The arch-conservative billionaire Koch Brothers have unleashed campaign ads against Lt. Governor Ralph Northam in the Virginia governor’s race.
The Washington Post reported that the Koch Brothers have spent nearly $3 Million Against Northam.
“Americans for Prosperity, the heart of the billionaire Koch Brothers’ conservative political network, plans to ramp up its campaign against Ralph Northam, the Democrat in Virginia’s governor’s race.
“The conservative group announced Friday that it would spend at least $1 million on mailers and digital ads targeting Northam’s record on taxes, education and economic development.
“It follows at least $1.8 million in anti-Northam television commercials and mailers to date, according to data collected by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. The group also says it has contacted hundreds of thousands of Virginia voters through its phone-banking and canvassing efforts…
“Americans for Prosperity is also launching a digital video featuring a charter school administrator criticizing Northam for voting against a bill to establish “educational savings accounts” that allow parents who remove children from public schools to receive 90 percent of the state funding that would have been spent on their child. They would be able to use the funds for private-school tuition, tutoring, books and other educational costs. Critics say such accounts are similar to vouchers in that they drain resources from public schools.”
The Koch Brothers despise public education and are eager to elect a governor who will promote the DeVos agenda of school privatization via charters and vouchers.
If you live in Virginia and you love your local public school, get active in the campaign for Ralph Northam.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I live in Virginia, and I am supporting Gillespie. ESAs take financial resources away from publicly-operated schools. Since parents who have the ESAs remove their children from the public schools, and enroll the children in alternate schools, the ESA program also takes students out of the public school system. When the ESA is at the 90% level, the public school system still gets 10% of the per-pupil expenditures, even though the students have departed.
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If your wet dream ever does come true (heaven forbid) and 90% of kids are in “choice” schools, the public schools will still need far more than 10% of the funding because those 10% of kids are going to be the hardest ones to educate – the ones that all those great and wonderful “miracle” schools won’t touch with a 39 and a half foot pole.
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I do not get your reasoning. The state of Indiana, has the highest (per-capita) participation of any school-choice state. The rate is about 3(three)per cent. That means that 97% of Indiana school children, are attending publicly-operated schools.
You are also ignoring the fact, that some (NOT ALL) parents of special-needs/learning disabled children, will be sending their children to non-public schools (with voucher/ESA support).
Your scenario is implausible.
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Children with disabilities surrender their rights when they go to a voucher school.
DeVos is trying to eliminate those rights so no one is protected.
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I disagree. Parents who enroll special-needs children in non-public schools, have different protections, than the public schools offer. See
http://www.smartkidswithld.org/getting-help/know-your-childs-rights/private-schools-and-idea/
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Charles, you are quite the voucher troll. Read the first sentence.
Private and religious schools can simply say, “Sorry, we can’t meet the needs of your child, go back to public schools, which are mandated by law to meet his needs. We are not.”
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“You are also ignoring the fact, that some (NOT ALL) parents of special-needs/learning disabled children, will be sending their children to non-public schools (with voucher/ESA support).”
Very, very few, thank you. It’s well documented that the vast majority of choice schools cream against students with disabilities/special needs. Public schools have much, much higher percentages of kids with disabilities, and those kids with disabilities admitted to choice schools are usually the least disabled (a mild learning disability, for instance, compared to a kid with full-on cognitive/developmental impairment who will be left to the public school). And even once admitted, as Diane indicates, kids with special needs can (and usually are) booted back to the public schools rather quickly. It’s simply ridiculous to think that voucher schools want to accept a $5,000 voucher for a kid who’s going to cost upwards of $20,000 to educate.
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Dienne,
Re vouchers and kids with disabilities. It is not simply exclusion or push outs. The federal IDEA law does not apply to religious and private schools. Children with disabilities surrender their rights when they leave the public schools.
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No one is suggesting that all non-public schools accept all applicants. That is absurd. Not everyone who applies to an elite Ivy League college is accepted. So what?
