LC Sun-News shines light on LCPS Central Office

© 2018 Jim Spence - Our subscription to the Las Cruces Sun-News was dropped years ago. Occasionally, I’ll take a look at the paper online. Like so many news outlets, long ago the Sun-News became such a propaganda piece for identity politics, junk science, and anti-business sentiments. Accordingly, it has hardly been worth subsidizing, even with a tiny online subscription. Who knows, we might re-think that based on this story. 

Low and behold, this weekend the Sun-News suddenly embarked on an investigative mission. While I am somewhat skeptical about the narrowness of the underlying reasons why, it is a breath of fresh air to see that the Sun-News has actually decided that the resource allocation policies at the massively bloated bureaucracy at the Las Cruces Public Schools deserves scrutiny.

Insect observers tell us that cockroaches tend to scurry for the shadows when the lights suddenly come on in a room where these occupants prefer darkness. This is a metaphor for what Sun-News reporter Ali Linan has been doing by asking questions about the ever-expanding roster of highly compensated bureaucrats at LCPS. It would seem that former LCPS superintendent Stan Rounds’ replacement Greg Ewing has now had sixteen months to demonstrate his priorities, and Linan has done some homework to expose them.

Far be it from the LCPS school board or the central planners to remember that resources (monies) are allocated to the district out of the pockets of taxpayers to help children acquire essential skills. The focal point of LCPS should be children, and by proxy, their classroom teachers who interact with them on a daily basis. Sadly, kids and teachers get nothing but lip service from those who control the money at the LCPS central office.

Those of us who have been around the block a few times understand that schools are managed best when teacher and student-oriented school principals are given the broadest authority to allocate resources at each school. The LCPS school board is oblivious to the fact that a large and ever-growing constituency of central planning bureaucrats downtown is the polar opposite of a good structure where schools are run for best results.

Sadly, Linan and the Sun-News are barely scratching the surface of the problem at LCPS. A ten minute review of the organizational chart at LCPS and the list of “promotions” handed out by Mr. Ewing are all one needs to see the problem. You can pull up the organizational chart of the central office of LCPS HERE.

Essentially, this chart is a graphic description of what happens when the insatiable appetite for resources by bureaucracies are not curbed. The LCPS central office has morphed like a vacant lot with no weed control for decades. The weeds have now grown taller than the tops of our heads. There are tens of millions of dollars being wasted by this "organization."

While we should all plan to follow the Sun-News investigation into LCPS, and especially the stalling tactics now being employed by the bloated monster, nobody should expect the school board to make sweeping reforms no matter how much light is shed on this incredible situation. There is simply not a single reformer on this board.

In the meantime, we can expect to see a continuation of the exodus of talented teachers from LCPS. For sure there are still many talented teachers remaining at LCPS. Unfortunately, to remain, these valuable people must also be willing to accept the fact that their masters at the central office will serve themselves, their cronies, and their whims first. And when resources are particularly scarce thanks to shameless waste, these bureaucrats will surely demand that taxpayers pony up more cash to the LCPS system........for the sake of the “children.”

LC Sun-News shines light on LCPS Central Office

Getting things DONE

© 2018 Jim Spence - This column is a huge heaping dose of reality. It begins with a statement about Donald Trump. He is not my kind of people. In many previous columns I have explained why. Unfortunately, there are many people in Washington, who were/are seemingly more like my kind of people. They pretend to be what they are not, quite well. It is these tens of thousands of swamp members, that have gotten NOTHING done for their entire careers, while slurping at the taxpayer trough.

We all know that the news media loathes Trump as it has loathed no other elected official. Everyday there seems to be a set of talking points pushed by propagandists like smear merchant David Brock. Each cajoles every major media outlet in America (except Fox) to sing the same Trump-hate choruses. Getting things DONE is not part of the agenda for the media, nor is it for entrenched Senators and House members who enhance, defend, and protect their own little political fundraising franchises at the expense of getting good things DONE.

Sadly, the American people need to do their homework if they want to find out what might actually be getting "done" besides Stormy Daniels twelve years ago. Here is the list of what has been getting done, not a list of “who” was getting done.

1. America’s GDP growth rate has ticked significantly higher as Trump has taken authority away from swamp bureaucrats, who were perfectly content to stifle prosperity and increase the stagnation of the U.S. economy when Obama ruled with an iron fist as our "regulator in chief."

2. The black unemployment rate has fallen to historic lows as has the unemployment rate for all Americans. Finally, there are plenty of JOBS available for ALL Americans. Nobody wants to talk about this.

