Obama's Phony Feel-Good Record on Education

Recently, President Obama announced a record -- repeat "record" -- high school graduation rate of 83.2% for the school year 2014-2015.  But, as usual its always about quantity and never about quality with this President.  At the same time, statistics that tout a "record" are always dubious.

First, let us address the issue of quality. 

In 2011, the people at ACT (American College Testing) found that only one in four high school graduates were qualified to go on to college; failing many areas of college-prep.  More importantly, 23% of white high school graduates failed in reading while 65% of Latinos and 79% of blacks couldn't read well enough to attend college.  This is pretty consistent with other findings by other groups.  Additionally, only 59% of blacks graduate from high school. Obama's own Education Department found that 19% of all high school graduates were functionally illiterate and could not read above a 4th grade level.  The Programme for International Assessment (PISA)that measures educational achievement in the areas of  math, reading and, science among the top economically developed countries found that the U.S. ranked 36th in math; 24th in reading; and 28th in science.  As little as 20 years ago, this country was number one in the world in all three categories.

Then, there is this "record" graduation rate.  Its a little difficult to believe that 83.2% of high school students graduated when other studies have found that one-in-four does not.

Later this year, the newest PISA results will be released. It will be interesting to see if there is any improvement in educational achievement compared to the 2012 results.  Also understand, the PISA result will be the first time common core will be measured.

With all the negatives swirling around high school performance and graduation rates, one questions whether or not we are simply playing a numbers game as we falsely create a positive impression of a failing educational system?

References;

Obama highlights record high school graduation rate: http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/17/politics/obama-high-school-graduation-rate/

College-Bound Students Not Prepared in Basic Subjects: http://abcnews.go.com/US/majority-college-bound-students-qualified/story?id=14325199

Pisa 2012 results: which country does best at reading, maths and science?  https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/dec/03/pisa-results-country-best-reading-maths-science

Was the USA ever No. 1 in education? http://www.historynet.com/was-the-usa-ever-no-1-in-education.htm

11 Facts About High School Dropout Rates: https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-high-school-dropout-rates

National Graduation Rate for Blacks 59%: https://www.google.com/search?q=dropout+rate+for+blacks&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Illiteracy Statistics: http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/

Hillary's Claim: "America Never Stopped Being Great"

In contrast the  Trump campaign slogan to "Make America Great Again", Hillary Clinton keeps telling her crowds: that "America Never Stopped Being Great". Of course, her supporters all cheer wildly.

But, most Americans understand that our country's greatness has been declining since the 1970's. This is why Trump is doing as well as he is. Here are some of the facts that support Trump's claim:

• In 1970, 61% of Americans were in the middle class. Today, only 43% can make that claim.
• In the 1970's, America was the best educated country in the world. Since then, we are now ranked 27th in the all-important category of mathematics.  We rank 17th in reading with an astounding 19% of our high school graduates unable to read. Additionally, we now rank 20th in science.
• The poverty rate in the 70's ranged between 11.7% to 12.6% of the population.  As of 2014, it stood at 15%; up from 14.5% in 2013. Obviously going in the wrong direction. Also understand, that beyond the percentages, the U.S. now has a record number of people living in poverty -- 47 million --  since President Lyndon Johnson declared his War on Poverty more than 50 years ago.
• Our Federal debt in 1970 was just $398 billion.  Sadly, it is now near $19.5 trillion.  48 times higher and setting a new record everyday.
• Today, our national infrastructure needs between 3 and 4 trillion dollars worth of  repairs, while, in 1970, it was fairly maintained.
• Dozens of cities and municipalities are facing bankruptcy.  Others, such as Detroit, have already gone bankrupt.
• A record 95 million are not in the labor force. 
• In 1980, nearly 20 million workers were in the manufacturing sector.  By 2014, that number fell to just 12.3 million. 

Now, I could go on an on with things like Medicare and Social Security facing insolvency, and how parts of our military are smaller now than before World War II, but I think you get the point.

References:

Hillary Clinton: 'America never stopped being great': http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/03/06/hillary-clinton-america-never-stopped-being-great-sot.cnn

The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground. No longer the majority and falling behind financially: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/the-american-middle-class-is-losing-ground/

Boomers Once Led the World in Education. What Happened?: 

United States: Program For International Student Assessment: https://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/PISA-2012-results-US.pdf

Illiteracy Statistics: http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/

Is the poverty rate higher now than in the 1970s as Jeb Bush says?: http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/may/07/jeb-bush/poverty-rate-higher-now-1970s/

2014: Poverty Facts | Poverty Rate, Poverty Thresholds & Census Information: http://www.povertyusa.org/the-state-of-poverty/poverty-facts/

1970 Debt: https://www.google.com/search?q=u.s+debt+in+1970&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

National Debt Clock: http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Don't Expect Hillary's Infrastructure Plan to Boost the Economy: http://cuttingthroughthefog.blogspot.com/2016/06/dont-expect-hillarys-infrastructure.html

Bankrupt Cities, Municipalities List and Map: http://www.governing.com/gov-data/municipal-cities-counties-bankruptcies-and-defaults.html

A Record 95 million not in the Labor Force: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/record-94708000-americans-not-labor-force-participation-rate-drops

Army shrinks to smallest level since before World War II - Army Times: http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/careers/army/2016/05/07/army-shrinks-smallest-level-since-before-world-war-ii/83875962/

The Navy's Hidden Crisis: It's Too Small - and Getting Smaller: https://www.pacificcouncil.org/newsroom/navys-hidden-crisis-its-too-small-and-getting-smaller

Social Security, Medicare Face Insolvency Over 20 Years, Trustees Report: https://www.google.com/search?q=Social+Security%2C+Medicare+Face+Insolvency+Over+20+Years%2C+Trustees+...&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Manufacturing Job Loss: http://www.epi.org/publication/manufacturing-job-loss-trade-not-productivity-is-the-culprit/

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The Lives of Living Blacks Matter More

In the U.S., blacks disproportionately live shorter lives.  They are more likely to be killed; not by whites, but by other blacks.  Their babies are more likely to be aborted.   Hispanics aside, they are generally less educated and more often illiterate.  They have higher drug addiction rates, commit crimes, and are imprisoned more often. There are higher rates of unemployment. Poverty is common and home ownership is not.  Lastly, most black babies are born to single mothers.

This is a national disgrace. It is an issue that is much greater than those chanting "Black Lives Matter" over a very small number of unarmed blacks that are killed by white cops.

For decades, the Democrats have pandered to black citizens for their votes.  Billions of government spending to better black lives hasn't worked, and most of the things noted in the first paragraph are things that blacks, themselves, can control; starting with the lack of a strong family unit.

72% of black babies are born to unwed mothers. A primary reason that black women are 3 times more likely to be in poverty as compared to white single women with the black poverty rate of 28.6%.  Of all the abortions in this country, more than 35% are of black fetuses.  Essentially, the concept of "family" is missing in the black community.  It is this lack of a complete family unit that leads to higher levels of crime, gang membership, and lower education levels.

