Ubereducated Idiots.

There is unfocused but growing anger in America that is directed at our political and media elites. There is a belief that the salons of the northeast are populated by hyper-educated idiots, people possessed of advanced degrees from elite institutions who nonetheless have no idea how things work.

As Americans come to grips with the fact that they have bought more house than they should have, charged too many vacation trips, new handbags and fancy dinners on the VISA card and are driving more car than they can afford, the U.S. government goes blithely on, spending as if there is no tomorrow (which is probably closer to the truth than we want to think).

Plenty of people in my circle are taking action. They’re paying down debt. They’re putting off getting a new car, they’re eating out less and they’re scaling back on vacation plans.

People I know that had plans to buy a new house are resolutely living in the old one.

People I know that once had season tickets to the symphony or theater have let their subscriptions lapse.

People I know that once went to a dozen or more Mavericks games in Dallas haven’t been to a game this season.

All of this ripples through the economy, hurting auto dealers, restaurant owners, retailers, homebuilders, lumber yards, office supply stores, dentists, lawyers, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers.

And yet, the president has proposed a $3.83 trillion federal budget for fiscal year 2011 that delivers a staggering $1.6 trillion deficit. We, the American people, are watching what we spend but the government doubles down on profligacy.

And then in perhaps the ultimate insult, at the Office of Management and Budget link on the White House website that takes you to the president’s 2011 budget, the headline on the page reads, “A New Era of Responsibility: the 2011 Budget.” (You can’t make this stuff up.)

It’s as if these people believe that we knuckle-dragging clods out here in the provinces, away from the enlightened climes of New York and Washington, are just too dim to understand.

I once had a beloved aunt who had been educated at the finest universities in the country and spent her entire career working in academe who couldn’t figure out why the ketchup wouldn’t come out of the new plastic squeeze bottle. She took it back to the store where they politely showed her the safety seal under the cap. She had a brilliant intellect and a first class education and was surrounded by smart people but lacked common sense. She didn’t know how things work.

That’s what we’re dealing with now. Our policy makers are educated to the nines but cannot even acknowledge the real world. They probably can’t figure out the ketchup bottle either but unlike my aunt, these liberal elites are condescending and arrogant while my aunt was a kind, gentle, sweet woman.

The 2011 budget has nothing whatsoever to do with a ‘new era of responsibility.” Don’t believe me? Here’s just one example. When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees have salaries above $170,000.

Nearly 1,700 employees making more than 170K doing what? And when was the last time you had a raise?

Common sense says that if you can’t squeeze ketchup out of the bottle, something is blocking it and you need to find out what it is and remove it.

Common sense says that if you keep spending money you don’t have, you’re going to go broke.

Everybody you know understands that.

But the people who are running the country apparently eat their hamburgers and French fries dry.

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Paul Gleiser

Paul L. Gleiser is president of ATW Media, LLC, licensee of radio stations KTBB 97.5 FM/AM600, 92.1 The TEAM FM in Tyler-Longview, Texas.

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4 Responses

  1. Tom King says:

    I’m beginning to think this jobs program thing of the Democrats’ is a kind of CCC program for Harvard and Princeton graduates. Where the first CCC program gave us overbuilt bridges, brick streets and State Park Headquarters buildings that will still be standing when the rest of the Sphinx’s nose falls off, this CCC program will give us a burgeoning bureaucracy that will gradually fill every corner of our lives with regulations and taxes and a lifestyle where the only way you’ll be able to function is with a lawyer on retainer at all times. And given the nature of bureaucracy, it will still be with us long after the rest of the Sphinx’s nose falls off or till Jesus comes, whichever comes first.

    May God have mercy on us all!

  2. Ken Smith says:

    Mr. Gleiser you hit the nail on the head. Most of out Political Elites are much like your Aunt. Education is a wonderfull thing but if it is not applied within the confines of reality it is useless. Take the Global Warming hoax. Even though the former lead scientist of the IPCC has admitted to “cooking the books”, the uber elites still press on. There are those who are actually saying out loud and on national television that, and I’m paraphrasing, “The record cold and snowfall this year is due to an increase in global temeratures.” What!? I will apply that same type of logic, if it can be called that, to the uber-educated-knows whats best for you-elites themselves. Since all of theese folks are academicians with multiple degrees from the most prestigious of institutions that is the reason for their idiocy. What we need in Washington is the types of people our founders envisioned. Citizen advocates. Protectors of liberty. The average Joe. Service to our Nation should be a burden not a place to have a carreer. I call for the elimination of wages for our elected officials. The constitution allows for compensation, but it should be limited to actual expenses that are prudent and necessary to do the peoples business. I want to build a 535 unit appartment building that can house each member. If they choose to live elsewhere, it should be on their dime. I will approve of coach seating on commercial airlines for their necessary travel, if they choose, they are free to pay the difference out of their pocket for a 1st class ticket. I want my government to be stingy with my money. Excess in government needs to end.

  3. Jerry Broaddus says:

    Paul,

    I don’t disagree that Washington elites, best represented by the current crop in charge, doesn’t know how things work. But I’ll give your aunt credit for understanding the problem with the ketchup once the solution was demonstrated.

    But, she certainly had an advantage over this crowd. She actually wanted an answer.

    I don’t believe that the current administration is even willing to listen to what is blocking the ketchup. Not in business, not in health care, not in the economy as a whole, and not in terms of our national defense. The term “Willful Blindness” (from Andy McCarthy’s fine book of the same name) comes to mind.

    Ubereducated? Absolutely. But, on being idiots, I’m afraid I can’t agree. This administration simply knows how to follow a game plan.

    BTW, I attended your presentation in Bullard Saturday night. I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks for all your efforts.

  4. jonathan baker says:

    The city of Tyler plans to spend $130,000 dollars on a sign near I-20 and related landscaping! According to the “Going Green“ part of “IN Magazine” which came in Friday’s Tyler paper, the city won this as a “prize” from the Texas Department of Transportation. So where did the State get the money? From State Taxes? From the Federal government? Apparently the words “prize” and “grant” are just code words for wasting tax dollars, excuse to borrow more money from the Chinese, or an excuse to devaluate the dollar even further by printing monopoly money in DC. Apparently “going green” means spending our state into debt like California. This reminds me of the recent installment of a large brick sign at the intersection of 271 and 155 for the hospital. There they cut down a number of half grown live oak trees, placed a massive sign that was being worked on for days, and surrounded it with large trees that were brought in in pots. Who paid for that? How much did it cost?

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