Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
So now the debate in politics is over education. That seems to be the hot topic.
And of course the Democrats are firing barbs at the "do-nothing Congress."
Now, how many of you have heard that phrase "do-nothing Congress" on the nightly news?
Especially on the topic of education, the Democrats are railing on the Republicans in hopes of gaining momentum for the November election.
Hey, I don't blame them for that. That's politics. Problem is, the mainstream national media pretty much give them a free pass.
Ever seen an accounting of the "do-nothing" Republicans' record on education in the current Congress? Just education?
Didn't think so.
This Republican-led Congress has approved a bunch of initiatives to help fix the country's schools.
You may not agree with them. I don't agree with all of them, but that certainly doesn't mean they don't exist.
Space doesn't permit a detailed rundown of the details of each of these programs, but if you want to go to the Congressional Record and look them up, be my guest.
• Higher Education Act (HEA) (passed by the House and Senate and signed into law).
• A+ Savings Accounts (passed by the House and Senate and vetoed by the president).
• $500 million for special education included in House and Senate fiscal year 1999 appropriation bills.
• Dollars to the Classroom block grants ( passed by House, awaiting vote in Senate; Clinton has promised a veto).
• Loan forgiveness for new teachers (passed by House and Senate as part of HEA and signed into law).
• Teacher testing (passed House and Senate as part of A+; vetoed by Clinton).
• Reading Excellence Act (passed by the House and Senate, awaiting final action).
• Expanded prepaid college tuition plans (passed by House as part of taxpayer relief act of 1998; awaiting action in the Senate).
• D.C. scholarships (passed by the House and Senate; VETOED by Clinton).
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (passed by House and Senate and signed into law).
• High-tech job skills/vocational education. (passed by House and Senate; awaiting Clinton's signature).
• Quality Head Start (passed by the House and Senate, awaiting Clinton's signature).
• Workforce Investment Act/Job Training Reform (passed by the House and Senate and signed into law).
• Emergency student loans (passed by the House and accepted by the Senate as part of the fiscal year 1998 Labor, HHS, education appropriations bill).
• Prohibition on new federal school tests (passed by the House and accepted by the Senate as part of the fiscal year 1998 Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill).
• School nutrition (passed by the House and Senate, awaiting signature).
• Charter schools (passed by the House and Senate, awaiting final action).
• Bilingual education reform (passed by the House and awaiting action by the Senate).
• Juvenile justice (passed by the House and Senate; awaiting final action).
• Equitable child care resolution. (passed by the House and inserted in the Senate's budget resolution).
• Assistive Technology Act of 1998 (passed by the Senate and the House; awaiting final action).
As I said, I don't necessarily agree with all this stuff. It all comes with a price. The Republicans in Congress say they want to reduce spending, but domestic spending has increased $300 billion since the GOP took over in 1995. Then how in the world, you may ask, did they balance the budget and end up with a surplus?
The answer is that "they" didn't. "We" did. A growing economy means growing revenues to the treasury via income taxes. "We," the taxpayers, not "they," the politicians, balanced the budget.
Think of the surplus we would have had if "they," the politicians, hadn't spent so much of our money. Frankly, I think the "do-nothing" label is a good thing. It's just not very accurate.
But I digress.
What I want to know is why, when the president stands up at a press conference and says the Republican-led Congress has done nothing to help improve education, doesn't some astute reporter say, "Hey, what about those couple dozen different initiatives they've already passed, some of which you vetoed?"
That's what I want to know.
Where's the debate? Where's the give and take? Where's the airing of ideas in the national media?
All we get is the sound bite. And that's the way the politicians like it.
Fact is, the Congress has doubled the maximum amount allowable for grants for college tuition. It gave American students the lowest student loan rates in 17 years. And it passed initiatives to allow families to save for their children's education with no tax on the interest, but Clinton vetoed that.
But you would never know it unless you did lots of research. So most people don't know it. Most people just believe what they hear Clinton say on the evening news.
Sad, isn't it?
*****
The latest Clinton scandal you never heard about has to do with an "investigation of the conversion of the $1.7 million centralized White House computer system known as the White House database and related matters." (That's conversion as in theft.)
The committee on Government Reform and Oversight has submitted a report on its investigation into the matter.
Briefly, the report states, "The story of the White House database is one about a White House that disregarded the difference between the official business of the United States government and the political business of re-electing the president. Because the line between official business and campaigning was obliterated, the president and his White House subordinates proceeded to spend at least $1.7 million of government funds on a complex, centralized computer system known as the White House database or 'WhoDB.' It was used not just for official purposes; senior White House staff planned and, in fact, used it to advance the campaign fund-raising objectives of the Democratic National Committee. This conversion of government property to the use of the DNC constitutes a theft of government property" under federal codes.
There is evidence that a deputy counsel to the president lied to the committee and obstructed the investigation by withholding evidence.
There is evidence, including handwritten memos, that the president and the first lady directed the development of the White House database and were informed of and involved in plans for the use of government resources to advance the president's re-election campaign.
We can call this one "Datagate."
As of Thursday morning, not a peep from the venerable Washington Post, New York Times or Associated Press.
Guess they're tired of reporting about White House scandals.
You can view the report on the Internet at:
http://www.house.gov/reform/neg/reports/whodb/report.html
