My Beauty Best Teacher

Before we visit the best posts of 2011, let's all take a moment to reflect back on some of my best posts from last year, 2010, and see how the analysis, predictions, and theories that I advanced in those posts have held up over the past year.

Obama: Didn't Waive the Jones Act, Made Gulf Spill Worse:
Occasionally I break a major story, like this one, which I was on well in advance of the MSM. Here was the story that I broke in 2010:

In reply to the emails from snarky liberals who ask 'just what do I expect Obama to do about the Gulf oil spill', the reply is 'get the hell out of the way'...Let loose the power of free markets and civil society and restrict government to limited and defined roles, and the world will be a better place. In this particular case, just 'what can Obama do'? Here is one of dozens of examples that are specific and have few drawbacks but Obama isn't doing- Obama can temporarily waive the Jones Act....

In retrospect, it is clear that Obama did have a reverse-Midas touch with the Gulf Oil spill- every move he made or didn't make during this disaster was the wrong one. From not temporarily waiving the Jones Act (which effectively forbid foreign nations from assisting the US by banning ships flagged, crewed, constructed, or owned by other nations from transporting cargo from one US port to another US port) to overstating the extent of the disaster (his talking about it caused a larger drop in tourism to the entire Gulf region than the actual disaster did), we can see in the Gulf oil spill just how aimless and unhelpful President Obama is when America faces an immediate crisis, and this post was yet more support to that argument.

Obama Nicknames
Every President has a nickname- Reagan was the Gipper, Bush was W, Clinton was Slick Willy, Thomas Jefferson was Long Tom, Chester Arthur was the Walrus, Calvin Coolidge was Cool Cal- so in this post I decided to pull together some of the top Obama nicknames that I have seen or heard. It's a good and solid list, and I've added to it over the past year (2011). My personal nickname for Obama: Waffles the Clown.

Oppose Race to the Top: Reasons Why Conservatives Should Oppose RTTT
This post was one of my 'thinking posts', where I was asked a question that I should have considered before but hadn't, and I went home and really thought through my views and beliefs and arrived at an answer. My instinct was always to oppose Race to the Top, which was President Obama's major education initiative, but I wanted to make sure that I was opposing it for the right reasons- not because the NEA was against it or because Obama came up with it, but because it violated conservative principles. Read the whole post, but here is a bit of it...

Recently, Michigan Senate Majority leader Mike Bishop asked me for my opinion on the President's Race to the Top program. I told him that I didn't support it, and he looked at me in a way that said "I thought you were a conservative" and "I thought you wanted to help education." At the time, I struggled to explain why I didn't like the program- I didn't really know all the details to it, but suspected that I was indeed correct in opposing it from what little I knew. He thought I was just a tool of the teachers unions, who also oppose RTTT, but I knew that for some reason I didn't like this initiative by Obama, and it wasn't just paranoid anti-Obama sentiment.... Today, via theblogprof, via Right Wing News, I came across the an article called "Ten Rules for Anti-Government Republican Radicals in D.C. ." As an anti-government conservative radical, the kind that our founding fathers were, the kind of people that built our nation and made our country a great success, I find these rules to be useful in helping me begin to articulate why I oppose Race to the Top....

Since I put together this post, I've gone on the radio multiple times in a variety of shows to talk about a true conservative approach to education, one that emphasizes decentralization of power, local control, less federal spending, regular and measured policies, structural changes, the humanity of the system, the lessening of federal laws, and the passage of good solid legislation. A good conservative believes 'first, do no harm' and 'less is more' and that the purpose of the state is to protect life, liberty, and property, and Race to the Top is not legislation that a conservative should support, even though it attacked the NEA and labor unions and put in place small good changes to the system. Read my whole post and you'll see yet another reason why thinking individuals should be opposing Obama in 2012.

Obama's New NASA Policy- Yet More Broken Promises and Lies
American Exceptionalism is being killed by Obama, in ways big and small. Once America was a great nation that put men on the moon- an exceptional nation capable of spaceflight and exploring new worlds. Now...:

Out of all of the broken promises of President Obama, this one is probably not the biggest to a lot of people. Out of all of the phony and lying rhetoric about hope and change, this latest policy announcement that kills hope and changes things for the worst is probably not the most backstabbing that he has uttered. But that does not mean that Obama's plans to destroy NASA's budget and redirect its mission away from exploration is not big or important to me....

Obama's attack on NASA didn't stop in 2010 as he continued to oppose its vision of boldly exploring new worlds and demonstrating America's amazing exceptionalism. I revisited this theme several times in 2011, notably in my posts Nuclear Power and Manned Space Flight: Victims of Democrat's Progress Backwards? and Obama Killed My Child's Dream of Being an Astronaut.  Obama and the Democrats will not be happy until America is an average nation that has fallen back into the pack of tyranny and debt that is the history of the world, and their policies towards NASA are an example of this.

Recommended Read: Codevilla's 'America's Ruling Class'
This post was an attempt to get people to read one of the most important essay's of 2010- Codevilla's essay America's Ruling Class -- And the Perils of Revolution that was published in the American Spectator.

...it lays out quite clearly the two classes that are evolving in our nation- what Codevilla calls the 'ruling class' and the 'country class.' Codevilla echo's what I tell my students every year- it is getting increasingly important to understand how the ruling class in our society works and how they use government to maintain their ruling status, because our society is increasingly about what the government does and less so about what you do...

Revisiting this essay today, you can clearly see the increasingly divide in America between those people who are benefiting from government connections and those who are not, increased by the policies pushed by the modern-day Democratic party and to a lesser although still significant extent the Republican Party. Solyndra is a great example of this- a company that found favor in the ruling class was able to secure loans and help while other companies not favored by the ruling class had money taken from them in the form of taxes and regulations and fees and permits. The massive expansion in food stamps or the massive expansion of taxpayer subsidized healthcare are also great examples of how the ruling class is increasingly looting all of us in order to give gifts and trinkets to the country class as our nation descends into tyranny.

Some teachers are tempted to be babysitters during the holidays when, in fact, you can get some powerful teaching moments in your classroom. Take time to be creative and integrate holiday-themed teaching into your classroom. Please share what you like to do in the comments.

1 - Have a Social media activity relating to topics you're learning
Two of my most tweeted things from last week were the Facebook template and Twitter template that you can download and use in Microsoft Word. This is a great alternative for those of you who cannot use the online Fakebook template from Classtools.net.

