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Social Security: You are entitled to your entitlement!

  • Posted on February 15, 2011 at 9:34 pm

President Obama and the Republicans are putting their collective brains together to figure out the best way to stick it to the American people on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  All the whining about Social Security is making me just a little bit angry.  There is a constant hum of information that is being pushed at the American people through the many propaganda machines to get us ready for the big changes to come in Social Security.  It’s an entitlement program which basically means that you have paid into it for many, many years and you are entitled to receive benefits from that money when you retire.  You faithfully did your part and now they want to change the game!

In December there was no worry about Social Security when the politicians put through the tax cut bill that included a 2% reduction in what you and I pay into Social Security.  Now if there’s a real problem with Social Security, why would anyone undercut that program even more?  That just doesn’t make sense to me, but of course I’m just a middle school art teacher!

This morning on “Morning Joe” Joe Scarborough said the American people get it.  In Florida Marco Rubio was voted into the Senate and he wants to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70.  So what might be going on with Florida?  From my perspective, it sounds more like the old people that live in Florida that already have Social Security don’t much care what the young people are going to do about Social Security in the future.  As long as those old folks, that do tend to vote, get their cake, they will be happy!

More and more it seems like the young people in our country are really getting the short end of the deal.  We dump everything on them.  These two unfunded wars have been dumped on the future.  We have a big deficit that will have to be dealt with by our future generation.  The unions are dead or dying so young people have to depend on business to have a sense of honor in paying them.  If you are a young person and you want to be a teacher today, expect to jump through many hoops, continue your schooling until you die, and end up with a reduced retirement package when you retire.  It’s probably like this in most other areas as well.

What really troubles me with the Social Security debate is the lack of real understanding of the American people and their circumstance.  President Bill Clinton used to say, “I feel your pain.”  However, most politicians don’t really have a clue what the American people are feeling today because they don’t live anything like you and me.

I’ll start with President Obama.  This is open information that is posted on the Whitehouse website.  http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/04/15/president-obama-and-vice-president-biden-s-tax-returns

If you look at President and Mrs. Obama’s tax returns for 2010, they really are not anything like the average American people.  When you have an income in the 5-6 million dollar ranges, you really have lost touch with people making anything under $100,000 let alone someone making $30,000 or less!  Now let’s check out the Congressmen and see what kind of money they’re sporting.  I apologize as these are 2009 figures but you will get the point.  http://www.rollcall.com/features/Guide-to-Congress_2009/guide/-38181-1.html Please note that our Representative Fred Upton is number 31 on the list.  He may sound like one of us but really is he like you?  If you want to check out another of the key player’s salary, Speaker of the House, Representative John Boehner’s net worth go here.    http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/otherdata.php?cycle=2010&cid=N00003675&type=I

You might be thinking this isn’t relevant but really it is.  We have heard for years how wonderful our government it.  You know all that, by the people, for the people, stuff.  We supposedly have gone beyond having to be property owners to vote and have a say in our elections.  However, the truth is those that have money run this country.  The rest of us just take care of those that have money.  We serve them.  They don’t serve us.  We always hear about their years of devoted service to our country.  All of us have devoted years of service to our country as well.  I teach the children of the future.  You may be a nurse, doctor, scientist, policeman, maid, waitress, soldier, or perform some other noble job, you serve your country.  You pay your taxes, you give to charity and you pay your bills.  You suck it up every time “they” want your children for war and trust me; they want your children as they sure don’t want to give their children for war!

Now they want all of us to just suck it up one more time.  Take those cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid like a man.  Do it for your country!  We all have to pitch in you know?  Many months ago I wrote a post that is worth linking back to.  http://www.ksvoboda.com/?p=317

In it I asked the wealthy to step up for our country.  It didn’t happen because the wealthy are doing the legislating!  They aren’t going to step up.  The best thing we could do is to have a revolution like Egypt and get rid of Congress and start over!  The young people really should be marching because much of what is happening and will happen will be put on them for an even bigger burden.  If you are a young college kid or just out of college a couple of years, you probably have a mountain of school loan debt already.  Do you really need to take on the debt of the clowns working in Washington D.C. too?  Every time one of them opens their mouth and moves their lips, rest assured they’re probably lying to us.  I don’t trust any of them.  At this rate we will continue to spend more money on the Defense Department and Homeland Security and less and less on education, or any of the “ENTITLEMENT” programs!  I hope I’ve given you something to think about.

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Disgusted Three Times Over

  • Posted on February 9, 2011 at 9:26 pm

I’ve been busy lately, but I’ve read a few things tonight and I just cannot get them out of my mind.  These are the three things that disgust me tonight.

