QUOTE OF THE DAY

CBS: American Households Hit 43-Year Low In Net Worth

The median net worth of American households has dropped to a 43-year low as the lower and middle classes appear poorer and less stable than they have been since 1969.

According to a recent study by New York University economics professor Edward N. Wolff, median net worth is at the decades-low figure of $57,000 (in 2010 dollars). And as the numbers in his study reflect, the situation only appears worse when all the statistics are taken as a whole.

AP: Debt Hits $16,306,713,000,000

Figures on government spending and debt. The government's fiscal year runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

Washington Post: Obama seeks Aug 1 deadline for tax reform

President Obama is seeking an Aug. 1 deadline for overhauling the tax code and making changes to expensive federal health programs, the final pieces of what the administration conceives as a far-reaching plan to rein in the national debt, senior administration officials said Friday.

New York Times: Complaints Aside, Most Face Lower Tax Burden Than in 1980

Most Americans in 2010 paid far less in total taxes — federal, state and local — than they would have paid 30 years ago. According to an analysis by The New York Times, the combination of all income taxes, sales taxes and property taxes took a smaller share of their income than it took from households with the same inflation-adjusted income in 1980.

Households earning more than $200,000 benefited from the largest percentage declines in total taxation as a share of income. Middle-income households benefited, too. More than 85 percent of households with earnings above $25,000 paid less in total taxes than comparable households in 1980.

Yahoo! Finance: States likely to get hammered if cliff talks fail

When state governments suffered big revenue losses during the Great Recession, the federal government came to the rescue with $150 billion in stimulus funds that saved jobs, repaired roads and maintained health care services. Now, almost four years later, states risk losing billions of dollars in block grants if no fix is found for avoiding the billions in spending cuts and tax hikes set to take effect next year.

Reuters: How much is $250,000?

From where I sit, $250,000 a year - the amount President Barack Obama and other Democrats say is top-tier household income - is a substantial amount of money. But I don't sit in Manhattan or Honolulu or San Francisco, where folks say they can easily blow through that much paying rent and childcare, and not living like kings.

Politico: Fiscal Cliff Would Slash Physicians' Medicare Compensation

Not only do doctors face a 2 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements because of the failure — thus far — to avoid sequestration, but they’re also looking at a 27 percent reduction in pay in the absence of a deal to fix the Medicare payment formula.

Reason: Texas schools track students with RFID chips

The nanny of the month comes to us from deep in the heart of Texas, where administrators at San Antonio's Northside school district are tracking kids with radio frequency identification chips. Dozens of electronic readers have been installed in the school's ceiling panels to keep tabs on the kiddos while they're at school. The official number-one reason for going RFID is to "increase student safety and security," but--since district funding goes up when attendance goes up--it's clearly all about the Benjamins.

MSNBC: Jindal’s private tuition voucher program ruled unconstitutional

A Baton Rouge judge has ruled Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal’s private school tuition voucher program unconstitutional.

Daily Must-Reads November 30

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The Fiscal Times: Tax Exodus: 5 States That Residents Are Fleeing

This comes as a surprise to many, but Illinois has seen a huge exodus of residents in the past few years. The state recently increased their income tax by approximately 67%. That is an incredible jump, so it stands to reason residents are looking for a way out. Our residency lectures are consistently filled with more Illinois residents than any other state, hands down. Ironically, the Land of Lincoln could lose enough pennies through attrition that its financial problems only worsen.

New York Times: In Drive to Unionize, Fast-Food Workers Walk Off the Job

“I feel I deserve $15 an hour,” said Ms. Archer, 59. “I work very hard.” She said she hoped a union would deliver affordable health insurance and paid sick days.

UnitedNY.org, the Black Institute and the Service Employees International Union, a powerful union that is playing a quiet but important role behind the scenes.

New York Post: Job stats dismal; tax break safe from cliff

Prepare yourself for disappointment and political finger pointing.

Analysts at Citigroup are warning customers that the unemployment rate could surge to 10 percent in the coming months, up from the current 7.9 percent.

Weekly Standard: Top 0.1% pays more income tax than bottom 80%

In 2010, according to the TPC, Americans in the lowest quintile of income-earners — the bottom 20 percent — paid minus-3.8 percent of the total federal income tax burden. In other words, they got more back, in income tax credits and the like, than they paid in. Similarly, those in the second quintile paid minus-4.3 percent of the total federal income tax burden — so they, too, weren’t paying into the income tax till but rather were taking out.

