it is almost as if Mitt Romney is trying to make this week worse. He's messing with Big Bird again.
He poked the famed Sesame Street bird late last year under the guise of attacking public broadcasting, saying, "We're not going to kill Big Bird. But Big Bird is going to have advertisements. Alright?" Not discouraged in the least by the fact he's trying to change a program virtually no one dislikes, Romney went back to that trough this week in a Radio Iowa interview:
There are programs that I like, like PBS—I mean, my grandkids watch PBS, they like to watch Sesame Street. You know, I just don't think we can afford to borrow money from China to pay for things we absolutely don't have to do. So in the case of PBS, I'd tell them to get advertisers or more contributors, but the government is not going to pick up the bill by borrowing money.
Sesame Street, as folks may recall, isn't exactly set in the suburbs. Colorful Muppets aside, it looks fairly rough. Melissa will explain that metaphor in full leading off today's show as she launches a discussion about the plight of the middle class, and whether or not tax policies being offered by both candidates fully serve the folks who have borne the brunt of this economic downturn.
Other topics Melissa will cover include the epidemic of military suicide and sexual assault, mental health awareness, child poverty in America, and the stark statistics of black unemployment. She'll also talk about juvenile incarceration as it particularly affects communities of color, and interview a mother, Mary Johnson, who lost her son to a violent act. Melissa will also talk to Oshea Israel, the man who committed that murder as a juvenile, who is now out of prison after 17 years and lives next door to Johnson.
Our guests also include:
- Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund.
- Lawrence Otis Graham, attorney and author of "Our Kind of People: Inside the Black Upper Class."
- Bob Herbert, former New York Times columnist and Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos.
- Shelby Knox, feminist organizer and director of Organizing Women's Rights for Change.org.
- Glenn Martin, Vice President of Public Affairs at The Fortune Society.
- Rev. Vivian Nixon, executive director of the College and Community Fellowship, and co-founder of the Education Inside Out Coalition.
- Rep. Jackie Speier, Democrat from California.
We hope that you interact with us during the show here in the comments of this post, on Facebook, and on Twitter, using the hashtag #nerdland -- and encourage others to do the same. We look forward to having you join us at 10am ET on msnbc!
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As a teacher, I would suggest all of you ladies serve as teachers in a middle school or high school in any major city from St. Petersburg, Fl to Chicago to Oakland. I doubt you would last 60 minutes. Students are suspended for: Fighting, drug use in the washroom, severe disrespect in the classroom, gang activity is big. You are fooling yourself if you think non-violent offenses in school should get a pass. YOU ARE ALL DREAMING...what you are saying is not based on reality. Teachers are beat, shot, knifed
A juvenile offender has pled guilty to the death of Orangefield teacher Staci Lisenby.
Lisenby, 46, died Feb. 21, 2011 from a gunshot wound to the head. This is why teachers do not last more than 5 years at best.
Orange County District Attorney released a statement saying the juvenile is sentenced
Read more: #ixzz20bsPdZ1c
As a 22-year teaching veteran, I respectfully disagree with Ingrid's comments, as would many of my colleagues. Yes, there are some serious juvenile offenders who need to be dealt with harshly. However, the point made on the program and in reality is that most of the juveniles we are sending into the system are not that type. They could have and should have been addressed in other ways, much earlier, and much of their behavior was the result of a series of poor decisions by adults all around them---and policymakers far away from them.
"However, the point made on the program and in reality is that most of the juveniles we are sending into the system are not that type. They could have and should have been addressed in other ways, much earlier, and much of their behavior was the result of a series of poor decisions by adults all around them---and policymakers far away from them." May I add, With much deliberate intent on the part of the "adults around them and policymakers". Why we as a nation always want to "Blame the child/student" rather than look at the state and path the child must have had to follow to arrive there, is beyond me. NONE OF US ARRIVED WHERE WE ARE WITHOUT HELP--which includes the state of Confusion and delinquency (lack of help). Why is it our nature to always BEGIN @ THE RIGHT NOW?!! Where were you when the child needed more attention in the 1st & 2nd grade classroom? Don't even TRY to tell me that the role of the parent is to teach where the leaves off! NO. The role of the Teacher is to TEACH & NOT DISCRIMINATE OR TRACK our children. Many parents in the cities cited by Ingrid, don't have the capabilities to assist their children sufficiently beyond 7th grade (if even that). We have the level of violence in our schools today because our inner cities have been abandoned by the general belief that any inner city youth is doomed to fail; so our state and national legislators SPEND OUR MONEY PLANNING FOR THEIR FAILURE (NOT SUCCESS). Therefore, the investments for many of these children go into prisons and juvenile facilities. If Teachers, Administrators, Schools Districts and County Governing Boards don't work to meet the mandate of Equal Rights for All even in Education, they will ultimately turn this nation into a PRIVATIZED PRISON STATE which has effectively hedged their bets in the right direction; to CAPITALize on the DEMISE OF A SOCIAL GROUP; A CULTURE; A DEMOGRAPHIC, (AN ETHNIC GROUP) and the Ultimate Victory for the Superior White European Elite. Don't be deceived, this cycle of politics has had it's hands forced by this African American President, and they are scurrying to stop him before he "reveals" in the reversing process their plans which have been in play (motion) for at least 3 decades.
