Not only did the Republicans, with some help from the other side of the aisle, block the Democrats compromised version of the tax bill ~ the attempt to reinstate taxes for couples earning more than $250,000 ~ they also walked away from another version that would had the tax increase kick in at $1,000,000.
In purely political terms, at least up until recently, it would have been a compromise the Republicans would have gone for because, after all, who has sympathy for millionaires?
But if the the results of the election defined a belief by the majority of voters that it is time to limit the reach of the government across the board, than increasing the amount of anyone's tax rate doesn't fly.
After years of growing the size of government in tandem with their bosom buddies, maybe Republicans are checking their premises and, way more importantly, growing a set of, um, developing some guts.
To, I'm sure, the discomfort of anyone who lacks the courage to face the truth about our public school system, Waiting For Superman, the new documentary about the failure of our schools, is attracting a lot of attention. A lot. Oprah had the filmmaker and cast on for an hour, followed by another hour with Cory Booker (Mayor of Newark), Chris Christie (Governor of NJ), both intent on educational reform, and the founder of facebook, Mark Zukerberg, who has donated $100 million to the Newark public schools. Her website provides seemingly endless information about failing schools, cutting-edge reformers and videos of the two shows. Oprah's embrace of what many believe is THE civil rights issue of our time will reach people who, in the past, either ignored the problems or pretended they didn't exist at all.
But she did vote for Barrack Obama who, after watching Waiting For Superman recentlysaid,
"Oh, it's hearbreaking...And when you see these parents in the film you are reminded that … their stake in their kids, their wanting desperately to make sure their kids are able to succeed, is so powerful…. It’s obviously difficult to watch to see these kids who know that this school’s going to give them a better chance-and that should depend on the bounce of a ball."
Then why, Mr. President, did you, your administration and your party decide to end the D.C. Opportunity Schlarship Program (OSP) in 2009, a program that has saved 3,300 children from one of the worst school systems in the country. Did you not watch this?
On March 16, 2010, the US Senate rejected the bill that would have kept the funding for OSP in place, a year after Education Secretary Arne Duncan revoked scholarships from 216 children who were already enrolled for the 2010-2011 school year.
Please read that again, out loud.
Why? Money, power, unions, money, power, unions...what else? It's more important to keep the unions happy - who, in turn, vote for the politicians, putting their own interests before the children's - and it all pays off because there is always a union contract to be renegotiated, and another election to be won. Nearly all of the votes against reauthorization were from the Democratic side while the majority of the votes supporting the program came from the *Republicans.
* The Republicans, especially career politicians, share plenty of the blame for failed schools ~ unwilling, as they are, to rock the boat. That said, they overwhemingly voted for reauthorization of funding OSP.
Sure, plenty of people on the left (and some people on the right) really believe government does the best job taking care of education, transportation and just about every other aspect of our lives; they think it's being nice. It's also an excellent way to buy votes.
It goes like this: politicians, via the political process, beef up the compensation, benefits, pensions and job security of government workers (from teachers to bureaucrats on both the federal and the state level) who, in turn, happily vote for those same politicians when their terms are up. Of course, in order to keep those votes bought and paid for, compensation for government employees has to be continually sweetened ~ an unending cycle of increased costs paid for by taxpayers.
Thus, the tremendous budget meltdowns in left-leaning states like California. But, as someone says, the chickens have come home to roost:
But the latest report from current state Treasurer Bill Lockyer says the state now has $77.8 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds – nearly triple the amount of seven years ago – and an additional $42.8 in authorized but unissued bonds.
General obligation bonds must be paid from revenues coming from the state's general fund, meaning that debt payments reduce funds available for other services.
In fact, along with its overall debt burden, California's debt payments have tripled, from $1.8 billion paid in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, to a staggering $5.5 billion in the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2011.
Wow. California's fiscal problems aren't due only to political payoffs to government employees, but they play a large part. Out of control entitlements, used just as effectively to buy votes, have become unsustainable as well. Forget about earthquakes, California will implode before The Big One hits.
