The "Sith Lord" eats Oreos

Finally. The Utah voucher fight is over! The 62% of Utahns who voted against taxpayer subsidized vouchers for private schools have spoken. Maybe we can finally put that issue to rest and work on making a difference for the 96% of Utah's kids who attend public schools.

Let it not be said that the campaign was boring. Anything but! Everyone waited to see what the proponents would come up with next. They certainly seemed to employ some bizarre campaign tactics.

And, I, for one, waited with anticipation to see what Patrick Byrne would say next!

He didn't disappoint.

Early in the evening he told a news station that the voucher vote was an "IQ test" for Utah voters as noted by Deseret Spectacle here:

"I think that this is basically a state-wide IQ test, and I'm very interested to see whether Utah passes or fails the IQ test." - Byrne said.

OK, then as it became clear that vouchers were being rejected in EVERY county in the state, Byrne came up with this gem:

"They (Utahns) don't care enough about their kids. They care an awful lot about this system, this bureaucracy, but they don't care enough about their kids to think outside the box," Byrne said.

So, according to know-it-all Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com - the non-profit making company - who is under investigation by the SEC - Utahns are...well....stupid.

Not only are Utahns stupid, they don't care about their kids! WHAT?!?!

Oh, and that is not enough. No, Byrne had to impugn the integrity of Gov. Jon Huntsman when he said:

"When he asked for my support [for governor] he told me he is going to be the voucher governor. Not only was it his No. 1 priority, it was what he was going to be all about," Byrne said. "He did, I think, a very tepid job, and then when the polls came out on the referendum, he was pretty much missing in action." (Reported here in the Tribune.)

Geez. This time Byrne can't say his words were taken out of context, as he did when the NAACP asked him to apologize for saying that minority children who didn't graduate from high school should be "burned" or "thrown away."

I imagine all of Byrne's comments will come under scrutiny in the next state he plans to take his message: South Carolina, as Accountability First reports here.

South Carolinians, beware Patrick Byrne. He thinks you are stupid, you don't care about your kids, and if they are minorities, they should be "burned."

And, a message just for you, Patrick: The "Sith Lord" eats Oreos.

Pro voucher business bullies

Just when it seems that the pro-voucher groups tactics can't sink any lower, they all surprise me again.

You recall when the legislative leaders who rammed the school voucher law through the Utah House (by one vote) and the Senate called in the lobbyists to strong-arm them into putting up cash and votes for the failing voucher referendum?

And then legislative leaders threatened to hold up a United Way and business leaders health care plan unless these folks also got on board with vouchers?

Well, now those business leaders appear to have succumbed to the bullying and intimidation and blackmail.

Worse yet, it appears they are, in turn, being asked to bully and intimidate THEIR OWN EMPLOYEES to vote for vouchers.

Read this from the Salt Lake City Tribune, just posted online here:

"A group of prominent Utah business leaders is campaigning for vouchers by sending pro-voucher letters to employees.

"The group Business Leaders for Referendum 1 has been sending an e-mail to business leaders encouraging them to tell their employees about projected enrollment increases and how Referendum 1 could help. According to the letter, voting in favor of Referendum 1 could help the state avoid overcrowded classes and tax increases as a result of a projected enrollment increase over the next 10 years.

"Time is short and we must help voters understand these issues," the letter says. "We are asking you to tell your employees about this aspect of the debate and encourage them to carefully consider the economic impact of their decision."

"The letter also includes a draft of another letter for employers to distribute to their employees. That letter states: "As your employer, it is not my intent to tell you how you should vote. However; as I listen to the debate being waged on the airwaves, I am deeply concerned that one of the most important considerations is not being discussed." Business leaders who signed their names to the letter include: Fred Lampropoulous, CEO, Merit Medical; Keith Rattie, chairman and CEO, Questar Corp.; Patrick Byrne, CEO, Overstock.com; Thomas E. Bingham, president, Utah Manufacturers Association; Howard M. Headlee, president, Utah Bankers Association; James V. Olsen, president, Utah Food Industry Association; L. Tasman Biesinger, executive vice president, Utah Home Builders Association; M. Royce VanTassell, vice president, Utah Taxpayers Association; Chris Kyler, Utah Association of Realtors; Candace Daly, National Federation of Independent Business; Lee J. Peacock, executive director, Utah Petroleum Association; David A. Litvin, President, Utah Mining Association."


These same "business leaders" - or rather "business bullies" - also have a brand new website. You can check it out here and get the same lies and half-truths and exaggerations that PCE has been trying to get Utahns to swallow. (I certainly will be watching to make sure they file a report with the Lt. Governor for these expenditures -- all of them.)

A campaign is one thing. But bullying your own employees?

Shameful.

