Here’s the good news: The once $23 billion teacher bailout proposal has been shrunk to $10 billion.
Here’s the bad news: There are still people in Congress trying to enact a bailout, and no Democrat seems to know why the new bailout is wrong.
In case you haven’t been following the drama, for months now primarily Democrats in Congress have been pushing various “emergency” funding proposals to deal with everything from the War in Afghanistan to infusing funds into Pell Grants. A big part of the emergency funding has been money to save public education employees — teachers and other staffers — from cuts Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said could range from 100,000 to 300,000 jobs. The intial teacher bailout was championed by Sen. Tom Harkin (D‑Iowa), who put it at $23 billion.
Well, it turns out that screaming that the sky is falling because some people in public schooling might lose their jobs just doesn’t scare people much anymore. Despite union-courting Chicken Littles like Duncan and Harkin wailing about a “catastrophe” should the $23 billion not be doled out, Harkin’s effort never caught fire and he dropped it. House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D‑Wis.) tried to pick it up, but had to cut his companion proposal back to $10 billion. He has also felt compelled to — heaven forefend! — find some way to pay for the bailout, which wouldn’t have been required had he been able to get away with calling it “emergency” spending.
Obey’s new proposal has taken heat from some fellow Democrats, who have attacked it for all the wrong reasons.