Those in the middle quintile — pretty much the center of the middle class (this quintile had an average income of $44,000) — paid 3.9 percent of the total federal income tax burden (about $1 of every $25 dollars in income taxes paid nationwide). And those in the fourth quintile — whose income ranged from $58,000 to $102,000 — paid 15.1 percent of the total federal income tax burden.

Bloomberg: Recession Left Baby Bust as U.S. Births Lowest Since 1920

The U.S. birth rate last year fell to its lowest level since at least 1920, led by a decline in the number of babies born to immigrant women, who have been driving the growth in the nation’s population for two decades.

Reason: Judge Approves Hostess Liquidation Plan

A judge gave Hostess Brands Inc. final approval to shut down its 85-year-old baking business and start selling off the pieces with up to $1.8 million earmarked as bonuses for managers overseeing the liquidation.

The company behind iconic treats such as Ho Hos and pantry staples like Wonder Bread now has the bankruptcy court's full blessing to start seeking buyers for its 30 brands and 36 plants with a skeleton staff at its helm. A group of the company's top executives—19 officers and high-level managers—deserve extra compensation as they wind down operations, Judge Robert Drain of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., said at a Thursday hearing.

WSJ: Charities Fight to Keep Tax Break on Donations

In 2011, the nation's biggest charities swung into action to oppose President Barack Obama using limits on tax deductions to help pay for a jobs bill. Warning that such a move would hurt charitable giving, they prevailed, and Democrats looked elsewhere.

A year later, deductions are again in the cross hairs as Washington tries to avert tax increases and spending cuts. After years of successfully fending off such efforts, nonprofits worry this time could be different.

“We are in an environment, I think, of entitlement, we’ve got a lot of people who are city workers, who for years and years, 20, 30 years, think they are entitled to a job and all that comes with it,” Bing said.

Daily Must-Reads November 29

The Telegraph: Two-thirds of millionaires left Britain to avoid 50% tax rate

Almost two-thirds of the country’s million-pound earners disappeared from Britain after the introduction of the 50% top rate of tax, figures have disclosed.

CNBC: How the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Could Hurt Married Couples

There are many financial perks that come with being married. Filing taxes generally isn’t one of them. If a complex, arcane tax code leaves singles confused and frustrated, try doubling the confusion associated with credits, deductions and income.

Crain's Chicago Business: Labor the biggest donor to state lawmakers — by far

As Springfield Democrats begin to flex their growing legislative muscle, some new campaign disclosure data say a lot about who the winners owe — and who they can forget.

The data come from the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. While the group is still crunching for a bigger report to be issued soon, it says that by far and away the biggest donor to legislators in the just ended general-election season was — who else? — organized labor, which dropped a stunning $10.7 million on House and Senate candidates from March to November. And that's only direct contributions, excluding "independent" expenditures.

CBS: Michigan governor won't rule out dissolving City of Detroit

It would no doubt be controversial, but the idea of dissolving the fiscally struggling city of Detroit and absorbing it into Wayne County is being tossed around in Lansing.

Reason: The Fine Print in the Government's Privacy Policy

How technology and misguided legal reasoning have made your life an open e-book.

In 1986 The American Banker defined E-mail as "a trademark of CompuServe," Computerworld noted that sending a single message required a 10-minute phone call, and InfoWorld described "a pilot scheme that will allow users of one system to send messages to mailbox holders on another." That was the year Congress enacted the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), so it is hardly surprising that the once forward-looking law seems antiquated today.

The Daily Caller: Teacher test fraud opens the door to school choice in Arkansas

Prospective teachers in three southern states paid stand-ins to take their licensing exams, according to a federal investigation that uncovered 15 years of mass fraud in the public school licensing system.

Cal Watchdog: California's Wealthy Likely To Flee Tax Hike

During the recent campaign, Gov. Jerry Brown insisted that people would not try to avoid his Proposition 30 tax increase by halting investments and “hiding” their money. Prop 30 boosts the top state income tax rate on millionaires to 13.3 percent from 10.3 percent.

US Today: Obama uses Twitter in 'fiscal cliff' PR campaign

President Obama's campaign for his "fiscal cliff" plan includes the Twitter-verse.

The White House has set up a new Twitter hashtag: "My2K," a reference to the extra $2,200 in taxes it says the average family will pay if all the George W. Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of the year.

McClatchy: Government weeks away from hitting debt ceiling

While official Washington is focused on potential tax hikes and automatic spending cuts, another fiscal crisis looms on the horizon. A report released Tuesday warned that the federal government is likely to hit a ceiling on issuing new debt come late December and could begin defaulting on obligations by mid-February.

WSJ: The Great 2012 Cashout

Perhaps you've heard from various economic sages that tax rates don't matter either to economic growth or taxpayer behavior. Don't tell that to the companies and individuals who are busy cashing out their investments or paying dividends to get ahead of the Obama tax scythe in January.

