Two Weekend Must-Reads: Rich and Taibbi

(DKos) bobswern posts ~ Two Weekend Must-Reads: Rich and Taibbi

AGREED! Frank Rich's review of "The Promise: President Obama, Year One," by Jonathan Alter, and

Matt Taibbi's latest, "Wall Street's Big Win," (Rolling Stone, August 6, 2010) pulls back the curtain on Capitol Hill and gives us an all-too-rare glimpse of what really happened amidst the jockeying in the Senate as it related to the passage of the brutally gutted Dodd-Frank FinReg legislation, specifically with regard to: the virtually complete evisceration of the Volcker Rule, the trashing of the closely-related Merkley-Levin Amendment, and the self-evident (thanks to Taibbi) whoring of Chris Dodd and Blanche Lincoln, among many others.

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One, Two New Reactors On The Wet Lands Of The Delaware Bay...Where Oh Where Will PSE&G Get Their Dredge Spoils? Hmmmmm...Anyone Asked Tom Carper Yet?

Update: From Frieda ~ A fourth reactor on ARTIFICIAL ISLAND

Here it is folks, read it with your own eyes!
NRC ACCEPTS APPLICATION FOR EARLY SITE PERMIT AT PSEG SITE IN NEW JERSEY

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review the Early Site Permit (ESP) application for the PSEG site near Salem , N.J. In the near future the NRC will publish in the Federal Register a notice of opportunity to intervene in the required adjudicatory hearing. Petitions to intervene in a hearing must be filed within 60 days of the notice, by anyone whose interest may be affected by the proposed permit and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding. More information on the hearing process is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc. gov/about- nrc/regulatory/ adjudicatory/ hearing.html

They have not yet bought the swampland, they do not yet have the river dredging upon which to build this 4th reactor, but they are giving YOU 60 days notice if you wish to be a party to the proceedings.

In other news from the Bay:
Nuclear Renaissance in Disarray: French Move to Set Aside Funds for Anticipated Losses at Troubled Calvert Cliffs Reactor, Even as Pressure Grows for $8-$10 Billion U.S. Bailout
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5
‘The Case for the Proposed EPR Reactor grows worse by the week with unresolved safety issues. Rising costs and doubts raised by former EDF CEO; are U.S. Taxpayers about to be stuck with “the last ticket for the Titanic” -- A big red warning light started flashing for U.S. taxpayers in recent days amidst growing indications that the proposed Calvert Cliffs-3 reactor project the reported next-in-line recipient of a taxpayer-backed federal loan guarantee bailout – is in complete shambles !!! (yes Congress went home without action J ) http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/88984

Interesting story from Germany: Der Spiegel
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,709345,00.html

Chernobyl revisited, again and again. It seems, these wild pigs (boar) pigs love eating the mushrooms which a highly contaminated from the Chernobyl accident (YES, STILL, AND FOR YEARS TO COME ) thereby spreading radioactivity across the countryside.

And (WNJ) Jeff Montgomery with more today ~ Feds to review PSEG's bid for new reactors
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UnPlug Salem writes ~ NRC Accepts Application for Early Site Permit at PSEG Site in New Jersey

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review the Early Site Permit (ESP) application for the PSEG site near Salem, N.J.

The applicants, PSEG Power and PSEG Nuclear, submitted the application and associated information on May 25. The ESP process determines whether a site is suitable for future construction and operation of a nuclear power plant. The application, minus proprietary and security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc. gov/reactors/ new-reactors/ esp/pseg. html.

PSEG’s ESP application seeks resolution of safety and environmental issues for the site, approximately seven miles southwest of Salem . Docketing the PSEG application does not indicate whether the Commission will approve or reject the request. The NRC has established docket number 52-043 for this application.

In the near future the NRC will publish in the Federal Register a notice of opportunity to intervene in the required adjudicatory hearing. Petitions to intervene in a hearing must be filed within 60 days of the notice, by anyone whose interest may be affected by the proposed permit and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding. More information on the hearing process is available onthe NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc. gov/about- nrc/regulatory/ adjudicatory/ hearing.html.

More information about the new reactor licensing process is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc. gov/reactors/ new-reactors. html.

The WNJ put a plural on the news ~ Regulators accept PSEG application to build new reactors - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said today that it has accepted for review PSEG Nuclear’s site application for one or two new reactors just north of the Salem/Hope Creek complex.

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Why Is Christina Romer Out And Larry Summers Still In???

Obama's Council of Economic Advisers chief, Christina Romer, announces her resignation along side of bad news on jobs numbers 'to spend more time with her family' sort of thing.
(graphs from Calculated Risk)

JonWalkerDC - July Jobs Numbers: For Dems, the Most Important (and Worst) Political News of the Day http://fdl.me/9zRxtr - I wounder if in retrospect Larry Summers will be declared the man who kill the Dem majorities with his terrible advise. Will miss Romer

ggreenwald - Larry Summers' ongoing influence perfectly expresses the Failure Breeds Credibility Law in DC http://is.gd/e61kk

emptywheel - RT @Atrios: big question is why larry summers simply wanted "insurance policy" instead of, you know, job creation http://bit.ly/aZxhcF - RT @mattyglesias: The past two months worth of jobs numbers would have been positive had GOP backed these state aid bills.- I think we should all refer to today's unemployment numbers as "Larry Summers' lost jobs." - Anyone get the feeling Romer got forced to be public face of today's unemployment numbers and that was the final straw?

Spend some time reading Atrios today on the people who've been correct about the economy --including out-going Romer-- and the people who've been wrong --including Larry Frickin' Summers.

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Conservatives Caught In Massive Censorship And Fraud Using Social Media Site, Digg, To Suppress Progressive Voices!

Via Memeorandum ~ Oleoleolson / AlterNet Blogs: Massive Censorship Of Digg Uncovered — A group of influential conservative members of the behemoth social media site Digg.com have just been caught red-handed in a widespread campaign of censorship, having multiple accounts, upvote padding, and deliberately trying to ban progressives.

