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Open thread
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted Sept. 21, 2006 at 12:05 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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48 Comments
Quote of the Day:
Henry Adams (Descendant of President John Adams), in a letter to John Hay, October 1895: “The Jewish question is really the most serious of our problems!”
Viva La Revolucion Blanco!!
Gentle people,
Since we now know that the Whitehouse had nothing to do with the Valerie Plame ‘leak’ I think we have a new ‘Fitzmas’ to look forward to.
I predict that the bogus charges against Scooter Libby will be quietly dropped before Christmas. After the November elections, of course. (we wouldn’t want to help the republicans!)
Hank
Uh, the white house still did do everything they were accused of. They just added a name to the list. Do you understand?
This would be like saying Bill Clinton didn’t have sexual relations with that woman because someone else did it first.
Mom, you’re the greatest.
Ian, how’s the revolution goin’ dude?
Yet once again during an unusual career. Bill Miskell maintains his uncontested string of consecutive lies to the people of Kansas. The latest by telling the WE that, “We are not aware of a problem that has presented itself where an inmate has misused those Social Security numbers,”It shouldn’t be a surprise that Miskell’s memory should be so short lived. It has to be when you are an individual who has never even once issued a public statement that contained more than a fraction of the truth.The truth is, there have been numerous incidents, complaints and outright crimes directly related to this “program”, most notably Inmate Arney’s theft and attempt to sell the former Wyandotte County Prosecuter’s (Nick Tomasick) social security number. Of couse this could never be allowed to get out, as inmate Arney was the inmate the administration was using to sue the people of Kansas for more money.Lets not forget the other case that accidently made it to print when the inmates were stealing (and selling historial documents)The fact of the matter is, it is so out of control, so many people have been harmed, that they actually took steps to protect state employee’s and made their information unavaliable to inmates, but not yours. No sir, not when it saves the Insurance industry a few bucks.
Catch-22. We want offenders to work and to learn trades. Call Centers are major employers in Kansas. It seems that what needs to be done is to carefully screen just which inmates have which jobs.
If anyone is interested in the proposed downtown arena, to which I am totally opposed — Shocker 06 and Shocker 07 (proponents) and I, one of 190,000 Sedgwick Countians who are arena opponents are debating the issue on the arena blog classification. You can reach it by scrolling down to “arena” in the left column near the bottom of this page. So far, Shocker 06 and 07 have me surrounded so they can’t get away now. But I’m going to be busy today so I could use some support.
Several months ago the joe’s (blow and williams) wanted proof, from the White House, of Abramhoff and his boys, grover norquist and ralph reed, REALLY met with the preznit and his staff.
Read ‘em and weep boys. No wonder bushco fought so hard to keep the records of white house visits a secret.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364×2182042
That’s my girl!Go get em’!!
For those interested, KSN had a piece on T. Fox leaving IBC.
http://www.ksn.com/news/stories/14928800.html
KFG,
Perhaps Abramhoff was visiting everyone’s favorite gay prostitute, Jeff Gannon, in the WH.
Oh, look out, it’s the LIBERAL MEDIA!
“If MSNBC were following the codes of journalism, an author unwilling to debate her controversial book would not be given a free ride. But MSNBC follows the codes of conformity and show biz: Coulter is a draw, so she dictates the terms of debate . . . or nondebate. ”
http://thismodernworld.com/3177
Yep, typical. Just like the “Liberal” Wichita eagle and the free ride they constantly give Tanker Todd.
I know that there are a few folks here that will find this of interest. The big problem with electric and hybrid cars is the batteries.
Sounds like this guy may have come up with a capacitor design that could replace the batteries. Too good to be true? Your thoughts.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/technology/disruptors_eestor.biz2/index.htm
Fascinating heckler. I just don’t know enough EE to really comment intelligently on the details. In a more general vein I like the idea of “batteries/capacitors/whatever” being improved to further facilitate development of these technologies.
