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Santorum: Obama wants to 'indoctrinate' students by boosting college enrollment

Paschendale said:
Weird how learning more about history, science, and human behavior convinces people to give up religion...
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One can be a true believer and have nothing to do with religion.....
The more I learn of science, and how complicated the world is, and how the odds of it turning out as it did, with 'intelligent' live, the more I tend to believe we were put here by some supreme being...
 
poweRob said:
I've been thinking about where Santorum is going to show up after the election. It won't be in the white house so I've been wondering if Fox will pick him up or talk radio or what? I'm sure his current celebrity will land him something. Just curious as to what.
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He can pair up with Huckabee, another failure of the reigious right...
 
digsbe said:
Personally the PELL Grant was overhauled and the SMART Grant was eliminated. I received a Federal SMART Grant and that was cut under Obama. My PELL Grant shrank even though my personal and family income had stayed the same. The explanation given to me was that rules changed and incomes were adjusted (meaning the government is giving you less money now).
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please don't complain about the govt GIVING you less money, many of us here had to educate ourselves before grants and easy loans...
 
SypherAL said:
Cry me a river, grant me this, grant me that. Be a man and take out a college loan and pay it back when you start your career. I am so sick of everyone feeling entitled to free education. My mother and father still owe on their college and they are in their 50's. Medical school will follow you for life, but you know what, that's the risk you take when you spend years in college. What benefit does our country recieve sending kids to school for free who can afford to pay back loans when they begin working? Sure they contribute to society, but the money has to come from somewhere to pay teachers and institutions.


I am not a free education nazi, but kids these days feel like everything should be free, WRONG. You are entitled to NOTHING. Damn... I feel like a republican right now. Eeegh.
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drink 2 liters of Mr. Pibb Extra, you'll crap that feeling away in less than 2 hours...
 
Top Cat said:
Sound like one too.

I certainly see a noble cause in making college more affordable and easier to pay off. It's not about entitlement, it's about the overall benefits to society.
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I can agree, as long as the degree makes the person employable....assuming we have jobs for them, of course.
 
Temporal said:
Santorum and the GOP are just a reflection of the growing attacks on academics and intellectuals coming from modern conservatives. It's one of the warning signs of fascism, actually.

You'll notice that the GOP electoral platform isn't discussing foreign policy and domestic economy that much because Bush was a dismal failure at both; so they're targetting the social issues and hope that enough righties will bite.

Education is never the enemy of the people and our higher learning institutions are part of the research that will innovate our stagnant economy. Yes there are smart people who don't go to college - that's not the point.

I'm so sick of the polarizing rhetoric that tries to turn Americans against one another. If you don't want subsidized higher education, then fine - but don't make it about how the intellectuals are working for Obama. ****ing moron.
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If you really listen to Santorum's commentary from the OP video, you'll quickly discern that he's attacking the very foundation of our public education system only from the collegiate level where federal student loan aid is concerned. Granted, the level of student loan debt has continued to rise even under President Obama who has broadened access, but Santorum makes the wrongheaded argument here. If he really believes that skills training is the better way to equip people to become better professionals of their choosen craft within the labor force, then he should just say that. Instead, he tries to conjure up an image of elitism by tying President Obama to higher education and college professors as having a liberal arts agenda. He's not going to win this argument, not this way.
 
It is funny how history repeats it self... Would be rulers downplaying the virtues of education... so to keep the masses ignorant and afraid... the same tactic used for the first 4000+ years of human history....
 
soccerboy22 said:
Well damn, I was indoctrinated at BU to think critically, learn how to analysis problems and strengths of articles, how to advance my writing and research, and how to think for myself.
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...you sure you went to BU? :p
 
UtahBill said:
I can agree, as long as the degree makes the person employable....assuming we have jobs for them, of course.
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I often shake my head at the kids that graduate with a degree in history of some other such thing. Nothing wrong with history...but how will you make a living short of teaching?
 
poweRob said:
I've been thinking about where Santorum is going to show up after the election. It won't be in the white house so I've been wondering if Fox will pick him up or talk radio or what? I'm sure his current celebrity will land him something. Just curious as to what.
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Deacon at his local church.
 
