Do Something to Stop the Carnage!

Today's NYTimes editorial is correct in saying:

...It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency. These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection. America’s elected leaders offer prayers for gun victims and then, callously and without fear of consequence, reject the most basic restrictions on weapons of mass killing, as they did on Thursday. They distract us with arguments about the word terrorism. Let’s be clear: These spree killings are all, in their own ways, acts of terrorism....

...Worse, politicians abet would-be killers by creating gun markets for them, and voters allow those politicians to keep their jobs. It is past time to stop talking about halting the spread of firearms, and instead to reduce their number drastically — eliminating some large categories of weapons and ammunition.

It is not necessary to debate the peculiar wording of the Second Amendment. No right is unlimited and immune from reasonable regulation....

If these elected officials refuse to listen to the American people, we must vote their asses out of offices. We cannot allow this to continue.

Why are some politicians allowing an organization to dictate legislation on guns? Is it just so that they get their 100% rating from them?

Here is a link to the members of the House of Representatives:  http://www.house.gov/representatives/    and the Senate:  http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/    Let your them know you'll be holding them accountable in the next election.

Lower Test Scores?

From this morning's Columbus Dispatch:

....Results from the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, for Ohio show that 38 percent of fourth-graders are proficient in reading and 45 percent in math.

In eighth grade, 36 percent of students scored proficient in reading and 35 percent in math.

While higher than the national average, Ohio’s results were lower than the state’s 2013 NAEP scores. Ohio scores have shown no gain in more than a decade....

Teachers and students are spending less time involved in instruction and learning, while more time is used in test preparation and testing. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that testing has taken over a large part of the school year and that cuts down on reading and math time. On top of that, students and teachers have become anxious about testing days, and performance has been damaged. There is just too much emphasis on testing.

'Yeast Infections"

How to stop a protest at a Planned Parenthood center in one easy step-------

HuffingtonPost:

Mary Numair took down Planned Parenthood protesters in quite an unusual, but awesome way.

According to BuzzFeed News, the 29-year-old Oregon copywriter and Planned Parenthood supporter noticed protesters outside a local clinic in Portland. After trying to approach them multiple times, she opted for a more creative route.

On Oct. 25, Numair arrived at the protest with a sign that read, "Dear P.P., Thanks for helping me with my yeast infections." In a tweet, she said she broke up the protest by chanting the words "yeast infections."

Way to go!

Another Bad Idea

How would John Kasich help veterans? Vouchers!!! CNN had Kasich's response.  (Vouchers which seem to be his solution for everything, including schools.)

Vouchers would be a bad idea.  Vouchers would not cover all of the various conditions that veterans might have. Many of our veterans suffer from PTSD and most doctors don't have experience in dealing with it.

Kasich also suggested bringing in businesses to help solve problems. This is just another ploy to get his wealthy friends involved. When a business takes over an agency, profit $$$$$$  is their only motivation.

There are better ways to care for our veterans------

1.  Stop having unnecessary wars!

2.  Fully fund health care for veterans (Republican cuts to the program have destabilized the veteran health care programs.).


Kasich has suggested he wants more boots on the ground in those ongoing wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. Kasich's idea is part of the Republican strategy of unending, continuous war, and it would only make veteran health care worse.

Where is Ohio's Governor?

Gov. John Kasich isn't in Ohio.  Kasich is spending his time out of the state promoting his candidacy for President. Unfortunately, Kasich's talking points are based on fables, lies, and exaggerations.

>  There is no 'Ohio miracle' in this state. People are still unemployed and underemployed. Kasich's JobsOhio brought some jobs in, but many of them are low paying ones. Bringing in more Walmarts doesn't lift citizens out of poverty!  Many of those companies that have received money and/or tax credits from JobsOhio (aka 'RobsOhio), have not kept their promises about job creation. Kasich's cronies are laughing while they are making money from our tax dollars.

>  The charter school scandals just keep growing. While Kasich and Republicans promise to put in reforms and regulations, nothing has been done. If Kasich and the Republicans continue to get big money campaign donations from charter operators, they won't stop the money train.  Ohio's charter schools have failed our children and taxpayers. With the latest scandal of David Hansen's numbers manipulation of charter school results, Ohioans continue to lose trust in the Kasich administration. Below you will find just a few of the articles about how John Kasich is ruining public education in Ohio.

