"The second purpose [of the bill] was to increase the number of children receiving sex education. Illinois’ existing law required the teaching of sex education and AIDS prevention in grades six through twelve. The old law read:
Each class or course in comprehensive sex education offered in any of grades 6 through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention, transmission and spread of AIDS.
Senate Bill 99 struck out grade six, changing it to kindergarten, in addition to making a few other changes in wording. It read:
Each class or course in comprehensive sex education in any of grades K through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV. (emphasis added)
Certainly, Obama wasn't flat out lying about the part about protecting elementary schoolers from sexual predators - the bill contains a small section on that. However, in no way does it comprise a majority of the bill nor can it be said to be the bill's primary purpose. Furthermore, while the bill may not explicitly state that teachers must educate children about the actual "act of sex" it is a mystery to me how it would be possible to teach about STDs without mentioning how they are transmitted and what their symptoms are. Yes?
Another fun nugget of cheerfulness - TNS Media Intelligence Campaign Media Analysis Group (TNSMI/CMAG) and the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project analyzed the political ads being (officially) produced/sponsored by each respective campaign. Both campaigns are spending approximately $15 million per week across all states and territories (about $7.8 million per candidate/week). McCain's ads are typically paid for by McCain and the RNC while 97 percent of Obama's ads are paid for solely by his campaign. The study found that 77 percent of Obama's ads qualify as "negative" while only 56 percent of McCain's are "negative. The organization is nonpartisan.
In case you're curious, the breakdown by state:
Table 1: Advertising Spending by State
| McCain | Obama |
Colorado | $553,000 | $522,000 |
Florida | $1,040,000 | $1,327,000 |
Iowa | $352,000 | $148,000 |
Indiana | None | $263,000 |
Michigan | $761,000 | $954,000 |
Minnesota | $472,000 | $18,000 |
Missouri | $353,000 | $504,000 |
Montana | None | $37,000 |
North Carolina | $245,000 | $300,000 |
North Dakota | <$1,000 | $22,000 |
New Hampshire | $225,000 | $172,000 |
New Mexico | $214,000 | $155,000 |
Nevada | $365,000 | $297,000 |
Ohio | $812,000 | $801,000 |
Pennsylvania | $1,612,000 | $948,000 |
Virginia | $312,000 | $868,000 |
Wisconsin | $487,000 | $432,000 |
* Money spent by the Obama campaign in Minnesota was in the Rochester market,which also covers parts of northern Iowa.
Anyway...happy day for us! McCain's bounce is certainly finished, but if he continues the emphasis on the economy and keeps us thinking about my girl Sarah, I think the polls will remain close if not tied until November 4th. :-) Happy reading!
Links!!
Illinois SB 99 www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=3&GA=93&DocTypeId=SB&DocNum=0099&GAID=3&LegID=734&SpecSess=&Session=
Negative campaign data:
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/obamas_run_more_negative_ads.php
3 comments:
Obviously this bill was drafted to include K through 12 not because anyone wanted to teach kindergartners to have sex, but because the drafters wanted to ensure that anytime sex ed was taught, that STD information was taught as well. The broad language of the bill made sure no matter the grade, the information got portrayed.
I had my first sex ed ("family life" in VA) class in 5th grade. The original language of "6 through 12" would have left out that class. It is just an umbrella used to cover all bases.
Why do we keep focusing on these fake issues instead of focusing on things that actually affecting people, like I dunno, the economy - the crashing of the market under the Republican "let the fat cats do whatever they want and have the taxpayers pay to bail them out", upside down style of socialism.
Lipstick.
yes, because the dems have a great history of economic policy.
let's just put charlie rangel in charge.
I'm pretty sure the economy did just fine in the 90s under Clinton. You know the president who rescued us after the first Bush ruined the economy?
"It's the economy (again) stupid."
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