Month: March 2019

“Today the Department of Defense rolls out our FY 2020 budget proposal.,” Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan said in a statement. “With the largest research and development request in 70 years, this strategy-driven budget makes necessary investments in next-generation technology, space, missiles, and cyber capabilities. The operations and capabilities supported by this budget will strongly position the US military for great power competition for decades to come.”

The FY 2020 Budget maintains momentum from the sustained funding increases enacted in FY 2017, FY 2018, and FY 2019 to repair damaged readiness, and the Budget marks a key next step in how the Defense Department operationalizes the 2018 National Defense Strategy. The FY 2020 Budget is a major milestone in meeting this challenge and resourcing the more lethal, agile, and innovative Joint Force America needs to compete, deter, and win in any high-end potential fight of the future by:

1. 1. investing in the emerging space and cyber warfighting domains
   2. modernizing capabilities in the air, maritime, and land warfighting domains
   3. innovating more rapidly to strengthen our competitive advantage
   4. sustaining our forces and building on our readiness gains.

The $718.3 billion budget’s largest conventional military line items include funding for 78 F-35s, 4 nuclear submarines, 3 destroyers, and a nuclear-powered carrier. The wish list, which represents the largest shipbuilding request in 20 years, also includes numerous support ships, aircraft and ground vehicles.

Space, where a portion of a future war may be waged got a huge lift. The Space Force got its first line item and the funding is requested for numerous GPS and surveillance satellites and their launches.

The budget also includes a 3.1% pay raise for members of the military, funding to modernize the military health system, and funds to provide childcare and education to service members’ children.

This DoD fashioned the proposed budget to project power through competitiveness, innovation, and readiness. It recognizes that future wars will be waged not just in the air, on the land, and at sea, but also in space and cyberspace, increasing the complexity of warfare, according to the Pentagon. Congressional approval of the FY 2020 Budget will help America meet current operational commitments and outpace the threats posed by China and Russia through maintaining our competitive advantage, even as DoD spending remains near a record low as a share of the U.S. economy.

Specifically, the Department’s FY 2020 budget builds the Joint Force’s capacity and lethality by investing in:

Cyber ($9.6 billion)

• • Supports offensive and defensive cyberspace operations – $3.7 billion
  • Reduces risk to DoD networks, systems, and information by investing in more cybersecurity capabilities – $5.4 billion
  • Modernizes DoD’s general purpose cloud environment – $61.9 million

Space ($14.1 billion)

• • Resources the initial establishment of the United States Space Force – $72.4 million
  • 4 National Security Space Launch (aka EELV) – $1.7 billion
  • 1 Global Positioning System III and Projects – $1.8 billion
  • Space Based Overhead Persistent Infrared Systems – $1.6 billion

Air Domain ($57.7B)

• • 78 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters – $11.2 billion
  • 12 KC-46 Tanker Replacements – $2.3 billion
  • 24 F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets – $2.0 billion
  • 48 AH-64E Attack Helicopters – $1.0 billion
  • 6 VH-92 Presidential Helicopters – $0.8 billion
  • 6 P-8A Aircraft – $1.5 billion
  • 6 CH-53K King Stallion – $1.5 billion
  • 8 F-15EX – $1.1 billion

Maritime Domain: $34.7 billion and the largest budget request in more than 20 years for shipbuilding

• • COLUMBIA Class Ballistic Missile Submarine – $2.2 billion
  • 1 CVN-78 FORD Class Aircraft Carrier – $2.6 billion
  • 3 Virginia Class Submarines – $10.2 billion
  • 3 DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Destroyers – $5.8 billion
  • 1 Frigate (FFG(X)) – $1.3 billion
  • 2 Fleet Replenishment Oilers (T-AO) – $1.1 billion
  • 2 Towing, Salvage, and Rescue Ship (T-ATS) – $0.2 billion
  • 2 large unmanned surface vehicles – $447 million

Ground Systems ($14.6 billion)

• • 4,090 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles – $1.6 billion
  • 165 M-1 Abrams Tank Modifications – $2.2 billion
  • 56 Amphibious Combat Vehicles – $0.4 billion
  • 131 Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles – $0.6 billion

Multi-domain and nuclear triad ($31 billion)

• • B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber – $3.0 billion
  • Columbia Class Submarine – $2.2 billion
  • Long-Range Stand-Off Missile – $0.7 billion
  • Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent – $0.6 billon

The FY 2020 Budget funds preferred munitions at the maximum production rate.

