Education: The Importance of Students and Educators

Mike Taylor for U.S. Congress TX-18

Education: The Importance of Students and Educators

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Education is one of the most important components of who we are as a nation. Providing funding for education must be done in whatever way possible to ensure that our children have a solid path for their future. Allowing education professionals to make decisions on how to best perform their duties must be considered a Constitutional mandate. Our forefathers dreamt of a nation of strength and prosperity and provided a guide in our Constitution to build a powerful nation of people determined to embrace life and liberty. Education is the only way to continue those dreams.

Sheila Jackson Lee has turned her back on her oath to the American people and the Constitution of this great nation. This type of action needs to stop this November. This is not something new, she has been doing it for years. In 1997 Mrs. Jackson Lee voted no on the "Education Savings Account bill". This bill was to raise the annual voluntary contribution cap for education savings accounts (ESA) from $500 to $2000 per child. This bill also assisted 'special needs' students by exempting them from the age limit of 18 to benefit. This bill also allowed businesses to contribute to ESAs. I feel that education funding for our youth should have no limitations in regard to sources. Anyone willing to contribute to education should be allowed to do so and without limits.

In addition, in 1997, Mrs. Jackson Lee voted no on the "HELP Scholarships bill". This bill would have allowed states with 'parent choice' of schools in poverty level homes to send their children to better rated schools. This bill would have also given more power to the state and local school boards, as it would have prohibited the Secretary of Education from interfering with the curriculum and administrators of participating schools.

In 1999, Mrs. Jackson Lee voted against the "Teacher Empowerment Act". This was to provide additional funding to hire more teachers and reduce classroom sizes in public schools. This legislation would have also provided more power to the state and local education boards to determine the quality of our educators and provide for mentoring programs to assist new teachers. This would have also provided the power to local school systems to improve professional development of educators by way of training for new technologies and incentives by way of compensation increases based on merit.

2001, introduced the most destructive joint venture of Democrats and Republicans to hit our education system since the excessive empowerment of the federal Department of Education. Sheila Jackson Lee voted yes on the "No Child Left Behind Act". In name, this piece of legislation sounds positive. Names can be deceiving. By implementing a nationwide testing standard for students and legislating curriculum this act has driven a wedge between our students and educators. Teachers are no longer able to take the time to identify with their class. "No Child Left Behind" forces teachers to shove information down students' throats with no methods available for retention beyond taking the tests. Students are only learning for the tests and not for life. Teachers are forced to remove the personal aspect of teaching to allow only for test subject matter. In my experience in life, the teachers that made the biggest impact were the ones that were able to connect with students on a personal level. This act has taken that away. The U.S. now ranks much lower than we once did on primary education. To add insult to injury, Mrs. Jackson Lee has voted yes on supplemental legislation that builds on this failing program. I will work to restore our educational system to its previous glory.

Finally, Mrs. Jackson Lee didn't even bother to vote on the "Reverse the Raid on Student Aid Amendment" in 2006. This important legislation provides for a reduction in fixed interests rate on student loans from 6.8% to 3.4%. This legislation also provides a total of $84 million in grants for lower income/under privileged students looking to earn degrees in higher education.

Every elected member of our federal government, as well as our armed forces, takes a vow to protect our nation from all enemies both foreign and domestic, even if that domestic enemy is our own government (Implied). An uneducated or under educated populous is all too easily manipulated and controlled. It is the duty of our government to build a defensive posture for our citizens so they are protected from a foreseen possibility of a tyrannical government. Education is the best defense against such a possibility.

For More Information Contact:

Mike Taylor for Congress
Houston, Texas

Web Site: http://miketaylor08.us

Email: mike@miketaylor08.us

Libertarian Presidential Candidate Rejects Pay-off!

George Phillies for President 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Phillies Rejects Massive Pay-Off

Today, Libertarian Presidential Candidate George Phillies rejected out of hand a massive pay-off offer conditioned on his changing his campaign stands. "I read my morning email, and there it was," he said. "I suppose I should be honored. So far as I know, no one has ever tried to pay off a Libertarian Presidential candidate before."

