Kansas governor vetoes late-term abortions bill

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30376695/

Governor Kathleen Sebelius just vetoed a measure that would have required physicians to report additional information to the state about the late-term abortions they perform, and would have allowed more county prosecutors to pursue criminal charges over potentially illegal late-term procedures.

In layman's terms, anti-abortion people are pissed.

You may recognize Kathleen Sebelius as Obama's choice to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services, but right now she's still a governor, and she's making opponents of abortion angry. This could potentially harm her, as those people who are angry over this are building pressure on senators to reject her nomination as Secretary.

She defended herself saying that the measure would cause honest doctors to potentially accidentally break the law, and that the bill would have been struck down in federal court anyway.

If that is so, then maybe she should have helped save her nomination by letting it get struck down. That way she doesn't look like the bad guy.

However, I don't think her nomination will get rejected just because of this decision alone. Unless of course, we find out that she also didn't pay her taxes. Then that would just be bad.

Should America Torture?

Looking around , I came across an article talking about torture. Evidently, I have failed to notice in the last couple of years that America uses torture techniques. Do I agree with it? Well, we did catch some bad guys running around like crazy half way across the world.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21648.html

Obama has recently taken water-boarding and other torture tactics out of use. This is a really interesting move which has created a lot of chaos. Our vice president Dick Cheney disagrees with president Obama. He believes that Obama did a mistake in outlawing the tactic's because torturing the enemies has saved many American lives. So the question still remains:

Does torture work?

Some say it does, others say it doesn't. These are some view points in the article:

1. Harsh interrogation works. Period.

Proponents: Cheney, former CIA director Michael Hayden, former CIA director George Tenet

The argument: It weakens America to take harsh interrogations off the table against al-Qaida – a sworn enemy that trains its members to resist interrogation.

2. Harsh techniques may work sometimes, but the United States still shouldn’t use them

Proponents: President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, Sen. John McCain

The argument: Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs laid it out in detail at Thursday’s White House press briefing, when he called the usefulness of harsh interrogations “ambiguous”

3. It doesn’t work. Period.

Proponents: Hillary Clinton, the American Civil Liberties Union, many military interrogators

The argument: Aggressive interrogation techniques like water-boarding simply don’t produce useful information.

It is interesting to see which people are supportive of the torture techniques and which are opposed. Interrogators think it doesn't work! I also found out that American troops have been trained to withstand torture tactics.

What do you think? For or against torture?

Obama 'misinterpreted' Raul's words!!!!

Fidel Castro says President Barack Obama "misinterpreted" his brother Raul's remarks regarding the United States and bristled at the suggestion that Cuba should free political prisoners or cut taxes on dollars people send to the island.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_cuba_castro


WHAT!?!?!? Just when I thought that Cuba can finally open up and the relationship between the US and Cuba can finally ease off, Fidel Castro jumped out and crushed the hope. I thought I will finally be able to go to Cuba with security, but now Fidel Castro just destroyed it.
Dave Chappellle's BYAH! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddy__GGuC7U&feature=related

Earth DAY!!!!

Being Earth day, I thought it would be nice to see how the political world is dealing with global warming.
There seems to be a consensus in the Democratic party that global warming is occurring in the world and something has to be done about it. While the Republican party cant even agree if the global warming is really happening or if it is scam. In this article http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21536.html the writer goes on to say that if you ask 15 republicans about climate changes you would get 20 different answers. I don't quite understand how some people can keep denying that the earth is going through a crisis and something has to be done about it. But the bigger issue is that little things like a consensus on issues so big like global warming is causing the Republican party to crumble. Instead of trying to develop a plan of attack against global warming Republicans that will rival the Democrats' plan. Republicans are wasting time arguing about the existence of global warming.
Democrats have initiative even though their cap-and-trade system has its own problems and may be to costly for businesses. Republicans cant really criticize the plan because they don't have one.
Let's save the EARTH and RECYCLE.

