Tag Archive | "fiscal policy"

Homeowner Equity Points Down The Road To Serfdom

The capital structure of US real estate assets has been in a long process of change. By subsidizing real estate and making mortgage debt artificially cheaper than equity capital, the US government has been effectively transferring real estate ownership from individuals to lending institutions and the Federal Reserve. Here’s how this game has been unfolding, and a warning to Americans that they will one day wake up in a country where most people live as feudalistic peasants, beholden to their banking and political overlords. Continue Reading

Posted in Economics, Politics, Real EstateComments Off

Obama Wants To End Mortgage Tax Break

The White House is urging Congress to limit, or cut, the once untouchable tax break for mortgage interest. In traditional class warfare parlance, the White House cap on mortgage interest deductions will fall only upon the “wealthy.” Let’s not drink the Obama Kool-Aid – the effects of this legislative move will impact everyone.

The Obama administration is proposing reducing deductions for homeowners who earn more than $250,000 pear year. Since I’m a southern California Realtor®, I’ll bring up an example from my local market – the South Bay; in particular, Manhattan Beach, CA.

Chart from LA Times Local Neighborhoods.

Manhattan Beach is a wealthy southern California city, nestled along a prime beach-front location. With 38% of Manhattan Beach residents earning over $125,000 per year, we expect this legislative change will materially impact our local market.

When many home buyers calculate the amount of home they can afford, mortgage interest deductions on income factor heavily into capital service capacity, i.e. how much mortgage they can comfortably afford to pay every month. If a high income earner is in the 34% income tax bracket and has a $5,000 per month mortgage, of which, say, roughly $4,000 is comprised of interest payments, the net annual benefit of the tax break is $16,320, or $1,360 per month.

with a simple 5% mortgage rate, the effect of removing the tax break amounts to reducing home values by $326,400, or 34%, the marginal tax rate. These are very simple assumptions; the reality of this legislative change will likely not be as severe. Higher end properties will likely be impacted the most, with falling price levels manifesting in some way throughout the entire housing market.

President Bush attempted to eliminate the mortgage tax break in 2005, but was stopped by Congress. The Obama administration tried this same legislative change with last year’s budget, but met similar obstacles. Given that the real estate market is in such turmoil, and that so many people gain advantage from perpetuating this tax break, it is unlikely the White House proposal will be accepted by Congress.

What Does The Mortgage Tax Break Mean For The Economy?

There is no free lunch in economics – we’ve all heard that term, right? The same is true for tax breaks, or any legislative market manipulation. Enabling borrowers to write off interest payments from their income tax liability increases incentives to borrow money to buy real estate. This ultimately skews capital structures in that less equity investment is made with purchases relative to debt assumption. Increasing debt levels simultaneously increases prices and risk. In essence, the mortgage tax break causes housing to be “over-capitalized,” siphoning disproportionate capital resources from other parts of the economy.

Eliminating the tax break makes good economic sense; however, the result will inevitably be a deflation in housing prices. The magnitude of the deflation is uncertain. Given that real estate markets are already on shaky grounds, reducing, or eliminating, policies that support home prices can potentially lead to a market route.

All things considered, it is too bad President Bush was not able to repeal this tax break in 2005. That was probably the best time to moderate an over-heated market, and realign national capital resources in a relatively stable environment. We may have missed that opportunity for some time.

Posted in Investing, Politics, Real EstateComments Off

Top 10 Signs You Are A Socialist And…Challenged

Top 10 Signs You Are A Socialist And…Challenged

After extensive research we’ve concluded that these are the Top 10 Signs you just might be a Socialist:

1. You advocate for equality for all and yet you want to raise taxes on certain social classes.
2. You support the troops but do not support the war and you did not support the war in Iraq but now you support the war in Afghanistan. So… do you want war or not?
3. You believe in bigger Government and yet you advocate for the government not to run your life.
4. You think that we shouldn’t outsource labor and yet you complain about the rising cost of consumer goods.
5. You want the Government to take control and regulate all private businesses and yet you work for or own a privately owned business.
6. You want to get paid the same as everybody else, but the average income in the US is probably less than what you are making.
7. You think that the Government should spend more money to stimulate the economy when the Government has no money.
8. You think that the tax increase will not affect you.
9. You sit around and wait for the Government to “help” you.
10. You blame the economy for putting you in the situation that you are in even though you’ve been in the same situation for years.

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Freedom Under Fire, Apr. 22nd, 2009

Freedom Under Fire, Apr. 22nd, 2009

Sen. Rockefeller proposes bill that would give government sweeping powers to control, monitor, and regulate the Internet, ACLU demands public schools stop blocking gay web sites on public computers, Rep. Jane Harman calls incriminating NSA wiretap “abuse of power,” National Service legislation signed into law that will cost $6 billion over 5 years by hiring “paid volunteers,” government will need to issue $2.4 trillion in new Treasury securities in 2009 to meet budget shortfalls and bailout program requirements, and U.S. to give another $5.5 billion to automakers… Continue Reading

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Texas Gov. Perry Reaffirms States' Rights

Texas Gov. Perry Reaffirms States' Rights

4/9/2009 – AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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Highlights from transcript:

I’m here today to offer my unwavering support to the millions of Texans that are tired of Washington D.C. trying to come down here and telling us how to run Texas.

