Democrats don’t need no steenking school vouchers
The successful and popular private school voucher program in Washington DC has been killed by Democrats, no doubt in order to reward their friends in the teachers’ union. Remind me, please, why is it that black people still support Democrats so strongly?
Stockholm syndrome?
Racism.
Lest we forget…The Safe Schools Czar.
My toenails curl at the imagining of what PC-Crap & Gay Male Behavior pointers this twit will bring.
Paaaa-Toooooey.
The almost lockstep allegiance that black Americans have with the Democrat party has a lot to do with social pressure. Ask any black Republican or conservative, and they will tell you about the grief they get for their views or affiliations when they differ from those held by the black majority.
This is just another example of the Democrats being so sure of the votes of the vast majority of black Americans that they are perfectly comfortable with doing things that are harmful to blacks (and other minorities) on an individual basis in order to further agendas which they think are for the “greater good” (like maintaining the unwavering support of teacher’s unions).
After all, those who wander from the “plantation” way of life, will be ridiculed or shamed into coming back by their friends, neighbors and relatives. Those who are able to resist this kind of peer pressure are too few to matter.
This is a good example of why knowledge of history is so important. It has been forgotten that the GOP is the Party of Lincoln and Martin Luther King. That all of the early black politicians were Republicans. That the GOP forced Reconstruction on the South until the Democrats got enough political power back to enact “Jim Crow” type laws in the South to roll back gains made by blacks during Reconstruction and that Republicans were instrumental in the passage of civil rights legislation in the 60’s over the resistance of the Democrats.
If most black Americans knew the history of both parties in this country, they would be solid Republicans. Most were, until the Democrats learned how to buy votes in the inner cities and other impoverished areas with welfare money.
So long as Democrats are the proponent of affirmative action, they will have the Black vote. In the Dems view, if a kid does not go to a better school for middle school/high school- what does it matter? They will simply be forwarded to a better school through affirmative action in higher ed. Nevermind that the young black adult is ill-prepared for these schools- they will either be passed along until an employer makes the mistake of hiring them, through an affirmative action program, or they will drop out/fail out, and take advantange of a welfare program. It’s a win-win for Dems.
Too cynical?
Less cynical view- Dems just want all schools to come up to speed, so that there are no top schools. And of course, the only way to do that, is to throw more and more money at schools, despite the fact that school spending has far outpaced inflation. But magical thinking has always been the part and parcel of liberalism.
Neo–
The Anchoress has a post expanding on an idea first put forth by the Blogfather, namely setting up a scholarship fund for DC children that could be used to purchase vouchers for them. She continues with the thought that the fund could be centralized in a way similar to Soldiers’ Angels; people could donate to it through their favorite individual site. The project would not only help the kids, it would also prove that government is not the only solution to every problem and in fact often gets in the way. She adds that if it is successful, such a fund could be extended to apprenticeships in the skilled trades and other blue-collar jobs.
Link: http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/theanchoress/2010/01/01/new-idea-for-the-new-year/#comments
Hi Neo,
Don’t take me wrong – I agree with you a lot, but again, I must disagree. Here is a little story to illustrate my point:
Imagine that you run for political office. Imagine also that you believe people should be able to own firearms for self defense. Imagine further, that the NRA gave you money for your campaign. Would you then say that the reason you support gun rights is because the NRA gives you money?
Democrats shut down vouchers because they believe that public schools are superior. They provide a predictability in society which would be destroyed if every parent could choose what they like for education. Ever hear the expression, “If you love someone – set them free….” Democrats believe that is national suicide. For all their problems, the public schools provide the possibility of a universal society. The chaos of individual choice can’t be allowed when the future of the country is at stake.
I know its hard to believe. But liberals believe in the system. The Unions just supply money to those who already believe.
James
Because back when under LBJ they gave ’em stuff.
Before Vernon Jordan had the $2,000 suit and the clout to get a corporate exec job for a presidential plaything and before Jesse Jackson was an éminence grise and the father of a congressman these Professional Negroes had carte blanche with the press and the party that lacked any kind of moral discipline and was therefore willing to put billions at their disposal for various kinds of projects got the seal of approval. that’s why.
