If you've hitched your wagon to the 1%, then vote for Romney/Ryan.
If you believe that men like Karl Rove, Donald Trump, John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Sheldon Adelson have your best interests at heart, and that of the nation as a whole, then go ahead, vote Romney/Ryan.
If you believe that the economic policies of the Far Right, the T-Bags, George W. Bush and the whole union-busting, hate-the-evil-Empire policies of Reagan are the right course for America, then, yes, vote Romney/Ryan.
If you believe that Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin articulate a coherent message of hope for the nation, and for women and children, and set a worthy example for your daughters, then go ahead and vote for Romney/Ryan.
They will deliver on their promises!
They will destroy affordable healthcare for Americans ... they will further erode public education ... destroy unions and end collective bargaining ... roll back minimum wage, privatize Social Security; severely limit Medicare and all other safety-net policies; unfetter big biz from regulation and encourage Wall Street to run wild ... end all efforts at marriage equality; remove the rights of women in healthcare, compel birth - regardless of its origin; the military will be ramped up and more wars will be fought ... with no one to monitor our food supplies and the water we drink and the air we breath ... drilling and mining will pillage the environment without heed ... because God watches over us and prevents global warming.
If you think the 1% are wealthy now, just wait!
If you believe the 1% care about you, and your future is connected to theirs, then vote for Romney/Ryan.
Showing posts with label American education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American education. Show all posts
Friday, November 2, 2012
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Efficiency - in the Private Sector????
A friend of mine has raised a lot of concern about inefficiency in the public sector, especially education; at one point, my friend says: "as a lifelong educator in the classroom and at the administrative level, I can assure you there is plenty of our taxpayer $$ being wasted by poor planning, budgeting, and lack of half way decent financial skills."
He may well be right.
But I raise the following question: where, then, can we find efficiency, good planning, budgeting and financial skills?
America's banking industry?
Oh, that's right; they so cleverly invented "sophisticated" financial instruments and brought us the worst financial disaster conceivable, and then had the temerity to come to Uncle Sam with their hands out.
Big biz?
Goodness, any insider can ya' that big biz is no paragon of virtue, on any front.
Having spent a good part of my life knowing and talking with folks in various American industries - coal and steel in Pittsburgh, oil in Tulsa, the auto companies in Detroit, and the movie industry in LA - there is tons of waste, extravagance, poor planning, bad goal setting and a host of lesser sins. But it's mostly hidden from public view. American industry has no sunshine rules like the public sector.
One of the great American myths perpetrated by Reagan and Big Biz is that Big Biz is efficient, and could run government services so much more efficiently, and government is always the problem.
Horse patootie ... big time.
But myths are hard to defeat, and this silly myth of private-sector efficiency has brought us our knees, and has millions of Americans scrambling to dismantle public education in favor of charter schools, private schools and home-schooling. Ya sure, you betcha!
Every time I see a fire engine responding to an emergency, or visit a national or state park, or get a letter in the mail, I see just how efficient government is.
I'm a product of both private and public education, and while one might well promote private education for philosophical purposes, it's a total mistake to suggest that the private sector has a financial leg up on the public.
It simply doesn't, no more than anyone has a moral or ethical leg up on anyone else.
The myth is just that - a story, and not a very good one at that.
Give me the public sector any time, and give me the inefficiency of our public schools, and if we're going to improve our education, let's quit demeaning our teachers; let's start building them up, touting them as the heroes they are, and let's fully fund our schools, once and for all. And let's pay attention to the home, and let's quit being such silly hypersensitive parents who quickly attack the teacher when little Billy wets his pants.
But that's another story.
He may well be right.But I raise the following question: where, then, can we find efficiency, good planning, budgeting and financial skills?
America's banking industry?
Oh, that's right; they so cleverly invented "sophisticated" financial instruments and brought us the worst financial disaster conceivable, and then had the temerity to come to Uncle Sam with their hands out.
Big biz?
Goodness, any insider can ya' that big biz is no paragon of virtue, on any front.
Having spent a good part of my life knowing and talking with folks in various American industries - coal and steel in Pittsburgh, oil in Tulsa, the auto companies in Detroit, and the movie industry in LA - there is tons of waste, extravagance, poor planning, bad goal setting and a host of lesser sins. But it's mostly hidden from public view. American industry has no sunshine rules like the public sector.
