Barack Obama

Just a few highlights of things that reference the Millennial Generation. Read the whole thing here

• "most daunting challenge can be the cost of college. At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt"
• "Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July"
• "Higher education can’t be a luxury – it’s an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford"
• "states also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets"
• "After all, innovation is what America has always been abt Most new jobs are created in start-ups and small businesses" - true, many by youth

OWS

• "And we've put in place new rules to hold Wall Street accountable, so a crisis like that never happens again."
• "And I will not go back to the days when Wall Street was allowed to play by its own set of rules. The new rules we passed restore what should be any financial system’s core purpose: Getting funding to entrepreneurs with the best ideas, and getting loans to responsible families who want to buy a home, start a business, or send a kid to college.
• So if you're a big bank or financial institution, you are no longer allowed to make risky bets with your customers' deposits. You’re required to write out a "living will" that details exactly how you’ll pay the bills if you fail -- because the rest of us aren’t bailing you out ever again. And if you’re a mortgage lender or a payday lender or a credit card company, the days of signing people up for products they can't afford with confusing forms and deceptive practices are over. Today, American consumers finally have a watchdog in Richard Cordray with one job: To look out for them."

In response, the PIRGs put out a release regarding the impact of the President's speech and potential legislation on higher education:

"“In this economy, we cannot double the student loan interest rate. Without a new plan, millions of students will pay a crushing $5,200 more on their student loan than they otherwise would,” said Rich Williams, Higher Education Advocate for US PIRG. “Students are already weighed down by state budget cuts, struggling family finances and uncertain job prospects. We applaud President Obama for his proposal to keep student loan interest rates low.”

If Congress does nothing, borrowers who will takeout the maximum $23,000 in subsidized student loans will see their interest balloon to an additional $5,200 over a 10-year repayment period and $11,300 over a 20-year repayment period.

In addition to loans, many students work their way through college to keep their debt burden low. However more full time students are becoming full time workers. With the economic down turn, it is getting harder for those students to find and continue employment. Doubling the amount of work-study jobs, as proposed by the President, will help support needy students willing to work hard make it to graduation."

Here is a chart (PDF) from the PIRGs on how students would be impacted if the interest rate on student loans doubled in July.

Via the White House

Today, the White House announced Summer Jobs+, a new call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for low-income and disconnected youth in the summer of 2012. The President proposed $1.5 billion for high-impact summer jobs and year-round employment for low-income youth ages 16-24 in the American Jobs Act as part of the Pathways Back to Work fund. When Congress failed to act, the Federal government and private sector came together to commit to creating nearly 180,000 employment opportunities for low-income youth in the summer of 2012, with a goal of reaching 250,000 employment opportunities by the start of summer, at least 100,000 of which will be placements in paid jobs and internships. Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of executive actions the Obama Administration is taking to strengthen the economy and move the country forward because we can’t wait for Congress to act.

Our generation has been hardest hit by the recession, and its about damn time companies started thinking about the highly educated and eager workforce at their disposal.

The headline of a December 15 press release from the Harvard Institute of Politics trumpeted, "More Millennials Predict Obama Will Lose Bid for Re-election Than Win, Harvard Poll Finds." The article elaborated that among all the 18-29-year-olds, opinion on this question is actually quite evenly divided into almost equal thirds: 36% believe that the president will lose in 2012; 30% think he will win; and 32% are not sure. Not surprisingly, conservative media and politicians jumped on the story with particular vigor and glee.

The headline was certainly provocative, but it hardly told the complete story about the Harvard poll's results, to say nothing of Millennial political attitudes and preferences, entering 2012. The problem is that asking Millennials which candidate they expect to win an election may measure their awareness of the conventional wisdom that says President Obama is in deep trouble and that next year's election is the Republicans to lose, but it says very little about how Millennials are actually going to vote in 2012. When Harvard asked that question directly, things look different. Obama leads among Millennials by double digits against all likely Republican opponents: 11 points versus Mitt Romney and 16 points versus both Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry.

The current state of Millennial Generation (born 1982-2003) political opinions and behavior is, in fact, reflected far more completely and precisely by a November Pew Research survey:

"In the last four national elections generational differences have mattered more than they have in decades. According to exit polls, younger people have voted substantially more Democratic than other age groups since 2004, while older voters have cast more ballots for Republican candidates in each election since 2006. The latest national polls suggest this pattern may well continue in 2012... One of the largest factors driving the current generation gap is the arrival of diverse and Democratic-oriented Millennials... This group holds liberal attitudes on most social and governmental issues."

