Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education

Obama's Ed Pick

I would like to laud Obama's pick for Secretary of Education. Arne Duncan is a good man, who I had the pleasure to work with, albeit tangentially, back in high school. He's an old friend of my mentor/AP Euro teacher/Citizen Club sponsor/basketball coach, John Naisbitt, and Duncan helped Citizen Club, the political discussion group my friends and I started in high school, hook up with an inner city school to create a sort of urban-suburban domestic exchange. That was a great experience and I'm thankful to Duncan for facilitating that opportunity.

Beyond that, Duncan seems to be on the right side of many education issues, especially with his desire not to coddle unions and his apparent support for experimenting further with voucher systems.

Blagastrophe

Obviously, Rod Blagojevich is toxic to anyone who comes near him, and Obama is no exception. There are many questions about his response to the entire debacle. It clearly appeared as though he was trying to hide something, but that's nothing new. What President hasn't tried to hide information from the public?

Here is a pair of articles about the Obama response to the Blagastrophe. Unfortunately a few other links I saved on the same subject no longer work.

Obama damage control - Politico.com
Rendell: Obama bungled Blago response - Politico.com

Oh and here's the RNC's ad highlighting the relationship between Obama and Blago.

RNC hightlights Obama-Blago relationship - Politco.com

Equality of Opportunity from Education

After watching Geoffrey Canada on the Colbert Report, I decided to take a look at the education program he's part of in Brooklyn. It seems like the right mindset - help individuals in low income families to help themselves by giving them a high quality education from birth through college. If this was a nationwide program that helped all of the nation's poor, this would obviate the need for an extensive welfare system, saving us countless taxpayer dollars. Unlike welfare, education is a long term fix, setting up new generations with stability who can pass on that stability to the next generation, and so on and so forth.

Here's the Harlem Children's Zone website. Not sure of the exact construct of the program, but the basic principles Mr. Canada discussed on the Report were solid.

Hope for the GOP

Yes, there's hope amid the past few months of darkness for the GOP. Luckily, the reliability of the Democrat failure was staved off only by the Obamamania that swept the nation and caused an inordinate amount of kool-aid to be drunk. It appears that they're back to the old ways, with much help from everyone's favorite Governor (well, at least of the mere 7% of Illinoisan who approve of the job he's doing). Personally, I couldn't be happier with Blago. There were already extensive allegations of corruption against him, but he didn't want there to be any shades of gray in it. Wonderful.

Anyway, here's the article that spurred this post: Scandal, appointments give GOP hope - Politico.com

Random Acts of Kindness

This article makes me smile. If only more people in the world were like these individuals:

Secret Santas in 3 states spread cheer, $100 bills

The Bush-Kennedy Bipartisan Education Reform Bill

So Caroline Kennedy is interested in Clinton's NY Senate Seat and Jeb Bush is interested in Martinez's FL Senate Seat, and the two share at least one thing in common: one of their top issues is education. This is a long shot prediction, because it requires the two to actually end up in the US Senate and then to actually agree on things, but I'm going to make the bold prediction that the 112th Congress (the one following the 2010 elections) will produce a landmark education bill headed up by two of the most famous names in American political history, Kennedy and Bush. What the bill will actually hold, that is anyone's guess, but imagine the impact that bill would have.

Obama abandons windfall profits tax on oil companies

Barack's Windfall Reversal - WSJ.com

Thank goodness Obama is smart enough to change his mind on some of his terrible ideas during the campaign. Clearly he was willing to say whatever he needed to in order to appease his base and liberal idiots like Dick Durbin.

One of Durbin's most infuriating lines ever is his argument that oil companies have engaged in "profit-taking." This sham of a phrase was clearly designed to accuse oil companies of doing something wrong, in spite of the fact earning a profit is at the heart of the American dream (as well as in spite of a number of other points mentioned in the WSJ column linked above). As I mentioned to a friend yesterday, the phrase "makes my blood boil every time, because it's such a slimy way to make the argument. It's branding. Pathetic, disgusting, false, anti-American branding." I may not agree with Obama on much, but I will thank him for putting this stupid idea behind us.

Blago stealing from IL taxpayers

Blago is routinely criticized for being an awful governor, with the lowest approval rating in the country. There are countless reasons for this criticism, but few are as blatant and undisputed as his theft of taxpayer dollars just so he can sleep in his own bed every night. Instead of staying in Springfield while working there, driving back and forth, or even pocketing the bill to fly commercial, Blago chooses to fly on his own private jet, funded by the taxpayers, back to Chicago every night. This past week, while the Big 3 Automakers were driving from Detroit to DC, Blago flew his jet to Philly to beg Obama for federal money. The ridiculousness speaks for itself.

Blagojevich defends taking state plane to Philly - Daily Herald

"His use of the state airplane has often been criticized. He routinely uses it to commute from Chicago to the Capitol on the days he works in Springfield, leaving in the morning and flying back to Chicago at night."

"Lawmakers have frequently chafed at Blagojevich sticking them in Springfield for special sessions only to find him flying home each evening. Once he left a session early to fly back for a Blackhawks hockey game."

Thank a Soldier

Let's Say Thanks - www.letssaythanks.com

Pick out a card and Xerox will print it and mail it for free to a soldier currently stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, or elsewhere overseas. It's so simple, how could you not do it?

Another perspective on the Durbin-Ryan pardon request

Nothing too exciting, but clearly the blogosphere and the press are unanimously ridiculing Durbin for his suggestion of pardoning Ryan because his wife misses him...just like the families of everyone in prison.

http://www.championnews.net/article.php?sid=1447

Dick Durbin misses the point about Ryan

Dick Durbin misses the point about Ryan - chicagotribune.com

"Just before Thanksgiving, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) moistened his finger and, as he has done so many times in his career, held the digit aloft to check the prevailing winds."

Gotta love any article that starts this way. Durbin consistently refuses to stake out any positions of his own, but instead follows what he perceives to be public opinion, even though this perception is often terribly out of touch with reality.