Worried

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If one believes being an educator means “living off the public trough” ignorance does not just exist, it expands exponentially. If you have not been there, done that, you have no idea of the time necessary to teach well, the investment in money and effort over a long period of time. Small wonder teachers are so disheartened and leaving the “profession” as soon as possible. One works their tail off for children and the public and they are regaled with this kind of “thanks”.
Also, if one believes funding for colleges has not gone down dramatically, you are not in possession of the facts.
Obama is the one with “crony capitalism pals”? What rock have you been hiding under?
Finally, people are making ignorant statements and it seems highly unlikely that they watched the House hearings to which Wilder referred. Ignorance rears its ugly head yet once again.

March 20, 2013 10:34 am on Ryan Republicans haven't learned logic, integrity
Indiana's Bennett leading school reform? True, right down the toilet. Have teachers EVER been so disenchanted, with lower morale? When charter schools have failed so miserably in our area, getting the Fs, a system which Bennett himself imposed AND it was known from the beginning by anyone looking at the statistics that charters have not lived up to their hype. Stupidity or just politics personified.
AND a person was elected who is so abysmally ignorant foisting his ignorance onto the public.
Tragic!

January 31, 2013 12:02 pm on GUEST COMMENTARY: Indiana poised to lead U.S. on school choice
How very disappointing. Only Coach Lee has any educational experience. The rest: the mentality seems to be , don't confuse me with facts, I have already made up my mind. If you have not been there, done that how can you know. Next time you go to a doctor over ride his expertise and tell him/her that you know more than he does. No wonder our country is in such a sad state of affairs.
Tell the kid who comes to school hungry - 23% of our children live in poverty -. who expects that he will never live beyond 21 or 22, whose home life is abominable [read the news] etc etc, expect that child to do what those who come from more affluent conditions do, The studies speak for themselves but who cares about scholarly research.
SCARY, the ignorance out there and the narrow mindedness, not only on this issue but on so many others likewise where people will not face facts. .

January 04, 2013 3:25 pm on GUEST COMMENTARY: Poverty, not bad teachers, should be focus
Raising taxes will put people out of work???? After WWII for a decade or better the rich were taxed at over 80% and our economy boomed. Is our economy booming now when corporations and the super rich hide their money in tax havens, pay less in income taxes than their secretaries? How gullible can people be?

December 26, 2012 8:16 am on Obama's plan to tax the rich will put people out of work
Some interesting and enlightening comments.
If the vast majority of people believe nothing can be done, of course nothing will be done. As Mr. Wilder stated, it is up to Americans to decide.
If people are determined to acquire more guns and not give up the ones they already have, that will happen. In Australia after a mass shooting people decided enough was enough, gave up their guns and not one mass shooting has occurred since then - but of course that is Australia. Not as enlightened as are we.
SO, if nothing is done the murders, mass shootings etc will continue and gun owners will be happy - unless of course something happens to them and/or their loved ones by someone else with a gun.
Is it not strange that a country where so many pride themselves on being Christian that in a time where “peace on earth” is proclaimed answers like the above are given. To love your neighbor, he that taketh up the sword etc messages disdained.
Perhaps the answer is to give everyone guns to protect themselves from the bad guys, from bad government - whoever that might considered to be and whatever bad government means to the individual, as determined by the individual, not by government laws. This seems to be the direction in which we are headed.
Actually this would save our country millions of dollars, no military, no police. Our “well regulated militia” would protect individuals. So far all those guns out there have not protected a LOT of people but perhaps a wild west scenario is what is wished where all arguments are settled with guns. Laws written by government need not be followed. Individuals, not government, society, decide right from wrong, who are the bad guys and who is representing that bad government so we can do them in. One wonders how the rest of the world could be so dumb as not to have discovered this truth.
Interesting that so many guns have been sold when the NRA proclaims that guns are going to be forbidden. When Obama was elected and now after a shooting and Congress talks a good talk hundreds of guns are sold and gun manufacturers make a killing.
As for giving a definitive answer to the problem as some have wished, how can one writer give a definitive answer? One can see from the answers here that a lot of people have made up their minds that guns are the answer. If that is the vast majority opinion, no writer can give a different answer. It has been decided. The NRA has the answer. What does it matter what any other writer may say. People will quibble with any definitive answer. They have made up their minds.
It the statistics quoted by Mr. Wilder and many others do not dissuade you, what will? Perhaps when your children or family are killed? Of course then when you have your guns you can “settle the score”. A very Christian attitude. If people believe that everyone having guns, as seems to be the direction in which we are heading and not answering to government laws is the answer what other answer by any writer is going to make any difference,

