Hmmm, just a little more serious comment. We need to be careful about making broad generalizations, stereotyping, falling for easy answers to complex inter-related problems, and faulty cause and effect analysis. Rallying cries like bringing back the gold standard may work people up but is a totaly unworkable solution. Not everyone in house trouble (not me or any of my family who have always been conservative and maintained hefty equity), got there through irresponsibilty but rather through loss of jobs, cut hours, etc. Just a few years before that those that borrowed to the hilt and sold at the right time made a lot of money. Just a timing issue. Some are doing it today buying up cheap buildings to make a killing later at the expense of the people that lost their homes.
When you take a good look at the flat income levels for the lower 90% of the population over the past 30 years, a second earner in the family, and home equity was one way to stay ahead of the game. Again not me and my family-we are among the fortunate, but many folks just did whatever they could to keep their heads above water and it is hard to blame them for the risks they took and lost. And the worrysome part is that these income/asset disparities are approaching where Europe was 100 years ago before the great uprisings by the common people.
Personally I question whether unemployment is the big problem when you analyse the numbers. White college educated folks are doing quite well compared to blacks with no high school degree. Plus there are lots of high skilled jobs available with few qualified applicants, yet we continue to squeeze the educational system that could provide these applicants. To me the real issue is the number of people at low wage jobs that limit spending and savings far more than the 3 or 4% excessive unemployment rate. At the same time the Chamber of Commerce wants lower pay rates, elimination of unions, accountability of beat up school systems, lower business taxes, and free access to cheap foreign labor. Sounds kind of anti-American to me.
Guess I got off the track but just wish we had some moderate, intelegent, leadership instead of all the rhetoric.
Bing,if you were King ,you could surround yourself with good advisers.Let the good times roll(remember this post can be a bit facetious),Seriously though a lot of people vote for thier bank account,I’m afraid its going to get harder all the time to find people who will vote thier ideals-Kevin
@ bscar2 re: LPA carbon fiber,
that carbon fiber rule was only one of the rules attached to the new license that one must have in order to exceed highway speed limits legally, repair costs should net out since they are virtually indestructible
As for the college degree by 18 that is very easy and very simple,
first eliminate this whole summer off thing, and the spring break and the winter break, there more than enough holidays to go around
school time should be 8am to 4pm, 5 days a week for all grade levels (1 - 16)
btw – none of that pre-school, kindergarden nonsense – school starts at 6yr+
and for the smarty pants who say how can a 6yr old grad at 18 with 16 years of schooling, the classes are all based on credit hours, so there should be more than enough hours to do the job.
students that fall behind receive home schooling 5-7pm daily
oh, btw – passing grade is now C but must maintain above C average.
but yes undergrad should never have a major, that’s what grad school is for.
and just in case you want to know when kids will have time for play, that is included in the curriculum, just like all of the other subjects need to be a well rounded little citizen
you asked, ‘how would the college edu get paid for’ the answer is the same way the other lower level classes are getting paid for, remember the kids are not “going to college” “college is going to them” instead of senior in high school at 18 you are senior in college in what was a high school building at 18.
almost everything I would should result in short and long term savings, long term saving, or in some cases actual income instead of expense.
#1 is a long term savings plan, #2 is a short and long term savings plan, #3 is a long term savings plan for home owners and a national income resource that should be able to fund my education initiative (county school tax eliminated) #4 is short term expense, only mandated for cities of 3+Million, easily installation expand on a street light (not traffic light) post already in place, $1000 conversion,
don’t forget I eliminated foreign government aid until all states are on solid ground (income, reserves)
“but yes undergrad should never have a major, that’s what grad school is for.”
But teachers don’t need advanced degrees; nor do accountants. I know a number of engineers with bachelor’s degrees that make more than engineer’s with advanced degrees; even PhD’s. I’d go so far as to say that having a PhD as an engineer is immaterial to earnings or value to the enterprise.
jtsanders “But teachers don’t need advanced degrees; nor do accountants. I know a number of engineers with bachelor’s degrees that make more than engineer’s with advanced degrees; even PhD’s. I’d go so far as to say that having a PhD as an engineer is immaterial to earnings or value to the enterprise.”
Depending on the employer teachers don’t need any degree, or may very will need a PhD + EdD to teach, it mainly depends on what the employer wants.
Accountants may not need the advanced degree, however there is a major difference between an accountant and a CPA, neither may have an advanced degree but that certification is worth far more than the advanced degree accountant. Here’s a good one for you, and EA without a college degree is probably worth more than a CPA with an advanced degree in anything other than taxes, for a tax job but will likely still get paid more (worth less but paid more).
As for engineers pay, here again it depends on what the employer is willing to spend, major utilities are often willing to spend more for their EEs than the smaller private utilities even though the job description may be the same. That’s the way you attract the best workers from the competition. But here again the employer’s degree requirements will determine if a masters is necessary regardless of pay.
