McCain Backed Abolishing The Department Of Education

Barack Obama's campaign is reminding voters today that John McCain, during the heady days of the "Republican Revolution," once declared that he favored abolishing the Department of Education.

"I would certainly favor doing away with the Department of Energy and I think that given the origins of the Department of Education," the Senator said on CNN's Late Edition in December 1994. "I would favor doing away with it as well."

Linking McCain to "ideologues," Obama declared in his speech Tuesday, "you certainly don't reform our education system by calling to close the Department of Education. That would just make it harder for us to give out financial aid, harder for us to keep track of how our schools are doing, and lead to widening inequality in who gets a college degree."

Republican officials and McCain staffers, meanwhile, are in full-out counter-attack mode, criticizing Obama for his education policies and claiming that the Senator is misrepresenting McCain's proposals on the matter.

"Senator Barack Obama's new campaign attack ad on education," wrote spokesman Tucker Bounds this morning, "claims that John McCain's economic plan will divert money from public education without any factual citation or basis." The campaign provided a list of resolutions increasing funding for federal education efforts that McCain supported.

But Bounds' statement made no mention of McCain's previous support for doing away with the Department of Education. Neither did two counter-attack emails blasted out by the Republican National Committee.

The matter clearly complicates McCain's criticism of Obama's plan and raises questions as to what, exactly, the Republican nominee's education policy would be if he ascends to the White House. Bounds, in his statement, said that "nothing that John McCain has proposed would reduce funding for public schools." But McCain also has not been the steadfast champion of funding No Child Left Behind, as his campaign purports.

While the idea of eliminating the Department of Education certainly is not the Senator's policy as it stands in this campaign -- despite support for the idea among many conservatives -- it remains far-fetched for the McCain campaign to argue that there is no "factual basis" to the Obama camp's attacks over education policy.

Comments

[getoffthecross]

It's staggering to think that this guy could have his limited-rotation finger on the button...


http://www.jokerzinternetradio.com/phpmotion/play.php?vid=106

[Tommygun264]

He used to just be a pathetic old man who sold his soul in pursuit of the Presidency. Now he's becoming a major A-hole.

[drewpuzey]

We, the taxpayers, fund education efforts (even if we may not have kids of our own) because we all have a vested interest in making the nation's economy strong by producing a new generation of innovators and professionals capable of competing in the global economy!! The Bush administration has done nothing but invest in powerful and established pools of capital hoping that their wealth will trickle down to everyone else. Meanwhile - in spite of the "No Child Left Behind" program - they have failed to invest ANYTHING into the education of the next generation whose future responsibility it will be to keep that capital here at home. Americans can no longer compete in math and science on a global scale. Art and music programs are being cut from schools nationwide. This is an embarassment to the American people. When McCain wants to gut education opportunities for young americans - he is undercutting our ability to stay relevant and powerful in a modern world.

[kellygrrrl]

except now WE, the taxpayers, have to fund Fannie/Freddie and soon the Auto Industry

Privatize Profits
Socialize Losses

and keep the voters stoopud

[OlderBudWeiser]

GOOD ONE Kellygrrrl. Best one I've seen today. Very good point!

[BarackDaVote]

Yeah, u suck Mccain for trying to abolish the Dept of Education.

[Ajegunle]

This guy is the devil.

Americans must be gluttons for punishment....

[RobertaInCT]

Now he's trying to p i m p the Ron Paul supports...............Paul is in favor of destroying the DOE.

[Smirk]

And the FAA, if I'm not mistaken.

[donaldw6]

Paul doesn't want to keep anything but the cops and the army.

[tel8034]

It's not surprising that McCain backed abloishing the Department of Education, when we know he consistently graduated at the bottom of his class.

[PghDemocrat]

First, GWB ripped the concept of NCLB for the Children's Defense Fund and then totally screwed it up; taking what should have been a strong program and turning it into a teaching to the test mentality.

Second, I oppose the voucher system because I don't believe it does enough to change the education system. It doesn't create compitition because a child may want to go to some great school across town but how do they get there? Do the need to be accepted or can they just pick any ol' school they want. Say they need to be accepted, then what about the children of average grades. Where do they go? Public school gets flushed down the drain and only children of wealth, above average intelligence and special needs receive a quality education. If someone can explain to me how vouchers support all the children that fall in the middle I would be happy to revisit this concept. Until then, I will support increases to public education and pushing for more efforts for public education to become consistent across the nation. Educating our children is this nation's greatest social resposibility and we contnue to fail.

Third, McCain has stated he is a federalist. Although I completely disagree with him, I am not surprised by his statements. It is the same logic he is using to want R v. W overturned. Push more control to the states and leave the federal government to...well, I don't know.

[maori]

So...you're saying that children of above-average intelligence should be held back for the sake of the doldrums? How is that fair?

Sounds like communism to me...

[FiLoLi]

That is exactly what is happening now. I tried for 3 years to get my son in an advanced class, they always resisted. My son soon got bored with classes, he knew everything the teacher was trying to teach anyhow. He started to get into trouble, like I didn't see this coming. I pulled him out and homeschooled him for 2 1/2 years. Under my watch he scored advanced in Math and English Language Arts and skipped a grade.

