December 22, 2022 • 39 mins
Chris Merrill in for John & Ken. Year-end fails. More on the Sam Bankman-Fried arrest. Blake Troli comes on the show to talk about the eviction moratorium. The Griffith Park Pony Rides have finally come to an end.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of the things that I love to hate about
the end of the year, and Mark, you can back
me up on this is the end of the year stories.
It's always the oh, here's the people that we lost
this year. Here are the top events of this year.
Here's things you forgot about this year. And then next
week will be the preview of twenty twenty three stories. Right,
here's what we have to look forward to. Here are
(00:21):
the predictions for twenty twenty three. It's lazy, and I
absolutely will be engaging in all of its a lot
of lists, also known as the laziest form of journalism
that exists one hundred percent, and yet I just I
buy into it every year. Maybe it's because I'm a
lazy talk show host. Maybe it's because listen, as we
(00:44):
talked about yesterday, Mark, you know the A teams are
they're all on vacation, whether it's radio or news or
you know, TV news, whatever else it is, they're all
on vacation. So it's up to us. What I called
the B team, but I think you properly corrected me
yesterday by saying that we're the Special Forces Radio Team.
We're basically radio team six special operators that's exactly right.
(01:06):
Special operators perfect perfect, So we're spec ops. As spec ops,
I think we get to be a little bit lazy,
so that's what we do. I was looking at one
of those fantastic lists. One of the things that bugs
me is that the lists are usually pretty predictable, So
I always appreciate when somebody gets I don't want to
say out of bounds, but they sort of hit from
(01:27):
left field a little bit. And Michael Hiltzik from the
La Times is a business columnist, did that, and I
think this is great. His article says, it's the holiday
season when we pundits look back at the most uplifting
moments of the last year and ahead to what may
gladden our hearts in the next he says, but I'm
(01:47):
not doing that. He talks about instead the year of fails.
Oh yes see, this is a fantastic list. And maybe
it's the cynic in me. Maybe it's the fact that
I just get bored with the same old, same old.
But he's basically like, here's the crap from twenty twenty
twenty two. Here's the absolute garbage. Here's the stuff we thought,
(02:10):
but we were corrected because the year went on I
love it. It's fantastic. So a Hiltic goes on to say,
here's some of the things that were major fails. One
of the biggest was the Musk mythology, and that is
that Elon Musk is not a god. The notion that
(02:32):
if you're a billionaire, you must be brilliant or at
least smart has been reduced to a smoking ruined things
to Elon Musk's misadventure is the buyer and twitter in
chief of Twitter It's fantastic. Until this year, Musk's role
as testas CEO was the key factor in the company's buoyancy,
despite its dubious profitability and persistent issues with delivery schedules
and product quality. His behavior a Twitter has opened the
(02:52):
floodgates of long over there reporting about his mismanagement capable
excuse me about his management capabilities. In just the last week,
some of Tesla's most dependable cheerleaders in the financial world
of turn Musk turned on Musk by suggesting shockingly that
Tesla's sycophantic board should rain him in or even find
a new CEO. This is totally true. We have known
(03:13):
for a long time, and this is coming from a
guy who's been a big proponent of Tesla's I think
those are fantastic cars. They're beautiful vehicles. I should note, however,
that they came in now dead last. I was just
seeing today in reliability. Uh that's not a good sign.
But I think they're cool cars. I've thought this since
since that that Tesla Modelsque came out. What a beautiful vehicle.
(03:36):
Fantastic the follow ups. You know that the that suv
with the go wings, that was kind of a miss um.
I thought that the is it the Model three, that's
the one that's kind of the affordable one, right, I
thought that's a there you go. Now you're getting people
into the market. It's a it's a competitor to to
GM and two to Ford cool. That's great. Was watching
(03:57):
their stock today and it is just in free fall,
just an absolute bomb. Just it is dropping like uh
like uh just dropping. I could use like those bad
analogies and to drop it like it's hot or whatever,
but you know, I'm not gonna do that. Uh So Anyway, Yeah,
(04:20):
that's one of the big fails of this year, and
frankly it's deserved because all of Tesla's stock was built
kind of like cryptocurrency where it was sort of speculative
and people were buying the stock thinking this is going
to be huge. I gotta get in now. Even if
the stock is overvalued now it's undervalued for the long run.
They were getting into it. Now people are going, uh,
(04:44):
I don't really see what the future is since the
CEO is a bit unhinged. Speaking of crypto, that's the
next thing that Hiltic points out is cryptocurrency is a
giant fail. A lot of this comes back to what's
going on with that Sam Bankman, freed guy, the guy
from the FTX and you've probably watched this. How FTX
(05:04):
lost billions of dollars overnight and how they were they
were borrowing from their investors to invest in other stuff.
And as the market tanked, everything tanked, and it's just
been a disaster and absolute disaster. I'm not quite ready
to say crypto is a complete fail. In fact, one
(05:25):
of the points is being made by Hiltzic is that
cryptocurrency is nothing. He says, cryptocurrencies are a scam. There
would be assets with no intrinsic value other than what
their holders can persuade some fool to pay for them.
My issue with that is that what Hiltzic has just
(05:49):
done is described all fiat currencies. See the differences. Fiat
currencies are backed by governments. But truly, there is no
intrinsic value to that dollar bill in your pocket. It
has no value. The value is the cotton fiber paper
that's been used to print it on can be used
(06:09):
for kindling. That's it. There's no value to it. So
this notion that, oh, cryptocurrency has no intrinsic value, neither
does paper money. It doesn't. It's just what we decide
we're going to assign to that piece of paper. In
this case, it would be cryptocurrency. So I'm not ready
to jump on the whole cryptocurrency as a scam. I
(06:30):
still think moving forward we're going to need a digital currency.
But yeah, there's some definitely some growing pains and some
massive fraud going on, and this is a huge example.
He also points out another fail of twenty twenty two
watchdogs for COVID conspiracies. The independent journalism organization pro Public,
spent years establishing a reputation for smart, painstaking investigations that
(06:53):
came crashing down in October when it unaccountably joined up
with a conspiracy theorist at Vanity Fair to push along
debunk claim the would virus escape from a Chinese biology
lab before spreading worldwide. That was the early rumor, right,
that was sort of being pushed by some of the
conspiracy theorists, and it sort of went away, and then
(07:13):
late this year it came back like, well, maybe it
did happen. Come to find out, No, the evidence that
it may have happened was just a rehashing of the
old conspiracy theories that got picked up by reputable sources
who didn't do their diligence in vetting their own information. So, yeah,
the watchdog is a massive fail in this case, and
(07:34):
I would buy extensions say media was a massive fail
in this case. Journalism in general a giant failure in
twenty twenty two when it came to that sort of information,
the promotion of the red wave, Oh, the red wave
is coming, there's gonna be this massive turnover in Congress.
And look, history would have pointed out that anytime you've
got a president of one party and Congress of that
(07:56):
same party, that in the first mid tournament it switches.
History able to last fifty years has shown us that
that is nearly always the case. Didn't really happen this
time around. Sure the majority has changed, and come January second,
I believe we're going to see Congress switch control from
the Democrats to the Republicans, but not by a huge margin.
Certainly wasn't this big red wave that was being pushed.
(08:19):
Also another fail was the strength of the Russian bear
and how Russia just is not what Russia has ever
believed to be or we've ever been told that Russia is.
They're just not the big adversary. In fact, Hiltic goes
on from The ly Times to say that it's more like,
(08:43):
I don't want to say neocons, but let's just say
people who are pushing hard for the military might to
create some sort of an enemy that we can all
rally behind and say, look, this is a real danger
to us, we need more money for the Defense Department,
and then only to find out they're really not not
a big deal. So some of the big fails I
love to again, I love to review things. I love
(09:06):
the twist on this that it's not Oh, here's some
of the celebrities that we'll miss going forward, and that's deserving.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice to be a little
bit nostalgic and at the end of the year, but
I'd like to also remember the full context of a year,
the good and the ugly, as well as many of
the bads that go on too. He does talk about
(09:27):
what's coming up in the next year, and I thought
that was pretty interesting. The twenty twenty three predictions of failures,
he says, it's tempting to speculate about what might be
the biggest fails of twenty twenty three. Hiltzic says he
doesn't think Ron DeSantis has the staying power to be
a national figure in twenty twenty three. Let me see
(09:47):
what else. Oh yeah, the investigation of Anthony Fauci that
the House GOP majority says they're going to be launching
in the new year. Hiltzic predicts that the effort to
turn this widely respected scientist into a villain will evaporate
right in a maizema of ignorance and stupidity, as we'll
talk of prosecuting him most recently promoted by that paragon
of silver judgment Elon Musk. Hiltic then goes back to
(10:10):
the one thing I disagree with him on and that
is that crypto will still be dead. Crypto maybe low
for another couple of years, but as we've seen over
the last decade, crypto ebbs and flows and we'll come back.