• • 40,388 Joint Direct Attack Munitions – $1.1 billion
  • 10,193 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System – $1.4 billion
  • 125 Standard Missile-6 – $0.7 billion
  • 1,925 Small Diameter Bomb II – $0.4 billion
  • 9,000 Hellfire Missiles – $0.7 billion
  • 430 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile – $0.6 billion
  • 48 Long Range Anti-Ship Missile – $0.2 billion

Highlighting the enduring importance of missile defeat and defense, the FY 2020 Budget funds the sustainment of the surge in missile defense investment we undertook in FY 2018 and FY 2019, while also investing in Missile Defense Review efforts at $13.6 billion. The missile defeat and defense investments for FY 2020 include:

• • 37 AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense (SM-3) with Install – $1.7 billion
  • Support for Missile Defense Review (e.g., Land-Launched Conventional Prompt Strike, Extended Range Weapon, Space-based Discrimination Sensor Study) – $1.5 billion
  • Ground Based Midcourse Defense – $1.7 billion
  • 37 THAAD Ballistic Missile Defense – $0.8 billion
  • 147 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancements – $0.7 billion

The FY 2020 Budget continues the Department’s emphasis on innovation and technology, which will enhance our competitive advantage. The Budget highlights emerging technology projects including:

• • Unmanned / Autonomous projects to enhance freedom of maneuver and lethality in contested environments – $3.7 billion
  • Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning investments to expand military advantage through the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) and Advanced Image Recognition – $927 million
  • Hypersonics weapons development to complicate adversaries’ detection and defense – $2.6 billion
  • Directed Energy investment to support implementation of directed energy for base defense; enable testing and procurement of multiple types of lasers; and increase research and development for high-power density applications – $235 million

The FY 2020 Budget increases the readiness, lethality, and agility of the Joint force by increasing our military end strength.

• • Funds readiness to executable levels across services – $124.8 billion
  • Total military end strength will increase from FY 2019 projected levels by approximately 7,700 in FY 2020
  • Active end strength will increase by approximately 6,200 from FY 2019 projected levels to FY 2020, with the largest increase in the Air Force
  • Reserve Component end strength will increase by approximately 1,500 from FY 2019 projected levels to FY 2020, with the largest increase in the Army Guard and Reserve

The FY 2020 Budget provides the largest military pay raise in 10 years and robust support to our most valued asset—our military members—and their families. The Budget:

• • Provides a competitive compensation package
  • Includes a 3.1 percent military pay raise
  • Continues to modernize and transform our Military Health System
  • Spousal/community support
  • Continues family support programs with investment of nearly $8 billion for:
    • Child care for over 180,000 children
    • Youth programs serving over 1 million dependents
    • DoD Dependent Schools educating over 76,000 students
    • Commissary operations at 236 stores

Facilities investment is a continuing area of emphasis. This funding:

• • Supports the National Defense Strategy by investing in key operational and training facilities
  • Enables timely maintenance of critical infrastructure
  • Improves Quality-of-Life for Service Members and their families
  • Provides funding for Marine Corps and Air Force hurricane-related facility repairs at Camp Lejeune and Tyndall Air Force Base

The FY 2020 Budget contains critical funding for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) and an emergency budget request, totaling $173.8 billion, which is subject to the same congressional oversight requirements as the base budget. These pieces of the request are vital to our budget as a whole and our ability to support the National Defense Strategy. The FY 2020 OCO/Emergency request contains four categories:

