July 23-25, 2013
Jul 23 02:24 Duncan's Dayton campaign contribution Jul 24 05:31 The cost of voting DFL Jul 25 01:59 President Pivot Jul 25 06:10 Why transcript fraud matters Jul 25 13:32 Greta, Gowdy, take administration to political woodshed Jul 25 15:10 Brod family issues statement
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Duncan's Dayton campaign contribution
Arne Duncan's op-ed is nothing more than Arne Duncan's campaign contribution to Gov. Dayton's campaign. While Duncan's op-ed isn't the total propaganda that Karen Cyson's monthly column was, (see this post for more on that fiasco) Duncan's op-ed attempts to bypass the thing that's got suburban moms hopping mad. Here's part of Duncan's op-ed:
President Obama has put forward a plan to make high-quality preschool affordable for all children, a vital step in putting young people on a path to a thriving middle class. As I saw firsthand in a pair of visits in the Minneapolis area on Tuesday, that effort builds on the work of states like Minnesota.
The day began at Pond Early Childhood Family Center in Bloomington, where I sat with students who sang a song, recited the alphabet and discussed some of their favorite words. The visit was an inspiring example of great educators helping kids get ready for kindergarten in a setting of joy and support.
Later Tuesday, Gov. Mark Dayton, Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, and other leaders from business, the military, government and the clergy, joined a town-hall discussion at Kennedy Senior High School. At that town hall, parents, teachers, education leaders and others from throughout the state made clear that they have seen the power of early learning, and that they know we must reach many more children.
That sounds upbeat, positive. Unfortunately, everything that's supposedly gained through early learning is lost thanks to the education establishment. This post highlights how much the education establishment fights against putting high quality teachers in classrooms:
Despite the pleas of numerous education advocates, school leaders, a state senator and even a fired-up grandmother, the Minnesota Board of Teaching voted 9-2 Friday to end a licensing arrangement that has made it easier for Twin Cities schools to hire Teach for America (TFA) corps members.
Unsatisfied that the group's recruits meet its standards despite evidence presented by TFA and its supporters, the board decided it would prefer to screen each individual potential teacher, a process that will take six to eight weeks.
The Minnesota Board of Teaching is a farce. They don't care about teaching credentials. If they did, they would've spoken out about all the teachers that got waivers after they didn't pass the Basic Skills Test that the legislature started requiring in 2011. Gov. Dayton signed that into law, just like he signed the law's repeal this year.
Literally hundreds of teachers statewide got waivers after they failed the test.
This is what's wrong with the process:
The state's largest teachers' union, Education Minnesota, has campaigned against TFA's expansion in the state, last month organizing letters and phone calls successfully calling on Dayton to veto a $1.5 million appropriation that would have helped the program meet demand.
Five of the board members, all Dayton appointees, have union leadership positions. Two represent traditional teacher preparation programs, whose association also has lobbied against TFA.
Secretary Duncan, how can Minnesota be a visionary when the DFL's political allies stand in the way of putting high quality teachers in each classroom? There's no questioning the statement that great educational outcomes require great teachers in each classroom across Minnesota. Right now, Education Minnesota and the Minnesota Board of Teaching are fighting against a law that's been successful in other states.
How dare these fossils of the education establishment stand in the way of putting great teacher into Minnesota's classrooms. A look at Education Minnesota's website shows what their priorities are. Nowhere on their website does it talk about students or educational outcomes. There are links where it talks about candidate training for the legislature, though.
Education Minnesota's leadership is about representing union members. They aren't interested in improving teacher quality or educational outcomes. Their website says that with their silence.
Tags: Education Minnesota , Minnesota Board of Teaching , U.S. Department of Education , Arne Duncan , Mark Dayton , Special Interests , Candidate Training , DFL , Teach for America , Alternative Teacher Licensure , Students , MNGOP
Posted Tuesday, July 23, 2013 2:24 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 24-Jul-13 08:03 AM
It is very reassuring to know LFR is against propaganda.
The cost of voting DFL
This op-ed starts with a hypothetical situation:
[W]hat would happen if two trillion cubic feet of natural gas were found under Eveleth this afternoon?
