42-50 million Americans Can't Read - Afford Health Insurance - and are Poor

[TahoeBlue]

42-50 million poor and "ignorant" people in America:

http://education-portal.com/articles/Grim_Illiteracy_Statistics_Indicate_Americans_Have_a_Reading_Problem.html
Grim Illiteracy Statistics Indicate Americans Have a Reading Problem - Sep 20, 2007

42 million American adults can't read at all;

50 million are unable to read at a higher level that is expected of a fourth or fifth grader.
...
Where Illiteracy Leads
70 percent of prisoners in state and federal systems can be classified as illiterate.
85 percent of all juvenile offenders rate as functionally or marginally illiterate.
43 percent of those whose literacy skills are lowest live in poverty

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/September/16/census-uninsured-rate-soars.aspx
Uninsured Rate Soars, 50+ Million Americans Without Coverage
Sep 16, 2010

In a reflection of the battered economy, the number of people without health insurance rose sharply last year to 50.7 million — an all time high — according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-08-30-1Asafetynet30_ST_N.htm
Record number in government anti-poverty programs - 8/30/2010

More than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid, the federal-state program aimed principally at the poor, a survey of state data by USA TODAY shows. That's up at least 17% since the recession began in December 2007
...
More than 40 million people get food stamps, an increase of nearly 50% during the economic downturn, according to government data through May. The program has grown steadily for three years.
...
Close to 10 million receive unemployment insurance, nearly four times the number from 2007
...
More than 4.4 million people are on welfare, an 18% increase during the recession
...
The federal price tag for Medicaid has jumped 36% in two years, to $273 billion. Jobless benefits have soared from $43 billion to $160 billion. The food stamps program has risen 80%, to $70 billion. Welfare is up 24%, to $22 billion. Taken together, they cost more than Medicare.

Oh 50 Million Myth?

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/03/20/the-myth-of-the-46-million
...
President Obama said at this month's White House health care summit, "all it takes is one stroke of bad luck -- an accident or an illness, a divorce, a lost job -- to become one of the nearly 46 million uninsured…"

Whether it's in political speeches, commentary, newspaper features, or hard news stories, the statistic of 46 million uninsured is one of the most-widely cited numbers in the health care debate. It promotes the idea that nearly one out of every six Americans does not have access to health care and it plays into the arguments of those calling for massive expansion of government to fix the problem. Yet the ubiquitous figure is highly misleading.

To be clear, the statistic is not pulled out of thin air. It comes from an annual report by the Census Bureau, which most recently pegged the number of uninsured at 45.7 million for 2007. But the problem lies in the way the statistic is commonly cited and understood.

For starters, the statistic does not mean that there are "46 million uninsured Americans," as the New York Times reported in a recent story on health care, and as is echoed throughout the media. Just a quick look inside the Census Bureau data shows that 9.7 million of the uninsured are not citizens of the United States. Liberals can argue that we still have a moral duty to cover non-citizens, but this doesn't change the fact that as a matter of accuracy, the Census data only tells us that 36 million Americans are uninsured.
...
 In 2003, a BlueCross BlueShield Association study estimated that about 14 million of the uninsured were eligible for Medicaid and SCHIP. These people would be signed up for government insurance if they ever made it to the emergency room.
...
 In 2007, 17.6 million of the uninsured had annual incomes of more than $50,000 and 9.1 million earned more than $75,000. In fact, as Sally Pipes notes in the Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen's Guide, those making more than $75,000 per year are part of the fastest growing segment of the uninsured population.
...
When all of these factors are put together, the 2003 BlueCross BlueShield study determined that 8.2 million Americans are actually without coverage for the long haul, because they are too poor to purchase health care but earn too much to qualify for government assistance

http://www.nrrf.org/essay_Illiteracy.html
Illiteracy: An Incurable Disease or Education Malpractice?
by Robert W. Sweet, Jr. President and Co-Founder The National Right to Read Foundation, 1996
...
Which federal programs impact illiteracy?
According to the Congressional Research Service, federal assistance for adult education and literacy programs is primarily authorized through the Adult Education Act (AEA). The AEA serves 3.5 million people annually, with an FY92 appropriation of [$155] million.

Compensatory education (Chapter 1) is specifically targeted toward low-income families, and teaching reading is a major emphasis of this program. The FY96 funding for Chapter 1 is $6.9 billion.

