Archive for February, 2009

The AJC asked 10 finalists for a  fulltime conservative columnist  position to write two columns: one on efforts for a U.S. economic stimulus plan and one on any other topic. Here were the two columns submitted by Kyle Wingfield, the candidate who ultimately was chosen for the job. He was listed as candidate J in the original field of 10.

By Candidate J

The U.S. has been in dire straits for months, but only now are we getting a true glimpse of the “Money for Nothing” economy.

It started of course with subprime loans. Eventually the free-money act moved off-Broadway and to Washington: banking and auto bailouts, “quantitative easing,” a stimulus bill that left no Democratic donor’s back unscratched.

Now this: A senior Obama administration official told reporters recently that the budget deficit will be more than halved from this year’s record level by the time President Obama’s term ends. Obama detailed on Tuesday plans for reducing the deficit to $533 billion in …

Continue reading Candidate J, Column 1: Budget deficit »

The AJC asked 10 finalists for a fulltime conservative columnist position to write two columns: one on efforts for a U.S. economic stimulus plan and one on any other topic. Here were the two columns submitted by Kyle Wingfield, the candidate who ultimately was chosen for the job. He was listed as candidate J in the original field of 10.

By Candidate J

Conservatives are supposed to like all tax cuts. But the differences between the cut included in the federal stimulus bill and one proposed in Atlanta offer a chance to re-learn an old lesson: Not all tax cuts are created equal.

The first reference here is to a reduction in federal payroll taxes of $400 annually for individual workers, or $800 for couples. The lump-sum tax rebates that the Bush administration issued last year were largely put into savings or used to pay down debt. President Obama wants the new tax cuts handed out slowly so that people will just spend.

The apparent idea is that the money—about $8 per week per …

Continue reading Candidate J, Column 2: Stimulus »

By MAUREEN DOWNEY

Before my twins entered first grade, I sent a note to the principal asking if one of them could have the same teacher who taught my older children in first grade and was dearly loved by them. Close to retirement, this teacher would be one of the few that my teens and my younger kids would ever share in common.

With only four first-grade classes, the odds were already good that one of my pair would end up in her class. Neither did. And when I inquired, the principal suggested it was because I asked.

The class was not full. In fact, the principal added students to the roster even after school started. Nor had there been a long list of requests, she said. And, yes, the principal acknowledged, either of the twins would have been a fine fit for the class. But she just didn’t believe in honoring parent requests even when it was possible and painless to do so.

That uncompromising posture — shared by many school leaders across the state — has helped lay the …

Continue reading Needed: Schools that listen, not vouchers »

By MAUREEN DOWNEY

For children to succeed in school, we’re told that parental involvement is key. But I’m beginning to wonder if we’ve pushed that theme too far.

I’m not talking about the fourth-grader who shows up at the science fair with a rotating solar system powered by a blender motor, the product of a parent’s all-nighter in the garage. Nor am I worried much about the bleary-eyed mom or dad with a glue gun who produces an exquisite miniature of the White House built out of sugar cubes.

Such heavy-handed involvement typically fades by middle school and disappears altogether by high school, when most kids refuse to even acknowledge they have parents.

Increasingly, though, parents are running interference for their children well beyond senior year.

College professors say it’s not unusual to receive an irate e-mail from parents complaining about their child’s grade or the class workload. Even graduate schools are seeing more prospective students arrive on …

Continue reading Should parents run interference for students? »