Tag: Big government

United States – 1934

United States – 1934

Those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it. – George Santayana

Cartoon from the Chicago Tribune in 1934:

 

(Click on image to enlarge it)

It didn’t work so well then, what makes anyone think it will work now?

Race to the Top is Indoctrination of our Children

Race to the Top is Indoctrination of our Children

Pajamas Media has an article about Race to the Top. Race to the Top is an insidious plan to transfer control of our local schools to a bureaucracy in Washington who will have control of curricula being taught to our children. Go here to read the article.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

Despite the vast expansion of federal government mandates on state and local schools, Race to the Top has received relatively little resistance from proponents of smaller government. But the reality is that this plan not only usurps state rights; it also introduces a whole new program of indoctrination.

According to the DOE’s website, “integrity and transparency drive the process” of Race to the Top. In truth, it’s about as transparent as a blindfold, causing many school districts to opt out. Although states like Iowa, California, and Wisconsin applied for the grant money, many of their school districts are not choosing to participate. Citing an inability to get adequate information on the regulations that would be imposed on the schools, districts “struggled with unanswered questions about how tightly the funds would be tied to mandates.” Karl Paulson, a Missouri school district superintendent, wrote, “It is irresponsible for officials from the State Department of Education or State Board of Education to coerce local districts into a commitment through politics and press releases without the districts having the full design and requirements of that commitment being detailed.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, one of the few staunch opponents of the program, stated that it would be “foolish and irresponsible to place our children’s future in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and special interest groups thousands of miles away in Washington, virtually eliminating parents’ participation in their children’s education.” He added that if Washington truly cared about education, it would give the money to the states with “no strings attached.” Among those “strings attached” is a commitment to abandon local curricula to adopt unproven, national curriculum standards.

Still, the focus on charter schools has duped many on the right to support the program. But before cheering for charter schools, parents need to be reminded that the camouflage-clad, militant youth chanting and praising President Obama came from a Kansas City, Missouri, charter school. In reality, that school’s model much more closely resembles the vision of both Obama and Duncan.

Charter schools by definition are free from many of the rules and regulations of public schools. Although they have accountability standards, they set their own curricula and programs. But since the foundation of Race to the Top is setting a core curriculum determined by Washington, the reality is that these so-called charter schools will not set their own curriculum. The DOE is simply redefining the term “charter school” with the hopes that its program can sail through with little right-wing opposition.

With their newly defined charters, they’ll not only be able to change what students are learning, but more easily change who is teaching them. Traditionally, charter schools have been free from the burdens of teachers’ unions so that they can more easily fire and replace bad teachers. When a school becomes a charter school, its teachers even have to reapply for their jobs; enter AmeriCorps.

One of the most startling facets of Race to the Top is its attempt to get rid of as many traditionally educated teachers — i.e., those who go to a college to earn a master’s degree in education — and replace them with “alternatively” certified teachers; and, not just any alternatively certified teachers, but those certified by AmeriCorps’ Teach for America (TFA) and Teaching Fellows, which it runs jointly with the New Teacher Project (TNTP).

Read the whole article here.

Control of local schools belongs in the local community. It should not be at the state or the federal level. We need to educate everyone, especially parents, about what “Race to the Top” is all about.

We have to oppose this program at the local level. Do not let your school district opt in to this program. Retain control over your children’s education.

We Have Just Begun To Fight!

We Have Just Begun To Fight!
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San Fernando Valley Republican Club
We Have Just Begun To Fight!
December 24, 2009
Dear Gary,

 

The U. S. Senate passed two bills this week, both of which will significantly reduce your freedom and one which will drastically remake the America we have known.


The Senate, in a strictly partisan vote in which all Republicans voted NO, raised the national debt ceiling by $290 BILLION.  The National Debt ceiling was $12.1 TRILLION.  That means more taxes will be necessary to cover the interest payments on the increased debt.
Harry Reid
The other bill, also passed only by Democrats (and two independents) was a healthcare bill that is estimated to cost at least $1.2 TRILLION over the next 10 years.  Since you can always be pretty safe multiplying original government estimates by the power of three, it is likely the healthcare program, in its present form, will cost well in excess of $3 TRILLION.  In order to sustain that kind of expenditure, taxes will have to be greatly increased on all Americans.  The bribery, arm-twisting, special favors, threats and intimidation of each Democrat Senator by their party leaders to get the bill passed were unprecedented in American legislative history.


