Obama Speech to School Children

[James48843]

Read it yourself- and then you decide.


Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event
Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.
Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

(more)

[James48843]

( Continued: )

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

[OBGibby]

I suspect most folks opposed to President Obama's speech were as taken aback about one particular issue as I was: the official study guide extolling students to "help President Obama." Just another example of Amatuer Hour in the White House these days. Reminds me of this administration's bummy vetting of high-level administration officials (hey, taxes are for the little people!; or radical lunatics like Van Jones - and notice the president didn't fire him, why would he? He and Van are cut from the same cloth. Once a community organizer, always a community organizer!).

Some analysis of the speech by Ed Morrissey at HotAir.com:

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/09/07/obama-school-speech-released/ (http://hotair.com/archives/2009/09/07/obama-school-speech-released/)


Obama school speech released; Update: Obama’s priority in speech
posted at 1:02 pm on September 7, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Share on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://hotair.com/archives/2009/09/07/obama-school-speech-released/) | printer-friendly (http://www.tsptalk.com/archives/2009/09/07/obama-school-speech-released/?print=1)

Fox News (http://whitehouse.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/09/07/obama-remarks-on-education/) has the big story of the day — the release of the Barack Obama speech to the nation’s schoochildren (http://hotair.com/archives/2009/09/03/obamateurism-of-the-day-110/) students tomorrow. As expected, it focuses on achievement and perseverance, two less-than-controversial qualities of success. It avoids any hint of proselytizing, and the removal of a very ill-considered exhortation from the official study guide to ask students how they “can help President Obama” should make tomorrow’s speech a non-event … for those students actually attending school tomorrow (http://hotair.com/archives/2009/09/04/obamateurism-of-the-day-111/).
In fact, had the White House skipped the study guide and simply released the speech from the beginning, it seems unlikely that this would have created much controversy at all. Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush both gave similar speeches in similar circumstances to students without creating a lot of hard feelings. That isn’t to say that their political opponents all yawned (http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/09/03/flashback-1991-gephardt-called-bushs-speech-students-paid-political-a):
The Democratic critics accused Bush of turning government money for education to his own political use, namely, an ongoing effort to inoculate himself against their charges of inattention to domestic issues. The speech at Alice Deal Junior High School, broadcast live on radio and television, urged students to study hard, avoid drugs and turn in troublemakers.
“The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students,” House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) said. “And the president should be doing more about education than saying, ‘Lights, camera, action.’ ”
Two House committees demanded that the department explain the use of its funds for the speech, an explanation that Deputy Secretary David T. Kearns provided late in the day in a letter to Rep. William D. Ford (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. Education Secretary Lamar Alexander was out of town. [...]
Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.), chairwoman of the Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families, said it was outrageous for the White House to “start using precious dollars for campaigns” when “we are struggling for every silly dime we can get” for education programs.
Rep. Martin Frost (D-Tex.) said that if Bush feels obliged to use government funds to hire outside consultants “to make him look good,” then he should fire some of the public relations experts on the White House payroll. “Then the president might be more sympathetic to unemployment benefits,” Frost said, referring to Bush’s threat to veto legislation to extend benefits.
I think the White House and Obama fouled this up from the beginning, making it look much more political than necessary, and gave their critics a boatload of ammunition with which to attack them. The speech, included in its entirety below, turned out to be entirely innocuous. But by asking teachers to impress upon children the need to “help President Obama,” they made it look blatantly political. They seem to have forgotten that they’re the public servants, and that the people do not live to serve political masters. As Frank Wilson (http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2009/09/01/americans-regard-themselves-as-citizens-not-subjects/) puts it in another context, Americans see themselves as citizens, not subjects, with the President only of a higher rank for the temporary period of time that we put him there. This has been incompetently handled from beginning to end, including the highly embarrassing scheduling that inadvertently excluded millions of students from the speech.
Ironically, the most controversial part of the speech may be its closing, when Obama invokes the Creator in asking God to bless America. Will the atheist activists let that slide?
Update: Commenter Faraway counts up references to Obama and to country, and finds 55 self-references and four to the nation.
Update II: I’ve run the speech through a word frequency counter (http://www.writewords.org.uk/word_count.asp) and found the following results:

56 iterations of “I”
19 iterations of “school”
10 iterations of “education”
8 iterations of “responsibility”
7 iterations of “country”
5 iterations each of “parents”, “teachers”
3 iterations of “nation”
In other words, Barack Obama referenced himself more than school, education, responsibility, country/nation, parents, and teachers combined. And to think that people accused Obama of self-promotion!

