In Response To: Time Magazine naming Ben Bernake 2009 Person of The Year

10. Ben Bernake has secretly spent trillions of American Taxpayers Dollars since being named Federal Reserve Chairman.

9. Ben Bernake has the job of being the largest counterfeiter in the world. He has they keys to print up money whenever he wants and does not have to be held accountable. If you started printing up money without telling anybody do you think you would go to jail? Probably so.

8. His monetary policy has flooded the market with money. When this happens you get a devaluation of the American Dollar and inflation. Check out this inflation calculator. Put in 2006 as the start date as this is when Bernake was elected. As of today the inflation rate is at 7.3%. Did your income go up by more than 7.3% in the past 3 years? Probably not as many people are lucky if they even have a job. If my economics are right then the money I make has 7.3% less purchasing power then it did 3 years ago.

7. In hind sight, he will end up being a good pick because now the American public who does not follow economics or politics might now ask “Who Is Ben Bernake?” When they start doing research on him (hopefully) they will find mountains of information showing that the Federal Reserve is one of the Top 10 Reasons (maybe #1) why our country has gone through the recession of 2009 and had the housing bubble. This will (hopefully) get more people to start questioning why we let a organization dictate U.S monetary policy when they do not have to tell us what they are doing with the checkbook.

6. With Time Magazine selecting Ben Bernake it has to bring up the question that there must be some “back door deals” going on between the U.S Government and major media outlets like Time. I say this because how can a guy who is continuing to bankrupt our country be considered the best person in the world? Its all about control. If the U.S Government can get the message out that Government is good then the majority of U.S citizens who never question anything will continue to believe it.

5. The rest of the list is not that much better. Again, you see more people from the government. Nancy Pelosi, are you kidding me? Llyod Blankfein – CEO of Goldman Sachs… really? How can a guy who ran a company into bankruptcy and then accept bailout money be considered a good fit? If anything he should be out on the street. The list is a joke. How can you put the guy who controls the buttons on the U.S dollar on the same list with Adam Lambert, winner of American Idol?

4. Time Magazine said “His creative leadership helped ensure that 2009 was a period of weak recovery rather than catastrophic depression, and he still wields unrivaled power over our money, our jobs, our savings and our national future.” Lets brak this down. Creative – All he did was spend more money by giving it to failing companies (AIG, GM, Goldman Sachs) and to government run projects that always fail. Writing a check is NOT “creative.” Anybody can do that. Weak Recovery – We recovered? Are you kidding me. Unemployment rates are much higher than that Bureau of Labor BS that is given to us. How can you recover when wealth has evaporated and people do not have money to buy anything? What’s even scarier is the end of the quote – “he still wields unrivaled power over our money, our jobs, our savings and our national future.” One man has the “unrivaled power” over YOUR money, YOUR job, YOUR savings, and YOUR future. Does this make you feel all fuzzy inside knowing that you have no control over any of those but ONE MAN does?

3. Adding to the creativity, he has kept the Fed Funds Rate at near 0%. With it being at zero the intention is to free up more cheap money to buy stuff to “stimulate the economy.” Isn’t low interest rates how the housing bubble was created? I think so. So now you’re giving even cheaper money out. On top of that this does not encourage saving money. Have you checked your savings account rate lately? Just 3 years ago it was at 5% and now your lucky to get 1%. Thanks Ben for not promoting saving and instead more borrowing.

2. When was the last time you spent money to get out of debt? Never worked for you has it? So what makes Ben Bernake think the U.S Government can spend trillions of dollars to help us erase our debts? He can’t, that’s not how it works. The basics of it are that the U.S Government is just like any household but with bigger numbers. You will go bankrupt if you spend too much. Its that simple. Thanks Ben for putting the pedal to the metal and bankrupting the next generations of Americans as we will not be able to pay it back. Every American taxpayer is on the hook for over $111,000 right now and growing. Check the debt clock for an update. I understand you did not start this process but isn’t it just *as bad* that you are making it worse?

1. Transparency. Ben Bernake works for the Federal Reserve which is an organization that basically runs the U.S Economy by setting interest rates and being able to spend money without having to disclose anything.  How does that benefit any American Citizen? Its ridiculous how the Federal Reserve is even allowed to do this or to be in existence. It should only add fire to the fuel that American citizens should NOT trust the U.S Government to do anything. Let the free market decide what happens instead of fixing prices. Ben Bernake has only delayed the inevitable by spending more money. Prepare to have another real recession after the money is all spent thanks to the Federal Reserve and Time Magazines 2009 Person of the Year Ben Bernake.

If you would like to learn why the Federal Reserve and Ben Bernake are basically the devil I suggest you read End The Fed by Ron Paul. You will feel enlightened or pissed off or maybe both. For me it was both.

Post from: The Top 10 Reasons

The Top 10 Reasons Why Ben Bernake Should NOT Be Time Magazines 2009 Person Of The Year

1. Nobody likes the IRS. If there is a person out there who actually likes sending in their tax returns every year they must be an alien. The only people who like doing this are people who work at the IRS because it keeps them employed.