Heating assistance for the poor?  Oh, don’t worry, you can always curl up with a good book under the covers and pray to God you don’t freeze to death when you can’t pay that fuel bill.  I would like all the “sane” people in Washington D.C. to please stand up and make sure this bright idea doesn’t happen.  As cold as it is today, you would have to be one insane son of a bitch to even consider cutting these people off.  It’s not like you’re cutting them off crack cocaine.  This is life or death.  In December President Obama and his new found Republican cronies had no problem giving tax cuts to the wealthy.  Now they’re in “cut” mode and who are they going to pick on?  They’ll pick on some poor family that has all they can do to keep their homes heated and their heads above water.  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hznktd75KGKaGAlE7Q3nj3YoWvXA?docId=25660854102642308608e00b98043cf7

I remember a couple years ago here in Michigan when a man froze to death in Bay City.  http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6740934&page=1

To me this is unconscionable.  We can spend boat loads of money in Iraq and Afghanistan.  However, when it comes to the least among us here in the United States, we cannot seem to find two nickels to throw to the poor.

I guess this guy wasn’t in need of heating assistance.  http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/09/rep-christopher-lee-resigns-amid-reports-that-he-tried-to-meet-women-on-craigslist/

The sad part is people voted for this joker.  Now they will have to spend more money on another election simply because he was more interested in playing these games than doing his job.

In other education news here in Michigan there may be changes to the MEAP and MME.  This is from the Detroit News;

The State Board of Education will consider a plan today to raise the passing scores on state standardized tests, a move that could mean thousands more students and hundreds more schools won’t meet proficiency levels.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110208/SCHOOLS/102080376/MEAP-testing-may-get-tougher#ixzz1DW6jzXSz

Now if more schools don’t pass proficiency levels than maybe they could be either taken over by the state or privatized.  Some lucky businessman could determine what’s best for your child based on his bottom line.  What’s the bottom line you say?  It’s his profit margin!

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Evan Bayh and Other Political Opportunists

  • Posted on February 1, 2011 at 9:09 pm


Evan Bayh as a senator certainly isn’t my cup of tea as he is a fairly conservative Democrat.  Since I live near Indiana, I understood why he was conservative as the whole state tends to bleed crimson during most elections.  There was so much speculation when he decided to leave the senate.  Some people even thought he was going to try and run for the governorship again, if that’s possible.  I know Oregon and California both elected former governors.  He gave some speech about how he was fed up with the wide divide between the Democrats and the Republicans and he thought he could do more for people on the outside maybe in business creating jobs, etc. and blah, blah, blah.  You get the drift.

The truth is I don’t give a hoot and a holler about Evan Bayh.  I just find his new job to be very telling about him and politicians in general.  It seems to me that most of them don’t give a shit about their constituents.  It really is about them and their job possibilities.  They don’t really care about the people they have been supposedly serving.  That whole idea about them being “public servants” is just ludicrous.  Servants take care of people before they take care of themselves.  In Washington D.C. and even at the state level here in Michigan, these politicians only take care of themselves.  I’m going to give you some examples of what has my ire all bunched up like a ball of wax.

Evan Bayh who was actually once governor of Indiana obviously never really cared that much for the place.  He certainly didn’t go back and plant his roots in Indiana.  He has started his new job working as a lobbyist.  Imagine that!  He just took a job with a Washington D.C. law firm.  He’ll basically be a lobbyist rubbing elbows with Congress once again.  He sounds oh so noble about helping people in the video but of course the person he is really helping is himself.

There seems to be a clear pattern among many politicians.  They do their “service” and then they get “served”.  Evan isn’t alone.  Many of these politicians that profess to love their state always seem to end up somewhere else.  Here in Michigan all three of our last governors left the state for greener pastures.  Governor Blanchard is a partner in a Washington D.C. law firm.  Governor Engler went to work in Texas for many years.  His wife was named to the Freddie Mac board by Bush in 2001 and reappointed in 2002.  That’s pretty interesting but Engler has been tied to Texas and D.C., not Michigan.  Our latest ex-governor, Jennifer Granholm is going back to California to teach at her alma mater, UC Berkeley.  The truth is there is no loyalty by any politician.  Bill and Hillary never went back to Arkansas.

Personally, I’m sick of hearing about how we are “global”.  I’m a Michigander.  I would like some loyalty to my state and I’m sure the Hoosiers would like some loyalty to their state as well.  This really got me going the other day when I was watching “Morning Joe”.  One of the people on the show said they ran into Evan Bayh and he was taking his son out to play tennis at the Senate tennis courts.  Wow, what a country we live in.  The senate has tennis courts and great health care to boot and yet they can’t seem to let any of that wealth trickle on down to the rest of us!  I was listening and not watching but the next thing that was said was that he has this new job and Mika Brezinski’s brother works there as well.  That conversation is what got me thinking about how corrupt and egotistic these politicians really have become.  It’s all about the money.  It isn’t about the people.  The older I get the more decayed and decadent the system seems to me.  Nobody in Washington D.C. really seems to care about what’s really going on in this country, the loss of jobs doesn’t mean anything to them because once again, they will be taken care of just as they have been by the government for their entire adult lives as politicians

