Monday 6/30/2008 DAILY NEWS DIGEST
Birmingham News – Utilization of Birmingham transit up as gasoline prices surge.
Birmingham News – The Birmingham News cites recent National Assessment of Educational Progress as evidence that Alabama’s investment in k-12 has been sound, and may need to be strengthened.
Mobile Press-Register – “The Political Skinny,” the weekly roundup from Mobile, Montgomery and Washington from the readers of the Press-Register.
Mobile Press-Register – Press-Register is pleased with announcement that any restitution ordered in continuing corruption probe of two-year college system will go to the Department of Postsecondary Education.
Huntsville Times – Report says VW board will make announcement of location of new facility on July 8th.
Huntsville Times – Columnist John Ehringer says that hopes for sales tax reform for this year may not be dead.
Times Daily - County and municipal governments facing problems with road maintenance and construction due to declining gasoline sales.
Tuscaloosa News – University of Alabama appears closer to buying Bryce property.
Tuscaloosa News – Obama campaign has hopes for southern states.
Tuscaloosa News – “Alabama Exposure,” Dana Beyerle’s weekly political column for readers of the NYTimes regional papers.
Montgomery Advertiser - Alabama Policy Institute’s Michael Ciamarra points out the necessity of keeping higher education affordable for average Alabama families.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution - AJC Columnist Jay Brookman calls for congressional approval of proposed request for the National Research Council of river systems in effort to end stalemate between Alabama, Georgia and Florida over water rights.
New York Times – Convict in 1964 Jackson County murder and rape case that inflamed racial passions up for parole.
I wonder if Mr Ciamarra and his organization are having second thoughts of HOPE scholarships funded by a lottery? Of course they had a different name back then, as well as different tune when it came to higher education, but kids and parents in surrounding states are in much better shape than we are in Alabama when it comes to funding your child’s education. We are such suckers for people carrying bibles and saying trust me.
Comment by Willie — June 30, 2008 @ 8:19 am
You are right on target, Willie. Look at the number of Alabama car tags at lottery outlets along the Georgia border. Folks in Georgia appreciate the fact that Alabamians contribute so much toward their childrens’ education.
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2008 @ 8:29 am
yea, cause taking money from poor inner city lottery ticket buyers to give to upper middle class white kids is a great idea. Look at the dispersement of cost and benefits, and the resulting poverty and any economist will tell you this is a bad idea
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2008 @ 9:21 am
I think that they take as much from Alabamians as they do “poor inner city lottery ticket buyers.” And the folks in Georgia (both inner city folks as well as middle class white kids) certainly seem to like the lottery a lot better than you do.
Do you know everything the lottery provides in Georgia to mouth off these complaints? If not, you should look at the benefits to all of the state’s citizens - rich and poor alike. State-funded pre-k programs, universal access and no tuition for community colleges and technical school as well as the educational benefits for four-year schools.
If only Alabama did ANYTHING for its students - rich or poor. As long as folks like you oppose the creation of opportunity for all of our citizens, Alabama will remain in the cellar.
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2008 @ 9:29 am
Over the last 35 years or so I have driven old US 80 from an undisclosed location in Montgomery County to Columbus. Prior to the passage of the Hope Scholarship Lottery, the readily available material culture gave you few clues that you were going from Alabama to Georgia. After Georgia pass the lottery, things started changing. Russell County Alabama began to lose a substantial part of their middle class as they moved across the river and the economy on the Alabama side started to slide. Today, one of the quickest trips in time is to make this trip. On the Alabama side it feels like the poor parts of the south in the 1950’s that had missed out on the post WWII boom and once you cross the river it feels like the 21st century.
While I agree that gambling based tax substitutes are regressive, and the last thing Alabama needs of a more regressive tax structure, all Alabama would have had to do was provide a similar educational package out of a reasonable funding source, like a state property tax, and we would have been way ahead of where we are now.
Comment by Pecan Jim — June 30, 2008 @ 10:47 am
I consider the Lottery a voluntary tax. If you don’t play the lottery you don’t pay the tax and vice versa.
I find the concern for the poor inner city lottery ticket buyers(code word for African American) laughable. The GOP adopts the “it’s your money” mantra when it suits their purposes, not realizing that if the so called “poor inner city lottery ticket buyers want to play the lottery it is THEIR MONEY.
If the GOP was really concerned about “poor inner city citizens” they would remove the tax on groceries.
Comment by bhmhomeboy — June 30, 2008 @ 11:56 am
The claim “it is their money” loses credibility when you look at the marketing strategies the lottery takes. See who there target market is, not the occasional ticket buyer.
