Faster Than Sinking

Immersed
As Ann Romney immersed herself in the elite world of riding over the last dozen years, she relied on Jan Ebeling as a trusted tutor and horse scout. In her, he found a deep-pocketed patron....Mrs. Romney and her husband, Mitt, even floated a loan — $250,000 to $500,000, according to financial records — to Mr. Ebeling and his wife for the horse farm they run in California, where the Romneys use a Mediterranean-style guesthouse as a getaway. (NYT, 5/26/2012)


What a wonderful piece of investigative reporting today from the New York Times. We get a close up view of Ann Romney's very expensive (and exclusive) hobby. The Times explores her financial arrangements with her trainer, her tax returns and even delves into lawsuits and other legal matters.


Next up, Michelle Obama's taste for exotic vacations. The Times will, no doubt, tell us how many vacations she has taken, who accompanied Michelle and the kids, whether they were viewed as good tippers...oh, and the cost to taxpayers. Just kidding!


Low Down
As mortgage rates have hit one record low after another, millions of homeowners have been forced to watch, longingly, from the sidelines. They haven’t had the option of refinancing because sliding home values pushed their mortgages underwater, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth. The banks would just not work with them.

Yet many of these borrowers are gainfully employed, have solid credit histories and have never missed a mortgage payment. And they want to stay in their homes — even if those homes are worth substantially less than they paid. These are the families that President Obama and other political leaders like to call “responsible” homeowners. (NYT, 5/25/2012)


What are we missing here? These poor victimized homeowners took out mortgages, continue to have jobs, and continue to pay their mortgages. Sure it is a bummer that their houses are worth less. But that is life. The mean old banks would not have come after them demanding more money if their houses appreciated in value.


Why does it matter? Because in Liberal land, these people are victims and must be helped. Guess who pays? That's right, the taxpayer. 


Stashed
With the election of the Socialist François Hollande as president this month, the wealthy in France are suddenly scrambling for places to stash their money for a while....What the French are so concerned about is Mr. Hollande’s campaign vow to tax income over 1 million euros at a 75 percent rate. The Socialist government, trying to put a dent in France’s $1.3 trillion euro debt, has said it will also raise the tax rate on capital gains to the same level as the tax on ordinary income. (NYT, 5/24/2012)


Capital flows efficiently from high tax locales to lower tax locales.


Differences
"There's another difference, that is when Bain invested, it invests money that it gets voluntarily to be invested. When the president throws a half-billion dollars away on Solyndra, it's money taken away by the police power of the federal government from unwilling taxpayers."  (George Will, quoted on Newsbusters.com, 5/27/2012)


All hail Will!