Next, Terry Stone speculates about the DFL's reaction to this discovery:
Well, you can bet that the environmentalists would protest the press conference. Then they will claim that gas production, fracking, fracking sand production and pipeline construction cause haze over Voyageurs National Park. Friends of BWCA will claim that fracking water disposal will contaminate the pristine waters of the BWCA, even though it is on the other side of the continental divide. They will claim that the lights atop the drilling rigs will be seen all over the BWCA.
Labor unions will protest because the storage facilities are being built by the lowest bidder; a non-union shop from Georgia. (Congressman) Rick Nolan will claim that he wants the jobs of gas production but he can't support the present plan because it doesn't assure zero impact on ground water. (U.S. Sens.) Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar will introduce a bill to protect land owners from getting rich. (Minnesota Sen.) Tom Bakk will introduce a bill to place a tax on gas production in Minnesota and place it under the Taconite Taxing District of the IRRRB.
The Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club and the Minnesota Environmental Partnership will sue to stop any gas production. They will claim that the production area is inside the buffer zone of their newly proposed International Heart of the Continent Biosphere Reserve that includes Quetico, Superior National Forest, Voyageurs and the BWCA.
The state legislature will revisit the narrowly dodged moratorium on fracking sand operations in Minnesota. The environmental front group, Save our 10,000 Lakes will hold protests at the capital during the special session to evaluate the impact of a population boom on the Iron Range. They will claim that fracking pollutes well water and that fracking chemicals cause genetic mutations and cancer.
While this is technically speculation, it's informed speculation because it's the DFL's reaction to the PolyMet and Twin Metals mining projects last summer. The only difference between this speculative solution and last summer's reaction is that last year's response was led by Alida Messinger and Conservation Minnesota.
Either way, the DFL's response is predictable and disastrous to Minnesota families. Stone's op-ed then finishes with the economic reality of the DFL's policies:
Under the sway of DFL liberal politics, Minnesota is screwed. Whether it's pulpwood in endless supply, copper in world-class deposits, the world's largest volume of liquid fresh water, 17,000 lakes or fracking sand in nearly unlimited quantities, Minnesota will find a way to screw the golden goose before it even hatches.
Average household income of GOP Chisago County: $67,075. Average household income of DFL International Falls: $30,094. The annual cost to your family of voting DFL: $36,981.
The median household income in Minnesota is just a bit under $60,000, meaning International Falls' median household income is approximately half of the statewide average. That's because the DFL's anti-job growth policies stifle economic development.
The DFL has tried to put the Iron Range (mining and logging), Ely (precious metals mining) and Southeastern Minnesota (silica sand mining) off-limits. The effect of the DFL's policies is exposed by the income disparity between International Falls and the statewide average.
This will forever be the case because environmentalists write the DFL's economic development policies. That's why families in International Falls and the Iron Range consistently get the shaft without getting the mining jobs they need to prosper.
Follow this link for more on the income disparity.
Tags: International Falls , Median Household Income , Iron Range , Precious Metals Mining , Logging , Ely , Economic Development , Environmentalists , Alida Messinger , Mark Dayton , Tom Bakk , DFL
Posted Wednesday, July 24, 2013 5:31 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 28-Jul-13 09:55 AM
Gary, you can say all you want about voting DFL, but the problem is that there is only one alternative, in tatters and disarray in Minnesota now because the party's Daddy Warbucks types don't party with tea. The problem is less the DFL, less the GOP, and much more the two party system's stranglehold on the press and politics.
Two party poison, where Liberty, Tea, and Rockefeller Republicans face a range of Wellstone and Max Baucus Dems, and it all is one big club where neither you nor I belong. George Carlin had that one nailed down right and tight.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 28-Jul-13 10:18 AM
That's BS, Eric. The DFL's environmentalist wing has spent the past 20 years ruining Minnesota's economy.
They've prevented the start of the PolyMet and Twin Metals project that would create over 1,000 high-paying mining jobs on the Range.
Lately, these organizations tried imposing a moratorium on sillica sand mining, another major project that would create hundreds of high-paying jobs.
How dare the DFL special interests from the Twin Cities tell Iron Rangers that they don't have the right to make an honest living.
