Saturday, September 26, 2015

Some Ramdom Thoughts Worthy Of Consideration

Sometimes we need to step out of the hustle and bustle of our daily lives and see what is going on in our neighborhood, our state, our country, our world.  Anyone who does is sure to be struck by the dysfunction that is so rampant.  It is incumbent upon each of us to assess who and what is to blame.  An honest assessment will reveal the primary sources.  Although you will see my bias I leave it to you to identify who and what groups are primarily at fault.  In any case not saying or doing anything about the problems so obvious is unacceptable.  We are all in this together and must do our part to change the narrative from what it now is to one filled with openness, decency, honesty and respect.  The incompetence, irresponsible, self serving and self righteous arrogance of so many of our elected officials in government regardless of political affiliation and their supporting acolytes across a broad spectrum of society are in need of replacement by those who respect the law, the Constitution, our history, culture and social and religious traditions.  We all need to do our part.  Otherwise the country we bequeath our progeny will be nothing like what we have been fortunate enough to have.  As always read the intros to locate items of interest.  

Reading this item will provide focus on the slow and almost imperceptible decline of freedom and justice American citizens have experienced since 9/11.  The government has gathered unto itself enormous power.  Can it be stopped?  Quote: "How will you have it?  Will you simply comply while the train heads down the track to a modern-day Auschwitz?  Or will you become a free person and resist? To quote Patrick Henry, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! — I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”    http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2015/09/08/give-me-liberty-or-give-me-death-the-loss-of-our-freedoms-in-the-wake-of-911/  

Read this item by the Tenth Amendment Center and please consider participating in the charge offered at the end of the piece.    http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2015/09/17/constitution-day-a-day-of-deceit/

This Gallup Poll tells the story that American's are really unhappy with our current government.  The contents of the below items cover some of the reasons why.  Quote: "Almost half of Americans, 49%, say the federal government poses "an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens," similar to what was found in previous surveys conducted over the last five years. When this question was first asked in 2003, less than a third of Americans held this attitude."   http://www.gallup.com/poll/185720/half-continue-say-gov-immediate-threat.aspx?  

Please read this!  In a straightforward way it summarizes the plight of far too many black Americans and from whence that plight came.  Three quotes: “Black lives matter!” say the sloppy signs. Sure. They do. Then come the chants about killing cops, and “hundreds of blacks are killed by police every year!” Who’s feeding these folks this kind of nonsense? But if we look at history we can find a glimmer of understanding."  And, "This isn’t about cops. It isn’t even about slavery and white privilege -– though liberals would like it to be. It’s about policies that have decimated an entire culture, made it rot from the inside out, about policies birthed in the Democrat party, in the hearts of those who value power above all. It’s no wonder that these young people are angry."  And,  "But. Black lives do matter -- it matters that they stay alive, but also that they be able to reach their potential. This movement is proof that liberal policy has ruined their chance for fulfillment, and has left them so profoundly angry, so emotionally, morally, and mentally damaged that their rage may destroy what little social order still exists."
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/09/black_lives_and_the_death_of_a_culture_.html 

This item highlights the glaring double standard of the left and leftist media.  It is so obvious that I do not understand why everyone cannot see it and abandon any thought of being associated with progressives/liberals both Republican and Democrat. Quote: "Given the media's obsession with all things anti-military and anti-sexual abuse of boys, you'd expect a coverage stampede. Except for one thing.  Terry Mattingly at the media site Get Religion observed that the Times piece itself had a "massive, gaping hole." Islam was left out, with bland sentences like "the American policy of treating child sexual abuse as a cultural issue has often alienated the villages whose children are being preyed upon."  Mattingly asked "How can the world's most powerful newsroom address this topic without (a) mentioning Islamic law and (b) discussing whether or not these U.S. policies are actually helping the Taliban?"  And, "It's unlikely Pope Francis would use this trip to denounce the American media for their transparent double standard, and their shocking apathy for child sex abuse when it might sound "Islamophobic" or "racist" to object. But anyone who cares about media fairness and childhood innocence should." http://townhall.com/columnists/brentbozell/2015/09/25/catholics-muslims-and-sexabuse-double-standards-n2056662/page/full  

You probably know this but I will say it anyway.  Our President is not a good man and is far too accommodating of Islam than any president should be.  Quotes: Regarding the Muslim teenager who built a "clock" that looked like a bomb "On HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he called Ahmed to talk to him. Curiously, he could her Ahmed's sister giving Ahmed answers. President Obama tweeted that he stood with Ahmed. The mayor of Irving noted in an interview that Obama was tweeting support for Ahmed before a lot of the facts were even known." And, "The media and Obama have ignored so many facts and have ignored that the family is refusing to allow the school and police to tell their side of the story -- something they can do because Ahmed is a juvenile." And, "When it is easy for the left, they will take the moral high ground. Another example of this came from Washington last week. Obama greeted Pope Francis at the White House. The president invited transgender, gay and abortion activists to greet the pope. This put the pontiff in a difficult political situation to which the Vatican objected."   And, "After the pope's visit comes the Chinese Premier, who has increasingly oppressed Christians in China and oversaw major computer hacking against the United States. Obama will not invite Falun Gong, Taiwanese or Tibetan activists to greet the Chinese Premier. This is the same president of the United States who sent the Dalai Lama out the back entrance of the White House by the trash dump to avoid offending the Chinese."  And this last quote is true many times over, "Time and time again, the president makes great speeches, but he only takes the moral high ground when it is easy and of no consequence or when it makes his own countrymen look bad."   http://townhall.com/columnists/erickerickson/2015/09/25/the-clock-the-pope-and-totalitarian-apologists-n2056578/page/full
  
Some may scoff at this item but everything in it is irrefutable.  It is also true that our current administration has been and remains a disaster.  And it is also true that many previous administrations both Democrat and Republican have bad records but in my view not nearly as disastrous as our current one.   http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2015/09/08/10-great-moments-in-government-idiocy-the-obama-years-edition-n2049149/page/full

This piece addresses the very words forcefully spoken while a Senator but now a President that proves unequivocally that, among other things, he is a total one hundred percent hypocrite.  These are the very words he used to rail against his predecessor.  And to top it off his own actions far surpass those he accused his predecessor of doing.   http://cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/rep-gowdy-uses-obama-s-own-words-against-him-response-veto-threat  

