Monday, February 27, 2012 4:59:04 PM
Obama Defends College Remarks
President Obama speaking to the National Governors Association at the White House.
Doug Mills/The New York Times
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
February 27, 2012, 12:55 pm
President Obama did not mention Rick Santorum by name Monday morning, but it was pretty clear who he had in mind.
Three days after Mr. Santorum accused Mr. Obama of being a “snob” and of trying to “indoctrinate” young people by encouraging them to go to college, Mr. Obama responded.
“I have to make a point here,” Mr. Obama said during remarks to the nation’s governors at the White House. “When I speak about higher education, we are not just talking about a four-year degree.”
Mr. Obama, who has often talked about the need to encourage vocational training after high school, seemed to take issue with Mr. Santorum’s assertion that he, being Harvard-educated, wanted to “remake” students in his own image.
“We are talking about somebody going to a community college and getting trained for that manufacturing job that now is requiring
someone walking through the door handling a million-dollar piece of equipment,” Mr. Obama said. “And they can’t go in there unless they have some basic training beyond what they received in high school.”
“We all want those jobs of the future,” he added. “So we are going to have to make sure that they are getting the education they need.”
In his comments last week, Mr. Santorum said that Mr. Obama’s efforts to get people to go to college were part of an effort to get them into “indoctrination mills” led by liberal professors.
“President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob,” Mr. Santorum said. “You’re good, decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to tests that aren’t taught by some liberal college professor.”
Mr. Santorum reiterated that sentiment on ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday.
“There are lot of people in this country that have no desire or no aspiration to go to college, because they have a different set of skills and desires and dreams that don’t include college,” Mr. Santorum said on the program. “And to sort of lay out there that somehow this should be everybody’s goal, I think, devalues the tremendous work” of people who don’t attend college.
In fact, the president has not called for everyone to attend a four-year college. In his first address to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Obama called on Americans to do more than just get a high school degree — but he did not urge everyone to go to college.
“I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training,” Mr. Obama said in February 2009. “This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.”
Asked about that discrepancy on “This Week,” Mr. Santorum insisted that Mr. Obama had ulterior political motives in encouraging people to attend liberal colleges.
“Understand that we have some real problems at our college campuses with political correctness, with an ideology that is forced upon people who, you know, who may not agree with the politically correct left doctrine,” Mr. Santorum said.
But after Mr. Obama’s comments Monday morning, a spokeswoman for Mr. Santorum seemed to back away from the criticism of the president. Alice Stewart, the spokeswoman, said she was encouraged by Mr. Obama’s encouragement of trade or vocational schools
“We’re glad that the president clarified that after Rick pointed that out,” Ms. Stewart said on MSNBC. “That’s exactly what Rick was saying.”
© 2012 The New York Times Company
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/obama-defends-college-remarks/ [with comments]
===
The New Conservatism: Don’t Bother With College
Rick Santorum addresses the Livonia/Farmington Chamber of Commerce Breakfast at St. Mary’s Cultural & Banquet Center in Livonia, Michigan USA on 27 February 2012.
Jeff Kowalsky/European Pressphoto Agency
By DAVID FIRESTONE
February 27, 2012, 1:14 pm
DETROIT – Rick Santorum opened a new beachhead in the culture wars over the weekend with one of the stranger positions in what passes for conservatism in the Republican Party these days – arguing for a reduction in the number of people who seek higher education.
Mr. Santorum called President Obama “a snob” [ http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/santorum-says-religion-and-conservative-principles-are-at-risk/ (the sixth item in the post to which this is a reply)] for urging students to go to college. Why is the president exerting so much pressure, he asked, campaigning here in Michigan in advance of Tuesday’s primary, when some people don’t want to attend, or lack the skills to succeed?
To make this a national goal, he said on ABC’s This Week [ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-rick-santorum/story?id=15785514&singlePage=true ], “devalues the tremendous work that people who, frankly, don’t go to college and don’t want to go to college because they have a lot of other talents and skills that, frankly, college — you know, four-year colleges may not be able to assist them.” (It’s doubtful that any college could assist that sentence.)
Actually, President Obama has been encouraging students to attend community colleges to pick up specialized skills that companies need. But that’s quibbling. Throughout his term, he has indeed encouraged all students to strive for some form of higher education, whether a year or a graduate degree, and has pushed to make college more affordable.
On Monday morning, the president told the National Governors Association that “we can’t allow higher education to be a luxury in this country” and that college shouldn’t “be a partisan issue.” The research strongly suggests [ http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm ] that studying after high school improves the chances of finding a job, and of making more money.
