Renters, Evictions and States

 CNBC actually did a four-star analysis piece....over eviction folks, states, and who owes the most.

So here's the thing....the average American owes $3,700 for back rent.  Yes, that's it.

I looked at the map, and its a curious piece.

What the average Alabama guy on the back-rent deal owes?  Between $2k and $3k.  

What the average California guy owes on back-rent?  More than $5k.

In 19 states, the amount is $2k to $3k.  Those particular states?  Mostly all 'red' states and in the south.

By their analysis.....around 11-million fit into the back-rent issue.

So, should all of this chaos been handled back six months ago....like early on in March of 2021, under a fired-up and getter-done President Joe Biden?  Well....common sense says yes.

My gut feeling is that the sixteen-percent of American renters in this bucket....would all prefer to avoid living out of a tent, and not being kicked out of their apartment/house.  But this would mean that Covid needs to shift back into being a marginal worry...something that Biden is simply unable to accomplish.  

So I recommend a read of the story, and compare the numbers yourself.

Why Did Pelosi Ask For a Sixty-Day Situation on the Eviction Moratorium?

 As things unfolded in the past week.....House Speaker Pelosi basically asked the President to use 'imaginary' powers to delay the eviction moratorium one more time (roughly sixty days).  Biden said sure, but he also said clearly....legal minds told him such powers didn't exist. 

So the question is....what did Pelosi have in the 'magic-bag' to work out if Biden's imaginary powers did give her sixty days?

I sat and pondered over this and finally came to this idea.  I think she wanted to draft up a package of a massive amount of funding (probably over 300-billion dollars)....that would be gifted out to every single eviction situation and bring the landlords all back up to zero losses.  Then on top of that....maybe some ninety day amount of relief....telling everyone to just go back to work.

An insult to people who worked through this period, and paid the landlords on time?  Yeah....without any doubt.

Will this strategy be laid out in the next week or two....within the House?  That's my humble belief.  Getting this past the Senate?  Hard to say.

The key thing to think about....all this Covid-downtime business....who is to say that you just need fast cash to resolve this and enough 'loot' to cover things to November?  In California for example....I don't see the economy in recovery for at least another year.  New York City?  Same way.

It's a stupid strategy, but the only way that you'd keep the 8-million-odd people in a residence, and not ending up as hobos on the street....living out of a tent under a interstate bridge.  

The 'Dossier' Story

 I read the National Examiner yesterday, and this one story sticks out.  Former National Security folks under Trump now say enough effort by China on personal data of people....reached a level where they can practically build a 'dossier' on every single American adult.

I sat and pondered over this.

My 'dossier'?  It probably says a bit over my preference for cheesecake.....my normal expenses for ice cream per year....a list of Amazon purchases over the last year....my preference of Ironman over Thor....my general dislike of the NY Yankees....my preference for railway travel....that last speeding ticket I had to pay....my preference for ice tea (no sugar added)....a weakness for Italian food, and the fact that the cat has sent the wife to the hospital for emergency stiches on two occasions.  

My brother's dossier?  It probably talks over his preference for catfish (without the garlic), his selection for dogfood, beer preferences and a list of ammo purchases. 

Lets be honest....whatever kind of dossier they think they have....about 99-percent of it is marginal information and really doesn't say much. Wo-wan probably sits there in the basement of the building....thinking mostly....these folks live pretty quiet and non-stressed lives.  

My Biggest Question over Gobecki Tepe

 Out on the far southeastern section of Turkey.....on a small hilltop...there's this ancient ruins that was discovered around sixty years ago, and in the 1990s....they'd dug enough up to set up a pretty serious discussion.

Here is a stone 'religious-area' (fair amount of stone cutting done), which they can date back to around 7400 BC.  

What bothers the dig-crowd is that they had most humans of the time assigned the task of hunters....not the farmer or settler type.  So constructing this site (others around too)....there was a fairly long period (probably more than ten years) that stone carvers were doing this business.

But I tend to have an even bigger question.  

Once this was built....things stayed active for about a thousand years.  Then....someone came along and covered the area up.  They didn't dismantle or destroy the religious site....they simply buried it.  

Why?

Most folks who go through some anti-religious situation....go to great lengths to destroy what stands there.  These people didn't do that.  

Amount of effort to cover it up?  Even if you had three-hundred people....I'd take a guess that at least six to eight weeks (minimum)were spent in hauling the dirt up and covering the site.  

