Anyone else tired of the Republican chant that “we can’t raise taxes on the job creators”?
That’s the Republican argument for not raising taxes on the wealthiest in our country.
And Republican presidential candidates heartily agree.
Whether it’s Herman Cain’s half-thought out 999 plan or Rick Perry’s optional flat tax plan, the wealthy would become wealthier.
Under Cain’s plan, according to the Tax Policy Center, the taxes of the wealthiest would drop by 50 percent.
And with Perry’s plan, the wealthiest would see their tax rate drop from 35 percent to 20 percent. And they wouldn’t be taxed on either capital gains or dividends.
Nice deals for the wealthy.
And for the rest of us?
The middle class will continue to muddle through — and, under Cain’s plan anyway, the poorest would see a dramatic increase in taxes.
So the wealthy would become wealthier.
Just like they have for the past 30 years.
In a study recently released by the Congressional Budget Office, the wealthiest 1 percent have seen their income grow by?
Nearly 275 percent.
And they have doubled their share of the nation’s after-tax income. Meanwhile, the poorest have seen their share of the nation’s income drop during that time.
The rich get richer, the poor, poorer.
And the Middle Class? Stagnant. An average of a little over a 1 percent increase over the 30 years of the study. In fact, the CBO study notes that the top 20 percent of income earners in our country make more than the other 80 percent of Americans combined.
Yet if anyone dares suggest that, for example, we end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest, which would raise their taxes by 4 percent, Republicans cry, “Class warfare!”
Really?
If there’s a class war going on, the CBO study suggests that the wealthy are whopping the rest of us.
The wealthiest have gained almost 300 percent in income earned each year compared to thirty years ago.
They earn 80 percent of all after-tax income.
During these economic hard times, the number of millionaires grew by 20 percent last year, while almost 50 percent of all workers made less than the median salary of $26,000, according to a Social Security Administration study released this month.
And Republicans want to claim a 4 percent increase on the wealthiest is class warfare?
Looking at the statistics over the last 30 years, it’s clear the war is over.
And the wealthiest have won.
• Mike McClellan is a Gilbert resident and former English teacher at Dobson High School in Mesa.
Just Me posted at 7:42 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
I am so grateful that my child does not attend this school that allows it's teachers with victim mentality and brainwashed views teach there. While everyone can admit our system is broken, most grown ups know that the fault is not of the rich but of the government itself and the people who continue to let special interest (their-own) sway the vote for new representation. Nancy Pelosi is a disease and has been for years to this country but the gays in SF keep putting her back in office...why? What has Nancy done for gay Americans? Nothing! The every day person of both party affiliations have worked for acceptance of all people.. The media bends thing to keep us separated. This is what should be protested, the term limits of obvious haters of America, not the people who worked for their success. Honestly why are you people crying? You voted for this regime and now you want to shift the blame. How do you think the rest of us who did not have our rose colored glasses on looking at the new messiah feel. But you wont have to take the blame. The new America says just blame it on someone else and everything will be fine. Just keep lying and spinning it and the people will believe it...You sir are proof of that!
OldOverholt posted at 7:59 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
Let's just be thankful that Mike was teaching kids English and not logic.
dustbowl11 posted at 8:04 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
Just Me,
So only gays voted for Nancy Pelosi? Or are you implying that all San Franciscans are gay? Somebody seems to have a serious phobia.
Accuracy posted at 8:10 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
"Looking at the statistics over the last 30 years, it’s clear the war is over."
------------------------------------
Yes, and statistics show: The top one percent of earners in America pay almost 38.2% of all federal income taxes. Expanding that figure to the top 10% and they pay about three-fourths of all the federal income taxes paid.
Compared to the bottom 50% or the bottom half of income-earners in America that account for about 13% of the earnings but less than 3% of the federal income taxes.
Rich posted at 8:11 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
The 1936 spin. When FDR's liberal programs fell as flat as Obama's, it was time to 'blame to the rich.' The percentages looked a little worse then, actually a wider disparity. It worked then, so now the failed liberals are trying again. Well, it worked the first time. The question is will the American public buy it twice. First time it was their fault, this time it would be the fault of the public. In other words will we get bit twice?
