Issue 109 The entitlements Conclusion June 28, 2013

The Conclusion:

            There are many solutions to the problems of Social Security and its partners Medicare, Medicaid and its ilk. It is however, up to the American people to seize upon one of them and say “I want that one.” The politicians will not do anything until they are forced to for they fear to act under the threat that they may be unelected. It is time we choose America. Let us save our retirement by selecting so of what I think are the best ideas.

Means test everything: Those who are receiving lots of money should not get any benefits while those with little money should get more. Social Security was designed during the Great Depression to help the elderly retire, open up jobs for the young who would replace these seniors in the work force, and help avoid ageism as seniors were being forced out of jobs due to age discrimination. Now we have millionaires who want to collect for some strange reason and they should be blocked from doing so.

Eliminate the Contribution cap: The amount of taxes paid per year toward Social Security and Medicare is capped. So the really rich finish paying within the first pay check of the New Year and then they are done. At the same time, lower middle class and the poor continue to pay large sums of money often times never reaching the cap. The result is less money at retirement. Thus, I say reduce the tax levels on everyone and make it so that everyone contributes for life (except double taxation). This will allow Social Security to have the funds it needs thanks to the richer portions of society. At the same time those reduced levels mean fewer contributions by the lower middle class or the poor. This is where supplemental forms of Social Security and Medicare kick in to give them a little extra boost. Also, the system still acts as a safety net for if the rich somehow fall below the poverty line, then they will get the money they put in the first place.

Make it accurate: Currently Social Security and Medicare are adjusted through the cost of living adjustment (COLA). By making this adjustment for inflation more accurate we can ensure that people get only the money they need to continue buying bread, milk, etc. Combined with means testing means more accurate adjustments of benefits so that those who are impoverished in a high expense area get more, while those in an affordable area get less. Basically, together these would insure custom benefits for each individual.

Make it Personal: Both Congressman Paul Ryan and Governor Mike Huckabee have the right idea. Make it so that individuals that hold off retirement longer can expect a greater rate of return and make it so that the money can be passed on to their children and grandchildren. Ryan does this by eliminating the age requirement for Social Security by being able to collect when a certain amount of money has accumulated and has the option for an investment type version of Social Security. Governor Huckabee would use the lock box type of plan by having the money become an actual account, like a banks. I would combine both ideas. Ryan's idea of eliminating the age requirement would end the debate on age entirely with his plan stipulating you must be able to receive money equivalent to 120% of the poverty level in the traditional system to retire. From there I would use the Governor's ideas of incentives to keep the money in by allowing for interest to be gained for keeping it in longer, while taking Paul Ryan's idea of investments and investing small sums of peoples retirement money into safe funds in the market and in savings bonds (people would have a say in what forms of investments). This would provide a greater pay out at the end as similar programs have worked in Galveston Texas which has an exemption from Social Security and in other countries as well. I find no reason to make two parallel systems like Ryan has done. Simply make Social Security into an actual bank account form the get go, and cut the extraneous crap. From there, if say you never collect, or still have money left in the account after you pass on, the money is added onto your next of kin's amount or other designated beneficiary. An alternative to adding the money to your next of kin’s account would to get a lump sum form the account. Both ideas give a major boost to who ever is going to collect the funds.

Vouchers: Health Care for both Medicare and Medicaid need this version of the system. All a voucher does is give money to a health provider you yourself designate who will then provide your health care. It works the same why as Medicare part D without the excessive amounts of money and paperwork. It already works in school systems, and in the current form of Medicare part D to provide cheap medication to those who otherwise can't afford it. So this option is essential.

Decrease health care costs: I have always found it stupid to put more people on some form of health insurance rather than look at the system and fix it to make it cheap. Part of the reason is patent law with drug patents not expiring for 20 years and Congress possibly being lobbied to increase how long that patent lasts. Let’s face it; corruption is part of the issue. Also, Drug companies have to get approval from the FDA before they can increase or decrease production of a medication. Originally this was meant to prevent price gauging, but has backfired making cheap medications more expensive. Also, allow generic drugs to remain on the market longer, as if that drug still works let it be up to the doctor and patient to decide if that medication is still right for them. As to health insurance, let people buy across State lines. States limit coverage per State for each insurance registered in their area. As such you may be paying for more health care than you need, or possibly even less than you need. By removing the States from this equation, and letting people buy from anywhere and everywhere even insurance in other countries (I find no problem when it comes to free trade with respect to health insurance) this will reduce overall costs. Also, don't tax hospitals, Doctors offices, health care premiums and the like. That only adds to the total cost of health care. All this combined will aid in reducing health care costs to more manageable levels. From there the non-health care related issues increase costs, like patent law, taxation on business on the Federal, State and local levels. So by allowing free trade in health insurance, insurance companies can more to the cheapest State to operate in and thus allow them to reduce costs to consumers even further.

Costs at doctor’s offices can be reduced further by eliminating waste paper work from government institutions. Doctors have multiple forms they have to fill out to get reimbursed from the government for Medicare and Medicaid. By switching to a voucher system here, it reduces the paper work as the insurance enforces the rules rather than the government. Thus money is saved at all levels, not to mention time and effort. Also, malpractice lawsuits are a major issue as well. By implementing loser pays lawsuits (where the loser pays the costs of the winner) it will decrease the overall costs of fictitious lawsuits as most will not occur or they will just lose in court and the doctor loses no money if they were in the right in the first place. For the rare chance that the person in the right will loose, there is a new industry of looser pays insurance providers ready and waiting to start work. I am not saying the costs will be completely reduced to the point that we may not need health insurance, but at least costs will be more manageable no matter ones age.

Conclusion: We can change the system. It will be hard, and people will push back out of fear of change despite the fact that change is inevitable. I do not believe that Social Security or any form of welfare or safety net will be there for me let alone for my parents when I retire. Change must happen and I believe the aforementioned ideas are the best changes to start off with short of tearing up the whole system and stating over. Let's make the change that we need to happen.

