Special to Central Florida Poltics by the National Center for Policy Analysis

(Washington, DC) – The challenges facing America’s schools have become a major focus of the public dialogue. Over the past few decades, many have been lamenting the decaying quality of education in America. Case in point, in the past 40 years, and a million teachers later, student performances have remained stagnant. And despite this stagnancy, a large portion of policymakers continue to propose “more teachers” as the answer, says Jay P. Greene, a professor of education reform at the University of Arkansas and a fellow at the George W. Bush Institute.

Given limited resources, states should consider shrinking their teacher labor force and explore new alternatives. There is extensive data that support this push to rein in the teacher-splurge.

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Digest of Education Statistics, in 1970, public schools employed 2.06 million teachers, or one for every 22.3 students. In 2012, there are 3.27 million teachers, one for every 15.2 students.

Despite the increase in the number of teacher, math and reading scores for 17 year olds have remained stagnant since 1970, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress.

To put it bluntly, unless the next teacher-hiring craze delivers an improved academic reality compared to before, there is little reason for further investment.

Although more individualized attention is an important ingredient for a child’s academic development, the dilemma to watch out for is that “expanding the number of hires means dipping deeper into the potential teacher labor pool. That means additional teachers are likely to be weaker than current ones.”

A flip-model alternative is to have a more meritocratic structure, where the system has better-paid but fewer teachers. This also relaxes the enormous burden of pension and health benefits, which have increased greater than salaries per teachers.

The education system must import more innovative means to improve the system.

Source: Jay P. Greene, “The Imaginary Teacher Shortage,” Wall Street Journal, October 8, 2012.

By Kenric Ward of the Virginia Watchdog

Renewing charges that the Obama administration is waging a “war on coal,” congressional Republicans are striking back with legislation targeting the Environmental Protection Agency.

Two Alpha Natural Resources miners: a dying breed?

Amid the latest round of mine closures, the gambit highlights a political divide between West Virginia‘s Democratic senators.

The U.S. House is scheduled to take up a bill Thursday that would ease federal regulations and give states more authority over air and water permits.

House Resolution 3409 includes House Resolution 2018, the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act. That measure passed the U.S. House last year with bipartisan support, but has languished in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate.

“The heavy-handed regulatory regime championed by this administration and EPA is strangling the economy, driving up energy prices for consumers, and putting people out of work,” said Florida Republican U.S. Rep. John Mica.

Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the new legislation will bar the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions and restrict planned EPA rules regarding coal ash disposal and management.

Coal ash is formed when coal is burned in boilers that generate steam for power generation and industrial applications, according to the EPA.

The measure also will limit the EPA’s ability to veto Army Corps of Engineers‘ dredge-and-fill permits, if the EPA has approved them unless the state agrees with the veto.

Last year, in an unprecedented action, the EPA revoked one of these Section 404 permits at the Spruce Mine in West Virginia — even though the agency approved it, and the permit conditions had not been violated.

A federal district court judge later overturned the EPA ruling, excoriating the agency for overstepping its authority and using “magical thinking” to justify its action. (Read the decision here.)

“What’s the value of a permit if there’s no certainty whether it will be revoked later for no reason?” Mica asked.

Jim Laurita, president and CEO of the Morgantown, W.Va.-based Mepco Inc. coal mining company, said all manner of environmental permitting has become a nightmare under the Obama EPA.

“Renewals used to take months — now it’s years. This is very troubling for business and unsettling for banks,” Laurita said.

Laurita, chairman of the West Virginia Coal Association, said the EPA has effectively “ignored” states’ rights to participate in environmental programs.

“The EPA is micromanaging. It’s making it more difficult to mine and burn fossil fuels,” he said.

It’s also generating layoffs.

Morgantown-based Alpha Natural Resources announced Tuesday it will shut eight mines in West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania, slashing 1,200 jobs.

Earlier, mines in West Virginia and Ohio laid off more than 250 workers, and blamed the White House.

“The failed energy policies of the Obama administration and the ‘war on coal’ that the president and his Democrat supporters have unleashed are the direct causes of this layoff,” Powhatan Mine No. 6 mine general manager Ronald Koontz told the Wheeling, W.Va., Intelligencer. The mine is operated by Ohio Valley Coal Co.

“Unfortunately, for us, this is just the beginning (of) the work force reductions,” Koontz said.

West Virginia’s Democratic senators are split on the House gambit.

