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The median net worth of Hispanic and Black families has been severely affected by the recession. Because minorities hold a much larger part of their assets in household equity the foreclosure crisis and the recession have had a devastaing impact on both minority groups. The median net worth of Hispanic families dropped by two thirds and black families by half after the 2008 recession from the 2005 figures, and was around $6000 for 2009 for both groups, according to data from the Pew Research Center. The Pew report shows median net worth of a white family is 20 times that of a black family, and 18 times that of a Hispanic family, with the gap between these minorities and whites twice as large in 2009 compared to the period before the recession in 2005. This was even true for Asian American families, whose median net worth dropped by half from 2005 to 2009, to $78,000. The figure for whites dropped much less from $135,000 to $113,000 during the same period. Another significant finding is that within each group the share of the wealthiest 10% of the people increased between 2005 and 2009, for all households this went up from 49% to 56%, for Hispanics from 56% to 72%, for Blacks from 59% to 67%....

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Of 42 persons in Trump's cabinet just over half support his candidacy for president says the Washington Post.

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In the last year of his presidency Obama faces questions about his domestic and foreign policy. Here Greg Jaffe looks back at Obama in 2004 and cites the episode with Farr Curlin, a doctor who opposed abortion and taught at the University of Chicago. Curlin wrote to Obama asking him to consider Catholic teachings when using phrases such as taking away women's rights, at the time Obama won the Senate Democratic primary from Illinois in 2004. Obama came back to the email exchange with Curlin during the fight for the Democratic nomination for president with Hillary Clinton, in speeches and in his book Audacity of Hope, appreciating Curlin's views and calls for openness and understanding of others views. Curlin appreciates Obama's thoughtfulness and sincerity, but points out today in 2015 that Obama has in his actions accelerated the trends in societal change, deepening old divisions. Much of the rest of the article describes the president's anguish at the recent Charleston and other shootings in America, showing Obama as a Christian struggling with his faith. As the article points out Americans have become increasingly disillusioned by the difference between the rhetoric and policy- leaving America deeply divided not just on social issues, but on economic issues with widening disparity in incomes and shrinking of the middle class which some see as accelerating during the two terms of Obama's presidency, and on the issues of foreign policy where 2015 brings the largest number of displaced people and refugees worldwide numbering millions. The lesson of the presidency may be that thoughtfulness is not enough, that thoughtfulness has to be carried into clarity of purpose, that ideals have to be translated into action requiring courage and not avoiding elements of risk. ...

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"Let's not insult the intelligence of the American people," Sanders tells Hillary Clinton in a televised debate that focussed on campaign contributions and the effect on politics in the country.

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A former U.S. Treasury Secretary reflects on the backlash against free trade in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and calls for a shift towards putting more emphasis on how trade affects individual workers who are laid off or work part time. In the light of tax evasion following the Panama Papers Scandal he says the time has come for the emphasis to shift in trade policy and capital movements to tax havens, so that ordinary workers do not feel their interests are being ignored as elites frame policies for elites. He says the period when it was enough to defend global integration has been exhausted, and this is unlikely to succeed without a nation like the U.S. supporting it and global institutions. A new approach is needed, and this means shifting from international trade agreements to international harmonization agreements, where labor rights, environmental protection move to the top of the list, and enabling foreign producers becomes secondary. The whole overall emphasis must shift, says Summers, to creating hope and opportunity for middle class parents that their children can live better lives....

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Comments about immigration policy by Donald Trump, candidate for the Republican nomination for president in the 2016 election, create uneasiness in Mexico. Trump says he would block the billions of dollars that illegal immigrants from Mexico in the U.S. send back to Mexico, and deport millions of Mexicans in the U.S. illegally back to Mexico.

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Kasich, Rubio, Fiorina, Christie and Cruz did well in the second debate. The candidates took aim at Donald Trump and some of his odd comments. Jeb Bush's performance did not stand out. The debate going on for 3 hours on CNN is seen as too long by viewers.

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The Washington Post's editorial board offers insights on how the situation in Syria and Iraq deteriorated under the Obama administration's policies.

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The National Assessment of Educational Progess (NAEP) test scores in the U.S. for K-12 show a lack of progress since 2013. Scores for math and reading dropped for 8th grade students, and scores for reading were stagnant while dropping in math for 4th grade students. The test scores reflect progress in rural, suburban, urban environments, for communities that are affluent, less affluent and poor, different ethnic backgrounds. The test started in 1990 is the only one measuring national progress. The new results of NAEP are on a scale of 0 to 500, and show that in 2015 64 percent of 4th graders and 66 percent of eighth graders were not reading proficient, 60 percent of 4th graders and 67 percent of 8th graders were not math proficient. Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, do much better in the tests than Mississippi and New Mexico. Experts say a state to state comparison should separate the non native English speaking students from native English speaking, especially in states like Texas. With about two thirds of students failing the math and reading proficiency levels, growing proportions of minority Hispanic students in many states, larger proportion of less affluent students, the tests show the challenges facing America's K-12 education even after the changes introduced by Education Secretary Duncan since 2008....

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The leaders of Republicans and Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker Boehner, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Minority leader Harry Reid, reached a budget compromise with the White House in October 2015 after long closed door negotiations, following years of deadlock in previous years. The compromise lifts sequester spending caps agreed to previously in a previous settlement of differences, and lifts the budget ceiling till March 2017. Speaker Boehner said it was time to "clean out the barn," as he did this over the opposition of Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz from the right wing of his party who opposed his efforts to compromise with Democrats. On October 28, 2015, the House of Representatives passed the two year budget agreement 266-167, and the following day Speaker Boehner passed on the Speaker's position to Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. On Oct. 29, 2015, the Senate voted 64-35 to pass the budget compromise agreement. The agreement increases discretionary spending by $80 billion over 2 years, giving half to defense spending with the increase in military threats overseas, and the other half to domestic spending programs. The domestic spending goes to limit premium increases for some Medicare Part B beneficiaries, and a prevents a 20% across the board cut to Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, set for 2016. This removes the uncertainty posed by threats of a showdown on the budget ceiling and threat of defunding Planned Parenthood posed by right wing Republicans in Congress, which were bad for the economy at a time when the U.S. and Europe faces increasing threats overseas. Without a budget agreement the U.S. Treasury Department would have seen its borrrowing authority expire on Nov. 3, 2015....

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A Syrian opposition group describes the mislabeling of opposition groups in Syria by the Obama administration.