I am watching Meet the Press from July 13. Senator Claire McCaskill is ... amazing.
And not in a good way.
Much of what she is saying is simply bald-faced lies. The most clear example:
"[I]t was interesting that Carly referred to the boom years. That's when we had a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress. Those were the boom years."
Obviously, the "boom years" were in the mid-to-late 1990s, which had a Republican Congress. Everyone knows this.
She also offered a lot of extremely dishonest rhetoric:
"... talk about a shifting position, I mean, John McCain used to be very positive about George Bush's leadership in Iraq."
Except that McCain was a significant critic of how Bush was handling the war, all the way back to 2003. He did say some positive things, and some negative things.
"[McCain]'s saying we're going to stay in Iraq."
Only to the same extent that Obama is saying we're going to stay in Iraq.
"John McCain's economic policy was drafted in a corporate boardroom. Barack Obama's economic policy was drafted at a kitchen table."
Both literally and metaphorically false.
"... there's a very clear difference between the two economic plans. One represents change and one doesn't."
Meaningless tripe.
"What we have done with No Child Left Behind is squeeze the creativity out of the classroom because teachers have begun to just teaching to the test."
This has nothing to do with NCLB, and everything to do with choices made by the individual states. If the states wanted to allow more creativity, they could. The WASL is not problematic because of the NCLB. It is problematic because of Washington State's own choices.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
Posted by pudge at July 15, 2008 10:39 AM | Email ThisI'm eagerly waiting for an example of standardized testing that does not pretty much force teachers to "teach to the test".
And will you be doing this for McCain's speeches as well? Or will he get a free pass in the name of partisanship?
Posted by: demo kid on July 15, 2008 10:46 AMYou're not getting it. She was complaining about a lack of creativity. This is a task that requires -- duh -- creativity. If the people making these tests are creative, they will come up with something. It really isn't that hard.
"And will you be doing this for McCain's speeches as well? Or will he get a free pass in the name of partisanship?"
Please point me to your criticisms of Obama. Thanks in advance.
Where is McCain in all this? He has gone to S. America for a tour so he could come back and ask Obama when he is going?
Time for McCain to get someone as VP who does a good job selling McCain- like Romney.
Posted by: swatter on July 15, 2008 11:12 AM"Come up with something"? I'm amused that you think that "standardized" is amenable to "creativity", at least on the part of the students. Tell me... how do you gauge creativity on a bubble form?
Please point me to your criticisms of Obama. Thanks in advance.
I'll be more than happy to point that out when it comes up, as there are certainly areas where I disagree with Obama.
However, you're the fellow with the blog postings, not me! And you're not really providing very much in the way of red meat here... it's more quibbling about minor points that all politicians try to score in their speeches.
Posted by: demo kid on July 15, 2008 11:47 AM""Come up with something"?"
Yes. This is what teachers do.
"I'm amused that you think that "standardized" is amenable to "creativity""
I am saddened that anyone thinks it isn't, especially our state-funded educators.
"at least on the part of the students. Tell me... how do you gauge creativity on a bubble form?"
You obviously do not understand what I said, or what McCaskill said. It is not about the test itself, it is about teaching.
"I'll be more than happy to point that out when it comes up, as there are certainly areas where I disagree with Obama."
And there are areas where I disagree with McCain, and I have posted about many of them in the past.
"However, you're the fellow with the blog postings, not me!"
Shrug. Anyone can post in the "Public Blog" section. Feel free to use it to criticize Obama. Or McCain. Or make your own "blog."
"And you're not really providing very much in the way of red meat here... it's more quibbling about minor points that all politicians try to score in their speeches."
Yes, but the larger -- and very clear -- point here is that the Democrats are willing to lie about pretty much everything to win this election.
Duffman: yes, Carly was quite good. Not perfect, but next to McCaskill she was great.
I keep hearing that as a complaint and it makes me scratch my head.
My understanding is that these tests are designed to assure that students know how to read, write, do math, etc.
If that's the case, then isn't that what kids are supposed to be going to school for in the first place?