[Buster]

I wonder if you take the same fine tooth combhttp://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:9gQbxI4P1Fm2lM:http://www.masks-wigs-and-costumes.com/Clown_Novelties/images/giant_comb.jpg to one of Ronald Regan's speaches or any President's for that matter, if you wouldn't find as many if not more slants in the speech...I for one could give a crap less, and would not waste my life's time doing so, because you can find fault with what anyone says about anything or durnig anthing they are saying.

[phil]

I think for a President to come forth and extol the virtues of hard work in education is both good and honorable. I need say no more.

[burrocrat]

I don't consider myself on the left of most issues, but I'll be the first to admit I'm not always right.

After reading the text, I don't see anything wrong with encouraging youth to believe in their own potential, to set goals, to work hard, and to take responsibility for their station in life.

Unfortunately, in my neck of the woods folks seem more concerned about who might say something than hearing what's actually said. I don't care who you are, that's sad right there.

[CapeChem]

I dont object to the laguage in this speech...... try hard, dont get discouraged, if at first you don't succeed...... as parents we have probably given this same speech to our kids at least 10 times.....

[Birchtree]

But when you are an at risk minoirity from a single parent family you don't get any message. Here at the University of Florida some students in education have become surrogate parents as part of their requirements. They have to go home with minority students to make sure they do their homework - the liberal concept to improvement.

[CapeChem]

The speech in and of itself is fine..... how institutions spin it or utlize it for an agenda will be the tell tale in the long run

[tsptalk]

The speech seems legit enough, but that won't keep the right from claiming foul. Seems the controversy is business as usual in D.C. Same thing happened to Bush I in 1991...

When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/When-Bush-spoke-to-students-Democrats-investigated-held-hearings-57694347.html)

"The day after Bush spoke, the Washington Post published a front-page story suggesting the speech was carefully staged for the president's political benefit."

[coolhand]

The speech seems legit enough, but that won't keep the right from claiming foul. Seems the controversy is business as usual in D.C. Same thing happened to Bush I in 1991...

When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/When-Bush-spoke-to-students-Democrats-investigated-held-hearings-57694347.html)

"The day after Bush spoke, the Washington Post published a front-page story suggesting the speech was carefully staged for the president's political benefit."

This is not the original speech. I actually do not have a problem with this one. The first one though, I had major issues with. It was never about the speech in and of itself. It was the speech in context with all the events of the past year or so.

[Buster]

This is not the original speech. I actually do not have a problem with this one. The first one though, I had major issues with. It was never about the speech in and of itself. It was the speech in context with all the events of the past year or so.
What or which FIRST speech are you referring to?:confused:

[sauer228]

The only version I saw was the final version, but I don't see what all the fuss was about. I don't agree with the man, but that speech will inspire a lot of school aged kids.

[coolhand]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26744.html

It was the associated lesson plans that were suppose to go with the speech. From the above article:

In many ways, it wasn’t simply the address that rankled conservatives, but a pair of proposed lesson plans, for young students and middle- to high-schoolers. The initial classroom activities made available on the Education Department’s website were characterized by Malkin as having an “activist bent.”

The White House altered the language of one suggested activity, which initially read, "Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.”

That was changed to: “"Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.”

“Parents who called me who voiced concern about the speech all mentioned the teaching material and particular activities that were suggested,” said Charles Pyle, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education. One district in Virginia, Loudoun County, said Thursday it wouldn’t show the speech at all.

[Birchtree]

Did the one million man march of a number of years ago inspire anyone? Did it actually improve anything - is the at risk minority male more responsible. Check the recidivism rates at your local prison.

[James48843]

. The initial classroom activities made available on the Education Department’s website were characterized by Malkin as having an “activist bent.”


Now there ya go. Michelle Malkin, accusing the Education Department of having an activist bent.

