Republicans are telling us that mass shootings are horrible but normal and that there are evil people everywhere that we can't stop.
That's not a solution, and that's not what every other industrialized nation found after dramatically stopping mass shootings with legislation.
Let's start with the solutions first before someone ambling by this post loses interest:
School safety researchers support tightening age limits for gun ownership from 18 to 21. The teenage brain, they say, is just too impulsive and irrational. The gunman it's important to note, in Parkland, Santa Fe, Newtown, Columbine, were all under 21. And authorities say the Uvalde gunman waited one day after turning 18 to buy an AR-style rifle. In a call to action a few years ago, dozens of advocacy groups and school safety experts also recommended universal background checks and banning assault-style weapons. These are things that polls show the majority of Americans support. I'll add one more thing improve gun storage at home.
Texas went in the opposite direction, wiping out gun laws:
I will be posting more of the insane comment that conservatives should never forget when they're out their voting and bragging about how patriotic their Republican candidate is. After all, their campaign ads featured them holding guns. Uh, that's awkward...
This former WI Supreme Court Justice is thinking of running again, laying down the law, and that gun says he means it.
YouTube blocked me from posting video for a week after leveling a strike on an old "vaccines made me magnetic" video clips they said was attempted misinformation. I guess pointing the right-wing insanity is now off limits.
While parents demand teachers stop teaching CRT and wokeness, they're teaching their kids...
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it,”
Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the rifle used in the massacre posted the above ad on social media that featured a toddler holding a similar weapon.
One of the most striking reasons for conservative radicalization is the total lack of accountability for making ridiculous claims and manufacturing a whole list of ridiculous culture war "threats" to real Americans.
Oddly, Republicans are never confronted or questioned about their wacky claims by their drooling voters. This in turn allows Republicans to play the victim.
At the recent GOP convention in Middleton, Ron Johnson whined that he was the victim of the media trashing his lies and outright bizarre comments. That victim mentality, victimhood, is the foundation of GQP politics now. JSOnline:
Johnson: "It’s not fun having your integrity attacked, lied about, falsely accused day in and day out. It’s not fun."
Johnson topped that tearful pout with this surreal theory that conveniently wipes clean Trump's mishandling of the COVID pandemic. Democrats "utilized" Trump incompetence...how dare they:
"There were people inside the administration who utilized the pandemic to defeat a sitting president," Johnson said.
As if there ever was a deadly GLOBAL virus (not just in the US) in the first place. The left made it up. But this is a "hard cold fact" for the right wing. Heaven forbid Democrats run on the Trump COVID debacle:
And while the convention was an angry fever-swamp of resentment, hate, and vilification for everyone not Republican, Johnson realized he had them in his manipulative hands...
"I don’t know about you, (but) aren’t you tired of the anger? Aren’t you tired of the divide?" Johnson said.
It's really obvious to everyone but sheeple WI Republicans:
Ben Wikler, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said it was ridiculous for Johnson to blame others... "I can tell that Senator Ron Johnson is tired of accountability," Wikler told reporters.
So, the gathering of happy Republicans, who are just tired of the anger and the divide, did show unity in the face of the liberal left. Like overturning the election...:
You can believe whatever you want. Of course, everybody is free to speak their mind on the right..
Vos: "We're the party of free speech, we're not the party of cancel culture."
So, cancel culture is not a part of the WI Republican Party? Wait for it...
At the convention, "cancel culture" was still a big vote getter:
Just over 36% of delegates voted to approve the resolution calling on Vos to resign or be removed from office. The resolution calling for rescinding Biden's electors, which numerous attorneys have said is not legally possible, drew support from 40% of delegates.
The Republican conspiracy swamp, where anything is possible and everything is true, is a problem of their own creation. Former Republican Jeff Flake nailed the reason why all of this shit is sticking to the wall now:
"We're changing what it means to be an elected official in a representative government...many of my colleagues will say they are simply - in going along with these conspiracy theories or buying into the big lie, that they are just representing their constituents and that that's somehow noble of them when that really runs against what representative government is supposed to be. And that's just been a cop-out for people in my party. Too many will say they're representing their constituents when they ought to tell their constituents, you're wrong. And that's a big problem when you have too many party people willing to indulge their constituents if their constituents truly believe that, when in truth, they simply reinforce these beliefs." Jeff Flake
Christian Nation Coming: Here's how Rebecca Kleefisch wants Christianity as the basis for government policy:
In arguing against same-sex civil unions, she said, "This doesn't just have roots in the Bible. This has roots in fiscal common sense."
and...