2. It is unconstitutional. No where in the U.S Constitution does it make it legal for the U.S Government to tax its own citizens. However, one of our greatest Presidents of all time never has this brought up against him. Good old “Honest” Abe Lincoln was the ass clown who brought the IRS (then Bureau of Internal Revenue) into existence with the Revenue Act of 1862 to help fund the Civil War. Obviously he did not get the chance to stop this theft from its new citizens when John Wilkes Booth killed him. Government liked this new found revenue from all of its old now new states and continued with it.

3. The IRS always makes people bring up that stupid question of “everybody has to pay their fair share.” Who decides what is fair? You don’t. Do you even know what fair is? If somebody ever says that after you tell them the IRS is one of the biggest wastes of space, please slap them. Then tell them to give you all of their money and that you will give back what is only deemed fair by you. See if that changes their mind.

4. The IRS provides no “services” to the individual. Have you ever sent in your income tax returns, wrote your check and wondered what you spent money on this past year to have the U.S Government charge you anything. I cannot think of one thing the U.S Government has done with my tax return money for me…ever. Everything we use that has some sort of Government function attached to it is already funded by a different tax, ie. roads are paid by gas taxes. The worst part is that you do not even get a receipt. Imagine going to your local dry cleaners and paying for your laundry. You always get a receipt for services rendered. The IRS does not have to do this. This just “steal” from you without giving you a receipt. If you were a business owner and ran your operations like this do you think you would have any return customers? Probably not. Instead of doing your income taxes this year, call the IRS and ask for a receipt for what services you used from the US Government. When one is shown, then pay.

5. The IRS in 2008 had a operating budget of $11.1 BILLION dollars (up from $10.4 Billion in 2007) and you know its going to be more in 2009 and into the future. Again, what do “we the people” get from paying taxes? I still can’t think of anything. Imagine saving $11.1 Billion dollars in tax payer money every year on something that has no value. The U.S could start paying back some that $11 Trillion of national debt (as of Jan 2009) it owes or the $4.5 Billion the U.S pays JUST IN INTEREST ever year.

6. The IRS creates $200 billion dollars in none value spending ever year by American citizens. That money is spent by you and I to hire tax accountants whose job it is to make sure we have done our taxes right. Their whole livelihood revolves around the theft of money from the IRS and then telling you that its ok if the IRS steals because they need you to pay them so they can buy food for their family. Sure, if the IRS closed, all of the tax accountants at H&R Block and tax lawyers around the country would be out of a job the next day but being a auditor for a company would provide more value for the economy than doing taxes. The $200 billion figure is probably a light figure. It does not take into account what you need to do to get to the point of filing taxes. You might need to take time off of work to drive to your accountant. This is time away from making money and time spent burning fuel in your car.

7. The IRS hates trees. Its tax code book is over 67,000 pages. Can you image what a book would look like that has 67k pages!! This equates to about one tree just to make that book. That is just the book to describe how stupid our income tax system is. Who the hell would ever want to read it. I bet you that its been added onto with the same laws or codes so many times because nobody at the IRS wanted to check to see if some law was written on page 27,272. As of July 2008 the IRS collected 59 million paper tax forms for the 2007 income tax return season. Does it get you thinking how many forms have been printed over the last 100 years.  The U.S population in 2009 is 305 million. So lets take 100 million adults a year x 100 years = OVERFLOW on my calculator. It does not want to calculate it because its knows how asinine this calculation is and does not want to know this number at all because it will start crying. Some 87 million filed taxes online in 2008. I know they are moving towards doing everything online but now the budget for their IT department is going to go up.

8. The IRS hates businesses a lot. With the recession of 2009 in full effect, the IRS is putting major corporations out of business. Here is one that hits home for me since I am in Detroit, MI. As we all know, Ford, GM, and Chrysler are hurting and it looks like one of them is going bankrupt. GM and Chrysler have asked for $7 Billion each from the second bailout plan to stay afloat. In 2007 General Motors paid $37 BILLION DOLLARS in income taxes. Here is a great idea. Why not give them back the $37 BILLION they ALREADY earned and let them stay in business. Do you think GM could develop a car that got 100 mpg with $37 Billion in research and development? I think so. Heck, they could probably build the Starship Enterprise to run off of shampoo with that kind of money. Instead the IRS wants to bankrupt GM by stealing from them and depress the whole Metro Detroit area so people lose jobs causing more homes in Michigan to go into foreclosure.

9. The employees at the IRS are given decent salaries with full benefits and a pension. Some IRS agents make over $100k a year. I know because when I use to work at Quicken Loans as a mortgage banker one IRS agent was a client of mine. He made $105k a year and had only been there for 2 years. Where in the private sector can you make $105k after being at a job for 2 years unless you are a Doctor? You can’t. IRS agents get guns. This means if you don’t pay your income taxes they can shut down your business or barge into your home demanding payment. If it was any other person off the street they would be called a thief, be arrested, and put in jail. Since the IRS agent has a badge it makes it ok though. This does happen. My same client told me about a story where he and some other ass clown agents had to shut down a car repair shop. It was the kind where dad and his sons were the mechanics, the cousins washed and detailed cars, and mom was the office manager. They could not afford to pay all of their taxes so the IRS put them out of business. Now all of them are out on the street with no income to buy food, pay rent, etc. Wouldn’t it be nice to throw the IRS out on the street.

