LBUSD Special Elections

If you live within the boundaries of the Long Beach Unified School District, particularly District 3, you will see more activity than you are used to on your local ballot in 2010. In April incumbents Mary Stanton and David Barton are up for re-election and there will be an open election, or an election with an incumbent, in the 3rd District--more later. Then in November 2010 voters are being asked to pass a parcel tax of $92 per year for the next five years--yes a tax with an automatic expiration date, unique in California.

There is some tie in between the LBUSD 3rd District elections that may occur and the parcel tax, both are the result of political power wielded by teachers' unions in California. To recap for those not following their local Press-Telegram or the local websites, earlier this month Michael Ellis submitted his resignation effective September 1, 2009, thereby creating a vacant seat on the school board. Ellis has had quite a history in Long Beach. He is the poster boy for the local teachers' union, the Teachers' Association of Long Beach, attempt to take control of the school board and then hire TALB friendly administrators to run the district in a TALB friendly way--forget the children it was about the union controlling the district. As I wrote extensively on the Long Beach Post website, then TALB director Scott McVarish and some members of the TALB board of directors racked up huge debts to fund three candidates in the 2006 elections for the five member LBUSD school board. Ellis, who had a history with McVarish, was moved into Long Beach to run for his seat, it was discovered he moved to an address that was not in a district up for election so he moved again. The residence he established was after the filing deadline for the 3rd District seat, but City Attorney Robert Shannon allowed him to be on the ballot. He was challenging incumbent Suja Lowenthal, who dropped out of the race when the 2nd District City Council seat became open due to the resignation of Dan Baker. Confused?

Ellis won the election with tens of thousands of dollars of money from TALB and its PAC--funds collected by paycheck deductions from teachers. Subsequently Ellis toed the union line as dictated by McVarish and was on the small side of many 4-1 votes. Meanwhile back at TALB headquarters on the corner of Atlantic and Claiborne there was quite a battle going on. The board was fractionalized with President Michael Day leading the pro-McVarish camp and board member Marc Hyatt taking on a leadership role of the anti-McVarish camp. At one point a majority of the board fired McVarish, but TALB is set up in a weird way and a subset of the organization, the site representatives, overturned the firing and McVarish showed back up to work. Aiding in the internal battles and guiding McVarish and Day through the minefields was Long Beach 5th City Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske who was the on staff legal counsel.

It turns out the anti-McVarish camps did the right thing by firing McVarish for financial impropriety. The local was taken into trusteeship by the California Teachers' Association and an audit was performed. Having read the several hundred page document, if anyone wants a gander let me know, it was evident that financial controls were either not in place or ignored during McVarish's tenure as Executive Director. The CTA trustee dismissed McVarish and many of us in Long Beach thought, hoped, that it would also mean the end of Ellis on the school board. Without his puppet master and mentor around, not being a resident, having what appear to be extensive personal issues and battles to focus on, the assumption was he would resign. Instead he just stopped showing up to meetings. So for more than a year the families and residents of the LBUSD 3rd District have been unrepresented on the school board due to the failure of their elected representive not attending meetings.

Now LBUSD has some legal work to do. With the seat vacant they must call an election date within 30 days of the election, which gives them until the end of September to annouce the election for the seat. The election must then be held within 120 days of the announcement, which if made on September 30, 2009 means the election must be held before January 28, 2010. However if the election is within 120 of a scheduled election, which is April 13, 2010, they can forego the election; 120 days before April 13th is December 14, 2009. Doing all the calendar math it appears that the District can save about $200,000 for a special election for a seat that will be held for a few months--but I am not an attorney and it could be that a special election will have to be held.

An issue with a much larger fiscal impact than a special election to fill the 3rd District seat is also on the election calendar. In July the school board passed by a vote of 4-0 (guess who was absent...right! Ellis) to put on the November 2010 ballot a parcel tax that would add $92 per year to the annual tax bills of the residential property owners within the district's boundaries. It is expected the parcel tax if passed by two-thirds of the votes will generate approximately $11 million during the five year period. The funds will be used to fill the huge holes in the LBUSD budget because of the inability of Sacramento Legislators to properly control the education funds paid to them by the tax payers. While some in the community are complaining that the LBUSD must "live within its budget" the problem is LBUSD has lived within its budget, has cuts tens of millions of dollars out of its budget since 2003, and its budget is pretty much set by Sacramento, not just in revenue but also its expenses by dictating programs to which LBUSD must dedicate funds.

