Although our deficit seems to be growing with no end in sight, this rap by Reason TV can at least bring us some humor in these confusing economic times.
Damon makes the following statement during the encounter:
I want to be an actor. That's not an incentive. That's the thing. See, you take this MBA-style thinking, right? It's the problem with ed policy right now, this intrinsically paternalistic view of problems that are much more complex than that. It's like saying a teacher is going to get lazy when they have tenure. A teacher wants to teach. I mean, why else would you take a [expletive] salary and really long hours and do that job unless you really love to do it?
"Intrinsically paternalistic" thinking. Oh, that’s good. Notice Captain Harvard's attempt at showcasing his Brobdingnagian vocabulary? Although, if we’re going to talk about the dangers of paternalistic thinking in the public realm, maybe he should have reconsidered stumping for Obama. But I digress... onto the issue of public teachers and their salaries: Reason decided to do a little research after the scuffle, and here’s what they found:
According to Department of Education statistics for 2007-2008 (the most recent year listed), the average public school teacher brought in a bit over $53,000 in "total school-year and summer earned income." That figure, which is about $13,000 more than what the average private-school teacher gets in straight salary, does not include health and retirement benefits, places where teachers almost always get better deals and bigger employer contributions than the typical private-sector worker.
So while the media has been parading this as a victory for public school teachers and Matt Damon, aside from groundless assertions...he didn’t really say much.
Reason.tv has a good segment on post-shooting dealings, in reference to the Tuscon, Arizona shooting. As is pointed out, things like this are bound to happen; the last thing we should do is point fingers.
Reason.tv takes a beautiful look at the ensuing obscenity battle, or as the statists like to put it, "porn war," being fought in our nation's court systems.
Note how Mr. Trueman says that what is important isn't rights themselves, but what the courts say are rights. Statists love judicial activism!
Bob McDonnell is a self-professed pinot grigio and white zinfandel drinker.
He’s also the new Republican governor of Virginia and is taking aim at the commonwealth’s oppressive and inefficient state-owned liquor monopoly. Virginia is among the more than a dozen states which still completely control the sales and distribution of all distilled spirits.
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