Posted on 10/04/2008 9:34:23 PM PDT by raccoonradio
American dream needs wakeup call
By Howie Carr | Sunday, October 5, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Forget predatory lending for a moment, let’s talk about predatory borrowing.
You know the old saying, you can’t cheat an honest man. It takes two to tango.
This $700 billion-plus bailout means honest taxpayers will have to pick up the tab for all the tangoing that’s been going on. Let’s consider one example this morning, down in Hyannis. It was brought to my attention by a Cape Cod real estate broker.
I won’t use the previous owners’ names, because I can’t find them. Perhaps they’ve moved back to Brazil. I wonder what the Portuguese word for “flip” is, because these people surely did a lot of it during the go-go years.
They slip into the country and a few months later, these “undocumented workers” are pulling stunts with flipped property that Whitey Bulger and Stevie Flemmi didn’t figure out until they were 50 years old. But hey, how could a lender say no to an illegal alien - they’re only committing the bank fraud Americans won’t do.
I first realized what a massive flim-flam this was when I began to see “community organizers” leading marches against “predatory lending.” And then I recalled that these were the same left-wing grifters who 20 years earlier had been clamoring against “redlining.” What a racket: You get to shake down the banks to loan money to people who can’t pay it back, then when the banks do what you ordered them to do, you shake ’em down again . . . for “predatory lending” to deadbeats.
Then, of course, there’s the Barney Frank angle. Remember Barney’s ex-live-in-heartthrob, Herbie Moses, whom Barney hooked up with on the rebound from Hot Bottom? Herbie worked for Fannie Mae - another nationwide search! Just remember, the louder Barney yells, the guiltier he is.
Anyway, the Hyannis house in question is a tiny (1,104 square feet) three-bedroom, one-bathroom ranch in “average minus” condition - meaning it’s a dump.
The house was first sold in May 2003 to someone we’ll call Mr. Cruz. The price was $229,500. Two years later, Mr. Cruz decided to sell to another gentleman who, by an amazing coincidence, had the same last name.
Price in March 2005: $309,500.
Do you suppose the first Mr. Cruz paid capital-gains tax on his windfall? Did the second Mr. Cruz have to show a valid driver’s license at the closing, the way you or I would?
Now the pace quickens. Theoretically, somebody had to be paying monthly on that higher mortgage. I’ll bet you can guess what happened next.
Ten months later, they sold the house again.
Price in January 2006: $347,000. The buyer: a third Mr. Cruz. Look, they were making improvements: They illegally installed an in-law apartment, complete with uninspected plumbing.
The mortgages were issued by an outfit out of California, which, if you Google the name, the first or second listing is from a law firm seeking clients for a class-action suit. The FDIC issued a cease-and-desist order against the company last year for its practices of “paying mortgage brokers big commissions to find customers for its expensive mortgages, which (it) would then resell to investors for hefty profits.”
The bigger-fool theory. Just keep passing that bad paper around. And now the taxpayers have proven to be the biggest fools of all.
“These banks,” said the real estate agent, “were giving mortgages without even going into the house (drive-by appraisals, I heard) and on homes that never ever were worth the amount they ‘sold’ for.”
By the way, the town appraised the property at $308,000 - the 2005 sale price. What the hell, the higher the appraisal, the heftier the tax bill. It’s for the children.
Well, guess what happened next? The last of the Cruzes defaulted and the “bank” to whom the note had been sold foreclosed. My friend drove her client by the property and the price - the real price - seemed right. It was $205,000.
I used to say, there is nothing as expensive as cheap labor. My new corollary is, there is nothing as unaffordable as affordable housing.
Barney Frank’s dream, the taxpayer’s nightmare.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists//view.bg?articleid=1123480
And there, my friend, is the "economic crisis" in a nutshell.
Nice job, Howie. The financial crisis in a nutshell.
Monday show ping
MONDAY OCTOBER 6
1st Hour
2nd Hour
3rd Hour
CHUMP LINE!!! Call 617-779-3469 and leave Howie, Sandy or Happy a message about the show or the goings on of the day and we may play it back on the air!
Max Robins TV Guru and Vice President of The Paley Center (formerly The Museum of Television and Radio) will be with us to answer all of those nagging questions about your favorite show on the boob tube...
4th Hour
Mon show ping
So, somebody catch me up on Howie’s *recent* disparaging remarks about his current employment? Is something new? Or is this more of the same?
He’s talking about selling “$3 stock”, Entercom, I suppose, coming off of restriction or options or whatever.
It just sounds like something specific is happening instead of the usual stuff, and y’all are more connected to the radio inside baseball stuff than anybody else out there, which is why I’m askin’.
well it was right around this time last year when he was in limbo; tried to jump to WTKK but it was shot down by judges. Hang in there Howie, only four more years of the contract!
