if U.S. doubled education funding

[24901miles]

The entire Republican Party would go extinct.

Let's review every conversation we have ever read on the internet:
1. An educated person brings up an interesting question
2. An uneducated person explains it from the Republican perspective
3. Many educated people explain to the Republican why he is wrong, he ignores evidence
4. Many Republicans filter through the conversation and add in their 2¢, ignoring the entire thread
5. Many educated people pass by the gawk at the silly Republicans

My hypothesis is that the GOP leadership knows full well that if the populace was better-educated, their party would sink and they would no longer be capable of using other people as wage slaves.

Discuss.

[Entice]

Arise, comrades! Our moment has come!

[Xenomit]

I would just like to state publicly (because several people have already asked me this via pm) that I'm not a republican.

I'm not an anything. I have my own views, some of them are shared by republicans, some of them are shared by democrats, some of them are shared by liberals, lots of them are shared by libertarians.

And quite frankly, anyone who makes up their mind about an issue before they even hear it should be nowhere near politics.

[Fim]

The problem with the GOP is that they are trying to appeal to a minority group and not adapting to the shifting voting public in the US. It doesn't really boil down to a matter of who's side is more educated, but more are you overall a better option than your opponent.

[DarkMatter]

I'm convinced that both political parties are a front in order to get hard working people to fight against each other as opposed to improving our lives.

[mothballs]

You do realize that the Department of Education is a federal agency, and yet the federal government has pretty much no power over education. Education is run by the state government and thus the DoE has proven to be almost completely useless.

[Natick]

ok, i'm not the most political person in the world and there are very few issues i care about even though they could be considered more liberal concerns (gay marriage, ending the drug war) but i've always wondered at what point or points in american history did the republican party go from being the group that advocated limited government and personal freedom more than any other, even to the point of abolishing slavery to being well, what it is now? i can understand why they're hated now, hell even one of their own party members said at a convention that they need to stop being the party for idiots or something of the sort, i can't remember exactly who, jimmy was his first name, i think

[BurningJesus]

At 12/6/13 02:19 AM, DarkMatter wrote: I'm convinced that both political parties are a front in order to get hard working people to fight against each other as opposed to improving our lives.

Really? I thought the government shutdown was just a cooperated effort to give more time to fully solve the issue of the United States debt.

[JRob]

>Implying that the Democratic party cares about education any more than the GOP does
>Independent master race
>greentext because I want to

The big two are too caught up in trivial matters to care about education because people are too fucking stupid and buy into such trivial issues; and since education is pushed to the side, we get more stupid people who perpetuate superficial issues and continue the cycle by pushing the issue of education to the side again.

[Xenomit]

At 12/6/13 02:21 AM, Natick wrote: even one of their own party members said at a convention that they need to stop being the party for idiots or something of the sort, i can't remember exactly who, jimmy was his first name, i think

Bobby Jindal

He's the governor of Louisiana

[Suprememessage]

At 12/6/13 02:09 AM, 24901miles wrote: The entire Republican Party would go extinct.

Let's review every conversation we have ever read on the internet:
1. An educated person brings up an interesting question
2. An uneducated person explains it from the Republican perspective
3. Many educated people explain to the Republican why he is wrong, he ignores evidence
4. Many Republicans filter through the conversation and add in their 2¢, ignoring the entire thread
5. Many educated people pass by the gawk at the silly Republicans

My hypothesis is that the GOP leadership knows full well that if the populace was better-educated, their party would sink and they would no longer be capable of using other people as wage slaves.

Discuss.

I don't care if you are trying to be funny/offensive, that is literally the most accurate representation of the Republican party ever written.

[DarkMatter]

At 12/6/13 02:27 AM, SexualEmo wrote:
Really? I thought the government shutdown was just a cooperated effort to give more time to fully solve the issue of the United States debt.

lol you said government and effort in the same sentence.

[Feoric]

At 12/6/13 02:21 AM, mothballs wrote: You do realize that the Department of Education is a federal agency, and yet the federal government has pretty much no power over education. Education is run by the state government and thus the DoE has proven to be almost completely useless.

I'm curious, what exactly is it that you think the Department of Education does?

[24901miles]

At 12/6/13 02:27 AM, SexualEmo wrote:

At 12/6/13 02:19 AM, DarkMatter wrote: I'm convinced that both political parties are a front in order to get hard working people to fight against each other as opposed to improving our lives.

Really? I thought the government shutdown was just a cooperated effort to give more time to fully solve the issue of the United States debt.

No, dude. The Government Shutdown (and it's not over, it's paused. The GS resumes in January) is literally the result of the GOP Gerrymandering (read: cheating) in the 2010 elections cycle in order to win the House of Representatives, and then dragging their feet, refusing to cooperate with the House Democrats, Senate Democrats, and even the Senate Republicans and some non-Tea Party House Republicans on any issues that actually need to be resolved, all to make power plays in the interest of corporations who want more tax loopholes and fewer laws which help the common worker. The shittiest part of their desperate ploy was an attempt to market the Government Shutdown as something which was caused by the Democrats, or something that was caused by a bilateral disagreement. The second shittiest part was the Tea Party H-Reps heading out on the first day of that $24 BILLION shutdown to try to make it seem like they were being sympathetic to some WWII vet's memorial trip when in fact it was caused by their refusal to pass a budget.

