EFTA02719125.pdf

From: Gregory Brown Sent: Sunday, April 19,111.1 To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: Greg Brown's Weekend Reading and Other Things.... 04/19/2015 Attachments: Untitled attachment 00202.docx; Untitled attachment 00205.docx; Untitled attachment 00208.docx; Ohio Players bio.docx DEAR FRIEND The End of White Christian Am=rica is Approaching In the on-line news magazine Alternet, Brooklyn writer and journalist Amanda Mancotte recently wrote — The a=d of white Christian America is nigh: Why the country's youth are abandoning religious conservatism=— As White Christians are now a minority in 19 states and America's growi=g racial diversity only tells part of the story. New data from the American Values Atlas shows that while Caucasians continue to be the maj=rity in all but 4 states in the country, white Christians are the minority in a whopping 19 states. And, nationwide, Ameri=ans who identify as Protestant are now in the minority for the first time ever, clocking in at a mere 47 percent of Americans and falling. The most obvious reason for this change is growing racial diversity. Most Americans still identify =s Christian, but "Christian" is a group that is less white and less Protestant than it has been at any time in hist=ry. The massive growth in Hispanic Catholics, in particular, has been a major factor in this shift in the ethnic and religious identity of this country. White Catholics used to outnumber Hispanic Catholics 3 to 1 in the 2000s, b=t now it's only by a 2 to 1 margin. =span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:Georgia,serif"><=r> But another major reason religious diversity is outpa=ing the growth of racial/ethnic diversity is largely due to the explosive growth in non-belief among Americans. One in five Americans now identifies as religio=sly unaffiliated. In 13 states, the "nones" are the largest religious group. Non-religious people now equal Catholics i= number, and their proportion is likely to grow dramatically, as young peopl= are by far the most non-religious group in the country. This isn't =ome kind of side effect of their youth, either. As Adam Lee has noted, the millennial generation is becoming less religious as they age. EFTA_R1_02175146 EFTA02719125 These changes explain the modern political landscape =s well as any economic indicator. While not all white Christians are conservative, these changing numbers definitely suggest that conservative Christians are rapidly losing their grip on power. And while some non-white Christians are conservative, their numbers are not mak=ng up for what the Christian right is losing. And whether conservative l=aders are aware of the exact numbers or not, it's clear that they sense that change is=in the air. Just by speaking to young people, turning on your TV, or reading the Intern=t, you can sense the way the country is lurching away from conservative Christ=an values and towards a more liberal, secular outlook. And conservative =hristians aren't taking these changes well at all. To look at the Christian right now is to see a people=who know they are losing power and are desperately trying to reassert dominance befo=e it's lost altogether. The most obvious example of this is the frenzy of anti-abortion activity in recent years.Q=A0 Anti-choice forces have controlled the Republican Party since the late '70s, but only in the past few year= have they concentrated so singlemindedly on trying to destroy legal abortion in wide swaths of the country. In 2011 alone, states passed nearly three times as many abortion restrictions as they had =n any previous year. None of this is a reaction to any changes in people=E2.4es sexual behavior or reproductive choices. It's not like there was a spike i= abortions causing this panic. In fact, the abortion rate has been declining. And despite continuing media panic over adolescent sexuality the fact is that teenagers=are waiting longer to have sex, on average, than in the past. Despite thi=, not only are you seeing a dramatic increase in attacks on legal abortion, the Christian right has expanded its attacks to contraception access, suggesting that something has worked them into a panic they believe can only be resolved by trying to reassert their religious and sexual values. The fact that these changes in attitude are rising al=ngside the growth of irreligiosity is not a coincidence. More perhaps even t=an the 1960s, Americans are in a period of questioning rigid sexual and religious mores, and concluding, in increasing numbers, that they are not down with guilt-trippi=g people for victimless behavior and demanding conformity for its own sake.=C20 Some of them-now a whopping 22% of Americans! — are leaving religion entirely. Some are continuing in their faith but choos=ng to interpret their values differently than Christian conservatives would li=e. And so we see Christian conservatives cracking down i= a desperate bid to regain control. They claim that they're being oppressed by increasing tolerance for reli=ious diversity. They have latched onto, with some success, the claim that "religious freedom" requires giving Christians the right to oppress others= The Republican Party is in complete thrall to the religious right, to the point where giving the Christian right one go-nowhere symbolic bill instead of another one created a major political crisis. The irony is that this panic-based overreach is just =aking the situation worse for the Christian right. One of the biggest reaso=s the secularization trend has accelerated in recent years is that young people see the victim complex and the sex 2 