StickWithANose

Arne Duncan and the Obama administration has their breeches all in a bunch over those pesky states using stimulus dollars to plug holes in their education budgets instead of using it for the destructive policies being pushed by Arne and the oligarchs. EdWeek:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said some states are flouting the president’s wishes.

“From the very beginning, we have made it clear that this education stimulus funding is intended to supplement local education dollars, not replace them,” Duncan said in a statement.

Of course, this was a totally predictable outcome considering that the Obama administration came into power pandering to Republican opposition despite all logic in pursuit of their fetish with “bi-partisanship.” Remember this piece of brilliant sausage making…

In February, when the debate over the economic stimulus package was at its height, a handful of “centrist” Senate Republicans said they’d block a vote on recovery efforts unless the majority agreed to slash over $100 billion from the bill.

The group, which didn’t have any specific policy goals in mind and simply liked the idea of a small bill, specifically targeted $40 billion in proposed aid to states. Helping rescue states, Sen. Collins & Co. said, does not stimulate the economy, and as such doesn’t belong in the legislation. Democratic leaders reluctantly went along — they weren’t given a choice since Republicans refused to give the bill an up-or-down vote — and the $40 billion in state aid was eliminated.

If you will recall, the stimulus bill Obama presented to congress was split almost 50-50 between direct spending that provides the most bang for your buck in terms of stimulus and tax cuts which are far less stimulative, and the reason for this split had nothing to do with efficacy and everything to do with getting some Republicans to sign on. Of course, despite Obama negotiating with himself, the Republicans didn’t sign on, and the inevitable budget shortfalls states faced created an incentive structure for states to use any and every federal dollar they could to plug holes in their budgets.

So, now Arne et al. are clutching their pearls and are dismayed at how the states could do such a thing. States were supposed to use the funds to boost spending and get their houses in order to compete for funds from the Orwellian “competitive grant program” designed to encourage states to implement “proven” education reforms that have been proven to be… wait for it… ineffective. [1][2]

The hits just keep on coming…