patrick.net

"The jobs are being created in Texas. The reason is they are a pro-business, no income tax, low regulation, low business tax state."

Nevada also meets all of that criteria. They have 14% unemployment. Texas is simply benefiting from a natural gas boom. It has nothing to do with their taxes or regulations. In fact, when it comes to energy, all of the regulations are federal, so regardless fo where the compaies operate, their regulatory burden remains the same.

Truthplease says

Both parties are responsible. The original post is a shot at Reaganomics.

"Reagonomics" was simply borrow-and-spend. The national debt tripled from 1981 through 1989.

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

This was continued in the household and business sector, where debt tripled too:

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

The bottom line of this country is that our taxes are too low to pay for the government we have. Only one party voted to raise taxes in 1993, and the electorate in its infinite wisdom then booted them the next year.

What afflicts this nation isn't our politicians, it is us. And that's the Truth.

copy-paste zzz:

http://patrick.net/?p=817264#comment-744647

content-free conservative bullshit.

wormwood says

You ought to take a civics lesson there are 3 other branches of government.

Yes, there's Congress, the White House, the SCOTUS, and the Fed.

Republicans controlled the House 1995-2006, the Senate 1995-2001 and 2003-2006, and while Republicans lost the majority during 2001-2002 conservatives -- thanks to conservative Dems like Lieberman, Zell Miller -- still controlled the Senate during this time, as demonstrated by the 2002 Iraq war vote.

Greenspan, literally an Ayn Rand acolyte, along with 20 years of other Republican Fed appointees, controlled the Fed 1993-now.

1995-2006 was entirely a Republican show. Clinton could only oppose things by veto, which he did not do enough of, being a rather conservative person in the first place.

Try putting this on size. Government is too big.

I agree. Propose your cuts & I'll propose mine. But whatever isn't cut will have to be met with higher taxes eventually.

And don't kid yourself that cuts won't tear this country apart. They would, which is why there aren't any coming anytime soon.

They hired him, and laughed when he lampooned the president with racist commentary. They laughed when he made fun of Newt, saying that his consultants were
"dropping faster than Anthony Weiner's pants in an AOL chatroom."

However, when he focused his humor on Romney, Pawlenty, and Bachman, they ran out of humor.

They can dish it out, but they can't take it. They never should have hired this impersonator without reviewing all of his content. Doesn't matter whether they're lib or conservo, they're childish.

Yeah, the hook was pulled as he went after Bachman.

If he had roasted Palin a bit, he may not have made it out unscathed :)

tatupu70 says

I suggest you do some reading and learn about our ancestors. You might be surprised to learn that many of them were pretty self absorbed and entitled too.

An example of some of our not so illustrious ancestors...

John C Calhoun "Slavery is a Positive Good"

But I take higher ground. I hold that in the present state of civilization, where two races of different origin, and distinguished by color, and other physical differences, as well as intellectual, are brought together, the relation now existing in the slaveholding States between the two, is, instead of an evil, a good - a positive good. I feel myself called upon to speak freely upon the subject where the honor and interests of those I represent are involved. I hold then, that there never has yet existed a wealthy and civilized society in which one portion of the community did not, in point of fact, live on the labor of the other. Broad and general as is this assertion, it is fully borne out by history. . . .

http://caho-test.cc.columbia.edu/ps/10157.html

This just proves how stiff the rod is that sticks up a Republicon's backside. They can't laugh at themselves. No wonder why they're all such miserable fear mongers. If you can't laugh at yourself you have serious problems.

Troy says

Republicans were running the government 1995-2006. It was their policies that created and fed the bubble. Attempts to pin the disaster on Democrats is just partisan bullshit.

Troy says

1995-2006 was entirely a Republican show. Clinton could only oppose things by veto, which he did not do enough of, being a rather conservative person in the first place.

So the Republicans brought us the surplus of the late 90's? The Reagan and conservative policies were working until baby Bush came to power and started warmongering? Is this your position?

Really you want to know why Conservative comedians aren't more common?

Simple double standards. If Conservatives were to make jokes of their issues, it wouldn't be Politically Correct. And Libs like you would make issues out of every petty joke that was cracked, and the Liberal media would come down so hard, the ACLU would have to join in.

But it's OK to joke about conservative Whites, and their whole family, and if you are a cast member of Saturday night lie, you eviscerate a whole family, from a baby with down syndrome, to the teen daughter, you can even claim one sibling is the other's son.

