patrick.net

The thing I like about Bush: he makes it very easy for me to devise my investment strategy. I have to be thankful to him for my spectacular return in the last 4 years.

The thing I dislike about Bush: it will be very costly for me to give up my American citizenship when I decide it is time to leave, 20% on total asset.

So all you green cards out there, don't ever become a citizen. Make the money, give up the PR so that you don't have to pay tax to Uncle Sam globally, at zero cost.

The great thing about being an American citizen is that international travel is so much easier. You dont need visas for many countries and even for those where you need one, you can get one after landing.

That is my biggest attraction towards becoming a citizen.

Peter P Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
"Debt forgiveness elimination arguably made the market more efficient because homeowners are less deterred from short-selling."

On original purchase mortgages it basically made it a consequence free decision to just walk away.

sriramgopalan,

that is only true if compared to your original Indian passport. Hong Kong SAR passport which I still retain is far better than American passport. It goes to just as many countries visa-free and even more.

Can Americans go to North Korea, Cuba? Or get visa to Iran, Pakistan? You may say, I don't want to go to these countries. But wait, it never hurts to have more options.

It's also more advantageous not to carry an American passport in international travel. It is far more likely for American citizens to be held hostage.

I’m not a big Bush fan, but when you look at about 1,000 deaths a year in Iraq with the about 100,000 deaths a year in WWII (don’t forget that we have not had any war time rationing) and compare his prescription drug giveaway to the Social Security giveaway he has not done that bad a job.

I agree.

Politics is a lot different today and I can’t ever remember hearing anyone “blame” FDR (the man I consider the “worst president ever”) for 12/7/41 but almost every liberal I know (who would hate Bush even if he cured cancer tomorrow) “blames” Bush for 9/11/01…

I also think that FDR is the worst president ever. He *almost* successfully implemented all 10 planks of the manifesto. Fortunately, God exists.

It’s also more advantageous not to carry an American passport in international travel. It is far more likely for American citizens to be held hostage.

When I traveled years ago as a defense contractor, my passport had "contractor stamps" in it. This basically was in lieu of needing a visa to contries with whom we had a status-of-forces agreement to that effect. The stamp read something like "The Bearer is proceeding on Department of Defense business to Japan/Korea/Philippines". I'll bet a hijacker would really love to find that on my person.

American civilians hanging around US military bases abroad are presumed to be CIA by the locals. How charming.

I am thinking about Obama.
If it is true that he is a lock for the Dem nomination I am curious about his views on housing.
They say as a Dem you run Left to win the nomination, then migrate towards the center to get Indies and mad Repubs.
So, will he push for governement sposored bailouts and stay left? Or will he propse a plan that heads towards the center in trying to avoid helping speculators and fraudsters?
Certainly the current Dem plan is poor with his large aid to 'those poor builders'

Here is the follow-up article to the one DennisN posted about murder, mayhem, flipping and a "fictious" straw buyer in the Bay Area.
Authorities say the brazen slaying of a San Ramon real estate investor was rooted in an ill-conceived mortgage scam that employed an 18-year-old as a would-be buyer for a home on a bleak dead-end street in North Richmond.

I mentioned that we have only been losing a few American lives a day in Iraq vs. a few dozen a day in WWII and sa Says:

> what about deaths on the other side?
> do they ever count as people?

WWII was a blood bath for civilians and we had weeks in WWII where more civilians were killed than the total number killed in Iraq over four years...

Then Administrator Says:

> We were attacked on 9/11 by Bush’s friends the Saudis.
> Bush responded by HELPING the Saudis: he got rid of
> Saddam for them. Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11.
> The Saudis are the enemy, and in particular their oil-funded
> fundamentalist version of Islam.

We were not attached by the “Saudis”, but a bunch of “nut balls of Saudi decent”. Bush responded by helping family friends/big donors with connections to the oil industry and the Saudi government just like FDR responded (before 12/7/41) to the German attack on GB by helping family friends/big donors (remember that FDR was more of an old money/blue blood than GW Bush) with connections to business in GB and the British Government …

EBGuy,

non-borrowed reserve has improved this week by $5B
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h3/Current/

With all due respect but if you're going to put FDR and GWB in the same sentence, you should at least point out the biggest difference between them: FDR won (and won big) giving us the world we enjoy. So far, GWB is (and we with him) losing.

That is my biggest attraction towards becoming a citizen.
And to the person who stated the above: you might want to reconsider the need to state that publicly. Somebody may find it a bit offensive, misinterpreting your comment as you pissing on the right to become a US citizen. I'm sure that wasn't your intention.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4ae9ee60-1c36-11dd-8bfc-000077b07658.html

Now is the time for policy action to forestall such a house price collapse. There is nothing more the Federal Reserve can do by lowering short-term interest rates or by creating new credit facilities.... What is missing is action to prevent positive-equity mortgages from becoming negative-equity mortgages.

