They get what they pay for, they are getting what they want. This has been planned a long time ago. Our Government knows stupid people make good slaves.
How are people not noticing this? I mean Education is incredibly important, yet America seems to insist on destroying it more and more. I wouldn't be surprised if in 5 years the lower half of America (income wise) doesn't send their kids to school any more because it's impossible. Which will in turn mean America becoming more like the 'terrorist' countries it so seems to hate.
I have a degree in TEFL. In Hungary, I didn't become a teacher because the work is insane, the pay is awful and the number of jobs is low compared to the number of teaching graduates. All in all, the struggle was just not worth it and I went into IT, because there were actual jobs in the field. Also, I can't teach in foreign countries, because they want native teachers, who do 6 months courses. I'm apparently inferior with my 5 years of training.
Blame the First"The only way more funding will work is if it goes to reforming the system. If it merely supports the status quo, then funding is worthless."
No one in Texas is asking for more funding. They are simply asking to match they already inadequate funding that is required by state law. Not only are they cutting by 4 Billion. (This has thankfully changed from the original 10 Billion) They are not funding the 180,000 new students to Texas during this budget biennium.
@TheSkunkCat Yeah. Too bad not enough people in Texas are intelligent enough to vote for you. Aron Ra is pretty much one of the few shining diamond of intelligence in the swamp known as the Lone Star State.
gmc-The overwhelming majority of teachers are not in it to lie to children nor do they condone lying to children. There are a few bad apples that use the classroom to preach creationism. Perhaps, that is what you are referring to. While I am sorry that you had a negative experience at school, I take exception to the unfair accusation that I personally spew anything or that the majority of my colleagues are spewing state sponsored propaganda.
On one hand, I respect the job of an educator, and all that they endure. Knowing that the only positive attention they receive is during an election year.
But, on the other, I don't agree with the curriculum they are forced to teach as truth.
You see I was LIED to in public school, and have a disdain for the teachers who knowingly mislead their students. I love your dedication, but hate the state sponsored propaganda you spew.
There is little correlation between funding and quality of education. Statistics have shown that test scores and grades remain stagnant even when funding increases. Instead of worrying how much taxpayer money is invested in schools, we should focus on how the entire system is administered. After all, you can pump all the gas you can into a broken car and it still won’t run.
You don't fix a broken car for free or by taking the gas out of it either. Texas ranks 47th in the US for spending the least amount of money per pupil before these funding cuts go into effect. This despite having to educate the 2nd highest population of students and for being bottom of the barrel for citizens who live in poverty. You don't tell someone who is starving to eat less.
@LilandraX The only way more funding will work is if it goes to reforming the system. If it merely supports the status quo, then funding is worthless.
So they decide to cut education and they wonder why schools are doing so poorly!
Now, I go to a charter school not because I'm the cream of the crop, but because I couldn't stand the environment of public schools, but that does not mean that I want public schools to be left in the dirt as private schools get vouchers from my tax money.
@TheBarkingAtheist There is little correlation between funding and quality of education. Statistics have shown that test scores and grades remain stagnant even when funding increases. Instead of worrying how much taxpayer money is invested in schools, we should focus on how the entire system is administered. After all, you can pump all the gas you can into a broken car and it still won’t run.
happy' as they get their pockets picked" - Sick Of It All, euro version of Death to Tyrants LP.
anyhow, the neo-faith based is foreign based. it is treason. look at Africa/S.America's vatican laws and see what we got w/Afgan/UN deaths; regards to premeditated Quaran burning. Perhaps also is Jeb Bush's connection(s) w/organized crime families aborad (s.America again) FL's Rick Scott too. cya!
We pay off Wall Streets gambling debts, Bush's war has also made us broke, Now the republicans are giving tax cuts to the same 2% that we bailed out and now they expect the poor to pay for everything and all they have on their minds is anti-abortion bills. What they fuck is this country coming to? We need to follow suite with the middle wast and start a revolution!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think they should cut defense spending in fucking HALF, and give all that money to the school system and science research. We can't be attacked when our country is invisible and floating in the sky!
@brianblackberry Sorry, I was speaking country wide... but I really think that spending budgets for the states should be put up for the people of that state to approve, and that way politicians will have to explain every little piece that they try and sneak in.
@brianblackberry How about we cut the defense budget by half and pass the tax savings on to tax payers. Then reform corporate tax law and retool NAFTA. As few as 20 years ago, more than 25% of federal tax revenue was paid by the corporations. That has eroded to I think about 7% today. Funny how actual "income" is barely taxed any more. I think this is the flavor of squirreljester's frustration, the greed.
Why don't they try cutting funding of the local government for a while and see how it feels? Tie their own hands a little. Or we can skip the song and dance by cutting funding of things they don't need, then they can give some money to the things they do need.
If repukes didn't cut taxes for the rich all the time, let Wall Street run amok, and police the world, there would be no debt. Repukes made debt an issue. If they think deficits are high in 2011, wait until we have to imprison and execute most of the people whose education is getting cut now. We already have more people in prison than China, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and all the other countries we say aren't free imprison combined.
What the fuck does Texas need teachers for anyway... If they eliminated the schools they wouldn't have to waste time re-writing History now would they?
That would put education in the trailer park where it belongs.
...and if they cut back on infrastructure everyone can go back to living in mud huts and burning candles to read the bible by. It was good enough for Bronze Age Man and by god it's good enough for Texas.
In this video: vested interests consider only their own side of the story with no reference to any supporting facts (e.g. evidence that larger class sizes will significantly reduce quality of education, which I think might even exist) or consideration for other points of view. So good. Moving comments may sway opinion, but they prove exactly nothing.
Mind you, spuriously swaying opinion may be the objective here, but it's not something I really want to keep subscribed to.
Funny how no one wants to give out free handouts but what happens when people are uneducated.... or under educated? Less education means more people on welfare.
Wow is all I can say. Both my parents are retired public school teachers here in Michigan.
Wonder if Perry has realized what happens when all these laid off teachers leave the State to find a teaching job, and are no longer in Texas paying their property taxes, sales tax on purchases, etc. Not to mention even higher school drop-out rates, which will translate into more societal ills like a higher crime rate and increase in prison populations. People aren't a spreadsheet. This sucks.
New rules: politician's kids have to attend public school, they have to live in the closest house to any local nuclear plants, they have to buy their own health insurance if they bitch about government sponsored health care, and they should get paid the national average income or less...also, after they leave office, no plush jobs for corporations they were in bed with while in office.
that should take care of a few problems right there...
What i do not understand is even if the Rich are funding the politicians to get the extra bit of money ,at the cost of vital services to middle class, why cant the rich understand, that without those where will they get their employees?Fewer people will be able to get educated, ge a good job and buy their services if they are left without education.The rich need the less rich to survive its a symbiotic existence. GL USA.
We have a voucher program here in florida and its about to undergo a huge expansion. what ever the school would have to spend on your child , you would recieve a voucher for 85% of that to put towards a private school. Its nuetral cost for the school system because now that kids not at public school and it will cause a proliferatin of private schools that will compete against each other for quality.
And they knew he wanted to cut expendature and have less taxes?
So Texans DESERVE shitty funding for schools, they essentially VOTED for it at the election.
I have little sympathy for a populace who are so ideologically crippled that they will democratically elect these assholes and then complain when they get exactly what they voted for.
Hey teachers... Texas doesn't care about you. So just move to a neighbouring state that does care and let Texas BURN
@roidroid What state do you live in that politicians actually lay out concrete plans before they are elected?!? I live in Wisconsin and let me tell you, I've seen people who feel like the governor here duped them with his banter and vagueness.
@roidroid Furthermore, how dare you demonize a minority by lumping them with the rest of the state! It's like blaming democrats for electing George Bush, THEN telling them they deserve the torture that ensues! These are good people trying to make important (and prevent disastrous) changes to education, something that, as Matt pointed out, ultimately affects us all. So show a little support for these people, who probably DIDN'T vote Perry in, and are waging a battle to the benefit of us all
@gmanj88 i'm not demonizing a minority, i'm demonizing the whole of Texas.
The election of Bush had a similar effect on the world's perception of America. "What dumbass country would elect him... TWICE!".
The people of your state are the problem, a critical mass of the populace are utter dumbasses who couldn't figure out howto vote for anyone better. And 4 those who ARN'T dumbasses, they need to come to an acceptance that their state sucks BECAUSE most of their neighbours are idiots.
@gmanj88 furthermore, there is no way to turn this around. It's culturally ingrained, Texans are PROUD of their voting record, they'll do it again over and over and then pat eachother on the back at their prayer meetings about what a great job they're doing of protecting the status quo.
I feel for the teachers, but they are fighting a pointless battle against a cultural brick wall - the state WANTS to be stupid, the culture champions ignorance. Everyone sane should just leave the state.
Cutting on education has to be the single stupidest thing you can imagine...
Ever heard of raising taxes for a while to pay for shit?