Links:
via Dispatch - north side charter school closes,
via Dispatch- from 2014- 17 charter school failures,
via Plunderbund - charter school owner's bonus check,
via Diane Ravitch - low performing charter school
via Cleveland - F grades from ECOT
via Innovation Ohio - Kasich's cuts to traditional schools 
via Washington Post - "...Ohio’s $1 billion charter school system was the butt of jokes at a conference for reporters on school choice in Denver..."  


>  Women's health in Ohio has come under attack from Kasich and the Republicans. Health clinics that provide gynecological exams have closed and women's lives are in danger. Planned Parenthood clinics have closed across the state because Republicans just want to get into the private lives of women and their decisions. 

>  Kasich's attacks on teachers and educators have been disrespectful and awful. Why does Kasich hate teachers so much? Is he jealous of their education, and influence, or is he just trying to control a profession made up primarily of women. Kasich's comments about banning teacher lounges shows you that he has no idea what teachers do.

I could go on and on, but time won't allow.  I suggest you visit Plunderbund to find out all the truth about John Kasich.

 

Disrespecting Your Service

I'm old enough to remember the war in Vietnam. I can recall many young people that returned from war injured or dead. Being in a war is something I personally have never experienced, but I know  relatives and friends that suffered through the physical and mental scars of war.

Republican candidate, Donald Trump, thinks he knows what it was like in a war.

Laura Clawson writes about it at DailyKos:

Just imagine the howls if a Democrat with this record made these statements:

Donald J. Trump, who received draft deferments through much of the Vietnam War, told the author of a forthcoming biography that he nevertheless “always felt that I was in the military” because of his education at a military-themed boarding school. Mr. Trump said that his experience at the New York Military Academy, an expensive prep school where his parents had sent him to correct poor behavior, gave him “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military.”

Hey, he wore a uniform and did marching drills—it's just like having been in Vietnam...


 If someone minimizes your war experience, they'd have no qualms about sending your sons and daughters to war. Don't trust anyone that has plans to put 'boots on the ground' in a war.  It appears that every Republican candidate, especially those that received deferments, are ready, willing, and able to start a war with your son or daughter in battle.

John Becker vs. Women's Rights

Ohio's Republicans are disrespectful to women. Women can make decisions about their own bodies, but not according to Ohio's Neanderthal Republicans, especially John Becker.

Plunderbund:

Ohio state Rep. John Becker has made a career attempting to pronounce what others may or may not do with their reproductive organs. Throughout he tenure in the state legislature, nothing has been top of the mind for John Becker quite like what people should and should not be doing with their genitalia.....

....Now Becker is peddling a proposal in the Ohio General Assembly to ban abortions in cases where the fetus is determined to have Down syndrome....

It puts one in mind of the old George Carlin joke about how much conservatives care about the unborn, “but once you’re born…”

Yes, ladies, John Becker wants to prevent you from having an abortion if there is something wrong with the fetus. Will women need to call John Becker from the gynecologist's office to get permission for an abortion?


You can see John Becker's contact information here:  http://www.ohiohouse.gov/john-becker 
or  http://www.beckergop.com/   or  John@BeckerGOP.com  or 

• Facebook

  http://facebook.com/BeckerGOP

  Send him your comments.

Good job, President Obama!

•  Some right wingers might be wetting their pants with this news from Forbes:

For the first time in more than 50 years of surveys, the CDC on Wednesday reported that more than 90% of Americans — 90.8% of us, to be specific — have health insurance.....

....Being insured even appears to cut down on your risk of death.....

Thank you, President Obama, for protecting the lives of Americans!

Advertising Dollars for Charter Schools

Ohio's charter schools are running many ads on local radio and TV stations. I've heard numerous ads for Performance Academy and they even got local radio personalities to visit in order to endorse their schools.  These charter schools exist on our tax dollars.  Shouldn't those tax dollars be used to educate their students and pay for teachers? Why are they spending thousands of dollars advertising?

