Obama school address debate is driven by mix of politics and racism and demagoguery

Orland Park School District 135 is giving parents the option to remove their children from participating in a nationwide address that President Barack Obama will be making via the Internet and C-SPAN on Tuesday morning during class.

Obama wants to encourage children to "work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning" The President will also call on students, parents and educators to work together to ensure "every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens."

Right wing fanatics, conservative extremists and the demagogue himself, former Vice President and war criminal Dick Cheney says that the President's goals represent "socialism," you know, the kind that we Americans fought against during World War II and the Cold War and throughout Europe.

Cheney and his ilk say that doing good in school is "socialism?" What a moron. he should be charged with war crimes. The U.S. Attorney's office is slowly winding its way through the criminal actions taken before and during the illegal invasion of Iraq -- which distracted this country from the real enemy in Afghanistan and is forcing our soldiers to face stepped up terrorist threats there today because Bush and Cheney didn't commit enough forces to that country eight years ago.

I remember when Republicans used to say we have to respect Bush whether we like him or not because he is the President of the United States. It's the office and when the president acts, we need to stand by him as a nation. We did that, of course, and over the past five years, we've seen more than 4,000 American soldiers come home in body bags with no real progress against the war on terrorism in Iraq.

Now, of course, the president is a Democrat and an African American, and we are told that he is a "socialist" because he wants to encourage school students to do better in school and to help others to do better.

My son will be listening to President Obama's speech Tuesday. Proudly. I feel sorry for those students who parents will remove their children and don't seem to like a president because a) he's a Democrat, b) because he is Black or c) he wants all students to do well in school. Tragic but symptomatic of the challenge that we face in America where racism, hatred and extremism lingers on from the Bush administration.

The idea was promoted by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who was the Chicago Schools CEO before being appointed to the national post.

If you are interested, you can watch the speech live via the Internet at

http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/live Tuesday Sept. 8 at 11 AM CENTRAL Time.

I know many children and students will be watching because many of their parents care about improving education for ALL children, regardless of race, color, religion or national origin.

Of course, the debate reminds us that not all share that benefit for our nation.

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

Lipinski urges passage of Economic Recovery Package

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jason Tai
November 10, 2008
Brian Oszakiewski


REP. Lipinski Calls on Congress and President Bush to pass Economic Recovery Package with infrastructure investments

[Washington, D.C.] Today Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-03), a member of the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, released the following statement urging President Bush and Members of Congress to put aside partisan differences and swiftly pass an economic recovery package that creates new job opportunities through investment in critical infrastructure projects:

“America faces very difficult economic times; middle class families are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet with many suffering terrible hardships. More than 1.2 million jobs have been lost over the past year, including 240,000 last month. In Cook County, the unemployment rate has soared above the national average to 6.8 percent and the number of people looking for work in Illinois has approached 500,000.

“At the same time, it is estimated that the United States is in need of a $1.6 trillion investment in the next five years to replace or restore old infrastructure. From aging highways and bridges, to antiquated railroads and water infrastructure, to inadequate mass transit alternatives and airport capacity, the needs are many and the current amount of investment is seriously lacking.

“Investment in transportation and infrastructure boosts our future economic growth, ensures our competitiveness in the world, and improves the quality of life in our communities. It means jobs, time, and money, and it is directly linked to our future. In Illinois – America’s transportation hub – our nation’s infrastructure needs are especially great.

“That is why for the past year I have made the case that an economic recovery package should include investments in public infrastructure and mass transit. Investment in infrastructure is a win-win for all Americans—funding is spent on projects that are desperately needed and good-paying jobs are created that cannot be exported to places like China. In fact, every $1 billion invested in American infrastructure creates and supports 47,500 American jobs.

“In September my calls for an infrastructure spending bill were heeded by the House of Representatives with the passage of H.R. 7110, the Job Creation and Unemployment Relief Act of 2008. This legislation would provide $61 billion to help restore the economy, including $30 billion for investment in infrastructure and mass transit. I would have preferred a much larger infrastructure investment – especially in light of the willingness of Congress and the President to provide $700 billion for the financial industry bailout – but this was a good start. Especially important in this bill was the provision that a local match to federal dollars would not be needed, allowing projects to move forward immediately regardless of a state’s budgetary issues or the political climate. I fought hard for this provision because it is critical for the state of Illinois.

--Continued--

“For Illinois, H.R. 7110 would invest an additional $436.8 million for highway infrastructure, $271.6 million to expand accessibility to mass transit, and $290.3 million for sewer and water treatment projects over the next year. Unfortunately, the White House threatened to veto H.R. 7110 and Senate Republicans blocked movement of the bill prior to the September congressional adjournment.

“Next week, Members of Congress will return to Washington to begin administrative and legislative planning for the 111th Congress beginning in January. The economic news has only gotten worse in the past two months since H.R. 7110 was passed by the House, increasing the need for an economic recovery bill. Now that the presidential election is over, we have the critical opportunity to put politics aside and thoughtfully work together to put people back to work and invest in our long-term economic future and well being.

“Congress must come back into legislative session and pass an economic recovery package that includes spending on infrastructure and transit. The infrastructure and transit investment must be at least the $30 billion provided in H.R. 7110, but it should be even more. Once Congress passes this legislation, President Bush must sign it into law.

“Since I was first elected to Congress I have made the needs of middle class Americans my top priority. There is much work that must be done and we have a great opportunity to do it in the next Congress. But we must start putting middle class Americans back to work immediately. We need to pass an infrastructure investment stimulus bill, and we need to do it now. I look forward to working with President Bush and my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to pass an infrastructure spending package this year. We can’t afford to wait.”

###


Brian Freedman
Legislative Correspondent
Office of Congressman Dan Lipinski
1717 Longworth H.O.B
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5701
Fax (202) 225-1012
Please sign up for E-News updates at www.lipinski.house.gov

Congress will give Bush $124 million for Iraq, but set a timetable to leave

What will President Bush do now? Veto the bill to set a timetable for withdrawal and deny our American soldiers $124 million in funding?

The American voters want this war to end. They want Vice President Dick Cheney's company, Halliburton, to stop ripping off our soldiers.

Withdraw from Iraq now and let the Iraqus take over. We've done enough to help the Iraqis, and not enough to fight real terrorism.

Two Republicans joined with 49 Democrats to pass the bill, which was approved by the House on Wednesday night.

Bush is the defeatist. Bush should start listening to the people. Of course, this is the 4th anniversary of the farse press stunt that Bush did in which he declared "Mission Completed" aboard the battleship. What a joke.

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