On Thursday, a friend and I made the trip to downtown Cleveland to check out the #OccupyCleveland protest. The Facebook page predicted there would be 800-ish people attending, but the actual number on opening day was closer to 200. We dressed to blend in with the crowd so we could fully embrace the experience, spending the better part of the day with the protesters.
The first thing we noticed was that this event was barely planned. #OccupyCleveland had a few individuals who appeared to be coordinating the day's events, but it was clear there was no schedule and there was no real preparation for the adult pajama party that was supposed to happen that night.
As we eavesdropped on conversations and asked around, we discovered that the coordinators were unsure about whether they would be permitted to camp at the park - they were negotiating most of the day with City of Cleveland officials and City Council members. In the end, the best deal they could get was permission to sleep on the sidewalks as long as they weren't blocking any walkways or businesses.
To their credit, they were very intent upon obeying the laws and respecting law enforcement. They emphasized that law enforcement officials were part of the 99%. Well, for now, anyway. There were warnings from the leaders about what might happen if anyone so much as stepped outside a crosswalk.
There was no food supply planned except for a small stash they were giving away after the first hour. They were Tweeting throughout the day that they were accepting food handouts donations. We were grateful for our free Anarchist Apples and Che Cheetos and lounged around on a blanked for an impromptu picnic with the rest of the slackers. The only restroom facilities available were in the Federal building across the street. We were told they "had to let us in" as long as we had an ID. However, after hours, they will be left without running water or toilets. Lake Erie's a half mile away, so maybe that's the plan?
This was the entire food stash. Most had already been given away by 3 PM
We sat in on the Tech Team meeting and discovered that although they had plans for a cell phone charging station, they realized they had no source of electricity and city ordinances prohibited them from having electric generators in the park. Plus they didn't have extension cords. Oopsies.
It was a mostly white, age-diverse crowd. The reality is that there were two completely different protests occurring simultaneously. Check out the bipolar selection of photos below:
Note Communist fine print
I don't remember the last time I've been somewhere with so many smokers
Nice tribute to Capitalist Steve Jobs
Abolish Capitalism
As you can see, the unions were well-represented at this protest. Rather than young, disaffected college students, the featured speakers were from the traditional arms of the Democratic Party. There was a woman from the SEIU, who called herself a Community Organizer. There was someone from the AFL-CIO and a representative from Rep. Dennis Kucinich's office. There was an activists urging protesters to vote against Issue 2 (Gov. Kasich's union reform bill, which the unions are trying to repeal) and against Issue 3 (the Healthcare Freedom Amendment). Someone also urged us to sign the petitions being circulated to put a measure on the ballot to repeal the recent election reform laws passed by the GOP-controlled legislature. We were approached several times by various people circulating these petitions.
And of course, what protest (of any kind) would be complete without this guy?:
When someone introduced a representative from Moveon.org, I'm not sure what I expected, but I did not expect a white-haired man in his 70's. He wandered up to the microphone and said - I really don't know what, these speeches were SO boring - something and then came back and stood near me. He leaned over to a woman about his age who was perhaps his wife and said, "Was that OK?" She nodded in approval. Then he said, "I'm thinking maybe I should get some business cards that say "Moveon.org." I think that would be a good idea."
Wait, what? This is the great and terrible Moveon.org? This old man who had nothing even mildly interesting to say and failed to get more than a yawn out of the loosely gathered crowd? Well, kids, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain or you might see that this is a bunch of smoke and mirrors, just like the rest of these "protests."
Eventually, one of the leaders told the crowd that it was time for the march that was planned. They said that anyone who had an opinion about where we should march should come to the microphone to share their thoughts and we would have a democratic vote. Sheesh! I briefly considered proposing a march to Kapitalist Krispy Kreme, but restrain myself to keep from blowing my cover. Since only one person actually had an opinion, the majority decided to march to Public Square and City Hall.
About half a block into the march and the "This is what democracy looks like" chants, I had had enough. We had marched passed several construction workers in orange vests - people who were actually working. I looked up at the buildings around me and thought about the people working hard to earn paychecks for their families, including my own husband, who was working in one of those buildings to provide for our family. I felt sick to my stomach. I felt like I was betraying my country and everything I believed in. It was one thing to stand on the outskirts of that group, listening to the speeches, but I could not march with them and become one of them. We fell out of the march and headed back to our cars.
