Landess Tapped To Run S.C. Policy Council
DON’T MESS WITH THIS ANGEL, PEOPLE
FITSNews - January 29, 2008 - In one of the best executive decisions since the Brits put Winston Churchill in the Cabinet, FITSNews has learned that the Board of Directors of the S.C. Policy Council has selected Ashley Landess (middle angel, we think) to lead South Carolina’s most influential conservative thinktank.
In addition to being one of the smartest people we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, Landess is also an uncompromising fiscal conservative and a passionate voice for real education reform, which are two reasons why we endorsed her for this position last week. She’s also incredibly hot, wears bright colors better than anyone we’ve ever seen and is more than a little sassy, people.
The selection of Landess couldn’t come at a better time, either, as State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex and several Republican co-conspirators are in the midst of attempting to gut South Carolina’s already worthless educational accountability standards (more on that later this week). Frankly, there’s no one better equipped than Landess to shine the light on any effort to water down our state’s already abysmal academic benchmarks, or for that matter to provide the public with sort of legitimate economic data that our state’s borderline retarded Board of Economic Advisors perpetually fails to provide us with.
Anyway, props to Landess on her new position, and don’t be surprised if you start hearing a little less chamber music and a little more Rage Against The Machine coming from the Policy Council this year …
Comments
By Mr. Blackwell on January 29th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Ashley Landess…sassy? No way! Honestly, I have a feeling this town better get ready. Congratulations Ashley!
By Believe It Not on January 29th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Since sic(k) willie and lower case ashley are bought and paid for by the same ultra-wacko-carpetbagger-yankee-political-crackpots! It should be no surprise that sic(k) willie has the hots for her. Pervert!
The (lower case) “s.c. policy council,” “scrg,” and other crackpot front organizations funded by those wackos have had their day. We now know who you are and so do the voters.
By Pete on January 29th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
BIN - you’re getting worse than me on the topic of the lack of integrity in the Supreme court. Chill.
By Sollicitus Civis on January 29th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
I find it odd that the Policy Council is in the bed with many on the religious right when it comes to vouchers. If the religious right realized that Neil Mellen, Research Director, was responsible for the ending of prayer at VMI, the Citadel, Annapolis, etc, they would be out to tar and feather him.
By Chillin' on January 29th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Amen!
By tyler on January 29th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
In fairness, since when is school choice a religious issue? It’s a conservative issue that too many “conservatives” have wussed out on.
By medialinker on January 29th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Oh my god, why is that whether it be a post on a corrupt senator or new position filled, you people always manage to take it back to the “carpet bagging yankees” or evangelical cc’s? Get a grip.
No, the day isn’t over yet. For people who care about the children forced to live with a subpar education in this state…the day will never be over.
BIN, you really are so angry. Is it because perhaps, you are an education beauracrat who is worried about the boat rocking a little too much and your seasickness is setting in? Tougher storms are coming. Try meditating or medication. Actually, meditation probably won’t help. Lithium should.
By Vouchers Are A Scam on January 29th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Tyler, You are either sic(k) willie or you are a fool. Then again, you could be both. Vouchers are a scam. So is sic(k) willie.
Keep in mind that 99 and 44/100 percent of political consultants make the others look bad. Like Ivory soap.
By Mr. Business on January 29th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
This is good news for conservatives. we need to get back to the message of less government and more personal freedom. she will be a beacon of hope in a state of despair. Thnaks to the SC Policy Council for keeping hope alive that conservatism still has a chance.
By tyler@sc.rr.com on January 30th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Vouchers…sounds like you may be a consultant on the other side.
By Silence Dogood on January 30th, 2008 at 9:47 am
post #6 Tyler, you write “In fairness, since when is school choice a religious issue? It’s a conservative issue that too many “conservatives” have wussed out on.”
I am sure this may tip off a flurry of discussion, but I have to ask why school choice, i.e. expansion of government funding of education through tax dollars into areas where tax dollars are not currently spent, is a “conservative issue?” I realize it will mean a lot more government spending as well as the attachment of at least some if not the same government oversight of private schools that currently apply to private schools, as well as the institution of yet another governmental department (read more bureacrats) to oversee and run such a program - but I am just trying to understand again how this is a conservative idea?
