Oops, Learning, Word of Link

So I lost a long comment I was writing when the public wireless I was using apparently timed out or something.  I hit publish and the comment went POOF...  After cursing silently I went frantically to my Blogger account in hopes that somehow it had been saved.  Unfortunately it was GONE.

However as I incessantly tell my girls, every mistake may be a learning opportunity.  If one wastes the opportunity, then it is just a waste/error that is likely to be repeated.  You can be assured they roll their eyes at that one.

In this case I learned 2 excellent lessons.  First, make sure I have an internet connection before I hit publish.  And if not, I need to copy it off to a document file for later posting. Secondly, during the comment search and thanks to a new comment layout in the software, I learned that I have a "SPAM" folder in their system.  Apparently it would put the suspect comments into the folder and send me a notification email only sometimes.

And the winner for the most suspect comments that were being held for my review is ...  "Laurie"  In fact, they even went back to the days when she was known as Nokomis...  There were also a few for J.  Well, I marked the non-spam comments as such and deleted the rest.  Also, I will start checking the folder every so often to ensure no more go to that black hole. (Sorry Laurie... By the way, how did you get on the naughty list???)

Finally, as I ask every so often.  When you are interested in sharing G2A or one of our dialogues, please take advantage of the new buttons under the posts to place a link on your Facebook or Twitter account.  I have been using the Facebook button and it works great.

Why are Poor People Poor?

 Awhile back we had a discussion regarding what is poor? And why are poor people poor? G2A American Poverty ?  A couple of proposed definitions for poor included:

"Income so low that you have a hard time providing for basic needs. (ie food, clothing, shelter, utilities, school supplies, etc) For a family of 4: shelter could be a two bedroom apartment." G2A 

"The poor are those without wealth. Wealth is the ability to provide things to people, including food, clothing and shelter, but also things like recreation, religious experience and education." J.

Now I think we understand that bad luck or acts of God can leave almost anyone destitute. (ie long term disability, sudden death, mental illness, etc)  Assuming these were not to be included, since we were looking primarily for individual related causes. (ie something within peoples control)  Here were some of the ideas that were generated:

• bad choices
• irresponsible behaviors
• divorce
• limited education
• government incentives

Please note that race, nationality, sex, religion, starting point, etc are not included here.  This is because even though they may unfortunately impact employment and income in some cases, there are plenty of people from all of these categories that seem to be doing very well for themselves.  So even though it may be harder for some folks, there are plenty of folks that have worked, saved, invested, educated, etc their way out of poverty.  (and some "well to do's" that have lost it all)

This topic is important to me because the academic gap between poor kids and non-poor kids is huge.  Also, I am tired of Race being the typical excuse?  I work with people from many countries, economic classes and nationalities, this is not the cause. However I keep thinking that the above reasons certainly wouldn't make a very good resume if someone was applying for the job of Parent. 

So if this the case...  I am not sure how "society" can compensate for these factors, or if we want to.  Here we go again.  Thoughts?

By the way, you will find the Hennepin County household income distribution graph in the What is Middle Class link. In case you were curious how many households live on <$??K.

G2A Poor Kids: Stupid or Unlucky?
G2A Ready for Kindergarten?
G2A That Stubborn Achievement Gap
G2A What is the Middle Class
G2A Teachers Grade Parents
G2A Conservatives Stumped ?
G2A Blame vs Contributions

Childcare Union Dues News

Here is one of those common sense bills that should not be needed, yet it might be needed.

Star Tribune MN House Prohibits Dues Deduction
Sessions Daily House Passes...

The idea of Unionizing this group of Private Business Owners to lobby for bigger State subsidies seems strange enough as is.  Then the point that surely someone will request that the Union gets their cut directly from the State goes into the Twilight zone level.

If these business owners value the Union, I am sure they will happily write them a check...  maybe...

And if you did not know another Union was mobilizing to help raise your tax bill.  Here are some links.
MN Childcare Union Site
Childcare Freedom Act
AFSCME Childcare
MPR Childcare Freedom Misleads

Democrats Block Tort Reform

So much for lower cost healthcare in MN, Gov Dayton apparently is anti-Tort reform.  The most interesting thing I found in his strange ranting comments was that he seems to truly believe that Tort reform efforts are there only to "protect company profits".

Maybe this is a key difference between Democrats and Republicans.  The Republicans realize that companies do not pay for frivolous lawsuits or excessive settlements, we the customers do.

