Category: Uncategorized

A Letter to Senator Pat Toomey to Oppose the Nomination of Betsy DeVos

Dear Senator Toomey,

I am writing this letter to tell you that you should oppose the nomination of Betsy DeVos for the Secretary of Education. I have called your office to express this, but I feel that was an insufficient action, so I also will be attending a Tuesdays with Toomey event at the Grand Concourse on January 24.

Betsy DeVos is a dangerous person for the future of American public education and to put her in charge of a system she has repeatedly stated she intends to defund is irresponsible. The Secretary of Education should be our country’s leading advocate for the public school system, the children served by it, and the institutions that compose it.

During her career in the private and non-profit sectors, Ms. DeVos has routinely sought to divert funds from public institutions to charter and religious-based schools. As a direct result of policies pushed through thanks to the Lobbying of Ms. DeVos, Michigan has been forced to accept and pay for failing charter schools. The Detroit charter school system is an unmitigated disaster thanks to a system designed by Ms. DeVos that is devoid of oversight and accountability.

Here in Pennsylvania, we are no strangers to the dangerous lack of oversight of our charter school programs. Just last year, PA Cyber, the state’s largest charter school, was found to be diverting millions of dollars to a management company among other entities. Thanks in large part to the lack of oversight and the unchecked malfeasance of PA Cyber’s founding CEO Nick Trombetta, he made $8 million for his own private interests. However, the true crime here is that he failed to provide a quality education to the children of Pennsylvania that he was tasked to serve.

Pittsburgh is currently home to 14 schools that scored under 50 on the Allegheny County School Performance Profile for the 2015-16 school year. Six of the 20 charter schools also scored under a 50 on the same profile. Currently, our public school system within the City of Pittsburgh is not providing equal access to quality education that is afforded to residents outside of the city. This inequality is a tragedy. It is unsustainable because thousands of young people are being deprived of an education that can improve their personal development, prospects for future employment, and a pathway out of poverty.

I care deeply about public education because it has been a part of my life even before I was born.

My father has been a public school teacher in the Delaware Valley School District for over 30 years. My mother, began her service in public education in 1994 and after starting as a reading specialist to becoming a principal and now serves as the Director of Elementary Education of DVSD. My sister currently serves as a history teacher for Caldwell County Schools in North Carolina. I myself have studied and written about school board elections and education policy extensively.

I understand that insolvency of our public schools is unsustainable and that the education outcomes they produce are far from ideal. However, Betsy DeVos’ proposals of unaccountable charter schools, divestment from our public schools, and a seemingly complete lack of knowledge of the applicability of federal laws over the schools she would oversee can only exacerbate the current problems within our public school system.

Should you require additional information or assistance, my contact information is included below.

Sincerely,
Alexander Schaffer

Freestyling some thoughts as we enter a new NFL season:

It’s pretty absurd that NFL player salaries aren’t guaranteed, it kind of blows my mind. $13 billion in annual revenue in an industry where every owner is a billionaire (excluding GB). Career threatening and permanently disabling injuries are a realistic possibility at almost all times on a football field. That seems to be something you just have to accept in this horrifically beautiful age of football we’re living in.
 
That hasn’t stopped me from continuing my annual unhealthy relationship with fantasy football. I’m participating with 8 teams this season, down from 10 last year. My oldest running league went down in flames during a group chat and I was the only person to show at the draft. I’m hoping to improve on my .600 playoff percentage and 1 league win from the 2015 season. I have Drew Brees, Jamaal Charles, Jeremy Langford, Cam Newton, Dez Bryant, Sterling Sheperd, Will Fuller, Tavon Austin, and Tyler Lockett on multiple teams, which is my official endorsement of them for the season ahead.
 
As a 50/50 Jets/Eagles fan, my dream Super Bowl scenario looks more bleak than ever. The Jets completely botched offseason QB situation has me doubting an offense playing alongside one of the premier defenses in the NFL. The Eagles ongoing roller coaster of emotions leaves me rooting for quarterback savior in training Carson Wentz (also owned in multiple leagues).
 
Of course the majority of our recent days have been spent discussing Colin Kaepernick’s ongoing protests against the iniquities of our criminal justice system and the extrajudicial killings of black people at the hands of law enforcement agents. What may be an uncomfortable truth for some to admit is an everyday reality to millions of Americans. Kaepernick’s protests are acknowledging the longstanding practice of civic action through protest of the national anthem and the legacy of promoting and achieving social change through sport. You can expect this trend to continue among Kaepernick and other NFL players in the coming season.
 
