Santorum: Obama 'A Snob' For Wanting Everyone To Go To College

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I don't think the issue is purely about 'University'...

Which is the problem, Obama NEVER said everyone must go to college. He referred to vocational and technical training also. What he's referring to is that in a period of economic downturn, more skilled workers tend to be less badly affected. So committing to a year of higher training/education is not about snobbery or elitism or any other of the inflammatory Gingrichesque feigned outrages Santorum is talking about, but trying to ensure you have some degree of insulation.

It also feeds into the ongoing anti-intellectualism that permiates the GOP right now... and considering that all the nominees are highly-educated and have benefited from that education it's hypocritical to the EXTREME to suggest that urging people to upskill during a time of crisis is some kind of warfare.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I don't think the issue is purely about 'University'...

Which is the problem, Obama NEVER said everyone must go to college. He referred to vocational and technical training also. What he's referring to is that in a period of economic downturn, more skilled workers tend to be less badly affected. So committing to a year of higher training/education is not about snobbery or elitism or any other of the inflammatory Gingrichesque feigned outrages Santorum is talking about, but trying to ensure you have some degree of insulation.

It also feeds into the ongoing anti-intellectualism that permiates the GOP right now... and considering that all the nominees are highly-educated and have benefited from that education it's hypocritical to the EXTREME to suggest that urging people to upskill during a time of crisis is some kind of warfare.

He echoes the elitist and intellectual mindset of the left though when he talks about it. I hear alot more than encouragement coming from Obama regarding education. If what you said was true, he'd be identical to Newt Gingrich and that's not the case.

Lol... you might hear it, but that doesn't mean the policy in practice is any different.

Just out of curiosity... because I'm genuinely curious, what is an elitist to you? Because I think perception OF a person will matter more, regardless of what they actually do or say.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

For what it's worth, I think forcing someone to stay in school when they could getting an apprenticeship or undertaking more technical training is not necessarily right. However, there's the issue of encouraging kids to give themselves the best opportunity out in this current market by upskilling.

Listen to Obama's 2009 SotU, it's not about turning everyone in a latte/chardonnay, volvo-driving, Proust-reading liberal. It's about the hard truth that MOST people who don't try to invest time and energy into further education and training have a very difficult time in a tight job market.

However, to construe that as some kind of social conditioning or the bs that Santorum is spouting is utter stupidity. Santorum might be helping his base by scaring them about the "exotic" Professor in the White House - but it's going to further alienate the Independent voters who are already turning on the GOP candidates... every time they open their mouths.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Polnut, while Rick could have said it more skillfully, the fact is that there is a considerable portion of this country who can remember when it was possible to get a decent middle-class job with just a secondary education.  They are resentful of the fact that it now generally takes tertiary education, and doubly resentful that this is because of a flawed secondary education system.

Feel free to disagree with the prescription that Dr. Rick has for the problem (I do) and with what he is attributing its cause to, but the symptoms are real, and Dr. Barack's "tertiary education for everyone elixir" is not the medicine the patients want.

I don't disagree completely, what I do disagree with is the attitude that this is some kind of social programming, it's reality.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

We might want to look at some data here:
Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment, Jan 2012:
Less than a High School Diploma: 15.0
High School Diploma, No College: 9.5
Some College/Associate Degree: 7.5
Bachelor's Degree or Higher: 4.4

The labor force participation rates for these same for groups are:
Less than a High School Diploma: 45.3
High School Diploma, No College: 59.8
Some College/Associate Degree: 69.3
Bachelor's Degree or Higher: 75.7

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm
Yes, there are lots of people who didn't finish high school, or who finished high school but didn't get any further education, who've done well for themselves, because they've worked hard and made good choices. There are also people who have advanced university degrees who don't do well. But averages matter, too.

This is true but if everyone has a college degree and competes for high salaried jobs, then what happens to jobs that produce products and other services? Alot of why our manufacturing sector is gone is because people go to college instead of trade school. This is what happens when everyone goes to college. Again, college is good if you end up doing something that requires a degree.

The reason those jobs in manufacturing are going overseas is because it's possible to pay people in other countries a tenth as much money as American workers cost. They're often much less productive workers than Americans would be, but if wages are low enough, that's not a problem.

Still my point remains that if everyone is a doctor or lawyer, no one would be there to manufacture products. You can bring back all the jobs you want and no one would be here to do them if we were all college graduates. Also, you're right about being able to pay people less. With as high as corporate taxes are here I wouldn't start a company on this soil. Without corporate taxes companies would come back because it would again be profitable to do business in the U.S. Unfortunately the Democrats can't stand that because they wouldn't be in control of every nook and cranny of our lives. Our money would be worth more too if we as Americans could agree to accept lower wages as a whole, but it would have to be simultaneous. By having less monetary to enforce lower prices, the value of our dollar goes up as well. You probably don't agree with me about this being the best way to do things which there's nothing wrong with that, but I don't see the government solving this problem. It's not a new problem and no difference has been made. I consider myself a moderate actually, but when it comes to education and economics, I'm a Goldwater/Reagan conservative.

Is anyone actually saying that everyone should go to college and become and doctor or lawyer?!

There is soooo much reaching going on here.