Political Or…. Non Political

Much interest has lately been place in the IRS treatment of the Tea Party.  This wing of the IRS is responsible for making sure that groups who say they are tax exempt, really are… Otherwise, Mitt Romney would become a group and be non-taxed.  They serve a legitimate function.  Without them, every business would laundry their money this way…. 

 

This is the legal requirement. Do you think bands of citizens on street corners, many of them armed, preaching about insurrection and civil disobedience fits in to these categories…

You are not alone.

The IRS is fully justified in scouring any of these organizations and going after their individual members for cheating…

After all, there a very good chance they are not paying their fair share of taxes, wouldn’t you agree?

The real crime, is how does a political organization that spends considerable amounts (millions) of money on candidates and to influence elections, get to say it is an organization that is apolitical and therefore tax exempt?

IF there is any violation of law, it is the fact that 9/12 Patriots and Sheriff Arapao, and Jeff Christopher, were not audited sufficiently to determine whether they were apolitical or working for a political agenda….

Like we really don’t know.

I say they do work for a political agenda and should have their tax exempt status revoked and be ordered to pay back-taxes on all incoming amounts collected…

That is the real crime. The IRS was just doing it’s job……

What Life Would Be Like If Republicans Had Won In November

Just look at North Carolina.  In 2010 both houses went Republican. But they still had a Democratic Governor to keep them in check.  That check was erased last November. Today with a Republican Governor, and super-majorities in both houses, North Carolina is a model for what would have happened if Romney had won the Presidency and the Senate become Republican….  Unchecked power.  Basically a Tea Party’s wish list…..

So far, these changes have already done in North Carolina…..

A.  Parents and families seeking Federal Assistance must first take a drug test, which they must first pay costing $100.  That money is then used to help fund the benefits for those… who passed….

B.  Passed a bill requiring photo identification at the polls.

C.  Personal and Corporate Tax Cuts

D.  Restrictions on Abortion

E.  Cuts to Education Funding

F.  Increasing out-of-state tuition for state schools.

G. Ending the public funding of Judicial elections.

H  Devastating rollbacks of environmental legislation

I.  Blocked the expansion of Medicaid under Obama’s Health Care Act.

This has happened in a few short months.  The bills are instantly brought up for a vote, discussion is waived, and the vote is taken… It is always partisan with those representing good government, always losing.

This is what the rest of the nation avoided this past November…

Senator Hocker Talks Marriage Equality

Said Senator Hocker yesterday. …

“I don’t think you can redefine marriage when God is the one who defined marriage, as between one man and one woman. Some people say well I don’t believe that! You might as believe nothing, not to believe that! I believe God’s word is infallible; it was inspired by God. You believe everything in it or believe nothing! Why take those pages and tear them out,because you don’t believe them? God defined marriage. Man is now saying we don’t believe what God has defined and we want to change it. For man to redefine something that God was very clear defining.. God will win.

“I have gay/lesbians working for me, family members, close family members, my wife has them as close family members, I don’t hold anything against them, but don’t ask me to go against God for something that they feel is equality….. “

Which reminded me of someone else:

“But there is higher authority for the determination of this question, than any thing we have yet suggested. The existence of domestic Slavery was expressly allowed, sanctioned, and regulated by the Supreme Lawgiver, in that divine economy which He gave the Hebrew state. The fact is open and undisputed; the record and proof of it are in the hands of every man who has in his possession a copy of the Bible. All the ingenuity and art of all the Abolitionists in the United States can never destroy the necessary conclusion of this admitted divine sanction of Slavery, that it is an institution which may lawfully exist, and concerning which Governments may pass laws, and execute penalties for their evasion or resistance.“

“You believe everything in the Bible or believe nothing!” said Hocker.

Republican-Caused Delay At Airports Nationwide

Ready To Raise Those Taxes On Millionaires Now?

If the Democrats had control of the House right now, this would not exist….

Call your friendly Republican Politician right now, and tell him how you “really” feel…..

The Difference Between Success and Failure

Two big tragedies last week. Two bombs go off in Boston killing a total of 3 people, and a quirk explosion in West, Texas, demolishing a fertilizer plant and killing 14 for which we can find bodies for, and leaving 60 people still unaccounted …

One got unlimited media attention; the other a passing mention.
One shut down our 22nd largest city. The other will be investigated at some future point.

The differences are intriguing.

