Bill would encourage foreigners to buy U.S. homes

Let me get this straight, there is a bi-partisan bill in the Senate sponsored by the liberal Charles Schumer (D-NY) and the so-called conservative Mike Lee (R-UT) to allow wealthy owners of real estate to sell their homes to foreigners who would get a VISA to live in the United States because they bought an expensive home of over $500,000.  Would someone please tell me what is wrong with Mike Lee who is supposed to be conservative.  He wants to bail out wealthy homeowners along with real estate agents so they can sell their homes to jump start the economy.  Excuse me but that will drive up prices once again in California and other places.

What about the property owner who has a $250,000 home for sale who lost their job -- sorry you are out of luck according to this gimmick for the wealthy.  The Senate needs to stay out of the housing market and concentrate on passing a budget which they have not done since the Fall of 2007.  Will someone explain how they can come up with these gimmicks but cannot pass a budget?

Must be missing something here but once again the wealthy make out and can sell their homes while anyone with a home valued under $500,000 is still not able to sell their homes under this program.  Guess Mike Lee really is in the hip pocket of  the National Chamber of Commerce.  Did Republicans not vet their candidates in 2010 for Senate?

Bill would encourage foreigners to buy U.S. homes 

The bipartisan Senate bill would allow foreigners who spend at least $500,000 on a residential property to obtain visas allowing them to live in the United States. 

A house in San Marino, where median home prices have risen -- largely because of Asian home buyers and investors -- even as real estate values in the region have declined. (Gary Friedman, Los Angeles Times / January 27, 2011)

By Jim Puzzanghera and Lauren Beale, Los Angeles TimesOctober 20, 2011, 7:00 p.m.Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles— 

American consumers and the federal government haven't been able to bail out the sinking U.S. real estate market. Now wealthy Chinese, Canadians and other foreign buyers could get their chance. 

Two U.S. senators have introduced a bill that would allow foreigners who spend at least $500,000 on residential property to obtain visas allowing them to live in the United States.
The plan could be a boon to California, which has become a popular real estate market for foreigners, particularly those from China. 

Nationwide, residential sales to foreigners and recent immigrants totaled $82 billion in the 12-month period ended March 31, up from $66 billion the previous year, according to the National Assn. of Realtors. California accounted for 12% of those sales, second only to Florida.
"Overall, Los Angeles is the perfect place for investors," said YanYan Zhang, an agent with Rodeo Realty in Beverly Hills, who travels to China several times a year to meet potential clients. 

Sandra Miller, a broker at Engel & Volkers in Santa Monica, an international real estate firm that caters to foreign clients, said about 10% of the luxury market now is composed of foreign investors. She estimated that offering them U.S. visas would triple that figure, as well as help sales elsewhere. 

"California, Florida, New York, Colorado, Hawaii and Texas — those states will see a huge increase in demand," she said. "The whole Westside would certainly benefit." 

The bipartisan proposal, part of a package that also would make it easier for international tourists to visit the U.S., is similar to an existing program that puts foreigners on a fast track to a green card if they invest at least $500,000 in an American business that creates at least 10 jobs.
"Many people want to come and live in the United States," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who introduced the legislation Thursday along with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). "They will be here spending money and paying taxes, and the most important thing is they'll sop up the extra supply of homes we have right now compared to demand, and that's what's dragging our economy down." 

The legislation would create a new homeowner visa that would be renewable every three years, but the proposal would not put them on a path to citizenship. To be eligible, a person would have to buy a primary residence of at least $250,000 and spend a total of $500,000 on residential real estate. The other properties could be rented. 

The program would come with several restrictions. 

The purchase would have to be in cash, with no mortgage or home equity loan allowed. And the property would have to be bought for more than its most recent appraised value, Schumer said.
The buyer would have to live in the home for at least 180 days each year, which would require paying U.S. income taxes on any foreign earnings. Buyers would no longer be eligible for the temporary visa if the property were sold. 

The buyer would be able to bring a spouse and minor children to live in the U.S. but would need to apply for a work visa to hold a job. Neither the buyer nor dependents would be eligible to receive Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security benefits. 

"The bill does not limit people from being productive," Schumer said. "It simply prevents them from coming here and taking jobs that otherwise would go to Americans."
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett and others have advocated boosting the U.S. economy by attracting foreign investment. 

The Visa Improvements to Stimulate International Tourism to the United States of America Act, or VISIT-USA Act, aims to do that by also making several other changes to visa policies.
Among them are allowing Chinese tourists to receive a five-year visa that permits multiple visits. They now must apply for a new visa every year. Canadians would be allowed to stay in the U.S. for more than 180 days without having to obtain a visa. 

Schumer and Lee have lined up support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Travel Assn. and the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. Schumer said he was working to get the backing of the Obama administration, which received the bill's details Thursday. 

