Haves and have-nots
President Obama is right about one thing. The difference between the haves and the have nots is as big as it's ever been and is continuing to grow. What he doesn't mention is that the haves work for the federal government.
In 2014, according to a new study by the Cato Institute, based on figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the pay and benefits of federal workers were 78 percent higher than private employees and 43 percent more than state and local government employees.
Federal workers averaged $119,934 in total compensation, while private-sector employees pulled in $67,246, roughly a $52,000 difference.
The partial pay freeze between 2011 and 2013 stopped the soaring federal wages, which "grew rapidly for a decade," according to Cato, but they began increasing again in 2014.
Today, 2.1 million people work for the federal government and draw a combined $260 billion in wages and benefits.
"The federal government has become an elite island of secure and high-paid employment, separated from the ocean of average Americans competing in the economy," Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at Cato, wrote in the study.
Not the desired love-fest
If far left cable news network MSNBC figured an on-camera focus group might make a warm and fuzzy pick-me-up for beleaguered Democratic presidential nomination front-runner Hillary Clinton, it got a little more than it bargained for recently.
The Bloomberg Politics focus group of New Hampshire Democratic voters turned out to be so volatile that the network, on its "Morning Joe" program, had to cut it in order to make the candidate look good.
Mark Halperin, managing editor for Bloomberg Politics, said that once one of the voters brought up Clinton's "personality issue," other attendees said "she's polarizing and there's aspects of her personality that they think men in particular won't like."
Well, you certainly wouldn't want members of a focus group to be speaking their mind about the woman Democrats were coronating for the presidency, would you?
"We actually cut a good bit in there out that was even more negative of Hillary because we thought it was actually too negative and didn't like some of the connotations there," show host Joe Scarborough said.
The place that shall not be mentioned
High school students in Jackson Hole, Wyo., recently voted to have an "America Day" as part of their homecoming week, but two school administrators rescinded their vote and changed the official name to "College Day."
Reportedly, according to an account on TPNN, the administrators were concerned that some immigrant students might feel left out if the school continued with the students' choice.
So, not only did the students not have the choice they were asked to make affirmed, but they were not allowed to celebrate the place where they all live, both native-born students and immigrants who may have moved here to enjoy such freedom of expression.
The students got the last laugh, though.
On the former "America Day," many students arrived in various outfits of red, white and blue, as well as in flag-themed garb. One student even hammered home the theme by driving around the school's parking lot in his diesel truck loaded with American flags.
Fortunately, there was no report of the students being jailed, flunked or suspended for their patriotic action.
What's in a name?
If viewers tuned in to the ABC Family network over the better part of the last decade, they were likely to see fare that had little to do with "family," as in fare all the family could watch.
Now, with shows ranging from "The Fosters," featuring a lesbian couple raising their family, to "Greek," which is littered with explicit sexual references and acts, party scenes, drunk students, and sometimes harsh language, the network has decided to change its name.
Beginning in January 2016, the Disney-owned network will become Freeform, a name that network executives say "reflects our ongoing priority to super-serve Becomers, fans on that epic new adventure of becoming an adult - from first kiss to first kid!"
The name was chosen in, where else, a focus group? Unfortunately, the current name, ABC Family, made nonviewers think of "family-friendly" and "wholesome." And who'd want a network called ABC Family to be "family-friendly"?
That data, a network executive said, "is the thing that finally convinced us that it was time, after a lot of thinking and pondering, to get this done."
So, for all you Becomers and Freeformers, this one's for you - whatever it is.