Status of the U.S. Economy:

Observation of issues from a high level indicates conflicts regarding the economy are political. The U.S. is a great country in most respects, however, there seems to be a disconnect between idealism and reality.

Idealism produces an endless array of social programs for which, politicians believe, there is sufficient funding. This is a myth as the deficit now represents five years of federal revenue from taxes, etc. The reality is there has been a growing federal deficit since 1992.

Imports vs Exports & Trade Deficit indicate the total trade deficit for the period 1992-2021 is 17 trillion, 132 billion, 255 million. That is 815,820,238,095 on an annual basis.

Annual interest payments on the national debt now exceeds $550,000,000,000, nearly the total cost of education for K-12 schools, or the Department of Defense budget.

What does the future hold? Possibly a reduction in social programs as the national deficit grows. Social programs, healthcare and more will suffer lower and discontinuing services.

The real data shows the U.S. is well on the way to bankruptcy. Annual revenue vs programmed expenditures indicates a significant departure from fiscal responsibility.

The point being, that occasionally organizations and society become so engrossed in the detail, that they miss the overall picture and can’t see the forest for the trees.

Most of the trade deficit is a result of unbalanced trade with Asia, mainly China.

Refer to the posting on Status of the U.S. Economy.

International Cyber Security:

The education service industry is indeed global, and possibly covers every continent and culture. Networks of agreements exist between global universities  and employers.

Universities worldwide are developing large-scale interconnected campuses that resemble towns and factories. Examples of large-scale campuses are IIT Bombay, India, the National University of Singapore, and the Suzhou Dushu Lake Higher Education Town of the Peoples Republic of China, all interconnected.

Internationally, coursework outside the degree program is limited. As a result, more time and depth of study is provided allowing students to focus more on how-to-do-it. U.S. colleges and universities require, on average, one to one and a half years of study outside technical degrees of study.

Therefore, in many ways, U.S. students are not competitive. Many large companies in the U.S. are headed by graduates from foreign degree programs.

Hardware and software companies provide international academic organizations with products to practice-on and make engineering changes-to under contract.

DEF CON Workshops are provided by organizations that teach participants how to secure, or hack through the cyber security of sites to access or change content.

Computer systems located in China and North Korea routinely crawl the worldwide web, hacking into U.S. banks and companies to access funds and trade secrets.

Refer to the posting on International Cyber Security.

Oath of Office:

Ben’s Guide: Known as a swearing-in ceremony. The official reciting the oath swears an allegiance to uphold the Constitution.

The Constitution only specifies an oath of office for the President; however, Article VI of the Constitution states that other officials, including members of Congress, “shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation to support this constitution.”

U.S. Students Achievement Level:

U.S. students’ math skills have remained stagnant for decades. This means they are falling behind many other countries, and scores are now below the global average.

Students placed 11th out of 79 countries in science and 30th in math. When analyzing the U.S. results over the years, there has not been any improvement in math since 2003, and no improvement in science since 2006.

Micro-communities within host nation borders: 

ADWEEK: Announcement of the upcoming #SMWLDN on Nov. 2 – 4, 2021 provides an insight into reimagining social media marketing for a better tomorrow.

Forbes: article on The How And Why Of Building Micro-Communities On Social Media.

Immigration into the U.S.

Pew Research Center: The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world. The U.S. and World Population Clock.

Today, more than 40 million people living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s migrants.

Unskilled job market shrinking:

MIT: Study finds job-replacing tech has directly driven the income gap and loss of jobs for the unskilled continues.

Within industries adopting automation, the study shows, the average “displacement” (or job loss) from 1987-2016, displacement was 16 percent, while reinstatement was just 10 percent.

In short, those factory positions or phone-answering jobs are not coming back.

Bureau of Labor Statistics:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a variety of news releases and publications on economic data. BLS employs many surveys and statistical methods developed and refined over the course of the year. This is an excellent source to use for original research data. Strategic Plan, FY 2020-2025.

However, keep in mind that data is frequently updated during the year. Always recheck the source for changes.

Free money for all: 

AP News: In experiments across the country, dozens of cities and counties — some using money from the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package approved in March.

Proposed levels of payment are $500 to $1,000 each month to do with as they please and tracking what happens.

United States Census Bureau: Income and poverty in the United States: 2020 – Current population reports.

Employment and Underemployment:

The nation’s workforce, including employment and unemployment levels, as well as weeks and hours worked.

