The Senate on Wednesday voted to approve its plan to use federal Medicaid expansion money to help lower income Floridians buy private health insurance.
Reported by cbs4.com 10 hours ago.
Senate Approves Health Plan 2.0
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Connexion Point to hire 400 in Memphis
Less than a month after close to 600 layoffs were announced for Conduit Global’s Memphis call center, Connexion Point is softening the blow of those layoffs by opening a new Memphis contact center with plans to employ 400. Based in Salt Lake City, Connexion Point is a health care services company specializing in contact center services for large national health insurance companies. “We did our research and we are excited by the opportunities we see in Memphis,” says Robert McMichael, Connexion…
Reported by bizjournals 9 hours ago.
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The No. 1 Enemy of the LGBT Movement
Pat Robertson? Rick Santorum? The "God Hates Fags" Westboro Baptist Church?
Nope. It's our own complacency.
We haven't won yet, not even on marriage, let alone on equal employment, housing and access to public accommodations. Yet most of our leaders and well-meaning allies have proclaimed our "inevitable" victory, turning a blind eye to other LGBTQ issues that would cost real money, like massively funding housing and jobs for queer youth escaping abusive homes.
Even on marriage the unbridled optimism is unwarranted. Reading the Supreme Court's recent oral arguments on marriage rights for same-sex couples suggests, at best, a narrow 5-4 decision in our favor.
Justice Anthony Kennedy is widely seen as the swing vote, and he had tough questions not only for the lawyers defending anti-LGBT bigotry but for our side as well. And on at least one pivotal issue -- whether LGBT rights are too novel and hence better subject to delay -- our side totally blew it in their response to the justices.Listening to the April 28 oral arguments while at work that day, I had a "screaming at the computer moment" and wrote later that evening:
The anthropological ignorance of the justices talking about marriage today was nothing short of astounding.
As Justice Kennedy said, asking of pro-LGBT attorney Mary Banuto, "How do you account for the fact that, as far as I am aware, *until the end of the 20th Century, there never was a nation or a culture that recognized marriage between two people of the same sex?"*
So here we have a group of mostly white men, certainly none of them Native American, revealing their abject ignorance about "two spirit" people (otherwise known by the French as "the Berdache") who inhabited this continent far longer than the couple hundred years of their United States. Same-sex relationships on this continent were not only tolerated, but celebrated for centuries before the slave-holding, misogynist Europeans "civilized it."
Unfortunately the attorneys on our side totally blew it by failing to point this out. For the vast majority of human existence, as evidenced by anthropological studies of "primitive" peoples around the globe, women and men treated each other, and their same- and differently-sexed relationships, in ways that put our present "civilizations" to shame.
So will a same-sex-marriage victory hinge on the ignorance of our nation's finest legal minds regarding the many thousands of years of acceptance of same-sex relationships here in North America, and by hunter-gatherer societies around word? These histories, by the way, are many times longer than the histories of Judaism and Christianity, with their centuries of enslavement of wives as literally the property of their husbands.
This is not just an academic argument about anthropology. The justices' fear about embracing rights for what they see as perhaps an ephemeral group -- openly proud gay people -- echoes a central theme of the Supreme Court in recent decades. Many on both sides of this debate fear Supreme Court rulings in favor of expanded social rights before much of the country is "ready" for them, or rulings for rights that may enjoy broad support today but not in a few decades' time.
Many likely pro-gay votes on the Supreme Court are petrified at the prospect of repeating what they see as the "mistake" of the Roe v. Wade decision. In the case of Roe, that meant voting 7-2 in favor of privacy rights and the right to abortion only to see a right-wing, anti-abortion backlash take hold in subsequent years. Speaking of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a leader of the liberal bloc on the Supreme Court, a 2013 New Yorker magazine profile remarked that for this reason Ginsburg had lectured that "she had substantial misgivings about how the Court decided Roe v. Wade."
"She's very cautious, conservative in a Burkean sense, not at all in the mold of William Brennan or Thurgood Marshall," said Jamal Greene, a professor at Columbia Law School. "She fundamentally does not believe that large-scale social change should come from the courts."
"She thinks the Court should not go too far in any given case," said another associate.
So if this is all the pro-equality "fire in the belly" that can be mustered by Ginsburg, described by The New Yorker as "the senior member of the Court's liberal quartet," where does that leave this spring's court ruling on LGBT rights?
We could get a decision narrowly tailored around marriage rights but leaving unanswered such fundamental questions as our 14th Amendment right to equal housing, jobs and access to public accommodations. And even if we do get such a narrow victory, what's to say it couldn't be robbed of much of its power by other recent court decisions?
After all, this is the same reactionary body that ruled in Citizens United that corporations are "people" and therefore could spend unlimited sums on political expenditures. Then to cap that idiocy, in Hobby Lobby it apparently decided that corporations could use their "religious beliefs" to deny their women employees access to contraceptives and abortion services under company health insurance plans.
So what's to say that this court might with one hand give us nice pieces of paper, marriage licenses, and with the other decide that businesses have a "religious" right to refuse us service? That's certainly the conclusion that bigots lept to following the Hobby Lobby decision. And while popular revulsion pushed back this reactionary law in Indiana, in the Deep South it's a different matter. A limited decision by the court could force LGBTs born in Mississippi, Texas and Alabama to wait another generation before getting broader rights beyond just marriage.
The problem with saying that "gay marriage is inevitable" goes beyond being factually wrong. It's a prescription for failure in winning this or any other right.
It means that we don't have to do anything to win. It means that we should just let the Supreme Court "do its thing" and magically grant us our rights just because we're so fabulous.
You would think that LGBTs, especially those of us living in Illinois, would have learned differently from our own recent history. In the spring of 2013, the anti-LGBT bigots defeated us in our effort to pass equal marriage rights in this state, despite polls showing Illinoisans favoring our rights by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.
While we had won the popularity contest, the other side out-hussled us that spring, and Mike Madigan's House supermajority wasn't willing to step up for a community that wouldn't step up for itself, so Rep. Greg Harris didn't call the bill.
Fortunately, late that fall, after an unprecedented LGBT mobilization at the big Springfield march, and many smaller actions besides, we finally brought home the bacon. But it took a fight with the supermajority Democratic Party to win the day. House Speaker Madigan's party had long said that they were on our side, but they weren't willing to pay the necessary political capital to win the fight until we forced them to.
Now the venue for the battle for equal marriage rights (and a lot more) has shifted to the U.S. Supreme Court. And here we must confront one of the biggest myths of U.S. politics: that justices ignore popular opinion and attempt to soberly decide cases simply based on the statements and intent of the long-dead Founders and subsequent legislators.
But the real story is that the 7-2 Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 -- now derided by justices of the right and left as too far-reaching -- was the product of a burgeoning women's movement and radically changing attitudes about women's rights to control their own bodies and destinies. The movement itself came on the heels of the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, which introduced what were then radical notions of Black personhood and national self-determination for countries long dominated by the U.S. and other Western powers, respectively.
Sadly, today we live a very different country. About the only bright spot is the dramatic advance of LGBT rights in recent years. Besides that, we live in a country that is now endlessly at war, regularly dropping bombs on a host of Middle Eastern and African countries, "failed nations" and brutal U.S.-backed dictators from one end to the other, not to mention the "boots on the ground" in the U.S.'s longest-ever wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
We live in a country that has retreated back into a level of school segregation statistically similar to that which preceded the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision. A country that has reached record levels economic inequality, and one where police violence and mass incarceration against Black people are at such levels that activists have to assert the simple notion that "Black lives matter." In such a country, support for women's right to choose, while still a majority, is far weaker and less vocal than in 1973 and therefore is under threat.
The decline of the 1960s movements for Blacks and women and against war should hold a warning for LGBTs. The upward trajectory of social justice movements does not last forever, and once that ascent is over, rights can come under savage attacks, and hurtful retreats begin.
That is why our complacency is the biggest enemy of the LGBT movement.
Rather than sit back in self-satisfaction, hoping for whatever incremental gains might be given to us, we should be furiously organizing to take advantage of recent LGBT rights momentum to win as many broad-reaching gains as we can, while we can.
The current pro-LGBT momentum will not last forever. And at that point we'll be fighting to simply hang on to whatever we still have.
Andy Thayer is a co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network. GLN, along with other groups locally and around the country, are organizing "Day of Decision" rallies and speak-outs in response to the Supreme Court's forthcoming decision on marriage rights. Chicago's event will be in front of the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted Street, at 7 p.m. on whatever night the Supreme Court announces its decision. He can be reached at LGBTliberation@aol.com.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 9 hours ago.
Nope. It's our own complacency.
We haven't won yet, not even on marriage, let alone on equal employment, housing and access to public accommodations. Yet most of our leaders and well-meaning allies have proclaimed our "inevitable" victory, turning a blind eye to other LGBTQ issues that would cost real money, like massively funding housing and jobs for queer youth escaping abusive homes.
Even on marriage the unbridled optimism is unwarranted. Reading the Supreme Court's recent oral arguments on marriage rights for same-sex couples suggests, at best, a narrow 5-4 decision in our favor.
Justice Anthony Kennedy is widely seen as the swing vote, and he had tough questions not only for the lawyers defending anti-LGBT bigotry but for our side as well. And on at least one pivotal issue -- whether LGBT rights are too novel and hence better subject to delay -- our side totally blew it in their response to the justices.Listening to the April 28 oral arguments while at work that day, I had a "screaming at the computer moment" and wrote later that evening:
The anthropological ignorance of the justices talking about marriage today was nothing short of astounding.
As Justice Kennedy said, asking of pro-LGBT attorney Mary Banuto, "How do you account for the fact that, as far as I am aware, *until the end of the 20th Century, there never was a nation or a culture that recognized marriage between two people of the same sex?"*
So here we have a group of mostly white men, certainly none of them Native American, revealing their abject ignorance about "two spirit" people (otherwise known by the French as "the Berdache") who inhabited this continent far longer than the couple hundred years of their United States. Same-sex relationships on this continent were not only tolerated, but celebrated for centuries before the slave-holding, misogynist Europeans "civilized it."
Unfortunately the attorneys on our side totally blew it by failing to point this out. For the vast majority of human existence, as evidenced by anthropological studies of "primitive" peoples around the globe, women and men treated each other, and their same- and differently-sexed relationships, in ways that put our present "civilizations" to shame.
So will a same-sex-marriage victory hinge on the ignorance of our nation's finest legal minds regarding the many thousands of years of acceptance of same-sex relationships here in North America, and by hunter-gatherer societies around word? These histories, by the way, are many times longer than the histories of Judaism and Christianity, with their centuries of enslavement of wives as literally the property of their husbands.
This is not just an academic argument about anthropology. The justices' fear about embracing rights for what they see as perhaps an ephemeral group -- openly proud gay people -- echoes a central theme of the Supreme Court in recent decades. Many on both sides of this debate fear Supreme Court rulings in favor of expanded social rights before much of the country is "ready" for them, or rulings for rights that may enjoy broad support today but not in a few decades' time.
Many likely pro-gay votes on the Supreme Court are petrified at the prospect of repeating what they see as the "mistake" of the Roe v. Wade decision. In the case of Roe, that meant voting 7-2 in favor of privacy rights and the right to abortion only to see a right-wing, anti-abortion backlash take hold in subsequent years. Speaking of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a leader of the liberal bloc on the Supreme Court, a 2013 New Yorker magazine profile remarked that for this reason Ginsburg had lectured that "she had substantial misgivings about how the Court decided Roe v. Wade."
"She's very cautious, conservative in a Burkean sense, not at all in the mold of William Brennan or Thurgood Marshall," said Jamal Greene, a professor at Columbia Law School. "She fundamentally does not believe that large-scale social change should come from the courts."
"She thinks the Court should not go too far in any given case," said another associate.
So if this is all the pro-equality "fire in the belly" that can be mustered by Ginsburg, described by The New Yorker as "the senior member of the Court's liberal quartet," where does that leave this spring's court ruling on LGBT rights?
We could get a decision narrowly tailored around marriage rights but leaving unanswered such fundamental questions as our 14th Amendment right to equal housing, jobs and access to public accommodations. And even if we do get such a narrow victory, what's to say it couldn't be robbed of much of its power by other recent court decisions?
After all, this is the same reactionary body that ruled in Citizens United that corporations are "people" and therefore could spend unlimited sums on political expenditures. Then to cap that idiocy, in Hobby Lobby it apparently decided that corporations could use their "religious beliefs" to deny their women employees access to contraceptives and abortion services under company health insurance plans.
So what's to say that this court might with one hand give us nice pieces of paper, marriage licenses, and with the other decide that businesses have a "religious" right to refuse us service? That's certainly the conclusion that bigots lept to following the Hobby Lobby decision. And while popular revulsion pushed back this reactionary law in Indiana, in the Deep South it's a different matter. A limited decision by the court could force LGBTs born in Mississippi, Texas and Alabama to wait another generation before getting broader rights beyond just marriage.
The problem with saying that "gay marriage is inevitable" goes beyond being factually wrong. It's a prescription for failure in winning this or any other right.
It means that we don't have to do anything to win. It means that we should just let the Supreme Court "do its thing" and magically grant us our rights just because we're so fabulous.
You would think that LGBTs, especially those of us living in Illinois, would have learned differently from our own recent history. In the spring of 2013, the anti-LGBT bigots defeated us in our effort to pass equal marriage rights in this state, despite polls showing Illinoisans favoring our rights by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.
While we had won the popularity contest, the other side out-hussled us that spring, and Mike Madigan's House supermajority wasn't willing to step up for a community that wouldn't step up for itself, so Rep. Greg Harris didn't call the bill.
Fortunately, late that fall, after an unprecedented LGBT mobilization at the big Springfield march, and many smaller actions besides, we finally brought home the bacon. But it took a fight with the supermajority Democratic Party to win the day. House Speaker Madigan's party had long said that they were on our side, but they weren't willing to pay the necessary political capital to win the fight until we forced them to.
Now the venue for the battle for equal marriage rights (and a lot more) has shifted to the U.S. Supreme Court. And here we must confront one of the biggest myths of U.S. politics: that justices ignore popular opinion and attempt to soberly decide cases simply based on the statements and intent of the long-dead Founders and subsequent legislators.