So simple, straight forward yet those on the left seem to be totally blind to all the historical and evidentiary facts.  This piece does a good job of stating what should be obvious to everyone.  Quote: "If you want moral credit for caring about the poor, when, oh when, do you ever have to take responsibility for what happens to the poor when leftists take over?  We know what actually lifts people out of poverty: property rights, the rule of law, free markets. Not only do those things deliver the fundamentals that people need to keep body and soul together, but they accomplish this feat without a single arrest, persecution or show trial."     http://townhall.com/columnists/monacharen/2015/09/25/redistribution-the-unconquerable-delusion-n2056616/page/full


I bet you didn't know this.  Quote: "The Ku Klux Klan was founded as the activist wing of the Democratic Party. On September 28, 1868, a mob of Democrats massacred nearly 300 African-American Republicans in Opelousas, Louisiana. The savagery began when racist Democrats attacked a newspaper editor, a white Republican and schoolteacher for ex-slaves. Several African-Americans rushed to the assistance of their friend, and in response, Democrats went on a “Negro hunt,” killing every African-American (all of whom were Republicans) in the area they could find. (Via Grand Old Partisan)."   http://patriotupdate.com/democrats-dress-as-kkk-to-protest-donald-trump-support-illegal-immigration-video/

This item extends the previous one.  It is an opinion piece some may not like or believe.  It is, 
however, based on recorded history that has long been actively hidden from public view/obscured by academics, media and Democratic/liberal operatives.  Two quotes: "For over two hundred years Democrats have worked to create and maintain a low caste based upon race.  For example, it was Democrats who wanted to maintain the South’s system of race-based labor exploitation known as slavery." and, "Democrats have been able to maintain this caste strategy by manipulating the perceptions and expectations of the masses. Their goal has been, as Orwell wrote in 1984, to convince voters to hold two contradictory concepts in mind at once: that Democrats are the Party that helps the poor and that poverty is not created by government but by capitalism.  To this day, many blacks and Hispanics do not realize that the poverty and racial segregation they endure has been created by Democrats. Democrats preach equality but seek to make the social castes unequal. This is done to maintain their political power and control over the nation."    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/09/how_democrats_created_americas_social_caste_system.html     

This is a remarkable bit of nonsense.  Quote: "I am not exaggerating when I refer to this as social madness, and it is remarkable to me that there are not enough clear headed, morally motivated parents with kids in this school to stop this growing lunacy. How can this be, even in San Francisco?  It was only a few weeks ago that students walked out of a school in rural Missouri in protest of the presence of a biological 17-year-old male in the girls’ room. Not surprisingly, the New York Times story on this event refers to the young man as “Ms. Perry” after identifying him as Lila.  Have our brains simply stopped functioning?"  http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2015/09/21/draft-n2054576/page/full

Leftist students run amuck.  Tell me where they have the right to do these type things?  They are pompous, self righteous, intolerant, and infringing on the free speech rights of others.  This is what the progressive, political correctness culture of the political left has wrought, among many other destructive attributes, on our culture and society.  http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/24354/

This item's headline reads "US Spends Far More on Social Welfare Than Most European Nations".  Quote: "It is, of course, a good thing that left-wing claims of widespread deprivation in the U.S. are inaccurate. But government welfare policy should be about more than shoveling out a trillion dollars per year in “free” benefits. When President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty, he sought to decrease welfare dependence and increase self-sufficiency: the ability of family to support itself above poverty without the need for government handouts. By that score, the War on Poverty has been a $24-trillion flop. While self-sufficiency improved dramatically in the decades before the War on Poverty started, for the last 45 years, it has been at a standstill."   http://dailysignal.com/2015/09/19/us-spends-far-more-on-social-welfare-than-most-european-nations/?

This is a very, very interesting analysis.  It deals with why Chief Justice Roberts did what he did in supporting the Obamacare law.  I don't know if it is correct but it is certainly thought provoking.   http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/09/speaking_for_john_roberts.html

It should be obvious to anyone paying attention that liberals disobey laws they do not like and get away with it.  President Obama, former Attorney General Holder, Governor Jerry Brown, Hillary Clinton and Al Sharpton to name a few heavy hitters who have violated multiple laws and have as of this note paid no price for their lawlessness.  Lowly Democrat Kim Davis on the other hand was jailed for her principles by a progressive Judge.  Her crime?  Disobeying a court opinion for which no law passed by a legislature exists.  One needs to remember that the only branch of government authorized by the Constitution to make laws is the Legislative branch. The so called laws enacted by the president and courts across the land are in fact unconstitutional.  But no matter it is the heavy hitter liberals who are in charge and it is they who make the rules and routinely break legitimate laws and, unlike Ms. Davis, without suffering the consequences.  Quote: "We are in an ideological conflict with liberals who are at heart monarchists or oligarchists.  Liberals reject the rule of law because they believe that they are right and that we should all be forced to live as liberals wish us to live. That’s why liberals have no problem forcing American schoolchildren to eat what liberals say they should.  The question we face is what is the best path to get us back to an America where the rule of law applies to everyone and where laws come from the political process not judicial edicts. While the answer is not obvious it would seem true to say that it’s easier to get to freedom from chaos than from tyranny since in chaos neither side has the full power of government while in tyranny one side does."   http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/09/liberalism_and_optional_law.html   This item provides a lawyer's perspective on the illegalities of the leftist Judge's order that put Kim Davis in jail.   http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/09/stop_saying_samesex_marriage_is_the_law_of_the_land.html 

Although Mrs. Davis was released 7 September, the case is not over.  This piece puts things in context.  There are reasons to impeach some judges who think they are a law unto themselves.   http://eaglerising.com/23379/judge-who-jailed-kim-davis-once-ordered-students-opposed-to-homosexuality-to-be-reeducated/    Here's more on that judge and why impeachment should be considered.   Quote: "As an elected public official, Kim Davis should not have been sent to jail by an unelected federal judge who can cite no federal law that she ever violated. Her imprisonment is the result of a judicial supremacy unrestrained by the checks and balances that apply to all other branches of government. Described by Alexander Hamilton in 1788 as the “least dangerous” branch, federal courts are so out-of-control today that he would barely recognize them. A federal court has imprisoned a county official to force her to change the way she does her job, without any federal statute to justify such an order."   http://townhall.com/columnists/phyllisschlafly/2015/09/08/judicial-tyranny-in-kentucky-n2048332?  