Our AP Literature teacher has had students create a Facebook profile for their term paper author. They have to add at least 8 "friends" who are contemporaries of the author, a certain number of status updates with comments from friends. All of it must be believable. It is a lot of fun because students have to research their person, figure out the contemporaries and understand aspects of his/her life.

These spark fun conversations and can be done offline or online.

2 - Make an Interactive Story
This is a great time of year to teach students how to create interactive stories using PowerPoint. You can have them illustrate a popular story (like this Night Before Christmas PowerPoint) with their own narration or create an interactive story talking about their family. (see a review for Powerpoint 2007) The concepts you can teach with this idea:

• Clickable hotspots (where you click and make a choice - this is basic programming)
• Recording narration
• Creating a self-running PowerPoint

There are many free online presentations full of Christmas ideas that you can adapt.

3 - Make a Review Game (to promote future recall)
If you're doing reviews, and know that content you shared this semester will need to be recalled next semester, you can have the students create fun review games using PowerPoint (see the video below.) You can save them and review. If you don't have Powerpoint, use the Free flash Online Jeopardy Generator and have them save the file or embed on your wiki for review later.


4 - Play Games to Learn
For elementary teachers, TES has the 12 games of Christmas which are perfect for the whiteboard. If you want to play this on the ipad, the last three games (the santa addition game - #11 is my favorite for my 10 year old) are available for free. You can download the game from the iTunes store. (There are 3 games in the app - a sequencing game with ringing bells, and a velocity and angle game where you shoot an elf at presents to grab them and get them into Santa's sack.) There is a free downloadable teaching guide for these games, a big plus. (On another note, you can write a review and tweet it with #tesxmas to Twitter and win an ipad on Friday.)

But you could take this further if you have older students. Why not come up with your own 12 games of Christmas and embed them in a wiki by having students create their own games at classtools.net? These can be used for review next semester before testing. You could start playing eLections to understand how elections work or make your own class stock market game. (I use the one at Market Watch.)

You could also take some of the fun holiday games over at Kaboose and adapt them to your classroom or activity.

5- Play Games to Make the World a Better Place
Or how about selecting a game that can change the world like Free Rice (answer vocabulary questions and rice is donated to areas in need), Darfur is Dying (not a happy game for Christmas but one that could give perspective), or other games that bring awareness to social issues. (Like Disaster watch, citizen Ship, or the Carpet game.)

6 - Make Games
There are a lot of places to make your own video games: Sploder (for arcade games) or MIT's Scratch or Microsoft's Kodu Game Lab. All of these are free. As the K12 online conference 2011 said, "Play with a Purpose."

7 - Create your efolio
The end of a semester is a great time to update (or create) your efolio. All of my students have their own website and their parents know the links. When they graduate, they put the links on college applications and resumes. My favorite place for student efolio websites is Weebly, but you could also do this on Google sites.

8- Create a DVD for the family
Use Photostory (free for PC), or iMovie or Windows Live Movie maker (free for PC) to make a simple DVD movie for the child's family. These are fun, simple programs that have built in tools to help make simple videos out of family photographs. If you do this option, my best recommendation is to have students bring the photos in already scanned on a CD or DVD or to have time outside class when students can scan photos.

9- Digital Picture Frame or Digital Jump Drive
The best picture I gave last year to my family was a digital picture frame with pictures from the year on it. My Mom keeps hers running in the kitchen all the time. You can get a nice Digital Picture Frame from Amazon for 20 something plus a memory card for a total of around $30. This would be a great gift for the principal or front office to have photographs and works of art. How about having students scan their work form the year and creating a digital portfolio for their parents using a digital picture frame? (You can also find small digital keychains for photos as well. I have seen them but don't have a specific one to recommend.)

You could even have students scan or photograph their work and take photos and put these items on a jump drive and give the jump drive for Christmas. Both of these gift ideas cost a little money but would be nice for parents or principals.

10- Make Christmas Cards or Have Fun with Photos
I have students create a movie poster using Adobe Photoshop to photoshop their face onto a movie poster. Then, we have the students assemble Christmas cards for the school board of directors to send to parents. If you teach graphic design, Christmas or Holiday cards are great things to do.

Have fun with Photos at Big Huge Labs

There are also many online websites like Blue Mountain where you can make ecards and send them to family. You could use this to introduce younger kids to email. You can also have students bring in family pictures and learn to scan them and pull them into a funny holiday site like Elf Yourself. (Or they can help you do this activity with the faces of teachers or administrators.) You could also use an app like Face in the Hole.

Speaking of fun with pictures, Big Huge Labs is a blast for anyone and can help you make fun, frameable signs like the one I made for my school's state championship football team.

11- Solve Santa's Murder
OK, this is a very different kind of activity, but I think that is why I like it. It is a writing activity but has students use clues to solve Santa's murder mystery. It is no secret that I spend quite a bit of time running around the free TES resources and this is another one I turned up there. Probably better for middle school but would spark interest.

Widad Kinard's Pinterest board with classroom activities

12 -  Share Your Ideas
Share your ideas for teaching during the holidays with others. Sometimes seeing what other teachers are doing is so helpful. For example, Widad Kinard has a lovely Pinterest board with classroom activity ideas overflowing with holiday ideas straight from her classroom.

Share on your blog (like I've done here.) Certainly there are many great ideas out there. Send them through your favorite hashtag on Twitter. (See Jerry Blumengarten's Hashtag Guide -he's @cybraryman1 on Twitter.)

Teach!
There are so many things you can do that will teach students.You don't have to watch another movie. But if you do, watch a classic movie. They will watch popular movies at home (most likely) but A Christmas Carol or "It's a Wonderful Life" will give the kids an insight into culture. There are lot of classic movies you can watch.

Recess is great but three recesses are a bit extreme in one day.

Some teachers go on autopilot this time of year and become glorified babysitters. You are too good for that. This is the week that separates the good from the great. Use every moment and find the power of teachable moments. As kids play and relax in other classes, they may just have more mental energy for your subject than you realize.

Take time and use your time! Please share your ideas in the comments.

Sickness is everywhere. In my house. In our schools.

Sitting here at 6:42 am in the morning, I am in my comfy chair for a brief moment at the start of my day about to head a school after another night with a sick child. The worst has past and she should sleep comfortably through the day with her bottle of Gatorade nearby. I know because she is the fourth of the five of us to have this same virus. (I'm the only one left standing but as the nurse, I have to admit I'm completely worn out.)