 

 

Issue 108 The entitlements part 4 June 27, 2013

  Social Security, Change it!:

            Social Security is the final piece of the entitlement trilogy, that’s if you exclude the other programs created through the Social Security act of 1935.  We talked about sending Medicaid and all the other programs down to the State level and reducing the costs of health care to reduce the financial burden to Medicare, so what do we do with the old age insurance entitlement.  One option to combined Social Security with Medicare, a voucher can also be used, but some sort of system would be developed where a portion of the voucher would go into a HSA while the rest would go into a general savings account.  In this case, bureaucratic waste will be reduced for you are applying for a single benefit rather than two.  There would be a single body to manage the fund with a single bureaucratic body in place to manage benefits.  Additionally, if the fusion of the two were to happen, all money owed to Medicare would disappear from the national debt as it will no longer exist.  This however is an extreme case for if Medicare should fail for any reason Social Security can fill in the gap. 

 Some ideas:   We could allow people to opt out of Medicare for larger Social Security payments.  This would mean higher payouts for people receiving Social Security.  However, this would also mean draining away funds from Medicare which could prove detrimental.  So this idea may never come to pass. 

 Age increase:       The most unpopular idea is raising the retirement age.  At current, the retirement age is slowly being raised to 67 compliments of President Ronald Reagan (so check your eligibility as full benefits are no longer available to those age 65 if you were born in a certain year).  The simplest way to raise the retirement age is to make it 10 to 12 years prior to the average American life expectancy which is currently age 78.  If we set eligibility within 10 years of life expectancy you could receive full benefits at age 68.  You could then set future age eligibility to life expectancy so as the average life expectancy changes when a person can retire will also change.  To provide stability the calculated life expectancy for eligibility would be taken every five to ten years and those under age 55 would be affected by life expectancy fluctuations.  Once you turn age 55 the age at which you can receive benefits would be set unless that life expectancy some how decreases at which time you may receive your benefits earlier.  We are not going to make a group of seniors wait to receive benefits if those younger then them can receive it earlier, as it would be unfair.  This fluctuation should not happen often though as one, life expectancy would be factored in every five to ten years (I recommend ten) and in general life expectancy is supposed to increase not decrease in modern and developed societies. 

 Making calculations accurate:   The next idea is to reduce inflation adjustments.  In other words, change the formula to more accurately calculate for inflation so as to more accurately adjust payments.  A step up from this is price indexing where benefits are based on the price of food or other items.  In this case, the highest priced item, let’s say milk, is used and based on its price your benefits will be adjusted so no matter what you will always be able to afford milk and other produce no matter how much it costs.  (This idea is also used by Paul Ryan and his budget plan)

 Higher payouts?:     Governor Mike Huckabee had a solution where he would have Social Security provide an incentive to work longer by promising a higher pay out when you decide to collect.  The longer you work, the more you will receive.  In addition, Governor Huckabee wanted to offer a lump sum upon death of the retiree to a chosen beneficiary with whatever remained in the account.  A different solution would be ending the cap on Social Security contributions as you can only put in a given amount per year.  This would allow for a continuous flow of funds into Social Security especially from the more financially better off in our society.  This solution will however, hurt the upper middle class and higher who would be suffering the equivalent of a massive tax increase. However, if we decrease the payroll tax (which supplies Social Security and Medicare part A with money) this pain can be mitigated.   We could also tax Social Security benefits across the board without exception, but this again would hurt American citizens this time by decreasing the size of the money they receive ( i am not in favor of any form of double taxation like this).

 Means testing:      Probably the best solution is to means test recipients based on their income after they retire.  So if you are over a certain amount of income you may not receive any Social Security benefits (or Medicare for that matter).  However, if you should fall below the legal limits you would be allowed to receive benefits, but only up to a specified amount.  If you are a person below the poverty line and are receiving benefits you will get supplemental funds from Social Security.  This supplement will decrease as you get more revenue until your income combined with your benefits is equal to the poverty line or greater.  At any time if you should fall below the poverty line or meet the eligibility requirements you should be able to receive benefits. 

Personal Account:      None of these solutions prevent the Federal government from borrowing from Social Security and putting it back in a financial whole.  What does however is replacing the current system with a defined contribution plan, better known as a personal savings (retirement) account.  This comes in two forms, a real account where it is in a persons name with the worker deciding how much is invested resulting in an incentive to save as the worker will get a larger payout and the governments’ incentive to keep benefits in check.  The other form is a book keeping entry where people in the system may be afforded limited choices of investments like government bonds with rates set and guaranteed by the government.  This is a stark contrast to the current system where all the money is pooled and the payout is decided based on how much you put in.  The money in a defined contribution plan is literally yours and because it is yours, the government cannot borrow against it.  However, the government can provide a secondary retirement benefit through the general revenue which will be provided to low income workers who retire without adequate funds in their accounts.  In each form of the defined contribution plan people are taxed at a specific rate and credited to a virtual account with the government setting the rate of return.  Then at retirement, the total is invested in an annuity (no more regular payments) and is then given to the retiree.  This is already working in Galveston Texas where they were allowed to opt out of Social Security for a system that works like a 401k.  As a result, the recipients there routinely get a higher average payout in comparison to those on the traditional Social Security system.  (Paul Ryan's plan does this too).

            The only problem with the defined contribution plan is how to transition to the system.  To properly transition, the current payroll tax would have to continue while the new system is started for people entering the workforce, or payroll taxes would end entirely and benefits paid out of the general revenue.  Either way it costs the American tax payer.  Of course other solutions like means testing, price indexing and Governor Huckabees incentive to hold out longer for a larger payout may reduce the pain of this transition step by saving money.  At the same time the government would have to be prohibited from borrowing from the fund which would be kept to make up for short falls and amass funds for the final leg of the transition.

A voucher can work here too:   Another alternative is to turn the Social Security system into a voucher program using means testing and living conditions in combination to determine how much each individual gets which would always be enough to afford the area you’re living in.  This also can be used to aid in the transition to a defined contribution plan, or be a sensible alternative for those who will never make enough money to retire.  At this point, Social Security could even be turned over to the States to provide even more customized benefits.   

 

Conclusion:  We have a lot of ideas to fix Social Security, but it is all a matter of finding the best

one(s).  We can no longer afford to be fearful of change for the system as we know it is already dead.  

 

See you tomorrow for my Conclusion. 

Issue 107 The entitlements part 3 June 26, 2013

  Medicare: Taking care of seniors:

            Medicare is the next most loved program after Social Security.  While it is hard to bring about change to such a popular program, the fixes themselves are relatively easy.  For one, means test it so that only those who cannot afford health care will receive benefits.  This makes it cheaper to run as less people will be using the system. 

