By Mike Lowrey
In 1971 Fulton and DeKalb counties voted to tax themselves a 1% sales tax to fund “rapid transit”, and MARTA was formed.
Throughout the following 41 years, literally millions of people have moved into the area, each arriving to find that their purchases carried this tax. Most have never questioned it; instead they simply consider it a cost of living in Fulton or DeKalb.
Let’s focus for a moment on the current reality. If your family is middle-to-upper income, which defines the majority of people in the non-downtown parts of the region, you will spend approximately $35,000 per year on retail purchases.
The 1% MARTA tax directly costs you $350 per year BEFORE you take the first ride.
Even with this massive subsidy, MARTA cannot operate at break even, and has fallen over $1 billion behind on its maintenance. Its ridership, never a high percentage of commuters, has fallen to less than 5% of the areas it serves. It is doing absolutely nothing to relieve congestion on our highways.
We are now being asked to vote for an additional 1% tax to fund even more “rapid transit” construction that will do even less to relieve congestion.
For the average family, that now means you will be paying $700 per year to fund rail transit. Is this a good deal? I think not.
Do we wish to become a high-tax region like New York or San Francisco? Do we wish to deter people from moving here?
The TIA T-SPLOST vote, if successful, will raise our taxes region-wide by almost $7 billion. The project list directs over half of this money into rail transit projects. These projects are not fully funded and there is nothing in the budget for ongoing maintenance. It is a tax trap that will continue for the indefinite future. It also will absorb money that could alternatively be used to fund road projects that could relieve congestion.
Mike Lowry
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Regional Governance vs. Political Boundaries
Regional Governance is the method whereby would-be rulers intend to control every aspect of our lives. Without the full implementation of Regional Governance, their plan for world dominance cannot succeed…. (Governance, as opposed to Government, means “control by rules, restrictions, and regulations.”). In order to subvert the sovereignty of the United States and the individual states guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, a parallel and entirely unconstitutional governance structure, termed “Regional Government,” has been covertly established over the past half century
All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void.
Jakie Patru Marbury vs. Madison, 5 US (2 Branch) 137, 174, 176 (1803)
Regional government is the method by which the global ruling elite is slowly dismantling the sovereignty and constitutional protections of the world’s nations. In “Regionalism: Sneaking America into World Government,” Jakie Patru
(http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/regionalism/sneaking.htm) notes that using United Nations dictates, globalists have divided the planet into ten regions. North America is Region 1, South America is Region 6, etc. As has already been accomplished in Europe with the European Union, their plan calls for merging the North and South American regions through establishing trade agreements like the FTAA (Free Trade Agreement of the Americas) and a common currency.
The process of regionalizing America began long ago. In a 1969 press release, President Nixon designated ten federal regions, purportedly to “streamline the structure and processes of federal agencies in the field.” Each region was to have an appointed chairman (bureaucrats accountable only to Washington, D.C.) for its Federal Regional Council. Federal Regional Councils were further defined and legitimized in Nixon’s Executive Order 11647 of 1972 (http://www.sweetliberty.org/beware_metro.html).
Nixon’s executive order is in direct contravention of Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which states: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government.” (Webster defines a republican form of government as one in which “the sovereign power resides in a certain body of the people- the electorate- and is exercised by representatives elected by, and responsible to, them”). Establishment of regional government also violates Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which stipulates: “New states may be admitted by Congress into this Union; but no new State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of Congress.”
Four decades ago, alert citizens understood the implications of this regional system even before it was codified in Nixon’s Executive Order 11647. The Dan Smoot Report of 2/1/1965 stated:
Advocates of government planning have visions of a new kind of America: they would transform our union of sovereign States into a regionally-planned, monolithically-unified nation divided into a score of metropolitan areas which sprawl across State boundary lines. Each area will be ruled, at the “local level,” by only one governmental authority: a metropolitan government. Existing governments- city, county and State- will eventually be abolished.
In COUNT DOWN Newsletter of March 1973, Virginia R. Wilson stated: “Promoters of regional government claim it is a new form of government, but it is the oldest form in history- dictatorship.”
Nixon’s Executive Order 11490 of 1969 also set the stage for an American dictatorship, stating that the President can assume dictatorial powers in the event of a national emergency. (The president himself decides what constitutes a “national emergency.”) In American Opinion (1973), Gary Allen observed: “This order, empowers (federal) Regional council members, under the color of law, to control all food supply, money and credit, transportation, communications, public utilities, hospitals and other essential facets of human existence.
In 1972, President Nixon also signed the World Heritage Treaty, drafted by the United Nations Educational Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The resulting World Heritage Site/Biosphere Reserve Program now has some 851 designated World Heritage Sites, of which 67 are in the United States.
The regional governance plan is that North America (“Region 1”) is to merged into the North American Union (Corsi, 2007, The Late Great U.S.A.). TheSierra Club, in cooperation with the IUCN and the UN, has re-mapped North America into 21 “bio-regions.” Just as the United Nations requires for each designated World Heritage site, each bio-region is divided into three zones: 1) wildness area where human intrusion is forbidden, 2) buffer zones surrounding the wilderness area where human access is strictly controlled and limited, and 3) cooperation zones, where humans would be permitted to live, although their activities could be sharply circumscribed.
The secret march from the present world of 190-odd nations to a one-world government has been slow, methodical and to most, an imperceptible process. Patru (http://www.sweetliberty.org/beware_metro.html). gives examples of the encroaching regionalism as of 2000:
Cascadia is a region controlled by the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNER), which has been created by compacts between five northwestern states- Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho and Alaska, and two Canadian provinces- British Columbia and Alberta.” In a publication advertising Cascadia, Senator Mark Hatfield stated: “National regions are emerging as key environmental and economic units throughout the world.”….
Border Region 21 has also erased national borders between Mexico and four southwestern states- California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. That’s part of the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) deal. … (We see) how national and state borders are erased via regionalism. Now let’s look at the method of eliminating the very core of our representative government… the local governments. Within the states they have created regions within the regions, called sub-state regions. The plan is packaged beautifully and sold to naïve, brainwashed (many corrupt) elected officials. The carrot is this: they’re told that by forming consortiums, compacts with other townships, or counties that they can save a lot of money on services and supplies. We’ll create a Council of Governments (COG), control the purse, oversee, order and distribute and spend and spend and spend…. The flow of money is always the same. From the federal government to the federal regional capitol to the COG…. and then to the local governments in return for their “compliance” with passing whatever laws and ordinances the federal planners dictate. Remember, the dictates emanate originally from the United Nations.
Under UN directives, Regional Governance has advanced significantly in the U.S. and worldwide. Today, it is inextricably bound up with a host of benign, even appealing-sounding phrases such as Sustainable Development, Smart Growth, the Wildlands Project, etc. But what are these programs in reality and how did they get here?
In 1976, with the consent of both our corrupt political parties, the U.S. adopted these recommendations from the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat I):
1) a national policy on population distribution according to available resources.
2) public land control or ownership in the public interest with equitable distribution of benefits while assuring environmental impacts.
3) Land, a scarce resource, should be subject to public surveillance or control for the common interest.
4) Government must exercise full jurisdiction over land and freely plan the development of human settlements.
