Will The Government Shut Down On Friday?

I guess that is the big question. Of course both sides are digging in their heels...the Republicans with their usual facts and figures, and the Democrats with their usual shrill rhetoric about Grandma dying of starvation and little children dying of every imaginable ill, because the mean Conservatives want to cut the social services budget and give it to the military and the oil companies. Of course any idiot can go online to the congressional budget office and see where the facts are. Right now defense spending is about 20% of GDP, foreign aid is less than 1%, and guess what hippies? Social Services spending is almost 50% of the federal budget. You want us to spend more on social services? You mean you want to make it easier for lazy people to get on the public dole. Grandma and Grandpa are going to be taken care of. Don't worry. They are not going to be eating Alpo. Let's do something different here. Let's means test welfare benefits and Social Security. They are running out of money. Why should a wealthy retired couple making $100,000 per year in retirement income need Social Security. Yes, I know, they paid into it, and are entitled to it. I pay taxes that fund Welfare payments, but I'm not eligible to collect Welfare. I make too much money.

Speaking of Welfare, let's means test that too, and make it contingent on mandatory job training, job search, mandatory drug, alcohol, and nicotine testing, and having no social life. You stay home and take care of your kids, and you don't date. You learn to follow the rules and become productive.

Reform welfare and other social services with means testing and a requirement for personal responsibility. De-fund NPR and PBS. It's not that their funding is that large, but it's a symbolic gesture directed at the sanctimonious upper middle class, over educated Elites, who view themselves as our betters. You're not. We are not going to bow to you. Keep pushing us, and we'll shove it in your left ear, and you know which left ear I'm referring to. It's time for Middle America to stand up on its hind legs and get mean and nasty. The time is long over due.

Edumacation

Good Lord, the president was on the news this morning talking about how it is time to revamp our education system, because some study came out and said that 80% of our public schools are failing. Why is that Mr. President? It's not because failing schools need more money, which seems to be the plan. I'm sorry sir, but you don't throw more money at a broken system. All you end up with is a more expensive broken system. It's because Liberals have been in charge of our education system for the past 50 plus years, and have watered down the curricula in order to make school fun and a vehicle for social indoctrination rather than education. Add the emphasis on unearned self-esteem, and you have a recipe for disaster, which is what we have in the public schools today. The private independent schools still have high standards, but they are out of the price range of the vast majority of the people in this country. I teach in a private independent school, and the tuition per year is more than a lot of people make as an annual salary.

I experienced this "dumbing down" process personally when I was in school. When I was in first grade, I was part of a pilot program involving math that used the Cuisinaire Rod system for learning arithmetic rather than the tried and true method of drill and memorization of learning addition facts and the times tables. Consequently, I had a very difficult time with math from elementary school all the way through high school. I barely passed math by the skin of my teeth. The thought of having to take college math when I got to college scared the living Hell out of me. When I started taking college courses again when I returned to college when I was in my 40s, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to meet the college math requirement for graduation unless I took matters into my own hands. I hired a tutor for a couple of years, and because of the guidance of an outstanding grad student tutor, who walked me through math from the basics through college algebra, I finally was able to enjoy math. Why? Because for the first time in my life, I was able to understand it. We started with the basics. We went right back to 1+1 and built from there. Consequently, I discovered how much fun math really is. What was sad, was the fact that I had to do the tutor route in the first place just to get comfortable with the basics and then learn what I should have learned in high school.

The No Child Left Behind Act, just like Goals 2000 and similar programs are nothing but bullshit. Yes I know that the intention behind the NCLBA was to reintroduce Phonics as a way to teach reading, but it doesn't look like that was implemented at all. I'm not sure what Goals 2000 was about anyway, except for creating more bureaucracy. Here's what I think about both programs: They are nothing but smoke screens to get more money out of the tax payers, rather than actually doing something to improve education. The NCLBA does nothing but try to improve the test scores of the kids that are on the cusp of meeting the minimum standards set by the program, because this is where the federal funding trap is set. It does nothing for the kids below that cusp, who really are the ones that need the help, and it does absolutely nothing for the kids at the top of the heap that need the challenges that will drive them to the real top of the heap. Consequently, those at the bottom are ignored and bored, and those at the top are ignored and bored, and having bored kids is not a good thing, to put it mildly.

