TARP saved my nation, and all I got was this bitter, cold tea party

October 5, 2010

Remember TARP, the Toxic Asset Relief Program?

Oh, that’s right — we hate it.  Big hole in the federal budget and all.

Then you should be dancing that it died Sunday night, right?  Yeah, that’s right:  TARP expired.

But, maybe we should be lamenting its passage, and celebrating it.  It ended up costing us almost nothing but the problem of having Tea Party, ignorant ingrates involved in the campaign.  It might even have turned a profit.  In any case, it didn’t leave a big hole in the federal budget, and there is little doubt that it saved us from the Greater Depression.

See the story at NPR:

What do we do with the end of TARP?

And what do we do with the news that TARP will not have cost anything like the $700 billion we thought it would? What if it really cost $50 billion, or less?

What if, in the end, the Toxic Asset Relief Program so controversial at birth and vilified throughout its two years of life turns out to have turned a profit for the government and the taxpayer?

We — most of the news media this is — simply don’t know what to do with this news.

The suggestion that TARP did not blow a hole in the federal budget potentially blows a hole in some other presumptions as well. Economists will argue for years over the necessity of TARP, and the rest of us can argue over the bonuses investment bankers still got (and continue to get).But we won’t argue about whether the government could or should have done more to prevent the collapse of the credit markets and the mass failure of banks in 2008. Because the government did do TARP, and those other things did not happen. We did not go back to 1929 or worse. And, unlovely as it may be, TARP remains the closest thing we have to an explanation for that.

Still, the expiration of the program as Sunday turned to Monday passed largely unremarked. And insofar as the media have noticed the story of TARP’s apparently much-reduced cost, that tale has been anything but ballyhooed.

(For an exception, see the package offered Sunday evening by Guy Raz and the crew at Weekend All Things Considered.)

On the last business day before TARP expired, The New York Times and The Washington Post did report the much-reduced cost figures — mentioning the potential for the program to actually make money for taxpayers in the final accounting.  But the Times put the story in the Business Section, and the Post played it on the Federal Page.

What other “common sense” delusions will misdirect this year’s election vote?

What thanks do we get?  What thanks do we give?

17 Comments | Accuracy, Elections, Free market economics, Freedom - Economic, Freedom - Political, History, News, Newspapers, Politics, Polling and Public Opinion | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Academy Award winner: “Logorama”

August 16, 2010

Delightfully creative.  Surely there is at least a bell ringer in here, just in identifying the different logos.  For economics and sociology classes, this is a study in branding, done in very interesting fashion.

Can you use it in class, even at 16 minutes?  The language may be too edgy for freshman and sophomores, yes?

A short description from the Vimeo post, by Marc Altshuler, who owns the company who created and recorded the music for the film:

This is a short film that was directed by the French animation collective H5, François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy + Ludovic Houplain. It was presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2009. It opened the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won a 2010 academy award under the category of animated short.

In this film there are two pieces of licensed music, in the beginning and in the end. All the other music and sound design are original. The opening track (Dean Martin “Good Morning Life”) and closing track (The Ink Spots “I don’t want to send the world on fire”) songs are licensed pre-existing tracks. All original music and sound design is by, human (www.humanworldwide.com)

Brilliant little work even if you can’t use it in class.

1 Comment | animation, Art, Economics, Music, Video and film | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

GM profits, Tea Party turns to gin

August 12, 2010

According to the Associated Press, General Motors turned a profit of $1.33 billion last quarter.  “Billion,” with a b.

Tea Partiers and Republicans have made a run on liquor stores to stock up on gin for the afternoon.  News is turning against them.

First, they argued that the Obama administration was crazy to try to save GM.  Couldn’t be done, won’t work.  Cutting 3 million workers loose in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Texas would help depress the market for migrant fruit pickers in those states, the Republicans argued implicitly — and that would help reduce immigration troubles, which bug Republicans chiefly because it’s a sign of good economic times for working people.

Second, they argued that Obama had effectively nationalized GM and Chrysler.  Nationalized companies rarely turn profits (except for tin-pot dictators).  The simple reporting of a profit by the company reiterates the point that the GM rescue was not “socialism,” and was no nationalizing of the company.  Obama starts to look like a hero, Tea Party dreams start to look like wet tea leaves.

