Delaware Masturbators March Against O’Donnell « Borowitz Report

Delaware Masturbators March Against O’Donnell « Borowitz Report

It's a Crazy World When Ron Paul Starts Making Sense

Ron Paul to Sunshine Patriots: Stop Your Demagogy About The NYC Mosque!

335 Responses

By RonPaul.com on August 20, 2010

Congressman Ron Paul today released the following statement on the controversy concerning the construction of an Islamic Center and Mosque in New York City:

Is the controversy over building a mosque near ground zero a grand distraction or a grand opportunity? Or is it, once again, grandiose demagoguery?

It has been said, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” Are we not overly preoccupied with this controversy, now being used in various ways by grandstanding politicians? It looks to me like the politicians are “fiddling while the economy burns.”

The debate should have provided the conservative defenders of property rights with a perfect example of how the right to own property also protects the 1st Amendment rights of assembly and religion by supporting the building of the mosque.

Instead, we hear lip service given to the property rights position while demanding that the need to be “sensitive” requires an all-out assault on the building of a mosque, several blocks from “ground zero.”

Just think of what might (not) have happened if the whole issue had been ignored and the national debate stuck with war, peace, and prosperity. There certainly would have been a lot less emotionalism on both sides. The fact that so much attention has been given the mosque debate, raises the question of just why and driven by whom?

In my opinion it has come from the neo-conservatives who demand continual war in the Middle East and Central Asia and are compelled to constantly justify it.

They never miss a chance to use hatred toward Muslims to rally support for the ill conceived preventative wars. A select quote from soldiers from in Afghanistan and Iraq expressing concern over the mosque is pure propaganda and an affront to their bravery and sacrifice.

The claim is that we are in the Middle East to protect our liberties is misleading. To continue this charade, millions of Muslims are indicted and we are obligated to rescue them from their religious and political leaders. And, we’re supposed to believe that abusing our liberties here at home and pursuing unconstitutional wars overseas will solve our problems.

The nineteen suicide bombers didn’t come from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iran. Fifteen came from our ally Saudi Arabia, a country that harbors strong American resentment, yet we invade and occupy Iraq where no al Qaeda existed prior to 9/11.

Many fellow conservatives say they understand the property rights and 1st Amendment issues and don’t want a legal ban on building the mosque. They just want everybody to be “sensitive” and force, through public pressure, cancellation of the mosque construction.

This sentiment seems to confirm that Islam itself is to be made the issue, and radical religious Islamic views were the only reasons for 9/11. If it became known that 9/11 resulted in part from a desire to retaliate against what many Muslims saw as American aggression and occupation, the need to demonize Islam would be difficult if not impossible.

There is no doubt that a small portion of radical, angry Islamists do want to kill us but the question remains, what exactly motivates this hatred?

If Islam is further discredited by making the building of the mosque the issue, then the false justification for our wars in the Middle East will continue to be acceptable.

The justification to ban the mosque is no more rational than banning a soccer field in the same place because all the suicide bombers loved to play soccer.

Conservatives are once again, unfortunately, failing to defend private property rights, a policy we claim to cherish. In addition conservatives missed a chance to challenge the hypocrisy of the left which now claims they defend property rights of Muslims, yet rarely if ever, the property rights of American private businesses.

Defending the controversial use of property should be no more difficult than defending the 1st Amendment principle of defending controversial speech. But many conservatives and liberals do not want to diminish the hatred for Islam–the driving emotion that keeps us in the wars in the Middle East and Central Asia.

It is repeatedly said that 64% of the people, after listening to the political demagogues, don’t want the mosque to be built. What would we do if 75% of the people insist that no more Catholic churches be built in New York City? The point being is that majorities can become oppressors of minority rights as well as individual dictators. Statistics of support is irrelevant when it comes to the purpose of government in a free society—protecting liberty.

The outcry over the building of the mosque, near ground zero, implies that Islam alone was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. According to those who are condemning the building of the mosque, the nineteen suicide terrorists on 9/11 spoke for all Muslims. This is like blaming all Christians for the wars of aggression and occupation because some Christians supported the neo-conservatives’ aggressive wars.

The House Speaker is now treading on a slippery slope by demanding a Congressional investigation to find out just who is funding the mosque—a bold rejection of property rights, 1st Amendment rights, and the Rule of Law—in order to look tough against Islam.

This is all about hate and Islamaphobia.

We now have an epidemic of “sunshine patriots” on both the right and the left who are all for freedom, as long as there’s no controversy and nobody is offended.

