The Truth about the International Student Assessment Survey!!!

Don't lose sight of the fact that over the last 5 years we've seen a massive expansion of private voucher schools with little or no standards, with more and more parents signing up based on advertising, ideology, religion and desperation. We've split the system up into parallel branches of education. If something did work, we'd never know about.

I started the clip below with a tea party demand that Scott Walker get rid of common Core. From there, Middleton's Superintendent Don Johnson backs Common Core and some kind of national standard. Chris Hayes' actually breaks it down, and things aren't as bad as we're lead to believe. This is incredibly valuable information to make an educated judgement. WKOW coverage:

An international assessment of 15 year-old students shows the United States is performing below average in mathematics and science.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows the US ranked 26th in mathematics, 21st in science and 17th in reading among 34 developed nations in 2012. The authors of the study conclude Common Core standards could help US students perform better.

Middleton-Cross Plains School Superintendent Don Johnson agrees. "Japan, Finland, Singapore, any of the top scoring (nations), they have clearly a national curriculum with national standards and its non-negotiable," explains Johnson.

The US currently lacks such national standards, but 45 states are implementing Common Core Standards to provide a more streamlined approach across the country. "It will raise the standards, I believe, because we've been running in different directions because of standards throughout the country, and I think its time that we kind of settle on some," said Johnson.

But Edgewood College Dean of Education Tim Slekar disagrees. Slekar says American students who live above the poverty line compare much more favorably with their international peers, which tells him the current standards aren't the problem.

"Its a certain group of children that we're not meeting, and those are the kids that are living in low socio-economic conditions," said Slekar. He says addressing the needs of the 25 percent of American students living in poverty is the key to better performance. "Hunger, health care and access to books," are the keys according to Slekar.

But Don Johnson says schools can't control many of those factors and cannot let them be excuses. "Well, they have this problem, so its OK if they fail.' Really? How can we actually say that its OK that they fail because, well, their parents don't make as much money," asked Johnson.

Has Dumb Ron Johnson done or said anything constructive?

Get a load of this oafish dumb ass's message to his frightened constituents:

jsonline: During his 45-minute presentation … Johnson made his case that federal spending as a

percentage of gross domestic product had grown rapidly and dangerously.

"The size of federal government is the problem," he said. "The root cause of the problem, both culturally and financially. It's so large we can't pay for it. We are bankrupting the country. It's really harming economic growth."

The senator spoke about rising college costs ("The government threw money at the problem."); the Social Security Trust Fund ("We are not running surpluses any more."); the growth of out-of-wedlock births ("I want to help people help themselves."); and the war on poverty ("The $16 trillion war on poverty utterly failed. I would argue that it probably exacerbated it."). When he finished, he looked at his audience and said, "Sorry, I depressed you."

Here were a few important comments:

1. Isn't the honorable Mr. Johnson's graphic interesting? It seems to show that federal spending as a percent of GDP rose more under presidents Reagan and Bush the first, then went down under Clinton and then up again under Bush the 2nd, and finally up at first under Obama and then down.

2. The poverty rate in 1964 was 19.2%. After the War on Poverty, Medicaid, Medicare, federal housing, etc. it fell to 11.2%. For the elderly it is half what it once was. SS is the key factor for them. So fund it, instead of paying a trillion for off budget unnecessary wars. The key factor in poverty's rise to 15.2% since the continuing damage of the Bush recession is the stagnation in the minimum wage. 

75% of the economy is based on consumer spending. Paying a living wage to the poor is the key to lowering poverty. The poor spend every cent they have. I don't care if you don't like their choices, but the rich p... their money away on crap even more than they invest. If McD has to charge a dime more for a burger, let them. Johnson should give up his guaranteed salary, health insurance, benefits, etc and live on his millions. This buffoon explaining economics is a joke. millionaire conservatives only care abut one thing- themselves.

Obama Overthrow? That's the tea party Republican plan of action. Welcome to today's GOP!