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Women in Congress

  • Posted on January 31, 2011 at 9:49 pm

Woman of Substance

I have been thinking about women tonight.  I’m thinking about the women that I know and have known.  My mother was a wonderful woman, strong, stable and determined.  She had 14 children and managed to go back to teaching when I was just a youngster.  I think she was an amazing woman.  The truth be told there are many amazing women in our country right now.  Some are out working jobs and some are home doing the ultimate job of raising children.  Some manage to do both and some, like me, do it alone.  The point I’m getting at is there are a lot of strong women in this country that are capable of doing pretty much anything they set their mind to do.

I personally think that we are under represented in Congress and because of it we have little influence on any branch of government.  We may vote and think we have influence but the truth is the majority of the laws are made by men.  No man really knows how a woman thinks and no woman would really want a man to speak for her.  However, year after year, even though we have a little over half of the population, we continue to vote in these men to offices that control every aspect of our lives.

Tonight I came across this website which is very educational and a little disheartening.  http://womenincongress.house.gov/

The really frightening part of the website can be found on this page.  http://womenincongress.house.gov/historical-data/

This is where all of the historical data is about women in Congress.  If you click on the interactive map you will be able to see all of the women from every state that have been elected to Congress.  The data is scary because there are so many states that have had so few women representing them.  In fact, Mississippi has never had a woman senator or representative.  They may have some women at the state level as I have not looked that up.  However, it is appalling to think that we have been a country for over two hundred years and even though women have had the vote for around ninety or so years, we still can’t get women elected at the federal level.  Until this happens, the laws will always be made my men.

Maybe some of you think this is fine and dandy.  From my perspective those men haven’t been doing all that great of a job.  Maybe it’s time that women grabbed the checkbook and figured out how to balance the budget, educate our kids and keep us safe from the bad guys.  Men just seem to keep that “good old boy” mentality going.  I think it’s time for women to unite and create their own party!  How about, “Women United for a Better America”.

Most women that are mothers have had to do battle with their young teens from time to time.  They carry those battle scars with pride because they know that some day their child might thank them for it.  If not, they still know they did what they were supposed to do.  We’ve all heard our moms tell us to do something and when we asked we got that, “Because I told you so!” answer.  It may have not been satisfying to hear as a youngster but it was consistent.  As we grew up we might have even used it on our own kids.  Many of us have had to be the bad cop when dad only wanted to be the good cop, so many know how to be tough when they have to be.  Now I come to President Obama.  He can’t say, “No” and he is so wishy, washy that he usually says, “Maybe!” and that is just indecisive.  Mothers know that you just say, “No” because anything else could be a form of weakness.  There will be times when you do say, “Yes!” but the kids will know they earned whatever it was they were trying to get.

Now, I know I sound like I’m just being funny here.  This is just my attempt at humor, but really this is no laughing matter.  We, as women, deserve to be fully represented in our country.  Until we have a seat at the decision making table of government, we will always be second class citizens or the small children at the Thanksgiving dinner party that have to eat at the “little kid’s table”.  We may laugh at that table, but we always are so happy when we are grown up enough to sit at the adult’s table.

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Reinvention and Other Useless Rhetoric

  • Posted on January 30, 2011 at 2:01 am

I'm sure it is not just the GOP, but this is a good depciton of the money cycle.

I keep hearing a strange word over and over in my head, reinvention.  Frankly, it’s just a word but it seems to be the “buzzword” this year in politics.  Governor Rick Snyder used it in his “State of the State” address and President Obama used it in his State of the Union” address.  It sounded interesting that both politicians have chosen to give such similar speeches when they are supposedly from opposing political parties.  The word reminds me of those “born again virgins”.  It’s almost like an oxymoron to me.  How do you reinvent and invention?  I also find it interesting that when anyone thinks of the word “invention” it usually draws to mind some kind of product.  Since we aren’t exactly making any products, what are we trying to reinvent?

I’m picturing the sleazy ex-husband that is desperately remaking his image for his next conquest.  How did that saying go?  Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.  I think that buzzword, reinvention, is nothing more than corporate speak for “privatizing government”.

We have been told so many times that government doesn’t work and private industry does a better job that many of us actually believe this myth.  I see our country being sold out to private industry more and more.  Here in Michigan we better think hard about that bridge the governor wants to build.  I’m all for the bridge but not if it is put in the hands of some private company that controls what goes in and out of our country.    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704590704576092881920953952.html

The details seem a bit fuzzy to me.  I remember fuzzy math and it usually adds up to a headache for the little guy.