Irons1 posted at 8:47 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
To all the defenders of the rich on here, I have one word, bull. I would use a stronger word, but this site won't let me. I am nowhere near the top of the income scale and I pay taxes every year. You can site all the statistics you want to and it still is not true. There are lies, dang lies and statistics and you know it. McLellan is right and you know it, you just won't admit it. I'm not buying the republican garbage and neither are a lot of people right now.
Irons1 posted at 9:25 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
Oh, by the way, Just Me, you are the disease
Rich posted at 9:57 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
"I'm not buying the republican garbage and neither are a lot of people right now."
Neither am I, but neither am I buying the democratic rubbish. The disease is really that you buy either. It won't really get better until we face up to the fact that we have met the enemy and he is us. We elected a government that couldn't handle the job, part of which is to be sure the rich don't over-charge the rest of us. When you get caught up in the arguments used by incompetents to remain on your payroll, whether they are republicans, democrats or purple polka dotted unicorns, you're just a bad boss. So if you're looking to blame someone, look in the mirror first. You're impressed by arguments that were proven false seventy odd years ago, while other people are opting for an older lie. So long as you buy lies and want to fight about it, the problem, the disease, is you. You want your employees to perform, not get you arguing with someone else. Every two years simply insist it gets better, if it doesn't make incumbency the kiss of death, then, believe me, you'll be surprised at how much better it gets, and how quickly.
chatmandu002 posted at 10:19 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
What Mike fails to realize is that it's the government intervention in the free market system that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. Under a free market system that has less government interference then the rich get richer and the poor/middle class get richer. Right now the socialist democrats have combined the poor and middle class to form the "Dependent" class. Dependent on the largeness and philanthropy of a big government.
And speaking of teaching our students. We can see the results of the liberal/progressive/socialist teachings of our children in schools and universities at the OWS protests.
increase posted at 11:17 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
I'm amazed at the responses to Mike's email. We really need to stop vilifying each other and give each other the respect civil dialog requires.
Both government and the market have betrayed us. Both political parties have betrayed us.
Taxes are the price of civilization, as a prominent economist recently noted. They are not punishment. The fact that we want people who have more to pay their fair share of what we all use -- streets, police, air traffic control, as well as the money we've wasted keeping Karzai in power does not mean that we resent people who have worked hard and earned their success. Federal income taxes are not the whole picture. Everyone who works or employs people pays FICA taxes.
However, a lot of people haven't earned their wealth, they cheated, committed fraud, and in the process tanked our economy. That the Obama administration has been pushing a settlement between these banks and the state attorneys general that would give them immunity after paying a small fine is a travesty.
Punishment should occur through the rule of law for everyone, but we seem to have a lot of people who are too big to jail because we have an Attorney General who will not enforce the law. In the previous administration, we had Attorney Generals who was actively undermining the rule of law
Part of the reason the people who nearly destroyed our economy were able to do the damage they did was that we deregulated. So the market and deregulation is not the answer.
Because we taxpayers assumed the cost of their criminal behavior, and precious little has been done to help local businesses who are struggling, we are still in deep trouble. We have people being thrown out of their homes by banks who cannot provide documentation of who owns the mortgage. We have people graduating from college tens of thousands of dollars in debt who cannot find a job. We have people in their 50s who have lost their jobs and cannot find even work that pays much less. The OWS protests are not because of liberal teachings in schools and universities. People of all ages are protesting and supporting the protesters because they don't know what else to do to be heard.
We have serious problems, and we need to come together and work to solve them, but I have reached the conclusion that until we get money out of politics, that is nearly impossible -- whether you are conservative or liberal or somewhere in between.
listenertoo posted at 2:22 pm on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
Mike, you are right and I have friends whose kids had you as a teacher and had nothing but great things to say about you. They said you taught their kids to think, and to write from the heart. That's what you are doing here.
Cerulean posted at 5:41 pm on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
Yes Mike, I’m tired of the Republican chant.
First chant –reduce the deficit. Ok, it’s a good idea .