Rightwing Watch sent up this red flag for Americans to take note of, with this tongue in cheek headline:

Larry Klayman Rally To Overthrow Obama Draws Slightly Fewer Than The Millions

Expected: Larry Klayman predicted that his rally calling for the overthrow of President Obama would draw “millions to occupy Washington D.C.” and that those millions would “occupy parks, sidewalks, public areas” until the president leaves office. 

In the end, no more than a hundred people showed up for today’s big event. Nevertheless, Klayman told Tea Party activists that he is still confident that the Reclaim American Now rally will force the president to resign and that grateful Americans will beseech Klayman and his allies to organize a new Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

Presidential power, the Unitary Executive, under Bush was no big deal...but Obama? Welcome to the party of no Principles.

Just image if Barack Obama said this:

"I believe in a strong, robust executive authority, and I think that the world we live in demands it -- and to some extent that we have an obligation as the administration to pass on the offices we hold to our successors in as good of shape as we found them."

Dick Cheney said that outrageous gem, a comment that today would have seen the rise of a tea party revolution with Second Amendment remedies. Right wing backers of Bush went along with this insane idea of the Unitary Executive; that the other branches of government take a subsidiary role to the executive branch when safeguarding national security.

Under the Bush administration's interpretation of the unitary executive theory; his or her power is restricted only by the U.S. Constitution as interpreted by the Judiciary. Congress can hold the President accountable only by censure, impeachment, or constitutional amendment; legislation restricting the executive branch has no power.

But that’s not all. Imagine Obama throwing out this mind blowing concept:

June 25, 2007: The Vice President and the President have casually declared their offices to be independent of the executive branch and completely autonomous, with Dick Cheney also attempting to abolish agencies his office is supposed to be accountable to.

It’s all right here: Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Why didn't we see the emergence of the tea parties back then, and why didn't we see the same outrage over presidential power from the GOP like we’re seeing now? Besides the more obvious racial reason; arrogant tea party Republicans, energized by state GOP majorities, are showing their true rightwing authoritarianism. These rugged individuals need leaders to tell them what to do.

WashingtonTimes: Vice President Dick Cheney said President Bush is aggressively consolidating the powers of the presidency, reversing a weakening of the office dating back more than 30 years.
“We’ve been able to restore the legitimate authority of the presidency,” he told reporters … Mr. Cheney, who was President Ford’s chief of staff, said “an erosion of presidential power and authority” emerged during that era but that the pendulum has now “swung back.” “At the end of the Nixon administration, you had the nadir of the modern presidency in terms of authority and legitimacy,” he said. “There have been a number of limitations that have been imposed in the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate.”

Remember being told by Republicans that wiretapping was no big deal, unless you had something to hide?

In 2002, for example, Mr. Bush signed a secret order authorizing the National Security Agency (NSA) to wiretap Americans suspected of communicating with al Qaeda operatives overseas.

The vice president also suggested that the strengthening of the presidency is not finished. He noted that no president has eliminated the War Powers Act, which he said “many people believe is unconstitutional.” “That was an infringement on the authority of the president,” he said. “It’s never been tested. It will be tested at some point.”

They Must Think We’re Stupid: Conservative Activist Justices pushing Constitutional Amendment putting them in Charge!!

The media, like the Journal Sentinel, must think were really that dumb. In the story below, 3 of the 4 conservative Supreme Court Activist Justices called Republican legislators urging passage of an amendment that would basically put them in charge of the court. Nothing too biased about that?

But the article isn't sure ALL of them urged passage, even though they made calls to Republican leadership, and leadership and informal discussions...about the weather? Seriously?

jsonline: State Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack contacted Republican state senators urging support of an amendment to the state constitution that could put her in charge of Wisconsin's high court.

Justice Michael Gableman also called at least one senator's office in support of changing the 124-year-old provision of the constitution that awards the job of chief justice to the most senior member of the court.

The article did state the obvious:

Lobbying for matters before the Legislature by justices is permissible, but doing so runs the risk of deepening an already yawning rift on the court.

