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News Roundup – education, fracking and more

Over one trillion dollars in student loan debt

I’ve talked about this before, but one of the things that is going completely wrong in our society has to do with education and the cost of education. Yes, I’ll go ahead and say it, “back in my day…,” getting an education was a no-brainer. The cost of education was relatively miniscule compared to the rewards. College was expensive but affordable. The average middle-class family could afford to send their son or daughter to almost any school in the United States. Although some families had to take out loans, the loans weren’t overwhelming, crushing and never-ending. Today it is different. With the median income of the middle class stagnant or falling and the cost of higher education continuing to skyrocket, making the decision to go to college can place the average American family into a debt spiral that they can never get out of. The honest truth is that there was a time when states thought that they had a responsibility to educate the population. States and the national government subsidized student education. Over the years that subsidy has lapsed. This requires the student to take on more and more of the burden.

Yesterday, I briefly talked about rape and sexual assault in the military. What I forgot to mention was the pitiful excuses that are being thrown around. For lack of better phrasing, I will just say the “they are young men with raging hormones” excuse is possibly the worst. Where in the world are we supposed to find young men that are more disciplined and more trained to follow orders than the US military? Rape and sexual assault in the military must stop and must stop now.

I love David Letterman’s explanation of fracking. He is 100% correct.

By ecthompsonmd|2013-06-06T21:51:53-04:00June 6th, 2013|Big Oil, Education, Military|Comments Off

The Power of Oil

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rachel Maddow interviews Steve Coll on his new book, Private Empire ExxonMobil and American Power.

By ecthompsonmd|2012-05-03T10:26:16-04:00May 3rd, 2012|Big Oil|Comments Off

I’m hosting Local Edge Radio today (Updated)

I’m in the driver’s seat. I’m going to be talking with David Weiss of the Center for American Progress about oil prices. I will also chat with Professor Andrew Koppelman, the John Paul Stevens professor of law at Northwestern, who will be in the house to talk about the Health Care law. Finally, I will spend most of the 5 o’clock hour to talk about Trayvon Martin. You can call in – 828-252-4348.

More from ThinkProgress.com:

Experts deny that drilling brings down gas prices, despite how often Republicans claim to have the “silver bullet.” Now, the Associated Press reports that an analysis of 36 years of Energy Information Administration data shows “no statistical correlation” between domestic oil production and gas prices.

AP writes:

U.S. oil production is back to the same level it was in March 2003, when gas cost $2.10 per gallon when adjusted for inflation. But that’s not what prices are now.

That’s because oil is a global commodity and U.S. production has only a tiny influence on supply. Factors far beyond the control of a nation or a president dictate the price of gasoline.

When you put the inflation-adjusted price of gas on the same chart as U.S. oil production since 1976, the numbers sometimes go in the same direction, sometimes in opposite directions. If drilling for more oil meant lower prices, the lines on the chart would consistently go in opposite directions. A basic statistical measure of correlation found no link between the two, and outside statistical experts confirmed those calculations.