Several major studies that have addressed the extent of illiteracy have been funded by the federal government over the years. These include the "National Assessment of Educational Progress," "Follow Through," the "Adult Performance Level" (APL) study, and most recently, the Commission on Reading report, "Becoming a Nation of Readers," which provided a synthesis of reading research and the present state-of-the-art of reading instruction.

The cumulative amount of money spent on illiteracy by the federal government over the past 25 years has been staggering. The following programs are only the tip of the iceberg:

Chapter I, cumulative funding from 1966 to 1996 = $90.5 billion.
Right to Read, cumulative funding from 1971 to 1981 = $220 million.
Bilingual education, cumulative funding from 1967 to 1996 = $3.2 billion.
Special Education, cumulative funding from 1975 to 1996 (federal & state) = $370 billion.

The six government agencies that provide the most funding for the problem of illiteracy are: The U.S. Departments of Education (29 programs), Labor (3 programs), Health & Human Services (12 programs), Justice (2 programs), Defense (5 programs), and State (2 programs).
...
There is an answer to "why Johnny can't read," but the answer is tough medicine to swallow. It requires education professionals, who for years have been engaged in a form of education malpractice, to admit that the methods of teaching reading they have vigorously advocated and staunchly defended ever since the 1930's are dead wrong.

If we are to seriously reverse the increasing number of illiterate adults in America and prevent the problem of illiteracy, we must swallow the medicine, as quickly as possible, and reject the instructional methods that have resulted in the widespread illiteracy we have today.

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/index.html?src=mr
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is dedicated to improving results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21 by providing leadership and financial support to assist states and local districts
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 was signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 3, 2004. As the nation's special education law,

IDEA serves approximately 6.8 million children and youth with disabilities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education
...
Under President George W. Bush, the Department primarily focused on elementary and secondary education, expanding its reach through the "No Child Left Behind" law. The Department's budget increased 69.6% between 2002 and 2004.[4]
...
For 2006, the ED discretionary budget was US$56 billion and the mandatory budget contained $23.4 billion. Currently, the budget is $68.6 billion, according to the Dept. of Education website.

[al0152]

what is the current overall population of US at the moment?

Can it be that a vast majority of the illiterates are immigrants legal and/or illegal?

[larsonstdoc]

what is the current overall population of US at the moment?

Can it be that a vast majority of the illiterates are immigrants legal and/or illegal?

 The current US population is around 307 million. 

  Many of the illiterate are immigrants but many are not.  I tried to close a deal with a Dutch immigrant last week in SC and he had to have the contract written in Dutch--the talks broke down.  Many people cannot read at a 4th grade level in this country. 

 

[TahoeBlue]

Yes I'm asking the question too , are these numbers real? If so , it seems that the gov feels these 50 million are a lost cause and on top of that with "autism" they seem to expect many more ignorant/disabled people in the pipeline. I assume that these people vote.  If this is true, it is extremely frightening.

On top of that, the money spent seems to be a boondogle with the money spent creating no result but to create a larger government bureaucracy and gov jobs. I also assume alot of the money goes to Universities for "research".

Then you look at the disparity of "education funding" to "special ed funding" and it really makes you wonder.

Keep those vaccine shots coming? Why not vaccinate in the womb? - Oh yeah their doing that with pregnant moms.
This stuff just makes me so - fill in the blank.
ref: Vaccine Schedule 1983 vs. 2008 

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2010/02/01/2011-budget/6810/
Obama Budget Seeks Boost For Special Education, Autism  By Michelle Diament Feb 1 2010

Autism Research: $222 million to study the genetic and environmental factors leading to autism and examine how autism affects the brain. This money will also fund clinical trials of drugs and behavioral therapies designed to treat the disorder.

Special Education: $250 million boost for special education, bringing federal grants to the states up to $11.755 billion.

Community Living: $103 million for a caregiver initiative designed to assist caregivers of people with disabilities and aging individuals while keeping people living in the community for as long as possible.

Special Education, cumulative funding from 1975 to 1996 (federal & state) = $370 billion

| -----

Vocational Rehabilitation: $60 million to help people with disabilities and other adults needing basic skills.

Chapter I, cumulative funding from 1966 to 1996 = $90.5 billion.

| -----
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,307997,00.html

Autism 'Epidemic' Follows Increase in Special Education Funding, Shift in Diagnosis - November 04, 2007  
...
Groups advocating more research money call autism "the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States
...
The editor said that "mentally retarded" is becoming passe and demeaning, much like the terms idiot, imbecile and moron — once used by doctors to describe varying degrees of mental retardation. In contrast, autism has become culturally acceptable — and a ticket to a larger range of school services and accommodations.
...

Fourteen years ago, only 1 in 10,000 children were diagnosed with it. Prevalence estimates gradually rose to the current government estimate of one in 150.

That increase has been mirrored in school districts. Gwinnett County Public Schools — Georgia's largest school system — had eight classrooms for teaching autistic youngsters 13 years ago; today there are 180.

Some researchers suggest that as autism spectrum diagnoses have gone up, diagnoses of mild mental retardation have fallen.

[ryanwv]

It is not good that so many people are in prison, cannot read and have little or no access to basic medical service. I foresee a situation in which the prison system starts to meltdown. There is no way you can keep so many people stupid, sick and poor without some major issues with the prisons. The prisons are taking the poor and transforming them into hungry urban animals. We already see people getting out of jail and end up doing something far worse then their first offense. Worst of all is that most of them cannot read and write correctly. That needs to be taken care of much better than now. Groups need to spring up which put classic lit into people`s hands for free. 50 million people with little or no reading and writing ability is unacceptable.

[TahoeBlue]

http://www.borderfirereport.net/frosty-wooldridge/illiteracy-in-america-7000-kids-drop-out-every-day.php
Illiteracy in America: 7,000 Kids Drop Out Every Day | Frosty Wooldridge
07 September 2010
...
(Source: National Right to Read Foundation)

The foundation reported, “According to current estimates, the number of functionally illiterate adults is increasing by approximately two and one quarter million persons each year.

This number includes
nearly 1 million young people who drop out of school before graduation,
400,000 legal immigrants,
100,000 refugees, and
800,000 illegal immigrants, and
20 percent of all high school graduates.
Eighty-four percent of the 23,000 people who took an exam for entry-level jobs at New York Telephone in 1988, failed.”
...
NBC anchor Brian Williams reported that 1.2 million teens hit America’s streets every June unable to read or write. Detroit, Michigan epitomizes this country’s educational dilemma: 76 percent dropout/flunkout rate. Dozens of cities across the country suffer 50 to 60 percent dropout rates.


http://washingtoncountyliteracycouncil.org/
...
ILITERACY AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
·          The rate of illiteracy in America’s correctional systems is over 60% (National Institutes of Health)

ILLITERACY AND THE WORKPLACE
·          According to the NALS, 40% of the labor force in the United States has limited skills
·          As many as 23% of the  adult American population (40-44 million) is functionally illiterate (Level 1 according to the National Adult Literacy Survey), lacking basic skills beyond a fourth-grade level.
·         Illiteracy is widespread, a problem in every community, not limited to any race, region or socioeconomic class.

[TahoeBlue]

http://www.amazon.com/Unscientific-America-Scientific-Illiteracy-Threatens/dp/0465013058
...
This review is from: Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future (Hardcover)
I've taught undergraduates and graduate students science at a major private university for almost 30 years. During this time, I've seen an increasingly profound inability of my students (about 10,000 so far) to even process the most simple scientific facts beyond memorizing them.

American citizens, if their kids are any indication, view knowledge in the context of "Who Wants to be A Millionaire", a stream of factoids, unrelated, much like a list of names in a telephone book.

"Unscientific America" tell the reader why this sorry state of affairs has occurred. I suspect, the same or worse applies for the average American citizen knowing about our Nation's history, basic elements of world culture, or the arts. My foreign students look at Americans with bewilderment and wonder on how they could be so ignorant living in such privilege and plenty.

[Geolibertarian]

Two words: Education Reform!

       http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=81613.5

[TahoeBlue]

Two words: Education Reform!

       http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=81613.5

As anyone who follows electoral politics knows, for many decades candidates from both major parties have been parroting the same old empty rhetoric about how determined they are to "improve" or "reform" our so-called "education" system.

Yet, whether from ignorance or willful complicity, they never tell people that the compulsory government school system is producing precisely the pathetic results it was designed to produce (which is why throwing more tax money at it has never worked, nor ever will work):

I know, we are doomed!

[birther truther tenther]

The Dept of Education ditched phonics, and replaced it with sight-word.

Illiteracy went through the roof, and the banksters got what they paid for!


