If you feel a little like Alice today, as if you have somehow stepped through the looking glass, it is not surprising. This morning, the president of the U.S. along with his Secretary of Education set forth for a Maryland elementary school where he proudly announced that we are investing in education. The odd and contradictory part was that the way in which we are accomplishing this "investment" is by cutting Pell Grants in the 2012 budget. Exactly how cutting grants for education is an investment was not made clear in his brief statement, and the text of the statement is not currently available at the White House web site for press releases (a very sparse-looking page compared to the State Department site I inhabit regularly) . Go here for a CNN report on Mr. Obama's stataement this morning.
Much has been made of GOP and particularly Tea Party intents to cut programs described as "entitlements."
I am no Tea Party supporter, and I do not agree with cutting those programs. Neither do I see a difference between the GOP intents of cutting entitlements and the Obama Administration's proposed 2012 budget cuts that will hurt the young, the poor, and the elderly just weeks after the POTUS's misnamed "compromise" with the Republican Party wherein the Bush tax cuts were extended for two years.
In a world where up is down and down is up, for the current occupant of the Oval Office, "investment" is "divestment" and retitlement is the order of the day. I see why he and Arne Duncan chose an elementary school for this morning's prevarication. Had they instead visited a secondary school, a few students might have caught the lie (and the incredible arrogance and impunity of unveiling it at an educational institution). In fact, given the knowledge that middle school students visit this blog, I would not be surprised if the elementary students at that school caught on. Of course, had he made this announcement at a college or university... well for one thing, I do not think I would have seen that silly grin on Duncan's face.