Political demagoguery rules when truth and liberty are ignored.

Poll: Kansas Senate - Results | Polldaddy.com (poll 3627488)

Poll: Kansas Senate - Results | Polldaddy.com (poll 3627488)

More Republican Negativity . . .

Brownback: No More Funding Increases for Education

Sam Brownback says it's time to increase the performance of Kansas school children, as measured by standardized testing, of course. We'll do this, according to Brownback, while enacting a state-wide spending freeze. We are left to draw the inference then that Brownback believes Kansas educators already have all the resources they need to reach all students.

Perhaps he should visit the elementary school in Wichita where a former student of mine has taken a first-year position this year where is she required to purchase her own reams of copy paper.

Senator Brownback, you are clearly out of touch with reality.

Strategy for Republican Moderates in the 2010 Midterms or Playing Dress Up at a Tea Party

First, run as far to the Right as possible. Bill yourself as an anti-Obama, anti-federal, anti-incumbent Tea Party libertarian who aligns him or herself with the likes of Kentucky’s Rand Paul, whose very name (think Atlas Shrugged) exudes extremism. Join Michele Bachman’s caucus in the House of Representatives and root for Sharron Angle to unseat Harry Reid in the Nevada senate race.

Second, once your Tea Party disguise is in place, distance yourself from the actual philosophy of the Tea Party movement. After all, what will voters think when they discover that Michele Bachman favors phasing out Social Security, or that Rand Paul opposes Medicare—saying that it’s the type of program that led to the fall of the Soviet Union? What will they think when they find out that Sharron Angle favors the elimination of the Department of Education and opposes a woman’s reproductive freedom even in the case of rape or incest?

Third, pretend that masquerading around your state or congressional district as something you’re really not is in no way hypocritical. Work on the assumption that voters understand that politicians must use polls (not personal conviction or integrity) to win races.

Be careful what you vote for; you might just get it

As Republican primary candidates compete to see who can run the farthest right of the moderate values of most Kansans, it might just be time to take a pause and examine what a far-right blueprint would be like—not just for Kansas but for our nation. Voting to follow the agenda of the Tea Party would mean ending programs like social security and Medicaid of which House Tea Party Caucus founder Michele Bachmann has said: "So, what you have to do, is keep faith with the people that are already in the system . . . but basically what we have to do is wean everybody else off.”

This might not be a position that candidates like Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt truly support, but one is left to wonder why, then, have Moran and Tiahrt joined the Tea Party Caucus in the House? Was this simply a political calculation, or do the congressmen agree with other Tea Party initiatives, following the lead of Tea Party darlings Rand Paul and Sharron Angle who hold that we should abolish the Department of Education (putting the banking industry in charge of student loans and ending federal aid to public schools entirely) and close the Department of Energy, ending not only federal investment in clean energy but also its oversight of nuclear materials?

Or, perhaps, the larger question is: “Which is worse? To take views that are not entirely in agreement with your own but are politically expedient, or to actually have such extreme views in the first place?”

An alternative to the mudslingers on the Right

An Important Message from James Carville

"I have a message from the Tea Party ... we've come to take our government back." - Rand Paul

Let Uncle James translate what Tea Party Republicans really mean when they say they want to "take our government back."

Kentucky's Rand Paul opposes the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Nevada's Sharron Angle is itching to dismantle Social Security. And California's Carly Fiorina dismisses climate change concerns as fretting about "the weather."

Look, we've all snickered at some of the kooky ideas these Tea Partiers espouse. But there's nothing funny about the challenge we face. And it certainly doesn't help that corporations now can spend an unlimited amount in support of candidates they like.

We have the power to keep these extremists out of Washington. We only have to seize this moment. It's time to fight back, and there's no better way than giving to the DSCC. I support the DSCC because they spend money where it's needed - to fight the Rand Pauls and Sharron Angles. Help me keep the extremists out of the Senate!

These candidates seem extreme to us, but there's a lot of people buying what they're selling. Angle raised more than $100,000 in an hour shilling for support on the Rush Limbaugh show. Paul is taking a page from his dad's playbook and using "moneybombs" to consolidate support. And Carly Fiorina - well, she hardly needs to raise any money at all with that cushy $42 million golden parachute she got after nearly driving HP into the ground.

Your gift today will make a big difference against these candidates. The DSCC uses donations from grassroots Democrats like you and me to build tough campaigns, fight Republican lies and get every last Democrat to the polls come November. We can beat them, but not without your immediate help.

