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The more with which time passes, the more one sees how some things always stay the same.
This is something unrealized by youth… I certainly couldn’t see it, though many elderly tried to project their insight into me.. I simply lacked enough background to understand.
But seeing the return of things you fought to vanquish and were once successful, as well as expanding ones knowledge-base across many cultures, times, and distances, one tends to see a larger pattern in effect that probably is conducive to our survival…
Here is how it relates to conservatives and liberals, democracy and our ultimate survival…. .
No matter who you are, when you are, or where you are, if you are comfortable in your position, you tend to lean towards conservatism… Why wouldn’t you? It’s what enabled you to get and keep what you have… On the other hand, when you have nothing but dreams listed as your assets, you’ll insist on change, or newness, or something better than what you have.. Why shouldn’t you? Who would want to stay in the same decrepit conditions one finds themselves when they don’t have to?
And so democracy is simply a mechanism that allows for the ebb and flow of fortunes to change policy so parity is maintained for the most part…
When a majority of people are doing better than those who are not, then keeping what is working now is best for that society as a whole. On the other hand if it it not working, then changing ones course is better for that society. That makes so much sense, does it not?
So being a liberal in a time of economic well being is, how should we say politely, being “very forward thinking”?… Likewise being a conservative in a time of turmoil, could be rather dangerous, being so outnumbered so… you better hope you are “well liked”….
It is rare that events outside the human experience impact us on a large scale. Most of what affects us drastically (wars, Depressions, power grabs) usually comes from mankind’s own doing:… acts where we consciously chose to go a certain route, and more or less, damned all the torpedoes that got in the way.
Today we are in a bru-ha-ha of our own making…. Most of it directly came from our choosing to go towards giving the top 1% all of our money and keeping less for ourselves… It was a conscious decision on our parts. We elected enough Republicans to allow them to do what they told us they would do. It was no secret. We made a bad decision.
The experiment failed. They kept all the money and none trickled down, at least here within our borders… Our wealth actually built up China, which is great for them, but that hasn’t helped us much.
When one finds out one is losing something important, one hangs onto it harder… Which means someone has to try harder to take it away, right?… This gives insight into the harshness and lack of decorum in politics today… The ugliness we see today in Conservatives, and the hard clenching tenacity we see in Liberals, we’ve seen before in this country. We had it in the 1820’s between the old guard wealth of the Eastern Seaboard, and the wide individualistic wealth newly available across our national heartland. We saw it in the 1850’s as slavery hit the hot button and both sides became bitterly entrenched as support for slavery evaporated into a cauldron of gunpowder. It only took one spark. We saw it in the 1890’s as the capitalists grabbed up more and more companies, crushed workers rights, and the workers in cities became less and less empowered. Finally Republican Progressivism broke out of the chokehold. Then WWI flipped the scales back to big business and an investment boom followed by a Great Depression again created the necessary environment for another total sweep of old for new. That “new” lasted 60 years until it succumbed to having been so successful so that so many numbers who had previously benefited from liberal policies switched allegiances to keep their assets to themselves… And that leads to today, where our individualistic efforts to improve ourselves simply were not enough to balance ourselves comfortably against wealth and power and we are again looking at more government interaction…
So rawness and candor have always been part of politics. Always will be. Some things never change. (Some of us love it, btw.)
So what is happening today is that the post Republican Depression economy has made mockery out of those “traditional” Republican values and the only thing they have to hold on to power right now, is their appeal to the prejudiced. Against this direct solicitation, Progressives continue to offer a new vision of hope to millennials, or the return to the old vision of what actually worked well for 60 years to those still alive who actually lived it.
The conservatives count the votes and know their time is numbered. Population trends have pointed this out for many years. Which readily explains why they focus on ways and methods to limit large numbers of those voting, and have vacated all plans to appeal to new members… No surprise here.
In this election conservative policy has been reduced to stem complete annihilation of their party… For whereas they have failed over the past 16 years, Progressives have succeed across that same time. By going hog-wild on bigotry, they are using the only tactic with which they know how to keep some members in their party from flipping…
Bigotry is a “thing” unfortunately… And right now…. it is the only “thing” Republicans have to garner one single vote this November… Unless of course, it is ….. “wild hair”…
I was distracted by something more interesting… No, it wasn’t Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift… (but you should look into that if you don’t know what I’m saying right now…)
I found a toy, that explains a lot….
Buy clicking onto the picture one can interactively move each of the graphs below and understand our electorate much better after the outcome…. This is guaranteed to give hours of lost time, distracted viewing, and overextended neurons. Not only that, but it is fun; much, much more fun than what’s going on in Cleveland…which hasn’t been fun since Drew Carey left…
In fact, it explains a lot of what’s going on in Cleveland…
The above is my fiddling with the graph to discern what might happen if all college educated whites, all Blacks, all Hispanics, and all Asians voted 50% of their group for Hillary and the rest did not participate, AND if all non-college-educated whites were fired up and voted at rates higher than normal for them and all voted for Trump.
As you can see above, there are enough Trump voters to win the Presidency for Trump if just 4 out of 5 of them vote… .
To counter that, you would need 98% of Hispanics to vote for Hillary with all being equal; you would need 61% of Blacks to vote for Hillary with all being equal….
So it is pretty obvious that Trump does not need educated Whites. He does not need Black, Hispanics, OR Asians to win…
But he does need his base of uneducated Whites to turn out in numbers similar to how Blacks came out of the woodwork for Obama… Which means, he has to whip them up.
So all the Jerry Springer shenanigans the rest of America dismisses and laughs, points, and makes fun of, are what his audience eats up and drives them to the polls… The crazier he is, the higher his ratings go in this select group and it is not a matter of how many of those people support him…. They are there… It IS a matter of by how much they will support him in November…and will they come out of the woodwork to vote for him?
If you are an American who believes in fairness, democracy, and justice for all, or are color blind to racial slurs and hot-buttons, this makes the things Donald Trump says or doesn’t say, very scary for you. But dumb, he is not… He has only one shot of taking the Presidency and this tactic is just that… There are not enough other voters to stop him if his supporters become galvanized and show up en masse.
This toy quickly shows that straight up…..
And there is a lesson here. As the election comes forward your social media is going to light up with political memes… Guaranteed and there will be little you can do to stop it, (which you won’t because you’ll be too curious to stop being entertained).
But the tactic most taken, (that of belittling, bashing, condemning, taking the moral high ground, dismissing, and deprecating,) is absolutely pointless in convincing this audience. You will just lose friends… The only option you have to stop Donald Trump (if that is your goal), is to stop those first time voters for Donald from taking the plunge and going to the polls. You can do this by raising questions… Not answering. But raising them… here are some examples…
- How much will it cost to send all Mexicans back? Who will pay for it? Won’t taxes have to go up.
- If you ban Shara law then all terrorists look just like us. How will you tell them apart?
- If you give the wealthy large tax breaks, and they aren’t using it to create new jobs now, how will giving them even more next year make them do what they can do now, but aren’t?
- If you ban all abortion, and your wife gets knocked up in your old age, what are you going to do? Have a kid younger than your grandkids?
The way to stop argument in confused minds is to raise questions, lots of them… never offer answers, just raise questions… And that is what you should be doing, nicely, in all your interactions with non-college-educated whites from now till November..
