Hey .. The economy is great!!!
Submitted by ms in la on July 20, 2008 - 3:17am.
Whiners and Wimps | Economy
Whatsamatter witcha - Ya bunch of wimpy, loser, whiners??!!!
So here I was all down in the mouth - thinking times were hard and getting harder... grumbling about the need for a CCN 'Survival Series' just to get us through, trying to shuffle my debt around in to a more attractive and manageable arrangement.... when suddenly I stumble upon the good folks at Merril Lynch and their new World Wealth Report.
And I realized ...whoa! There are more wealthy people now than ever before! And they have even a cute nickname "HNWI's" (High Net Worth Individuals)
Looks to me like the economy is actually doing swell!
So what's everybody whining about?
Take a look at these Lynch report findings:
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Merrill Lynch and Capgemini Release 12th Annual World Wealth Report
ASSETS OF HIGH-NET-WORTH INDIVIDUALS RISE TO $40.7 TRILLION
AVERAGE HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUAL WEALTH SURPASSES $4 MILLION FOR FIRST TIME
WORLD'S HIGH-NET-WORTH POPULATION NOW STANDS AT 10.1 MILLION; INDIA, CHINA AND BRAZIL HAVE HIGHEST HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS POPULATION GROWTH
Additionally, I was elated to learn that the number of ULTRA HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS** (Ultra-HNWIs) HAD INCREASED BY 8.8%.
**Ultra-HNWIs are Individuals with NET assets of at least U.S. $30 million, EXCLUDING their primary residence and consumables.
I found myself pondering if the advertising market demographic for the Ultra-HNWI's was any different from that of the ordinary HNWI's.
Given 2007 performances and taking into consideration recent developments in world markets, the report suggests that GLOBAL HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS wealth will grow even further, to $59.1 trillion by 2012.
Yes, you read it right-- over 59 Trillion dollars of wealth. Or--
$59,100,000,000,000.
Yeah! Only 4 more years!
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Here are some impressive national stats from the report:
INDIA
India led the world in HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS population growth at 22.7 percent, driven by market capitalization growth of 118 percent.
CHINA
China experienced the second-largest expansion of their HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS population, advancing 20.3 percent — an increase fueled by market capitalization growth of 291 per cent. China is currently experiencing explosive growth in its "mass affluent" population.
RUSSIA
Russia was home to one of the world's 10 fastest-growing HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS populations.
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Some Stock Exchange Information:
INDIA
India's Bombay Exchange and National Stock Exchange had respective growth rates of 122 percent and 115 percentCHINA
The Shanghai and the Shenzhen stock exchanges grew at 303 percent and 244 percent, respectively.USA
Dow Jones Market Indexes had moderate returns in 2007, averaging 6.8 percent, far below the 17.3 percent average in 2006.The economic slowdown in the United States drove a severe depreciation of the U.S. dollar against most major currencies worldwide — the dollar fell 10.5 percent, 15.8 percent and 17 percent, respectively, relative to the euro, the Canadian dollar and the Brazilian real.
Since the close of 2007, economic indicators in the United States have deteriorated further — notably, slowing consumer spending, cooling housing markets and softening labor market conditions. A flurry of developments in international credit and equity markets, all stemming from the United States' economic slowdown, shaped the opening months of 2008
http://www.ml.com/index.asp?id=7695_7696_8149_88278_99024_100479
Okay. So it looks like we've got a little catching up to do. But don't feel bad. I live in California ($23 Billion Debt) where I heard today that we are now tied with Mississipi, and just behind Michigan, for being the number 3 highest unemployment state in the nation. I can honestly say we owe it all to Governor Schwartzenegger... to be tied with Mississippi for anything.
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China, Russia-- really on a roll! We really showed those Commies who was boss when we tore down that wall, hey? Who's laughing now?
It turns out that Chinese and Russian money is.
They are buying up American real estate like it was so much candy. Or Blinis.
Take this guy. Dmitry.
Who --pardon my French-- sells loads of sh*t for a living. No, he's not a network news anchor. Or a politician. He's a fertilizer mogul.
