index

Legendary Determination

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:41:37 +0100

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUS691La4gA
Duty. Honor. Courage.

Feared by Big Government. Hated by Big Media. Maligned by power-hungry partisans. That's what happens when organized Constitutionalists create an informed electorate that holds public servants accountable.

“These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” - Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Political action is necessary, but it is insufficient. With political action you win some battles and lose others, but every victory motivates the opposition to fight twice as hard next time. Political action alone is frustrating and causes many activists to get discouraged and give up because it never fixes the root of the problem: an ill-informed electorate.

If you think about it, an informed electorate is more powerful than political parties, Big Media, or special interest money. A sufficiently informed electorate is the reason America has preserved as much freedom as we have, and an insufficiently informed electorate is the reason we've lost as much freedom as we have.

“Education is our total strategy and truth is our only weapon,” said Robert Welch, who pioneered the modern Constitutionalist movement and designed a program that creates an informed electorate in any congressional district. To inform others, you must first inform yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUS691La4gA
Duty. Honor. Courage.

We The People have stewardship of our own freedom. What will we do with it? Preserve individual rights and national independence? Restore the Constitution? If Congress simply voted Constitutionally, the federal government would be 20% its size and 20% its cost. How's that for an economic stimulus package?

CFR: Tea Party Dangerous, Obstructive

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 23:19:10 +0100

When the internationalist-minded Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) decided it was time to take a hard look at the growing influence of the Tea Party movement in America, it selected “one of the country’s leading students of American foreign policy,” Walter Russell Mead, to do the study. Appearing as the headline article in Foreign Affairs for March/April 2011, his article is entitled “The Tea Party and American Foreign Policy.”

Mead’s credentials for representing one of the leading lights of the Anglo-American Establishment are impeccable: an honors graduate from the Groton School and Yale University, he was the Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the CFR. He is now a professor of foreign affairs at Bard College and is editor-at-large of The American Interest magazine.

He got the first part right: “The rise of the Tea Party movement has been the most controversial and dramatic development in U.S. politics for many years. Supporters have hailed it as a return to core American values...

Continue reading...

Do we need a 28th Amendment to the Constitution?

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:03:05 +0100

A myriad of chain emails have circulated the internet advocating new amendments be added by way of an inherently risky Constitutional Convention (Con-Con).

Maybe we should we try following the Constitution again before we open up the possibility of rewriting it. It worked pretty well when we actually followed it.

Once again a few well-funded organizations have popped up that are ramping up a nationwide push to have enough state legislatures apply to Congress for a Con-Con. These efforts have been defeated in the past by defenders of the Constitution.

The John Birch Society and the Eagle Forum both provide succinct information about the dangers of a Con-Con:

Inform yourself and your legislators.

Is America Becoming 'Isolationist?'

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 04:59:33 +0100

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgisza020ZM

Or is America under Neocon Control?

The History Lesson Washington D.C. Doesn't Want You to Know

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 05:48:00 +0100

Enemies of freedom have always used racial and religious differences to divide people while they take more power for themselves. It's no different today.

The Greatest Story Never Told: Another black history month is nearly gone, and it's another year where the government-schools and the pundits fail to teach Americans an important history lesson...the one that goes like this - "OK, for all these years, we've been telling you that states' rights and nullification was evil and all about racism. It's not and we're sorry for lying. In reality, for over a decade before the civil war, states' rights and nullification were used to resist federal slave laws and protect the rights of African Americans in those difficult times."

The Underground Railroad and the Coming of War
It was about states' rights, Northern States Rights: Students accustomed to equating states’ rights with South Carolina may be stunned to learn that it was the Wisconsin Supreme Court asserting the nullification doctrine in the mid-1850s!

The Untold History of Nullification
Resisting Slavery: Few Americans have ever heard the heroic story of how the people of Wisconson and several other states stood up to the federal government’s tyrannical, unconstitutional slave laws with the help of their elected state officials. It happened so much that South Carolina decried northern nullification when they announced their secession.

The Tea Party Goes To Washington Book Bomb!

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 02:18:52 +0100

February 22nd - 24th, 2011

To celebrate we’re holding an online radio marathon at http://www.TeaPartyGoesToWashington.com featuring Rand Paul, Ron Paul, John Dennis and more. Check the website for lineup details being added throughout the day.

Bookbombs are a great way for us to spread the message of liberty. A best selling book gets a lot of media, spreads ideas of liberty and all of the contributors get a book for their efforts. Everyone wins! And remember, the Tea Party movement is a headless organization. That means there is a constant battle between the neo-cons and liberty republicans for it’s heart and sole. Let’s get behind this book bomb and help Rand Paul define the Tea Party movement, not Karl Rove and his evil cronies.

