The Money-Printing That Made Millennials Wealthy Can Bankrupt Them Too
The Federal Reserve should move as far away as possible from the money-printing policies that have defined the last two decades.
A Democratic judge sided with New York Attorney General Letitia James last year, claiming former President Donald Trump and his company committed fraud by overstating the value of their assets.
On "The Daily Show" Monday, former comedian Jon Stewart discussed where Trump's civil fraud case presently stands, zeroing in on the Republican front-runner's appeal and corresponding multi-million-dollar bond.
Stewart argued that Trump's supposed overvaluation of his properties was "not victimless," intimating further that those who do likewise in pursuit of profit are immoral if not outright criminal.
The New York Post and critics online intimated this week that Stewart might have some phantasmal victims of his own.
In response to accusations of hypocrisy, Stewart lashed out Wednesday; however, his defense fell flat absent an adoring audience ready to laugh on cue.
"What did Trump actually do to earn this penalty?" Stewart said Monday, referencing Trump's $454 million appeal bond, which a state appeals court knocked down to $175 million this week.
"Well, it turns out that for a decade, whenever Trump wanted to get a loan or make a deal, he would illegally inflate the value of his real estate. For instance, suggesting that his 11,000-square-foot penthouse was a 30,000-square-foot-penthouse," continued Stewart. "We all do it. I mean, on my license I'm not listed as 5'7''. I'm listed as 30,000 square feet."
Stewart said that Letitia James "knew that Trump's property values were inflated because when it came time to pay taxes, Trump undervalued the very same properties. It was all part of a very sophisticated real estate practice known as lying."
The host stressed that overvaluations "are not victimless crimes."
Stewart suggested that the banks were victimized, having apparently been paid back at lower interest rates. He also suggested that since "money isn't infinite," persons seeking loans who might have given "a more honest evaluation" could hypothetically have lost out.
According to the host, when it comes to the investment community, "In pursuit of profit, there is no rule that cannot be bent, there is no principle that cannot be undercut, as long as you and your f**king friends [are] making money."
For those who did not watch what Jon Stewart said, here it is. But keep in mind that it has now been found that he overvalued his NYC home by 829% after slamming Trump\u2019s civil case as \u2018not victimless.\u2019 WATCH and then read his story here by @nypost: https://t.co/ebZz6E5weS— (@)
On Tuesday, podcast host Tim Pool dug up a 2014 New York Times article concerning Stewart's sale of a 6,280-square-foot New York City penthouse to financier Parag Pande for $17.5 million. The article noted that Stewart bought the apartment for $5.8 million in 2005.
Pool tweeted, "Did @jonstewart commit fraud when he sold his penthouse for $17.5M? NY listed its market value at $1.8M [and] AV around 800k."
The New York Post seized upon Pool's suggestion and obtained assessor records from the year of sale, which indicated the property's estimated market value was only $1.88 million. According to the Post, the actual assessor valuation was even lower, at $847,174.
The Post alleged that Stewart had done precisely what he accused Trump Monday of doing: paying "significantly lower property taxes, which were calculated based on that assessor valuation price."
The Post noted that the New York assessor valuation on Stewart's former penthouse "is the exact same citation method and metric that New York Attorney General Letitia James used to value Trump's private and personal properties, and then sued him for inflating those assets."
Parag Pande apparently sold the property in 2021 at just over $13 million at roughly a 26% loss.
Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite suggested that it was unfair to suggest Stewart had "overvalued his property," certainly not by "a staggering 829%."
Rumpf claimed the Post and other critics were conflating different types of real estate values — the actual market value of a property, the property's taxable value, and "documentation about a property's value submitted to a lender for the purposes of securing a loan" — perhaps with the intention to mislead.
Rumpf argued further that it is common for there to be a significant delta between assessed and actual market values, stressing that in Stewart's case, a buyer was willing to pay $17.5 million.
The Post has since changed the title of its article from "Jon Stewart found to have overvalued his NYC home by 829% after slamming Trump's civil case as 'not victimless'" to "Jon Stewart benefited by 829% 'overvalue' of his NYC home even as he labels Trump’s civil case 'not victimless.'"
While "The Daily Show" host's representatives did not respond to the Post's requests for comment, Stewart tweeted Wednesday evening, "OMG!! I've been caught doing something not remotely similar to Trump!"
"I guess all I need to do now is start a fraud college, steal classified docs, bankrupt casinos, pay hush money, grab pussies, discriminate in housing, cheat at golf and foment insurrection and you'll revere me!" added Stewart.
After Stewart threw more rocks from his glass house, critics pounced.
@jonstewart This you?— (@)
Tim Pool doubled down, writing, "My brother[.] You sold a property NY valued at 1.8M to someone for 17.5M and they lost 4M because of it[.] And you paid taxes on a valuation of 748k. 'When it came time to pay taxes he undervalued his property.'"
Blaze TV host Mark Levin tweeted, "Caught red-handed and you make a dumb-ass argument. According to YOU, you are a liar, a fraud, a hypocrite, and you're arrogant about it. Sound familiar, Johnny?"
"They told us that others need to pay their 'fair share,'" wrote investigative reporter James O'Keefe. "Oh what a tangled web they weave!"
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Oklahoma City is among America's 20 largest cities and on track to keep on growing. Although the city of roughly 700,000 does not presently have a problem with density and has plenty of room left for sprawl, a California real estate developer nevertheless has a hankering to extend the Big Friendly skyward.
Matteson Capital, a firm headquartered in Newport Beach, California, and architecture firm AO announced Friday they were seeking greater latitude from the City of Oklahoma concerning the height of one of the towers in its proposed development dubbed the Boardwalk at Bricktown. If it gets its way, then Oklahoma City might soon become home to America's tallest building.
Oklahoma City Free Press reported that the original zoning application requested that the Legends Tower be 1,750 feet all. However, the developer is now seeking to build its so-called Legends Tower 1,907 feet high — 131 feet taller than One World Trade Center in New York City.
Apparently, 1,907 is not an arbitrary number but rather a symbolic gesture to commemorate the year Oklahoma entered the Union.
There is a problem, however, with the developer's request and its corresponding announcement.
Kristy Yager, public information officer for the city and a staff member of zoning, told the Free Press, "To clarify, they would need to rezone, not seek a variance. Their existing SPUD was specifically negotiated, including the building height ('Maximum height of any building shall be 300 feet with the exception that height will be limited to 90 feet within 20 feet of the northern SPUD boundary.')"
Yager added, "We understand the applicant's representative is preparing a new SPUD application, which would go to Planning Commission for a recommendation and City Council for final decision."
Scot Matteson, the CEO of Matteson Capital, told KOCO-TV in late December, "We're going to build it in phases. We assess the market demand and the growth of population and employment."
The developer indicated further that the tower can be shortened if demand turns out to be lower.
The developer plans to erect three additional towers at the base of the skyscraper, each 345 feet tall.
Altogether, the development would span roughly 5 million square feet and include a 480-room Hyatt hotel with 85 residential condominiums; 1,776 residential units; and 110,000 feet of commercial and community space.
Matteson said in a statement Friday, "Oklahoma City is experiencing a significant period of growth and transformation, making it well-positioned to support large-scale projects like the one envisioned for Bricktown."
"We believe that this development will be an iconic destination for the city, further driving the expansion and diversification of the growing economy, drawing in investment, new businesses, and jobs," continued Matteson. "It's a dynamic environment and we hope to see The Boardwalk at Bricktown stand as the pride of Oklahoma City."
Rob Budetti, managing partner of AO, said, "Crafting a project of this significance is an honor, and the collaborative process with the City, Matteson Capital, Hensel Phelps, and a top-notch team of engineers, consultants, and development partners has been exceptional. Managing the intricacies of such a project, ensuring seamless integration of all components, is a significant challenge."
The location for the ambitious development is presently occupied by an L-shaped parking lot in Bricktown nearby the Paycom Center, home to the Oklahoma City Thunder; the Amtrak station; a movie theater; and a planned soccer stadium.
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It’s no secret that the housing market in the U.S. is a giant disaster. Interest rates have skyrocketed, prices have quadrupled, and these mysterious entities seem to swoop in with cash offers and buy up many of the available homes on the market.
What’s going on?
Democratic candidate RFK Jr. recently addressed these issues on the "Tim Dillon Show."
“Not only are we, you know, suffering inflation from the constant wars,” but “also you have these three giant companies – BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard,” who “ already own everything, and now they've decided they're going to buy every single-family home in America.”
“They're on track now to control, to own … 60% of the single-family homes in America within six years,” he explains.
It’s no wonder young people feel so discouraged these days. This is a death sentence to many people’s dreams of owning a home.
“Think about this for a second,” says Dave Rubin. “They're telling us and have been telling us for years: ‘You will owe nothing and be happy.”’
“Now the banks have gone from 2.5%-3% interest rates” to “around 9%, so the average person now if every month you have to pay 9% on that mortgage, now you're paying an awful lot,” Dave explains, “and suddenly you can't get that mortgage, you can't buy that house, and then what happens?”
“You have to end up renting,” which means “you're getting no equity, you're not building wealth over time,” and most importantly, you’re not owning anything, which is exactly what these mega corporations want.
“You can see the connection,” Dave says. “If the banks raise interest rates high enough, the average person is like, ‘I can't take out the loan’…and then BlackRock and Vanguard and these other companies come in … and they just buy the house for cash.”
Once they acquire the house, “they let it be empty … or they then allow it to be rented,” meaning they own everything, while people own nothing, which is exactly what they’ve said their plan is.
“So you see how the banks are connected to exactly what BlackRock is doing,” Dave concludes.
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