But the real story is that the 7-2 Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 -- now derided by justices of the right and left as too far-reaching -- was the product of a burgeoning women's movement and radically changing attitudes about women's rights to control their own bodies and destinies. The movement itself came on the heels of the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, which introduced what were then radical notions of Black personhood and national self-determination for countries long dominated by the U.S. and other Western powers, respectively.
Sadly, today we live a very different country. About the only bright spot is the dramatic advance of LGBT rights in recent years. Besides that, we live in a country that is now endlessly at war, regularly dropping bombs on a host of Middle Eastern and African countries, "failed nations" and brutal U.S.-backed dictators from one end to the other, not to mention the "boots on the ground" in the U.S.'s longest-ever wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
We live in a country that has retreated back into a level of school segregation statistically similar to that which preceded the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision. A country that has reached record levels economic inequality, and one where police violence and mass incarceration against Black people are at such levels that activists have to assert the simple notion that "Black lives matter." In such a country, support for women's right to choose, while still a majority, is far weaker and less vocal than in 1973 and therefore is under threat.
The decline of the 1960s movements for Blacks and women and against war should hold a warning for LGBTs. The upward trajectory of social justice movements does not last forever, and once that ascent is over, rights can come under savage attacks, and hurtful retreats begin.
That is why our complacency is the biggest enemy of the LGBT movement.
Rather than sit back in self-satisfaction, hoping for whatever incremental gains might be given to us, we should be furiously organizing to take advantage of recent LGBT rights momentum to win as many broad-reaching gains as we can, while we can.
The current pro-LGBT momentum will not last forever. And at that point we'll be fighting to simply hang on to whatever we still have.
Andy Thayer is a co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network. GLN, along with other groups locally and around the country, are organizing "Day of Decision" rallies and speak-outs in response to the Supreme Court's forthcoming decision on marriage rights. Chicago's event will be in front of the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted Street, at 7 p.m. on whatever night the Supreme Court announces its decision. He can be reached at LGBTliberation@aol.com.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 9 hours ago.
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State Farm’s Brad Phelps Extends Good Neighbor Policy To New Location
Insurance agent, Brad Phelps completes construction of new office space to better serve current and future customers.
Pensacola, FL (PRWEB) June 04, 2015
State Farm agent, Brad Phelps, recently announced that he will be opening up shop in a new location, which is slated for June 22. Brad’s State Farm agency has outgrown its current office space and will relocate to a brand new office building at 1301 East Cervantes St, Pensacola, Florida 32501.
Brad and his team focus on financial services, as well as traditional insurance products. Brad says, “The move will enable us to better serve our policyholders, as it is more convenient, there is more space, and better parking.” We will continue to fulfill our mission of helping the people of our community achieve peace of mind and accomplish their dreams.”
Brad has been helping his customers realize their dreams for the past 13 years at State Farm, a company that has been the nation’s #1 car and home insurer for decades, and as of last year the No. 1 life insurer in America. Brad says the reason for this success is the culture of putting policyholders first at State Farm.
“State Farm is a mutual company, owned by its policyholders. This model has served us very well over time,” said Brad.
To commemorate his new State Farm location, and as an appreciation for his clients, Brad will be hosting a grand-opening celebration, with a 4th of July theme on Friday, July 3. There will be food, games and prizes, and it will be open to the public.
About Brad Phelps, State Farm
The State Farm insurance agency of Brad Phelps offers auto, home and property, life and health insurance, as well as banking products, annuities and mutual funds, serving the community with both insurance and financial needs. For more information, please call (850) 433-4678.
About NALA™
The NALA offers local business owners new online advertising & small business marketing tools, great business benefits, education and money-saving programs, as well as a charity program.
PR Contact:
news(at)thenala(dot)com
805.650.6121, ext. 361 Reported by PRWeb 3 hours ago.
Pensacola, FL (PRWEB) June 04, 2015
State Farm agent, Brad Phelps, recently announced that he will be opening up shop in a new location, which is slated for June 22. Brad’s State Farm agency has outgrown its current office space and will relocate to a brand new office building at 1301 East Cervantes St, Pensacola, Florida 32501.
Brad and his team focus on financial services, as well as traditional insurance products. Brad says, “The move will enable us to better serve our policyholders, as it is more convenient, there is more space, and better parking.” We will continue to fulfill our mission of helping the people of our community achieve peace of mind and accomplish their dreams.”
Brad has been helping his customers realize their dreams for the past 13 years at State Farm, a company that has been the nation’s #1 car and home insurer for decades, and as of last year the No. 1 life insurer in America. Brad says the reason for this success is the culture of putting policyholders first at State Farm.
“State Farm is a mutual company, owned by its policyholders. This model has served us very well over time,” said Brad.
To commemorate his new State Farm location, and as an appreciation for his clients, Brad will be hosting a grand-opening celebration, with a 4th of July theme on Friday, July 3. There will be food, games and prizes, and it will be open to the public.
About Brad Phelps, State Farm
The State Farm insurance agency of Brad Phelps offers auto, home and property, life and health insurance, as well as banking products, annuities and mutual funds, serving the community with both insurance and financial needs. For more information, please call (850) 433-4678.
About NALA™
The NALA offers local business owners new online advertising & small business marketing tools, great business benefits, education and money-saving programs, as well as a charity program.
PR Contact:
news(at)thenala(dot)com
805.650.6121, ext. 361 Reported by PRWeb 3 hours ago.
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Growing Pains For State Obamacare Exchanges
Minnesota, Colorado and Connecticut are figuring out how to continue running their health insurance marketplaces as federal start-up funding runs out.
Reported by NPR 1 hour ago.
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Retirement Is Coming: Make These Money Moves in Your 50s
Filed under: Long Term Care Insurance, Health Insurance, Retirement Living, 401K, IRABy Marilyn Lewis
The 50s are a pivotal decade. You are near enough to retirement to feel its hot breath on your neck, and that can be a good thing. It sharpens your focus at a time when you may still have 10 or 15 years of work left, so there's time to fatten your savings and watch the money grow. At this point, too, you may have been doing a job or honed a skill for long enough to feel a delicious sense of mastery and to be at the peak of your earning power.
These peak earning years coincide with a peak chance for savings. If children finally are on their own, household expenses are lighter than they have been in decades. Rather than spend this freed-up money, sock away savings and pay off debt, bringing you closer to the retirement you've hoped for. Here are 12 critical financial moves to make in your 50s:
*1. Map out your strategy.* Spend a weekend gathering your financial information -- your savings, investments and other assets, your debts and bills -- and map out your strategy for retirement. Seeing the details of your finances and setting goals for life beyond work will expose the gap, if any between your plans and your savings and spur you to close that gap while you still can.
*2. Meet with a fee-only financial planner.* This is a good moment, while there's still time for course corrections, to make sure you haven't missed any crucial piece of planning. Even people who comfortably manage their own investments can profit from one or two meetings with a fee-only financial planner. It's important that the person you see charges an hourly fee with no commissions or products to sell, so they can objectively review your numbers, assumptions and plans. Learn how to find a trustworthy adviser by reading Ask Stacy: Do I Need a Financial Adviser, or Can I Manage My Money Myself?
One key question for screening financial advisers: "Are you required to uphold the fiduciary standard?" What this means is that the adviser is required to put your financial interest -- not theirs -- first. If the answer is anything but "yes," keep looking. Here are sources for fee-only advisers:
· The Garrett Planning Network, an association of fee-only planners.
· The Certified Financial Planner Board, which certifies practitioners and sets professional standards.
· GuideVine matches people with financial advisers. Read bios, watch videos and look for fee-only advisers.
*3. Use retirement calculators -- with caution.* By your 50s, you should be able to have a realistic idea of what your income will be in retirement. Online retirement calculators are a good, if inexact, way to estimate the monthly or annual income you'll receive from savings and other sources. Calculators vary a great deal in their accuracy, but they can be useful for setting goals and exposing gaps between your likely income and expenses in retirement.
The more detailed data a calculator collects the more likely its results will be useful for you. One respected calculator is ESPlanner, a free tool created by Boston University Professor of Economics Laurence Kotlikoff. Three other calculators are:
· Vanguard's Retirement nest egg calculator
· The Flexible Retirement Planner
· AARP Retirement Calculator
Two problems with calculators: They require you to make impossible guesses about the future rate of return on your investments. Also, "[m]ost online retirement calculators do not accurately account for taxes," says About Money's Retirement Planning in your 50s.
Because of these issues, it's a good idea to play around with several different calculators to see how your results can vary.
*4. Supercharge savings.* If life's demands have made it hard to save for retirement, your 50s offer a good chance to catch up. You'll see if you are saving enough by following the three steps above, mapping your retirement, assessing your situation and using calculators to estimate your retirement income.
If there's a gap between savings and your needs in retirement, ramp up your savings. Shoot for saving 20 percent of your income. If that's too big a change, "set aside just 5 percent now and make a plan to ramp up your savings by 1 percent every quarter until you reach your target goal," suggests Interest.com.
*5. Maximize retirement plan contributions.* The IRS has special rules to encourage savers who are 50 or older to ramp up savings for retirement. Here's how to take advantage of these rules:
Max out your employer's retirement plan contribution. If your workplace matches a portion of your retirement contributions, take full advantage of the free money. If your employer matches up to 3 percent, for example, save at least 3 percent to capture that gift. According to U.S. News:
The most common employer match is 50 cents for every dollar saved up to 6 percent of pay, according to Vanguard data. For a worker earning $60,000 a year, this employer match could be worth as much as $1,800.
· Max out your retirement savings contribution. IRS rules let workers contribute up to $18,000 to a 401(k) plan in 2015. That's money you can save tax-free (you'll pay the income tax when you take it out in retirement).
· Max out your "catch-up" contributions. Savers age 50 and up may also contribute an additional $6,000 to a 401(k) account in 2015. That's $24,000 total you can save -- tax free -- if you are able.
· Max out IRA contributions. The IRS' 2015 maximum contribution to an IRA account is $6,500 if you are 50 or older ($5,500 otherwise).
*6. Decide whether to pay off your mortgage.* In an earlier era, workers tried to enter retirement with no debt at all. Paying off your mortgage before retirement still is a good goal, but it's not possible for many people today.
Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson says that tax-deferred savings accounts often offer a better return than paying down a mortgage. The reason: tax savings. If you can do both that's even better, of course. At the same time, you can't discount the psychological value, at least for some people, of owning their home free and clear in retirement. Read Ask Stacy: Should I Save More for Retirement or Pay Down My Mortgage? to learn about the pros and cons.
*7. Pay off debt aggressively.* Once you retire, interest payments on debt can eat up your limited income, making it difficult to pay off loan balances. Now, in your highest earning years, is the time to aggressively eliminate nonmortgage debt, from credit card balances to auto loans and other debts.
Don't let pride stop you from getting help if you need it. You owe it to yourself and your family not to stick your head in the sand. If loan payments are feeling unmanageable, you may benefit from taking out a consolidation loan to lower your interest rates and help you focus on a single payment.
A trustworthy nonprofit credit-counseling agency can help you set goals, make a repayment plan and negotiate with your creditors if necessary. But, beware of sleaze bags masquerading as credit counselors! The bad ones make your debt problems even worse. Learn where to find good help: Is 2015 the Year to Tackle Your Debt? 10 Tips to Find Free or Low-Cost Help.
You'll find lots more help at Money Talks News. A few good reads:
· 8 Smart Ways to Pay Off Debt Fast.
· Resolutions 2014: Kill Your Debt and Then Write Its Obituary.
· How to Pay Off $10,000 in Debt in 2015 Without Breaking a Sweat.
*8. Keep a portion of savings invested in growth.* Playing it safe is a natural inclination at this stage in life. You want to protect your hard-earned savings, but if your savings don't at least keep up with inflation you'll lose spending power. For example, it takes $155 to buy goods and services today that you could have bought with $100 in 1995, according to this Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator. Inflation is low currently: It was 1.6 percent in 2014. But, historically, it has been higher and takes a big bite out of savings.
The solution? Keep a good portion of your retirement savings invested in the stock market. Because retirement is a stage of life that can last 20 or 3o years, there's time to recover if some of your investments lose value. Keeping 60 percent of your investments in long-term growth with the remainder in more conservative investments is a good idea even after retirement, Ohio financial planner Doug Kinsey tells Jean Chatzky at DailyFinance.
*9. Bring both spouses on board.* If finances are the realm of just one spouse in your family, it's time to correct that. Both members of a couple should understand the family's debts, savings, investments and plans in order to take over the financial reins in case one dies or becomes disabled.
*10. Consider dropping life insurance.* One place to cut expenses could be dropping your life insurance premiums. Do it only if, after careful consideration, you find that the insurance no longer benefits your family. For example, if your spouse and children will not need the protection because the children are grown and are financially independent, and if your spouse will inherit a home and sufficient retirement savings.
If you are unsure what to do, get expert help from a fee-based financial planner (see step No. 2). Do not accept financial advice from an insurance representative or from anyone who stands to gain from your decision or could sell you products.
*11. Decide if you want long-term care coverage.* If you are going to buy long-term care insurance, which pays some or most costs should you become unable to care for yourself, your 50s is the time to do it. Wait much longer and premiums become prohibitively expensive. Also, you could develop health problems that disqualify you for coverage.
The problem is, long-term care insurance is extremely expensive. The cost of coverage rose nearly 9 percent in 2014 alone, according to the American Association for Longterm Care Insurance, which says:
A healthy 55-year-old man can expect to pay $1,060 a year for $164,000 of potential benefits, compared to $925 last year. ... The average cost for a 55-year-old single woman is $1,390, an increase from $1,225 a year (2014).
What's a prudent person to do? After all, the cost of nursing home care currently is about $205 a day ($6,235 a month) for a semi-private room, according to the federal government, at LongTermCare.gov.
Fortunately, long-term care insurance isn't always necessary, says Stacy Johnson, weighing the pros and cons of long-term care insurance in Ask Stacy: Should I Have Long-Term-Care Insurance?
*12. Practice living on less.* You'll save more, and faster, by reducing spending. But there's another reason to get a good grip on your outflow: Living on less gives you information about where your money goes and how much you truly will need in retirement. It's a reality check for your planning. To get started read Resolve to Budget This Year: Here's How to Do It Painlessly.
What are your money tips for people in their 50s? Share your experiences.
Like this article? Sign up for our newsletter and we'll send you a regular digest of our newest stories, full of money saving tips and advice, free!
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments Reported by DailyFinance 1 hour ago.
The 50s are a pivotal decade. You are near enough to retirement to feel its hot breath on your neck, and that can be a good thing. It sharpens your focus at a time when you may still have 10 or 15 years of work left, so there's time to fatten your savings and watch the money grow. At this point, too, you may have been doing a job or honed a skill for long enough to feel a delicious sense of mastery and to be at the peak of your earning power.
These peak earning years coincide with a peak chance for savings. If children finally are on their own, household expenses are lighter than they have been in decades. Rather than spend this freed-up money, sock away savings and pay off debt, bringing you closer to the retirement you've hoped for. Here are 12 critical financial moves to make in your 50s:
*1. Map out your strategy.* Spend a weekend gathering your financial information -- your savings, investments and other assets, your debts and bills -- and map out your strategy for retirement. Seeing the details of your finances and setting goals for life beyond work will expose the gap, if any between your plans and your savings and spur you to close that gap while you still can.
*2. Meet with a fee-only financial planner.* This is a good moment, while there's still time for course corrections, to make sure you haven't missed any crucial piece of planning. Even people who comfortably manage their own investments can profit from one or two meetings with a fee-only financial planner. It's important that the person you see charges an hourly fee with no commissions or products to sell, so they can objectively review your numbers, assumptions and plans. Learn how to find a trustworthy adviser by reading Ask Stacy: Do I Need a Financial Adviser, or Can I Manage My Money Myself?
One key question for screening financial advisers: "Are you required to uphold the fiduciary standard?" What this means is that the adviser is required to put your financial interest -- not theirs -- first. If the answer is anything but "yes," keep looking. Here are sources for fee-only advisers:
· The Garrett Planning Network, an association of fee-only planners.
· The Certified Financial Planner Board, which certifies practitioners and sets professional standards.
· GuideVine matches people with financial advisers. Read bios, watch videos and look for fee-only advisers.
*3. Use retirement calculators -- with caution.* By your 50s, you should be able to have a realistic idea of what your income will be in retirement. Online retirement calculators are a good, if inexact, way to estimate the monthly or annual income you'll receive from savings and other sources. Calculators vary a great deal in their accuracy, but they can be useful for setting goals and exposing gaps between your likely income and expenses in retirement.
The more detailed data a calculator collects the more likely its results will be useful for you. One respected calculator is ESPlanner, a free tool created by Boston University Professor of Economics Laurence Kotlikoff. Three other calculators are:
· Vanguard's Retirement nest egg calculator
· The Flexible Retirement Planner
· AARP Retirement Calculator
Two problems with calculators: They require you to make impossible guesses about the future rate of return on your investments. Also, "[m]ost online retirement calculators do not accurately account for taxes," says About Money's Retirement Planning in your 50s.
Because of these issues, it's a good idea to play around with several different calculators to see how your results can vary.
*4. Supercharge savings.* If life's demands have made it hard to save for retirement, your 50s offer a good chance to catch up. You'll see if you are saving enough by following the three steps above, mapping your retirement, assessing your situation and using calculators to estimate your retirement income.
If there's a gap between savings and your needs in retirement, ramp up your savings. Shoot for saving 20 percent of your income. If that's too big a change, "set aside just 5 percent now and make a plan to ramp up your savings by 1 percent every quarter until you reach your target goal," suggests Interest.com.
*5. Maximize retirement plan contributions.* The IRS has special rules to encourage savers who are 50 or older to ramp up savings for retirement. Here's how to take advantage of these rules:
Max out your employer's retirement plan contribution. If your workplace matches a portion of your retirement contributions, take full advantage of the free money. If your employer matches up to 3 percent, for example, save at least 3 percent to capture that gift. According to U.S. News:
The most common employer match is 50 cents for every dollar saved up to 6 percent of pay, according to Vanguard data. For a worker earning $60,000 a year, this employer match could be worth as much as $1,800.
· Max out your retirement savings contribution. IRS rules let workers contribute up to $18,000 to a 401(k) plan in 2015. That's money you can save tax-free (you'll pay the income tax when you take it out in retirement).
· Max out your "catch-up" contributions. Savers age 50 and up may also contribute an additional $6,000 to a 401(k) account in 2015. That's $24,000 total you can save -- tax free -- if you are able.
· Max out IRA contributions. The IRS' 2015 maximum contribution to an IRA account is $6,500 if you are 50 or older ($5,500 otherwise).
*6. Decide whether to pay off your mortgage.* In an earlier era, workers tried to enter retirement with no debt at all. Paying off your mortgage before retirement still is a good goal, but it's not possible for many people today.
Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson says that tax-deferred savings accounts often offer a better return than paying down a mortgage. The reason: tax savings. If you can do both that's even better, of course. At the same time, you can't discount the psychological value, at least for some people, of owning their home free and clear in retirement. Read Ask Stacy: Should I Save More for Retirement or Pay Down My Mortgage? to learn about the pros and cons.
*7. Pay off debt aggressively.* Once you retire, interest payments on debt can eat up your limited income, making it difficult to pay off loan balances. Now, in your highest earning years, is the time to aggressively eliminate nonmortgage debt, from credit card balances to auto loans and other debts.
Don't let pride stop you from getting help if you need it. You owe it to yourself and your family not to stick your head in the sand. If loan payments are feeling unmanageable, you may benefit from taking out a consolidation loan to lower your interest rates and help you focus on a single payment.
A trustworthy nonprofit credit-counseling agency can help you set goals, make a repayment plan and negotiate with your creditors if necessary. But, beware of sleaze bags masquerading as credit counselors! The bad ones make your debt problems even worse. Learn where to find good help: Is 2015 the Year to Tackle Your Debt? 10 Tips to Find Free or Low-Cost Help.
You'll find lots more help at Money Talks News. A few good reads:
· 8 Smart Ways to Pay Off Debt Fast.
· Resolutions 2014: Kill Your Debt and Then Write Its Obituary.
· How to Pay Off $10,000 in Debt in 2015 Without Breaking a Sweat.
*8. Keep a portion of savings invested in growth.* Playing it safe is a natural inclination at this stage in life. You want to protect your hard-earned savings, but if your savings don't at least keep up with inflation you'll lose spending power. For example, it takes $155 to buy goods and services today that you could have bought with $100 in 1995, according to this Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator. Inflation is low currently: It was 1.6 percent in 2014. But, historically, it has been higher and takes a big bite out of savings.
The solution? Keep a good portion of your retirement savings invested in the stock market. Because retirement is a stage of life that can last 20 or 3o years, there's time to recover if some of your investments lose value. Keeping 60 percent of your investments in long-term growth with the remainder in more conservative investments is a good idea even after retirement, Ohio financial planner Doug Kinsey tells Jean Chatzky at DailyFinance.
*9. Bring both spouses on board.* If finances are the realm of just one spouse in your family, it's time to correct that. Both members of a couple should understand the family's debts, savings, investments and plans in order to take over the financial reins in case one dies or becomes disabled.
*10. Consider dropping life insurance.* One place to cut expenses could be dropping your life insurance premiums. Do it only if, after careful consideration, you find that the insurance no longer benefits your family. For example, if your spouse and children will not need the protection because the children are grown and are financially independent, and if your spouse will inherit a home and sufficient retirement savings.
If you are unsure what to do, get expert help from a fee-based financial planner (see step No. 2). Do not accept financial advice from an insurance representative or from anyone who stands to gain from your decision or could sell you products.
*11. Decide if you want long-term care coverage.* If you are going to buy long-term care insurance, which pays some or most costs should you become unable to care for yourself, your 50s is the time to do it. Wait much longer and premiums become prohibitively expensive. Also, you could develop health problems that disqualify you for coverage.
The problem is, long-term care insurance is extremely expensive. The cost of coverage rose nearly 9 percent in 2014 alone, according to the American Association for Longterm Care Insurance, which says:
A healthy 55-year-old man can expect to pay $1,060 a year for $164,000 of potential benefits, compared to $925 last year. ... The average cost for a 55-year-old single woman is $1,390, an increase from $1,225 a year (2014).
What's a prudent person to do? After all, the cost of nursing home care currently is about $205 a day ($6,235 a month) for a semi-private room, according to the federal government, at LongTermCare.gov.
Fortunately, long-term care insurance isn't always necessary, says Stacy Johnson, weighing the pros and cons of long-term care insurance in Ask Stacy: Should I Have Long-Term-Care Insurance?
*12. Practice living on less.* You'll save more, and faster, by reducing spending. But there's another reason to get a good grip on your outflow: Living on less gives you information about where your money goes and how much you truly will need in retirement. It's a reality check for your planning. To get started read Resolve to Budget This Year: Here's How to Do It Painlessly.
What are your money tips for people in their 50s? Share your experiences.
Like this article? Sign up for our newsletter and we'll send you a regular digest of our newest stories, full of money saving tips and advice, free!
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments Reported by DailyFinance 1 hour ago.
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Biznet Digital & The Physician Alliance Create a Mobile Application to Help Patients Organize Doctor’s Contact Information
Biznet Digital creates a custom mobile application for The Physician Alliance network. Patients are able to access pertinent doctor's office contact information in one, convenient location.
Southfield, Michigan (PRWEB) June 04, 2015
St. Clair Shores-based The Physician Alliance (TPA) and Biznet Digital in Southfield, Michigan have teamed up to create My Doctors, a secure mobile application that allows users to save multiple physicians’ contact information such as address, phone number and fax number for doctors in The Physician Alliance network. This app will aid in ensuring accurate exchanges of information between patients, their physicians and other health care providers along the care continuum.
The Physician Alliance My Doctors mobile application comes preloaded with more than 2,100 primary care and specialty doctors in southeast Michigan dedicated to providing patients with high-quality, affordable health care. Users can search for their doctor(s) by name or manually enter contact information if their doctor is unlisted or out of The Physician Alliance network.
“Not everyone remembers their doctor’s phone number or address, so this app keeps everything in one spot, allowing easy access and easy to share (with other health care providers),” said Heather Hall-Gorski, Executive Director of Corporate Communications at The Physician Alliance. “Our hope is by keeping all of the contact information in one, easy to access location, it improves communication along the care continuum.” By allowing patients easy access to accurate information, TPA strengthens their methodology of creating synergy between health care providers, leading to improved patient care and lower health care costs.
To comply with regulations under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), My Doctors asks users to create a secure access code that is used every time the application is opened. The My Doctors mobile application offers other features such as click-to-call on cellular devices, direct connection to maps and turn-by-turn directions. Patients are notified through the application if a doctor’s information is modified or updated.
My Doctors by TPA is available for download in Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.biznetis.TPA&hl=en and iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id987536338?mt=8.
Key Search Terms: My Doctors by TPA
About The Physician Alliance
The Physician Alliance, LLC (TPA) is one of the largest physician organizations in Michigan, with over 2,100 physicians. TPA establishes a high performing network of physicians committed to evolving the care model strategy while remaining consistent with the principles of the Patient Centered Medical Home. Membership is open to any board certified or board eligible physician with hospital staff privileges at an accredited acute care hospital. For more information and to join TPA, please visit http://www.thephysicianalliance.org or call (586) 498-3555.
About Biznet Digital
Formed in 1994, Biznet Digital is an ROI-focused, full service digital marketing, mobile and web solutions company. Biznet specializes in web and mobile solutions to increase market share, enable e commerce, improve customer service and automate processes. Biznet’s mission is to demystify web and mobile technologies to deliver measurable marketing and business services to help clients succeed. Interested in working with Biznet Digital? Visit http://biznetdigital.net/services/mobile-app-development/ or call (248) 560-9000 for more information. Reported by PRWeb 31 minutes ago.
Southfield, Michigan (PRWEB) June 04, 2015
St. Clair Shores-based The Physician Alliance (TPA) and Biznet Digital in Southfield, Michigan have teamed up to create My Doctors, a secure mobile application that allows users to save multiple physicians’ contact information such as address, phone number and fax number for doctors in The Physician Alliance network. This app will aid in ensuring accurate exchanges of information between patients, their physicians and other health care providers along the care continuum.
The Physician Alliance My Doctors mobile application comes preloaded with more than 2,100 primary care and specialty doctors in southeast Michigan dedicated to providing patients with high-quality, affordable health care. Users can search for their doctor(s) by name or manually enter contact information if their doctor is unlisted or out of The Physician Alliance network.
“Not everyone remembers their doctor’s phone number or address, so this app keeps everything in one spot, allowing easy access and easy to share (with other health care providers),” said Heather Hall-Gorski, Executive Director of Corporate Communications at The Physician Alliance. “Our hope is by keeping all of the contact information in one, easy to access location, it improves communication along the care continuum.” By allowing patients easy access to accurate information, TPA strengthens their methodology of creating synergy between health care providers, leading to improved patient care and lower health care costs.
To comply with regulations under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), My Doctors asks users to create a secure access code that is used every time the application is opened. The My Doctors mobile application offers other features such as click-to-call on cellular devices, direct connection to maps and turn-by-turn directions. Patients are notified through the application if a doctor’s information is modified or updated.
My Doctors by TPA is available for download in Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.biznetis.TPA&hl=en and iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id987536338?mt=8.
Key Search Terms: My Doctors by TPA
About The Physician Alliance
The Physician Alliance, LLC (TPA) is one of the largest physician organizations in Michigan, with over 2,100 physicians. TPA establishes a high performing network of physicians committed to evolving the care model strategy while remaining consistent with the principles of the Patient Centered Medical Home. Membership is open to any board certified or board eligible physician with hospital staff privileges at an accredited acute care hospital. For more information and to join TPA, please visit http://www.thephysicianalliance.org or call (586) 498-3555.