Who knows, maybe they may have an answer YOU’ve never thought of and will change your perspective too…. But if not, at least they will become a little smarter and if non-college-educated whites all become smarter, that has to be good for America… right?
So make it “great” again…
.
Tonight opens the Republican Convention in Cleveland… The agenda for the convention is as follows…
Before you read through this, I would like you to keep something in mind I once saw on Mom blog somewhere deep back in my past….
It described an elementary school concert….
It described the wincing over sour notes, awkward silences, and unplayed stanzas…. it describes the torture taking place inside, as you felt embarrassment over all the miscues. It described the cacophony of instruments almost going off on their own.
Then at some point you realize: these musicians are only 8 years old… they don’t know how bad they are, they are just learning everything about music and bravely, they are attempting their first concert in public…
At that realization, one relaxes. Realizing it wasn’t supposed to be something worthy of recording but was instead, something far greater; we were seeing the unadulterated love of music or more so, the seeds to a future love of music being sown… And then, sitting back , the wincing stopped, and you could capture their spirit, and actually begin to enjoy the music…….
I was reminded of that while reading the below agenda for the next 4 days… These are amateurs we will be watching. It will be their first time pulling something like this off and of course there will be miscues. But look instead at the spirit of America, the spirit of politics, and realized there is something uniquely American in our political process that drives us forward, even as amateurs. It is driven by a love of country… Those are trying their best up there…Bashing them for any mistakes is like bashing an 8 year old for playing his violin….
Enjoy the mistakes; but realize they are just learning and don’t drag their miscues through the dirt as they go onward.. Like little children, they are doing the best they can and it is not easy to run a convention without any experience…..
I will hereby turn you over to their concert program:
Monday: Make America Safe Again
From attacks on our own soil and overseas to the tragedy in Benghazi, the policies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have left us vulnerable. Our immigration system is broken, leaving our country open to security threats and the negative consequences of illegal immigration. A Donald Trump administration will listen to and learn from our nation’s heroes who have put themselves in harm’s way and pursue a national security strategy and foreign policy that will strengthen our military and make America safe again.
Prime-Time Speakers
Please note: The speakers below are part of the prime-time program, which will follow Monday afternoon’s Convention Business Session.
Willie Robertson, CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander, star of Duck Dynasty
The star of A&E’s hit series Duck Dynasty, Willie Robertson, is the CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander, a New York Times bestselling author, traveling speaker, father of five, and an avid outdoorsman.
Governor Rick Perry, Former Governor of Texas
A fifth-generation Texan, Perry grew up in Haskell County. His parents were cotton farmers, and Perry was among the first in his family to attend college. Perry served as Texas’ lieutenant governor from 1999 to 2000. In 2000, he was elected governor and remains the longest-serving governor in Texas history.
Marcus Luttrell, U.S. Navy SEAL
Marcus Luttrell is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL and author of the book Lone Survivor, in which he tells the harrowing tale of a fierce battle in eastern Afghanistan in 2005. Since returning from war, Luttrell has started the Lone Survivor Foundation and become involved with The Boot Campaign. He also has written a second book, Service, which honors and praises all members of the military.
Scott Baio, Actor and Television Producer
Scott Baio is an actor and television producer. He landed his first starring role in the 1976 movie Bugsy Malone and is known for portraying memorable characters on several hit television shows, including Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi, and Charles In Charge. More recently, he has appeared in the Emmy Award-winning show Arrested Development and the Nick at Nite comedy See Dad Run, which he also produces. When he was young, Baio campaigned for Ronald Reagan, and in the 2016 GOP primary, he endorsed presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
Pat Smith, Mother of Benghazi victim, Sean Smith
Patricia (Pat) Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, who was killed during the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. Ever since that night, Smith has sought to learn the truth behind the events that led to the death of four Americans, including her only child.
Mark Geist, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Fought in Battle of Benghazi
Mark “Oz” Geist was a member of the Annex Security Team that fought the Battle of Benghazi in Libya from September 11 to September 12, 2012. A Colorado native, Geist joined the United States Marine Corps in 1984 and served for 12 years.
John Tiegen, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Fought in Battle of Benghazi
John “Tig” Tiegen was a member of the Annex Security Team that fought during the attack in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. He is responsible for saving many lives and has been recognized for his bravery. He has since co-authored the New York Times best-selling book 13 Hours, the harrowing tale of what really happened in Benghazi.
Kent Terry and Kelly Terry-Willis, The Brian Terry Foundation
Brian Terry was a Border Patrol agent who died tragically while protecting our nation’s border with Mexico. His death was a result of Operation Fast and Furious, a gun-walking operation gone wrong that put assault weapons into the hands of Mexican narco-terrorists. Kent Terry and Kelly Terry-Willis, Brian’s siblings, carry on his legacy through the Brian Terry Foundation.
Antonio Sabato, Jr., Actor
Daytime television viewers know actor Antonio Sabato Jr. for his roles on General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful.
Mary Ann Mendoza, Immigration Reform Advocate
Mary Ann Mendoza is a passionate advocate for immigration reform because she has experienced the consequences of our failed system. This May marked the second anniversary of her son Brandon’s death. Brandon, a Mesa Police Sergeant, was 32 when a drunk driver traveling on the wrong side of the highway crashed head-on into the car he was driving. The drunk driver was in the United States illegally, and despite being convicted of crimes years earlier, he was not deported.
Sabine Durden, Immigration Reform Advocate
Sabine Durden is an advocate for immigration reform. In 2012, her son Dominic died in a motorcycle accident when he was a hit by a truck driven by an unlicensed, uninsured, and unregistered driver who was in the United States illegally. In the wake of losing her only son, Sabine has been a vocal critic of our immigration system and has lobbied the federal government to defund sanctuary cities that do not actively search, prosecute, or detain unauthorized immigrants.
Jamiel Shaw, Immigration Reform Advocate
On March 2, 2008, Jamiel Shaw’s son, Jamiel Andre’ Shaw, II (Jas), was murdered while returning home from the Beverly Center Mall in Los Angeles, California. The shooter was a gang member in the United States illegally. He had been released from jail less than 24 hours before he killed Jas, even though there was a deportation hold on him. In honor of Jas’s life, Jamiel Sr. has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about our broken immigration system.
U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (TX-10)
U.S. Rep. Michael T. McCaul is currently serving his sixth term representing Texas’ 10th District in the United States House of Representatives. During his tenure, McCaul has developed a strong track record of fighting for lower taxes and less government spending. He serves as Chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee.
David Clarke, Sheriff of Milwaukee County
David Clarke is the sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. He began his career in law enforcement with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD). In 1992, he was promoted to lieutenant of detectives, and in 1996, he earned a promotion to captain of police and became part of the department’s command staff. As captain, Clarke was responsible for the department’s First Division, and in 1999, he became commanding officer of the MPD’s Intelligence Division.
U.S. Representative Sean Duffy (WI-7)
U.S. Representative Sean Duffy serves Wisconsin’s 7th District. Duffy is married to Rachel Campos-Duffy, whom he met while appearing on MTV’s hit television show The Real World, and the couple now has eight children. In Congress, Duffy is working to reduce government spending, lower taxes, promote individual freedom, and limit government intrusion.