Here are some results from the Ohio Department of Education:

 

Achievement
Performance Academy Eastland


At another Performance Academy, the grades are similar:

Columbus Performance Academy


 You can check out the grades from schools all across Ohio here.

An article from the Dayton Daily News (2012) shows that the only people profiting from charters are the people that own them! 

Unfortunately, Ohio's Republican controlled legislature refuses to reform the charter school disasters because charter owners continue to fund their campaigns. It is time for tax payers to stop this charter school mess and put funds back into traditional public schools operated by taxpayers, not corporations/private owners.

Destroying America

The Republican presidential candidates are trying to out conservative each other. They brag about their tax cuts, their 'family values' that have guided their lives, and their goal to 'take back' the country.

What are these Republicans candidates refusing to explain?

>  They are not providing the details about how their tax cuts have gone primarily to the wealthy, while schools and public services (fire/police), and communities, have had to deal with massive cuts.

> The Republican 'family values' claims of these candidates does not include their own transgressions (divorces, one candidate's ties to the DC Madam scandal, another candidate's participation in an exorcism, a GOPer's bribery scandal, budget problems, underfunding public education while rewarding failing corporate-owned charter schools, etc.).

> All of them say that they want to 'take back' the country, but they fail to provide details. They want to turn back the clock to the 19th century, when white men controlled everything.  There were no voting rights for women and minorities, and white men, especially those with lots of money, had authority over institutions.

Please. Don't let these right wing nut jobs win control over our lives. We need to move our country forward, and not backward.

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

___________________

According to Brent Larkin at Cleveland.com, our governor could be viewed as a 'jerk' by some:

...Kasich is many things. Normal isn't one of them.

In fact, as Kasich prepares to run for president, expect more people to suggest in public what many who know him have been whispering in private for years.
Indelicate though it may be, it's a question worth asking:

Is John Kasich too big a jerk to be president?....

Those of us who have followed Kasich's political career already know the answer to that question---- yes.

Marriage Equality

Congratulations to those who've fought so hard for marriage equality. As President Obama said, "...We've made our union a little more perfect..."  and "...love is love..."

Political Craziness

*  Jeb Bush has announced that he is joining the Republican presidential clown car. Despite the fact that his designed logo doesn't mention his last name, we all know that he is the son of former Presidents George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. That alone should disqualify him from ever holding office!

The idea of another Bush family member in the White House makes me physically ill.


*  Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is on his low key, undeclared campaign for President. He apparently wants to take his anti-women's rights, anti-union, anti-public school, pro-business agenda to Washington, DC. Although Kasich speaks of an 'Ohio miracle' as he tours, those of us here know that being 31st in job creation doesn't really win him any accolades.

* Scott Walker's record on women is very disgusting. You can read about it here at MSNBC, theProgressive, Truthout, Americablog.  Why would any woman support Scott Walker?

Can't decide?

I like both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the Democratic candidate for President. They are both well-qualified and in tune with what is needed for the future. I do like that Hillary pillow!

- - - - -

  Google has a Google Doodle on Sally Ride, the first woman in space. The Verge has more about the salute to Sally Ride.

Where have all the Republicans gone?

There is a great article in Politico that describes what the Republican Party is up against:

...There’s been much written about how millennials are becoming a reliable voting bloc for Democrats, but there’s been much less attention paid to one of the biggest get-out-the-vote challenges for the Republican Party heading into the next presidential election: Hundreds of thousands of their traditional core supporters won’t be able to turn out to vote at all.

The party’s core is dying off by the day.

Since the average Republican is significantly older than the average Democrat, far more Republicans than Democrats have died since the 2012 elections. To make matters worse, the GOP is attracting fewer first-time voters. Unless the party is able to make inroads with new voters, or discover a fountain of youth, the GOP’s slow demographic slide will continue election to election.....

Look at that one line....''the GOP is attracting fewer first-time voters.' Whatever the Republicans are selling, anti-immigrant, anti-equality, anti-women's rights, etc., the young people aren't buying. This is why the Republicans try to stop young people, minorities, and women from voting. The GOP cannot win if Democrats show up and vote. We cannot let the Republicans stop us!

