• The Blob Strikes Again

      Posted by John Stossel | June 03, 2011

      Fewer students... More teachers. That's a headline you probably won't
      read in the New York Times: Latest census data shows fewer students,
      but more teachers, and increased spending for public K-12 education.
      Government education -- I shouldn't call it public.

      The facts are so counter to the popular narrative put forth by the
      education Blob that they are hard to believe, but the latest Census
      Bureau report out this week makes the fact clear.

      My state, New York, tops the spending list at over $18,000 per pupil. At that price, I'd think every four kids
      could have their own private teacher! Maybe that's what the Blob is
      moving toward-- the Census Bureau also reports that there are 157,000
      FEWER students in the system, but 81,000 MORE teachers. And despite the
      recession and cries of desperation from teachers' unions, teacher pay is
      up by 2.3%.

      The Education Intelligence Agency blog comments: "It's an odd enterprise that reacts to fewer clients by hiring more employees."

      But it's generous to call the Blob an "enterprise" - it's a monopoly with a captive audience.

      TAGS
      Education
      Government

    • JOHN HAS A NEW BOOK! ORDER TODAY

    This Week's Show -- May 23, 2013

    Much of what we think we know about oil and gas... is not so.

     

    People assume the auto industry hates regulation. But big companies actually benefit from tough regulations. Amphibious vehicles would make great rescue vehicles for places with a lot of lakes and rivers but big automakers are so comfortable with current regulations that they join the government in resisting innovation.

     

    Some say we need to decrease our dependence on oil, but without oil...we would be without more than just gasoline. Stossel asks his audience to guess which products aren't made from oil.

     

    Then a debate on Ethanol. Stossel says "growing our way to energy independence" is a myth.

     

    Stossel talks with people in Times Square... they seem to think all of our oil comes from foreign sources. They are wrong.

     

    Most people say gas costs too much. Stossel says we should thank the oil industry when we fill up, because gas is cheap.

     

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