Second chant – don’t raise taxes on the wealthy. Hmm?
Third chant – cut Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security. Now the Republicans have gone too far! They have lost their minds and they are swimming in Forbes poo. Boooo!
I agree with listenertoo, Mike.
Diogenes Lantern posted at 7:33 pm on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
What an illiterate dunce this teacher is! Heaven help us from this proganda machine! Please home school your kids or send them to a charter school.
Liberals worry that the tax would shift the burden from the rich to the middle class. No. Americans making $50,000 to $60,000 a year now pay an average of 6 percent of their income in income taxes. But they also pay 6.5 percent in FICA levies and 2.9 percent in Medicare payroll taxes (a total of 15.4 percent). The Cain proposal would replace these with a flat 9 percent, saving them 6.4 percent.
Of course, the middle class would also have to pay a 9 percent sales tax, but it would be largely offset by the savings in their payroll taxes.
Cain says that competitive pressures would hold down prices and force businesses to eat much of the 9 percent sales tax. Employers would not have to pay their 6.5 percent share of payroll in Social Security taxes, and their corporate taxes would be cut. For commodities with high price elasticity -- like cars -- competition will hold down prices. But for inelastic purchases -- like food and drugs -- some of the tax would probably be passed on.
For the middle class? It's a wash.
More compelling is the possible impact on the poor. A family making $20,000 to $30,000 a year pays only 3 percent of its income in taxes (much of it more than offset by tax credits). But it still pays 6.5 percent in FICA and 2.9 percent in Medicare taxes. So the requirement that such a family pay 9 percent in personal income taxes would probably be fully offset by the cut in payroll taxes.
Sorry McCllellan. The BIG Unions will do anythingin cluding lie, to keep their precious progressive demcroats in office to keep throwing them more bones.
How about using your HEAD rather than emotions and read about 9-9-9.
Rich posted at 8:46 pm on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
Find an honest man yet? Honestly, 9-9-9 as 6-6-6 is not an uncommon idea and proposed in the 60s. It isn't the amount, it's how you spend it. Everything the middle class gets now, they could get for half the price. Do you really need cities to pass a law that isn't a law on how long your grass can be and spend millions to enforce that arbitrary idea? Do you really need to take policemen off the job to redo what the federal government already does? Do you need departments federal, state, county and city with rules that look like several of the old style phone books to spend billions on enforcing weird rules about how you should be born, educated, live, and die? Your real problem is about 70% of government employees are 'make them feel they are working' welfare. And, the kicker is your retirement, the one you paid for out of every dollar you've ever earned, is in jeopardy because they don't have to pay it. Wake up, the government already gets twice what it needs to give you everything you need or even want from a government besides tyranny and stupidity. 9-9-9? Fifty years ago, when I was young it was 6-6-6 and it would handle everything. Let it go another fifty it'll be 12-12-12. You let a bunch of drunken salesmen write checks for you, until you get a handle on the checkbook, it's ?-?-? and eventually 100-100-100. Have another slice.
Abstract01 posted at 9:43 pm on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
I began reading Mr. McClelland's commentary, and did not get very far before I realized that I need not read any more. He is on the wrong track, and if you try to follow him down that road, you, too, will soon be lost.
The right track is "how can we reduce spending?" I don't care a whit who is getting taxed how much. If you buy into raising taxes, you've been detoured.
As soon as you hear taxes, start shouting REDUCE SPENDING, REDUCE SPENDING.
Slabside posted at 11:17 pm on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
As usual, McClellan's commentaries are 15lbs. of steer manure packed into a 5lb. bag. Any wonder why he is a "former" teacher?
Arizona Willie posted at 9:03 am on Sun, Oct 30, 2011.
Diogenes ... be careful about who you call a dunce.
You say: " No. Americans making $50,000 to $60,000 a year now pay an average of 6 percent of their income in income taxes. But they also pay 6.5 percent in FICA levies and 2.9 percent in Medicare payroll taxes (a total of 15.4 percent). The Cain proposal would replace these with a flat 9 percent, saving them 6.4 percent. "
But the 9% would replace the 6% Federal Income tax and everyone would STILL pay the F.I.C.A and Medicare payroll taxes. So the 9% would be a 3% increase!
