Ward on Words

Back in 2008, when our economy was in the midst of its nose dive, Warren Buffet stepped in and gave Goldman Sachs a shot in the arm with a $5 billion "investment" in the "bank holding company." At the time, Buffet was quoted in the Guardian as saying: : "Five years from now, ten years from now, we will look back at this period and we will say you could have made some extraordinary buys. "The American economy over a period of time will do very well, and people that own a piece of it will do very well." At that time, he also praised Goldman Sachs for being "an exceptional institution" with an "unrivaled global franchise, a proven and deep management team and the intellectual and financial capital to continue its track record of outperformance." Back then, Buffet's investment boosted confidence in the markets and calmed the markets. Today, Buffet has proved to be right about the "extraordinary buys" to be had...

Parents are beginning to get mad... I live in Illinois, a state on the brink of financial disaster, a state that is looking to shed billions of dollars from its budget. In its quest to shed those billions, it's floating the idea that school districts now must be consolidated from almost 900 districts to 300. This idea of consolidation has sparked a lively dialogue in my community. And from what I see is that parents and (unionized) school employees are united in what we don't want to see happen. We don't want more kids in the classroom. We don't want less teachers. We don't see the value of cutting art, physical education and music from the curriculum. What we want is for our children to have access to the best education we can provide. What I'm also beginning to hear from fellow parents of school-aged children are questions about the current national focus on pumping billions into our financial sector while our schools are beginning to starve for f...