Obama to tour Miami school with JEB BUSH on Friday to promote "bipartisan education reform"

[Bluebear]

Wisconsin? Not so much.

====

President Barack Obama will tour a Florida school with former Governor Jeb Bush on Friday, the White House said, teaming up with a Republican Party heavyweight to promote bipartisan education reform.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Tuesday that Bush, whose brother George W. Bush preceded Obama as president, had suggested Miami Central High School as a good showcase for policies that work in improving performance in education.

Obama has shifted toward the political center following heavy losses for his Democrats in November elections and his success in finding common ground with political opponents will be a key part of his appeal in the 2012 presidential election.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/01/us-obama-bush-education-idUSTRE7206DO20110301

[Dappleganger]

1. Really?

Oh fuck me now?

:(

[Bluebear]

2. Solidarity!

With Republicans.

[Dappleganger]

60. That seems to be the case.

He's not even *trying* to hide it, you know?

[Ignis]

70. To borrow a meme:

At first I was like :spray: :rofl: :thumbsup: :D



But then I was all :think: :o :( ;(

[truebrit71]

3. My head hurts...

...What is it about "They-fucking-hate-you" that the President doesn't get? This Bi-Partisan, Jedi mind-trick, ninth-level ninja-chess bullshit is why we we had our asses kicked last November...

Fuck me blind, for a smart guy he sure seems dense...

[Kurovski]

25. Maybe he's not a "they"? Maybe he's a "them".

Evidence mounts, but times are tough and i'm always willing to give my president the benefit of the doubt.

-Unless I'm in a foul mood of fuck-all proportions that day.

[TheKentuckian]

4. This was easily foreseen as soon as the President and his toady dropped their education deform plans

Anyone remotely surprised wasn't paying attention.

[somone]

5. He's got his heart in the RIGHT place

That's for sure.

[upi402]

7. Head up ass in attempted confirmation tho. n/t

[City Lights]

6. Ick.

Feel like I'm coming down with something...

:puke:

[somone]

8. Jeb Bush may be all up in your house with disease (all three)

[City Lights]

18. Big George gave it to me:

[Kurovski]

27. They should all go skydiving.

[RainDog]

9. facepalm

when Republicans are the center is when the U.S. national anthem is Gott Mit Uns

[Doremus]

13. Then head >desk

[Shagbark Hickory]

54. > then floor. n/t

[demmiblue]

10. Actual bipartisanship would be an improvement.

This makes me sick.

:puke:

[Kurovski]

35. +100

[piratefish08]

11. are we done assuming he's playing a multi-dimensional chess game?

President Obama - they fucking HATE you.

[kenny blankenship]

12. The merger nears completion

[fasttense]

14. Obama will walk with bush but NOT with Union members.

He's not the man I voted for.

[Dappleganger]

61. +100000

[Raine]

67. I'm thinking he NEVER WAS that man

I thought I was voting for. All along I've been scammed by a Repuke wearing Democratic clothing.

[shanti]

81. exactly

like being punched in the gut! :(

[Lorien]

72. Yep. Another slap in the face

My disgust with Obama grows daily. I'd take Nixon over him any day-and I used to think Nixon was the worst we could get!

[ChiciB1]

105. I've Said This FAAAAAAR Too Many Times He Got Elected!! AND NOW

he's coming to MY state to STAND with JEBBY!! So disgusting and what a slap in the face!!

I wonder sometimes if he really isn't an (R) that ran as a (D)! Yes, I KNOW that is out there, but I just don't UNDERSTAND what he's all about, and haven't seen too much of that (D) coming out.
:shrug:

[Hubert Flottz]

15. Paling around with a POS!

[Starry Messenger]

16. I'm going to refrain from commenting on the company Obama is keeping

and focus my question on the choice of school as a "good showcase"--not to be catty, but in 4 years the school has raised its FL DOE grade from an F to a D. http://www.greatschools.org/modperl/achievement/fl/796#grade

The FCAT scores look like they actually went *down* last year: http://www.greatschools.org/modperl/achievement/fl/796#fcat

Scale: % scoring at or above grade level

Reading
16% (2010)
19% (2009)

Math
44% (2010)
51% (2009)

Ruh-roh. I wonder what these "policies" are.

[texshelters]

45. None of the so-called reforms

amount to anything but busting of unions and firings of tenured teachers.

http://texshelters.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/michelle-rhee-wisonsin-and-the-attack-on-teachers/

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[Blue Owl]

17. So to move forward, we must compromise with those who want to go backwards?

Okay then.

