Making Higher Education Pay.....Well

UPDATE:
Guess  Gordon Gee is now retiring.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/public/2013/06/ohio-state-president-gee.html

Even those in positions of leadership can sometimes make indelicate comments like:

"You just can't trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday, and so, literally, I can say that...." Or something about a conference rival in sports: “Well, you tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write..."

But when you are Gordon Gee, President of Ohio State University, there is NO excuse. He also had this to say about the SEC which includes schools such as Florida, Alabama, and Vanderbilt:  "We know how to count. And the thing about it is, we know how to count the money, which we have a lot more of than the SEC and we’ll continue to have that.”
http://tinyurl.com/mumlmwb

For those of you not familiar with Mr. Gee or OSU (What??) or have never been to Columbus, Ohio..Buckeye Country...let me fill you in: 

Since returning to Columbus as the university’s president in October 2007, the 68-year-old Gee has pulled in $8.6 million in salary and compensation, making him the highest paid CEO of a public university in the country. But his expenses — hidden among hard-to-get records that the university took nearly a year to release — tally nearly as much: $7.7 million.

Those records show Gee stays in luxury hotels, dines at country clubs and swank restaurants, throws lavish parties, flies on private jets and hands out thousands of gifts — all at public expense.

And then for good measure, Gov. John Kasich, who calls Gee’s “Ohio’s best politician,” just named him to head an effort to develop a new funding formula for the state’s colleges and universities. Last week Gee was also reappointed to the board of directors for JobsOhio, the Kasich administration’s economic development arm. (JobsOhio is a whole 'nother story. http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/05/senate_approves_legislative_fi.html )

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/expenses-of-osu-president-run-into-millions-for-tr/nSGkK/

And you wonder WHY it's costing so much to further your education. I don't think it's the books.....

http://undergrad.osu.edu/money-matters/tuition-and-fees.html

http://registrar.osu.edu/policies/feesexplanation.asp

Respect For Governing, Southern Style

An article from one of the esteemed (?) columnists in the Knoxville News this morning. (Hope you have your Mimosa ready to gulp....):

A couple of Tennessee Republican congressmen this week questioned officials involved in the Gestapo-esque targeting of groups disloyal to the Fuehrer, er, president, by the Internal Revenue Service. 

Rep. Scott DesJarlais, remembered high school government classes. “We were told what a great country we are because of the freedom we have — the freedom of the First Amendment, the freedom of speech, the right to hold elections without the fear of tyranny or being oppressed,” DesJarlais said. 

 Besides the stonewalling, Obama’s IRS Heroes, like the leader they’re protecting, project a smug, self-righteous disdain for conservative members of Congress,.....http://tinyurl.com/pddayao

You all may remember Scott DesJarlais: a Tea Party member, Family Values conservative who is also a doctor. (You with me so far? ) He also had a little problem with bullying his ex-mistress and forcing her to have an abortion. That last part isn't true he said, because she really wasn't even pregnant.....but he forced his soon-to-be-ex-wife to have two.

Then another mistress told of how he would write prescriptions for recreational pharmaceuticals for whomever he was dating...

Yes, I know....it all caught up with him: he was fined 500 dollars.

"Tennessee authorities apparently believe sexual exploitation of women is less serious than speeding." 

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/other/301685-gop-rep-desjarlais-fined-for-affairs-with-patients

For those of you who have never been intimately acquainted with the old South..this is how it's done. Of course there are LOTS of us doing our best to change that. And CONGRESS these days isn't helping....

Oh, and that bit about the IRS...they are really just pissed about the attention it's drawing TO them. Probably afraid the rest of us will find out about Karl Rove's groups, the Koch Brothers, and.........

Sorry For The Late Notice-

this being Memorial weekend and all.....but if you are rested up and have no plans next week, this might be right up your alley:

IRS Intimidation- Are You Next?

