Sherrod Brown’s bill to limit loan interest increases

According to the New York Times, it’s the fault of the Republicans that Brown’s bill didn’t pass.  Oh really?  Well, read a bit further down in the article.  “American students took out twice the value of student loans in 2011, about $112 billion, as they did a decade before, after adjusting for inflation. Over all, Americans now owe about $1 trillion in student loans. In 2010, such debt surpassed credit card debt for the first time.”  The Republicans are trying to keep the economy afloat by not raising taxes on the people who create jobs. 

Thirty seven million people currently have outstanding student loan debt.  How did I get through college without loans?  I worked during my high school years and had saved enough for my freshman year; my parents paid for years 2 and 3; my husband and I paid for my senior year.  College costs are going up much faster than inflation primarily because the government floats so many loans.

“Republicans say they want to extend Democratic legislation passed in 2007 that temporarily reduced interest rates for low- and middle-income undergraduates who receive subsidized Stafford loans to 3.4 percent from 6.8 percent. But the Republicans would not accept the Senate Democrats’ proposal to pay for a one-year extension by changing a law that allows some wealthy taxpayers to avoid paying Social Security and Medicare taxes by classifying their pay as dividends, not cash income.

“They want to raise taxes on people who are creating jobs when we are still recovering from the greatest recession since the Great Depression,” said Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, who instead wanted to pay for the rate decrease by eliminating a fund for preventive health care in Mr. Obama’s health care law. “

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/us/politics/senate-republicans-block-bill-on-student-loan-rates.html

Know your ABCS

KNOW your ABCS is part of the CDC program called 1 Million Hearts. The idea is to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes in five years (2011-2016):

◦Appropriate Aspirin Therapy

◦Blood Pressure Control

◦Cholesterol Management

◦Smoking Cessation

Nice idea, but there's no way to determine the success or failure of the program. I take a low dose aspirin every day, my blood pressure is already lower than normal, my cholesterol could be better but it's not bad enough for a statin, and I've never smoked. Will I count if I'm still alive in 2016? I wonder how much money is going into this program? Also, what are doctors for if the mega-gov-dept CDC is telling you what to do?

We’re a special tribe, but we can be conned by liberals, says anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann

Evangelical Christian tribes people. Did you know you're being studied by an anthropologist? Yes, we are reachable by Democrats if they just learn our strange language and ways. http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/do-as-i-do-not-as-i-say/

How condescending is this? "But the good news for secular liberals is that evangelicals are smarter and more varied than many liberals realize. I met doctors, scientists and professors at the churches where I studied. They cared about social justice. They cared about the poor."  So says Tanya M. Luhrmann, a professor of anthropology at Stanford

Imagine that! We're educated. We're professionals. And we actually care for the poor and weak instead of asking the government to do it!! And if secular liberals just say the right words evangelicals will fall for their line and stop obeying Jesus and fall in line with Rome.

She did her anthropological study of Christians at Vineyard churches, so possibly those Christians need to be on the watch for wolves dressed as sheep.  “Their members tend  to be white and middle class, although not exclusively. Their congregations are more likely to meet in gyms, not in actual church buildings, and like their surroundings they are informal. They are more likely to have a rock band than a choir, and they use contemporary Christian music rather than traditional hymns (although they may incorporate a hymn into the service). They call themselves “Bible based,” by which they mean that the Bible is taken to be literally or near literally true, and they embrace an experiential spirituality.” http://www.stanford.edu/dept/anthropology/cgi-bin/web/?q=system/files/absorption.pdf

How’s your black history?

After they took control of the Presidency (Grover Cleveland) and Congress in 1892, Democrats had complete control of the government for the first time since the Civil War.  They passed the Repeal Act of 1894 that overturned civil rights legislation passed by the Republicans during the previous 25 years, including the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875. But even before the Civil War in the 1830s John Quincy Adams (member of several different parties which morphed into Republican) was a strong abolitionist, and he was consistently opposed by Democrats.

Jim Crow and the KKK were created by the Democrat Party, both north and south.  It took Republicans nearly six decades to finally  achieve passage of civil rights legislation in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and voting rights act of 1965 were Republican sponsored bills and only got passed with the help of Republicans because so many Democrats voted against them. Democrats also opposed the 1972 Equal Opportunity Act. These were necessary to enforce the amendments passed by Republicans after the Civil War. And it was President Nixon who pushed for affirmative action laws and time table.

