The Bulworth Solution: Try It Now!

All we need is a voluntary, free-spirited, open-ended program of racial deconstruction…. Everybody gotta start f***in’ everybody till we’re all the same color.

           Senator Jay Bulworth, as played by writer-director Warren Beatty in the movie, Bulworth (1998).  (Listen to the whole speech HERE)

Last October, German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced multi-culturalism at a meeting of young Christian Democrats (her political party).  She cited a study that found that 13 percent of Germans would welcome a “Führer” to run the country “with a firm hand.” Some 60 percent of Germans would “restrict the practice of Islam,” and 17 percent think Jews have “too much influence,” according to the study.

This past week, British Prime Minister David Cameron echoed her words, pointing to the failure of “multi-culturalism” in the UK as a factor in national security. He noted that home grown terrorism in the UK was not always the product of poverty. Terrorists, such as those who perpetrated the London bombings in 2005, were middle class. The failure, in Mr. Cameron’s view, is that “we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream.” He believes that the UK should strongly defend its values and culture and let it be known that those who don’t believe as does the mainstream should find someplace else to live.

Open borders and an influx of immigrants from the Middle East have challenged Western Europe in ways that we can only imagine. However, America has an extraordinary history of absorbing and integrating foreigners. Perhaps the so-called LEADERS of these great European democracies should study our success before giving up.

The Irish, Germans and Scandinavians who came here in the 19th Century were followed by Japanese and Italians in the 20th. All faced resistance from the establishment at first. However, they brought up their children here. By the second or third generation, the children and grandchildren of these immigrants had become as American as the Britons and Scots who revolted against the British crown at the birth of this nation. As a resident of South Florida, I can tell you that the children of the Cuban, Puerto Rican and South and Central American immigrants who predominate here want to act like their American peers by age 6, have unlimited texting on their cell phone by 12 and to be driving and dating by age 18.

One of the challenges of last year’s census was how to “classify” its respondents. The NY Times, this week, published the story of Michelle Lopez-Mullins who is of Peruvian, Chinese, Irish, Shawnee and Cherokee descent. How did the government classify her? It depends on which cabinet department you ask. The Department of Education classifies her as “Hispanic” so they can measure the educational progress of that “class”. Meanwhile, the National Center for Health Statistics classified her as Asian and Hispanic. But, if she had no “Hispanic” in her background, she will be classified in the “two or more races” category along with the children of black and white couples or Asian and American Indian parents.

While many here have been concerned that Latinos do not want to be integrated into our society, the College Board reported this week 14.6% (an increase of 2.6%) of US high school seniors who passed an Advanced Placement exam in 2010 were Latino. This, despite the fact that 41% of Latino’s over the age of 20 have no high school diploma.

One can only wonder how Mr. Cameron and Ms. Merkel would respond to that. Perhaps they should consider how the provincialism of European societies dooms multi-culturalism. Perhaps they should consider that their LEADERSHIP role requires them to address the challenge rather than to denounce its failure.

As for the US? Well, maybe it’s time to stop “classifying” people.

The forbears of Ms. Lopez-Mullins didn’t really care about their classification. Their multi-racial, multi-cultural multi-copulations were the product of sexual attraction, pheromones, whatever! Indeed, the Times story reported that one in seven births is the result of a multi-racial relationship.

So, it seems that we are taking Senator Bulworth’s advice. Maybe we’ll all be the same color someday.

From Zell to Fiscal Hell

“A college education should be more than an item of currency to be traded on the job market. To view it solely as an economic asset is to devalue it.” – Zell Miller, former Governor and US Senator representing the state of Georgia

I would like to welcome a guest blogger this week, my brother Christopher.  Chris has been actively involved in matters pertaining to public education for several years and has served as Chair of the Georgia House District 103 Education Advisory Board to Rep. David Casas.  A few weeks ago, the NY Times published an article titled, Georgia Facing a Hard Choice on Free Tuition.  I asked Chris for his view and here is what he wrote:


I have lived in Georgia since 1981. While the state has many things to boast about, public education is not one of them. For the past 30 years, student achievement has ranked at the bottom or near the bottom of state rankings. Every Governor comes into office vowing to make measurable improvements in education and most fall short. One significant exception was when Gov. Zell Miller fulfilled a campaign promise to institute a State Lottery and use the proceeds solely for public education.

The controversial Georgia Lottery law was written so that the funds could only be used for three specific purposes: Pre-K programs available to every family at no cost, technology for primary and secondary school systems, and the HOPE scholarship.

HOPE stands for Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally. The program provides that any student who maintains at least a B average will not pay any tuition when attending a post-secondary program in a Georgia public college. The HOPE Scholarship is based on merit, not means.

A recent NY Times article talked about students at The University of Georgia driving “HOPEmobiles” which are cars given to students from families with means. The parents don’t have to pay tuition, so they reward their kids with cars. But, to talk about HOPE as giving money to families who don’t need it misses the point. The principle of HOPE is that it rewards hard work. You give something; you get something.

The HOPE Scholarship program has had many consequences for Georgia; both intended and unintended. Over the past two decades, many of our top high school students have stayed in-state for college when they may have otherwise gone out-of-state. This has swelled the rolls of many of Georgia’s colleges, created a demand for new colleges to be built, and increased competition for admission to the top schools. The University of Georgia, for instance, once was accessible to average students. Now, it’s the hardest public school in the state to get into.

The demand for HOPE money has increased as attendance in Georgia’s post-secondary schools increased. Then, as the economy declined and the state cut the education budget, colleges have had to raise tuition and fees. The result is that HOPE’s liabilities now far outstrip its funding mechanism. The newly elected Governor, Nathan Deal, has had to propose some tough and unpopular choices. Do we increase the GPA requirement, reduce the percent of tuition covered, or institute means testing?

Attempts to duplicate the success of HOPE at the national level have fallen short. Tax credits for education involve complex IRS rules and only rebate you after the money is spent. A federal education loan is good but it has to be paid back. A recently released government report indicates that the total outstanding education debt held by Americans is greater than that owed on credit cards. Has the ease of getting these loans created another economic “bubble” waiting to burst?

Few would disagree that a well-educated work force is key to our future success in this global economy. While we used to view a high school education as the door to opportunity, increasingly that is not enough. Persons without a college degree, on average, have seen lower pay and higher unemployment. Few parents would discourage their children from seeking a college degree, but more are having trouble paying for it.

America has the finest post-secondary educational institutions in the world. That’s one reason why colleges are bulging with enrollment of foreign students. Should the best and brightest Americans be excluded because it’s too expensive? For once, the politicians in Georgia got it right. While HOPE will certainly change with the current economic realities, it’s not going away. Good students in Georgia will continue to have opportunity regardless of their means. The question is why other states haven’t followed Georgia’s lead.

Since 1993, the Georgia Lottery has generated $5 billion for education. So, go out and buy a lottery ticket and feel good about it. We shouldn’t be “HOPE-less”, we need to invest in the next generation.

- Chris Calia

Christopher Calia graduated cum laude from the University of Virginia and received his Masters in Mechanical Engineering from M.I.T.  He was a national Fellow in Nuclear Engineering and now runs a small, private software company.  He clearly values the education he was fortunate enough to receive, and is a frequent activist on legislative issues related to education.


In my last posting, I repeated the oft spouted phrase that governing is about choosing.  Clearly, we are all facing some tough choices which will create controversy and disillusion many Americans.  The only question is:

WHO WILL LEAD?