Millennials are falling behind their boomer parents

A few visuals for the reason why:

And finally...

Baby Boomers: your millennial children are worse off than you. 

With a median household income of $40,581, millennials earn 20 percent less than boomers did at the same stage of life, despite being better educated, according to a new analysis of Federal Reserve data by the advocacy group Young Invincibles.

The analysis being released Friday gives concrete details about a troubling generational divide that helps to explain much of the anxiety that defined the 2016 election. Millennials have half the net worth of boomers. Their home ownership rate is lower, while their student debt is drastically higher.

The generational gap is a central dilemma for the incoming presidency of Donald Trump, who essentially pledged a return to the prosperity of post-World War II America. The analysis also hints at the issues of culture and identity that divided many voters, showing that white millennials — who still earn much more than their blacks and Latino peers — have seen their incomes plummet the most relative to boomers.

Andrea Ledesma, 28, says her parents owned a house and were raising kids by her age.

Not so for her. Ledesma graduated from college four years ago. After moving through a series of jobs, she now earns $18,000 making pizza at Classic Slice in Milwaukee, shares a two-bedroom apartment with her boyfriend and has $33,000 in student debt. 

"That's not at all how life is now, that's not something that people strive for and it's not something that is even attainable, and I thought it would be at this point," Ledesma said.

Her mother Cheryl Romanowski, 55, was making about $10,000 a year at her age working at a bank without a college education. In today's dollars, that income would be equal to roughly $19,500.

Romanowski said she envies the choices that her daughter has in life, but she acknowledged that her daughter has it harder than her.

"I think the opportunities have just been fading away," she said.

The analysis of the Fed data shows the extent of the decline. It compared 25 to 34 year-olds in 2013, the most recent year available, to the same age group in 1989 after adjusting for inflation.

Education does help boost incomes. But the median college-educated millennial with student debt is only earning slightly more than a baby boomer without a degree did in 1989.

The home ownership rate for this age group dipped to 43 percent from 46 percent in 1989, although the rate has improved for millennials with a college degree relative to boomers.

The median net worth of millennials is $10,090, 56 percent less than it was for boomers. 

Whites still earn dramatically more than Blacks and Latinos, reflecting the legacy of discrimination for jobs, education and housing. 

Yet compared to white baby boomers, some white millennials appear stuck in a pattern of downward mobility. This group has seen their median income tumble more than 21 percent to $47,688. 

Median income for black millennials has fallen just 1.4 percent to $27,892. Latino millennials earn nearly 29 percent more than their boomer predecessors to $30,436. 

The analysis fits into a broader pattern of diminished opportunity. Research last year by economists led by Stanford University's Raj Chetty found that people born in 1950 had a 79 percent chance of making more money than their parents. That figure steadily slipped over the past several decades, such that those born in 1980 had just a 50 percent chance of out-earning their parents. 

This decline has occurred even though younger Americans are increasingly college-educated. The proportion of 25 to 29 year-olds with a college degree has risen to 35.6 percent in 2015 from 23.2 percent in 1990, a report this month by the Brookings Institution noted. 

The declining fortunes of millennials could impact boomers who are retired or on the cusp of retirement. Payroll taxes from millennials helps to finance the Social Security and Medicare benefits that many boomers receive — programs that Trump has said won't be subject to spending cuts. And those same boomers will need younger generations to buy their homes and invest in the financial markets to protect their own savings. 

"The challenges that young adults face today could forecast the challenges that we see down the road," said Tom Allison, deputy policy and research director at Young Invincibles.

Millennials are falling behind their boomer parents

Cavuto: How does it feel to be dismissed, CNN?

If you watch a video today make sure it's this one. Cavuto lambasted CNN last night!

BTW, in the opening segment, think Ed Henry would get away with talking to Barry like that?

Video 317

Transcript below:

NEIL CAVUTO: How's all that going down, CNN? How does it feel to be dismissed? Or worse, ignored?

