Machen On Public Education

I might lose my membership in the fundamentalist club for admitting this but I have never read J. Gresham Machen's Christianity and Liberalism. I finally started reading it this afternoon (for a couple of reasons) and it is delivering as I expected it to. I am highlighting like crazy and I only got through one chapter. For example, you won't find a more prescient view than this...

A public school system, if it means the providing of free education for those who desire it, is a noteworthy and beneficent achievement of modern times; but when once it becomes monopolistic it is the most perfect instrument of tyranny which has yet been devised. Freedom of thought in the middle ages was combated by the Inquisition, but the modern method is far more effective. Place the lives of children in their formative years, despite the convictions of their parents, under the intimate control of experts appointed by the state, force them then to attend schools where the higher aspirations of humanity are crushed out, and where the mind is filled with the materialism of the day, and it is difficult to see how even the remnants of liberty can subsist. Such a tyranny, supported as it is by a perverse technique used as the instrument in destroying human souls, is certainly far more dangerous than the crude tyrannies of the past, which despite their weapons of fire and sword permitted thought at least to be free.

J. Gresham Machen (0100-12-31 17:00:00-07:00). Christianity & Liberalism (Kindle Locations 235-242). Mark Walter / The Calvinist Cafe. Kindle Edition. 

Yeah, that sounds familiar and he wrote this almost 100 years ago. America circa 2015 is living proof of the rightness of what Machen is warning about. Between the enormous bureaucracy, the agenda driven university system where we get our public school teaches and the rabid defenders of the educational monopoly in the teacher's unions, there really is no better system for dumping complacent, materialism conditioned and planting the seeds of rejection of parental convictions than the compulsory and largely monopolistic public education system. Little wonder that advocates of those very notions are so interested in expanding this compulsory and "free" system to younger ages and older ages alike in programs like Head Start and in pushing for "free" universal government preschool and post-secondary education.

The broader issues Machen raises are critical to understanding where the church stands in our pluralistic and often mushy and muddled religious landscape in America. Expect to hear more from the good doctor in the days to come.

Never let a crisis go to waste!

That is something of a mantra for the Obama administration. In an incredibly bold admission, Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both stated publicly that a good crisis shouldn’t be wasted. In other words, use the economic crisis and ensuing panic to push through your agenda that perhaps would be unpalatable during normal times. Rest assured that in these early days, President Obama and his puppet-masters in the Congress and liberal special interest groups will waste no time cramming as much socialism into place as possible. His poll numbers are waning fast, in spite of the rosy reports from the complicit media. Time is not on his side, so we find ourselves watching the spectacle of a two month overhaul of the relationship between the public and private sector that we have not seen in generations, perhaps ever.

The first two waves have been passed, the pork and social engineering filled “stimulus package” and the massive deficit expanding Federal budget. Next up for Obama is socialized medicine, accomplished through a vastly expanded Federal health insurance mandate along with the whispering of “The Return of Porkulus”. Already, before a nickel of the first “stimulus” bill has been spent, some loyal Democrats in safe seats (i.e. David Obey of Wisconsin) are hinting around at the need for a second stimulus package, likely as large if not larger, than the first one. This is a clever bit of old school politics as usual (weren’t we promised “change”?). Rather than the President coming right out and saying he wants another stimulus bill, he has his loyalist troops raise the issue, sort of easing you into it. Once the initial outrage starts to settle down, Obama can roll out his panic mode speeches, assuring us of calamities unimaginable if we don’t pass yet another stimulus bill. The threat of calamity worked well once, why not a second time?

One major piece of legislation that is a crown jewel in the Obama crown is the so-called card check legislation. It also is getting very little attention because the details would strike most Americans as being, for lack of a better word, un-American. In a nutshell, this legislation will change the way unions organize by allowing a workplace to be collectively bargained if they get more than 50% of employees to sign a card. This is not a secret ballot. It is Joe the local union organizer walking up to you and asking you to sign a card. If you don’t, that amounts to a vote against the union and you can be assured that your public vote of “no” will be remembered. Certainly there has never been even a whiff of intimidation tactics being employed by labor unions toward recalcitrant workers who didn’t sign on to the union agenda! Ask anyone trying to cross a picket line. The reason we have a secret ballot in this country for virtually ever election, including voting for class president and dog catcher, is to allow people to vote their conscience without fear of intimidation or reprisal. Now in a bold effort to take that basic American protection away from American workers, we see what amounts to a green light for intimidation of workers by union organizers. Funny, I thought the Democrats were supposed to be the party watching out for the working man? I guess that only applies if you are a union working man.

