Citizen's Rent 2005

Representative Government - Representing Who?

I think it's been a long time since our politicians actually saw themselves as true representatives of the people. That's what they're supposed to be - our representatives. You would think the members of the House would be particularly aware of this since their title is actually "Representative".

But that's not the way it works. Instead of representing us, they represent their party. It doesn't matter if the majority of US citizens support a specific piece of legislation, that isn't enough to get it passed. Because if the support comes from a smattering of Republicans and a majority of Democrats, or even a coalition of centrists from both parties, then it won't come to a vote. Only those bills that are supported by a majority of Republicans will be voted on and become law. So says Republican Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert. (WaPo)

That's why there was no vote on the intelligence bill that implemented the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. If it had come to a vote, it would have passed. There were enough Democratic votes when combined with the supporting Republicans. Despite the fact that a majority of all the Representatives supported it, a majority of Republican Representatives did not, so Hastert didn't allow a vote.

This was a bill with significant bi-partisan support, but that didn't matter. This was a bill that was supported by the majority of the people, but that didn't matter. A majority of Representatives supported it, but that didn't matter. A majority of Republican Representatives did not support it, that mattered. So it was killed. It was killed despite the support of the President. Now that's commitment to principle. Too bad it's the wrong principle - party over people.

Remember this every time you hear about the Pubs desire to reach across the aisle, whenever you hear the spin that it's the Dems that are stopping the business of government (as will be said the next time they filibuster).

And understand what this means. Legislation written to appeal to the center, to the moderates in the House, won't succeed. It doesn't matter that most of America is purple, not red or blue. It doesn't matter that these moderates are the ones who can bring together a majority coalition, who can reduce the polarization of the House, who can craft the middle road position that most of us want. They can't succeed unless they tilt right, abandoning their moderation, abandoning their bi-partisanship, abandoning their commitments to the people who voted them into office.

Hastert has laid out the new rule for our Representatives - you represent the party, not the people. It's government for the party, by the party, of the party.

Challenging Elections While Arguing Against Recounts: Republican Inconsistency

If Republicans insist that it's fair for the Texas state Rep who lost his seat in the election by 32 votes to challenge the election in the hopes of invalidating the election altogether - then obviously it's fair for Washington to do a hand count of votes in the governor's election where the margin between the candidates is only 42 votes. But Republicans don't agree.

Could I see some consistency please?

Declaration of Independence Banned at California School

Looking for the real skinny on the Reuters story on how the nasty California liberals are trying to ban the Declaration of Independence from schools? Mike Lane from At Ease has posted a solid, link-filled, fact-based post on the PBA HQ site showing that the story isn't quite what it's reported to be. (Great job, Mike!) Powerline even steps up and reminds us that "most allegations asserted in pleadings are untrue. So news reports based on what someone has stated in a legal complaint should always be taken with a huge grain of salt."

The bottom line is that the teacher in question is using quotes from founding fathers and founding documents to build a case that the country is founded on Christianity. The teacher isn't providing a balanced view to the fifth graders in his class - just the teacher's view. Only quotes supporting the teacher's position are included, not quotes that might undermine the teacher's view. The teacher's effort seems evangelical, not educational.

The teacher claims that his first amendment rights are being violated. But since when is free speech applicable to teachers in the classroom? Are they free to say teach revisionist history and deny the holocaust, to advocate for segregation, to promote racist perspectives? No? Then the free speech argument of this teacher doesn't hold. Teachers are limited in their speech. And teachers all over the country have to turn in their lesson plans to the principal every week. It's not unusual, although teachers hate it.

The teacher's attorney talks as though the school is excising all references to God. But what's really happening is that extra handouts created by the teacher for the express purpose of teaching that the country was and is a Christian nation have been rejected as unsuitable curricular material.

Most fifth graders have American History so I suspect that's what this teacher is teaching. Most fifth graders have American History textbooks that cover the founding fathers and the founding documents. They cover the bill of rights, including freedom of religion. They even include the fact that many people who came to the new world were escaping religious prosecution. But they don't provide the equivalent of a fifth grader's case for arguing that this was and should remain a Christian country. So teachers don't preach, uh, I mean teach that.

It's important to note that California has curriculum standards that include fifth grade American history. The standards require that all students "learn about the colonial government founded on Judeo-Christian principles, the ideals of the Enlightenment, and the English traditions of self-government." This requirement is addressed explicitly in standard 5.4: Students understand the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era. This is further refined in the standards' subpoints quoted below. Remember, this is what the state mandates fifth graders study in American history.

5.4.3. Describe the religious aspects of the earliest colonies (e.g., Puritanism in Massachusetts, Anglicanism in Virginia, Catholicism in Maryland, Quakerism in Pennsylvania).

