It takes 6 months to build a Rolls Royce and 13 hours to build a Toyota.
Archives
All posts for the month August, 2012
Laughter helps increase memory and learning. Incorporating humor into education leads to higher test scores.
Despite all this gloomy data, getting a bachelor’s degree is still worth the cost and effort. Why? For one simple reason — the alternative of not having a college degree is so much worse:
Recent high school grads’ unemployment rates are frightening. The Economic Policy Institute study shows that the recent unemployment rate for high school graduates between age 17 and 20 who aren’t enrolled in additional schooling is 31.1%. And their underemployment rate is 50.4%. A person with just a high-school diploma will earn median lifetime earnings of $1.3 million and someone with a bachelor’s degree will earn $2.3 million in median lifetime earnings according to a Georgetown University study.
All post-Great Recession job gains have gone to those with more education. A recent Georgetown University Study notes that 3.4 million jobs have been created since the recovery began. All of these post-Great Recession jobs have gone to workers with an education beyond high school. For those with a bachelor’s degree or better, jobs have increased by 2 million. For those with an associate degree or some college education, jobs have increased by 1.6 million. For those with a high-school diploma or less, jobs have continued to decrease by 200,000 since the recovery began. Clearly an education beyond high school is important in today’s job market.
Families in 2011-12 received the following average college sticker price discount (tuition, fees, room and board): 40% for a private, nonprofit four-year college; and a 34% for an in-state, public four-year college.
Demographics are your friend. There are approximately 78 million baby boomers that will be turning 65 years old between 2011 and 2029. Their retirements will create many job openings. What seems like a drought of jobs today could turn into a jobs flood in future years. Remember, demographics are very powerful.
A college degree doesn’t come with a job guarantee — but it sure beats the alternative. (John Pelletier, Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College)
Former Vice President Al Gore gave a strong endorsement on Thursday for abandoning the Electoral College and returning to a presidential election system more heavily determined by the popular vote.
In a discussion during Current TV’s coverage of the Republican National Convention, Gore and his co-panelists argued that Electoral College system had a corrosive effect on the power of votes and presidential leadership. For voters, casting ballots in a state that is predictably red or blue feels pointless in determining presidential elections. For leaders, visiting a state that is already in the bag for Republicans or Democrats seems unnecessary.
“I really do now think that it’s time to change that,” Gore said. “It’s always tough to amend the Constitution and risky to do so, but there is a very interesting movement under way that takes it state by state, that may really have a chance of succeeding. I hope it does.” Gore and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) proceeded to bring up a proposal, floated by a California professor, that would change the electoral vote allocation and partially tie it to congressional district outcomes.
Tampa speaks up
August 29, 2012
Congressman Paul Ryan, the Republican nominee for vice president and champion of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans at the expense of middle class and seniors, will address the Republican National Convention. But before he goes on, a few regular folks—college students and retirees, veterans, and Medicare recipients—stopped by to make their voices heard about what matters to the middle class.
For many Floridians, health care is a top priority, and the people we met today are concerned about what the extreme Romney-Ryan budget would mean for themselves and their families. Carole, who shared her story during this morning’s press conference, says her husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer five years ago—and there is no way they’d be able to pay his medical bills without Medicare.
“Medicare paid for his excellent surgeons and the excellent treatment. It paid for chemotherapy, which is very, very expensive. We’re middle class. Up until then we had a charmed life, but it hits you. It hits all of a sudden.”
The fact that Mitt Romney and Ryan want to end Medicare as we know it and replace it with a voucher system prompted Carole to get up in front of a room of journalists and cameras and share her story—even though she says she’d never dreamed she’d do such a thing. There’s just too much at risk to keep quiet. Carole explains, “I would say our medical bills are over a million dollars. Medicare paid for this. We have a small supplement, but it’s dependent on Medicare. We have private homeowners’ insurance that we can’t afford anymore. If there’s a voucher program for health care, I’m skeptical about turning over medical insurance to a private company.”
Veterans are also worried about what a Romney-Ryan ticket means for their health. Annie, a Tampa senior who stood up at today’s press conference, says her husband is a veteran who suffers from PTSD. She’s worried that if the Republicans get elected, his medical benefits will get cut—or that the VA will be forced to cut back on his doctors and counselors. It’s a concern Elena, a Tampa-area veteran, shares. “The President has always had our back,” Elena says. “If we elect Romney, we’d be turning our backs on veterans when we need them most—when they gave us their all.”
Annie sums up what’s at stake. It’s the reason they all came out today: “I don’t want to go back to those eight years that we had before. I just don’t want to go back. I want to go forward.”
NOLA we know what time a year it is: alligators & snakes seen swimming in Louisiana neighborhood flood waters. Be careful where you step!
It’s late August. The Republicans are having their national convention. A huge tropical storm is bearing down on the U.S. Gulf Coast. So what’s new? We have had major hurricanes bearing down on the United States during four of the past six Republican conventions: Andrew in 1992, Frances in 2004, Gustav in 2008, and this year, Isaac. This is not a coincidence: Republicans seem determined to underfund, undermanage, and understaff the government agencies that respond to hurricanes, putting lives and property at risk, as well as their political careers.
This gets way more interesting… Red more:http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/open-government/news/2012/08/29/34936/why-do-republicans-have-so-much-trouble-with-hurricanes/
Anyone experiencing distress in relation to Hurricane Isaac or any natural or human-caused disaster can call the Disaster Distress Helpline toll-free 1-800-985-5990 or text ‘TalkWithUs’ to 66746 (Spanish-speakers can text ‘Hablanos’ to 66746); calls and texts are answered 24/7 by trained, caring crisis counselors from call centers throughout the U.S.
Hurricane Resources & Info at LAREALTORS.org, LR Office Status Louisiana REALTORS has activated its Online Emergency Resources page at www.larealtors.org/emergency. REALTORS can find hurricane preparation info and checklists for important activities before, during and after the storm’s arrival, information on the LR Relief Fund, scheduling updates, and linked resources for hurricane-related news and information. Also stay in contact with our Facebook page and twitter account for updates. LR’s Baton Rouge office will close at noon on Tuesday, August 28 and will be closed Wednesday, August 29. For updates and more information, visit www.larealtors.org/emergency or contact us at 800-266-853
Why is it important to finance efforts to make homes more resistant to natural disasters? In order to incorporate smarter and safer building and renovation methods, develop and enforce new building and zoning codes, implement enhanced land use planning strategies, and develop more cost-effective support programs for low- and moderate-income households, federal, state and local governments and related entities need access to sufficient financial resources. Maintaining and expanding financial resources for pre-disaster mitigation measures will not only save more lives, but it will also reduce the costs of disaster recovery.
What are the financial / economic benefits of financing measures to make homes more resistant to natural disasters?
Research has also shown that money spent upfront on hazard mitigation saves money and resources in the long run. An analysis conducted by the Multihazard Mitigation Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences found that every dollar spent on hazard mitigation saves an average of four dollars in avoided losses in terms of human losses (deaths, injuries, homelessness), direct property damage, reduced cost of emergency response, damage to public and natural resources, and direct/indirect business losses. [1] Other recent studies have provided similar estimates of these cost savings