Third, it means Tea Party self-enrollees may actually have to buy American.  They had hoped to kill off the U.S. auto industry, so no one would complain when they drove Mercedes, Lexus, and the Kia they bought for their nephew.   Now, with Cadillacs, Chryslers and Lincolns still being made, they have no excuse.

Fourth, it means there are three million voters in the American midwest who owe their jobs to Obama.  While at least of million of those people may be convinced to buy the Tea Party Home Lobotomy Kit and vote against Democrats in the fall, the odds of even half of that group being suckered in are slight.

Fifth, and most important, GM’s showing a profit pulls the cloak from the platform of the Tea Partiers, and all that’s left is a naked guy with skinny legs and a sore need for a tanning bed and exercise.   The Tea Party works on being against stuff.  If they had to actually come up with a workable program for anything, they’d quickly be exposed.

So, that gut at the end of the bar finishing the fifth of gin and mumbling a lot?  He’s a Tea Partier, praying for Chrysler to crash.  Tell the bartender he is picking up your tab.

Tip of the old scrub brush to Jim Stanley.

5 Comments | 2010 Elections, Economics, History, Politics, President Obama | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Books dead? Barnes & Noble for sale

August 4, 2010

News of the death of books panicked some stockholders in Barnes & Noble.  Responding to those concerns, the company put itself up for sale (Wall Street Journal article).

The pen didn’t kill the book.  The typewriter didn’t kill the book.  The pencil didn’t kill the book.  Radio didn’t kill the book.  Movies didn’t kill the book.  Television didn’t kill the book.  Telephone didn’t kill the book.  Personal computers didn’t kill the book (much to the chagrin, perhaps, of the designers of the Apple Lisa — and if you remember that, and it’s coming with all the works of Shakespeare loaded on the harddrive, you’re older than your colleagues think you are).

In “A Dangling Conversation,” recorded in 1966 by Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Simon’s lyrics say, “We speak of things that matter/With words that must be said./’Can analysis be worthwhile?/Is the theatre really dead?'”  Some other questions are similarly and equally unstuck in time, and I think “Is the book dead?” is one of them.

So long as there are books, and readers who demand books, there is a need for a bookstore.  They may move to our libraries, but we’ll still need and want them.

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3 Comments | Books, Business, Economics, knowledge, Libraries | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

I get e-mail: July Econlib newsletter

July 5, 2010

A bit on the right, but generally pointing to useful current stuff for economics teachers, the EconLib Newsletter for July 2010 is out — download it to your e-book for beach or desert reading:

Dear Readers,

Around the world in the last three decades, governments have made dramatic moves toward more economic freedom. While retaining most of the welfare state, governments have cut marginal tax rates from the Olympian heights they had reached in the 1960s and 1970s, deregulated whole industries, and privatized major swaths of the economy. Scott Sumner details the “neoliberal” movement and shows that countries that moved closest to economic freedom also made major gains in per capita income. Read it here:

The Unacknowledged Success of Neoliberalism
http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2010/Sumnerneoliberalism.html

This month, Anthony de Jasay extends his series, asking

Is Society a Great Big Insurance Company?
http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2010/Jasayinsurance.html

On EconTalk this week, Russ Roberts and Arnold Kling talk about the Unseen World of Banking, Mortgages, and Government:

http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2010/07/kling_on_the_un.html

Other recent podcasts include Caplan on Richter and Hayek, Sumner on growth and economic policy, and Blakley on fashion and intellectual property. Check them out at http://www.econtalk.org.

On EconLog, David Henderson discusses the EPA, Bryan Caplan reviews whether students like school, and Arnold Kling talks about green jobs. Read all the latest on EconLog at:

http://econlog.econlib.org

This month in the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics we feature “Fiscal Sustainability,” by Laurence J. Kotlikoff , and the biography of Milton Friedman, whose birthday is later this month. See

http://www.econlib.org/library/CEE.html

We welcome all our new registrants and wish all a fine summer.