"(she was ) circulating a flier saying that, if elected, she would be "relying on the wisdom and faith she has in Jesus."
It's not a coincidence that the possible repeal of Roe v Wade sparked this response just days after. Imagine where the Christian right will be in a few years:
There's a reason I haven't blogged as much lately. After Trump, I thought there might be break from the constant 4 or 6 insane stories a day. Instead, every Republican became Trump, or worse.
What is true about Republicans, is that things will only get worse, and every punishment they can levy in legislation will spread nationwide. Which is why I am including this comment from a Trump backed candidate for state representative in Michigan, as a peek into the future:
A few thoughts I'm surprised reporters aren't even just a little curious about:
1. American Union: Like the Soviet Union, Republicans are working toward a group of satellite republics under one authoritarian government, helped now by a politically radical Supreme Court, who will now turn federal law over to the states.
Each state will be independent, and the Supreme Court is now positioned to make this happen. I'm not making this up. Remarkably, former presidential candidate Scott Walker revealed the plan in March of 2016:
I’d like to take huge chunks of the federal government and send it back to the states. For years people have talked about Medicaid—that’s a good start, to block grant that. But I’d take major social service programs, I’d take transportation and infrastructure, workforce and development, environmental protection, and heck I’d take education and instead of spending each of those down from Washington where the federal government skims off huge chunks of money and sends pennies on the dollar back to the state governments, why not keep those dollars back in the states where states can be more effective, more efficient, and certainly be held accountable to the hardworking taxpayers?
Right now, at the federal level, we have a federal government that’s too big to fail. We need a government that’s small enough to succeed.
From Walker's mouth to your ears:
2. Did Republicans just Purge Women from the labor force? Despite a growing labor shortage and a decline in birth rates, forced childbirth will push many out of the workplace.
Bullshit, Republicans just forced many women out of the workplace by forcing them to give birth, run up bills they can't pay off, and keep poverty firmly locked in place for a generation. That alleviates labor shortage? https://t.co/PRSrQ4i7Hv
3. If Republicans Dissolved and privatized the Postal Service, this would happen: Sure, the Postal Service is protected in the First Amendment, but Republicans tried like hell to make it go away. That would have made it even easier to do this...
This is just the start of an avalanche of illegal suppression...Gov. Lee signs law criminalizing mail-order abortion pills https://t.co/uWqffwYuHh
I know, how can a state ban mail delivery? But they'll try, and then take it to the right-wing activist Supreme Court, already delegitimized by the Roe decision among others.
4. Businesses Step Up: The reason for overturning Roe will result in a never-ending avalanche of insane laws put forth by the party of small government. In a surprise move that you're sure to see made illegal soon by red states everywhere...
Prominent companies have already taken political and financial stands against the erosion of reproductive rights. The case is one of the court's most controversial cases in decades — so much so that the highly charged and personal debate over a right to an abortion is spilling over into the corporate sphere.
Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Bumble (BMBL), Citigroup (C), Levi Strauss (LEVI), Match Group (MTCH), and Yelp (YELP) reimburse travel expenses incurred to obtain abortion care that's legally unavailable within their home state.
Meanwhile, Salesforce (CRM) is offering to pick up moving expenses for its employees who live in a state with an abortion ban exceeding that of Roe, and move to another without such restrictions.
And Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) adopted similar policies that reimburse their drivers for legal fees to defend lawsuits in the event that they are accused of aiding and abetting an illegal abortion.
Keep the following in mind, especially after the state brought in a $2.58 billion surplus in the last budget:
Wisconsin is slated to bring in a $3.8 billion surplus. The funds could help address intensified city and county financial challenges.
Instead of investing any part of that projected surplus money into desperately starving state programs, one-note Republicans will again simply cut taxes, blocking business and jobs growth for another decade:
Senator Devin LeMahieu, the Republican leader of the State Senate, said "We will continue to prioritize returning this money to taxpayers to ensure the strength of family budgets in the future.”
Just the opposite. Family budgets are actually the ones getting hurt, paying a larger percentage of their income for their children's college education, while wealthy families save money from tuition freeze.