Dmitry just purchased Donald Trump's Palm Beach house for $100,000,000.
Can you still call it a "house" at $100M? Palace? Estate? Mansion? Monument? Crib?
Fertilizer business mogul Dmitry Rybolovlev made waves last month when he agreed to purchase Donald Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., mansion for $100 million in what will likely set the record for the most expensive sale of a U.S. single-family home.
The oceanfront property, called "Maison de l'Amitié," is a 33,000-square-foot French Regency-style mansion sitting on 6.5 acres with 475 feet of coastline.
At 41 years old, Mr. Rybolovlev is ranked this year as No. 59 on the Forbes billionaires list with an estimated net worth of $12.8 billion. He has held the position of chairman of the major fertilizer company JSC Uralkali since 1996.
The funny part of this story is.... Dmitry plans to tear la Maison de l'Amitie down and rebuild another "maison"... or monument. So for $100 million dollars, Mr. Rybolovlev bought himself a tear down. A fixer!
Who says the economy is bad?!
You're all a bunch of naysayers, doomsdayers and whiners. Bootstraps baby, bootstraps! This is Amurka. So get off your keister and take on a fourth job if you have to. It's good for you! Sleep is overrated. You too can work yourself up to being a HNWI, or maybe even an Ultra-HNWI! Soon you'll be buying new digs for $100 million. Then tearing them down... to build something... even better.
Oops, gotta run... Somebody named "Marshall" at the door!
Matt Taibbi that is.
Yeah, I know he's a pr*ck and has dissed Wes on more than one occasion. And I know he has been as guilty as the rest of the Media in fostering inane over substance...... but on this he gets it mostly right.
Some snippets....
Election season will be packed with horserace media distractions, but our economic situation is becoming a matter of life and death.
I am a single mother with a 9-year-old boy. To stay warm at night my son and I would pull off all the pillows from the couch and pile them on the kitchen floor. I'd hang a blanket from the kitchen doorway and we'd sleep right there on the floor. By February we ran out of wood and I burned my mother's dining room furniture. I have no oil for hot water. We boil our water on the stove and pour it in the tub. I'd like to order one of your flags and hang it upside down at the capital building... we are certainly a country in distress. -- Letter from a single mother in a Vermont city, to Senator Bernie SandersThe Republican and Democratic conventions are just around the corner, which means that we're at a critical time in our nation's history. For this is the moment when the country's political and media consensus finally settles on the line of bullsh(i)t it will be selling to the public as the "national debate" come fall.
[...]
Some combination of all of these things is going to comprise the so-called "national debate" this fall. Now, we live in an age where our media deceptions are so far-reaching and comprehensive that they almost smother reality, at times seeming actually to replace reality -- but even in the context of the inane TV-driven fantasyland we've grown used to inhabiting, this year's crude cobbling together of a phony "national conversation" by our political press is an outrageous, monstrously offensive deception. For if, as now seems likely, this fall's election is ultimately turned into a Swan-esque reality show where America is asked to decide if it can tolerate Michelle Obama's face longer than John McCain's diapers, it will be at the expense of an urgent dialogue about a serious nationwide emergency that any sane country would have started having some time ago. And unless you run a TV network or live in Washington, you probably already know what that emergency is.
[...]
......"But for five billion a year," Sanders insists, "we could provide basic primary health care for every American. That?s how much it would cost, five billion."
As it is, though, Sanders has struggled to get any additional funding. He managed to get $250 million added to the program in last year's Labor, Health and Human Services bill, but Bush vetoed the legislation, "and we ended up getting a lot less."
Okay, now, hold that thought. While we're unable to find $5 billion for this simple program, and Sanders had to fight and claw to get even $250 million that was eventually slashed, here's something else that's going on. According to a recent report by the GAO, the Department of Defense has already "marked for disposal" hundreds of millions of dollars worth of spare parts -- and not old spare parts, but new ones that are still on order! In fact, the GAO report claims that over half of the spare parts currently on order for the Air Force -- some $235 million worth, or about the same amount Sanders unsuccessfully tried to get for the community health care program last year -- are already marked for disposal! Our government is buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Defense Department crap just to throw it away!
