A good'un from Jimmy

Why men don't write advice columns.

Dear Walter:
I hope you can help me here. The other day I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching the TV as usual. I hadn't gone more than a mile down the road when my engine conked out and the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband's help. When I got home I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in the bedroom with a neighbor lady making mad passionate love to her. I am 32, my husband is 34 and we have been married for twelve years. When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted that he'd been having an affair for the past six months.
I told him to stop or I would leave him. He was let go from his job six months ago and he says he has been feeling increasingly depressed and worthless. I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the ultimatum he has become increasingly distant. I don't feel I can get through to him anymore.
Can you please help?
Sincerely,
Mrs.. Sheila Usk

Dear Sheila:
A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that there is no debris in the fuel line. If it is clear, check the jubilee clips holding the vacuum pipes onto the inlet manifold. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the carburetor float chamber.

I hope this helps.
Walter

Thanks Jimmy.

Why is the Left afraid of Rudy and McCain?

And they are. Just surf some of the Left wing blogs, KOS, MoveOn, TalkLeft, etc., and you will see that to be true.

My take on it is that they believe the religious Right will have no place to go, so they will vote for either and provide the edge needed for either to win in November. Now the Left may have a point in that elections are too often an exercise in holding your nose and voting for the best of the worst. But yesterday in South Carolina the religious Right had a clear choice, and didn't go for the ex-Baptist preacher. They also didn't go for Romney, who is the guy with arguably the best record on issues that supposedly are very important to them.... Marriage, abortion rights, gay rights, etc.

I find this simple. At this time security and national defense trumps social issues. McCain clearly beats Huckabee on these issues. He also clearly beats Hussein and Monica's ex-boyfriend's wife who is running for President.

And that scares the Left. And their water carriers, what's left of the Democratic party.

I think we are seeing the middle being redefined. The 2006 elections were as much about a general disgust with the tactics being used in Iraq as about the war. And as much as about the zillions being spent on bridges to nowhere as it was about corruption in general. And even then, the margin for victories in most of the races won by the Demos were razor thin.

In addition, many voters are seeing that we have two wars. One is a war against out right terror attacks, and one is a culture war. So the question is becoming, who will do the best job of preventing the Left from destroying Christmas while making sure that everyone else can enjoy their holidays. In addition, while Bush declares Islam to be a religion of peace, the antics of thousands of radical Muslims is starting to bring that into question in the minds of many. The wired world we live in makes actions speak louder than words.

Me? I think the problem is radicals, not religion. But what I still haven't got my hand around is this. Does the religion lend itself to radicalism?? But I digress.

Rudy's chief claim to fame is that he cleaned up NYC and that he handled himself, and the city, very well during 9/11. He also doesn't have the history of McCain on immigration and McCain Feingold hanging over his head. McCain does.

Paying the piper redux

While driving yesterday morning I happened upon a talk show guy who was busy explaining the lack of fiscal responsibility, the entitlement mentality, etc. and etc., of the American public. He was also highly exercised over the fact that THE Reverend Jesse Jackson had gone to Memphis and suggested that the Mayor sue the banks over the subprime loan mess...

Left unsaid by Jesse was which banks and for what. And the intrepid host kept demanding to know "for what" and inviting "any lawyer" listening to call in and explain it to him. Along about then I surfed over to Glen Beck who was busy explaining that the world was ending and only he knew about it...

Note to Glen: Please give me advance warning so that I can get off the Interstate. That way when I shoot myself after being terminally depressed by you I won't crash into a school bus killing dozens of children and besmirching my reputation. But I digress.

Now I don't know if a lawyer called. They are well known to be reluctant about giving free advice. Besides, they were more likely to be on their cell phones racking up billable hours. BTW - I had a friend tell me that he knew a lawyer who billed for 30 hours a day...

That dog won't hunt, I said. I mean after remembering some of my own billable hours sheets and travel time logs I know for a fact that a day only has 28 hours. But I digress again.

But given that cities are suing gun makers and anybody can sue anybody I would guess the answer is, YES. And for some variation of malfeasance. Of course it will be promptly tossed out. But....if they can get it in the Fed's 9th district and tie Jose Padilla to it... well, they'd have a shot..