Worse, starving the funding for education holds back and exacerbates the states workforce environment.
What's mind boggling is how the Republicans relentless attacks on the UW makes no sense:
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a major contributor
to the Wisconsin economy. Its combined contribution of $30.8 billion supports
more than 232,000 jobs and generates $1 billion in state and local taxes.
In addition to the large economic impact, the university is a major source of
innovation.
This isn't just me saying this. There are BIG problems being swept aside by lazy Republican lawmakers...
JSONLINE: A new report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, is the latest in a series of analyses by the forum that have sought to dive into the challenges the state's colleges and universities face in preparing the workforce of tomorrow amid declining taxpayer support and, in many cases, declining enrollment trends.
Republican state lawmakers have not prioritized financial aid in recent state budgets. Wisconsin did see rapid growth in state spending on grants, loans and scholarships to undergraduate students between 2000 and 2011, but that has since come to a grinding halt.
Here's what families and students have been forced to deal with:
1. The average award for the federal Pell Grant and the state's
Wisconsin Grant combined covers 69% of the in-state tuition at UW-Madison.
In 2002, the grants used to cover just over 90%.
2. In 2020, the state spent $541 per undergraduate
student, almost half the national average of $980.
3. WI ranked 36th out of 50 states and was three-and-a-half
times less than the growth rate nationally.
So what about Solutions to Declines in state Funding Blocked by Republicans? here are the obvious suggestions:
1. Consolidate small financial aid programs that are run
by various state agencies so that Wisconsin students and families can access
information in a one-stop state website.
2. Financial aid funding levels should be determined based
on the end cost to the students,
3. The idea of expanding Bucky's Tuition Promise pitched by Former
UW System President Tommy Thompson, with no luck. The program was part of a $95.7 million budget increase
request for the UW System, of which the colleges ultimately got only $8.25 million.
4. Finally, the report said, the state could increase the
overall funding for the Wisconsin Grant program. A $6.1 million increase in
funding would provide $204, or 10% more, to each of the nearly
30,000 UW Proportional increases for students at technical, tribal and private
colleges would cost the state even less.
None of the Wisconsin Grants got any increases at all.
Michael Falbo, interim president of the UW System, responded,
"Declining student aid increases student debt, depresses enrollment, and
exacerbates Wisconsin’s workforce challenges," he said.
The Republicans have initiated the grotesque exploitation of children for the midterm elections. So why is this being ignored?
Fake Issue #1-"Don't Say Gay" Law: After totally fabricating the CRT myth being taught in schools, which energized gullible parents to act irrationally, why not promote the utter nonsense that LGBTQ indoctrination was part of the K-3 curriculum? Except...
1. “sowing doubts in kids about their gender identity.”
2. "saying that they can be whatever they want to be, is inappropriate"
...are NOT real issues! Come on.
Plus, who would have thought a child "being what they want to be" would become "inappropriate." Can't make this stuff up.
While critics are right in saying the law is vague, big lie Republicans say the law provides a "set of clear guardrails"...which it doesn't, because that still needs legislative clarification...
“Now we can go and ... work it out so people have that clear understanding.”
Liberals are Waiting for...what? Never proactive, Democrats amazingly are taking a wait-and-see approach, normalizing fake issues:
LGBTQ advocacy groups and Democrats have hinted at taking legal action but nothing has yet materialized.
And going unsaid is the continued exploitation of children to win an election.
Looking at the many stories I've tweeted and saved as bookmarks, I thought I'd highlight the direction Republicans want to take this country. And since every idea and every law passed is duplicated in all the other red states, it's easier to just list what's out there right now in Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, etc.
You'll notice right away the cruel punishments, the anger, the lawlessness, the lack of actual freedom and liberty contained in the listed issues below don't seem to send up red flags or even faze their agitated voters. And this is with Trump out of office...
1. The “Don’t Say Gay” bill. GOP and B list celebrities are accusing librarians and teachers of “grooming” kids. The heart of HB 800 declares that public and charter schools "shall not locally adopt or use in the public schools of this state, textbooks and instructional materials or supplemental instructional materials that promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender (LGBT) issues or lifestyles. They add up to a law against even mentioning LGBTQ persons or issues. "WHEREAS, the promotion of LGBT issues and lifestyles in public schools offends a significant portion of students, parents, and Tennessee residents with Christian values."
