Money, Politics and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Tax payers may be sorry they paid "exorbitant" fees to H&R Block and other Brooklyn tax preparers for processing Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs). This year. banks are refusing to lend against tax refunds – even at usury interest rates. Room 8

- Governor David Patterson's approval ratings are down and his management skills are being called into question. Crain's New York

- Respected economists Ian Bremmer and Nouriel Roubini say that 2009 is going to be much worse than many financial experts predict. Wall Street Journal via NYC Housing Bubble

- Brooklyn officials and real estate professionals are hailing the Senate on its confirmation of Shaun Donovan, a resident of Boerum Hill, as President Barack Obama’s new secretary of housing and urban development. Brooklyn Eagle

- A poster on Curbed wants to swap his house in Miami for a home in Brooklyn: "I'd like to do a pure swap: my house in Miami for an condo, townhouse, or mixed use building in the city or Brooklyn. It would be equal equity." For some reason, many commenters take umbrage at the notion. Curbed

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