A school superintendent in Rhode Island is trying to fix an abysmally bad school system.
Her plan calls for teachers at a local high school to work 25 minutes longer per day, each lunch with students once in a while, and help with tutoring. The teachers’ union has refused to accept these apparently onerous demands.

The teachers at the high school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of $22,000. This exemplifies a nationwide trend in which public sector workers make far more than their private-sector counterparts (with better benefits).

The school superintendent has responded to the union’s stubbornness by firing every teacher and administrator at the school.

I applaud this superintendent. This is exactly what needs to happen with these public sector unions. The administrators need to break their backs. Its clear from the details of this story that these so-called teachers have no interest in actually doing what the taxpayers pay them to do: teach the students. So they were shown the door. Bravo!

I hope this is the beginning of a trend. The American people need to stand by the folks brave enough to take on the unions.

It’s time to go to the mattresses!

cross posted to The Ritz Report

From the Wall Street Journal:

This weekend, Americans were treated to something new: Barack Obama defending his war policies by suggesting they merely continue his predecessor’s practices. The defense is illuminating, not least for its implicit recognition that George W. Bush has more credibility on fighting terrorists than does the sitting president.

Mr. Obama’s explanation came in an interview with Katie Couric just before the Super Bowl. Ms. Couric asked about trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York. After listing some of the difficulties, the president offered a startling defense for civilian trials:

“I think that the most important thing for the public to understand,” he told Ms. Couric, “is we’re not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11.” Mr. Obama went on to add that “190 folks”—folks presumably just like the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks—had been tried and convicted in civilian court during Mr. Bush’s tenure.

Leave aside, for just a moment, the substance. Far more arresting is that Mr. Obama now defends himself by invoking a man he has spent the past year blaming for al Qaeda’s growth. You know—all those Niebuhrian speeches about how America had gone “off course,” “shown arrogance and been dismissive,” and “made decisions based on fear rather than foresight,” thus handing al Qaeda a valuable recruiting tool.

Ill be the first to admit that Bush was far from perfect but he did do a number of things for which I am thankful.

1. He kept the country safe after 9/11 by showing the world that an attack on the US would not go unanswered
2. He implemented tax cuts to get the economy going after the attacks (he should have held the line on spending)
3. He understood and appreciated the concept of American exceptional-ism

In contrast to what we have leading the country today, this is a refreshing list.

cross posted to The Ritz Report

Well, excuse the American people Mr. Pfeiffer, but with the track record that President Obama has regarding people he nominates, i.e Van Jones, Erroll Southers, Kevin Jennings, I think that the Senate has a right, nay, they absolutely should stop all confirmations of anyone recommended by this President so that they can be fully vetted. The President has proven that he does not possess, how shall we say, good judgment regarding his associates. But lets not get sidetracked.

The Filibuster does exactly what the founders intended it to do. Slow down the legislative process. The founding fathers didn’t like or trust government and didn’t want government to have the ability to pass new laws concerning policy too quickly. The Senate was designed to slow the legislative process and be counter majoritarian.

While the House of Representatives reflects the whims of the majority and acts as the repository for the passions of the people (i.e. a 90% tax on bonuses), the Senate was designed to cool those passions and not let the majority run roughshod over the minority. This is why there must be a super majority to invoke cloture and end debate.

One would think that anyone working in the White House would have an appreciation for this facet of our democracy. But, one would also assume that an American president would NOT have a self proclaimed 9-11 truther and admitted communist working in the White House, but we did. Ah, Hope and Change.

The Filibuster is an important facet of Americas legislative framework. To abandon it would be to turn our backs on what the founders created.

cross posted to The Ritz Report

Ill be picking up a copy of their album, The Foundation, to show my support for their open display of love and support of the USA.

God Bless America

crossposted to The Ritz Report

Last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that the Democrats were going to “pole vault and/or parachute in” to get their version of health care reform done. Today, the politico is reporting that “Reform is dead.”

I talked to Lawrence O’Donnell, who argued that reform is dead even though Democrats won’t admit it.

The former Democratic Hill staffer turned MSNBC talker sounded off on the Democratic leadership, the process, and the spin. Here’s the expanded write up of the interview:

Lawrence O’Donnell, the Democratic Senate Finance Committee staff director during the ’93-’94 health care debate, said we’re now witnessing reform’s death throes – and Democrats know it. The party will not be able to pass another reform bill through the Senate, period.

“Pelosi said that, ‘We don’t have the votes for passing the Senate bill’ and that should have just ended it. Any discussion of another scenario is juvenile,” he said. “It’s ridiculous.”

Democrats knew they lost reform with the Massachusetts election and some of them like Rep. Barney Frank essentially said so. “The first reaction to the Massachusetts election was the honest reaction,” O’Donnell said. Frank later walked back his comments.

But since Election Night, he said, Democrats have moved into “full bluff mode.”

“We’re absolutely in full fake cheerleading mode. I think Nancy Pelosi has absolutely no moves left. I think she knows that now. I think Harry Reid knows that. And that’s why they don’t bring it up,” he said. “They had a Senate leadership press conference (Thursday) and it was as if (reporters) were asking about World War I” when they asked about reform.

