Damage to National Security by Releasing Classified

Top Secret material would cause "exceptionally grave damage" to national security if made publicly available.

Secret material would cause "serious damage" to national security if made publicly available.

Confidential material would cause "damage" to national security if made publicly available.

___Those with access to classified information have "security clearances" generally granted after background investigations (BI) or Expanded BIs for higher level access. This process is very expensive, so security clearances are limited by "need to know." All Senators and Representatives in Congress have security clearances. It is sometimes hard to explain their votes to audiences because parts of the subject are classified. There must be trust of our representatives in a Constitutional republic. Those representatives betray that trust if material is classified to deceive Americans. The United States is not a "democracy" as some in government would have us believe.

Is it Unconstitutional to Block Muslim Refugees?

___The Constitution of the United States gives Congress power to make laws concerning immigration. The refugees are not citizens and do not have the rights of citizens. The President, who was an instructor on the Constitution, does not - or chooses not to - understand Constitutional citizenship. He has tried to define prisoners of war at GTMO as criminals who are due the legal protections of citizenship and our court system. Can you imagine a jury of their "peers" (jihadists) deciding their innocence!

___The true refugees are the "infidels", those who are persecuted because the have not become Muslims. Yet some are quick to say that we cannot place a "religious test" on which refugees we take. Really?!!! The 1st Amendment states that Congress shall make no law establishing a state religion or prohibiting the free exercise of Americans' religion. We do have a choice as to which aliens we allow into our country! Those allowed in should have exclusive allegiance to the United States and our Constitution.

___SC State Representative Bill Taylor has correctly suggested that our compassion be directed instead to the 50,000 homeless veterans who have suffered to keep us safe.

Tax Reform and The Flat Tax

___We talk a lot about tax reform, but nothing gets done. The reason is that Congress' power comes from giving credits, deductions and other "gifts" using the tax code. These are legal bribes to keep themselves in office.

___The problem with the flat tax, is 1) it is not really flat; 2) it keeps the income tax and the IRS; 3) Congress won't pass it. The flat tax most often proposed keeps the charitable giving and mortgage interest deductions, so it is not "flat." Americans will still have to keep years of data on income and expenses. The IRS will be necessary to catch cheats. There is always the danger that the IRS will be used as a partisan weapon to punish those who disagree with the current administration's ideology. Stalin murdered tens of millions in order to consolidate his political power. The IRS assault on conservatives is a smaller example of the same thinking. Congress likes power. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely!

___The fair tax has been studied for decades. Two books have been written to answer its' critics. It is a non-regressive consumption tax which would be collected alongside the sales taxes. Step one is the repeal of the 16th Amendment. Taxes will be more obvious. We will pay them whenever we shop rather than on payday, quarterly or by 15 April. The fair tax replaces payroll, FICA and other taxes, so the paychecks of most people will be significantly higher. There is no tax on used goods, so the flea market industry will flourish.

___People do not like taxes. They try to minimize their tax by minimizing the thing taxed (income). It is far better to minimize consumption - particularly with obesity as a major problem.

Long-Term Unemployed in the United States Unchanged

___The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 2.1 million in November and has shown little movement since June. In November, these individuals accounted for 25.7 percent of the unemployed.

___The civilian labor force participation rate, at 62.5 percent, changed little in November. The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 59.3 percent and has shown little movement since October 2014.

___The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) increased by 319,000 to 6.1 million in November, following declines in September and October. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. Over the past 12 months, the number of persons employed part time for economic reasons is down by 765,000.

___In November, 1.7 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down by 392,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

Every Student Succeeds Act New Initiatives

1. The Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program. Part A of Title IV of ESSA would establish the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program in order to fund “well-rounded educational opportunities,” “safe and healthy students,” and the “effective use of technology.” ($1.6 billion annually)

2. New Preschool Program. ESSA would establish a new preschool program to be housed at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and jointly administered by the Department of Education. ($250 million annually)

3. Presidential Academies for the Teaching of American History and Civics. ESSA would create the academies to provide professional development to improve the teaching of history and civics to between 50 and 300 teachers annually. It would also establish Congressional Academies, a similar initiative geared toward high school juniors and seniors. ($6.5 million annually)

4. Family Engagement in Education Program. ESSA reconstitutes the former Parental Information Resource Centers into the Family Engagement in Education Program to “carry out parent education, and family engagement in education, programs.” ($10 million annually)

5. New STEM Master Teacher Corps. ESSA would establish a new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Master Teacher Corps program, to create a network of STEM leaders. ($9.3 million annually)

6. Reconstituted SIG Grants. The School Improvement Grant (SIG) program, created through the “stimulus,” is eliminated, but Title I funding grows, and its “set-aside” allowance goes from 4 percent to 7 percent, keeping SIG functions effectively intact. (As much as $1 billion of Title I funds annually)

___I am against Federal involvement in education. Items 3 and 4 could easily be used for propaganda use. Billions of dollars have been already spent to upgrade technology. It is too late to now consider the “effective use of technology!” The “safe and healthy students” might be great if all students in all 50 states actually like the same healthy diet! Who determines what constitutes “well-rounded educational opportunities?” Successful STEM teachers should be rewarded. What constitutes "school improvement?" Every human being is different. Comparing this year's millions with last year's is not scientific. Statistics is the third type of lies!