-By Israel Teitelbaum
Along with millions of my contemporary Americans, I vividly recall where I stood on November 22, 1963 hearing the shocking news that President John F. Kennedy was shot, and the horrific announcement, “The President of the United States has died.”
I was in my dorm room, with fellow American students studying at the Rabbinical College of Canada, where we had precious little time to delve into politics. Yet, JFK was our hero, who had our respect, admiration, even love.
Little did we know that one year after taking office in January 1961 he had signed Executive Order 10988 that would lead our nation down a long slippery slope resulting in the takeover of all branches of our federal and state governments by leftist forces powerful enough to overwhelm the voting public.
The political Goliath JFK had established reached its ultimate conquest on November 4, 2008 with the election of the most leftist President and Congress our nation has ever known. The recent election of Scott Brown, on the heels of GOP wins in Virginia and Massachusetts, may signal the willingness of voters to slay this giant.
The intended purpose of Executive Order 10988 was to allow public service employees to “contribute to effective conduct of public business.” However, by allowing them to band together into unions and utilize their collective power and influence to hold sway over the public sector, it enabled these unions to usurp the balance of power the Founders had established among the three branches of government and the American voter.
To assure that government’s federal and state power remain with the voter and prevent any one branch from seizing control, the Founders gave each of the three branches limited power. The President can veto bills passed by Congress, and Congress can override a veto and impeach a president. Ultimate power was to remain with the people who could vote both the President and Congress out of office.
With one stroke of his pen, JFK created a new and more powerful entity, with potentially unlimited resources that would ultimately overpower all three branches of the federal and fifty state governments – and the American voter. The National Education Association, along with its state affiliates, wields power over our nation’s enormous educational budget that exceeds that of national defense. The NEA’s annual operational budget, estimated at over $3 billion, greases the wheels of government at all levels and funds many of the leftist organizations that drive American politics.
They man a political army of 3.2 million members, who play a key role in almost every voting district across the country, wielding unmatched influence in both major parties.
If this were not enough, the unions get to indoctrinate our nation’s children to its chosen policies. A prime example of how their influence has impacted public policy is their introduction of sex education into our nation’s public schools in the mid 1960’s. America’s Culture War, including issues such as premarital sex, abortion and gay marriage, can be traced to this one policy initiative. Undoubtedly, the failed liberal social policies of the 1960’s and thereafter are also traceable to our public educational system and Executive Order 10988.
Now that voters in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts have expressed dissatisfaction with politburo-type government, we may be in a key position to take back our government. One way to speed up the process is by completing another of JFK’s favorite causes – civil rights. He did not live to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which mandated equal opportunity in housing, employment and public accommodations. Nor did this legislation fully accomplish its intended purpose.
In order to advance their power and influence, unions were able to limit this legislation by protecting only public education. Parents choosing private or religious-based education for their children would still be subject to discriminatory treatment and denial of educational funding.
The time has surely come to correct this injustice and allow parents to choose the education that best meets the needs of the individual child, without government interference. Parents for Free Choice in Education has proposed Congress pass the D.C. Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity (attached), which would mandate parental choice for parents of the District of Columbia, the only school district in the nation that comes directly under the control and funding of Congress.
Concerned citizens can advance the cause of freedom by sending this proposed bill to their elected representatives and urging sponsorship. This civil rights legislation would be a fitting and worthy farewell to the Kennedys.
Please contact your U.S. Congressman and Senators: http://www.congress.org/
Please keep us informed of developments and any response you may receive.
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Israel Teitelbaum is currently creating a new school choice organization to help further the efforts to improve our public schools. His blog will soon be up and running at SchoolChoiceVoter.org. Mr. Teitelbaum can be reached at israel@schoolchoicenj.org.
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