The 9 - 9 - 9 does not abolish Social Security so the FICA tax would continue. It does not abolish Medicare either so the Medicare tax would continue.
I think the dunce is in your bathroom mirror.
Just Me posted at 9:18 am on Sun, Oct 30, 2011.
I find it funny that one of the first comments on here after mine resorted to calling me a homophobe as if to discredit my opinion. So let me get this out there for you...I am for gay marriage, I am pro-choice and I do not discriminate based on race, gender or any other of the hot key issues that people use to turn your head (not to give a valid point of view). I am for less government, less entitlements and a lot less whining! Why are people blaming the corporations and the wealthy? You have no control over their actions. Why are you not focusing the blame on the real problem which is the government that we DO have control over. I find this whole movement ignorant! You are taking your cues from media (super rich) and celebrities (super rich). Why are you being such puppets? Have you really lost the ability to think for yourselves? Panem et circenses is all it takes for you to throw your country and your freedom and I might add fellow man away. I welcome a different point of view and can certainly take criticism, but come at me with something original and not some "ism" meant to replace a valid thought!
listenertoo posted at 11:08 am on Sun, Oct 30, 2011.
Mike, I know, because I asked, that you did not bring your political views into class.
To those of you attacking Mike's teaching abilities because of his political views that is just stupid. H.S. kids are sharp and they will call teacher's out to would do that, not to mention the district. Parents would certainly complain if their kids were being brainwashed in class. Teachers know not to go there, and Mike didn't.
Good teachers, who teach thinking skills, encourage opposing sides, but to attack Mike personally is not what this forum is about. Has Tom Patterson ever been attacked for his political views because he is a doctor? One has nothing to do with the other. Linda Turley Hansen was on television for years. Did she sneak her views out onto the unsusepecting television airwaves? Did Bill Richardson bring his political beliefs on duty when he was a cop?
Attacking a retired teacher, or anyone for political views is a cheap, cheap shot.
Mike McClellan posted at 7:12 pm on Sun, Oct 30, 2011.
Diogenes Lantern, every independent evaluation of 999 has shown its many inadequacies.
Even Cain has tacitly acknowledged this, as he has modified his 999 to now include a 0 in it. His Opportunity Zones would cut the 9 to 0 for the urban poorest. Again, he shows how half thought out his idea is, though, because a good chunk of the poor are in rural areas, where his Opportunity Zones wouldn't be applicable.
Fox News reported on the 999's inadequacies -- the fact that the wealthy get a disproportionately higher tax cut than everyone else (because Cain won't tax dividends or capital gains).
And it would raise taxes -- according to the Tax Policy Center study cited by Fox -- on 84% of all taxpayers.
You claim for the middle class Cain's plan "is a wash."
Wrong.
According to the Fox News article:
"You're talking a $2,700 tax increase for people with incomes between $10,000 and $20,000," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. "That's huge."
Households with the highest incomes, however, would get big tax cuts. Those making more than $1 million a year would see their taxes cut nearly in half, on average, according to the analysis.
Among those in the middle, households making between $40,000 and $50,000 would see their taxes increase by an average of $4,400, the report said. Those making between $50,000 and $75,000 would see their annual tax bill go up by an average of $4,326."
You can read the entire article here -- www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/18/study-cain-tax-plan-raises-taxes-on-84-percent/#ixzz1cJyOpbqy
Cain has never scored his plan, and even his advisor on this -- Mr. Lowrie -- has had some qualms about the plan.
I might be an "illiterate dunce," as you call me, but I'm not afraid to use my real name nor am I afraid to actually read some articles about his plan.
Maybe you, Mr. Lantern, should try both.
JMJ posted at 10:34 pm on Sun, Oct 30, 2011.
I get so tired of reading some of these comments.
It's The contraction for "it is", as in: It's time to learn our grammar.
Its The possessive form of "it", as in: Homeschool is only as good as its teacher.
We could also say, "Homeschool is only as well as its teacher", in this case, if we were referring to the health of its teacher, and not just the educational qualifications of its teacher, which are questionably good, and not "well".