Be Worried!

* Ohio Gov. John Kasich has spent the last few weeks touring the country giving speeches as an 'undeclared' candidate for President. The Dispatch reports that Kasich is going to California for some speeches and fundraising.  While Kasich is out of Ohio, the layoffs continue in the state.

Meanwhile, a firm that is associated with Republicans is in big trouble.

Dispatch:

The former president of a major Republican political advertising firm has been indicted in Franklin County on new charges of perjury and tampering with evidence.
Nicholas P. Everhart, one-time president of Strategy Group for Media, previously was charged in Delaware County for allegedly recruiting a then-employee to illegally search the firm’s computers shortly before and after he was fired....

...Its clients include major Republican officeholders such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and others.  

* ThisWeekNews (which is owned by the Dispatch) reports that the Gahanna-Jefferson School district is waiting for the governor's budget. All information provided to the district and districts across the state point to more Kasich cuts to public schools.

–––––

>>>>>  Do you have major concerns about Republican candidate Jeb Bush?
You should.

In some recent interviews, Jeb responded to a question and said that he too would have invaded Iraq. When people showed surprise about his statement, Jeb indicated that he 'misunderstood' the question.
Jeb has also said that his major foreign policy adviser is his brother, former President George W. Bush.  Oh, dear.

If you believe in equality for all, you should be concerned about Jeb's favorite author-----
Charles Murray. As TPM points out, Charles Murray's opinions are not supportive of equality.

The Republican Candidates

The Republican candidates for President are definitely crazy. Why would anyone vote for any of these people? They all appear to be anti-equality, anti-women's rights, anti-public school, anti-separation of church and state, and for continuous war.

The latest additions to the Republican clown car include Carly Fiorina, and Mike Huckabee (click on their names for info).  Just thinking about Ben Carson as the President elevates my blood pressure!

These people live in some bubble where they only watch Fox News and talk to people that think like them.

Unions Help People

We visited South Carolina last week. We were surprised by the billboard/ads that were anti-union on highways, newspapers, and TV.  Apparently, Boeing is trying to kill unions in the state. Employees at Boeing need to wake up and look at how unions can protect your health, your job, and provide benefits that the company doesn't want you to have. Union activists have been threatened, according to the news. 

Don't worry, South Carolina. Union organizers are not going to leave your state.

>  Ohio Gov. John Kasich is waiting for a message from God as to whether or not he should run for President (see Plunderbund). We might all want to send some texts/Facebook posts to Kasich, identify ourselves as God, and tell him to stay in Ohio and do his job. Apparently, Ohio still lags in job growth.

Thinking about going to college?

Many years ago, I was able to go to college by securing bank loans.  It took me 10 years, but I paid back every penny. I got two degrees from a land grant university, and I was able to use both of them for my career as a teacher.

Today prospective college students are looking at 'colleges' run by corporations that offer easy access, excessive fees, and overblown job prospects.  Unfortunately, many students are finding themselves in deep debt and without a job. Some of these 'colleges' have been put out of business by the government, or are being sued by former students.

Before you sign any forms or give any money to an 'admissions' officer, do your homework. Do a Google search with the name of the college and lawsuit. You'll be amazed at what you'll find.

If a college is more concerned with making a profit and increasing dividends to investors, stay away.

The Republicans!!!!

The stuff that comes from members of the Republican Party just is absolutely horrible.  Last week, Indiana passed a bill that allows people to refuse to serve or do business with anyone. Because the law that allows people to discriminate, Gov. Pence and the state of Indiana have seen evidence of boycotts and protest.

- Ohio's Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine has displayed his prejudice in his recent comments. RawStory has the latest from DeWine on his views on marriage equality. Mike DeWine has also been against women's reproductive freedom and access to gynecological care. DeWine, who has no uterus, wants to control those who have one!

- Gov. Kasich of Ohio needs to update his knowledge about current events.
Plunderbund:

John Kasich was in New Hampshire this weekend on his pre-presidential campaign tour and he landed himself a spot on a local political talk show where he was asked some softball questions about world events.  Kasich used the opportunity to show New Hampshire and the world just how unprepared he is for any serious discussion on foreign policy.

