Politics

Feb

2012

Not concerned about the very poor

This video truly amazes me, but is doesn’t surprise me. If you have been following Romney’s campaigin, you will notice that he is always very cautious to not mention the poor. He loves to focus on the middle class, and I think he does so because a lot of people like to believe that they are middle clase (regardless of their actual income). Many very poor individuals in America probably believe they are in the middle class. Who wants to be really poor?

It is with this political calculus that Romney presses forward with the following quote.

On the surface this sounds like a political gaffe, but I think it truly exposes the way Romney, and in a larger sense, Republicans in general view the poor. They don’t feel as if they need to be politically accessible to the poor, and they don’t feel like it hurts them politically to ignore poor folk. I was floored when Romney deferred any political issues relevant to the poor to the purview of Democrats. Romney essentially said, “I don’t care about the poor, they are taken care of, and Democrats can deal with them.”

In a democracy a vote is a vote, regardless of the economic situation of the voter. And in these economically difficult times, middle class people who have been out of work for months may actually begin to believe they are really poor. Ask unemployed people if they believe in American social safety nets.

Jan

2012

Paul Jones Dayton Podcast – Episode 1

Wow, a long, long time ago I created a podcast. This was the first episode. I’m going to update and do this more now.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:12 — 4.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Sep

2009

Nebo School District Response

Here is the response. I am not surprised by the lack of procedure for such a decision, and I am unhappy about the outcome.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your question. There is not a “set” criterion for an event such
as this.
A School Board is clearly within their authority to make decisions which
they believe are in the best interest of the district.

We have had such an outcry from literally hundreds of patrons concerned
about the showing of the welcome back to school talk that we were taken by
surprise.
Had there been time to functionally inform parents of their choice to let
their kids view this or not, I believe that would have been done.
The choice to opt out would have been a valid option that would have met the
desires of parents on either side of the issue by allowing those who wanted
to see it to do so, and those who didn’t, to opt out. Logistically it would
have been a nightmare to do this adequately.

We truthfully didn’t receive an official announcement of this until last
night. The Board made the only decision they felt would be responsive to
both groups, with the understanding that anyone will be still able to view
the speech at home in various forms after the speech is given.

I would also tell you that independent of the decision, I personally would
have not blinked if my own kids watched the speech. But viewing it on my own
is a fair alternative.   But for good or bad, and many times for both, A
Board must make a decision that they feel is responsible and fair. I believe
given the parameters of this situation they have done their best to do just
that.

I certainly understand that there will not be much you will not agree with
concerning this reply, and I truly respect that.

I am adding a copy of the memo that we sent out to our schools.

Sincerely

Chris Sorensen

MEMO

DATE:       September 3, 2009

TO:       Principals

FROM:   Supt. Sorensen

RE:       Video feed of President Obama speaking to school children.

State Superintendent Larry Shumway sent official word on September 2, 2009,
announcing “President Obama’s back-to-school message to school children.”
Supt. Shumway’s message says “the decision to watch (or not to watch) the
President’s speech should be made by each [district] LEA. There is no
requirement from the USOE, the U.S. Department of Education, or from the
President that any student watch.”

Given the late timing of the announcement, Nebo District has decided that
district students will not participate in watching this speech at school.
The tight timeline presented two main concerns:
1)   With respect to parental responsibility, Nebo District would have
given parents the right to opt out of having their student watch this
speech. This would have been difficult to appropriately accomplish in such
a short time.
2)   Adjusting for established school and class schedules, technology
availability, and previously planned activities on such short notice would
have created administrative and curriculum challenges for schools.

Parents who wish to watch the speech live next Tuesday can find it on C-SPAN
and on the internet at www.whitehouse.gov. We would encourage parents who
desire to have their student watch the speech outside of school time on the
internet.

Jul

2009

Palin the quitter

I am trying to figure out why Sarah Palin is resigning at the end of her term. A very common believe, before and after the announcement, is that she wants to run for president in 2012. From my vantage point this decision makes a 2012 run impossible. When you run for president you run of the record of your previous office… if you can’t complete a term of office, what do you have to run on.

