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Athos · Jan 19, 2017, 01:11 PM

His appointments so far are so bizarre, they seem like a joke. But, unfortunately, Trump is deadly serious.

Commerce, Energy, State, Treasury, etc. - these, and others, will be headed by people ideologically opposed to the respective mission - or BLATANTLY opposed and have expressed a desire to dismantle them.

Even his between-coastal deplorables who overlooked his bad behavior during the campaign (and continuing) STILL support the orange-headed one. It will take a while before these poor folk realize that the jobs are not returning from overseas - where they never went in the first place. It was automation that closed factories.

Maybe when Trump is exposed for the fraud he is, before he does too much damage, this country will again be called The UNITED States of America.

smoothy · Jan 19, 2017, 05:40 PM

Gee, if the Liberals hate them... Thats proof enough they are the PERFECT picks. Since the last 8 years Obamas Henchmen have been some of the most incompetent people to ever be in Washington.

Wondergirl · Jan 19, 2017, 08:27 PM

Rick Perry has no idea what the Energy Secy does.

Betsy DeVos, the new Education Secy, has no idea what a public school is and does, how it works.

Shall I go on?

tomder55 · Jan 19, 2017, 09:11 PM

DeVos is trying to break a failing status quo. As thousands of parents sign up on waiting lists to give their children REAL opportunities for a better education ,the teacher's unions stubbornly resist any changes that will actually help those students . DeVos is an excellent choice for Sec Education. She is the one who is mainstream . The reactionary teacher unions who continue to reject the benefits of school choice are the ones out of touch .

Wondergirl · Jan 19, 2017, 09:24 PM

Betsy wants religion (the Christian one) in schools.

Athos · Jan 20, 2017, 01:16 AM

Originally Posted by tomder55

DeVos is trying to break a failing status quo. As thousands of parents sign up on waiting lists to give their children REAL opportunities for a better education ,the teacher's unions stubbornly resist any changes that will actually help those students . DeVos is an excellent choice for Sec Education. She is the one who is mainstream . The reactionary teacher unions who continue to reject the benefits of school choice are the ones out of touch .

DeVos has been a disaster for Michigan education where her advocacy of applying the "free market" has resulted in even lower scores than the existing public education that she hates so much. Her desire to "Christianize" education funded by the taxpayer raises another set of problems. Her only qualification to be Secretary of Education is the millions she has donated to Republican causes over the years from her Amway fortune.

She is hardly "mainstream". In fact, she is a textbook definiton of reactionary.

talaniman · Jan 20, 2017, 07:11 AM

Today is the premier of the PRESIDENT Donald Trump Reality Show! If you like dinosaurs, ghosts, goblins, zombies, clowns and soap operas this is the show for you... it has everything!

NO refunds cash only, payment is mandatory!

The sad part is the price of popcorn just went up!

earl237 · Jan 20, 2017, 01:09 PM

I'm pretty worried about the plans for a border tax. It could be a big problem for Canadian companies like auto parts makers. Dump is too stupid to realize that protectionism would be just as harmful to them since Canada is Idiot Land's largest trading partner and 35 states get most of their imports from Canada. I hope that congress, his cabinet and state governors will be the voice of reason and try to talk him out of his more reckless ideas.

tomder55 · Jan 20, 2017, 03:10 PM

I agree the border tax is bizarre progressive value added tax thinking disguised as protectionism .All it does is hurt the consumer . The lower the income ;the more the hurt .

The sad part is the price of popcorn just went up!

not so fast . Corn is grown in the USA . No doubt he'll double down on subsidies for corn growers .

tomder55 · Jan 20, 2017, 03:26 PM

as if I give a cr@p about 'mainstream'. She will work with the governors to bring more choice in education . The public school system as it exists is a failure . You can blame the teacher's unions for their opposition to fundamental changes . I oppose many of Trump's appointments . DeVos is not one of them . I would've preferred Michelle Rhee . But DeVos is a suitable advocate for breaking the strangle hold the teacher's unions have on the education system. As for Michigan's system ;there was a history of failure to begin with . She has not created miracles there ....but according to a well respected study used to condemn Michigan charter schools ,she has done well : Based on the findings presented here, the typical student in Michigan charter schools gains more learning in a year than his TPS counterparts, amounting to about two months of additional gains in reading and math. These positive patterns are even more pronounced in Detroit, where historically student academic performance has been poor. These outcomes are consistent with the result that charter schools have significantly better results than TPS for minority students who are in poverty.
https://credo.stanford.edu/pdfs/MI_r..._watermark.pdf So the truth is that students whose parents are given a choice in education do better than students who are forced to stay in failed public schools .

