I agree with everything you wrote. And now that our paid for house has been reassessed thru the roof, our taxes went way up.
I thought Ponzident Bush never increased taxes.
Posted by TIKI AL at April 21, 2007 03:03 PMPerhaps a stretch, but an interesting lesson to apply to Bush's ill-conceived privatization of social security as well. How close we came.
Posted by mainsailset at April 21, 2007 03:05 PMBut the Stock Market set a record!!! Why can't people understand that? Businesses are having record profitability!! And paying record low wages to do so!!
Ain't the new America just grand.
Posted by phidipides at April 21, 2007 03:07 PMI saw this article a couple of days ago. I do believe there is a housing crisis upon us, but I was shocked to see that a high school teacher with an annual salary of 70K would buy a 540K home. Seems the home lending business has taken advantage of the American desire to have the biggest home, the fanciest car and the newest electronics. This is what capitalism and materialism demand, but is it really worth it?
Posted by ann at April 21, 2007 03:22 PMSome may say that the housing bubble started when Clinton signed the law that ended taxes on real estate taxes for selling your personal residence. As the speculation increased, folks demanded mortgage products so that they could participate in the new tulip mania.
Same thing happened in 1999-2000. Lots of folks bought internet stocks on margin, and lost exponentially as the market crashed from 2000-2002.
And now that our paid for house has been reassessed thru the roof, our taxes went way up. I thought Ponzident Bush never increased taxes.
That's not a federal tax, it's a local tax by the county or whatever municipality. Besides, your local schools need the money. Teachers and administrators have huge pay hikes coming their way, and somebody has to pay for them. You need to pay your fair share.
Posted by muckdog at April 21, 2007 03:57 PM"You need to pay your fair share."
I have no kids and was home schooled by wolves.
"That's not a federal tax"
Bush and Cheney get kickbacks thru Haliburton which operates our school cafeterias.
The Repub Congress passed bills eliminating taxes on home sales. St Alan of Greenback willfully manipulated the economy after the dotcom bubble burst by lowering interest rates to comic, absurd levels to create a fake housing "boom", thus delaying the effects of the recession.
And Bushco made sure that existing banking regulations were loosened so that fools could "afford" the houses as they riotiously increased in value.
Result: and enormous fake housing bubble and redirection of huge amounts of investment capital into the housing sector, exacerbating our disgusting suburban sprawl and gasoline wastage, and glutting the market with crappy, ugly "developments" that are a revolting eyesore.
This will just keep getting worse. But at least the rich made out like bandits, leaving the morons holding the bag of shit.
Bought a house during the late "boom"? Bushco and the Repubs intentionally destroyed you.
Posted by euzoius at April 21, 2007 04:13 PMThe people in the article come off as nitwits, but they had a lot of help achiveing their nitwit--hood. Realtors who probably started off showing them houses they couldn't afford. Mortgage brokers who came up with instruments that make sense for newly minted neurosurgeons and other with sharply high earning potential or ways to save & prudently invest for balloon payments. The financial services industry lives for penalties and fees. Good customers are harder to come by than suckers and people who get stuck.
Posted by Rich at April 21, 2007 04:21 PMThat's not a federal tax, it's a local tax by the county or whatever municipality.
When the federal taxes that return to the states are reduced because of taxes breaks for the wealthy, the local taxes have to be raised or they have to cut local services like firemen, county hospitals, etc. Call it "trickle down," if you will.
Posted by ann at April 21, 2007 04:32 PMTIKI AL, my house was also "reassessed thru the roof," as probably half the people in the US. How can my house increase so much when the market has hit the skids?
Posted by Judith at April 21, 2007 05:08 PM
Ann said:
"...but I was shocked to see that a high school teacher with an annual salary of 70K would buy a 540K home..."
It is not the woman's fault that she bought a home she alone couldn't afford. Her husband (at the time) made more than enough to cover the mortgage bill. It's Bush's fault, you see, that they're getting divorced and can't afford the mortgage if one of them gets the house.
Posted by Dave_Violence at April 21, 2007 05:24 PMTIKI AL, my house was also "reassessed thru the roof," as probably half the people in the US. How can my house increase so much when the market has hit the skids?
Well, you see, the local Democrats in your county/township want that property tax revenue, so they tend to reassess frequently when prices are going up and rarely when prices are going down.