As for PBS, if we get rid of tax breaks for the oil companies it would pay for the $422 m that the CPB receives each year; with a bunch of $$$ to pay for programs like poverty children's dental care programs and care and on and on!
If WE purge our nation's capitol of self-serving leeches and thieves like many of our representatives; and pray for men and women of integrity to pick up the banner for TRUE DEMOCRACY for THE HEALTH AND WEALTH OF OUR NATION (NOT JUST A FEW); TRUTH WILL REVEAL THAT WE (THE PEOPLE) have been sold to China, Saudi Arabia, and any other nation where we have a vested interest in their natural resource. WE OWE--BECAUSE OUR TAX DOLLARS HAVE BEEN STOLEN AND INVESTED IN THE STABILIZING OF OTHER NATIONS--FOR THE PROFIT OF (shall I say it?) THE 1-2%. (RESEARCH IT YOURSELF)...and these are the people the average American citizen stands in the public square arguing and shouting each other down over? We have come to the point of smashing in reps office doors and windows; threatening lives and even aiming at the White House, why? Because these lying; venom spewing snakes on the hill use our trust to manipulate us and turn us into their thugs and assassins, while they have $100 lunches and make more deals for themselves. (Sounds a lot like the mafia to me.) Who lobbies your representative?
I think people should be aware that misdameanors can be just as damaging as felonies. And the barriers to work based on criminal conviction are often codified in the law.
For example: Ohio §3319.39 bars employment in any school system for anybody with as much as a misdemeanor, for any position, including jobs that that have nothing to do with kids. In my case I was a warehouse employee.
The important point, is that policies that are a blanket exclusion to employment based on criminal conviction, for decades, have been found to be a violation of Title VII. Meaning the State of Ohio is willfully violating Federal civil rights protections.
Quick synopsis: in 2007 the State of Ohio passed H.B. 190. This bill was about testing requirements for students. Inserted in this bill the night before passage was the Kearney amendment, named after Eric Kearney who is currently a State Senator. The Kearney amendment changed the language of §3319.39 regarding background checks for public school employees. The result was that this section of law is now blanket exclusion to employment for any position, in any school district in Ohio for anybody with a criminal conviction, including misdemeanors and including current employees.
There are decades of District Court and EEOC decisions, which show that such blanket exemption to employment based on criminal conviction has a disparate effect on minorities and is a violation of Title VII.
As a Head Start teacher I found the story about young children being arrested and having criminal charges on their record to be horrific. If I had a child arrested every time I got kicked I would lose a lot of kids! Why is the ACLU not more involved with this? Why is the country not involved with this? Another thing I found interesting was the number of people not covered by insurance. Can you break the data further down? I would be interested to see the direct correlation between those numbers and the states. I would like to see how many of the children living without insurance and living in poverty are in the states with extreme governors-Texas, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, states where the poverty level is set so low a lot of people do not qualify for any kind of aid.
I would just like to comment on the issue of black female unemployment and the public sector. Many black women who have lost jobs in the public sector would not qualify for the same jobs today, even though they may have years of experience doing those very jobs, the reason is that many of those jobs didn't require college degrees previously, but they do now. I have friends that have worked in the public sector since graduating from high school, because these were easy to get entry level jobs. They have promoted to upper level positions through years of experience and are paid very good wages, but if they were laid off, would not even qualify to apply for the jobs they are doing right now. Many never even thought of getting degrees because they never felt the need to, the positions didn't require them but now that they system has changed, many of these women who head households are working in fear everyday, wondering when they will get that message that they are being laid off because of budget cuts. This is far from over..the writing is on the wall..
MHP's focus this am is distinctly "depressionistic." In art, a well known form of painting is referred to as Impressionism. MHP's palette seems to be distinctly "depressionistic." She is focusing on "depressionism." Negativism requires the counter influence of optimism and hopefulness for healthful balance.. MHP's rhetorical palette needs some sweetness to counterbalance all the bitterness and negativity of her topic choices. One might say she needs to sweeten the lemonade.
I was so overwhelmed with joy that I was actually in tears watching your segment on the justice system in this country. Your show gave the viewers in such a short amount of time so much information on issues that are not reported on enough. I hope you will continue to bring more information on these topics. I agree with everyword and opinion you and your guests shared. I am also of the opinion that this was "breaking news" for many of your viewers. We all should be better informed of what our justice system is doing to our children, families and communities. Those whose lives are not being broken by this system, their hearts would be, if we they really understood the magnitude of the distruction it is causing and outraged about how it is afecting the distribution of power in America and aiding to to the distruction of the middle class.
"Americans aren't jealous of rich folks because Americans aspire to be rich themselves," is a line directly out of the Rush Limbaugh playbook being adopted by major corporate media in America. It's right wing rhetoric. Everyone would like to be rich, duh, but average Americans don't tend to confuse themselves with Warren Buffett or Bill Gates. . A lot of folks do play the lottery however for their shot at riches. That's the only way most folks understand that they would have a chance at wealth. Right wing corporate propoganda is infiltrating major American corporate media like an infection. .