Rachel Campos Duffy, The LIBRE Initiative
Rachel Campos-Duffy is the national spokeswoman for The LIBRE Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of the Hispanic community through conservative ideals. Campos-Duffy is also a commentator and television personality; she began her television career on MTV’s iconic reality television show, The Real World.
Darryl Glenn, El Paso County Commissioner
County Commissioner Darryl Glenn is the current Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Colorado, running to defeat incumbent U.S. Senator Michael Bennet in the general election this fall. Glenn won the Republican nomination with 37.5% of the vote in a crowded primary field.
U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas)
For nearly five years, Cotton served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. He completed two combat tours, serving in Iraq with the 101st Airborne and in Afghanistan. Upon returning home, Cotton worked for McKinsey & Co. and served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2015, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he represents the state of Arkansas.
Karen Vaughn, Mother of fallen U.S. Navy SEAL
Karen Vaughn is the mother of fallen U.S. Navy SEAL Aaron Carson Vaughn (SEAL Team VI). On August 6, 2011, Aaron was killed in action in the Tangi River Valley of Afghanistan when a chopper (call sign Extortion 17) carrying thirty Americans was shot from the sky while rushing into battle. Over the past four years, Karen has emerged as a powerful spokeswoman for American forces fighting on foreign soil and securing peace across the globe.
U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama)
U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions is serving his third term representing the people of Alabama. A senior member of the Armed Services Committee and the Budget Committee, he is also a member of the Judiciary Committee and chairman of its subcommittee on Immigration and National Interest. A strong advocate for securing the border, Sessions was the first U.S. Senator to endorse Donald Trump and has acted as a liaison between the Trump campaign and Capitol Hill.
Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor of New York City
Giuliani was wrapping up his second term in office when New York City was attacked on September 11, 2001. Immediately following the attack, Giuliani coordinated rescue operations that saved as many as 20,000 lives. Because of his strong leadership in the aftermath of September 11th, Americans came to see him as a voice of reassurance and consolation during an uncertain time.
Melania Trump, Businesswoman and Wife of Donald Trump
Melania married Donald Trump in January 2005. In March 2006 they had their first child, Barron William Trump. Born on April 26, 1970 in Slovenia, Melania Knauss began her modeling career at the age of sixteen. At the age of eighteen, she signed with a modeling agency in Milan. After obtaining a degree in design and architecture at University in Slovenia, Melania was jetting between photo shoots in Paris and Milan, finally settling in New York in 1996. Melania is dedicated to helping others, and her generosity has been noted. She was Honorary Chairwoman for Martha Graham Dance Company in April 2005; is an active member of the Police Athletic League which honored her with Woman of the Year 2006; has been an Honorary Chairwoman for The Boy’s Club of New York for five consecutive years; and in 2005, the American Red Cross awarded her with Goodwill Ambassador, which she has proudly served for four years. In April of 2008, Melania was asked by Love Our Children USA and NASDAQ to participate in the Fifth Annual National Love Our Children Day and the beginning of National Child Abuse Prevention month by ringing the closing bell at NASDAQ.
Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, U.S. Army (ret.)
Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn has spent his entire life and career serving his country. He served in various command and staff positions in the U.S. Army and as Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Partner Engagement before becoming Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency on July 24, 2012. During his time in the Army, Lieutenant General Flynn held high-ranking leadership posts at the Joint Special Operations Command and U.S. Central Command. He served in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst has dedicated her life to Iowa and her country, having served in the military for over 23 years and now in the United States Senate. In November 2014, Ernst was elected as the first woman to serve in federal elected office from the State of Iowa and also became the first female combat veteran elected to serve in the United States Senate.
Jason Beardsley, Concerned Veterans for America
Jason Beardsley serves as Special Operations Advisor for Concerned Veterans for America and is the co-founder and CEO of The Underground Movement, a company that designs custom graphic t-shirts inspired by well-known and forgotten American heroes. Jason is a decorated military veteran with a combined 22 years of experience in the Army and Navy.
U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke (MT)
Congressman Ryan Zinke is currently serving the state of Montana’s at-large district in the United States House of Representatives. A former Navy SEAL, Zinke spent 23 years serving our country and fighting for America before entering public office. Continuously focused on giving back to the community that he grew up in, Zinke has used his time in office to push for improving the VA, reforming management of federal lands, preserving the future of family farming and ranching, and defending the Constitution.
Tuesday: Make America Work Again
The Obama years have delivered anemic economic growth, the lowest labor-force participation rate in 38 years, and job-killing regulations and legislation like Obamacare. These policies are crushing middle-class families, and a Hillary Clinton presidency would merely be an Obama third term that would deliver the same poor results. Donald Trump is a successful businessman with a solid record of creating jobs and the experience we need to get America’s economy up and running … and get Americans working again.
Prime-Time Speakers
Please note: The speakers below are part of the prime-time program, which will follow Tuesday’s Nomination Process.
Sharon Day, Co-Chair of the Republican National Committee
Sharon Day was elected Co-Chairman of the Republican National Committee on January 14, 2011, and was re-elected on January 25, 2013. From 2009-2011, she served as RNC Secretary. She has served the Republican Party at the local, state, and national levels for more than 20 years.
Dana White, President, UFC
Dana White is the president and business visionary behind the success of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A self-described political independent, White has expressed his gratitude to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump for helping the UFC succeed. Trump hosted the once-controversial mixed martial arts competitions at his Trump Taj Mahal casino property when other venues shunned the sport.
Governor Asa Hutchison, Governor of Arkansas
Asa Hutchinson is serving his first term as Governor of Arkansas. His main priority is bringing more jobs and economic growth to his native state, and he is working hard to make Arkansas an attractive place to locate a business.
Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas Attorney General
Rutledge’s election in 2014 was the first time a woman or a Republican had been elected Arkansas Attorney General. Rutledge has joined Arkansas with Texas and other states in challenging the constitutionality of the Obama Administration’s executive orders on immigration and in filing to protect personal property rights.
Michael B, Mukasey, Former Attorney General
Michael Mukasey served as Attorney General of the United States from November 2007 to January 2009. Prior to serving as Attorney General, Mukasey served as a judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, becoming Chief Judge in 2000.
Andy Wist, Businessman
Andy Wist founded the Standard Waterproofing Company in 1979. Beginning in his mom’s basement in Brooklyn, Andy grew the company into one of the largest roofing, waterproofing, and landmark restoration companies in New York City, that today counts more than 180 employees and is headquartered in the Bronx.
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin)
Elected in 2010, Johnson has been fighting to get the country’s fiscal house in order. He is focused on reining in government spending and bringing jobs back to the people of Wisconsin. Before being elected to office, Johnson started a polyester and plastics manufacturing business, PACUR, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Running this small business, Johnson did everything from operating the equipment to keeping the company books.
Chris Cox, Executive Director of NRA Institute for Legislative Action
Chris Cox directs NRA’s nationwide legislative and political efforts. As a champion of the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Cox has directed NRA’s electoral efforts at every level. He has been at the forefront of efforts resisting Obama administration gun control initiatives as well as abuses of power including the Justice Department’s Operation Fast and Furious effort that knowingly allowed guns to “walk” to Mexican drug cartels.