Population distribution?!!! Land subject to public control?!!! Government has full jurisdiction over land and plans development of human settlements?!!! This sounds more like the Soviet Union than the America of the U.S. Constitution.
Source: Virginians Against U.N. Agenda 21
All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void.
Jakie Patru Marbury vs. Madison, 5 US (2 Branch) 137, 174, 176 (1803)
Regional government is the method by which the global ruling elite is slowly dismantling the sovereignty and constitutional protections of the world’s nations. In “Regionalism: Sneaking America into World Government,” Jakie Patru
(http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/regionalism/sneaking.htm) notes that using United Nations dictates, globalists have divided the planet into ten regions. North America is Region 1, South America is Region 6, etc. As has already been accomplished in Europe with the European Union, their plan calls for merging the North and South American regions through establishing trade agreements like the FTAA (Free Trade Agreement of the Americas) and a common currency.
The process of regionalizing America began long ago. In a 1969 press release, President Nixon designated ten federal regions, purportedly to “streamline the structure and processes of federal agencies in the field.” Each region was to have an appointed chairman (bureaucrats accountable only to Washington, D.C.) for its Federal Regional Council. Federal Regional Councils were further defined and legitimized in Nixon’s Executive Order 11647 of 1972 (http://www.sweetliberty.org/beware_metro.html).
Nixon’s executive order is in direct contravention of Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which states: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government.” (Webster defines a republican form of government as one in which “the sovereign power resides in a certain body of the people- the electorate- and is exercised by representatives elected by, and responsible to, them”). Establishment of regional government also violates Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which stipulates: “New states may be admitted by Congress into this Union; but no new State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of Congress.”
Four decades ago, alert citizens understood the implications of this regional system even before it was codified in Nixon’s Executive Order 11647. The Dan Smoot Report of 2/1/1965 stated:
Advocates of government planning have visions of a new kind of America: they would transform our union of sovereign States into a regionally-planned, monolithically-unified nation divided into a score of metropolitan areas which sprawl across State boundary lines. Each area will be ruled, at the “local level,” by only one governmental authority: a metropolitan government. Existing governments- city, county and State- will eventually be abolished.
In COUNT DOWN Newsletter of March 1973, Virginia R. Wilson stated: “Promoters of regional government claim it is a new form of government, but it is the oldest form in history- dictatorship.”
Nixon’s Executive Order 11490 of 1969 also set the stage for an American dictatorship, stating that the President can assume dictatorial powers in the event of a national emergency. (The president himself decides what constitutes a “national emergency.”) In American Opinion (1973), Gary Allen observed: “This order, empowers (federal) Regional council members, under the color of law, to control all food supply, money and credit, transportation, communications, public utilities, hospitals and other essential facets of human existence.
In 1972, President Nixon also signed the World Heritage Treaty, drafted by the United Nations Educational Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The resulting World Heritage Site/Biosphere Reserve Program now has some 851 designated World Heritage Sites, of which 67 are in the United States.
The regional governance plan is that North America (“Region 1”) is to merged into the North American Union (Corsi, 2007, The Late Great U.S.A.). TheSierra Club, in cooperation with the IUCN and the UN, has re-mapped North America into 21 “bio-regions.” Just as the United Nations requires for each designated World Heritage site, each bio-region is divided into three zones: 1) wildness area where human intrusion is forbidden, 2) buffer zones surrounding the wilderness area where human access is strictly controlled and limited, and 3) cooperation zones, where humans would be permitted to live, although their activities could be sharply circumscribed.
The secret march from the present world of 190-odd nations to a one-world government has been slow, methodical and to most, an imperceptible process. Patru (http://www.sweetliberty.org/beware_metro.html). gives examples of the encroaching regionalism as of 2000:
Cascadia is a region controlled by the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNER), which has been created by compacts between five northwestern states- Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho and Alaska, and two Canadian provinces- British Columbia and Alberta.” In a publication advertising Cascadia, Senator Mark Hatfield stated: “National regions are emerging as key environmental and economic units throughout the world.”….
Border Region 21 has also erased national borders between Mexico and four southwestern states- California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. That’s part of the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) deal. … (We see) how national and state borders are erased via regionalism. Now let’s look at the method of eliminating the very core of our representative government… the local governments. Within the states they have created regions within the regions, called sub-state regions. The plan is packaged beautifully and sold to naïve, brainwashed (many corrupt) elected officials. The carrot is this: they’re told that by forming consortiums, compacts with other townships, or counties that they can save a lot of money on services and supplies. We’ll create a Council of Governments (COG), control the purse, oversee, order and distribute and spend and spend and spend…. The flow of money is always the same. From the federal government to the federal regional capitol to the COG…. and then to the local governments in return for their “compliance” with passing whatever laws and ordinances the federal planners dictate. Remember, the dictates emanate originally from the United Nations.
Under UN directives, Regional Governance has advanced significantly in the U.S. and worldwide. Today, it is inextricably bound up with a host of benign, even appealing-sounding phrases such as Sustainable Development, Smart Growth, the Wildlands Project, etc. But what are these programs in reality and how did they get here?
In 1976, with the consent of both our corrupt political parties, the U.S. adopted these recommendations from the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat I):
1) a national policy on population distribution according to available resources.
2) public land control or ownership in the public interest with equitable distribution of benefits while assuring environmental impacts.
3) Land, a scarce resource, should be subject to public surveillance or control for the common interest.
4) Government must exercise full jurisdiction over land and freely plan the development of human settlements.
Population distribution?!!! Land subject to public control?!!! Government has full jurisdiction over land and plans development of human settlements?!!! This sounds more like the Soviet Union than the America of the U.S. Constitution.
Source: Virginians Against U.N. Agenda 21
Understanding Obama
Read What Charles Krauthammer, MD is Saying...
By J.L. McGraw
Man, are we as a nation, in a mess. If you have the guts, read this, and look around and see the truth taking place. Politics is a tough subject to talk about; let’s not talk, lets listen, observe and make things right before its too late.
Fast Facts About Dr. Charles Krauthammer , MD
1. Born: March 13, 1950
2. Birthplace: New York City, New York
3. Raised in Montreal, Canada
4. Attended Mc Gill University and Harvard Medical School
5. 1972 diving accident left him paralyzed from the neck down
6. Directed psychiatric research for the Carter administration
7. Began writing career in 1981 with The New Republic
8. Helped develop the "Reagan Doctrine" in the 80's
9. Appointed to Presidential Council on Bioethics in 2002
Dr. Charles Krauthammer, MD
Dr. Krauthammer is frequently on the Fox News Channel. He is an M.D., a lawyer and is paralyzed from the neck down. A friend went to hear Charles Krauthammer. He listened with 25 others in a closed room. What he says here is NOT 2nd-hand but 1st. The ramifications are staggering for us, our children and their children.
Last Monday was a profound evening. Dr. Charles Krauthammer spoke to the Center for the American Experiment. He is a brilliant intellectual, seasoned & articulate. He is forthright and careful in his analysis and never resorts to emotions or personal insults. He is NOT a fear monger nor an extremist in his comments and views. He is a fiscal conservative and has received a Pulitzer Prize for writing. He is a frequent contributor to Fox News and writes weekly for the Washington Post.