My son complains all the time about how the government of Illinois handles licensing.  It seems that they have very few state offices open.  However, you can purchase your license plates, etc. through private industry, but it will cost you much more.  You are paying for the convenience of not having to travel the distance to find an open state office.

This push for privatization has been going on for some time.  Republicans have been trying to privatize Social Security for years.  The military has been holding hands with private corporations for years.  The one thing that I notice about all of this is the high cost of doing business with these private military corporations.  Our politicians seem ready to feed that dragon for a long time to come without worrying too much about how the money is spent or how much is laid to waste in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They don’t even seem too concerned about the millions and millions of missing dollars that have been reported about.

Now the latest trend is to take public education and sell it out to private corporations that are for profit businesses.  This is being done in a rather sneaky way.  First, the schools have privatized everything from janitorial service and food service to substitute teachers.  Its’ all happening and inch by inch it will happen on an even bigger scale.  The push right now for getting rid of tenure for teachers is all part of this plan as far as I can tell.  The past ten years has been an out right assault on public school teachers and their competence.  What ails education is being blamed on the teachers.  The teachers are the scapegoat but it is really just part of the plan to destroy the teachers’ unions.  Truthfully, there are many factors that have had an influence on education.  The biggest factor in my mind is poverty.  The rise to the top of the chosen few and the loss of the middle class have created a growing lower class of people that have probably lost hope for the future.  Unemployment is staggering and many people are also under employed.  Their main priority right now is simply survival.

With all of this in mind what does the president do?  At the state of the union he called once again for the push for science and math education.  The funny thing about this aspect is something my sister mentioned the other day.  She told me I should do a post on what the senators, representatives and other politician’s children are doing for jobs.  She figures they aren’t working in science and math.  We talked about it.  I know Chelsea Clinton works for a hedge fund.  Most of these politician’s kids are probably going where the money is.  I don’t think the money is in science, math and certainly not in education.  The young people that can manage to find a decent job are working in business.  The other ones are doing service jobs like waiting on tables, working in a retail store or working in senior citizen’s homes.  Our young creative minds are left under utilized in a country that sees more value in private industry than in people!

Early this morning I was watching C-Span.  It was some kind of educational meeting that took place this week.  There was a man from Sweden who was part of a private business that had created schools in Sweden that were for profit businesses.  He was over here because he is starting a school in New York City.  I found this all very interesting.  He said people were unhappy with the school system in Sweden.  This must be a world wide phenomenon.  When he opened his first school he had something like 900 people sign up, even though he had no prior proven success.  He said that just showed how ready for change people were.  He wants to do for America what he did for Sweden.  There was also a young college graduate student from Chile.  Chile also has been starting schools created by businesses.

Watching this today made me really think about what’s going on here in our country with education.  The drumbeat has been going for quite some time that teachers are not qualified, that they are inept.  Much blame has been placed on the poor quality of the teachers.  I’m not going to say all teachers are great because obviously there are imperfect people in every job category.  However, it has been my experience that most of the teachers I know are dedicated individuals that want to do the best job they can for the students.  It’s apparent to me that it’s not so much about the teachers as it is about business controlling every aspect of government.  Business has been able to infiltrate into everything we do.  It really is about the bottom dollar.

The common person only has their vote.  Business has lobbyist that caress the politicians and give them the money they need to keep their seats.  What we end up with are corrupt politicians that sound more like businessmen than like statesmen.  The most recent push for business was the health care bill.  Real people don’t seem to be happy with it.  However, insurance companies will be happy with all the new customers they are going to have after all the penalties kick in.  Business has a special seat in our government.  Don’t let them destroy public education with a for profit business plan where the bottom line is profit, not students.  President Obama using a word like “reinvention” is meant to inspire us with nothing more than business laced useless rhetoric.  Don’t be fooled!

By the way according to Dyson he reinvented the vacuum cleaner!

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The State of the Union and that Pesky CEO Pay

  • Posted on January 24, 2011 at 10:39 pm

This morning Peggy Noonan was on the Morning Joe show.  I watch the show as I’m getting ready for work.  I always think it is interesting when I hear Republicans like Peggy and Joe singing the praises of President Obama.  They both just love Obama and are so thrilled that he is moving more towards the “center”.  I, of course, find all of this laughable because Obama has always been pretty much right of center.  If he was any where left of that golden center, health care would have a public option and we’d be out of these two wars.  I have to make a clarification here as both Peggy and Joe insisted this morning that they are not really into that “Republican” label.  They are really “conservatives”.  All I know is that a thorn known by any other name is still prickly.

I sit here thinking about the state of the union address.  Of course we are all being told that President Obama is going to embrace business with some kind of love fest.  Recently, he put an editorial piece in the Wall Street Journal where he said that we have to look at old, outdated rules and regulations.  I’m really curious about this because I have a nephew who sustained a traumatic work place injury about ten years ago.  I’m sure he wishes there were better rules and regulations in place when he had his hand cut off in a meat cutter.  In business, it always comes down to the almighty dollar.  Let’s see is it worth putting that screw on the “kiddie” pool or will we make more money even with a lawsuit, if we don’t?