Natalie Gulbis, Golfer, LPGA
Natalie Gulbis is a professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA tour. The California native has played golf since the age of four and earned second place in Rookie of the Year points during her first year on tour in 2002. Gulbis starred in the 2005 and 2006 reality show, The Natalie Gulbis Show, which aired on The Golf Channel. Gulbis wrote a much-talked about piece on golf.com entitled “The Donald Trump I Know” in which she voiced her strong support for Donald Trump to become President of the United States.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky)
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell has represented the state of Kentucky since 1985, making him the state’s longest-serving senator. McConnell also serves in the Senate leadership; he is currently the Senate Majority Leader, and before assuming that role, he served an eight-year term as Senate Minority Leader.
U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (WI-1)
U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is the permanent chairman of the 2016 Republican National Convention. Born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, Ryan has spent his life advocating for real solutions that help increase opportunities for all Americans. He first won election to the U.S. House in 1999, and during his tenure, he has become known for his leadership on budget and fiscal matters.
U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23)
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has represented California in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2007. A fourth-generation resident of Kern County, California, he grew up in a working-class family and ran a small business, Kevin O’s Deli. He has applied this background to his work on behalf of small businesses and positions on burdensome taxes and regulations.
Governor Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was a candidate for president in the 2016 Republican primary. First elected governor in 2010, he was re-elected to his second term in 2013. The governor’s top priorities include balancing the state’s budget, education reform, and changing the national conversation about drug addiction and treatment.
Tiffany Trump, Daughter of Donald Trump
Tiffany Trump was born October 13, 1993 to Donald Trump and Marla Maples. Raised in California, she is the second-youngest of Donald Trump’s children. Tiffany graduated from University of Pennsylvania this spring with a double major in sociology and urban studies. She is a fashion model, singer, and influential presence on social media.
Kerry Woolard, General Manager, Trump Winery
Kerry Woolard is the General Manager at Trump Winery, a 1,300-acre estate located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in central Virginia. A graduate of the College of William and Mary, Kerry has 15 years of winery management experience and has contributed to wine columns for the Wine Gazette and USA Today. In her role at Trump Winery, Kerry oversees all operations and has worked with Donald Trump to make the business a huge success.
Donald Trump, Jr., Son of Donald Trump and EVP, The Trump Organization
Donald J. Trump, Jr. is an innovator and leader in today’s business world. As an Executive Vice President at The Trump Organization, Donald Jr. works in tandem with his siblings Ivanka and Eric to expand the company’s real estate, retail, commercial, hotel and golf interests nationally and internationally. His extensive real estate development experience, rigorous education and inherent business sense add a level of detail and depth to the management of all current and future Trump projects.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia)
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito is the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate in West Virginia’s history. In 1996, Capito was elected to the 31st District of the West Virginia House of Delegates, where she served two terms and was the minority chairman on the Health and Human Resources Committee and a member of the Judiciary and Banking and Insurance Committees.
Dr. Ben Carson, Neurosurgeon
A candidate for the presidency in this year’s Republican primary, Ben Carson grew up in a poor, single-parent household in Detroit, Michigan. Initially a student earning mediocre grades, his mother encouraged him to read and cultivated his love of learning. Between his degrees, Carson worked as an X-ray technician, a bank teller, a school bus driver, a supervisor for highway cleanup crews, and a crane operator in a steel factory.
Kimberlin Brown, Actor
An actress best known for her roles in the television dramas The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, Kimberlin Brown is also a California avocado farmer, host of The Design Network’s interior designer show Dramatic Design, and a small business owner.
Wednesday: Make America First Again
America has always been an exceptional nation. Our Founding Fathers created a system of government that has protected our liberty, allowed American ingenuity to flourish, and lifted people out of poverty by creating the conditions for opportunity and prosperity. Unfortunately, years of bad policies and poor leadership have weakened our position in the world. Under a Trump administration, America will once again be a beacon of progress and opportunity.
Primetime Program, 7 P.M.
Laura Ingraham, Radio Host
A former white-collar defense attorney and Supreme Court law clerk, Laura Ingraham is the most-listened-to woman on political talk radio. The Laura Ingraham Show is ranked in radio’s Top 10, and heard coast-to-coast in 225 markets.
Phil Ruffin, Businessman
Ruffin is an American businessman with diverse interests in real estate, lodging, manufacturing, energy, and retail enterprises. Ruffin started his business in 1959 with a single convenience store and quickly grew to own 65 stores in four states. He currently holds 12 hotels in Kansas, Maryland, California, Oklahoma, Texas, and Alabama.
Pam Bondi, Attorney General of Florida
Pam Bondi is currently serving as Florida’s 37th Attorney General. Since being sworn into office on January 4, 2011, Bondi has worked tirelessly to protect the people of Florida and uphold the state’s laws and the Constitution. During her tenure, she has focused on defending Florida’s constitutional rights against the federal health care law.
Eileen Collins, Astronaut (retired)
Eileen Collins is an astronaut and veteran of four Space Shuttle missions. She was the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission and logged over 537 hours in space during her tenure at NASA.
Michelle Van Etten, Small Business Owner
Michelle Van Etten is a small business owner who was recently featured in The Greatest Networkers in the World second edition. Michelle employs over 100,000 people and is a strong supporter of Donald Trump, knowing his policies will support businesses all across America.
Kentucky State Senator Ralph Alvarado, Jr.
Ralph Alvarado is currently serving as a Kentucky State Senator. Trained as a physician specializing in internal medicine and pediatrics, Alvarado worked as President of Winchester Medical Associates before joining KentuckyOne Medical Group. Alvarado’s experience as a small business owner gave him firsthand knowledge of how tough business ownership can be.
Darrell Scott, Pastor
Dr. Darrell C. Scott, Senior Pastor and Co-Founder of New Spirit Revival Center Ministries, has given his life to spreading the word of God and helping those in need. Scott started the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights, Ohio on February 14, 1994, with just four members in attendance. His ministry has since grown to numbers in the thousands and has focused on reviving its Cleveland Community.
Harold Hamm, Continental Resources
Harold Hamm is an American entrepreneur and played a key role in the development of the technologies behind the United States’ recent renaissance in oil and natural gas production. Born in Lexington, Oklahoma, Hamm was the youngest of 13 children. With just a high-school education, Hamm started his own business at the age of 21. This grassroots startup, Continental Resources, soon became a NYSE-traded, Top 10 oil producer in the United States Lower 48.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
A candidate in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Scott Walker is the 45th governor of Wisconsin. He was first elected in 2010 and re-elected to a second term in 2014. Upon taking office, Walker proposed bold reforms that eliminated Wisconsin’s $3.6 billion budget deficit without raising taxes. During his tenure in office, Walker has taken on public-sector labor unions, signing a bill to limit public employee collective bargaining and winning a recall election over the issue.