One of the great American myths perpetrated by Reagan and Big Biz is that Big Biz is efficient, and could run government services so much more efficiently, and government is always the problem.
Horse patootie ... big time.
But myths are hard to defeat, and this silly myth of private-sector efficiency has brought us our knees, and has millions of Americans scrambling to dismantle public education in favor of charter schools, private schools and home-schooling. Ya sure, you betcha!
Every time I see a fire engine responding to an emergency, or visit a national or state park, or get a letter in the mail, I see just how efficient government is.
I'm a product of both private and public education, and while one might well promote private education for philosophical purposes, it's a total mistake to suggest that the private sector has a financial leg up on the public.
It simply doesn't, no more than anyone has a moral or ethical leg up on anyone else.
The myth is just that - a story, and not a very good one at that.
Give me the public sector any time, and give me the inefficiency of our public schools, and if we're going to improve our education, let's quit demeaning our teachers; let's start building them up, touting them as the heroes they are, and let's fully fund our schools, once and for all. And let's pay attention to the home, and let's quit being such silly hypersensitive parents who quickly attack the teacher when little Billy wets his pants.
But that's another story.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Wisconsin Governor Full of Baloney
Says the gov of Wisconsin: "We have to cut the budget. We can't raise taxes; that would cripple the economy even further."
The economy?
For whom?
The top 2%?
This is such a crock of bull, it's hard to describe.
To strip away bargaining rights, to decease benefits that have been hard-won over the years and are wel-deserved, to further jeopardize education (oh, that's right, he doesn't give a damn about that, what with homeschooling and private schools to further the asinine agenda of the far-right), to demean public workers and embarrass the entire state of Wisconsin, is unconscionable ... a shameless display of fiscal insanity furthering the transfer of wealth from the many to the few.
Healthy economies always utilize fair and reasonable taxation to sustain the economy and to insure that maximum numbers of families have access to good jobs and benefits.
Because the money supply is NOT infinite.
Taxation is a form of regulation that keeps the playing field of life fair for the MAJORITY. Our current insanity is crippling the economy, not because of high taxes, but rather foolishly low taxes on the super-rich and the big companies.
Nations never prosper when the wealthy prosper alone. Nations prosper when the middle class prospers.
The madness of low taxation is just that - a madness, a disease, a great evil, part of a strategy long in the planning and dearly believed by t-baggers who have been fooled by the reactionary forces at the top of the food chain. Current fiscal policies are currently designed to kill off the middle class, bust unions, strip away working-class initiative, diminish hope and transform the nation into an oligarchy.
The GOP and its reactionary forces have been bent on dismantling the American Dream ever since Reagan, the Great Liar, took office and said "Government is the problem."
What a crock.
What a bunch of baloney.
What a pack of lies!
The economy?
For whom?
The top 2%?
This is such a crock of bull, it's hard to describe.
To strip away bargaining rights, to decease benefits that have been hard-won over the years and are wel-deserved, to further jeopardize education (oh, that's right, he doesn't give a damn about that, what with homeschooling and private schools to further the asinine agenda of the far-right), to demean public workers and embarrass the entire state of Wisconsin, is unconscionable ... a shameless display of fiscal insanity furthering the transfer of wealth from the many to the few.
Healthy economies always utilize fair and reasonable taxation to sustain the economy and to insure that maximum numbers of families have access to good jobs and benefits.
Because the money supply is NOT infinite.
Taxation is a form of regulation that keeps the playing field of life fair for the MAJORITY. Our current insanity is crippling the economy, not because of high taxes, but rather foolishly low taxes on the super-rich and the big companies.
Nations never prosper when the wealthy prosper alone. Nations prosper when the middle class prospers.
The madness of low taxation is just that - a madness, a disease, a great evil, part of a strategy long in the planning and dearly believed by t-baggers who have been fooled by the reactionary forces at the top of the food chain. Current fiscal policies are currently designed to kill off the middle class, bust unions, strip away working-class initiative, diminish hope and transform the nation into an oligarchy.
The GOP and its reactionary forces have been bent on dismantling the American Dream ever since Reagan, the Great Liar, took office and said "Government is the problem."