Data collection also includes occupation, industry, and class of worker (e.g., self-employed, working for a private firm, or working for a government agency) in the American labor force.

Included are behavior and estimates of home-based work.

U.S. contribution to the U.N.

COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: The United States remains the largest donor to the United Nations, contributing roughly $11 billion in 2019, which accounted for just under one-fifth of funding for the body’s collective budget.

Included are the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the World Food Program (WFP).

Government Accountability Office:

GAO@100: A century of GAO activities in non-partisan fact-based work. The presentation is a modern web design with a graphic presentation of areas of interest.

Included are current trends in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Automation and the Internet of Things, Blockchain & Distributed Technologies, climate, health, and weapons, and more.

Cost of Violence as Percent of World GDP: 

VISION OF HUMANITY:  The economic impact of violence improved by 0.2 percent from 2018 to 2019. The biggest improvement was in armed conflict, which decreased by 29 percent to $521 billion.

In the ten countries most affected by violence, the average economic impact of violence was equivalent to 41 per cent of GDP.

Cost of lobbying exceeds $3 billion annually and over 12,000 lobbyists:

Open Secrets: The combined organization, OpenSecrets, merges the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP).

The total cost of lobbying, and the number of lobbyists continues to increase.

New World Order: 

The Atlantic: In 2016, Australia struck a deal with France to buy a fleet of diesel-powered submarines.

Australians will scrap their agreement with France and team up with Britain and the U.S. instead, forming a new “AUKUS” military alliance in the process.

Healthcare Swindle:

Alliance for Natural Health: It’s no mystery that American health care is a crony mess.

In many ways, this is because health care is treated differently than almost every other service.

$10 for an aspirin; $300 for a single X-ray; $8,000 for an emergency room visit.

World economic situation: 

United Nations: Global manufacturing-dependent economies are faring better, both during the crisis and the recovery period. Trade-in services, in particular tourism, will remain depressed amid the slow lifting of restrictions on international travel and fear of new waves of infection in many developing countries.

According to the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) mid-2021 report, following a sharp contraction of 3.6 percent in 2020, the global economy is now projected to expand by 5.4 percent in 2021,

Marijuana Trends Among 8th, 10th, and 12th Grades:

Monitoring the Future: Daily marijuana prevalence rose in all three grades in 2019, significantly so in the lower two grades, with a further increase in 2020.

It is noteworthy that among 8th graders, it showed little change between 1996 and 2019.

In 2020, in all three grades, daily marijuana levels were at or near the highest level recorded since 1991 (1.1%, 4.4%, and 6.9%). Refer to page 14.

U.S. $42 Trillion GDP loss: 

AP NEWS: US Economy grows 6.4% in Q1, and it’s likely just the start. The economy may have grown 6.4%, but from what baseline? Additionally, the U.S. GDP loss increased significantly.

Applying the 250% formula as depicted in New Rules, the cumulative GDP loss since 1992 is $42 Trillion.

Harvard: U.S. Competitiveness: A Recovery Squandered. Structural failures in the U.S. political system continue to prevent meaningful progress on actions needed to improve U.S. competitiveness.

Drug and Alcohol Use Among College Students:

Addiction Center: College students make up one of the largest groups of drug abusers nationwide. Starting out in college produces some natural social anxiety for many students.

As students are facing the high demands of coursework, part-time jobs, internships, social obligations, and more, many turn to drugs as a way to cope.

Alcohol is involved in the vast majority of substance-related problems on college campuses. Because drinking is often socially acceptable.

Political gridlock: 

FiveThirtyEight: How much longer can this era of political gridlock last?

Divided government is probably imminent, and the electoral pattern we’ve become all too familiar with — a pendulum swinging back and forth between unified control of government and divided government.

New Jobs are STEM:

Pew Research Center: The STEM workforce (science, technology, engineering, and math) has grown rapidly in recent decades.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics identifies projects for strong growth, many are STEM. Increasing diversity in the STEM workforce is closely tied to the educational system.

Fiscal outlook and debt:

Congressional Budget Office: CBO projects a federal budget deficit of $2.3 trillion in 2021, nearly $900 billion less than the shortfall recorded in 2020.

At 10.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the deficit in 2021 would be the second-largest since 1945.

Federal debt is held by the public—which stood at 100 percent of GDP at the end of the fiscal year 2020.

