Making America Great - but not terribly special.
Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 5:03 pm
The Trump budget proposes eliminating all funding for the Special Olympics. I'm sure Ayn Rand would be very proud that those freeloaders will now have to pull their own weight.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about principles versus symbols. That human life is sacred is a principle. Opposition for abortion is the symbolic affirmation of that principle in the minds of many. But when a human life exits the birth canal, a lot of good Christian people stop giving a crap.
I invite anyone on this board to make a case why making America Great Again is predicated on cutting funding to those who are least able to provide for themselves.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about principles versus symbols. That human life is sacred is a principle. Opposition for abortion is the symbolic affirmation of that principle in the minds of many. But when a human life exits the birth canal, a lot of good Christian people stop giving a crap.
USA Today wrote:While proposing to add $60 million more to charter school funding and create a tax credit for individual and companies that donate to scholarships for private schools, DeVos' budget proposal would still cut more than $7 billion from the Education Department, about 10 percent of its current budget. President Trump proposed a $4.7 trillion overall budget this month with an annual deficit expected to run about $1 trillion.
It calls for eliminating billions in grants to improve student achievement by reducing class sizes and funding professional development for teachers as well as cutting funds dedicated to increasing the use of technology in schools and improving school conditions. In many cases, DeVos said the purpose of the grants has been found to be redundant or ineffective.
In the case of the $17.6 million cut to help fund the Special Olympics, a program designed to help children and adults with disabilities, DeVos suggested it is better supported by philanthropy and added, "We had to make some difficult decisions with this budget."
"Do you know how many kids are going to be affected by that cut?" asked U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin, while also pointing out a recent report by a nonprofit group that concluded the U.S. government has spent as much as $1 billion on charter schools that never opened or they closed because of mismanagement or other reasons.
I invite anyone on this board to make a case why making America Great Again is predicated on cutting funding to those who are least able to provide for themselves.