The actuaries and accountants of insurance and other companies determine the probable costs / risks of doing business, and set their prices and premiums appropriately. (ie within market range) Therefore flood insurance premiums are higher in flood plains and malpractice insurance is higher where the settlements are likely larger or more prevalent.  And since every company has to account for the risk, they all raise their rates.

Ironically people like myself have no problem paying the extra 10, 20, 30+% on our insurance premiums.  It is the poor folks that the Democrats claim to defend that are most hurt by failing to pass Tort reform.

The link to ALEC is below, though I do not know if the GOP bills were aligned with ALEC or not.  Nor do I know if ALEC's agenda is good, bad or indifferent.  I just know that if you want costs to drop significantly, we need serious TORT reform in the USA.

Thoughts?

KARE11 - MN Gov Dayton Vetoes Tort Reform
MinnPost - Dayton Veto / Stinging Criticism
ALEC Tort Reform Boot Camp
State Lawsuit Climates

NCLB Waivers

In case you missed it, apparently President Obama and his Administration have decided that No Child Left Behind is just too lofty of a goal.  And it is putting too much stress on their friends in the Teacher's Unions.  And they think they know better than Congress and the current law that is in force.  I wonder if this will go to court?

A simple test to determine if this is a good thing....  Does the Teacher Union support it?  If so, it bodes good for poor Teachers and terrible for unlucky Students...  This Ed MN statement almost made me ill... "Minnesota is already well on its way to implementing the goals of the waiver program: rigorous academic standards, high-quality teacher evaluations and extra support for the schools where students are struggling the most."  I've seen the results of the "high quality teacher evaluations" first hand and am not impressed...

How can an evaluation be useful in any way if the Principal can not discipline or fire the poor performers? Or reward the best performers?

Past G2A NCLB Posts
MN Dept Ed: NCLB Waiver Workgroup
MN Dept of Ed: Q&A
Education MN Statement
MPR Concerns and Praise
CNN 10 States Freed from some NCLB Reqts
FoxNews NCLB waivers let Team Obama Seize Control
FoxNews States should Do More
HP NCLB: 10 States Receive Waivers

RAS Bus Drivers & Outsourcing

Thought you may find this opinion piece and these other links interesting.  It looks like Howard may have worked as a service employee for the district, which may explain his viewpoints somewhat.

I am empathetic to Howard's opinion, however I am hard pressed to see Transportation as a required core competency of RAS.  By this I mean, an "expertise" that RAS needs to keep inside and hone to accomplish their mission.  Where as Administrators, Counselors and Teachers are more likely to fit that role.

I would guess that Transportation, Food service, Janitorial, Grounds maintenance, Human Resources, Information Technology and any other positions that do not directly interact with the Students and Parents would be potential candidates for Privatization.  In fact they probably should be outsourced, often they are in private businesses.

On further consideration, I wonder if the RAS Board could get another District's Administration to take on our RAS Administration's duties in addition to their own?  Just think we could pay the other District some, and move even more money to the classroom and out of the ESC.  What an interesting thought?  Maybe Wayzata, Hopkins, other?

Sun Sailor: Howard's Opinion
MN Fair Economy Rally
Facebook Say NO site
RAS Retiree List

China Factories, Foxconn & Apple

Per our previous discussions...  What would you do for a raise?

Also, note that Foxconn is apparently a Taiwanese owned company.  Apparently using the cheap labor in China.  Interesting...

FoxNews Suicide over Compensation Dispute
CNN Foxconn Video Report
CNN Foxconn Secrecy
Wiki Foxconn Suicides
Foxconn Web Site

Obama: Hypocrite, Realist or Other?

I am short on time, so I'll ask what are your thoughts regarding Obama's most recent reversal.  Is he learning as he goes and adjusting?  Or is he just wishy washy?  Or something else?

I thought of the Untouchables movie as a I considered any Politician turning down all that funding when their opponents are accessing and using it...  Apparently both sides are willing to have the special interests drive our society.

HP Obama Reversal
Reuters In shift, Obama
WP Obama Broken Promise
Untouchables: Knife to a Gun Fight

RAS Transportation and More

Well folks I skipped by the RAS stuff so fast, I am going to touch on it again. RAS Info 30Jan12  Especially since it looks like more interesting stuff is happening.  (Thank you lit'l birdie)

This Sun Sailor Transportion article was written by Jeff Priess. (RAS Executive Director of Business Services)  Now that is quite a title... May need 2 busn cards or some small print. (hahaha)

Now here is the link to Monday's 5:30 PM Busn Mtg Packet.  And here is the link to the 6 PM Board Work Session Packet.  Finally, here is the link to the Transportation costs analysis.   Approx $10,250,357 in reduced Expense and Capital over 4 years !!!!  I may have to make some time to stop by and listen in at ~7:15 PM Monday night....  This could be a very interesting mtg.  And they will even top it off with a STEAM update at ~8 PM.