[PghDemocrat]

Not communism. What I am talking about is creating a public education that supports students of every ability to give every student the opportunity to gain a quality education no matter their socio-economic status. Raise the bar for the entire system by giving each community the same opportunity to fund their programs and teachers. We can't seperate students into different schools based on ability. We need a public education system that can cater to every type of student for around the same cost. Why should one student in this country have state of the art technology while another student can't even get books? Why are they being punished for the lack of wealth of their parents? Isn't the whole concept of America to give each child the opportunity to become greater than their parent?

People of average intellegence are not doldrums. They are the majority of society - hence being average. If we play politics to the extremes we will get burned everytime.

[StyleSista]

Why am I not surprised? Has anyone thought about just how unbalanced the tickets are in terms of education? Obama and Biden both hold law degrees, yet McCain and Palin barely earned their bachelor's degrees! (And both Democrats are married to educated & accomplished women--Michelle Obama has a law degree and Jill Biden holds a PhD).

Yet the guy who graduated near the bottom of his college class and a woman who took 5-6 years to earn a 4-year degree could possibly become the next Pres/VP of this country! It's a sad reflection of how the cult(ure) of anti-intellectualism has pervaded America and brought us down. Personally, I want my leaders to be the cream of the crop, chosen from the smartest, most articulate, and best educated among us.

But I'm afraid that the Republicans could end up winning this election thanks to the votes of people who'd love to invite Sarah Palin over for mooseburgers, same as they wanted to throw back a few beers with W; and could care less about the candidates' intelligence and knowledge of the issues (or lack thereof).

[jewel1215]

We Americans were successful in electing W, why not McCain/Palin. We did not elect a POTUS who was the smartest, most articulate nor the best educated or the top of his class. We did it once, we can do it again.

[Ockham]

Well said. Personally I think this article is not particularly news, as it doesn't particularly reflect much upon McCain except that he's probably going to cut education funding first as his solution. But this anti-intellectualism statement is so sadly on the mark. I don't know what it is, but I suppose Americans feel better electing academic failures (GWB got C's at Yale, which should tell you something about how he got in) because they're just "regular guys," regardless of how it's going to affect their economic standing. Republicans know full well they dupe the middle class out of any benefits. I just wish the middle class knew it.

[FiLoLi]

You know what they call the guy who graduated bottom of his class at medical school?


Doctor.

[clearthinker2008]

I'm telling you there is an angle people aren't talking about. Men in this country don't want a women calling a football game on TV, do you really think they want one controlling our military? Old man and Pit Bull are going to finish off Education, from wanting to ban books to doing away with the Department of Education, what's next, the return of slavery?

[jacktech]

Banning books? Such as? The only ones wanting to ban books are "liberals"--the people of "broadmindedness" and "openness." Yeah, sure. In our local school system in the DC area, public school libraries have plenty of pro-gay tomes on the shelf. But any books that warn about the perils and pitfalls of the gay life? Are you kidding me? Wait--don't tell me. Those books would be "preaching hate", right? And we can't have that. Try to offer an alternative view instead of an alternative lifestyle, and you're branded a homophobic hater. Oh, yeah, those conservative Nazis and their book bans. Save me from "liberal" open-mindedness...puulleeze.

[LAB11]

McBush has no use for education, he's a P.O.W..

[markkraft]

Because axeing any hope of addressing energy independence to fight global warming should walk hand-in-hand with turning off the lights in our kid's brains.

John McDimbulb!

[Spesabsquemetu]

Mr. Stein, thank you for the work you do to bring about meaningful discourse.

Perhaps the distortion express can address how eliminating the department of education addresses these harsh, disgraceful realities of America:

From the A.E. Casey Foundation and the U.S. Census Dept.

KIDS DO NOT COUNT ON THE DISTORTION EXPRESS

In the USA, 2005:

4th graders who scored below basic math level:

Arizona: 26%
Alaska: 21%

4th graders who scored below basic reading level:

Arizona: 44%
Alaska: 38%

4th graders who scored below basic science level:

Arizona: 47%
Alaska: *information NOT available.

4th graders who scored below basic writing level:

Arizona: 24%
Alaska: *information NOT available.

Teens who are drop outs from high school:

Arizona: 9%
Alaska: 7%

It is not Sen. Obama and Sen. Biden who plan on eliminating the department of education.

[barackobama4prez]

they don't need no stinking edjumakashun!

[PATina]

The way the Mc Cain campaign has disparaged "intellectuals" during their convention... I don't believe anything they say about supporting better education. They obviously have a grudge against those who choose to better themselves through learning.

[Smirk]

It seems that the entire GOP holds that grudge nowadays. They weren't always like that. I grew up in an ultra-Republican city and still reside in a red state now. Something's gone very wrong and it doesn't bode well for the US--or the world.

[ChristiB]

Is John McCain going to abolish public schools outright?

[ErnestineBass]

That's the goal of every oligarchy.

[AtomiClash]

No, but he'll ensure his own little red book is available for required reading.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

That is one of the items on the agenda of the republicans. They want to "privatize" education. Take a look at what is happening in NOLA..