Time to nuke it!

"We have a long way to go to get back to really educating our kids. To give them a future."

I think the first time I heard someone say we should get rid of this Jimmy Carter brainchild, it was Ronald Reagan in the 1980's. Since then, many, including myself, have asked the tough question - why do we even have a Department of Education? What does it do? Do we get value out of it? Are our kids smarter because of it? If this were a P/L business instead of the government, this department would have been toast decades ago.

Some might say, "Okay Bird. We know you have in in for education. Do you have any proof the Department of Education is a waste of space?" Actually, yes - if you can believe a May 1, 2018 CNS.com article. To say this article is damning is an understatement. To have the type of statistics this article states, and then to have a federal government organization responsible for education with a headcount of almost 4,000 and budget of $70B, does not add up.

Get ready, as this is a show stopper. Nationwide, 65% of all 8th grade students are not proficient in reading, and 67% are not proficient in math. Now pull that seat belt a bit tighter. In many urban areas, the numbers are far worse than the averages. I won't go through all of them, as they are dismal. But in Baltimore (a scant 40 miles from the Department of Education), only 13% of all 8th graders were proficient in reading and only 11% proficient in math.

Wow! That is bad! It could not be any worse than those statistics. Okay - one more notch on the seat belt please. In Detroit, a city where untold millions have been poured in to rejuvenate this city, only 7% of all 8th graders were tested proficient in reading, and only 5% in math.

Some people are okay with these kids being throw aways, but I am not. Some people are okay with almost $70B every year in tax dollars being wasted, but I am not. If insanity means doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, we are certifiably nutty for allowing the Department of Education to stay in existence. 

Wait just a minute Bird! Are you pinning these lousy test scores on the Department of Education? Bingo! Yes I am! If the charter of this organization is to educate, they are failing at that charter. Get rid of this waste of space. In other words - nuke it.

We have a long way to go to get back to really educating our kids. To give them a future. Ever since the 1960's when the hippies and love children have mucked up society and our education, the test results have gone south. Time to wake up America. These kids are our seed corn. I don't care where they live - they are our future. 

The Obama sequester turned lethal

"President Trump has signed into law big time funding to fix this travesty. Let's just hope it is not too late to save more of our brave heroes."

What I find amazing is the unintended consequences of most all decisions. The Budget Control Act of 2011. Remember that pile of excrement? That was the result of the United States Debt Ceiling Crisis of 2011. This was a "stand off" by the newly formed Republican House, and their arch enemy - Barack Obama.

The Republicans wanted a reduction in spending, thereby reducing the deficit, in exchange for raising the debt ceiling (again). Both sides agreed to negotiate. Also, this negotiation was so important, so vital to the nation's interest. that a "poison pill" was going to be the reward for failure. The "poison pill was going to be so acerbic, so bitter, an agreement was for sure going to be made. It wasn't.

Thus the Budget Control Act of 2011 was signed into law, poison pill and all. The poison pill was the sequester - starting on January 1, 2013. The sequester were automatic spending cuts. Starting in 2013, and stretching out to 2021. They were to be $85B annually, evenly split between defense and non-defense spending. For the military, already suffering under a very tight budget, these cuts were catastrophic to say the least. 

The cuts hit the DOD's O+M budget the hardest. O+M is Operations and Maintenance. That not only covers the maintenance of the equipment, but also the training to use it. A decision was made to have most of the cuts hit domestic equipment and training, and the least cuts being in the forward operating theater.

As far as President Obama was concerned, this all looked good on paper. He was going to teach the military and those recalcitrant Republicans a lesson. But under the surface was brewing a toxic cauldron. More and more platforms needed to be cannibalized to be barely able to operate. Some planes could hardly get airborne. Training hours were cut significantly, so it was just a matter of time before something ugly happened. 

This week we had an extremely reliable C-130 from Puerto Rico fall out of the sky for what seems no reason at all. Nine members of the Puerto Rico National Guard perished. According to the Military Times, from 2013 to 2018 (the years of the sequester), 133 of our service men and women have perished in air accidents. That does not include the 9 from Puerto Rico yesterday. In anyone's book - this is totally unacceptable!


