Spartanburg doesn't want unfunded bus mandate

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Editors of the Herald-Journal last week detailed their skepticism of Governor Nikki Haley's scheme to privatize the state's school bus system, declaring that they don't want another unfunded mandate sent down from Columbia.

I doubt that Haley will suddenly reverse course upon reading the editors' commentary; after all, they endorsed Vincent Sheheen against Haley in 2010, cautioning their readers against Haley's "platitudes."

Still, the editors in this instance -- as in that instance -- make perfect sense.

If state lawmakers decide to divest themselves of the state’s school bus system, they must do so in a manner that doesn’t place an unfunded mandate on school districts.

South Carolina is unlike other states in that the state owns and operates the school bus fleet. Gov. Nikki Haley and some lawmakers have been pushing to change that. They want to create a system that allows school districts to operate the buses on their own or hire private companies to operate their buses.

The state House was too divided on the issue to pass the proposal. Instead, lawmakers voted to form a study committee to look into the issue.

There is much room for improvement here.

The General Assembly rarely approves money to buy new school buses, so the average age of a bus in the fleet is about 14 years. The state often maximizes the money it does have by buying used buses from school operations in other states.

It is likely that there are efficiencies and improvements that privatization could bring to the school transportation system. Allowing districts control over their transportation systems might also allow them to better provide for their students’ needs.

But there is danger in changing the system as well. Many school district officials are afraid of an unfunded mandate — something state government requires them to do but fails to pay for. That is a legitimate fear.

School officials know it is likely that lawmakers will turn over the bus system to them and initially turn over the money that ran that system. But will that state allotment keep up with inflation?

As the buses age and need to be replaced, where will the money come from to buy new buses? That money isn’t in the annual budget. The General Assembly makes a special appropriation every so often. Will it give up this money when the buses are no longer a state concern?

As fuel prices continue to rise, will lawmakers increase the budget given to school districts to run the bus system? Or once lawmakers have washed their hands of the bus system, will they leave school districts to solve that problem on their own?

If bus service becomes a local issue, wealthier school districts will put more money into their systems than poorer districts. How long will it be before lawmakers are denouncing disparity in district bus systems and calling again for change?

Transportation is a critical element of our education system. South Carolina’s children need safe and reliable buses to take them to school and back home. They don’t need another political football tossed between Columbia and school districts.

As the study committee examines this issue, it should focus on enabling improvements, empowering school districts and avoiding saddling districts with a new financial burden they are ill-equipped to bear.

Lt. Dean Hallmark -- Member of Doolittle's Raiders

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Meder Crew No. 6 (Plane #40-2298, target Tokyo): 95th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. Dean E. Hallmark, pilot; Lt. Robert J., copilot; Lt. Chase J. Nielsen, navigator; Sgt. William J. Dieter, bombardier; Sgt. Donald E. Fitzmaurice, flight engineer/gunner. (U.S. Air Force photo)

by Tech. Sgt. Mike Hammond  Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs  4/18/2007 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AETCNS) --  "I don't need a light to tell me what I already know!" said 1st Lt. Dean Edward Hallmark, ripping the flashing red light bulbs from the display in the cockpit of his B-25. It was April 18, 1942, and Lieutenant Hallmark and his crew were running out of gas over the coast of China following the famous Doolittle Raid. When the fuel lights illuminated, it wasn't news to the pilot or his crew.  About 63 years later, while watching the film, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo," a different kind of light came on for a relative of Lieutenant Hallmark... a cousin he never knew, but who unknowingly followed in his footsteps in serving the country. "All of a sudden, someone said 'There goes Hallmark!' And I began to wonder if he could have been related to me," said Army Capt. Adam Hallmark, a squadron signal officer based at Fort Hood, Texas. "I'm sort of into genealogy, so I started doing some research. I eventually found out we were distant cousins -- which turned out to be a complete surprise for everyone in my family!"  Captain Hallmark said his research led him to pencil in the details of what followed his cousin's last mission. "He was captured shortly after his plane went down (April 18, 1942), and eventually taken from China to Japan for what they (enemy forces) called a 'war crimes trial,'" Capt. Hallmark said. "Then he was taken back to China, where on Oct. 15, 1942, he was executed."  Capt. Hallmark attended last year's Doolittle Raider reunion, where he met some of the surviving crew members who knew his cousin. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Chase Nielsen, who passed away this year on March 23, was at that reunion. A fellow POW from Lt. Hallmark's plane, Colonel Nielsen told Captain Hallmark his cousin was "real cool," and a team player. "Colonel Nielsen remembered that Lieutenant Hallmark let the guys on the plane decide whether to try crash landing in China or to ditch in the ocean," Captain Hallmark said. "They elected to ditch in the ocean, and he did -- but not before ripping the 'low on fuel lights' out of the display panel and tossing them on the floor!"  Hearing the details of his distant cousin's military service has instilled pride in Captain Hallmark. "Reading about his sacrifice has really motivated me," the captain said. "He took the job, not even knowing what it was, and he did it well. Then, after what he endured as a POW, and eventually giving his life... I'm not going to let the family down."  Captain Hallmark said he has served a year in Iraq already and is scheduled to go back for a longer period of time in September. As this year's reunion ceremony took place in a hangar full of reporters and Airmen, many noticed the Army captain in full service dress uniform standing silently near the surviving Raiders. "I'm here to honor Lieutenant Hallmark and those who served with him," the captain explained.  "Since no one in my family even knew about him, I've taken it upon myself to make sure we remember him. The Raiders always remembered him, and now my family will."

WAR DEPARTMENT
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY AIR FORCES
WASHINGTON July 9, 1942.GENERAL DOOLITTLE's REPORT ON JAPANESE RAIDApril 18, 1942This report has been reproduced by the Intelligence Service, Army Air Forces, under the direction of the Commanding General, Army Air Forces and distributed as shown.Further dissemination in the Air Forces, except among the higher staff officers, is prohibited. Certain parts of this considered suitable for wider dissemination are being extracted at this Headquarters and will receive wide distribution shortly in the form in Intelligence Summaries. The start and finish of the raid are believed still unknown to the Japanese, and it is this information which it is desired to safeguard.

Airplane No. AC 40-2298 -- Took off at 8:40 a.m. ship time
Pilot	Lt.	Dean E. Hallmark	0-421081
Co-pilot	Lt.	Robert J. Meder	0-421280
Navigator-Gunner	Lt.	Chase J. Neilson	0-419938
Bombardier	Sgt.	Wm. J. Dieter	6565763
Engineer-Gunner	Cpl.	Donald E. Fitzmaurice	17360
This airplane landed in the Nangchang Area near Poyang Lake. From the best reports available (which are not to be relied upon) two crew members, presumably Sgt. Dieter and Cpl. Fitzmaurice are missing and three crew members, presumably Lts. Hallmark, Meder and Neilson were captured by the Japanese. It was reported that one of these was bayoneted resisting capture but was not killed.