  
This piece deals primarily with the patenting process of Big Pharma products.  An interesting assessment.  Quote: "This kind of anti-consumer predation shouldn’t surprise anyone, but it should surprise conservatives least of all. Pharmaceutical companies are famously allergic to competition. We see that in their dogged attempts to protect against people being allowed to purchase health care across state lines. We see it in their willingness to cut deals to support Obamacare. And we see it here. How long will it be before this liberal attack on the free market leads to unsustainable medical costs, which will in turn lead Pharma’s pets to call for yet more socialized medicine under the guise of compassion?"   http://spectator.org/articles/64035/big-pharma%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98orange%E2%80%99-threat-level

George Burns


After reading this can anyone still tell me that Planned Parenthood deserves one penny of taxpayer funding?  http://liveactionnews.org/planned-parenthood-abortionist-admits-she-dismembered-and-killed-born-alive-babies/   I don't know about you but some of what they do clearly seems to me to be murder.   This link supports my own thoughts.   http://liveactionnews.org/cnn-is-wrong-planned-parenthood-has-broken-the-law/

This is interesting and provides significant insight into the thinking of Democrat party power-brokers.  Their main concern with the strength of his candidacy is that Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist, is unelectable.  They are not concerned so much about his policies.  That should tell you all you need to know about the current state of the Democrat party.  Quote:  As of this writing  "He’s beating Clinton by 22 points in New Hampshire. Yet, Sanders’ support with members of his own party is quite low. In fact, it’s almost non-existent. The reason is what many of you could already guess: they think he’s unelectable. His fellow Democrats may respect him immensely–and what he brings to the debate table regarding policy (policy is apparently not the issue)–but he’s simply not able to clinch the voters needed to win a national election."     http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2015/09/20/democrats-main-concern-with-sanders-hes-unelectable-n2054606?  

Now that the liberals have successfully embedded the "normalcy" of homosexuality into society some predict their next target to further erode the sanctity of human sexuality is pedophilia.  It is after all a logical follow-on to the LBGT's successful political movement.  The leftist Salon.com has launched a salvo which is obviously intended to start the desensitization process of the American public to the evils of pedophilia.  Two Quotes: "A shocking article posted on the Salon.com website has many people asking, “Now that we have embraced homosexuality, is pedophilia next?”"  And, "In the end, though, the simple point is this: If gay activists do not want to justify pedophilia because people are allegedly born that way and can’t change, then they’ll have to throw out the same argument when it comes to homosexual practice, which greatly undermines one of the pillars of gay activism.  You can’t have it both ways. Either “born that way” determines morality or it does not – and clearly, it does not."

This is how Obama's DOJ thinks justice will be served.  Quote: "Good News: Official Overseeing Release of Hillary Emails is a Maxed-Out Hillary Donor."    http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2015/09/09/good-news-kerry-selects-maxedout-hillary-donor-to-oversee-hillarys-emails-n2049703?

Now read this.  Equal justice under the law.  Not hardly.   http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/us/liberal-hypocrisy-on-obeying-federal-law-brilliantly-exposed   Want to see more liberal injustices?  None of these people were jailed...members of the "proper" groups have perks.  http://humanevents.com/2015/09/08/why-isnt-the-dc-police-chief-in-jail-for-not-issuing-gun-permits/?

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Saturday, September 19, 2015

Education & Things 4

This is what many of our colleges and universities are doing to their students.  It is an example of the huge damage being done in the vaunted name of one-sided political correctness.  Quote: "I am old enough to remember when the goal of a college education was to expand one’s horizons. Now the goal is to learn to be more emotionally volatile than the person whose ideas you seek to negate. As one of my readers recently put it, college is no longer providing a comprehensive education. It’s just a prep course for fascism."   http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/2015/06/11/draft-n2010898/page/full 

The left is quick to bemoan problems when the crop up but seemingly do not connect such behavior to the permissiveness and  their insistence that we live lives absent fixed moral standards.  Quote: "Education at all levels is awash in cheating scandals, and liberals have worked themselves into a self-righteous dither as they bemoan the lack of integrity in students and teachers. For example, recently teachers and principals in the Atlanta public school system were convicted of fraud and taken away in handcuffs to serve prison sentences."  And, "What liberals in their self-absorbed blindness either do not see or refuse to admit is that they are the culprits in the transformation of American society into a culture that admits of no set boundaries concerning right and wrong. Moral relativism is the bedrock principle of contemporary liberalism. It’s is how they justify their commitment to abortion, the redistribution of wealth, and the various other nefarious beliefs of the left."   http://patriotupdate.com/articles/liberals-bemoan-cheating-scandals-in-education-but-they-are-the-culprits/
  
I don't know about you but this former Democrat government official, Janet Napolano, is overseeing something at the university level that I do not like.  It smacks of teaching university officials how to best exercise political correctness in their institutions. Quote: "The College Fix reached out to the UC Office of the President for comment. In response to a question about how these seminars might have a chilling effect on faculty members’ ability to engage in free speech, representative Shelly Meron said in an email Tuesday that “These seminars are not an attempt to curb open dialogue, debate or classroom discussions.”  Yea, right!!!   http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/22839/

A student called out one of this University's professors and claimed he was an embarrassment to the school.  This is the professor's response.  It reveals much about the rotting of our nation's colleges and universities and the quality/morals of many of their students.   http//townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/2015/06/01/an-embarrassment-to-our-university-n2005993/page/full   The federal government's performance in its "oversight of education" since the Education Department was established by President Carter has been dismal at best.  And besides according to the Constitution it has absolutely no role to play in education.  That is the province of the states and local communities.

This Georgia political candidate makes Common Core a campaign issue.  http://www.erickontheradio.com/2015/06/common-core-math-becomes-a-campaign-issue/   The federal government continues to meddle in education despite the federal government according to the Constitution having no role in education whatsoever.   http://cfif.org/v/index.php/commentary/48-education/2632-the-biggest-boldest-school-reform-leaving-education-to-states-and-locals

This is definitely not something the government and public schools should engage in.  The title of the piece is on target...Orwellian.  Quote: "Rather than merely asking for a right or wrong answer to a math, history or science question, the new assessment industry is capable of boring into a child’s attitudes, values, opinions and beliefs, all of which parents and privacy advocates say is no business of the government’s."    http://www.wnd.com/2015/03/orwellian-nightmare-unleashed-on-schoolkids/   School choice is an option the should be explored if parents are concerned about their public schools.   http://dailysignal.com/2015/05/26/heres-data-prove-school-choice-working/?