Sen. Joe Manchin, who sued the federal government over EPA rules while he was governor, supports the states-rights approach.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller does not. Vincent Morris, a spokesman for the five-term senator, dismissed the House bill as “mostly for political purposes.”

“Is anyone taking it seriously?” Morris asked Virginia Watchdog.

Manchin, who is up for re-election this fall and skipped the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., said, “Achieving true energy independence demands that we not only start realizing the importance that coal has in achieving this goal, it means we must also stop demonizing (it).”

Liberal and environmental groups maintain that the EPA is just doing its job. The leftist Think Progress website posted a blog Tuesday defending the administration. “Since taking office, President Obama has proposed and adopted significant pollution reductions protective enough to safeguard public health as required by the Clean Air Act,” the post stated.

EPA officials did not respond to questions late Tuesday.

Contact Kenric Ward at kenric@watchdogvirginia.org.

(Orlando, Florida) – Of the 400 people on the 2012 Forbes list of richest Americans, 32 were from Florida.

However, no one from Central Florida made the list, as the majority of Floridians among the Forbes 400 were from South Florida, particularly Palm Beach and Miami. There was only one person from Tampa.

So who’s the richest Floridian on the list? That would be Micky Arison of Carnival Cruise Lines. At age 63, Arison’s net worth is $5 billion, and he resides in Bal Harbour, Fla.

And the well-known leader of Microsoft, Bill Gates, topped the entire list of 400, with a net worth of $66 billion.

Brian Moynihan

(Tampa, Florida) – Bank of America would have fewer branches and a smaller mortgage operation, as part of a plan to cut 16,000 jobs before the end of 2012.

The reductions, spelled out in a document for top management, are part of a larger effort to retool Bank of America into a leaner and more focused enterprise, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Hitting the new staffing target would fulfill an earlier pledge by Brian Moynihan, CEO, to slash the bank’s workforce by about 30,000, the Journal reported.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., currently is the largest employer among banks in the United States, but would slip to No. 2 or No. 3, the Journal said. The bank is the second largest by assets nationwide.

In the Tampa Bay area, Bank of America has the largest retail presence, with 151 offices and $13.6 billion in deposits according to the most recent information available from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal and local officials questioned Brandon J. Raub about his Facebook posts.

Special to Central Florida Politics By: Kristen Green of Richmond Times-Dispatch

(Hopewell, Virginia) – Brandon J. Raub, the 26-year-old Marine Corps veteran who was detained involuntarily last week after federal and local officials questioned him about his Facebook posts, was being moved to the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Tuesday, his attorney said.

John W. Whitehead, founder of The Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville-based civil liberties organization, filed an emergency motion in Hopewell General District Court to keep Raub at John Randolph Medical Center. Special Justice Walter Douglas Stokes, who on Monday ordered Raub held for up to 30 additional days, denied the motion Tuesday afternoon, Whitehead said.

Stokes said in the hearing Monday that Raub would get better care in a VA hospital and that the Hopewell center where he had been held since Thursday was only appropriate for a temporary placement, said Raub’s mother, Cathleen Thomas.

Whitehead said hospital officials indicated that Raub could not be kept in a closer VA hospital, such as the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, without voluntarily committing himself.

Thomas said Tuesday night that she was disappointed to learn her son was being moved. “Obviously, I’m not happy about it,” Thomas said. “It’s three hours away from me.”

Raub was questioned at his Chesterfield County home by officers with the FBI, Secret Service and Chesterfield police on Thursday. The FBI said it had received complaints about “threatening posts” on his Facebook page.

An Aug. 13 post said, “Sharpen up my axe; I’m here to sever heads.” Raub also accused the government of perpetrating a “great amount of evil.” “The day of reckoning is almost at hand,” an Aug. 5 post on his Facebook page said. His attorney said many of the things he wrote on his page were song lyrics.

Chesterfield police said in a statement Monday that county mental health crisis intervention workers had recommended that police take Raub into emergency custody so that he could be evaluated.

A county mental health official determined Raub should be held under a temporary detention order, and he was transported to the Hopewell center.

Thomas said her son is sane and does not pose a threat, suggesting that First Amendment rights had been violated. She added that her son, who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, does not own a gun.

Whitehead said he plans to file an appeal in Hopewell Circuit Court of Stokes’ decision to commit Raub for up to 30 days. The veteran’s move to a Salem hospital will complicate the appeal, Whitehead said.