2. A vigilante abortion bill that makes your friends and family $10k if they rat you out. Heck, if you decide to abort your rapists baby, his family and friends can sue you for $10k. Today’s GOP, they don’t believe women are equal.
3. A school funding formula that takes away local control, and is more than 50% rule making we won’t see until AFTER the vote. And counties will love the property tax it will inevitably bring in 3-4 years
4. Tennessee State BOE appointee with no public school experience and evidence he is hostile to public schools. He’s in a lawsuit now as his company sold ammunition to an underage school shooter responsible for the 6th largest school shooting in the country.
6. Republican-led bills seeking to prevent students from learning about white supremacy and racism, under the pretense of purging so-called “critical race theory” from classrooms. Texas, Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho and Oklahoma have enacted such laws over the past year, and Republican lawmakers are pushing similar bills in nearly two dozen states. School Official Suggests Teaching Both Holocaust Books And ‘Opposing’ Views.
7. Research shows how, the higher people are on the Christian nationalism scale the more they tend to agree with the statement “we make it too easy to vote.” The same thing happens when people agree with the statements “the best way to stop bad guys with guns is to have good guys with guns,” and “authorities should be able to use any means necessary to keep law and order” and “if national security is at risk, I support torture.”
8. Idaho Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin (R), (who's running for governor) spoke at the recent white nationalist America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC), and insisted she didn’t knowanything about Nick Fuentes, the prominent white nationalist who organized the event. On Thursday, the GOP lieutenant governor threw that denial right out the window. “So yes, I did know who I was talking to, who had invited me to speak at that conference.”
9. Republicans Push Crackdown on Crime Wave That Doesn’t Exist: Voter Fraud. Election fraud is exceedingly rare and often accidental. Still, G.O.P. lawmakers and prosecutors are promoting tough new enforcement agents to track down violators.
10. Mason, Tennessee — a majority Black, majority Democratic town — is fighting to protect its sovereignty from white conservatives looking to take control of its economy, a worrying resemblance to the exploitative sharecropping arrangements from the post-Civil War era, when white power brokers ensnared Black planters in deals that funneled most of the profits into white hands. Tennessee’s state comptroller, Jason Mumpower, a Republican, sent a letter to Mason this month calling on the town to relinquish its charter ... be placed under the control of Republican-dominated Tipton County. If the town refuses, Mumpower's office said it will take control. Mason is preparing to welcome a Ford Motor Co. plant to the area, which Tennessee Lookout, a local news outlet, says could be one of the “largest manufacturing investments in the state’s history.”
11. Private Charter Scam and Charade Exposed: Just wait, what you thought Republicans saved you in tax cuts is all going to private businesses called "public schools:"
Charter school scam and charade exposed-they're really private businesses, not public. Taking taxpayer money and PPP is ridiculous and it's sweeping the country using CRT anger. https://t.co/PZsuBTHVam
One more incredible moment: Sen. Rick Scott keeps digging in, but Fox News isn't having any of Scott's "reality." Yup, even Fox can't explain away this one...
"It's in the plan! It's in the plan. But Senator, hang on, it's not a Democratic talking point. It's in the plan" -- even Fox News's John Roberts can't believe it when Rick Scott lies about his own policy plan, which calls for a tax increase on a majority of Americans pic.twitter.com/sa4WgUBgyJ
I have reached my peak frustration level with reporters and our very quiet Democratic representatives. And no, "Wisconsin deserves better" press releases are not serious responses.
Just say it, "the Gableman "investigation" is a Trumpian witch-hunt designed as an in-your-face owning of Democratic voters, using their tax dollars, while revving up their base for the midterm elections.
Partisan Example #1-Eric Holder's not so Partisan Redistricting...Bad? Who's partisan. Is it so hard is it to remember all the phony Republican outrage over Eric Holder's attempts to kill gerrymandering? Vos-Republicans accused Holder of political bias. Totally different from the Gableman debacle? Here's a sample of GOP whining from the Journal Sentinel, October 1, 2020:
Gov. Tony Evers' redistricting commission heard from former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at its first meeting, as Republicans and Democrats squabbled over whether the panel's work will be tainted by partisanship.
1. "The commission is hardly nonpartisan with (Gov. Scott) Walker recall signers, contributors to political candidates, members of a liberal organization and (a role for) a judge who just endorsed Joe Biden for president," said a statement from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester.