Plus, (DKos) AnnetteK writes ~ 'UnDugg' by Digg, Massive Fraud/UPDATE

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Nuclear Information And Resource Service Writes: Congressional Update & How The Nuclear Renaissance Is Crumbling...

CONGRESS TO TAKE SUMMER BREAK WITHOUT ACTION ON ENERGY BILLS

NO NEW NUKE LOAN MONEY ENACTED SO FAR THIS YEAR!MEANWHILE, THE NUCLEAR "RENAISSANCE" STARTS TO CRUMBLE....

First the good news from Washington, then the good news from elsewhere. The Senate will go on its summer break tomorrow without taking action on an energy bill. Actually, it's absolutely pathetic that a bill to place unlimited corporate liability on offshore drilling operations and make some modest energy efficiency improvements can't pass the Senate in about an hour, but that's the way it is.

At least there was no opportunity for nuclear power's backers to try to add more taxpayer money for new reactor construction. Note: the House will come back briefly from its recess (which started this week) to approve a Senate-passed bill to save the jobs of hundreds of thousands of teachers, police and firefighters; it's not expected that the House will take up any other business.

Back in February, President Obama asked Congress for a $36 Billion increase in nuclear construction loans. So far, Congress has provided exactly Zero. Thanks to all of you for helping make that happen.

We're not out of the woods yet, of course. The House Appropriations Committee has approved $25 billion, the Senate Appropriations Commitee has approved $10 billion. And some Senators are still looking for ways to increase that number. But nothing will happen before September and we'll keep you posted. In the meantime, your elected officials are now back home; many are running for re-election and conducting public events. The best thing you can do is attend town hall meetings, campaign rallies and the like and ask them directly if they think taxpayers should bail out the nuclear power industry. Keep the issue alive!

Meanwhile, the nuclear"renaissance" is crumbling....There have been some stunning developments in the past two weeks: the over-hyped nuclear "renaissance" is simply falling apart.The two leading candidates for the next nuclear loan, Calvert Cliffs and South Texas, have both slashed their modest spending on these projects and increasingly neither one looks viable for the entire list of reasons that always have plagued the nuclear industry: safety, cost, waste, etc.

I wrote a long piece today on DailyKos about this, focusing on Calvert Cliffs. You can read it (and comment on it) here. We also put out a press release, which you can find here. Hope you enjoy those; hope you have a great August. We'll keep you informed of any new developments and, of course, if you can help us pay for this continuing (and winning!) campaign, please make your tax-deductible donation here. We can't do it without you.

Thanks for all you do, Michael Mariotte, Executive Director, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org

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Some Ups And Downs And All Arounds On Foreclosure News And Mortgage Relief

BeatThePressDB - BTP: NPR Tells Listeners That House Prices Have Stabilized http://ow.ly/18sdlf

Meanwhile, a Main Street Bailout is rumored: Help Coming for Homeowners? - The Obama administration's program to address home foreclosures, HAMP, has been a pretty dismal failure. Only a small fraction of the money allocated to help homeowners has been spent, and only a few hundred thousand loans have been modified. So what's next? James Pethokoukis passes along the latest dirt

And more from (MOJO) Andy Kroll reports ~ EXCLUSIVE: Fannie and Freddie's Foreclosure Barons - How the federal housing agencies—and some of the biggest bailed-out banks—are helping shady lawyers make millions by pushing families out of their homes.

And DKos ~ Wall Street firms push mortgage relief plan for millions.

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June Eisley Writes: Message From Delaware Pacem In Terris - After 65 Years it's Time to Retire the Bomb!

CBSNews - US joins Hiroshima memorial ceremony for 1st time ever: http://bit.ly/cWEw5z

REMEMBERING HIROSHIMA-NAGASAKI
65 YEARS LATER

United for Peace and Justice - At 8:15 am, August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped a uranium bomb over the city of Hiroshima and in the blink of an eye vaporized thousands of women, men and children. By the end of the year 140,000 were dead. At 11.02 a.m. on August 9, the U.S. dropped a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki,killing another 60,000 - 80,000. Many thousands more continue to die or suffer from psychological trauma and illnesses caused by the prolonged effects of radiation exposure.

August 6th and 9th will mark the 65th anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the threatened use of nuclear weapons remains at the heart of U.S. "national security" policy. Despite hopes for a dramatic change of course, the new Nuclear Posture Review reveals no substantial changes in U.S. nuclear force structure, retaining all three legs of the strategic triad - heavy bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic submarines, and declaring: "These nuclear forces will continue to play an essential role in deterring potential adversaries and reassuring allies and partners around the world." 65 years of nuclear terror is enough; it's time to retire nuclear weapons.
Background Information/Talking Points - When President Obama submitted the START Treaty to the Senate for ratification in May, he also submitted a Congressionally-mandated report outlining the Administration's plan to maintain and modernize U.S. nuclear forces. In stark contrast to the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign to abolish nuclear weapons by the year 2020, the plan includes investments of $80 billion to sustain and modernize the nuclear weapons complex, including new bomb factories in New Mexico, Tennessee and Missouri, and "well over" $100 billion to maintain and modernize nuclear weapon delivery systems by the year 2020.

Astonishingly, funding for nuclear weapons research and production will increase by more than 40%, from $6.4 Billion in FY 2010 to $9 billion by 2018 - 43% above the Cold War annual average of $5.1 Billion.

Meanwhile, in the midst of an unprecedented financial crisis, cities are facing rapidly rising unemployment and declining revenues, forcing them to make severe cuts to critical public services across the board. While the U.S. government lectures and threatens Iran and North Korea about the evils of nuclear weapons, it routinely test fires nuclear missiles from Vandenberg Air Force base in California into the Pacific Ocean. Two launches were conducted in June, and the U.S. "arsenal of hypocrisy" is poised for another unarmed warhead launch in September.