The message read, "I might have donated to your campaign had you not attacked Ron Paul. I raised over $50,000 for Ron Paul's presidential campaign, and could have helped you too. Please retract your statementsand say something to the effect of "Ron Paul is a champion of liberty and an essential part of the freedom movement." Thank you. Feel free to have your finance director give me a call."

Phillies discussed the numbers. "For a Libertarian Presidential campaign, that's a huge amount of money. $50,000 is about what Libertarian Aaron Russo spent on his 2004 Presidential nominating campaign. But I'm not for sale."

"Furthermore," Phillies noted, "The offer was public. In the same morning email was a request from a Libertarian Party county chair that I answer the message. Ignoring the message was not an option. I immediately answered:

"I'm not open to bribery.

"You may rest assured I will continue to make fair and honest comparisons between my positions and those of my opponents. That's why I said that Senator Obama's words prove that he is incompetent to manage American foreign policy. That's why I will continue to make fair comparisons between myself and your candidate.

"Let me urge you to look at your candidate's actual stands."

Phillies urged all Americans to give honest support to candidates they actually agree with. "Don't be discouraged by horse-race handicapping coverage of campaigns," he said. "Remember, your support counts twice: once for the candidate, once for the candidate's issues. Even if your man or woman is not elected, your donations and volunteer time advance their causes and yours and send a message to Washington about what Americans really think."

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*The reference to Senator Obama appears in the August 16th press release, "Phillies: We Don't Invade Our Allies."

To support the George Phillies campaign, please visit http://phillies2008.org/donation today.

Contact Information:

Carolyn Marbry, Press Director pressdirector@phillies2008.org
(510) 276-3216

George Phillies for President 2008 http://phillies2008.org

Ron Paul and the Libertarian idea. Keep the fire burning!

This is not an official press release but a chance to talk about a man that has done quite a bit to bring my party into the mainstream media (Whether intentional or not), Dr. Ron Paul. Feel free to reproduce this post in part or in it's entirety but please provide proper citation to the original source, thank you.

Ron Paul has done quite a bit to bring the reality of Constitutional awareness back into public view. For this, I applaud Dr. Paul. In other areas, Dr. Paul's previous party affiliation (The Libertarian Party) has gotten a huge boost in the media spotlight. Again, Dr. Paul, I applaud you for your assistance to the American people to re-evaluate our Constitutional Republic and see where we should be rather than where elitist politicians have taken us.

I have to say that I can neither openly support or denounce Dr. Paul's presidential bid under the GOP as I feel either position on the matter would be a conflict of interest for me as a Congressional candidate under a different political affiliation than Dr. Paul. This doesn't mean I have to ignore his contributions in building a base of Constitutional awareness.

Dr. Paul has been a powerful instrument in raising awareness for the need to overtly change the tax system of America. Our current system allows for bloated government that is overly intrusive in the lives of Americans. The Federal Government uses it's fiscal power to influence and even, in many cases, forcefully coerce states into doing what the Federal Government wants. It is the job of the Federal Government to provide for the common defense and to act as a representative of the collective states to the rest of the world, not to be a controlling factor in how the states are governed.

The Federal Government has overstepped it's boundaries on a consistent basis for almost a century. It's time that this body of government is put back in its place. I applaud Dr. Paul in injecting the Libertarian view of smaller government into the mainstream media. Many functions currently performed by the Federal Government should be left in the hands of state and local governments. This is not an opinion but a fact.

Education is the number one issue of importance. No Child Left Behind – a joint effort of the Republicans and Democrats – should be repealed. As a part of the common defense, because an un-educated and/or under educated populous is easy to manipulate by potential domestic enemies (Which is what our elected officials are suppose to defend against), education should be funded, at least partially, by the government. However, government should NOT legislate education, especially on the federal level. Curriculum should be left to education professionals that have experienced what it is to be in a classroom and know what it takes to make a difference in a child's life. It can be suggested that private entities, including but not limited to small businesses and personal donations, should be able and encouraged (Not legislated) to invest in the education process to improve future employee candidates and build a better community. The Federal Department of Education should be abolished and responsibility of education handed over to the state and local communities. This will allow for smaller, more manageable, bodies of educators to be more productive in reaching our nations youth and helping to build pride and self reliance for their future.

