NOT ANOTHER “TAKE THE BS OUT OF THE BCS” RANT!
Remember last year when incoming president Barack Obama said on national TV that he would like to use some of his political capital to push for a college football playoff system?
I don’t see the tea party activists holding him accountable to this promise, but perhaps they should, especially those who live in Boise, ID.
The only thing more complicated than the health care reforms passed by the Senate and the House is the formula used to determine which top two football teams get to play for the Bowl Championship Series game at the end of the season. In this case, the BCS system seems a little more transparent than the health care reform process in Congress, but not by much.
On the topic of health care reform, maybe if we fed the age, weight, and physical condition of every American into the BCS computer, it would spit out a better health care plan?
Optimism (and employment) wanes for California’s future
California plunged again last month in high wage manufacturing employment by 2,300 jobs. The national media continues to single out California, using it as a narrative blueprint for how to overwhelm a once-thriving state economy, and almost dares anyone to bet on California’s recovery.
For these and many other reasons this legislative session could be the most important year of decisions in the state’s 160-year history. Policymakers are no doubt giving lip service to ground zero — growing jobs and the economy — but there is little precedent in California for climbing out of such a monumental hole.
Governor’s Speech More Hope than Realism
Talk, even when it comes to California’s budget, is cheap. Making good on that talk, however, is a great deal pricier, not to mention a whole lot more politically problematic.
When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gave his final State of the State address Wednesday morning, he had a whole list of things he wants to add to California’s already rickety budget, including a $500 million jobs program and another $200 million or so for homebuyer credits.
Although the governor said that the words were bitter in his mouth, he admitted "we face additional cuts … we know the pain it entails. I mean, what can we say at this point except the truth, that we have no choice?"
Yet Schwarzenegger spent more time talking about what wasn’t going to get cut than suggesting any places where the budget ax would fall. Education funding would be protected, he said, and "we can no longer afford to cut higher education."
“Lynch Mob” Controversy
The California Federation of Teachers set off a fuss when complaining about provisions of the Race to the Top education reform signed by Governor Schwarzenegger yesterday. The teachers union used the term "lynch mob provision" in updates to members referring to a proviso in the legislation that allows parents to force changes in school governance by collecting signatures from fifty percent of the student’s parents or guardians.
While civil rights organizations objected to the use of the term as conjuring up violent images that are racially offensive, there is another concern about the comment. That is: the people are considered a mob and cannot be trusted to know what’s good for them.
Government reform? How about setting priorities?
State government is broken. Just about everybody agrees – including an apparently
growing number of Californians. Poll
after poll shows a large majority of voters believe the state on the "wrong
track" and nearly as many suspect dysfunction in Sacramento is to blame.
So, lawmakers, business leaders, think tanks, local elected
officials and other organized interests are actively advancing some kind of "fix
it" plan – or plans for a plan. Special committees of the Legislature have been formed, calls
for a constitutional convention are being made and political pundits are
endlessly speculating on a basketful of ideas.
Primary attention is focused on the Legislature and its
myriad "processes" although a strong case can and should be made for closely
examining the excesses, overlap and accountability of state bureaucracies. (Remember the "boxes" to be blown up a
few years back?)