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In 2007 $92.3 billion was spent on gambling and $57.4 billion saved.   A combined total of $149.7 billion.  According to the National Center for Educations Statistics in 2007 8,986,150 undergraduates were attending a 4 year college and it is expected they will have an average cumulative debt of $12,750.   A cost of approximate $114.6 billion. 

College debt is unhealthy for the economy and is approaching a rate of return that many are finding not worth it.  Most colleges and universities are nonprofits and their pricing is approaching a rate that is not sustainable. 

State run education systems are showing to be the best value for the dollar.   Congress should create a gambling and savings opportunity for individuals to bet on the future of students succeeding from a college degree they obtain at a public college.  The return on investment looks a lot brighter when graduating from these public colleges. 

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The tax code has created interesting incentives for all businesses to expand benefits over salary, regardless of whether they are a for-profit or nonprofit.  These benefits may include health, dental, vision, retirement,  adoption and legal.

Unemployment, Medicare and Social Security taxes are tied to the payroll. Payments for benefits lowers the cost for the employer and the employee.

The other aspect to using benefits over salary is the ability of a business to make changes to control the cost.  The taxes are nonnegotiable and it is harder to reduce a persons salary.

The congressional move to tax health benefits just might hurt nonprofit employees more since many chose the benefit route to compensate employees.

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The conversation on making health care affordable seems to be forgetting its main goal.  Getting people insured at a level they can afford.  I would advocate that anything above 6% of an individuals income is unaffordable.

So Congress needs to stop having the conversation like their planning for some other planet of Utopia.  The public option needs to be a serious consideration to bring costs down.

I have provided below an example of how a person making $35,000  may allocate their income.

LIVING WAGE CALCULATION

Yearly $35,000

Monthly $2,917
I have provided a category, percentage, the yearly amount for the category and the monthly amount for a category.

HOUSING 40%   $14,000   a $1,167
CAR EXPENSES  5%   $1,750      $146
DEPENDENT CARE  3.50%   $1,225      $102
HEALTH CARE/DENTAL/VISION 4.00%    $1,400      $117
HEALTH CARE EXPENSES 2.00%    $700          $58
FOOD  6.00%    $2,100      $175
UTILITIES 4.50%    $1,575       $131
RETIREMENT/COLLEGE  10.00%   $3,500      $292
SOCIAL SECURITY TAX  7%      $2,450      $204
MEDICARE TAX   1.45%     $508      $42
LIFE INSURANCE  1%           $350     $29
TAXES   16%      $5,600      $467
TOTAL  100%

Congress try your hand at allocating what expenses use up ones income.

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How to increase your ability to score big in today’s economy is dependent upon knowing the habits that will effect how you are perceived.

Today much of ones activity as a company or as an individual is very public.  Therefore, understanding some of the variables that make you popular or shun are helpful to know.

There are five areas to think about.

1. What is the type of debt that you or your organization has?  Is the mortgages or rents between 33%-40% of the income stream.  Are there vehicles payments?  Are there credit card payments?
2. What is the payment history on the reported above expenses?
3. How long have you had the above accounts?
4. How often do you open accounts or are there inquiries to your account?
5. What is the amount owed in comparison to the amount that could be owed or was the original amount?

Have some bad history, you need not to worry if you know how to be patient.  After seven years it is usually dropped.  And do not try to score a hundred percent.  Once you reach 90% of your potential the rest is meaningless.

The key to your ability to be able to score is to manage your actions in a meaningful way.

Create history, document what happened when there was a problem, do not be obsessed to have large credit lines.  Have smaller lines of credit and use them in a manner that does not show you are dependent on the credit line.

So make managing your means to increase your score a passion of fun and not work.  It is a game that many play but you can be in better control of the outcome either as an individual or a corporation.

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What does the Electrical Grid Initiative, High Speed Rail Initiative, Internet Initiative, and the Gas Line Initiative have in common?

1. They require environmental approvals.
2. They require bringing heavy equipment and laborers into remote locations
3. They require large sums of capital to complete.

I have a suggestion for maximizing the dollars and having greatest impact.

Since high speed rail brings most people to population centers it make sense to use the same corridor to connect the electrical grid  to bring alternative energy to the population centers.  It can also be used to power the high speed rail system.

Since the rail and electrical grid are laying track to transport or running wires for power it would make sense to run the Internet along such routes and thereby creating for every community along the route easy access to tap the resource as a rural community.  The internet cables could be placed in large underground prefab  tunnels along the route to allow for expanded IT technology business which can pay the government for the use of the assets.

On the other side of the track place the underground gas pipeline to bring the fuel to many communities along the route and the larger population centers.

The utilization of the billions to be spent for these four initiatives in a coordinated fashion will allow for thousands of more citizens of the US to feel the positive impact because more projects will be able to be completed.

It is not so much about whether there will be an environmental impact, but why would positive changes have to create four separate environmental impacts.  The joining of the initiatives mitigates the impact of building the infrastructure.

The joining of the initiatives makes it easier to mobilize and deliver the workforce and materials for each of the initiatives.  Nothing like using the same route to coordinate the projects in the same amount of time and possibly keeping individuals employed longer to deliver on multiple projects.

There is not enough money to fund every project for each initiative, however; more projects could be funded  and the number of communities  effected increased if these projects used the same route and the projects managed jointly.

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You know, water does not taste all that bad. Put a splash of lemon juice or lime juice and you got the most refreshing drink on earth right in front of you without those evil calories and vast amounts of sugar. Of course, soda is not the only cause for obesity, but even if it is not, drinking a cool glass of water really does feel better than a can of soda, physically and mentally. Pound for Pound its the best reducer of weight and not be dieting.

Click here to read more about this topic.

 From the Wall Street Journal:

Would people feel more secure about the possible health care overhaul if non-profit companies provided the health insurance rather than the government? When this fall comes around there will be a final vote whether or not to pass the health bill proposed by the Obama administration. Personally, I want to see less government interaction as opposed to more government interaction.

 Let us know your opinions on this topic.

What I’d really like to know is the actual terms and benefits the proposed federal health insurance coverage will provide to citizens. There has been much speculation over how citizens will leave their employer’s health coverage for federal health coverage since it will be so much cheaper. But with a cheaper coverage, are people really getting the same benefits as private insurance companies offer? Before we all decide to go for the cheaper coverage the White House needs to come up with a coverage plan. Maybe by that time people will see that the federal plan isn’t nearly as good as the one they have now.

Let us know your opinion.

Regarding an Article from the Wall Street Journal:

Wasn’t one of the major selling points for the stimulus package to help people who were falling behind in their mortgage payments? Apperently some of the major banks didnt receive the memo until last month. And even when they did get the memo, the time it takes to get your mortgage modified may take three months if not longer. Congress’ new plan for modifying mortgages Doesnt seem to be much of a relief, seems more like of a headache at the moment.

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It is my position that Credit Unions are much better at providing the best value for the fees they charged and the services their members receive.  I think it is time for the government to cut the cord of taxpayers supporting the for-profit banking sector.  I would like to hear feedback from the nonprofit community about reasons the organization does not utilize Credit Unions for their banking needs.

So far “I just never thought about them as an option”  has been the strongest response.