Is Mr. Santorum really saying that the president is somehow sneering at those who don’t go to college? Is he upset about the hurt feelings of those who go to air conditioning school instead?
As it turns out, Mr. Santorum is concerned that conservative students who attend a four-year college will emerge fully indoctrinated as liberals. He even called colleges “indoctrination mills.”
“Oh, I understand why he wants you to go to college,” Mr. Santorum said. “He wants to remake you in his image.”
Mr. Santorum apparently sees students as easy prey to bearded professors and their dangerous ideas, but all ideas are subject to challenge in college. Some students may emerge more liberal, others more libertarian or conservative; some may lose their faith, or adopt a different one.
When his brand of ideas is put to the test, Mr. Santorum seems worried it might not hold up. If this new rant represents the current quality of conservative thinking, he is right to be worried.
© 2012 The New York Times Company
http://loyalopposition.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/the-new-conservatism-dont-bother-with-college/ [with comments]
===
Crazy Talk: Santorum Calls Obama 'Snob'
Rick Santorum
(C-SPAN)
By: Jenée Desmond-Harris | Posted: February 27, 2012
Education is one of those things, like creating jobs, that everyone agrees is a good thing. At least that's what we though until this weekend when Rick Santorum told a tea party group in Michigan that Obama is a “snob” because he wants “everybody in America to go to college."
No, we're not making this up.
“Not all folks are gifted in the same way,” Santorum told a crowd in Troy, Michigan. “Some people have incredible gifts with their hands. Some people have incredible gifts and ... want to work out there making things. President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.”
And here's his theory about the President's true agenda: "Oh, I understand why he wants you to go to college. He wants to remake you in his image. I want to create jobs so people can remake their children into their image, not his,” Santorum said [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSn3YL1hZOU (embedded)].
“When I talk of higher education, I’m not only talking about four-year degrees,” Obama said. “I’m also talking about going to community college to get a degree for a manufacturing job where you have to walk through the door to handle a million dollar piece of equipment.”
He added: “We all want Americans to get those jobs of the future. We need to make sure they get the education they need.”
© 2011 The Slate Group, LLC
http://www.theroot.com/buzz/crazy-talk-santorum-calls-obama-snob [with comments]
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President Obama speaking to the National Governors Association at the White House.
Doug Mills/The New York Times
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
February 27, 2012, 12:55 pm
President Obama did not mention Rick Santorum by name Monday morning, but it was pretty clear who he had in mind.
Three days after Mr. Santorum accused Mr. Obama of being a “snob” and of trying to “indoctrinate” young people by encouraging them to go to college, Mr. Obama responded.
“I have to make a point here,” Mr. Obama said during remarks to the nation’s governors at the White House. “When I speak about higher education, we are not just talking about a four-year degree.”
Mr. Obama, who has often talked about the need to encourage vocational training after high school, seemed to take issue with Mr. Santorum’s assertion that he, being Harvard-educated, wanted to “remake” students in his own image.
“We are talking about somebody going to a community college and getting trained for that manufacturing job that now is requiring
someone walking through the door handling a million-dollar piece of equipment,” Mr. Obama said. “And they can’t go in there unless they have some basic training beyond what they received in high school.”
“We all want those jobs of the future,” he added. “So we are going to have to make sure that they are getting the education they need.”
In his comments last week, Mr. Santorum said that Mr. Obama’s efforts to get people to go to college were part of an effort to get them into “indoctrination mills” led by liberal professors.
“President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob,” Mr. Santorum said. “You’re good, decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to tests that aren’t taught by some liberal college professor.”
Mr. Santorum reiterated that sentiment on ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday.
“There are lot of people in this country that have no desire or no aspiration to go to college, because they have a different set of skills and desires and dreams that don’t include college,” Mr. Santorum said on the program. “And to sort of lay out there that somehow this should be everybody’s goal, I think, devalues the tremendous work” of people who don’t attend college.
In fact, the president has not called for everyone to attend a four-year college. In his first address to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Obama called on Americans to do more than just get a high school degree — but he did not urge everyone to go to college.
“I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training,” Mr. Obama said in February 2009. “This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.”
Asked about that discrepancy on “This Week,” Mr. Santorum insisted that Mr. Obama had ulterior political motives in encouraging people to attend liberal colleges.
“Understand that we have some real problems at our college campuses with political correctness, with an ideology that is forced upon people who, you know, who may not agree with the politically correct left doctrine,” Mr. Santorum said.