On that walk back to the parking lot, my friend and I reflected on the huge contrast between this group of protesters and those at the Tea Parties. Even though Tea Party members are angry and frustrated with the government and taxes and a host of other issues at times, the rallies are overwhelmingly uplifting and positive events. They are hopeful and focus on positive solutions. Even the music is designed to inspire and encourage. #OccupyCleveland, in contrast, was the opposite. In was depressing, negative, unfocused, and offered no solutions. Add mindlessly boring to the list as well. There's nothing worse than a completely unplanned, day-long open mic program.
I do, however, kind of like my fake tattoo. I think I might keep it for a few more days.
********************************************************************************* The "prior comment" that was removed simply said, "sick." It unleashed a tirade from the Facebook page administrator who spends "2 to 3 hours a day" inventing new ways to insult and ridicule Republicans and the Tea Party yet feels personally insulted by the word "sick" attributed to her Tim McVeigh post. The detractor has now been banned from the Facebook page.
This is the beginning of the silly season in Ohio, where the balance of power has shifted to "we the people" in way that is detrimental to the state.
Though there hasn't been much national attention given to Ohio's union reform measure - SB5 - things are beginning to heat up. Governor Kasich and the Republican-controlled legislature succeeded in passing some common-sense reforms that give local governments better control over their budgets. While still allowing public employees to collectively bargain over their wages and some benefits, it removed or reduced their collective bargaining leverage in the areas of health insurance and pensions and requires government employees to pay a certain percentage of those benefits. It also requires that employee performance be a factor in determining compensation. See here and here for some basics.
Although there were some protests at the Ohio Statehouse, it wasn't anywhere near the scale of Wisconsin because the unions knew that when Governor Kasich signed SB5 into law this spring the fight had just begun.That's because the Ohio Constitution gives "the people" the power to call for a referendum to challenge a law they don't like. If a special interest group can get 6% of the electorate to sign a petition, they can get it on the ballot and shift the balance from a republic form of government to a pure democracy in certain cases. This process can also be used to amend the Ohio Constitution. It was used in recent years to legalize casino gambling in the state after years of failing to get it through the legislature.
In this case, the unions needed around 200,000 signature. They collected over 700,000 and instead of protests at the capitol, where citizens are lobbying their elected officials as we usually see in a republic form of government, citizens are lobbying (and bullying) their fellow citizens.
"We are Ohio," the group working to repeal the union reforms, has already begun running the typical firefighters-are-going-to-die ads. They will likely follow this with the typical your-kid's-teacher-will-have-to-eat-dog-food-if-this-thing-isn't-repealed ads.
In Wisconsin, by the time the recall elections were held, the state was already benefiting from the reforms Gov. Walker and the legislature had put in place. Unfortunately, in Ohio SB5 has been put on hold, pending the outcome of the referendum. And while the law is in a holding pattern, local and county governments have been hit hard by cuts in state funding and many have made layoffs and cut services. It hasn't made Governor Kasich or the Republicans especially popular this fall, so they are starting 4th and 20 at their own 1-yard line, to use a football analogy.
That said, the economy has been so bad for so long that those of us in the private sector are seeing our 401K's decline at an alarming pace at the same time our healthcare costs are doubling and tripling. We consider ourselves lucky if our employers contribute anything at all toward our retirement plans.
Meanwhile, the unions are complaining because they're being asked to actually pay the employee's share of their pension contribution. Currently, many of them enjoy the benefit of the state or local government paying both the employer's and the employee's share of their pension contribution. Good deal if you can get it, but it's not sustainable in this day and age.
And most of us don't think it's unreasonable that public employees are being asked to pay 15% toward their health insurance premiums, when most residents in the state pay 30% or more. Or that government employees would be compensated based (in part) on merit rather than just seniority, like those of us in the private sector are.
It remains to be seen whether Building a Better Ohio will have the resources to overcome the rhetoric and the misinformation being spread by those who oppose the reforms. The unions are fighting for their lives and they are fired up.
1978 International Ladies Garment Workers Union ad
I remember sitting in music class at Central School in Bedford, Ohio in the 70's and being indoctrinated with this song - I can still sing it from memory. In the evenings, the commercial interrupted episodes of All in the Family and Welcome Back Kotter. Not that I minded. My dad worked for the phone company and was represented by the Communication Workers of America (CWA) union. Nearly every family we knew was in the union. The union contract the CWA negotiated has taken very good care of my father in his retirement
For what it's worth, we also sang overtly Christian songs in that school. Songs that would today cause ACLU-types to curl up in the fetal position and suck their thumbs. There was one boy in my class who was a Jehovah's Witness. He was not allowed to sing the Christmas songs, participate in holiday celebrations or eat the birthday cupcakes the mothers sent to class. I don't remember if his religion forbid him to sing the union solidarity pep rally songs or not.