So what happened?  My humble guess is that ten to fifteen generations of folks from this region (draw a circle of 1,000 miles) made a 'walk' to this site every couple of years and locals who'd settled that region were getting frustrated with tens of thousands of people who'd show up.  So one year, the locals did a quick burial of the site and announced some mysterious event had occurred and wiped out the whole site.  

Maybe for another thousand years, locals knew the whole story but kept their mouth shut.

My Thoughts on the Eviction Moratorium

 Starting on 1 August.....landlords were supposed to have full power to evict renters who were behind on rent.  It was figured that around 8-million Americans are in this situation.

The CDC has tried to throw up another 60-day delay but the courts have said they don't have the power.  Yesterday, President Biden announced an order for a delay....suggesting he has the 'power'.  If you look around...most lawyers are laughing because anything that has to do with money....must come from the House, and clearly...Biden doesn't have this 'power'.

If you wanted a clear example of how the US is now fitting into a 1930s 'hobo-era'....this would be the cherry on the cake of what damage has already been done.

I expect by the end of August that evictions will start up and by the end of September.....the majority of the 8-million Americans will be tossed out onto the street.

Biden's power then?  He can direct the Pentagon/National Guard to provide tent-cities and house the 'crew' in 'Desert-Storm' style tents.  He could direct FEMA to give out a bunch of crappy RV trailers....although no one would want them parking in their neighborhood or city.  Beyond that....nothing.

This whole 'screw-the-landlords' agenda has to come to an end.  It wasn't right or fair to go down this path.  

If you asked me going into 2022 (mid-terms)....this eviction mess will end up being one of the top five problems for the nation, and these 8-million people added to the crowd living under bridges....will make for a fine mess to clean up.  

A Business Story

 Over the past week, NBC has come to agree...'yes, the Olympics hasn't been a big viewer deal'.  It's to the point where discussions are going on, with companies who paid for viewers via their commercials, and the fine-print of the contracts say that if things don't reach x-level....NBC has to 'gift' them other commercial airing times.

Whats this mean?  Well.....imagine yourself a car company and your $25-million was a total bust on viewers.  So the fine-print now allows you a chance to get 20 prime-time slots in January of 2022.  

The damage this triggers?  Pick one single show on a Tuesday night and suggest that two of the advertisements will be 'pay-back' situations....meaning there is no profit for these two commercials that you are giving away.  

The show in question?  Well....they will be furious over the free deal, and realize they didn't make the cashflow they anticipated.

Could they do this for NFL football evenings?  Yes.

So here's the real cherry of this discussion....NBC signed an extension to the Olympics contract (back in 2014)....which brings them up to 2032.   Cost?  7.75 billion dollars.  

What if the woke business continues into 2024 (Paris), and they were forced into 'gifting' another hundred-odd commercials?  2028 in southern California?  Same story?

All of this leads me to this one thought....that NBC will be putting itself into some economic spiral and probably to be sold off within the next five years.  

Biden's Infrastructure 'Deal'

 I read a piece from FEE (Foundation for Economic Freedom) this morning.  They've looked over the 2,700 page draft bill that Biden's folks are pushing.  There were five things which I sat and pondered upon:

1.  There's around $40-million which would go to rural Alaska....for the sole purpose of improving sanitation.  They aren't clear about this.  It might be spent on garbage trucks....building new garbage pits in the wilderness...or just hiring folks to pick trash along the roads of Alaska.

2.  Half-a-billion would be spent over four years.....for something called 'energy' efficiency in schools.  They don't indicate what states get this 'loot', or how the efficiency will play out.  Might this all be spent just on new bulbs?  Well....yeah, it might be that simple.  So some idiot school principal might go and ask for $25k in some grant, just to put all LED lights in the hallways of his school?  

3.  The $12,786,434 number?

Well....somewhere in this draft....this unusual amount appears for what you'd call  annual funding.....to cover “sport fish restoration” and “recreational boating safety".

Normally, in the political world....you write a round number ($40-million for example).  Is this some precise program?  Unknown.  I'd almost speculate that someone from Montana just asked for the amount.....as a joke.  

But for boat safety?  What are going to do.....put up more signs? 

4.  Somewhere in the draft, there is a 'create-a-commission' idea written up (no amount listed) where they'd study the low numbers of women as 'truckers'.  Yes, there are apparently too few female truckers, and a commission would go out and resolve this problem.

Who would make up the commission?  All women?  All men?  

5.  Finally, two-million a year would be granted out to plant wildflowers along highways and interstates.  It's a fairly small sum and I would imagine it'd only pay for the seeds....not the manpower.