Another fake capitalist (Martin Feldstein). And this one (I think) was appointed by the Prez, Peter P. Guess the heroism didn't rub off on him.

I sometimes think that Peter P is a troll, just not a RE troll. Perhaps a political troll.

EBGuy,

let's say the non-borrowed reserve stabilizes at the current level, what are the parameters you will be looking at to determine how long it will take for the banks' non-borrowed reserve to return to positive territory?

I sometimes think that Peter P is a troll

I think that every day, but I have not said anything, because without Peter P this blog would be a mighty quiet place.

You Bush haters.. You mean the record 69 percent of Americans who disapprove of his job performance, the worst rating of any President in the history of the Gallup Poll?

You Bush lovers crack me up. More people believe in Aliens and Astrology than support Bush's crappy job in office, but you keep insisting that you have a mandate to rule.

Have you heard of this person?

Gurbaksh Chahal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurbaksh_Chahal
http://www.chahal.com/

Have you heard of this person?

Gurbaksh Chahal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurbaksh_Chahal

That is my biggest attraction towards becoming a citizen.

Along that comes jury duty, employers that have a large number of H1-B's must love the fact that they don't have that issue.

Okay, let's be fair. There are the rulers and the ruled. If you belong to the second group, any debate about the best or worst in the first group is a moot point. How about that?

However, we did ask for ways to oppose the bailout plan in the last thread, right?

FDR won (and won big) giving us the world we enjoy.

I thought Truman won (and won big) with a revolutionary weapon. The peaceful world we enjoy today is probably a direct result of that.

"Bush is our new hero?"
Bush is a mass murderer.
I know that "little brown ones" don't count here in the bubble, but peer-reviewed studies are indicating that these murderers have killed a MILLION Iraqis over the last six years.
Don't think that's coming back to haunt the fat-assed American ignoramus populace?
Think again.

Look, nobody denies that Iraq is horrible. We can only hope that a reasonable conclusion will come soon.

Tragedies happen because we are human. And yes, we should be ashamed and we should hate ourselves.

The only alternative is to pretend that we can make the world better.

let’s say the non-borrowed reserve stabilizes at the current level, what are the parameters you will be looking at to determine how long it will take for the banks’ non-borrowed reserve to return to positive territory?

That's a good question. At this point I am taking things one week at a time. The current H.4.1/H3 data does not yet include the +$25 billion from the latest TAF auction. Will be interesting to see if the non-borrowed reserves continues to improve.
Supposedly the TAF auction was a success:
London interbank offered rates (Libor) are gradually falling, and spreads over Overnight Index Swaps (OIS) -- a key gauge of money market stress -- aren't widening out to record levels, the British Bankers Association's daily fixing showed on Thursday.

"The Fed's upsizing of the TAF, the BoE's SLS and increased ceiling on bank reserves, and the cumulative impact of aggressive central bank innovation should allow further normalization."

That is, Bank of England's Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS) -- hey, at least the Brits are frank with their terminology. Other analysts are more skeptical:

But many analysts argue that any easing in money market strains is superficial. Libor rates and spreads remain extraordinarily high and wide despite all the central bank liquidity-boosting measures so far, which have been unprecedented both in size and scope. "We continue to believe that the underlying problem is not so much one of liquidity but one of excess leverage, and (liquidity injections) can only provide a temporary reprieve," Citigroup strategists said on Thursday.

Quotes are from the Reuters article Libor strains ease across the board, marginally.

Can we please elect a Democrat and get on with it! Democrat House plus Democrat Senate with Obama to seal the deals. You cannot BUY entertainment
like we're gonna get!

Oh, and by the way... We're not leaving IRAQ for a LLLOOONNNNGGGG time no
matter who's elected. But we'll give Obama a pass on that, he such a great orator.

I ordered a Nader yard sign last week.

I thought Truman won (and won big) with a revolutionary weapon.

Oh come on Peter P! Certainly we lucked out that FDR's successor had the resolve to do what was necessary, but I think it's fair to say FDR carried the ball to the 95 yrd line before he died. Truman still could've fumbled but it would've been tough.

The only alternative is to pretend that we can make the world better.

We can. The sentece I quote above - from you - proves it. Regardless if it was FDR or Popeye who won that hellish war, winning it was better than losing it as I'm sure you'll agree.

Monkframe

there are no such studies unless you are very "liberal" with your definition of peer reviewed. But let's say there are. What, in your estimation would be the "appropriate" number to kill? Since you object to the number, you must have one in mind yourself.