Lynne Patton, The Eric Trump Foundation
Lynne Patton is Vice President of The Eric Trump Foundation and Senior Assistant to Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Donald Trump, Jr. As VP, Lynne works in tandem with the Executive Director/President of the Foundation to oversee all operations, volunteers, events, outreach, social media, vendors, and corporate partnerships. She assists with the planning of all major fundraising events for the Foundation. She also works to identify and develop viable partnerships and research projects for the Foundation in conjunction with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida)
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio was a candidate in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. The son of Cuban immigrants who came to America in 1956, Rubio has spent most of his life in West Miami, Florida, leaving only for a six-year period when his parents moved their family to Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2010, Rubio ran for the U.S. Senate. During his term, he has championed efforts to restore the American Dream: Social Security and Medicare reform, greater access to affordable higher education, the revitalization of America’s military, efforts to grow the economy, and the empowerment of states and their citizens in the fight against poverty.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, a candidate in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, won election to the United States Senate in 2012, where he represents the state of Texas. During his tenure in office, Cruz has led the fight to repeal Obamacare, to stop President Obama’s executive amnesty, and to defend life, marriage, and the U.S. Constitution.
Eric Trump, Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization
Eric Trump currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Development and Acquisitions for The Trump Organization. Alongside his father, Donald Trump, Eric works on new project acquisition, development and construction around the world. He has also spearheaded the rapid growth of the Trump Golf Collection. Eric attended Georgetown University where he earned a degree in finance and management. In 2006, he founded the Eric Trump Foundation to help raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Newt & Callista Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House and his wife
A candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, Newt Gingrich is best known as the architect of the Contract with America, the document that led the Republican Party to victory in 1994 by capturing the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. Callista Gingrich is the president of Gingrich Productions, a multimedia production company based in Washington, D.C. She and her husband host and produce historical and public policy documentaries.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Presumptive candidate for Vice President
Mike Pence was elected the 50th Governor of the State of Indiana in 2012. Since taking office, Pence has achieved the largest state tax cut in Indiana history while also lowering the business personal property tax and corporate income tax to attract new investment and bring more jobs to Indiana. He is the presumptive candidate for Vice President for Donald Trump.
Thursday: Make America One Again
America faces serious challenges at home and threats from abroad. In order to turn our challenges into opportunities and keep America secure, we need leadership that will focus on what unites us, not what divides us. Donald Trump will move our country beyond the divisive identity politics that have been holding us back by restoring leadership, building trust, and focusing on our shared love of country and our common goal of making America great again..
Primetime Program, 7:30 P.M.
Brock Mealer, Motivational Speaker
Brock Mealer is a walking miracle. After suffering a spinal cord injury on Christmas Eve of 2007, he was told he had a one percent chance he would ever walk again. Mealer’s story struck the hearts of millions of Americans. He sustained his injury in a car crash just five minutes away from his home. While his brother, an offensive lineman headed to the University of Michigan to play football, was able to free Brock from the wreckage, the two brothers lost their father, David, and Elliot’s girlfriend, Hollis Richer, in the crash. Today, Brock has conquered the odds and is able to walk again. He now shares his story with many, inspiring those he meets to join the one percent.
U.S Representative Marsha Blackburn (TN-7)
Rep. Marsha Blackburn was first elected to Congress from the 7th Congressional District of Tennessee in 2002. As a small business woman, author, mother, grandmother and Member of Congress, she has dedicated her service to making America a more prosperous place to live. No stranger to adversity and hard work, Marsha went to college on a 4-H scholarship and worked her way through school selling books for the Southwestern Company. She was one of their first female sales associates and one of their first female sales managers, assisting the company in establishing a division focused on women.
Governor Mary Fallin, Governor of Oklahoma
Mary Fallin is the current Governor of Oklahoma. The first woman elected to the job, Fallin earned the position through years of service to the people and the state of Oklahoma. Fallin started her career in politics serving two terms as a state representative. She then went on to serve as Lieutenant Governor, Congresswoman from the 5th District, and finally as Governor. Her tenure is also marked by the work she did when serving as the chairman of the National Governors Association, where she led a nationwide initiative to help better align education with the needs of a modern day workforce.
Dr. Lisa Shin, National Diversity Coalition for Trump
Dr. Lisa Shin, OD, is the owner of Los Alamos Family Eyecare, P.C. in Los Alamos, New Mexico. She is known and trusted as an authority on eye care and vision protection. Dr. Shin is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump. As a member of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump as well as a Trump delegate to the Republican National Convention, she has worked to support Donald Trump’s candidacy from New Mexico all the way to Cleveland, Ohio.
Reince Priebus, RNC Chairman
Reince Priebus’ three terms make him the longest-serving chairman in modern history. During his first term as chairman, Priebus oversaw a dramatic turnaround of the RNC, rescuing its finances, rebuilding the operations, and implementing the best ground game effort the committee had ever organized. Priebus dedicated his second term to taking the party’s message of freedom and economic opportunity to all states and all communities. By welcoming new voices and voters and harnessing the power of new technology, he led the RNC in building the infrastructure needed for a landslide GOP victory in the midterm elections. Now in his third term, Priebus is working to deliver victories in races across the country in the 2016 campaign.
Jerry Falwell, Jr., President of Liberty University and evangelical leader
Jerry Falwell, Jr. is currently serving as the President of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, appointed in 2007 after the death of his father, Jerry Falwell, Sr. Falwell attended Liberty University himself after which he earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School. During his career he has worked in private practice and served as General Counsel for his father’s entities. Falwell is an evangelical leader and a proven Republican who stands up for America’s faith and liberties.
Peter Thiel, Venture Capitalist
As a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, he has been involved in some of the most dynamic companies to emerge from Silicon Valley over the past two decades. In 1998, Thiel made e-commerce easier, faster, and more secure by co-founding PayPal, defining a new era of fast and secure online commerce. He was the first outside investor and director at Facebook, and also launched Palantir Technologies, where he serves as chairman of the board of directors. Peter established and funds the Thiel Foundation, which promotes freedom in all its forms while working to advance technological progress and long-term thinking about the future.
Tom Barrack, CEO of Colony Capital
Tom Barrack is a real estate investor and the Founder and Executive Chairman of Colony Capital. Prior to starting his own business, Barrack served in the Reagan administration as Deputy Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior. Barrack and Donald Trump have worked together on many real estate deals during their time in business. They have developed a mutual admiration and respect, leading Barrack to support Trump’s bid to be President of the United States.
Ivanka Trump, Daughter of Donald Trump and EVP at the Trump Organization
Ivanka Trump is a real estate executive, entrepreneur, wife and mother. As Executive Vice President of Acquisitions and Development at the Trump Organization, she is leading some of the company’s most high-profile deals, including the $200-million conversion of the historic Old Post Office in Washington, DC into a luxury hotel and the $250-million renovation of the iconic Doral Golf Resort in Miami. Ivanka is also the founder of the fashion line Ivanka Trump Collection.
Donald J. Trump, Republican presumptive candidate for President of the United States
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
One of the best quotes I got from Tuesday’s Primary (Super Tuesday), was that the Republican Party is finally showing some unity.
It is uniting under Donald Trump. Not that the Republican power elite wants it too, but the reality is that in state after state, individual voters are doing what the elite of their party cannot do… unify the party behind one man….
The Republican voter is voting exactly what he wants… Face it. The average Republicans wants Mexico to build a wall,. they want all Muslims banned, and they want to be perfectly comfortable with their prejudices, even though they didn’t know that was what they wanted, until “the Donald” put it out there. But it IS out there, and THAT, is what they want…
The GOP is unifying behind it.and getting stronger party primary turnout than it’s had in years….No one is really surprised except those at the top of the Republican Party who’ve been in denial all these years over what their party really was…
Others of us have been saying that all along….
