Happy Good Friday! As we all look forward to the Easter Bunny and colored eggs on lawns around America, as Easter Sunrise Services and people celebrate the arguably second greatest date in Christendom other than the birth of Christ – our economic markets and banking icons are being battered and beaten, supported by emergency measures and falling, falling interest rates! As the Dow Jones Industrial Average hangs precipitously around the 12,000 plus mark…European Markets, Asian Tigers and Off Shores Banking is adjusting to falling values and the worst credit crunch in memory.
How deep will this malaise go? How much farther will the values of residential property and commercial/industrial holdings….fall before we hit a bottom? One year, two years….five? The answers are seemingly complex….according to the major media….much as they were during the Savings and Loan disaster years back. They hardly wanted to say that very greedy, unethical bankers, institutional investors and insiders had profited greatly from the loss of the man on the street. It is our strong belief that this current Credit Crunch and Fall of Asset Values again has been orchestrated, designed and implemented once more.
For those that have not watched the Al Pacino vehicle – “Scarface”…we encourage you to rent it and take into consideration the serious role that banks play in the World Drug Trade. Everyone seems eager to pick on poor Afganistan, regarding their Poppy production and the great array of Black Pakastani Hash that is produced throughout the area. What is missing is how the funds get transferred, how the money is paid to the farmers and how the illegal, ill gotten gains appear in “pillars of society banks” all around the world…later in the process. How is this connected to the Credit Crunch and how normal people have lost value in their homes? We will leave that to you .. to figure out. Don’t you think Hedge Funds, Derivatives and dirty banking practices..or worst of all “No Banking Regulations”…..have had a little something to do with it?
So what can “Joe or Jane Average” do…..to not only figure this mess out….but to provide a little corrective action for themselves and their families? Firstly, Counties throughout the country are starting to Reassess properties. According to most sources the actual average values of homes around the country have fallen to 50% of what their values may have been a year or two ago. These values continue to fall and if you are unlucky enough to reside in a “Foreclosure Zone”…where half the people on your street have either walked away or have Foreclosure signs on their front lawns – those values may be even less. Currently values in Orange County are broaching 2004 Values and continue to fall. They may approach year 2000 numbers or lower before this thing plays out. So people are getting the County Assessors to adjust the true values of their homes and business properties. Why this is important is that per Prop 13, once you get a value…it can only go up 2% a year from there. That means that should you find the value of your property half of what you paid for it….you could be saving big bucks with a Reassessment. We are not specialists in this field, but we certainly believe…that anything that can save families big money every year….is definitely worth a serious review process.
Orange County people can simply click here.
For those busy buying property; Commercial or Residential during these tough credit crunch times….sorry….your Assessments will automatically be current. Well, maybe! You might want to check with the Assessors office before you buy and check when the last Assessment was made!
In the meantime, be prepared for County Governments around the country to suffer a serious loss of revenues….which will probably affect Social Services and the levels of Service for most County business. Welcome to our new realities and what the future may hold – up and down the State, Region and Country….right after the November election!
Granted prices could come down more. But for all the doom and gloom naysayers, I really have to wonder if the reality is that we are moving into what will be the biggest golden age the world has ever seen. Billions of people are moving from abject poverty to relative prosperity in Asia. Brazil’s economy is now moving forward with tame inflation. Eastern Europe is on the rise.
Yes we will face challenges in meeting the world’s energy needs. But if we can stop squandering our nation’s wealth in senseless nation building schemes, the US would be well positioned to lead the world in developing alternative energy sources.
But as it is, we have the highest corporate taxes in the industrialized world (I think Japan got their corporate tax cuts passed.) If we don’t slash the obscene tax rates I have to wonder if the United States will not fully participate in fantastic future that awaits us. Let us hope for brokered conventions in the fall and that neither McCain, Clinton, nor Obama win the presidency. We don’t need early 20th century socialist policies as we seek to compete in the highly completive global market of the 21st century.
Andy Favor
73rd Assembly District Candidate
http://www.ElectAndy.com
Goldman, Lehman outlooks cut to “negative” by S&P
Some one flushed the toilet and Goldman, Lehman Is circling the bowl.
After all the worthless money changers are scraped away by the cold hard truth of reality in the coming months, then the good old USA can get back to the basics and build things of tangible value again.
Let us hope that the US government people don’t repeat the mistakes France made in the late 18th century.
The social burdens caused by war included the huge war debt, made worse by the monarchy’s military failures and ineptitude, and the lack of social services for war veterans. An inefficient and antiquated financial system unable to manage the national debt, both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
You know the French government people lost their heads over that one.
*We are greatly honored by the two
luminaries that have responded to
our observations. A couple of
things to consider in this mix of
pyramid buildings. Just look at
the back of the One Dollar bill…
Maybe the Founding Fathers were
telling a joke….but no, the One
Dollar bill got those icons AFTER
the founding in 1913 of the
Federal Reserve! That “One World
Government” follows on the heels
of Woodrow Wilson’s League of
Nations…as we recall. A basket
of currencies led by the British
Pound and the Swiss and French
Franc. A giant Pyramid Scheme of
Global proportions! The talk on
the street is that the EURO will
soon be the currency of choice for
oil. Hmmm – what would change if
that was the case? Not much!
What if it was the Russia Ruble?
Who cares? Someone still has to
buy Rubles to make them popular.
We doubt that will happen soon.
The War in Iraq guaranteed US
hegemony in the region for 100
years – as John McCain might
exclaim!
At any rate, you guys are great!
And the World is Safe for
Democracy – if you can keep it!
So said: Ben Franklin (paraphrased)