For an example of how these protests should continue, we can look to the book of Corinthians. Not the bible, the football club, and their legendary hero Socrates, not the philosopher, the footballer/doctor. Socrates and Corinthians led a successful series of democratic protests that helped successfully oppose the military government of Brazil. They advocated for free elections, the end of the sequestration before games, and direct election of the president.
 
If you made it this far, thank you. As a reward, I’ll leave my pick for tonight’s NFL Thursday Night Opener: Carolina -3

Part 1: 110 Reasons Not to Vote for Donald Trump

Donald Trump is a man that is massively disconnected from the reality that Americans live in.

With 110 days until the Presidential Election, I’ve reached a crossroads. The GOP is an absolute clown show and the convention in Cleveland has the party perilously perched on the edge of the abyss. While I am not certain that these are death throes for the party of Lincoln, these are the jaundiced, seizure riddled days that indicate the necessity of a rapid change of course to avoid catastrophic failure. Following two decades of executive power creep, the GOP now seems resigned to nominate a candidate thoroughly unfit to serve as president.

Donald Trump is a man that is massively disconnected from the reality that Americans live in. Aside from never experiencing a life other than opulent wealth, his business credentials are dubious, his methods are suspect, and his qualifications for the presidency are nonexistent. His policy proposals range from the absurd to the morally reprehensible. Trump’s suggestion that America should default on its debts and break existing trade agreements, would thrust the world economy into a state of unprecedented uncertainty and instability. The failed state dystopic solution of deporting over 10 million people from our nation and building a gigantic border wall with Mexico, actually sounds like a rejected plot from a shitty sequel to the Lego Movie. (Walls never work, and have never worked, not even on Game of Thrones)

Donald Trump supporters, you are being had. You are being taken for suckers, punks, fools, rubes, marks, patsys, and idiots. You are being fed a steady diet of falsehoods and half truths.

America is not a failed or failing state, we are militarily, economically, culturally and socially stable. America has problems with education, race relations, gun violence, terrorism, sexism, the influence of money on politics, a shrinking middle class, and more, but electing Donald Trump will solve none of them. This is why every day, for the next 109 days I’ll provide one reason of varying importance as to why you should not vote for Donald Trump.

  1. America should never be put in a position to elect the 49th billed cast member of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York to the White House.

What America Can Learn from the Brexit Vote?

Many Americans awoke today to a significantly different world than the one they fell asleep in. The United Kingdom’s referendum vote to leave the European Union has passed and has triggered a series of responses that are having disastrous effects on the global economy. As global markets have responded by tanking the British Pound Sterling to the lowest levels since 1982.

Companies like ITV have seen their stock prices fall by 20% (based on smaller advertising budget projections), while British Airways has already announced a decreased profit projection for 2016. American markets have responded accordingly, seeing the DOW drop by 500 points. These effects are the exact setback that supporters of the “remain campaign” had warned about and are the first set of shockwaves to ripple across the global economy.

Now a new set of referendum votes are expected to take place in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. While this throws the existence and stability of the United Kingdom into question, the country will be faced to make a series of decisions with unknowable outcomes. Will the UK remain a member of the European Economic Area? How will this affect the existing trade deals in place with China and India? Who will govern Gibraltar? How will this affect the work status of millions of legal immigrants in the UK? Will Chelsea be able to make any big signings this summer?

The magnitude of importance of these questions varies, but each will require an answer. The uncertainty in the meantime may cause existing business agreements to be dissolved. It almost certainly makes the UK a more difficult place to do business over the short term. It may also prevent corporations from seeking long term investments in the country. The British Treasury has already declared that leaving the EU would make the British economy “permanently poorer” as a result.

What we do know is that this referendum vote had a historically high turnout of 72.2%. We also know that the current leading trending topic in the UK is “What is the EU?” We also know that working class voters went against their self interest, casting 58% of their ballots in favor of leaving the EU. The projected 6% shrinking of the GDP by 2030 will primarily affect the availability of middle class jobs.

The people that were the most heavily against leaving the EU will also have to live with it the longest. 75% of voters under the age of 24 voted in favor of Remain, but younger voters did not turnout in the same numbers as their older countrymen. The elderly, less educated, and low immigrant area populations of the UK voted greatly in favor of Leave. This is the trend that Americans can learn most from.

The current presidential election, while not quite as simple as a referendum vote, calls into question many of the same issues. Many middle class Donald Trump supporters are lining up to vote similarly against their interests. Trump has already said that he will renege on US participation in several free trade agreements, which would throw the US into a similar state of economic uncertainty. Will the United States pursue a path of economic isolationism and irrational self interest like what is being seen here in the UK?