As we look to the upcoming Labor Day holiday, I have to wonder what it is we are celebrating and whether conservatives should be celebrating at all.
The Department of Labor offers this sanitized little revisionist-history description of the evolution of the holiday:
"The Labor Day holiday is interesting because it evolved over a period of years. In 19th century America, there was already a tradition of having parades, picnics and various other celebrations in support of labor issues, such as shorter hours or to rally strikers. But most historians emphasize one specific event in the development of today’s modern Labor Day. That pivotal event was the parade of unions and a massive picnic that took place in New York City on Sept. 5, 1882....
"...The park was decorated with flags of many nations. Everyone picnicked, drank beer and listened to speeches from the union leadership. In the evening, even more people came to the park to watch fireworks and dance. The newspapers of the day declared it a huge success and “a day of the people.”
"After that major event in New York City, other localities began to pick up the idea for a fall festival of parades and picnics celebrating workers." [emphasis added]
Doesn't that sound like fun for the whole family? What's not to love about it? But Tedd Watts, in his book The First Labor Day Parade says it was not quite such a festive affair:
"Those first parades were really protest rallies for the adoption of the 8-hour day, rather than the, often tame civic events they have evolved into. Participants had to give up a day's pay in order to march. The New York City Central Labor Union (CLU) even levied a fine on non-participants!"
"In 1882, the New York City CLU was a lodge of the still-secret Knights of Labor, with a progressive tailor, Robert Blissert at its head. His right-hand man and Secretary of the CLU was Mathew Maguire, a machinist. The parade was timed to coincide with a national Knights of Labor conference being held in New York. This accounts for the presence of almost the entire K of L leadership on the reviewing stand. But their affiliation with labor was masked for the reporters who covered the parade. Grand Master Workman Terrence Powderley, for example, was introduced as the mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania, which he, in fact, was."
Union workers threatened with fines if they didn't show up for protests? Secretive union bosses? Hoodwinking the media? These folks have been at this for a really long time!
Also left out of the Department of Labor's history of Labor Day is the reason it's a federal holiday. President Grover Cleveland, who had a contentious relationship with the unions due to the violent Haymaker Riot and the Pullman strike, needed to find ways to curry their favor in order to win re-election. In addition to creating the Department of Labor, just six days after the Pullman strike Cleveland rushed legislation through Congress designating the first Monday in September as Labor day. It was too little, too late and Cleveland ultimately lost his re-election bid.
"Labor Day will this year be celebrated with unwonted vim and enthusiasm. All over the land organized workingmen are making ready to celebrate their holiday. There will be open-air demonstrations, speech-making, and a display of interest never equaled, probably since Labor Day was instituted." [emphasis added]
Clearly, from the very beginning, this was a holiday dedicated to celebrating and honoring union workers.
President Obama had this to say in his Labor Day Proclamation (yes, I know he forgot Easter, but you didn't think he'd forget Labor Union Day, did you?):
"The right to organize and collectively bargain is a fundamental American value. Since its beginnings in our country, organized labor has raised our living standards and built our middle class. It is the reason we have a minimum wage, weekends away from work to rest and spend time with family, and basic protections in our workplaces.
"Many Americans today are given opportunities because their parents and grandparents fought for these basic rights and values. The principles upheld by the honorable laborers of generations past and their unions continue to fuel the growth of our economy and a strong middle class.
"This year has seen a vigorous fight to protect these rights and values, and on this Labor Day, we reaffirm that collective bargaining is a cornerstone of the American dream. From public employees -- including teachers, firefighters, police, and others who perform public services -- to workers in private industries, these men and women hold the power of our Nation in their hands."
Are you feeling the solidarity yet?
I've always wondered why atheists who pontificate about the evils of Christmas displays and blather on and on about religion in the public square don't seem to mind taking the day off work for Christmas and Easter. It always seemed rather hypocritical to me. To be consistent, I thought, they should be suing their employers to force them to be allowed to work instead of taking advantage of the paid day off for a religious holiday.
I wonder if we, as conservatives are demonstrating a little hypocrisy ourselves by "celebrating" labor unions with President Obama and Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO. I suppose the argument can be made that we are celebrating what the unions were historically and the good that they accomplished in their early days. But at this point, most of us here realize that the unions are a huge contributor to the bankrupting of our country. It's nothing to celebrate.
Of course, unless you're self-employed, you probably don't have a choice about whether or not to go in to work on Monday. If you're a student, the doors will be locked and no one will be there to teach you....