Yeah Let's hear it for Gay jokes, Racial Jokes, the Liberal Hypocrisy, there's plenty of Comedy there, you Liberals would turn inside out, if the Conservatives were to set up comedy shop at the Liberal expense.

But you know, they don't have to, you Libs are fucking your selves.
People aren't stupid, they see the hypocrisy, where Liberals have no boundaries and nothing is sacred, even the President is cracking Jokes at America's expense. The Liberals are Ephing this country in the "A" and laughing all the way to the bank. Laugh it up funny Boy, it wont be so goddamn funny in November 2012, you're going to see how funny Saturday Night Live(which hasn't been funny in over 20 years) is.

Troy says

This country desperately needs a weaker dollar so we can get some exports going again.
Problem is we can’t afford the more expensive oil that comes with a weaker dollar.
Gold *should* be at least $2000 — that would give our wage labor a 30% comparative boost vs the ROW.
Failing that, we should just start erecting trade barriers against countries with large surpluses against us, relative to the size of the surplus.
Or we could go with a stronger dollar and see productive goods-producing employment continue to crater, and our capacity either going unused or exported to the cheap labor countries.
But these trade deficits are unsustainable. Something’s going to have to give here.

Actually the first problem we'd need to do is tackle is our budget deficits. The government is addicted to spending like drunken sailors, and therefore would not want to anger any of the foreigners supporting or debt habit. Once we get that out of the way, we can erect import duties and dump all our domestic subsidies.

Having said all of that I'd would ignore our merchandise trade deficit until we achieve energy independance.

ToT, usually people who get stoned are relaxed and in a good mood. They laugh easily even at themselves. You may want to question your dealer about his supply. Something isn't right.

This is a repeat of Colbert being invited to the Bush white house correspondent's dinner.

He started roasting sacred cows, they started squirming. They weren't going to repeat the other mistake with Colbert of letting him finish.

simchaland says

ToT, usually people who get stoned are relaxed and in a good mood. They laugh easily even at themselves. You may want to question your dealer about his supply. Something isn’t right.

What you never heard of Mean Green?

thunderlips11 says

I don’t get it. Mississippi and Arkansas have among the lowest taxes, lowest wages, and the weakest business regulations in the nation.
How come all the Fortune 500 companies aren’t relocating there?

Maybe they have figured out that tornadoes are attracted to trailer parks and plastic pink flamingos on the lawn.

shrekgrinch says

And ALL currency pairs are compared to the dollar exchanges, because why should anyone pay more for a currency pair trade than the traditional dollar one?

BS go learn how forex works.

Truthplease says

Reagan kicked some ass! He brought down the USSR.

yeah, right, and Gore invented Internet.

article came out a few days ago that apple has enough cash to buy all the makers of mobile devices except for samsung.

michaelsch says

Truthplease says

Reagan kicked some ass! He brought down the USSR.

yeah, right, and Gore invented Internet.

You can't argue that Reagan's strategy brought down the USSR. It was an obvious success. Reaganomics however... probably assumed that businessmen cared more about the people in this country than their profits.

The Soviet Union fell because it had an economic system that could not be sustained.

Correct, Reagan's strategy worked.

The Soviet Union fell because it had an economic system that could not be sustained.

Correct, Reagan's strategy worked.

Giving credit to someone acting like an arrogant bully is absurd.

Incorrect, the man wasn't arrogant. If he was arragont we would have deployed our fully military might into Lebanon.

You obviously are anti-Reagan because this fact is a slow pitch softball.

1950's Korean war U.S. 36K deaths (wiki), created a split nation.
1960's early 70's Vietnam war U.S. 58K (wiki), deaths for what purpose?
1980's Cold War with no open engagement or open warfare. Defeat of a communist regime; priceless!

You can "win" a knife fight if you live a little longer than the other guy. BFD!

I guess we have been on life support for 20 years. BFD!

shrekgrinch says

You mean the one where you live in a total fantasy devoid of actual reality?

Actual reality? That's redundant, repetitive, and it says the same thing over & over.

Nothing more to see here - move along, now...

elliemae says

shrekgrinch says

You mean the one where you live in a total fantasy devoid of actual reality?

Actual reality? That’s redundant, repetitive, and it says the same thing over & over.
Eschew Obfuscation

Elliemae, you've pretty much summed up all of his posts.

The only two Republicans that I would consider are Ron Paul or Newt and neither is getting much of attention from the Republican party. Republicans lately like to talk about conservative American values, but they don't vote for candidates that actually are conservative.

