Franklin County Democrats

Another Important Voting Day in 2 Months – APRIL 3

Please support Education in Franklin County by supporting and campaigning for approval of
“Proposition I” – a proposal to expand and improve facilities in the School District of Washington. The plan includes construction of new facilities and renovation of existing buildings to provide the educational environment that our students deserve. The proposal is on the April 3 ballot.
Websites to help you:

http://citizensforgreatschools.org/cfgs/

http://www.facebook.com/SDofWashington

http://www.sdow-mo.schoolloop.com

if you click on the Quick Links bar, Prop I, you will get information about the proposition:

http://www.sdow-mo.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1325750068276

THANKS FOR CONSIDERING THIS REQUEST TO MAINTAIN THE QUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR OUR CHILDREN.

Missouri NEA Legislative Update    Week 6, No. 1, February 6, 2012

By Otto Fajen    MNEA Legislative Director

BUDGET COMMITTEES

The House Appropriations-Education Committee will meet on February 7 to begin the analyst markup phase for the DESE budget books for the K-12 schools budget.  The meeting gives committee members the opportunity to ask questions of staff regarding the various programs in the DESE budget.

VOTER ID

The House again debated HB 1104 (Shane Schoeller) on February 6, but did not bring the bill to a first round (Perfection) vote.  The bill is implementing legislation for SJR 2, regarding voter photo ID requirements, should it be approved by voters.  The bill requires a person seeking to vote in a public election to provide election officials a photo identification.  Missouri NEA believes voting is a constitutional right that should not be restricted by unnecessary voter photo identification requirements or other additional barriers to the voting franchise.  The Association opposes the bill.

We just knew this was coming …

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), a Mitt Romney surrogate, said Sunday that the improving economic situation is thanks to Republican governors, not President Obama.

“Look, I’m glad the economy is starting to recover but I think it’s because of what Republican governors are doing in their states. Not because of the president,” McDonnell said on CNN’s State of the Union.

“It’s been a complete failure of leadership,” he said of Obama.

You see, week before last the poor economy was all on account of Obama’s policies making things worse. But now that there are signs that things might be improving, well, that’s because of Republican governors like McDonnell. Never mind that Virginia was among the states that received the most federal stimulus funding in 2009.

Thanks to the substandard reporting of the American corporate media, especially on matters of economic policy, it is very hard to learn about how other nations operate their economies.  This is especially true if it involves the concept of more power and a better life for the 99% of people that don’t live on investment or inherited income.

Nation of Change featured How Swedes and Norwegians Broke the Power of the “1 Percent” to demonstrate that history shows us  many have used nonviolent struggle to change their lives and history.  It can happen here.

The 1 percent thereby lost its historic power to dominate the economy and society. Not until three decades later could the Conservatives return to a governing coalition, having by then accepted the new rules of the game, including a high degree of public ownership of the means of production, extremely progressive taxation, strong business regulation for the public good and the virtual abolition of poverty. When Conservatives eventually tried a fling with neoliberal policies, the economy generated a bubble and headed for disaster. (Sound familiar?)

Labor stepped in, seized the three largest banks, fired the top management, left the stockholders without a dime and refused to bail out any of the smaller banks. The well-purged Norwegian financial sector was not one of those countries that lurched into crisis in 2008; carefully regulated and much of it publicly owned, the sector was solid.

Although Norwegians may not tell you about this the first time you meet them, the fact remains that their society’s high level of freedom and broadly-shared prosperity began when workers and farmers, along with middle class allies, waged a nonviolent struggle that empowered the people to govern for the common good.

LOL

There are flickers of hope in our recovery and certainly they’re welcome,” the speaker said. “But the American people were promised by the president that unemployment would not exceed 8 percent. And here we are 36 straight months with unemployment over 8 percent.

President Obama promised to rescue the family station wagon after we drove it into a ditch but the paint got scratched in the process so he’s a failure. Now give us the keys back!

If this keeps up it’s going to put a crimp in the GOP’s narrative that Obama’s policies have made things worse.

From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics …

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January, and the
unemployment rate decreased to 8.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Job growth was widespread in the private
sector, with large employment gains in professional and business
services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing. Government
employment changed little over the month.

That’s the lowest unemployment rate since 2009 when Obama had just been sworn in after the Bush Administration left the economy in a tailspin. Also in the BLS report, the private sector generated 257,000 jobs in December, while government jobs declined during the last 12 months. So much for the “Obama is a socialist” meme.

But don’t worry. By the time Dems get the economy nearly fixed the American people will reward them by putting Republicans back in charge so they can trash it and we can start the process all over again. This is how it has been going the last three decades. You’d think middle class working people would wise up already … but no.

Sure, the Koman Foundation’s break with Planned Parenthood has been a public relations disaster, but it’s also a terrible business decision. One of the best observations I’ve read on this point comes from Balloon Juice …

Check out list after list after list of Komen’s corporate sponsors. Do you think New Balance, Ford and Georgia-Pacific signed on for a public fight over Planned Parenthood? When Yoplait put a pink lid on its yogurt, did they do it to make it easier to boycott their products? Because that’s what’s going to happen. Unlike most boycotts, it’s easy to figure out which products you shouldn’t buy: anything that displays a pink ribbon with the Komen name.

Think about that. Businesses spent millions on co-branding with a non-controversial breast cancer charity. Suddenly, these same companies find themselves publicly in support of a “pro-life” breast cancer charity. That sends an entirely different message to consumers and is probably not the marketing plan they had in mind when they joined in solidarity with Komen. The pink ribbon they thought would be a complimentary image for their goods and services may now serve as a scarlet letter. It won’t surprise me if we see some lawsuits over this before it’s all over.

Missouri NEA Legislative Update
Week 5, No. 2, January 31, 2012
By Otto Fajen     
MNEA Legislative Director

ACTION ALERT:  HOUSE COMMITTEE TO HEAR TENURE REPEAL BILL

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee will hear HB 1526 (Scott Dieckhaus) on February 1.  The bill eliminates the current tenure law for new hires, and places new hires into a system of contracts of up to four years.  The bill also substantially changes the existing tenure law, eliminating seniority as a factor in decisions regarding reduction in force.  The Association strongly opposes the bill.

The bill also includes numerous mandates regarding teacher evaluation systems, such as requiring at least fifty percent of evaluations to be based on student test scores and prohibiting districts and employees from designing evaluation systems within collective bargaining negotiations.

ACTION NEEDED:  Your help is needed!  Please call, write or e-mail to urge your state representative to oppose HB 1526, the Tenure Repeal Bill. The following link will connect you to the MNEA Legislative Action Center Action Alert on HB 1526.

Type in your zip code and the alert will automatically be directed to your state representative.  The Action Alert contains a brief summary and a brief, editable message box to help you send an email to your state representative on the issue.   Your message will have a greater impact if you personalize the message and add your own concerns regarding the bill.

Write Your Representative

continue reading…

Missouri NEA Legislative Update
Week 5, No. 1, January 30, 2012
By Otto Fajen     MNEA Legislative Director

ACTION ALERT: VOTE “NO” ON PAYCHECK DECEPTION ATTACK ON WORKERS

The Senate may act on one or more bills attacking labor unions when the members convene for floor debate during this week’s session.  The Senate Small Business and Industry Committee approved SCS/SBs 553 and 435 (Dan Brown) and the bill is on the Senate calendar for floor debate.    The bill eliminates authorization for public labor union payroll deductions for payment of union dues. The bill also revises authorization for public labor union payroll deductions for political action.

The Association strongly opposes the bill.  This attack is just more of the same old politics.  All employees have the constitutional right to an effective union voice in their employment and to work together to support  political campaigns without undue interference from state policies that would undermine those rights.

ACTION NEEDED:  Your help is needed!  Please call, write or e-mail to urge your state senator to oppose SCS/SBs 553 and 435, the paycheck deception attack. The following link will connect you to the MNEA Legislative Action Center Action Alert on SCS/SBs 553 and 435.

Type in your zip code and the alert will automatically be directed to your state senator.  The Action Alert contains a brief summary and a brief, editable message box to help you send an email to your state senator on the issue.   Your message will have a greater impact if you personalize the message and add your own concerns regarding the bill.

Write Your Senator

continue reading…

The Editor of Time Magazine, Fareed Zakaria, has penned a transformative article -  The Case for Making It in the USA.  How is it transformative?  Check this out,

President Obama spoke forcefully in his Jan. 24 State of the Union address about the importance of reviving manufacturing in America. Economists tell us it’s a complex matter involving tax, trade and regulatory policy, exchange rates and educational skills. It is. But when you move from high-level policy to specific cases, you will often find one element that is rarely talked about: a foreign government’s role in boosting its domestic manufacturers with specific loans, subsidies, streamlined regulations and benefits. In effect, these governments–many in Asia, though some in Europe as well–have a national industrial policy to help manufacturers.