April 7, 2010: Happy Birthday to Me

Does that sound to self-centered? I am not trying for that, but that was pretty much the only eventful thing to happen today. The day was typical, other than finding a big "Happy Birthday" sign on my classroom door when I arrived to school today. I gave the students their grade reports for the 3rd quarter. This is a print out of their all their grades for the class, it is not a report card which just lists the grade the student has for each subject. I had to go through the typical, "You all can do better" routine. I do believe many of them can do better, I am not just blowing smoke to try and motivate then. The challenge is, as the weather keeps getting nicer and nicer (80-90 degrees all week so far!), the students will be thinking more and more of being somewhere else.

I did demonstrate my naivety in class today. We were giving an example of the President meeting with party whips in Congress, and I innocently mentioned that I did not mean that he would be whipping them. I went on to say that of the US Presidents, he would be the most likely to be whipped himself. I am sure you are thinking the same thing a few of my students were, I was making bad, inappropriate, off color joke. A few of my students began laughing out loud, unable to believe I had said that. I didn't see what the big deal was because in my mind I was thinking that, well, of all the Presidents so far, Obama does not seem very physically strong compared to the previous US Presidents, as a result they all could kick his butt. That is where I was going, but it quickly became the race card. Fortunately, the students did NOT believe that I was making a racist comment. But needless to say, after the fact, I did feel pretty uncomfortable.

We had a softball game tonight. It went well, we jumped out to a 7-0 start in the first inning and won 12-7 in the end. I hit well (2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI). So far this season the team is 2-0 and I am hitting an awesome .750 (6-8, 2-3B, 2B, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2.000SLG%). I am feeling pretty good about it. I was a little disappointed on a play I was running out to first. I was thrown out but less than an inch, I know he got me, I am not arguing that. I am disappointed because I wonder if I have "lost a step." I joked, if I were 38 I would have beat out the throw!

April 16, 2009 - Discretionary Fiscal Policy

Did you do it? Did you get it done? Of course I am talking about your taxes, yesterday was the deadline. Or, did you buy tea bags to protest taxes? That is right, yesterday, April 15, "Tax Day" became the day to protest increased government spending of the new presidential administration. As a history teacher, I definitely appreciate the symbolic "tea party" held yesterday in rememberence of the Boston Tea Party to protest the British tax on tea. (Actually, it wasn't so much that a new tax was imposed on tea, instead it was lack of tax on the tea sold directly by the British East India company that made their tea cheaper than that sold by the retailers in the colonies.) From the historic Boston Tea Party the slogan, "No taxation without Representation" really began to take hold. Unfortunately, no such memorable slogan will emerge from yesterday's protest. The only thing I recgonize from the protest is the ignorance of the protestors and the short memory they have of government spending.

A little research* will show that despite the size of government spending proposed (or due to be proposed) by the Obama administration, the Bush administration budget for Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) is greater and contributed more to the federal deficit. And yet, yesterday's protest, supported (maybe even "sponsored") by Fox News was to demonstrate disploeasure with Obama's plan. To take the analysis further, according to the Obama plan, more money will be spent in America and less on foreign countries than Bush's plan. The Obama plan is designed to rebuild the US while the Bush plans were designed to rebuild other countries, like Iraq and Afghanistan. So I wonder why Bush's plans were not protested as vigorously as Obama's (which has not actually been presented yet)?

This is the essence of Fiscal Policy. Fiscal Policy refers to the tax revenues (T) and government expenditures (G) proposed by the government. What is proposed each year by the President is considered non-discretionary spending, while money spent for "incidentals" is considered discretionary spending. The budget is proposed based on anticipated tax revenue assuming full-employment**. This is called the "Full Employment Budget." The goal is for G = T resulting in no deficit and no surplus. However, since the economy is always affected by the business cycle, cyclical unemployment s never 0% and will result in a T less than expected. When this happens, G > T, a deficit results. Government actually spends more than is efficient which is an automatic result of Fiscal Policy - built-in stabilizers. The built-in stabilization of Fiscal Policy puts more money back into the economy than was removed by taxes and acts to stimulate growth, albeit, in small quantities.

If the government anticipates a shortfall of tax revenue, the government can adjust Fiscal Policy to combat or compensate for the short fall. There are two options: 1) increase G (Keynesian economic philosophy used during the Great Depression which was limited in its effectiveness due to protectionist trade policies that prevented the rest of the world from recovering) 2) decreasing T. In both situation, more money is allowed to circulate in the economy than under the "normal" circumstances which will either slow the economic "slide" or revitalize economic growth. President Obama will surely attempt to apply discretionary fiscal policy in order to help improve the economy. He will attempt to increase G to create new jobs to but unemployed back to work and will lower T in order to allow people to keep more of their income.

