what an ass.

How dare he say that people should work! His daughter had a janitorial job at age 13, she turned out alright. Maybe if schools focus less on self esteem and more on teaching kids about taking pride in a day's work then the kids would have a chance of getting off welfare.

Please let Newt be our next president......

In summary, Gingrich's supporters are horrible human beings.

Of course he doesn't think it's offensive... He's a sociopath.

keylock71: sociopath

Please explain why you believe suggesting the kid work for the school reveals Gingrich to be a sociopath.

// The right-wingers aren't always wrong.

keylock71: Of course he doesn't think it's offensive... He's a sociopath.

God farking forbid someone be taught a work ethic.

/We are f*cking doomed as a nation.
//give me more free shiat because I don't feel like getting off my dead farking ass.
//dipshiats

Yes, Newt, we should make sure that inner-city kids are trained for janitorial work. Who else is gonna clean our toilets when we boot out all the Mexicans?

Rarely is the question asked, is our children janitoring.

Slave labor? So what then, fire the janitors? Won't someone think of the janitors?

This About That: Please explain why you believe suggesting the kid work for the school reveals Gingrich to be a sociopath.

// The right-wingers aren't always wrong.

Inner-city children already have less of a chance to succeed than their richer suburban counterparts. They are told that in order to successful they have to study hard, go to a good college, and get a good job. Gingrich is suggesting that they work as janitors after school, which is when they would presumably be studying, while at the same time taking those jobs away from adults who need them. Thus perpetuating poverty among those who are already poor. If it's not sociopathic, it's just bad policy.

Mugato: Slave labor? So what then, fire the janitors? Won't someone think of the janitors?

[upload.wikimedia.org image 220x308]

That's the point. It has nothing at all to do with teaching kids a work ethic, and everything to do with firing unionized janitors. The cheap child labor is only a benefit.

But it's also Newt Gingrich we're talking about and teaching inner city kids their place is also on his agenda.

hitchking: He continued, "In fact, I am unable to see anything like that. I don't have any empathy for other human beings."

His supporters then hoisted him on their shoulders as they began jizzing uncontrollably and weeping with pure joy. When the floor was covered with an inch of salty semen and tears, Gingrich suggested they find a black child from a poor family to mop it up.

i lol'd.

Dusk-You-n-Me: Liberals R in trouble when @davidfrum (bit.ly/yo7KVB) sees the racism of the GOP while @PeterBeinart doesn't (bit.ly/zKlNcP).

I think Beinart just is not familiar with Newt's brand of concern troll racism.

What about the thousands of unemployed school janitor's work ethics? How do we fix this unemployment problem? I know, let's fire a bunch of people and make kids work. Right now we don't have enough jobs to go around, firing more people won't improve things.

Plus Gingrich called Obama the 'food stamp president' again last night. This guy is just blowing the racism dogwhistle as hard as he can. Truly a pitiful human being.

Why is John Edwards such a horrible human being when Gingrich has done far worse and gets away with it? Oh wait... "It's O.K. If you are a Republican"

This About That: Please explain why you believe suggesting the kid work for the school reveals Gingrich to be a sociopath.

He's not just saying that kids should work for the school.... he's saying that adults who are working to support their families should be fired and replaced with kids.

Actually, maybe it's not that bad of an idea. Let's fire Congress and get a bunch of 6 year olds instead.... It'll be the same thing we have now, only with adult supervision.

This About That: keylock71: sociopath

Please explain why you believe suggesting the kid work for the school reveals Gingrich to be a sociopath.

// The right-wingers aren't always wrong.

Well, it's not suggesting that kids work that makes him a sociopath, it's his total lack of empathy for his fellow man and belief that everything he says and does is justifiable because of his supposed intelligence. That he can't see how calling Obama, "The Food Stamp President" and that making blanket statements such as "Poor people have poor work ethic" and "Poor children should be put to work as janitors in their school" can be offensive to certain folks - namely the poor and working poor (which the vast majority of poor people would be classified as) is really just a glimpse into his sociopathy. He's tearing down his fellow citizens in an attempt to further his own career. His statement assumes that poor people in this country are poor because they're lazy and prefer getting handouts from the government. He's doing the same thing Reagan did with his mythical "Welfare Queens".

Anyone who has lived at or below the poverty line in this country knows what bullshiat that is. This janitor nonsense isn't a solution... It's dog whistle politics for the Republican base.

This is a man who doesn't think it's important what he does, only that you listen to him because he's far more intelligent than you, in his mind. This is a man who is an unabashed hypocrite.

I'm not going to pretend to be a psychologist or sociologist, but "sociopath" seems like a good enough word to describe Newt to me.

The Stealth Hippopotamus: How dare he say that people should work! His daughter had a janitorial job at age 13, she turned out alright. Maybe if schools focus less on self esteem and more on teaching kids about taking pride in a day's work then the kids would have a chance of getting off welfare.

Please let Newt be our next president......

Maybe they should be working at learning instead of moping the floors?