Fletch said:
If everyone goes to college, who is going to rake my leaves?
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Illegal aliens? Illegal aliens that get a pardon and get their paperwork and come do your lawn?

And if I am to believe "Dumbest stuff on wheels" the answer would be "rednecks".;)
 
ThePlayDrive said:
From CBS:


In addition, here's a partial video of the speech. In it, Santorum calls Obama a "snob" for wanting everybody in the US to go to college.

Santorum: Obama, 'What A Snob' - Rick Santorum - Fox Nation

He actually made some good points about how not everybody learns the same way and that some really smart people don't go to college. However, he ruined it with stupidity seconds later. It's sad that so many people consider college education "snobbish" and treat higher education as "liberal indoctrination". These are the type of people that are dangerous for our country. That said, as someone who prefers Obama over the Republican options, I hope this fool is the nominee!
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Like I said in the other thread, Romney is a mormon wizard who uses dark mormon magic to make his opponents say stupid things.

One hardly knows where to start when commenting on the idiocy that flows from the Santorum hole....

He is representative of the Catholic Church mentality that would take away liberty of thought, liberty of conscious... Two things you learn in college are how to think and how to reason. Santorum no like...
 
soccerboy22 said:
Yeah. What am I not sure of is if they taught me how to proofread hung over.

Or how to type on my phone.
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Drunk Texting 101 is a GER, son. Step your game up.
 
hazlnut said:
Like I said in the other thread, Romney is a mormon wizard who uses dark mormon magic to make his opponents say stupid things.

One hardly knows where to start when commenting on the idiocy that flows from the Santorum hole....

He is representative of the Catholic Church mentality that would take away liberty of thought, liberty of conscious... Two things you learn in college are how to think and how to reason. Santorum no like...
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Has it really come to that in this country? We all need to go to college to learn how to think and reason? That is a very sad commentary on the state of the American family, society and the lower education system. And it bolsters Santorum's point.
 
jerry7 said:
Has it really come to that in this country? We all need to go to college to learn how to think and reason?
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Yes. And you need to lift weights in order get muscle mass.

And you have to practice the piano in order to play at Carnegie hall.

No short cuts, my friend.


That is a very sad commentary on the state of the American family, society and the lower education system.
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High school teaches the college-bound how to write and organize their thoughts, do research, write a paper, etc. It also teaches them how to budget their time and not procrastinate.


And it bolsters Santorum's point.
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A sad commentary bolsters his point???


His point seemed to be that the American dream is overrated and people should be content to not aspire above their station. Dreaming and wanting to better oneself are elitist.

Obama is a snob for imagining a country where we don't outsource jobs to India...

That most high schools don't teach de
 
digsbe said:
Personally the PELL Grant was overhauled and the SMART Grant was eliminated. I received a Federal SMART Grant and that was cut under Obama. My PELL Grant shrank even though my personal and family income had stayed the same. The explanation given to me was that rules changed and incomes were adjusted (meaning the government is giving you less money now).
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I know this is a shock to some, but just because the government does something under a president's administration doesn't mean the President was the one who advocated it.

It's more likely that the Republicans in Congress, who wants to cut federal funding everywhere, agreed to college education cuts rather than make greater cuts to the military or increase taxes on some industries, businesses, or wealthier people.
 
hazlnut said:
Yes. And you need to lift weights in order get muscle mass.

And you have to practice the piano in order to play at Carnegie hall.

No short cuts, my friend.




High school teaches the college-bound how to write and organize their thoughts, do research, write a paper, etc. It also teaches them how to budget their time and not procrastinate.




A sad commentary bolsters his point???


His point seemed to be that the American dream is overrated and people should be content to not aspire above their station. Dreaming and wanting to better oneself are elitist.

Obama is a snob for imagining a country where we don't outsource jobs to India...

