New Study: Florida Medicaid expansion is unwise

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jmi policy briefAlthough a Medicaid expansion under the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) seems unlikely in the 2014 Legislative Session, Florida’s leaders will continue to grapple with the issue. A new policy brief from The James Madison Institute (JMI) explores the many problems with Medicaid and alternative solutions that can ensure those in need attain better access to timely medical care.

“Doubling down on the flaws of the current Medicaid program and its expansion are risky propositions for Florida,” said Dr. Bob McClure, JMI president and CEO. “We too want to see improved access to health care for the underinsured and the uninsured. However, simply expanding a program that is unreliable and filled with broken promises on the premise that the federal government is dangling money to the states is fool’s gold. Market reforms that put patients first instead of bureaucrats will provide better outcomes for Floridians such as quality care, lower costs and expansion of coverage.”

“Alternatives to Expanding Florida’s Medicaid Program” reminds Floridians that:

  • Over the last 12 years, Medicaid in Florida has grown five times as fast as general revenue and currently accounts for 30 percent of the state budget.
  • There are flaws with the viewpoint that this is a “good deal” for Florida. The federal government’s promise to fund 100 percent of the cost is:

    – Temporary: There is no guarantee that a future Congress and administration will maintain this higher match for those added to the Medicaid program under the new eligibility guidelines (those with incomes up to 138 percent of the federally defined poverty level).
    – Only applicable to the newly eligible: The federal government’s promise does not cover the cost of patient additions to the current, state-funded Medicaid program (those that already qualify, but have not yet enrolled) Our current Medicaid program continues to grow and consume state funds that could otherwise be used for other important priorities such as education and public safety.
    – Funded by tax dollars    : Taxpayers in Florida are still footing the bill for a Medicaid expansion; it’s not “free” money. The end result of the federal government providing funds for the program versus the state is the same for Floridians: increased costs, more taxes, slower growth and another step for the nation toward greater debt.

“The economics of the Medicaid expansion are bad, but the health care involved for the underserved is even worse,” said Jason Fodeman, M.D., JMI adjunct scholar and author of the policy brief. “Medicaid is beleaguered by bureaucracy, fraud, rising expenditures, restricted access, and compromised patient care. By applying further strain to an already strained system, expansion could very well worsen the quality of the care that current Medicaid patients receive.”
Fodeman explains that the current problems that plague the Medicaid program are deeply rooted at the core of the Medicaid statute and cannot be rectified without comprehensive Medicaid reform.  He lists several issues that leave state lawmakers with few options to constrain costs other than paying providers less. He points out that Florida Medicaid reimbursements are lower than the national averages.

“Medicaid’s business model is not a free lunch or an example of free-market economics. Rather it is centralized price controls – nothing more than the government bludgeoning prices down by fiat,” said Fodeman. “Ultimately, these price controls are passed along to Medicaid patients in the form of diminished access, long waits for appointments, and compromised care.”

The policy brief outlines health system reforms at the state and federal level that could provide an alternative to expanding the Medicaid program including:

  • Telemedicine: Implement and expand telemedicine, especially into the state’s Medicaid program. Florida could selectively incorporate telemedicine into high-cost areas where this new discipline can be used to enhance access, improve efficiency, and lower overall costs of the program.
  • Price Transparency: Pool and make public pricing data to give patients clearer insight into the costs of medical interventions, thereby giving them more tools to become smarter consumers of health care dollars. Increased public awareness would also put pressure on higher-cost suppliers to lower their prices to attract patients.
  • Pro Bono Care: Provide a malpractice haven under the Federal Tort Claims Act that would protect doctors who would like to provide “charity care.” The cost of malpractice insurance can be daunting, especially in certain specialties and in certain geographic regions of the state. Florida could consider substituting an administrative system akin to the workers’ compensation system used for patients who incur an injury or illness in the workplace. In addition, the state could arrange for forgiveness of the medical school loans for those providers who agree to “work off” the obligation by donating a stipulated amount of services during a given time period.
  • Provide Health Insurance: Provide a Health Savings Account (HSA) with a reasonable deductible. This could be considerably cheaper than placing these patients into Medicaid, and it would also be likely to provide them with better access to quality care. For those who could not pay the deductible, grants, donations, charity care and other means could be created at the local level to assist.

“Reasons abound as to why Florida and nearly half of the states in the nation have concluded that a Medicaid expansion under PPACA provisions is unwise,” said Fodeman. “Florida has an obligation to use the debate as an opportunity to reform its health care delivery system to ensure that the most financially fragile and medically vulnerable receive the care they need and deserve.”

Read the full policy brief, “Alternatives to Expanding Florida’s Medicaid Program” here.

Refusing to Associate Isn’t Wrong by Brian Lasorsa

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I was troubled by a column that ran in The Freeman last week. Many other libertarians and conservatives were, too. Author Casey Given offered a convoluted critique of Arizona’s Senate Bill 1062, colloquially known as the “antigay bill” and the “religious liberty bill,” depending on whom you ask. Given claimed that hidden beneath the proposed legislation lurks a “homophobic push to protect the right to discriminate against gays.”

To be clear, the bill makes no reference to sexuality. Not a single line, word, nor letter alludes to sexual orientation. Given acknowledges this but, like other critics, believes that we can deduce malice through a faulty analysis of existing federal statutes. In other words, since the Civil Rights Act (CRA) only prohibits discrimination against race, sex, and religion, and since SB 1062 isn’t an override of the CRA, Arizona must be trying to take advantage of certain loopholes.

We have a term for this: cherry-picking.

SB 1062 does one thing and one thing only: It aligns Arizona state law with the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, expanding the circumstances under which religious liberty can be used as a defense against claims of discrimination in court. “It does not (unlike the recent, equally controversial Kansas law) prescribe the outcomes of those hearings,” Brandon McGinley writes at The Federalist. That means, had SB 1062 passed, a jury still would have been able to find an individual guilty of unlawful discrimination if his or her religious freedoms weren’t in jeopardy of facing “substantial burden” otherwise.

The definition of “substantial burden” is a question for the courts. It can pertain to several categories of people—homosexuals, polygamists, unwed sexual partners—as well as to a diverse group of activities, including meal service and overnight accommodations. Was the legislation reactionary? Who knows? Maybe its sponsors’ actions were sparked by the Christian woman in New Mexico who declined to photograph a lesbian couple’s commitment ceremony and was subsequently charged with (and fined $7,000 for) violating the state’s Human Rights Act. Or maybe they were further encouraged when a husband and wife in Oregon, citing their Christian values, refused to bake a cake for another lesbian couple’s wedding and were forced to shut down their business.

Either way, the motivations behind these laws and the laws’ effects in the real world are completely separate discussions. And to condemn a state legislature as “bigoted” while failing to elucidate the broad and comprehensive nature of the bill in question is not only a cheap rhetorical ploy but also a careless interpretation of its text.

Let’s move past Arizona’s legislation, though. Libertarianism is deeply rooted in the freedom of association. The author’s portrayal of this right as an “excuse” seemed to be the highest point of contention for readers. As one commenter explained, “The thing that bothers me isn’t different viewpoints within libertarianism. Rather, it is promoting viewpoints that try to change the meaning of libertarianism from consistent defense of liberty to something quite different.” If libertarians can defend the KKK’s right to free speech without being charged with racism, we should be able to defend discriminatory business practices—be they against homosexuals, blacks, or any other category of human beings—without facing accusations of bigotry, a criticism much more fit for the cultural realm than the political one.

Individual liberty is not a social commentary. It doesn’t aim to form a consensus on the “right” or “wrong” way to exercise a freedom; it merely acknowledges the virtue of that freedom’s existence. Discrimination is nothing except the act of making a distinction, and in our communities it can have an ordering function as effective as those which govern the marketplace.

ABOUT BRIAN LASORSA

Brian LaSorsa is a columnist in the United States. He is an advocate of the Austrian School of economics and enjoys spending money on classic literature and slasher films.