SGV Tribune Article

Timing is everything, and when C-SPAN asked high school students to submit videos for their annual StudentCam competition on the eve of Barack Obama's presidential inauguration, it made all the difference, according to Meredith Rapp, C-SPAN's education program specialist.
C-SPAN received 1,000 videos, three times last year's entries.
Finishing with honors were two videos produced by Los Altos High School seniors.
The videos that snagged two out of the 75 honorable mentions were "The Economic Crisis" by Jared Kasparian, Lance Vitali and Kevin Halpin, and "`These Kids' Syndrome: A Comparative Look at American Education" by Enid Zhou and Diane Ting.

(Full article below)

http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_12129608?source=rss

At least during the first semester, Mr. Park did a good job of letting us know who wrote our textbook. He was helped, of course, by the requirment that we visit its website every week and also by the mere fact that the co-author Paul Krugman, between winning a Nobel Prize, writing for the New York Times, and teaching at Princeton, is famous. Among these accomplishments and positions, Krugman is also known for being an outspoken liberal. In fact, among the mere Bush-bashing that is widespread, Krugman has called for an actual investigation of the previous president's administration.

It is for this reason that I was puzzled to see Krugman on the cover of Newsweek next to the ultimatum "Obama is wrong." http://www.newsweek.com/id/191393 "Yes, I know that," I thought to myself, "But you're the last person who I thought would admit that, Paul." This bold statement seemed strange coming from the man I've gotten to know from an argument he had with Bill O'Reilly (I admit he held his own) and the already mentioned exposure from Mr. Park. I was happy nonetheless, for it showed that even far-left liberals think Obama's wrong. Somewhere at UC Berkely, a radical elitist is saying,"Et tu Paul Krugman?"

As I read the article, however, things started to make sense. Krugman doesn't think Obama is moving in the wrong direction (towards socialism) but that the president should inflict sweeping reform on the economy, starting with nationalizing banks, and stop propping up what's becoming an "economic abyss."

Krugman would like to see the United States a Sweden of the western hemisphere, drawing attention to that country's "successful" nationalization of their banks. Although he didn't have an answer to how such a policy would be implemented in such a large, bank abundant country like the US (we have about 8,000), at least Krugman is honest and transparent as to what he wants to do. While Obama is propping up a capitalistic economy with socialistic solutions, Krugman is calling for a full fledged shift towards socialism.

Hey Mr. Park, if you get a book in the mail with a hammer and sickle on it, don't worry. It's just the updated edition of Economics from Krugman and Wells.

Hilda Solis coming to La Puente HS

April 25, Saturday, time TBD

Hilda Solis, newly appointed Secretary of Labor, will be speaking at La Puente HS

We are invited to take our students. More information to come.

+5 Points EXTRA CREDIT if you take a picture with her and post onto this blog!

Wagoner Steps DOWN!

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/03/29/2009-03-29_president_obama_forces_gm_boss_rick_wago.html

Rick Wagoner, the head of General Motors, one of the biggest car companies in the world has stepped down at the request of President Obama. He rejected GM and Chrysler's requests for more government money and asked them to shape up and come up with a better plan. Wagoner has run GM for the last eight years, which have been very chaotic and rocky. GM is asking the government for more than $15 billion. President Obama is establishing a hard-line approach to get the carmakers to better allocate their money rather than just handing out free cash.

I think it's a good thing what President Obama is doing. Although I think he should not be able to tell Wagoner to step down, I believe it is a good move. I don't think the government should give out any more money. It's a waste of government funds and completely against the ideals of our government. Whatever happened to capitalism?

>_____<

oh damn, i didn't notice that Enid wrote about the same article. Sorry Mr. Park.

Obama team deploys campaign tactics to get point across

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- From fielding questions online, to the staging of events across the country, to deploying thousands of volunteers, President Obama and Democrats are using the same tools that helped them win the White House to push the administration's agenda.

President Obama held an online town hall, in which people could send in questions from their computers.

Supporters say the same tactics used during the campaign also work to educate Americans about the president's proposed budget and the stimulus plan.

Political experts say in order for Obama to keep his approval ratings high, he will need his agenda to be successful. To do that, they say, he and the White House will need to keep up the sales job.

The legions of volunteer supporters from the 2008 election are key to that effort. Democrats have a database of more than 13 million e-mail addresses and are eager to harness that support.

The Democratic National Committee has formed a new group called Organizing For America. Last weekend, it organized 10,000 volunteers to canvass across the country to get 100,000 people to pledge support for the administration's policies.

