Document Actions
Tuesday: Doing the numbers
posted at 2007-08-28 22:34 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
Better, sort of…
New 2006 census data on income, poverty, and health insurance came out today. How you read the report depends on your point of view, but I just can’t resist the siren call of the calculator when these things come out.
The good news: US median income was up last year by about 0.7% to $48,201 - finally catching up to 2001 for the first time, but still well short of 1999’s high-water mark of $49,244. Here in NC, the median income rose even faster, up 1.9 percent to $42,625 (which is still about 12 percent less than the national median).
But there’s a lot more to the picture, mostly not so good. Like the Consumer Price Index. It rose 3.3% last year – five times the increase in real median income. The mid-range trajectory is even less rosy. Since 1999, the median household income has fallen about 2%, while the CPI has risen 21%. (Now, about that credit crunch…)
Poverty rates are down slightly, here and elsewhere nationally, anyway. But the numbers of people without health insurance are rising, and there’s a strong statistical link between medical costs and poverty. Looking ahead five or ten years, you can do the math.
Here’s the national report, and here’s what we have on NC. More detailed state-level data comes out next month.
Political numbers
Former Winston-Salem Republican Michael Decker’s hoping for some declining numbers himself. The Char-O’s David Ingram reports Decker’s attorneys are teaming up with federal prosecutors to ask for a lighter sentence on account of Decker’s “extraordinary” cooperation in the case against former House Speaker Jim Black.
Also worth noting: although folks on Jones St. have long dismissed Decker’s credibility, as I did yesterday, the Feds don’t share that opinion. According to Ingram, federal prosecutors say Decker's a credible witness. That could make Decker’s two-part tell-all in the Carolina Journal even more problematic for Governor Mike Easley and others still in Raleigh.
Following the numbers
The 30-day deadline for Governor Mike Easley to veto this session’s remaining bills is swiftly approaching. It’s this Saturday, Sept. 1st. The scuttlebutt around the building is that Easley’s planning to veto the Goodyear incentive bill authored by Cumberland Dem Rick Glazier. The bill was discussed today at Easley’s closed-door meeting with House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate leader Marc Basnight.
Easley is certainly no foe of incentives. But he said almost two weeks ago that he doesn’t think the legislature should be in the business of providing them. He’s looking to retool the deal – and Goodyear, for now at least, appears to be willing to play along.
In the meantime, if you want to know what’s been signed and what’s still on the bubble, check out Gerry Cohen’s blog - he’s keeping up with the numbers on an almost real-time basis.
Readin’, writin’, and rationalizin’
One last, non-numerical item tonight: former SupCo Justice Bob Orr and Sen. Fred Smith have added themselves to the list of ’08 gubernatorial candidates who’ve sent their NCAE questionnaire responses to Ryan Teague Beckwith at Dome.
Smith’s education questionnaire didn’t take long to post, since he didn't actually fill it out. His chief of staff, Jonathan Hill, offered Dome this explanation:
"He felt it was much more important to sit down and discuss the issues than it was to sit down and write a paragraph."
Now, there’s an education leader kids can really relate to.
Comments? Drop me a line.
& Newsletters