It became clear to many Palin confidants that she was not going to run for a second term, well before this press conference. What surprised many was her end of month resignation. Palin tried to explain it by saying that she didn’t want to be a lame duck for the rest of her term, so she just quit. What boggles my mind is that she could have easily played a little politics and concealed her plans for the future until later in her term of office. It is just a very strange move to quit.

There has to be some other shoe that is going to drop here. If there isn’t, then Palin is simply a piss poor leader who quits when the going gets tough. Does anyone out there really believe that Palin could lead the nation. Would she quit in her third year of her presidential term because the press or congress was going to investigate her. Palin: you’re pathetic.

May

2009

Clever Sign

I smiled when I saw this picture of a gay rights protest sign:

Apr

2009

Green is in, but are we doing any thing?

It seems as if there is almost universal consensus that environmentally friendly policy is the rage, are we actually doing anything about it? An example: Payless has a line of shoes that are “green,” in that they use materials that have less of a footprint on the environment. The Payless shoes are still made in China, a country that has policies that are focused squarely on economic growth in spite of environmental detriments?

I am watching Meet the Press, and I just saw some commercials for NBC’s programming. The NBC peacock turned green and there was a lot of talk about green things to do. That’s all nice and good, but does it really show us if or how GE / NBC Universal is green, as the green NBC peacock clearly implied?

Green awareness is a good thing, but we should strive to go the full distance with our green intentions. In our goal to be more green, we need to extend the dialog to more completely address what it means to a good steward of the environment.

Apr

2009

Flying to Detroit

I am in the airport shuttle, on my way to a 7 am flight to the motor city. The shuttle is full of middle aged salesman, going out on that client visit. The moon, which just went down, was a striking orange, revealing even at night the filth in the sky.

Mar

2009

Health Reform Now

That’s right boys and girls, the time for health care reform has come. It is time for the individuals in this nation to demand health care for all.

First off I would like to apologize for the rambling structure of this post. I am Paul Jones Dayton, and I am pissed of at the state of health care in this country, so I am going to rant on my blog.

With untold millions who have just lost their jobs likely entering the ranks of the newly uninsured, and insured people in this country not necessarily covered for all conditions anyway, the time for change has finally come. With health care costs rising for employers, and many employers dropping benefits of all sorts…. reform time NOW.

I can’t stand hearing stories from individuals who have valid medical needs that are not covered by their plans. I can’t stand hearing about individuals who have no health care coverage, but nevertheless, work. I can’t stand hearing about how difficult it is to get medicaid or other state run health insurance plans. Something has to change now.

Every American deserves truly affordable health care. Businesses should not fear excessive health care costs that can completely overwhelm payrolls.

I don’t know how to fix things. I am partial to a single payer system, but that may not ultimately be the answer. I just know that things are very broken in this country, and it seems to be turning into more of a joke every day. It seems like the only people in this country who have no fear in this health care climate are the truly wealthy.

Feb

2009

I am sick and tired of homophobic Mormons

Chris Buttars is at it again, comparing homosexuals to radical muslims. Why do the people of West Valley and South Jordan elect this type of person. Could it be that they support such crazy ideas too?

Last year Chris Buttars refered to a bill in the legislature as a black baby, an “ugly black baby.” What the hell is up with this? I thought the church was over institutional racism. This guy used to be a Bishop in the LDS church?

Now I am sure there are those who would say that an individual member of the LDS Church do not speak for the Church, and in fairness Buttars does not represent an offical position in the LDS Church. However, I remember this little concept they used to teach me in sunday school: “Every member a Missionary.” By virtue of Buttars political position, and his known history for offensive statements, he should be much more cognisant of what he says. If Buttars is a missionary, he is a piss poor one.

Jan

2009

Obama impresses

I have been extremely happy to see President Obama in action. It feels as if we have a leader who is actively engaged in the issues of our country.

Here are a couple examples of things that I have been impressed by:

Active action by the administration to stop Citi Group from purchasing a $50 million dollar jet.
Direct engagement with the Republican party on the stimulus bill. While the Republicans still voted against the stimulus package, I believe Obama is building a strong foundation with his Republican counterparts. Very unique for Washington.
Swift action on closing Guantanamo Bay. A plan still is necessary, but the action item is clear.
Strong foreign policy messages, including a lack of the old cowboy diplomacy of Bush. It is good to the administration reach out to Islamic nations in a civil way.

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