Taxation is a burden for everyone. We must take responsible steps toward reducing the need of excessive taxation. Dr. Paul is a strong advocate for reducing the Federal Government and I have to say that I agree with that sentiment. By streamlining the Federal government and providing more control to the individual states, the need for excessive taxation is greatly reduced. By looking to encourage private entities to invest in projects to help their communities, we will reduce the need for conditional funding by the government. That's right; our government puts conditions of what we can do with our own tax dollars in our communities. The people must take the power of the dollar back in order to properly place funding where it needs to be.

I'm not trying to write a book, here, so I will leave this as it is. I think I have made my point. Dr. Paul has re-opened the American people's eyes to Constitutional duties and obligations. Let's keep the momentum going. Whether you agree with Dr. Paul on every issue or not, the idea getting back to our Constitutional foundation where people are free to make a life for themselves and their families has been re-ignited. Let’s keep the flame burning and build a better America, the way our founding fathers would want us to.

Mike Taylor
http://miketaylor08.us

Eminent Domain: Why is the Senate dragging their feet?

Mike Taylor for U.S. Congress

Eminent Domain: Why is the Senate dragging their feet?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

In 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that it was within the constitutional rights of the government to take the private property of a citizen to redistribute that property to another private entity for the purpose of providing a greater tax revenue in the name of 'eminent domain'. This was an outrage to the rights of the American people. It took a couple of years before Congress decided to put a bill on the floor to amend the Constitution to disallow private entity to private entity theft of property by the Federal Government.

I have to give credit where credit is due. I applaud Representative F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (WI-5) for his honor to the American people in presenting this bill for passage. Thank you, sir. You have done right by the people on this matter. November 3, 2005 the House adopted H.R.4128 with a vote count of 376 - 38. However, there is still more to do.

On November 4, 2005 this bill was received by the Senate and sent to the Committee on the Judiciary. Nothing more has been noted to have happened with this bill. This brings us to another outrage. Why is it so complicated to approve such a bill in favor of citizens rights to own property without fear of the government taking that property away from them for use by another private entity? If you ask me as well as the vast majority of the American people, it should be pretty well cut and dry. The courts took away the rights of the people and it is up to the other two branches of government to set that injustice right.

The Mike Taylor for U.S. Congress campaign calls on the U.S. Senate to expedite this bill to a vote on the floor of the Senate and restore the rights of the American people. To decline passage of this bill only strengthens the power of Corporatism that has been raising it's ugly head for several decades. Accepting the power of Corporatism is no worse than accepting the power of Socialism.

We cannot allow elite powers to control our government or side step the rights of our citizens. The people of the United States deserve more, they deserve better. Once in office, I will strive to work hard for the rights of the people to own property without fear of government theft. Lower and middle income people should have just as much safety in owning property as the wealthy elites and government should never favor any entity on the basis of wealth.

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For More Information Contact:

Mike Taylor for Congress
Houston, Texas
Internet: mike@miketaylor08.us
Web site: http://www.miketaylor08.us

Mike Taylor for U.S. Congress. Texas Congressional District 18

Hello all,

I just wanted to post why I haven't been very busy on the blog, lately. I have been working on my campaign for U.S. congress!

That's right. I am running for U.S. Representative in the 18th Congressional District of Texas. I am running under the Libertarian Party and am proud to be given the opportunity to be on the ballot.

Please, visit my campaign Web site: http://miketaylor08.us

I will be updating as time allows. Keep in mind, I am not an elitist millionaire so I have to actually go to work everyday so I can't spend every waking moment on the campaign trail like other, career, politicians.

Pass the word. There's a new kid in town!