Come on, did you really think that we could get through an entire election cycle with a guy named Huckabee in the race and not reference that movie?

So Mike Huckabee took the who cares Iowa caucus yesterday. OK, great win for morale of the troops, but what else really? New Hampshire is in four days now, so expect that overplay as well. But at least that is an actual primary. To me, there is something perverse about the caucuses, especially for the attention they get. Basically, each members of the community belonging to each party gather in a room and talk about who they want to be president, logging in a vote. For the Republicans, it is one man, one vote. For the democrats, they have a screwy system where if your candidate doesn’t place in the top three, then your second choice is logged in as your vote. Talk about skewed results.

I think the obsession with Iowa is that everyone wants an edge in political reporting. Well, you are following a red herring folks. I am not a dem so I can’t speak for them but I think if you really want a good indication of how the Republicans will eventually fall into place you should take a look at what happens in South Carolina in a couple weeks. Here is the first primary in a decent sized state with a decently representative population. And it is especially important for the Republicans. This is where the true conservatives are. That is a vote they don’t want to lose.

My predictions? You have not seen the end of Guliani of course. He endeared himself to me quite a bit by not playing in this Iowa business, seeing how much I am not a caucus fan. Don’t count out John McCain either. The defense angle still plays very well with many conservatives, although his immigration views may get him in trouble in an illegal-laden south. Here’s the word on the street though…if Fred Thompson ends up dropping out, which seems likely sooner than later, he may throw his support behind McCain. Don’t underestimate that union. There is still support for Thompson out there, media coverage or not. Right now, if I had to pick, John McCain is my guy, but not by much. Let me put it to you this way–if I was giving my free time to a campaign, it wouldn’t be to any of them at this point. They just haven’t differentiated themselves to me yet. We’ll see though. Cannot wait for South Carolina!

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I have to say, I am a fan of charter schools. I’m sure most of you have heard the term, but you may not know what it means. I want to clear up a misconception or two right here, right now, so that when a debate on the issue comes up, everyone can know what is going on.

First off, a private school is a public school that operates under less strict regulatory guidelines that an ordinary public school. They are usually administered by a non-profit professional school administration company and control their own funds. A charter school is bound to perform by a document called a charter that effectively serves as a contract between a local Board of Education and the school. The charter also serves as a contract between the parents of the school and the educators. It effectively relinquishes the school from complying with many education regulations set forth by the State and local Board of Education. In doing so, the charter gives school leaders and instructors greater autonomy in how material is presented and in how the school is run. With this freedom comes responsibility. Outcome goals are set in the charter and if the school does not perform, it will be shut down, unlike a traditional public school. In essence, charter schools gain greater flexibility for greater accountability.

Currently in Georgia, 70-some public charter schools in Georgia. Overall, they produce results, involve parents, and those served by them love them. A few haven’t been so great and they have been shut down. I’m sure many urban parents wish that could happen to their local school after children in their community continuously fail to meet standards.

Now that everyone knows what a charter school is, it’s time to clear up some common misconceptions. First off, as mentioned above, a charter school is NOT a private school. It is a PUBLIC SCHOOL. I really want to push this point across so here it is again and again–

CHARTER SCHOOL = PUBLIC SCHOOL

CHARTER SCHOOL = PUBLIC SCHOOL

CHARTER SCHOOL = PUBLIC SCHOOL

CHARTER SCHOOL = PUBLIC SCHOOL

–ok, I think that six times in a couple of paragraphs is solid enough. The second and third points kind of piggy back on this public school notion. First, contrary to popular belief, charter schools do not have admissions policies. They can’t! Remember, it’s a public school! While some school may be geared more towards some groups (such as special needs, gifted, math and science, etc.), charters by law have to be able to take in and accommodate every child, just as a traditional public school does. What may be skewed as an admissions policy is really a waiting list. When you want to send you child to a charter school, there is limited space available, as the charter prescribes. This is a fact that will come into play a little later.

Second (or third, however you want to look at it), charter schools don’t charge tuition. Remember the public school thing? Yeah, comes into play here too.

OK, now that the background work is done, let’s talk legislation. YAY! House Bill 881, put forth by Rep. Jan Jones of Alpharetta. Here’s the gist of it: Charter schools are not getting their fair shake, either in authorization or funding once authorized. Numbers seem to back this up. This year alone, 17 charter schools have applied for authorization to local school boards, all but two have been denied. This really is no surprise. After all, this arrangement is like requiring the zoning for a Burger King being approved by McDonalds. HB 881 would change how authorization takes place. Charter schools would be able to go before an independent state level board for authorization. McDonalds would be circumvented. I like this idea. It takes politics out of the authorization process. It better allows for the fulfillment of a need, as wait lists at existing charter schools indicate there is, and it will inject the power of the market in the public school system. Traditional public schools will be forced to shape up or lose enrollment to charters that outperform in the same community.