Malmo, Sweden: “L’enlevement d’Europe” – The Rape of Europa

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Sweden is the seventh richest country in the world in terms of GDP per capita and its high standard of living.  It is famous for supporting the Norwegian resistance during World War II; for helping to rescue Danish Jews from deportation to concentration camps; and for its native son, Raoul Wallenberg, who rescued up to 100,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.

We recognize Sweden as the country that gave us  the incomparable Ingrid Bergman and Greta Garbo, writers Ingmar Bergman and August Strindberg,  IKEA furniture, high-quality steel production, the Volvo, the pop group ABBA, and Pippi Longstocking. 

But Sweden’s latest source of prominence, its third largest city, Malmo, founded c. 1275, is now known as the City to Leave.  Its Jewish population is fleeing, as Malmo has become home to Muslim immigrants, antisemitism and violence, which has earned for Sweden the dubious distinction of Rape Capital of the World.  How is it possible for the Muslims to comprise a mere 6% of Sweden’s population, yet be responsible for 77% of the rapes committed?  According to the Counter Jihad report, one in four Swedish women will be raped, some killed, as sexual assaults increase by 500%.

Now, since President Obama invited 80,000 Muslims into the United States, with a promise of 100,000 per year over the next five years, and studies show that Islamic immigration brings a rise in rates of rape and molestation, there can be no doubt that we will see a corresponding increase in rape crime in America accordingly.

Is rape a fundamental part of Muslim culture?  Egyptian-born Nonie Darwish, in her book,  And Now They Call Me Infidel, explains the Muslim mentality that is formed by their family dynamics and  interaction and by constant dissatisfaction.

Youths may not date, fall in love, or even communicate with the opposite sex.  Women are severely oppressed from childhood, and not allowed to form friendships. A woman is the source of a man’s pride or shame. She is made to suffer ritual female genital mutilation; her physical appearance must be concealed; she is prohibited from living as freely as men; and she must obey strict Shari’a law – to either suffer in a polygamous marriage that encourages jealousy and diminishes her importance, or to become an Islamic slave in a brief marriage – as brief as a few hours. Divorce is the male’s option, as easy as saying “I divorce you.”  Since there is no common property between husband and wife, and his property does not automatically go to the wife after his death, the “one-night stand” is legal under Shari’a law.

There are also a number of taboos and laws that not only undermine a woman’s security and self-respect, but also dominate her relationship to her children and others.  The result is an environment that sets women up against each other, poisoned with distrust, grief, isolation, and financial insecurity.

What better way of defining the exploitation of sexual favors, forced labor or services, slavery or similar practices of servitude of one person (an underage female) by her parent to another adult (called a husband), than by human trafficking – particularly when deception and coercion are used by the parent who transfers parental custody to the stranger, and there is an exchange of payment in return.

Men are also impacted by Shari’a law.  Because his honor is determined by the female’s behavior, he becomes despotic, and may even kill his wife and children to endorse  his dignity.  The men are first raised by their unhappy, demoralized mothers  in a sexually oppressive society, where he is also economically unable to keep up with the older men who can buy any number of liaisons and support as many as four wives. The first-born son is also needed as protection of his mother against her husband’s unjust treatment.  All this leads to interlocking loyalties, fears, and unusual bonding, if any.

Polygamy deprives everyone of the intimacy and security found in a monogamous or faithful marriage. Although the man governs his women, in all other circumstances, he endures indignity, humility, and degradation from all who live within a brutal regime.   With abuse in every part of his life, including the workplace, he is disaffected, angry, ripe for fundamentalism – even eager to give up his life for the promise of heaven and the elusive sexual satisfaction.

The populace is taught to stay in the tribe, to never befriend the outsiders, and to fervently focus on hating Israel and the West, even if they know nothing about those countries or people.  The hate becomes their identity, blaming the West for their culture’s failure.  If their military leadership fails, if life is difficult, the economy bad, they feel less victimized if they can place the blame elsewhere. It’s a simple fact that no one takes responsibility for anything in Islam and everyone blames everyone else.

A polygamous society lacks cohesion and fellowship and is based on distrust, with hatred being at the surface, boiling and ready to explode against the most vulnerable. This is nihilism* – the man’s harming the woman, stealing her humanity and security.  It is what the jihadist hopes to do to the civilization that he has invaded.

And this all leads to an article that came to my attention – students in a biology class at the University of Iowa are being taught that rape is “human nature.”  Regarding criminalsexual assaults as human nature is obviously offensive and dismissive, a way of allowing or even encouraging the behavior to continue.  While certain university professors suggested rape “has an evolutionary origin … genetically developed strategy sustained over generations of human life…a successful reproductive strategy,” it is entirely unacceptable in a civilized society, an act for which the perpetrator must be severely punished.

The sanctioning of rape is being insinuated into our culture through our youth as yet another tentacle of Islamization.  We will not accept cruelty and criminal behavior as human nature.  We have evolved considerably since a code of high morality, ethics, compassion and justice was put into place by the Hebrews during the Bronze/Iron age.  We will not sink to the depths of degradation offered by a culture that, centuries later, brought the antithesis of our society to the world.

What the students should be learning is that not all cultures are civilized, that it is important to realize and nurture our own exceptionalism compared to those that are bent on humanity’s destruction, and that an ideal civilization controls, contains, and rejects the elements of human nature that harm and devalue others – women, for example.  This is one of many of the proverbial slippery slopes, where the liberal thinker accommodates the Islamist, and rejects morality,  the American Constitution, and the future designed for us by our Founding Fathers.

*Ni·hil·ism

1. total rejection of established laws and institutions.

2. anarchy, terrorism, or other revolutionary activity.

3. total and absolute destructiveness, especially toward the world at large and including oneself.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is by Willy von Beckerath titled -“L’enlevement d’Europe” – The Rape of Europa.

WARNING: Food Fetish on Campus

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Colleges and universities are embracing “food studies” primarily as another way of pushing leftist beliefs.

In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne describes one of the characters at the Custom House who is well suited to government work. He is the Inspector, an epicurean so devoid of imagination, feeling, and soul that he is likened to “the beasts of the field.” His mental capacities are limited to the ability to “recollect the good dinners which it had made no small portion of the happiness of his life to eat.”

I was reminded of that passage as I learned about the latest “studies” endeavor being cooked up on American college campuses: “food studies.”

These days, even in their required classes, students are not likely to get exposure to philosophical concepts like Epicureanism, or to classical authors such as Hawthorne. They’re more apt to take courses that focus on food itself, that tell them essentially, “You are what you eat.”  Food, in other words, carries moral meanings. What you eat and how you eat define you as a moral person, with the new standards of morality aligning with the other lessons of the contemporary campus on race, class, sustainability, animal rights, and gender.

The latest additions have little to do with legitimate intellectual endeavors like agriculture or nutrition science. Instead, food becomes another lens through which to examine oppression, sustainability, and multiculturalism.

A surprising number of universities have gone in this direction. The New School has an undergraduate program in food studies, while several offer master’s level programs: Chatham University, New York University, Boston University (a graduate certificate); and New Mexico State University (a graduate-level minor). The Graduate Center of the City University of New York offers an interdisciplinary concentration, and Indiana University even a Ph.D. concentration in Anthropology of Food.

Anthropology is one source of this focus on food, and a legitimate one.  At Emory University the Anthropology Department supervises graduates from the School of Public Health and the Department of Nutrition, and offers a specialization in “Food, Nutrition, and Anthropology.”

At Spelman College, anthropology professor Daryl White has taught a course called “Food and Culture” for twenty years.  It’s particularly popular among International Studies students, says White, because “Food is the universal solvent. You can talk about it when you can’t talk about anything else.”

Undoubtedly, food plays a role in cross-cultural communication. But the sociologist authors of Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape (the textbook White uses in his current course) present food as significant in a way that goes well beyond cross-cultural communication, as indicated bysuch chapters as “Eating Authentically” and “The Culinary Other.” They state that “foodies” can appreciate the “peasant cook,” the street vendor, and the master chef. Food studies have become part of the agenda of social justice and multiculturalism, which have come to infiltrate much of the humanities.

Food studies concerns do go beyond food, Professor White acknowledged in an interview in an Atlanta alternative weekly newspaper that ranged into the areas of Southern culture, racism, and Paula Deen. The study of popular culture figures and racism, of course, have long been edging out the traditional subjects on our campuses.

