What's with this carryback BS that will allow homebuilders to offset current and future losses with previous years' profits? (And I read it isn't just for homebuilders, it's for all companies apparently -- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040304026_pf.html) Did the homebuilders get that because a couple of months ago they declared they were going to halt all congressional campaign funding because they didn't think the govt was doing enough to help out with the housing crisis? (http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1227547320080213) Can I get the carryback too? I had a large profit from stock sales last year. But this year I have a large loss, and would like to offset that loss with last year's profit. Can I do that?
This is only a small fraction of the evil in this bill. The giving money to municipalities to buy properties nearing foreclosure and renovate them is the biggest joke of all time.. This does nothing but bail out the speculators and others on TV shows such as flip your house. The government will buy at the asking price and then be unable to sell it because the real market value would be so much lower. So instead of the banks or speculators holding the bag, it will be municipalities. If you ever needed a reason to short Munis, now is your chance!! Also another evil is all these special considerations given to "high priced markets" aka markets with the biggest bubbles. Instead of letting them deflate to come more inline with the rest of the nation, they're changing all kinds of regulations to prop up the bubble. Atrocious! How The Kin would solve this problem would be to pass a law forcing all foreclosed properties to be sold or rented within six months. Come month seven they must be auctioned off to someone who agrees to bring them up to standards for ownership or rental income. The intent would be to bring down the damn prices of these homes to what the market is willing to pay. Plus the houses would be generate economic activity rather than just sitting there becoming a firetrap. I'm also not a big fan of regulation so maybe a law would not be the best method to achieve my goal. Rather jack up liability insurance to 10x current in order to piss off the banks and force them to sell the properties at what they're worth. Next time Mr. Banker, don't fucking loan 125% of value to someone without a job. It's just common sense.