What would you expect to learn in a course called "Politics of the 1960's to now" what would you expect to learn?  Quote: "Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas is offering students a course called Politics of the 1960s to Now. If you signed up for this course hoping for a general, unbiased overview of America’s political movements of the last 55 years, you would be sorely disappointed. According to Campus Reform, the course has less to do with a survey of history and more to do with the professor’s political brainwashing.  The college watchdogs got a copy of the curriculum, devised by Professor Chris Hamilton. In it, one can quickly see where Hamilton falls on the political spectrum. According to the curriculum, students can expect to learn that people like Senator Ted Cruz and Ron Paul are determined to erase civil rights protections for minorities, eliminate the federal government, and propagate a “New White Nationalist movement.”"  http://unfilteredpatriot.com/kansas-university-offers-course-in-the-extreme-right/  Dishonesty rules.  Anyone who thinks this type of instruction is academically responsible and advances individual growth and understanding is way far off base.  More and more academia pushes leftist ideology and shuts down anything or anyone expressing views contrary to theirs.  They are no longer purely institutions of higher learning where all ideas are considered but now far too often serve as propaganda houses for their preferred view of the world.  Anyone who chooses to look at what the left has repeatedly offered mankind will find the death of individual freedoms, liberty lost and injustices littering the landscape.  This does not mean that the radical right is free of criticism, far from it.  In the middle of these two extremes is where most of us want to be.  That is where there is no political correctness ruling the day or finding offense at the drop of a hat.  It is a place where people are free to honestly express their views with others and openly exchange opinions/ideas without fear of reprisal. 

This is an example of misguided/irresponsible federal government coercion.  It is imposing its will on how our children are educated.  Bear in mind that nowhere in the Constitution does the federal government have any role in education.  That is the province of the states.  But when the federal government back in the "Progressive Era" snookered the states into letting it tax everyone and nearly everything, it gained access to a largess that gave it the power of the purse, the ability to push their agenda on the states and the people.  The results always is: Do what we say or we will withdraw funds from you.  I call that coercion and total arrogance to think they know best what our children need.  This item really set me off.  This is what Jimmy Carter foisted on what was at the time the best education system in the world but which now is in the middle of the pact thanks to federal government intervention and mismanagement. His Department of Education has wasted tons of money and is ruining education at all levels from kindergarten to graduate school.  http://patriotnewsdaily.com/feds-threaten-schools-over-common-core-opt-outs/   

This right leaning opinion piece is strident but no more so than many I read coming from the left.  It is provided for the purpose of reinforcing the prevailing academia behavior covered in the previous paragraph.   http://patriotnewsdaily.com/a-funny-idea-of-free-expression-at-n-c-state/

Can anyone abide this teacher's actions?  The slippery slope which began 20 years or so ago is getting more slippery as time passes.  Quote: "If a kindergarten teacher spent thirty minutes explaining to his students that homosexuality was wrong, that a cursory glance at biology and anatomy proved that it was an aberration, and that the definition of marriage should be limited to partnerships of men and women, how many hours would pass before that teacher was fired? And if the answer is “not many,” then why is it okay to teach the opposite? Why is it illegal to refuse to bake a gay wedding cake but perfectly fine to refuse to bake an anti-gay cake? There is no FACT that says it’s okay to be gay. It’s an opinion and nothing more. But these liberals think that just because they believe strongly enough in their opinions that they somehow become irrefutable truths. That’s not the case, and teachers do not have the right to assume control over a child’s moral, ethical, and spiritual upbringing. There are some settled exceptions – few parents would complain if a teacher emphasized that stealing is wrong, for example – but this LGBTQ business does not qualify as one of them. And any teacher proud of using her position of authority to spread a political agenda has no business in our schools."   http://www.leanrightamerica.org/uncategorized/lesbian-teacher-brings-activism-to-kindergarten/  
  
States increasingly see the dangers of federal government mandates found in Common Core and are taking action to reject it outright. Quote: "With opposition to the controversial standards, often ridiculed by critics as “ObamaCore,” continuing to sweep America as awareness spreads, Common Core backers are working overtime to shield their “reforms” from outraged voters, parents, teachers, and taxpayers. Whether or not they succeed in defying the American people and the Constitution could very well define the nation for generations to come."   http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/20472-common-core-rebellion-to-opt-out-of-tests-spreads-nationwide

Many teachers are opting to relocate where Common Core is not permitted.  This offers some of the reasons why.   http://patriotsandpolitics.com/watch-this-teacher-break-down-in-tears-as-she-opts-out-of-common-core-video/  This award winning teacher First-ever Global Teacher Prize winner Nancie Atwell joined CNN’s New Day panel and spoke her mind about the Common Core system and those wanting to pursue a job in teaching.  After winning what many call the Nobel Prize for teachers, Atwell encouraged those seeking a job in education to look into the private sector and stay away from schools that implement Common Core."   http://www.westernjournalism.com/award-winning-teacher-trashes-common-core/

This is not a function any school board should assume it has.  More efforts unfold daily by elitists trying to manage the affairs of others.  Quote: "A new policy passed by the Goochland County School Board in Goochland , Virginia requires children aged 14 and up who’d like to be homeschooled to provide a statement to the school system about their religious beliefs. The board further reserves the right to call the children before the board for a hearing - a hearing that would seemingly be called to “judge” the student’s religious exemption requests."   http://eaglerising.com/13899/public-school-board-forces-homeschoolers-defend-religious-beliefs/

Public school problems like this were unknown in my day.  The decay of civil society, fatherless homes, social media, etc. are destroying self respect, self discipline, hard work and a desire to achieve.  This highlights that technology available today can impare education as well as offer positive opportunities.   http://www.wnd.com/2015/01/horrid-result-when-teacher-confiscates-cell-phone/

This is an assessment of American colleges and universities.  My own readings regarding the state of higher education suggest that it is more on target than not.  It is a quick and easy read with hard hitting points.  http://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2015/04/09/is-the-modern-american-university-a-failed-state-n1982645/page/full   Shortly after I added this item I ran across an item that validates one of the points in the previous link.  http://townhall.com/tipsheet/vivianhughbanks/2015/04/08/ridiculous-university-of-michigan-cancels-dangerous-and-offensive-american-sniper-showing-n1982600? 