LBUSD, like many districts across the state, are in financial straits because of dedicated funding of programs by state mandate. Sacramento controls how much of our property taxes, income taxes and sales taxes are sent back to our school district, then tells our school district what that money must be spent on--with little to no knowledge of our district and its needs. So in reality our school board and Superintendent become handcuffed when it comes to budgeting for our district and often their job is what needs to get cut because of the mandated program funding, much of it not needed in our district.

Where do these mandates come from? Legislators and policy wonks within the Department of Education. When it comes to the members of the Assembly and State Senate with our gerrymandered districts all a candidate needs to do to gain office is to win the primary in his or her district. If you are a Democrat in Long Beach, or most of Los Angeles, or San Francisco, or most of the districts in the state, and want to be a member of the Assembly just win the primary against other Democrats on the ballot and you are virtually guaranteed election to Sacramento. To win your primary you need money, to get the money you need to make sure you agree to follow the needs of your donors if (when) you get elected.

Guess who spends millions of dollars up and down the state on primaries and elections for members of the Assembly and State Senate, virtually every campaign dollar being spent on Democrats? Guess who as part of the quid pro quo knows they will have friendly meetings and access to politicians shaping education policies and programs in the State. Guess who probably has more control of the education budget in Long Beach than local officials? If your guess was either the California Teachers Association or the California Federation of Teachers you get a point, if you guessed both you get a bonus.

TALB's attempted takeover of the Long Beach Unified School District in 2006 was a local union with aggressive, and somewhat out of control, leadership following the game plan enacted by its parent union, a game plan that has been active and working in California for many years. By finding and financing local candidates friendly to the unions' wants and needs and guarantees of funding for future campaigns, our teachers up and down the state are giving a few dollars out of every paycheck, every pay period to build a huge political warchest for CTA and CFT. Those funds are then used to influence, perhaps actually write, education policies that are then mandated back to the districts. The school districts then have little to no operating room in their budgets.

And when Sacramento cuts funds for school districts because of its complete failure to honestly budget for education, health care, infrastructure, and public safety, our kids suffer and our future suffer. And when teachers hold huge protests against the cuts I just shake my head, knowing those same teachers holding the signs deriding politicians in Los Angeles or Sacramento, bought and paid for the elections of those in the majority in the Assembly and the Senate--they got what they paid for: short-sighted policies that create imbalance in the budgets and programs that have finally broken.

There is a connection between our vacant 3rd District seat in Long Beach and the lack of funds for schools in San Diego, Los Angeles, Fresno, Inyo County and Riverside. The connection is the power wielded by the teachers' unions in controlling our budgets and education policies. It is my hope that Long Beach and other districts throughout the state are able to regain control of their budgets, of their programs and allow the local voters and local leadership determine the course of their schools for their children.

Long Beach Unified School District Superintendent Chris Steinhauser writes here of the need for local control. If you support his position please let him know and vote "Yes" on November 3rd on the parcel tax for local schools.

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Just Some Questions

Below are questions I have asked myself throughout the past week. Instead of writing what my answers to them would be I am interested in any answers you may have, or additional questions you have asked yourself.

For the week starting Monday August 3, 2009 here are some things I asked myself:

Do astronauts still drink Tang?

Should healthier employees pay lower premiums than unhealthy employees in the same company health plan?

Have you ever been actively involved in a protest?

Have you ever worn shorts to work?

This question from crowd at Majority Leader Hoyer’s Town Hall, “I’m a registered Democrat, why are you trying to rush health care reform through in two to three weeks when it took President Obama six months to pick a dog for his kids?”

Do you give someone “props” or “kudos”?

Do you think Cash For Clunkers is a good use of tax revenue?

Given that the Democrats have significant enough majorities in both houses of Congress to pass whatever they want, is it disingenuous or ludicrous to blame Republicans for the health care legislation being in trouble?

You favorite weekend footwear, laces, Velcro or slip-on?

Did the person third in line to the Presidency really equate Americans exercising First Amendment rights Nazis?

Has any couple become members of the 186 mile high club?

How come the talking heads on CNN and editorialists for the New York Times did not call those who filled the streets of San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, “crack pots” and “operatives” but feel it is okay to give those labels to people attending small meetings throughout the country asking questions of their Representatives?

Cremation or burial?

Is respect for the exercise of First Amendment rights applied equally?

Best summer movie this year is? Best summer movie ever?

What is your measure of “success?”

If the health care legislation currently in Congress is so great why aren’t its proponents spending time, energy and media time focusing on whatever may be positive in it instead of denigrating those of us opposed?

What is the last concert you went to?