Some might think it is too harsh to put this on Obama. First off, it is his John Henry on the bill (which became law) which authorized this pile of crap. Plus (and I remember this clearly), he had very little time for the military. Cutting their budget down was just fine with him, thank you not!

President Trump has signed into law big time funding to fix this travesty. Let's just hope it is not too late to save more of our brave heroes.
   

The MPS dilema

"True change can be found in simple formulas. Don't believe it? Take a tour of Cristo Rey some time. They would love to show you their formula. The formula which works just fine for very little money and offers tremendous results."

Every now and again, someone pens an article in the op/ed section of the paper which really hits it out of the park. Today, that person was Peter Hutchinson, a former Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools. Now, one would think that Mr. Hutchinson would be a cheerleader for the status quo at that failing government school system. Nope. His article was called "Go big or go home". Some may disagree with the solution he spells out at the end of the article, but it was the facts he presented are an affirmation of what many of us have suspected. 

According to Mr. Hutchinson, each student in the MPS costs the taxpayers $24,000/year to "educate". For that money, this is what the taxpayers receive in return:

• One out of five is ready for college or a career right out of high school.
• Two out of five don't even graduate.
• Two out of five go on to college, and half need to take remedial courses from the get-go.
• One out of five go no further after graduation in high school. No training, no college, nothing.

The "solution" the current school administration has recommended to fix this budget shortfall is to ask the voters for even more money this fall. Almost another $1,000/student/year. That would take the amount to "educate" a student this failed school system up to $25,000/year. Now these are my words, and not Hutchinson's - WAKE UP MINNESOTA! A bit over 1/3 of every dollar we stick into this bloated state government goes into out failing government schools! Is this the kind of ROI we deserve???

Anyhow, the solution that Hutchinson gives at the end of his "Go big or go home" article is his "go big" solution. And it is a whopper. Spend about a half a billion dollars over the next five years. What??? Where is that money coming from? Good question. I have a better idea sir. Follow the successes of schools like Cristo Rey which can truly educate kids for a fraction of what MPS spends per student. 

Peter Hutchinson is looking for a true change agent fix to fix the unfixable schools in MPS. They are indeed "unfixable" if money is the only panacea offered. Or - true change can be found in simple formulas. Don't believe it? Take a tour of Cristo Rey some time. They would love to show you their formula. The formula which works just fine for very little money and offers tremendous results.

The days of future past...

"Our days of future past might soon be in the past. What do we know? There is no time like the present to take care of what might be a problem for our kids in the future."

My parents were married for 66 mostly happy years and lived in the same house for 50 of those years. Both my parents passed in their 90's - my Dad when he just turned 90, and my Mom just shy of 97. Part of the World War II generation, I did not believe my Dad would ever think he would die. Worked until 70, and then consulted for six months after that. When at 89 he found a lump on his throat, the bad news came in fast and furious.

A life long cigar chewer (not smoker - chewer), this bad habit finally caught up with him. Throat cancer. The last year of his life was a lot of me taking him over to radiation treatments, and then basically taking care of their house as well as ours. By the way - I was still working at this time. My parents were not equipped for this. Neither was I. Not in the least.

Even though my folks had made me their Power of Attorney and Executor decades ago, they had never shown me their "keys to the kingdom". In other words, where stuff was in case one of them should pass. So shortly before Dad passed, he and I had the "dining room conversion". It was my first glimpse in all my years at their financials.

Not bad. They were far from rich, but did a good job in managing their money. However, it was not in the super organized fashion I was used to. No problem - I could adapt to it if necessary and then change it. But then my Dad took a quick turn for the worse, went into hospice, and died. I promised him as he lie on his hospice bed, that I would take care of Mom - and I did for the next ten years.