Rand Paul and his radical pals say they want their country back. Well, I'm here to say that it's our country, too. And they're not going to drag us backward without one heck of a battle. Join the fight.

Sincerely,

James Carville


Democratic Senate Campaign Committee

A Spot of Tea (Party) with a Side of Crazy

Straight from her Wikipedia entry (you can't make stuff like this up) comes the belief system of Orly Taitz who recently lost her bid to become the Republican nominee for California Secretary of State.

Taitz alleges that Barack Obama due to his father's nationality is not a natural born citizen of the United States and therefore not qualified to serve as its president. She furthermore claims he was born in Kenya and that he falsified his Selective Service papers and his application to the Illinois bar.Regarding Obama, Taitz has said: "I believe he is the most dangerous thing one can imagine, in that he represents radical communism and radical Islam: He was born and raised in radical Islam, all of his associations are with radical Islam, and he was groomed in the environment of the dirty Chicago mafia. Can there be anything scarier than that?"

Other Obama-related rumors Taitz has repeated include:

* A number of homosexuals from Obama's former church have died mysteriously.

* Obama has dozens of social security numbers, and his passport is inaccurate. Taitz claims that a person who was cooperating with the FBI in connection with Obama's passport died mysteriously, "shot in the head."

* A Kenyan birth certificate with the name "Barack Obama" is authentic.

* Obama's first act as president was to donate money to Hamas, which she claims will be used to build Qassam rockets.

* Obama or someone connected to him has made threats to Taitz's life, including vandalizing her car.

* Obama is having the Federal Emergency Management Agency build internment camps for "Anti-Obama dissidents."

Taitz also has supported a number of other theories not directly related to Obama, including: that Goldman Sachs runs the United States Treasury,that Baxter International has developed a bird flu vaccine that kills people,that Representative Alcee Hastings and the House of Representatives are planning to build at least six labor camps,that Hugo Chavez owns the software that runs American voting machines,that FactCheck is untrustworthy because of its links to the Annenberg Foundation,and that Fox News is partly owned by Saudi Arabia.

The irony of it all? Taitz is not a natural-born citizen of the United States.

Wait, I think I just discovered what an illegal alien might look like! Never mind; he has a green card.

Diverse Experiences Enrich The Classroom (Great Response to Mindless Opposition of Ethnic Studies out of Arizona)

In Thursday’s program, we covered the debate over a new Arizona law that targets ethnic studies programs in schools. One of our guests, Arizona state school superintendent Tom Horne, specifically called out a "La Raza" studies program in his state as racially biased, and applauded the new law for battling ethnic chauvinism in the classroom.

Well, it's about time. Where was this law when my mother "learned" in school that slavery was good? Or when I attended an elementary school named for a Confederate general? Or when my school library selected books that repeatedly referred to Native Americans as "savages"?

American schools that teach the history of this country as if it were color-blind AND free of institutionalized racism aren't just ethnically biased...they're wrong on the facts. And what this Arizona law fails to acknowledge is that many ethnic studies programs began because — for decades — people of color were ignored, slurred or misrepresented in history books.

Still, I don't buy the line that all ethnic studies teachers keep their own politics out of their lesson plans; lots of teachers don't. In my progressive, racially integrated, middle-class high school, I had one teacher —a black nationalist — who regularly spent class time railing against capitalism, denouncing the government and complaining that interracial dating threatened the survival of African Americans as a people.

But it's naïve to think that it's just teachers of color who cross that line. I had a very good white social studies teacher who once shouted down a black student for suggesting that race influenced the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan — and not Europe — during World War II. That's by no means a FACT, but it is a valid opinion, one that could have sparked an interesting discussion instead of a humiliating put down. And a very mediocre white teacher once explained to my class that affirmative action was compromising the quality of her profession. That's an interesting opinion, but not a fact to be dictated to impressionable students.

When teachers share their own prejudices with the class, administrators should tell them to stop it. But it's no reason to threaten the budget of an entire school system or the cultural education efforts of public schools statewide. Especially in these fiscally tight times, a law like this could make school administrators feel like they need to be political correctness cops. And frankly, public school teachers feel threatened enough: They worry that bad standardized test scores or budget cuts will cost them their jobs; that angry students will target them with false claims of abuse or sexual harassment; that parents will verbally — or even physically — attack them for not giving higher grades to their undeserving children.

Most educators want to influence the next generation, and that doesn't mean teaching only algebra or poetry. They've got life experiences, ideals and values that they believe will help young people better themselves. That's a good thing. Trying to legislate against abusing that influence creates another reason for good people to turn away from a profession that badly needs them.

