quote:

ORIGINAL: luckydawg

I am just poiinting out that over 100,000 temporary census workers have been hired. They are temporary.

Bush didn't get to do a census( every ten years-- clinton got one, so did Obama) , or he would have gotten a huge(meaningless) bump in his numbers also.

But the idea that the rate of hiring will continue ata the same pace, after Census operations are done, is simply stupid.

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ORIGINAL: domiguy

Someone has to manufacture all of those Real I.D.'s....

quote:

Loan demand to buy homes sinks to 13-year low


(Reuters) - Demand for loans to buy U.S. homes shriveled to a 13-year low last week, following the expiration of federal tax credits, while near-record low mortgage rates stoked refinancing, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

Housing Market

Mortgage purchase applications sank 27.1 percent to the lowest level since May 1997 in the absence of the popular government support, the group said. U.S. housing groped for footing after more than a year of homebuyer tax credits worth up to $8,000 expired on April 30.

Requests for home purchase loans have fallen almost 20 percent over the past month despite low borrowing costs.

"It's disturbing," said John Canally, economist at LPL Financial in Boston.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I3PX20100519

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


Two links from todays Drudge Report:


US Stocks Fall Sharply as Jobless Claims Jump...

quote:


Markets take fright at political moves


Fears of a disorderly regulatory crackdown on banks and financial markets triggered a crisis of confidence among investors on Thursday that sent share prices reeling in a global flight to safety.

US, European and Asian shares all tumbled in the wake of Germany’s partial ban on naked short selling and ahead of a crucial vote on the US financial regulation bill. The S&P 500 fell 3.9 per cent, bringing its losses since late April to 12 per cent and pushing it into “correction” territory.

Most Asian stocks, which this week slumped to their lowest levels in nearly nine months, continued to suffer on Friday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index dropped 2.45 per cent to 9,784.54, while Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.26 per cent to 4,305.40. The Shanghai Composite, the worst-performing market in the region this year, rebounded 1.08 per cent to 2,583.52. The Hong Kong market was closed for a public holiday.

“The lack of clarity from the politicians has shattered confidence,” said David Owen, chief European financial economist at Jefferies.

Read more at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d3fa8864-6436-11df-8618-00144feab49a.html

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ORIGINAL: Louve00

Actually, if you ask me, we should have let Wall St go down when they fucked themselves up with their greedy scheming.  It was time to clean house.  Get rid of the old and make room for the new.  If they took all those billions of dollars and split it up between all the registered voters instead...and instill a "trickle up" strategy, instead of a trickle down one, I personally, would have been tickled pink. 

If you ask me, Wall St deserves what they get.  Don't talk to me about 401K's.  They weren't interested in mine when they fucked it up, and they aren't interested in it now.  And, I've learned not to depend on it.