Joel Ross
The difference between a politician at the extreme of either party, and a businessman, is the politician is driven by some extreme ideology and will rather die than do a deal. A businessman will try to get to close, and keeps his eye on the goal- close the deal knowing nobody gets the perfect deal and compromise is essential. What we witnessed this week with the Freedom Caucus is a small bunch of stupid politicians who foolishly think they rule, and the other 210 Representatives and 52 Senators need to do what these fools demand. They actually still think they won, just to show how stupid they are. By killing replacement they not only supported Obama and Pelosi, they did terrible harm to their own constituents, they made tax reform harder, and they did grave harm to their own party and the presidency. To quote one, “we dodged a bullet.” They think it is better to have the country live with a collapsed Obamacare and blame the Democrats, than to take the steps to fix it and modify it over time to improve it. I assume they thought that Trump, who tried everything possible to cut a deal, was going to fold in the end and they would get their way. They did not understand that good businessmen will call their bluff.
So where does that leave the country. Tax reform is key to everything. I expect the Freedom Idiots to believe they can now get what they want on tax reform because their threat to vote no is real, and they will think they have the power. They really do not get it. They will again make ridiculous demands and threaten to vote no unless they get what they want, despite the fact they will destroy everything is that happens. If there is no tax reform, and it does not pass, then the stock market really crashes, deal stop and the Republican party, which had the ability to really gain total control in 2018, will get wiped out in that election. Without tax reform we have nothing but fiscal and economic disaster. There is a real chance that will happen now. The implications for the party are horrendous. The Freedom Caucus thinks it can now continue to make demands and threaten another no vote. They are like a bunch of three year old's stomping their feet because they did not get the toy they wanted for Christmas even though Daddy does not have the money to buy it.
Recommended For You
For all the rest of us we need to sit and wait to see what happens. For some projects that are longer term and where demand is clear, they will be fine, but for high end condos, or other projects where strong economic growth and higher stock prices matter, caution is better.
If your Congressman is one of the Freedom Caucus members, make sure he knows contributions ended and you will support a primary candidate who has the country as the priority. These guys are really bad for our business.
The opinions expressed are the author's own.
Joel Ross
The difference between a politician at the extreme of either party, and a businessman, is the politician is driven by some extreme ideology and will rather die than do a deal. A businessman will try to get to close, and keeps his eye on the goal- close the deal knowing nobody gets the perfect deal and compromise is essential. What we witnessed this week with the Freedom Caucus is a small bunch of stupid politicians who foolishly think they rule, and the other 210 Representatives and 52 Senators need to do what these fools demand. They actually still think they won, just to show how stupid they are. By killing replacement they not only supported Obama and Pelosi, they did terrible harm to their own constituents, they made tax reform harder, and they did grave harm to their own party and the presidency. To quote one, “we dodged a bullet.” They think it is better to have the country live with a collapsed Obamacare and blame the Democrats, than to take the steps to fix it and modify it over time to improve it. I assume they thought that Trump, who tried everything possible to cut a deal, was going to fold in the end and they would get their way. They did not understand that good businessmen will call their bluff.
So where does that leave the country. Tax reform is key to everything. I expect the Freedom Idiots to believe they can now get what they want on tax reform because their threat to vote no is real, and they will think they have the power. They really do not get it. They will again make ridiculous demands and threaten to vote no unless they get what they want, despite the fact they will destroy everything is that happens. If there is no tax reform, and it does not pass, then the stock market really crashes, deal stop and the Republican party, which had the ability to really gain total control in 2018, will get wiped out in that election. Without tax reform we have nothing but fiscal and economic disaster. There is a real chance that will happen now. The implications for the party are horrendous. The Freedom Caucus thinks it can now continue to make demands and threaten another no vote. They are like a bunch of three year old's stomping their feet because they did not get the toy they wanted for Christmas even though Daddy does not have the money to buy it.
For all the rest of us we need to sit and wait to see what happens. For some projects that are longer term and where demand is clear, they will be fine, but for high end condos, or other projects where strong economic growth and higher stock prices matter, caution is better.
If your Congressman is one of the Freedom Caucus members, make sure he knows contributions ended and you will support a primary candidate who has the country as the priority. These guys are really bad for our business.
The opinions expressed are the author's own.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
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.