2. Andrew Hitt, chairman of the state Republican Party, said having Holder testify made it plain that the commission is stacked for Democrats. “The idea that Governor Evers’ commission is somehow ‘nonpartisan’ is a joke."
Partisan Example #2-Surprise! Gableman's Partisan Election Witch-hunt...Good: Decertifying Election: With Vos's biting "the commission is hardly nonpartisan" still echoing in our heads, here's another Republicans a bit more "open" to "different" biased partisan "comments:" WKOW Capital City Sunday:
There are more than three dozen mentions of Erick Kaardal in the records. Kaardal, a Minnesota lawyer, was referred for possible discipline by a D.C. judge over what the judge considered to be a frivolous that sought to block the 2020 election from being certified.
Rep. David Murphy (R-Greenville) said he disagreed with the notion such close collaboration with Kaardal amounted to a conflict of interest or that it was a sign Gableman hadn't started his investigation with a blank slate."I don't feel like we're starting from an assumption," Murphy said. "And certainly, as an Assembly committee,I felt totally open to all kinds of evidence and different people's comments."
Members include a former Trump administration official and the head of the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, which unsuccessfully asked the state Supreme Court to throw out the results of Wisconsin's presidential election and force the Legislature to certify the state's presidential electors instead.
Stacked against Biden election? That couldn't be. The team includes:
Andrew Kloster, a former Trump administration official who has falsely claimed the election was stolen from the former president. Kloster is paid $5,000 per month.
Carol Matheis, a California attorney active with the Federalist Society. Matheis is paid $5,000 per month.
Ron Heuer, president of the Wisconsin Voter Alliance. Heuer is an investigator and paid $3,250 a month.
Arkansas attorney Clint Lancaster, who represented a woman who sued Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, for paternity last year. Lancaster is paid $10,000 a month.
Erick Kaardal in the records. Kaardal, a Minnesota lawyer, was referred for possible discipline by a D.C. judge over what the judge considered to be a frivolous
Not to mention My Pillow gatherings and GOP campaign parties. Not biased at all, just different "comments."
60 Minutes: Gableman, who also ignored our requests for an interview, draws a salary of $11,000 a month. He's made little attempt to be transparent or bipartisan. He revealed his staff only under pressure from the press and Democrats; some were found to have worked in the Trump administration or with stop the steal efforts. His investigation has been so secretive a judge ruled it violated Wisconsin's public records law. This month, Gableman released his interim report - live on cable TV from the state capitol.
Michael Gableman: I believe the legislature ought to take a very hard look at the option of decertification of the 2020 Wisconsin presidential election.
Vos still receiving Trump pressure? Sure:
AP: One of those who will at the meeting with Vos on Wednesday is former Menomonee Falls village president Jefferson Davis. He has organized a pair of rallies at the Capitol attended by Tim Ramthun, a Republican candidate for governor and state representative who has introduced resolutions to decertify the vote.
Davis said he and others will be presenting evidence to Vos that shows there were between 250,000 and 300,000 fake ballots cast in the election and that decertification can legally be done.
“Donald Trump won the state of Wisconsin in such a landslide it’s not even funny," Davis said. ”And we will have the evidence.”
Tennessee public schools, like Wisconsin and every other state, are seeing big money donors finally getting privatization passed thanks to the midterm elections donations.
Seeing an opening created by parent frustration over pandemic school closings and the totally fabricated critical race theory controversy, privatization lobbyists are going to succeed in removing local control and school board control to teach whatever they want.
It's called "school choice," a choice decided by billionaire donors trying to profit from the massive amount of taxpayer money sent to schools.
#1 Story: Informed Patriotism-Trump Style: Newschannel5 has done an amazing job exposing what busy parents haven't had time to investigate for themselves. Is this really what they want?
WTVF: If Gov. Bill Lee gets his way, Tennessee will become a major player in a network of taxpayer-funded charter schools set up by a Michigan college with close ties to former President Donald Trump. Hillsdale's "1776 Curriculum" shows how it wants schools to teach civics. It relies on the 1776 Commission appointed by Trump to develop a "patriotic education" for the nation's schools. Lee calls Hillsdale College's approach to teaching civics "informed patriotism."