In the Pew research, Millennials prefer Barack Obama over Mitt Romney (61% vs. 37%) by about the same 2:1 margin that they voted for him against John McCain in 2008 (66% vs. 32%). Even white Millennials, a cohort that has received considerable attention from commentators in recent months for their modest drift toward the GOP, are evenly divided in the 2012 voting preferences (49% each for Obama and Romney). The president's margin among Millennials is even greater against other potential Republican nominees than it is against Romney.

Moreover, Millennials tended toward the Democrats before Barack Obama achieved national prominence. Millennials identify as Democrats over Republicans by 50% to 35%. Majorities of Millennials also hold favorable attitudes toward the Democratic Party (51%) and unfavorable attitudes toward the GOP (53%). In the policy arena, by 56% to 35%, Millennials prefer a bigger government that provides more services to a smaller government that provides fewer services. This broad belief in governmental approaches in dealing with economic and societal issues is reflected in the almost 2:1 preference of Millennials for the expansion rather than the repeal of the 2010 health care reform legislation (44% to 27%) and for increased spending to help economic recovery rather than reducing the budget deficit (55% to 41%).

Millennials also hold opinions on a range of social issues that incline the generation toward the Democratic Party and Barack Obama. A majority of Millennials (59%) support the legalization of gay marriage, while only 28% of them agree that America has gone too far in pushing for equal rights. Probably because it is the most diverse in U.S. history (about 40% are nonwhite and one in five have an immigrant parent) virtually all Millennials (81%) favor providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Of course, the Millennial Generation's continued clear support for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party is not a sure thing. Both the president and his party must convince Millennials that they can effectively use the government to fix the problems confronting their generation and the nation. But electoral politics is a two-way street. To win Millennial support, the Republican Party has to persuade Millennials that it and its potential presidential nominees are a viable alternative. So far, there is little in the Pew research (or any other poll) to suggest that they have done much to accomplish that undertaking. If anything, the GOP's push to the right on both economic and social issues makes that increasingly unlikely.

In the end, the Democrats' biggest Millennial concern is not likely to be the generation's partisanship or opinions on issues, but its political engagement. The Pew survey indicates that only 69% of Millennials claim to care a good deal about who wins the presidency in 2012. This compares with over 80% among older generations. At the same time, a recent Gallup Poll indicates that the contentious struggle for the Republican presidential nomination and the performance of the party's leadership in Congress may have taken a toll on the Republican Party and sharply narrowed the "enthusiasm gap" between the Democrats and GOP.

As a result, the participation of Millennials is perhaps even more crucial in 2012 than it was four years earlier. In 2008, the generation comprised about 17% of the electorate and accounted for about 80% of Barack Obama's national popular vote majority. In 2012, as increasing numbers of Millennials reach voting age, they have the potential to comprise about a quarter of the electorate. If Millennials vote in numbers proportionate to their potential, their continued support of the president, as indicated by Pew, will likely allow him to overcome any losses he suffers among older voters. If large numbers of Millennials do not vote or are prevented from doing so by efforts in states across the country to limit their turnout, the president's reelection chances will be sharply reduced.

The answers to those questions, not any current judgments on which candidate is likely to win, will very likely determine whether Barack Obama or his eventual Republican opponent is inaugurated as president on January 20, 2013.

Crossposted with permission from Mike and Morley from HuffPo

President Barack Obama has told his supporters that the 2012 presidential election will be about two contrasting visions of the nation's future. In his vision, "everyone pays their fair share," so that there is "shared sacrifice and shared opportunities" and the government plays a big part in helping the private sector prosper.

By contrast, the newest Republican candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, pledged to those listening to his announcement speech to free the nation from "the grips of central planners who would control our healthcare, who would spend our treasure, who downgrade our future and micromanage our lives" and to "make Washington, D.C., as inconsequential as possible."

These starkly different messages make it clear that America is now engaged in the fourth debate in its history about the size and scope of government and doing it with all the rancor and heated rhetoric that have characterized each of the previous debates.

The issue was at the heart of the debate over the ratification of the U.S. Constitution when newspaper printing presses were destroyed by those who disagreed with editorials on the issue. Eighty years later, it caused the nation to be torn apart during the Civil War. And 80 years after that, the Supreme Court declared minimum wage laws unconstitutional until a political consensus was framed around FDR's New Deal that not even the court could resist.