About Biznet Digital
Formed in 1994, Biznet Digital is an ROI-focused, full service digital marketing, mobile and web solutions company. Biznet specializes in web and mobile solutions to increase market share, enable e commerce, improve customer service and automate processes. Biznet’s mission is to demystify web and mobile technologies to deliver measurable marketing and business services to help clients succeed. Interested in working with Biznet Digital? Visit http://biznetdigital.net/services/mobile-app-development/ or call (248) 560-9000 for more information. Reported by PRWeb 31 minutes ago.
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Healthways and CNAMTS Extend Agreement to Help CNAMTS Members Better Manage Chronic Conditions
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The national health insurance fund for salaried workers in France, Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salaries (CNAMTS), has signed a five-year renewal with Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY) to continue supporting the sophia program for CNAMTS members with chronic conditions. CNAMTS is the primary insurer for 56 million French citizens, or nearly 86 percent of the population. Since 2011, Healthways has provided training and the technology plat
Reported by Business Wire 1 day ago.
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Our Kids Aren't the Only Ones Suffering From Inequality. We're Failing Our Parents Too!
You wouldn't know it to read the news these days, but the Baby Boomers are in trouble.
Rarely does a day go by that the Baby Boomers aren't blamed for something. They're bankrupting Social Security. They caused the Great Recession. They're hogging all the money.
Well, I'm here to tell you that you've got the wrong culprit. Most Baby Boomers don't have nearly as much money as you think they do. You're rounding up the many to prosecute the few. That's just bad police work.
This is a plea for the parents out there. They raised us and fed us, they taught us and nursed us, they brought us into this world, and for the most part, they tried to make it better for us. And we are failing them.
We are failing our parents.
We have a strange sense of obligation in this country. We talk a lot about what we owe our children but very little about what we owe our parents. The future is sacrosanct; the past quickly forgotten.
And we should talk about our children. Because we're failing them too.
Pick up a copy of Robert Putnam's new book Our Kids, and you'll see all the ways we're failing them:
· More and more kids are growing up with one parent instead of two. The single parent is less likely to find a job. They have less time to spend with their kids. As a result, their children perform worse in school, exhibit more behavioral problems, and experience more anxiety and depression.· More and more kids aren't eating dinner with their family. They aren't having conversations with their parents. They don't know the alphabet when they start school. And they never catch up!· More and more kids are living below or near the poverty line, where they "experience severe or chronic stress," making it harder to concentrate, "cope with adversity, and organize their lives." They are more likely to be neglected, discouraged, abused, and traumatized. And they have permanent brain damage!· More and more families can't keep up with the rising cost of childcare. They send their kids to low-quality daycare. They have less time available to spend with their kids. And when they do spend time with them, their financial worries make it harder for them to be patient, focus, and nurture.· More and more students are falling behind their peers in school. Their parents don't have the time or knowledge to help them. Their schools don't have the fundraising capability to make up the difference. Their teachers are demoralized. Their classmates are disruptive, discouraging, and even violent. Extracurricular activities are either unavailable or too expensive to participate in. College is even more expensive. And if they do make it to college, it's one with lower graduation rates and a future of higher unemployment and lower earnings.· More and more kids don't trust people. They don't have mentors to teach them about life. They don't have youth organizations to keep them safe and healthy. They don't have programs to show them how to apply for college or budget their money. They don't have contacts to help them find a job. And they think their vote doesn't matter, so the problem just keeps getting worse!
For Putnam, this is where the story ends. And who can blame him? Kids are an easy sell. No one can blame them for their lot in life.
But what happens when they become adults? We don't like to talk about that part. Affordable housing, food stamps, incarceration, labor unions, mandated health insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, the minimum wage, paid leave, progressive taxation, public jobs, Social Security, unemployment insurance, welfare -- that's the controversial stuff. Better not to touch those subjects. Kids deserve a helping hand, but adults? We're not so sure.
The problem is, those adults were kids once upon a time too, and when they were, many of them had it just as bad. And now, after heaping disadvantage upon disadvantage on them for twenty years, they're expected to compete on the same playing field as everyone else. It's as if they were running a race, and their peers were given a twenty-year head start -- and we criticize them for not catching up!
These adults deserve equalizing policies every bit as much as their kids.
The young and the old aren't so different after all. It's the wrong contrast. Even if we wanted to take money from the old and give it to the young, it wouldn't work because they don't have it!
The Baby Boomers are trillions of dollars short of the wealth they need to retire without a "drastic lifestyle change." Over half of them will get most of their income from Social Security, and one in four will have nothing but Social Security. For those who got laid off during the Great Recession, they're having a much harder time getting rehired than younger generations. And because they were the ones who were holding mortgages when the bubble popped, their homeownership rate has nosedived so badly that Trulia's chief economist Jed Kolko calls them "the lost generation of homeowners."
Clearly, inequality affects Americans of every age -- and that is why you cannot cure what ails the children without treating the parents, for the ailment is not generational. It is economic, and it perpetuates itself down through the generations.
So, yes, by all means, let's talk about inequality of opportunity for our kids because that's where it all starts. But let's also remember that those kids grow up, and when they do, it doesn't get easier. The scars of childhood last a lifetime.
We tend to overlook those scars and place blame on those who have fallen behind in the race. But for those of us who have been given a head start and don't reach back to offer them a hand, the real failure rests with us.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 22 hours ago.
Rarely does a day go by that the Baby Boomers aren't blamed for something. They're bankrupting Social Security. They caused the Great Recession. They're hogging all the money.
Well, I'm here to tell you that you've got the wrong culprit. Most Baby Boomers don't have nearly as much money as you think they do. You're rounding up the many to prosecute the few. That's just bad police work.
This is a plea for the parents out there. They raised us and fed us, they taught us and nursed us, they brought us into this world, and for the most part, they tried to make it better for us. And we are failing them.
We are failing our parents.
We have a strange sense of obligation in this country. We talk a lot about what we owe our children but very little about what we owe our parents. The future is sacrosanct; the past quickly forgotten.
And we should talk about our children. Because we're failing them too.
Pick up a copy of Robert Putnam's new book Our Kids, and you'll see all the ways we're failing them:
· More and more kids are growing up with one parent instead of two. The single parent is less likely to find a job. They have less time to spend with their kids. As a result, their children perform worse in school, exhibit more behavioral problems, and experience more anxiety and depression.· More and more kids aren't eating dinner with their family. They aren't having conversations with their parents. They don't know the alphabet when they start school. And they never catch up!· More and more kids are living below or near the poverty line, where they "experience severe or chronic stress," making it harder to concentrate, "cope with adversity, and organize their lives." They are more likely to be neglected, discouraged, abused, and traumatized. And they have permanent brain damage!· More and more families can't keep up with the rising cost of childcare. They send their kids to low-quality daycare. They have less time available to spend with their kids. And when they do spend time with them, their financial worries make it harder for them to be patient, focus, and nurture.· More and more students are falling behind their peers in school. Their parents don't have the time or knowledge to help them. Their schools don't have the fundraising capability to make up the difference. Their teachers are demoralized. Their classmates are disruptive, discouraging, and even violent. Extracurricular activities are either unavailable or too expensive to participate in. College is even more expensive. And if they do make it to college, it's one with lower graduation rates and a future of higher unemployment and lower earnings.· More and more kids don't trust people. They don't have mentors to teach them about life. They don't have youth organizations to keep them safe and healthy. They don't have programs to show them how to apply for college or budget their money. They don't have contacts to help them find a job. And they think their vote doesn't matter, so the problem just keeps getting worse!
For Putnam, this is where the story ends. And who can blame him? Kids are an easy sell. No one can blame them for their lot in life.
But what happens when they become adults? We don't like to talk about that part. Affordable housing, food stamps, incarceration, labor unions, mandated health insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, the minimum wage, paid leave, progressive taxation, public jobs, Social Security, unemployment insurance, welfare -- that's the controversial stuff. Better not to touch those subjects. Kids deserve a helping hand, but adults? We're not so sure.
The problem is, those adults were kids once upon a time too, and when they were, many of them had it just as bad. And now, after heaping disadvantage upon disadvantage on them for twenty years, they're expected to compete on the same playing field as everyone else. It's as if they were running a race, and their peers were given a twenty-year head start -- and we criticize them for not catching up!
These adults deserve equalizing policies every bit as much as their kids.
The young and the old aren't so different after all. It's the wrong contrast. Even if we wanted to take money from the old and give it to the young, it wouldn't work because they don't have it!
The Baby Boomers are trillions of dollars short of the wealth they need to retire without a "drastic lifestyle change." Over half of them will get most of their income from Social Security, and one in four will have nothing but Social Security. For those who got laid off during the Great Recession, they're having a much harder time getting rehired than younger generations. And because they were the ones who were holding mortgages when the bubble popped, their homeownership rate has nosedived so badly that Trulia's chief economist Jed Kolko calls them "the lost generation of homeowners."
Clearly, inequality affects Americans of every age -- and that is why you cannot cure what ails the children without treating the parents, for the ailment is not generational. It is economic, and it perpetuates itself down through the generations.
So, yes, by all means, let's talk about inequality of opportunity for our kids because that's where it all starts. But let's also remember that those kids grow up, and when they do, it doesn't get easier. The scars of childhood last a lifetime.
We tend to overlook those scars and place blame on those who have fallen behind in the race. But for those of us who have been given a head start and don't reach back to offer them a hand, the real failure rests with us.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 22 hours ago.
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Little-Known Federal Health Regulation Is Hitting Up Business For Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars
America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) gather for their big meeting in Nashville this week, with many significant issues on the agenda, some of them headline news. For instance, industry insiders are watching closely the Supreme Court’s pending decision this month on King V. Burwell—which could remove health insurance subsidies in [...]
Reported by Forbes.com 20 hours ago.
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Benefitalign appoints Manal Mehta as President and CEO of new global organization
ROCKVILLE, Md., June 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Benefitalign®, a leading cloud-based technology solution provider for health insurance exchanges and benefits administration, has appointed Manal Mehta as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company, effective immediately....
Reported by PR Newswire 20 hours ago.
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21st Century Oncology Releases Data Underscoring Its Commitment To Nation’s Vulnerable Patient Populations
The majority of the provider’s community-based cancer care centers are located in financially needy and underserved areas outside major cities
FORT MYERS, Fla (PRWEB) June 04, 2015
21st Century Oncology, the nation’s leading provider of integrated cancer care services, today released socioeconomic data documenting its strong commitment to serving patients in struggling rural communities where quality and innovative cancer care is not always available.
The majority of 21st Century Oncology integrated cancer care centers (80 of 147) are located in small or rural communities outside major cities with populations of a million or more. Furthermore, 65 percent are in communities with median income levels below the national average, and 89 percent are in areas where the percentage of people living below the poverty threshold is above the national average.
“We believe every patient deserves access to the best cancer care available at the community level, regardless of socioeconomic status or geography” said 21st Century Oncology’s co-founder and CEO Daniel E. Dosoretz, M.D., F.A.C.R., F.A.C.R.O. “When a patient receives a cancer diagnosis, the last thing he or she should have to worry about is finding a qualified specialist in the area. By locating in underserved areas, we remove the stress of traveling - and the financial burden that comes with it - so that patients can focus on recovery.”
Despite a near doubling of demand for cancer care services in recent years, the number of oncologists is expected to grow by only 28 percent over the next decade, leaving a shortage of nearly 1,500 oncologists, according to a 2014 report by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The same report estimates that approximately 450,000 cancer patients will face difficulty accessing life-saving care due to provider shortages, punctuating the need for ensuring access to quality cancer care services in underserved areas.
21st Century Oncology’s community-focused strategy allows patients to keep their longtime family doctors and still receive the most advanced cancer care from physicians who are experts in their fields.
For more than 30 years, 21st Century Oncology has been committed to providing state-of-the-art radiation therapy and cancer treatments in a patient-centric setting focused on continuous innovation. 21st Century Oncology employs a variety of leading therapies involving radiation, surgery and chemotherapy.
“Our mission at 21st Century Oncology is two-fold,” Dosoretz said. “We want to provide high quality, state-of-the-art integrated cancer care services to those battling cancer. We also want to ensure that every person has access to the same level of indispensable treatment – regardless of location or income.”
In addition to ensuring that Americans have access to cancer care in their communities, the Fort-Myers-based company serves as a safety net for low-income Americans battling cancer who cannot afford life-saving treatment.
21st Century Oncology delivered more than $30 million in uncompensated care in 2014, and more than $100 million over the past five years.
The charity care helps low-income Americans who don’t have health insurance or cannot afford treatments. It also assists middle-class Americans who find themselves in financial stress due to the unpredictability of cancer care and the costs of specialized care.
For more information about our services, visit http://www.21stCenturyOncology.com.
About 21st Century Oncology:
21st Century Oncology is the largest global, physician led provider of Integrated Cancer Care services. The company offers a comprehensive range of cancer treatment services, focused on delivering academic quality, cost-effective patient care in personal and convenient settings. As of March 31, 2015, the company operated 182 treatment centers, including 147 centers located in 17 states and 35 centers located in six countries in Latin America. The company holds market-leading positions in most of its domestic local markets and abroad.
### Reported by PRWeb 20 hours ago.
FORT MYERS, Fla (PRWEB) June 04, 2015
21st Century Oncology, the nation’s leading provider of integrated cancer care services, today released socioeconomic data documenting its strong commitment to serving patients in struggling rural communities where quality and innovative cancer care is not always available.
The majority of 21st Century Oncology integrated cancer care centers (80 of 147) are located in small or rural communities outside major cities with populations of a million or more. Furthermore, 65 percent are in communities with median income levels below the national average, and 89 percent are in areas where the percentage of people living below the poverty threshold is above the national average.
“We believe every patient deserves access to the best cancer care available at the community level, regardless of socioeconomic status or geography” said 21st Century Oncology’s co-founder and CEO Daniel E. Dosoretz, M.D., F.A.C.R., F.A.C.R.O. “When a patient receives a cancer diagnosis, the last thing he or she should have to worry about is finding a qualified specialist in the area. By locating in underserved areas, we remove the stress of traveling - and the financial burden that comes with it - so that patients can focus on recovery.”