Charter Schools:

EducationWeek: A charter school is a tuition-free school of choice that is publicly funded but independently run.

Conceived over 25 years ago in Minnesota as a means to loosen red tape around public schools and free up educators to innovate, charters have since grown into a national movement that spans 44 states plus the District of Columbia and includes around 7,000 schools and 3 million students.

Summary: Items in the table below provide a top-level summary regarding legislative and fiscal health at the national level.

Micro-communities within host nation borders
Unskilled job market shrinking
Free money for all
U.S. contribution to the U.N.
Cost of violence 13.3 % of world GDP
New World Order
World economic situation
U.S. $24 trillion GDP loss
Political gridlock
Fiscal outlook and debt
Oath of Office
Immigration into the U.S.

U.S. 47 million migrants
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment and Underemployment
Government Accountability Office
Lobbying $3.1 billion and 11,143 lobbyists
$272 billion healthcare swindle
Marijuana trends among 8th, 10th, and 12th grades
Drug and alcohol use amoung college students
Three-quarters of new jobs are STEM
Charter schools
U.S. students score average internationally, and below average in math

Summary Part I: Prolog

National and international cultures are establishing micro-communities within the borders of host nations via the use of social media. They represent every skill, education, experience and income level, and many differing political and religious systems and beliefs. New technology applications threaten labor intensive jobs as nearly half of jobs are vulnerable to computerization, shrinking the need for unskilled labor. Demand for employees skilled in developing and using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are in demand.

Technology At Work v2.0, Citi GPS: Global Perspectives & Solutions, January 2016. Offshoring for cost savings is pursued less as a result of new technology applications, which shrink the number of unskilled jobs. Europeans are beginning to mull free money for all. The inference is unemployment creates instability which can be solved by subsidizing family income.

As unemployment rates rise, conflict and instability increase nationally, and internationally, requiring peacekeeping operations. Worldwide peacekeeping operations are expensive. The chart for 2016-2018 indicates the U.S. contribution to be 28.36 Billion of an overall total of 53.03 Billion for the entire UN. (United Nations General Assembly)

World's Most and Least Peaceful Countries in 2016: Currently, violence costs 13.3% of the Worlds GDP annually, or 13 trillion, 300 billion dollars. This equates to 5$ per person daily, and $1,876 annually. Since 2008, there has been a 286% increase in deaths from violence. Possibly as expected, Syria was the least peaceful country in 2016, and by far had the most refugees fleeing to find refuge. (Forbes)

Summary Part II: New World Order, Status of Nations & International Trade:

The New World Order: Ultimately leads to member nations surrendering, or subjugating, their individual authority to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Trade Organization (WTO), European Union (EU), United Nations (UN) and “Open Borders.” The New World Order is essentially an initial attempt to bring about common results for citizens of the world. Member nations may have decisions by the EU and UN enacted and enforced within their own borders without their agreement.

World Economic Situation and Prospects: Joint product report of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA) and seven additional UN and external organizations. The report is lengthy and extensive. The Executive Summary states more than seven years after the global financial crisis, policymakers around the world still face enormous challenges in stimulating investment and reviving global growth.

The U.S. Trade Imbalance: Imported goods and services have far exceeded exported goods for over twenty years, resulting in a net export loss of ($9,975,399) 9 trillion, 975 billion and 399 million. Had the goods and services trade been balanced, that is produced domestically, at the MMF of 250% of the 1992-1995 level, it would have exceeded over . . . $24,938,498 [24 trillion, 938 billion and 498 million] more dollars of domestic GDP in production and spending, and . . . $12,469,248 [12 trillion, 468 billion and 248 million] more dollars in taxes and fee revenue, and a many more jobs.

Savings from the imbalance of imports are overrated. To arrive at the true cost, the cost of maintaining the infrastructure abandoned, unemployment insurance payments, food stamps, medical care provided and other welfare costs associated with the loss of employment are in fact a cost that should be added to the price of imported goods and services.

Summary Part III: Congressional Stalemate & U.S. Debt

How Concerning Is U.S. Political Gridlock? Questions about the health of America’s political institutions and the future of its global leadership have become rampant, with some citing partisan gridlock as evidence of America’s decline. Committee members are no-show for committee meetings and votes. The nuclear option established by the senate may not be a friend.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO): Indicates the 2017 budget deficit will exceed $559 billion. U.S. Debt Clock provides a good snapshot of data on a wide range of economic issues.

