Jerry Gardner

Yep, here it is again. Random musings about the week that was and the week that will. And awayyyyyy we go.

What did Tennessee...

Some dear friends of mine are taking a trip to Nashville for a few days. Since much of my family lives about halfway between Nashville and Memphis, I've visited both often. Here're a few thoughts.

I love Nashville. It's very clean, the food is good and the last time I was there there was a guy playing his guitar and singing in an ice cream shop. And for a certified history geek, the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's house is a must see. Yep, if I were Big and Rich I'd be "ridin' up and down Broadway on my old stud Leroy", too.

Still, given the chance I think I'd pick Memphis. It's not as clean, although the cobblestone streets and trolley's are pretty cool. What Memphis has is soul!Between Sun and Staxx records (two early pioneers of Rock and Roll and soul) and the Bar-B-Q, it can't be beat. Beale St. might be a little over rated but you can't get a better meal than at The Rendezvous. If that doesn't suit you you can take cab to Neely's.

I don't want to sound like a travelogue for Memphis but you should try it if you get the chance.

I've attached a little song here by John Hiatt that explains the differences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwhLdr01c6U

A Lot of Yelling, Not Much Getting Done

There's still a lot of discussion about the disruptions at town hall meetings. I don't think that yelling down your opponent does anything to help your cause so I wish they'd stop. At the same time, calling people who disagree with you and exercise their constitutional right to do so Nazis and un-American is unacceptable. Let's all act like adults and try to come to a solution.

Detroit Market Review

Last week I mentioned that inventory in the local marketis leveling off. This is good news for sellers and the market as a whole. Well last Sunday, no less an authority thanThe Detroit Free Pressagreed with me. O.k. not me specifically, they just said the same thing that I;d been saying for months. Inventory, not price, drives a market. Price is a lagging indicator of inventory. If there are less homes on the market prices will go up. 3-6 months of inventory indicate a normal market.

Inventory has been hovering around 4-5% in Detroit and 6-8% in the surrounding suburbs. Too early to call an end to the down market but good signs all around.

Great Saying of the Week

"A man does not attract that which he wants but that which he is" James Allen, As A Man Thinketh.

Have a great week.

It may be afternoon by the time you get this but I did start it in the morning. That counts, doesn't it? Just some general and random musings on the week that was. And away we go...

Full Disclosure

Politically I've voted for Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians (there was that "leave me alone" period) and Independents. I try to look for someone who at least, seems honest, has his/her country, state, city's interests at heart and will look me in the eye. If someone meets those qualifications, they have a fighting chance. That being said, very few in office would get my vote right now.

Health care

I'm concerned about health care in our country.I'd like to find a way that everyone who needs and want coverage could get it. I'd also like people who like what they have to be able to keep it. I don't think the system being put through Congress now will do either of those things. Barney Frank, powerful Democratic congressman said point blank that this bill is the first step to a "single payer" system. That is what Canada and Britain have now and no one likes it. I think if this bill, or anything similar to it passes, we will be bankrupt in a few years. There's no way the poor won't be taxed as heavily as the rich. It'll be called Excise tax or sales tax or something else, but it will be there. Let's find a better way.

Stop Wining

Keeping with politics and health care, I think it's hilarious that the Democrats are screaming about the protests happening at the town hall meetings. They yell that the participants are all plants by the Republicans. That may be true, probably is, but the Dems did the same thing for the last eight years. For them to decry the Republicans for stealing a page out of their playbook is the height of hypocrisy.

Credit Given Where Cedit Due

Hats off to Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) of Michigan. It was just announced that over 1.5 Billion dollars is coming to Michigan and my town of Livonia. Battery cells that had been made overseas and assembled here will now be made here. I don't know how much influence Granholm had in the decision, Thaddeus McCotter (R) the Livonia congressman may have had some pull as well. i know this though, if the jobs had gone somewhere else, like a lot of auto plants did, we'd be screaming for her head.

Finally

There was some good news in the Real Estate market in the Detroitarea recently. In an informal survey of local cities, inventory stayed about the same while in some towns, inventory actually dropped. What does that mean for you? Inventory is the leading indicator of the real estate market. If inventory is higher, there's more to choose from, so prices drop. If there's less inventory, prices stabilize or go up. It's too soon to call a recovery, but good news is good news.

As Steve Earle blasts on my speakers I sit here at my desk with a bit of optimism.

"How can that be?" you say, "You live in the Detroit area. GM just declared bankruptcy, Chrysler may be an Italian company by now and if the job rates in the rest of the country are bad, Michigan is worse."

If I looked at things that way I could be pretty depressed. Instead I took a look at the market and strangely enough, there was some good news.

Detroit is showing a 4 month supply of homes. Three of the larger surrounding communities had around a six month supply. Now if you go by the rule of thumb that six months is a normal market then we're pretty normal. The city of Detroit si oina down right sellers market.

Yes, there were towns around here like Livonia and Canton with eight and nine months supply and even one with eleven months. Still this is better than the twenty to twenty five months supplies that were there a year and a half ago.

Maybe it's only a glimmer of hope but it's better than nothing. Great things can come from small beginnings.

Here's to great things to come!

I just finished watching the committee hearings with Treasury secretary Tim Geithner.

Before anyone wonders why I'm home and not out selling Real Estate let me explain. I had that "O.k. now your 50" test. Enough said.

The thing that stuck out to me was that Geithner was asking congress to increase his powers so he could deal with problems like AIG. If you missed my post on that yesterday, here's the link.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/998412/Monday-moanin-Market-Update-Congress-Fiddles-While-Rome-Burns

If I were more of a conspiracy theorist, which I most hotly deny, I would say that this ws all set up to increase the power of the federal government in regards to banking matters.

No! No! I'm not a conspiracy theorist! I don't believe that could be possible. How could the Federal Government be smart enough to pay a bunch of bonuses that won't amount to a hill of bean, get the country riled up over it with their righteous indignation and then give the people what they want by empowering Washington to punish the bastards? They're not that smart!

Are they?

Nahhh. Never mind.

Much like the Roman emperor who supposedly played his violin while his city burned, Congress has found just as a creative way to avoid responsibility, accountability or anything else closely resembling adult behavior.

While Nero found a scapegoat in the form of Christians, Congress has found an enemy just as dangerous. the foe is AIG and the crime is paying contractual, if undeserved, bonuses. The trouble is that the bonuses were paid with taxpayer mmoney.

Congress maintains that it's not the purview of a giant insurance company to steal money from taxpayers. That's specifically Congress' job. And like any Mafioso family whose territory has been breached, Congress retaliated.

The sad part is, we may all be the losers.

Since Congress wrote a provision into the buyout that bonuses would be paid, I don't see their justification for their outrage. First Senator Chris Dodd, head of the Senate Banking Committee, claimed that he didn't include the language, then admitted he did. He said the Treasury pressured him into including it. That's understandable since Dodd is a first term Senator with no real experience about how Washington works. He couldn't possibly fight the admin....

Wait! What? Dodd has been a senator since 1981 and was a congressman for three terms prior to that?

Never mind.

Last week the bi-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the growth of the deficit over the next 10 years to reach 9.3 Trillion. That;'s a capital T! The administration predicted quite a bit less.

If we spent the 170 million the AIG executives got every year, it would take over 200 years to get to a trillion. Take that times the projected deficit and we are looking at 1800 years of spending.

Neither Congress nor the President have the time nor the luxury of being outraged. It's time to pu down the fiddle and look at the bigger problems.