President Pivot
When MSNBC's Chuck Todd mocked President Obama for his latest pivot to jobs, the Washington Post's Greg Sargent took umbrage via Twitter:
Genuinely sad to see supposedly neutral news orgs mocking the idea of a "pivot" to jobs.
First, was MSNBC ever a "neutral news org?" Apparently, it is in Greg Sargent's opinion. That should tell us everything we need to know about Sargent's opinions. Thankfully, others pounced on Sargent's tweets. Here's one from DCDude1776:
LOL! You haven't noticed the pattern? Poll #s sink - > pivots to economy E-V-E-R-Y T-I-M-E
Here's something more from Richard Grenell:
It's just that he's pivoted all the way around
Is it just me or does it seem like President Obama has pivoted to jobs more often Anthony Weiner holds press conferences admitting he's been sexting again? The thing about pivoting is that it causes people to go in circles, which is what the economy is doing. Growing at 1% (roughly) per year isn't how to build the middle class.
Let's focus on some economic realities. First, it's impossible to strengthen the middle class when we're turning into a part-time nation. Last month's job report said businesses created 195,000 job. Then it said that 240,000 full-time jobs were lost and that 360,000 part-time jobs were created.
Economists attributed this to President Obama's ACA. Employers aren't hiring full-time workers because of the PPACA. Increasingly, they're hiring part-time employees instead. If the PPACA continues to be the law of the land, we'll continue to turn into a part-time nation.
President Obama can't point to an impressive growth spurt on his watch. That's because his economic plan isn't geared toward growth. It's geared towards creating a European stagnation economy.
In the 1992 debates, Bill Clinton said, rightly, that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. With a stagnant economy, lackluster job growth and an obvious culprit to blame for all this, you'd think President Obama would quit insisting that his plan is working. Unfortunately, he's so arrogant that he won't accept reality.
The nation is a mess. His policies have failed repeatedly. Part-time employment is increasing. Full-time employment is either shrinking or stagnating. That isn't the recipe for success. It's the pathway to failure. For altogether too many Americans, Obamanomics has led to chronic failure.
I'll summarize things by citing Sen. Ted Cruz's tweet comparing Reaganomics with Obamanomics:
Reaganomics: Start a business in your parents' garage.
Obamanomics: Move into your parents' garage.
Republicans, it's time to tell this president that his economic policies are a total disaster and that it's time to start with new, pro-growth policies before it's too late.
Tags: Barack Obama , Great Stagnation , Great Recession , Democrats , Chuck Todd , MSNBC , Greg Sargent , Washington Post , Media Bias , Twittersphere , Ted Cruz , Reaganomics , Jobs , Capitalism , Conservatism
Posted Thursday, July 25, 2013 1:59 AM
No comments.
Why transcript fraud matters
President Potter and his administration have tried ignoring the transcript fiasco because they can't justify their actions. That's because the potential ramifications are significant. Let's look at some of those potential ramifications:
- admission to major; some degree programs like the aviation major require a 2.5 GPA, Social Work requires a 2.6
- transferring to other universities with specific GPA requirements
- getting accepted into law or medical school
- keeping a student on good academic standing (typically a 2.0 "C" average) to qualify for financial aid.
- Getting scholarships, which typically requires higher GPA's
- Students who get a grade removed might get a refund
- Allowing a student to take the same class a 3rd time without instructor permission because their 2nd F was scrubbed from the transcript (SCSU Chemistry problem)
Before getting into these potential benefits, let's remember that the transcript fiasco isn't just about changing Fs to Ws (Ws are the code for Withdrawals). In numerous instances, it's been verified that a student's participation in a class just disappeared from the student's transcript.
This has happened frequently enough to the point that professors have started calling these disappearing grades "poofs". HINT: When something happens often enough to get a nickname, it's happening too frequently. But I digress.
President Potter hasn't talked about whether the poofs have helped students get into majors that require higher GPAs. It isn't a stretch, though, to think that an administration that's deleting a student's participation in a class from their transcripts would think about deleting grades to help a student get into a major.