By Alicia Montgomery

http://www.npr.org/blogs/tellmemore/2010/05/14/126826529/diverse-life-experiences-enrich-the-classroom

Hip-hop studies the latest in mindless education trend | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

I've never been a fan of Tucker Carlson, and the guys from Flocabulary were probably naive thinking that they'd get a fair shake from the folks at Fox, but I felt the need to post this in defense of teachers everywhere who are using alternatives means to reach their students. It seems if we use traditional methods like lectures we are failing to recognize that brain-based studies reveal that this mode of transmission simply isn't effective. If we think outside of the box and try to be innovative, we are simply dumbing down education. I'm guessing that Mr. Carlson hasn't ever taught a class, and that if he dared, my junior high students would eat his lunch. Now that's something to rap about.

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The Party of No

So You Want to Run on the Repeal of Health Care Reform?

Robert Creamer over at the Huffington Post has provided those of us who must now defend national health care reform with some great thoughts to share with the repeal-the-bill tea-party wing nuts who will, undoubtedly, show up (very soon) on a campaign trail near you:

Because it's passed into law, Democrats are now the ones who will be in a position to demand that Republicans keep their "hands off our health care." And we can be very specific about provisions that go into effect right away.

Does Congressman Boehner really want to repeal the 35% tax credit that helps small business buy health care for their employees?

Does McConnell really want to repeal the provision that prevents insurance companies from denying benefits to children who have "pre-existing conditions?"

Does Steele really want to kick all the recent college grads off their parent's health insurance policies?

Does the Republican caucus really oppose closing the "donut hole" of coverage for senior citizen drug benefits -- or forcing seniors to send back the 250 check they will get this summer as a down payment on making drugs more affordable?

They ball is in our court now, and one thing is clear: Americans do not like to see existing benefits cut, and that is exactly what the Party of No has to offer them this fall.

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"Party" Contributions, Indeed!

This news flash caught my attention this evening: Republican National Committee Spends Nearly $2,000 of "Party" Contributions at Lesbian-Themed Las Vegas Night Club.

Here's an article from The New York Daily News

Talk about a grand ol' party!

Records show the Republican National Committee dropped $1,946 at a West Hollywood, Calif. strip club last month, but a spokesperson insisted that RNC chairman Michael Steele was not among the ooglers.

"The chairman was never at the location in question, he had no knowledge of the expenditure, nor does he find the use of committee funds at such a location at all acceptable," said RNC spokeswoman Doug Heye, who added that the committee was investigating the expenditure.

Records filed with the Federal Election Commission show the RNC picked up the hefty tab at Voyeur West Hollywood, a high-end strip club that has hosted such notables as bad girl Lindsay Lohan and supermodel Heidi Klum.

In a review last October, the Los Angeles Times said the bar's "dark, leather-heavy interior is reminiscent of the masked orgy scene" in "Eyes Wide Shut," the 1999 Stanley Kubrick film starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

The club features a heavy net suspended above the lounge area where topless performers - dressed in little more than masks and bikini-bottoms - writhe above the heads of clubgoers, the paper reported.

"Even more provocative scenes," the paper added, "are played out in an enclosed glass booth area adjacent to the club's dance floor area."

The kinky costs come at a time when Steele is already under fire from many within the GOP for his high-flying ways.

He recently took some heat for moving the RNC annual meeting from Washington, D.C. to Hawaii.
And one recent analysis by Politico.com found that compared with 2005, the last comparable year preceding a midterm election, RNC spending on private jets had doubled, limo trips had tripled, and meal expenses jumped from $306,000 to $599,000.

The RNC has still managed to out-raise the Democratic National Committee during most recent months, records show. But the DNC was more than happy to express a little mock outrage yesterday over the the RNC's latest expenditures.

"If limos, chartered aircraft and sex clubs are where they think their donors money should be spent - who are we to judge?" jabbed DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse. "But it shouldn't give voters much confidence in Republicans when they say they want to get back in charge of federal spending."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/03/29/2010-03-29_gop_family_values_michael_steeles_rnc_staffers_ran_up_almost_2k_at_strip_club.html#ixzz0jd96sSxV

So Why Hasn't the Sky Fallen on the Commies Who Passed Health Care Yet?

Just before the historic vote on the House floor that would send Health Care Reform to the President's desk, Republican Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio announced that we were about 24 hours from Armageddon." Yet, it hit me this morning that the sun is still shining.