These tests are a visible symbol of the ongoing U.S. commitment to the nuclear threat as a central pillar of its foreign policy. The abolition of nuclear weapons and shifting the world's resources from war planning to feeding, healing and housing the peoples of the world is what is needed in the 21st century. Join the global call to abolish nuclear weapons in our lifetime!
** edited from United for Peace and Justice newsletter

Meanwhile, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was scheduled to vote on the ratification of the START Treaty this week, but it was tabled until afer the mid-term elections., We will keep you infomed of developments in order for you to take action on this issue.

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Reflections on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
(Edited from a speech given on August 6, 2003 at the Brandywine Peace Community’s Vigil at Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia)
by Sally Milbury-Steen

The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 65 years ago by the United States continues to be an unacknowledged crime against humanity. Had we lost the war, there would certainly have been a war crimes tribunal, similar to the Nuremberg trials that would have forced us to recognize the horror of what we had done and the severity of the suffering that it had caused.

But as the victors of the war, we saw ourselves as above accountability even though our military thoroughly documented the destruction. Robert Jay Lifton and Greg Mitchell point out in their book Hiroshima in America: Fifty Years of Denial, that shortly after the war ended in the Pacific, Lt. Daniel McGovern, a member of the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, began working with a Japanese film crew to document the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This Japanese-American collaboration created a 3-hour documentary called, “The Effects of the Atomic Bombs Against Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” It was shipped to the U.S. in May 1946, was labeled “Top Secret” and locked away for 22 years until the Japanese government managed to obtain it. By not allowing the American people to see the film’s “troublesome images” and not letting us understand fully the enormous physical destruction and human devastation of our A-bombs, our government could keep us in ignorance and denial about the power of these weapons and maintain the myth that these were usable, first-strike weapons.

I believe that not having to take responsibility for the evil perpetrated against the civilian populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atrophied part of the conscience of our society and continues to cloud our vision of the world. Instead of facing our transgression, we have dissociated from its immorality and have kept on as a nation projecting this unresolved negative part of ourselves on to other nations through our insistence that only others can be “evil doers.” We compulsively re-enact destructive behavior towards other nations, we continue to build nuclear weapons, and President Obama who at one time called for the abolition of nuclear weapons, has asked for 80 billion dollars over the next ten years “to sustain and modernize the [U.S.] nuclear weapons complex over the next decade.”

After 65 years, it is certainly time to cut through the denial and to acknowledge our accountability, to accept responsibility, and to re-awaken our collective conscience by recognizing the immorality of bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is time to say, “Never Again.” – and to dedicate ourselves to ridding the world of weapons of mass destruction, beginning with our own nuclear arsenal.

-- DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT

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I Am Making Calls For Progessive DEM - Rhode Island Congressional Candidate David Segal On Saturday - You Can Too!

downwithtyranny - Rhode Island congresisonal candidate David Segal has good jobs plan. Too bad he's still too young to run for president http://fb.me/EI1eZQdS

BoldProgressives.org ask for your help with Saturday's Phone Bomb! ~

Did you know that in the recent fight against Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a few hundred progressives around the country made 60,000 phone calls in one day to local voters -- driving up turnout for Bill Halter?

It's pretty amazing. And next month, one of the most effective, progressive state legislators in the nation -- David Segal -- will be on the primary ballot running for Patrick Kennedy's open House seat in Rhode Island. The expected voter turnout is around 60,000 voters! Want to help us win this one?

We're working with David's campaign on a "phone bomb" this Saturday. Can you be one of 100 people around the country making calls for David? Click here to sign up as "yes" or "maybe." It only takes an hour -- and our phonebanking system is really easy to use. All you need is a phone.

Working together with progressives around the country, we'll educate voters about the type of leader David Segal will be in Congress:

When the Republican governor threatened to slash $25 million for education and local services, David organized progressive legislators to block the entire state budget until that funding was restored. They won! Imagine if we had David Segal in Congress during the public option fight.

David passed multiple laws cracking down on big Wall Street banks who do business in Rhode Island -- and kicked off his campaign in front of Bank of America to show that he is willing to fight powerful interests.

David passed laws to bring clean energy jobs to the state, passed prison reform into law, and is the lead state legislator in the nation fighting to overturn Citizens United -- which opened the floodgate of corporate money into our elections.

Is this someone you want in Congress? If so, David needs your help this Saturday.
Can you be one of 100 people around the country making calls for David Segal? Click here to sign up as "yes" or "maybe."
Thanks for being a bold progressive

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In A Bipartisan Push, Leahy, Cornyn, Kaufman And Grassley Introduce Bill To Strike SEC FOIA Exemptions

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Leahy, Cornyn, Kaufman, Grassley Introduce Bill To Strike SEC FOIA Exemptions

WASHINGTON (Thursday, August 5, 2010) – Leading members of the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday introduced legislation to strike Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemptions for the Securities and Exchange Commission that were included in the recently enacted Wall Street Reform. The bipartisan legislation is sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The bill introduced Thursday will eliminate the FOIA exemption for certain records provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law on July 21. The bill also clarifies that hedge funds and other new entities that the SEC will regulate under the Wall Street reform law will be considered “financial institutions” for the purposes of applying FOIA Exemption 8.

The bill will ensure that the SEC can treat sensitive information provided by hedge funds to the Commission in connection with the SEC’s examination and surveillance activities in the same manner as the Commission treats such information when it is provided by other financial institutions.“

When Congress enacted these exemptions, it sought to ensure that the SEC had access to the information that the Commission needed to carry out its new enforcement powers and to protect American investors – not to shield information from the public,” said Leahy. “I have been troubled by the sweeping interpretation that the Commission has expressed, to date, that these exemptions would shield all information provided to the Commission in connection with its broad examination and surveillance activities. This legislation would amend the law to eliminate several broad FOIA exemptions for SEC records that were recently enacted as part of the Wall Street reform law.”