“It makes it very difficult for us to see him and talk to him,” Whitehead said.

Whitehead said Raub is worried about being isolated. “He doesn’t want to go,” Whitehead said. “He’s alarmed.”

He said Raub doesn’t want to be medicated and worries that the move will make it harder to avoid being forcibly medicated.

“This is not how justice in America is supposed to work — with Americans being arrested for doing nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights, forced to undergo psychological evaluations, detained against their will and isolated from their family, friends and attorneys,” Whitehead wrote in a statement. “This is a scary new chapter in our history.”

Special to the Phoenix Network by Jim Kouri of the Law Enforcement Examiner

(Washington, DC) – When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Obamacare’s individual mandate on Thursday — and in fact dubbed it a tax in spite of the Obama administration’s denials — no one was more jubilant this past weekend than the recently hired agents at the Internal Revenue Service who get to keep their jobs, according to a law enforcement official in Washington, D.C. Their jobs are now safe and secure.

Over the weekend, President Barack Obama’s minions swarmed the Sunday morning news shows arguing that Americans were not going to be taxed to raise money for Obamacare, yet reporters failed to point out that it will be tax collectors, who will be responsible for gathering the cash to pay for the largest government expansion in U.S. history, according to economists and political strategists.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) executives are witnessing the largest manpower expansion — at least since withholding taxes were first introduced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II — to enforce the new tax mandates and penalties included in the health care law, according to Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX).

According to Brady, a new analysis by the Joint Economic Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee staff estimates up to 6,500 new IRS personnel will be necessary to collect, examine and audit new tax information mandated on families and small businesses as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

“When most people think of health care reform they think of more doctors exams, not more IRS exams,” said Congressman Brady, a top House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee. “Isn’t the federal government already intruding enough into our lives? We need thousands of new doctors and nurses in America, not thousands more IRS agents.”

Included within the expanded staff is an increase in the number of criminal investigators whose job will be to “make cases” whenever possible in order to increase financial penalties, according to tax lawyer John Kubisty.

Scores of new federal mandates and about 21 different tax increases totaling $400 billion are imposed under Obamacare, many of the increases hidden from voters, according to finance experts such as Fox Business Channel’s Stuart Varney.

In addition to more complicated tax returns, families and small businesses will be forced to reveal further tax information to the IRS, provide proof of government approved health care and submit detailed sales information to comply with new excise taxes.

Unfortunately, according to the Center for American Progress, the structure of the IRS’ use of private agencies to collect “debts” encourages abuse. Under the current program, collectors are awarded as much as 25 cents of every dollar they collect, in addition to a $100 bonus for every account they close.

The Internal Revenue Service strategy of paying private debt collectors a 25 percent commission to collect unpaid tax debt originally met with bipartisan resistance from Congress. Members of Congress claimed that the proposal jeopardized the rights and privacy of American taxpayers.

Several organizations voiced their objections to the IRS proposal and have expressed their strong support for the consumer protection legislation Rep. Chris Van Hollen introduced: Citizens for Tax Justice, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, National Consumer Law Center, National Consumers League.

According to political consultant Mike Baker. the very nature of the program provides incentives for collectors to push the limits of legality to extract a little more revenue from their targets. As part of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Congress, fearing overly aggressive collection practices, explicitly prohibited the IRS from compensating its own collectors based on the amount of money they collect.

“If Congress believes that incentive-based pay will cause official IRS collectors to cross the line, why would they think private collectors would behave any differently?” asked Baker.

Although IRS officials indicated that the purpose of the limited implementation phase was to assure readiness for full implementation using up to 12 private collection agencies, the IRS has not documented how it will identify and use the lessons learned to ensure that each critical success factor is addressed before expanding the program even further during the current atmosphere of extraordinary government spending.

IRS officials indicated that they are considering criteria that could trigger a go/no go decision, such as the amount of penalties collected from Americans unwilling or unable to purchase health care insurance and there are some indications of private collection agencies abusing taxpayers or misusing taxpayer data.

“It’s a sad situation when the President and Commander in Chief is drastically cutting defense spending including reducing the size of the military while at the same time hiring more tax collectors to squeeze every dime — the dime Obama said would never be levied against Americans — out of taxpayers,” said Baker.

