A very large Crack in the Democrat Party Façade

The sick, enabling, co-dependency between the Democrat Party and the teachers unions; two largest are NEA and AFT, has always been the looming cancer eating away at their façade of unity and purpose.  Any political party whose leadership uses their influence as well as their amply padded, publicly funded bank accounts to send their children to high performing private schools while insisting that their electorate not receive a similar opportunity for their children is destined to fail. 

Let’s look at the two current examples:

1.     The newly elected mayor NYCity has gone to war against publicly funded charter schools which have managed to escape the domineering and bad performance standards of the NYCity teachers union.  This fool named de Blasio has decided that his first public action is to deny the successful charter schools access to publicly supported facilities – in effect he is saying only schools with teacher union members get to work in public funded school building.  He doesn’t care about results.  Why would the fool de Blasio take such action?  First answer is simple – he’s stupid.  A clown.  Meaning he is a tool of the teachers union.  But he also is a politician and he is not only out of step with the people of NYCity, he is in direct conflict with the governor of his state, also a Democrat and the president of the United States, also a Democrat and the head of the federal education bureaucracy, also a Democrat. 

2.    But don’t get too smug over the fool de Blasio.  As we about to show, this blatant confusion, contradiction and hypocrisy in the Democrat party runs all the way to the top.  In the state of Louisiana, kids, mostly poor kids and minority kids are given the opportunity to get out of the crappy teacher union schools and go to high performing private schools – just like the fat cats in the party do with their own kids.  Why do they get this chance?  Because Louisiana does not treat tax money to schools as the private domain of the teachers unions, that’s why.  They have this bizarre concept – public funds belong to the public and when it comes to education parents know best – know best what their kids need – where their kids can get the best education – how to evaluate said education – support said education.  Holy smokes, can you imagine such anarchist thinking – parents know best.  Well, the teachers unions sure can’t so they go to Washington with their fancy lobbyists and propaganda (check out the fool Randi Weingarten) and tell Obama and his education head and his attorney general – all Democrats mind you – stop this school choice  business in Louisiana.  Faster than you can say “you gotta be kidding,” Obama, Holder and Duncan all salute while clicking their heels and use the power of the federal government to stop parental school choice in Louisiana. 

This party – this Democrat party – is troubled to the core of its rotten being.  It actually is in a race – can it self destruct before it destroys the country it rules.  As Admiral Mullen pointed out – debt is our nation’s top national security problem. Yes, debt is getting the job done but the most destructive force in America today is the Democrat Party.

 

NATO crumbles – what difference does it make?

Pretty interesting watching a 70 year old alliance with a couple of really big accomplishments just blow away, in the wind, because the top member is simply not up to leading anymore.

This must be what Hillary had in mind with her dopey reset button with her Russian counterpart as she launched America on this concept of leading from behind.  Well, at least in Hillary’s case, nature and all those comfy meals on those private jets provided her with an ample cushion to “lead from behind.”

Now what?

NATO is going, going ……...

Russia is on a roll – the thug Putin has masterfully vanquished the community organizer from the south side of Chicago.  Surprise, surprise.

Oh golly gee, what should we bright Americans do?  We know what we can do.  Let’s give more money to the CIA and the NSA and the FBI and Homeland Security, huh?  Surely, they need more money because not a one of them had a clue about what was going on or what might happen or what we could/should do if the Russians did do something.  More money – maybe a bigger contract with one of their unions, huh?  That would help.  Maybe a big pay raise, huh?  Bigger bonuses.  Raise their pensions.  Can’t give them many more days off – after all, they have had weeks of snow days just this winter.  Can’t expect them to work when it’s snowing can we?

On the other hand, maybe it makes sense to insist on some credentials in some form of competitive arena for one to advance to high office, huh?  Nah.

We’ve got Hillary in the wings, Barack filling out his brackets for the upcoming basketball tournament and Joe Biden soul searching – oh, should I or shouldn’t I?

Not a gram of spine or cojones in the gang.

Now what?

Russia dominates Europe – China dominates Asia – what’s left over for us?

More illegal immigrants and more dependents of illegal immigrants who have gained citizenship or, at least, legal status.

