Are you kidding me???

From CNNC.com

“Every year those big Wall Street bonuses become the talk of the town, but this year it could be for a whole new reason.”

There’s rumblings on Capitol Hill that lawmakers might look to limit or even do away with bonuses this year.

The first salvos were fired late Tuesday when Rep. Henry Waxman, who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said he sent letters to the first nine major banks set to receive a capital injection from the government, seeking information on their compensation and bonus plans for 2008 and other years.

He wrote, “I question the appropriateness of depleting the capital that taxpayers just injected into the banks through the payment of billions of dollars in bonuses, especially after one of the financial industry’s worst years on record.”

And it seems many on Wall Street are expecting some big money. Rich Layne of eFinancialCareers tells Fast Money, “I thought you’d be interested in the results of post-bailout survey of Wall Street professionals on their bonuses expectations. 2/3 are expecting a 2008 bonus; 36% are expecting that bonus to be higher than their 2007 bonuses. There’s even a minority – 10% – that expect this year’s bonus to the 33% higher.”

LINK to article and video.

Congress: Don’t use bailout for bonuses
Leaders from both parties expressed concern Wednesday that a taxpayer-funded bailout of the financial industry will be used to pad the pockets of executives rather than get the economy rolling again.

“News reports have suggested that six major financial institutions participating in the program have plans to pay their executives billions of dollars,” they wrote.

Link to AP article.

Sweet poetic justice! But wait, this might explain why they want the government to bail them out. It’s pretty sickening.

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg)—The market storm that brought down Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., American International Group Inc. and other pillars of U.S. finance may have also blown holes in the portfolios of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator John Kerry and more than 50 other members of Congress.

Pelosi, in her most recent financial disclosure form, reported that her husband owned between $250,000 and $500,000 of stock in AIG, which ceded majority control to the U.S. government this week in exchange for $85 billion of loans.

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, disclosed that his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, had more than $2 million of AIG stock at the end of 2007, when shares were worth $58.30. AIG has fallen 85 percent this week to close yesterday at $2.69. The lawmakers’ aides didn’t respond to calls seeking comment.

LINK to full article.

Bush’s latest bill signed into law lets irresponsible home owners who borrowed too much money, paid too much for their home, spent the equity in the home like it was free money from an ATM machine and squandered it all, off the hook. Normally, if you are forgiven payment on a debt, the IRS makes you pay tax on that balance. Now a borrower can walk scott free from their house, not pay back the mortgage and not pay tax on the forgiven debt. Bush’s legacy will be that he allowed deadbeats to get away with murder. What kind of message does this give to America’s kids? How is this moral? Bush is really becoming a liability to the Republican Party. Wait til next November and see who wins office. Thanks George, you’re the best Democrat ever to take office.

By Jim Wasserman – jwasserman@sacbee.com
Published 5:49 am PST Friday, December 28, 2007

For households mired in mortgage troubles, there’s one less worry this year.

That’s the nasty tax consequence of avoiding foreclosure by selling a home through a “short sale” or other loan rearrangements.

A bill signed by President Bush last week lets homeowners off the hook for a little-known tax bite that occurs when mortgage debts are forgiven. The reprieve applies to households that use short sales or other mortgage relief efforts during 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The National Association of Realtors is among those saluting the president’s action, calling it “an issue of fairness and not kicking people when they are down.”

First, the definition of a short sale. It’s where the bank agrees to accept less than it’s owed when a home sells. These sales, which enable banks to avoid the even costlier process of foreclosing and selling the house in a declining market, have become increasingly common this year.

Under the standard short-sale scenario, if you sold your house this year for $350,000 but owed the bank $400,000, you’d have hefty tax consequences in 2008. The IRS would count that $50,000 in canceled debt as taxable income. It’s what’s known as “forgiven debt” and typically triggers a 1099 tax form.

But now, the IRS is required – for three years – to abandon its traditional tax rules on canceled debts. The moratorium also applies if a lender forgave some of your mortgage debt through a loan workout.

It’s a temporary measure during this real estate slowdown and is only for loans involving a primary residence. It does not apply to investor-owned properties.

The hope is that without the fear of incurring an IRS tax bill, more struggling borrowers will call lenders and negotiate alternatives to foreclosure, according to the real estate industry, which backed the bill.

In the capital region, one short-sale specialist praised the move but said it won’t really bring much debt relief.

“Many of these people weren’t going to pay the tax, anyway,” said Scott Thompson, a partner in Mortgage Resolution Services in Carmichael. “There was a part of the tax code that granted them immunity if they were insolvent.”

But, he added, it’s “clearly a good thing” that people already under financial stress won’t have to worry about additional tax problems.

Betting on boom left town with huge bill

By Dale Kasler, Jim Wasserman and Phillip Reese SacBee

This is a great article and shows the greed and lengths people will go in order to live the “good life.” It also shows why you should NEVER vote for a school bond. Just K-12 accounts for 50% of the CA budget and then you have those ridiculous Mello Roos bonds on top of that, and these people have the guts to ask for MORE????? And voters are giving them more? What a waste! No wonder so many people moved out of this state and are starting to move out again. These “leaders” should have to pay these bonds back themselves. $190 MILLION in the hole? Are you kidding me? Who was asleep at the wheel while all this spending going on? So the taxpayers are going to be expected to pay for the housing bust and now they’re going to ask us to bail out these worthless government leaders who spent outlandish amounts of money “to keep up with Rocklin and Roseville.” You know what, if you want to be like Roseville and Rocklin so badly than move there! This spending would make the drunken sailors in Washington DC blush. I want answers!!!

“Article:”http://www.sacbee.com/103/story/593143.html

But unlike other communities, Lincoln has an additional bill to pay, and it’s a whopper: nearly $190 million in debt facing its tiny school district, the result of an ambitious construction program undermined by a housing market gone soft. The district, Western Placer Unified, has been forced to postpone additional schools, including an eagerly awaited high school to serve the families that flocked to the Twelve Bridges development.

The Marones have put their house up for sale, too, so they can move to a rural setting in Loomis. They’re braced for a loss: The house cost them $529,000, plus $130,000 on a backyard pond and other upgrades. They’ve listed it for $525,000.

Western Placer is deeply in debt. It owes nearly $190 million, including interest, through 2036. Cash reserves will be sufficient the next few years, but starting in 2011 it will face shortfalls of $3 million to $4 million a year through 2024, said Dominico, the consultant working with the district.

She said the district is mulling a plan to stretch out the debt to 2047. That will reduce each year’s payment enough to get Western Placer through the lean times. But it will cost about $70 million in extra interest over time, she said.

Western Placer spent its money on things like state-of-the-art science and computer labs, art facilities, even skylights.

By: Victoria McGrane and Patrick O’Connor
Dec 5, 2007 05:48 AM EST

President Bush’s plan to ease the fallout from the mortgage lending crisis is rankling some key conservatives who argue it amounts to nothing less than government meddling.

Bailout

We shouldn’t be bailout out irresponsible people.

So now we’re going to do a government bailout for all those people who leveraged their homes, used them as ATMs and then went out and bought SUVs, boats, went on vacations, etc. So people who were irresponsible and entered into loans they had no ability to repay and buy homes that were 8-12 times their income levels will be rewarded. The tax payers now will have to bailout their neighbors who lived high on the hog for the past 7 years. Unreal. Those people who knew the housing market was overheated and homes were just too pricy to buy in this market will now sufer even more. I guess this is the legacy GWB wants, just as his dad gave was the ADA which provided 25 handicapped parking spots at your local Safeway, which 99% are empty. And for some reason I thought I voted Republican in both those elections. Good job guys.

Bush Bailout: