Facts & Figures Show "Hall Pass" Resistance to President Obama's Speech is Partisan Grandstanding

...aided and abetted by mainstream media that loves a spectacle.

Two surveys were done yesterday on the "appropriateness" of President Obama's speech to schoolchildren, one asking the opinions of parents of schoolkids in Fresno, CA, the other of parents of schoolkids in different parts of Missouri.

Liberals of course highly approved of President Obama's speech. In MO, the lowest approval by moderates was 74% for ANY president to address schoolchildren, and 78% approval for our current president to do so.

In the mid-section of California, far from the liberal cities of the north or south, moderates approved of Obama's speech to kids by 73%, same as they'd approve for any president.

Now I'm willing to bet at any given time, 25-30% of people polled will disapprove of anything, including breathing, sunshine, and kittens. These currently seem to be known as conservatives. *wink*

Is this a reason for the world to screech--and I mean SCREECH--to a halt?

No. I'd like to see school boards stop flailing about and get some equilibrium. I'd like to see broadcast media stop getting wee-wee'd up at every tiny little thing.

So parents of public school kids contemplating a walkout: wouldn't it just be easier and less economically punitive on your school and all the kids who attend to simply have a talk with your kid(s) about it over dinner, when you find out how their day went like you usually do?

Extra bonus--no need to scramble to find childcare for a kid who's staying out of school all day just to miss 20-30 minutes of something you may disagree with.

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k

Why You Should Be Mad That Some Parents Want to Boycott Public Schools on Sept 8

On September 8, 2009, President Obama will deliver a simple message urging schoolkids to be the best possible selves they can be--to stay in school and achieve. It's almost a tradition among presidents, Republican or Democratic, who have given similar messages. The suggested curriculum for teachers and classes who want to opt-in to the special broadcast of President Obama's speech has even been made available beforehand for parents to review, in case anyone's interested.

And this sparks a movement led by Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity to have parents keep their kids home from public school?  Like my sister MOMocrats, I'm disgusted by the irrationality and appalled by the vitriol.

Parents who are lucky enough to have jobs in this economy will say, "That's ridiculous--who'd watch my kids if they stay home?"

Parents who have the sense to not watch right-wing tv will scoff. "It's the president of our country and schoolkids learn about the presidents. Big deal."

Hall Pass Denied: Why I Haven't Got a Problem with the Presidential Address on Sept 8

Here's the thing. I'm not going to talk about the 41st president, the first President Bush and his creepy scary address to school kids about guns and drugs in 1989. Nor am I going to mention his pitch for his education plan and where our educational system ought to be by 2000 (hahahahaha) in 1991 (but you can view it here. I'm not going to talk about the disturbing undertone of racism and the disgusting outright racism I've heard from people in this discussion about President Obama speaking to schoolchildren about education. I'm not going to express my disgust with the vitriol self-described conservatives are hurling right now -- seizing on every chance they have to be as nasty and vicious as they can be about our President and people with progressive beliefs and ideas. I will, however, note the distinction between debating IDEAS and attacking people and kindly request that those who believe themselves to be conservatives, Republicans, TCOT, neocons, etc sit down and contemplate that difference.

What I am going to address is the single coherent point I've heard from people I like and respect and who also happen to object to the president addressing kids.

Run, Mama, Run*: Candidate for Congress Judy Chu Answers More Questions, Part 2

 (Intro to the series here. Part 1, here.)

Less than two weeks to vote for a congressional representative for CA CD-32! It's anticipated to be a low voter-turnout election, so it's vitally important for all registered voters to get out to the polls on May 19, 2009, for the special election.

(Hilda Solis and Judy Chu both wearing lucky red for Chinese New Year.)

Here's the promised Q&A between MOMocrats' Cynematic and Dr. Chu. It delves a little deeper into Dr. Chu's background, her first entry into politics, and concrete plans for representing her district and serving Americans in Congress. (*I should note that "Run, Mama, Run" is a MOMocrats series that features progressive pro-choice women of note as they compete for local, state, and federal offices. We use 'mama' in the literal sense--many of the women we feature are mothers of either very young or grown children--and in the more colloquial, friendly and intimate sense--of acknowledging metaphorical kinship with women in a greater struggle for justice that benefits all. In each case, we leave it to the candidate to reveal and discuss the particulars of her family life as she wishes.)

