RAS 14Nov11 Work Session

Video from our friends at Community Solutions.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

$1.2 Trillion in 6 Days

So what do you think will happen here?

Who do you think is being rational and why?

Who do you think is being irrational and why?

Other thoughts?

Of course, I am for significant cuts and tax increases.  I wish they were going for a lot more than the $1.2 Trillion.  So I think both the Left and Right are being a bit irrational...  The National Debt has apparently exceeded $15,000,000,000,000 !!!  I think I got all those zeros right.  Just servicing it at 4% is be $600,000,000,000/yr !!!  Cut up those credit cards people !!!

CNN Deficit talks to Blame Game
FOX News $15 Trillion and Counting
FOX News Taxes,Benefits stall committee
Huffington Post Move to Somalia
PBS News Hour Stymied
MinnPost Found Middle?

RAS: Full STE(A)M Ahead?

Well, the work session looks like it will have something for everyone tonight.

• Budget Adjustments, 2012/13 Expenses
• Transportation Survey
• Middle School Schedule Changes
• STE(A)M discussions

So what are your thoughts:

• Should we cut deeper?  If so, where?
• Should we outsource the transportation? Why?  Why Not?
• Does changing schedules really make sense? Why? Why Not?
• Do we really want another Magnet in RAS? Why? Why Not?

RAS Board Work Session Agenda Packet

Kelli's Hope for Children

My bright, beautiful and creative 8th grade daughter was recently recognized at the New Hope Mayor's Prayer breakfast and at last night's RAS Board meeting for a recent art project that she entered into a contest.  The topic was "Hope for Children".  She has agreed that I can share it with you.  Enjoy.

What percent are you?

Here we go again.  A co-worker just showed me this cool calculator...

Wall Street Journal Calculator

Here is their data graphed.  Similar to the Hennepin County data, but different.

Abortion and Conservatives

Here we go again, some religious right group is trying to take another swing at it.  And in my opinion it is hard to argue against the premise that would "define life as beginning at the moment of conception".
CNN Mississippi Amendment


The problem I still have is that the Conservatives seem to want to take responsibility for the life of the unborn fetus. (ie force it's birth)  Yet when that unwanted child is born, abused, impoverished or neglected, they seem to run for the hills.  Worse yet they take their wallets with them.

I was having a discussion with a Conservative that was so happy that the Republicans were making headway in cutting the funding for Planned Parenthood.  However when I asked about additional funding for Early Childhood Education Funding, Parent Education Funding and other things that could help these kids, they in essence said that that was the Parent's responsibility...
Life Romney

Now let me repeat this again to help you see the hypocrisy:

• The Conservative says that I am responsible to make sure your child gets born and will use the Government to do it, since you the Parent are incapable of making the Right decision.
• The Conservative says that once the child is born I bear no responsibility for the life and well being of that child, and that the Government has to stay out of it because it is the Parent's job and they know best.

Now I whole heartedly agree that Men/Women or Boys/Girls should be capable of abstinence or contraception.  And if they screw up and conceive a child, they should be responsible for their actions.  But I am sure not smart enough to decide if abortion or neglect/abuse/poverty is the better of 2 bad alternatives.

Now if the Conservatives were Pro-Life before and after birth, I would probably have more in common with them.  But the bullets above are so inconsistent that I wonder how they sleep at night.  Then again we humans do have an amazing ability to rationalize our flawed logic.

What is a Good Net Worth?

So if incomes are somewhat taboo.  How about thoughts regarding this net worth data?

As a reminder, the median is the point where half the families are above and half below.

The median is where you add up all the net worths, and then divide by the number of families.  These mean values are higher than the median values because the distribution is not normal.  It is skewed to the right by the minority of families that have very high net worths.

The scariest thing I see in this data is that median net worths are very low for the baby boomers that are likely thinking to retire.  For their sake I hope Social Security will stay solvent, otherwise they will likely be working until their final days.

Beware these calculators and use at your own risk.  They may cause you to become despondent...
CNN Retirement Planner
AARP Retirement Calculator


Census Table

What is Middle Class?

I am thinking that we need some common definitions to help us have better discussions.  I did some research for Hennepin county and found the following demographics regarding household incomes.  My peers and I often begin to think that we are normal, since we are almost all in the same situation. (ie 1 or 2 incomes, college educated technical professionals)  Therefore we kind of forget that we are average for the upper 25th percentile (ie orange) and certainly not normal for the total population. (and many in the top 4%)

With these $100+K incomes in mind it is easy to say, "why isn't everyone saving more???"  Whereas if they had half that income, they may sing a different tune.  And with 25% of it they would certainly become more empathetic.

When my friends and colleagues start expressing that they are middle class, I start pointing out all of the adults that serve them at stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc in an attempt to help them appreciate their current status and income.  Though I accept it is hard to feel well to do while trying to "keep up with the Jones's".  Maybe they need to find some new "Jones's" to compare themselves with.  This would likely breed more gratitude and less jealousy.

So do these numbers make sense to you?  What is your definition of middle class?  How can that lower 25th percentile breakout?  Thoughts?