Each time the issue of what the nation's civic ethos should be has exposed vast differences in beliefs between generations. And, each time the country experienced a long period of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt before the debate was resolved in favor of a new generation's ideas and beliefs. This historical pattern suggests that the best way to predict the outcome of today's debate is to examine the beliefs and attitudes of America's newest generation of young adults, millennials, born 1982-2003.

In 2012, one out of every four eligible voters will be members of this generation. More than 40 percent of millennials are nonwhite, creating the greatest racial and ethnic diversity in the nation's history. Twenty-five percent of them have an immigrant parent.

The generation was raised on messages of inclusion and equity and has translated those teachings into their political beliefs. A majority of millennials (54 percent) favor bigger government with more services, over a smaller government with fewer services (39 percent), almost the exact opposite of older generations' opinions on that choice. Sixty-nine percent of the generation is accepting of homosexuality and believe that a growing number of immigrants strengthen American society, in stark contrast to the beliefs of their elders.

While older generations are split on the question of government regulation of business, millennials come down squarely on the side of regulation by 51 percent to 43 percent.

While these attitudes suggest which way the debate over the country's civic ethos will ultimately turn out, it is the millennial generation's belief in consensus decision-making and pragmatic solutions to problems that hold out the most hope that the tone of today's political rhetoric will also change.

Millennials believe that collective action at the local level is the best way to solve national problems. Just as their parents set the rules within which millennials were free to exercise their creative energies, millennials look to the federal government to set national goals, even to establish mandates for required behavior. However, in the millennial era, the choice of how to comply with these requirements will not be determined in remote bureaucracies, but by individuals in local communities throughout the country.

In the middle of the vitriol of the current debate, it is easy to lose sight of the possibility of the dispute being resolved in favor of some larger and different national consensus. The millennial generation offers the country that hope. If America is to emerge from its current period of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, it will have to look to its newest generation, for both the behavior and the ideas that can bring the debate to a conclusion that the country can support.

Follow Michael Hais and Morley Winograd on Twitter here.

Editor's Note: This piece originally appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on August 29.

The recent release of survey data by the Pew Research Center indicating that the party identification of Millennials had narrowed from 60% Democratic vs. 32% Republican in 2008 to 52% Democratic vs. 39% Republican in 2011 produced a flurry of articles by political observers.

USA Today maintained that "in 2012, youth voters may prove elusive for Obama." Michael Barone posting in the conservative Washington Examiner under a misleading headline that "Under Obama, Millennials move into the GOP column," could barely contain his excitement at the news that a majority of white Millennials identify as Republicans (52% vs. 41% Democratic). A careful examination of the Pew data indicates that even in 2008 a larger percentage of white Millennials identified outright as Republicans than Democrats. Most of the movement that has occurred since then was among those who leaned to the Democratic Party and had weaker ties to it to begin with.

Nevertheless, given the importance of the Millennial Generation to President Obama's victories, beginning with the Iowa caucuses all the way through the general election, the data certainly highlighted a source of potential danger to his re-election and to Democratic hopes for regaining their position as the majority party in American politics. Such speculation however ignores some other hard facts about Millennials and why they are likely to continue to be a key part of the Democratic coalition.

Millennials are the most ethnically and religiously diverse generation in U.S. history. Forty percent of all Millennials are "nonwhite" i.e., African-American, Asian, and, especially, Hispanic. These groups will represent an even greater percentage of those Millennials turning 18 in the next decade. Virtually all of the Millennials' movement away from the Democrats and toward the Republicans in the Pew research has occurred among white Millennials, who, in spite of their increasing Republican proclivities, still more strongly identify as Democrats to a narrow but statistically greater extent than older whites. Nonwhite Millennials continue to overwhelmingly identify as Democrats over Republicans (71% to 17%).

Millennials are also half as likely as older generations to be white Evangelicals or Catholics and a quarter less likely to be white Mainline Protestants, groups that in recent years have trended toward the GOP. While the "Teavangelicals" gathering this weekend in Texas at the invitation of Rick Perry, its governor and possible GOP presidential candidate, may represent an important part of the Republican activist base, they don't represent Millennials. Members of America's young adult generation are twice as likely to be Hispanic Catholics or unaffiliated with any faith and a third more likely to be non-Christians -- Jews and increasingly Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists -- groups that tilt toward the Democratic Party. Any political movement that attempts to use Christian doctrine as the core of its appeal is sure to turn away most Millennial voters.

