Friday, January 8, 2016

GOP backstabs school choice in DC

The Wall Street Journal blistered Republicans in this editorial published several weeks ago:

Somebody owes John Boehner an apology. The former House Speaker was routinely attacked as a faux conservative who sold out the conservative agenda. Well, Mr. Boehner is gone and the agenda-setting has been left to Members and their committees. One embarrassing result is that the end-of-year omnibus spending bill puts a big question mark over a rare conservative education victory: the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

The omnibus funds the program for fiscal year 2016 but fails to reauthorize it. This means that 20 years after the program was first debated, 10 years after it started, four years after Mr. Boehner revived it after President Obama had killed it, and a few months after the House passed a bill to reauthorize it, we’ll have to fight the battle all over again.

Worse, no one will explain how Nancy Pelosi prevailed despite Republican majorities in both houses. Speaker Paul Ryan’s office says, “It’s pretty simple. Democrats refused to accept a popular program to help low-income kids get a better education.” A spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee chaired by Hal Rogers, which helped negotiate the omnibus, says only that “as this was a compromise agreement, not all priorities could be retained.”

Perhaps this reflects the imbalance of passion. Democrats try to kill vouchers every year because unions demand it. Never mind that Opportunity Scholarship recipients have higher graduation rates and more parental satisfaction than D.C. public school students. Or that the children who get these scholarships are from households with an average household income below $21,000 a year.

Jeanne Allen of the Center for Education Reform puts it this way: “Democrats oppose this program not because it is failing but because it is succeeding. They fear that as these choice programs succeed, poor and minority moms and dads are going to figure out the Democrats are selling their kids out to the teachers unions.” Now that Mr. Boehner is gone, there appears to be no comparable champion in the House GOP conference willing to fight for poor, minority children.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Trump decided to hop on this issue he could flip it into a succinct one sentence stance and it would be a talking point on every news channel tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

And that, my fellow Republicans, is why we stand to lose many more elections in the future! If elected Republicans don't act differently (better) than than the opposition, the Republican electorate will turn them out.......Republican voters tend to be "principled," in that they won't vote for someone who acts differently than they expect. On the other hand, the Democrats vote to WIN, and would literally elect a Dog if it had a "D" behind it's name (and have, figuratively, many times)

Anonymous said...

the Democrats have to keep enough people poor and ignorant to get elected.

Anonymous said...

the Republicans have to keep enough people poor and ignorant to have someone to blame so they can get elected



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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

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