You didn't get the truth in your American history classes about black history. Now Democrats are using entitlements, scare tactics and empty slogans to keep blacks in their places.

http://www.suwanneegop.com/NBRA%20Civil%20Rights%20Newsletter-2.pdf

http://dare2sayit.com/racist_history_of_the_democratic.htm

http://www.policyalmanac.org/culture/archive/affirmative_action_history.shtml

http://blackhistory.com/content/60916/13th-14th-and-15th-amendments

Book club selections 2012-2013

I think this group has been together for 34 years—I joined in the fall of 2000 when I retired. I read more on this year’s list than probably any other year.  Didn’t care much for today’s selection, “Hold Up the Sky” by Patricia Sprinkle, but don’t let that stop you, most of the rest of the group loved it.  For next year (begins in September just like school) at 1:30 p.m., except Panera meetings are at 2 p.m., our choices are:

1.  September 10—No ordinary time by Goodwin, led by Patty, at Norma’s

2.  October 1—How the Scots invented the modern world by Herman, led by Mary, at Mary Lou’s.

3.  November 5—Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet by Ford, led by Peggy N. at Marcy’s.

4.  December 3—Death comes to Pemberley by James, led by and hosted by Carolyn A.

5.  January 7—Kim by Kipling, led by Jean at Panera’s

6.  February 4--Sweetness at the bottom of the pie by Bradley, led by Justine at Panera’s

7.  March 4—A secret gift by Gup, led by (not sure) at Panera’s

8.  April   --Girls from Ames by Zaslow, led by Adrienne, at Panera’s

9.  May 6—Still Alice by Genova, led by Norma at Carolyn C.

Books that were recommended, but which did not make the cut were Bonhoeffer by Metaxas, There is no alternative by Berlinsky, Pigs have wings by Woodhouse, and God Vincent and the Poet.

The cost of childcare

In the 1960s, childcare was about 2% of the family budget. (Not ours--we had one income.) Today it is 17%, 2nd only the mortgage or rent. (USDA statistics reported in Parent Link, Group Publishing). 2 things come to mind. First, many well-educated, married mothers are employed, so a big chunk of their income goes to pay someone less qualified than themselves to raise their children and model values. Second, single moms are paying an even bigger percentage in childcare and have no choice.

5,000 empty seats greet the President

Barack Obama "launched" his election compaign Saturday at Ohio State. That's amusing considering he hasn't stopped campaigning. But there were many empty seats. One commment at FB:

I was on campus last week for a meeting, and as I was walking along the Oval, I saw a student with a clipboard. She was asking people a question, each person said "No" and kept walking. When she came to me, she said, "Do you want to see the president when he comes to OSU?" I said "No, thank you," and kept walking-- just like all the others!

George Will on his son Jon

An excellent article with photos for Jon’s 40th birthday, a life enhanced by modern medicine, a society diminished by moral shrinkage.

The full garish flowering of the baby boomers' vast sense of entitlement encompasses an entitlement to exemption from nature's mishaps, and to a perfect baby. So today science enables what the ethos ratifies, the choice of killing children with Down syndrome before birth. This is what happens to 90 percent of those whose parents have prenatal testing.

Which is unfortunate, and not just for them. Judging by Jon, the world would be improved by more people with Down syndrome, who are quite nice, as far as humans go.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jon-will-40-years-and-going-with-down-syndrome/2012/05/02/gIQAdGiNxT_story.html

Happy Birthday American Bible Society

May 5, 1816 - The American Bible Society was founded in New York City "to encourage the wider circulation of the Holy Scriptures throughout the world." An early goal was to place a Bible in every home, especially those on the American frontier.

According to Wikipedia, The American Bible Society provided the first Bibles in hotels and the first pocket Bibles for soldiers (during the American Civil War). The first translation by the Bible Society was in 1818 into a Native American language. By 1912, the Society issued Bibles for use in the United States in 83 languages besides English. Foreign circulation was rising steadily, increasing from 250,000 copies in 1876 to over 2,000,000 copies in 1915. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the ABS distributed more than one million Scriptures and offered downloadable portions free of charge to those affected by the tragedy.

It has also maintained its commitment to military, including producing a pocket-sized military Bible, developed jointly with the aid of Catholic and Protestant chaplains from all branches of the armed forces.

It has also provided Scriptures to victims of natural disasters. Following the tsunami in 2004, ABS worked in cooperation with the United Bible Societies and partner Bible Societies in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka to provide a host of Bible resources to people in the affected regions. In 2005, it sent nearly a million Bibles and Scripture portions to those who survived the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

ABS has formed a partnership with Habitat for Humanity to give a free Bible to each of its new homeowners in the United States.

What goes into “best school” in . . . ?