In order to improve black lives, we need high-profile activism that preaches the importance of a strong family and a good education.  A good education starts with, somehow, tamping down the education-interrupting violence in inner city schools.  Contrary to what seems to be in some minds, being well educated and having a strong family is not being an "Uncle Tom".  Not everything is the white man's fault, and someone needs to tell that truth and stop perpetuating that opposing and eternal lie.


References:

CNN's Don Lemon says more than 72 percent of African-American births are out of wedlock: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/jul/29/don-lemon/cnns-don-lemon-says-more-72-percent-african-americ/

Fact Sheet: The State of African American Women in the United States: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/report/2013/11/07/79165/fact-sheet-the-state-of-african-american-women-in-the-united-states/

Black Americans Have Fewer Years to Live – Here's Why: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/01/05/black-americans-have-fewer-years-to-live-heres-why

FBI: Murder Victims and Offenders by Race:   https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_6_murder_race_and_sex_of_vicitm_by_race_and_sex_of_offender_2013.xls

Blacks Abortions: https://www.google.com/search?q=number+of+blacks+abortions&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Statistics of incarcerated African-American males - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistics_of_incarcerated_African-American_males

Illiteracy Statistics: http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/

Walter E. Williams: Why are inner-city schools more violent today than in the past?: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765550887/Why-are-inner-city-schools-more-violent-today-than-in-the-past.html?pg=all

A Disturbing Trend: Increasing Numbers of Job Openings Go Unfilled

Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics generates a report called the "Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey" (JOLTS).  Unlike the monthly employment report which looks at job creation and the unemployment rate, JOLTS addresses numbers from the employer's perspective.  In it, we see how many job openings go unfilled each month, as well as how many workers lose their jobs and how many are hired.

This month, the number of job openings hit a record 5.4 million by the end of April.  This is the highest number since this report was initiated in December of 2000, and it follows a rather disturbing trend of a growing number of unfilled jobs since the beginning of 2014.

This is despite the fact that we have 17 million workers who are either unemployed; working part time in lieu of getting a full time job; underemployed based on experience or education; or, simply frustrated with the job market and have given up looking for work (data derived from Table A-15, U-6 of last month's employment report).

As such, why aren't the jobs being filled?

The simple fact is that we have too many people out of the 17 million, that are unqualified to take those 5.4 million jobs.  According to the report, 1/5 of those openings are for Business and Professional Services.  Another fifth is in Education and Health Services.  All of these are higher paying jobs that require specialized experience and/or education. In addition,the balance in manufacturing, transport, leisure services, etc. with limited experience and education needed, are also going unfilled.

With a 3-to-1 ratio of unemployed/underemployed/discouraged workers for every job opening, we have a serious problem; leaving many employers to look overseas to fill those positions through work visa applications or, simply moving those jobs overseas.  Either way, this is bad news for the American worker.


References:

April JOLTS Report: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/jolts.pdf

May Employment Report: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

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Obama's Waste-of-Time 3-Day Summit on Poverty

President Obama -- apparently following Pope Francis' lead -- held a 3-day summit at Georgetown University which included various Christian groups in order to address poverty in the U.S.  In my opinion, if the President wants to understand why we experienced  a 50-year record high poverty level last year, he need only put his Big-D (Democrat) hat on and look in the mirror.

Over the last 50 years since President Lyndon Johnson declared a war on poverty, this country has spent $22 trillion on the problem in largely Democrat-led welfare programs.  Yet, poverty is more widespread today than ever. 45 million (14.5%) of our citizens are living in poverty.  Obviously throwing money at the problem isn't working.

You don't need a 3-day summit to understand its root cause.  Poverty is a direct result of a failed education system.  According to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Education, 19% of high school graduates cannot read at a 4th grade level.   If you can't read, you can't write.  And, if you can't read or write, the only jobs available to you are low level, low paying, unskilled jobs such as janitorial work.

The fact that we have 19% of our high school graduates unable to read or write points to the fact that we have too many teachers and too many schools who just hustle people out the door not caring that they are illiterate and what that means to our society.  Statistically, two thirds of those who can't read proficiently at the end of the 4th grade are destined for either prison or welfare; two major problems in this country.

But, Democrats like Obama would never go after teachers as a means of reducing poverty.  After all, the teacher's unions have a very close and symbiotic relationship with Democrats.  In fact, the President, in his first year in office, shut down the Washington D.C. voucher system which gave 1,700 low income students access to non-public and non-union schools.He did this in order to demonstrate his appreciation to the teacher's unions for their efforts in getting him elected.  This, even though the voucher system had demonstrated improvements in the test scores of those who participated.

Simply, the key to fixing our poverty and crime problems is to better educate our citizens and help people to understand why education is important.  Of course, this will have to be done at the state and local levels with strong direction and support from the President of the United States.  But, not this President.  Quite frankly, Obama and a lot Democrats would prefer the poor to stay poor. This ultimately insures that they remain a positive voting block because of their dependency on all types of social programs promoted by the Democrat Party.

References:

Pope Francis’ Poverty Agenda Draws President Obama: http://time.com/3854208/pope-francis-barack-obama-poverty/

That's rich: Poverty level under Obama breaks 50-year record: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/7/obamas-rhetoric-on-fighting-poverty-doesnt-match-h/?page=all

U.S. Department of Education Illiteracy Statistics: http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/

Literacy Project: http://literacyprojectfoundation.org/community/statistics/

Literacy Statistics: http://www.begintoread.com/research/literacystatistics.html

Obama's Education Outrage - WSJ: https://www.google.com/search?q=Obama%27s+Education+Outrage+-+WSJ&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Obama's War on Black Education: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2013/08/obamas_war_on_black_education.html

Our Broken Educational System Is Feeding Our Prison System

In a recent speech at Columbia University, Hillary Clinton addressed the Baltimore rioting by saying that there is something "profoundly wrong" with our justice system.  Then she gave a litany of likelihoods that face black males.  Things like higher rates of incarceration and longer sentencing and that statistics on black incarceration and employment, are an embarrassment to this country. What she doesn't seem to understand is that our justice system exists as a result of crime; not the other way around.  So, the objective in improving crime statistics -- especially for blacks -- is to go after the root cause and not apply a band aid after the fact.

According to the President's own Education Department, 70% of prison inmates in this country can't  read at a basic level.  So, obviously, much of all criminal behavior can be traced back to functional illiteracy.   When blacks make up 40% of the prison population, also understand that nearly 1-in-4 (24%) are functionally illiterate.  So, then, what is the solution to race and the justice system?  Better policing and lighter sentencing?  Or a better educational system?

Also, high black illiteracy rates also lead to higher unemployment rates, lower wages, and higher rates of poverty.   More importantly, high rates of poverty and unemployment are also linked to higher rates of crime.  Thus, if black unemployment and poverty is high, higher crime rates will also follow.  In Baltimore, for example, the black unemployment rate for ages 20 to 24 was 37%. 

