********online.wsj.com/article/SB125358513141729871.html
Charter Schools Pass Key Test in Study
By JOHN HECHINGER and IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN NewYork City students who win a lottery to enroll in charter schoolsoutperform those who don't win spots and go on to attend traditionalschools, according to new research to be released Tuesday.
The study, led by Stanford University economics Prof. CarolineHoxby, is likely to fire up the movement to push states and schooldistricts to expand charter schools -- one of the centerpieces ofPresident Barack Obama's education strategy.
Should be interesting for you to read , especially since Obama supports it;-)

Mike, if I am a legislator who is pushing an unpopular law - yes I am.
Oleg, with all due respect, i think this is crazy. The reason we have an elective government is so that the elected officials represent their constituency. If you suggest that elected officials should blindly follow popular opinion you should really re-examine how the government of this country works and how it was intended to work.

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

Mike, this is theory. The example that Maria used and which got Ira so worked up, was an individual opinion. So was my answer to you. I, out of all people, don't believe in popular opinions. "The conversation with an average voter is the best argument against democracy". You were asking me a hypothetical question, I was answering it hypothetically.
Now, all this nonsense beside. Do conservatives in this group believe that they are more American than Irina D.?????
I'll go first. I don't.

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Хочу лето (или нормальную зиму)

Oleg, i am confused to what you just said..
I thought your entire argument of being un-American hedged on having an un-popular opinion.

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

it's absolutely un-american to push an unpopular bill...so many legislations have failed because of their unpopularity...the government is all about the will of the people (at least when enacting a legislature)..otherwise, it's more like a dicatorship, and less like a represantative democracy (republic)...

Svetlana, of all the funny things you say this is by far the funniest
I this this should go into a КВН topic (fr) (fr) (fr)

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

Mike, if I was good at political rhetoric, I would be going to some think tank's monthly meeting today, instead of Restaurant Depot to check Christmas Ham prices. My point was that someone who wants to tax Americans to death and to use that money to fund health care for illegals is doing something essentially Anti-American. In theory. Not Ira D., not you, not Julia Stein, not Alexei. But a person who wants American taxpayers to borrow from China to create a Universal Healthcare that will be available for people who don't pay taxes, don't work here and who will go back to their country after being cured. If I'm still confusing you, I give up.

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no wonder it's funny to you, Михаил..:-) I just took a closer look at your pic and realized why you have those wildest ideas about pot and whores - it's because you have a baby face...don't get me wrong - a cute one too ;-) boys fantasies...(H)

Oleg, your point was un-popular = anti-american.
Now you have a new point.. providing coverage to people who pay no taxes - anti-american.
I actually disagree with you on both of those points.. so i guess it makes me anti-american

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

The war in Iraq had about 70% of popularity right before the invasion...
Михаил, I am still waiting for you to nail something...:-)