image credit: aecliving.com
For information on the Saturday parade and other festivities, click on cleveland.com’s page.
# # #
Friday, March 16, 2018
Trump, Kudlow, and Pompeo
image credit: theconservativetreehouse.com
James Delingpole specializes in climate topics at Breitbart London, but
his political takes are always thoughtful. Here are some of his remarks on
President Trump’s two most recent nominations/appointments (“Trump’s picks Just Get Better and Better”):
Larry Kudlow’s appointment as
President Trump’s next Economic Czar has been anti-endorsed by at least two of
my favorite foaming leftists.
Here’s Jonathan Chait in New York Mag:
Trump’s New Economic
Adviser Lawrence Kudlow Has Been Wrong About Everything for Decades
Here’s Soros-funded Think Progress:
Trump’s new economics director is a climate denier who
thinks animals can ‘snuggle’ under pipelines.
Could there be any more encouraging a sign that with his latest
appointments, Trump is right over the target?
I wrote the other day that Mike Pompeo was a great choice for Secretary of
State – way better than the corporatist swamp denizen Rex Tillerson. But I
think I’m even more excited about Kudlow.
First, it means that the battle for the soul of the Trump administration’s
economic policy has been won by the Art-Laffer-style supply siders. (This was by no means a given: remember
all those GOP experts who told us in the early days that Trump was just a
Democrat wearing Republican clothing…?).
Second, Kudlow – like Pompeo, unlike their respective predecessors
Tillerson and Gary Cohn – is a climate change skeptic.
The rest of Delingpole’s comments are here.
# # #
Thursday, March 15, 2018
More useless legislation
image credit: taxpolitix.com
One of the core Tea Party values is limited government, but Congress knows better. Don Surber's blog "House passes phony school safety bill" is spot on:
Two things tell you a piece of
legislation is worthless.
First, it has a cute and clever
acronym for its title. Second, it passes with overwhelming
bipartisan support.
. . .
STOP stands for (drumroll) Student,
Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018.
The bill will prevent no violence.
But it feels good. It will spend $200 million or so on "training to
prevent student violence against others and self, including training for local
law enforcement officers, school personnel, and students," ABC News reported.
The bill is another federal
solution to a local problem. A federal program helped cause the Parkland high
school shooting, as Obama paid the school and the sheriff not to suspend or
arrest belligerent students.
But that is what Congress does: it
spends money we do not have on things we do not need.
We need less federal aid, and more
local control of the schools.
Yup. Surber’s blog is here.
# # #
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
The Wall ~ progress report
Via Breitbart: Yesterday, President Trump inspected eight prototypes for
The Wall at the Mexican border. He prefers ones with see-through capability at
ground level as well as those with a rounded top to make it more difficult to
use a rope or grappling hooks to get over.
The controversial Dangerous blogger/authorMilo also preferred the one Trump leaned toward. Milo had some fun
comments on the various prototypes of an artistic nature; I had missed the
aesthetics. His blog is here.
# # #
Monday, March 12, 2018
HB 512 sets off alarm bells at PJ Media
image credit: youtube.com
The other day, Paula Bolyard at PJ Media ran a report “Kasich Power Grab
Could Give Unelected Bureaucrats Almost Unlimited Power Over Education.” Here’s
the opening:
Ohio Governor John Kasich and the
Ohio legislature are fast-tracking a bill that that would consolidate nearly
all educational departments into one unelected executive agency controlled by
the governor. It's a giant power grab by Kasich and Ohio Republicans, who have
become frustrated by their inability to control the Ohio Department of Education
and the elected members of the State Board of Education.
HB 512,
currently under consideration by the Ohio House, seeks to combine the Ohio Department
of Education (ODE), Ohio Department of Higher Education, and Ohio Department of
Workforce Transformation into a single new department organized under the
governor. In addition, the elected State Board of Education (SBE) would be
stripped of most its powers to promulgate rules related to K-12 education.
The current board, which has 11 regionally-elected members and eight at-large
members appointed by the governor, has purview over a wide variety of education
issues, including standards, assessment selection, proficiency determination,
state report cards, teacher/student ratios, private and homeschool regulations,
and public school operating standards.
"What I really want... I
want to be able to run the Department of Education," Kasich said at an
Associated Press forum in early February, signaling his support
for the move. "I don't think we should have this elected school
board." Instead, he said the governor should be in charge of education in
the state.