All one needs to do is look at the disaster that the mismanagement of the water situation in Atlanta has caused to determine Georgia’s disregard for the negative externalities of their actions. No policy can be isolated. We must not only look at the effects a lottery will have on education but also on every other government service before determining the lottery’s merit.
As for the tax on groceries, removing the taxes on groceries is a great idea, and the GOP would do it if they could just cut the tax. The democrats and their puppeteer do not allow tax cuts without raising other taxes, aka removing the federal tax exemption. Allow a simple tax cut and it would happen at the Volkswagen special session. Try and off set it with a much larger tax increase in another area and it will fail the referendum even if it did pas the legislature
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
“their” not “there”, my bad (talk about losing credibility!)
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2008 @ 12:50 pm
Hey Anon #4, Are you saying that Alabama provides no services to its students when you state, “If only Alabama did ANYTHING for its students - rich or poor.” Maybe you need to drop by your local public school and see what is really going on. There’s free breakfast and lunch, free school books, the teachers are paid, speech therapy, counseling, library services, special education testing and services are provided. Also, there is free transportation and after school programs. Furthermore, we have a community college system which is increasing it’s adult education services all the time, not to mention all our state funded universities. Maybe Alabama is not among the best states when it comes to education, but to suggest we as a state do nothing to educate our students is just plain wrong.
Comment by Margaret — June 30, 2008 @ 1:00 pm
Margaret:
Your condescending comments aren’t usually what we see from you, but I guess certain topics bring out the truth in all of us.
You’re right, we do fund the education system as well as we probably can with limited resources. But did you know that we’ve cut adult basic education in each of the last two budgets? And my comments were really related to the failure of the state to provide any substantive funding for needs-based assistance for postsecondary education. In 2005, we had 100,000 students in Alabama eligible for the needs-based program. How many were we able to serve? About 3500, with an average level of assistance of $550 for the year. Certainly, this is not much assistance to allow folks to improve their education or skill level. Perhaps we’re in this bind because all of our efforts (and our dollars) seem to go toward incentives to lure corporations here. The dollar figure for training incentives at the TK plant is about $67 million. We’ll provide less than $3 million next year for needs-based assistance. And even those who get the training at TK - will they receive any type of certification that will allow them to market those skills elsewhere? Nope, because we don’t provide that certification unless the employer wants us to do so. And generally, they don’t want that because it provides more opportunities to workers.
The truth is, we don’t want to do anything for the welfare of our citizens, but we’re willing to borrow, beg or steal to give any company showing us any attention whatever “corporate welfare” they demand.
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2008 @ 1:16 pm
I never meant to be condescending, but you didn’t specify anything about need-based assistance in your post #4. It seemed to me that a lot of people were working really hard everyday in order to educate children when you were questioning if ANYTHING was being done at all.
Comment by Margaret — June 30, 2008 @ 1:30 pm
Anonymous #7,
You can’t tell people what to spend THEIR money on. If people want to buy lottery tickets they will and vice versa.
What specific taxes do the GOP want to “cut”?
I don’t know what the Atlanta “water situation” has to do with the lottery, but I do know that Georgia students can attend any state university free of charge if they graduate from high school with a B average. I do know the cause and effect of that action is a highly educated populace which provides a highly trained supply of workers.
Comment by bhmhomeboy — June 30, 2008 @ 2:37 pm
Hey bhmhomeboy, You might want to check your facts. One day when I was shopping on the outskirts of Atlanta, people were complaining that where people lived dictated what grades their students had to have to enter college. This is determined on a sliding scale according to the economic status of the area. I was in a wealthy area and the parents were saying their kids had to have a 98 average to go to the University of Georgia. (I think it was a 98.) They were all looking at private and out of state schools because their kids who had A averages, not high A averages couldn’t get into state school.
Comment by Margaret — June 30, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
Margaret - maybe you should check your facts. Overhearing a conversation at a shopping mall is not really a viable or dependable source of information. The fact is, the availabilty of HOPE scholarships has tremendously increased the number of students going to college in Georgia, and has resulted in some schools, such as University of Georgia, imposing very strict admission standards based on academic achievement, not residency. UGA has reached the capacity for their Athens campus, and impose those strict standards in order to limit incoming students. Each year, the University of Georgia turns down literally thousands of applicants with good grades (including As) due to better qualified candidates.
That, my friend, is a fact. Casual conversations are not.
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2008 @ 4:59 pm
Fact: Alabama and Auburn are increasing tuition by 12% this year.
Thanks for facts you handed Margaret Anonymous#14.