....unless you go to Hillsdale College. That's right...possibly the only school in the country that recognizes the significance of Labor Day will be open for business and students will be learning about the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, The Federalist Papers and the dangers of Progessivism. My son is blessed to be a sophomore there and his classes on Monday will include American Foreign Policy, History of Theater, Western Religions, and Computer Programming.
Perhaps while you're enjoying your family time and stretching out the last few days of the summer, you can take a cue from Dr. Arnn at Hillsdale College and take a little time to defend liberty this weekend. Here are a few suggestions:
Make a donation to Hillsdale College (shameless begging - my kid is there on scholarship because of some generous donors)
Visit the Building a Better Ohio website and learn about Ohio's common-sense union reforms. The unions managed to get a measure on the November ballot to repeal the entire reform bill and the unions are pouring millions into the repeal effort. They ran their first TV ad today featuring - of course - a firefighter. Check out the website and see how you can help.
Sit down and write a letter to the editor (or three) about a candidate or an issue that matters to you. It doesn't take much time and it can pay huge dividends.
Find out which organizations in your area are hosting Constitution Day celebrations on September 17th and make plans to attend or even volunteer.
I'm planning to spend some time on Labor Day working on plans and strategies for local GOP candidates. How about you?
"One of our stars is a 10-year-old kid from Tajikistan named Nabiollah, an angelic, big-eyed moppet who can recite the entire Quran from memory in an astonishingly pure boyish soprano, with remarkable command of melody and intonation. He’s like the Justin Bieber of Quran recitation, and judges at the Cairo event seize on him as an amazing gift from Allah. But memorizing the Quran (in Arabic, which he does not otherwise speak or read) at a rural madrassa has nearly been Nabiollah’s entire education; he is functionally illiterate in Tajik, his own language.
How does the Left respond to clear anti-education? They are a bit uncomfortable, but still manage to rise to their feet and applause this pro-Islam film. In the conflict of education versus Islamic propaganda – Mohammad wins every time."
Salon.com summarzied the film this way:
It’s “Spellbound” plus a poetry slam. Plus Islamic fundamentalism…but if you’re open to the possibility that Islam in practice is an incredibly diverse spiritual and social movement that embraces 1.6 billion human beings and a lot of internal discussion and disagreement, and that the more we know about it the better, then “Koran by Heart” is a movie you’ve got to see...
...She recounts that at the screening Rifdha and her parents were actually there along with the film’s director. Afterwards they took questions. And one person had the guts to ask the father directly if he would be open to letting Rifdha get more education and be a scientist. The Muslim father responded by saying Rifdha must be a housewife.
Just when Osman and all the Progressives are about to come to their senses about Islam, the director of the film speaks up. Here’s how Osman ends her article:
The director quickly took the microphone and spoke some words of wisdom. When we go around the world making films we don’t tell people how to live their lives, he said. Nobody tells us how to live our lives, he added. He graciously thanked the family for coming all the way to New York to attend the opening. Inspiring film. Good point. Lesson learned...
...And there you have it. It doesn’t matter what the Left believes about education, women, or freedom. The spread of Islam must happen. We must not fear it or reject any part of it. We can’t push our values on them, no matter how much the culture of Sharia spreads into our own borders. Many of the articles on the film screenings reported the movie getting large standing ovations"
It's tricky being a liberal these days, isn't it? At least if you're trying to be consistent.
"We need you to come in and lock shields, and strengthen up the men who are going to the fight for you. To let these other women know on the other side — these planned Parenthood women, the Code Pink women, and all of these women that have been neutering American men and bringing us to the point of this incredible weakness — to let them know that we are not going to have our men become subservient. That’s what we need you to do. Because if you don’t, then the debt will continue to grow…deficits will continue to grow."
Venker said,
...The problem is that too many Americans, women in particular, are afraid to take a stand against feminism. They think being opposed to feminism means being against women’s rights or being throwbacks to a bygone era when women were at home doing nothing else with their lives but caring for children — which, besides being untrue, is not a bad thing anyway. But that is precisely how liberal women want people to think of feminism: as American women’s saviors. But feminism did not save the women of America. If anything, it ruined them...
...That’s because feminism is about rejecting the timeless institutions that makes most people happy and any good society flourish: marriage and motherhood. Liberal women don’t explain it this way, of course. They insist they’re not against the traditional family but merely want women to have choices. Hogwash. Not only do feminists subtly and overtly undermine traditional gender roles, they take credit for something they didn’t do. American women’s choices (a.k.a. “progress”) were expanded not from the bra-burning demonstrations that sought to reform society but from a natural evolution that was aided by technology – technology that was invented by men, I might add. American women should be thanking men, not feminists, for the lives they have today.