I've wanted to I wanted to expand just a little
bit on some of that crypto angle, specifically the FTX mess,
(10:31):
because we're seeing the FTX meltdown that was the crypto
exchange that Sam Bankman Freed was the head of. We're
seeing that play out in the courts now and it's
sort of bringing us to another fail and that is
our blind justice system, all right, So that's next. How
blind is our justice system depends on how much money
(10:52):
you have. Maybe our justice system needs leasic Chris merrill
in for John and Ken k If. I am six forty.
We're live everywhere that I Heeart radio app, Silicon Valley,
maybe changing. It's hard to say exactly what's going to
be the end result of this FTX meltdown, this crypto
exchange meltdown, the Sam Bankman freed mess. This dude and
(11:14):
I don't know how old this guy is, but he
looks like he's about thirty, maybe a little bit younger.
And he's got kind of that Silicon Valley style going on,
you know, the disheveled look. That may change. It's possible
that we stop seeing shabby chic being the cool thing
(11:37):
from Silicon Valley. It's possible that the Mark Zuckerberg hoodie
is no longer in. It's totally possible that people have
to start wearing suits to their professional jobs again. For
some of you, you're thinking, good, it's about time. I
think that's horrible because that means I have to buy suits,
(11:58):
and my weight actuates like Oprah. The idea of me
having multiple suits for whatever weight mood I'm in sounds horrible.
I don't have enough closet space for all of that.
So I'm hoping that the shabby cheek sticks around, even
though the purveyors of shabby cheek are kind of doltish.
(12:21):
If it doesn't, I may just opt for the handle
sheek and fill my closet with cargo shorts and Hawaiian shirts.
May go for that. Fascinated watching this guy. Remember he
got basically blamed for the entire meltdown, and he went
from having billions of dollars too he claimed only having
one hundred thousand dollars the Sam Bankman Freed, and then
(12:43):
he took off and was in the Bahamas. So the
United States wanted to bring him back. There was an
extradition request scent and he said, okay, I'll abide, So
he comes back to the United States and he came back.
I believe yesterday is when he got back to the
United States. He had a hearing today where he was
allowed out on bond. I think we got a little
(13:05):
bit of the updated audio on this from Channel seven. Yeah,
go ahead and play that. Eric businessman Sam Bankman Freed
is set to make his first court appearance in the
US this afternoon. Bankman Freed is the founder of the
cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and is charged in a plot to
defraud investors of millions of dollars. He guided from the
(13:26):
Bahamas this week, and two of his top executives have
already pled guilty. Abousy's Alexis christopherus with Moore. Sam Bankman Freed,
the former CEO of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, left the
Bahamas Wednesday night, arriving in New York after being transferred
to FBI custody. He realized that fighting expedition is a
(13:48):
fool's errand in the Bahamas, the argument would have to
have been that they got the wrong Sam Banking Freed,
and that's just a ridiculous argument to make. Federal prosecutors
announced eight criminal charges against the thirty year old former
executive that included fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, and campaign finance violations.
They alleged he defrauded investors and diverted billions of dollars
(14:12):
in FTX customer money to his hedge fund, which he
then used to fund his lavish lifestyle, as well as
risky personal investments and political donations. In an interview with
ABC's George Stephanopolis last month, Bankman Freed denied knowing FTX
customer funds were being improperly used. Did you even know
that these funds were being fought Alamedia. I did not
(14:34):
know that there is any improper NOIDI use of customer funds.
Two former colleagues of Bankman Freed, Caroline Ellison, chief executive
of Alameda, and Gary Wang, who co founded FTX with
Bankman Freed, have pleaded guilty to federal charges and are
cooperating with prosecutors. The US Attorney for the Southern District
of New York urging others to come forward if you
(14:56):
participated in misconduct at FTX or a me to Now
is a time to get ahead of it. We are
moving quickly, and our patience is not eternal. In addition
to the criminal charges, Bankman Freed is facing several related
civil suits from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission. One are the odds that other
(15:17):
people that may have been involved in this, and there
had to have been others involved in it, couldn't have
been done by just these three. One of the odds
that they step forward and they're like, hey, listen, FBI, Yeah,
that's my bad too. So if you want to just
cuff me, I'm good for it. That's that's fine. I
feel like they're probably lawyering up and trying to get
(15:37):
away with as much as they possibly can. Now, maybe
some of them their lawyers will say, Okay, listen, we're
gonna we're gonna present ourselves at the mercy of the court.
And I'm not so sure, not so sure that's going
to happen unless they have something really damning that they
can use in the prosecution against Sam Bankman freed, which
I don't think that the investigators need in this case.
(15:59):
The end result, though, is that we see once again
the discrepancy in the justice system. So if you and
I had done something wrong, let's say that we embezzled
fifty thousand dollars from our employer, we would likely be
held over on some sort of a bond that we
(16:19):
excuse me, a bail, And I want to explain that
in a moment, we'd be held over in some sort
of a bail that we couldn't possibly pay. The bail
that was set for Sam Bankman Freed was two hundred
and fifty million dollars, and the court accepted a reconnaissance
bond to the value of two hundred and fifty million dollars.
And it's been accepted and Freed is being released now.
(16:43):
The conditions are a little bit I don't even want
to say onerous. The conditions are that he has to
stay at his parents house, which is part of this bond,
and that he has to wear an ankle monitor because
they're concerned that he might be a flight risk. Guy
that says he only has one hundred thousand dollars is
somehow able to post a two hundred and fifty million
(17:03):
dollars bond. How does that happen? Now? You might be thinking, oh,
he probably just shorted all of his own investments. That's genius.
Of course, I know. I'll short sell my own stuff.
Then I'll take it, and then I'll be super rich.
You might be wondering, giving a lot Musk is doing
that to Tesla right now? Probably not the case. See,
the deal is the difference between bail and bond, and
(17:27):
journalists do a terrible job on this. Bail is basically
what the court sets. They say, this is your bail.
If you want to be free until trial, you have
to pay this into the court. As some money paid
to the courts is a deposit. It's basically a lean
on the promise to return for your trial. A bond
is a reduced amount on the bail deposit. It's an
(17:48):
assurance that's guaranteed right that if you don't show up
for your court case, then the courts will see certain
properties or finances and those will be forfeited. So what
you've heard of bail bondsman, So let's say that you
get again picked up for your embezzlement of fifty thousand dollars.
And let's say that they set the bail at twenty grand.
(18:10):
You might go to a bail bondsman and the bail
bondsman will charge you ten percent two thousand dollars. And
the bail bondsman will go to the court and say, listen,
I will put forward a bond, and that bond is
for twenty grand. So if this guy doesn't show up,
I'll give you the twenty grand. In the meantime, the
bail bondsman gets to pocket the ten percent the two
thousand dollars. That's his fee, his or hurt. I don't
(18:33):
mean to be sexist here, and that's why Dog the
bounty hunter goes out if somebody skips down, because all
of a sudden, the bondsman is out eighteen grand and
I got to recover that money, right. So the difference
between a bail and a bond Basically, bail is a
full amount paid as a deposit to the courts. A
bond is an insurance policy. So what Freed does. He
(18:54):
basically got this insurance policy and his parents house is
part of that insurance policy. So if he skips down,
the courts get to seize his parents house in Palo Alto,
which is probably not worth two hundred and fifty million dollars.
I don't know how they made all the numbers come together,
but the courts accepted it just the same. Not bad though,
to go from FBI custody to being house arrest in
(19:14):
Palo Alto. That bad Pretty solid. We'll go around town next.
