Associated Press Writes: Poverty rate stuck at 15 percent; record 46.5 million

WASHINGTON — The nation’s poverty rate remained stuck at 15 percent last year despite America’s slowly reviving economy, a discouraging lack of improvement for the record 46.5 million poor and an unwelcome benchmark for President Barack Obama’s recovery plans. 

More than 1 in 7 Americans were living in poverty, not statistically different from the 46.2 million of 2011 and the sixth straight year the rate had failed to improve, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Median income for the nation’s households was $51,017, also unchanged from the previous year after two consecutive annual declines, while the share of people without health insurance did improve but only a bit, from 15.7 percent to 15.4 percent.

“We’re in the doldrums, with high poverty and inequality as the new normal for the foreseeable future,” said Timothy Smeeding, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in income inequality. “The fact we’ve seen no real recovery in employment and wages means we’ve just flatlined.”

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I am not sure why anyone would be surprised with this. Over the  last decade US has instituted policies that basically benefit the rich or those involved in the financial sector at the cost of the middle class and the poor.

Cutting interest rates close to ZERO basically provides an unlimited money supply to those already in power or with money and allows them to speculate on financial or real estate assets without risk. That in turn makes them even more money.  Since the working poor don’t have such an access they are left behind by default. I don’t see anything in the US Economic policy that would change that any time soon.

Weather this is an economic, social or political issue is for you to decide. However, I would just mention that the US Economy cannot perform well if so many people are left behind. It might work for a while, but eventually it catches up to the rest of the US Financial system.  In this case, as the US Financial Asset Bubble (the bubble that is basically artificially keeping the US Economy afloat) implodes, there will be hell to pay. 

Maybe it’s a good idea for someone to open a Guillotine manufacturing company in the US. 

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Bloomberg Writes: Google’s Boss and a Princeton Professor Agree: College Is a Dinosaur

Colleges and universities are indecisive, slow-moving, and vulnerable to losing their best teachers to the Internet.

That’s the shared view of Google (GOOG) Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former Department of State official and until this month a tenured professor at Princeton University. They explored the problems of higher education on Friday in a one-on-one conversation sponsored by the New America Foundation, where Schmidt serves as chairman and Slaughter is the new president.

Colleges have the luxury of thorough, democratic deliberation of issues because “they never actually do anything,” Schmidt said during the event. He cited Princeton, where he graduated in 1976 and once served as trustee, which spent six years deliberating over whether to change its academic calendar—and in the end did nothing. “Don’t get me started on that,” Slaughter laughed.

Slaughter agreed that traditional colleges and universities, with their high fixed costs, are at risk. “They’re going to lose their top talent,” she said. “We can become global teachers. The best people can become free agents.”

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It is unbelievable how much College Education costs today. The cost of education has gone up by  7-8% per year over the last decade. Some colleges increased their tuition 50-100%  during the same time. Basically the costs of educations has skyrocketed.   

Is there a reason for that? Not particularly. Schools are just getting way too greedy. On top of it all there is $1.2 Trillion of student debt out there. That is a truly staggering amount .  The worst part about this whole “college scam” is the fact that we are ending up with a generation of college graduates who are so deep in debt that it will literally take them decades to get back on their feet.  That in return puts a significant drag on the US Economy as major purchases such as cars and homes would have to be postponed.   

I will have a complete breakdown of this enormous problem in my future posts, but for now I do hope new technologies discussed in the article above blow this “College Monopoly” sky high.  It is a must for our future economic growth. We must find a way to provide affordable education to the masses. That would be a win-win for everyone.   

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Yahoo News Write: U.S. lawmakers unite in fury over Putin’s op-ed in New York Times

It’s not every day that an opinion piece in The New York Times simultaneously insults the Republican speaker of the House and nearly causes the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to  “vomit.”

But that’s exactly what happened when Russian President Vladimir Putin penned an article calling for the U.S. government, which is considering launching a military strike on Syria for alleged war crimes, to use restraint in the Middle East. In his piece, Putin also took issue with part of President Barack Obama’s national address on Syria on Tuesday night, which made the case for military action and praised “American exceptionalism.”

“It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation,” Putin wrote.

“I was at dinner,” New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez said on CNN after he read the piece. “And I almost wanted to vomit.”

Other lawmakers were equally blunt.

“I was insulted,” House Speaker John Boehner told reporters on Thursday morning. “I’ve probably already said more than I should have said, but you’ve got the truth.”

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain called Putin’s piece an “insult to the intelligence of every American.”

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Yesterday, President of Russia, Vladimir Putin sent an open letter to the American people published by The New York Times.  You Can Read The Letter Here. As a matter of fact, I challenge you to read the letter before you continue. 

Let’s put away any sticking points or special interest between Russia and the US for a second. Yes, you can argue it is a divergence and Russia is playing their own game, but stick with me for a second.

Shockingly enough, Putins message is fairly simple. It is the message of peace and desire for reflection on what is really going on in Syria.  He is essentially asking American people to pause and really think about the situation and its ramifications on the whole region and the international community before getting into another mindless war.

What’s American response? “I was insulted”, “I wanted to vomit”, it is an “Insult to the intelligence of every American”. We want WAR and we want it NOW. We don’t even care if by doing so we are partner up with Al Qaeda.

What the hell is going on here? I am an American and I am not insulted. I think Mr. Putin brought up some very good points. I think the American Government has lost touch with reality and went completely off the rails.

I think it is our Senators and our Congressman that make most Americans want to vomit. The proposed strike on Syria has a 7% approval rating, yet these idiots are still pushing for war. While this is quite entertaining, I am watching this unfold in disbelief.   

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