Of course not, cutting taxes for cutting taxes' sake, meaning to help himself get (re)elected, only wins short term brownie points with other retarded conservatives... and his rich friends.
The point a lot of posters keep missing here was that this problem was caused by a tax reduction and restructuring back in 2006. Perry's was advised against it then with the warning that it would lead to a [projected] 23 billion dollar deficit in 2011. So Perry's failure here -as in so many other things- is so bass-ackwards that it all seems deliberate -as if he is actually trying to fuck everything up on purpose.
"So Perry's failure here -as in so many other things- is so bass-ackwards that it all seems deliberate -as if he is actually trying to fuck everything up on purpose."
Except that would mean that Perry was intelligent, and could plan for the future like intelligent people do. This is self-evidently not the case. He's just a fuck-up.
@AronRa So his lip-service plan to tax smokers to shore up the difference didn't pan out, huh? Big surprise :P. I will agree that he went about this all wrong. To reduce property taxes without reducing spending is incoherent at best. However, in the current economy, reducing property taxes and reigning in bloated $11K+ per kid spending makes sense in theory. Still, I really don't see why a reduction needs to hit the classroom at all. Doesn't more than 50% of that money go elsewhere?
@AronRa I suspect it was deliberate. The current GOP leaders in this country are openly hostile to public education as well as science, medicine, unbiased journalism, public health; pretty much anything that is grounded in reality. They won't be happy until the United States is a third-world nation.
It has gotten to the point where I sometimes question my own sanity. I almost feel at times like I'm seeing the same reality the Tea Baggers are. In my reality, science cures and treats diseases and build computers; people work together with their combined skills to produce things; and giving all the benefits to only a few people hurts everyone. I just can't believe that people would be THIS damned stupid.
@VigilanteNighthawk I feel the same way sometimes. Just remember rational people have had to deal with the arrogant-ignorant crowd through most of human history, and the rational people have been winning more than losing. That's why we're not still in the dark ages. But it has never been easy.
@AronRa Yeah sorry mate, you're right. The big question is how to stop people like Perry from being elected, maybe the answer is; Aron Ra..........Governor!? If Arnold can get elected in CA why not you in TX!
@AronRa The Republicans seem really good at this. They slash taxes and then act like their hands are tied and MUST cut education. It's like the guy who takes a shit in the middle of the street...turns around, looks at the pile of steaming shit and says..."who did that?"
@AronRa I read the letter from Carole Strayhorn and took a look at the Biennial Estimates back to 2007. For 04-05, the state budget was 118.2b, but actual revenues were 127.9b. Budgets for the next bienniums increased to 145.1b, 167.8b, and 187.5b for 2010-11. Despite the projected 23 billion deficit incurred between 2006-11, I don't see that fully absolving the state for approving a 42.4b increase in spending based in part by 17.6b worth of surpluses. Especially in the middle of the recession.
@AronRa I think that there is a common thread with the powers that be to "fuck up things on purpose." I'm not up on game theory, but seems like that strategy could suggest the game being played here. Or am I just being too paranoid?
I do think that is precisely what the modern day republicans have been up to. They seem to want to destroy everything and send us into third world status. I don't know why they are up to, but I don't think they can all be that damned stupid.
@wildbestiaCont...Islamic extremists use Mosques to launder billions of dollars for their "non-profit" activities. I dont know much about the Jews but I would be very surprised if it wasnt similar to the Catholic Church. The point is that they ARE PROFITABLE orgs and they dont pay tax! If they did it could solve a lot of problems. I believe they dont pay tax because it would be political suicide for whomever implemented such a tax, especially in the US, pure & simple!
@AussieNaturalist Kent was well known, there are thousands of all sort of religious folks jailed. Few years ago in NY about 30 rabbis were arrested for all sort of fraud. There aren't that many Muslims in America (about 1 million) among them only small fraction are actually "believers".
Bottom line. The law is law. If you have evidence that somebody is braking it - share with FBI. I repeat - the law doesn't distinguish between religious or atheist. It's against constitution.
@wildbestia "Bottom line. The law is law. If you have evidence that somebody is braking it - share with FBI. I repeat - the law doesn't distinguish between religious or atheist. It's against constitution."
Yes you're right but I think you've missed my point, which is that religions ARE PROFITABLE ORGS AND THEY SHOULD BE TAXED, how does an org that rakes in BILLIONS of dollars every year qualify as a "non-profit" org? Oh & I think you need to re-check your data on the amount of Muslims in the US
@AussieNaturalist I think you have some misunderstanding on how non-profit orgs work in the US. If you are a non-profit org you are tax exempt, but you MUST spend all the money. You can't issue dividends (for example). So if the church makes billions (which is absolutely far from reality, America IS NOT Vatican), they MUST spend all that money. When that money is spent (either on salaries or buying services), then that money is taxed as usual. Uncle Sam always gets his cut one way or another.
@wildbestia " So if the church makes billions (which is absolutely far from reality, America IS NOT Vatican)"
I think you need to check your data on just how much money the Church "earns" just in the US each yr and just how much tax they alone are NOT paying on their financial investments, land ect..
Not to mention ALL the other denominations of Christianity & ALL the other religions. Uncle Sam takes it in the ASS just the same as most other countries, all due to a belief in a magical God....
@wildbestia "In 2002, there were 15.9 million registered active Catholic households in the United States, which on average gave $455 each to the Sunday collection in 2002.
Approximately $5.384 billion (73 percent) of the entire parish revenue budget for 2000 arrived via the Sunday collection. Parishes in the United States raised an estimated total revenue of $7.375 billion in 2000."
@AussieNaturalist: I hope you're not suggesting that churches pay taxes. The idea sounds good on the surface, but you must realize that the religious right would immediately turn it to their advantage. Taxing churches, in their eyes, would bridge the gap between separation of church and state, thus handing them a platform to argue for a greater role of religion (theirs, of course) in government. Believe me, they have a big enough platform already. No reason to build them a bigger one.
@Celephaith "I hope you're not suggesting that churches pay taxes."
Yes, but not the donations, only their earnings from all other ventures. When I give to charities I dont want or expect it to get taxed but religions should pay tax on money earned from other investments’ ect...
Here's the reason why: they want public education to fail so they can distribute vouchers so fundy parents can send their kids to parochial schools where they can be taught creationism.
In a recession, you don't make procyclical layoffs while at the same time fucking your future economy by eviscerating your educational system. It's a recipe for economic suicide.
im sorry to say this but texas really does attract the lowest of lows. it just feels like in many states education is being attacked. are our politicians fucking retarded? education is the key to our long term economic success!!
Good News/Bad News Update: There is a budget proposal n the Texas Senate that proposes to cut 4 Billion from schools rather than 9.8 Billion. Still bad, educators will still lose jobs but not in the numbers of the 1st budget. Rally goers take heart. They are listening and you may have helped to save thousands of jobs and their impact on students.
Everybody wants to eat the cake of a technologically advanced society, but few want to share in the cost of paying for that. Those 100k teachers at 20 a class would have taught 2,000,000 students, who will now get funneled into overcrowded classrooms with the remaining teachers. These teachers will have precious little time for them as they wade through the the bureaucratic accountability system to prove they are doing their jobs even though they have been hobbled with a heavier load.
@CognitiveImbias I am not picking on you personally. But I have about had my fill of the free market woo, attacks on the motives of teachers, and people convinced you can create separate schools for the haves and the have-nots with vouchers and charter schools. What it all boils down to is this an attempt to evade the state's responsibility to create a quality education for its over 4,000,000 students. Some people care more about paying a few bucks more for a toaster than education.
@LilandraX While imperfect, free markets are the best way to provide for advances in human well-being. At least take the time to learn the theories—even if only to be able to debunk them. Familiarize yourself with the following concepts: efficient-market hypothesis, rational expectation hypothesis, opportunity cost, comparative advantage. Also read the essay I mentioned and Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson" (also free online). Until then, you're just a nonsense-shouting economic creationist.
@CognitiveImbias You answer the question at hand. Education doesn't produce widgets. False analogy. Education produces a literate workforce. What sort of education will the 2,000,000 students , who are deprived a teacher and funneled into an overcrowded classroom get?
You educate yourself on the education system you are commenting on.
@LilandraX Education is a service like any other. As such, it obeys all the same economic rules as as widget production does. If you have genuine interest in maximizing human well-being, do you not feel compelled to at least investigate the relevant theories? Are you really content to just speak from the gut on these things? I'm guessing you wouldn't (and shouldn't) tolerate this laziness in others for matters of religion—why not hold yourself to the same standard when examining your own views?
OK I feel for you... Cutbacks due to budgets... Yes. You would get much more support if you cut to the chase within the first minute or two. Constructive criticism. I wanted to hear about it but I lost interest 4 minutes in. Help me want to be interested.
@TheDivineCellphone PISS POOR SOLUTION, why? Simple, tax money would be funneled into other programs. Also, the economy is already terrible, more taxes now is not the solution!
@mythicalhell Theres another solution for that... You could go into politics and decide how things should be... instead of voting all those fucktards into office.
