GUEST POST: Marco Rubio fails to Walk the Talk

Posted on January 16, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

GUEST POST ICONThe following article is a Guest Post submitted  by a North Carolinian wishing to remain anonymous.

 

Marco Rubio fails to Walk the Talk

Listen carefully to what Marco Rubio says. More importantly, watch what he does and note his inactions.

Marco Rubio fails to use his Senate job to carry the torch for liberty. He could stand and fight the status quo; instead he campaigns. Let’s take a look at the Omnibus Bill which was rammed through at the last-minute before Christmas. Rubio said he would have voted against it.

Do you really believe him?

If he voted against it, he would have been on the record voting against funding President Obama’s agenda including sanctuary cities, implementation of the awful Iran deal, climate change regulations, illegal executive orders, Planned Parenthood, a gift to unions delaying the ObamaCare $800 billion cadillac tax, etc.

How interesting to see Rubio’s “safe ad”, which calls out some these items in the Omnibus Bill. So why wouldn’t he go on the record with such an important “no” vote? Well, in addition to the items listed above, he would have voted against increased military spending. Rubio could not let that happen because it would further expose his Saul Alinsky-type tactics against Senator Ted Cruz.

Recall how Rubio hammers Cruz for voting against the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which also increased military spending but funded a massive federal land grab and a failed Syrian Rebel training program.

It’s that simple, Rubio could not speak against the Omnibus Bill on the floor of the Senate nor vote against it because it would counter his tactics against Cruz. So Rubio missed the vote and used his POTUS campaign as the excuse. Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul voted and spoke out against the Omnibus Bill. Senator Rubio failed to walk the talk.

Where else has Marco Rubio failed to walk the talk? I won’t cover the Gang of Eight Bill here because that has received a lot of attention. There has also been a lot of discussion regarding Rubio’s weak view of privacy rights in the name of security. Rubio fully backs increased surveillance by the NSA.

Let me touch on a little known but important issue. Did you know Rubio has co-sponsored a bill to weaken due process for college students? Think back to the Duke Lacrosse case as you study Rubio’s bill (he has partnered with Senators Ayotte, Gillibrand and McCaskill), College students, especially males and parents should study the Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA).

Don’t be fooled by the name of the bill; details matter. Sexual assault is a serious crime and I’m not saying that it isn’t an important issue. Our Constitution is built on the rule of law including due process. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

Read More:

So it’s not just the Gang of Eight Bill and expansion of NSA surveillance — Marco Rubio’s judgment should be questioned on CASA, another legislative blunder.

Do you think Rubio reads the bills he supports? I don’t think he writes them.

Marco Jedi Mind TrickBeware of the Jedi mind tricks especially during the debates where Rubio effectively delivers key lines for soundbites which later appear in campaign ads.

If you don’t trust him as a senator, how can you trust him as President?

Rubio often fails to walk the talk especially on upholding our Constitution

 

Posted in ELECTIONS, GUEST POSTS | 5 Comments

Audit: Around $150K in Improper Spending at Washington Cty Schools – #nced

Posted on January 16, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Audit StampA State Auditor report on Washington County Schools has determined a misspending of funds has occurred.

The report has a total of around $150,000 in improper spending.

The report’s summary reads:

Investigators determined the former Superintendent, Board Members, and Administrative employees spent approximately $134,000 without prior written authorization, a documented business purpose, or expenditure receipts. In addition, the former Superintendent misspent $15,800 of federal funds on entertainment.

A fuller view of the key findings from the report:

  • Former Superintendent spent over $94,000 without prior written authorization from Board Chairs, a documented business purpose, or expenditure receipts
  • Board members and administrative employees spent nearly $40,000 without prior written authorization, a documented business purpose, or expenditure receipts
  • Former Superintendent misspent $15,800 of federal funds on entertainment

The full report can be viewed at the State Auditor’s website.

The audit also mentions the compensation of the Superintendent:

The School’s former Superintendent signed a four-year employment agreement for which he was paid a base salary of $125,000 annually beginning September 17, 2012, and ending June 30, 2016. The original employment agreement was extended for two additional years (ending June 30, 2018) on October 28, 2014. The former Superintendent resigned his position effective June 30, 2015.

