No inflation here folks, just move along | H/T ZeroHedge

click to go to “Why You Feel Poorer” at ZeroHedge

It’s That Time Of Year Again | Market-Ticker

It’s That Time Of Year Again.  What time?  College decision time….

If you have one or more kids that are approaching the time when they fly the nest, you’re either involved in this in some way or likely will be.

I’ve hammered on this nail many times, but I’m going to do it again today, because right about now is when decisions have to be made about next year and bad decisions here can cripple or even economically destroy a young adult.

This is not overstating the case folks.

In the 1970s and early 80s you could spin pizzas or wash cars and put yourself through school, and many people did.  Today that is nearly impossible, and a big part of the reason is that schools have gotten predatory and treat young adults not as a mission but as a revenue source to be extracted from to the maximum possible extent.

I look at balance sheets literally all day long.  Guess what: So do colleges, and the balance sheets they’re looking at are yours, having essentially forced your disclosure through the FAFSA.

More Bad News from Government-Run Education: The Corrosive Centralization of Common Core

International Liberty

I’ve posted hundreds of charts over the past several years, including on favorite topics such as tax code corruption and counterproductive government spending.

But arguably the most powerful and compelling chart I’ve ever shared is on the topic of education. Prepared by my Cato colleague, Andrew Coulson, it shows that massive increases in spending and bureaucracy (which accompanied increasing federal involvement and intervention) have had zero impact on educational performance.

Keep that chart in the back of your mind as we consider what George Will has to say about President Obama’s scheme – known as Common Core – to expand federal involvement and intervention.

We have several excerpts, beginning with this passage outlining some of his concerns.

Common Core…is the thin end of an enormous wedge. It is designed to advance in primary and secondary education the general progressive agenda of centralization and uniformity. …proponents of the Common Core want its…

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The CBO Just Rendered Its Verdict On The Cost Of Obamacare, And It Isn’t Pretty | Forbes

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just rendered its latest opinion on the cost of Obamacare following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold most of the law back in June.  The numbers aren’t pretty. Despite breathless media reports of additional “savings,” the government’s bean counters actually exposed several flaws in the law that will, in the long term, lead to higher costs and reduced access to insurance coverage.

MUST READ! “Dear Person Seeking a Job: Why I Can’t Hire You” | Charles Hugh Smith via ZeroHedge

Potential employers have to respond to the incentives and disincentives that exist in today’s world, and those do not favor conventional permanent employees.  I know you’re hard-working, motivated, tech-savvy and willing to learn. The reason I can’t hire you has nothing to do with your work ethic or skills; it’s the high-cost Status Quo, and the many perverse consequences of maintaining a failing Status Quo.

The sad truth is that it’s costly and risky to hire anyone to do anything, and “bankable projects” that might generate profit/require more labor are few and far between. The overhead costs for employees have skyrocketed. So even though the wages employees see on their paychecks have stagnated, the total compensation costs the employer pays have risen substantially.

Thirty years ago the overhead costs were considerably less, adjusted for inflation, and there weren’t billboards advertising a free trip to Cabo if you sued your employer. (I just saw an advert placed by a legal firm while riding a BART train that solicited employees to sue their employers, with the incentive being “freemoney” for a vacation to Cabo.)

Michelle Obama’s August 2010 Vacation in Spain Cost American Taxpayers $467,585 | Judicial Watch

 

…. Michelle Obama’s August 2010 Vacation in Spain Cost American Taxpayers $467,585 According to Records Obtained by Judicial Watch… see here: Judicial Watch.

 

 

 

Just weeks after 17-day Hawaii holiday Michelle Obama takes daughters on ski trip to Aspen | Mail Online

FIRST LADY OF LUXURY TRAVEL:  THE COSTLY TRIPS

SPAIN: AUGUST 2010

• Michelle Obama and 40 of her friends paid for personal expenses, such as hotels and meals themselves.
• But the U.S. taxpayer would have paid for the 68-strong security detail, personal staff and use of presidential jet Air Force Two.
• Payment for the secret service team ran at around $281 each – nearly $98,000 for the duration of the summer break.
• Use of Air Force Two comes in at $149,900 for the round trip, not including time on the ground.
• Mrs Obama’s personal staff, of which there were an unknown number, should also be taken into account

HAWAII: DECEMBER 2010