It doesn’t say anywhere in the Wall Street Journal listing of Best Schools by major that the graduates have jobs, but in business and economics Ohio State and Rutgers outrank Harvard.  So looking through the comments about these rankings, I see:

Rod Schultz asks:  “Would anyone in the right state of mind really pick Ohio State or Rutgers over Harvard to study business and economics?”

Rick Joseph responds:  “Certainly! Subsequent to a comprehensive evaluation of the tuition costs at each institution, the debt incurred after graduation, the relative ranking of the universities under consideration, etc. Ohio State and Rutgers, as well as Florida, Texas, Virginia would be preferable over Harvard.

Not surprisingly there have been several recent studies (like "Estimating the Return to College Selectivity Over the Career Using Administrative Earnings Data," Stacy Dale and Alan B. Krueger, NBER Working Paper (June 2011), and those that show employers prefer State University Grads over Ivy League, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704358904575477643369663352.html?mod=WSJ_PathToProfessions_TopLEADNewsCollection) that have doused cold water on the traditional Ivy League fetish when considering an undergraduate degree. Since the 1950s these institutions are not what they once were, they are considerably overpriced, and most flagship public universities have become exceptional institutions on par or better. Ask most high school students in states like Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Florida where they would prefer to attend and very few would pick the Ivy League institutions over their flagship state universities.

 
Today, the fetish for the "Ivies" is limited mainly to the Northeast.”

Well said.

The economy continues to struggle—Obama just shrugs it off

I talked to a friend today heading for his son’s graduation—majors are math and piano performance. “Does he have a job?” I asked. “No, he’ll go to grad school.” Meanwhile his parents are paying for him to go to China for a month to travel. I don’t know how students are counted in labor force stats, and labor force participation is the lowest it has been since 1981—63.6% civilian labor force participation.  It probably helps the statistics to keep them in school as long as possible.

Paul Ryan’s assessment of the economy

Hidden, and not so hidden taxes.

“Now that they can’t pass all the laws they want, because of the House, they are hyper-regulating everything. Regulation of financial services, energy, health care, on down the line — is stifling job creation, placing a huge hidden tax on the economy. They’re promising massive tax increases in January, and they’re not doing a thing to get the debt under control, so that just means tax increases and higher interest rates, with the threat of inflation. That produces a great deal of uncertainty. People just have a gut feeling that the country is in decline,” said Ryan.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/299099/ryan-obama-s-julia-creepy-christian-schneider

Forward Julia!

Who is writing Obama’s reelection material?  The slogan is “Forward,” the classic Marxist/socialist agit-prop poster, and a fictional Julia (not to be confused with the fictional girlfriend in his book who didn’t understand why blacks were angry after seeing a fictional play) is appearing in ads?

Will Julia survive the ridicule? See the collection of really funny (some sad) take-offs on Julia at Alexa Shrugged.

Energy issues

The Dublin Republican Club's Tri-County Forums
Constitution in Crisis Series
The topic for the June forum is:
Ohio's Energy Resources, Fueling America's Future

Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 7:00 PM

Dublin Community Rec Center
5600 Post Rd
Dublin, OH 43017

If I wanted America to fail . . .

begin with energy . . .

The first time I watched this in April it had about 10,000 hits—now almost 2 million.

Let’s celebrate these young adults

My friend Kay, whom I’ve never met except on-line, writes about her niece and nephew:

“We're heading off to Iowa for two college graduation celebrations!  Both graduations are examples of choices and responsibilities exhibited by the graduates . . . both walking away debt free, one heading off to a job after finishing her master's degree, the other going on to a 4-year program of his choice, both free of government mandates. Our daughter had that same experience. I guess that makes all of them (and us) not part of the 99%, even though they are not the 1%...where does that put them? Where is the news about individuals like these young adults?”

Where indeed, except in special stories and remembrances of families and friends who know what our young people are made of.

Although Obama is a tool

of our homegrown socialists like Bill Ayers and Friends and a self-centered narcissist without any evidence that he cares about the United States’ destiny, don’t confuse him with Hitler if you dislike his leadership. Even though his ridiculous “Forward” slogan for the 2012 campaign is so reminiscent of everything hokey  in Soviet  propaganda  archives.  I’m reading “Bonhoeffer” by Eric Metaxas, and although there are many parallels with our situation in America in 2012,  Hitler isn’t one of them.  At least not Hitler the man.