So my questions are:

• Should our bus drivers be applying for jobs at First Student or will the Board find some way to justify keeping Transportation in house?
• Where are the additional savings from selling off the bus garage property? (and maybe ESC) Or did I miss them?
• Was anyone surprised that the RAS transportation costs were historically more than the state avg?  Remember that I used to have 6 buses passing in front of my house each day.  Thankfully that has been reduced to 4 now. (ie RSI and the normal 3)
• Finally, has anyone heard if RSI and STEAM are going to share a bus route or if gain one more bus next year?

American Healthcare Cost Dirvers

Well that last blog must have been too long for people to read, so let's simplify it.  American heathcare is incredibly expensive, for many people the access is pretty weak and quality varies.  J. believes that government is a key cost driver and I disagree as often is the case.  Here are some causes we discussed previously (blue) and some new ones.  Thoughts?  What am I missing?

• Unhealthy Americans abound
• Americans want to save everyone
• Saving everyone weakens Americans
• Americans insist everyone MUST stay alive  Link2
• Americans love lawsuits
• Americans and Doctors love expensive tests
• American Government bureaucracy
• Private insurance bureaucracy, profits & wages
• Pharmaceutical personnel, profits & wages
• Medical device personnel, profits & wages
• Healthcare bureaucracy, profits & wages

Short enough?

Healthcare: Make Em Pay

In the name of keeping the Titles and Comments somewhat aligned, and since I know everyone cares and has opinions about healthcare.  I have copied these from our Union discussion.

And if you have a thought, don't be shy about commenting.  It really doesn't hurt a bit, and you may help us learn something or consider something differently.

"You are correct when you say that at some point The Law mandated that healthcare providers, in the form of emergency rooms, were required to give away their services for free to anybody that asked. But that is pure socialism and slavery by another name, and it is wrong. Of course we do not want people dying by the side of the road just because they lack the means to pay for simple catastrophic insurance or because they could afford expensive medical insurance but chose to forgo it. The problem is that government consistently drives up the cost of health insurance through mandates of various kinds (and because somebody has to pay for all that free medical care being given away). If government would butt out of the health insurance business, a lot more people could afford it. Then all you have to do is to modify the current emergency care law to minimize the immense amount of freeloading now going on. Simply allow the hospital to bill people who use the service but do not have insurance. It's called personal responsibility and we need to give it a try.
The problem, as it has always been, is not that someone will choose "who lives and who dies" by virtue of the medical care they can or cannot receive but rather WHO DECIDES. It should not be some faceless bureaucrat in Washington DC. It should be somebody standing at the emergency room door – on both sides – both taking responsibility for their personal actions. That is what Republicans want. How is that wrong?"  Anon

If you use the "Search This Blog" function off to the right, and enter Healthcare. You will see that this is a favorite topic of mine, and we have had many discussions on it. Since it involves money, ethics, religion, personal choice, etc. I don't think many people here see that as wrong, though I see it as impractical.

Holding the patient who neglected to get health insurance and is broke responsible is easy if society is willing to do it. Let them die. Unfortunately then the ambulance chasers will show up and try to make the hospital responsible for turning them away unless the law allows it.

Holding the ER Doctor responsible is pointless, they don't control the budget and the hospital can't fund all of the Doctor's choices. Talking about responsibility without authority... Or maybe we should have the triage nurse make the choice.

Now if you are a supporter of getting Gov't out of healthcare, how do you feel about physician assisted suicide? And pro-choice/pro-life? Just curious..." G2A

"Why health care costs are out of control in America is a complex and little understood problem. Because of the polarized and political nature of the issue, there just isn't an independent understanding of this issue. For one thing, it's not obvious to me that whatever mandates we have in the United States are any more onerous than those in countries where health care costs are much lower. I do believe the inefficient and unaccountable way we redistribute the costs of "free" health care is a factor, but hey that's just my unsupported opinion. Other countries don't have "free" health care, it's paid for in ways that are understood and accountable, which I believes results in a controlling of costs."  Hiram

"Or, you could simply treat them and send them a bill. Make them FINANCIALLY responsible and, if they can't pay, you give them easy payments or write off the debt from the hospital's taxes, just like everybody else does with bad debt. This cuts off the freeloaders of both kinds, because they will find (if government would allow it) either that basic non-emergency care is cheaper WITH the insurance, or that serious emergency care is VERY expensive without it.


