Exhibit A on Why Boehner Was a Horrible Pick for Minority Leader
By rhatican Comments (10) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
The front page of The New York Times carries a story this morning on No Child Left Behind "as Congress prepares to consider reauthorizing the law next year." (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/education/20gap.html?hp&ex=1164085200&...)
Unsurprisingly -- at least for conservatives like Mike Pence who understand, consistent with the legacy of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, that extending the reach of the federal government to solve our problems is, almost by definition, a terrible idea -- early studies of the program (quoting The Times) "are reporting little progress toward [the] goal" of closing "the test-score gaps between minority and white students that have persisted since standardized testing began. . . The achievement gaps remain, perplexing and persistent."
And what is the new majority in Congress poised to do about this mess? They are going to make it worse by spending more money, of course (again, quoting The Times): "Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Representative George Miller of California, who are expected to be the chairmen of the Senate and House education committees, will promote giving more resources to schools and researching strategies to improve minority performance, according to aides." (emphasis added) And this will also undoubtedly mean still more federal regulation, dictates from Washington, mountains of paperwork -- we all know the drill by now, don't we?
President Bush, who is not and never was a real conservative, who proposed NCLB in the first place, indicated in his post-election press conference (just after firing Donald Rumsfeld), that he's ready to go along with this madness (for the sake of short-term political success of any kind, the Bush family's m.o.), saying, "For example, the No Child Left Behind Act is going to come up for reauthorization. There's an area where we must work together for the sake of our children and for the sake of a competitive America. And I believe we can get a lot done."
By all rights, Republicans in the House, if they genuinely aspire to behave like conservatives, if they truly want "to get back our core principles" (as the newly elected Minority Leader said last Friday), should respond to this latest example of the Democrats' chronic willingness to have the federal government control our lives by unequivocally denouncing the very existence of No Child Left Behind. Simple opposition to the program's expansion is nowhere near enough. Clearly, they should call for its repeal.
Yet who now serves as Minority Leader? Why it's the former chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, the champion of No Child Left Behind, a man who teared up when it passed the first time he was so happy and proud of himself. John Boehner worked closely with Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Miller in fashioning the very legislation that is up for reauthorization. (As an example of how far this comity has gone, Boehner and Kennedy now co-host an annual fundraiser for D.C.'s Catholic schools where lobbyists shell out more money to buy more influence.) The chances of hearing John Boehner denounce No Child Left Behind are about the same as the chances of seeing Paris Hilton on the arm of Mark Foley (at the very least, she's too old for him).
I firmly believe that House Republicans made an awful mistake in picking the Ohioan to be their leader. Let's see if he can prove me wrong.
I disagree with your premise that "just tearing it up and using it to wipe mud off our boots doesn't make the problem go away" because I believe the states, left to their own devices, are better able to experiment with school vouchers, opposing the NEA, etc., to help solve the problems you see.
In any event, NCLB's very existence is a considerable problem because 1) as even the NY Times is reporting, it is (surprise!) not working; 2) it adds to the defecit and federal regulation, and 3) it is hamstringing states and local communities as they attempt to allocate their resources (a few of these states have even sued in federal court to be exempted from NCLB, and many have been forced to eliminate Physical Education and sports, among other things).
And finally, where is the principle? States rights should mean something -- including the right to do what you, self-appointed purveyor of the terms of membership in the GOP, deem is an inadequate job of educating their kids. That's what Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan believed anyway.
NCLB May Suck but it was proposed, designed and passed to combat a big problem. Just tearing it up and using it to wipe mud off our boots doesn't make the problem go away.
Any bad program is basically untouchable under this theory. SS, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, CFR, HillaryCare (if they managed to stick us with it), gun control laws, tax hikes, you name it. All these things were proposed, passed, and designed to combat big problems, so they are apparently safe. It doesn't matter whether they are actually solving the problem they were supposed to, if they were a bad idea from day one, or even if they were appropriate for the Federal government to get involved in in the first place.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
Only Medicaid and and Welfare addressed real problems.
Social Security should have solved the problem of people trusting politicians to hold their money but it seems to have failed.
Veritas magna est et praevalet.
They might not do that very well, if at all, but hey, that's kind of the point.
Not sure why this blog got dredged up all the sudden... it's from a really long time ago.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
What has the highways budget been doing all these years ?
Veritas magna est et praevalet.
| 2001 | 2006 | |
| Highways & Mass Transit | $35,804,000,000 | $48,783,000,000 |
| Education | $35,203,000,000 | $83,480,000,000 |
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
Education was the second fastest increasing category of spending in the Federal budget... faster than Defense (during wartime!) or the entitlement programs (even Medicare!). The only expenditure that increased faster is "Community & Regional Development," whatever that is.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
You know those vaguely altruistic centers that are supposed to serve some sort of useful purpose but don't do much of any thing ? The kind of thing that if you see them working you have to ask how they pay for themselves ?
Veritas magna est et praevalet.
but it was proposed, designed and passed to combat a big problem. Just tearing it up and using it to wipe mud off our boots doesn't make the problem go away. Throw temper tantrums over NCLB when we've got a more cost-effective, less intrusive way to teach Johnnie how to solve a DiffyQ.
2006 is done, 2008 is another day and another fight