All Discussions Tagged 'economy' - Classroom 2.02024-03-28T08:41:44Zhttps://www.classroom20.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=economy&feed=yes&xn_auth=noProposal to help our economytag:www.classroom20.com,2009-02-27:649749:Topic:3002352009-02-27T14:22:32.892ZDurffhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/mrsdurff
When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers must find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well. Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus. Our government should not be immune from similar risks. Therefore:<br />
• Reduce the House of Representatives from…
When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers must find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well. Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus. Our government should not be immune from similar risks. Therefore:<br />
• Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members.<br />
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• Reduce Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State). Then, reduce their staff by 25%.<br />
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• Accomplish this over the next 8 years (two steps/two elections) and of course this would require some redistricting.<br />
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Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:<br />
• $44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay/member/ yr.)<br />
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• $97,175,000 for elimination of their staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each member of the Senate every year)<br />
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• $240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.<br />
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• $7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/yr).<br />
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The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country! We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.<br />
Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established. (telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)<br />
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems. Also, we have 3 senators that have not been doing their jobs for the past 18+ months (on the campaign trail) and still they all have been accepting full pay. These facts alone support a reduction in senators & congress.<br />
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Summary of opportunity:<br />
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• $ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members.<br />
• $282,100, 000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.<br />
• $150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.<br />
• $59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.<br />
• $37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.<br />
• $7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.<br />
• $8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION just to start!)<br />
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Big business does these types of cuts all the time. If Congresspersons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits, tax payers could save a bundle. Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE term.<br />
IF you are happy with how Congress spends our taxes, delete this message. Otherwise, then I assume you know what to do. Teaching the Stimulustag:www.classroom20.com,2009-02-16:649749:Topic:2930432009-02-16T19:27:11.602ZLizzyhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/Lizzy
Are you concerned about teaching the economy?<br />
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The PBS NewsHour is hosting a forum on teaching the stimulus. Please ask your teachers to submit their toughest questions <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/education/jan-june09/stimulus_02-11.html">here</a>!<br />
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What really is the fastest way to inject cash into the economy? What is pork and what is stimulus? Can spending on infrastructure and schools get us out of this financial crisis? Where is the money coming from? Can students see the…
Are you concerned about teaching the economy?<br />
<br />
The PBS NewsHour is hosting a forum on teaching the stimulus. Please ask your teachers to submit their toughest questions <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/education/jan-june09/stimulus_02-11.html">here</a>!<br />
<br />
What really is the fastest way to inject cash into the economy? What is pork and what is stimulus? Can spending on infrastructure and schools get us out of this financial crisis? Where is the money coming from? Can students see the stimulus in their own communities? How can students get accurate information and apply it to what they are learning in economics, civics and math classes?<br />
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Submit your questions to our economic experts <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/education/jan-june09/stimulus_02-11.html">here</a>! as they explain the stimulus and offer creative teaching strategies for it.<br />
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This news story will be the biggest of the year, so join the discussion to better understand and teach it as three teacher experts are taking your questions.<br />
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Check back Friday, February 20th to read their answers. Thousands of video lecturestag:www.classroom20.com,2009-02-03:649749:Topic:2837192009-02-03T06:52:14.498ZDon Robinsonhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/DonRobinson
Thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars all consolidated on one site. Another example of how Web 2.0 is transforming how we learn. Very unique website for those who are interested in quality video content offered by some of the worlds top university professors.<br />
<a href="http://www.academicearth.org/">http://www.academicearth.org/</a>
Thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars all consolidated on one site. Another example of how Web 2.0 is transforming how we learn. Very unique website for those who are interested in quality video content offered by some of the worlds top university professors.<br />
<a href="http://www.academicearth.org/">http://www.academicearth.org/</a> Economic Current Events, Economic Historytag:www.classroom20.com,2008-10-10:649749:Topic:1984732008-10-10T17:16:27.997ZLynn Marentettehttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/LynnMarentette
I created a blog, <a href="http://econsoundsandsights.blogspot.com"><br />
Economic Sounds and Sights</a>, to share information regarding the events surrounding our current economic crisis.<br />
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My first goal was to gather information to support my own understanding. My second goal was to create a place to store digital media and related links that could be incorporated into a collaborative interactive multimedia time-line. As everyone now knows, the crisis has spiraled all around the globe, and even…
I created a blog, <a href="http://econsoundsandsights.blogspot.com"><br />
Economic Sounds and Sights</a>, to share information regarding the events surrounding our current economic crisis.<br />
<br />
My first goal was to gather information to support my own understanding. My second goal was to create a place to store digital media and related links that could be incorporated into a collaborative interactive multimedia time-line. As everyone now knows, the crisis has spiraled all around the globe, and even wisest of all economists do not understand the complexity.<br />
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Feel free to share the information on the blog with your students. I am not an economist. Although one of my undergraduate majors was Social Science, the economic landscape of the times was much different than what we are living through at the moment.<br />
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If your specialty relates to economics in any way, please contact me, as I'm looking for a few people who would like to contribute to the blog.