Despite a near doubling of demand for cancer care services in recent years, the number of oncologists is expected to grow by only 28 percent over the next decade, leaving a shortage of nearly 1,500 oncologists, according to a 2014 report by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The same report estimates that approximately 450,000 cancer patients will face difficulty accessing life-saving care due to provider shortages, punctuating the need for ensuring access to quality cancer care services in underserved areas.
21st Century Oncology’s community-focused strategy allows patients to keep their longtime family doctors and still receive the most advanced cancer care from physicians who are experts in their fields.
For more than 30 years, 21st Century Oncology has been committed to providing state-of-the-art radiation therapy and cancer treatments in a patient-centric setting focused on continuous innovation. 21st Century Oncology employs a variety of leading therapies involving radiation, surgery and chemotherapy.
“Our mission at 21st Century Oncology is two-fold,” Dosoretz said. “We want to provide high quality, state-of-the-art integrated cancer care services to those battling cancer. We also want to ensure that every person has access to the same level of indispensable treatment – regardless of location or income.”
In addition to ensuring that Americans have access to cancer care in their communities, the Fort-Myers-based company serves as a safety net for low-income Americans battling cancer who cannot afford life-saving treatment.
21st Century Oncology delivered more than $30 million in uncompensated care in 2014, and more than $100 million over the past five years.
The charity care helps low-income Americans who don’t have health insurance or cannot afford treatments. It also assists middle-class Americans who find themselves in financial stress due to the unpredictability of cancer care and the costs of specialized care.
For more information about our services, visit http://www.21stCenturyOncology.com.
About 21st Century Oncology:
21st Century Oncology is the largest global, physician led provider of Integrated Cancer Care services. The company offers a comprehensive range of cancer treatment services, focused on delivering academic quality, cost-effective patient care in personal and convenient settings. As of March 31, 2015, the company operated 182 treatment centers, including 147 centers located in 17 states and 35 centers located in six countries in Latin America. The company holds market-leading positions in most of its domestic local markets and abroad.
### Reported by PRWeb 20 hours ago.
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Consumers Want More Accessible, Affordable Blood Testing for Wellness, HealthMine Survey Finds
NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- AHIP Institute 2015 -- As innovation in lab testing technology combines with advances in health policy to empower healthcare consumerism, HealthMine queried 1,200 consumers with self- and employer-sponsored health insurance about blood...
Reported by PR Newswire 19 hours ago.
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Survey: ACA has not caused employers to drop health insurance
The percentage of employers offering health insurance has stayed steady since implementation of the Affordable Care Act, acco -More-
Reported by SmartBrief 19 hours ago.
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The largest property and casualty insurance agencies in Memphis for 2015
Memphis Business Journal is providing a peek at the list in the May 29 print edition as we reveal the Memphis area’s top five property and casualty insurance agencies. The issue also continues the fill list of the area's top life/health insurance agencies. To see the largest property and casualty insurance agencies in Memphis for 2015, click here. The list ranks the agencies by their number of local, full-time employees. For the full list of the top 25 casualty and property agencies in Memphis,…
Reported by bizjournals 18 hours ago.
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No Title
Despite a lengthy defense of a Senate bill that would let a half million people use billions in federal dollars to buy private health insurance, House Republicans argued that the plan is still essentially Medicaid expansion and seemed poised to vote it down.
Reported by WEAR ABC 3 17 hours ago.
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The Uphill Battle of Unionizing a Philly Charter School
Sean Kitchen/ Raging Chicken Press
Teachers from Olney Charter High School rally at the Pennsylvania headquarters of ASPIRA, a national charter school operator, on April 30.
On April 30^th, faculty at North Philadelphia’s Olney Charter High School voted 104-38 in favor of forming a union, an NLRB election that Olney’s charter operator, ASPIRA, has since announced they’re challenging. Olney’s union campaign is only the latest in a small but rapidly growing wave of charter union drives nationwide. But few efforts have been as contentious, or as revealing, as this one. Ever since the campaign began three years ago, ASPIRA has pumped tens of thousands of dollars into an elaborate union-busting effort, even as the beleaguered district it’s funded by struggles with massive debt. Unionizing Olney also threatens to shine light on ASPIRA’s questionable finances, at a time when authorities at the state and district level have failed to act. More broadly, the union drive in Philadelphia reveals how charter management organizations can use lax regulation to dodge financial accountability.
ASPIRA took over Olney, along with John B. Stetson Middle School in 2011 through Philadelphia’s “renaissance” school turnaround project, whereby charter operators are given the opportunity to improve the academic performance of struggling district schools. As part of the renaissance conversion, remaining educators at Olney and Stetson lost their union membership.
It wasn’t easy for Olney staff to reach their April 30^th election; for the past three years they have dealt with an administration intent on suppressing union organizing efforts. Tactics have included threatening teachers with layoffs and cuts to benefits, putting anti-union literature in teachers’ mailboxes, and instating new discipline policies, which included barring employees from criticizing ASPIRA on social media. The NLRB sided with educators in three of the four unfair labor practice complaints they filed in response to these measures.
Other tactics that have garnered criticism, including from Philadelphia Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sanchez—who once served as ASPIRA’s Executive Director—relate to services ASPIRA has employed, with public dollars, to fight the union effort. In August 2014, Philadelphia City Paper reported that ASPIRA paid a law firm with experience in fighting unionization efforts at least $72,163. This past April, the chair of the Olney school board signed a contract with consultants to lead self-described “union avoidance” meetings for Olney staff, as well as to help ASPIRA design and implement a campaign to fight unionization. The cost for these consultants was $25,000 and the contract stipulated that that figure “does not include any time that may be spent in responding or defending any charges filed by the union at the NLRB.”
Stetson educators recently launched their own organizing drive, and ASPIRA is sending consultants and lawyers there, too. Moreover, ASPIRA sent their consultants to lead a mandatory meeting at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School, another one of ASPIRA’s five charters, to reportedly “pre-empt an organizing effort.”
The budget problems plaguing Philadelphia public schools have forced the district to close dozens of schools, to lay off thousands of workers, to reduce transportation services, and more. How then, do we get to a point where charters are able to spend such significant sums of public dollars to fight union efforts? Who, if anyone, gets to have a say?
*Are Charter Employees Public or Private?*
Charters, which have been around for a quarter century, are publicly funded but independently managed schools. In education circles there’s a fierce debate over whether these schools are truly “public”—charter proponents insist that they are, while others see charters as a means to privatize education.
Aside from whether charter schools are public or private, another question is whether charter school employees are public or private—important distinctions not only for union formation but also for labor rights more broadly. The courts have taken the position that there is no clear-cut answer for charter employees, and each situation must be determined on a case-by-case basis depending on individual state laws and regulations, as well as the composition of each charter organization. But in one significant case from 2012, the NLRB ruled that educators at the Chicago Mathematics & Science Academy Charter School (CMSA) were private employees mainly because no government entity has the authority to appoint or remove CMSA board members, and no board members are directly accountable to public officials. In 2013, citing the CMSA ruling, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board effectively disclaimed jurisdiction over charter labor disputes in the state, concluding that such matters should be dealt with at the NLRB.
Which brings us back to Olney and Stetson. Despite previously stating that it would respect the results of an NLRB election, ASPIRA now claims Olney teachers are in fact public employees, and thus not subject to the NLRB’s jurisdiction. Stetson educators also recently filed for their own union election and ASPIRA challenged them, too. While the NLRB held a regional hearing and determined that Stetson educators are in fact covered under the NLRB, no determination has yet been made for Olney educators. However, since the legal arguments are the same for both renaissance schools, one can assume that the NLRB will ultimately uphold jurisdiction.
Many view ASPIRA’s NLRB challenge as a stalling tactic, but their action is not illegal. Wilma Liebman, a former chairman of the NLRB*, *told me that jurisdiction challenges are permitted at any stage of the election process. But considering that ASPIRA has not dropped their Olney challenge despite losing their Stetson one, many wonder how far ASPIRA will go before they agree to collectively bargain, and how expensive the legal bills are going to be.
In theory, if the regional NLRB rules in favor of Olney educators, ASPIRA could appeal to the national NLRB board in Washington, D.C. If ASPIRA loses all possible appeals, and they still refuse to bargain, then the NLRB will have to take them to District Court. Such cases are extremely expensive. “If they still refuse to bargain past a District Court ruling, then they’d be found in contempt,” said Liebman.
*Other Questionable ASPIRA Expenditures *
One reason ASPIRA so staunchly opposes unionization may be that the collective bargaining process could shed light on the company’s suspicious finances. Over the past several years, evidence suggests that ASPIRA has engaged in other instances of questionable financial behavior. The Philadelphia Daily News found that ASPIRA has borrowed nearly $3.5 million from its charter schools, though the public doesn’t know where that money went. Journalists also found that school staff used debit cards without providing receipts, and that bank loans were signed where one charter school would guarantee the debt of another. Under the law, each charter is supposed to function as an independent entity.
Lauren Thum of the Philadelphia School District’s Charter Office told Newsworks that the district couldn’t confirm whether ASPIRA is spending its charter school dollars in the schools themselves, or whether money is being siphoned off for other things. Part of the complication stems from the fact that although each of ASPIRA’s five charters is organized as an independent nonprofit, they all share the same board of trustees through their parent organization, ASPIRA, Inc. of Pennsylvania. And although the school district worries that ASPIRA charters may be improperly shuffling money around, they have thus far been denied access to the parent organization’s financial records. “It’s very difficult to follow the financial trail when there are so many complicated, connected entitles, and money flowing throughout them,” Thum said. In the meantime, ASPIRA continues to deny any financial wrongdoing. ASPIRA also declined to be interviewed and several school board members did not return requests for comment.
In 2010, the Philadelphia City Controller released a report criticizing a practice common amongst Philly charters whereby the schools use public funds to pay rent to parent organizations or subsidiaries; this is what ASPIRA does with ASPIRA, Inc. of Pennsylvania. "Properties that are being paid for with taxpayer funds are being either transferred [to] or controlled by nonprofits with no accountability to the school district or taxpayers," the report concluded. However, five years later, the practice continues.
Under the law, unions are entitled to see the financial information that pertains to their bargaining unit. (This includes things like health insurance costs, salaries, etc.) And if during negotiations management shoots down a union’s proposal by claiming they have an inability to pay, then the union is legally entitled to access more financial information to verify management’s claim. “In my opinion, I think the real issue is ASPIRA doesn’t want a union poking around in their finances,” a Philadelphia School District official told me. “Having a union gives them the right to do that in order to bargain in good faith, and [ASPIRA] doesn’t want anyone looking at anything.”
And so far, no one really has. As millions of dollars move around between the charter schools, the parent organization, and ASPIRA’s two property-management entities, the school district’s ability to challenge ASPIRA’s financial behavior remains unclear. In January, the district sent a letter to ASPIRA outlining 17 conditions the nonprofit would need to meet if they want to have their Stetson charter renewed. Conditions include reorganizing Stetson’s school board so that the parent organization doesn’t directly control it and getting a treasurer with a background in finances and audits.
Since then, ASPIRA has complied with some of the district’s requests, and has challenged others. Notably, they have so far refused to provide access to relevant financial information of its parent organization, though conversations between ASPIRA and the district are still ongoing.
“Nobody has enough power or enough money to really stay on top of things, so it becomes really easy for things to end up in a big mess,” said Susan DeJarnatt, a Temple University Law School professor who studies Pennsylvania charter law. “I frankly don’t think the state legislature thought ahead about the financial ramifications in any serious way. It’s [as] if everyone thought ‘oh this is a great idea, oh there will be cool new schools.’”
*A Need for Greater Oversight*
ASPIRA’s accountability problem is similar at the district level. “We just don’t have time right now to oversee [all that] we’re supposed to oversee,” the Philadelphia district official told me, who added that they need far more resources and manpower to do comprehensive charter investigations. And, as the situation with ASPIRA suggests, perhaps school districts need to be granted explicitly clearer legal authority to track where charter dollars go. Though charters are premised on a model of increased accountability, the public, as it stands, is unable to hold these schools accountable.
Beyond tracking the unclear money, what about the costs that are clear, like the lawyers and consultants? When I asked David Lapp, an attorney with the Philadelphia-based Education Law Center whether the school district could protest ASPIRA spending public dollars to fight a union he said it would be unusual, though not necessarily illegal. “Generally speaking, the charter authorizer, which in Pennsylvania is the school district, has the general duty to oversee that charter schools are following the law,” he said. “I’ve never seen a school district give any sort of opinion to a charter school about labor law issues, but whether they could seems to be an open question.”
Regardless, as ASPIRA will find, there’s only so long that an employer can delay negotiating with a staff that’s committed to forming a union. Reported by The American Prospect 15 hours ago.
Teachers from Olney Charter High School rally at the Pennsylvania headquarters of ASPIRA, a national charter school operator, on April 30.
On April 30^th, faculty at North Philadelphia’s Olney Charter High School voted 104-38 in favor of forming a union, an NLRB election that Olney’s charter operator, ASPIRA, has since announced they’re challenging. Olney’s union campaign is only the latest in a small but rapidly growing wave of charter union drives nationwide. But few efforts have been as contentious, or as revealing, as this one. Ever since the campaign began three years ago, ASPIRA has pumped tens of thousands of dollars into an elaborate union-busting effort, even as the beleaguered district it’s funded by struggles with massive debt. Unionizing Olney also threatens to shine light on ASPIRA’s questionable finances, at a time when authorities at the state and district level have failed to act. More broadly, the union drive in Philadelphia reveals how charter management organizations can use lax regulation to dodge financial accountability.
ASPIRA took over Olney, along with John B. Stetson Middle School in 2011 through Philadelphia’s “renaissance” school turnaround project, whereby charter operators are given the opportunity to improve the academic performance of struggling district schools. As part of the renaissance conversion, remaining educators at Olney and Stetson lost their union membership.
It wasn’t easy for Olney staff to reach their April 30^th election; for the past three years they have dealt with an administration intent on suppressing union organizing efforts. Tactics have included threatening teachers with layoffs and cuts to benefits, putting anti-union literature in teachers’ mailboxes, and instating new discipline policies, which included barring employees from criticizing ASPIRA on social media. The NLRB sided with educators in three of the four unfair labor practice complaints they filed in response to these measures.