Lauren Landsburg, Editor
Russ Roberts, Associate Editor
David R. Henderson, Features Editor
Library of Economics and Liberty
http://www.econlib.org

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Posted by Ed Darrell

2010 Texas Democratic Platform: Solving the Dropout Crisis

June 28, 2010

This post is fifth in a series on the education planks of the 2010 Texas Democratic Party Platform.

This is an unofficial version published in advance of the final version from the Texas Democrats, but I expect very few changes.

SOLVING THE DROPOUT CRISIS

Rick Perry may be willing to write off more than a fourth of the school age children in Texas, but Texans can’t afford to pay the price for Perry’s complacency in the face of the dropout crisis. Solving the dropout crisis is a priority for Texas Democrats because it threatens the economic well-being of all Texans, and failure to solve the dropout crisis could write off economic progress for an entire generation. Texas already has more low-wage and minimum wage workers than any other state, and in Texas dropouts earn $7,000 less per year than high school graduates. According to the state demographer, if these trends persist, by 2040, the average annual Texas household income will be $6,500 less than in the year 2000, at a cost to Texas of over $300 billion per year in lost income.

More than one-fourth of Texas high school students fail to graduate on time. For African American and Hispanic students, the dropout rate is more than one-third. Out of all 50 states, Texas has the highest percentage of adults who have not completed high school. However, in response to the Governor’s call for across-the-board budget cuts to address an $18 billion state budget shortfall, his Texas Education Agency recommended cutting programs that have helped keep kids in school and off the street. The economic consequences of such shortsighted policies are stark. Rick Perry’s refusal to address this dropout crisis is making Texas poorer, less educated, and less competitive.

Proper funding of all our schools to meet the needs of students who are most at risk of dropping out is essential. Specific solutions include:

  • school-community collaboration that brings educational and social services together under one roof to help at-risk students and their families;
  • expanded access to early childhood education, targeting at-risk students;
  • dual-credit and early-college programs that draw at-risk students into college and career paths while still in high school;
  • equitable distribution of highly qualified teachers, to change current practices that too often match the most at-risk students with the least experienced and least prepared teachers;
  • enforce daytime curfew laws to reduce truancy;
  • providing access to affordable programs for adults who have dropped out of the education process.

    • 1 Comment | At-risk Students, Dropouts, Economics, Education, Education quality, Education success, Political conventions, Politics, Texas, Texas Lege | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Ed Darrell

    Dan Valentine: Economic recovery? Check the cigarette butts and panty hose

    May 30, 2010

    By Dan Valentine

    Good news! “The economy is growing again!” So said President Obama, just the other day.

    Of course, his opponents would have you believe otherwise. But there are certain solid economic indicators that prove him right.

    Like, for instance, cigarette butts.

    That’s the word from a little-known tobacco expert who calls himself West Virginia Slim. When the economy went bust, he took time off from his job to tour North America–by thumb–after he found a pink slip on the desk of his corner office overlooking Broad & Wall.

    I ran into him outside of Hussong’s Cantina here in Ensenada, said to be the oldest bar in the west. He was smoking a Cuban cigar.

    And he says he has definite proof that the U.S. economy is, in the words of the President, “picking up considerable speed”. He can tell by the half-smoked cigarette butts strewn across the land.

    “After the bust,” he told me during an exclusive interview, ‘cigarette butts flicked on the side of the nation’s streets were short. People took more puffs and got the most out of each cigarette before tossing it.”

    But ever since Obama took office, he has noticed that the cigarette butts are getting, slowly but surely, longer. “People are throwing ‘em away, half-smoked,” he says.

    30-foot cigarette butt in London - National Geographic photo

    30-foot cigarette butt in London, England. Is this an indicator that England is undergoing a huge recovery? National Geographic photo

    And this, he assures me, is definite proof, regardless of what the naysayers say, that good times are upon us.

    Slim isn’t the only economic wizard who says so. A woman by the name of Gertrude, who made jillions in the stock market before she lost jillions in the market, can prove without a doubt that the country is, in Obama’s words, “beginning to turn the corner.”