Chris merril In for John and Ken calf I AM
six forty, Live Everywhere in your Eyeheart Radio. Well this
week gets Safeway. Enjoy big savings with the Bogo Sail,
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(19:37):
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one free. Safe Way. Come in and explore and see
what other deals you can find. Chris Merrilyn for John
and Kenna calf I AM six forty and Blake. Help
(19:57):
me understand what's happening here in the way that only
you can from the Campie newsroom. I know we're looking
at that eviction moratorium which is still going on. This
has been in place for well, we're coming up on
two years here this spring, right exactly. And you know,
when you hear about extensions in the eviction moratorium, sometimes
the first I mean, at least for me, the first
thing that goes through my mind is I didn't even
(20:20):
realize that these were still in effect. They kind of become,
you know, out of sight, out of mind, and then
we hear about one of these extensions. So, yeah, La
County has extended it's eviction moratorium tell January thirty first
value would align the county with the city, which also
has its evictions protections in place until the end of January. Now, Chris,
(20:41):
this may not be the end of extensions. The county
has ordered to report on keeping the eviction moratorium through
June thirtieth. County staff are also eyeing the creation of
a five million dollar relief program. Daniel jugleson he's with
the Apartment Association of Greater La. Let's go to buy one.
He says, landlords aren't happy about this any more. Teetering
on the brink of financial disaster today in the worst cases,
(21:06):
some landlords haven't been able to collect the rent ode
to them for nearly two years, in some cases more
than two years. And so I hear from landlords all
the time who are today facing foreclosure. They're having challenges
being able to pay their necessary daily expenses just to
keep up their lives and support their families. Now, will
(21:30):
that five million dollars save the day, Let's go to
buy two? That is like spitting in the wind. Unfortunately,
there's billions of dollars that's owed. I think the latest
count in California was nearly ten billion dollars of past
two rent that was owed. And so five million dollars
is really not going to do nothing more than maybe
(21:50):
put a band aid on a couple of rental property owners.
The county is just doesn't know how to handle this situation,
and forcing private property owners to put up what I
call private wealth there is just completely unfair and unconstitutional.
And that's why my association continues to press its lawsuit. Wow,
(22:12):
that lawsuit, Chris, just so you know, it's basically on
the merits of this has just gone on too long,
that's what they're alleging in their lawsuit. They're they're looking
for a complete injunction, just have this whole thing thrown out.
They're saying, you know, it's been far too long. And
as Yugleson explains to me, some landlords are actually leaving
ownership because of this. Who's buying their places? Big corporations. Okay,
(22:37):
so what are the big corporations doing then? If they've
got renters that aren't leaving and they're not paying, well,
how does it benefit the big corporations? You know, well,
I think they probably have the financial means to take
it on the chin, right, unlike a small mom and
pop owner. But you know, he supplied me some of
the numbers. More than eighty he's saying more than eighty
percent of people in La County. And when you think
about this five million dollars going to mom and pop landlords,
(23:00):
he's saying more than eighty percent of landlords in La
County are small, independent owners. That's five million dollars for them. Now,
another update on LA's housing, this time will focus on
La City. Yesterday, Chris, you and I were speaking about
Karen Bassa's Inside Safe initiative. Of course, she launched that yesterday,
(23:21):
announcing the details of moving homeless people into motels while
they build affordable housing or while they masterlease hotels. And
yesterday the big question really was is the state going
to get involved? I'm sure you remember we played that
audio from the Housing chief who said, yes, the state
is going to get involved. Well, I didn't realize that
(23:42):
she meant less than twenty four hours. State delegation headed
to city all today. Yeah, state delegation headed to City
Hall today. These were the heads of many state departments.
Mayor Karen Bassa's were These are key departments in solving homelessness.
It was a round table type meeting. It actually took
place at the very top of City Hall. You know
(24:03):
when you're looking at that tower and you're going, what's
up there? These meetings? It's good too. So anyways, Lornce
Ramirez is the secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and
Housing Agency. She says the state's ready to partner up
on this. Solving housing and homelessness is an equally urgent
(24:25):
priority for Governor Newsom. He has been clear that solving
homelessness and increasing the supply of affordable housing requires an
all of government approach, including city and county coordination and
sustain efforts. Across every level of government. This is why
(24:45):
I'm so pleased to see so many leaders here from
the city, from the county, from the local continuum, from
the housing authority, all of us working together with a
sense of urgency to remove barrier to the development of
affordable housing, all of us working together to keep people house,
(25:06):
to rehouse people that are experiencing homelessness, and to connect
housing and human services systems together. Blah blah blah. And well,
now I guess that just leaves the federal government. And again,
this was the plan that Maycare and Bass campaigned on,
bringing you know, multiple levels of government together to try
(25:28):
and solve this. And as we said yesterday, it's early
in the administration. I believe today would be a day eleven,
and so we're still early in the administration. But time
will tell if if this is going to prove to
be effective. So, Blake Trolley in the Cafine newsroom, let's
let's go back to the eviction moratorium if we make
because you've got a couple of topics here, we could
do an hour and each one talk to me then
(25:50):
about the properties that are on the brink of being
foreclosed on or some of those rental properties that are
being foreclosed on. The landlords are taking it on the
the renters really have almost no responsibility in this case
the renters. Ultimately, what is the punishment to a renter
that they have bad credit coming out of this. One
(26:13):
of the things that I found out was that the
same association Daniel So the Greater the Apartment Association of
Greater LA, they filed an earlier lawsuit. I found this
to be somewhat interesting. They filed an earlier lawsuit seeking
an injunction. They said that this whole thing was unconstitutional
on a couple of bases. They said, one, the government
(26:35):
should not be meddling in these private contracts. They also
said it was unconstitutional because the language was vague in
how landlords could enforce this. So while you know it's unclear,
I mean, of course, you know, anytime you owe money,
as you say, yeah, your credit score will go down,
you file for bankruptcy. There's all sorts of things that
could happen in that direction. But one of the one
(26:58):
of the key ruling that was made on this just
a few months ago, as it was explained to me,
is that a judge ruled that the language needed to
be made clear on how landlords could enforce this. Apparently
landlords didn't know if they could actually enforce proof out
of tenants. So landlords, a tenant could say I've been
impacted by COVID nineteen. Based on the old language of
(27:22):
the county's eviction moratorium, landlords were unsure if they could
actually demand proof of that. So recently the language was
changed just to make sure that landlords or just to
make it clear that landlords can in fact demand proof
that somebody is being impacted by COVID nineteen. And you know,
when we talk about the extension this go around, officials
(27:43):
aren't just citing COVID nineteen. They're they're talking about this tripledemic.
I think we should at least talk about cause here
of why the eviction moratorium is being extended. And they're
saying COVID nineteen, the flu RSV, that's the county's position
on this. Apartment Association tells me, well, you know again
(28:04):
their stances that this has gone on too long. They
point to the Super Bowl. They say, we had thousands
of people come to La come to La County. There
seem to be no problem there. Yeah, And I tend
to side with them. You know, when we're in the
throes of the pandemic to start with, and we had
businesses closing left and right. We had, you know, businesses
that were shuttered because of state mandates and whatnot. You know,
(28:25):
there's a little different situation than what we're in right
now for sure. When we talk about proof, what kind
of proof do they need? I mean, is this you
have to show that you've been that you filed an
EDD claim of some sort, that you don't have a
job that is COVID. You know, because of COVID, that
you can't find work, that you're not receiving any sort
of benefits. It seems like there are other measures in
(28:46):
place to help those people who are affected by COVID.
Two years later, it seems like a long time to
keep relying on this thing from twenty twenty to say, well,
you COVID is the reason I can't pay you rent.
How are you getting grocery? I mean, what's the right
at some point, maybe you're behind on rent, that's one thing.
But people that are just not paying rent because they
(29:07):
can't be evicted, that's somebody who's game in the system. Well,
I think I think again, Yeah, of course, there's a
there's many different types of proof that you've been impacted
by COVID nineteen. It's it's a little surprising to me
that it took so long to demand proof that you've
been affected by COVID nineteen. UM. And you know, another thing,
another point about this extension um. One of the points
(29:30):
I know the motion made as well, and this was
part of this whole extending it out to June thirtieth
is um. The motion stated, well, this will give landlords
and renters an opportunity to come together and and have
a day, like, have a set day that this is
going to be over. And I have a I kind
of have a feeling a lot of landlords are at
(29:51):
this point are going, you know, at least based on
what's you know being told to me by this apartment association,
are probably saying, you know, we're good with just ending
it whenever. You know, we're not looking for a specific day, right.
They just want to start getting paid or they want
to you know, figure out what they're gonna do if
if a property is foreclosed on. It's what was the
term that was used by the apartment guy, that is
(30:12):
a private welfare. I believe if we're at that point
where somebody says, I can't make the payment on my
own investment property anymore because my renters aren't coming through.