Food studies will now become a minor at Spelman.  It’s an effort White has been spearheading with Kimberley Jackson, who teaches a course on food chemistry, an elective that can fulfill a science requirement for the non-science major.

The effort for a food studies minor began with nine faculty members applying for and receiving a Mellon grant, White told me. After expected approval at the April curriculum committee meeting, courses should be available in the fall semester in several departments, including economics. A biologist and Chinese language expert will jointly offer a course that explores the development of Chinese cuisine, and the role of lactose intolerance. In the English department a course will investigate food imagery in Toni Morrison’s novels.

You can find the mania over food studies in many states, including North Carolina. At UNC-Chapel Hill, students in the Department of Geography can take “Critical Food Studies,” and others can develop interdisciplinary programs that incorporate courses such as “Food in American Culture” provided through the department of American Studies.

Food studies is also a focus of graduate research in Chapel Hill’s English and Comparative Literature Department. Rachel Norman describes her dissertation on Arab-American literature as “focusing on representations of language and food as practices of oral identity.”  Inger S.B. Brodey, associate professor, lists as among the courses she teaches Asian Food Rituals, cross-listed with Asian Studies.  And Jessica Martel’s dissertation is on “Modernist Form and Imperial Food Politics, 1890-1922.”

Food studies has made its way even down to freshman composition.  Apparently responding to market demand, the textbook publisher Bedford is offering Food Matters with a sample syllabus and recommended “resources” for an entire semester devoted to food studies.  Among the resources are the “documentaries” Forks Over Knives (which advocates a low-fat whole-food, plant-based diet) and Super Size Me (about the evils of the fast food industry), and the books, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser, Barbara Kingsolver’s memoir of her year eating locally, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and the 1971 bestseller about the environmental impact of meat production, Diet for a Small Planet.

Perhaps for the freshman who did not realize he was signing up for a “food studies” composition class, the model syllabus begins by asking, “Do you eat breakfast?  Is it from a box, your garden, or the university cafeteria?” with more questions until: “Have you ever thought about where your food comes from?” Disarming the critic who might think these critiques are “overblown,” Holly Bauer, the author, who teaches English at UC San Diego, tells the student that the issue is “contested terrain” to explore and write about.

There is not much “contesting” among the essays in the book, however.  All seem to harp on  political themes relating to food: “Doberge Cake after Katrina,” by Amy Cyrex Sins, and “Equality for Animals,” by Peter Singer, Princeton bioethics professor. Bedford also includes an excerpt from Michelle Obama’s book, American Grown: The Story of One White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Pyramid and Food Plate Nutrition Guidelines.

The prompts for essays convey the idea that eating is fraught with ideological choices. Prompt #1 asks, “What is food?  What is the purpose of food?  What determines what we eat?”  Prompt #2 asks, “What does it mean to eat ethically?” and #3 asks, “What is the future of food?” as it notes the contributors’ concerns with climate change, global hunger, and labor injustice.

Thus, rather than reading examples of exemplary prose and being asked to write about important issues, students are fed a steady stream of polemics and are given loaded topic questions.

To put the primary focus on food, rather than ideas and writing, is to act in the manner of Hawthorne’s Inspector, I think.  A similar mistake in emphasis is evidenced in “Immanuel Kant, Cuisine, Fine Art,”  a paper to be presented at an upcoming conference by Texas Tech University history student David C. Simpson, who describes himself as “. . . researching my Master’s Thesis on the history of cuisine as fine art.”  Shouldn’t the primary focus be on Kant?

To be sure, many of the papers at the Food Studies Association conference in Prato, Italy, where Simpson will present, deal with important topics like food chemistry and health, and perhaps political systems (“Mafia and Italian Food Supply Chain”). Another upcoming conference, that of  the Association for the Study of Food and Society, also offers papers on scientific concerns, alongside such things as “Gender, Race, and Ethnicity” and “Art, Media, and Literary Analyses.”

And, finally, the Food Studies Caucus of the American Studies Association will hold several panels at itsmeeting, mostly on political topics, like “Food, Debt, and the Anti-Capitalist Imagination” and “How the Other Half Eats: Race and Food Reform from the Slaughterhouse to the White House.”

“Food studies” has become an academic growth area, adding to the deterioration of the humanities, and to the advancement of leftist ideologies. No doubt our universities will be producing many more “scholars” investigating all aspects of food: food and race, food and capitalism, food and gender, etc.  But we will have fewer graduates familiar with literary and philosophical masterpieces.  Fewer will be able to produce good writing—or real food.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is courtesy of Liz West from Boxborough, MA of a food basket. The photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. The use of this image does not in any way that suggests that Liz West endorses the author or your use of the work in this column.

FL District 13: Jolly wins, Sink sinks, now what?

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There was a special election for the Congressional District 13 seat in Florida. District 13 encompases Pinellas County. David Jolly defeated Democrat challenger Alex Sink, a former state Chief Financial Officer, by 3,500 votes or a 1.87 percent margin – 48.43 percent to 46.56 percent, according to the unofficial results from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections. Libertarian candidate Lucas Overby won 4.83 percent of the votes. Democrats hold a 1.0 percent edge in voter registration in District 13.

After every special election there is speculation about the implications for the next general election. Here are some interesting, and perhaps useful, quotes sent to me from Floridians, politicians and political prognosticators about the Republican win.

Reuters, “You can see the handprints of the national parties all over the race,” said Susan MacManus, a longtime political analyst and professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa. “It almost seems as if the 2012 presidential race never ended, and just the faces and the district changed.”

Peter Rice, Sarasota, FL. “It was assumed that Democrat Alex Sink would win this election, for she won this district in her 2010 run for FL governor (she lost by a very tiny bit).  Previously she was the Democrat elected chief financial officer of Florida.  She was a banker.  Her late husband (Bill McBride) was the Democrat candidate for governor in 2002, but lost closely to Jeb Bush.  Also, Sink being a female would have benefited from the majority of voters in Florida (and I assume FL-13) being females, many of whom vote for the female candidate by perhaps 5%.  This election is an ill sign for Obama et al. on 4 November 2014, the general election.  The voters of FL-13 sent a message to our Dear Leader, a message of NO.”

Washington Times, “Before the votes were tallied, Ana Navarro, a Republican Party strategist from Florida, warned against putting too much stock in the results. “The national implications of the results of this race in Florida have grown out of proportion,” Ms. Navarro said. “The spending by both parties turned into a game of chicken, and next thing they knew, they had spent over $10 million on a seat that has to go up for election again in eight months. “Yes, the national narrative on Obamacare and other policy issues matter,” she said. “And yes, the national spending has played a big role. But the old adage remains true: All politics is local. A lot is decided by the quality of the candidates and the campaigns they run. I think it will tell you more about that than anything else.”

The Examiner, “After Tuesday’s special election in Florida’s 13th Congressional District, DNC boss Debbie Wasserman Schultz spun the Republican win in true Orwellian fashion by claiming the GOP ‘underperformed’.”

The only November 2014 statewide race in Florida is for Governor. I agree with Ms. Navarro that all politics is local, the quality of the candidate and how they run their campaign are key factors. Governor Rick Scott is running on his record of job creation and an improved economy. Scott, like Jolly, has taken strong stands against Obama and his policies that hurt all Floridians.

I believe the District 13 race will have more of an impact on the race for the Governor’s mansion.

Sink’s loss does not bode well for Democrat candidate Charlie Crist, who, unlike Sink, fully embraces Obamacare as it is written. The Tampa Bay law firm Morgan & Morgan supported Sink and they also support Crist who is a partner in the firm. One issue not dealt with in District 13 was the medical marijuana ballot initiative. Democrats hope voters will turn out to vote on legalizing medical marijuana, an initiative funded by Morgan & Morgan. There are other statewide issues that will take center stage including: Common Core, property insurance and severe defense cuts. All these work against Democrats as they are Obama initiatives.

So, now what? Stay tuned, it will be a rough ride to Tuesday, November 4th in Florida.

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Is Facebook censoring conservative content?