Forbes: How Much Tax Would You Owe On A $550 Million Powerball Jackpot?

With talk of the fiscal cliff and tax hikes for the rich dominating the news, you might be worrying about how much you’ll really get to keep after you win tonight’s record-setting Powerball jackpot.

Daily Must-Reads November 28

WirePoints: Does Illinois violate its own budget and accounting laws? The state itself says yes

One reason why Illinois is a fiscal wreck is that the state’s budget and accounting are muck, and they are prepared — according to the state itself — in open violation of state law.

Points and Figures: ObamaCare health exchanges won’t work

There is a debate right now about whether to establish a state run health care exchange, or let the federal government administer the exchange.  It’s a poor Solomon’s choice.  Neither will work.

Huffington Post: High School Graduation Rates By State: U.S. Department Of Education Releases First-Ever National Data

The U.S. Department of Education has released a first-ever list detailing state-by-state four-year high school graduation rates.

Daily Herald: Khan Academy on Illinois pensions

The free online school of everything has taken on the Illinois pension crisis.

This video is from Khan Academy, the heralded online video series that can teach you about algebra, physics or whatever else you want to learn when you have nothing else to do.

New York Post: ‘Poverty’ like we’ve never seen it

The federal government now considers a family of four in New York City to be poor if its pre-tax income is below $37,900.Even with full medical coverage.

The calculation helps explain why newly revised Census Bureau figures hike the number of poor Americans to 49 million as of last year, further widening an already yawning gap between ordinary perceptions of poverty and how the government sees it.

ABC News: Durbin Wants No Entitlements in ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Deal

Medicare and Medicaid savings should be part of future debt-reduction efforts, but not on the table in talks regarding the impending “fiscal cliff,” the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate said.

Zero Hedge: America's Lost Decade In One Simple Chart

Forget the stock market's dismal decade of much-ado-about-nothing and ignore the USD Dollar's declination; when it comes to reflection on what this once great nation has 'created' since 2001, the following chart from Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare sums it up better than most.

Daily Must-Reads November 27

USA Today: Are we living in the Hunger Games?

You know the story: While the provinces starve, the Capital City lives it up, its wheeler-dealer bigshots growing fat on the tribute extracted from the rest of the country.

We don't live in The Hunger Games yet, but I'm not the first to notice that Washington, D.C., is doing a lot better than the rest of the country. Even in upscale parts of L.A. or New York, you see boarded up storefronts and other signs that the economy isn't what it used to be. But not so much in the Washington area, where housing prices are going up, fancy restaurants advertise $92 Wagyu steaks, and the Tyson's Corner mall outshines -- as I can attest from firsthand experience -- even Beverly Hills' famed Rodeo Drive.

Chicago Tribune: CPS boss proposes 5-year moratorium on school closings

Trying to help sell drastic school closings this year, Chicago Public Schools is planning to commit to a five-year moratorium on shuttering schools starting in fall 2013. New schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett announced the commitment to a moratorium Monday at a City Club luncheon.

The New York Times: Norquist Says Some Republicans Are Having ‘Impure Thoughts’ on Taxes

Grover Norquist on Monday found a new way of dismissing a handful of Republican lawmakers — including the House majority leader — who are now publicly wavering about the pledge they signed to never vote for a tax increase.

One of the more amazing post-election spectacles is the media celebration of Republicans who say they're willing to repudiate their pledge against raising taxes. So the same folks who like to denounce politicians because they can't be trusted are now praising politicians who openly admit they can't be trusted.

The New York Times: Mortgage Interest Deduction, Once a Sacred Cow, Is Under Scrutiny

A tax break that has long been untouchable could soon be in for some serious scrutiny.

Reuters: Warren Buffett calls for a minimum tax on the wealthy

Warren Buffett, the legendary investor who changed the debate about U.S. tax reform in 2011 with a call for the rich to pay more, is now calling for minimum tax rates for millionaires.

Forbes: The U.S. Supreme Court Allows New Challenge To Obamacare To Go Forward

Under the heading of “it’s not over until it’s over”, the United States Supreme Court has vacated a decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, ordering the appellate court to hear arguments on the constitutionality of two key provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Reason: Treat the Tax-Me-More Crowd to a Voluntary Additional Tax

As the clock ticks toward a tax increase scheduled to take effect at year end, expect to hear a lot from the “tax me more” crowd.

These are wealthy individuals who profess to favor increases in their own tax bills. A series of recent articles help define the genre, which was pioneered by Warren Buffett last year in his New York Times op-ed piece that ran under the headline “Stop Coddling The Super-Rich.”

