Common Core Cant

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Photo Credit: National Review

Photo Credit: National Review

With the Common Core State Standards encountering remarkable political turbulence, you might think advocates would focus their energies on making their case and answering critics. After all, just yesterday Indiana became the first state to reverse its decision to adopt the Common Core. Instead, leading advocates seem intent on using junk polling to say, “There’s nothing to see here.”

Yesterday, the Collaborative for Student Success — a mishmash of substantial educational philanthropies — released a poll that purported to show that Americans love the Common Core even if they don’t know it. The new poll showed that two-thirds of respondents like the Common Core and that one-third “strongly” support it. This is pretty remarkable given that, just last summer, over 60 percent of respondents told Gallup they had never heard of the Common Core. What explains the remarkable shift? It turns out that the positive response was elicited after pollsters read just “a single sentence describing” the Common Core.

That “single sentence” explained: “To ensure that all students are prepared for success after graduation, the Common Core Standards establish a set of clear, consistent guidelines for what students should know and be able to do at each grade level across subjects.” (The astonishing thing is that 24 percent of respondents disapproved even after this explanation.) Fifty-seven percent of Republicans reportedly support the Common Core, thus described, and 60 percent of respondents would be more likely to vote for a pro–Common Core candidate.

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Obama Seeks Pope’s Blessing

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Photo Credit: AFP / Saul Loeb

Photo Credit: AFP / Saul Loeb

Barack Obama will meet Pope Francis for the first time Thursday for talks on a shared agenda to fight inequality which the US President hopes will help boost support at home.

The talks between the first Latin-American pope and first African-American US president will focus on tackling the gap between the rich and the poor, but are likely to spill over into thornier issues such as abortion, homosexuals and contraception.

The meeting at the Vatican comes as a welcome rest-stop for Obama during a six-day European tour dominated by the crisis over Crimea, and the US leader will doubtless be hoping some of the pope’s overwhelming popularity will rub off on him.

Obama will also meet new Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi and the country’s president Giorgio Napolitano during his visit to the eternal city, as well as going on a private guided tour of the Colosseum.

Diplomatic relations between Italy and the United States are close, though Rome still needs some convincing on the value of imposing sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, amid fears it would take a toll on a key market.

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Is Obama Secretly Negotiating Away U.S. Sovereignty?

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

Consumer protections and the use of domestic law in the U.S. may drastically change as President Obama forges ahead with two secretive international deals that impact major aspects of the economy, privacy and beyond.

Wednesday, Obama defended a proposed mega free-trade zone between the world’s two largest economies, the United States and the European Union.

“I have fought my entire political career, and as president, to strengthen consumer protections. I have no intention of signing legislation that would weaken those protections,” Obama said during a visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels.

Obama was responding to criticism of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, which the U.S. has been negotiated with the EU since last July.

Besides creating the world’s biggest free-trade zone, the TTIP will also bring about closer cooperation between EU and U.S. regulatory bodies while more closely integrating the two economies.

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Alaskans Battle for Survival Against Feds’ Protection of Migratory Birds

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Photo Credit: Anonymous

Photo Credit: Anonymous

For Della Trumble and others in her town of King Cove, Alaska, the Obama administration chose bird feed over their health and safety.

Washington’s refusal to allow a 10-mile gravel road between King Cove and the airport at Cold Bay is a matter of life or death for Alaskans who rely on quick access to airports and hospital flights as much as migratory birds rely on the eel grass that the Interior Department would rather preserve.

The most terrifying day of Ms. Trumble’s life was in 2010 when a small plane carrying her daughter slammed into a makeshift airfield near their home in the remote fishing village.

“It was one of the most frightening things you’ll ever watch in your life. I saw it happen, and I ran down the runway at about 100 miles per hour to get to the plane,” said Ms. Trumble. “Fortunately, everybody was OK. They had sore necks from the impact.”

Not everyone who flies between King Cove, population 965, and the all-weather airport at Cold Bay is so lucky. Nineteen people have died there in airplane crashes, some of them emergency responders and patients attempting to reach the regional hospital in Anchorage.

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College Football Players Win Right to Unionize

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Photo Credit: Justin Russell

Photo Credit: Justin Russell

Northwestern University’s football team has the right to form the first labor union in college sports, the National Labor Relations Board ruled Wednesday.

All scholarship players on the Evanston, Ill., school’s football team who have not exhausted their eligibility are “employees,” Peter Ohr, the NLRB regional director in Chicago, said in his ruling. He ordered an immediate election to create a union board.

Northwestern said it would appeal the local ruling to the full NLRB in Washington.

The 24-page decision has the potential to alter the landscape of college athletics, which generates more than $16 billion in television contracts and other forms of revenue. It comes as the NCAA is under attack in separate lawsuits from former athletes that challenge its authority.

“It’s a very significant move,” James Quinn, a senior partner at New York-based Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, said in a telephone interview. “Given all of the other pressures on the NCAA and member institutions, things are going to change.”

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State Senate Committee Votes to Abolish Common Core Academic Standards (+video)

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Photo Credit: Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman

Photo Credit: Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman

By Randy Ellis.

The state Senate Education Committee on Monday voted to pass a new version of a House bill that would abolish the state’s use of Common Core academic standards in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Fighting back tears, state Sen. Susan Paddack chastised senators for the way they have handled academic standards bills, saying lawmakers continue to make late-night decisions behind closed doors that have negative consequences for teachers and students.