The questions business must think about.  I wonder what went through the minds of those Toyota executives when they tried covering up their little problem.  http://www.motortrend.com/features/auto_news/2010/112_1001_toyota_recall_crisis/index.html

You can read President Obama’s entire executive order.  There isn’t a lot to it, but it really makes me wonder why President Obama even bothered with it.  However, reading numbers 4 & 5 really get my curiosity up.  It seems to be quite open to interpretation.  The lines seem a little blurry to me.

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/2011.html

Or even his editorial piece.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703396604576088272112103698.html

As stated in that Executive Order and to the extent permitted by law, each agency must,
among other things: (1) propose or adopt a regulation only upon a reasoned
determination that its benefits justify its costs (recognizing that some benefits
and costs are difficult to quantify); (2) tailor its regulations to impose the
least burden on society, consistent with obtaining regulatory objectives, taking
into account, among other things, and to the extent practicable, the costs
of cumulative regulations; (3) select, in choosing among alternative regulatory
approaches, those approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential
economic, environmental, public health and safety, and other advantages;
distributive impacts; and equity); (4) to the extent feasible, specify performance
objectives, rather than specifying the behavior or manner of compliance
that regulated entities must adopt; and (5) identify and assess available
alternatives to direct regulation, including providing economic incentives
to encourage the desired behavior, such as user fees or marketable permits,
or providing information upon which choices can be made by the public

I’ve been curious about the push for business in government for awhile now.  Here in Michigan we have a new governor, a businessman.  In the last election Maine and Florida, like Michigan went to the business world for their governors.  Now, I hear talk of President Obama warming to business and yet I saw on MSNBC today that American businesses have created about two million jobs this past year.  However, only 600,000 are in the United States.  I keep hearing the words “business friendly” and I’m not sure exactly what that means but I can deduce that it might imply “labor unions” not so friendly.  It really does come down to the bottom dollar.  How can a business turn the highest profit?  The cost of labor has to go down to make business happy or they can just keep hiring workers in other countries.  Where does that leave the American people?

Our Governor spoke last week and I’m still wondering exactly what he’s going to do but I know it’s going to be some kind of love affair with the business world.  Don’t get me wrong, I do realize that business has to be able to make a profit.  I’m just not so sure that those high CEO pays are all that necessary.  Other countries seem to curb the appetite of their CEO pay.  It is destroying our country.  Here is a good take on it. http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/nov2008/ca2008114_493532.htm

Notice that CEO pay can be 400 times the pay of the average worker.  I would say that is kind of excessive!  If we want to fix business in this country, then maybe we should start at the top and stop making the little guy continue to give up things and make concessions.  American CEO Pay needs to be adjusted.  Every CEO should be thinking about his or her country.  John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country.”  We can start with CEO pay.  Maybe President Obama could create an executive order there.  Maybe the government should do business only with corporations that limit the CEO pay.  President Obama imposed a restriction on CEO pay for companies involved in the bailout plan.  However, many of them found ways around that little gem.  I think our government shouldn’t do business with any corporation that has excessive CEO pay.  If you really want to make your stomach churn, just check out the AFL-CIO site on executive pay.  It really will make you sick.  http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/ If you’re too lazy to do the search, just check the top 100 here:  http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/ceou/top100.cfm

There is something wrong with business when the CEO can make such tremendous figures while the little people at the bottom of this food chain are continually asked to take a cut.

I’ll be watching the president tomorrow night.  I’ll be hoping that he’s thinking about those little people at the bottom, but I have this sneaking feeling it’s going to be more about the bottom line for business and how we all have to sacrifice a little bit more.  However, I know that guy at the top won’t be feeling a thing!

As I was looking around tonight I came across a great “read” on what’s happening with public sector unions.  This is a blog post by a teacher.  http://modeducation.blogspot.com/2011/01/impending-demise-of-unions.html

Just keep all of this in mind when your listening to the president Tuesday night.

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War, what is it good for?

  • Posted on January 22, 2011 at 1:01 am

So, I’m looking around on the internet just reading tonight and I noticed Keith Olberman is out. I don’t really care about Keith, so I read on and look for news on the wars.  I never hear much any more about either war, even though there is constant turmoil in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  It all seems pretty much null and void in the minds of the American people.  I sometimes wonder if I am the only person that thinks spending all of this money to blow up a couple of countries is insane!  I came across this site which seems interesting.   http://armscontrolcenter.org/

According to this site, here is the defense budget for 2011 and it does match up with what I have found on the Whitehouse budget website as well.

Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Overview

For Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, which begins on October 1, 2010, the Obama

Administration has requested a base budget of $548.9 billion for the Department of

Defense (DoD). This is $18 billion, or 3.4 percent, above the appropriated Fiscal Year

2010 base budget of $531 billion.

In addition, the Administration has requested $159.3 billion for “Overseas

Contingency Operations,” to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This brings the Fiscal Year 2011 defense budget request to a total of $708.3

billion.

What I am noticing is that high cost for the two wars.  I looked up the population of Iraq which is around 31.5 million.  California has a population of around 37 million.  What I am getting at is this:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget

Check out the federal budgeted money for California or any state for that matter.  I think there is something wrong with this picture.  That money spent on the wars could really be helpful back over here in our own country.  Of course the conservative Republicans have other ideas.  Here is where you can check out their proposal to reduce spending.  http://rsc.jordan.house.gov/Solutions/SRA.htm

On the two page summary, I noticed many interesting cuts to everything from the arts and humanities to the repeal of the Davis Bacon Act which requires the government to pay the local prevailing wage.  I wonder what’s up with that, less money for the common man, just trying to make a living of course.

The other day I was listening to the Ed Schultz radio show for a few minutes on my way home from school.   Some one was sitting in for Ed.  A guy called in who really cracked me up.  He was on a rant about Senator John McCain and he said McCain has been taken care of by the government is whole life.  This man couldn’t believe McCain’s stance on health care since McCain has essentially been taken care of with government health care his whole life.  I had to laugh because it was essentially true, except for the stint he had when he was a POW.  The politicians in office just don’t get it.  They have everything at their finger tips like money, power, health insurance, great pensions and they just cannot see what has happened to the common worker in America.

The American people need to pull their head out of the sand and figure out what is really going on.

Big business and government combined is a lethal combination for the American worker.  Labor unions have been destroyed over the last forty years.  One of the last of the unions still standing are the teachers unions.  They are the next to go.  This is the way the American people are being programmed right now.  There is a constant drumbeat against the teachers and their unions.  We are being told how poor our education system is and it is the fault of the TEACHERS!  Tenure is a dirty word.  We are being programmed that it is the problem and it must go!  I’m only throwing this out there because as a teacher, I can feel the target on my back and I can see what is going on.  We, the people, are being programmed once again that business is good, privatization is good, and labor unions are bad, bad, bad!

All across the country we have business people getting into government.  Here in Michigan we have our new governor, Rick Snyder, a business guy.  I listened to his state of the state address and he was very short on anything specific in terms of cuts and spending for the most part.  The big thing he talked about was building a bridge to Canada.  Here is a transcript from his address.  http://www.freep.com/article/20110120/NEWS15/110120009/1001/NEWS/Transcript-Read-and-watch-the-State-of-the-State

It had a lot of “fluff” but not much substance.  I expect in April when he gives the next speech he mentioned, we will hear more specifics.  I don’t think his address was much different than most others.  I just would like to know what his plans are for the budget.  He wants to change the small business tax but he doesn’t say how he’s going to pay for these changes.  Some in K-12 education are worried that he is going to take from that budget to give to the public colleges.  I don’t know what is going to happen, but I think it will mean more pain in education whatever is decided.  This year I had to pay 3% more into my retirement with no additional benefit.  Next year it could be more.  We don’t have a contract and we are probably not much different than most schools in the state that are wondering what the budget is going to be.

The other day I was applying for a bus grant to take some of my art students up to the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and I asked the school secretary what portion of our students was on free and/or reduced lunches.  Our school was around 61% but she said one of the elementary schools is somewhere around 90%.  These are scary numbers.  We need jobs for American workers.  I feel like I’m on a wheel that just keeps going round and round.  War, what is it good for?  What is it really doing for the American people?  We know what it is doing for some corporations.   http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/160995.html

You must listen to this video because it is so interesting.  The wars will continual until they are financially unsustainable because it is in the best interest of corporations.  War, what is it good for?

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Mary Reed, Super Mom

  • Posted on January 15, 2011 at 12:39 pm

Mary Reed and daughter, Emma McMahon

I was reading news about the shooting victims in Arizona and came across a story about Mary Reed.  Mary Reed did everything she could to protect her 17 year old daughter from being hurt during the attack on Representative Gifford and all who were within shooting range of her.  Mary’s daughter had been a congressional page for Gifford over the summer.  They were at the event to simply get a picture.  Mary pressed her daughter up against the building and took three bullets for her.  Surprisingly Mary will survive.  She said she was like a mama bear.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/11/20110111Gabrielle-Giffords–arizona-shooting-mother-protects-daughter-from-bullets.html

As a woman and a mother, I understand that protective mode that took over Mary.  We all would do anything to protect our children.  It’s hard to fathom being put into a situation like Mary was in, but I’m sure instinct took over every part of her to bring her to the point that she just knew she had to protect her baby.  Mary is a hero to me.  She is the virtue of all mothers and a testament to what women will do for their children.