• • Direct War Requirements: Combat or combat support costs that are not expected to continue once combat operations end – $25.4 billion
  • OCO for Enduring Requirements: Enduring in-theater and CONUS costs that will remain after combat operations end – $41.3 billion
  • OCO for Base Requirements: Funding for base budget requirements in support of the National Defense Strategy, financed in the OCO budget due to the limits on base budget defense resources under the budget caps in current law – $97.9 billion
  • Emergency Requirements: Funding for military construction for emergencies, to include border security and reconstruction efforts to rebuild facilities damaged by Hurricanes Florence and Michael – $9.2 billion

Long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia are the principal priorities for the Department, and require both increased and sustained investment, because of the magnitude of the threats they pose to U.S. security and prosperity today, and the potential for those threats to increase in the future.

(DoD photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Gary Ward, U.S. Navy/Released)

Military.com is showcasing Veterans Day Discounts again this year with one of the most comprehensive lists available of over 100 restaurants, retailers, travel and recreation organizations seeking to show their appreciation for service members, veterans, retirees and their families.

Veterans and military personnel should keep in mind that most businesses require proof of military service, which can include a Veterans Administration Universal Access Card, Military I.D., DD-214 (discharge papers) and Veterans Service Organization Card (VSO’s include groups like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and the American Legion). In some cases, businesses will accept a picture of the veteran in uniform.

Dining and restaurant offers include leading national chains like Applebee’s which is offering a free meal from a select menu, and California Pizza Kitchen which is offering a free entree. Other great offers from restaurants include Cracker Barrel, Denny’s,  Chipotle, and Chevy’s.  All restaurant offerings are listed on the Military.com Veterans Day Discounts center.

Dining isn’t the only way to take advantage of Veterans Day discounts. Many retailers and travel and recreation destinations are also offering discounts.

Home Depot, which offers a year-round 10 percent discount to active duty and retirees, is extending that discount to all veterans on Veterans Day. Target is offering a 10 percent discount to active duty military, veterans, and their spouse and/or dependent children November 4-12, and Goodyear is offering all active and retired military members free “Checks for Vets,” plus up to 10 percent off tires from November 9-11.

Carnival Cruise Line is offering up to $50 onboard credit per stateroom, a complimentary two-category upgrade, and 50 percent reduced deposits, and the Army Corps of Engineers will waive day use fees at its more than 2,800 USACE-operated recreation areas nationwide in observance of Veterans Day, November 11 and 12.

The World of Coca-Cola always offers free admission to veterans and military, but is extending the offer and providing half-price tickets to friends and family from November 2-12. Knott’s Berry Farm is also offering free admission, as is the Harley-Davidson Museum.

In addition to these special offers, some businesses and organizations are also offering programs to help give back to the military and veteran community.

Those wishing to take advantage of these great offers should note that not all franchise locations participate in their national chain’s Veterans Day programs –customers are encouraged to contact their nearest establishment to make sure they are willing to honor the discount at that location. Military.com also features a list of Veterans Day events.

No, it’s not a slow news day. Critical talks continue as key members of Congress work to stave off the country’s fall over the fiscal cliff.  The market watches in breathless anticipation. The IRS waits to tell employers what tax rates they’ll need to use next week. Even Joe Biden has been called in to pinch hit for the stalling Harry Reid.

And yet…

According to my Twitter feed, the real question this weekend was, “What really happened to Hillary?”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Gallup’s 2012 Most Admired Woman, has not been seen in public for more than three weeks. Just in time to cancel her already rescheduled meeting on Capitol Hill, where she was to testify and help Senators finally learn the truth about the tragedy at Benghazi, Mrs. Clinton developed a stomach flu. Which then caused her dehydrated body to faint resulting in a concussion and a further delay to speak. Now, after another week of illness Hillary is reported to have a blood clot and is now hospitalized.

As a result of the ever evolving story, even the venerable Charles Krauthammer pressing for information on Benghazi said, “We haven’t heard anything. We know as much about her concussion as we know about (Venezuelan president) Hugo Chavez. This is an open society, she is the Secretary of State, she has disappeared.”