Special to Central Florida Politics by the Seminole Chronicle

Viewpoint

By Doug Guetzloe

The recent announcement by the Florida Department of Transportation that it is pulling the plug on over $300 million in anticipated road projects slated for Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties should be a major concern for taxpayers.

This announcement is an outrage and affront to the taxpayers of Central Florida.

The recent approval by Governor Rick Scott for the proposed SunRail system has resulted in moving much-needed road funds from long-awaited repairs and expansions to the incredibly worthless rail project.

The local projects that are now on hold include much needed double lane expansion of a off Highway 17/92 in Seminole County and repairs to State Road 50 in Orange County, US Highway 192 in Osceola County and many other long-scheduled repairs and improvements.

Taxpayers have stated their opposition to the embattled SunRail project and commuter rail in general for over fifteen years. Ax the Tax has led six successful anti-tax battles where taxpayers have voted down rail proposals going back to the first attempt to pass a tax for rail in 1986. That vote, a tri-county vote including Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, named the “Metropolitan Transportation Authority” was voted down by a vote of 81 to 19 percent.

The most recent attempt to pass a tax for rail was the ill-fated Crotty “Mobility 2020″ Transportation plan in Orange County and voters voted it down 55-45 percent in 2003.

In 2010, Ax the Tax was the catalyst behind the vote against rail that occurred in Hillsborough County, leading the opposition to a landslide 58 percent vote against rail.

In another controversial move for taxpayers, FDOT and the beleaguered Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority just announced that they had reached a tentative deal to split the cost of the highly controversial $1.8 billion Wekiva Parkway project in Seminole County.

The Expressway Authority, which includes Seminole County roadways, has been a target of a recent grand jury report that found Crotty and the expressway board and some staff members involved in a “culture of corruption” that provided a seemingly never-ending source of campaign money for Crotty and his political endeavors.

Even though FDOT has not come up with a plan or the resources to fund their commitment of $500 million for the controversial toll-road extension, amazingly the expressway is moving ahead with an additional toll increase ostensibly to fund the remaining $1.3 billion deficit in the funding for the 25-mile extension through the scenic Wekiva park area.

Citizens should be outraged at the arbitrary moves by un-elected boards like the expressway authority and unresponsive bureaucracies like the FDOT.

Hard-earned tax dollars should go toward proven transportation alternatives – not rail – and for much-needed repairs to our road systems. The effort by new-urbanists to bury the car and hop on board rail is planned obsolescence and a worthless expenditure of our tax dollars.

CLEAWATER – In what could be billed as challenge to the establishment from the young liberty movement, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R – 10th Dist.) will be  facing a libertarian challenger for the congressional seat that he’s held for  over four decades. Michael Hull, 36, has tossed his hat in the ring, and says  it’s time that our politicians represent the people. Hull is no stranger to a good fight. He’s a retired professional boxer, a  former semi-pro hockey player, and an Air Force veteran, where he served  honorably as a Farsi linguist. And Hull is not all brawn, either. He speaks five languages and has a degree in International Studies and Political Science  from Baylor University. He tells us his platform is simple: The United States Constitution. “If  it’s not specifically enumerated in the Constitution, then Congress doesn’t  have the power to do it,” said Hull. “We’ve drifted too far away from government by the people, and it is our duty to take it back.” Hull, known by his friends as “Prince” for his professional boxing  nickname, says he will be ramping up his campaign in the coming weeks. “Rep. Young has held that seat for 20 terms, so he has plenty of political favors to  call in for his 2012 campaign,” said Hull. But he says that the current political climate, along with grass roots support, will help him offset  Young’s financial advantage.

Pinellas County Libertarian Party Chairman Greg Bowen says local  libertarians are ready for the task. “We have a small army of volunteers ready  to make phone calls and go door-to-door in a true, grass-roots initiative,”  said Bowen. Hull says he will be campaigning the old fashioned way, by attending events and presenting his ideas to potential constituents face-to-face. By contrast, 80-year-old Rep. Young will not likely attend many campaign  events, and will rely more on name recognition and large-donor GOP support.  “Congressman Young, whose primary residence is in Virginia, has been  considerably more reclusive and inaccessible to his constituents in recent  years,”said Adrian Wyllie, Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Florida. “This should be a revolutionary race for the people of District 10, who  finally have a candidate that will truly represent their economic and  individual liberties,” said Bowen. If the current dissatisfaction with Congress and the rise of the  libertarian movement are any indication, this could be a very interesting race  in Pinellas County.