10. Politicians use the IRS and income tax promises to get elected. Barack Obama was voted to President this year because he was not going to tax people who make below $250k a year. Of course he knew that less than 30% of the American population make above $250k. So why not vote for him. You are not going to be affected with your $50k salary. Even though 60% of the US income tax is paid by people who make over $250k. Its easier to tax those bastards who are doing something right. This is one way to get a lot of people to vote for you as some 65% did. Luckily for Barack Obama the word did not get out fast enough about Ron Paul. He was going to eliminate the IRS the day after getting elected and put 20% of your hard earned income back into your pocket regardless of how much you make. Read The Ron Paul Book. You Will Feel Smarter

Post from: The Top 10 Reasons

The Top 10 Reasons To Close The IRS

1. Last week I was driving to Detroit Metro Airport for some out of town business. Driving on I-94 I noticed a bunch of police cars. It was a little strange to me because it was around 11:30am. I am use to the early morning speed traps and the after noon ones but not at 11:30am. It was a little much. Four Michigan State Troopers were parked about 1/4 of a mile away from each other. Of course one was sitting behind a guard rail far enough back where you could not see him until you past him. The next one was the chase car. He was pulling people over that the first police car had radared. The classic hide and go seek tactic.

2. Getting back from my trip the other day my girlfriend picked me up at the airport around 7:30pm. Driving back on I-94 the same thing was going on. We drove through two speed traps in a matter of 5 miles. Why the hell are all of these speed traps going on?

3. Today I received my answer. The Detroit News had a big article about all of the speed traps going on in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties. It seems that Michigan has been voted as the worst state for speed traps by the National Motorists Association. Really, out of all 50 states Michigan came in at #1? I guess I can believe that because Michigan is the “Motor Capital Of The World.” Even today I noticed a small speed trap near Hayes and 17 Mile Road. One Clinton Township Police Officer was in a parking lot and another one was 1/8 mile up ahead with somebody pulled over.

4. Reading more into the article it states how the Police Departments have been writing more speeding tickets than in previous years. The reason behind it is to make up for loss revenues from property taxes with all of the foreclosed homes. Michigan is losing their butts out on both of those because of the economic crisis. The way I see this is that the local governments are working a little harder to keep their jobs now because they can’t just send you a increased property tax bill. So they tax you on your driving habits more than your car insurance company does.

5. Isn’t this ridiculous? Instead of actually solving real crimes we now have our cops out there looking to bust you for going 5 over. Maybe instead of having to make up for loss revenue the cities and counties need to revamp the way they collect taxes. It sucks how so many of the problems in the U.S all comes back to taxes.

6. I am not a fan of speed limits to begin with. Well at least on highways. In the city limits I understand there is some need for order but on the highway it should be up the user to decide how fast or slow they want to go. An accident at 70 mph or one at 100 mph is going to have the same result. If you can’t handle your car at 70 mph than you probably should not be worrying about other people driving at 100mph. You should get off the road and let somebody else drive.

7. Now, you are going to have to think twice about going to pass somebody on a local road or highway. Speeding up to pass somebody might result in you drving right into a speed trap. This comes with a guaranteed speeding ticket and a increase in your car insurance.

8. Utica Police Chief Michael Reaves said when he first started working as a cop 30 years ago it was not about increasing revenues. Now if his department does not produce any revenues they probably are not going to stay open. Isn’t that a bitch! I didn’t know that the Police were “in business.” I understand without revenue you can’t hire more police officers to protect the streets. Being a police officer is a risky job sometimes and it takes a unique individual to want to be one. I just wish they were not out there trying to write tickets just to keep their jobs because that’s what they are really doing.

9. Over my last 12 years of driving I usually drive the posted speed limit for the sole purpose of not having to pay a ticket. My friends hate when I drive because I go “so slow.” I always put the cruise control on at whatever the posted speed limit is just to make sure. Driving 5 mph faster is usually not going to make a difference in getting where I need to go. To combat faster driving I try to leave on time to make appointments. Its really that simple.

10. I know that by writing this its probably a bad omen. Even when I noticed the speed trap today I was doing 5 mph over because I was trying to pass somebody. From now on I think I am going to let people go by me and move behind them. I do not like supporting the local governments in this way. Especially knowing all of the troubles people in Michigan are dealing with. Maybe we do not need as many cops out there. If all they are doing is pulling people and not solving crimes then what good are they doing? Is speeding a crime? If so, then why does the Government allow car companies to produce cars that go faster than 70 mph? I’m baffled. Oh wait. Its because the Government needs me to go faster so they can get money to keep their jobs.

Post from: The Top 10 Reasons

The Top 10 Reasons To Drive The Speed Limit

1. The State of Michigan has decided to raise the unemployment tax rate to all of the businesses in the state. The Detroit News reported it and it just shows how messed up things really are in Michigan.

2. Some 40,000 businesses all received a letter stating that they need to pay more into the fund to help cover the amount of money going out to unemployed workers. I know if I was a business owner how pissed I would be. They already own a business in a state where the economy is the worst in the nation.

3. The unemployment debacle is only going to get worse over the next year or so. GM, Ford, and Chrysler are all on the brink of going bankrupt and do you know how many more people are employed by them?