I mean for crying out loud, if making teachers actually teach reading and writing and arithmetic represents a major change of pedogogy, then we're things kind of screwed up to begin with?
Posted by: Johnny on July 15, 2008 12:26 PMI keep hearing that as a complaint and it makes me scratch my head.
My understanding is that these tests are designed to assure that students know how to read, write, do math, etc.
If that's the case, then isn't that what kids are supposed to be going to school for in the first place?
I mean for crying out loud, if making teachers actually teach reading and writing and arithmetic represents a major change of pedogogy, then things we're kind of screwed up to begin with?
Posted by: Johnny on July 15, 2008 12:27 PMI keep hearing that as a complaint and it makes me scratch my head.
My understanding is that these tests are designed to assure that students know how to read, write, do math, etc.
If that's the case, then isn't that what kids are supposed to be going to school for in the first place?
I mean for crying out loud, if making teachers actually teach reading and writing and arithmetic represents a major change of pedogogy, then things we're kind of screwed up to begin with?
Posted by: Johnny on July 15, 2008 12:27 PMLook who was a big supporter of NCLB and one of the writers. "Kennedy"
Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on July 15, 2008 12:54 PMLOL
Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on July 15, 2008 01:02 PMThey were also booming in the 80s when President Reagan persuaded the democrat congress to cut taxes from 70% to 28%. I well remember those years. The other thing someone like Claire M. wouldn't tell you is that WITH those huge tax cuts, federal revenues doubled from the time Reagan entered office to the time he left. Take THAT.
And with the Bush tax cuts, I recall news reports that the federal treasury was reporting record revenues. Take THAT!
"And with the Bush tax cuts, I recall news reports that the federal treasury was reporting record revenues. Take THAT!"
That's good because I intend to spend my Economic Stimulus loan in ITALY! : )
Posted by: NW Denizen on July 15, 2008 01:58 PMYou are oh so right Michele: the Reagan years were booming times, no two ways about it. Tax revenue doubled after the Reagan tax cuts.
The boom times Carly talks about (Dem Prez + Dem Congress) did exist: 1993 and 1994. That was the boom years after the biggest tax increase in US history. The tax increase that was retroactive, so that the dead for two years had to pony up to Bill and Hill, remember?
Duffman, don't you know what the word duffman means? Something cheap or phony or useless that makes the man what he is.
Posted by: barrackslawyer on July 15, 2008 04:50 PMFirst, it was not Carly who said it. It was Senator Claire McCaskill.
Second, and more importantly, the much BIGGER boom happened AFTER the Republicans took control of Congress in '94. The most significant part of the boom happened in '96-'00. Not only are the numbers pretty clear on that, but as I had just joined the workforce in mid-95, as a web guy, I remember it pretty clearly, seeing the growth explode in '96.
Of course, neither party had anything significant to do with that boom. I am not saying the Republicans did it. I am just saying that it is obvious the Democrats didn't, since they weren't, you know, in power for two years leading up to it. It was the natural result of market activity, and if anything it happened in spite of government, not because of it.
And also, you are wrong about what Duffman means. It's a character in The Simpsons.
I agree completely. Time's a wasting and it's too close to have McCain sleepwalk for the next 3 months like he's done the last 6+ weeks.
Posted by: Rick D. on July 15, 2008 06:08 PMI read a piece today that dovetails with that operative word (LIES). It was amusing to realize that all these years of 'Bush lied' will neatly come back to bite the dems right on their ever so deserving backside.
Bush lied.This is the driving narrative of the Bush administration as portrayed by the likes of the Huffington Post, the Daily Kos, MoveOn.org and the rest of the perpetually outraged members of the Angry Left. An intelligence mistake in the Bush era like those missing WMD's? Bush lied! Changes of position by the administration? Bush lied! Bush and company, we are repeatedly informed, simply tell flat out lies. Big lies, small lies, medium-sized lies. These lies are told deliberately, from dawn to dusk 24/7 with the malice aforethought of cold-blooded liars possessing vastly ill intentions towards truth, justice and, well, all that stuff (they don't really like to speak of The American Way over on that side).
