Bush, Kasich get F grades on Common Core, group says (Cruz A-; Trump B-)

Jeb Bush and John Kasich get failing grades on Common Core, while Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are the only Republicans running for president to escape blame on the thorny education issue, according to a new analysis from a conservative think tank.

The Hill got an exclusive first look at a report card produced by the American Principles in Action that grades the GOP candidates on how fiercely they oppose Common Core, the set of education standards that were adopted by 46 states five years ago but have since become toxic with the conservative base

Nearly the entirety of the Republican presidential field is opposed to Common Core. Even those such as Bush who support Common Core argue that it has been hijacked by the federal government and wrongly imposed on the states. Or they seek to frame it as a higher standard that can serve as an alternative to the status quo.

However, the APIA grades show that few Republicans have a consistent record on the matter. And the 55-page report is evidence that for many conservatives, it’s not enough for the candidates to merely qualify past support or argue in favor of higher standards.

“The Common Core is a touchstone for Republicans, and they should be making a bigger deal of it,” the authors wrote. .....

Donald Trump

Overall Grade: B -

On several occasions, Trump has criticized Jeb Bush for support ing Common Core. At the Iowa Freedom Summit in January, Trump told the crowd, “[Bush is] totally in favor of Common Core – that’s a disaster – it’s bad . It should be local and all of that.” 168

At the Iowa Family Leadership Conference , Trump stated: “Common Core has to be ended. It’s a disaster. It’s a way of taking care of the people in Washington that, frankly, I don’t even think they give a damn abou t education, half of them. And I’m sure some of you maybe do.” 169

Trump has struck a chord with the Republican base, something many would have thought unlikely a year ago. Citizens view him as having the courage and will to stand and fight, something that many GOP candidates h ave seemed to lack in years past . As the primary cycle wears on, the base will want to hear more detail from Trump as well as other candidates. The candidate who does this will engender the gratitude of parents and other citizens. Trump would do well to blaze the trail on this .

https://www.americanprinciplesinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/Common-Core-Report.pdf

Who has been raising the most hard money?

Trump - he raises it from himself. That’s legal, and has to be under the First Amendment. Actually, if you really live under the First Amendment, the FEC goes away entirely. Along with the FCC, for that matter.
The real scandal of “the media” is simply that there is such a unified entity. The reality is that if to look honestly at
People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary. - Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations
you would look at the wire services - the Associated Press, yes, but all of them - and realize that whatever special interest might inhere in being a journalist with other fellow journalists would have to work to the detriment of the public through the medium of the AP.
The man whom we believe is necessarily, in the things concerning which we believe him, our leader and director, and we look up to him with a certain degree of esteem and respect. But as from admiring other people we come to wish to be admired ourselves; so from being led and directed by other people we learn to wish to become ourselves leaders and directors . . .
The desire of being believed, the desire of persuading, of leading and directing other people, seems to be one of the strongest of all our natural desires. - Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)
It is only to be expected that journalists would want to be believed and would want to lead the country - and it is only to be expected that, via the mechanism of the wire services in general and the AP in particular, they would conspire to do so. The public, therefore, needs to take Smith’s warning that
The natural disposition is always to believe. It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing.
very seriously. People who dismiss questioning “the media” should be viewed with suspicion bordering on contempt. “The media” is not objective. “The media” does not deserve, nor does the Constitution grant a “title of nobility” or a “priesthood” to journalists. The government can’t legally regulate “the press” no matter how pro-regulation journalists might be. And are.
The FEC is illegitimate.

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