This is the direction our schools are headed.  Secular humanism and leftist policies are destroying so many things good and decent.  A tragedy. http://www.wnd.com/2015/01/government-grills-grade-schoolers-over-lesbianism/

More politicians and advocates for good education for our children need to pick up on the ideas this governor espouses.  http://dailysignal.com/2015/02/09/jindal-emphasizes-teacher-tenure-reform-school-choice-sweeping-education-plan/

Do you think this qualifies as a really important subject school kids need to deal with?   Applying teacher's personal bias is too easily possible either left or right.    http://patriotnewsdaily.com/san-francisco-schools-offer-ferguson-curriculum/ 

George Burns
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Education & Things 3

Anyone who thinks this is good for students, good for our nation's future need to give the whole matter serious reconsideration.   Quote: "It’s no secret that our nation’s public universities want to transform American young people into a bunch of hyper-sensitive, intellectually-neutered cream puffs.  But now – they’re trying to deconstruct gender identity by parsing pronouns.  Across the fruited plain, institutions of higher education are turning their taxpayer-funded fiefdoms into gender neutral zones where free thought is outlawed."      http://townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2015/09/01/back-to-school-let-the-leftwing-indoctrination-begin-n2046578?

Decadence is progressing apace.  This is a consequence of sexualization of society and our public schools are a major contributor.   http://teapartyupdate.com/school-officials-place-this-in-young-girls-private-parts-without-parents-knowledge/   Don't think progressive/liberal professors are a big part of the problem?  Read this.   http://eaglerising.com/22861/college-professor-defends-sex-slavery-by-isis/   Progressive loonyness is running roughshod over common sense.   http://townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2015/08/27/call-me-ze-not-he-university-wants-everyone-to-use-gender-inclusive-pronouns-n2044684?

When bad people lead educational institutions they make bad, but politically correct, decisions.  Here is a stupid example if ever there was one.  http://www.libertynewsnow.com/la-school-suspends-teacher-for-reading-mark-twain/article1663   To complement the efforts of liberal education the media plays a big role in conditioning the masses.  This piece provides a short discussion dealing with the topic.   http://patriotupdate.com/the-use-of-media-in-conditioning-the-masses/  Talking about campus political correctness check out this piece from Dr.Walter Williams who is in a position to know.   http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2015/08/19/academic-fascism-ii-n2039647/page/full

Get this.  It should be no surprise to you that arrogant progressive professors are abusing their positions.  Quote: "Multiple professors at Washington State University have explicitly told students their grades will suffer if they use terms such as “illegal alien,” "male," and “female,” or if they fail to “defer” to non-white students.  According to the syllabus for Selena Lester Breikss’ “Women & Popular Culture” class, students risk a failing grade if they use any common descriptors that Breikss considers “oppressive and hateful language.”  This is but one of numerous examples of University level leftists propaganda being forced upon students.   They should be fired.   http://www.campusreform.org/

Many either do not know or do not care that American history has been and continues to be rewritten to suit the interests of left leaning liberals and progressives.  Quote: "As the 55 distinguished members of the National Association of Scholars explained this week, the teaching of American history faces "a grave new risk." So-called "reforms" by the College Board, which holds a virtual monopoly on A.P. testing across the country, "abandon a rigorous insistence on content" in favor of downplaying "American citizenship and American world leadership in favor of a more global and transnational perspective."  And, "The social justice warriors of government education have long sought, as the NAS signatories correctly diagnosed it, "to de-center American history and subordinate it to a global and heavily social-scientific perspective." Their mission is not to impart knowledge, but to instigate racial, social and class divisions. Their mission is not to assimilate new generations of students into the American way of life, but to turn them against capitalism, individualism and American exceptionalism in favor of left-wing activism and poisonous identity politics."     http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2015/06/03/the-college-boards-sabotage-of-american-history-n2007291? 

A government that forces its will on the citizenry has advanced to the state of being oppressive.  Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan's reaction to many who object to Common Core is "... doubling down. The Secretary is threatening federal intervention if testing boycotts continue. Duncan told reporters at the Education Writers Association seminar in Chicago this past week, if students and parents continue to opt out of government-mandated tests there will be consequences. Since when did the federal government have such authority in matters of education?  Anyone who has read the Constitution knows that the federal government has not one shred of authority in education matters.  Threatening the people with unnamed "consequences"?  By what authority can he make such a threat?  He, as so many others in government, thinks federal authorities rule over us rather than work for us.  Not only are we NOT their subjects we must NOT act as if we are. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/04/education_secretary_arne_duncan_makes_threat_if_testdodgers_dont_comply.html  

Review the logic the ACLU uses to deny parents right to choose where their children go to school.  It is not stated but their goal is to assure children are indoctrinated with government controlled curricula.  http://dailysignal.com/2015/08/27/alcu-files-lawsuit-to-block-school-choice-for-nevada-children/?   This goes all the way back to socialist John Dewey's era which started the demise of secondary education in America.

This synopsizes the problems with most current public schools. Quote: "If you want to see first-hand what the inclusiveness, tolerance, lack of discipline, and political correctness spawned during the 1960s has wrought in public education, read the new book out by Linda Ball, a public school teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio. Titled 185 Days: School Stories, Ms. Ball’s book pulls back the curtain on what really happens in public school classrooms today and why. The book is a chronicle of students who have no interest in education, teachers who have no authority, and parents who either are disengaged or non-existent."    http://patriotupdate.com/articles/what-is-really-wrong-with-public-schools-in-america/  Here is just one example of the arrogance of many public school boards.  Parent's are completely ignored by leftist elitists who promote sexualizing small children.    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07/02/parents-confront-school-board-demand-opt-out-for-controversial-lessons-see-why-the-room-erupted-at-end-of-meeting/  This is another look at the poor performance of so many of our public schools with an approach to improve them that makes sense.  http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/07/education_and_americas_third_world.html

Want to know at least one of the reasons for the slow 100 year change in how many Americans view the world, our nation, freedom, justice and respect for others, open and honest dialogue and the rule of law?  Just take a look at the dominate hard left faculties at our nations colleges and universities.  Quote: "It is a shame that our greatest universities have become ideologically monolithic," Georgetown law professor Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz told FoxNews.com. "At many of these schools, including Georgetown Law School, most students will graduate without ever laying eyes on a single Republican professor.”  And, "Ideally these universities would expose students to the most powerful arguments on both sides of the great issues, rather than indoctrinating them with the ideology of the far left.”     http://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2015/05/03/harvard-faculty-backs-democrats-96-of-the-time-says-school-paper-n1993834?   

