Posted on 02/29/2012 4:47:06 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Rick Santorum is stretching his criticism of President Obama's advocacy of universal college attendance into a broader attack on college itself. Santorum has three college degrees, which provides a good indication of how seriously one should take his assault on what he is labeling as Obama's elitism. As with so many of Santorum's statements, this criticism contains a grain of perception smothered in reactionary dogma.
[BIG SNIP]
In a nation in which almost everyone aspires to upward mobility, how is this a winning political argument?
Sure, colleges are hothouses of liberalism. They have been for generations. And yet Americans of all political persuasions continue to send their children there en masse.
"Enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions increased by 9 percent between 1989 and 1999," reports the National Center for Education Statistics. "Between 1999 and 2009, enrollment increased 38 percent, from 14.8 million to 20.4 million."
Santorum's message to these millions of Americans and their families is: Suckers. You fell into Obama's indoctrination trap!
Instead of attacking college, Santorum should be attacking Obama. The president's college promotion scheme is vulnerable to two criticisms that seem to have largely escaped Santorum's notice because they don't fit his '80s and '90s-era conservative talking points on the subject of higher education.
The first is the cost.......
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
This smells like a Team Romney attack.
Romney-the-endless-Liar KNOWS Santorum did not say
or imply what this article purports.
___________________________________
Newt in response to a question about Santorum's "snob" remark: “I do think every American ought to get trained.. It doesn’t matter what your degrees are. It matters if you’re employable.”
There is also a follow up story on this at Politico. Newt received a number of praises for being truthful in what Obama said. Newt was right to disagree with Rick’s comments.
The media and their pudding brained followers are in full spin mode today. They’re trying to paint themselves as right but as usual they aren’t telling the whole truth.
Santorum has been right about all this stuff. Not every kid should go to college, not every person should own a home, and not every person can be rich. To say anything less is simply pandering.
Thank you sharing that video. He comes across as arrogant and immature; not presidential, using words like snob and the comments about JFK.
Sounds like an entree at Paula Deen's restaurant!
Newt addresses Obama’s “baloney” comment about not being able to effect gas prices, Santorum’s “snob” (education) and “throw-up” (Kennedy) comments.
obama is a snob.
Did you happen to hear Santorum say in his speech last night, that he was the one who began the welfare reform as though he, not Newt, should have the credit for welfare reform. My hubby said that he hear something to that affect. I didn’t hear the entire speech. I had to take a break because he is so boring to listen to. I will have to find the transcript to be certain since dear hubby was getting sleepy.
This is one of Santorum’s problems. He is right about this, but not smart enough to couch it in terms that is a winner, and he misses the main point about it to boot. He has really been awful on the trail lately.
Excuse the typos (heard something to that..)
Go Newt!
Obama is a snob and Santorum is right about college being an indoctrination camp.
That jerk Romney will never get my vote. He’s not interested anyway. He wants moderates and independents so let him have them. All moderates and independents flock to mush I suppose. I’m not the political expert, Romney is. In one of his three home states. That alone should tell people what a shallow opportunist this man is.
It's one thing to point out Bammy's shortcomings...and there is abundant material for that...but, the tense voice and tight pronunciation does not sound presidential, to me.
My comment was on how inarticulate Santorum was about this issue even though he had a point buried deep in what he was trying to say. He botched it. He is fatigued, understandably, and working with only a modest intelligence quotient in the first place IMO.
I was not commenting at all on Romney. If you are looking to debate a pro Romney guy, you’ll have to look elsewhere. I am not your guy.
As usual you attack Rick with vile personal smears and astroturf created and promoted by the Romney bot media pals and the Obama media !
Rick really threatens you !
What was your point in posting this article?
Your so brilliant your only attacks are snide personal attacks on Rick .
Just plan sad .
The anti Santorum attack ads are still running in Michigan this morning.
Your comments are snide personal attacks on others.
Really sad this morning, have a nice day.
And the way to attack “big education” is not the snob route anyway. There is a lot of corruption in big education and a lot of meaningless degrees - folks like David Horowitz and others have done a great job of deconstructing the education bubble. There is an issue here.
Santorum picked the right fight but the wrong angle of attack.
Santorum as well was unschooled on JFK’s statement regarding church-state seperation.
In context, the statement shouldn’t make someone want to throw up. All it was about is politics...the candidate’s need to reassure nervous non-Catholics that he wouldn’t be controlled by the Catholic Church when making government decisions. That was necessary because back then many people were afraid he WOULD be.
Newt corrected that, too.
This guy doesn’t get it, he was saying not every kid is made to go to college so why educate every kid the same?
Pray for America
One of the best, most honest posts here on FR in a LONG TIME, my friend. Very good.