4. Interestingly enough, the Detroit News had another article interviewing the Mayor of Warren James Fouts. He said if any of those companies go under some 23,000 people work for one of the Big 3 or its suppliers. This does not include the 3 jobs which live off of the auto workers like a barber, auto mechanic, deli owner, or your friendly bartender. This is just for the City of Warren. So what happens to the unemployment fund now? Do we really think a company who is going under is going to be ale to put money into the fund to help with unemployment benefits for 20,000 of its ex-employees? Probably not.

5. The unemployment assistance program has good intentions. Its there to help people make their 30 year mortgage payments and to buy groceries. But what do you do when probably 10% of your states workforce is going to be unemployed within the next year? The State of Michigan can keep borrowing money from Uncle Sam but only to put itself deeper in debt. The unemployment benefits is starting to backfire in a extreme way right now.

6. I know a thing or two about unemployment. Since December of 2007 I have been out of work. I collected unemployment benefits for the first time ever this past year. Sure, it helped me get by but I did something most people do not do. I have this habit of saving money for times like this. I always make sure I have enough money saved for at least a years worth of expenses. Some people say its hard to do but I disagree. The way I look at it is I got back all of the income taxes I have paid over the last two years. I would rather of been working but I feel like I am back at square one now.

7. Since I am still looking for a job and my unemployment benefits ran out after the second extension I am starting to use my savings. Of course I do not want too but that’s what its there for. I am against the whole unemployment benefits to begin with. Its not that I do not want to help people its that the system raises taxes on business owners, employs people who provide no benefit to the economy. An economist would call people who work at unemployment agencies a “net negative” employee. Their job was created by taxes to pay out more taxes. I found some info that the State of Michigan let go some 8,500 unemployment agency workers last year.

8. The real problem is income taxes. We are so heavily taxed that these programs almost are a necessity. Our way of life revolves around taxes and its getting out of control. What the Governor Granholm should do is close down the Michigan Unemployment Agency all together. This would save millions of dollars a year in operating costs. Put money back into business owners pockets to re-invest in their businesses.

9. The only way this is going to work is with a change in mind set. If we get rid of unemployment benefits people are going to know they cannot have a seasonal job and collect in the winter. They will have to get out there and work. They will have to learn how to save for a rainy day. They will have to take more responsibility for their own lives and not rely on the Government to bail them out.

10. Imagine if we could get rid of income taxes all together. This way you had control of the money you earned. If you want to blow it all on stuff, then its your own fault. If you want to be responsible, then you are that much further ahead.

Post from: The Top 10 Reasons

The Top 10 Reasons Why Unemployment Compensation Should Be Eliminated

1. With this never ending housing/mortgage fiasco going on we need to take a look at some ways to correct the situation. With the U.S Government deciding to pass this stupid $700 Billion Bailout Plan which was supposed to correct the instability in the stock market (we all knew it was not going to work as the stock market has dropped below 10,000 points for the first time in 4 years since after passing it) with the U.S Government buying up all of these bad loans. Doesn’t the U.S Government print up this money in the first place? How did they let it get to this in the first place?

2. The mortgage lending system kind of works like this. The Federal Reserve has the power to set interest rates and to determine when they should open up the spickets to flood more money into the economy (thus lowering the value of the U.S Dollar). This money is lent to large banks like JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, etc. at the going prime rate. The banks are on the hook for that money they borrowed and now turn around and lend it to you in the form of car loans, home equity loans, and 30 year fixed rate mortgages with their premium added on top. The premium usually comes in the form of a higher interest rate.

3. I am not for any kind of regulation of any type. Maybe back in the day…which was on a tuesday…in like the early 1900s the flow of information around the country was not that good. Regulation was needed to keep things in check and to inform the American citizens. Nowadays, any person in the world can go to a computer and look up information of their own for free on the internet machine. Everybody has heard about the Google Machine and its so easy to use. Got off topic there. Regulation is funny because I feel like these companies that practiced predatory lending and doing crazy loans like option arms and negative amortization loans have regulated themselves as best as they could. They are no longer in business. Nothing says regulation better than your mortgage company going bankrupt. I mean could it be that easy? I think so.

4. Since the U.S Government feels like its doing all of us a favor (nope, just making it worse) by stepping in and cleaning up this mess why don’t they just take it to the next level. They already are bad mouthing mortgage companies across the land. Some CEO’s of mortgage companies have had to go in front of the Congress to testify about their companies. Then they get mad about falling property values and the millions of jobs that have been lost that are all mortgage related. All of the builders, construction laborers, mortgage brokers, home re-modelers, decorators, accountants, etc. All of those jobs have been lost because of this mortgage fiasco. Foreclosed homes are sitting around vacant in every city around the country. Nobody is exempt from this regardless of your income level.

5. The finance market will never be the same, but it never had to change in the first place. Only over the past 6 years has this phenomenon of easy money and loose lending standards ever taken place. Before that it was mandatory for anybody buying a home to have a 20% down payment. The days of 100% financing are gone but there are still some programs that will do 97% loan to value. The only place you are going to find those is through the FHA. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day that works at a mortgage company still and they told me that over 60% of their business is FHA. I wonder why? Could it be because the FHA is the only entity doing loans over 90% still? Probably. The finance sector was always a strong area to invest in. You could usually count on gains in the 5%-8% every year. Mainly because the banks were always making that kind of return. This meant to people that were looking for a solid return on stocks or their 401k knew that they were getting a safe return every year and with a 401k calculator they could figure out how fast they could make a million dollars over their life time.

