January 23, 2012 at 10:55 am by Jonathan Kantrowitz
(His headline, not mine – it’s a nice honorific I suppose- I wonder who granted it?)
Here’s his press release:
CEO of Comeback America Initiative, and former U.S. Comptroller General, challenges nation’s leaders to be candid with the American people
BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Jan. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — President Obama and his team are finalizing his State of the Union address. Each line, each word, each inflection will be tailored, polished, vetted. But that doesn’t ensure that he will say all that needs to be said to the American people. For instance, every President loves to begin his State of the Union with a ringing declaration that “the state of our union is strong.”
This year, that statement would be false. And it is more false now than ever before, because of our calamitous financial situation.
Today, former U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker, who is now CEO of the Comeback America Initiative, called upon President Obama to be candid about the true state of our nation. Walker released his “Fiscal State of the Union,” spotlighting 5 critical things he hopes we will hear the president say.
The video addresses five main points.
First, the President should acknowledge that the State of the Union is NOT good and it hasn’t been for several years now, including in the final years of President George W. Bush’s presidency.
Second, he needs to make it clear that we can’t put our fiscal house in order without significant reforms to both our social insurance programs and our present tax system. It’s simple math. Everything must be on the table.
Third, the President must tell us that the cost of our current healthcare programs is the one thing that could bankrupt this country, and that reforms to-date have not adequately addressed out of control health care costs.
Fourth, he needs to put to rest claims that any cuts in defense will jeopardize our national security.
Finally, the President needs to call the political system what it is: totally dysfunctional.
“At BNT we understand that buying your first home can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Homeownership is the key to building individual wealth, security and stability. We are thrilled that the foundation will support our program to help families and ensure success in homeownership for the long term,” said BNT Executive Director Elizabeth Torres.
The $15,000 grant for its home-ownership counseling program will pay for staff that help first-time home buyers achieve homeownership. BNT provides group education and one on one homeownership counseling tailored to meet each client’s needs. The program covers all aspects of home buying program including the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing a home, determining affordability, the mortgage and the closing process. Since 2002, BNT helped almost 400 households achieve homeownership and provided counseling to more 1000 participants. In 2011, BNT served more than 400 clients, of which 59 clients achieved homeownership and closed on a total of $8,708,473 in mortgages with an additional 60 clients that are under contract to purchase or pre-approved for a total of $7,929,069. In addition there are 54 “mortgage ready” clients.
The mission of Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust (BNT) is to strengthen communities by embracing a comprehensive revitalization approach through advocacy, education, investment, and technical support. To meet this challenge BNT develops affordable housing, creates healthy homes with a focus on lead remediation, and provides comprehensive homeownership counseling. BNT has been busy working in Bridgeport for nearly twenty-five years and understands firsthand the needs of the city and the importance of collaboration to create neighborhoods of choice where families want to live, work and invest.
The Fairfield County Community Foundation promotes the growth of community and regional philanthropy to improve the quality of life throughout Fairfield County. Individuals, families, corporations and organizations can establish charitable funds and contribute to existing funds. The Foundation also provides philanthropic advisory services, and develops and leads initiatives to tackle critical community issues. It is in compliance with the Council on Foundations’ national standards for community foundations. The Foundation has awarded over $135 million in grants to nonprofits in Fairfield County and beyond.
Romney’s claims about the cost-effectiveness of the for-profit college industry, which has made significant donations to his campaign, are clearly at odds with reality, according to information on the website, www.ForProfitU.org. Tuition, debt loads, and loan default rates run far higher at for-profits than at traditional schools and the sector is disproportionately contributing to the nation’s student debt crisis. Despite the fact that approximately one in ten college students attend for-profits, nearly half of all federal student loan defaults occur there.
As The New York Times reported earlier this week, Romney received $2,500 from Todd S. Nelson, CEO of Education Management Corporation (EDMC). With some of the highest tuition rates in the industry, the 105 schools operated by EDMC—including The Art Institutes, Argosy University, Brown Mackie College, and South University—are highlighted on the site.
For-profits are facing increased scrutiny. Under the leadership of U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Congress has launched a broad investigation of the sector. The Department of Justice and attorneys general in five states and the District of Columbia are suing EDMC under the False Claims Act for its marketing and recruiting practices and earlier this month The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette named Nelson “one of the most influential people in business 2011,” describing him as “a central figure in a congressional investigation of education companies that receive up to 90 percent of their profits from taxpayer dollars.” Schools owned by EDMC, itself owned by Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs, Providence Equity Partners, and Leeds Equity Partners, have been the target of Occupy Wall Street protests in Miami, Pittsburgh, and Tampa.
Through the website and other educational efforts, SEIU hopes to limit student debt, prevent for-profit schools from targeting minorities and veterans through deceptive recruiting practices, end the waste and abuse of federal education money, and ensure high standards of employment and contracting.
January 19, 2012 at 9:48 am by Jonathan Kantrowitz
Connecticut Voices recommends reforms to improve stability of fund
Flaws in the funding mechanism for Connecticut’s unemployment insurance trust fund and in its standard for adequate funding have left the state unprepared for economic recessions and contributed to the insolvency of the trust fund, according to a new report, “Connecticut’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund: A Splintering Work Support,” prepared by Connecticut Voices for Children. As Connecticut’s unemployment insurance trust fund faced increased demand during the economic recession, it began paying out benefits at a rate that far exceeded the rate at which employers were paying into the system, leading the State Department of Labor to declare the fund insolvent in October 2009. Since then, the state has had to borrow over $800 million from the federal government just to stay current on legally-obligated unemployment payments. Interest costs from this debt result in higher charges for employers.
The analysis by Connecticut Voices for Children, a research-based think tank, finds:
· Connecticut’s failure to keep its employer-paid unemployment taxes in step with growing wages has contributed to the insolvency of the state’s trust fund. Connecticut’s “taxable wage base,” the amount of each employee’s wages that is subject to employer-paid taxes, is capped at $15,000 and has not increased since 1999. Of the 16 states that indexed their taxable wage base to the growth in wages prior to the last recession, two-thirds (11) avoided the need to borrow from the federal government to pay benefits.
· Connecticut’s standard for an adequate unemployment trust fund balance leaves the state unprepared for economic recessions. The state’s current standard for its balance total is based on a percentage of total wages in the state. Many other states plan for a trust fund balance that is adequate to pay a year of benefits during an average recession. Of the 17 states that met this higher standard prior to the last recession, three-quarters (13) were debt-free in the third quarter of 2011. In contrast, of the 33 states that fell short of this standard, 24 had to borrow money from the federal government to cover their benefit costs.
· Connecticut’s insolvency problem is not the result of its unemployment benefit levels, which are among the lowest in the country. In Connecticut, the average unemployment benefit recipient only receives 28 percent of their previous wages replaced in benefits, ranking the state’s benefit levels 45th in the nation.
· Unemployment taxes in the state are in the middle of the pack nationally. Connecticut ranks 23rd in the Nation on the tax rate on total wages charged to employers and 26th on the maximum employer contribution per employee.
As the report indicates, unemployment insurance is an essential support for many Connecticut families. Nearly 150,000 workers are unemployed in Connecticut, and nearly half of Connecticut’s unemployed have been out of work for six months or more — the 5th highest rate of long term unemployment in the country, according to Connecticut Voices.
“Unemployment payments are essential in helping jobless workers to pay rent, keep current on the mortgage, and buy groceries,” said Matt Santacroce, author of the report and Policy Fellow at Connecticut Voices for Children. “By modernizing Connecticut’s unemployment insurance system through some common sense reforms, we can preserve this vital protection for families.”
To avoid future funding problems in the unemployment insurance system, Connecticut Voices recommends increasing employer contributions to better match the growth in wages and adopting a higher standard for the adequacy of the trust fund balance.
“We know that economic recessions will inevitably create additional strains on the unemployment trust fund,” said Sharon Langer, Senior Policy Fellow at Connecticut Voices for Children. “We need to plan ahead and establish funding standards that recognize this reality and avoid additional borrowing costs that will be passed on to employers.”