Zalan: What about the thousands of unemployed school janitor's work ethics? How do we fix this unemployment problem? I know, let's fire a bunch of people and make kids work. Right now we don't have enough jobs to go around, firing more people won't improve things.

It's like a Dickens novel.

Unmitigated dickwaddery.

Rapmaster2000: Agreed. Of all the reasons to believe Newt is a sociopath, this isn't one of them.

Right, having inner city children clean toilets at the expense of union janitor's job is pretty reasonable and furthermore comma

Zalan: What about the thousands of unemployed school janitor's work ethics?

PFF YEAH RIGHT MAYBE THEY SHOULD JUST GET A JOB AND STOP EXPECTING A HANDOUT AND fffffffffffffffffffffffaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtttttttttttt.

Eddie Adams from Torrance: Actually, maybe it's not that bad of an idea. Let's fire Congress and get a bunch of 6 year olds instead.... It'll be the same thing we have now, only with adult supervision.

It'll be a cold day in hell when I submit to a big gubmint mandatory cooties vaccination.

Jackson Herring: Zalan: What about the thousands of unemployed school janitor's work ethics?

PFF YEAH RIGHT MAYBE THEY SHOULD JUST GET A JOB AND STOP EXPECTING A HANDOUT AND fffffffffffffffffffffffaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtttttttttttt.

If they wanted a good job they should have studied harder after school, duh.

sweetmelissa31: If they wanted a good job they should have studied harder after school, duh.

make me some tea: Yes, Newt, we should make sure that inner-city kids are trained for janitorial work. Who else is gonna clean our toilets when we boot out all the Mexicans?

Everyone is ignoring the HUGE flaw in this plan. If he wants to replace a janitor with "37 kids" -- which is what he said last night -- he has trained 37 kids for a job that will not exist once they are out of school because 37 school kids will be doing it, not someone who makes a fair living and can manage to keep a roof over the family's head and food in their mouths.

HOW does that make sense, long-term, or benefit the child workers?

Well if you said "the problem with the blacks is they don't have a good work ethic" it might be considered offensive by the politically correct liberals. But "inner-city kids should work as janitors so they can learn how to keep a job instead of being on welfare and food stamps", clearly, is not.

The Stealth Hippopotamus: Please let Newt be our next president......

He is easily the least likeable candidate out there. But he has good ideas and a history of accomplishing his goals.

Mitt is my guy though. Nothing earth shattering will change. He will appoint conservative judges. He will look good. He might actually find a way to streamline the government. And so far...none of the left have effectively called him "dumb" which is the go to tactic all the way back to Nixon.

serpent_sky: HOW does that make sense, long-term, or benefit the child workers?

It only makes sense if one's simplistic view of poverty in this country is that black and brown people are lazy and want nothing more than to live off the meager welfare benefits they receive.

Bbbut... he's advocating the removal of more pesky gummn't regalashuns that
keep the holy Job Creators^tm from creating more jobs!

vpb: Maybe they should be working at learning instead of moping the floors?

Moping floors can be learning. Just cancel home ec and gym. All the students that want to earn money during the school day can sign up for rotating shifts. 3 months janitor, 3 months in the kitchen, and 3 months grounds keeping.

Work, It can be dirty but it's not a dirty word

The Stealth Hippopotamus: vpb: Maybe they should be working at learning instead of moping the floors?

Moping floors can be learning. Just cancel home ec and gym. All the students that want to earn money during the school day can sign up for rotating shifts. 3 months janitor, 3 months in the kitchen, and 3 months grounds keeping.

Work, It can be dirty but it's not a dirty word

Now that there are no more paper routes, kids have to find some other menial task to earn crack money.

I_C_Weener: He might actually find a way to streamline the government.

hahahahahhahahahhahahahahha

tallguywithglasseson: Well if you said "the problem with the blacks is they don't have a good work ethic" it might be considered offensive by the politically correct liberals. But "inner-city kids should work as janitors so they can learn how to keep a job instead of being on welfare and food stamps", clearly, is not.

Again, how are you training them for jobs that, under this plan, will only be offered to kids in schools? What kind of future does that give them? How does that train them for ANYTHING?

I'd recommend combining trade schools into high schools around 8th grade. Some kids will never read Dickens, but they sure as hell can rebuild a car engine. Train them to become a mechanic and don't even push them for college. Supplement this with business courses and basic literacy (math, English, etc.) courses. To me, programs like that would be worth a hell of a lot more than eliminating adult jobs that pay a decent wage and converting them to a 37:1 pay scale child labor. It would have them leaving high school ready to start working somewhere they could make a decent living without eliminating jobs (and perhaps even adding them as you'd need skilled people to teach the skills).

Oh lord sorry I passed out for a second there from laughing. What's going on in THIS thread?

tallguywithglasseson: Well if you said "the problem with the blacks is they don't have a good work ethic" it might be considered offensive by the politically correct liberals. But "inner-city kids should work as janitors so they can learn how to keep a job instead of being on welfare and food stamps", clearly, is not.