These are the people who are the climate change deniers, the ones who ask whether NASA's latest telescope will help us talk to God, and vote against providing aid to natural disaster victims. These people are fucking idiots, they were elected by fucking idiots. If you live in a voting district which is represented by a Teapublican, you or your neighbors are probably fucking idiots.

[mothballs]

At 12/6/13 02:38 AM, Feoric wrote:

At 12/6/13 02:21 AM, mothballs wrote: You do realize that the Department of Education is a federal agency, and yet the federal government has pretty much no power over education. Education is run by the state government and thus the DoE has proven to be almost completely useless.

I'm curious, what exactly is it that you think the Department of Education does?

Everything to help education, like assisting and collecting data. But you're completely missing my point. I'm saying how on a federal level it doesn't do much since education is primarily run by the states.

[BurningJesus]

At 12/6/13 02:38 AM, 24901miles wrote:

At 12/6/13 02:27 AM, SexualEmo wrote:

Really? I thought the government shutdown was just a cooperated effort to give more time to fully solve the issue of the United States debt.

werdz

That was a lot of typing for my purposefully stupid statement.

[Xenomit]

At 12/6/13 02:38 AM, 24901miles wrote: Teapublican

lol

That's the funniest word I've heard all week

[Feoric]

At 12/6/13 02:41 AM, mothballs wrote: Everything to help education, like assisting and collecting data. But you're completely missing my point. I'm saying how on a federal level it doesn't do much since education is primarily run by the states.

Yes and no. State and school districts are in charge of curriculum and educational standards with the exception of No Child Left behind. The ED mainly serves as a central hub for coordinating issues regarding education between states, as well as enforcing federal laws against discrimination in the education system on top of being the largest provider of financial aid. it does a lot more than you give them credit for.

[mothballs]

At 12/6/13 02:49 AM, Feoric wrote: Yes and no. State and school districts are in charge of curriculum and educational standards with the exception of No Child Left behind. The ED mainly serves as a central hub for coordinating issues regarding education between states, as well as enforcing federal laws against discrimination in the education system on top of being the largest provider of financial aid. it does a lot more than you give them credit for.

And yet Florida's public education system completely differs from that of Massachusetts. Looks like they didn't do too well there.

[Feoric]

At 12/6/13 02:55 AM, mothballs wrote: And yet Florida's public education system completely differs from that of Massachusetts. Looks like they didn't do too well there.

Like I said, the DE is not a centralized organization when it comes to curriculum. This was never up for debate and was not disagreeing with you on that point. You said "the DoE has proven to be almost completely useless" and that's not true. They serve many vital functions, likes the ones I listed, which as you'll note have nothing to do with curriculum.

[mothballs]

At 12/6/13 02:59 AM, Feoric wrote:

At 12/6/13 02:55 AM, mothballs wrote: And yet Florida's public education system completely differs from that of Massachusetts. Looks like they didn't do too well there.

Like I said, the DE is not a centralized organization when it comes to curriculum. This was never up for debate and was not disagreeing with you on that point. You said "the DoE has proven to be almost completely useless" and that's not true. They serve many vital functions, likes the ones I listed, which as you'll note have nothing to do with curriculum.

My statement of it being useless was a little extreme, I didn't mean it to be "almost completely useless." Just not nearly as useful as people make it out to be and, in my opinion, it's just not worth it.

[HollowedPumkinz]

Oh and here I was thinking you wanted to debate Educational funding in the US. Instead its a lot of ignorant political bashing. How unfortunate.

whatever happened to that thing called the Politics Forum?

Well I have many Republican views, all of which I am fairly well educated about and its both unfair and unreasonable to come to the conclusion that my opinion on any of those topics must be of a poorer sort than yours because it is different. I don't know where that arrogance comes from, that "well its not MY opinion, therefore can not be correct and the other party must be mentally retarded." But it makes debate impossible, I might ask that you stop seeing the world through such a parochial mindset. For once in your life, ignore the din of political parties and their trivial games and strategies to stake a chance for power and care about the issues at hand. The problem with people, especially the youth these days, is that they see the political world as a two sided, black and white thing: Their side, and the wrong side. It's the kind of bias and ignorance that keeps issues from being solved indefinitely.

I may have many Republican views but I accept and welcome opinions from all sides and I DON'T consider someone else to be "uneducated" merely because of their political orientation, that kind of political ignorance would speak volumes about myself now wouldn't it?

[The-Great-One]

NO! WE CAN'T DOUBLE EDUCATION FUNDING! WE NEED MORE IN DEFENSE SPENDING! AND NO! WE CAN'T TAKE A PAY CUT! WE RUN THE COUNTRY! WE RUN THE COUNTRY!