EFTA_R1_02175147 EFTA02719126 policing of the Christian right and it's turnin= them off. And they're not just rejecting conservative Christianity but the entire idea of organized religion altogether. In=other words, the past few years have created a self-perpetuating cycle: Christian conservatives, in a panic over changing demographics, start cracking down. In reaction, more people =ive up on religion. That causes the Christian right to panic more and crack down more. In the end, Christian conservatives are going to haste= their own demise by trying to save themselves. And as Mancotte says, =i>"not that any of us should be crying for them." <= class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center"> =span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:107%;font-family:Georgia,serif">T=e Myth of the Mutual Fund How Many Mutual Funds Routinely Rout the Market? Zero New York Times writer and podcast editor Jeff Sommer made a startlin= discovery based initially on a study last summer called "Does=Past Performance Matter? The Persistence Scorecard," conducted by S&P Dow Jones l=dices twice a year. The edition of the study that he focused on began in March 2009, the start of the bull market. The bull market in=stocks turned six last month, and despite some rocky stretches — it has generally been a v=ry pleasant time for money managers, who have often posted good numbers. <=p> The study in=luded 2,862 broad, actively managed domestic stock mutual funds that were in operation for the 12 months through 2010.=C2* The S&P Dow Jones team winnowed the funds based on performance. It selected the 25 percent of funds with the best returns over those 12 months — and t=en asked how many of those funds actually remained in the top quarter in each of the four succeeding 12-month periods through March 2014. The answer =as remarkably low: two. Just two funds — the Hodges Small Cap fund and t=e AMG SouthernSun Small Cap fund — managed to hold on to their berths in =he top quarter every year for five years running. And for the 2,862 funds as a who=e, that record is even a little worse than you would have expected from random chance alone. In other words, if all of the managers of the 2,862 funds hadn't bothered to try to pick stoc=s at all — if they had merely flipped coins — they would, as a group, probably=have produced better numbers. Instead of two funds at the end of five years.Q=A0 Basic probability theory tells us there should have been at least three. 3 EFTA_R1_02175148 EFTA02719127 The study seemed to support the considerable=body of evidence suggesting that most people sshouldn'teven try to beat the market: Just pick low-cost index funds, assemble a balanced and appropriate portfolio fo= your specific needs, and give up on active fund management. The data in th= study didn't prove that the mutual fund managers lacked talent or that you couldn't beat the market. But, as =eith Loggie, the senior director of global research and design at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in an intervi=w last week, the evidence certainly ddidn'tbolster the case for investing with active fund managers. "Looking at the numbers, you =an't tell whether there is skill involved in what they do or whether their performanc= is just a matter of luck," Mr. Loggie said. "= believe that many of them do have skill. But even if they do have it, based on how they've done in the past you really can't =redict how they will perform in the future." And although those two funds had manage to perf=rm splendidly during the last study — at the time of the article we were two weeks away from the completion of another 12 months since the end of that last study, and up to then it had been a mediocre for those two mutual funds, leaving Mr. Sommer to conclude that at the end ther= would be none. Here are the dismal statistics: The SouthernSun Small Cap fund has actually lost money for investors over the 12 months through Thursday. It was down 3.2 percen=, according to Morningstar, and for the nine months through December, it was in the bottom=quartile of funds in the S&P. Dow Jones study. The Hodges Small Cap fund h=s done better, gaining almost 6 percent through the middle of March. S.&.P Dow J=nes Indices says that put it in the third quartile — or second-to•worst one — =trough December. While it's mathematically possible, it is highly unlikely that either will climb to th= top quartile in the next few weeks, Mr. Loggie said. This is an i=dication that one can never use past performance to predict future returns. Yes It is always possible that any one of these funds will beat the market over the l=ng term and some of them will. But the problem is that we don't know which of them will do that in advance= And that, in a nutshell, is the kernel of the argument for buying index funds. As much as mutual funds will tell you that their strategies employ science, it is a science that is less predictable than the weather forecast on your local television station's news program. So why are so many Americans not realizing that almost all Mutual Funds underp=rforms the market and continue to pay them millions and billions of =ollars in fees? A Tale of Two States =/p> It's hard to compare states so I found Ra=di Weingarten recent article in The Washington Post — It's a tal= of two states — as both sit side by side along sharing the shoreline with Lake Superior =heir economies both grew from foundations in manufacturing, farming and mining, and they each boast a strong history of organized labor. And in 2010, still reeling from the recession, they electe= new governors. Except that the governors