The following doesn't pass the smell test:

Justice David Prosser also called Senate President Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) but an Ellis aide said he did not know whether Prosser had urged support for the bill.

Yea, right.

With firm majorities in the legislature and Supreme Court, there’s little reason to be subtle:

A lead sponsor of the change, Sen. Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst), said he reached out to Roggensack on the proposal and she expressed support for it.

Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) originally drafted the proposal. Asked if he had written it at the urging of members of the court, he said: "I honestly can't remember because so many people wanted it done. I really can't remember who approached me first."

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and his aides had "informal discussions" with some of the justices on the proposal.

“Informal discussions?” 

State Rep. Chris Kapenga joins Tea Party's Wisconsin Grandsons of Liberty, to reshape Country in their own image by Convening Constitutional Convention.

Want to know how "neo-confederate red" Wisconsin has become? Our own state Republican Representative Chris Kapenga is a major organizer and backer of convening a constitutional convention.

On board with the likes of radio hosts Mark Levin and Glenn Beck, who spearheaded this ridiculous idea, Kapenga's embarrassing participation in this effort should be a wake-up call to voters. 

So after breaking the government with radicalized legislation and a record number of filibusters, our do nothing tea party Republican Party wants to fix what they just undermined and smashed? How convenient:  

RWWatch: A Convention Of States: The Right's Latest Plan To Amend The Constitution: For the last several months, spurred on by the publication of Mark Levin's "The Liberty Amendments," right-wing activists have been floating the idea of convening a "Convention of States" through which representatives of the individuals states would gather together for a convention to amend the Constitution and reign in the federal government.

Under Article V of the Constitution, "legislatures of two thirds of the several states" have the power to "call a convention for proposing amendments" … The Blaze website reported that nearly 100 right-wing legislators from 32 states met in Virginia over the weekend as the first steps toward turning this fringe fantasy into reality … Saturday’s Mount Vernon meeting was organized by Indiana state Sen. David Long and Wisconsin Rep. Chris Kapenga. 

GOP demands food stamp cut, or no Farm Bill.

The GOP is about to screw over their biggest voting block, farmers. Will Gov. Walker's state tax exemption be enough for them to forget about their congressmen's inability to pass the farm bill? They'll love seeing the price of milk skyrocket to $7 a gallon.

Instead of trying to create jobs, they've decided to just take people off food stamps instead. Why not cut to the chase. Democrats hopefully won't back down. Rep. Mark Pocan comments, from Channel3000:

Sen. Kathleen Vinehout comes out swinging, even before deciding to run for Governor.

While Sen. Kathleen Vinehout is recovering from a car accident that broke her arm, I though her recent appearance on WKOW's Capitol City Sunday with Greg Neumann was something voters should have a look at.

In the first clip, Vinehout blasts one of Scott Walker's biggest failures, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. She followed that up with a definitive answer on collective bargaining. She didn't even hide the fact she left the state to stop it's implementation.



Vinehout on public schools, increasing and changing the funding formula and expanding Medicaid:

Vinehout Injures arm in Traffic Accident. Was Walker behind it?

I'm kidding...I think.

Want to know how lazy the press it? This morning not one newscast I heard mentioned Sen. Kalthleen Vinehout's injury, a broken arm. Not one. I found out last night after visiting her Facebook page. It's kind of an important story, right?

I'll soon have video of Sen. Kathleen Vinehout's appearance on WKOW's Capitol City Sunday, which I have to say, made me a believer (I admire real wonk-like qualities, not the truly phony image marketed by Paul Ryan). She's  amazing...but first:

Vinehout raised what is now a broken arm .

WSJ: State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout's husband says she has been released from the hospital following a Sunday car accident that resulted in multiple fractures in her right arm. Douglas Kane said Monday that Vinehout "seems to be doing quite well." Vinehout is a Democrat from Alma in western Wisconsin and is considering running for governor next year.

If Wisconsin voters are receptive to someone who knows budgeting inside and out, and not just the ideological side we've been exposed to for the last 3 years, then Vinehout's got a chance to take Walker out. A primary will be a test to see  if Vinehout's style will win people over.