Here is a website on the Poyang Lake area of China http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poyang_Lake  and I’ll add a Google map that should show the map between Toyko and the landing/crash site.http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&sugexp=pfwc&tok=v_fszAP-TXV67DC04EoXSw&pq=nangchang+area,+china&cp=12&gs_id=h&xhr=t&q=poyang+lake+china&rlz=1G1ACAWCENUS306&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1273&bih=601&bs=1&wrapid=tljp133426898663604&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

If We Don't Value Our State, Why Would Anyone Else?

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I took an elderly friend for a walk today. She had a stroke a few years ago, and still has one leg that drags a bit, so walking on a flat surface is her preference. We went up to the 1st turnout on Rt. 16, above the Dana Place Inn and below Dead Man's Curve.

There wasn't anyone else there, so we began walking around the parking lot. There was a big pile of beer cans and bottles that some people had dumped there. We both found this distressing. Further down was a smaller pile of fast food packaging. (Burger King) There was also initially appeared to be a big pile of dog poo. Except it wasn't dog. It was human.

After we finished walking, I grabbed a trash bag from the trunk, and picked up the bottles, cans (Bud Light) and Burger King detritus. I left the pile.

There's a picnic table at this rest stop, but no trash can. No trash can anywhere at this rest stop. Of course, if there were a trash can, someone would have to empty it, and that would mean paying someone, and we certainly don't want to do that.

It's Columbus Day Weekend, and despite all the rain that we've experienced during this foliage season, there have been tourists here from all over the country - all over the world. As I keep saying, tourism is the #2 industry in New Hampshire.

We welcome visitors to our state with closed rest areas, with banks of smelly porta-potties, and with parks in desperate need of repair.

It's no wonder that visitors to the area left their calling card: cheap beer, fast food packaging, and a pile of human waste. They were simply imitating NH's own values.

Backward Isn't Forward

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Good news. Election Day is fast approaching. No more ads, nomore robocalls or polls, no more emails, and no more debates. The last twoyears of national politics have been unbearable for all who aren’t marching inTea Party lockstep. The last two years of NH politics have been unbearable forthose who love the state and don’t care to see it continue to be the butt ofjokes made by the rest of the world. The opposite of progressive is regressive,and the regressives have had too much control for too long.
Ovide Lamontagne is the regressive running for governor ofour state. Ovide is opposed to abortion in cases of rape and incest. Hesupports the so-called personhood legislation that would make a clump of cellsthe legal equal of an adult woman. He’s also opposed to marriage equality, andwants to repeal Obama’s health care law.  Despite his obvious religious extremism, Ovide manages (withthe help of the complicit media) to be presented as a moderate. All of theextremist legislation we’ve seen enacted during the last 2 years will becompounded with Lamontagne in the corner office. He’s no friend to education orinfrastructure, the two biggest needs in our state.
Just this week, a report shows that NH is home to a hugegender based pay gap. On average, women earn $0.65 for each dollar a man earnsin NH. Ovide said he didn’t think government should micromanage business, bytelling them what to pay people. In other words, Ovide supports the right of employersto pay women less because of their plumbing. At the same time, Ovide doessupport the right of government to micromanage female reproduction. I’ve beenseeing a bumper sticker around that reads, “Got Ovaries? Avoid Ovide.” It’sgood advice for everyone, regardless of their ovarian status.
Frank Guinta is trying for another term in Congress. Frankran in 2010, firmly clasped to the bosom of the Tea Party. In 2012, he’srunning away from that bosom as fast as he can, and attempting to reinventhimself as a moderate. Frank in 2010 campaigned on alleged abuses on the partof Congresswoman Shea-Porter’s use of the Congressional franking system. In2012, we learned that Guinta is one of the top franking abusers in Congress. Heopposed Obama’s stimulus spending, but couldn’t wait to get his paws onstimulus funding as Mayor of Manchester. We’ve all seen the pictures of him atthe infamous ribbon cutting ceremony for the road to the Manchester Airportthat was built with stimulus funds. Above all, we’ve seen no resolution of theinvestigation into the “forgotten” bank account used to bankroll his 2010campaign. No wonder Guinta’s regarded as one of the most corrupt members ofCongress by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Speaking of corrupt - disgraced former Carroll County GOPChair Maynard Thomson is running for the NH House. Thomson resigned from hisposition as County Chair on the day he received a “cease and desist” letterfrom the NH Attorney General’s office. It seems that Thomson (retired attorney turnedromance novelist) was either too inept or too arrogant to properly file theexpenditure forms by the state. Political committees and individual candidatesare required to send in itemized receipt and expenditure forms once they’vetaken in $500 before an election. I suspect Thomson didn’t want anyone to knowwho was bankrolling all those ads that the local GOP ran in the newspaper in2010. In any case, Thomson was either unwilling or unable to fill out theseforms – and it really doesn’t matter which one it was. Either way, his actions shoulddisqualify him from holding higher office.
State Senator Jeb Bradley is running radio ads that urge usto vote for him. In his radio ad, he mentions that he worked to save 5000 jobsat the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. In the interest of honesty and fulldisclosure it’s important to note that he didn’t do that as a state senator.That was done in 2005, when he was in Congress. In the state senate he’s workedagainst the workers at the shipyard, by supporting out of state specialinterest groups trying to turn NH into a right to work state. Apparently evenBradley doesn’t think his record in the NH State Senate is attractive enough towin voters over, so he’s trying to blur the lines between his former role inCongress and his current $100 a year position in the NH legislature.  
Former Rep. Norm Tregenza is worried about perverts. He’sbeen running ads (big expensive ones, who is funding those?) in the ConwayDaily Sun all week, to tell us of his concern about perverts in bathrooms. Why?It’s all he’s got. He certainly can’t run for reelection on his own record, sohe’s attacking fellow floterial district candidate and former Rep. Ed Butlerfor supporting a bill that would have provided some protections fortransgendered persons. One of Tregenza’s ads shows a picture of Norm himself(looking rather Hitler youth-ish) telling us what an upstanding guy he is forwanting to keep perverts out of ladies rooms. The ad in Saturday’s papersuggested that the entire ad (squirrelly photo and all) be taped to the back ofthe ladies room door.  Norm’spicture on the bathroom door? Eeeeuuuww! That’s REALLY perverted.
Women know who the real perverts are. I’ve never spoken to asingle woman who is afraid of encountering a transgendered person in abathroom. The real perverts are the Republicans running for office trying toredefine and normalize rape.  Thereal perverts are the men who want to regulate women’s reproductive organs andmake their most intimate decisions for them. Tregenza is one of those perverts.He’s voted against a women’s right to bodily autonomy and reproductive freedomevery time he had the opportunity.
Norman comes across as a “nice young man.” As such, peopletend to overlook the fact that he doesn’t appear to have ever had a full timejob, never mind a career. He’s a member of the red baiting, racist,anti-Semitic John Birch Society, and was a supporter ofracist/homophobe/misogynist candidate Ron Paul. He’s being presented as asterling character – so please be sure to ask him exactly when he moved out ofhis district, and why it took him so long to resign his seat after moving.  
As for the three Constitutional Amendment questions, my ruleof thumb in these matters is simple: always vote no. The first one is a poorlywritten mess that will lead to years of expensive court challenges andadversely affect NH’s bond rating. The second attempts to let the legislaturerun our judicial system. It’s an invitation to all manner of legal challenges.Think about the legislature we’ve had for the last 2 years and vote no. Thelast question calls for a convention to amend or revise our state constitution.This is an unnecessary action that would cost NH taxpayers millions of dollars.
New Hampshire can’t go forward by moving backward.