I still think that at least for the intermediate term we will need some sort of hybrid technology – simply due to distance limitations when I drive to California. That said, however, for day-to-day use we should have a vehicle that can run on electricity – however it is stored.
By the way – the caveat I always have to tell my Sierra Club friends: we still have to generate the elctricity. NUCLEAR is my choice for that; along with solar and wind.
If the US can come up with workable alternative fuel, this would be the most patriotic thing we can do.
Then we can pull out of every Middle East country and not need their oil. We will no longer be held hostage.
We could pull out of Iraq and let the chips fall where they may. I still don’t trust the Iraqi government that the US helped to put into power. As we have already seen, the Iraqi P.M. has met with Iran president. I would not doubt that those two eventually join forces and we are right back to where were before George W. invaded Iraq.
The Muslims don’t like us but they sure like our money. So, let’s pull our money out and our need for their oil.
But I don’t look for that to happen with the current crop of politicians we have. Why you ask? The oil companies are addicted to their record-breaking profits from oil.
Ben
Just found another article, much more in depth.http://tyler.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/1/19/1715549.html
Thanks heckler. I must remain a skeptic though – just my nature. However I definitely like the idea.
Even simply using off-the-shelf technology there is no reason not to have a ‘plug-in’ hybrid that would eliminate 90% or more of my liquid fuel consumption. 15,000 miles per year translates to 40 miles per day; up to 60 miles per day if workdays only. That is well within a realistic range for “batteries” (I use that term generically including your alternative)
Ben
500 miles on a $9 dollar charge in a mid sized vehicle, sounds a little good to be true, but even getting close to that would be good. I too am skeptical, but he’s being backed by some real heavy weights so maybe there’s something to it. And I’m a fan of nuclear energy as a way to reduce dependance on foreign energy, so I see this type of development as a win/win if it works.
Absolutely heckler. Just saw an interesting thing – blind people have a problem with these cars because they are totally silent when stopped. The article stated that they are looking at making them produce at least some sound as a safety feature. I would add that when I bike I count on my hearing a lot as well as my vision.
Even 100 miles range would take care of most of my useage. The way to go then is to have a remote-controlled outlet in your garage that Westar would activate when power demand is low (overnight). Then charge “PURPA-type” rates for the power. When you consider the operation of nukes this should work well for both consumer and utility.
Some interesting poll results:
CONGRESS JOB APPROVAL
Approve25%Disapprove61%
Americans even give their own representatives, who usually get positive ratings, the thumbs down. Just 42 percent of voters feel their own representative deserves re-election, while 47 percent say it’s time for a change.
This disenchantment with Congress could bode well for the Democrats in their bid to regain control of the House.
Asked who they would support in the upcoming midterm elections, 50 percent of registered voters said they would support the Democratic candidate, while 35 percent would support the Republican.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I would guess that voters will tend to vote for the minority party if they believe that the Congress has done poorly.
http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2006/09/21/poll-a-split-on-confronting-terrorism-bushs-approval-unchanged/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fstories%2F2006%2F09%2F20%2Fopinion%2Fpolls%2Fmain2026039.shtml&frame=true
Kay Oconnor to resign, say the headlines.
Ksfarmgrrl wept.
More on crooked lobbyists’ access to Bush:
“By trying to extend a special privilege typically reserved forU.S. government employees, to protect their Abramoff cronies likeGrover Norquist, and Ralph Reed, the Bush administration showedjust how willing they are to manipulate the law to hide the truthand protect their political interests,” Finney said.
