Richardson Backs Obama
March 21, 2008
Reuters is playing this endorsement up as though it were the defeating blow to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
The backing from the Hispanic governor is a victory for Obama and could improve his chances of winning over Latino voters who have leaned toward New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Who are they kidding? This endorsement comes after all of the states with major Latino populations have already voted. The only election left is Puerto Rico, which Clinton is winning handily. I think it is more likely that Gov. Richardson wants a slot on the ticket or wants his name back in the news. The voters overwhelmingly rebuffed Richardson. Its time to go back to New Mexico.
Hillary Was in the White House…..So What?
March 20, 2008
The Obama bloggers and supporters in the MSM are at it again. Check out the post on Buckeye State Blog. They consistently look for reasons to throw mud at Clinton. What now? Senator Clinton’s recently released agendas show that she was in the white house during some of the encounters between her husband and Monica Lewinsky. And explain to me again how this is her fault? Should Hillary have had cameras installed all over the white house to make sure her husband was behaving at all times?
Just because her husband may have been a pig says nothing about her. The Obama enthusiasts are just back to their old tricks trying to change the subject when it is their candidate that is in the news in a not so flattering light over the last few days. I say, keep it up. It will just make some men and women feel sympathy for her and build her base even stronger. And then they will claim she did this all by some master design.
Obama Seeks to Move Past Racial Wounds
March 20, 2008
I’ve been watching the coverage of the Rev. White scandal unfold. I have chosen not to post anything on this topic for a variety of reasons, one of which is the fact that I think religion is very personal. But I continue to see leaders on TV that tell us that we should move on from these incendiary comments made by Barack Obama’s spiritual adviser and remember that he wants to unite us all.
But this is a blog and I do post my opinions…so here we go. I am getting tired of people telling me to get past things and that certain issues shouldn’t be important to me. Isn’t that for me to decide? Regardless of the racial heritage or background of a person, hate speech is hate speech. To have sat in the pew of a church for 20 years while these vile comments are being said from the pulpit is very telling of his character.
Changes to State Colleges
March 16, 2008
Today I read an article in the Columbus Dispatch titled “Change coming to state colleges.” As an educator, anytime I read or hear something about “change” I admit I am often skeptical. According to the article:
Fingerhut is fine-tuning the new Seniors to Sophomores program so that more high-school students take college classes. Students who participate would be college sophomores when they graduate from high school.
Why is it that people that do not have a background in education always seem to think that the answer is to get the students out of there? I personally have nothing against Eric Fingerhut. It sounds like he is doing a good job overall. But if his mandate is to deal with the state University system, stay out of the domain of public education, specifically in high school.
Whether it is giving vouchers to students to help pay the tuition prices at private schools or pushing the post-secondary educational system that sends high school kids to college to take classes, we must remember that these are high school students who do not have the maturity level to be placed in a college classroom setting. With all of the brain development research being completed now that tells us that the brains of high school students are not yet fully developed, why do we want to place them in an atmosphere with students that have different values systems and levels of maturity?
“We already have a number of kids in college who don’t seem mature enough, and now we’re concerned that we are going to have to accept them a year younger whether they are ready or not,” said Eugene Rutz, academic director at the engineering college at the University of Cincinnati.
Why not focus on beefing up the curriculum in our high schools to offer more stimulating courses to those high school students that crave it? We are already doing that throughout the state of Ohio. Advanced placement courses are one way that we have been accomplishing that goal. The State Department of Education in Ohio says that:
AP provides incentives for students to complete postsecondary education. Data indicate that 45 percent of students who have taken one AP course and 61 percent of students who have taken two or more AP courses are completing their bachelor’s degree in four years or less.
We are also accomplishing this goal through International Baccalaureate courses that have recently come to the state of Ohio. Check out this site and this site to find out more about this wonderful program.
The answer is not to send our best and brightest onto college when they are not ready.
Why So Secretive?