Last Wednesday afternoon my iphone got sick. It would not update to iOS5. I was getting Error 3200 (like many other hundreds of thousands of people, it seems.) I got on Twitter and eventually got onto some reputable blogs to determine that this error that no one had ever seen before was due to lack of capacity on Apple's servers.

Last Monday and Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of Blackberry Messenger (BBM) customers around the world, primarily non US, could not use their messenger service. This was due, we now know, to a major switch failure where the backup switch did not take over.

Measuring and Placing Blame for Failure
As I was facing my own 3200 error on Wednesday, it struck me that in the US, we have a whole different standard of measurement for businesses versus schools.

When we judged Apple for the 3200 error, everyone knew it was a systemic problem and that somewhere there was a technical reason for the error. We also knew that if Apple was an effective company that they would move heaven and earth to take steps quickly because their core mission was at stake. They would spend what they had to, do what they had to, because an inability to scale up in this way would harm their long term growth. They are positioning themselves for the next ten years, not the last.

When we judged BBM for their error, they took quite a bit longer to fix it, but we still knew there was a systemic error somewhere. Many do think that their inability to find the problem more quickly points at bigger problems within the company.

But in neither of these cases did you hear:

• All of the engineers at Apple are sorry wastes of human flesh who are just drawing a paycheck.
• BBM engineers should all be fired for this.
• All technology companies have bad, sorry, engineers and programmers.

If someone said this, a whole industry would be up at arms. And yet, for example in Rhode Island last year, a school literally fired every teacher.

When business fails we blame the system. When education fails we blame the people.

The other struggle is that you can see an Apple or a BMM outage immediately but often it takes a decade to see a failure at a certain grade level. We should be able to "deconstruct" what is happening with the failed classes that are coming out. We have plenty of students and parents (and teachers) to interview. Where did they lose interest? What happened? When did the situation turn for the negative with this class of students? Are we deconstructing today's failure and analyzing what we did 10-13 years a go to cause it? Ships like educational institutions don't turn on a dime.

Find the problem and fix it.
Neither can we say "one thing" has gotten us here. That one thing isn't just teachers that one thing isn't just administrators. Never to shift blame, we must examine ourselves closely for any failure in the system, but let's look at some other things too.


There are a few questions I think we should ask ourselves in every schools. (In my few brief moments I have left in this chair before I go help my fourth grader review his wordly wise words (again) for his big test today.)

• Discipline. One student can disrupt learning for a whole class. Are we so eager to give another chance that we've made teachers impotent? Are the corrective measures we're using actually correcting anything? Does one student have the right to disrupt learning for everyone else? Can't we use video and document what is happening and stop having one persons word against another?
  
  
• Classroom environment. Each classroom should be a place where learning can happen. Are their noise interruptions or basic flaws that are preventing learning from happening? When these happen, are the systems in place to promptly fix the problems? (Leaks, loud/broken Air conditioners, etc.) Do administrators and others respect class time and rarely interrupt on the intercom or impromptu assemblies?
  
  
• Class size. There is definitely a point where it becomes significantly harder to teach a class. My largest class was 26. We had to be in desks because I only have 21 computers (not counting mine at my desk.) One time I had 22 students and had to let a student use the computer at my desk. I have to say that the 26 and the 22 situations were very tough to manage for me. It took everything I had and I know for a fact that I couldn't cover as much as I did when I had 18 or 12. For me, the point where it becomes a bit more challenging is somewhere around 19 or 20. I don't know why it gets tough at that point but I have a computer lab and it is. I have friends with 30 and even more in a class. I've heard of 40. In South Africa, I saw a teacher who had 150 students. She said, "I couldn't help everyone but I helped the ones I could."
• IT Purchasing policies. Why do we buy what we buy? There is no doubt, corruption in the system. Right now in Alabama, their 2009 move to a glitchy  state-wide SIS system without going to bid has raised eyebrows and my inside sources say that it is sparking an investigation. (The Mobile School Board demanded it this summer.) IT is not an afterthought it is as important as the plans for the new school building. We need people who understand the specific needs of education making decisions and the position of IT directors escalated to a level where less temptation for corruption is there. Many IT decisions should really be curricular decisions anyway. We still treat it like a black box in most schools.
  
  
• How we look at research. We talk about research based best practices and in some ways it has become the Achilles heel of education. All a company has to do is go out and fund research proving their product improves learning and we'll buy it and cite the research. Are we blind? Are we so eager to believe there is a quick fix that we'll swallow such nonsense? When I dated guys, I knew not to believe half of what they said about themselves on the first date because they were trying to make themselves look good. Salesmen are trying to SELL. If we're sick we get a second opinion. Take a look at the What Works Clearinghouse but know also that sometimes we should test new things and innovate as well. Can we "BETA" test before we go full scale? WE should.
• Do we listen to contrarian voices? Stephen Downes and Gary Stager, God bless 'em, they are often contrarian voices. I read them for that reason. While I don't always agree with how they disagree with  people sometimes (everyone deserves respect) I do think that we need to listen to all sides of issues and topics. If you only listen to people just like you when people just like you are wrong, you'll be wrong too. Balanced voices make for good decisionmaking. Contrarians are sometimes right and the general viewpoints are sometimes wrong. Get the facts, listen to both sides and make up your mind.
  
• Do we educate parents on their role? One thing that could improve learning by next week for every school would be if parents made sure their children got 8-9 hours of sleep a night. That one thing. Read Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School and other research and you'll find that student learning is negatively impacted by lack of sleep.(One study equated the IQ drop of 1 hour less of sleep to that of lead poisoning.) Yet, parents persist on letting their kids sleep with their constantly buzzing cell phone on their pillow denying them the ability to get a good night's sleep. If we know that a child drops two grade levels in their ability to perform in class after losing an hour of sleep, then do we have systemic problems with our education system because of a nationwide inability to put our children to bed at a decent hour and take cell phones out of their hands?
  
  Don't stop there. How about having a place to do homework? Making sure they have their assignments written down and are bringing homework home. If the kid has "no homework" then are they studying anyway. Studying for a test is homework too. To think you can have a good school system without parental involvement is like thinking you can be a healthy athlete without drinking anything. Parents are a higher indicator of success than teachers.
  
• Are teachers free to teach? (I wrote about this in a Washington Post oped this summer.) Who is the customer? How much time are teachers spending filling out paperwork for administrators?
  