    Gertrude, who now makes a living as a waitress–she was here to buy duty-free Tequila to take back over the border–uses the “Parsley Principle” to judge prosperity, or the lack of it.

    “During the last few months of Bush’s presidency,” says Gertrude, “customers ate the funny little green garnishes that chefs like to place on the sides of dishes as tho’ they were going out of style. Fact is, we couldn’t keep enough parsley in stock during the last days of the Bush Administration.”

    But now, in Obama’s second year, very few people, if any, eat the tiny, little parsley garnishes. And this, she says, is a sure-sign that, in Obama’s words: ‘the worst of the storm is over.’”

    Another economist, who uses a somewhat different barometer, says times are getting “much” better.

    Her name is Olive. She spends a good part of her day going through suit pockets. She works in a dry cleaning establishment in L.A. It’s her job to empty the pockets of the suits before they are dry cleaned.

    Says this full-time pocket-picker: “When times are good, people leave all sorts of coins in their pockets. But during bad times, practically no money can be found at all.”

    Since the stimulus package was passed, says Olive, “the pocket-picking has been mighty good.” So good that she could afford a 3-day cruise from San Diego to Ensenada on the “Fun Ship”!

    Interior of Hussong's Cantina, Ensenada, Mexico

    Economics seminar at Hussong's Cantina, Ensenada, Mexico

    Another little-known economic expert, a cop from Chicago, told me that he can measure the economic atmosphere of the nation by pantyhose.

    He told me this over several rounds of Margaritas. (Some people drive hundreds of miles to visit the birthplace of Abe Lincoln. He flew hundreds of miles, here to Ensenada, to visit the birthplace of the Margarita. But, anyway …

    Said this Chicago cop, after years on the force, “When times are good, bank robbers tend to wear expensive, luxury pantyhose over their heads to cover up their mugs. They like the confident, silky-soft feel that expensive pantyhose give them during a hold-up.”

    But when times are bad bank robbers tend to buy generic or no-brand pantyhose for a bank job.

    “I remember one time,” he told me, “during the last days of the Bush years, we arrested this bank robber at the scene of the crime and he had several runs in the pair of pantyhose pulled over his face. I really felt embarrassed for the fella.”

    But the cop added: “Right now, since Obama took over, you hardly ever see a bank robber with runs.”

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    3 Comments | Dan Valentine, Economics, History | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Ed Darrell

    Why Texas social studies standards matter: Tea Party misuse of history

    May 27, 2010

    Something to think about from “The Tea Party Challenge,” by Erik Christiansen and Jeremy Sullivan, at Inside Higher Ed:

    When considering the political scene of the moment, it is difficult not to see how historical allegory plays an important role in the public spectacle known as the Tea Party movement. From the name itself, an acronym (Taxed Enough Already) that fuses current concerns to a patriotic historical moment, to the oral and written references by some of its members to Stalin and Hitler, the Tea Party appears to be steeped (sorry) in history. However, one has only to listen to a minute of ranting to know that what we really are talking about is either a deliberate misuse or a sad misunderstanding of history.

    Misuse implies two things: first, that the Partiers themselves know that they are attempting to mislead, and second, that the rest of us share an understanding of what accurate history looks like. Would that this were true. Unfortunately, there is little indication that the new revolutionaries possess more than a rudimentary knowledge of American or world history, and there is even less reason to think that the wider public is any different. Such ignorance allows terms like communism, socialism, and fascism to be used interchangeably by riled-up protesters while much of the public, and, not incidentally, the media, nods with a fuzzy understanding of the negative connotations those words are supposed to convey (of course some on the left are just as guilty of too-liberally applying the “fascist” label to any policy of which they do not approve). It also allows the Tea Partiers to believe that their situation – being taxed with representation – somehow warrants use of “Don’t Tread On Me” flags and links their dissatisfaction with a popularly elected president to that of colonists chafing under monarchical rule.

    While the specifics of the moment (particularly, it seems, the fact of the Obama presidency) account for some of the radical resentment, the intensity of feeling among the opposition these days seems built upon a total lack of historical perspective.

    It’s worth a read at Inside Higher Ed.