You can also participate in this book bomb and help sell books by using your Amazon affiliate bookseller links. If you don’t have an Amazon affiliate account I hope you’ll create one now. There will be other bookbombs in the future and the more people we have selling the books the better we’ll do in spreading the message of liberty. Go here to create your account: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com. Then go to http://www.TeaPartyGoesToWashington.com, grab the radio show links and include them in your email, blog post or on your website next to your book sales link and maximize the book sales you create for the event. The book bomb will take place from the 22nd to the 24th and the radio show will loop throughout that time period.

Thanks for your help with this event. If you know of anyone who might want to participate, please forward this to them.

The Grinch Who Stole the Republican Revolution of 1994

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:03:00 +0100

A timely lesson about The Real Newt Gingrich: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02HX5v5Thpk&playnext=1&list=PLC6E67826A609B1BB

State Education Budget and Technology

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 03:13:35 +0100

State Representative Steven Thayn recently sent to interested Idahoans a nine-point proposal to reduce educational expenditures, including a reduction in costs for educational technology.

I agree with his points, but would add that use of technology is valuable and the cost of it can be shifted from school to home, because it is not expensive for homes to own computers and other educational technology. See the TECHNICAL HORIZONS IN EDUCATION JOURNAL at http://thejournal.com/Home.aspx and http://www.amazon.com/kindle-store-ebooks-newspapers-blogs/b?ie=UTF8&node=133141011

More info about "Students Come First" at http://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/studentscomefirst

Merrill Tew

Health Care Not First Law to Face Nullification

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 01:23:22 +0100

Richard Larsen's latest Idaho State Journal column is posted online at http://richardlarsen.blogtownhall.com/as well as the ISJ weblog at http://www.pocatelloshops.com/new_blogs/politics/?p=7498.

Following is an excerpt:

For some, the mere utterance of the word “nullification” conjures up images of voodoo incantations to exorcize evil spirits, or of “Gomers running around the block yelling ‘Citizen’s arrest.’” For some inexplicable reason, such images were never invoked when California, and 13 other states, through nullification, established their own marijuana laws to override federal laws, or when 25 states, through nullification, invalidated the Real ID Act just three years ago. Apparently the concept of nullification is just fine when it suits their ideological purposes, but heaven forbid when it doesn’t!

There are now 27 states, including Idaho, challenging Obamacare, 12 of which are pursuing the nullification route. Nullification is a doctrine that states can invalidate federal laws deemed unconstitutional.

There are several components to nullification that are critical to understand. The first is to understand the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution. Article VI Clause 2 asserts that treaties and laws established by congress are the “Supreme Law of the Land.” The pertinent portion of the clause reads, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof… and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.” There is a critical qualifier in that statement, “in pursuance thereof.” This qualifier makes clear that such laws passed by Congress are only the supreme law of the land if they are in accordance with the enumerated powers granted Congress by the Constitution. In other words, federal law is supreme over conflicting state statutes only insofar as congressional actions are constitutional…

To allow the federal government complete autonomy in implementation of any legislation according to their whims, regardless of constitutional authority, is to acquiesce to unmitigated tyranny. Federal mandates must be kept in check by the states, per their constitutional authority, and the “consent of the governed,” us!

AP award winning columnist Richard Larsen is President of Larsen Financial, a brokerage and financial planning firm in Pocatello, and is a graduate of Idaho State University with a BA in Political Science and History and former member of the Idaho State Journal Editorial Board. He can be reached at rlarsenen@cableone.net.

Myths about "Students Come First"

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 02:34:03 +0100

Myth: 85% of teacher salaries will come from the salary scale and 15% from merit pay. That means that teachers receive a 15% reduction in salary right off the top and then have to somehow earn it back. There is no way you can earn that back in merit pay. Tom Luna is taking away salaries to fund merit pay.
Fact: Under the Students Come First plan, the state will fully restore the instructional salary grid and teachers will continue to be paid based on steps and lanes now and in the future. This will be a pay increase for teachers, not a cut. In future years, after the grid is fully restored to what it should have been before the state froze it, the legislation states that when the Legislature appropriates more funding for teacher salaries, 15% of that funding will go toward pay-for-performance bonuses and 85% of the appropriation will go toward the steps and lanes. This is how the pay-for-performance plan and steps and lanes will be funded in the future. To clarify, no teacher’s salary will be cut under this proposal, only increased. No teacher’s salary will be based on pay-for-performance; teachers will only earn bonuses above and beyond the base salary of steps and lanes through the pay-for-performance plan.