The bottom line is that, if we want to lessen the frequency by which blacks have to interact with the police and, in doing so, lessen the possibility that they will die at their hands, we need to improve black education and black attitudes towards being educated.

One of the most disturbing statistics from the Department of Education is that almost 1-in-5 (19%) of all high school graduates can't read.  So, then, how is one who can't read able to test and graduate from high school?  The only way something like that can happen is if we have a lot of teachers who are willing to push students out of the doors of their high school without an education.  Until that changes, black crime and overall crime will remain high in this country.

As far as Hillary Clinton is concerned...her trashing of the justice system is simply telling blacks what they want to believe and not the truth.  

References:

Hillary Clinton: 'There Is Something Profoundly Wrong' In Our Criminal Justice System: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/hillary-clinton-baltimore_n_7170668.html

Hillary Clinton: It's time to confront 'hard truths' about race and justice: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/hillary-clinton-justice-race-baltimore-reaction-117466.html

Illiteracy Statistics: http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/

The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn't Changed In 10 Years: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/illiteracy-rate_n_3880355.html

Breaking Down Mass Incarceration in the 2010 Census: State-by-State Incarceration Rates by Race/Ethnicity: http://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/rates.html

How Baltimore’s Young Black Men Are Boxed In:  http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-baltimores-young-black-men-are-boxed-in/

Poverty and Crime: Breaking a Vicious Cycle of Discrimination: http://www.poverties.org/poverty-and-crime.html

Better Policing Won't Solve High Rates of Black Crime

In the wake of Ferguson, President Obama has called for better education for the police so they can find their softer side when dealing with the black community.  But, at no time is this President willing to admit that we have a serious problem with black crime in this country that results in too many confrontations with the police.

Currently, blacks make up 13.1% of the population.  Yet, 37.4% of the prison population is black.  Meaning that they are nearly 3 times more likely to have to deal with the police. In defense of the high black prison population, many point to the fact that they are being disproportionately arrested for holding, using, or selling drugs.  However, this flies in the face of FBI statistics that show blacks commit 51% of all murders, 69% of all robberies, and 32% of all crimes, while only committing 23.5% of all drug violations.  Obviously, drug arrests are disproportionately lower when compared to other black crime rates.

In 1991, a Lehigh University study found that 70% of prison inmates came from single-parent (broken) homes.  It's not surprising then, that the black prison population is so high. Blacks had a single-parent percentage of 67% in 2013.  That's double the all-race average of 35% in that same year.  Also, that same Lehigh study found that 80% of all inmates were in some way learning disabled; including 50% of all minorities who were functionally illiterate.  Obviously, there is a direct correlation between low rates of education, low literacy rates, and high rates of crime.  In 2009, President Obama's own Department of Education found that 50% of 4th grade African Americans were illiterate, and by the 9th grade things worsened with 56% being illiterate.

As the first black President, Barack Obama was in the unique position to focus in on black literacy and family unit problems as a means of reducing black crime.  Because, if crime rates among blacks more closely matched their population levels, police confrontations with blacks would be significantly fewer.  Instead, Obama constantly focuses on cops as the problem.  We had a sense of this in July of 2009, when a friend of his, a black Harvard professor, was arrested by two Cambridge, Mass police for breaking into his own home.  He wasn't arrested for the break in but instead, for his belligerence at the scene.  Yet, the President attacked the actions of the white police by saying they "acted stupidly". 

Simply, every problem is a result of some cause.  If you want to improve policing in black communities, lower the crime rates.  In doing so, attitudes by cops towards blacks would also improve and blacks would be targeted less for arrests.

References:

Obama Calls for Changes in Policing After Task Force Report: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/us/politics/obama-calls-for-changes-in-policing-after-task-force-report.html

Federal Bureau of Prisons: Inmate Statistics: http://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_race.jsp

FBI: Crime Statistics by Race: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/tables/43tabledatadecoverviewpdf

70% Of Criminals Are From Broken Homes, Expert Says: http://articles.mcall.com/1991-11-15/news/2826825_1_inmates-psychology-professor-raymond-bell

Children in single-parent families by race: http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/107-children-in-single-parent-families-by#detailed/1/any/false/36,868,867,133,38/10,168,9,12,1,13,185/432,431

The Drug War And Mass Incarceration By The Numbers: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/08/drug-war-mass-incarceration_n_3034310.html

What’s up with African American literacy rates?: http://ourweekly.com/news/2013/oct/03/whats-african-american-literacy-rates/

Obama: Police who arrested professor 'acted stupidly' - CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/harvard.gates.interview/

Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy: Go to:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_controversy Police report and 9-1-1 dispatcher recordings:

Why The Ferguson Police Force Is Too White

All too often, since the Michael Brown shooting, I've heard the media and activist blacks question the racial makeup of the Ferguson Police Department.  The City of Ferguson is more than two-thirds black.  Yet, despite this, the police force is made up of 50 whites and only 3 blacks.  Of course, this would imply that the Michael Brown shooting would never have occurred if only African Americans patrolled those primarily black neighborhoods.

However, the racial disparity in Ferguson is indicative of all too many minority cities and neighborhoods through the country.  As a New York Times study reported, white police dominate black police an average 30 percentage points higher in nearly all predominately black communities.

But, no one seems to want to analyze why there aren't more black police officers; especially when a city has a black mayor and a black police chief.  For example, Dellwood, Missouri is 84% black and the police force is 94% white.  They have both a black Mayor, Reggie Jones, and a black Police Chief,  Lt. Norman Campbell.  Yet, no one is talking about the disparity between the racial makeup of the police force and the community. This is because it would expose the reasons why these neighborhoods, in general, have low black police participation rates and, why blacks, have high rates of unemployment and low pay.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one of the main requirements for becoming a police trainee is having a high school diploma.

In light of that, blacks fall well short.  First of all, only 68% of blacks graduate from high school; the lowest rate among any other ethnic group.  As a result,  one-third can't even apply to take the police academy exam.  But, having a high school diploma means nothing if the person holding it is functionally illiterate.  That is a big problem. Studies have shown that by the ninth grade, less than 44% of black children are literate relative to that education level.  This is down from a 50% literacy rate for those tested in the 4th grade.  So, essentially, blacks tend to fail police academy tests because all too many are illiterate.  After all, one of the major duties of any policeman is to write up a police report to be used as a legal document in a criminal court.  If you can't effectively write, you can't be a police officer.  But, instead of recognizing this deficiency and addressing it on an educational basis, Eric Holder's Justice Department is trying to increase the number of blacks in heavily minority neighborhoods by dumbing down the written Police Academy entrance exams.  All that means is that there will be less quality policing these communities.  In my opinion, this is what Holder will do with the Ferguson Police Department when he completes his Department of Justice investigation.