You are right, that was another issue where RS took the wrong route. Which reinforces the notion that he just does not have the intellectual ammunition that Newt has. Just doesn’t. Not a crime. But it is a fact.
->>There is a lot of corruption in big education and a lot of meaningless degrees - folks like David Horowitz and others have done a great job of deconstructing the education bubble. There is an issue here.
Amen. Thanks for commenting.
You were the one posting strange snide comments about a total stranger and I just pointed it out .
The light hurts .
The food stamp program, part of the Department of Agriculture, announced that it is pleased to be distributing the greatest amount of food stamps ever.
Meanwhile the Park Service, also part of the Department of Agriculture, asks us to "Please not feed the animals", because the animals may grow dependant and not learn to take care of themselves.
Someone also said Santorum is now picking up on Newt's "cost of gas" comments.
He's good at following a leader.
LOL nice.
Exactly.
Santorum has a point. The founders assumed that the body politic would be informed and guided by their religious faith. There is no founding wall of seperation. The document speaks of restraining government from interfering with religion, not the other way around.
But Santorum chose the wrong angle of attack. I know when JFK ran, the leaders of my non-Catholic church were very concerned and warned members that he was subject to the Catholic church and to be careful of that when considering who to vote for. His statement was meant to reassure and assuage people’s fears of that.
As was I, Newt was keenly aware of context, whereas Santorum merely read the words and didn’t like the sound of it. He had no context.
Newt is the professor.
And as did I, Newt lived the events of those days.
Santorum was 2 years old.
Which ones ?
Mittens or his partner Ronny.
Yes Mittens partnered y
Up with the 9/11 truther ,Code Pink candidate .
It is a problem. A caller mentioned it to Rush yesterday and he spent a few minutes talking about how it isn't a good thing for Santorum and his image to the voters.
Perhaps Rick is used to campaigning in a blue collar state, where that "attitude" of "rage against the man" plays well. Santorum needs to recalibrate his tone.
Agreed. Santorum seems to be trying to reassure non-college graduates that they can feel okay about grooving a non-college route for their kids—so they can be “made in the image” of mom and dad.
College isn’t for everyone, but steering a kid from college so mom and dad feel better about themselves is a sorry motivation.
What was your point in posting this article?
If you'd read the article you'd understand how he took a golden opportunity and then threw it away. We can't afford to ruin excellent opportunities to expose Obama, not to mention turning voters against our party because someone can't walk and chew gum on the stump.
Santorum is getting on my last nerve. His whole campaign is bassed on taking credit for Newt’s ideas and proposals after Newt has done the heavy lifting.
Like a waiter taking credit for the chef’s recipes;)
The author got and clearly pointed out how Rick Santorum misused a great issue when he could have so easily made a much broader, more important case against Obama and his attack on education and economy. Read the article (as well as the actual Obama quote in Post #3)) to understand.
I happen to care a lot about this issue. I’ve been posting on it for years. The “research” part of universities are the think tank and incubator for Leftist thought and socialist studies that have been used to destroy us. I am disappointed that Santorum sought to make it a class issue with his “snob” comment. He totally wasted a GOLDEN opportunity.
The problem: No parent in America would be one to say “I dont want My kid to go to college”.
Here is the article on the REAL problem with Obama:
“The second is the naked political cronyism. Obama’s college scheme is a double vote-buying plan. With one initiative he buys the votes of middle class families who want to pay less for higher education AND everyone who draws a paycheck from an American college or university. This is the auto bailouts and the stimulus bill all over again. It is a transfer of taxpayer cash to a crucial Democratic Party voting bloc — college and university faculty and staff.
The president is running the country into previously unimagined depths of indebtedness with blatantly obvious vote-buying schemes”
WE HAVE A HIGHER ED BUBBLE AND OBAMA WANTS TO BLOW IT UP FURTHER.
I DID read the article, and do not agree with the author. Santorum made very valid points. obama is a snob; colleges are full of liberal indoctrination. Santorum has explained that he values higher (than highschool) learning, but that people are individuals. Not everyone needs to go to college. We have skilled trades that are very valuable in this country. There are a lot of kids that have a four year degree, living at home, no job, thousands of dollars in debt, and obama wants to create more of them? I don’t think so.
Santorum was campaigning in MI....there are a lot of skilled trades folks in MI. His point was very valid.
And we know that elites believe we’re just the dumb masses — that getting your hands dirty is best left to fly-over rubes. I get what Santorum was saying. But he cherry-picked from something Obama said and went off on a tear and left all the important parts of the argument out. Obama is trying to make education FREE (DEBT off the charts) and Santorum muddied the opportunity to attack Obama and expose this but instead he left himself open to criticism.
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