There are a range of other factors that seem likely to limit a wholesale movement of Millennials to the Republican Party, so long as it adheres to its current belief system. For one thing, Millennials clearly endorse an economically activist government. A March 2011 Pew survey indicated that by 54% to 39% Millennials favored a bigger government that provides more services rather than a smaller government that provides fewer services. Moreover, most Millennials are confident that governmental activism is useful in ameliorating societal problems. A majority of them (52%) believe that government often does a better job than people give it credit for. These beliefs suggest that for many Millennials the major complaint about President Obama and his party is not that they favor "big government," but that they haven't used government as often and effectively as Millennials would like.

In addition, one in five Millennials has an immigrant parent. Not surprisingly then, large majorities of Millennials believe that immigrants strengthen the country (69%) and support a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants (82%).

Most Millennials (including white members of the cohort) are also strikingly tolerant on social issues. About two-thirds believe that homosexuality should be accepted by society (69%) and support the legalization of gay marriage (64%).

Such attitudes make most Millennials uncomfortable with the anti-immigrant and religiously conservative views that so many Republicans, particularly Tea Partiers, espouse. As a result, some young Republicans such as Meghan McCain, the Senator's daughter, and Margaret Hoover, the 31st president's great granddaughter, have called on their party to moderate its stance on social issues in order to attract Millennial voters.

Finally, most Millennials do not approve of the GOP's current highly ideological approach to politics. The Millennial Generation is made up of pragmatic idealists who search for win-win solutions to the problems facing the nation.

As a result, in a Pew survey conducted during the recent dispute over raising the nation's debt ceiling, a large majority of Millennials (71% to 57% for older generations) preferred a balanced approach that would have combined spending cuts and tax increases to deal with the federal deficit. Two-thirds of the generation (65%) called on Washington politicians to compromise with those holding different views in order to prevent federal government default rather than sticking with their principles (28%). Not surprisingly, after viewing the summer's events in the Capitol, a large majority of Millennials (60% vs. 27%) believed that the Republican rather than the Democratic Party was most likely to take "extreme" positions on issues.

For all of these reasons, most Millennials simply don't like the Republican Party very much. In March, Pew research indicated that a majority of all Millennials (56%) held unfavorable attitudes toward the GOP and favorable attitudes toward the Democratic Party (57%).

Of course, none of this is etched in stone. The Democratic Party still has to convince Millennials that it can effectively use government to solve the problems confronting their generation and the nation if it is to retain the cohort's loyalty. But the GOP is in the much more difficult position of having to change almost its entire imagery and approach to politics and government in order to win over skeptical members of the Millennial Generation. GOP attacks on Pell Grant funding and attempts to restrict student's ability to vote suggest many Republican office holders haven't gotten the message about the importance of this new generation of voters. The big question for Republicans is whether their ideological Boomer leadership will ever be willing to alter their ideological principles to accommodate Millennial attitudes and beliefs.

As we point out in our book, Millennial Momentum: How a New Generation is Remaking America (to be published in September), Millennials will comprise a quarter of the voting age population in 2012 and more than one out of every three adult Americans by 2020. In politics, as with just about everything else, which way Millennials decide to go, will determine the country's future. Right now, that future is up for grabs.

Crossposted from HuffPo. Follow Michael Hais and Morley Winograd on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeandmorley

There's a lot that can be said for someone who hasn't before ever done serious beltway work jumping in with both feet... especially among a community as diverse and unique as young voters. So I was sad to see that Kalpen Modi was on his way out.

"I think for most young folks who I'm talking to, it doesn't matter if they're on the left or the right, the issues that they cared about were the same," he said. "It is a kind of bummer if you look at the score keeping on the Hill ... and what we have been focusing on is getting folks on the same page, focusing on the solutions."

I'm a pretty big score keeper when it comes to the outreach I wish the White House had done to young people. This isn't necessarily to do with the Public Liaison's office its more on policy issues. You've heard me say before that the only demographic that supported and continued to support the President during the horrible TeaBagger Summer of 2009 was young people but we were never brought in to be advocates on HCR. The same could be said about the energy bill - except it was non-profit groups that did the proper outreach to youth.

Kalpen Modi's outreach has been good. He's done what the OPL does best - they do outreach and round tables and discussions and people discuss. It just doesn't translate into communications messaging, event outreach, or press that trickles down to the college newspaper level.

"Our office doesn't handle policy, but we help bridge the gap between policies," Penn explained. "So if there's a group that's particularly concerned with an issue, and they want to bring in 10 or 12 folks, we'll put them in a room with some of our policy team and they'll link up that way."

Therein lies the problem. I wish Kalpen was experienced and more schooled in these areas so that we could have put him in a policy role so you'd have a youth advocate among those folks. Because this team of people seems so far removed from the struggles facing young people that it's caused a lot of problems when it comes to messaging to young people or making them into advocates for the President's political agenda.