I would gather that it had nothing to do with Michelle Malkin trying to increase her book sales (http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Corruption-Cheats-Crooks-Cronies/dp/1596981091/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252437026&sr=1-1), now would it?

You know, the book she is hawking now?

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/1c/bb/6d1c810ae7a0d1db46913210.L.jpg

[coolhand]

Check the recidivism rates at your local prison.

It's not that often I have to look up a word, but you got me on that one. Sometimes you impress me BT. :D

[coolhand]

Now there ya go. Michelle Malkin, accusing the Education Department of having an activist bent.

I would gather that it had nothing to do with Michelle Malkin trying to increase her book sales (http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Corruption-Cheats-Crooks-Cronies/dp/1596981091/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252437026&sr=1-1), now would it?

You know, the book she is hawking now?

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/1c/bb/6d1c810ae7a0d1db46913210.L.jpg

Com'on. This is not about Michelle Malkin. That's really stretching things here.

[James48843]

You don't think she's just trying to score some points, after many called her last book, "IN DEFENSE OF INTERNMENT- The case for racial profiling" rather offensive?


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NYNXK7Z3L._SS500_.jpg


Yeh, I would trust Ms. Malkin to make the call that the speech was planned to warp minds of the young.

(kettle, black.)

[Viva La Migra]

I think this has been much ado about nothing. BHO isn't the first POTUS to give a speech to students at the start of the school year. As long as he stays with the positive message outlined in the speech, I have no problem with that.

I am going to watch my kids' teachers, though, to make sure they don't make them do stupid assignments based on the speech. If they do, I may help my kids to write the assignments from a Constitutionalist's point of view! :D

[CountryBoy]

I think this has been much ado about nothing. BHO isn't the first POTUS to give a speech to students at the start of the school year. As long as he stays with the positive message outlined in the speech, I have no problem with that.

I am going to watch my kids' teachers, though, to make sure they don't make them do stupid assignments based on the speech. If they do, I may help my kids to write the assignments from a Constitutionalist's point of view! :D

My sis in law is a teacher and she said that they had already received teaching plans and assignment ideas based on the speech that CH mentioned and which I also saw and had the same problems with. Iy was geared towards indoctrination of the children. She's a big bHo supporter and was very coy about answering whether she was going to followup with the original assignments anyway and whether it was leaning towards indoctrination.

So Viva keep your eyes opened, because plans had been prepared to follow up with on how the students could help El Jefe, if the orig speech had been given and some teachers may yet.

Todays revised speech was just a yawner and no big deal.

CB

[nnuut]

My sis in law is a teacher and she said that they had already received teaching plans and assignment ideas based on the speech that CH mentioned and which I also saw and had the same problems with. Iy was geared towards indoctrination of the children. She's a big bHo supporter and was very coy about answering whether she was going to followup with the original assignments anyway and whether it was leaning towards indoctrination.

So Viva keep your eyes opened, because plans had been prepared to follow up with on how the students could help El Jefe, if the orig speech had been given and some teachers may yet.

Todays revised speech was just a yawner and no big deal.

CB
Join the Brigade Kids!! :worried:

[CountryBoy]

Join the Brigade Kids!! :worried:

Scares me too nnuut, but I guess that was the change bHo supporters want, because like you said actions speak louder than words, and all the actions he is doing were well telegraphed by his voting record and the people he associated with. It was plain on the nose on our faces. It's a shame our offspring will pay for it. :(

CB

[phil]

Is this what we've finally come to in America? Criticizing our President for giving an encouraging speech about hard work and education. I'm a bit discouraged by all of this.

Let's try to accentuate the positive. It was a good speech. Children should work hard to achieve knowledge. I think that most parents really appreciated having this from President Obama. I know I did. Reinforcing the notion that children should strive for excellence in education is something that quite a few parents tell their own children.

Thank you, President Obama.
:)

[James48843]

Com'on. This is not about Michelle Malkin. That's really stretching things here.

My point was that there was a lot of hysteria, and calls to arms about "indoctrination", when there wasn't any evidence of any such thing.

If someone was making a big deal out of it, then I would look first to the source. That would help me understand whether the person complaining had a - to use your word- "an activist bent".

