Category Archives: Education,

Romney Out of Touch with Millennial Americans

Posted by rsnyder on March 23, 2012 Comments Off

Earlier today, YDA South Central Region Director John Gorczynski published a post on Burnt Orange Report in response to Mitt Romney’s statement that he doesn’t understand how young voters can support Democrats.  John lays out more than a few good reasons why we’re sticking with President Obama and the Democrats:

Romney is right to fear the youth vote this November as a major obstacle in his attempt for the White House. In the last presidential election, Millennial Americans came out in force against the failed policies of a Republican president which led to the worst unemployment we’ve seen in our lifetime. While Romney made part of his fortune by acquiring companies, laying people off and then reaping the profit, young Americans are grateful for the $2 billion President Obama and the Democrats saw fit to invest in grants that make career training accessible to more people…

…The Millennial generation will vote in November for the party that values expanded educational opportunities, stands with hard-working American families, and refuses to turn its back on women and LGBT Americans. They will vote for Democratic candidates.

The full blog post can be read here. 

Snyder on CNN.com: “Why the youth will back Obama again”

Posted by rsnyder on January 2, 2012 Comments Off

YDA President Rod Snyder published a blog on CNN.com today explaining why young voters will continue to stick with the President in 2012.

When young voters helped put Barack Obama in office, the Millennial Generation made it clear its voice affects elections. Some have opined that this generation won’t continue to support President Obama and the causes we care about. These doubters are wrong, and I know young voters will make a statement again in 2012.

Young people energized fellow supporters and went to the polls in 2008 because Barack Obama respected the youth vote as a legitimate political force…

While young people face a historically difficult job market, it’s clear President Obama has been working to ensure that we have every opportunity to succeed while Republicans continue to espouse policies that would widen a generational gap in prosperity.

President Obama has respected the power of young Americans in 2008, and they will proudly vote for him in 2012 because he followed through for the Millennial Generation and invested in the future of our country.

You can read the full text here on CNN.com. 

An Open Letter to Newt Gingrich from A “Poor Child” from a “Poor Neighborhood”

Posted by rsnyder on December 8, 2011 Comments Off

Last Thursday, Speaker Gingrich said that “really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habit of working and have nobody around them who works…they have not habit of ‘I do this and you give me cash,’ unless it’s illegal.” Mr. Gingrich is clearly misinformed, unsympathetic to urban communities, and has no idea what it is like grow up in an American city like my hometown of Lennox, California where the 2000 census noted that thirty-two percent of the people lived below the poverty line and where the median income for a family was about $27,000.

Dear Speaker Gingrich:

I write to you as a fellow American and a fellow Catholic. As Americans, we share a Constitution that values freedom and promotes the right of everyone to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As Catholics, we share the teachings of Jesus and our forebears who call us to unrelentingly uplift the dignity of all in pursuit of the common good. We are called, both by the founders of our country and our holy texts, to use our opportunities to open the doors of opportunity for others so that as many people as possible in this great nation of ours have the chance to reach their God-given potential. These are ideals that have been foundational to me, as an American and a Catholic, and they are ideals which have undergirded the actions and policies of so many great Americans. They are ideals that anyone running for the highest office in our great nation – the office of the presidency – should wholeheartedly embrace.

With this in mind, I also write to you as a poor child from a poor neighborhood, a group you recently derided as having “no habits of working” and having “nobody around them who works.” Coming from a man who was worth $6.7 million in 2010, I am insulted by your claims to know my exact character traits and the extent of my possibilities as a student and a professional simply by looking at my annual household income. I’m from the poor community of Lennox, California where approximately thirty-two percent of the residents live below the poverty line.  Your speaking event fee of $60,000 for a single event is more than the entirety of my own family’s annual household income. Despite being a poor kid from a poor neighborhood, I am not only a junior at Harvard University but I am also the President of the Harvard College Democrats and I can tell you from experience that you can’t get into Harvard without hard work.

Your attempt to excuse the failed economic policies of the Bush administration by insulting all poor individuals is disgraceful. You claim that all those who are categorized as “poor” are lazy and don’t show up to work on Mondays. Between your lucrative speaking engagements and lavish vacations to places like the Greek Isles, I don’t know if you have had enough time to walk around real neighborhoods with real people in the United States. I would like you to know that if you were to visit a community like mine you wouldn’t just see poverty. You would also see the hope that the possibility of a college education inspires. My mother is a stay-at-home mom that put in the time to teach me multiplication as a young child and my father is the most hardworking man I’ve ever met. My family has food on the table and a roof over our heads because of his tireless work ethic and belief that his children should not be constrained by the limitations our zip code. I could’ve helped my father by working a part-time job in high school, but my father didn’t allow me to do so. He knew that by studying I would increase my access to educational opportunities and I would have access to a greater number of professional opportunities. His example inspired me to work hard. It is because of his hard work that I have the chance to study at a place like Harvard.

