Funny how we throw money at things to solve problems

. Lots and lots of money.

We have a problem and some senator comes up with a solution and throws a pile of money at it and creates a program we get stuck with for all eternity and they brag that the problem is solved when the only thing that is solved is that the American taxpayer gets poorer.

One great problem I see is education and there is a simple solution to that. It is to do away with most federal level educational programs and leave things to a state or local level.

For example, if you drop the college loan program enrollment in colleges will drop and as a result tuition prices will drop.

Yeah, a lot of college professors will be angry and have to start teaching more classes. Yeah, a lot of intellectual dead wood will have to find a way to support themselves. So what?

If you drop federal subsidies to schools they will likely raise local taxes to compensate but you can bet your ass there will be more accountability. Local school boards will be forced to account for their local dollars and a lot of frivilous extras will go away most riki-tik.

The teachers unions will raise holy hell for a while but if the locals stand fast you can bet that most of them will get back into line. Either that or find something else to do for a living.

Teachers are there to teach, not retire after 20 years and spend the rest of their days on the golf course at taxpayer's expense.

Holding teachers accountable for teaching well is something teachers unions have fought for years. The taxpayer ought to stand fast on that one, too.

Most likely we'll get rid of the teachers that are there to ride the taxpayers gravy train and be left with people that are there to teach.

Yes, wealthier neighborhoods will have better schools. So what? Generally that's because success breeds success. If you want better schools in your neighborhood, deal with your local school board and tell them to get rid of the dead wood.

Dead wood also includes those students that disrupt classes and slow everyone else down. Boot them out. If the law requires they are there, simply warehouse them. Let them sit in a room somewhere until they either learn not to disrupt class or they reach the age where they can drop out.

The next step is to cut back or eliminate social programs that allow people to do nothiing and still get by. Either install a serious work requirement or drop the welfare system altogether and make people either work or starve.

You can bet that if you do that there will be a lot of poorer people deciding that they are tired of living that way and they will learn that education is important if they don't want to live with their backs bent in toil for their entire lives.

With the easy way out supplied by social programs gone, it won't take people a whole lot of time to figure out that the difference between just getting by and living comfortable isn't a whole lot.

There will likely be quite a number of the poor that will see the results of the success of others and decide, "I'm going to get me some of that" and look at educating themselves to make themselves more marketable.

Many won't but some will. It will be their choice.

The process of getting our nation educated again isn't going to take place just because a bunch of idiot congresscritters throw a pile of money at it and call it good.

It isn't going to happen overnight, either. It's going to take about as long to get out of this mess as it took to get into it.

It's also going to be a lot more painful getting out of this than it was getting into it.




To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY