Posts with the tag Reauthorization

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

WEBMASTER — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:26:14 EST

The Pickens Plan: For those who would like to become an active participant in a solution for our nations energy needs I urge you to join with T.Boone Pickens in his quest for a cleaner planet through alternative energy.

Also see Green Wave Energy: Green Wave was founded by Mark Holmes and was formulated for viable alternative energy solutions. Green Wave Energy is promoting state-of-the-art energy-saving products and services throughout the country.

Green Wave Energy understands alternative energy technology will become “main stream” when

individuals and organizations understand that alternative energy technology exists and
when people see the economic benefits of using alternative energy technologies

Call 949.645.1701 for information on how Green Wave Energy can help you save the planet.

Alternative Energy
Source: David Apperson

url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy

Isn't there some way to stop this from going any farther?

BobBl — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:20:45 EDT

Here's a link to a bog on Education Week that is edited by David Hoff, who is an associate editor at Education Week.

It is titled: NCLB: Act II

The current topic is: The latest news on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.

After looking over the new draft rules in the Federal Register, I commented on that story. You can read my comment here:

BobBl - October 28, 2008 2:47 PM

Here's what I said there:

Isn't there some way to stop Spellings and the Department of Education from going any further with these rule changes?
Most of this will be unacceptable under the subsequent administration's agenda for education.
When there's a "regime change," the classified civil service USDOE employees (the dedicated few who haven't been driven off) will stop doing anything substantial (besides administering entitlement programs) until there's a new Secretary appointed and new political appointees put into the leadership positions in all the program offices.
This is an obvious continuation of the same old "top down" essentialist education agenda that the Bush administration has pushed over almost eight years.
Going any further with these "rule changes," which are nothing more than an "interpretation" of what this Secretary and her politically appointed staff interpret the legislation to mean, is a waste of time and $$ that the education community in this country can't afford.

Going any further with these new rules would be a horrible, costly mistake. Everyone who cares about the future of America's public educational system should write to their Representatives and call for them to do everything in their power to block the implementation of these new rules.

See for yourselves. Here's the PDF containing nearly 500 pages of new rules from the current Federal Register:

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 34 CFR Part 200 Docket ID ED-2008-OESE-0003 Title I--Improving The Academic Achievement Of The Disadvantaged

This quote from the introductory section perfectly summarizes why I believe so very strongly that these rules must be stopped immediately:

"In the absence of reauthorization, we believe these final regulations are necessary to further the interests of parents and children and to improve the implementation of NCLB in order to continue progress toward the goal of 100 percent student proficiency in reading and mathematics by 2014." (New Rules, pgs. 5-6)

For the same reasons that the Congress tabled the reauthorization of NCLB, these rule changes nust be stopped too.

These new rule's would be a terribly expensive mis-step backwards that our schools just can't afford.

BobBl

Where is transportation

EJG — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 09:56:11 EST

Barack,

Where is Transportation mentioned on your website??? This is a huge issue for everybody, everyday. It is bread and butter.

There is a huge bill coming to congress in 2009 - the next transportation reauthorization bill which will set policy and priorities for the next 5 years. This is a critical issue since our roads and bridges are crumbling and congested, our transit and train networks are woefully inadequate and the gas tax that funds all our transport infrastructure and which has not been raised since Bill Clinton's first year in office, is projected to be less than what we need to fund transportation projects after next year.

In the topic on energy and environment there is NO mention of transit. But studies have shown that taking transit is the #1 (yes - NUMBER ONE) thing that regular people can do to reduce their carbon footprint, and the impact on the land. Converting to Bio-fuels or hybrids does not address urban sprawl and loss of habitat. We need to implement the solutions we already have instead of perpetually researching and doing nothing. Clean Coal will not get you from point A to B. We need a serious investment in Walkable communities, Bicycling and TRANSIT. Also a national rail network is necessary to reduce congestion on highways and at our airports and it is crucial to our economy.

What is Barack's position on the gas tax? On properly funding the transit new starts program? on providing operating assistance to large urban transit systems like Chicago which are losing funding even as they have to handle record levels of ridership? What is his position on equalizing federal tax credits for autos and transit? What about providing money to alternatives like bicycle commuting? Will he commit to provide funds to bring our roads and bridges up to a state of good repair before paving new lanes? Will he start the work of building a better rail system like all the other industrialized countries have?

I want answers to these questions, so do a lot of Americans.