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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (117329)	12/19/2008 10:19:49 PM
From: Skeeter Bug	3 Recommendations Respond to of 132070

Knighty, i'm going to disagree. 59% of the CA budget goes to schools. that's $59 billion, or $11k per student, per year. that's $275k per classroom per year. that's PLENTY OF MONEY. in fact, it is too much. my kid goes to a good, no frills private school for just over HALF that amount. the school murderers are... 1. the school administration 2. the teacher's union 3. millions of kids who don't speak english well. LA unified gets a metric ton of cash and HALF the student fail to graduate - at $11k a pop. now, when they go out and blow $200 million on a payroll system that they can't get to work correctly after two years of trying... and they build uninhabitable schools on land fills (uncle benny the construction guy made out, though!), you begin to see what is destroying the schools in CA. it IS NOT lack of tax money. in fact, schools are getting over 30% MORE MONEY, in spite of enrollment DROPPING 5%. they are flush with cash. it is too simple to equate more dollars with better education. that's emotional thinking, not rational thinking. that's hopeful thinking, not realistic thinking. heck, $60k a year for working 9 months with mega holidays and good benefits FOR LIFE... that ends up being more than many degreed engineers are making - and the non state engineers don't get medical and a retirement for life.

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (117329)	12/19/2008 10:22:24 PM
From: Skeeter Bug	Respond to of 132070

i thought this was a good listen worth sharing... a1135.g.akamai.net

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (117329)	12/20/2008 2:39:12 AM
From: Skeeter Bug	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

knighty, as for cash in wheelbarrows, what can one do to protect themselves besides invest in a wheelbarrow business. i hear to buy real estate as it will eventually inflate. however, real estate deflation is punishing right now. other people say to put it in the market as it will inflate. however, the market is still well above historical trailing PE ratios and earnings are about to collapse. i have a fair amount of cash doing the money market thing, but i'm thinking that will become worth a LOT less as this scenario plays out. iow, i don't see anything to do that will make me feel protected from the coming onslaught. i don't feel too comfortable dumping all my cash into CEF, either. what to do... what to do... fyi, i found this CEF premium calculator... silveranalysis.com