Another problem standing in the way of potential black candidates entering the force is the high rate of those having criminal records.  Nearly one in three African American males, aged 20 to 29,  are under some form of court supervision.  Meaning that, again, another third of blacks are automatically disqualified from entering any police academy.

Lastly, I think that the supposed distrust of police is another reason that some blacks don't want to become police officers.  Why would anyone who distrusts an organization want to become a part of it?  Of course, the opposing argument there, is that a more racially balanced police force in minority communities would ultimately aid in dispelling that distrust.

To me, black leaders -- including Barack Obama and Eric Holder -- need to stop focusing in on what is wrong with white America and start focusing in on what is wrong with black America in terms of education, literacy, and criminal behavior.  Only then will minority policing by blacks increase. In a city like Ferguson, that same leadership needs to understand that the police are doing their jobs to primarily protect blacks.  While, at the same time, never knowing if their life could end at any moment while on duty. They are not there to just protect the one-third that is white.  To this last point, please view the Milwaukee Sheriff's video commentary in the link below.

References:

Ferguson, Mo., has 50 white police officers, three black: http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/aug/17/andrea-mitchell/ferguson-police-department-has-50-white-officers-t/

New York Times:  The Race Gap in America’s Police Departments: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/03/us/the-race-gap-in-americas-police-departments.html?_r=0

Dellwood, Missouri:  A Message from the Mayor: http://www.cityofdellwoodmo.com/908/A-Message-from-the-Mayor

Real median household income by race: http://migrationfiles.ucdavis.edu/uploads/rmn/2013/10/16/real-median-income.png

Requirements to becoming a Police Officer: http://education-portal.com/articles/Police_Officer_Educational_Requirements_for_Police_Officers.html

Study: Record High School Graduation Rate On Track for 2020 But low-income and minority students still lag behind, the study finds: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2014/04/28/high-school-graduation-rates-reach-record

What’s up with African American literacy rates?: http://ourweekly.com/news/2013/oct/03/whats-african-american-literacy-rates/

Dumbing down police recruitment exams - World Magazine: http://www.worldmag.com/2011/03/dumbing_down_police_recruitment_exams

Statistics of incarcerated African-American males:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistics_of_incarcerated_African-American_males
 
Crime rate in Ferguson, Missouri (MO): murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map: http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Ferguson-Missouri.html

 David Clarke, black Milwaukee sheriff: Eric Holder has ‘disgusted’ me: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/3/david-clarke-black-milwaukee-sheriff-eric-holder/

With More Than 50 Years Of Affirmative Action, Have Blacks Benefited Economically?

To those on the political left, the recent decision by the Supreme Court to side with the will of the Michigan voters to ban Affirmative Action quotas for college admissions is tantamount to promoting state-wide racism.  But, to many others, Affirmative Action unfairly uses racial discrimination to fight racial discrimination; especially in college admissions where some well qualified non-Blacks can be denied enrollment because the college must meet a Black enrollment quota.  So, in theory, by broadly forcing quotas for education and employment, African Americans should have greatly improved their economic stations in life.  But, is this the case with more than 50 years of active Affirmative Action behind us?  To that question, one need only look at this chart:

Click on Chart to Enlarge

What this clearly shows is that, while all median incomes by race have improved since 1965, Black  incomes have consistently remained at roughly 65% of what all races, combined, are being paid.  Of course, some would argue that this only proves that racism still exists in America. On the contrary, this just proves that Affirmative Action is a complete failure.  A failure because Blacks are still falling behind in their incomes.  As I have written before, education is the only true key to erasing income inequality. 

To that point, one need only to look at a few statistics.  When it comes to race and educational attainment rates, 84% of Blacks hold a high school diploma and 19% hold a college degree.  Compare that to Whites statistics of 87.6% and 30.3%; respectively.  Then, too, when Blacks do go to college, the graduation rate is only 32% as compared to 50% for Whites.

Forcing colleges to enroll less qualified students, who are more likely to not graduate, while rejecting more qualified applicants, who are more likely to graduate, is not only unjust but a waste of our country's limited college education availability.  To solve income inequality among Blacks, we need to address why there are higher percentages not graduating from High School. At the same time, we need to improve the quality of education so that Blacks, entering college, can have a reasonable expectation of graduating.  Otherwise, simply sending them to college without the proper educational background is a totally fruitless endeavor.

To me, the Supreme Court's decision may actually turn out to be a positive for African Americans because no longer can they depend on Affirmative Action to get them into college.  As a result, if they truly want to go, they will have to seriously work harder to achieve that goal.  Thus, a better educated Black America should emerge with more sharing in the American Dream.

References:

U.S. top court upholds Michigan ban on college affirmative action: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/22/us-usa-court-race-idUSBREA3L0Y820140422

Median Income Falls For 5th Year, Inequality At Record High: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/median-income-falls-inequality_n_3941514.html

Failing Education: The True Cause Of Income Inequality:  http://cuttingthroughthefog.blogspot.com/search?q=income+inequality

Education Attainment By Race: https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0229.pdf

U.S. College Graduation Rates By Race: http://edpond.blogspot.com/2012/04/us-college-graduation-rates-by-race-by.html

Failing Education: The True Cause Of Income Inequality

This year -- an election year -- Obama and the Democrats think they have a winning issue in proposing spending measures and legislation that would fight income inequality.  For any Democrat, the rallying cry to getting those measures passed and, subsequently, getting themselves elected (or reelected), will be that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer; and, that they are the ones watching out for the poor while the Republicans only want to protect the rich.  Thus, we will be going back to the 2008 campaign when Obama told "Joe the Plumber" that we need to "spread the wealth around."

However, the real reason that we have income inequality in this country has to do with something that the Democrats are completely complicit in: Sustaining a failing and highly unionized educational system for the sole purpose of garnering union votes.  It is actually the level of someone's education that determines whether or not a person will be able to share in the wealth of this country and not a bunch of Democrat-sponsored "band aids" such as raising the minimum wage, or extending unemployment benefits, or whatever.  There is no better proof of that than this chart:

Statistics are for workers 25 or older (click to zoom)

Now, it doesn't take a PhD to see the direct correlation between education and income levels and education and unemployment rates.  So, the real solution to income inequality is a better educated population. 

In a world where Americans must compete for the best jobs and, where those jobs are heavily dependent on math and science, we continue to fall behind.  In recent tests conducted by the  Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), our high school teens ranked 27th in math against the 34 other most economically developed counties in the world.  We also dropped to 21st place in science after having been in 17th place in 2009; and, slipped from 14th place to 17th place in reading.  All, under Obama's watch.