I haven’t heard anything about Mary this week.  I’ve only been hearing things about politicians and pundits talking about how this will play out politically.  I have always thought of my own mom as a hero.  She had 14 babies with 10 of them being boys.  I’ve always joked that raising all those boys automatically made her a candidate for sainthood.  My mom was my single best cheerleader.  She always made me feel like I could do things that I, myself, doubted I could do.  She helped give me the confidence to do many of the things that now define me in my life.  Mary’s daughter, Emma, knows just how much her mother, Mary, would do for her.  This has to be somewhat of a defining moment for young 17 year old Emma.  We all say we would take a bullet for our child.  Mary took three and stayed standing pressing her young daughter into the building praying for the carnage to stop.

I salute Mary and all moms today.  The world has many problems and unfortunately we cannot protect our children from some of the ills of society or the choices that they may make in life.  However, when push comes to shove we will all want to think that we could be a mama bear just like Mary.

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Defining Moments

  • Posted on January 14, 2011 at 10:19 pm

That was candidate Obama speaking about defining moments.  That was then and this is now!

Well the 2012 presidential election officially started this past week with the shooting in Arizona.  I listen to Morning Joe in the morning when I’m getting ready for work and a bit of Chris Matthews and Big Eddy on MSNBC in the evening.  I have noticed the continual slow indoctrination of the American people by MSNBC and probably other channels as well.  This last couple of days the words “defining moment for the president” seemed to take precedent over all other talk.  We, the public are being indoctrinated by the press that Obama’s speech at the memorial service in Arizona is his defining moment. Donny Deutsch said something this morning like Obama made us remember why we voted for him.  No, Donnie, the president did no such thing because it wasn’t about the president.   Chris Matthews even said it was an “opportunity” for Obama.

I’m not in President Obama’s head but politicians seem to dirty everything they touch with that old opportunity thing.  Just to clear things up for Chris Matthews and opportunity doesn’t usually come off the deaths and injuries of real people.  If anyone looks at a memorial service as an opportunity, they are nothing more then a leech off society.  As for that “defining moment”, it’s hard to see a connection to the presidential politics of 2012 and what happened in Arizona.

When my mom died that was a defining moment in my life.  I seem to remember things as before and after her death in many ways.  The same goes for my dad and sister.  At my mom’s funeral I read a poem I had written.  The poem and the service itself were not defining moments for me.  The defining moment was when my dad screamed up the stairs for me to come down because mom had died.  I’ll never forget that lonely Thanksgiving morning when I lost my wonderful mom.

We all have moments when our life may be defined in one capacity or another.  The birth of our children or our marriage, are moments that probably are defining for people.  Great events in a person’s life will probably be defining moments.  However, the shooting in Arizona wasn’t about President Obama and it wasn’t about politics really.  It was about an epidemic in our society of violence and probably mental illness.  It just so happens that this time the violence struck a politician.  It was a defining moment for all the people involved in the shooting.  For the rest of us it was a tragedy that we saw unfold slowly and continuously on our TV sets and the Internet.  We heard day after day many pundits talking about who is to blame and so on and so.  We can empathize with all involved and we can pray and hope that the wounded have a quick recovery.  We can share in the loss of life but we cannot really know the suffering of each family that was touched by this madness.

In my mind a defining moment for President Obama was his election.  It was about him and what he had accomplished.  Arizona isn’t about Obama or Sarah Palin or any other politician.  I’m tired of the same old talk from the same old pundits who are once again trying to make us pick a side.  In December they wanted us to like Obama because he did so much and we all got out tax cuts.  I feel the drumbeat from people that are in the pocket of Obama trying to get the rest of us to fall in line and vote for him in 2012.  All I can say is 2012 is a long way off and the economy will probably be the defining moment for the next election, just like it was for the last election!

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Shattered Dreams and Our Violent Society

  • Posted on January 11, 2011 at 8:59 pm

Shattered Dreams

After the last couple of days of hearing non-stop news about the shooting in Arizona, I have decided to say what’s really on my mind.  The pundits started the blame game early on and seem content to want this to be more about getting ratings than anything really useful.  From my perspective as a teacher, I don’t really see what is so different about this act of violence than the violence that schools have had to deal with since Columbine.  Every school administrator, teacher, school personnel and even students across our nation all know about the routines schools go through every year since Columbine to be prepared in the event of an emergency.  Prior to Columbine, we all felt safe.  Safety in schools is kind of remembered as before and after Columbine.  That one violent day changed our schools forever!

