Economists give the president and Congress a 'D' on the economy. How would you grade them?
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
President Obama and Congress get a big fat "D" when it comes to their handling of the economy.
CNNMoney asked 20 economists to grade our leaders, and both the president and Congress received "D" averages.
It's hard to imagine any other profession where you could perform at this level and keep your job.
These experts say Congress is more interested in scoring political points than in helping the economy. They're also worried about the so-called fiscal cliff and the looming disaster if Congress can't get its act together.
But Congress doesn't seem too worried about any of this. Bloomberg news reports that congressional leaders may delay the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts until March. These cuts are scheduled to start in January.
At the same time they might temporarily extend income tax cuts and other tax breaks.
In other words, kick the can down the road some more without making any serious choices. That "D" grade is looking a little generous.
Meanwhile, ordinary Americans continue to suffer under the weak economy.
A new survey shows 28% of Americans have no emergency savings. Nothing. Zero.
The general rule of thumb is to have enough savings to cover at least six months of expenses. Only one in four people have that.
And just last week Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he expects the unemployment rate to remain above 8% through the end of the year.
The real absurdity is Congress and the president will look at you with a straight face and tell you how they think they deserve to be re-elected.
Here’s my question to you: Economists give the president and Congress a "D" on the economy. How would you grade them?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How can we restore confidence in our public schools?
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Americans' confidence in public schools is at a 40-year low.
A new Gallup Poll shows only 29% of those surveyed say they have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in public schools.
That's down 5-points from last year.
And it's down from 58% who had confidence in the country's public schools when gallup first asked the question in 1973.
It should come as no surprise that Americans have lost faith in our schools when you take a look at the dismal state of education.
One international assessment of 34 countries shows the U.S. ranking 25th in math, 17th in science and 14th in reading.
Many of our students graduate high school without the skills they need to survive in a global marketplace: things like reading, writing and math.
Meanwhile there seems to be little - if any - accountability when it comes to our schools and our teachers.
Just last month in the Cafferty File we told you about how Florida lowered the passing grade on the writing portion of a standardized test - after students' scores plunged.
And the latest example comes courtesy of New York.
State lawmakers voted to shield the job-performance reviews for hundreds of thousands of individual teachers from the general public. Instead - the new law allows parents to see scores only for their child's current teacher.
Supporters say it's the right balance between the educational needs of the students and the parents' and teachers' rights.
What about the public who pays these teachers' salaries? Aren't we entitled to know who's cutting it and who isn't? Yes, we are.
Credit the political muscle of the teachers unions with stifling another attempt to restore accountability.
Here’s my question to you: How can we restore confidence in our public schools?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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