“This bill was put together late on Friday,” said Paddack, D-Ada. “While a core group has been able to discuss this bill, this bill really has not seen the light of day. … It weighs heavily on me that we are making decisions every day that are affecting our children negatively.”

State Sen. Josh Brecheen, R-Coalgate, defended the bill.

“This bill was vetted by 101 House members. We have improved that version working with the original author. … We are letting the state board, through a three-year process, come up with some exceptional standards that we all agree need to be put in place.”

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Frustrated Father Who ‘Obliterated’ Common Core in Viral Post Shares How His Son’s Teacher Reacted

By Erica Ritz.

Jeff Severt recently grew so frustrated with his second-grader’s Common Core math assignments that, rather than simply help his son with the homework, he wrote in his own response on one of the questions.

“I have a bachelor of science degree in electronics engineering which included extensive study in differential equations and other higher math applications,” he wrote. “Even I cannot explain the Common Core mathematics approach, nor get the answer correct.”

“In the real world, simplification is valued over complication,” he added, signing the letter as a “frustrated parent.”

Photo Credit: Facebook / The Patriot Post

Photo Credit: Facebook / The Patriot Post

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Vets to Obama: ‘American Weakness is Dangerous’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: Vets for Freedom

Photo Credit: Vets for Freedom

In a letter to the president, the group Vets for Freedom outlines the administration’s dangerous approach to national security.

Mr. President,

For veterans of the Iraq War, watching the black flag of Al Qaeda fly over Fallujah—as the adjacent video outlines—is the ultimate symbol of weak and feckless national security policy. Dismissing this American battlefield is an insult to the sacrifice and honor of our warriors and their families. Unfortunately, it’s just another recent example of your administration’s dangerous approach to national security; let us briefly recount other ways.

Afghanistan War veterans bemoan a failed ‘surge then withdraw’ strategy—costing lives and losing ground. In Syria, we set rhetorical red-lines that a Iranian-backed dictator ignored—and then did nothing. Speaking of Iran, their nuclear ambitions continue unabated—with Israel left standing alone. In Libya we ‘led from behind’—with spiraling violence and a dead US ambassador in Benghazi to show for it…

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Obama: I’m Concerned About a Nuke Being Detonated in Manhattan (+video)

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Speaking at a brief news conference in the Hague, President Obama said he’s more worried about a nuke being detonated in Manhattan than he is about Russia:

“With respect to Mr. Romney’s assertion that Russia is our number one geopolitical foe, the truth of the matter is that America has a whole lot of challenges,” said the president.

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Miller Calls Out Begich for Vote to Override Alaskans’ First Amendment Rights

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Photo Credit: LifeNews

Photo Credit: LifeNews

Joe Miller today urged the United States Supreme Court to protect Americans’ constitutional rights by striking down the ObamaCare contraception mandate. He also called out Senator Mark Begich for not only being the 60th and deciding vote for ObamaCare, but also voting last year to uphold the Department of Health and Human Service’s controversial regulation.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in the Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius cases, which address whether the Department of Health and Human Services can require private business owners to provide abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of their religious convictions.

“Alaskans must always remember that Mark Begich was the 60th and deciding vote for ObamaCare, a vote he made contrary to what the majority of the people he is supposed to represent wanted,” said Miller. “Having cast that egregious vote, Begich had the audacity to double-down last March and vote to affirm the HHS contraception mandate, which requires healthcare coverage to include abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of the deeply-held religious beliefs of those paying for the coverage.”

Our nation was founded on the belief in God-given rights. One of our God-given rights, according to both Thomas Jefferson (the author of the Declaration of Independence) and James Madison (the father of the Constitution), is the right to worship and exercise ‘the duty which we owe our Creator’ in a way our conscience directs. The very first right recognized in the Bill of Rights is this freedom: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” According to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, another of our most fundamental rights is the right to life.

“It should come as no surprise to Barack Obama, Kathleen Sebelius or Mark Begich that the owners of Hobby Lobby and other companies around this nation, in seeking to honor and worship God, cannot participate in the taking of human life,” said Miller. “It is my hope that the Supreme Court will see this for what it is, a clear violation of Americans’ First Amendment rights.”

Surprise! White House To Delay ‘Firm’ Obamacare Enrollment Deadline Past March 31

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Photo Credit: AFP

Photo Credit: AFP

Though the Obama administration repeatedly insisted that its March 31 enrollment deadline for Obamacare’s first year was “firm,” many observers predicted that the administration would combat lagging sales of health law-sponsored insurance plans by extending that deadline. Sure enough, on Tuesday night the White House indicated that it would be postponing that drop date in order to squeeze as many people as possible into the program.

Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post broke the story. Goldstein reports that the revised deadline “will apply to the federal exchanges operating in three dozen states” and extend for two to three weeks.

On the spectrum of things that the White House has pushed back or changed about Obamacare, this is a relative tweak. The original open enrollment period for the first year of Obamacare was set up to last for six months; instead it will last for 6.5 months. Unlike some of the clearly illegal extensions and delays that the White House has put forth, this one appears to be legal; the text of the Affordable Care Act doesn’t specify how long the open enrollment period should be, leaving that task to the regulators at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

CMS: ‘We don’t actually have the statutory authority’ to extend deadline

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