Greenwich Democrats livid over Treasury Secretary nominee’s secret Cayman Island accounts

I blame Bush

“It’s a complete outrage,” noted local Dem Dollar Bill fumed to FWIW. 

“Bad enough we’ve seen warrantless wiretaps of American citizens, the grand reopening of Guantanamo Bay prison and predator drone attacks against American citizens, but now we’re being offered as our Treasury Secretary someone who bets against America?  The average person doesn’t have access to Cayman Island accounts. The average person doesn’t get to take advantage of tax scams, even if he is a Democrat. We’re talking fairness here –  you think the real Obama would nominate this Jack Lew fellow, this Cayman Island tax dodger? There’s something seriously wrong here.

“No no,” Bill moaned, rubbing his face in his hands, “this shall not stand. We’ve got to storm the White House and rescue the Messiah from the Bush operatives who’ve seized him. Come, Fudrucker, take my hand, we’ll restore our leader to paradise.”

Smoke signals from the conclave

It’s grey, but the odds makers are feeling pretty Hillarious

Putting it to the Wasserman test

 

The best that she can be

The Chairman of the Democrat Party introduces a welfare recipient, just picked at random, who will counter Republican Marc Rubio’s Real State of the Nation speech Tuesday night.

In a conference call Monday, [Debbie] Wasserman Schultz enlisted the help of Annette Capella, described by party officials as a “Medicare recipient from Florida,” to warn of the “extreme budget priorities,” they believe Rubio is likely to outline in his televised response to President Obama’s address.

Capella gave a lengthy and unflattering statement about Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida and Tea Party favorite. She admitted he is an attractive politician but one who would make life more difficult for seniors by supporting a plan to alter Medicare by reducing benefits.

It turns out, however, that Capella is hardly your standard Medicare-dependent Floridian. She’s the Democratic Party’s state committeewoman for St. Johns County.

You do know what the Wasserman test is, don’t you? How fitting.

An ahistorical governor for an ahistorical time

And I’ve lost my mittens!

“We’ve never had this much snow!” So whined Governor Malloy at a press conference held today to demonstrate his firm hand on the helm. The trouble with ignorance like his is that people believe him – hey, he’s the gov, right? Malloy is apparently still undecided whether to blame our current crop of white stuff on global warming or scary looking rifles, or both, but when he does, I’m sure his followers will believe that, too.

Here’s a snippet on another snowstorm, one Dannel didn’t study in school:

Blizzard of ’88

The official snowfall measurement for Hartford was a mere 19 inches, but that was taken at Trinity College, where the howling winds of the Blizzard of 1888 were hurling the snow down to Broad Street. Unofficial, and probably more accurate, measurements for this city were 36. Middletown got 50 inches,Marlborough 48, New Hartford 42.

Convert him, ship him to Rome, forget him: (our) problem solved

Unaccustomed as I am to redeeming mankind, …

Pope Benedict retires and his church looks for his replacement;  there’s a seriously underemployed Messiah – in -waiting who’d probably be happy to fill in while  he decides when to usher in his own second coming.

No more double dipping?

 

I’ve learned to just say no

Realtor/blogger George Crossman points out that landlords are no longer offering to pay a second commission on lease renewals and sends along 7 or 8 new listings to prove it. I handle rentals pretty much just as an accommodation to clients who can’t find what they want to buy, so I’ve never looked to rental commissions as a significant source of income. It’s been easy, therefore, to toss in the unearned renewal commission as part of my client’s offer: what was I supposed to have done to earn one? You find a place, your clients move in, you get paid, period. The tenant decides to re-up, I had nothing to do with that.

For those agents for whom rental commissions are keeping them afloat, I suppose this is a big deal. I see it as fair, and long overdue.

Old Greenwich sale, back country whackeroo

15 Midbrook Lane

15 Midbrook Lane, a 1960s renovated split-level across from Perot Library (and thus north of the village), sold today for $1,117,500, which seems like a good deal for the buyer. The seller paid $1.350 for it in 2005, which no doubt explains their reason for pricing it at $1.395 this time around but we seem to be pretty much at 2003, not 2005 levels, and there was some significant price appreciation in those two short years, appreciation that must now be given back.  I though this was a nifty house, a split-level that worked, and some very good renovation work done since that 2005 purchase. So I’m sorry to see the owners lose money, but there you have it.

145 Porchuck

The owner of 145 Porchuck Road took an even worse haircut, having to mark down the house he paid $3.1 million for in 2006 to $2 million before he found a buyer and presumably, that buyer is paying less than the final asking price. Tough area these days.