Monthly Archives: July 2011

The Debt: CNN Poll

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CNN posted polling results: “Debt ceiling deal should include cuts and tax increases”
The story by CNN’s Rebecca Stewart

“According to a CBS News Poll released Monday, 66 percent of Americans say an agreement to raise the amount of money the nation can borrow should include both spending cuts and tax increases.

More than half of Republicans say the agreement should be balanced and roughly seven out of ten Democrats and independents say the same. More tea party supporters also agree, since 53 percent say any deal should include both spending cuts and tax increases.

Republicans and adults who identify with the tea party are more likely than Democrats or independents to support a plan that only includes spending cuts. Almost four in 10 Republicans favor using spending cuts alone to reduce the deficit and 44 percent of tea party supporters agree. Twenty percent of Democrats would leave tax increases out of a debt ceiling deal and include cuts only; 28 percent of independents say the same.”

Methodology: The CBS New Poll was conducted by telephone among 810 adults nationwide from July 15-17. It has a sampling error of plus or minus four points.

Will Congress reflect these views? We will know soon, as the clock is ticking down.

See article: Debt Ceiling Poll

Wealth Gap Grows%

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Pew published this article:
Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics Twenty-to-One

By Rakesh Kochhar, Richard Fry and Paul Taylor, Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends
July 26, 2011

“The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available government data from 2009.

PEW: Wealth Gap 2009 vs 2005

These lopsided wealth ratios are the largest since the government began publishing such data a quarter century ago and roughly twice the size of the ratios that had prevailed between these three groups for the two decades prior to the Great Recession that ended in 2009.

How is net worth defined? It is assets minus debts. Given the collapsing housing market, many people’s assets ain’t what they used to be. In addition, some people are finding that carrying debt is costing more now that interest rates credit companies can charge has been deregulated. At 20% or more, getting out of debt will be hard, even if the economy begins to provide enough jobs for everyone who wants one.

PEW also noted that the losses in net wealth has been greater among blacks and Hispanics.

PEW writes:
“From 2005 to 2009, the median level of home equity held by Hispanic homeowners declined by half — from $99,983 to $49,145 — while the homeownership rate among Hispanics was also falling, from 51% to 47%. A geographic analysis suggests the reason: A disproportionate share of Hispanics live in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, which were in the vanguard of the housing real estate market bubble of the 1990s and early 2000s but that have since been among the states experiencing the steepest declines in housing values.

White and black homeowners also saw the median value of their home equity decline during this period, but not by as much as Hispanics. Among white homeowners, the decline was from $115,364 in 2005 to $95,000 in 2009. Among black homeowners, it was from $76,910 in 2005 to $59,000 in 2009. There was little or no change during this period in the homeownership rate for whites and blacks; it fell from 47% to 46% among blacks and was unchanged at 74% among whites.”

To read the article: see:
Wealth Gap Article

I’m Back!

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Moving and selling my home pushed the “to do” to overwhelm, leaving no time to blog. Now that I’m settled in Portland Oregon, I will return to blogging–posting research studies that are of interest to public administrators, political junkies and public policy advocates. Stay tuned!