“If anything, the financial crisis and the wave of financial frauds we have seen over the past few years call for more transparency at the SEC, not less,” said Cornyn. “I am alarmed that the financial regulatory reform bill appears to have excluded the SEC from the Freedom of Information Act’s (‘FOIA’) disclosure requirements. The FOIA strikes a careful and workable balance between the need for confidentiality and the American people’s right to know about the workings of their government. The SEC should play by the same rules of transparency as every other government agency.”

“This bill promotes greater transparency at the SEC and in our financial markets by narrowing an overly broad FOIA exemption in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act,” said Kaufman. “This is the sort of fine tuning that follows every piece of major legislation.”

“By exempting the SEC from Freedom of Information Act requirements, the new law lets Wall Street and the SEC continue to avoid scrutiny and accountability,” Grassley said. “Our legislation will help plug this glaring hole in the new financial regulation law.”

The Senators are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy and Cornyn are longtime leaders in strengthening and protecting the Freedom of Information Act, the nation’s premier open government and transparency law.

On Wednesday, Leahy, Cornyn, Kaufman and Grassley also joined together to send a letter to Mary Schapiro http://judiciary.senate.gov/resources/documents/111thCongress/upload/080410Leahy-Cornyn-Grassley-KaufmanToSchapiro.pdf, the chair of the SEC, urging her to issue guidelines narrowly interpreting the FOIA exemptions included in the Wall Street reform law. A PDF of the letter is available online.

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Update: Call Tom Carper - Sign Bernie Sanders Petition - Ted Kaufman: Appoint Elizabeth Warren As Director Of The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Update II: Progressive Change Campaign Committee writes ~

The Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal have all reported on our petition with Credo Action supporting Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- and we hit 200,000 signers!

Our momentum really impressed Senator Franken from Minnesota - so much that he's released a statement supporting Warren for the job and he's working with us to ask his colleagues to sign on. Can you call Senator Tom Carper and ask him if he will sign on to Franken's statement? Click here to make a call.

So far, our public pressure has taken us from 6 to 63 House members endorsing Warren publicly and led the White House to issue this game-changing statement:
Robert Gibbs, Obama spokesman: "I would say Elizabeth Warren is a terrific candidate. I don't think any criticism in any way by anybody would disqualify her. I think she's very confirmable for this job."

Now let's prove them right.

Can you call Sen. Carper and ask him to sign on to the Franken statement supporting Warren - and prove she's confirmable? Click here for a script
and the number. Every Senator that signs puts more pressure on the White House to appoint Warren. And it helps us keep the media focused on the issue, leading to more coverage like this:

Washington Post: The PCCC "helped Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) organize a letter calling on President Obama to nominate Elizabeth Warren to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...the group helped Maloney's letter attract more than 60 members of Congress as co-signers."
New York Post: "The PCCC has fetched more than 200,000 signatures in support of a Warren nomination in the past week.”

Can you take a minute to call Sen. Carper and ask him to sign the Franken statement?
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Update: Sign Senator Bernie Sanders' petition ~

Consumer Protection At a time when there is massive and appropriate distrust of Wall Street, a movement is gaining momentum for Elizabeth Warren to head a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The American people want someone in that position who has demonstrated the courage to stand up to Wall Street greed and protect ordinary Americans. Since Bernie first wrote to President Obama backing the “smart and tough consumer advocate,” more and more people are speaking out. Read Harold Meyerson’s column in The Washington Post. Read editorials in The Boston Globe and The New York Times. Even Dr. Phil.“The president has to make it clear on this issue that he is on the side of consumers," Bernie said in an article for the Los Angeles
Times. Go to article. Read Bernie's letter to the president (pdf).

Add your name to Bernie’s petition for Elizabeth Warren
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Kaufman: Elizabeth Warren “Ideal Candidate” to Head CFPB

WASHINGTON, DC – In a statement released on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) urged President Obama to appoint Elizabeth Warren as director of the newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, saying her experience more than fits the bill of an effective and visionary leader to run the important new agency: “Elizabeth Warren is the ideal candidate to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and I hope very much that President Obama will appoint her to that position.

“The new CFPB is one of the biggest reforms to come out of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It will be a new financial regulator dedicated solely to protecting the interests of consumers. The CFPB will have strong and autonomous rulemaking authority and the ability to enforce those rules for large banks and nonbanking entities like payday lenders and mortgage finance companies. It will also have a dedicated source of funding.

“But the strength and efficacy of the bureau will depend ultimately on the effectiveness of its leadership. It is essential that the director not only be someone with relevant skills and experience in the area of consumer finance, but also someone who is strong and independent with a proven track record of standing up for consumers.

“Given that, Elizabeth Warren would be a superb choice to lead the CFPB. She is a bankruptcy professor at Harvard Law School and a widely renowned expert on consumer finance issues. Professor Warren is also the Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP, a role where she has demonstrated her leadership skills as well as her deep and broad understanding of the financial system.

“In addition to her formal credentials, Professor Warren is also the intellectual force behind the new agency. In 2007, she authored an article that put forward the concept, writing ‘just as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) protects buyers of goods and supports a competitive market, we need the same for consumers of financial products – a new regulatory regime, and even a new regulatory body, to protect consumers who use credit cards, home mortgages, car loans, and a host of other products.’

“The financial reform bill signed into law by President Obama last month makes Professor Warren’s idea into a reality. The agency has a lot of promise, but it still needs an effective and visionary leader. Professor Warren more than fits the bill.”

