Do college kids unknowingly support causes they may not care about? Does Nader really care? An interesting article even though it is from Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,80925,00.html
The PIRG funding issue has been around for decades - Fox is only getting around to it now? Personally I have concerns about it, but to be honest the only thing I've ever read about it was the anti-PIRG side and I've never been so inclined to look up the other side because I'm long out of college. Anyone who wants to link pro-PIRG funding stories here is welcome to do so.
This is old news, when I was in college at The University of Texas (1997) we had a vote on whether to support PIRG or not. I think we voted it down at the time. Don't know if it has passed since then. In my mind it is a corrupt little way for liberal organizations (traditionally the benefit of PIRG) to assess fees that college students would pay regardless of any political affiliation. It sickened me to see them try it. But they put it to a vote anyway.
Fox News: We Distort, You Abide Amazing that some people get all up in arms over this and yet blithely accept all the lies that the Bush administration tells to start a war. And where is the outrage against corporate executives using corporate dollaras - and theerfore shareholders' money - to give campaign contributions to parties or candidates that a shareholder may find repugnant? ETA to seeing that story on Fox News: Never.
Re: Fox News: We Distort, You Abide From the article: This is also the same Ralph Nader who (correctly, at least on this issue) rails against corporate welfare, because he says it's deplorable to take money from taxpayers and then funnel it to corporations whose interests might be different from those of said taxpayers Say it with me: D'oh!
Re: Re: Fox News: We Distort, You Abide So, according to Fox News, Ralph Nader is a hypocrite. That still doesn't explain the dearth of stories about corporate malfeasance and campaign contributions.
Re: Re: Re: Fox News: We Distort, You Abide Who gives a shit if Fox News are hypocrites? Why not discuss the actual issue in this thread instead of whining about "elites" like a putz? "Waaah, it's no fair getting upset over lefty abuses of power because you're not getting upset over the "elite" causing every injustice on the planet! Waaaah!" I'm sorry you missed the dig in the middle of the column about corporate welfare. I'm sorry your lefty brethren like to take advantage of people, too. Perhaps it's time you climbed down off your America-hating cross.
Fox News: We Distort, WUB Abides This tells us all we need to know about your thought process. You're willing to swallow anything from a heavily biased, hypcoritical news source as long as its biases agree with your own.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Fox News: We Distort, You Abide Then pony up the thirty bucks. Wouldn't any news organization that is owned by a massive corporation (which is to say, all of them) that rails against corporate welfare be hypocritical? Yes, in your eyes. But that doesn't change the issue here. The general rule with the 'Dems' and lefties on this board is that ad hominem attacks are okay, as long as they're against right wing sources. But the fact that a streaming mass of jackasses continues to post links to stuff on commondreams.org and The Daily Howler and talkingpointsmemo.com is all fine and dandy.
Re: Fox News: We Distort, WUB Abides It would be easier for you to just say "I can't dispute anything in the article, but I'm not willing to admit that anyone on the left abuses it's power". I'm not in whether or not its biases agree with my own. I'm interested in whether or not its true. Jesus, how hard is it to come out against some group ripping off college kids?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Fox News: We Distort, You Abide If I had that kind of money I'd be a Republican. Then they probably ought to think of a better slogan that "We Report. You Decide." But yes, that would be hypocritical. The general rule with 'Reps' and conservatives on this board appears to be that they will swallow anything from any source, as long as it agrees with their point of view. So I guess we're even.
Re: Re: Fox News: We Distort, WUB Abides If they're ripping off college kids, that's beyond unacceptable. Happy?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Fox News: We Distort, You Abide Right. And I was right there with Sean Hannity, defending Trent Lott. I would never say anything critical of the President. I think the Homeland Security Department is a great idea. John Ashcroft may not be perfect, but he's doing what he can to make us safe. On second thought, take the thirty bucks and go buy yourself a freaking clue.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Fox News: We Distort, You Abide Tell me about the power of "the liberal media" again...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Fox News: We Distort, You Abide Hey, you wanted to make massive assumptions about me. I thought we were allowed to do that.
I don't this is a "scam"...it's more an invidious and insiduous use of the rules of the various colleges. I'd put it in the category of "wrong, but nowhere near illegal." If I were the student, I'd be pissed off at the school for allowing this s***. I generally try to avoid Fox News, because if you know anything about anything it just pisses you off...but from my experience, I'll give good odds that this news article has dramatically overstated the size of the problem. Still, it'll be a good thing if Fox gets this abuse corrected.
Re: Re: Fox News: We Distort, WUB Abides I'm not sure that they are ripping off kids. I don't know anything about the "Reverse Check" or "Refundable Fee" setups, and this article certainly makes them sound dodgy at best, so I won't comment on them. As for the "standard" procedure mentioned first, that seems entirely above board. When I was a SUNY Stony Brook every year we were asked whether we wanted to add funding for various organizations (including NYPIRG) to the general activity fee. So long as that ballot measure passed then we were all obligated to pay - whether that money was for NYPIRG, the athletics department, College Republicans, LASA, the BSA etc...