bills_fan

I'd like to suggest the following Aussie Shiraz from Mollydooker, that I have been drinking around NYC lately. Its big and bold, and pretty reasonably priced. Try the Boxer.. Mollydooker Winery

You're correct, however the States are the front-liners identifying trends aimed at consumers. States have no clue how to regulate modern institutions, but they are effective at protecting residents from scams and identifying them earlier in the process than Federal regulators or SROs. A good example of this is the coordinated State campaign aimed at the free-lunch-for-seniors.

It also strips certain entities of regulatory responsibilities (such as State regulators). The State securities regulators serve an important front-line role that will be severely curtailed by the proposal. I'm still digesting exactly what the proposal means for all involved entities.

Bad. If you believe in capitalism. This steps toward socialism. Not to mention empowering the entity that created the mess in the first place (the Fed).

Do NOT put 20% down if you can avoid it. Put 11% down, overlay a fixed-rate HELOC and bank the remainder (or pay the 6.5 student loan debt). With home prices dropping nationally, the less I have tied up in an illiquid asset, and subject to extreme market risk, the better I would feel.

Wonderful idea...lets turn out the lights on the casino floor for Earth Hour. Tomorrow's headlines read "Riot Breaks Out on Casino Floor...67 Injured"

Yes. And if you can figure out a way to properly value the thing, as well as find people willing to sell it to you at your value, you will make a friggin killing. In 5 years time, you can buy the Bills.

Dyker and Bay Ridge (where I lived for over 5 years) may begin to change relatively soon. Those areas were protected by La Cosa Nostra, no one messed with where they lived, hence a safe, stable neighborhood. With their fall, it may begin to be open season.

NG....Just WOW!! What an avatar!!! I think that could be the best ever.

True, but the same can be said for Westchester, parts of CT and Jersey and especially Brooklyn/Queens.

Noone is saying that you drive 2 hours...you take a commuter train.

I'm talking door to door commuting time. I don't know much about Orange Co. or Stroudsburg, so I don't really know how long it realistically takes to commute from there, during rush hour. I'd expect that it would be easier from Orange Co., just because of the train. Stroudsburg is a bus commute, and who knows what traffic is like. I know that on Long Island, where he was talking, a two hour commute, door-to-door puts you in Babylon on the South Shore or Northport on the North Shore, still $400-500k for a 3 bedroom ranch.

True, but there is a point of dimishing returns, i.e. the farther out you go, the longer the commute. Over 2 hours each way is not uncommon, and you are still talking 450-500 for a modestly sized 3 bd ranch.

No, but understand his perspective. "Somewhere else" is really not an easy concept in the tri-state area. Minimum housing prices in even halfway decent suburb areas start at $500k, and believe me, you are not getting much. In the city (not Manhattan, but Brooklyn/Queens etc.) discussions begin at 750k and go up very quickly from there.

Feeding 15 and taking on 31 kids! In my best Macho Man Savage voice...Ohhhhh YEAHHHHH!!

BTW - LEH may be the next to suffer. Consider the article below, and the fact that April way out-of-the-money futures puts have traded substantially in the last couple of days. I hope not, but be prepared... LEH Next?

Well, they let Chrysler be sold to the Germans for a while. Big lenders are routinely bailed out of messes (think S&L crisis) and the airlines have been propped up as much as possible, so maybe it is true. I don't know for certain, but it may be an unwritten policy.

Too bad "Saint" Alan didn't allow us to take the pain in 2000-01. Keep shooting the economy up with drugs (low interest rates). No problem there. Now the pain has morphed into a full-blown infection that will cost dearly by the time this is over.

I'll try once...if you really want to learn something about "bailouts" and what has happened recently, read this article. It is a nice summary. 10 Days that Changed Capitalism

I totally agree. Anyone who agrees to something without reading the fine print or understanding the terms and conditions...well, I really have no sympathy. Should the commercial banks have required documentation to verify income...of course. For that, and other shady lending practices, they should bear some responsibility. But anyone who did not discuss all of the mortgage terms is either interntionally ignorant or full of it. They made the deal, now they have to get out. Problem is, if evnough walk away, the whole economy will go with them. Vaporizing trillions cannot happen, and the government know it. They are just trying to get through the election before creating Resolution Trust II to deal with the problem.

And he also gives the impression that, while he has a ton of natural talent, he works his a$$ off to maximize it. I have always liked and respected Tiger.

Could be true. Although after the coaching/quitting moves I saw, Meathead never gets the benefit of the doubt.

Anyone sign Haggan? If so, apologies since I missed it.

To be fair, JP was the #3 emergency QB in that game. Meathead, exhibiting his keen mind for trickery, bypassed the designated backup, Holcomb, after Bledsoe got hurt and we were losing by over 3 TDs just to throw JP in the game. Of course, the Pats* blitzed the hell out of him and noone picked it up. This is exhibit A of how not to develop a QB.

I say option A, but then my philosophy has always been to draft big guys early, little guys late.