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Where’s Waldo, Dick Morris and Newsmax

  • Posted on March 2, 2011 at 7:47 pm

Obama reminding me of Waldo once again!

There seems to be a lot of discussion about a Washington Post article by Ruth Marcus titled, “Obama’s ‘Where’s Waldo? Presidency.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/01/AR2011030105489.html

I personally don’t see what all of the hoopla is about as I wrote about “Where’s Waldo” way back in September, but of course I’m just a lowly blogger with not that much traction!  Ruth concludes in the end, “Where’s Obama? No matter how hard you look, sometimes he’s impossible to find.”  It sure makes me wonder who is reading my blog.  I only see the numbers of people that are visiting.  Read my post and read her post.  My videos may be gone but if you scroll down past the videos and read all of it, you might be left wondering if Ruth read my post!

http://www.ksvoboda.com/?p=660

My take of course is a little different because before the election last fall Obama started “speaking” again and it was like a mystery because he had been so silent on so many issues.  Suddenly, with the election looming, he had all of these big ideas.  Of course after the election he was back to the same old “Where’s Waldo” moments.  You can check my post from September and see that I was first and you can have a laugh.  President Obama doesn’t stand for much and in my humble opinion if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.

In other news, I want to get back to the Wisconsin debate.  A friend on Facebook who I know is liberal wanted people to fill out a survey on Newsmax.  Yes, I know I should have stayed away because everyone knows that Newsmax is a conservative site.  I filled out the survey and of course being the honest person I am used one of my real email accounts.  I probably should have put some fake email up, but I would never do that, so I’m stuck getting emails from Newsmax.  I did unsubscribe, so maybe they will stop sending me these little tidbits of gross misinformation.  However, I found one in particular quite interesting.  I got an urgent message from Dick Morris.  You all know Dick Morris, the Fox News guy and Republican strategist that actually worked for President Clinton.  He was friends with Clinton before they became enemies and of course now he hates Hillary.  Okay, I’m digressing.  It seems Dick is really worried about Governor Scott Walker because those powerful unions, you know demonic like, are out to get him.  Here is Dick giving his take on things:

Governor Scott Walker’s fight is our fight. If he prevails, the reforms he proposes will spread to all the states in the country. New Jersey, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Idaho are already pushing similar legislation.

But if we lose in Wisconsin, the public unions will have their way all over the nation and we will never get reform.

When Walker says he wants to limit collective bargaining to wages and benefits, what he is really saying is that he needs to be free to roll back teacher tenure, reward good teachers with merit pay, give parents choice about where to send their children, and assure that — even if there are layoffs — that they are based on merit not seniority. The union contracts all over America block these key changes. But we have to put our children first and improve the quality of our schools.

Dick goes on to mention that the League of American Voters needs your help, probably with money, to help Governor Walker.  I must confess that when I first looked at that word, “League”, I couldn’t believe it.  I couldn’t believe that the League of Women Voters would be in cahoots with Fox News commentator, Dick Morris!  Thankfully, it wasn’t the right league.  I love the name of the group though because it made me feel like I’m supposed to be a part of the League of American Voters.  After all, I vote and I’m American!  Catchy, isn’t it?  Dick ends his email with the following;

This is a heaven sent chance to take back our country from the control of the public employees labor unions, which form the backbone of the Democratic Party.

Please donate today!

Good God!  It is a “heaven sent” chance because we all know that Jesus would have been a REPUBLICAN!  Oh, I didn’t know that the whole point of this exercise in Wisconsin was to destroy the “backbone” of the Democratic Party.  I thought that was the secret plan.  I didn’t know they actually put it in their emails to their constituents!

I need to mention right now that the big, bad teacher unions don’t actually have the clout that Dick here seems to think.  The truth is here In Sturgis we haven’t “demanded” things at our district.  We’d like things but we have basically given up many things over the years.  We know times are tough and we work with our administration and the school board to try and solve problems.  We used to have Messa Blue Cross/Blue Shield Insurance.  It was probably what people consider the “Cadillac” of plans.  Some time after September 11th, 2001 insurance went up.  I had to contribute $2500 a year to keep that insurance.  That went on for a couple of years and it got to be too much of a burden for the group, so we gave it up.  Class size used to always be no more than about 24 students.  We gave that up a few years ago.  Now we have classes that can be into the low thirties.  When President Obama wanted everyone to compete for “Race to the Top” money, we ended up giving up on evaluations.  At Sturgis the teacher evaluation will be some how tied to student performance.  This happened across the state as well.  Guess what?  We still haven’t been “chosen” for the “Race to the Top” money. Last year the state of Michigan passed legislation that requires teachers and I believe other state employees to pay 3% more of their salary into their pension.  This was done to help fund all of the pensioners that retired under the state’s special “early” incentive plan.  We currently haven’t received a pay raise and because of the changes we are all making less money than we did last year.