Other tactics that have garnered criticism, including from Philadelphia Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sanchez—who once served as ASPIRA’s Executive Director—relate to services ASPIRA has employed, with public dollars, to fight the union effort. In August 2014, Philadelphia City Paper reported that ASPIRA paid a law firm with experience in fighting unionization efforts at least $72,163. This past April, the chair of the Olney school board signed a contract with consultants to lead self-described “union avoidance” meetings for Olney staff, as well as to help ASPIRA design and implement a campaign to fight unionization. The cost for these consultants was $25,000 and the contract stipulated that that figure “does not include any time that may be spent in responding or defending any charges filed by the union at the NLRB.”
Stetson educators recently launched their own organizing drive, and ASPIRA is sending consultants and lawyers there, too. Moreover, ASPIRA sent their consultants to lead a mandatory meeting at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School, another one of ASPIRA’s five charters, to reportedly “pre-empt an organizing effort.”
The budget problems plaguing Philadelphia public schools have forced the district to close dozens of schools, to lay off thousands of workers, to reduce transportation services, and more. How then, do we get to a point where charters are able to spend such significant sums of public dollars to fight union efforts? Who, if anyone, gets to have a say?
*Are Charter Employees Public or Private?*
Charters, which have been around for a quarter century, are publicly funded but independently managed schools. In education circles there’s a fierce debate over whether these schools are truly “public”—charter proponents insist that they are, while others see charters as a means to privatize education.
Aside from whether charter schools are public or private, another question is whether charter school employees are public or private—important distinctions not only for union formation but also for labor rights more broadly. The courts have taken the position that there is no clear-cut answer for charter employees, and each situation must be determined on a case-by-case basis depending on individual state laws and regulations, as well as the composition of each charter organization. But in one significant case from 2012, the NLRB ruled that educators at the Chicago Mathematics & Science Academy Charter School (CMSA) were private employees mainly because no government entity has the authority to appoint or remove CMSA board members, and no board members are directly accountable to public officials. In 2013, citing the CMSA ruling, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board effectively disclaimed jurisdiction over charter labor disputes in the state, concluding that such matters should be dealt with at the NLRB.
Which brings us back to Olney and Stetson. Despite previously stating that it would respect the results of an NLRB election, ASPIRA now claims Olney teachers are in fact public employees, and thus not subject to the NLRB’s jurisdiction. Stetson educators also recently filed for their own union election and ASPIRA challenged them, too. While the NLRB held a regional hearing and determined that Stetson educators are in fact covered under the NLRB, no determination has yet been made for Olney educators. However, since the legal arguments are the same for both renaissance schools, one can assume that the NLRB will ultimately uphold jurisdiction.
Many view ASPIRA’s NLRB challenge as a stalling tactic, but their action is not illegal. Wilma Liebman, a former chairman of the NLRB*, *told me that jurisdiction challenges are permitted at any stage of the election process. But considering that ASPIRA has not dropped their Olney challenge despite losing their Stetson one, many wonder how far ASPIRA will go before they agree to collectively bargain, and how expensive the legal bills are going to be.
In theory, if the regional NLRB rules in favor of Olney educators, ASPIRA could appeal to the national NLRB board in Washington, D.C. If ASPIRA loses all possible appeals, and they still refuse to bargain, then the NLRB will have to take them to District Court. Such cases are extremely expensive. “If they still refuse to bargain past a District Court ruling, then they’d be found in contempt,” said Liebman.
*Other Questionable ASPIRA Expenditures *
One reason ASPIRA so staunchly opposes unionization may be that the collective bargaining process could shed light on the company’s suspicious finances. Over the past several years, evidence suggests that ASPIRA has engaged in other instances of questionable financial behavior. The Philadelphia Daily News found that ASPIRA has borrowed nearly $3.5 million from its charter schools, though the public doesn’t know where that money went. Journalists also found that school staff used debit cards without providing receipts, and that bank loans were signed where one charter school would guarantee the debt of another. Under the law, each charter is supposed to function as an independent entity.
Lauren Thum of the Philadelphia School District’s Charter Office told Newsworks that the district couldn’t confirm whether ASPIRA is spending its charter school dollars in the schools themselves, or whether money is being siphoned off for other things. Part of the complication stems from the fact that although each of ASPIRA’s five charters is organized as an independent nonprofit, they all share the same board of trustees through their parent organization, ASPIRA, Inc. of Pennsylvania. And although the school district worries that ASPIRA charters may be improperly shuffling money around, they have thus far been denied access to the parent organization’s financial records. “It’s very difficult to follow the financial trail when there are so many complicated, connected entitles, and money flowing throughout them,” Thum said. In the meantime, ASPIRA continues to deny any financial wrongdoing. ASPIRA also declined to be interviewed and several school board members did not return requests for comment.
In 2010, the Philadelphia City Controller released a report criticizing a practice common amongst Philly charters whereby the schools use public funds to pay rent to parent organizations or subsidiaries; this is what ASPIRA does with ASPIRA, Inc. of Pennsylvania. "Properties that are being paid for with taxpayer funds are being either transferred [to] or controlled by nonprofits with no accountability to the school district or taxpayers," the report concluded. However, five years later, the practice continues.
Under the law, unions are entitled to see the financial information that pertains to their bargaining unit. (This includes things like health insurance costs, salaries, etc.) And if during negotiations management shoots down a union’s proposal by claiming they have an inability to pay, then the union is legally entitled to access more financial information to verify management’s claim. “In my opinion, I think the real issue is ASPIRA doesn’t want a union poking around in their finances,” a Philadelphia School District official told me. “Having a union gives them the right to do that in order to bargain in good faith, and [ASPIRA] doesn’t want anyone looking at anything.”
And so far, no one really has. As millions of dollars move around between the charter schools, the parent organization, and ASPIRA’s two property-management entities, the school district’s ability to challenge ASPIRA’s financial behavior remains unclear. In January, the district sent a letter to ASPIRA outlining 17 conditions the nonprofit would need to meet if they want to have their Stetson charter renewed. Conditions include reorganizing Stetson’s school board so that the parent organization doesn’t directly control it and getting a treasurer with a background in finances and audits.
Since then, ASPIRA has complied with some of the district’s requests, and has challenged others. Notably, they have so far refused to provide access to relevant financial information of its parent organization, though conversations between ASPIRA and the district are still ongoing.
“Nobody has enough power or enough money to really stay on top of things, so it becomes really easy for things to end up in a big mess,” said Susan DeJarnatt, a Temple University Law School professor who studies Pennsylvania charter law. “I frankly don’t think the state legislature thought ahead about the financial ramifications in any serious way. It’s [as] if everyone thought ‘oh this is a great idea, oh there will be cool new schools.’”
*A Need for Greater Oversight*
ASPIRA’s accountability problem is similar at the district level. “We just don’t have time right now to oversee [all that] we’re supposed to oversee,” the Philadelphia district official told me, who added that they need far more resources and manpower to do comprehensive charter investigations. And, as the situation with ASPIRA suggests, perhaps school districts need to be granted explicitly clearer legal authority to track where charter dollars go. Though charters are premised on a model of increased accountability, the public, as it stands, is unable to hold these schools accountable.
Beyond tracking the unclear money, what about the costs that are clear, like the lawyers and consultants? When I asked David Lapp, an attorney with the Philadelphia-based Education Law Center whether the school district could protest ASPIRA spending public dollars to fight a union he said it would be unusual, though not necessarily illegal. “Generally speaking, the charter authorizer, which in Pennsylvania is the school district, has the general duty to oversee that charter schools are following the law,” he said. “I’ve never seen a school district give any sort of opinion to a charter school about labor law issues, but whether they could seems to be an open question.”
Regardless, as ASPIRA will find, there’s only so long that an employer can delay negotiating with a staff that’s committed to forming a union. Reported by The American Prospect 15 hours ago.
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Rick Perry's Real Legacy: Leaving Texas Families Behind
Addressing stagnant wages and closing the gap between the mega-rich and everyone else, rightly, will be one of the signature economic issues of the 2016 presidential election.
That's unfortunate timing for Rick Perry, who spent his years as Governor of Texas widening that gap, making it harder and harder for families to reach the middle class and achieve the American Dream.
As Governor, Rick Perry created two different states in Texas - one for his wealthy and well-connected friends, and another for working and middle class Texans, who have to live with the consequences of his policies. And he would do the same thing for the country if elected president.
As Governor, Rick Perry swelled the state's debt to $44 billion while giving away massive tax cuts for the rich.
When he last ran for president, Perry supported instituting a flat tax, which would result in a massive windfall for the richest Americans and shift the nation's tax burden onto the backs of middle-class and working families.
As Governor, Rick Perry used his office to benefit political contributors, and earned two felony indictments for abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant.
But when it comes to issues that everyday Texans and everyday Americans care about, Rick Perry has a different set of rules.
Care about equal pay? Rick Perry vetoed Texas's version of the Lilly Ledbetter bill, which would have helped protect women in Texas from pay discrimination. He called the debate over equal pay "nonsense." Tell that to Texas women who make 79 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts.
Perry's anti-woman agenda didn't stop there. Thanks to his anti-choice policies like defunding Planned Parenthood and other family planning programs, half of the women in Texas face difficult barriers to exercising their right to choose and make their own health care decisions. Currently, Texas is 5th highest in teenage pregnancy, lagging behind the rest of the country.
Care about health insurance? The Texas business community agrees that expanding Medicaid - the federal government's health insurance plan for the less fortunate that was signed into law by Texas's own President Lyndon Johnson - is a smart business decision. Texas's economy would be strengthened with thousands of new jobs and billions in federal funds for our health system. Nonetheless, Perry refused to partner with the Texas legislature to find a Texas solution, despite the state having the highest uninsured rate in the country. When asked about that high uninsured rate and Medicaid expansion, Perry claimed "that's what Texans wanted."
Care about education? Perry cut Texas' neighborhood school funding by 25 percent, and his decision to deregulate tuition rates for Texas state universities sent tuition soaring by 64 percent.
Care about wages? As president, Perry would refuse to raise the minimum wage, and doesn't even believe in the minimum wage at the federal level. This is all while Texas leads the nation in minimum-wage workers, and at the end of Perry's term, 1.5 million more Texans were living in poverty.
To top it off, Perry embarrassed our state with his cringe-worthy, bigoted rhetoric and out-of-touch social views. He compared homosexuality to alcoholism. He has made false immigration claims to drum up fear and panic with no facts to back it up. While governor, he made multiple bizarre claims about Texas seceding from the nation. And no one can forget the time he forgot which federal agencies he wanted to cut, embarrassing himself and the state of Texas on a national stage, and making it clear how seriously he took his candidacy. 'Oops' was right, and we'd be fools to think he's changed.
After spending his time in office creating two different states in Texas - one for the mega-rich and another for everyone else - voters are rightly skeptical of someone like Rick Perry in the White House. Americans are crying out for a compassionate leader who will address stagnant wages and disappearing opportunities for the middle class, not someone who will make these problems worse. Americans deserve better than a Perry presidency.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.
That's unfortunate timing for Rick Perry, who spent his years as Governor of Texas widening that gap, making it harder and harder for families to reach the middle class and achieve the American Dream.
As Governor, Rick Perry created two different states in Texas - one for his wealthy and well-connected friends, and another for working and middle class Texans, who have to live with the consequences of his policies. And he would do the same thing for the country if elected president.
As Governor, Rick Perry swelled the state's debt to $44 billion while giving away massive tax cuts for the rich.
When he last ran for president, Perry supported instituting a flat tax, which would result in a massive windfall for the richest Americans and shift the nation's tax burden onto the backs of middle-class and working families.
As Governor, Rick Perry used his office to benefit political contributors, and earned two felony indictments for abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant.
But when it comes to issues that everyday Texans and everyday Americans care about, Rick Perry has a different set of rules.
Care about equal pay? Rick Perry vetoed Texas's version of the Lilly Ledbetter bill, which would have helped protect women in Texas from pay discrimination. He called the debate over equal pay "nonsense." Tell that to Texas women who make 79 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts.
Perry's anti-woman agenda didn't stop there. Thanks to his anti-choice policies like defunding Planned Parenthood and other family planning programs, half of the women in Texas face difficult barriers to exercising their right to choose and make their own health care decisions. Currently, Texas is 5th highest in teenage pregnancy, lagging behind the rest of the country.
Care about health insurance? The Texas business community agrees that expanding Medicaid - the federal government's health insurance plan for the less fortunate that was signed into law by Texas's own President Lyndon Johnson - is a smart business decision. Texas's economy would be strengthened with thousands of new jobs and billions in federal funds for our health system. Nonetheless, Perry refused to partner with the Texas legislature to find a Texas solution, despite the state having the highest uninsured rate in the country. When asked about that high uninsured rate and Medicaid expansion, Perry claimed "that's what Texans wanted."
Care about education? Perry cut Texas' neighborhood school funding by 25 percent, and his decision to deregulate tuition rates for Texas state universities sent tuition soaring by 64 percent.
Care about wages? As president, Perry would refuse to raise the minimum wage, and doesn't even believe in the minimum wage at the federal level. This is all while Texas leads the nation in minimum-wage workers, and at the end of Perry's term, 1.5 million more Texans were living in poverty.
To top it off, Perry embarrassed our state with his cringe-worthy, bigoted rhetoric and out-of-touch social views. He compared homosexuality to alcoholism. He has made false immigration claims to drum up fear and panic with no facts to back it up. While governor, he made multiple bizarre claims about Texas seceding from the nation. And no one can forget the time he forgot which federal agencies he wanted to cut, embarrassing himself and the state of Texas on a national stage, and making it clear how seriously he took his candidacy. 'Oops' was right, and we'd be fools to think he's changed.
After spending his time in office creating two different states in Texas - one for the mega-rich and another for everyone else - voters are rightly skeptical of someone like Rick Perry in the White House. Americans are crying out for a compassionate leader who will address stagnant wages and disappearing opportunities for the middle class, not someone who will make these problems worse. Americans deserve better than a Perry presidency.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.
↧
Rick Perry's Real Legacy: Leaving Texas Families Behind
Addressing stagnant wages and closing the gap between the mega-rich and everyone else, rightly, will be one of the signature economic issues of the 2016 presidential election.