The entire room was held spellbound during his talk. I have summarized his comments, as we are living in uncharted waters economically and internationally. Even 2 Dems at my table agreed with everything he said! If you feel like forwarding this to those who are open minded and have not drunk the Kool-Aid, feel free....
Summary of his comments:
1. Mr. Obama is a very intellectual, charming individual. He is not to be underestimated. He is a cool customer who doesn't show his emotions. It's very hard to know what's behind the mask. The taking down of the Clinton dynasty was an amazing accomplishment. The Clintons still do not understand what hit them. Obama was in the perfect place at the perfect time.
2. Obama has political skills comparable to Reagan and Clinton. He has a way of making you think he's on your side, agreeing with your position, while doing the opposite. Pay no attention to what he SAYS; rather, watch what he DOES!
3. Obama has a ruthless quest for power. He did not come toWashington to make something out of himself but rather to change everything, including dismantling capitalism. He can't be straightforward on his ambitions, as the public would not go along. He has a heavy hand and wants to level the playing field with income redistribution and punishment to the achievers of society. He would like to model the USA to Great Britain or Canada .
4. His three main goals are to control ENERGY, PUBLIC EDUCATION and NATIONAL HEALTHCARE by the Federal government. He doesn't care about the auto or financial services industries but got them as an early bonus. The cap and trade will add costs to everything and stifle growth. Paying for FREE college education is his goal. Most scary is his healthcare program because if you make it FREE and add 46,000,000 people to a Medicare-type single-payer system, the costs will go through the roof. The only way to control costs is with massive RATIONING of services, like in Canada .. God forbid!
5. He has surrounded himself with mostly far-left academic types. No one around him has ever even run a candy store. But they are going to try and run the auto, financial, banking and other industries. This obviously can't work in the long run. Obama is not a socialist; rather he's a far-left secular progressive bent on nothing short of revolution. He ran as a moderate but will govern from the hard left.Again, watch what he DOES, not what he says.
6. Obama doesn't really see himself as President of the United Statesbut more as a ruler over the world. He sees himself above it all, trying to orchestrate & coordinate various countries and their agendas. He sees moral equivalency in all cultures. His apology tour in Germany and England was a prime example of how he sees America as an imperialist nation that has been arrogant, rather than a great noble nation that has at times made errors. This is the first President,ever , who has chastised our allies and appeased our enemies!
7. He is now handing out goodies. He hopes that the bill (and pain) will not come due until after he is reelected in 2012. He would like to blame all problems on Bush, from the past, and hopefully his successor in the future. He has a huge ego and Dr. Krauthammer believes he is a narcissist.
8. Republicans are in the wilderness for a while but will emerge strong. Republicans are pining for another Reagan but there will never be another like him. Krauthammer believes Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty & Bobby Jindahl (except for his terrible speech in February) are the future of the party. Newt Gingrich is brilliant but has baggage. Sarah Palin is sincere and intelligent but needs to really be seriously boning up on facts and info if she is to be a serious candidate in the future. We need to return to the party of lower taxes, smaller government, personal responsibility, strong national defense and State's Rights.
9. The current level of spending is irresponsible and outrageous. We are spending trillions that we don't have. This could lead to hyperinflation, depression or worse. No country has ever spent themselves into prosperity. TheMedia is giving Obama, Reid and Pelosi a Pass because they love their agenda. But eventually the bill will come due and people will realize the huge bailouts didn't work, nor will the stimulus package. These were trillion-dollar payoffs to Obama's allies, unions and the Congress to placate the left, so he can get support for #4 above.
10. The election was over in mid-September when Lehman brothers failed, fear and panic swept in, we had an unpopular President, and the war was grinding on indefinitely without a clear outcome. The people are in pain and the mantra of change caused people to act emotionally. Any Dem would have won this election; it was surprising it was as close as it was.
11. In 2012, if the unemployment rate is over 10%, Republicans will be swept back into power. If it's under 8%, the Dems continue to roll. If it's between 8-10%, it will be a dogfight. It will all be about the economy. I hope this gets you really thinking about what's happening in Washington and Congress. There is a left-wing revolution going on, according to Krauthammer, and he encourages us to keep the faith and join the loyal resistance. The work will be hard but we're right on most issues and can reclaim our country before it's far too late.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their Constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it." - Abraham Lincoln
Do yourself a long term favor. Send this to all who will listen to an intelligent assessment of the big picture. All our futures and children's futures depend on our good understanding of what is really going on in DC and our action pursuant to that understanding !!
It really IS up to each of us to take individual action!! Start with educating your friends and neighbors
Source: J.L. McGraw
By J.L. McGraw
Man, are we as a nation, in a mess. If you have the guts, read this, and look around and see the truth taking place. Politics is a tough subject to talk about; let’s not talk, lets listen, observe and make things right before its too late.
Fast Facts About Dr. Charles Krauthammer , MD
1. Born: March 13, 1950
2. Birthplace: New York City, New York
3. Raised in Montreal, Canada
4. Attended Mc Gill University and Harvard Medical School
5. 1972 diving accident left him paralyzed from the neck down
6. Directed psychiatric research for the Carter administration
7. Began writing career in 1981 with The New Republic
8. Helped develop the "Reagan Doctrine" in the 80's
9. Appointed to Presidential Council on Bioethics in 2002
Dr. Charles Krauthammer, MD
Dr. Krauthammer is frequently on the Fox News Channel. He is an M.D., a lawyer and is paralyzed from the neck down. A friend went to hear Charles Krauthammer. He listened with 25 others in a closed room. What he says here is NOT 2nd-hand but 1st. The ramifications are staggering for us, our children and their children.
Last Monday was a profound evening. Dr. Charles Krauthammer spoke to the Center for the American Experiment. He is a brilliant intellectual, seasoned & articulate. He is forthright and careful in his analysis and never resorts to emotions or personal insults. He is NOT a fear monger nor an extremist in his comments and views. He is a fiscal conservative and has received a Pulitzer Prize for writing. He is a frequent contributor to Fox News and writes weekly for the Washington Post.
The entire room was held spellbound during his talk. I have summarized his comments, as we are living in uncharted waters economically and internationally. Even 2 Dems at my table agreed with everything he said! If you feel like forwarding this to those who are open minded and have not drunk the Kool-Aid, feel free....
Summary of his comments:
1. Mr. Obama is a very intellectual, charming individual. He is not to be underestimated. He is a cool customer who doesn't show his emotions. It's very hard to know what's behind the mask. The taking down of the Clinton dynasty was an amazing accomplishment. The Clintons still do not understand what hit them. Obama was in the perfect place at the perfect time.
2. Obama has political skills comparable to Reagan and Clinton. He has a way of making you think he's on your side, agreeing with your position, while doing the opposite. Pay no attention to what he SAYS; rather, watch what he DOES!
3. Obama has a ruthless quest for power. He did not come toWashington to make something out of himself but rather to change everything, including dismantling capitalism. He can't be straightforward on his ambitions, as the public would not go along. He has a heavy hand and wants to level the playing field with income redistribution and punishment to the achievers of society. He would like to model the USA to Great Britain or Canada .
