Recruiters have to be brave in order to keep working. They have to make dozens of calls every night to high school students at home. They are in essence nothing more than super aggressive sales people trying to sign young people up to a life of killing and violence.

Surveys show that fear of death is a powerful motivator that keeps those same students out of the military, even with the bribes of college tuition, sign up “bonuses” and the supposed benefits of “honor”, medals and more.

One survey shows that those fears doubled from the year 2000 to 2004, despite assurances from the administration that the war in Iraq is good for everyone. What is war worth if it means getting killed, especially when that war was based on lies and deception, (as most wars are)?

The military faces a huge problem because they base their fundamental strategy on an all volunteer force. Recruiting volunteers is a policy that has been in place since 1973, when the draft was eliminated.

For the last several decades, the corporate establishment, because of their control of the media, gained more and more control of the country. However, after the 2000 election, which won voter fraud in Florida and by the bizarre action of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, a great mobilization took place that was aimed at winning the next election. The accomplishments of this mobilization were phenomenal. A coalition of traditional democrats, old lefties, and new activists matched the tremendous 150 million dollar war chest accumulated by the Republicans. Theirs came from corporations and rich donors, ours mostly from small donations from more ordinary people. Then, we register millions of new voters—mothers, minorities, and young people—and they voted.

We stuck to the right issues—the mistake of going to war, the lose of good jobs, the huge tax give away to the wealthy and its consequences to our economy, the destruction of our environment, our failed medical delivery system, the erosion of our civil liberties, our loss of respect and support in the world, and the government’s lying to us on the reasons for going to war.

(Columbus, Ohio) – The Ohio Federation of Teachers calls on Ohio lawmakers to improve the state’s economic future by ending a long history of insufficient funding for higher education.

Enrollment at Ohio’s colleges and universities has increased over the last five years while state funding has declined. Between 1999 and 2003 the state cut more than $300 million dollars from the Board of Regent’s budget. During this period, state support dropped by about $1,600 per student and although tuition increased by an average of $1,300 per student, tuition hikes have not made up for all of the loss of state funding.

Ohio ranks 40th in the nation when it comes to state support for higher education. Only 10 states provide fewer dollars for state colleges and universities.

Funding cuts coupled with an enrollment increase of 17 percent (more than 50,000 students) and inflation at about 15 percent during that time have made it difficult for Ohio’s colleges and universities to offer the necessary quality and diverse programming.