"We have no clue who
these people are and they're running education policy," Kasich said.
"And I'm governor and I can't tell them what to do. It's nuts."
That's the way democracy
works, John.
. . .
The most egregious change, she
warned, "is the transfer of authority from our State Board of Education to one person appointed by whomever the governor may be." As a
result, "every four to eight years the focus and direction of [the
agency's] broad scope of power can change, which is not conducive to
stability," Elsey said.
Read the rest here -- including written testimony already submitted. Don’t just weep. Cleveland Tea Party blogged alerts on HB 512 earlier today here and on March 4 here. Please refer back to
those blog links for Actions you can take to stop this monstrosity.
# # #
Update on HB 512 and Alert
Second Hearing for Opposition
Testimony
This Week ~ Wednesday,
March 14 @ 9:30am
Cleveland Tea Party blogged on March 4 about HB 512 – the state’s
education power-grab – click here. A short overview is at The Petition Site here. Today’s Alert is based on e-Alerts from other Ohio liberty
groups.
Reasons to oppose HB 512:
- · Would establish the largest educational bureaucracy in the nation
- · Would take away the right of citizens to effectively have a say in education and concentrate power in the hands of the Governor. HB 512 will further weaken local control of schools.
- · An unresponsive education bureaucracy would lead to more rule making authority, and allow the state government to act unilaterally -- without a check and balance by an elected Board of Education, as specified by law.
- · With today’s need for education to focus more on skilled trades and non-college jobs, a department with a K-16 focus can only make education more expensive and more difficult to prepare students for future employment and careers.
If you were unable to travel
to Columbus last week, here’s a second opportunity to attend the hearing on HB
512 on Wednesday, March 14th. Come for as long as you can, depending on
the amount of testimony for each bill (there are seven prior to HB512).
The hearing room was moved to 313 - the largest available so
we will need more people to attend.
Additional Action Alerts:
Continue to both call
and write to your state representative.
Submit "written
only" testimony to GovernmentAccountability&OversightCommittee@ohiohouse.gov
Offer written and oral
testimony (be prepared for
questions from Committee Members) by sending prepared remarks to the e-mail
address above 24 hours in advance of the hearing and completing a witness slip
as requested through the chairman's office.
Attend the hearing to quietly demonstrate your opposition to the
massive overhaul of Ohio's education system, consolidation of power under the
governor and elimination of voter's voice in education policy!
Note: HB 512 is listed on the March 14 schedule as
being for proponent, opponent, and interested parties. It is common practice
that by inviting all parties to testify, this could indicate it is the final
hearing... although this is at Chairman Blessing's discretion.
Additional Information:
Address: Ohio State
House, 1 Capitol Square, Columbus, OH 43215
Parking cost: $7-20 depending
on location, if the Statehouse Parking Garage is full, Columbus Commons is the
next best option.
Complete this form when
submitting testimony: GAOCWitnessInformationform
Email testimony & witness
form to Chairman Blessing: GovernmentAccountability&OversightCommittee@ohiohouse.gov
Contact information for
Committee Members:
Chairman Louis Blessing III – (Co-Sponsor of HB 512)
(614) 466-9091
Vice Chairman Bill Reineke (Sponsor of HB 512) – (614)
466-1374
Kathleen Clyde (Running for State Office) – (614)
466-2004
Riordan McClain (replacing Keith Faber 2/22)
– (614) 644-6265
Timothy Ginter – (614) 466-8022
Dave Greenspan – (614) 466-0961
Brigid Kelly – (614) 466-5786
Bernadine Kennedy Kent – (614) 466-5343
P. Scott Lipps – (614) 644-6023
Dorothy Pelanda (Co-Sponsor of HB 512) – (614)
466-8147
Bill Sietz – (614) 466-8258
Ryan Smith (Running for House Speaker) – (614)
466-1366
Martin J. Sweeney – (614) 466-3350
# # #
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Free speech zones
Florida
legislature bans 'free speech zones' on state campuses
. . .
The very notion of a "free
speech zone" is repugnant to democracy and an affront to the First
Amendment. But with radicals firmly in charge, they make the rules and enforce
their codes with little opposition so far from state education authorities.
It's a small victory, but a
significant one nonetheless. It shows that we can successfully pushback against
the radicalization of our schools and protect the rights of all to freedom of
speech.
Full report is here.
# # #
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