There are many non-public schools, which accept learning-disabled children. Virginia has many fine (non-public) schools to serve this sector of the state’s children see
Click to access directory.pdf
And we have discussed the cost differential before. Of course a voucher of $5k will not pay the tuition of a school that charges $20k. Of course.
BUT- Non-public schools can charge fees on a sliding-scale, and absorb part of the costs. Schools can offer partial scholarships, to assist families in meeting costs. And families can possibly obtain financial assistance from third parties, like NGOs. And voucher payments can be adjusted, to provide families, with special needs children with additional funding to meet the costs. (Currently, public schools must spend additional resources on special needs children in the public schools. It follows, that if a special needs children were to receive a voucher, that the voucher payment could be increased accordingly.
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You compare public schools, which are free and universal, to Ivy League Colleges?
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Q You compare public schools, which are free and universal, to Ivy League Colleges? END Q
I am doing no such thing. First, public schools are NOT free. They are operated by governments using tax dollars. Also, not all publicly-operated schools take all applicants. The Kentucky school for the Deaf, is a public school that does not accept all applicants. see http://www.ksd.k12.ky.us/
I do make a comparison between non-public K-12 schools and non-public universities. Not all private schools accept all applicants, not all private universities accept all applicants.
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Yes, Diane, telling, isn’t it? In Charles’ mind (sic), the only children worthy of a K-12 education are the “best and the brightest”.
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When school choice programs become more widespread across this nation, I can see some interesting things start to happen.
I foresee, that there will be the appearance of “boutique” schools. When parents/students are able to opt-out of government-run, publicly-operated schools, different types of schools are going to emerge.
We may see schools for the arts, school for gifted/talented, more military schools, additional schools for learning-disabled and handicapped children, etc.
Because with choice, comes more choices.
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All those schools already operate within the public sector.
What you want is bandit schools, run by crooks to steal taxpayer dollars.
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Q Private and religious schools can simply say, “Sorry, we can’t meet the needs of your child, go back to public schools, which are mandated by law to meet his needs. We are not.” END Q
What you say is quite true. Not all non-public schools have the resources and staff to adequately serve the needs of learning-disabled and special needs children. So what? If these children are better served in public schools, then fine. The KY school for the deaf, serves the needs of hearing-impaired children, more adequately than the public schools in the community.
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“We may see schools for the arts, school for gifted/talented, more military schools, additional schools for learning-disabled and handicapped children, etc.”
What the hell rock have you been living under? We’ve had all of those kinds of schools for decades now.
Incidentally, why would having separate schools for “learning-disabled and handicapped children” be a good thing?
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Q the only children worthy of a K-12 education are the “best and the brightest”. END Q
That is an out-and-out falsehood. I have strongly supported providing adequate education for ALL children. Especially, the special-needs and learning disabled. (I am a qualified sign-language interpreter).
I support ALL children receiving the education to meet their potential. This includes the gifted/talented as well.
A person can support education for the learning-disabled, and the exceptional simultaneously.
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Charles,
Today you must be on vacation as you are flooding the blog with tprepetitive comments. Stop.
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Your words, Charles: “No one is suggesting that all non-public schools accept all applicants. That is absurd. Not everyone who applies to an elite Ivy League college is accepted. So what?”
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Q What the hell rock have you been living under? We’ve had all of those kinds of schools for decades now.
Incidentally, why would having separate schools for “learning-disabled and handicapped children” be a good thing?
END Q
Of course, specialty schools have been around for many years. The problem is, that not all families can AFFORD to pay the tuition and costs to attend (non-public) specialty schools. Only the wealthy, can afford to pay school taxes, and also meet the costs of alternate schooling.
And- Sometimes it is appropriate for learning-disabled and special needs children, to attend schools, which are more appropriate to their needs. Kentucky has an excellent school for the deaf. Many states have residence schools for the blind. Some (not all) disabled children can attend more “mainstream” schools. The important concept, is match the educational experience that is appropriate to the child. If this can be accomplished in a residence setting, then fine.
