• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About

Radio America Online News Bureau

free markets

Conservatives Push ‘Better Deal for Black America’

June 7, 2018 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/6-7-cooper-blog.mp3

Black Americans can escape the cycle of failed schools, rampant poverty, and government dependence if America as a whole embraces the proven values that made our nation the envy of the world, according to a new report from the conservative Project 21 Black Leadership Network.

Entitled “Blueprint for a Better Deal for Black America,” the report offers 57 proposals in ten different policy areas that Project 21 believes would lead to a thriving U.S. and a resurgent black community.

The proposals range from taxes to criminal justice reform to relations between police and local communities, but education is central to the goal of lifting black families to stability and prosperity.

Statistics show just 38 percent of blacks earn a four-year college degree in six years, compared to 62 percent for whites, 63 percent for Asians and almost 46 percent for Hispanics.

Project 21 Co-Chair Horace Cooper says failing schools are not preparing many black students for college.

“What you’re seeing is a disproportionate number of graduates at these places can barely read the diploma that they’re given.  In 2017, six percent of black high school students who took the American College Testing exam (ACT) met the four benchmarks that were necessary for college readiness,” said Horace.

He points out only 35 percent of white students met those benchmarks, along with just under 50 percent of Asians.  Cooper that is an indictment of our public schools across the board.

“In Europe and much of Asia, they are insisting that their education system deliver for their young people.  In America, we’ve been much more interested in letting bureaucrats get cushy jobs and make sure that unions get the support that they need, rather than insisting we absolutely need our kids to be able to read the diploma that we hand them when we graduate,” said Cooper.

He says this is a crisis that must be addressed now.

“The main thing we’re trying to emphasize with this report is that there are certain strategies and policies that have the effect of hurting people who are working class and poor.  Minorities tend to be more disproportionately poor,” said Cooper.

“Our public school systems in too many inner cities are simply failing.  Black Americans are disproportionately enrolled in these failing schools,” he added.

Cooper says nothing has changed despite decades of poor results.

“Many of these cities refuse to incorporate ideas like competition, school choice, opportunities to let the faith community play a role.  And they often have a very hostile attitude about even parental involvement,” said Cooper.

And, in a toxic pattern, inner city students with a poor education see few options when they become adults.

“If you are not equipped to compete in the 21st century marketplace, you are going to suffer dramatically and you may end up feeling forced to pursue non-legal means of providing for yourself,” said Cooper, who says the other common alternative is to live off government assistance programs.

Cooper says local governments need to start threatening to decrease funding unless results improve, instead of throwing good money after bad in failing schools.

He also says America must again embrace the principles that made us the envy of the world.

“It started with the building blocks, family.  It started with faith, free markets, personal responsibility, limited government.  These attitudes, these strategies led to America’s success and they will lead to any group’s success,” said Cooper.

He says liberal intellectuals started gutting those principles and convincing millions of people to follow a different course.

“A bunch of seemingly smart people said we don’t need those things.  ‘Family?  That’s so yesterday.  We need Washington, D.C., bureaucrats to come in and dictate.  We need massive government.  Free markets can’t be trusted,'” said Cooper.

Cooper says Ronald Reagan proved twenty years later that the ethos of the 1960’s was wrong but the fight still goes on to return to the formula for American success.  Cooper is confident it’s not too late.

“If we do it again with intentionality, we can do it in America and end a lot of the poverty that we see,” said Cooper.

Share

Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: blacks, bureaucracy, faith, family, free markets, news, schools, spending, unions

FCC Commissioner Explains Push to Roll Back Net Neutrality

November 29, 2017 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/11-29-carr-blog.mp3

On December 14, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to roll back Obama-era internet regulations, a move that one commissioner says will reinvigorate broadband innovation and reduce the government’s influence over the internet while keep important consumer protections in place.

“We have five commissioners at the FCC.  Each commissioner gets to cast their own vote their own way.  I’ll be voting ‘yes’ in favor of this plan.  So we should know right then as soon as the gavel strikes where the votes are and the public will get to see it,” said Brendan Carr, who was nominated to the FCC by President Trump earlier this year.  He was confirmed and sworn in to his post in August.

The FCC effort is in response to a 2015 decision to apply Title II of the 1934 Communications Act to the internet.  Democratic appointees controlled the panel at the time and made the changes out of fears that internet service providers, or ISP’s, would soon be in a position to demand the purchase of services at whatever prices they wished.

