By Paul

January 27, 2011 3:39 PM | Link to this

Obama’s speech was downright disturbing. His comment about “freezing” the already bloated spending, was irresponsible., kind of a slap-in-the- face to Americans who ARE concerned about it. (To change the subject, is anyone else surprised that the lady who snooped into Joe-the-Plumbers’ records during the campaign and was fired…was REHIRED at $145,000/yr. in a local position ? I have a hard time believing there’s no one else qualified for this job.

By Mike R

January 26, 2011 5:00 PM | Link to this

@Realtalk. Who do you think is flipping the $70 BILLION Dept. of Education bill now?? It’s us, the taxpayer. If we get rid of the Dept. of Ed. and spend money more wisely means we won’t see tax increases!! Read your own comment—Poor grammar and an illogical metaphor (shoes don’t have bootstraps and the phrase “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” means to improve you situation by your own efforts—Not the gov’t being a nanny)—Us taxpayers didn’t get our monies worth. By the way, the Dept. of Education wasn’t created until 1979. Not having that institution didn’t hurt all the educated people who went through our educational system prior to ‘79.

By Realtalk

January 26, 2011 4:04 PM | Link to this

You folks haven’t thought this through…if you cut the Dept of ED your taxes will have to be raise. Just look at the all day Kindergarten situation that K-sick may cut because of funding needs. My taxes are high enuff and to educate the kids is an important issue. If education is cut we will end up with a whole bundh of 7th grade educated people-sounds just like most of you. Wake up people you can’t cut spending like you think cause you will dismantle the fabric of the country. This ain’t the 1800’s-and “you can’t pick yourself up by your bootstraps if you ain’t got no shoes”

By Mike R

January 26, 2011 3:40 PM | Link to this

ohiovoter, The Dept. of Ed. has a budget this year slightly exceeding $70 BILION. Pell Grants are $18 Billion. All other Federal Grants and loans are approx. $2.6 Billion for a total of $21.5 BILLION in Grants and Loans. I used a Pell Grant for my undergraduate degree. I’m not saying do away with grants and loans. But surely we can cut most of the 5,000 bureaucrats that are just a cost to taxpayers and we can chop away at the other $50 BILLION. Some of it’s good, like the Rehab and Disability Services. But there are many bad areas that need to be cut. Like Obama’s example last night about the Salmon being regulated by 3 agencies. The Dept. of Ed. doesn’t need an Office of Civil Rights…That’s already covered by other agencies. Also, they will spend nearly $1 Billion this year alone in “State Assessments.” We could at least cut $40 Billion by doing away with the Dept. of Ed. and letting states manage the grants/loans and disability services…At the end of the day I bet our educational achievement levels improve too. And that’s the most important aspect of doing away with Dept. of Ed.

By ohiovoter

January 26, 2011 3:00 PM | Link to this

Mike R, If the Department of Education is on the chopping block, what are you going to tell my nieces and daughter who wants to college and applies for financial aid? If it wasn’t for student loans and Pell Grants I wouldn’t be able to obtain four college degrees.

By Mike R

January 26, 2011 2:04 PM | Link to this

ohiovoter, that’s exactly why the Dept. of Ed. needs to be cut!! You’re taxes are being sent to D.C. and only cents on the dollar come back to Ohio’s schools. Don’t you want ALL of your tax dollars earmarked for education to go to education and not overhead??? Currently we already spend the most in the world per pupil in public schools at over $11,000 per kid. Look at the results!! Are those the results you want? Throwing more money at the problem isn’t the answer. Ever since Congress established the Dept. of Ed. at the Cabinet level in 1979 our kids have fallen further and further behind in math & sciences. Hello. We need to change direction and we can save money too.

By ohiovoter

January 26, 2011 11:54 AM | Link to this

Mr. Turner, Don’t put the Department of Education on the chopping block because if you cut spending to the Department of Education the difference will be passed onto the individual states and communities.

By Suebee

January 26, 2011 9:23 AM | Link to this

Good ideas, Mike. I’d like to add Dept of Homeland Security, as well. Not to mention, overhaul the DoD military regs as they affect military personnel only. We need as “balls out” fighting force w/current weapons to get the job done; no more p***y footin around, go for the throat & the win.

By Independent

January 26, 2011 8:02 AM | Link to this

Obummer wanted no part of working with the Republicans as he and his cronies crammed his agenda down our throats. Now he is campaigning for re-election and wants us to believe he is willing to work together. In the words of Rep. Joe Wilson, “You lie.” And if he wants to put Americans back to work get rid of the millions of illegal aliens who are holding jobs.

By Mike R

January 26, 2011 12:53 AM | Link to this

Mr. Turner, You can start by placing the EPA, Dept. of Education, the IRS, 95% of the Dept. of Energy, 50% of HHS, and Amtrak (just to name a few) on the chopping block. That will tell us just how serious YOU are about cutting wasteful gov’t spending.