4. His three main goals are to control ENERGY, PUBLIC EDUCATION and NATIONAL HEALTHCARE by the Federal government. He doesn't care about the auto or financial services industries but got them as an early bonus. The cap and trade will add costs to everything and stifle growth. Paying for FREE college education is his goal. Most scary is his healthcare program because if you make it FREE and add 46,000,000 people to a Medicare-type single-payer system, the costs will go through the roof. The only way to control costs is with massive RATIONING of services, like in Canada .. God forbid!
5. He has surrounded himself with mostly far-left academic types. No one around him has ever even run a candy store. But they are going to try and run the auto, financial, banking and other industries. This obviously can't work in the long run. Obama is not a socialist; rather he's a far-left secular progressive bent on nothing short of revolution. He ran as a moderate but will govern from the hard left.Again, watch what he DOES, not what he says.
6. Obama doesn't really see himself as President of the United Statesbut more as a ruler over the world. He sees himself above it all, trying to orchestrate & coordinate various countries and their agendas. He sees moral equivalency in all cultures. His apology tour in Germany and England was a prime example of how he sees America as an imperialist nation that has been arrogant, rather than a great noble nation that has at times made errors. This is the first President,ever , who has chastised our allies and appeased our enemies!
7. He is now handing out goodies. He hopes that the bill (and pain) will not come due until after he is reelected in 2012. He would like to blame all problems on Bush, from the past, and hopefully his successor in the future. He has a huge ego and Dr. Krauthammer believes he is a narcissist.
8. Republicans are in the wilderness for a while but will emerge strong. Republicans are pining for another Reagan but there will never be another like him. Krauthammer believes Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty & Bobby Jindahl (except for his terrible speech in February) are the future of the party. Newt Gingrich is brilliant but has baggage. Sarah Palin is sincere and intelligent but needs to really be seriously boning up on facts and info if she is to be a serious candidate in the future. We need to return to the party of lower taxes, smaller government, personal responsibility, strong national defense and State's Rights.
9. The current level of spending is irresponsible and outrageous. We are spending trillions that we don't have. This could lead to hyperinflation, depression or worse. No country has ever spent themselves into prosperity. TheMedia is giving Obama, Reid and Pelosi a Pass because they love their agenda. But eventually the bill will come due and people will realize the huge bailouts didn't work, nor will the stimulus package. These were trillion-dollar payoffs to Obama's allies, unions and the Congress to placate the left, so he can get support for #4 above.
10. The election was over in mid-September when Lehman brothers failed, fear and panic swept in, we had an unpopular President, and the war was grinding on indefinitely without a clear outcome. The people are in pain and the mantra of change caused people to act emotionally. Any Dem would have won this election; it was surprising it was as close as it was.
11. In 2012, if the unemployment rate is over 10%, Republicans will be swept back into power. If it's under 8%, the Dems continue to roll. If it's between 8-10%, it will be a dogfight. It will all be about the economy. I hope this gets you really thinking about what's happening in Washington and Congress. There is a left-wing revolution going on, according to Krauthammer, and he encourages us to keep the faith and join the loyal resistance. The work will be hard but we're right on most issues and can reclaim our country before it's far too late.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their Constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it." - Abraham Lincoln
Do yourself a long term favor. Send this to all who will listen to an intelligent assessment of the big picture. All our futures and children's futures depend on our good understanding of what is really going on in DC and our action pursuant to that understanding !!
It really IS up to each of us to take individual action!! Start with educating your friends and neighbors
Source: J.L. McGraw
Enviros Whack 100 Coal-Fired Plants
By Marita Noon
While we are all squawking about high gasoline prices, there is an energy misdirection going on.
Sabre rattling by Iran has security specialists sitting on the edge of their seats and speculators seeing the resulting reduced-fuel future. Short of a quick military strike that would squelch Iran’s threats, there is little that America can do to stem the rise of the global commodity costs—though history tells us an announcement of increased drilling in the US would have a positive impact.
While we are all looking at gas prices, there is another dramatic energy price increase going on that is totally optional; one that is within the President’s power to completely reverse.
Coal-fueled electricity generation is the lowest cost. Yet, due to cost-increasing regulations, coal-fueled power plants are being shut down at an alarming rate—killing jobs, raising rates, and putting the reliability of the electrical grid at risk.
Environmental groups are cheering, while local governments are left to grapple with the lost tax revenue. On February 29, Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, penned a post celebrating the 100th closure of a coal-fueled power plant: Chicago’s Crawford plant. He also boasts that the group’s efforts have prevented 166 new coal-fueled power plants.
The closure of two units at the Salem Harbor Station in Massachusetts could halve the plant’s workforce. Salem Harbor Station is also the city’s biggest taxpayer. Mayor Kim Driscoll addressed the problem of the loss of the $4.75 million tax bill: “It's a big chunk of change when you're looking at we still have the same number of kids in school, we still have the same number of calls for police and fire, we have the same number of parks and resources that need to be maintained and kept up.”
In Chamois, Mo., jobs at the power plant are “the best thing going.” Mayor Jim Wright doesn’t want to see the Central Electric Power Plant shut down. He says: “Coal’s coal. If you are going to dig it up and ship it to China, you might as well burn it right here.”
Power plants throughout the country are being closed because of onerous regulations being mandated by the EPA. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation and power plant operators are pressing the Obama administration to give companies more time to comply with the rules to avoid shutting down too many power plants at one time. The regulations and the timeline to meet them make it uneconomic to upgrade the older units.
In response to EPA regulations proposed in October, Arizona Public Service Company announced in November that it would close three of the five units at the Four Corners Generating Station in Farmington, NM. Mark Schiavoni, senior vice president of Fossil Generation, said: “These rules would present a major economic challenge for continued operation.”
Across the highway is the San Juan Generating Station where the EPA’s plans to reduce emissions and increase visibility is threatening more closures. Not only are the EPA regulations aggressive, they are also invasive. The New Mexico Environment Department has a plan that will meet the EPA requirements of the Clean Air Act at a cost of $77 million. But the EPA wants a specific technology that will cost the ratepayers ten times more! The EPA’s plan will likely force the closure of the two older units at the San Juan Generating Station.
The Public Utility Company of New Mexico (PNM) is part owner of the San Juan plant. PNM and the State of New Mexico are appealing the EPA’s decision. They contend that the EPA did not properly consider the state plan proposing the alternative technology that would cost less but achieve similar improvements. They’ve asked the EPA to put a hold on the decision, and they’ve filed a stay that would delay implementation of the regulations while the court considers the appeals. PNM could have to spend millions on planning and design when the more-costly regulation could be ruled against in favor of the lower-cost option.
On March 2, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver denied the request to put the new regulations on hold while the appeal is being considered. The EPA could have granted the stay, but they are not interested in cooperation. The San Juan plant will likely go the way of the Four Corners plant across the highway. Unit closures at both plants will cut more than half of the current generation and hundreds of jobs. The rate payers will shoulder the costs. Environmental groups are pleased with the court’s decision.
The units that could be retired early, due to the regulations, have not yet been fully depreciated. I picture negotiations taking place between the key players—the Public Regulatory Commission, the environmentalists, and PNM—in a smoke-filled room (note: the ratepayers will not have a seat at the table). PNM could agree to bulldoze the units—which the environmentalist want—but it will cost. PNM will need to offset the cost of early retirement through rate increases.
