Federal Government takeover of our schools
First it was the federal take over of private industries, now it will be the federal takeover of our schools. President Bush started it - working with Congress to have Federal intervention into banks, financial institutions, AIG, and auto manufacturers. President Obama has taken those programs to a new level and wants to usurp state authority over health insurance. Now President Obama is targeting our schools. Has no one read the United States Constitution? Isn't there some point at which President Obama feels the Federal Government does not have authority over us?
President Bush and Congress adopted laws and regulations, and provided funding, to begin a massive federal intervention into a variety of private industries - banks and financial institutions, automakers, and AIG - to name a few. Some banks were told they could not refuse to accept TARP funds. Other organizations were told they'd get no help, like Lehman, and they went bankrupt, leaving Goldman Sachs, who had major ties to Federal officials, standing without competition.
President Obama - he of the change we can believe in - has continued and increased the programs started by President Bush. The federal loans to General Motors allowed the President to order the CEO of GM fired. The loans to the banking and financial industries allowed the President to create a salary Czar who not only creates recommendations but looks into individual salaries.
The health care reform proposals put forth by President Obama combine federal government taking over health insurance, with the so-called public option, and federal government usurpation of state government authority. Historically, state governments, not the federal government, regulate insurance companies and the insurance markets. State governments have been the ones who have created public option insurance plans (see Massachusetts for the latest example). The Federal Government's intervention has been increasing but still was somewhat tied to federal oversight of health benefits provided by employers and not so much direct regulation of insurance companies. But President Obama has eliminated any pretext of respecting state governments on health insurance.
Now, the latest news, is that President Obama is going to redesign how schools operate. According to the Associated Press, President Obama is going to change how long school is in session and when kids are going to get vacations (the link to the story is below). This is outrageous!
The Constitution specifically says that the powers not enumerated to the Federal Government are reserved to the states and to the people. Nowhere in the Constitution did our founding fathers contemplate the Federal Government running our local schools. Does President Obama have no respect for the Constitution of the United States?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090927/ap_on_re_us/us_more_school
p.s. Talk about ignorant remarks - the Secretary of Education is quoted in the article as saying that our school schedule is based on an Agrarian society - big news there, I've been hearing that since I was in school in the '70s. The Secretary then makes a joke about how kids are not out working in the fields any more. Oh really? How big city biased is our Secretary of Education? Maybe kids aren't on the farm in the downtown portions of NY, Chicago, or Philadelphia. But farming is still a major industry in parts of New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. And then there are states like Kansas, Nebraska, Indiana and so many others - what do you think the major industries are in those states? Is that indicative of what we can expect from a federal takeover of local schools - educational programs that are designed around the needs and experiences of just inner city kids, and no respect for the diversity of local environments that exist in our country?
President Bush and Congress adopted laws and regulations, and provided funding, to begin a massive federal intervention into a variety of private industries - banks and financial institutions, automakers, and AIG - to name a few. Some banks were told they could not refuse to accept TARP funds. Other organizations were told they'd get no help, like Lehman, and they went bankrupt, leaving Goldman Sachs, who had major ties to Federal officials, standing without competition.
President Obama - he of the change we can believe in - has continued and increased the programs started by President Bush. The federal loans to General Motors allowed the President to order the CEO of GM fired. The loans to the banking and financial industries allowed the President to create a salary Czar who not only creates recommendations but looks into individual salaries.
The health care reform proposals put forth by President Obama combine federal government taking over health insurance, with the so-called public option, and federal government usurpation of state government authority. Historically, state governments, not the federal government, regulate insurance companies and the insurance markets. State governments have been the ones who have created public option insurance plans (see Massachusetts for the latest example). The Federal Government's intervention has been increasing but still was somewhat tied to federal oversight of health benefits provided by employers and not so much direct regulation of insurance companies. But President Obama has eliminated any pretext of respecting state governments on health insurance.
Now, the latest news, is that President Obama is going to redesign how schools operate. According to the Associated Press, President Obama is going to change how long school is in session and when kids are going to get vacations (the link to the story is below). This is outrageous!
The Constitution specifically says that the powers not enumerated to the Federal Government are reserved to the states and to the people. Nowhere in the Constitution did our founding fathers contemplate the Federal Government running our local schools. Does President Obama have no respect for the Constitution of the United States?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090927/ap_on_re_us/us_more_school
p.s. Talk about ignorant remarks - the Secretary of Education is quoted in the article as saying that our school schedule is based on an Agrarian society - big news there, I've been hearing that since I was in school in the '70s. The Secretary then makes a joke about how kids are not out working in the fields any more. Oh really? How big city biased is our Secretary of Education? Maybe kids aren't on the farm in the downtown portions of NY, Chicago, or Philadelphia. But farming is still a major industry in parts of New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. And then there are states like Kansas, Nebraska, Indiana and so many others - what do you think the major industries are in those states? Is that indicative of what we can expect from a federal takeover of local schools - educational programs that are designed around the needs and experiences of just inner city kids, and no respect for the diversity of local environments that exist in our country?
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