6. Let’s just get the middle man out. If the U.S Government were to start writing their own mortgages the process of getting a loan would be so much easier. No more haggling with mortgage brokers over interest rates and closing costs. No more shopping for the best rate on a home loan. No more feeling like you got ripped off. No more mortgage brokers making quick profits and then shutting down their business and moving onto the next quick money maker. The mortgage application process would be that much easier.

7. Most people do not know that mortgage rates are a commodity. They are traded on the secondary market just like orange juice. On normal conventional mortgages you will be offered the same interest rate as any other bank that day. These markets trade mortgage notes all over the world trying to make a profit off of their investment. Wouldn’t it be cool if the U.S Government could just step in and set their own interest rates for their beloved citizens?

8. The U.S Government can set their own interest rates. What they should do is start printing up their own money (I wish I could do that) and start offering everybody a 30 year fixed rate loan at 5%. Let the U.S Government write the loan and hold onto the note. This way the money they printed up in the first place is being watched over by them and they can collect the interest on it, not a bank. I know what you are thinking. The banks are paying back the loans over a long time period so isn’t the U.S Government still getting theirs? Maybe. What the banks do is borrow the money, sell you a mortgage, and sell the loan. As an example, on a $100k loan, the bank will borrow the money from the Fed or even a larger private bank at let’s say 4%. They start getting charged the interest as soon as they take the money. They write the loan and sell it within the first month. They charge a 2%-2.5% premium. Which means that $100k loan is now being tried to be sold for $102,500 making them a quick $2500 profit. The original $100k is paid back before any large amount of interest can be charged by the Fed and the second bank walks away with no ties since they do not hold the note any more. It would be better if the U.S Government would just hold onto those notes and make the 5% forever. That 5% note will end up making the Fed over $120k just in interest over 30 years. No banks involved. No selling of notes. Just the U.S Government charging a low amount of interest to its citizens and getting a decent return.

9. The return that the U.S Government would make could be used to pay down its national debts. What an idea. Pay down its debts while putting some coin back into its pockets while helping its citizens out. It would not have to worry about shady mortgage companies. No more time spent on Capital Hill grilling mortgage company CEO’s. No more finger pointing. No more worries. Make the underwriting guidelines the same as they were back in the 1990s and before.

10. The one thing that always sticks out the most is that the U.S Government already owns your home. Let’s say that you do not escrow your property taxes and home owners insurance but still pay your monthly mortgage payment on time. You have no mortgage lates on your credit report but are late paying your property taxes. It gets to the point that you just cannot afford your property taxes anymore. Did you know that the U.S Government can come in and take your home anyways? Since you are behind on your property taxes your house is theirs. Ever seen those tax lien commercials where people buy up homes with past tax liens of $3k where the home is worth $100k? Its real, that stuff happens. Every single mortgage company in the land could not lend anymore. Maybe they could service the loans the U.S Government writes now. Anyways, the U.S Government can make some money by charging lower interest rates and never have to worry about a mortgage mess happening again.

Post from: The Top 10 Reasons

The Top 10 Reasons The U.S Government Should Become A Mortgage Lender

1. If Congress passes the $700 billion bailout plan this would be one of the biggest mistakes ever in the history of the United States. It blows my mind to think about how we even got into this situation but its probably why I write about the mortgage industry so much. If this stupid bill gets passed it could ultimately lead to the end of the United States as we know it. What’s that you say, the United States can’t fail? I understand what you are saying. Hey, do you think you could go over to Europe and talk to somebody from the Roman Empire for me? I want you to ask them how the most powerful civilization in the history of the world is doing. Just one person, that’s it. What’s that? There is no Roman Empire anymore? How could this be?

2. I am not sure on the exact numbers but right now China holds some ridiculous amount of the United States debt. When we did not have enough money to lend to from within we called up China and they sent us over a bunch of money. We have been paying interest on that money for quite some time now. The tricky part of this is that China can “call” on that debt to be paid back at any time. This puts us in quite a predicament because if we couldn’t just print up the money in the first place for ourselves how the hell are we going to come up with the money to write a one time lump sum check. We can’t. If this stupid bill gets passed, the U.S Government will now have to figure out some way to run the USA on 19% of the income it gets from income taxes. Yup, that’s right. If this bill gets passed, this bill plus the other expenditures (Defense Department, Department of Education, Border Patrol, Some War Going On In Iraq, You Get The Picture) will now assume 81% of the revenue the IRS collects from taxes. If this does not get you thinking that we are screwed because we are already trillions of dollars in debt than I do not know what will.

3. Worst phone call of all time happens the day after the $700 billion economic dummy plan gets passed from Chinese President Hu Jintao. It goes like this. “Hey George, its Hu,” says Hu. “What up Hu,” says W. “I want my money,” says Hu. “We don’t have your money,” says W. “You bankrupt now,” says Hu. “Crap,” says W. “This better than launching nuclear weapons at you,” says Hu. “…,” says W. Its really that simple. If this bill gets passed, China can call us up and say they want all of their money paid back the very next day. Of course we can’t pay them, because we are already broke, and now we are even more broke. Picture the movie “Pretty Woman” where Richard Gere buys failing businesses and sells the pieces individually and makes a profit. We would have to start doing something like that. Maybe we could sell (give) them Alaska or Hawaii to wipe the slate clean.