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Recently I sat down with our website editor, Michele Hickford, to discuss social media analytics and recurring trends in order for us to better address the issues that matter most to our readers.

She looked at best performing stories, posts, and numbers of comments. We noticed there has been a precipitous decline in views and shares of individual stories in the first week of March on Facebook. The issue is that Facebook manipulates what stories show up in users’ news feeds. So if no one sees our stories, they don’t get read.

Of course in one year we went from about 197,000 to over 925,000 page “likes” overall. But you just have to wonder if someone at the Zuckerberg empire is regulating our traffic – is Facebook censoring conservative content? What’s curious about this is many of our fellow members of the Liberty Alliance are having the same issue.

So during my morning run, some thoughts and perspectives ran through my mind.

There is no debate that I am a strong conservative in my political ideology and governing principles. I believe wholeheartedly in the free marketplace of ideas where ingenuity and innovation thrive.

However, it seems the success of our Facebook page is being seen as a lucrative revenue source that Facebook wants a piece of. What I find so perplexing is that Facebook bubba Zuckerberg is a pretty cozy fella with President Obama — the most anti-free market president we have ever seen, a true progressive socialist.

So why is it that Zuckerberg — and let’s be honest, any business person, — jumps in bed with liberal progressives? If Zuckerberg is looking to make a profit off the endeavors of my conservative Facebook page, doesn’t that go contrary to the political crowd in which he circulates? I always found it ironic that someone like Michael Moore would say capitalism sucks, yet he charges money for people to see his movies — hypocritical?

So let’s see here, Mark Zuckerberg now wants to make more money off a conservative Facebook page so he can make more money to donate to more liberal progressive causes and candidates. So they can espouse their anti-free market ideology and expand the welfare nanny-state and cause my taxes to increase in order to pay for more “free stuff.”

Why shouldn’t we be able to utilize the Facebook traffic for free? After all, isn’t that the center of the progressive socialist mentality — shared prosperity and economic equality and all that?

The only other explanation for what we’re seeing with our Facebook page would be a blatant attempt to censor our message and limit its promulgation — and that wouldn’t be nice, Mark.

The hypocrisy of liberals seems to have no end. They like to make money, but apparently they want to limit who else gets to earn a prosperous living. It’s like the old Soviet politburo establishment where the ruling elite lived under the mantra of “do as we say, not as we do.”

Liberal progressives accept certain elites in their sphere, such as entertainment and sports figures, but not us saps out here just working hard to make a living. I applaud what Facebook has done and the platform it has created. And I certainly wouldn’t want to limit innovators seeking to better their business model and make a profit.

But I do wonder if Facebook throttles back traffic to the Obama social media machine, or is that all gratis since they share the same failed socialist beliefs? And if it is given preferential treatment, does that run afoul of campaign finance laws?

The liberal Left controls the message of the mainstream media, no question about it. Thank goodness conservative voices have alternative ways to disseminate our message through radio, cable and satellite networks, social media, podcasts and on our websites.

But there is also no question the liberal Left will do whatever it takes to strangle our free speech when it conflicts with the progressive agenda.

Mr. Zuckerberg, you believe in the First Amendment, don’t you? They may come after us first, but they’ll be after you too. Think about that next time you’re at one of those swanky liberal cocktail parties, little bro.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

Passenger Trains: A Cancer in Florida that Keeps Growing

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I guess as children we all loved playing with trains. Why this has become a fascination as adult taxpayers is hard to understand. It’s probably because we don’t look behind the curtain to see what this habit is costing society. Once you do the investigation, it turns out that passenger trains are consistent in one area only, eating up taxpayer dollars.

All Aboard Florida (AAF) is the newest passenger line being presented as an investor backed privately funded entity. It is difficult to understand why a private company as big as Florida East Coast Industries, and with their knowledge of the business, would follow the public sector into this debt laden industry. Their plan is for a high-speed passenger train to service Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando. We already have passenger trains that service this route, their names are AMTRAK and Tri-Rail. Let’s examine their profitability for the 2013 operating year.

AMTRAK has state supported routes and long distance routes, that service most of the major areas of the United States. Examining their FY 2013 Budget Statics by Route we note that they have fifteen (15) long distance routes. The one thing that is consistent with all of these long distance routes is that they all lose on average Forty-Million dollars ($40,000,000) per route each year. Just the long distance routes create a Six-Hundred Million dollar ($600,000,000) loss every year.

One of these passenger routes is the Auto Train, which is familiar to citizens in Florida. This route lost Forty-Eight Million dollars ($48,000,000) in 2013 an average of One-Hundred, Eighty dollars ($180.00) lost for every passenger who traveled on the Auto Train. This route does show employment of 34 core employees. That equals out to a loss of One Million, Four-Hundred, Twelve-Thousand ($1,412,000) per employee!

AMTRAK does better on its state supported routes. It only looses One-Hundred Million dollars ($100,000,000) per year on these operations. One of these state supported lines is the Silver Star that provides services to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando. In 2013 they had revenue on this route of Thirty-Nine Million ($39,000,000) and expenses of Eighty-Six Million ($86,000,000) for a loss of Forty Seven Million dollars ($47,000,000).

Where does the money come from to support these heavy losses? According to their 2013-2017 projected operating summary, AMTRAK received Four-Hundred, Fifteen Million dollars ($415,000,000) from Federal Appropriation Support otherwise known as TAXPAYER SUPPORT. Look at the bright side, their projections are for a Two-Billion dollar ($2,000,000,000) loss over the next five years! At least they are leveling off at a consistent loss every year into the future.

The other train that services south Florida with passenger service is Tri-Rail. Tri-Rail does not go to Orlando but it will compete with All Aboard Florida for the passengers who travel Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. How well has Tri-Rail been doing? Let’s examine their 2013 revenue and expenses.

Tri-Rail had a 3% increase in revenue in 2013 bringing total operating revenue to Twelve-Million, Five-Hundred Seventy-Five Thousand, Six-Hundred Fifty-Two dollars ($12, 575,652). That’s the good news. The bad news is they had total operating expenses of One-Hundred Million, Two-Hundred Forty-Nine Thousand, Six-Hundred Fifty-Eight dollars ($100,249,658) for an operating loss of $87,674,006. To be fair it should be noted that $30,214,462 of this loss is attributed to depreciation of assets, so the true loss for Tri-Rail is only Fifty-Eight Million dollars ($58,000,000).

The good news about this statement is we can track where Tri-Rail balances its budget. Non-Operating Revenue allows Tri-Rail to continue to operate. Where does this non-operating revenue come from? THE TAXPAYER! Here is the breakdown:

  • Federal Transit Administration (FTA) $19,163,234
  • Federal Highway Administration 4,000,000
  • Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) 30,613,700
  • Other Local Funding 184,795
  • Broward County 1,565,000
  • Miami-Dade County 1,565,000
  • Palm Beach County 1,565,000
  • Interest Income 139,080
  • Total Non-Operating Revenue $58,795,809

What a way to break even. It’s nice to know that you get the support of federal, state and local tax dollars to run your train. How much would just the Tri-Rail loss buy in better education, emergency services, medical advances or other areas that service our citizens.

By the way, did someone mention that a private investment group wants to get into the train business because they want to make a profit? I know I heard that somewhere. The only profit is in raiding the public coffers.

Teaching Our Children Bad Science: Next Generation Science Standards Flawed

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Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a product of Achieve, Inc., are being used throughout the U.S. public school system. I have just reviewed the final NGSS standards on areas related to the teaching of climate change. Here are my conclusions:

1. General. On the subject of the NGSS for climate change and man’s role in influencing the climate, I firmly believe these standards should not be allowed within our education system. These areas for teaching our children are so deeply flawed as to raise concerns about how other sections in the proposed curriculum standards were developed.

2. Use of Invalid and Disproved Science. Starting in middle school and through high school standards, the subject of causes and effects of climate change are based on the disproved greenhouse gas theory and are heavily reliant on global climate models that have been shown to be wrong whenever they are compared with real world data. This is in effect, teaching bad science in violation of the scientific method.