While the global economy now faces the uncertainty of having one nation negotiating a series of bilateral trade agreements, the United States could be following just around the corner if Trump is elected. The global economy functions best when predictability and order allow business interests to make long-term decisions based on stable projections. Britain has in essence flipped over the chessboard, scattering the pieces across the globe and Donald Trump has threatened to do the same if elected president. If the warning of today’s financial panic can communicate anything to the public, it should be that this uncertainty is not in their interest.

The modicum of self-determination that the United Kingdom gained has come at the cost of potentially ruining the nation as we currently know it. The UK may be an entirely different nation both geographically and economically than the one prior to the Brexit vote. If the UK remains a part of the EEA, they will do so without being represented in discussions regarding the regulations they would be required to follow, undermining the right to self-determination that many Leave voters sought.

The Brexit vote represents what happens when people allow the politics of fear to govern their behavior. David Cameron sought to solidify his base and curtail the rise of the UKIP with the referendum vote, but has seen that roll of the dice explode in his face. He will now resign leaving the country with a leadership crisis amid the growing laundry list of concerns.

America has seen a ramping up of tensions between conservatives and those seeking to protect the rights of immigrants. The xenophobic and anti-intellectual ideations of Trump are remarkably similar to the dialogue heard in Britain prior to yesterday’s vote. If these fearful proposals are allowed to come to fruition, the calamity they cause will be unprecedented. Young and liberal voters must make themselves heard at the polls if America wants to avoid a similar fate.

Reactions and Thoughts on Orlando

Every so often, a national tragedy occurs in America and as a nation we respond in the exact same way. Sunday’s attack in Orlando was the latest terrorist attack on American soil. It was both the latest entry in the lengthy history of attacks on LGBTQ-friendly clubs in America and the largest mass shooting in our country’s history.

It was carried out by a self-radicalized American-born and raised terrorist that declared allegiance to three separate terrorist groups at war with each other (Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Hezbollah). It is also suspected that he was a closeted gay man, who had patronized the club multiple times over the last 3 years. It was an act carried out by an ignorant, abusive, marginalized security guard that apparently lacked strong religious convictions.

Another shooter, who violated the permissive, unspoken social compact that is practiced not only at Pulse, but LGBTQ establishments throughout the country. A similar social compact of broad acceptance that was practiced and exploited at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Environments like this exist throughout our nation. Abandoning this ideal of acceptance would be distinctly un-American, which means that we must search elsewhere for our solutions.

Social media outlets have been full of lamentations for the victims, while being counterbalanced by outrageous displays of ignorance and hate. Donald Trump has doubled down on his call for a ban on Muslim immigrants and demanded forced cooperation for those already in the U.S.. As if these absurd policy proposals would in any way make us safer, Trump’s statements play directly into the sort of rhetoric that terrorist organizations seek from their victims. They are a blatant display of manipulating racial tensions for political gain.
The Orlando shooting has sparked chain Facebook posts from internet tough-guys. These posts now proudly declare their concealed carry status, while ludicrously suggesting that this allows and permits them to protect the public from future mass shooting harm. This thinking relies on childish logic and a suspension of disbelief that flies far away from statistical reality. Which is why incidents of mass shootings being prevented by untrained “good guy gunmen” rather than law enforcement officials are exceedingly rare if not complete fantasy.

Meanwhile, the left has redoubled their efforts to step up gun control, calling for bans on everything from assault rifles to high capacity magazines. Previous half-hearted attempts have spurned our gun-obsessed culture to buy assault rifles in record numbers. They’ve also created a system, which has allowed 91% of individuals on the FBI’s Terrorism Watchlist to purchase handguns even after a background check. A 9% batting average on catching terrorism suspects in gun purchase attempts is a national embarrassment.

So we stand at an impasse where the status quo exacerbates the problem. Gun sales remain at near-record levels and the exact Sig-Sauer model used in the Orlando attack can be purchased by anybody over the age of 18 at a Field and Stream store near you. In October, I proposed five gun control alternatives, but it is becoming apparent that gun control is essential.

Our existing institutions are inadequate and our localities too unprepared for these circumstances. What community is it going to affect before we institute change? We’ve seen gun violence affect elementary, middle, and high school students, college campuses, LGBTQ clubs, black churches, white churches, community centers, and more. If we allow this and our pattern of inaction continues, this violence will inevitably creep into all of our communities. Will this be the time we rise to action or will we just shrug our collective shoulders and kick the can?