I wish I'd come up with "end of an error" but I did not. I should have quoted it.

I'm not as optimistic as I might have sounded. I agree we're close to a tipping point ("more takers than makers", "more at the trough than filling it", ...).

It's critical we stop CommieCare and (more importantly) amnesty. The reason for the rush for CommieCare is that the congress critters will be home for a while and the WH wants the vote before the critters meet the folks.

I've been trying to stop this junk ever since I became conscious. I worked for Goldwater in '64. I'm obviously not very effective. I have flipped two libs, but they be bein' born a lot faster that I can flip them.

MM

Whenever I dispair (daily) about the stupidity of electing a no-experience Obama as president, I recall Wilson. Wilson, like Obama, proceeded to contradict most of his campaign promises (keep the US out of The Great War - WW I). As yet, Obama hasn't match the level of harm Wilson did to the United States - but we're only one year in. Here's hoping the people block the most insane proposals (CommieCare, Cap and Trade, ...) using their voice.

After 2013 Jan 20 (the end of an error), we will hopefully get an adult in the White House. We have extremely difficult problems to address (Terrorism, a total debt approaching a Quadrillion dollars, ...) and desperately need sober leadership.

MM

I agree that educational efficacy is extremely difficult to measure quantitatively (I'd say nearly impossible). But I don't see that as a barrier to allowing competition.

It's pretty common knowledge which K-12 schools are good, mediocre, and poor. School quality is touted in real estate listings. Even within schools, the kids know which teachers are good, bad, and indifferent. So I think consumer understanding of the competitors is not a barrier.

At the moment, competition in post K-12 education is allowed and the government subsidizes attendance at private colleges as well as public (government) schools. And I think most consumers know that the education at Stanford or M.I.T. is likely of higher quality than at...

I agree that educational efficacy is extremely difficult to measure quantitatively (I'd say nearly impossible). But I don't see that as a barrier to allowing competition.

It's pretty common knowledge which K-12 schools are good, mediocre, and poor. School quality is touted in real estate listings. Even within schools, the kids know which teachers are good, bad, and indifferent. So I think consumer understanding of the competitors is not a barrier.

At the moment, competition in post K-12 education is allowed and the government subsidizes attendance at private colleges as well as public (government) schools. And I think most consumers know that the education at Stanford or M.I.T. is likely of higher quality than at...

In #41, I solicited your opinion of competition in K-12 education. I saw only a reply with the subject "reply to Michael #9", which discussed the phrase "government schools". Perhaps I missed your response to the question of competition. If so, could you give the Reply number? If not, would you let us know what you think of competition in K-12 education?

As far as the phrase "government schools" is concerned, I do think of the Northshore School District as a governmental body. It has the power to tax and uses the police function of the county to enforce that power.

And yes, I first heard the phrase from Uncle Milty.

Finally, I'm not a conservative - at least by your definition. I'm an atheist libertarian...

Gestell:

One of _my_ targets _is_ government education. Public funding is one thing, but government-run schools are another. As in any area of life, education monopolies very likely underperform competitive solutions. This is as true in education as it was in telephone service.

Most monopolies claim that their case is "special", but that is seldom true. If we could have a few states where education competition is really tried (free of federal interference), in ten years we'd know for sure if K-12 education is indeed special. See note below on the risk to students of such a set of experiements.

I'm interested in your opinion WRT education competition. I think it works in higher education, why not...