David Frum criticizing a Sarah Palin ad today [emphasis mine]:
Here’s Sarah Palin’s new ad. Lots of images of the former governor speaking to adoring crowds, meeting admirers, encountering women and children.
But here’s the remarkable thing. Republicans normally work hard to ensure that their ads feature non-white faces, to present an image of welcome and inclusion.
…
In Palin’s ad — not one. Now listen carefully to the audio, which twice warns of a “fundamental transformation of America,” twice emphasizes a threat to children and grandchildren from malign unnamed forces.
I think she’s talking about healthcare. I hope so. But she never does say so.
David Frum – May 3:
Three years ago, ETS — the people who administer the SAT — released an alarming study. It combined information on test scores with demographic trends to predict that the U.S. work force of 2030 would be less literate, less skilled and worse paid than the U.S. work force of 1990.
ETS reported: “[B]y 2030 the average levels of literacy and numeracy in the working-age population will have decreased by about 5 percent while inequality will have increased by about 7 percent. Put crudely, over the next 25 years or so, as better-educated individuals leave the work force they will be replaced by those who, on average, have lower levels of education and skill. Over this same period, nearly half of the projected job growth will be concentrated in occupations associated with higher education and skill levels. This means that tens of millions more of our students and adults will be less able to qualify for higher-paying jobs.”
Why?
One word: Immigration.
What about offshoring of skilled jobs and raising the cost of higher Ed?
Or how about inadequate education to begin with! The exclamation point is intended.
@2
Yep!
The things Frum is talking about will happen regardless of immigration and it’s looking more and more likely that the Democrats aren’t going to do nearly enough to combat this. They’re doing their best to be sure, but their best just ‘aint good enough.
Immigration is not the problem nor is it the solution (just in case you make the misguided argument that immigration will solve the workforce problem).
Immigration is not the problem, it’s the way immigration is handled and how we integrate immigrants into our nation. Immigration of new people is not an issue, but the education of those new resources.
The first thing which needs to be done is to standardize on one language and make it worthwhile to learn our language (being an immigrant myself, I learned the language, was successful, could built on my education and live the “american dream”.
Believe it or not, higher education in this country is done in English, no matter how much some are trying to change this. While it might be ok to get by with Spanish in SoCal, it is not enough to go by with in other places. If people don’t speak the language, they have less chances. You can be as smart as you want…not speaking the language is a major disadvantage. Yet, our government bends assbackwards keeping people from learning the language. Every immigrant I talk to agrees that learning English was the major point for them to be successful. Yes, you can be a low skilled laborer without much…but education and language go hand in hand.
Our Gov likes to think that providing everything in 25 languages creates equality, but in reality, it continues to create a barrier for success.
@4
Yet, our government bends assbackwards keeping people from learning the language.
I’m curious what your examples of this are. From what I’ve seen, the government doesn’t do anything to keep people from learning the language – nor would they ever want to.
Our Gov likes to think that providing everything in 25 languages creates equality, but in reality, it continues to create a barrier for success.
I don’t see the logic here. There are very few things that we generally encounter in our daily lives that are translated into another language. Not even road signs are in any language other than English. And the vast majority of what you see translated into Spanish (or other languages) around here is being done by companies trying to reach out to more potential customers – not by government.
The exceptions are things that are vital forms for basic residency (post office forms, official government documentation). People do often come here as non-English speaking refugees and if they’re older, they may never learn to speak English. That’s human nature and it occurs within all ethnic groups who’ve migrated here. My great-grandmother, for example, moved to the U.S. in her late teens, early twenties and never learned to speak English (and she lived for a long time). All of my other great-grandparents (all but 1 were immigrants) learned to speak English.
The point is that it’s extremely difficult to navigate your way through American life without being able to speak English. Believing that just because a few things here and there are translated that people are de-motivated from learning English is truly a nutty argument. Even Jeb Bush recently pointed out that immigrants today are learning English faster than in previous waves of immigration.
@5
Some folks go ape about kids (and adults too!) being taught to read in their native tongue and use this as evidence of some nefarious plot on the part of the government. but, the truth of the matter is that it’s easier to teach them to read in their native tongue and then to teach them to read in english.
@6
Back in the early days of this area, the Japanese immigrant communities set up schools to teach Japanese to second-generation Japanese-Americans. The primary reason was so that they could communicate with relatives and others back in Japan, but it was seen by many of this area’s anti-immigration zealots as a sign of an unwillingness to assimilate.
Hmmm… Health Care? Looks like Palin was right…
Then there’s this…
So looks like the screams of the HA Libtardo Moron Class was pizzing in the wind!
David Berwick, the man DUMMOCRATS didn’t want, yet he’s a recess appointment. Talk about damaged goods. Yet you fools screamed all about John Bolton, who BTW was right right right!
Deep in the heart of every Republican lies a vast reservoir of racism and xenophobia.
Deep in the heart of every progressive lies a vast reservoir of self pity and guilt.
What’s your problem, Pud, do you deny health care is rationed now? Are you fine with access defined by income level or employment benefits?
@8 Puddybud on 07/08/2010 at 6:20 pm,
Exactly! Bolton accurately predicted LeBron would choose Miami!
Oh wait, Bolton didn’t predict that. The Mustache of Wrongness predicted Israel would attack Iran by the end of 2009.
Gee Pud, seems the moniker could have led you to avoid calling The Mustache of Wrongness “right” with such enthusiastic exclamation.
Yea, we don’t need to do anything about health care because the ever increasing share of GDP it consumes is so sustainable. Even better we get worse outcomes than most developed countries in spite of spending two or three times as much as they do.
K,
IT was YOUR KIND who ridiculed Sarah Palin. Now that Puddy has placed leftist pinhead rationing after rationing comment from the Odumba CZARS, your response is
commentary.
Glad you agree Sarah was right.
Oh CubScout, Bolton was right. Odumba threatened Netanyahu not to do it or else. Need to see the threats again?
@15
Or else, what?
Did the big bad Kenyan born Muslim threaten to send NetanYAHOO to the corner? Threaten to put Muslims in outer space? What?
Please tell us and please show your source with a link to a nice wingnut opinion piece. :-D
@8
Wow Puddy, we knew you were a rightwing demagogue but now you are also a complete and total idiot.
John Bolton? – the complete fool who screwed around while NK built the A bomb? The idiot who alienated all of our allies at the UN?
You like complete fools and incompetents? Suprise, suprise.
Also, any so-called Christian that is against health care for all should go straight to hell because Jesus would never have tolerated your heresy. It will be a whole lot hotter there for you Puddy than it it got today.
GBS, please educate this fool. This was DEBUNKED many moons ago with Madeline Half-bright comments “We were duped”, ad Jimmy Carter half-baked deals, etc.
correctnotright, you are not only years late, but you are a broken record. Did you have a pet rock growing up? Do you miss it now? Do you still live by tired and useless mantras?
CubScout,
Puddy ain’t your personal slave. You wanna see them, ask ylb arschloch! He has the whole HA database at home next to his arschloch. Or search Google fool!
Notice how the libtardo morons don’t wanna talk about David Berwick. Hey, he’s one of your like Cass Sunstein and John Holdren.
The freaks come out at night. The freaks come out at day now!
@20
Notice how the libtardo morons don’t wanna talk about David Berwick.
Here’s Ezra Klein explaining why Berwick’s criticisms of Britain’s NHS are very similar to the conservative criticisms. His main point is that the conservative opposition to Berwick is merely political, as the right-wing talking heads are cherry-picking quotes and passing them along to their brain dead followers (see comment #8).