Editorial Cartoon courtesy of Steve Benson

Editorial Cartoon courtesy of Clay Bennett

Vouchers are a Scam: The War on Public Education has to Stop.

Excellent article from EJ Montini of the Arizona Republic on how private school voucher legislation that is being promoted in this state and across the country are scams that only help the rich. Instead of writing laws that target specific income groups, these laws allocate amounts that come nowhere close to the full tuition costs at private schools. What is does do is offer a tuition break for rich or upper-middle-class families who either can or can not afford to send their child to a private school and welcome the tax break to improve their situation? This will do little to help those lower or middle-class families who still have to come up with the difference in paying for their child's tuition and it will be both an enrollment and financial drain on both traditional and charter public schools who will suffer if this legislation is passed. The war on public education has to stop and people need to come together and move that institution forward; not subsidize the greed of the one percent and their supporters in legislatures across the country.


http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2017/03/31/montini-school-vouchers-arizona-legislature/99858948/

Another Progressive Idea: SAVE OUR PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Interesting article below on how citizens in a county in Oregon did not vote on a small tax increase that would have helped fund public libraries. We need public libraries. These are the institutions where children, outside of school. learn to read. These are the institutions, where people who need internet access, go to browse and work. These are the institutions, that promote summer and year-long programs for all groups that appeal to the local community. Libraries serve a Public Good and people need to be educated that a small tax increase to fund them can go a long way in moving our country forward.

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/03/douglas_county_libraries_to_cl.html

http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/04/community-centered-23-reasons-why-your-library-is-the-most-important-place-in-town/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2013/01/16/why-public-libraries-matter-and-how-they-can-do-more/#47d7f52069be

Progressive Idea for the Week: Local, state, and federal infrastructure banks

Funded by gasoline, utility, and ticket/toll sales taxes, these banks, at local, state, and federal levels, can use receipts to fund infrastructure projects on our roads, railways, shipping lanes, electric and energy grids, and airports on a continual and sustainable basis. There are parts of the country that are in disrepair and need immediate attention. There are airports and railways around the world that make us look like we are a nineteenth-century country. This would be a way to generate funds and also put people to work, especially from population centers where there are depressed job markets like those in coal country.

Book of the Week

The book of the week is a historical biography of former Vice President Hubert Humphrey called Hubert Humphrey: A Biography by Carl Solberg. While Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson rightfully get credit for programs in Civil Rights, the Peace Corp, and Medicare, it was Mayor and then Senator Humphrey who, in many cases, was the force behind them. His only misfortunes were running against two individuals (Kennedy in 1960 and Nixon in 1968) whose teams used questionable methods to earn the Presidency and being Vice President for Lyndon Johnson when Johnson wanted a lap dog instead of a counselor on the subject of Vietnam. If not for Vietnam, it may be Nixon who people have scant memories of instead of this liberal lion who many wonder what might have been had he won and continued his Predecessor's Progressive policies. A must read for progressives who want to be inspired.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/opinion/27Perlstein.html

Editorial Cartoon courtesy of Chris Riddell