Florida State Legislature Threatens to Cut Library Funding

The Florida State Legislature's House and Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Conference Committee has recommended that the state cut $21.2 million from its budget by eliminating all state funding for public libraries.

During a time when more and more people affected by the recession are using public libraries to provide books and free educational activities for their children, access the internet to search for jobs, and borrow books to research a new career or study for standardized tests as preparation for going back to school, the last thing citizens of any state need is for several of their local public libraries to cut hours or shut down.

But according to the Florida Library Association, that is precisely what will happen in Florida if the state legislature proceeds with this plan. That's why the FLA is asking Florida residents to take action to save Florida's public libraries by contacting their local representatives, Florida Governor Charlie Crist (Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com) and the media to let the Florida legislature know how losing public libraries would impact the people of Florida.

Hey, Florida: If you're looking for ways to save money, you might want to start with the salaries of the people who want to cut off kids' access to free books.

H/T Neil Gaiman. Yes, that one.

First Lady Michelle Obama's First 100 Days

President Obama has a work ethic like nobody's business. Already, in the space of 100 days, he's signed laws (or reversed harmful Bush-era policies) that benefit women in 14 different key ways.

But there's no moss growing on First Lady Michelle Obama either. And it's clear there's a supportive dynamic between the legislation President Obama signs and the causes Mrs. Obama champions. Within days of moving into the White House, President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Michelle Obama led the celebration of the signing and tribute to Ms. Ledbetter.

Run, Mama, Run: Congressional Candidate Judy Chu Answers Political Bloggers' Questions, Part 1

Recently Dr. Judy Chu made herself available to numerous political bloggers to answer questions about her background and her positions on several local initiatives that are up for a vote during the May 19 special election. I was pleased to be on the conference call, as throughout the 1990s, I'd heard a great deal about her time as mayor of Monterey Park, and how the demographics of the San Gabriel Valley were changing now that many immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the People's Republic of China were settling there. Now, much of the San Gabriel Valley is Chinese or Vietnamese restaurants, ethnic grocery stores, small ethnic businesses, Latino eateries, and tutoring academies for children.

Dr. Chu, a community college professor and former Garvey school board member, city council member, then mayor, has had a lengthy career based in the San Gabriel Valley. After several years as mayor of Monterey Park, she ran for California State Assembly and served there for three terms. From there, she successfully ran for the State Board of Equalization, the nation's only tax policy-making entity staffed with elected officials. She now serves as Vice Chair of the State Board of Equalization. Just a few days ago, she received the endorsement of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Viillraigosa.

In Other News This Week: Science (or not), Mountaintop mining (or not), and (no 'ors' here) Flournoy takes Afghan point, and Sebelius confirmation hearing and HHS Conscience Rule recension moving forward

In other news you may have missed this week:

• Texas narrowly avoids a quick trip to the dark ages when three Republican and four Democrat members of the Texas State Board of Education barely defeated seven socially conservative Republicans attempt to require science classes to teach evolution "weaknesses"
• Two Senators introduced legislation to ban mountaintop mining in their Appalachia Restoration Act
• NPR's Morning Edition reported that, "The point person for the new Afghanistan strategy at the Pentagon is Michele Flournoy, a well-respected analyst who worked in the Clinton administration and is now undersecretary for policy."
• Daily Women's Health Policy report says to watch for HHS Secretary-Designate Sebelius' confirmation hearing next week and read the Christian Science Monitor examination of Obama's plan to rescind HHS Provider 'Conscience' Rule

Read on for more details!

Economic Stimulus Reconciliation: Key Differences in House and Senate Bills

Now that the U.S. Senate has passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Senate version of the stimulus bill must be reconciled with the House version before the final legislation is sent to President Obama's desk. Though the different bills bear a similarly staggering final price tag—  $819.5 billion for the the House version, and $838.2 billion for the Senate's bill— the Senate plan makes some pretty drastic changes in certain key areas that many economists predict will weaken its economic impact, particularly in terms of job creation.

