HERE'S ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE NUTBALLS

A recipe to restore fiscal responsibility

We’re constantly told there’s no money for necessary programs. School funding is a bottomless pit.

More pay doesn’t necessarily mean better teachers. We currently can’t afford pay raises nor laptops for every student. Schools offer computer classes; most households and libraries have computers.

Legislators aren’t representing the people if they revive propositions we voted against. Schools should eliminate half days — go whole days or nothing. It’s a waste of school bus gas. If parents want their kids bused to after-school activities, they should pay a fee.

Tax money collected is our money, to be used for U.S. citizen benefits. Eliminate all foreign aid (that includes Israel; they’re just as guilty as their neighbors for launching attacks). Maybe we could bring the subject up again when we have a $15 trillion surplus, not deficit.

Any money that’s been taken out of our Social Security fund needs to be replaced.

Same-sex marriage is only going to increase benefits paid to survivors; we can’t afford it.

Only U.S. citizens should receive welfare benefits, and young, able-bodied single mothers should support their own children, with child support enforced. There are disabled and mentally ill persons who need food stamps, medical and psychological aid.

Personal property tax should be repealed. We’re losing millions of dollars in property tax by allowing organizations to become nonprofit and pay no property tax. Only buildings used exclusively for charitable work should qualify. Churches amount only to a second home for their members and should pay property tax.

Online sales should be taxed. It’s unfair to local businesses if purchases can be made online paying no tax.

Bills introduced in congress should be on one subject only, no pork.

The space program should be eliminated. While interesting, it serves no practical purpose.

Judy Smith, Huston



This woman is so wrong on so many levels it's hard to know where to begin, but, you know me, I'm gonna try. Let's take these one at a time...

1. More pay doesn’t necessarily mean better teachers. We currently can’t afford pay raises nor laptops for every student. Schools offer computer classes; most households and libraries have computers. What does that even mean? Money can't buy teachers? Computers won't help the learning curve of children? I really don't get her point. How would she know that money doesn't mean better teachers? We in the State of Idaho pay our teachers less than almost any of the other states; in fact, we are 17^th in the nation. We are 26^th in the nation when it comes to ACT test scores; actually lower than almost any of the Eastern Seaboard states [does that mean that they are higher paid, therefore, the students tested higher?]. Mississippi is in the bottom of the barrel of ACT scores and their teacher pay is 2^nd to the lowest [the lowest is South Dakota and they are higher than Idaho in ACT scores...hmmm]. What this all boils down to is Money is not a teacher's motivation to teach, but don't get me wrong, they do not want to do it for nothing. Here's some more facts:
   

Nationally, the average turnover for all teachers is 17 percent, and in urban school districts specifically, the number jumps to 20 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future proffers starker numbers, estimating that one-third of all new teachers leave after three years, and 46 percent are gone within five years. Here's an answer for this problem: Overhauling NCLB is a top priority for NEA, which believes that a massive infusion of federal money is needed to create smaller classes and bolster proven, beneficial strategies for school reform. High-stakes testing and punishment for low scores are not what's needed.

1. A. Legislators aren’t representing the people if they revive propositions we voted against. Schools should eliminate half days — go whole days or nothing. It’s a waste of school bus gas. If parents want their kids bused to after-school activities, they should pay a fee. So, here again this lady is talking out her...you know what. Full days? What the hell does she know about teaching. There aren't enough hours in the day for the teacher to get his/her work done as it is. This lady seems to think teachers only work during school hours. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every teacher or teacher's spouse knows this isn't true. The classroom is for teaching and after school is for grading and lesson planning and everything else needed to enhance the classroom experience of the students. Teaching isn't a 6 hour a day experience, it's a 16 hour a day experience. A waste of school bus gas? What? Let's use some logic here. The school bus picks up children and delivers them to school, then the bus picks them up after school and takes them home WHETHER THAT IS AFTER 6 HOURS OF SCHOOL OR 8 HOURS OF SCHOOL THE BUSES GAS USAGE IS THE SAME. Now to the fee. If the kid wants to do some after school activity like sports, then the parents should pay a fee to have their children bused where ever they are to go. Well now, that's just dandy if you've got money, but what about the poor student who is a great football player but the parents haven't got the fee? Let the kid suffer is your answer, right? Where the hell is your heart lady?
   
