Paul Ryan’s view of economy is far distant from most others’
August 30, 2012 4:06PM
Updated: October 1, 2012 5:42PM
Paul Ryan’s view of economy is far distant from most others’
Paul Ryan is a one-percenter.
His congressional salary is $174,000, and he has disclosed 2010 investment income between $168,000 and $1,200,000 annually. (The range above is cooked onto the system for financial disclosures by congressmen and women.)
Assuming an average return of 7 percent suggests something between $2,400,000 and $17,000,000 of investment assets for the Ryans.
Ryan’s view of the economic challenges faced by middle-class people is from a distance of dramatic proportion: Median household net worth in the United States in 2007 — the year before the bottom fell out — was $126,000.
By definition, half of the households in the country had household net worth less than $126,000. At a 7 percent return, $126,000 would produce annual income of $8,820. And to repeat, half of U.S. households have smaller net wealth, and therefore smaller potential investment income than $8,820.
Ryan and his wife enjoy between 19 and 136 times more household net wealth than the median Joe and Jane.
It is not class warfare to point these figures out. They suggest that without Social Security, half the households in the country have little hope of affording retirement, ever. And don’t even mention health insurance premiums.
Ryan should deal with these numbers. He should lay out retirement budgets for Americans in the lower 50 percent net worth population for this year, next year and through the years that our children will be facing these challenges.
If he is unable to do this, my bet is the reason will be that he can’t.
Alfred Y. Kirkland Jr.
Elgin
Federal budget ‘sequestration’ a recipe for Illinois school disaster
Investing in education is a proven strategy to improve our economy. However, with only a few months before devastating budget cuts — known as sequestration — may take effect, Congress needs to work together to stop these cuts from occurring.
The failure of the Super Committee to pass a balanced budget deal has created a course of action that will hinder our nation’s efforts to improve the economy and strengthen our global competitiveness. Estimates indicate these across-the-board budget cuts could be as large as 8 percent. Allowing these cuts to occur would slash an estimated $4 billion from federal education funding that aims to improve student outcomes.
Locally, sequestration could result in a potential $125.6 million federal budget cut for Illinois schools, affecting at least 162,010 students, and the potential loss of 1,180 or more jobs. These cuts — in addition to a $208 million cut in state funding, and a potential shift of state pension costs to local districts — could be disastrous for students and families in Illinois.
I am deeply concerned with the efforts in Congress to protect only defense spending from sequestration. This move would place additional burden on the remaining programs open to the across-the-board cuts, such as education. Congress must work to find a balanced, targeted approach that will reduce the impact of these cuts to education. Spending on education is not the cause of the nation’s deficit.
The building leaders and educators of the Illinois Principals Association strongly encourage the Illinois congressional delegation to work with their colleagues to stop federal budget sequestration and work to find solutions to avoid devastating cuts to K-12 education in Illinois and across the country.
Kathleen Schneiter
Plainfield
