My Own Off-Topic Post
Chuck Ponzi December 29th, 2007
What would be so wrong with fiscal and monetary responsibility? Is living within your means so out of fashion that our country cannot do the same? Please, support Ron Paul for president in 2008.
I agree with Ron Paul and donated to his campaign. We had more than enough time to kill off Al Quaida. The late Ronald Reagan would have made this war on terror quick and decisive. Let’s get completely out of the middle east and work on cutting the national debt and have real deep cuts in entitlement programs, for starters. Limit government spending to the items mentioned in the Constitution: A justice system, national defense, and administrative duties. Social welfare, social security, and medicare are all unconstitutional.
Ron is very brave. Unfortunately I have lost faith in our voting system. With technology it would be so easy to manipulate results. Look at the last election. “Al Gore is the winner….no wait, it’s Bush.” Unless we make sure every vote really counts, there is no democracy.
One more comment if you don’t mind. I have read your posts. Please stop thinking in terms of Republican and Democrat. That is the biggest joke on the American public. Politicians grow up together, go to the same schools, belong to the same clubs (elite secret societies) and are usually good friends. A real eye opener for me was Zeitgiest - The World Trade Center… It is completely based on fact and shows Kennedy pleading that the public be informed/warned of a secret society. This is the society that the first Bush praised when in office. Kennedy was the last great president. ALL of the rest have merely been puppets.
Unfortunately Ron Paul is an unelectable fringe. Unless he would follow some of Goldwater’s stance, he comes off as raging prejudices lunatic with nothing but hate against immigrants and gays. America does not belong to the conservative religious right. Never did never will.
but I guess we belong to the socialist left?
At some point we are no longer a nation of immigrants and have our own identity. We don’t need the continual crush of unqualified labor running in.
I think at 300 million of us we are at that point.
I’m all for securing the borders.
It’s becoming more and more clear that modern libertarianism is simply Republicanism that’s even more dangerous, repellent, reactionary, hypocritical, and antithetical to everything that’s made America decent. It’s virulent, angry Republican.
hate against immigrants? Just bc we want immigrants to sign up and come through the front door doesn’t mean we hate them. They need to come here legally and pay taxes to support the social services that we give to our citizens. This is no different from when the irish(my ancestors) came in through ellis island.
If you sneak into the back of a movie theater guess what happens when they catch you…
Well, I guess if you think that isolationism will work in this age, he’s your guy. A lot of the other stuff he’s peddling sounds wonderful, but like his never voting for a defense spending bill, there is an inability to yield with grace to reason. Pray tell, how will he work this reconstruction of government through either legislative body? To borrow from Vonnegut, one may as well stand before a glacier and order it to stop.
Every change starts with a single step. Sending a signal to current politicians that their current special-interest pandering does not and will not work in the future is a shot across the bow.
Of course, if you feel so inclined, lie down and die, but I’d prefer to try to save my country even if it draws ire from the wrong kind of people.
Chuck Ponzi
Is Paul an isolationist? Maybe you misunderstood because he’s clearly an non-interventionist.
Look it up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.....ventionism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-interventionism
By the way, how can you be so confident with your favorite candidate (whomever that may be) if you don’t have your facts straight.
Maybe other non-interventionists like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson aren’t American enough for you. If they ran for office, would you continue spreading your “isolationism” propaganda?
The fact is, we as Americans can not economically afford to “save the world” and continue with our imperialistic crusade. Can we take a break and get our feet back underneath us first?
Near term, existing-home sales should continue to hover in a narrow range, just as they have since September, and that’s good news because it’ll be a further sign that the housing market is stabilizing.
My trade group (NAR) also urged the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates by as much as three-quarters of a percentage point in January as a way to embolden home buyers.
You’ve got to be kidding, Mr. Yun. There can be no long-term price stabilization until median homes can be afforded by families with median incomes, and in places like California it’s not even close. Income needs to go up, or prices come down.
I hope America wakes up in time to understand that Ron Paul is spot on regarding monetary policy and our dysfunctional foreign policy.
Great article on the real estate happenings, I really enjoy reading your posts. Just for your information, Donald Trump is in big trouble right now with his real estate empire. I hope everyone can pull through this slump!!
Elmo
Real Estate Professional
Hello Chuck,
Fed looks to be pushing on the string. The rate cuts are making mom happy (lots of oil/gold) but killing the rest of us.
Hate to bug you for free advice.
What are the tax implications to pulling out 401K money to buy foreclosures? I’m thinking of pulling out my 401K money in 010-011 to buy a place. Unless there are dramatic tax law changes there is a huge penalty. Is it 30%?
Trying to decide where to hide money for that purchase.
Put away 10%-15% of your paychecks now, in addition to 401k contributions, to save for a down payment.
Unless there is a big change in the rules I HEAVILY advise against touching your 401k.
Keep that credit score up there and your debt low. The pool of borrows with good credit is shrinking. If wealth is graded on a bell curve then so are FICO scores.
Personally, I wouldn’t do it due to the complexity of the work involved from a tax standpoint. Additionally, you don’t get to take any “tax” writoff related to depreciation which is valuable in itself to create a after-tax cash flow. If you have a lot of money and don’t want to leverage the property, be my guest, but otherwise the headaches involved personally aren’t worth it to me to get 5% per year when I’m getting 15-30% in my portfolio.
Take a look at this article to get a pretty decent summary:
http://articles.moneycentral.m.....state.aspx
off topic ramble here…
How much of this is engineered? Hmmm. Fed is growing debt and the treasure “suddenly” stops printing dollars.
Mmmm. Another Asian economic super power is left holding the bag on lots of bad debt.
Makes me wonder.
Ron Paul is paranoid:
http://www.tnr.com/politics/st.....32a7da84ca
Ron Paul’s recently unearthed letters show a not so charming candidate.
Ron Paul is now screwed, see CNN article below. It does not matter if he wrote the deal or not, he will be labeled as a racist by the mainstream media. I was actually surprised to see this on cnn, I only saw this earlier today whilst trolling around the other blogs. IMHO, we are screwed for another 4 years regardless of the outcome of the 2008 elections.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITI.....index.html
I may stand corrected . . . according to a poll last night after the debate, Ron Paul was declared the debate winner with 32% of the vote in sent in via text message. However, they (Fox) did not disclose the total number of votes received. “Nice” of Fox News to deny him an interview after the debate . . . again (unless I missed it). Look Fox, there are 6 candidates, give them all a chance to speak, not just those that you approve.
I watched the debate last night. I saw the interview with some of the audience. The interviewers asked them who was the biggest loser. They all said in unison “Ron Paul.” I think Ron Paul had the most intelligent and statements, although some of them veered off topic. He got his point across and the other candidates only stared at him with smug smiles. I think Ron Paul won the debate. The audience who said he did not win clearly were biased from the beginning and never listened to Paul. But who cares about them? The bright side is that there for the first time since Barry Goldwater is a Republican Party Presidential nominee candidate who is a true honest to goodness Republican. He is making a point that yes, it is possible for the Republican Party to return to its roots. I’m voting in the Arizona Primary (absentee ballot) for Ron Paul. I don’t expect him to be the Republican nominee. In that case, I will switch my party back to the Libertarian Party and work hard for the LP candidate.