Rand Paul Disaster Capitalist!!!

Detroit’s bankruptcy is an opportunist’s wet dream.

And Sen. Rand Paul smells that desperation. He wants to swoop in and install a Friedman-esque conservative utopia. If you've read or seen the movie based on Naomi Klein’s book, “The Shock Doctrine,” you already know such policies don't worked.

   

The crazy just keeps getting more extreme:

Bloomberg News: U.S. Senator Rand Paul, told a business crowd there that cutting taxes and luring immigrants would turn the city’s fortunes. The Kentucky Republican wants federal legislation to create “economic freedom zones” in distressed cities like Detroit … He said he would cut income taxes to a flat 5 percent in areas of the U.S. with unemployment more than 1.5 times higher than the national average. He would cut payroll taxes and eliminate capital-gains taxes.

Cutting payroll taxes anywhere in the U.S. would basically dismantle and defund Social Security and Medicare…he must know that, right? Of course.

But even more insane is Paul’s gauge of public opinion when it comes to his philosophy, after just making his idiotic proposal:

Paul said the Republican Party stands to lose more national elections unless it attracts a broader, more diverse voter base -- especially blacks -- and promotes individual liberty more than it does tax cuts.

Promoting “individual liberty” is a vacuous generality that could mean anything, by design, pushed by extremists too afraid to actually spell out their dystopian plans. 

But just as opportunist is the rotting cancer setting up shop in Detroit:

Speaking today to the Detroit Economic Club at the Motor City Casino, the libertarian-leaning Paul touted the opening of a new Republican Party office in the city. 

Finally, Paul still thinks helping the auto industry was a bad idea. The shocking thing about the Republican belief system is that never thinks it’s wrong, even when it’s painfully obvious to everyone else:

Paul drew applause when he said the government bailout of General Motors Co. (GM) and Chrysler Corp. in 2009 was a bad idea, a view he said is not popular in the city. 

Gogebis Taconite ore samples contain: "a highly concentrated form of asbestos fibers...it is the most dangerous."

It's almost too shocking a story to tell, but here goes...from WPT Here and Now's reporter Mike Simonson:

Gogebic Taconite (GTAC), the company behind the proposed iron ore mine in the Penokee Hills, says it won’t take rock samples from an area where asbestos-like fibers were found.

Maybe our Republican mining experts in Madison's nanny state Capitol will make that decision for our bumbling geoscientists.

The revised plan scales back the number of sampling sites from five to three, bypassing the site where asbestos-form fibers were found by the DNR and a Northland College geoscientist. The fibers are in grunerite deposits, but in a letter last week to the DNR, GTAC continues to deny its existence, saying: “Our position remains that asbestos form material is unlikely to be present in the reserve.”

DNR Waste Management Director Ann Coakley says there is no doubt asbestos-like fibers exist … “We know that there are because we ourselves collected a sample and have the results back.

What I gleefully can't help but notice is how Republicans attached their jobs wagon to this disaster.

Republicans Break Promise to Childless Adults, Deny them BadgerCare for 3 Months for Political Reasons.

Looks like Republicans are going to break their big promise of health care coverage for childless adults. Guess they can't use that one on Obama anymore.

State Assembly Republicans decided to break their promise so they could extend by three months the current law and caps. They could have kept their promise to childless adults under the poverty line by simply accepting HHS money, according to now regional director of HHS Kathleen Falk. Was that too much work for them?

It is a broken promise...but the GOP has a list of excuses that include "freedom" and "liberty," so maybe it's not as big a broken promise after all? And if you don't believe them; blame Obama.

From WPT's Here and Now, it's abundantly clear Republicans decided to take the easy way out and break their promise for purely ideological reason. Rep. Sandy Pasch did not back down, or let Republican Rep. Joan Ballweg get away with "word salad" non-answers that deflected away from her broken promise to childless adults.

The Slippery Slope of Ridiculous Gun Laws!

Perhaps we should talk more about one of Scott Walker’s more irresponsible responses in office: signing Act 35, a law that allows strangers with loaded guns the right to carry in a school zone during the 2014 midterm elections.  

Pubic safety in CC's Nik Clark's hands

It seems crazy, right? In the throws of passing over-the-top special interest gun legislation, juvenile

paranoids got the "right" to carry guns around our kids. It was a defensive ideological calculation, having little to do with kids.

It’s that NRA "slippery slope" thing, where every new attempt to keep the public safe with common sense laws could result in banning all guns. So they've used the slippery slope rule against all regulation. 

Now the cowards who backed CC around schools think threatening bus riders might make society just a little more polite around them.

WSJ: Gun rights advocates are preparing a court challenge to (Madison) Metro Transit’s weapons ban on city buses, contending it violates state law.

Law abiding gun owners…are lawbreakers, big surprise: Like all conservative self-righteous individuals, they have the higher calling in life. Being a part of the majority of Americans intimidated by gun toting strangers, we don’t count, not even a little. These adolescent bullies only obey the laws they like. A voluntary legal system?  

CC Pres. Clark in Road Warrior?

CC President Nik Clark said Wisconsin Carry members probably have been carrying guns on buses anyway because they’re confident the city’s policy is unenforceable, or not doing so because they want to avoid trouble.

Economic threat to targets: CC groups are hoping that just the cost of litigation alone will help them win the “right” to carry anywhere. Remember, conservatives are the ones pushing tort reform so litigation costs don’t bankrupt targeted victims, except when works for them. And they're not shy about saying so:

In a letter dated Nov. 19, Clark asked Metro to review policy to comply with state law and “avoid impending civil litigation,” Clark said. “It’s our hope to avoid litigation. It’s likely to be more costly for the city than it is for us.”

CC is attempting to take our Rights Away: CC owners won't be happy until other people lose the right to choose their own safety measures:

The city’s position is consistent with a state Department of Justice memo from July 2013, which says private and public entities may restrict transport of weapons, May said, noting language covers private cab and bus companies.

Where is it normal to trust armed strangers?

Reince uses poll number to chide Dems running on ObamaCare, but ignores polls supporting gun regulation.

While Republicans ignore the overwhelming public support for sensible gun regulations, Democrats don't apparently have the same luxury.

Despite a Quinnipiac University poll showing 90% support for background checks and 54% support for stricter gun control laws, RNC Chair Reince Priebus is jabbing at Democrats for not heeding poll numbers. Ouch:

Yea, we're crazy, but your not?

A Day of GOP Contradictions, Hypocrisy and Racism!!!

I found so many ridiculous GOP stories today that I thought this short post on some of them deserved a little space:

Now the GOP values the opinions of teachers? From Fox News:

Wisconsin isn't "red" enough? From WISGOP:

While the unemployment rate dropped to 7%, a five-year low, the GOP spun it this way:

The uncomfortable praise coming from the GOP honoring Nelson Mandela, who took on and defeated white minority rule. Speaking of irony, Sen. Ted Cruze's own kind words didn't sit well with his neo-confederate tea party base. From Daily Kos:

Ted Cruz posts Mandela tribute on Facebook. His fans go crazy.

And finally, this amazing bad comparison, as reported by The Hill:

Gov. Jim Doyle caused the Great Recession!!?

I came across this letter to the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, repeating the largely uncontested talking point Gov. Jim Doyle caused the Great Recession:

During the last term of the Jim Doyle-Mary Burke administration, more than 133,000 jobs were lost and only 10 percent of employers expressed faith in where Wisconsin was headed.

And the irresponsible media has allowed Scott Walker to exploit this amazingly transparent lie to this day.

So I did a little digging and found this overlooked horrific fact;Under Gov. Scott McCallum, we were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. McCallum oversaw a sluggish economy and two unpaid for wars.

Thankfully, Democratic Governor Jim Doyle guided us into an era of job creation and year after year balanced budgets. And no further attacks occurred.