Fiscal Outlook and Debt: Congress and the new administration face serious economic, security, and social challenges that will require difficult policy choices in the short term about the level of federal spending and investments as well as ways to obtain needed resources. Decisions to enhance economic growth and address national policies need to be accompanied by a fiscal plan to put the government on a path that is more sustainable over the long term.

Summary Part IV: National Defense, Security and Immigration

Oath of Office: The President of the United States, the Cabinet, U.S. Congress, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, and all elected officials and employees of the federal government are required to take the oath. In some cases, the wording is changed based on the specific office. Additionally, most states, cities, law enforcement personnel and their employees are required to take the same or similar oath. The oath may also be required of contractors, suppliers and their personnel performing sensitive work.

Conducting commerce with or serving as an agent of an enemy of the United States, in effect, provides aid and comfort to the enemy. Profit from activities can be used by the enemy to support aggression against citizens of the United States, or allies of the United Sates. Individuals and organizations arranging and participating in such activity are effectively foreign agents failing to uphold the oath.

Immigration into the United States: A complex demographic phenomenon that has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout history.

Definitions: The terms immigrant and emigrant are frequently confusing. Immigrant is a person entering a country from another country. Emigrant is a person who has left their home country for another country.

Migrants is a general term referring to the total number of persons worldwide, that have emigrated from their home country for another. The number of international migrants worldwide has continued to grow rapidly over the past fifteen years reaching 244 million in 2015, up from 222 million in 2010, 191 million in 2005 and 173 million in 2000.

The Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA), the body of law governing current immigration policy, provides for an annual worldwide limit of 675,000 permanent immigrants, with certain exceptions for close family members.

The Migration Policy Institute Interactive Map: and the International Migration Report for 2015 indicate the most international migrants, 47 million, resided in the United States of America. This is equal to 19 per cent of the world’s total. Migration Data Hub.

Summary Part V: Unemployment and Underemployment

Bureau of Labor Statistics Calculators: Display graphical images by category. Selecting an image will lead to a list of data table titles which can be selected for further research. Place a check-mark in a box and select “Retrieve data” at the bottom of the page to retrieve the data.

Data retrieved using the calculator: (in thousands) as of December 2016: (Selecting Employment, Monthly, Labor Force Statistics) will provide a table of reports which will provide the following:

Civilian Labor Force Level: (In thousands. Some totals will not agree due to rounding of hundreds of data files)

Labor Force Participation Rate: 62.7 percent.
Employment Level: 152,111
Employed Full-time: 124,248
Employed Part-time: 27,895
Unemployment Level: 7,529
Welfare Statistics: (current data as of January 2017)
Total number of Americans receiving welfare government assistance: 67,891,000
Receiving SNAP food stamps: 41,170,000
Receiving UI/EDD unemployment insurance: 10,200,000

Total Federal government spending on welfare programs annually (not including food stamps or unemployment): $158,200,000,000

Underemployment:

Personal desires regarding employment may be difficult to gauge. Unemployment + Part-time employment may indicate underemployment. If so, that would equate to 35,424 (in thousands) underemployed. Additionally, there are 28,400 (in thousands) students 16 years and above attending high school and college. These two statistics equal 63,824 (in thousands). * White House briefing response - the data tables are used for many purposes and may be difficult to understand.

Summary Part VI: Government Agencies & Regulation

The Government Accountability Office (GAO): An independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress, often called the "congressional watchdog." GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. Given GAO is the "congressional watchdog," what is the record of the GAO?

What GAO Found: The lead-in statement. "To operate as effectively and efficiently as possible, Congress, the administration, and federal managers must have ready access to reliable and complete financial and performance information—both for individual federal entities and for the federal government as a whole." Somewhere between 18 percent and 34 percent of total federal assets unaccounted for. The GAO also indicates an estimated 53% of federal agencies may not report expenditures for consulting, and the validity reports submitted may be in error. Funds expended by lobbyists are difficult to determine, as well as who the recipients are. In essence, financial reporting at the federal level is in need of significant review and change. (GAO comment)

Lobbying Database: In addition to campaign contributions to elected officials and candidates, companies, labor unions, and other organizations spend billions of dollars each year to lobby Congress and federal agencies. Some special interests retain lobbying firms. The total lobbying spending for 2016 was $3.12 billion, and the number of active lobbyists who actually lobbied was 11,143. Putting that in perspective, $5,522,123 was spent on lobbying per congressional representative, and the ratio was 19.72 lobbyists per representative.