At Sturgis Middle School every teacher has a “Go To” box.  This box has a first aid kit, flashlight, class lists and a book of procedures to use in the event of an emergency.  Each year we practice drills with our students where we go into a “lock down” phase.  We have had in-services with police officers visiting our school and training us in the proper procedures to use in an emergency as well as what to look for when students seem troubled.  Students cannot wear long trench coats to school for fear that they might be hiding a weapon much like Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris did on that fateful day.  Students aren’t supposed to take their backpacks to their classes for essentially the same types of fears.  The point I want to make with all of this is just to let the rest of the world know that learning about the shooting in Arizona this weekend wasn’t shocking at all to me.

I feel very strongly that many people are troubled right now.  Some of our youth are even more troubled.  I’ve said this many times on here about how my life as a youngster was a lot less complicated than most of my student’s lives today.  To top all of this off, we have record unemployment, woeful economic conditions, record costs to go to college, not to mention those hefty student loans when a kid is finished, and a society seemingly filled with hate and violence.

All during the fall we heard about bullying.  We couldn’t turn the TV on without hearing about some poor young person that just couldn’t take it any more.  They committed suicide because they just couldn’t take being harassed any more.  There is meanness in our country and a total lack of civility when dealing with each other.  It’s not just in politics, but it starts from the top down.

Yesterday, I came home from school to hear Chris Matthews on Hardball talk about how this could give President Obama and opportunity because he’s always been above the fray.  This might give him a chance to show some emotion.  This could be a good moment for him.  One again Chris Matthews speaks before he thinks.  I had to turn the TV off because it was appalling to me.  President Obama may appear to be civil but he has had his nasty moments as well.  Most people will remember his comment about bringing a gun, if the other side brings a knife to the fight.  http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/06/14/obama-if-they-bring-a-knife-to-the-fight-we-bring-a-gun/

At the top of our food chain of people there really isn’t the civility that we need.  Ronald Reagan believed in that trickle down economic crap, however, the only thing that I think has trickled down is the lack of decency people show each other on a daily basis.

At our school we have embraced a program called “Rachel’s Challenge”.  Rachel Scott was a young student at Columbine who didn’t expect to live a long life but who wanted to make a mark on the world.  After she died her parents went through her journals and also found a statement that she had put on the back of her dresser.  They were moved to have something positive come from her death.  Her family goes all over the country challenging students to commit to Rachel’s Challenge.  Rachel wrote an essay and she wanted to start a chain reaction of kindness.

http://www.rachelschallenge.org/LearnMore/RachelsEssay.php

When the Rachel’s Challenge program comes to our school students are challenged to do these five things:

– Look for the best in others – Eliminate Prejudice

– Dare to Dream – Set Goals – Keep a Journal

– Choose Positive Influences – Input Determines Output

– Kind Words & Actions = Huge Results

– Start a Chain Reaction with Family and Friends

These are not earth shattering concepts, but if you think about it many adults could benefit from following these five principles.  They are pretty simple and could actually be life changing.

The sad truth is there are many troubled people out in the world today.  We can choose to put our hand out and help each other or we can continue following the shrill, violent path to destruction that we are currently on.  Our government could start by creating people friendly programs instead of just business friendly programs.  It seems like our current government policies leave many people without hope.  If you are at the bottom of the economic food chain, life can be dismal as you face hardship after hardship.

I had a little boy come to school the other day because he was upset.  His mom had a car accident and he was worried about how they were going to pay for everything.  One hardship can break a family.  We all know families that are struggling in debt, or unable to find a decent paying job, worrying about how to pay their utility or health care bills or buy shoes for their kids.  These are hard times and some people crack under the pressure of hopelessness.  I’ve heard some pundits talking about Jared Loughner being mentally ill.  Of course, we all think he must be mentally ill because of what he did.  Chances are that he is mentally unstable but with the cost of health care how would some kid who worked at several big box stores afford that care?  It was probably cheaper just to buy the gun!

It seems to me that the American people have been failed by government officials and the government policies that they vote for because those policies don’t do a lot for the poor, the middle class and the disturbed.  In addition to this, we are assaulted daily by TV and radio pundits that drive the agenda and constantly bombard our homes with hatred and violence.  I remember that show “Crossfire”.  That was a hateful show and Jon Stewart was right then and he was right this fall when he talked about the political discourse at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

If people want to see a change in this country on the issue of violence, then it must start from the top with the president and government policies that help create a climate of economic hope.  However, we can’t sit back and expect the government to do everything.  If each of us does whatever we can to help each other in these trying times by just following the simple guidelines of Rachel’s Challenge, we could change the world.  We must change government policies, but we must also listen to each other.  It doesn’t matter if you are right or left leaning, an independent or non-political, we all need to find a way to talk to each other in a civil manner.  If we want to change our nation, violence isn’t the answer.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream and he had hope and he demonstrated through peaceful means.  We could all learn from this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4AItMg70kg&feature=related

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