2/23/2011

Should we be having the discussion about making unionized teachers pay more for their benefits and change union negotiation rules or should we be forcing the public school system in Wisconsin into the private market solution and an improvement in the education the children of Wisconsin gets.  Whatever way Wisconsin goes, the other states should follow.  In Wisconsin, public education eats up more and more tax dollars while the education system there gets worse and worse, and…

The comment was from Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.).  Guess cleaning up rhetoric is only for conservatives.    The comments were made in front of a group of union members in Boston. 

As an aside, an interview was done last night about a group of school teachers in Massachusetts that were rallying behind Governor Walker and controls on their…

2/23/2011

Because of union notification requirements and a 30 million dollar shortfall in the budget, all teachers working in Providence, RI will be pink slipped before March 1st (indicating their last day of employment will be the last day of school).  Providence needs this flexibility to determine what action to take once the final…

I had heard this yesterday on a news program in an interview of one of the Wisconsin state senators who is refusing to vote on the bill in the senate to limit union bargaining and force unions to pay more towards health care and retirement accounts.  The senator indicated they needed to settle this and let these teachers get back to work.

But the senator isn't the only one.  The U. S. Department of Education says Two-thirds of the eighth graders in Wisconsin public schools…

2/22/2011

State Sen. John Thrasher has introduced a bill to the state senate that would public unions from deducting or collecting dues that would be used for political purposes
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Read more on Newsmax.com: Fla. State Senator Seeks Union Dues Restrictions

Published on AP 2/22

The father who ran his daughter, Noor, down in Arizona (that was considered an honor killing), has been convicted of 2nd degree murder and also of aggravated assault in the attack on the daughter's boyfriend's mother whom she was with at the time.

Read more here:  http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/22/jury-convicts-iraqi-immigrant-honor-killing/

This should give anyone pause, and certainly since I remember hearing that Obama was replacing many people in positions of authority with liberals who thought like he did through out the government (and they all belong to the union), I have quite a bit of concern.  Certainly it would allow for anyone in those kinds of positions who control departments and various services of the government to totally ignore anyone from anywhere except the executive branch and all the rather scary folks Mr.…

2/22/2011

A bill is going through the houses that would challenge the Obamacare mandate by blocking the mandate that requires most people to buy health insurance or face a penalty.  Democratic Governor Purdue has indicated she will not sign the bill nor will she veto it, and if she is good at her word, the bill becomes law after 10 days.  Purdue indicated she felt the bill was redundant since there is already a lawsuit in the works, but it appears likely to become law in North…

This is a poll with a comment section should you choose to comment. Time to have your voice heard!

The link:  http://online.wsj.com/community/groups/question-day-229/topics/should-state-employees-have-collective-bargaining?commentid=2119030

Just in case you thought we only made it into the top 10 cities headed for bankrupcy, I wanted you know we have another dubious honor as well.  Jacksonville is listed number 5 in the top 10 cities for speed traps.  Anyone surprised?  I can tell you I am not!

Read the story here: …

Published February 18, 2011

The house has voted on a republican amendment to defund Obamacare.  The vote was 239-187 in favor of defunding.  They are voting on a number of amendments today.  You can find the rest of the story here:…

The vote to defund Planned Parenthood has been taken and passed by The vote was 240-185.  There were 11 democrats that voted in favor of defunding Planned Parenthood. 

The rest of the story can be found here:  …

The article indicates that Governor Scott used a great deal of common sense and saw that the risks of high speed rail far outweighed any potential benefits.  The people of Florida just can't afford it.  The news that I find appalling is that 26 of our state senators have written the governor a letter rebuking him for turning away the federal money for this project and they have also written to Transportation Secretary…

You may wish to keep abreast of this potential push back by our governor.  Governor Scott has been busy, but it appears to be a good kind of busy :), and he may even get a few other states looking at his ideas to overcome the problems with medicaid and it's expense to our state.

The whole article can be found here: …

Perhaps those who wish to beat our governor up for cutting education funding by not renewing the expenditure of the stimulus will be mindful of the Small Business Administration cut that Obama is making before they are too critical.

"The president's 2012 budget proposal slashes Small Business Administration funding by 45 percent, although the agency's 2011 total was significantly inflated because of stimulus spending."

 Although I think this cut in spending will hurt the…

This really should not come as any surprise to anyone.  The unions don't like anything that looks like a cut that might impact their union members (it sure isn't about the students we can count on that).  I agree with Governor Scott.  The stimulus money has run out and the state doesn't have the money to replace it, so we are going back to the amount spent before stimulus money, and a lack of money isn't the problem with the schools anyway (nor do the unions want the money to improve the…

I am quite sure Governor Scott expected some disagreements over his cuts, so we will wait and see! 

Complete article can be found here:  http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/403455/brandon-larrabee/2011-02-14/senate-president-mike-haridopolos-wants-fund

Good information about a bill being introduced by Senator Rubio along with the "sad" news that Senator Nelson is below 50% in the polls (he is in big trouble apparently.....should not come as a surprise to him after he voted in favor of almost every single bill most of us didn't want).  Lots of good information on several happenings in the state of Florida along with the Rubio info.

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