3. China’s dictator for life Xi has quietly caved in on Trump’s demand for Americans having more access to China’s markets if China is going to continue to have access to our markets. Apparently, even communist dictators know how to run their calculators, even if American communists think there is no need for calculators.

The lesson here is simple. Despite all of the cringing by Democrats and Republicans, Trump's preference for "tough negotiating" actually WORKS. Don't expect the swamp to learn this lesson.

4. This week presidents Moon of South Korea, and Kim of North Korea, gave the strongest indications yet that the “war” on the Korean peninsula, which has been in a “truce” for more than sixty years, will come to an end. Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Obama all failed to get this DONE. They never could bring the North Korean dictators to their senses. However, now dictator Kim seems to have figured out that Trump might just pull the trigger if provoked. Kim wants to call the dog off.

Still, it is so true that many people find Trump boorish. Include me in that group. Trump is like Joe Namath. I am reminded of the statement Roger Staubach made about the glamorous cad Namath back in the 1970’s. Staubach said he liked to have sex just as much as Namath, but he did it with the same girl (his wife). The strange thing about the U.S. pop culture is the media is much more in the Bill Clinton and Joe Namath camp than Staubach camp. They will always defend a cad……so long as the politician in question is a Democrat.

All of these double standards makes the Trump/Stormy Daniels story all the more silly. The media is suddenly feigning a fondness for marital fidelity as it claws and scratches for yet another story that will “Get Trump.” They demand to know how he paid off the bimbo to shut up while he forgoes his presidential salary.

In summary, the irony in all of this is almost too much. Under Trump’s watch there are more blacks and Hispanics working than ever before. This is quite an accomplishment for a man branded as a racist at every turn by the media. The Koreans are making peace after Kim was repeatedly warned of total annihilation by Trump, again quite an accomplishment for Trump to bring Kim to his knees. China’s Xi caved in on tariffs after Trump demanded equal access to China, or alternatively promised Xi less access to America…..um…..again.......quite an accomplishment.

Business confidence has not been as high as it is now, since Ronald Reagan came in and tore down all the barriers to prosperity erected by many of his swamp-plagued predecessors. Just as the war in Korea appears to be ending now, the Cold War ended after Reagan also negotiated from a position of strength with the U.S.S.R. during his two terms as president.

I remember so many Democrats expressing shock when the adoration by America for Reagan poured out immediately after his death. The Democrats never grasped the sheer magnitude of all the things Reagan got DONE. And the swamp's history teachers lie about Reagan to this very day. Democrats refused to grasp the good Reagan did, because they had lived in denial about the importance of getting things DONE. They still do.

It should come as no surprise, that what is getting DONE right now, is NOT being recognized by nearly half of the country. Part of this troubling lack of recognition of something fundamental is made possible by the media's spoon feeding of irrelevant negative information regarding Trump every single day. It is part of everyday life, just as it was during Reagan’s tenure. Also contributing mightily to this self-inflicted ignorance, is the indoctrination of our young people by Democrats who have dominated the public education system for several generations. And of course, part of the problem is Trump himself, who is admittedly pretty hard to like. Unlike Trump, Reagan was EASY to like. However, it is important to remember that the rubes in the media, in our education system, and  in Hollywood disliked the great Ronald Reagan just as they now hate the loathsome Donald Trump....even as Trump is obviously getting lots of really good things DONE.

How can it be, that in a seemingly results-oriented society, getting things DONE has no priority. It is because we are being conned by political franchise holders on both sides of the aisle in Washington. The swamp's great ruse will always be that a little more government has an almost mythical capacity to be the solution to all problems. And the amendment to that myth is cancelling any government scheme will cause too much "harm." Wasting money is easy. And when the PREDOMINANT MYTH in America, is that wasting money is OK, a myth embraced by elected officials from both parties, it is pretty easy to make the case for hating Trump.

Not me. I like seeing things getting done.......even by Trump.