earl237 · Jan 20, 2017, 03:37 PM

I heard that the Republican party is the only political party in the entire world that refuses to accept the reality of climate change. It's sad how the GOP used to moderate and sensible until around the late 70s when the religious right started taking them over. Now there are few if any sensible republicans and the religious fanatics, gun nuts and alt-right are running the show.

Wondergirl · Jan 20, 2017, 03:40 PM

Originally Posted by tomder55

So the truth is that students whose parents are given a choice in education do better than students who are forced to stay in failed public schools .

So why not fix the failed public schools?

tomder55 · Jan 20, 2017, 03:57 PM

public schools are almost a failed model . They are almost beyond repair. Maybe with charter school competition there will be incentives to change them. Right now you could line the schools with gold tiles for all the money the public wastes on them. It is a damn shame because entrenched bureaucrats and the teacher's unions have a strangle hold on they system.

smoothy · Jan 20, 2017, 03:59 PM

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

So why not fix the failed public schools?

You have to get rid of the NEA and the unions... starting with ending Tenure. Then you can set standards.. and fire the teachers unable or unwilling to meet them. Most other people have to meet requirements are they will be looking for new work... Teachers (and the school administrators too) should not be exempt. With the massive ammount of money spent on schools these days (in the USA anyway) ...only an idiot can claim its because of lack of money.

The COUNTY I live...not the state, the COUNTY...for the current year. $2.7 BILLION dollars...JUST for the schools

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.c4e1807d2862

Look at how many people have supposedly graduated the last 20 years or so that absolutely believes Popular vote is how presidents have EVER been selected... heck some of them even think the Electoral College was put there to pick on them (by George Bush).

They taught EVERYONE this stuff in 9th grade Civics Class when I was in High school. If any of you don't know. (as there are non-Americans on this thread).it was Ratified into the US Constitution in 1804.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelft...s_Constitution

Athos · Jan 20, 2017, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by tomder55

as if I give a cr@p about 'mainstream'. .

Then why did you make such a point about mentioning it ? You brought it up, not somebody else.

As for the rest, no point in engaging in dueling weblinks. For those interested, they can google for themselves. There's no question DeVos is politically connected and that is the sole reason she was appointed. She knows little, and cares even less, about public education.

excon · Jan 20, 2017, 06:08 PM

Helloooooo:

I'm looking for an equally robust discussion about police unions... I don't go to school.. I DO walk amongst us... If teachers unions are BAD, police unions are BAD for the same reasons...

excon

smoothy · Jan 20, 2017, 07:59 PM

I think any public service (anything paid by tax dollars) employee Unions should be legally prohibited...so on that we actually agree. Including Police Unions.

Athos · Jan 20, 2017, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by smoothy

I think any public service (anything paid by tax dollars) employee Unions should be legally prohibited...so on that we actually agree. Including Police Unions.

Then how are grievances addressed, other than throwing yourself on the tender mercies of the bosses? We all know how far THAT will get you.

smoothy · Jan 20, 2017, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by Athos

Then how are grievances addressed, other than throwing yourself on the tender mercies of the bosses? We all know how far THAT will get you.

Exactly the same way it is for 95% of the private sector jobs.

The better employees get the better raises..and the lazy ones.....don't. Everyone doesn't deserve the exact same thing, because everyone doesn't make the same exact effort or do things equally well. The slacker gets over, and the person who makes the most effort gets screwed with a union.

Athos · Jan 20, 2017, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by smoothy

Exactly the same way it is for 95% of the private sector jobs.

You have just made the case for unions. 95% of the private jobs - no unions - are governed by something called "at-will employment." In a word, that means the bosses can fire ANYONE for ANY reason they damn well please.

The only effective protection against this heinous imbalance of power between company and worker is a union.