I agree somewhat with Commodore's proposal. I'm no wedded ideologically to having or not having a Dept. of Education. I don't think the Constitution forbids it but that doesn't mean it needs to exist. I think we need some standards in education but I think a lot of our current system, especially at the Federal level, is overly bureacractic and not doing that much to improve education levels.
As a teacher working in a 100% title I school, I can guarantee you that the poor of our nation rely very heavily on the DoE and Federal funding. It's doing a huge amount for that community. Those funds pay for a lot our school's budget.
I agree that they do but at the sametime I don't think that the Dept. of Ed. is doing a very good job and from what I have heard from educators is that things Federal mandates like No Child Left Behind are helping improve US education. If anything it seems like Federal control is interfering with flexibility and innovations in education that could improve things. I haven't spent enough time researching the issue to make specific proposals but I think that we should consider vouchers and competition. Considering that we give out Pell Grants I believe some system modelled on that would be helpful for primary and secondary education.
Reality Check What's annoying to me is that these are the same folks who criticized Al Gore et. al. for investing in green energy schemes.
I saw this article last night and almost posted it, but I thought I’d get a bunch of “well….DUH!!” posts. I’ve suspected all along that this entire Tea Party nonsense was just a rouse cooked up by a bunch of brain-dead talk radio hosts in order to up their ratings. Doesn’t surprise me at ALL to read this about Beck. I remember hearing him 3 or 4 years ago on 950 (in Houston) trying to copy Phil Hendrie’s brilliant shtick of having fake callers call into his show. Unlike Phil (who voices the “callers” himself, and is actually very funny), Beck was too stupid to pull it off in even a mildly amusing manner and the bit predictably crashed and burned. Fast forward to after the election, and all the sudden he’s a political commentator? Who people actually take seriously?? WTF?? And like I’ve said a million times, he’s laughing all the way to the bank.
No kidding. There are times that I wish that I had the moral flexibility to compromise my belief system so that I could pursue a show on Fox, but even with Beck money, I don't think I could live with myself.
I dbout if fox shows up with a couple mils a year you would turn down the opportunity to be Beck II, I know I would probably say anything they want.
Where is the tea party outrage over the Arizona illegal immigrant round up bill? This is far more blatant of govt. disturbing the private lives, and stomping over people's rights than health care, taxes or anything else they've been upset about. They aren't even raising a whisper about this. It's more obvious everyday that their real beef is with Democrats, and not about the supposed principles they claim to hold so dear.
I think the tea party is only interested in protesting things they don't want for themselves. If you mandate Christian religion as the national religion of the United States, tea party would be all for it.
They'd consider it a "states rights" issue. Just like how Romney and Scott Brown weasel out of how much they love their healthcare plan but not "Obamacare".
Actually, most of them don't even KNOW what they're protesting. I know some people who support this "movement" and when I politely ask them specifically what they are so upset about, they respond with nothing but hollow empty bumper-sticker slogans like "We want our country back" or "no one is representing us" etc. Much like the people in the OP video. I honestly think many of them are new to politics and want to FEEL like they're getting involved, but they don't really want to take the time to learn about the issues, so they just take the easy way out and listen to Sean Hannity and Glen Beck and assume they know what they're talking about. That gives them (what they think is) all the ammo they need to pretend like they are more knowledgable than they really are so they can impress their friends with their supposed political acumen.
Not really a TEA Party thing, but one of my relatives (aunt) just joined a Facebook group "I hope Rick Perry has the same guts as the Arizona governor". Relatives will be relatives, I suppose.
I guess I get the same the feeling about it. b-bob(I think) had a great post about this. Along the same lines but probably quite not so eloquently stated, change is scary. Healthcare alone is a big change that will make things different than they've every been. The president looks different, and a lot of the people he's appointing don't look the same. It isn't just that he looks different, it's that the world around has changed enough that a majority of voters wanted someone who looked different. If people are then filling their heads with things that aren't true, but make it seem like more of a dramatic change, it can be frightening and make it seem even scarier.
