What A Snob!

The sad part about this video isn't so much the sanctimonious little fascist twerp making the speech as it is the pathetic, brainwashed teabaggers cheering and snorting at exactly the right moments. Rooster himself went to Catholic school and then Penn State, where he studied political science and was president of the local College Republicans Club. After that he went to a business school in Pittsburgh, couldn't make it in business and washed up at the same third rate law school that graduated a whole slew of Pennsylvania's dimmest hack politicians, from Tom Marino, Jim Gerlach and Mike Fitzpatrick to Tom Ridge and Paul Kanjorski. Santorum, one of the most craven and corrupt members of the U.S. Senate in history, mustered every guile he possessed to avoid military service, has never worked an honest day in his entire life and has been supping at the public trough since he eventually finished taxpayer-funded schools in 1986 (a full decade of what he accuses others of "mooching"). But he's running around telling people stupid enough to waste their time listening to him that President Obama is "a snob" for wanting everyone to have the opportunity to go to college.

Rational Americans-- so not Beck/Limbaugh-brained teabaggers obviously-- have always wanted to make sure their children had a chance at a better life. It's a part of the American story. Sadly, it was part of Little Ricky the Rooster Santorum's as well. In an increasingly high-tech world, the opportunity for a better life is very much tied in with higher education, which is why President Obama is pushing so hard to expand community colleges. But the Rooster has nothing to run on but the fumes of hatred and bigotry. So President Obama is a snob. And all the parents who want that opportunity for their children snobs too, Rooster?

There's been plenty of skepticism over whether the United States can produce enough college graduates to stay economically competitive on the global stage, but according to just-released U.S. Census Bureau data, the nation has reached an unprecedented milestone. For the first time in history, more than 30 percent of Americans aged 25 or older-- 56 million people-- have a bachelor's degree. 

In 1940, only 5 percent of that same age population held a college degree. That number climbed to 26.2 percent by 2001, and hit the record in March 2011, despite the skyrocketing cost of higher education. And, at a time of critical need for more workers with science, technology, and engineering skills, the data indicates that more than one-third of those degree holders have a diploma in science or engineering. 

Gender disparities between degree holders are shrinking as well. Across all age groups, 30 percent of women hold a degree, compared to 31 percent of men. Among young people, women hold an edge 36 percent of women between the ages of 25 and 29 have a degree, compared to 28 percent of their male peers. 

Does this mean that America is on track to reach President Obama's goal of producing 8 million more college degree holders by 2020? While there is plenty of room for improvement-- particularly regarding college completion rates of minority populations-- the latest numbers are a surprising step in the right direction.

The alternative is every Republican politician's dream-- ignornant, narrow minded voters who get their information from religious institutions, Hate Talk Radio and Fox News. There's no better guarantee of the one percent maintaining perpetual control.