Now I yield to no man, woman or child my belief that the country would be much better off if THE Rev Jackson could be convinced to leave the country and do God's work in, say, Iran. But in this case he does have a point. Only a bank, could call a loan in which the interest rate charged is ABOVE the regular rate, "subprime."

I mean if my performance is poor, then I am sub par. If I am a contractor working for the prime, I am a subcontractor. So why should I think a subprime loan costs more than a prime??

And why would a financial company think that making a loan to someone who has problems paying their bills make sense? Especially if the cost of the loan is more than what folks with good credit is paying?

Let me see here, George. You can't handle credit, so I don't think you can handle a 5% loan, so I'll loan you the money at 6%... But don't worry, I'll set you up with a 3% Adjustable Rate Mortgage so that you can live it up for a few years... before that is, the ARM jumps to 5% and then 7% and you default... In the meantime I'm gonna bundle your mortgage with a lot of other such mortgages and sell them to some one else...

You know, George and Jane deserve what they are getting. But when did taking advantage of some one's stupidity become acceptable??

In the mid 70's the banks had a lot of low interest loans on the books, many were assumable by someone with good credit. So the loans didn't get paid off... In the meantime inflation kept driving up the interest rate that the banks had to pay to keep the savings people had in their institution and guess what. The outflow was more than the inflow and bingo.... they started failing... Of course the government stepped in and bailed them out in the midst of much sound and fury.

At that time the banks could claim that inflation wasn't their fault and the loans they had made were good solid loans. And that was mostly true.

This time the banks can claim only that they were trying to help people with poor credit get a home.

If that is so, then why did they resell the loans?? If you think that makes sense, I remind you of what that noted philsopher, Forest Gump said.

Stupid is as stupid does.

Paying the piper

About 30 months ago, mid 2005, if you qualified you could get a 30 year fixed interest rate loan of say, $200,000 at about $1200/month. Throw in taxes and insurance of about $600 a month and you have a payment of $1800/month.

Now once upon a time the rule of thumb was that the monthly payment for a family should not exceed 25% of family monthly income. So that $200,000 loan should be supported by income of $7500 per month or $90,000 per year.

To qualify for the loan you needed 20% cash down, or in this case, $50,000. If you didn't have it, but had say $25,000 and excellent credit they would loan you the $225,000 but would charge you mortgage insurance until you could show that the payments and appreciation had now established your equity value of 80% of the loan value. At that point they would remove the PMI, but would also stress that you should leave the payment alone. To build equity. The truth being, of course, that they aren't concerned for the borrower, but since they wanted to bundle the mortgage and resell it, the more equity, the better the deal.

Now over the years the monthly income to loan payment percentage has became smaller and smaller, the price of housing became higher and higher and credit for ALL purchases became easier and easier and guess what... the number of qualified fixed "best" rate borrowers became less and less..... Enter the subprime.

Subprime Loan
A loan that is offered at a rate above prime to individuals who do not qualify for prime rate loans.

Notes:
Subprime loans tend to have a rate that is 0.1% to 0.6% higher than the prime rate. Although the additional percentage may seem small, for mortgages and other large loans, this translates to thousands of dollars worth of additional interest payments.

And while I am not a genius, it seems obvious to me that if you can't qualify for a conventional loan of say, 5%, how can you qualify for a loan of 5.6%??

Subprime lending (also known as B-paper, near-prime, or second chance lending) is the practice of making loans to borrowers who do not qualify for the best market interest rates because of their deficient credit history. The phrase also refers to banknotes taken on property that cannot be sold on the primary market, including loans on certain types of investment properties and certain types of self-employed individuals.

wiki

Now while the emphasis has been on poor credit, the real culprit was average credit. The bills had been paid pretty much on time, the individuals had a good employment record… Comes the stretch. Only instead of stretching, we now have a Adjustable Rate Mortgage – ARM available for say, 3%. Sounds great. The payment is now in the $1200 range…. Principle, interest and taxes. But life is a beach and then you die….. That ARM is adjusted up 2% and the payment is back at $1600… in the meantime other debt has increased due to the spending on goodies for the new home, etc…. so now it has become a real stretch…. Toss in a 30% increase in energy costs, higher property taxes, higher insurance and the stretch has become a gasp. Then the ARM is bumped another 2% and the monthly is now around $1800… and the gasp becomes a scream. Toss in some loss of income…. No overtime say…. And the patient is terminal…