“The Bush administration on Wednesday released over 1,000 pagesof Secret Service logs to settle a lawsuit by the Democratic Partyand CREW seeking visitor logs for Norquist, fellow Republicanactivist Ralph Reed and other figures in the Jack Abramoff lobbyingscandal.The congressional and criminal investigations of Abramoffproduced evidence suggesting the lobbyists won access to the BushWhite House through conservative activists like Norquist and Reed.The long-sought visitor logs answer the question of how often thosetwo men got inside the White House during the time they weresimultaneously supporting the president and assisting Abramoff.Earlier this month, the White House suggested to the judge inthat lawsuit that such records need not be disclosed because theinformation was privileged and might reveal how Bush and his staffget private advice, according to court documents obtained by TheAssociated Press.”
http://my.netscape.com/corewidgets/news/story.psp?cat=50700&id=2006092112580001582588
“Be toys in the Attic” resigning?Please say it isn’t so! If Raj Goyle takes out Bonnie Huy, we’re down to Ted Powers rubbing baloons on top of his head for Republican leadership.
Did ya see that the Rev. Faux is back in the news? Wonder how much of the church’s money he spent on his and Wright’s hateful radio show?
Is anybody going to demand any of it back?
And good-bye Kay O’Conner. No loss there.
The Immanuel Baptist Church should file charges against Terry Fox if they really think that he misused church funds.
It it goes to a jury trial, then the truth will come out and probably so much more crap than anybody would ever want to know.
CR,If the US can come up with workable alternative fuel, this would be the most patriotic thing we can do.
sounds good to me….any ideas?j4j
No I am not into oil and gas technology. I wish I was though!
But I really believe if we had leadership in the White House that really meant it when he said that we need to find alternative fuel – then someone, somewhere would have the gumption to do it.
I just don’t believe the Bush administration really wants the US free from the foreign oil.
Didn’t I read somewhere where Brazil has an alternative fuel that is working for them? Why can’t we do something like that?
Hmm, it seems that the stench of leftist “democracy” has become too much for many Hungarians. Good for them, I hope they hang those sorosites from trees.
I only wish that some of my fellow Americans were made of such stern stuff. Sadly, most of us are only concerned with watching our favorite, would be criminal, pet negro afleets run with or bounce a damned ball!’
The violence came after a mainly peaceful protest outside parliament attended by several thousand people began late Sunday, when a recording made in May was leaked to local media in which Gyurcsany admitted to repeatedly having lied to the country about the true state of the Hungarian economy to win April’s elections.
Gyurcsany’s comments — made to the Socialists’ group of parliamentary deputies — were full of crude remarks and called into doubt the abilities of some of Hungary’s most respected economic experts.
“We screwed up. Not a little, a lot,” Gyurcsany was heard saying. “No European country has done something as boneheaded as we have. … I almost died when for a year and a half we had to pretend we were governing. Instead, we lied morning, evening and night.”
He said the economy had been kept afloat through “divine providence, the abundance of cash in the world economy and hundreds of tricks.”
By Monday night, the crowd demanding Gyurcsany’s resignation outside parliament grew as it was joined by people getting off work and coming to the capital from surrounding areas.
Late Monday, several hundred protesters broke away from the larger group outside parliament and marched over to the nearby headquarters of state television, wanting to be allowed to proclaim their demands on a live broadcast.
While most of the crowd watched from a safe distance, a few dozen protesters tried to break through police lines and into the TV headquarters, but police drove them back with water cannons and tear gas.
Police also tried to disperse the larger protest with water cannon fire but the truck was quickly disabled by the rioters, some of whom escorted the police officers operating the vehicle to safety. Several cars near the TV building were set on fire, their flames scorching the building and damaging furniture inside.
Rioters also vandalized a large obelisk commemorating Soviet soldiers who were killed driving Nazi forces from Hungary at the end of World War II. Some of the protesters chanted nationalist slogans and waved flags with the red and white “Arpad stripes,” a centuries-old Hungarian symbol named for the founder of the country’s first royal dynasty.
The origin of the leak remains murky — and some have speculated that it may even have come from Gyurcsany’s own office, although the prime minister denies that.
Confronted with initial excerpts of the 25-minute recording which Hungarian state radio put up on its Web site Sunday afternoon, Gyurcsany not only acknowledged their authenticity but seemed relieved they had been made public — fueling the rumors that he was involved in the leak.
