Tag: Republicans

Public School Spending in FY 2012: A Red State Comparison

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As discussed in this post the latest education finance data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that New York’s public school spending per student is sky-high, not only in the suburbs but in Upstate New York and even New York City, even adjusted downward downstate for the higher cost of living here, and even compared with adjacent Northeastern states such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Although you’d never know it by all the propaganda being put out, primarily by the teachers’ union, claiming that New York’s taxpayers and children deserve less because we aren’t paying enough.

To put New York’s spending in even greater perspective, how about a comparison with a state where public school spending in general, and spending on teachers in particular, really is low? Let’s compare New York with right-wing, low-tax Oklahoma. A few charts and commentary may be found on “Saying the Unsaid In New York.”

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2016 (Part One)

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Okay; so I know we have two and a half years to go before the 2016 presidential elections; but I just wanted to get my two-cents in early. 
As of now, I am leaning towards supporting either Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA); Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT); or Republican Colin Powell; should any of them decide to run for the presidency.

Enough Already: S.T.F.U.

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Observing the political machinations of Republicans has become a tedious chore lately. After Barack Obama’s initial election as the 44th US president -and the first person of a mixed racial background to hold the position- it appears as though Republicans have gone bonkers. How else can one describe their collective behavior since Obama’s 2009 inauguration? 

Generation Greed: Political Affiliation

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Some essay writers for the Wall Street Journal have noted an ace in the hole for the Republican party: the “flower power” generation of the 1960s is increasingly right wing. The article is behind a pay wall, but let me summarize. This generation was left wing in the 1960s and early 1970s, because they objected to the Vietnam War and Watergate. But once they became older and started families, they became increasingly Republican and Conservative. The trend has continued into old age, an asset for the GOP since older voters vote in large numbers, younger Americans don’t bother, so both parties have to compete to meet the preferences of the old.

I agree with the trends, but not with the reasons for the trends. The party loyalists who wrote the WSJ article see changes in ideology, but I just see the continued pursuit of unenlightened self interest. At every point, but particularly back in the 1960 and early 1970s, it is a mistake to judge the intentions of this generation by what certain high profile members said, rather than what the vast majority did. Peace, love and understanding? Anti-materialism? There were some who pursued those ideals, and continue to do so. But getting laid and getting high, and avoiding personal responsibilities, were the real goals of the “Silent Majority” in the 1960s. They later moved on to avoiding social responsibilities, and thus became more likely to vote Republican.

Daylight Savings Nightmare

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A few years ago, around the time I needed to buy new alarm clock radios, clock manufacturers began installing something I didn’t ask for and didn’t particularly want — an automatic adjustment for daylight savings time. Resetting the clocks twice a year was something of a ritual, and not one I minded, though I preferred the old spring date of the third Sunday in April, which corresponded to the leafing of the trees in New York. But now we have a war, created in part by our dependence on foreign oil, and a potential long-run environmental disaster also tied to our use of fossil fuels, yet our leaders, statesmen that they are, feel they are in no position to ask anyone to make any sacrifices for the greater good at all. So they could only agree on one, “no sacrifice” energy saving measure. Again changing the dates for beginning and end of daylight savings time.

Savings and Investment to the Dustbin of History

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Well Rumsfeld is finally gone, pushed out for being half right. He was right about how easy it would be to topple Sadaam, but wrong about how easy it would be to get Iraq up and running and get out. Too bad he wasn't completely wrong. By the time we took over the place, we'd have had enough troops, and we might be out by now. There is no such accountability in the economic policy realm, where interest trumps ideology and the same mantras are repeated regardless of the evidence. For example, what about all those Republicans who claimed that cutting taxes on investment returns, but eliminating tax breaks for consumer debt, would encourage savings and investment?