If your public option aint good enough and you wont pay tax.... you got a real paradox...
@TheDivineCellphone Unfortunately I'm on SSDI(nerve disease), so going into politics isn't an option for me. I believe that both Dem/Rep are too corrupt to be effective without drastic change, even then I don't know.
Uneducated people are easier to manipulate. How else can the republicans get someone like Sarah Palin elected if they don't ensure the American people are dumber than her? I'm so glad I'm not American, but I wish you all the best in this fight for what's right - if you don't win, America will really be going down the toilet fast. Remember, knowledge is the source of power and the foundation of all future economies. I wish you the best of luck.
Maybe if those 11k people showed up with checks instead of signs, they could have helped to keep a few teachers on the job. I am sure they would say that they are OK with higher taxes...(on someone else)...to save education. As I read it, the budget proposal (700 pgs) cover tax reforms, transportation, criminal justice, healthcare, employee comensation, document archiving and lots of state functions. Education is a big one, so it gets hit the most.
@furtim1 They were mostly teachers, who believe it or not pay taxes. I am a bit stunned at the tunnel vision some people have on paying taxes. You don't live in isolation in a cave. You live in an economy that is shifting from manufacturing to technology. The country needs an educated workforce both to support the technology industries and to create new jobs. People with high paying jobs benefit directly from education. Businesses don't run their own k12 schools. It is subsidized by gov't.
Paraphrase "the government has a budget shortfall which are passing down to social services." It is the social services that are the reason there is a budget at all. The shortfall is a result of lower tax revenue and increased/flat spending, yes? Are you suggesting they raise taxes, cut spending or both? Should they kick people while they are down and tax them when they are poorer? Too bad there is no Texas Federal Reserve to bail out the state.
@furtim1 Both. Only the tax system was altered in 2006 with tax cuts and a franchise tax that is not paying enough revenue to keep pace with the growing population of students.
Aron, I respect and feel the pain of Texan parents, but I am not a parent. I am unmarried, and have no children (and plan to not have children). I also believe that education is essential to proper functioning of society. But what about the taxpayer. It is not enough to say that this thing is essential, you have to have a plan for balancing the needs of taxpayers to the taxreapers.
@jmcoelho7 That's a fair point to make. But wouldn't you say education and health care should be the very last services you'd want to cut? The idea that teachers are grossly overpaid, well anyone who knows a teacher should realize that's nonsense.
There is so much actual waste going on in war and industry, and at the same time taxes keep getting cut and cut. Little wonder the budget is in crisis. I don't see how cutting the little that's left of the public education system is going to fix that.
@megamarsvin I think the mistakes that we make (I have teacher friends) is to support the union rather than the objectives. If you support the teacher's union, rather than influence it, then you are supporting a "us vs them" war. The appropriate way to engage is to give no entry to the radical. Engage the community in such a way that the cracks in the armor that give the entry are reduced. The community wants teachers to be held accountable to the same rules that I have face in my worklife.
@jmcoelho7 in Texas it is a "right to work" state there are no teacher unions. Your mileage may vary. As a teacher I am more accountable in some ways than you are in your profession. Teachers have moral turpitude clauses. Some teacher was fired for posting a picture on herself with a beer facebook w/ a caption "Drink Like a Pirate". That is a minor example, but there are other accountability measures.
@LilandraX I have revealed myself to be ignorant of TX teacher working rules. (I would be fired for posting pictures of myself drinking online and relating them in any way to my employer). That's why I maintain a low internet profile (with the exception of the odd political commentary). In my state, top 10 highest state taxpaying states in the nation, we have a different problem. There is a collective union, and it is difficult to release poor performing teachers.
@jmcoelho7 Ah. I see. There is difficulty getting rid of ineffective teachers here as well. Around the state new teachers with less than 3 years in their district will get hit the hardest with lay-offs. Seniority rules because the rest have better contracts that are harder to break. However, educational reform is a worthy topic, but it is a sidebar when you are talking about draconian, inadequate funding of education.
@LilandraX I do believe that the education system needs to be well funded. The best to assure that taxpayers back that funding is to make them feel like they are the employer. Right now, and I speak only for myself, I feel like I am being taken for granted. Like I owe something to someone that does not care about the strife I am undergoing to keep my home. As if I have to continually worry about funding something that I don't have a stake in.
@jmcoelho7 We pay taxes too, and my job is on the line. I don't think it is necessary to raise taxes on the average taxpayer. I think it is necessary to close loopholes in the current school finance system. You very much have a stake in this. If the government lays off as many workers as are forecasted unemployment will rise to 12 percent in Texas. That is is hardly the recipe needed for a speedy economic recovery.
@LilandraX I think it is the starting point. Ideas to make it better. But don't count on appeals to economic recovery, only the poor people really care about that.
@jmcoelho7 Agreed, though I saw nothing in your comments to apologize for. Terse or not if the debate on the national level could be held with these kind of thoughtful arguments we'd all be better off. Portraying the unions as either devils or saints doesn't help anyone.
The Republican plan is to fire 1 or 2 million public employees to artificially increase the unemployment rate to 10% or 12% before 2012 so that they can to blame Barack Obama and teh democrats.
@JerezJulio That is just silly. Republicans don't want to see Barack fail, they just don't want to lose. Actually, I don't want to lose either. Which gets me to asking the questions, why do any of us have to lose? Who has the most to gain from making any of us believe that the other has to lose for the other to win? I think that we are all beginning to think like a bunch of political tools. Think for yourself. I think that Bush was the devil, but Barack has shown himself to be my Jesus.
@sciencemile Cont... ALL religions ARE already well represented inthe US Gov. Many religious ppl claim that atheism is a religion, a US court even ruled as much, so does that mean that all atheist organisations should be exempt from tax? Would this be acceptable to the public? No. The simple answer is to tax ALL religios groups that "earn" above a certain amount without exception. Can anyone give a logical & valid reason why they shouldnt be taxed?
@AussieNaturalist "so does that mean that all atheist organisations should be exempt from tax? "
They ARE exempt from tax. The law doesn't distinguish religious or secular. Every Church or Mosque is a simple non-profit organization. You can register whatever non-profit organization and be exempt from tax. Non-profit organizations are not allowed to retain profits though. It's fraud and if churches do that, they get prosecuted. Kent Hovind is an example.
@wildbestiaLOL, the funny thing is that atheist orgs dont get enough money for them to be considered a profitable. ALL Churches, Mosques & Ministries ect however, do! Why doesnt the IRS prosecute any of the B4 mentioned, the hierarchy all use money "earned" for their own personal gain/interests, NON-PROFIT MY ASS! The Vatican is thought to be one of the richest "orgs" in the world with it holdings of land, bonds shares in the biggest & richest companies in the world, + donations ect.. Cont...
@De4sher If you look at the stats, America has had great periods of prosperity while a great majority of its population could not read the language. We are a collection of people from different languages that could not read or understand each other's language. The key is that we have to keep letting people in from more advance nations. Maybe a nation like yours.
@jmcoelho7 the reason why you were able to prosper with illiterate masses, or at all for that matter was only one: you found a brand new continent.
don't give too much credit to the people. diversity doesn't mean productivity. these cute words are just attempts to make the people stop hating one another.
You're right about funding education, you're wrong about using the rainy day fund. We face a STRUCTURAL deficit; this is NOT a temporary, cyclical deficit that can be papered over. There are two factors contributing to our STRUCTURAL (as opposed to cyclical) deficit: 1) tax reductions a few years ago; 2) a significantly slower economy, and therefore reduced tax revenues. We must fix spending AND revenue; draining the rainy day fund will only hurt us in the long run.
@LilandraX I was taught how to read and write by 1) My mother and father up to a 3rd grade level and 2) by myself from a 4th grade to an adult level. I taught myself mathematics up to multivariable calculus (5's on the the Calc AB, Statistics, and Calc BC AP tests); biology completely from the internet (5 on the AP bio test);. My public school has only suppressed every opportunity for my peers and I to learn because it would be "elitist" and "unfair" to other students.
@QuantumMaths I find that very hard to believe that you were not guided by any teacher in any way. My son nearly taught himself to read with my encouragement by the time he was 4. He still learns things from his teachers and some things on his own and some things from me.
@LilandraX Good for your son, but you made a specific, tacit assertion regarding ME PERSONALLY. I WAS influenced by teachers, via different learning mediums! My "teachers" were the authors of the books I read and the lecturers in videos I watched. If your son likes the classes he takes, that's cool. However, most kids are FORCED to waste A TON of their waking hours taking classes that they abhor (and have no useful content).
@QuantumMaths Imagine if you were the teacher of a pupil like yourself wasting long hours forced to put up with disdain and ingratitude for the things you taught them.
@BuiikiKaesu69 I never said ANYTHING about *teachers*. Even if you agreed to the tacit assertion that people "need" teachers, my experience tells me that most public school teachers (especially at the high school level) "teach" very poorly. Even if public education had the best teachers (a laughable assertion) I wouldn't support public education as a system. I have nothing against *teaching* in general.