Analysts say the prime minister may have hoped that the scandal would work in his favor — exposing the full extent of the nation’s economic problems and casting him in the role of the country’s savior.
“In the long term, I think Gyurcsany’s words will have a stabilizing, cathartic effect, both politically and economically,” said political commentator Laszlo Seres. “At least to his own voters, Gyurcsany can argue that he shouldn’t be punished for his sincerity — that he said these things to stop the lies.”
But for now, Gyurcsany is the object of the nation’s scorn.
Several thousand police reinforcements were called to the capital from across the country. Police succeeded in retaking the TV building and driving out protesters only after 3 a.m. (0100 GMT), more than five hours after the incidents started.
The policeman with head injuries was described on state television as being in satisfactory condition after undergoing an operation to remove a bone splinter from his skull.
Police were controlling access to the area around the TV building on Tuesday morning, which also includes the National Bank of Hungary and the U.S. Embassy.
Justice Minister Jozsef Petretei, who also oversees the police force, submitted his resignation because of the outbreak of violence, but his offer was rejected by Gyurcsany.
On Monday, members of Gyurcsany’s Socialist party in parliament voted unanimously in support of the prime minister. The government called for an emergency session of the National Security Cabinet for Tuesday morning.
In Brussels, Hungary’s European Union Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said the unrest in Budapest put the “stability and future of the country” at risk.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214406,00.html
Viva La Revolucion Blanco!!
This is for all of you who believe we have great health care in the U.S.
U.S. Health-Care System Gets a “D”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20060921/bs_bw/tc20060921053503
RD,
We do have great health care in the US.
That study was one on things like efficiency, access, quality… etc… across the board.
Those of us who say we have great health care never claimed we were the best in every category.
I have no health care at all.
“I have no health care at all.”
Bullshit JR. Federal law mandates that any emergency room evaluate and treat you for any health care emergency that you might have.
I pay for it with my taxes.
Now then, if for some reason you should be involved in an automobile accident that results in injuries serious enough to seek medical attention, You’re covered. If, that is you have your car insured. If not, then I pay for it again with my taxes.
If you have an accident that is work related then you are covered by worker’s compensation that your employer is mandated to pay for by the federal and state government. If you are unemployed then you don’t have to worry about it.
If you are unemployed and living off welfare and generally being a cancerous, festering cyst on the butt of society then of course you are covered by Medicade. Again, my taxes help pay for it.
Now, all in all, I believe that one’s health care is his personal responsibility. I have no qualms about being taxed to help the people that for one reason or another are temporarily in need of assistance. You on the other hand, have a dependent child. You are directly responsible for his health care.
You are living in the greatest country in the world. We have the greatest healt care delivery system in the world. We have one of the best systems for taking care of the poor and the indigent in the world.
And you say “I have no health care at all.”
Bullshit.
Get a job. Be responsible. Take care of yourself.
And for heaven’s sake, be well. I’m paying for it if you don’t!
Hank
Hank,
Check into the Medicaid guidelines. Not all who receive some sort of assistance qualify for Medicaid. Children are those most often covered.
Also, it’s difficult for someone to live on welfare. You might check that out, too.
Dear RD,
I agree that it is difficult to live on welfare. Most people that are on it work harder to stay on it than they would if they had a job.
It’s easier to live off the state in this country than in any other country in the world.
If I had a dependent child I would do every thing I could to get a job with benefits.
Hank
Good grief.
“That study was one on things like efficiency, access, quality… etc… across the board.”
Yeah, and your point is? So what else do you think needs to be included?
Here’s the first paragraph:” The U.S. health-care system is doing poorly by virtually every measure. That’s the conclusion of a national report card on the U.S. health-care system, released Sept. 20. Although there are pockets of excellence, the report, commissioned by the non-profit and non-partisan Commonwealth Fund, gave the U.S. system low grades on outcomes, quality of care, access to care, and efficiency, compared to other industrialized nations or generally accepted standards of care. Bottom line: U.S. health care barely passes with an overall grade of 66 out of 100.”