This job loss claim is driving me crazy.

The WISGOP "We Believe" Bubble....

From their loony tunes website, an open admission:

...everything you're told.

WISGOP, shooting campaign blanks, can’t make argument for reelecting Scott Walker.

Scott Walker has nothing but the lower unemployment rate to brag about, and that doesn't include those who just gave up looking. He can’t talk about jobs or attracting new out-of-state businesses. Hell, he kicked the can down the road on a new way to fund transportation.  

So the dirty work is left up to WISGOP to find something that’ll stick, something to scare his

Falzone feigns stupidity in Tweet!!!

Democratic candidate with.

20 year old taxes, really? While it was fine to let Mitt Romney off the hook for not releasing his old tax returns (irrelevant as I recall), they’re saying just the opposite now about Mary Burke, gubernatorial challenger to Scott Walker. Hey guys, we had that argument and you won, no tax returns. Now you want to take it back?

Oddly WISGOP thinks only conservatives can take advantage of the tax code, while Democrats, believing the wealthy should pay more, can’t. The difference is; Democrats don’t mind paying more and raising their own taxes. That’s a difference missed intentionally by WISGOP.

So the bumbling staff at WISGOP has nothing. They can’t defend Walker’s hapless record on jobs, business and his divide and conquer policies.

Again, the argument over Burke’s zero taxes 20 years ago is pure nonsense, since she is more than willing to raise her own taxes:

jsonline-Dan Bice: Republicans are asking if Burke has always paid her fair share. Specifically, Burke — now a Madison millionaire — paid no state income taxes for three full years during the 1990s and only a minimal amount in another year. She lived outside Wisconsin for most of that time. "It is deeply concerning that Millionaire Mary Burke didn't pay taxes at several points in her career, and she owes the people of Wisconsin a serious explanation — not excuses," said Joe Fadness, executive director of the state Republican Party.

And yet….

By comparison, she has paid more than $100,000 in state income taxes in three of the past four years.

ALEC gets Guardian exposure.

The recent Guardian expose of ALEC, and the coverage it's getting everywhere else, should get Americans up to speed on what is really going on behind the scenes in politics. Instead of defending "charitable" lobbying groups, we should be getting rid of their tax exemptions. Here's coverage on MSNBC: 

PoliticusUSA: The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which claims it does not lobby even though it creates model legislation that its Republican legislative members like John Boehner and Paul Ryan then implement, is concerned about being investigated by the IRS for their charitable tax status claims, according to internal documents from ALEC published by The Guardian.

The documents seen by the Guardian show that Alec is hoping to avoid legal, tax and ethical challenges by creating a separate sister organisation it calls the “Jeffersonian Project”. The new body would be categorised as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organisation, a designation that would allow Alec to be far more overt in its lobbying activities than its current charitable status as a 501(c)(3).

In the document, they list benefits of setting up the Jeffersonian Project as removing questions of ethical violations and providing further legal protection. They lay out that ALEC does not wish to be “perceived” as a lobbying group, and they do not wish to register as a lobbying group in any state. So for states with tougher standards, they will use the Project.

How could that be, when ALEC’s policy goals include “privatise public education, cut taxes, reduce public employee compensation and workplace rights, oppose Obamacare and resist state action to reduce global warming gas emissions”, per The Guardian.

Walker's "principled" rejection of Medicaid expansion costs Wisconsin Taxpayers $1.8 Billion of their own money.

Saving taxpayer money is an oft repeated meaningless line from the Walker administration. But it's not the money, it's the belief system. How else can you explain wasting so much of our taxpayer money on health care, without a peep coming from tea party voters:

TPM: States not expanding Medicaid under ObamaCare will be collectively lose more than $35 billion in federal funds in 2022 alone, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund. 

Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal said in a statement, “Federal funds that pay for state Medicaid programs are raised through federal general revenue collection—taxes paid by residents in all states—whether or not they participate in the program. Therefore, taxpayers in states not participating in the Medicaid expansion will bear a share of the overall cost, without benefitting from the program.