Another specific question that President Potter hasn't addressed is whether students have benefited from a poof in getting a scholarship. That's a big question, especially if a poof student got a scholarship over a student who worked hard and got better grades without getting 'administrative assistance.'
Does President Potter think it's ok for students to get poofed, then get accepted into law school or medical school? I'm not saying that's happening. I'm simply saying that it's a possibility.
There's another possibility I didn't list earlier. How would employers feel if they hired a student straight out of college who had benefited from a poof? Would they be angry that the university had given that employer an inaccurate picture of a student's academic accomplishments?
Here's what Adam Hammer, Director of Media Relations and Publications for SCSU, said about the transcript fiasco:
In addressing this concern at a meet and confirm meeting conducted amongst university professors and administration, Hammer said the cause for concern primarily dealt with late drops and withdrawals.
Here's what Devinder Maholtra said in a memo in January:
Recently, questions about student registration and transcript changes, specifically late withdrawals and drops, at St. Cloud State University have been reported in a few media outlets.
Notice the slight change in wording? Hammer said the cause for concern "primarily dealt with late drops and withdrawals." Maholtra's statement said that questions about transcript changes dealt with "specifically late drops and withdrawals." Maholtra's statement could've swapped out the word specifically and swapped in the word exclusively without changing the meaning of the sentence. If you swapped out the word primarily from Hammer's statement and replaced it with exclusively, the meaning of the sentence would change significantly.
The specific question I'd direct to Mr. Hammer is simple: What other transcript changes were made besides late withdrawals and drops? Is Mr. Hammer not talking about the poofs? Is that intentional? That's a distinct possibility, isn't it?
Tags: Grade Inflation , St. Cloud State , Adam Hammer , Devinder Maholtra , Investigation , Earl Potter , Corruption , Faculty Association , Scholarships , Medical School , Law School
Posted Thursday, July 25, 2013 6:10 AM
Comment 1 by Speed Gibson at 26-Jul-13 01:17 PM
I wish I could say I'm surprised. I'm sure this happens far more than we know, almost always a quid pro quo for a sizable "honorarium" from a grateful parent.
But this is something that should worry the liberals far more than conservatives, because they heavily invested in the Certification Myth. If diplomas are devalued any further, what will they do then to avoid results and accountability?
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 26-Jul-13 01:28 PM
Rex, You're right with your question. Here's the thing, though: at some point, industries will start their own in-house training sites, then offer the certification as a way to guarantee a quality workforce.
See you tonight.
Greta, Gowdy, take administration to political woodshed
First, watch this video of Greta's interview of Rep. Trey Gowdy, (R-SC) on the administration's spin about "phony scandals":
Things get especially heated late in the interview. Here's a partial transcript based on that exchange:
GRETA: I'd like to have the President sit down, and Jay Carney sit down with some of these Americans. I've met some of them and say that some of their concerns, whether it's an IRS concern or a border agent family, that their concerns are phony. That's what I'd like. I'd like the President to have the guts to look some of these people in the face who really believe in what they're doing, whatever they're pursuing and tell them that their concerns are phony.
REP. GOWDY: Well, I'll just say this, Greta. You were in the criminal justice system. I was too. If you want to sit down with Brian Terry's mother and look her in the eyes and tell her that scandal was phony, Fast and Furious. Or how about the innocent Mexicans -- we don't know their names, but there's at least 200 who've been killed because of guns we sent into Mexico and tell them that's a phony scandal. Or 4 murdered Americans who went because we sent them to represent us in a foreign land. And the world is set on fire and they're murdered in Libya and go call that phony. I dare him to look Ty Woods' father in the face and tell him it's a phony scandal.
When I watched that interview and connected those disgusting events with Jay Carney's comments about phony scandals, my fists were clenched with outrage. How dare that punk talk so blithely about events that left people needlessly dead. From this point forward, it'll be impossible for me to think of Mr. Carney as anything but a subhuman ball of slime.
It's one thing to engage in spin. It's another to treat as utterly insignificant the political abuse that the IRS engaged in against TEA Party activists. Ditto with treating Benghazi as insignificant when 4 American patriots died needlessly because this administration put a higher priority on a campaign narrative than on protecting American patriots serving in a terrorist-infested fledgling nation.