When asked about the threat from Russia, Kasich replied that the situation with “the Soviet Union and Putin” is “very concerning” and that we “have to convince our European friends like the Germans, the French… that we need tough sanctions.”

Yo, Kasich! The Soviet Union doesn't exist!!!!! Kasich is not ready for prime time!

Nuts!

>  Writer Charles M. Blow of the NY Times responded to some recent comments made by Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal:

...Last week on Fox News, he set about defending his statement that America “shouldn’t tolerate those who want to come and try to impose some variant, or some version, of Shariah law.” But he went so far as to say of prospective immigrants:

“In America we want people who want to be Americans. We want people who want to come here. We don’t say, ‘You have to adopt our creed, or any particular creed,’ but we do say, ‘If you come here, you need to believe in American exceptionalism.’ ”

What? Where is that written? I can’t find this “need to believe in American exceptionalism” anywhere in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Isn’t American exceptionalism itself a creed?

The smart-on-paper Jindal increasingly comes across as nuttier than a piece of praline...

Along with his continuously crazy remarks, Jindal is just not that prepared to be President. 

>>   Canadian Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator from Texas, has announced his intention to run for President. Cruz was born in Canada and many people believe that he is not eligible to be President for that reason alone. Other craziness from Cruz only adds to his lack of capacity to be the Chief Executive. (See the list put together by Raw Story.)

>>>   Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has a plan to force women to have babies.
RawStory:

...leave it to Sam Brownback, whose completely unjustified massive ego allows him to just speak off the cuff, to go ahead and come out with it by claiming that “economic growth” is “entwined” with a forced childbirth agenda....

Brownback apparently wants to stop all reproductive freedom for women, and tie them up until they can give birth.  Brownback believes in freedom, as long as you aren't a woman!


You can add Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Iowa's Steve King, John Kasich, Rubio, Santorum, Jeb, Rick Perry, etc., etc. to the list of nutty Republicans!

The 47

By now everyone has heard of the letter written to Iran by 47 Republican U.S. Senators.  Their plan, as crafted by Sen. Tom Cotton, was to undermine the nuclear talks between the United States and Iran. Their letter is viewed by some as a violation of the Logan Act. The 47 Republican Senators include Rob Portman of Ohio.

The Washington Post has this:

Here's who signed:
Signatories:

Richard Shelby (Ala.)
Jeff Sessions (Ala.)
Dan Sullivan (Alaska)
John McCain (Ariz.)
John Boozman (Ark.)
Tom Cotton (Ark.)
Cory Gardner (Colo.)
Marco Rubio (Fla.)
Johnny Isakson (Ga.)
David Perdue (Ga.)
Mike Crapo (Idaho)
Jim Risch (Idaho)
Mark Kirk (Ill.)
Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
Joni Ernst (Iowa)
Pat Roberts (Kansas)
Jerry Moran (Kansas)
Mitch McConnell (Ky.)
Rand Paul (Ky.)
David Vitter (La.)
Bill Cassidy (La.)
Roger Wicker (Miss.)
Roy Blunt (Mo.)
Steve Daines (Mont.)
Deb Fischer (Neb.)
Ben Sasse (Neb.)
Dean Heller (Nev.)
Kelly Ayotte (N.H.)
Richard Burr (N.C.)
Thom Tillis (N.C.)
John Hoeven (N.D.)
Rob Portman (Ohio)
Jim Inhofe (Okla.)
James Lankford (Okla.)
Pat Toomey (Pa.)
Lindsey Graham (S.C.)
Tim Scott (S.C.)
John Thune (S.D.)
Mike Rounds (S.D.)
John Cornyn (Texas)
Ted Cruz (Texas)
Orin Hatch (Utah)
Mike Lee (Utah)
Shelley Moore Capito (W.V.)
Ron Johnson (Wis.)
Mike Enzi (Wyo.)
John Barrasso (Wyo.)

Did not sign:

Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Jeff Flake (Ariz.)
Daniel Coats (Ind.)
Susan Collins (Maine)
Thad Cochran (Miss.)
Lamar Alexander (Tenn.)
Bob Corker (Tenn.)