Towner admits to spam

Well, Mark Towner came clean to Paul Rolly at the Tribune. He was behind the spam from Utahns for Public School (singular) that was created to look as though it was from the coalition of teachers, parents and community members opposed to vouchers (Utahns for Public Schools - plural).

Hat tip to Jesse, WasatchWatcher, and all the others who brought attention to Rolly's blog.

As for Towner, his explanation is, well, er....BIZARRE.

"Sting" operation? To see who would visit his pro-voucher, anti-teacher website???

Wait a minute. If Towner were to operate an effective "sting" wouldn't he have preferred, instead, to see who visited the ANTI-voucher website on "company time??"

And, Mark, you really MUST apologize to Jesse for calling him a liar. He is NOT. You, sir, are.

* Shakes head. * Sigh.

Still on the voucher money trail

Finding out how much money is being spent on this voucher campaign won't come until the end of the month when reports are due. Once again, Parents for Choice in Education (PCE) likely will complain about the money that Utah teachers, and teachers around the country, are putting into the opposition to Referendum 1.

And I will bet anyone in Utah $1 that the PCE finance report again shows that the majority of its expendable funds were donated by the "PCE Foundation" and "PCE, Inc." Both those entities clearly were created to obfuscate the REAL donors to the pro-voucher side. Neither foundations nor corporations making political expenditures are required by Utah law to reveal their donors.

It could well be that the All Children Matter operation out of Michigan is still funding PCE. Likely, even. But, since the ACM operation in Michigan is a corporation too, it can donate to its heart's content to the "PCE Foundation" and "PCE, Inc." and never leave a trace.

Or, it could be that ACM has its hands full right now. It got a little too clever when operating in Wisconsin in 2006 where the organization was found guilty of violating campaign finance laws. (You can read about it here if interested.)

Now, ACM's mother operation faces similar election law violations in Ohio where the Secretary of State is challenging ACM's convulted money laundering operation. (And, if you're interested in Ohio, you can read about ACM's troubles here.)

But then we just don't know if ACM's multi-millionaire donors are funding the pro-voucher effort in Utah. We do know at least one Utahn, Patrick Byrne, is investing some of his considerable fortune into PCE and its operations.

Mr. Byrne will be worth looking at and I relish the opportunity. Stay tuned!

P.S. If the Friedman Foundation also is expending money to persuade reluctant Utahns to support vouchers, does it have to register as a PIC? Glen Warchol noted this in today's Salt Lake City Tribune:

"The voucher discussion began with a slick promotional film, paid for by the Milton Friedman Foundation, that presented the voucher program as necessary to prepare Utah for an expected onslaught of 155,000 new students over the next five years."

Going after parents?

Not content with attacking Utah's public school teachers, voucher supporters now are turning their sights on Utah's parents!

Paul Rolly reported in today's Salt Lake City Tribune that:

"After receiving a number of complaints, the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office says it is investigating whether the state PTA should register as a Political Issues Committee (PIC) because it apparently is spending money to defeat the voucher law in the November referendum. We're not sure whether the complainants are the same folks who refuse to reveal who is spending money for pro-voucher radio ads."

(BTW: Did that issue with the anonymous client of Crowell Advertising who paid for those radio ads ever get resolved? If so, I didn't see it, so please let me know.)

Parents, especially parents who belong to and lead the PTA, are the most unlikely targets for the continued intimidation tactics of the pro-voucher crowd. I'm not sure who is advising PCE and its friends, but their tactics are crude, ugly and totally unnecessary. Parents and teachers have just as much a right to speak out as say, Paul Mero at the Sutherland Institute does.

Wait! I am sure that with all the flacking that the Sutherland Institute has been doing on the pro voucher side they certainly are registered as a Political Issues Committee (PIC).

After all, the Lt. Governor's site lists this definition of a PIC:

"Political Issues Committees (Utah Code 20A-11-101)

"A Political Issue Committee is an entity, or any group of individuals or entities within or outside this state, that solicits or receives donations from any other person, group, or entity or makes disbursements to influence, or to intend to influence, directly or indirectly, any person to assist in placing a statewide ballot proposition on the ballot, assist in keeping a statewide ballot proposition off the ballot, or refrain from voting or vote for or vote against any statewide ballot proposition; or sign or refuse to sign an incorporation petition or refrain from voting, vote for, or vote against any proposed incorporation in an incorporation election."

Hasn't Sutherland made "disbursements" (i.e. spent money) to try and influence the outcome of Referendum 1? Isn't Paul Mero unabashedly pro-voucher? Haven't all of Sutherland's so-called "research" papers and news releases made private school vouchers sound better than sliced bread?

Then, surely they must be registered as a PIC!