When I was young most black people were Republicans because of Lincoln and that fact that all the Jim Crow southerners were Democrats.
But the Republicans were going through a silly phase, with Goldwater caring about the constitution and all, so they missed their chance. They couldn’t match LBJ when it came to giving out stuff. And there was McGovern, who instituted racial proportional delegate selection. More stuff.
A general question: How come, to a Democrat, spending a lot of money on education is automatically a good and noble thing, but spending a lot of money on health care is bad? Will Obama next “bend the cost curve” of education? Don’t count on it!
Turns out you can enslave someone by forced labor or by habitual competence destroying handouts.
Only with the former does the victim seem to retain an accurate perspective of who his oppressor is.
Actually, the black migration from the Republican to the Democrat Party started during the Depression. There was a quote I saw about it, but I can’t remember which book it was in.
I did a little searching online, and found this and this.
Excerpt from the first link:
That was the quote I was looking for. It was from September 1932.
James,
Are you blind? “Democrats shut down vouchers because they believe that public schools are superior. They provide a predictability in society which would be destroyed if every parent could choose what they like for education.”
Inner city public schools are inferior. They do not educate their charges. Democrats not only know that, they want to keep inner city schools that way. That’s the predictability they want and that’s why Democrats demand, in election after election, that more money be spent on “education” and, election after election, the results are that the students do worse and worse on standardized tests. No one with a brain is watching how that money is being spent. (Where the heck does that money go? Most likely to bloating the number of administrators and to teacher’s raises, neither of which is directed to improving the education of the students.)
An educated Black or Latino might vote Republican, you see, so it is better to keep minorities from using vouchers to get what might actually be a better education. This is another example of the evil that liberals do, and knowingly. If you remember, competitive and assertive Blacks that think for themselves, like Justice Clarence Thomas or Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who want more than anything for Blacks to succeed, are derided by liberals AND Blacks as Uncle Toms who have turned their backs on the Black community. Their real sin, then, was becoming Republicans.
Hi Steve,
I imagine you have left this thread – but in case you still are reading:
I didn’t say the Democrats were “correct” in believing the public school system was better. I just said they believed it.
Democrats believe many strange things. This is one of them. The fact that those things are wrong does not mean they don’t believe them.
James
James, I understand what you are saying, and it may apply to some Democrats, but there is very clear evidence that many of the Democrats, starting with Pres. Obama, do NOT believe the public school is better: they don’t send their own kids there! I move all the time, and every time I look at where we are going to live and I send my kids to the best school there that we can afford. In some cases that might be a public school, but in most cases it has ended up being either parochial or private. Most Dems are no different — and a large number of them send their kids to private schools.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124147923132785121.html
“Private-school choice is a popular practice among both congressional Republicans and Democrats. Thirty-eight percent of House Republicans and 34 percent of House Democrats have ever sent their children to private school. In the Senate, 53 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of Democrats have exercised private-school choice for their children. Thirty five percent of Congressional Black Caucus Members have sent a child to private school. Only 6 percent of black students overall attend private school.[8]”
They are voting with their decisions and their pocket books and they are voting against public schools. A more correct assessment of what they think is that the “system” of public schools is important to maintain (something I don’t disagree with) but as to sending kids to those schools…why that is something for you or I or those poor folks in the cities. And, as cynical as it is, it is clearly the influence of teachers’ unions that warps their political decisions w/r/t education to a point that they continue to support decisions that do not help kids or parents, but “help” only entrenched teachers and union leaders pocketbooks. w/r/t the case of the D.C. vouchers, Dems in congress went against almost all local Democratic politicians and local parents who are almost exclusively Democratic supporters. They did that for one reason and one reason only — the teacher’s unions, the teacher’s unions, the teacher’s unions — who line their coffers every election season.
Hi Kbed,
You are giving the Democrats too much credit.
Democrats believe that public schools are better for society in general. There kids are the exception, but that doesn’t change their own (however rediculous) beliefs.
Here is how a democrat looks at the world:
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| The Rulers |
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| The public. |
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In their opinion, its best for the public if the public go to public schools and are ruled by the rulers. They believe this because the public is easier to rule and predict if they are sent through the same “conditioning/value” system. Quality of education is an afterthought.