So. What has happened to Hillary? Could these things, as reported, be true? Sure. There is plenty of plausibility. But do you believe in coincidences? Yeah, me neither.

The theory espoused by many conservatives this weekend is that all Clinton’s illnesses are faked. That she’s not really sick but that she is hiding out until the new Secretary of State is approved so that she will not be compelled to testify.

Could this be real? Yes. Of course, the whole hospitalization line does give more credibility.

Still, it’s not a very romantic theory.  Here’s one that carries much more intrigue and all the makings of a dramatic spy novel. The following is a condensed version from the EU Times: A US Military airplane, of which Hillary Clinton was a passenger, flew into Bahrain. There they picked up a number of Navy SEALs, who were based in Afghanistan and whose function often is to safeguard US diplomats in combat zones. One of the SEALs was Commander Job Price. The flight was en route to Bagdad when they ‘deviated’ and headed towards an Iranian airbase. Coincidentally, Iranian President Ahmadinejad was also at that airport. Something happened during the landing causing the plane to crash land. Commander Price was killed and the Secretary was severely injured. After receiving emergency aid from the Iranians, another US military plane was dispatched and the survivors flown out.

Too much to believe? The EU Times provides links to Russian intelligence reports as well as a Reuters story which mentions the damaged plan in Iran. Additionally, published reports in the US did relate the Navy SEAL died mysteriously in a non-combat incident. Some will argue that the EU Times has a biased agenda. Of course, many will argue that the main stream media also promote their personal agenda.

Personally, I hope Hillary recovers quickly and finally testifies as to the State Department’s role in Benghazi. The families of those killed deserve the truth. Like you I don’t wish Mrs. Clinton ill health.

In the end, is this just fodder for late night talk radio?

Or is it more? Calling all conspiracy theorists…

3:00 pm Update: To add to the questions, Fox News is now reporting on the American plane in Iran incident.

Oscar winner Charlize Theron explodes into summer in Atomic Blonde, a breakneck action-thriller that follows MI6’s most lethal assassin through a ticking time bomb of a city simmering with revolution and double-crossing hives of traitors.

The crown jewel of Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service, Agent Lorraine Broughton (Theron) is equal parts spycraft, sensuality, and savagery, willing to deploy any of her skills to stay alive on her impossible mission. Sent alone to Berlin to deliver a priceless dossier out of the destabilized city, she partners with embedded station chief David Percival (James McAvoy) to navigate her way through the deadliest game of spies.

A blistering blend of sleek action, gritty sexuality and dazzling style, Atomic Blonde is directed by David Leitch (John Wick, upcoming Deadpool 2). Also starring John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella and Toby Jones, the film is based on the Oni Press graphic novel series“The Coldest City,” by Antony Johnston & illustrator Sam Hart. Kurt Johnstad (300) wrote the screenplay.

The House Oversight Committee will question Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in March about a citizenship question he supported adding back to the 2020 census, the committee announced Tuesday.

The announcement from the committee, which is headed by Democratic Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, comes less than a week after a federal judge ordered the removal of the question Jan. 15. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman said that Ross’s department violated federal law by including a citizenship question.

Ross is scheduled to testify voluntarily on March 14, nearly a year after members of the committee began requesting documents from him, according to a committee press release.

Some critics of returning to asking a citizenship question on the census questionnaire say that it could “lead to a significant undercount of immigrants fearful of revealing their citizenship status,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

However, the fight to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census questionnaire will likely be fast-tracked to the U.S. Supreme Court. The issue is urgent because the Census Bureau must finish up the questionnaire by June.

Furman also accused Ross of hiding his motives for adding a citizenship question in the Jan. 15 decision.

Congressional Democrats are also expected to investigate former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker in for questioning as well, reported The WSJ.

Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Tom Carper of Delaware introduced a bill during the 115th Congress on July 31 to counter the Trump administration’s citizenship question.