4. The only people that win with this bailout is the executives of the mortgage companies and banks that are failing. They have already made a crap ton of money and now they do not even get a slap on the wrist. WTF? Sure, they get fired, but after making $20 million in one year of so called work is not to shabby. There is no need to ever go back to work.

5. The tax payers are not going to get any kind of reward from this. I kept looking at this plan on the NYTimes site and I could not think of how we earn our money back. The problem is that the system is not going to change at all. All that happens is that the U.S Government now owns a bunch of crappy mortgage notes that nobody wanted in the first place.

6. Here is how I believe the U.S Government thinks its going to work in favor for the citizens it cares for. They buy a mortgage note on a property that has been foreclosed on. They are telling us that they are going to charge interest on that loan and get paid back that way. Wait a second. If nobody was paying that mortgage to begin with how are you going to get paid back now? You can’t keep charging interest to nobody. Nobody lives in the home. The bank does not own the home, the U.S Government now owns the home. How does the loan get paid back + interest? I do not see how this happens.

7. The only way I see any part of the loan getting paid back is when the property is sold. Again, how does the U.S Government and the tax payers get paid back and make money? They don’t is the answer. If nobody wanted to buy the home at a discounted value in the first place, then what makes you think somebody is going to step up and buy this home at what is left on the mortgage. Here’s an example. Somebody bought the home in 2004 for $250k and did 100% financing. Times got tough for this couple and they had to foreclose in 2007 because of a loss of job. They still owe $248k on the home but all of the homes around them are also dropping in value and those homes are all now selling for $175k. The home could not of been sold before foreclosure because the balance was to high. Now the Government is going to step in and assume that mortgage note for $248k. They cannot sell the home for $248k. The only offers they are getting are for $165k. In the mean time, somebody needs to be cutting the grass (costs money) checking the pipes (costs money) and maintaining the house (costs money). To keep the house from being fined the U.S Government will need to send somebody to do those things so it does not get fined by the local government where the house is. That is funny. The “Local Man” is sticking it to the “Federal Man.” Anyways, the U.S Government knows they cannot sell the home for what is owed on the house so they sell it for $170k. This comes out to a $248k – $170k = $78k loss. The $170k gets paid back to the $700 Billion dollar loan but with a huge loss, that did not collect any interest at all.

8. I do not see how the scenario above does not happen across the board. People are not going to over pay for a house and if people were smart they would wait until 2010 to buy a home. At that time most of the damage will be done with foreclosures and property values will probably have leveled off. Going back to the $700 billion dollar dummy loan. If the U.S Government is going to take a loss on all of these properties and bad mortgages how are they going to make any money. The $700 billion out lie of money will ( if we are lucky) probably get paid back by 50% over the next 30 years. This means that we lost $350 billion plus the interest that the U.S Government could have earned in bank accounts of their own over 30 years. It probably comes out to some ridiculous number like a $1 trillion or more. I think the math looks pretty simple to me, I hope I am missing something. The housing market is not going to change because of this bill. The credit markets are going to get tighter. Less money is going to be lent. The mortgage companies that are remaining are not going to lend money to people with bad credit. They know that they are not going to be able to sell that loan on the secondary mortgage market. So they change all of their underwriting guidelines to make it harder for people to get approved on a mortgage. By harder, I mean the way it was done for 80 years before 2001. There is still plenty of money floating around for people to get a 30 year fixed mortgage. You just need to have credit scores over 720, no mortgage lates, money in the bank, and a solid job history. Its that simple. Banks will fight over you to do business with you and that’s the way it should be. Their will be more mortgage companies going bankrupt even if this $700 billion bailout goes through. There are less first time home buyers in the market. Many are going to just wait it out as long as the market keeps going down. There are less people that can qualify when trying to refinance their home. Many owe more than what their house is worth and no mortgage company will go near that home loan. Those two examples alone are the bread and butter of the mortgage industry. No people buying homes and no people refinancing their homes means less business, which means more layoffs, which means more bankrupt mortgage companies. So, $700 Billion does nothing to save the mortgage industry or to keep it going. All it does is put the U.S Government on the hook for a bunch of crappy loans.

9. I understand that the whole goal of this is to “calm the markets.” I told myself I was not going to do this but I went and checked out my 401k statement this morning and it is down 27% for the year. It was shocking to say the least. I was tempted to take it all out of the stocks that I have and put it into the money market that is earning 2%. Maybe I’ll do that and maybe not. I do not plan on cashing any of that money out for another 30 years (hopefully there will still be something there) so it will probably stay. What worries me is the people that are like my parents age. In their late 50′s and are living off of the dividends in their 401k’s and IRA’s. I am sure they are not happy that 27% of the money they had invested is now gone. Hopefully they moved it all into a mutual fund when they retired so they are not affected by this change in the market. The market will always have its ups and downs. Yesterday the market had its biggest one day loss in its history. Everybody was assuming that the $700 billion dummy plan was going to get passed so investors were assuming what was a safe bet to make on stocks. The market had already planned for it to go through so value was still there. When it did not get passed in afternoon trading people started jumping ship. It was not expected. This morning, the market is up over 2% from its 7% loss yesterday. What is happening is people know if they start buying today they are going to get a big discount on stock prices. Its simple “Buy Low, Sell High.” The market will correct itself but it does not need the U.S Government doing anything.