Dick Morris went on to include the message from the League of American Voters and here is the main part:

This is why the League of American Voters is urgently launching a national effort to help Gov. Walker and to stop these bloated unions.

The League of American Voters is at the forefront of the battle in Wisconsin defending Scott Walker.

Dick Morris, the famous Fox News analyst, says “The League is the most effective grassroots organization in America.”

Dick credits the League for having stopped Obama’s “public option” healthcare takeover. The public option would have destroyed private health insurance, and we stopped them.

The League also led the fight to force Pres. Obama to renew the Bush tax cuts. Our national TV effort with Sen. Fred Thompson worked. Obama caved.

Now, the League has prepared a powerful new radio ad to air throughout Wisconsin in support of Gov. Walker.

With your help we plan on exposing the Obama-Labor machine in ads across the nation.

But it underscores the truth, Obama and his public union cronies are desperate.

They’ll do whatever it takes to keep power.

That’s why Obama says “Punish our enemies… Reward our friends.”

But together, you and I can help Scott Walker do what’s right for Wisconsin — what’s right for America.

I think it’s funny how the league used the term “Obama-Labor machine”.  I, for one, don’t much care for Obama any more than I care for Dick Morris.  After all it is Obama that pushed for “merit” pay.  The big question that begs to be answered is who is going to decide what is meritorious?  Obviously, there is no extra money, so how is “merit” pay ever going to happen any way?  A teacher friend of mine, who is conservative, said today that maybe they will lessen our pay and if you qualify for “merit” pay you’ll be at the level you are at right now!  I think that’s what I understood him to say today.  Stranger things have happened.  After all Dick Morris and Bill Clinton were once buddies.

Finally, I find it interesting that the league closes with the salutation, “Yours for Freedom”.  Those big bad unions are against freedom, you know.  They stifle freedom because they work for worker’s rights and we all know if workers have rights the places they work for have to follow some RULES!  Yes, if Dick has his way, teachers will go back to the good old days when they swept the floor, put the wood in the fire, and of course were ever so single and virginal.

This is Dick long before he sent out the email that didn’t really talk too much about education.

Just remember what Greta said about the election in 2012 because that’s what this is really about.  Dick says, “They’re digging their own grave.”  It’s interesting that these analogies are still being thrown around so easily by some commentators and politicians considering the shooting in Arizona.  I, for one, think it’s about time we stop with all of the targets with a bull’s eye on them and the sports analogies for politics.  Dick would love to witness the death of the Democratic Party and possibly democracy.  However, the death of the Democratic Party happened long ago.  The Democratic Party today is but a shadow of its former self and the same could be said of the party of Lincoln.

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A Plan for America…..My Brother…and George Carlin

  • Posted on February 19, 2011 at 12:14 pm

Yesterday I got an email from my brother Jim.  Jim and I can agree on some things and disagree on others.  I found his email really interesting and I decided I would share it with you because it will make everyone “think” and we all know the mind is a terrible thing to waste.  Also, earlier in the week someone had posted a George Carlin video on the Confluence in a comment and it got me thinking.  All of this to me is tied together and this is my unique way of putting it together for people who might read my blog.  All I can say is “God Bless George” he was a brilliant comedian.  It’s amazing how he is gone but what he has said is still remarkably relevant today.  If you really can’t handle his “language” then don’t watch it, but really are you that sheltered?

This is my brother’s email in its entirety:

Katie

The Challenge for President Obama

President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union speech, stated “but to win the future, we’ll need to take on challenges that have been decades in the making”. The challenge that needs addressing is correcting our flawed financial system. We need a monetary system that works for all the American people.

Since the on-set of this very deep recession, the Federal Reserve has granted loans to the banks and associated financial institutions totaling over nine trillion dollars and purchased over two trillion dollars of toxic assets; and the Federal government has passed another seven hundred billion dollars directly to these entities with a similar amount to the states, much of which also has found its way to these institutions. And in the process of doing these things, the government has incurred an additional debt of five trillion dollars.