Inner city kids should learn to be janitors instead of learning skills that could lead to a real middle class type career. Because everyone from Newts background knows that inner city kids are all black crack junkies who can't possibly do any better with their lives.

tallguywithglasseson: Well if you said "the problem with the blacks is they don't have a good work ethic" it might be considered offensive by the politically correct liberals. But "inner-city kids should work as janitors so they can learn how to keep a job instead of being on welfare and food stamps", clearly, is not.

So everyone in the city is black now? Or is "inner city" one of those code words Glenn Beck is always babbling about?

serpent_sky: Again, how are you training them for jobs that, under this plan, will only be offered to kids in schools? What kind of future does that give them? How does that train them for ANYTHING?

You know, even if it's obvious that I was being sarcastic... even with Poe's law and everything... this kind of nonsense might actually make me partially defend Newt. Don't make me do that.

The Stealth Hippopotamus: So everyone in the city is black now? Or is "inner city" one of those code words Glenn Beck is always babbling about?



Wouldn't be a very good dog whistle if people couldn't deny it with a straight face. At least Santorum came (heh) right out and said it.

vpb: tallguywithglasseson: Well if you said "the problem with the blacks is they don't have a good work ethic" it might be considered offensive by the politically correct liberals. But "inner-city kids should work as janitors so they can learn how to keep a job instead of being on welfare and food stamps", clearly, is not.

Inner city kids should learn to be janitors instead of learning skills that could lead to a real middle class type career. Because everyone from Newts background knows that inner city kids are all black crack junkies who can't possibly do any better with their lives.

Might not work for everyone, but friend of mine put himself through med school by being a janitor. I did maintenance at a retirement home to get through my school. Nothing wrong with it. I'm also sure no one would begrudge them getting a job in other industries that "kids" are qualified for...fast food (I did), landscaping (I did), babysitting, road work, whatever.

Not everyone is promised a job. Most have to earn their way to a good job. You have to start somewhere. It is not an entitlement to go from high school to CEO.

"Hey Joey, I spilled my milk. Clean it up."

Yeah, that won't cause any problems with their peers. None at all.

Blues_X: "Hey Joey, I spilled my milk. Clean it up."

Yeah, that won't cause any problems with their peers. None at all.

But there are perks...like the teacher personnel files.

tallguywithglasseson: You know, even if it's obvious that I was being sarcastic... even with Poe's law and everything... this kind of nonsense might actually make me partially defend Newt. Don't make me do that.

How is that nonsense?

If schools discover they can fire -- AS NEWT SAID LAST NIGHT -- 1 janitor and replace him with 37 kids (don't even ask me how that works) do you think any adult will ever be employed as a janitor again? And if any adult is, will it be even close to a living wage? I'm sorry, I just do not understand any of the specifics of how this works.

Yes, I worked when I was in high school. I worked in a supermarket and hated it, so I got a job filing and answering phones in a real estate office. I was then promoted to assisting the head of the real estate board of that town. I am not against having a part-time job while in high school. It was good for me and helped me have better jobs while I was in college. But I was doing part-time work that prepared me for full-time, real-world jobs that would be better.

I was also paid a good wage for less hours than my friends working in fast food and things like that (which is why I chose office work).

I refuse to believe if Newt's numbers from last night were accurate that any child working in a school would even make minimum wage (and since I now work in child labor law, I know of proposals that will eliminate any sort of minimum wage for minors, and increase the hours they are allowed to work -- which will no doubt lead them to neglect their studies in order to earn the maximum. Especially since we know employers will want the kids who will work the most over the ones who want to cap it at 15 hours a week or something.). All of this feels like a dangerous downward spiral to me.

The Stealth Hippopotamus: Please let Newt be our next president......

next has said that he is going to run in 2016 already?
meh

next->newt

/sigh

serpent_sky: I'd recommend combining trade schools into high schools around 8th grade. Some kids will never read Dickens, but they sure as hell can rebuild a car engine. Train them to become a mechanic and don't even push them for college. Supplement this with business courses and basic literacy (math, English, etc.) courses. To me, programs like that would be worth a hell of a lot more than eliminating adult jobs that pay a decent wage and converting them to a 37:1 pay scale child labor. It would have them leaving high school ready to start working somewhere they could make a decent living without eliminating jobs (and perhaps even adding them as you'd need skilled people to teach the skills).

Problem is that every parent thinks their little Billy is a genius. Given a choice between a 'college-prep' program and a 'trade' program, how many parents would pick the 'trade' one? The same thing happens when schools try to have honors classes; parents don't want their little snowflakes to be in the regular classes anymore. I think it's a great idea, I just think parents are too stupid to allow it to work.

Blues_X: "Hey Joey, I spilled my milk. Clean it up."

Yeah, that won't cause any problems with their peers. None at all.

That's the problem right there! People have learned to spit on people working. And I'm sure this will happen. However if you have a large percentage of the student body working and couple that with teachers looking out for this sort of thing and it could really help change the culture back to valuing work. This happens at jobs the kids are working outside the school system. Why not have it happen in an environment where the little punk can be disciplined??