Voting records for incumbents: http://www.granitestateprogress.org

© 2012 sbruce  
Published as an op-ed in the October 26 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper. 

It's a Fine Line

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Any business putting up political signs is walking a fine line. During this past election, a chain restaurant that is new to the area put up nearly every GOP sign that was available. They hedged their bets before the primary, with signs for both Ovide and Kevin Smith. 
Those signs sent me a message, loud and clear. The signs told me that the owners shared the views of Smith and Lamontagne, notably the desire to regulate female reproduction. Those signs were themselves a sign. A sign that I would not spend a dime of my low income in their restaurant. 
Leavitt's Bakery allows any candidate to put up their signs. That's smart. 
These signs, put out by a local business were not smart:


( Photos courtesy of Gary Montford, and used by permission) 
The decorative details on Obama's collar points are little hammer and sickles. 
Then there was this banner, on the front of a shed that was not readily visible from the road:

(photo by susanthe)

What business was making these rather inflammatory statements? Our local Kawasaki dealership in Albany: 





(photos by Gary Montford, used with permission)
A complaint was made to the Kawasaki home office about the banners (not by me!) and they were subsequently removed. The Lewinsky banner on the shed was the only one that stayed, as you can see:

(susanthe photo) 
The Obama banners were certainly obnoxious, dishonest, and not without a tinge of racism. 
The "Lewinsky" banner is equally offensive. Women are the fastest growing segment of the motorcycle buying population. Monica Lewinsky was a young woman who made a number of really poor decisions. Those decisions were broadcast all over the world. She became the butt of jokes made by every comedian. Monica Lewinsky got a public shaming on an unprecedented level. 
Dredging that up, and mocking this woman AGAIN, to make some kind of coarse sexual/political joke sends a strong message to women, though not perhaps the message the owners intend. Something along the lines of: "Hey women, we don't want your business." 

Ravitch comments on ALEC's reach into education

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If you think citizens are in control of our government, think again.

Since the 2010 elections, when Republicans took control of many states, there has been an explosion of legislation advancing privatization of public schools and stripping teachers of job protections and collective bargaining rights. Even some Democratic governors, seeing the strong rightward drift of our politics, have jumped on the right-wing bandwagon, seeking to remove any protection for academic freedom from public school teachers.

This outburst of anti-public school, anti-teacher legislation is no accident. It is the work of a shadowy group called the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. Founded in 1973, ALEC is an organization of nearly 2,000 conservative state legislators. Its hallmark is promotion of privatization and corporate interests in every sphere, not only education, but healthcare, the environment, the economy, voting laws, public safety, etc. It drafts model legislation that conservative legislators take back to their states and introduce as their own “reform” ideas. ALEC is the guiding force behind state-level efforts to privatize public education and to turn teachers into at-will employees who may be fired for any reason. The ALEC agenda is today the “reform” agenda for education.

ALEC operated largely in the dark for years, but gained notoriety because of the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. It turns out that ALEC crafted the “Stand Your Ground” legislation that empowered George Zimmerman to kill an unarmed teenager with the defense that he (the shooter) felt threatened. When the bright light of publicity was shone on ALEC, a number of corporate sponsors dropped out, including McDonald’s, Kraft, Coca-Cola, Mars, Wendy’s, Intuit, Kaplan, and PepsiCo. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said that it would not halt its current grant to ALEC, but pledged not to provide new funding. ALEC has some 300 corporate sponsors, including Walmart, the Koch Brothers, and AT&T, so there’s still quite a lot of corporate support for its free-market policies. ALEC claimed that it is the victim of a campaign of intimidation.

Groups like Common Cause and colorofchange.org have been putting ALEC’s model legislation online and printing the names of its sponsors. They have also published sharp criticism of ALEC’s ideas. This is hardly intimidation. It’s the democratic process at work. A website called alecexposed.org has published ALEC’s policy agenda. Common Cause posted the agenda for the meeting of ALEC on May 11 in Charlotte, N.C. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has dropped out of ALEC and also withdrawn from the May 11 conference, where it was originally going to be a presenter.

A recent article in the Newark Star-Ledger showed how closely New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s “reform” legislation is modeled on ALEC’s work in education. Wherever you see states expanding vouchers, charters, and other forms of privatization, wherever you see states lowering standards for entry into the teaching profession, wherever you see states opening up new opportunities for profit-making entities, wherever you see the expansion of for-profit online charter schools, you are likely to find legislation that echoes the ALEC model.

ALEC has been leading the privatization movement for nearly 40 years, but the only thing new is the attention it is getting, and the fact that many of its ideas are now being enacted. Just last week, the Michigan House of Representatives expanded the number of cyber charters that may operate in the state, even though the academic results for such online schools are dismal.

Who is on the education task force of ALEC? The members of the task force as of July 2011 are here. Several members represent for-profit online companies, including the co-chair from Connections Academy; many members come from for-profit higher education corporations. There is someone from Jeb Bush’s foundation, as well as right-wing think tank people. There are charter school representatives, as well as Scantron. And the task force includes a long list of state legislators, from Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Quite a lineup. Common Cause has asked why ALEC is considered a “charity” by the Internal Revenue Service and holds tax-exempt status, when it devotes so much time to lobbying for changes in state laws. Common Cause has filed a “whistleblower” complaint with the IRS about ALEC’s status.