Now I’m not a forgiving type. These folks who over spent and exercised no restraint should pay for their mistakes. The problem is, the poison they’re taking is working its way up the food chain and getting to me. My portfolio has taken a 10% hit and I can’t really see the bottom. Especially since the market dropped another 60 or so points after hearing W’s plan. It is obviously not enough.

Why? Because those bad loans were bundled by the original bank and sold to another financial firm as an investment…. Let’s say that a bundle was sold for a million bucks… as the default rate goes up, more houses are foreclosed and put on the market… but the new price is less than owed, so the bundle is essentially of no value….or greatly reduced value…

Stay tuned folks. The aircraft has departed, but I don’t think anyone knows where it will land.

Notes on religion

During these serious times, people of all faiths should remember these four religious truths:

1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.

2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian world.

4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters.

A hat tip to my old bud Jimmy who, from time to time, sends me a good'un.

TGIF

It's been a bleary week, confounded by conflicting pools of info in polls that, as NH proved, make little sense. John McCain, who is a personal hero of mine but not my choice as Pres, is supposedly in a tie with another ex-Baptist preacher from Arkansas while I hear no mention of Fred who, at least, makes me feel as if common sense has not completely left the planet.

The high point in humor for the week was hearing Hillary and Hussein pledge undying love for each other while blaming their love children, aka "Staffers" for all the mean things said about each other.

A close second was, and is, watching the nutso Left blogosphere attack Hussein because he admitted that Reagan changed the direction of the country and claiming that he was ready to change it back on course himself. They seem to think he is plotting a tax cut of epic proportions and will drill for oil in the Senate cloakroom. Reagan did, Hussein won't and we will destroy our economy before we dare admit that energy for people is more important that Habitat For Animals.

Speaking of Habitats, I have thankfully heard nothing from Jimmy C about Israel giving up and just dying quietly for quite a while. But no matter. Condi R has taken up the peace at all costs flag and was last seen waving it while W ponders what he has to do to kiss and make up with the thugs in Middle East..

Uh, W... You were on the right track.

And to think that I once thought she would make a good Madame Pres... Oh well, I once thought the Cowboys were back, the market would shoot past 14,000 and professional basketball actually had a meaningful pre-playoff season. (Ignore that foul called when the players were three feet apart...)

And to close on a low point we still have another day for the market to dive. I haven't read the overnights but everyone I have talked to is as nervous as the Bride of Frankenstein in an electrical storm after seeing the complete result of the good Doctor's work.

See you later. Keep the faith and since New York City has admitted to having a huge influx of Bed Bugs.....

Don't let the Bed Bugs bite!!

Every Repub I have ever known

likes to invoke the name of Ronald Regan. Now, as Jimmy Durante used to say,
"Everybody wants to get in the act..."

And that includes Barack Hussein Obama, who explains that, like we were in 1980, we are ready for change, and that he can make that happen.

You tube

Yes, he can by doing what he wants to do, which is surrender in Iraq and in the WOT.

I wish I could look this guy straight in the eye, if he can actually hold his eyes steady, and ask a simple question or two.

Hussein ole buddy, you are a Senator. A US Senator. And we have a war going on. Do you think you could something positive?? Like say, wearing a US Flag lapel pin?? Now I know you probably think the UN should run the country, and I know you probably cross the street before you walk by a military recruiting station... But don't you think that wearing a flag pin might just be the thing to do?? Or are you too good for the country?? Why are you ashamed to wear one??

Did you ever hear of Iowa Jima, ole chap? Pearl Harbor? Gettysburg? Cemetery Ridge? D Day??

Those battles were fought under the flag you won't even acknowledge by putting a small pin on your suit lapel.

"And you want to change??? Change to what, Hussein??

Inquiring minds want to know.

And BTW. You couldn't carry Reagan's briefcase, much less unite the country.