Comments on: Long Island City chilly, cloudy Friday afternoon linkage

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:38:07 +0000

#36. If this were just a local blog, should we not all be discussing the Mets Spring Training schedule?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:24:11 +0000

editting error I think by LIQ. based on the post that I guess was removed 39 should now read: I can accept what 35 is saying. I’m 36 btw.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:36:41 +0000

38, (chuckle), well said.

But seriously I can accept what 37 is saying. I’m 35 btw. I just detected – maybe mistakenly – a bias toward saying loans to poor neighborhoods (i.e. via ACORN) was the primary cause of the collapse. That I just know isn’t so.

By: 38

38 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:01:33 +0000

I guess 35 thinks he is above it all. Like someone put a gun to his head and forced him to read the comments.

36, you don’t understand the CDS market. You are comparing it to bad loans when they really are all part of the same problem. Without the MBS there wouldn’t have been as much CDS. CDS were a tool to allow banks to be even more irresponsible with their issuing of securities backed by toxic loans, which was facilitated by government policy. You can’t extricate one part of the problem to relieve blame on another.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:43:22 +0000

Watch the game at PJ O’Leahy’s. Not much other choices, sadly. RIP Lucky Mojos/McReilly’s/Cassinos.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:41:01 +0000

30 and maybe 35? Look I’m not arguing with any of what you are saying regarding personal responsibility and pushing bad risk loans. I’m just asking you to look at the dollar value of the CDS’s versus bad real estate loans to unqualified applicants. I’d be curious as to compare with the dollar amounts of the various scandals as well. We also seem to readily forget how Enron got the ball rolling on this.

But my purpose is not to bash the corporate domination of the free world. It’s to add a reality check to the knee-jerk reaction whereby blame is placed on all those bad loans in impoverished communities. Hey at least the banks end up with some real estate even if the devalued currency screws up the value in their books. What have all the destroyed retirement accounts been left with?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:02:41 +0000

32 here, believe it or not I am very familiar and knowledgeable on the subjects discussed in the above thread. I currently work on wall st at a large financial firm. (Not in a group related to CDS or mortagages) But I’ve spent every work day for the last year and half discussing and analyzing the current state of the economy.

My only reason for my earlier post is that I was getting tired of two people having a pointless discussion trying to out-smart each other by claiming to know exactly what happened and exactly what should be done to fix it. If I wanted to read about that I would look to a different blog, and from more credible sources.

Liqcity is subtitled Neighborhood Media and Blog about life and real estate. My reference to the Yankees was a innocent attempt to change the subject. (Not to mention I’m extremely excited about the world series.) Can anyone recommend the best spot to watch the games in our neighborhood. If not, we can get back to bashing CB2, restaurants and dog owners?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:47:33 +0000

Sadly the attitude expressed by #32 is pervasive in today’s society. We are too busy running around wondering who got kicked off American Idol last night to take the time to invest in understanding the issues of the day. Any problem that can’t be explained (and solved) in a 30 second sound bite is not really a problem after all. Don’t worry though. Someone else will figure it out and deal with it I’m sure.

By: Townie

Townie — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:59:37 +0000

Anonymous # 32 bravely takes on the intellectuals and proposes they make their rebuttals more real, or simply talk sports.
As Orwell once wrote, “war is peace; slavery is freedom; ignorance is strength,” words he put, of course, in the mouths of the manipulators. (from the book 1984)

Sure hope the Fall Classic doesn’t have to compete with more bank failures–I mean, “mergers.”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:08:52 +0000

wow for educated people you all come off as whiny wannabe know-it-alls who just put down the other’s opinion yet only offer unrealistic superficial solutions in rebuttal. Take your convo somewhere else and let’s talk about Life & Real Estate in Long Island City.

SO HOW BOUT THEM YANKEES!!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:07:00 +0000

I love how people just want to write about themselves…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:12:33 +0000

#29, there are a lot of respected economists who would agree with #26. Everyone wants to find the one accountible party, and it not just one thing or person. Anyone that says more regulation alone is the answer is misinformed or using this to further some agenda. I would also add to that list that the american consumer needs to look long and hard in the mirror on this issue to see what role they played. What % of the houses in foreclosure were once held by people who treated their homes like a piggybank to finance elaborate vacations and cars, or who ran up tens of thousands of dollars in credit card bills, etc. and got caught when them music stopped playing? Or what % bought homes well beyond their means? Sure some who acted responsibly were caught up in this mess, and sure blame the banks for making stupid loans, but doesn’t the stupid borrower also have some role in this? Where are the NYT exposes on this? You don’t see them. See that’s the difference between true consevatives and the republicans and democrats today. Both seem to think that the government is responsible for creating and solving every problem. Personal accountability goes a long way. I personal would never take a bailout. My parents raised me right.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:18:53 +0000

28, you are a published authority I suppose. Your explanation is simply not what the majority of economists agree happened. Just compare the dollar amounts of what you are claiming versus what I’m describing. The solution is to stop wetting your pants over the idea of redistribution of opportunity. Note I said ‘opportunity’ not ‘wealth’.