#2 Story: Big Money buying Elections and Privatization of Education:Newschannel5 has done an amazing job. Could it be as easy as choice advocates sincerely being oblivious to what they're really doing, you know, lobbying? That's troubling as hell:
The students are the ambassadors, some as young as seven. "This is an opportunity to put those kids on display and allow us to see all the great things that are happening in the schools," said Maya Bugg with the Tennessee Charter School Center. The children's faces serve as faces for a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort, although the people leading those campaigns don't always like to call it that.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Maya Bugg, Tennessee School Charter Center, "Who is funding this lobbying effort?"
Bugg: "Which lobbying effort?"
NewsChannel 5: "For charter schools."
Bugg replied, "So we are a non-profit -- so minimal effort is put into lobbying. We do a lot of education. We educate legislators about the issues."
The truth is the Tennessee School Charter Center employs a big firm that calls itself "Tennessee's Lobbying Powerhouse." They received funding from billionaire Bill Gates and the Walton family of Walmart fame. So far, NewsChannel 5 has counted at least 61 registered lobbyists on the school privatization side, compared to just 17 lobbying for traditional public schools.
The Republican attack on schools is nothing but a massive right wing wish list of censorship and politically motivated curriculum changes that dwarf anything Build Back Better was criticized for doing (also described as a Democratic wish list).
1. GOP want to Trap People in Poverty and Raise Taxes: Seems like an odd place to start, but this relates to a healthy start to education. See video here. Republicans are actually trying to maintain the status quo:
Just a small amount of money can lift poor folks and their children out of poverty, results that could shape government policy on how to help the nation’s neediest. One study found that a cash infusion of $333 a month to poor mothers helped their children’s brain development, which could set them up for better educational and professional futures. The poverty trap — where people have no choice but to work in low-wage jobs, could get out of poverty if society gave them more financial opportunities.
Raise Taxes: But Republican Sen. Rick Scott would keep poverty where it is or worse by doing just the opposite:
Scott said, “All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax.” ... the plan itself effectively acknowledges it’s advocating for an income tax increase on “over half of Americans” — a group of people that is overwhelmingly lower-income. And in fact, the number of Americans to whom this would apply has climbed during the pandemic.
2. Block Socially Challenged Students from College: Playing off CRT, where we no longer see race or color, WI Republican don't want us to see differing social economic status or life experiences. It's a one-size-fits-all human commodity. Funny though, life is way more complicated:
The bill, which would require universities to "establish and use only objectiveadmissions criteria," to UW schools. Across the country (colleges) pride themselves on holistic admissions processes, in which they try to take into account the whole person and their life experiences. Limiting access to enrollment to our schools will lead to declines in workforce needs of Wisconsin and allow out-of-state universities to enroll our students, at a time when we need to bolster both.
"As an example, a student whose parent was very sick, hospitalized or even in extreme cases, dies during their time in high school, may explain those hardships through qualitative admission criteria and references," Keri Duce, UW-Milwaukee's director of external and government relations, explained, "This is important context for a student whose academics (quantitative review) might have suffered during a difficult personal time."
What if a student graduated high school with lower grades because they spent time living out of a car, asked Rep. Jodi Emerson, D-Eau Claire. Could a college accept that student? UW-Madison's admissions staff has worked to establish relationships with K-12 districts across the state to determine what the most rigorous classes are at each high school. That way, students are not punished if, for example, they did not load up on Advanced Placement classes because their high school didn't offer many.
3. Legislators Decide Curriculum base on nothing but Anecdotal Hearsay: Manufactured problems to simply serve an agenda should frighten any parent:
1. Leave it to the Courts? The bill does not define "objective," leaving very little guidance as to what would be considered subjective if it passed. A legislative lawyer present at the hearing confirmed it could be interpreted as anything a person could "give a yes (or) no" answer to. She said the courts would need to further work out the definition if the bill became law as written. The legislative counsel also said she could not find anything that indicated other states had similar laws.
2. "Some People say..." Anecdotal, Fact less, and Political: The bill's authors — Rep. Robert Wittke and Sen. Dan Feyen, said in the public hearing that they heard complaints from their colleagues' constituents. "Do I have a specific name of someone in my district? No, But I will go back to the colleagues that brought it forward to me and find out exactly, is it a student that has a name or is that just someone that just brought it up."