Why do I tell this story? Both my wife learned quite a bit about the "stuff" which needs to be taken care of before we leave. I was able to take care of Mom only because of the time and a half my wife and I both worked in doing so. The getting rid of their house and their stuff - was a huge mess.

Our good friends who recently moved to Florida did an awesome job of downsizing. They taught us quite a bit. How to become "minimalists". Very smart thing to do.

I am reminded of that old saying, "Live for today, yet plan for tomorrow". Even if the tomorrow does not include you. Our papers are drawn up, our funerals planned and paid for, and our "keys to the kingdom" book is up to date and tucked away where either one our daughters can get to it. 

My preference, of course, would be that we stick around for the same amount of time (or longer) that our folks did. We have grand kids to help raise! But statistics are statistics. Bad stuff can happen at our age, and happen quickly.

Our days of future past might soon be in the past. What do we know? There is no time like the present to take care of what might be a problem for our kids in the future.

Underfunded education mandates

"Should a district try and cut back services to a child who needs special education, the lawyers come flocking in like Robins in the springtime. This is a perfect storm for districts to always be back at the capitol with their hands out."

Great article in the paper today about the great divide in Minnesota. Seems there are now three tax plans floating around St. Paul. The Republican led House has one, the Republican lead Senate has one, and Sir Goofy of the Northland has one. The first two offer some kind of modest tax relief for the subjects of Sir Goofy, and of course, Sir Goofy just wants to spend more. 

It seems Sir Goofy believes it is a travesty to offer his subjects a few crumbs of tax relief when our schools are in such need of MORE MONEY. What? You have seen this movie before? Like every year? Yes, our failing government schools seem to always have their hands out asking for MORE MONEY. 

Some Republicans have said, "Hold on Sir Goofy. This is partly your problem for allocating so much funding to your pet rock, Pre-K". Sir Goofy however, will have none of that, and still blames the districts shortfalls on those stingy Republicans.

Here is a dirty little secret. The first part, most know. The second part, very few know. Part 1 - Most districts are terrible money managers. They don't know a budget from a six pack of beer. No duh! 

Part 2 - A big and hidden cost driver is the growing and underfunded cost of special education. Starting in 1975, the federal government got its statutory and regulatory mitts on this issue. It started issuing guidelines and mandates to the states on how to do special education. The feds promised the states they would have skin in the game. The promised 40% of ALL special education funding was to be supplied by the feds. Never happened.

Why is this such a big issue? Nationwide, the average cost to educate a child for one year is $7,552. For a student in special education, the average cost is $16,921 - an additional $9,369 per student. The feds kick in some, but never the promised 40%. However, their mandates remain. Should a district try and cut back services to a child who needs special education, the lawyers come flocking in like Robins in the springtime. This is a perfect storm for districts to always be back at the capitol with their hands out.

I have been aware of this issue for many years, mostly due to spousal influence. My suggestion has been the states sue the federal government for the shortfall. Maybe if we had a real AG in this state we could have. But we have not had a real AG since I was a young man. This year we could change that, by electing Doug Wardlow as our next AG.

So the tax wars continue in St. Paul. Of course, the one group who once again was left out were the seniors. Hello Social Security? Always promised, never fixed. Sir Goofy's position on fixing Social Security? He would rather be dipped in boiling oil. Why? He thinks our Social Security belongs to him and not us.  

The high cost of staying here

"Want to change that this November? Jeff Johnson and a Red House and Senate will fix this mess. If not, we will continue on our path to California. A sanctuary state will sky high taxes and no seniors. No seniors? They will be getting sunburned in a NO TAX state like Florida."  

"We are a high tax, high value state!", proclaimed Sir Goofy of the Northland right after he spearheaded the passage of a bill to raise our top income tax to a hair under 10%. The good news for him? That rate put Minnesota up with the big boys - almost as high as the tax rate his idol, Sir Moonbeam of La La Land visited upon his state.