The campaign to privatize the schools and to dismantle the teaching profession is in full swing. Where is the leadership to oppose it?

Zais's plan to discard public schools inches ahead

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Let's see: It's a proposal that brings back segregation -- by gender, this time, but the die is cast -- and opens public school athletic programs to students who are not enrolled in those public schools.

In essence, it turns traditional public schools into a neighborhood Boys Club and Girls Club, with teachers and a cafeteria.

So we're one step closer to dismantling public education for good, which brings satisfaction to the state Superintendent of Education, Mick Zais.

The Post & Courier fills in the rest:

Palmetto State charter school supporters are celebrating the passage of a sweeping set of changes they say will benefit their public schools.

South Carolina lawmakers have adopted bill H. 3241 that proponents say would strengthen the state’s public charter schools. Some of the bill’s provisions include:

Allowing higher-education institutions to approve charter schools to open.

Permitting single-gender charter schools to exist.

Letting charter school students participate in extracurricular or athletic activities at their neighborhood school if those aren’t offered at their charter school.

“It’s going to result in students’ excelling academically and truly moving South Carolina forward,” said Mary Carmichael, executive director of the Public Charter School Alliance of South Carolina, which has been a driving force behind the legislation.

Charter schools are public schools, but they are not governed by county school boards. They instead have separate boards to make decisions about funding, policy and curriculum.

Yes, because local control is good only when lawmakers say it's good. When local control is bad, lawmakers disallow it.

About 18,000 students are enrolled in 47 charter schools statewide. Charleston has nine brick-and-mortar charter schools, eight of which are open only to county residents. Lowcountry students also can enroll in online charter schools.

The state passed its charter school law in 1996, and lawmakers made significant changes in 2006, such as creating an alternative authorizer, the state Public Charter School District, and allowing virtual charter schools.

The new legislation is the biggest overhaul of the state’s rules on charter schools since then, Carmichael said.

Proponents of the bill have been working for nearly three years on this with Rep. Phil Owens, R-Easley, chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

They looked at the national model for state charter school law and tried to change South Carolina’s to be higher quality. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools ranked the state’s law No. 25 nationally, saying it needed to be adjusted to ensure equitable funding and access to capital money and facilities.

This is tragicomic. Supporters of traditional public schools -- you know, the ones that enroll 700,000 public schoolchildren in South Carolina -- want their schools to be higher quality, too. National rankings credit us for the quality of curriculum and instruction, but they rank us pretty poorly for support of our schools. And there's a 14-year-old lawsuit called Abbeville v South Carolina that asks the courts to order equitable funding for our public schools. But none of these things seems to matter.

If only traditional public schools had an advocate like Rep. Phil Owens working on their behalf for three years, traditional public schools might find themselves the beneficiaries of increased funding and better facilities.

How do we get one of those?

The original bill included a provision that called for local funds to follow students, regardless of where they enrolled, but that was eliminated. Carmichael said that’s an issue that still needs to be addressed and will be worked on going forward.

“That’s something we know long term we need to have,” she said.

Scott Price is attorney for the South Carolina School Boards Association, which serves and represents the interest of traditional school boards that sometimes clash with charter schools.

The association had some concerns with the bill, particularly the issue of the funding following the child. Estimates showed that districts could have taken a $25 million hit were that to happen, he said.

The association also had a problem with allowing charter school students to participate in extracurricular and athletic activities elsewhere, because it could be to the detriment of other children enrolled in neighborhood schools, he said.

Sure. Jimmy, enrolled in the traditional public school, wants to participate on the football team; Jimmy's talented and qualified, and he's enrolled in the school that sponsors the team, for cryin' out loud.

But Bruiser attends the charter school across the highway, and he wants to play football at Jimmy's school because the charter school doesn't have a football team, and Bruiser wants to play for Clemson one day. Coach is feeling substantial pressure to let Bruiser on the team; Bruiser's dad's name is Deacon, and Deacon got Senator to give Coach a call. Now, Bruiser can't add, subtract or do long division, but who cares? Bruiser's big and can run. Result: Jimmy gets to play Fantasy Football on his X-Box at home, while Bruiser gets Locker Number One in the traditional public school's locker room.

If you think this won't happen, you must live outside South Carolina.

The association supported some of the bill’s provisions, such as allowing single-gender schools and ensuring an appropriate timeline for school districts to turn over state and federal funds to charter schools.

In the end, “it’s something we can work with,” he said.

State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais praised the passage of the new law and thanked lawmakers for it.

“The General Assembly has renewed its commitment to providing parents a choice in the school their children attend,” he said in a statement. “A one-size-fits-all model of education simply doesn’t work for many students. Public charter schools are laboratories of innovation where the interests of students come first.”

And South Carolina's Department of Education is now a laboratory for expensive experimentation where the interests of traditional public schools and their 700,000 enrolled schoolchildren come last.

Education deform, straight from the horse's mouth

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The fact that the Wall Street newspaper Investors Business Daily has given FreedomWorks president and CEO Matt Kibbe space in its publication to discuss education "reform" is informative.

It reflects that, from the corporate community's perspective, the privatization of public education represents a treasure trove of profits potentially reaching hundreds of billions of dollars.

Somebody, after all, has to educate the children. Without the hassle of a public school system blocking the path, the education bidness -- that's bidness, as in, contracts will be awarded to the highest bidder -- will be free to plunder.

Set aside any illusions you may have that common sense and democracy will save us from this ugly fate. We get back from Columbia what we send to Columbia, and we've sown a crop of anti-public education leadership.

So, study closely, readers: Our corporate masters are instructing us in how things will soon be.

Hush, now. The less you struggle, the easier it will go for you.

Nowhere is the Tea Party's sustained influence clearer than in efforts to promote education reform around the nation.

For the first time in the history of our country, we are seeing a broad-based educational reform effort that is not driven by the unions. Instead, parents and activists are working together on a local level, empowered by the national Tea Party movement, to apply the mechanics of the free market to struggling school systems.

While success has been widespread, efforts made in South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania provide some of the clearest examples of the Tea Party in action.

On March 28, the South Carolina House passed H. 4894, allowing tax credits and deductions for donations for privately funded scholarships. A similar bill failed in the House by just one vote in the previous session.

This time around, FreedomWorks joined local activists and Tea Party leaders in their efforts, providing the grass-roots campaign with extra air and ground support needed to pass the bill. After six months, the bill passed by 15 votes — a landslide turnaround — and is now headed for the South Carolina Senate.

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal introduced the boldest education reform package ever seen in our nation's history. The legislation overhauls the system using the same model that was successful in post-Katrina New Orleans by providing low-income parents with vouchers that enable them to send their children to the school of their choice.