The Boston Massacre was a textbook case of how to find a bad guy. As Steve notes here, we’ve been planning for an event like this a long time. Homeland Security produced an army to “invade” Boston in order to find the perpetrators. They shut down transportation, and went door to door. Ironically, despite the effort and expense it was luck that gave them their men. The initial dragnet missed the one in the boat, and only when the curfew was lifted, did the boat owner find him and alert authorities.

What was Boston’s cost? Well, add up fuel for all the vehicles, armored cars, and helicopters. Add up all the overtime pay for police, fire, ambulance, and the para military troops brought in. Add the economic cost of shutting down the 22nd largest city for a day… It’s so big, I can’t even guess. We’ll have to wait for the number crunchers with receipts actually in their hands. But particularly with including the economic cost somewhere near a $billion, that means we spent a billion dollars to catch 2 people that were really caught by a) being run over by the other bomber, and b) a man stepping out for a smoke….

But we still, … cost ourselves a billion dollars….

Now. Texas. We had a combined 24,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate. It wasn’t required to obtain a state air emissions permit because it was so old. In 2004 they were supposed to come up and get reauthorized by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. “They failed to do so.”

Federal documents say the plant did not have required security and safety plans in place. the EPA fined the plant more than $2,000 in 2006 for failing to update a risk management plan. In response, the site’s operators told the EPA that the plant posed no risk of fire or explosion. The worst case, plant officials said, would be a 10-minute release of ammonia gas that would kill or injure no one.

The EPA also found that West Fertilizer did not have a formal maintenance program and that its employee training records were poor. In addition, the plant was found in violation of key security measures by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The agency discovered that the plant had planned to transport anhydrous ammonia without making or following a security plan. Last summer, regulators fined the plant $10,000, then settled for $5,250…. And now we find the fertilizer had 1350 times the legal amount of fertilizer material than it was allowed….

Was too much money spent by government leading up to the explosion? Or too little? Were we lulled by a litany from the Texas Republicans that companies could police themselves, and that we didn’t need to spend any money on regulations and enforcing standards? Of course we were. It all started by that guy who once owned the Texas Rangers, who said he would “cut taxes”…

Since we cut taxes we have had multiple issues. And since that time when taxes first got cut, it is easy to see our successes all come about when we, the United States Government, spends money lavishly… When we cut back, we get nothing but trouble with a capital “T”….

So our success come when we tax and spend. Our failures come when we cut taxes and fire, close down, and destroy jobs.

There comes a time when profits get so high, that hiring new people bites into them. WE have reached that point. Corporate profits have never been as high as they are today. Yet we have 15 million underemployed. The hard way to fix it, is to force businesses to hire more people they don’t want. The easy way is to tax some of that profit that certainly is not necessary for the businesses’ survival… I mean corporations have lived on less since the beginning of time, then hire an inspector who has the authority to close a Texas fertilizer plant when it flagrantly defies the law.

America needs to accept this is how it has to be.

We need things done! Eight years of Bush’s neglect plus the 2 years of having the Tea Party corral Congress, has severely damaged America! Putting America back to work, and boosting sales to corporations who benefit from all new economic activity, and using those workers to fix what is broken in America, is a win, win, win situation…..

So at what level should the assessed tax be? It appears that since incentive is a huge part of capitalization, the level of taxation needs to be below 50%. Simply put, if I invest $1 million and lose money on that, what was the point of the investment? Therefore, it appears that after a certain income level ($5 million?) taxes after all deductions should be around 40% of all income earned. If you have too much money, keeping 60% is certainly profitable. ;

Considering our current situation, a) a thriving economy, b) a current 40% tax rate on the top 1%, and c) still high unemployment, tweaking the tax law towards deductions, so that deductions only started after the first 40% got paid, might be the silver bullet that our nation needs, one which will cut the deficit, hire the unemployed, and use both to rebuild America.

We need more money, and we have to get it. Period. All future American successes depend upon it…

Children! Sit Down! Time For Today’s Quiz!

Courtesy of Obamarmy

Ok kids, Look at the graph…. and see who can be the first to tell me….. Why do we really need to ramp up the education of our black and brown kids now?!!!!

Tax the Rich. Hire teachers to reach an 11 to 1 ratio. Test beginning, mid, and end of cycle only to evaluate the student’s needs ( don’t use them to close schools, fire teachers, or divvy out bonuses to your friends and supporters)… and lets get it done….

Btw, it has to start with the first one.

Everyone Should Be Sick of Stupid Blabbing Over Property Rights – Blah, Blah, Blah

I can remember very academic arguments with David Anderson way back when as we each sought to determine for the next twenty years, how property rights should be divided up ethically and morally….