To appease Republican Senators in order to garner the supermajority needed to pass an emergency spending bill, the Senate bill cut billions of dollars in proposed government stimulus spending from the House stimulus package and replaced it with an expanded tax cut proposal. However, leading economic experts, including Moody's chief economist, Mark Zandi, contend that tax cuts actually have a far weaker effect on the economy than appropriately directed government spending, which means that if the Senate version of the bill wins out over the House plan, the bill's stimulative effect will be substantially weakened. 

The Center for American Progress predicts that the Senate version of the stimulus bill, which CSPAN reports proposes $545.6 billion in direct spending and $292.5 billion in tax cuts, would create 343,000 to 444,000 fewer jobs than the House version, which proposes $637.2 billion in spending and $182.2 billion in tax cuts. The Economic Policy Institute agrees that the Senate stimulus bill is inferior in terms of potential for job creation. And Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman says of Republican cuts to the Senate plan:

Would the Obama economic plan, if enacted, ensure that America won’t have its own lost decade? Not necessarily: a number of economists, myself included, think the plan falls short and should be substantially bigger. But the Obama plan would certainly improve our odds. And that’s why the efforts of Republicans to make the plan smaller and less effective — to turn it into little more than another round of Bush-style tax cuts — are so destructive.

Education Expert Laura Ewing Testifies about Science in Schools

MOMocrats are happy to welcome guest poster Laura Ewing. Ewing is a retired educator and current educational advocate in Texas. When the State Board of Education was conducting hearings recently about rephrasing standards in science curriculum, Ewing testified in favor of educationally---rather than political or religious---based science curriculum. She eloquently explained why scientific education is so crucial to students, especially for future progress. Following is her testimony:

Testimony by Laura Ewing, Friendswood, TX 

Dear Members of the SBOE:

      I am here today as a retired public school educator and as a person who cares so much about decisions impacting TEKS, testing and textbooks that I ran for the SBOE in 2008.  Most importantly, I am a parent of a son who has attended public schools in Fort Bend as a kindergartner and Friendswood from 1^st through 12^th grade.  He is now a college student at UTSA.

      I ask that you vote FOR the current language of the Science TEKS.  Our students must be educated with the ability to succeed in the 21^st century, and that means teaching them with scientific theories which have been corroborated through research and testing. 

      In December my family spent almost two weeks hiking in the Davis Mountains and Big Bend.  As I viewed the majesty of the mountains and terrain formed by volcanic action and oceanic movement, I marveled at God’s beautiful creations. And, I also realized that solid scientific study has determined that these structures are billions and millions of years old.  We visited with a paleontologist/archeologist who has discovered on his property the fossilized remains of a 75 million year old turtle, first of its genus and species.  It was important for my son to hear about the methods used in scientific research of these lands and this particular discovery.  Our trip allowed him to use his 21^st century scientific learning, which includes his critical thinking skills, to analyze the world around him.   There was no need to discuss whether or not the turtle has evolved.  Critical thinking skills were utilized in determining HOW the species has evolved.   I want for all of our 4.5 million public school children to continue to learn scientific methods that will allow them to be successful in their future endeavors and competitive in the 21^st century global economy.

      I have taught Sunday school at my local Methodist church for over a decade, and as our junior high students discussed the story of Adam and Eve this last Sunday, I realized again why I don’t want politicians politicizing what and how issues of faith will be taught in public schools.  The lesson reinforced the role that houses of worship need to play in educating our children in faith-based issues.  Our students need to be guided to their religious beliefs by their families so that they truly have freedom of religion.  Let’s support the role of public school education in teaching science and truly prepare our students for the 21^st century. I know that down the street there is at least one bill introduced to strip this body of much of its oversight powers because the majority vote decisions have not been following process and have politicized and jeopardized the education of our children.  You have the opportunity to show students, parents and the legislature that you can make educationally sound decisions and not ones that promote personal political agendas. Please open the door for our students to learn and be successful in today’s world. 

Thank you,

Laura Ewing