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Mark Twain said it best: “Ah, heavens and earth, friend, if you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could to-day.”
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Greg, far better than my passing thought about a stopped clock.
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I would suggest, that people who cannot see the freight train of school choice barreling down the tracks, are the ones who are ignorant.
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Yes, that is what you say to someone with an assault weapon mowing down innocent people in Las Vegas. Your fault, folks, you should have taken cover or worn a bulletproof proof vest and helmet.
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Did he really say they should have taken cover?
My first reaction: what an idiot he is.
The shooter was shooting down on an open music festival from high up in a hotel. In an environment like that, there aren’t enough places to provide cover and protection for that many people, and panic from being shot at with automatic weapons gets in the way of rational, logical thought.
That is why the Marines spend so much time brutally training (with an emphasis on brutally) their troops to become non-thinking, non-questioning killing machines so when the bullets and bombs start to fly and explode, our bodies automatically, without thought, do what they were trained to do to survive and fight on.
Since less than 7 percent of Americans served in the military and were in combat, that means 93 percent of Americans were never trained for this situation. When the adrenalin hits, your body goes into fight or flight mode. You have little or no control over that reaction.
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Lloyd,
I was responding to a stupid remark by Charles:
“I would suggest, that people who cannot see the freight train of school choice barreling down the tracks, are the ones who are ignorant.”
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I think Charles is from Whacky Race watcher generation. All I can imagine is a Dastardly being run over by the rest of contenders while his sidekick was snickering at him.
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Hey, Charles.
Congratulations. If you are for Ed Gillespie, then you are for racism and white supremacy. There’s just no way around it.
You are part of the problem.
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I put up with a lot of things here. I do not support racism and white supremacy. No way.
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Charles,
You can’t vote for a candidate who uses racist and white supremacist appeals to win and claim that you don’t support that. You do.
If it didn’t bother you at all when a candidate appeals to racists and white supremacists, then you are supporting it.
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cross posted at, https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Virginia-Koch-Brothers-La-in-General_News-Agenda_Campaign-Advertising_Campaign-Contributions_Campaign-Promises-171023-307.html#comment677205
Our schools are under attack and the people need to watch what is happening. The demolition of Americna education is taking out our schools state by state– but “Over the past three decades, public schools have been the target of a systematic assault and takeover by corporations and private foundations. The endeavor is called “school reform” by its advocates, while critics call it corporate school ‘reform!’ ”
Pure Orwellian!
The EDUCATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. owns the media… all of it! The news media will not tell you of the enormous coordinated assault on the 15,880 SEPARATE SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN 52 STATES. Thespeed is dizzying!
The NPE IS the place where the people CAN KNOW what ishappening with charters… for example.
Go to my series here at Oped, and look at what the legislatures have done” I get my links at the RAVITCH BLOG.
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Last I checked, there were only fifty(50) states. Hawaii was admitted in 1959. Where are these two other states?
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When will these Koch brothers be exposed for what they are? Power, money, greed!
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To continue your thought. “Power, money, greed, desiring an xtian fundie evangelical caliphate.”
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No, the Kochs don’t want to pay taxes. They want to keep all their money and give nothing to the government.
They are not Christians. They don’t ask WWJD?
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They certainly claim to be xtians.
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The Koch’s ask WW JD?
It’s just that the J stands for Judas in their case.
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I would be very happy to limit all contributions to $27 a person . But money will not be what determines this race. So perhaps when the message for decades has been both parties are the same . At a time that Americans are not very confident that their children will have a middle class standard of living . It is up to the party of the people to prove they are different . That is certainly not happening.
I do not need a lecture that tells me what there is to lose , nor pointing out that there is a big difference as to how much harm will be done. I am watching it happen . I am not the one they have to convince. So they are doing such a good job , keep up the good work you probably have my vote .
