Regarding Education...

Education, specifically teacher compensation, is a hot topic today.  And very emotionally charged.  I'd really like to contribute to the conversation in a productive way but at this time I cannot.  I must admit that I am angry at everyone: The State's inequality, Republicans and their Charter Schools, and The Teachers Union's bully tactics:

The State's inequality: I was not as valuable as a student in Livonia, Detroit, or even South Redford- the second public school district in my small township.  (Find out the value of your kid in 2008 and 2009 here.)  Why should those students be worth more than me?

Republicans and their Charter Schools: I really wanted to go to The Henry Ford Academy, a local charter school.  Admission into the school was by lottery and my name wasn't drawn.  Fortunately for me RU was not a failing school district.  If it had been I would have been out of luck.

The Teachers Union's bully tactics: When I was a sophomore in High School the teachers wanted a raise and the district was having a tough time balancing the budget (see point 1).  To their credit, I suppose, they only closed school down once (nasty case of Blackboard flu).  Instead they wore these bright green neon t-shirts on Fridays that read "RU teachers car about: Kids, RU School Board cares about: ???"  I suppose it didn't bother all the other kids whose parents weren't on the school board.

I have some ideas about how we can improve education in this state and maybe someday I will post a blog about them, but for right now I'm just angry at everybody.

Unintended consequenses

Over the course of the next 6 months as you open up your renewal statements for your government mandadated Auto Insurance policy and you notice that dispite your excellent driving record - dispite the fact that you have never made a claim - your bill just keeps getting bigger and bigger - I want you to think back to November 2008...

That was the year Obama ran against McCain.  The year that Democrats gained a super majority in the House and Senate...the year Cliff Taylor was up for re-election as the Chif Justice of the Michigan Supream court...wait who?

Thats right - it was a big year, full of big names and big stars - but there were other folks on the ballot too.  Folks who will never have shows on Fox news - who you could bump into at the store and never recognize.  But, just because you don't know their names doesnt mean they don't have power.

In this case, Cliff Taylor (a right leaning conservitive) was defeated by a left leaning liberal.  Last summer the formerly right leaning MI Supreme Court ruled that the definition of bodily injury liablity could be broadened (thats the part of your auto policy that you probably didn't care vary much about before).  They also said claims going back as far as 3 years could be reopened and greater payouts made.

So now every insurance company has to come up with the cash to cover these unexpected expenses, past, present and future.

I know, you didn't know, you didn't want to vote wrong, you had to get your nails done, I've heard it all.  Rattle off every excuse you want, it doesn't matter.

Voting has consequences.   Intended or not.

45 million and counting...

Back when I was a young and somewhat confused Freshman in College I began to wonder if I really was a Republican.  I signed up for the Hope Democrats.  I attended meetings.  I began to grow horns and a tail...OK not really :)  But that would be interesting.

This all carried on for several months - then I stumbled on an article about abortion - and I remembered.  That was why I got involved in politics in the first place.  And it was still by far and away the most important issue facing lawmakers and voters.

"What?" you say, (especially you 'tea party folk') "How could that be more important than the crushing national debt or two unjust and expensive wars?!  How could that be more important than high unemployment?!"

Lets set aside for one moment the reality that killing off thousands of Americans a day is hardly a recipe for economic growth.  Lets set aside the Biblical arguments that state very clearly that killing is wrong.

And lets go back to a bus trip sometime in my high school days.  At that time I was a bit outspoken and sometimes too harsh - and on this day I was in all my glory, loudly proclaiming the evils of abortion.  One girl, whose name I cannot remember, became quickly angry -
"You don't even know what you are talking about" she yelled.
"Oh don't I - abortion is murder."
"Sometimes people don't have any other choice, like my sister." Silence. "She is only 23 and in college, a baby would have ruined her life."  By this time the tears were streaming down her cheeks.  Longer pause ...

And then:  "And how do you think I feel - I never got to meet my little niece or nephew".

At the time we were all too young to recognize the weight of her words.  Here she was - trying to defend her sisters actions, probably because she loved her and didn't want to think of her as "murdering" anyone.  But her final statement revealed that deep down she knew it was wrong, and she was grieving not a group of cells, not a medical procedure, but a person.

Lets stop trying to justify the actions of the women around us who have made an incredibly painful choice and had to pretend that it was OK and lets just say what we all know to be true.  This is wrong.  It is wrong and it is having very very negative consequences.  Will it be hard to cope with the thousands of "inconvenient" children that otherwise would have been killed.  Maybe.  But I bet if you asked the sister of the girl from the bus - I would bet every penny I have, she would say it would be worth it.


(BTW - for those interested - the moment I read that article I sold my soul to the Grand Old Party - I taped it to the wall of my dorm room with bright red letters written across the top "This is why you are a republican, this is why you do what you do"  And to this day - it is)

Election day 2010

If you live in Michigan this is how I would recommend that you vote:

Straight Republican Ticket
NO on both State Proposals
And for Young and Kelly for Supreme Court

A vote for a third party is a vote for Democrats.  Unless it is a vote for the Green party - then it is a vote for Republicans.  And don't try to tell me it's not.  It is.

Why?  Because Republicans get that deficit spending is only a good thing for the folks financing it and Democrats really want to get cap and trade done ... just in time to make heating your home REALLY expensive. 

If you feel like you can't in good conscience cast your vote for the big bad Republican Party (you know who you are) please feel free to comment on this post and if Democrats retain a majority in both houses due to unexpectedly high turnout for third party candidates I will hunt you down and make YOU pay for my newly inflated heating and electric bills. Deal?

"...If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

 2 Thessalonians 3:10b.


Contrast Paul's exhortation to avoid idleness with an opinion piece published in AOL news by the president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka. 


His thesis: 

           "This Labor Day, more of our grandparents may be working a cashier's line, waiting tables or preparing  lessons for the first day of school. Remember those happy TV commercials of seniors having the time of their lives, retiring in comfort and dignity after a lifetime of work? They're a dying dream for most older Americans. And that's something we can't let happen."

Lets set aside the fact that he just said that we should base our dreams and expectations on 60 second ads and move on to the real issues with his article, which there are many:
Firstly, it is NOT a tragedy that a whopping one third of people over 65 still work to pay for their grocieries/golf games/bingo/bridge/cable/mortgages/rent/heat/electricity/or even perscripton drugs.  The rest of us do it and no one is sitting around feeling sorry for us. 
Secondly,  young people are not loosing sleep at night worrying about politicians cutting their Social Security.  None of us expect it to be there because we know that the system will implode in 8 or so years.  Rather we are up at night wondering how to make ends meet when so much of our income is being siphoned away by Social Security.  Seriously, we get pissed when we look at our pay stubs. 
Thirdly, no matter how many Americans don't want to see benefits cut even fewer want to see taxes increased.   
He conveniantly leaves out how much money we already spend on Social Security and its brothers Medicaid and Medicare.(See Figure one, but be warned, it is shocking).  


I could go on and on and on but that would take quite awhile, and I don't think I could avoid being snarky.  So I will say only this: I am not so extreme that I believe that we should simply abolish social security or medicare/medicaid - however we have to be responsible.  It is not responsible to allow perfectly healthy people to spend 10 to 20 years of their lives in idleness on MY dime.  We can discuss what to do with irresponsible or unlucky people who have become too sick to work, but the healthy people will not be harmed by paying for their own livelihoods.    


And if Mr. Trumka has a problem with that he is more than welcome to take his hugely inflated salary and do something about it and ask that his friends do the same.  But I do not have a hugely inflated salary, and I would ask him to kindly keep his paws off of it.

Borrowed from: http://www.whitcam.com/research/archives/248

Bonus Post!

Unofficial Poll time!

What are the top 3 things you consider when you are deciding who to vote for?

You can comment on this post or send them to anne.troia.schmidt@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Tuesday

I've been asked by several people "Why Tuesday?"

The answer is simple: Because days of the week, unlike people, are not created equal.  There is a hierarchy.

First there is Sunday.  The Lords day.  Dedicated to going to church, eating a scrumptious meal and naps.  

  

Sunday is followed closely by Friday, which edges out Saturday because the only thing better than enjoying the weekend is enjoying part of the weekend while anticipating the rest of it.  

Wednesday and Thursday ride on Friday's coattails because you know you are halfway through the week.

Of course Monday is last because... well ...do you know anyone who likes Monday?

Then there is Tuesday.  Tuesday is nothing special.  If one is going to find oneself wondering "what day is it today" more than likely it is a Tuesday.  This is a day that does not even get to start with it's own letter.  It shares "T" with Thursday.

But, every two years all that changes and people spend hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars just for one very special Tuesday.  Specifically the first Tuesday after the first Monday of the month of November. 

Sadly, despite the fact that it occurs, and has occurred, on the same exact Tuesday every two years for over 200 years only roughly 58ish% of Americans participate in Election Day.  (See hugely depressing graph below.) 

So in honor of the least appreciated but possibly the most important day of the week (except Sunday, because really, any day that includes a nap is far and away the best) I have decided to publish new posts on Tuesday.  

Maybe for those of you in the responsible 58ish%, you will more easily remember which day you need to pop over to beezersbrain.com to check out the newest posts because you will think to yourself: "She will always post on the same day as election day!"  And for the rest of you slackers, perhaps you will get in the habit of reading my blog and then on Election day you will see that I am reminding you to vote.  And you will.  And that will be awesome.  

In the meantime come back next week as we hear horror stories about people who did not vote.  :)  

From: http://elections.gmu.edu/voter_turnout.htm