Who's voting for Donald Trump?

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

The United States spends more than other developed nations on its students' education each year

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-education-spending-tops-global-list-study-shows/

But I'm sure just a few more billion will really help turn things around.

[ua_guy]

I remember reading online that the US actually spends more per pupil than any nation other than South Korea on education. Will increasing funding really have any more impact? Doubt it.

It's a good question. But here it's not throwing more money at K-12 education. It's providing higher education at no cost to students-- a lot of which could translate into a more skilled workforce, maybe better outcomes for disadvantaged youths after high school.

The K-12 system needs reform. My sister is an educator and my heart bleeds for her cause. She spends some of her own money to make sure her classroom and students get to do all the things she thinks they need, meanwhile, the local high school is tearing down a 10 year old stadium to put up a bigger one...why isn't a grass field good enough?

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

It's a good question. But here it's not throwing more money at K-12 education. It's providing higher education at no cost to students-- a lot of which could translate into a more skilled workforce, maybe better outcomes for disadvantaged youths after high school.

We have something called student loans, which these kids can take out. If these jobs are truly in demand, they can pay them off. Of course that doesn't happen, the kids major in French lesbian studies, then whine about it, and vote for nimrods like Bernie Sanders.

You cannot fix stupid, son. If we could Sanders wouldn't have any supporters at all.

[Spiffster]

We have something called student loans, which these kids can take out. If these jobs are truly in demand, they can pay them off. Of course that doesn't happen, the kids major in French lesbian studies, then whine about it, and vote for nimrods like Bernie Sanders.

You cannot fix stupid, son. If we could Sanders wouldn't have any supporters at all.

Oh, but student loans are for the privileged! (apparenlty)

Take me for example, I never took high school seriously, hence my GPA was somewhere in the 2.3 range. When college came around, I had to work and went to school at night. It was overwhelming at first, working full time while taking up to 16 credits some semesters, but I got used to it rather quickly. One thing was for sure, I took it a whole hell of a lot more seriously now that I was paying for my education. Transcript shows a 3.5 average.

Free college is not the solution for stupidity / laziness, or in my case I believe it was a mild combination of both.

If I had free college available at the time, I would have probably just spent more of the money I saved on beer and recreational drugs.

[ua_guy]

Why aren't European education models good enough?

Is there something wrong with their healthcare?

Should students have to pay banks (private) 7 or 8 percent just so they can have the minimal educational requirements compared to developed nations? I mean, the other option is for students to save up until they're 30 or so, then go to school. I'm not so sure being a full time retail slave while going to school is a good plan....everyone I've talked to sacrificed and still had to borrow just to live.

Or, we can continue to let financial intermediaries suck money off of 529 plans.

Edit: Here. Worth a read:

http://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/best-education

[Fishindude77]

French lesbian studies

Funny !
Never saw that class offered anywhere I went to school.

[FLA]

is name calling of Bernie voters really necessary? Bernie-tards? Really? Retard is considered a word you never use around here. Make your arguments without the name calling of a ten yr old. And if you are a Trump supporter throwing shade at Bernie supporters, you might want to think that through a bit more.

[rennigade]

If I had free college available at the time, I would have probably just spent more of the money I saved on beer and recreational drugs.

Which is why there needs to be a set of ground rules in place. Maybe making students average a certain gpa to stay in the "free" school?

There's always going to be private universities which students can elect to go to for a lot o money. Why couldnt there be state schools that provide free education? Does that mean I have to pay more taxes...so be it. More people developing skills and creating things will only benefit me and future generations. It would be a great return on my "investment."

The idea of having someone go attend college, learn a variety of things...a lot of which is not needed, take out $100k+ loans, then finish college and maybe find a decent paying job in the $50k range is nuts. By the time you pay it back its nearly double what you originally borrowed, especially if you're paying minimums.

Maybe free college isnt the answer...but neither is having young adults start their lives 100's of thousands of dollars in debt and being a slave to the system. Then you have doctors/surgeons who go into insane amounts of debt. These are some of our most important individuals that almost everyone relies on. Why deter potential kids who could make a difference?

But...we would rather bang on the war drums and pump out billion dollar stealth aircraft and robots designed to kill. War = profit Im 33 years old and there has only been 2 years since my existence that we havent been at war...1997 and 2000...although if you count the "war on drugs" which you should...we have been at war since my birth.

You want to change the world for the better? Stop creating losers generation after generation.

Bill Hicks had a great quote on politics: “I'll show you politics in America. Here it is, right here. 'I think the puppet on the right shares my beliefs.' 'I think the puppet on the left is more to my liking.' 'Hey, wait a minute, there's one guy holding both puppets"

[ua_guy]

Maybe free college isnt the answer...but neither is having young adults start their lives 100's of thousands of dollars in debt and being a slave to the system. Then you have doctors/surgeons who go into insane amounts of debt. These are some of our most important individuals that almost everyone relies on. Why deter potential kids who could make a difference?

