bobbo, how do you know what you know and how do you change your mind says:

#52–Olo==hang in there. I think we all “want to” respect the wisdom of our MastHead when he chooses to get dirty with the rabble. Sad he jumps in the mud with no clothes on though. You made a supported by links statement that there was a positive correlation between poor school performance and tea-party status. JCD says that CA has very poor performance but is not known for its tea party activities ((the recent failures to legalize gay marriage and pot and poor school performance notwithstanding)) and therefore your statement is in error? Sad. JCD KNOWS a positive correlation is just an average kind of thing, not an absolute.

Correlation: absent a +1.00 relationship, there will be exceptions. To point the exceptions out is completely irrelevant.

but at least JCD does this without link or argument at all. Just a bald irrelevant statement.

If I were to highlight the colors of his post, they would tend towards the dark and dismal.

Taxed Enough Already Dude says:

Until you progressives got skin in the game…watch Government taxes rob you of the time it took to make that money, I really don’t think you should be allowed to opine.

Its unseemly. Just as its not right the union elect politicians who reward them with taxpayer money…

Its wrong.

Taxpayers alone should decide issues like this and I vote for privatization…to end the waste, fraud and inefficiency of Government run schools.

Taxed Enough Already Dude says:

#43 The best among failing schools, not in the world. Yet they are more expensive than the world’s.

Taxed Enough Already Dude says:

#63
Jon Stewart is good, a master of deception, but he does it for a laugh. Its a comedy show.

A critical analysis of his analogy proves its unsound. Teacher’s pay, at $50,000 + benefits most in the private industry would die for, is too much to pay for teachers.

Lots of folks do jobs requiring more effort and skill and get paid less.

The “middle term” is not distributed in the analogy, a middle class person, who job is unkown, is not the antithesis or logical equivalent of a teacher, the job precisely defined.
For example, if I argued to you Obama’s wealth should be stripped so that he only receives 50,000 a year + benefits, like a teacher…that his millions for his books etc, must be taken in taxes, YOU would object its not fair…The President and all he has done to earn that money, is different than what the teacher did to earn theirs….therefore these are not “alike” and therefore “not analogous.”

BUT in a comedy show , where your progressive audience aren’t critical thinkers, who just want a laugh, the surface hypocrisy is just made for Jon Stewart’s genius.

Moreover, comparing pay to allowing a citizen keep their property, is certainly unsound, not analogous. To illustrate, a waitress makes $20,000 a year, therefore everything you own above $20,000 should be taken from you in taxes. If pay = property, you cannot object. But if you realize the fact these are not analogous, then her pay is not a sound reason to steal your property.

BUT it would make a good laugh on Jon Stewart…

As for comparing teachers to wall street traders…why not compare them to police men, fireman, heart surgeons, Steve Jobs……and pay them all the same? Because they are not the same, and again Jon Stewart was guilty of a logical fallacy…but he does it for a laugh…not for critical thinking folks when making policy…

I won’t belabor the point…everyone’s eyes will glaze over reading this much text.

Rather than have a comedian argue for you, learn how to argue…
I found “A Rulebook for Arguments” very helpful.
http://amazon.com/Rulebook-Arguments-Anthony-

Mr. Fusion says:

#67, Alphie,

Dang dude, you have gone over the cliff.

Tell me though, how much income tax do you pay on that Social Security you receive?

pedro says:

Who cried about filibustering? Go run like chickens!

Dallas says:

#71 very good. You realize this is a type of filibuster so you now rank in the top 20% of the sheeple class of 2011.

MikeN says:

Bobbo, I don’t think school teachers have any choice in health insurance. Like with so many workers, you get the health insurance your employer gives you. In this case, many school districts use the WEA Trust.
http://weatrust.com/

After that you are just guessing about how health providers are chosen. They set up a cost, and then search for a provider? Ha ha ha.

Wisconsin’s budget is cutting the amount being paid to local districts. Eliminating collective bargaining for things other than wages lets school districts make up the money by choosing a different insurance provider or cutting other benefits. Unions don’t want to lose the side business.

Mr. Fusion says:

#75, Lyin’ Mike,

From your link.

Governor Walker has made statements recently regarding the WEA Trust on national media as well as his local addresses. We want to take this opportunity to respond.

Governor Walker has stated that school districts are “forced” to buy from the WEA Trust.

* School boards bargain their benefits and carriers. The Trust only provides health insurance benefits to approximately 35% of public school employees in Wisconsin. Some of the largest school districts in Wisconsin such as Milwaukee, Madison, and Green Bay are self-insured or purchase from companies other than the Trust. Our contracts are with the school districts—not with the unions.
* Wisconsin’s health insurance industry is highly competitive and districts already solicit bids. The Trust gains and loses districts all the time. A recent example of this is the Kenosha Unified School District, which left the Trust and has returned, much due to our competitive pricing.

For example:
Trust rate increases have been BELOW national averages for the past three years. For the fourth year in a row the Trust has delivered a mid single-digit base rate increase.

Governor Walker has also stated, “If instead of being forced to buy from the WEA Trust, which is the teacher’s union health insurance company, school districts could buy off the state employee health care plan—they could save 68 million dollars.”

* School Districts are not forced to buy from the Trust and can already join the state health plan. Furthermore, the WEA Trust was chosen by the Wisconsin Group Insurance Board in 2010 to be in the State Group Health Insurance Program in 24 counties. The Trust was selected as a Tier One option, the lowest cost tier in the state plan. In order to be placed in Tier One in the state plan, the Trust must be extremely competitive. Our pricing is not an artificial price but comparable to what the Trust charges school districts.

Governor Walker has further claimed that union leadership benefits from members participating in the WEA Trust plan calling the Trust the, “union run health insurance plan.”

* WEA Trust is an independent, not-for-profit insurance company that is regulated and overseen by the State of Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance. WEA Trust is paid by school districts for services just like electric, gas, construction, or repair companies that work with Wisconsin public schools. Not only would it be unethical for the WEA Trust to transfer any funds to union leadership for political purposes, it would be illegal.

The WEA Trust is a Wisconsin-created and Wisconsin-located company employing 500 Wisconsin residents who, like the WEA Trust, contribute to the tax base and build our communities.

I guess Walker has been caught in another lie.

MikeN says:

Nope not a lie. It’s what collective bargaining over things other than wages means. The unions bargain to have the school districts buy from the union. In some places they get it, some places they don’t, but because it’s collective bargaining, the union has leverage of strikes to get the school district to give them what they want.

>WEA Trust is an independent, not-for-profit insurance company that is regulated and overseen by the State of Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.

That has offices in common with the unions.