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/democrat-has-twice-as-much-cash-in-va-governors-race-recovering-from-costly-primary/2017/09/16/65c543be-9a45-11e7-82e4-f1076f6d6152_story.html?utm_term=.53250ee19cfa
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/virginia/articles/2017-08-22/billionaires-group-pledges-2m-in-virginia-governors-race
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One thing is certain: if Gillespie should win (God forbid), the Confederate statutes will be safe.
Not the schools. Not the children. Not the adults who need healthcare.
But dammit, nobody will touch them statues! They are sacred. Not people.
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Fairfax has a high school named after Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart. The county school board has decided to rename the school. The cost is going to exceed $1 million dollars. see
https://patch.com/virginia/fallschurch/removing-confederate-name-would-cost-school-1m-board-emails
Would it not be more appropriate to use this ONE MILLION DOLLARS to pay a living wage to teachers, and provide a quality education to students?
Political correctness has gotten out of hand!
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Only time I ever heard you say that teachers should be paid more.
Did you know that there are no statues to Hitler, Himmler, or Goebbels in Germany?
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The statues will be safe but the statutes won’t.
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Charles, maybe you might pause to think about why they named the school after J.E.B. Stuart in 1959 in the first place. Do you happen to know what was going on in the Southern states in 1959?
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Just because I did not state this before, does not mean that I do not believe it. I certainly support teachers receiving adequate compensation.
I lived in Germany for two(2) years. I never saw any statues to General Rommel, or any of the individuals you cite.
General Lee was personally opposed to the construction of monuments to the War between the States. see
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/robert-e-lee-opposed-confederate-monuments
I find his reasoning quite persuasive. Most nations which have experienced civil conflict, do not erect monuments celebrating their pain.
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Exactly.
I went to a jr high school in Houston named for a Southern General: Albert Sidney Johnston. It is gone, as is the memory of him. Good riddance!
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Diane: let us hope and pray that never happens, that NAZI heroes are celebrated. But trends for awhile there in Europe had me worried that hatred and xenophobia had replaced measured German contemplation of what went on to produce the national socialist appeal in the thirties. These statues have not appeared. Yet.
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Charles
Charles more BS the last three Items on the list, 2/3 % of the costs are items that get replaced on a regular basis . But you know the whole thing is BS when they lose 250,000 dollars from the million .
The only thing that has to be replaced is the fixed structural items the drum can get pounded on at a few more parades. And the stationary will oxidize by next semester (LOL) .
But Diane
The statues will draw out the racist vote . Who draws out the youth vote , the black vote and the working class vote . When I say working class, I do not mean the guy with dirt under his nails alone. I mean all sorts of people with multiple degrees who will make less than their parents with dirt under their nails .
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JEB Stuart contributed to the Confederate loss of the Battle of Gettysburg, which was the turning point in the Civil War.
So it’s really not clear why even hard core Confederate lovers would want to commemorate him.
He was a loser any way you look at it.
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Q maybe you might pause to think about why they named the school after J.E.B. Stuart in 1959 in the first place. Do you happen to know what was going on in the Southern states in 1959? END Q
I cannot state with precision, why the school board chose the name of Gen. Stuart. Virginians have a passion about history, that sometimes crosses the line.
I was only 4 years old in 1959, but I am knowledgeable about the general conditions of the time under consideration.
I find it interesting, that although Stuart high school is going to get a name change, there is very little interest in changing the name of Robert E. Lee High school, here in Fairfax.
Thomas Jefferson (slaveholder), and George Washington (slaveholder) also have schools named for them in Fairfax. Not much interest in changing their names.
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Re Washington and Jefferson: they never participated in a rebellion against their own country. Did you know that?
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Quite beside the point, there is an elementary school near here named Robert E Lee. He was a local prominent educator, well remembered by many who,are living. Whether he was named for the general I cannot say.
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Oh, please, Charles. In a school system like Fairfax, where teachers are already well-paid, how far will less than $1 million go toward salaries?
Answer: not fae at all.
Is this the kind of ‘thinking’ you specialize in?