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Help Stop BP From Writing Off $10 Billion In Expenses Related To The Clean-Up On Its U.S. Taxes, Shifting Financial Responsibility Onto U.S. Citizems

John Mica, End the BP Backdoor Bailout
144 Signatures

Published by Beaven for Congress on Aug 02, 2010
Target: Rep. John Mica
Background:
BP, which is supposed to be paying for the cleanup in the Gulf, announced last week that it plans on writing off $10 billion in expenses related to the clean-up on its U.S. taxes, shifting financial responsibility for the clean-up to us, the taxpayers. In short, BP plans on creating a taxpayer funded backdoor bailout for themselves.The idea that BP has decided to engage in a sleight of hand, backdoor bailout to abscond with our tax dollars is nauseating. Taxpayers are not responsible for the disaster in the gulf, and we shouldn’t have to pay the bill either.
Petition:
I call on John Mica to immediately introduce legislation to end this backdoor bailout.
Sign the petition

(h/t Howie Klein)

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Obama's Islamic Countries Org Envoy/Americans Called Out For Wrongs We Must Right Before We Can Expect Peace In The World

ggreenwald - Are the accusations heard by Obama's envoy here really "conspiracy theories"? http://is.gd/e2hWo

(Politico) Laura Rozen reports ~ Obama’s Islamic conference envoy gets earful in India

Obama’s envoy to the Organization of Islamic Countries Rashad Hussain was greeted with an anti-American tirade when he spoke to architecture students in Mumbai Tuesday, the Times of India reports:

Hussain who is of Indian origin … is currently touring India to build upon the engagement plan Obama famously outlined in his June 2009 speech in Cairo. However, Akhtar Hasan Rizvi, NCP's national general-secretary and head of the Rizvi group of educational institutions, lashed out at America, calling it the creator of many "problems,'' including Israeli-Palestine conflict and the Taliban. … Rizvi held America responsible for many woes in the Muslim world.

"You supplied arms to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, then invaded Iraq in the name of searching for weapons of mass destruction. You created the Taliban with the help of Pakistan. You have been backing Israel ever since its creation. First, right the wrongs that you have created if you want to establish peace in the world,'' said Rizvi to applause from the students.

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The Morning Plum: State Aid Vote, Obama Veto And Big Dog Clinton Stumping For Sestak

Greg Sargent's roundup has several choice items this morning ~

* What to watch today: The Senate's big vote today on billions in state aid to avert teacher layoffs all comes down to the question of what Susan Collins will do. It just never ends!

* Another thing to watch: George Stephanopoulos wants to know why the Obama administration won't promise a presidential veto if the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the rich passes.

* Call in the Big Dog: Bill Clinton heads to Pennsylvania to stump for Joe Sestak, which could be a big deal, given Clinton's pull with working class whites and given that the race remains incredibly close.

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The Office Of Senator Kaufman Will Host A Federal Job Fair On August 30th From 9AM - 3PM In Wilmington

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Kaufman to Host Federal Job Fair

WILMINGTON, Del. – To conclude the Kaufman Summer Series, the office of U.S. Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) is hosting a federal job fair along with representatives from federal departments, agencies, boards and commissions. The fair will be held on Monday, Aug. 30, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. The free job fair will be held at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, 815 Justison Street in Wilmington.

The Kaufman federal job fair will highlight a variety of new and rewarding positions in the public sector. Federal employers will be there to meet with potential applicants and discuss hiring opportunities. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management will host a seminar focusing on how to apply for jobs by visiting www.usajobs.com.

Attendees can register by e-mailing workshop@kaufman.senate.gov. For more information, call (302) 573-6345.

WHAT: The Office of Sen. Ted Kaufman hosts a federal job fair.

WHEN: Monday, Aug. 30, 2010, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

WHERE: Chase Center on the Riverfront
815 Justison St.
Wilmington, DE 19801

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Delawareans For Social And Economic Justice (DSEJ) Join With Communities for Excellent Public Schools For Meaningful Education Reform

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Local and National Parent and Community Coalitions Urges Congress to Support New Plan for “Turnaround” Schools
Coalition plan details successful, sustainable reform that will strengthen America’s schools

DELAWARE -- Delawareans for Social and Economic Justice (DSEJ) with Communities for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS), a new national coalition of community-based organizations composed of parents and students in low-income communities from across the country, to unveil a new comprehensive plan for successful, sustainable reform of the nation’s chronically underperforming schools and a report on schools that are eligible for federal turnaround intervention.

With the release of the coalition’s Sustainable School Transformation Plan and the report, Our Communities Left Behind, DSEJ, called for replacing the Administration’s proposals with the coalition’s research-based best practices to help transform underperforming schools in Delaware.

CEPS released the plan and report on Wednesday, July 28, in Washington, DC during an open Congressional briefing with members of Congress, parents, students and education experts. CEPS is leading the charge for more parent and community involvement in the Administration’s plan for improving the country’s struggling schools.

The coalition’s Sustainable School Transformation Plan offers an analysis of the impact of current school turnaround policies andmakes recommendations for lasting school reforms that address the varying needs and challenges of rural, urban and suburban communities.

CEPS’ report, Our Communities Left Behind, which is supported by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, is the first-ever database of all the nation’s schools that have been identified as eligible for federal intervention under the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. Prior to the creation of this database, analysis of SIG-eligible schools was nearly impossible because a national list of schools has not been released by the Department of Education.

The SIG program, utilizes strategies developed under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), to provide four options for using federal dollars to intervene in struggling schools: 1) fire school’s principals and all of its teachers; 2) convert school to a charter or hand over the school to outside management; 3) close the school; 4) replace school’s principal and “transform” the school.

According to members of CEPS, the best way to ensure accountability for real education reform is to engage parents and community members in the development and implementation of policies and to use research-based best practices focused on effective educational strategies.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s recent commitment to bring communities to the decision-making table indicated that parents and community members will have some input in which one of the four intervention models will be imposed on their schools; however, it does not give them the opportunity to propose alternative intervention models and there are no guidelines to ensure parent and community involvement is meaningful.

“We applaud the Administration for making education reform a priority and for recently recognizing the community’s important role in achieving real change,” said Darlene Battle Executive Director of DSEJ “But the Administration is proposing cookie cutter and band aid approaches that will continue to allow our schools to flounder rather than excel. They focus on who’s running the schools, when in fact we need to be focusing on what’s going on inside our schools.”