(Palm Beach, Florida) – A Jewish – Republican candidate for the United States Senate is accusing one of the frontrunners for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination of using the word “Palestine” in a grammatical way that indicates support for a permanent Palestinian state.
Adam Hasner, the former Republican leader of the Florida House of Representatives, has been a vocal opponent of Palestinians and others who he feels oppose the Jewish state.  While in the legislature, Hasner was outspoken in his opposition to any matter, bill or speaker who he felt did not support the Jewish state.
A quick review of the LeMieux record in the United States Senate however shows a different story than portrayed by Hasner a fact that was pointed out by LeMieux campaign aide, Ana Nix.
Nix said that the “syntax error committed by a staff member”, was quickly corrected and should not be taken as a change in Senator LeMieux’s consistent support of Israel.
The actual paragraph from the LeMieux campaign was a long way away from Hasner’s implications. “So long as Palestine continues to sanction actions of terror against Israel, our staunchest ally in the Middle East, the United Nations should not recognize Palestine as a member state. Palestinian leaders admit their motivation for recognition is to pursue claims against Israel in the International Criminal Court. Until Palestinian leadership commits to a serious peace process and severs ties with Hezbollah, it should not be granted United Nations’ recognition.”
Hasner eventually acknowledged that while LeMieux was “pro-Israel,” but Hasner believed that “Palestine” statement implied “an existing, independent Palestinian state.”
Nix concluded her remarks concerning the bogus Hasner claim by stating; “Senator LeMieux has always stood with Israel and always will.”
In a series of straw ballots and polls taken throughout the state, LeMieux appears to be in a tight race with former Army Colonel Mike McCalister and successful entrepreneur Craig Miller for the status of “frontrunner” with Hasner running well behind the top three.
All the GOP candidates will be on hand for several events this week in Orlando leading off with the Faith & Freedom Rally being held at the Rosen Centre Hotel on International Drive on Thursday from 3:30 – 6:00 pm and will participate in a debate sponsored by Faith & Freedom on Friday at noon.The Phoenix Network and Central Florida Politics will be reporting live from the GOP events this week.

Depositions show Florida Republican leaders lied about agreement with ex-Chairman Jim Greer

Orlando, Florida — New information is out in the case involving one of the biggest political scandals in state politics. 10 News has obtained depositions in the criminal case of former Republican Party Chair Jim Greer.

Greer says the top party leaders lied and conspired to frame him is talking to only one media outlet in the state and that’s 10 News.

Before Greer was arrested in June of 2010 on charges he bilked the party, Republican leaders had public amnesia about signing an agreement, saying everything he did as chairman was appropriate, necessary, and legal.

According to Greer, “They proposed a huge severance agreement and they had multiple drafts going back and forth. The one I ultimately signed, they ultimately signed, and then they denied it existed after they signed it.”

Under deposition, State Senator John Thrasher, who succeeded Greer as chairman, is asked how his signature got on the agreement and he says,” I don’t recall it.”

Thrasher also can’t recall ever saying there was no agreement which he and the party attorney did it at the GOP executive meeting the same day Thrasher was elected chair.

Jim Stelling, a former member of the GOP executive committee, was at the meeting and says his jaw dropped. Stelling says he knew an agreement existed, because he saw it.

Under further questioning, Thrasher admits party leaders agreed to hold Greer harmless for any expenditure during his term.

Meanwhile, the speaker of the Florida House, Dean Cannon, admits he might have also denied the agreement existed, but under oath Cannon says he was surprised and upset the party didn’t want to honor the agreement. Cannon claims he said it would be in the best interest of the Republican Party to pay Greer and honor the agreement, but there was a problem.

Greer says, “If the Republican Party wrote me a check, it would become public record on the finance reports and then the grassroots would know this bunch had been lying to them.”

When the party decided it didn’t want to honor the agreement, Greer says the leaders became concerned that he would blow the whistle on the lavish spending party leaders were doing with the GOP American Express card.

According to Greer, “Someone said, ‘We need to circle the wagons’ and they as a group orchestrated the biggest pack of lies I’ve ever seen.

“The number one rule in politics is you have to discredit the person who knows the dirt on us, and that’s what they went about doing with me.”

But now that the party has abandoned Greer and the case is proceeding to trial, the former party chairman says he knows the dirt and has nothing to lose in shoveling it onto those who tried to throw him under the bus.