This item addresses the tragedy of academic fascism.  It is going on in academic institutions across the country to the detriment of free speech, free expression, freedom of conscience which are being replaced by progressive policies to control speech and thought which only they decide what is acceptable and what is not.  This is a violation of basic human rights common in all past leftist governments throughout history.  http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2015/08/12/academic-fascism-n2036891/page/full

Too many professionals are leaving the teaching profession out of frustration with controls and content imposed by government and lack of individual student discipline.  This is indicative of a real problem that requires public discourse that includes those attempting to impose their will on the public school system and parents.  It should never be a one way street.  Quote: "It’s troubling that in our society today students think that inside a school they can put their hands on each other and teachers as well,” added Jonathan Hodges, a veteran member of the school board. “I went online trying to find this video and I found numerous videos of teachers being attacked by their students.”   http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/top-teacher-winner-quits-due-to-common-core/

Finally, states are taking steps to rate public schools based on performance.  Quote: "Those who oppose the new letter grade evaluation system are trying to protect the established public education system and aren’t really interested in any reforms, no matter how successful they have been proven to be.  “Fundamentally, public school advocacy organizations feared that school performance grades would further erode taxpayers’ confidence in the public school system,” said Stoops. “These groups dismiss those who call for expanding school choice and other structural reforms because, in their mind, public schools are not failing. Few will agree that the system is working, however, when nearly 30 percent, which amounts to over 700 North Carolina schools, earn a ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade.”   http://townhall.com/columnists/justinhaskins/2015/06/25/states-are-finally-changing-how-they-rate-school-performance-and-the-left-isnt-happy-about-it-n2016768/page/full

George Burns
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Education & Things 2

Public schools are in a steady decline.  Some even treat kids like criminals.  Quote: "If you want a nation of criminals, treat the citizenry like criminals. If you want young people who grow up seeing themselves as prisoners, run the schools like prisons. But if you want to raise up a generation of freedom fighters, who will actually operate with justice, fairness, accountability and equality towards each other and their government, then run the schools like freedom forums. Remove the metal detectors and surveillance cameras, re-assign the cops elsewhere, and start treating our nation’s young people like citizens of a republic and not inmates in a police state."   http://constitutionalrightspac.com/articles/public-school-students-are-the-new-inmates-in-the-american-police-state
A part of the issue here is a consequence of the left/progressive led broad based destruction of civil society, our heritage and culture.  Among the consequential specifics are declining individual self discipline, moral and religious values, two parent families, civility, respect for others and the law.  This is producing far too many children searching for answers in all the wrong places.  

Comparing home schooling to public schooling shows a sharp contrast between the two.  Students home schooled outperform public schooled students.  And they are safer too.  Quote: "In terms of academic achievement, home-schoolers beat out their public school counterparts. In reading, language, math, science and social studies, the average home-schooler scores somewhere near the 80th percentile. The average public school student taking these standardized tests scores at the 50th percentile in each subject area. Home-schoolers also tend to score higher than their public school counterparts on college admittance tests, such as the ACT and SAT."    http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2015/09/02/why-home-schooling-n2045972/page/full

This item discusses the attacks that teachers suffer from their students.  This is but one outcome of the permissiveness of today's leftist progressive culture.  Respect for others, and for kids their elders, is no longer something pervasive throughout our culture.  It is particularly problematic in the black culture.  Quote: Walter Williams speaking of current day black leaders he asks "... them whether their parents or kin would have tolerated their assaulting and cursing teachers or any other adult. Ask them what would have happened to them had they assaulted or cursed a teacher or adult. Ask whether their parents would have accepted the grossly disrespectful behavior seen among many black youngsters in public places -- for example, using foul language and racial epithets. I'd bet the rent money that they won't tell you that their parents would have called for a "timeout." Instead, they will tell you that they would have felt pain in their hind parts. Then ask these leaders why today's blacks should accept behavior that previous generations would not."  And,  "The sorry and tragic state of black education and its attendant problems will not be turned around until there's a change in what's acceptable behavior and what's unacceptable behavior. That change must come from within the black community. By the way, it is an idiotic argument to suggest that white teachers are problematic for black students because they don't know the culture. I'm nearly 80 years old, and during my North Philadelphia school years, in schools that were predominantly black, at best there may have been three black teachers."   http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2015/09/16/attack-on-teachers-n2051723/page/full

Now consider this.  I wonder if this piece makes liberals feel good about their openness to different ideas, treating others with respect and dealing honestly with facts when they do not comport with their fantasies.  Bear in mind that this is not an isolated incident. http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/24271/   

Overall teachers unions protect the interests of teachers far more than they support students.  This is just one example.  Quote: "“Unions prevent school leadership from making personnel decisions that are in the best interests of the children in the school,” Burke said. “In this case, Roosevelt Elementary wanted to dismiss the perpetually tardy teacher, but a union arbitrator blocked the school’s ability to do so.”"   http://dailysignal.com/2015/09/02/math-teacher-who-arrived-late-to-work-111-times-allowed-to-keep-his-job/?   Here is what has happened in Seattle, Washington where their union supporting, left leaning state Supreme Court incredibly ruled Charter Schools to be unconstitutional.  State supported teachers are on strike while charter school teachers are working despite being cut off from state funds.  Note the demands of the union.   http://dailysignal.com/2015/09/14/in-washington-state-thousands-of-kids-arent-returning-to-school/?u

George Burns
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Education & Things 1

I know that many of you have little time to read all that is contained herein. However because its content is so very important I hope you will at least read the first eight items and consider the implications for your children, grand children, nieces, nephews and future generations.  So much of what you will read speaks to the fact that left leaning elitists continue their march to eradicate anything that does not comport with their socialistic amoral utopian view of what should be the future of humankind. That view is not what most of us would ever want for ourselves or our loved ones.  I urge you to save any you do not get to and when time permits read some of the others.  And, please share items which concern you with other parents, grandparents, family members, friends,  neighbors, your school boards, local leaders as well as state and federal elected officials.   Thanks,

This is a succinct summary of and a quick lesson in what has happened to education for many of our children.  https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2015/01/17/the-surrender-to-modern-education-brainwashing/   Here is a bit more background.   http://humanevents.com/2015/02/09/education-is-the-business-of-the-states/  And a bit more.  Quote: "Now we have more evidence that American taxpayers are paying a lot and getting a little (though I have to admit that non-teaching education bureaucrats have been big winners). The Washington Post reports on some new research to see how America’s young adults rank compared to their peers in other nations. The results aren’t encouraging."   http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/danieljmitchell/2015/03/21/public-school-never-have-so-many-paid-so-much-to-achieve-so-little-n1973921/page/full

If you think you understand Common Core, or if you think it is okay, or someone told you it is a good thing then you need to read this item and decide for yourself.  Quote: "In conclusion, social engineers of every discipline are trying to transform our society in to a collectivist society by restructuring the schools and producing a docile, compliant worker for industry. Fight for our children and grandchildren and for our country! Our children are not human capital. They are not putty to be shaped according to labor’s whims. They are not “mere creatures of the state.” Above all, they were not created as ants."  In short the goal of leftist progressive liberals/Democrats is to erase the individual from existence and turn him/her into a compliant member of the collective.  That is socialism which in the end demeans the lives of all but those at the very top.   http://www.newswithviews.com/guest_opinion/guest294.htm

Come on liberals/Democrats.  Speak up!  Do you really believe in the myth of separation of church and state?  Or, is your belief that only Christianity is forbidden in public schools?  This middle school  is indoctrinating its students in Islam, a three week course no less.  It even includes a "...requirement that students write out the Shahada profession of the Islamic faith — a type of pledge — that has the line, “Allah is the only god.”"  The left is pushing our nation as hard as it can in the direction of Islam while attempting to totally destroy the Christian basis of our nation's very foundation.  Read this nonsense that has parents, and rightly so, outraged.   http://patriotsandpolitics.com/indoctrination-alert-middle-schoolers-forced-to-write-allah-is-the-only-god/  Where is the ACLU???

This professor is not a teacher.  He is a propagandist.  He does not deserve standing in front of students and spouting his venom and treating students who disagree with him the way he does.  http://www.campusreform.org/   This is the way things are going.  Liberals/progressives do not want anyone to know that the founders prayed before each session of the Constitutional Congress, that they went to church on Sundays and called for days of prayer.  They don't want anyone to know that at the founding of this nation 99.8 % of the people were professing Christians. They do not want anyone to know that from the Mayflower Compact, through the colonization period and the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that all founding compacts invoked God as the guiding light for their efforts.  They do not want anyone to know that upon the founding and for the next 150 years prayer sessions were held in government buildings, that most of the founders were Christians or at least subscribed to Christian principles. They do not want anyone to know that research establishes that the Bible was the most commonly referred to document during the Continental Convention. They do not want anyone to know that most of the great colleges and universities in our country were founded by Christians and were primarily religious institutions.  They do not want anyone to know that the primary text used to teach children and for the next 100 years school children was either the Bible, based on the Bible or both.  The rise of progressivism has for the past 100 plus years slowly but surely sanitized our nation's religious history to suit their anti-Christian sentiments. That is a what secular progressives/humanists in government, academia and other elitists across the land want. They want government to be supreme/their god but with them in charge.  They cannot bear the thought that they may someday be accountable for their behavior on earth so anything that suggests that to be the case is forbidden.  That is why things like this can happen in today's America.   http://unfilteredpatriot.com/student-cant-mention-jesus-in-school-report/   Here is another example of a progressive professor who should be out of a job.   http://www.onenewsnow.com/education/2015/06/28/prof-to-student-remove-christian-references-or-fail 

George Burns
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Executive Change to Immigration Policy Tied to Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)

While most Americans opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — and also the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) — are concerned primarily about the impact such “trade” agreements would have on American jobs and U.S. sovereignty, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and others are also concerned that a TPP would make radical changes to U.S. immigration policy without answering to Congress.

Sessions circulated a “Critical Alert” memo last spring in which he listed his “Five Top Concerns With Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).” He noted that TPP “applies not only to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) but all international trade agreements during the life of the TPA.” (Emphasis in original.) His concerns included: 1. Consolidation of Power in the Executive Branch, 2. Increased Trade Deficits, 3. Ceding Sovereign Authority to International Powers, 4. Currency Manipulation, and 5. Immigration Increases. Under the fifth point, Sessions noted, in part:

There are numerous ways TPA could facilitate immigration increase above current law — and precious few ways anyone in Congress could stop its happening….

Stating that “TPP contains no change to immigration law: is a semantic rather than a factual argument. Language already present in both TPA and TPP provide the basis for admitting more foreign workers, and for longer periods of time, and language could later be added to TPP or an future trade deal to further increase such admissions….

The President has circumvented Congress on immigration with serial regularity. But the TPA would yield new power to the executive to alter admissions while subtracting congressional checks against those actions.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/item/21610-executive-change-to-immigration-policy-tied-to-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp
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$600 Mil in Obamacare Deals Plagued With Fraud, Negligence

Months after Judicial Watch exposed massive security risks with the government’s healthcare.gov website, a federal audit reveals that the public employees responsible for overseeing the disastrous Obamacare site were not properly trained, failed to keep adequate records and stood by as delays mounted to millions over the original contract costs.

We’re talking an astounding $600 million in contracts to build the website for the president’s signature healthcare law. The government employees tasked with supervising the colossal project actually helped private contractors fleece American taxpayers, according to an investigation conducted by the Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General (IG). Most of the derelict employees work at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which manages federal healthcare programs including Obamacare. The IG determined there were widespread failures and poor oversight by CMS, which functions under HHS.

The investigation focused on nearly two dozen contracts considered to be most important to the operation of the website, which was supposed to create a marketplace that serves as a one-stop shop for health insurance. Instead, it’s had a multitude of problems that have been well-documented in the media. The deals to develop this federal insurance marketplace went mostly to eight politically connected companies that raked in north of $600 million, the IG’s report says. “As of March 31, 2014, CMS had identified 62 contracts that it had awarded to 35 different contractors to develop, implement, and operate the Federal marketplace,” the report states.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/09/600-mil-in-obamacare-deals-plagued-with-fraud-negligence/
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Will Banks “Cough Up Executives” in the Treasury Bid-Rigging Scandal?

The Department of Justice may face an early test of its long-overdue policy change, that the government will seek to prosecute individuals, including executives, along with those of corporations. As Sally Yates, Deputy Attorney and author of the memo setting forth the new policy, put it, “We mean it when we say, ‘You have got to cough up the individuals.’”

As Bloomberg reported on Thursday, private plaintiffs have filed two suits alleging bid-rigging by the 22 primary dealers, adding pressure to an ongoing Department of Justice investigation. We’ve embedded the more recent filing, Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund v. Bank of Nova Scotia et al., at the end of this post. From the article:

The same analytical technique that uncovered cheating in currency markets and the Libor rates benchmark — resulting in about $20 billion of fines — suggests the dealers who control the U.S. Treasury market rigged bond auctions for years, according to a lawsuit….