Allen West’s argument that liberal women have neutered men was courageous and spot on. It just wasn’t self-explanatory. West would have done well to quote antifeminist warrior Carolyn Graglia when making his argument:
"The traditional family will remain in peril until we derail the feminist engine of reform by killing the sexual revolution, by replacing no-fault divorce laws with laws that protect homemakers and families, by ending preferential treatment of women in education and workplace, and by reforming all laws that discriminate against one-income families through requiring them to subsidize child care for two-income families.
But these things will not happen until a change occurs in those men who have rejected the value of a woman’s traditional role and of a man’s contributions that make this role viable. Without those contributions, what do men think will define their manhood? If women’s traditional role is expendable, then, as increases in the number of well-educated, never-married mothers indicate, so also are men expendable for all purposes other than sperm donor. The result is a society increasingly like Sweden’s, which has the lowest marriage rate and one of the highest illegitimacy rates and employment rates of working-age women in the western world."
It's rather humorous that "The Donald" is getting so much attention for being a straight-talker and not being afraid to say controversial things. Of course, half of what he says falls into the realm of reality show fiction and the other half is shameless self promotion. Meanwhile, Rep. Allen West is saying actual substantive controversial things, speaking about matters of consequence with intelligence and eloquence. Let's hope we Americans wise up and demand more of West and less of Trump.
"BUFFALO, N.Y. — Lying on his family room floor with assault weapons trained on him, shouts of 'pedophile!' and 'pornographer!' stinging like his fresh cuts and bruises, the Buffalo homeowner didn't need long to figure out the reason for the early morning wake-up call from a swarm of federal agents.
That new wireless router. He'd gotten fed up trying to set a password. Someone must have used his Internet connection, he thought.
'We know who you are! You downloaded thousands of images at 11:30 last night,' the man's lawyer, Barry Covert, recounted the agents saying. They referred to a screen name, 'Doldrum.
'No, I didn't,' he insisted. 'Somebody else could have but I didn't do anything like that.'
'You're a creep ... just admit it,' they said.
Law enforcement officials say the case is a cautionary tale. Their advice:
Password-protect your wireless router."
I happen to be married to a techie who is very fussy about suchs things and I always wondered what the big deal was. OK....I get it now! Those SWAT team goons would probably confiscate my super-cool Google Chrome CR-48 notebook computer....what a tragedy that would be!
But seriously, this story does raise some important questions. Like, should the internet be free and open to anyone? Some who were interviewed for the story and commenting on it thought so and purposely leave their routers open as a courtesy to passersby, hoping others will do the same. This raises some obvious privacy concerns, although many in the younger generation don't seem to have the same worries their parents do. I suppose the rise of cloud computing will change this landscape as well.
The other question is why a heavily armed SWAT team was even needed for this operation. Could they have just knocked on the door and taken him into custody? Viewing child pornography, as vile and disgusting as it is, is hardly drug running or gang activity. What is the likelihood this guy was lying in wait for them with a cache of weapons? What kind of police state do we live in that an innocent man is subjected to the SWAT team breaking down his door in the middle of the night?
~~~~~
Do you have questions about Ohio's SB5 and what it means for union members and taxpayers of the state? The American Policy Roundtable has prepared and excellent guide:
What does the collective bargaining process look like under SB5?
Will repealing the salary schedules put teachers with higher salary at risk for losing their jobs?
Will tenured teachers (continuing contracts) lose their tenure?
What does it mean to base salaries or wages on performance?
If public employees can't negotiate for their health care benefits, won't their health coverage be much worse?
APR has done Ohioans (regardless of which side you're on) a huge service in preparing this detailed FAQ that cuts through the spin. I hope it makes it into the hands of every Ohio voter as the rhetoric continues and opponents of SB5 prepare to wage a well-funded campaign in their attempt to repeal it.
Interview with Rep. Allen West (R-FL) | The Public Square One of my favorite organizations, the American Policy Roundtable, has an hour-long program which includes an interview with freshman Congressman Allen West (R-FL). I've been a huge fan of West since I heard his CPAC keynote address last month. He's a patriot and a thoughtful, solid conservative. APR's interview with Rep. (and Army Lt. Col.) West will encourage you! His knowledge on a wide range of topics is dizzying. Seriously, who knows the name of Muhammad's first wife? He combines that intellect with real life experience with radical Islam as a commander of our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and a reverence for the Bible.
