Behind the Numbers

There have been numerous reports recording an "enthusiasm gap" between liberals and conservatives. And while it is documented that a layer of complacency exists between the people in power and those out of power, the evidence used for this argument is....... ridiculous.

In an article on Politico, a source I frequent, the argument made for the existence of the enthusiasm gap is the registration of new voters. The argument was that when compared to '08, there have been significantly less new voters registered at college campuses, a place where liberals tend to congregate. However, they failed to recognize exactly what that meant.

While there were less new registered voters at college campuses this election cycle, there was such a significant increase in the number of new voters in '08 that there has not been enough time to get more people registered. College campuses have lost students due to the economy and more importantly, the ones that were newly registered in '08 are probably still in college today. That means that they would no longer qualify for new voter status, thus creating a drop in the number of new voters registered at college campuses.

Now, I am not blind to the current political climate. And even though I feel that anger directed at only one of the major parties is misguided, I also recognize that the current state of affairs has the Republicans poised to make gains in Congress. However, before they rejoice over less "liberal, elite, educated masses at college" in the voting pool (which by the way, when the @#$! did it become a bad or elitist thing to be educated???), they should start to look into the factors behind the numbers and not just the numbers' existence. While college students may not be enthused about voting for Democrats this November, it is not an indictment to that party but the two-party system as a whole. Both parties should be shaking in their boots, because no matter who takes over, nothing will change. And we're not going to take it anymore.

The Shoe Story

I once had an argument with a good friend of mine over education cuts. It was after Gov. Mitch Daniels had announced that due to budget shortfalls, he was going to cut education spending for a second time in a span of a month. My argument was that education cuts do not affect poor schools the same way that they affect schools in affluent districts. My friend didn't buy it. Then, I told him about my shoe buying experience.

I know that shoes and education policy may not seem to correlate but stick with me on this. My little sister had a choir competition at Ben Davis High School. It was in the middle of the school year, so I was in need of some new shoes. Conveniently, the school is across the street from a Foot Locker Outlet Store, so I went inside. I browsed and browsed and found a couple pairs for about $10 a piece and went up to the counter to pay for them. While he rung my shoes up, the friendly clerk asked my what my shirt said. I didn't even think about it and stretched out the printing so he could read it clearly. That was, if he could read at all.

You see, the clerk behind the counter preceded to tell me that he couldn't read at all, but that he made due by recognizing symbols that he saw everyday. An American citizen around the age of 20 was illiterate. It was unthinkable to me. And that is when I realized that things like that don't happen in the Carmel or Fishers areas. There isn't illiterate store clerks that live and work in Hamilton County. This was a man who lived, and will probably die, in one of the poorest areas of Marion County and will most likely never be able to read a book, magazine, newspaper, or website.

This is my point. Education cuts do not affect Carmel and HSE the same as they affect Gary Public Schools and IPS. When Carmel has to redistrict or consolidate an elementary school, it is a minor inconvenience for over-scheduled soccer moms driving their kids into class. When IPS has to shut down an elementary school, it means that single moms working two jobs now have to choose between making it to work on time and paying the bills, or getting their kids to school. The sad part is that many mothers pick the job over their kids schooling.

Legislation like No Child Left Behind is an example of schools held hostage. While schools that are already under-funded and written off fight to keep their students literate, the government gives a majority of the money to schools that are already achieving a 99% graduation rate and think of literacy as a preschool issue. The way things are going is backwards. And the more we allow, the worse it is going to get.

The time is now. We cannot continue to allow our schools to be held hostage. I am not saying that schools in affluent areas have done anything wrong, or should be stripped of any Federal or State assistance. Rather, they need to take less, since their constituents have the means to take on more of the funding responsibilities. The more money that is placed into inner-city school systems, like GPS and IPS, the more students, faculty, and staff that they will be able to retain. When more students graduate, more of them are literate and able to function as a productive member of society. The crime rate goes down, college attendance and graduation goes up, and entire neighborhoods and cities can be turned around.

It doesn't take much, but what it does take is determination from the government to finally correct their mistakes on this. Let's start funding the schools that actually need it. Let's start giving students in urban areas a fighting chance. Rather than punishing them for being born there, let's give them the best education in the world, and not force them into the cyclical world of poverty.

Let's eradicate illiterate store clerks once and for all.

Pledge to America

Remember the days when people used to say that you could trust a man by his word? I know that my father always told me to live my life in a way that allowed people to trust me by what I said, without having to prove it. I think the Republicans should listen to my father.

Back in the day, around this time in 1994, the Republican Party released "A Contract to America", their pledge to fix what they saw as the problems facing Americans. They claimed that they were going to change the way that politics were being run. And then......they didn't. They got their positions of power and rather than helping the people that needed it most, they exploded the deficit, ran two illegal wars, and violated the Constitution in a way that in mind-blowing.

Now, they have the "Pledge to America" and claim that they are going to fix what problems have occurred under Democratic rule. Forget that they ran the government for 8 years and committed crimes against the American people, but they are going to apparently do things differently after two years of saying "no" to everything.

For example, they claim that they are going to repeal the health care bill. Putting aside the fact that they have done nothing but mislead the American public about what is inside the bill, the idea that they could repeal it is ludicrous. If they regain the House, Senate, or both, it won't be by huge margins. Rather, they will have slim leads, if any at all.

Let's say that they get a bill passed that repeals the health care bill, do they expect that they will convince President Obama to go back on his greatest policy achievement yet?

They also plan on keeping Guantanamo Bay open and full of "enemy combatants". They plan on keeping people deemed a terrorist without a trial, without due process, without access to lawyers, for however long they deem necessary. How can they justify standing up for "freedom from government oppression" while they lock people away like the police state they claim Democrats want to establish.

Ultimately, nothing has changed. While it is clear that there needs to be significant change from what has been happening, it is not the other axis of evil that will get it done. The same old act is being played by the Republicans. And if they win one or both of the houses, be prepared for significant nothingness. Absolutely nothing. Because if history has proven anything, keeping the status quo in place pays better.