You may believe that society is really “self-ruled”. That is, the rulers and the ruled live in the same world with the same privileges and rights. I even agree with you.
They don’t believe that. They believe in a philosophy that you disagree with. The unions give them money because they benefit from that philosophy.
James
James,
I have made the point here, which neo disputes to a degree, that liberals are evil because they speak of acting with good intentions but create havoc in their wake. Although liberals have no history (so they can avoid being judgmental) they can’t but recognize the havoc but they NEVER, NEVER, NEVER accept the blame or go back to fix the problems they create. The very latest is the increase in the minimum wage at a time when millions are being thrown out of work. As is always the case, the group hit the hardest is young Black males, whose unemployment rate exceeds 30%. A simple solution would be to lower the minimum wage to make younsters more attractive as new employees. Fagetaboutit!!!!
kbed reinforces the points I was making. The Democrats KNOW that inner city schools are inferior. They do not believe that inner city public schools are better or they would not be so reluctant to send their children to them. But, any Blacks that want to send their children to private schools have to be fought for wanting to better themselves. Liberals love Blacks and other minorities in the abstract, but don’t want to actually associate with them. You know, they love them as a class but not as individuals. Neo asks when Blacks will wake up. So do I.
On the other hand, conservatives don’t give a damn about the color or ethnicity of people. What we care about is whether the particular person has good character or, with regard to employment, the ability to do the job. For this we are tarred as being “mean spirited”. We don’t have those good thoughts, you see.
The democrats that you and I know as neighbors and friends are good people for the most part (as neo pointed out in a prior blog) but do not examine their beliefs other than to know they mean well and the far right conservative republicans are mean and evil. The more dedicated liberal, and this is the variety that infests Washington today, is in it for the power. Everything the democrats have doing since they gained control of Congress in 2006 has been designed to keep them in power indefinitely. The stimulus goes to democrat states primarily, not really where it is needed. ACORN will be funded to continue its role in undermining the validity of the popular vote. Fannie and Freddie are continuing to fund crappy mortgage loans and will be staffed by out of office democrats, just as before. And these people swear to uphold and protect the Constitution!!
The statism you describe, rulers and the rest of us, is starting the look, taste and smell like fascism under Obama. Our only saving grace is that our ancestors came here, to the land of the free and the home of the brave, and we won’t go quietly ad submissively, into this tyranny. we are a land of cowboys!!!
While websurfing I came across this little item, an opinion piece written by a teacher, all about the evils of private education and why it should be banned! http://timesonline.typepad.com/schoolgate/2009/12/why-private-schools-should-be-banned-by-a-teacher.html
Yes it’s from the UK but the sentiment would be the same over here if you asked the average government worker.
> Remind me, please, why is it that black people still support Democrats so strongly?
Dumbass friggin’ stupidity.
They have so much in common with Democrats, really, when you think about it.
Neither one learns a whit from experience.
The Dems treat them like crap in 1964, they riot for a bit, then they’re right back in the Dem camp by the early 70s.
They should have been looking elsewhere for support, but they bought the Biggest Con Job of the 20th century: that The Right and The GOP are the racists.
Hi Steve,
As described in “Liberal Fascism”, fascism really was a progressive philosophy. It just added military power to the philosophical mix. Hitler built a first class (based on Bismarck before him) welfare state. But then he had to pay for it, which required military adventure and liquidating a certain portion of the population.
In that sense, both liberalism and fascism are “idealistic”. They are philosophies which promise a society that is better than what a free society will accomplish on its own. Of course, the society based on liberalism is worse than a free society, sometimes much worse, and when that happens the rulers have to make a choice. They can either give up their “idealistic” philosophy, in which case, they are essential conservatives; or they double down and push harder to get the ideal they know is possible.
The purpose of my comments thus far is to make this point: Liberals are driven by their commitment to that philosophy. That commitment is stronger than money from any organization. The teachers union is just a side show.
Likewise, you and I are committed to the conservative philosophy in one of its many flavors. Organizations like the NRA are just necessary sideshows. Our commitment is stronger than the money from such organizations.
James