5.4.4 Identify the significance and leaders of the First Great Awakening, which marked a shift in religious ideas, practices, and allegiances in the colonial period, the growth of religious toleration, and free exercise of religion.

Of course, the curriculum in use has to adequately address these standards. If it doesn't, then teachers might be expected to produce additional handouts in order to meet the standards. But I'm quite sure the textbook companies adhere to the standards very closely (I once worked for a K-8 textbook publisher). Of course, you don't have to take my word for it. California has retained David Barton (as reported by Barton) to consult on the curriculum they approve. (Story here.) Barton's focus is on the teaching of evolution, and accurate depictions of American history and holidays in textbooks. His organization is WallBuilders and their slogan says all you need to know: Rebuilding the constitutional, moral, and religious heritage of America. WallBuilder's stated goal is:

"to exert a direct and positive influence in government, education, and the family by (1) educating the nation concerning the Godly foundation of our country; (2) providing information to federal, state, and local officials as they develop public policies which reflect Biblical values; and (3) encouraging Christians to be involved in the civic arena.

My guess is that Barton would be sounding the alarm if California's state-approved curriculum gave short shrift to the role of Christians and the Christian religion in the founding of our country.

In his post, Mike also provides a peek behind door number one by supplying information on the organization providing lawyers for the teacher who is suing. The filing is the primary source of information for the news reports and not surprisingly, it's heavily tilted in the teacher's favor. Go see Mike's post for details, but don't be surprised to find that the lawyers' organization is connected to the leaders of the politicized religious right.

I plan to bookmark Mike's post and reference it every time I hear a conservative whine about the liberal media. I think this Reuter's report, based on a legal filing with  no information on the other side of the story, twists facts and makes my case quite nicely.

UPDATE: Only fourteen hours after its release, the Reuters story is being picked up by numerous California papers and by MSNBC news. Given the slow news days ahead due to the holidays, the story is unlikely to be fleshed out in the near term. This is just bad journalism.

And here's a very short list of conservative blogs already citing the story.

• Powerline notes that "most allegations asserted in pleadings are untrue. So news reports based on what someone has stated in a legal complaint should always be taken with a huge grain of salt." But then again, they go on to say that it's only a matter of time until the Constitution is unconstitutional.
• Wizbang - interesting comment thread including hints of a class action law suit, the usual "freedom of, not from religion" comments, the labeling of liberals as anti-Christian, arguments that evolution isn't scientifically supported, dismissal of separation of church and state as valid, accusations of rewriting history, et al. It's a good overview of righty positions.
• In the Bullpen - a descendent of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence
• Ravings of John C.A. Bambenek - includes contact information for the school and district along with an invitation to contact them and let them know what you think. Also includes link to Smoking Gun post of law suit filing.
• Who Tends the Fires - also includes contact information
• Young Pundit - picked it up from Drudge, claims separation of church and state is being used as a political card, that extreme liberals are anti-Christian (at least he said 'extreme'.
• Truth, Lies and Common Sense - refers to the liberal left's agenda to destroy our culture, refers to those behind the "banning" domestic enemies

In his post on PBA HQ, Mike reported and linked to the Drudge Report's post on the Reuters story - but surprise, surprise, Drudge has removed the link (no update or correction, just a wholesale deletion).

UPDATE: Even the teacher who is suing has said that it's an overstatement to claim that the Declaration has been banned. "Cupertino, Calif. teacher Stephen J. Williams, who filed a lawsuit challenging Stevens Creek Elementary School's decision to prohibit his supplemental teaching materials -- which related to the importance of Christian faith in American history and included excerpts from the Declaration of Independence -- admitted that his students had "read the Declaration, so that's a little bit of a stretch" to claim that "the Declaration was banned." You can see a clip of this at Media Matters where the teacher explains that the principal's decision to review this guy's supplemental materials happened after he included a hand-out on Bush's decaration of a national day of prayer in his lesson plan. In the same clip, the teacher explains that his students have read the Declaration of Independence, that it's not banned in his school.

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Action Alert: WA Governor's Race

I received this email from the Gregoire campaign today.

King 5 news is running an online poll asking people whether the closest governor's race in our state's history should be ended now that only 42 votes out of 3 million cast separate the candidates. The Republican party has sent out an email to their supporters asking them to stack the poll against Chris.  Don't let them.  Log on now and cast your vote for Chris

The King 5 news site requires you to register, and the registration form requires all too much information. Nevertheless, do it. The poll is on the link page and simply asks if you support a recount. Right now the Pubs are outvoting us 63-36%. against a hand count. They're also making their presence known in the forums. So help us out in Washington and hit the poll.