Comment by bhmhomeboy — June 30, 2008 @ 6:46 pm
Well, I was not just overhearing a conversation. The person was talking directly to me. I am not certain what I am saying that is so wrong. Did I ever say anything about the number of students going to school on the Hope Scholarship? I was simply questioning whether every student who has a B average in Georgia can go to university free of charge. Also, is it wrong that UGA uses a sliding grade scale for admittance when considering a students economic background?
Comment by Margaret — June 30, 2008 @ 6:54 pm
In case you’re interested…yes, a high school student graduating with B average and who maintains that average can go to school for four years at no cost. If you’re going to talk about access, know what you’re talking about. Maybe you should check out the site http://www.gacollege411.org/FinAid/ScholarshipsAndGrants/HOPEScholarship/overview.asp
I’m not aware that UGA uses a sliding scale that considers economic background…but you’ve never mentioned that fact before. You stated “This is determined on a sliding scale according to the economic status of the area.” That’s a lot different than considering an individual’s economic status. Your comment almost implies something like “red lining.” If i live in a certain area, i can go to school.
Face it Margaret, you’re a bigot who doesn’t want to admit it.
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2008 @ 7:15 pm
Well, Anon, I am not a bigot. First you accuse me of being condescending, then a bigot. You don’t even know me and you are calling me names. Maybe the people I talked to in Roswell were mistaken, I don’t know. But, that doesn’t make me a bigot. I do appreciate the website you provide, but not the childish name calling.
Comment by Margaret — July 1, 2008 @ 8:02 am
BTW, I don’t even get what makes you assume I am a bigot. All I did was convey information told to me. (And it was the economic status of the area, not the individual as I remember it.) I never made a judgment on any of it. I also questioned whether or not every person who has a B average goes to school for free. As it turns out, they do. I never said or even implied that only people from certain areas should get to go to school. Rather I stated that I had heard that students from some areas have to make higher grades than students from other areas to attend UGA. How do you make the leap that I am a bigot? What does it say about you that you are so quick to form such a judgment about someone know so little about?
Comment by Margaret — July 1, 2008 @ 8:16 am
Margaret - I apologize if I’ve mischaracterized you. My assumption about your underlying bias was based on several factors: you chastise bhamboy for not getting his facts straight, then you rely on anectodal information and present that as fact. you immediately assume that a statement that economic status of a specific area determines entry into an institution of higher learning, not academic achievement. I don’t know about you, but from where I come from anytime someone talks about an individual, a group, or even a geographic area getting ’special consideration’ - it’s a none too thinly veiled reference to race. I’d assume someone who conveys information that is this heavily laden with racial or stereotypical undertones as fact does, in fact, hold similar attitudes that these reflect. If that’s not the case, I again apologize.
Comment by Anonymous — July 1, 2008 @ 8:40 am
That’s okay. I really was just trying to relay the frustration these women were feeling. Their children had worked really hard acquired solid A averages and wanted to go to UGA. The real frustration came when other students were allowed in with lower GPAs. Also, I didn’t mean to chastise bham. I didn’t know if his facts were right or wrong. He often makes outlandish statements. You never know when he is quoting facts or just making up stuff. For instance, he has claimed that the rooting out of corruption in the 2 year college system is an attempt to close down the whole system. He has also stated that Republicans are trying to make absentee voting illegal. If you have followed the forums, you would have seen that I have asked him to provide evidence or facts on several occasions.
Comment by Margaret — July 1, 2008 @ 9:30 am
there is a difference in going to school for free once you are excepted and actually getting accepted. Those who are excepted and have above a 3.0 will go for free, but those who have a 3.0 are not guarantied acceptance.
Comment by you are both wrong and both right though you made yourself look like a jackass with your name calling anon — July 1, 2008 @ 9:35 am
I would rather be accepted than excepted.
Comment by Roy — July 1, 2008 @ 9:46 am
Hey, Comment by you are both……, you look a bit like a jackass yourself!
Comment by Anonymous — July 1, 2008 @ 10:00 am
Margaret,
Just because you don’t agree with my OPINIONS doesn’t mean they are “outlandish” anymore than your OPINIONS mean you are bigoted and condesending. I try never to “make stuff up” and when possible I provide facts. Just because you don’t agree with my OPINION doesn’t mean I am “making stuff up”. Doc’s Political Parlor is a forum for DISCUSSION/DEBATE/EXCHANGE of ideas. I have just as much right to participate on the forum and express my OPINIONS as you do. You do not have the right to DEMAND I “provide evidence or facts” to validate my OPINION. It is my OPINION the so called “rooting out of corruption in the 2 year college system is an attempt to close down the whole system”. Just because you don’t share that OPINION doesn’t mean I “am making stuff up”. If you can’t handle the invectives don’t dish them out.
Comment by bhmhomeboy — July 1, 2008 @ 10:54 am