How does it feel when your feelings are hurt? When your reporters are singled out? And you're treated unfairly? And unkindly? Even rudely? What's it like not to be liked? It's not fun, is it?

It's not fun when you think you're doing your job, but the guy you're covering thinks you're the piece of work. It's insulting, isn't it?

Being called on the carpet by the next leader of the free world, after years of giving the present one a free pass? You can't figure out suddenly not being in.

It bugs you when someone questions whether you're fair, doesn't it? Or cuts you to your journalist core, doesn't it? It matters now when it's about you, doesn't it? Not so much when it's about someone else.

Presidential pile ons matter when you're the subject, not so much, actually scratch that, not at all. When let's say Fox is the subject. And everyone chuckled.

Take it from me talking truth to power can be powerfully unsettling if that power sets its sights on you and attacks you. And humiliates you. And dismisses you. And ignores you.

It didn't matter so much when it wasn't about you before, CNN. Very different when it's you being singled out now, CNN. The shabby treatment of your reporters not very nice now, is it? That's life, I guess. Not fair. Often, not balanced. And now you're experiencing what we've been living. Now you're the ones getting royally foxed. And the irony is I feel your pain.

You never came to our defense, so allow me to come to yours. You're better than BuzzFeed. But the buzz is you're getting fed to the wolves. Isn't it obnoxious and unfair how some celebrate your plight? Kind of feels like the way you celebrated ours, doesn't it?

They say payback's a bitch. If only you would take a moment to rewind the tape. And see the show is on the other foot. Or am I confusing it with the one now kicking you in the ass. You see it's hard to tell from where I sit. Back then your silence was deafening.

Very different now, isn't it? And I suspect not much fun, is it?

Cavuto: How does it feel to be dismissed, CNN?

You could say he's right

Bernie Sanders: Trump Won Because Democrats Are Out of Touch

...And still have a LONG way to go. 

Seattle Mayor Seeking $250K to Protect Illegal Immigrants from Deportation

Only the liberal mind could conceive a plot to portion taxpayer dollars to protect people who are here illegally... while the greater share goes to keep them out!

You could say he's right

Why the Buzzfeed debacle damaged journalism and handed Trump a gift

By Howard KurtzPublished January 12, 2017

For Buzzfeed to publish totally unsubstantiated allegations against Donald Trump—while saying “there is serious reason to doubt the allegations”—turns the practice of journalism on its head.

It is a perversion of what we do for a living to spew out material that may be nothing more than bogus rumors and disinformation, and to claim, as Buzzfeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith does, that this is “how we see the role of reporters in 2017.”

via https://earloftaint.com

The president-elect and his team decided yesterday to tackle this head on, to take the fight to both Buzzfeed and CNN, to make the media the issue rather than defensively deflecting the questions. And they had a big fat target.

Buzzfeed, a pop culture site with an overlay of news, is not exactly friendly to Trump. In fact, Smith told his staff in a 2015 memo that it’s “entirely fair to call him a mendacious racist, as the politics team and others have reported clearly and aggressively: he's out there saying things that are false, and running an overtly anti-Muslim campaign.” This, said Smith, was fact, not opinion.

Trump called Buzzfeed “a failing piece of garbage” that is going to “suffer the “consequences” of its actions. Sean Spicer called it “frankly outrageous” and a “highly irresponsible” decision by a “left-wing” blog. Mike Pence blamed it on “media bias.” The decision to have the incoming vice president and press secretary denounce the website before Trump spoke—with Reince Priebus doing the same on the morning shows—underscores how they viewed this as a prime opportunity to discredit the press.

Smith told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd last night, “When you have an object that’s in play…you do have to ask the question, why should I suppress that?”

But Todd shot back: “You’ve just published fake news.”

But it’s worth noting that Trump also said this: “I want to thank a lot of the news organizations, some of whom have not treated me very well over the years--a couple in particular--and they came out so strongly against that fake news, and the fact that it was written about by primarily one group and one television station.”