The Hill: Obama faces huge challenge in setting up health insurance exchanges

The Obama administration faces major logistical and financial challenges in creating health insurance exchanges for states that have declined to set up their own systems.

Daily Must-Reads November 26

Crain's Chicago Business: Unions have a new enemy — their own members

Multinational corporations have a new ally in their battles with organized labor: unionized workers.

As organized labor loses leverage in a race-to-the-bottom global market, some workers are becoming so disillusioned by what their unions can, or rather can't, do for them that they want out. The disaffected include dozens of machinists at Caterpillar Inc.'s plant in Joliet who crossed the picket line during a strike last summer and are planning unfair labor practices complaints against the union.

CNBC: Morgan Stanley’s Doom Scenario: Major Recession in 2013

The global economy is likely to be stuck in the “twilight zone” of sluggish growth in 2013, Morgan Stanley has warned, but if policymakers fail to act, it could get a lot worse.

Points and Figures: The Keynesian Way To Rebuild America

My mayor, Rahm Emanuel penned an editorial for the Washington Post.  In it, he advocates bringing the Chicago way to the rest of America.  I would disagree.  Say what you will about the corruption in Chicago-and it’s rampant-but the logic behind the Chicago Way is not the way forward.  The Chicago Way is not out of the box thinking.  It’s more of the same.

WSJ: The Fiscal Cliff Drama, in Infographics

The “fiscal cliff,” when a package of spending cuts and tax increases is set to go into effect unless the White House and Congress negotiate an alternative, is fast approaching. Here’s a look at the players, their positions and the fallout if a deal isn’t reached.

NBC: Feds say teachers hired stand-in to take their certification tests

It was a brazen and surprisingly long-lived scheme, authorities said, to help aspiring public school teachers cheat on the tests they must pass to prove they are qualified to lead their classrooms.

NBC Chicago: Lawmakers Face Gambling, Prisons, Assault Weapons

Lawmakers will be staring down some of the higher-profile issues in Illinois when they begin their fall session Tuesday. But resolution of gambling, state facility closures, immigration and medical marijuana proposals could come in the form of dramatic confrontation, negotiating-table settlements, anticlimactic if symbolic votes, or no decisions at all.

Thinking about buying a house? Or a municipal bond? Be careful where you put your capital. Don’t put it in a state at high risk of a fiscal tailspin.

Eleven states make our list of danger spots for investors. They can look forward to a rising tax burden, deteriorating state finances and an exodus of employers. The list includes California, New York, Illinois and Ohio, along with some smaller states like New Mexico and Hawaii.

Daily Must-Reads November 25

CNBC: The Millionaires Who Pay the Highest Tax Rate

Warren Buffett and Mitt Romney have managed to create one of the enduring myths of our tax debate: that the rich pay a lower rate than the rest of America.

The Washington Post: How to rebuild America

Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, is mayor of Chicago and represented Illinois’ 5th District in the U.S. House from 2003 to 2009. He was White House chief of staff from January 2009 to October 2010.

Too much post-election analysis has focused on voter demographics and campaign mechanics, leaving Democrats in danger of drawing the wrong lessons from our electoral success.

Northwest Herald: Quinn could play Santa Claus by reforming state tax code

If Gov. Pat Quinn is looking to moonlight during the holiday season, he ought to consider becoming a gift wrapper at Sears.

After all, the governor promised the retail giant $150 million in subsidies within the last year. He might as well have tied it with a bow on top. Welcome to the goofy world of Illinois corporate welfare.

Examiner Editorial: If top 5% paid 40% of taxes, what is their 'fair' share?

But income taxes, taken in isolation, do not tell the whole story, because lower-income Americans do pay payroll taxes. But even taking into account all forms of taxation, the top 1 percent still paid 22 percent of federal taxes while earning just 13.4 percent of household income. The top 5 percent paid 40 percent of all federal taxes, despite earning only 26 percent of all income. No matter how you slice the numbers, it's hard to understand why anyone would think the wealthy aren't already shouldering a burden commensurate with their blessings.

Why America’s private-sector unions are in decline

THEY lined up near the TV cameras, waving signs that read “On Strike”. Many wore the lurid T-shirts of OUR Walmart (Organisation United for Respect at Walmart), the group organising the protest.

Millions of Americans are unemployed and businesses are looking to cut costs by letting people go. But in this tough economic climate, there is one industry starving for talent and fresh workers: web and technology development. Brandon Passley, founder and owner of Vokal, a Chicago application engineering company, is one of the many entrepreneurs and managers struggling to fill positions in his field.