Politics Notes 11/2011

December 1, 2011

Monthly Notes:

Obama is becoming known as the “Deportation President”, more have been deported under Obama so far than under Bush
Members of Congress have net worth of over $2B
Corporate tax breaks cost government $102B in lost revenue when the deficit was $1.3T
Average effective tax rate for corporations from 2008-2010 was only 18.5%
Reagan signed highest & largest corporate tax hike in history
Average income for the bottom 90% is $31,244
From 1992-2007 the top 400 people’s income went up 392% while their taxes went down 37%
Median net worth of American families: $120K, median net worth of members of Congress: $912K
In 1979 the average college grad made 38% more than the average highschool grad, in 2010 the average college grad made 75% more than the average highschool grad
Households 65 or older have 47 times the networth of people under 35
The richest three people have more financial assets than the lowest 48 nations combined
Galveston Bay, Texas… enough said
Tuition up 8.3% from last year
There is over $1T of student debt
Bush approved 643 rules during his first 33 months in office, Obama only 613
26% of small business owners cited poor sales as their top problem, not regulations
Less than 1% of the unemployed claimed they were fired because of regulations
25% of households the woman makes 10% or more than the man
Top .1% of the nation earn one half (50%) of the capital gains
$2B a week spent on Afghanistan

The three government agencies Rick Perry wants to cut:

1. Department Of Commerce:

US Patent & Trademark Office - without which we would have no way to ensure inventors intellectual property so they could not benefit from their innovations which would make people less likely to invent
US Census Bureau - lets leaders and policy makers determine housing, roads, and ultilities their communities need
National Weather Service - issues crucial warnings about the weather and evacuations

2. Department Of Energy: