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  • #61
    Originally posted by SteveDaPirate View Post
    I’d like to think that the policies in Kansas could be instructive for the rest of the country. Gov. Brownback has used his time in office to see what happens if you drastically cut both government spending and the state income tax.

    So far Brownback’s policies have gotten the state in trouble with the courts, as education is now being funded below constitutionally specified levels. The economic recovery in Kansas has fallen behind the surrounding states in the region, and big employers like Boeing are packing up and leaving. The state pension plan has $16.7 billion in unfunded pension liability, and Moody’s credit rating has just downgraded the state of Kansas’s bond rating due to unsustainable financial policies.

    Our Governor’s plan to deal with this problem is to cut taxes more, spend down the remaining state reserves, and poach a few hundred million more from the highway fund. That might work once or twice, but robbing Peter to pay Paul quits working when Peter is out of money. If you know some successful GOP Governors please send them our way.
    Let's stick with Brownback. First off, the court decision re education was from a state court and the funds at issue were a fraction of the state's education budget which actually rose year over year. The issue was over special assistance funds and some other non-funding measures. Overall, per student spending rose $300 compared to last year.

    Unemployment is down 7%, slightly less than some neighboring states and half the rate in California, but the economies of all those states are varied. To make this point an issue we need to correlate it with his policies.

    On Medicare, Kansas is one of 27 states that have refused Federal subsidies for the same reason Virginia has. The subsidies are set at a minimum 90% through 2020, and could be lowered before then. In any case, there is real doubt the Federal gov't could fund even 50% after 2020. The upshot for Kansas would be either to raise taxes and cut the budget, which is now devoted mostly to education. That would dump a large cost on the state because those Federal funds come tied to a provision that would require that anyone at 128% of the poverty level be eligible for state Medicare coverage. Currently the cut-off level is much lower, well below the poverty level for a single working person.

    Boeing's departure had nothing to do with Brownback policies. The company cited reduced defense spending as the reason. Several hundred suppliers in the state will continue to supply parts for Boeing. The total number of jobs lost will be around 1,200. The company had not asked for tax incentives to remain in the state. But it's happening on Brownback's watch, so its understandable that people will hold him responsible.

    I really didn't intend to get into the specifics of each GOP governor's records. I was speaking generically and using their tenures to illustrate that conservative leadership does not mean a return to horse and buggy days, rather a less progressive and invasive approach to government power.
    To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

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    • #62
      Originally posted by astralis View Post
      JAD,



      yet the very premise of the thread is that this is not the case. see the conservative outrage over Common Core, or the result when governors refuse to participate in setting up state exchanges on the ACA, or immigration.

      in each case, ask yourself if the Tea Party opposition has actually led to a change in the direction or management of the central government-- and if that change is the one that conservatives would want. :)

      Even here your premise is weak. It supposes that Common Core meets the need of school children. It also supposes that conservatives lit into it simply because Obama mentioned it a speech.

      I'll concede that Obama's mention of it drew flack, but not because everything Obama says is automatically opposed by conservatives. The program was already under fire as warmed over 'No Child Left Behind (LCLB), which has largely been dismissed as a failure.

      Editorial: The Trouble with the Common Core

      Eight problems with Common Core Standards - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

      http://www.newsweek.com/sorry-louis-...on-core-249313

      Math Teacher Explains What Is Wrong with the Common Core | Diane Ravitch's blog

      Here's What Is Wrong With the Common Core | Larry Strauss

      This site seeks to clear up myths about Common Core. It avoids some of the more controversial aspects. And avoids entirely the political question on centralized education standards.

      Myths vs. Facts | Common Core State Standards Initiative

      Personally, it may help or it may not. I'm against a central authority setting nationwide standards, which has nothing to do with Common Core as an educational tool. Let's give it a chance. Nothing else has worked yet.
      To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

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      • #63
        Apropos of the Clive Bundy piece posted earlier
        In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

        Leibniz

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        • #64
          JAD,

          Even here your premise is weak. It supposes that Common Core meets the need of school children. It also supposes that conservatives lit into it simply because Obama mentioned it a speech.

          I'll concede that Obama's mention of it drew flack, but not because everything Obama says is automatically opposed by conservatives.
          heh...JAD, i think you're reflecting your common-sense, reasoned conservatism on the rest of your fellow conservatives as a whole.

          sure, there's a lot of reasons to not support Common Core, or wish there are areas to be fixed. but do you really think Tea Partiers or conservative populists are viscerally opposed to Common Core because of technocratic/pragmatic reasons?

          or is it because Common Core with the word "Common" makes it sound like an Obama-directed attempt to get the Feds to take over education? you tell me.
          There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

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          • #65
            ^^^ Mpst of the complaints I see are based on very well placed criticisms of how and what it is teaching. The way kids are to be taught to do basic math is insane.

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