🙂
I am saddened to see that Delaware Secretary of Education Dr. Steven Godowsky, our newly confirmed superintendent, has slid so rapidly into the cess pool of corporate malpractice… I hope I am premature in my assessment. There was once great opportunity to dismantle the planks of corporate reform that do not work.
Nice guys are nice until you fight them. Leading to the saying that “nicety is a pretext based on prior agreements.”
But it appears that we are about to return to having schools be punished if they do not hit 95% levels of students taking the test.
I am harkened by the reaction of the football players at the University of Missouri… When faced with an injustice, they said no: we won’t play until our head resigns…
They said so with solidarity. And if he did not resign, they would not play and the school would be fined $10 million I believe… Since that was 20 years worth of the president’s yearly compensation, the powers-that-be insisted that he step down, and he did.
This is similar to what opt out must now do….
Solidly opt out large numbers of students from taking the test. Stay steadfast and true as the threats of penalties get thrown our way… If the penalties are real, the powers-that-be will quickly realize that continuing support for a $119 million dollar agenda now deemed worthless, is far more expensive than losing $400 million each and every year across the next 20….
The Delaware General Assembly said almost unanimously that Opt Out was a parental right and neither the state nor schools had any business making impositions upon parents choosing what was best for their child. Tests should be there to help children. Not children there to justify the test.
These are our football players. And our Governor who represents Missouri’s University president has not done what was asked: fix the problem….. The General Assembly as did the football players, needs to assert their power for they are the official maker of laws and policy; the governor simply executes their implementation… Do they now choose to forever give up their right to represent the people? Stay tuned.
We The People are the powers that be… We are the ones who decide who keeps or loses their job. We are also the ones who suffer or must pay more if funds are not forthcoming…
We need to stand firm under threats and continue to insist that all parents now opt their child out of this test… This test has no bearing on determining if or whether a child is career or college ready.
A teacher who deals with your child daily, is far more capable of making that assessment.
If you haven’t; send in your opt out the day after Veteran’s Day….
First to understand the headline, Go here…
Through minutes buried on the DOE website, Keven shows us their game plan for the future… It is all about coming up with an arbitrary way of rating schools…
If they like your school’s principal… They will give it a good rating… (There, there, you did exactly as we said, Mr. Principal. Thanks for forwarding OUR agenda OVER those of parents… here is your good rating…..)
If they don’t like your school’s principal… They give your school a bad rating… (Sorry, Mr. Principal.. you did not fully support the bogus fake test we rolled out called the Smarter Balanced Assessment and therefore you get a fail……)
And one can’t complain back, because this rating system cherry picks ratings for each school … For example, Charters get let off the hook, their neighborhood public school gets pummeled even though all old data shows the charters failed as did Moyer, REACH, and Pencader, and neighboring public schools improved greatly (from a 45% to 72%).
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What this is like,… is ‘New Coke’ being forced upon you (for those old enough to remember it)… One marketing person thinks that ‘New Coke’ is better and convinces everyone in the company to go forward with it, though employees are shaking their head as they take their orders from on high…
What happened was… no one liked it; no one bought it.. It just sat on the shelves… Coke rushed to get the old coke back on shelves calling it Coca-Cola Classic and in their absence literally everyone switched to Pepsi… This became “the classic” example of epic marketing FAIL…
Now for us, one person thinks this Smarter Balanced Assessment is better, and has used their power to convince a majority in politics that we need to go forward. The employees closest to the action are all shaking their heads saying “it is crazy”, but would lose their jobs if they didn’t comply and since they have no other way to make income, they do what they are told, just as would you or I… And just like ‘New Coke’, this gets forced on the public.. Just like ‘New Coke’, the public obligingly takes their first curious sip……
Just like ‘New Coke’: EWWWWWWWWW… they all say.
What is the equivalent of Pepsi (opposite of Coke) to Delaware’s public schools? Yes, charters and private schools… And it is no secret that those in charge of formulating this policy were all former Charter Nazi’s at their former jobs.
So IS this just a misguided attempt to better a product, one that no one except its creators want to buy?… Or is it an attempt to fool the public into thinking their public schools are failing and that only charters can save and help their child get properly trained for adulthood?…
The sad thing is as more and more children go to charters, the public schools implode from lack of funding, and eventually serve only as a collective receptacle of all those unable to meet the high bar of charter entry, and yes, it does indeed becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. So is this deliberate swipe at demeaning public schools (not the first time tried by this administration) indeed a sinister plot to springboard huge corporate interests into the Delaware Market?… KIPP and Great Oaks are just two.
If so, why would Penny Marshal want to destroy public schools and go with charters?
Answer as always, is money.
Here is how it works. In the waning years of the Clinton presidency a tax credit was passed to allow free- enterprise-zones in our blighted inner cities. Made sense to do so.. That offers a 39% tax credit… yes.. 39%.
This allows a charter schools more than any other business, (charter schools incomes are set; other businesses are determinant on fluctuations.) to double their investment in 7 years...
Works like this…
You are Charlie Copeland and you put up $5 million up for your charter schools… the tax credits are designated by percentages for each year and they go like this for seven of them…. 5%, 5%, 5%, 6%, 6%, 6%, 6%…….. You are allowed to take that percentage off your original investment. So add the $5 million times either 5% or 6%…. $250,000, $250,000, $250,000, $300,000, $300,000, $300,000, $300,000….. for a total of $1,950,000 which is often rounded up to $2 million. Which makes your total investment in those schools come down to a net of $3 million… To double your investment (2 X 3) in 7 years, you would need to hit the $6 million mark by that time frame….
Doing math here….. $6,000,000 divided by 7 years gives your yearly target requirement, $857,000… or rounded up to $860,000. To double your money you would need to hit that per annum…..
When a child moves from public school to a charter, roughly $3700 follows him… The best charters (profit wise) skim 33% off the top… therefore to meet this doubling guideline, they would need…[ (x) X .33($3700) = $860,000 ] so x = 704 students…. How can you get 704 students to go to the former Bank of America charter schools? Simple… Close down city schools all around it.
Now don’t forget “the” rents. The Longwood Trust got this for free but don’t think they won’t charge rent… Since a charter can do what it wants (it is in their charter) they can pay rent.. The National Charter School Network recommends that rent stay under 20% of all earnings. But that is unenforceable and there are Charter Schools in Rick Scott’s Florida paying 43% rent… but they are non profits being run by real estate companies who hold the properties they are on…. So a large part of the cost of that child’s education goes to the rent… (normally one fifth, but sometimes two fifths)…
I bring this up so you understand why this is happening… I’ve been just as guilty as others of using speech tactics to amp up the audience and for the most part, almost everyone else has likewise chimed in and has said… WTF are they doing… all this is crazy!
No, it is not crazy.. It is pretty smart actually. It is a way to go around existing law and privatize public education which is perfectly legal. We set these rules up for good reasons and they are being used to make people wealthy which was their intention… So these guys are not crazy in the least….