Summary Part VII: Affordable Healthcare

This question must be asked. "What reasoning can possibly justify legalizing drug addiction for tax revenue?" Creating millions of addicts is somehow unseemly.

Determining what is affordable healthcare is beyond the scope and purview of this research activity. However, something alarming regarding the charge to protect the health and well-being of Americans has been identified as the area of focus.

Mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): The U.S. Department of HHS is to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans. To fulfill that mission by providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services. Healthcare Tab: Cost for 2016 is expected to surpass $10,000 per person. National healthcare expenditures are expected to total over $3.35 trillion for the year, or approximately 18% of the total gross domestic product (GDP) of $18.5 trillion for the U.S.

The $272 Billion Swindle: Thieves love America’s health-care system. Drug Trafficking by the numbers: $200-$750 billion in 2013, exact data unknown as an underground industry. Drug trafficking is an issue worldwide and defined as the “global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws” by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Marijuana Trends: In daily use, risk, disapproval, and availability. With a national trend on approving the cultivation and sale of marijuana, originally for medical purposes, now for recreational purposes, the daily usage and availability of the drug by children in grades 8, 10 and 12 is alarming. While a large percentage of students state they disapprove of marijuana use, a decreasing number see use as a risk, and the higher the grade level, the higher the percentage of students using the drug.

Statistics and Trends: Six percent of high school seniors report daily use of marijuana. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. Its use is widespread among young people. According to a yearly survey of middle and high school students.

Drug and Alcohol Use: College-Age Adults in 2015. Daily marijuana use has grown continuously, and since 2014, cocaine use by college students has increased significantly.

Summary Part VIII: Education

Three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require education beyond a high school diploma; with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers prominent on the list.

Students in Singapore and Japan score significantly higher than U.S. students. There is an exception to the U.S. outcome, and that is Massachusetts, which scores much higher. Massachusetts has been on the forefront of the STEM initiative with the University of Massachusetts leading the way on assessment and program improvement. Also, Building products for export provides significant learning experiences.

Charter Schools: Public schools that are allowed the freedom to be more innovative while being held accountable for advancing student achievement. They are open to all children; do not charge tuition; and do not have special entrance requirements. The federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) provides money to create new high-quality public charter schools, as well as to disseminate information about ones with a proven track record. 4.5 percent of U.S. GDP spent on education. Highest of all nations.

Latest PISA Results: Demonstrates current standing of U.S. students as holding steady in reading and science performance, and slipping significantly in math. U.S. students score at or below average in all categories.

Current models for managing and administering U.S. schools, teachers and students originate at federal and state levels of government. This approach creates an inflexible model which places a ceiling on growth and excellence by establishing manage-to and teach-to values. It is the same problem industry had thirty years ago regarding quality of products. Focus on the process to improve the product at the process level, the classroom and school.

Students learn and score higher when traditional methods are used. Open classrooms and technology can be used, however, must support structured learning to objectives with the teacher in control.

Student success improves when involved in apprentice programs with industry while attending school.

Student success increases with more time on the subject for deeper learning to solve complex problems.

U.S. places too much emphasis on faculty evaluation by students. Most countries evaluate faculty via student outcomes.

U.S. teaches in a circular model, coming back to the subject at varying times in the curriculum rather than extended time on subject.

Notes:

Future Forecast: 2014 summarizes the current Washington scene and provides a still current Worldwide conflict threat assessment.

Given the national and international backdrop, the following items are anticipated to be included in President Trump’s State of the Union (SOTU) Address.

1. Prolog. (Part I)
2. New World Order and Status of Nations. (Part II)
3. International Trade. (Part II)
4. Congressional Stalemate. (Part III)
5. U.S. Debt Limit (Part III)
6. National Defense and Security. (Part IV)
7. Immigration. (Part IV)
8. Unemployment and Underemployment. (Part V)
9. Government Agencies and Regulation. (Part VI)
10. Affordable Healthcare. (Part VII)
11. Education. (Part VIII)

This is the first issue of the SOTU backdrop, and will be updated annually as significant changes occur. The items listed above represent a review of legislative and fiscal health at the national level. Reviews are based on available federal data, and information published based on the data. National defense and security are addressed in relationship to congress and the administration regarding external and internal responsibilities. Items not included in this initial review are the financial community, military, and more which may be added.