 

Vouchers:  An additional modification can turn Medicare into a voucher system.  How this works is that the enrollee will receive a monthly lump sum into a health care savings account (HSA).  The money in the HSA will be un-taxable as the money going in has already been taxed, unless you want double taxation (they already double tax us with Social Security benefits for we were taxed to put the money in and then we are taxed for taking the money out).  That money in the HSA can then be spent on any medical procedure, medicine, doctor visit or monthly health insurance premium.  The HSA can have its funds supplemented via private funds being put in or as an addition the money can be used to invest in health care related industries to get higher rates of return to further supplement your HSA with the interest earned. An HSA has an even bigger benefit, no paper work for the doctor.  The only potential for abuse would be for who receives the voucher.  This means only recipients would have to be policed and doctors would have more free time to look after patients rather than paperwork.  Think a voucher wont work, well look at Medicare part D which runs using something similar to a voucher program.  Here the retiree is given money which is then used to buy health insurance to provide for their prescription drugs.  Also, Medicare part D is the only part of Medicare that is under budget.

 More solutions:   Other solutions to reduce overall costs to the health care system come in the form of freeing up the health care systems restrictions.  These solutions are; one, allow people to buy health insurance from any company any where in the United States and allow associations and groups to provide their own basic health care customized to their employees should they desire it.  This solution ends the State monopolies on health insurance and the health insurance industries monopoly on health insurance.  Basically each employer would create their own form of coverage for their employees and if the employee wants more coverage of a special type of coverage they can buy out of State without the State government deciding what has to be covered and what shouldn't.  As a result, with this new found competition, health care costs and health insurance costs should drop.  This also makes Medicare far less expansive as it has to dish out less money to cover procedures and medicines.  Two, make it so drug companies can produce their medications in unlimited quantities.  Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) restricts how much of a medication can be produced in the given year.  This drives up costs on some drugs if demand for a drug peeks, while demand for another drug decreases which causes a financial loss to the drug company causing them to raise the prices of their other medications to compensate.  By doing this you decrease costs on medications which will allow drug companies to have a steady stream of money to develop new medications while making it cheaper for Americans to buy medication and for health insurers and government health care to cover the costs of higher priced medicines. 

  Why are we taxing this stuff:     The next solution to reduce medical costs and reduce costs to programs like Medicare and Medicaid is to stop taxing medical coverage as it is not income.  Currently the IRS treats medical coverage by employers and individuals as income, and thus it is taxed.  The only time an individual should be taxed (if at all) is when we pay our monthly premium.  While the only time the insurance company should pay taxes is on their yearly earnings.  But the coverage itself is not income, and taxing it drives up costs of doctor visits, treatments and health insurance premiums.  The result is a more costly health care system.  (next Monday will explain this issue in greater detail) 

More radical:     The final idea for Medicare is you can bring it down to the State level, which at current is a highly unlikely scenario.  If we were to bring it down to the State level we would have to do something similar to what we talked about with Medicaid.  This would mean means testing combined with the living expenses adjustment, specialized clinics for seniors which can be combined with the ones for Medicaid. Specialist homes for seniors where private ones are unavailable, which also can be combined with the specialist homes for the disabled.  Maybe a system that has seniors treated in their own home to reduce facility costs while maintaining care (some States are experimenting with this model like Ohio). 

Conclusion:    The goal of Medicare is to care for our senior citizens.  There are numerous other options available including changing eligibility requirements and what benefits are provided.   It is really up to us to choose which one protects our seniors the best and make it happen.

 

See you tomorrow for Social Security.

Issue 106 The entitlements part 2 June 25 2013

Medicaid and the rest:

            Let’s start with Medicaid which is currently the most costly component of the Social Security legislation and the other social welfare programs like unemployment, or aid to needy children, which are also bogged down by politics and bureaucracy.  The best way to solve the cost dilemma at the Federal level, and even the State level for they are obligated to provide matching funds for Medicaid, is to turn over all of these programs to the States.  All of these programs primarily deal with the impoverished, save unemployment which is aimed at preventing a family from descending into poverty.  The reason these should be turned over to the States is because they have a vested interest to aid the poor within their own jurisdiction.  It benefits the States community for it removes unfunded mandates and allows States to customize benefits and aid based on such things as a recipient’s income through the lens of what it takes to live in a certain area.  If an area requires less money to live their then the recipient will receive less benefits while an area which is more expensive to live in a recipient will get more benefits.  This is a major improvement over the one size fits all approach of the Federal Government which may be giving too little to some and too much to others.  Without all of the mandates and the Federal bureaucracy States can provide adequate welfare in the form of health benefits, unemployment and financial assistance to those who need it with less waste fraud and abuse.

 Addressing fears:          

          The fear with States taking over for the Federal Government is that people will move around to States that provide the best benefits which in turn overloads the States welfare system.  It is doubtful that such a situation will come to pass however as in addition to the recipients’ income, the amount of benefits is also limited by the expense it takes to live in a given area.  If your income is high, but it does not cost much to live in the area you live in, you will receive little to no benefits.  If your income is low, but the area you moved to is more expensive you will receive more benefits.  That is safety net number one to stave off the nightmare scenario.  Safety net number two is the amount of money it takes to live in a specific area.  If a bunch of welfare families move into an expensive area, the cost of living in that area will go down because the existence of a welfare family has a negative impact on property values which also affects the prices of goods and services.  Therefore if enough people welfare families move causing a negative impact on prices of a giving area, then a lot of individuals will have their benefits reduced or eliminated because the area is now more affordable to live in.  If for some reason the reverse happens with non-welfare families and the like move in raising property values and increasing the costs in the area, people who are on welfare already will have their benefits increased instead.

            Medicaid and unemployment will be generally unaffected.  Unemployment will more than likely be based on a separate set of criteria while means testing in combination with living expenses will ensure only those who need it get the medical coverage they need.  What those medical benefits are will vary from State to State as they add and subtract benefits based on need and affordability.  However it can be for certain that all will include some form of hospital coverage and more than likely recovery from traumatic accidents.  Unemployment may also vary in what benefits are provided.  My modification to unemployment would be limiting where the money can be spent to food, clothing under a certain price, medical bills, debt and utilities.  In this way, food stamps and unemployment can actually be combined; while the restrictions ensure people only spend money on the essentials.