Environmental groups say that cost claims are “hype”—though they admit that the retrofits required by the EPA will result in rate increases. They believe the consumers have been “getting a free ride because the cost of electricity from these plants is artificially low.” Additionally they believe that costs will be less than predicted. Not likely. How often do government projects come in under budget?
As the President did with the ozone rules in September, he could instruct EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to allow more time or to approve the state’s plan. He could delay the implementation of all of the aggressive regulations for a few years—at least until the economy improves. Many of the coal-fueled units in question are fifty-plus years old. They’ve already had scrubbers and other pollution reduction retrofits. They are running far cleaner than the original designs. Allowing them to operate for another few years—or for the rest of their useful lives—will not greatly impact long-term emission reductions, but it could provide significant benefits to the economy.
With the Administration’s permission, the environmentalists have a stranglehold on American energy policy. They are not apt to delay implementation. The EPA is pushing these regulations now because if President Obama does not get reelected, the Republican president will delay indefinitely or repeal the regulations altogether. This is their moment.
Unlike oil, electricity is not a global commodity. It is used close to the generation source. Electricity is as essential to a robust American economy as is oil/gasoline. Yet, while we are in the midst of the worst economic crisis of our lifetime, the Administration has made choices that will have an immediate impact on electricity prices. The one, two punch of high gas prices and increasing electricity costs are likely to knock out the struggling economy.
Marita Noon is Executive Director of Energy Makes America Great.
Source: Townhall.com
While we are all squawking about high gasoline prices, there is an energy misdirection going on.
Sabre rattling by Iran has security specialists sitting on the edge of their seats and speculators seeing the resulting reduced-fuel future. Short of a quick military strike that would squelch Iran’s threats, there is little that America can do to stem the rise of the global commodity costs—though history tells us an announcement of increased drilling in the US would have a positive impact.
While we are all looking at gas prices, there is another dramatic energy price increase going on that is totally optional; one that is within the President’s power to completely reverse.
Coal-fueled electricity generation is the lowest cost. Yet, due to cost-increasing regulations, coal-fueled power plants are being shut down at an alarming rate—killing jobs, raising rates, and putting the reliability of the electrical grid at risk.
Environmental groups are cheering, while local governments are left to grapple with the lost tax revenue. On February 29, Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, penned a post celebrating the 100th closure of a coal-fueled power plant: Chicago’s Crawford plant. He also boasts that the group’s efforts have prevented 166 new coal-fueled power plants.
The closure of two units at the Salem Harbor Station in Massachusetts could halve the plant’s workforce. Salem Harbor Station is also the city’s biggest taxpayer. Mayor Kim Driscoll addressed the problem of the loss of the $4.75 million tax bill: “It's a big chunk of change when you're looking at we still have the same number of kids in school, we still have the same number of calls for police and fire, we have the same number of parks and resources that need to be maintained and kept up.”
In Chamois, Mo., jobs at the power plant are “the best thing going.” Mayor Jim Wright doesn’t want to see the Central Electric Power Plant shut down. He says: “Coal’s coal. If you are going to dig it up and ship it to China, you might as well burn it right here.”
Power plants throughout the country are being closed because of onerous regulations being mandated by the EPA. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation and power plant operators are pressing the Obama administration to give companies more time to comply with the rules to avoid shutting down too many power plants at one time. The regulations and the timeline to meet them make it uneconomic to upgrade the older units.
In response to EPA regulations proposed in October, Arizona Public Service Company announced in November that it would close three of the five units at the Four Corners Generating Station in Farmington, NM. Mark Schiavoni, senior vice president of Fossil Generation, said: “These rules would present a major economic challenge for continued operation.”
Across the highway is the San Juan Generating Station where the EPA’s plans to reduce emissions and increase visibility is threatening more closures. Not only are the EPA regulations aggressive, they are also invasive. The New Mexico Environment Department has a plan that will meet the EPA requirements of the Clean Air Act at a cost of $77 million. But the EPA wants a specific technology that will cost the ratepayers ten times more! The EPA’s plan will likely force the closure of the two older units at the San Juan Generating Station.
The Public Utility Company of New Mexico (PNM) is part owner of the San Juan plant. PNM and the State of New Mexico are appealing the EPA’s decision. They contend that the EPA did not properly consider the state plan proposing the alternative technology that would cost less but achieve similar improvements. They’ve asked the EPA to put a hold on the decision, and they’ve filed a stay that would delay implementation of the regulations while the court considers the appeals. PNM could have to spend millions on planning and design when the more-costly regulation could be ruled against in favor of the lower-cost option.
On March 2, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver denied the request to put the new regulations on hold while the appeal is being considered. The EPA could have granted the stay, but they are not interested in cooperation. The San Juan plant will likely go the way of the Four Corners plant across the highway. Unit closures at both plants will cut more than half of the current generation and hundreds of jobs. The rate payers will shoulder the costs. Environmental groups are pleased with the court’s decision.
The units that could be retired early, due to the regulations, have not yet been fully depreciated. I picture negotiations taking place between the key players—the Public Regulatory Commission, the environmentalists, and PNM—in a smoke-filled room (note: the ratepayers will not have a seat at the table). PNM could agree to bulldoze the units—which the environmentalist want—but it will cost. PNM will need to offset the cost of early retirement through rate increases.
Environmental groups say that cost claims are “hype”—though they admit that the retrofits required by the EPA will result in rate increases. They believe the consumers have been “getting a free ride because the cost of electricity from these plants is artificially low.” Additionally they believe that costs will be less than predicted. Not likely. How often do government projects come in under budget?
As the President did with the ozone rules in September, he could instruct EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to allow more time or to approve the state’s plan. He could delay the implementation of all of the aggressive regulations for a few years—at least until the economy improves. Many of the coal-fueled units in question are fifty-plus years old. They’ve already had scrubbers and other pollution reduction retrofits. They are running far cleaner than the original designs. Allowing them to operate for another few years—or for the rest of their useful lives—will not greatly impact long-term emission reductions, but it could provide significant benefits to the economy.
With the Administration’s permission, the environmentalists have a stranglehold on American energy policy. They are not apt to delay implementation. The EPA is pushing these regulations now because if President Obama does not get reelected, the Republican president will delay indefinitely or repeal the regulations altogether. This is their moment.
Unlike oil, electricity is not a global commodity. It is used close to the generation source. Electricity is as essential to a robust American economy as is oil/gasoline. Yet, while we are in the midst of the worst economic crisis of our lifetime, the Administration has made choices that will have an immediate impact on electricity prices. The one, two punch of high gas prices and increasing electricity costs are likely to knock out the struggling economy.
Marita Noon is Executive Director of Energy Makes America Great.
Source: Townhall.com
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Henry County Overspent by $38.2 Million
With a $112.5 million budget for 2012, down from $123 million in 2010, the Henry County Commission succumbed to the shopping spree virus affecting most cities and counties and had to get realistic. The letter below outlines some of the story.
Dear Friends,
As you may know, I have made a very personal decision to become a candidate for the Chairman of the Henry County Board of Commissioners (BOC). This is a life-changing decision, of course, and is one that I take very seriously.