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I just find it a little odd, that the school board is changing the name of J.E.B. Stuart High School, and NOT changing the name of Robert E. Lee High School.
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Charles, “According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), there are at least 109 public schools named after Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis or other Confederate icons in the United States. Aug 30, 2017”
Are there any public schools in the United States named after another traitor known as Benedict Arnold?
Are there any public schools in the Christian world named after Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus Christ?
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Q Re Washington and Jefferson: they never participated in a rebellion against their own country. Did you know that? END Q
I disagree. Washington and Jefferson were subjects of the British Empire, when they participated in the American Revolution. I consider that a rebellion against their own country.
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Charles,
I assume there are no statues to Washington and Jefferson in Great Britain. They are American Founders and patriots. Unlike JEB Stuart and other Confederates, they never led a rebellion against this country, their country, our country.
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I hope we reach a point where the people get so sick of representation by corporate shills, the no amount of money from billionaires will sway them. They will vote for democracy.
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“Money will not determine who wins”
Only if you pretend that it is only the money spent by candidates directly and exclude what is spent by billionaires via PACs and other groups.
Only if you exclude owning the media so that the dishonest right wing attacks get leverage they shouldn’t.
Only if you exclude putting the fear of criticism in the so-called liberal media so they bend over backward to give legitimacy to people who deserve none.
Case in point: Lying and corrupt John Kelly.
Money matters. But not just in direct campaign contributions.
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How do voucher states stack up to non-voucher states?
If this really isn’t ideological but is instead about “great schools” wouldn’t one want to compare?
Also- despite ed reformers denying it for 20 years everyone who said we’d all end up with vouchers was exactly right.
They’re all pushing vouchers now- exactly as pro-public school people predicted.
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What are the substantive differences between the ed reform “movement” agenda and the agenda of the Koch brothers?
There’s not a dime’s worth of difference. They’re basically quibbling over how to regulate privatized systems.
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If I may correct your last thought: “They’re basically quibbling over how NOT to regulate privatized systems.”
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So Osborne, the “liberal” ed reformer, wants private contractors to run schools and the Koch Brothers, the “conservative” ed reformers, want private contractors to run schools- they just differ on the mix of contractors.
The Koch brothers would include religious group contractors while Osborne would exclude religious schools.
I don’t even know why they bother having two sides. They should join together. They probably already are.
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Democrats in Louisiana and Pennsylvania won on a platform of support for public schools.
Maybe more of them should try it. Maybe they’d win once in a while.
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The Abandonment of public schools has been a political disaster for Democrats. The only reason they support charters is to get Wall Street money.
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Democrats have lost over 1,000 state seats since they embraced partial privatization (charter schools)
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It would make voting a helluva lot easier for most people if the ballots were printed like this
For governor
1) The billionaire’s candidate
2) the candidate attacked by the billionaire
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Love this!
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I am very BOTHERED by elections in this country. Campaign money flowing into a state’s election from out of state corporations and even single donors DOES NOT a DEMOCRACY make.
I write to these yahoos that I LIVE OUT OF STATE and tell them that what they are doing is neither democratic nor civil. Makes me sick. I bet no one reads my letters back to them, but it makes me feel good.
So someone and/or a corp, which does not reside here in my state can influence state and local elections? This is just WRONG.
And now, the Russians “have” our elections. OMG.
This country is defintely “GRATING” from paltering and gerrymandering https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/01/this-is-the-best-explanation-of-gerrymandering-you-will-ever-see/?utm_term=.0ebafbba6ff9.
CUI BONO? Answer: NOT the vast majority of citizens in this country, but instead “MONIED” interests. This is NOT democracy at work, but “monied” interests at work. SICK.
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@Yvonne: What you are saying is that you oppose free speech. People from other states, have every right to speak out on elections in other states.
Consider the upcoming referendum of the expansion of ESAs in the state of Arizona. A huge amount of money is flowing into the state, both pro and con. Since you are opposed to school choice, would you feel right in restricting the speech against this expansion?