"We are not an electoral organization. I mean this is really about legislative advocacy and so we are going to continue supporting the president's agenda and we are not looking at 2010, and we are not looking at 2012," Mitch Stewart, executive director of Organizing for America, told CNN. "What we are looking at what kind of grassroots organization can best support the president's agenda."

"We are going to learn lessons or use the lessons we learned from the campaign, learn new lessons along the way, using the same tactics we used during the campaign but also developing new ones to promote the president's agenda."

Republican political experts say this is all smart politics.

"You can't allow any drop-off or fall-off," GOP media consultant Danny Diaz said. "You won't see diminished activities. You will see increased activities going forward to keep these people engaged and to bring additional people.

"It is part of the 21st century, and it is part of being the leader of the free world and having to make sure you keep people engaged, enthusiastic, giving money, supporting candidates and supporting your agenda."

Those who pledged support received follow-up e-mails this week asking them to call members of Congress to lobby them to pass the budget. Officials involved in the project said their efforts were not just aimed at the true believers.

Last weekend's canvassers didn't visit only the party faithful -- they went to all the homes on a given street.

"...We're not targeting a congressional district. We're not targeting individual voters. We are providing our supporters with information on the budget, why it's important and if they want to engage on that issue they can," Stewart said. "And we are then going to get those pledges to all members of Congress.

"So regardless if they are Democrat or Republican if there are 1,000 pledges in their congressional district or 30, we're going to give those to the members."

Diaz said the Democrats' tactics are necessary.

"This is something they will continue to do. It is not completely consistent with a new kind of politics that Barack Obama promised, but at the end of the day it is not how you start -- it is how you finish," he said.

"Will President Obama's policies energize these individuals and keep them engaged -- or will his policies and a lack of results lead to a lack of enthusiasm and engagement?" Diaz said. "That is the question."

Organizers say they are taking a bottom-up approach that also allows local groups to rally around a cause or propose their own project.

Due to today's generation widely use of the internet, this tactic will definitely reach to a variety of different audiences, especially to the younger audience. Now the younger audience will be informed about the politics going on today's society. This will be a start to a new tradition. Politics will now have a wider audience base because everyone today uses the internet.
Obama already showed how the internet does make more people involved with politics with his first online town hall meeting. Over 100,000 questions were sent online. Now politics will be more interactive and more personal to the people because of the use of the internet. Technology is huge and the government is finally utilizing it.

Budget moves through Senate committee

(CNN) -- A tightened version of President Obama's $3.6 trillion budget moved through a key Senate committee Thursday night.

Sen. Harry Reid, right, says he expects Sen. Kent Conrad's version of the budget to pass.

1 of 2

The Senate and the House are expected to vote on different versions of the budget next week.

"The budget we have now passed out of the Budget Committee preserves the core priorities in President Obama's budget plan," Sen. Kent Conrad, chairman of the committee, said in a statement.

Conrad, D-North Dakota, trimmed the president's original proposal in response to congressional projections showing larger-than-expected budget deficits over the next several years.

Conrad said he had preserved the president's major initiatives in education, energy and health-care reform in the wake of "new realities" on finances without sacrificing the administration's deficit reduction goals.

Obama has pledged to halve the deficit by 2013, a goal Conrad says his budget maintains.

Republicans and some conservative Democrats, however, have criticized Obama's budget for its hefty price tag.

Obama maintains that his budget -- and its big investments -- are essential to economic recovery.

After being labeled by Democrats the "party of no" for criticizing the budget without offering solutions, House Republicans said Thursday that they have come up with a plan B.

"Two nights ago, the president said, 'We haven't seen a budget yet out of Republicans.' Well, it's just not true, because here it is, Mr. President," House Minority leader Rep. John Boehner said Wednesday as he held up a booklet that he said was a "blueprint for where we're going."  Watch GOP leaders unveil their 'leaner' budget »

The details of the GOP budget will be presented on the House floor next week, said Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin.

"We're going to show a leaner budget, a budget with lower taxes, lower spending and lower borrowing," Ryan said.

The blueprint includes familiar Republican proposals to limit "wasteful" government spending, cut the size of government and provide incentives to private entities to expand access to health care. It also includes a major overhaul of the tax code, proposing a marginal tax rate of 10 percent for income up to $100,000 and 25 percent for any income above that level.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs laughed off the Republicans' proposal Thursday, joking that their blueprint has more pictures of windmills than charts.