took these two states -- Minnesota and 4 EFTA_R1_02175149 EFTA02719128 Wisconsin -- have gone down two very different paths. Today, Minnesota's unemployment rate is 3.6 percent -- far below the nationwide rate of 5.7 percent - while Wisconsin's job growth has been among the worst in the =egion and its income growth has been among the worst in the nation. Since his election,=Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton turned his state's budget deficit into a projected surplus of nearly $2 billion..C2* While Republican front-runner for the 2016 Presidential election, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has swollen his stat='s budget deficit to a projected $2 billion. Meanwhile, Dayton has boost=d the minimum wage, invested in public education and supported workers' rights. (A=d Minnesota has the most union members of any state in the Midwest.) And Walker has slashed funding to public schools, and is dismantling the state&=39;s public university system. On March 9, he signed a bill that makes Wisconsin the 25th so-called right to work state, which, research shows, contrary to the hype, drives down wages and destroys good jobs. Why? All in an effort to eviscerate Wisconsin's labor unions. <=pan style="font-size:12ptline-height:107%;font-family:Georgia,serir> Hasn't someone told Governor Wal=er that Trickle-Down Economics doesn't work and frankly and it =ever has. Therefore if we want to restore a healthy middle class, we need a different approach. If we want a stro=g middle class, which both Governors say that they want, then you can't take out the unions that b=ilt it. If you want good jobs with higher wages, then workers need a voice. If we want to restore a healthy middle class, we need a different approach, a virtuous cy=le that begins with a high-quality public education that gives students the sk=lls they need to get good jobs with fair wages, helping each generation climb t=e ladder of opportunity. Another crucial step is to enable more workers to fo=m and join unions. As Hillary Clinton recently noted, "The American middle =lass was built, in part, by the right for people to organize and bargain." And at Weingarten pointed o=t in her article Secretary Clinton is right. When unions were at their peak, more workers -- upwards of 50 percent -- were in the mi=dle class. Conversely, a decline in union membership - spurred on by trickle-down economics, ideological attacks and globalization -- is directly linked to the rise in income inequality. =At a time when only the wealthiest 10 percent have reaped the benefits of any gains in productivity, workers once again n=ed a voice on the job. Collective bargaining can lift all boats, even those boats that aren't carrying a =nion card. look at wages. In the heyday of the American labor movement, non-managerial workers' wages went up 75 percent. As unions have been o= the decline, these workers have only seen a four percent bump. Still, even toda=, union workers earn 28 percent more than nonunion workers. When two-thirds o= our economic activity is driven by consumer spending, it's critical tha= working families have more money in their pockets to spend. Broadly shared prosperity will remain elusive as long as workers' buying power is limi=ed. EFTA_R1_02175150 EFTA02719129 And then there is retirement security. Eighty-six percent of Americans believe our nation faces a retirement security crisis. Unions bar=ain a secure retirement on behalf of workers, often in the form of pensions. Pensions both ensure that workers can retire with financial dignity and are important investors in our economy. For every dollar paid in pension benefi=s, there's $2.37 in economic output. Plus, long-term capital funds create =undreds of thousands of jobs in asset classes like infrastructure, venture capital =nd real estate. Collective bargaining has a multiplier effect. So do laws meant to take collective bargaining away. Workers in so-called right-to-work states make about $1,500 less per year. When wages are lower, workers leave the state, depressing job creatio=, and there's a sizable economic loss to the state. Marquette University economist Abdur Chowdhury estimates the impact of right-to-work on Wisconsi= will be "a net loss of direct and indirect income of at least $5.8 billion annually." Governors and state policymakers have a clear cho=ce. They can push ideological policies to break the backs of unions and further disempow=r workers, have their deficit grow, workers' wages sink and their state r=nked at the bottom for business and economic climate, as Walker's Wisconsin is.=Or they can -- like Minnesota, which is ranked in the top ten in the nation for its business and economic climate -- strengthen unions and workers' rights,=invest in public education and infrastructure, and create more good jobs. An= as Weingarten also pointed out, "It's a clear choice, and =f we care about working families accessing the American dream -- it's not a hard one.=E244 =br> * ***** </=ont> America's Mass Incarceration Habit Needs a Serious Fix c=span> Michael K. Williams is the ACLU ambassador for ending mass incarceration. He is an act=r living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn When Michael Williams was growing up in East Flatbush, one of the toughest neighborhoods in Brooklyn, one of his very best friends was something else. He, let's call him MZ, could have had Hollywood on a st=ing. He was actually William's inspiration for becoming an actor. MZ, however, suffered from bipolar disorder. Too poor to get the mental health care he needed, he ended up behind bars, and it wrecked h=m. He was no longer the friend and brother I knew. Between the disorder =nd what he experienced in prison, he's never been the same — a shell of his former sel=. 