Another Government success story

brucefan

EOG Dedicated
The Homebuyer Tax Credit Will Cost Taxpayers Over $100,000 For Every Home Sold

<HR style="COLOR: #a93c3c; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #a93c3c" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->First a quote from a Bloomberg story: U.S. Economy: Pending Sales of Existing Homes Decline

?When you take away all the support from the housing market, the underlying demand for housing is a lot weaker than we thought,? said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. ?We clearly pushed some demand forward, and there wasn?t that much demand to pull forward anyway. The housing recovery is going to be very, very slow.?

This is no surprise and suggests that the extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit will probably cost taxpayers over $100,000 for each additional home sold.

Just about every economist opposed the tax credit as expensive and ineffective. Here are some quotes from a post last September from an article by Patrick Coolican in the Las Vegas Sun: Economists say extending tax credit for first-time homebuyers is bad policy

It?s terrible policy,? says Mark Calabria of the libertarian Cato Institute.

?It?s awful policy,? says Andrew Jakabovics, associate director for housing and economics at the liberal Center for American Progress. ?It?s incredibly expensive. It?s not well targeted."

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-h...me-sold-2010-3


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brucefan

EOG Dedicated
Re: Another Government success story

I am sure healthcare will come in under budget:doh1

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<!-- Begin Story -->Thursday, May 6, 2010, 11:15am EDT
Postal Service posts $1.6B quarterly loss


Washington Business Journal - by Jeff Clabaugh

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<!-- end story media --><!-- begin storycontent -->The U.S. Postal Service reported a smaller quarterly loss but still warns it needs changes in order to stay afloat.
The Postal Service had a fiscal second-quarter loss of $1.6 billion, compared to a net loss of $1.9 billion in the same quarter a year ago, according to Bloomberg News, citing chief financial officer Joseph Corbett at the Postal Service?s board meeting Thursday. Mail volume has declined another 6.3 percent in the past six months.
?We cannot sustain those losses,? Bloomberg quotes Postmaster General John Potter as saying. ?The Postal Service will run out of money next year unless there is legislative change.?
The Postal Service needs Congressional approval for its two biggest money-saving proposals; cutting delivery to five days a week and delaying retiree health benefits payments.
The Postal Service?s own Board of Governors last month approved management?s plan to eliminate Saturday delivery of most mail, a move that could save the Postal Service an estimated $3.1 billion. The Postal Service has also already eliminated 40,000 jobs and is expected to close hundreds of Post Office locations across the country, including eight locations in the District.
The U.S. Postal Service posted a $3.8 billion fiscal 2009 loss and has warned that will swell to $7.8 billion this year.

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Re: Another Government success story

Hey, can someone remind me how individuals were exploiting this credit?

Something to do with selling one's house to their kids or another family member to get the credit, or something like that, right?
 
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