    Tip of the old scrub brush to the May History Carnival at the Vapour Trail.

    6 Comments | Economics, Education, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Social Studies, State school boards, State Standards, Texas, Texas history | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Ed Darrell

    Liveblogging the Texas State Board of Education

    May 21, 2010

    Or, should that be “Texas State Soviet of Education?”

    Steve Schafersman (of Texas Citizens for Science fame)  is live blogging for the Texas Observer, here.

    Texas Freedom Network blogs it here.

    Did I forget to mention that earlier?

    More:

    2 Comments | Economics, Education, Education reform, History, Social Studies, State school boards, Texas, Texas Citizens for Science, Texas Freedom Network | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Ed Darrell

    California legislator would bar Texas social studies changes

    May 18, 2010

    California may be down, but it’s not dumb.  According to AP in the San Jose Mercury-News (Silicon Valley edition):

    Legislation by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, seeks to protect the nation’s largest public school population from the revised social studies curriculum approved in March by the Texas Board of Education. Critics say if the changes are incorporated into textbooks, they will be historically inaccurate and dismissive of the contributions of minorities.

    *     *     *     *     *     *

    Under Yee’s bill, SB1451, the California Board of Education would be required to look out for any of the Texas content as part of its standard practice of reviewing public school textbooks. The board must then report any findings to both the Legislature and the secretary of education.

    The bill describes the Texas curriculum changes as “a sharp departure from widely accepted historical teachings” and “a threat to the apolitical nature of public school governance and academic content standards in California.”

    “While some Texas politicians may want to set their educational standards back 50 years, California should not be subject to their backward curriculum changes,” Yee said. “The alterations and fallacies made by these extremist conservatives are offensive to our communities and inaccurate of our nation’s diverse history.”

    Bully for California and Rep. Leland Yee.

    Tip of the old scrub brush to HeyMash.

    4 Comments | Economics, Education, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Legislation, Legislatures, Politics, Social Studies, State school boards, Texas, Textbooks, War on Education | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Ed Darrell

    Texas education: Social studies on the gallows today

    May 18, 2010

    Social studies curricula climb the scaffold to the gallows set by the “conservative” majority of the Texas State Board of Education today.  If they get their way — and signs are they will — they will hobble social studies education for at least a half generation.

    As The Dallas Morning News explains this morning, lame-duck board members fully intend to change Texas and American culture with their rewriting of history, de-emphasis of traditional history education, and insertion of what they consider pro-patriotic ideas in social studies.

    AUSTIN – When social conservatives on the State Board of Education put the final touches on social studies curriculum standards this week, it will be a significant victory in their years-long push to imprint their beliefs upon what Texas students learn.

    We in the part-time blogosphere can’t cover the meeting as it deserves — nor have we been able to mobilize pro-education forces to do what was needed to stop the board — yet.

    McLeroy will make the most of his remaining time on the panel. He proposed several additions to the social studies standards for the board to consider this week. One would require students to “contrast” the legal doctrine of separation of church and state with the actual wording in the Bill of Rights that bars a state-established religion.

    McLeroy has resurrected the old Cleon Skousen/David Barton/White Supremecist argument that “separation of church and state” does not appear in the Constitution, disregarding what the document and its amendments actually say.  Jefferson warned that such discussions poison children’s education, coming prematurely as this one would be as McLeroy wants it.

    Watch that space.  Tony Whitson at Curricublog will cover it well, and probably timely — read his stuff.  Steve Shafersman’s work will be informative.  The Texas Tribune offered great coverage in the past.  Stay tuned.  And the Texas Freedom Network carries the flag and works hard to recruit the troops and keep up morale.

    People for the American Way and the American Civil Liberties Union have already chimed in.

    It is discouraging.  Under current history standards, Texas kids should know the phrase “shot heard ’round the world,” but they do not get exposure to the poem from which the phrase comes, nor to the poet (Emerson), nor exposure to Paul Revere whose ride inspired Longfellow later to write a poem that children have read ever since — except in Texas.

    But under the new standards, Texas children will learn who Phyllis Schlafly is.  Patriots are out; hypocrites and demagogues are in.