I may not be rich like you, but I am not a criminal like you implied at your speech at  a campaign event at the Nationwide Insurance office. I have been faithful to the values that my still happily married father and mother have instilled in me – American values such as hard work, integrity, and contributing to the common good.

I would also like to ask you to reevaluate your opinion as to the elitism of Harvard-educated individuals because, frankly, you hold more elitist views than any of my classmates here at Harvard. Your disparaging comments about children in poverty – who account for more than 20% of all kids under the age of 18 in the U.S. – could not have made this more clear. Mr. Speaker, please leave your ivory tower, leave the presidential race, and clear the way for a serious Republican candidate for the Presidency of the United States.

Mr. Speaker, the great problem in America is not that poor people are lazy but that politicians like yourself aren’t fighting for the American people…you’re fighting against us. It seems that you are so caught up with the politics of the past that you are missing the incredibly simple reality that investing in education is the same as investing in the future of Americans in the pursuit of our national dream. While you are campaigning to doom future generations of young people to view their lives as hopeless because of their economic status, I’ll be supporting President Obama in giving young people like me hope for a better future and increasing access to higher education for those in poor communities.

Sincerely,

Adan Acevedo
President, Harvard College Democrats
Harvard University Class of 2013

 

No Solutions and No Action: The Republican Congress on the Student Loan Crisis

Posted by rsnyder on November 8, 2011 Comments Off

Young Democrat leaders respond to College Republican Chairman Alex Schriver’s recent criticism of President Obama’s Executive Order on student loans:

One trillion dollars; the estimated total of student loan debt in the United States. $25,000; the average student loan debt that a typical American student will graduate with this year. The American student is facing one of the darkest times he or she has ever known and even though having a well-educated and skilled workforce is critical to the U.S. economy’s recovery, the Republican Congress led by Speaker Boehner has no solutions, no relief, and no promise of any action; refusing to engage in constructive discussions to help students struggling to pay their loans.

The President however, has decided to do everything within his power to help the American people.

At the heart of the issue, President Obama’s push to alleviate the loan crisis facing students is not about what he can do, but rather what Congress is either unwilling or incapable of accomplishing. Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have both made it clear that their most important goal is not ensuring America succeeds, but instead, that the President fails. The President has repeatedly made overtures with pragmatic policies. From the discussions on the debt ceiling where spending cuts were offered for revenue increases on a 3 to 1 ratio to a willingness to discuss entitlement reform, President Obama has demonstrated a commitment to bipartisan policy-making that has fallen on deaf ears.

So, the President’s executive order is not the definitive event to solve the looming student loan crisis, it was never intended to do so. It is the first step and a very important beginning to a much broader dialogue that needs to involve Congress, the White House, and the millions of Americans that are already in debt or who are being discouraged from pursuing higher education. According to the Atlantic, the President’s plan will help those average Americans that make less than $45,000 dollars. This means that close to half of all graduates could qualify for the program. Furthermore, the Atlantic says that the program cannot eliminate the burden of student loans but instead, “it intends to help those with lots of student loans who either have a low income after school during their early years or have a relatively low income throughout their career.” Now that’s a plan that all Americans should be able to get behind as we continue to demand real legislative solutions from Speaker Boehner’s do-nothing Congress.

Mr. Schriver is right about one thing in his recent piece however: the skyrocketing cost of education is a very real problem; a problem that weakens our human capital development, a problem that makes America less competitive in the global economy, a problem that threatens the long-term prospects of the American dream. It is the partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill, actively encouraged by the likes of McConnell, Boehner, and Cantor, that is directly impeding a comprehensive overall of the student loan system.  Because as President Obama stated in his recent op-ed to the student newspapers of University of Texas, California State University-Fresno, Texas Tech University, and Harvard, “here in America, when we find a problem, we fix it. When we face a challenge, we meet it. We don’t wait.” The American people can’t afford to wait, the American dream can’t afford to be postponed, the promise of a better tomorrow can’t afford to be held back any longer by a Congress set on filibustering for partisan gain.

- Jonathan Padilla is a senior at Harvard College and Treasurer of the Young Democrats of America.

- Adan Acevedo is a junior at Harvard College and Events Director of the Harvard College Democrats.