10. I really hope that this $700 billion economic bailout does not get passed. It would mean that my generation would be paying on it until I am retired. If you look at the wording in the bill, at year 5 there is this statement that baffles me. It says something like “If this bill is not working in the tax payers favor we can make changes to benefit them.” That statement scares the crap out of me. Throw in the towel now before it gets even worse. The U.S Government is working our country to being bankrupt. Do not think it can’t happen. I wonder what Barack Obama and John McCain are thinking right now. It sure would be an accomplishment to be the President that was able to work us out of one of the toughest times in U.S History. Its sad that it is tough because all of this we put on ourselves. The Iraq War, Housing Crisis, all from the U.S Government. Every time I start thinking about this election year and what is going to happen after it I wish there was something more I could do to spread the message about Ron Paul. He was our only shot and the average American did not take the time to educate themselves about the important issues. I hope that this $700 billion economic bailout does not go through for the future of all American citizens.

Post from: The Top 10 Reasons

The Top 10 Reasons Why Congress Should Not Pass The $700 Billion Bailout Plan

1. What is really crazy is that this article was posted on the Detroit News website today while I wrote an article about a new way to collect property taxes yesterday. In this article it states that the County Commissioner of Macomb County is suggesting to raise property taxes by almost 25% to make up for a ever growing defecit.

2. They are expecting to have budget defecits of almost $33 million in 2009 and $43 million in 2010. Really? The county that has a city that was rated one of the best places to raise a family (Sterling Heights) in the country year after year is that far in debt? How can this be so?

3. Of course the governments only plan of action is to raise property taxes to make up for the loss in revenue. It blows my mind why we even vote for anybody because it always seems like things get worse not better, regardless of what level of the government it is.

4. If the Macomb County Commissioners raise property taxes the full amount that they can it would bring in an extra $11 million dollars in revenue for the county still some $22 million dollars short of being able to cover next years defecit.

5. Sure, for a home that’s worth $200k that is only an extra $100 a year which is about $9 more a month. Not a big deal and for most people that still own their homes its probably something that can be done. Too bad many people are having to borrow from their home equity loans just to be able to stay current on their taxes. Good thing that people can still write off their property taxes on their income taxes.

6. The Commissioner from Eastpointe said that the county is in dire need of help because they do not want to lay people off and have to shut down programs. Some of these cuts include selling properties like the Martha T. Berry Medical Facility in Mount Clemens. About 430 county workers would be laid off. For the people that have retired with the county they would have to look at possibly freezing or making drastic changes to its pension and benefits programs. They would also charge property owners in the county’s northern communities like Romeo for instance to pay for the Sheriff to patrol those areas which are not being paid for now.

7. The main reasons why Macomb county is getting hit right now is due to decreased property values which results in the County assessor having to lower property values which lowers property taxes. With so many homes going into foreclosure they are losing a lot of revenue from those property taxes. Costs for their retirees from pensions and health benefits to the cost of inmate care at the prisons are all rising too. With so many vacant properties sitting around in the county because of people defaulting on their 30 year mortgages its easy to see why this is going down.

8. I know that a lot of this could have been prevented. How did this defecit get so big so fast? It went $2.7 million to $12 million in 3 years. I understand that gas prices, food prices, health care prices, and others have gone up, but almost $10 million in 3 years? That is ridiculous. Its easy to point the finger at the people in control because it comes back to poor planning. Isn’t that all that the government knows how to do in the first place? We can assume that they did not think that their citizens biggest employers of Ford, GM, and Chrysler would have tanked so fast resulting in job losses and lost tax revenue but they should of.

9. But who really cares about this defecit anyways? We are operating in the hole to begin with so whats the difference if we are $10 million or $100 million in debt. The US Government is trillions of dollars in debt and things are still moving (in the wrong direction). Why not just keep spending and keep people employed?

10. I guess I just don’t get how hard it is for anybody to run a government. I thinks its so simple. If I was the finance director for the county I would have said something like “we only have $1 million dollars in the check book which will last us 5 weeks. At that time if we do not get any more revenues we will have to shut down the government and its services until next year when property taxes are due. Since I AM A CITIZEN of this county I do not want to see my property taxes going up because I want to know what happened to the other $3500 I gave to the county (which I did not get a break down of where every dollar I gave them was spent).” Its so easy to raise taxes and say it will take care of everything but I have not seen one piece of evidence ever that supports higher taxes fixed anything. Raising taxes solves nothing. Hopefully you read my idea about using how much land you own as a way to collect taxes versus real estate values. The land issue would include businesses too. That’s right, Ford, Chrysler, and General Dynamics. Your large facilities are taking up large amounts of property and should be taxed accordingly.