Analysis of the new database of SIG-eligible schools found that black, Hispanic and low-income students are disproportionally served by these schools. Nationally, 81 percent of students in SIG-eligible schools are students of color – the largest proportions being black students (44 percent) followed by Hispanic students (32 percent).

Similarly, low-income students are over-represented in SIG-eligible schools. Nationally, 69 percent of students in SIG-eligible schools are poor (defined by eligibility for free and reduced price lunch) compared to 43 percent of students attending the rest of the schools in the nation.

While every state has SIG-eligible schools, 61 percent of the students attending these schools are concentrated in just nine states: Mississippi, Massachusetts, Texas, Michigan, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and California. More than one million students currently attend schools that are likely to face mandatory “turnarounds” and many of these schools will be shut down.

“Research shows that long-term investments in developing an expert teaching force, a strong and relevant curriculum, and a collaborative culture both within a school and with the community, are essential elements for a serious effort at school transformation,” said Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University. “This well-researched report deserves consideration by policy makers.”

In the Sustainable School Transformation Plan, CEPS provides the Administration with recommendations to ensure success for the more than 2,000 schools eligible for the SIG program.

“We’re calling on our Congressional representatives to face the facts and eliminate the Administration’s four reform measures that are based on tried and failed NCLB policies and replace them with those laid out in the Sustainable School Transformation Plan, “said Darlene Battle. The full plan is available at www.ceps-ourschools.org

Communities for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) is a national coalition of 20 community-based organizations composed of parents and students in low-income communities.

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Netroots' Boehner Billboard

downwithtyranny - Here's a pic of the brand new netroots #beatboehner billboard 12 miles down the I-75 from his gated golfing community http://bit.ly/9m05Tq

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Bloomberg Takes Emotional Stand On Religious Freedom And Private Property Rights - Supports Ground Zero Islamic Center

ThePlumLineGS
- Liberal hero Anthony Weiner's office won't say whether he supports the Ground Zero Islamic center: http://bit.ly/aMR0Xi

With a comment rescue ~

I'm not a big fan of Mayor Bloomberg. Actually I think he's been a horrible mayor and he's a total sell-out. But this is pretty darn cool: * Mayor Bloomberg delivers stirring affirmation of religious freedom * The mayor chokes up as he delivers a speech on religious freedom and private property rights in defense of mosque

Excerpt:
“Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11, and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values and play into our enemies' hands if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists, and we should not stand for that.

"For that reason, I believe that this is an important test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetimes, as important a test. And it is critically important that we get it right.

"On Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of first responders heroically rushed to the scene and saved tens of thousands of lives. More than 400 of those first responders did not make it out alive. In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked, 'What God do you pray to?' (Bloomberg's voice cracks here a little as he gets choked up.) 'What beliefs do you hold?'
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/03/mayor_bloomberg_on_mosque/index.html
Full speech at the link.
Very admirable Mr. Mayor, very admirable imho.
Posted by: Ethan2010

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Alan Grayson: Three Of Six Proposals In The Save Democracy Platform Have Moved Through The House - Plus - Time To Boycott Target?

From the inbox ~

I have some news about the Citizens United decision to let loose corporate cash on our democracy. Last week, the Shareholder Protection Act passed the House Financial Services Committee. This bill requires shareholders to approve political spending by corporations. It's one of our key priorities in stopping the buy-out of democracy by corporations. Overall, three of our six proposals in the Save Democracy platform have moved through the House. In the DISCLOSE Act, there's a ban on Federal contractors spending money on elections, and on foreign companies intervening in American elections. And now shareholders will get a say in corporate spending. This is not enough, but it's a start.

If you'd like to know more about the Shareholder Protection Act, you can read a summary of the debate at OMB Watch: http://www.ombwatch.org/node/11180 We will end these wars, we will reign in corporate power, and we will restore the middle class. We will do it, because we are doing it.

Truth, Alan Grayson

Meanwhile, MoveOn.Org writes ~ Boycott Target unless they stop trying to buy elections?

Get this: Target, the retail giant, just became one of the very first companies to take advantage of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision allowing unlimited corporate cash in elections.1

Target has spent over $150,000 in the Minnesota Governor's race backing state Rep. Tom Emmer, a far-right Republican who supports Arizona's draconian immigration law, wants to abolish the minimum wage and even gave money to a fringe group that condoned the execution of gay people. 2 Target must think customers won't care. They're wrong: We do care, and we need to let them know that we want Target—and all corporations—out of our elections.

Will you send a message to Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel telling him that you're not going to shop at Target unless they stop trying to buy elections? Click here to add your name to the petition: http://pol.moveon.org/state/target/?id=22247-6345145-ybf6p_x&t=2 Once we get 150,000 signatures, MoveOn members in Minnesota will
hand deliver the petition to Target headquarters.

The stakes are much higher than one candidate and one company. Other CEOs are in "wait-and-see" mode following the Citizens United decision, according to a former Federal Trade Commission counsel quoted on NPR.3 If we don't push back hard, this will just be the tip of the iceberg. Other corporations will learn that they can pour money into elections to buy the outcome they want—without paying a price with their customers or shareholders.

We all knew Citizens United would benefit candidates who stand up for corporate CEOs instead of everyday people. But you wouldn't expect a company like Target to jump in and try to buy an election so quickly. After all, Target made its name by being thought of as the more progressive store in the wake of numerous WalMart scandals.That's why MoveOn members are following up on actions of groups like Human Rights Campaign and the Alliance for a Better Minnesota by telling Target that we won't shop there unless they stop trying to buy elections. Please add your voice now.