Here's where I disagree with many of my fellow Conservatives. We really do need a national education policy that has uniform national standards for graduation, and while those standards need to be implemented at the local level, the feds need to develop those standards, and have them apply to every school district in the country, managed at the local level. There can be no exceptions for race, sex, creed or national origin. No waivers. Blacks are not stupid. They don't need to be treated like second class citizens, and educated as second class students in order to advance a social agenda that does nothing but benefit highly educated white liberals and their guilt and their entitlement of power mentality. Look at the success of the American Indian Charter Schools in Oakland, California, and the success of Dunbar High School in Washington, DC during its heyday from the middle 1800 until Dunbar became just another neighborhood school in the middle 1960s, rather then the black academic high school in, at that time, segregated Washington, DC, a school where just about every graduate went on to college...not just the free UDC, but to Ivy League schools and the US Military Academies too. The Black Conservative intellectual, Thomas Sowell, has written extensively about the education of minority children. Dr. Sowell, for those who don't know about him, was raised in poverty in Harlem, dropped out of high school when he was 16, joined the Marines and served in Korea, returned and got his GED, went on to college, and ended up with a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago. He is now 80 years old, and is the Rose and Milton Friedman Chair economist in economics at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University. I wish he was younger. I'd love to see him run for president. If he ever did, I'd show up at the polls at 5 AM, so that I could be the first person in line in order to vote for him. Check out his website and follow the links.

School is school. It's not supposed to be play time. It's about learning. Sometimes learning is hard. Also, testing is the only way that you can determine whether or not someone grasps the material being taught. I am a firm believer in standardized tests in order to show whether or not students grasp the material being taught. For those that are opposed to testing, let me put this scenario out there. Do you want a doctor treating you that hasn't passed rigorous exams certifying that they are board certified in their respective field? Do you want a lawyer representing you that hasn't passed the Bar Exam? Do you want an accountant doing your taxes who hasn't passed the CPA exam? Do you want a barber or hair dresser working on you that hasn't passed the board exams that grant them the license to practice their trade? How about the same for the electrician that wires your home or the gas fitter that makes sure that the gas dryer in your home doesn't blow up when you turn it on?

I am a musician. There are many times that I have taken an "exam" for a musical job. That exam is called an audition. Many times I have "passed" the audition, and there are also many times when I haven't. Someone else, who was a better player than I was, was hired for the job. In an other words, they scored higher on the "exam." If you read the International Musician magazine, which is the official publication of the American Federation Of Musicians, there are ads in the back announcing the various positions available in various orchestras, both major and minor. In each ad, there is a statement at the end of the advertisement: "The audition committee reserves the right to dismiss immediately any candidate not meeting the highest professional standards." There are no provisions for race or sex. All auditions are held with the committee sitting behind a screen, so they can not see the applicant for the job. Only the best qualified applicant, regardless of whether or not they are male, female, white, black, Asian, etc., gets the gig.

I am going to throw this out to Barack Obama, Mr. President, I know that you are a big government liberal. I respectfully disagree with 99% of your policies, being a Conservative. Sir, may I make a suggestion? How about using your bully pulpit to push for undoing the damage to our education system that has been caused by social engineering over the past 50 years. Don't just throw more money at the No Child Left Behind Act and expect it to get better. It won't. Push for real education reform in this country that again will raise our academic standards to being the flagship standard of the world. In addition, leave the teleprompter at home, and start showing up at some of the worst performing inner city schools, and have the principal call a school assembly. Explain to these kids the value of getting an education. Your education is a key component on why you are the President Of The United States Of America. Explain to those victims of the ghetto culture that doing good in school is not "acting white." Enough said.

