With Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker out of the Presidential race, the debates have become a
second-tier phenomenon for me. I still care about the Presidential elections, and
there remains a plethora of great choices. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and
US Senator Ted Cruz are my top two choices, but the next wing of candidates waiting
behind them I could vote for without pinching my nose.
The third debate was
great, I hear. The fireworks blew up the immoral moderators, all talking heads
for the Big Media liberal establishment. Ted
Cruz especially tore them up, calling out their terrible questions.
Finally, the Republican National Committee Chairman Reince
Preibus pulled the plug on NBC’s hosting future debates. Now Republicans
need to pull the plug on the Chamber of Commerce, but that’s another blog for
another day.
It’s great to be a
Republican, and even one in California, but more importantly, a grassroots
conservative fighting on the ground. And boy am I fighting, and more people
with me. Once again, Tip O’neill had it right: all politics is local.
Conservatives are learning this lesson, and finding that winning that school
board or city council is not just more important, but vital to the long-term
well-being of our country and our liberal (in the truest sense of the word) republican
form of government. We are a republic,
by the way, based on minority rights, natural law, and individual liberty.
Don’t let anyone tell us otherwise. Ben Franklin called our nation “A Republic,
if you can keep it.”
Now it’s time to fight
for keeps. It’s time to fight for in in our homes, backyards, cities. . . and
our school boards.
Educational Boards of
Trustees are crucial to our government, our future, and the conservative,
constitutional cause. Sadly, Governor Jerry Brown rose up on California
politics through the Los Angeles Community College Board. My previous state assemblyman,
a union-backed (and thus union-controlled) Democrat, sat on the Torrance School
Board before launching into partisan office. Imagine a deep bench of liberty-minded Republican
candidates, not fighting for a federal office right away, but instead helping
the team effort for the local offices. Then they win locally before taking on
statewide and even national office. Republicans are succeeding at this approach
in Massachusetts, and Central
Mass is turning into quite a red state, if you haven’t noticed already.
Besides, national
issues affect our local communities through school boards, too, and two major
fights have brewed to a head in the Balanced City.
Big Labor dominates the
state of California, and no one would joke or dispute that. In fact, most
politicians have all but given up on fighting the collectivized liberalism of
the union lobby. One state senator, who shall remain anonymous, confided to me
that California students could expect no movement on education reforms – or any
school related legislation – without the blessings of the California Teachers
Association.
Excuse me? The labor
unions did not fight for our rights in 1776, and they are not fighting for the
best interests of We the People, either. They do not cast my votes, nor anyone
else’s. Elected officials must do the people’s business, and labor unions,
especially the public sector variety, are clearly out of synch with those
values. Big Labor is now rearing its ugly head in Torrance, CA. The Service
Employees International Union wants its perks and power plays, and their
questionnaire to the four school board candidates exposed their penchant for
helping unions, but nothing about the students (full disclosure: I am
supporting the two challengers, Clint Paulson and Rick Marshall, and even
donated money to aid their cause!)
The Torrance Teachers
Association (TTA) is backing the two incumbents, in spite of recent controversies:
three adults working in Torrance schools accused of sexual misconduct; one
incumbent releasing a “false and misleading” mailer; illegal
lease/lease-back construction contracts; bond
measures sold one set of promises, then reneged on five months later. One
candidate, conservative independent Clint Paulson, finally called out the
incumbents, claiming that the President of the Torrance Teachers Association really controls the school board.
In a recent twitter feed, the TTA
showed their true colors, too!
And then there’s Common
Core. This new curriculum has become a lightning rod of controversy, even in
ultra-liberal California. Parents are not sitting out their school board
elections anymore as this controversial and now deceptive and dysfunctional curriculum
works its way into public schools (which have strangely become less public,
i.e. open and transparent to the parents, students, and entire community).
The Republican
Presidential candidates have sparred over this divisive program, and have
called for its halt and removal. If nothing else, conservative presidential
contenders should say “No!” to more federal involvement in our local schools.
In Palos Verdes, CA, active
parents have worked hard to inform students and residents that they do not
have to settle for Common Core. In an unprecedented movement against Big
Business and Big Government, Palos Verdes students in droves opted
out of Common Core testing.
Now the fight has
descended onto Torrance, where concerned parents pushed back against “College
Preparatory Math” and “Integrated Science”, and then helped set the high
standards for education throughout the entire state of California. Common Core
critics have slammed the new set of standards and the processes associated with
it, claiming that the program wants to get rid of teachers altogether. One
Torrance student commented on something I
wrote about Common Core, then regretted that he could not vote in this
year’s election. More people will, though, as they learn that what happens here
in Torrance can influence the entire state and even the country.
In Torrance, CA, We the
People are taking back local control. California conservatives are fighting
over national issues, not just on the national stage, but making their voices
heard at the ballot box in our backyards and front lawns. Big Labor and other
federal interventions can’t succeed for the long-term when they know that they
have lost the hearts and minds of local voters.
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