What a crock.
What a bunch of baloney.
What a pack of lies!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Bad Teachers?
Just heard something on NPR - folks dissing teachers, blaming teachers for failed schools.
Wish it were that easy.
Blaming teachers for failed schools is like blaming the faucet for bad water.
So, blame the teacher; kill the messenger - feels good and absolves us of blame for a little while longer.
Sadly, in America, the mantra of the conservative press, a servant of the privatization of schools (???), has been a constant condemnation of our teachers, their unions and school administrators.
Once again, the issue calls for critical thinking, and it seems that Americans are terribly short on the necessary skills ... meanwhile, the real issues are ignored - like family life and the values we give to our children via TV and music - "American Idol" and "Fame," and all the other glitz and glamor, not to mention the junk food we're dumping into their bodies and brains - massive amounts of salt, sugar and fat in processed foods.
The teacher is at the end of the pipeline, just like the faucet. Neither harsh discipline at that point (like spanking the faucet - either the student or the teacher) or replacing the faucet (like getting new teachers) will solve the problems of classroom discipline, ADHD, the lack of ambition distorted by dreams of fame and fortune and chaotic family life - the craziness of the rich and the famous, and all their wannabees, driven by poverty of soul, and the desperate effort of the poor just to survive, driven by a poverty of the flesh.
Bullying and fighting, drugs and cheating, emotional and physical lethargy - this is the stuff of the life we chosen for our children - Enron and Madoff, needless prescription drugs, power and domination, to hell with the poor and, please, cut my slice a little larger; honk, honk, get out of my way; all the non-sense of being self-made and being bigger and smarter than all the rest; American militarism, saber rattling and tough talk. Our children have learned all of these lessons very well; they are a mirror of the American soul!
Shame on those who add to the problem by leading our attention away from the problems that make millions of students ineducable.
It's time to quit spanking the faucet and replacing it with newer models.
It's time to support our teachers, their unions and school administrations.
It's time to deal with the real issues confronting American education ... I think Jesus said, "The judgment of God begins with the church" ... we might well, say the judgment of God begins with American culture and the values we have nourished in our children for the last fifty years.
Painful as it is, that's worth looking at it!
Wish it were that easy.
Blaming teachers for failed schools is like blaming the faucet for bad water.
So, blame the teacher; kill the messenger - feels good and absolves us of blame for a little while longer.
Sadly, in America, the mantra of the conservative press, a servant of the privatization of schools (???), has been a constant condemnation of our teachers, their unions and school administrators.
Once again, the issue calls for critical thinking, and it seems that Americans are terribly short on the necessary skills ... meanwhile, the real issues are ignored - like family life and the values we give to our children via TV and music - "American Idol" and "Fame," and all the other glitz and glamor, not to mention the junk food we're dumping into their bodies and brains - massive amounts of salt, sugar and fat in processed foods.
The teacher is at the end of the pipeline, just like the faucet. Neither harsh discipline at that point (like spanking the faucet - either the student or the teacher) or replacing the faucet (like getting new teachers) will solve the problems of classroom discipline, ADHD, the lack of ambition distorted by dreams of fame and fortune and chaotic family life - the craziness of the rich and the famous, and all their wannabees, driven by poverty of soul, and the desperate effort of the poor just to survive, driven by a poverty of the flesh.
Bullying and fighting, drugs and cheating, emotional and physical lethargy - this is the stuff of the life we chosen for our children - Enron and Madoff, needless prescription drugs, power and domination, to hell with the poor and, please, cut my slice a little larger; honk, honk, get out of my way; all the non-sense of being self-made and being bigger and smarter than all the rest; American militarism, saber rattling and tough talk. Our children have learned all of these lessons very well; they are a mirror of the American soul!
Shame on those who add to the problem by leading our attention away from the problems that make millions of students ineducable.
It's time to quit spanking the faucet and replacing it with newer models.
It's time to support our teachers, their unions and school administrations.
It's time to deal with the real issues confronting American education ... I think Jesus said, "The judgment of God begins with the church" ... we might well, say the judgment of God begins with American culture and the values we have nourished in our children for the last fifty years.
Painful as it is, that's worth looking at it!
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