One view is that libertarianism should be the rule.  Do what you want as long as no one gets hurt.

The other view was that society should rule.  We are getting hurt so we now have to dictate what you can do….

Funny thing is, we were both arguing the same thing, except from two different ends…

People should be allowed to do what they wish as long as others are not hurt,  When others feel hurt, there needs to be an arbiter or judge who looks at both sides before siding against the property owner.  I think that makes sense….

We see in West, Texas what happens when people like Delaware’s own Christian Hudson and Mark Baker get their way.  Anything goes.  Everyone else be damned…

In the town of West, Texas a fertilizer plant exploded across the street from a school, one block away from a nursing home, and two blocks from an emergency services building.

This is what zoning is in place to prevent.  It also prevents too much runoff, to much commercialization, too much traffic, too much sewage, too many stoplights, too much congestion, and too much time out of our lives.  And when things go horribly wrong, like a corporate entity like Christian Hudson or Mark Baker, cuts a corner or two like a fertilizer plant did in West, Texas….  BOOM!   We’re all dead.

Some of you have lived in Delaware more than ten years…  You fondly remember the excitement building up in your car as you raced through the forests that lay between Lewes and Rehoboth.  Good zoning could have left them an still created the business that provides the tax base now.

But good zoning was cast aside for misplaced words like “freedom” and “liberty” and “property rights” ….  Those have there place, but not in zoning situations.  There at least, some type of thought process should ahve played a part, instead of knee-jerking when either Christian or Mark jerked the chain.

You probably  don’t need good zoning in the tundra of Alaska or the Yukon.  But you do need it in Delaware.

It is time to start shouting down the nincompoops in Sussex County who have  only a three word vocabulary when the show up at County meetings:  liberty, freedom, and property rights….

The rest of us have rights too, and we are far greater in number than those three people who created the logjam that begins south of Federal Route 9.

Next time someone wants to take away your liberty, your freedom, and your happiness by wanting more and more for themselves… tell them to go to hell…

New Reforms Deliver Few Benefits And In Some Cases Harm The Students

I was shocked. Shocked these new reforms were not working.  After all, in the States of the Union speeches all we’ve heard were success stories… such as that of Michelle Rhee of Washington DC, Arne Duncun of Chicago, and Mayor Bloomberg of  New York…  With such beautiful marketing, I wasn’t worried. Sure our kids were finally learning how to be world class leaders with the world class education we were giving them….

But, just like marketing can sell a toothpaste we wouldn’t otherwise buy, “Hi, I’m Adam Scott, and I brush my teeth with Arm and Hammer Baking Soda and Mortons Iodized salt.  Now you can too.” we really don’t know how it tastes…   until we taste it.   Same with education.  Now in Washington, Chicago, and New York, there is a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths…..

An Executive Summary of a study was released today.   The study will come out later, but the executive summary does not paint a rosy picture on how this system seems to be working….

Here are key findings…..

The reforms deliver few benefits and in some cases harm the students they purport to help, while drawing attention and resources away from policies with real promise to address poverty-related barriers to school success:

Test scores increased less, and achievement gaps grew more, in “reform” cities than in other urban districts.

Reported successes for targeted students evaporated upon closer examination.

Test-based accountability prompted churn that thinned the ranks of experienced teachers, but not necessarily bad teachers.

School closures did not send students to better schools or save school districts money.

Charter schools further disrupted the districts while providing mixed benefits, particularly for the highest-needs students.

Emphasis on the widely touted market-oriented reforms drew attention and resources from initiatives with greater promise.

The reforms missed a critical factor driving achievement gaps: the influence of poverty on academic performance. Real, sustained change requires strategies that are more realistic, patient, and multipronged.

In most large urban districts studied, test score gains among minority students narrowed race-based achievement gaps, and low-income students had gains comparable to their affluent peers. This contrasts with reform cities, where achievement gaps grew as poor and minority students’ scores fell further behind those of their peers. Apparently disruption and “churn” do exactly that to the test scores of students in reform districts. If left alone, they’d be much higher.

This is for Jea Street. Without these reforms being pushed by RTTT, black 8th Graders nationwide increased their scores by 5 points… In Michelle Rhee’s DC district, the same group LOST 2 POINTS…. (Source:National Center for Education Statistics, Trial Urban District Reading Assessment, 2005 and 2011; National Assess-ment of Educational Progress scores for District of Columbia Public Schools provided by D.C. budget consultant Mary
Levy in 2012.)

