Texas Budget Woes.

I decided to share my agreement with Kathleen L. and her opinion about the current budget problems, and where that money needs to come from.

I completely agree with your opinion on cutting funding from education. It should be a last resort area because of the current state of the Texas education system.

It's very disappointing seeing how it stands up against other states. In the report, Texas on the Brink, Texas is 43rd in its ranking of High School Graduation Rate, 45th in SAT scores, and 50th in the percent of the population 25 or older holding a High School diploma.

The stats are quite embarrassing; how did it get to this point? With the changes already in motion to drop events from the History curriculum, it doesn't look like education in Texas is going to get any better. If they were to cut funding for education, which is already low compared to other states (ranking in at 38th in current expenditures per student and 44th in State and Local expenditures per pupil), wouldn't that put Texas even further down the education ladder?

I understand that there must be cuts in all areas, but when it comes to education, consideration must be made or there will be long term effects on the state, as you stated.  I too, hope that agreements can be made and education is not hit too hard by the budget crisis.

Who Needs Planned Parenthood!?

I try to understand where people are coming from when they are anti-abortion, and to some extent I see how it could be misused. However, there are many cases in which having an abortion is necessary.

So many scenarios represent the backgrounds of women who receive abortions. For example, what if it would physically harm the woman, what if the woman was raped, there are many what ifs that come to mind and yet it seems anyone who chooses to have an abortion is automatically deemed a horrible person by many conservatives. Taking issue with someone who repeatedly must take this route due to personal irresponsibility is something I could understand, however, that should not lead to punishment of those who truly require the service.

 Abortions are not the only service provided by Planned Parenthood, but it seems that Texas Republicans can only fulfill their anti-abortion agenda by cutting $61 million in funding from the organization. Apparently they forgot about the many needed, and more used, programs offered such as “contraception, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infection, and cancer screening and prevention.” In cutting this funding, they may get the results intended in terms of abortion rate but they will also be hurting the millions of people who rely on the other services provided.

 This isn’t final; the bill will still pass through the Senate and receive additional tweaking before being negotiated on by both the House and the Senate. What happens if this outrageous amount does pass through? What about the people who will have no source for the services outlined above and the children born into a life not fit for anyone? It seems as though the people involved in making these decisions have only their desires in mind and do not consider the harm some changes will cause.

Guns, guns, and more guns...

My hatred of guns led me to a post by Lura C., who touched on the same bill that I spoke of in my last entry.

I agree with your opinion, Lura, that the bill should not be passed, however, I'm one of those people that dislikes guns to begin with.

I'm not even sure where my dislike stems from, I just think they are needless, and people should not even need them to "protect" themselves. I know this is in my own little dream world where idiots who misuse weapons don't exist, and in the real world those people do exist; however, I still fail to see how more guns create a better environment.

You bring up some valid reasoning for why this should not go through, something that I didn't think of; the amount of alcohol consumed on campuses. What would happen if someone were to become intoxicated and decided to bring out their handy gun? Sure, it would be an accident, but perhaps that person would not have decided to bring their weapon if it were still against the law.

Someone brought up the fact that people apparently already bring guns on campuses, so what does it matter if they passed the bill. Just because people are already doing something, doesn't mean it's okay to go ahead and make it legal. People do illegal things all the time, and when caught, they face the consequences of their actions. Those who currently choose to carry weapons in places where it isn't permitted do so knowing that they could possibly be caught. If the legality were to change, you then have more people who previously did not want to risk the chance of breaking the law, along with those who already carried the weapon.

The thought of people carrying around lethal weapons on campuses makes me very uncomfortable. Hopefully the bill does not make it any further, but it doesn't look like that is the case.

"Guns don't kill people, people kill people"

Nothing enrages me more than the statement I chose as the title for this post. This statement, typically thrown out by proponents of guns, is one of the most ignorant things I have ever heard. Yes, people do, in fact, kill people; however, removing the option of having a gun, a lethal weapon, would remove the ability for people to harm others with said weapon.

Countries with strict laws concerning the ability to own fire arms have far less instances of homicide than countries where the ability to own a fire arm is much less restricted. This tells me that gun ownership is correlated with homicide rate. This also confirms my previous opinion about the title of this post; people are stupid.

Now, before anyone gets too upset, let me clarify my use of the word stupid. The following quote is a favorite of mine, and I believe it holds some truth, even when coming from a work of fiction.

"People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool."
Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind 

People believe what they want to believe, even when lacking any form of truth. I feel that the title statement falls into this category.