  What is a better measure of a good teacher: good paperwork and detailed lesson plans or what is happening in the classroom with the students? What makes a good bureaucrat doesn't make a good teacher and yet we have a system that consistently rewards teachers who are good paper pushers and hurts teachers who aren't. The customer is our students after they've graduated from high school. Will they thank us for what we taught them?
  
  I had a time during my teaching career where I had to do detailed lesson plans and honestly, sometimes I realized that I had finished my plans but wasn't ready to teach. I hadn't made the copies and done the work to really teach. Flat Classroom was invented the year that my interim headmaster (now my curriculum director) said - stop filling out lesson plans and start teaching - keep a general overview of what you cover in your lesson plan book but I'll be in your classroom 3-4 times a week. Then, I really started teaching. I was a good teacher but focusing on teaching and my students is what made me a great teacher and that was when this blog was born too.
  
• Do we look at what is happening in the classroom? Are administrators in your classroom more than once a week? Do they know what is happening there? A poor teacher becomes a bad teacher without supervision. A great teacher loves showing off and feels valued when their administrator comes by. All teachers appreciate this because we have the chance to point out obstacles that administrators can fix. (i.e. that loud A/c unit.) Why do we make teachers fill out paperwork about what they are doing with students, couldn't we have a recorder of some time document what they are ACTUALLY doing? Paperwork is antiquated and unnecessary in a world of digital recorders. Is anyone looking at it anyway?
  
• Stop looking for quick fixes. Quick fixes don't fix education. If you have a massive failure, you have massive problems. A quick fix is what you do when your child scratches their knee and needs a band aid. Major surgery happens after a horrible car crash. This car has run into the 21st century head on and most in education weren't ready. Certainly, we have some work to do. As I said in Alabama last week - maybe it is time to kill some sacred cows if we can't afford to feed them any more.

My Management professor, Dr. Phil Adler, always said that

"Accountability without Authority is a recipe for disaster" 

and that is what we have in education right now.

We have a lot of accountability on the heads of teachers and administrators.

• But do we give them authority? 
• Can they change a curriculum that is not working? 
• Can they fix things that are broken? 
• Can they handle discipline and be backed up? 
• Can they appeal to have the schedule changed or class sizes altered? 
• Can they  get rid of a computer system that is causing problems for everyone? 
• Can an administrator who identifies a personnel issue actually have the authority to fire the person who deserves it? 
• Can an administrator who is constantly causing classroom problems be reported in a way to reduce the problems or let other administrators know that this person is harming the learning environment.

We've made educators into bureaucrats by this massive move to centralize the education system in America. Bureaucrats are infamously horrible at moving quickly to fix things. BBM and Apple would still be trying to get things fixed today if they had to push paper like many of my public school friends have to do.

I'm quite tired of business people criticizing educators for not running education like "a business." The last 30 years of lawsuits and centralization of education has turned many schools into behemoths where it is very hard to get anything done, even if you are in charge. I can say this because I've worked with public schools for the last 15 years and have many close friends who are administrators.

Let's hold people in education accountable but first, let's give them the authority to do something about the myriad of problems they face.

When you have a system wide problem with low test scores you have systemic problems.

No one can tell me that every teacher in a certain town is a sorry teacher or that every principal is a bad principle. The logic just doesn't add up. We have great teachers and great principals losing their jobs today.

Why Destroy and Start Over Doesn't Make Sense
And to those who say, just destroy it and start over. That would be like me saying that I'm going to solve this stomach virus in my house by killing my children and adopting new ones. Eventually my new children WILL get sick too. Besides, it would be a horrible waste of human life and all of my love for them knows that is a horrific thing to even suggest.

And yet, people ever day call to destroy all the schools and start over. It may solve your problem temporarily but if we keep moving "best practices" that aren't best practices at all to new places then we have problems. My private school friends who say they are having problems say they start when the public school testing environment moves into their walls. It kills learning.

If the chicken is always on the scale being weighed, she's never in the barnyard eating grain.

If we've learned anything in the last ten years is that much of what we've put in place in the last ten years should be called to question. When you have teachers who have thrived for 20-30 years getting out because of the system, its the system.

Let's open our eyes and look at 3200 error in education for what it is: systemic problems that require a fix. Stop blaming ALL the people and start getting practical here. We have a mission and the future of a nation is at stake.

The good news about the budget for fiscal year of 2011 is that it did not set a record for the largest deficit ever. No, that record was set in 2009 at $1.412 trillion, when the Democrats who controlled Congress from 2006 passed a budget that lame-duck moderate Republican President Bush then signed into law- a budget that included the bank bailouts of a trillion dollars. 2011 was better than that awful year for governance- but only by a little bit, as the final deficit for fiscal year 2011 came in as the second highest deficit in the history of our nation, $1.299 trillion.

The Republicans are not blameless in this deficit- they have been in control of at least half of Congress since January of 2011, so they own most of this budget that resulted in the second highest single year deficit in the history of the United States- at a time when we're not fighting any new wars, not building any sort of major monuments, not engaged in any sort of national race for space or atomic bombs, and no longer passing massive stimulus bills and bank bailouts at the height of a major crisis. Nope, this 2011 deficit is just outright bad- just a lot of blown money and spending way beyond what is sustainable, and the GOP was party and parcel to this budget.

Oh, I know that they only control half of Congress and don't control the Presidency or the bureaucracy and walked into this mess- but if the GOP wants to blame Obama for the mess he has caused than it is only fair that they take a good share of the blame for the 2011 fiscal deficit. The 'budget deals' they signed into law were bad deals, and any GOP Congressman who stood to vote for those or who urged new spending programs should be held accountable.

Tea Party people, this doesn't mean that the GOP is just as bad as the Democrats or that there needs to be a third party- no, it means that the GOP must be held accountable in their primary elections by facing true conservative challenges and must be made to answer questions regarding their votes.

As must though as the GOP is not blameless for this utter disaster in governance, the Democrats are to be held in full blame for passing on these massive debts to our children and doing such a utter rotten job of managing money.

Democrats controlled the House of Representations from 2006 to 2010 (and apparently the fiscal year goes Oct-Oct, so they are to blame for the 2011 deficit from Oct-Jan), and controlled the Senate from 2006 to today so are to blame in full for the deficit of 2011. And US President Barack Obama is a Democrat and has been President since 2010, so shares blame for this as well.

The deficit in 2011 was $1.299 trillion.

The deficit in 2010 was $1.293 trillion.

The deficit in 2009 was $1.412 trillion.

