June 05, 2008

HousingPANIC Quote of the Day (By a Would-Be Socialist)

"We believe Congress should jump-start demand for new homes with an initiative that will bring buyers off the sidelines and into the market, and thereby stop the downward spiral of home prices"

- Desperate homebuilder and would-be-socialist Bob Toll, June 2008

43 comments:

brian t said...

By "initiative", does he mean forced lowering of house prices, so that people can afford them on a sensibly-sized mortgage?

Otherwise, he has the cart before the horse. If you were to give money to working people, to allow them to afford expensive houses, where would that money end up? Not in the hands of the working people in question: they just would hand the cash to the property speculators. Not in the house itself, since it is overpriced...

Anonymous said...

Wow, Keith, it looks like you and Bob Toll will be voting for the same person in November.

Per his website, your candidate wants to:

1.) Create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to develop affordable housing in mixed-income neighborhoods;

2.) Allow mortgagge cram-downs in bankruptcy court;

3.)Create a 10% universal mortgage credit (whatever the hell that means); and

4.)"Create a fund to help people refinance their mortgages and provide comprehensive supports to innocent homeowners."

You and Bob Toll can rest easy because this candidate proclaims he has been "closely monitoring the subprime mortgage situation for years." I wonder how many years . . .

Is this Four-Year Plan is what Bob Toll means by government "initiative?"

You really confuse me Keith, when you spit venom at Bob Toll for espousing the same thing that your chosen candidate espouses.

Out at the peak said...

The Cold War II:
Russia secretly made business owners to common people beg for socialism. In Mother Russia, if you can't beat them, have them join you!

Anonymous said...

Here is my proposed initiative:

Every American citizen that can prove he or she has zero debt (no mortgage, no credit cards, nada) and a credit score over 720 recieved 1 free home of thier choice free and clear.

If there are homes left over, then those with 680+ scores and no debt get the rest of the homes.

On the promise the each one of these people hire 2 or more home debters at minimum wage to as cooks, cleaners, gardners, and drivers so that said home debtors can pay off thier debt to society before they die.

This will allow them to go to heaven.

Anonymous said...

yeah, he, and any politician that supports any kind oh "assistance" all need to be strung up.

Anonymous said...

"We believe Congress should jump-start demand for new homes with an initiative that will bring buyers off the sidelines and into the market, and thereby stop the downward spiral of home prices"

The only thing government can do to accomplish this is massive inflation...

consultant said...

There are hypocrites in both parties. But Toll my friends is among those shining hypocrites who extoll the virtues of the free market until their ass is in trouble, and then they want the government to bail them out.

I'm a progressive Democrat, but I'm going to work hard to make sure the Dems don't pass this corporate welfare sh!t.

Toll should have read HP.

blogger said...

Remember, I completely disagree with Obama (and McCain, and Clinton) on housing gambler bailouts

Selecting a president isn't about one issue

Ron Paul was the only solution. Now Americans have to pick the best of the worst

Anonymous said...

It doesn't matter what they do.

Anonymous said...

You denounce socialism, yet you support Obama. We all know how well socialism worked in the USSR and Eastern Europe and Cuba. If there is little or no incentive to work, be creative, people will not work or be creative.

Anonymous said...

Arson.

Anonymous said...

Translation...He (Toll) is scared!

I'm sure many people would come "off the sidelines" if Toll would buy houses for those sideliners. After all housing affordability is not an issue for many. Buyers are on the sidelines for other reasons.

Perhaps sepnding more money on marketing will enable affordability among potential consumers.

Anonymous said...

"would-be-socialist Bob Toll"

So it's a bad thing when it's Bob Toll talking like a socialist, but a good thing with Barrack Hussein Obama does so?

Anonymous said...

This is an example of my favorite quote of the new millennium, only wish I knew who coined it..."Privatize the Profits, Socialize the Losses"

I want my bail-out and I want it NOW! lol
BTFW....I still haven't gotten my farm-aid yet. What did the poor farmers get this year...600 bil? Grain prices tripled...and the best unreported part is that their land prices have more than doubled the past few years. Poor farmers...whining all the way to their 2nd homes every winter! SUCKERS!!!!

Anonymous said...

All capitalists become socialists when they find themselves in need. They're the biggest whiners and criers.

I hope they starve.

Devestment said...

Here is my proposed initiative:

Every American citizen that can prove he or she has zero debt (no mortgage, no credit cards, nada) and a credit score over 720 recieved 1 free home of thier choice free and clear.

If there are homes left over, then those with 680+ scores and no debt get the rest of the homes.

On the promise the each one of these people hire 2 or more home debters at minimum wage to as cooks, cleaners, gardners, and drivers so that said home debtors can pay off thier debt to society before they die.

This will allow them to go to heaven.

Devestment said...

you have my vote

Anonymous said...

bwahahahahahahahaha!!!
JDF

Anonymous said...

@Tangelo Mozilo

Bing-O!

You nailed it on the head. This is why we can only get worse. People like Keith (sorry about this) rightfully rail against the biggest problem facing America today (economy, housing, etc) and STILL support the guy that's going to do the most damage.

@Keith:

"Selecting a president isn't about one issue."

If you really believed that, you wouldn't be hyping Obama. Your "one issue" is that you don't like Bush. Fair enough, but be honest enough to say that you are prObama because he is not Bush, and quit trying to wedge Obama into anything more than a rookie senator who will do more damage to America than Bush ever could that he really is.

For the Obamanations out there, if you want to know how dangerous Obama will be, actually read his books. His hatred of America and Whites, both of which include him in their number, is pitifully obvious.

Anonymous said...

It’s the exact opposite; the only thing that will get buyers ‘off the fence’ and begin buying is of prices become affordable.

What do these people not get?

1) Most houses are still way overpriced
2) Buyers don’t believe RE will go up forever anymore and would not jump into taking on a level of debt that would destroy their way of life.

My advice to Mr. Toll:
Unload current inventory at a loss, take a 2 year breather, let the market recover a bit, then when demand begins to pick up again be creative with competitive prices, utilize technology, recycled materials and simple energy efficient designs.

Current business models are totaly stupid, it is based on the hype of the past few years that RE is something unique and can only go up.

Jacob said...

The only thing government can do to accomplish this is massive inflation...

Inflation doesn't help. Wage inflation would, but in a global market place how to you force companies to pay more to their employees?

Inflation is making the prices of everything from oil to food go up, thus taking more people out of the housing market because they can now afford less and less for housing.

Romulus said...

Hey, you know, the best initiative I can think of to attract buyers is to LOWER PRICES.

Supply. Demand. Price. Macro 101. Heard of it, all you professional high-ticket-item salespeople?

And if he were really a socialist, he'd be in favor of giving the houses away to whoever wanted them.

Hell... they probably ought to do that anyway.

Anonymous said...

We don't need help from congress now, the market is correcting itself.

Good to see some opinions from both sides of the housing market forecasts. We have seen huge increases in the number of sales in Sacramento. More Sales in April and May than any months in the past few years.

Regardless of the neysayers opinions that a new wave of foreclosures will make things worse, the reality still stays firm that houses have reached a price where buyers are jumping off the fence. Regardless of an increase in supply, in April and May, our escrow and banking companies couldn't process the REO sales fast enough.

The light at the end of the tunnel is here. August will remain as the last chance to buy. http://buyingafterthebubble.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

um, doesn't he understand that there is more supply than demand at current prices and that a 15k "adjustment" won't make any meaningful difference?

Anonymous said...

yeah, he, and any politician that supports any kind oh "assistance" all need to be strung up.

------------------------------------

uh, that would be Obama. the one Hper's are supporting in Keith's latest poll.

Anonymous said...

I'm a progressive Democrat, but I'm going to work hard to make sure the Dems don't pass this corporate welfare sh!t.