Thanks for all you do.
–Ilyse, Robin, Anna, Mari, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Target Corp. defends Minn. political donation," Associated Press, July 27, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89661&id=22247-6345145-ybf6p_x&t=4
2. "GOP-linked punk rock ministry says executing gays is 'moral'," Minnesota Independent, May 25, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89716&id=22247-6345145-ybf6p_x&t=5
"Emmer Camp On Comment That Waiters Make $100K: 'It's An Extreme Example'," Talking Points Memo, July 13, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89717&id=22247-6345145-ybf6p_x&t=6
3. "Minn. Ad Puts Target At Center Of Campaign Finance Controversy," NPR, July 27, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89714&id=22247-6345145-ybf6p_x&t=7

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DSU's Inspire Scholarship Bill Hearing Set For 2PM August 11th In Dover - Senate Education Committee

From Syl Woolford ~ Subject: HB399 Inspire Scholarship Bill

The Senate Education Committee will hear HB399 (Inspire Scholarship Bill) on
Wednesday August 11, 2010 at 2:00PM

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Rockets Fired From Egypt Hit Jordan Instead Of Israel As "Radical Elements" In Mid-East Conflict Try For The Zillionth Time To Upend Peace Talks

(Zero Hedge) Tyler Durden writes ~ Rockets Fired From Egypt Miss Israel, Hit Jordan

Things in the middle east are back to normal (which means the usual deadly massacre), although with a twist. An earlier rocket attack on the Israel port city of Eliat missed its target completely, and instead slammed into Aqaba, in neighboring Jordan, located 6 miles away just over the border. Instead of firing the rockets from Israel and prompting immediate airborne retaliation, the launch point for today's attack was Egypt, which prevent Israel (or should that be Jordan) from retaliating.

Sky News reports that the reason for the shelling is connected to a recent agreement that will see the Palestinian authorities talk face-to-face with the Israelis, and radical elements, who do not want that to happen, are escalating the violence as a means to stop it. It is unclear if Jordan will also escalate now that its own territory has been impacted in the ongoing conflict, and it is also to be seen how Egypt will react should it become perceived as a peripheral zone of cross-border attacks.

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The Senate Will Vote Tonight On Extra Funding For Teachers And Medicaid - But I Wouldn't Bet On It, Secretary Duncan

(Politico) David Rogers reports ~ White House's late push for $26B state aid bill

Cash-strapped governors are promised $16.1 billion to pay Medicaid bills next year and ease their budget situation; another $10 billion in education assistance would go to school boards to help with teacher hiring—a top priority for Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

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The SEC Offers An Unconvincing Response To Ted Kaufman's FOIA Exemption Concerns

A skeptical Josh Gerstein on the SEC's response to criticism from Ted Kaufman and others ~ SEC defends new FOIA exemptions

On Friday, SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro sent letters (here and here) to the two namesakes of and committee chairmen responsible for the bill, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), describing the importance of the new provisions to the kind of nimble and quick investigations the agency is charged with doing. The language faced a chorus of criticism from various quarters last week (see here, here and here) after the SEC tried to wield the new exemptions against a FOIA lawsuit Fox Business News has pending over records relating to investment scam artist Bernie Madoff.

...The SEC chairwoman also says she has asked the commission to "publish on our website guidance to our staff that ensures the provision is used only as it was intended." That seems to be a concession that the provision is at least capable of interpretation, as some have argued, in a manner broader than whatever Congress may collectively have intended. However, Schapiro seems to be arguing that the worrying aspects of the new law can be rectified through policy guidance rather than further legislative action by Congress, as at least one lawmaker has already
proposed.

...it seems like a "trust-us" offer that many federal agencies would love to make in order to obtain a broad exemption from FOIA disclosure.....it's possible at least that the result of the Dodd-Frank FOIA language may be to broaden the SEC's discretion to withhold information without any commensurate benefit to the agency in cooperativeness from the regulated world.

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Circulate This Graph Everywhere - Allowing The Bush Tax Cuts To Expire Will Only Hurt People Earning More Than $300,000 Per Year

Bob Cesca writes ~

Circulate This Graph Everywhere

The Wall Street Journal compares the 2011 income tax burden with and without the Bush tax
cuts.

It turns out that allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire will only hurt people earning more than $300,000 per year. And it appears as if keeping the Bush tax cuts in place would force people earning $60-150,000 to pay slightly more.

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Questioning Our Education Policy - A Whole Lot Of 'In Your Face' To Obama, Duncan, Markell And Lowery- From The NAACP And Our Local Boards

OBAMA'S RACE TO THE TOP WILL NOT IMPROVE EDUCATION
By Diane Ravitch

President Obama spoke to the National Urban League this week and defended his "Race to the Top" program, which has become increasingly controversial. Mr. Obama insisted that it was the most important thing he had done in office, and that critics were merely clinging to the status quo.

Mr. Obama was unfazed by the scathing critique of the Race by the nation's leading civil rights organizations, who insisted that access to federal funding should be based on need, not competition. (See http://naacpldf.org/update/civil-rights groups-release-framework-priorities-esea-reauthorization)

The program contains these key elements: Teachers will be evaluated in relation to their students' test scores. Schools that continue to get low test scores will be closed or turned into charter schools or handed over to private management. In low-performing schools, principals will be fired, and all or half of the staff will be fired. States are encouraged to create many more privately managed charter schools.

All of these elements are problematic. Evaluating teachers in relation to student test scores will have many adverse consequences. It will make the current standardized tests of basic skills more important than ever, and even more time and resources will be devoted to raising scores on these tests. The curriculum will be narrowed even more than under George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind, because of the link between wages and scores. There will be even less time available for the arts, science, history, civics, foreign language, even physical education. Teachers will teach to the test. There will be more cheating, more gaming the system.

Furthermore, charter schools on average do not get better results than regular public schools, yet Obama and Duncan are pushing them hard. Duncan acknowledges that there are many mediocre or bad charter schools, but chooses to believe that in the future, the new charters will only be high performing ones.

Right.The President should re-examine his reliance on standardized testing to identify the best teachers and schools and the worst teachers and schools. The tests are simply not adequate to their expectations.

The latest example of how test results can be doctored is the New York state testing scandal, which broke open this week. The pass rates on the state tests had soared year after year, to the point where they became ridiculous to all but the credulous. The whole house of cards came crashing down this week after the state raised the proficiency bar from the low point to which it had sunk. In 2009, 86.4% of the state's students were "proficient" in math, but the number in 2010 plummeted to 61%. In 2009, 77.4% were "proficient" in reading, but now it is only 53.2%.

