I’m sorry, I friggin’ love Jon Stewart. He does snarky right.
Instead of ending tax cuts to the top two percent, America – apparently – needs to get money from teachers.
Because teachers are incredibly rich.
I know I am.
(Click on the link below to enjoy a few minutes of quality comedy.)
Jon Stewart’s Daily Show Explores Problems in Tax Reform & Education
Feel free to laugh out loud.
Then tell me what made you laugh.
Or cry.
I love Jon Stewart too. The only person I love more is Stephen Colbert. They’re both married, so my love remains a pure devotion from afar. Fyi, Jon Stewart’s mom was a schoolteacher. So was Lewis Black’s, John Oliver’s, Seth Macfarlane’s….you might have to watch out, RASJ, teachers seem to end up with some seriously smartassed kids.
You know what? My mother was a teacher, so I guess you have proven your point.
Well played.
And I guess the smart-ass in the basement is eventually going to kick mine.
That reminds me. Can I have, like, a whole bunch of money?
No. It’s mine. All mine. (*insert evil laugh)*
Seriously, come on over. Anything you find between the sofa cushions is yours. 😉
Someone making 200K (that would be like a working husband and wife) is hardly “rich”. And if you don’t adjust it geographically it is meaningless. A 200K family income in NYC or DC is just making it, so “soaking the rich” needs to start at realistically defining “rich.”
I have no sympathy (but love and admiration) for teachers other than they have to put up with the shit of today’s lazy and disrespectful students (not all but enough). In private industry you no longer have pensions, you pay a substantial portion of your health insurance and you sure work many more days. Why do teachers and public sector employees feel that the burden of layoffs and cutbacks should fall only on the private sector? All the money comes from the private sector, let’s not forget.
The states are broke. That’s a fact. “Soaking the rich” has never worked and, more to the point, I can tell you as a former business owner who had over a hundred employees, if you make it intolerable, the money moves elsewhere.
One last rant: Why is it always the nasty businessman and “Wall Street”? No one ever seems to mention semi-literate professional athletes raking in tens of millions for hitting or throwing a ball. Go Wisconsin!
Oooh! That is a big pet peeve of mine. I will never understand why – as a culture – we value do-do heads who can play with balls over people with smarts. Maybe I should blog on that.
I was all set to write something witty. Then two things happened: (a) I read Steve’s comment and forgot what I was going to say (this tells you my attention span), and (b) I clicked on the JS link and it said, “Sorry, this video is not available at your location.”
Clearly Calgary, Alberta is off the radar.
I do, however, like Jon Stewart. And Stephen Colbert. And our Canadian version: Rick Mercer.
Calgary, Calgarah, Calgaree, Cal-ga-ra-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…
Seriously, it’s not funny. You should see that video.
But thanks for the effort. 😉
They think we get paid in the summer. Huh? We work 37 weeks and get paid for 40 weeks. Benefits in the private sector are evaporating. No insurance, no pension, low wage – take it or leave it. That’s the only reason public sector workers have more benefits. They have not gotten to us yet but are now trying. Science and math teachers can triple their salaries working in the private sector, so we have a shortage there. I do object to New York salary protocol. It is true, cost of living is dramatically higher in NY so there should be higher pay, but they retire in 20 years with a high percent of salary. In Florida, you have to do 30 years and get 48 percent of salary, plus you must pay for your own health care insurance which is $800 a month for a married couple. That brings your pension down to thirty five per cent of salary. On the other hand what is classified as rich may be askew. For example, there are farmers that may have a $5 million a year cash flow but earn only $25,000 after all is said and done. I know a doctor who teaches science because it would take an income of $3 million to maintain office and staff to clear $50,000, so it is easier and less stressful to teach for $50,000 a year! The unions are the only friend the working class has.
I am going to have address pensions another day, but a question might be why should teachers have pensions? Why shouldn’t they just have to save the same way that everyone else in the private sector does?
