Just so you know, I'm not an expert on any of this government business, and every time I see The Tan Man's face (that would be Speaker Boehner**), my insides curdle, so you could say I'm very biased, but this is what I understand will happen if the Congress doesn't figure out the budget, and sequestration occurs:
The impact of sequestration on education programs is an estimated $3.5 to $4 billion. That includes a $1.2 billion cut to Title 1 grants for disadvantaged students and an estimated $900 million to Special Education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for the 2013-2014 school year.
More specifically, the resulting $1.2 billion cut to Title 1 could mean denying funding to nearly 4,000 schools serving nearly 1.6 million disadvantaged students, and more than 16,000 teachers and aides could lose their jobs and more than 10,000 special education teachers, aides and other staff providing support to children with disabilities.
U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan
How proud are you as an American citizen to be living in a country that demands sacrifice and belt-tightening from children, the disadvantaged and the disabled?
I did a little, a very little, research and found out that one drone called a 10-MQ-9 Reaper (how hideous is that name for a piece of technology that kills?) costs
$12,548,710.60.
If you do the math, that comes to approximately how many drones that -- I might add -- have been implicated in killing children in distant lands --to balance out the coming cuts in education for the disadvantaged and the disabled?
How proud are you as an American citizen to be living in a country that spends more on high tech equipment that kills people than on the education of children who are disadvantaged and disabled?
I'm ashamed to be an American and I'm not ashamed to assert that.
P.S. And we haven't talked (or ranted) about the state of Georgia nearly killing a cognitively disabled man in prison for murder yesterday. Or the death penalty at all.
**Spell check suggests the word Boner when I type Boehner which perhaps provides the only bit of levity in this post.
Boehner and company are playing cruel hate politics with the lives of the disadvantaged and the disabled and counting on people blaming Obama and not the Republican house that refuses to come to the table. It sickens me.
ReplyDeleteThis whole scenario has been manufactured to cause turmoil and panic. It's unnecessary and manipulative. I wish there was a way to shame Congress into working together, since logic, common decency and a sense of duty has been pushed to the side. And yes, I agree that spending almost 13 million for one killing machine at the expense of our children is insane.
ReplyDeleteRest easy that, in all this, the top earners won't lose anything!
ReplyDeleteBest,
Bonnie
I never watch TV news, and at the time Boehner came into prominence, I guess I wasn't listening to NPR either--just reading the papers. My daughter C was in a similarly reclusive mode. We stopped in a coffee shop for lunch on a road trip. The TV there was on, and we heard Boehner's name pronounced aloud for the first time. "Thank God! she said. "I thought his name was Boner." I inhaled a substantial portion of my iced tea.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I'm wondering more and more about Canada. Would they take me?
Shame on our Congress.
I hate the way they do things ...AND I HATE THOSE BAD POOPYHEAD DRONES :( Being old enough to vote has frightened me a bit because if I mess up somebody may die of suffer. But I do not want to be silent because the lack of a vote could do the same.I could not wait to be grown up because I thought grown ups were nicer than kids than I find out they can be much MUCH worse.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know. It is INFURIATING, if you are paying attention. Way too many people in our shameful/shameless country are not. Hang in there Love.
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it just boggles my mind - and having watched house of cards on netflix I can only imagine what goes on behind the scenes. yuck.
ReplyDeleteIt's unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteHe's always been Boner to me. No question. A real dick.
ReplyDeleteI, too, have just watched House of Cards on Netflix...confirms all my suspicions about why this congress does not work for THE PEOPLE. A curse on both their houses.
ReplyDeleteI loved Rachel Maddow's recent show, when she pointed out that Congress could simply choose NOT to proceed with sequestration -- if they could stop bickering long enough. It would be funny if it weren't so scary.
ReplyDeleteNot exactly sure but don't think it is Boehner who is exactly approving the drones...just saying. You might want to check that. And I do belive the obama and the Dem party were in favor of sequester at the beginning...you might want to check that. Just saying our ENTIRE government has become a joke...but just a little tired of the Republican bashing when in reality it is both...if you really check the facts.
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked, Boehner was the Speaker of the House. And I agree that politics is politics -- and that politics are dirty. And with all due respect, this is my blog, and the Repubs deserve every bit of bashing they can get. If you're tired of that, tell me something persuasive to change my mind.
DeleteElizabeth..I don't want to change your mind. I realize this is your blog and if you only want people to comment that totally agree with everything you say that is certainly your option. I respect that. I do think though that both parties are just about equal in the blame game about now though..if that is what is important to you. Best wishes..
DeleteNope -- I wasn't looking for you to change my mind, nor would I only want those who agree with me to comment here. I was basically responding to you plea of being "tired" of Republican-bashing. I am grateful that you actually disagreed and weren't anonymous, as I've found after five years of blogging that those who disagree are always anonymous! I disagree with you that "it's both sides" -- while there is corruption on both sides, I think it's become sort of a ploy of the cynical to claim that there is no good in government. I disagree with nearly everything the official Republican party stands for, and since Boehner is the head of his party in the legislature, I'm taking it for granted that he supports his party's ideology. I blame him for wanting to insure that the extremely wealthy are not taxed more; I blame him and his party for spinning the idea that all government programs and workers are shirkers and lazy; I blame him and his party for the mixing of state and religion and for dismantling much of what constitutes reproductive freedom for women. That being said, the Obama administration has disappointed me on several fronts: drones, the cowing to Big Pharm and insurance companies, the early reluctance to take a stand on gay rights, etc. I've always made that clear. Most of all I completely disagree with you and others who claim that the entire government is a joke.
DeleteBoehner is a joke of a politician and a human being; if you disagree, I'd love to hear why.
DeleteActually, I agree with Ain't for City Gals to a large extent and I'm a card carrying hope to die liberal radical.
ReplyDeleteThe drones presently out there killing are there because Obama has been instrumental in their use and deployment.
I would love to see the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but at what price? The tactics Obama's using are rather like cut off your nose to spite your face.
Most of all though, I like to think of liberals as people who can listen to the opinions of others without being defensive and argumentive.
Mea culpa on the argumentative part -- I do love a good one! And I do agree with you about Obama and the drones -- my original post just lay out the differences between the price of a drone and the price of an education. I'll stick to my conviction that our countries' priiorities are messed up.
DeleteYes our priorities are completely messed up. And while I am certainly disgusted about the drones (and happy to live in a city that is currently working to get rid of the ones they were granted and write laws against using them), I think that your way of laying out the issue is a very compelling one. We are always taking the short view in this country, aren't we? Putting off spending that will help us in the long run in favor of settling a pissing match right now. Ugh.
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