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Equal Pay Now! - Part 1

3/19/2019

 
What can be fairer than equal pay?

What would equal pay look like?

How this can easily be done with a simplified tax code.

What can be done until laws are changed?

Given the pain many Americans suffered with the 2008 recession and things heating up for the 2020 election, what can be done to help the majority of our workers?

Until Congress passes legislation to create a Department of Fairness, there's actually a lot we can do to achieve equal pay.

Let's see what equal pay would be.

All pay is reported to the government. The Social Security Administration produces an annual report of wage statistics.

The current report is for 2017 which is where our numbers come from. The 2018 report is due in October. (link to report)

The average pay of 165,438,239 workers is $48,251.57 or roughly $4,020 per month or $928 per week (before taxes, Social Security, and Medicare deductions).

Over two-thirds of workers (67.4%) make less than this.

Looking at the top 25 highest paying jobs (link to article) - there just aren't enough job openings (less than 60,000) to give the remaining 165 million a shot of bettering themselves.

The only fair thing to do is have every worker earn ​$48,251.57.

Since everyone makes the same pay, this would simplify taxes. Rather than multiple deductions (taxes, Social Security, and Medicare) - we can have just one deduction to pay for all levels of government.

Government spending is currently running a bit over $7 trillion (link to debt clock).

Since a balanced budget is desirable - this works out to $42,311.86 per worker
($7,000,000,000,000 / 165,438,239).

So after paying for government, every worker will equally be left with $5,939.71 (about $495/mo or $114 per week).

Until we have the Department of Fairness, we'll just have to settle for the current taxing structure - even it that means more debt for now.

What else can we do in the mean time?

Bill Gates (article link) and Warren Buffett (article link) both agree they aren't paying enough in taxes. Fortunately, there's an easy fix - all they have to do is write a check to the government (instructions here).

President Trump has already donated his salary to various agencies.

Congress can at least reduce their pay to $48,251.57 just to show how fair and patriotic they are.

As Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi makes the most at $223,500 - so she can donate $175,248.43. Most Senators and Representatives make $174,000 meaning they can donate $125,748.43 for fairness. Socialist champions Bernie and AOC, being leaders, should do this immediately.

All other government workers at all levels should do the same because that's what patriots do.

Imagine union workers and leaders making their patriotic fair share.

Think of all those patriotic professors and college coaches taking only their fair share. That would reduce the cost of college making education more affordable.

Think of all those patriotic professional athletes only taking their fair share. That would allow for lower ticket prices where ordinary people could afford to go to the game again.

Think of all the patriotic performers earning their fair share. You could afford to go to the movies and concerts more often.

Think of all the patriotic media members working for their fair share - making news more affordable.

Think of all the patriotic medical staff, lawyers, and tech workers accepting only their fair share - making these services more affordable.

It wouldn't take much for the one-third of workers doing their patriotic duty, allowing the other two-thirds to make their fair share.

While contracts are being changed, Congress can change the tax code to collect all income over $928/week, which could then be passed on at tax filing time to make up the fair pay for the majority of workers.

But what about other income - business, investment, and retirement. What about children and people that can't work?

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Resources for USA Prepares - February 22nd

2/22/2019

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Valentine’s Day Retail Massacre

​The Lies Have It

Poor Chicago

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Valentine’s Day Retail Massacre

2/18/2019

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This news was posted on the 14th:

​US Retail Sales Collapse In December: Biggest Drop In A Decade

Those are official numbers and are troubling enough, but my experience leading up to that article has me really concerned about what we'll see for February.

As with many of you, I order products through Amazon and Walmart. I've been a Prime member for quite a while just to get the free 2 day shipping. Over the years, some of those "2 days" have been 3 days.

My general experience is that orders are delivered on the expected day supplied at the time of order.

I placed an order on 2/8 at Walmart for in-store pickup. Part of the order was due on 2/12 with the rest on 2/14. Both parts arrived a day early on 2/11 and 2/13.

That by itself was unusual, but not too concerning.

I'd placed an order with Amazon on 2/9 for locker pickup with free 4 day shipping. I could've had free 2 day shipping, but I wanted to combine the pickup in my trip to pickup the Walmart order.

It was delivered the next day (2/10) - three days early!!! The order wasn't even half the amount needed to qualify for free next day delivery.

I made another order from Walmart on 2/13 with free 2 day delivery to my door. It arrived unexpectedly the next day.

Three orders with all parts delivered early.

This tells me that order volume is so low that orders are being processed before they normally would be.

Then those orders are passed to delivery. Faster delivery always costs more, but these are making it through the logistics channel earlier than they should (at standard rates).

It's just my experience, but when the February Retail report is released, don't be surprised if it's like the down side of a roller coaster.


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The Lies Have It

2/7/2019

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Do you know how horrific the latest jobs report was?

Get it here to see the numbers for yourself:
​https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Table B-1 (page 33 of the PDF) is where the action is.

The far right of the top line is where you find the "fantastic" news that 304,000 jobs were created in January.

The BLS counts on you not reading its BS and sadly this administration isn't any better than the last one in giving us the real employment (or financial) situation.

It's true the real numbers are released - if you know where to find them and how to read them.

For those of you that haven't had to do any modeling, let me briefly talk about Seasonally Adjusted. You probably understand that there are a lot of flowers sold in February, fireworks in July, and toys in December.