Give ‘em the vote (well, what we really mean is buy their votes, just vote for us Democrats; we’ll make it worth your while.)  Most, of those immigrants, maybe not a one, ever heard of NATO.  What’s the big deal?  Or, as Ole Hil’ would say, “What difference does it make?”

 

Deputy President Valerie Jarrett v. The People

There is no greater special interest in America today than the American public teachers unions.  There is no more damaging special interest in America today than the American public teacher unions, particularly if you are a youngster forced to attend one of their many underperforming schools – mostly located in urban areas but not exclusively located in such areas.  These several unions (two biggest are NEA and AFT) own America’s largest political party – the Democrat party.

One of the great Democrats who support the NEA and the AFT is none other than America’s deputy president at the white house – Valerie Jarrett.

The NEA and the AFT parrot a propaganda mythology that their interest in their labor organization is to better provide performance education results for their students.  The facts, the results, the performance comparisons to private American schools and other developed countries K – 12 education metrics belie the mythology of the NEA and the AFT.  In other words, the NEA and the AFT do not accomplish the very mission that they claim to be the reason for their existence.

In any competitive environment the consequence of this performance would long ago have been realized – extinction – bankruptcy – elimination – pick a consequence – it would have occurred.

Very recently America’s deputy president at the white house, Valerie Jarrett, announced that America must continue to support public schools across the land.  Sounds good doesn’t it?  How could one argue with such a noble position – support public schools?   Our unelected deputy president was simply using acceptable language to comfortably announce that America under her leadership would continue to support the NEA and the AFT.  No, she didn’t word it that way – she is not stupid.  Just deceitful and manipulative.

Many communities in America support their public schools and seem to be quite tickled with the union representation of the teachers who run these schools.  So be it.  If you like your public school you can keep your public school.  But, unlike the affordable health care act (you may know it as Obamacare), if you don’t like your public school there is no government website or alternative plan for your youngsters education.  There is no choice.  You are stuck with a crappy school (in the case of health care insurance plans Obama and his deputy president Valerie Jarrett refer to these plans as “substandard.”)  They do not refer to crappy schools with any such direct language – they say – give them more money – more resources (this is Democrat speak for “more money = more votes on Election Day from the teacher union members.)

Think about that – Ms. Jarrett and Mr. Obama think you should have a choice when it comes to health care and they will even pay for those choices if you are poor.  When it comes to schooling – they think you should not have a choice.  Can anyone explain in rational or logical terms why they push for choice on health care – on abortion – on marijuana – on citizenship for illegal immigrants but not for the parents who vote for them who want their kids to get a good education?  We wonder if Hillary would go along with this “no choice for parents about education” idea?

If you wish to read an article about our deputy president Valerie published in her home town magazine please go to:  http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/Felsenthal-Files/January-2014/The-Mysteries-and-Realities-of-Valerie-Jarrett-Mystery-Woman-of-the-White-House/

 

The New American Mafia

If you look up the definition of mafia, here is what you get:  Mafia is a blanket term used to describe a type of organized crime syndicate that primarily practices protection racketeering.

So then we looked up protection racketeering and this is what we found:  A protection racket is a scheme whereby a criminal group provides protection to businesses through violence outside the sanction of the law. Through the credible threat of violence, the racketeers deter people from swindling, robbing, injuring, sabotaging or otherwise harming their clients. Protection rackets tend to appear in markets where the police and judiciary cannot be counted on to provide legal protection, either because of incompetence (as in weak or failed states) or illegality (black markets).

Protection to business – threat of violence – police and judiciary cannot provide legal protection, etc.

This is almost a dead on definition of public employee unions.

Instead of being a business; well, they really are a business, they masquerade under the banner of organized labor.  They most certainly threaten violence, just try operating in their jurisdiction without their imprimatur of approval (which means paying them off) and the cops and judges will not intervene because they either belong to one of their unions or have been bought off by one of their unions.

The new American mafia is the public employee unions.

They control the government and the law making arms of the government and the law enforcing arms of the government.

Any protection racket that can access the public treasury is golden.  In the olden days the real mafia, the one founded following true Sicilian principles of omerta and deadly enforcement did their darnedest to get at the public treasury.  And they sometimes did – public contracts for various public works projects:  road building, other construction and local services – cleaning, waste management, linens, etc.  Think about it, today’s mafia, the public employee unions, control it all.  They aren’t running small schemes – some linen services and a few gambling games.  They control the schools, a lot of the health care industry, the teachers, the police and darn near all the 22+ million who work for various government agencies across the land.   Elected officials, from the president to governors to mayors and local council representatives are terrified of them – as well they should be.