[Suprememessage]

At 12/6/13 03:50 AM, HollowedPumkinz wrote:

I may have many Republican views but I accept and welcome opinions from all sides and I DON'T consider someone else to be "uneducated" merely because of their political orientation, that kind of political ignorance would speak volumes about myself now wouldn't it?

Here's the deal. I'll stop being altiloquent towards Republicans when Republicans stop being too stupid to know what altiloquent means.

[supergandhi64]

ironically if it weren't for the two party system the illuminati would lose control of america

let's review literally every conversation ever
1. a sheeple starts questioning the goverment
2. a shill brings up an argument about political parties
3. many other sheeple start discussing political parties
4. many sheeple begin bickering among themselves
5. all the sheeple go back to being mass consumers

my hypothesis is that the illuminati knows full well that switching out the figurehead for their marionette government every couple of years is enough to keep the fluoride addled brains of your common sheeple in line

discuss lol

--supergandhi64

[Feoric]

At 12/6/13 03:50 AM, HollowedPumkinz wrote: I may have many Republican views but I accept and welcome opinions from all sides and I DON'T consider someone else to be "uneducated" merely because of their political orientation, that kind of political ignorance would speak volumes about myself now wouldn't it?

Then what do you think of this?

"In its grant bid, the Maine Heritage Policy Center asked for $35,000 to support a "research and demonstration project" that would "release residents from extreme government dependency". It would turn the state's poorest area into what the Portland Press Herald describes in its report from Washington County as "a gigantic tax-free zone"."

"The Texas Observer has investigated the contents of the document and points out that in its request for $40,000 from Searle, TPPF claims credit for blocking Medicaid expansion in the state.

"[S]topping Medicaid expansion is just the first step," the proposal says, adding that the "missing piece to complete our message is an economic forecast" showing how block-granting Medicaid would "bring significant savings" to the state. That information would then be used to garner attention from the media."

"Some of the grant bids to Searle focus specifically on prominent local politicians the thinktanks hope to influence. The grant bid that emanated from New Jersey, from the Common Sense Institute (CISNJ), another tax-exempt "research and education organization", floats the idea of a campaign to support the efforts of the Republican governor Chris Christie in ending the ability of public employees to claim untaken sick days and vacation leave in their retirement packages.

"Governor Chris Christie has been waging a war to eliminate this practice; and CSINJ would like to provide ammunition," the proposal says. The thinktank plans to produce a "research study" which it would call "Busting the Boat Checks" – an allusion to the phrase Christie uses to denote the watercraft retirees are claimed to buy on the back of sick and holiday leave payments."

The reason why 24901miles' post is funny is because no matter how absurd it may it, it still isn't far from the truth. American conservative groups are actively trying to kill education along with healthcare yet they somehow still get their voters to vote against their own interests.

[Dr-Worm]

To be fair, I've seen a good number of liberals in the role of the "uneducated person" too, just not nearly as often.

At 12/6/13 02:30 AM, JRob wrote: >Implying that the Democratic party cares about education any more than the GOP does

Republicans tend to cut education funding while Democrats tend to increase it...

The big two are too caught up in trivial matters to care about education because people are too fucking stupid and buy into such trivial issues;

I would submit that more often than not the GOP (and the conservative media outlets who fan their flames) tend to be the ones responsible for bogging the government down in said trivial issues. They're the ones who have now on several occasions essentially held the country hostage by refusing to pass usually perfunctory budgets and debt ceiling extensions, bringing government activity to a screeching halt and wasting enormous amounts of time, money and resources. They're the ones who have wasted time voting to repeal or weaken or delay Obamacare no fewer than 46 times rather than move on to something that's actually still up for debate. They're the ones who have abused the filibuster so frequently and for such flagrantly petty reasons that they've necessitated a change in the rules.

They're the ones who hold their breath and stamp their feet and refuse to compromise or have any kind of mature dialogue. Democrats aren't totally innocent of these things either, but the notion that both parties are even close to equally responsible for the dysfunction of our current Congress is simply false.

I would also submit that at least in the case of the GOP's Tea Party contingent, this sabotage is absolutely intentional. Shockingly enough candidates whose campaign platforms center around open disdain for the entire concept of government probably won't make for very good government officials.

At 12/6/13 02:17 AM, Fim wrote: The problem with the GOP is that they are trying to appeal to a minority group and not adapting to the shifting voting public in the US.

Or rather, they are adapting, just in really unfortunate ways. Rather than trying to get people outside their usual base to vote Republican, the GOP are instead trying to get them not to vote at all or otherwise marginalize the value of their votes through gerrymandering, draconian (and frankly often unconstitutional) voter ID laws, efforts to restrict early voting and other means of making the voting process more flexible, etc.

That strategy inevitably won't be enough going forward, though, seeing as demographics are rapidly continuing to shift outside their favor, which is why I'm sure 2016 will end up being the Year of Awkwardly Phonetic Spanish.

At 12/6/13 04:06 AM, The-Great-One wrote: NO! WE CAN'T TAKE A PAY CUT! WE RUN THE COUNTRY! WE RUN THE COUNTRY!

Which is especially absurd considering almost half of them are already millionaires.