    10 Comments | Economics, Education, Education quality, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, History Revisionism, Politics, Social Studies, State school boards, State Standards, Texas, Texas Citizens for Science, Texas Freedom Network, Texas history | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Ed Darrell

    Historians: ‘Stop the Texas SBOE evisceration of history and social studies’

    May 15, 2010

    Keith Tucker, WhatNowToons.com, via Tennessee Guerrilla Women

    Keith Tucker, WhatNowToons.com, via Tennessee Guerrilla Women

    In a series of articles at George Mason University’s History News Network, historians from Texas and across the nation make a powerful case against the changes in social studies standards proposed by the politicians at the Texas State Board of Education.

    Together, this is a powerful indictment of the actions of the SBOE, and strong repudiation of the raw political purposes and tactics employed in the War on Education by the “conservative” faction, including especially lame duck, anti-education crusader/jihadist Don McLeroy.

    Texas scholars

    Scholars outside of Texas

    Historians can sign a petition set up for the purpose at a site that offers links to the essays, too, An Open Letter from Historians to the Texas State Board of Education.

    SBOE will take up the issue again in meetings in Austin this coming week.

    1 Comment | Bogus history, Chilling Effect, Education, History, Political Smear, Politics, Voodoo history, War on Education | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Ed Darrell

    Especially Texans: Please stand up for high-quality, non-political education

    May 13, 2010

    I get e-mail, this time from the Texas Freedom Network:

    The State Board of Education meeting is next week, and we need YOU to make a difference.

    “Am I a religious fanatic? Absolutely. You’d have to be to do what I do.”
    – State Board of Education member Don McLeroy

    Don't White Out our education - Texas Freedom Network

    Don't White Out Our History! - Texas Freedom Network

    Is this who you want to decide what Texas schoolchildren learn? Or would you rather entrust that task to someone who believes public education is a “tool of perversion,” as board member Cynthia Dunbar believes? Or maybe any one of the board members who believe the separation of church and state is a myth?

    If this is not what you want for Texas children, NOW is the critical time to take a stand.

    The controversial social studies curriculum process is coming to an end. Public testimony will be heard at the State Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, May 19, and we expect a vote on these standards to take place the following day. We need you to stand up to the State Board of Education by attending our rally on Wednesday, May 19. Or testifying in front of the board. Or both!

    “Don’t White-Out Our History”  Rally
    Wednesday, May 19 at 1:00 p.m.
    William B. Travis building (where the state board meets).
    Click here to sign up to attend the rally    .

    Also on Wednesday, the State Board of Education will hear public testimony on the social studies curriculum standards. Since you are already planning to be at the William B. Travis building for the rally, you can also sign up to testify! Read below for more information on registering to testify with the Texas Education Agency. (Testimony will begin in the morning and likely stretch into the evening — so if you wish to testify, be prepared for a long day.)

    We look forward to seeing you next week. If you have any questions, e-mail Judie or call us at 512-322-0545.


    1 Comment | Curricula, Economics, Education, Education quality, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, History Revisionism, Social Studies, State school boards, TAKS, Texas Freedom Network | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Ed Darrell

    NAACP letter campaign against gutting Texas social studies standards

    May 6, 2010

    I get e-mail from the NAACP; the rest of the nation is paying attention to the follies run by the conservative bureaucrats at the SBOE:

    Ed,

    Don't Erase Our History I wouldn’t want to be a Texas State Board member this week.

    Last week, we asked you to write to your representative, telling him or her that rewriting Texas history textbooks is ignorant and unpatriotic.

    Over 1,500 people have already written in, filling the inboxes of our school leaders.

    This week, we’d like to offer you one more chance to get involved. The NAACP is planning rallies, hearings and press conferences in Texas to stop the state board from rewriting history. But we can’t do it without you.

    An issue as controversial as rewriting history elicits strong emotions, and we want to give you the chance to speak out. Do you have something you would like to say at the hearing?

    http://action.naacp.org/TextbookHearing

    The NAACP works to ensure equal rights and to eliminate discrimination against all racial and ethnic groups. The proposed changes to our textbooks threaten our mission. This is not about Republicans or Democrats — it’s about our shared history as Texans. That’s why we want to use the words of our Texas supporters to turn the tide.