3. Standards Are Based on False Assertions of Mankind’s Impact on Climate Change. These standards falsely assert that mankind has a “major” impact on the Earth’s climate. The reality is of course that mankind’s role in climate change is little to none especially when compared to solar activity and natural cycles of greenhouse gas production which are far, far, larger than the minuscule effect on climate coming from man’s industrial output. The global climate models referenced have not been shown reliable, far from it, they are unreliable.

4. Specific Standards Sections on Climate Should Be Removed Completely. The entire section in the middle school devoted to “Weather and Climate” and in the high schools standards titled, “Earth Systems,” “Weather and Climate,” and “Human Impacts” should be completely removed and rewritten to reflect what the primary causes of climate change are instead of the flawed and unreliable greenhouse gas theory.

5. These Climate Standards Do Not Reflect the Most Important Factors in Climate Change. In the process of revising these educational standards, the predominant role of the Sun, natural climatic cycles, and other natural forcing factors should be taught instead.

I am genuinely concerned that should these standards be taught, we will in effect be teaching our children how to use bad science in place of good science, how to be politically correct vs. being scientifically accurate, and in the long haul, deceive themselves and others as to the true nature of how the Earth’s climate behaves.

RELATED COLUMN: Common Core-frustrated teacher’s resignation letter: ‘My profession … no longer exists’

Homeland Security Order: Retreat From Illegals and Drug Smugglers

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One of our responsibilities is to provide facts on issues that may negatively affect the safety of the Republic, in order that American Citizens will be provided with the truth on issues that the Obama administration and the left of center liberal media establishment, works at covering up many of those facts daily.  The below listed published article provides complete details on our summary of the new Rules Of Engagement issued to the US Border Patrol.

On the first day of his appointment, new Rules of Engagement were issued to the Border Patrol by Obama’s newly appointed Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, who has no Law Enforcement experience and is the first African American to head DHS.   The new Rules Of Engagement, bars self-defense from rock-throwers, and match the recommendation of a report by an Illegal Immigration advocacy groups and the Mexican government. They want to reduce policing of illegal immigrants trying to illegally enter the United States at the Mexican border.  Obama agrees with the new Rules Of Engagement and desires for more lenient policing of illegal Immigrants violating Federal Law at the US/Mexican border.

The report by the Police Executive Research Forum was commissioned by DHS, it encourages lawlessness at the border by Illegal aliens, puts Border Patrolmen in much more danger, bars Border Patrolmen from standing in front of smugglers’ vehicles to prevent smugglers from entering the United States, and prevents Border Patrolmen from shooting at people who are attacking them with large rocks (those rock assaults have put Border Patrolmen in the hospital with critical head injuries).

Three U.S. Border Patrolmen were killed in recent years, including one who was shot during a clash with drug smugglers carrying AK-47 assault weapons provided to them by agents of the Obama administration’s Fast and Furious illegal drug running operation (the illegal Fast and Furious gun smuggling operation continues to be covered up by Holder). The Border Patrol has been attacked 6,000 times since 2007, and they have been “assaulted with very large rocks” 1,713 times since 2010, resulting in the serious injury of Border Patrolmen.

Despite the 7,713 attacks on Border Patrolmen, they have responded with deadly force only 43 times—-or 0.00056% of the time they were dangerously attacked.

Instead of tighten up policing rules to protect the lives of Border Patrolmen, Obama’s newly appointed Secretary of Homeland Security is doing exactly the opposite, he is putting them in more danger and telling them to run away, and seek shelter from attack,  if they are attacked by Illegal Immigrants.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the new rules are being challenged by mid-level DHS officials and Veteran Border Patrolmen, who argued that the new rules barring self-defense from rock-throwers “could create a much more dangerous environment, especially for agents operating in rural or desolate areas, often alone, where concealment, cover and egress is not an option.”  But Johnston overrode the internal opposition by Veteran Border Patrolmen, and forced the implementation of the advocacy groups’ new Rules Of Engagement; Johnson demonstrated his incompetence on the first day on the job by putting Federal law Enforcement lives more in danger.

The new Rules Of Engagement will encourage drug cartels and human smuggling cartels in Mexico to get much more aggressive.  These unconscionable new Rules Of Engagement, should be grounds for Speaker Boehner to take action against DHS for  intentionally putting the lives of Federal Law Enforcement Officers in danger, and creating fear for the families of those dedicated Federal Law Enforcement Officers.

Obama is doing to Federal Law Enforcement Officers what he did to US Combat Forces in Afghanistan, forcing new and very dangerous Rules Of Engagement on them (those new and dangerous Rules Of Engagement in Afghanistan increased personnel Killed In Action by casualties by 458%).

If the Speaker of the House doesn’t take “immediate” and “firm” action to oppose these new and dangerous Rules Of Engagement for Border Patrolmen at the Mexican Border that are preventing them from defending themselves and telling them to “run”, like the speaker has failed for 17 months to establish a Select House Investigative Committee with subpoena authority on The Battle of Benghazi, there should be a change in leadership in the House.

RELATED COLUMN: DHS Orders Border Control, Retreat From Illegal Throwing Rocks and Drug Smugglers Vehicles

What do IRS Form 990s tell us? Public education is being wrested from the public!

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One of the panel discussions in which I participated at the first annual Network for Public Education (NPE) conference was on investigative journalism. I chose to use my twelve minutes to only touch the surface on using IRS 990s (the tax forms for nonprofit organizations) as a research tool.

In this post, I would like to continue my tutorial. The information I include here I learned by my own wits and through the suggestions of others. My purpose is to assist those who wish to utilize information from tax forms in order to support their arguments in fighting corporate reform.

This will be one dry read– but a useful read for those seeking to improve their knowledge of nonprofit tax form navigation.

The Nonprofit Tax Form Search Engine

First of all, let me introduce a wonderful search engine for locating those nonprofit 990s: citizenaudit.org

One can search any term, including organization names and even names of individuals. I suggest putting quotation marks around search terms so that the search results include the exact term.

Sometimes the search engine boots out “404-not found” or a page noting “0 results.” If I am sure the org or person exists, I refresh the search and often get a result.

The search results include both the 990s for the organization itself and also a list of other orgs that connect to the search term.

Keep in mind that the common name of an organization might not be the formal name used on the tax forms. For example, “American Federation of Teachers” (AFT) is actually “American Federation of Teachers AFL-CIO Parent Organization” (Go here then here to see the AFT tax forms.) Also keep in mind that many nonprofits have other nonprofits associated with them. For example, the search results for the term “American Federation of Teachers” yields numerous tax forms for the local-level unions.

Search engine users should check to be sure that they are viewing forms for the intended organization. This is especially important for organizations with generic-sounding names, such as “Education Trust”.

(For an organization with such a generic name as Education Trust, I find it helpful to search for the CEO– in this case, “Kati Haycock”. Searching for the CEO yields a more precise search result.)

Finally, the listing of 990s for the organization is followed by a cross-referenced listing of other nonprofits whose 990s include the searched term. For example, a search of “Center for Union Facts” includes a cross-listing for the Gleason Family Foundation.

The cross-listings are helpful in identifying donors to the nonprofit of interest.

One can also use the search engine to investigate individuals’ involvements. For example, “Gideon Stein” is tied to Eva Moskowitz’s Harlem Success Academies and Green Dot charters (renamed Future Is Now). Another example is “Steve Barr”, who is connected to both Green Dot charters (renamed Future Is Now) and Parent Revolution (a spin-off from Barr’s Green Dot).

Navigating the 990

The 990 form was changed in 2008 (a different form is used for more recent returns). For my discussion, I will take my examples from more recent 990s.

Page One

The first page of the 990 includes the fiscal summary (Part I) and the signature block (Part II). The first info I note is the calendar or tax year of the return. For example, this 2011 Harlem Success Academy 5 form is actually for July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. I also look at the organization status. Most are 501(c)3 nonprofits. (This info is printed near the top of the form, in small print.)

Click here for types of 501(c) nonprofits, and here for the difference between 501(c)3 and 501(c)4.

Next, I notice when the form was filed (bottom of first page, next to preparer signature). In this case, the 990 was filed 04-23-13.

