Testing or not

The College Board considered adding a diversity score to the SAT test but stopped after public outcry. The idea was to give extra points for students of color who came from low income areas. It would be wise to get rid of such test. Some students spend hours practicing this test and many get private tutors to help them get better scores. A better use of resources would be to explain that college is not for everyone. For many going to work after high school is a better use of time and money. The University of Minnesota offers 150 majors many of which require advanced degrees to qualify for a job. If you major in psychology you most likely will have to get a PhD to go to work as a psychologist. If you graduate from high school and you can read something and then write down what you read you are ready for work. Now all you need is some ambition.

College cost

As the candidates propose free college tuition the problem of college cost bares looking into. Several recent studies have found evidence that other federal student aid programs drive of tuition increases Student loan debt rose from $480.1 billion (3.5% GDP) in Q1 2006 to $1,490.8 billion (7.6% GDP) in Q4 2017. The government took over the student loan program in 2010 and getting a loan is almost automatic. When private banks handled the loan there were restrictions based on the ability of the student to repay the loan. This was deemed unfair to low income families. Once tuition becomes free then colleges will raise the cost of other parts of education, things like dorms, food, books and fees.

Schools

I have worked the past 6 years in 12 different high schools in the Twin City suburbs and the schools look like the Taj Mahal. The buildings, the equipment and most important the teachers are all first class. Discipline problems are minimal and most students have the best sports equipment. The schools in the inner city are lacking in many areas and it shows up in enrollment. Minneapolis Public Schools is taking steps to address its declining enrollment numbers, especially among students of color. In a Tuesday presentation the school district laid out current enrollment trends. Among the findings was that around 1,500 enrolled students left for other districts since last year. Of those students, 80 percent were students of color, with 50 percent being African American. These are the better students who are leaving further exasperating the grade gap.

Win or lose election

The Trump administration is for free and fair trade, lower taxes, merit based legal immigration secure borders, bringing back manufacturing jobs, nuclear free North Korea and Iran, others pay more to NATO and the UN, strong military and police and American exceptionalism. The candidates are for replace fossil fuels with wind and solar, higher taxes, free college, pay off student debt, reparations to blacks, no penalty for illegal border crossings, $1,000 per month to each working person, tax on wealth and free health care for all including illegals If the election is based on policy, Trump will win. If based on personality Trump will lose.

Rich and poor

The income gap across the country is in the news because many candidates are offering ways to close the gap which means taking from the rich and giving to the poor which begs the question, what is the difference in the way these two groups live. Take the middle and low income group and divide them into two extremes. One group spends all of their income and borrows to spend even more. On the other end of the spectrum is the group that lives beneath its means. They save a little for an emergency fund, a little for a college fund and a little for retirement. Most fall in between these two bookends. On the rich end some inherited their money and some earned it by innovation. Sam Walton's three children own 50% of Walmart stock which means 1.5 billion shares. The dividend gives them $3 billion dollars per year. They live modestly and are well known for sharing their wealth. Other billionaires earn their money through innovation. Prominent members of this group are Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos. Most in the group live ordinary lives in that they work at expanding or creating new business.

Compare taxes

When Trumps tax reforms were announced many wealthy people were upset with the $10,000 limit on state tax and property tax combined. Using Turbo tax I did a comparison between 2017 and 2018 using a married couple with $400,000 of income, $25,000 home mortgage interest, $5,000 in property tax and $20,000 state tax. The 2017 return paid $107,000 in federal income tax and the 2018 return paid $96,000. Once the people looked at their overall tax situation the complaints quieted down.

Is one million enough

When President Obama was running for office he told Joe the plumber that he would spread the wealth around. Note that he said wealth not income and this is the solution to the income disparities in California. The state has 2,153 people who have a combined wealth of $8.7 trillion. If they take 99% of their wealth it will still leave them with $400 million each. This will give each of the remaining Californians $200,000 each. Now it would not work that way as the state would keep the money and then redistribute as they felt was best. This would be money handed out in specific ways to get the most votes. It this happened understand that the rich have their money invested much of it in stocks so they would sell their stock to pay the state. This would have negative effects on the companies involved and may result in lower profits which could mean fewer jobs. The next year voters will agree to go after the rich for their remaining one percent. This is not likely to happen but going after 2% of wealth has already been proposed and most feel that in the following years that percentage will increase. It may not reach 99% but it could. Shouldn't one million dollars be enough for anyone?