"It's interesting to have a budget that doesn't contain any numbers. I think the 'party of no' has become the 'party of no new ideas,' " he said at the daily briefing.

Obama defended his budget at an online town hall meeting Thursday, saying, "it's a budget that cuts the things we don't need to make room for the investments we do, a budget that cuts the massive deficits we've inherited in half, by the end of my first term, and offers a blueprint for America's success in the 21st century."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he is confident that the full Senate will pass Conrad's version of the budget next week.

Conrad's budget strikes Obama's proposal to set aside $250 billion in case more money is needed for the financial sector rescue.

It also curtails Obama's fix of the costly alternative minimum tax and doesn't account for increased payments for doctors who care for Medicare recipients, said Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the top Republican on the Budget Committee

"You can get these presidential numbers down by using a lot of gimmicks that the president didn't use. That would be a mistake. Let's be honest with the Americans," Gregg said Tuesday.

Conrad has repeatedly said that his plan is not a "gimmick."

Republicans also have been critical of Conrad's plan to calculate the budget deficit over five years instead of 10, meaning a common measure of government spending, the 10-year cost, wouldn't officially be part of the price. Gregg has accused Conrad of trying to hide the true cost of the plan.

"In the 34 years of the Budget Act, 30 of those 34 years we have done a five-year budget, including the last five years, including two when Sen. Gregg was Chairman of the Committee," Conrad said Thursday.

Money money money moooneey. MONEY!

I certainly think 3.6 TRILLION dollars would help the economy in the short run.

I dont know about later on....maybe 

but a couple trillion dollars right now wouldn't hurt too much.

Obama's First Online Town Hall Meeting

On Thursday, Obama turned to the web for a town hall meeting with America. He bypassed the traditional news media in favor of engaging Americans directly. He is using this unfiltered online network to speak directly to Americans.

People were encouraged to send in questions to the White House for Obama to answer. Over 100,000 questions were sent to the White House website. Most of the questions focused on the economic recession and job creation. Obama also touched on education reform, universal health care, and homeownership. He joked about the number of questions submitted by people online about legalizing marijuana and if it would help stimulate the economy. His response "I don't know what this says about the online audience" before responding that legalizing illicit drugs would not be the best choice in stimulating the economy.

This is one of many ways Obama is trying to reach out to the American public. It's a good way to get his message accross to a wide audience. He is definately using the internet to his advantage. He built a strong grassroots campaign with the help of cyberspace and now he's touting his new plans directly to the people. This question-and-answer type of online town-hall meeting would garner much more support for Obama because it offers people a chance to ask the questions instead of the questions asked by skeptical reporters.

Incorporating the internet in Obama's press plan is a smart way to reach the widest range of people. Practically everyone is attached to the web in one way or another. Expect to see more of Obama using alternative forms of media to tout his new economic policy.

it's the FILLING

Meet Jonathan Krohn – home-schooled 14 year old conservative Georgian, author of the book Define Conservatism, and guest speaker at Conservative Political Action Committee.

He outlines the basic principles of conservatism as:
1. Support for the Constitution
2. Respect for life
3. Less government
4. More personal responsibility
Define Conservatism was dedicated to Ronald Reagan, William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater, and Jim DeMint (his political heroes). He plans to write a second book that will focus on Alexander Hamilton and James Monroe.

WATCH "Jonathan Krohn Addresses CPAC":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vz1TVpwme0
his impersonation thing reminds me of Amy Poehler as Caitlin in SNL (anyone remember that?).

This kid gets a lot of hate mail, saying that he is brainwashed by his parents. I don’t know if he is, but he is a pretty great communicator at age 14. I have to say I like this little guy. It’s a hopeful sight to know that not all young folks are liberals. I always have this feeling that everyone is a liberal, but then I am reminded I live in California. I’m not a hardcore conservative, but I do find myself agreeing with a lot of its principles. (I’m not against liberalism; I’m still trying to figure out my political beliefs. My parents are registered independents, but my mom is ideologically democrat and my dad wavers back and forth, so I guess I am somewhat of an exception to the whole “family is the biggest influence”-thing.)