When I worked in Louisiana, there was no “joining the union” option. It was a private school; we had no union. We negotiated directly with our Headmaster. Were our paychecks lower than those of our cohorts. Yes. Were our working conditions infinitely better? Absolutely. Private school meant administrators could kick out rotten-stinky students. I got everything I ever asked for. It was nirvana.
In NY State, I worked in several public schools and I could opt to join or opt out. I opted out every time. I know in some schools, it is not an option. I probably need to understand this area more. I have a teacher friend who knows a lot about this stuff. Maybe he’ll help me out. (If I’m really smooth, maybe I can get him to blog about it.)
See, I’m one of those lazy teachers… 😉
When WoPro and RASJ are rolling I am gettin out of the way!
The comments are so scripted its almost impossible for me to beleive people fall for this but they do. There is a need for excellent teachers to educate the next generation to see through this type of ballyho and make even millionaires responsible to pay their fare share of taxes.It’s the only way we can lower the national debt. Teachers are very much underpaid and over worked. I would love to see anyone of those who made comments get in front of a classroom situation for just one week. It would be interesting and eye opening.
Of course you know I agree with you, 100%, Bert, so you’re preachin’ to the choir. But I have to say I don’t agree with the way unions protect lousy teachers. Why shouldn’t teachers receive merit based pay the way everyone else does? Seems like that’s the best (and fastest) way to reform the system and save a lot of money. Good teachers should get mo’ money mo money mo’ money and the bad seeds need to get out.
And I am not sure that anyone can argue with Steve when he says that teachers’ pensions are out of line with what is going on in the rest of the private sector. I know teachers pay-in to their pensions during the course of their years in the classroom, but everyone’s pension packages are being sliced. But that’s a complicated blog for a different day as each state has different rules about union membership. Me, I never joined.
Good point with the union comment, Renee. For every teacher that is underpaid, there is one (or more) that is overpaid because of the system that exists.
As someone who views himself as a good teacher, I’ve always felt that the union stance has kept me from making what I could be making if a system were in place that rewarded performance rather than longevity and continuing education. As a motivated individual it’s demoralizing, yet it’s a situation that teachers (and specifically teachers in unions) have created for themselves.
I haven’t won a lot of friends with my stance on unions, Chase. I just know we can’t continue to pay out the way we have. Something has to change.
Brava! Go to the head of the class!
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It’s amazing what our state and government will try to tax us for and who they will try to tax. They will cut funding for much needed things like CPB, citing that they do not have enough money, but it’s funny how they all still get their bonus’. And then they tax us more. I am begining to feel like a whore that doesn’t get payed by all the fucking that’s going around.
It makes me sad that everyone is telling young people to go out and be teachers. Now because of all the budget cuts in state funding, lots of teachers will be let go. It just ain’t right!
I would NEVER tell anyone to go out and become a teacher right now. These are dark days for good teachers.
So you had eleventy-million comments on your book club post (which I loved btw; and I am now going to steal your idea for my own book club whose members really just want to drink wine, and I kind of sort of want to talk about books. Sometimes. While drinking wine.)
Anyway, directly below your brilliant book club post was Jon Stewart. Whom I love. And I’m a teacher. And I dig snark. So I came down here to comment.
I wish we could get paid for irony. and sarcasm. and wit.
Wouldn’t the financial world be turned on its head?
I think I’ll write that on my index card at my next book club…
Beloved Julie:
I’d like to thank the little people who knew me waaaay back when. I’m just so glad that I have met you. Let’s be honest, this thing got put under “Food.” Um, I mentioned chocolate. Really, the post is about writing. This makes me uber-suspicious about the whole Freshly Pressed blog selection process. (I did use several fonts. Maybe that was the key.) Hmmm. Whatevs. I am enjoying all the traffic. Wheeeeeee. I feel pretty, oh so pretty….
Jon Stewart is so right on. I never miss his show. I watched the segment you’re referring to and it is so maddening to hear the pundits on Fox News talk about teachers as if they’re the super rich, meanwhile they’ll stop at nothing to protect those that really are. Don’t touch their taxes but it’s ok to cut the pay of teachers because we all know how overpaid they are. Right.