Feb

The Democrats’ war on children

Democrats always say they care about the children (at least those who have been born), but some recent news stories show how empty those words truly are.

First, lawmakers in Albany prevented the state from receiving $700 million of federal education money because they didn’t want teachers to be paid according to their achievements. Never mind the fact that most other people in our society are compensated according to their skill. And, never mind the fact New York is facing a budget deficit of more than $7 billion. It’s far more important to appease the teachers unions, which according to the New York Post, effectively vetoed the money.

Just in case you didn’t know, Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2 to 1 in the state legislature.

Then today, the 15-20 people who read the New York Times awoke to the following headline:

Obama to Seek Sweeping Change in ‘No Child’ Law

That’s right: Less than two weeks after New York State was denied taxpayer money because its unionized teachers refuse to live under the same rules as the rest of society, the White House plans to scrap the law. The statute in question, of course, is No Child Left Behind, signed into law by former President George W. Bush in 2002.

According to the Times, Obama wants to “eliminate or rework many of the provisions that teachers’ unions, associations of principals, school boards and other groups have found most objectionable.”

Someone might respond: That was exactly the point. Teachers unions, associations of principals and school boards have been doing a terrible job in this country for a long time. That’s why Bush wanted to inflict a modicum of accountability on the system.

One also has to ask whether any of the normal hand-wringers on the Left will bemoan this action by the Democratic Establishment. After all, NCLB enjoyed strong support from the late Ted Kennedy, who helped push it through the Senate. First the Democrats are incapable of passing Kennedy’s beloved health-care takeover. Now will they further dishonor his memory by throwing out one of his top legislative achievements? I’m not holding my breath for David Gergen to raise that question.

We Republicans cannot let voters forget how much harm the Democrats have done to the state and its children. Not only have they abandoned any hope of raising the bar for our students — especially those trapped in inner-city districts. Their utter subservience to the unions has also caused them to walk away from a large infusion of federal money at a time of unparalleled fiscal crisis. They are incompetent as fiduciaries, and unworthy of public office.

Given the short time between New York State rejecting the funds and Obama’s new desire to change the law, it’s hard not to see a link: Democrats lose two big elections in solidly blue states like New Jersey and Massachusetts. They then take an action that could cause them to lose big in the key stronghold of New York. So, instead of taking responsibility for the decision, why not simply blame the law? We didn’t lose the $700 million because we were in bed with the unions. It was a bad law anyway!

Judging by their name, Democrats should stand for government by the people, of the people and for the people. But these actions clearly show that the only group they care about is the first one. For them, it’s government by the government, of the government and for the government.

This is why everyone in this club needs to get involved in campaigns this year. Unlike Republicans, the Democrats care about nothing but power at all cost. But they can only have power if we let them. They’ve already taken $700 million to appease a tiny sliver of the population. How much more will we let them take?