That most high schools don't teach de
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Wow! I think Santorum's right. Only a snob would suggest that those that learn a trade, drive a truck etc. don't exercise their brains. This reeks of Senator Kerry's statement during his presidential campaign that you either go to college or wind up in Iraq. Do you think all those young people that enlist in our military without a college education are incapable of thinking for themselves? What a condescending attitude.
 
Jeezy said:
I think it's important to distinguish between the university as an institution of indoctrination and certain professors as agents of indoctrination. College is, generally speaking, a good thing. It broadens your horizons and challenges your worldview. That's healthy.

Yet, be that as it may, it's pretty hard to disagree with demographics. Most of the tenured college professors currently active in the liberal arts were college students during the 60s, which is around the time college became the accepted path of most "good" kids. I think there is a (waning) generational bias that exists in universities today in certain fields of academia. The people teaching now are people who grew up in a generation that was very skewed toward the left. That's just a fact.

But this is certainly not true for all fields. From what I have seen, business students are overwhelmingly conservative. Students who take economics courses are much inclined to favor economic regulation and are, therefore, conservative in that respect.

As the baby boomers retire, I think we'll see a gradual return to the center for liberal arts college education.
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My experience this is true as well. I really don't think in Liberal Arts studies though you will ever get away from the majority being liberal. Take it from a design student. Interestingly enough, my political science and science teachers were all more conservative. I think in my college being in KY, there was a good mixture of thought. Anyways yeah, my hope is Santorum crashes, burns, and takes the current GOP with him so that a better more thoughtful one may spring back up by 2016.
 
Top Cat said:
I often shake my head at the kids that graduate with a degree in history of some other such thing. Nothing wrong with history...but how will you make a living short of teaching?
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Not even teaching science.....
My son has a bachelors and masters degree, teaches high school science, coaches, and DJ's, and still can't earn enough money to get by. The school district hasn't given a raise to teachers in several years.
Big part of that is medical bills, he has a daughter that has made weekly trips to Phoenix Children's Hospital for chemo, for almost 6 years. They wore out a 2005 minivan making those trips.
It sucks to think you are doing all the right things and still can't make it. If we didn't help them, they would have to file bankruptcy. They may have to anyway, as they just don't have the money to pay Phoenix Children's Hospital, the doctors, the labs (she needs several MRI's a year), etc.
I wonder what the great Santorum would say about Obamacare if one of his kids needed $100K per year medical care and his insurance company treated him the same way my son's insurance company is treating him. I bet he would suck that government teat as fast as anyone else...
 
JohnWOlin said:
My experience this is true as well. I really don't think in Liberal Arts studies though you will ever get away from the majority being liberal. Take it from a design student. Interestingly enough, my political science and science teachers were all more conservative. I think in my college being in KY, there was a good mixture of thought. Anyways yeah, my hope is Santorum crashes, burns, and takes the current GOP with him so that a better more thoughtful one may spring back up by 2016.
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a lot of the really old farts gotta die off first....
 
I also seriously doubt that one professor could make you go from a staunch card carrying member of the republican party to a party activist for the democrats, no matter how convincing the professor might be.

Students that are leaning democrats would be convinced by a really convincing democratic professor, a student that has been involved since childhood in the republican party will almost certainly not be swayed by that professor (and vice-versa of course).
 
Jeezy said:
I think it's important to distinguish between the university as an institution of indoctrination and certain professors as agents of indoctrination. College is, generally speaking, a good thing. It broadens your horizons and challenges your worldview. That's healthy.

Yet, be that as it may, it's pretty hard to disagree with demographics. Most of the tenured college professors currently active in the liberal arts were college students during the 60s, which is around the time college became the accepted path of most "good" kids. I think there is a (waning) generational bias that exists in universities today in certain fields of academia. The people teaching now are people who grew up in a generation that was very skewed toward the left. That's just a fact.

But this is certainly not true for all fields. From what I have seen, business students are overwhelmingly conservative. Students who take economics courses are much inclined to favor economic regulation and are, therefore, conservative in that respect.

As the baby boomers retire, I think we'll see a gradual return to the center for liberal arts college education.
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I thought favoring more regulations makes you liberal?
 
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