Texas and Governor Perry make a statement to demand state’s rights. Whether it is political posturing or not, it’s still the right statement.
There is nothing that I can say about this but WOW. Not sure that I agree with everything but I do like the majority of it and the passion behind it!
What do you think??
Are you surprised by rising unemployment numbers? Do you still see “Now Hiring” signs in windows of businesses?? Doesn’t make sense does it? Or does it?
The first reason that I think this makes total sense is that jobs are a “trailing number”. The term trailing number is pretty simple it means that the job numbers won’t react until after the economy reacts. So, when the economy is booming and starts to slow, jobs will remain solid for a while then will start to fall. The opposite is also true. When the economy rebounds, the jobs won’t rebound for a period of time after the economy starts. It’s for a very simple reason, businesses have to get busier before hiring people.
The second reason why we shouldn’t be surprised by increasing unemployment rates is because the politicians in Washington increased the length of unemployment benefits. This really has two impacts:
- People can be counted for a longer period of time in the numbers
- People can survive longer on unemployment
By extending unemployment, people can stay on the numbers longer. When it used to be a shorter duration, people stayed on for that period of time and then once it was done (whether they found a job or not) they were removed from the numbers. Now that it has been extended the people stay on the rolls longer while they look for a new job.
Also if people CAN stay on them longer it gives them the ability to hold out longer. Before you get mad about that statement read on… As an example, if you were making $30 an hour and unemployment is now providing you 60% or the equivalent of $18/hour are you going to take a $10 job to be “employed”. No. But when unemployment stops and you are making $0/hour the $10/hour job starts to look much more appealing. Even though it’s not your ideal job or salary, it is better than $0.
So, the numbers that we use in the U.S. for unemployment don’t actually represent the people who are out of work. They represent the number of people who take unemployment benefits. So by altering the unemployment benefits you alter the numbers.
So I read about Obama’s big education speech and I am not really that impressed. Here is someone who has his kids in private school because he believes it is the best for his kids. Shouldn’t everyone else be afforded the same opportunity? I am not singling out Obama most politicians fit in this category.
It is time that we allow educational choice. We need to allow market forces in the education “market”.
Here is the new section that I added to the principles page:
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Education
While I believe that education would be best left to the private sector, I will say that is probably not a realistic option in our current society. Public education is ingrained. So in this realm I am Pro-Choice. I believe in the concept of Educational Choice for kids and their parents. By introducing competition into the education “market” you will achieve better results and accountability.
Parents should be allowed to enroll their children in any school in the public system or should be allowed the option of vouchers or opting out of public school funding to fund private education. By doing this, you provide a scenario where market forces can increase the accountability.
Benefits:
- Increased accountability through market forces for schools
- Competition for good teachers. Teachers are rewarded for excellence instead of seniority.
- Kids get best education available instead of just the only education available
- etc.
See The Friedman Foundation for more information about this concept.
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If Mr. Obama wants change…. this would be a great place to show leadership instead of just following the same ole worn out path.