What about this?”
“The report found that quality of care and access to care varied widely across the country, and it noted substantial gaps between national averages and pockets of excellence. The authors concluded that, if the U.S. improved and standardized health-care performance and access, approximately 100,000 to 150,000 lives could be saved annually, along with $50 billion to $100 billion a year.”
And here’s the finish of it:”Among the reports’ findings:
–Only 49% of U.S. adults receive the recommended preventive and screening tests for their age and sex.
–Only half of patients with congestive heart failure receive written discharge instructions regarding care following hospitalization.
–Nationwide, preventable hospital admissions for patients with chronic health conditions such as diabetes and asthma were twice as high as the level achieved by the best performing states.
–Hospital 30-day re-admission rates for Medicare patients ranged from 14% to 22% across regions.
–One-third of all adults under 65 have problems paying their medical bills or have medical debt they are paying over time.
–Only 17% of U.S. doctors use electronic medical records, compared with 80% in the top three countries.
–On multiple measures across quality of care and access to care, there is a wide gap between low income and the uninsured, and those with higher incomes and insurance. On average, measures for low income and uninsured people in these areas would have to improve by one-third to close the gap.
–As a share of total health expenditures, insurance administrative costs in the U.S. were more than three times the rate in countries with integrated payment systems.”
Let’s look at Hank’s comments one-by-one, shall we?
1. Most people that are on welfare work harder to stay on it than they would if they had a job.
Unknown “fact.”
This is impossible to quantify. It’s like saying how many raindrops fell in the last shower over your yard. Hank has no idea “how hard” someone works either on their job or trying to stay on welfare. In fact it would be very difficult to ascertain even under the rigorous conditions imposed by a research study.
2. It’s easier to live off the state in this country than in any other country in the world.
Inconsistency.
In previous posts, Hank and others like him are always talking about “socialist” Europe. Well, if Europe is so socialist, wouldn’t it be easier to live off the state there?
3. Now then, if for some reason you should be involved in an automobile accident that results in injuries serious enough to seek medical attention, You’re covered.
Card stacking (”cherry picking”)
If you get cancer, an emergency room isn’t going to give you chemotherapy. Lupus, arthritis, MS, alzheimer’s, down’s syndrome, parkinson’s . . . ditto.
4. You are living in the greatest country in the world.
Overall, not provable, pure speculation.
In terms of wealth and standard of living, this statement is patently false.
From Wikipedia: “On comprehensive measures such as the UN Human Development Index the United States is always in the top ten, currently ranking number ten, though generally ranked lower than the Scandinavian countries, Ireland, Belgium, Canada, Australia, and (until recently) Japan; Canada and Norway have alternately held the top spot for some time. On the Human Poverty Index the US is ranked worst among the selection of 17 wealthiest countries, scoring badly on all counts escept long term unemployment.”
5. We have the greatest health care delivery system in the world.
Factually untrue.
What good is great medical providers if you can’t pay for them? According to Joan Retsinas “America’s Dwindling Middle Class,” “families earning 50 – 75 thousand a year think of themselves as middle class . . . yet one-third reported trouble paying medical bills. For families earning more than 75,000, 21 percent reported trouble.” One of the leading causes of bankrupcy in this country is a medical crisis.
Jim Hightower, “Health Care Morality”: “We the People pay 1.2 trillion a year to a corporate health-care complex (more than any other people pay) and rank only 37th in the world in the quality of health care we receive.”
But I missed your Hank-isms there for awhile.
Come back again when you want your ass kicked . . .
The US health care industry is based on profit. That is why it is not that great anymore.
The focus is only on money – not quality care. Otherwise, why would so many people die from medical errors every year?
“I have no health care at all.”
