trump often says that the President is not covered by conflict of interest law. Try this one on: the New York Times reports that the Trump Organization is closing two new deals on Indonesia for super-luxury hotels. Having the president of the US as CEO should help the deals get through the red tape.
Did he run for President to make more money for himself and his family?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
When did Trump ever do anything except get more money for himself and his family? He has no respect for those who are struggling or poor.
Indonesia is a beautiful country and it deserves better.
There is a Trump building downtown Chicago. I had wanted to have lunch there before I learned what a degraded person he is.
How long will it take his supporters to realize that they’ve been suckered?
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How long will it take for Littlefingers Donald Trump’s supporters to wake up and realize they have been fooled?
According to Abraham Lincoln, some of them will never wake up.
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How many ways can one say, Yes? I think one of the reasons Trump admires Putin so much is because Putin figured out how to rise from a KGB agent in Dresden to, as some have argued, become the wealthiest man in the world. The secrecy of Putin’s wealth has great parallels in the Trump tax disclosure issue.
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I hope that there is a non-stop flow of reports highlighting the conflicts of interest and wheeling/dealing of Trump and his children who appear to be central players in the Trump Organization. Trump’s railing at the press and the media will continue, but his wheeling and dealing must be disclosed with attention to irrefutable facts.
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Diane: I have thought for a long time that Trump and his family, including his children and his present wife, know no other way to think besides making business deals–and so they think everyone else REALLY thinks the same way.
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Note that charter chain CEO Carl Icahn, identified as an advisor to Trump on regulatory affairs, is a player in the deal.
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Icahn has a charter chain? Please fill us in with details.
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Icahn’s charter chain is in NYC. They are based on ED Hirsch’s Core Knowledge curriculum
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Thanks for the info, Diane!
Didn’t know he had found another way to rip off the taxpayers.
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Diane: Here are some interesting quotes from a one-page “The Financial Page” in The New Yorker, Dec. 5, 2016. The article is about “Trump Sets Private Prisons Free” and speaks of “the perversities of profit-driven prison policy.” The similarities to privatization of education is obvious:
“Donald Trump’s victory changed all that” (the plummeting stock prices of private federal prisons) “within days” Corrections Corporation of America’s “stock had jumped forty-seven per cent. His faith in privatization is no secret, and prison companies aren’t the only ones rubbing their hands. The stock price of for-profit schools has also rocketed.” . . . “Trump’s hard-line position on immigration seems certain to fill detention centers, one of the biggest money spinners for private-prison operators.”
A two decade trend is “fueled by a belief in the superior efficiency of the private sector” . . . Studies are varied, but “further studies suggest that any savings are likely the result of cutting corners” . . and some studies found that “private ones avoid taking sick and elderly inmates since health care is a huge expense for prisons. They employ a younger and less well trained, and less well paid workforce and have higher inmate-to-guard ratios, all of which save money but also makes prisons more dangerous. . . .
“When you consider that the government still spends money monitoring private prisons, and that it’s stuck running the parts of the system that private companies thought were money losers, the case that private prisons save money looks shakey. . . . Even if they did, the ethical cost would be too high. . . . yet outsourcing imprisonment means that treatment of inmates is shaped by bottom-line considerations. This has led to under-staffing, inadequate mental health care, and in some cases, inadequate meals. . . . It’s become common to speak of ‘the prison-industrial complex’ . . . “
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http://www.icahncharterschools.org
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Thanks, Joe!
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Will this group continue to replay the election and not accept reality or will you return to your objective of improving public education?
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TOM,
It is my blog and I write whatever I want.
The election of a man who knows nothing about public education and who chose a religious zealot as Secretary of Education will affect American education.
Do you not see this?
I don’t tell people how to teach. My readers know more about that than I do. I tell them about the context in which they are trying their best to do their work. I connect people across the nation who care about public education and do not want it yo be privatized.
Do you understand? If you are looking for pedagogical tips, you came to the wrong place.
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The president of the United States is supposed to be a role model for students, hence the classic statement, ‘You could be president some day.’
He or she should at least signal positive guidance at the state and local levels for education and provide further support and guidance at the federal level. Okay, Obama did about the worst things possible, but Trump’s evil clown / King Midas act is utterly deleterious to education in itself and translates to equally awful policy.
This is about education. Many states and cities are taking over the reins from the insane deformers, but now we are facing a broader, dumber, more flagrant and outrageous type of insanity.
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Unfortunately those state department of eds are filled with stout believers (either that or they are just cheaply bought whoredogs) in the standards and testing punishment regime. Name one state dept of ed that has not gone along with the standards, testing and punishment regime.
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Christie is a great role model for good behavior on the state level.
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Vermont has reservations.
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You are engaged in wishful thinking if you think Trump has any interest being a model for children. He is “teaching” children and teens that it is OK to engage in bullying. Meanwhile public schools are dealing with explicit federal recommendations and rules on bullying. (Of course, these rules were promulgated under Arne Duncan, who was perfectly capable of being a bully).
Trump is not even close to being a model for kids.
He does not care about the fall-out.
http://safesupportiveschools.ed.gov/index.php?id=01
http://www.stopbullying.gov
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True that, Duane. However, I score ESSA as a success in the battle to peel the power-onion back to the municipal level, whence taxpayer support for schools emanates. Public pressure against unpopular state education mandates can feasibly be organized & brought to bear on state legislators & govr, where it is nearly out of reach when dealing w/ fed DOEd mandates.
The struggle will be much harder in poorer states, as well as in the poorest areas of every state. In those red states where right-wingers have a super-majority, the likeliest scenario is that state govt will push the ed-envelope so far against the public good that the tide will turn. There may be some signs of that happening in FL, OH, MI.
In mixed states like my NJ (blue but w/red govr pushing unpop fed mandates on all publics & free-market schemes on poor cities beyond the pale), I expect & welcome a rejuvenating power-boost to OPT-OUT-NJ, Save Our Schools NJ, & the state teachers union.
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bethree5
And that is exactly the argument I heard 20 years ago for why progressive states should go along with Federal tax cuts across the board. Being that they tend to also be the wealthier states contributing to the tax base and would benefit most by keeping money at home.
They want a tea party lets give them one.
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government/2700/
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Lets hear your plan Tom for improving Public education. I would like to see how it gels with what is likely to come out of Washington and the newly emancipated states.
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To answer your question, Diane:
Yes, and he stated that he was going to make money off of his presidential bid. At least he was honest about that. Hell, even a blind and anosmic squirrel gets an acorn every now and then.
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Impeaching Trump
https://www.google.com/amp/m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5869b806e4b0eb586489f3a4/amp?client=safari
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“Did he run for President to make more money for himself and his family?”
Yes. He did.
Pence will assume most of the presidential responsibilities while StubsTrump takes every possible advantage of all the added financial benefits that his new title can bestow upon him. I don’t know about “America”…but he’s sure gonna be doing everything he can to “Make Trump Great!” (Again?…not).
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