Myth: Students Come First takes away local control.
Fact: The exact opposite is true. Students Come First gives local school boards, districts, and parents greater flexibility and control than they’ve ever had before. Often, those who are opposed to Students Come First use “local control” as a catch-all for fighting against reform and change. Remember, local control does not mean union control. Local school boards – those elected to make education decisions in their local community – will continue to implement objectives defined by the Legislature, as is the practice today,

Myth: If the state would cut funding across the board, remove the provision of “Use It or Lose It” and allow districts to choose how to allocate funding, teachers would not lose their jobs and class sizes wouldn’t increase.
Fact: With the use it or lose it provision in place, the state ensures districts hire a certain number of teachers each year. By removing the use it or lose it provision, districts would not have to employ a certain number of teachers next year. Therefore, by removing this provision, it only gives districts further flexibility to eliminate more teaching positions and increase class sizes above the Students Come First plan.

Myth: Educational stakeholders were not included in the development of the plan.
Fact: As State Superintendent, I have worked with the Idaho Education Association as well as other stakeholder groups on education policy in the state of Idaho. Together, we both serve on the Education Alliance of Idaho and worked to develop recommendations for moving education forward in our state. These recommendations and ideas are included in the Students Come First plan. In addition, I worked with the leaders of the IEA and other stakeholder groups for more than a year to develop and reach agreement on the pay-for-performance plan that is now part of the Students Come First legislation. The Education Alliance of Idaho recommendations and the pay-for-performance plan were both included in Idaho’s Race to the Top application, and we held a series of regional public meetings to get feedback on these ideas in 2009 and 2010. In these and many other ways, I have worked with Idaho teachers since I have served as State Superintendent and will continue to do so in the future. The Students Come First plan put these recommendations into action and creates a way for our schools to get back onto firm financial footing.

Myth: Students won’t be accepted to college and universities if they take online courses in high school.
Fact: That’s not true. In fact, top universities in the country, including Stanford University, accept and welcome students who have taken online courses.

Myth: Class sizes will grow by 4 or more students.
Fact: The Students Come First plan proposes a slight increase in the student-teacher ratio by 1-2 students in grades 4-12 gradually over the next five years in order to save the state $500 million. Under this plan, the state will fund a student-teacher ratio of 19.8, on average, over the next five years. Ultimate decisions about staffing and class size remain with the local school board.

Myth: The legislation eliminates the requirement that districts bargain in “good faith” with their employees.
Fact: The requirement to negotiate in “good faith” is currently in Idaho Code. The Students Come First legislation does not remove it.

Myth: Students will lose music, art and shop classes if Students Come First passes.
Fact: By implementing Students Come First, local districts will be in a better financial position to save electives. If this plan isn’t implemented, the Legislature will cut $35-$80 million or more from the public schools budget. Schools have already cut electives, such as music, art and physical education, because of last year’s budget cuts, and this is likely continue if more is cut.

Myth: Students Come First will cost property taxpayers more.
Fact: No local property taxes are used to determine state payments to K-12 public schools. Funding for education was shifted from property tax revenue in the special session of 2006. In the past two years, many districts have run supplemental levies to cover revenues that have been cut from the state budget, such as teacher pay and maintenance. This funding will be restored through Students Come First.

Myth: Online courses will be taken in addition to a full course load during the school day.
Fact: Not true. The state will require every student to take 6 credits online in order to graduate, beginning with the Class of 2016. Those classes will be taken during the school day – not above and beyond the school day. The local school board would determine which courses are delivered online and how they are delivered. Online courses can be delivered via the Idaho Education Network, through a provider like Idaho Digital Learning Academy (IDLA), or through a blended model developed at the local level.

Myth: Students Come First will get rid of kindergarten.
Fact: The legislation recently introduced to change the funding mechanism for kindergarten is not part of Students Come First. It is a separate bill sponsored by Representative Thayn. The State Department of Education has not yet fully reviewed this legislation. However, we recognize that kindergarten remains an important choice for many parents in order to prepare their children for first grade. The Students Come First plan will help preserve kindergarten programs in Idaho schools.

Myth: The Students Come First plan cannot operate on reduced funding.
Fact: Not true. The Students Come First plan is actually the best option for school districts if the state reduces funding further than the initial estimate of $35 million. The reason that changing the system is the best choice is this: If we cut the budget again at the state level, we will leave local districts – and taxpayers – holding the bag. They will have less revenue from the state but will have the same cost structure in place, the same class sizes, the same staff, etc. Instead, we must spend what we have differently. We cannot just reduce revenues at the state level; we must also reduce the costs our districts bear. That is the reason the Students Come First plan will slightly increase the student-teacher ratio and reduce the number of teaching positions statewide.

idahostudentscomefirst@gmail.com