What is crazy, is that this is being sold as being good for children.. And it all ties together.. Common Core, Charter Schools, Race To The Top, Data Mining, Privatization of Education, Smarter Balanced Assessments.
Charter Schools would be dying out now based on their overall performance, but for the Smarter Balanced Assessment which as you see from Kevin’s revelation above, …. will be used to rate them higher and public schools lower. The Smarter Balanced would not exist if not for the Common Core initiatives. And no one would have paid Common Core any mind, if not for the free money attached to the Race To The Top initiatives. Data mining fits in. Your child will be refused entry if there is any previous problem and we track those now and no child is ever forgiven.
It all ties together and it works its way out whether you do anything or not…
For you see, we’ve really come down to a war for your child… Is your child a commodity to be used at investor’s discretion, and thanks for your property tax dollars btw, but no, sorry, you have no accountability over them……
Or is your child a human being, one you are charged with making the best choice for and for which you hold the responsibility over how he turns out?
Bottom line…. either way it is always going to be your responsibility… If charter schools fail… they blame it on you. If test scores are low, they blame it on you. How many times have you read… “it’s these dumb parents’ fault? Too many I suspect.
The question you need to face now, is… a), whether you want to turn over your child to someone who cares nothing for them and is not accountable ( never forget the closings of 3 Delaware schools)….
Or b), do you want to be able to go to a school board and make your points directly. have them discussed and enacted, and then vote those people out who want to ruin your child’s future so their friend can double his investment in 7 years……
You see… this is war… for your child. It is as if someone marched into Delaware and imposed martial law, It is as if an invading army used all your resources for their benefit.. As history will tell, you have only two options… The first is to bribe them… and that is always temporal… They raise the demands until eventually you can’t pay the ransom and by then, you are too broke to fight their invading armies….
Or you can fight them from the get-go.. War is a term which means you fight to the death because there is no other way to resolve the fact that you both want possession of something, and the winner is the one who has the fewest causalities and all who survive accept him as the winner.
We are in one now and most of Delaware is asleep. When they wake up and the invaders are here, that’s when they first realize what the night-watchmen on the parapets were yelling about in the dark…
Occasionally in life, you really have to call things as they are… make your choice and then take the consequences… Our forefathers did so when they called out the king of Great Britain; they won, but primarily because they won over the French…. Likewise our Southern section did so when they fired on Fort Sumter… but they wound up losing because of Lincoln’s overwhelming will to keep the union together, and greater numbers of men and supplies which the North had over its Southern counterparts. In both cases, war settled the issue in the US’s favor.
What we see here instead, is very similar to the conquest of the Old West by speculative money and investment. We, The People, are the Indians… If we wait until we see their full cavalries arrayed against us… we’ve lost. just look at Indian reservation children today to see what’s coming… But if we wipe them out first… as they struggle to get their toeholds, we end the onslaught. No longer for them, is the business deal worth pursuing.
But there is a difference between the Indians and us, though our plights are now similar. The Indians didn’t have a Constitution. The Indians didn’t have elected officials. The Indians didn’t have voting power…. and they couldn’t just stop the advancement, by opting out.
That is why,…. what Kevin shows us in their own words, is deeply troubling. A wake up call really. In closed door sessions, they are trying to take away those rights and turn us into Indians…..
What you need to ponder is:……. Are you just going to do nothing and let them?….
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This is unprecedented. $21 million… Remember the casinos who were $12 million in the hole? Oh, its a tragedy they whined; we’ll lose jobs, we have no choice but to reimburse the profits being lost by the casino owners…. Remember when they asked for $37 million the next year? Again…. We have to do it…
Well, guess what… Jobs are being lost at Christina too. And it is solely because of Charters…. Minus $21 million!
We pay tax money to fund our public schools. Privateers bribed our legislature (piloted by Sokola (see Exceptional Delaware) into allowing charter schools steal money from public schools…
If we paid taxes to New Castle County and as an example, one fifth of then were being sent to Sussex County because Sam Wilson was a friend of Charlie Copeland and needed a welfare hand-out… we would have a legal case on hand. Our money is collected for our district. If we paid the state that same money then such would be legal; it would be in their jurisdiction.. But we don’t pay the state… We pay our district….
From the 2015 Budget conveniently provided by Those In Favor, we see that Current Expense Tax Receipts for the Christina District is pegged at $76,856,000 out of which is immediately stolen by Charters: $20,146,672…. So the Charters take (20,146,672/76,856,000) or 26.21% of every tax dollar you give.…
For every $500 you are assessed in Christina……. $131 IS NOT GOING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS… It is going to Charters…..
Which means that for every $12,000 required to teach each child in your school…. there is only $8854 dollars going to your child’s education….
This is Dave Sokola’s fault (again, see Exceptional Delaware)……
Now, compounded to this dilemma is the fact that with the absence of any Race To The Top money those programs pushing Common Core are still costing the district close to $14 million per year… (which incidentally is close to its shortfall… Getting rid of both Common Core and the Smarter Balanced Assessment could make the Christina District financially solvent as is…
But adding the Common Core costs upon to the Charter School costs compounds the problem yielding a loss of $35,000,000 dollars or 45.45% of your local tax dollars…
So those who complain that they aren’t getting the bang for their buck are correct… they are getting exactly 55% of the bang for their buck…
If we simply cut charters off of district funding… and if we simply dropped the Smarter Balanced Assessment, this District would instantly have back $35,000,000 of its lost money to plump down into making its school system one of the best in the state….
The problem is not teachers. The problem is not schools. The problem is not poverty. …. .The problem is not the district…. The problem with education in Delaware all comes from the Corporate Reform movement which is trying hard to bankrupt public schools so they can put in charters and be paid royally for doing so….
The even bigger problem with that, is that only 17% of charters are better off than the schools they replace. 37% are actually worse!!!!! And the balance sort of muddle as the same…. Building charters only gives you a one in six shot at improving the education of those children, while guaranteeing the demise of every one of the 79% remaining in public schools because of the local lack of funding which you can plainly see here in Delaware
We need a class action lawsuit that seeks an injunction of continuing any charter school in 2017… Next it needs to be up to the individual legislators to throw out the lobbyists and listen to real people for a change, and remove all charters from district funding… All the tax base goes to the feeder school’s district And we need to remove the Smarter Balanced Assessment as our state albatross…. (Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner reference)
We can fix Christina’s problems without more taxes….. if we unite to rid ourselves of all charter schools and the Smarter Balanced Assessments…
But you see… the problem of the shortfall is plainly not that of Christina’s District… it is all Dave Sokola’s (see Exceptional Delaware)
In response to Governor Markell’s veto on HB 50, the next step is undertaken. Many may not know how to get a bill past a governor’s veto. So here it is.
Step 1: Bombard the leaders…. Just like dropping bunker-busters where we thought Saddam was hiding, you try to decapitate the opposition by taking out their head… Since we aren’t killing anyone we use different tactics which is political pressure. First off, understand this. You who are reading this are the front line. If the front line does not react, then the second through 100th lines will not react as well…
Copy and Paste or create your own and send as an email to the House and Senate leadership…
Dear_____________;
Please. For the sake of democracy, schedule a special session to override Governor Markell’s veto before the School year begins in September. A bill passed overwhelmingly in both houses was vetoed solely to appease special interests.