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I would be happy to ban out-of-State money in Arizona referendum on vouchers.
Right now, the voucher crowd is trying to derail the vote because they know they will lose.
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So money = speech? Then I guess some people are entitled to more speech than others, including “people” who aren’t even people. The fact that you (and the U.S. Supreme Court) can’t see (or maybe just don’t care) how antithetical to democracy that is is very telling.
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So the citizens United decision becomes a cornerstone of our republican form of government? We went through the Guilded age, guided by senators who were blatant about their vote, which was for sale. Can we at least agree that the ability to buy the same air time as the bully pulpit calls for some serious evaluation about freedom of speech? If I cannot call out “fire!” In a crowded theater, why should it be considered free speech to call out panic words on social media which cause wider intellectual stampede? Money buys too much noise for it to be equated to a man on a street corner.
We are in definite need for an adjustment to the dialogue that characterizes modern political debate. Not too many years ago, a news reporter who fabricated a story would almost certainly lose his job. Now fabrication is rampant, and no one is held accountable. We know that big money buys fake news. What is wrong with tracking that money and making the price for fake news very high?
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If money is speech and the First Amendment guarantees free speech, I just have one question.
Where do I go to collect?
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“The Fir$t Amendment”
If money is speech
And speech is free
Then money to each
We guarantee
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Q I would be happy to ban out-of-State money in Arizona referendum on vouchers. END Q
Are you serious? Would you seriously ban free speech? What other rights are you opposed to?
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I think the best thing to do is to do precisely what Diane is doing: expose who is behind the funding of candidates.
Most people are simply unaware, but I suspect that if they did know that out of state billionaires were funding a particular candidate and attacking the opposing candidate, they would be much less likely to vote for them.
The last thing these billionaires want is exposure. That’s why they go to great lengths to launder their campaign contributions through PACs, think tanks and other organizations.
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Exactly. When the Dark Money was exposed in Massachusetts, it backfired on the zeal Street financiers, Waltons, etc.
I can’t 7nderstand why it hasn’t backfired everywhere they go to buy elections.
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Charles, your brain is so dead it stopped thinking on its own decades ago.
“The Koch Brothers despise public education and are eager to elect a governor who will promote the DeVos agenda of school privatization via charters and vouchers.”
The Koch brothers despise the U.S.Constitution and everything it represents. If they supported that constitution, why do they want to rewrite it to fit their own thinking?
Charles and David Koch are anti-American and anyone that supports the world they want is our “enemy” in the strictest sense of that word.
“Koch Convention to Rewrite Constitution Runs Into Roadblocks”
https://www.prwatch.org/news/2017/06/13254/koch-convention-rewrite-constitution-roadblocks
“ALEC Push for Constitutional Convention Hits a Roadblock of Infighting, Legal Questions”
http://billmoyers.com/story/alec-constitutional-convention/
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We all need to rid the Koch bros out of the system as soon as possible. We now have two governing bodies in this country including Washington, DC and the billionaires club. The billionaires are spending their money influencing political elections and this is a problem. Scott Walker is a troll of the Koch bros. and look what the troll has done to the poor people of Wisconsin! We need a rally in this country to rid the Koch bros of their will and ways. Wake up people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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OT…the Kochs are attacking Indiana’s Democratic Senator (who is likely to be replaced with a Rep come 2018) as well. They’re using the tax-reform ploy…as if the Republican Tax plan was anything other than more “trickle down…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXlU-noP0DU
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Here’s a Rule of Thumb for voting in these days of Citizens United Big Money: Vote for the person who has been the target of the greatest number ads because you can count on the fact that Big Money Interests are behind the flood of negative ads, no matter what those tag lines at the end of the ads say.
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I’m trying. I plan on voting democratic. I have stated so on Facebook. But what you said that the Koch Brothers are trying to do…..it just isn’t fair. I am hoping we can make it. I am not only depressed because my colleague lost her mom in a fire, and the autistic girl in my class is so hard to handle, but this makes me doubly depressed.
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