Jindal's plan also includes tying teacher tenure to good performance, and a system of tax credits that allows businesses to privately sponsor students' education.

On April 4, the Louisiana state Senate voted to pass the voucher expansion bill, HB 976, and the teacher tenure reform bill, HB 974, by margins of 24-15 and 23-16 respectively, sending the legislation to the governor's desk to be signed into law and marking the biggest education reform victory to date.

In Mississippi, Republicans control both state houses for the first time in 136 years. Gov. Phil Bryant, a bold executive leader like Gov. Jindal, has made charter school expansion the centerpiece of his campaign. Charter school legislation SB 2401 recently passed in the Mississippi Senate and failed by a single vote in the state House Education Committee.

But as South Carolina showed, turning a single vote into a bold majority is possible, and well within reach.

In fact, Gov. Bryant has already called for a special session of the legislature in an effort to save the bill, demonstrating a bold example to governors in other states that when education reform gets tough, the true leaders double down while the timid get going.

Heading north, we see the impact that conservative activists have on the 25-year fight for school choice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where efforts to bring student-centered reform to schools have faltered for years.

The Tea Party movement has reinvigorated the cause, working with activists and non-Tea Partyers alike to make more progress over the past two years than was made over the past two decades.

Senate Bill 1 passed the Pennsylvania Senate just before a narrow defeat in the House. This initial bicameral friction hasn't deterred local activists from fighting to free schools from the stranglehold of corrupt union leadership.

Americans are realizing that the lack of competition created by powerful teacher unions like the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association is robbing children of the education they deserve and disenfranchising good teachers. The only solution is increasing competition in the school system. Continuing to line the pockets of union bosses with more and more taxpayer money is a failed and irresponsible approach.

For the most part, conservative parents and activists have won the battles in the state capitol chambers. But we couldn't have done it without the bold commitment to leadership from governors like Bobby Jindal and Phil Bryant.

I can only hope the successes of education reform in Louisiana and Mississippi will start a national trend toward electing and supporting entrepreneurial governors who make education reform a No. 1 priority, not simply cheering from the sidelines.

The Wall Street Journal called 2011 "The Year of School Choice." FreedomWorks, Tea Party activists and our allies in state governments across the nation are not only committed to continuing this trend of success in 2012, but to making the next 100 years the Century of School Choice.

There you have it.

The leader of the corporate-funded education deform movement in America has drawn the lines himself, educators. On one side stands he and the corporate masters who write his checks.

On the other side stand organized educators, which he called out by their names -- the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.

Between the two stand educators who today work in public schools, but whose jobs may be converted tomorrow, next year, or within a decade, to corporate ownership.

Which side have you chosen?

Spartanburg doesn't want unfunded bus mandate

To contact us Click HERE
Editors of the Herald-Journal last week detailed their skepticism of Governor Nikki Haley's scheme to privatize the state's school bus system, declaring that they don't want another unfunded mandate sent down from Columbia.

I doubt that Haley will suddenly reverse course upon reading the editors' commentary; after all, they endorsed Vincent Sheheen against Haley in 2010, cautioning their readers against Haley's "platitudes."

Still, the editors in this instance -- as in that instance -- make perfect sense.

If state lawmakers decide to divest themselves of the state’s school bus system, they must do so in a manner that doesn’t place an unfunded mandate on school districts.

South Carolina is unlike other states in that the state owns and operates the school bus fleet. Gov. Nikki Haley and some lawmakers have been pushing to change that. They want to create a system that allows school districts to operate the buses on their own or hire private companies to operate their buses.

The state House was too divided on the issue to pass the proposal. Instead, lawmakers voted to form a study committee to look into the issue.

There is much room for improvement here.

The General Assembly rarely approves money to buy new school buses, so the average age of a bus in the fleet is about 14 years. The state often maximizes the money it does have by buying used buses from school operations in other states.

It is likely that there are efficiencies and improvements that privatization could bring to the school transportation system. Allowing districts control over their transportation systems might also allow them to better provide for their students’ needs.

But there is danger in changing the system as well. Many school district officials are afraid of an unfunded mandate — something state government requires them to do but fails to pay for. That is a legitimate fear.

School officials know it is likely that lawmakers will turn over the bus system to them and initially turn over the money that ran that system. But will that state allotment keep up with inflation?

As the buses age and need to be replaced, where will the money come from to buy new buses? That money isn’t in the annual budget. The General Assembly makes a special appropriation every so often. Will it give up this money when the buses are no longer a state concern?

As fuel prices continue to rise, will lawmakers increase the budget given to school districts to run the bus system? Or once lawmakers have washed their hands of the bus system, will they leave school districts to solve that problem on their own?

If bus service becomes a local issue, wealthier school districts will put more money into their systems than poorer districts. How long will it be before lawmakers are denouncing disparity in district bus systems and calling again for change?

Transportation is a critical element of our education system. South Carolina’s children need safe and reliable buses to take them to school and back home. They don’t need another political football tossed between Columbia and school districts.

As the study committee examines this issue, it should focus on enabling improvements, empowering school districts and avoiding saddling districts with a new financial burden they are ill-equipped to bear.

Lt. Dean Hallmark -- Member of Doolittle's Raiders

To contact us Click HERE

Meder Crew No. 6 (Plane #40-2298, target Tokyo): 95th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. Dean E. Hallmark, pilot; Lt. Robert J., copilot; Lt. Chase J. Nielsen, navigator; Sgt. William J. Dieter, bombardier; Sgt. Donald E. Fitzmaurice, flight engineer/gunner. (U.S. Air Force photo)