If this statemet is true gentle people, where does the responsibility lie?
Where does it say I should have to pay for someone’s unhealthy lifestyle?
Hank
I’m going to assume JR meant he has no health insurance. That could account for him saying he has no health care.
As Hank (poorly) pointed out, anyone can receive emergency medical treatment, but as Capn pointed out, that doesn’t cover conditions and diseases. And most people are billed for that medical treatment eventually.
What makes so-called “socialized” medicine better than what we have in the U.S. is that those countries rate high on preventative medicine. An even better term is “wellness.” People are checked and treated early-on, which keeps them from major treatment later.
The really ironic thing is that we have those like Hank who don’t want a national health care plan because they don’t want to pay for someone else’s healthcare, then they cry now because they’re already paying for it. No matter what happens, everyone pays for it, through taxes, health insurance, doctor and hospital visits or medicine.
Isn’t better care important?
Hank,
You’re saying that all medical conditions of those who can’t afford health care are caused by unhealthy lifestyles?
If so, does that mean that those who are insured have healthy lifestyles?
When these kids were living in a car it was due to the automatic “give them to the mother” routine even though their loving father was prepared to care for them. Now mom is giving them crack. That sexist policy needs to change.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/breaking_news/15585135.htm
Children who lived in car also were given crack, police sayBY TIM POTTERThe Wichita EagleThe two children had already endured enough — living out of a car with their mother. Now, their situation has gotten more disturbing, Wichita police say.
Police suspect that the same children living out of the car later received crack cocaine from their mother and her boyfriend, Lt. T.K. Bridges said today.
Police have yet to arrest anyone, Bridges said.
The mother is about 32. The boyfriend, who is about 41, had been in the custody of immigration agents, Bridges said.
Investigators were awaiting the results of hospital drug testing on the two siblings, a 9 year-old and a 10-year-old, Bridges said.
A little over a week ago, police disclosed that they took some children into protective custody after they had been living out a car — moving from park to park — when not living in a motel. They hadn’t had a good bath, and they were often eating instant noodles, police said.
Earlier, police had said there were three children living in the car. On Friday, Bridges said he knew about only two children.
The two children Bridges knew about — who have been put in the custody of their father and stepmother after initially being taken to the Wichita Children’s Home — allegedly received the drug while visiting their mother at a motel where she was staying with her boyfriend, Bridges said.
A custody agreement allowed the children to visit their mother under their father’s supervision, Bridges said.
It’s uncommon for children so young to be given illegal drugs, Bridges said.
Asked what could motivate an adult to give crack cocaine to children, Bridges said: “I don’t think that anybody can figure that out… because it certainly doesn’t make sense to any reasonable person.”
Police said a school social worker at Linwood Elementary contacted them about the drug suspicion.
Earlier, staff at Jefferson Elementary had reported to police that they suspected the children were living out of a car.
Anyone who has information that they think might help investigators should call 911, Bridges said.
——————————————————————————–
Hank Price
You are pretty god damned judgemental for such a devout christian.
Hospitals are required to provide emergency stabilization care ONLY. They DO NOT treat chronic conditions.
You indirectly imply that I lead an “unhealthy lifestyle”. You earlier on this forum posted an outright lie as to my lifestyle.
If you can prove I lead an “unhealthy lifestyle” do it. Otherwise I invite you to keep your baseless judgements to yourself.
Employment? I work for myself thank you very much. I don’t yet make enough to afford health insurance. See? It’s a lot harder and more expensive for a person on their own to get insurance. This is particularly true if you have pre existing or chronic health issues.
Despite your assertion, I am not and have not been on any sort of public assistance. Thanks to the “welfare reform” that people like you screamed for, it is virtually impossible to get on disability. I have not so far even tried.If you wanna further play character assassination, I WILL accomodate you.