2. Tax money collected is our money, to be used for U.S. citizen benefits. Eliminate all foreign aid (that includes Israel; they’re just as guilty as their neighbors for launching attacks). Maybe we could bring the subject up again when we have a $15 trillion surplus, not deficit. I guess you have a half-assed point here, Ms. Smith. We do have a problem with foreign aid spending. However, we also have to help struggling countries in order to maintain our reputation throughout the world and a beneficent country. Take that away and we are just another richy-rich country with no care for others who need help. However, you do have a point. We need to pay our bills and pay less of other country's bills. I'll give you this point.
   
3. Any money that’s been taken out of our Social Security fund needs to be replaced. Same-sex marriage is only going to increase benefits paid to survivors; we can’t afford it. Well, I guess you got me here; replace the Social Security monies that the Republicans have spent on unnecessary wars. Unfortunately, we can't replace it because it's spent. You go out and buy groceries and spend $100.00. You cannot replace that money. You can go out and make more money, but that money has been spent; it's irreplaceable. Same sex marriage will not cost any more than regular marriages cost. Forgodsake these people paid their taxes just like every one else and the money they receive in benefits are theirs to begin with. They won't be a burden on anyone because they are everyone just like you and I. The costs are the same whether they are married or not; benefits will be paid to someone no matter whether they are married or single.
   
4. Only U.S. citizens should receive welfare benefits, and young, able-bodied single mothers should support their own children, with child support enforced. There are disabled and mentally ill persons who need food stamps, medical and psychological aid. Again I ask you, where the hell is your heart? Here you have a 16 year old pregnant girl with no education who has a child to raise. Where is she supposed to get the money to raise the kid? I suppose you will say from her parents. What if her parents have disowned her because she got pregnant? Now what? Oh, I get it...Social Darwinism. Let her and the baby starve to death, that way we will save all those food stamps and welfare checks for the disabled and mentally ill. What planet do you live on? Fiscal responsibility without morals or ethics is Totalitarianism or a Plutocracy. Plus, dear Ms Smith, I can prove that giving money to poor people, including those dreaded food stamps, is actually a good investment, way better than foreign aid because the money stays in America not overseas.
   

Let's do some math, Judy. Let's say our pregnant 16 year old who was kicked out of her home is living in an apartment that costs $600 per month [the govt. picks up the tab]. She is allotted $250 in food stamps [actually there are no more stamps only a plastic card]. And she receives a stipend of $400 to live on and buy what ever she might need for herself and her baby. That's a total of $1250 per month. At first glance you might say my oh my what a waste of money, but let's take this example a bit farther. Where does this lady spend that money? Well the rent check goes to her landlord who uses it to keep up the property or h/she spends it on other goods for other properties. In other words, that six hundred dollars goes back into the American economy to help support us all. The same can be said of the dreaded food stamp money and her stipend. If this woman were to be put out on the street there's no telling what problems she could incur that we, the American public, would have to pick up the tab for...just think of the medical costs alone because she would be receiving no care and neither would her child. Have you ever been in a hospital...and paid the bill?

5. Personal property tax should be repealed. We’re losing millions of dollars in property tax by allowing organizations to become nonprofit and pay no property tax. Only buildings used exclusively for charitable work should qualify. Churches amount only to a second home for their members and should pay property tax. Here again, I don't get your point. Allowing organizations to become nonprofit? And then you say that churches should not be nonprofit. I don't get it. But I will say that it might be a good idea for churches to pay taxes, after all, they make more money that almost any other entity out there.
6. The space program should be eliminated. While interesting, it serves no practical purpose. The US Space program has usually been less than 1% of the US Budget. How has the space program benefited us, let me count the ways:

1. 1978: Teflon-coated fiberglass developed in the 1970s as a new fabric for astronaut spacesuits has been used as a permanent roofing material for buildings and stadiums worldwide. (By the way, contrary to urban myth, NASA did not invent Teflon.)
   