I dug around and pulled up more details on Dr. Joe Davis, Superintendent of Washington County Schools. Highlights from the contract include:

Contract length: Sept. 17, 2012 – June 30, 2016
State salary: $109,548
Local salary: $18,488
Total salary: $128,036
Enrollment: 1,710
Pay per student:$74.87

There were also “perks”, such as the Board having the ability to give Davis an annual bonus of up to $6,000. Here are the other “perks”:

• Board will provide Davis with a vehicle
• Board will provide Davis with a laptop, iPhone and iPad
• Board will give Davis 10 extra vacation days per year
• Board will pay Davis $500 per year to help pay his life insurance premium
• Board will pay for Davis’ temporary housing for up to 30 days
• Board will pay moving expenses
• Board will pay full premium costs for medical/dental/ vision insurance for Davis & family
• Board will provide Davis with facilities, equipment, supplies and clerical assistance
• Board will pay for professional meetings and memberships
• Board will pay for one medical exam per yearOther details
• Board must approve any oustide work Davis does that lasts more than three consecutive work days. If he continues to draw his salary, any honoraria paid to him must be transferred to the school system. If he uses vacation days, he can keep the honoraria fees.

View Davis’s full contract here.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION | Comments Off on Audit: Around $150K in Improper Spending at Washington Cty Schools – #nced

NC Lt. Governor Doesn’t Take Media Spin Lying Down – #nced #ncpol

Posted on January 15, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Portraits

Gotta love Lt. Governor Dan Forest. He’s been a straight shooter since day one and continues to be. Even in the face of clear media bias and spin, he refuses to back down.

Forest predicted at the January State Board of Education meeting that the media would use the annual charter school report in a spintastic way.

Dr. Terry Stoops noted that Forest said the report would, “the fuel the media uses for the next year to criticize whatever we’re doing.”

The Lt. Governor’s predication came true.  Fast.

The News and Observer’s Lynn Bonner did an article in which the article’s ledes were misleading and the piece displayed the Lt. Governor’s face prominently.

That was not an accident.  This was meant to be 2016 election battleground preparation. It’s no secret the Lt. Governor is wildly popular and it’s also no secret the media (specifically the  News and Observer) hates him nearly as much as they hate Governor McCrory.

Well, the Lt. Governor isn’t one to take media spin lying down. To borrow a phrase from Instapundit — Forest punched back, twice as hard.

This was my favorite part:

“I also find it unethical for your newspaper to run such a slanted piece (front page, above the fold, no less), mention me by name and include my picture without the courtesy of an interview for my actual thoughts.” – News and Observer, January 11, 2016

I am sure printing this article likely made the editorial board over at the News and Observer ill over having to print, you know, actual facts.   N&O probably wishes Forest’s response was a video they could edit like they did with Kay Hagan. Aww. Too bad.

The Lt. Governor sets the record straight, noting that the board hadn’t even had time to properly consider the report, important data was missing from it as well as any positive achievements by charter schools. Also, the report was wrong on racial data.

Related Reading

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Charter Schools, EDUCATION, Media Bias | Tagged , | 1 Comment

EdWeek Gives NC a C- On State Report Card

Posted on January 14, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Here comes EdWeek with their state report cards.

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Overall, North Carolina was given a C-.

But.. but.. Dr. Atkinson says everything is great! Graduation rates are up, or something.

There were three categories that made up that overall score, here they are with what grade our state was given:

  1. School finance: D
  2. K-12 Achievement: D+
  3. Chance for Success: C+

School finance includes multiple indicators covering wealth, ‘equity’ and funding across districts. K-12 Achievement is made up of NAEP scores and NAEP achievement gains as well as achievement gap issues and graduation rates. Chance for Success encompasses everything from family income levels to parent employment and education, as well as preschool, school enrollment rates and ‘adult outcomes’.

isnt-common-core greatReminder: North Carolina is in the middle of year four of Common Core.  According to Atkinson and the rest of the Common Core pep squad, our kids should be killing the tests– ANY tests.

All state and national testing has been Common Core aligned, the scoring system in NC has been meddled with to protect the new tests and, yet, STILL the tests results at both the state level and the national level (ACT and NAEP) are flat and declining.