Ominously, the economy is showing early signs of recovery as the credit markets start to stabilize. That has nothing to do with anything done by the Obama administration (which has done nothing to address the credit crisis even though virtually every expert agrees that the credit market collapse was the impetus of the general economic malaise), but be sure that as the economy naturally rebounds as it always does and does so in spite of Obama’s policies, Obama and his media cronies will spin the recovery as a vindication of his big government policies, and give him the cover he needs to further march us down the road of European style socialism and economic ruin.

That flushing sound you hear...

...is the sound of some $13 billion in tax payer funded loans going down the toilet. After a series of huge loans to General Motors, it sounds more and more likely that they will have to declare bankruptcy anyway...

General Motors Corp.’s auditors have raised “substantial doubt” about the troubled automaker’s ability to continue operations, and the company said it may have to seek bankruptcy protection if it can’t execute a huge restructuring plan.
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GM has received $13.4 billion in federal loans as it tries to survive the worst auto sales climate in 27 years. It is seeking a total of $30 billion from the government. During the past three years it has piled up $82 billion in losses, including $30.9 billion in 2008.

A company that has lost $82,000,000,000 over the last three years SHOULD go bankrupt and start over!

We could have done that months ago and saved the taxpayer exposure to billions in loans. A lot of the blame for this falls on Bush, not because of the failure of GM but because of the ill-conceived loans that were extended in the first place. The Federal government cannot keep its own house in order, it has no business bailing out businesses or industries with our money. The best thing that GM can do, and the only thing that makes sense, is to reorganize under bankruptcy protection, tear up those crazy union contracts, dealership agreements and other onerous burdens and start afresh as a leaner, more cost effective company. In the state of the U.S. these says we cannot afford to have GM as a perpetual ward of the state that can only survive if it receives constant financial backing from Uncle Sam.

There are two kind of companies in America...

There is a great editorial in the Wall Street Journal on how the hated Big Three automakers, creators of evil, gas guzzling, greenhouse gas spewing SUVs, THE symbol of the horrible environmental record of America has become the sweetheart of the Left. From Nationalizing Detroit...

In the Washington mind, there are two kinds of private companies. There are successful if "greedy" corporations, which can always afford to pay more taxes and tolerate more regulation. And then there are the corporate supplicants that need a handout. As the Detroit auto makers are proving, you can go from being the first to the second in the blink of an election.

Truer words have never been spoken! The same D.C. busybodies who have spent countless hours and dollars regulating the auto industry and empowering the labor unions now is turning to the taxpayers and telling us we have to fix a broken industry, an industry broken in large part by the government and the unions who now want us to save the same jobs they have priced out of competitiveness.

For decades, Congress has never had a second thought as it imposed tighter emissions standards on GM, Ford and Chrysler, denouncing them for making evil SUVs. Yet now that the companies are bleeding cash, and may be heading for bankruptcy, suddenly the shrinking Big Three are the latest candidates for a taxpayer bailout. One $25 billion loan facility has already been signed into law, and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) wants another $25 billion, this time with no strings attached.
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A bailout might avoid any near-term bankruptcy filing, but it won't address Detroit's fundamental problems of making cars that Americans won't buy and labor contracts that are too rich and inflexible to make them competitive. As Paul Ingrassia notes nearby, Detroit's costs are far too high for their market share. While GM has spent billions of dollars on labor buyouts in recent years, they are still forced by federal mileage standards to churn out small cars that make little or no profit at plants organized by the United Auto Workers.