Also, as a country, we are experiencing horrible college graduation rates.  Once again, according to studies done by the OECD, only 34% of Americans enrolled in college actually graduate after 4 years.  While some might fail to graduate for economic reasons, the vast majority fail to complete college because they came unprepared.  Proof of this comes from the results of the 2012 ACT college readiness tests.  Only 67% of those tested had enough English comprehension skills to compete in college.  Other scores were even more frightening with reading proficiency at 52%; math at 46%; and, science at a mere 31%. But, the most disturbing fact of all was that only 25% were proficient in all 4 categories.  Realize, too, that the students taking the ACT are those with aspirations of moving onto college.  God only knows how poorly those who didn't take the test would have done.

In December, there were 4 million job openings in this country. Yet, only 74,000 -- of 10.8 million looking for work -- actually found a job.  This is an awful statistic but it proves my point; and, the problem is only intensified when you add in the nearly 9 million workers who have completely given up looking for work.

It is becoming increasingly more difficult to match worker education levels to the kind of high paying jobs that are being created; or, could be created.  As a consequence, those jobs are either eventually filled with imported labor -- people here on work visas -- or just wind up being shipped overseas where they can be filled with a better educated workforce. Thus, every year, America's workforce is increasingly made up of "dumbed-down" workers.  That's also why -- since the employment recovery began in 2010 -- half of all the jobs that were so-called created were low income positions.

The recession clearly exposed the education problem when so many poorly educated Americans lost their higher paying jobs.  Jobs that paid well because those workers had achieved some level of seniority.  Today, those same workers are being forced to literally start over at the bottom rungs of the uneducated workforce ladder.  This is why we have record numbers -- 46.5 million -- in poverty. Numbers that haven't declined in over three years of a supposed employment recovery.

Over the last few decades, there have been dozens of proposals on how to improve education in America.  But, all have been rejected, completely out of hand, by Democrat politicians on behalf of "their" teachers' unions.  That's because those proposals would either jeopardize the size of existing union membership; or, would have changed how teachers are paid; or, would have disciplined or fired poor performing teachers; and, would have eliminated the stupid concept of tenure.  Never once was the best interest of the student taken into any consideration.

References:

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: US teens lag in global education rankings as Asian countries rise to the top: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/03/21733705-us-teens-lag-in-global-education-rankings-as-asian-countries-rise-to-the-top?lite

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: College Graduation Rates: http://rankingamerica.wordpress.com/2008/12/19/the-us-ranks-14th-in-college-graduation/

U.S. News And World Report: High School Student Not Prepared for College, Careers: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2012/08/22/high-school-students-not-prepared-for-college-career

2012 ACT results (see chart on page 7): http://media.act.org/documents/CCCR12-NationalReadinessRpt.pdf

BLS: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm

BLS: December 2013 Employment Situation Report: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Half Of All Jobs Created In The Past 3 Years Were Low-Paying: Study: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/13/low-paying-jobs_n_3266737.html

Poverty level under Obama breaks 50-year record: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/7/obamas-rhetoric-on-fighting-poverty-doesnt-match-h/

United States Dismal Outlook For High Paying Jobs

Its estimated that 62% of the new jobs over the next ten years will require a college degree with most of those degreed jobs being in the fields of advanced business, science and medicine, engineering and high tech. So, the real question is: Are American youths ready to meet that impending challenge?

To answer that question, we need only examine the numbers.

According to a study reported by Fox News, only 70 out of every 100 high school students, nationally, graduate on time. Of those 70 graduating students, only 49 (or 70%) will go on to try and and earn either an associate degree or bachelor's degree. Sadly, 75% of those who do go on to college are ill prepared and doomed to either drop out or flunk out. This only leaves 13 of the original 100 high school students who even have a chance to make it through to a timely graduation.

So, in answer to the question, only about 13% of America's high school students actually have a real chance of graduating from college. Even if the math is 100% wrong, that's still quite a shortfall when you consider that 60% of all new jobs will require that sheep's skin in order to enter tomorrow's high-paying market. Unless America's youth can step up to the plate, the high-paying jobs are going to continue to move off shore or go to qualified immigrants or college degreed foreigners who have managed to get here on work visas. This is what 50 years of progressive/liberal thinking on education has gotten us.

We don't need more teachers with smaller class sizes. And, obviously, expensive pre-school, and before and after-school programs aren't working, either. We need to push education from both the ground up and from the top down. Somehow, we need to stop the trend of our children being raised by a single parent. Currently, more than 30 million children are being raised in a single parent household. A parent who often hasn't got the time to be involved in their children's education. For those children with two-parents, we need them to emphasize the importance of learning and try and get them more directly involved. We also need a President who preaches the importance of corporations and Wall Street in providing high paying jobs and stop demonizing those businesses. Lastly, we do need better educators and better curricula. We need to pattern our education system after those Charter schools that have had proven results. I don't need to explain this. I would definitely recommend you watching the DVD: "Waiting for Superman".

Declining Graduation Rates and the Disparity Between The Rich And The Poor

America's political left wants us all to believe that the rich are getting richer off the backs of the poor. But, that argument simply makes no sense. Using that kind of logic is the same as saying that, if we had no rich, we would then have no poor. In reality, if we had no rich we would look more like some of the poorest, 3rd world, countries on this planet. When it comes to the rich versus the poor argument, I think John F. Kennedy said it best: "A rising tide lifts all boats". Meaning that, as a country becomes more wealthy, even the poorest of the poor will benefit.

To me, the progressive/liberal argument is totally ignorant of reality. Did Steve Jobs, in becoming a millionaire, take money away from those who were poor in this country? Not hardly. If anything, his wealth, his company's profits, and the personal incomes of the workforce that he created have only helped pay for all of the government programs that support the poor; such as food stamps and even the earned income tax credit where that poorest of our tax payers pay no tax and actually get money back.

In my opinion, the real reason that the poor are getting poorer in this country has do with a decline in the value of our human capital. By that, I mean, that our workforce has become less educated and less dedicated and, as a consequence, less able to get the kind of jobs that produce a lifetime of good earnings.

In the 1960's, the average high school graduation rate was 82%. Today, that national average has declined to 70%. Worse yet, in our 50 largest cities, the rate stands at only 53%. Conversely, this means that 47% percent of the people in our highest population centers are without the discipline and motivation to finish high school and, subsequently, are without the education needed to obtain a quality, high paying job.

Based on a March 2011 report from the Bureau of Labor And Statistics titled "Education Pays..," the unemployment rate for those without a high school diploma was, at that time, just under 15%. Also, those with a diploma were nearly 50% better off with an unemployment rate of 10.3%. But, for a college degreed worker, the unemployment rate was only 5.4%; three times better than the non-high school graduate.

So, obviously, those who don't finish high school are a real drag on the economy when it comes to the unemployment rate. More importantly, a worker without a high school diploma will, on average, make 41% less money over his/her lifetime than a worker with one. And, that's the the crux of our increasing rich/poor disparity problem. With declining high school graduation rates in America, our overall workforce is becoming less educated and poorer. It's also the reason the middle class is in decline. Its no coincidence that 47% of us pay no taxes and 47% of high school students in our major cities don't graduate.