I don’t know what to think of this. I do hope that Larry O’Donnell is correct in his assessment of the health care legislation. If he is correct, lets hope that the left comes clean soon so American business can move at least one concern off of their plate as they try to plan and navigate the future with a hostile business environment in Washington DC.

The Ritz Report

In the January 31st edition of the New York Times, author William Yardley wrote:

As part of a $133 million renovation, the General Services Administration is planning to cultivate “vegetated fins” that will grow more than 200 feet high on the western facade of the main federal building here, a vertical garden that changes with the seasons and nurtures plants that yield energy savings.

“They will bloom in the spring and summer when you want the shade, and then they will go away in the winter when you want to let the light in,” said Bob Peck, commissioner of public buildings for the G.S.A. “Don’t ask me how you get them irrigated.”

Rainwater, captured on the roof, and perhaps even “gray water” recycled from the interior plumbing are both possibilities, the architects say. But they concede that they are still figuring out some of the finer points of renovating the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, which was completed in 1975 and is currently 18 stories of concrete, glass and minimal inspiration.

Who will prune the facade? Maybe the same folks who wash skyscraper windows, the architects say. Perhaps the exterior concrete panels removed in the renovation could be reused as salmon habitat in a nearby river.

The G.S.A. says the building will use 60 percent to 65 percent less energy than comparable buildings and estimates a savings of $280,000 annually in energy costs. Solar panels could provide up to 15 percent of the building’s power needs. The use of rainwater and low-flow plumbing fixtures will reduce potable water consumption by 68 percent. And energy for lighting will be halved.

So, 133 million to grow plants on the side of a building….and this is considered “stimulus.” A little simple math reveals that for taxpayers to recoup their investment in this green boondoggle will take 480 years.

That’s the kind of math that only a government bureaucrat can appreciate.

The Ritz Report

As you can see above, the banks that President Obama is attacking have all paid the money back….with interest. The American taxpayer made out pretty well in regard to those investments (even though we’ll never see a dime of that money)

On the other hand, the institutions that still owe large amounts of money to the taxpayer are exempt from Obama’s feigned populist outrage. These institutions are also paying out large bonuses to their executives despite red ink as far as the eye can see.

Shame on you Mr President for employing such transparent, petty, class envy tactics. The office you hold is above such behavior but apparently you are not.

crossposted to The Ritz Report

hmmm…doesn’t sound like there’s a lot of room for dissent on the left.

From National Journal:

It’s not one big happy family for the Democrats when it comes to some of the brothers and sisters in the house of labor. Frustrations are so great that union chiefs on the AFL-CIO’s executive committee have discussed backing primary election challenges to Democratic senators cool to their agenda.

The idea was kicked around at the executive committee’s January 25 meeting in Washington, even though just over a year ago labor pulled out all the stops to put a Democrat in the White House and expand the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. “Some people clearly supported” the challenges, said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, who participated in the meeting by speakerphone. McEntee said that no specific proposal was advanced for mounting primary fights against Democrats whom the leaders view as less than loyal to labor’s cause. Rather, “it was a matter of discussion. When you’re in the condition we’re in, legislatively, you’re looking around like a blinded doe; you’re looking for means to pay back and make things better.”

The chairman of the AFL-CIO’s political committee continued, “Maybe it might be a good idea to let [potential targets] really know some things, let them know where we really stand; maybe we primary some of them–’Blue Dogs’ or others.”

So I guess this means we can ignore the Main Stream Media line that says “Republicans are being obstructionist.” The big fight, as we’ve known all along, is going on within the Democrat party.

The Progressives are fighting with the more “moderate” dems on the finer points of the legislation. I put moderate in quotes because I don’t think any of them are really all that moderate. There are just varying degrees of radicalism, with some being more radical than others. The less radical bunch are easy to identify, they needed the bribes in order to support ObamaCare.

crossposted to The Ritz Report

An influential House Democrat is now predicting that House Dems will pass the Senate health bill if they are persuaded they have a guarantee that it will be fixed in reconciliation — a declaration that could give a boost of momentum for the prospects of getting reform done via this route.

In an interview with me, House majority whip James Clyburn also urged the President to throw his weight behind this approach during tomorrow’s State of the Union Address, declaring that it would be “helpful.”

The comments from Clyburn — who’s been canvassing opinion from members in recent days — could contribute to a growing sense that this is course of action most likely to succeed, and could give ammo to to those pressing this case.

“I feel certain that the House Democrats will pass health care reform if the fixes that we feel need to be made to the Senate bill are guaranteed,” Clyburn said. Asked directly if the House votes would be there if this happened, Clyburn said: “Yes, sir.”

Dick Morris had a write up about this a few days ago. You can read it here and donate here. Dick is running ads in districts where the house dems are vulnerable to prevent them from voting yes on this disaster.

crossposted to The Ritz Report

Michael Steele or someone from the Republican leadership should be taking an active role in formulating a strategy to bring the Tea Party movement into the Republican fold. If Democrats can successfully separate the two parties, it would be a very bad thing for both the Republicans and the Tea Party movement. Does anyone know if there is a plan in the works or if there is an initiative underway?

crossposted to The Ritz Report