He touches briefly on this in the video above but he also says that a lot of people assumed that change would happen immediately - we would see immediate results like a switch is flicked. Kalpen says it doesn't work that way. And he's right. In our generation we're use to immediate results, immediate interaction, quick now quick now.... Government doesn't work that way - in fact it's the antithesis of how government works works. But as much as I would like to see immediate results - it's probably a good idea that it doesn't work that way otherwise any yahoo could come on there and sink our government into complete terror and destruction. Luckily it took Bush 8 years to do that. It's going to take some time to fix unfortunately. I just wish the WH would consider young people to be an ally in that fight

We've spent the last two months bringing you the astounding outreach efforts by Republicans that have been aimed at pealing off the President's strength with young voters.

It began with some guy named Ted Nugent and has continued with upper level Republican operatives like Karl Rove. Mitt Romney even released a web ad last week hitting the President on youth unemployment numbers and imploring Millennials to take a look elsewhere when deciding their vote this election season.

But this week Fox News tells us in an Op-Ed that America's Youth Have Lost Hope and Are Looking For Change. Heh heh... I see what you did there with the hope and change....

The National Review writes about Obama’s Young Ex-Fans.

"Young voters in 2008 were attracted to Obama as a symbol — no one knew exactly what he stood for, but voting for him sure did feel good. Nearly three years later, many of them are increasingly disgusted to learn that he apparently doesn’t stand for much. What’s his position again on gay marriage? On Afghanistan? On Iraq? Health care? The skyrocketing debt? They care little about having a symbolic leader when they can’t find jobs. The Hope and Change he promised have long since become a punch line."

While she's correct to say that young people are feeling a bit disgruntled right now about the President I can promise you it has nothing to do with issues like gay marriage, Afghanistan, Iraq, and health care... and maybe this is the only hope for Democrats to save the youth vote for that key "three elections in a row" gain.

The most successful advocacy community among progressives has been the LGBT community. I don't know if it has to do with campaign donors or there being a lot of LGBT staffers in the White House or if its because if there's one thing the terrorists hate more than Americans its gay Americans - but the White House has actually done OK when it comes to the DOJ saying they won't go after DOMA issues, repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell and being all equal opportunity. While there is a lot more to do - like take care of Dan Choi and all of the other soldiers discharged under DADT and repeal DOMA and other things... when it comes to LGBT issues we are further along than we would have been under John McCain and further along than we will be under any republican president.

As for the others - we're drawing down in Afghanistan, we've almost pulled out entirely in Iraq and the one shining thing the White House has done for young people was ensure the health care reform bill allowed young people to stay on their parents insurance plans longer despite the GOP opposing it and Republican Governors supporting Constitutional Amendments banning the law that gives them this access to health care.

So, I'm not sure those would be the issues the GOP should really speak to young people about ... because young voters will just laugh at you.

Portfolio.com quotes this article and the WSJ piece where Margaret Hoover is pimping her new book about Millennial Voters asking - Who Will Millennial Voters Back in 2012?

The piece cites where the President had success but where that advantage has turned into an uphill climb for connecting with young people in 2012:

Both authors make a compelling point about the potential among the under-30 set for dissatisfaction with Obama. This is a group that voted for the Democrat by a 2-1 margin over John McCain in 2008. The problem, of course, is the economy and the continuing awful employment outlook. Recent reports find that nearly one in five college graduates is out of work and that more than 17 percent of 16-to-24-year-olds who want jobs can't find them.

Ignore the rest of that article because quite honestly it cites research done from republican firms and republican polls and I'm not sure that's the most valid of data. I invite you to check out something that is a little more non-partisan from a non-profit organizations.....

Washington Examiner is back! This time not with an op-ed from Ted but one that says that Under Obama, Millennials move into the GOP column.

"The Democratic party identification edge has been reduced to 47 to 43 percent. That's a 4-point drop for Democrats and a 4-point rise for Republicans since 2008. . . . .But the 2010 numbers yielded a 52 to 45 percent Republican lead in the popular vote for the House."

It then cites a number that is questionable that focuses on young white voters who they say are fleeing the President. According to the Pew numbers that are an accumulation of several different polls taken since the 2008 election:

"In 2008 they were 51 to 40 percent Republican. In the first half of 2011 they were 56 to 35 percent Republican -- more Republican than Southern whites were three years ago."