I can't evict my renters, I can't make right with
my own business because of this moratorium. Um so the
property gets foreclosed on, and then it goes back to
what the bank? What does that do to the renters?
Then then the bank all of a sudden it's on
(30:32):
the hook to make sure that the renters have some
place to live. Well, yeah, I mean you could kind
of go on and on and on right with who
who the financial burden is going to fall on? And
it It sounds to me though, like the common practice
here is that corporations go in and they buy up
this they buy up this housing. And you know, another
another thing to just point out here is Yukilson tells
(30:55):
me a lot of these landlords, these are not career landlords.
They have other jobs. These our investments, These are side
investments to bolster their retirements and things like that. So
a lot of these people are really drawing from that
aspect of their life to stay aflow. Yeah, I get
the feeling you talk. You're talking about the corporations coming,
and I'm guessing the corporations are looking at buying these
things deeply discounted, maybe not collecting rent for the next
(31:19):
six months. But then then all of a sudden, they've
got the equity. As soon as the moratorium is over,
the evict the tenants, and suddenly they've got equity in
a home that they can sell for double or triple
what they paid for it, uh, you know, right about now,
or renovate or renovate. Ukoston was saying that a lot
of them, Yukoson was telling me, a lot of them
end up buying these They buy these buildings, and then
he said, this is actually, you know, hurting affordable housing
(31:41):
in the sense that these corporations buy up these buildings
and then they knock them over and renovate them into
something much more exquisite. So yeah, that's a that's another
whole other element of this. As as for the apartment association,
that is frustrating. I certainly hope that we come to
some sort of an agreement. I don't want to seem
unsympathetic to the people that are finding hardships, but I
(32:02):
believe that the number of people who are still suffering
those same hardships is not significant enough to keep running
up bill up it. Would you say ten billion dollars?
That was well beyond number. Yeah, and I should I
should point out that was a state number. But as
he says, more than eighty percent of landlords in La County,
if that's true, he's saying more than eighty percent of
them are are small independent owners that are that are
(32:24):
taken this one. Yeah, and I buy it too. I
believe it. I mean, we've always been told real estate
as a safe investment and now we're finding out Nope,
not not the case. Blake. Always great reporting. Thank you
so much, Blake Troley out of the Kfine news room.
Always good to hear from you, my friend, have a
have a very merry Christmas, happy holiday, happy New Year,
and everything else that goes with it, my friend. All right,
thanks Christy, take care pop. While the moratorium may go on,
(32:48):
there is one institution in Los Angeles that is coming
to an end, never to be seen again. Something you
may have even shared with your grandparents. Say what that is? Next,
it's Chris, marylynm In John and km K IF I
am six forty live everywhere in your eye heart radio
app pay Mark. You were talking about that Mega Millions, Jackpott.
I just bought my ticket today because I thought, man,
(33:09):
Mega millions up to half a billion dollars and we're
barely talking about it right now. Yeah, billion, two hundred
and seventy million if you take the cash option, man,
I just pulled it up. I went to a lottery
USA dot com and they do all the math for
you on the taxes. Now, California is one of the
states as zero on the taxes if you win the lottery.
(33:30):
Most states have some tax but California, Florida, Delaware zero, you,
Hampshire if you if you win the lottery, they don't
hit your South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, similar, Wyoming, similar. So
you're not gonna get hit with an additional state tax
on that. But if you do the cash lump some option,
(33:51):
as you said, two hundred and seventy which is a
it's a little high based on what Mega Millions has
shown us right now, but not too much. Basically, you
still have to pay your federal tax is at twenty
four percent. So the way it pans out, if you
win the Mega Millions jackpot, which is five hundred ten
million dollars right now, half a billion. Then by the
(34:11):
time you're done taking your cash lump sum and paying
your taxes, you will collect two hundred two million. So
you're only collecting about forty percent. That's nearly enough to
buy a modest house in LA That is not enough
to pay the bail for Sam Bankman free. And yet
(34:33):
that guy is chilling in Palo Alto at his parents' mansion.
Not bad, not bad. I suppose could you get buy
in two hunder two million. I suppose we could. But
it is a bit of a downer. When somebody's like, oh,
I want half a billion dollars, They're like, oh my gosh,
you have half a billion dollars. Oh no, I have
less than a quarter million because of taxes. And that's
in a state that's tax friendly. If we were to
(34:54):
go to New York, where they charge you ten percent tax,
hold on, I gonna pull up, Yeah, New Year, it's
almost eleven percent tax. If you win the five hundred
ten million dollars Mega Millions jackpot and you bought your
ticket in New York, you're gonna collect one hundred seventy
three million, one hundred and seventy four million. Who I know,
(35:15):
but it does seem like, wait a minute, Eric's please
identify yourself as the originator of the boohoo so he
doesn't leading away. But you know, that's really incongruous about California,
bearing in mind how much they absolutely hoses for taxes
in every other respect. I mean, I'm also a freelance writer,
and boy, oh boy, did they nail you on taxes
(35:37):
for that. Self employed is the worst to be in California. Yeah,
Oh my goodness. My wife's got a business that you know,
being in California, but her business is registered in Arizona.
You'd think that would make a difference. Oh, California is like,
oh no, we're still gonna hit the hell Audia, even
though your business isn't even done here. We're gonna hit
the hell Audia. It's terrible. It is brutal. Oh boys,
(36:00):
sad times there you see that the pony rides are
gone from Griffith Park. This made me a little bit sad.
Let's just play a little bit of that clip from
ABC seven there on the last day of operation of
the iconic pony Rides and Petting Zoo at Griffith Park.
A confrontation took place. It was animal rights out of
the kids versus those in favor of keeping the place open.
There was tugging of each other's signs, and park rangers
(36:21):
showed up to keep things peaceful. The pony rights have
been in the dates back to nineteen forty eight, and
it's now coming to an end. For some parents. They
came when they were kids, and now it's them bringing
their kids to ride the ponies. One lost time, the
wait time, Chris four, that's us. So the pony rides
are going away. And a lot of this has to
do with the protesters who said that the ponies were
(36:42):
being mistreated, and it was you know, they say, this
is not Look, I don't want to see anybody's animals
being mistreated, right, But at the same time, if the
animals aren't being mistreated, they're ponies. I know, they're Mani ponies,
but they're they're also giving rides to many humans too, right,
So it's not like we're putting my fat ass on
top of one of those Shetland Poe ponies and trotting
around in a circle. So I gotta tell you, I'm
(37:05):
sorry to see this go. I am if that means
that we got to have somebody come in and take
a look and see how things are treated, to make
sure that the owner is on the up and up
by the owner. By the way, the owner did interviewed
with ABC seven two and he says, listen, the only
complaints that came in were from protesters and the vets
that they had said that the ponies were fine just
the same. It was enough breuhaha in southern California to
(37:27):
have somebody in the political process say, oh, we just
can't do that anymore. And now it's gone operated since
the late nineteen forties. Think about this. You may have
somebody who was a child that enjoyed those pony rides
before the Korean War. You may have a kid that
was born right after the end of World War Two
(37:49):
that enjoyed those pony rides and then took their great
grand kids to ride the ponies. And the whole thing
ends because the protesters successfully convinced Ela to ditch the
pony rides. I have to ask you, I'm since I'm
not from here, did they strike you as cruel to
the animals everything I've seen? No, I mean, I didn't
grow up in southern California, either as someone who rode
(38:10):
them as kids. I didn't see them ever mistreated, right,
I mean, I've seen pony rides in other places where
I grew up. Mark, maybe you have the same thing.
It's like, you know, the traveling carnival would come through
and some of those would have petting zoos, and they
might have the pony rides and things like that, And
I gotta tell you that life seemed a lot harder
than the ones who were permanent at Griffith Park. So no, thanks, Eric,
I appreciate you backing us on this. It didn't strike
(38:34):
me as being awful, not at all. But I think
this sort of follows the whole elephants in the circus
type thing like, oh, it's terrible. You can't have animals
doing animal things. Yeah, they're animals. No, we're not prodding them,
we're not having bull fights, we're not bear baiting. Which
is it's ponies carrying kids. It's not cruel, nor is
(38:55):
it unusual. They're ponies. It's what they do. All right.
We'll talk about this holiday travel mess and it is
a disaster nationwide. Next. Chris Merrill in for John and
Ken kf I am six forty We're live everywhere, in
your Eyeheart Radio app
One of the things that I love to hate about
the end of the year, and Mark, you can back
me up on this is the end of the year stories.