They make Tony Soprano, the Godfather and the rest of la Cosa Nostra look like choirboys.  We all work for them and they cost us plenty. 

They did not exist until 50 years ago – in most places they were outlawed.  Even the labor leaders of the early 20^th century never tried to organize the public employees – they knew it would destroy the relationship between the community and their government.  No citizen can confront a government employee without great risk.  Government employees will always be protected by their union – they will not be subject to the same judicial process; the same laws; the same indictments or even the same punishments that they impose on the citizenry.

For years the mafia controlled entire communities and only an occasional law enforcement effort was made to rein them in.  Today law enforcement, the entire judiciary, virtually every government employee – they are the new American mafia.  Try to stand up to them; try to find a candidate who will stand up to them; or a judge.

The deterioration in trust in government all over America, at a high point today, can be traced directly to the growth, control and lack of accountability of public employee unions – the new American mafia.

We cannot call in the Untouchables to clean up this new mafia - they all belong to it.

The states and local communities who control their public employee unions will thrive – the rest will struggle and fail under the corruption and cost of these outfits.

 

 

 

Does the Constitution Guarantee the Right to Sell Your Vote?

We Americans give our founding fathers a great deal of credit for their wisdom and strength.  We admire their courage in standing up to a regal regime – George III and friends.  We particularly value their approach – a reasonable attempt to go along and get along with George’s massive bureaucracy; then a less reasonable (if you were on George’s side that is) approach to stand up to George and his minions; then a carefully worded Declaration of Independence highlighting George’s many failings and abuses; and finally, a protracted war against the most powerful military of its time – successfully fought and won by a spunky group of homeboys and girls.

Then, of course, they had to set up a government – a way of governing this brave new land of theirs.  Maybe the revolution and the fighting was the easy part, huh?

Can you believe it – they didn’t agree on many aspects of governance?  But they knew this one thing – it must be limited or they knew they could find themselves in the same mess they just eliminated.  So, with these two dominating beliefs – we don’t agree on much and we don’t want to have another overbearing, dominating, abusive government, they set out to find a way to form a democratic republic (the people rule) and still let people make their own decisions but have some government to do some necessary things.

Now that is a brief lesson in why we  used to have a constitution limiting government – power to the people and the states – and this simple overriding concept that the people would be responsible – not the government.  So what happened?  They did, after all, set up these three branches – to balance each other and to check up on each other; you know, separation of powers.  There was nothing in there about executive orders – nothing in there about telling the states what they could or could not grow or make or not make – not much about who could vote or not vote – and, nothing in there about the people selling their votes to get something in return.

Yes, we slipped that in – the vote was really restricted when these fellows set things up.  Why?  Well, they had this idea that the vote was the very determinant of whether this thing they were setting up would work and would last.  The vote was key and it was going to be parceled out as if mattered.  It did matter – you see, and this is very difficult to grasp today – these founders had this idea that the vote was a privilege, not a right.  You had to earn it – you had to participate and contribute to the community – be an upright citizen – pay your own way as well as pay into the community pot – be informed – volunteer – maybe even do something for the public good.  In other words not be a taker, be a giver.  No, not rhetorically speaking; not with words but with actions.  Measurable, tangible, real deeds.

So this may be where these fellows went wrong?  They didn’t realize that voting was a right – and that you didn’t need to earn the right – you just attained it by being here or there.  Once you had attained this right – no further obligation or responsibility required.  And soon, pretty soon, the politicians figured it out – they could buy that vote and so they started the bidding process.  One would say – here, you get a free education – just vote for me.  Next one said – I’ll give you that education and some money in your pocket just vote for me.  Soon someone said, "How would you like to be paid even if you don’t have a job?"  The next one topped that by handing out jobs.  Then one came along offering help paying your electric bill.  Next one said, "I’ll pay your rent."  Then someone came along and said – I’ll pay your doctor bills.  Then the next one offered – free prescription drugs.  Next guy said I can do better than that – free contraceptives – free abortions.  Heck, we’ll pay it all - free health care – no co-pays, no deductibles – let me buy your vote with all these goodies – someone else can pay. 