@QuantumMaths You must have went to a really shitty school. My experiences in public schools with teachers has been pretty positive. Cutting all school funding because you went to a shitty school is kind of unfair lol
If they cut private school funding (which should not get any funding at all) and had churches pay their fair share of the taxes, i bet they could have avoided this problem.
Republicans want 'em dumb. The dumb don't question, and they're easy to manipulate. Goebbels was an expert at this. He believed the news is not meant to inform, but to instruct (i.e. Fox News). Boehner, McConnell, Perry, and the like know exactly what they are doing.
@FaganRoberts Seeing as how they aren't working hard to see the wholesale dismantling of the middle class (education, healthcare, social security, medicare/medicaid, collective bargaining, tax cuts for the wealthy, etc.) they are at least more on the right side of the major issues of the day. Both parties are corrupt indeed, but facts and reality definitely favor the Democrats more than Republicans these days. I can maybe see comparing MSNBC and Fox, but CNN? Give me a break.
@ltflermy You play party politics and see where it has and will get you. Play it hard my liberal friend, but there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the two parties in the end. You dig on establishment party politics and establishement media sources? I don't. I won't. It explains very little. Nothing baffles me any longer.
I used to be into that game as well, but I grew out of it when I became a little older and wiser. You will, too.
@FaganRoberts I don't quite fit the bill of liberal, any more than I suspect you fit the bill of conservative. In fact, I hate labels. As I said, party politics is corrupt entirely, particularly this two party system. I'm just saying that right now the Democrats are *more* on the right side of the fight than the Republicans. Corporations are what control America's politics anyway, so we're all fucked regardless of who's in power. I do think Obama means well, but is powerless to stop it.
@ltflermy Democrats don't have an answer for anything, except maybe more government (boring; old hat), and I don't think Obama means well. He's part of the problem.
@FaganRoberts The largest expansion of government was during the Bush administration (e.g. Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, and lots of others), and last I checked, the majority of jobs lost in the recession were in the public sector. Correct if I'm wrong on that? The expansion of government meme that Republicans use is largely a red herring, as both parties shrink and expand government as they see fit when in power.
@ltflermy And don't forget the dreadfull Health Care Reform boondoggle passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by a leftist President Obama. This will cost trillions as we look and anticipate the future generations, after the PA & NCLB, etc. are long forgotten. Strange how I've never seen a Democratic Party platform appeal to and actually successfully undertake an actual reduction in existing government growth. I could claim that Republicans have merely limited increases in govt size/spend.
Don't forget the 'special aids' in the classrooms who are there to translate what the teachers are teaching for the children who don't understand the English language. I've got 2 kids in high school who can't bring books home to finish homework because they're not enough books for each child as it is.
@TheElMoIsEviL I'm not suggesting that we should cut this or that. I'm saying we need schools that compete with each other rather than be run as a bureaucratic government monopoly. I'm saying vouchers will improve the quality of education in this country.
AntiCitizenX You misunderstand the schools are funded by a mix of state revenue and local taxes. Some of the districts here have their taxes "recaptured" and sent to poorer districts. State revenue is financed since 2006 by a franchise tax that is not producing the needed revenue for the 80,000 new students a year. I am not advocating a new corporate tax. I am simply saying the ones already on the books need retooling. (trouble posting this)
That's odd. Your perfectly civil and relevant comment was marked as spam...
In either case, I understand where you are coming from. All I'm trying to say is that money does not grow on trees. Raising taxes (or "closing loopholes" by fiscal equivalency) is certainly a way to generate revenue, but only at the expense of other areas in the total economic pie.
Also, part of me has to wonder how efficiently the educational dollars are being spent in the first place.
They get what they pay for, they are getting what they want. This has been planned a long time ago. Our Government knows stupid people make good slaves.
kaduisaui 4 months ago in playlist More videos from AronRa
How are people not noticing this? I mean Education is incredibly important, yet America seems to insist on destroying it more and more. I wouldn't be surprised if in 5 years the lower half of America (income wise) doesn't send their kids to school any more because it's impossible. Which will in turn mean America becoming more like the 'terrorist' countries it so seems to hate.
Sanquinity 5 months ago
I have a degree in TEFL. In Hungary, I didn't become a teacher because the work is insane, the pay is awful and the number of jobs is low compared to the number of teaching graduates. All in all, the struggle was just not worth it and I went into IT, because there were actual jobs in the field. Also, I can't teach in foreign countries, because they want native teachers, who do 6 months courses. I'm apparently inferior with my 5 years of training.
zeldaofarel 5 months ago in playlist More videos from AronRa
And Rick Perry intends to run for President?
Kamidake83 6 months ago
@Kamidake83 americans are screwed if he does get voted into office .
Abbadon380 3 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
State Rep. Leo Berman Steals From Texas Schools
youtube.com/watch?v=iEeASkTXo9Q
Impeachleoberman 8 months ago
Texas is fucked...... yeeehhhaaawwww
bunchofdaisies 8 months ago
Blame the First"The only way more funding will work is if it goes to reforming the system. If it merely supports the status quo, then funding is worthless."
No one in Texas is asking for more funding. They are simply asking to match they already inadequate funding that is required by state law. Not only are they cutting by 4 Billion. (This has thankfully changed from the original 10 Billion) They are not funding the 180,000 new students to Texas during this budget biennium.
LilandraX 8 months ago
Well if I was in charge of that state I'd know what I'd do.
I'd raise taxes.
On the rich.
Double them in fact, given how ridiculously much they got lowered over the last century.
The normal people can keep paying the same.
And it'd WORK.
TheSkunkCat 8 months ago
@TheSkunkCat Yeah. Too bad not enough people in Texas are intelligent enough to vote for you. Aron Ra is pretty much one of the few shining diamond of intelligence in the swamp known as the Lone Star State.
Heyprinny 7 months ago
gmc-The overwhelming majority of teachers are not in it to lie to children nor do they condone lying to children. There are a few bad apples that use the classroom to preach creationism. Perhaps, that is what you are referring to. While I am sorry that you had a negative experience at school, I take exception to the unfair accusation that I personally spew anything or that the majority of my colleagues are spewing state sponsored propaganda.
LilandraX 8 months ago
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LilandraX 8 months ago
I am on the fence, teetering.
On one hand, I respect the job of an educator, and all that they endure. Knowing that the only positive attention they receive is during an election year.
But, on the other, I don't agree with the curriculum they are forced to teach as truth.
You see I was LIED to in public school, and have a disdain for the teachers who knowingly mislead their students. I love your dedication, but hate the state sponsored propaganda you spew.
WE NEED ANOTHER WAY...
gmcmudder1 8 months ago
There is little correlation between funding and quality of education. Statistics have shown that test scores and grades remain stagnant even when funding increases. Instead of worrying how much taxpayer money is invested in schools, we should focus on how the entire system is administered. After all, you can pump all the gas you can into a broken car and it still won’t run.
BlameTheFirst 9 months ago
@BlameTheFirst
You don't fix a broken car for free or by taking the gas out of it either. Texas ranks 47th in the US for spending the least amount of money per pupil before these funding cuts go into effect. This despite having to educate the 2nd highest population of students and for being bottom of the barrel for citizens who live in poverty. You don't tell someone who is starving to eat less.
LilandraX 8 months ago
@LilandraX The only way more funding will work is if it goes to reforming the system. If it merely supports the status quo, then funding is worthless.
BlameTheFirst 8 months ago
Please keep us updated on the progress
In Illinois the school board recently sent back tons of books due to the Texas manipulation of facts and reality in text books.
So not all states are excepting the altered reality books.
I also heard somewhere that since Texas dont have any money they cant even buy the books that they had rewritten for creationist agendas
debateyourfaith 10 months ago
That is a teacher? He/she sounds ten years old.
2011BearBait 10 months ago
So they decide to cut education and they wonder why schools are doing so poorly!
Now, I go to a charter school not because I'm the cream of the crop, but because I couldn't stand the environment of public schools, but that does not mean that I want public schools to be left in the dirt as private schools get vouchers from my tax money.
TheBarkingAtheist 10 months ago
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@TheBarkingAtheist There is little correlation between funding and quality of education. Statistics have shown that test scores and grades remain stagnant even when funding increases. Instead of worrying how much taxpayer money is invested in schools, we should focus on how the entire system is administered. After all, you can pump all the gas you can into a broken car and it still won’t run.
BlameTheFirst 9 months ago
"all the people seek
wisdom from the podium of the week
watch them as they're swindled and tricked
happy' as they get their pockets picked" - Sick Of It All, euro version of Death to Tyrants LP.
anyhow, the neo-faith based is foreign based. it is treason. look at Africa/S.America's vatican laws and see what we got w/Afgan/UN deaths; regards to premeditated Quaran burning. Perhaps also is Jeb Bush's connection(s) w/organized crime families aborad (s.America again) FL's Rick Scott too. cya!
guitarzeroh 11 months ago
Why do people vote Republican oh so they can fuck us over that's right.
MrTalgon 11 months ago
22 people cannot read or write in their own native language...
saiyanmanfour20 11 months ago
You should go out and buy Bart Ehrman's new book FORGED. It's going to piss off a lot of Christians!
metalsusa1 11 months ago
It sucks, I know; its even crazier in the private sector though, even if you have a job there are no pensions, no insurances, no unions.
brianblackberry 11 months ago
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shoulderkolibri 11 months ago
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shoulderkolibri 11 months ago
I'm an atheist and I have been stumped by a creation question by creationists who asked, "IF EVOLUTION IS FACT
In regards to RNA/DNA - could you please explain the problem of Chirality?"
This may not be a problem but I need help asap. thanks.
surshot56 11 months ago
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shoulderkolibri 11 months ago
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shoulderkolibri 11 months ago
We pay off Wall Streets gambling debts, Bush's war has also made us broke, Now the republicans are giving tax cuts to the same 2% that we bailed out and now they expect the poor to pay for everything and all they have on their minds is anti-abortion bills. What they fuck is this country coming to? We need to follow suite with the middle wast and start a revolution!!!!!!!!!!!!
baxtar1963 11 months ago
I think they should cut defense spending in fucking HALF, and give all that money to the school system and science research. We can't be attacked when our country is invisible and floating in the sky!
squirreljester2 11 months ago
@squirreljester2 That be great if Texas has a military defense budget other then the state militia and law enforcement, but it doesn't.
brianblackberry 11 months ago
@brianblackberry Sorry, I was speaking country wide... but I really think that spending budgets for the states should be put up for the people of that state to approve, and that way politicians will have to explain every little piece that they try and sneak in.
squirreljester2 11 months ago
@brianblackberry How about we cut the defense budget by half and pass the tax savings on to tax payers. Then reform corporate tax law and retool NAFTA. As few as 20 years ago, more than 25% of federal tax revenue was paid by the corporations. That has eroded to I think about 7% today. Funny how actual "income" is barely taxed any more. I think this is the flavor of squirreljester's frustration, the greed.
2011BearBait 10 months ago
Why don't they try cutting funding of the local government for a while and see how it feels? Tie their own hands a little. Or we can skip the song and dance by cutting funding of things they don't need, then they can give some money to the things they do need.
genobahamut1337 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I was there... It was very good.
killshin 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I was there... It was very good.
killshin 11 months ago
Don't they think that the average IQ in Texas is low enough?
AholeAtheist 11 months ago 2
If repukes didn't cut taxes for the rich all the time, let Wall Street run amok, and police the world, there would be no debt. Repukes made debt an issue. If they think deficits are high in 2011, wait until we have to imprison and execute most of the people whose education is getting cut now. We already have more people in prison than China, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and all the other countries we say aren't free imprison combined.
Bill1275w 11 months ago
FUCK MISSOURI! We dont have recall laws for office holders at the state level here :(
crackerkiller89 11 months ago
What the fuck does Texas need teachers for anyway... If they eliminated the schools they wouldn't have to waste time re-writing History now would they?
That would put education in the trailer park where it belongs.
...and if they cut back on infrastructure everyone can go back to living in mud huts and burning candles to read the bible by. It was good enough for Bronze Age Man and by god it's good enough for Texas.
DeathofSpeech 11 months ago
face it, stupid students makes stupid people make stupid voters which plays into the hands of religious right
cjeffers101 11 months ago
I live in Europe, how can I help safe Texas its education?
Embler9 11 months ago
Tax the churches.
MsMommaRose 11 months ago 10
In this video: vested interests consider only their own side of the story with no reference to any supporting facts (e.g. evidence that larger class sizes will significantly reduce quality of education, which I think might even exist) or consideration for other points of view. So good. Moving comments may sway opinion, but they prove exactly nothing.
Mind you, spuriously swaying opinion may be the objective here, but it's not something I really want to keep subscribed to.
Elithrion 11 months ago
Healthy addict is hot
tmcthree 11 months ago
Funny how no one wants to give out free handouts but what happens when people are uneducated.... or under educated? Less education means more people on welfare.
TheCurmudgen 11 months ago
Go family Ra!
ooglebydoogleby 11 months ago
Wow is all I can say. Both my parents are retired public school teachers here in Michigan.
Wonder if Perry has realized what happens when all these laid off teachers leave the State to find a teaching job, and are no longer in Texas paying their property taxes, sales tax on purchases, etc. Not to mention even higher school drop-out rates, which will translate into more societal ills like a higher crime rate and increase in prison populations. People aren't a spreadsheet. This sucks.
OnTheFritz602 11 months ago
New rules: politician's kids have to attend public school, they have to live in the closest house to any local nuclear plants, they have to buy their own health insurance if they bitch about government sponsored health care, and they should get paid the national average income or less...also, after they leave office, no plush jobs for corporations they were in bed with while in office.
that should take care of a few problems right there...
C0ct0pusPrime 11 months ago 41
Makes me glad that I already have a degree and I am not planning on having children.
jebus6kryst 11 months ago
The Texans who oppose this have my best wishes that reason may get its chance, but given the history mentioned this seems sadly unlikely.
All I can do is wish you well, for the (very) little this is worth. :(
archapmangcmg 11 months ago
What i do not understand is even if the Rich are funding the politicians to get the extra bit of money ,at the cost of vital services to middle class, why cant the rich understand, that without those where will they get their employees?Fewer people will be able to get educated, ge a good job and buy their services if they are left without education.The rich need the less rich to survive its a symbiotic existence. GL USA.
sushanalone 11 months ago
The Texans realize that educated children dont love Jesus !
ShalloeThought 11 months ago 3
We have a voucher program here in florida and its about to undergo a huge expansion. what ever the school would have to spend on your child , you would recieve a voucher for 85% of that to put towards a private school. Its nuetral cost for the school system because now that kids not at public school and it will cause a proliferatin of private schools that will compete against each other for quality.
Felhaven 11 months ago
Texas elected Rick Perry didn't they?
And they knew he wanted to cut expendature and have less taxes?
So Texans DESERVE shitty funding for schools, they essentially VOTED for it at the election.
I have little sympathy for a populace who are so ideologically crippled that they will democratically elect these assholes and then complain when they get exactly what they voted for.
Hey teachers... Texas doesn't care about you. So just move to a neighbouring state that does care and let Texas BURN
roidroid 11 months ago
@roidroid What state do you live in that politicians actually lay out concrete plans before they are elected?!? I live in Wisconsin and let me tell you, I've seen people who feel like the governor here duped them with his banter and vagueness.
gmanj88 11 months ago
@roidroid Furthermore, how dare you demonize a minority by lumping them with the rest of the state! It's like blaming democrats for electing George Bush, THEN telling them they deserve the torture that ensues! These are good people trying to make important (and prevent disastrous) changes to education, something that, as Matt pointed out, ultimately affects us all. So show a little support for these people, who probably DIDN'T vote Perry in, and are waging a battle to the benefit of us all
gmanj88 11 months ago
@gmanj88 i'm not demonizing a minority, i'm demonizing the whole of Texas.
The election of Bush had a similar effect on the world's perception of America. "What dumbass country would elect him... TWICE!".
The people of your state are the problem, a critical mass of the populace are utter dumbasses who couldn't figure out howto vote for anyone better. And 4 those who ARN'T dumbasses, they need to come to an acceptance that their state sucks BECAUSE most of their neighbours are idiots.
roidroid 11 months ago
@gmanj88 furthermore, there is no way to turn this around. It's culturally ingrained, Texans are PROUD of their voting record, they'll do it again over and over and then pat eachother on the back at their prayer meetings about what a great job they're doing of protecting the status quo.
I feel for the teachers, but they are fighting a pointless battle against a cultural brick wall - the state WANTS to be stupid, the culture champions ignorance. Everyone sane should just leave the state.
roidroid 11 months ago
Cutting on education has to be the single stupidest thing you can imagine...
Ever heard of raising taxes for a while to pay for shit?
Of course not, cutting taxes for cutting taxes' sake, meaning to help himself get (re)elected, only wins short term brownie points with other retarded conservatives... and his rich friends.
toulouse666 11 months ago
The point a lot of posters keep missing here was that this problem was caused by a tax reduction and restructuring back in 2006. Perry's was advised against it then with the warning that it would lead to a [projected] 23 billion dollar deficit in 2011. So Perry's failure here -as in so many other things- is so bass-ackwards that it all seems deliberate -as if he is actually trying to fuck everything up on purpose.
AronRa 11 months ago 37
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@AronRa
"So Perry's failure here -as in so many other things- is so bass-ackwards that it all seems deliberate -as if he is actually trying to fuck everything up on purpose."
Except that would mean that Perry was intelligent, and could plan for the future like intelligent people do. This is self-evidently not the case. He's just a fuck-up.