When some in the youth movement discussed these numbers last week Morley Winograd and Mike Hais co-authors of Millennial Makeover commented that there has indeed been some up and down movement over that time period in Millennial loyalties, and Millennial identification with Democrats is down since 2008. The decline, however, is entirely registered among whites. Among African-Americans and Hispanics there has been no change. Loyalists are standing firm in their support of the President, but part time participants, if they are white, are losing some of their positive feelings toward Democrats and Obama. Like any other coalition, you do need to work it to have it vote for you, and I would add, obviously continue to vote for you, and that's where the President has had problems - particularly prior to the campaign starting again.

President Obama actually admitted this himself last week at the University of Maryland town hall when a young woman asked him where he felt he should have done better over the course of his Presidency. He said that he should have done a better job taking his case to Americans and asking for their support.

Specifically, when it comes to young voters, this was the ONLY demographic that supported the President on the health care reform battle. And the ONLY demographic that continued to support him on HCR. This would have been a great opportunity for the White House to bring in young people to be leaders and advocates to explain why HCR was important. Children, teens, and 20 year olds talking about their health struggles to their parents and grandparents is a great way to squelch the opposition. And politically it looks a heck of a lot better on TV than a bunch of angry old tea baggers. But the youth community wasn't brought in on substantiate policy discussions until the re-elect began.

The last GOP piece about young voters is yet another book review for Margaret Hoover - read more on refuting her claims that young people will join the Tea Party any day now. Hey Margaret... not gonna happen. The GOP might get some young people to buy into the more moderate wing of the party but the Tea Party is never going to see a 60%+ voting spread from young voters the way the President did in 2008. They're way too socially liberal and they actually believe that the government is a tool that can be used to do good.

We've had some site issues with FM as well as most of the FM writers traveling this week so apologies for our lapse in bringing you the essential news.

• The fight to save the 40 year old practice of Election Day Registration in Maine continues with its campaign to garner enough signatures to get The People's Veto on the ballot.
• This week's Campus Progress annual conference brought former President Bill Clinton to speak to attendees. The BigDog warned young people that their right to vote is increasingly being challenged by conservative Governors and state legislatures across the country who are threatened by the enthusiasm of young voters and our increasing ability to move elections. Watch the full speech here at CSPAN
• Oddly enough these same republicans are trying to recruit more young people to opposing the President and join their oh so welcoming and positive message against the government.
• Funding cuts might be coming to vocational training for young people according to a piece that follows a young man who was an at-risk high school student but his counselor found he excelled at hands on skills based classes. He now talks about getting his bachelors in engineering and starting his own business.
  

  "Now, federal funding to provide such vocational and technical education is at risk. President Obama has instead made it a priority to raise overall academic standards and college graduation rates, and aims to shrink the small amount of federal spending for vocational training in public high schools and community colleges. That aid comes primarily in the form of Perkins grants to states.

  The administration has proposed a 20-percent reduction in its fiscal 2012 budget for career and technical education, to a little more than $1 billion, even as it seeks to increase overall education funding by 11 percent."

  We all have to make sacrifices in these tough economic times. I mean unless of course you're the top 2% of wage earners in the US. You don't have to make sacrifices - we'll give you a tax cut.

• More depressing higher ed news - the likely incoming president of Cal State San Diego is getting a $100k salary bump from the previous university president, bringing his take home dollar a whopping $400,000 a year. In a totally unrelated story - CSU is slated for one of the steepest tuition increasesin the country, with a 12% hike - the 10th increase in a decade.
• Don't have a job? Well falling back in a US Military job may no longer be an option according to this CNN report. "The Army and Marine Corps are getting smaller, and now there's a nearly year-long waiting list just to get into boot camp, no matter which branch you want to join."
• Having a hard time with the student loans? Here are five tips to getting a handle on your student debt. Some good pointers.
• Last week was the President's Twitter Townhall where he was asked about giving incentives to companies hiring honorably discharged veterans. He said it was certainly something they were talking about in the West Wing in large part because the level of unemployment is higher among young veterans than non-veterans.
  

  "It reported that in May 2011, veterans from the post-9/11 period had an unemployment rate of 12.1 percent. By comparison, non-veterans that month had an 8.5 percent unemployment rate."



• In the Dalai Lama's latest trip to the US he spoke and answered questions from Buddhists and young Americans who sat on the Capitol lawn in Washington DC this weekend. In his address he said two notable things that encouraged the young crowd:

  1. "Oh yes, things are always changing," the Dalai Lama said to an eruption of cheers from a crowd ranging from fellow Buddhist monks to young Americans lying on the grass on a hot summer morning.