FY09 Budget (Bush):
T= $2,699,947,000,000
G= $3,107,355,000,000
Deficit = $407,408,000,000

FY10 Budget (Obama) Projected/Estimated:
T= $2,931,348,000,000
G= $3,091,340,000,000
Deficit= $159,992,000,000

(The above data includes discretionary and non-discretionary spending.)

The above data shows a few things:

1. Tax Revenue will be higher for the first Obama budget than the last Bush budget;
2. Government Spending will be lower for the first Obama budget than the last Bush budget;
3. The Budget Deficit will be less for the first Obama budget than the last Bush budget.
   

What is most disturbing is Fox News and their weapons ready to open fire on President Obama the first chance they get, even if they do not report the entire story. Is it true, the government will have to spend more (bigger government)? No. Will it create larger budget deficits? No. But that is not how Fox is going to report it. And then, despite bigger government under Bush, Fox News and Republican cronies are crying "Socialism" from the highest mountains. All of a sudden, after eight years of wasteful spending we are supposed to believe that they are the party of fiscal responsibility? What the estimates are showing is that the Obama budget will try and fight the problems created by decades of poor fiscal responsibility across the economy, and do so with more responsibility than his predecessors. What it boils down to is this, ff they really want to see socialism, drastic measures are possible: forcing employers to retain workers, setting prices, rationing. If we do not want things to get to that point, actions must be taken now.

So save your money, don't buy your symbolic tea. Pay your taxes. Get back to work, and help make America productive again. And as for Fox News, stop sowing the seeds of revolt. Be a responsible media source, and don't tell us that your news reporting is "Fair and Balanced". You have already hoodwinked your pathetic sheep, the rest of us are too smart to listen except when what we hear is so ridiculous that we have no choice but spread some knowledge and useful information.

Fox News: "We report, you decide." I have decided, all glitz, no content.

* For information and data, visit the Government Printing Office (GPO), specifically the data for FY2009.

** Full-employment should not imply a situation where every eligible worker looking for work has a job, instead it occurs when there is no cyclical unemployment (those who are unemployed due to a "shrinking economy"). Those who are unemployed during full-employment are due to frictional unemployment (those in between jobs usually due to some "friction" between the employer and employee - perhaps something as simple as seeking better opportunity), seasonal unemployment (those whose jobs only exist a certain times of year, such as lifeguards), and structural unemployment (those who are out of work because their skills are now obsolete due to advances in technology).

May 6, 2008 - Primary Day

I know I wanted to start posting more, but I get so busy with actually living my life that I don't have too much time to write about it, although April was a better month for posting than it had been for a while. Well, May is here and the weather is awesome. My parents were here this past weekend for Brendan's birthday party. It is hard to believe that he is five! What is also harder to believe is the Lightning McQueen balloon from his birthday party last year is still floating in Peter & Katie's dining room. I have never known a balloon to have a 1st birthday!

School is starting to wind down which means the pressure starts to heat up. Many students know that they have to really turn it on to do better but continue to struggle with the temptation to enjoy the nice weather too much. That is, the weather is infectious, the students can think of nothing more than leisure, summer break, hanging out, and definitely not school work. Any struggle I fought earlier this semester was just the warm up to the antics I am going to have to control for the next several weeks. On the other hand, I am determined to do a better job of handling it this year than last. Last year (May 14th to be precise) I allowed my passion to get the best of me and I said something to the class I should not, and I was called out for it (see post May 16, 2007). I know that I am just as passionate, but the bad taste of that event lingers on my tongue, and probably always will. As with most lessons I have learned the hard way at work, I will let students fail before I risk my reputation and credibility to try and motivate them. If there is one lesson I learned it is to not put my career on the line for the sake of my job. That is, I will not say or do anything, regardless of the degree of passion, that will cause me to be called into the Principal's office again. Sounds weird but I learned that the only person truly looking out for me, is me. And if that means allowing students to fall through the cracks, then so be it. I don't want to do that, but I cannot allow myself to get angry or even upset, I must persevere and let the chips fall where they may. Not the attitude you want from a teacher, but what can I say, I have 17 more years at this job, I want to keep it as an option.

Today was the primary election in North Carolina. It has been a long time since the NC primary actually meant something to presidential hopefuls. Since our primary is so late, by this time both parties have usually eliminated all competitors save the one nominee. But this year, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are running close enough where every delegate counts, and it is likely that the Democrat candidate will be decided by the so-called "Super Delegates." (see NPR.org for the low-down on delegate counts, Super Delegate counts, and results state-by-state for both Democrats and Republicans). Evan came with me to the poll today. It is his second election, we voted in 2006. Although there were no Kids Voting ballots for the primary, I allowed Evan to bubble in my sheet for me, the way I told him to. He even put the ballot in the ballot box, he was very excited and proud to wear his "I Voted" sticker for the rest of the day.