It's always the oh, here's the people that we lost
this year. Here are the top events of this year.
Here's things you forgot about this year. And then next
week will be the preview of twenty twenty three stories. Right,
here's what we have to look forward to. Here are
(00:21):
the predictions for twenty twenty three. It's lazy, and I
absolutely will be engaging in all of its a lot
of lists, also known as the laziest form of journalism
that exists one hundred percent, and yet I just I
buy into it every year. Maybe it's because I'm a
lazy talk show host. Maybe it's because listen, as we
(00:44):
talked about yesterday, Mark, you know the A teams are
they're all on vacation, whether it's radio or news or
you know, TV news, whatever else it is, they're all
on vacation. So it's up to us. What I called
the B team, but I think you properly corrected me
yesterday by saying that we're the Special Forces Radio Team.
We're basically radio team six special operators that's exactly right.
(01:06):
Special operators perfect perfect, So we're spec ops. As spec ops,
I think we get to be a little bit lazy,
so that's what we do. I was looking at one
of those fantastic lists. One of the things that bugs
me is that the lists are usually pretty predictable, So
I always appreciate when somebody gets I don't want to
say out of bounds, but they sort of hit from
(01:27):
left field a little bit. And Michael Hiltzik from the
La Times is a business columnist, did that, and I
think this is great. His article says, it's the holiday
season when we pundits look back at the most uplifting
moments of the last year and ahead to what may
gladden our hearts in the next he says, but I'm
(01:47):
not doing that. He talks about instead the year of fails.
Oh yes see, this is a fantastic list. And maybe
it's the cynic in me. Maybe it's the fact that
I just get bored with the same old, same old.
But he's basically like, here's the crap from twenty twenty
twenty two. Here's the absolute garbage. Here's the stuff we thought,
(02:10):
but we were corrected because the year went on I
love it. It's fantastic. So a Hiltic goes on to say,
here's some of the things that were major fails. One
of the biggest was the Musk mythology, and that is
that Elon Musk is not a god. The notion that
(02:32):
if you're a billionaire, you must be brilliant or at
least smart has been reduced to a smoking ruined things
to Elon Musk's misadventure is the buyer and twitter in
chief of Twitter It's fantastic. Until this year, Musk's role
as testas CEO was the key factor in the company's buoyancy,
despite its dubious profitability and persistent issues with delivery schedules
and product quality. His behavior a Twitter has opened the
(02:52):
floodgates of long over there reporting about his mismanagement capable
excuse me about his management capabilities. In just the last week,
some of Tesla's most dependable cheerleaders in the financial world
of turn Musk turned on Musk by suggesting shockingly that
Tesla's sycophantic board should rain him in or even find
a new CEO. This is totally true. We have known
(03:13):
for a long time, and this is coming from a
guy who's been a big proponent of Tesla's I think
those are fantastic cars. They're beautiful vehicles. I should note, however,
that they came in now dead last. I was just
seeing today in reliability. Uh that's not a good sign.
But I think they're cool cars. I've thought this since
since that that Tesla Modelsque came out. What a beautiful vehicle.
(03:36):
Fantastic the follow ups. You know that the that suv
with the go wings, that was kind of a miss um.
I thought that the is it the Model three, that's
the one that's kind of the affordable one, right, I
thought that's a there you go. Now you're getting people
into the market. It's a it's a competitor to to
GM and two to Ford cool. That's great. Was watching
(03:57):
their stock today and it is just in free fall,
just an absolute bomb. Just it is dropping like uh
like uh just dropping. I could use like those bad
analogies and to drop it like it's hot or whatever,
but you know, I'm not gonna do that. Uh So Anyway, Yeah,
(04:20):
that's one of the big fails of this year, and
frankly it's deserved because all of Tesla's stock was built
kind of like cryptocurrency where it was sort of speculative
and people were buying the stock thinking this is going
to be huge. I gotta get in now. Even if
the stock is overvalued now it's undervalued for the long run.
They were getting into it. Now people are going, uh,
(04:44):
I don't really see what the future is since the
CEO is a bit unhinged. Speaking of crypto, that's the
next thing that Hiltic points out is cryptocurrency is a
giant fail. A lot of this comes back to what's
going on with that Sam Bankman, freed guy, the guy
from the FTX and you've probably watched this. How FTX
(05:04):
lost billions of dollars overnight and how they were they
were borrowing from their investors to invest in other stuff.
And as the market tanked, everything tanked, and it's just
been a disaster and absolute disaster. I'm not quite ready
to say crypto is a complete fail. In fact, one
(05:25):
of the points is being made by Hiltzic is that
cryptocurrency is nothing. He says, cryptocurrencies are a scam. There
would be assets with no intrinsic value other than what
their holders can persuade some fool to pay for them.
My issue with that is that what Hiltzic has just
(05:49):
done is described all fiat currencies. See the differences. Fiat
currencies are backed by governments. But truly, there is no
intrinsic value to that dollar bill in your pocket. It
has no value. The value is the cotton fiber paper
that's been used to print it on can be used
(06:09):
for kindling. That's it. There's no value to it. So
this notion that, oh, cryptocurrency has no intrinsic value, neither
does paper money. It doesn't. It's just what we decide
we're going to assign to that piece of paper. In
this case, it would be cryptocurrency. So I'm not ready
to jump on the whole cryptocurrency as a scam. I
(06:30):
still think moving forward we're going to need a digital currency.
But yeah, there's some definitely some growing pains and some
massive fraud going on, and this is a huge example.
He also points out another fail of twenty twenty two
watchdogs for COVID conspiracies. The independent journalism organization pro Public,
spent years establishing a reputation for smart, painstaking investigations that
(06:53):
came crashing down in October when it unaccountably joined up
with a conspiracy theorist at Vanity Fair to push along
debunk claim the would virus escape from a Chinese biology
lab before spreading worldwide. That was the early rumor, right,
that was sort of being pushed by some of the
conspiracy theorists, and it sort of went away, and then
(07:13):
late this year it came back like, well, maybe it
did happen. Come to find out, No, the evidence that
it may have happened was just a rehashing of the
old conspiracy theories that got picked up by reputable sources
who didn't do their diligence in vetting their own information. So, yeah,
the watchdog is a massive fail in this case, and
(07:34):
I would buy extensions say media was a massive fail
in this case. Journalism in general a giant failure in
twenty twenty two when it came to that sort of information,
the promotion of the red wave, Oh, the red wave
is coming, there's gonna be this massive turnover in Congress.
And look, history would have pointed out that anytime you've
got a president of one party and Congress of that
(07:56):
same party, that in the first mid tournament it switches.
History able to last fifty years has shown us that
that is nearly always the case. Didn't really happen this
time around. Sure the majority has changed, and come January second,
I believe we're going to see Congress switch control from
the Democrats to the Republicans, but not by a huge margin.
Certainly wasn't this big red wave that was being pushed.
(08:19):
Also another fail was the strength of the Russian bear
and how Russia just is not what Russia has ever
believed to be or we've ever been told that Russia is.
They're just not the big adversary. In fact, Hiltic goes
on from The ly Times to say that it's more like,
(08:43):
I don't want to say neocons, but let's just say
people who are pushing hard for the military might to
create some sort of an enemy that we can all
rally behind and say, look, this is a real danger
to us, we need more money for the Defense Department,
and then only to find out they're really not not
a big deal. So some of the big fails I
love to again, I love to review things. I love
(09:06):
the twist on this that it's not Oh, here's some
of the celebrities that we'll miss going forward, and that's deserving.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice to be a little
bit nostalgic and at the end of the year, but
I'd like to also remember the full context of a year,
the good and the ugly, as well as many of
the bads that go on too. He does talk about
(09:27):
what's coming up in the next year, and I thought
that was pretty interesting. The twenty twenty three predictions of failures,
he says, it's tempting to speculate about what might be
the biggest fails of twenty twenty three. Hiltzic says he
doesn't think Ron DeSantis has the staying power to be
a national figure in twenty twenty three. Let me see
(09:47):
what else. Oh yeah, the investigation of Anthony Fauci that
the House GOP majority says they're going to be launching
in the new year. Hiltzic predicts that the effort to
turn this widely respected scientist into a villain will evaporate
right in a maizema of ignorance and stupidity, as we'll
talk of prosecuting him most recently promoted by that paragon
of silver judgment Elon Musk. Hiltic then goes back to
(10:10):
the one thing I disagree with him on and that
is that crypto will still be dead. Crypto maybe low
for another couple of years, but as we've seen over
the last decade, crypto ebbs and flows and we'll come back.