The President inferred in his speech last night that it was worth it as he now tells us this recession is over, in his words: “…broken the back of the recession”. But we now have an official unemployment number of near ten percent and possibly fifteen to twenty percent more under-employed or discouraged from actively seeking work. We also have during this time home foreclosures in the millions. These numbers are not so different from those at the depths of the Great Depression.

Had this debt increase of five trillion dollars been disbursed directly to the people, each would have received about Twenty two thousand five hundred dollars ($22,500). That would be Forty five thousand dollars ($45,000) for most every American family, much of which would have gone to buying down personal debt. This transfer of money directly to the people would have incurred no debt to the government, as the Federal government has the power to create its own money, as Abraham Lincoln did during our Civil War with the famous greenbacks.

But instead of passing this debt free money directly to the American people, this government Lincoln told us was of the people, by the people, and for the people, passed this money to the banks and received it back as debt. This surely will assure the people’s perpetual indebtedness to the banks and their associate elites, both in retiring personal debt and in paying higher taxes to meet the interest payments on the government’s debt.

As a people we could accept nothing stupider than to allow our government to assign this the most important part of our economic life: the control of our monetary system; to this privileged private group. But to talk about our government creating our money is verboten in the mainstream media. The reason seems rather obvious but until we correct this component of our economic life we will continue to digress with our way of life progressively worsening until we truly are a slave state.

And until we get help at least from some of the mainstream media, the greenbacks Lincoln used to free the slaves that have now been given fully to the banking system will continue to be used to enslave us all.

Jim

You are probably thinking about those Lincoln greenbacks, so here is a link.  From my perspective the politicians should be listening more to the American people and less to the corporations.

http://www.xat.org/xat/usury.html

There is more here on the Second Bank mentioned in that link under Andrew Jackson.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bank_of_the_United_States

If you are interested in more of what my brother has to say and his thoughts, here is a link to a book he has written.  http://www.aplanforamerica.org/

Some of you may be wondering why I haven’t posted on what is happening in Wisconsin.  I’m working on a post about that and hope to have it up in a day or two.  We have to do more than just play around with Facebook and social network websites.  We all need to do our due diligence to become better informed citizens of the world.  Otherwise, we will continue to get the type of corporate government we seem to have in power right now.

Continue reading A Plan for America…..My Brother…and George Carlin »

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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.

Continue reading Social Security: You are entitled to your entitlement! »

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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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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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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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2011 What Goes Up, Must Come Down Eventually

  • Posted on January 4, 2011 at 7:40 pm

President "Republican Lite" Obama Making Nice With Senator Boehner and Representative Canter, Republican Hatchet Men

You may still be on that holiday high, hung over from the good eats and drinks.  However, it’s time to sober everyone up with the reality that is coming.  You may be feeling pretty fine right now because your tax cut was saved.  Oh, well, you gave in on that tax cut deal for the wealthy thing because well, you got yours!  Of course we all know that the status quo is unsustainable for Republicans, unless they’re talking about tax cuts for the wealthy.  So, you might be wondering what I could possibly be worried about.  The answer is, plenty!  As the tax cuts may be giving many people a bit of sugar high right now, those same people will soon be feeling that sugar candy low you get when that sugar rush is gone!

First of all you need to understand that the Republicans feel they can make the most gains by making life as difficult as possible for the Democrats.  The Republicans are putting forth a new rule that will make it harder to raise the debt ceiling, something they didn’t mind doing under the Bush administration as I recall.  http://thehill.com/homenews/house/134799-new-gop-rules-will-make-it-tougher-for-house-to-raise-debt-ceiling

Furthermore, now that the Republicans got that big tax cut they wanted they are ready to take a hammer to everything else because after all, we are broke.  Just listen to Senator Boehner talking about our country being broke and then turning around and pushing for the massive tax cut for the WEALTHY! What a trooper!