Teacher is singular, because, genearlly in homeschools, one teacher is the curricular genie for the whole educational experience, preschool - 12. Usually, that teacher is also the lunch lady and the custodian and the school bus driver and the playground aide.
If you're going to suggest homeschooling, or alternate education away from people who actually teach students to think, at least figure out the difference between how "it's" and "its" are used. These are sometimes referred to as "troublesome words". These are troublesome three-letter words. We all know about troublesome four-letter words.
Us public school types start teaching these differences in elementary school.
And then we do get to retire, just like everyone else who works for a living, which makes us "former" public school teachers, as was stated in the mini-bio regarding this guest columnist.
But that's all about comprehension, and there's not enough space to explain that whole concept here. Hear?
Don't worry. Mesa Public Schools doesn't want teachers to teach kids what to think. Just how to think. For themselves.
That's apparently quite taxing for people with comprehension problems. Thought I'd get back to the topic. There. Their. They're. I'm back. To the topic. Taxes.
Our legacy as "former", retired educators is that our students did learn to, and do, think, and they go above and beyond because of people like us. Last I checked, most of the former students I taught were not homeschooling their kids because they want their kids to learn to think, "as well". Or, "too". Your choice. No apostrophes. You're in luck. In Mesa. OK. Let's not push it. Its. It's.
JMJ posted at 10:37 pm on Sun, Oct 30, 2011.
Oops. Typo. It's "generally". Not, "its generally". It is "generally".
Typos.
They happen to the best of we. Oui?
Rich posted at 11:14 pm on Sun, Oct 30, 2011.
"H.S. kids are sharp and they will call teacher's out to would do that, not to mention the district. Parents would certainly complain if their kids were being brainwashed in class."
Actually here is a reading list for a class my son took in a valley high school. No one complained. I would have, but my son was a reader so I didn't see that it would harm him and he'd already read five of them. However, it isn't exactly what you'd call politically balanced: Upton Sinclair. The Jungle. John Steinbeck. The Pearl.
Ralph Ellison. The Invisible Man. Dashiell Hammett. Red Wind. Howard Fast. Spartacus. Jack London. The Game. Langston Hughes. Not Without Laughter.
Oliver Lafarge. Laughing Boy. Thornton Wilder. The Bridge of San Luis Rey.
English, whether they call it Reading or even Literature can be one of the most politically influential classes a HS student can take. Look at the above list. Award winning classics of American Literature, nobody objected. However, as a group of books, they are politically one-sided and obviously picked to sell that philosophy to young minds being taught to 'think for themselves.'
bobunf posted at 12:57 am on Mon, Oct 31, 2011.
Accuracy left something out of his numbers: payroll taxes. Over 18% with social security, medicare, the employers' portion and unemployment insurance. These amounts are paid almost exclusively by the lower 90% of taxpayers and exceed the average rate paid by the top 10% of taxpayers.
Then there's property taxes, sales taxes and utility taxes all of which fall disproportionately on lower income people. And the corporate income tax, which largely acts as another sales tax.
It's not nice to try to fool people.
JMJ posted at 5:04 am on Mon, Oct 31, 2011.
It's also not nice to dumb down curriculum. There are actually some very stupid principals in Mesa who ban books on their campuses, because they will bend in the wind if even one parent challenges the teacher on one book. So, for those of you parents out there who are afraid of books and big ideas which might champion others' points of view than yours, you can just complain.
You, Rich, contradict yourself because, obvioulsy, you didn't deem your son to be in jeopardy by reading these works. When I read Howard Fast to elementary kids, I could skip over parts that were too heady for them, and stick to the main relevance of the history of the Revolutionary War's start. They were interested--on their own level of understanding. You're exactly right, it was a cross-curricular history novel, higher level than most of their reading comprehension, but by reading books and then explaining to them, and entertaining discussion and questions, they were not even aware that they were being taught to think and not just swallow any agenda hook, line and sinker. Great teachers do not teach kids what to think. They let kids digest information and decide for themselves. Kids' perspectives are formed based on their ability to relate to the characters most close in age to themselves, not on any underlying political agenda. No great educators ever tell kids how to feel. Not in elementary school, anyway.