This question must be asked. "What reasoning can possibly justify legalizing drug addiction for tax revenue?" Creating millions of addicts is somehow unseemly.

Mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): The U.S. Department of HHS is to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans. To fulfill that mission by providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services.

Healthcare Tab: Cost for 2016 is expected to surpass $10,000 per person. The new peak means the past administration will pass the problem of high healthcare costs on to its successor. The report projects that healthcare spending will grow at a faster rate than the national economy over the coming decade.

National healthcare expenditures are expected to total over $3.35 trillion for the year, or approximately 18% of the total gross domestic product (GDP) of $18.5 trillion for the U.S.

HHS 11 Operating Divisions: There are eight agencies in the U.S. Public Health Services, and three human services agencies. These divisions administer a wide variety of health and human services and conduct life-saving research for the nation, protecting and serving all Americans. HHS Demographics trends, index scores, and workforce size.

Determining what is affordable healthcare is beyond the scope and purview of this research activity. However, something alarming regarding the charge to protect the health and well-being of Americans has been identified as the area of focus. There are very significant costs and detrimental health effects which are the result of fraud, malpractice, legal and illegal drugs; of which the annual, and long-term costs and effects are not determined in total. From the data located, costs range in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually, the loss of tens of thousands of lives, and effectively dilute the value of healthcare provided. These items are addressed here:

Note: A significant number of reports are available on HHS subjects. Some are statistics driven by data from federal government sources, other reports use selected data from the original reports for a specific purpose, and some reports are independently sponsored by universities and research institutions. Occasionally, disagreements arise over the data and statistics, which is quite possible as different sources are used. Keep in mind that for accurate comparison, data and statistics must represent the same population (samples) and characteristics. Disagreements do not imply either report or party is in error. Reports are not always tabulated to the current year. However, the direction of movement in the historical data may be indicative of the future.

Fraud Losses:

The $272 Billion Swindle: Thieves love America’s health-care system. INVESTIGATORS in New York were looking for health-care fraud hot-spots. In 2012 a former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the RAND Corporation, estimated that fraud (and the extra rules and inspections required to fight it) added as much as $98 billion, or roughly 10%, to annual Medicare and Medicaid spending—and up to $272 billion across the entire health system. Considering there is some association to reality here, in 2016 a 10% loss of a $3.5 trillion expenditure, would be $350 billion, or 60% of the 2017 Department of Defense (DOD) budget. Despite the penalties associated with conviction, they do not appear to be significant enough. Complete loss of license and property, as in the days of long ago, appears to be needed.

Drug Trafficking:

Drug Trafficking: $200-$750 billion in 2013. Drug trafficking is an issue worldwide and defined as the “global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws” by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Drug Use:

National Institute on Drug Abuse: Research has measured drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes among adolescent students nationwide. Survey participants report their drug use behaviors across three time periods: lifetime, past year, and past month. Overall, 45,473 students from 372 public and private schools participated in this year's Monitoring the Future survey. The survey is funded by the NIDA, a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and conducted by the University of Michigan.

Teen Substance Use: Surveys show a promising decline. The 2016 Monitoring the Future (MTF) annual survey results released December 13, 2016 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reflect changing teen behaviors and choices in a social media-infused world. The results show a continued long-term decline in the use of many illicit substances, including marijuana, as well as alcohol, tobacco, and misuse of some prescription medications, among the nation’s teens. The MTF survey measures drug use and attitudes among eighth, 10th, and 12th graders, and is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the NIH.

Marijuana Trends: In daily use, risk, disapproval, and availability. With a national trend on approving the cultivation and sale of marijuana, originally for medical purposes, now for recreational purposes, the daily usage and availability of the drug by children in grades 8, 10 and 12 is alarming. While a large percentage of students state they disapprove of marijuana use, a decreasing number see use as a risk, and the higher the grade level, the higher the percentage of students using the drug.

Monitoring the Study: Trends in Prevalence of Various Drugs. Johnston, L. D., Miech, R. A., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (December 13, 2016). "Teen use of any illicit drug other than marijuana at new low, same true for alcohol." University of Michigan News Service.

Statistics and Trends: Six percent of high school seniors report daily use of marijuana. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. Its use is widespread among young people. According to a yearly survey of middle and high school students.