----------------------------------

a "progressive" that is against enabling people to own a home. how do you sleep at night? probably also against gay marriage.

Anonymous said...

Remember, I completely disagree with Obama (and McCain, and Clinton) on housing gambler bailouts

Selecting a president isn't about one issue

=========

Oh so that's the only issue you disagree with Obama?

How about
- rasing income taxes

- adding trillions of taxes for "global warming" fight

- giving hundreds of billions of US money to Africa

- fighting to kill the 2nd ammendment

- appeasing Iran (and yes it is appeasing, don't play the word game on

If it were only 1 issue I could overlook it. But there are dozens of issues on which Obama is wrong, plain and simple. I hope you wake up and start seeing what this guy's all about.

Anonymous said...

i love how congress should help with 'new' homes only. sorry buddy, you made huge profits the past 10 years, building hummer homes while energy was cheap. we dont need any more of those, or any, new homes. builders can go away for 5 years, thanks though

Anonymous said...

It's not socialism we are facing, it's globalist, corporate, fascist socialism that we're facing.

The New World Order is real folks. They are meeting at the Bilderberg Meeting right now in Chantilly, Virginia but don't expect to hear about the most powerful and wealthy people meeting in secret in the corporate media - except perhaps the most cursory report. Try it, do a Google news search and see what comes up. Then do a search for Britney Spears.

And guess what, McCain and Obama are both puppets of the elite:


Obama's Global Poverty Tax - $900B of your taxes going overseas

McCain of course represents the Bush approach to globalization which is conquering the Middle East and forming the North American Union under the guise of NAFTA and the Security and Prosperity Partnership.

Is this what you really want people? Wouldn't you rather keep your hard earned money and have a military dedicated to protecting the borders of the USA and protecting US citizens (rather than Israelis)? Would you rather have the freedoms granted to you by the US Constitution and Bill of Rights or something more like the European Union's Constitution that the citizens of Europe have NO SAY OVER WHATSOEVER!

McCain or Obama?

There is NO FREAKING CHOICE HERE PEOPLE!!

Either way you are voting for the death of America and the continued rise of the New World Order.

Anonymous said...

Not only should Congress bail us out, but builders should RAISE their prices. If you keep lowering prices, buyers will only sit on the sidelines longer. I am calling on all builders to raise their prices by 10%, and stop giving away incentives!!

Anonymous said...

If you want to understand who really controls the presidential puppets, who the Bilderbergs are and want to learn about what makes the elite tick you need to watch this:

Endgame

It's free, it's awesome so just freakin watch it!

Anonymous said...

Keith you forget, the bush built scheitt sandwich is already made for the picnic. Oh yummy.

Anonymous said...

Remember, I completely disagree with Obama (and McCain, and Clinton) on housing gambler bailouts

Selecting a president isn't about one issue

--------------------------------------

perhaps not but you can often tell a lot about how a candidate will react to other as of yet unknown issues by looking at their positions on current ones.

Obama bailing FBs is indicative of a socialist and he propose similar solutions to problems in the future. obama feels that with enough money and the right plan government is the answer.

McLoser's position surprises me somewhat (but not a lot!) and i wonder how committed he is to a bailout. I bet his position could easily be changed with a little arm twisting from fellow republicans.

Anonymous said...

This nonsense will pass, as Congress smells yet another way to whore for "campaign contributions" from NAHB and NAR. Whores, plain and simple. This country's laws are written by whores.

Anonymous said...

It's socialism if it goes to people. It's "free market" capitialism when gov't $$$$ goes to corporations.

Ya gotta get the lingo right.

Anonymous said...

It's socialism if it goes to people. It's "free market" capitialism when gov't $$$$ goes to corporations.

You idiot. Free market capitalism is supposed to be free from government interference. That's the whole f*cking point you intellectual midget!!