"For too long, we have created barriers, and too many hoops and hurdles, which act to deter visitors from other countries coming to the United States to spend their money and create jobs," said Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue. "This is a loss we can ill afford in today's economy." 

Robert Toll, executive chairman of Toll Brothers Inc., a Pennsylvania builder of luxury homes, joined Schumer on a conference call with reporters to back the foreign home-buyer proposal. He said it was no different from tax breaks designed to attract businesses. 

Lee described it as a free-market way to boost demand in the real estate market after "big-government programs have failed to work."  

Source:  LA Times

jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com
lauren.beale@latimes.com

On a Senate Call, a Glimpse of Marching Orders Courtesy of Sen Schumer

The fact that Senator Schumer is taking orders from Democrat Senate Caucus on how to deal with the Republican House should not shock anyone or the fact they want to portray the House Speaker and members of the House Republican Caucus in a negative light for the media.

What does shock are two things -- first is that this comes from the New York Times and second that Schumer's staff was dumb enough to leave an open mic so the media could hear his instructions to fellow Democrats.

Anyone who knows Speaker Boehner knows he is his own person and not beholding to the Tea Party movement, the Tea Party Caucus or any other group. He will meet with the Tea Party but has stayed independent which Democrats already know but why let the truth get in the way.

When the Democrats talk about the 'extreme right wing,' they don't have a clue about the Tea Party. Most Tea Party members are not 'extreme right wing' but are Americans who are fed up with overspending of the Government along with overreaching by the Government into their daily lives. That is not 'extreme right wing' but American patriotism. Liberal Democrat like Schumer and Boxer have gone so far left that anyone with common sense seems 'extreme' to them.

March 29, 2011, 12:30 pm
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

Um, senators, ever heard of the mute button.

Moments before a conference call with reporters was scheduled to get underway on Tuesday morning, Charles E. Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, apparently unaware that many of the reporters were already on the line, began to instruct his fellow senators on how to talk to reporters about the contentious budget process.

After thanking his colleagues — Barbara Boxer of California, Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, Thomas R. Carper of Delaware and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut — for doing the budget bidding for the Senate Democrats, who are facing off against the House Republicans over how to cut spending for the rest of the fiscal year, Mr. Schumer told them to portray John A. Boehner of Ohio, the speaker of the House, as painted into a box by the Tea Party, and to decry the spending cuts that he wants as extreme. “I always use the word extreme,” Mr. Schumer said. “That is what the caucus instructed me to use this week.

A minute or two into the talking-points tutorial, though, someone apparently figured out that reporters were listening, and silence fell.

Then the conference call began in earnest, with the Democrats right on message.

“We are urging Mr. Boehner to abandon the extreme right wing,” said Ms. Boxer, urging the House to compromise on the scale of spending cuts and to drop proposed amendments that would deny federal financing for Planned Parenthood and for government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency.

Mr. Carper continued with the theme, referring to some House Republicans’ “right-wing extremist friends.” Mr. Cardin decried Mr. Boehner’s giving into “extremes of his party.” Mr. Blumenthal closed by speaking of the “relatively small extreme group of ideologues” who are “an anchor” dragging down the budget negotiation process.How news is made . . .

Source:  New York Times

IndyMac Attack: Did Schumer, Paulson, Soros, and the CRL Kill the Bank and Profit From Its Collapse?

We know that Soros will do anything to make a buck, but just how crooked is Charles Schumer, Senator from New York. His fingerprints seem to be all over this along with trying to do away with filibuster rules on Senate. Who died and made him king?

Maybe the US Attorney for the Southern Region of New York should be looking into the business dealings of Chuck Schumer and Wall Street financial guru's who seems to be playing fast and lose with the rules. Yet these people are the ones writing the new laws on banking for their cronies on Wall Street?

Schumer said not to blame him for the Indy Mac collaspe but Bloomberg didn't agree according to their article:

IndyMac Seized by U.S. Regulators; Schumer Blamed for Failure
By Ari Levy and David Mildenberg

July 12 (Bloomberg) -- IndyMac Bancorp Inc. became the second- biggest federally insured financial company to be seized by U.S. regulators after a run by depositors left the California mortgage lender short on cash.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will run a successor institution, IndyMac Federal Bank FSB, starting next week, the Office of Thrift Supervision said in an e-mail yesterday. The regulator blamed U.S. Senator Charles Schumer for creating a ``liquidity crisis'' after a letter on June 26, in which he expressed concern that the bank may fail.

Excerpt: Read More at Bloomberg

Schumer expressed concern that the bank might fail in a letter and then says he takes no responsibility. Is Schumer party to all of the shenanigans going on in the financial sector that has cost the American Taxpayers millions and most likely billions of dollars if we were ever given a complete accounting? We think Schumer is, and once again state we think he should be investigated along with Dodd. We are still having a hard time getting our hands around the fact that President Bush used the advise of Democrats like Schumer for Treasury Secretary Paulson CEO of Goldman Sachs and Bernacke for the Head of the Federal Reserve -- WHY? We didn't understand it at the time and still don't.