By Limited Government Conservative on January 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Through life and hope scholarships our college kids have choice. Through ABC vouchers issued by First Steps, our 4 year olds have choice. Why we don’t expand this to K-12 is beyond me. Middle class families have choice because they can pick up and move to a better neighborhood and attend any public school they choose. If government continues to finance-but not administer-the bulk of schooling then government is shrinking not growing.
By piepton on January 30th, 2008 at 11:02 am
It’s a religious issue because most of the private schools are backed by religious organizations and these schools would either see improvement directly by raising tuition in correlation with the vouchers or indirectly because the parents of their students would get vouchers.
It’s a conservative issue because it involves taking tax money out of the public coffers and giving it to individuals so they can choose where their children go to school.
Of course this will destroy the public school system so the underlying assumption is that there are enough private schools in every neighborhood to pick up the slack. Even if this were true most of these private schools will resist state involvement in their curriculum and for the relgious ones this resistance will be even more virulent in science classes.
By Silence Dogood on January 30th, 2008 at 11:25 am
LGC - do you suppose the money should just be sent to whoever asks w/no oversight (I would hope not, but if so we should all rev up our printers to requests the voucher money my dogs are going to get and edumacation). This would increase government spending and add more jobs to government in order to implement the program. If you think it is a good idea, fine. That is a whole other argument/debate policy wise. HOWEVER, it is not a limited government or conservative idea.
By Scott on January 30th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Silence Dogood - Last time I checked, tax credits are a limited government/conservative idea. Republicans have long promoted tax credits.
How would a tax credit increase government spending?
By Silence Dogood on January 30th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Scott, for starters the term “tax credit” is a misnomer. The government is still paying out for it UNLESS you are talking about cases where funding is directly taken from a particluar tax base and paid back out of that tax base - i.e. property tax or based on how much local option sales tax you paid in or out and given back to yo uon that basis. Furthermore, then your ‘tax credit’ should never exceed the amount you ‘tax credit’ recipient paid into that tax base (otherwise welfare would be just a form of tax credit). And you are making this tax credit available only to those who can otherwise afford the private school program should it exceed the amount of ‘tax credit’ you are entitled to.
Consider, a ‘tax credit’ of this ilk could be made for anything under the sun. This will represent government spending, and the state government will be spending and putting out millions of dollars more under this plan than it currently does for public education. Under your theory, you would have to surmise that there currently is a ‘tax credit’ to every person who currently has a child in public school in S.C. with the catch that the school is mandated. If the state government is funding both public schools and the private schools in S.C. I don’t really see what the difference would be?
By Sollicitus Civis on January 30th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I posted this as a response to Somebody Is A Little Pissy Today January 21, 2008. I think it is germane to this topic since people are talking about vouchers.
Here is the real issue with education today that no one is willing to say. For nearly 100 years, the state had a duel educational system, one for African Americans and one for White students. The one for African American students was barely funded, and in actuality the one for White students was not that much better. The leaders of this state made sure that the all citizens- African American and White- were under-educated so that there would be cheap labor in the textile mills, the cotton fields, tobacco fields, etc. We are just reaping the rewards from those sage leaders of the past who wanted to maintain the status quo and secure their power in society. That is why 56% of students in this state live at or below the poverty level.
It is frustrating to see SC near the bottom of every measure. You need to remember who is doing the measuring and what is their goal.
Sadly, we can’t just waive a magic wand and improve things over night. Change in this state moves at a snails pace. (There are still pockets in this state where the Civil War is still being fought and Jim Crow is alive and well.) Society itself has to change, and I don’t hear any politician talking about that.
Vouchers are not going to make parents value education any more than they do now. Vouchers are not going to make parents turn off the video games, the computers, the televisions, or whatever else there is out there distracting students from doing work for school. Vouchers are not going to make students take pride in the work that they do for school. Vouchers are not the panacea you all think they are.
Any politician who would have the balls to say what I have just typed would certainly get my vote.