6 EFTA_R1_02175151 EFTA02719130 Sto=ies like MZ's are all too common. Our society has been using jails and prisons as a dumping ground for the mentally ill and those addicted to drugs. These human beings don't belong in prison, they belong in treatment, yet we've pushed =hem into cages and denied them their humanity. Is it shocking that these same valuable citizens, like my friend MZ, emerge wo=se off than when they went in? Let's face it: America is addicted to mass incarceration, and it's making our society sick. Our habit of lock=ng away human beings is a particularly unseemly kind of addiction for a country that prides itself on freedom, especially when the United States incarcerates more of its citizens than Ch=na, Russia, or Iran. Right now America has about 5 percent of the world's population but is responsible for 25 per=ent of the world's incarcerated population. In other words, one out of four people in prison today are inside U.S. jails a=d penitentiaries. That is nearly 2.4 million human beings — an obscene number. In America, it is black men, mo=e than anyone else, who suffer from our dependence on mass incarceration. Currently, black men are six tim=s more likely to be imprisoned in federal and state prisons and local jails t=an white men. This horrifying racial disparity comes in part from the war on drugs, which has been devastating communities of color for the past four decades. Although blacks and w=ites use illegal drugs at roughly the same rates, African-Americans make up nearly 40 percent of t=ose put away for drug offenses in state or federal prison, even though we only =ake up 13 percent of the U.S. population. <=span> We need to realize that these statistics re=resent human beings. These men are someone's child, someone's parent. Someone loves them and still wants the best for them.=These men have dreams of being great, too. Ruining people's lives for small, nonviolent offenses tied to drug use, drug ad=iction, or mental illness is not the way to go. Health problems are health problems= not criminal justice problems. It's by the grace of God that I didn'=t get into more serious trouble. If I had, there's no way I'd be where I am to=ay. =span style="font-size:12ptline-height:107%;font-family:Georgia,serif">T=ere are far too many people of color with bright futures that have been relegated to our prison systems. However, instead of being =rovided with opportunities to express themselves or their creativity safely or getting t=e right support, they make mistakes which cost them dearly. The costs of thos= mistakes are high and these men pay with their futures. Once people h=ve done hard time, the world closes in on them. It's damn near impossible to get a job. Depend=ng on where you live, you likely can't vote. The possibility of becoming a productive citizen is foreclosed on by a system that denies those who have served their time with another chance. Instead, they're forever seen as ex-cons. And don't forget the huge cost of confinement= The U.S. spent $80 billion in 2010 on locking up people on the local, state, and federal level, which could be better spent on education, health care, or simply get=ing at-risk people the counseling they need so they don't fall back into ad=iction and petty crime. We have spent the last 40 years stuffing our 7 EFTA_R1_02175152 EFTA02719131 prisons, most=y with black and brown men, and for what? This isn't who we are. America,=we can do better. We have to, for all people. Because MZ deserved better, and there are hundreds of thousands more like him. Unbelievable GOP Statements on Voter Suppression Gov. Chris Christie during a campaign stop in Connecticut for Republican gubernatorial candidat= Tom Foley. You would think that making it e=sier for citizens to vote would be something for everyone in a democracy to celebrate. But the shocki=g remarks by these six government officials — some of whom will be on=the November ballot — tell a different story. Governor Chris Christie: Same-Day Voter Registration Is a "Trick" and GOP Needs to Win Gubernatorial Races So They Control "Voting Mechani=ms" In early March, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke at a US Chamber of Commerce gathering in Washington, DC. In his comments, The Re=ord reports that Christie "pushed further into the contentious debate o=er voting rights than ever before, saying Tuesday that Republicans need to win gubernatorial races this year so that they're the ones controlling =E2.0voting mechanisms' going into the next presidential election." This isn=E2$4t the first time Christie's come clean about GOP intentions at the ballot box. In August, while campaigning in Chicago for B=uce Rauner, the GOP candidate challenging Gov. Pat Quinn, Christie complained t=at Illinois would become the 11th state to permit same-day voter registration =his November — a move supporters say will increase turnout and improve =ccess. Christie didn't see it that way, calling it an underhanded Democrat=c get-out-the- vote tactic. Christie said of Quinn: "I see the stuf= that's going on. Same-day registration all of a sudden this year comes to Illinois. Shocking," he added sarcastically.= "I'm sure it was all based upon public policy, good public policy to get same-da= registration here in Illinois just this year, when the governor is in the toilet and needs as much help as he can get." He added that the=voter registration program is designed to be a major "obstacle*=9D for Republican gubernatorial candidates. 