The wrath of voters should fall on anyone part of this horrible mismanagement's in the ship of state, and since Bush and many of the Republicans from 2009 and prior are not on the ballot and it appears that their mistakes and bad policies have been continued and deepened and made normal by the Democrats, the wrath of voters should fall in full on the Democratic President, the Democrats in the Senate, and the big-spending GOPers and Democrats in the House who oversaw this travesty.

As we learn more about the financial meltdown of 2008, it becomes increasingly apparent that one of the main causes for this economic disaster was government policy that forced banks to extend loans to those people who were unable to pay those back. Government agents put pressure on banks and government banking institutions like Freddie/Franny to give loans to people who under normal circumstances would be unable to pay back these loans and who were especially unable to protect themselves from the exposure to risk that these loans entailed. Misguided government policies ambushed innocent people who believed the dream that politicians peddled and banks were coerced into following, and in 2008 the house of cards came crashing down and peoples lives were ruined. It was not the failure of the markets, the lack of government policy on the issue, evil rich people, George W Bush, or the Republicans who were the minority party in Congress at the time- it was government policy that put pressure on banks that led to the collapse in 2008.

And the lesson apparently was not learned by the Democrats.

From Townhall's Bob Beauprez comes this stunning mind-blowing information:

The Department of Justice is executing a "Witch Hunt" against banks. Through the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, Attorney General Eric Holder is forcing banks to "relax their mortgage underwriting standards and approve loans for minorities with poor credit as part of a new crackdown on alleged discrimination," according to a published report by Investor's Business Daily after reviewing court documents.

The DOJ has already extorted $20 million for weak and poor credit loans from banks that "settled out of court rather than battle the federal government and risk being branded racist." The DOJ admits another 60 banks are already under "investigation." Holder's demanding the banks sign "non-disclosure" settlement agreements barring them from talking while allowing the DOJ to operate behind a curtain of secrecy.

The settlements already extracted from banks force them to make "prime-rate mortgages to low income blacks and Hispanics" with credit problems, even if they are living on welfare. According to IBD, the DOJ has ordered banks to advertise that minorities cannot be turned down for a loan "because they receive public aid, such as unemployment benefits, welfare payments or food stamps." No job; no problem!

In other words, the DOJ is forcing banks to make loans to people that they know don't qualify for them and likely won't be able to afford to repay them, which is precisely the kind of failed public policy that precipitated the financial collapse and recession in 2008.

Can you believe it? Obama took an economy that was going through a usual recession, killed the recovery, set us up for a double-dip recession, and is now working on creating another epic economic collapse!

Read the whole analysis- it'll really scare you!

For more on the background of the Great Recession and how Obama plans to recreate it with his policies, check out The Great American Bank Robbery: The Unauthorized Report About What Really Caused the Great Recession or A Decade of Delusions: From Speculative Contagion to the Great Recession.

Nile Gardiner, a British conservative commentator and former aide to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, unleashed on US President Barack Obama (Democrat) in his latest column, summing up Obama and his Democratic administration's actions perfectly:

The decision by credit agency Standard and Poor’s to downgrade America’s AAA credit rating for the first time in 70 years is a massive blow to the credibility of the Obama administration, and a damning indictment of its handling of the economy. No doubt the White House will pathetically try to blame the Bush Administration, Republicans in Congress, and of course its favourite target, the Tea Party, for the move by S&P. But without a shadow of a doubt, responsibility for the country’s financial mess and staggering levels of debt lie with the current US president and his administration. They have been in charge of running the economy for over 30 months, during which time the United States has witnessed an unprecedented increase in government spending and borrowing.

As the Congressional Budget Office revealed In January, the deficits generated under the Obama administration are the largest since the end of World War Two...

...Since President Obama took office in January 2009, the United States has embarked on the most ambitious failed experiment in Washington meddling in US history. Huge increases in government spending, massive federal bailouts, growing regulations on businesses, thinly veiled protectionism, and the launch of a vastly expensive and deeply unpopular health care reform plan, have all combined to instill fear and uncertainty in the markets. Free enterprise has taken a backseat to continental European-style interventionism, as an intensely ideological left wing administration has sought to dramatically increase the role of the state in shaping the US economy. The end result has been a dramatic fall in economic freedom, sluggish growth, poor consumer confidence, high unemployment, a collapsing housing market, and an overall decline in US prosperity, with more than 45 million Americans now reliant on food stamps – that’s over one seventh of the entire country.

These are increasingly dangerous times, with American leadership being challenged across the globe. Only an historic reduction in government spending combined with pro-growth measures including lower business tax rates to stimulate job creation and attract investment can turn the US economy around. Unfortunately, as Standard and Poor’s decision has shown, this is a presidency in extreme denial over America’s towering debts, leading a nation on a precipice while blindfolded to reality. The United States badly needs another Reagan-style revolution to stave off further economic disaster, preserve American leadership on the world stage, and secure the future of a superpower. Ultimately, greater liberty and freedom, not the deathly hand of Big Government, are needed to turn this great nation around.

He nails it- sometimes it takes a guy from across the pond to really sum up things over here. Click on these links to check out Gardiner's books such as Forever in the shadow of Churchill?: Britain and the memory of World War Two at the end of the 20th century (Historical roots of contemporary international and regional issues occasional paper series).

In Ameyaw Debrah, Kofi Akpabli  on 'Ghana's Rum'- Akpeteshie:

He looks at the role of the protectionist British colonialist's who protected their own distillers

courtesy of Joy Online

In the days of yore when Britannia ruled the shore of the Gold Coast they found Apio abominable. The open secret was that Akpeteshie was too competitive for their imported beverages. They knew that leaving the drink all alone would be a marketing disaster for their Jack Daniels and Old Toms. They therefore banned it. Oh yes, they did. So, when in March 1957 Ghana, our beloved country gained independence, Akpeteshie also became free forever.

To its potential for branding a la Russian vodka:

Akpeteshie also has a very serious value proposition- that of faithfully serving Ghanaian traditional culture. From birth through marriage to death, the drink is required for a number of customary rites. It is used to pour libation and at the traditional level, it is part of the fine imposed at arbitrations. If one thinks of what Schnapps (in all it’s glory) is used for today, one should know that Akpeteshie ‘has been there and done that.’

