Ya Think?!

From the "No shit, Sherlock!" annals of journalism comes this NY Times piece suggesting New Jersey Governor Tony Soprano may have hindered his chances for a VP nod because he's a bit over the top.

From: Christie’s Brashness Blunts Hopes to Join Ticket

...Mr. Christie’s star has faded as a potential vice-presidential pick. As polls show that his bluntness is striking more voters as bullying, Republicans close to Mr. Romney’s campaign say that the governor’s continued hostile encounters — including one on the Jersey Shore this month that was caught on video — have augmented fears that he is too unpredictable and too contentious, turning what was once viewed as a key strength into a drawback. 

A decision to pass on Mr. Christie would highlight the more cautious approach Mr. Romney appears to be taking — by all indications he has been leaning toward measured personalities like Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, or Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. This may reflect the lessons of the last presidential race, when a Republican running mate who seemed authentic and exciting went rogue... 

...Aides and advisers to Mr. Romney, who acknowledge that he was never going to be the safest choice, privately say that they are troubled by Mr. Christie’s temper, calling it unsettling and out of step with Mr. Romney’s temperament... 

...In the town-hall-style meetings that have become his preferred method of delivering messages (he has done 88 in 18 months), he boasts of his skill getting a Democrat-led Legislature to buckle. But what is often left out is that the changes were things that had first been proposed by Democrats who were coming in when Mr. Christie took office. 

“It’s like the guy who catches the little fish, then by the time he’s done telling you the story, it’s a 60-pound tuna,” said Stephen M. Sweeney, the State Senate president and a Gloucester County Democrat who initially proposed the pension changes and property tax cap.

So was it calling people idiots in town-hall meetings or his thin-skinned approach to hearing criticism on a Jersey Shore boardwalk from a constituent that has people second guessing his baseball bat to the knees approach? Or maybe it's his economic decisions based on politics instead of what's best for his state, like canceling the ARC tunnel project or blowing a $400 million federal education grant because of his disapproval on a teachers' union compromise.

But hey, you gotta love that tough guy persona, huh? 

New Jersey voters, you can only polish a turd for so long.

Governor Tony Soprano

I'm really getting tired of the Chris Christie good fella-slant nose-goombah shit. Here's the Intrepid* governor addressing one of his constituents when said voter dared to question the Emperor on his education agenda.

While on vacation with his family in Seaside Heights, N.J. on Thursday, the Republican governor lashed out at a passerby who, according to TMZ, made a derisive comment about his education policies. 

"You're a real big shot," Christie fired back at his heckler. "You're a real big shot shooting your mouth off." 

The man responded: "Just take care of the teachers." 

Christie approached the man, yelling at him to "keep walkin' away ... keep walkin'." A man accompanying Christie then put his hand on the governor's shoulder and walked with him in the opposite direction.

Remember, this is the same Governor whose administration blew a $400 million federal education grant at Christie's insistence. The reason: he wasn't satisfied with the deal that was made with the Teachers' Union and made his education staff reapply for the grant at the last second, causing confusion and ultimately leading to accidental omission of information and a loss of the federal grant money.

And for God's sake, put the ice cream down, Governor. Hot day? Try some water... or maybe a lemonade.

(*Intrepid as in the size of an aircraft carrier, not the actual definition of the word.)

On Education

POSTED BY JHW22

Paraphrasing Mitt Romney: Oh, hey, poor people, don't set your education heights so high! Leave the good colleges to the people who can afford them. Don't even consider expensive colleges even if you'd be the doctor to cure cancer. Poor people need to know their place and stay there.





Paraphrasing Obama: America needs the best and brightest to succeed and it's our job as fellow citizens to give them that chance. If you are the future doctor who cures cancer, we'll all be better off for having made your education possible. Being poor shouldn't mean you can't cure cancer and save lives!





Thx to my Twitter helpers finding a link. And h/t on the Romney link to @MzYun, @glomad67

How Will Rick Perry Take Credit for This?

Posted by JHW22

I admit that I COULD go searching for any statement by Governor Rick Perry regarding this amazing news and accomplishement and act of socialism, but I won't. Instead I will share some GOOD education news from the state of Texas. It's nice to have something nice to say about this state.

September 23, 2010 - The Austin Independent School District today was notified by the U.S. Department of Education that it was one of the 62 winning applicants of the $442 million Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant competition. The District received $62.3 million—the largest grant awarded in the nation—in order to expand the strategic compensation program, called AISD REACH, for the next five years. The announcement was made by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

“This grant will accelerate our work to better recruit, develop, and reward high quality teachers and campus leaders, particularly at our high-needs schools in Austin. These critical resources will allow us to further refine and reinforce our support for outstanding teaching in our schools,” said AISD Superintendent Meria Carstarphen.