Today, Republican hopeful, John McCain came down on Senator Obama for voting against the appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts. To me it sounds like McCain is courting the Court, just in case he needs them to decide the election like Bush in 2000.

August 7, 2007

Early this morning, my sister had Rotator Cuff Surgery. I spoke to her around 11am. She was still quite groggy and slurring her words. It was allowed to be funny because she still didn't feel any pain from the surgery. She is going to stay at least a few nights at our parents' house since Eric will have to go to work and Ag won't be able to do much on her own yet. Since my grandfather is still in the hospital there won't be any overcrowding in the house!

I found this article rather interesting yesterday. Rudi Guiliani's daughter will be supporting Barack Obama in the upcoming elections. According to her Facebook page, Caroline does not want her father to win the presidential election.


The temperatures here have been through the roof. It is 10:45pm here and it is still 90 degrees! You know you are in for a hot day when it is above 80 degrees at 8am. I thought I would beat the heat and tack up the wires for the speakers I installed on the deck. By noon I was back inside changing out of soaked clothes. I was soaked through to my underwear - not a pleasant feeling! It is difficult because after I drop Evan off at school, it is already after 9. I try to run any errands before coming home. So if I get home around 10:30 - 11:00am this week it is already too hot to get anything done outside. And next week will be out because I have to be back a week before the workdays thanks to the senior class who decided that it would be the best time to get the newly inaugurated "Senior Wall" completed. Ever since I signed on as advisor for the class of 2008, new events have been added to the responsibilities of the classes thereby adding to the responsibilities of the advisors. I am not sure I would have taken on the task had all these chores been in place when I signed on. But, this is the last year coming up. I have had several different co advisors, I guess I was the only one foolish enough to persevere through it all.

July 21, 2007

It is decided. The winner of the crappiest actor ever award is.... Hayden Christensen. You know, Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3. His range of emotion include: 1) comatose and 2) whiny b!tch. That's all, end of story, good night.

And so it has begun. I got an email from the chairman of the Republican party. He has already began the "flip-flopping" fight. This time he is accusing Barack Obama of changing his mind on Iraq. Here is the email:

Last week, you helped us remind Hillary Clinton of her political calculations on Iraq. Her top Democrat rival, Barack Obama, has been running as a candidate for change. Perhaps now it's time to remind everyone of his changing positions on Iraq, as well.
Today, Obama supported legislation requiring most U.S. troops to be out of Iraq by April 30, 2008.

But in 2004, Obama said that a quick withdrawal from Iraq would be "a slap in the face" to the troops. And in 2006, he said that he did "not believe that setting a date certain for the total withdrawal of U.S. troops [was] the best approach to achieving" our goals. [click here to see videos]

In May of this year, Obama promised to provide critical funding for the troops. His exact words:

"[W]hat you don't want to do is to play chicken with the President, and create a situation in which, potentially, you don't have body armor, you don't have reinforced Humvees, you don't have night-vision goggles."

Then, just weeks later, he voted against the emergency Iraq spending bill that would have provided critical funds for body armor, mine resistant vehicles, and to help combat IEDs.

By his own admission, Obama understands that our enemies will wait us out in Iraq.
But, with today's comments, it seems clear that he's more concerned with pandering to the left wing of the party than standing by his previous statements.
Contact Obama here, and ask him to put the security of the nation and the safety of our troops above politics.

I am SO tired of this Republican rhetoric. So I actually sent an email to Senator Obama.

Mr. Obama,

Today I received an email from Mike Duncan, chairman of the RNC. He asked me to email you regarding your "change" of position on Iraq. He cited your stance in speeches in 2004 and in 2006. But I think it is Mr. Duncan who is missing the point. People change as circumstances change, and the circumstances in Iraq have certainly changed in Iraq since 2004 and 2006. As a result, I am emailing you today to tell you, contrary to Mr. Duncan's request, to be bold and vote for a change. It is not a question of whether you have changed you opinion, but instead it is whether the situation in Iraq has changed. Keep up the good work and keep up the fight.

Matthew P. Caggia
Registered Independent

Need I say more?

I also picked up my copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Now, if any one I know out there is reading it, please note, I have not yet finished re-reading all of the previous 6 books. So I am asking you not to tell me what happens in book 7! The suspense is killing me, but hopefully that will be more incentive to read faster!