Shane Vander Hart

I wrote a couple blog posts today and wanted to share them here. The first article was over at TruthinAmericanEducation.com about rural public schools starting online virtual academies to boost attendance (and money).

You can find that right here:

Rural Schools and Online Education

The second piece I wrote was at CaffeinatedThoughts.com about a bill that the Iowa Senate passed yesterday that will require a concurrence of five justices on the Iowa Supreme Court (it has seven members) before they decide that a law is unconstitutional.

I support that bill that will now be considered in the Iowa House. You can read it about it here:

Iowa Senate Acts to Reform Judicial Branch

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him,” (Hebrews 11:6, ESV).

We had a special election in Polk County yesterday. Voters were given the opportunity to vote on a one percent local option sales tax. Polk County residents have rejected this two or three times before so, of course, they bring it up for a special election when voter turnout is low.

I’m opposed to increases in any tax, I believe the county needs to live within its means. Spending continues to go up, and just because the revenue is not keeping up does not mean we should foot the bill – cut spending.

I also believe that a sales tax increase has a greater impact on lower and middle-class residents, and the alleged property tax stability that is supposed to be had by this tax is unlikely to be felt among those who rent.

So hard pass.

Fortunately, a majority, a slim majority, but a majority of Polk County voters felt the same way. So the local option sales tax proposal was shot down by (unofficially) 226 votes (12,004 to 11,778).

Here are the unofficial results from each city in Polk County:

1/2 Unofficial Results: Contiguous Cities
Des Moines: Yes: 6715 No: 5685
Altoona: Yes: 642 No: 738
Bondurant Yes: 136 No: 143
Clive: Yes: 377 No: 441
Grimes: Yes: 234 No: 409
Johnston: Yes: 487 No: 762
Pleasant Hill: Yes: 287 No: 537
Urbandale: Yes: 927 No 1427

— Jamie Fitzgerald (@Polkauditorfitz) March 7, 2018

2/2 Unofficial Results: Contiguous Cities
West Des Moines: Yes 1633 No: 1544
Windsor Heights: Yes: 340 No: 321

— Jamie Fitzgerald (@Polkauditorfitz) March 7, 2018

The unofficial turnout for the election was 10.03 percent.

Every vote matters, so if you are a U.S. citizen, and you are old enough to vote, take your rights and responsibilities seriously. (That means to be an informed voter as well.)

Today has not been quite as productive in terms of publishing things with my byline, but that’s ok.

First, at TruthInAmericanEducation.com, I comment on U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ remarks to the Council of Chief State School Officers.

DeVos’ Cites Flexibility While Complaining About ESSA State Plans

I then published my 32nd episode of The Caffeinated Thoughts Podcast. I discuss Janus v. AFSCME, heard before the Supreme Court last week, with Vinnie Vernuccio, a senior fellow with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, MI. You can click over and listen here or listen to the PodBean embed below:

Finally, some blunt thoughts on Twitter about a question Facebook was asking users in the UK.

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO and HELL NO.https://t.co/2jUSltRKyf

— Shane Vander Hart (@shanevanderhart) March 6, 2018

And the fact I woke up to snow today.

Snow. pic.twitter.com/RWtht3JTs9

— Shane Vander Hart (@shanevanderhart) March 6, 2018