“While test scores increased and achievement gaps shrank in most large urban districts over the past decade, scores stagnated for low-income and minority students and/or achievement gaps widened in the reform cities.” the study concluded….DC, Chicago, and New York all lost ground and other urban areas gained ground….

The reform policy does not work. It has not worked where it has been tried. We need to stop the poison from spreading. Reformers claimed massive test score gains that data proved false… For example Bloomberg claimed he decreased the achievement gap by 50%… It was 1%. Michelle Rhee stated that low income and minority high school students had gain in double digit proficiency. Instead, the gain was minimal, no improvement, and sometimes showing losses. Obama and Arne Duncun have announced a jump in proficiency from 38% to 67%, a jump of 29 points. However when adjusted to the national test, younger children jumped 8 points, and high schools only jumped 1.

Furthermore, these cities that used test scores to fire teachers, lost experienced educators and replaced them with people off the streets. Needless to say, there was no student improvement. In 2 years, 33% of DC’s teachers left. In four years, over half, 54% were working elsewhere….

New York City spent $50 million from 2007 to 2010 on awards to teachers who substantially raised test scores in high-needs schools. In 2011, it ended the program after a RAND study confirmed “mounting evidence that all those bonuses weren’t having much of an effect.” Way to set the trend Christina School Board. Jea Street: are you taking notes?

“The Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program, intended to “motivate educators to change their practices to ones better able to improve student achievement” failed to improve student achievement at any grade level, school progress report scores, or teachers’ reported attitudes and behaviors”…

Likewise closing schools that do not perform… just sends those students to other schools that do not perform. Only 6% of students moved in Chicago, actually landed in a better school… leaving 94% who were disrupted for no reason. In fact, many did worse.

Charter Schools did no better. Only 17% of Charter students did better than their public school counterparts. 49% stayed the same. 34% did worse.

Furthermore, some of the successes using more holist types of attack, are not given funding or praise because they clash with the corporate “message” being sold to the public. But, New York has 100 successful schools that increased the share of ninth-grade students on track to graduate and high school students’ college readiness. Instead of beating up teachers, these schools ensured strong, consistent student-teacher relationships; leveraged community partners for extra staff, coaching, and resources; and provided hands-on learning experiences, such as internships at lawfirms and seeding oyster beds….

To attract more high-quality teachers to Chicago Public Schools, then-CEO Arne Duncan identified the strongest teacher-preparation programs and encouraged CPS to hire from them, moved recruitment dates up, established job fairs to boost recruiting ability, and offered new teachers higher starting salaries. This improved teacher quality and reduced inequities across districts.

One of the better successes that is NOT a market based reformed program is that of Montgomery County of Maryland, which staunchly opposes using test scores to evaluate teachers, making it one of the best districts in the nation. It also never let in charter schools. Going in another direction, Cincinnati provides in-school health clinics which has cut down absences by a large factor. With no doctors care available for children at home, students previously stayed away from school getting behind and never catching up…

These reforms have better results than the reforms currently being foisted upon Delaware by it’s Race To The Top and by the Rodel Foundation. The best success comes from strong teacher-student relationships. The most successful students are ones in classes where a student teacher ration is under 11-1….

That is the direction the nation needs to go.

Tear It Down From The Top

Delaware’s Head of the Department of Education has 3 years teaching experience. That should be no surprise to you.  It is relatively old news.

Based on our state’s success, New York City is trying the same approach.  In charge of all New York City’s Public Schools, overseeing 135,000 public employees, is now a fresh faced  27 year old hired as a “special assistant” in 2010.

In less than 30 months his salary will rise from $75,000 to over $200,000….

He is a 2007 graduate from Ryder. He worked with several charter schools in New York City before earning a master’s degree in public policy and administration from Columbia in 2010…

He is a member of the reform group “Education Pioneers”  Education Pioneers aims to transform education into the best led and managed sector in the U.S. economy…Education Pioneers plans to recruit 10,000 leaders and managers by 2023, and connect the leaders in our network with high-impact leadership roles in key organizations across the education sector.

Translated:  their job is to bust unions.

One can’t help but notice that these two leaders of two respective departments of education share in age, a similarity with Kim Jong-un, leader of North Korea..

One cannot see either of them working well.

There Must Be 50 Ways To Taze A Lover

Jeff Christopher followers stage a show of force to give Sussex County an idea what will happen once a sheriff gets full power to make arrests base on his arbitrary judgment.

All three of his followers think this is what America needs more of.