  Dealing with those who slip through:

          For those that have an even harder time getting the treatments they need, the States can establish special clinics to care for the poor who are enrolled in their Medicaid system.  These clinics can be staffed by a combination of volunteers and paid specialists to treat the ailments of the poor.  The benefit of this is it is harder to game the system when those who are enrolled must receive treatment at a government sponsored clinic where their doctors can check if benefits beyond surgical and recovery are actually necessary.  For those with disabilities they could get a voucher with the same limitation on food clothing, medicine debt and utilities, which will allow for them or their care takers to spend on their needs only.  Also, special government run homes or even private ones sponsored by the government that are staffed by professionals can be used to take care of the disabled. 

 Conclusion:          

         This together fixes one of the biggest burdens of the Federal budget.  It provides a platform for innovation in the welfare sector of government as States copy from each other what works and gets rid of what doesn’t.  Stricter criteria from what it takes to get on welfare to what benefits you receive ensure that less people are able to game the system.  Additional, criteria can be placed on recipients like drug testing and welfare to work programs can be put into place to ensure our tax payer dollars are being well spent.  Welcome to the future of Medicaid and welfare benefits, customized State welfare.

see you tomorrow for part 3.

Issue 105 the entitlements part 1 June 24, 2013

Executive summary: 

Social Security is the most popular Federal program offered to the American people.  It provides various benefits to the elderly, unemployed, assistance to needy families as well as Medicare, Medicaid and more which is incorporated into the 20,000 plus page document.  Each aspect of the legislation is run in separate bureaucracies and agencies with old age insurance, what we call social security, in one, Medicare in another, unemployment managed some where else etc.  Our contributions which come in the form of the payroll tax go to pay for the retirement fund, and Medicare part A.  The payroll tax itself is six percent of our income and six percent comes from your employer (which is probably deducted from the pay you could be receiving).  All else in the Social Security legislation is paid out of the General Revenue of the United States.  In other words Congress decides how much money goes into the other programs. 

 The key problem:  The problem with Social Security today is that it is bogged down by new rules and benefits, in addition to Congress raiding its funds resulting in fiscal instability which could collapse Social Security as we know it.  In fact, Congress has borrowed against the Social Security fund and Medicare’s fund that the Federal Government owes approximately four trillion plus dollars and growing to both Social Security and Medicare combined.  All in all, Social Security has become unsustainable thanks to Congress’s combination of irresponsibility with the system and tacking on new benefits without regard to the costs.  So what are we to do to fix this dilemma?

 

Fixing the situation:  Well for one, Congress must not be allowed to borrow from within the federal government ever again.  This will not only prevent Social Security and Medicare from being raided but also prevent other important programs from having money taken and prevent increases to the national debt.  It is because of this problem as to why Social Security and Medicare are going broke, which is estimated to be around 2032.  So stopping the borrowing is a stop gap measure other steps will have to be taken. 

 

Other Steps:  Many of you have heard of Congressmen Paul Ryan and his "Ryan budget plan."

He provided an alternative for Medicare featuring Health care Savings accounts, Social Security with an investment style model so that your money going in is actually your own money, and block granting States to provide money to States to implement Medicaid and other similar programs.  You can find my summary of the Ryan budget in Issue's 26, 27 and 28.  I did like many of his ideas and thought they would give the nation the boost it needed to save the entitlements while making them stronger and at the same time jump start the American economy.

Conclusion:  Paul Ryan was not the only person to want to save the entitlements and as such my next few issues will deal with each one followed by a conclusion that lists the best options that I believe will secure the entitlements for a long time to come.  Stay tuned tomorrow for the first one.

Issue 104 designer baby June 21, 2013

Did you know that science has progressed to the point where we may actually be able to manipulate a baby in the womb? Manipulate is the best word for this as we may be able to choose the sex, skin color, hair color, and even eye color of the baby before the child is ever born. Strange isn’t it, the ability to make a baby to your own specifications and then give birth to a child that appeals most to you. Well I'm against such a dangerous ability.

Advantages: Yes the technology should be perused, but its application limited. This technology can help a child who is diagnosed with severe disfigurement and if they are not fully developed. But these sorts of situations are if and only if these maladies are diagnosed in the womb. So this can help babies who would suffer and offer an alternative to people who would use abortion rather than live with a disabled child (something I am also against for scientific, moral, and religious reasons). Thus, I'm fine with curing Down syndrome before the child is ever born.

Danger 1: The first danger of this technology is that if we cure someone of say dyslexia while in the womb, does this mean they will be prone to another genetic disorder, or even cancer. By putting in a preventative measure say against Alzheimer’s, does this destroy the Childs ability to feel certain emotions. We really don't know what the costs will be to "heal" some one before they ever leave the womb. How can we know how severe a person's autism is until we can physically interact with them? There are major risks to even the changing of a person’s eye color in the womb as we could make them prone to eye cancer for all we know, or some new and unforgiving disease. Changing anything could also make us even more susceptible to diseases that otherwise would not have ever been a problem before like some random strain of flue virus that affects a chicken. Sounds weird, but these genetic changes may allow a disease that only affects one type of species to infect and possibly be lethal to another.

Danger 2: Parents who want designer children are also the problem. What if the majority of parents want boys? What do you think will happen to the overall population? We obviously will have fewer girls and thus less children being born in later generations. There is also the possibility that we may all look too much alike such as all of us having blond hair and blue eyes. How can we know how this will affect the gene pool? For all we know, we can be making us all so genetically similar to the point it is like marrying a relative, you are almost guaranteed to have an increase in genetic disorders. All these are possibilities and may in fact be a worst case scenario, but we could end up using science to actually cause our own extinction simply because we want an ideal child rather than giving birth to what our genes naturally put together.

Conclusion: I am in favor of further study. But I want the application of such technology to be as limited as possible when put into practice. It should only be used in the most severe cases in which we know for a fact the child will be completely unable to live a normal life. For cases that don't meet the standards for this form of genetic manipulation, we have adult stem cell technology which is quickly progressing which should also solve some if not most of the lesser cases of things like autism and aspergers. As to designing the perfect "looking" child, I will now and forever be totally against manipulating a child’s sex and things like eye and skin color. The risks are too great for this technology to be wasted on such things and I believe is a fool’s errand. There is a danger to every new technology and an even greater responsibility to use it responsibly.

Issue 103 IRS Scandal June 20, 2013

Have you heard about the recent scandal involving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? For those who don't know, the IRS is America's tax collector. The scandal consists of the IRS targeting pro-Israel groups, conservative and libertarian groups and individuals who support those causes. This is very disturbing but it demonstrates how the income tax can be used as a weapon against the people.