The latest test scores were especially startling for New York City, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg staked his reputation on their meteoric rise. He was re-elected because of the supposedly historic increase in test scores and used them to win renewal of mayoral control. But now, the city's pass rate in reading for grades 3-8 fell from 68.8% to 42.4%, and the proficiency rate in math sunk from an incredible 81.8% to a dismal 54%.

When the mayor ran for office, he said that mayoral control would mean accountability. If things went wrong, the public would know whom to blame. But now that the truth about score inflation is out, Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein steadfastly insist that the gains recorded on their watch did not go up in smoke, that progress was real, and they have reiterated this message through their intermediaries in the tabloids. In other words, they are using every possible rationalization and excuse to avoid accountability for the collapse of their "historic gains."

Meanwhile Secretary Duncan travels the country urging districts to adopt mayoral control, so they can emulate New York City. He carefully avoids mentioning Cleveland, which has had mayoral control for years and remains one of the lowest performing districts in the nation. Nor does he mention that Detroit had mayoral control and ended it. And it is hard to imagine that anyone would think of Chicago, which has been controlled by Mayor Richard Daley for many years, would serve as a national model.

President Obama and Secretary Duncan need to stop and think. They are heading in the wrong direction. On their present course, they will end up demoralizing teachers, closing schools that are struggling to improve, dismantling the teaching profession, destabilizing communities, and harming public education.

(via Greg Mazzotta)

Now, go read John Young, Elizabeth Scheinberg, Wolfe Gary and Kilroy's Delaware for some Delaware perspectives. For example, Wolfe Gary writes:
Delware’s RTTT application errors

It’s been almost 2 weeks since my last posting and during that time I’ve been, as a friend keeps reminding me, researching the truth behind RTTT’s back alleys that need to come to light. I have actually spent time reading the 235 pages of the state’s RTTT application to get a handle on it. My last posting mentioned how school board members were passed over when it came to the process, but they were not the only ones as the key stakeholders, parents and children, were also not included. Check out who the application gave credit to for the current state of education.

“In addition, the reform has the widespread support of Delaware’s broader education leadership, teachers’ unions, nonprofits, business community and civic leaders, all having a long history of working together in ways unheard of in other states This collaboration is best evidenced in the unanimous support for the State’s Race to the Top application, with every LEA, union, and school board leader in the State signing on to participate in this reform. This support reflects the deep involvement of many stakeholders, especially the State teachers’ union”

In this same section it actually lists the folks who
played key roles in the application:

Delaware’s strong education leadership spans both the public and private sectors. This Leadership team is headed by:

• Jack Markell – Governor of Delaware: Governor Markell combines a commitment to world-class education with the expertise in effective and efficient delivery of services. Necessary to ensure Delaware delivers on its goals. In leading this effort, Governor Markell will draw upon his long career as a leader in the private sector, as well as his 10 years, as Delaware’s State Treasurer.
• Lillian Lowery – Delaware Secretary of Education: With 32 years experience as a teacher and administrator, and as the superintendent of Delaware’s largest, lowest-income school district, Delaware Secretary of Education Lowery brings deep expertise in education and management skill to her role as the operational leader of this reform.

Governor Markell and Delaware Secretary of Education Lowery are supported by a strong team of managers and advisors who will help lead this reform. Their work is supported by the State’s active State Board of Education, its network of 19 highly-engaged superintendents and its 18 charter school leaders. In addition, the state teachers’ union, the Delaware State Educators’ Association, is an active participant in the State’s reform efforts, and has been instrumental in building widespread support for this work. The State also regularly draws upon public-private partnerships to enhance its reform efforts, and expects to continue to do so throughout this effort. These partnerships include work with the Business Roundtable, the Chamber of Commerce, the Delaware Charter Schools Network, the Longwood Foundation, and the Rodel Foundation of Delaware, which was founded to help Delaware create one of the finest public education systems in the nation.

I don’t know if I missed it, but I did not find school board members, or it's association, and I missed where it said parents and their associations? I point these out as the governor and his business groups have forgotten the language that is in the state’s constitution as to rights and responsibilities of the state and local school boards:

General powers of the Department of Education.(a) The Department shall exercise general control and supervision over the public schools of the State, including:(1)Developing and executing the educational policies and laws of the State and promoting public sentiment in support of public education;(2) Consulting, advising and cooperating with the boards of education and superintendents of reorganized school districts, and other officers, principals, teachers and interested citizens in matters relating to education and to the conduct of schools;

Authority of reorganized School Boards. In each reorganized school district there shall be a school board which shall have the authority to administer and to supervise the free public schools of the reorganized school district and which shall have the authority to determine policy and adopt rules and regulations for the general administration and supervision of the free public schools of the reorganized school district. Such administration, supervision and policy shall be conducted and formulated in accordance with Delaware law and the policies, rules and regulations of the State.The school board of each reorganized school district, subject to this title and in accordance with the policies, rules and regulations of the State, shall, in addition to other duties:* Determine the educational policies of the reorganized school district and prescribe rules and regulations for the conduct and management of the schools;* Grade and standardize all the public schools under its jurisdiction ….* Adopt courses of study;* Select, purchase, and distribute free of charge such textbooks and other materials of instruction, stationery, furniture, equipment, apparatus and supplies as are necessary to the work of the schools;* Appoint personnel.

I don’t deny that the support of these external business and civic groups are needed to advance the education of Delaware’s students, but the changes have to start at the local level with parents and families! Fund education equitably in the state and give districts the tools to help meet the needs of the whole student inside and outside the classroom!

Aside: I transcribed the Delaware NAACP this morning on Channel 28 and will have that pubished soon - that includes a lot of discussion about education and concerns about the new-fashioned outsourcing of public city school management.

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