You don't even understand what free market means and yet all of the little luxuries you enjoy you owe to the competition in free market capitalism. All the fancy gadgets, the fancy cars, the fancy food you eat all developed under free market competition not because some government bureacracy came centrally planned them.

You don't get that a high standard of living in Communist, Socialist nations!! It all falls apart. And the further we drift towards socialism the less economically competetive we become on the world stage. Just look at history you douchebag!!

Every welfare program is another burden on the economy. Every war is a burden on the economy. Every one of these things means less jobs and a lower standard of living for you.

Refuse to buy overpriced said...

Sopitalism - socialism for the rich, privatize gains socialize loss.

Anonymous said...

Before you condemn Obama, you need to look at the alternatives.

Both McCain and Hillary voted for the Bankruptcy reform act of 2005 (aka the Debt Slave Act). Obama voted against it.

Both McCain and Hillary voted authorization for the Iraq war. Obama wasn't a senator at the time, but has been vocally against this war since the beginning.

Phil Graham is McCain's chief economic advisor and a lobbiest for UBS, a Swiss Bank. Graham was activley soliciting legislation to help UBS bank with the mortgage crisis (and block any legislation that helps struggling homeowners like allowing Judges to "cram down" mortgage balances at bankruptcy hearings) at the same time he was crafting McCain's economic positions.

Hillary wants to hire Alan Greenspan to help fix the housing crisis (when he's the chief architect)!

At least Obama is being advised and supported by Paul Volker. A former Fed Chair that knew what tough medicine had to be administered in order to solve the inflation crisis of the 70s. On economic issues, Obama is surrounding himself with the right people.

Just ask yourself, why is the establishment (meaning Hillary and McCain) so terrified of an Obama presidency? Is it because he's going to review and/or change many of the failed policies the establishment has given us over the years.

In the meantime, the establishment beats us over the head about Obama's preacher, or his middle name, or calling him a socialist. Why are they trying to scare us from someone who could really change the direction of this country from the clusterfuck of the past 20 years under Clinton/Bush?

Is Obama the solution to our problems? Absolutely not, but I'm much more willing to give him a chance to try rather than give Hillary or McBush another 4 years to make things worse!

My two cents.

Jymkata

PS I still think Hillary is going to steal the election and Obama will be "taken care of" if he doesn't go along.

Anonymous said...

Gee Bob, we believe you need to drop the PRICES of your McCrap shacks locally in each market to be in line with historic fundamentals....(Hint...your average family in PG county, MD does NOT make $200,000!!

Also, you need to consider the trends with gas and ultilites going forward. With people barely able to put gas in their cars now, How in the HELL do you expect them to be able to make payments on a $700,000 4000 square foot house, much less be able to afford to heat and cool the monstrosity???

I do agree it is time for congress to offer HUGE incentives to people with great credit & money in the bank, so that we can for once, establish a a solid foundation of homeowners. Homeowners that can truly afford their homes long term with a fixed product.

Thanks Bob, and have a great day!!

DreadlocCowgirl said...

Reset every taxpayer's FICO score to like 900! My SAT's were higher than my current FICO. :-(

Anonymous said...

If the gubmt wants to give me $50K of free money to buy a house, I'll bite. With the mortgage deduction, even if the house falls in value $75K long term I'll come out ahead. And prices have fallen so much already, the bottom is not that far away. Trees don't grow to the sky, home prices won't fall forever.

I oppose the idea of a government subsidty like this. But WTF, if they start handing out free money, you bet your ass I'll line up for some.

One way or another the government will spend a ton of money. You have two options. Sit here and cry about it. Or get someo of that money.

Anonymous said...

Put Toll in a cage and poke him with sharp sticks...

Fade out to Ending Credits...

Anonymous said...

God ,Toll would benefit the most by government tax incentives to buy property based on the price range of home he usually builds .

What about giving a tax incentive match to first time home buyers .In other words if first time buyers come up with 20k in down payment funds, than the government will match in 10k of tax incentives ,that will only be paid back by the borrower upon the sale of the house.