As for health care costs, we know that getting the government out of health care, in four simple ways, would cut our costs in HALF while improving quality of care."   J. Ewing

"Since most of these hospitals are not big profit centers, especially in the neighborhoods where the poor live. I assume this bad debt would put them in the red pretty quick. Would you advise tax credits to help them stay afloat? (ie write offs don't work without profits)


And how would this be different than today? Other than a bunch of broke folks would get a lot of collection calls. I guess the upside is it would create jobs in the collections and bankruptcy industries.

I don't doubt that it would keep people from getting unnecessary treatment, however I don't see that as a big cost driver. Most folks I know do what the Doctor says, and don't sit around wondering when they can spend more time in the Doctor's office.   (Imagine: "Doctor, Please can I have another colonscopy. Pretty please.")
Maybe if we had the Doctor pay for any tests that don't yield useful information. That would cut back on the running of tests. Though the consequences may not be desirable."  G2A

Robbinsdale Schools Info

The agenda has some pretty interesting links, including GRAD test result predictions based on MAP scores, budget assumptions, teacher ratios, enrollment projections, STEAM admittance policy, hazing policy, and lots more. Also they name the STEAM school, I hope they have a big sign.

RAS 23Jan12 Board Mtg Agenda

Other news...
MN Sun Supt gets new 3 yr Contract
MN Sun STEAM Naming
MN Sun LAC Fed Platform
MN Sun LAC Platform
RAS LAC Home Pg

And don't forget about the other RAS issue Bloggers.
Speed Gibson
281 Exposed
281 Exposed Exposed
Community Solutions

Any thoughts to share, or points I missed?

Are you Right, Left, Up or Down?

After years of people trying to fit me into the Left or the Right, and watching the SC surveys that broke Republican voters into many categories, I decided to do some research and add some dimension to the topic.  Ironically I still land somewhere between Reagan and Clinton on this chart.  (seems about correct)

What are your thoughts on these type of charts or do you believe it is simpler than they make it?  I found it interesting that they put Democrat and Conservative both on the Totalitarian side of the line...  Seems about correct given their desire to impose their beliefs on others.


Politisite - Take the Test
CIVICA US Political Categories
COBSlog Nolan vs Asplund Chart
NCSU Left / Right
Freedoms Phoenix Nolan Info
Transcend Include One Chart

Unions in the Global Work Force

It looks like a new topic has found us per my last post and I am very busy, so here we go.

"As for my Union comment. As long as compensation is based on "Years of Service" instead of "Results and Effectiveness", companies in competitive fields are doomed to failure. This is why Unions are only proliferating in the Public sector."   G2A

"Republicans have a problem. There economic policies fail when they are put into practice. Eight years of the Bush Administration cost this nation millions of jobs and plunged us into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. How, exactly, do you spin that? The Republican answer is to find scapegoats. So they blame the housing crisis. Not of course the free market environment that led to the easy money policies that they so fervently supported, and which inflated the budget. Instead, they blame Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose major blunder was to join the party late. Republicans also blame, basically us. We shouldn't have bought homes, we shouldn't have taken out mortgages. We should have been content with our lot in life. And finally, Republicans blame unions. The fact that the union movement is in irreversible decline, a decline which, by the way curiously coincides with the decline of the middle class begun with Ronald Reagan's assault on PATCO, doesn't seem to faze them. It's better even for the Republican attack on unions, that unions are in such a greatly weakened position. It means that they find it very difficult to defend themselves."  --Hiram

"Religious" People Confuse Me

This post was almost called, Attack of the One Issue Voters.  Now I am not sold on Romney yet, but how can these "Evangelicals" totally ignore Mr Gingrich's past transgressions?  He isn't on his 2nd marriage...  He is on his third !!!  On top of that he has a questionable ethics record at best.  And according to Wiki, he is on his 3rd version of Christianity.

Whereas Romney appears to be a devout Mormon, Husband, Father, etc.  Yet somehow the pious church members want to support the individual that aggressively broke one of the top 10 twice.  Thoughts?

WP Gingrich and Evangelicals
Huff Post Gingrich Ethics
Wiki Romney
Wiki Gingrich