That's unfortunate timing for Rick Perry, who spent his years as Governor of Texas widening that gap, making it harder and harder for families to reach the middle class and achieve the American Dream.
As governor, Rick Perry created two different states in Texas -- one for his wealthy and well-connected friends, and another for working and middle class Texans, who have to live with the consequences of his policies. And he would do the same thing for the country if elected president.
As governor, Rick Perry swelled the state's debt to $44 billion while giving away massive tax cuts for the rich.
When he last ran for president, Perry supported instituting a flat tax, which would result in a massive windfall for the richest Americans and shift the nation's tax burden onto the backs of middle-class and working families.
As governor, Rick Perry used his office to benefit political contributors, and earned two felony indictments for abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant.
But when it comes to issues that everyday Texans and everyday Americans care about, Rick Perry has a different set of rules.
Care about equal pay? Rick Perry vetoed Texas's version of the Lilly Ledbetter bill, which would have helped protect women in Texas from pay discrimination. He called the debate over equal pay "nonsense." Tell that to Texas women who make 79 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts.
Perry's anti-woman agenda didn't stop there. Thanks to his anti-choice policies like defunding Planned Parenthood and other family planning programs, half of the women in Texas face difficult barriers to exercising their right to choose and make their own health care decisions. Currently, Texas is fifth highest in teenage pregnancy, lagging behind the rest of the country.
Care about health insurance? The Texas business community agrees that expanding Medicaid - the federal government's health insurance plan for the less fortunate that was signed into law by Texas's own President Lyndon Johnson -- is a smart business decision. Texas's economy would be strengthened with thousands of new jobs and billions in federal funds for our health system. Nonetheless, Perry refused to partner with the Texas legislature to find a Texas solution, despite the state having the highest uninsured rate in the country. When asked about that high uninsured rate and Medicaid expansion, Perry claimed "that's what Texans wanted."
Care about education? Perry cut Texas' neighborhood school funding by 25 percent, and his decision to deregulate tuition rates for Texas state universities sent tuition soaring by 64 percent.
Care about wages? As president, Perry would refuse to raise the minimum wage, and doesn't even believe in the minimum wage at the federal level. This is all while Texas leads the nation in minimum-wage workers, and at the end of Perry's term, 1.5 million more Texans were living in poverty.
To top it off, Perry embarrassed our state with his cringe-worthy, bigoted rhetoric and out-of-touch social views. He compared gay people to alcoholics. He has made false immigration claims to drum up fear and panic with no facts to back it up. While governor, he made multiple bizarre claims about Texas seceding from the nation. And no one can forget the time he forgot which federal agencies he wanted to cut, embarrassing himself and the state of Texas on a national stage, and making it clear how seriously he took his candidacy. 'Oops' was right, and we'd be fools to think he's changed.
After spending his time in office creating two different states in Texas -- one for the mega-rich and another for everyone else -- voters are rightly skeptical of someone like Rick Perry in the White House. Americans are crying out for a compassionate leader who will address stagnant wages and disappearing opportunities for the middle class, not someone who will make these problems worse. Americans deserve better than a Perry presidency.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.
That's unfortunate timing for Rick Perry, who spent his years as Governor of Texas widening that gap, making it harder and harder for families to reach the middle class and achieve the American Dream.
As governor, Rick Perry created two different states in Texas -- one for his wealthy and well-connected friends, and another for working and middle class Texans, who have to live with the consequences of his policies. And he would do the same thing for the country if elected president.
As governor, Rick Perry swelled the state's debt to $44 billion while giving away massive tax cuts for the rich.
When he last ran for president, Perry supported instituting a flat tax, which would result in a massive windfall for the richest Americans and shift the nation's tax burden onto the backs of middle-class and working families.
As governor, Rick Perry used his office to benefit political contributors, and earned two felony indictments for abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant.
But when it comes to issues that everyday Texans and everyday Americans care about, Rick Perry has a different set of rules.
Care about equal pay? Rick Perry vetoed Texas's version of the Lilly Ledbetter bill, which would have helped protect women in Texas from pay discrimination. He called the debate over equal pay "nonsense." Tell that to Texas women who make 79 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts.
Perry's anti-woman agenda didn't stop there. Thanks to his anti-choice policies like defunding Planned Parenthood and other family planning programs, half of the women in Texas face difficult barriers to exercising their right to choose and make their own health care decisions. Currently, Texas is fifth highest in teenage pregnancy, lagging behind the rest of the country.
Care about health insurance? The Texas business community agrees that expanding Medicaid - the federal government's health insurance plan for the less fortunate that was signed into law by Texas's own President Lyndon Johnson -- is a smart business decision. Texas's economy would be strengthened with thousands of new jobs and billions in federal funds for our health system. Nonetheless, Perry refused to partner with the Texas legislature to find a Texas solution, despite the state having the highest uninsured rate in the country. When asked about that high uninsured rate and Medicaid expansion, Perry claimed "that's what Texans wanted."
Care about education? Perry cut Texas' neighborhood school funding by 25 percent, and his decision to deregulate tuition rates for Texas state universities sent tuition soaring by 64 percent.
Care about wages? As president, Perry would refuse to raise the minimum wage, and doesn't even believe in the minimum wage at the federal level. This is all while Texas leads the nation in minimum-wage workers, and at the end of Perry's term, 1.5 million more Texans were living in poverty.
To top it off, Perry embarrassed our state with his cringe-worthy, bigoted rhetoric and out-of-touch social views. He compared gay people to alcoholics. He has made false immigration claims to drum up fear and panic with no facts to back it up. While governor, he made multiple bizarre claims about Texas seceding from the nation. And no one can forget the time he forgot which federal agencies he wanted to cut, embarrassing himself and the state of Texas on a national stage, and making it clear how seriously he took his candidacy. 'Oops' was right, and we'd be fools to think he's changed.
After spending his time in office creating two different states in Texas -- one for the mega-rich and another for everyone else -- voters are rightly skeptical of someone like Rick Perry in the White House. Americans are crying out for a compassionate leader who will address stagnant wages and disappearing opportunities for the middle class, not someone who will make these problems worse. Americans deserve better than a Perry presidency.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 14 hours ago.
↧
The Happiest Cities in the USA
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How can you measure happiness? The mental or emotional state, the smiley well-being feeling that is so individual and yet we measure happiness, we study it, we analyze it, we even celebrate it on *March 20th* every year, but what is it?
Wouldn’t it be worth looking at the cities in the *USA* that are considered to be the happiest places in the country and seeing what they are doing right to get the smiles on their faces? What is it that certain cities have that makes the inhabitants *happy* and is there a link with money and economic prosperity. The old adage goes that money can’t make you happy, but perhaps people believe that if you have it, then it can buy you time. You can’t buy happiness, or at least it can only be bought temporarily. But, the way we spend our time can certainly make us happy. The way we spend our time in the workplace, for instance can have a great impact on our well-being. Making sure that employees are happy can only have a positive effect on the competitiveness of the company and as such provide greater effort from the people that are being rewarded with that feeling because of the environment in which they work.
The same thing goes for the places where we live. Well-being is hot property today. You can buy your house, but can you buy the happiness of the city in which you live? Where are the happiest places to live in the USA today?
The *Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index* is the measurement published annually of the well-being of Americans based on interviews that are carried out over a period of two months (*December and January*). There are five metrics that are taken into consideration, which are:
1. *Purpose*: Liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve goals.
2. *Social*: Having supportive relationships and love in your life.
3. *Financial*: Managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security.
4. *Community*: Liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community.
5. *Physical*: Having good health and enough energy to get things done daily.
*Happiest Cities in the USA*
*10. Winston-Salem, NC*
*9. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV*
*8. San-José-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA*
*7. Provo-Orem, UT*
*6. Austin-Round Rock, TX*
*5. El Paso, TX*
*4. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Venture, CA*
*3. Raleigh, NC*
*2. Urban Honolulu, HI*
1. *North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL*
This community has a ranking of *11* for Purpose, meaning that the majority of people can actually see a goal and an objective in the accomplishment of their daily routines and work activities. They have a score of *4*, meaning that *96%* of the population feels that they have supportive family members and that they feel loved. Just *2%* do not feel that they are able to manage financially. *12%* of the population does not have pride in the community meaning that 88% do feel that sense of belonging and pride, accompanied with the feeling of safety. The vast majority of the community feels that they have the energy to accomplish daily tasks (with the score of *2*, meaning that *98%* of the residents feel this way).
The people that live in the communities ranked above are *12%* more likely to learn interesting and new things in their daily lives than those that are unhappy. They are *6%* more likely to get positive energy from those that surround them than those that are in the saddest communities and they are *16%* less likely to worry about where the money is coming from.
*Saddest Cities in the USA*
Just out of curiosity, where would you probably not like to live because the city comes out as being the saddest in the list of the research carried out? Look at the poverty rate in half of the top ten cities that are the most miserable in the country. They all have poverty rates that are higher than the national average (*15.8%*). The median household income in all but two of the top ten cities that are the most miserable is also below the national average. Money might not get you happiness, but it certainly gets you security and anyhow, people’s perception of happiness comes from money these days. It’s not important to know if it’s true, it’s important to know if you perceive it as being true. The old craggy-wrinkled granny still uses the beauty cream even though it doesn’t work anymore, it’s the perception that she has of it that makes her feel better. She doesn’t have to really see the effect; she just has to perceive it in her mind. People in these cities, however, no longer have the wrinkle cream to magic away their sadness:
*10. Cincinnati, OH*
The scores here stood at 73 for Purpose, 85 for Social, 53 for Financial, 77 for Community and 86 for Physical. The poverty rate stands at *14.5%* and the unemployment rate at *7.2%*. There are *285.2* violent crimes per *100, 000* in this city. Since the Gallup Index started in *2008*, this community has systematically ranked in the top ten. Between *2010* and 2014 the city had one of the lowest growth rates of population in the country, standing at *1.5%*.
*9. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI*
The scores here stood at 87 for Purpose, 86 for Social, 70 for Financial, 97 for Community and 81 for Physical. The poverty rate stands at *16.9%* and the unemployment rate hot *10%* in 2**13/*2014*. In *2009* it was over *17%*. There are *569.6* violent crimes per 100, 000 in this community and this is one of the highest levels across the country. *17.5%* of residents use food stamps to live on. Michigan is the *9th* most miserable state in the USA also.
*8. Columbus, OH*
The scores here stood at 94, 96, 80, 69 and 91 respectively for the 5 criteria. The poverty rate in this community stands at *14.8%* and the unemployment rate currently stands at just *4.4%*, which is surprising since the residents do not perceive themselves to be happy. There is an adult obesity rate that works out to over *30%* of the population in this community. Nearly *15%* of the residents have to resort to using food stamps to live. The national average is nearer *13%* today.
*7. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton, PA*
This community is the 7^th unhappiest in the country with scores ranging from 51 to 98 for the five elements. The poverty rate in this community stands at *15.5%* and the adult obesity rate is at nearly *30%*. There are over *232* crimes that are considered to be violent for every *100, 000* registered. The typical household income stands at *$45, 333* per annum. Roughly *20%* of the population has an alcohol-related addiction.
*6. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL*
This community has one off the highest scores for Physical well-being, standing at 94, meaning that it is the least likely community to have enough energy to do what needs to be done on a daily basis. Poverty rates here stand at *16.2%* and the unemployment rate is currently *5.9%*. There are *392.*7 violent crimes per *100, 000* that take place. Nearly *20%* of those that are resident here do not possess health cover or health insurance and nearly a quarter of the residents smoke. Over *25%* of the children there were considered to be living in poverty and as such is one of the highest figures nationwide.
*5. Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN*
This community has scores ranging from *67* to *99*, making it the fifth worst community to live in nationwide and part of the lowest quintile of the study. The poverty rate here stands at more than *15%* and the obesity rate is at *30.7%.*
*4. Dayton, OH. *
The poverty rate stands at *16.4%* and the adult obesity rate stands at nearly *30%* also. There are more than *270* violent crimes per hundred thousand crimes recorded. Between 20*1*0 and *2014*, the population of this community only grew by *0.1%*. *40%* of households are made up of one-parent families. It has a figure of *98* for Physical meaning that just *2%* of the population believes that they have enough energy to get their daily tasks done.
*3. Knoxville, TN*
This community has a poverty rate of *17.5%* and an obesity rate that stands at over *30%*. The national median household income stands at *$52, 250*, while the median income here is only at *$45,051*. All people interviewed for the study reported not having enough energy to complete their daily tasks or ill health that prevented them from doing so. Purpose only scored 98, meaning that people do not consider at all that they have a purpose in life or a goal to achieve.
*2. Toledo, OH*
The poverty rate stands at *19.5%* and there are* 530.3* violent crimes per hundred thousand crimes reported. *20%* of residents here lived in poverty in *2013* and the median income stood at *$42, 792*. Nobody has a feeling of pride for the community and nobody feels safe and secure living in this community (score of *100*).
*1. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA*
This is the community with the lowest feeling of well-being in the country. It scores *100* for both Purpose and Social aspects and *99* for Community. The poverty rate stands at over *17%* and obesity at over *31%*. The community saw a reduction in its community residents when the population shrank by *2.1%*, which was one of the largest falls in population in *2014* for a US community.
The people on the sad list are less likely to be proud of the community that they live in. People in the happy list are *18%* more likely to feel a sense of pride about their communities.
*International Happiness*
So what is happiness? A good life? Don’t forget *Thomas Jefferson*’s universal right of the “pursuit of happiness” in *1776* in the *United States Declaration of Independence*. Why are we so set on finding out whether we are happy or not? Jefferson took the idea of the pursuit of happiness and its ability to create a free society, and a democracy, from John Lo>“The necessity of pursuing happiness [is] the foundation of liberty. As therefore the highest perfection of intellectual nature lies in a careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness; so the care of ourselves, that we mistake not imaginary for real happiness, is the necessary foundation of our liberty. The stronger ties we have to an unalterable pursuit of happiness in general, which is our greatest good, and which, as such, our desires always follow, the more are we free from any necessary determination of our will to any particular action…”.