Look around the world at current political issues. Who's questioning the status quo? Young people in their late teens to early adulthood. I, for one, want young people who are thinking for themselves asking questions, instead of young people who go off, half-cocked, flying into skyscrapers because of extreme political views.
It's all about balance. Literature is one of the best ways to start a conversation and then listen to all sides. When we compare and contrast literature to modern day politics, it's all there, every single aspect, from the French Revolution [and prior] to modern day. Wasn't the French Revolution about civil unrest because the rich were stepping all over the poor?
How taxing.
Find yourself stupid administrators who can't comprehend anything beyond a cereal box. They will allow you to dumb down the curriculum, and perhaps Glen Beck will be part of the reading list, next time.
But seriously, all kidding aside, congratulations on just providing the opportunity in a houselhold wherein your kid renjoys reading, Rich. Just be aware, he will be able to form his own opinions because he will most likely be able to think--for himself. You are to be commended for allowing him to read these books and figure things out, for himself. Better yet, read them, as well, and discuss them from your point of view in case you're worried about all us commie teachers, out there.
mnjcpa posted at 10:36 am on Mon, Oct 31, 2011.
Tired of the chant that “we can’t raise taxes on the job creators”? You bet I am - but for different reasons. The attack is on the self-reliant - not just the Wall Street firms. I'm tired of them being blamed for others life choices & told I'm not paying my fair share.
Every person who seeks success is being targeted by the nation's takers - generated from the liberal left. Cain and Perry are at least trying to transform a very complex system. So while lots of comments are dialed in to the details of the those ideas - what's really at stake is spending is out of control - with ZERO accountability.
It really doesn't matter if we bounce around tax rates because America is careening full speed into bankruptcy - I predict by third quarter next year. That's because annual unfunded entitlements will surpass $2-$3 trillion per year this decade. We're spending more than half our annual GDP on interest and taxes alone. We have no chance to grow our economy with these metrics & taking increasingly more from the producers to give to the takers NEVER works - in any country - or any economy.
So while Mike probably enjoys a cushy teachers pension - AFTER he quits his job - (no one in the private sector enjoys this kind of benefit) I will continue to help the self-reliant - those that expect that financial freedom comes as a result of their own efforts - not penalized for their risk taking by the takers.
JMJ posted at 5:08 pm on Mon, Oct 31, 2011.
Part of living off "cushy" pensions [what a joke] is that teachers are actually self-reliant. The pension is part of the gig when teachers sign up to teach. Poor planning on your part doesn't constitute taking away pensions that have been earned by others. Teachers pay money into retirement for their whole career. Teachers work long hours and sometimes three jobs--I never had a summer "off" until I retired, this year.
I will be finding another job to supplement my "cushy pension" because I have to do that. That was part of the choice I made when i went into education. I'm not complaining. It's a reality.
But, this is my "gap" year. I've worked since I was 16 years old. I owe myself some time off. I live frugally so I can do that. No apologies. I'm extremely happy, and quite used to living on very little.
Sour grapes, poor life choices? You maybe should have been a teacher so you could see, firsthand, how tough it is to survive as one. Life choices, we give up our selves and help others. I pay way more than 9% of my income for taxes. Add that on top of out-of-pocket expenses for others' kids because parents don't give a rat's behind to supply their own kids for school, but no child was left out in my classrooms, plural.
The rich have won. Again. As usual. Always. Something has to change.
Rich posted at 6:46 pm on Mon, Oct 31, 2011.
JMJ,
"Them that's got shall get.
Them that's not shall lose.
So the Bible says,
And it still is news.
Mama may have,
Papa may have,
But God Bless the child,
That's got his own."