Their bill, the Census Equality Act, would have required the decennial census and American Community Survey to collect data on citizens’ sexual orientation and gender identity. It did not pass the Senate, and the legislation actually worried some LGBT advocates who did not see an advantage to compiling that kind of data on people who fall under the LGBT umbrella. NPR reported:

[S]ome data privacy experts worry the information could be used against LGBTQ people, especially when many states do not have laws banning workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

In a recent American Spectator article, the magazine’s Paris correspondent, Joseph Harriss, narrates how American businessman Maurice Taylor was asked by the French government to save the ailing Goodyear company and its tyre factory in Amiens. Taylor visited the factory several times and held talks with the French government and labor unions, but their demands in terms of pay, retirement schemes, and working hours were unacceptable to him (because they’d make it impossible to run the factory at a profit) and consequently, Taylor has refused to buy the factory, not wanting to make a loss.

Unfortunately, instead of stopping there, Taylor decided to write an angry letter to the French minister of “productive redressment”, Arnaud Montebourg, where he denounced the rigid French labor code, high taxes, low working hours, and trade union influence in much stronger words than he should have, thus sparking a backlash and a new souring of Franco-American relations. Outrage was sparked across France in the media, the cafes, and the political arena. Reactions were almost universally along the lines of “Who does this arrogant American think he is? How dare he lecture us Frenchmen? How dare he tell us how to run our country?”

Montebourg shot back, and then, Taylor responded in kind in this tit-for-tat cycle. And economic reform remains completely stalled in France.

Why did Taylor fail in sparking any kind of reform? And how can one engineer it in France?

Taylor failed because, while he’s (mostly) correct on the facts – France does have a very rigid labor code, high taxes, and very influential labor unions, and all of this is stalling France’s economic growth – he tried to communicate them the wrong way: in a manner considered arrogant by the vast majority of the French media and political class writ large.

Instead of going gently and saying politely in so many words that he can’t buy the plant because it would bankrupt him – due to a rigid labor code and high taxes – he shot from the hip like a careless cowboy. That might work in the Midwest, but it won’t work in France. It will earn you more enemies than friends in the Hexagon.

To begin with, no nation on Earth, including the French, likes to be lectured on its domestic affairs by foreigners. Just go to any foreign country and try telling the locals how they should govern their own country. They’ll probably refuse to listen, even if you’re right on the facts. One of the reasons the US has utterly failed to democratize the Middle East is because the peoples of the region resent foreign meddling in their affairs. Likewise, the Chinese don’t like being lectured on human rights because foreign meddling in their country’s affairs is a very sensitive topic there.

The French are no different from other nations in this respect. Who says something makes a lot of difference. If a Frenchman or Frenchwoman makes a case for reform, they’ll listen, but if a foreigner starts lecturing them on the same subject, they’ll react very negatively. In fact, in France, foreigners participating in political demonstrations face deportation and a 3-year reentry ban.

So a foreigner should not try to tell the French how to reform their country. They’ll have to figure it out themselves. And if you really have to tell the French what reforms to implement, you must do it as gently as possible – not shoot straight from the hip.

On top of that, the French are a very proud, ancient people who are trying to defend their culture in an increasingly globalized, Americanized world. The French cherish their culture and their ways of doing things so much that they even have a state institution – L’Academie Francaise – to regulate the French language. Taylor’s kind of lecture, but especially coming from an American, was not well received in France partly for that reason. National pride is important for many nations, and again, the French are no exception.

And let’s be blunt – by speaking “bluntly” and from the hip, Taylor was impolite. That was a mistake if his goal was to convert the French to capitalism. France is not Germany or the US; shooting from the hip doesn’t work there and won’t earn you many friends, no matter how right you are.

From my experience of dealing with the French people, I know that you have to be very polite in France no matter whom you’re dealing with (unless you’re talking to street hoodlums). You have to speak and behave politely. That means not only giving people their proper titles like Madame and Monsieur, but also telling them the facts in polite words. By my experience, the more polite you are, the higher your chances of succeeding in dealing with the French.