The 10th Amendment was enacted by folks who remembered what it was like to have a very repressive government, to be under the thumb of tyrants and an all powerful government. Unfortunately, the protections it guarantees have melted away over the course of the years.

You’re prob familiar with that old adage of how to boil a frog: You just get him to sit there in that pot and you turn up the heat a little bit by a little bit, before you know it the frog doesn’t realize it, but he’s done.

And since the U.S. constitution has been ratified the federal government has been slowly turning up the heat, and they’ve eroded the notion of states rights.

Texans know best how to govern Texas. We’re proof that good things happen when government lowers taxes, and lowers regulations, it reduces spending and encourages private sector growth.

I happen to believe that the constitution does not empower the federal government to overrule state laws without restraint. I agree with Texas’s 7th governor, Sam Houston, who said “Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may.”

I believe the federal government has become oppressive. I believe it has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion in the lives of its citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state.

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Freedom Under Fire, Apr. 15th, 2009

Freedom Under Fire, Apr. 15th, 2009

Nationwide anti-tax protests staged for April 15th tax day-rumors abound that leftist group ACORN intends to crash events, Obama administration readying to disclose results of bank stress tests, revisions to No Child Left Behind on the Obama agenda-prepare to see pervasive federal mandates in education, FDIC helps banks raise $300 billion through unregulated channels, Congress looks set to let D.C. school voucher program expire next year-Big Brother not prepared to let parents choose how to educate their own children, Spanish study casts skepticism on economic value of government creating green jobs… Continue Reading

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Do You Trust Big Brother With Your Portfolio?

Do You Trust Big Brother With Your Portfolio?

We are moving closer towards a political economy every day. Every dollar borrowed, taxed, printed, and spent by government really comes from the private sector.  Trillions of dollars of national resources are being allocated by politicians and bureaucrats towards things they claim will benefit our economy. Congress just passed a $3.6 trillion budget ($1.2 trillion in deficit), and combined the Federal Reserve and Treasury have dumped $13 trillion into the economy in the last 16 months. What we must all ask ourselves right now is whether or not we trust government with our money? Continue Reading

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Freedom Under Fire, Apr. 5th, 2009

Freedom Under Fire, Apr. 5th, 2009

Treasury Secretary Geithner warns that if you accept government money you must accept government control, Obama tries to force limits on tourism to Antarctica, some travel and financial restrictions with Cuba eased, Obama calls on U.N. Security Council to punish North Korea over missile launch… Continue Reading

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New Zealanders Can't Stop The Global Recession

New Zealanders Can't Stop The Global Recession

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key speaks a strange language. It’s English, all right, even with an accent, but he is one of the only world leaders who is speaking of relaxing regulations, cutting taxes, spending within budget, and focusing on making his country more productive.

Rather than jumping on the tax, borrow, spend, print, populist bandwagon with nearly every other world leader, John Key’s solution to the tough times is to “use this time to transform the economy to make us stronger so that when the world starts growing again we can be running faster than other countries we compete with.”

Key’s idea is to grow the country out of recession by improving productivity, not simply catering to populist calls for wealth redistribution, stifling regulation, and growth-inhibiting class warfare taxes. He calls attempts to use debt and money printing to “prop up growth” risky, saying that saddling future generations with debt could be counterproductive. He is one of the only politicians who states “There is actually a limit to what governments can do.”

At a time when governments are growing by leaps and bounds, and everyone seems convinced that Big Brother holds the keys to economic prosperity, it is refreshing to see a world leader (actually an ex-currency trader) embrace sound economic principals.

Key admits that New Zealand will not pull the world out of recession; it’s too bad other leaders lack such humility!

Here’s a link to the Wall Street Journal interview with Key.

—–SPECIAL OFFER—–

The Federal Reserve is creating tens of trillions of new dollars, debasing our currency, and silently taxing us all through inflation. With tens of trillions in federal budget deficits on the horizon there is nowhere for the US dollar to go, but down.
Buy gold online - quickly, safely and at low prices

Refuse to be a victim of this flawed financial system, buy gold and silver NOW!

Posted in Economics, PoliticsComments (4)

Freedom Under Fire, Apr. 2, 2009

Freedom Under Fire, Apr. 2, 2009

Anti-Capitalist protests turn violent in London, Venezuela’s Chavez accuses U.S. of acting like an ‘empire’, House passes bill to allow corporate bonuses, Obama brings back the ‘death tax’, and U.K. home prices rise for first time since 2007… Continue Reading

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