Both of these bills are now Democrat Party bills.  When the public wakes up to the harsh reality of the adverse affect of these bills it will have only the Democrats to blame.
THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER
We have just begun to fight

Do not despair yet. Despair is as premature as is the victory that the Democrats claim. Let the Democrats do their victory lap.  The bill now goes back to the House for reconciliation with the Senate version.  Remember how close the House vote was.  If three Democrats had voted no instead of yes, the bill would have been defeated in the House.

Congressmen now will have the chance to reconsider their initial vote.  There is a strong likelihood that some of the “yes” votes the first time around might switch their votes.  The pro-life Democrats won’t like the Senate version.  Other Congressman may be reading the polls and decide they don’t want to be on the wrong side of public opinion.  Others may have heard a lot of anger from constituents.  We have a chance to kill the bill in the House.  If we can get three previous “yes” votes to the other column, and if all previous “no” votes hold their position, the bill gets defeated.

We cannot give up.  We must now resolve, more than ever, to fight.  I can’t think of more appropriate quotes at this time than these from Winston Churchill.

 

“WWinston Churchille shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

and this one:

 

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never–in nothing, great or small, large or petty–never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.




COURSE OF ACTION BETWEEN NOW AND MID-JANUARY

Congress is now on vacation until mid-January.  Here is what needs to be done between now and then.  Your Congressman will most likely be in the district for the next few weeks.  Let him or her know how you feel.  You should, every day, send faxes, make phone calls, write letters to your Congressman.  Let him hear from you.  Let him know that passing this bill is not in the best interests of his constituents, the country or of his re-election.  Go to his local district office where you live.  Organize demonstrations at his office. (Note: for the feminists and gender equality warriors among you, I am following the timeless tradition of using the masculine form to include both masculine and feminine genders) Organize Tea Parties. Write letters to the editor.  Write articles on Facebook.  Write blog articles.  Tweet. Discuss with your neighbors.  Speak up at your book clubs and bridge clubs.  Do not be silent.  Let us make our voices heard.

We now have three weeks to get our opinions out and to lobby Congressmen. We can turn some votes.  Let your Congressman know that it will take great hubris, unmitigated arrogance and complete disregard for public opinion for him to vote this bill in.

If there was ever a time for action, now is the time.

 





THE MEDIA AND TALKING POINTS

We have allowed the left and its media lapdogs to frame the argument and to label Republicans as “obstructionists who don’t want healthcare reform.”  I have seen Republican Senators go on talking head programs and allow the host to make Republicans seem like they are opposed to healthcare reform and are opposed to seeing the uninsured get healthcare coverage.

I don’t understand why our representatives don’t say that Republicans are NOT opposed to healthcare reform.  There have been several Republican proposalsNorman Thomas to reform the healthcare delivery system in a way that will not involve the government and which will be considerably less costly than the Democrat plan.

Further, this bill has nothing to do with reforming healthcare coverage.  Don’t let anyone tell you it is.  It is all about enabling the government to take control of the healthcare system in America.

The healthcare system represents about 17% of the gross national product of the country.  If Democrats can gain control of that segment of the economy they will be well on their way to controlling the entire economy of this country.

That is what this is all about.  It is about controlling people and controlling the economy.  Government control of the economy is something the Democrats have been after for decades.

The passage of the Democrat “healthcare” bill will result in a few more people getting insurance coverage, but the rest of us will pay dearly in higher insurance premiums, higher co-pays, much higher taxes, and rationed medical coverage.  It would actually be much less expensive to just have the government give those who are uninsured and want insurance a voucher to enable them to buy the insurance.  But, that won’t accomplish what the Democrats want.  It isn’t about the uninsured.  It is about control.

By the way, does it make a difference if your medical insurance premium is somewhat lower but you have to pay much more in taxes as a result?

An unintended consequence of the bill will be the reduction of incentive to innovate in the medical profession.  There are many physicians and health care providers who intend to retire if the bill passes.  Incidentally, have you asked your doctor if he supports it?

There is an article in the Wall Street Journal today titled, “What Doctors and Patients Have to Lose Under ObamaCare – Changes to Medicare will give the Feds control of surgical decisions.”  It outlines how the government will now be between the patient and his doctor.  Is that a desired result?
There is much more in the article that describes how the practice of medicine in this country will be forever changed and how that will result in a lowering of the quality of medical care for Americans in the future.

About the “Healthcare” Bill

For those of you who might think that healthcare insurance reform is a good thing, as I do, should know that this bill does not do that.  If you want to know more about the healthcare bill I am including several links to articles that will give you information.

Go to The Heritage Foundation where you will find many informative  and specific articles about the ObamaCare bill.

Another good place to get information is Docs4patientcare.org.