     "Certainly, I think the voice of freedom, democracy, rule of law, more and more voice(s are) now coming," the Dalai Lama said in English, noting that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao himself has called for political reforms in recent years.

     "So things will certainly change," he said. "Not only (in the) Chinese case, but the whole world, things are changing."

  2. The Dalai Lama did not speak about the Karmapa but, responding to a question from a 14-year-old, urged young people to be "warm-hearted" and to turn the page on the bloodshed of the 20th century.

     "My century is gone. The people who brought the 20th century are now ready to say goodbye," the Dalai Lama said.

     "Young people -- you are the people who really make the new shape of this century," he said. "You should have vision and determination and willpower."

• In the millennial marketing world a story about the gourmet nature of young people who have high standards for food. If you read my post about the recent survey on millennial marketing you know that restaurants are where young people love to spend their time and their money.
• Aviva - the sixth largest insurance group might be trying to woo young people with its do-gooder marketing tool on Facebook by asking users to donate their status to one of four youth-focused charities that is in the running for the company's $100,000 grant. Interesting - their facebook looks like a cause based FB ... with little mention of anything insurance related.
• In the past few weeks since Google launched its new social network Google+ the online world has spent a lot of time comparing it to Facebook and Twitter and talking about its potential for successes and challenges. Notably the marketing world has discerned that success depends largely on Google+'s ability to capture the enthusiasm of younger generations.
• As if Google+ isn't enough The Google is also working to lure great thinkers of our generation with its Young Minds Contest
• More in social media news: I'm sure you've heard it before - that young people share way too much information on social networks. That these "over shares" can hurt you from getting jobs, and Sen. Jay Rockafeller event went so far as to say young people have no "social values." Funny.... As it turns out, older Americans are just as bad as young people when it comes to sharing their information on Facebook. What do ya know...



• The food and farm report details info about young dairy farmers. I actually have a friend who's been talking about doing a dairy farm. And given the report above about the youth attraction to more gourmet foods if you make fancy cheeses then... hey you might have something! Perhaps, this is the reason that there is said to be "promise" for rural Wisconsin youth.
• And the final story for the day is consistent with my appreciation for graffiti art. An artist in New Zeland has teamed up with local police to paint walls encouraging young people to consider joining the police force. Great public marketing tool - and sick art.

Dalai Lama photo curtsey of the AFP/Ghetty credit to Mark Wilson

Lots of news today about President Obama and young people. From the looks of things he's up.. then down... then up... then down.

Don't forget if you're at #NN11 today there is a youthy panel:
Changing of the Guard: Youth Leading Democracy
FRI, 06/17/2011 - 4:30PM, M100 FG

• How to lose an internship in 10 ways
• Unpaid Internships and the jobless people fighting for them
• Entries open for SBA Entrepreneurship competition
• An older post I discovered today but totally worth the read - Using Peer Pressure to Change the World
• Letter to the editor for Salon
  

  You are far too generous

  in your assessment of Obama's performance. What you call poor communication I call a complete lack of conviction. Attempting a conciliatory approach is fine at first, but it quickly became clear the Repugs were going to have nothing to do with it. If he had wanted to, Obama could very easily have used the bully pulpit to at least advocate for all the progressive policies he campaigned on, but in the final analysis I think it is clear that was all a bunch of BS and lies. The man has no courage, no vision, no convictions. Totally worthless, and the worst part of all this is the disillusionment of the young voters who thought he would make a difference.

  —tballou

• Billionaire's front group attacks young voters among others
  In speaking about the American Legislative Exchange Council

  "In 2009, ALEC drew up the Voter ID Act to ban university students from using their college-issued ID's as proof of residency for voting. Seven states have adopted this model law, which is intended to bar eligible students from the voting booth. These kids must be disenfranchised, New Hampshire's house speaker bluntly said in February, because they're "voting liberal, voting their feelings, with no life experience." This model bill has been introduced in 18 other states this year in a rather obvious ploy to hold down the student vote in the 2012 presidential election."

• From the Miami Herald students facing unemployment with student loans
  
• Young voters aren't the only ones "Souring with Obama" it seems Young Environmentalists Displeased with Obama
  

  "The displeasure amongst young environmentalists does not necessarily reflect the feelings of young voters nationwide however. In a Harvard Institute of Politics poll, 55% of all voters between the ages of 18 and 25 approve of the President’s job performance. Amongst college students, the percentage raised to 60%. But despite high approval ratings, young voters are hesitant to back the President in the 2012 elections.