Gas Prices

It looks like gasoline is heading toward $4 per gallon real soon. Personally, I think that it's going to go much higher than that, and not just because President Obama and his minions want see European energy prices in order to lower the standard of living of the lower middle classes and working classes in this country, in order to "level the playing field" of the United States in the international world stage. It's because both political parties have done nothing for the past 40 years to make us more energy efficient. All they have done is kick the can down the road, so that it becomes someone else's problem in the future. That problem is now, and we are now confronted with the can.

Realistic energy products,including so-called "Green Energy," are going to come out of the private sector. That means oil companies. Hey hippies, do your homework. Those "evil oil companies" are spending millions more dollars on research for alternative energy sources than the federal government is. Why? Because, it is good for their profit "bottom line." Businesses exist to make a profit and they want to continue to make a profit in the future. Gee, I'm so sorry that you find that offensive. How about giving up your trust fund or daddy's allowance and going out and getting a real job? You perpetually angry at "The Man," Takoma Parkian Victim Industry pieces of shit obviously have way too much time on your hands.

Let me let you in on a couple of not so secret "secrets." First of all, Bio diesel was developed by the United States Military, especially the Air Force Office Of Scientific Research, and the Navy Research Lab. It was not developed by unwashed smelly hippies frothing at the mouth about life's inequities in Takoma Park, Maryland and their Marxist anger,none of whom are going to be willing to give up their cars. There will always be an excuse: "I'm a little white women, and it's not safe to ride the Metro," "Yea, I know, but it's not convenient." "It takes too long, and my time is important." Well let me explain something to you hippies. My time is important too. However, I'm now choosing to rely on public transportation six days per month in order to save money. Guess what? I'm using it, and I'm not making your "all about me" excuses. I'm doing it to save money. I'm saving money two ways. First of all, I'm not spending as much as the gas pump. Number two, the less gasoline I purchase, the less tax revenue is being collected from me. That in itself is worth the extra time spent riding Metro while reading a real good book. Go back to your "green" hypocricy hippies. I can't wait until the day when all the programs you are trying to force on us, jump up and bite you on the ass.

You want more control over education? Here's how.

Liberals talk about the need for the government to provide everyone with a free college education. That's not possible. We couldn't afford it. However, in order to satisfy the hippies’ pipe dream, here is my take on how the government could do that. That being said, there are going to be a lot of very disappointed people, especially the liberals who want that free education. Many of you upper middle class and rich liberals, who worship at the altar of a college degree, so that you don't have to take a job where you get your hands dirty, are going to end up in a job where you get your hands dirty. Do you still want to socially engineer America so that your salary, no matter what job you do, is tied in with your level of education like it is in much of Europe?

Here's the plan in a nutshell: You have a complete federal takeover of our public education system from Kindergarten through doctoral programs. Yes liberal hippies, I did say complete federal takeover. However, my plan will not be to your liking, because it won't offer any favoritism to you and your cronies. Private and religious education would still be available for those that wanted to opt out of the public system. You provide education vouchers that allow choice, so that the public schools have to compete with the private schools for the best students. This will increase the quality of education across the board for all.

From grades K through 10 students will advance to the next grade by passing comprehensive standardized tests. If you don't pass, you don't advance, and you repeat the year. No provision will be made for those that don't "test well." Too bad. Learn how to take tests. Like I said no special consideration for anyone.

At the end of their 10th year, students take blindly graded tests that are graded at the Department of Education. Only the top 10% go on to college prep grades 11 and 12. All others enter into some form of vocational training for the last two years of high school. This can be the hard trades like plumbing and carpentry, as well as the soft trades like computer repair, electronics, administrative assistant, etc. They may also apply for the US Military at the end of their 12th year. No preferences will be made for race or gender. All students will compete equally.