If you’re polite towards them, they’ll reciprocate in 99% of cases. If you behave like a jerk or a shooting-from-the-hip cowboy, expect to be treated accordingly. (Did Taylor think that if he said “You Frenchmen are lazy! You work only 3 hours a day!”, the French will fawn over him and say “Oh, dear Mr Taylor, thank you for opening our eyes and allowing us to see our errors”?)

In short, Go Gently on the French. That’s the way business is done – at least in Gaul. The more polite you are, the higher your chances of succeeding. Extra marks for those foreigners who speak French. (If you don’t speak French, hire a tutor or take classes.)

So how to introduce the French to American-style laissez-faire capitalism?

Reform cannot be imposed or coaxed on them from across the Atlantic. It’ll have to be initiated and fully implemented by the French themselves.

The best and brightest among French students should be selected to attend conservative American colleges and to work for some time in conservative American think-tanks such as the Heritage Foundation. Then, they should return to France and pass their knowledge – everything they’ve learned – to their fellow Frenchmen/women. They should try to build majority popular consensus for capitalist reform in France: write articles and books, teach at universities and grandes ecoles, convince right-wing politicians to adopt capitalist policies, participate in debates, and do interviews with France’s toughest journalists. They – like any successful salesmen/women – need to be both knowledgeable and good at salesmanship and public relations. They need to know their product well, but also know how to sell it. And they need to do it in a friendly, polite, optimistic manner to pose a stark contrast to the arrogant Hollande administration and the negativist, warlike, impolite, dour Jean-Luc Melenchon of the far left.

In sum, capitalist reform cannot be imposed or coaxed on France from outside by anyone. The French will have to discover the truth themselves. And if reforming their economy, or giving them advice on how to do it – assuming they want such advice – it must be done very politely, as all business is done in France.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will continue its more than 60-year-old tradition of tracking Santa Claus as he leaves the North Pole to deliver presents across the world.

The twitter account for NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command announced Friday that Santa will be tracked on Christmas Eve regardless of whether or not a government shutdown has gone into effect.

“In the event of a government shutdown, NORAD will continue with its 63-year tradition of NORAD Tracks Santa on Dec. 24,” the agency said. “Military personnel who conduct NORAD Tracks Santa are supported by approximately 1,500 volunteers who make the program possible each and every year.”

WATCH:

Accordingly, Congress failed to pass a spending measure before government funding expired Friday at midnight, triggering a government shutdown.

The House passed a stopgap funding bill Thursday that included $5.7 billion for the a wall on the U.S.-Mexico. However, Senate Republicans were not able to get the necessary 60 votes needed to send the bill to the president’s desk. Prior to the vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed that any legislation with additional funding for a border wall would be dead on arrival.

Regardless, NORAD is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, which is not included in the stopgap funding bill and has already been funded for the 2019 calendar year. President Donald Trump signed the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act into law in 2018, which included a budget of $717 billion for the department.

Former Democratic Texas Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke officially launched his presidential campaign website on Thursday and despite touting the slogan “Beto for America” on the English webpage, the Spanish page translates his slogan into “Beto for everyone.”

Following months of speculation, O’Rourke announced that he would be seeking the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2020 and opted for his campaign slogan to be “Beto for America,” which boldly appears on his newly-minted campaign website. However, when a user clicks on the Spanish interface, the website welcomes with the boldface phrase “Beto  para todos,” or “Beto for everyone.” After the welcome text fades, a smaller “Beto para Estados Unidos” or “Beto for the United States” appears in the upper corner.

The website also received criticism for containing a variety of merchandise and options to donate, yet neglects to state any of his policy positions. The three-term El Paso congressman notably received backlash for failing to clarify where he stood on issues during his unsuccessful run to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

O’Rourke constantly avoided answering how he would handle migrant caravans that was heading toward the U.S.-Mexico border, despite immigration and border security overwhelmingly being the top issues for voters in Texas. Cruz called on O’Rourke in November to clarify his stances and urged reporters to do the same; after endorsing O’Rourke, the Dallas Morning News echoed Cruz’s calls for clarification.