The second aspect of HB 881 that I love is that of funding equalization. Right now, charter schools, a public school remember, inexplicably receive about 40% of the funding that traditional public schools receive. This is wrong, inexcusable, and a great example of politics in action. HB 881 would change that. State and local dollars would follow the children that they are intended for. Charter schools would receive 90% of the education dollars entitled to a child, with the other 10% being left to the local school district that previously educated the child to cover administrative costs associated with the transfer. The costs are thought to be about 3-5%, meaning the local school system would gain 5-7% of a child’s share of the cash without having to educate that child.

This is a bill that is good for not only charters and kids, but also for the taxpayers that fund the traditional public school system. Competition is not something to be feared, it is something to be embraced. Our education system can become leaner and meaner, producing kids with better educations and more marketable skills using less money if competition is injected.

If you like the sound of HB 881, let your representatives know!

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Back from a fine weekend and a 7 goal performance in pick-up hockey in Hiram. Cannot go wrong there. Our first item of the week comes from RedState.com. No matter your politics, put them aside for a moment and just enjoy a funny campaign ad from Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas and presidential candidate.

http://www.redstate.com/stories/elections/2008/insanely_good_huckabee_ad

Message to presidential candidates, make sure your ads are Chuck Norris Approved…or the fist behind the beard will take care of business.

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So, we are a little under a year from the 2008 presidential election and there are so many questions ahead of us. Do we have a real front runner (No)? Is Hillary electable (No)? Who will emerge from a crowded, undifferentiated GOP field (Who knows)? What will be the defining issue be (immigration)?

I think most of us can agree on one thing. It is definitely time for a change. Eight years of Bush has been about two too many. I know many of my more liberal friends will say that it has been eight years too many, but that is for another time. I was a supporter in the beginning, but the mismanagement and fiscal irresponsibility has to come to an end. While his effort of good faith regarding spending have been nice to see lately, it’s too little too late. We need a new voice to hear and a new face to look at.

Now let’s get down to it. We know who is who on each side. Hillary is pretty much pre-ordained on the for the Donks, but the field is wide open on the Right. There is division in each party. The GOP cannot decide a) if the socons (social conservatives) or econs (economic conservatives) will win out, b) how far to distance themselves from Bush’s disasterous record on immigration and energy, or c) if they will select the best candidate or the one that can beat Hillary. The Dems cannot decide a) who hates George Bush most, b) who can provide the biggest, grandest entitlement program at the expense of the smallest number of people, or c) who can most effectively bring “universal” health care to America (excuse me…..barrrf!)

So my question is: with all this division, where the hell is the independent, where is the serious third party candidate? I think most Americans are tired of all this silliness from both sides. If most people are like me, they don’t give a rats-behind about gays having legal and adoption rights, think it is wrong to provide illegal aliens with services that legal taxpayers pay for, think that our time in Iraq is coming to a close and we need a sane exit strategy that doesn’t endanger our stategic positions, and think that it is time for the government to get a handle on spending (well, for the talk of some of my leftward friends, maybe not).

So where is the independent? Where is the person that can provide alternatives to the red and blue. Where is the green candidate, the one that blends laissez-faire social policy with demands for fiscal conservatism, a smaller, more efficient government, and a smarter State Department?

If an alternative candidate is to emerge, this year is the year. Will it happen (Feeling is no, hope is yes)? Who could it be (Michael Bloomberg anyone)?

What do you think? Is this the year that an serious independent capable of winning a state or two will finally emerge to set us on the path to a greater plurality of parties? Or will we be subjugated to another election cycle of politics as usual.

I would love to hear some thoughts…

Will he run? Is he electable? Can he save us?

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I hoping everyone got to see the debate that happened on CNBC yesterday. I thought it was a pretty good debate involving some important issues. Healthcare, social security, federal spending and taxes were the center of attention and I honestly feel like this was the first debate that you can start picking your potential GOP candidate.

Federal spending is the cornerstone to all of the issues that the presidential hopefuls debated about. As you all should know, federal spending has been off the charts. Yet, taxes have not increased, but DECREASED over the past eight years. Can someone please tell me how you can pay for a war and still offer tax cuts? Pretty much you can’t do that (unless you want to be in debt forever!).

This is one issue that most presidential candidates do not want to talk about other than Ron Paul (Please watch this video! It pretty much explains everything). It really does suck that Ron Paul is voted the most important presidential candidate online and in polls, yet the mainstream media doesn’t want to give him any air time. Extremely sad. He is the only candidate that wants to bring America back to what it used to be and, more importantly, what it always should be.

I just think it’s amazing how no one really wants to talk about the deficit and pretend like it’s non-existing issue (Ron Paul excluded and a lil’ McCain too). Cutting taxes and participating in a war is an oxymoron. You can’t double dip unless the government is getting the tax revenue to fund the war. One of my anti-war friends thinks that there should be an Iraq War Tax to wake up Americans. Pretty good idea… Our faux-Republican government has lost their touch and everyone can see that now. Limited government? Gone. Federal spending down? I don’t think so. Cutting taxes? Well, yeah that’s happening. We need a full scale enema. We need the Reagan times to come and shine again.