by Tech. Sgt. Mike Hammond  Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs  4/18/2007 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AETCNS) --  "I don't need a light to tell me what I already know!" said 1st Lt. Dean Edward Hallmark, ripping the flashing red light bulbs from the display in the cockpit of his B-25. It was April 18, 1942, and Lieutenant Hallmark and his crew were running out of gas over the coast of China following the famous Doolittle Raid. When the fuel lights illuminated, it wasn't news to the pilot or his crew.  About 63 years later, while watching the film, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo," a different kind of light came on for a relative of Lieutenant Hallmark... a cousin he never knew, but who unknowingly followed in his footsteps in serving the country. "All of a sudden, someone said 'There goes Hallmark!' And I began to wonder if he could have been related to me," said Army Capt. Adam Hallmark, a squadron signal officer based at Fort Hood, Texas. "I'm sort of into genealogy, so I started doing some research. I eventually found out we were distant cousins -- which turned out to be a complete surprise for everyone in my family!"  Captain Hallmark said his research led him to pencil in the details of what followed his cousin's last mission. "He was captured shortly after his plane went down (April 18, 1942), and eventually taken from China to Japan for what they (enemy forces) called a 'war crimes trial,'" Capt. Hallmark said. "Then he was taken back to China, where on Oct. 15, 1942, he was executed."  Capt. Hallmark attended last year's Doolittle Raider reunion, where he met some of the surviving crew members who knew his cousin. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Chase Nielsen, who passed away this year on March 23, was at that reunion. A fellow POW from Lt. Hallmark's plane, Colonel Nielsen told Captain Hallmark his cousin was "real cool," and a team player. "Colonel Nielsen remembered that Lieutenant Hallmark let the guys on the plane decide whether to try crash landing in China or to ditch in the ocean," Captain Hallmark said. "They elected to ditch in the ocean, and he did -- but not before ripping the 'low on fuel lights' out of the display panel and tossing them on the floor!"  Hearing the details of his distant cousin's military service has instilled pride in Captain Hallmark. "Reading about his sacrifice has really motivated me," the captain said. "He took the job, not even knowing what it was, and he did it well. Then, after what he endured as a POW, and eventually giving his life... I'm not going to let the family down."  Captain Hallmark said he has served a year in Iraq already and is scheduled to go back for a longer period of time in September. As this year's reunion ceremony took place in a hangar full of reporters and Airmen, many noticed the Army captain in full service dress uniform standing silently near the surviving Raiders. "I'm here to honor Lieutenant Hallmark and those who served with him," the captain explained.  "Since no one in my family even knew about him, I've taken it upon myself to make sure we remember him. The Raiders always remembered him, and now my family will."

WAR DEPARTMENT
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY AIR FORCES
WASHINGTON July 9, 1942.GENERAL DOOLITTLE's REPORT ON JAPANESE RAIDApril 18, 1942This report has been reproduced by the Intelligence Service, Army Air Forces, under the direction of the Commanding General, Army Air Forces and distributed as shown.Further dissemination in the Air Forces, except among the higher staff officers, is prohibited. Certain parts of this considered suitable for wider dissemination are being extracted at this Headquarters and will receive wide distribution shortly in the form in Intelligence Summaries. The start and finish of the raid are believed still unknown to the Japanese, and it is this information which it is desired to safeguard.

Airplane No. AC 40-2298 -- Took off at 8:40 a.m. ship time
Pilot	Lt.	Dean E. Hallmark	0-421081
Co-pilot	Lt.	Robert J. Meder	0-421280
Navigator-Gunner	Lt.	Chase J. Neilson	0-419938
Bombardier	Sgt.	Wm. J. Dieter	6565763
Engineer-Gunner	Cpl.	Donald E. Fitzmaurice	17360
This airplane landed in the Nangchang Area near Poyang Lake. From the best reports available (which are not to be relied upon) two crew members, presumably Sgt. Dieter and Cpl. Fitzmaurice are missing and three crew members, presumably Lts. Hallmark, Meder and Neilson were captured by the Japanese. It was reported that one of these was bayoneted resisting capture but was not killed.

Here is a website on the Poyang Lake area of China http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poyang_Lake  and I’ll add a Google map that should show the map between Toyko and the landing/crash site.http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&sugexp=pfwc&tok=v_fszAP-TXV67DC04EoXSw&pq=nangchang+area,+china&cp=12&gs_id=h&xhr=t&q=poyang+lake+china&rlz=1G1ACAWCENUS306&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1273&bih=601&bs=1&wrapid=tljp133426898663604&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

Spartanburg doesn't want unfunded bus mandate

To contact us Click HERE
Editors of the Herald-Journal last week detailed their skepticism of Governor Nikki Haley's scheme to privatize the state's school bus system, declaring that they don't want another unfunded mandate sent down from Columbia.

I doubt that Haley will suddenly reverse course upon reading the editors' commentary; after all, they endorsed Vincent Sheheen against Haley in 2010, cautioning their readers against Haley's "platitudes."

Still, the editors in this instance -- as in that instance -- make perfect sense.

If state lawmakers decide to divest themselves of the state’s school bus system, they must do so in a manner that doesn’t place an unfunded mandate on school districts.

South Carolina is unlike other states in that the state owns and operates the school bus fleet. Gov. Nikki Haley and some lawmakers have been pushing to change that. They want to create a system that allows school districts to operate the buses on their own or hire private companies to operate their buses.

The state House was too divided on the issue to pass the proposal. Instead, lawmakers voted to form a study committee to look into the issue.

There is much room for improvement here.

The General Assembly rarely approves money to buy new school buses, so the average age of a bus in the fleet is about 14 years. The state often maximizes the money it does have by buying used buses from school operations in other states.

It is likely that there are efficiencies and improvements that privatization could bring to the school transportation system. Allowing districts control over their transportation systems might also allow them to better provide for their students’ needs.

But there is danger in changing the system as well. Many school district officials are afraid of an unfunded mandate — something state government requires them to do but fails to pay for. That is a legitimate fear.

School officials know it is likely that lawmakers will turn over the bus system to them and initially turn over the money that ran that system. But will that state allotment keep up with inflation?

As the buses age and need to be replaced, where will the money come from to buy new buses? That money isn’t in the annual budget. The General Assembly makes a special appropriation every so often. Will it give up this money when the buses are no longer a state concern?

As fuel prices continue to rise, will lawmakers increase the budget given to school districts to run the bus system? Or once lawmakers have washed their hands of the bus system, will they leave school districts to solve that problem on their own?

If bus service becomes a local issue, wealthier school districts will put more money into their systems than poorer districts. How long will it be before lawmakers are denouncing disparity in district bus systems and calling again for change?

Transportation is a critical element of our education system. South Carolina’s children need safe and reliable buses to take them to school and back home. They don’t need another political football tossed between Columbia and school districts.

As the study committee examines this issue, it should focus on enabling improvements, empowering school districts and avoiding saddling districts with a new financial burden they are ill-equipped to bear.