More here
The Scots have their whiskey, the Spanish flaunt their Sherry,Africans should be doing the same.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Audio CD
• Publisher: Scholastic Audio Books; Unabridged edition (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• 
  

This review is from: Geronimo Stilton #11-12 Audio (Audio CD)

the entire Geronimo Stilton story series is a wonderful value! the stories are captivating, funny, and exhibit variety and excellent learning for basic values on treatment of others, travel, geography and fantasy for children from 3 to 10. for parents driving kids to school every day, to piano, swimming, soccer, holidays etc. the cd's provide in car quiet and great activity concentrators. the repeated listening over and over can be a challenge, but normal for every young family. I have bought these for two sets of grandchildren and get regular hugs from my sons and grand daughters! as a grand father I am allowed to mimic the story teller and immerse myself into the stories with my grandchildren -what more could one ask for? great value and hours of entertainment and car quiet!

Click here to buy from Amazon

Image via WikipediaThere are times I don't know what to say to you. Not that you're that intimidating. In many ways, I think of you as my friends. People who I enjoy talking to over a warm cup of coffee with a floating remnant of the fat free Redi whip that I sip and chat with over breakfast.

But sometimes I'm working so hard or am so spent. To me, I write when I know I have something to say. When I read or think of something and think,

"Yes, that will improve a teacher's life" 

That is when I write.

So,  why am I writing today?

Well, I've really been wanting to write a blog post about something that I think every teacher should be working on this summer: creating a realistic spending plan for this next school year. Now is the time to do it, when you're fresh, less likely to be defensive, and more able to look at this past year from a distance.

A losing formula
The fact is that we all have to spend less than we make and the likelihood is that most of us are spending more than we make. This is a losing formula.
Why do people not like to talk about money?
The reason that money is in the room with educators like the big old elephant no one talks about is because there is never enough. Never enough money.

That is because money can't make you happy and the more you make the more you spend.

Sure, teachers are underpaid, but this is more than that.

If you read about money for long, one pattern emerges: more money does not make you happier. (A recent psychology article says if you want to be happy look at how you spend your time NOT your money.)

After you have basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter met, you typically aren't going to be made happier by money.

Technology Can Separate Us From Our Money
This is the problem with technology. Technology tends to separate us from our money. Automatic everything, automatic balancing and we don't know where it goes.

I've gone back to index cards, a pen, and a calculator. (Should I share this?) But then again, I'm not sure if I want to write a full post on how Kip and I are working to balance things and prepare for the year ahead. Part of me thinks that all of you read this blog about technology and teaching and to invade the money space is too much.

The Journey of Progress is Useful
And yet, there are many blessings that have happened in my life that I've shared here. Five years a go, I set forward to improve my home organization skills. I read over 30 books and saw similar patterns and started applying what I learned. I know where everything is.My house isn't perfect but I can clean it up in a snap. I use those same productivity techniques in my classroom and to blog and Tweet. They might just be helpful to someone.

Then, two years a go, I began to get my physical house in order. I started running. Last year, I joined weight watchers. Now, 40 pounds later, I'm felling great and those habits are part of my life. I know for a fact some of you have gotten healthier because of it like Heidi Chavez and her family pictured below. If Heidi taught me one thing it is to never underestimate the power of telling your own story.

Heidi Chavez's Family 5K run from some inspiration from this blog see 8 Principles for Being Thank-full for their story.

With home organization and fitness habits now in place, the year 2011 for me I christened "the year of the habit."  Putting the habits in place to help me be more excellent in what I do in all areas of my life.

So, now, I've been turning to the area of money management.

I've talked about before how Kip and I pretty much lost all our life savings and went mega in the hole (as did some of our family) with a pecan grove that went under water in the flood of 1994. We lived on credit cards for nine months as we were both transitioning jobs. Well, we've applied many principles and savings to slash down debt over the past 10 years to a mere fraction of where it once was,but it is still there and more than it should be. Mary Hunt's Debt Proof Living has helped us a lot.

A New Journey
But, we've done and are doing some things that are helping us cut our expenses down some more. (Buy prepaid credit cards to use on those pesky Amazon and iTunes accounts that get out of control.)I'm not sure I'm going to share more about that, though.

A New Blog?
If you stray too far from the mission of your blog then you can lose readers. And, although I definitely write for teachers and to inspire teachers, is giving tips for how to handle this appropriate here? I've also wanted to write about some of the productivity/ organization things that have zipped my house from disaster to pleasure. But, I don't really want to start another blog. I want people to know what they are getting when they read here.

Intentionally, I've NOT done the guest blogger thing here. Everyone, I mean everyone, says that bloggers should have tons of guest posts on their blog. It builds traffic., Well, for me, I'd rather write really good blog posts that help my readers so that when I write it is helpful. Do I really want to dilute the message for the sake of traffic?


Say, Say, Say
So, sometimes I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say because I've got other things to say that are different from what I typically talk about on this blog. Do I put these on Tumblr? Do I make a different blog? But I don't really want to start a blog unless I'm going to do it well. These are the things that I think and consider as I turn to write this blog.

I think it is helpful to hear your thoughts.


The Lessons we Teach our Children
But part of me says that the lessons we are teaching with our lives are so loud that our kids are learning the wrong things.

• If Mom and Dad are hiding from bill collectors and screening phone calls.(Been there.) 
• If credit card companies are taking so much money that you have to run through the house finding quarters to buy milk (been there too) then what does that say to the children? 
• If you work and work to get more money only to spend it by getting the new cable HD package or getting a new cell phone with a data plan - what have you done? 

You don't have to live this way.

What are Schools Teaching?
One of the most valuable lessons we can teach our children is how to handle their money well. And those money lessons begin at home. They also extend to schools.

• Kids see that you bought twenty computers and hid them in the closet until they could be used just so you could spend that money. (True story.) 
• They see when you throw away all those textbooks on being environmentally friendly.
• When teachers take class time getting students to protest budget cuts because the teacher can't be happy with less money. 

 What are we saying?

The need to spend less than we make is a key challenge of today's society. It is OK to talk about it. It is time to talk about it.  


That is a shame.

Wasting money is a waste of a valuable lesson that we all need to learn.

We can have pretty much anything we want but it means to give up the vain notion that we can have everything. Spending less than we make is where it all begins.

OK, so I'm giving you a challenge anyway
So, my challenge to you today is to sit down and total by category your spending for the last four months. (I use index cards.) Do it by hand so you can feel and inhale every expense and know what you're doing. Then, total it and take a hard look with your family. Then, get ready.

Used with permission from http://beingselfemployed.org/

I don't know what to write. I've written a lot for someone who wasn't sure. I guess I have a lot to write.