Rep. Dave Murphy said he often hears complaints from parents and students about UW schools' admissions process. Those who spoke in support of the bill provided no data as to how widespread the issue was or how many prospective students were affected.
4. Legislators Suggested Curriculum...: Fasten your seat belts:
1. Bill would require the state Department of Public Instruction to set standard lessons for kids in grades five through 12 on police interactions with "mutual cooperation and respect."
2. The other bill would direct state education officials to develop a model curriculum that teaches all high school students about guns and gun safety.
Experienced Teachers, Who Needs them?AB 975 would allow students enrolled in teacher education programs who are at least 21 years old, juniors and have at least 15 hours of classroom observation to earn a substitute teaching license. A proposed amendment would lower the age requirement to 20. Madison Teachers Inc. president Michael Jones wrote efforts would be better focused on increasing funding to schools and listening to those already in the profession. UW Education Dean Diana Hess said "There's no time for people to take a day off of school to go substitute teach. When people are student teaching or doing practicum in the schools, that is a role where they are there as a learner.”
Republicans created this vilify-all-teachers shortage, is this next?
With a nationwide Republican movement to reform schools into their own image, keep an eye on how Tennessee Republicans feel about the teaching "profession." Now, they just want a "warm body" in the classroom:
Democrats have a better idea knowing we now have a $3 billion projected surplus.
State Superintendent Jill Underly: “Our schools — and our kids — need so much right now. They need real solutions to real problems. These bills are decidedly not that, and the fact that the authors of these bills seem to believe that their bills are, in fact, what our schools and students need is yet one more illustration of how out of touch they are with the reality on the ground.” Her strongly worded complete statement is here.
Loved this revealing exchange:
Democratic Rep. Sondy Pope pointed out; "So as a parent you’re telling me that you don’t believe I have the right, let’s just randomly pick number three, the right to determine medical care for my child?” Pope asked Gundrum, later adding, “How is this not a right that I as a parent already have?”
After a brief pause, Gundrum said, “You got me there.”
And this...
Pope saw the legislation “as litigation-crazy. The ambiguity is mind-boggling in this bill."
Make no mistake, these bills specifically target Democratic areas of the state, giving Republicans an excuse to drastically cut funding to school districts that reflect their more liberal communities. The power of the purse will end opposing viewpoints that conflict with conservative authority:
Cap Times: The education bill would allow parents to file complaints over what’s being taught in a classroom in circuit court. If a district was found in violation of the law, the state superintendent could withhold 10% of the district’s state aid until the issue was remedied. Under the bill focused on local and state governments, municipalities and state agencies could see a 10% funding cut for violating the law.
Any school district resident would be allowed to file a claim that a school district is noncompliant under the bill and if they prevailed in court, the court would award the resident reasonable attorney fees up to $15,000.
A fiscal estimate from the Department of Public Instruction stated the “bill would impose a significant administrative burden on school districts in order to be in compliance with the posting, updating and notification” requirements, noting that there is no extra funding included in the bill.
Preserve Racism:
Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, referred to the measures as the "white supremacy preservation act."
Rep. LaKeshia Myers, D-Milwaukee, called the bills a "three-headed red herring," likening the effort to the "Southern strategy" used by Barry Goldwater and President Richard Nixon in the 1960s and 1970s to win over white Southerners by capitalizing on racial angst.
"(These bills) are a poor attempt at reverse psychology to sow seeds of division and hate, by playing on the fears of a shrinking white majority," Myers told reporters ahead of the vote.
It's time to suspend this political grifter from Twitter, ya think?
This is so bad it gets its own blog post: From a guy who hates government handouts but raised a family and sent his kids to college all on the taxpayer dime, Scott Walker, he sure has the balls to fake a fire at a supposed BLM protest!
It's about time the whole bullshit "CRT" scheme got exposed! A comedian did what an entire Democratic Party couldn't do. Sad.
Proving right wingers don't bother reading anything, ever, they might have been tipped off about the grift that would play them for suckers someday. And if they had stumbled across this tweet, there's a chance they might have jumped on board to weaponize children...brutal. The tweet...spelled out for even suckers to understand:
Now here's the complete story from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), with jaw dropping video clips of many "parents" who really don't know what's best for their kids after all:
CRT explained, It is literally ALL here...Critical Race Theory: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) https://t.co/WbHulTVSVa via @YouTube