It wasn't quite as warm as the overheated rhetoric the Republicans hurled at those who wanted reform: "Today we turning back the clock," said Congressman Devin Nunes of California. "For most of the 21st century people have fled the ghosts of communists dictators, [but] with passage of this bill, they will haunt Americans for generations . . . Today Democrats in the House will finally lay the cornerstone of their socialist utopia on the backs of the American people." But, it seemed, the planet would live to see another day, perhaps another year even, before the sulfur and brimstone fell from the sky, the rivers turned to blood, and the United Socialist States of America was founded.

Perhaps this really isn't all that surprising. The Republicans' sooth-saying really isn't all that accurate. In fact, as psychics go, they kinda suck. Just look at the predictions Reagan about the passage of Medicare: "[I]f you don't [stop Medicare] and I don't do it, one of these days, you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and children's children what it was once like in America when men were free." [1961]

This hasn't quite been the case. For even as Republicans sought to undermine Medicare, seniors began to realize its benefits. Since 1965, according to a study from Health Affairs, "the health of the elderly population has improved, as measured by both longevity and functional status." For example, life expectancy at age 65 increased from 14.3 years in 1960 to 17.8 years in 1998, and the chronically disabled elderly population declined from 24.9 percent in 1982 to 21.3 in 1994. Moreover, prior to Medicare, one in three seniors were living in poverty. Today, nearly all seniors have access to affordable care, and only about 14 percent of seniors are below the poverty line.

It is not too much to hope to see these kinds of results for ALL Americans as a result of the passage of health reform. Will the bill create a North American utopia? Probably not. But, the sky isn't going to fall either. And given the choice of the two, I'll stick with progress.

The Pro-Life Far Right at Its Finest

Ok, forget about the threatening signs and the bricks that have been thrown through windows for a moment, and listen the voicemails that Congressman Bart Stupack (a pro-life Democrat) received after voting in favor of health reform.


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18 Good Things about Health Care Reform

1. SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDITS—Offers tax credits to small businesses to make employee coverage more affordable. Tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums will be immediately available to firms that choose to offer coverage. Effective beginning for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2014, the small business tax credits will cover 50 percent of premiums.)

2. BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE—Provides a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the donut hole in 2010. Effective for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2011, institutes a 50% discount on brand‐name drugs in the donut hole; also completely closes the donut hole by 2020.)

3. FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER MEDICARE—Eliminates co‐payments for preventive services and exempts preventive services from deductibles under the Medicare program. Effective beginning January 1, 2011.

4. HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES—Creates a temporary re‐insurance program (until the Exchanges are available) to help offset the costs of expensive premiums for employers and retirees for health benefits for retirees age 55‐64. Effective 90 days after enactment.

5. ENDS RESCISSIONS—Bans insurance companies from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Effective 6 months after enactment.

6. NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CHILDREN WITH PRE‐EXISTING CONDITIONS—Prohibits new health plans in all markets plus grandfathered group health plans from denying coverage to children with pre‐existing conditions. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, this prohibition would apply to all persons.)

7. BANS LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Prohibits health insurance companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage. Effective 6 months after enactment.

8. BANS RESTRICTIVE ANNUAL LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Tightly restricts the use of annual limits to ensure access to needed care in all new plans and grandfathered group health plans. These tight restrictions will be defined by HHS. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, the use of any annual limits would be prohibited for all new plans and grandfathered group health plans.)

9. FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER NEW PRIVATE PLANS—Requires new private plans to cover preventive services with no co‐payments and with preventive services being exempt from deductibles. Effective 6 months after enactment.

10. NEW, INDEPENDENT APPEALS PROCESS—Ensures consumers in new plans have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal decisions by their health insurance plan. Effective 6 months after enactment.

11. ENSURING VALUE FOR PREMIUM PAYMENTS—Requires plans in the individual and small group market to spend 80 percent of premium dollars on medical services, and plans in the large group market to spend 85 percent. Insurers that do not meet these thresholds must provide rebates to policyholders. Effective on January 1, 2011.

12. IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH‐RISK POOL)—Provides immediate access to affordable insurance for Americans who are uninsured because of a pre‐existing condition ‐ through a temporary subsidized high‐risk pool. Effective 90 days after enactment.

13. EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 26TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE – Requires new health plans and certain grandfathered plans to allow young people up to their 26th birthday to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice. Effective 6 months after enactment.

14. COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for nearly a doubling of the number of patients seen by the centers over the next 5 years. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.

15. INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS—Provides new investment in training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.

16. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SALARY—Prohibits group health plans from establishing any eligibility rules for health care coverage that have the effect of discriminating in favor of higher wage employees. Effective 6 months after enactment.

17. HEALTH INSURANCE CONSUMER INFORMATION—Provides aid to states in establishing offices of health insurance consumer assistance in order to help individuals with the filing of complaints and appeals. Effective beginning in FY 2010.

18. CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG‐TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM—Creates a long‐term care insurance program to be financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide home and community-based services to adults who become functionally disabled. Effective on January 1, 2011.

Tea Party America

Recently, a close friend of mine who is a registered Republican, told me that she was seriously thinking about changing her party affiliation because the Right has become too mean-spirited, even hateful, in its opposition to the Democratic agenda. A glance at the campaign signs carried by Tea Party protesters seeking to "persuade" House members to vote no on comprehensive health reform would seem to bear this out.

Here's a great one that seems to indicate that if conservatives can't win with votes, that they can always shoot those with whom they disagree. Nice.



And don't forget to add a slice of racism:



Changing a party affiliation to disassociate oneself with the people who support these ideas? Makes sense to me.

Cost of Family Health Insurance Plan to Double by 2020 Without Reform

Without health care reform, health insurance premiums could almost double by 2020, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, a 90-year-old non-profit health care charity.

According to "Paying the Price: How Health Insurance Premiums Are Eating Up Middle-Class Incomes," employer-sponsored family plans will rise from an average cost of $12,298 in 2008 to $23,842 in 2020 (the same coverage would have cost close to $9,200 in 2003) if health-care costs continue to rise at the current rate.

The study found that:

The rapid rise in health insurance premiums has severely strained U.S. families and employers in recent years. This analysis of federal data finds that if premiums for employer-sponsored insurance grow in each state at the projected national rate of increase, then the average premium for family coverage would rise from $12,298 (the 2008 average) to $23,842 by 2020--a 94 percent increase. However, if health system reforms were able to slow premium growth by 1 percentage point in all states, by 2020 employers and families together would save $2,571 per premium for family coverage, compared with projected trends. If growth could be slowed by 1.5 percentage points--a target recently agreed to by a major industry coalition--yearly savings would equal $3,759. The analysis presents state-by-state data on premium costs for 2003 and 2008, as well as projections, using various assumptions, for costs in 2015 and 2020.

The author of the study, Cathy Shoen, senior vice president of the Commonwealth Fund, said in a news release:

"With health spending projected to double if we stay on our current path, middle- and lower-income families are at high risk of losing their coverage or facing long-term stagnant incomes. Employers and employees share premium costs, but we know that take-home pay and retirement savings are being sacrificed to maintain health benefits. Reforms that slow the growth of health-care costs could go a long way toward health and financial stability for working families."

Employer-based premiums for family coverage increased an average of 33 percent between 2003 and 2008, ranging from a low of 25 percent in Michigan, Texas and Ohio to a high of 45 percent in Indiana and North Carolina.

Click here to see charts from the study.

Healthcare Reform Now . . . Not Later . . . Not Gradually . . . Now!

The Republicans favor an incremental approach--must be all that progress they made during their eight years in power.

This letter, one of thousands the White House receives, has become a speaking point for the President. At it's core is a woman who health care premiums run over $700 a month. For her (like millions of Americans) waiting simply isn't an option.

Here is the text of the letter sent by Natoma Canfield of Medina to President Barack Obama in December, as released by the White House:

Dear President Obama

I am 50 years old. I was diagnosed with carcinoma in-situ 16 years ago and following my divorce 12 years ago I became self-employed. After my Cobra ran out I was able to find costly, but affordable health insurance. As a responsible individual, I have struggled to maintain my individual coverage and have increased my deductible and out of pocket-limits in an attempt to control my cost and keep my health insurance.

Last year (2009) my insurance premium was increased over 25% even though I increased my deductible and out of pocket to the highest limits available. I paid out over $6075.24 in premiums, $2415.26 for medical care, $225 in co-pays and $1500 for prescriptions. I never reached my deductible of $2500 so the insurance company only paid out a total $935.32 to my providers.

I must repeat, in 2009 my insurance company received $6075.24 in premiums and paid out only $935.32! Incredibly I have just been notified that my premium for next year 2010 has been increased over 40% to $8496.24($708.02 per month)!!!! This is the same insurance company I have been with for over 11 cancer free years!!!
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I need your Health reform bill to help me!!! I simply can no longer afford to pay for my health care costs!! Thanks to this incredible premium increase demanded by my insurance company, January will be my last month of insurance.