For Locke and for Jefferson, the pursuit of happiness meant freedom. It meant not merely the pursuit of pleasure and property, self-interest and the solid pleasures in society, but the freedom to be able to decide. How far do we remember that goal that was the definition of happiness in the beginning?
Perhaps sometimes some that govern us have forgotten that the universal right to happiness should still exist as the right of every citizen in this country and not just the chosen few. If we look further afield in the international rankings of where we would be happiest? According to the *World Happiness Report* published by the *United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network*, edited by the *University of British Columbia* and the *Canadian Institute for Advanced Research*, then we would have to go to one of these top countries today. Who’s ready to move there?
On a scale of ** to *10* there are six categories according to the research that are taken into account when looking at happiness levels in different countries. They are:
1. Real *GDP* per capita
2. Healthy *life expectancy*
3. *Counting* on someone
4. Perceived freedom of *choices* in life
5. Freedom from *corruption*
6. *Generosity*
*2015 International Happiness Rankings*
1. *Switzerland* 7.587
2. *Iceland* 7.561
3. *Denmark* 7.527
4. *Norway* 7.522
5. *Canada* 7.427
6. *Finland* 7.406
7. *Netherlands* 7.389
8. *Sweden* 7.378
9. *New* *Zealand* 7.364
10. *Australia* 7.350
The *United States* comes in only at *17^th* position with a score of *7.082* and the *United Kingdom* is in *22^nd* position with a ranking of *6.883*.
Comparing cross-culturally the measurement of someone’s perceived happiness is not easy at all. Happiness by definition is subjective. Naturally, there are some elements that are purely objective such as life expectancy and *GDP* growth. But, the perceived freedom of choices is hard to measure from one country to another as is the freedom from corruption. Corruption can only be measured when we truly see the transparency of society and when we know everything that is taking place. Money can only buy you happiness when it is a means of providing subsistence. However, studies show that once we go beyond subsistence money generates very little happiness in the *spender*. This is known as the *Easterlin paradox*. High earners have already been shown to have greater life satisfaction (*Kahneman* and *Deaton*, *2010*) in their personal opinion, but they emotional well-being on a daily basis is not affected by the growth in salary beyond a salary of *$75, 000* per annum.
But, Spectrum’s Millionaire’s Corner had research carried out that showed: “Happiness rises steadily with net worth, according to our results. Less than one-fourth of investors with a net worth of less than $100,000 (not including primary residence) rated their happiness as a nine or a ten. Compare that to 44 percent for Millionaires with a net worth of $5 million or more.” That’s not surprising however coming from the Millionaire’s Corner, is it?
Many have already shown that happiness doesn’t come from money. But, few have actually concentrated on the fact that money can certainly make you feel less sad. But, recently in *2015* findings were published that showed that there really is a relationship between feeling less sad and having more money. The findings were made public by *Kostadin Kushlev* and reported in an article entitled ‘Higher Income Is Associated with Less Daily Sadness but not More Daily Happiness’. The wealthier feel perhaps not happier, but they certainly feel less sad and perceive that they have a better life once they have money.
*What would make you perceive greater happiness? * Reported by Zero Hedge 14 hours ago.
How can you measure happiness? The mental or emotional state, the smiley well-being feeling that is so individual and yet we measure happiness, we study it, we analyze it, we even celebrate it on *March 20th* every year, but what is it?
Wouldn’t it be worth looking at the cities in the *USA* that are considered to be the happiest places in the country and seeing what they are doing right to get the smiles on their faces? What is it that certain cities have that makes the inhabitants *happy* and is there a link with money and economic prosperity. The old adage goes that money can’t make you happy, but perhaps people believe that if you have it, then it can buy you time. You can’t buy happiness, or at least it can only be bought temporarily. But, the way we spend our time can certainly make us happy. The way we spend our time in the workplace, for instance can have a great impact on our well-being. Making sure that employees are happy can only have a positive effect on the competitiveness of the company and as such provide greater effort from the people that are being rewarded with that feeling because of the environment in which they work.
The same thing goes for the places where we live. Well-being is hot property today. You can buy your house, but can you buy the happiness of the city in which you live? Where are the happiest places to live in the USA today?
The *Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index* is the measurement published annually of the well-being of Americans based on interviews that are carried out over a period of two months (*December and January*). There are five metrics that are taken into consideration, which are:
1. *Purpose*: Liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve goals.
2. *Social*: Having supportive relationships and love in your life.
3. *Financial*: Managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security.
4. *Community*: Liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community.
5. *Physical*: Having good health and enough energy to get things done daily.
*Happiest Cities in the USA*
*10. Winston-Salem, NC*
*9. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV*
*8. San-José-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA*
*7. Provo-Orem, UT*
*6. Austin-Round Rock, TX*
*5. El Paso, TX*
*4. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Venture, CA*
*3. Raleigh, NC*
*2. Urban Honolulu, HI*
1. *North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL*
This community has a ranking of *11* for Purpose, meaning that the majority of people can actually see a goal and an objective in the accomplishment of their daily routines and work activities. They have a score of *4*, meaning that *96%* of the population feels that they have supportive family members and that they feel loved. Just *2%* do not feel that they are able to manage financially. *12%* of the population does not have pride in the community meaning that 88% do feel that sense of belonging and pride, accompanied with the feeling of safety. The vast majority of the community feels that they have the energy to accomplish daily tasks (with the score of *2*, meaning that *98%* of the residents feel this way).
The people that live in the communities ranked above are *12%* more likely to learn interesting and new things in their daily lives than those that are unhappy. They are *6%* more likely to get positive energy from those that surround them than those that are in the saddest communities and they are *16%* less likely to worry about where the money is coming from.
*Saddest Cities in the USA*
Just out of curiosity, where would you probably not like to live because the city comes out as being the saddest in the list of the research carried out? Look at the poverty rate in half of the top ten cities that are the most miserable in the country. They all have poverty rates that are higher than the national average (*15.8%*). The median household income in all but two of the top ten cities that are the most miserable is also below the national average. Money might not get you happiness, but it certainly gets you security and anyhow, people’s perception of happiness comes from money these days. It’s not important to know if it’s true, it’s important to know if you perceive it as being true. The old craggy-wrinkled granny still uses the beauty cream even though it doesn’t work anymore, it’s the perception that she has of it that makes her feel better. She doesn’t have to really see the effect; she just has to perceive it in her mind. People in these cities, however, no longer have the wrinkle cream to magic away their sadness:
*10. Cincinnati, OH*
The scores here stood at 73 for Purpose, 85 for Social, 53 for Financial, 77 for Community and 86 for Physical. The poverty rate stands at *14.5%* and the unemployment rate at *7.2%*. There are *285.2* violent crimes per *100, 000* in this city. Since the Gallup Index started in *2008*, this community has systematically ranked in the top ten. Between *2010* and 2014 the city had one of the lowest growth rates of population in the country, standing at *1.5%*.
*9. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI*
The scores here stood at 87 for Purpose, 86 for Social, 70 for Financial, 97 for Community and 81 for Physical. The poverty rate stands at *16.9%* and the unemployment rate hot *10%* in 2**13/*2014*. In *2009* it was over *17%*. There are *569.6* violent crimes per 100, 000 in this community and this is one of the highest levels across the country. *17.5%* of residents use food stamps to live on. Michigan is the *9th* most miserable state in the USA also.
*8. Columbus, OH*
The scores here stood at 94, 96, 80, 69 and 91 respectively for the 5 criteria. The poverty rate in this community stands at *14.8%* and the unemployment rate currently stands at just *4.4%*, which is surprising since the residents do not perceive themselves to be happy. There is an adult obesity rate that works out to over *30%* of the population in this community. Nearly *15%* of the residents have to resort to using food stamps to live. The national average is nearer *13%* today.
*7. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton, PA*
This community is the 7^th unhappiest in the country with scores ranging from 51 to 98 for the five elements. The poverty rate in this community stands at *15.5%* and the adult obesity rate is at nearly *30%*. There are over *232* crimes that are considered to be violent for every *100, 000* registered. The typical household income stands at *$45, 333* per annum. Roughly *20%* of the population has an alcohol-related addiction.
*6. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL*
This community has one off the highest scores for Physical well-being, standing at 94, meaning that it is the least likely community to have enough energy to do what needs to be done on a daily basis. Poverty rates here stand at *16.2%* and the unemployment rate is currently *5.9%*. There are *392.*7 violent crimes per *100, 000* that take place. Nearly *20%* of those that are resident here do not possess health cover or health insurance and nearly a quarter of the residents smoke. Over *25%* of the children there were considered to be living in poverty and as such is one of the highest figures nationwide.
*5. Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN*
This community has scores ranging from *67* to *99*, making it the fifth worst community to live in nationwide and part of the lowest quintile of the study. The poverty rate here stands at more than *15%* and the obesity rate is at *30.7%.*
*4. Dayton, OH. *
The poverty rate stands at *16.4%* and the adult obesity rate stands at nearly *30%* also. There are more than *270* violent crimes per hundred thousand crimes recorded. Between 20*1*0 and *2014*, the population of this community only grew by *0.1%*. *40%* of households are made up of one-parent families. It has a figure of *98* for Physical meaning that just *2%* of the population believes that they have enough energy to get their daily tasks done.
*3. Knoxville, TN*
This community has a poverty rate of *17.5%* and an obesity rate that stands at over *30%*. The national median household income stands at *$52, 250*, while the median income here is only at *$45,051*. All people interviewed for the study reported not having enough energy to complete their daily tasks or ill health that prevented them from doing so. Purpose only scored 98, meaning that people do not consider at all that they have a purpose in life or a goal to achieve.
*2. Toledo, OH*
The poverty rate stands at *19.5%* and there are* 530.3* violent crimes per hundred thousand crimes reported. *20%* of residents here lived in poverty in *2013* and the median income stood at *$42, 792*. Nobody has a feeling of pride for the community and nobody feels safe and secure living in this community (score of *100*).
*1. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA*
This is the community with the lowest feeling of well-being in the country. It scores *100* for both Purpose and Social aspects and *99* for Community. The poverty rate stands at over *17%* and obesity at over *31%*. The community saw a reduction in its community residents when the population shrank by *2.1%*, which was one of the largest falls in population in *2014* for a US community.
The people on the sad list are less likely to be proud of the community that they live in. People in the happy list are *18%* more likely to feel a sense of pride about their communities.
*International Happiness*
So what is happiness? A good life? Don’t forget *Thomas Jefferson*’s universal right of the “pursuit of happiness” in *1776* in the *United States Declaration of Independence*. Why are we so set on finding out whether we are happy or not? Jefferson took the idea of the pursuit of happiness and its ability to create a free society, and a democracy, from John Lo>“The necessity of pursuing happiness [is] the foundation of liberty. As therefore the highest perfection of intellectual nature lies in a careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness; so the care of ourselves, that we mistake not imaginary for real happiness, is the necessary foundation of our liberty. The stronger ties we have to an unalterable pursuit of happiness in general, which is our greatest good, and which, as such, our desires always follow, the more are we free from any necessary determination of our will to any particular action…”.
For Locke and for Jefferson, the pursuit of happiness meant freedom. It meant not merely the pursuit of pleasure and property, self-interest and the solid pleasures in society, but the freedom to be able to decide. How far do we remember that goal that was the definition of happiness in the beginning?
Perhaps sometimes some that govern us have forgotten that the universal right to happiness should still exist as the right of every citizen in this country and not just the chosen few. If we look further afield in the international rankings of where we would be happiest? According to the *World Happiness Report* published by the *United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network*, edited by the *University of British Columbia* and the *Canadian Institute for Advanced Research*, then we would have to go to one of these top countries today. Who’s ready to move there?
On a scale of ** to *10* there are six categories according to the research that are taken into account when looking at happiness levels in different countries. They are:
1. Real *GDP* per capita
2. Healthy *life expectancy*
3. *Counting* on someone
4. Perceived freedom of *choices* in life
5. Freedom from *corruption*
6. *Generosity*
*2015 International Happiness Rankings*
1. *Switzerland* 7.587
2. *Iceland* 7.561
3. *Denmark* 7.527
4. *Norway* 7.522
5. *Canada* 7.427
6. *Finland* 7.406
7. *Netherlands* 7.389
8. *Sweden* 7.378
9. *New* *Zealand* 7.364
10. *Australia* 7.350
The *United States* comes in only at *17^th* position with a score of *7.082* and the *United Kingdom* is in *22^nd* position with a ranking of *6.883*.
Comparing cross-culturally the measurement of someone’s perceived happiness is not easy at all. Happiness by definition is subjective. Naturally, there are some elements that are purely objective such as life expectancy and *GDP* growth. But, the perceived freedom of choices is hard to measure from one country to another as is the freedom from corruption. Corruption can only be measured when we truly see the transparency of society and when we know everything that is taking place. Money can only buy you happiness when it is a means of providing subsistence. However, studies show that once we go beyond subsistence money generates very little happiness in the *spender*. This is known as the *Easterlin paradox*. High earners have already been shown to have greater life satisfaction (*Kahneman* and *Deaton*, *2010*) in their personal opinion, but they emotional well-being on a daily basis is not affected by the growth in salary beyond a salary of *$75, 000* per annum.
But, Spectrum’s Millionaire’s Corner had research carried out that showed: “Happiness rises steadily with net worth, according to our results. Less than one-fourth of investors with a net worth of less than $100,000 (not including primary residence) rated their happiness as a nine or a ten. Compare that to 44 percent for Millionaires with a net worth of $5 million or more.” That’s not surprising however coming from the Millionaire’s Corner, is it?
Many have already shown that happiness doesn’t come from money. But, few have actually concentrated on the fact that money can certainly make you feel less sad. But, recently in *2015* findings were published that showed that there really is a relationship between feeling less sad and having more money. The findings were made public by *Kostadin Kushlev* and reported in an article entitled ‘Higher Income Is Associated with Less Daily Sadness but not More Daily Happiness’. The wealthier feel perhaps not happier, but they certainly feel less sad and perceive that they have a better life once they have money.
*What would make you perceive greater happiness? * Reported by Zero Hedge 14 hours ago.
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