    The Texas textbook vote is just two weeks away, so we need to push ourselves harder now than ever before.

    The future of our children’s education is in the hands of just a few State Board members. Your voice could be the one to tip the scale.

    Take a moment to tell us what you think about the Texas State Board rewriting history. The best submissions will be read at the hearing on May 19th.

    http://action.naacp.org/TextbookHearing

    Thank you for helping to protect our history.

    Gary Bledsoe
    President, Texas NAACP

    Leave a Comment » | Bogus history, Economics, Education, Education reform, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, History Methods and Tools, Rampant stupidity, Social Studies, State school boards, State Standards, Texas, Texas history, Voodoo history | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Ed Darrell

    I get e-mail: PFAW on Texas social studies follies (“please help!”)

    April 23, 2010

    Jeff Danziger cartoon, for the New York Times Syndicate, on Texas State Board of Education

    Jeff Danziger cartoon, for the New York Times Syndicate, on Texas State Board of Education “changes” to Texas social studies texts.

    People for the American Way have joined the fight for good education in Texas, pushing better social studies education standards.  The Texas State Board of Education will conduct final votes on social studies standards in May.

    Grotesque slashes damaged social studies standards in the last round of amendments.  Conservatives will probably try to keep secret their proposed changes, offering a flurry of last-minute amendments carefully designed to gut serious education and make the standards work as indoctrination for young conservatives instead.

    PFAW has good reason to fear.  Here’s their letter. from PFAW President Michael Keegan:

    Dear People For Supporter,

    Thomas Jefferson banned in Texas schools? Maybe… if the Right has its way. The fight is still on to keep absurd changes out of the Texas social studies textbook standards, with the final standards set to be adopted by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) on May 21.

    Right-wing members of the SBOE are using the textbook standards in Texas to rewrite history in a way that could impact students across the U.S., tossing out facts in favor of propaganda like:

    • America is a Christian country, founded on “Biblical principles.”
    • Conservative icons from Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly, the Moral Majority and even Sen. Joseph McCarthy are history’s “good guys,” but progressives and progressive values are at odds with what it means to be “American.”
    • Words like “democracy” (sounds like “Democrat!”) have nothing to do with America — we’re a Republic — In fact, “capitalism” has sort of a negative connotation to some, so they want that word to be universally replaced with “free market.”
    • Some of the major contributions of Thomas Jefferson — arguably America’s greatest thinker — are on the chopping block, as are the contributions of other important figures not favored by the zealots on the Texas State Board of Education, like Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall. (Who’s next? Martin Luther King? FDR?)

    Texas is just ground zero for what is clearly a national effort. We need to make sure that whatever standards are adopted in Texas, they do not affect the social studies textbooks used by students in other states.

    Please sign our petition to the major textbook publishers urging them to keep Texas standards in Texas and not to publish national textbooks based on Texas’ standards.

    The Texas State Board of Education traditionally has tremendous power in determining the content of textbooks not only for Texas students but for students across the U.S. Texas reviews and adapts textbook standards for the major subjects every six years, and because of the size of the state’s market, textbook publishers often print books consistent with the Texas standards. Last year, they attracted national ridicule for trying to inject creationism into science textbooks. This year, they’re voting on social studies standards.

    The right-wing majority on the State Board wants indoctrinate Texas students into this new perverse revisionist history. PFAW is supporting our allies on the ground in Texas who are working to make sure students have the chance to learn history as it occurred, not how the Far Right wish it had happened. But we need to do all we can to make sure this is not exported to other states and school districts as well. Help us take extremism out of textbook decision making and let our children learn the truth in the classroom.

    Sign our petition to major textbook publishers urging them to keep Texas standards from spreading and not to offer Texas-style textbooks nationally by default.

    Thank you for your activism and for your continued support of PFAW.

    — Michael B. Keegan, President

    Pass the word, will you?

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    1 Comment | Astrobiology, Economics, Education, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Social Studies, State school boards, TEKS, Texas | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Ed Darrell

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