December 25, 2012 10:07 pm on Americans must decide how to respond to Newtown
Well said taxpayer.
Also;
How about the coddling of the huge corporations making huge amounts of money, receiving huge subsidies, AND paying NO income tax. Too, if taxes were levied on the transactions of Wall Street, none are as of now, billions of dollars would accrue to our treasury. Many, many other sources of income could be garnered if there were the political will to do so. The corporations controlling the media use the divide and conquer strategy and propagandize so subtly that people are led down the garden path without their even knowing it. Hitler had Goebbels, we have corporate media.

November 05, 2012 9:43 am on Don't create a new tax to coddle public employees
Svillechris:
At the University of Michigan I stayed at a cooperative house where 3 members were card carrying communists and also there were 2 or 3 men who had lived behind the Iron Curtain and one day I thought there would be a fist fight. It did not happen but I am very much aware of what Communism - Socialism did to the USSR etc.
I stand behind my basic premise of what Socialism is "social - ism". We in the U. S. have a composite of both Socialism: roads, bridges, Social Security, Medicare, etc etc plus capitalism. Each has its strengths, each its problems. Right now it would seem that Wall Street capitalists through their lobbyists have captured our government. Only with an intelligent understanding from in depth research will solve our problems. Too little of both have got us into a very deep hole. It is useless to argue. You have your opinion based on what you have read, I have mine. Let us respect our differences. We are Americans first - I hope - and liberals, conservatives et al second.

November 01, 2012 11:30 am on Has Romney experienced any troubles like we have?
Some interesting comments. Interjecting another point of view:
Before voting some questions which you might wish to consider.
1. Since the poor economy seems to be the focus of attention consider the following:
A. Job creation? Henry Ford raised workers wages dramatically enabling workers to buy his cars. It worked. The middle class evolved. How can people purchase products, creating jobs, when citizens have less money to spend?
B. Republican philosophy on moving our economy: 1]. Cut taxes on the rich and corporations. Subsidize oil companies making billions. Statistical data depicting outcomes of that philosophical perspective:
Personal income tax rate for top income bracket
1946-63 88% - our economy boomed.
2006 17% - economy now.
A. Why might this be so? When taxed high, corporations, CEOs would put their extra income into their business, creating more jobs and a better business. When they can keep their money, they do exactly that.
B. Corporate income taxes accounted for about one-quarter of federal revenues in 1950; today, only 6%. Who pays the difference? Do you really like paying that differential for these Wall Street corporations and their CEOs?
C. Bush tax cuts for wealthy cost the U. S. $2.6 trillion in the last decade. Has that and all of the following wealth disparity created or decreased jobs, bettered or worsened our economy?
Income percentage increase in these brackets UNADJUSTED for inflation in 1980s.
$20,000 - 50,000 bracket 44%
Over $1 million bracket 2,184%
By 2002 U. S. ranks 93rd among industrialized nations in income disparity between our rich and poor, worse even than banana republics: Nicaragua, Venezuela and Guyana.
Between 1983 and 2004, of new financial wealth created, the top 1% received 42%, the top 20%, 94%, The bottom 80% received only 6%.
From 1980 to 2005, more than 80% of the total increase in American incomes went to the richest 1 percent.
The richest 1% of Americans now own 40% of all our wealth.
The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of U. S. income. In 1976, 9%.
Since 2007 - corporate profits up 22%. Unemployment even among college grads down 50%. Is the private sector really producing jobs?
Since January 1, 2008, the top 20 financial industry recipients of bailout aid have together laid off more than 160,000 employees. These CEOs each averaged $13.8 million, totaling a quarter-billion dollars. Do corporate CEOs then care more about creating jobs or their self enrichment?
2]. Mitch McConnell’s number 1 priority was not to do the nation’s business but to make Obama a one term president. From day 1 this philosophy has permeated the Republican agenda. Filibuster usage skyrocketed. No president has heretofore endured such a huge level. What effect has that had on moving the economy. Should that behavior be tolerated let alone rewarded?

