patrick.net

The breeding ground is that we don't have publcicly financed elections.

I'm not a big fan of public works projects in general. I think the rail stuff is a real boondoggle (a minivan carrying a family of 4 is pretty damn energy efficient even at 20mpg).

But what we do need is to stop importing so much oil. I don't know/care how this can be accomplished, but we should have a goal and concentrate a WW2-level of national focus of getting there.

Our trade deficit in oil is over $200B/yr. That doesn't sound like much but it is 4 million jobs being sent overseas.

Same thing with our $250B/yr trade deficit with China, and $60B deficit with Mexico. That $300B/yr is another 6 million jobs being lost.

Where the economy is fucked is in there being not enough work for people to make a living, and taxes being way way too low vs. gov't spending.

We could in fact double income and payroll taxes. This would put us on par with Denmark, Germany, and other high-tax states. It works for them, it would work for us.

But we are intellectual children and want everything without having to pay for it. This will work until it doesn't.

We talk about cutting defense 50%, but defense is $1T or thereabouts. We can cut, but the millions of middle-class jobs that are lost will be an immense disruption to hundreds of local economies.

HousingWatcher says

The breeding ground is that we don’t have publcicly financed elections.

Again, root-cause is unsound money.

Troy says

But what we do need is to stop importing so much oil. I don’t know/care how this can be accomplished, but we should have a goal and concentrate a WW2-level of national focus of getting there.

I agree Troy. Private Interests entangled in a nexus fashion with the Government is again the reason. It is like we won't do anything meaningful until SHTF.

Troy says

We can cut, but the millions of middle-class jobs that are lost will be an immense disruption to hundreds of local economies.

One can defend one's own borders with an expense much less than $1T (that figure seems too low, but whatever) and ensure these middle-class jobs are not lost. one does not need to be world policeman.

Troy says

Where the economy is fucked is in there being not enough work for people to make a living, and taxes being way way too low vs. gov’t spending.

We could in fact double income and payroll taxes. This would put us on par with Denmark, Germany, and other high-tax states. It works for them, it would work for us.

Agree on taxes, but taxes should be implemented for the wealthy first and then if needed, for the middle class. My guess is if you eliminate tax cuts for the wealthy, you can more than make up for the revenue without cutting taxes for the middle-class.

Wealth disparity came about because of these draconian tax cuts for the wealthy.

The problem as I see it is on both sides - Democrat and Republican. But I think all this bickering over which party is better, is actually a joke. Private Corporations buy Congress members in both parties and take care of their needs, while the sheeple argue over stupid things and fight as factions.

There are good politicians on both sides too -- but they are so few in number that they can't pluck a hair being in the Congress.

You are wise austrian_man

austrian_man says

There are good politicians on both sides too — but they are so few in number that they can’t pluck a hair being in the Congress.

I agree, but in my opinion, 30 years ago there were a lot more good Republicans in congress than there are now. Now they are forced to tow the line, to be extreme or be replaced. HW is right about publicly financed elections being the first solution that will have to precede all the others.

But yes, the divide and conquer bs is long past being tiresome.

This link again (from Patrick a couple days back), if anyone reading this missed it, about buying our government back from the special interests.
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjune11/buy-congress-back6-11.html

I might have spoken too soon, about your wisdom. Just agreeing about the divide bs and conquer and taxes. As for:

austrian_man says

Again, root-cause is unsound money.

Not so much. Not that I want to go there. I know the Mises line of thinking, and I don't totally disagree. But central banks are necessary for now. Again, this has been hashed out here by many in the past, and I'm not particularly interested in going there, because of the complexity, and because the emotions that get attached to the topic by the zealots.

no

marcus says

I might have spoken too soon, about your wisdom.

hehe. so what do you think is the root-cause for corruption? I'm saying corruption goes unchecked when you can print money at will. I don't think it is that hard to agree to this statement. At the very least, a hard-asset currency puts some level of check on the corruption.

marcus says

But central banks are necessary for now.

I'd be the first one to argue why central banks are necessary in a fiat currency system. There are responsible central banks, e.g. Riksbank of Sweden and then there are irresponsible central banks, which cater to the private interests of the banking cartel. This banking cartel having unchecked power is a huge problem, that it is hard to ignore it when you want to talk about root-causes for the boom/bust cycle.

