

shrekgrinch says

n the end, access to strategic resources will be determined by military power.

ahah aha aha. Shrek told a funny. The Chinese and half the world with them would smash us like a bug if we started enforcing some bullshit pax americana on them.

China and India have 2.5 billion people, 10X our military population.

We need them a lot more than they need us now and if we start fucking with their trade they'll be more than happy to demonstrate it. Ships take years to build and minutes to sink so any military conflict with them will pivot on construction capability. Our oceans protect us but will also greatly limit our long-term reach into Asia. It would be a long and drawn out war but we'd be so totally in the wrong that there would be no way for us to forge any alliance to keep us in the game. Such bullshit would just push us into national irrelevancy, if not utter ruin, like Japan 1945-49.

Medicare is also not an entitlement since retirees pay about $100 per month out of their SS benefits to have access to this health insurance. And it doesn't cover dental and a host of other needs.

mikey says

Medicare is also not an entitlement since retirees pay about $100 per month out of their SS benefits to have access to this health insurance

.... which would cost them at least $500/month more on the open market.

thunderlips11 says

We could fix SS in a heartbeat by applying a 3% SS tax to all income, regardless of source. If people who make $50k/year can pay 15% of their income to SS/MC on top of taxes, somebody making $1M/year should have no problem paying just 3% on top of taxes.

Then when that pile of money runs out, we'll increase the tax. And so on and so on. We can have the longest ponzi scheme in history. Can't wait to start screwing over my great-great-great-grandchildren.

"which would cost them at least $500/month more on the open market."

Possibly. However, Medicaid would be more in keeping with the word entitlement, depending on semantics.
Some folks paid into SS for half a century and must keep paying monthly premiums to have health coverage if they choose Medicare.
Fun fact:
Medicare's drug plan covers Viagra. The plan has a monthly premium also.

thunderlips11 says

By then, the old - young ratio will be normal again. Furthermore, the SS Money was spent on big fat juicy government contracts with Haliburton, ConEd, AT&T, GM, etc. etc. so those who collect big fat dividend checks or profit distributions from those companies are only returning a little bit of what they stole from it with their bribed politicians.

You said something about pushing it off later, then something about big evil corporations. Both points ignore the problem.

thunderlips11 says

I wouldn’t want to live in a country without a basic medical insurance scheme and guaranteed pension for every person.

Everybody just needs more guarantees in life. That's what this govt was made for.

Oh That's a "Job Killer"...

Entitlements = a way to convince people that the money that they have paid into Social Security, and Medicare, actually belong to our Senators and Congress critters pet projects.

Job Killer = A new way to convince the 20% unemployed in this country why the Government refuses to pass any legislation or intact any effective policy that would actually create "JOBS". "That would be a Job killer" well what jobs? All of the jobs in danger of being lost, are already killed, you Sons of Bitches are in charge of creating new Jobs.

Transparency = Opens dialog between Government on the Federal level in closed back door meetings with the Nations corporate Elite.
Anytime "Transparency" has been used, the result was more convolution than ever before. And the Nation as a whole expects that all involved in said meetings, broke every law in the financial regulatory book. And they did, that's why they rush to Vote to retroactively cover their collective asses with in Weeks, making all of the transgressions and laws they broke legal.

Reform = This means, that Corporations have been operating in "Grey" areas, that aren't as productive for what ever reason, that these boon loop holes had previously been. They make issue out them, even though there was no public outcry to do so, as that policy had come to the end of it's productive stream anyway. I mean to say, by then any all damage that could have been done, had already been done, by time our Congress critters are making an issue out of it.
What "REFORM" really serves to do, is open up new Grey areas, that is clearly illegal and Corporations could face prosecution, if they dabble in those areas. So Washington Reforms the Dead horse, carcass that has already been picked to the bone, passing laws to make those practices illegal, while (Now pay attention because this is what "REFORM" is really all about) opening up new ways to fuck and screw people over with even greater impunity than before, in a new revenue stream. See Finance reform, a few pesky outdated financial practices were outlawed, while 10 to 1, even more disastrous if not other wise highly illegal practices are sanctioned.
Like going after a 1.00 fee a bank either may or may not charge you, but then allowing 1,000's in other fees, banks never had the authority to charge before the "REFORM" took place.

America could use a good Book burning long about now.

I'd suggest the Civics, and American Government high school books.
As they are pretty useless about now. And I doubt there's one son of a bitch in Washington that read the Goddamned thing.

state says

Seriously? There are rappers I listen to that occasionally talk about killing cops. There was the Ice-T cop killer episode years ago but the only time you hear about this stuff any more is when Fox news decides it wants to whip up its racist audience

Right.