I live in the house my mother & father built in 1958 and I am so afraid of the possibility I might loose this family heirloom as a result of my being forced to drop my health care insurance. The health insurance industry technically has not denied me insurance directly, but indirectly they have by increasing my costs. They perceive me as becoming a higher risk factor to them despite being a loyal customer. I will never be able to obtain new health insurance due to the lack of real competition.

We are talking about Anthem who apparently has no respect for your attempts to reform the health insurance industry.

Please stay focused in your reform attempts as I and many others are in desperate need of your help.

Sincerely

Natoma Canfield

Bill Maher on Education Reform

Courtesy of the Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-dont-fire-the-te_b_497554.html

New Rule: Let's not fire the teachers when students don't learn - let's fire the parents. Last week President Obama defended the firing of every single teacher in a struggling high school in a poor Rhode Island neighborhood. And the kids were outraged. They said, "Why blame our teachers?" and "Who's President Obama?" I think it was Whitney Houston who said, "I believe that children are our future - teach them well and let them lead the way." And that's the last sound piece of educational advice this country has gotten - from a crack head in the '80's.

Yes, America has found its new boogeyman to blame for our crumbling educational system. It's just too easy to blame the teachers, what with their cushy teachers' lounges, their fat-cat salaries, and their absolute authority in deciding who gets a hall pass. We all remember high school - canning the entire faculty is a nationwide revenge fantasy. Take that, Mrs. Crabtree! And guess what? We're chewing gum and no, we didn't bring enough for everybody.

But isn't it convenient that once again it turns out that the problem isn't us, and the fix is something that doesn't require us to change our behavior or spend any money. It's so simple: Fire the bad teachers, hire good ones from some undisclosed location, and hey, while we're at it let's cut taxes more. It's the kind of comprehensive educational solution that could only come from a completely ignorant people.

Firing all the teachers may feel good - we're Americans, kicking people when they're down is what we do - but it's not really their fault. Now, undeniably, there are some bad teachers out there. They don't know the material, they don't make things interesting, they have sex with the same kid every day instead of spreading the love around... But every school has crappy teachers. Yale has crappy teachers - they must, they gave us George Bush.

According to all the studies, it doesn't matter what teachers do. Although everyone appreciates foreplay. What matters is what parents do. The number one predictor of a child's academic success is parental involvement. It doesn't even matter if your kid goes to private or public school. So save the twenty grand a year and treat yourself to a nice vacation away from the little bastards.

It's also been proven that just having books in the house makes a huge difference in a child's development. If your home is adorned with nothing but Hummel dolls, DVD's, and bleeding Jesuses, congratulations, you've just given your children the gift of Duh. Sarah Palin said recently she wrote on her hand because her father used to do it. I rest my case.

When there are no books in the house, and there are no parents in the house, you know who raises the kids? That's right, the television. Kids aren't keeping up with their studies; they're keeping up with the Kardashians. We're allowing the television, as babysitter, to turn us into a nation of slutty idiots. By the way, one sign your 9-year-old may be watching too much One Tree Hill: if she has an imaginary friend with benefits.

Do Nothing Repbulicans

From our friends at http://www.ksdp.org/

Kansas Republicans are setting a new bar for legislative lethargy.

First, under their failed leadership the Appropriations Committee has yet to produce any budget-balancing recommendations. Next, not content to simply do nothing some are attempting to nullify the hard work and actions of others through the Freedom From Healthcare Act.

Now, they've stopped showing up to do their job. With so little going on, it was only a matter of time before Republican legislators realized they didn't need to be there to get nothing done. The Topeka Capitol Journal is reporting on the culture of absences and tardiness that GOP leadership has allowed to develop in the state legislature:

“The average senator missed six days out of the possible 94 work days over 1 1/2 legislative sessions. … Three Democrats and 13 Republicans exceeded the Senate average.”

Don’t expect the leaders of the Kansas Republican Party to reform the negligent behavior of their fellow Republicans. During his failed Presidential campaign, Sam Brownback racked up one of the worst attendance records in the US Senate. Throughout his career, House Speaker Mike O’Neal has missed almost 100 days, more than the equivalent of an entire legislative session. With leadership like that it’s no curiosity why GOP attendance has been so bad. Don’t expect O’Neal to reform the do-nothing culture of the legislature as long as he remains speaker.

I've posted a totally hot yearbook of Senator Fro-back, I mean Brownback, for your viewing pleasure.