-

-


(abandoned school in Detroit)

[Overcast]

500 million Americans are jobless in the 57 states too.

[Overcast]

The Dept of Education ditched phonics, and replaced it with sight-word.

Illiteracy went through the roof, and the banksters got what they paid for!


-

-


(abandoned school in Detroit)

Damn, my wife home-schools - I'd pay cash for some of those books. They are hard to find - cheap anyway.

[ryanwv]

I decided to come back to this thread and look at the information one more time. I see why we are screwed. Too many people are plain stupid. Yeah, the economy went bad and a lot of people lost their job. All those sweet union jobs suddenly gone.  Considering that so many people in America cannot really read or write I am willing to bet there another reason why so many people cannot find a job; they are under educated. I have heard of people being turned down for a job at McDonald`s. Maybe we had a situation of millions of Americans who were pretty much well trained monkeys and now those folks are realizing they should paid a little more attention while they were in school.
I remember in high school most of the kids did not give a damn if they learned anything or not. The teachers damn neared gave them the answers to the test. Time for people to go to the local adult learning centers, the ones that are still open, and learn the basics. 

[larsonstdoc]

I decided to come back to this thread and look at the information one more time. I see why we are screwed. Too many people are plain stupid. Yeah, the economy went bad and a lot of people lost their job. All those sweet union jobs suddenly gone.  Considering that so many people in America cannot really read or write I am willing to bet there another reason why so many people cannot find a job; they are under educated. I have heard of people being turned down for a job at McDonald`s. Maybe we had a situation of millions of Americans who were pretty much well trained monkeys and now those folks are realizing they should paid a little more attention while they were in school.
I remember in high school most of the kids did not give a damn if they learned anything or not. The teachers damn neared gave them the answers to the test. Time for people to go to the local adult learning centers, the ones that are still open, and learn the basics.  

  They say that a 1954 High School Diploma is the equivalent of 4 YEARS OF COLLEGE TODAY.

  Try passing the 1895 Kansas State 8th Grade Exam below.  Many in this country would want it in Spanish.

http://www.barefootsworld.net/1895finalexam.html


EXAMINATION GRADUATION QUESTIONS
OF SALINE COUNTY, KANSAS
April 13, 1895
J.W. Armstrong, County Superintendent.

Examinations at Salina, New Cambria, Gypsum City, Assaria, Falun, Bavaria, and District No. 74 (in Glendale Twp.)

Reading and Penmanship. - The Examination will be oral, and the Penmanship of Applicants will be graded from the manuscripts

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?

Orthography (Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of N.A.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

Health (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Where are the saliva, gastric juice, and bile secreted? What is the use of each in digestion?
2. How does nutrition reach the circulation?
3. What is the function of the liver? Of the kidneys?
4. How would you stop the flow of blood from an artery in the case of laceration?
5. Give some general directions that you think would be beneficial to preserve the human body in a state of health.

[larsonstdoc]

  My son has had applications from people at his restaurant where they put their name, address, and telephone # only.  Of course all these apps go into file 13.

[Amos]

All that and all they had to do was take the bible out of the schools, the power of God's word is amazing.

[TahoeBlue]

One thing to note is that this is working on both ends of the education scale.

They don't want or need "millions" of highly educated technocrat's and if they do they will Import them from foriegn countries that have no allegience to the principles "freedom" of the U.S.A. and undercut the wages of the upper middle class.

Also if you don't pull the politcal line, are a "free" thinker, you won't get thru college or go on for your master's, to get any upper class job and the pay that goes with it. Plus now you'll be beholden with 100K in student loan debt.

They say that America has no "class" system , well maybe it didn't but it sure does now...

All this relates back to these classic and unfortunately true threads:

In 1969, Rockefeller Official Said US Would Be De-industrialized  

Wealth Disparities in U.S. Approaching 1920's Levels

[TahoeBlue]

Over 100 Million People in U.S. Now Receiving Some Form Of Federal Welfare

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/over-100-million-now-receiving-federal-welfare_649589.html
Over 100 Million Now Receiving Federal Welfare
2:40 PM, AUG 8, 2012 • BY DANIEL HALPER

A new chart set to be released later today by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee details a startling statistic: "Over 100 Million People in U.S. Now Receiving Some Form Of Federal Welfare."

"The federal government administers nearly 80 different overlapping federal means-tested welfare programs," the Senate Budget Committee notes. However, the committee states, the figures used in the chart do not include those who are only benefiting from Social Security and/or Medicare.

