Much the same in health care, with World Health Organization director Margaret Chan summarizing the role of money in global decision-making: “My budget [is] highly earmarked, so it is driven by what I call donor interests.”
2. A Prime Destroyer of Low-Income Homes is Awarded for His “Contributions to Society”
As part of the 2015 New York University’s 183rd Commencement, hedge fund billionaire John Paulson received an award for his “Outstanding Contributions to Society.” The commencement program addressed him: “..Your influence is felt throughout broad sectors of society..your commitment to..a better quality of life for people across the world.”
In 2007 Paulson had conspired with Goldman Sachs to create packages of risky subprime mortgages, so that in anticipation of a housing crash he could use other people’s money to bet against his personally designed sure-to-fail financial instruments. His successful bet against American households paid him $3.7 billion.
3. As America Adds $30 Trillion in New Wealth, 6 Million More Kids Go on Food Stamps
The number of children on food stamps grew from 9.5 million in 2007 to 16 million in 2014, at the same time that U.S. wealth was growing from $52 trillion to over $83 trillion.
4. 40% of Food Wasted…..and 40% of Households Food-Insecure
According to Feeding America, almost 50 million households, or about 40 percent of American homes, experienced food insecurity at some point in 2013.
At the same time, the Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that 40 percent of food in the United States goes uneaten.
5. Graduate Students Work 6+ Years for a PhD, then Need the Safety Net to Survive
Businesses need less high-tech workers than just 15 years ago. Netflix, for example, serves 57 million customers with less than 2,200 employees, and much of the photo processing once done by Kodak with 145,000 employees is now done by Instagram with 13 employees.
Available jobs are well below the skill levels of college-trained adults. According to the New York Federal Reserve, 44 percent of recent college graduates were underemployed in 2012, holding jobs that are normally held by high school graduates.
New college graduates face their worst prospects in academia, where adjunct teachers now make up over 3/4 of instructors. One-quarter of part-time college faculty and their families are enrolled in food stamps or one of the other public assistance programs.
The Greatest Embarrassment
That would be Congress itself: Allowing Americans to go without health care. Blowing off jobs bills. Ignoring infrastructure. Privatizing education and other public needs. Doing nothing about student debt. Cutting the IRS even though every hour of auditing returns $9,000 from large corporations. And on and on and on.
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