If you don't have time for the hour-long program, you can listen to a two-minute spot from David Zanotti and Wayne Shepherd with some background information about Congressman West and his qualifications to speak about radical Islam:
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Speaking of Congressman West, his first bill in Congress passed unanimously this week, a waste-eliminating cut in the defense budget (that some have said for years was off the table):
"The House on Monday unanimously approved a bill sponsored by South Florida Congressman Allen West – his first bill passage since coming to Congress – that would cut the Defense Department's printing costs.
'We all still rely on paper,' West, a Republican from Plantation, told the House. 'But I do not understand why we need examples of these highly expensive glossy color briefing slides and slick books that DOD sends over here.'
The bill – passed by a vote of 393 to 0 -- would cut the Pentagon's proposed $357-million printing costs for next fiscal year by 10 percent, or $35.7 million."
~~~~~
Another APR program I've really benefited from was an interview with Dr. Wayne Grudem on the topic of "God and Politics," based on his book of the same name. Grudem and hosts David Zanotti and Wayne Shepherd have a great discussion about the role of Christians in the political realm, both in biblical times and the present day.
"During the month, according to the Treasury, the federal government grossed $194 billion in tax revenue and paid out $65.898 billion in tax refunds (including $62.011 to individuals and $3.887 to businesses) thus netting $128.179 billion in tax revenue for March.
At the same time, the Treasury paid out a total of $1.1187 trillion. When the $65.898 billion in tax refunds is deducted from that, the Treasury paid a net of $1.0528 trillion in federal expenses for March."
"Paul Martin, the NASA inspector general, is reporting NASA's computer network was so vulnerable to cyber attack that computer hackers could take control of a spacecraft while in flight, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
In part, the report states, 'We found that computer servers on NASA's agency-wide mission network had high-risk vulnerabilities that were exploitable from the Internet. Specifically, six computer servers associated with IT assets that control spacecraft and contain critical data had vulnerabilities that would allow a remote attacker to take control of or render them unavailable.
"The implications of penetrations into NASA's network are staggering. NASA's network consists of 190 interlinked computer systems and is widely distributed throughout the United States."
"Margaret Hutchon, a former mayor, had been waiting since last June for a follow-up stomach operation at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex.
But her appointments to go under the knife were cancelled four times and she barely regained consciousness after finally having surgery.
Her devastated husband, Jim, is now demanding answers from Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust — the organisation where his wife had served as a non-executive member of the board of directors.
He said: 'I don't really know why she died. I did not get a reason from the hospital. We all want to know for closure. She got weaker and weaker as she waited and operations were put off.'
Not to be cruel, but the reason is simple.It’s called government-run health care."
The article continues with many more instances of death and suffering as a result of Britain's government healthcare program.
"[The Cleveland School Board] laid off 643 teachers, some for the third time in the last seven years.
The board also closed seven of its 94 schools, including Giddings Elementary where Freeman teaches. In all, the cuts aimed at stabilizing the district financially along with slight revenue increases total nearly $73 million....
... The Cleveland layoffs are based on seniority and certification. Under Ohio's recently signed collective-bargaining law, formerly known as Senate Bill 5, performance not seniority would be the primary factor in determining teacher layoffs. However, the new law does not apply to these layoffs because they are being carried out under an existing contract....
...The cuts are equal to about 10 percent of the current operating budget. Interim Chief Executive Officer Peter Raskind said his goal was to wipe out a $47.5 deficit forecast for next school year, as required by state law, and get the district through 2012-13 without further upheaval."
Part of problem in the Cleveland school district is the severe population decline. Ten years ago there were 70,000 students. Today there are only 45,000. When you lose 25,000 students, you can't expect to keep all these schools open and maintain the same staffing levels. Parents and teachers are outraged, as they usually are when this happens, but it's a hard, cold reality: fewer students = fewer teachers, administrators, and buildings.
The solution for parents is to have a robust school choice program in Ohio. Those who care about poor children in failing inner-city schools should be marching in Columbus, Wisconsin, and D.C. on behalf of school choice initiatives - to get these children OUT of failing schools IMMEDIATELY. They cannot wait another 5 years while their school districts dither around with dubious Race to the Top bureaucracies like implementing longitudinal data systems and adding layers and layers of admistrators. In five years it will be too late for many of these children.
"Betting on an expensive referendum drive, opponents of Senate Bill 5 are turning to rank-and-file union members to help cover campaign costs predicted to reach $20 million.
At least three statewide labor organizations - the Ohio Education Association, the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police and the Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters - are considering charging members extra fees to fund a ballot effort to repeal a GOP-backed bill signed by Gov. John Kasich last week that would limit collective-bargaining rights for state- and local-government employees
We Are Ohio, the coalition of union supporters pushing for the referendum, yesterday delivered proposed petition language and nearly 3,000 signatures to the Ohio secretary of state and attorney general - the first step toward making the Nov. 8 statewide ballot.