"They're planning on throwing this stuff away and it hasn?t even come in yet," says Sanders.
According to the report, we're spending over $30 million a year, and employing over 1,400 people, just to warehouse all the defense equipment we don't need.........
[...]
Our economic reality is as brutal as it is for a simple reason: whether we like it or not, we are in the midst of revolutionary economic changes. In the kind of breathtakingly ironic development that only real life can imagine, the collapse of the Soviet Union has allowed global capitalism to get into the political unfreedom business, turning China and the various impoverished dictatorships and semi-dictatorships of the third world into the sweatshop of the earth. This development has cut the balls out of American civil society by forcing the export abroad of our manufacturing economy, leaving us with a service/managerial economy that simply cannot support the vast, healthy middle class our government used to work very hard to both foster and protect. The Democratic party that was once the impetus behind much of these changes, that argued so eloquently in the New Deal era that our society would be richer and more powerful overall if the spoils were split up enough to create a strong base of middle class consumers -- that party panicked in the years since Nixon and elected to pay for its continued relevance with corporate money. As a result the entire debate between the two major political parties in our country has devolved into an argument over just how quickly to dismantle the few remaining benefits of American middle-class existence -- immediately, if you ask the Republicans, and only slightly less than immediately, if you ask the Democrats.
Please read the whole thing.....
What this country needs is fewer Obamas and McCains, and more Bernie Sanders.
Why have Obama and the New Democratic Party chose to rehabilitate the Republican Party at a time when it and conservatism has proven to be such a failure? Answer: "Because that's where the money is."
Taibbi does a good job here of explaining why empty buzzwords like "hope" and "change" make me want to throw up. How long will people allow themselves to be bamboozled? Until death? This is the year that politics became the opiate of the people. Thanks to the media owned by the people who are sucking the life out of us.
are expected to give it all on the battlefield for this sham of a government. People really wonder why I'm so angry?
As I said on the GD. This country is divided but not between right and left.....but between the ruling classes and the rest of us. The middle class is disappearing whilst the rich and the politicians are lining their pockets.
Why have Obama and the New Democratic Party chose to rehabilitate the Republican Party at a time when it and conservatism has proven to be such a failure? Answer: "Because that's where the money is."
How long will people allow themselves to be bamboozled? Until death?
Let's see...there was this guy in Germany who really knew how to give mesmerizing speeches to large crowds in stadiums during the early 30s while his nation was in a grim mood. The people who looked upon him as a savior finally woke up to reality in 1945 after 7 mllion of them were killed and the nation lay in ruin (not to mention the damage they caused other nations)
Brunch with Bernie is my favorite radio listening on Thom Hartmann.
He is like the California Condor though....growing extinct. There are so few like him who genuinely care about the country and are smart enough and passionate enough to try to find the solutions to fix it. But of course he gets blocked at nearly every pass. How many more Bernie Sanders' can we expect to enter the system and survive in it nowadays?
Here are some interesting Bernie facts and trivia:
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Sanders, the son of Jewish-Polish immigrants to the United States was born in Brooklyn.
Sanders moved to Vermont in 1964. He worked as a carpenter and journalist.
Sanders' political career began in 1971, when he joined the anti-Vietnam War Liberty Union Party in Vermont.
In 1981 Sanders ran for and won Mayor of Burlington VT, defeating six term Dem incumbent Gordon Paquette by 12 votes.
Under Sanders, Burlington became the first city in the country to fund community-trust housing. His administration also sued the local cable television provider and won considerably reduced rates and a substantial cash settlement.
Sanders taught at Harvard University in 1989.
In 1990 he won his first seat in the US House of Representatives, becoming the first Independent in the House since 1950. Now as the junior Senator from Vermont, Sanders has served in Congress for 18 years.
And he's the only 'Socialist' in Congress, at times calling himself an independent democratic socialist.
As a congressman, he personally lead groups of pensioners across the border into Canada to buy prescription drugs that are cheaper there than in the United States.
