US Census Bureau Saves $1.6 Billion (You know that's not true)

This is a link to an article on the government claiming a "savings" of $1.6 BN. The savings is based on not spending all of the $14.7 BN they budgeted. Nice theory but if the 2000 Census only cost $4.5 billion then how does spending $13.1 BN constitute a savings?

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'Automatic' IRAs to Fill Retirement Gap

A bill filed by U.S. senators Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) would automatically enroll most U.S. workers in individual retirement accounts if their employers don't sponsor a retirement plan. All automatic IRAs would offer the same three standardized investment options, each to be developed with regulations and fee guidelines issued by the Treasury and Department of Labor. The options would include a "principal preservation fund" (which would include a special Treasury Retirement Bond , the R-Bond, designed for use within an automatic IRA), a "life-cycle" option and an "alternative investment option" that can include a higher concentration...

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So long, middle class

The 25 statistics below prove that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate. Why? Compared to the rest of the world, American workers are extremely expensive, and the government keeps passing rules, regulations and taxes that make it even more difficult to conduct business here. What has developed is a situation where the people at the top are doing quite well, while the average family barely gets by. Entitlement programs are expanding at unprecedented rates, but it is the people...

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How The US’s Debt Crisis Affects Savings

While hardly a household name, Dr. Harry Markowitz developed a new way of looking at savings and investment that has fundamentally changed the financial world. In the 1950′s, Markowitz quantified the benefits of diversification in one’s savings. Prior to his work, most investors thought in terms of individual good and bad investments, but Markowitz proved that the best approach is to consider how an overall portfolio performs. Among the many assumptions in the application of Markowitz’s Modern Portfolio Theory is the notion that US Treasury Bills are risk free. With the US assuming far more liabilities than it can likely...

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Business Week: U.S. Economy -- Rising Incomes Lead to Gains in Spending, Savings

Incomes grew faster than spending in May, making it possible for American households to simultaneously increase savings and support the economic recovery. Gains in payrolls, longer workweeks and rising pay give Americans more confidence and the means to maintain spending in coming months. The Federal Reserve’s decision last week to keep interest rates unchanged may help households weather the fallout from the European debt crisis, unemployment hovering near a 26- year high and tight credit. “The consumer is finally starting to see some positive wage gains as the job market starts to improve,” said Omair Sharif, an economist at RBS...

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Health Care and Saving Money

The Life Legal Defense Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the City of Birmingham and several Birmingham police officers for the outrageous civil rights violations perpetrated against nine young people who were unlawfully arrested in February last year. The team of pro-life activists spent more than 14 hours in jail for simply holding signs and handing out literature on a public sidewalk in front of a local high school. The lawsuit, filed in conjunction with local attorney Phillip Jauregui, seeks redress for the unlawful actions of Birmingham police officers in prohibiting peaceful free speech activity on the public sidewalk adjacent...

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Siemens’ High-Speed Rail: These “Cars” Get 700 Miles-Per-Gallon

America has a “waiting problem.”Think about the time you spend waiting in traffic jams… at the doctor/dentist’s office… at restaurants… at the gas station.And how about the six months of your life spent waiting at traffic lights? Or the five years you’ll spend just waiting in lines at retail stores, the post office, DMV, etc. (Early buyers of Apple’s products likely spend far more.)And according to Robert Poole, Director of Transportation Policy at the Reason Foundation, the average air traveler now spends two to three hours waiting at the airport. Granted, much of that is due to more rigorous security...

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