Whenever someone says ‘It’s not that cold, you’ll get used to it, do you?

Do you remember your first roller coaster ride?

Cookies or Pie?

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Building On A Broken Foundation

Leslie and I have had plans to remodel our kitchen since we moved into our home in 1998. Our home in the Bixby Knolls section of Long Beach dates to the late 1920s and sits on expansive clay soil, when the dirt gets wet it expands significantly, when it gets dry it contracts. This expansion and contraction over 80 years is not very good for the foundation, as a result we have some plates and braces around various parts of the foundation. Last year our front lawn was taken out and replaced with drought tolerant landscaping; drought tolerant but still in need of some water, especially the first year. Unfortunately one of the drip hoses was installed too close to our home and the result of a year of thrice weekly dripping has resulted in what we think is more damage to our foundation.

If our home was under the control of the Nancy Pelosi/Barack Obama group of Democrats, who I now label the "New Democrats" for their combination of power in Washington and station on the far left of the Democratic Party, if our home was under the control of the New Democrats then we would go right ahead with our kitchen remodel plans. Leslie and I would borrow several hundred thousand dollars, not read the architect's designs, over pay our contractors, and build our new kitchen on top of our foundation without fixing the cracks and soil issues that will lead to future damage and possible collapse of that section of the home. No regard for budget, no care about the details of the plan, no time taken to fix what is already wrong and without attention will get worse in the future, just build a new kitchen.

This is the approach the New Democrats are taking on their health care overhaul. Operating on the premise that most Americans agree with, that our current health care system is in need of repair, the New Democrats have crafted proposals that are in Congress that seemingly ignores any budget, is being pushed without reading the details and most importantly without fixing what is already in place and needs attention: Medicare.

There are many issues I have with many of the proposals I have read and read about in the thousand plus health care proposal being pushed around committees by New Democrats in Washington. Those issues are secondary however to the complete lack of focus on fixing what is already in place, a government controlled health insurance program, before expanding it from a $425+ billion program to a $1.6 trillion program. The ultimate goal of the New Democrats is a single payer, government run health care system--while some deny it they cannot hide from YouTube and the internet with videos of speeches and interviews in which many have been seen stating the path they are on will lead to one insurance program in America that is run by Washington.

Medicare covers approximately 45.5 million Americans and costs over $425 billion in fiscal year 2009. It accounts for sixteen cents of every Federal dollar spent, third in spending behind social security (which is also broken) and defense spending. In 1983 Medicare cost almost $53 billion, so it has grown over eight times in just over twenty-five years. Despite a $200 million budget within the Health and Human Services budget for fraud and abuse control within the Medicare programs, it is conservatively estimated that 10% of the Medicare budget goes to fraud and abuse--that is over $42 billion each year. These costs are despite the contributions every paycheck by working Americans who have Medicare insurance payments automatically deducted from their paychecks along with their taxes, 401(k) and private health insurance premiums.

Medicare, and its little brother Medicaid (Medical in California) provide models for a government run health care system. It dictates payments to doctors and hospitals, has prescription drug programs, collects additional premiums and deductibles from those covered or partially covered. It operates at a loss despite collecting what amounts to premiums from every working American. To cover the losses funds are taken from the general budget of the United States, which has as its largest contributors the wealthiest Americans who earn the most income and pay into the highest tax rate.

To recap, the Federal run health insurance program that covers only about 15% of the American population is paid for by every working American in their paychecks and since it operates at a loss is supplemented by the tax dollars of every working American with the majority of the supplemental support coming from those making the most money and in the highest tax brackets.

If passed, how will the health care proposal being pushed by the New Democrats differ significantly from the current Medicare system? Will it be run by the same bureaucrats who are currently unable to make Medicare work? Will it reduce the amount of fraud and abuse that bleeds over 10% of the existing budget? Will it be able to control the amount of "premiums" collected from working Americans?

The ultimate goal of the New Democrats is single payer insurance, a system that pretty much already is in place in the United States due to the Medicare deductions and use of tax revenue to pay for the program. Before trying to force onto Americans a hodge-podge of proposals and policies as detailed in the thousand page bill they have written, should they not show us they can run an effective and efficient health care insurance program? Before committing to several trillion dollars of costs paid for by you and me should they not show they can offer quality health care for Americans being covered in a system that "only" costs $425 billion this year? Before committing to every doctor, hospital and health care provider in America to becoming a government employee should they not work with the doctors, hospitals and health care providers currently receiving Medicare patients to strike that fine balance between proper compensation and quality care?

