Gingrich Wants Kids To Work As Janitors, But Refused To Work Himself

[ProSense]

Gingrich Wants Kids To Work As Janitors, But Refused To Work Himself

By Alex Seitz-Wald

Newt Gingrich has made headlines and raised eyebrows on the campaign trail for proposing to make poor children work as janitors in their school, saying it would help them understand the value of work and money.

But apparently, even on child janitorial work, Gingrich is employing a double standard. As Karen Tumulty notes, in a 1995 Vanity Fair profile, Gingrich seemed to refuse to get a job as a student. From the profile:

Newt, who avoided Vietnam with student and marriage deferments, resisted taking a job. During his college years, Newt called up his father and stepmother to ask for financial help. His stepmother, Marcella McPherson, can still hear his exact words: “I do not want to go to work. I want all my time for my studies…Bob Gingrich told me he will not help me one bit. So I wondered, would you people help me?” Big Newt began sending him monthly checks.

Dolores Adamson, Gingrich’s district administrator from 1978 to 1983, remembers, “Jackie (Gingrich's first wife) put him all the way through school. All the way through the P.h.D…He didn’t work.” Adds Adamson, “Personal funds have never meant anything to him. He’s worse than a six-year-old trying to keep his bank balance…Jackie did that.”

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/01/30/414199/gingrich-refused-work-student/

[Hubert Flottz]

1. Yes but...

Newt was a to the manor born ratpublican.

[Tunkamerica]

4. Is that some crazy new slang that I'm not privy to or is it a typo?

a to the manor born?

[Hubert Flottz]

7. Here ya go.

The meaning of this phrase with the spelling of "manor" refers to a nobility of birth. In feudal England, the ruling nobility lived in the manor house, while the serfs or other peons did not. Hence, "to the manor born" refers to a noble, or "upper crust" birth and heritage.



Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_meaning_of_to_the_manor_born#ixzz1kxqEa5wd

[Tunkamerica]

10. maybe: to-the-manor-born conservative? or 'to the manor born' conservative? or not

it reads poorly especially to someone not familiar with the phrase.

[JohnnyRingo]

2. Figures, doesn't it?

Just like Romney when he made the claim that he succeeded all by himself, these self made Republicans had wealthy parents who saved them from delivering pizzas during their college years. For Romney that was a good six years of parental subsidies, a head start in life that commoners can seldom afford.

What gets me about Gingrich is that he pretends to find concern in his heart for people that he wants them to learn the joy of employment and earning a paycheck, but as soon as they get a good job that pays a living wage with benefits, he proclaims them lazy, overpaid, and in need of replacement by students.

[pintobean]

3. I think he works himself often. n/t

[erpowers]

5. Television Media Needs to Discuss This More

The television media needs to do a better job discussing this. A number of television news shows have discussed Gingrich's janitor comment without mentioning that Gingrich himself seemed to not want to work during college.

The television media also needs to take Gingrich to task on his comments about present day college students. In her Washington Post piece Karen Tumulty said Gingrich claimed students were "being coddled, with luxury dorms and lavish extras, such as lobster night in their dining hall". This is one of the comments that show Gingrich is completely out of touch when it comes to the cost of college. These supposedly "coddled" students who have " luxury dorms and lavish extras, such as lobster night" have to pay for those dorms. Some students pay as much as $10,000 per semester for their dorms. I have never heard of students having having a lobster night; however, even if they do they most likely have already paid for the event through school dues, or they have to pay for the event to be allowed to participate in the event.

Tumulty also writes Gingrich "praised institutions such as the University of the Ozarks that incorporate work into their financial aid programs". It can be argued that just about all colleges use work as part of their financial aid programs. Many colleges have work-study programs for at least their undergraduate students. In a work-study program a student works at their college and gets paid by the school.

Gingrich later said, “Students take fewer classes per semester. They take more years to get through. Why? Because they have free money,”. First, what free money? For many students the money they use to attend college comes in the form of loans, which have to be paid back with interest. Second, students are most likely taking less classes because they are working more hours. Since students are working more hours and taking less classes they would most likely take more time to complete their college program.

[ProSense]

9. Yup

The television media also needs to take Gingrich to task on his comments about present day college students. In her Washington Post piece Karen Tumulty said Gingrich claimed students were "being coddled, with luxury dorms and lavish extras, such as lobster night in their dining hall". This is one of the comments that show Gingrich is completely out of touch when it comes to the cost of college. These supposedly "coddled" students who have " luxury dorms and lavish extras, such as lobster night" have to pay for those dorms. Some students pay as much as $10,000 per semester for their dorms. I have never heard of students having having a lobster night; however, even if they do they most likely have already paid for the event through school dues, or they have to pay for the event to be allowed to participate in the event.

...what would Republicans do if they couldn't create straw men?

[ashling]

6. But would he work

Last edited Mon Jan 30, 2012, 02:08 PM - Edit history (1)

on the moon?

[Quantess]

8. Hah!