Frankly, having a sibling and six cousins who are retired teachers, when you shovel it that deep, you're going to have more than a few doubters.
mnjcpa posted at 9:20 am on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
JMJ - my observation has nothing to do with the hard work that teachers legitimately put in to their job. It's the fact that the lifelong pensions that public related jobs enjoy are simply unsustainable and part & parcel of the larger problem. (see my paragraph 3 about the country vaulting in to bankruptcy)
I too have been working since I was 16. Bought and paid for a college education plus two advanced degrees. The teachers I had when I was young were instrumental in my education quest - but that type of person isn't around any longer. What I've come to believe is that "education" doesn't mean a college degree any longer because the government has perverted our school system. I wouldn't have chosen a teacher's career because I would be working for the government - not teaching.
azconan posted at 1:56 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
This guys a reporter? What a moron ! Maybe in the last 30 years the wealthy have gotten wealthier because its MUCH easier to do so. 30 years ago we didnt have cable Tv or Internet and if you had an amazing idea or product you sold it the old fashioned way. Youd drive around or go with word of mouth or some archaic way. TODAY you stick it on the onternet and BLAM youre a millionaire. 20 years ago you think the infomercials crud they sell would be making them millionaires. Well it sure does today !. Its easier ! And yes the poor are making more than they were just not the percentage of growth the rich are. the unemployment rate for college graduates is 4.1% for the rest its more like 11%. GO GET EDUCATED and youll find work, higher paying work. Dont take it from those of us who worked 70 hours a week for no pay for years and think Im giving it up easily !
JMJ posted at 10:30 pm on Tue, Nov 1, 2011.
mcjn, I never worked for the government, I worked for myself and my family to put food on the table, just like most people I know in whatever profession or field they chose to pursue. If you want to argue that we all work for the government because we pay taxes, I'd agree, but I would also like a more equitable system as to how those taxes are paid. I believe that was the main gist of this op-ed piece.
Regarding my profession, I worked for my students. I never worked for my boss or my district. Whatever I did, I did it because I was driven to make the world a better place in whatever capacity I could by helping to teach kids to think, whatever the curriculum. That should be the underlying motivation for all curriculum--to help kids learn to think for themselves. Giving one-sided perspectives is not teaching kids to think. Whether it is math [there are sometimes many ways to get the same solutions], reading, history, geography, language--kids need to learn to think and "question the answers".
I will agree with you that government interference through NCLB and RtTT have been programs that have taken the wind out of the sails of teachers, because bonehead administrators are so worried about losing federal funding that they are contriving scoring systems, in cahoots and conjunction and compliance with the AZ Dept of Ed and other state agencies [in the case of each state's compliance to these federal programs]. It's still smoke and mirrors. A grade of "B" with a label "highly performing" for two different schools means two different things. It's very misleading.
I'm glad the last place I worked had a good grade and a good label, but I can tell you that school is not what it was even five years ago. Blame demographics and community complacency--but the teachers are still working their collective buns off.
The bottom line in Mesa has always been to keep the students in the seats. Somewhere along the line, accountability has been shifted from the students' and parents' part and teachers' part in this whole formula solely to the backs of teachers. Leadership in administration in Mesa is an oxymoron. Emphasis on the moron. Had Mesa ever had the "boys" to stand up ten to fifteen to even twenty years ago and say "This is how we do it here, if you don't like it, go somewhere else", and upheld high standards, I don't think we'd be witnessing the decline in enrollment we have seen due to the charter explosion. Now, we have a fractured mess in the public school arena in the state of AZ. The sad common denominator in all this is that the public school systems have really fallen. I don't think it can't be turned around, I just don't think there's the talent in the current "leadershi*" to do that.
Those of you who have teachers in your families, congratulations. That doesn't make you a teacher. Just like having doctors in my family doesn't make me a doctor. Everyone knows just what to do to "fix" education. Right. Government oversight is usually only implemented when industries or professions have proven they cannot do it, themselves. Mesa could have been a shining star and a leader instead of bowing to the almighty dollar in trying to keep students no matter the cost to the rest of other students, and now, its system.
Just like there are good mechanics and great mechanics, good doctors and great doctors, good dentists and great dentists, there will always be those in any profession who just flatten the giant whoopee cushion and stink at what they do.