The debates and arguments and focus the past several weeks have been on the health care proposal that has been written by the New Democrats. Most of the coverage has been on specific proposals within the proposed legislation. What I would like to see is the call for reform of Medicare before any new health care overhaul is passed. Given the way $1 billion has become small change in Washington, use Medicare as an experiment if you will for how a bigger health care system may work. It has most of the elements being proposed and it has many flaws and inefficiencies that have been acknowledged vociferously by New Democrats as a reason the system needs to be overhauled. But instead of fixing what they acknowledge to be wrong they are looking to commit trillions of dollars to what appears to be essentially the same broken system.

Leslie and I know we need to move our drip hose and some plants away from our home and fill the area with a drainage system, rocks, and concrete to keep water away from the dirt around our foundation. We then need to repair the foundation in that section of our home with braces and plates. Only when the existing foundation is secure can we think about rebuilding what sits on top of that foundation, to do otherwise would be foolish. What is the difference between our remodeling our kitchen and the New Democrats' plans to remodel our health care system? The biggest difference is we know where we need to start.

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Villains And Victims

It seems the blame, the victimization, the broad personal attacks, the characterizations, and negative attacks that so fully consumed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and many of her Democratic allies in Congress and across the country during the Bush Administration are fully ingrained in their character and basic political philosophy. Now that they have full control of Congress and the White House they cannot stop with the finger pointing and name calling. Only instead of their vitriol being directed at a President they hated and spent eight years trying to undermine it is now being directed at the American people. Every issue that arises in our country has someone to blame, someone they can castigate and someone they can attack with character assassinations. In the process the culture of our country takes another step from personal responsibility and accountability. While many Republicans are certainly guilty of the blame game and character attacks, typically they are directed at political rivals and opponents rather than huge swaths of the American public.

When the credit crisis started, Washington immediately put anyone working on Wall Street or in the financial industries in the category of selfish and greedy people looking to make money any way possible. If you listen to commercial radio you have heard the ad from the law firm looking for clients for their loan modification services in which President Obama is blaming "unscrupulous mortgage lenders" who caused all the problems in the housing industry. During a press conference on the Democrats health care proposals Obama accused doctors of taking tonsils out of little children and performing other procedures just so they can make more money. Last week Pelosi told reporters that independent insurance agents "are the villains in this," "this" of course being the problems with our health care system.

From obesity, to gang violence, to the environment, to household economics, to illiteracy, to health, every problem has a victim and every victim is given someone to blame--usually someone faceless. The problem is that no one in America is faceless. Every industry or segment of the country that is the target of some politician or political party's blame consist of good, hard working Americans. But this is lost on those who feel it is easier to promote their political agendas by characterizing some of their constituents as helpless victims who have no choice or ability to make decisions and providing a big, bad target to blame.

Mortgage brokers and independent insurance agents operate in very similar ways, they just offer different products. By having a variety of larger companies that actually fund mortgages or write the insurance policies with whom they have business arrangements, they find the product that matches the abilities, personal histories and needs of their clients. Because they have a variety of competing wholesale lenders or insurers vying for their clients, they also have the ability to shop the rates for the clients to find the best combination of price, service, and product. Our company uses insurance agents to help keep the health insurance costs down for all our employees while still being able to offer a variety of plans from which to choose. Another agent shops our Errors and Omissions insurance annually to make sure we have a product that covers our company at an affordable premium. Life, health, business, auto, home, we have many different insurance products we all use in our daily lives. Local insurance agents sponsor our Little League teams, take out ads in the high school basketball programs, donate to local charities and are at the PTA meetings. Hardly the villains Pelosi wants you to think they are.

The same can be said for mortgage brokers. Or real estate agents. Or local restaurants. Pick a small business in your community and you can find members of that industry or company throughout your community. Are their bad mortgage brokers that screw(ed) people? Yes. Are there bad real estate agents that push(ed) homes on people? Yes. Are there bad insurance agents that over-insure clients? Yes. Are there financial advisers that steer clients to higher commission products? Yes. Every industry, every sector of the economy, every community has those who see as their primary purpose to squeeze as much money out of the market place and their clients as possible. And in every industry these people constitute a very, very small minority of those who work in the industry.

Think of the many different people and companies that provide services for you and your family. Your family doctor, your insurance agent, your financial advisor, your attorney, do you think there primary concern is to help you with your decisions and problems or to take as much of your money as they can? Obama, Pelosi and many of their fellow Democrats think it is the latter. They do not realize that every industry they characterize as "unscrupulous," every nameless person they call "villain," every group they accuse of operating from "greed" consists of Americans that are working hard to provide for their families and improve their communities.