There's so much polarity and hatred from both sides that I would vote for snoopy if he ran. Whatever happened to Bill the Cat from the Meadow Party?

Now that was a candidate not afraid to be seen with hookers while driving drunk really fast.

Meadowcratic candidate:

Bill the Cat (link to large pic)

Bill had the kind of class rarely seen in the latest candidates. And he came with an IT professional (banana junior computer), a sleezy lawyer, a visionary (cutter john & his gang) and hairballs galore.

I'm writing his ass in this time around.

I am also getting that impression, espically if Greece defaults.

Welcome Brazilians after Chinese and Indians. Who else?

“It’s actually very cheap in Miami compared to here.”

He's investing. Let him go.

bubblesitter says

Welcome Brazilians after Chinese and Indians. Who else?

Russians obviously. Familiar with BRIC?

klarek says

Familiar with BRIC?

That will do it.

In the Miami area, Brazilians bought 9 percent of homes and apartments sold to international buyers in the 12 months through March 2010, behind only Canadians and Venezuelans, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. Since then, “anecdotal evidence certainly points to a significant increase,” said Lynda Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the group. In May, international clients bought about 60 percent of existing houses and condos and 90 percent of newly built homes, the association reported today.

International buyers are buying 60% of existing housing and 90% of newly built housing in the Miami area? That sounds quite high, to the point of unbelievable, especially considering how few used house salesmen actually deal with larger numbers of international buyers typically. I'm assuming the Venezuelans are trying to get their money out of Venezuela in case shit hits the fan there with the regime.

This sounds similar to the reports we've seen before, however, where it was claimed 50-75% of sales in Miami condo buildings were going to be to foreigners: http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/international-buyers-prop-up-market-in-miami

Still, you have to wonder about those numbers, as this guy said he sold 80% of his condos in one development to Americans, and 8 out of 10 condos (in a building with 42 total condos) to foreigners for another development:
http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/110407/story1.shtml

In any case, foreigners buying any 3rd/4th rate asset they can get their hands on is generally the definition of a bubble. Think Iceland, where fishermen were buying 3rd rate businesses here in the US during their bubble.

Apparently it will take 2.5 years at the current sales pace to work through REO and other distressed inventory:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/26/2236028/pace-of-foreclosure-sales-picks.html

Even with sales back on the rise, it will take years for buyers to buy up the large inventory of distressed and soon-to-be-distressed homes, said Daren Blomquist, spokesman for RealtyTrac.

“Right now, at the current sales pace in Florida, it’s going to be about 2 1/2 years to get through the properties that the banks own and the properties that are in foreclosure,” he said.

I read about it or saw on HGTV(not that I think it is true) that rich Israelis were into investing in those beach front condos, this was a couple of years back. Now they are under water already.

Waterfront Condos in Miami and Miami Beach can be had pretty cheaply. I rent in a $900 1.5 Bedroom a block from the beach with a pool with multiple restaurants, shops, and supermarkets literally across the street. Try getting any warm, waterfront location on the West Coast for that kind of money.

Those $300-500k are in brand new buildings. You can have beachfront for 1/3 of that. Not in the heart of SoBe, but if you're not a twentysomething club kid, fashion model, or DJ, it's too much for you anyway.

Downside: Must learn Spanish. Not a dry heat by any means. You will probably have to update the property, as many Condos haven't been updated as the late Grandpa Moishe brought it in 1978; I've seen thick shag lime green carpet. Cockroaches are inescapable, no matter how clean you are, you will see one occasionally. Cats like their meaty, crunchy taste.

Hazards: Be sure to check the neighborhood. Be wary of the word "Waterfront" which usually means a 30 minutes in heavy traffic from the beach as the car drives, and that you are on an artificial lake. Once you get more than a mile from the water, the temperature is unbearable in summer, if you are under 60 years old. Stay away from 55+ buildings. Miami Condo Associations are far less irksome than ones you find on the West Coast or in the Northeast. People just want the building maintained, and the high level of absentee ownership seems to retard the process of Condo Association Nazification.

wormwood says

You sound like a desperate lady.

He called you a "lady." He obviously respects you and wants you in the worst way (sober, with the lights on). ;)

I'm sorry - but you must admit, a person with the name "worm" in their moniker calling you a "lady" is - well, special. Even if it made you vomit.

obviously I didn't read a book on how to properly use a computer... somehow or another I duplicated a post without a reply.