And by the way, you'll have to buy your own paperclips

So I got on Facebook today, and I found a post from one of my former students. I've omitted her name as I don't have permission to post this here, but reading it made me angry (all over again) about the lack of commitment to education Kansas' elected officials have shown in recent months. Here it is:

is off to spend a bajillion dollars on things like glue and paper for the kiddos. Really sad. It makes me not want to also spend the money so they can make chocolate crisp bars tomorrow or the money to buy the things I need for Oobleck and an art project but I guess that's the way it goes. Oh teacher friends....Office ...Depot is having a buy 2 get one 1 free sale on things like paper clips, paper, manilla folders, etc.

It breaks my heart to see a new teacher (in her first semester of teaching) coming to the realization that today in Kansas if your students need materials (which many of them cannot possibly afford to buy themselves) you'd better be ready to head out to Wal-mart or Staples and open your wallet. Why ask every Kansan to pay an extra penny of sales tax when teachers will shoulder the burden left behind by lawmakers too spineless to invest public education? How many years can young, bright, energetic people be expected to stay in an occupation that values them so little as to ask them to buy their own paperclips?

Education: What's Right, Not What's Left

Fighting Misinformation about Public Education Funding

Mark Twain said there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. You may have recently heard some lobbyists, legislators, or television commercials offering statistics claiming that spending on Kansas public schools has actually gone up over the past few years and school districts have $700 million in reserves to deal with budget cuts. The statistics they cite are, at best, partial truths.

For example, in 2005, the state legislature mandated that, instead of sending school KPERS money directly to KPERS, it would first be wired to school districts and then immediately be re-wired to KPERS. That’s about $250 million that shows up on school district budgets. At the time, the majority in the legislature said they wanted to show what the actual expenses of education were. The fact that schools can’t actually educate children with the money apparently makes no difference. Increases to KPERS are counted as increases to education and, since the legislature has been borrowing from KPERS and must soon pay it back, this statistical red herring will undoubtedly continue.

Also, funding statistics include state-wide funding for new school buildings, which is called Bond and Interest. While it’s true that the state is spending more money on recent bond issues in some school districts, it is funding for operating costs like salaries, utilities, fuel, food, and insurance that is being cut.

It would be more honest to cite statistics that relate to the General fund, which is the primary fund for operating expenses. That fund decreased 6.9% from last year to this year. According to KSDE, even when you include funding increases from KPERS, Bond and Interest, Local Option Budget, and federal funds the amount of funding to Kansas schools still decreased 3.2% from last year to this year. Meanwhile, schools have more students, more at-risk students, and higher student achievement requirements than ever before.

The other thing we hear a lot about is how school districts have $700 million sitting around in reserves. Various funds must have cash balances because, even in good economic times, money often goes out faster than it comes in. The Special Education Fund in particular must have a healthy balance (about $225 million this year) because school districts don’t receive a penny of special education funding until three and a half months after the fiscal year starts.

Lately, many school districts have needed cash balances just to make payroll due to state cash-flow problems and late funding payments. Saying that these cash balances can take care of funding cuts is like saying you can absorb a pay cut from your job right after you’ve been paid because your mortgage and car loan haven’t been deducted from your checking account yet.

The Contingency Fund (a.k.a. the rainy day fund) is the primary reserve fund but that money can only be used once. For the past two years, school funding has been cut during the school year after the vast majority of school funding is contractually committed. That’s why it’s important to have contingency money available. For school districts, keeping no reserve and, when bad times hit, telling parents we’re sorry but there isn’t any money to suitably educate their children isn’t an option.

Last year, the legislature passed a law raising the limit of how much money school districts can put into their Contingency Fund to encourage school districts to cut spending and transfer savings there. They knew more mid-year cuts were likely to come. Now, some legislators and others are pointing to that money as a reason why school districts can handle more cuts. Wow.

Are Kansans really naïve enough to believe that school districts are closing schools and laying off thousands of teachers and other employees even though we have more money than ever and just want to hoard our huge reserves? Some politicians and some people paying for television commercials are hoping so. Instead of political spin, we need an honest discussion about what’s going on so we can reach informed solutions.

Education is the best—perhaps only—solution to ignorance, intolerance, and poverty. It’s also the only way to ensure the continued success of democracy. Without public education, the quality of a child’s education would be based on the wealth of his or her parents. That’s why the state’s Founding Fathers made public education a required state expenditure in the Kansas Constitution. If we’re going to imperil their vision and our children’s education we should do so while understanding the whole truth.

Dr. Darrel Stufflebeam
Superintendent of Schools
Rock Creek USD 323