Few topics aggravate Mr Sanders more than the US health care system, which is largely private and relies on insurance companies to pay most bills.
"We spend three times as much per capita on health care as the UK, and 48 million Americans have no health insurance," he says.
After being elected to the Senate in the November 2006 election, Sanders said:
"If the Democrats — having this opportunity no one thought they would have — if they do not move boldly and decisively and make a difference in the lives of ordinary Americans, they're going to be in a lot of trouble."
The Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2007 was introduced by Senators Sanders and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on January 15, 2007. The measure would provide funding for R&D on geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, set emissions standards for new vehicles and a renewable fuels requirement for gasoline beginning in 2016, establish energy efficiency and renewable portfolio standards beginning in 2008 and low-carbon electric generation standards beginning in 2016 for electric utilities, and require periodic evaluations by the National Academy of Sciences to determine whether emissions targets are adequate.
He hopes to entice some senators to join the Progressive Caucus that he founded when he came to Congress as a representative in 1991. (Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, the only senator to have joined Mr Sanders' left-leaning group, was killed in a plane crash in 2002.)
Leaving the US Progressive Caucus with a current standing Senate membership of... one.
May this be a lesson for us in the downticket Senatorial races.... out of 100 senators - we only have ONE willing to call himself a Progressive.
"If the Democrats — having this opportunity no one thought they would have — if they do not move boldly and decisively and make a difference in the lives of ordinary Americans, they're going to be in a lot of trouble."
Of course they haven't. See my sig.
Why have Obama and the New Democratic Party chose to rehabilitate the Republican Party at a time when it and conservatism has proven to be such a failure? Answer: "Because that's where the money is."
the money quote.
That struck me as pretty prophetic too, Maddy.
We're in a heap of trouble.
REPEAT with keywords highlighted for dense Democrats...
Must move BOLDLY and DECISIVELY to make a difference in the lives of ORDINARY AMERICANS.
They have to first recognize what an "ordinary American" looks like. A good place to start would be to take a peek at the blue collar workers in the country and what used to be the middle class. But it's hard to find them out and about, they are now working three jobs around the clock... :(
I was pointing out to my mom recently how glad I am I'm not working in the Middle East anymore. Friends of mine still there are dealing with horrible inflation due to getting paid in dollars rather than euros or something else.
Not that it's all roses here either. I found a better paying job after I joined the exodus out of California, and I love Washington state. But it doesn't change the fact I'm making more than my father and have far, far less buying power than he does. and I don't expect things to get better anytime soon.
but the commute is killing me.
Maybe I'll move to China. I love the food.
As a New Yorker, you may feel right at home with the urban sprawl going on there.
I just heard on CNN that the government is forcing ONE THIRD of the cars off the road in order to try to clear the air up for the Olympics! Not sure how they determine which people are amongst the lucky one in three to have their driving privileges taken away. It seems the Olympics might be having some positive effect on their environmental problems, if only to make them more self conscious about it. I read they have painted scarred quarry mountain rocks in green -- to look like green hills from a distance! That's creative...
From the NY Times- great 6 pg article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Public health is reeling. Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death, the Ministry of Health says. Ambient air pollution alone is blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year.
Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water.
Chinese cities often seem wrapped in a toxic gray shroud. Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union.
Experts once thought China might overtake the United States as the world’s leading producer of greenhouse gases by 2010, possibly later. Now, the International Energy Agency has said China could become the emissions leader by the end of this year, and the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency said China had already passed that level.
The level of such particulates is measured in micrograms per cubic meter of air. The European Union stipulates that any reading above 40 micrograms is unsafe. The United States allows 50. In 2006, Beijing’s average level was 141, according to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics.
China’s environmental agency insisted that the health statistics be removed from the published version of the report, citing the possible impact on “social stability.”
Thirty million Chinese live in absolute poverty while another 60 million live on less than 865 Yuan ($109) per year, which is well below the dollar-a-day standard for poverty established by the World Bank.