The furor began Tuesday when anchor Jake Tapper said the following: “A CNN exclusive. CNN has learned that the nation's top intelligence officials provided information to President-elect Donald Trump and to President Barack Obama last week about claims of Russian efforts to compromise President-elect Trump.”

Now CNN made an editorial decision not to detail those claims because they are unverified. That’s an important distinction.

But by using the fact that Trump was briefed about a two-page synopsis as a way to report the story, CNN put it in play and raised doubts whether, in some nefarious way, Trump had actually been “compromised.” I wouldn’t have made that decision, and other news outlets that now say they had the material didn’t either.

There was a confrontational moment at the presser when Trump started criticizing CNN and its correspondent, Jim Acosta, demanded to be heard. I can understand him shouting out, but when he did it repeatedly as the president-elect refused to call on him, it sounded rude. Trump finally dismissed him by saying: “You are fake news.”

After the presser, Tapper told viewers: “I suspect we are seeing here is an attempt to discredit legitimate responsible attempts to report on this incoming administration with irresponsible journalism that hurts us all.”

But it was Buzzfeed that published the whole sex-lies-and-videotape report, which you can easily find elsewhere. All this put the rest of the media in the uncomfortable position of reporting on an unproven story while trying to dance around the details—although some websites were happy to repeat the rumors.

As one example, the 35-page dossier says that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen met with Kremlin envoys last year in Prague. Cohen says he’s never been to Prague and can confirm where he was on the date in question.

As a reporter, I’ve heard all manner of rumors, unproven conspiracies and salacious crap over the years. I would never dream of publishing them without rock-solid confirmation. 

Dean Baquet, executive editor of the New York Times, told his paper: “We, like others, investigated the allegations and haven’t corroborated them, and we felt we’re not in the business of publishing things we can’t stand by.”

Buzzfeed—whose other offerings yesterday included “How Bitchy Is Your Resting Face?" and ”Would you get rid of your phone just to have an orgasm?”--says it is being “transparent” with its readers. Unfortunately, the transparency enabled all of us to see shoddy journalism in action and handed Trump a gift-wrapped present.

Why the Buzzfeed debacle damaged journalism and handed Trump a gift

Next step...panhandling

Johnny Manziel's Charging Fans For Selfies

Johnny Manziel, the troubled NFL quarterback, is now charging fans for selfies.

Manziel, a 2012 Heisman Trophy winner who fell from grace because of his off-field antics, will host two autograph signings at “Stadium Signatures” memorabilia stores in Texas in the week leading up to Super Bowl XLI in Houston. The first signing is set to occur Feb. 2 at Katy Mills Mall and the second event is set for Feb. 3 at Woodlands Mall.

For $99, “Johnny Football” will sign any item or pose for a professional photo, according to the memorabilia store’s Facebook page. Selfies cost $50 each, and Manziel will add a written inscription of four words or less for an additional $29.

It’s unclear if Manziel will receive an appearance fee. A Stadium Signatures employee confirmed the Manziel signing, but management did not immediately respond to FOXBusiness.com’s request for comment. ESPN was first to report the event.

Manziel has been a tabloid fixture since the Cleveland Browns cut him last March amid allegations of substance abuse and domestic violence. The autograph signing will mark Manziel’s first official promotional appearance since his release.

After his release, Manziel lost more than $2 million due to contract stipulations that allowed the Browns to void his remaining guaranteed money in the event of misconduct, Pro Football Talk reported last July.

A star at Texas A&M University and first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, Manziel saw his career derailed by a series of off-field incidents and poor play. Authorities in Dallas, Texas charged Manziel with misdemeanor domestic violence after a February altercation with his then-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley. The charges were later dropped on the condition that Manziel seek treatment.

Manziel, who hasn’t played in the NFL since 2015, was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. It’s unclear if he will face an additional suspension in the future for the domestic violence case. Manziel is currently a free agent.

Next step...panhandling