If you haven't read this already, see this: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/09/gone-swedish/

Sweden did not just bail out its financial institutions by having the government take over the bad debts. It extracted pounds of flesh from bank shareholders before writing checks. Banks had to write down losses and issue warrants to the government.

austrian_man says

until it won’t. The US Govt is in a Catch-22 situation. They can raise taxes and cut spending, which will push us into a recession. Or the Fed can print more money for Govt spending, which means inflation will be worse. So really inflation + recession = stagflation. Sure US can borrow money, but then 14 trillion $ of debt doesn’t sit well with foreign creditors.

Just got back from grocery shopping. Stagflation is here.

austrian_man says

One can defend one’s own borders with an expense much less than $1T (that figure seems too low, but whatever) and ensure these middle-class jobs are not lost.

No, when you cut spending you cut jobs. Granted, I have yet to see a detailed accounting of where the hundreds of billions of dollars are going, but when the government spends money it generally hits somebody's paycheck somewhere.

My guess is if you eliminate tax cuts for the wealthy, you can more than make up for the revenue without cutting taxes for the middle-class.

? it's the middle class -- upper middle class to lower middle class -- that makes the bulk of the income in this country. The Bush tax cuts cost ~$80B/yr for the plus $200,000 bracket and $200B for everyone else.

People are so afraid of taxes but this is kinda dumb. The Clinton tax rates didn't cause harm during the 1990s, and ditching them in 2001-2003 was utterly infantile.

If we want a $6T government, we need a $6T tax base. Applying the added pain would make us pay attention about what we're getting for our money. We just can't top-load it on the top 1-5%. They make a lot of the money -- about 1/3 I guess -- but not taxing everyone actually exposes the economy to other forms of corruption, ie. corruption of rent-seeking in land values. If the middle-class tax burden was double, rents and land prices would be a lot lot lower!

But I do stand utterly shocked at the $5T+ total government bill this year -- not counting social security, even.

That's over $40,000 per household in government spending, $55K if we count SS. We're doing Swedish-level government spending without getting Swedish-level public goods. We suck.

austrian_man says

so what do you think is the root-cause for corruption?

A corruptible and/or ignorant people. It may very well be that we are all corruptible, and the larger the grouping, the more corruption creeps in.

Japan has been utterly corrupted by debt, so it's not just cultural homogeneity that prevents corruption.

Yup, that seems to be what Amazon is saying to all of its former CA affiliates.

You need to register your business outside of CA through a law firm. Than you can go back to being an affiliate for Amazon. That's what others are doing now.

The guy is an admitted realtor already. All the DNA can do is make him even more guilty.

Say, is there a national realtor registry so that people can choose not to live near them?

road was full of winners pulling their (HELOC supplied) ski boats to the lake for the weekend ..... and gas is >$3 a gallon ..... so, the consumer side is still doing it's part.

austrian_man says

If you can provide a case for who will fund our debt, I am willing to listen.

Debt to GDP was immense in 1945.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=Z6

It's not the debt that will get us, it's the deficit spending.

To fix the deficit just requires 3 simple fixes: 1) cut DOD 40% ($400B), 2) raise taxes 40% ($500B), 3) adopt the Canada/Japan style single-payer health system for everyone ($600B savings).

We couldn't do this in one year, but a 10 year transition, 2014-2024 would work.

I might as well be writing in moon man language since the possibility of this happening is 0.

Troy says

I might as well be writing in moon man language since the possibility of this happening is 0.

lol. yep. We've got so used to lower taxes and greater spending. if reality sets in sooner, better for all of us.

If I'm at a baseball game, and there is some retarded and drunk asshole who is rooting (screaming all kinds of crazy stuff) for my home team, and trying to start a fight with fans of the other team, maybe in part for some deep primal reasons having to do with being part of a group, does it reflect on me (presumably a member of that same group) ?

Does it reflect on me because I am a fan of the same team?

Maybe it does reflect on me, because I am not willing to get in a physical fight and maybe get thrown out for not getting the guy to shut up. Is it even my right to make him shut up, even if he is offensive to me?

