All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[PaulBullion]

Former Vice President Joe Biden has increased his lead over President Donald Trump to 12 percentage points in Michigan, where voters are unhappy with Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll.

https://eu.freep.com/story/news/poli...ts/3153501001/

Let's see if rightwing RCP will
a) add this poll, and
b) move Michigan from "Toss Up" to "Leans Biden".

[Kirby101]

Wouldn't this thread be nicer if we got an espresso maker and some Belgian cookies?

You mean the Lotus biscuits? Yum.

[aja_christopher]

Wouldn't this thread be nicer if we got an espresso maker and some Belgian cookies?

Many Americans can only focus on one thing at a time -- best not to distract them from the issues at hand.

[Tami]

Big news: Colin Powell announces he will vote for Joe Biden on @CNNSotu with @jaketapper — “I cannot in ANY way support President Trump this year”

Twitter Link

[Mister Mets]

If Trump is Anti-Antifa, is it fair to say that he is Pro-Fascism? Either that, or he is completely ignorant of what either means.

I suspect that most people recognize that antifa does not refer solely to everyone opposed to an authoritarian political system that peaked prior to World War II.

The idea that the slogan is all that matters would mean that one should definitely be on the side of the pro-life movement, and that one would only be against North Korea (AKA "Democratic People's Republic of Korea") if they don't like Democracy or Koreans.

[PaulBullion]

I suspect that most people recognize that antifa does not refer solely to everyone opposed to an authoritarian political system that peaked prior to World War II.

The idea that the slogan is all that matters would mean that one should definitely be on the side of the pro-life movement, and that one would only be against North Korea (AKA "Democratic People's Republic of Korea") if they don't like Democracy or Koreans.

No, everybody opposed to fascism is literally antifa.

Maybe ask one of your students to have them explain the difference between Black Bloc and Antifa to you.

[worstblogever]

Twitter Link

We're about to see some Republicans not in office come forward like this. Ex-military types first, I'd guess. And then a few in office. Romney's rumored already.

[worstblogever]

No, everybody opposed to fascism is literally antifa.

Maybe ask one of your students to have them explain the difference between Black Bloc and Antifa to you.

I'm not so much "antifa" as I am "f***fascistslikeforever".

It's more letters, I know, but I feel they're worth it.

[Mister Mets]

Schools need more funding in general.

I benefitted from taking advanced classes from first grade forward -- the vast majority of those classes were anywhere from 3-10 students with an average of six to eight per class. My favorite was an advanced math class in seventh grade that was only three students -- I won more awards in science, literature and math contests (academic decathlons) under that one teacher than almost all the others because he was able to counsel me directly and encourage me to do more than just coast through school on my gifts alone.

The largest classes were always the ones I benefitted from the least.

The same happened in college -- the larger the classes, the less informative they usually were.

Then the same happened when I would teach -- the larger the classes, the less attention I could give to the students who needed it.

More funding could easily go towards hiring more teachers and reducing class sizes which would help both teachers and students in every district. It makes absolutely no sense that anyone would try to argue that schools don't need more funding -- especially districts where the tax base doesn't cover more than the bare necessities. It's Republicans who argue that schools don't need more funding -- they like their constituents uneducated so they can take advantage of their ignorance.



Unfortunately the rest of us have to suffer the consequence of their decisions.

In the discussion about education spending and policy, the idea of increasing spending so that it's normal to have classes of ten or so students, isn't really addressed much. This isn't a Democrats VS Republicans thing, as much as neither party considering an option.

There may be tremendous benefits to it, but it has implications in terms of hiring (you're going to need a lot of new teachers who need to be trained) and construction (a school built for classes of 30 students is going to need some changes if it's going to have three times the number of classes for the same number of people.)

[Mister Mets]

No, everybody opposed to fascism is literally antifa.

Maybe ask one of your students to have them explain the difference between Black Bloc and Antifa to you.

Do you believe that because North Korea calls itself the Democratic Republic of Korea, if you are opposed to the country, you dislike Democracy and Koreans?

Likewise is the alt-right everyone who is conservative but pissed off at the establishment of the Republican party?