That means there is only one way to go and that’s with cuts and I don’t mean tax cuts.  We know they are not going to “raise” taxes as they have pushed through the continuation of the Bush tax cuts, even for the wealthy.  So just what is discretionary spending any way?  Part of the discretionary spending is the defense but we all know that it will not be cut and in fact is going to see a budgetary increase in 2011.  That leaves all of the other types of special programs like education and of course that pesky money that goes back to individual states.  The states are already hurting and they are probably going to hurt even more!  You can read about the discretionary spending in the articles I site and also in the letter sent to the President by the Republicans in 2009. With extending the Bush tax cuts both parties have intentionally painted themselves into a corner.  They are going to have to find a way to get out of the room without messing up the paint.  It’s not going to happen because once again both parties are going to lay all the ugliness at the feet of the American people.  Instead of having the wealthy top two percent step up and do more to help this country, we can all expect that the middle class and the poor will once again absorb these burdens.

In 2009 the head Republicans, Senator John Boehner and Representative Eric Cantor sent President Obama a letter.  In it they outlined the cuts they wanted to make to reduce the deficit.  These Republicans look at any change to the Bush tax cuts as being a tax increase unless of course it betters the wealthy.  We all know that they upped the death tax to favor the very rich!  Even though the Bush tax cuts were set to expire and the country would go back to the previous tax code, it is now looked at as being a substantial increase in taxes if they were allowed to expire.  It’s really fascinating when you start getting into the mindset of how the Republicans really think about these issues.  Much of what they want to do is to push everything back to the states.  Of course this has been going on for years already and many states are in a heap of trouble but if you read things through carefully, it is exactly what these guys want to do.  They want to eliminate many programs.  I think this 2009 letter is a big hint as to what the political fights will be coming down the road in 2011.  Remember the budget is only good until March 4th.  So, what can we expect?  http://republicanleader.house.gov/UploadedFiles/06-04-09_Savings_Proposals_For_President.pdf

This is something everyone should read as it is a real eye opener.  There are many programs in education they want to cut or eliminate completely, even my own “art education” gets the whack!  So much of what they want to do they deem in their infinite wisdom as not a “federal” role.

In regards to the issue of Social Security I think this is interesting.  This is directly from About.com.  http://useconomy.about.com/od/fiscalpolicy/p/Mandatory.htm

The first Baby-Boomer turned 62 in 2008, becoming eligible to retire on Social Security benefits. By 2025, those aged 65+ will comprise 20% of the population. As Boomers leave the work-force and apply for benefits, three things happen:

  1. The percentage of the labor force under 55 stagnates, providing less payroll taxes to fund Social Security.
  2. GDP growth declines remains flat thanks to fewer workers.
  3. By 2040, the Social Security Trust Fund goes bankrupt.

Choices for FY 2012 and Beyond:

As a result, the U.S. Federal Budget in 2012 and beyond will have to choose among the lesser of three evils, none of which are good for the economy:

  1. Devote more of the budget to pay Social Security benefits. However, to maintain current benefits, the federal budget will have to increase to 25% of GDP by 2045.
  2. To fund this increased budget, taxes would have to increase, further slowing the economy.
  3. Decrease the benefit amount paid to retirees. This is the most likely scenario. This would force able-bodied Boomers to continue working. Those who couldn’t work would provide a further drain on the economy.

What I find as the interesting part is the fact that both parties are aware of this and they still decided to reduce the payroll taxes recently.  It makes me wonder if they want to cause a catastrophic failure so they can say, “I told you so.”  I guess the idea is we pay 2% less into Social Security and that will leave us more money to spend on junk to stimulate the economy.  What kills me is what I just read over at About.com.  About claims we will have to choose amongst the lesser of three evils, so why did we make it worse by partially defunding Social Security?  Maybe greater minds than mind can answer that question.  Of course my suspicious mind makes me think that we are being set up for failure so that once again we will accept less. We will accept less in benefits when we retire and we will work longer to get to retirement.  Life is over as most of us have figured for our retirements.  The state of Michigan already is taxing me higher by making me pay more into my retirement without any additional benefit.  I’m sure the Federal government is getting ready to do the same.

There is an agenda out their folks.  It seems like all the things that were created under FDR, which were sacred cows at one time, are now going to be fodder for the Republicans and our Republican “lite” President to dismantle.  Politicians that might have fought this have been systematically taken out.  Two come to my mind that won’t be back after the New Year, Representative Alan Grayson and Senator Russ Feingold.  I mean if Democrats had to go, why couldn’t it have been more of those Blue Dogs?

http://useconomy.about.com/od/fiscalpolicy/p/Budget_Spending.htm

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