President Obama doesn't have the testicular fortitude to use that line in front of the families of those killed in Benghazi. In many ways, he hasn't progressed beyond the mentality of a Chicago street punk. He's a heartless SOB, too, because he's talking disrespectfully about fallen American patriots.
What's worst is that he's done a full 180 degree pivot on the IRS. When the storyline was about rogue agents in Cincinnati, President Obama was fired up, at least in public. Now that the storyline included a political appointee/political fixer in the IRS Chief Counsel's office, the IRS is a "distraction", a "phony scandal."
Carney should be scorned mercilessly. He can't think that the IRS being used as a political weapon against President Obama's enemies is acceptable. He's a former stenographer, aka journalist, so he can't think that the DOJ digging into James Rosen's personal emails is acceptable.
These aren't phony scandals. They're the real thing. That this administration is now attempting to downplay them this way is disrespectful. Thankfully, Greta and Rep. Gowdy took this admninistration to the woodshed last night.
Tags: President Obama , Jay Carney , Phony Scandals , Scandals , IRS , Operation Fast and Furious , James Rosen , Brian Terry , Christopher Stevens , Ty Woods , IRS Targeting , TEA Party , Activists , Greta van Susteren , Trey Gowdy
Posted Thursday, July 25, 2013 1:32 PM
No comments.
Brod family issues statement
This afternoon, I was contacted by former Rep. Laura Brod. She and her husband issued this statement, which I'm publishing in its entirety:
A message from Wade and Laura BrodThe letter speaks for itself. That's why I won't add further commentary to it other than to say I wish the Brod family the best during this obviously painful time.
This is the last kind of message we ever thought we would have to write. Or ever wanted to write. Here goes:
Those who know us understand that we have had a difficult marriage for quite a number of years. And while we love each other as friends, and respect each other as parents, we have effectively led separate lives, have been separated and are presently going through a very amicable divorce. We felt no need to publicize or communicate this private matter.
Like many married couples, we have both made mistakes along the way, and wish we had some do-overs. Still, no matter how difficult our marriage may have been at times, our Number One focus has always been to do everything we could to jointly raise our children in a positive and loving environment. We have awesome kids.
The Brod Family loves each other and we stand united against anyone who would seek to do us harm. Specifically, someone has posted a photo - which was illegally disseminated - on the Internet for the sole purpose of embarrassing our family and damaging our reputations. We cannot begin to explain why someone would be so mean, and so hateful. Nor can we overstate the humiliation they have caused.
As embarrassing as this entire incident is, we know the larger nightmare of harassment, cyber-stalking and privacy invasion is not unique to us, and we plan to fight back with everything we have. This matter has been referred to the FBI and we are pursuing all legal means possible to prosecute whoever is responsible for the illegal dissemination of this material.
While we understand the desire by some to turn a difficult family situation into a public controversy, we hope you will respect our family's privacy during this challenging time as we seek to ensure the safety and security of our family.
We will have no further comment on this matter.
Sincerely,
Wade and Laura Brod
Posted Thursday, July 25, 2013 3:11 PM
Comment 1 by eric z at 28-Jul-13 09:34 AM
Come on Gary. You, like Regent Brod, are ducking the true issue of the photo. The insight it teaches is not that it was posted rightly or wrongly but that all the family value crap out of Brod over the years that the photo contradicts, whatever the circumstances of its being taken and then posted, shows a hypocrite's hypocrisy. City Pages was right to run with the story. Koch and Brodkorb got crucified by the ambitious foursome and their press conference, and Brod should skate? That smacks of someone's having a double standard.
Comment 2 by eric z at 28-Jul-13 09:47 AM
A far bigger issue, parking ex-legislators on the Board of Regents, the Airport Commission, etc., is offensive, independent of which party it is taking care of its own and doling out spoils. She's not the best fit for the Board or Regents, published photo or not. There are better minds available, and it was "politician parking" with her AND Sviggum, your guys guilty of it, this instance.
Comment 3 by Gary Gross at 28-Jul-13 10:12 AM
That's BS because it's likely that City Pages broke the law in publishing the photo.