It is more of the same...but he’s stuck with the contract
and unless Entercom gives him a buyout or something, there
won’t be a change
from http://www.savewrko.com:
by Brian Maloney
“Radio Declines Accelerate
“*** 1pm Update: Entercom Now Trading At $3.04 ****
Somewhere in Swellesley, in the land of exploding basketballs and haunted cemeteries, a certain WRKO host must have been having a good laugh over his morning coffee today.
“Remember that contract he couldn’t get out of, the one that compels him to work for a dying company? A few more days like this on Wall Street and his deal will tear itself up.
Clearly, Citadel is a goner (today’s low: 50 cents!), but I had thought Entercom might have a year or two left in operation. Now, I’m not sure about the survival prospects of any broadcast (TV or radio) or newspaper company beyond the end of this year (amazingly, the Herald may be one of the few to ride through it, due to its well-heeled, dedicated owner).
“Without future revenues of any significant level, access to credit, or bona fide collateral (what’s a radio station worth?), what will keep these outlets on the air?
“Already, we’ve seen the beginning of an expected wave of station shutdowns (none in New England as of yet).
“Entercom shares hit a low of $3.26 this morning and currently trade at $3.39. Though a collapsing stock price alone does not wipe out a company, it’s a sign of serious internal troubles.
“The Fields own a large chunk of the company’s shares and the move by Pops to buy large blocks of shares on the open market failed miserably, with huge personal losses, possibly more than a 50% haircut. Overall, they’ve got to be hurting.
“Add to that the severe downtown in advertising and it is a recipe for disaster, akin to 1000 of those basketballs exploding all at once.”
Tue show ping. Howie is on in Boston (WRKO 680) till 8 pm
with expanded debate coverage
Wed show ping, Wed column ping
Friends, we’re in trouble
By Howie Carr | Wednesday, October 8, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
My friends, what John McCain really wanted to tell you in last night’s snoozefest of a debate, my friends, is that Barack Obama is a talker, not a doer, my friends.
Take energy. What would Barack Obama do about the problem? He would deal with it. See, he’s not afraid to take a tough stand on a controversial issue.
He would deal with it. He used that phrase three times on energy - he’d deal with energy. In addition to dealing with energy, he would also think about how to use energy, not to mention explore how to get more energy.
My friends, Sen. Obama is full of it, my friends. That’s what the grumpy old man wanted to tell you last night, my friends. Or is Barack just, in his own words, green behind the ears?
Consider Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, run into the ground by Barack’s pals who funneled him over $100,000 in cash.
While you were cashing their checks, what did you try to do about the toxic twins, as they were called yesterday in Congress?
I wrote a letter, Barack said.
Social Security reform? He can’t guarantee that he’ll get to it.
Big problems in general? We’re going to have to prioritize.
Who should be the next Treasury secretary? Warren Buffett, McCain suggested to his friends. Barack Obama said, you know, Buffett would be a pretty good choice.
John McCain was asked about dealing with Russia. Barack Obama was asked the same question and said, “For the most part, I agree with Sen. McCain.”
Not that he doesn’t have some new ideas, you understand. He’s all about change, you know. Change you can believe in.
The government of Iraq? He’s going to work with them. Health care? He’s going to work with employers to reduce the cost of your health insurance. In other words, he’s from the government and he’s here to help. Just ask the stock market how the $700 billion bailout is helping out.
Fortunately for Barack Obama, we’ve invested billions in dumbing down the American electorate. Unfortunately for John McCain, he didn’t get the dumbing-down memo. At age 72, he doesn’t seem to realize that he’s not connecting when he mentions such dim historical figures as Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill, let alone Herbert Hoover and Teddy Roosevelt.
My friends, if you watched the first debate, with Jim Lehrer, this one was pretty much a rehash. Except that this time John McCain said “my friend” 21 times, and that’s not a game-changer, as Barack says. So I fear the worst.
President Barack Obama? Deal with it.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1124116
Seriously, the negativity could turn off NH and ME voters, which can actually help the McCain/Palin ticket.
I'd be cynical about the stupidity of the mindless chattering class too, if I lived and worked in Massachusetts.
Unnngh. Need some brain douche over here, please.
What is the deal with Howie and champagne today?(Thursday) I haven’t been listening much today.
Maybe the company who owns WRKO had their stock bottom out today. Howie mentions his ‘ favorite stock ‘ in decline and gets giddy about it. Entercom? Intercom? I don’t remember / know the name for certain.
Here is a link to Entercom’s stock performance going back five years. Ouch
What happens when a stock hits zero? ;-)
...and it’s a semi-log scale, to. ‘round the bowl, and down the hole...
Good question.
Howie goes to WTKK I guess
Yeah he made some kind of bet with his producer “Happy”
the other day, one of ‘em would buy a 40 oz of beer and one would buy a bottle of champagne depending on whether
or not Entercom went under $3. As Howie pointed out,
the “40”’s price was actually more than the stock price.
Someone called up on the chumpline, I think, and suggested they put up some plastic around the studio—they wouldn’t
want the equipment to get splashed with champagne
(a la a sports championship...)
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