MOMocrats™

Legislative Alert: H. R. 1 Funding Cuts to STEM Education, Special Education Scheduled to Take Effect March 18, 2011

UPDATED: as of 8:22 pm 3/1/11:

Education Week reports that today the House passed a two week extension for stopgap funding for all federal agencies. Given that the original deadline was March 4, 2011, it now appears final fiscal year budgeting must be approved by March 18, 2011.

Now $4 billion in education cuts were proposed on top of $5 billion in earlier cuts to education. Areas still on the chopping block:

The measure also includes significant cuts to education programs that would extend beyond the two-week period, including entirely scrapping the $250 million Striving Readers program, the $88 million Small Learning Communities Program, and the $66 million Even Start program. It also would get rid of the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships, or LEAP, program, financed at $64 million.

Democratic Senators Tom Harkin (IA) and Patty Murray (WA) voiced dissatisfaction with the budget's priorities. They've signalled they may try to reapportion or remove certain cuts in order to preserve early reading programs, for example.

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Democrats, Independents, and Moderate Republicans: The Hard Right Wants You to Run for the Hills. Run to the Polling Booths Instead.

November 2010 is a referendum on Republican obstruction extremism.

Keep repeating this phrase when dangerous nonsense happens, like...

This weekend, when rodeo-clown Glenn Beck and his Neo-Westboro Baptist Church, sure to be given wall-to-wall coverage by the cable tv Nonstop Carnival of Evil/Stupid, arrive in Washington, DC. Last August, it was nonsensical "death panels" pushed by a cheeto-stained Facebooker that managed to get everyone into a stir. It's amazing the damage one mean person in her pajamas can do from the basement of her home in the outer reaches of Wasilla.

Let's face it, while August may be the "silly season," ever since about March, 2009, the hard right has done nothing but drag the GOP in a more conservative direction. Like bad cosmetic surgery that pulls too tight, any further right and the GOP's ears will meet behind its head like a clasp on a cheap purse--any further right, and Pol Pot will be wondering why he didn't think to burn some Qu'rans first.

Go Watch It: Gulf Oil Spill on National Geographic

Tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT, 9 p.m. CT, the National Geographic Channel will air a documentary special on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, featuring exclusive video of the disaster and interviews with rescuers who witnessed the immediate aftermath of the explosion that caused the spill, and helped save the remaining crew.

As what may well be the worst environmental disaster in North American history continues to take shape, putting miles upon miles of ocean habitat and coastline ecosystems at grave ecological risk, it's important not to lose sight of the fact that the explosion itself also took the lives of 11 oil rig workers and put over 100 more workers, as well as their rescuers, in mortal danger.

Three Federal Court Rulings You Need to Know About

In the past week, three very important, highly topical rulings related to civil liberties were issued in federal courts. Each of them may affect your life directly, and, depending on whether they stand up to appeal, each may influence the direction of our society for decades to come.

In case you missed the news on these rulings in between the mainstream media's wall-to-wall coverage of Tiger Woods's return to golf and lively discussions of the theoretical proper usage of the word Topeka as a verb meaning "to search for something on the internet," here are the court decisions that I personally wish TV machine were paying a bit more attention to:

Climate Crisis: If a Three Year-Old Gets It, Why Don't Republicans?

I've been both dreading and looking forward to the conversation I had tonight with my three year-old daughter. We bought a book at the Monterey Bay Aquarium a few months ago called Why Are the Ice Caps Melting? in preparation, but I wanted the right moment. Tonight, she got in bed early and then (predictably) had a second wind and started talking with me. Somehow we got on the topic of climate, so I decided to give her the 411, topped off with the book.

Knowing my daughter's sensitive nature, I expected she would be sad, a little scared and concerned about the animals and plants, but I didn't anticipate so many questions. The book explores all aspects of the problem - garbage, auto pollution, aerosol sprays, storms, rising water levels and the greenhouse effect - it's like a mini version of Al Gore's slideshow. That's a lot to digest, but it's all connected.

What fascinated me about the discussion was how quickly my daughter seemed to grasp the problem: Too hot, plants dying, animals and people dying, big storms, houses flooding = bad. And she already wants to help. [Proud mom moment.] Meanwhile, the national policy discussion is slowly turning to security and its connection with "climate change" (aka euphemism of the century) and only now are Republicans starting to listen. To the credit of whoever made the decision to turn this into a talking point, it's a powerful one. Keep it going.

But really, if a three year-old can understand that a sick planet = dead people and animals, I have little patience with Ivy League educated legislators who gloss over the problem. Sick environment = sick people = weak security = hostile takeover = imminent destruction. Sure, there are combinations and permutations of the equation that are more complicated, involving Anthrax, methane, CO2 poisoning, etc. but the bottom line is the same. People aren't stupid, but we can be lazy and spoiled. And although the Republican party line previously was to say there's no proof, the continuous mounting evidence is now irrefutable. I also think the state of the economy is such that now people have already started tightening belts and being frugal, it's a little easier for them to look at going green as part of the solution. However, some legislators are still afraid to vote their conscience and take serious measures in terms of environmental legislation. We're making progress, just not enough.

So now I'm wondering: do we need to send a copy of this book to every member of Congress and every Republican still dragging their heels? Yes, it's made of paper, but it's small and can be passed around, loaned out, reused. It takes ten minutes to read and it's easy to understand for anyone - including the minimally educated. It may be more on the level of a grade schooler than a preschooler, but it's no more complicated than a ballot. It may be a tough conversation to have with policy makers and kids alike, but it's a lot easier than the alternative. Fifty years from now, our kids will all thank us for it, and I'd like to be around for that conversation.

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Sarah Granger also writes for the Huffington Post and her articles have appeared in ecofabulous, the Silicon Valley Moms Blog and Bay Area Parent. She formerly served as an Environmental Quality Commissioner for the City of Menlo Park, California.

Barbara Boxer: Lean, Mean & Green

I spent yesterday morning deep in the world of Silicon Valley cleantech in order to hear what Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works had to say about green energy, Silicon Valley and the economy. The event began late, but it was interesting and Senator Boxer's candor was refreshing. (For hashtag lovers, I live tweeted it, but if you like details, please read on...)

Texas battle over science curriculum can affect entire US, derail Obama's science commitment

As science goes in Texas, so might science go in the rest of the nation. And by goes, I mean "down the tubes."

The New York Times explains it best:

The latest round in a long-running battle over how evolution should be taught in Texas schools began in earnest Wednesday as the State Board of Education heard impassioned testimony from scientists and social conservatives on revising the science curriculum.

The debate here has far-reaching consequences; Texas is one of the nation’s biggest buyers of textbooks, and publishers are reluctant to produce different versions of the same material.

That's an important thing to keep in mind as the Texas State Board of Education engages in a semantics debate that boils down to whether science should be kept scientific ("analyze and evaluate scientific explanations using empirical evidence") or get watered down further to appease the religious right that wants to backdoor creationism into science curriculum ("strengths and weaknesses").