Those that signed the letter should be admonished for their warmongering and attempt to sabotage agreements. Shame on them all!

How much?

Holy cow! They spent how much on advertising??????

Dispatch:

Ohio’s largest online charter school spent at least $2.27 million of state education tax dollars last school year on advertising to attract students, or about $155 for each student who enrolled that year....

“It seems shockingly high, and I cannot imagine there would be any good reason to spend that kind of tax dollars” on ads, state Rep. Teresa Fedor, a Democrat from Toledo, said of ECOT’s ad budget. She is calling for an overhaul of the state’s charter-school laws.....

....The Dispatch reported last week that ECOT had an average enrollment of 14,600 students last school year, but only because it enrolled thousands of students each month to replace the thousands who left after staying for only weeks or months. ECOT churned through almost 23,000 students over the course of calendar year 2014 to arrive at an enrollment of 14,600....

OMG! How in the world can Kasich promise even more money to charters? Our tax dollars are being wasted while charters fail and their owners get richer.

Do Not Expect the Facts from Fox

The good people over at Plunderbund found some interesting information about the truthfulness of Fox News and their talking heads.

....As he (O'Reilly) continues to defend the purity of Fox News, you might be interested in the tale of the surveys. PolitiFact, the highly respected non-partisan rating system, produced these figures on the accuracy of what advances to its audience, night and day:

True, 14.11 pct.
Mostly true, 14.11 pct.
Mostly false, 26.20 pct.
False, 39.30 pct....


You can do the math  ----   28.22 % True or Mostly True

                                           65.50 %  False or Mostly False

Why is anyone watching Fox News??????

Shame!

Ohio taxpayers have been concerned that their money is being misused to prop up failing charter schools. Now, the failing charter system in Ohio has been noticed by people outside of our state.

Ohio.com:

During a day of panel discussions with education reporters and experts at the University of Colorado Boulder, national and local school choice supporters had plenty to say about Ohio.

None of it, however, was good.....

....Among the lowest performing charter school operators continually identified by Ziebarth, Petrilli and other panelists were: K12 Inc., a national company that operates Ohio Virtual Academy and Insight of Ohio; the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, an Ohio online charter school owned by political contributor Bill Lager; and White Hat Management, an Akron-based company founded by local industrialist David Brennan, who pioneered Ohio’s charter school movement.....

Unfortunately, Gov. Kasich and the Ohio Republicans won't stop funding these charters.  Kasich even wants to send more money to these failing schools!  Why would they refuse to stop the charter school waste?  The charter school groups are major contributors to Republican candidates.

The Republican Lies

By now you've heard the cockamamie accusations made by Rudy Giuliani.

Time:

...Speaking at a private dinner for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Manhattan, the former mayor of New York said, “I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America,” Politico reports. “He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.”

Apparently Giuliani hasn't gotten enough attention recently so he said something ignorant, stupid, and racist.  What can you expect from a Republican?  The Republican Party has demonstrated their racism, and sexism in more recent years, especially since the candidacy and election of President Obama.

People should realize that the GOP cannot understand the economic success that has resulted under the Obama administration.  The Republicans cannot deal with facts. With the cooperation of Fox, the Republicans have created an incredible amount of lies, conspiracies, and racist comments. They need to stop.

Here are some facts------

'Clown Car'

Ed Kilgore wrote a little something in The Washington Monthly about Gov. Kasich.

WashingtonMonthly:


....Yes, John Kasich is interrupting his tour of Rocky Mountain states promoting that hip new idea the Balanced Budget Amendment to go to an actual early primary state...


....I’m sorry, I just don’t get why so many smart people share this view of Kasich as a world-beater. Yes, his resume is strong, and yes, he’s theoretically “electable.” But if there was ever the wrong time for a Balanced Budget crusade, it’s probably right now, and I just can’t see him rousing a crowd into the kind of hate-frenzy needed to win in the early states...


 Charles Pierce of Esquire, had a very worthwhile article (John Kasich Emerges: One More For The Clown Car) about Ohio Gov. John Kasich.  Here are some excerpts from that Esquire article:

...I remember, back in 1999, how hot a candidate everybody thought John Kasich was; he was the staunch supply-sider who could talk to the young...