After a term of irresponsible overspending by our current leadership, our future is now clouded by the specter of unsustainable debt. The citizens of Henry County must wake up to the seriousness of the discussions and decisions that are made in closed-door meetings by our BOC. This has resulted in the purchases of an airport ($3,000,000 so far), Abernathy Farm ($4,000,000), a golf course ($22,000,000), Tim Jones property on Jonesboro Road ($1,200,000), Nash Farm ($8,000,000), old McDonough R/V property ($1,200,000) and a bank, which we as taxpayers cannot afford.
The Commissioners have had to lay off 57 employees, not fill 30 key positions, and mandated all county employees take off 4 days without pay, just to help pay for all of the property mentioned-above, while keeping their inflated salaries in place for themselves and upper management.
I am writing today to ask that my friends support me in this campaign, both politically and financially. Will you help me? With just a few months before the July 31 election, I need your open support today.
I am holding a crucial Kickoff Fundraising Event on March 22 at 5:30 to 8:00 at the American Legion55 Hall on Veterans Drive in McDonough. I look forward to seeing you there. I have always told it straight, and this is no differen
Sincerely, Tommy N. Smitth (Source: Henry Citizen.com)
Dear Friends,
As you may know, I have made a very personal decision to become a candidate for the Chairman of the Henry County Board of Commissioners (BOC). This is a life-changing decision, of course, and is one that I take very seriously.
After a term of irresponsible overspending by our current leadership, our future is now clouded by the specter of unsustainable debt. The citizens of Henry County must wake up to the seriousness of the discussions and decisions that are made in closed-door meetings by our BOC. This has resulted in the purchases of an airport ($3,000,000 so far), Abernathy Farm ($4,000,000), a golf course ($22,000,000), Tim Jones property on Jonesboro Road ($1,200,000), Nash Farm ($8,000,000), old McDonough R/V property ($1,200,000) and a bank, which we as taxpayers cannot afford.
The Commissioners have had to lay off 57 employees, not fill 30 key positions, and mandated all county employees take off 4 days without pay, just to help pay for all of the property mentioned-above, while keeping their inflated salaries in place for themselves and upper management.
I am writing today to ask that my friends support me in this campaign, both politically and financially. Will you help me? With just a few months before the July 31 election, I need your open support today.
I am holding a crucial Kickoff Fundraising Event on March 22 at 5:30 to 8:00 at the American Legion55 Hall on Veterans Drive in McDonough. I look forward to seeing you there. I have always told it straight, and this is no differen
Sincerely, Tommy N. Smitth (Source: Henry Citizen.com)
Trade Deficit Says Jobs Growth Isn't Sustainable
By Peter Schiff Townhall 3-10-12
Today the Labor Department reported that 227,000 new jobs were added in February, representing the third consecutive month of job creation. Many observers have taken the report as clear evidence that the economic recovery has taken hold in earnest. However a second data set, also issued today, throws significant amounts of cold water on that assumption.
The Commerce Department reported that, after surging for much of the last year, the U.S. trade deficit expanded by $4.3 billion in January to $52.6 billion. This is the largest monthly trade gap since October 2008, and it comes with record imports. So in terms of trade, the U.S. is in exactly the same position we were during the opening act of the financial crisis.
While it may be true that we are adding jobs, it is also true that we are not adding the kinds of jobs that will put us on a sustainable path. Large and persistent trade deficits were a primary reason that the U.S. economy imploded in the first place. If we fail to build an economy that can pay for imports with an equal number of exports, we will simply revisit the pain of last few years.
Despite some marginal improvement in manufacturing employment, new hires have been overwhelmingly in the service sector. We need a shrinking service sector and a shrinking trade deficit. As it is, newly employed Americans are spending money on imported products that America should be producing.
The trade figures are evidence that our spending has increased while our economy has not. It is also shocking to consider that we are importing more with 8.3% unemployment than we were five years ago when unemployment was near 5%. I can only imagine how large the deficit would be if we had even more service sector jobs.
Job creation at home has been like vegetation sprouting along the banks of the rivers of stimulus money. These artificial pathways may help temporarily, but they can only be sustained while the stimulus continues.
All the while, however, they prevent growth where it is needed most. The recession should have forced us to address the problem of persistent and enormous trade deficits. We have utterly failed to do this. So while the job numbers look good for now, there should be thin confidence that the pattern is sustainable.
Peter Schiff
An expert on money, economic theory, and international investing, Peter is a highly recommended broker by many leading financial newsletters and investment advisory services. He is also a contributing commentator for Newsweek International and served as an economic advisor to the 2008 Ron Paul presidential campaign.
Today the Labor Department reported that 227,000 new jobs were added in February, representing the third consecutive month of job creation. Many observers have taken the report as clear evidence that the economic recovery has taken hold in earnest. However a second data set, also issued today, throws significant amounts of cold water on that assumption.
The Commerce Department reported that, after surging for much of the last year, the U.S. trade deficit expanded by $4.3 billion in January to $52.6 billion. This is the largest monthly trade gap since October 2008, and it comes with record imports. So in terms of trade, the U.S. is in exactly the same position we were during the opening act of the financial crisis.
While it may be true that we are adding jobs, it is also true that we are not adding the kinds of jobs that will put us on a sustainable path. Large and persistent trade deficits were a primary reason that the U.S. economy imploded in the first place. If we fail to build an economy that can pay for imports with an equal number of exports, we will simply revisit the pain of last few years.
Despite some marginal improvement in manufacturing employment, new hires have been overwhelmingly in the service sector. We need a shrinking service sector and a shrinking trade deficit. As it is, newly employed Americans are spending money on imported products that America should be producing.
The trade figures are evidence that our spending has increased while our economy has not. It is also shocking to consider that we are importing more with 8.3% unemployment than we were five years ago when unemployment was near 5%. I can only imagine how large the deficit would be if we had even more service sector jobs.
Job creation at home has been like vegetation sprouting along the banks of the rivers of stimulus money. These artificial pathways may help temporarily, but they can only be sustained while the stimulus continues.
All the while, however, they prevent growth where it is needed most. The recession should have forced us to address the problem of persistent and enormous trade deficits. We have utterly failed to do this. So while the job numbers look good for now, there should be thin confidence that the pattern is sustainable.
Peter Schiff
An expert on money, economic theory, and international investing, Peter is a highly recommended broker by many leading financial newsletters and investment advisory services. He is also a contributing commentator for Newsweek International and served as an economic advisor to the 2008 Ron Paul presidential campaign.
Friday, March 9, 2012
The Higher-Education Bubble Has Popped
By Doug French
A college degree once looked to be the path to prosperity. In an article for TechCrunch, Sarah Lacy writes, "Like the housing bubble, the education bubble is about security and insurance against the future. Both whisper a seductive promise into the ears of worried Americans: Do this and you will be safe."
But the jobs that made higher education pay off during the inflationary boom, kicked into high gear by Nixon waving goodbye to the last shreds of a gold standard, came primarily from government and finance.
In 1990, 6.4 million people worked for federal, state, and local governments. By 2010, that number had grown almost 6 times — to 38.3 million — with many of these jobs being white-collar.
In 1990, the financial sector was less than 7.5 percent of the S&P 500. By 2006, this sector had grown to 22.3 percent of the S&P, and that year the financial sector constituted 45 percent of the index's earnings.
"Prices and wage rates boom," writes Mises.
Everybody feels happy and is convinced that now finally mankind has overcome forever the gloomy state of scarcity and reached everlasting prosperity.