Known as net neutrality, Carr says the new rules badly misapplied laws designed to address telephone service and actually wound up with the federal government micromanaging the internet and its providers.

“[Title II] arises from the 1930’s and was designed to regulate the Ma Bell telephone monopoly.  It’s not designed to regulate a fast-moving, competitive marketplace.  Pursuant to that re-classification, it then adopted a series of open internet rules,” said Carr.

Other than keeping some consumer protections, Carr says the policing of the ISP’s will effectively revert to the way the internet operated before 2015.  Nonetheless, opposition to the plan is fierce.

Critics fear the major ISP’s – AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon – will force smaller players out of the marketplace and be free to burden consumers with mandates and higher prices.

Some activists go so far as to accuse FCC Chairman Ajit Pai of murdering democracy through this initiative.

“There is a lot of fear-mongering out there.  Someone wrote me, saying that without the FCC’s Title II, Justin Bieber never would have been discovered online because he was discovered through YouTube videos.  He was discovered long before the FCC’s 2015 Title II decision.

“I get it.  This is the internet.  This is the government being in this space.  People are naturally reacting very passionately but it’s misplaced at the end of the day,” said Carr.

For casual internet users, perhaps little seems to have changed since 2015.  So what impact has net neutrality had in the past two years?

“Over the last two years, we’ve seen a decline in investment in broadband networks as a result of the Title II re-classification.

“We’ve also seen ISP’s that were going to upgrade the networks, that were going to deploy new antennas, to get get new services out there pull back on those new deployments.  We’ve seen some innovative new offerings from providers that have been kept on the shelf because of this massive regulatory overreach that’s associated with Title II,” said Carr.

He says reverting to the previous standards, known as Title I, many of these frustrations will fade away.

“We’re going back to the model we had in 2015.  There’s a lot of confusion about eliminating all protections that consumers have online.  Far from it.  There are numerous consumer protections that are going to be at the core of net neutrality that are going to stay in place, just like we had them in 2015,” said Carr.

In fact, Carr says Title II actually eroded key consumer protections provided by the Federal Trade Commission and the current FCC proposal would revive them,

“By reversing Title II, we re-vest the Federal Trade Commission with authority to protect consumers that come into place because of that.

“Relatedly, consumers care passionately about their personal information and privacy online.  The FTC is the nation’s premier enforcement body when it comes to online privacy.  But again, because of Title II, that authority as it applies to ISP’s has been carved out.  We haven’t had those protections for the past two years.  We’re going to get more privacy protections as a result of this vote,” said Carr.

One of the great fears of those opposed to the current FCC plan is that rolling back net neutrality would give too much power to internet service providers.  For example, they’re concerned providers could force you to use their products as a condition of being a customer and then jack up prices as much as they wish.

Carr says he’s heard that concern but doesn’t think there’s much evidence that it will happen.  He says net neutrality did nothing for the price of internet service.

“Title II is not the thin line between where we are today and some of those stories that you’re talking about, price regulation for instance.  Title II, right now, is not directing the prices ISP’s charge.  Title II is not stopping them from offering bundled services or a curated internet experience.

“We didn’t see it before Title II.  We’re not seeing it during Title II.  There’s other reasons for that, including competition, fear of subscriber loss from engaging in that conduct.  Those other reasons that we’re not seeing will stay in place after Title II.  It’s a misplaced view of what Title II is doing right now,” said Carr.

Carr believes all sides will benefit from the government taking more of a hands-off approach to the internet.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a downside after moving forward with this.  I think ISP’s are going to continue to invest, consumers are going to continue to have a free and open internet.  And the edge providers – like NetFlix, Twitter and Facebook – are also going to continue to be able to benefit from a free and open internet,” said Carr.

Standard Podcast [ 10:22 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Share

Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Ajit Pai, Brendan Carr, FCC, free markets, internet, internet service providers, net neutrality, news

Primary Sidebar

Recent

  • DeSantis vs. Newsom, House Expels Santos, Is Biden Abandoning Israel?
  • Remembering Henry Kissinger, Hamas Kills More Israeli Civilians, Trump Supported by BLM?
  • Is Biden Getting Tough on Iran? Trump’s Twitter & Your Speech, The Feds & Mayor Adams
  • Biden’s Inflation Reality Check, Joe Wilts Under Leftist Pressure, Education Sec. Flunks Reagan 101
  • U.S. Navy Thwarts Houthi Attack, The Israel-Hamas Pause, The U.S.-Canada Border Explosion

Archives

  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in