"What do you think this nation’s priorities should be during the next decade? How would your

[FSogol]

presidency advance those priorities?"

From Martin O'Malley:

The most important thing that we as a people need to get done is to restore the truth of the American dream: that when people work hard, they should be able to get ahead. That dream is in danger of becoming a lie for the vast majority of Americans who see their families slipping further behind. Making it true again will require us to return to the better choices we long made as a country – and to fundamentally rebalance our economy so that it works for everyone, not just the wealthy few. My administration would focus first and foremost on raising wages, not only by increasing the minimum wage, but by strengthening collective bargaining and securing comprehensive immigration reform. At the same time, my administration would hold Wall Street accountable, ending the decades of deregulation that wrecked our economy and accumulated wealth at the top like almost never before. By asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share, I would restore investments in the future of our country — most especially in our students, teachers, and schools.

These choices require better leadership and the ability to get things done. I have 15 years of executive experience, and I have never backed down from a fight. I fought to make these better choices in Maryland, where we put the goal of a stronger middle class at the center of every decision we made. And as a result, we made Maryland one of the top states for upward mobility for families, with the highest median income in the nation, and – since the depths of the recession – a faster rate of job creation than our neighbors in Virginia or Maryland who were mostly trying to cut their way to prosperity. These are the goals we should be setting for our nation, and I believe that with will and leadership we can achieve them.

Whole (long) article here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/07/19/how-clinton-sanders-omalley-answer-unions-questions-about-education/

[elleng]

1. GREAT!

THANKS, FSogol! Glad you're back!


These choices require better leadership and the ability to get things done. I have 15 years of executive experience, and I have never backed down from a fight.

[FSogol]

2. Thanks. Nice to take a short break, but nice to be back too. n/t

[Raine1967]

3. Welcome back FSogol!

Thank you for the wonky afternoon read. I plane on getting ingot he weeds with this one!

[Raine1967]

4. Still perusing, but I noticed that the word urban was only mentioned once.

and it was from MO'M:

Though I support the reauthorization of ESEA, there are a number of areas where the law needs improvements — most notably, a requirement for turning around our lowest-performing schools. This legislation must acknowledge that equitable allocation of resources for our most vulnerable kids is not the same as equal allocation of resources. As a nation, we must commit to concentrating federal dollars where the need is greatest, including in the communities with the most underperforming schools and students. As our well-performing suburban schools find new and innovative ways to connect a child’s learning experience with their real-world environment, our lower-income urban schools can’t be left behind.

He gets this.

BS and MO'M both want to expand Social Security and want to life the cap on the payroll tax. I like that.