Don't be afraid Worm, one day all those Mexican Americans, or their children or their grandchildren will be just like you (and Pat Buchanon), except probably way less racist.

China cheap labors are not going away soon. I don't think China bubble will burst anytime before 2020. That is my conservative prediction. Here are my reasons:

1. Lots of "develop-able" lands still available in the major cities still. They won't run out of lands and drive up housing price in an uncontrollable way 'yet'

2. China government is a dictatorship government. They can totally control the market inflat or deflat. They own the banks, they have controlling power in contruction companies, they own the land. In another words, they set the price.

3. From my observation, Mainland Chinese people are very submissive, too submissive. When the housing prices are so crazily overpriced, they won't necessarily speak up or boycott, or no way to. It's communist country. They will just quietly try to make more money in order to get enough downpayment.

4. The goal of every Chinese adult is pretty much the same: "Make as much money as fast as possible in anyway I can so I can buy houses."

5. Private contruction company work CLOSELY with the government and they always negotiate behind close doors on how to re-collect lands from the poor and build skyscrapers with it. They have full control to fill the demand.

The housing bubble is still has a long way to go. It's still on the upward trend.

Is there a DNA test that they can use in utero to predict whether the child will become a realtor? If so, at least there would be the opportunity for treatment to alleviate the symptoms this child will carry throughout his life.

And, of course, there's the whole abortion option too.

6. Chinese won't change their minds, they have already decided that an empty apartment in an empty new city is a good "investment".
7. Chinese do not have access to other investments, e.g. mutual funds.
8. Chinese reinforce each other and independent thought is uncommon, i.e. "everyone else is buying empty apartments, I need to do so also."
9. Chinese know that many stocks in China are a scam, a la Sinoforest.
10. Chinese women decide what is done with money in Shanghai and other cities in China. There are fewer women than men, women call the shots. Men do whatever it takes.
11. In Shanghai it's common for the woman to have A. all the money B. man cooks etc. "The husband washes the woman's panties."
12. I dated a woman from Shanghai. She would work 7 days a week, 10 hours per day to make a bad money decision and later would never ever say she made any mistake of any kind. "I was wrong" or "I made a mistake" may be impossible for a Chinese woman to say.

Jesus H Christ, give a monkey a few sound bites, and he thinks he's the center of the universe...

What exactly are you talking about?...

The supreme court really screwed up with their ruling that we must educate children of illegals free of charge. At the very least, we could have mandated they pay some tuition or taxes and provided the service. That's the simple solution. America was built on importing cheap labor. They attracted the Chinese in the 1800s. Then the Irish. Then the Italians. Then, the Eastern Europeans. Why we tried stopping the flow from Mexico is beyond me.

wormwood says

I asked, “is there any good reason why our country would want to try to control who gets to enter and become a citizen?

Of course. But we aren't talking about the borders, and I'm not aware of liberals having issues with protecting our borders. But for the 11 million or whatever the number of undocumented workers there are, we just aren't going to deport them. Most sane conservatives acknowledge that.

Nomograph says

Remember, the idea that illegals are all on welfare is simply propaganda; illegals don’t qualify for government assistance beyond emergency medical care.

On this point you're incorrect: some illegals qualify for SSI (supplemental security income) which pays a minimal amount to people who don't otherwise qualfiy for benefits. This opens the door for medicaid, housing, etc. However, it's not applicable across the board.

theoakman says

The supreme court really screwed up with their ruling that we must educate children of illegals free of charge.

I don't think that's a screw-up; I'd rather have those children in school learning than hanging out doing nothing.

wormwood says

Nobody wants to be in a fox hole with a liberal, an atheist, who has no moral compass, no standards when the sh*t hits the fan.

This is stupid. We all have love in our hearts for our country. But you prove that you have much more space in your heart for hatred and fear. But on some level you must know that these emotions of yours are supported by sub par reasoning.

A little less ego would help you, as would taking a little more pride in not looking like such a fool. Oh, I forgot, this is anonymous. You're the type of person I would want to be in a fox hole with, which is the type who briefly uses some handle on forums like this to for anonymous Glen Beck style trollish comments. (until you are ignored by all of the types of people I actually would want to be stuck in a fox hole with (ie if I had to be stuck in a fox hole) - then you change your identlty - and continue)

marcus says

Instead, you go in to a retarded Glenn Beck style rant.

