“Democrats voted for Obama to prove they weren’t racist,….now they can vote for Cain to prove they’re not stupid.”  From an article announcing Cain’s candidacy.

George Rebane

– New Report on the status of American education and its public schools,
– SleazeWatch Dept – Obamacare waivers line is getting even longer,
– Remarkable position of Dems on debt and deficit,
– No explanation on the glories of ‘card check’,
– Still hear about Al Gore’s notorious SS Lock Box?

‘The Failure of American Schools’ by Joe Klein in the June issue of The Atlantic lays out the most recent grim picture on the performance and policies of unionized public schools in America (H/T to reader).  Recommended reading for both Democrats and Republicans – the former to celebrate how their voter pool is growing, and the latter to stay focused on efforts to return real education into the country’s classrooms.

In our SleazeWatch Department the spotlight returns to that legislative luminary, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who still holds the title of Ms Pass-then-Ponder in the House.  Yes, her main claim to fame is still Obamacare, but maybe not in the way she intended.  As the long line of businesses, institutions, and unions (more than half of applicants, who’d a thunk it?) at the Obamacare Waiver Window grows, someone noticed that almost 40 of the recent additions to this line of worthies seeking to opt out come from Pelosi’s district.  Not to worry though, those with petitions to take a pass on socialized healthcare need no longer embarrass their electeds in Congress with direct appeals.  They can use a front outfit by the name of Flex-Plan Services to do their dirty work with the government (wink-wink).  Love that name; wasn’t Obamacare supposed to do away with all that flexibility in the healthcare markets?  For a snootfull on these doings, just google ‘Obamacare waivers’.

It seems that not many people understand the whys and wherefores of raising the nation’s debt ceiling.  One way you can tell is to look at the straight-faced position of the Democratic congressional caucus.   With not a blink of an eye, the Dems state that we’ll continue screwing the country by opposing meaningful spending cuts, unless you Republicans let us screw the country by helping us raise taxes and support meaningless spending cuts.  For a while there I thought that both sides had the best interests of the nation at heart.  To see why the Dems don’t have to worry how this stand will play with the voters, take another look at the status of education report above.

Maybe I’m just waiting for the Easter Bunny and Tinkerbell, but I did expect someone like Trumka or Andy Stern to explain to the rest of us about forced unionization and workers’ rights.  To date none of the progressives have stepped up to explain how denying workers a secret ballot on admitting a union increases their rights.  One explanation is that the leftwing politicos are afraid the public schools haven’t yet graduated enough double dummies who will believe how that ‘card check’ liberal lobotomy will substitute for reason and logic.

Finally, it seems that one funny farm factoid has finally been laid to rest in the debate about our country’s unfunded liabilities.  It seems that the ‘fully funded Social Security trust fund’ phools are getting the hook from their leftwing pulpits.  It must be about three months or so since I last heard one of those talk in a public forum.  Now it’s only a few local yokels here and there who still believe that Al Gore’s notorious SS Lock Box full of Treasuries will be good for anything except perhaps launching QE47.  Bernanke, call your office.