90% of the colleagues with whom I worked were fabulous, dedicated, underpaid, overworked and now, as an added bonus, they are solely responsible for test scores even though there are variables which are way beyond their control. And, their bonehead "bosses" are now holding test scores over their heads and threatening them with their jobs when some of those very administrators couldn't even teach their way out of a paper bag to save their own lives. And, no raises, not even basic COLA adjustments, and bearing a larger than fair share of taxes due to current laws which protect the rich.
Divide and conquer is a good strategy to make sure nothing productive gets done. Tea Party:Occupy Wall Street. Republican:Democrat. Pearce:Cortes:Lewis. ROFL. The commentary [limited and repetitive] about these articles is a microcosm of why nothing is getting solved in our country. There are always two sides [or sometimes more] to an issue. Blanket statements and polarization solve absolutely nothing.
I don't regret being an educator. I miss the kids. I miss my colleagues. I don't miss the bee-ess. I certainly don't miss the idiots "in charge". I am happy living on my measly retirement until I find another job after my "gap" year.
My kids didn't have a family business to enter into--they actually had to earn a college education on their own and they are better for it. They are in excellent professions [far away from teaching]. Adversity builds character. If anyone out there is relying solely on any system--schools, the government, the banks--isn't it obvious that "We, the people" need to be trying to find solutions instead of keeping up the division and downfall of our country?
Don't look to the alleged leadership out there. It's sorely disappointing. The tax code is how many umpteen volumes of divison by class, and protection--for the rich. Tag, you're it. Whatever we all say, nothing is getting done. It's a giant game of wack-a-mole. Put out the fire that is currently obvious, and know that, at any minute, another issue will pop up, and be ineffectively be addressed, but nothing gets solved.
Waxing pathetic on a Tuesday night. It still beat the heck out of grading papers.
mnjcpa posted at 9:00 am on Wed, Nov 2, 2011.
JMJ - what you described is what I'm referring to. You're intention is to provide the best possible result to your students. But the Dept. of Education mandates what you do so the message and the tone of the great service you provide gets perverted by the unnecessary liberal mandates. You're probably like those wonderful teachers I had when I was young caught in a sesspool of muck from above.
And if you've followed my comments to other columnists - I'm in the tax business. And the media has done a swell job on convincing people like yourself that we just need to tax the rich more. That has NEVER worked, in any country, or any economy. It's NOT the problem!
What is the problem is a ridiculous tax code that it takes a masters degree to understand. There are loopholes and rebates that have been integrated in to the code to solve SOCIAL ISSUES. Our problem and economy today is we spend far more than we take in. We sure don't operate that way as families, but Obama can't even put together a budget little lone balancing one.
JMJ posted at 12:05 pm on Wed, Nov 2, 2011.
I agree with that. The tax code is a mess. I also agree that social issues need to be addressed in a realistic manner, and not paid for by the rest of us hard-working types with our tax dollars, until there are guarantees in place that these idiots are trying to get out of their welfare status.
There should be mandatory drug testing for those on welfare and food stamps [except for the kids]--the parents who take, take, take and don't even make sure their kids get to school should be removed from the welfare rolls and have their kids taken away until they are doing something productive for society, instead of bleeding it dry.
Of course, we're talking Arizona, here, where CPS can't even intervene when
If people are taking from government programs, then, as stewards of our tax dollars, there should be government oversight and stop-gap measures so the LOSERS I saw on a daily basis who just bred and took our bread are cut off at the knees. Or elsewhere.
Government or not, there are teachers out there who still teach above and beyond the dumbed down expectatons put in place by federal oversight.
No one goes into education for the money--except for some of our schleppy superintendents, who make sure all their friends are in their "cabinet", and who aren't worth the oxygen they take away from the rest of us.
So glad to be out of it for that reason alone. Watch Mesa go down the drain with all the great people who are leaving. Mesa doesn't have enough relatives to replace us all. They will run out sooner or later. Probably sooner.
JMJ posted at 12:07 pm on Wed, Nov 2, 2011.
Dang this site. Always comments before finished.
Anyway, CPS isn't doing its job protecting kids in our state when they're in danger. Don't really know who'd take kids away from negligent parents when it isn't happening already.
I guess, constitutionally, people have a right to remain stupid. But not on my money.