8 EFTA_R1_02175153 EFTA02719132 Fran Millar: Georgia Senator Complains About Polling Place Being Too Convenient for Black Voters Georgia state Senator Fr=n Millar (R-Dunwoody) wrote an angry op-ed following the news that DeKalb County, part of which he represents, w=ll permit early voting on the last Sunday in October. The voting will ta=e place at the Gallery at South DeKalb mall. Here's what Millar wrote in The Atlanta-Journal Constitution: "Mhis location is dominated by African-American shoppers and it is near several large African=American mega churches such as New Birth Missionary Baptist... Is it possible =hurch buses will be used to transport people directly to the mall since the poll will o=en when the mall opens? If this happens, so much for the accepted principle of separation of church and state." Millar, who is senior deputy whip for the Georgia Senate Republicans, promised to p=t an end to Sunday balloting in DeKalb County when state lawmakers assemble i= the Capitol in January. Doug Preis: An Ohio GOP Chair Says We Shouldn't Accommodate the "Urban — Read African-American — Voter- Turnout Machine" In 2012, Republ=can officials in Ohio were limiting early voting hours in Democratic-majority counties, while expanding them on night= and weekends in Republican counties. In response to public outcry, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted mandated the =ame early voting hours in all 88 Ohio counties. He kept early voting hour= from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays from October 2 to 19 and broadened hours from 8 a.m. to 7 =.m. from October 22 to November 2. But he refused to expand voting hours beyond 7 p.m. during the week, on weekends o= three days prior to the election — which is when voting is most con=enient for many working-class Ohioans. Here's what the Franklin Party (Columbus) Ohio GOP chair, Doug Preis, and close adviser=to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, said about limiting early voting. "= guess I really actually feel we shouldn't contort the voting process to accommodate the urb=n — read African-American — voter- turnout machine." (And y=s, he actually said "read African-American," that w=sn't inserted.) Greg Abbott: Texas AG Says Partisan Districting Decisions Are Legal, Even if There Are "Incidental Effe=ts" on Minority Voters The 2010 Census results showed that 89 percent of the population growth in Texas came from minorities, but "when it ca=e to fitting those new seats in the map, Republican lawmakers made sure three of them favored Republicans, who tend to be white=" according to the Associated Press. The Justice Department claims that Texas lawmakers intentionally redrew the sta=e's congressional districts in order to dilute the Hispanic vote. Attorne= General Greg Abbott, who is running for governor of Texas, wrote the following in a letter to the Department of Justice defending the state's voting maps: 9 EFTA_R1_02175154 EFTA02719133 "Dal's accusat=ons of racial discrimination are baseless. In 2011, both houses of t=e Texas Legislature were controlled by large Republican majorities, and their redistricting decisions were designed to increase the Republican Party's electora= prospects at the expense of the Democrats. It is perfectly constitutional for a Republican-controlled legislature to make partisan districting decisions, even if there are incidental effects on minority voters who support Democratic candidates." Ted Yoho: Only Property Owners Should Vote =br> While running for a Florida congressio=al seat in 2012, Ted Yoho suggested that only property owners should have the right to vote, as =ou can watch in this video. Here's what he said: "I've had some radical ideas about voting and it's probably not a good time to tell them, but you used=to have to be a property owner to vote." He also called early voting by ab=entee ballots "a travesty." And yes, Yoho won the election, and i= now a member of Congress. Don Yelton: North Carolina GOP Precinct Chair: Voter ID Law Will "Kick Democrats in the Butt" and Hurt "Lazy Blacks" In an =nterview last year with The Daily Show, Don Yelton, a GOP precinct chair in Buncombe County, North Carolina, defended the state=E244ks new voter ID law, saying so many offensive things, he was asked to resign the d=y after it aired. Yelton admits at the start of the segment that the number o= Buncombe County residents who commit voter fraud is one or two out of 60,00= a year. The interview correspondent, Aasif Mandvi, replies that those numbers show "there's enough vot=r fraud to sway zero elections," and then Yelton replies, "Mmmm...=hat's not the point." He goes on to say that "if it hurts a bunch of lazy blacks that want the government to give them everything, so be it." an= then adds, "The law is going to kick the Democrats in the butt." After the segment aired, the Buncombe County GOP Chair issued a statement on Yelton's=comments, calling them "offensive, uniformed and unacceptable of any member within the Republican Party" and cal=ed for Yelton's resignation. He obliged. Voter suppression is both.=A0app=lling and un•A=erican. But this is what Republicans really think and it's u=ly.... It would be one thing if these were aberrations but they aren't. The Republican Party leadership not only doesn't see this type of language =nd accompanied actions as a problem, because of their partisan distain of Democrats, minor=ties and especially our first Black President, they truly believe that anything =hat they do, no matter how vile and despicable is okay to do even if this includes s=bverting the democratic process and this is my rant of the week....