Lt. Dean Hallmark -- Member of Doolittle's Raiders

To contact us Click HERE

Meder Crew No. 6 (Plane #40-2298, target Tokyo): 95th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. Dean E. Hallmark, pilot; Lt. Robert J., copilot; Lt. Chase J. Nielsen, navigator; Sgt. William J. Dieter, bombardier; Sgt. Donald E. Fitzmaurice, flight engineer/gunner. (U.S. Air Force photo)

by Tech. Sgt. Mike Hammond  Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs  4/18/2007 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AETCNS) --  "I don't need a light to tell me what I already know!" said 1st Lt. Dean Edward Hallmark, ripping the flashing red light bulbs from the display in the cockpit of his B-25. It was April 18, 1942, and Lieutenant Hallmark and his crew were running out of gas over the coast of China following the famous Doolittle Raid. When the fuel lights illuminated, it wasn't news to the pilot or his crew.  About 63 years later, while watching the film, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo," a different kind of light came on for a relative of Lieutenant Hallmark... a cousin he never knew, but who unknowingly followed in his footsteps in serving the country. "All of a sudden, someone said 'There goes Hallmark!' And I began to wonder if he could have been related to me," said Army Capt. Adam Hallmark, a squadron signal officer based at Fort Hood, Texas. "I'm sort of into genealogy, so I started doing some research. I eventually found out we were distant cousins -- which turned out to be a complete surprise for everyone in my family!"  Captain Hallmark said his research led him to pencil in the details of what followed his cousin's last mission. "He was captured shortly after his plane went down (April 18, 1942), and eventually taken from China to Japan for what they (enemy forces) called a 'war crimes trial,'" Capt. Hallmark said. "Then he was taken back to China, where on Oct. 15, 1942, he was executed."  Capt. Hallmark attended last year's Doolittle Raider reunion, where he met some of the surviving crew members who knew his cousin. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Chase Nielsen, who passed away this year on March 23, was at that reunion. A fellow POW from Lt. Hallmark's plane, Colonel Nielsen told Captain Hallmark his cousin was "real cool," and a team player. "Colonel Nielsen remembered that Lieutenant Hallmark let the guys on the plane decide whether to try crash landing in China or to ditch in the ocean," Captain Hallmark said. "They elected to ditch in the ocean, and he did -- but not before ripping the 'low on fuel lights' out of the display panel and tossing them on the floor!"  Hearing the details of his distant cousin's military service has instilled pride in Captain Hallmark. "Reading about his sacrifice has really motivated me," the captain said. "He took the job, not even knowing what it was, and he did it well. Then, after what he endured as a POW, and eventually giving his life... I'm not going to let the family down."  Captain Hallmark said he has served a year in Iraq already and is scheduled to go back for a longer period of time in September. As this year's reunion ceremony took place in a hangar full of reporters and Airmen, many noticed the Army captain in full service dress uniform standing silently near the surviving Raiders. "I'm here to honor Lieutenant Hallmark and those who served with him," the captain explained.  "Since no one in my family even knew about him, I've taken it upon myself to make sure we remember him. The Raiders always remembered him, and now my family will."

WAR DEPARTMENT
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY AIR FORCES
WASHINGTON July 9, 1942.GENERAL DOOLITTLE's REPORT ON JAPANESE RAIDApril 18, 1942This report has been reproduced by the Intelligence Service, Army Air Forces, under the direction of the Commanding General, Army Air Forces and distributed as shown.Further dissemination in the Air Forces, except among the higher staff officers, is prohibited. Certain parts of this considered suitable for wider dissemination are being extracted at this Headquarters and will receive wide distribution shortly in the form in Intelligence Summaries. The start and finish of the raid are believed still unknown to the Japanese, and it is this information which it is desired to safeguard.

Airplane No. AC 40-2298 -- Took off at 8:40 a.m. ship time
Pilot	Lt.	Dean E. Hallmark	0-421081
Co-pilot	Lt.	Robert J. Meder	0-421280
Navigator-Gunner	Lt.	Chase J. Neilson	0-419938
Bombardier	Sgt.	Wm. J. Dieter	6565763
Engineer-Gunner	Cpl.	Donald E. Fitzmaurice	17360
This airplane landed in the Nangchang Area near Poyang Lake. From the best reports available (which are not to be relied upon) two crew members, presumably Sgt. Dieter and Cpl. Fitzmaurice are missing and three crew members, presumably Lts. Hallmark, Meder and Neilson were captured by the Japanese. It was reported that one of these was bayoneted resisting capture but was not killed.

Here is a website on the Poyang Lake area of China http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poyang_Lake  and I’ll add a Google map that should show the map between Toyko and the landing/crash site.http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&sugexp=pfwc&tok=v_fszAP-TXV67DC04EoXSw&pq=nangchang+area,+china&cp=12&gs_id=h&xhr=t&q=poyang+lake+china&rlz=1G1ACAWCENUS306&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1273&bih=601&bs=1&wrapid=tljp133426898663604&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

If We Don't Value Our State, Why Would Anyone Else?

To contact us Click HERE
I took an elderly friend for a walk today. She had a stroke a few years ago, and still has one leg that drags a bit, so walking on a flat surface is her preference. We went up to the 1st turnout on Rt. 16, above the Dana Place Inn and below Dead Man's Curve.

There wasn't anyone else there, so we began walking around the parking lot. There was a big pile of beer cans and bottles that some people had dumped there. We both found this distressing. Further down was a smaller pile of fast food packaging. (Burger King) There was also initially appeared to be a big pile of dog poo. Except it wasn't dog. It was human.

After we finished walking, I grabbed a trash bag from the trunk, and picked up the bottles, cans (Bud Light) and Burger King detritus. I left the pile.

There's a picnic table at this rest stop, but no trash can. No trash can anywhere at this rest stop. Of course, if there were a trash can, someone would have to empty it, and that would mean paying someone, and we certainly don't want to do that.

It's Columbus Day Weekend, and despite all the rain that we've experienced during this foliage season, there have been tourists here from all over the country - all over the world. As I keep saying, tourism is the #2 industry in New Hampshire.

We welcome visitors to our state with closed rest areas, with banks of smelly porta-potties, and with parks in desperate need of repair.

It's no wonder that visitors to the area left their calling card: cheap beer, fast food packaging, and a pile of human waste. They were simply imitating NH's own values.