....He talked to the young so well that he became the only member of the House of Representatives ever to get the heave-ho at a Grateful Dead concert -- perhaps, as Woody Allen once put it, because several dozen people were rushed to the hospital with bad vibes. Do you know how much of a jackass you have to be to get thrown out of a Dead concert, at least if they don't catch you selling fake crystals or something? Yeesh.

Anyway, Kasich '00 cratered even before the 1999 Iowa Straw Poll -- which made him also the Tim Pawlenty of the '90's -- because George W. Bush was hoovering up all the campaign money. What I remember most about Kasich's brief trip around the track is that he was somebody who thoroughly bought his own publicity. (Here in the Commonwealth -- God save it! -- we have come to know this as the McDreamy Syndrome.) Now, though, he's in his second term as governor of Ohio, where he has a) accepted the government-cootified Medicaid money, and b) lost the fight against public employee unions that Scott Walker won in Wisconsin. And his big campaign pitch is, as I said, the Worst Idea In Interplanetary Politics. I don't know how "I had all these terrible ideas before any of these guys" is going to play as a strategy. It's only a matter of time before he starts arguing that he's not a career politician.



While some (2 or 3 people) in Ohio view Kasich as a visionary, those outside of the state have opinions that are not the least favorable. I'm old enough to remember Kasich's tenure in the House of Representatives.  Although some in the GOP thought Kasich was 'hip,' it is safe to say he wasn't hip then and he isn't hip now.

If there are people out there that think that cutting 100,000 people off food stamps, cutting funding to public schools, restricting women's reproductive rights, turning over public-financed prisons to private corrections companies, allowing less than safe food to be served in some prisons, cutting prison staff, attacking teachers, not supporting marriage equality, attacking union workers,......................then you must be a Republican and a supporter of a pro-business, anti-human agenda.

Notice this????

Has anyone else noticed that Mike Huckabee living totally out of reality?  I don't know what alternative universe Huckabee resides in, but it appears to be far, far away from here. (See HuffingtonPost.)


> Rumors are swirling that the new Republican majority in Congress has been unable to accomplish anything because of infighting. A recent post from the DemocraticUnderground explains more:

"You know, you guys are in the majority,” Franken teased GOP senators as he entered the room.

With a reporting quorum secured, Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, sought to quickly move ahead with the committee’s agenda.

But Franken pressed his point, telling Grassley, “No, I want to say something about this.”

“You know when we were in the majority … we had the responsibility to provide a quorum,” Franken said. “And I thought that you guys, your side, didn’t show up because you just resented being in the minority. But now I know … it’s just sheer laziness.”
 

http://hoh.rollcall.com/al-franken-still-a-jokester/?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=obclick&obref=obinsite
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2015/2/8/85626/65489

Don't you just love Sen. Al Franken!!!!!!

Thinking of Sending Your Child to a Charter School?

If you are thinking of sending your son/daughter to a charter/community school, please think again.  You need to ask lots of questions and do some research. Here is what I would ask before I would enroll my child in a charter program:

 What is your graduation rate?
 Are the teachers certified in the subjects they teach?
 How many teachers have master's degrees, reading certifications, and math certificates?
 How many children are in a classroom?
 What books or reading materials are provided?
 Who is the publisher of the learning materials?
 Are children seated at desks, or folding tables and chairs?
 Does your school have a library and a certified librarian on staff?
 How many hours per day do teachers work in the classroom?
 Does each child have a computer? If not, how many children must share one?
 Is the principal certified in school administration with a background in teaching?
 How many children are reading at or above their grade level?
 If the school has an excess of funds, what happens to that money?
 Ask for results and reports, and do not go on the word of the 'administrator' in the building.


Please note: I would not send my child to a charter/community school. I would move to a better public school district and give my child the full advantages of a well-funded, public education. Remember that charter/community schools answer to owners/CEO's while public schools respond to taxpayers.


