Sunday, May 6, 2012
How 'Bout You, Ms. Maddow, "Investing" in Some Research?
Rachel Maddow is so full of bullshit. In one of her recent promos, she claimed that, while we were investing in two long military conflicts, the rest of the world was investing more in education and that we clearly needed to play catch up. That's bull. I mean, yeah, the wars were a mistake and all but the state, local, and federal education budgets all went up markedly under Bush. And in terms of where we stand with the rest of the planet, we currently spend MORE per pupil than any other country on the face of the earth that isn't called Switzerland. That, and the outcomes literally keep getting worse.........................................................................................Look, I don't have a problem with spending on education. But for the left to so constantly point out the obvious lack of bang for the buck in terms of health-care and NOT show a similar concern when it comes to our crappy and overly bloated and bureaucratic educational system seems a little inconsistent (not that I'm necessarily expecting any consistency, mind you).
Just another well documented example of Maddow lying in order to attempt to mislead on political issues.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Maddow knows better. She says made-up stuff like this on purpose for a reason.
Yeah, this one was like, really? We aren't spending ENOUGH on education?
ReplyDeleteThe issue folks is ROI. In the case of education it is poor and declining.
ReplyDeleteOh well, lets just throw some more green at it and hope it works.
Oggly goo.
ReplyDeleteIf you bow at the altar of the teachers union,just WTF kind of return do you expect to get?
ReplyDeleteWhere's the link to the promo? I haven't seen it, so I can't comment on what she said.
ReplyDeleteRachel Maddow is not lying, Will Hart is. Or he's incredibly mistaken. Many other countries pay for post high school education, whereas, in the US, we require people to go massively into debt to get a college degree.
ReplyDeleteHere is an interesting graphic demonstrating what we spend and what we get for it.
ReplyDeleteKind of supports that dollars in and of themselves aren't the key to success and being the best.
DeleteRE: " left to so constantly point out the obvious lack of bang for the buck in terms of health-care and NOT show a similar concern when it comes to our crappy and overly bloated and bureaucratic educational system" -a fair observation. The metrics bear out
ReplyDeletein both cases that some European
countries blow us out of the water in both education and healthcare
cost/benefit ratio. Perhaps a cultural thing, US students avoid
hard classes, we blame teachers
(but a little digging shows teachers in the US work longer
for less pay than some European
countries), we see bumper stickers that say 'my kid can beat up your honor student', and there is little
support for classroom discipline.
Likewise, in the US we find the ER
full of people with sniffles, we
insist on an MRI for slivers and
the healthcare providers spend an
inordinate amount of time arguing
with insurance companies. Culture
may be an important factor, as well
as the population homogeneity of
the European countries. Tis odd that we lead the world in productivity, but in many areas
we really do not get 'bang for the buck'.
How much a country spends in dollars is a completely irrelevant and misleading metric.
ReplyDeleteThose dollars are divided among people and institutions, so the relevant questions are:
1. How much do degrees cost in various countries?
2. What percentage of the budget is dedicated to getting those degrees?
3. How many actual people are educated with the degrees?
4. What is the total population of these getting nations?
5. How many much does a degree cost where you live?
6. What kind of degrees are we talking about?
For one of the richest nations in the world to just compare how much it "spends" is ludicrous.
Also, are we talking about how much it lends or how much it spends? Are we factoring in AR or calling that a loss?
Without the answers to these questions, the question posed is political and otherwise meaningless.
Politicians don't even try to make a system better of fix what is wrong. Their whole existence is to trow money at it and figure out a way to get more when that didn't work.
ReplyDeleteMaddow is a highly educated joke, look at her rating decline, even the hard leftists have abandoned her. The only one she seems to beat is CNN.
I'm not lying OR mistaken, wd. Maddow said that we have been ignoring education over the past dozen years and WE HAVE NOT. We have increased the education budget markedly under both Presidents Bush AND Obama. The fact that you want Uncle Sam to pay for your college education (one of the reasons that college is so expensive these days is precisely BECAUSE the government has been subsidizing it so much to begin with, Mr. Biden essentially having admitted so - have you ever looked at some of those student centers on some of the state universities these days - they're like the fucking Taj Mahal, for Christ) has absolutely nothing to do with what Ms. Maddow was implying. The woman was either being ignorant or lying through her damn teeth.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree. Rachel Maddow doesn't lie, that's Fox Nooz's purview.
ReplyDeleteWill, of course Ms. Maddow doesn't lie. She's a progressive. So since her information, at least as she presented it is inaccurate and she doesn't lie she must be ignorant then. LMFAO! ;)
ReplyDeleteHey, Les, how 'bout Pelosi? Wouldn't you just love to get her on a polygraph and ask her all about those enhanced interrogation techniques? I absolutely would.
ReplyDeleteJohn, the United States spends more per pupil (K-12) than any other country in the industrialized world except for Switzerland (this, while we're currently ranked, what, 25th in the would in Math). That may not be a telling stat to you but it is to me.............BB Idaho and Skudrunner (superior handle, btw), I really appreciate the comments and essentially agree with both of you. A damned total mess, indeed.
ReplyDeleteOh, and, Rusty, I was a teacher for 15 years and I agree with you ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. The teachers unions absolutely ARE a part of the problem. They're anti-reform, pro-bureaucracy, and have essentially created a system in which it is damn near impossible to get rid of a bad teacher. And when I say "a bad teacher" here, I'm actually NOT talking about individuals who are a little dim on the uptake. I'm talking about individuals who abuse their students. It literally takes years and tens of thousands of dollars to get rid of these cretins. The whole situation is ridiculous.
ReplyDelete"I'm talking about individuals who abuse their students."
ReplyDeleteJust what percentage of teachers are we talking about, Will? Are you suggesting that is the solution to our educational problems? And if that's not the solution, why are you even mentioning it? Just trying to get an emotional reaction?
It's a small percentage, Jerry. But a) it costs the tax-payers hundreds of thousands to scurry through this maze and b) what in the hell if that were your kid? You wouldn't want his sorry ass canned ASAP?
ReplyDeleteWill,
ReplyDeleteI was not following the thread closely enough. I somehow thought we we talking about higher education. OK, actually, I was only skimming certain things.
Yes, that is a troubling statistic. Amount spent per pupil is a metric I can get behind.
John, yet again, you've proven yourself to be a reasonable fellow. We really need to get together and hammer out that budget someday.
ReplyDeleteYes Will, it is a very small percentage and yes if it was my kid I would want their ass fired in a New York minute, but it has zero impact on the quality of our educational system which is what I thought we were talking about.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, my point was that the teachers union indeed does precious little to advance the quality of the educational system in this country. They're against meaningful reform, pro-bureaucracy, screw the taxpayer at every turn, and protect those shitty teachers to the hilt.
ReplyDeleteWD said "I do not agree. Rachel Maddow doesn't lie, that's Fox Nooz's purview."
ReplyDeleteShe has been caught in numerous lies. Will has documented it well. Why do you excuse her for it? The (D) after her name? Politics over principle, of course.
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Will: Correct. Hence the opposition to merit pay.
Well, she did make up that story about how the pharmaceutical companies were opposing Obamacare. That one was definitely a whopper. And just recently this whole we haven't been "investing" in education nonsense.
ReplyDelete