<=b> WEEK's READINGS 10 EFTA_R1_02175155 EFTA02719134 The Incredibly Shrinking American Middle Class Although the e=onomy has pretty much recovered with company profits soaring, fina=cial markets at all-time highs, unemployment at a low of 5.5% and inflation at historic lows it is apparent that the Middle Cla=s has been left out of this largess. Even though most have done what would have been called doing the right thing all=of their lives — raising children and taking care of their families do=to good paying jobs, for millions of Americans all gone now, including for many families the house. And although many have found jobs, they are working at jobs making a third of what they used =o. And unlike Wall Street there was no bail out for the middle class. <=p> A typical American household made about $51,017 in=2012, according to new figures out from the Census Bureau. That number may =ound familiar to anyone who remembers George H. W. Bush's first year as president or Michael Ja=kson in his prime. That's because household income in 2012 is similar to what i= was in 1989 (but back then it was actually higher: you had an extra $600 or so to spend compared to today). =hat sobering statistic gives an indication of where the American middle class appears to be headed. Take a look below =t a snapshot of where the middle class is now, the problems they face and what =ur Facebook audience has to say about squeaking out a living these days. A note on t=e term "middle class": There is no single, universal definition so we turned to economic analyst Robert Reich Q=93 who spoke to us this week — for some direction. Reich suggested defining midd=e class as those with income levels 50 percent above and below the median income.Q=A0 Median is a term that means the "middle of the middle.Q=9D Median earnings are a key indicator of how the middle class is doing. A Snapshot =he income range to be considered middle class:$25,500— $76,500 The median middle class household income in 2012: $51,017 and in 1989: $51,681 Year inflation-adjusted median household income peaked at $56,080: 1999 11 EFTA_R1_02175156 EFTA02719135 Income needed in a two parent, two child home in St. Louis for an adequate living standard: $64,67= and in New York City: $94,676 The Problem =/P> Share of self-described middle-class adults who say it's more difficult now than a decade a=o for middle-class people to maintain their standard of living: 85 Percentage of Americans that consider themselves to be "lower class" (the highest p=rcentage ever): 8.4 Percentage increase in salary growth for the median worker from 1979 to 2012: 5 Percentage drop in average real income per family since 2007: 8.3 The median net worth of a family in 2010: $77,300 and in 2007: $126,400 Percentage of Americans that are unemployed/underemployed rate: 14 =umber of states in which poverty rates rose between 2007 and 2010:46 Approximate poverty rate from 2009 to 2012: 15 The last time it remained at or above 15 percent for three years running: 1965 The Work =p class="MsoNormal"> Average number o= hours U.S. workers put in annually: 1,790 what the Norwegians work: 1,420 and the French: 1,479 Percent increase in productivity from 1979 to 2012: 75 What the=median middle-class income ($51,017) would be if wages grew at the same rate: $77,=31 Number of guaranteed days of paid vacation given to U.S. workers: 0 Number of vacation days U.S. workers are entitled to, but don't take, in a typical year: 17= million Number of paid maternity days in Germany: 98 (100% pay) <=pan style="font-size:12ptline-height:107%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Nu=ber of paid maternity days in France: 112 (100% pay) 12 EFTA_R1_02175157 EFTA02719136 <=pan style="font-size:12ptline-height:107%;font-family:Georgia,serir>Nu=ber of paid maternity days in U.S.: 0 Number of industrialized countries that do not mandate paid maternity leave: 1=/p> (yes, the U.S. is the only one that does not require paid leave.) The Costs Average out-of-pocket health care expenses per household in 2012: $3,600 and in 2011: $3,280 and =n 2005: $2,035 Average amount needed to send a child to an in-state college for the 2012-13 academic year: 4>=A0$22,261 and for a private college: $43,289 Percentage of Americans near retirement with less than $30,000 in their retirement accounts: 75 Percentage increase in housing prices since 1990: 56 Share of Ame=icans that do not have enough money saved to pay their bills for six months: 3/4 The Inequality What Ha=pen To The American Dream <=mg src="cid:ii_14c06e7cfla9ca83" alt="lnline image 5" width="472" he=ght="255"> "'Seriously thin=ing of moving overseas. Economically, many countries are struggling, but they seem to still have better quality of lif=. Not everything is perfect, there is still crime, there are still rich stupi= idiots, but there is less of the government being the evil empire as much a= here in the U.S. and more support for smaller less, global corporations. 13 EFTA_R1_02175158 EFTA02719137 Environmental concerns are evident in legislation and policies. Healthcare =s a right which supersedes any right to carry a gun in public. Someone once wro=e, 'Americans have rights to protection; Europeans have rights to be p=otected from.