In fact, all this amazing wealth is fragile, a castle built on sands of illusion. It cannot last. There is no means to substitute banknotes and deposits for nonexistent capital goods.
Times have changed.
Last week, HSBC Holding Plc announced plans to eliminate 30,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2013. The job cuts will affect "support staff where we believe we have created an unnecessary bureaucracy in this firm over a number of years," HSBC chief executive officer Stuart Gulliver said.
Goldman Sachs plans to cut 1,000 positions. Bank of America is laying off 1,500 employees and closing 600 retail branches.
At the same time that banks are trimming their fat, according to a Labor Department report released earlier this month, from May 2010 to May 2011 local governments shed 267,000 jobs and state governments 24,000. Local government employment in May, at 14.165 million jobs, was the lowest since July 2006.
An increase in the amount of real savings, which induces a fall in the interest rate and a lengthening of the production schedule, increases an economy's productive capacity, creating genuine growth brought about by the investment in higher-order goods such as factories and other production assets.
"Like all booms, higher education has been fueled by credit."
Conversely, easy, cheap credit fools entrepreneurs into believing that society's collective time preference has fallen, enticing them into investing in higher-order goods, such as land, factories, and the like — when in fact the collective time preference hasn't changed, and the demand for higher-order goods is merely a mirage. The result is booms and busts rather than genuine growth.
College degrees are similar to what the Austrians call higher-order goods. It's thought that a student will gain knowledge and seasoning in college that will make him or her more productive and a candidate for a high-paying career. The investment of time and money in knowledge pays through higher productivity and is translated into higher income. Higher education is the higher-order means to a successful career.
PayPal founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, questioning the value of higher education, tells TechCrunch,
A true bubble is when something is overvalued and intensely believed. Education may be the only thing people still believe in in the United States. To question education is really dangerous. It is the absolute taboo. It's like telling the world there's no Santa Claus.
The excesses of both college and homeownership were always excused by a core national belief that, no matter what happens in the world, these were the best investments you could make. Housing prices would always go up, and you will always make more money if you are college educated.
The New York Times' David Leonhardt even claims,
Construction workers, police officers, plumbers, retail salespeople and secretaries, among others, make significantly more with a degree than without one. Why? Education helps people do higher-skilled work, get jobs with better-paying companies or open their own businesses.
Using data from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, Leonhardt asserts that dishwashers with college degrees make $34,000 a year while those without make $19,000.
No employer in their right mind would pay nearly double for a dishwasher with a college degree. However, there are plenty of fresh college graduates cobbling together multiple low-level jobs just to make ends meet.
"More college graduates are working in second jobs that don't require college degrees," writes Hannah Seligson in the New York Times, "part of a phenomenon called 'mal-employment.' In short, many baby-sitters, sales clerks, telemarketers and bartenders are overqualified for their jobs."
Nearly 2 million college graduates were mal-employed last year, up 17 percent from 2007. Nearly half of all college graduates are working at a job not requiring a degree.
In the United States, 80,000 bartenders as well as 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees. Nearly a quarter of all retail salespersons have a college degree. In all, 17 million Americans with college degrees are working at jobs that do not require a bachelor's degree.
"Young college graduates working multiple jobs is a natural consequence of a bad labor market and having, on average, $20,000 worth of student loans to pay off," said Carl E. Van Horn, director of theJohn J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers.
"The median starting salary for those who graduated from four-year degree programs in 2009 and 2010 was $27,000, down from $30,000 for those who graduated in 2006 to 2008, before the recession," Seligson writes, adding, "Try living on $27,000 a year — before taxes — in a city like New York, Washington or Chicago."
Like all booms, higher education has been fueled by credit. In June of last year, total student-loan debt exceeded total credit-card debt outstanding for the first time, totaling more than $900 billion.
"Not only are the returns poor, but the quality of the product is poor."
All of this credit has pushed the average cost of tuition up 440 percent in the last 25 years, more than four times the rate of inflation. But while the factors of production on campus have been bid up, just as they are in any other asset boom, the return on investment is a bust. In 1992, there were 5.1 million mal-employed college graduates. By 2008, the number was 17 million.
Not only are the returns poor, but the quality of the product is poor (as in the case of new-construction quality in the housing boom). According to the authors of Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, 45 percent of students make no gains in their critical reasoning and thinking skills, as well as writing ability, after two years in college. More than one out of three college seniors were no better at writing and thinking than they were when they first arrived at their campuses.
Many projects contemplated and started during the real-estate boom are never completed, as prices are bid up, and owners run out of capital. Such is the case for many attending college, as over 45 percent of those who enroll as freshmen ultimately give up, realizing they lack the disciplinary and mental capital, and do not graduate.
Similar to the government push for increased homeownership, government is foursquare behind having more young people attend universities. One of President Obama's top goals is to increase the number of Americans attending college.
But why? "Among the members of the class of 2010, just 56 percent had held at least one job by this spring, when the survey was conducted," reported the Times recently. "That compares with 90 percent of graduates from the classes of 2006 and 2007."
And because they can't find jobs, 85 percent of college grads move back in with their parents after they graduate. According to a poll by Twentysomething Inc., a marketing and research firm based in Philadelphia, that rate has steadily risen from 67 percent in 2006.
Perversely, while the market tries to clear away malinvestments in finance and real estate, plus the jobs that supported them, colleges continue to turn out more business majors than any other discipline. In 2007 and 2008 there were more than 335,000 business degrees granted — 100,000 more than a decade before, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
At the same time as law schools have a building boom underway, many new law grads can't find work or are working temporary jobs at $15 an hour.
David Segal reports for The New York Times,
As other industries close offices and downsize plants, the manufacturing base behind the doctor of jurisprudence keeps growing. Fordham Law School in New York recently broke ground on a $250 million, 22-story building. The University of Baltimore School of Law and the University of Michigan Law School are both working on buildings that cost more than $100 million. Marquette University Law School in Wisconsin has just finished its own $85 million project. A bunch of other schools have built multimillion dollar additions.
And while law grads can't find work, law schools are enrolling more students than ever before at tuition rates of $40,000+ a year. Segal explains that law-school tuition has increased at 4 times the rate of undergraduate education, which itself has increased 4 times the CPI. "From 1989 to 2009, when college tuition rose by 71 percent, law school tuition shot up 317 percent."
Students and their parents are investing in the higher-order good of a college degree, in the mistaken belief that plenty of jobs await college graduates at the end of four or six or seven years. However, time preferences haven't changed. The demand for consumer goods remains, and that's where the jobs are. The boom in demand for bankers, barristers, and bureaucrats is over.
Doug French, Townhall
Doug French is is president of the Mises Institute and author of Early Speculative Bubbles & Increases in the Money Supply and Walk Away: The Rise and Fall of the Home-Ownership Myth
A college degree once looked to be the path to prosperity. In an article for TechCrunch, Sarah Lacy writes, "Like the housing bubble, the education bubble is about security and insurance against the future. Both whisper a seductive promise into the ears of worried Americans: Do this and you will be safe."
But the jobs that made higher education pay off during the inflationary boom, kicked into high gear by Nixon waving goodbye to the last shreds of a gold standard, came primarily from government and finance.
