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Teachers union distorts record on education spending
“MEA Labor Economist Tanner Delpier tells stories with data,” begins a December article on the Michigan Education Association’s website that mixes bits of truth with widely inaccurate claims.
Gov. Rick Synder, who was in office from 2011 through 2018, “presided over a steep, years-long decline in the state education budget, which hit bottom under his leadership in 2013,” writes MEA Voice editor Brenda Ortega.
Snyder’s first budget (the 2011-12 fiscal year) spent $11.09 billion of state revenues on schools, which was up from $10.80 billion in the 2010-11 budget, the last one under Gov. Jennifer Granholm. These numbers come from the Senate Fiscal Agency, which records state funds as either “state restricted” or “general fund.”
State funding increased to $11.21 billion under Snyder’s second budget. Each budget after that saw more state funds going to schools. Click here to read more.
The government regulated rideshare drivers and entrepreneurs, violating principles of federalism
In recent months, state and national governments have acted beyond their constitutional authority by imposing restrictive regulations on rideshare drivers and entrepreneurs. Despite clear constitutional boundaries, governments have unconstitutionally denied out-of-state drivers the ability to drive for rideshare services and required business owners to disclose private financial information to the government.
When the Founders contemplated concentrations of power, they created a system in which certain powers are divided between the state and national governments. But in these cases, the State of California and Congress acted beyond their constitutional authority, hurting hard-working Americans, entrepreneurs, and property buyers alike.
Our constitutional structure enumerates specific powers to the national government, while reserving the remaining powers to the states and the people, thereby protecting liberty. But our government has strayed from its commitment to these original principles. Click here to read more.
To Combat Academic Fraud, Scholars Confront Hallowed Tradition
The driving ethos of academia, “publish or perish,” is fighting for its life.
The requirement that scholars constantly publish or face academic ruin has been considered the primary engine of scientific discovery for decades. But a growing movement of universities and researchers is trying to banish the practice to the archives, saying it has perverted the pursuit of knowledge and eroded the public’s trust in science.
Reformers at top universities in Europe and the U.S., including Cambridge, Sorbonne, and UC Berkeley, say this traditional system of advancement has led to an explosion in the growth of low quality research, with little meaningful impact on academic fields or society. It has also sparked the spread of fraudulent research, as “paper mills” churn out fake articles for sale to academics seeking to pad their CVs. Click here to read more.
Bakery owner facing death threats over anti-ICE cookies refuses to back down
EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. - A Massachusetts bakery owner says she’s facing death threats and online harassment over cookies she made to express her frustrations with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but she’s refusing to back down.
Niki Moran, the owner of The Sweet Boutique in East Longmeadow, says strangers promised to burn down her bakery, threatened to assault her employees and wished death on her children all because of cookies.
“We’ve gotten a lot of death threats, hoping me and all my female employees get raped and my male employees get robbed, that they’re going to lock me in the building and burn the place down with me inside. It’s just been a lot,” Moran said.
She says she never expected this when she decorated a batch of cookies that read F--- ICE. Click here to read more.
New viral video alleges millions in fake medical transport claims in Minnesota
WASHINGTON (TNND) — A new video by viral conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley is renewing scrutiny of what investigators describe as one of the largest alleged social services fraud schemes in Minnesota history — with estimates reaching as high as $9 billion in stolen taxpayer funds.
Shirley first drew national attention last month after publishing footage highlighting alleged fraud within Minnesota’s day-care system, including facilities accused of billing the state for children who did not exist. His latest investigation, released Wednesday, shifts focus to another area of concern: non-emergency medical transportation services.
In the video, Shirley alleges transportation companies billed the state millions of dollars for rides that never occurred. He documents visits to addresses listed on state paperwork for several transportation providers, finding locations that appeared to have no connection to medical transport services — including liquor stores, money transfer businesses and private residences. Click here to read more.
