Various and Sundry

With all the Obama–as-Ahab talk, I’m tempted to pick up my old copy Norton Criticial Edition of Melville. 

You’ll need a strong stomach to read this, but The Great Recession of 2011-2012  over at AmericanSpecator offers a sobering take on the economy.  On real estate:

It will get worse. Of the 47.4 million home mortgages in place today, nearly 10.7 million are “underwater,” that is, the money owed on the loan is greater than the value of the house. And that’s not counting the 2.3 million other mortgages that are “near-negative equity.” Most of these latter will face sharply higher upward ratcheting of their interest rates in 2010 and 2011 and that will automatically plunge those debts below the surface.

In Nevada already the amount of mortgages outstanding is estimated at $132.6 billion against property worth $116.7 billion, a loan-to-value ratio of 116 percent. Even another slight decline in prices in areas such as California (loan-to-value ratio of 72 percent), Arizona (91 percent), or Florida (87 percent) will swamp Washington’s promised next round of mortgage subsidy relief. The government’s own rescue agencies, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA, are dead in the water, and the government’s bank deposit insurance agency, the FDIC, says it has no more reserves to offset the coming next round of failing banks.

Of course with Obama throwing more grown-on-trees money after bad, the real estate market won’t hit bottom any time soon.

Amusing: Obama had time to meet with Shakira this week.  Does anyone else remember The One was “so busy” last year that he had only spoken to the commander of efforts in Afghanistan once in 70 days?  During which he was supposedly revamping the strategy?  But McChrystal isn’t a rock star.  So it makes sense, right?  Priorities, priorities…

Sen. Jay Rockefeller “throws a wrench” in Democrat plans to pass Obamacare v.2 by declaring reconciliation isn’t such a grand idea.  Agreed: Republicans should warn Democrats that they’ll use reconciliation against them to repeal all this garbage after the elections. 

With all the Scott Brown bashing going on today, here’s a little sanity/perspective from Jules Crittenden. 

Carol makes a point at the Potluck re Obamacare: where will all the socialists come when they need to flee their own poor medical systems?  As a Canadian Premier who recently came to the States for surgery,

It’s my health, it’s my choice.

What a great bumper sticker, eh?

And speaking of potluck, if you’re in a cooking mood, a fabulous soup recipe.  When I whip up something and pjToddler asks for seconds, I take note.  Disclaimer: I would never serve this to my husband.  But pjToddler and I like it so much we made a second batch today.

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