In 1990, 6.4 million people worked for federal, state, and local governments. By 2010, that number had grown almost 6 times — to 38.3 million — with many of these jobs being white-collar.
In 1990, the financial sector was less than 7.5 percent of the S&P 500. By 2006, this sector had grown to 22.3 percent of the S&P, and that year the financial sector constituted 45 percent of the index's earnings.
"Prices and wage rates boom," writes Mises.
Everybody feels happy and is convinced that now finally mankind has overcome forever the gloomy state of scarcity and reached everlasting prosperity.
In fact, all this amazing wealth is fragile, a castle built on sands of illusion. It cannot last. There is no means to substitute banknotes and deposits for nonexistent capital goods.
Times have changed.
Last week, HSBC Holding Plc announced plans to eliminate 30,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2013. The job cuts will affect "support staff where we believe we have created an unnecessary bureaucracy in this firm over a number of years," HSBC chief executive officer Stuart Gulliver said.
Goldman Sachs plans to cut 1,000 positions. Bank of America is laying off 1,500 employees and closing 600 retail branches.
At the same time that banks are trimming their fat, according to a Labor Department report released earlier this month, from May 2010 to May 2011 local governments shed 267,000 jobs and state governments 24,000. Local government employment in May, at 14.165 million jobs, was the lowest since July 2006.
An increase in the amount of real savings, which induces a fall in the interest rate and a lengthening of the production schedule, increases an economy's productive capacity, creating genuine growth brought about by the investment in higher-order goods such as factories and other production assets.
"Like all booms, higher education has been fueled by credit."
Conversely, easy, cheap credit fools entrepreneurs into believing that society's collective time preference has fallen, enticing them into investing in higher-order goods, such as land, factories, and the like — when in fact the collective time preference hasn't changed, and the demand for higher-order goods is merely a mirage. The result is booms and busts rather than genuine growth.
College degrees are similar to what the Austrians call higher-order goods. It's thought that a student will gain knowledge and seasoning in college that will make him or her more productive and a candidate for a high-paying career. The investment of time and money in knowledge pays through higher productivity and is translated into higher income. Higher education is the higher-order means to a successful career.
PayPal founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, questioning the value of higher education, tells TechCrunch,
A true bubble is when something is overvalued and intensely believed. Education may be the only thing people still believe in in the United States. To question education is really dangerous. It is the absolute taboo. It's like telling the world there's no Santa Claus.
The excesses of both college and homeownership were always excused by a core national belief that, no matter what happens in the world, these were the best investments you could make. Housing prices would always go up, and you will always make more money if you are college educated.
The New York Times' David Leonhardt even claims,
Construction workers, police officers, plumbers, retail salespeople and secretaries, among others, make significantly more with a degree than without one. Why? Education helps people do higher-skilled work, get jobs with better-paying companies or open their own businesses.
Using data from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, Leonhardt asserts that dishwashers with college degrees make $34,000 a year while those without make $19,000.
No employer in their right mind would pay nearly double for a dishwasher with a college degree. However, there are plenty of fresh college graduates cobbling together multiple low-level jobs just to make ends meet.
"More college graduates are working in second jobs that don't require college degrees," writes Hannah Seligson in the New York Times, "part of a phenomenon called 'mal-employment.' In short, many baby-sitters, sales clerks, telemarketers and bartenders are overqualified for their jobs."
Nearly 2 million college graduates were mal-employed last year, up 17 percent from 2007. Nearly half of all college graduates are working at a job not requiring a degree.
In the United States, 80,000 bartenders as well as 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees. Nearly a quarter of all retail salespersons have a college degree. In all, 17 million Americans with college degrees are working at jobs that do not require a bachelor's degree.
"Young college graduates working multiple jobs is a natural consequence of a bad labor market and having, on average, $20,000 worth of student loans to pay off," said Carl E. Van Horn, director of theJohn J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers.
"The median starting salary for those who graduated from four-year degree programs in 2009 and 2010 was $27,000, down from $30,000 for those who graduated in 2006 to 2008, before the recession," Seligson writes, adding, "Try living on $27,000 a year — before taxes — in a city like New York, Washington or Chicago."
Like all booms, higher education has been fueled by credit. In June of last year, total student-loan debt exceeded total credit-card debt outstanding for the first time, totaling more than $900 billion.
"Not only are the returns poor, but the quality of the product is poor."
All of this credit has pushed the average cost of tuition up 440 percent in the last 25 years, more than four times the rate of inflation. But while the factors of production on campus have been bid up, just as they are in any other asset boom, the return on investment is a bust. In 1992, there were 5.1 million mal-employed college graduates. By 2008, the number was 17 million.
Not only are the returns poor, but the quality of the product is poor (as in the case of new-construction quality in the housing boom). According to the authors of Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, 45 percent of students make no gains in their critical reasoning and thinking skills, as well as writing ability, after two years in college. More than one out of three college seniors were no better at writing and thinking than they were when they first arrived at their campuses.
Many projects contemplated and started during the real-estate boom are never completed, as prices are bid up, and owners run out of capital. Such is the case for many attending college, as over 45 percent of those who enroll as freshmen ultimately give up, realizing they lack the disciplinary and mental capital, and do not graduate.
Similar to the government push for increased homeownership, government is foursquare behind having more young people attend universities. One of President Obama's top goals is to increase the number of Americans attending college.
But why? "Among the members of the class of 2010, just 56 percent had held at least one job by this spring, when the survey was conducted," reported the Times recently. "That compares with 90 percent of graduates from the classes of 2006 and 2007."
And because they can't find jobs, 85 percent of college grads move back in with their parents after they graduate. According to a poll by Twentysomething Inc., a marketing and research firm based in Philadelphia, that rate has steadily risen from 67 percent in 2006.
Perversely, while the market tries to clear away malinvestments in finance and real estate, plus the jobs that supported them, colleges continue to turn out more business majors than any other discipline. In 2007 and 2008 there were more than 335,000 business degrees granted — 100,000 more than a decade before, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
At the same time as law schools have a building boom underway, many new law grads can't find work or are working temporary jobs at $15 an hour.
David Segal reports for The New York Times,
As other industries close offices and downsize plants, the manufacturing base behind the doctor of jurisprudence keeps growing. Fordham Law School in New York recently broke ground on a $250 million, 22-story building. The University of Baltimore School of Law and the University of Michigan Law School are both working on buildings that cost more than $100 million. Marquette University Law School in Wisconsin has just finished its own $85 million project. A bunch of other schools have built multimillion dollar additions.
And while law grads can't find work, law schools are enrolling more students than ever before at tuition rates of $40,000+ a year. Segal explains that law-school tuition has increased at 4 times the rate of undergraduate education, which itself has increased 4 times the CPI. "From 1989 to 2009, when college tuition rose by 71 percent, law school tuition shot up 317 percent."
Students and their parents are investing in the higher-order good of a college degree, in the mistaken belief that plenty of jobs await college graduates at the end of four or six or seven years. However, time preferences haven't changed. The demand for consumer goods remains, and that's where the jobs are. The boom in demand for bankers, barristers, and bureaucrats is over.
Doug French, Townhall
Doug French is is president of the Mises Institute and author of Early Speculative Bubbles & Increases in the Money Supply and Walk Away: The Rise and Fall of the Home-Ownership Myth
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