A recent McKinsey Global Institute report “Preparing for China’s Urban Billion” says that the country’s unprecedented urbanization will continue over the next 20 years, and by 2030 China's urban population will reach 1 billion.
By 2025, China will have 221 cities with more than one million inhabitants – compared with 35 in Europe today.
To contend with all of that ... the food had better be reallllly good. I think you should stay in NYC Reg, and just order Chinese take out. :)
Sounds like the rents are really cheap! If the dim sum there is even better than I can get in Chinatown, it would be totally worth it. I don't know if the air there is any worse than living in a studio apartment with a chain smoker anyway.
A colleague of mine is over there for a year studying. He loves it.
Fertilizer can be highly explosive.
Sort of like widening gaps between rich and poor have been known to be highly "explosive".
Nick Kelly
Wes Clark could still secure America as a national security candidate.
just in the most expensive real estate deal in the US was based on fertilizer earnings!
I was thinking he might rename his newly constructed home to "La Maison de Merde"...
We are so overdue for the Enlightenment Part Deux... :)
I've stood inside a much nicer house with a far better view that only cost $50 million! ;)
Nick Kelly
Wes Clark could still secure America as a national security candidate.
See here, a blog I put up almost 2 yrs ago to date:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7447
Trump had originally listed his FLA Maison de Friendship at $125 Million - and was in a fierce competition with Bandar Bush's listing of his CO home for $135 Million to make the largest US real estate sale... Kind of a billionaire version of canasta. who would sell first? Who would sell highest? Who would win?
For the Donald to settle for a meager $100 M shows me what an actual real estate slump we are in. He conceded 20% of his profit margin just to sell the dump! That had to hurt.
Meanwhile, some other Ultra-HNWI came along and scooped them both-- In Montana.... !
Forbes Magazine says that the most expensive home in the world is The Pinnacle in Big Sky, Montana, which was bought this year for $155 million. The Pinnacle is slightly smaller than Hala Ranch, at 53,000 square feet,(cozier) but it does have underground parking for 20 cars, a heliport and an ice rink.
I think the ice rink is what put it over the top.
Now, because you are a Coloradan Nick, I thought you might appreciate this update on Prince Bandar's fortunes and misfortunes since his $135 Million dollar cottage has NOT sold. Poor Bandar...
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On July 12, 2006, it was reported that Prince Bandar was seeking to sell his 56,000-square-foot mansion in Aspen, (nearly twice as large as the Donald's!!) for US $135 million. The palatial vacation home, called Hala Ranch, is larger than the White House, is perched on a mountaintop of 95 acres, and includes 15 bedrooms along with 16 bathrooms featuring 24-karat gold fixtures. It also features its own hair and beauty salon, an indoor swimming pool, steam room, gym, and heated stables. The estate has its own water treatment plant, garage facilities including petrol pumps and a car wash and extensive security facilities. But alas, no ice rink...
The purported reason for the sale is that Bandar is too busy to enjoy the mansion.
But this HuffPo article last month gives us a much clearer picture of the reason Bandar is "too busy" to enjoy his little casa in the mountains... his key role in a UK/US/Saudi banking scam, not unlike Tony Rezko's plan to skim the Teacher's Pension fund in Illinois of millions for himself and his complicit buddies.
In Harper Woods [Michigan], the Sultan is prince non grata, accused by the town's employee pension fund of embezzling some $2 billion over 20 years as the go-between betwixt the Saudi government and BAE Systems of the United Kingdom.
"In the mid-'80s, the Brits were negotiating a large defense contract with Saudi Arabia, nearly $100 billion. Obviously a huge, huge contract and very important to the U.K. and to BAE Systems certainly. As part of the contract there was a side agreement that basically allowed for payments to be funneled to Prince Bandar. Bank examiners and people looking at this have estimated it was nearly $100 million a year or a total of $2 billion that was funneled through various U.S. banks."
BAE chief executive officer Mike Turner and a non-executive director of the company, based in England, were issued subpoenas by the U.S. Justice Department in the case when they entered the United States in May, so don't expect Prince Bandar to be coming back to Aspen -- or anywhere in the United States -- any time soon...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-conniff/prince-bandar-in-2-billio_b_107126.html
Only 16 bathrooms for $135 million!
