justcaws.com

Reading and hearing from far too many liberals that Obama has turned his back on his party and that he hasn’t done enough while in power.  So let’s look at some of his notable accomplishments:

• Appointed two moderate women to the U.S. Supreme Court
• Passed Health-Care Reform
• Set up New Banking Reform and Consumer Protection
• Repeal of Military’s Don’t ask Don’t Tell

Some president’s haven’t done as much in eight years as Obama has done in two. Liberals may have expected more and young people new to politics will be dissapointed with the concept of compromise, but Obama has made great progress.  Democrats can scream at him all they want for making a deal to extend tax-cuts for the rich, but it was a wise move for his long-term political survival.  What his party needs to do now is stand with their leader and stop the Democratic practice of eating one of their own.  

Afghanistan is not going to be this President’s Vietnam.  The cold, political reality is that  it would be economic suicide to scale back the U.S. war machine and send troops home for them to join the back of the unemployment line.  The war effort among other things, is a stimulus program.  But this one is funded by a blank cheque signed by the political right.   

The key issue as always is the economy, and yes you would be stupid to think otherwise. Retaining the White House during this economic mess is going to take one hell of political sell job, but Obama after early stumbles is starting to get his legs under him again.  The recent tax-deal was proof of that and Democrats would be wise to get behind a President whose political instincts are getting sharper by the day.

Obama will get his second-term even with an election campaign that is going to be all about the deficit and restoring America’s place in the world economy.  How will it happen?

The economy will show modest improvement during the next two years and Obama’s credibility will rise with it.  Whoever his opponent will be won’t have the clout or the experience to stop a promised movement and a following that wants to see their movie all the way to the end.  

I didn’t bet against Obama early on in the Democratic primaries and I am not about to go against him now. He’s been counted out before, but his political instincts, timing and charisma will see him through again.

I knew when the rationale for why my wife and I decided not to send our kids into FI program here in Guelph was published, it would cause a stir. Some thoughts…

First off, the decision is one that was made based on how FI is run in Guelph.  How FI programs are run vary from board to board and the arguments offered were from a Guelph perspective. Our decision might have been quite different if we lived in Ottawa for example.

In respect to the talent pool comment. I have heard no one dispute the column’s claim there are less applicants for FI postings than non.  That being the case I don’t know of anyone who would not rather have a larger pool of qualified applicants to choose from when hiring for any position – let alone one as important as a classroom teacher.   This argument does not mean that all FI teachers are bad,  a fact clearly stated in my column

“This doesn’t mean there aren’t some talented French immersion teachers out there.”

I even happen to know a few.

For some – their anger stems from the fact that I won’t stay quiet about the big lie - that all teachers are of the same ability and skill.  Teachers’ Unions like to preach this untruth - but no one truly believes it.  Unfortunately, only a few teachers are willing to face the consequences and say anything publicly that directly or indirectly shatters this myth.

The other key lesson has been learned writing op-ed material is that people will sometimes agree or disagree with you – but they may not actually have read what you wrote.   We see what we want to see I guess and a few “hot button” words will move people to take a side.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/EditorialOpinion/article/732230

High school teachers do their students a disservice when they fail to take a step back and let students have the limelight. Their job is to foster student leadership – not dominate the conversation.

Large exporters in the EU like Germany have too much to gain with a tariff free Europe for them to even consider giving up on the EU. 

Unfortunately, the current weaker economies (Spain, Ireland, and Greece) pay their people too much to benefit from factories migrating there and increasing employment opportunities.

Right now, the export driven countries win out as not enough economic benefit is flowing to the poor cousins of the EU. But that is no reason for the EU to crumble.  Rich countries even after subsidizing their poorer EU cousins, have too much to gain from a united EU.  And since they “hold all the cards” in the EU, it will not only survive, but continue to grow as well.