In my opinion, Washington D.C. is a whirling, sucking eddy of corruption. malfeasance and misfeasance beyond redemption. I don't trust any of them.

Posted at October 7, 2008 2:09 PM in response to Corrupt on Both Sides

Obama never has been for universal health care. I didn't and don't expect him to do anything about it.

Posted at October 1, 2008 11:20 AM in response to About Universal Health Care

Thank you, Destor.

Posted at September 24, 2008 10:01 AM in response to Response to Etzioni and Ish-Shalom

It's embarrassing, isn't it?

Posted at September 22, 2008 9:43 AM in response to Just VENTING, THE BENGALS JUST SUCK AND ARE SO PATHETIC THAT...

Because they waited too long.

Posted at September 20, 2008 11:21 AM in response to No way, no bailout........is wrong

Cities across the U.S. have followed this practice for decades. Why should Wasilla be any more compassionate?

Posted at September 20, 2008 11:09 AM in response to McCain/Palin, Rape Victims, and Wasilla's sexual assault history

But if you can see the earth from your backyard does that make you an astronaut? That's what I want to know.

Posted at September 20, 2008 11:04 AM in response to I can see the moon from my backyard, but that doesn't make me an astronaut

The first order of business this weekend should be changing the national motto "In God We Trust" to "Christ, What Next?"

Posted at September 20, 2008 11:01 AM in response to An observation from Harvard

I don't think most people know how school systems are funded or operated in this country. Schools for the most part in this country are community based co-operatives, funded by local property tax and governed by an elected board of overseers - one of the few purely democratic institutions left in this country.

That schools are funded by property tax rather than subscription or income tax is the reason why suburban schools are better for the most part than urban and rural schools. The funding base in the suburbs is steadier and consistently rising in most suburban areas. It is also true that for suburban communities much of the house value is tied to the excellence of the school system which intrinsically raises the value of the property everytime it is bought and sold. It is the best incentive for improving schools - a financial interest in maintaining and building excellence in the school system. People who live in suburban areas gripe and complain about the level of property tax they must pay, but they know there are tangible benefits to that tax.

Unfortunately, for urban schools the financial interest falls in the other direction - the lower the property tax, the greater the financial incentive for locating in that area. Cities which are dependent on income tax to operate take advantage of this, which is why they offer huge property tax abatements for 5, 10 or 15 years to businesses and developers willing to locate in the city. While in the short term this alleviates the city's need for income, in the long term it has been disastrous for the city's school system. Amortization of business dwellings, tax abatements for business properties have caused city schools to decline, the fluctuation and drop in income cannot sustain good school systems. It is also true that for most of the workers in the buildings as well as the corporations for whom they work, a good school system where they work isn't important - what is important to them is a good school system where they live - they don't use the school system so its improvement or maintenance is of no importance to them.

If this nation is truly serious about improving school systems, then they have to remedy the funding for the school systems. No more tax abatements, no more building amortizations and no more farmland usage reductions - all property must be valuated at a consistent and equal rate of property tax valuation. The other alternative, an income tax collected by the state and federal government and disbursed equally to all schools is self -defeating. Schools will no longer operate on the community level and they will no longer have the elasticity to respond to education deficits in a timely and remedial manner. (Which of course is why mandates from the state and federal governments usually prove to be fruitless endeavors - not all schools, students and communities have the same education needs or problems.)

Donmyers makes the point that schools are not just classrooms anymore, but have become community centers, a movement which I believe, is the only salvation for the school systems in this country - the more the community has invested in the schools as community based institutions, the more likely the citizens will be to see the need to improve them. Enrichment classes, daycare, social centers and continuing adult education classes in which local citizens actually see the inside of the schools will do as much as any government mandate to improve our schools.

Posted at September 19, 2008 11:30 AM in response to Federal Funding: Why is it So Tough to Get Money for Our Schools?

We're a nation of slumlords.

Posted at September 14, 2008 10:39 AM in response to LA Train Crash Another Sign of Outdated US Infrastructure