At the end of the 12th year, students take blindly graded comprehensive exams. Only the top 10% go on to a 4-year college. All others may enter community colleges for two years, and then either enter the workforce, test to get into a 4 year college (30% accepted), or apply for the US Military. Those who join the service will be able to take advantage of the military's tuition assistance program and/or enroll in the various services' own community colleges. These will be the only work arounds for the system. You don't get something for nothing. Also, every public college and university will be required to recognize the services' Associates Degrees as a completion of the first two years of college, or forfeit all federal funding. Same with ROTC programs.

For those earning Bachelors Degrees, 10% are allowed to go on to a graduate school and earn a Masters Degree. For those earning Masters Degrees, 10% are allowed to go on to earn Doctorate Degrees, and 10% of Doctoral candidates are allowed to continue on to post-Doctoral work.

Isn't social engineering through education a wonderful thing? Just think Lefties, you'll have the command and control economy that you desperately desire. The problems for you however, is that the command and control will be out of your hands. There will be no special consideration for race, gender, social and political connections, etc. What's the matter? You don't like equality? I thought that you wanted to level the playing field. I guess it's a different story when the playing field is going to be leveled without special consideration for you. Then again, this could never happen. The Left has too much of a stranglehold on education. Any plan to have it benefit anyone other than themselves would never fly.

Riots, Riots Everywhere

The Middle East is exploding. Whether or not the uprisings over there will lead to more democratic forms of government, or whether or not the countries will fall to Islamic dictatorships has yet to be seen. It's hard to get a grasp on the situation, because there are too many conflicting viewpoints. We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, here in the US I can sense that the "little people" are getting quite fed up with the status quo. The public sector unions are taking to the streets protesting a modest loss of some of their entitlements, while the private sector lags behind up to 50% of what these spoiled cretins make in salary and benefits. Yes, people are entitled to a fair wage, reasonable job security, and a reasonably comfortable retirement after dedicating a large portion of their lives to a job. I think that things have gotten too far out of hand, and from what I've been reading and hearing, the "Average Joe and Jane" have had enough. If the public sector unions don't back off, there is going to be hell to pay.

The problem is, public sector employees should never have been allowed to unionize in the first place. Even the icon of the Left, Franklin Roosevelt, was against public sector unions. Public servants were never supposed to make 40% to 50% more than the private sector. You took a government job, because even though it paid about 20% less than the same job in the private sector, you had virtually layoff free job security, great benefits, and a decent retirement pension plan. Government service was for those that really didn't want to deal with the dog eat dog climb up the corporate ladder of Corporate America or assume the risks of self-employment. This is the main reason that people make the military a career. For enlisted personnel in the military, the pay is considerably less than a similar job in the private sector. You don't start to make any kind of decent money until you reach the rank of E7 or E8. Then again, once you lose your housing allowances and subsistence allowances, E7 retirement after 20 years of service is just at the poverty line. I retired as an E8 after 26 years of service. My pension is barely enough to live on in the DC area, and I have to supplement it by playing musical jobs 4-5 nights per week and teaching 7 days per week, in order to have a standard of living that is about 30% less than I had when I was active duty, receiving full pay, housing, and subsistence. Believe me, I'm not complaining. I'm just stating facts.

What I'm saying to the civil servants and teachers that are out there throwing their temper tantrums is this: Grow up. You are making a hell of a lot more money than either the military or the private sector. We have an official unemployment rate of 9.6% and a REAL unemployment rate of about 18%, with most of that being confined to the non-degreed working class. If we want to make this country work for all, we have to work together, and that means that YOU have to be willing to make sacrifices, not just those that you look down upon and your lessers. If you don't, you look at a very good possibility that your unions are going to get busted, and then when there is a Republican president and Republican control of both houses of Congress, public sector unions will become illegal. You are being used as political tools by your union leadership, who's salaries by the way, equal the salaries of the CEOs that you love to demonize. Again, grow up and stop being "useful idiots."

