Average Joe' Biden Rents $4 Million Home

[Teresa]

As far as Biden goes.........

Not saying that most of us wouldn't possibly  take advantage of it if we had the chance, but I've never represented myself different than I am either.

Not the first time he represented himself as something else....heck he even portrayed himself as an author when he was plagerizing.  This is not surprising.... you know, everyone makes mistakes...end of Kum-ba-ya....
people who are sorry for what they've done, are repentant towards a dirty deed they did, are OK in my book.

The only thing Greasy Joe Biden was ever sorry for was getting caught...I'm not OK with him....

OH yeah, except that he's just sorry in general.  But, isn't it kind of strange that this is one of the two guy's that were poking fun at Mr. McCain and Mrs. Palin for their possessions?

As far as a 4 million dollar home to rent for a nice weekend.. actual cost or value.. ( whatever) 
I still stand that it is an over kill.. but most of what politicians do and government IS a wasteful overkill.. The government and their elite continue screwing the common man..  sooooo life goes on..

[greatguns]

Made it on time. Thanks.

[pam]

This is gonna cause a hmstorm but I say keep the churches out of it also....anybody who is in "control" tries to keep what they don't want people to know out of education. The only way to get a "GOOD" education is to do it yourself by looking at more than one source...side...point of view...etc. What constitutes a "good" education? Learning the "accepted" version of any entity that is in charge or goin outside the box and searchin out the truth instead of the accepted version of the truth. Only learning english just because that's what your parents and their parents spoke or expanding your mind and learning spanish or french, german or mandarin just to learn? Learning about all the horrors of war or only learning that your government was "right" and the other side doesn't matter.

In my opinion a good education contains warts and all, because I have faith in the ability of people to filter it for themselves and realize what was done and why. But that's just me, it's also the way I tried to educate my kids and will most likely educate my grandchildren.

As for Biden and Obama....I really don't give a (insert your own word here ) what they spend or where they send their kids to school, they are rich...rich people do things like that....that's their normal. I'm pretty sure I had just as good a time over my holiday and my kids did and are gettin a decent education LOL hell if I had 4 million dollars to screw offf I might do the same thing ( not really but it made a good story )

[sixdogsmom]

I must say Pam, that I agree; in my opinion, a 'good education gives the student the tools to educate thenselves. That is open the mind and posess the tools such as reading, writing and cipher(how's that for an old fashioned term), resolve problems, and instill a curiosity for knowledge. Should religion be important to you and you want your children to become educated about religion, then send them to, no take them to the church of your choice; speak about religion in the home, and further that education by home study and practice. I would not want my children taught about the ways of Fred Phelps, Pat Robertson, or many other leaders of various religous sects. Neither would I expect for your children be forced to be educated in my religion of choice.

Usually what is taught in the schools is a curriculum chosen by a states' school board. Therefore it is important for a parent to know who is on the state board of education and what they stand for. Often it is difficult for a parent to evaluate a candidate for those positions as they are not often campaigned for in a statewide fashion. So it is up to the voter to educate themselves as to those members. I must agree with Teresa, even though I know the teachers on here will be disapproving; NEA has not done much for the students IMHO. I find it a little odd that about the only effective unions these days are the ones that deal with government. Makes a person go HMMMMM-----! Enough! Enough! Even though we do not know how much a weekend in a four million dollar home costs, the number did exactly what it was intended to do. Most people who read that article think that he paid four million to rent that home, rather than the value of the home being four million. I don't really expect most to read this far, we will see----.

[Catwoman]

This is gonna cause a hmstorm but I say keep the churches out of it also....anybody who is in "control" tries to keep what they don't want people to know out of education.

Pam, I agree...I love the bumpersticker that reads, "When the Church ruled the world, it was known as the Dark Ages."  So true!

[Teresa]

I Personally agree about churches left out of the school system...
but..
I  have friends ( haven't seen them in a long while)  that ..without a doubt.... were so hell bent ( excuse the term) on making sure that their children were in a Catholic school that they are on the verge of obsession.
We went round and round about it.....I think kids need experiences in all areas. ( as long as they are in a safe environment) .. and no way would I even want a Catholic rhetoric or any organized controlled religion being taught to my kids... but....... they wanted their  religious background inside the school system for their 3 kids.

But even though they agreed with me on some issues... they STILL wanted their certain religion to be amongst the curriculum of their children..
And that is their right.. 100% their right.

So even though I believe it should be kept separate... it still matters to some people. But if that is the case.. then I believe that there should be schools that are of a specific religion that people can send their children too if that is what they deem fitting. And keep the bible study etc out of the public schools.

But we are back to ... it is the parents job ( not the government to decide what is best for their kids. )


Separation of church and state...