Seeing it Michelle Milken, who - yes, has her own "activist bent", I would have given them the benefit of the doubt, and asked to see the speech before going bananas over it.

Out of all the lesson plan material, the only thing being pointed to was one line about "how can you help the President succeed?".

In my book, that's pretty tame.

You and I both know that the President didn't see or approve of that line, before it got put on the Dept of Ed website. And when someone complained, they pulled it. Pretty responsible response if you ask me.

We all know that there are people of all political types who make up our nation. I would hazard to guess that the GS-14+ types at Dept of Ed, who probably did see that, well, it probably didn't even occur to them at the time. they were probably giddy just that the President was going to do something with the Dept of Education.

I would hazard to guess as well that there are some pretty left leaning types in those kind of positions at EPA, and at other agencies as well. Just like I would hazard to guess that more right leaning folks occupy the higher ranks of Justice, Homeland Security, and the FBI. Hey, it's the nature of the beasts. The rank-and-file higher ups may not even have noticed, but were quick to make corrections when it was pointed out.


But any of this an "Obama Conspiricy to "brainwash" youngsters"?

Hardly.

That's a bit much, if you ask me.

My 2 cents, anyway. Your mileage may vary.

[coolhand]

My point was that there was a lot of hysteria, and calls to arms about "indoctrination", when there wasn't any evidence of any such thing.

If someone was making a big deal out of it, then I would look first to the source. That would help me understand whether the person complaining had a - to use your word- "an activist bent".

Seeing it Michelle Milken, who - yes, has her own "activist bent", I would have given them the benefit of the doubt, and asked to see the speech before going bananas over it.

Out of all the lesson plan material, the only thing being pointed to was one line about "how can you help the President succeed?".

In my book, that's pretty tame.

You and I both know that the President didn't see or approve of that line, before it got put on the Dept of Ed website. And when someone complained, they pulled it. Pretty responsible response if you ask me.

We all know that there are people of all political types who make up our nation. I would hazard to guess that the GS-14+ types at Dept of Ed, who probably did see that, well, it probably didn't even occur to them at the time. they were probably giddy just that the President was going to do something with the Dept of Education.

I would hazard to guess as well that there are some pretty left leaning types in those kind of positions at EPA, and at other agencies as well. Just like I would hazard to guess that more right leaning folks occupy the higher ranks of Justice, Homeland Security, and the FBI. Hey, it's the nature of the beasts. The rank-and-file higher ups may not even have noticed, but were quick to make corrections when it was pointed out.


But any of this an "Obama Conspiricy to "brainwash" youngsters"?

Hardly.

That's a bit much, if you ask me.

My 2 cents, anyway. Your mileage may vary.

I am certainly glad they decided to change it. Politics needs to stay out of the classroom. The speech by itself was fine.

Regardless of political persuasion, any time a president does something like this it raises eyebrows. Tom pointed that out in his post. In this case it was before and not after the speech. Someone should have been more careful as to how these things are perceived. Especially in our current political climate.

Personally, I am pretty sick and tired of our politics on both sides of the fence. I had my issues with the Bush administration too. I'll just leave it at that.

[Viva La Migra]

I am certainly glad they decided to change it. Politics needs to stay out of the classroom. The speech by itself was fine.

Regardless of political persuasion, any time a president does something like this it raises eyebrows. Tom pointed that out in his post. In this case it was before and not after the speech. Someone should have been more careful as to how these things are perceived. Especially in our current political climate.

Personally, I am pretty sick and tired of our politics on both sides of the fence. I had my issues with Bush too. I'll just leave it at that.
Agreed. Had the issue not been raised, though, I wonder if the speech would have been the same. The idealist in me says yes, but the skeptic in me says no!

[Frixxxx]

My sis in law is a teacher and she said that they had already received teaching plans and assignment ideas based on the speech that CH mentioned and which I also saw and had the same problems with.

The speech was never the problem....it was the "lesson plans" that the teachers were Told/Recommended to use after the speech.:suspicious:

Is this what we've finally come to in America? Criticizing our President for giving an encouraging speech about hard work and education. I'm a bit discouraged by all of this.

