Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a
\nstronger-than-normal whiff of marijuana as America’s
\ncannabis king lights up to celebrate the state’s first
\nlegal retail pot sales. The historic day comes more
\nthan two decades after California paved the way for
\nlegal weed by passing the nation’s first medical
\nmarijuana law, though other states were quicker to
\nallow the drug’s recreational use. From the small town
\nof Shasta Lake just south of Oregon to San Diego on the
\nMexican border, the first of about 90 shops licensed by
\nthe state will open Monday to customers who previously
\nneeded a medical reason or a dope dealer to score pot.
\nIn November 2016, California voters legalized
\nrecreational marijuana for adults 21 and older, making
\nit legal to grow six plants and possess an ounce of
\npot. The state was given a year to set retail market
\nregulations that are still being formalized and will be
\nphased in over the next year. “We’re thrilled,” said
\nKhalil Moutawakkil, founder of KindPeoples, which
\ngrows, manufactures and sells weed in Santa Cruz. “We
\ncan talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of the
\nspecific regulations, but at the end of the day it’s a
\ngiant step forward, and we’ll have to work out the
\nkinks as we go.” The long, strange trip to get here has
\nbeen a frustrating one for advocates of a drug that in
\nthe federal government’s eyes remains illegal and in a
\nclass with heroin.<\/p>\n
The state banned “loco-weed” in 1913, according to a
\nhistory by the National Organization for the Reform of
\nMarijuana Laws, the pot advocacy group known as NORML.
\nThe first attempt to undo that by voter initiative in
\n1972 failed, but three years later felony possession of
\nless than an ounce was downgraded to a misdemeanor. In
\n1996, over objections of law enforcement, the drug czar
\nunder President Bill Clinton and three former
\npresidents who warned it was an enormous threat to the
\npublic health of “all Americans,” California voters
\napproved marijuana for medicinal purposes. While the
\nrollout of grassroots collectives of growers and
\ndispensaries where marijuana could be sold to patients
\nwas at times messy, the law led to wider acceptance of
\nthe drug as medicine. “The heavens didn’t fall,” said
\nDale Gieringer, director of California NORML. “We
\ndidn’t see increased youth drug abuse or increased
\naccidents or crazy things happening as our opponents
\npredicted.” Today, 28 other states have adopted similar
\nlaws. In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first
\nstates to legalize recreational marijuana. California
\nis one of five states, plus Washington, D.C., that
\nfollowed suit. Retail sales are scheduled to begin in
\nMassachusetts in July.<\/p>\n
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have capital reserves again.
\nAs expected, the government-sponsored enterprises on
\nFriday made their quarterly dividend payments to the
\nDepartment of the Treasury. But, thanks to the new
\nagreement between the Federal Housing Finance Agency
\nand the Treasury, each of the GSEs withheld billions
\nfrom the Treasury to ensure that each has enough
\ncapital on hand to \u201ccover other fluctuations in income
\nin the normal course of each Enterprise\u2019s
\nbusiness.\u201dUnder the previous version of the Preferred
\nStock Purchase Agreements that went into effect when
\nthe government took the GSEs into conservatorship,
\nFannie and Freddie send dividends to the Treasury each
\nquarter that they are profitable. The PSPAs also
\nstipulated that the GSEs were prohibited from
\nrebuilding capital and each of the GSEs\u2019 capital base
\nwas required to be reduced, with their capital reserves
\nscheduled to be drawn down to $0 in 2018. But that all
\nchanged earlier this month when the FHFA announced a
\nnew agreement with the Treasury that allows the GSEs to
\nhold a $3 billion capital reserve. Collectively, the
\nGSEs made dividend payments this week to the Treasury
\nof $2.897 billion. Of that, $2.249 billion came from
\nFreddie Mac and $648 million came from Fannie Mae.<\/p>\n
But those amounts are far less than the amount of
\nprofit that each GSE made in the third quarter. Freddie
\nMac\u2019s profit was $4.7 billion, while Fannie Mae\u2019s
\nchecked in at $3 billion, but unlike previous quarters,
\nthe GSEs did not send all of their profits to the
\nTreasury. Based on some rough calculations, Freddie
\nwithheld $2.451 billion from the Treasury, while Fannie
\nwithheld $2.352 billion. As the chart from the FHFA
\nstates: “As set forth in the Letter Agreement dated
\nDecember 21, 2017, amending the Certificate of
\nDesignation of Terms of Variable Liquidation Preference
\nSenior Preferred Stock, Series 2008-2, the dividend
\namount is the Net Worth Amount for the dividend period
\nminus the Applicable Capital Reserve Amount. Beginning
\nin 2018, the Capital Reserve Amount is set at $3
\nbillion under most circumstances.” With the $2.897
\nbillion sent to the Treasury for the third quarter,
\nFannie and Freddie have now paid approximately $278.783
\nbillion to the Treasury in dividend payments since the
\nfourth quarter of 2008.<\/p>\n
Steelmakers are betting on the US again, building mills
\nthey hope will help them compete against cheap imports
\nas demand rises. Steel companies have complained for
\nyears that steel from China, South Korea, Vietnam,
\nTurkey and elsewhere is being sold in the US for less
\nthan the cost to make it. While imports are still
\nincreasing, steel prices are also on the rise globally.