Drug and Alcohol Use: College-Age Adults in 2015. Daily marijuana use has grown continuously, and since 2014, cocaine use by college students has increased significantly.

Increasing number of U.S. adults using marijuana. The number of adults who first used marijuana increased from 823,000 in 2002 to 1.4 million in 2014. The estimate is that the number of daily or near daily users was 8.4 million 2014, an increase from 3.9 million in 2002.

Adolescent alcohol and marijuana use leads to poor performance. A study by the nonprofit RAND Corporation that followed a group of students over a seven-year period found marijuana use was predictive of poorer functioning across more areas, including lower academic functioning, being less prepared for school, more delinquent behavior and poorer mental health. The results are published online in the journal Addiction.

Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in the United States. Is marijuana addictive? Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to physical and psychological marijuana addiction. Heavy, long-term marijuana users develop physical dependence on the drug and withdrawal symptoms upon quitting. Marijuana withdrawal symptoms typically include irritability, sleeplessness, anxiety, impaired appetite and aggression.

Again, this question must be asked. "What reasoning can possibly justify legalizing drug addiction for tax revenue?" Creating millions of addicts is somehow unseemly.

Is drug addiction treatment worth its cost? Substance abuse costs our Nation over $600 billion annually and treatment can help reduce these costs. Drug addiction treatment has been shown to reduce associated health and social costs by far more than the cost of the treatment itself. But, is it reasonable to provide a climate for the problem in the first place.

White House: Home to the President of the United States and contact point for the nations administration. In addition to the menu at the top of the page, the footer contains, in terms of long ago, the switchboard list.

Cabinet: Each of the 15 executive departments - the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General. All federal government agencies rely significantly on consulting services to acquire expertise not present in their respective organizations. This is the normal mode of activity in response to lobbying by external organiztions to acquire services, influence actions, policies or decisions of government officials.

The two sides of an issue as depicted in opening image on government agencies and regulations are "lobbying" for an issue and, performing "consulting" services to provide the product, in the case of the health care law. 1). Lobbying efforts were performed by, essentially, the entire health care industry. and 2). Consulting services were performed by, essentially, an administration insider group, one of which has admitted misleading the public.

Consulting:

The question may arise, what is level of the federal government's use of consulting services? The response (dated: June 13 , 1988) is still at the top of the current page and reads in total as follows:

U.S. Government Accountability Office: GAO discussed the federal government's use of consultants, focusing on the nature and extent of agencies' monitoring and reporting of consultant use. GAO noted that: (1) varying interpretations and definitions of consulting services and reporting system limitations have caused agencies to understate their use of consulting services; (2) agencies' use of consultants in fiscal year 1987, reported at about $245 million, actually ranged from $4 billion to $16 billion; (3) the Office of Management and Budget's revision of guidance clarified its consulting services definition, but did not address reporting system limitations or all major procurement categories that could potentially involve consulting services; and (4) out of 19 federal agencies it reviewed, only 9 performed an annual mandatory Inspector General evaluation of consulting services."

The question may arise, what are the responsibilities of the GAO? The current response on the "About" page, in part, reads as follows:

The GAO: An independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress, often called the "congressional watchdog." GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. Given GAO is the "congressional watchdog," what is the record of the GAO?

What GAO Found: The lead-in statement. "To operate as effectively and efficiently as possible, Congress, the administration, and federal managers must have ready access to reliable and complete financial and performance information—both for individual federal entities and for the federal government as a whole." Somewhere between 18 percent and 34 percent of total federal assets unaccounted for. Requires evaluation by the reader.

Commercial enterprises, nonprofit and not for profit entities are required to prepare internal financial reports (income statements, balance sheets, etc.) on a regular basis in preparation for tax reporting. Additionally, large and international enterprises must have outside professional auditing firms perform an independent audit of the reports for submission of their annual reports. Individual taxpayers must prepare and submit annual tax returns. Income from taxes to the federal government associated with the reporting requirements result in: 1) Commercial enterprises providing about 25% of annual tax revenue, and 2) Individual taxpayers providing about 75% of annual tax revenue.

Lobbying:

Lobbying: The relationship between lobbyists and lawmakers is complicated. On one hand, lobbyists pursue relationships with lawmakers in order to shape legislation so that it benefits clients who would be affected by new laws or regulations. On the other hand, lobbyists are frequently targeted by lawmakers as sources of campaign money, which the lobbyists feel beholden to give to improve their clients' prospects of success.

