Pell Grants

The Republican Party Advocating The End Of National Commitment To Education Standards: A Tragedy!

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican Party has declared war on the US Department of Education, and in so doing, will doom American education for the long term, if they are successful in winning power, and succeed in abolishing a department first started under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, as part of a larger cabinet agency, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1953, and created separately in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter.

When Ronald Reagan came to the Presidency, he was dedicated to the abolition of the department, but dropped the idea, but it has come under attack ever since.

The attack on the Department of Education, advocated by Republicans who wish to allow states and local districts to control education without oversight, would bring about an education system which would promote mediocrity in educational offerings in poor districts, making victims of economically disadvantaged students and disabled students.

If there are to be funds coming from the national government, and higher standards of educational attainment and greater accountability demanded, then local control will not work, as historically, no matter how many complaints there are about the national government, the corruption and incompetence of state and local governments in much of the nation is notoriously scandalous!

That is why we were caught off guard in the 1950s, when the Soviet Union was first in space, and made us aware of the need for federal involvement and investment in education at all levels, leading to the National Defense Education Act of 1958.

Not only is it essential to provide for poor, minority and disabled students, but also if Pell grants are ended, it will destroy the idea of advancing educational opportunity for low income college students, which can lead to a better economic future for them and their families.

So despite Michele Bachmann specifically calling for the total closing of the Education Department, and in fact because of the very obvious ignorance she displays in her own educational experience, federal involvement in education MUST continue unabated!

Why The Debt Ceiling Legislation Is A Positive Change, Despite Progressive Critics!

Ronald Leave a comment

The Debt Ceiling Crisis legislation is facing attacks from the Left and the Right, but when one looks at it objectively, it is a good deal in a broad sense, while certainly not perfect.

What are the advantages of the legislation?

1. It avoids another crisis over the debt ceiling until early 2013, when hopefully, the Democrats might control both houses of Congress and the White House.
2. It fully protects Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from budget cuts in 2012.
3. It provides real budget cuts in 2012 and 2013 for defense spending, along with equivalent cuts in discretionary domestic spending, which makes it a balanced agreement.
4. It only cuts a little over $20 billion in discretionary domestic spending in 2012, with much of the real budget cuts due in the long run, in 2013 and beyond.
5. The likelihood of a tax increase on the wealthy and corporations is growing, as the President can veto any change before 2013, and if he wins, can continue to prevent the Bush tax cuts from being continued, making it a national campaign issue in 2012, along with protection of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
6. Pell grants for college students will not be affected, which was an important goal for President Obama.

Of course, there are disadvantages including no tax increases on the rich and corporations in the interim; unemployment compensation extensions are denied, highly regrettable; the requirement of a vote on a balanced budget constitutional amendment, although it will not pass; and the formation of a twelve member bipartisan deficit reduction commission, which is highly unlikely to come up with a compromise, but which would then trigger automatic budget cuts of $1.2 to $1.5 trillion, but affecting 2013 and beyond, with defense half of the budget cuts, and none from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

So while there are problems with the deal, it resolves the issue of the debt ceiling after a long, hard struggle, and hopefully, the Republican Party will be blamed for the crisis, and the fact that the Tea Party people basically held the country hostage for months over this, and it will reverberate against them in November 2012!

The bill has just passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 269-161, with three fourths of the Republicans voting for it, and just half of the Democrats, so what it means is that the Tea Party Movement in the GOP and the progressive left in the Democratic Party united against it, with the moderate center left and right supporting what is to be looked at as the best deal that could be enacted in the midst of this economic crisis. There will be much debate and analysis over time about the history of this crisis, but under the circumstances, there is certainly a sigh of relief that it is over, and there will be no default!

But the battle for the progressive future must now be led by Barack Obama, with no more concessions to the Republicans as we enter the year 2012 and beyond!