Food stamps and Medicaid make up a large--and growing--chunk of the more than 100 million recipients. "Among the major means tested welfare programs, since 2000 Medicaid has increased from 34 million people to 54 million in 2011 and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) from 17 million to 45 million in 2011," says the Senate Budget Committee. "Spending on food stamps alone is projected to reach $800 billion over the next decade."

The data come "from the U.S. Census’s Survey of Income and Program Participation shows that nearly 110,000 million individuals received a welfare benefit in 2011. (These figures do not include other means-tested benefits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the health insurance premium subsidies included in the President’s health care law. CBO estimates that the premium subsidies, scheduled to begin in 2014, will cover at least 25 million individuals by the end of the decade.)"

This is not just Americans, however. "These figures include not only citizens, but non-citizens as well," according to the committee.

[larsonstdoc]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/over-100-million-now-receiving-federal-welfare_649589.html
Over 100 Million Now Receiving Federal Welfare
2:40 PM, AUG 8, 2012 • BY DANIEL HALPER

A new chart set to be released later today by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee details a startling statistic: "Over 100 Million People in U.S. Now Receiving Some Form Of Federal Welfare."

"The federal government administers nearly 80 different overlapping federal means-tested welfare programs," the Senate Budget Committee notes. However, the committee states, the figures used in the chart do not include those who are only benefiting from Social Security and/or Medicare.

Food stamps and Medicaid make up a large--and growing--chunk of the more than 100 million recipients. "Among the major means tested welfare programs, since 2000 Medicaid has increased from 34 million people to 54 million in 2011 and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) from 17 million to 45 million in 2011," says the Senate Budget Committee. "Spending on food stamps alone is projected to reach $800 billion over the next decade."

The data come "from the U.S. Census’s Survey of Income and Program Participation shows that nearly 110,000 million individuals received a welfare benefit in 2011. (These figures do not include other means-tested benefits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the health insurance premium subsidies included in the President’s health care law. CBO estimates that the premium subsidies, scheduled to begin in 2014, will cover at least 25 million individuals by the end of the decade.)"

This is not just Americans, however. "These figures include not only citizens, but non-citizens as well," according to the committee.

  Tarpley said yesterday on the AJ Show that Congress is looking to cut the Food Stamp benefits during the lame duck session.

[Geolibertarian]

Tarpley said yesterday on the AJ Show that Congress is looking to cut the Food Stamp benefits during the lame duck session.

Turning the entire country into an Orwellian police state and bombing "brown people" overseas costs money. Gotta get that money from somewhere. Why not from those least able to defend themselves?

Our society has truly become demonic.

[larsonstdoc]

Turning the entire country into an Orwellian police state and bombing "brown people" overseas costs money. Gotta get that money from somewhere. Why not from those least able to defend themselves?

Our society has truly become demonic.

  Of course we know they could just print the money but that is way too easy.  The money is for the military-industrial complex and/or the bankers.

  One thing Tarpley is right about---get every dollar we can for the people and DAMN THE BANKERS.

 

[TahoeBlue]

 Tarpley said yesterday on the AJ Show that Congress is looking to cut the Food Stamp benefits during the lame duck session.

I just heard today that there is a "Bi-Partisan" push to increase taxes across the board.

This is the downward cycle, We are in a depression and tax revenues are down , so these sob's want to increase tax rates to make up the difference rather than making the government smaller.  

Of course the protected class will continue to pay little or nothing.

[larsonstdoc]

I just heard today that there is a "Bi-Partisan" push to increase taxes across the board.

This is the downward cycle, We are in a depression and tax revenues are down , so these sob's want to increase tax rates to make up the difference rather than making the goverment smaller. 

Of course the protected class will continue to pay little or nothing.

  Alex is right.  These traitors are going to implode the country. 

[Geolibertarian]

  Alex is right.  These traitors are going to implode the country.

And lesser-evil voters will all thank them for it. (At least until they can no longer afford their cable and cell phone bills.)

[larsonstdoc]

And lesser-evil voters will all thank them for it. (At least until they can no longer afford their cable and cell phone bills.)

  And food.  Food is suppose to sky-rocket very soon.

http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/09/13204354-countries-panic-buying-may-worsen-food-price-spikes

Countries' panic buying may worsen food price spikes








Effects of this summer's extended drought, which has scorched corn and soybean crops across the Midwest, will ripple around the globe.