Boy, oh boy, those founders of ours sure didn’t grasp how to run a country did they?  They missed out on this whole concept of selling your vote.

Buy NBC – Fire Everyone

So speaketh the great muse, Carlos Irwin Estevez, last night.  You may recognize Mr. Estevez by his stage name:  Charlie Sheen.

Truer words – better advice – never will be had.

NBC and their monopolistic, greedy bunch of ownership bastards, Comcast, the only outfit beside la cosa nostra that we know of that routinely buys off your local politicians and then makes you pay for mindless television programming you seldom if ever watch laden with commercials for overpriced medications, cooking implements and car scratch removal services, just gave the full middle finger to all Americans who enjoy watchable comedy – entertaining but not filthy commentary – all delivered by a fellow who shows respect for his middle age audience.

Jay Leno is no blabbing Bill O'Reilly or clueless David Gregory or Oprah or Letterman or any of the hundreds of others who we are forced to pay to not watch in order to get access to local news or a football game or even a weather report.

Comcast/NBC – worse customer service track record in American communications and entertainment.  Most overpriced communications and “entertainment” in American history.  This outfit makes la cosa nostra look like some eighth grade pretend bullies in the school playground.

They own you – they own your local government and they are fully supported by your state government and your federal government.  They overcharge you every day of the year.  They dictate what is on your TV – when – how much you must pay for it – all government approved.

This mindless monopoly should be split apart – disbanded – or just put out of business.

Charley Sheen nailed it.  But we would like to add this thought to Charley's wisdom – run for President Jay and then put this horrible outfit out of business – once and for all.  If you are as sick of this company and the crap TV they produce and deliver to you at outrageous prices as we are, Jay might have a chance.  He would also scare the pants suit off his “what difference does it make” competition.

Aside:  we apologize for leaving you with that image!

In His Own Words – Bill Gates

Bill Gates tells quite a different story than the one now going around regarding the growing wealth disparity in the world's nations.  Here is the link to the annual letter Mr. Gates distributes as head of the foundation that bears his name:  http://annualletter.gatesfoundation.org/#section=home

Here are a few quotes from the letter:

·         The global picture of poverty has been completely redrawn in my lifetime. Per-person incomes in Turkey and Chile are where the United States level was in 1960. Malaysia is nearly there, as is Gabon. And that no-man’s-land between rich and poor countries has been filled in by China, India, Brazil, and others. Since 1960, China’s real income per person has gone up eightfold. India’s has quadrupled, Brazil’s has almost quintupled, and the small country of Botswana, with shrewd management of its mineral resources, has seen a thirty-fold increase. There is a class of nations in the middle that barely existed 50 years ago, and it includes more than half of the world’s population.

·         Income per person has in fact risen in sub-Saharan Africa over that time, and quite a bit in a few countries. After plummeting during the debt crisis of the 1980s, it has climbed by two thirds since 1998, to nearly $2,200 from just over $1,300. Today, more and more countries are turning toward strong sustained development, and more will follow. Seven of the 10 fastest-growing economies of the past half-decade are in Africa.

·         I am optimistic enough about this that I am willing to make a prediction. By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world. (I mean by our current definition of poor.)  Almost all countries will be what we now call lower-middle income or richer. Countries will learn from their most productive neighbors and benefit from innovations like new vaccines, better seeds, and the digital revolution. Their labor forces, buoyed by expanded education, will attract new investments.

TheFundamentals comments:  American media is dominated by a few very unattractive characteristics:

·         Sensationalism – mostly on bad news; seldom on good news

·         Brief snippets of disclosure and intensity with a perpetual “can't wait attitude for the next event”

·         Personality driven – think the attention directed to those who come and go – Obama, Christie, Clinton, etc. and not those who actually do the work, implement changes and have staying power – the regular everyday folk

·         Incredibly parochial – unaware and uninterested in the major developments and advances that occur beyond our borders

Mr. Gates does not suffer from these shortcomings.  Please read his letter.  It’s entitled, "Three myths that block progress for the poor.”   We think his views are needed as the chorus grows to drastically curtail the benefits flowing from capitalism.