City Data Hennepin County (source of graph above)
Census Quickfacts Hennepin County
Hennepin County Fact Sheet 2006

The pdf below is a bit dated, but it has some great info.
Hennepin County Demographics

The Rich Get Richer

Just think, I found this on foxnews.com....  So much for them being biased...

Of course this seems somewhat like common sense, since assets/investments typically compound in value.  This is why we save and invest.

Fox News Rich Outpace Middle Class

WonkBlog CBO Income Inequality

NY Times Top Earners Doubled

CBO Study Links

Robbinsdale Schools Info

Honestly I have not had a chance to digest all of this, but it looks like a lot has been happening.  And some important decisions are about to be made.  Thoughts?

Sun Sailor 2 Make AYP
Sun Sailor Decision Time
Sun Sailor $54 million Levy
Sun Sailor Redevelopment
Sun Sailor Business Council

Oct 17th Meeting Materials
Oct 17th ACT, MCA, AYP Presn
WMEP
North Education Center

Conservatives Hate the Environment?

I recently heard that someone had said "all Conservatives hate the environment".

Then I spoke with several friends that had just gotten back from China.  All of them said that the air pollution was awful.

So it seems to me that though China is supposedly Communist, they seem to embrace the Conservative belief that little or no regulations is the way to go.  I mean we want growth, right?  I mean people will make the right decisions, right?  And we want low cost solutions, right?

Thoughts?

Facts and Details: China Environment
Google Photos

Women Driving USA to Socialism?

Well, I am visiting my incredibly Conservative parents.  I  told them a little about Would Shoulda Coulda.  In particular, I discussed the hypothesis that our society's choice to give "Women the Right to Vote" could have led to more Liberal results over the past ~90 yrs.

My rationale is totally based on stereotypes and wild assumptions.  So take this with a few grains of salt...  Very simply, sometimes women tend to be more community based and nurturing than men.  There are exceptions and this may be changing, however historically this seems to have been the case.

Of course I was met with shocked disbelief...  I am used to that...  Thank God they Love me anyway...

So what do you think of this crazy hypothesis.  Possible or not?  Rationale?

People Unite !!!

I can almost here the Wall Street and Conservative crowd saying "Let them eat cake"...

So is this the rebellion the Liberals have been talking about or just another passing fad?

Do you think the cell phones of the protesters say Motorola or LG/Samsung?

What about their cars?  GM/Ford or Toyota/Honda?

How would us established citizens feel if our portfolios were cut in half because Wall Street stopped worrying about corporate profits?

Thoughts?

HP: Occupy Wall Street
CBS: Occupy Wall Street
CNN: Occupy Wall Street
TC Daily Planet: Occupy Movement in Mpls
Minnpost: Occupy Wall Street

Peace Activists Confuse Me

As I drove past the corner of Rockford Rd and Winnetka last night, I saw some folks out holding up various signs. (ie PEACE, GET OUT OF AFGANISTAN, etc)  This along with all the news and commentary of late (see example below) got me thinking...

• Would getting out of Afganistan really serve the cause of PEACE? 
• Or would it serve the cause of VIOLENCE?

I can think of many reasons for getting out of Afganistan, some include:

• Stop the wounding and death of American soldiers
• Stop the excessive spending of American tax dollars
• Butt out of a foreign nation's internal strife
• They've been fighting forever, unlikely to change anytime soon

However I can also see potential negative consequences, some include:

• Women's rights in Afganistan disappear again.
• Tribal killing increases again.
• Drug production and terrorist training proliferate again.

So I am unsure what we should do? 

As a test of the Peace protester's beliefs, I think we should remove all Policeman from the Minneapolis streets for 6 mths.  I would be interested to see if the city would be more or less peaceful after the 6 months.  Of course, Mexico may give us some indicators of what may happen.  (Mexico)

I am thinking that pulling the troops out of Afganistan may be the right thing to do for America, but I am not naive enough to think that it will enable peace in Afganistan.

CNN Afganistan

No Taxes No Vote !!!

A friend of mine asked me to propose this to you folks, just to see what kind of comments this would generate.  To give you some background, he is pretty conservative however he has someone close to him that is on the "public dole". (ie got a refund for more than they paid in...)  The rationale is pretty straight forward, if you are not smart or driven enough to earn a modest taxable income, should you really help guide the country with your vote?

Though it is probably illegal for some reason, do you think people should lose the right to vote if they do not pay Federal Income Taxes for a period of time?

An analogy that comes to me is my local PTA, I do not get to vote on how the funds are spent if I do not pay dues...  Even though my child attends the school and I contribute to the fund raisers.  Should the USA be any different?  If so, why?  If not, why?  Thoughts?

A different topic...  Cupboards and countertops are installed...  Everything looks great !!!  All I have left to do is to blow more insulation into the attic where I shoveled it off when installing the recessed lights...  Though I'll probably do the whole thing while I am up there...  I mean it is ~26 yrs old and settled, and natural gas isn't getting any cheaper.  Yippeee, I may get back to my hobbies at some point !!!