Presient Pro Tempore – Patricia M. Blevins (D)
Phone: (302) 744-4133
Email: Patricia.Blevins@state.de.us
Senate Majority Leader – David B. McBride (D)
Phone: (302) 744-4167
Email: David.McBride@state.de.us
Speaker of the House – Peter C. Schwartzkopf (D)
Phone: (302) 744-4351
Email: Peter.Schwartzkopf@state.de.us
House Majority Leader – Valerie J. Longhurst (D)
Phone: (302) 744-4351
Email: Valerie.Longhurst@state.de.us
Step 2: Pressure your local representative… He/she has just finished 6 months of emotionally draining sessions followed by long drives and is finally on break. The last thing they want is to hear from you… Which of course means: NOW, is the time….
Dear _________________:
I’m am disappointed in Governor Markell’s veto of HB 50. It was overwhelmingly passed by both chambers. However our Constitution allows for We, The People to override a special interest’s hold on a governor, by having a special session convene and vote to overide that veto. Please contact your leadership and demand that this take place before the beginning of the school year so all parents and teachers have clarity and can make plans accordingly.
Step 3: Become a whistleblower, hero, or troublemaker (same thing, depends on who is doing the calling) for your district’s representatives… Tom Carper for what little he’s worth now, once gave some awesome advice back when he was governor… “If you want us to do something….. MAKE us have no option but to do it…” I sat in the audience and went, “wow, brilliant” … He’s saying that he has to answer to people too, and if you have more people and clout, he can tell the others sorry and vote against his friends.. and we all know that though it takes great courage to stand up to your enemies… it takes far greater courage to stand up to your friends…
So we as citizens of this great state, have to make it politically so:,… that no legislator has a chance unless he supports the special session to override Jack’s veto….
And one does that… how?
By getting others on board… Which since 99% of Delawareans are for the Opt Out Bill, should be easy as long as you try…
Go to your computer and type out one paragraph why YOU think the opt out bill must pass… Make it personal and stick to what you know…. Print 5 copies and go to your front door.
Next, go out your front door… either left or right and knock on the first neighbor you see home… Do small talk because if you are like most of us, you’ve done nothing but say “hi” since Christmas vacation. In that conversation somewhere say “did you hear that Governor Markell vetoed the opt out bill? What’s up with that?”….. It’s summer so most likely they: a) haven’t heard; b) have no idea what the opt-out bill is unless they have children; and c) are only interested because it is you, their neighbor doing the talking….
Ask them what they think? Just talk. They are human beings and don’t need preached… You have deep concerns and let them know… Ask them to call or email their rep…. (they probably won’t) but the next time someone knocks on their door summer 2016, they will get an earful. Then, if you have time, go on to another house…
Your effectiveness will come from that you are a human just like them who lives in their neighborhood. You are not some kids hired from Minnesota with tablets and clipped speech asking them to support Corporate American Philosophy. You will plant a seed and they will question the big questions… “Why is our government so out of whack?” “Why is our government voting for the rich few, and leaving millions in the dust?” “Why is our government doing this to children so friends of theirs, already rich, get richer?” “Is this the type of America my parents or grandparents fought our nation’s enemies to preserve?”
These thoughts bubble up over time, so even if you did not get an email or letter sent, you alerted a concerned citizen to now mistrust anything the US Chamber of Commerce or Corporate America hitherto says…
And you will like doing it… all will treat you with courtesy and sincere honesty and you will return the favor… You are not there to win minds and influence decisions… 99% of people are already on your side… You are there to inform.
So inform them in your own unique way that our government here in the State of Delaware is in dire jeopardy because the will of the people this session was totally ignored by a governor kowtowing to special interests…. If we get ignored now, we will certainly be later ignored when they try to put a cancer-causing power plant in our back yard… or a nuclear reactor… or raise our electric rates 60%… or have us billed monthly for our water to hide a 35% price increase embedded therein…
This debate really is about who runs this country… special interests who can now buy politicians…. or you and me… That is why everyone reading this needs to actually meet and greet their neighborhood….
Then, and only then, will your legislator truly listen to you… because you have acquired more power than can be wielded by any lobbyists….
The entire premise behind statistics is that they tend to show us how our kids are doing on standardized tests… But do they show us if our kids are learning?
Recently US News and World Report ranked high schools in New York… It erred. It treated all tests as the same, yet New York has two types of testing… basic and proficiency.
Imagine if your old bar set was at 4 feet… which 90% at a certain age can jump over. Imagine you raise the bar to 5 feet meaning only 50% of those would make it over.. And imagine it you wanted to push your top athletes so you raised the bar to 6 feet for those with intensive training….
What US News and World Report did, was simply take the success rates and compare them without accounting for differentials in test difficulty… The top notch schools which had very few people clearing the 6 foot bar scored less well than lesser schools which had a higher success level because they only had to jump 5 feet. Yet all those in the 6 feet schools could clear 5 feet at no problem…..
So when the listing came out, you had the equivalent of Wilmington Charter Schools with a lower score than Brandywine High School’s remedial labs. People went “Huh”? Same in New York. For you see, statistics reveal a lot, but hide the most important parts… Is a child learning.
The same fallacy lies in testing… Standardized testing… and it’s particulars get aggravated as one pushes against the extreme…
The original idea of standardized testing is based on its name: can students function in our society by meeting society’s minimum standard?… The questions were easy.. Those meeting the minimum were passed; we had an accurate description of who would need additional help to function going onward, and those smart could relish their high scores and pat themselves on their backs for a good 12 years of education well spent….
Now that is all up in the air… We made the test a lot harder so fewer and fewer people can pass it… And what does that tell us? Very little about what we need to know… If a person fails.. were they very low; medium low-low, medium low, medium, medium high, or medium high-high? We don’t know. and so we get this gigantic morph that simply is not high or very high.. including 70-80% of the population…
We still know who the highest scorers are.. But we knew that before… Of what we now know more, is who in that very high group was very high, medium high-high, medium high, medium, medium low, medium low-low, and just low…. The data we get back is equivalent when getting change back from a dollar spent, requiring cashiers to always give back 10 pennies when two nickels or a dime would do, justifying that it makes the customer physically more aware he was getting change back, or something as equally psychologically weird….
It is obvious this benefits NO student whatsoever… just like being forced to always get at least ten pennies back with every cash transaction, benefits no customer whatsoever… Both are for internal purposes only…. One to gather data to fire amazingly good teachers who could otherwise teach their lifetimes; and the other: to get rid of all the rolls of pennies someone accidentally bought and have been sitting in the store safe forever……
But are the children learning? With the Smarter Balanced test… we will never know… But based on the NAEP tests given every two years, then yes, our children are learning, and learning more in each grade as time progresses. Our teachers have made very steady improvement, which until Common Core dismantled all the good programs, was on track to continue as far as the eye could see…
Plus, teachers in the classroom giving their own tests and daily interacting with students, have a far greater pool to access the answer to whether a student is learning, than a labyrinth developed by corporate shills in a stale hotel banquet hall in DC, then tweaked by David Coleman… a man who at the time, never had been around young children to see how they learn…
The Smarter Balanced Test is a travesty really… one that fails to perform its basic duty andshow us the most important part of education: did the child learn…………………..
kavips 