  The most important issue for these voters is the economy. In February of 2011, 43% feel their economic situation is “very” or “fairly bad” and 22% are currently looking for work. When asked whether they will vote for him in 2012, only 38% say they will while 25% say they plan to vote for his Republican opponent. The rest are unsure. While young voters have stuck beside President Obama, it seems the spirit of “Yes We Can” has faded."

• The other Obama's however are doing great work with young people! Michelle Obama Africa Trip Focuses on Youth Leadership
• Young Voters win at GOP Debate
• Red State blogger calls Social Security a Ponzi Scheme and instructs young voters to Opt Out
• Here's an important notation to mention: US Supreme Court Rules a Youth's Age is Relevant in Miranda Analysis. More specifically
  

  "Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the majority opinion (PDF). “It is beyond dispute that children will often feel bound to submit to police questioning when an adult in the same circumstances would feel free to leave,” she wrote. “Seeing no reason for police officers or courts to blind themselves to that commonsense reality, we hold that a child’s age properly informs the Miranda custody analysis." You can read more about the specific case at the link.

• 4H Shout Out: Youth learn Responsibility and Leadership through raising Livestock
• Congressional personal financial disclosure forms reveal some still have student loan debt... welcome to my world. You'd think these members would be the ones leading the charge to fix it!
  

  "Nevertheless, the reports offered reminders of the more typical financial burdens faced by most Americans. Many lawmakers reported unpaid student loans or hefty credit card balances. One cash-strapped freshman put himself on his campaign payroll to make ends meet last year."

• Should you start a business right out of college?
• And today came an email from the White House:
  

  Good evening everyone,

  As many of you know, last week, President Obama met with a number of inspiring young Americans here in the West Wing to de-brief on the “100 Youth Roundtables” Initiative. In that session, young folks reflected on the feedback given to the White House during the course of the initiative. They discussed issues regarding environmental regulations, community organizations, legislation that the President supports, and how to really make a difference all around. To follow up on that feedback, the President announced a new series that will take us through the summer, called, “How to Make Change.” Check out video of his announcement here.

  This series will specifically foster a conversation between young Americans, advocates, and the White House on the issues that matter to us all. What are specific deliverables you would like to see? What tools can we offer you so that you can achieve what you set out to achieve? Let us know! The full schedule for “How to Make Change” will be announced next week, so stay tuned.

  Have a good Thursday night,

  Kal

• Joan Walsh provides some interesting food for thought regarding the health of the Obama coalition as we move toward 2012. How might this coalition of disaffected Republicans, progressives, young voters, first time voters, labor, and African Americans and Latinos look this time around, and more importantly, will it be as powerful?
  

  "One big problem for Obama is that he assembled an unprecedented electoral coalition in 2008, but it wasn't a governing coalition. Progressives like to think of the themselves as the president's base, and it's partly true: Obama won thanks to an unrivaled turnout of young voters, first time voters, African Americans and Latinos; and an energetic labor effort. But they – we – weren't enough by ourselves. He also did well with independents and even some Republicans who were ashamed of what the Bush Cheney years did to their party. Predictably, a lot of those voters are going home now. I'm not sure they'll be entirely happy with what they'll find when they get there, or whether they'll discover the Tea Party ransacked the place. But they're uncomfortable with the way Obama used government to solve the banking crisis, stimulate the ailing economy and extend health insurance to more people. Of course, on the left he hasn't done enough on those fronts. When both sides are carping, the common wisdom goes, that means you must be doing something right. I'm not sure that's true when you're facing re-election."

• Rock the Vote President Heather Smith argues that state voting systems restrict young Americans, and demands improvement in The Hill. The youth movement can't talk about this enough!
• Colbert tackles the youth vote:

  "The GOP brand is about as popular with kids as an episode of "60 Minutes" hosted by a tube of Sensodyne."

  
  

  The Colbert Report
  Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

• Does Facebook exacerbate our society's obsession with "Keeping up with the Jones'?" This article suggests that yes, it does, and the consequences could lead to depression.
• Meanwhile, here is a report suggesting that for all the widgets, tools, and gadgets meant to connect young people to various initiatives online, they won't improve political participation in young people.
• It's nothing new, but it probably remains to be the largest story impacting youth today: unemployment.
• Just in case you didn't see it yesterday, an interesting video from Lee Camp calling on the Millennial Generation to get out of the metaphorical basement.
• 20 Questions with Paul Ryan, including, "Do you think the GOP could win back young voters?"
• KPAX out of Montana discusses the state's #4 ranking on the Rock the Vote Scorecard.