fuddmain

teejayhanton:

newsweek:

Spotted by our Sarah Ball: 

“This is Alabama. We speak English. Learn it.”

—Tim James, a Republican candidate for governor of Alabama. James’ campaignposted this ad on YouTube last week (with disabled comments, presumably to avoid any commentary in languages other than English), getting at the most important issues in his state, which has 11 percent unemployment and among the lowest educational attainment rates in the nation.

Sad thing is, he’ll get elected. Seriously though, will printing that test only in English save enough money to pay for education?

Actually, this numbskull skull doesn’t understand that it will cost them money.  Here’s Steve Benen:

Tim James may or may not have thought to look into this before using it as the basis for a television ad, but Alabama administers the test in multiple languages in order to qualify for federal transportation funding. If a James administration insisted on dropping the current standards, it wouldn’t “save money” for Alabama; it would do the exact opposite. For that matter, courts have, more than once, rejected efforts to mandate English-only exams.

What’s more, as a substantive matter, the reason officials want the exam to be available in multiple languages in the first place is because they want drivers to get drivers licenses and demonstrate proficiency when it comes to operating a vehicle and understanding the rules.