It is becoming more probable by the day that Obama and his minions, Rhodes and Jarrett, backed up by Holder, are running a Resistance campaign to undermine Trump and his steps to undo all of the policies and damage done by Obama. Ben Rhodes seems to be the connection between the leaks and the press, and Jarrett has now moved into the Obama home in Washington.
If the story of the wiretaps on Trump during the election are true, then the educated assumption is Ben Rhodes was behind it. If true, it was illegal, and would make any Russian hacking of the DNC and Podesta look like nothing. If true it would also undermine any hope the Democrats may have had to recoup in 2018 after the drubbing they took in 2016 from the top of the ticket to the bottom.
Keep in mind Rhodes was Obama's speech writer who Obama made into his top national security adviser, even though Rhodes had zero knowledge or understanding of foreign policy. Rhodes was the lead person behind the Iran deal that Trump may now undo. We will have to see where all this plays out and where truth lies or does not, but if Obama and his people wiretapped Trump, if Ben Rhodes was behind it with Jarrett, and if the whole “Resistance” movement is being managed by Obama and Jarrett and Rhodes, then democracy has a real problem in America, and the Russia story will have proven to be a red herring. If true, then the Democrats will have giant issues going forward. The next week will be fascinating to see how all this unfolds.
However, for CRE what is really happening is what matters, and we need to understand, what does the Russia nonsense really mean for us if true about the wiretaps. It seems pretty clear now there is no truth to the claims by Democrats that Trump colluded with Russia to win the election, and that is a fake news story pushed by Democrats and the press, so there will not be lasting damage to the Trump plans and initiatives. The replacement for Obamacare will be released in the next week or two, tax reform will happen over the summer, the regulatory rollback is already well underway, and there will be an infrastructure public-private program mainly funded by the taxes paid by corporations repatriating cash from offshore which will be taxed at 10%. That could easily yield much of the seed equity required for these projects. The stock market will continue its upward run as all of these programs get approved, and that creates a wealth effect that will help spur equity investing and condo and home sales. Add a revision of Dodd-Frank to let banks get back to active mending and the replace of Turillo on the Fed and we could see a very robust CRE market again in 2018. When Gorsuch is seated on the court and they get back to ruling on what the constitution says, not what Ginsberg and Sotomayor want it to say, then that will help business better deal with major legal issues from a more pro-business view in the courts. This will over time, have a major impact on regulations and especially zoning and matters.
The Democrats have now selected as their chair a very left-wing Latino and as deputy a radical left-wing anti-Semite Muslim who refused to stand last week when the widow of the special forces hero was introduced at Trump's speech. They will run a far left campaign led by Elizabeth Warren in 2018, and they will get crushed. The Republicans will get control of the Senate if they unite and do not screw up on Obamacare, tax reform, infrastructure and defense spending. If they pass all of the programs Trump is pushing, and if, as a result, the stock market rallies further and jobs continue to grow and wages show some improvement, then the Republicans will rule for the next six to 10 years. All of that is good for CRE.
The views expressed here are the author's own.
It is becoming more probable by the day that Obama and his minions, Rhodes and Jarrett, backed up by Holder, are running a Resistance campaign to undermine Trump and his steps to undo all of the policies and damage done by Obama. Ben Rhodes seems to be the connection between the leaks and the press, and Jarrett has now moved into the Obama home in Washington.
If the story of the wiretaps on Trump during the election are true, then the educated assumption is Ben Rhodes was behind it. If true, it was illegal, and would make any Russian hacking of the DNC and Podesta look like nothing. If true it would also undermine any hope the Democrats may have had to recoup in 2018 after the drubbing they took in 2016 from the top of the ticket to the bottom.
Keep in mind Rhodes was Obama's speech writer who Obama made into his top national security adviser, even though Rhodes had zero knowledge or understanding of foreign policy. Rhodes was the lead person behind the Iran deal that Trump may now undo. We will have to see where all this plays out and where truth lies or does not, but if Obama and his people wiretapped Trump, if Ben Rhodes was behind it with Jarrett, and if the whole “Resistance” movement is being managed by Obama and Jarrett and Rhodes, then democracy has a real problem in America, and the Russia story will have proven to be a red herring. If true, then the Democrats will have giant issues going forward. The next week will be fascinating to see how all this unfolds.
However, for CRE what is really happening is what matters, and we need to understand, what does the Russia nonsense really mean for us if true about the wiretaps. It seems pretty clear now there is no truth to the claims by Democrats that Trump colluded with Russia to win the election, and that is a fake news story pushed by Democrats and the press, so there will not be lasting damage to the Trump plans and initiatives. The replacement for Obamacare will be released in the next week or two, tax reform will happen over the summer, the regulatory rollback is already well underway, and there will be an infrastructure public-private program mainly funded by the taxes paid by corporations repatriating cash from offshore which will be taxed at 10%. That could easily yield much of the seed equity required for these projects. The stock market will continue its upward run as all of these programs get approved, and that creates a wealth effect that will help spur equity investing and condo and home sales. Add a revision of Dodd-Frank to let banks get back to active mending and the replace of Turillo on the Fed and we could see a very robust CRE market again in 2018. When Gorsuch is seated on the court and they get back to ruling on what the constitution says, not what Ginsberg and Sotomayor want it to say, then that will help business better deal with major legal issues from a more pro-business view in the courts. This will over time, have a major impact on regulations and especially zoning and matters.
The Democrats have now selected as their chair a very left-wing Latino and as deputy a radical left-wing anti-Semite Muslim who refused to stand last week when the widow of the special forces hero was introduced at Trump's speech. They will run a far left campaign led by Elizabeth Warren in 2018, and they will get crushed. The Republicans will get control of the Senate if they unite and do not screw up on Obamacare, tax reform, infrastructure and defense spending. If they pass all of the programs Trump is pushing, and if, as a result, the stock market rallies further and jobs continue to grow and wages show some improvement, then the Republicans will rule for the next six to 10 years. All of that is good for CRE.
The views expressed here are the author's own.
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Joel Ross
Joel Ross began his career in Wall St as an investment banker in 1965, handling corporate advisory matters for a variety of clients. During the seventies he was CEO of North American operations for a UK based conglomerate, and sat on the parent company board. In 1981, he began his own firm handling leveraged buyouts, investment banking and real estate financing. In 1984 Ross began providing investment banking services and arranging financing for real estate transactions with his own firm, Ross Properties, Inc. In 1993 Ross and a partner, Lexington Mortgage, created the first Wall St hotel CMBS program in conjunction with Nomura. They went on to develop a similar CMBS program for another major Wall St investment bank and for five leading hotel companies. Lexington, in partnership with Mr. Ross established a hotel mortgage bank table funded by an investment bank, and making all CMBS hotel loans on their behalf. In 1999 he formed Citadel Realty Advisors as a successor to Ross Properties Corp., focusing on real estate investment banking in the US, UK and Paris. He has closed over $3.0 billion of financings for office, hotel, retail, land and multifamily projects. Ross is also a founder of Market Street Investors, a brownfield land development company, and has been involved in the acquisition of notes on defaulted loans and various REO assets in conjunction with several major investors. Ross was an adjunct professor in the graduate program at the NYU Hotel School. He is a member of Urban Land Institute and was a member of the leadership of his ULI council. In 1999, he conceived and co-authored with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Hotel Mortgage Performance Report, a major study of hotel mortgage default rates.