The rich aren't responsible for this. Yet the Democrats still insist on playing the class game. Just recently, the Government Accounting Office released a set of statistics showing that the top 1% of all wage earners have had their salaries jump by 270 percent in the last 30 years while the bottom 20% only saw a gain of 18%. Of course, to a liberal, this just proves that the rich are getting richer at the expense of the poor. But no. This just proves my point that we have an education problem in this country. And, despite decades of effort and billions of dollars being spent on liberal programs like increased teacher's pay, smaller class sizes, preschool and after school programs, etc., the problem has only gotten worse. But, you see, education still all comes down to the student wanting to learn and work hard for that degree. Instead of condemning the rich, we should encourage our nation's students to look up to them and want to emulate them by working hard to get a good education. Maybe then, the disparity between the rich and poor will start to narrow again.

Sex Ed Is Failing In America

Earlier this week, it was announced that the birth rate for 2007 broke the previous baby-boom record that was set in 1957. But, disturbingly, the out-of-wedlock birth rate also hit a new high. We are now seeing unwed motherhood at a rate of 40% of all births (See Full Story).

Obviously, the progressive viewpoint of providing sex education in our schools and the movement towards handing out birth control isn't working. And why should it? We've got an educational system in this country that can't teach the basics of reading and math, and somehow, we expect that same system to do a good job in teaching sex ed?

The progressives and liberals always feel that the State is the better educator in all matters and not the parents. But, just as welfare recipients became habitually comfortable and dependent on a welfare system and had no desire to break out of that system by finding a job, our parents, too, have abrogated all responsibility for sex education because they, too, have become absolutely dependent on the "system" to do it for them.

As a consequence, we have a teen population in America, today, who is in the wilderness between knowing how to have sex but, without the values and risk information that had been previously taught through proper and continuous parenting and through the moral anchoring that was often found in religion.

Being an unwed mother is one the greatest life changing events that can happen to a woman; especially at the lower ends of the economic scale. Often, it is the reason for girls not to complete their high school education. Many times it is the sole reason why women have to live their entire lives below the poverty level.

I just think that we, as a country, need to revisit the whole concept of sex ed. It isn't working and it either needs to be abandoned completely or seriously reworked. For years, astute parents have been crying out for abstinence to be taught and their voices have been ignored. Because sex ed has become such a failure, unto itself, the trend now, is to overcome its failings by handing out free birth control. When that doesn't work, are free high school abortions the next step?

One way or another, the parents have to be brought back into the process of sex ed. Obviously, the old saying of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" doesn't apply here!

And, that's just my opinion.

Image by mahalie's photostream on Flickr with Creative Commons Licensing. Some rights retained. (Click to View Other Works).

The Obama Inflation Machine

Inflation is the most worrisome disease that can hit any country's economy. It can seriously devalue that nation's currency and literally destroy the purchasing power of the poor, and those on fixed incomes. In the world of active employment, salaries always lag behind any inflated costs for goods and services; especially for essentials such as food and clothing. And, as usual, it is always the poor who are the biggest losers when inflation spirals out of control.

I've said before that I am not an economist. But I did study economics in college. I have seen its practical application in both business and in our economy. One thing I do know is that if you overstimulate demand for a scarce commodity, you will see prices rise. That's part of the basic economic principal behind the Law of Supply And Demand. I also know that businesses and corporations don't have a pile of money that they leave sitting around; waiting for the government to collect it, due to the latest tax plan. Any excess money is generally used to expand the business, which typically means hiring more people. Further, any business gets its income from selling things. Ultimately, they will offset any higher costs, like new taxes, by passing those higher costs on to you and I in the form of higher prices. If, because of overseas competition, they are unable to pass their increased costs along, they will have to reduce expenses, and that usually means that people will get laid off or may lose their jobs completely.

This is why I am concerned about Mr. Obama's tax, regulation, and spending plans. It makes no sense to give each person a $500 tax credit when your policies will cost them one or two thousand dollars more per year for the products and services they need to buy. This is especially true for the poor, and for those of low and fixed incomes. Based on Mr. Obama's expressed policies, I see serious (society affecting) inflation ahead of us. Here are the areas I see being hard hit:

1. Healthcare Costs.

Right now, there are about 46 million uninsured in this country, or about twenty percent of our population. Both John McCain and Barack Obama want to provide full healthcare insurance for Americans. However, the Obama plan is more coercive and government dependent than that of John McCain. The problem with either plan (but more so with the Obama plan, which appears to extend government healthcare coverage to illegal aliens) is that you are going to throw 46 million newly insured at our health system. Assuming that the current system is based on providing primary and secondary care for about 250 million people, that it is a lot of new demand that will be placed on the current providers of healthcare. To complicate the demand scenario, there is a push for preventative care; especially by Barack Obama. This fact, alone, will increase the frequency of doctor's visits and that will place a whole lot of demand on an already overtaxed primary care system. The bottom line? Demand will totally outstrip the supply of healthcare. Prices can only go up, and the lines will only get longer for any and all healthcare services; from doctor's visits to hospital care. You only have to look to the U.K. and Canada to know this to be true.

2. College Education Costs.

Obama wants to make college more affordable. This is because the cost of higher education is spiraling out of control. The reason is that we have too many students (too much demand) for the available education in this country (the supply). As long as colleges and universities can keep turning away students in the first year, costs will continue to go up at a rate that is faster than inflation because the demand is just too high. Now, Obama wants to place even more demand on the system by making college education more affordable through his new, $4000 tax credit. This is insanity. If we want more affordable higher education in this country, the focus should be on broadening the availability of colleges and universities to increase the supply. To address the student as the driver of the problem is simply foolish economics. It is truly the tail wagging the dog.

3. Energy Costs

Like the rest of the Democrats, Barack Obama will exclusively focus on using wind and solar for our future energy needs. Even though he has loosely "implied" that he might drill for oil, don't even expect that to be the case if he gets into office. He plans to spend $150 billion over the next 10 years to implement wind and solar systems. That's $15 billion a year. But, this is a complete ruse. To the uninformed, that sounds like a lot of money. But, to put that number into perspective, our largest of 6 major oil companies, Exxon-Mobil, will expend 30 times that $15 billion in a single year to bring their share of oil products to market. In essence, Barack Obama's plan is like trying to kill a dinosaur with a flyswatter. Further, the only purpose of solar and wind is to replace our current domestic production of electricity. That production, for the most part, is being cheaply and primarily produced from domestic coal and domestic natural gas and some nuclear energy. Oil and gasoline are not even being addressed by Obama's plan. Wind and solar's only purpose is to reduce the effects of global warming and to satisfy his special interest group, the environmentalists/global warmists. It isn't to make energy cheaper for America. If it was, wind and solar would be cropping up all over this country on its own.

