SS Benefits: What is in Your Wallet?

How much will you get?  Thoughts?

MN Transportation Funding

You will have to read the linked article  and the comments to see where the following comment came from.  I have to start working on taxes  :-( so I can fill out a FAFSA before March 1...  Likely we will get no College subsidies, however that score is needed to apply for some scholarships... MP Transportation

"How about the DFL reduce the income or sales tax to offset their gas tax increase. That way both the "dedicated funding stream" supporters and the people who want to keep government growth at or slightly above inflation will both be happy. :-)

Also, let's see them stop proposing government growth, and start proposing using the budget surplus to catch up on these supposed required maintenance tasks. Not much sense taking out a loan(ie bond) when you have the money in the bank...

Raising taxes/spending faster than the inflation rate AND adding more Taxes for Transportation seem like over reach to me..." G2A

GOP Debate and Trump's Absence

CNN GOP Debate
CNN Trump's Party


Any thoughts on either of these topics? 


My only thought is that Trump reinforced again that he is one of the biggest narcissistic prima donnas in the world and I can not understand why people are supporting him...  If our population likes actors so much, I think George Clooney would be a shoe in for President if he chose to run.  And if people like that womanizer Trump... They would LOVE George...

How to Close The Achievement Gap?

Continued from here

"Eliminating the gap will require at least 3 things:

1. Change status quo public education work, retention, compensation, assignment, etc rules so they meet the needs of the kids. Not the wants of the Teachers.
2. Change policies so incapable and/or negligent parents do not have more children than they can personally afford. Enable society to be able to enforce this if needed.
3. Change policies so that US has a stronger Parenting and Early Childhood Education program for questionable / young Parents. " G2A

"John, in some sense you are correct that there is no silver bullet, because to repair a failing public school is going to require a combination of things to be done, successfully, over a number of years. On the other hand, we have close to that silver bullet in school choice.

As for "eliminating the gap" I think that is impossible, especially approached as you suggest. It is like attempting to turn the car by standing outside and pushing on the front wheels, rather than turning the steering wheel. Far easier to change those things we do control, like the public schools' funding and policies, then those things we do not, like social breakdown regardless of cause (and I will blame government for that, just not now).

We can and absolutely must REDUCE the gap, however. You have suggested that private schools do better because they have entrance requirements, and because they can expel difficult or troublesome students. So how is that different than having a school with rigorous testing followed by remedial effort like the RIF program? What about a school having a rigorous curriculum and high expectations, with talented teachers in every room, paid on the basis of student improvement? Why shouldn't a school have a strong and effective discipline policy, including, as many districts now do, a separate building (ours has bars on the windows) for those who need the extra discipline, short of the last-resort of expulsion? There are public schools everywhere doing one or more of these things to a greater or lesser degree. It would take a concerted effort and several years to turn that train around, but we never do. " Jerry

GOP Deserves Trump and Cruz

GOP establishment deserves Trump, Cruz

"If John takes enough interest to comment on the state of the GOP, I expect he will say something like the dems are no different - look at Bernie. To which I likely will not care to reply, so just don't bother making a post." Laurie

Public Teachers and School Choice

A gift from Laurie.

I do have a couple of links to stories on education that support your views on staffing public schools:

St. Paul teachers don't stick around in schools with greatest needs

Horace Mann and Obama Elementary at opposite ends of the scale

Hillary Wants to Stack SCOTUS

I find the following statement by Hillary fascinating and scary. CNN Cure for Citizen's United

"As president, I'll appoint Supreme Court justices who recognize that Citizens United is bad for America. And if necessary, I'll fight for a constitutional amendment that overturns it."

Now I understand that Presidents try to select Justices that lean their way. However to actually say you want to appoint individuals who would rule because they agree with you that something is "bad for America" instead of if it "is Constitutional" is amazing.  Thoughts?

U of MN Alert System Change

MPR Alert System Change


I found this amusing / strange when I heard it discussed yesterday on NPR.  Apparently young black men on campus felt singled out and discriminated against when a campus warning went out specifying the race of a person who was a potential threat.  Therefore they went through the effort to lobby to get the policy changed.


Maybe the warning should go out saying "beware a person in blue jeans, a brown coat and black hair" if the threat is a 20 year old black woman...  We would hate to be too descriptive in case it might save someone.


Of course if I had jeans, a brown coat and black hair...  Maybe I would feel unfairly singled out ...


Thoughts? 

Who Matters More? Black Folks or Public Employees

Jerry shared this interesting link on the BLM History piece.


DS How to Show BLM


So who's life matters more?  Black Lives or Public Employee Lives?

Lets Pass More Debt to the Kids

It looks like Dayton is excited to borrow and spend even more.  Thoughts?

MP Dayton Bonding Proposal

Obama: Can't We Just All Get Along

No surprises.  What did you think?


CNN Obama
CNN Haley


Eric has a couple of interesting posts...
MP Fix Politics
MP Why Partisan Bias alters our View of Facts

SCOTUS and Union Dues

Personally I think every state should be a right to work state and union dues / membership should be optional, so I am hoping SCOTUS agrees.  Thoughts?


MinnPost Center of AE and Powerline
CAE View on Public Unions
Powerline Blow to Unions?
Fox News Forced Dues
MJ Major Blow


I like this quote from the CAE piece. 

"The Friedrichs case is not an assault on public unions, though if Friedrichs wins, public unions like Education Minnesota will have to stop taking their members for granted if they want to keep collecting fees and dues. An organization that can compel its members to fund its mission is bound to grow arrogant.

The Friedrichs case is, however, a heartfelt objection to the prejudicial idea that giving up one’s First Amendment rights in exchange for a job is somehow fair. It is also an opportunity for the court to get this one right."

Vikings Loss

So for something totally different, what did you think of the game.  At first I was going to be angry with the kicker and ball holder, then I remembered that without them the Vikings would have scored ZERO points yesterday.


On the upside I am sure they will be a much more consistent and better team once they move into the shiny new stadium. :-)

Living on $2 per Day

Apparently the truth is hard to find...


MP The 1% We Don't Talk About
Forbes $2 Clarification
Brookings $2 Clarification
HP $2 Example
Here and Now $2

BLM Historical Perspective

Here is a strange article and some pretty good comments.  MP BLM Historical Perspective Unfortunately my comment was denied, so here it is...


"I have found that my relationship is best with the police when I:

• do not rob a store, illegally walk down the middle of the street and then argue with the officer.
• do not buy my teenager a realistic looking gun and then let them stand in a park near the road aiming it at things.
• do not argue and become verbally abusive with the officer when they ask me to do something simple like get out of the car, show me your ID, etc.
• do not physically abuse my girl friend and then argue with the paramedics and police when they come to help her.
• do not have a long rap sheet of selling drugs, stealing, etc.

I think BLM would have much better luck gaining the support of the main stream citizens if they focused on protesting the few times when law abiding people were abused or killed.  There must be a few in this list. Instead they seem to insist on being the voice of criminals, not the voice of Black people.  Then people like me are reminded of that old saying... "Those who live by the sword are likely to die by the sword."


I do feel sorry for the mentally unstable people who are shot by officers.  However given the number of officers killed each year in the line of duty, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.