"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid." - Ronald Reagan
Thursday
PBSC YAF Thanks Congress for Passing The SOAR Act
In the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, children suffer in a public education system rife with violence and ranked among the worst in the nation. Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives took action to give those students some hope when it voted to reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (D.C. OSP), which provides scholarships to low-income children, allowing them to attend their school of choice. It was one of the most consequential education votes that Congress will make this year. The program empowers parents, and it rejects the notion that a child should be relegated to a failing public school because they were born in the wrong zip code. Yet, remarkably, the program faces opposition from President Barack Obama and Democrats in the U.S. Senate.
The D.C. OSP was first launched in 2004, and since that time more than 3,300 children have had the chance to escape the underperforming and unsafe D.C. public schools. The statistics are jarring. As The Heritage Foundation’s Lindsey Burke notes, the D.C. public school system ranks 51st in the nation.
The president and Members of Congress who oppose the D.C. OSP are committing another offense against D.C. parents, as well – depriving them of the very choices they enjoy. Nearly 40 percent of the Members of the 111th Congress sent a child to private school. As a child, President Obama was a scholarship recipient, affording him the opportunity to attend the prestigious Punahou School in Hawaii. On top of this, his daughters attend the upscale Sidwell Friends School in D.C. As Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) said in a floor speech prior to yesterday’s vote:
I went to the public schools in South Carolina. My wife teaches in the public schools in South Carolina. And my son will graduate from the public schools in South Carolina. But I will miss his graduation like many of you have missed things in your lives because we will be in session. What I will not miss is the opportunity to throw a lifeline to kids who were born through the vicissitudes of life into poverty. We will give them the same choices and chances that we have.
President Obama and Congress have an opportunity to throw that lifeline. If they truly want to empower parents, improve education and help students succeed, supporting the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program would be a good place to start.
Read more at The Foundry.
Wednesday
Quote of The Day
"Over the course of our deliberations, the urgency of our mission has become all the more apparent. The contagion of debt that began in Greece and continues to sweep through Europe shows us clearly that no economy will be immune. If the U.S. does not put its house in order, the reckoning will be sure and the devastation severe.
After all the talk about debt and deficits, it is long past time for America’s leaders to put up or shut up. The era of debt denial is over, and there can be no turning back."
After all the talk about debt and deficits, it is long past time for America’s leaders to put up or shut up. The era of debt denial is over, and there can be no turning back."
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
(Debt Commission appointed by President Obama) The Moment of Truth: Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, Preamble
December 1, 2010
(Debt Commission appointed by President Obama) The Moment of Truth: Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, Preamble
December 1, 2010
Submit Your Applications to Intern at FIRE by Tomorrow Night!
click here for details!
FIRE provided the experience of unhindered political and philosophical debate on a broad array of topics among individuals with diverse opinions and ideologies. This became a uniquely inspirational environment as the open discussions pushed me to reevaluate my opinions in order to thoroughly explain and, at times, defend or even recant them. The FIRE internship program is truly an object lesson on the value of our first amendment rights.
- Christa Brashier, 2010 Intern, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
A short time at FIRE is enough to convince virtually anyone that our First Amendment rights are, both legally and philosophically, an indispensable component of American society. Working environments such as the one at FIRE are rare gems which stimulate intellectual development and model the kind of free-thinking milieu they hope to restore throughout academe.
- Brian Mink, 2008 Intern, University of Georgia
Is Capitalism Evil?
Michael Moore and other grumpy billionaire elitists in Hollywood would like you to believe that Capitalism is evil (even though they are currently making gobs of profit from capitalism). Let's take a look and see if they're onto something:
Florida Has a Right to Know
Under the category of “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott can file some news accounts of his recent unveiling of the transparency web site, www.FloridaHasARighttoKnow.com.
The site includes salary information about many key state employees – including those on the Governor’s staff – as well as records from the Florida Retirement System listing every government pensioner receiving at least $100,000 a year.
Read more at Big Government's Pork Report.
Take a look at the new Florida government transparency website.
"As taxpayers, you have the right to know how every taxpayer dollar is spent," Scott wrote in a statement on the site. "We will be better if you hold us accountable."
Scott's document of six-figure pensions lists 542 retirees with annual benefits totaling more than $64 million.
Bill Mattox, a fellow at the conservative-leaning James Madison Institute who has studied proactive disclosure practices among Florida governments, said listing the largest state salaries or most expensive pension benefits can give taxpayers a sense if something is wrong.
"Comprehensive information is useful and important, but at the same time, selected information can be useful," Mattox said.
Scott's selected list enraged some Floridians on Thursday after it was published.
"This is outrageous," said William Cummins, a retired lawyer in Pensacola who called the Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau. "State employees probably ought to be paying into their pensions."
Eric Jotkoff, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party, said the site was aimed at "demonizing the hard-working teachers, firefighters and police officers who serve in our communities."
Read more at St. Pete Times
PBSC YAF wants to know how transparency is demonizing? Aren't they our tax dollars?
Thanks, Governor Scott. Maybe Mr. President should follow your lead with the whole transparency thing being as that it was one of his major campaign promises.
Tuesday
'Young Americans' given free speech 5 days per month
 |
| PBSC YAF tabling during one of their 5 days per month |
That's the result for the Palm Beach State chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom, who were granted a temporary injunction in their confrontation with the school over their rights to talk to others and recruit.
According to the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the students, the school has agreed to a court injunction that will allow two students to "disseminate leaflets and/or converse with the general public."
