... and the fight over government spending. Krugman links us to Jared Bernstein about education. Graph can be better viewed on the original post by Bernstein. While the percentage of younger adults who have a tertiary educations is higher than the percentage of seniors in most OECD countries, the US (along with Israel and Germany) isn't doing so hot; Bernstein and Krugman argue that it's an attack by the GOP on government funding of education. Bernstein points out the budget proposed by Rep Paul Ryan changes will "eliminate [Pell] grants for 400,000 students and cut grants for more than 9 million others in 2013 alone"; Pell grants are federal grants to assist students from lower income families to help pay tuition for college.
Krugman attests this to conservative distrust of science. While the graph is interesting (moderates used to science significantly more than conservatives?), I'm not completely sure I buy this. Most of those guys attended college, I'm sure, so I'd imagine they know that college and science are not the same thing. I wonder if this is more to do with the disconnect between social inequality, college, and being able to afford college. It doesn't seem like the GOP understands that to really be a "soon-to-have", you need something to get you there (some sort of education), and that "soon-to-haves" cannot afford this education by themselves.
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