2. Much has been said about the evils of socialism. Unfettered capitalism, exhalted.
A. Socialism: “social -ism” is basically people working together to promote the common good: roads, bridges, schools, law enforcement, military etc. Is it possible that SOMETIMES at least working together under government MIGHT be better than anarchy or a corrupt “vulture capitalism”? Note the CEO ethic above. Does not demagoguery consist of corrupting, demonizing a word; ethnic, political etc so the very word invites revulsion? Is that intelligent discourse?
A. When farmers banded together to help each other at harvest time etc, socialism, was that necessarily bad?
B. When cooperatives were formed to sell their products, socialism, was that also necessarily bad?
C. Is capitalism ALWAYS cheaper? Better? One example: Health care? Overhead costs for Medicare: 3% - Corporate health care: 20% to 30%. Why? Partially at least: Typical CEO compensation. UnitedHealth CEO Stephen J. Hemsley in 2007 - $13.2 million. CIGNA CEO Edward Hanway Five-Year Compensation; $120.51 million. Do they deny your coverage, pull the plug on grandma etc? Compare that with Kathleen Sebelius, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, her annual salary is $199,700. She of course is the head honcho of Obamacare.

3. Which man most likely represents your needs in the White House? One spent his adult life making money for himself and his buddies, the other spent his adult life working with/for the poor and middle class.

4. For which Romney would you vote? Some complete reversals: Romneycare; its huge success propelled him onto the national scene and after which Obamacare is modeled, plus abortion, gun rights, gay issues, climate change etc. Conversely Paul Ryan’a objectives, crystal clear on social issues: women’s health care, abortion, Medicare, Social Security etc. As a woman or a man, is Ryan’s social agenda what you wish, best for you and your progeny, female and male? Look carefully at the Republican platform. Analyze.

5. Are you aware of Romney’s assertions proven by unbiased research to be unfactual? Are these important to his campaign? A few:
A. As Massachusetts governor: he engaged in bipartisanship. 1]. He had 800 vetoes, 700 of which were overridden.
2]. He claimed credit for educational achievements: These achievements were made 10 years BEFORE he became governor.
3]. His continuing claim that Obama has a $716 billion Medicare reduction which after having been shown to be false, he continues to assert.
4]. His assertion that “half of the green firms that Obama administration has invested in “have gone out of business”. Barely any have while he continues advocating for subsidies for the oil companies paying no income taxes while making humongous profits.

6. Is it important that Romney will not disclose his income tax returns for the last several years? If there is nothing to hide, why not disclose them and end the questioning? How much of his income is hidden in tax havens? The “birther” question seemed important concerning Obama. Is possible tax evasion less important?

7. Should we be investing more on our military?
A. Did the following military expenditures protect us from a very few men with box cutters, committing suicide to undo us. With the Marshall plan, the world loved us. With military interventions, invasions do they still love us? Is what Jesus said regarding taking up the sword, returning good for evil, etc. something important thing to consider in this regard. How would we react if Canada, Mexico, Cuba invaded us?
B. 95 percent of the national debt is war-related. The Defense Department - remember Eisenhower’s concern about the military industrial complex - absorbs 25-30 percent of the federal budget. 68 percent of all federal government civil and military employees are involved in national security and war related activities. Adding the $100 billion or more for the two wars, the $80 billion for the intelligence budget, and various other defense related items that figure becomes roughly one-half the entire federal budget for the period 2002-2008.
C. 2012 world military budgets in billions of dollars:
1]. U. S. 711
2]. China 143
3]. Russia 7l.9
4]. United Kingdom 62.7
5]. France 62.5
[The next 4 countries COMBINED spent less than ½ of what we spent. What is the likelihood of our going to
war with any of them? On what could the extra money
have been spent ? Did the USSR disintegrate when they spent their largess on the military and not on their people?]