While Obama fiddles with solar and wind, the true energy reality of this country is that we have over 200 million vehicles (cars, trucks, buses, boats, and airplanes) that need oil-based fuels to operate. With an "average" age of over 9 years, those vehicles aren't going to go away anytime soon, and new oil-dependent cars are rolling off the assembly line everyday, and will continue to for many years to come. We are losing 2 percent or more of our domestic oil supply every year. It is a scarce commodity, and we need to make it survive. If you put it all together, Mr. Obama will do nothing but dramatically increase our energy costs in the future. The only reason costs have come down now is because of the possible economic downturn. Once that is over, expect prices to skyrocket because the needed supply to meet the demand won't be there.

4. All Other Domestic Product and Service Costs

For most any American business, Mr. Obama's plans for protectionism, increased taxes, mandated healthcare, and the ease of unionization, will, at the very least, just drive prices for goods and services through the roof. To pay for all this, companies will just raise prices and you and I will be the ultimate footers-of-the-bill for Obama's new policies. Worst case, we could see the end of some American businesses. That end could easily come to those who are already struggling against foreign competition, and who are unable to raise prices in the face of the new Obama policies.

Take for example increasing taxes on businesses. When taxes are applied across the board, there is a rollup effect. That's because 99.9 percent of all businesses rely on other businesses to exist. Every business has suppliers and subcontractors that they utilize to conduct their own operations. Those suppliers could be as simple as a pencil manufacture. And, often, those suppliers and those subcontractors have their own suppliers and subcontractors that they depend on. When taxes are applied, and prices increased, those costs have to be passed on. They are compounded all along the supply chain. A business will not only have to raise prices for its own increased tax burden; but it will also have to raise prices to compensate for the increased costs that are being passed on to it by a supplier who is compensating for its own increase in taxes. There ain't no Santa Claus in this process.

The same compounding effect will take place when a small business is now forced to provide healthcare insurance to all of its employees. That new cost could be rather high. Further, unionization could seriously result in higher salaries being paid. Put it all together and many businesses will have no other choice but to raise prices in order to compensate for higher taxes, higher salaries, and high healthcare insurance costs.

Even Mr. Obama's plan to increase income taxes and apply FICA to those making more than $250,000 a year will have an inflationary effect. Someone making that amount of money will see their income reduced by at least $33,000 a year under his plan. That's a lot of money. As a result, you can expect those people to look to replace that lost income by either demanding a higher salary, or by looking for a higher paying job elsewhere. These people are getting a salary above $250,000 because they have a high value to a company, and because they would have a high value to any other interested companies. This could result in high prices being passed on to you and I. If prices cannot be raised, then some "lower salaried" employees could lose their jobs to compensate for the higher salaried personnel getting raises.

There is no free ride. All these promises of 95 percent of Americans paying less tax under an Obama administration are just more smoke and mirrors. You and I will pay, and we will pay heavily for all those who think they're getting a free ride. Mr. Obama has two different sized hands. The small hand is the one you see, and that's the one giving you the hand out of lower taxes, free healthcare, or a government check in the mail. The other hand, the big one that you can't see, will be the one that's in your wallet when inflation exceeds any benefit or payout that you thought you were getting from this guy. Mark my words!

Personal Responsibility

In the recent V.P. debate, Sarah Palin made a comment about personal responsibility that was so profound that it definitely needs repeating:

We need to make sure that we demand from the federal government strict oversight of those entities in charge of our investments and our savings and we need also to not get ourselves in debt. Let's do what our parents told us before we probably even got that first credit card. Don't live outside of our means. We need to make sure that as individuals we're taking personal responsibility through all of this.

In those simple words, she had summed up the entire crisis that we now have at hand.

As a country, we have literally become a "buy now and worry about it later" society. Ever since Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal following the Crash of 1929 and the Depression, we have become a society who increasingly believes that the Federal government will pull our butts out of the fire whenever we find ourselves in trouble. That attitude was even further fostered by President Johnson's Great Society. We don't save for our retirement anymore. We expect the Social Security System to take care of us. Half of the people who have credit card debt in this country have credit balances that are in excess of $15,000 and that is, in a lot of cases, more than half their annual salaries. The subprime loan crisis clearly reflects the lack of any personal responsibility; especially in the making a major purchase like a home.

Personal responsibility starts with education. Education is something that, ultimately, only the student can achieve on their own. While it is true that some students need personalized assistance or extra time to learn a specific curriculum, it still comes down to the desire to learn; and, this is where the parents and good teachers need to take charge and nurture that desire. At a time when nearly half the high school students in our major city school systems across this country fail to graduate, it is no wonder we are in the economic mess we now find ourselves in. Too many people in our society can't read or understand the math behind taking out a loan. Our schools don't teach the basic business education for our citizens to survive in an increasingly complex economic society.

Maybe all of those Community Organizers out there would better serve their communities by focusing on education instead of getting people into loans they can't afford.

Just my opinion.

Obama's Past Tells All About Education

On Tuesday, Barack Obama took aim at George W. Bush and John McCain on education while on the campaign trail (See Full Story).

I almost have to laugh about Obama on education. This is a guy who comes from a city, Chicago, Illinois, where slightly half the students graduate from high school (See Full Story).

Half of those that do go on to college fail to complete their first two years. Obama's one big chance to improve education in that city came when he headed the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (See Full Story). After $100 million in public and private financing, it was a total failure and had to be canceled in its sixth year. If it had been a success, it would still be in operation today.

That's Obama's historical or, should I say, hysterical, attempt to change poor education standards in the City of Chicago. Now, instead of millions of dollars, he wants to be the President and wants to be entrusted with billions dollars to, probably, get the same results on a national level that was seen in his total failure in Chicago.

Life Under Very Liberal Democratic Rule

I think the Republicans should resolve themselves to big losses in the Fall. They will probably lose at least 20 seats in the House of Representative and 5 or more seats in the Senate. In addition, it is quite possible that Barack Obama will defeat John McCain; barring any more revelations about Obama (like Reverend Wright) that could "tank" his ability to win.

If Mr. Obama does become President and both Houses of Congress are so strongly dominated by the Democrats, it is possible that the United States will be controlled by the most liberal government in our history. So, what will be the result of a near veto-proof and left-wing government?

Here's my take:

• The War in Iraq. We "will" leave Iraq almost immediately. Even if Mr. Obama wants to more rationally "slow" his withdrawal from Iraq by not complying with his "immediate" campaign commitment and drag it out over 16 months, that just won't happen. It won't happen because the extreme liberals in the House (those controlled by Nancy Pelosi and John Murtha) and in the Senate (those controlled and led by Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy) won't let it happen. That's because the war funding will be cutoff at its knees; and, rather than offend the liberal base and the financing stream from groups like Code Pink and MoveOn.org,, Mr. Obama wouldn't dare to veto it. I (and many others) believe that a vacuum will be created by us leaving. It will result in severe genocidal bloodshed for the Sunnis (being punished for once being in power under Saddam) and Iran taking (at the very least) an arms-length control of Iraq by virtue of the dominant Shia population. It will be a lot like the Syria/Lebanon connection and it will seriously tip the balance of power in the region and could influence and threaten other states in the area such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and even Egypt; and, not to mention Israel. Once done, it probably couldn't be undone by reinserting our military.
  