— =span style="font-size:9pt;line-height:107%;font-family:Georgia,serir>=E24$04, Saundra Hopkins =/b> Although economist may disagree, I view the e=onomy as a zero sum game and if this is true we have to ask why since 1970 to the Top=1%'s income grew by 181% while the bottom 99%'s income only grew by 2.6% and worker' productiv=ty grew by almost 90%. It is obvious who is getting the short end. And unless Wall Street, stockholders and management decide=that it is important to share the wealth with workers the Middle Class squ=eze is only going to get worse. NCAA The Hypocrisy in College Sports In a second installmen= of my weekly readings, as you know the NCAA which offers scholarships to =ts student athletes refuses to pay them like typical employees but what you ma= not know, the true cost of that arrangement is staggering. Often stud=nt athletes injured while playing can sometimes become so debilitated from their injuries that even after recovery they can be classified as disabled, enabled to play sports or concentrate in the classroom and after leaving school can't hold a job.=C241These injured student athletes learn something ugly. Once you are done with college, college is typically done w=th you and not only are they stuck with the injuries they sustain, they are al=o stuck with the medical bills. Career ending injuries almost always means medical bills with no end in sight. Eve= with medical insurance thanks to Obamacare the co-pays and deductibles can =ost these injured ex-student athletes tens of thousands of dollars a year. The NCAA s=ys that it is always looking out for its student athletes which is why they consider them student athletes to begin with... =o protect them by keeping them as amateurs and not as paid employees who coul= be exploited by an overly aggressive sports program. But it turns out that not being an employee is the very thing that puts student athletes 14 EFTA_R1_02175159 EFTA02719138 at risk beca=se it deprives them of the benefit that virtually every worker in all 50 Unite= States is guaranteed by law, Worker's Compensation Insurance which pays=for all medical care if they get hurt on the job. Worker's compensation pays 10=%, just like the coaches and the guys selling peanuts in the grandstands. So why no= the student athletes who have the most dangerous jobs or are the most likel= to get injured? Many student athletes end up paying the universities that they played for as a result of the injuries sustained while playing for their sa=e university. This truly seems a little odd but no accident because the term student athlete was created by the NCAA in the 1950s in an effort to not ha=e to pay Worker's Compensation after a football player in Colorado was ac=ually killed during a game, and when his family pressed the school for the same survivor benefits that they gave their employees, the NCAA said that he was='t an employee at all. And invented a new term, student athlete. A term that helped give them the control of an employer without the obligations. This m=ve saved the NCAA an untold fortune because new research shows that former NCA= athletes often suffer physical ailments for the rest of their lives. An Indiana =niversity study last year found that half of them will have chronic injuries by their early 50s, a rate twice that of non-athletes. When you suffers spine, back or neck injury you are not just going to be out for the rest of the season. You are potentially going to be debilitated for the rest of your life. You are going to be restricted in your career opportunities. It can resul= in a catastrophic illnesses that you will carry for the rest of your life. Some injured student athlet=s are so debilitated (especially in football but also includes soccer, diving, swimming, water p=1o, hockey, track & field, eitc.) that they are prohibited from working by their doctors or even driving. They are often in such bad shape that the Federal Government labels them as 'leg=lly disabled' and a ward of the state with their medical bills and living e=penses paid by taxpayers. More disturbing is that because schools don't cover injur=es a number of critics believe that they are not doing the things normal employe=s would do to prevent injuries, which means that athletes are not just on the hook for their medical bills but are more likely to get injured to begin with. The whole point of Workman's Comp was to recognize that we want employers who are benefiting from the activit=es of their employees to bare the costs of their injuries and to try to take s=eps to reduce the risk of injuries. The biggest problem here is that they don&#=93 have very much incentive to reduce those injuries. These student athletes go to =allege hoping to enhance their earning potential and instead for far too many it has been just the opposit=. Many of these injured athletes are unable to sit or work on their feet for sustained periods making it impossible for th=m to do office work, work as drivers or become police officers or firemen...AO When actual employees get hurt on the job and lose earning potential Workmen Comp makes up most of the difference so they don't lose money. But since student athletes are not considered employees, they are on their own. And to add in=ult to injury the schools seen to not care. Few injured student athletes ever hear from their coaches or schools after leav=ng. Something is wrong. 