By Ron Paul
The Program for International Assessment (PSA) recently released its 2022 assessment of the math and reading skills of students from over 200 countries. This is the first assessment since 2018 and it provides more evidence that schoolchildren were damaged by the COVID hysteria. American students’ math scores were lower than 27 of the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The other OECD countries do not have any reason to celebrate, as the average math scores of students in all OECD countries declined by 17 points. American students’ reading scores “only” declined by one point since 2017 – as compared to an 18-point average decline amongst all OECD countries. However, the National Assessment of Education Progress national report card recently reported a historic decline in reading among 18 years old. While the drastic reductions in reading and math across the globe can be attributed to the COVID panic, Americans’ scores have been declining for years. The lockdowns are a symptom of the problems with the American education system. The real problem is that progressives have seized control over government schools. These progressives are more concerned with indoctrinating children than providing them with a quality education. Progressives seek to control education because they understand that those who are indoctrinated as children will likely support progressivism as adults. It is no coincidence that progressive control of education and the decline of quality of the nation’s schools coincide with increased federal control. Progressive federal bureaucrats used the promise of funding to entice states and local governments to surrender control of schools to federal educators. Wokeness is just the latest iteration of the progressivism that has been undermining America’s free-market economy, constitutional government, and all sources of authority — including parents and churches — outside of the federal government for over a century. Ironically, the lockdowns may have set back the woke progressives by giving parents an opportunity to see how wokeness had infiltrated their children’s education. Wokeness is also suffering a backlash because of the claim that the only reason anyone could object to allowing a biological male to compete in athletic events with biological females is bigotry. The backlash against woke education has led to parents showing up at school board meetings and/or running for school boards themselves to fight the woke agenda. The combination of lockdowns and wokeness are also causing many parents to explore alternatives to government schools, including homeschooling. Parents looking to provide their children with a quality home-based education that promotes real learning and does not push a political agenda – but does instruct in the history and philosophy of liberty – should look into my homeschooling curriculum. My curriculum provides students with a well-rounded education that includes rigorous programs in history, mathematics, and the physical and natural sciences. The curriculum also provides instruction in personal finance. Students can develop superior communication skills via intensive writing and public speaking courses. Another feature of my curriculum is that it provides students the opportunity to create and run their own businesses. The government and history sections of the curriculum emphasize free-market economics, libertarian political theory, and the history of liberty. I encourage all parents looking at alternatives to government schools — alternatives that provide children with a well-rounded education that introduces them to the history and ideas of liberty without sacrificing education for indoctrination — to go to RonPaulCurriculum.com for more information about my homeschooling program. Ron Paul & Glenn Greenwald: Unravelling the Pre-Trump, Anti-Interventionism of the US Right12/23/2023
Inflation is "down," so we'll be popping open the good champagne this New Year’s Eve, right? Then why does it seem like we should be popping open soda cans instead? Why do our own senses (and bills) tell us a different story from the government's "narratives"? Can we ever expect the truth from a government that spends money that it doesn't have, that the Federal Reserve has to counterfeit into existence?
This week's decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to bar former President Trump from the presidential ballot has led to expected repercussions: Republicans across the country are threatening revenge barring Biden from red state ballots. Where is voting in this country headed? Also today, US wields veto threat to keep UN from calling for Gaza ceasefire.
Please make your year-end, tax deductible donation to the Ron Paul Institute right away - a generous supporter has offered $50,000 in matching funds between now and Dec. 31st at midnight! Please donate NOW: https://ronpaulinstitute.org/donate/
The Colorado Supreme Court - all them appointees of Democratic governors - has ruled that Donald Trump cannot appear on the state's presidential ballot, claiming his participation in the January 6th, 2021 "insurrection" disqualified him under the 14th Amendment. Will the latest partisan attack on Trump just make him stronger? Also today: big trouble in little Yemen. And finally: Republican Congressman urges US fight against "communist" Russia...
The tree is up and so are the decorations. Ron and Carol Paul invite the Liberty Report into their home to talk about what makes Christmas special to the ever-growing Paul family that will soon join them for the holiday...
By Ron Paul
Just before leaving town for Christmas break, the US House gave Americans a last-minute holiday gift: a nearly trillion dollar military spending bill filled with lots of goodies for the special interests and the military-industrial complex. Unfortunately, the rest of America got nothing but coal in its stockings. With Constitutionalists like Rep. Thomas Massie on the House Rules Committee, Speaker Johnson made the unusual move of bringing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) under suspension of the rules, which bypasses the Rules Committee but requires two-thirds of the House to pass the bill. Considering that Speaker Johnson tossed into the “must-pass” bill yet another extension of Section702 of the FISA Act, it’s unsurprising that he wanted to rush the bill through without the possibility of amendment. Section 702 allows the government to intercept and retain without a warrant the communications of any American who is in contact with a non-US citizen. It is clearly a violation of the Fourth Amendment which is supposed to protect Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures. Section 702 was “legalized” under President George W. Bush during the “War on Terror” after it was revealed that Bush was using the National Security Agency to illegally spy on Americans. We were told at the time that government must be granted these authorities because we were under threat from terrorists. It would just be a temporary measure, we were promised, and then the authority would expire. That was fifteen years ago and here we are re-authorizing the government to continue to violate our liberties. As with the rest of the violations of our civil liberties after 9/11, like the PATRIOT Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA, the federal government soon turned its terrorism-fighting tools inward, targeting Americans rather than foreigners who we were told wanted to harm Americans. That’s why the FBI’s so-called domestic terrorism watchlist continues to expand to include Christians and those skeptical of big government. So rather than debating whether we want a government more like East Germany than the one our Founders imagined, Section 702 was tossed into the military spending bill. The NDAA also contained a $600 million gift to the corrupt government of Ukraine. As opposition to further spending on Ukraine’s failed war with Russia increases in the House, Republican leadership decided to add what may be the last parting gift to the military-industrial complex. As with most foreign assistance, however, Ukraine will likely see very little of this money. Most of it will be laundered through the military contractors and lobbyists who line every corner of the Beltway. The NDAA also pushes us further toward confrontation with China, authorizing more than $100 million to train Taiwan’s military and a further nine billion dollars to continue sending US military ships to harass China in its backyard. I believe Speaker Johnson is intelligent, with a bright future in House leadership. He has inherited a broken system and a legislative body that operates without any guiding principles. I sincerely hope he will begin to listen to the increasing voices in the House who are questioning the warfare-welfare state. We are more than 33 trillion dollars in debt, with interest payments on that debt dwarfing all other government spending. A crash is coming. There is no time for more “business as usual.” |
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