We decided to mix things up this week. Instead of a debate, the two of us are going to be making the same arguments. But we know nobody likes to see two schmucks sitting around agreeing with each other, so we’re going to add an air of competition.
We’re going to take three basic topics and state our cases in 100 words or less. Go to our web poll on the right side of the site to vote on who made the argument the best.
WHY IS BOBBY JINDAL’S BUDGET TERRIBLE?
Bernward: It certainly seems the Governor has never heard the old saying about assumptions, because he makes plenty of them with the budget.
One example: Jindal's plan assumes $92 million from a rerouting on TOPS funding. A contentious move considering the funds will now come from a trust that generates cash for health care and K-12 education. A difficult move considering rerouting would require both legislative approval and a popular vote against entities with far reaching persuasive power.
It's dishonest, but politically savvy move by Jindal who will use the legislature as a scape-goat if his assumptions fail.
Woodstein: Saying the governor’s proposal is optimistic is pure understatement. More appropriate adjectives include, but are not limited to: quixotic, delusional, and irresponsible.
To assume the passage of a complicated, controversial legislative package that includes constitutional amendments is at best naïve hubris and at worst obvious political hostage-taking.
To assume it in a state budget is dangerous and only technically – barely – constitutional.
This budget leaves no room for error. If the legislature Jindal has so capriciously alienated challenges him at all, the budget will quickly be wreckage.
This is Jindal at his classic worst – arrogant, paternalistic and completely separated from reality.
WHY IS THE DEBATE OVER MERGING SUNO/ UNO STUPID?
Woodstein: I’ve got one number for you: 8 percent.
That’s not Mr. Bernward’s spelling test score; it’s SUNO’s graduation rate.
Say you had a toaster that worked only 8 percent of the time. Would you keep it?
No, you wouldn’t, especially if your grandfather only gave it to you because he wasn’t allowed a real one.
That is exactly what SUNO defenders want. SUNO exists only because blacks weren’t allowed into good schools back when Louisiana was, well, racist. Now they are, so it’s unfair to keep them in an obviously-failing institution for “historical value.”
Bernward: It's simple: Louisiana has 14 public, four-year colleges and universities with five separate governing boards.
Having 14 state funded entities only degrades the quality of the system as a whole.
Why would the state fund elite programs in the same field separated by a few hundred miles? It's not about black and white, it's about dollars and cents.
This is a move that should be considered state wide to build a system with a strong community college network to provide a foundation for moving on to institutions that compete academically and financially with the nation's elite.
ARE TUITION AND FEE INCREASES TAXES ON STUDENTS?
Bernward: This claim will be a handy piece of rhetoric in the election season, but it is ultimately misleading.
In an ideal world, the state would have a streamlined, fully-funded higher education system. In reality, the state is dysfunctional, and students will have to front the extra cost to receive anything nearing an elite education.
Indeed the state does benefit from a highly educated citizenry, but students are the primary recipients of the benefits of education. Simply put: quality is costly.
Woodstein: As much as students and Sen. Peterson would like to argue that tuition and fee increases are taxes on students, such accusations are more rhetoric than reality.
A tax is something that the citizens of the state pay for the common good. While it’s certainly true that a more educated workforce is better for the state in the long-run, that’s a corollary benefit of many individuals advancing individually.
Higher education is primarily better for those being educated. It is secondarily better for the citizens. So it’s only fair for students to pay more than others for the service.
We’re going to take three basic topics and state our cases in 100 words or less. Go to our web poll on the right side of the site to vote on who made the argument the best.
WHY IS BOBBY JINDAL’S BUDGET TERRIBLE?
Bernward: It certainly seems the Governor has never heard the old saying about assumptions, because he makes plenty of them with the budget.
One example: Jindal's plan assumes $92 million from a rerouting on TOPS funding. A contentious move considering the funds will now come from a trust that generates cash for health care and K-12 education. A difficult move considering rerouting would require both legislative approval and a popular vote against entities with far reaching persuasive power.
It's dishonest, but politically savvy move by Jindal who will use the legislature as a scape-goat if his assumptions fail.
Woodstein: Saying the governor’s proposal is optimistic is pure understatement. More appropriate adjectives include, but are not limited to: quixotic, delusional, and irresponsible.
To assume the passage of a complicated, controversial legislative package that includes constitutional amendments is at best naïve hubris and at worst obvious political hostage-taking.
To assume it in a state budget is dangerous and only technically – barely – constitutional.
This budget leaves no room for error. If the legislature Jindal has so capriciously alienated challenges him at all, the budget will quickly be wreckage.
This is Jindal at his classic worst – arrogant, paternalistic and completely separated from reality.
WHY IS THE DEBATE OVER MERGING SUNO/ UNO STUPID?
Woodstein: I’ve got one number for you: 8 percent.
That’s not Mr. Bernward’s spelling test score; it’s SUNO’s graduation rate.
Say you had a toaster that worked only 8 percent of the time. Would you keep it?
No, you wouldn’t, especially if your grandfather only gave it to you because he wasn’t allowed a real one.
That is exactly what SUNO defenders want. SUNO exists only because blacks weren’t allowed into good schools back when Louisiana was, well, racist. Now they are, so it’s unfair to keep them in an obviously-failing institution for “historical value.”
Bernward: It's simple: Louisiana has 14 public, four-year colleges and universities with five separate governing boards.
Having 14 state funded entities only degrades the quality of the system as a whole.
Why would the state fund elite programs in the same field separated by a few hundred miles? It's not about black and white, it's about dollars and cents.
This is a move that should be considered state wide to build a system with a strong community college network to provide a foundation for moving on to institutions that compete academically and financially with the nation's elite.
ARE TUITION AND FEE INCREASES TAXES ON STUDENTS?
Bernward: This claim will be a handy piece of rhetoric in the election season, but it is ultimately misleading.
In an ideal world, the state would have a streamlined, fully-funded higher education system. In reality, the state is dysfunctional, and students will have to front the extra cost to receive anything nearing an elite education.
Indeed the state does benefit from a highly educated citizenry, but students are the primary recipients of the benefits of education. Simply put: quality is costly.
Woodstein: As much as students and Sen. Peterson would like to argue that tuition and fee increases are taxes on students, such accusations are more rhetoric than reality.
A tax is something that the citizens of the state pay for the common good. While it’s certainly true that a more educated workforce is better for the state in the long-run, that’s a corollary benefit of many individuals advancing individually.
Higher education is primarily better for those being educated. It is secondarily better for the citizens. So it’s only fair for students to pay more than others for the service.
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