Jim never has a second cup of coffee at home… UPDATE: Jindal meeting with McCain this week

Strange goings on in the world today. For one thing, this moronblog has a link from Slate. I’m pretty confident that Michael Weiss doesn’t read this blog and I can’t help but wonder how he stumbled across it. Maybe via my link to LGF in that article, but since Charles doesn’t have trackbacks I can’t figure out how. Maybe Technorati?

Also, the wheels are coming off the Great Brown Hope of the GOP. I speak, of course, of Bobby Jindal. (Bitter, much? You betcha! I feel betrayed.) I’ve voted and campaigned for him in various offices for years. Many conservatives have floated his name as VP choices for McCain or even in a Presidential run in 2012 or 2016. But all those wonderful conservative values he’s stood for all this time seem to have fallen by the wayside now that he’s Governor and has the power to really make the substantive changes he’s been advocating for so long. He allowed his ethics reform to be gutted, and he’s either not fighting for us or actively blocking action on taxes, transparent government, smaller government, blocking a legislative pay raise, and more. He says all the right things, but when the rubber meets the road there always seems to be a loophole, an exception, or a delay in acting that benefits all the usual suspects. The GOP had better find another “savior” because it’s not looking like Jindal is The One. In fact, he’s looking like a good candidate for Senate after he’s done here; he’ll fit right in. And that is certainly not a compliment or an endorsement.

UPDATE: Jindal, who met with McCain here last month, will fly to Arizona to meet with him again this week. If he becomes VP, that means that the new governor of Louisiana will be Democrat Mitch Landreiu, brother of Senator Mary Landrieu.

Jindal, 36, has downplayed suggestions that he is getting serious consideration as McCain’s running mate, and, while saying he loved his job as governor, has refused to say he would turn down the chance to run for the nation’s No. 2 job.

It’s impossible to soak the rich, and the WSJ has a nifty chart to prove it. Short version: Darwin’s law for economics - “capital migrates away from regimes in which it is treated harshly, and toward regimes in which it is free to be invested profitably and safely.” So for all you “social justice” types, you’re wasting your time, and for you Christian social justice types, you’re actually attacking what you say you hold most dear.

If you’re a Louisiana resident, this last item is for you. The Louisiana legislature is seeking to limit our rights as parents to direct our children’s education. If you’re going to object, now is the time to do so.

Here’s the HSLDA email blast with the info:

May 21, 2008

Louisiana: Calls Needed–Bill Limits Parental Rights!

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:

House Bill 1091 will be heard in the House Education Committee Thursday, May 22. This bill would prohibit a student who is 17 or 18 from being withdrawn from public or private school except for one of five specific reasons. Even then, in order to withdraw a student would have to obtain the written consent of the chief administrator of the school and undergo an exit interview.

This bill is not a homeschool issue, but it will severely limit when parents can decide that their children should be withdrawn from school to work or move on to other educational options. House Bill 1091 will not prohibit parents from removing their children from public school to educate them in a private school or home study program.

House Bill 1091 has appeared on the Senate Education Committee agenda for Thursday, May 22. We need your calls now to urge the committee to stop this bill as restrictive of parents’ rights to direct their children’s education, unnecessarily requiring them to remain in school unless officials grant permission to withdraw.

Please call and email today and tomorrow all of the Senate Education Committee members listed below.

ACTION SUGGESTED:

You may contact each of the Senate Education Committee members listed, with this message, in your own words:

“Please oppose House Bill 1091. This bill greatly limits when parents can withdraw their 17- or 18-year-olds from school for work or other educational opportunities other than secondary school. Parents have a fundamental right to direct their children’s education, and House Bill

1091 will restrict that right.”

Senate Education Committee

Senator Ben Nevers (Chairman)
Phone: (985) 732-6863
Email: websen@legis.state.la.us

Senator Eric LaFleur (Vice-Chairman)
Phone: (337) 363-5019
Email: lafleure@legis.state.la.us

Senator Bill Cassidy
Phone: (225) 925-2522
Email: Lasen16@legis.state.la.us

Senator Jack Donahue|
Phone: (985) 727-7949
Email: donahuej@legis.state.la.us

Senator Yvonne Dorsey
Phone: (225) 342-9700
Email: dorseyy@legis.state.la.us

Senator Ann Duplessis
Phone: (504) 243-7795
Email: duplessisa@legis.state.la.us

Senator Gerald Long
Phone: (318) 628-5799
Email: longg@legis.state.la.us

BACKGROUND:

Currently, parents can withdraw their 17- or 18-year-old children from school by providing written consent. Often, in situations where this occurs, the parent feels the student would get a better education in the workplace, an apprentice-type situation, or an alternative education opportunity.

Under House Bill 1091, in order to withdraw a 17- or 18-year-old student from school, parents would have to: 1) provide written consent to the withdrawal, 2) participate in a exit interview with their child and sign a written acknowledgement that withdrawal from school would likely reduce the student’s future earning potential, 3) obtain the written consent for the student’s withdrawal from the chief administrator of the school. The withdrawal must be due to one or more of the following: (a) student is pregnant or actively parenting, (b) student is incarcerated or adjudicated, (c) student is institutionalized or in a residential facility, (d) student has chronic physical or mental illness, or (e) student has family or economic hardships. No other reason for withdrawal would be permitted.

The purpose of House Bill 1091 is to address the dropout rate.

However, just as raising the compulsory attendance age will not reduce the dropout rate, neither with will an attempt to further restrict who may withdraw from school. In fact, the two states with the highest high school completion rates, Maryland at 94.5% and North Dakota at 94.7%, compel attendance only to age 16. The state with the lowest completion rate (Oregon: 75.4%) compels attendance to age 18. (Figures are three-year averages, 1996 through 1998.)

Twenty-nine states only require attendance to age 16. Older children unwilling to learn can cause classroom disruptions and even violence, making learning harder for their classmates who truly want to learn.

House Bill 1091 would restrict parents’ freedom to decide if their 17- or 18-year-olds are ready for college or the workforce. (Some 17-year-olds who are not academically inclined benefit more from valuable work experience than from being forced to sit in a classroom.)

This bill has already passed the House so we need your action now to stop it. Please call now to urge the Senate Education Committee to defeat House Bill 1091.

Sincerely,

Thomas J. Schmidt

HSLDA Staff Attorney

———————————————————————-

-> Who’s knocking on your door?

When a social service worker arrives at your door, tension can run

high. Wouldn’t it be nice to get your lawyer on the phone,

providing you with immediate step-by-step guidance?

More reasons to join HSLDA…

http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1099

———————————————————————-

======================================================================

The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of:

Home School Legal Defense Association

P.O. Box 3000

Purcellville, Virginia 20134

Phone: (540) 338-5600

Fax: (540) 338-2733

Email: info@hslda.org

Web: http://www.hslda.org