All we know is that there should have been a major investigation launched into all these ties that crisscross since the Congress has wasted so much of our tax dollars bailing financial entities out. Thanks to Big Government for beginning to shine the light on the truth.

IndyMac Attack: Did Schumer, Paulson, Soros, and the CRL Kill the Bank and Profit From Its Collapse?
by Andrew Mellon
April 22, 2009

At the end of 2007, hedge fund billionaire John Paulson invested $15 million in the leftist non-profit, Center for Responsible Lending, their largest single donation ever. Around the same time, Paulson and his employees contributed over $100,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, headed, at the time, by Sen. Chuck Schumer. Roughly six months later, CRL and Sen. Schumer both launched a highly public attack on the California-based mortgage lender, Indymac. The lender failed, wiping out the investment of thousands of people. Roughly six months after that, John Paulson, in partnership with George Soros, bought up the remnants of Indymac for pennies on the dollar.

It is a drama that no longer surprises us, unfortunately. Wealthy investors use their access to elected officials and their checkbook to advocacy groups for private profit. But this story has a twist; a top executive of CRL when this deal went down, Eric Stein, is now working at the Treasury Department, heading up the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Mr. Stein will be the chief federal official designing regulations to protect consumers. Right.

This is that story.



Financial crises create opportunities. Prudent and discerning entrepreneurs who save their capital for a rainy day are able to acquire assets at firesale prices and put these assets to higher and better uses. Market forces cleanse wasteful malinvestments, innovative business models make existing ones obsolete and the economy roars forward all the stronger for it.

But while market entrepreneurs generally prosper during times of great dislocation, ultimately to the benefit of all participants in the economy, today political entrepreneurs have hijacked the economic system. The politically connected elites have used this downturn to carry out a massive wealth transfer from the people to the public and private sectors, fleecing the middle class for their own enrichment. In their hypocrisy, the long ago small businesses that grew large because of free markets have helped chain these markets through lobbying for regulations and subsidies to shield themselves from competition and their own errors.

Excerpt: Read more at Big Government

Open Letter to Sen. Charles Schumer (Trade with China)

Just when we thought Schumer was already at the bottom when it comes to supporting the American consumer, he comes along and proves us wrong that he can go even lower. Now Schumer is leading a socialist charge to make us pay more for products from the Chinese by telling them to raise prices? That makes no UNLESS Socialist Schumer is attempting to pay off the unions by raising the price for Chinese goods so Americans will buy Union made goods.

Until recent years, we favored Buy American until the price of goods was driven up by union wages, benefits, and strikes. With the economy tanking, we have joined the Americans looking for the best product for the lowest price and if that means it comes from China then so be it as we would rather buy non-union no matter where it is made.

Why would Americans want to buy any product manufactured by AFL/CIO workers when they made a sweetheart deal with Obama to support Obamacare so they are not affected until the end of the decade.

Open Letter to Sen. Charles Schumer
by Don Boudreaux on March 24, 2010

Sen. Charles Schumer
Capitol Hill
Washington, DC

Dear Sen. Schumer:

Up-in-arms that the Chinese offer American consumers exceptionally good bargains, you propose legislation to pressure the Chinese to raise the prices of their exports. And, insisting that Congress pass your bill speedily, you warn that “every day we wait is a day we lose wealth.”

Let me see if I grasp your economics. Low prices – including low prices on many imports that American producers use as inputs in their own production – cause us to “lose wealth.” High prices, then, must cause us to gain wealth.

Okay! I get it! Now I understand that competition – which reduces prices – destroys wealth.

And technology! Man, that’s a big-time curse, given that it incessantly enables more and more outputs to be produced with fewer and fewer resources and workers and, thus, consistently pushes prices down.

No wonder we Americans are so poor and sub-Saharan Africans are so rich! We’re burdened with vast, open, competitive markets teeming with technology-laden producers, all of which combine to reduce the prices American consumers pay and, hence, (I now see) to deplete America’s wealth. In happy contrast, Chadians and Nigerians and other Africans are blessed with governments that severely restrict their abilities to trade, to compete, and to accumulate accursed price-lowering technologies.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Sen. Schumer for working to make America more like Niger! What would we do without your insight and courage?

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
George Mason University

Source: Read more like this at Cafehayek

Schumer, Gillibrand, and the Wall Street Payoffs

Thanks to Instapundit!

September 29, 2009
MOE LANE: Schumer, Gillibrand, and the Wall Street Payoffs. It’s protection money. But they aren’t “honest politicians,” as they don’t stay bought. So watch out. . . .