We ought to let GM and Ford declare bankruptcy, tear up their union contracts and dealership deals and start over as smaller, leaner and more competitive companies. Instead, under the benevolent leadership of Washington liberals and the capitulation of the now limp-wristed Bush administration the taxpayers will dump untold billions into a failed system, a bailout that will prolong the death throes but cannot fix the problem. Hey, sounds a lot like the way we treat public education!

Looking out for the working guy

Yeah right...

There is probably no movement that is past it's time and yet still wields incredible sway over our nation to compare to the labor union movement.

A recent story highlights this case. One of the nation's largest car haulers, Performance Transportation Services, was coming out of bankruptcy and trying to get on it's feet. As part of the recovery, they were authorized to temporarily cut their driver's pay by 15%. As reported by the Detroit Free Press, the Teamsters Union decided to recommend that they cut of their proverbial noses to spite their faces...

Car hauler: Strike may sink company

Bankrupt PTS cuts pay 15%; Teamsters walk out

A strike against the nation's No. 2 car hauler could force the company quickly out of business, the company's chief executive said Monday, a sentiment some striking Teamsters members said they were prepared to accept rather than take a temporary pay cut.

Some 1,250 car haulers represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters walked off their jobs at Performance Transportation Services, a move that many think will have little impact on automakers and car dealers. Both sides concede there is little time to settle before the Allen Park company, which has been in bankruptcy twice since 2006, may go out of business.

The two sides are in a stalemate over court-approved pay cuts and other contract issues. As of Monday evening the two sides were not talking.

The union is upset that PTS, which delivers 2.7 million vehicles a year including 10,400 vehicles a day for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., won federal bankruptcy court approval to immediately impose a 15 percent pay cut on the drivers through July 31. The company wants the temporary cut while it continues to negotiate a new contract. The Teamsters refused and walked off their jobs Monday, including seven locations in Michigan.

It is pretty easy to tell a guy to go on strike when you have a cushy, high paid job working for the Teamsters. Why would you care if some truck driver loses his job as long as the union dues keep flowing in and your salary keeps getting direct deposited. The Teamsters recommended that these truckers shut down a company in precarious financial position. Brilliant. Of course the predictable result occurred...

Bankrupt vehicle hauler closes 5 days after strike

DETROIT — The president of Performance Transportation Services Inc. said the car hauler and its related companies were ceasing operations Friday, five days after 1,250 Teamsters members went on strike.

Allen Park-based PTS is North America’s second-largest hauler of new vehicles and was operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In a letter to employees, company president and CEO Jeff Cornish said the bankruptcy court on June 4 authorized a 15 percent wage cut for Teamsters-represented employees for two months. The company anticipated negotiating a new, long-term contract during that time, but the Teamsters instead went on strike Monday.

Teamsters chief negotiator Fred Zuckerman said that PTS’ financial predicament stemmed not from the union’s demands but from the company’s problems in securing credit.

PTS delivered more than 4 million vehicles annually from 24 facilities nationwide with its fleet of 1,800 trucks for many North American automakers.

So instead of sucking it up and taking a temporary pay cut to keep the company afloat, the truckers walked out, the company closed up shop and now instead of getting 85% of their pay temporarily, they get to trade the picket line for the unemployment line. Oops. Meanwhile Fred Zuckerman, Jimmie Hoffa Jr., the Teamster bosses and negotiators go back to the golf course.

My employer recently eliminated my job, but instead of whining about it I took another position. Sure I had to move, but it was a good career move and I still have a job. Note to the Teamsters Union: NO ONE OWES YOU A JOB! The unions have wrecked Michigan's economy by making our labor force uncompetitive and yet the union bosses fiddle while Rome (or Detroit) burns. Better yet, they spend their time trying to mandate how many sick days employers in Ohio are required provide employees. Wow, now that they have wrecked Michigan maybe they can do the same and finish off Ohio. Unions ceased being useful before I was born but the Democrats are so beholden to them and they have suckered so many people into thinking that they are looking out for the little guy that they linger on. I used to work with labor union leaders all the time in a prior job, and while many of the guys remember what it was like to work for a living, a lot of them are only interested in who gives them the nicest perks, the best seats at ball games, the most expensive lunches. They are little different than the corporate executives they rail against, except that the executives are honest about what they are in it for.