>  Recent information about the attendance records of Ohio's charter (aka 'community schools') schools have made taxpayers upset.  It appears that some of these schools are receiving money for invisible students.   Following an investigation by the office of the Ohio Auditor, attendance records were released from some charters. Here is part of what was discovered-----

The Columbus Dispatch:

....A report released yesterday by Ohio Auditor Dave Yost found significantly lower attendance at half of the 30 charter schools where auditors conducted unannounced head counts this past fall....

....Among those with the widest gap was Capital High School, 640 Harrisburg Pike, Columbus. The school reported 298 students; auditors counted 142, fewer than half.....

....Gateway Academy on Kimberly Parkway North in Columbus reported 100 students but auditors counted 52, with 20 students absent....

Dayton Daily News:

Just 43 of the 153 students listed in attendance records at Dayton Technology Design High School were present when investigators from the state Auditor’s office conducted a surprise, random head count at 30 charter schools across the state, according to a report issued Thursday....

.....Auditors showed up at 8:35 a.m. Oct. 1 at Dayton Technology Design H.S. and found just 43 students in school — well below the 172 estimated enrollment given in July 2014 and below the 153 students reported to Ohio Department of Education by the school to be in attendance on Oct. 1. School Director Karl Perkins told auditors that the headcount would be low because tardy students tend to arrive closer to 9 a.m. and some log onto the computer from home, the report said.

Yost’s team showed up again — unannounced — at 8:55 a.m. on Nov. 12 and counted 60 students at Dayton Technology Design H.S. The audit also noted that the school didn’t notify ODE that it would offer “blended” learning where students take classes in person and online.....

Cincinnati.com:

Two Hamilton County charter schools had fewer than 25 percent of registered students in the classrooms when investigators from the Ohio Auditor's Office stopped by for a surprise head count, according to a state report released Thursday.....

....The local schools – Life Skills Center of Hamilton County and Life Skills Center of Cincinnati, which share an administrator and some teachers – are among seven schools whose surprise checks found far fewer students in the seats than the estimates provided.

Reported registration tallies were 64 at Life Skills Hamilton and 127 at Life Skills Cincinnati. But the headcounts, conducted Oct. 1, found 18 at Hamilton and 22 on the Cincinnati campus....


 Read Plunderbund's post on the charter school mess here.

You can download the entire report from the State Auditor's Office here.

If you are concerned about wasted money and corporations getting richer off of your tax money, call your state representative's office and demand an investigation.  I'd like to see a full report on charter school attendance, money received, and graduation rates side by side. It is time to stop wasting our tax dollars on these failing charter schools!!!!

FYI: Those online charter school ads you see on TV are the same ads shown in other states. It is fair to conclude that results are not the same for every student in every state.

Today...

...we honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  In order to reach his goals, we must continue to come together, and take steps toward peace and understanding.  We still have so much to do.

If you need more information about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., visit the King Center online.

Sad start to 2015

The year 2015 is fresh and new, but the layoffs continue in Ohio. http://jfs.ohio.gov/warn/current.stm
 There is NO Ohio economic miracle, Gov. Kasich!

> Here is an item that will get you thinking-----

RawStory:

...Tamir Rice was carrying a pellet gun near a recreation center when he was shot and killed in November. Police shot Rice in the abdomen seconds after arriving on scene in response to a 911 call that reported someone who was “ probably a juvenile ” was waving a gun that was “ probably fake ”.

“I don’t have confidence that a [state Bureau of Criminal Investigation] probe into police use-of-force would be a transparent, due-process kind of investigation,” said Jackson, according to Northeast Ohio Media Group . He instead called on the Cuyahoga County sheriff to investigate Rice’s death....

...Jackson’s comments on Sunday were similar to those he made last month after the the Department of Justice released its report on the city’s police force....

What is it about Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine that might cause anyone to think that there would be political motivations behind an investigation? 

> Mike DeWine is against marriage equality and he has spent time and money fighting against it. 

> Mike DeWine is against a woman's reproductive rights, including those that would allow a woman to choose to have an abortion.

> Mike DeWine's conflicts of interest in the investigation of the killing of a man at the Beavercreek Walmart. Plunderbund provided the details.

Considering the Republican control of the state, anything involving civil rights should be investigated by the U.S. Justice Department.