Lobbying is a very big business, and publicly marketed. However, there are hard, soft and dark money categories. Dark money, about which much is unknown, frequently refers to Political Nonprofits and Super PACs. Expenditures by lobbyists in this category are unclear as strict reporting requirements are not established or adhered-to.

Lobbying Database: In addition to campaign contributions to elected officials and candidates, companies, labor unions, and other organizations spend billions of dollars each year to lobby Congress and federal agencies. Some special interests retain lobbying firms. The total lobbying spending for 2016 was $3.12 billion, and the number of active lobbyists who actually lobbied was 11,143. Putting that in perspective, $5,522,123 was spent on lobbying per congressional representative, and the ratio was 19.72 lobbyists per representative.

Lobbying Research: Research is published by many organizations. Selecting the "Menu" on OpenSecrets
will reveal significant information. Activities and representatives donated-to can be obtained by "drilling-down" into the data. However, several additional sources are required to get a "Picture" of what the overall functions of lobbying may look like.

Long-Term Contribution Trends - Top Contributors - Money to Congress - Money In State Politics

The General Accounting Office (GAO) is unable to account for an estimated 25% of total federal assets using internal accounting records. The GAO also indicates an estimated 53% of federal agencies may not report expenditures for consulting, and the validity reports submitted may be in error. Funds expended by lobbyists are difficult to determine, as well as who the recipients are. In essence, financial reporting at the federal level is in need of significant review and change. (GAO comment)

Government agencies and elected officials at USA.GOV: Find contact information for federal, state, and local government agencies; government-related programs; and elected officials. The A-Z Index of U.S Government Agencies and more . . .

United States Census Bureau: To derive unemployment and underemployment statistics, it is necessary to establish the current population as a base of measurement. The home page provides current estimates of population, and links to selected reports.

Population Clock: U.S. Population is currently estimated to be 324,386,000 citizens. The clock displays data from the census and provides projections forward. There are exceptions to which citizens are not included.

Population and Housing Unit Estimates: This page provides links to tables with national, state, and commonwealth tables for 2000-2016. The national outlook will be explored. However, for researchers desiring to review by state, the data tables are available. The employment page provides data tables on employers, public and private sectors, labor force statistics, and payroll data.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Publishes current information on inflation and prices, pay and benefits, employment including by occupation, employment by major industry, unemployment, productivity and more.

Occupational Outlook Handbook: Provides information on duties, education, training and pay for hundreds of occupations. Computer and information technology occupations are projected to grow by 12 percent from 2014 to 2024, faster than the average for all occupations.

Occupational Employment Job Openings: Estimated openings (in thousands) due to growth and replacements from 2014-2024 is 46,506. The table includes anticipated annual wages, education and experience.

Employment Projections: 2014-2024 reflect growth in medical related fields.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Calculators: Display graphical images by category. Selecting an image will lead to a list of data table titles which can be selected for further research. Place a checkmark in a box and select “Retrieve data” at the bottom of the page to retrieve the data.

Data retrieved using the calculator: (in thousands) as of December 2016: (Selecting Employment, Monthly, Labor Force Statistics) will provide a table of reports which will provide the following:

Civilian Labor Force Level: (In thousands. Some totals will not agree due to rounding of hundreds of data files)
Labor Force Participation Rate: 62.7 percent.
Employment Level: 152,111
Employed Full-time: 124,248
Employed Part-time: 27,895

Unemployment Level: 7,529

Welfare Statistics: (current data as of January 2017)

Total number of Americans receiving welfare government assistance: 67,891,000
Receiving SNAP food stamps: 41,170,000
Receiving UI/EDD unemployment insurance: 10,200,000
More:
Total Federal government spending on welfare programs annually (not including food stamps or unemployment): $158,200,000,000

Underemployment:

Personal desires regarding employment may be difficult to gauge. Unemployment + Part-time employment may indicate underemployment. If so, that would equate to 35,424 (in thousands) underemployed. Additionally, there are 28,400 (in thousands) students 16 years and above attending high school and college. These two statistics equal 63,824 (in thousands).

As robots take jobs, Europeans mull free money for all. The radical notion that governments should hand out free money to everyone — rich and poor, those who work and those who don't — is slowly but surely gaining ground in Europe.