KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Wednesday September 22 Housing and Economic stories

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John Boehner Scrambling After Caving To Obama On Taxes - (www.businessinsider.com) We mentioned earlier how John Boehner appeared to cave to Obama on the tax question, admitting that the GOP could possibly support a bill that extended the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, even while ending them for the rich. Here was the exchange: Bob Schieffer: "I want to make sure I heard what you said correctly: you're saying that you are willing to vote for those middle class tax cuts, even though the bill will not include ... extending the tax cuts for the upper bracket American." Rep. Boehner: "Bob, we don't know what the bill's going to say, alright? If the only option I have is to vote for those at 250 and below, of course I'm going to do that. But I'm going to do everything I can to fight to make sure that we extend the current tax rates for all Americans." Uh, just like that is he rolling over? Already team Boehner is trying to spin things. Talking Points Memo: A Boehner aide told our Christina Bellantoni: "Despite what Obama says, Republicans are not holding middle-class tax cuts hostage and we're not going to let him get away with those types of false claims. Our focus remains on getting bipartisan support for a freeze on all current rates, because that is what is best for the economy and small business job creation. Boehner's words were calculated to deprive Obama of the ability to continue making those false claims, and as a result we are in a better position rhetorically to pressure more Democrats to support a full freeze."

Left-Wing Terrorism Surges In Europe, As Governments Dismantle Social Safety Net - (www.businessinsider.com) With European governments paring back the social safety net, and businesses blamed for creating a crisis, left-wing terrorism in Europe is on the march, according to a new report from EuroPol (the European Police Office). EuroPol: Spain, Greece and Italy reported a total of 40 attacks by left-wing and anarchist groups for 2009. This constitutes an increase of 43 % compared to 2008; the number of attacks more than doubled since 2007. As in previous years, most attacks were carried out successfully and mainly targeted government and business interests. The majority of these attacks were arsons, reported by Spain, and caused only property damage. The percentage of IED attacks decreased from 43 % in 2008 to 20 % in 2009; the majority of these bomb-ings occurred in Greece. In Greece, six left-wing terrorist organisations carried out a total of 15 attacks in 2009. As this chart shows, left-wing terrorism dwarfs right-wing terrorism in Europe -- perhaps surprising given the attention paid to Europe's far right. Islamist and Separatist terrorism, however, remain the largest categories.

Volatile Housing Market Baffles Houseowners - (audio - www.npr.org) Tax credits for buyers, mortgage help for homeowners and new rules for lenders haven't stopped the slide in the housing market. Some economists argue the best way to balance the market in the long term is to let it crash in the short run. Many homeowners and prospective homeowners are unsure if it's time to buy, to rent, or to wait. Since the bottom fell out of the housing market almost three years ago, trying to understand what's going on in real estate has been confusing, sometimes terrifying - and for many Americans, a necessity. So much of our wealth, as individuals and a nation, is bound up in the houses we own. We know we should make informed decisions about - say, buying versus renting, or refinancing or just walking away, but how to make sense of it all? Today, we're going to leave behind the torrent of dense, jargon-filled economic reports, and do our best to understand what's going on in the housing market and what it means to us: the homeowners, buyers, sellers and renters.

The Policy of Screwing Prudent Renters to Benefit Loan Owners - (www.irvinehousingblog.com) The Obama Administration's open policy of keeping house prices high benefits loan owners at the expense of renters and first-time buyers. One housing bubble phenomenon was that the right ones -- prudent people who knew what they could afford -- were kept out, and the wrong ones -- kool aid intoxicated fools -- were let in. That mistake was bad enough, but now our own government is frantically working to repeat this mistake. Rather than doing something corrective, like letting house prices fall, our government is going to extreme lengths to keep the right ones out and keep the wrong ones in. Perhaps the administration is finally seeing the light, and in an amazing turn, they might actually let house prices fall. Grim Housing Choice: Help Today’s Owners or Future Ones: The unexpectedly deep plunge in home sales this summer is likely to force the Obama administration to choose between future homeowners and current ones, a predicament officials had been eager to avoid. Eager to avoid? Every policy rolled out over the last 3 years from the plethora of Bailouts and False Hopes to the Federal Reserves manipulation of interest rates has been designed to keep inflated house prices high. All of these policies force future buyers to pay for the mistakes of bubble buyers. Over the last 18 months, the administration has rolled out just about every program it could think of to prop up the ailing housing market, using tax credits, mortgage modification programs, low interest rates, government-backed loans and other assistance intended to keep values up and delinquent borrowers out of foreclosure. The goal was to stabilize the market until a resurgent economy created new households that demanded places to live.

California Realtors To Pay Political Fee To Corrupt Our Laws - (www.realtytimes.com) When the 2011 dues billing cycle comes around a few months from now, members of the California Association of Realtors® (CAR) will see a new assessment of $49 in addition to their regular dues. Labeled the "Realtor® Action Assessment" (RAA), its purpose is to raise funds for CAR political activities. The assessment is not optional, although individuals will have a choice as to which way their $49 is to be directed. (1) It can go to CAR political action committees which provide funding support for candidates, or (2) it can go the general fund for political purposes such as "education and mobilizing members on issues of importance to the real estate industry and not to specific candidates." Just about every California Realtor® is aware of the fact that legislative activity constantly affects the real estate business. Moreover, most know that it is only because of CAR's involvement that the business hasn't been even more negatively affected than has been experienced. In the past year alone, CAR has influenced legislation on topics ranging from deficiency judgments to income tax withholding for independent contractors to point-of-sale retrofit requirements that would have drastically increased the cost of selling a home. The list goes on and on.