New President

[idesign]

I mostly agree with you guys,

once Obama started getting his briefings from various agencies and the White House he made a major shift from his

campaign rhetoric. Can you say "reality check?" We'll have to see what he does once he gets inaugurated.

One

thing I notice, his appointments are pretty much eliminating the Dem field for 2012. Clinton, Biden, Richardson et

al are not going to run from Cabinet positions against an incumbent, unless Obama flops really bad. Which he won't

if he just plays President. The financial and housing markets will be back up in 4 years if Obama keeps his hands

off as much as possible.

As for "world opinion". I read a lot of European sources these days, and now that the

initial adulation is waning, I'm seeing a lot of "lets see" attitudes. Lets face it, Obama has to actually do

something now, and I'm not sure that he can live up to his self-aggrandizing preaching.

[koolking1]

"The financial

and housing markets will be back up in 4 years if Obama keeps his hands off as much as possible."

There's a

plan afoot already to get the housing market going by introducing a fixed 4.5% loan for homebuyers. (lead article

on Huffingpost.com today). Given there's a real glut of homes on the market with no buyers approaching, it sounds

like a good plan to me, especially were it to be extended to existing homeowners and not to speculators and with no

provision to "take some equity out".

[Bruce]

Boy, did I pick the wrong time to go

into the spec home business. :-)
Actually, it's not quite so bad here in Eugene as in the rest of the US. I

heard that about the loan rates improving. Kind of weird that the whole mess got kicked off by the lack of loan

availability, and now nobody wants to buy noway nohow, and lenders have nobody to lend to.

[Rbt]

Bruce: if by "spec" home biz you

mean more or less custom "special built" type thing you may end up better off than others.

I've been seeing in

some of the biz mags that one of the few areas that seems to be doing well even now is anything that "builds to

order." People are getting so tight that they no longer want to buy "off the rack," getting stuck with paying for

things they don't want just to get the things they do want (like when buying a car off the dealer's lot).

The

custom sneaker/athletic shoe biz is supposedly booming (where you can design your own color combinations etc), and

things like Chase's "build you own credit card" are supposedly doing well too. It's also said that this is a real

boon to American businesses, as the custom stuff is usually made "locally" and not imported (too expensive to

ship).

Like most anything, it will be those who can adapt best who will survive.


.

[koolking1]

dropping too are

helping. If you don't get laid off, those extra gas bucks will help a lot.

[Bruce]

I had to look it up to make sure of

the origin of the "spec" in "spec homes", but it seems to come from the word "speculate". In any case, the builder

builds a home without having a buyer, spec-ulatiing, that he will be able to sell it to someone at a profit. So,

this is something different from a custom built home "to order" where you have the buyer all lined up and he tells

you exactly what he wants before you even break ground. In my case, I was hoping/expecting to have a buyer on board

before I got to the part where you pick out the flooring, paint, tile, cabinets and other kitchen stuff etc etc. ,

but as has been oft noted "the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray" eh?

B

[idesign]

That's what we mean by "spec"

house in this neck of the woods too. I used to do a ton of spec houses in years past, but in the last 2 years

almost nothing. As a coastal/resort demographic our market rose and dropped earlier than most. Now 75% of

everything I do is high-end remodel, the remaining 25% high-end custom homes, fitting right in with Rbt's point.

Its a nice niche to be in. I'm a kitchen/bath/office etc designer/dealer and my average job price has risen

dramatically while total sales have dropped slightly. The good news is that profitability has increased. Gotta

love the rich, they keep us small peanuts players going.

In former days the contractors I did business with did

just what Bruce described, and pre-sold houses in time for color/material selections, and made more money on

upgrades. Now they're either out of business or holding or renting their properties at a loss.

Hope things are

looking up in your market Bruce.

[idesign]

"The

financial and housing markets will be back up in 4 years if Obama keeps his hands off as much as

possible."

There's a plan afoot already to get the housing market going by introducing a fixed 4.5% loan for

homebuyers. (lead article on Huffingpost.com today). Given there's a real glut of homes on the market with no

buyers approaching, it sounds like a good plan to me, especially were it to be extended to existing homeowners and

not to speculators and with no provision to "take some equity out".

That plan is still open to debate,

and who knows where the final plan will go. Like KK said, a big part of the problem of this plan is new buyers v.

existing owners. And as Bruce touched on, there's not a lot of willingness for anyone to act in the home market

now. The current plan disqualifies refinancing of existing mortgages, which is both good and bad, depending on how

viable the refinance is. Which is pretty darned hard to prove to the banks these days. The main problem with this

whole gov't bailout scenario of gov't. They don't do anything right.

Unless your assets are $700 billion

and/or irresponsibly unlimited. If you have those kind of funds you can tell anyone you want to go to hell, then,

after mismanaging your public trust, sanctimoniously shift blame for the problem and find new and more creative ways

to keep your position.