The nerve of some people!
Jeeze, we know people who know people who have 19 bathrooms in their house in Aspen! I seriously doubt that they would expect more than $125 million for their place. ;)
Nick Kelly
Wes Clark could still secure America as a national security candidate.
--is that Bandar neglected (or was too cheap) to put in an ice rink.
Could have made the difference of sale or no sale.
Instead he decided to install the property car wash and heat the stables. All about choices.
I guess the horses are happy...
At one point we talked about buying it as Clarktopia, but couldn't come up with the $25 million dollar downpayment.
Now we could probably get it at $100 million with only $20M down!!
But that was before the Obama - Hillary wars and we had Clarkies all wanting to live together in a big mountain house.
Besides.... I don't think I could be happy in a house without an ice rink.
Also, 24-karat gold fixtures were a mistake
The hair and beauty salon, indoor swimming pool, steam room, gym, heated stables, water treatment plant, garage facilities including petrol pumps and car wash were all totally reasonable, but the 24-karat gold fixtures were excessive.
Some people don't know when to quit. Gaudy.
Oh and I heard there was also a nail salon besides the hair salon. Another really good selling point these days. I wouldn't dream of paying over 100M for a house without a nail salon. What a rip off!
I just looked up the Montana property. It was a part of the exclusive/private/elitist Yellowstone Ski & Golf Club. So I was all ready to join up when I caught this little caveat....
Club Yellowstone is not for everyone. Certainly not if you are from Hollywood. At least that's the word in the ski community.
You must be invited by the Club to join. Membership may have its rewards, but it also requires members to prove a certain net worth. A $300,000 initiation fee rounds out the requirements and you must commit to build or buy a property on the resort. Annual dues are $18,000.
"Certain celebrities" are discouraged from even applying, said one owner who preferred to remain anonymous."
So who are some of the owners?
Microsoft CEO Bill Gates and former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle top the list, followed by Jack Kemp, golfer Annika Sorenstam, News Corps' Peter Chernin, venture capitalist Mike Markkula, who underwrote Apple Inc., Comcast Cable's 49 yr old President Steve Burke, and bicycling legend Greg Lemond.
I'm thinking the anti - celebrity criteria is just code speak for "Republicans only need apply".
And I was so looking forward to getting some exercise in the Big Sky country.
And the advantage of having waterfront property at an inland price!
Seriously, it looks the next housing crisis for China will be one that we as a nation will be facing as well, on a smaller scale. But both could be classified as emergency situations.
Senior housing.
CHONGQING, CHINA — One of the world’s oldest nations is getting older. China’s population of 1.3 billion is graying rapidly and the country, which now has about 146 million senior citizens, will have almost 290 million by 2025 — nearly the entire population of the United States.
(By contrast, we are looking at around 75 million Boomers now entering Senior-dom, also many of them lacking sufficient means to retire.)
China’s old-age homes can accommodate just 1.5 million people — about 1% of the population 60 and over.
How do you build 145,000,000 elderly apartments in twenty years?
The exploding need for all-elderly housing is a late-emerging phenomenon. In pre-industrial times, the elderly either died early or were cared for by their children. Life expectancy in China has crept up since reforms began in 1979, from 66 years to 72.
Because of the tradition of families caring for older relatives, the government never created a strong safety net for seniors. Rapid urbanization means increasing numbers of children moving to the city, away from the extended family.
The truth is that poverty seriously threatens China’s elderly, as few have significant savings. In the Maoist years, rural communities toiling away in collectives received housing, food coupons, and clothes as compensation, so no one really made or saved any money.
It would seem we're going to be looking at an elderly housing shortage phenomena in the future-- in many parts of the world. Interesting problem to add to all the others that need solving....
It's been made worse by their one-child policy. There aren't going to be enough young people to care for all the old people.
to think about.
Here too.