I might need to know these dates to determine if I am reading the correct form for, say, receipt of a Gates grant, or to determine when a key individual joined or left the organization.

The first page also includes a brief mission statement of the organization.  (In this case, the reader is referred to Schedule O for continuation of the mission statement, which would not fit in the space provided. This is Eva Moskowitz’s school, and Eva usually has a lot to say.)

Other info on page one includes information on the current year and the prior year financial summary of the org. I can see how much the organization has gained or lost from one year to the next. I can see the org’s total assets (line 20) and whether the org is spending more than it is taking in (revenue less expenses– line 19).

It is possible for a multi-million-dollar organization to slowly be spending more than it is gaining in revenue (see AFT’s 2012 990 as an example). Thus, an organization might say that it can do without certain reform-connected donations; however, if the organization has been consistently outspending its revenue over the course of years, then in order to forego the questionable donations, the organization must compensate by either curbing its expenditures or otherwise raising its revenues.

In comparing organizations that share common board members, it is also useful to compare organization addresses. For example, the supposed “grass roots” Los Angeles Parent Revolution shared the same CEO and, initially, the same physical address as Green Dot charters.

Page Two

The second page (Part III: Statement of Program Service Accomplishments) has a more detailed mission statement (one can still need that Schedule O in order to elaborate– page 2 has a box to check if such is the case).

Page 2 includes information on the top three greatest expenses for the organization that tax year. (Grant money also needs to be identified here if such is part of a specific expense.) This information is important in determining the organization’s priorities. I find the descriptors on this page very helpful in determining an org’s prioritized actions (and, more important, the motives behind the actions).

From page 2 of the Harlem Success Academy 5 return, I learn that Moskowitz spent $2.8 million educating “approximately 241 students” (she reported using no earmarked grant money). That’s approximately $10,300 per student. PLUS she reported earning $3.65 million in revenue– thus exceeding her expenses by $850,000. (No other priority expenditures were noted on the page.)

In contrast, a review of page 2 of the 2012 990 for Education Trust shows me that Ed Trust did not earn revenue from its top three ventures– which underscores its dependence upon philanthropic cash as noted in this post.

Pages Three and Four

Pages 3 and 4 of the 990 are Part IV: the checklist for required schedules.  This section includes 38 “yes/no” questions about activities of the nonprofit. A “yes” response requires a detailed answer– a “schedule” must be completed.

Applicable schedules are in alphabetical order at the end of the 990.

If a “yes” is indicated yet the associated schedule is not part of the return, or if it is left blank, something is fishy.

Of particular interest is item 4, on lobbying (requiring Schedule C). The American Legislative Exchange Council, known for  neglecting to note its lobbying activities on this 2009 990 and some others, sometimes acknowledges its lobbying (as it did in on its 2012 990) but then notes that its lobbying cost nothing.

Fishy. ALEC is a corporation-legislator dating service.

Also of interest is item 23, a reference to a subsequent section on compensation from unrelated organizations (Part VII, question 5). An answer of “yes” requires completing Schedule J, which is the document that enabled me to know that Eva Moskowitz’s salary is partially funded by another nonprofit, MRM Foundation/Julia Greenblatt (recorded on the 2012 990 for her charter management organization, Success Academy Charter Schools, Inc).

Pages Five and Six

Of interest on page 5 (Part V: Statements Regarding Other IRS Filings and Tax Compliance): Item 2a indicates the number of employees; 4a is about “interest in or authority over a bank account in a foreign country” and could be useful for unmasking foreign-run charters. (The item requires naming the foreign country.)

Page 6 (Part VI: Governance, Management, and Disclosure): Item 1a is a count of the voting members of the governing body, including clarification on how many are “independent” (not compensated as an independent contractor, and more).

Item 2 concerns multiple family/business relationships; item 3, delegation of management duties to a management company. These items help determine conflicts of interest.

Item 8 asks whether meetings are documented. If an organization is engaging in questionable practices, including bypassing their own protocol, such info might come in handy if the organization denies having a record of a certain meeting. A discrepancy between the organization’s “nonexistent” documentation and its reporting on its 990 could be useful for enforcing records requests.

The second section f this part includes questions of enforcing conflict of interest policies (requiring explanation on Schedule O). I find that most 990s post some generic declaration in this section regardless of the activities in which they engage. A pat conflict of interest policy does not preclude information that flags conflicts of interest elsewhere on the 990.

Pages Seven and Eight

Page 7 is Part VII: Director, Employee, etc. Compensation. Here’s where one can find board members, officers, and employees; their hours, and compensation, if any.

Also included in Part VII (Section B) are the five highest-compensated “Independent Contractors.” For Moskowitz’s Harlem Success Academy 5, for example, one learns that Moskowitz paid her management company $282,630 to “manage” this co-located school of 241 students.

Those listed as independent contractors must provide an address– which, for the self-employed, is often a residence. In the case of Los Angeles Parent Revolution CEO Ben Austin– who was also an independent contractor for Green Dot charters– his address was listed as Beverly Hills even as he portrayed himself as a grass-roots “Los Angeles Parent” in his astroturf Revolution (see Schedule A of this 2007-08 990 for Austin’s Beverly Hills address– note that this return follows an older format).

It is this Section B on the union-bashing Center for Union Facts (CUF) 2012 990 that one reads of CUF CEO’s Richard Berman paying his own company a disproportionate amount of money as a “contractor.”

Also, in this section are three questions regarding excessive or unrelated compensation requiring Schedule J (discussed above re: Moskowitz’s salary from MRM Foundation).

Pages Nine thru Twelve

On page 9, Part VIII: Statement of Revenue, one can see info on government grants and other gifts.  Page 10 includes Part IX, a complete breakdown of spending. I found this information particularly useful in my writing on Moskowitz. I could compare her spending breakdown to her assets as recorded on Part X: Balance Sheet, item 1o, land, buildings, and equipment, less depreciation (depreciation is a write-off). (Land, buildings, etc., is detailed on Schedule D, Part VI.)

The 990 has additional information, much more than I discuss in this post; however, what I have included is information I have found useful in exposing the extravagant and questionable spending of so-called reform-promoting nonprofits.

The 990 PF

Private foundations complete a 990 PF. The primary interest in 990 PF’s is likely the listing of the foundation’s contributions in the form of grants and loans. For example, the Walton Family Foundation (WFF) is known for its support of “choice” (charters and vouchers). This WFF 2011 990 includes the details of numerous loans made to charter schools (often in the form of an unsecured “revolving fund”).

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has extensive 990s that list all grants paid out in a given year. An example is this Gates 2012 990. It is worth noting that Gates grants are not always fully paid in the year in which they are issued. Thus, one can compare grant information from the Gates grants search engine to the disbursement information for a specific year as noted on Gates 990s to roughly determine grant payment installments.

Time for My Exit

If I include Walton and Gates in my 990 PF discussion, it is only fitting to include the last of the Big Three, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation (here’s its 2012 990).

Let’s close this post with a bang.

From Broad (as in Broad Superintendents Academy), most of the larger, six- and seven-figure donations are for education privatization, not the least of which is $3.5 million to Students First, $2.3 million to KIPP charters, $1.5 million to Success Academy Charters, over $1 million dollars to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), $775,000 to Green Dot charters, $600,000 to New Schools Venture Fund (whose CEO is now the proposed US Undersecretary of Education, Ted Mitchell); $345,000 to Parent Revolution, $334,000 to Rocketship charters; $300,000 to Teach for America (TFA), and $215,000 to Education Trust.

What can 990s tell us?

Public education is being wrested from the public. It is being handed over to those who wish to make major money by those who have major money.

Let’s continue to write about it, using evidence to support our work.

IRS 990s never looked so glamorous.

RELATED COLUMN: Common Core-frustrated teacher’s resignation letter: ‘My profession … no longer exists’

List of Florida’s anti-gun mayors released

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The grassroots Florida TEA Party (FTP) has released a list of Florida mayors who are anti-Second Amendment.

In an email FTP states, “It’s getting pretty crazy out there. With so many states attempting to pass legislation to limit and/or eradicate the gun rights granted by the United States Constitution to its citizens, the Second Amendment Coalition of Florida thinks you should know who some of the offenders in Florida are.”