I've wanted to I wanted to expand just a little
bit on some of that crypto angle, specifically the FTX mess,
(10:31):
because we're seeing the FTX meltdown that was the crypto
exchange that Sam Bankman Freed was the head of. We're
seeing that play out in the courts now and it's
sort of bringing us to another fail and that is
our blind justice system, all right, So that's next. How
blind is our justice system depends on how much money
(10:52):
you have. Maybe our justice system needs leasic Chris merrill
in for John and Ken k If. I am six forty.
We're live everywhere that I Heeart radio app, Silicon Valley,
maybe changing. It's hard to say exactly what's going to
be the end result of this FTX meltdown, this crypto
exchange meltdown, the Sam Bankman freed mess. This dude and
(11:14):
I don't know how old this guy is, but he
looks like he's about thirty, maybe a little bit younger.
And he's got kind of that Silicon Valley style going on,
you know, the disheveled look. That may change. It's possible
that we stop seeing shabby chic being the cool thing
(11:37):
from Silicon Valley. It's possible that the Mark Zuckerberg hoodie
is no longer in. It's totally possible that people have
to start wearing suits to their professional jobs again. For
some of you, you're thinking, good, it's about time. I
think that's horrible because that means I have to buy suits,
(11:58):
and my weight actuates like Oprah. The idea of me
having multiple suits for whatever weight mood I'm in sounds horrible.
I don't have enough closet space for all of that.
So I'm hoping that the shabby cheek sticks around, even
though the purveyors of shabby cheek are kind of doltish.
(12:21):
If it doesn't, I may just opt for the handle
sheek and fill my closet with cargo shorts and Hawaiian shirts.
May go for that. Fascinated watching this guy. Remember he
got basically blamed for the entire meltdown, and he went
from having billions of dollars too he claimed only having
one hundred thousand dollars the Sam Bankman Freed, and then
(12:43):
he took off and was in the Bahamas. So the
United States wanted to bring him back. There was an
extradition request scent and he said, okay, I'll abide, So
he comes back to the United States and he came back.
I believe yesterday is when he got back to the
United States. He had a hearing today where he was
allowed out on bond. I think we got a little
(13:05):
bit of the updated audio on this from Channel seven. Yeah,
go ahead and play that. Eric businessman Sam Bankman Freed
is set to make his first court appearance in the
US this afternoon. Bankman Freed is the founder of the
cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and is charged in a plot to
defraud investors of millions of dollars. He guided from the
(13:26):
Bahamas this week, and two of his top executives have
already pled guilty. Abousy's Alexis christopherus with Moore. Sam Bankman Freed,
the former CEO of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, left the
Bahamas Wednesday night, arriving in New York after being transferred
to FBI custody. He realized that fighting expedition is a
(13:48):
fool's errand in the Bahamas, the argument would have to
have been that they got the wrong Sam Banking Freed,
and that's just a ridiculous argument to make. Federal prosecutors
announced eight criminal charges against the thirty year old former
executive that included fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, and campaign finance violations.
They alleged he defrauded investors and diverted billions of dollars
(14:12):
in FTX customer money to his hedge fund, which he
then used to fund his lavish lifestyle, as well as
risky personal investments and political donations. In an interview with
ABC's George Stephanopolis last month, Bankman Freed denied knowing FTX
customer funds were being improperly used. Did you even know
that these funds were being fought Alamedia. I did not
(14:34):
know that there is any improper NOIDI use of customer funds.
Two former colleagues of Bankman Freed, Caroline Ellison, chief executive
of Alameda, and Gary Wang, who co founded FTX with
Bankman Freed, have pleaded guilty to federal charges and are
cooperating with prosecutors. The US Attorney for the Southern District
of New York urging others to come forward if you
(14:56):
participated in misconduct at FTX or a me to Now
is a time to get ahead of it. We are
moving quickly, and our patience is not eternal. In addition
to the criminal charges, Bankman Freed is facing several related
civil suits from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission. One are the odds that other
(15:17):
people that may have been involved in this, and there
had to have been others involved in it, couldn't have
been done by just these three. One of the odds
that they step forward and they're like, hey, listen, FBI, Yeah,
that's my bad too. So if you want to just
cuff me, I'm good for it. That's that's fine. I
feel like they're probably lawyering up and trying to get
(15:37):
away with as much as they possibly can. Now, maybe
some of them their lawyers will say, Okay, listen, we're
gonna we're gonna present ourselves at the mercy of the court.
And I'm not so sure, not so sure that's going
to happen unless they have something really damning that they
can use in the prosecution against Sam Bankman freed, which
I don't think that the investigators need in this case.
(15:59):
The end result, though, is that we see once again
the discrepancy in the justice system. So if you and
I had done something wrong, let's say that we embezzled
fifty thousand dollars from our employer, we would likely be
held over on some sort of a bond that we
(16:19):
excuse me, a bail, And I want to explain that
in a moment, we'd be held over in some sort
of a bail that we couldn't possibly pay. The bail
that was set for Sam Bankman Freed was two hundred
and fifty million dollars, and the court accepted a reconnaissance
bond to the value of two hundred and fifty million dollars.
And it's been accepted and Freed is being released now.
(16:43):
The conditions are a little bit I don't even want
to say onerous. The conditions are that he has to
stay at his parents house, which is part of this bond,
and that he has to wear an ankle monitor because
they're concerned that he might be a flight risk. Guy
that says he only has one hundred thousand dollars is
somehow able to post a two hundred and fifty million
(17:03):
dollars bond. How does that happen? Now? You might be thinking, oh,
he probably just shorted all of his own investments. That's genius.
Of course, I know. I'll short sell my own stuff.
Then I'll take it, and then I'll be super rich.
You might be wondering, giving a lot Musk is doing
that to Tesla right now? Probably not the case. See,
the deal is the difference between bail and bond, and
(17:27):
journalists do a terrible job on this. Bail is basically
what the court sets. They say, this is your bail.
If you want to be free until trial, you have
to pay this into the court. As some money paid
to the courts is a deposit. It's basically a lean
on the promise to return for your trial. A bond
is a reduced amount on the bail deposit. It's an
(17:48):
assurance that's guaranteed right that if you don't show up
for your court case, then the courts will see certain
properties or finances and those will be forfeited. So what
you've heard of bail bondsman, So let's say that you
get again picked up for your embezzlement of fifty thousand dollars.
And let's say that they set the bail at twenty grand.
(18:10):
You might go to a bail bondsman and the bail
bondsman will charge you ten percent two thousand dollars. And
the bail bondsman will go to the court and say, listen,
I will put forward a bond, and that bond is
for twenty grand. So if this guy doesn't show up,
I'll give you the twenty grand. In the meantime, the
bail bondsman gets to pocket the ten percent the two
thousand dollars. That's his fee, his or hurt. I don't
(18:33):
mean to be sexist here, and that's why Dog the
bounty hunter goes out if somebody skips down, because all
of a sudden, the bondsman is out eighteen grand and
I got to recover that money, right. So the difference
between a bail and a bond Basically, bail is a
full amount paid as a deposit to the courts. A
bond is an insurance policy. So what Freed does. He
(18:54):
basically got this insurance policy and his parents house is
part of that insurance policy. So if he skips down,
the courts get to seize his parents house in Palo Alto,
which is probably not worth two hundred and fifty million dollars.
I don't know how they made all the numbers come together,
but the courts accepted it just the same. Not bad though,
to go from FBI custody to being house arrest in
(19:14):
Palo Alto. That bad Pretty solid. We'll go around town next.
