Citizen Culture EXCLUSIVE ::: Bill Maher Interview

Muckraking for Dummies:
Interview with Bill Maher

Citizen Culture Magazine is the first magazine for Young Professionals specifically. Massachusetts is of course a breeding ground for Young Professionals, and Boston is the seat of intellectualism in this country. Yet its schools are bulging, at a time when Harry Potter--a child's book--is the highest literature that millions of adults will have read this year. What is the fate of education in this country if we carry on our current trajectory, and what should be done to keep America ahead of the rest of the world in creativity and innovation?

Well, we're falling behind in our educational objectives. We're proud in Massachusetts that we rank #1 among all the States in math and English exams. The nation's report card, known as NAEP [National Assessment of Educational Progress], tests all of the States' 4th and 8th graders in math and English. Massachusetts is #1 in all four tests--English and math for 4th graders, English and math for 8th graders.

But being #1 in America no longer means you're #1 in the world. As a matter of fact, our country ranks 27th out of 41 of the industrialized nations. Countries like China and India and other nations in Asia are eclipsing us at a greater and greater level in math and sciences. We graduate less than 20% as many engineers a year as China; the number of PhD's in math and physical sciences are more than five times the U.S. number for Asian countries. And we frankly will not be the center of innovation and technology unless we substantially raise the bar in education.

I propose, therefore, some dramatic changes in our states' education system.

At what level?

Both in K-12, as well as in higher ed. In K-12 I would like to pay our best teachers a good deal more money, and our worst teachers--I'd like to get them training, or options to go to other industries. I would also like to have advanced placement teachers, and teachers of math and science, get substantial bonuses. I propose that every 6th grader or older get a laptop computer paid for by the State. I would like every high school to have advanced placement classes. And I would like to have exam schools, meaning schools where, by virtue of the exams a student takes, receive admission from the very top scholars in math and sciences, with an accelerated doorway into some of the top engineering schools in the country.
How about in terms of other subjects, in terms of non-science, non-math, but focusing on the humanities?

Our experience is that for young people to be successful in this country, they have to speak English, and speak it fluently. One of the concerns I had when I was running for Governor is that we have a bilingual education program that in some respects locks kids into a limited English capability throughout their educational career. For that reason, I campaigned for English immersion. That means that kids who join our school system between kindergarten and the 4th grade will be taught in English. Of course they'll be given prompts and helps as necessarily to understand what's going on, but we get people learning English very early so that they can succeed in a high school or college setting.

My education program is designed not just to help in math and science, but to pay the best teachers more money in all fields. I have proposed that we test all our kids on an annual basis, and that those teachers whose students perform in the top third in their school receive an extra $5000-a-year bonus. I have no problem with paying more than that. I want to pay the best teachers more, whether they're in English, science, social studies, or kindergarten.

Speaking to a harder topic in terms of actual curricula, how do you feel about the teaching of creation or "intelligent design" in classrooms?

I think our schools should be teaching scientific and similar subjects.

Let me go back and state that again: I don't think it's the role of schools to be teaching in science class religious principles. If a school wants to talk about the various views of religion and different religions of the world and their perspectives, why, that's fine for a school--it's up to the local school district to decide. But science class ought to be focused on science and should not be teaching one view or another relating to a religious perspective.

Switching gears completely from education to another hot topic: security. Boston's transportations system--like New York's--remains porous. What could or should be done to protect our infrastructure on both a local level and a national level?

There are so many potential targets for a terrorist attack that the prospect of protecting bridges, tunnels, roads, tankers, pipelines, electric lines, power plants from potential attack is simply unfeasible. And therefore those who propose that we try and harden every possible target, I think, are misguided. Every school, every hospital, every apartment building, every office building--all of these could be attacked. The only feasible way to protect the homeland is by finding those people who would attack us and getting them out of our country. And therefore, intelligence and counterterrorism is the most effective tool to protect this country. I believe we should be doing a lot more.