Talk about the law of unintended consequences. The twist here is so delicious it almost deserves a Clancy thriller of its own.
THE PROBLEM THE ANGRY LEFT has brought Tupolev-style both to the door step of Barack Obama as well as to its own is that having emphatically laid down the rules in the body politic as to what constitutes a lie it is suddenly finding the same rules are now being applied not only to their candidate but to themselves as well.
Let's start with Obama
I also found it amusing that there is really some kind purveyor of cosmic justice... and he has a sense of timing as well as humor!
I read the above article and another similar this morning before a very long, tiring, computer free day. Lo and behold, I come to sit before the digital wonder only to find out that, AGAIN TODAY, B-Ho has been caught lying! and that it's spreading very rapidly around the net.
Cosmic justice, sir, you are a wonder. Perchance are you known by the name 'Rove'?
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on July 15, 2008 07:44 PMto follow your logic... the current economic "panic" is directly related to fear...
fear related to the prospect of a democrat controlled house, senate, and executive branch.
likely the markets (and oil prices) will vary in direct proportion to the presidential preference polls.
If she is knowledgeable about the economy, she would be Veep Material. Even though Mitt Romney did not resonate that well during the primary season, he is knowledgeable about the economy with his business experience and may be who McCain turns to for this office. If that doesn't happen either Fiorina or Sarah Palin would be fine with me !
Posted by: KS on July 15, 2008 09:47 PMYeah, I screwed up on the name. Mia culpa. Call me stupid, but I claim temporary insanity.
Posted by: barrackslawyer on July 15, 2008 10:56 PMOn McCaskill: she's obviously a very stupid person who can't even lie convincingly. One look at her and I can tell she's lying - she looks guilty. As guilty as she should be for stealing that Senate seat with the help of Michael J. Fox's lies.
Posted by: Eunice Burns on July 16, 2008 08:37 AMThere are some people I ignore. She's the only one, that I can recall, that I remove.
@Johnny, re: teaching to the test.
That's not the point. Teachers and schools are rewarded or punished based on how well the students perform on the WASL. So, they teach to the test in order to reap the rewards, not necessarily to ensure the students learn anything. So, in that respect teachers are given little to no freedom in what to teach or how. Once the kids have taken the WASL, the teaching responsibility is pretty much over. They use the rest of the year to try to actually do what they were hired to do.
If there was any test a teacher should teach to, particularly in High School, is should be the SAT. Colleges could give a crap how applicants performed on the WASL. In fact, I know many a student that "failed" the WASL, yet aced the SATs and managed to get into places like Stanford, Cal Berkeley, Northwestern, Duke. (UW wasn't even on their lists. Didn't make the bar)
Point is, the WASL is pretty much useless as a barometer for measuring what student have learned. Yet, because of the WASL grade school students don't learn spelling, basic math facts, or basic grammar rules. Because none of that is on the WASL, thus there is no incentive for the teachers to teach those skills. But they sure has hell better make sure the majority of their students pass the WASL.
Posted by: Dave on July 16, 2008 10:24 PMShe stated that Obama will raise taxes on all small businesses and made it sound like it would be all small businesses.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11611.html
"According to the Tax Policy Center, only 1.4 percent of people defined by the Treasury as small-business owners are in the top two tax brackets and could be subject to Obama�s tax proposal."
Carly Fiorina continued with the pandering about a gas tax holiday, which McCain knows Congress will not pass because it is a bad idea.
Why hasn't anyone ever asked McCain when he is going to propose the bill. Summer is half over.
She continued the bull about McCain balancing the budget without any facts, except using the money saved from stopping the wars without any plan for when the wars stop.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/07/11/mccains_budget_figures_dont_add_up/
McCain's budget figures don't add up
Fiorina also did not explain that one of McCain's plans for reducing the budget is cutting Social Security and Medicare. McCaskill noted that McCain did not show up for the Medicare vote held last week.