Let's try to accentuate the positive. It was a good speech. Children should work hard to achieve knowledge. I think that most parents really appreciated having this from President Obama. I know I did. Reinforcing the notion that children should strive for excellence in education is something that quite a few parents tell their own children.

Thank you, President Obama.
:)
I don't think anyone disagrees with the speech aspect. See above ^^^^

My point was that there was a lot of hysteria, and calls to arms about "indoctrination", when there wasn't any evidence of any such thing......

But any of this an "Obama Conspiricy to "brainwash" youngsters"?

Hardly.

That's a bit much, if you ask me.

My 2 cents, anyway. Your mileage may vary.

I am certainly glad they decided to change it. Politics needs to stay out of the classroom. The speech by itself was fine.

Regardless of political persuasion, any time a president does something like this it raises eyebrows. Tom pointed that out in his post. In this case it was before and not after the speech. Someone should have been more careful as to how these things are perceived. Especially in our current political climate.

Personally, I am pretty sick and tired of our politics on both sides of the fence. I had my issues with the Bush administration too. I'll just leave it at that. See above^^

Look peeps, we all agree telling kids to get the most out of education is the "Good Thing". But what is the "required learning" after that was "recommended" by the politicians? I think we need to start looking local to our education problems. Last I heard, education fell under the states and not the feds.

[James48843]

Last I heard, education fell under the states and not the feds.

That has been debatable for years. One side says no. The other side says "General Welfare Clause".

The test case for what is included in the "General Welfare clause" was decided in 1937. Helvering v. Davis

[Frixxxx]

That has been debatable for years. One side says no. The other side says "General Welfare Clause".

The test case for what is included in the "General Welfare clause" was decided in 1937. Helvering v. Davis



Thanks, I'll review the case! Points to you!

[Birchtree]

Obama really needs to talk about birth control and solve that problem which creates all the other problems. Single parent families among the at risk minority group is a disgrace. The country suffers and their children cause everyone else in school to suffer.

[mick504]

The 'speech' that was planned was not the 'speech' given. I guess the Pres...finally got the idea that his plans weren't going over so well so it was revised. Hopefully he will understand that his social agenda is not as well thought of as he had hoped. What we have here is a failure to communicate....compliments of the movie Cool Hand Luke!

[burrocrat]

After reading the subsequent comments, I don't mean to pull a Hienz-Kerry but i can appreciate the other side of this coin. The text of the 'approved' speach may be harmless, even uplifting, but there is always a danger when you play a blind game of follow the leader. Thank goodness for those 'some men you just can't reach'.

As always, thanks fellow mb members for the thoughtful, intelligent, and civil discussion.

[Mcqlives]

Obama really needs to talk about birth control and solve that problem which creates all the other problems. Single parent families among the at risk minority group is a disgrace. The country suffers and their children cause everyone else in school to suffer.

But that is only the result of a problem that has been allowed to fester, untreated because the treatment is not kind, for decades. A phrase that is heard over and over but is rarely lived (and most of those that do live it are in the TSP) is "Duty...Honor...Country" "Duty" to yourself, your family, your neighborhood, your church, your kids school, etc. "Honor"... the same. A "Country" is what happens when the first 2 words are truly lived. With the dismantling of the family unit, the neighborhoods, the schools (think what busing programs do to neighborhood schools) it is little wonder that the high risk groups aren't able to break out of the cycle. Somehow we have turned to the "Country" being responsible for providing all that "Duty" and "Honor" should have taken care of.

On the education speech today...bHo might have had the right intentions, but he is just using tried, and failed, methods. Kids need motivation...find out what it is on an INDIVIDUAL basis and use it. Don't try to make all the kids the same...that is what Marx tried to do.

[James48843]

Thanks, I'll review the case! Points to you!


In summary, Helvering Vs. Davis was a 1937 U.S. Supreme Court Case. At the time, republicans questioned the constitutionality of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Social Security Act", which provided for monetary payments to the aged, once they reached age 65. The act was passed and signed into law in 1935 by a Democratic Congress.

The key question raised in the case was "Was this unconstitutional under the 10th Amendment, or constitutional? and if so, under what clause? "

Democratic lawyers pointed to Article 1, Section 8, which provided that "promote the general welfare" clause.