Chris merril In for John and Ken calf I AM
six forty, Live Everywhere in your Eyeheart Radio. Well this
week gets Safeway. Enjoy big savings with the Bogo Sail,
where select items throughout the store are buy one, get
one free. With this week's Bogo Sail gets select meets
like Signature Farms ninety percent lean ground beef or boneless
(19:37):
skinless chicken breasts or thighs buy one, get one free,
plus select fresh produce items like one pound containers of
sweet strawberries or containers of blueberries are buy one, get
one free. Safe Way. Come in and explore and see
what other deals you can find. Chris Merrilyn for John
and Kenna calf I AM six forty and Blake. Help
(19:57):
me understand what's happening here in the way that only
you can from the Campie newsroom. I know we're looking
at that eviction moratorium which is still going on. This
has been in place for well, we're coming up on
two years here this spring, right exactly. And you know,
when you hear about extensions in the eviction moratorium, sometimes
the first I mean, at least for me, the first
thing that goes through my mind is I didn't even
(20:20):
realize that these were still in effect. They kind of become,
you know, out of sight, out of mind, and then
we hear about one of these extensions. So, yeah, La
County has extended it's eviction moratorium tell January thirty first
value would align the county with the city, which also
has its evictions protections in place until the end of January. Now, Chris,
(20:41):
this may not be the end of extensions. The county
has ordered to report on keeping the eviction moratorium through
June thirtieth. County staff are also eyeing the creation of
a five million dollar relief program. Daniel jugleson he's with
the Apartment Association of Greater La. Let's go to buy one.
He says, landlords aren't happy about this any more. Teetering
on the brink of financial disaster today in the worst cases,
(21:06):
some landlords haven't been able to collect the rent ode
to them for nearly two years, in some cases more
than two years. And so I hear from landlords all
the time who are today facing foreclosure. They're having challenges
being able to pay their necessary daily expenses just to
keep up their lives and support their families. Now, will
(21:30):
that five million dollars save the day, Let's go to
buy two? That is like spitting in the wind. Unfortunately,
there's billions of dollars that's owed. I think the latest
count in California was nearly ten billion dollars of past
two rent that was owed. And so five million dollars
is really not going to do nothing more than maybe
(21:50):
put a band aid on a couple of rental property owners.
The county is just doesn't know how to handle this situation,
and forcing private property owners to put up what I
call private wealth there is just completely unfair and unconstitutional.
And that's why my association continues to press its lawsuit. Wow,
(22:12):
that lawsuit, Chris, just so you know, it's basically on
the merits of this has just gone on too long,
that's what they're alleging in their lawsuit. They're they're looking
for a complete injunction, just have this whole thing thrown out.
They're saying, you know, it's been far too long. And
as Yugleson explains to me, some landlords are actually leaving
ownership because of this. Who's buying their places? Big corporations. Okay,
(22:37):
so what are the big corporations doing then? If they've
got renters that aren't leaving and they're not paying, well,
how does it benefit the big corporations? You know, well,
I think they probably have the financial means to take
it on the chin, right, unlike a small mom and
pop owner. But you know, he supplied me some of
the numbers. More than eighty he's saying more than eighty
percent of people in La County. And when you think
about this five million dollars going to mom and pop landlords,
(23:00):
he's saying more than eighty percent of landlords in La
County are small, independent owners. That's five million dollars for them. Now,
another update on LA's housing, this time will focus on
La City. Yesterday, Chris, you and I were speaking about
Karen Bassa's Inside Safe initiative. Of course, she launched that yesterday,
(23:21):
announcing the details of moving homeless people into motels while
they build affordable housing or while they masterlease hotels. And
yesterday the big question really was is the state going
to get involved? I'm sure you remember we played that
audio from the Housing chief who said, yes, the state
is going to get involved. Well, I didn't realize that
(23:42):
she meant less than twenty four hours. State delegation headed
to city all today. Yeah, state delegation headed to City
Hall today. These were the heads of many state departments.
Mayor Karen Bassa's were These are key departments in solving homelessness.
It was a round table type meeting. It actually took
place at the very top of City Hall. You know
(24:03):
when you're looking at that tower and you're going, what's
up there? These meetings? It's good too. So anyways, Lornce
Ramirez is the secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and
Housing Agency. She says the state's ready to partner up
on this. Solving housing and homelessness is an equally urgent
(24:25):
priority for Governor Newsom. He has been clear that solving
homelessness and increasing the supply of affordable housing requires an
all of government approach, including city and county coordination and
sustain efforts. Across every level of government. This is why
(24:45):
I'm so pleased to see so many leaders here from
the city, from the county, from the local continuum, from
the housing authority, all of us working together with a
sense of urgency to remove barrier to the development of
affordable housing, all of us working together to keep people house,
(25:06):
to rehouse people that are experiencing homelessness, and to connect
housing and human services systems together. Blah blah blah. And well,
now I guess that just leaves the federal government. And again,
this was the plan that Maycare and Bass campaigned on,
bringing you know, multiple levels of government together to try
(25:28):
and solve this. And as we said yesterday, it's early
in the administration. I believe today would be a day eleven,
and so we're still early in the administration. But time
will tell if if this is going to prove to
be effective. So, Blake Trolley in the Cafine newsroom, let's
let's go back to the eviction moratorium if we make
because you've got a couple of topics here, we could
do an hour and each one talk to me then
(25:50):
about the properties that are on the brink of being
foreclosed on or some of those rental properties that are
being foreclosed on. The landlords are taking it on the
the renters really have almost no responsibility in this case
the renters. Ultimately, what is the punishment to a renter
that they have bad credit coming out of this. One
(26:13):
of the things that I found out was that the
same association Daniel So the Greater the Apartment Association of
Greater LA, they filed an earlier lawsuit. I found this
to be somewhat interesting. They filed an earlier lawsuit seeking
an injunction. They said that this whole thing was unconstitutional
on a couple of bases. They said, one, the government
(26:35):
should not be meddling in these private contracts. They also
said it was unconstitutional because the language was vague in
how landlords could enforce this. So while you know it's unclear,
I mean, of course, you know, anytime you owe money,
as you say, yeah, your credit score will go down,
you file for bankruptcy. There's all sorts of things that
could happen in that direction. But one of the one
(26:58):
of the key ruling that was made on this just
a few months ago, as it was explained to me,
is that a judge ruled that the language needed to
be made clear on how landlords could enforce this. Apparently
landlords didn't know if they could actually enforce proof out
of tenants. So landlords, a tenant could say I've been
impacted by COVID nineteen. Based on the old language of
(27:22):
the county's eviction moratorium, landlords were unsure if they could
actually demand proof of that. So recently the language was
changed just to make sure that landlords or just to
make it clear that landlords can in fact demand proof
that somebody is being impacted by COVID nineteen. And you know,
when we talk about the extension this go around, officials
(27:43):
aren't just citing COVID nineteen. They're they're talking about this tripledemic.
I think we should at least talk about cause here
of why the eviction moratorium is being extended. And they're
saying COVID nineteen, the flu RSV, that's the county's position
on this. Apartment Association tells me, well, you know again
(28:04):
their stances that this has gone on too long. They
point to the Super Bowl. They say, we had thousands
of people come to La come to La County. There
seem to be no problem there. Yeah, And I tend
to side with them. You know, when we're in the
throes of the pandemic to start with, and we had
businesses closing left and right. We had, you know, businesses
that were shuttered because of state mandates and whatnot. You know,
(28:25):
there's a little different situation than what we're in right
now for sure. When we talk about proof, what kind
of proof do they need? I mean, is this you
have to show that you've been that you filed an
EDD claim of some sort, that you don't have a
job that is COVID. You know, because of COVID, that
you can't find work, that you're not receiving any sort
of benefits. It seems like there are other measures in
(28:46):
place to help those people who are affected by COVID.
Two years later, it seems like a long time to
keep relying on this thing from twenty twenty to say, well,
you COVID is the reason I can't pay you rent.
How are you getting grocery? I mean, what's the right
at some point, maybe you're behind on rent, that's one thing.
But people that are just not paying rent because they
(29:07):
can't be evicted, that's somebody who's game in the system. Well,
I think I think again, Yeah, of course, there's a
there's many different types of proof that you've been impacted
by COVID nineteen. It's it's a little surprising to me
that it took so long to demand proof that you've
been affected by COVID nineteen. UM. And you know, another thing,
another point about this extension um. One of the points
(29:30):
I know the motion made as well, and this was
part of this whole extending it out to June thirtieth
is um. The motion stated, well, this will give landlords
and renters an opportunity to come together and and have
a day, like, have a set day that this is
going to be over. And I have a I kind
of have a feeling a lot of landlords are at
(29:51):
this point are going, you know, at least based on
what's you know being told to me by this apartment association,
are probably saying, you know, we're good with just ending
it whenever. You know, we're not looking for a specific day, right.
They just want to start getting paid or they want
to you know, figure out what they're gonna do if
if a property is foreclosed on. It's what was the
term that was used by the apartment guy, that is
(30:12):
a private welfare. I believe if we're at that point
where somebody says, I can't make the payment on my
own investment property anymore because my renters aren't coming through.