It is just that sometimes that the things I have to tell you aren't pleasant. They might be invasive. They probably make you uncomfortable and may even make some people unsubscribe. I hope that is not the case, but if it is, then, if this can nudge some of you to know that there is hope then that is a price I'm willing to pay. Some of you are great at managing money and the fact that we lost our life savings in a farming operation fills you with distaste. It must be because Vicki's an idiot, you say.


Lots of good people are in bad financial situations. It is OK. But it is time to make progress. (Come to think of it, lots of good countries are in bad financial situations.)

You CAN start moving ahead to managing your money. You don't have to live in fear. You can move ahead and get things straight but it takes time, work, and wisdom.

Here are some books that I've read that have helped me the most:

• Making the Most of Your Money - Jane Bryant Quinn Chapter 8. Creating a Spending Plan that works is by far the best, most helpful thing on creating a plan that I have ever read. Big book but very helpful.
• Debt Proof Living - Mary Hunt
• The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom - Suze Orman
• How to Manage Your Money - by Larry Burkett (This is a bible study but full of sound advice.)
• Debt Proof your Kids - Mary Hunt

I find it funny that in sharing my reticence about talking about money that it also says that most of us are unwilling to talk about money. See the hypocrisy? We talk about sex. We talk about just about everything. But spending less than we make is not one of those.

It is time to talk money in schools and society in ways that are rational, planned, and realistic. It is definitely time for all of us teachers to take stock and make  money plan this summer. Start today.

Related Articles:

• 8 Principles for Being Thank-full
• Focus on Your Habits to Shape Your Destiny
• Layoffs, Love and Life: Happy 15th Anniversary Kip
• Steve Jobs: How to Live Before You Die
• Face it: School Effects Everything

Harold Middleton returns in this explosive sequel to The Chopin Manuscript as he’s drawn into an international terror plot that threatens to send India and Pakistan into full-scale nuclear war. Careening from Nice to London and Moscow to Kashmir to prevent nuclear disaster, Middleton is unaware his prey has changed and the act of terror is far more diabolical than he knows. Will he discover the identity of the Scorpion in time to halt an event that will pit the United States, China, and Russia against each other at the brink of World War III? A follow-up to the award-winning The Chopin Manuscript, The Copper Bracelet brings together 16 of the world’s most celebrated thriller writers including Lee Child, Joseph Finder, David Hewson, David Liss, and Lisa Scottoline to each write a chapter of this pulsing tale. Once again, Jeffery Deaver set the story in motion, and brings it to its shocking finale.

 

Click here to buy from Amazon

From Powerlineblog:

The Obama administration's energy policies have been a disaster, assuming that American decline is not your objective. We have written many times about the administration's efforts to suppress development of our oil resources, but coal is equally important. The United States is blessed with extraordinary deposits of coal, but Obama is determined to prevent us from using it to generate cheap and plentiful electricity. Obama wasn't kidding when he said, as a candidate, that his policies would cause electricity prices to "skyrocket."

U.S. News reports that Obama's EPA is promulgating regulations that will cause hundreds of thousands of Americans to lose their jobs:

Two new EPA pollution regulations will slam the coal industry so hard that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost, and electric rates will skyrocket 11 percent to over 23 percent, according to a new study based on government data.

Overall, the rules aimed at making the air cleaner could cost the coal-fired power plant industry $180 billion, warns a trade group. ...

Referring to the analysis of the EPA regulations from National Economic Research Associates, Miller said they would be the most expensive rules ever imposed on power plants.

That was yesterday. Today, American Electric Power announced that it will close down five coal-fired power plants and spend billions to comply with the EPA's proposed regulations:

Utility giant American Electric Power said Thursday that it will shut down five coal-fired power plants and spend billions of dollars to comply with a series of pending Environmental Protection Agency regulations. ...

The company, one of the country's largest electric utilities, estimated that it will cost between $6 billion and $8 billion in capital investments over the next decade to comply with the regulations in their current form.

The costs of complying with the regulations will result in an increase in electricity prices of 10 to 35 percent and cost 600 jobs, AEP said.

In total, AEP estimated it will have to close five coal-fired power plants by the end of 2014. Six additional plants would see major changes, including retiring some generating units, retrofitting equipment and switching to natural gas.

Of course, the administration is trying to block development of natural gas, too. Of all of the Obama administration's perverse economic policies, its anti-energy agenda is most likely to make Obama a one-term president.

Our economy is struggling for a reason- Democrats and their policies are crushing human liberty and freedom, attacking wealth and wealth creation, freezing in social and economic structures, limiting mobility and change, and disincentivizing economic growth. Their policies are quite clear- these energy policies are a great example of how Democrats are increasing 'safety' or 'environmental' regulations that will drive US companies under, kill jobs, and drive business to other nations which have lower standards (thereby causing more harm to people or the environment), resulting in a net loss for society and America. Similar policies are found in healthcare, defense, education, etc. Although Republicans are not perfect- in fact, they are far from it because they are not conservative or libertarian enough- they are usually the better alternative to Democrats in the 2012 election, in Congress, for President, and at state levels.

UPDATE: My buddy conservativesonfire asked "Where is the outrage, CT. Dose nobody pay attention to what is happening and what it will mean?"

The Cloward–Piven strategy and Saul Alinksy Rules for Radicals both teach that change should not come slowly to America and should not come in measured amounts that are brought before the light- rather, Obama and the Democrats believe that change should be rapid, hidden, and such an overwhelming onslaught of liberal policies that one blends into another in a sort of rapid-fire radical agenda that shocks and awes all opposition and collapses resistance to its agenda. Obama typically drops the worst policies on Friday, when the media doesn't cover them, and by Monday, there is yet another crisis or bad policy or scandal to distract America from the radical agenda of Obama and his Democratic allies.

Over the weekend I was talking with some of my friends and relatives who support Obama in 2012, and what struck me about these conversations was the stunning inconsistency that these supporters of Obama demonstrated. They stated that they don't really like Obama's associations with terrorists, his views on race, his anti-Semitism, his contribution to divisive rhetoric, his cold and aloof manner, his extreme vanity, his thin-skinned nature, or the way that he lectures us; but yet they say that they support Obama because 'he is a good guy who I like.' These Obama supporters stated that they like the direction that Obama is taking our nation, but when pressed on a range of real policies, they said that they don't really like the massive amounts of debt that Obama has added, the fact that unemployment rates have settled at a new normal under Obama of 10%, the reality of the housing market which still has not hit bottom, they are sick of paying his prices at the pump because of his anti-drilling policies, and think that Obamacare was a noble and grand attempt but will be a huge policy disaster.