In an email dated March 22 and obtained by The Dispatch, Ohio Education Association executive director Larry Wicks said teachers and other unionized school personnel might be charged a one-time assessment of $50 to generate more than $5 million to fight Senate Bill 5. A spokesman said yesterday that the OEA's representative assembly will vote on the charge in early May.
Wicks said in his email, 'At least $20 million will be needed to run an effective campaign.' He also said a referendum effort was 'not a slam dunk.'...
..."In an email to union members, Jack Reall, president of the Columbus firefighters union, said statewide leaders will meet Thursday to consider charging $100 per member for the referendum campaign. Jay McDonald, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, said a decision will be made on a member charge this week.
Also wading into the referendum effort yesterday was former Gov. Ted Strickland, who, in a fundraising email obtained by The Dispatch, asked supporters for $5, $10 and $25 donations to the Ohio Democratic Party."
In case you're wondering why this is going to the voters after it was passed by both houses of the legislature and signed by Governor Kasich, it's because the Ohio Constitution allows Ohio's citizens to bring a referendum (or even an amendment) to the ballot as long as they can collect enough signatures to get it on the ballot. For a referendum, SB5 opponents will need to gather signatures equal to 6% of the number voting in the most recent gubernatorial election, which means they'll need 231,149 signatures by the June 30 deadline to get it on the November ballot.
"From Kasich's office to various tea party headquarters to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, belief is strong that someone will step forward to lead a campaign in favor of Senate Bill 5 and coordinate fundraising, if and when a referendum is placed on the November ballot.
Talk of such a coordinated effort in Ohio is at present relegated to back channels, while Democrats and labor leaders are galvanized for war - and with more than $5 million available just from the Ohio Education Association, should it approve a plan to charge its members a one-time assessment of $50 to support the referendum.
'The bottom line is that it's better to be engaged sooner rather than later,' said Andy Doehrel, president of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. 'I expect us to be involved, but how or what the time frame is, I just don't know that at this time.'
This is not a good sign, considering how well-organized and well-funded opponents of this bill are and considering that they are planning to force their union members to contribute to the effort.
The key to defeating the anti-SB5 referendum may lie here:
"Chris Littleton, president of the Ohio Liberty Council, an affiliation of 65 tea party groups, said his members will help support Senate Bill 5.
But Littleton said if the council had to choose, its priority would be to back a constitutional amendment that would strike down the compliance component of the federal health-care law passed in 2009.
Littleton said his group needs 150,000 more signatures by July to guarantee that the amendment question is placed before voters in November."
If BOTH of these issues make it onto the ballot, they will help each other because voter turnout for one will garner votes for the other issue, which likely includes crossover supporters. Some voters who would make the effort to go out and vote for an amendment to opt out of Obamacare might also vote against the anti-SB5 referendum and vice-versa. The more these issues can be tied together under the mantle of fiscal responsibility, the more they can mutually benefit each other and assure a positive outcome in November.
"Newly-elected Ohio Republican State Sen. Frank LaRose has received several distasteful threats from his state’s union members, including a high-ranking official in the police officers’ union....
"...LaRose, a 31-year-old Iraq war veteran, was the tiebreaking vote in Ohio’s Senate, which just sent a bill similar to Wisconsin’s budget bill to the State’s House of Representatives. That caused Michael Piotrowski, the general counsel for the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), to siege LaRose’s Facebook page. “Funny thing about cops,” Piotrowski posted on LaRose’s Facebook wall, “they hold a grudge.” "...The folks who discovered Piotrowski’s comments and identity were College Republicans from the University of Akron. "...After Piotrowski wrote the nasty comment on LaRose’s Facebook wall, Manno and other College Republicans took to defending LaRose under the impression that Piotrowski was “just some upset cop.” But, after Googling around for him, Manno said he and his friends found out he was a high-ranking leader in the state’s cop union. ..."To LaRose’s defense came Tim Monaco, who wrote: “Frank, got my vote for life, and as I’m in his district, unlike you, that matters.” But, Monaco’s comment didn’t stop them either. In a response to him, another union-supporter, likely a firefighter given his comment, Robert Hoch, said: “Tim you must be a coward just Laposer. We live in his district and lots of blue collar workers won’t be voting for him. Oh and one more thing Tim, next time ur house is on fire call a tea bagger. They have all the answers.”