Getting things DONE

James Comey - "The Swamp Creature"

© 2018 Jim Spence -  No person epitomizes the Washington D.C. swamp more than Former FBI Director James Comey. But then again, Comey is so much more than just a swamp creature. Comey is arguably the most brazen self-aggrandizing bureaucrat in the history of Washington D.C. And it should come as no surprise that he is remorselessly hawking a book now, instead of hiding under a rock.
History will not be kind to Comey. Instead, he will be remembered as the man who was actually documenting all the reasons why he was NOT going to recommend the prosecution of Hillary Clinton for crimes associated with her mishandling of classified materials, before his FBI staff ever even interviewed her. The fix was in for Hillary and Comey was the fixer.
Ironically, Comey shares a defining characteristic with Mrs. Clinton. The late great William Safire explained Mrs. Clinton well. He suggested she was simply a “congenital liar.” No doubt this apt description defines Mr. Comey too.
What has America been doing since Trump's election? Instead of Americans vowing to support reforming the nation by holding office holders to a high standard and keeping the size and scope of what these officials control to a minimum, Americans are lowering standards and granting the swamp enormous power to perpetuate itself. It makes no sense, but the proof is overwhelming.
Witness the aftermath of the Trump victory, where Trump, a deeply flawed individual, defeated Clinton, an even more deeply flawed individual. Before Trump even took the oath of office he was being spied on by the Obama DOJ, via the filing of false affidavits with the FISA court. Absurd impeachment calls came from Democrats almost immediately after the Trump victory.
The Democrats conspired to use the "Russian collusion scam" as the excuse to reassert the authority of the swamp. With GOP swamp mates providing assistance, the swamp assembled a bunch of partisan Democrat lawyers to get Trump.
Make no mistake, Robert Mueller is not a special prosecutor, he, like Comey, is a swamp creature. Mueller long ago stopped investigating any possible crimes related to Russian propaganda. For many months now Mueller has been searching for a crime, any crime, he might be able to tie to Trump.

James Comey

Naturally, the swamp warriors (Mueller and Co.) have managed to find some pretty shady operators in Washington. No surprise there, the place has been overrun with them for two hundred years. It is what happens when the government controls so much of life.
On a side note, it is fascinating to see the contrast in styles between the Clintons and Donald Trump. When Bill Clinton got caught in a sexual trysts, the standard operating procedure of the Clinton war room was to try to tamper with all the witnesses, induce acts of perjury, and destroy the character of the women who participated in the Clinton dalliances. For Trump, the solution to infidelity is more straight forward. Trump simply moves on (post orgasm), while his lawyers give the dalliance participant(s) some cash to keep her mouths shut. It would seem that paying blackmailers almost never works, which begs the question: Why would Trump bother? Maybe the Clintons are on to something there with how they treat their bimbos.
Back to Washington where Democrats in the deep state are running out of options to get Trump. In a sign of just how powerful and brazen the swamp has become as a result of the enormous power the federal government wields, the deep state FBI raided the offices of Trump’s personal lawyer. What was the justification for such an unprecedented act of chicanery? Get this. They are looking for the money trail on Trump's bimbo payoff. Considering the fact that Trump is forgoing his entire salary, it is pretty clear that the $130,000 payoff to Trump's one-time favorite porn star is mere pocket change. It remains to be seen where the money trail leads, but the smart money says it will be another dry hole.
Make no mistake what is going on here. Democrats are using a special prosecutor to wage war on their opponents. And the fact that Mitch McConnell is passively endorsing this scheme tells you all you need to know about his tacit approval of and collusion with all deep state collaborators.
All of this is hardly new. Obama used the FISA courts to spy on Trump. And now Mueller is using his "special" powers to obtain privileged documents that belong to Trump. It would seem the swamp has finally found a back door way to look over Trump's tax returns.
Why is all of this happening? Unfortunately, America has had it too easy for too long. At least two generations of Americans hold poisonous attitudes that they are somehow owed perpetual entitlements from other Americans. This theme dominates the education system and accordingly, it dominates the voter bases. Half the nation pays no income tax whatsoever. With the public education system having been converted into an indoctrination system, it simply teaches young Americans that they can vote themselves a share of what someone else earned. Hollywood piles on with one violent, decadent, and entitlement-obsessed film after another. This makes Hollywood a paradox. Hollywood simply reinforces the idea that business is bad and bureaucracy is good, while making shoot em up films for profit.
Again, don't kid yourself. This is not just a problem caused by power-hungry socialist Democrats. Much of the GOP does not care about good policy so much as it cares about winning. This is the essence of what Trey Gowdy said when he announced he was done with the swamp. Gowdy is out because he knows if the GOP leadership thinks it needs to retain bad policies or not enact good ones to win, it will do so.
How can a con artist like James Comey not just survive in America, but prosper? It is pretty easy. Once virtually everyone in Washington surrenders their basic principles regarding fundamental decency, the rest is easy.
Comey will sell plenty of books.

James Comey - "The Swamp Creature"