Can the Middle Class Be Rebuilt? - Room for Debate
Should the government strive to create middle-paying jobs? If that is a lost battle, what is the alternative path to recovery?No, middle class jobs in the private sector are not the governments area. The civil service does those things. The government should have as much of that as it needs. The governments job is to contract with local business to do needed work. Roads, Rails, Light rail, water systems, waste reprocessing and other treatment, transmission lines, power plants and communications. the contractors will hire labour and supervisors. There seems to be no other path out than to put money at the bottom of the system so that it can trickle up as rent in various forms.Money does not trickle down in any significant way.Demand drives the system and demand is from the bottom.-
First, Stop Destroying Jobs - Room for Debate
The destruction of the middle class was not an accident of the market but rather was driven by policy. It can be reversed by better policy.-
First, Stop Destroying Jobs
Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research
I sent you a link to his book as a pdf.
He sees into the problem but not to the bottom of the pile.
We are in a viscous spiral and the way out is to get money to the poor. The other policies will help but bottom demand is what makes the whole thing work.
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Turn Tax Deductions Into Tax Credits - Room for Debate
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What Should Government Do? Less
Andrew G. Biggs, American Enterprise Institute
Turning tax deductions into tax credits would better target limited resources toward the middle class.
The American Enterprise Institute is a well known right wing talking point mill.The middle class must be getting paid in order to benefit from any change in tax policy.Taxes are not the problem. -
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Government Should Stop Impeding the Economy - Room for Debate
It seems unlikely that the president has been saving the real solutions until now. There is not much he can do.The money so far has been delivered to the top of the economy. He is wrong on every following point as well. -
Rick Perry's Plan: $10,000 for a B.A. - Room for Debate
Will a college degree that costs $2,500 a year be worth the paper it's printed on?"But the spiraling cost of higher education is an issue that resonates nationally. How feasible is the idea of creating precise targets for a low-cost college education?"Costs who?We can deliver education to students for that kind of fee.It will not pay the costs to the institution.
I have some experience with "For Profit" education. It was long ago.
Let us consider costs for a student. Academic costs for sixteen credit hours per semester. Call it 80 instructor hours at $65.00/hr. divided by 40 students times 14 weeks = $1820 + library and computer connectivity $150 + texts $300 + parking $200 = $2470$2500 per semester and we are not even speaking of living and entertainment costs, Minimally double. $5000 per semester to attend.$10,000 per year. $40,000 for a B.A. Investing in the Economy - Room for Debate
Many of the good jobs lost during the last decade will not be replaced by new good jobs without significant public investments."Laura Tyson is the S.K. and Angela Chan Professor at the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley. She was the chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers and the National Economic Council in the Clinton administration and she is a member of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.This is their lead paragraph and it is wrong.The labor market is suffering from two problems: first, an immediate jobs gap, primarily the result of the collapse in demand after the 2008 financial crisis, and second, a long-term gap in rewarding jobs for American workers, primarily the result of skill-biased technological change and global competition."
2008 collapsed the realestate sales and construction industries. Manufacturing died in the nineties of off shoring. So much for problem one. The technologies have not changed. Labour using industries have been moved to low price markets. They did not even succeed in dividing the problem.
"During the past 50 years, public sector employment has increased during periods of economic recovery; this time it is falling — by 550,000 over the last year."
This looks like there is no "recovery" coming.
"The federal government should pair fiscal measures to stimulate job creation now and to lay the foundations for high-wage job opportunities in the future with a balanced plan to reduce the deficit gradually — and both should be passed now."
They do know how to cut and paste.
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Court Rejects Challenges to German Euro Bailouts
The court has said the government can do it.
There is more to do before it is done and then it is the wrong thing to do.It is not that they can't pay their debts now. They cant pay their debts at all.More loans are not going to help. -
Ringleader
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Doctor and Patient: In Search of a Better MCAT
Recently the college-age daughter of a friend talked to me about her dream of becoming a doctor. She was doing well as a psychology major and in her pre-medical courses, was working as a research assistant for a pediatrician at a nearby medical sc...I looked. U.S. medical schools require the MCAT. Look off shore if it is beyond the ability of the kid. There will be boards at the end of school for the license.I am not learning much medicine. I will have to trust the experts most of the time.