My conversations with Obama supporters led me to believe that they like Obama because of his views and policies, but in reality don't really like his views and policies. It is a weird disconnect that I can't figure out.

UPDATE: All things considered though, if no one actually runs against Obama, it won't really matter in 2012. I just read that Mitch Daniels told supporters in a midnight email early Sunday that he is opting against a 2012 presidential run. Daniels had slowly emerged as my alternative to an un-apologetic-about-healthcare-reform Romney, but now I have to go back to the drawing board. Quick, liberals and Democrats, make me feel comfortable about voting for someone with no experience like Hermain Cain- myself, I like to see accomplishments, but obviously if BamBam can get elected, any rube off the street can be dug up and thrown in White House.

UPDATE II: Via Transterrestial Musings:

The Obama administration reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer changes his name to “Max Power” (he saw it on a hair dryer). He tells Bart that there are three ways to do something: the right way, the wrong way, and the Max Power way. “What’s the Max Power way?” It’s like the wrong way, but faster.

UPDATE III: The question remains- WHY OBAMA?

Harold Middleton returns in this explosive sequel to The Chopin Manuscript as he’s drawn into an international terror plot that threatens to send India and Pakistan into full-scale nuclear war. Careening from Nice to London and Moscow to Kashmir to prevent nuclear disaster, Middleton is unaware his prey has changed and the act of terror is far more diabolical than he knows. Will he discover the identity of the Scorpion in time to halt an event that will pit the United States, China, and Russia against each other at the brink of World War III? A follow-up to the award-winning The Chopin Manuscript, The Copper Bracelet brings together 16 of the world’s most celebrated thriller writers including Lee Child, Joseph Finder, David Hewson, David Liss, and Lisa Scottoline to each write a chapter of this pulsing tale. Once again, Jeffery Deaver set the story in motion, and brings it to its shocking finale.

 

Click here to buy from Amazon

Who is Geronimo Stilton?
That’s me! I run a newspaper, but my true passion is writing adventure stories. Here in New Mouse City, the capital of Mouse Island, my books are all bestsellers! My stories are funny, fa-mouse-ly funny. They are whisker-licking-good tales, and that’s a promise!

Red Pizzas for A Blue Count
My troublemaker cousin was trapped in Transratania! And before I could even squeak, my sister, Thea, dragged me along on her rescue mission. Little did we know that Transratania is the land of vampire bats! Holey cheese, bats give me goose bumps!
Attack of the Bandit Cats
Captured by cats! It’s every rodent’s worst nightmare. It al started when my cousin Trap convinced me to join him on a quest for a legendary island covered in silver. But before you could say “hot cheese on toast,” we were attacked by a ship of pirate cats!
A Fabumouse Vacation for Geronimo
Sometimes a busy businessmouse like me needs a nice, relaxing vacation. But everytime I tried to get away, disaster struck! By the time I finally tore myself away from The Rodent’s Gazette, all the good trips were booked up. I found myself stuck in a flea-ridden old hotel, sharing a room with a bunch of Gerbil Scouts!

 

Click here to buy from Amazon

Yesterday, President Barack Obama (Democrat) delivered a deeply dishonest speech that was as partisan as they come. According to him, in 2008 (the massive spending levels that Paul Ryan's budget would return us to, and the massive spending that Obama and the Democrats voted pushed for and passed in 2007 and 2008):

...up to 50 million Americans have to lose their health insurance in order for us to reduce the deficit. Who are these 50 million Americans? Many are somebody’s grandparents -- may be one of yours -- who wouldn’t be able to afford nursing home care without Medicaid. Many are poor children. Some are middle-class families who have children with autism or Down’s syndrome. Some of these kids with disabilities are -- the disabilities are so severe that they require 24-hour care. These are the Americans we’d be telling to fend for themselves...

Flash back all those many years ago to 2008- under that budget, which was so much smaller than Obama's budgets of the last two years, was your grandparent kicked out their nursing home? Way back in 2008, was your child who might have autism or Down's syndrome told to 'fend for themselves'? NO. President Obama is telling a lie to the American people- he is saying that if our nation goes back to spending patterns that were too high and filled with debt back in 2008, these things are going to happen, even though there is ZERO evidence that these things were happening back in 2008. President Obama is lying to you and betting that you are stupid and dumb and unable to realize that everything that he is saying about 'returning the past' will not happen.

Obama says that the budgets that he and his party passed back in 2008:

...is a vision that says even though Americans can’t afford to invest in education at current levels, or clean energy, even though we can’t afford to maintain our commitment on Medicare and Medicaid....

I wonder- why did Obama push for and support these budgets back in 2007 and 2008, during his few years ever as a Senator, if these budgets were such an unmitigated disaster and would do nothing to support 'clean energy', Medicare, and Medicaid? Perhaps because they were budgets that he supported and believed in all those long years ago? And now those massive budgets that he pushed for are unacceptable?

This is the new normal people- massive deficits, massive spending, ever growing government, uncertainty, fear, partisanship, dishonesty, high unemployment, rising inflation, and a weaker America. When you voted for Obama and his Democratic Party, you voted for less life, liberty, and property, and you're getting it. This is the new normal.

UPDATE: To those who are emailing me, I say 'read the speech yourself.' Obama says that Paul Ryan's plan is "nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires." Yet the President in all his seriousness submitted a plan that grows the national debt by 10 trillion over the next years- a plan that everyone has forgotten including the President because that plan is such an unserious joke that no one wants to talk about it. And now Obama, in all his seriousness, produces a speech with no details criticizing someone else who has produced a detailed budget plan by claiming it is 'nothing serious'? Obama is a joke, and it is a bad joke on America that he was elected President, and if you or anyone you talk to continues to support this guy's Presidency, you are an unserious joke too.

UPDATE II: According to Obama appointment Democratic U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius the the Medicare Hospital Trust Fund will go bankrupt in 2029 (and this includes what I would consider phony and nonexistent 'savings' that Obamacare are supposed to provide). I won't see Medicare and neither will my kids, at least not in the current form. Structural changes are needed, and yet Obama's solution is to cut an additional $480 billion from the fund by 2023 and another trillion in the decade after that? Something is going bankrupt and his solution is to bankrupt it sooner? Is this guy for real? Who still supports him!?