But I wanted to post about little Jonny because he talks about a lot things we have learned in class, such as the Constitution (and how strictly or loosely we should abide to it). One principle I particularly like is “more personal responsibility.” We can’t control many things in life – from luck, or lack thereof, to how others act – but we can be responsible for ourselves. Someone undergoing an unfortunate situation, such as losing their home and having to resort to living in tents (it’s happening and it’s incredibly sad), should not feel they have to cheat or take from those in better circumstances. Basically, we can’t change the economics of it all, but diligence and persistence can change the circumstance, and even that isn’t definite because it’s life and it’s not always unfair. But this is America – land of opportunities, not land of economic equality. And no, I don’t come from a family of wealthy, business owners; not even close. But I do believe that it is unjustifiable to take from others when it is a problem involving the economics of life. In closing, I will say I am open to other people’s beliefs &

as much as you do or do not agree with him, Jonathan Krohn is going places.

court dismisses Al-Qaeda case

Continuing from the Al-Marri case which I posted about last month, US top court has dismissed Al-Marris case (link). I really think Al-Marri should get a chance to say something, in human rights way. Albeit, I do not think it will make any differnce, and I see the point why President Bush transferred him without charging. Although U.S. court dismisses his case, I think it's just stepping back to where he came from; he had over 200--I do not really remember the number--credit card frauds, lectures from Osama Bin Laden, and some kind of poisons, and I think that is kind of lucid that he is a terrorist. I do not know, but we will see the result after April 27.

This is just for fun :)

I found this article quite funny. This is from this month's Harper's Magazine by Mark Twain.

More Bomb Threats?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/22/uk.gatwick.airliner/index.html

It has been nearly 9 years since 9/11 yet there are still people who place bombs in airplanes. Although this one might have been a "false alarm" there are still others out there that wish to do harm to others in such a way. Because of these bomb threats, the airlines have enforced strict rules about what can and cannot be taken on the airplane. Even if it may be for the safety of the people, it's very inconvenient. What if there are things that you cannot bring in your luggage that must be brought as a carry-on, only this is impossible because of the regulations? I am waiting until the day that air travel will be safe and free from threats like bombs and hijackers. Hopefully, that day will come soon, especially since the world is relying more and more on airplanes to take them places.

Is Geithner a liability for Obama?

The man who was a symbol of Barack Obama's moderation might become a symbol of the new president's struggle with competence.At the mere word of Mr. Geithner's nomination as treasury secretary back in November, the market jumped close to 500 points. He was hailed by market insiders as a "fantastic choice," "highly-skilled and pragmatic." He was even praised by his Bush administration predecessor, Hank Paulson, who said, "I have great confidence in his understanding of markets, his judgment and leadership, and his ability to meet the challenges that lie ahead." However recently he has had problems with tax issues and has made the market tumble by over 400 points. As Obamas top advisor, it is shame that he has made this kind of mistake especially when we are in a economic crisis. Some say his days are numbered because of his credibility. The bet is that he will be out by June 30, but can he make his name credible again and save his job ???

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/19/feehery.geithner/index.html

Is our education recession proof?

The final $787 billion stimulus bill that President Obama is expected to sign today contains $105.9 billion for education, including $650 million for the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program. Even though an estimated $9.9 billion total investment is needed to ensure that all Title I schools have effective, technology-rich classrooms, according to the groups.

Even though our education system got more than we asked for, you can see the that the students today are feeling the recession take its toll. It has been reported that college admissions have been cut down, for example University of California San Diego was rumored to have only admitted 9% of applicants, whereas last year it was 40%. Many students are resorting to community colleges and then transferring after their general education, lowering the transfer rate in a few years. So freshmen acceptance rates are down, transfer rates will be down in a few years, what's happening to our higher education system? We need those funds to enter the system and we need it now.


The graphs above were obtained by me when I went to interview our own HLPUSD district's resource manager Gary Matsumoto and Norman Hsu. As you guys can probably tell, our district is actually holding out okay, but it is due to the large amount of stowed away savings HLPUSD has, that's why much of our school functions are still performing, unlike many others whereas teachers are being laid off left and right, classrooms are jam-packed, and resources are running low.