But after Mr. Obama’s comments Monday morning, a spokeswoman for Mr. Santorum seemed to back away from the criticism of the president. Alice Stewart, the spokeswoman, said she was encouraged by Mr. Obama’s encouragement of trade or vocational schools
“We’re glad that the president clarified that after Rick pointed that out,” Ms. Stewart said on MSNBC. “That’s exactly what Rick was saying.”
© 2012 The New York Times Company
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/obama-defends-college-remarks/ [with comments]
===
The New Conservatism: Don’t Bother With College
Rick Santorum addresses the Livonia/Farmington Chamber of Commerce Breakfast at St. Mary’s Cultural & Banquet Center in Livonia, Michigan USA on 27 February 2012.
Jeff Kowalsky/European Pressphoto Agency
By DAVID FIRESTONE
February 27, 2012, 1:14 pm
DETROIT – Rick Santorum opened a new beachhead in the culture wars over the weekend with one of the stranger positions in what passes for conservatism in the Republican Party these days – arguing for a reduction in the number of people who seek higher education.
Mr. Santorum called President Obama “a snob” [ http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/santorum-says-religion-and-conservative-principles-are-at-risk/ (the sixth item in the post to which this is a reply)] for urging students to go to college. Why is the president exerting so much pressure, he asked, campaigning here in Michigan in advance of Tuesday’s primary, when some people don’t want to attend, or lack the skills to succeed?
To make this a national goal, he said on ABC’s This Week [ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-rick-santorum/story?id=15785514&singlePage=true ], “devalues the tremendous work that people who, frankly, don’t go to college and don’t want to go to college because they have a lot of other talents and skills that, frankly, college — you know, four-year colleges may not be able to assist them.” (It’s doubtful that any college could assist that sentence.)
Actually, President Obama has been encouraging students to attend community colleges to pick up specialized skills that companies need. But that’s quibbling. Throughout his term, he has indeed encouraged all students to strive for some form of higher education, whether a year or a graduate degree, and has pushed to make college more affordable.
On Monday morning, the president told the National Governors Association that “we can’t allow higher education to be a luxury in this country” and that college shouldn’t “be a partisan issue.” The research strongly suggests [ http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm ] that studying after high school improves the chances of finding a job, and of making more money.
Is Mr. Santorum really saying that the president is somehow sneering at those who don’t go to college? Is he upset about the hurt feelings of those who go to air conditioning school instead?
As it turns out, Mr. Santorum is concerned that conservative students who attend a four-year college will emerge fully indoctrinated as liberals. He even called colleges “indoctrination mills.”
“Oh, I understand why he wants you to go to college,” Mr. Santorum said. “He wants to remake you in his image.”
Mr. Santorum apparently sees students as easy prey to bearded professors and their dangerous ideas, but all ideas are subject to challenge in college. Some students may emerge more liberal, others more libertarian or conservative; some may lose their faith, or adopt a different one.
When his brand of ideas is put to the test, Mr. Santorum seems worried it might not hold up. If this new rant represents the current quality of conservative thinking, he is right to be worried.
© 2012 The New York Times Company
http://loyalopposition.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/the-new-conservatism-dont-bother-with-college/ [with comments]
===
Crazy Talk: Santorum Calls Obama 'Snob'
Rick Santorum
(C-SPAN)
By: Jenée Desmond-Harris | Posted: February 27, 2012
Education is one of those things, like creating jobs, that everyone agrees is a good thing. At least that's what we though until this weekend when Rick Santorum told a tea party group in Michigan that Obama is a “snob” because he wants “everybody in America to go to college."
No, we're not making this up.
“Not all folks are gifted in the same way,” Santorum told a crowd in Troy, Michigan. “Some people have incredible gifts with their hands. Some people have incredible gifts and ... want to work out there making things. President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.”
And here's his theory about the President's true agenda: "Oh, I understand why he wants you to go to college. He wants to remake you in his image. I want to create jobs so people can remake their children into their image, not his,” Santorum said [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSn3YL1hZOU (embedded)].
Without mentioning Santorum by name or specifically addressing the bizarre personal attacks, President Obama returned to the issue in remarks to the National Governor's Association:
“When I talk of higher education, I’m not only talking about four-year degrees,” Obama said. “I’m also talking about going to community college to get a degree for a manufacturing job where you have to walk through the door to handle a million dollar piece of equipment.”
He added: “We all want Americans to get those jobs of the future. We need to make sure they get the education they need.”
© 2011 The Slate Group, LLC
http://www.theroot.com/buzz/crazy-talk-santorum-calls-obama-snob [with comments]
===
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