The plaintiffs built their case against the 22 primary dealers who serve as the backbone of Treasury trading — including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley — using data from Rosa Abrantes-Metz, an adjunct associate professor at New York University who has provided expert testimony in rigging cases.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/09/will-banks-cough-up-executives-in-the-treasury-bid-rigging-scandal.html
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The Conservative Case Against Carly Fiorina

Let me paint a different picture of Carly Fiorina and explain why other than Jeb Bush, she’s the candidate I’d least like to see get the nomination. Incidentally, that is really saying something given that I own http://notjebbush.com and the only reason I haven’t bothered to launch it is that Jeb has been so off-putting that watching him speak is like a commercial for “Not Jeb Bush.” Jeb is like the weird, annoying kid in school that no one would ever talk to if he didn’t have a pool. (PS: I’m leaving out Lindsey Graham here because I’m not sure anyone other than his mother will vote for him and I wouldn’t be entirely shocked if even she votes for Walker, Paul or Jindal instead).

First of all, it’s worth noting that Fiorina may have been the first woman to lead a Fortune 50 business, but she turned out to be just as bad at it as Barack Obama has been at running the country. Despite the spin she tries to put in, Carly Fiorina was a disaster for Hewlett Packard.

Fiorina’s story is that she stormed into HP, turned the company around and was unceremoniously fired because she challenged the status quo. In actuality, she insisted on a controversial merger with Compaq, got her way and it decimated the company. Fiorina loves to talk about HP’s increase in raw numbers, but if two large computer companies merge, it’s almost a given that the revenue and the number of patents produced by both companies combined are going to increase. What didn’t increase was HP’s stock price. It dropped from $55 a share when Fiorina took over to a little less than $20 a share under her leadership. There is a reason Fiorina shows up on lists of the Worst CEOs Of All Time (See here, here, here, and here among others) and it’s not because the whole business world is engaged in some kind of conspiracy to portray her as an incompetent.

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2015/09/19/the-conservative-case-against-carly-fiorina-n2053948
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An Economic Program for Stimulating U.S. Economic Growth

Officially, the unemployment rate is 5.1 percent of the labor force, defined as those working or, if unemployed, actively seeking employment. Millions of Americans have given up looking for jobs, millions more are on welfare, and millions are working part-time involuntarily. The real unemployment rate is closer to 20% and the country’s malaise shows it. The BLS has just reported that the average wage actually fell in 2014. And the U.S. Bureau of the Census reported Wednesday that for the past three years the median household income stagnated following two years of declines. A dismal picture indeed.

The bankruptcy of both the Democratic and Republican Parties cannot be remedied by a single presidential candidate of either party, although the Trump candidacy for the Republican nomination offers a glimmer of hope. The entrenched oligarchies that control both major parties are incapable of pursuing rational economic programs in the national interest, as evidenced by the huge international trade deficits that converted the U.S. since 1970 from the world’s leading creditor nation to the world’s leading debtor nation. The same oligarchies seek the votes of every voting group in the country and thus are incapable of pursuing the national interest. Although the Republicans pretend to be against a big central government, when in power they failed to eliminate a single agency of government (except one -- the Export-Import Bank, which they eliminated on ideological grounds. Not only did the Ex-Im Bank not cost the government a red cent but it was the only government agency that created export jobs!), supported every Democratic proposal to send government jobs overseas like the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the World Trade Organization, and the TransPacific Trade Agreement, all of which caused or will cause U.S .international trade deficits and will continue to cause the movement of American factories overseas and the loss of millions of good-paying U.S. manufacturing jobs. It has nurtured the anti-global-warming movement which has caused the federal and state governments to waste hundreds of billions of dollars subsidizing crony capitalists with no -- literally no -- effect on climate change. Following is a program to change all that:



http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/09/an_economic_program_for_stimulating_us_economic_growth.html
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The Quiet Counter-Revolution Gets Louder: Essential Lessons for the GOP

For some years, below the surface, a quiet counter-revolution has been advancing  in the base of the Republican Party and in the country in general, while the party’s establishment elites in Washington have continued on with business as usual, seemingly oblivious to the unrest of the rank and file, as if fly-over red state voters  could be taken for granted. This counter-revolution was conceived and undertaken to change the trajectory of America’s departure from its founding principles -- to bring reform to the GOP rather than to overthrow the party. In short, the hope was to reverse Republican establishment diffidence about out-of-control, unaccountable government and its attendant crony corruption.    

Perhaps the best way to understand and assess elites is by their choice of the players and the “playbook” that guides them, which together determine what happens on the ground. The GOP lost the last two presidential elections largely because neither candidate had a winning persona or campaign formula. In contrast, the upstart, minimally qualified Democratic candidate won by virtue of a superficial but alluring charisma and a superior ground game. In addition to a very effective use of social media, that ground game primarily consisted of unrelenting offensive tactics and strategy taken out of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals playbook: deception and employing any means to discredit and keep the opponent off balance. Alinsky, who died in 1972, is recognized as a Marxist fellow-traveler whose teachings have been central to revolutionary political activism in the U.S. since at least the 1960s.  



http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/09/the_quiet_counterrevolution_gets_louder_essential_lessons_for_the_gop.html
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Scott Walker’s claims about Wisconsin budget deficit and tax cuts

Fixing the budget deficit while cutting taxes — what taxpayer doesn’t like to hear that? These are some of Scott Walker’s favorite lines that he has repeated over and over for years. And they have been fact-checked repeatedly for years. He repeated these numbers during the recent GOP debate, and continues to do so on the campaign trail. So it’s worth scrutinizing them again.

The Facts

Wisconsin, like most states, has a statutory requirement to balance its budgets. So when governors talk about a “budget deficit,” they often are referring to how much money the state would need in the upcoming budget year if the spending and revenue levels remain the same. This is also called a “structural deficit” in Wisconsin budget-speak. Wisconsin state officials also use the word “deficit” to describe the difference between the amount of money that agencies are asking to spend, and the amount of projected tax revenue.
Wisconsin’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the non-partisan fiscal research arm of the state Legislature, calculated the structural deficit for Walker’s first budget at $2.5 billion. This does not include agency budget requests.
When Walker talks about the $3.6 billion deficit he faced, he refers to the latter calculation, including agency requests.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/09/18/scott-walkers-claims-about-wisconsin-budget-deficit-and-tax-cuts-fact-checker-biography/ 
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