White House Rebuts Santorum's 'snob' Remark Regarding College Education

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., spoke out against President Obama this weekend. The conservative senator ridiculed Obama for his hope that all Americans pursue a higher education, alleging that his ideas were elitist.
“President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college,” Santorum said. “What a snob. There are good decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to test that aren’t taught by some liberal college professor to try to indoctrinate them. Oh, I understand why he wants you to go to college he wants to remake you in his image.”
He is referring to a speech Obama gave in 2009 that was addressed to a joint session of congress, in which the president gave his statement on higher education. Here is what the president actually said:
“And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country — and this country needs and values the talents of every American.”
On Monday, Obama used his speech to the National Governors Association to take a stance against Santorum.
“When I speak about higher education, we’re not just talking about a four-year degree,” Obama said. “We’re talking about somebody going to a community college and getting trained for that manufacturing job that now is requiring somebody walking through the door handling a million-dollar piece of equipment.”
Also during his speech, the president told the nation’s governors that education should not be a partisan issue, while urging them not to slash education funding to balance the states’ budgets.
That same day, White House spokesman Jay Carney also refuted Santorum’s remark during a news briefing. “I don’t think any parent in America who has a child would think it’s snobbery to hope for that child the best possible education in the future and that includes college.”
Via The Washington Times