The parallels are the early 1930s when almost immediately after taking office Hitler begins changing the constitution and taking away the basic freedoms of German Jews, then ordinary Germans, then the disabled, the mentally handicapped and other marginalized, non-perfect people who up to that time had been loved and well cared for.  The churches become infected by “brown shirts” and split into three divisions.  Perhaps I’ve misread the intent of the author’s text, but the good, decent, noble family, honorable and aristocratic Germans (Metaxas’ words not mine), particularly in the military and close to Hitler, did not really become outraged and begin plotting for assassination until after their shock and horror as Hitler’s plans to take over neighboring countries became evident.

We in America have become immune to the millions being killed in the name of “women’s rights” and “reproductive health.”  Ninety-three percent of Down Syndrome babies are being aborted, and 40% of black babies.  We are saluting the only president who ever received an endorsement from Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States.  What will be the horrible events that wake us up?

What you can do in Logan, Ohio--and it's free

Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum - Mon to Sat, 9am to 5pm; Sun 11am to 5pm; Rev. Paul Johnson began his collection over 20 years ago. His Pencil Sharpener Museum, previously located at his home, has been moved to the Welcome Center and is open daily. This amazing collection of over 3400 pencil sharpeners has been featured in national magazines and is reputed to be the largest collection in the United States. Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center, 13178 St. Rt. 664 S, Logan; 740-385-9706; FREE

Bishop John Bradosky speaks at the prayer breakfast

Today all across the nation people met to pray. Our church, Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, hosted 2 events, a breakfast at the Mill Run campus and a noon worship at Lytham Road, our original church building where we attend the 8:15 traditional service. I attended the breakfast and Bishop Bradosky of the North American Lutheran Church hit it out of the ball park. He gave a fantastic review of religion in America--the role of the Great Awakening, the beliefs of the founders, how the United States form of government is different than all others, that 94% of the founding documents were based on the Bible, that clergy and pastors had a huge role throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, including the founding of such important universities as Harvard and Columbia, that "separation of church and state" was intended to protect the church from being harrassed by the state, not the other way around by keeping the church out of the public square, and that the change needs to begin not in the White House, or the state house, or the court house, but in the house of God! Wow. We were speechless. He even suggested that we all take a course on the Constitution!! We met in the fellowship hall where on Sundays there are 2 services, so I guess you could say this is the first time in my life I've ever heard a sermon about religion in America from the pulpit of a church where I was a member.

Ohio Liberty Council calls for investigation of Occupiers in Ohio

Press Release Columbus, Ohio - The Ohio Liberty Council (OLC), reacted to the failed terrorist attack in Cleveland, by calling for a full investigation by the media and law enforcement officials throughout the state, of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Ohio Liberty Council President, Tom Zawistowski, said, "The evidence is clear that the Cleveland terrorists were active members of the Occupy Movement in Cleveland. A movement that, in April, held "training camps" for activists in Ohio at which media reports indicate attendees were trained to "create havoc and disruptions" and to "create gridlock". Our organization provided documentation to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine in April indicating that it was likely that the Occupy Movement would be orchestrating violence in Ohio before this year's elections, including plans to attack TEA Party groups throughout Ohio."

Zawistowski went on to say, "We believe that the Occupy Movement is being funded by the UAW and the SEIU and is being managed by groups like Progress Ohio. These groups may be encouraging this type of criminal activity by the type of people they are recruiting and the training they are providing. Reports indicate that their goal is to create civil unrest and to intimidate citizens and groups who oppose their big government agenda. The media and our law enforcement agencies have been way behind the curve on this activity and they need to start taking this threat seriously before someone gets killed."

Sample of solicitation for “spring training” by MoveOn.org and other progressive and leftist organizations to encourage the type of violence we saw yesterday.  And yesterday was just a training exercise for disrupting the election in the fall.

“Inspired by Occupy Wall Street and the fight for workers in Madison, Wisconsin, the 99% will rise up this spring. In the span of just one week, from April 9-15, 100,000 people will be trained to tell the story of what happened to our economy, learn the history of non-violent direct action, and use that knowledge to take action on our own campaigns to win change.”

http://moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=268

Americans blind to our moral problems

Now Planned Parenthood is in court demanding tax money to kill even more minority and poor children. http://www.startribune.com/nation/149525735.html  If you’re contributing to PP, here’s the results: black children are aborted at 5 times the rate as white children and Hispanic children don't fare much better.  You can talk all you want about women’s right to choose, but the fact remains, the abortion industry disproportionately selects black babies for death.

The only president ever endorsed by Planned Parenthood is Barack Obama, our first black president, whose mother was an unmarried teen-ager (father was a polygamist and already married back in Kenya). 

Abortion is our era's "Jews of Germany" moral dilemma of the 1930s and 1940s, and the 19th century outlawing US slavery problem. The difference being only in the number killed.