Here are your Florida Mayors Against Gun Rights:

Susan Gottlieb
Aventura
Jean Rosenfield
Bal Harbour
David Coviello
Biscayne Park
Barbara Sharief
Broward County
Greg Ross
Cooper City
James Cason
Coral Gables
Judy Paul
Davie
Cary Glickstein
Delray Beach
Walter B. Duke
Dania Beach
Bruce Mount
Eatonville
Daisy Black
El Portal
John P. “Jack” Seiler
Ft. Lauderdale
Glenn Singer
Golden Beach
Charles Sanders
Greenwood
Samuel Henderson
Gulfport
Joy Cooper
Hallandale Beach
Peter Bober
Hollywood
Ken Schultz
Hypoluxo
Patricia Gerard
Largo
Barrington Russell
Lauderdale Lakes
Richard J. Kaplan
Lauderhill
Howard Schieferdecker
Maitland
Tomás Regalado
Miami
Carlos Gimenez
Miami Dade County
Oliver G. Gilbert
Miami Gardens
Lori C. Moseley
Miramar
Connie Leon-Kreps
North Bay Village
Jack Brady
North Lauderdale
Lucie M. Tondreau
North Miami
Douglas A. Gibson
Oak Hill
John Adornato
Oakland Park
Myra Taylor
Opa-Locka
Buddy Dyer
Orlando
 
Shelley Stanczyk
Palmetto Bay
Frank C. Ortis
Pembroke Pines
Cindy Lerner
Pinecrest
Diane Veltri Bendekovic
Plantation
Thomas A. Masters
Riviera Beach
Philip K. Stoddard
South Miami
Rick Kriseman
St. Petersberg
Norman Edelcup
Sunny Isles Beach
Michael J. Ryan
Sunrise
Daniel Dietch
Surfside
John Marks
Tallahassee
Jeri Muoio
West Palm Beach
Eric H. Jones
West Park
Daniel J. Stermer
Weston
Gary Resnick
Wilton Manors
To learn more visit FLORIDA TEA PARTY – The Grassroots Florida Tea Party at: http://floridateaparty.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Some Very Good News About Americans

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We are all besieged daily by bad news. It is easy to become depressed about the present state of the nation, but there is some very good news as well.

This is not to say there aren’t legitimate problems and concerns. The last two elections put a President in office that lies all the time. The nation’s economy has been so awful that 100 million Americans are either out of work or have ceased looking for work. Democrat political leaders are actually telling Americans that being unemployed is a good thing because it leaves them free to pursue their hobbies.

The President has been pursuing a campaign to make Americans believe that there is massive income inequality when, in fact, there is relatively little. There has always been a very wealthy class and a very poor one. What there is, however, is a loss of wealth primarily in the Middle Class. As for poverty, America has long provided income mobility to those who wish to study and work hard to improve their status.

What is rarely addressed is the seething power of American entrepreneurship which, at present, is trapped by a largely socialist federal government imposing a mountain of regulations that thwart growth and take money from the private sector that would otherwise be invested in the creation or expansion of business and industry nationwide.

Americans have repeatedly suffered, survived, and overcome financial crises to come back to build the greatest economy in the world. Part of the reason for this are the long established values that Americans of every description embrace.

That is why Wayne Baker’s new book, “United America: The Surprising truth about American values, American identity and the 10 beliefs that a large majority of Americans hold dear” is a welcome review that the author’s extensive research confirms.

The beliefs are:

  • Respect for others
  • Symbolic patriotism
  • Freedom
  • Security
  • Self-Reliance & Individualism
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Getting ahead
  • Pursuit of happiness
  • Justice & Fairness
  • Critical patriotism

Cover - United AmericaA journalist, David Crumm provides an introduction to Baker’s book. “Dr. Baker defines a Core American Value (as one) that is strongly held by a large majority of Americans, stable over time, and shared across diverse demographic, religious and political lines…Here a core value represents an area of deep and broad consensus among American people, not disagreement and division. A core value is not a prescription of what Americans ought to believe, but what Americans actually do believe.”

The research supporting Dr. Baker’s book was conducted over two years by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Institute. The data was analyzed with a battery of statistical techniques to ensure the validity and reliability of the results.

Touching on a few of the values addressed in the book, Dr. Baker starts with respect for others which he describes as “so important that it actually characterizes what it means to be an American…More than 90 percent of Americans in the national surveys I conducted said that respect for people of different racial and ethnic groups is important to them.”

“Respect is given to people who do what they say, who live according to what they believe, who are persons of integrity. A position or title doesn’t necessarily garner respect, but integrity does” says Dr. Baker and that is bad news for those identified as “leaders” or “experts” who do not display integrity. Telling lies undermines everything they say and do.

“We have what appears to be a contradictory situation,” says Dr. Baker. “Politicians, political elites, and party activists are increasingly polarized, moving further apart from one another. Yet public opinion polls clearly show that Americans loathe the divisiveness. And the values of Americans are not polarized.”

“There is widespread agreement among Americans when it comes to core values. Which means our polarizing politicians are becoming less and less representative or our actual views.”

A review of those core values show that Americans love their symbolic patriotism such as our flag and our national anthem. “Love of country is especially strong in America” says Dr. Baker.

“Americans hold tenaciously to the principles of liberty and freedom,” says Dr. Baker. “A 2013 poll by the Pew Research Center shows that 53 percent of Americans see the federal government as a threat to personal rights and freedoms. This is the first time since Pew started asking about this issue in 1995 that a majority felt this way.”

Little wonder when one recalls the assault on the Second Amendment that was launched by the Obama administration and one that failed significantly. Recent news of the Federal Communications Commission’s plans to “monitor” radio and television news judgments evoked a comparable response.

Freedom to participate in politics and elections evoked a response in which 98 percent of Americans agree with this definition of freedom and it stands in stark contrast to the Obama administration’s corruption of the Internal Revenue Service to deny Tea Party and patriot groups non-profit status routinely granted to other groups.

As one reads Dr. Baker’s book, one comes away with a renewed confidence in the judgment of Americans, confirming that their core values are those that have made America a beacon of freedom in the world.

And that’s the very good news!

© Alan Caruba, 2014

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of an American Bald Eagle taken at the Hoogle Zoo in UT taken by Therightclicks.

FP&L – No “Choice” of Meters for 36,000 Floridians

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By now many of you that refused the installation of FP&L’s smart meters have received a “Dear Customer” letter telling you that you have a choice of meters. The letter goes on to say that if you don’t take their smart meter that you will be charged $95 upfront and $13/month to retain your old meter. If you haven’t received such letter, you will shortly.

On January 7, 2014 the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) approved this deal. Although, it is being contested by two separate citizen petitions (one of which I am leading), the rules state that FP&L can continue as planned with the stipulation that fees collected are “subject to refund”. That is, if the FPSC Order is overturned, they must return the fees charged to the customers.

Why the fees? Well you resistors are “cost causers”. It is a long-standing principle that is invoked at will when they want to get you to comply with the game plan. In 1987/1988 they invoked the same principle when they transferred the ownership of meter enclosures and associated cost burdens (maintenance/replacement) to you the customer. The order (PSC Order # 18893) stated that:

“Since self-contained meter enclosures are not a part of the utility function, but simply house the meter itself, their costs should be borne by the customer when the structure is initially wired for electric service or when it must be replaced due to obsolescence or wear. The burden of maintaining and repairing the enclosures’ must likewise rest with the customer.”

As we all know by now, a smart meter is not “simply a meter” but contains lots of additional components that are part of the utility function. It establishes a wireless Neighborhood Network and sends messages back and forth amongst neighbor meters, remotely disconnects services and monitors your usage. In the future they will turn on the second transmitter to establish your Home Area Network to connect with your Home Energy Controller or Smart Thermostat and will give your smart refrigerator the ability to text you. It collects more data than is needed to bill you for your current plan. But why fuss over details!

If you don’t enroll in their plan, they will slap a smart meter on your home. If you think you got that covered (i.e. you already caged/locked your meter or have restricted access to your meter) think again. You will be automatically enrolled and charged the fee.