With the health care legislation that was rushing through Congress now stalled until September at the earliest we can expect an August filled with commercials, speeches and appearances on the Sunday morning talk shows vilifying health care providers as charging too much, insurance companies as making too much and employers as providing too little. Your doctor, your neighbor and your boss are all to blame for your health care difficulties. By victimizing you and other Americans and blaming big groups they are setting up an argument based on class warfare, "Us" versus "Them" and everyone is "Us."

At no point in any of these arguments or commercials will any of "Us" be shown taking responsibility for ourselves. My health issues are not because I eat too much, drink too much, smoke too much, exercise too little, have genetic defects, engage in risky behavior, or do not bother with routine check ups. My financial issues are not because I wanted too much, did not stay in school and get a degree, spend and consume too much, borrow too much, save too little, or cannot keep a job because I'm always right and the boss is always stupid. None of my problems are of my own causing because I did not read papers I signed, did not get references, found a "great deal" or did not do any research at all on the individual or company I was going to work for or with. None of the problems I am having are my own causing. I know this because that is what our national leadership is telling me. I am pissed because some unscrupulous, greedy, villainous, professional or company has purposefully screwed me over. If it were my fault I would take some accountability, but since it is not I will blame them.

Abetted by a media that loves to trot out the sob stories and victims, the political philosophy of the new Democrats is working. In California the government has become the Nanny State trying to abdicate every citizen from any responsibility or accountability providing someone to blame and enabling them to create more laws that restrict more freedoms and liberties. Washington under full Democratic control is working towards this direction as well with an objective of total government control over industry, financial services and health care. The more blame that can be placed on an industry the more right the government has to regulate the industry, the more the industry is regulated the less choice we have, the fewer freedoms we enjoy and the less personal responsibility and accountability we must have.

Freedom to succeed also means the freedom to fail. Success is not a right but must be attained through hard work and good decisions. Unfortunately the philosophy of the political majority in our Congress and White House is that the successful need to compensate the unsuccessful, that good decisions can only be made by government and that if you do not work hard and/or make good decisions you need not worry because you will be taken care of, courtesy of the government.

I am proud to be a mortgage broker and the hundreds and hundreds of families I have helped become homeowners in the past few decades. I am proud to know many insurance agents who do great work helping families and small businesses with their insurance needs and being their in those unfortunate times they need those policies. I am proud to know many doctors throughout our community who care about their patients and their health, working to help them create good habits and lifestyles for a healthier future. I am proud to know many real estate professionals who care more about families purchasing the home that fits their personal needs and financial abilities rather than how much commission they can make. I am proud to know many financial advisers who look at the long term goals and current financial abilities of their clients instead of how they can make more money.

Too bad Pelosi and Obama are not as proud of these Americans as I am.

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Just Some Questions

Below are questions I have asked myself throughout the past week. Instead of writing what my answers to them would be I am interested in any answers you may have, or additional questions you have asked yourself.

For the week starting Monday July 27, 2009:

Do you think the residents of Paris complain about the Tour De France closing streets around town the way some people in Long Beach do about the Grand Prix and Marathon?

Do you say, “I love you” to your spouse every day?

Sudoko or crossword?

Who measures your job performance and effectiveness? How accurate is it?

Which invention has brought people closer together, the airplane or the internet?

If it was possible, and you are not already, would you want to have the riches and trappings and being paparazzi famous?

How hard would it be for you to cut 10% out of your expenses each month? 15%?

Who is your best friend? Is the sentiment reciprocated?

It is “fair” to single employees when employers pay te medical insurance coverage for the families of married employees and those with dependents?

Do you like air conditioning?

Who is more nutso, the “birthers” or the “troofers?”

Why do we get more done in the last 15 minutes before a meeting or having to leave than we do in the previous 245 minutes?

Do you tell other drivers when you see their tail light(s) are not working?

Has your home ever been broken into?

What is the furthest you have flown in one flight? Furthest you have travelled by car on one vacation?

Can you name all those who represent you in elected office from President through School Board?

Is it hypocritical of those in favor of legalizing and taxing marijuana to raise revenue in California to be opposed to smoking legal cigarettes?

When there is a list of people on an email why don’t some people “reply all?”

Do you buy your fruits and vegetables first or last when you go to the grocery store?

What change have you taken in the current economic cycle that will have a positive impact on your future?

What happens to the cars the American people paid $1 billion for in the Cash For Clunkers program?

Cookies or Pie?

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