Depending on who the next joker is that comes along trying to "Fix" Social Security -- that is working just fine thank you... What is going to happen to those 75 million boomers who are maxed out on credit, have low to no savings, sending their kids to college while at the same time taking care of their elderly parents and trying to pay rising health care costs?
I see futuristic senior ghettos frankly... Pretty grim.
'If your in a hole, stop digging.'
Made sense to me.
If your in a submarine, stop diving.
Or something like that.
Just found this new headline... but $17 million sounds SO low for 30 states' development... They call it low income, but in keeping with the Merril Lynch report, one might more appropriately call this Ultra Low Income Housing? Or you could drop the Orwellian speak and just call them Senior Ghettos, like I said earlier:
=====================================================
HUD TO OFFER $17 MILLION FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSING FOR SENIORS
The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Tuesday it will make a combined $17 million in pre-development grants available to 30 states to help with construction of critically needed low-income housing projects for seniors.
"This funding will help organizations cope with the complexities of developing vitally important elderly housing projects in their communities," said HUD Secretary Steve Preston.
HUD provides capital advances to finance the construction, rehabilitation or acquisition with or without rehabilitation of structures that will serve as supportive housing for very low-income elderly persons, including the frail elderly.
Now HUD and the government might think they can solve this little senior problem by throwing $17 million at it.... which incidentally is almost exactly what we spend on the illegal Iraq war in ONE HOUR at the conservative estimates of $12.5 Billion /month... but I'm afraid that spreading that $17 million out to cover the 75 million retiring Boomers is going to fall severely short. Because that comes to ... um.... 23 cents per senior. Which sounds about right in terms of this government's overall prioritization standards.
The seniors and their "bootstraps" will have to come up with the rest over and above the 23 cents. So far, the message to our seniors is - Your value is about one hour's worth of the 5 year old Iraq war effort.
was recently spent here in Raleigh, alone, to tear down and build anew a public housing project for the poor. No, I don't think that amount will do it. ;(
a ranchette in MSLA's neighborhood.
In times of war or peace, democracy requires dialogue, disagreement, and the courage to speak out. And those who do it should not be condemned but be praised." WKC
You can get this lovely 5 bedroom (3 bedrms in main house, 2 in guest) comfortable family home, with a view, in the Hollywood Hills-- Hurry! It's on the market and available now for $17,500,000-- you could always offer $17M. (No ice rink though...)
THIS ARCHITECTURAL COMPOUND DESIGNED BY ROBERT OFFENHAUSER IS THE ULTIMATE TROPHY IN THE “BIRD” STREETS. HEAD-ON CITY TO OCEAN VIEWS, CONSISTING OF A 1-STORY MAIN HOUSE W/ LRG SCALE RMS, ALL W/ WALLS OF GLASS THAT DISAPPEAR TO PATIOS, GARDENS, SALT WATER POOL, WATERFALL SPA & ENDLESS VIEWS. GRAND MSTR W/ LOUNGE/SCREENING RM, HIS/HERS BATH & 2 ADDITIONAL GUEST SUITES. GOURMET KITCHEN THAT OPENS TO FAMILY RM WITH FIREPLACE AND INFORMAL DINING AREA.
That's how much Eddie Murphy got paid for Dr. Doolittle in 1996.
That's how much Ken Lay's severance pay from Enron was.
That's how much this yacht is worth.
That's how much Jasper Johns' painting "False Start" (1959) sold for at auction this month.
Shall I go on?
I once wanted to do a photo book with this kind of thing. How much is a million dollars? One condo in LA (not a great one) versus other housing- all over the world, third world, vs one vintage car, vs one small watch, vs a feeding 20 village's for how many lifetimes, etc etc. The comparative costs of goods and services... it's really fascinating. Actually it would make good blog fodder too. Each entry could be another dollar amount. For example: $2500 = ?
Complete with visuals!
It's so interesting the value of money and the geographical variances.
This Kos diary yesterday was an eye opener comparing America to other nations and showing how far we've slipped, esp. on health and health care. Written by a former Harvard Med School Professor. Worth a read:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/21/0121/57912/844/554456
That's how much Columbia Journalism Review says special interest groups spend every day to influence Congress.