The process to fight this will be long and painful. If you don’t want a smart meter you need to:

Retain your analog meter. Once they take it, you will never see it again. (Remember you will get an undefined “non-communicating” meter in the future.) You may want to send a certified letter to FP&L stating that you do not consent and that you are enrolling under duress.

File a formal compliant with the FPSC.  Here is the complaint page http://www.floridapsc.com/consumers/complaints/index2.aspx

Write/call your Florida State Senators/Representatives. They are in session right now. Make your voices heard. Senate – http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find, House: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/representatives.aspx

Contact the Energy committees that oversee the FPSC. House Energy & Utilities Subcommittee – http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Committees/committeesdetail.aspx?TermId=85&CommitteeId=2724 and Senate Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities  http://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/Show/CU/

Contact Gov. Scott – http://www.flgov.com/contact-gov-scott/

For those who still believe smart meters save money, ask FP&L how much net operation and maintenance savings are in the current rates you pay.

What they said in the 2009 rate case:

2009 rate case schedule

What they reported in the 2012 rate case:

2012 rate case schedule

The lack of cost savings was confirmed by the Office of Public Counsel who said on October 12, 2012 “However, to OPC’s knowledge, no studies, analyses, or quantification of the benefits or cost savings from the implementation of smart meters exist at this time. OPC is still waiting on the promised cost savings benefits of smart meters to be realized and shared with the customers.” http://www.floridapsc.com/utilities/electricgas/smartmeter/09_20_2012/WorkshopComments/OPC.pdf

Think smart meters prevent outages? Check out Northeast Utilities initial comments in a recent Massachusetts Department of Utilities investigation – “Meters do not reduce the number of outages” (page 4) http://haltmasmartmeters.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/NSTAR_R12-76-Comments-7986-POSTED01172014_HIGHLIGHTED.pdf

And finally, how many of you run home from work or golf and check your FP&L energy dashboard each night? Apparently not many. The last annual report from FP&L showed that as of the end of 2012 with over 4 million meter installed, only about 15% accessed the dashboard about 2 times.

196 Pro-Common Core Groups paid for by Gates Foundation

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Recent news articles have focused on groups testifying and rallying FOR Common Core, specifically a veteran group, “Mission: Readiness.”  After research, this turns out to be a front group, paid by the Gates Foundation and the same Cabal that supports Common Core for obvious financial gain.

Mission: Readiness is one of “Five missions with One Voice” as the web site states:

http://www.councilfora strongamerica.org/members-in-action

It wouldn’t look good for Microsoft/the Gates Foundation to be defending itself when the benefit of Common Core so clearly inure to them.  This is pay for play if there ever was…Crony capitalism at its worst. Creating front groups to obfuscate who really promotes Common Core is just one tactic used to slip this abomination of Common Core under the radar.

Directly paying off organization which should have safeguarded the kids and public is another.  Over$300 million in payments were made to the National PTA, Fordham Foundation, Jeb Bush’s Foundations, US Chamber of Commerce, Michigan State University, Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education, ConnectEDU, Inc., NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education (to support Common Core implementation in Kentucky), Center for American Progress (Soros front group), Alliance for Excellent Education, Inc., National Congress of Parents and Teachers, Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), Kentucky Department of Education, Committee for Economic Development are all named as recipients of money from the Gates Foundation with the stated purposes listed as supporting Common Core, the gravy train for tech companies and Pearson, PLC.  This is from the Gates Foundation web site:  http://www.gatesfoundation.org/search

Just type in grants Common Core which yielded 196 results. These are all Common Core grants:

American Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation
Benchmark Education Company
Council for a Strong America- (five front groups above mentioned)
New Venture Fund
Americas Promise-The Alliance for Youth
Louisiana Department of Education
DePaul University
George Washington University
Aspen Institute
Scholastic Inc.
Battelle For Kids
The Achievement Network
University of Florida
University of Michigan
Education Commission of the States
The College-Ready Promise
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.
Arkansas Public School Resource Center, Inc.
Regents University of CA Los Angeles
BetterLesson, Inc.
Center for Applied Linguistics
Forsyth County Schools
School District of Philadelphia
Albuquerque Public Schools
Pennsylvania Dept. of Ed.
Council of the Great City Schools
Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education
Council of Chief State School Officers
Georgia Department of Education
Student Achievement Partners, Inc.
University of the State of New York
James B. Hunt Jr.  Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy Foundation, Inc.
Education Commission of the States
Foundation for Excellence in Education
NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education
The Fund for Transforming  Education in Kentucky, Inc.
Council of State Governments
Summit Public Schools
National Association of State Boards of Education
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Fund for Public Schools, Inc.
National Catholic Education Association
Motion Math, Inc.
NYU
Stanford University
And so many more …

Legislators involved in charter schools who stand to gain from their ties with Jeb Bush through the Foundation for Florida’s Future include Senator John Legg, Senate President Don Gaetz, Speaker Will Weatherford, Rep Erik Fresen, Rep Seth McKeel, and Senator Anitere Flores.  These legislators have a serious conflict of interest and should recuse themselves and allow the will of the people to supersede their personal gain.  They are now standing in the way of SB 1316 and HB25 being heard in the State Legislature.

The Republican Party of Florida issued a united strongly worded resolution opposing Common Core:

image005

For a larger view click on the image.

Yet Governor Scott and leadership legislators have looked the other way with the promise of money and support from the Jeb Bush/ Microsoft team.  March 13, there is an award banquet and fundraiser for Jeb Bush’s Foundation for in Tallahassee to poke a stick in the eye of Floridians.

My personal projection is that Governor Scott will be defeated unless he complies with the wishes of his base.  Rejection of his base will be his demise.  He must be reminded that this is NOT just an ISSUE for us, it is our children and our future.  We will NEVER sell out our kids.  There is NO greater issue than the future of our children.  Rip them from the bosom’s of their mothers at your peril!

RELATED STORIES:

Gates is Funding U.S. Department of Education Directly

Common Core-frustrated teacher’s resignation letter: ‘My profession … no longer exists’

Ted Cruz: Ten Policy Changes To Fundamentally Transform America Back

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We agree with all of what Senator Cruz is proposing, with two exceptions – Congress needs to enforce the Constitution, not defend it and the Flat Tax proposal. Congress needs to get out of the tax business altogether and should repeal the Sixteen Amendment and replace it with the Fair Tax (HB 25).

Senator Cruz did not directly address pro-family policies and national security in his remarks. These are two key areas that must be restored if America is to be fundamentally transformed back to its former greatness.

 reports, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)  today advocated “a straightforward and bold, positive agenda to inspire the young, to inspire women, to inspire Hispanics, to inspire everybody” during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Here are the ten items he called on Americans to do going forward:

1. “Defend the constitution. All of it.”

2. “We need to abolish the IRS. We need to adopt a simple flat tax that is fair [so] that every American can fill out his taxes on a postcard.”

3. “We need to expand energy in this country and create high-paying jobs all over America.”

4. “We need to expand school choice. Every child deserves an opportunity to have an excellent education, regardless of your race, your class, your creed, where you come from – every child deserves a fair chance at the American Dream.”

5. “We need to repeal Dodd-Frank.”

6. “We need to audit the Federal Reserve. Unaccountable power in Washington debasing our currency, driving up the cost of food and gas and the basic stuff of life is hurting Americans who are struggling across this country. And I’ll tell you what else it’s doing: It’s fueling the abuse of power by petro-tyrants like Putin.”

7. “We need to pass a strong balanced budget amendment. We need to stop bankrupting our country.”

8. “We need to repeal every single word of Obamacare.”

9. “We need to stop the lawlessness. This President of the United States is the first President we’ve ever had who thinks he can choose which laws to enforce and which laws to ignore. He announces just about every day one change after another after another in Obamacare. It is utterly lawless. It is inconsistent with our Constitution, and it ought to trouble everyone – Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians.”

10. “We need to end the corruption. We need to eliminate corporate welfare and crony capitalism. If you come to Washington and serve in Congress, there should be a lifetime ban on lobbying. And we need to pass a strong constitutional amendment that puts into law term limits.”