My Own Political Party

Better Economy?

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:05:02 +0000

I was talking with a friend the other day about how is company is laying off 12 more employees. He has people calling him constantly asking if there are any job openings. They too have been laid off their jobs. People all over the country are unemployed are underemployed. Employment sites are working over time to perform a Detroit job search, or any other city for that matter, for out of work people.

In New Jersey, the budget is so bad that teachers are on the cutting block as well. And they say the economy is getting better.

Not Enough Votes

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:01:07 +0000

They might as well install game tables on the floor of the House and Senate. Democrats, who are worried that they won’t have enough votes in the Senate to pass the health care bill, are looking to find a new way to pass the bill. The Constitution specifies how a bill should be passed. It must have enough votes in both the House and the Senate and then be signed by the President. Obviously, the Constitution is not good enough for Nancy Pelosi. Instead, she will look to ram the bill through any way she can.

There have been constitutional abuses in the past, but this one takes the cake.

What is Reconciliation?

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:51:02 +0000

The Democrats want the health bill passed come hell or high water (which we have a lot of in New Jersey right now!). Instead of a vote, they are going to try a process called reconciliation. The process was created in 1974 when Congress adopted organizational structures and rules to pass the annual budget. Unfortunately, this led to abuse and provisions were adopted that had nothing to do with the budget. To prevent this, the Byrd Rule was adopted and was made permanent in 1990.

Reconciliation has been used in the past for 22 bills, 19 which were signed by the President. All of these bills had to do with taxation and spending. Some of the bills included cutting welfare, food stamp programs, changes to federal employee pay and both Clinton’s and Bush’s tax cuts.

The health care bill is more about spending money than it is about taxation or budgetary matters. Newt Gingrich has a great article explaining reconciliation and why the health care bill doesn’t fit.

And while the Democrats are claiming that the bill is “deficit neutral”, Rep. Paul Ryan explains how it will increase the deficit by $460 billion in the first 10 years and by another $1.4 trillion in the second ten years.

Cuban Cigar Ban

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:41:16 +0000

The United States embargo against Cuba, has been in force since 1958 due to an armed conflict in Cuba pitting rebels against the Batista government. When Cuba aligned themselves with the Soviet Union during the cold war, President John F. Kennedy, widened the trade restrictions in 1962. A former aide of Kennedy’s was asked to purchase 1,000 cuban cigars before the embargo took effect. The aide purchased 1,200 cigars for Kennedy (maybe he should have stuck with an American brand like Black and Mild cigars.

It is still illegal for US residents to purchase or import Cuban cigars. US citizens are not allowed to purchase cigars in Canada or Mexico, even though they are readily available. Cuban cigars smuggled into the US are demand high prices. Most cigars that claim to be Cubans are actually counterfeit.

Resegregation

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:30:04 +0000

While most high school and middle school students are focused on the best way to get rid of blackheads, schools in North Carolina are wondering if resegregation is going to be the wave of the future. In 2000, Wake County, NC, decided to base busing routes on socio-economic status instead of race. This policy had the same effect has race based busing policies since lower income families in North Carolina tend to be black. However, many middle class families are balking at having their kids bused to distance schools.

There is some disagreement on how much integration helps both higher income and lower income children. But, as has been seen in Detroit, New York and Philadelphia, schools that are not integrated face much bigger problems.

Unfortunately, many of the problems with the schools have nothing to do with the education system but instead with family life, educational value in the home and neighborhood and economic status. Until these core problems are address, the schools will always have the same issues to deal with.

No Apology

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:19:16 +0000

I have just added former Massachusetts Governor and Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s new book No Apology: The Case For American Greatness to my reading list. The book address such problems as the deficit, military weakness, global competitiveness, health care and education. Romney doesn’t just single out the Democratic Party, but places blame on both sides of the aisle. Romney states:

This is a book about what I believe should be our primary national objective: to keep America strong and to preserve its place as the world’s leading nation. And it describes the course I believe we must take to strengthen the nation in order to remain prosperous, secure, and free.

If you want to read what Mitt Romney has to say about this book, you can find an article written by him at Newsmax.com.

Wednesday’s Hero – Lance Cpl. Andrew Koenig

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:03:27 +0000

Lance Cpl. Andrew Koenig

It is hard to know whether Monday was a very bad day or a very good day for Lance Cpl. Andrew Koenig.

On the one hand, he was shot in the head. On the other, the bullet bounced off him.

In one of those rare battlefield miracles, an insurgent sniper hit Lance Cpl. Koenig dead on in the front of his helmet, and he walked away from it with a smile on his face.

“I don’t think I could be any luckier than this,” Lance Cpl. Koenig said two hours after the shooting.

You can read the rest of Lance Cpl. Koenig’s story here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

If You Have To Cut

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:01:52 +0000

While thinking about things that need to be cut out of education, I can think of a few.

Driver’s Education – when did this become the responsibility of the school?
Health – can’t this be combined with science classes? When was teaching about herpes simplex type 2 part of reading and writing?
Thinking that every student can complete the same requirements. There are students that want to go to college and there are others that should be trained for a profession.

Things that shouldn’t be cut:

Sports and Physical Education classes – sports provide an physical outlet. These days, with the increasing obesity in children, it is a good idea to keep.
Music
Art

Don’t Cut Education!

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:54:53 +0000

This is not my mantra, but the mantra of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA). Now that New Jersey has a new governor, we find that the state has a 2.2 billion dollar budget shortfall for this year. Governor Chrisite is determined to make the necessary cuts to balance the budget, but the NJEA wants nothing cut from education. Instead they suggest that taxes be raised.

While high school students are worried about getting rid of blackheads or their next date, administrators should be worried about basic education not about funding a range of specialists that are not teachers and just add bloat to the system.

For instance, Newark school district has 40 curriculum specialist that make over $100,000 a year each. And yet this is a failing school district. My suggestion. Cut all of them and use a curriculum that is already established in a good school. Why are we reinventing the wheel with curriculum specialists in each district when the education requirements are the same throughout the state?

We are already barraged with ads from the NJEA telling us how terrible it is going to be if Chrisite cuts education, yet they are unwilling to help cut the costs.

Wednesday’s Hero – Capt. Ferris W. Butler

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:50:16 +0000

Capt. Ferris W. Butler

Capt. Ferris W. Butler, former platoon leader with D Company, 214th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain, 2nd Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Drum, N.Y., talks to the Soldiers at Morale, Welfare and Recreation east Feb. 5 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Butler, a Port Tobacco, Mass., native, participated in Operation Proper Exit, which brings Veterans who were injured in Iraq back to the country to revisit the area and share their stories.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.