By Veronica Brown, Reuters
 LONDON -- Attempts by major food importing nations to shelter their populations from the effects of a U.S. drought may make a bad situation worse, five years after the last jump in crop prices provoked rioting in some of the world's most fragile states.
Many governments have watched on the sidelines as drought in the U.S. farm belt sent prices of corn, soybeans and wheat soaring, hoping that the market would eventually ease.
However, their nerve seems to have broken with Mexico, the world's second biggest corn importer which suffered "tortilla riots" in 2007, making a huge purchase last week.
With fears growing that drought will also cut the wheat harvest in the Black Sea region, buyers in the turbulent Middle East are now also pouring on to the markets.
"A cascade effect is not inconceivable and may well be taking place -- wheat prices have shot up nearly 50 percent since the beginning of July," said J.Peter Pham, a director with U.S. think tank the Atlantic Council.
"If such proves to be the case, some of the most fragile states may well be shaken," added Pham, who also advises U.S. and European governments on strategic issues.

[TahoeBlue]

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/24/279917/great-depression-deepens-across-globe/
The second great depression deepening across the globe
Dec 24, 2012
By Webster G. Tarpley
...

Almost a billion malnourished worldwide

Closely correlated with needless death and needless immiseration is the problem of world hunger. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization in Rome, there are in 2012 some 925 million persons experiencing hunger and malnutrition.

Some 578 million of the hungry live in the Asian and Pacific countries, followed by 239 million malnourished in sub-Saharan Africa.

Even in the developed countries, the FAO lists 19 million hungry. We should recall that, in the United States, some 50 million people rely on food stamps for their survival, meaning that they may have as little as $1.50 to spend per meal and per person.
 
The FAO’s world hunger estimates are very likely too low. This agency assumes that world hunger was about at its current level in 2008, and then rose to over one billion people in 2009, before returning to approximately the 2008 level in 2010. but this may turn out to be wildly optimistic, and perhaps deliberately so.
 
Another big factor in economic immiseration is the current high level of world unemployment.

Here the statistics are even sketchier. The CIA assumes a world unemployment rate of 9.1%.

The United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO) sets this rate at about 6% -- meaning about 200 million current jobless -- but at the same time concedes that in many developed countries - such as the United States and the nations of the European Union - the combined figure for unemployment and underemployment is in the neighborhood of 30%. These are depression levels by any reckoning.
 ...
[ Tarpley:]

What the world needs, by contrast, is a decisive repudiation of neoliberal economics, a rejection of austerity measures, and a reaffirmation of the priority of a social safety net, combined with measures to shift the cost of the world depression off the backs of working people and onto the parasitical bankers who created the depression in the first place.

The centerpiece of a world recovery program will be the nationalization of the existing central banks and their transformation into Hamiltonian national banks dedicated to providing masses of extremely cheap, long term loans and bond purchases for the purpose of reviving infrastructure and a broad array of tangible, physical production, thus turning the world economy away from the hyper-financialization and casino economy of recent years.
 

[larsonstdoc]

http://www.businessinsider.com/146-million-families-in-the-us-live-on-2-per-day-2012-2


Over A Million US Families Are Living On A Shocking $2 Per Day


More than 1.46 million families in the U.S. are living on $2 or less per day, a new study found.
That's up from the 636,000 households who lived under the same conditions in 1996.
Two dollars or less per day translates to about $60 per person, per month.
While 43 percent of American households receive government benefits, a decreasing proportion of those benefits go to the poor, the researchers from University of Michigan and Harvard University, said.
The study based its definition of income on the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

[Monkeypox]

http://www.businessinsider.com/146-million-families-in-the-us-live-on-2-per-day-2012-2


Over A Million US Families Are Living On A Shocking $2 Per Day


More than 1.46 million families in the U.S. are living on $2 or less per day, a new study found.
That's up from the 636,000 households who lived under the same conditions in 1996.
Two dollars or less per day translates to about $60 per person, per month.
While 43 percent of American households receive government benefits, a decreasing proportion of those benefits go to the poor, the researchers from University of Michigan and Harvard University, said.
The study based its definition of income on the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

That's Third World income level.

I keep telling people that the US is heading in the direction of a Third World country, but everyone looks at me like I'm crazy.  People just don't understand how fragile our economy is and how quickly it can totally collapse.