Post from: The Top 10 Reasons

The Top 10 Reasons Macomb County Michigan Is Being Hit With A 25% Increase In Property Taxes

1. The Detroit News posted an article talking about Governor Granholm proposing to lower speed limits on Michigan freeways due to high gas prices. This is dumb.

2. I remember in the past 10 years I have seen gas prices go from $.99 for MIDGRADE to $4.17 for REGULAR as of today. If driving slower to save gas was such an issue why did no brainiacs think about this when gas hit $2 then $3 a gallon. The reason is cause we own a car to be able to get from place to place faster not slower.

3. In a previous post of mine about speed limits I talked about how we need to get rid of them so people can get from place to place faster.

4. Let’s leave it up to the people to decide how slow or fast they want to drive, not tell them how fast. Get rid of the speed limits and you know what, if you want to do 55mph than stay in the far right lane. If you want to do 100mph stay in the left.

5. If its gas prices the government is worried about then you need to start promoting people driving less or not at all. Hello 4 day work week.

6. I appreciate that Governor Jenny wants to save us money but if anything she is taking money out of our pocket. Now with traffic moving slower that’s going to be more time idling at stop lights because now the two lights you normally have to sit through at an intersection will turn into three because everybody getting to that light has to take more time to get there.

7. Gas prices are going to continue going up, there is no doubt about that. If its not us consuming the oil its Brazil, Russia, or India. They want to be like us and we need to be more like how they were. Riding mopeds to work and jamming into a train.

8. Here is a good way to save the citizens gas money, how about public transportation? The Detroit Tri-County area has probably the worst public transportation system for any major city. There are no light rails or trains that connect the suburbs to the city. If there was one I’m sure, no wait, positive that people would adapt and get on that train and ride it to work. Who wouldn’t want to do that. Now you don’t have to pay attention to the road driving in rush hour in the morning. You could have your cup of coffee and read the newspaper in the 15-20 minutes it would probably take. Better yet, how about a quick cat nap.

9. What about the car companies. You know the Big 3 or what use to be the Big 3. Im not going to start about how poorly they have planned with the trucks and not building cars. All that needs to be done is the car manufacturers need to change the gearing in their cars. Its that easy. Most American made cars have higher gears which allow for quicker starts but lower top end speeds. Cars manufactured in Germany and throughout Europe come with lower gear ratios which allow for higher speeds while keeping RPM’s down. The RPM’s is what burns the gas not the speed. The first American car company to market a car built for highway driving is going to get a winner.

10. Its one more liberty that “The Man” will be taking from us telling us what to do instead of letting the people decide. What’s funny about this is that I obey speed limits. Most of my friends hate letting me drive because I never go faster than the posted limit. Its not that I’m not capable of handling a car at 100mph, its just that I don’t want to deal with “The Man” and then have my insurance go up.

Post from: The Top 10 Reasons

The Top 10 Reasons The State Of Michigan Does Not Need To Lower Speed Limits

1. Low interest rates benefit people who have lots of debt. I don’t like debt and don’t carry it.

2. The things that are affected the most are car loans, credit cards, and home equity lines of credit. If you have good credit you are going to get good rates as it is. Even if you do have good credit your credit card rates might only drop from 15% to 12%. Actually credit card companies don’t have to lower anybody’s rates if they don’t want too.

3. Lowering rates hurts people who are financially smart and save.

4. I have watched my online savings accounts with Ing Direct and Emmigrant Direct drop from an easy 5.25% being earned(pretty good for a normal savings account) to less than 3%. Thanks for nothing Fed.

5. If rates were higher it would force people to save more when they are looking to put additions on their homes, buy cars, and put things on credit because then they can’t afford the payments on any of those.

6. People would be invested more into their purchases because they would have put a down payment on any of the things they bought. No more 100% financing for anything.

7. Higher interest rates would force businesses to be smarter with borrowing money from banks. This would keep the stock markets in check because you would have a equilibrium of supply and demand.

8. I hate the Fed. Their dumb. Thanks for fueling the mortgage mess. I know its not entirely your fault, but nobody would have been able to get approved on loans if rate were higher.

9. A savings account would become a good, safe investment vehicle. This would entice more people to learn about finances and investing.

10. I like the number 10.

Post from: The Top 10 Reasons

The Top 10 Reasons I Want The Federal Reserve To Raise The Prime Rate to 10 Percent

1. I would become the man.

2. I do my best to stay away from the man.

3. Not that many people get fired. Even if you do bad they still keep you at the same pay rank but move you into a less important role.

4. With everybody knowing what you get paid because of rank or level the competition for a promotion can be fierce.

5. Even during a recession the government is hiring which is crazy seeing that the private sector in a whole is not.

6. I am in favor of a much smaller government and for me to take a government job I would have to know that at least 5 other jobs were eliminated to save the tax payers money to pay my salary. This will not happen.

7. I have not found a government job yet that does not have a pension plan. Would be nice to know that there is something waiting there for me at the end.

8. 30 days paid vacation your first year, sick time, tuition reimbursement and in some cases a cost of living adjustment. Most private companies you are lucky to get one week off your first year. 

9. A normal schedule that you can at least plan your day around.

10. What am I talking about? All of these issues sound great. Sign me up.

Post from: The Top 10 Reasons

The Top 10 Reasons I Would Love A Government Job But Cant Work For Them Because Of Moral Issues