Republican lawyers argued that the 10th Amendment was clear, and that payments for aged people (Social Security) did not rise to the level of "general welfare", and were unconstitutional, because the Constitution only allowed the federal government to spend money on certain things- everything else was reserved to the states, or to the people.

After some brinksmanship by FDR (homework- read about "court packing") the Supreme Court ruled. The net effect was-- the Supreme Court ruled that "general welfare" was whatever Congress passed, and the President signed. The supreme court wasn't going to second-guess the representatives of the people.

The exact language from the ruling was:
=========================


"2. The scheme of "Federal Old-Age Benefits" set up by Title II of the Social Security Act does not contravene the limitations of the Tenth Amendment. P. 640.

3. Congress may spend money in aid of the "general welfare." P. 640.

4. In drawing the line between what is "general" welfare, and what is particular, the determination of Congress must be respected by the courts, unless it be plainly arbitrary. P. 640.


5. The concept of "general welfare" is not static, but adapts itself to the crises and necessities of the times. P. 641."

==============================

The complete case ruling is here:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/socsec/course/readings/301us619.htm


Ever since that case, it has been the Court's precident that only the Congress can decide what is in the "general welfare" of the people of the United States.

Background, and additional reading, here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=zBQ0BzYdtiUC&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97&dq=Helvering+v.+Davis,+republicans&source=bl&ots=LZ3xAltYp9&sig=nkwsrSvUQfjj3SI-LRGoMFWkme8&hl=en&ei=ih2nStPEFouGNKWBhbIP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=Helvering%20v.%20Davis%2C%20republicans&f=false

[Viva La Migra]

In summary, Helvering Vs. Davis was a 1937 U.S. Supreme Court Case. At the time, republicans questioned the constitutionality of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Social Security Act", which provided for monetary payments to the aged, once they reached age 65. The act was passed and signed into law in 1935 by a Democratic Congress.

The key question raised in the case was "Was this unconstitutional under the 10th Amendment, or constitutional? and if so, under what clause? "

Democratic lawyers pointed to Article 1, Section 8, which provided that "promote the general welfare" clause.

Republican lawyers argued that the 10th Amendment was clear, and that payments for aged people (Social Security) did not rise to the level of "general welfare", and were unconstitutional, because the Constitution only allowed the federal government to spend money on certain things- everything else was reserved to the states, or to the people.

After some brinksmanship by FDR (homework- read about "court packing") the Supreme Court ruled. The net effect was-- the Supreme Court ruled that "general welfare" was whatever Congress passed, and the President signed. The supreme court wasn't going to second-guess the representatives of the people.

The exact language from the ruling was:
=========================


"2. The scheme of "Federal Old-Age Benefits" set up by Title II of the Social Security Act does not contravene the limitations of the Tenth Amendment. P. 640.

3. Congress may spend money in aid of the "general welfare." P. 640.

4. In drawing the line between what is "general" welfare, and what is particular, the determination of Congress must be respected by the courts, unless it be plainly arbitrary. P. 640.


5. The concept of "general welfare" is not static, but adapts itself to the crises and necessities of the times. P. 641."

==============================

The complete case ruling is here:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/socsec/course/readings/301us619.htm


Ever since that case, it has been the Court's precident that only the Congress can decide what is in the "general welfare" of the people of the United States.

Background, and additional reading, here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=zBQ0BzYdtiUC&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97&dq=Helvering+v.+Davis,+republicans&source=bl&ots=LZ3xAltYp9&sig=nkwsrSvUQfjj3SI-LRGoMFWkme8&hl=en&ei=ih2nStPEFouGNKWBhbIP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=Helvering%20v.%20Davis%2C%20republicans&f=false
Someone should have pointed to the fact that the Constitution does not require or allow the government to "provide" for the general welfare. It must only "promote" the general welfare. All of these social programs overstep the boundaries of the Constitution, IMHO. On the other hand, the Constitution requires the government to "Provide for the common defense" of the nation, yet it fails to secure the borders from illegal aliens and the scourge of illicit narcotics. Seems to me we are now "Providing the general welfare" and are "Promoting the common defense." It's all bass ackwards!:suspicious: