Is the nation heading in the wrong direction?

Yes. I most definitely feel our country is going in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, this is being done by BOTH major political parties:

1. We're spending ourselves into oblivion. $500 billion a year Federal deficits and $50 billion a month trade deficits. Just how much longer will it be before the rest of the world refuses to accept dollars any more?

2. No national energy policy. Unless "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die" can be called a plan.

3. Education standards being continually lowered.

4. A significant percentage of our population being perpetual wards of the State. Before you jump down my throat on this one, please consider page 76 of the 2003 Form 1040 Instructions. It shows a pie chart of FY 2002 Federal Government Expenditures. 21% went to Social Programs, 10% for Physical, Human and Community Development, and 38% for Social Security, Medicare and other Retirement. That's 69% of the Budget for payment to our citizens. The same page lists FY 2002 spending at 2.1 trillion, so the Federal Government spent $1.449 Trillion on helping people. And what's the result of spending $1.449 Trillion? According to the Census Bureau (www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/histpov/rdp05.html) in 1980 20.8% of the population lived in poverty (not counting government transfers). In 2002 the percentage was 20.0%. Think about this for a minute. Between 1980 to 2002 we spend on the Federal level (not counting State and local spending) somewhere around 20 Trillion Dollars to help the needy, and the percentage of needy does not go down. Am I the only one who thinks something is seriously fundamentally wrong here?

0 Replies

Jim wrote:

Yes. I most definitely feel our country is going in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, this is being done by BOTH major political parties:

1. We're spending ourselves into oblivion. $500 billion a year Federal deficits and $50 billion a month trade deficits. Just how much longer will it be before the rest of the world refuses to accept dollars any more?

2. No national energy policy. Unless "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die" can be called a plan.

3. Education standards being continually lowered.

4. A significant percentage of our population being perpetual wards of the State. Before you jump down my throat on this one, please consider page 76 of the 2003 Form 1040 Instructions. It shows a pie chart of FY 2002 Federal Government Expenditures. 21% went to Social Programs, 10% for Physical, Human and Community Development, and 38% for Social Security, Medicare and other Retirement. That's 69% of the Budget for payment to our citizens. The same page lists FY 2002 spending at 2.1 trillion, so the Federal Government spent $1.449 Trillion on helping people. And what's the result of spending $1.449 Trillion? According to the Census Bureau (www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/histpov/rdp05.html) in 1980 20.8% of the population lived in poverty (not counting government transfers). In 2002 the percentage was 20.0%. Think about this for a minute. Between 1980 to 2002 we spend on the Federal level (not counting State and local spending) somewhere around 20 Trillion Dollars to help the needy, and the percentage of needy does not go down. Am I the only one who thinks something is seriously fundamentally wrong here?

A CBS poll? Laughable! LOL

Edit: Moderator- Do not post your links here.

0 Replies

if you want to live in a single party theocracy, the country is definately going in the right direction.

0 Replies

Jim we are in agreement.....as far as your debt point......I believe people need to be helped.....but we are putting a financial band aid on a wound and not treating the actual sickness.....paul the new guy...way to engage.......

We need to look closely at every bullshit pork program there is and make some hard decisions on where to put our money........

My biggest fear is not terrorism, but the dumbing down of the population....and I believe that it's purposeful....I believe bushinc is engaged in the purposeful well planned and ongoing business of confusing, frightening and misinforming the American public.....and it seems to be working....

0 Replies

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

Jim we are in agreement.....as far as your debt point......I believe people need to be helped.....but we are putting a financial band aid on a wound and not treating the actual sickness.....paul the new guy...way to engage.......

We need to look closely at every bullshit pork program there is and make some hard decisions on where to put our money........

My biggest fear is not terrorism, but the dumbing down of the population....and I believe that it's purposeful....I believe bushinc is engaged in the purposeful well planned and ongoing business of confusing, frightening and misinforming the American public.....and it seems to be working....

It isn't Bush that is dumbing down the public but the school system. We have been lowering standards for the last decade or so and it isn't helping. Bush has set a higher standard for education with the No Child Left behind law. It will require students to do school work at their grade level over the next decade. It is the largest help the school system has had in the last 20 years. If we continue to lower standards and not hold teachers accountable our children will never be able to compete in the real world.