I am hearing a lot of discussion about reforming the tax code; which I am also in total favor for. BUT… it still doesn’t change our current situation. The only way we can get ourselves out of this mess is by either INCREASING taxes or DECREASING federal spending. I know everyone gets really scared when you hear tax hike, but our system will end up failing horribly at some point. And that “some point” will inevitably be in my lifetime. The math does not make sense people. Our economy couldn’t handle the credit crunch. What makes you think our federal government can? Instead of worrying about cutting taxes, start demanding federal spending cuts.

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(Look at my fancy Paint work. Man it’s even better than Photoshop)

No it’s not another dumb sequel of the House Party series; the Democrats have chosen their new House Majority leader. Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer was elected the leader and stole the victory from Rep. John Murtha, the choice of Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Apparently, she doesn’t have the power she thinks she does. HA! Hoyer cleaned it up with a 149-86 vote over Murtha.

The best part about the whole thing is that Pelosi and Hoyer have bumped heads in the past because they ran against each other in some key leadership positions within the house. Hoyer lost the position but came back with being elected the minority whip.

I wonder if Hoyer being elected Majority leader will have an effect on Pelosi?? I’m hoping so. I wish that a conservative democrat could be speaker instead of the extreme left-winged Rep. from California. Instead of military spending in Iraq, she will want to increase spending in some random social program that’s useless across America.

Pelosi’s first plan of action will probably be something like this. There’s a group in Berkley, California (defender of “real” America) that are protecting the first Amendment rights of body odor. Last time I check body odor was not in the Bill of Rights…

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Congress shall not pass any law that does not respect one’s odor no matter how offensive it really is.”

Oh there it is. I guess I never read the whole paragraph. Here’s the argument. “If we can’t smell natural, we can’t communicate. Therefore this is the basis of a lawsuit against America for violating our right to free speech.” Speech, body odor; same thing. Say What? Got to love those weirdo’s from Berkeley. Without them comedy would never be the same.

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Today was a great day. Rainy, but still great. Woke up, went to school, voted for the mid-term elections and then proceed to sign up for my last semester of classes. YES! Voting was a breeze. I was in and out. Sadly, I can’t say that for everyone. South Carolina’s Gov. Mark Sanford went to polls to cast his vote, but was rejected because he didn’t have his voter identification card. You would think that on the Governor’s most important day he would remember to bring his voter I.D.

I guess the poll workers in South Carolina really care about their jobs because they turned away their own Governor. I wonder if the President would get the same kind of treatment??  I applaud those poll workers for not breaking the rules even though he is the reason why they are having an election. If that was Cynthia McKinney she probably would have slugged the poll worker. Man I’m glad she is no longer in office. She was a disgrace to Georgia politics.

I hope everyone had a good election day.

Want more funny voting day stories? Go to the Drudge Report.

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Ok people it’s time to do what the cool kids do. T-minus 8 hours till the voting booths open up. Remember to bring your I.D. and your voter registration card. You want to have the same amount of power as a celebrity or billionaire? Well, voting is a right to all American citizens which makes us all equal. Cast your vote for the candidate YOU think is appropriate for office. Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, or Republican it doesn’t matter as long as you put your 2 cents in.

If you are a registered voter and decide not to vote, you should wear an “I’m dumb” t-shirt and you lose the right to complain till the next election. Do it BIG and VOTE!!

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Let’s face it; you need money to win political campaign at a local, state, and national level. Almost 99% of the time you will win the election if you have more money than your opponent. BUT that usually only works if you raised that money from individuals, political groups, companies, ect. Candidates that use their own money to support their campaign end up losing the election and all their money.

For instance, Ross Perot spent an estimated 65.4 million dollars campaigning in only 16 states. If he would have campaigned through the whole election, he could have spent nearly 205 million dollars on a losing election! That is almost 1/5 of the amount of money raised by both George W, and Kerry in 2004. *remember that is 205 million in 1992, which would be much more in today’s dollars*

Why is investing in your own election almost a guaranteed loss? Think about it. If you aren’t raising money the traditional way, you aren’t meeting voters. Voters are the ones that will put you in office. Trust me if someone donates money to your campaign you’re guaranteed that vote. So you just killed two birds with one stone. When you become your number one supporter you are bound to lose. In Georgia, the past two gubernatorial elections had candidates that used their own money or family money and lost (That word is so weird to me. You would think its “governatorial” and not “gubernatorial.” Just something to think about) I’m predicting a loss for Mark Taylor which will make it two.

A lot of candidates running in the upcoming elections still aren’t learning from the past. This article highlights just a few people that have decided to use their own money to support their losing election. If you plan to run for political office someday (like I do), raise money the traditional way. Worst possible outcome is you lose the election, and not your retirement money!

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It is that time of the year - get those voter registration cards in! Deadlines vary by state but most require registration to be received by October 10th. There are two websites which allow you to fill out your voter registration card online and print it for mailing: MTV’s multimedia extravaganza RockTheVote and the less hip but functional GoVote.org.

These sites ask for your email address but, if you fear a deluge of political email spam like me, I recommend using a trash address or an expiring email account. Once you have filled everything out you can print out the completed registration card, add a stamp, and send it on its way. The US Census Department has some great reports on voter turnout in recent elections.

I have deviously snipped a graph from the 2004 presidential election for your amusement below.

Technorati tags: eFIPO, Voting Online .

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