Twitter Link

Powell has endorsed the Democratic candidate in the previous three elections. It's not surprising that someone who backed Obama over Romney would also back Biden over Trump.

[PaulBullion]

Do you believe that because North Korea calls itself the Democratic Republic of Korea, if you are opposed to the country, you dislike Democracy and Koreans?

Likewise is the alt-right everyone who is conservative but pissed off at the establishment of the Republican party?



Powell has endorsed the Democratic candidate in the previous three elections. It's not surprising that someone who backed Obama over Romney would also back Biden over Trump.

What the actual flying frick are you even still posting about.

As I said, get back to us when you talked to one of your students.

[aja_christopher]

"Trump/DeVos budget slashes education funding"

-----

"Democratic Party on Education"

Party Platform -- "Reduce class size, modernize facilities, hire new teachers"

We need to put one million new teachers in our classrooms. We must reduce class size by hiring 100,000 teachers. We need to pay teachers like professionals. We should rebuild school buildings to assure students can attend schools that are modern and safe. We need to construct new schools to meet the needs of the largest generation of students in history.

We must assure that schools have the resources to meet the challenges of an increasingly diverse student population.

https://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/de..._education.htm

-----
"House Dems Want More Education Spending in Stimulus"

"Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are planning to propose adding more money for education aid for states in the next coronavirus relief package, a House Democratic aide told Inside Higher Ed.

Democratic lawmakers said they want to add more money for state and local governments, which face large budget shortfalls from the economic fallout from the pandemic. And Representative Bobby Scott, the Virginia Democrat who leads the education committee, said during a morning call with reporters that helping states is essential for preventing cuts to education, including higher education.

“If we don’t help states with their revenue estimates, they have to balance their budgets and -- to a large extent -- we believe it’s going to come at the expense of education, so we have to come up with state and local funding,” he said, but he didn’t mention giving higher education additional money beyond the $14 billion the CARES Act provided for higher education, which included emergency grants for students.

Democrats, who control the House, are working on their proposal for a new stimulus package, and it’s unclear if their proposal will include an amount anywhere close to the additional $46.6 billion in funding colleges and universities have said they need. Associations representing the industry also are pushing for the state aid to come with requirements to not cut state funding for higher education.

However, the aide said in a statement, “In addition to flexible state aid, House Democrats strongly believe that services like K-12 and higher education need dedicated funding. Just as in the CARES Act, we will provide dedicated education funding in addition to state and local fiscal relief.”

https://www.insidehighered.com/quick...nding-stimulus

-----
"Democratic candidates seek a big and unprecedented K-12 funding boost"

"Democratic presidential candidates are proposing new approaches to the federal government’s role in public education.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders want to triple the US$15 billion spent annually on Title I, a program that sends extra federal dollars to school districts that educate a high percentage of poor children.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to go further and quadruple funding for that same program.

Other candidates have similar proposals to substantially increase funding for public education, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hasn’t yet issued his education platform, or indicated where he stands on federal K-12 funding.

Funding increases of this scale would transform the federal role in education policy, making it easier for school districts to pay teachers higher wages while reducing class sizes. This focus on funding would mark a departure from previous administrations, which instead emphasized policies intended to increase accountability and strengthen teacher evaluation.

Federal funding has never surpassed 10% of total public school funding, except from 2010 to 2012 when the federal government sought to reduce the school spending cuts brought about during the [Republican-initiated] Great Recession."

https://www.insidehighered.com/quick...nding-stimulus

[worstblogever]

-----

"Democratic Party on Education"

Party Platform -- "Reduce class size, modernize facilities, hire new teachers"

We need to put one million new teachers in our classrooms. We must reduce class size by hiring 100,000 teachers. We need to pay teachers like professionals. We should rebuild school buildings to assure students can attend schools that are modern and safe. We need to construct new schools to meet the needs of the largest generation of students in history.

We must assure that schools have the resources to meet the challenges of an increasingly diverse student population.

https://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/de..._education.htm

-----
"House Dems Want More Education Spending in Stimulus"

"Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are planning to propose adding more money for education aid for states in the next coronavirus relief package, a House Democratic aide told Inside Higher Ed.

Democratic lawmakers said they want to add more money for state and local governments, which face large budget shortfalls from the economic fallout from the pandemic. And Representative Bobby Scott, the Virginia Democrat who leads the education committee, said during a morning call with reporters that helping states is essential for preventing cuts to education, including higher education.

“If we don’t help states with their revenue estimates, they have to balance their budgets and -- to a large extent -- we believe it’s going to come at the expense of education, so we have to come up with state and local funding,” he said, but he didn’t mention giving higher education additional money beyond the $14 billion the CARES Act provided for higher education, which included emergency grants for students.

Democrats, who control the House, are working on their proposal for a new stimulus package, and it’s unclear if their proposal will include an amount anywhere close to the additional $46.6 billion in funding colleges and universities have said they need. Associations representing the industry also are pushing for the state aid to come with requirements to not cut state funding for higher education.

However, the aide said in a statement, “In addition to flexible state aid, House Democrats strongly believe that services like K-12 and higher education need dedicated funding. Just as in the CARES Act, we will provide dedicated education funding in addition to state and local fiscal relief.”

-----
"Democratic candidates seek a big and unprecedented K-12 funding boost"

"Democratic presidential candidates are proposing new approaches to the federal government’s role in public education.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders want to triple the US$15 billion spent annually on Title I, a program that sends extra federal dollars to school districts that educate a high percentage of poor children.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to go further and quadruple funding for that same program.

Other candidates have similar proposals to substantially increase funding for public education, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hasn’t yet issued his education platform, or indicated where he stands on federal K-12 funding.

Funding increases of this scale would transform the federal role in education policy, making it easier for school districts to pay teachers higher wages while reducing class sizes. This focus on funding would mark a departure from previous administrations, which instead emphasized policies intended to increase accountability and strengthen teacher evaluation.

Federal funding has never surpassed 10% of total public school funding, except from 2010 to 2012 when the federal government sought to reduce the school spending cuts brought about during the Great Recession."

https://www.insidehighered.com/quick...nding-stimulus

[Mister Mets]

What the actual flying frick are you even still posting about.

As I said, get back to us when you talked to one of your students.

You seem to be under the impression that an organization or a movement is defined by its name, and nothing else. If you accepted that in other contexts, there would be major political implications as it shuts down a lot of discussion if we unquestionably accept the premise of every group's name.

No one could disagree with the pro-life movement, because everyone likes life.

No one could call for restrictions against North Korea because it calls itself the Democratic Republic of Korea, so opposing it is equivalent to standing against democracy and Koreans.

By this logic, there's nothing wrong with the alt-right (which is somewhat analogous to Antifa in that there isn't any leadership hierarchy and that different segments are largely autonomous), because they simply want an alternative to the mainstream political right wing.

[aja_christopher]

"Majority of Republicans Say Colleges Are Bad for America (Yes, Really)"

"The United States of America were much less divided just two years ago, when the majority of citizens largely agreed on some fundamental beliefs across party lines. Of those, that higher education leads to a better nation.

But in 2017, where it seems even nonpartisan issues and institutions have become boxed into sets of beliefs based on the major parties' political agendas, stark divisions have been drawn on everything from the media to colleges and universities.

A Pew Research Center survey published Monday revealed voters have grown apart in their support of secondary education since the 2016 presidential election season, when a majority of Democratic and Republican Americans agreed the nation's universities serve as a benefit for the U.S. Whereas 54 percent of Republicans said "colleges and universities had a positive impact on the way things were going in the country" in 2015, the majority now believe the opposite, with 58 percent saying such institutions negatively impact the state of the union.

As Republicans took to the campaign trails last year, with many candidates vowing to reverse course on former President Barack Obama's student loan protections and his administration's push for college affordability, voters identifying with the party sharply began to withdraw their support from universities altogether.

Forty-five percent of Republicans said they believed colleges and universities had a negative impact on the U.S. in 2016, compared with just 37 percent the year prior."

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans...ke-news-634474