[Kurovski]

38. You can GO backwards , you just can't LOOK backwards.

Remember that.

[Demeter]

19. I suppose they will hold hands

It's a typical Bush mannerism.

[WinkyDink]

20. Meeting his 2012 opponent.

[kenny blankenship]

28. Or running mate?

[WinkyDink]

46. Bwah! And OUCH! Now THAT? Is chess!

[leftstreet]

59. LOL Ouch OBAMA / BUSH 2012 n/t

[Bluebear]

78. !!!

[Little Star]

21. He has to add insult to injury! Miami is loaded with wealthy...

people. How about trying someplace like an inner city for this bipartisan bull shit on education reform. And doing this with uber-wealthy Jeb Bush is just another slap in the face!!

Who is this Obama???? Really!!! What a ass-wipe! Is he really a Democratic president? He sure loves him some Republican ideals!

[Le Taz Hot]

101. He was in CA a few weeks ago.

He has 2 places he visits in California: San Francisco and Los Angeles. Come to the San Joaquin Valley where the unemployment rate is 20+? Nope. Bad PR.

Recently he was at the Chamber of Commerce, wasn't it?

You know where he is conspicuously not? Wisconsin. RFK would have been there. MLK would have been there.

[hatrack]

22. What a bunch of SHIT.

I'm about out of give-a-damn for this president.

[QC]

23. I feel so hopeful! n/t

[HockeyMom]

24. As in an END to Public Education?

We all know this what the Repukes want. Vouchers which won't pay squat shit towards private school. This is all about the Repuke plan to end public education, which is the first step in ELIMINATING the Middle Class by dumbing down their children. The POOR are easier to CONTROL by the RICH.

Fight, fight, fight, people. Our very existence is on the line for the FUTURE of our children and grandchildren.

[Bluebear]

30. EXCELLENT POST +++++

[somone]

34. Public schools don't have that 'sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship'

that test scoring companies and charter school operators have so they can rip off taxpayers.

[Kurovski]

36. I thought all the candy and coke machines took care of that?

I'm one dumb mother fucker, I tell you what.

[liskddksil]

39. they're just to civic minded for today's world nt

[texshelters]

49. Yes, and they have all those

socialist teachers that want to make a decent living for working 50-60 hrs a week.

Fascists!

http://texshelters.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/michelle-rhee-wisonsin-and-the-attack-on-teachers/

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[pacalo]

90. And for all the bureaucratic paperwork that goes with those 50+ hours a week.

[PACmenDotOrg]

26. like texas?

Obama should head to Texas to talk about education reform... you know, since there's only partisan education there.

www.whatthefuckhaveunionsdonesofar.com

[Kurovski]

31. PACmenDotOrg, welcome to DU

nice link ya got there sailor!

[texshelters]

51. The not so funny truth is the

Texas board of Education will do their darnedest to keep Obama out of the history books like they did with Jefferson.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[JoePhilly]

29. Oh no ... off to the fainting couch!!!!

[Kurovski]

33. Mines on wheels.

[JoePhilly]

42. lol!!!!

[AnneD]

97. Make sure...

The brakes are on when you fall-a Nursing friendly tip:spew:

[AnneD]

98. Make sure...

The brakes are on when you fall-a Nursing friendly tip:spray:

[Kurovski]

104. A friendly nurse you say?

I think I saw that movie.

[AnneD]

106. Any resemblance to an actual Nurse ....

is purely coincidental.

We are portrayed as sex pot (with all this paperwork I don't have time for hubby let alone an affair), sadistic (the only sadistic thing I do is swap Nurse horror stories with other Nurses at a restaurant) or saintly (are you kidding-we tell the dirtiest jokes).

[Divernan]

32. Jeb's brother Neil made millions from school "reform"

(From a 2006 Business Week article)
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_42/b4005059.htm

No Bush Left Behind
The President's brother Neil is making hay from school reform

Across the country, some teachers complain that President George W. Bush's makeover of public education promotes "teaching to the test." The President's younger brother Neil takes a different tack: He's selling to the test. The No Child Left Behind Act compels schools to prove students' mastery of certain facts by means of standardized exams. Pressure to perform has energized the $1.9 billion-a-year instructional software industry.
Click here to find out more!

