Letters to the Editor
thorin01
Published Letters: 260 Editor's Choice: 32
-
@emlynlewis – Assumes People CAN Buy
[Read the article: Home prices: Worst drop ever, or a sign of hope?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]“But won't a similar number of people be able to make the leap into home ownership now, and with affordable mortgages?”
Given stagnant wages over the last eight years, combined with low interest rates and increasing inflation savings are in the toilet. Very few people can afford to put 20% or even 10% down on a home purchase. Even with the lower prices. Many of the ‘no money down’ or ‘minimum money down’ loans are gone so people have to pay that money out of pocket.
A $200,000 home requires $20,000 down payment. With the right financing one might be able to get that down to $5,000-$10,000 out of pocket. Very few people have that kind of money available outside of tapping into their 401ks or other retirement accounts which, while it might get the house, can destroy long term savings depending on how long it takes to repay the money back (and pray you don’t lose your job with a loan outstanding against your 401k, you might have to pay the full balance back immediately).
Bottom line, home prices may be coming down but that doesn’t mean people can afford to buy. Its going to be long bloody fall.
-
The Ripple Effects of GMs Failures …
[Read the article: Carnage at General Motors]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Speaking from the front lines, it ain’t pretty out here folks.
I work for an auto supply company in the Northwest. Five years ago we landed a contract to supply parts for Delphi that would ultimately go into GMs vehicles. Full production started about three years ago and the total product life cycle was supposed to be five to six years.
GM eliminated the contract last year (three years ahead of schedule) costing us about 25% of our sales. We lost about 40 jobs here in the NW and another 150 or so at our plant in Tijuana MX. Dozens of other small to mid-sized suppliers in North American experienced similar losses of sales and jobs. The ones that are entirely dependent on GM for sales are going under fast.
Fortunately for us our biggest customer is Honda North America and they have actually been weathering the storm ok. Unlike GM they have a broader range of products (Most of which are profitable). They planned ahead and were ready with fuel efficient vehicles that could be put into production relatively quickly.
The auto industry supply chain is enormously complex and widespread. As I pointed out in another thread we have suppliers in seven different countries and customers in eight. GM’s woes spread out around the world. It may not be the dominate force it was 30-40 years ago but it when goes down it will take a lot people down with it.
-
Don't Forget the Democratic Congress
[Read the article: McCain's Bush-ectomy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]McCain picked four years ago because he also wants the Democratic take over of congress in 2006 to share much of the blame for today's problems. That's one of the reasons House Republican's are staying in session, to protray the Dems as 'do nothing' obstructionists (and yes I know the 60+ majority requirement in Senate is the bigger roadblock but who said reality matters in a smear campaign).
-
You Forgot an Important Point …
[Read the article: Right-wing smear job, the sequel]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]5 – Have your friends in the press report on the ‘controversy’ surrounding the allegations. Make sure they never say outright that they are a lie. The script needs to read:
‘Media Pundit/Reporter’: “Corsi claims Obama still takes drugs. The Obama camp denies the charges; we explore the controversy after the break.”
Or
Media Pundit/Reporter’: “The Obama campaign hotly denies allegations that the candidate continues to use drugs. Corsi defends his claims.”
The point is to report the whole thing as a ‘A says this/B says this” and ignore the clear objective evidence that disproves the lie.
-
1:30 AM? ....
[Read the article: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern aren't gold]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is why I stopped watching the Olympics last time around. NBC has 12-15 hours to program their primetime Olympics coverage and they constently choose to run key items AFTER 11:00 pm. I'm sorry, I have a job, I can't stay up every night for two weeks and expect to keep that job.
Why the hell don't they program this stuff to prime time? Phelps gold medal races should have been run between 9:30-11:00 not 11:30-12:00. It makes no sense. Yes I get they're trying for a 'live' feeling, but everybody knows its NOT LIVE. Heck, most of us know what outcomes will be. So why don't they just give up the pretense and run the good stuff when more people can watch?
-
Are You Reading the War Room?
[Read the article: Clinton vs. Warner Tuesday night (and 2012?)]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Because Mike Madden had a piece just two down from yours discussing how Clinton was expected to go after McCain tonight.
-
But How Does the Concert Sound?
[Read the article: A clean energy investment slump?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's got to impressive listening to all those politicians playing their fiddles while the world burns.
-
Alaska State Funding ….
[Read the article: Alaska (and Wasilla, especially) on the teat]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Alaska’s state government is paid for from two primary sources.
1 – Taxes and leases paid by the oil industry to drill the North Slope. That’s the majority and pays for most state services (which themselves can be rather generous). I don’t know if this is still true, but when I lived in Alaska the largest single employer in the state was the government. This is also the source of the ‘Permanent Fund’ checks that go out every year to all state citizens. For the record, I don’t have a problem with this. The oil is, according the State Constitution, a resource owned by all Alaskan’s and it is appropriate that Alaskans should receive benefits from the exploitation of those resources (of course, this puts an interesting spin on McCain’s opposition to windfall oil profits).
2 – Federal tax dollars. Mostly for capital improvement projects (schools, roads, etc etc) and the usual support to federal programs in education and healthcare (Medicare). I don’t know if the figures cited in the article also include the rather large layouts spent by the military. The military built up a considerable amount of infrastructure throughout the state during the Cold War.
As has been stated already Alaskans do not pay income taxes and there is no statewide sales tax. Some Municipalities do charge sales taxes to support local services (Kenai for one). Most local governments in Alaska are supported by a combination of property taxes and state revenue.