Higher education riots

Amazing: I just read an article on the Moonbattery website about the student riots in Britain over the increase in the cost of higher education. I agree with the site's author, Van Helsing. Since when is higher education an entitlement? It's not. Yes, I know that it is virtually impossible to get a good job these days without a college degree, but that's because Liberals have established a marketplace where credentials mean more than knowledge and/or experience or practical know how. Not only that, what is the market for Philosophy majors or "Victim Industry" Studies majors? There isn't one, except for a very limited amount of positions in colleges and universities.

I'm so freekin' sorry that a lot of you spoiled brats just might find yourselves having to work some manual labor job that you consider beneath your dignity. The problems is, too many people are going to college in the first place. If you Liberals think that increasing federal funding so that more people can go to college is the answer, you are seriously misguided. First of all, if the government offers free higher education, it is going to limit the number of college students due to cost factors. The majority of you will not be allowed to attend college. You will be forced out into the workforce and into a career chosen for you whether you like it or not. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Here's the plan as I see it, and I hope that the PhD in "Revolutionary Underwater Basket Weaving Studies" working for $10 per hour at Borders Books gets it. Life isn't fair, and your choice of field of study has determined what you are worth in our Capitalist society. Yes hippies, Capitalist, that horrible word. Until the time when you get your Socialist dictatorship, you will just have to accept that there are people like myself that are not going to bow and scrape to your "superiority." I, and millions of others like myself, are not going to be the slaves on your "plantation." We do not consider you to be our betters. In fact, we hold you in the same scorn and contempt that you hold us. The difference is, we are the ones that fix the things that you break, and please remember that those of us that fix things for a living, are perfectly capable of breaking things and passing the blame up to you. Are we anti-education? No. However, we want real education reform and a return to high standards, strict discipline, and civility in our schools. Also, we are sick and tired of your excuses about how and why certain kids can't read. It's because you Liberals screwed everything up.

Could Britain's education riots happen here in the US? Yes, they could...and I would hope that Conservatives would put a stop to them once and for all. We need to become a lot less spoiled.

The pendulum swings

It’s been a while since the November election. I didn’t have a chance to blog about it, but I’m fairly pleased with the outcome. I wish that the Republicans could have taken the Senate as well as the House, but having the House means that we control the money. That’s a good thing. All the moonbat stuff can now be de-funded. If you can’t repeal it, you can always make sure that there isn’t enough money to make it work.

The big ticket item right now is the tax rates. Will Congress let the current tax rates expire and allow income taxes to rise for everyone during a recession? Yes, EVERYONE hippies. It’s not just taxes going up for the "rich." Stop lying liberals. The question is, has anyone actually seen the tax bill compromise? Where is it? There is speculation as far as what is in it, and the president stated that there was a compromise agreement, one that he really doesn’t like, but is willing to go along with. What is being reported is that the Bush era tax cuts would be extended for two more years, in exchange for another increase in time for collecting unemployment benefits. OK, that’s fair, and if you agreed to this Mr. President, thank you. I will give credit where credit is due. However, I would like to see a caveat to the unemployment extension: You must prove that you are seeking employment actively and not holding out for a job that is not "beneath your dignity" based on your opinion you have of yourself and your level of education. In another words, you will take any job offered, even if it is shoveling shit off the back of a honey wagon. In exchange, you will receive unemployment compensation that makes up the difference between what you make and what you would make in unemployment benefits. If you are going to make $400 a week in unemployment benefits, and the job pays $200 per week; you would collect the other $200 in unemployment benefits to make up the difference. As you make more money the benefits reduce until you are making on your own what you would have made in benefits. Other caveats: If you are collecting benefits, you are subject to random drug testing, and you are not allowed to drink or smoke. You are not going to waste valuable government resources on non-essential items.

What, you don’t like it? Then get yourself off of unemployment ASAP. There are plenty of "helper" jobs for unskilled labor in the trades. Look at all the highway and infrastructure work that is going on and needs to be done. Who knows you might actually find that you enjoy your new line of work as you develop skills in the trades…or is working with your hands beneath you? If it is, get off your high horse. Your sanctimonious attitude is what cost you educated Elite Liberals this last election. The little people are now in charge. You can take your Socialism and shove it.