Having read a lot about the bill, and much of the bill itself, I can tell you that the result of the passage of the bill will be:

a) Higher taxes, increasing every year that the program is in effect.
b) Eventually higher insurance premiums
c) A reduction in the number of doctors
d) A lessening of the quality of medical care in this country.
e) A rationing of medical care, particularly to seniors.
f) A reduction in medical care innovation, and new pharmaceutical innovation.
g) The imposition of a value-add tax in addition to the income tax
h) A significant change in the role of government in this country
i)  Unsustainable national deficits that will devalue the dollar and cause hyperinflation, creating additional economic hardship on American citizens.
j)   A reduction in personal freedom in the United States

There will be many more adverse affects of this bill, some not even considered yet.   One important one is the question of how many illegal immigrants will be covered under the plan and what will the effect of that be on the planned expenditures?  The CBO has not even considered that cost in their estimates.  Since we don’t really know how many millions of illegal aliens are in the country, it is impossible at this time to estimate the effect on the new healthcare expenditure budget.

We must do what we can to get this bill defeated in the House.  We cannot let the Marxists in the Democrat Party take over and change forever our beloved America.
Passage of the Obamacare bill benefits no one except those Senators and Congressmen who got massive payoffs and bribes for their vote with taxpayer money.


Call, write and pester your Congressmen.  We just have to convince a handful of Congressmen to vote no.  We can do it, if we are persistent and don’t falter. 


Let’s head to victory in 2010.  Victory means defeating the Democrat’s Obamacare bill in the House, and getting conservatives elected to Congress and the Senate so that the Democrats aren’t, any longer, in a position to be able to pass odious legislation that expands the role of government despite Republican and public opposition.
Sincerely,

 

Gary Aminoff
President
San Fernando Valley Republican Club
http://www.sfvrc.org

SFVRC_Logo

An Open Letter to the Congress and the President

This is an open letter sent out today by the Heritage Foundation.

An Open Letter to the Congress and the President of the United States: For the last 35 years, educators and analysts at The Heritage Foundation have been intimately involved in the nation’s great public policy debates. In all that time, we have never encountered legislation with such far-reaching and revolutionary policy implications as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act currently before Congress. And never have we seen a bill more cloaked in secrecy or more withdrawn from open public exposure and honest debate.

In addition to being the single most expensive bill ever proposed, this measure calls for a massive expansion of the federal government’s reach into the day-to-day life of virtually every citizen, business and civic organization in the nation. That, in itself, should be the subject of an extensive public conversation and thoughtful debate. Instead, we have seen Congressional leaders schedule snap votes on a 1,434-page bill that no one—repeat, no one—has had a chance to read in its entirety, much less digest and deliberate.

This bill has been advertised as an economic stimulus bill—despite the fact that the Congressional Budget Office estimates it will actually weaken our nation’s long-term economic growth. While the stimulative utility of the bill is, at best, questionable, it would unquestionably rewrite the social contract between the American people and their government. For example:

  • The bill reverses the bipartisan and highly successful welfare reforms of 1996 and drastically expands the welfare state. For instance, it will start rewarding states for adding people to their welfare rolls, rather than for helping them find gainful employment. And contrary to long-established practice, it will entitle able-bodied adults without children to receive cash assistance.
  • It does extreme violence to the concept of federalism—bailing out states that have spent irresponsibly at the expense of taxpayers in states that have been fiscally prudent.
  • It greatly shifts the responsibility and power over health care delivery and decision making from individuals to government. Among other things, it would create a new federal health board to decide which medical services are “effective” in America, paving the way for government effectively to overrule the clinical decisions of private physicians.
  • It deliberately censors religious speech and worship on school campuses by prohibiting use of any “stimulus” funds for facilities that are used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school of divinity.

The list goes on. These and similar provisions will mean fundamental changes in our society. In many instances, the bill would establish policies that directly challenge widely held American values.

We are appalled that Congress is even contemplating such profound changes with so little openness and due diligence. In the past, major policy changes in our welfare system, or health care, or trade policies, etc., were always, quite properly, preceded by extensive public conversation and full debate. That is how a democracy should make important decisions.

The failure of Congress and the Administration to allow that debate is damaging to our democracy. Both chambers of Congress suspended their budget rules to push it along. And both the President and the leaders of the House and Senate have violated their solemn promises that the bill would be available for several days of public review prior to voting, so that the American people might have a chance to learn what is in the bill and to make their views known to their elected officials.

This reckless approach to governance can only undermine public faith in our elected officials and our government as a whole. We call on Congress and the Administration to live up to their promises and stated ideals, and give the democratic process a chance to work.

Sincerely,

Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D.
President
The Heritage Foundation