Comments on: Housing All-Stars: First Half 2008 in Review. Acceleration in Foreclosures, Historical Price Declines, Stimulation Checks, Expensive Texas Tea, and Job Losses.

By: fensterlips

fensterlips — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:26:28 +0000

You’re right – to comment on one of your minor points – drilling off shore will do nothing in the short term. This has been repeated to the public for 35 years that I know of and there’s only one thing I can put in my (needed) auto — oil.

We need better, cleaner solutions that stop sending our money to crazies but all I can use for the foreseeable future – even in a Prius – is oil.

When we refuse to drill and refine here we are merely exporting the pollution to far poorer stewards of the environment and practicing NIMBY at a horrific expense to our balance of payments. Who is being fooled here?

We need a countrywide high-energy project like getting to the moon in the 60′s but until then we need oil.

We are currently buying it from fanatics, haters and slobs. We don’t help the environment and we weaken the dollar.

I’m pretty unhappy when someone says something won’t help in the short term. I can think long term and strategically — why can’t our leaders? The short and long term tough decisions taken 20 years ago – if only – would not have us in this pickle — either for oil or mortgage lending.

By: mikke

mikke — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:33:19 +0000

See this, Doc?

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/loans-helocs-heloc-2085396-credit-lenders

By: tweell

tweell — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:26:09 +0000

With real inflation at >10%, saving that stimulus check is stupid IMHO. My stimulus check is gone. I stockpiled food, purchased a bicycle, non-perishable household items and car parts with it. You have to have a rainy day money stash, but when inflation outweighs interest, it doesn’t make sense to increase your savings when you can increase useful items (that will only increase more in price) instead.

By: exit

exit — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:03:51 +0000

RE: the Vanity Fair article – excellent read. However, it gives a free pass to Paulson and Bernanke other than to say that Hank essentially said, let BS feel pain. The systemic causes of why BS and its brethren were permitted to go off-balance-sheet a la Enron were left unexplored.

Any word on the California state budget? It’s past due…

By: eric in vegas

eric in vegas — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:43:16 +0000

There will be AT LEAST two more stimulus packages. The next one will arrive in time for Christmas and will be larger than the first.