August 22-23 - The Road To Prosperity Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Watch: Procession for a fallen soldier

Pat Toomey joins me at the beginning of this week’s show to discuss both his U.S. Senate campaign and his new book, The Road to Prosperity: How to Grow our Economy and Revive the American Dream. Two new Rasmussen polls reveal that Pennsylvania voters favor Pat over sitting Democratic Senator Arlen Specter 48% to 36% (with 12% not sure). Pennsylvania voters also favor Pat over Democrat Joe Sestak (running against Arlen in the Democratic primary) 43% to 35% (with 18% not sure). Although these numbers are encouraging, Pat reminds us that November 2010 is still a long way off. We need to be vigilant and we must elect candidates who will cut taxes, limit government spending, and overturn restrictive regulations that hurt the private sector, but empower unions and government bureaucrats.

In his book, Pat outlines how a leftist agenda is undermining our economy, and how we must return to free market principles in order to “revive the American Dream.” Pat debunks four “pernicious myths” that dominate left wing rhetoric today, specifically that government subsidies of select industries are good for taxpayers, wage controls are good for workers, fewer imported products are good for consumers, and higher taxes will not slow down economic growth. The Road to Prosperity will leave readers with a better understanding of how the economy works and why Obama’s agenda is destructive for everyone.

If we really wish to be prosperous as individuals and as a nation, we must also reform the education system in America. Unfortunately, by terminating the successful Washington D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program and providing an unprecedented $100 billion in new federal funding exclusively to public schools (through the $787 billion stimulus plan), liberal Democrats and President Obama have made clear that they wish to empower the public teachers’ unions rather than parents and children.

Elder Milton Raiford, headmaster of Imani Christian Academy-an inner city private school-joins me on the program to talk about the benefits of private education. On average, private institutions spend 20% less than public institutions per student and produce better results. In 2005, students attending private schools scored on average 41 points higher than their peers in public schools on both the verbal and math sections of the SAT college entrance exam. They also produced consistently better results on standardized reading, writing and math exams administered in the fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades. And the most dramatic differences between private and public school performance are among minority students. Milton equates education with freedom and believes that federal and state funding needs to follow individual students rather than school systems. Education reform is the real civil rights issue of the 21st century.

Unlike its public school counterparts, Imani Christian Academy offers a holistic educational experience to primarily inner city youth that recognizes the importance of academic, physical, spiritual and social achievement. Students attending Imani are loved and have their physical and spiritual needs met while they are challenged academically.

Remember to check out my column in this Sunday’s Pittsburgh Tribune Review.