\nAnd demand for US steel is starting to rebound, thanks
\nto rising oil prices and a strengthening manufacturing
\nsector, steel executives say. Still, others see
\nexpansion as a risky bet. Some steel companies say they
\ncan capture more customers with new plants that can
\nmake more steel at less cost than older plants, and can
\ndeliver it faster to customers. They’re also counting
\non additional US tariffs to drive out cheap,
\nforeign-made steel, creating more opportunities for
\ndomestic producers. S tiff tariffs imposed over the past
\n18 months have significantly slowed steel imports from
\nChina, according to Commerce Department reports. Nucor
\nCorp. is building a $250 million steel mill in Sedalia,
\nMo. Startup Big River Steel LLC in Osceola, Ark.,
\naccelerated production early this year at one of the
\nlargest new steel sheet mills built in the US in years.
\nAnd Tenaris SA started making pipe for oil and gas
\nwells at a new $1.8 billion mill near Houston this
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
Extreme housing prices in California — driven by a
\ncombination of speculation, favorable legal\/tax
\npositions for landlords, foreclosures after the 2008
\ncrisis, and an unwillingness to build public housing —
\nhas created vast homeless encampments, but there’s a
\nless visible side to the crisis: working people in
\n“good jobs” who have to live in their cars. There’s a
\nwhole subreddit devoted to these folks, a mix of maker
\nculture (modding cars to make them more comfortable as
\nhomes), hobo chalk-marks (where can you park, and for
\nhow long?), and generalized anxiety. It’s not just
\nsingle middle-class people, either — they’re roaming
\nAmerica’s streets in company with a vast nomad army of
\nhomeless seniors who drive from town to town looking
\nfor seasonal work to repla ce their busted pensions.
\nWhat\u2019s striking in California is that many communities
\nalready accept people living in vehicles, despite there
\noften being rules or laws against it. This fall, the
\ncity of San Diego expanded its Safe Parking Program,
\nwhich designates lots that can be used by those living
\nout of their cars, and many other cities have similar
\nprograms. Under a law passed last year, Los Angeles
\nalso allows overnight parking in some commercial
\ndistricts. In Mountain View, the mayor brags about the
\nservices his city provides to those living in more than
\n330 cars, trucks and RVs. So long as vehicle dwellers
\naren\u2019t in residential areas, the NIMBY attitudes that
\nhave helped spur California\u2019s housing shortage seem to
\nbe relatively in check. And given the many huge parking
\nlots that are empty overnight, capacity is not going to
\nbe a problem if living in vehicles becomes a Califor nia
\nphenomenon \u2014 at least if owners of those lots have a
\ncompassionate streak or can monetize this use of their
\nproperty. Given the centrality of Golden State\u2019s car
\nculture to its image and history \u2014 reflected in movies
\nlike \u201cAmerican Graffiti\u201d and in the once-huge
\npopularity of drive-in restaurants and movie theaters \u2014
\na redefinition of the car in California as not being
\nabout independence and adventurousness but about
\nshelter would be a twist that not many state residents
\nwould have seen coming 25 years ago.<\/p>\n
The foreclosure rate in Minnesota is now at the lowest
\nlevel in more than a decade, and far below the national
\naverage.At the end of September, just 0.2% of all
\nMinnesota homeowners with a mortgage lost their homes
\nto foreclosure, according to CoreLogic, which tracks
\nmortgage delinquencies at several intervals. That rate
\nwas down from 0.3% last year and was only about a third
\nof the national average. At the same time, far fewer
\nhomeowners are having trouble staying current on their
\nmortgage payments. In Minnesota, 2.9% of all homeowners
\nwere 30 or more days late on their payment compared
\nwith 3.1% last year. \u201cWe\u2019re encouraged to see another
\nyear of flat or declining delinquency rates for
\nhomeowners across Minnesota,\u201d said Julie Gugin,
\ndirector of the Minnesota Homeownership Center. \u201cIt
\nshows people are in the right homes f or their families
\nand their wallets.\u201d During the height of the
\nforeclosure crisis, the organization\u2019s counselors were
\noverwhelmed by demand from homeowners who needed help
\navoiding foreclosure, Gugin said. Today, the need has
\nshifted to providing unbiased information and hands-on
\nfinancial coaching for low-income families that want to
\nbuy a home. \u201cThey want to make choices based on solid
\nand factual information,\u201d Gugin said. \u201cRent prices are
\non the rise and homeownership is a valuable
\nasset-building alternate for some families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gugin said that while declining foreclosures are
\nclearly a positive sign, underlying problems linger.
\nNamely, the recession and subsequent economic recovery
\nonly broadened the homeownership gap in Minnesota.
\nThere are more low-income families than before that are
\nunable to own a home. \u201cOur goal is to ensure that
\nhomeownership\u2019s benefits are fairly available and
\nsustainable to everyone, no matter their race or where
\nthey live,\u201d she said. \u201cNext year \u2014 and even 10 years
\nfrom now \u2014 we want the delinquency rate to stay low,
\nand with a closed homeownership gap. Individuals and
\nfamilies, communities and our state would be better off
\nas a result.\u201d Foreclosure rates across the country are
\nalso falling. Nationwide, the foreclosure rate fell
\nslightly from 0.8% to 0.6%, and the 30-day plus
\ndelinquency rate fell from 5.2% last year to 5.0% in
\nSeptember. There was a slight increase, however, in the
\nnumber of homeowners who were 30 to 59 days late on
\ntheir payments, mostly because of hurricane-related
\ntroubles in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Anticipation high as California rolls out retail pot sales Californians may awake on New Year’s Day to a stronger-than-normal whiff of marijuana as America’s cannabis king lights up to celebrate the state’s first legal retail pot sales. The historic day comes more than two decades after California paved the way for legal weed by passing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[208,132,206,214,104,215,205,213,209,212,211,40,207,210],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions\/840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}