What we know: The IRS target these groups and individuals with their auditing arm. Individuals were audited simply because they donated to the Republican Party or a pro-Israel group. Conservative and libertarian organizations applying for tax exempt status as a non-profit were asked questions about their donors, how much they get from those donors, how big their facilities were and even their member lists. These kinds of questions are normally not asked when applying for such status in the tax code. Normally it is what your goals are and how do you spend your money. We know for a fact that these groups and individuals were specifically targeted because almost all those who applied with key words in their groups name like "patriot", "liberty" or "tea party" were subject to this unusual form of scrutiny. So some of these groups changed their name to be more neutral or sound more ideologically progressive and they received their tax exempt status in about 3 months, the usual time it takes for such approvals to happen. Not to mention that they did not have to answer the same questions that their fellow groups did. The final nail in the coffin for this breach of trust is that the information was handed off to opposition groups. Those opposition groups then proceeded to harass and target members of these organizations and counter there pro-conservative and libertarian advocacy and support for Mitt Romney in the 2012 election. Donors were also subject to ridicule by opposition news papers and publications harming their reputations. Companies like Gibson guitar were targeted by the IRS for their open support for Republicans, while their competitors escaped such harassment due to the fact that they support the Democrats party.

What we don't know: We don't know how far up the chain of command this goes. It could have been ordered by the President himself or just a rouge staffer high enough in the White House to order such things while allowing the President plausible deniability. Either way, it was done by someone high up in the chain of command. Thankfully all those who are in the IRS who were involved are talking because they were literally thrown under the bus by the administration as scapegoats. So we may find out soon who was the real perpetrator behind this grievous display of abuse.

Conclusion: This behavior is not just indicative to a Democratic White Houses we have famously seen it during the Nixon administration with the Watergate scandal. But, every president has used the tax code in one form or another to put down certain groups who oppose them, and when the tax code could not be used other methods of intimidation followed like wire tapping (another growing scandal where the White House listened in on reporter’s conversations). So political party does not matter here at all for all Presidents are guilty of this in some way or another. The founding fathers of the United States originally did not want an income tax as collecting revenue from each individual would be so costly that the government would break itself trying. But they also new it could be used as a weapon, as it was used by the British government in a similar manner as it is being used in the current scandal, to impose fear and intimidate. Money to the founders was a form of property which could not be seized by the federal government, but now we have the 16th amendment to the Constitution which allows this weapon to be employed on the American public. This type of behavior will not stop if we simply get rid of the IRS (as some have called for), but by getting rid of the 16th amendment to the Constitution. We cannot allow our governments such tools of abuse for all governments no matter how benevolent are corrupt and even more corruptible. So I say let us end this weapon known as the Income tax once and for all.

Issue 102 Spys, they see you June 19, 2013

As I'm sure most of you are aware of the scandal going on with respect to the NSA and its data collection. I did not address this issue when it first broke because I knew there would be even more information leaking out. And as a matter of fact more information is still coming out. But for those who don't know, the NSA is an intelligence asset used by the United States to conduct electronic surveillance such as through computers and telephones and they thanks to a "leaker" were found to be spying on the rest of the United States population.

How this is bad: It is bad because this violates the fourth amendment to the United States constitution which prevents unreasonable searches and seizures by government without the rule of law. Aka, they should not do this without a warrant given by a Judge which is only supposed to be given out if evidence suggests that the alleged person in the warrant is a suspect in a crime and the initial evidence leads one to believe that suspect committed the crime with evidence to be obtained through the warrant leading to an arrest. Sorry for the long sentence, but in short, if it means you can arrest the suspect after the search is complete because the evidence says they are the bad guy, then and only then is the warrant given. With respect to intelligence collection, it works in much the same way, just that the justification is that the suspect is believed to have or is plotting to aid and maybe carry out a terrorist plot.

What they did: In the case of the recent events however, there was no warrants issued. The collection of data was handed over by companies like Verizon, Facebook and others simply by the government asking. Why did they hand over phone records, search history data, and other types of information? Well when the government can tax you into oblivion and even force you to comply by other more unethical means then of course you would. So I don't blame them. But, the collection also was carried out by simply taking data by covert means as well and now the government has a bunch of pentagon sized buildings holding all this data on everyone in the United States. Let it be known that no conversations or emails were taken without an official warrant (that we know of). Also, it is unclear if that data was given to political opponents like in the case of the IRS (internal revenue service...the tax collector) targeting Tea Party groups, pro Israel groups and others that run counter to the current administration. But there is more information to come and things look about as bad as it did with President Nixon with Water Gate.

Conclusion: It is unacceptable for any government to take such information without following the rule of law. No President (that is if President Obama actually had a hand in the decision) should be allowed to carry out such an obscene act. The national defense is not a justification to destroy our right to privacy. Some of you may be saying that this is ok, especially as phone companies, and search engines store this data anyway to be used to sell ads and provide for better content and services. But this is our private information being used without our consent by government, we know that Verizon collects our data, but we did not know government had access to it. While in the United States all people are protected by the constitution, both citizen and non-citizen alike, due to tacit consent. Those outside the United States have no such luxury and as such are not subject to the United State's constitutional protections (as such we can listen to whatever we want from a caller over seas again due to tacit consent). This issue will not go away anytime soon and is a disturbing trend. Our society may end up as a panopticon (envisioned as the ultimate prison) but it is up to us the people to keep the government in check.

 

Issue 101 Over licensed part 2 June 18, 2013

Many of you are already familiar with my previous issue concerning licensing which keeps prices high for general services, plays into crony capitalism, and limits who can get what job and where. But did you know that licensing was only the beginning of the problem. There are other hurdles that most be overcome.

They got you: What if I told you that if you want to teach how to put on costume makeup that you will need a beautician license just to teach, even if it has nothing to do with what you will be teaching. This was briefly gone over in the previous issue, but this is demonstrating how pervasive and corrupt government has become. You need a license from a field that has nothing to do with your occupation, and thus it prevents you from holding that job. In order to get the license you need to spend large amounts of time, effort and money going toward a State institution (usually staffed by those already in the industry) and all for the sake of information that you probably will never use.

It gets worse: Lets say because the same aforementioned person wanting to teach costume makeup really is going to teach what they know. Problem, they cannot teach it with out a teaching license on top of the previous license. Thus, that same person has to go and get licensed in a completely different area and spend even more money going toward the State to be certified by "her peers” even though they are not really her "peers" in the first place as she will not be teaching the same things that the license dictates that she is allowed to teach.