No Child Left Behind
Ms. Fiorina stated that John McCain believes that every parent should have a "choice" in how their children are educated.
Sen. McCaskill made sure that the audience knew she was talking about vouchers. She said that we should protect our public education system and not have a system where the cream of the crop will go to private schools and the public schools are left flailing.
"Carly was the one that made many bald-faced lies"
Hm. That language construction necessary implies that McCaskill was NOT telling lies. But you do not rebut any claims I made: she clearly lied. So you are wrong.
Further, you did not present a SINGLE EXAMPLE of Fiorina telling a lie. This is the closest you came:
"She stated that Obama will raise taxes on all small businesses and made it sound like it would be all small businesses."
But that isn't true. You're the one lying. She did not "make it sound" like that at all. You have to twist what she actually said in order to say she is lying, which in itself is lying.
The rest of what you said about Fiorina doesn't demonstrate any lying, only your disagreement with her and McCain (and much of what you say is wrong anyway, but the topic is lying, so I won't address it at this time).
So here we are, Jim. You say that McCaskill was not lying, when I proved beyond any reasonable doubt that she was, and you did not even attempt to rebut my claims, which demonstrates that you concede my point, despite your false implication that she didn't lie. And you say Fiorina was lying, and the one example you try to use to show it is false.
Come on Jim. Try harder!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/13/mccain-aligned-bush/
What prove do you have for:
"John McCain's economic policy was drafted in a corporate boardroom. Barack Obama's economic policy was drafted at a kitchen table."
Both literally and metaphorically false."
Small Business Lies:
http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/factcheck-org
http://www.newsweek.com/id/146210
McCain deceives on tax-raising issue
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/OPINION03/807160327/1014/OPINION
"Carly Fiorina is wrong to claim that Obama has proposed no tax cuts and wants to raise "every tax in the book."
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/06/mccain_vs_obama_on_taxes.html
Balanced Budget
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/us/politics/08budget.html?ref=us
Allen: McCain doesn’t want his balanced budget pledge to be recorded on tape.»
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/08/allen-mccain-doesnt-want-his-balanced-budget-pledge-to-be-recorded-on-tape/
Why Carly did not want to provide specifics on McCain's budget:
McCain would dig into Medicare, Medicaid to balance budget, he says
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain drew fire from healthcare providers Monday when he promised to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term, in part, through reductions in Medicare and Medicaid.
Big Promises Bump Into Budget Realities
New President Won't Have an Easy Time Paying for New Initiatives, Fiscal Experts Say
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/20/AR2008062002889.html
http://www.mcknights.com/McCain-would-dig-into-Medicare-Medicaid-to-balance-budget-he-says/article/112134/
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/13/mccain-aligned-bush/
I am not going to read your link. If you have an argument to make, make the argument, and rebut MY claim specifically. I will repeat it for you: "McCain was a significant critic of how Bush was handling the war, all the way back to 2003. He did say some positive things, and some negative things."
Do you deny my claim? If so, you and McCaskill are, as Fiorina said, rewriting history.
Providing URLs to back up your arguments is fine. To replace your arguments, not fine.
What prove do you have for:
"John McCain's economic policy was drafted in a corporate boardroom. Barack Obama's economic policy was drafted at a kitchen table."
Both literally and metaphorically false."
Well. the literal part is obvious: unless they brought a kitchen table into whatever board room/war room/corporate office they worked on Obama's policy in, they didn't do it at a kitchen table. The metaphorical part is pretty obvious to me, too: his economic policy is no less corporate than McCain's, it's just focused on different corporate entities, like unions.
"Carly Fiorina is wrong to claim that Obama has proposed no tax cuts and wants to raise "every tax in the book."
She didn't say that on Meet the Press last Sunday. Stick to the topic please.
McCain would dig into Medicare, Medicaid to balance budget, he says
Again, you are not talking about McCain or Fiorina lying. Stick to the topic, please.
Let's see. Scanning for other questions or actual rebuttals from you ... nope, just more URLs I won't bother to read ...