Businesses like to make projections. It helps for planning things like purchasing inventory and adjusting personnel levels.

If you were a toy company forecasting January sales just based on what happened during the 4th quarter, you'd be off quite a bit because sales of toys drop in January. Seasonal adjustments are a way of smoothing the data so that better forecasting can be done.

Back to the jobs report - notice that those 304k jobs is a seasonally adjusted number. While on the right side take note the the jobs gain from November to December is 222,000. That makes 526,000 new jobs in the last two months. Aren't times great?

Look at the columns on the left for the non-seasonally adjusted data. That's what what we see in real life.

The number of employed for the last 3 months:
November: ​151,375
December: 151,182
January: 148,201

Let me do that math for you.
In December we lost 193,000 jobs.
For January the loss was 2,981,000.
Total jobs lost the last two months - nearly 3.2 million.

The difference between the reported gain and the actual loss is 3,700,000 - I ran the numbers twice as it seemed odd that it should be such a round number.

So, how good do you feel about 3.2 million people losing their jobs?

But John, there was a partial shutdown of the government - that explains the losses.

Take a look on PDF page 36 on the line Federal, except U.S. Postal Service.

You'll see a loss of 4,500 jobs for December and 3,900 jobs for January. That's less than 9k jobs out of the 3.2 million loss.

While you have the PDF open, look at table A on page 9.

The top line reads Civilian noninstitutional population. Page 6 explains this is an annual adjustment that Census provides BLS. This shows 800,000 less population than the Census Bureau was projecting for this time from a year ago.

This reduction in population growth is stunning. The economic and demographic impacts are well beyond what we can discuss here. Just be aware - it isn't good.

Have a nice day.
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Poor Chicago

2/6/2019

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If you know anyone that lives in Chicago or Illinois - Please pass this information to them so they can decide if they want to move while times are still "good".

Most of you know how brutal it was in Chicago last week with temperatures well below zero and outlandish wind chills that made Antarctica seem mild.

It may be a bit ironic that Chicago based Truth in Accounting released their latest Financial State of the Cities report last week as well... and that information was just as chilling.

63 of America's top 75 cities are broke. Chicago came in #2 (NYC being the winner - or is that loser) with obligations of $36k per resident.

TIA's most recent report on States show Illinois at #3 with Massachusetts and Kentucky being the top 2. Illinoisans are on the hook for nearly $51k each.

Those are the amounts that would have to be collected today and invested (earning interest) just to meet pension and healthcare promises (assuming assumptions are valid).

That's why there's already an Exodus from Illinois (which reduces the taxpayer base and makes the whole situation worse).

For Chicago, their combined state and local obligations amount to $85,600 per person. Congratulations Chicago - you're the brokest city in America.

For further details click here.
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Resources for USA Prepares - January 23rd

1/23/2019

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48% Of Workers Earn Less Than $30,000

Amazon Report Shows Difficulty In Retail

Social Security Cuts - Ripple Effect

Fertility Rate - Why Economic "Growth" Is Over

Oil Yourself Right

​Fermentation Demo

Another Gut - Brain Connection

debt_interest.xlsx
File Size: 12 kb
File Type: xlsx
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Resources for USA Prepares - January 16th

1/15/2019

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To Freeze Or To Fraud, That Is The Question

Are We Due For A Micronova? (Video Playlist)

Flashback - Before The 2008 Crisis
​
Zombies R Us

What Happens When The Government Can Only Afford Interest?

Medical School Nutrition Education Lacking

Long Reaching Impact - The Sins Of The Father (And Mother) 


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Free PDF - Financial Summary / Voter Education

11/5/2018

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Most voters go to the polls knowing little more than what they hear from campaign ads.

The Financial State of the Union provides the understanding of what our condition is without the political grandstanding. I've made a 3 page executive summary from my book that can be shared with your family and friends so they can make an informed decision - not only about whom to vote for, but to better position yourself for the coming financial reset.

Too many promises have been made (government programs, pensions) and too much debt has accumulated to avoid a painful reset of the system.

Please share this post by email and on social media - even after election day - this problem is not going away.

Direct Link To This Post

financial_summary.pdf
File Size: 243 kb
File Type: pdf
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Resources for USA Prepares - October 3rd

10/3/2018

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Today's Discussion Items:

​US Debt Clock

​FY 2018 Debt

(video) Jerry Tennant: Healing is Voltage -- The Physics of Emotions | EU2017

Fatal Flaws of Cryptocurrencies 

Walk-in Lab Current Specials


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Resources for USA Prepares - August 31st

8/31/2018

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Economy:

CIA World Factbook
Debt to the Penny
IRS Tax Stats
US Debt Clock

Health:

(Video) Dr Levy - Iron and Gluten
(Video) DIY Hydrogen Water

Lab Tests:

Walk-In Lab is running a 15% off sale through 9/4 @ Midnight PDT with coupon code WORK. If you use the link in this post I receive a small commission - it does not affect the price you pay.

Some tests you may want to consider (click here to order):

Serum Ferritin - Iron Storage

A1C - Average Blood Sugar Over 2-3 Months

Fasting Blood Glucose - Current Blood Sugar vs A1C average

Fasting Insulin - Insulin goes out of control before Glucose

2 Hour Glucose/Insulin - Shows how your body recovers after eating

25-Hydroxy - Vitamin D Level

High Sensitivity CRP - Inflammation

Walk-In Lab
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