The injunction allows the group to give out literature four or five days each month while the full lawsuit is litigated. The injunction agreement also requires theschoolto do a full campus club policy review.
The YAF chapter filed the suit in November in response to a decision by campus authorities to escort two YAF members off campus for giving out a Heritage Foundation policy paper analyzing the impact of Barack Obama's stimulus bills.
The students said the school gave them permission to hand out the policy papers.
ADF attorney Casey Mattox is representing the YAF chapter and said the organization wants student groups to have their First Amendment rights.
"What YAF is pushing for is the ability to protect the First Amendment rights of not only the YAF, but for every student group whether they're on the conservative side or any other side. YAF is trying to protect the First Amendment rights of all students," Mattox said.
Mattox says there is a higher objective.
"The ultimate goal here is that the First Amendment will be respected at Palm Beach State. The First Amendment knows no ideology and so YAF certainly wants to make sure that not only YAF but groups that they disagree with are able to engage in debate on campus," Mattox said.
Mattox described Palm Beach State's policies as one of the most restrictive in the country.
"Palm Beach State has perhaps some of the worst speech policies of just about anyschoolin the country," Mattox said.
Mattox uses the school's rules regarding club activities as the example.
"Palm Beach State completely prohibits students from distributing any literature of any kind on campus. We have an injunction here now that requires them to at least allow YAF to distribute literature at few days a month," Mattox explained.
He said the regulations even attempt the difficult task of controlling a student organization's off-campus activities.
"It would certainly be difficult, but in fact the way the policy reads, it would seem to actually regulate them even if they were getting together as a student group at a social event to have pizza," Mattox said.
"They require them, any time that students are meeting, or any event that is off campus, they require them to get permission, at least a week or two weeks in advance of the scheduled activity," Mattox said.
The policy even includes a club's recreational activities.
"If you are going bowling with a group of students, if the YAF group was going bowling, they would have to get permission a couple of weeks in advance from the administration to do that," Mattox said.
Palm Beach State College spokeswoman Grace Truman says the college is not responding to questions because the litigation is still ongoing.
But Mattox also said the school has had some noticeable lapses in enforcing its policy.
"They're not even following their own policy at Palm Beach State. Their own policies say that if you want to distribute literature on campus, you have to request permission 48 hours in advance and they have the authority to permit you or not permit you to distribute literature, which is a problem on its own right,"
He said in practice, when the students went in to say they wanted to distribute literature, the administration responded, "Well we just don't allow that at all."
"At the same time … I know there was a blood drive on campus, and they were distributing literature to promote the blood drive. So certainly the school looks the other way to certain groups, but they would not look the other way when it came to YAF," Mattox said.
"For some they have permitted literature distribution and the university was well aware of it. But for YAF they were not willing to change and they strictly adhered to their 'No literature on campus' policy," Mattox said.
Now that an injunction is being implemented, and the school has promised a policy review, Mattox said the next step would be to expand the application of the First Amendment.
"We're waiting to find out if they're really going to come up with policies by the first of March that will in fact respect the First Amendment rights of all students on campus," he said.
"I'm certainly hopeful. This is a situation where the university's policies are so egregiously bad that you hope they immediately recognize the need to fix them. But we'll see. If they don't we'll certainly continue to litigate and make sure we ask the court to do what it has to do to protect the First Amendment right of the students," Mattox said.
WND reported earlier when Student Activities Administrator Olivia Ford-Morris "was visibly disturbed" by literature being distributed by YAF.
Read more:'Young Americans' given free speech 5 days/monthhttp://www.wnd.com/?pageId=253413#ixzz1Hxd9S3DM
Jihadis who fought U.S. in Iraq, Afghanistan now enjoy American support in Libya
Britain's Daily Telegraph reports that Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, a leader of U.S.-supported rebel forces in the fighting around Adjabiya, went to Afghanistan in 2002 to fight against the "foreign invasion" -- that is, U.S. troops who invaded Afghanistan in retaliation for the September 11 attacks. The Telegraph says al-Hasidi told an Italian newspaper, Il Sole 24 Ore, that he was captured in 2002 in Peshawar, Pakistan. "He was later handed over to the U.S., and then held in Libya before being released in 2008," the Telegraph reports. Al-Hasidi also told the Italian paper he recruited about 25 Libyan men to fight against U.S. forces in Iraq.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/03/jihadis-who-fought-us-iraq-afghanistan-now-enjoy-american-support#ixzz1HxYICJV6
Al-Hasidi's story is consistent with evidence presented in a 2007 report published by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point. That report, by professors Joseph Felter and Brian Fishman, examined records of an al Qaeda-affiliated organization found after an October 2007 raid near Sinjar, Iraq. The records contained biographical information about nearly 700 foreign terrorists who came to Iraq to fight against the United States between August 2006 and August 2007.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/03/jihadis-who-fought-us-iraq-afghanistan-now-enjoy-american-support#ixzz1HxYICJV6
Monday
The Danger to America is Not Barack Obama
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president."
- Prague newspaper Prager Zeitungon, Czech Republic
- Prague newspaper Prager Zeitungon, Czech Republic
Thursday
The Most Insidious Budget Problem: The National Debt - WSJ.com
There is a cancer eating away at the budget from within, one that steadily drains American wealth, sends much of it overseas and only gets worse over time. It is the interest America pays on its national debt.This year the U.S. will spend more than $200 billion—roughly the gross domestic product of Chile—merely paying off that interest. That's nearly as much as it will spend to provide health care to poor citizens through the Medicaid program.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)