Israel Gaza Blockade

This is interesting.  Apparently there is going to be another attempt to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.  http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-borer-gaza-blockade-20110626,0,3515948.story

It should put Israel in a difficult position of denying aid to people who have been "locked away" for an extended period.  If Israel fires upon this ship, it would seem to be an act of war --after all it is freedom of the seas.  I would like to see US warships support this attempt.  After all, Israel is the ONLY middle east country who has attacked the US, and it is the only middle east country which routinely spies on the US -- we've caught many spies and have deported them over the years.  Why should we help them?  They've got nuclear weapons and would like to use them against their virtually unarmed neighbors.

U.S. budget deficit: Borrowing and spending the GOP way - latimes.com

I agree with this article and It is certainly believable, since it was written by Mike Lofgren who was a Republican Congressional Staffer.

U.S. budget deficit: Borrowing and spending the GOP way - latimes.com

The only time that Republicans seem to get excited about balancing the budget is when the other party is in office. Bush cut taxes and started unnecessary wars to help keep the economy from tanking. Now the Republicans don't want any economic stimulation (deficit spending) because they don't want the economy to recover prior to the 2012 elections.

Autopsies on the decline - latimes.com

Autopsies have been on the decline for decades. See this article:

Healthcare: Autopsies on the decline - latimes.com

I think it is a mistake. I think there should be an independent organization with a separate budget to perform autopsies for medical quality control.

The percentage of deaths that get autopsies does not need to be very high -- possibly 1 or 2%. However they need to be done against standards. The data collected needs to go into a database, and there should be enough randomness in the sampling technique to insure that deaths all over the country are subject to autopsies.

The Battle Over Power of Attorney - WSJ.com

Interesting discussion about power of attorney in the Wall Street Journal. It sounds like what ever you do to try to do good estate planning could result in making the attorney's rich -- particularly if the family feels like they are being treated unfairly.

The Battle Over Power of Attorney - WSJ.com

Editorial: 10 terrible tax breaks - USATODAY.com

USA today on 31 May 2011 had a great editorial that described 10 tax breaks that are provided to many different constituencies. Here is a link to the editorial:

Editorial: 10 terrible tax breaks - USATODAY.com

These tax breaks cost the country about 300 Billion in tax revenue and in many ways distort the free-market economy in ways that may hurt the overall economy. They also contribute to the terrible complexity of our income tax laws.

I think these may be the "top 10" breaks -- but I believe there probably a hundred or more "lower value" tax breaks that hide "under the radar" and benefit some small groups of special interest groups.

The GOP Fights it's own ideas on healthcare

It appears to me that the Republicans are being obstructionist and going against basic Republican principles to fight the new healthcare law. This article in the LA Times explains how the Conservatives and Republicans for decades have tried to require everyone to buy their own health insurance and have proposed bills to do it. Now that we have a law on the books to do just that, the Republicans are backpedaling. It might be because the healthcare law is called "Obamacare" --even though it incorporates many of the ideas the Republicans have tried to sell.

Are we facing the end of the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage?

At some time, the US mortgage market must change. I believe this article describes only part of the adjustments to come.

Are we facing the end of the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage?

I do believe that Fanny Mae and Freddie Mack have "distorted" the free market, because they have not been able to adjust their terms for the many different situations. One size fits all doesn't work for mortgages.

Mortgage rates should be adjusted depending upon the risk involved in the loan. Yes FICO score and appraisals are a big part of the formula. Loan to value ratios, payment to income ratios and rent cash flow do have a big effect on the risk.

Lenders do have a table of rates that take many of those factors into effect. The length of the loan generally affects the rate -- the longer the term (30 yrs) the higher the risk to the lender, so the interest rate is higher.

However, the dreaded "prepayment penalty" has been "under priced" -- in other words if a borrower opts to accept a prepayment penalty the rate reduction has never been properly priced. If the prepayment penalty option came with a big enough discount, borrowers would opt for it. That would make the marketability of the mortgages much better.

Likewise lenders do not offer a discount for a "recourse loan" vs non-recourse. Most American loans are "non recourse" so that borrowers can walk away from their home and the lender has to recourse to attach the rest of the borrowers assets. I think this increases the risk the lender takes. Why don't they offer a half percentage point discount for "recourse loans" -- of course that would probably mean that all "non-recourse" loan rates would be higher.

Likewise, it appears that people buying a second home get a big break. I believe anyone buying a second home and obtaining a mortgage should be required to get a "recourse" loan that puts all of their assets at risk if they default on the loan.