What does this have to do with Texas State and Local Government? The bill, SB 354 , if passed will allow guns to be brought onto college campuses in Texas. This is supported by Gov. Rick Perry and was approved by a house bill.

My question is this; why on earth would anyone need to bring a weapon onto a college campus? I see absolutely no reason. All campuses have security teams and options to provide protection to students in the event that they do not feel safe. I see this as a case in which my quote above applies. Does anyone have a valid reason for this to happen? Or is it simply that they believe it needs to happen to protect their “Second Amendment Rights.” I would actually feel -less- safe if people were allowed to carry guns on campuses.

I hope that something drastic changes in the minds of those who think this is needed on college campuses.

Priorities.

The recent bill that forces women to have a sonogram prior to abortion is a terrible invasion; however, this post by Rachel Farris of Mean Rachel.com turns the focus onto an issue that seems to have greater importance. In reality, this post is geared more to those of a liberal view, but I would hope that it would bring attention to what is happening now, instead of what hasn't happened yet and perhaps sway some opinions.

                The post brings to light that we should think more about ways to help the living, who are here and need support, rather than ways to guilt people into not having abortions.

                Rachel Farris relays her own experiences with a neighborhood boy, Zekarius, who frequents her home and other areas. He is 5 years old and doesn’t seem to be cared for properly, as seen by his lack of speech and dental hygiene.

                Ms. Farris details an event that occurred where Zekarius was in need of some medical help, she attempted to bring the boy to his home, which was severely inadequate and spoke to his mother to let her know that Zekarius needed to see a doctor. An hour later, Zekarius was back, having not seen a doctor.

This story strongly backs Rachel Farris’ views that lead her to think about those heartbeats she must already hear.

                We have children who need help now, and are in situations such as Zekarius, where they aren’t getting the attention they deserve.  I agree with Ms. Farris and wish too that more people who, “believe in life, but not in the living”, would see how life is for those already here.

What's Capitalism?

Texas' Distortion of History

The Austin American Statesman’s Editorial Board published an article speaking out against the Texas State Board of Education’s decision to alter the way the subject of History is taught in Texas schools.  The target audience of this piece would seem to lean more towards a liberal ideology than those who keep a conservative view.

The Editorial Board claims that the Texas State Board of Education revised the curriculum with “evangelical zeal” and ignored any warnings about the decision they were making, resulting in a “hodgepodge of wishful thinking, distortion, exaggeration and fantasy dressed up as historical fact.” Texas students will not be taught about the Age of Enlightenment nor will they learn about capitalism.

The Editorial Board is clearly against the educational changes taking place and has evidence from the Fordham Institute, a “think tank devoted to education reform,” backing up the claims that this is a terrible decision.  The Fordham Institute reports that “Texas combines a rigidly thematic and theory-based social studies structure with a politicized distortion of history. The result of both is unwieldy and troubling, avoiding clear historical explanation while offering misrepresentations at every turn.” 

The article states that there is still hope for changing this decision and it is up to the new members of the board to protect the future of Texas students.

I am in agreement that it is a colossal mistake to change the way history is taught in Texas. There shouldn’t be a case such as this where the facts can be turned around and warped into something completely different. Future Texas students will only be hurt by this change and will receive “historical” stories rather than facts in their History courses.

Short $27 Billion? No Problem!

Texas Governor Offers Optimism on Budget Shortfall

Gov. Rick Perry announced in his annual address to the Legislature that Texas can overcome its tough budget choices by "setting priorities." Priorities, in his mind, apparently aren't Schools and Medicaid recipients, which are being targeted for cuts. 

 If the current budget cut plan continues, Schools in Texas will lose $10 Billion in resources and Medicaid payments will be cut by 10%. Mr. Perry is of the opinion that it is "irresponsible to use emergency funds on salaries and other recurring expenses."

His plan is to "reinvent the government" by consolidating, Department of Agriculture and the Department of Rural Affairs, and removing, the Historical Commission and the Commission on the Arts, state agencies.

Democrats, including Rep. Garnet F. Coleman, seem to believe that Mr. Perry is "unrealistic" and doesn't appear to have the capability to see that there are problems in Texas.

Some have speculated that Mr. Perry is interested in throwing his hat into the running for the Republican primaries and has his focus set on that rather than fixing the current budget problems in Texas.

If the current discussed cuts go through I think it would cause future issues across the board from Students to Nursing Homes to the many people that would lose their jobs. It's important to know the facts of the current budget issues in Texas, and not just what one source is stating. Reading the above article could influence citizens to find out more about the budget "crisis" and understand why it is such an important topic.