I’m up late reading the news, and there are three things I wanted to pass along, in hopes that they might keep you awake as well.
1) Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, while proposing deep pay cuts for employees of local government, “is using state funds to pay more than $81,500 a year to the 26-year-old son of a major campaign donor with no college degree and two drunken-driving convictions.” To make matters worse, this young man, in his new position, “oversees state environmental and regulatory issues.”
2) Last year, Jerry Falwell’s private, evangelical university took in more federal money than NPR.
3) In 2009, Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol was hired at a salary of $262,500 a year to work for a nonprofit dedicated to the prevention of teen pregnancies. And,if you can believe it, that’s not even the most disgusting part. The nonprofit, during that same year, disbursed only $35,000 to the organizations it was created to fund.
So, did you learn anything new today that you’d like to share?
24 Comments
Bristol the Pistol did make a lot of money working for that non-profit, but she also did a lot of good work. Have you seen her PSA with The Situation? I think her work in it alone was worth the $200,000.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyWKlxNAh30
Be careful what you say about this fine young man in Wisconsin, he may very well turn out to me our President one day.
And Tea Partiers have the audacity to call our teachers parasites. This absolutely sickens me.
Speaking of Wisconsin, they’re saying that yesterday’s Supreme Court election too close to call. Hopefully shenanigans won’t come into play.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/06/wisconsin-election-result_4_n_845324.html?fbwall
Today I learned that Mr. T’s gold chains were taken from the people he beat up as a bouncer. He wore them openly so they could come back and claim them.
http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/gjpni/til_mr_ts_gold_chains_were_taken_from_the_people/
It looks as though the promotion given to the rich, 26 year old drunk in Wisconsin has been revoked. Congratulations to the journalist who broke the story.
Now let’s get him out of the $64,728-a-year state job that returned to.
(Brian Deschaneis is moving back to the Department of Regulation and Licensing, where he made $64,728-a-year job as bureau director of board services.)
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_03926452-5f09-11e0-9454-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-don-riegle/post_1901_b_845106.html
I guess I had’t realized HOW MUCH MONEY our pols have taken out of the SS trust fund…yes, I think you should pay that back before you call the program insolvent.
If I were running an anti-teen pregnancy non profit, I’d likely hire a spokesperson who, even though she got pregnant after engaging in unprotected sex as a teen, still professes the value of abstinence only education.
Am I the only one who finds this deeply troubling?
http://www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/ypsilanti-township-to-test-public-surveillance-cameras-in-high-crime-neighborhoods/
I learned that people are covering up massive dolphin deaths in the Gulf.
I agree with Alice…having a baby that young and out of wedlock can (and often does) ruin a girl’s life. Yeah I said–RUINS. I know there are lovely stories about women who had a kid young and turned out to have great lives–and super duper awesome spectacular, but that’s not usually how it turns out (at least not where I stay at and teach at). Bristol, OTOH, will carry on like before thanks to her parents. I’d love to have a real girl come in and say how she crapped out a kid at 14 and now is 21 with three or four kids, no man or an abusive man, no job prospects and staying in some p.o.s. apartment or with her mom. Our school actually did that…had former gang bangers and girls who had kids young come in and talk to our 8th graders…taught me something.
Just realized I guess I don’t completely echo what Alice says but I like her idea :)
Mark, are you trying to make people suicidal?
I don’t consider myself a tea partier by any means, and I don’t make it a habit of fetishizing the founding fathers, but I’d really like to see some of them come back from the grave and whup some ass.
And today I learned that the Republicans don’t care about the people of America, or, for that matter, understand why government is necessary. They’re steering us toward a cliff, and they don’t seem to give a fuck.
Don’t kill yourself yet, Roots.
Here’s some good news.
WIth his ratings steadily dropping and his sponsors deserting ship, it was announced today that Glenn Beck would be losing his daily Fox News television show.
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/glenn-beck-to-end-daily-fox-news-program/
No offense, but how much money does it really take to tell horny teen girls to keep their knees together? $35k, I would think, would be plenty. And good for her if the market decided that she was worth $262,500 a year. How can you fault the invisible hand of God?
“crapped out a kid.” Nice. I’m not sure at this point Palin’s pregnancy can be called a mistake. She’s making a nice career out of that blunder.
If you haven’t killed yourself yet, and think that you can take a little bit more, I’d suggest this interview with Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz on how America is turning into a Nation “Of the 1 Percent, by the 1 Percent, for the 1 Percent”.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/4/7/nobel_economist_joseph_stiglitz_assault_on
It’s not true. The problems in the US are all because of federal and state employees who take all our money.
Another alarming number – 46% of Mississippi Republicans think that interracial marriage should be illegal.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/04/07/poll_mississippi_interracial_marriage
This does not surprise me. A lot of non-profits are set up just so someone gets a salary. Why should Bristol not share in the American way?
When I read this post, I was like…
http://i.imgur.com/2ucq2.jpg
(Justin Bieber with Steve Buscemi’s eyes.)
Speaking of private universities like Liberty getting federal money, I found this info-graphic on for-profit universities to be quite interesting, and damning.
http://campusprogress.org/articles/infographic_an_education_in_for-profit_education/
I wrote Rick Snyder a particularly nasty email sometime last week about his budget for 2011. This was the response I received today. Note the disparity between my real name & the one given to me by his secretary-bot. I assume this means that I was knighted or this is my honorary “Republican name” so I don’t have to out myself as a Liberal with hippie parents when I’m in the midst of a group of republicans.
Christine,
Thank you for contacting the Executive Office of the Governor regarding education in Michigan. I appreciate your time in writing and your willingness to participate in the democratic process.
Michigan’s 28 community colleges provide over 480,000 residents per year with affordable access to postsecondary educational opportunities. The average annual college tuition for a full-time in district student is approximately $2,400. These institutions offer general academic courses for students who intend to transfer to a four year institution, as well as instruction in basic skills, technical training, and customized job training to prepare students for immediate employment.
A mix of state funds supports all three components of Michigan’s education system in the budget recommendation. State funds of $10.5 billion ($413 million general fund) support the K-12 school districts. Community colleges are supported by a mix of $100 million in general fund and $196 million from the School Aid Fund. Higher education state funds total nearly $1.3 billion, of which $564 million is general fund and $700 million is from the School Aid Fund.
Funding for community colleges is maintained at the fiscal year 2011 level of $296 million. Community college enrollment continues to climb to over 480,000, while local revenues have dropped due to lower taxable values. Continued state support is critical because community colleges have experienced an estimated $65 million loss in local revenue in the last four years.
Again, thank you for sharing your concerns with me on these important matters. Should you have any further comments or concerns regarding this or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 517-335-7858.
Sincerely,
Rick Snyder
Governor