lol @ pretending scotus justices follow some black-and-white idea of the 'law' and arrive at their positions based on PURE REASON--in reality they have particular opinions based on their political beliefs, and they post-hoc rationalize based on those opinions. to pretend otherwise is a load of shit.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3559969&forum_id=2#32882640)

He was splitting hairs, but his answer was fine.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3559969&forum_id=2#32882647)

He answered exactly how a nominee is supposed to answer during this fucking circus.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3559969&forum_id=2#32882683)

And now let us pause to contemplate Richard Blum’s participation in the destruction of the American dream at the hands of a new phenomenon known as the “Wall Street landlord.”

Blum’s wife is U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The California legislator’s latest financial disclosure report, filed with the U.S. Secretary of State on May 15, includes a 2014 Blum Family Partners investment of at least $1 million in Colony American Homes Holdings.

Blum is the billionaire founder of the private-equity firm Blum Capital Partners. Colony homes are owned under the umbrella of Colony Capital, one of the largest investment firms in the world. The senator’s disclosure describes Colony American Homes as a “leading owner and provider of high-quality single-family residences for rental across the United States.”

What it doesn’t say is that the rental stock is made up of foreclosed homes purchased by a handful of investor groups and hedge funds in the aftermath of the 2007–08 financial crisis and real estate crash.

Blum is often identified as a quintessential Democratic Party insider, with ties that run the gamut from Jimmy Carter to the Dalai Lama. His private-equity firm manages about $500 million in assets, and the bulk of the fund’s portfolio is dominated by holdings in CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate services firm.

Though Blum has taken pains to deny it, reports say he’s worth at least $1 billion. According to a recent Roll Call survey, Feinstein’s net worth is $45.3 million, which puts her in the top tier of wealthy Washington lawmakers.

Colony American Homes was one of several investor-owned landlords highlighted in a June report from the anti-poverty advocates at the California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC). That study focused on the rise of the Wall Street landlord and its impact on California renters and would-be homeowners.

The verdict from the CRC is that Colony American Homes has not been an especially good landlord: rents are above average, utilities generally aren’t included, and maintenance is poor, at best. Moreover, would-be first-time homeowners in California often find themselves squeezed out by cash-rich corporate buyers like Colony American Homes. Rents are going up, and the landlord is nowhere to be seen.

“Neighborhoods are changing, income diversity is changing, the tenure of residents is changing,” says CRC associate director Kevin Stein, an author of the report. The investor grab of housing stock, he says, “is destabilizing neighborhoods and creating a lot of displacement.”

The CRC survey found that real estate investment trusts, private equity firms and hedge funds have spent $25 billion buying over 150,000 distressed homes around the country since 2012.

“This whole situation is only possible because of a financial crisis that was engineered by Wall Street,” says Stein. “This is investors profiting off of foreclosure.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3559969&forum_id=2#32882601)

Harry Reid was a civil servant his entire life and his net worth was $25 million.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3559969&forum_id=2#32882811)

http://www.lbmjournal.com/single-family-housing-starts-reach-highest-level-since-2007/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3559969&forum_id=2#32882646)