The Dem candidate, Gregoire, is calling for a hand count since the initial recount showed a shift in 15,000 votes counted by machines. They're also asking for an explanation on why 2700 provisional ballots were tossed out. With a margin of only 42 votes, these are huge numbers.

The text below if from another email from the Gregoire campaign and it basically provides their reasons for requesting a hand count.

I'm writing to update you on the latest in our race.

As you may have heard, the ongoing vote count has found numerous mistakes. It's also moved the race into a tie - with nearly 3 million votes cast, there's 42 votes between the two candidates.

Chris Gregoire believes that voters have a sacred right to have their ballots counted. That's been our goal throughout this process. We want every vote to be counted. But that hasn't happened yet. This race won't be over until every vote is counted.

A letter is on its way to the secretary of state's office asking Secretary Reed to investigate and correct a number of anomalies and irregularities in the count.

In particular, we want to know why 2700 provisional ballots were thrown out.

About 15,000 votes at the precinct level were read wrong by the machines, and shifted during this week's count. That's why there should be a hand count. In fact, if the machines had done their job correctly the first time, we would be in a hand count right now.

Only a hand count - open to observers from both parties - will protect people's sacred right to vote and provide a definitive answer to who won the election. And only that definitive answer will enable the next Governor to govern effectively.

Right now, our state is evenly split on who should be our next governor. Unless we count every vote, that division will linger. As the next governor tries to build a budget, tackle unemployment and spur the economy, they would be hampered by an unbridgeable partisan divide.

It may take some more time to get all the votes counted. But in the end, it's worth a two week delay to have four years of certainty and to ensure that every vote is counted.

If the results of a hand count do not go the way Chris hopes and expects, she will offer Senator Rossi her support and do whatever she can to bring our state together.

In the meantime, both camps will continue to work on their transitions, and be ready to take office in January.

Now go to the King 5 site and vote. Please?

A Sad Day in Washington

REPUBLICAN DINO ROSSI WINS RECOUNT FOR GOVERNOR OF WASHINGTON STATE BY 42 VOTES

I'm sure there are more than 42 Democrats in Washington who didn't vote because our state was identified as a blue state. We have to do a better job of communicating the importance of state office elections.

There's still a modicum of hope. I just heard on NPR that the Dems are seeking a second recount.

Quote of the Week

"If one party is shameless, the other party cannot afford to be spineless".
                                                                            Senator Lautenburg (NJ-D)

Curtsy to Antitheton for the quote.

Quote of the Day

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind...And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."
                                                               --- William Shakespeare

From Christian Dems, via my sister MomBrain.

Looking for Answers

Can anyone explain to me why the right despises Hillary Clinton so deeply? I don't get it.

UPDATE: Roxanne at Rox Populi asks the same question and gets more insight here.

Ideology vs People

I wonder how enthusiastic the conservative middle and lower class citizens will be about Bush and the Republican leadership if Bush goes forward with the idea of eliminating business tax deductions for the cost of health insurance in order to fund tax cuts on investment income. Who pays enough tax on investment income to balance the total premium costs of their healthcare? Only a tiny minority, the wealthy.

Does anyone doubt that the result from eliminating the tax cut for health insurance will be either a wholesale cancellation of benefits by businesses or an onerous shift of costs to the employee?

Bush's consideration of cancelling the tax deduction stands in stark contrast to Kerry's proposal to raise deductions for families while leaving the business deduction as it stands. Does anyone recall Bush responding to Kerry's plan by saying that he was going to make it more difficult and costly for businesses to provide health insurance?

This idea is particularly onerous for small businesses, who already limit their work force due to the cost of health insurance premiums or forgo providing benefits. It's likely to be quite unpopular with large businesses as well, who will lose gigantic deductions on their taxes. Perhaps that means it won't happen (after all, we know that it's the corporations that have the ear of this administration).

Of all the proposals under consideration by the administration, this is the one that puts into stark focus their priority of ideology over people and the real lack of concern over the needs of the middle and lower classes.

All I can think is "what's next?"

Translating Robert Byrd

Senator Robert C. Byrd is 87. He's been in the Senate for 46 years and recently voted against the omnibus bill that combined all the spending bills in Congress. He described the appropriations process this way.

"We have seen within these last few years, especially, this excrescence of the body politic grow until now it has become malignant," Mr. Byrd said, calling it "a disgrace upon the escutcheon of the Senate."

I LOVE that he's using the vocabulary and idioms that he is. Unfortunately, most Americans will have no idea what he's saying. So here's a translation (and yes, I had to use a dictionary to be sure).

"Especially over the past few years, we've seen this Congressional wart grow until it's become malignant. It's a dishonor to the Senate."

Don't you just love words?