so i had this great conversation with my mom today, and this is residue of that----
Well...his campaign was all about "change" and already we have seen that begin. i am a supporter of change in this country and i think he is a fine face to do so..............
but people, can i just say that we are all in "high school of life" and he ran for class president on promises of pizza everyday in the cafeteria, lockers for every student, no dress code, and every other promise that sells EVERY election to naive kids. he cannot change it all--and we are such pawns to his incredible marketing! for example----this week my superintendent held a community forum concerning the budget crisis. parents, teachers and administrators met to discuss the budget cuts and what to do. (side note--i heard that many of the parents suggested teachers getting a pay cut and working harder---IDIOTS--let me go ahead and take a pay cut out of my already meager salary, but are you going to magically create 5-10 more hours in the day so that i can work any harder...JERK). anyway-the budget looks bad-REALLY BAD-- in fact--they have to cut somewhere around $750,000 at our school next year. (yeah-that much).
BUT---Obama to the rescue---(marketing!)---he is going to infuse the schools with billions of dollars next year-(so he says)-and save us all. thank you for that--truly. but if the billion dollars is there for Obama to give, why are we budgeting for a $750,000 cut NOW. because----folks---that is politics for you. they are leading us to believe that the world is ending so that Obama can be the hero. fine. i am not upset about any of this--but it is creating fear and drama at work---see---if we really do end up cutting that much money---myself and quite a few others are out of work.....
i wish that we could all just see through the political games, and run our country the way the founding fathers intended it to be. more than that, i really wish that people would be more Christlike--that would solve it all. i do like Obama, don't get me wrong-but he is in politics. and if you lay down with the dogs, you're gonna get fleas. you know what i mean
i am looking forward to seeing what really will happen. if i lose my job, oh well. i will be sad in some ways-for sure--but at this point---i am just living life one day at a time.
4 years ago
12 comments:
Amen! Someone commented on my blog, "Everything will be better once Obama takes office." I almost shot them. Idiot.
Couldn't agree more.
It is interesting, people thought Bush was doing such a horrible job and Obama is going to "fix" everything, but only time can tell if things will really change. And for that guy who said teachers should take a pay cut and work harder...I'd like to see him do your job for one day, he wouldn't last! I don't know why people think teachers have it easy, they have one of the toughest jobs out there.
OH my gosh! I guess I haven't checked your blog in a while! Congrats!! How exciting for you guys! He is so darling and you look so cute as a mommy! I am so happy for you! Enjoy your newborn!!! ahh, so sweet :)
Amen Tish.. Amen.
Look how great you look! Tanner is such a little cutie. Seriously they should be roommates in college...I already know what kind of things they will talk about...
Those onesies rock.
He's so freaking cute and I like the passed out Tisha with baby boy and doggie.
You are right. It will be very hard for one person at a national level to have such an influence on fiscal policy at the local level especially in programs that are state funded and not federally funded (although they may be subsidized by the federal government) like education. For problems like school funding you can't always look to the federal government because it is a state issue. You would have to start with your school board and local school administrations to see how the level of funding they are getting and if it is adequate. The next level would be the state senate to see how much they have budgeted for the schools and what they are doing with any federal money they are receiving. What is funny about our society is we are quick to blame the federal government for our financial problems but hardly know our elected local representatives that make the decisions that affect our lives financially on a daily basis. We know about federal income taxes because we have to file them each year but what about the other taxes we pay that are usually decided by our local governments. Your property tax, sales tax, and gasoline tax are all examples of taxes that are decided upon by state, municipal, or county legislatures depending on where you live. Few people realize the power that is in local government. So much of our attention is turned to Washington all the time to men and women we will probably never meet when we may not even know the names of the elected officials who live in our community and can have so much influence on our lives. We probably know the names of the Senators from our state but do we know the name of our state senator or the type of legislature our state uses? Get involved in local politics. Your local representative may just live down the street from you.
Be careful about statistics that are shared with you because they can be really hard to put into context, especially dollar amounts. There is a lot of money in the world and while I do not believe bill makers should be given carte blanche the actual scope of a budget is usually beyond the lay person. Here is a small example. I have been working on a bid for a retail chain that wants to put 5 LCD monitors into each of their stores. The monitors cost less than $500 a piece but they will spend $7 million just to buy 5 for each store. Think about what their other expenses must be and it gives an idea about how large budgets can be.
I have Obama fever because of the ideals he is professing. To do business in the light of day. To restore the vital trust between a people and their government. To be an example of freedom and democracy other nations around the world using our resources and might to lead and not just to get away with what we want to do because no one can stop us. To live off of hope, not fear.
I do not know Obama so I cannot personally vouch for him. I am not naive enough to think that this is a perfect man. I do not agree with every single one of his policies but I do believe in those core values he professes. Those values he listed during his inaugural address are what I subscribe to. If he turns into a fallen hero those values will still be truths. That is the direction America must go. American must be great again.
Seriously...parents really suggested that teachers take a pay cut and work harder! The fact that we are teachers means that we already took a pay cut and work harder. If we got paid by the hour we would be millionaires; well maybe not millionaires, but we would seriously be wealthy. But teachers don't become teachers to make money. Sorry, I'm ranting and raving, but it just irratates me when people think we should make less than what we do. Would the parents like to take a pay cut and donate the money to the school??? I think not.
Go Wayne on the eloquent commentary! Like I've always said, CA is a strange beast and the school system, however good in Grass Valley, is not immune to the state's poor economic handling. We really hope you are secure, salary and job-wise. Cross your fingers and say your prayers! BTY, that is a fine picture of a young Obama :)
Well said, Wayne.
Tish, I understand your frustration, but I think it's important to make sure we are laying the blame in the right places.
Here in UT, we are facing incredible fiscal shortages as a state. And not just for the upcoming budget, but for the current budget, for the fiscal year already in progress. This is wholly a state problem - a combination of poor planning and mismanagement of funds.
I don't know why we are suddenly short by so much in the state budget, but it is so bad that they are making across the board cuts to all areas of state government - healthcare, courts, schools, transportation, etc. For example, the state court system is expected to take a 7%(!) cut for the rest of this year, this year that was supposed to already be funded. That turns out to mean that all state court employees may be forced to take a 5 week furlough - that is 5 weeks forced time off, with no pay, before June. Poor state planning.
I don't think Obama will be able to fix every problem that our country and states are now faced with, in part because many of the problems are not within the scope of federal control, and also because no one person can possibly fix all of this, but I support him because I believe that the manner in which he is approaching the problems we are facing as a nation is an approach that will tend toward bringing us together, rather than tearing us apart.
Anyway - this is a scary time for all of us. We grew up in an era of job stability, of mostly flourishing economy, when opportunities were plentiful and education meant certainty for employment and likely prosperity. The American dream was in full swing, wasn't it? And now, I feel almost as if I've been lied to...
well said to all....
Amen to what everyone said! It takes a SPECIAL person to be able to commit themselves so fully to other peoples kids and their education!! (I am definitely NOT that kind of person... so I can fully appreciate those people!) And I'm sorry, but Obama is a person... NOT to be mistaken for a GOD! As such he can only do so much... if he'll actually DO anything at all... that still has yet to be seen.
Besides that, we've gone private with our blog. Please email us at iveyartandsoul@gmail.com for an invite!
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