Backward Isn't Forward

To contact us Click HERE



Good news. Election Day is fast approaching. No more ads, nomore robocalls or polls, no more emails, and no more debates. The last twoyears of national politics have been unbearable for all who aren’t marching inTea Party lockstep. The last two years of NH politics have been unbearable forthose who love the state and don’t care to see it continue to be the butt ofjokes made by the rest of the world. The opposite of progressive is regressive,and the regressives have had too much control for too long.
Ovide Lamontagne is the regressive running for governor ofour state. Ovide is opposed to abortion in cases of rape and incest. Hesupports the so-called personhood legislation that would make a clump of cellsthe legal equal of an adult woman. He’s also opposed to marriage equality, andwants to repeal Obama’s health care law.  Despite his obvious religious extremism, Ovide manages (withthe help of the complicit media) to be presented as a moderate. All of theextremist legislation we’ve seen enacted during the last 2 years will becompounded with Lamontagne in the corner office. He’s no friend to education orinfrastructure, the two biggest needs in our state.
Just this week, a report shows that NH is home to a hugegender based pay gap. On average, women earn $0.65 for each dollar a man earnsin NH. Ovide said he didn’t think government should micromanage business, bytelling them what to pay people. In other words, Ovide supports the right of employersto pay women less because of their plumbing. At the same time, Ovide doessupport the right of government to micromanage female reproduction. I’ve beenseeing a bumper sticker around that reads, “Got Ovaries? Avoid Ovide.” It’sgood advice for everyone, regardless of their ovarian status.
Frank Guinta is trying for another term in Congress. Frankran in 2010, firmly clasped to the bosom of the Tea Party. In 2012, he’srunning away from that bosom as fast as he can, and attempting to reinventhimself as a moderate. Frank in 2010 campaigned on alleged abuses on the partof Congresswoman Shea-Porter’s use of the Congressional franking system. In2012, we learned that Guinta is one of the top franking abusers in Congress. Heopposed Obama’s stimulus spending, but couldn’t wait to get his paws onstimulus funding as Mayor of Manchester. We’ve all seen the pictures of him atthe infamous ribbon cutting ceremony for the road to the Manchester Airportthat was built with stimulus funds. Above all, we’ve seen no resolution of theinvestigation into the “forgotten” bank account used to bankroll his 2010campaign. No wonder Guinta’s regarded as one of the most corrupt members ofCongress by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Speaking of corrupt - disgraced former Carroll County GOPChair Maynard Thomson is running for the NH House. Thomson resigned from hisposition as County Chair on the day he received a “cease and desist” letterfrom the NH Attorney General’s office. It seems that Thomson (retired attorney turnedromance novelist) was either too inept or too arrogant to properly file theexpenditure forms by the state. Political committees and individual candidatesare required to send in itemized receipt and expenditure forms once they’vetaken in $500 before an election. I suspect Thomson didn’t want anyone to knowwho was bankrolling all those ads that the local GOP ran in the newspaper in2010. In any case, Thomson was either unwilling or unable to fill out theseforms – and it really doesn’t matter which one it was. Either way, his actions shoulddisqualify him from holding higher office.
State Senator Jeb Bradley is running radio ads that urge usto vote for him. In his radio ad, he mentions that he worked to save 5000 jobsat the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. In the interest of honesty and fulldisclosure it’s important to note that he didn’t do that as a state senator.That was done in 2005, when he was in Congress. In the state senate he’s workedagainst the workers at the shipyard, by supporting out of state specialinterest groups trying to turn NH into a right to work state. Apparently evenBradley doesn’t think his record in the NH State Senate is attractive enough towin voters over, so he’s trying to blur the lines between his former role inCongress and his current $100 a year position in the NH legislature.  
Former Rep. Norm Tregenza is worried about perverts. He’sbeen running ads (big expensive ones, who is funding those?) in the ConwayDaily Sun all week, to tell us of his concern about perverts in bathrooms. Why?It’s all he’s got. He certainly can’t run for reelection on his own record, sohe’s attacking fellow floterial district candidate and former Rep. Ed Butlerfor supporting a bill that would have provided some protections fortransgendered persons. One of Tregenza’s ads shows a picture of Norm himself(looking rather Hitler youth-ish) telling us what an upstanding guy he is forwanting to keep perverts out of ladies rooms. The ad in Saturday’s papersuggested that the entire ad (squirrelly photo and all) be taped to the back ofthe ladies room door.  Norm’spicture on the bathroom door? Eeeeuuuww! That’s REALLY perverted.
Women know who the real perverts are. I’ve never spoken to asingle woman who is afraid of encountering a transgendered person in abathroom. The real perverts are the Republicans running for office trying toredefine and normalize rape.  Thereal perverts are the men who want to regulate women’s reproductive organs andmake their most intimate decisions for them. Tregenza is one of those perverts.He’s voted against a women’s right to bodily autonomy and reproductive freedomevery time he had the opportunity.
Norman comes across as a “nice young man.” As such, peopletend to overlook the fact that he doesn’t appear to have ever had a full timejob, never mind a career. He’s a member of the red baiting, racist,anti-Semitic John Birch Society, and was a supporter ofracist/homophobe/misogynist candidate Ron Paul. He’s being presented as asterling character – so please be sure to ask him exactly when he moved out ofhis district, and why it took him so long to resign his seat after moving.  
As for the three Constitutional Amendment questions, my ruleof thumb in these matters is simple: always vote no. The first one is a poorlywritten mess that will lead to years of expensive court challenges andadversely affect NH’s bond rating. The second attempts to let the legislaturerun our judicial system. It’s an invitation to all manner of legal challenges.Think about the legislature we’ve had for the last 2 years and vote no. Thelast question calls for a convention to amend or revise our state constitution.This is an unnecessary action that would cost NH taxpayers millions of dollars.
New Hampshire can’t go forward by moving backward.


Voting records for incumbents: http://www.granitestateprogress.org

© 2012 sbruce  
Published as an op-ed in the October 26 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper. 

It's a Fine Line

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Any business putting up political signs is walking a fine line. During this past election, a chain restaurant that is new to the area put up nearly every GOP sign that was available. They hedged their bets before the primary, with signs for both Ovide and Kevin Smith. 
Those signs sent me a message, loud and clear. The signs told me that the owners shared the views of Smith and Lamontagne, notably the desire to regulate female reproduction. Those signs were themselves a sign. A sign that I would not spend a dime of my low income in their restaurant. 
Leavitt's Bakery allows any candidate to put up their signs. That's smart. 
These signs, put out by a local business were not smart:


( Photos courtesy of Gary Montford, and used by permission) 
The decorative details on Obama's collar points are little hammer and sickles. 
Then there was this banner, on the front of a shed that was not readily visible from the road:

(photo by susanthe)

What business was making these rather inflammatory statements? Our local Kawasaki dealership in Albany: 





(photos by Gary Montford, used with permission)
A complaint was made to the Kawasaki home office about the banners (not by me!) and they were subsequently removed. The Lewinsky banner on the shed was the only one that stayed, as you can see:

(susanthe photo) 
The Obama banners were certainly obnoxious, dishonest, and not without a tinge of racism. 
The "Lewinsky" banner is equally offensive. Women are the fastest growing segment of the motorcycle buying population. Monica Lewinsky was a young woman who made a number of really poor decisions. Those decisions were broadcast all over the world. She became the butt of jokes made by every comedian. Monica Lewinsky got a public shaming on an unprecedented level. 
Dredging that up, and mocking this woman AGAIN, to make some kind of coarse sexual/political joke sends a strong message to women, though not perhaps the message the owners intend. Something along the lines of: "Hey women, we don't want your business."