According to the US Department of Education:

Applicant Name: Austin Independent School District

PR/Award #: S385A010111

State: TX

5-Year Amount: $62,324,746

The Austin Independent School District (AISD) is applying for a federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant in order to expand its strategic compensation initiative, AISD REACH. This program, which has been piloted for the past three years, is aimed at recruiting, developing, and retaining high quality teachers and administrators in Austin, particularly at the district's high-needs schools. The theory of action behind AISD REACH is that incentive programs in education must couple supports and rewards to accelerate academic improvement. To this end, REACH rewards gains in student achievement at the campus, team, and individual teacher levels. Additionally, REACH provides full-time mentors to novice teachers who are most at risk of attrition. Mentoring also represents one of several leadership pathways in REACH that allows accomplished teachers to remain in the profession supporting the growth of their colleagues. The third component of REACH is targeted professional development in which teams of teachers collaborate to address a data-driven need on their campus, monitor the impact of their work, and present the results of their efforts to a juried panel of their peers. Finally, REACH targets incentives for teachers and administrators who choose to work in the district's most challenging campuses. Taken together, AISD believes that this program, which has already yielded positive results, builds the capacity of Austin educators to better serve students, empowers them to support the growth of their colleagues, and challenges them to reach rigorous performance goals aligned to the district's goal of preparing all students to be college and career ready. AISD's TIF proposal is specifically aimed at expanding AISD REACH, currently implemented at 15 schools, to include all schools in East Austin, an area composed of 33 high-needs schools, where staff attrition rates and academic underperformance have been historically high. Finally, AISD's TIF proposal has been developed in collaboration with teachers, administrators, the teachers' union, and the business community. To this end, this proposal is supported by Education Austin, the Austin Chamber of Commerce, and legislators from Austin's state and federal delegations.

I bet it KILLS Perry to know that his state is getting federal money for education -- the largest grant of all -- because he hates edumication as much as Bush did.

P.S. If you know that Perry responded to this, please do not share that info with me. I want to enjoy this and not allow that idiot to burst my bubble.

edit: P.P.S. I am cracking up!! Another ISD near Perry's stomping ground, Round Rock ISD, also received a US Department of Education grant. They are pretty much the same as Austin in geography. All right there at Perry's doorstep. Oh, goodness, I can't stop laughing. All that federal money spilling into his state. What's a crappy governor to do?

Will Christie Apologize to Obama?

Just a few days ago, we found out that New Jersey lost out on a $400 million federal education grant due to piss poor management and last minute changes in the application insisted upon by Governor Chris Christie in what amounts to a clerical error. A $400 million error.

While taking "responsibility" for it, Christie said no one would be fired for the lack of oversight but also blasted the Obama administration for not catching the mistake and said that "[t]hat’s the stuff that drives people nuts about government, and that’s what the Obama administration should answer for.”

Now comes word that Jabba the Governor has fired Education Commissioner Bret Schundler over the mistake that cost New Jersey badly needed education funding. And as far as answering for the beauraucratic red tape Christie was whining about? Well, it looks like the Obama administration did just that.

The latest evidence came Thursday, when the federal Department of Education released a video that flatly contradicted the governor’s harangue against the Obama administration earlier this week.

In a press conference Tuesday, the governor claimed that Schundler had tried to submit data needed to win a $400 million grant through the federal Race to the Top initiative during an interview a few weeks ago, but that the feds had refused to accept it. Instead, reviewers deducted five points from New Jersey’s application and knocked the state out of the running.

The video shows the governor’s statement was flatly untrue. Having poked his finger in the president’s chest, he now looks reckless and uninformed. And this comes on top of the loss of the $400 million, already the most embarrassing misstep of the governor’s term.

Schundler may not be at fault in this latest episode. The governor is the one who made the false claim. He says he was told that the numbers were presented and rejected, but we have not heard Schundler’s version of events. It’s possible the mistake was the governor’s.

Excerpt of N.J.'s Race to the Top interview shows officials with no budget answer

Boy, I didn't see that one coming.

So now that Chrissy The Cannoli has revealed himself to be reckless and a liar, do you think he'll call the White House and apologize to those he maligned?

Yeah, me neither.

Christie Blows It For State Education Grant

Well, I literally just moved to the state of New Jersey not three months ago, and already I got a Republican fucking me in the ass.

Chris "The Cannoli" Christie, new Republican governor of New Jersey couldn't stand the thought of actually cooperating with the teachers' union, so he undercut his Commissioner of Education, Brett Schundler, after he'd hammered out an agreement with the union just days before a grant application for federal education funds was due. They had a weekend to redo a 1000+ page application. And they wound up sending out the application with what amounted to a small clerical error in a crucial area.

The result? Jabba the Governor lost a $400 MILLION education grant for New Jersey. And the real kicker? After admitting his mistake, he decided to take shots at the Obama Administration for not catching it.

In a lengthy news conference on Wednesday, Governor Christie, a Republican, said he took ultimate responsibility for the error, which “believe me,” he said, “I am not thrilled about.” But he said no one would be fired over the matter, then he assumed his signature anti-Washington tone. The Obama administration, he said, should have called, or checked the state’s Web site, when it discovered the error, which was on just one page of a 1,000-page application.

“That’s the stuff that drives people nuts about government, and that’s what the Obama administration should answer for,” he said. “When the president comes back to New Jersey, he is going to have to explain to the people of the state of New Jersey why he is depriving them of $400 million that this application earned them, because one of his bureaucrats in Washington couldn’t pick up the phone and ask a question.”

I'll tell you what President Obama will say you dumb shit: he'll say, "Well, if Christie wasn't such a fuckwad and paid attention to detail instead of where his next dessert was coming from, he wouldn't have shorted the state of New Jersey $400 million in education grants. Did you ask for do overs when you failed a test in school too? Or was a jelly donut stain a good enough answer on your multiple choice tests?"

Gee, I hope one of those bureaucrats at the IRS gives me a call and ask a question to correct my tax file the next time I make a mistake.

Adding insult to injury, had Chrissy the Cannoli just left things the way they were with the first application, the point rating system used to calculate the application would have awarded him an extra 15 points or so regardless of the "clerical error," far exceeding Ohio's final score, the last state to beat out New Jersey for the grant.

Heckuva job, Christie.

Rachel explains it all so very well.

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