Alas, no. No sign of the Sutherland Institute in the list of PICs. You can check the list here.

Wonder why not???

Out of state friend? Dick Morris? In Utah?

Paul Rolly's notes in the Salt Lake City Tribune caught my eye this morning, particularly this piece:

"Consulting the guru: Dick Morris, the former political adviser to President Clinton who resigned in the 1990s amid a call-girl and toe-sucking scandal, subsequently repented his wayward ways, including being a Clinton supporter. Now a regular Sean Hannity buddy on Fox News, he's joined Utah's voucher fight.
Morris contacted the pro-voucher Parents for Choice in Education recently and offered his expertise in campaign strategies, said PCE's Joe Hunter. He said Morris is not a full-time consultant, but lent his counsel to the campaign several days ago. Hunter said he doesn't know how much Morris was paid, but doubted it was much."

Well, so Dick Morris, the big-wig consultant wants to be on the Parents for Choice in Education (PCE) payroll? Interesting.

Morris gets paid between $20,000 and $25,000 for each speaking engagement, so tapping him to help the pro-private school voucher effort would cost a pretty penny.

But then PCE's funders(we still don't know who they are) may think Morris can help them win this campaign. Did they tell the Utah pro-voucher folks to retain him?

Still, don't look for Dick to spend too much time in Utah. Morris is speaking to a Republican group in Winston-Salem, NC on October 22. Oh and tickets to the event are only $25, so let's hope they have room for a big crowd.

Maybe it's that Morris really needs work. After all, it seems he owes the state of Connecticut some $280,000 in unpaid taxes, as reported by WTNH-TV of Hartford, CT.

Or perhaps it's that Morris needs to "buff" his reputation. You note that Rolly's piece referenced a "scandal" that Morris got caught up in.

Indeed. We're not just talking about a call-girl and toe-sucking situation. We're talking about Dick Morris, consultant, who let the prostitute he was cavorting with listen in to conversations with the President. You can read the full story here. Now, really, what kind of judgement does the man have?

Oh, wait, he says he has "reformed." OK, then maybe it won't be true that his phone number is in Deborah Jean Palfrey's telephone logs as reported here. Deborah Jean is the "DC Madam" who claims she supplied women for many powerful men in Washington, D.C.

But if Morris has reformed, and is the consultant that PCE's shadowy funders support, then maybe he can help their campaign.

Then again, maybe not. See what even his "friends" say about Morris' record:

"FOX News Managing Editor and Chief Washington Correspondent Brit Hume, anchor of Special Report with Brit Hume, has said of Dick Morris -- the onetime adviser to Bill Clinton turned FOX News Channel contributor -- "[S]ometimes he says things that you think are inspired from another planet. ... If you're a political analyst, being wrong is a drawback." Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, has said, "He's frequently wrong." And a Boston Globe review of Morris's 1999 book, The New Prince: Machiavelli Updated for the Twenty-First Century, noted that "Morris's contradictions and factual errors too often make a hash of what is supposed to be his argument." [USA Today, 8/16/00; The Boston Globe, 7/20/99]

Maybe that's a little harsh. Morris did, after all, predict that Newt Gingrich would enter the 2008 presidential race.

Vouchers create no value

Despite claims from pro-private school voucher advocates, a new study of the Milwaukee voucher program confirms what many previous studies have shown: Students who use vouchers to attend private schools do not show significant increases in academic achievement.

Nor, as the new Economic Policy Institute study reveals, do vouchers create a climate of "competition" that improves public schools.

Today's Salt Lake City Tribune story can be found here, and directly refutes Parents for Choice in Education's (PCE) claim that vouchers will create "competition" that will make Utah's public schools better.

In fact, the only thing Utah's private school voucher system will do is increase what taxpayers pay for education because they'll be called upon to fund two systems - one public and one private.

This sets up a situation where money that could be used for our PUBLIC schools will be diverted to unaccountable private voucher schools.

As the leader of the teachers' association in Milwaukee stated:

"The only competition that we've really seen between public schools and voucher schools in Milwaukee has been competition for resources," said Dennis Oulahan, Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association president. "Public schools lost big time."

About the only thing pro-private school voucher folks can say about this and other studies is: Vouchers don't seem to "hurt" public schools.

Well, yes they do! Vouchers for private schools drain precious resources away from public schools - resources that could be used for textbooks, supplies, teacher aides, and teacher training.

This research isn't the only report verifying that students achieve as well in public schools as they do in private ones. The pro-voucher U.S. Department of Education quietly released a study last summer that came to the same conclusion after examining student performance over time. You can download and read the entire study here (pdf format).

So if Utah's proposed private school vouchers won't help students achieve more but will drain resources from public schools and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, why have private school vouchers at all??