2. 1982: Astronauts working on the lunar surface wore liquid-cooled garments under their space suits to protect them from temperatures approaching 250 degrees Fahrenheit. These garments, further developed and refined by NASA’s Johnson Space Center, are among the agency’s most widely used spinoffs, with adaptations for portable cooling systems for treatment of medical ailments such as burning limb syndrome, multiple sclerosis, spinal injuries and sports injuries.
   
3. 1986: A joint National Bureau of Standards/NASA project directed at the Johnson Space Center resulted in a lightweight breathing system for firefighters. Now widely used in breathing apparatuses, the NASA technology is credited with significant reductions in inhalation injuries to the people who protect us.
   
4. 1991: Tapping three separate NASA-developed technologies in the design and testing of its school bus chassis, a Chicago-based company was able to create a safer, more reliable, advanced chassis, which now has a large market share for this form of transportation.
   
5. 1994: Relying on technologies created for servicing spacecraft, a Santa Barbara-based company developed a mechanical arm that allows surgeons to operate three instruments simultaneously, while performing laparoscopic surgery. In 2001, the first complete robotic surgical operation proved successful, when a team of doctors in New York removed the gallbladder of a woman in France using the Computer Motion equipment.
   
6. 1995: Dr. Michael DeBakey of the Baylor College of Medicine teamed up with Johnson Space Center engineer David Saucier to develop an artificial heart pump – based on the design of NASA’s space shuttle main engine fuel pumps – that supplements the heart’s pumping capacity in the left ventricle. Later, a team at Ames Research Center modeled the blood flow, and improved the design to avoid harm to blood cells. The DeBakey Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) can maintain the heart in a stable condition in patients requiring a transplant until a donor is found, which can range from one month to a year. Sometimes, permanent implantation of the LVAD can negate the need for a transplant. Bernard Rosenbaum, a Johnson Space Center propulsion engineer who worked with the DeBakey-Saucier group said, “I came to NASA in the early 1960s as we worked to land men on the moon, and I never dreamed I would also become part of an effort that could help people’s lives. We were energized and excited to do whatever it took to make it work.”
   
7. 2000: NASA’s “Software of the Year” award went to Internet-based Global Differential GPS (IGDG), a C-language package that provides an end-to-end system capability for GPS-based real-time positioning and orbit determination. Developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the software is being used to operate and control real-time GPS data streaming from NASA’s Global GPS Network. The Federal Aviation Administration has adopted the software’s use into the Wide Area Augmentation System program that provides pilots in U.S. airspace with real-time, meter-level accurate knowledge of their positions.
   
8. 2000: Three Small Business Innovation Research contracts with NASA’s Langley Research Center resulted in a new, low cost ballistic parachute system that lowers an entire aircraft to the ground in the event of an emergency. These parachutes, now in use for civilian and military aircraft, can provide a safe landing for pilots and passengers in the event of engine failure, midair collision, pilot disorientation or incapacitation, un-recovered spin, extreme icing and fuel exhaustion. To date, the parachute system is credited with saving more than 200 lives.
   
9. 2005: Two NASA Kennedy Space Center scientists and three faculty members from the University of Central Florida teamed up to develop NASA’s Government and Commercial Invention of the Year for 2005, the Emulsified Zero-Valent Iron (EZVI) Technology. Designed to address the need to clean up the ground of the historic Launch Complex 34 at KSC that was polluted with chlorinated solvents used to clean Apollo rocket parts, the EZVI technology provides a cost-effective and efficient cleanup solution to underground pollution that poses a contamination threat to fresh water sources in the area. This technology has potential use for the cleanup of environmental contamination at thousands of Department of Energy, Department of Defense, NASA and private industry facilities throughout the country.
   How soon we forget, Judy.
   

Let me just say in closing. Ms. Smith would have us throw out all the babies with the bathwater. She's one of those Fiscal Conservatives who are not Fiscally Conservative, they just want to cut, cut, cut until every one of us suffers. If we did as she suggests, we would fall into a depression so low that the world would follow and that would be the end of our fiscal-ness period. She doesn't understand money or how it works. She doesn't understand expenditures and how they work. I suggest she take a Macro Economics course to catch up with the rest of the fiscal conservatives and progressives.