Currently the FBI and other agencies take the lead in intelligence and counterterrorism in this country. I wouldn't propose changing that, but I would propose spending a great deal more in providing personnel to do the full array of counterintelligence and intelligence work necessary to find people who would attack us and remove them from this country.

How about the home-grown, Lone Gunman-type?

Again, identifying who the potential people are that may be inclined for that kind of terror is the job of law enforcement and intelligence. Clearly, an individual who is U.S.-born, U.S. citizen, and is a single actor is almost impossible to find or to prevent from doing something untoward. Nevertheless, the greatest threat by far comes from the jihadists who have launched a global war against our country and against Western modern governments, and the focus of our efforts should be to prevent attack from those sources.

Being a person of [Mormon] faith: whether you or a person in your position were faced with the question of clemency, do you allow that personal faith and a personal morality to enter into a decision about whether to offer a respite?

I believe that religion and politics and public service are different spheres, and that religious beliefs should not adjust or divert one's responsibility in the service of the public. At the same time, with regards to the death penalty, I believe that if an individual has carried out a most heinous crime involving torture or mayhem or terrorism, that in many respects it would be arguably a moral mistake not to demand the ultimate sanction.

The international community is looking down at some of our foreign policies of our country--for example, the issue of methods of obtaining information from prisoners of war. What would you change?

I can tell you with regards to our foreign affairs that I believe there's a growing recognition among our traditional allies in Europe that al Qaeda and the jihadists represent a threat of greater significance than they or we had previous contemplated, and that there is a respect for the American President's will and determination to overcome the jihadist threat. I believe that it is incumbent upon us to build relationships of trust and collaboration with our traditional allies, and I think that's something which Secretary [Condoleezza] Rice is doing well and hopefully will continue. I think the gap between the U.S. and Europe with regards to the War on Terror is overstate in some respects, because from what I can read, you're seeing a great deal more collaboration and cooperation on that front than has typically been the public perception.

Speaking of the President: There are, of course, rumors going around about your future plans, and the issue of trust: if there are any particular individuals who come to your mind, assuming you were to take the position of running for President, who would you look toÑif there are any leaders out thereÑas a potential running mate?

I'm afraid I'm going to reject the hypothetical, and instead say how much I enjoy the job I have. I will note that we are blessed to have a strong leader as President today; that I expect the Republican party will propose another strong leader in 2008; and there are a number of excellent individuals who come to mind. You know many of them: from Rudy Guiliani to John McCain to Mike Huckabee to Rick Perry to Bill Owens to Senator Allen--the list goes on and on. There are excellent individuals who could lead our party in Õ08, and any one could be our nominee for President; any one could be our nominee for Vice-President. So I think we're blessed with a strong party, and I've just begun to scratch the surface there. There are others that I think could be in that rank as well.

Are there particular issues or policies that are presently in the works or exist in Massachusetts that would do well to be extended--for example, the education policy--on a national scale?

Right now, we're on the cusp of providing private, market-based health insurance for every citizen in our State. That is something which has never been tried by any other State that I know of, was tried in the early Clinton administration by Mrs. Clinton. Our program is very different than "Hillary-Care," and her universal coverage. Instead it's private-based, market-based, there's no government takeover, there's no new tax. It's a program which relies upon the current providers and the current insurance companies, and we help individuals all receive insurance. It may well be applicable only in Massachusetts, or in time individuals may find that this could apply to the entire nation.

Would you be happy to take the position of a paradigm?

I think the traditional view is that Democratic issues are education and health care, and the truth of the matter is that education and health care are Republican issues. Republicans are convinced that the best education can be provided through a system where kids have choice, where the best teachers are treated like professionals--where all teachers are treated like professionals--where we invest more in technology and science, and bring in more expertise in the teachers that are part of our teacher corps.

Republicans also believe that our health care system is the best in the world, and that if we want to extend insurance to more citizens, the best way to do that is to use a market-based system. So those are our issues too.~ IF & JSF