15 EFTA_R1_02175160 EFTA02719139 And for those who argue that changing the rules could bankru=t some sports programs.... I say malarkey. With billions of dollars in college sports, why not set aside some money dedicated to the athletes and this can=be a piece of the TV revenues and maybe you don't have to pay the coach $6=million and pay him $5 million. It is not implausible that that a system can be created that funnels at least some of=the money that goes to pay everybody else, making some very rich in the system except the players to at least at a minimum to provide healthcare. Gu=ranteed medical coverage should be the be the number one priority in college sports. =br> The other dirty secret in college spor=s is mental abuse because being a student athlete can be hazard to one's mental health. F=om day one student athletes are told that if they don't thrive in their meets =r games they can kiss their dreams goodbye. Most college coaches make it absolutely clear to their athletes that if they don't perform they will be fired, =osing their scholarship and sent home. And if they die they will be replaced in a nanosecond. This type of 'tough coaching' which is common in college sports oft=n borders on abuse and at a much higher rate than in health services, manufacturing, financial institutions, education and the military according=to the Ohio State Tepper Scale of Industry Differences in Abuse. Dr. Ben=ett J. Tepper blames the NCAA system. One that makes it very hard fo= athletes to transfer schools and punishes coaches who don't deliver wins. They have created a system where you have bosses who are under tremendous strain= The pressure to win is really high. Their job insecurity is r=ally high. That combined with students who have very little power, who can't get away, =an't escape and completely vulnerable and even when the NCAA knows of the abuse =hey more often take little action... leads to a pattern of continued abuse. Rebuild Gaza, and avert the next war A Pa=estinian schoolgirl walks though the rubble of destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on March 11.<=span> Nearly seven months after the end of the la=est war in Gaza, none of the underlying causes of the conflict have been addressed. In the meantime, the people of Gaza are experiencing unprecedented levels of deprivation, and the prospect for renewed armed conflict is very real. In June 20=4, the Hamas-backed government in Gaza was dissolved, and a reunified Palestinian Authority cabinet was created under =he leadership of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The international commun=ty reached a consensus, with tacit support from Israel, to empower this govern=ent to lead reconstruction in Gaza and, together with the United Nations, to tr=ck the delivery and use of building materials to address fears that cement and other supplies could be diverted to build tunnels into Israel. The $5.4 billion p=edged for rebuilding was predicated on the Palestinian Authority asserting itself in Gaza. However, relations between Hamas and its political rivals, Abbas's Fatah party, remain fraught= The authority has proven unwilling or unable to govern in Gaza. As a result, th= promised reconstruction money has not been delivered. 16 EFTA_R1_02175161 EFTA02719140 The shortage of funds is th= most immediate problem, but it is not the only one: Israel has restricted access to Gaza, with three of four commercial crossing points closed. There is not enough money to buy buildin= materials or support needy families. The Shelter Cluster, which coordinates housing construction between the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations, estimates that Gaza needs at least 16,000 new units to repla=e homes destroyed or rendered uninhabitable during the war. In January, 16 truckloads of construction material were permitted into Gaza per day, compa=ed with a need for 735 loads daily for three years to build the necessary home=. These numbers do not account for the additional 5,000 homes that still need=to be rebuilt from previous wars or another 80,000 homes necessary to accommod=te population growth. The international community, including the Obama administration, should be given credit for recognizing the need to unify th= Palestinian political system in order to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and stabilize the security situation. However, this consensus must now=be backed by sustained pressure to implement reconciliation agreements between Fatah and Hamas and to end Israel's closure of Gaza. It is incumben= on the world to engage at the highest levels with the Palestinians, Egypt and Isra=l to push this process forward. <=p> If there is no reconciliation, the international c=mmunity must be willing to promote new arrangements for rebuilding Gaza and ending =ts isolation. Donors will have to coordinate directly with local and internati=nal NGOs, as well as the de facto Hamas authorities, while continuing to urge t=at the current Palestinian government of national consensus deploy in Gaza. In addit=on, Western governments should push Israel to drop its insistence on tracking every bag of cement. The evidence suggests that =uch fine-grained monitoring may be impossible, but tunneling can be prevented w=th a supervised peace agreement. Further, by insisting on such oversight, Isra=I may be compromising its security in the short term, given the misery and volatility in Gaza. Instead, Israel should align the import-export regime f=r Gaza with that of the West Bank, and Gaza crossing points should be reopene=. More generally, Israel should integrate the economy of Gaza with that of th= West Bank to allow for more normal development. Ultimately, only a peace agreemen= that grants freedom to self-governed Palestinians can bring the security that both the Israeli and Palestinian people deserve. As long as Palestinians remain divided, it will=be difficult for any leader to sell to the Palestinian people a peace agreemen= with Israel. Absent such an agreement, lifting the closure and jump- startin= Gaza's reconstruction can do much to avert the next war. =p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"> 17 EFTA_R1_02175162