Readers are invited to know that Hank Price was career military. As such, his health care was provided (as it should have been) by the government for the better part of his adult life. His protestation against others feeding at the public trough are a little hypocritical given that he has already had ( again, rightly so) a considerable helping at that trough.
I’ll leave it at that. For now.
J R – an observation that illustrates one problem with our health system. Because my family has coverage we get negotiated rates (even before insurance coverage). What this means is that we pay only about 50% of what you would pay coming off the street paying cash. Something is wrone with this picture.
More on the Bush administration:
Bush reading program gets failing gradeBEN FELLERAssociated PressWASHINGTON – A scorching internal review of the Bush administration’s billion-dollar-a-year reading program says the Education Department ignored the law and ethical standards to steer money how it wanted.
The government audit is unsparing in its view that the Reading First program has been beset by conflicts of interest and willful mismanagement. It suggests the department broke the law by trying to dictate which curriculum schools must use.
It also depicts a program in which review panels were stacked with people who shared the director’s views, and in which only favored publishers of reading curricula could get money.
In one e-mail, the director told a staff member to come down hard on a company he didn’t support, according to the report released Friday by the department’s inspector general.
“They are trying to crash our party and we need to beat the (expletive deleted) out of them in front of all the other would-be party crashers who are standing on the front lawn waiting to see how we welcome these dirtbags,” the program director wrote, the report says.
That official, Chris Doherty, is resigning in the coming days, department spokeswoman Katherine McLane said Friday. Asked if his quitting was in response to the report, she said only that Doherty is returning to the private sector after five years at the agency. Doherty declined to comment.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings pledged to swiftly adopt all the audit’s recommendations. She also pledged a review of every Reading First grant her agency has approved.
“When something undermines the credibility of this department, or the standing of any program, I’m going to spring into action,” Spellings told The Associated Press.
Reading First aims to help young children read through scientifically proven programs, and the department considers it a jewel of No Child Left Behind, Bush’s education law. Just this week, a separate review found the effort is helping schools raise achievement.
But from the start, the program has been dogged by accusations of impropriety, leading to several ongoing audits. The new report from the Office of Inspector General – an independent arm of the Education Department – calls into question the program’s credibility.
The ranking Democrat on the House education committee was furious.
“They should fire everyone who was involved in this,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. “This was not an accident, this was not an oversight. This was an intentional effort to corrupt the process.”
Spellings said the problems happened in the early days of the program, which began in 2002, before she was secretary. She said those responsible have left the agency or been reassigned.
About 1,500 school districts have received $4.8 billion in Reading First grants.
The audit found the department:
_Botched the way it picked a panel to review grant applications, raising questions over whether grants were approved as the law requires.
_Screened grant reviewers for conflicts of interest, but then failed to identify six who had a clear conflict based on their industry connections.
_Did not let states see the comments of experts who reviewed their applications.
_Required states to meet conditions that weren’t part of the law.
_Tried to downplay elements of the law it didn’t like when working with states.
The report does not name Doherty, referring to him as the Reading First director.
It says he repeatedly used his influence to steer money toward states that used a reading approach he favored, called Direct Instruction, or DI. In one case, the report says, he was told a review panel was stacked with people who backed that program.
“That’s the funniest part – yes!” he responded in e-mail dating to 2002. “You know the line from Casablanca, ‘I am SHOCKED that there is gambling going on in this establishment!’ Well, ‘I am SHOCKED that there are pro-DI people on this panel!’”
Spellings took issue with the use of such e-mails in the audit. She said they could be used to draw unfair conclusions about a person’s intentions.
The inspector general rejected that. It said the e-mails were written by Doherty in his role as director, and there is no evidence they were inaccurate or pulled out of context.
The audit also faults other officials who had a big hand in Reading First, including Susan Neuman, the former assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education.
Spellings, who became secretary in 2005, said she is not aware of any effort to favor certain reading programs. That, however, is just what the audit says has happened.
“I’m doing everything I can at this point,” she said. “I can’t undo what’s been done.”
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