-And tell me, who plans on voting against the incumbent in their district?

In addition to scooby, that is.

And where were all these complaints when folks were pulling massive amounts of equity out of their homes and making nice profits flipping houses?

And tell me, who plans on voting against the incumbent in their district? Or is that pig at the trough someone else's congressman?

"has already been given the thumbs up by an English winemaker."

English winemaker? What the hell is that?

"It works on any alcohol that tastes better aged, even a bottle of paintstripper whisky can taste like an 8-year-aged single malt."

Yes, but can it make it taste like a 12-year-old single malt?

"God is the co[r]nerstone of this nation"

Which is why the word God can be found throughout our constitution.

"Danni, party is the same as partisan."

It's no any wonder this country is going to hell in a hand-basket with all these aliens who don't understand our language.

"16 out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China."

The Spudster knows of what he speaks. Having just returned I can tell you that the pollution and excessively poor air quality I experienced 17 out of the 18 days I was there was definitely not from cigarette smoke.

In fact, in the large cities I visited (Beijing, Xian & Guangzhou) I saw few people smoking. But I also rarely saw the sun - and it wasn't raining. To be sure, many people smoke in China. But that is hardly a problem for us. Factories, coal plants and cars in China, on the other hand, present serious problems for the rest of the world.

And don't even get me started on plastic drinking water bottles...

80 million? Only? Mao, wherever he is, surely is scoffing.

Guess this means I won't ever get to see OJ at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Bummer.

"Moss-wouldn't be rocker arms, the cars were all flatheads (no rocker arms)."

Thanks NGuy. As I was posting that exact thought came into my mind - did these things even have rocker arms? My knowledge of engines only goes back to the 60's.

"the engineer said we can make the engines last 100,000 miles, but the bodies fall apart after 5-10 years-Henry said get to work on those engines."

Another anecdote (I have no way of knowing if its true) that I heard years ago was that Ford sent people to inspect Model T's (or was it Model As) in junkyards and determine what parts were most likely to be still functional. Turns out it was the rocker arms which he then requested his engineers to stop over-designing.

Try www.economics101.com

#37 | Posted by wisgod at 2008-09-23 08:51 PM

If you don't know, just say so. It's OK.

What do local assessment practices have to do with the price you can sell your house for?

#29 | Posted by Mossadegh

"My point is that it effects the overall market"

Really? How?

My property fair market value is 220K and that's what my local taxes are based on. I couldn't sell it for 170K 2 years ago. Did they make more or less by inflating the value?

What do local assessment practices have to do with the price you can sell your house for?

"Maybe the quest for the American dream holds more desires then orginal thought and these pred-loans was a way these people thought they could achieve the dream."

Something for free, in other words?

"And the real blame lies with the municipalities that over assessed properties to increase taxes."

Huh?

"You say that sarcastically, as if it's just an abomination that a lender would reserve the right to foreclose on a loan when someone doesn't pay their mortgage."

Not what I meant. These loans were made by people who didn't practice good banking procedures. If you make a loan you want to be sure the person can pay it back. But if you turn around and sell the loan to a third party, you no longer care if the person can pay it back.

Ted

Got the irony. However, it is unfortunate that many people who got the loans didn't care enough to take the time to get educated about what they were getting into.

In other words, there is plenty of blame to go around.

"The falling house prices is due to people not being able to afford them."

Property values are falling because they are inflated. Is this so fucking complicated?

"I find it interesting that the republican administration doesn't want to allow judges to rewrite the loans so those people can keep their homes and not be foreclosed upon."

Judges rewriting loans? What makes Judges qualified to do that?

"Maybe if the average American had paid their fucking mortgage payment, we wouldn't have this mess. And by average, I mean the average assholes who couldn't get a conventional loan and went subprime."

And what about the idiots who gave these loans in the first place? "Can't afford to pay back this loan? No problem. At least it won't be my problem, I'm gonna sell it."

Greed, greed, greed.

"has that flouridated water made you completely docile yet? yup. thought so."

Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.

"In the Cuban dialect of Spanish the word for traitor is KENNEDY. That's the POTUS who chickened out at The Bay of Pigs. Maybe cut-and-run Obama the appeaser can add a new word to the Cuban dictionary."

Kennedy took a closer look at the plan that Eisenhower's advisers had cooked up and realized it was a dog. Smart decision. Did some people get fucked because of it? Yep, but sometimes shit happens. Taken a look around, lately?

Ah, yes, Cubans: hardworking homeowners who expect their children to excel at school.

It's hard to believe we haven't yet burned 'em all at the stake.

"Cubans are rude and disrepectful. Fuck them and their turning Miami into Little Havana. This is America but you wouldn't be able to tell it on the Streets of Miami." Manypaths

You probably wouldn't be able to tell it in Chinatown in San Fransisco or Little Italy in New York, either.

Glad to see you go, hope you took some of your best friends with you.

"The obssession with Bush is never ending. Even on threads where Bush is not a factor, some dimwit feels the compulsion to mention him .... on the 2nd post.

The lack of depth on the Left never ceases to impress."

Don't expect it to end when he's gone. How long into the Bush term did it take before some people stopped blaming Clinton for everything that went wrong?

"Oh, and did you know McCain was a POW? You could even say he was tortured, if we hadn't redefined torture with McCain's help."

Well, that's just not fair. McCain is against torture, right? Or is that was?