SOOOO Only Liberals are allowed to call people they don't agree with "Retarded"?

Got it, making a note...

Tenouncetrout says

Liberals are allowed to call people they don’t agree with “Retarded”?

TOT, he called the rant retarded.

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/

wormwood says

Nobody wants to be in a fox hole with a liberal, an atheist, who has no moral compass, no standards when the sh*t hits the fan.

I don't believe that's one of the questions that's asked on the military entrance exam; I've completed extensive research (106 minutes, to be exact):

Recruiter: Have you ever been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor? That's robbery, rape, car theft, that sort of thing.
John Winger: Convicted? No.
Russell Ziskey: Never convicted.
Recruiter: Now, are either of you homosexuals?
John Winger: [John and Russell look at each other] You mean, like, flaming, or...
Recruiter: Well, it's a standard question we have to ask.
Russell Ziskey: No, we're not homosexual, but we are *willing to learn*.
John Winger: Yeah, would they send us someplace special?
Recruiter: I guess that's "no" on both. Now if you could just give Uncle Sam your autograph...

You're welcome.

Well if we're going to be all Political Correct and be bombarded with commercials on our Liberal media outlets chastising people for their colorful use of words. Like it's not OK call someone or something you don't agree with "Retarded" then that should go for ALL of US and not just intended for the Fox viewership.

Otherwise shut the Liberal Pie hole and lets have open discourse complete with PC incorrect verbiage and all.

marcus says

What would you call it Tot?

I'd call it retarded too, but I'm not a sanctimonious prick.

Tenouncetrout says

I’m not a sanctimonious prick.

You might want to re-read some of your many posts - you'd change your mind.

Where are you looking? I have a company with 3 phase in central NY state and real estate is more reasonable.

Among other comments about Glenn Beck, my favorite is that he was named the most loathsome person in America in 2010, declaring "It’s like someone found a manic, doom-prophesying hobo in a sandwich board, shaved him, shot him full of Zoloft and gave him a show. (the buffalo beast)

Dictionary.com says

Retarded: a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard

Tenouncetrout says

but I’m not a sanctimonious prick

The truth hurts. Ouch!

elliemae says

Tenouncetrout says

I’m not a sanctimonious prick.

You might want to re-read some of your many posts - you'd change your mind.

Eschew Obfuscation

No I'm just a Pompous ass. Sanctimony is not my strong suit.
I'm just a lowly pissed off citizen.

I think they need to make everyone on welfare work the fields, instead of convicts.

EMan says

Yup, that seems to be what Amazon is saying to all of its former CA affiliates.

You need to register your business outside of CA through a law firm. Than you can go back to being an affiliate for Amazon. That's what others are doing now.

Sure, just set up a shell corporation in Wyoming for patrick.net. It's convenient, cheap, and easy. You can share the same headquarters as thousands of other shell corporations. It's truly a cottage industry. It's what all the cool tax dodgers are doing this year.

The guy is an admitted realtor already.

LOL.

Bubble Bobble says

This is what I have to work with, 40 acres, 1.5 hours from home, no power, no water, dirt road access. This one isn't mine but I have one like it.

*Deleted* Just realized this is a commercial thread and not about surviving on junk land.

BB- Thank you for Bid4Assets - great site!!!

Some hilarious stories behind some of these properties... google "River Ranch Acres". Basically, a redneck haven where owners are chased off their own land, as it interferes with the anarcho-redneck commune of trailer livin' and tobacco chewin', 6 trailers hooked into one generator with some extension cords to power the bug zapper and the 13" B/W under the awning. Central Florida, boy howdy, 90F / 90% humidity, true Savannah/Swampland livin'.

Like the properties in DC and Dayton and Jackson, MS. Either total rubbish, inhabited by a gang of well armed heroin salespersons, or with god knows how much in back taxes that will probably be many times what you pay for it, which is probably why the seller wants out.

1oz Silver Coins by a private mint with little collectible value ("Generic Silver Round") being sold for $130+S/H, a 400% markup.

But there may be a gem in here somewhere. Nothing like buying a $300 piece of land for shits and giggles. :)