By: 28

28 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:50:24 +0000

27, you sound like you read some Matt Taibbi article about CDS, where neither of you know what you are talking about.
The expansion of CDS was part of the irresponsible expansion of credit, not its cause. The housing bubble was caused by too much loose credit. That wasn’t the only reason for the economic factors but it was a big factor.
I’m still waiting to hear your solutions.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:41:49 +0000

26, you are saying the economic collapse was the result of low income, poor credit loans? I don’t think so. While I agree that banks and government should not be encouraging bad loans to solve social issues, this is definitely not the root cause of the economic collapse no matter what Rush and Hannity say. The dollar amounts of these bad loans don’t even come near the value(?) of credit swap derivatives. CSDs created national debt totals of over one quadrillion dollars! This is 16 times the estimated wealth of the entire planet. You’ve been had by some slick and well heeled operators and the rest of the bozos that jumped on board.

By: 25

25 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:34:35 +0000

22 here. I didn’t make the initial allegation, but the response should have been to defend Van Bramer, not to defend ACORN.
24, even though you haven’t proposed any solutions for anything, I’ll chime in anyway. Many people have been complicit in the economic and financial market problems. The banking firms, the ratings agencies, the government policies pushing FNMA and FHLMC to encourage loose lending, the members of the general public who took irresponsible loans, etc. The answers are manifold. We need smarter regulation of the financial industry, focusing on leverage controls and derivatives transparency and limits. We need government to stop pushing banks to lend to low income, low credit applicants. We need to require banks to have some exposure on the loans they issue. We need rules requiring independence of credit rating agencies. For the overall economic climate, we need to reduce the burdens on business. Government is spending too much, and the major spending items- Medicare and Social Security- are only going to get worse. We need to cut government spending to reduce the tax burdens on business. There are also things we can do in the areas of health care and energy independence that are much better than what Obama is proposing.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:25:27 +0000

24, the silence that you hear is your elected democrats who control the house senate and the white house. It not just you I’m also listening and don’t hear anything.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:52:59 +0000

Oh right 22, change just happens in a flash. What planet are you living on? re: ACORN, who hasn’t seen the videos? But again, why won’t FOX reveal the number of employees that did not take the bait. This thread began with a smear against a local candidate by associating him with these scandals which of course is ludicrous. Meanwhile the really important news is that we’ve all been screwed by the wild antics of the non-regulated financial market feeding frenzy. And your solution is?? I’m listening. Go ahead. What?? I didn’t hear anything.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:29:07 +0000

I am a socialist. That’s why I voted Hillary. Guess we shouldn’t let the cheerleading squad dictate policy or media hype anymore…

By: 22

22 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:13:30 +0000

All liberals ever say when someone points out Obama’s screw-ups is It’s Bush’s fault! Enough already! I have news for you – fiscal conservative, small-government types didn’t like Bush either. But Obama took Bush’s deficit and tripled it. Obama’s answer to EVERYTHING is bigger government and spend more money. His slick act isn’t fooling as many people anymore. The stimulus was a mess, his health care plan is a disaster, and his foreign policy decisions have ranged from confusing to bad.
If you really want to live in a socialist country, there are a few in Europe where you can move. As long as you have enough that you don’t need a job, you may be happy there.

And stop babbling about entrapment when you don’t know what you are talking about. Watch the videos where ACORN’s true colors were shown, there was no entrapment at all.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:56:16 +0000

corporate support=$$ for bush, and for obama. im sick of people thinking obama is just out to help. he, like every other president will take care of those who take care of him. you are even more foolish then i originally thought!! hahahah

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:54:35 +0000

OH contact him now Townie! Tripped out.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:13:16 +0000

#16, let’s come back in 6 months and see what Obamas rating are then. Bush is no longer in charge so stop using him as an excuse. No amount of flowery speeches are going to cover up the fact that the economy is going down the tubes, the wars he promised to stop are still going on and the budget deficit is growing and the health care fisaco he has staked his reputation on is blowing up.

By: Townie

Townie — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:09:15 +0000

Speaking of major achievements, this just in:

Herr Doktor Proffesor Svante Paabo of the Max Planck Institute has found evidence that Neanderthals mated with (so-called) modern humans. What he now seeks is proof that these unions actually produced offspring that survived, even to the point of having living descendants. Should I contact him now, or should I hold off a little while?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:34:14 +0000

14, calling my post foolish doesn’t make it so. If you practice your reading skills you will note that I specifically mentioned corporate support. And what exactly is wrong with corporate support if it’s directed toward ideas that improve society. I can’t make people out here. They either want to criticize O for being too conservative, too liberal, or too much in the middle. What was the last major achievement you had that did anything to improve this world?