DonJulioBlanco2002 11 months ago
@AronRa So his lip-service plan to tax smokers to shore up the difference didn't pan out, huh? Big surprise :P. I will agree that he went about this all wrong. To reduce property taxes without reducing spending is incoherent at best. However, in the current economy, reducing property taxes and reigning in bloated $11K+ per kid spending makes sense in theory. Still, I really don't see why a reduction needs to hit the classroom at all. Doesn't more than 50% of that money go elsewhere?
hugesinker 11 months ago
@AronRa I suspect it was deliberate. The current GOP leaders in this country are openly hostile to public education as well as science, medicine, unbiased journalism, public health; pretty much anything that is grounded in reality. They won't be happy until the United States is a third-world nation.
ebullock43 11 months ago
@ebullock43
It has gotten to the point where I sometimes question my own sanity. I almost feel at times like I'm seeing the same reality the Tea Baggers are. In my reality, science cures and treats diseases and build computers; people work together with their combined skills to produce things; and giving all the benefits to only a few people hurts everyone. I just can't believe that people would be THIS damned stupid.
VigilanteNighthawk 10 months ago
@VigilanteNighthawk I feel the same way sometimes. Just remember rational people have had to deal with the arrogant-ignorant crowd through most of human history, and the rational people have been winning more than losing. That's why we're not still in the dark ages. But it has never been easy.
ebullock43 10 months ago
@AronRa Yeah sorry mate, you're right. The big question is how to stop people like Perry from being elected, maybe the answer is; Aron Ra..........Governor!? If Arnold can get elected in CA why not you in TX!
LOL, just a thought :)
AussieNaturalist 11 months ago
@AronRa The Republicans seem really good at this. They slash taxes and then act like their hands are tied and MUST cut education. It's like the guy who takes a shit in the middle of the street...turns around, looks at the pile of steaming shit and says..."who did that?"
MrJmm999 11 months ago
@AronRa I read the letter from Carole Strayhorn and took a look at the Biennial Estimates back to 2007. For 04-05, the state budget was 118.2b, but actual revenues were 127.9b. Budgets for the next bienniums increased to 145.1b, 167.8b, and 187.5b for 2010-11. Despite the projected 23 billion deficit incurred between 2006-11, I don't see that fully absolving the state for approving a 42.4b increase in spending based in part by 17.6b worth of surpluses. Especially in the middle of the recession.
2000warrior 11 months ago
@AronRa I think that there is a common thread with the powers that be to "fuck up things on purpose." I'm not up on game theory, but seems like that strategy could suggest the game being played here. Or am I just being too paranoid?
2011BearBait 10 months ago
@AronRa
I do think that is precisely what the modern day republicans have been up to. They seem to want to destroy everything and send us into third world status. I don't know why they are up to, but I don't think they can all be that damned stupid.
VigilanteNighthawk 10 months ago
@wildbestiaCont...Islamic extremists use Mosques to launder billions of dollars for their "non-profit" activities. I dont know much about the Jews but I would be very surprised if it wasnt similar to the Catholic Church. The point is that they ARE PROFITABLE orgs and they dont pay tax! If they did it could solve a lot of problems. I believe they dont pay tax because it would be political suicide for whomever implemented such a tax, especially in the US, pure & simple!
Oh & Kent was 1 man..
AussieNaturalist 11 months ago
@AussieNaturalist Kent was well known, there are thousands of all sort of religious folks jailed. Few years ago in NY about 30 rabbis were arrested for all sort of fraud. There aren't that many Muslims in America (about 1 million) among them only small fraction are actually "believers".
Bottom line. The law is law. If you have evidence that somebody is braking it - share with FBI. I repeat - the law doesn't distinguish between religious or atheist. It's against constitution.
wildbestia 11 months ago
@wildbestia "Bottom line. The law is law. If you have evidence that somebody is braking it - share with FBI. I repeat - the law doesn't distinguish between religious or atheist. It's against constitution."
Yes you're right but I think you've missed my point, which is that religions ARE PROFITABLE ORGS AND THEY SHOULD BE TAXED, how does an org that rakes in BILLIONS of dollars every year qualify as a "non-profit" org? Oh & I think you need to re-check your data on the amount of Muslims in the US
AussieNaturalist 11 months ago
@AussieNaturalist I think you have some misunderstanding on how non-profit orgs work in the US. If you are a non-profit org you are tax exempt, but you MUST spend all the money. You can't issue dividends (for example). So if the church makes billions (which is absolutely far from reality, America IS NOT Vatican), they MUST spend all that money. When that money is spent (either on salaries or buying services), then that money is taxed as usual. Uncle Sam always gets his cut one way or another.
wildbestia 11 months ago
@wildbestia " So if the church makes billions (which is absolutely far from reality, America IS NOT Vatican)"
I think you need to check your data on just how much money the Church "earns" just in the US each yr and just how much tax they alone are NOT paying on their financial investments, land ect..
Not to mention ALL the other denominations of Christianity & ALL the other religions. Uncle Sam takes it in the ASS just the same as most other countries, all due to a belief in a magical God....
AussieNaturalist 11 months ago
@AussieNaturalist I think it's time for you to provide some official data on how much money churches make.
wildbestia 11 months ago
@wildbestia "In 2002, there were 15.9 million registered active Catholic households in the United States, which on average gave $455 each to the Sunday collection in 2002.
Approximately $5.384 billion (73 percent) of the entire parish revenue budget for 2000 arrived via the Sunday collection. Parishes in the United States raised an estimated total revenue of $7.375 billion in 2000."
These numbers are from collections ALONE!
Suorce: nccbuscc.org/comm/cip.shtml#toc23
AussieNaturalist 11 months ago
@AussieNaturalist: I hope you're not suggesting that churches pay taxes. The idea sounds good on the surface, but you must realize that the religious right would immediately turn it to their advantage. Taxing churches, in their eyes, would bridge the gap between separation of church and state, thus handing them a platform to argue for a greater role of religion (theirs, of course) in government. Believe me, they have a big enough platform already. No reason to build them a bigger one.
Celephaith 11 months ago
@Celephaith "I hope you're not suggesting that churches pay taxes."
Yes, but not the donations, only their earnings from all other ventures. When I give to charities I dont want or expect it to get taxed but religions should pay tax on money earned from other investments’ ect...
AussieNaturalist 11 months ago
Here's the reason why: they want public education to fail so they can distribute vouchers so fundy parents can send their kids to parochial schools where they can be taught creationism.
DeistPaladin 11 months ago
In a recession, you don't make procyclical layoffs while at the same time fucking your future economy by eviscerating your educational system. It's a recipe for economic suicide.
Raise taxes.
hymnofashes 11 months ago
Heres a novel idea. Why not try living within our means? Ie lets not spend more than we tax.
NicosMind 11 months ago
im sorry to say this but texas really does attract the lowest of lows. it just feels like in many states education is being attacked. are our politicians fucking retarded? education is the key to our long term economic success!!
evb4mvp 11 months ago
Mrs Ra reminds me of Lisa Simpson :)
Velerian89 11 months ago
Link to the new budget proposal story:
(dot)dallasnews(dot)com/news/politics/texas-legislature/headlines/20110317-texas-senate-panel-backs-funding-cut-of-almost-6-percent-for-public-schools-.ece
LilandraX 11 months ago
Good News/Bad News Update: There is a budget proposal n the Texas Senate that proposes to cut 4 Billion from schools rather than 9.8 Billion. Still bad, educators will still lose jobs but not in the numbers of the 1st budget. Rally goers take heart. They are listening and you may have helped to save thousands of jobs and their impact on students.
LilandraX 11 months ago
I'm with that guy at 4:11
Xentecks 11 months ago
Everybody wants to eat the cake of a technologically advanced society, but few want to share in the cost of paying for that. Those 100k teachers at 20 a class would have taught 2,000,000 students, who will now get funneled into overcrowded classrooms with the remaining teachers. These teachers will have precious little time for them as they wade through the the bureaucratic accountability system to prove they are doing their jobs even though they have been hobbled with a heavier load.
LilandraX 11 months ago
@CognitiveImbias I am not picking on you personally. But I have about had my fill of the free market woo, attacks on the motives of teachers, and people convinced you can create separate schools for the haves and the have-nots with vouchers and charter schools. What it all boils down to is this an attempt to evade the state's responsibility to create a quality education for its over 4,000,000 students. Some people care more about paying a few bucks more for a toaster than education.
LilandraX 11 months ago
@LilandraX While imperfect, free markets are the best way to provide for advances in human well-being. At least take the time to learn the theories—even if only to be able to debunk them. Familiarize yourself with the following concepts: efficient-market hypothesis, rational expectation hypothesis, opportunity cost, comparative advantage. Also read the essay I mentioned and Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson" (also free online). Until then, you're just a nonsense-shouting economic creationist.
CognitiveImbias 11 months ago
@CognitiveImbias You answer the question at hand. Education doesn't produce widgets. False analogy. Education produces a literate workforce. What sort of education will the 2,000,000 students , who are deprived a teacher and funneled into an overcrowded classroom get?