The bad news is simply this. The Minnesota House just passed a very parsimonious tax relief bill. Why Bird, is that bad news? Because it will never become law. It was just for show. The Minnesota Senate may or may not pass it, and if they do, it will be by barely. Then Sir Goofy of the Northland will veto it, knowing the House and Senate do not have the juice to override it. 

Minnesota has been a high tax state for quite a while, and the Blue Kool Aide crowd is quite happy with it being as so. But to live here, if you are not getting some kind of welfare relief, is turning out to be quite a pricey proposition indeed. For example:

• State Income Tax - With a top rate of 9.85% (Thanks, Goofy!), according to Monster.com, we are one of the five worst states to live in to keep a decent portion of your paycheck.
• Sales Tax - With an rate of 6.875, it can be as high as 8.375% depending on where you live. It is one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation, even with clothes and grocery foods not being taxable.
• License Tabs - Buying a $60,000 car, SUV or truck these days (trust me - not hard to get to that price), will cost you $760 in license tabs. This only goes down about 10% per year. MANY states only charge $75, no matter of the price of the vehicle or the year.
• Gas Tax - At 28.6 cents/gallon, we are higher than over 60% of the other states. 
• Death Tax - According to the Center of the American Experiment, Minnesota has the 6th most burdensome death (inheritance) tax in the nation. 
• Social Security - Minnesota is one of only 13 states who tax some or all of you Social Security. Of those 13 states, Minnesota is in the top five.
• Military Pensions - Prior to just a few years ago, Minnesota was one of a handful of states which taxed military pensions. Due only to some cleaver bill crafting, this was eliminated a couple years ago. Sir Goofy of the Northland, was NOT  happy he was had on this one!

What can I say? Do you want to stay living in the place of your birth, your graduation, where your kids and/or grand kids live? If that state is Minnesota, get ready to pony up. There is a cost to staying here. With the right government, it should not be that way. But right now we are ruled by the Blue Kool Aide drinkers and Sir Goofy of the Northland.

Want to change that this November? Jeff Johnson and a Red House and Senate will fix this mess. If not, we will continue on our path to California. A sanctuary state will sky high taxes and no seniors. No seniors? They will be getting sunburned in a NO TAX state like Florida.  

Sanctuary: Mexico?

"Lets be honest about one thing. Rather than offering a safe harbor to these folks headed north from Central America, Mexico acted as a facilitator instead."

I am sure that many are having the same thought which I am having this morning. What just happened here? All of a sudden, we have a wave of Central American fence hoppers standing on the other side (and some on our side) of our border fence with some ACLU snowflake lawyer shouting at the border patrol through a bullhorn. And just like that, this is all our fault.

Are Honduras and Guatemala that bad right now? Maybe. Does a dysfunctional government as well as out of control street gangs put people lives in danger? Maybe again. Ever wonder why people don't take back control of a government run amok, or protect themselves from street thugs? Maybe the people are not allowed to have guns. Just saying. 

Anyhow, now that they are at the border, they have white armbands on, signifying they are asylum seekers. They are looking for a country which will allow them safe harbor. Of course, they have just traveled 2,000 going stem to stern in Mexico. Wait! As soon as they were allowed across the southern border of Mexico, could they not have asked for asylum there also? Of course they could of.

What would be the advantages of asking Mexico for asylum? 1) Close to home, in case they ever want to go back (or be sent back). 2) Less of a journey. 3) Similar or same language and customs. Sounds like a win to me. Any disadvantages? Oh, yes - money and benefits.

Lets be honest about one thing. Rather than offering a safe harbor to these folks headed north from Central America, Mexico acted as a facilitator instead. Rather than arrest undocumented people in their own country, they allowed them passage and help getting to the northern border. Translation = Mexico in no way wanted these people. They just wanted to get them to the border, so the Jerry Browns of the United States could care for them.

When the Titanic sunk, there were not enough life boats for all the passengers. If every passenger tried to get into the available life boats, they would have all sunk and nobody would have survived. By the same token, if we let down our borders and allowed everyone if who wants to be, our country will "sink". We will not survive as a nation. Just saying....