Even the benchmarks for ‘career and college readiness’ are showing less than half are prepared — but hey, those benchmarks are also Common Core aligned. So what does that even MEAN? A whole lot of doubleplusgood nothing, that’s what.

Remember all of this when you walk into the voting booth on Primary Day, parents.
Also, hey, parents —  have you seen the latest James O’Keefe video on Common Core?
“It’s all about the money“.

 

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, June Atkinson, OPINION | Tagged | Comments Off on EdWeek Gives NC a C- On State Report Card

NC Political Campaign Run By Student Shows How #APUSH Indoctrinates

Posted on January 14, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

If you haven’t heard of the controversy surrounding APUSH (Advanced Placement US History) before, you will likely be hearing more about it after reading this.

Over the last year,  APUSH was given a controversial new framework by the College Board as headed up by Common Core architect, David Coleman. Of note in this APUSH framework rewrite is North Carolinian, Ted Dickson. I’ve included a set of APUSH articles at the end of this piece for those who want more information.

Without question, the new framework watered down true U.S. history in favor of ‘global’ history themes, downplayed major events and frankly, was rife with progressive and social justice agenda themes.  Also without question is that much of APUSH usurps state and local curriculum standards and laws.

In fact, APUSH was so bad, one state’s education committee moved to ban it.

The Left and the College Board poo-poo’d the criticisms, yet altered the framework yet again in response. By the way parents, NC’s Superintendent June Atkinson defended the new APUSH and ran a nasty little smear campaign in the media to accompany that defense.

In an article published by the Washington Post this week, we see that APUSH matters. The article covers a teacher in North Carolina is running for political office.

The teacher’s name is Richard Nixon and he’s running for the NC General Assembly in Johnston county. According to his latest campaign report, he has $307 dollars on hand. Unfortunate name aside, the seat Nixon is running for was held by powerful Republican Leo Daughtry, but after 12 terms, Daughtry has said he is not seeking reelection this year.

One can view Nixon’s “Planet History” page at Corinth High School here.  Nixon has conveniently moved his lectures linked on that page to a “Google classroom” that only students can access.

Nixon’s bio says he is a member of the NEA, the NCAE and OAH — one of the groups who heavily influenced the controversial re-write of APUSH.

Oh and there’s a lovely picture of him with former President Jimmy Carter on it.

Running his campaign is a former student, Tanner Glenn, who says he had ‘no idea’ what Nixon’s political leanings were.  Yeah, right. Hard to miss that shot with one of the worst presidents in history on your teacher’s bio page, there Tanner.

Tanner credits APUSH with flipping him from Republican to Democrat.  No, I’m not exaggerating.

Excerpt from the Washington Post:

Glenn, an activist with the local Democratic Party and a volunteer for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, said that when he heard Nixon had filed for office, he knew immediately that he wanted to help. It was Nixon’s Advanced Placement class in U.S. history that inspired him to become politically active, Glenn said.
[…]

Glenn grew up in a Republican family and considered himself a Republican for most of his life; he interned for the North Carolina GOP when he was 16.

Then he took Nixon’s class, he said, and though Glenn never knew his teacher’s political leanings, the experience pushed him to think more deeply about his own political beliefs.

Class time was reserved for hands-on activities and explorations of primary source documents. Nixon’s lectures were delivered on videos that students watched at home, and they often featured cameo appearances by his pug, acting as various historical characters.

And in that way, the teacher turned history into a series of stories about real people to whom Glenn could relate. He particularly admired Theodore Roosevelt for his efforts to establish national parks and bust monopolies to force fair competition among businesses.

The summer after taking Nixon’s class, Glenn volunteered for the state Democratic Party, and he found he agreed with the view that government can and should play a significant role in addressing social problems.

GEE — Indoctrination much?!

Related Reading

 

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, ELECTIONS, June Atkinson, NCGA | Tagged , | 11 Comments

I think Jim Duncan Just Called Renee Ellmers a Chicken, Ba-gok! [VIDEO] – #NC02 #NCPOL

Posted on January 14, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Submitted without comment other than to say, HEH.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), ELECTIONS, Video | Tagged , , | 2 Comments