Now, after five years of development and backing by investors like Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and onetime junk-bond king Michael R. Milken, Neil Bush aims to roll his high-tech teacher's helpers into classrooms nationwide. He calls them "curriculum on wheels," or COWs. The $3,800 purple plug-and-play computer/projectors display lively videos and cartoons: the XYZ Affair of the late 1790s as operetta, the 1828 Tariff of Abominations as horror flick. The device plays songs that are supposed to aid the memorization of the 22 rivers of Texas or other facts that might crop up in state tests of "essential knowledge."

Bush's Ignite! Inc. has sold 1,700 COWs since 2005, mainly in Texas, where Bush lives and his brother was once governor. In August, Houston's school board authorized expenditures of up to $200,000 for COWs. The company expects 2006 revenue of $5 million. Says Bush about the impact of his name: "I'm not saying it hasn't opened any doors. It may have helped with some sales." (In September, the U.S. Education Dept.'s inspector general accused the agency of improperly favoring at least five publishers, including The McGraw-Hill Companies, which owns BusinessWeek. A company spokesman says: "Our reading programs have been successful in advancing student achievement for decades; that's why educators hold them in such high regard.")

The stars haven't always aligned for Bush, but at times financial support has. A foundation linked to the controversial Reverend Sun Myung Moon has donated $1 million for a COWs research project in Washington (D.C.)-area schools. In 2004 a Shanghai chip company agreed to give Bush stock then valued at $2 million for showing up at board meetings. (Bush says he received one-fifth of the shares.) In 1988 a Colorado savings and loan failed while he served on its board, making him a prominent symbol of the S&L scandal. Neil calls himself "the most politically damaged of the brothers."While hardly the first brother to embarrass a President -- remember Billy Carter's Billy Beer or Roger Clinton's cocaine? -- Neil could be the first to seek profit from a hallmark Presidential crusade. And also that of a governor: JEB MAKES SCHOOL STANDARDS A CENTERPIECE IN FLORIDA, TOO. (EMPHASIS ADDED)

[Divernan]

37. The Bush Boys' education trifecta: dumb down, privatize and profiteer

[Bluebear]

108. Looks like they hit the trifecta.

[mod mom]

111. and the Dems went right along without a struggle.

[Bluebear]

40. The Bush ownership of Ignite! is enough for Obama not to pal around with Jeb

Won't make any difference though.

[WinkyDink]

48. EXACTLY!! "IGNITE" was the ENTIRE RAISON D'ETRE FOR NCLB!!!! Serious as a crutch here.

NO Bush cares about education, FGS!! They are ALL about the Benjamins!!!!

[elehhhhna]

75. yeah. that and Jeb's dad killing kennedy and all...

shuddup - ya know it's true

[Kurovski]

41. Didn't he also produce terrorist tracts for madrassas?

er sumpin'?

[Divernan]

58. You certainly excel at non sequiturs!

[Kurovski]

87. Thank you my friend!

this is rumor stuff, I guess. But at this point, that's fine by me.



"Meanwhile, First Brother Neil has found lucrative comfort in Saudi Arabia, the home of 15 of the 19 hijackers of 911. His company, Ignite!, Inc., an e-learning educational software company, has been busy finding clients in the educational community of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It's always a great thing to find better ways to teach. But we also know that schools in these countries are financed and influenced by the Wahhabi clerical structure, the most radical form of Islam that preaches violence against Christians, Jews, and even fellow Shia and Sufi Muslims. It is, therefore, astounding that Brother Neil would be trying to sell software to schools that can then put vile and extremist religious rantings online and accessible to more "students," madrassas , and future terrorists throughout the Middle East. But then again, when have the Bushes ever cared about the consequences of their business dealings?"


http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen0722.html

[OwnedByFerrets]

80. +1

[MannyGoldstein]

43. I smell a Medal of Freedom comin' Jebby's way!!!

Great stuff!

Now lets cut benefits for homeless people and grab a beer, shall we?

[Kurovski]

47. Heh!

I thought you were me.

"Hey..I don't remember saying that!!??"

[Bluebear]

79. :nodding:

[texshelters]

44. Obama has been duped by fake reform used

to destroy unions and sell off schools to corporations.

http://texshelters.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/michelle-rhee-wisonsin-and-the-attack-on-teachers/

This proves that there are different ways of being smart when smart people make stupid decisions.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[WinkyDink]

50. He has been dazzled by those with huge fortunes. Equates to "the right stuff."

[Hannah Bell]

62. he hasn't been duped.

[Dappleganger]

85. Once I embraced that reality...

well let's just say once you know what side they are really on things become FAR more clear than before.

And it's not pretty.

[texshelters]

110. Well, I think anyone

who actually believes the "school reform" nonsense has been in some way duped, unless you are connected to McGraw-Hill or are making money off if the testing.

