Michigan lawmakers have already approved nearly $800 million in tax abatements and cash incentives for the forthcoming Gotion plant in Big Rapids, but the deal is still on the tips of tongues among the state’s congressional delegation.

First up, Rep. John James, R-Farmington Hills, introduced the No American Tax Dollars to CCP bill in April. The bill would prohibit public giveaways for “battery components manufactured or assembled by corporations associated with foreign entities of concern,” a restriction that would have prevented Michigan’s incentives to Gotion, a company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Then, last week, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, took to the House floor to speak out against the deal.

McClain called the Gotion deal a “blatant attempt to overtake our state.” McClain added, in remarks published in the Congressional Record.

The CCP is using one of their state-controlled companies to implant thousands of Chinese workers and billions worth of Chinese technology just outside of Big Rapids. ...

Gotion is bought and paid for by the CCP, and let's be clear: the CCP is not our friend.

Pictured below is the full text of McClain’s speech, which was titled “Gotion: Bought and paid for by the CCP.”

When does five equal seven? When the U.S. secretary of education is arguing that teachers know their students best, “because they are with them every day.”

The full May 19 tweet from Education Secretary Miguel Cardona reads:

Teachers know what is best for their kids because they are with them every day. We must trust teachers.

Parents send their kids to school to learn reading, writing and arithmetic. Not social and emotional learning. Not critical race theory. Not that 2 + 2 = 5. (And 5 = 7.)

Schools across America have veered from their expertise into these non-academic matters by choice, not popular demand. That’s not trustworthy. It bespeaks a field that has chosen the easy way out. Schools can’t teach kids anymore. So instead they affirm them.

Every time a parent drops off a child at school, that is an act of trust. It’s on teachers to retain that trust. Trust is hard-earned, easily lost, and never to be assigned blindly.

“Teachers know what is best for their kids” was put to the test during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it was teachers unions that led the push for extended school closures in cities like Detroit, insisting on a litany of concessions before deigning to return to in-person teaching.

This was an odd way for teachers to treat “their kids” — denying them the in-person teaching they signed up for, and whose lack they suffered for.

Teachers need to stick to the script. Reading, writing, and arithmetic. Keeping schools open for the majority of students who prefer in-person schooling.

Mother and father know best. Teachers need to stay in their lane.