Insult to injury: Now the government decides to get ridiculous. The person in question gets all the licenses that they need to finally be qualified to teach. Problem, she is not allowed to teach without a proper facility. In other words where ever she decides to teach costume makeup it has to be of a certain size, hold a certain number of people, have specific equipment they deem appropriate and so on. These regulations prevent upstarts from ever getting into the field in the first place as they spend enormous amounts of money just to qualify. That cost inhibits there ability to function.

Let’s take another example of government regulations. We have a farmer, and he has a sink that he uses to wash equipment, his hands and the workers use it too. Problem, that one sink is not good enough for the government so he is forced to add another sink just for him and his workers to wash there hands. If he did not install the sink, then the farmer would have been fined and his small business would have been shut down. By the way, the sink was installed right next to the original one. Stupid isn’t it. But why do this you ask? Why the extra sink? Well local, State and Federal personnel need to (or at least feel the need to) justify their continued existence and thus continually make new laws and regulations which nets them money, allows for their expansion and they get rich off of it. This is especially true when lobbyists lobby government, but they lobby the government personnel more because our elected officials have passed off their law making powers to these corruptible unelected idiots.

Conclusion: The system is stacked against everyone. No one is an exception until you reach the top, which in turn makes you join the enemy in corrupting the system further. They who survive the mess of regulations and licenses make it worse because they know that they may not survive if regulations and licenses are reduced or eliminated. So they justify their struggle and grip their position of power with what little strength they have left hoping beyond hope that their efforts will not be in vain. Well I say too bad, so sad. The fact that you struggled and won is admirable but it does not justify making the system worse and pushing down the little guy (a position you yourself once held). So what can we do? Well every single regulation regarding employment must be abolished and then only the essentials for a safe work environment will be put back in. Specific licenses will be given out for only a few select job titles, like doctors and lawyers, but how they achieve those licenses will be changed. They should become undergraduate degrees so as to make it easier to afford the type of job you want rather than waste money on a masters degree that you may never use (as the system is always against you). Finally, the elected officials cannot pass on their law making powers to anyone, if a regulation is to be passed, they must pass it themselves and have it signed into law. This makes the regulators enforces and not victimizers who serve their true masters the lobbyist. So can we clean up this mess of government abuse and crony capitalism? Yes we can, but only if we all stand up and shout the bad guys in government down.

Issue 100 It’s A Commitment (voting) June 17, 2013

When you vote, you are carrying out your civic duty to bring about positive change to your life and your country.  However, we must remember that your vote, everyone’s vote carries with it the weight of an entire nation.  The moment you cast your ballot, you hope that the person you are voting for is the right one.  Then what happens next is up to fate.  It is your vote, everyone’s vote that can bring about success or failure to this country.  With this in mind, you the voter not only have to go out and vote, but know who and what you’re voting for.  It is our commitment as citizens to know who the person we are voting for, their motivations, upbringing, associations, and most of all what they stand for and their ability to accomplish their goals while in office.  The very same goals you are voting for them to achieve.

 Question them:  At all times we voters must look at politics and the politicians and scrutinize them.  If a program does not work, or a politician is ineffective, then upon the next election you vote for change.  These elected officials know you’re watching as you are their source of power.  Without your support, they can do nothing to exact change. But, is it the change you voted them in for.  Politicians gear their campaigns to make themselves look good around election season.  The political parties and their organizations act as the funding arm for their chosen political leaders and act as umbrellas to the true nature of the politicians seeking election.  In other words, just because they may have the label of Republican or Democrat does not mean they actually follow the same ideology espoused by the party itself.  But, in most cases, these politicians cannot stray from the party line out of fear of losing support from the party.  Therefore it is very hard to say what that politician will do in office.  Thus it is our commitment to find out who and what the candidates stand for.  So we must look into their background which includes their past commitments, religious motivations, ideology, prejudices, work and political experience, success rate in business and politics, their friends and other relationships and anything else that shapes the person into who they are.  With this background information we can begin to make a chart for ourselves on the best and worst qualities of a candidate.  Then you do the same for the candidate running against them.  From here it is a simple decision, pick the lesser of two evils or abstain from voting.  I personally vote for the lesser of to evils because it sends a message to the party leaders that we voters want more candidates with particular qualities.  A better way of saying it is that if you want a more conservative candidate in the future, vote only for them.  If you want more liberal candidates, vote for more liberals.  If you want a blend of ideologies, such as small government, fiscally conservative, but are pro union and pro stimulus, then you vote for candidates with those qualities. You can’t do that though if you don’t look and find out who the candidates are and what they stand for.  The background information on candidates guides you to figuring out who they are despite the party rhetoric and how capable they are going into office.  It’s tough though.  We voters have to take the time out of our work schedules and family life just to try and scour through the information and even then that might not be enough. 

 Who are they?:  It does get easier to find out about the candidates.  All you have to do is take one to two hours to watch/read the news, or go to the various home pages of those for and against the candidates.  Generally that is more than enough to know who you’re voting for, but you must start as soon as campaign season starts.  The reason is that some important information on the candidates may be presented, but because it has been addressed earlier on, it may become a non-issue later in the campaign.  However, that does not make it a non-issue for you.  So you must make a commitment to pay attention to all the details before they disappear.  Most of all though is you cannot stop looking into the candidates until the day of the election.  Yes it can be hard, but that is why it is a commitment.

 It's not just about people:  You have the same commitment when it comes to voting in a referendum.  A referendum is when the populace is allowed to vote on a government action or law. Basically, we are allowed a form of direct democracy and we thus vote to pass a law, not our representatives.   In this case, we the voters are looking at how the law or action affects us and those we care about.  We must look at both the positive and negative affects the law or action will bring about.  Some of these affects are not straight forward so we voters must analyze any possibility for a negative to occur and is it worth the trade off to pass such legislation.  Also, we voters must avoid being selfish.  We cannot vote simply because one particular group will be affected, such as the rich or businesses.  Nor can we afford to vote based on skin color, religion, or ideology alone.  To vote that way is to skirt your commitment as a voter and you fail your nation by degrading the integrity of the vote in this manner.  Not to mention, voting in any way based on skin color is racist, and voting based on gender or sex is sexist.  Thus, if you do consider such things in making your decision, I kindly ask you not to vote because you are ruining the voting process by voting on something that is irrelevant to who the candidates are as people.  Discrimination based on non-factors like race, ethnicity, sex, gender and even age should not affect your decision to vote.  Vote on capability, and who the person is on the inside where it truly counts.     