8. Are our present fiscal problems, bank failures et al, caused by too much government regulation or too little? Did the Glass Stiegall act protect us for all these decades since the last depression or was its de-regulation which caused our fiscal crisis, debacle?

9. Do you really wish the Environmental Protection Agency eviscerated which Republicans have promised to do? Since 97% of the world’s best scientific minds claim climate change is real and man made, considering the consequences of inaction do you really wish to gamble those odds that it is not? If 97% of your doctors said you had cancer would you not consider the real possibility that you did indeed have it? Is clean air, water - those basic necessities of life - important enough to vote for someone who plans on emasculating the EPA especially when it seems clear that developing “green“ energy would produce more and more better paying jobs than carbon based energy? Think clearly on this issue. Future generations, perhaps our own, rely on your answer.

10. If government is the problem, who controls the government; you and the disappearing middle and poor classes or Wall Street lobbyists? Which party most embodies the ideals of Wall Street and corporate America? Why is corporate America spending nearly a billion dollars on this election? What do they expect in return for that “investment”?

11. AND please remember that the next president will probably appoint three, maybe four Supreme Court Justices. Do you like the conservative Robert’s court agenda, decisions like the “Citizens United” decision opening the gates for unlimited political contributions further enhancing “the best government money can buy“? The new court will “interpret” the Constitution for a generation.

12. Please vote. It is vital. But vote intelligently, look closely at the platform of both candidates. There are major differences. America voted for George W Bush and will we EVER undo the consequences of his presidency? From a surplus to a horrendous deficit and economy, the erosion of our liberties, ad nauseum?

November 01, 2012 8:09 am on Has Romney experienced any troubles like we have?
What about Romneycare. It worked great in Massachusetts and this is what propelled him into the national spotlight. Like everything else he once stood for, now he is against. It is so very tragic that that the healthcare CEOs who siphon off millions of your healthcare dollars can so propagandize the American people that they vote against their own interests. Why pay the CEOs millions of dollars per year when Kathleen Sebelius, head of Health and Human Services makes less than $200,000 a year. Medicare overhead is 3%. Corporate healthcare overhead is between 20% and 30%. Why do you wish to pay these CEOs all that money when they deny you coverage, pull the plug on grandma and all the other things which they claim will happen under government oversight. Sad. A single payer system such as Canada has would save enough money to cover every person in the U. S. Will never happen when people are so misled by corporate propaganda.

October 31, 2012 9:15 am on Vote out Visclosky, who supported Obamacare
Stay to the Left: Excellent commentary, based on looking at both sides. May another in depth analysis be added? Greg Palast, an economist and financial investigator has a most intriguing article appearing in "The Nation", November 5th edition. How Romney and his family made millions from the rescue of Detroit - the generally called auto bailout and which has figured largely in the public debates. Well researched and names, named etc it would be undoubtedly eye opening to those who do not see "Vulture Capitalism" at work.
Too, the most important items in this election year are rarely mentioned and mostly glossed over: Climate Change which is already deeply affecting us. Romney wishes to eviscerate the Environmental Protection Agency and Obama is no t much better but is less emasculating. This issue affects directly our children and all posterity. Will a viable planet be left for them. Corporate propaganda, which has bought our Congress, has changed public perspective but it is worth noting, you may fool yourself but you cannot fool Mother Nature and when she is continually raped, she will scream.

October 26, 2012 11:06 am on Look at list of firms helped by Bain Capital investments