My driving point is our world economy, and particular our national economy needs an educated citizenry not just the work force but everyone. College is just as necessary now as High School was 40 years ago, and literacy was 60 years ago.
LPA. get some old textbooks and peruse them,an old High School diploma was a pretty potent piece of parchment,so I think you are on the right track.Was studying Algebra one time,using a 1898 textbook,I got along pretty well,till I came upon the section about transposing numerals,was lost had no background in that(thats were a good teacher makes the difference) So I think the current education system can stand some work,its deplorable whats not taught in History class,politically correct Historysure is wishy washy-Kevin
The people who say there’s no jobs out there are the same ones who cry foul at illegal immigrants taking our jobs. They say there’s hardly any jobs out there, but there are plenty, just jobs no one wants. Waiters, dish washers, fast food, grocery stores. Is it any wonder you either need to know spanish or have to point at the item(s) on the menu you want to order food?
Another problem with having a higher degree is that you can be over qualified for one job and under qualified for another.
I’ll take a stab at it, though this will likely turn into a semi-rant. Be forewarned:
There’s obviously no way this could be accomplished economically, but I’d love it if the most menial, degrading, soul-sucking jobs paid on a par with “professional” jobs. I’m talking about dishwashers, pizza delivery, kitchen work, etc. When I say professional jobs, I don’t mean professional jobs I have some respect for, like engineers, researchers, doctors, scientists, etc. (mechanics could make more too, at least good ones) I’m talking about worthless white collar jobs like ambulance-chasing lawyers, jobs given to fresh MBAs by out-of-touch elitists that have no clue what real life is like. Such as the idiots that created the Enron and finance industry debacles.
For that matter, when a company has some poor showings, the first things to go are services, such as training and IT. Most people wouldn’t want to walk a mile in a working IT person’s shoes, but keeping an IT job and getting paid commensurate with your ability is rough in this economy. IT workers, like mechanics, must be certified, must constantly train and keep up with the industry, and are treated with a mixture of grudging respect and disdain. They may not have to buy their own tools (well mostly) or get as grungy as mechanics, but depending on the role, it can be a thankless, high-stress, underpaid job that takes its toll on your will to live. And field support jobs get at least as many comebacks as mechanics. You can bet the same people that have no idea how their cars work or how to maintain them have a similar skill set when it comes to their computing. And it’s insulting when someone who makes triple your salary doesn’t understand the simplest things, such as how to change a password or copy n’ pasting files into a folder.
@Oblivion “There’s obviously no way this could be accomplished economically, but I’d love it if the most menial, degrading, soul-sucking jobs paid on a par with “professional” jobs. I’m talking about dishwashers, pizza delivery, kitchen work, etc”
I washed dishes, cooked in the kitchen, delivered chicken not pizzas, waited on judges, lawyers, and other ilk, weeded flowers, etc. but when I was a high school teenager, not an adult. I got paid 85 cents an hour. All or 90% of us were teenagers running the place making the same wage trying to save for a $10,000 education. Now if the rates were higher, there would have been no jobs for us teenagers since adults would have taken them.
I sympathize with your thought pattern, but teenagers need jobs too.
“Depending on the employer teachers don’t need any degree, or may very will need a PhD + EdD to teach, it mainly depends on what the employer wants.”
I suppose there is the issue of which teachers we are talking about. I meant grade school teachers, not university teachers. Grade school teachers do not need advanced degrees to be successful. In my area, they can get paid more by taking classes after they receive their bachelor’s degree, but it is not a requirement.
In 1962 minimum wage was $1.25. One hour’s work would buy 6 gallons of gasoline, or 25 cokes, or 1 adult admission to a movie with change left for popcorn. Something is wrong with that picture today. But of course, the Romney/Perry/Cain/Gingrich Republicans want to eliminate minimum wage and let the market drop wages to compete with China and India.
Off topic to be sure…Let’s do a way with unions and the right to organize for fair wages and conditions. But it’s OK to let corporations organize and control prices and conditions. After all, corporations are people, but people aren’t people. One hint of movement to help people is referred to as socialism or Marxism.
The maximum marginal tax rate has been dropping for years along with allowing free rides for the job creators. Each time these ploys to increase the wealth of the job creators are exercised, we go into a recession. Why ? Because neither party has ever, ever, ever cut spending and one party goes into debt by not raising revenue necessary and taking investment in infrastructure and people off the table and letting their earning power dwindle while the rich get richer like they always have.
The dirty little secret is that lowering marginal tax rates on the wealthy can hurt, not helps job creation. Small business owners who do much of the hiring pay NO personal income tax on gross income they reinvest in their bussiness to hire new employees, pay health insurance or raise employees wages. Increased marginal tax rates on the rich can encourage reinvestment into the business they operate and the people the hire.
somewhere around No.17 on my list would be to start annexing poor countries that s chief exports are immigrants and making states of them,seems farfetched but I think it has merit.No.18 would be the retail sales tax,absolutely no other taxes-only exception would be user fees and enable the government to earn some of the money they oft times squander-Kevin