 Conclusion:  We voters have a commitment to vote for the individual.  As voters, we must commit ourselves to find out who the candidates are as individuals so as to make an informed vote.  Superficial things like race and sex should not enter our minds when voting for the best candidate.  It takes time, effort and sacrifice to exercise our privilege to vote, a privilege denied to people in some countries. It is our commitment to the success of the nation to be informed voters.  If a person should tell you otherwise, tell them that no matter what, every vote counts.  

Issue 99 Your right to work! June 14, 2013

   When is a union good and when are they bad?  Unions are good when they protect labor and represent workers and employees at the bargaining table.  Not to mention the right to be in a union is an expression of freedom protected under the 1^st Amendment of the Constitution, peaceable assembly which allows for the freedom of association.  Unions become, emphasis on become, bad when they represent people who do not wish to be in a union, do things that don’t have anything to do with employment like political campaigns and dealing with an entire industry rather than an employer to employee bases which jeopardizes that industry risking its shutdown.  The result is anti-union sentiments and workers that they are trying to protect loose their job.

 So when is a union good?:  Only when it operates under these three principles, one, association with the union is 100% voluntary.  Two, union activities are limited to collective bargaining.  And finally three, bargaining is confined to the employer and the workers concerned.  It does not span an entire industry, but is the factory worker and the boss of that factory negotiating.

So how do we keep unions within proper bounds?:  The first is to forbid any contracts that make union membership mandatory for employment.  That means union shop agreements must go as under that agreement a union is recognized as a bargainer and the employee is forced to have that union represent them.  This violates the first amendment right of the freedom of association through the peaceable assembly clause.  As a result of this freedom of choice it aids the employee in keeping the union boss responsible to you.  If you feel that the union is no longer representing you, you can switch to another union or abstain from union membership altogether.  In other words the union boss and leadership will fear loosing membership and will do whatever it takes to keep their membership up.

 They must work for you:  Another way to keep unions responsible to their members is to forbid both unions along with corporations from making any kind of financial contribution to political campaigns.  The reason is to protect against union dues going to candidates or causes that go against any of the members’ values, ideology or moral choices.  This though is a bit controversial as it limits the freedom of speech, but is supported by proponents who believe this form of speech is individually based and not collectively based in a union or corporation.  It’s a debate that must be had, though I hope the unions will do this voluntarily or its members force the leadership to do so to protect their union dues from being used in ways that do not fit their values nor protect their fellow members.

 Placing limits:  The final way to keep unions good is to limit collective bargaining to the employer and the employee within a specific business.  An example of this is Ford employees will only negotiate with Fords owner and Chrysler employees will negotiate with Chrysler’s owner.  This is opposed to the current situation where the entire auto industry negotiates with all of their workers, with Ford and the other motor companies on one side while all the motor companies workers on the other.  This universal scale of negotiation is detrimental for the companies involved.  The economic conditions of each company differ so one overlapping deal will financially burden some of these auto companies.  In some cases they can adapt, in others they be forced to fire the very workers that the union was trying to protect.  In the worst case scenario the entire company collapses resulting in union workers loosing their job.  Also, the contracts that are being negotiated at this universal scale become limited because there are so many varying interests that have to be met.  If it was an employer to employee contract negotiation then it would allow for better deals. 

 Direct negotiations:   An even better situation would be if employees negotiated directly with the factory boss rather than the entire company itself.  For example, say Ford motor company has a factory in New York and another factory in Alabama.  Because taxes and the economic conditions in Alabama are less burdensome the Alabama plant is more profitable allowing for a better deal for its workers.  On the other hand the economic conditions and taxes in New York are higher, so a deal that accommodates these harsher working conditions must be made that is mutually beneficial to both factory owner and worker involved.  In other words, a union member can get customized benefits based on living and economic conditions.  With this customized negotiation, factories stay open, maintain profits and the workers get the custom benefits based on the needs of the area they live and work in.  Not to mention it lessons the chance that workers will be fired to keep costs down.  The logic is that not all agreements are good at the national or even State level, so we need customization to get the best deal per employer to employee.

 Conclusion:  Unions by nature are good and are generally responsible by way of union elections.  However, the lack of union member freedom and customization of benefits inhibits them.  It is time unions update themselves for the 21^st century with these changes.  It is time to ensure the American peoples right to work.      

Issue 98 Pay per Performance June 13, 2013

Teaching is an honorable profession with teachers seeking to pass on their knowledge to students to help them get ahead in life.  So wouldn’t you love to give a great teacher more money?  Wouldn’t you love to give the minority bad teachers incentives to improve by giving them less money for their failures?  Well we can if we pay a teacher based on performance.  That’s right, a teachers pay can be based on how well they teach students.  In other words, the more successful a student is in the classroom, the higher the teachers pay.

 Why pay per performance?:  Simple, good teachers need incentives to keep teaching.  Some teach purely on the fact that they love teaching, but if they don’t get enough to live on or they are paid the same as a horrible teacher then why teach there.  They loose any reason to teach at a public school and can go to a charter or a private school where their skills are more highly valued.  Not to mention, if public schools paid based on performance (also known as merit pay) they would be more competitive in acquiring top quality teachers against their private and charter compatriots.  The minority bad teachers on the other hand have incentive to try harder whether they have tenure or not because they will be getting less money and they want the maximum their pay check can offer.

 So how can we measure performance?:  It can be measured through teacher evaluation, very detailed teacher evaluations with strict guidelines so as to prevent the teacher from manipulating student performance to make them look better than they really are.  This manipulation of student grades to alter performance records will be the primary source of corruption within this system.  However, with careful oversight, and I mean real oversight, fraud can be prevented.

 Incentives:  So with the best teachers being paid the maximum and the worst being paid the minimum schools will get better due to teachers being paid exactly what they deserve.  Bad teachers will either get batter or be forced out due to lower pay.  The best teachers will be rewarded and will innovate to try and keep performance high.  There are obstacles however.  One obstacle is union contracts.  While unions unto themselves are good, when they protect workers they can sometimes hurt like in the case of teachers.  Teachers are forbidden from working longer hours in some cases because they may be paid based on the number of hours they work.  The contract tries to keep every ones pay equal and or prevent overwork.  However, it limits the time a teacher can spend with a student out of school.  Therefore the contract is in this case too limiting.  The other obstacle is the opinion that those who work for the government should not be paid based on performance because they are considered public servants or that they should have equal pay to prevent corruption.

