I find it humorous that the majority of people are seeing the cup as half empty instead of half full on this.
I don’t doubt that one bit.
That would be a good idea. First scholarships are being awarded to the class of 2013, and they still have another $85 million to raise so hopefully over time they’ll adopt some standards to this that are contingent upon grades.
But things aren’t fair and they never should be. You get what you earn in life.
It’s termed corporatocracy and has everything to do with corporate lobbying and “special interests”.
The rich are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs for them. It’s short sighted and moronic. I’m big on appealing to one’s greed but I suspect there’s no getting through to the rich idiots. ESPECIALLY when many working class are stuck in the “work harder, life isn’t fair” mindset. Socialism in moderation is perfectly healthy and actually benefits the rich. After all, trickle down economics worked so well, didn’t it? 
You are 100% right. The items I sell are pure luxury. However, the best part about my job is that no matter how bad the economy is, people are going to camp and they will camp more. Taking vacations to resorts and hotel expenses are getting very costly. Most people know that. Buying a camper and spending $20k that will give you a enjoyment for years.
I think you guys also 100% right about a lot of kids not taking advantage of this like they should. I’m sure that was figured into the equation of how many will succeed vs how many will fail. Let’s say for every 5 kids that graduate, 15 will not. (obviously we are only looking at the kids participating in this, not all of college kids.)
Do you think it is worth it to lose 15 kids to make 5 have a better future and not be in debt from mass quantities of student loans?
I’m going to argue here that I think the money could be better spent helping 15 of those kids get on the right track at the risk of losing 5. I don’t think the money should be going towards a college education. The greater concern here lies within the city’s school system. I’m not saying put the money directly into their hands, because they’ll find a way to mismanage it I’m sure. But I feel there has to be a better way to get kids prepared for the real world other than just offering a college funding incentive contingent upon graduation.
Whats the average college graduation rate for people who attend Buffalo public schools?
It would probably be more beneficial to the larger majority to unfuck the Buffalo public school system instead of trying to give away college to a very small %.
I hope so… Lets get those people out of the burbs…
There is a bigger picture at work… The state is changing the education requirements. And with city charter schools pulling the best and brightest, what is going to happen to regular public schools? They get the leftovers.
That means higher taxes to try and make public schools meet the requirements, and like every govt. organization, they are going to cut services.
ex. Ken-ton is short $10 million next year, and 11 the next. So, it looks like next* year Kindergardners within 6-8/10’s of a mile will be walking to school when all k-5 used to get the bus.
*If the public votes for it… Else, that ~$500k in savings comes from somewhere else, like teachers aids. School board meetings drive me crazy… Cut spending, raise taxes… :mad:
Giving a few kids a light at the end of the tunnel might help. But, not as much as getting kids to associate with less shitty people and have less shitty parents.
You are only going to be as good as the people you associate with. The biggest benefit of suburban schools is parental involvement. (and its no where near as much as you would expect)
edit: How about this… Make their reasonably priced college free*, then garnish their wages for the next 10 years for some Percentage.
*provided they are going to be able to get a job in that field.
If they get into a sweet ivy league school, then thats great. 10% of a six figure income is better than 10% of a social workers income.
The old saying comes to mind here, “You can’t help someone who won’t help themselves”. If kids don’t want to follow through on their committment to college, what can be done? Are you going to force them to go to school? Then you get kids who don’t want to be there distracting the kids who actually want to learn and take something from it. I would rather let the dead weight fall off and have a handful of really good, smart kids.
It’s almost like I typed that. You’re totally on point today man, IMO.
Supply-side economics is the worst thing to happen to this country in ages.
To your point though, the rich pretty much shot themselves in the foot by being greedy. They’ve hoarded all of their wealth and refuse to inject it into the economy and because they’re hoarding their wealth, the economy is having trouble recovering.
Therefore the rich now have a larger share in a smaller, lousy economy instead of a smaller share in a larger, booming economy - which would be more profitable.
We have to get money to the working class because they (I should say we) don’t have the ability to hoard because we have to spend a larger portion of our income on bills and necessities, therefore injecting it back into the economy.
It makes so much god damn sense but no one realizes it!
i agree with this 100%.
i dont like hand outs at all. all the programs for the poor piss me off. hand out type programs lead to zero initiative for the poor to do anything to better themselves. instead they continue to live off the system. one of the main reasons the kids dont do well is because they dont care. you think giving them free education will motivate them to work when they see they can do nothing and live off of welfare and other government programs instead?
i grew up poor. my whole childhood i watched my parents struggle and work their asses off. my dad worked 2-3 jobs for the better part of my childhood and my mom has been working 2 jobs for as long as i can remember. they went back to school and got better degrees, and now my dad only has to work one job and my mom works one job, and tutors part time a couple nights a week. sure they arent well off, however they are doing ok. my motivation didnt come from scholarships, i saw them struggle and have to go back to school, i didnt want to go through that.
better parenting and motivating your kids to not be lazy fucks will go further then a handout.
For every story like that there is likely two stories of disenchanted youth that has had little positive parental involvement in their education.
