Angry Renter Dot Com
UPDATE: May 16, 2008 8:45am
WSJ: Turns out this is an astroturf campaign by Dick Armey, the former House majority leader, and publishing magnate Steve Forbes, a fellow Republican. It's a fake grass-roots effort -- what politicos call an AstroTurf campaign -- that provides a window into the sleight-of-hand ways of Washington.
The anti-bailout backlash has already begun: It turns out that Renters and homeowners without mortgages are 60% of the population.
These folks want to know why Congress rushing to bailout speculative builders and high-flying borrowers and their lenders with sweetheart government loans via your tax dollars. . . .
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Thursday, April 17, 2008 | 03:00 PM | Permalink
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So true. Bail out what and whom?
Posted by: henry | Apr 17, 2008 3:04:58 PM
for the same reason the feds bailed out all the farmers in the 80s with the special chapter 12 bankruptcy provision that allowed farmers who were bankrupt to keep the land and are now sitting on gold mines.
the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Posted by: vhehn | Apr 17, 2008 3:14:17 PM
'Xactly. I understand the impulse of the Democratic politicians who want to spare some people pain--and also think it's less heinous than bailing out the loser financials--but it's not a great idea.
I'm a renter, by the way. Not angry, either. Resigned is more like it. It's all par for the course.
Posted by: dark1p | Apr 17, 2008 3:18:36 PM
Finally. Why the hell should I bail these people out? Politicians act like it's the right thing to do. Fact the hurts: The vast majority of homeowners in distress were either greedy or stupid.
Posted by: dan in michigan | Apr 17, 2008 3:23:24 PM
Once again the irresponsible are bailed out at the expense of the responsible. Boy, am I getting tired of these f'ing pols buying votes and campaign contributions with my tax dollars.
Posted by: Rockitz | Apr 17, 2008 3:25:21 PM
This one has also been going for awhile:
http://www.petitiononline.com/bailout/petition.html
And this group of bubble bloggers also have this site now:
http://www.stopthehousingbailout.com/
Posted by: G | Apr 17, 2008 3:28:12 PM
Welfare for the wealthy. Peanuts for everyone else.
Off topic but sort of related. Anyone see the PBS show on universal healthcare the other night?
Japan, Germany, Taiwan, Switzerland. Universal coverage, happy consumers, half to two-thirds the percentage of GNP we have here. Where hundreds of thousands of people file bankruptcy every year to subsidize champagne and caviar quality healthcare for the rich.
Posted by: Bob A | Apr 17, 2008 3:29:11 PM
Bob A. - One BIG item always forgotten when speaking about the lack of universal health care in the US is this - guns or butter! The country's mentioned in the PBS show do not spend nearly the budget percentage on the military as the US.
Want universal health care in the US without a tax increase? Easy - reduce military spending in the US down to what Japan spends as a percent of their budget and presto! Free health care for all.
Posted by: austincompany | Apr 17, 2008 3:48:59 PM
I have a mortgage, but I’m in the “backlash” category anyway.
All of this bailing out is going to contribute to a bigger deficit, which will mean higher taxes down the road.
Posted by: DL | Apr 17, 2008 3:59:53 PM
I joined the dark side today. I made my money. I'm up year to date a few percent. (Only a very few people can say that, so I guess some bragging rights are involved.) And now I'm back to 100% cash. I might have been a little early, but profit is profit and greed kills.
Stocks are not going up very far. The growing commodities bubble will raise prices for necessities and keep discretionary spending low, resulting in lowered profits for many companies. This is no environment for rising stocks anywhere in the world.
There is no Bernanke Put and there never will be. The 'stock market floor' that is being perceived is really a cover over an abyss that sealed up when creative central banking saved the world last month. The cover is not necessarily fixed in position at the current level. That being said, it will probably always cover the abyss.
The falling dollar will sustain the commodity bubble in spirit. Economically, a 1% fall in the dollar should not create a corresponding 10% increase in the price of oil. This is bubble-economics, firmly in control. Oceans of money need to go somewhere, and the stupid money is chasing 'hard assets' now.
Also, the TED spread is telling a story. I just learned of the TED spread today. Having looked at it and having read about it, I think another shoe is about to drop soon. It might be from another wave of credit problems. It might be from lenders being afraid that good money is going to be wasted on commodity bubble investing. Or it might be from a perception of a coming change.
I suspect interest rates will come to the rescue soon. The Fed would be wrong, and possibly stupid, to lower rates again at the next meeting. Higher rates via market forces and stable rates from the Fed (for now), would shock the commodity bubble into submission. Stocks will nosedive viciously for a short time, but liquidity, as supported by the Fed, would probably not suffer too badly. The dollar will strengthen as a side benefit, causing all manner of imported items to fall in price.
I probably won't get back into the market until I see some wreckage to sift through.
Posted by: cinefoz | Apr 17, 2008 4:00:40 PM
I signed this petition, and here is my basic grievance.
I am still renting. I am still renting because even though I have a great credit rating and a sizable down payment, I can't afford homes in the areas where I have lived and worked (Seattle and Bay Area). And I can't afford homes in these areas because of the housing bubble, a bubble created by greed and fraud.
And since I am still renting, I am basically throwing my money into a hole in the ground. I will never see this money again. It is gone.
So ... what I am wondering is, where is MY bailout? If it wasn't for the Housing Bubble, I would be in a home right now, paying rent to _myself_ (and to the bank) instead of to some stranger on the street. Who is going to reimburse me for all the rent money I poured into a hole while Mr. and Ms. Bubblehead flipped houses and played make believe rich people?