I really do believe that Obama thinks that incessant testing improves teaching. It does not.

That is what I mean by "duped". Maybe I should have said "ill-informed" or "mislead".

http://texshelters.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/michelle-rhee-wisonsin-and-the-attack-on-teachers/

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[stevedeshazer]

52. Argh.

:( Sheesh. Splork.

[Kurovski]

53. Well said.

Well said, my man.

[Danger Mouse]

55. Oh BARF.

:puke:

[Shagbark Hickory]

56. THE GOOD NEWS IS...

He'll be video taped with Obama!
Tainted forever and won't be able to be president.

Just ask Charlie Christ.

Oh - Obama, you crafty rascal.
Flippin brilliant.

[mmonk]

57. How come when Democrats move to the right after being elected

and then lose a midterm, they move further right? I'm tired of the insanity and going backwards.

[Better Believe It]

66. Because the Republicans move even farther to the right and many Democratic politicians have to run

harder and faster to the right in order to be farther right of "center".

It's an unending race to the right by both major parties.

[mmonk]

93. If they keep going right, will they reach left again one day?

[Bluebear]

94. !

[Freddie Stubbs]

103. Are you talking about Bill Clinton?

[whatchamacallit]

63. Is it a bad batch of acid or is this really happening? (n/t)

[pacalo]

91. "He's with the Jeb, man -- koo koo ka choo."

[Kurovski]

102. Good art!

[KoKo]

64. Sadly ....another...

:puke:

[NuttyFluffers]

65. foolishness. he will be played... again.

people who want your imminent destruction at all costs, even at the destruction of their own country, cannot in any remote way have anything good planned when pretending to work with you.

[Lorien]

73. WE are the ones being played by these co-conspirators

It's the money party vs. the bottom 98%.

[Kurovski]

88. Yep.

I'm going pretend it's not though, because I want people to like me.

Or maybe I want them to bite me?

THEM Bite ME. OK, that's it, that's what I mean.

[NuttyFluffers]

100. well, mine was the most charitable yet sane assessment of the President's behavior

anything beyond that would be hero worship into the realm of a dissociative disorder.

however, i am wholly amenable to your idea that he is in collusion with those out to destroy the prosperity of the vast majority of americans. in fact, it's the most obvious interpretation given the current set of facts -- that being his own actions (unlike his words).

[ReggieVeggie]

68. Obama has shifted to the center...ya, like years ago

And now he's playing kissyface with a Bush

Strange times. Strange times.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

69. Norah O'Donnell called it on tweety's Sunday show.

I think it was Norah. Anyway, she said Obama would start to focus on education and

start this campaign with a prominent republican who shall remain nameless.

Matthews says Jeb Bush and Norah refused to confirm.

[onethatcares]

71. there ya go, President Obama has

him right where he wants him. Now all he has to do to insure bipartisanship is get into a stall with Larry Craig.

We're winning guys, the President is doing a great job getting our ideas out there and voted on.

Go O Go:sarcasm:

[Kurovski]

89. Oh honey, if only

all he had to do was get into the stall...

America is going to need an ice pack for its ass.

[chimpymustgo]

99. OMG. Tell it.

[Stinky The Clown]

74. I'm sure Michelle Rhee will be in evidence, too.

[texshelters]

109. Yep

http://texshelters.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/michelle-rhee-wisonsin-and-the-attack-on-teachers/

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[Canuckistanian]

76. Obama DOES realize that Jeb is trying to destroy him, doesn't he?

I swear, this president baffles me more each day.

[2011CA]

77. Bipartisan=getting screwed from both ends

Sigh.

[Dappleganger]

86. Ouch! Welcome to DU.

:hi:

[Bluebear]

95. welcome to DU!

[Horse with no Name]

82. Stunts like this

legitimizes these people. Thanks Mr. President.:pike:

[Bluebear]

92. +

[jillan]

83. Why would he do that? Does he think the repugs are going to be any fairer to him?

Does he think that bipartisanship will become the norm because he was with Jebby?


I don't get it at all.

[musette_sf]

84. Rec to attract attention

to that slimeball Jeb.

[AnneD]

96. SHOOT ME....

Some one please just shoot me and put me out of my misery. This is just one more attempt to rehabilitate the Bush family brand. Screw them and the horse they rode in on and screw Obama for betraying this country and his party base and principles (if he really had any).

[Poboy]

107. This guy is supposed to be a DEMOCRAT? What the FUCK.