Oh, and to the original poster: Kindly define an "immoral" loan, and explain how the borrower is not at least partially at fault.
Posted by lordtyranus2 at April 21, 2007 06:18 PMto make it simple, the folks like Mr. Potter won
and George Bailey lost the building and loan. the town was Pottersfield. the country became different too
Well, you see, the local Democrats in your county/township want that property tax revenue, so they tend to reassess frequently when prices are going up and rarely when prices are going down.
The Feds lowered taxes and cut-back or never funded matching funds, yet demanded States provide services...you know, like NCLB. States are screwed so the republi-cons can yell "Low taxes, ain't it great!"
Add it all up and you are paying more in taxes than before the Mad King, idiot son of George, was appointed Chimporer. And his followers are...well, what his followers are. Too ignorant to connect the dots. Read lordanus and tell me I'm wrong?
Posted by phidipides at April 21, 2007 07:05 PMI got a mass ARM offer letter today. They look you up on the tax rolls and cross reference the mortgage deeds. These letters precalculate the amount of cash you'd get and entice you with the initial mortgage payment (interest-only for two years at 6%) even though it's an ARM and could jump to 9.25 after that.
Posted by bob at April 21, 2007 07:25 PMYeah, that's great. The $70K-a-year high school teacher who can't understand how he could've let that $540K mortgage get away from him like that.
It was on its way to temerity, but decided to stop off and get drunk somewhere and just became balls.
Posted by Toby Petzold at April 21, 2007 08:21 PMMany states require periodic revaluation of property. In both of the Carolinas, it happens every eight years. So no, in many states revaluation cannot be used for political purposes as it is part of an ongoing process.
Posted by herbal tee at April 21, 2007 08:22 PMIt is not the woman's fault that she bought a home she alone couldn't afford.
You might want to actually read the article. The husband is the one who made 70K.
Posted by ann at April 21, 2007 08:40 PMMy wife and I bought our house during this boom. We both work and have a fairly decent income. We spent over a year looking for the right house. We could have bought a much bigger home but were smart enough to realize that we needed to have a cushion for ourselves.
It is a stretch to blame Bush for people who try and live beyond their means and get burned for it.
Add it all up and you are paying more in taxes than before the Mad King, idiot son of George, was appointed Chimporer.
Actually, the entire NCLB law was the brainchild of Ted Kennedy, the left's favorite mad drunk driving killer. And it doesn't force the states to do anything, except maybe stand up to the teacher's union.
Every day that fool remains in the Senate is another day he's pissing on his honorable brother's grave. JFK would be a Bush republican today, not a pacifist cut and run leftie.
Posted by lordtyranus2 at April 21, 2007 09:19 PMMy wife is a forensic accountant, and when I read to her how they changed the rules to record nonexistent profits, she said such gyrations do not meet SEC requirements for recognizing revenue. SAB 101, to be exact.
She also asks, how did they get away with it?
Posted by Bob Morris at April 21, 2007 09:24 PMActually, the entire NCLB law was the brainchild of Ted Kennedy
It's amazing how the wingnuts blame all the Bush faillures on everyone but Bush. And I suppose it was Ted Kennedy who refused to fund it too.
Keep drinking the Kool-aid....and please...go enlist.
These trolls can be quite humorous at times.
Bill and Ted are devil womanizers incarnate, but JFK who gave Marilyn Monroe private tours of the White House was "honorable".
Posted by TIKI AL at April 21, 2007 11:02 PMWell it is kind funny how the left blame everything on Bush.
Posted by southdakotaboy at April 21, 2007 11:02 PM"so they tend to reassess frequently when prices are going up and rarely when prices are going down."
So, why did my taxes go up, since prices are coming down? In Missouri, we are reassessed every two years.
There was a news story here in CA where property taxes are being reassessed, and folks will most likely see an average property tax reduction of about 10%. So you know.
In addition, the government shouldn't bail out the subprimes or those who made bad decisions.
Posted by muckdog at April 22, 2007 12:18 AMIf the taxes are going down it means they were overly screwing them in the first place.
You know, like dropping gas from $4 to $3.