I am pretty pissed, I have to say. I will never see that money again, and all these people crying and whining right now about money they lost while driving the rest of us out of the market on an orgy of greed and fraud. These people don't need a bailout. They need to be in jail. And they need to write me a check.
-Angry Frank
Posted by: Frank | Apr 17, 2008 4:06:07 PM
cinefoz . . . welcome to the dark side :-).
Posted by: Shane | Apr 17, 2008 4:11:29 PM
that's not the real cinefoz....
If it were you'd know it...
Ciao
MS
Posted by: michael schumacher | Apr 17, 2008 4:16:12 PM
Homeowners without mortgages aren't likely to object too much to a bailout. There folks, particularly the older ones, are going to understand the bailout helps support the value of their mortgage-free property.
Renters, as is true of taxpayers generally, will assume somebody else is paying for it unless there's a specific offset attached to the program(s). Not likely.
Neither group has effectively objected to the mortgage interest deduction in the past, so what makes anyone think they'll object effectively now?
Posted by: Estragon | Apr 17, 2008 4:19:36 PM
austincompany, the pbs show about healthcare said those other countries spend less and get more on healthcare than we do, regardless of guns. so that old bs is just that. and i'm sure the japanese and the germans are worried about someone attacking them.
Posted by: rexl | Apr 17, 2008 4:26:19 PM
It's a damn good question actually. Why should we bailout Wall Street or the speculators? Anyone who took out an exotic and now claims they were victims is more full of shit than a Christmas Turkey! Oh, and in fact many of the imbeciles backed the exotic up with a HELOC or second but now claim victimhood. Welcome to the world of speculation where an in the money call may or may not pay off fools.
Posted by: SPECTRE of Deflation | Apr 17, 2008 4:26:48 PM
These folks want to know why Congress rushing to bailout speculative builders and high-flying borrowers and their lenders with sweetheart government loans via your tax dollars...
So Wall Street types don't have to eat a bunch of bad mortgage debt?
Posted by: super-anon | Apr 17, 2008 4:27:08 PM
Bob A.
PBS dropped the ball by not discussing the subject of medical underwriting. I assume these other countries charge one universal premium regardless if one is young or old; healthy or sick.
The point is free market economics will never produce efficiencies in healthcare.
Posted by: BuffaloBob | Apr 17, 2008 4:31:23 PM
I agree with MS,
if that were the real cinefoz
he would be talking about GOOG +$68 a share
after hours (took ~30 minutes)
looks like the break to the upside
for all the major indexes just occured (After hours of course)
What do you think the headlines will be tomorrow? another 400 point rally should be impossible, but then again...
Posted by: MarkTX | Apr 17, 2008 4:36:21 PM
based on Goog's celebration of itself I fully expect the real cinefoz to show up and gloat about how Goog's Qtr. makes an entire market.
I fully expect the futures to be cooked right after C drops it's bomb and is ignored in favor of Goog and it's implications of higher costs to achieve those results ( see there is a drawback to "growing" )
Ciao
MS
Posted by: michael schumacher | Apr 17, 2008 4:37:08 PM
no idea Mark however I am positioned for both eventualities.
And on cue as the market breaks upwards (again as you pointed out in AH of course) we get the jaw boning fed talking about how concerned they are about inflation.....
This is just ridiculous and is doing far more damage than any short term gain(s) can ever compensate all of us for.
I guess Goog is now on the good list after it was allowed to fix the ad rate biz via the FTC rubber stamping an illegal monopoly.
Wild, Wild West out there...
Ciao
MS
Posted by: michael schumacher | Apr 17, 2008 4:44:02 PM
Didn't I tell you to cover ASAP?
Google blow-out earnings!!!!
Google is knocking the cover off the ball and putting the final nail in the bear coffin.
Google hit the ball out of park and raised the guidance.
Posted by: Didn't I Tell You To Cover ASAP? | Apr 17, 2008 4:48:14 PM
Mr ASAP-
Coming in here on the whim of one (1) companys earnings and screaming "I am right" when you most certainly had every chance to do it BEFORE 3 minutes ago is just a little too easy for me....
But go ahead and think that GooG results make an entire fundamental market.
You and what little money you have will be parted on that sort of "advice"
Ciao
MS
Posted by: michael schumacher | Apr 17, 2008 4:53:27 PM
>>Google hit the ball out of park and raised the guidance>>
That's funny how on earth can a company that provides NO GUIDANCE raise what they do not provide????
Fool.
Ciao
MS
Posted by: michael schumacher | Apr 17, 2008 4:58:00 PM
I am a renter and I object to the bailout because it is bad policy. I don't particularly care about tax dollars being wasted on stupid people who made bad financial decisions. Given the economic situation we are entering, the government is going to spend a lot of money helping stupid people. All the mortgage bailouts have been so small that they won't have a noticeable effect on the US government budget.
The problem with all the proposed bailouts is that they are making the problem worse. People are acting like the problem is the high foreclosure rate, but the real problem is that houses are too expensive. We will not leave this recession until houses and other assets have fallen relative to wages. Given how rarely wages increase during recessions, the only way out is to let house prices fall. The more the government fights falling home prices, the longer and more painful this recession will be.
The least painful option is controlled high inflation. 10-15% per year for 3-4 years (while assets stay at current prices) should fix things pretty well. But the inflation has to include wages for it to work. And we have to maintain control over it. Which would be very tricky. The only government policy that is likely to lead to the required wage inflation would be massive increases in government hiring. It doesn't even matter what people are being hired to do, they just have to be given jobs that pay above market rates. Some useful jobs that could be created would be infrastructure repair, better teachers, and renewable resource development.
Posted by: jkw | Apr 17, 2008 5:07:24 PM
