WSJ Recession Here

[Capper]

Its been a huge issue here in Las Vegas for awhile now.....aside from the foreclosures (which I'll touch on again at the bottom), the Casinos are whining because profits are off 15%....most are tightening their belts, cutting perks, closing restaurants, clubs, etc.

Jaemie and I went to the Olive Garden the other night, usually there is a 30-45 minute wait for a table....but the place was almost completely empty. I've seent hat at several restaurants in the area lately.

Ok, This is a funny/unfunny story.....but when Jaemie and I first moved to Vegas, she was a branch manager of a different bank. One of her customers threw a bunch of money at her to come run his office, a Real Estate Office. She took the job, but a week later the guys wife didn't like another young pretty woman working in her husbands office, so she had Jaemie moved to her office. Jaemie worked there for about two years, but didn't like the job, and felt these people were doing some underhanded stuff....but the pay was good, so she just did her job and minded her own business (she was in charge of book keeping, running the office, etc).....eventually she just wanted no part of the whole thing and took the job at her current bank as a VP.

Yesterday morning, she get a panicked phone call from a girl that works for these people asking if she can draw out a bunch of money and close accounts, etc....Jaemie tells her no, but asks whats going on....the lady tells her to turn on the news.....

Couple Faces Mortgage Fraud Charges - KVVU Las Vegas
Las Vegas couple face federal charges in mortgage fraud case - KTNV Las Vegas,Nevada
Couple faces jail time for real estate scam (with video)

So the FBI and IRS raided their businesses and home yesterday....they are going down hard. Its a big mess of a story, luckily Jaemie wasn't involved in any of the crap, and got out long before any of this shit hit the fan.

[Reloadron]

Now that was an interesting story Capper. Jaemie obviously saw what was going on and knew it would be unwise to stay there. I have known a few people in similar situations and all knew it was time to exit. Good going for Jaemie as it sure as hell is better to watch it on TV than be a part of it, even though innocent.

Ah, the restaurant thing. We eat out quite often and despite a lagging economy here in Cleveland it seems the restaurants don't suffer as we seem to face the same 45 min to an hour wait unless we get there between 5 and 6 PM. There is no shortage of restaurants either.

Ron

[Jokerswild]

It seems here that Wal-Mart is going strong but Target and Kohl's parking lots are not as busy as before. Could be people waiting on income tax returns and the government booty before spending.

[screwballl]

good to hear Jaemie got out when she did.
The only ones that are really feeling the pinch in my area are the contractors not getting as many "elective" jobs as people are doing it themselves or leaving it alone. Otherwise the stores and restaurants are just as busy as ever.

[PrOLifIC_onE]

Yeah, Michigan's economy is one of the worst in the nation. While I haven't seen much in the way of raises in recent years, I have been fortunate to still have a good job and benefits.

Thats a crazy story Capper, its good to hear that Jaemie wasn't caught in the middle. I have an aunt and uncle that live in vegas they are close to being foreclosed on. I also have some family in southern Arizona in the same boat. Fortunately my wife and I have been responsible enough with our finances (and fortunate enough that my job is secure) that we don't have a problem keeping our heads above water when the times get rough.

[screwballl]

saw a nice bit on a liberal slander site supporting the "facts" behind how the presidents deregulation... of something.... is causing this economic downturn... yet after watching the clip they presented, as rarely as I agree with Scrborough, I do agree with him in the clip they presented... but it sounds like they were trying to get the anti-Bush message out by letting the Maddows bitch ramble on

Crooks and Liars » Race For The White House Debut: Good, Bad & Ugly

Love how the liberal site supports the liberal bitch and cuts out her entire rambling about crap with no foundation...

Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson and Chuck Todd were spot on, as usual. Where the show stumbles is the presence of Joe Scarborough and his rampant, fact-free ranting which drops the IQ of the show by double digits. The panel discusses the tanking U.S. economy and the mortgage meltdown and the Scar defends President Bush saying it wasn’t deregulation that caused the current crisis, it was greedy homeowners:

Scar: “This is not the type of economy it was in 1992 when Bill Clinton got elected. It’s not the economy stupid, yet, for most voters out there.”
Gregory:”Rachel, there’s a big disagreement about that.”

Maddow:”Yeah, Joe, if you were running for reelection on the basis of a platform right now that the economy’s actually secretly awesome, we just can’t tell, I don’t think that you’d be reelected. [snip]

Scar:”This did not happen because of deregulation, this happened because homeowners got more home than they could afford, they got interest only loans, they gambled wildly because they wanted to turn it around and make hundreds of thousands of dollars and guess what? The market changed! [snip] You know what, no consequences. Gamble, go to Vegas, lose your money and you know what? We’re going to blame it on GEORGE BUSH!”

Sorry but Scarborough is spot on, not this crazy bitch. The people were stupid for buying high dollar items on credit and now when they default or foreclose on the item, the banks need bailing out. The people stop paying and the bank is left with the bill. Yet the people get a temporary scratch on their credit record that will be gone in 3 years, but it has and will take much more than 3 years for the banks and Wall Street to recover from their own stupidity of lending on credit.

[Jokerswild]

Some of those foreclosure's are from job loss not necessarily people doing anything wrong. Ultimately it's up to lenders to make sure their loans are good. They are suppose to be the experts and it's their money their lending. I don't think you can just outright blame it on the borrowers. Takes two to tango.

[screwballl]

yes but you can't blame Bush & company for something they had little to do with. These companies ship our jobs overseas... Amercians lose their jobs.. how is this able to get traced to Bush? only by some convoluted altered numbers that also say the seas will rise 10 feet in the next few years...
bah it was the lenders fault for lending money based on credit alone and peoples fault for borrowing based on credit only...
My wife has great credit, she could walk into a Aston Martin dealership and take her pick of cars on the lot... doesn't mean we will. But others do and have.

[Jokerswild]

congress needs to put some new standards for loans in place to start with.

[Stormcrow]

Of course the jobs get sent overseas, you can pay some guy in Taiwan 3 bucks an hour to make the same thing an American paid 20 dollars an hour can for much less overhead and in return lower prices. We want lower prices, but at the same time want more money for the job we do. Can't work like that.
Even though more jobs are becoming automated or outsourced, new job markets open every year and the people crazy enough to try them become fat rich more often then not. The availability of jobs is not going down but instead rising, the problem is the new ones require new skills and degrees while the traditional domestic "no-brainer" jobs are being replaced. Modernization into a Hi-Tech society unfortunately leaves those without the experience, intelligence, or education necessary in the dust.