YDA Statement on President Obama’s Student Loan Reform Initiatives

Posted by rsnyder on October 26, 2011 Comments Off

Statement from Ben Goodman, Chair, YDA College Caucus:

“Today’s college graduates are entering one of the toughest job markets in history.  With the rising costs of a college education, young people have a tougher hill to climb to financial solvency than ever before.  President Obama, who only recently finished paying off his student loan debt, understands that to be productive, engaged members of society, today’s young people need the tools to manage their debt responsibly.

“Young students and recent graduates saddled with student loan debt can’t wait for Congressional Republicans to quit playing political games with our future, and President Obama knows that the time for action is now.  The new initiatives unveiled by the Administration today will make it tremendously easier for young people to responsibly manage and pay back their debt in a timely fashion.

“Financial literacy is also a key component of financial responsibility, and we applaud the Administration’s new efforts to better educate students about managing college costs, student loans, and the option of Income Based Repayment.

“Currently, through Income Based Repayment, student debt holders can cap loan payments at 15% of discretionary income, with a cap of 10% set to go into effect next year.  We commend President Obama’s bold efforts to lower that cap sooner so that new college graduates can enter the work force and practice safe and responsible financial habits while paying off their obligations.

“For students with both Department of Education direct and Federal Family Education Loan payments, today’s announcement of a payment consolidation plan is welcome news. Paying back student loans in one payment will make a big difference for young debt holders.

“President Obama understands that higher education is vital to our nation’s future, and that our new graduates are vital to our nation’s workforce.  Today, the President and his administration have taken significant steps to help student loan borrowers pay off their debt, get back on their feet, and succeed in the workforce.”

Young Democrats of North Carolina Legislative Action Day

Posted by rsnyder on June 6, 2011 Comments Off

Last Thursday, passionate Democrats of all ages participated in the Young Democrats of North Carolina’s Legislative Action Day in Raleigh. They talked to legislators from across the state to support North Carolina’s historic investment in public education. YDNC members met with their own legislators and also lobbied Democrats who indicated they would vote for the Republican budget.

CLICK HERE to see photos from the Legislative Action Day.

At 11:30 a.m., Young Democrats from places as far as Boone and Wilmington stood with General Assembly members for a press conference to advocate for a “common sense budget that preserves our historic investment in education.”

YDNC President Sam Spencer told reporters: “House and Senate Republicans are justifying these terrible budgets by claiming that North Carolinians voted for education cuts when they voted for Republicans last fall. Unfortunately, after a century of Democratic Progress, two years of Republican control aren’t a mandate – they’re an anomaly.”

YDNC Legislative Chair Doug Jackson went on to say “you can’t spend less on education per pupil than South Carolina and Mississippi and expect to compete with them in attracting businesses.”

CLICK HERE to read WRAL’s write-up and watch a video of the press conference.

Though the Republican budget passed as expected, the real fight will begin should Governor Perdue veto it. YDNC asks their members to continue calling their Representatives and sending letters to local papers.  Young Democrats are making it very clear to those in power: public education is worth the investment.

On Teacher Appreciation Day, Dr. Biden Thanks Mrs. Helwig

Posted by CohenJ@dnc.org on May 3, 2011 Comments Off

Today, May 3rd, is National Teacher Appreciation Day, a time to remember and thank the educators who have made a difference in our lives. President Obama has made out-educating the rest of the world a crucial part of his plan for America’s future, creating innovative programs like Race to the Top and implementing system-wide reforms that improve our classrooms.

Today is an opportunity to step back from the policy debate and pay tribute to the teachers we all appreciate. For Dr. Jill Biden, an educator in her own right, that teacher was Mrs. Helwig, her high school composition teacher:

At first, all of us were intimidated by her. Up there at the front of the room, she just had so much presence. As much as she was a force in the classroom, she had even more effect on me through what she demanded of our writing. Every paper would be covered in notes and comments, and we would have to go back and correct what we’d done wrong, or improve on things we could do better. It was hard work, but eventually I came to love Mrs. Helwig for having the confidence in me to demand so much. For her to take the time to review my work with such close detail told me, and all of my classmates, that she was invested in us.

When I became a teacher, I tried to bring some of Mrs. Helwig into the classroom with me. I want each of my students to know that I care about them and what they do as much as Mrs. Helwig cared about me. For thirty years, I’ve had the privilege of working with students who inspire me --  students who work hard to make it to class, in hopes of making a better life for themselves and their families. I hope I’ve been able to pass on to them the confidence and self-esteem that teachers like Mrs. Helwig helped build in me.

Also, watch below to see an Education Secretary Arne Duncan delivers a National Teacher Appreciation Day message: