Obama's America: Housing Market Slips Into Depression Territory

by The blogprof

Obama's America: Housing Market Slips Into Depression Territory: "An update on a post from 2 weeks ago: Good News: US Foreclosures Jump, Housing Prices May Drop Another 20%, Loans in Foreclosure at Record Highs Into 2013. That Obama mortgage program sure has done wonders, no? Via memeorandum: Housing Market Slips Into Depression Territory

As the economy revs back to life, with signs of hiring on the horizon, the housing market is being left behind like Macaulay Culkin in “Home Alone.”

Do 'signs of hiring on the horizon' qualify as the economy revving back to life?

In the past few years, we’ve all been careful to choose our words carefully, not calling it a recession until it fit the technical definition and avoiding any inappropriate use of the “D” word — Depression.

But they are far less careful in indicating the revved up economy because CNBC has a magic temporal telescope that has the capability of seeing jobs in the future.

Things were bad but the broader economy never reached Depression territory. The housing market, on the other hand, just crossed that threshold.

Home values have fallen 26 percent since their peak in June 2006, worse than the 25.9-percent decline seen during the Depression years between 1928 and 1933, Zillow reported.

November marked the 53^rd consecutive month (4 ½ years) that home values have fallen.

What’s worse, it’s not over yet: Home values are expected to continue to slide as inventories pile up, and likely won't recover until the job market improves.

Here's th truth of the matter: housing prices were so inflated that they need to lose another 20% or so. What people seem not to get is that the housing boom wasn't purchased with wealth, but rather debt. The falling prices shouldn't be lamented. They should be left to drop to where they need to be. More from Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit

UPDATE: From The Detroit Free Press: Michigan 7th in nation for 2010 foreclosures. Obama's America. Granholm's Michigan.

"

Illinois Democrats raise income tax 67%, business taxes 46% to protect union pensions, benefits

by The blogprof

Illinois Democrats raise income tax 67%, business taxes 46% to protect union pensions, benefits: "The unions got what they wanted:

Want to know what liberal hegemonic domination looks like at the state level? Welcome to California, New York and Illinois, the triplets of dysfunction in our union. All three states are dogged by ginormous budget deficits due to overpromising to their union constituency and following that up with overspending. Now the liberal ruling class in Illinois is putting the boom down on the taxpayers. From the NYT via memeorandum: Illinois Legislators Approve 66% Tax Increase

Hours after Illinois lawmakers chose a major tax rate increase to ease this state’s desperate budget crisis, questions lingered on Wednesday: Would new income and corporate tax rates stunt the growth of businesses and jobs here and, in turn, slow the already stalled revenue picture that has struck so many states? Would the state’s tax package, which is expected to raise about $6.8 billion annually, be enough to solve the state’s crisis, which includes a vastly underfinanced pension plan?

Patrick J. Quinn, the governor of Illinois and a Democrat, praised the decision of state lawmakers — in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday — to raise the individual income tax rate by about 66 percent as a necessity to avert the state’s “fiscal emergency,” which includes a budget deficit of more than $13 billion, about $8 billion in unpaid bills to social service agencies, pharmacies and others, and a sinking bond rating.

“Our state was careening towards bankruptcy and fiscal insolvency,” Mr. Quinn told reporters, after indicating that he intended to sign the tax increase.

You won't be surprised that the huge tax increase was passed by a LAME DUCK Illinois Congress. Look for the tax increase to make things worse, not better, in Illinois. And get a load of this: Quinn congratulates Democrats on income tax increase. Party time! Other states are happy with Illinois and their suicide attempt: Higher Taxes Causing Fighting Illinois to Flee.

UPDATE: To the liberal, unsustainable pension benefits are a matter of life and death: MSNBC’s Brewer: People Are Taking Their Own Lives When Pensions Fail

"

Irony: Democrat Rep that now lectures on civility wanted FL Gov candiudate Rick Scott put "against the wall" and SHOT

by The blogprof

Irony: Democrat Rep that now lectures on civility wanted FL Gov candiudate Rick Scott put "against the wall" and SHOT: "A timely update to this morning's post: Flashback 2001: Liberals at NYT go nuts when Bush Press Sec says Americans “need to watch what they say”. The hypocrisy is breathtaking. From Just One Minute via Instapundit: And Speaking Of Krugman And Double Standards At The Times...

Democratic Congressman who last fall said a Republican candidate for Governor should be shot has a guest piece in today's NY Times talking about civility. I kid you not.

Here is the voted-out Rep. Kanjorski (D, PA) last fall:

'Instead of running for governor of Florida, they ought to have him [Rick Scott, the Republican candidate for Florida governor] and shoot him. Put him against the wall and shoot him. He stole billions of dollars from the United States government and he's running for governor of Florida. He's a millionaire and a billionaire. He's no hero. He's a damn crook. It's just we don't prosecute big crooks.'

Here he is today:

Why Politicians Need to Stay Out in the Open

By PAUL E. KANJORSKI

Nevertheless, even in this post-9/11 world, the shooting of Ms. Giffords was especially shocking, because it was so personal. She was hunted down far from the symbolic halls of power while performing the most fundamental responsibility of her job, listening to her constituents. ...

We all lose an element of freedom when security considerations distance public officials from the people. Therefore, it is incumbent on all Americans to create an atmosphere of civility and respect in which political discourse can flow freely, without fear of violent confrontation.

Geez - someone should put Kanjorski against a wall and... read him his public statements.

Indeed. And good grief.

UPDATE: Lots more from Ed Driscoll

"

Just today Fox News disables embed feature on all YouTube videos

by The blogprof

Just today Fox News disables embed feature on all YouTube videos: "We have a saying in engineering: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' Fox News, for whatever reason, is fixing what is not broken. Today for whatever reason, they disabled the embed feature on all their YouTube videos for both the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. Not just the videos they post from this day forward, but all their videos.

CNN had long ago disabled their videos, which is why I neither subscribe to their channel nor post their vids. The AP still has the embed feature enabled, so I will continue to use them. But why would Fox go the route of disabling such a function? They have to know that bloggers love the embed function and thus promote their material. Fox News is blowing all the other networks out of the water in terms of ratings, but this just doesn't bode well for them. Should they not re-enable the embed feature, I will unsubscribe to their feed because it will now be absolutely useless to me. I'll step out on a limb here and opine that there are many bloggers like myself as well, and their hit count will suffer.

Yeah, I know - CNN and Fox and MSNBC have their own non-YouTube videos on their own sites but 1) they are more limited than what was released on YouTube, and 2) I liked to see a list of all on one site. Going to individual sites to hunt for vids is more time that in reality I don't have. Thanks a lot!

"

Rush Speaks on the Left’s Unbridled Hatred for Sarah Palin (Video)

by Jim Hoft

Rush Speaks on the Left’s Unbridled Hatred for Sarah Palin (Video): "

Rush Limbaugh addressed the left’s unbridled hatred for Sarah Palin today on his show.

This was great.

Via Hope for America:







“The very people that Obama it telling to ‘tone it down’ just can’t stop. The unbridled hatred for Sarah Palin goes on… unchecked… uncommented upon. The president, if he really meant what he said when he was talking about all of this could have easily named names… There was a moral equivalence started last night. The whole country’s guilty. We must do a better job. No, no, no. I won’t accept that.”

Here’s more of the segment from Rush’s website:

RUSH: Here’s an affirmation, folks, of my point earlier. Dan Balz in the Washington Post. “As Obama Urged Unity, Palin Brought Division.” Now, if anybody has read the transcript or watched Sarah Palin’s video speech, there’s no “division” whatsoever. It’s an attempt to do the same thing Obama was attempting — unity, perspective, honesty — and yet there the Drive-Bys out there: “As Obama Urged Unity, Palin Brought Division.” They just can’t help it…

…So in this speech last night, basically Obama’s saying what Chris Matthews and the others have been saying, that there’s no causal relationship between this crime and public debate. However, public debate, meaning conservative passion and arguments, needs to change. Don’t doubt me on this. Can anybody name a single Republican — I’m serious — can anybody name a single Republican who has said that this murder should be used to smear liberals or Democrats or to advance some political agenda? We have off the record types saying it to Politico and others. But can anybody name a single Republican? Is there any outpost of conservatism or in the Republican Party where a strategy is ongoing behind closed doors about how we can use this to demonize liberals? Or are we minding our own business and simply reacting to yet another spate of assaults on our character and dignity while we were minding our own business doing nothing?

"

Tom Brokaw: “I Would Be Nervous Going Into a Bar in Arizona” (Video)

by Jim Hoft

Tom Brokaw: “I Would Be Nervous Going Into a Bar in Arizona” (Video): "

Really?… Really Tom?

He’s been watching too many westerns.

Tom Brokaw said today that he would be nervous going into a bar in Arizona.

Via FOX Nation:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Well, don’t come to Missouri then.

"

GOP: House Will Vote to Repeal Obamacare Next Week

by Jim Hoft

GOP: House Will Vote to Repeal Obamacare Next Week: "

Republicans agreed with the White House today that it’s time to get back to work. GOP leaders announced that the vote to repeal Obamacare will be held next week.

The UPI reported:

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote next week on a bill that would repeal the healthcare reform law, the majority leader’s office said Thursday.

The original vote was scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed after the shooting tragedy in Tucson, in which six people died and 13 people, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., were injured.

“As the White House noted, it is important for Congress to get back to work, and to that end we will resume thoughtful consideration of the healthcare bill next week,” Laena Fallon, spokeswoman for Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told The Hill. “It is our expectation that the debate will continue to focus on those substantive policy differences surrounding the new law.”

"

China announces advanced fighter, Russia announces missile defense shield, Obama readies for 2012 ca

Two recent episodes offer an insight into a world in which the United States deliberately adopts a policy of pursuing international peace despite weakness, rather than practice what Ronald Reagan called "peace through strength."

By Frank Gaffney, Jr. at Center for Security Policy

EXCERPTS:

First, prior to and during Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' present trip to Communist China, his hosts lifted the veil of secrecy on a brand new, "fifth-generation" stealth fighter aircraft.  This "J-20" is clearly intended to compete with, and perhaps defeat, America's inventory of such planes – the F-22, whose production Mr. Gates insisted on terminating prematurely, and the F-35, whose production he is now slowing.

U.S. intelligence evidently was taken by surprise that the Chinese have made such progress in so sophisticated an area of military design and manufacturing.

Second, the Washington Times' Bill Gertz revealed last week that the chief of the Russian armed forces staff had just made a no-less-portentous announcement: General Nikolai Makarov declared that his country would have by 2020 an "impenetrable" defense against missile attack: "The state will have an umbrella over it which will defend it against ballistic missile attacks, against medium-range missiles, air-based cruise missiles, sea-based cruise missiles, and ground-based cruise missiles, including missiles flying at extremely low altitudes, at any time and in any situation."

Presumably, U.S. intelligence and Mr. Gates were surprised by this revelation, too.  After all, no mention was made of the Russians' commitment to provide comprehensive protection against all missiles a month ago, when the U.S. Senate was being coerced into hastily approving the New START Treaty.  One wonders whether senators would have voted differently had they known what is now clear:  They approved an accord that the other party insists will effectively preclude us from making "any qualitative or quantitative improvements" to our missile defenses.  This despite the fact that our present anti-missile systems are: a) only designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, not cruise missiles that fly aerodynamically, and b) too limited to prevent any attack, including ones from Russia or China – just the relatively small threat of a couple of missiles launched by "rogue states."  These would include Iran and North Korea (which curiously happen to be Moscow and Beijing's allies/clients/proxies).

FULL ARTICLE

http://usactionnews.com/2011/01/china-announces-advanced-fighter-russia-announces-missile-defense-shield-obama-readis-for-2012-campaign/

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WSJ’s Stephen Moore on economics

Insightful speech at the Heritage Foundation's Conservative Women's Network on money, debt, the economy and defunding the left.

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