The problem with the rich getting richer trickles all the way down to elementary school. Wealthy people associate with wealthy people and their kids are
exposed to similar circles of friends. Fast forward 18 years, and they get into the best schools with their friends. They may barely graduate, but will still have a
very powerful network that will pull them into top salaries right out of school.
You will not be able to fight that through education reform. Life is unfair. Expensive schools get you better interviews and jobs. Just like HR folks toss resumes without degrees, executives toss resumes with the wrong schools.
What people never realize is that even though welfare programs suck for the working folks that have to pay into them, they’re a necessity.
Welfare programs are pretty much anti-crime programs. Without them, people would be forced to live on the streets and commit crimes just to stay alive. We need to have them whether us working suckers like it or not.
I agree with the statement that better parenting is what we need in this country. I wish we could find a way to give people an incentive to be better parents. Maybe give them a $1,000 tax credit (essentially a $1,000 check) if they take parenting classes and pass a test when the classes are done. Then, if their kid doesn’t at least get decent grades in school, make the parent pay the $1,000 back.
The government uses the tax code to incentivize people to do things or not do things. For example, the hybrid car tax benefit which is supposed to make people buy a hybrid, and the excise tax on cigarettes which is supposed to make people not smoke.
We should use the tax code to make people better parents.
I guess I will be moving to Buffalo for free college when my daughter reaches grade 12. 
Do you have to go to one of the local crappy schools?
I don’t think things should be “fair” on a micro level. That said, on a macro level the government should get the fuck out of being in business, quit profiteering and get back to doing what it’s supposed to do… distributing as evenly as possible the opportunities our nation offers. THAT is the issue above all else and why “trickle down economics” amounts to the rich pissing on the middle class’s head from above.
I am FAR from poor so before I get labeled a broke ass slacker I want to get that out there. I have a job in IT and make good money. I have owned (mortgaged) my own home for about 13 years now, with my own money. In fact back then I was a few hundred bucks over the annual income level to qualify for a $5k grant so I got boned for being a shade too successful. I have worked and learned on my own without college or handouts. I am not suggesting a free ride, I’m suggesting an equal base for EVERYONE to use as they see fit.
It blows my mind to hear people of the middle class retort this garbage of “work harder, life isn’t fair”. There is a VERY real problem with our level of wealth disparity and it will eventually effect more and more of the “middle class”. Maybe when enough of the “work harder” people feel some pain sentiment will change. It’s easy to look out when we’re on the inside of our warm glass boxes and shun the people our government neglects. And out of the other side of our face we bitch about how they steal or vandalize from us, yet we do nothing to change anything.
Let’s spin away from the “1%” banter and let’s move to corporate tax shelters. According to the GAO…of the 100 largest publicly traded US companies, 83 reported operating in a tax haven if not more than 1 tax haven. This is estimated to cost TENS of BILLIONS in lost tax revenue. Is that an illustration of “working hard”? The government, OUR government allows this to happen because of kickbacks and political contributions. The shit system is broken and needs fixin.
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Awesome points! I feel it’s more about control than the money up top. They didn’t get that rich by being stupid. I have to believe they know what they are doing. They know the working class is strapped to immense fixed expenditures every month, mainly inflated housing, debt and medical coverage. I’ll stop there because any further and it becomes “you’re a conspiracy/tin foil kook” type stuff.
The problem is you and I are being too logical and looking down the road. We need to spend every penny earned and commit to massive amounts of debt so the game can carry on as it has been. LOL.
I think people saying “work hard” should change their saying to “spend hard”. In a consumption based nation it’s not as much about working as it is about spending.
:tup:
Except that every retard and their mother has a shit fit when someone suggests getting rid of entitlement programs. None of that shit should exist because the good majority of people on it abuse it and they are all born into a system where its abuse is commonplace.
Why can’t we be skeptical? A lot of people from the inner-city are too dumb to help themselves at least that’s how it seems to be in Rochester.
Seriously? Are you sure you aren’t posting from Zuccotti park?
:lol: :lol: :lol:
I agree with that saying. I’m repeating myself but that was the point in my first post. A lot of people from these areas that are too dumb, stupid or ill advised to help themselves and take advantage of private funding that is available like this.
Man who knew that NYSpeed had its own economics genius.
Wealth redistribution, definitely the answer!
Traderbase, The Federal Reserve takes hundreds of billions every year and they don’t provide ANY equity building jobs. At least [some of] the other companies are creating good jobs.
I stand by the old adage “If you divide all of the money evenly today the same people who were rich will be rich again”.
Who will pay for the additional armed gaurds at Buff State if this idea actually happens?
You epitomize everything that is wrong with the mindset of our country, junior. :tdown:
By the way, I come on here to dick around and to be entertained. You wouldn’t believe just how much I actually know about this stuff.
THIS! Not to get off the tangent of our nation’s economic woes here, but really parenting is the number one issue with how some of these students fail in life. You can blame the education system, blame the teachers, blame the administrators, blame the schools, etc. The fact is we can’t teach you everything you need to know at school. There is a lot to be learned at home, and many of these kids are missing out on it with “parents” who can’t fill that void in their life.