Great point, made me think of something else. None of the political candidates ever really address tort reform or medical malpractice.

How many healthcare dollars are we wasting on defensive medicine, and how much of our healthcare cost goes straight to paying for and settling malpractice claims?

It's estimated to be 2.4% (2010) of the nation's total healthcare spend. $55.6 Billion annually. $45.6 billion of which was spent on healthcare "defensive medicine" --frivolous treatments, tests, procedures, just for the sake of a physician covering his/her butt to avoid a lawsuit.

[rennigade]

How many healthcare dollars are we wasting on defensive medicine, and how much of our healthcare cost goes straight to paying for and settling malpractice claims?

The issue is when dealing with healthcare the rabbit hole never seems to end.

What about the millions of people addicted to prescription pills. Quick google search says in 2007 non medical use of pain killers costs insurance companies $72 billion. Also showing around $8 billion in the justice system for these users.

Guess malpractice is a bargain compared to the users who are addicted to prescription pain meds.

[Spiffster]

While I did manage to avoid student loans, I managed to make many other financial mistakes. As a result I lived many years paycheck to paycheck, learned from my many mistakes, and Im a better person for it.

You cant coddle people to adulthood and expect them to be financially responsible out of the gates. Money that would go to student loans with relatively small interest rates will instead go to things like BMWs and other luxuries at a much higher interest rate.

I have two daughters and would save a great deal of money if thier college ended up being free, but Im not counting on it. I certainly dont expect them to work days and attend college nights like I did. I will pay thier loans off if they finish college with non-bs degrees.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

No but name calling people supporting others seems rude. Just because people value other things doesn't mean it's wrong. I do find hypocrisy that the biggest entitlements in our budget and out there are the ones no one dares mention or cut.

If we are all about personal responsibility then we need to up our contribution to make medicare and SS solvent or cut the benefits. Isn't that the answer?

[tripods68]

I thought the debate last night was pretty depressing for the country to witness with all the back and forth school yard trash talk between Trump, Rubio, and Cruz.

I thought Marco Rubio held his ground calling Trump a con-artist, a Fraud about some of his failed business. Fox moderators called out Trump about his Tax reform putting graphics--cutting EPA, Education budget would not be enough to balance the budget, and would put this country in further deficits in Trillions if he became a President. Not only that I thought Fox moderators caught Trump for Lying BBB D- grade . Megan Kelly putting graphics about current civil litigation lawsuits about from Trump University and judge summary calling against Trump as "Bernie Madoff fleecing" scheme. That's pretty amazing calling the #1 Presidential front runner a fraud!!! WOW

The sad part about all this is Trump's poll number will probably go up again without answering any single policy questions!!!

[ua_guy]

I thought the debate last night was pretty depressing for the country to witness with all the back and forth school yard trash talk between Trump, Rubio, and Cruz.

I thought Marco Rubio held his ground calling Trump a con-artist, a Fraud about some of his failed business. Fox moderators called out Trump about his Tax reform putting graphics--cutting EPA, Education budget would not be enough to balance the budget, and would put this country in further deficits in Trillions if he became a President. Not only that I thought Fox moderators caught Trump for Lying BBB D- grade . Megan Kelly putting graphics about current civil litigation lawsuits about from Trump University and judge summary calling against Trump as "Bernie Madoff fleecing" scheme. That's pretty amazing calling the #1 Presidential front runner a fraud!!! WOW

The sad part about all this is Trump's poll number will probably go up again without answering any single policy questions!!!

I've suspended my debate-watching until the official candidacy tickets are up. I just can't do it. The GOP is having a really rough ride--politics aside--the debates are just so stressful to watch. All they do is talk(yell) over each other and insult, and the GOP has even turned on itself and they're calling their frontrunner a fraud!

Not that the Hillary/Bernie show is much better, despite if you agree/disagree with either of them, they do a better job of at least faking professionalism and I don't think either of them cancelled a network because of "tough questions" from moderators. When you listen to the moderators, they rip the democrats and other candidates just as hard..

[tripods68]

I've suspended my debate-watching until the official candidacy tickets are up. I just can't do it. The GOP is having a really rough ride--politics aside--the debates are just so stressful to watch. All they do is talk(yell) over each other and insult, and the GOP has even turned on itself and they're calling their frontrunner a fraud!

Not that the Hillary/Bernie show is much better, despite if you agree/disagree with either of them, they do a better job of at least faking professionalism and I don't think either of them cancelled a network because of "tough questions" from moderators. When you listen to the moderators, they rip the democrats and other candidates just as hard..

This just show you how the social media are enter twain in today's mainstream have ripped apart the politics of the Republican establishment. The Republican conservative movement is completely besides themselves...maybe they are seeing the beginning to an end of the Republican Party in 2016. Gone is the Lincoln and Reagan establishment.

Here comes the new Era the: Trump's new Party Gangnumstyle!!