By the way, try calling a GI a mass murderer to his face. If I'm there, I'll hold you down for him you piece of shit.

Putin, becoming PM, pledges to cut taxes

Putin said in a speech to parliament focusing on the economy that he supported lower taxation of the oil industry, tax breaks for securities markets and better legislation on derivatives.

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSL0888832420080508

All great world leaders are tax-cutters.

sriramgopalan Says:
The great thing about being an American citizen is that international travel is so much easier.

Like it did for Daniel Pearl?

Carrying an American passport is a huge liability in many places on this planet - especially islamic anarchies or leftist militia hellholes.

While I would not make this decision purely for tax reasons like OO suggested, it is worth considering some of these factors when weighing your options... By the way, OO, even green-card holders have to pay US income tax on _all_ income including foreign sources, so I don't know if that works as a legal tax shelter.

Peter P

I don't know about "great" but he's certainly better for the Russians than what came before him. Still, without the oil....

I wonder if the FT and the Economist will start writing nice things about him now that he's a tax cutter.

Certainly we lucked out that FDR’s successor had the resolve to do what was necessary, but I think it’s fair to say FDR carried the ball to the 95 yrd line before he died. Truman still could’ve fumbled but it would’ve been tough.

Truman made one of the best and most difficult military decisions in human history. The result is the end of all future world wars.

At the very least, Putin is one of the smartest politicians ever lived.

The result is the end of all world wars.

even you can't really believe that! That's like believing Obama will bring change which will necessarily be good. Or that only rational actors will ever control nukes. Ever heard of Pakistan?

Here is an only in the Bay Area story. What do you get when you combine anti-vaccinators with a school founded on principles from the same guy who gave us biodynamic farming? A whooping cough outbreak at the East Bay Waldorf School.

And speaking of scurrilous rumors, I'd like to retract this statement:
The high school was surrounded by police cars this morning but everyone was going about their business, so I assume they were “protecting” students from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents that had picked up a Berkeley family around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday (not at school). Looks like that school really was in lockdown as Berkeley police searched the campus for a 17-year-old high school junior who was arrested for robbing a sophomore.

SP,

what I meant was because of Bush, I had to start thinking of the option of giving up US citizenship. I believe I am not the only one who thought this way throughout the last 8 years (thank god it's gonna be over soon), and if one does go down this path, it is a lot better to give up green card than giving up citizenship, because the former doesn't involve the 20% splitting fee with the IRS.

America is able to enjoy far more than proportional resources because we are able to induce both fear and admiration from the rest of the world. People see us as the epitome of human civilization, and everyone wants to "be like Americans", people from around the world believe in us so much that they hoard USD. That is the intangible asset *holding up* the USD with which we can enjoy a far better lifestyle with less effort. Our Gulf War I was executed with such a grace that the rest of the world not only admired the swiftness of the actions, but also the restraint Bush I applied. He chose not to kill when he could have, that was nobility. The reputation and adoration of America reached its height after that.

Now contrast this to Gulf War 2. We squandered all the sympathy and support from the world after 911, which we could have used completely to our own advantage to further cement US' global position. Instead, we went on a war we cannot afford and get nothing out of it. If Bush was a CEO, he would have been ousted many years ago for trashing the stock price of his company.

For the next election, I ardently wish for another Republican to be right in the hot seat when all the sh*t hit the fan. The GOP party has been hijacked by morons since Bush. So as a GOP supporter, I consider the best way to cleanse the party is to let it fail miserably so that the hijackers can be flushed down the toilet and we can go back to our roots of being real conservative. Let's at least start with being financially conservative.

EBGuy,

thanks for the explanation, now I can sleep tight for..., ok for now.

EBGuy
I'm not familiar with that school. Where do you get that this was anti-vaccinators at work? Is it an educated guess?

And - forgive the clueless idiot - but what is biodynamic farming?

biodynamic farming = organic farming + rotation farming, the whole idea is not to tire the soil out.

I don't think it is necessary in earthquake or volcano regions because our soil is still quite "fresh". However, biodynamic farming is most needed in countries with heavily depleted soil, which are usually developing countries with destitute farmers who lack both education and "luxury" to rotate crops.

Where do you get that this was anti-vaccinators at work? Is it an educated guess?
Yes, to be clear, it is a bit of rumor mongering. From the comments on the article, it appears that vaccinated children (and also teachers) came down with pertussis (whooping cough), as the vaccine is not 100% effective and wears off with age. So the outbreak could be a result of a vaccinated child contracting the disease, spreading it to adults, and then to other vaccinated children -- but I'd bet my Birkenstocks non-vacc. transmission vectors were involved.