After Cruz defeated O’Rourke, the former congressman revealed that he was mulling over running for president in 2020, despite repeatedly claiming that it was a “definitive no” regarding whether he would run or not.

Mirroring his unsuccessful campaign model, O’Rourke embarked on a solo road trip in January to meet voters, where he had been chronicling the trip on social media and raising some eyebrows with bizarre antics such as a Instagram live stream from his dental hygienist’s chair.

O’Rourke’s campaign did not reply to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

When it comes to their Thanksgiving pies, Americans are staunch traditionalists according to an annual survey published Monday.

The Delta Dental  Thanksgiving Pie survey has tracked this key facet of America’s sweet tooth for the last three years and the number one spot should be no surprise. Pumpkin pie reigns supreme with 36 percent of American adults saying it’s their favorite (beating out the next pie in line by more than double). The Thanksgiving go-to pie finds the heaviest favoritism among Baby Boomers (41 percent) and, while it still tops with the group, finds the lowest support among Gen-Xers (28 percent).

Regionally, pumpkin pie sees the most popularity in the West (44 percent) and the least in the South (31 percent). Its preference percentage rating has varied only slightly since Delta Dental began tracking Thanksgiving pie favorability (2016: 36 percent and 2015: 37 percent).  Nonparents (37 percent) report liking the pie a full five percentage points higher than parents (32 percent).

“Whatever favorite pie(s) you indulge in this Thanksgiving, remember to take the time to brush and floss away the sugary remnants. A healthy smile is something to be thankful for too,” said Bill Kohn, DDS, Delta Dental Plans Association’s vice president of dental science and policy.

Other interesting survey findings:

• Pecan pie (17 percent), which again garnered the number two spot, finds waning support from just one group, Millennials (10 percent).

• The widest favoritism gap between the sexes belongs to apple pie, which snagged the number three spot, with 17 percent of men saying it’s their top Thanksgiving pie compared to 11 percent of women.

• Consistently scraping the bottom of the barrel with all age groups, regions and sexes, is strawberry pie.

 

by Andrew Kerr

Widespread use of an accounting trick at public universities may be artificially driving up the reported cost of an undergraduate education, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.

Policymakers at the federal and state level rely on financial data collected by the Department of Education from about 7,500 colleges and universities for use in drafting sound policy.

It has become increasingly more expensive for universities to deliver an undergraduate education, according to the data. Reported per-student educational expenditures at public four-year universities rose 16 percent from 2005 to 2015 in inflation-adjusted dollars.

Some experts believe the data reported by universities is a gross overstatement of the true cost of undergraduate education because of an accounting convention that allows universities to “disguise” research expenditures within their reported instructional costs.

Richard Vedder, the director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, told TheDCNF that the financial information reported by universities is a “purposeful misrepresentation” of the true cost of educating students.

“Universities are fundamentally overstating instructional expenditures and fundamentally understating research expenditures,” Vedder told TheDCNF.

“One of the reasons American universities are great is that we do research and instruction,” Vedder said. “But it’s not all positive and we are not being honest about the costs. With rising tuition, students are getting fed up.”

Shifting research expenditures into instruction could have a pronounced effect on tuition rates, especially at research universities where teaching comes secondary to research.

Research is favored over instruction

Teaching loads for full-time faculty at public universities have dropped substantially in recent decades to allow for more time researching.

Only 27.2 percent of full-time faculty at public universities spent nine or more hours a week instructing students in the classroom in the 2014 academic year, down from 39.4 percent in the 1989 academic year, according to a 2014 survey by the Higher Education Research Institute.

“Research is systematically favored over teaching, so it is not surprising that teaching loads have been falling, or that the time freed up is used for research,” the Center for College Affordability and Productivity wrote in a 2010 report.

The systemic shift in focus from instruction to research in higher education isn’t accurately reflected in university ledgers thanks to a very broad definition of instruction provided by the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) survey.