0 Replies

Baldimo
Why do you think that we have been lowering the standards for the last decade. By the way it is far longer that the last decade.

0 Replies

bullshit baldimo, with all due respect....no child left behind got no child left behind the front lines tagged on at the end.....miltary recruiters can go to any school and demand the recors of all male students....if the school refuses they can be hauled in front of a judge...this has already happened....on top of that, the teachers are now merely teaching the tests.......

0 Replies

Additionally, the current education program is one of the biggest unfunded mandates ever foisted upon the states.

0 Replies

President Bush is investing more resources in America's students than at any time in history. President Bush has provided more funding for K-12 education than any other Administration.

The President's 2005 budget would increase:

* Elementary and secondary education funding by 49% since 2001, from $24.8 billion to $37 billion
* Overall Department of Education funding by 36%, from $42.2 billion to $57.3 billion
* Title I funding for disadvantaged students by 52% (a $4.6 billion increase)
* Special education funding by 75% (a $4.7 billion increase)
* Funding for teacher recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers by 39%, from $2.1 billion to almost $3 billion
* Funding for reading programs by four times, from $286 million to $1.26 billion

Two independent studies (the first by the Education Leaders Council and the second by James Peyser, Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education, and Robert Costrell, chief economist in the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance) have also concluded that NCLB provides enough funding to cover the costs of implementation. President Bush realizes what all good parents know - that spending alone does not improve education. Parents and students deserve accountability to ensure funds are delivering real results for children.

State assessments are expected to measure how well students meet the state's academic standards, which define what students should know and be able to achieve in different subject areas at different grade levels. If a test measures basic knowledge in reading and math, then teaching to the test means teaching the basics of reading and math. If teachers cover subject matter required by the standards and teach it well, then students will master the material on which they will be tested - and probably much more. In that case, students will need no special test preparation in order to do well. And test results help teachers determine which students are learning and which students need more help.

0 Replies

au1929 wrote:

Baldimo
Why do you think that we have been lowering the standards for the last decade. By the way it is far longer that the last decade.

They have been lowering the standards because people were not able to meet them. In lowering the standards they allow more children to meet them instead of pushing them to achieve. You can't be successful and lower the standards, it doesn't work that way.

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

bullshit baldimo, with all due respect....no child left behind got no child left behind the front lines tagged on at the end.....miltary recruiters can go to any school and demand the recors of all male students....if the school refuses they can be hauled in front of a judge...this has already happened....on top of that, the teachers are now merely teaching the tests.......

What is the issue with military recruiters going into the schools? Doesn't the fed govt provide money to the schools? Yes they do, if that is the case then recruiters should be allowed to go into any fed funded school and let students know about the military. Last time I checked it was the military that kept us safe and allowed the US to have the freedoms we currently have. The military should be allowed to recruit the best and the brightest if they want to join. Remember we have an all-voluntary military, and no one is forced to join. If the schools want to keep out the military then the govt should cut their funding. Without the military our country isn't safe!

The teachers are teaching the tests because that is all that is really needed. As someone else stated, if the tests test basic knowledge then if they pass the test then they should have the basic skills. If the teachers don't want to be held accountable then they should find another job.

0 Replies

unbelievable.....

0 Replies

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

unbelievable.....

that is such an informative response.

What is so "unbelieveable"?

0 Replies

Once upon a time there were creatures who weren't anything like machines. They weren't dependable. They weren't efficient. They weren't predictable. They weren't durable. And these poor creatures were obsessed by the idea that everything that existed had to have a purpose, and that some purposes were higher than others.
These creatures spent most of their time trying to find out what their purpose was. And every time they found out what seemed to be a purpose of themselves, the purpose seemed so low that the creatures were filled with disgust and shame.
And, rather than serve such a low purpose, the creatures would make a machine to serve it. This left the creatures free to serve higher purposes. But whenever they found a higher purpose, the purpose still wasn't high enough.
So machines were made to serve higher purposes, too.
And the machines did everything so expertly that they were finally given the job of finding out what the higher purpose of the creatures could be.
The machines reported in all honesty that the creatures couldn't really be said to have any purpose at all.
The creatures thereupon began slaying each other, because they hated purposeless things above all else.
And they discovered that they weren't even very good at slaying. So they turned that job over to the machines, too. And the machines finished up the job in less time than it takes to say, "Tralfamadore."

from Kurt Vonnegut, jr's
"The Sirens of Titan"

0 Replies

dyslexia wrote:

Once upon a time there were creatures who weren't anything like machines. They weren't dependable. They weren't efficient. They weren't predictable. They weren't durable. And these poor creatures were obsessed by the idea that everything that existed had to have a purpose, and that some purposes were higher than others.
These creatures spent most of their time trying to find out what their purpose was. And every time they found out what seemed to be a purpose of themselves, the purpose seemed so low that the creatures were filled with disgust and shame.
And, rather than serve such a low purpose, the creatures would make a machine to serve it. This left the creatures free to serve higher purposes. But whenever they found a higher purpose, the purpose still wasn't high enough.
So machines were made to serve higher purposes, too.
And the machines did everything so expertly that they were finally given the job of finding out what the higher purpose of the creatures could be.
The machines reported in all honesty that the creatures couldn't really be said to have any purpose at all.
The creatures thereupon began slaying each other, because they hated purposeless things above all else.
And they discovered that they weren't even very good at slaying. So they turned that job over to the machines, too. And the machines finished up the job in less time than it takes to say, "Tralfamadore."

from Kurt Vonnegut, jr's
"The Sirens of Titan"

I would say that was "unbelieveable".

0 Replies

Baldimo wrote:

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:
unbelievable.....

that is such an informative response.

What is so "unbelieveable"?

Who's trying to inform? I find you unbelievable......what was it about that you found so hard to understand?

0 Replies

dyslexia wrote:

"Tralfamadore."

from Kurt Vonnegut, jr's
"The Sirens of Titan"

imho, the man from indianapolis has never gotten as much applause as he deserved...
"ho hum" Laughing

0 Replies

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

Baldimo wrote:
Bi-Polar Bear wrote:
unbelievable.....

that is such an informative response.

What is so "unbelieveable"?

Who's trying to inform? I find you unbelievable......what was it about that you found so hard to understand?

You might find what I said or even me unbelievable but can you refute the claim? I know this to be true because I have a child in school now, and to see what they teach makes me want to remove him and do home schooling. Did you know that in 1st grade they give students grades on their diversity? I find this laughable. No wonder schools are running out of money, they teach **** they shouldn't have to worry about. My child doesn't get any more diverse then to be at home and around family. We are such a varied mix that even I can't get it all straight.

Please discuss the post not the person!

0 Replies

Yes I have two in school...I recently saw one out of school who was in special programs....my cubs get the education they need....not the horseshit the public schools try to cram down their thorats....reason? I advocate for them.....I don't just bitch about the quality (admittedly poor) of the system. Everything the kids need is there....it's up to you as a parent to reason, scream, fight, bully, be the biggest pain in the ass parent in the system to get your kids what they need.... you have to sit on your kids and make them do the work and teach them the value of it.....all this can be done with the resources available.

In 1995 I received a standing ovation at the school drop off for calling the Board of Education people liars on a televised meeting over school rassignments....I held their feet to the fire and my kids stayed where they were....when I was told that special ed kids who were certificate rather than diploma holders did not get to participate in graduation cermonies I raised so much hell that my boy and the others graduating in his class walked the aisle with the "regular" kids and took part in graduation cermonies.

Everything your kids need is in the system, even though I agree the system absolutely sucks worse and worse every year....if they're not getting it, you're allowing it.

There are binding rules and laws in the system and yo have to work them.

0 Replies

Baldimo wrote:

The military should be allowed to recruit the best and the brightest if they want to join. Remember we have an all-voluntary military, and no one is forced to join..

Do you honestly believe they would request records so that they can recruit the smartest kids? Isn't it more likely that they are presenting themselves as a viable option to those who probably have no other options?

0 Replies

Is the nation heading in the wrong direction?

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know