Where is the moral outrage? Both presidential candidates are filled with lobby money, one with a quasi Marxist agenda, the other with quasi free market agenda and both sleepwalking through a financial dilemma that attacks every property taxpayer and American.

Selling houses to people who could not afford those home let alone the property taxes was begun by legislation passed by President Jimmy Carter. His legislation encouraged home ownership to people who were high financial risks by making it easy for them to get loans.

President Bill Clinton put this bogus practice on steroids. He enacted legislation that punished mortgage lenders that would not comply. He deregulated risk by legislating against it causing a complete abandonment of sound lending practices.

These foolish loans were bought up by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They repackaged these loans and sold them on the open market to other financial institutions. They also gave hundreds of millions of dollars into political coffers to ensure this circus continued.

Insurance companies insured these bogus loans. AIG and others evaluated this risk. Their leverage was originally set at 12 to one. They too threw million in lobby money at Congress, then the asked for a 30 to 1 leverage and further increased risk. This pumped up and dramatically increased their profits by large proportions while the real estate market was going up.

How can fraudulent financial wizardry that has banks and brokerage firms leveraged at 30-1 be endorsed by Greenspan and Bernanke? How could they have allowed this shell game to continue? Quasi-Marxist promoters of Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and related entitlement steering organizations bamboozled lawmakers into giving away valuable jewels to those who eventually couldn’t pay the freight. What’s wrong with renting if you can’t afford a house or taking a bus if you can’t afford keeping a car?

The House Finance Chief, SEC Chairman, Banking Committee Chairman and any Congressman or public official accepting lobby money were shills for this cancer. Prison and banishment from public office should be their reward for violating the public trust! Politicians accepting lobby money need prison and banished from public office. Lobby money is nothing more than a bribe. If you bribe a cop for not giving you a speeding ticket you go to jail. If a public official accepts a bribe, shouldn’t they be put in prison as well?

When the hot air balloon runs out of fuel used to create the hot air, the balloon crashes. When the easy credit real estate market turned and foreclosures climbed, the balloon was punctured and stopped climbing; it crashed. Humpty Dumpty and the 700 billion dollar bailout that was weighed down with pork project bought and paid for by additional lobby money show how corrupt these weasels are. Where is the ethical outrage?

Across the nation, real estate prices have fallen and municipal and state governments have raised their tax rates to compensate for the shortfall. If, when you get your real estate assessment value bill, you need to compare your home to the assessments of similar sold homes, you may find that you are overtaxed and could profit from a property tax appeal. It’s worth another look.

When you order checks online you’ll find an abundance of theme-based personal checks that are a sure way to grace the world with your personal touch. Personal checks pass through many hands and one can share an inspiring design, photograph or expressive statement every time one writes a check.

As you drill down into every-conceivable category, you will be shown every type of design by several manufacturers. Any category that you can dream up is available. There is excellent attention to detail, so you can rest assured that your checks will arrive in perfect form. Most vendors update their selections from time to time.

Some of the categories are sports for sport fans, favorite dogs, cats or wildlife. There are artsy portrait artists, waterfront scenes, mountains, seashores, seasons and categories to fit almost any mood or expression.

You can seek out a ‘’special cause” check. Some categories include human rights, women’s causes, animal and wildlife rights, cancer awareness and other special causes. Some use these checks to spread a message or to fund an organization.

A great idea would be to create your own check using a personal photograph! Any favorite picture — of your family, pet, or even a beloved antique car! — would be printed on every check. If you are a business owner, a photo of your storefront or logo would be a great way to spread the message of your business.

Order personal checks online in bulk quantities and you will earn better discounts. Many websites offer discounts in the 50% range.

If you order personal checks in large quantities online, you will receive a discount. A lot of check companies offer 50% off.

Checks can be ordered in a variety of formats. Checks that have a top stub or a side tear stub can be purchased. Desk sets are also available as well as a variety of more conservative business check designs.

If you order checks from your financial institution, these checks can be costly. Checks from banks are more costly because they need to make a profit. However, if you place your order online you can see significant savings. Shipping is quick and there is no middleman to slow down the process.

At a certain point in time you’ll run low on your bank check supply. You can order checks online direct from the bank and bypass the manufacturer and cut out the middleman.

Banking institutions need to make a profit and markup the price of checks they buy from a check manufacturer. When you order checks online direct from the manufacturer you are buying at wholesale prices. You’ll not only save money but are able to order from your own computer saving gas, time and taxes.

There are a great diversity of check designs and categories to look at. You’ll be surprised at the varied categories and artists that contribute to designing checks.

By ordering direct you’ll save about 50%. Personalized check quality is equal or better than that you’d get at your financial institution, delivery is fast, security details in the check comply with all bank standards. There are a larger selection of designs, categories and motifs.

Contact cards, checkbook covers, matching address label as well as various types of check formats are available. Popular side tear, top stub and 3 per page and other personal and business check formats are also available. Your draft checks needs to be vigilantly balanced as you well know. Easy to view accounting check registers are also an important consideration.

When anyone accepts a check and deposits it in their account is called a payee. If the payee is unsure of the funds, often they will take it to the branch bank it is drawn in and cash the check at that location.

When a check is presented and refused at the drawee’s bank because of insufficient fund the check will not clear. It’s called a bounced check.

Banks make a bonus when they get bounced checks. Their steep service charges that are imposed make one take quick notice. Keeping accurate records to avoid service charges is essential.

Many times when blanket assessments are done on homes, the resulting values are inaccurate and a result of a ”quick fix” mentality. Often adjustments are made using a factor or multiplier to adjust values. Not that a blanket reappraisals accuracy is much better, because it also suffers from lack of diligence to detail.

Municipalities reappraise the homes within their borders by hiring blanket appraisal companies. This is done in a bidding process and the low bid wins. If the bid allocation was only $38 per home and the blanket appraiser needed to make a profit, how much time can actually be spent per home? The people the appraiser hires are time-pressed to make their observations.

Errors frequently occur when blanket appraisers do their job. Furthermore, if the original assessment was in error, employing multipliers to roll over previous years assessments is invalid.

An inexpensive fix for the town could come about if building inspectors and the tax department communicated closely by working together. If the building inspector passed on information to the assessor, there would be no need for blanket re-assessments. New homes sold need only be equalized with the previous blanket assessment. If an addition or home improvement took place, the added value could be passed on to the tax assessor. If the building department and tax department worked efficiently, there would be no need for blanket reassessments.

Tax assessors are time pressed and rarely appraise homes. Usually, they are not property appraisers and are politically appointed. Often they use an entirely different method to derive value for a home by using a cost of materials approach. The universally accepted approach is the market value, what an informed buyer would pay for a home.

Selling prices of homes are constantly changing. When appealing your property taxes, only market value holds weight. Your home must equal the current selling price of other comparable home in your area.

A town expends a tremendous amount of money in the mass appraisal of homes. That cost is passed on directly in the local property tax causing extra tax rate increases. Much valuable time, effort and money is misspent by relying on blanket reassessment by communities. They may catch the occasional shed or deck built without a permit, but that hardly demands a reappraisal.

Blanket reassessments are opportunities for appeal because of the high error rate. Homeowners need to do a simple analysis to determine if their home’s market value is in line with the assessed value assigned to their home.