National Town Hall to Review the Situation and Plan Next Steps

Wednesday, May 29th

The Farm, 239 Anderson Ferry Road, Cincinnati, OH  45248

Dinner will be available beginning at 6:00pm

Meeting will start at 7:00pm

http://www.swctp.org/8-events/2-irs-intimidation-are-you-next

I apologize. I just couldn't help myself.

HMMMMMMM....

"Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, both Republicans, (Oklahoma) are fiscal hawks who have repeatedly voted against funding disaster aid for other parts of the country. They also have opposed increased funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers federal disaster relief.

Late last year, Inhofe and Coburn both backed a plan to slash disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. In a December press release, Coburn complained that the Sandy Relief bill contained "wasteful spending," and identified a series of items he objected to, including "$12.9 billion for future disaster mitigation activities and studies."

Amazing, isn't it??  People still vote these folks in. It only matters when it happens to them.

Oh yes...and this: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/oklahoma-gop-sen-tom-coburn-will-seek-to

Of course, let's doubledown on the hypocrisy: 
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/05/21/no-oklahoma-tornado-relief-without-cuts-elsewhere-says-republican/

Does This Look Like A Fish To You???

This graph, lifted from the report (on the x-axis, -1 is liberal and 1 is conservative), shows the damage the wrong messaging can do: With no messaging, roughly 60 percent of all participants picked the CFL; a pro-environment message boosted support in liberals but cut it sharply in conservatives.@Grist.org

"In other words, in “territorial defense” of their climate change denying political agenda, conservatives are less likely to use a product if it’s labeled as energy-saving, making the perverse point that, either “we don’t need no stinking energy-saving stuff because we’ve got our denial party-line to rely on,” OR “our stance is right, yours is wrong; we’re definitely NOT buying into yours, so we will not be buying these damn efficiency light bulbs, thank you.”

Read more at Addicting Info: http://tinyurl.com/k9ker7v

 Too bad it has to be one way or the other:

"But This Country Was Founded On The Bible..."

We've all heard: 

"This nation, without reasonable doubt, was established on the firm foundation of Scripture. Our forefathers, brilliant as they were, openly acknowledged the true genius behind the new system to be the eternal principles of God's Word. The most fundamental concepts of the republic find their roots in the Bible. From the beginning, the basis for law and government in American society was decidedly biblical. What's more, the new land was forged through the energy of the Judeo-Christian work ethic."

http://patrioticnation.blogspot.com/2007/10/was-usa-built-on-christian-principles.html

Really?? There seems to have been a "lost in translation" moment somewhere during the last 300 or 400 years. This was in evidence last week when the Farm Bill was being debated in Congress by several lawmakers, including Juan Vargas and Doug LaMalfa. Included in the bill, which increased farm subsidies, was a cut to food stamps. The Repubs hate food stamps. Several "Christians" defended the cuts by saying "the Bible encourages people to help each other but doesn't dictate what the federal government should do. We should be doing this as individuals, helping the poor."  (But...the Constitution....)

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/05/house_panel_debates_cutting_fo.html

Yep, this is a Christian nation...no Muslims, no Jews, no Pagans, no Buddhists...at least in THEIR minds.  And remember the Bible is your FRIEND...when you want to find a reason for mans basic egotism and selfishness.

In that same Bible that the Conservative Right wants to use to point out THEIR standing, in the eyes of the Lord, you will also find: 

Matthew 25:35-40 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Romans 15:1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Luke 3:10-11 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

Yes, there have to be checks and balances in all programs. No, big oil companies or those such as Apple, Exxon, GE, and Microsoft do NOT need any government subsidies. But the people who actually produce for those companies do, at this time.

Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) cited Ephesians 2:8-9, which says, "for by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."  This quote, I'm afraid to tell him, has NOTHING to do with caring for the poor. Jesus is talking about being saved by grace, but not by "good works." Your faith will be what saves you...not just pretending that you are doing good things, or keeping account of all the "good " that you think you are doing. Which, by the way, leads me to this verse:

Matthew 7:20 - Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.