Offering a plan to new buyers at historically low rates might sell some homes, but then

again might exacerbate the problem that exists. After all, most of the housing problems we have now is low rates,

gov't programs (see Freddie and Fanny, see Chris Dodd) and easy money driving unqualified buyers into the

market.

All of that is moot if you consider the inevitable outcome of the plan. The US gov't will have de facto

ownership of private homes. This is so far beyond the Freddie and Fanny bailouts (bad enough) and is part of a

dangerous trend toward gov't ownership of private assets either through loans or direct investment. An ugly door

was opened when the financial companies were given carte blanche to gov't (our) funds to save their asses. The

message was sent that access to the public (our's again) debt is available to the rich and poor alike.

Responsibility has long left gov't, and now business, at our own behest.

I don't like it one bit, any of

it.

Don't even get me started on the Detroit (read Union, read private entitlement) problems. Or Organized

Labor's (read "show me the money") drive to eliminate private voting for membership. Who wants the 9.99 DVD

bargain bin to be 20.99?

[belgareth]

As you may have guessed, I was

and am opposed to the bailouts as another screwing of the taxpayer and government boondogle. Below is another

example. Bank of America gets $25 Billion while the workers get locked out and screwed. And people wonder why I am

so negative about the government that we have and will continue with the next person in office:

Angry

laid-off workers occupy factory in Chicago

By RUPA SHENOY, Associated Press Writer Rupa Shenoy, Associated

Press Writer 1 hr 7 mins ago
CHICAGO – Workers who got three days' notice their factory was shutting its

doors have occupied the building and say they won't go home without assurances they'll get severance and vacation

pay they say they are owed.
About 200 union workers occupied the Republic Windows and Doors plant in shifts

Saturday while union leaders outside criticized a Wall Street bailout they say is leaving laborers behind.
Leah

Fried, an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, said the Chicago-based vinyl window manufacturer failed to

give 60 days' notice required by law before shutting down.
During the peaceful takeover, workers have been

shoveling snow and cleaning the building, Fried said.
"We're doing something we haven't since the 1930s, so

we're trying to make it work," Fried said.
Protest organizers said the company can't pay employees because its

creditor, Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, won't let them. Crain's Chicago Business reported that Republic

Windows' monthly sales had fallen to $2.9 million from $4 million during the past month. In a memo to the union,

obtained by the business journal, Republic CEO Rich Gillman said the company had "no choice but to shut our

doors."
Bank of America received $25 billion from the government's financial bailout package.
"Across cultures,

religions, union and nonunion, we all say this bailout was a shame," said Richard Berg, president of Teamsters Local

743. "If this bailout should go to anything, it should go to the workers of this country."
Outside the plant,

protesters wore stickers and carried signs that said, "You got bailed out, we got sold out."
Larry Spivack,

regional director for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31, said the peaceful

action will add to Chicago's rich history in the labor movement, which includes the 1886 Haymarket affair, when

Chicago laborers and anarchists gathering in a square on the city's west side drew national attention when an

unidentified person threw a bomb at police.
"The history of workers is built on issues like this here today,"

Spivack said.
Representatives of Republic Windows did not immediately respond Saturday to calls and e-mails seeking

comment.
Police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said authorities were aware of the situation and officers were patrolling

the area.
Workers were angered when company officials didn't show up for a meeting Friday that had been arranged

by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Chicago Democrat, Fried said. Union officials said another meeting with the company

is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
"We're going to stay here until we win justice," said Blanca Funes, 55, of

Chicago, after occupying the building for several hours. Speaking in Spanish, Funes said she fears losing her home

without the wages she feels she's owed. A 13-year employee of Republic, she estimated her family can make do for

three months without her paycheck. Most of the factory's workers are Hispanic.

[belgareth]

INTERESTING

FACTS ----- NOTICE LINK AND

MAP AT BOTTOM


Some unreported stats about the

2008 election
Professor Joseph

Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul , Minnesota

,
points out some interesting facts concerning the

2008 Presidential election:

-Number of States won by: Democrats: 20; Republicans:

30

-Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000; Republicans: 2,427,000

-Population of counties won by:

Democrats: 127 million; Republicans: 143 million

-Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:

Democrats: 13.2; Republicans: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won

was
mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens. Democrat territory

mostly
encompassed those citizens living in rented or government-owned tenements

and
living off various forms of government welfare..."
Olson believes the United

States is now somewhere between the "complacency
and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition

of democracy, with some forty
percent of the nation's population already having reached the

"governmental
dependency" phase.

*******************************
[IMG]http://www.pherolibrary.com/forum/cid:874E992D-E6B0-

4651-9791-819CC849543C[/IMG]

Notice that

only in the states of Alaska and Oklahoma : All counties were won by McCain/Palin.

The original posting with this

information is below this Newsweek article at this link:

h

ttp://www.newsweek.com/id/163337.