I can't evict my renters, I can't make right with
my own business because of this moratorium. Um so the
property gets foreclosed on, and then it goes back to
what the bank? What does that do to the renters?
Then then the bank all of a sudden it's on
(30:32):
the hook to make sure that the renters have some
place to live. Well, yeah, I mean you could kind
of go on and on and on right with who
who the financial burden is going to fall on? And
it It sounds to me though, like the common practice
here is that corporations go in and they buy up
this they buy up this housing. And you know, another
another thing to just point out here is Yukilson tells
(30:55):
me a lot of these landlords, these are not career landlords.
They have other jobs. These our investments, These are side
investments to bolster their retirements and things like that. So
a lot of these people are really drawing from that
aspect of their life to stay aflow. Yeah, I get
the feeling you talk. You're talking about the corporations coming,
and I'm guessing the corporations are looking at buying these
things deeply discounted, maybe not collecting rent for the next
(31:19):
six months. But then then all of a sudden, they've
got the equity. As soon as the moratorium is over,
the evict the tenants, and suddenly they've got equity in
a home that they can sell for double or triple
what they paid for it, uh, you know, right about now,
or renovate or renovate. Ukoston was saying that a lot
of them, Yukoson was telling me, a lot of them
end up buying these They buy these buildings, and then
he said, this is actually, you know, hurting affordable housing
(31:41):
in the sense that these corporations buy up these buildings
and then they knock them over and renovate them into
something much more exquisite. So yeah, that's a that's another
whole other element of this. As as for the apartment association,
that is frustrating. I certainly hope that we come to
some sort of an agreement. I don't want to seem
unsympathetic to the people that are finding hardships, but I
(32:02):
believe that the number of people who are still suffering
those same hardships is not significant enough to keep running
up bill up it. Would you say ten billion dollars?
That was well beyond number. Yeah, and I should I
should point out that was a state number. But as
he says, more than eighty percent of landlords in La County,
if that's true, he's saying more than eighty percent of
them are are small independent owners that are that are
(32:24):
taken this one. Yeah, and I buy it too. I
believe it. I mean, we've always been told real estate
as a safe investment and now we're finding out Nope,
not not the case. Blake. Always great reporting. Thank you
so much, Blake Troley out of the Kfine news room.
Always good to hear from you, my friend, have a
have a very merry Christmas, happy holiday, happy New Year,
and everything else that goes with it, my friend. All right,
thanks Christy, take care pop. While the moratorium may go on,
(32:48):
there is one institution in Los Angeles that is coming
to an end, never to be seen again. Something you
may have even shared with your grandparents. Say what that is? Next,
it's Chris, marylynm In John and km K IF I
am six forty live everywhere in your eye heart radio
app pay Mark. You were talking about that Mega Millions, Jackpott.
I just bought my ticket today because I thought, man,
(33:09):
Mega millions up to half a billion dollars and we're
barely talking about it right now. Yeah, billion, two hundred
and seventy million if you take the cash option, man,
I just pulled it up. I went to a lottery
USA dot com and they do all the math for
you on the taxes. Now, California is one of the
states as zero on the taxes if you win the lottery.
(33:30):
Most states have some tax but California, Florida, Delaware zero, you,
Hampshire if you if you win the lottery, they don't
hit your South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, similar, Wyoming, similar. So
you're not gonna get hit with an additional state tax
on that. But if you do the cash lump some option,
(33:51):
as you said, two hundred and seventy which is a
it's a little high based on what Mega Millions has
shown us right now, but not too much. Basically, you
still have to pay your federal tax is at twenty
four percent. So the way it pans out, if you
win the Mega Millions jackpot, which is five hundred ten
million dollars right now, half a billion. Then by the
(34:11):
time you're done taking your cash lump sum and paying
your taxes, you will collect two hundred two million. So
you're only collecting about forty percent. That's nearly enough to
buy a modest house in LA That is not enough
to pay the bail for Sam Bankman free. And yet
(34:33):
that guy is chilling in Palo Alto at his parents' mansion.
Not bad, not bad. I suppose could you get buy
in two hunder two million. I suppose we could. But
it is a bit of a downer. When somebody's like, oh,
I want half a billion dollars, They're like, oh my gosh,
you have half a billion dollars. Oh no, I have
less than a quarter million because of taxes. And that's
in a state that's tax friendly. If we were to
(34:54):
go to New York, where they charge you ten percent tax,
hold on, I gonna pull up, Yeah, New Year, it's
almost eleven percent tax. If you win the five hundred
ten million dollars Mega Millions jackpot and you bought your
ticket in New York, you're gonna collect one hundred seventy
three million, one hundred and seventy four million. Who I know,
(35:15):
but it does seem like, wait a minute, Eric's please
identify yourself as the originator of the boohoo so he
doesn't leading away. But you know, that's really incongruous about California,
bearing in mind how much they absolutely hoses for taxes
in every other respect. I mean, I'm also a freelance writer,
and boy, oh boy, did they nail you on taxes
(35:37):
for that. Self employed is the worst to be in California. Yeah,
Oh my goodness. My wife's got a business that you know,
being in California, but her business is registered in Arizona.
You'd think that would make a difference. Oh, California is like,
oh no, we're still gonna hit the hell Audia, even
though your business isn't even done here. We're gonna hit
the hell Audia. It's terrible. It is brutal. Oh boys,
(36:00):
sad times there you see that the pony rides are
gone from Griffith Park. This made me a little bit sad.
Let's just play a little bit of that clip from
ABC seven there on the last day of operation of
the iconic pony Rides and Petting Zoo at Griffith Park.
A confrontation took place. It was animal rights out of
the kids versus those in favor of keeping the place open.
There was tugging of each other's signs, and park rangers
(36:21):
showed up to keep things peaceful. The pony rights have
been in the dates back to nineteen forty eight, and
it's now coming to an end. For some parents. They
came when they were kids, and now it's them bringing
their kids to ride the ponies. One lost time, the
wait time, Chris four, that's us. So the pony rides
are going away. And a lot of this has to
do with the protesters who said that the ponies were
(36:42):
being mistreated, and it was you know, they say, this
is not Look, I don't want to see anybody's animals
being mistreated, right, But at the same time, if the
animals aren't being mistreated, they're ponies. I know, they're Mani ponies,
but they're they're also giving rides to many humans too, right,
So it's not like we're putting my fat ass on
top of one of those Shetland Poe ponies and trotting
around in a circle. So I gotta tell you, I'm
(37:05):
sorry to see this go. I am if that means
that we got to have somebody come in and take
a look and see how things are treated, to make
sure that the owner is on the up and up
by the owner. By the way, the owner did interviewed
with ABC seven two and he says, listen, the only
complaints that came in were from protesters and the vets
that they had said that the ponies were fine just
the same. It was enough breuhaha in southern California to
(37:27):
have somebody in the political process say, oh, we just
can't do that anymore. And now it's gone operated since
the late nineteen forties. Think about this. You may have
somebody who was a child that enjoyed those pony rides
before the Korean War. You may have a kid that
was born right after the end of World War Two
(37:49):
that enjoyed those pony rides and then took their great
grand kids to ride the ponies. And the whole thing
ends because the protesters successfully convinced Ela to ditch the
pony rides. I have to ask you, I'm since I'm
not from here, did they strike you as cruel to
the animals everything I've seen? No, I mean, I didn't
grow up in southern California, either as someone who rode
(38:10):
them as kids. I didn't see them ever mistreated, right,
I mean, I've seen pony rides in other places where
I grew up. Mark, maybe you have the same thing.
It's like, you know, the traveling carnival would come through
and some of those would have petting zoos, and they
might have the pony rides and things like that, And
I gotta tell you that life seemed a lot harder
than the ones who were permanent at Griffith Park. So no, thanks, Eric,
I appreciate you backing us on this. It didn't strike
(38:34):
me as being awful, not at all. But I think
this sort of follows the whole elephants in the circus
type thing like, oh, it's terrible. You can't have animals
doing animal things. Yeah, they're animals. No, we're not prodding them,
we're not having bull fights, we're not bear baiting. Which
is it's ponies carrying kids. It's not cruel, nor is
(38:55):
it unusual. They're ponies. It's what they do. All right.
We'll talk about this holiday travel mess and it is
a disaster nationwide. Next. Chris Merrill in for John and
Ken kf I am six forty We're live everywhere, in
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