If Bob Marley was alive and released "I Shot the Sheriff" today, that FoxNews wouldn't be giving it 24-7 outrage coverage and our "moderates" David Brooks and Tom Friedman wouldn't be saying "Freedom of expression is important - but..."

Body Count was - gasp! - 20 years ago already. Shit, I'm an old fart. Great album.

How about Heathers, though...

"which would cost them at least $500/month more on the open market."

$500 a month? HA! No insurance company is going to touch a 75 year old for less than $5,000 a month!

Is Society More Conservative Today?

No....

APOCALYPSEFUCK says

In ten years, they’ll be open cry markets for the elderly as meat products.

Gramcrackers.. Humburgers.. "Senior Specials".. Sounds dry and stringy. I'll stick to dog food until that runs out.

Heathers was indeed awesome.......

"My teenage angst bullshit now has a body count"

There are two types of entitlements. Those that we pay for and are entitled to, and those that one does not pay for and gets.

Social Security we pay for and it is a paid entitlement.

The kind of entitlements I want cut are the special interest grabs into our social security and other funds to pay for their lavish lifestyles and bridges to nowhere. Wealthy people feel entitled to big government contracts and bail outs, unions feel entitled to our money too. Rest of us are just screwed paying for that ponzi scheme.

ChrisLA says

Social Security we pay for and it is a paid entitlement.

We pay for Social Security. It is a benefit, not an entitlement.

Patrick's point is the word entitlement is used to change perceptions of Social Security to make it appear as though it's a welfare giveaway, a gratuitous handout, a freebie. The use of the word entitlement amounts to a verbal smokescreen used by those who wish to spend that money for other purposes. They want to eliminate the benefit but keep the taxes collected to pay for it and spent that on wars and other special interests.

If anything, an accurate criticism of SS is that we are overcharged for the benefits we eventually receive.

We pay into Medicare for hospitalization the entire time that we are working. That's how the premiums are paid. There's also a part that covers MD & labs, that's Part B. Beneficiaries pay about $100/mo for this benefit, unless they make a chunk of change and then they pay more. They also pay for the drug plan, although that's a fucked up plan because rather than use the massive buying power of millions of Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare contracts with huge-assed insurance companies and not only subsidizes the plans but also pays full price for the same medications that big insurance pays less for on the open market. But I digress.

If you don't pay into Medicare, you can buy into it when you're 65. But it'll cost you up to $700/mo.

Mr T says

Patrick’s point is the word entitlement is used to change perceptions of Social Security to make it appear as though it’s a welfare giveaway, a gratuitous handout, a freebie. The use of the word entitlement amounts to a verbal smokescreen used by those who wish to spend that money for other purposes. They want to eliminate the benefit but keep the taxes collected to pay for it and spent that on wars and other special interests.

It comes across that way to many challenged in English language because they see this word used in both cases. But it does not mean "a welfare giveaway". I guess definition is a moot point at this rate anyway.

Ace:

Isn't it easier to fein mock outrage at nearly everything until your words have no sting? Don't you find that dumb things, like facts and supporting documentation, etc get in the way?

And what the hell is up with your reply? You haven't blamed everything on the president and those damn libs. You make sense.

What's this world coming to?

thunderlips11 says

There’s a guy who is 300lb, smokes two packs a day, and eats nothing but General Tso’s chicken, Spaghetti, and Bread for the past 40 years.

In a society that allows soda machines in it's schools to help the revenue stream and provides meals with not much more nutritional value than what is described here, these types of judgements have no place in these arguments!!

Thunder --

You are entirely right.

>Social Security is much in the news with claims that it’s going bankrupt and cries that benefits must be cut. But that isn’t the case, in fact if everyone simply paid their fair share of the costs — if bosses paid as much of their income as their workers — benefits could be maintained or even increased without raising Social Security tax rates.

>>>Don’t believe it? According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, “If all earnings were subject to the payroll tax, but the base was retained for benefit calculations, the Social Security Trust Funds would remain solvent for the next 75 years.”

See: How To RAISE Social Security Benefits Now

No society on earth has ever taxed income until we started doing so not even the skevy Romans. Taxing your labor is outrageous. I don't care about soda machines. Poor people are poor because they don't work. Stop taxing income then they can feed their own kids steak for lunch.

This crap of everything for the common good is nonsene. This country need to stop dealing with forgeiners for their money. Make their own cash. Take all of these houses these forgien banks are repossesing and their assets. Tell them goodbye. Thanks for you help. You have already sucked enough blood out of us we own all of it now. See this levels up.

I level up I will always level up. There is no reason to be poor anywhere. Jesus didn't work its a fact. See the difference bettween us and a society thats just starting out. We have the assets now. Why not take advantage of it. This is supposdly the nation with the biggest nuts on the earth. Lets start acting like it.