Imagine (by John Lennon)

The Staten Island PS 22 Chorus did a fabulous performance, and I am again reminded of the vital importance of the educational value of music and other non-core activities in school. The arts fill in the humanity of the core curriculum kids must learn. Without arts and humanities, they have no context or meaning for all the facts they are taught.

Imagine has always been one of my favorite songs, and I believe the ideas expressed are achievable. I hope it comes to pass sooner rather than later.

I believe the people taking to the streets around the world today to peacefully protest dictatorial governments to the large and growing economic inequality gap between the richest 1% of the population and everyone else has finally started the right conversation.

In the U.S., protesters turned the question of why are the poor so poor into why are the rich so rich? How did that happen? The vast majority of us work very hard at our jobs and we don’t get rich. Why not? Those are better questions.

After the last 30 years of trickle-down economics (the economics of greed), the only thing that trickled down is growing economic stress on the middle class, and the middle class shrinking into poverty with stagnant income as wealth trickles up.

It’s become a crime to be poor in this world. What did the poor ever do to anyone to attract such hatred and wrath? Perhaps remind the non-philanthropic mega-rich just how rich they are and how unfair and unjust that is? Do they see how unsustainable the current condition of our planet and its inhabitants has become?

Could greed be educated out of, or at least tempered significantly, in greed-prone people with strong, mandatory programs in the arts and humanities? (By mandatory, I mean students have to pick at least one thing they like, and they can change their minds if their first choice doesn’t work for them).

Could teaching 4th graders to explore their musical and artistic talents give them something far deeper and more meaningful than any amount of money? Could teaching literature and a love of reading make kids more aware and empathetic of the human condition? Could kids who are talented in writing, painting, drawing, singing, dancing, etc., use their gifts to better the world? Yes.

Perhaps the greedy are greedy because they have nothing to fill some void within them. No amount of money can produce the feeling of sheer ecstasy at playing a piece of music beautifully, or nailing a performance on stage. Nothing beats the deep sense of accomplishment of writing or painting a masterpiece, or performing a character in a play with perfection. All these examples are about deep love, and it is intangible. Money can’t buy the love the arts directly feed our souls.

We still need the laws back that prevent the greedy from chewing up the world and spitting it into oblivion, but putting the arts back in schools might help, too.

Technorati Tags: arts and humanities, Education, Education reform ideas, greed, peace, Poverty, Social Change, the 99%, top 1%

Photo by marc

Yesterday, August 4, Senate Democrats decided to pass the House bill today by unanimous consent to temporarily fund the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) to mid-September.

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives adjourned for a 5 week recess without reconciling the bill with the Senate, knowing what it would cost taxpayers. They passed their bill and said take it.

The federal agency has been partially shut down since July 23. The House bill included $16.5 million in annual subsidy cuts for 13 rural airports, and a provision to bust the airline and railroad workers unions.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will issue waivers to the 13 airports facing subsidy cuts, essentially making this a clean bill.

In the past two weeks, 4,000 federal workers were furloughed, and 70,000 construction jobs were halted because of a lack of funds. 74,000 workers have not gotten paychecks for 2 weeks.

It cost American taxpayers $30 million per day in uncollected taxes for 13 days. That comes to $390 million. Bringing all the projects that were idled back up will cost yet more money that wouldn’t have needed to be spent. Had the Senate not acted, the total could have been $1 trillion by the time the House goes back in session in September.

For $390 million, the rural airport subsidy could have been fully funded for the next 24 years. 24 years!

Republicans really don’t care whether Americans have jobs or not, and they don’t care about fiscal responsibility. Or they failed math… How can anyone possibly justify losing $390 million in 13 days to save $16.5 million per year over the next 24 years? It’s easy. That can’t be justified at all.

The next time you hear a Republican legislator say “we’re focused on jobs”, that person is lying. They haven’t introduced a jobs bill in the House in the 212 days they’ve been in power. They furloughed 4,000 workers and temporarily laid off 70,000 workers. They killed that many jobs (temporarily for now), and stopped collecting taxes over an ideological debate. John Boehner wasn’t lying when he said if jobs are lost “so be it”.

This wasn’t about the money, the economy, or jobs. It was about busting the airline and railroad workers unions, and cutting rural communities off from air transport.

The fight will resume in mid-September. This bill is the 21st temporary funding bill for the FAA in 2 years. When is the FAA going to get proper funding again?

When are American citizens going to see for themselves that the Republicans are not fiscally responsible? This and too many other fights over money are penny-wise and pound-foolish. Spending $390 million in two weeks to save $16.5 million per year for 24 years is insane.

Technorati Tags: 21st temporary FAA funding bill, FAA, GOP disgrace, penny-wise and pound-foolish, temporary funding

Grover Norquist

Barack Obama is President of the most powerful country on the planet, but he’s not our dictator. Grover Norquist is our dictator. He carried out a very deft coup. He hasn’t taken over the government, but he has taken over enough people in it to paralyze it.

Norquist’s power and control over conservative Republicans and a few conservative Democrats far outweigh any other form of influence they face as legislators. They seem to truly fear him and what they believe he can do to them. Or they are delusional enough to believe their ideology over the realities of the country’s economic position.

Norquist’s pledge is getting more allegiance and compliance than the oath these legislators swore to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That could be viewed as treason through some lenses.

The actions of conservatives, especially House Republicans, over raising the debt ceiling show they do not represent the people who elected them. Polls taken last week show 80% of all Americans want the debt ceiling raised for at least 18 months. This will insure stability for the economy to recover without short-term political interruptions to raise the debt ceiling again in a few months.

The debt ceiling has to be raised for at least 18 months. Otherwise, all those partisan fights will make everyone uncertain in this fragile economy, so no one will move. No one will start spending, lending, hiring, etc. to make the economy recover and grow. The markets also signaled they will downgrade our bond and credit ratings if a short-term debt ceiling is passed.

Norquist’s subjects seem quite prepared to plunge this country off an economic cliff that will have us in a deep recession or a second Great Depression just to uphold their pledge to never raise taxes.

If a default happens, taxes will rise on everything to service the higher interest rate we will have to pay on the debt. In fact, all interest rates in the entire economy will rise. The cost of everything will go up, and the American people will have gotten nothing for the extra money we will have to spend.

We can service the high amount of debt we currently have because we are paying almost no interest on any of it. It’s not all about how much you owe, it’s also about what you’re paying to borrow it.

Conservative pledge-signers are playing an ideological game that doesn’t work in the real world.

• If they don’t raise the debt ceiling (do nothing) and we default, taxes will go up and they will violate the Norquist pledge.
• If they can’t get a strict spending cut and cap bill through Congress and get the President to sign it, we will default, everything will go up, and they will violate the Norquist pledge.
• If they work with Democrats and the President on a balanced bill of cuts and revenue increases, they will violate the Norquist pledge.

The only action they can take that won’t violate the Norquist pledge is to pass a clean, one-sentence debt ceiling bill that both raises the debt ceiling amount and specifies a minimum time period of at least 18 months. The President will sign it.

They may lose their constituents if they choose default or their cuts are too draconian. A default will cause more job losses (~700,000) and the economy will shrink (~10%). Everything will cost more for no good reason, or they will be seen as extremely irresponsible for putting the country in this position. Constituents may well vote them out of office for not doing the job they were sent to Washington to do: create jobs and fix the economy.

Conservative signers of Dictator Grover Norquist’s pledge have dug themselves into a deep hole, and now it’s raining hard. So far, they would rather drown for their Dear Leader than act responsibly and do their jobs.

This is exactly why we are a nation ruled by laws and reason, and not pledges and allegiances to one person’s or one small group’s ideology. It’s why our Founders made this a republic instead of a monarchy or dictatorship.

Any pledge any legislator signs or swears concerning their elected position, other than his or her oath of office, is in direct violation of that oath of office. When it interferes with a legislator’s ability to perform his or her duties, he or she should be removed from office by any legal means available.

The pledge is interfering with too many legislator’s ability to perform their jobs, so Grover Norquist has effectively overthrown the proper function of our government. That makes him a dictator.

Technorati Tags: Dictator of America, Grover Norquist, House Republicans in denial, King of America, national debt ceiling, Tea Party Caucus