Until 1954, the unemployment rate for black teen-age males ages 16 and 17 was below that of their white counterparts: 13.4 percent vs. 14 percent. Beginning in 1956, when the minimum wage was raised from 75 cents to $1, unemployment rates for the two groups began to diverge. By 1960, the unemployment rate for black teen-age males was up to 22.7 percent, while the white rate stood at 14.6 percent. By 1981, after several increases and expansions of the minimum wage, the unemployment rate for black teen-age males averaged 40.7 percent, nearly four times its early 1950s level.
On July 30, 1965, President Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Bill (Title XVIII and Title XIX of the Social Security Act), in Independence, Missouri in the presence of former President Truman, who received the first Medicare card at the ceremony. The irony abounds…
Despite the tax cuts implemented by President Reagan and the existing federal deficit, federal revenues increased from $517 billion in 1981 to $909 billion in 1988.
The overall number of offenses in the United States was approximately 11.9 million in 2001. However, during the same year, a total of 11,987 law enforcement agencies in 49 states and the District of Columbia collectively reported only 9,730 bias-motivated incidents (so-called “hate” crimes), or .08% of the total number of offenses.
Approximately twenty years ago, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated there were 2.1 billion barrels that were economically recoverable beneath the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. In 2002, the estimates are as high as 13.2 billion barrels. Another 4.3 to 11.8 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil exist within Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) -- 100 miles east of the reserve. Yet, our dependence on foreign oil continues.
For gasoline priced at $1.59 per gallon, consumers pay 41% for the crude oil, 26% for taxes, 20% for distribution and marketing, and 13% for refining.
In 2000, Americans made only 22.5 million trips via Amtrak vis-à-vis 665 million trips on commercial airlines. Since 1971, Congress has given Amtrak over $25 billion in subsidies, and Amtrak is asking for more.
While the United States Postal Service continues to resist reforms and privatization efforts, other countries like Sweden and New Zealand have already struck down their postal monopolies, or like Germany and the Netherlands, are moving toward privatizing their mail delivery services.
Until 1965, 90 percent of African Americans in college attended historically black colleges. The number of black students in all colleges increased almost 60 percent to 1.6 million over the past 26 years, but just 18 percent of African-American college students were enrolled in HBCU’s in 2000.
Many environmentalists claim that approximately 40,000 to 50,000 species of creatures become extinct every year. However, Philip Stott of the University of London states, "There is no scientific basis for saying that 50,000 species are going extinct”. In fact, no one can even name these species, nor is it known how many species currently exist, or how many new ones evolve. Yet, the government’s protection of the Delhi Sands fly has cost areas in California countless jobs, and millions in sales and property taxes.
| Sean Turner Sean Turner is a member of the Project 21 Advisory Council of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a regular columnist for RenewAmerica.us and a contributor to a number of conservative political websites. Readers can email him at Sean Turner. |