Cranky Greg's View

Government Wastes Money in Fresno

Cranky Greg was driving around in Clovis, California the other day and noticed that a portion of Shaw Avenue in Clovis was being torn up and repaved.  This puzzled Cranky Greg because there wss nothing wrong with that part of Shaw Avenue to begin with.

Then Cranky Greg saw the above sign.

There are other parts of Clovis and Fresno that are being inconvenienced by this "stimulus" spending.  What the government is doing is using taxpayer money to tear up perfectly fine streets and then repaving them.  This results in inconvenience and a terrible waste of money.

This morning, Cranky Greg drove on Shaw Lane in front of the Fresno State campus.  Last night, they government started tearing up that part of Shaw Avenue for the same damn reason!

And Bullard Avenue in Clovis is subject to the same silliness.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a joke passed by politicians to ensure their reelection.

And you're paying for it.

More Wall Street Shenanigans

In keeping with their past history of playing money games simply to make money without really contributing anything to the economy, the next scam that investment banks are working on is buying life insurance settlements and then bundling them together and then re-selling them as bonds.

Another gimmick, another way to create phony money without producing anything of value.

The only people that will win on this deal are the investment bankers.  Everyone else will lose out in this new scam.  Especially the elderly and sick who will be preyed upon by a bunch of slick hucksters who only care about making a buck.

Two Trillion Tons

Cranky Greg got this catchy little song in his e-mail today....

Malaise

Jimmy Carter's "Malaise Speech" from 30 years ago, today.  It's kinda interesting to listen to during these times.  Unfortunately, Jimmy Carter was the worst president of Cranky Greg's lifetime, barely narrowing out George W. Bush, who gave Carter a run for his money.

More Housing Mess

Real estate agents are complaining about new appraisal guidelines, claiming that under the new rules, houses are appraised for under their true value and therefore lots of mortgage applications are rejected.

Poppycock.

Reality hurts, doesn't it?  Especially after years of abuse of the real estate markets in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida by real estate agents and mortgage brokers and appraisers.

Real estate is not a get rich quick scheme anymore.  The ugly reality that one doesn't get something for nothing is setting in.

Only until reality hits the market from top to bottom will this crisis end.

FRESNO: Not for the Faint of Heart

Here are two interesting stories about the economic crisis and Cranky Greg's adopted hometown - Fresno, California.

The first story deals with the Central Valley's declining dairy industry.  Take a drive up and down Highway 99 from Stockton to Bakersfield and you will see and smell dairies all up and down the state.  It now costs dairy farmers more money to produce milk than they can sell it for.  But notice the government's impact on all of this - the government has been buying excess milk, which is exactly the wrong thing to do.  The agricultural industries should be operated under the free market system.  Government interference exacerbates the problems.  When the government buys excess products, it is nothing more than a payoff to a large political constituency.  Thanks to these political payoffs, you have to pay more for dairy products, and you might even find a shortage in the future.

The second story is about Fresno's housing meltdown, which is the subject of a new documentary, Fresno.  It may not sound exciting, but CG is thinking about attending the premier of the film.  For those of you who don't know Fresno, it's largely an agricultural town with low incomes compared to the rest of the State.  Nevertheless, the housing market in the Fresno area was going nuts until about 2007, with people buying houses way above what their incomes could really support.  Now the house of cards is starting to fall, and it's going to get much worse in Fresno before it gets any better.

The Black Swan is Here

Humpday Ramblings

Here's some shocking news:  Sammy Sosa tested positive for "performance enhancing drugs" in 2003!  Of course, no one is surprised by this.  Sammy was a cute and talented kid when he was drafted by the Texas Rangers.  Then he blew up into a caricature as the steroids inflated his muscles and he started looking goofy.  At least Sammy wasn't as stuck up as Barry Bonds.

U.S. Senator John Ensign from Nevada is the latest "family values" politician to disclose that he had been having an affair.  Ensign's affair was very similar to San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom's affair.  Like Newsom, Ensign had an affair with the wife of a close friend who worked on his staff.  Unlike Newsom, Ensign was a loudmouth participant of Promise Keepers, the religious right organization that loudly proclaims that its members are soldiers for God and integrity.  It always seems to me that the louder the politicians talk about family values and religion, the more they have to hide.  Cranky Greg could care less if a politician has an affair.  But CG has to chuckle when the preachy types get caught.  Sen. Ensign is Just Another Stupid Politician.

The City of Fresno ranks 94th out of the 100 largest cities nationwide for relative economic performance, according to a study released today by the Brookings Institution.  This does not surprise Cranky Greg because the housing bubble was a huge factor in this.  CG remembers the days of Wild West real estate in Fresno.  In a city where average incomes are among the lowest in California, people were snapping up $700k+ houses like crazy!  Now it's all crashing down, and Fresno is too reliant on agriculture to overcome a crisis like the real estate fiasco.  Until Fresno can broaden its economic base, Fresno and the rest of the Central Valley will have some more tough years ahead.

The David Letterman/Sarah Palin controversy is old news now, and Letterman "apologized" to Palin for his "joke" about A-Rod "knocking-up" Palin's daughter.  Everyone knows that if Sarah Palin said something obnoxious about Letterman's wife or child that she would be hammered by MSM.  But Letterman can get away with it.  His apology wasn't sincere, because it came so late.  CG used to be a big fan of Letterman until about 5 or 6 years ago when his show became stale and he became a surly old bastard.  Now viewers of Letterman's show see an old surly guy who simply reads from his blue cue cards the whole show.

Beware of the Bear-Rally

The Dow went up 215 points today and Cranky Greg's hearing all sorts of stuff about how the economy is bouncing back.

Cranky Greg's not so sure.  The stock market didn't predict all this stuff we're in and so why does anyone believe that the recent stock market rally indicates that we are out of this mess?

What about the deficit?  Higher taxes?  Carbon taxes?  Retiring baby boomers?  The coming commercial real estate fall?  Pension funds?!

If you have cash, keep it.  Don't put it in the stock market.

Goodbye to Gottschalks

Fresno is home to the Gottschalks department store chain.

Gottschalk's will be "liquidated."

Cranky Greg hardly ever shops in department stores, preferring to stay away from malls and doing most of his shopping at Amazon or Paul Fredrick.

Nevertheless, it is a sad day for Fresno when a long-time business anchor goes belly-up.

Unfortunately, this is a trend rather than the exception.