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G.O.P. Legislators Balk at a Call to Tie Storm Aid to Budget Cuts
I am shocked.
The G.O.P. is aware of its situation. -
A System in Need of an Update - Room for Debate
The formula for private sector opportunity and growth is not a secret.
Just the same old Republican talking points.Tax cuts for the rich. Chinese wages for the industrial floor.No effective safety net when finance gets things wrong.We don't need an update, we need a "New Deal".
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kelfeind
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Doctor and Patient: In Search of a Better MCAT
Recently the college-age daughter of a friend talked to me about her dream of becoming a doctor. She was doing well as a psychology major and in her pre-medical courses, was working as a research assistant for a pediatrician at a nearby medical sc...
The concept of "necessary but not sufficient" is an important one here.The MCAT is a gate that U.S. medical students must get through.It is a test of commitment rather than a test of knowledge.The study guides are available and not prohibitive.http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_4?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=mcat+prep&sprefix=MCATPick one out and start reading. Do all the problems.There are tutors and other help.
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Civil Liberties Today
Quiet words that should be a clarion call.
Preventive detention is one of those things we do not do.
Real efforts will be needed to dismember this construct.
I will support them But would rather not spend time in jail for political offences.Others have pointed out that "a little bit pregnant" is apt here. -
How the Texas Plan Might Work - Room for Debate
Given the intransigence of existing colleges, the solution may be to create new institutions blending online and traditional teaching.Getting them accredited is the canker. A course of study that does not lead to a seat at the licensing exam is not real useful.Diploma mills already exist. I can get a Master's in Psychology on real velum in a frame for $39.95. -
What if Republicans Closed the E.P.A.? - Room for Debate
Many of the G.O.P. presidential candidates want to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency. What's the alternative to it?Slow death while choking on our own wastes. -
It All Depends on Marriage - Room for Debate
As cohabitation becomes more widely accepted, it will less reliably mark the sort of unstable parental relationships that imperil children’s well-being.-
It All Depends on Marriage
Ralph Richard Banks, Stanford law professor
It does take more than one person to nurture a child.
Marriage is only one of many forms.
The only problem I have is with those intentionally crippling children.
Professor Banks problems are his own. He should deal with them.
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Perry's College Plan: It's Just a Start - Room for Debate
Governor Perry's proposal is refreshingly precise, and far more realistic than some people think. Its flaw is that it doesn't go far enough.
http://onestop.umn.edu/finances/costs_and_tuition/cost_of_attendance/index.htmlExpense category Fall/spring amount Semester
breakdownTuition/fees $13,060 $6,530 Books/supplies $1,000 $500 Room/board $7,728 $3,864 Transportation $194 $97 Personal/miscellaneous $2,000 $1,000 Total$23,982 $11,991 Minnesota is not notoriously expensive. This is in state. -
College Costs: The Role of Rising Demands - Room for Debate
College has been a halfway house between childhood and adulthood. If we make the college years leaner, then we must condition high school graduates for new realities.There is a place to grow up. The peace time army. The Navy as long as one stays away from the marines. Agricultural work or'mom's basement'. Growing up does not require a College Campus.Most people do it. Not all do it at 19. -
A Campaign Challenge: Defining Obama
Let us let Obama be himself.
He is not a great choice but far better than his competition. -
Cohabitation Doesn't Cause Bad Parenting - Room for Debate
Encouraging couples who are in a rocky relationship to marry is no panacea.This is the key quote:"Cohabitation itself doesn’t cause ineffective parenting. If it did, we’d expect children in Scandinavian countries, where many more couples raise kids outside marriage, to be worse off on most social indicators than American youth. But the reverse is the case."Talk to me when you are able. I am able and willing to talk.I am willing to do more but talk in some form must come first.In the meantime there is this.
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