That's how much the film DARK KNIGHT made in midnight screenings last Thursday night.
That's how much the Rudy Giuliani for President campaign raised in the second quarter of 2007.
That's how much was paid in video store late fees in Houston in 2003.
That's how much was raised for landscaping and other improvements to be made to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
That's how much Hugh Grant made in profit from the sale of Andy Warhol's portrait of Elizabeth Taylor from his collection.
I heart Google.
That's how much the Democratic party would have to pay me to pull the lever for Obama this November.
But don't sell your vote too cheaply!
In times of war or peace, democracy requires dialogue, disagreement, and the courage to speak out. And those who do it should not be condemned but be praised." WKC
We have two on the market here right now that might be good Clarktopia sites.
This one in Bel Air is called "Fleur de Lys" and is asking $125 Million. But I believe we could negotiate it downward.
With 12 bedrooms and 15 baths it seems a comfortable size, but ..upon closer examination... it's way too small, at only 15,500 sq feet - We'd be bumping into each other all the time. Honestly, how can people live in these cramped quarters? Must get so claustrophic.
This other one, built by William Randolf Hearst for actress Marion Davies, is asking $165 million.
It has 29 bedrooms and 40 bathrooms! Now you're talkin, Nick. You could drink lots of beer in a house like that and always be close to a bathroom. Oh, but wait... it is 75,000 square feet. That's about one bathroom every 2000 sq ft. still a considerable hike...
This one is down the hill from me (better side of the tracks!) - and in my earlier days in LA I visited the house for parties. (I actually hated those parties) Security was very elaborate, with three stops to get up the drive and in, secret code numbers given to guests to enter the grounds and for clearance at each stop. Then when you reached the top, the main house, a group of large, angry mastiffs used to guard the main entry, sniffing and circling the cars that approached, barking wildly .... I was always scared one of them would attack me on a whim getting out of the car!
I would prefer the Fleur de Lys-- if it weren't so tiny.
Neither has an ice rink.
Or a nail or hair salon.
Bummer.
When you're shopping on a budget, it's all about compromise though.
Maybe the operative metric is the ratio of bars to bathrooms. The bars would have to be fully staffed 7x24, of course. Including gourmet coffee for the early risers.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!
I heard the McCain's spend $173,000/yr on household staffing alone!
We'll need to budget that in. And it's so hard to find good help these days.
That's one good thing about them squashing the middle class out of existence... it increases the cheap labor pool for those of us in dire need of a good staff. ;)
For some, serfdom has its upside...
who was formerly a community organizer and worked on housing issues. He should be able to work out a deal to establish Clarktopia in one of those places.
Will all the gardeners in the Survival: Food thread be growing our food? I hope Westcott will furnish an endless supply of donuts, and, of course, Cheetos must be available at all times for when Wes drops by.
Clarktopia must be ADA compliant, you realize, for the seniors and injured among us. Or at least an elevator.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!
Lots of open country in Texas.
Clarktopia could be established on a 3,000 acre ranch. Locate it somewhere in west Texas where there is plenty of wind and set aside 500 acres for wind turbines...that would provide power to be self sufficient and provide power to others plus we could get $10,000 annually for each turbine placed on our land.
We could raise cattle, buffalo, chickens and other critters for food. West Texas is rich in cotton and wool, so we have the resources for clothing, particularly for the women to do things like making prairie dresses.
Plenty of stone to build ranch houses on the property and we could probably even establish our own schooling system within Clarktopia since the public schools are so f-d up (anyways, we wouldn't be within many miles of the nearest town and school)
We could do all of this for a fraction of the $165 million.
One hitch in the plan...once the Texas GOP sees a thriving community in their midst that doesn't embrace the gospel of St Bush, our days would be numbered before they send in the SWAT teams and claim that we were underage and part of a cult.
Demitri swaps fertilizer for dollars. At the moment, the dollar isn't worth so much and fertilizer is. Nobody would say we're in hyperinflationary times yet, but $100 million tear downs give the impression we're in the ballpark.