Tea Party Movement at Eighth-Grade Level...that high?

Tea Party dunderheads are dumbing down the government. Kind of a stealth way to destroy it or make it look bad any way. And what do you know, that would make the Republicans right about government. Funny how that works out. You'll also notice Pres. Obama had to talk down to them just to get them somewhat engaged during the State of  the Union. Guess that didn't work.

Boston Herald: If it sounds like the debates in Congress have devolved into those of teenagers, it’s because they have. Discourse in the House and Senate has dropped a full grade level - to the equivalent of high school sophomore, according to a new study. Call this the dumbing down of Congress in a partisan age. Or a shift to plain-spoken populism ignited by the new class of tea party Republicans … the study found that newer lawmakers tended to speak at a lower grade level than the veterans of congressional speechifying.

With that framework in mind, it should come as no surprise that the lawmakers at the bottom of the list, speaking at the lowest grade level, are among the most ardent tea party Republicans in the freshman class … speaking at about an eighth-grade level, the study found. "We look at it as a badge of honor," said Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of North Carolina Law School, who notes that he often speaks on the floor "extemporaneously." The Federalist Papers (a 17.1 grade level) or the U.S. Constitution (17.8 grade level).

The best and worst speeches may be in the ear of the listener, and the study noted that President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address was judged by other researchers to rank at the eighth-grade level for the third year in a row.