 Conclusion:  Quite frankly I do not consider public school teachers a part of government.  Teachers are individuals with a specialty who are hired by the government to perform a service.  Essentially they are private contractors being paid to teach people who cannot afford a private and expensive education.  They are not public servants, but public heroes aiding their students to carve a path for their own future.  Therefore, a great teacher should be paid more because that teacher is successful in educating their students.

Issue 97 Charters, Community Education and Innovation June 12, 2013

 One of the best things to happen to education is Charter Schools.  They receive a minimal amount of money from the parents of students, as they are State supported and are run autonomously by their owners.  Essentially, it takes the affordability of a public school and combines it with the creativity and adaptability of a private school.  These schools live and die through their students.  If they can’t attract enough students, they lose money and may as a result shut down.  This means that if they want a parent to send their child to a charter, the charter school has to innovate and improve upon itself to be worth the cost.  It is meant to appeal to parents who have lost faith in the public education system, but do not have the ability to send their child to a private school.

 Here are the benefits:  For one all students are treated the same with the same high standards.  Another benefit is that teachers in charter schools can work longer hours and more days as opposed to their public school counterparts who are limited by stricter contracts.  One of the best features of charters is that the teacher’s contract has a fire at will clause.  While this may sound terrible to some, it is actually keeping teachers in line as they are hired and fired based on performance.  This also means no seniority and so it does not matter how long a teacher has been teaching if the school is forced to fire someone only the best performers are kept not those who have been there the longest.  The reasoning behind this is would you send your child to a bad doctor, so why send them to a bad teacher.  Quality is measured by standardized tests and performance evaluations to ensure quality and ensure fair and equitable treatment.

Freedom:  Charters allow their teachers to choose and/or develop new methods of teaching which is retained as long as it works, again keeping with being competitive.  Classes are not designed to let kids skim by, students receive homework per subject and gym classes are not about playing games, but actual physical fitness.  Discipline is also innovative in some charters with Saturday schooling, pushups in the hallway or even placing a misbehaving sixth grader sit in front of an eighth grade class in the case of Dr. Ben Chaves’ charter in Oakland California.  Of course expulsion rules and rules on religion remain the same as those in public schools as per State requirements.

 Critics: Two arguments exist against charter schools.  The first is that people feel that charters are stealing students from public schools.  However, this is school choice 101.  This creates smaller classrooms in the public schools which mean more attention to the remaining students.  Also, this means that the money that was going to educate that student in the public school can be reallocated to other areas of the school that need it.  It could also mean a small budget cut as those funds being collected to educate a child no longer in the system are not required anymore, so it could mean a bit of tax relief in education taxes.  The other argument against charter’s, and also against the elimination of tenure, is that rather than create a charter we should improve teachers abilities by training them giving them a second or even a third chance.  People do worry about a teacher’s lively hood if they get fired and want to help prevent that.  However, the question must be asked, whose kids will be sacrificed to bring the subpar teacher back up to par?  Are you going to let your kid be taught by a bad teacher, setting your child back, so that bad teacher can get batter at teaching?  How many bright futures must be sacrificed?  An education system is not about improving bad teachers or protecting the livelihood of a teacher.  It is about the future of Americas children, giving them knowledge that they can use to succeed in life.

 More Innovation:  Other innovations in education due impart to the creation of charter schools have occurred.  One such innovation is active listening where students show they are listening by using various hand gestures to show they understand, have a question or are confused.  It is designed to keep the children engaged while allowing the teacher to better monitor how much their students understand.  Disposable teaching methods have also been created such as songs to help instill the basics of a subject like geography or math.  Another innovation is teachers having earpieces where the principle is at the back of the classroom giving advice and pointing out students who are not engaged allowing the teacher to adapt the lesson on the fly.  Some charters even pay their students to tutor other students which provide a financial incentive for the student to listen and provides backup to teachers for students who need a little more TLC.

The ideas keep coming:    Another innovation, as shown on John Stossel’s show Stupid in America which aired September 17^th on Fox news, was Khan Academy.org which provides online tutoring and lectures.  Teachers will assign a lecture which averages 15 minuets to the students for homework or in class where they learn through an interactive program.  The program tracks the progress of each individual student and shows indicators to the teacher where a student is having trouble.  From that point the teacher goes to that student’s aid and once resolved moves to the next student having trouble.  It allows for students to go at their own pace which allow those students who want to, to move ahead while the others can take their time.

            Similar to Khan Academy.org is the concept of individualized education through online schooling such as through the group k12.  Enforced by parents, students enter a virtual classroom with an actual teacher on the other end.  They can actually see each other via web camera.  It allows students to learn at their own pace while the teacher aids them when and where they need help.  It is also flexible as a student will have to go on at specific times, but allows them more time for social activities like sports.  All the while, standardized State exams are used to measure performance.

Alternative ideas:  Ever hear of Community Education Resource Network?  It uses volunteer teachers to teach students at just $30 a month, and if a parent cannot pay, the parents themselves volunteer time to make up the costs.  In general, they use old textbooks to educate students.  Some might be saying old text books, but in truth those old textbooks are not always outdated.  The newer textbooks may just have a format change or politicians ordering the books to be more feminist, or accommodating to a specific ethnic group.  So in no way are the textbooks outdated as they contain all the useful information as their later edition counterparts.

Conclusion: These innovations are all well and good, but are met with resistance.  This resistance sometimes comes from departments of education who will reject charter school applications but are under no obligation in instances to explain the reasoning for the rejection.  It could be something as trivial as a paperwork error.  To solve this monopoly on approving charters and their innovative framework, we should allow universities and private schools to sponsor their own charter schools.  As both universities and private schools already have the proper documentation to teach students a charter can piggy back on that and end the board of educations monopoly on approving the creation of charter schools.  Of course these charters will be given the same resources they need from their sponsors as now their sponsors reputation is on the line.  Who wouldn’t want their child to go to a charter sponsored by Princeton or Harvard?

            Education is going through a revolution that is making it cheaper, more effective and more accessible to everyone.  It is true that the foundation of every State is the education of its youth, but it is also true that failing schools equal failing neighborhoods.  Now with schools competing and resistance to change faltering, the future looks bright for America’s future, the children who replace us.