Posted by TIKI AL at April 22, 2007 12:40 AMif you remember when that amiable dunce..ronald reagan left office in 88...it was after a huge housing boom..lot of it having to do with deregulation ..ronny's core ideology...in 88 the country was essentially bankrupt..yet til this day there are still kooks who think he was the greatest thing since sliced bread...in iran contra ..he was either lying or just real stupid ..take your pick..my point is that these guys take office..this time illegally..rape the country for all it's worth and move on..the only possibly silver lining for me in these bush years is that maybe ..just maybe...the gop will be out of power for a very very long time...at least ronny didn't leave us with an iraq....but he did leave the country broke..and when clinton fixed a lot of it...they said it was ronny and george sr..who did it..pretty funny these reptiles
Posted by dennis at April 22, 2007 04:11 AMSDBoy---you have serious reading comprehension problems, or are simply looking to find "Bush hatred" on the Left.
Comments on this thread blame the housing disaster partly on:
---The Repub Congress
---Greenspan
---Bush
and
---foolish hyperconsuming Americans.
So try to read what's actually been said before you post your baseless prejudices against "the left".
Posted by euzoius at April 22, 2007 06:54 AMPersonally, I don't think the government has any need to protect people who will buy homes when it's obvious the bubble is going to burst (2002-2006). It certainly isn't obligated to protect those who choose to get divorced.
How about we stop labeling everyone who can't manage their money a victim. This post states "millions" of people are victims: unlikely. There are probably some victims of failed government policies, like there are EVERY administration, but the majority rushed out to buy a house looking at the historical rise in values over the past 5-10 years and didn't listen to the chorus of voices shouting: it's a bubble!
It sucks. They're alive. They work it off.
Posted by Sheniqua Graham at April 22, 2007 08:00 AMIn addition, the government shouldn't bail out the subprimes or those who made bad decisions.
But when those bad decisions were based on the words of Greenspan, pushing ARMs and the Bush administration telling everyone how great the economy is...it's kind of like Ken Lay telling his employees to buy more Enron stock as he was dumping his.
Posted by ann at April 22, 2007 09:04 AMIt's amazing how the wingnuts blame all the Bush faillures on everyone but Bush. And I suppose it was Ted Kennedy who refused to fund it too.
Keep drinking the Kool-aid....and please...go enlist.
Who has the power of the purse? It's not the President.....
Posted by lordtyranus2 at April 22, 2007 09:40 AMBut when those bad decisions were based on the words of Greenspan, pushing ARMs and the Bush administration telling everyone how great the economy is...it's kind of like Ken Lay telling his employees to buy more Enron stock as he was dumping his.
You're comparing fraud to an individual expressing his opinion on the economy?
Posted by lordtyranus2 at April 22, 2007 09:50 AMSo, why did my taxes go up, since prices are coming down? In Missouri, we are reassessed every two years.
When were you last reassessed? It's typical though, that once the school board and the teacher's union gets their grubby hands on your money, they then fight tooth and nail to not give it back.
Don't be suprised if your rates are hiked as prices come down.
Posted by lordtyranus2 at April 22, 2007 09:52 AMOne of the consistent characteristics throughout the history of societies that are in decline is that their elites stop adding to the value of the economy through innovation and production. Instead, they devise ways to feed off the carcass of the declining economy, until there's nothing left, without concern for the damage they're doing. This is what Kevin Phillips calls the "financialization" of declining economies: elites devise ways to get rich by trading pieces of paper, rather than creating anything of lasting value. I submit that that's what happening now in the US.
Posted by beckya57 at April 22, 2007 10:51 AM"You might want to actually read the article. The husband is the one who made 70K."
I stand corrected.
Holy cow! the dude makes only $70k (that's not a bad salary, it really isn't) and went ahead and bought a super expensive house??? How did he figure he could pay for it? ...where did he get the money for the down payment???
This is all wrong, wrong, wrong! You're only supposed to buy things you can afford.
Posted by Dave_Violence at April 22, 2007 04:17 PMThe problem isn't that he couldn't afford it, the problem was that some stupid whore wanted a commission so the whore found a program to get the guy a loan. Yeah, he shouldn't have bought the house but what kind of mortgage broker approves someone for that much house on that salary? A whore I tell ya and the mortage industry is full of them. We bought a house 4 years ago and I can't tell you house much house the mortgage whores approved us for. It was almost twice what we actually bought.
Posted by Ga6thDem at April 22, 2007 04:26 PMIn addition, the government shouldn't bail out the subprimes or those who made bad decisions.
So why did they bail out Neal Bush's Savings and Loan?
Posted by phidipides at April 22, 2007 10:43 PM