"...LaRose faced even more nasty behavior from union organizers when he was at dinner after voting for the bill. The Columbus Dispatch reported he and a few other Republicans were at dinner that night at a restaurant near the Capitol when union supporters spotted them and came into the restaurant causing a stir. LaRose said “it could have [gotten physical.]” Police were called in, who dispersed the situation without making any arrests."
You can't make this stuff up! Jackson thinks the answer to our unemployment crisis is a Constitutional amendment to guarantee the right of every American to housing, healthcare, and laptops and iPods for the kiddos in schools. Jobs for everyone!
Answer: Journey to the Center of the Earth
Question: What happens when the Founding Father simultaneously hear this speech and roll over in their graves?
"Babies born after just 23 weeks of pregnancy or earlier should be left to die, a leading NHS official has said
Dr Daphne Austin said that despite millions being spent on specialised treatments, very few of these children survive as their tiny bodies are too underdeveloped ‘If it was my child, from all the evidence and information that I know, I would not resuscitate,’ she said.
‘For me the big issue is that we’re spending an awful lot of money on treatments that have very marginal benefit.‘We are doing more harm than good by resuscitating 23-weekers. I can’t think of very many interventions that have such poor outcomes. ‘I would prefer to free up that money to spend on providing support to people who have much more lifelong chronic conditions.’
She added: ‘There’s a lot of emphasis on the parents’ views and what they want. But somewhere in there, there needs to be an advocate for the baby."
That last sentence is especially chilling. That Dr. Austin would even suggest that the parents should not have the final authority over their children's health care decisions is very disturbing. The term "death panels" comes to mind. All the more reason to consider the Parental Rights Amendment.
Speaking of the Parental Rights Amendment, the group promoting it is premiering the video "The Child" tonight at 8:00 EST on a limited number of stations (see link above for channels). It will also be streaming live here. Preview:
"There are long-term problems with state budgets that a return to economic growth won’t solve. Health-care costs and pension obligations are projected to grow at rates that look to be completely unsustainable, unless something is done. But so far, many states aren’t doing much to deal with their fundamental problems. Instead they’re building budgets on tricks – selling off assets, creative accounting – and fictions, like assuming that pension fund investments will produce much higher gains than anyone should reasonably expect.
Eventually they’ll have to make some hard decisions about priorities, and I’m worried that education will suffer, even more than it is suffering already because of budget cuts. The issues are complicated and obscured by the complexities of accounting, so most people don’t fully understand what’s going on. More people need to investigate their state’s budget and get involved in helping to make the right choices. "
Red State reports that Gates has put up a website that shows the healthcare and pension liabilities for each state. It looks like a very useful site. I wouldn't know. Bill Gates won't let me look at it without installing M$ $ilverlight. My quirky (but free) Google Chrome OS CR-48 notebook computer won't let me view it through the Google Silverlight app.
Mardi Gras Culture in Bible Belt America- Russell Moore Dr. Moore has an interesting blog post comparing the Mardi Gras excesses to the "typical" Christian life in the Bible belt:"
"The cycle went something like this. You were born, then reared up in Sunday school until you were old enough to raise your hand when the teacher asked who believes in Jesus and wants to go to heaven. At this point you were baptized, usually long before the first pimple of puberty, and shortly thereafter you had your first spaghetti dinner fund-raise to go to summer youth camp. And then sometime between fifteen and twenty you’d go completely wild.
In many Baptist churches, the “College and Career” Sunday school class was somewhat like our view of purgatory. It might be there, technically, but there was no one in it. After a few years of carnality, you’d settle down, get married, start having kids, and you’d be back in church, just in time to get those kids into Sunday school and start that cycle all over again. If you didn’t get divorced or indicted, you’d be chairman of deacons or head of the Woman’s Missionary Union by the time your own kids were going completely wild.
It was just kind of expected. You were going to get things out of your system before you settled down. You know, I never could find that in the Book of Acts either."
Ouch! Moore concludes:
"The end result of this kind of “Christianity” is as bleak as the morning after Mardi Gras. Settling down isn’t the same as repentance. Giving up one appetite for another isn’t the same as grace."
"A lightweight 16 x 16ft 'house' was built and then attached to 300 coloured weather balloons making the experimental aircraft more than the equivilant of a 10 story building.
Filmed for the National Geographic Channel the ballon house was then taken to an altitude of over 10,000 feet and flew for approximately one hour. Carl Frederickson would be proud. The stunt - a new world record for the largest balloon cluster flight ever attempted - was part of a new National Geographic Channel series called 'How Hard Can It Be?' which will air later this year."