March 15, 2008
There are certain blogs that I try to read every day if I am not too busy. I’ve been noticing a topic on a couple of blogs that has always interested me…sunshine laws. As a political science major in college (along with Spanish), I remember learning about Sunshine Laws from both practical and abstract points of view. On the Save Hilliard Schools Blog, Paul Lambert writes about a recent meeting of the Hilliard Board of Education that:
… that’s how long the public portion of the School Board meeting was last night.
The Board then retired to Executive Session, as is their custom after every meeting.
Could this be a contributing factor as to why Ohio has such a hard time passing school levies? I’ve actually written about the passage of school levies in this post.
Another blog that I love and read as often as possible is Jill Miller Zimon’s blog Writes Like She Talks. She currently has a post discussing sunshine laws. Perhaps if government entities were more transparent, there would be much less cynicism relating to government. Just a thought.
What Time Should Your Children Be Home?
March 15, 2008
According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch:
Columbus’ new curfew policy sounds simple enough: Starting June 5, kids need to be off the streets by midnight. But as with many government programs, it will take a committee to work out the details.
I think that it seems very reasonable that children under the age of 18 should be at home and off the streets of the city by 12:00 am. Parents need to know and should know where their children are at all times. No 16 or 17 year old child should have a job that keeps them out that late at night….even on the weekends or summer. What are your thoughts?
What Has He Done For America?
March 15, 2008
Earmarks…In the Eye of the Beholder
March 13, 2008
Crazy Politico Blog has an interesting post about earmarks. He states that Clinton and Obama have come out with a one year moratorium on them. He states that:
To have them both come out now, and claim that earmarks are bad only proves how stupid the average voter is. They’ll buy it hook line and sinker that the two of them are somehow above them, and suddenly want to curb waste.
Being a Clinton fan, you may be surprised that I agree with him to a large degree. To have the democratic party leaders come out against them during this campaign cycle is a bit ludicrous. But I also say, “lets not throw stones.”The GOP (I am a former member) has traditionally been known as the party of fiscal responsibility. I think we learned with the 2006 elections, a certain party was punished for not sticking to its principles. Anyway, we would do good to remember that one senator’s “earmark” might be a new medical research facility in a poorer state. It could also be a bridge to nowhere. What do you think?
Poll: Slim majority of Ohioans say state on “wrong track”
March 12, 2008
According to the Beacon:
A slim majority of adult Ohioans — 52.3 percent — reported that the state was on the ”wrong track” overall.
That’s according to the new University of Akron Buckeye Poll that was to be released in Columbus today.
Survey results show that Ohioans are in a pessimistic mood.
A majority — 55.2 percent — said the state’s moral climate was on the wrong track.
A large majority — 74.4 percent — said the economy was on the wrong track.
The survey was conducted by the university’s Bliss Institute of Applied Politics.
Survey findings involve Ohio government and politics and the 2008 general election campaign in Ohio.
Officials with the the Bliss Institute were to discuss the survey results at the Riffe Center in downtown Columbus.
This is further evidence of some of the reasons that Hillary Clinton took the state of Ohio. Her base tends to be the “working poor.” When 74.4% of respondents to a poll say that the economy of Ohio is headed in the wrong direction, all politicians should be wary. The voters are likely to take this out on the incumbent party. We know that this looks to be the case nationally, but should state law makers be getting worried?
Do It the Right Way!
March 12, 2008
According to the Associated Press:
The idea would be to mail ballots to all registered Democratic voters and set up 50 regional voting offices to help “disadvantaged communities” participate in an election ending June 3, state party Chairman Karen Thurman said in a memo to the campaigns and state and national party leaders.
I have already written about my opinion on having new elections in both Michigan and Florida. This idea of having a mail-in primary election do-over seems sketchy to me. I realize that Oregon has been doing these mail-in ballots successfully for many years, but this is Florida and we all know that Florida is unique. Do we really want to relive the claims of voter fraud in Florida again?
If they feel they need to have primary #2, they should have a traditional election.
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