But we can only last a year or 2, maybe 3, like the graphs above said, with cuts, we can stay afloat a little longer, our students can have a comfortable education for a little longer. Because of our savings, we don't have to lay off as many teachers, even though they will have to divert some of the financial resources to other places from projects, so things will be moving around, until the Title 1 105.9 billion dollars comes.

Until then, we will just have to wait for the Cavalry. Until then, college acceptances will be more competitve, since it won't have enough resources to admit the normal rate of students before the recession hit. Although the Private Colleges will not undergo much acceptance rate changes since they are privately funded, not like UCs, where they are funded by the state. Many LAHS and perhaps students around the state and nation are on the verge of tears, seeing previous generations enter college only to have them shut the door in their faces. Seeing how 2009 is, is 2010 going to be worse for our siblings and the generations after us?

President Obama, is help really on the way?

Commentary: Obama a leader who actually leads

By Jack Cafferty

CNN

Editor's note: Jack Cafferty is the author of a new book, "Now or Never: Getting Down to the Business of Saving Our American Dream." He provides commentary on CNN's "The Situation Room" daily from 4 to 7 p.m. ET. You can also visit Jack's Cafferty File blog.

Jack Cafferty says Obama is getting things done

even though he's made some mistakes.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- What a welcome change to feel like someone is running the country instead of running it into the ground.

President Obama has done more in eight weeks than George W. Bush did in eight years -- unless you include starting a couple of wars.

While the armchair quarterbacks second guess the new president, he gets up every day and does things, lots of things.

Whether it's creating commissions for women and girls, ordering the investigation of President Bush's use of signing statements, or jamming a huge stimulus package through Congress, the man is working his tail off. And he seems to be loving every minute of it. It's almost as though our president was born to do exactly what he's doing.

He's leading, and boy, is that refreshing.

I remember many times when Bush was in office wondering who the hell was running the country. Then he would appear somewhere in front of a handpicked audience to utter some banalities or say something utterly stupid and I would be reminded. I don't miss him.

That's not to say President Obama hasn't stubbed his toe here and there. Signing that omnibus spending bill with all those earmarks in it after campaigning so hard against pork was probably a mistake. The opportunity was right there to send that bill back to Congress with a note that read, "I told you I am against earmarks and I meant it. Now do it over and send me something clean." Nancy Pelosi's head would have probably exploded, but the American people would have been ready to crown him king.

There are serious questions about whether Tim Geithner has what it takes to solve the banking crisis. Either nationalize the big ones in trouble or let them fail. It doesn't seem that just continuing to hand them money is working.

Better background checks on some of his appointees would have saved him some embarrassment. There's no excuse for asking someone like Tom Daschle with his problems to do anything.

But the point, I guess, is this: President Obama is attacking our country's problems on several fronts. He's got ambitious ideas on how to solve them, and he communicates a sense of calm and confidence to the rest of us as he goes about his business. Will all his ideas work? Of course not. But if you throw enough stuff at the wall, some of it will stick.

And at least I don't go to bed at night worried that I'll wake up in the morning to find out we're about to invade someone.

*After having read this, do you agree/disagree with Jack Cafferty's opinion about Obama's actions so far, and their effects?

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/17/cafferty.obama/index.html?iref=24hours

Obama Offers Education Plan

President Obama recently conveyed a new education plan for the people of America. In this new education plan President Obama called for longer school days and extended school years as well as more charter schools and also a greater effort from the parents and a greater effort to recruit more people into the teaching profession altogether.

"America's entire education system must once more be the envy of the world, and that's exactly what we intend to do," Obama Said. Obamas plan includes grants for states that improve early childhood education. Probably the biggest change in our education system would be the pay raise for teachers based on performance. It has incentives enough to show improvements in grades but i'm a bit concerned with the externalities that might come from "merit" pay raises, such as cheating, and corruption in public education; Although Obama did not state that pay raises would come directly from student test scores.

However i do agree that we need to lower the opportunity cost for good teachers and give the bad ones the salary they deserve. I support the tack that Education Secretary Arne Duncan took when he led the Chicago Public Schools where teachers recieved additional pay for completing rigorous graduate training. Truth be told(for me) teachers deserve a heck of a lot more credit(especially the good ones).