• National Health Care Insurance. Expect the creation of the largest and most expensive government controlled program that this country has seen since Medicare. It will be expensive from the beginning and underestimated; and, like all government managed social programs, it will be seen as "out of control" in just a few years. It will require constant tax increases in the future to cover it's expense. Don't even expect health care cost increases to slow or go down. That's because the health care system will figure out how to "inflate" it's charges to that system in the same fashion that it has been able to get "fat" off of Medicare. Health care costs won't go down under such a system. They will just continue to skyrocket. The crux of the problem, lawsuits, won't even be addressed because of the cozy relationship between the trial attorneys and the Democrats in control of our government.
  
• Taxes. Expect the tax burden on middle class wage earners to go up. At issue will be who is "rich" in the world according to the very liberal Democrats and Barack Obama. To Barack Obama, the rich are those making $250,000 a year. However, to some other Democrats, as low a $60,000 is rich by their definition. My guess is that taxes will be raised on single wage earners making $100,000 or more. For a UAW worker in Detroit making $60/hour, that means higher taxes on his salary. Obama also wants to raise the capital gains tax from 20% to 28%. Unfortunately, there are more than 100 million people in this country who derive income from capital sources and would be subject to this tax. Sadly, many are retirees who receive income from their hard earned money being invested in mutual funds and bonds. They will be hurt with higher taxes in an already inflationary economy and it won't matter that they are below $250,000 in income. Expect the taxes increases and steeper-yet energy prices to cause runaway inflation. The poorest and the fixed income retirees will get hurt the worst.
  
• Organized Labor. The "secret balloting" system of voting as to whether or not to "go union" to be legislated out of existence by this "in debt to the labor unions" Congress and President. In its place, this liberal government will legislate (mandate) into being the "card check" system. Under the "card check" system, union bosses will be able to pass out cards to prospective union members and have them simply "check off" a "no" or "yes" vote as to their preference to organize under a union. If they vote against the union, that preference will be clearly known to the union and its bosses. Talk about intimidation and the most "anti-democratic" measure ever passed by a democracy! But, this is designed to "muscle" the unions into our economy. Initially, it might create higher wages as the unions gain control and force higher wages and more benefits. However, multi-national companies will be forced to move off shore at even a more rapid rate than they have in the past in order to stay competitive against foreign manufacturers. For companies that can't move off shore, the consumer will be hit with massive price increases to compensate for all the higher wages. Expect companies to be "forced" to apply more and more productivity (job eliminating) techniques that will eventually increase unemployment. This is the unintended consequence of removing the "free market" for jobs from our economy. If you don't think it will happen, just look at the automobile industry and the impact on a State like Michigan and the textile industry whose products are almost exclusively produced overseas.
  
• Conservative Talk Radio. The "left" pretty much has control of the national media in this country. They also have control of National Public Radio (NPR) and PBS television. Further, they have managed to control the "political thought" in our education systems through their support-of and the control-by of the teacher's unions. The only counter-balance to all this and a constant thorn in the sides of the liberals have been conservative talk radio with the likes of Rush Limbaugh. Expect the Democratic Congress and by signature of the President to revive the "Fairness Doctrine." Under that legislation, a radio or television station could lose it's Federal License if it failed to provide equal time for conservative and liberal radio programming. Therefore, the unpopular liberal talk shows would be forced on to the airways. Actually, expect the Conservative talk radio to disappear because there hasn't been and won't be enough audiences to support liberal talk radio. Think of this law like taking a station that currently has a Country Theme and telling them that they will have to provide equal time for rap or hip hop or hard rock. This law could somewhat backfire because it would force PBS and NPR to provide conservative programming; something that hasn't existed for years.
• Energy Policies. Expect a few billion dollars to be doled out to create so-called green collar jobs. Like every other government program, you can expect this to one to be ripe for fraud and political pork barreling. Because it will supply funds under a Federal program, any company taking those funds will then be subject to paying the Federal minimum wage. Expect the administrative costs to be in the billions. My guess is that we "won't" see two things: (1) Any significant job growth and (2) any reduction in our dependence on oil. Expect energy prices to continue to go higher and higher. Instead of allowing the free market system to work to solve our energy problems, this government program will be a disaster and we can expect the past "$10,000 toilet seat" problems to thrive in spades.
  
• Federal Appointments. There are hundreds of Federal judgeships that have remained open and stuck in the Democratic controlled committees. The Federal Election Committee has 4 positions stuck in the Senate committee for approval. The 2 remaining seats are overdue in their own retirements. Expect the floodgates of liberal, activist judges to open up with the Congress/Presidency controlled by the Democrats. These are lifetime positions and the "progressive" slant on our court system will last for years. As many as 3 Supreme Court judges could retire during an Obama Administration and Democratic Control of Congress. Expect the "Court" to be tilted sharply to the left; a condition that will last for decades.
  
• College Tuition. As have said before in this blog, college tuition is rising at a rate that is twice that of inflation because the number of colleges and universities is limited while the demand is high. Making college "more affordable" by providing additional government funding is just feeding the "demand" side of the college tuition problem. To stop the runaway increases in tuition, you need to increase the "supply" of colleges and universities in this country. Unless our schools of higher education have empty seats and have to compete for students, tuition rates will just keep on rising. My guess is that any of the Obama/Democrats plans will do just that.
• Education. Expect school and teacher accountability to go out the window because "No Child Left Behind" and its testing requirements will be blasted off the map. This will be payback to the loyal-to-the-Democrats teacher's union. For the first time in history, the Federal government will start funding local education in this country. Moves to add more teachers (for the unions and not the kids) will be pushed. I think a city, like Chicago, will revert back to its 48% graduation rate after having improved to 52%. Education, thanks to pandering to the unions, will continue to slide downwards in this country.
• Deficit Spending. Currently, Mr. Obama has proposed spending levels that will out pace his tax increases by a ration of 3 to 1. Unlike the Clinton years which benefited from a burgeoning computer-based economy and massive productivity gains (and profits) in business, expect the deficit to increase as a result of (1) reduced tax revenues as a result of higher taxes on businesses and the rich and (2) excessive spending for all those campaign-promised spending programs. With liberal/progressive Democrats in control of the Presidency and Congress, spending will be unstoppable!

I believe that we might see one of the worst governments in the history of this country; or, at the very least, the worst since Jimmy Carter. At a time when a strong foreign policy stance is needed, it won't be there. It will be a return to the days of the "Tax and Spend" Democrats. This time, however, there won't be a Republican in the Presidency to act as a counter balance. I may be completely wrong. But, if I am right, the damage to this country could last for decades. We just might start thinking that G.W. Bush wasn't so bad after all.