The First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees that all people have a right to worship or not worship the Creator, however they see fit. Whether they are Christians, Jews, Buddist, or even Atheist the government should have no place in that worship.

The First Amendment says..."Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment or religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"... but what did that mean?
The first Amendment was designed to establish a separation of church and the national State. This separation was to be ensured by denying to Congress the constitutional authority to pass legislation providing for the formal and legal union of any single church, religion, or sector.
. . .
What happened was they got carried away in lots of areas...., They  pushed states and educators to start participating in the "character education" movement – a push to teach moral values in schools. They did stop forced prayer and Bible reading – Then there was no one claiming such as unconstitutional.
For more than 200 years, the First Amendment has protected our religious freedom and allowed many faiths to flourish in our homes, in our work place, and in our schools.
They have said that with prayer in schools tests have shown a decrease in violent crimes, divorce, teen pregnancy, and increased SAT scores.

The separation of church and state has been a long and difficult process. It grants American citizens their rights to live in a democracy, and will continue to affect the lives of Americans everyday.

To take a higher supreme being totally out of the classrooms altogether..hmmmmmmm..somewhat scary..
I know that my family was very standard when it came to religion.. Saying a prayer before we ate at school didn't hurt us one bit and certainly didn't lead me any more astray than some think I am ... LOL
But I must remember that "back then" we only said our prayer to God.
Today with the many different religions and muli cultures that are in the classrooms..there seems to be a bit of confusion on what prayer should be said and to whom...

What is wrong with a minute of silent prayer.. to talk to your personal God before you start your day?
I see nothing threatening about this.....those who choose to ..can set quietly and allow those who need to connect with God..Buddah..Goddess... for a minute can do that.. in whatever language they want or need to.

The groups of people rejecting separation of church and state believe that if there was prayer in school, the government would dictate which prayers would be said, and this would be unconstitutional.
And I am also heavily on this side of the ship... so I don't know the answer...

If I had to vote to make the decision.. and knowing and distrusting the governmental meddling  much as I do... I would have to vote no ..on 'open" prayer in school.. because of this reason alone.
Just have to tell my kids to say their silent prayers to God themselves.. cause God hears you anytime and anywhere.

( if people think that there isn't prayer in schools.. they have never been around at test time) 

[pam]

I think I didn't get very clear about what I meant by keepin church out of the schools......nother case of what I was thinkin not clearly makin it to my fingers I meant keep them from CONTROLLING what is taught in the school. They have their OWN pet agendas about what you should or shouldn't be allowed to know is what I was gettin at. Don't care about em teachin it, just don't think it ought to be the only thing taught.
I don't think you CAN ban prayer in school because it doesn't have to be done in a loud public manner, you CAN"T take God Goddess Creator whatever you call it out of anything by banning them because they ARE everything, it's the utmost arrogance to think they can lol. I don't think morals or "GOD" or ethics are the schools place to teach....it's our responsibility as parents. I know there are a lot of parents out there who HAVE no morals or ethics etc. so I can see why people would think that would be a good idea for school tho.
There are a BUTTload of people in this neck of the woods who send their kids to church school because they want to limit what their kids are taught but personally I think that is kind of stupid and extremely shortsighted of them. There is a LOT of valuable knowledge they are denying their kids just because it doesn't fit their narrow world view. Had a person tell me one time that only a fool turns their nose up at knowledge just because of where it came from........think that is a true thing that.

[Wilma]

You are talking about keeping the teaching of morals and ethics out of the schools.  Who, then, is going to teach the children that it is wrong to cheat on tests?  Shouldn't that be taught where it happens?  Morals and ethics should be taught in every phase of a child's education, be it home, church or school.  After all, cheating at sports is heavily frowned upon, isn't it?

[sixdogsmom]

If it were ever determined that morals and ethics were a strictly Christian value; that is no other religion or standard taught those values, then Christianity should by all means be taught in the schools. However, I do believe that Christianity is definitely not the lone holder of these values. Is it not possible then to teach the values without teaching the religion? Cheating at sports is not the same as going to heaven or hell IMHO, neither is winning a game or being popular.

[pam]

I didn't say keep teachin morals and ethics out of schools I said it is the parents responsibilty and it's time parents start steppin up and doin what they are supposed to instead of leavin it to somebody else to do. And that I realize some parents don't do that so I can see where it's needed in schools. I said I didn't think church would be any better of a decision maker when it comes to deciding what to teach than the government is. They BOTH have their pet agendas and and things they want to limit knowledge of.

GOD! What's in my head and what people hear are two different things so often I'm startin to wonder if I oughta just shut the hell up and not say anything.........