You educate yourself on the education system you are commenting on.
LilandraX 11 months ago
@LilandraX Education is a service like any other. As such, it obeys all the same economic rules as as widget production does. If you have genuine interest in maximizing human well-being, do you not feel compelled to at least investigate the relevant theories? Are you really content to just speak from the gut on these things? I'm guessing you wouldn't (and shouldn't) tolerate this laziness in others for matters of religion—why not hold yourself to the same standard when examining your own views?
CognitiveImbias 11 months ago
Cutting spending on schools is great for the economy ....in the short term.
In the slightly longer term, it's amongst the worst things you could do to the budget.
A lot of the problems we have in the world (aside from religion), are due to people who can only look at things in the short term...
ZarlanTheGreen 11 months ago
OK I feel for you... Cutbacks due to budgets... Yes. You would get much more support if you cut to the chase within the first minute or two. Constructive criticism. I wanted to hear about it but I lost interest 4 minutes in. Help me want to be interested.
wowsdrawkcab 11 months ago
Hey America... here is an easy solution to public cuts....
PAY MORE TAXES !!
TheDivineCellphone 11 months ago
@TheDivineCellphone PISS POOR SOLUTION, why? Simple, tax money would be funneled into other programs. Also, the economy is already terrible, more taxes now is not the solution!
mythicalhell 11 months ago
@mythicalhell Theres another solution for that... You could go into politics and decide how things should be... instead of voting all those fucktards into office.
If your public option aint good enough and you wont pay tax.... you got a real paradox...
TheDivineCellphone 11 months ago
@TheDivineCellphone Unfortunately I'm on SSDI(nerve disease), so going into politics isn't an option for me. I believe that both Dem/Rep are too corrupt to be effective without drastic change, even then I don't know.
mythicalhell 11 months ago
@TheDivineCellphone Seriously, You want to keep everything, but not pay for it with taxes. Where's the money supposed to come from?
dexluther 11 months ago
@dexluther you are writing to the wrong person... i already pay 40+% income tax and 25% sales tax on all items.
TheDivineCellphone 11 months ago
Uneducated people are easier to manipulate. How else can the republicans get someone like Sarah Palin elected if they don't ensure the American people are dumber than her? I'm so glad I'm not American, but I wish you all the best in this fight for what's right - if you don't win, America will really be going down the toilet fast. Remember, knowledge is the source of power and the foundation of all future economies. I wish you the best of luck.
XenogeneGray 11 months ago
Comment removed
TheIntolerantAtheist 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@TheIntolerantAtheist She sure doesn't look 12 :o
mythicalhell 11 months ago
The one thing this country does NOT need to try and save money on is education. Plain and simple.
If you don't get this, you have no place holding a public office that gives you the power to make such disastrous decisions.
buzzausa 11 months ago
Class warfare anyone?
snofthndr 11 months ago
Maybe if those 11k people showed up with checks instead of signs, they could have helped to keep a few teachers on the job. I am sure they would say that they are OK with higher taxes...(on someone else)...to save education. As I read it, the budget proposal (700 pgs) cover tax reforms, transportation, criminal justice, healthcare, employee comensation, document archiving and lots of state functions. Education is a big one, so it gets hit the most.
furtim1 11 months ago
@furtim1 They were mostly teachers, who believe it or not pay taxes. I am a bit stunned at the tunnel vision some people have on paying taxes. You don't live in isolation in a cave. You live in an economy that is shifting from manufacturing to technology. The country needs an educated workforce both to support the technology industries and to create new jobs. People with high paying jobs benefit directly from education. Businesses don't run their own k12 schools. It is subsidized by gov't.
LilandraX 11 months ago
Paraphrase "the government has a budget shortfall which are passing down to social services." It is the social services that are the reason there is a budget at all. The shortfall is a result of lower tax revenue and increased/flat spending, yes? Are you suggesting they raise taxes, cut spending or both? Should they kick people while they are down and tax them when they are poorer? Too bad there is no Texas Federal Reserve to bail out the state.
furtim1 11 months ago
@furtim1 Both. Only the tax system was altered in 2006 with tax cuts and a franchise tax that is not paying enough revenue to keep pace with the growing population of students.
LilandraX 11 months ago
Aron, I respect and feel the pain of Texan parents, but I am not a parent. I am unmarried, and have no children (and plan to not have children). I also believe that education is essential to proper functioning of society. But what about the taxpayer. It is not enough to say that this thing is essential, you have to have a plan for balancing the needs of taxpayers to the taxreapers.
jmcoelho7 11 months ago
@jmcoelho7 That's a fair point to make. But wouldn't you say education and health care should be the very last services you'd want to cut? The idea that teachers are grossly overpaid, well anyone who knows a teacher should realize that's nonsense.
There is so much actual waste going on in war and industry, and at the same time taxes keep getting cut and cut. Little wonder the budget is in crisis. I don't see how cutting the little that's left of the public education system is going to fix that.
megamarsvin 11 months ago
@megamarsvin I think the mistakes that we make (I have teacher friends) is to support the union rather than the objectives. If you support the teacher's union, rather than influence it, then you are supporting a "us vs them" war. The appropriate way to engage is to give no entry to the radical. Engage the community in such a way that the cracks in the armor that give the entry are reduced. The community wants teachers to be held accountable to the same rules that I have face in my worklife.
jmcoelho7 11 months ago
@jmcoelho7 in Texas it is a "right to work" state there are no teacher unions. Your mileage may vary. As a teacher I am more accountable in some ways than you are in your profession. Teachers have moral turpitude clauses. Some teacher was fired for posting a picture on herself with a beer facebook w/ a caption "Drink Like a Pirate". That is a minor example, but there are other accountability measures.
LilandraX 11 months ago
@LilandraX I have revealed myself to be ignorant of TX teacher working rules. (I would be fired for posting pictures of myself drinking online and relating them in any way to my employer). That's why I maintain a low internet profile (with the exception of the odd political commentary). In my state, top 10 highest state taxpaying states in the nation, we have a different problem. There is a collective union, and it is difficult to release poor performing teachers.
jmcoelho7 11 months ago
Comment removed
LilandraX 11 months ago
@jmcoelho7 Ah. I see. There is difficulty getting rid of ineffective teachers here as well. Around the state new teachers with less than 3 years in their district will get hit the hardest with lay-offs. Seniority rules because the rest have better contracts that are harder to break. However, educational reform is a worthy topic, but it is a sidebar when you are talking about draconian, inadequate funding of education.
LilandraX 11 months ago
@LilandraX I do believe that the education system needs to be well funded. The best to assure that taxpayers back that funding is to make them feel like they are the employer. Right now, and I speak only for myself, I feel like I am being taken for granted. Like I owe something to someone that does not care about the strife I am undergoing to keep my home. As if I have to continually worry about funding something that I don't have a stake in.
jmcoelho7 11 months ago
@jmcoelho7 We pay taxes too, and my job is on the line. I don't think it is necessary to raise taxes on the average taxpayer. I think it is necessary to close loopholes in the current school finance system. You very much have a stake in this. If the government lays off as many workers as are forecasted unemployment will rise to 12 percent in Texas. That is is hardly the recipe needed for a speedy economic recovery.
LilandraX 11 months ago
@LilandraX I think it is the starting point. Ideas to make it better. But don't count on appeals to economic recovery, only the poor people really care about that.
jmcoelho7 11 months ago
@megamarsvin I apologize for my terse response, this microblogging does not leave us much space for expressing full thoughts.
jmcoelho7 11 months ago
@jmcoelho7 Agreed, though I saw nothing in your comments to apologize for. Terse or not if the debate on the national level could be held with these kind of thoughtful arguments we'd all be better off. Portraying the unions as either devils or saints doesn't help anyone.
megamarsvin 11 months ago
The Republican plan is to fire 1 or 2 million public employees to artificially increase the unemployment rate to 10% or 12% before 2012 so that they can to blame Barack Obama and teh democrats.
JerezJulio 11 months ago 9
@JerezJulio That is just silly. Republicans don't want to see Barack fail, they just don't want to lose. Actually, I don't want to lose either. Which gets me to asking the questions, why do any of us have to lose? Who has the most to gain from making any of us believe that the other has to lose for the other to win? I think that we are all beginning to think like a bunch of political tools. Think for yourself. I think that Bush was the devil, but Barack has shown himself to be my Jesus.
jmcoelho7 11 months ago
@sciencemile Cont... ALL religions ARE already well represented inthe US Gov. Many religious ppl claim that atheism is a religion, a US court even ruled as much, so does that mean that all atheist organisations should be exempt from tax? Would this be acceptable to the public? No. The simple answer is to tax ALL religios groups that "earn" above a certain amount without exception. Can anyone give a logical & valid reason why they shouldnt be taxed?
AussieNaturalist 11 months ago
@AussieNaturalist "so does that mean that all atheist organisations should be exempt from tax? "
They ARE exempt from tax. The law doesn't distinguish religious or secular. Every Church or Mosque is a simple non-profit organization. You can register whatever non-profit organization and be exempt from tax. Non-profit organizations are not allowed to retain profits though. It's fraud and if churches do that, they get prosecuted. Kent Hovind is an example.
wildbestia 11 months ago
@wildbestiaLOL, the funny thing is that atheist orgs dont get enough money for them to be considered a profitable. ALL Churches, Mosques & Ministries ect however, do! Why doesnt the IRS prosecute any of the B4 mentioned, the hierarchy all use money "earned" for their own personal gain/interests, NON-PROFIT MY ASS! The Vatican is thought to be one of the richest "orgs" in the world with it holdings of land, bonds shares in the biggest & richest companies in the world, + donations ect.. Cont...
AussieNaturalist 11 months ago
@AussieNaturalist Vatican is not in America in case you didn't know.
wildbestia 11 months ago
i never understood how come you americans got to spend so irrationally in the first place.
you've got to take the pain somehow, in some way.
but teachers....? how the hell are you supposed to recover with illiterate children?
De4sher 11 months ago 2
@De4sher If you look at the stats, America has had great periods of prosperity while a great majority of its population could not read the language. We are a collection of people from different languages that could not read or understand each other's language. The key is that we have to keep letting people in from more advance nations. Maybe a nation like yours.
jmcoelho7 11 months ago
@jmcoelho7 the reason why you were able to prosper with illiterate masses, or at all for that matter was only one: you found a brand new continent.
don't give too much credit to the people. diversity doesn't mean productivity. these cute words are just attempts to make the people stop hating one another.
De4sher 11 months ago
Mrs. Ra is Hawt. nummy nummy
herchamier 11 months ago
You're right about funding education, you're wrong about using the rainy day fund. We face a STRUCTURAL deficit; this is NOT a temporary, cyclical deficit that can be papered over. There are two factors contributing to our STRUCTURAL (as opposed to cyclical) deficit: 1) tax reductions a few years ago; 2) a significantly slower economy, and therefore reduced tax revenues. We must fix spending AND revenue; draining the rainy day fund will only hurt us in the long run.
josww2 11 months ago
@LilandraX I was taught how to read and write by 1) My mother and father up to a 3rd grade level and 2) by myself from a 4th grade to an adult level. I taught myself mathematics up to multivariable calculus (5's on the the Calc AB, Statistics, and Calc BC AP tests); biology completely from the internet (5 on the AP bio test);. My public school has only suppressed every opportunity for my peers and I to learn because it would be "elitist" and "unfair" to other students.
QuantumMaths 11 months ago
@QuantumMaths I find that very hard to believe that you were not guided by any teacher in any way. My son nearly taught himself to read with my encouragement by the time he was 4. He still learns things from his teachers and some things on his own and some things from me.
LilandraX 11 months ago
@LilandraX Good for your son, but you made a specific, tacit assertion regarding ME PERSONALLY. I WAS influenced by teachers, via different learning mediums! My "teachers" were the authors of the books I read and the lecturers in videos I watched. If your son likes the classes he takes, that's cool. However, most kids are FORCED to waste A TON of their waking hours taking classes that they abhor (and have no useful content).
QuantumMaths 11 months ago
@QuantumMaths Imagine if you were the teacher of a pupil like yourself wasting long hours forced to put up with disdain and ingratitude for the things you taught them.
LilandraX 11 months ago
@QuantumMaths I'm pretty sure if you were that smart you'd notice that PEOPLE NEED TEACHERS.
BuiikiKaesu69 11 months ago
@BuiikiKaesu69 I never said ANYTHING about *teachers*. Even if you agreed to the tacit assertion that people "need" teachers, my experience tells me that most public school teachers (especially at the high school level) "teach" very poorly. Even if public education had the best teachers (a laughable assertion) I wouldn't support public education as a system. I have nothing against *teaching* in general.
QuantumMaths 11 months ago
@QuantumMaths You must have went to a really shitty school. My experiences in public schools with teachers has been pretty positive. Cutting all school funding because you went to a shitty school is kind of unfair lol
BuiikiKaesu69 11 months ago
Public education sucks. Cut the fucking spending ENTIRELY.
QuantumMaths 11 months ago
@QuantumMaths Thank a teacher for your ability to express your opinion in writing.
LilandraX 11 months ago
"Get another job" in terms of government is to raise taxes.
EziekielNightwind 11 months ago
Republicans like ignorant and stupid people to make easier to sell their bulls4i7!
What is the big deal?
hedleypanama 11 months ago
If they cut private school funding (which should not get any funding at all) and had churches pay their fair share of the taxes, i bet they could have avoided this problem.
ARatNamedMilo 11 months ago
yay Austin
StormTrek 11 months ago
Republicans want 'em dumb. The dumb don't question, and they're easy to manipulate. Goebbels was an expert at this. He believed the news is not meant to inform, but to instruct (i.e. Fox News). Boehner, McConnell, Perry, and the like know exactly what they are doing.
ltflermy 11 months ago
@ltflermy Yes, Yes! And the Democrats and CNN/CNBC/MSNBC are bastions of intellectualism and honesty. LOL!
FaganRoberts 11 months ago
@FaganRoberts Seeing as how they aren't working hard to see the wholesale dismantling of the middle class (education, healthcare, social security, medicare/medicaid, collective bargaining, tax cuts for the wealthy, etc.) they are at least more on the right side of the major issues of the day. Both parties are corrupt indeed, but facts and reality definitely favor the Democrats more than Republicans these days. I can maybe see comparing MSNBC and Fox, but CNN? Give me a break.
ltflermy 11 months ago
@ltflermy You play party politics and see where it has and will get you. Play it hard my liberal friend, but there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the two parties in the end. You dig on establishment party politics and establishement media sources? I don't. I won't. It explains very little. Nothing baffles me any longer.
I used to be into that game as well, but I grew out of it when I became a little older and wiser. You will, too.
FaganRoberts 11 months ago
@FaganRoberts I don't quite fit the bill of liberal, any more than I suspect you fit the bill of conservative. In fact, I hate labels. As I said, party politics is corrupt entirely, particularly this two party system. I'm just saying that right now the Democrats are *more* on the right side of the fight than the Republicans. Corporations are what control America's politics anyway, so we're all fucked regardless of who's in power. I do think Obama means well, but is powerless to stop it.
ltflermy 11 months ago
@ltflermy Democrats don't have an answer for anything, except maybe more government (boring; old hat), and I don't think Obama means well. He's part of the problem.
FaganRoberts 11 months ago
@FaganRoberts The largest expansion of government was during the Bush administration (e.g. Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, and lots of others), and last I checked, the majority of jobs lost in the recession were in the public sector. Correct if I'm wrong on that? The expansion of government meme that Republicans use is largely a red herring, as both parties shrink and expand government as they see fit when in power.
ltflermy 11 months ago
@ltflermy And don't forget the dreadfull Health Care Reform boondoggle passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by a leftist President Obama. This will cost trillions as we look and anticipate the future generations, after the PA & NCLB, etc. are long forgotten. Strange how I've never seen a Democratic Party platform appeal to and actually successfully undertake an actual reduction in existing government growth. I could claim that Republicans have merely limited increases in govt size/spend.
FaganRoberts 11 months ago
Don't forget the 'special aids' in the classrooms who are there to translate what the teachers are teaching for the children who don't understand the English language. I've got 2 kids in high school who can't bring books home to finish homework because they're not enough books for each child as it is.
sheri226 11 months ago
Children should be homeschooled and only taught the Holy Bible. Knowledge and social skills are the tools of Satan.
GluteusIlluminatus 11 months ago
@TheElMoIsEviL I agreed with everything right up to; "The problem with Free MArket Economic theory is that it doesn't understand human behavior."
I could not disagree more with that.
Could you be more specific with an example and show what you mean?
Libertarianist 11 months ago
@TheElMoIsEviL I'm not suggesting that we should cut this or that. I'm saying we need schools that compete with each other rather than be run as a bureaucratic government monopoly. I'm saying vouchers will improve the quality of education in this country.
Libertarianist 11 months ago
Posts are threading weird so I am stopping for now.
LilandraX 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
AntiCitizenX You misunderstand the schools are funded by a mix of state revenue and local taxes. Some of the districts here have their taxes "recaptured" and sent to poorer districts. State revenue is financed since 2006 by a franchise tax that is not producing the needed revenue for the 80,000 new students a year. I am not advocating a new corporate tax. I am simply saying the ones already on the books need retooling. (trouble posting this)
LilandraX 11 months ago
@LilandraX
That's odd. Your perfectly civil and relevant comment was marked as spam...
In either case, I understand where you are coming from. All I'm trying to say is that money does not grow on trees. Raising taxes (or "closing loopholes" by fiscal equivalency) is certainly a way to generate revenue, but only at the expense of other areas in the total economic pie.
Also, part of me has to wonder how efficiently the educational dollars are being spent in the first place.
AntiCitizenX 11 months ago