Departmental research

There are two types of university research from an accounting standpoint: organized research and departmental research.

Organized research means any “specifically organized” research activities. This includes any research funded by a federal, state or private grant, and any “separately budgeted” university funded research endeavors. It is this type of research that IPEDS considers research expenditure.

Departmental research is any research activity “not separately budgeted.” Departmental research is an instructional expense, according to IPEDS.

Lloyd Armstrong, a former Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University of Southern California, says most elements of departmental research are the “seed corn” of organized research.

In other words, departmental research is effectively a fundraising mechanism for universities to obtain external research grants. Considering that universities spent roughly $54 billion on externally funded research in 2016 alone, the “hidden cost” of obtaining a piece of that pie could be significant.

“In general, a reasonable estimate is that tenure-line faculty at research universities are expected to spend during the academic year roughly 50 percent time for teaching, 50 percent time for research. Thus roughly one-half of the tenure-line faculty salary costs actually are attributable to research,” Armstrong wrote in 2016.

These hidden research costs are “well-known, but seldom openly discussed,” among university administrators, according to Armstrong.

The financial impact

Oklahoma State University professor Vance Fried believes up to 40 percent of reported instructional costs at research-intensive universities may be hidden research expenditures because such institutions use the broad definition of departmental research to allocate “most faculty salaries to instruction, even though faculty may spend a great deal of time doing research, not teaching.”

“The accounting convention of classifying departmental research as instruction is wrong. It misleads people as to what the true cost of instruction is. It’s not giving us an accurate picture of what the cost of instruction is and what we are spending on research,” Fried told TheDCNF.

Fried detailed in a 2011 Cato Institute study that honest cost accounting at public universities would reveal the true cost of education is between $5,000 to $9,000 a year per undergraduate student, far less than reported per-student cost of $16,520 in 2010.

“Today, tuition not only covers the full cost of providing an undergraduate education, it generates profits,” Fried wrote. “Even at state-subsidized colleges, most undergraduate students now pay the full cost of their education.”

The “profits” generated by undergraduate tuition and state subsidies are diverted to graduate education and research, Fried claims.

Charles Schwartz, a professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley, also believes departmental research has a significant impact on the cost of undergraduate education.

His calculations indicate that the actual cost to educate an undergraduate student in the University of California system is $7,500 per year, far less than the $13,222 in tuition and fees charged to in-state students in 2013-14.

“What we face here is not just a (University of California) habit of bad accounting but a longstanding disease infecting all of the nation’s great research universities,” Schwartz told the Budget Committee of the California State Assembly in 2015. “This greatly distorts any rational discussion about undergraduate tuition.”

A 2012 study on the expenditures of research-intensive universities concluded the current IPEDS definition of instruction did not accurately reflect the true cost of research at such institutions.

“Perhaps the time has come to reformulate IPEDS categories for research extensive universities in ways that reflect a multi-product system where faculty are heavily involved in both research and teaching,” the study concluded.

The National Research Council (NRC) also recommended changes in a 2012 report.

“Arguing on principle for inclusion of research costs in instructional cost is tantamount to arguing that the sponsored research itself be included—which, in addition to being intrinsically illogical, would hugely distort the productivity measures,” the NRC wrote.

As alarming as the calculations are by the academic community of the hidden costs of research in higher education, it’s unclear what the true financial impact departmental research has on undergraduate tuition due to its unbudgeted nature.

“Unfortunately, IPEDS does not collect the portion of instructional expenses that are departmental non-budgeted research. I can’t cite any sources that would contain this data,” Bao Le, an associate education research scientist at the Department of Education, told TheDCNF.

Nor has any consideration been made on the potential impact departmental research may have on undergraduate tuition rates, that continue to rise fasterthan the rate of inflation, Le added.

Changes can be made to the IPEDS survey, but any changes would need to be approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

OMB Circular A-21, originally issued in 1958 under former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, also considers departmental research as a part of the instruction function of a university.

OMB did not respond to TheDCNF when asked about its stance that departmental research should be considered an instructional cost.