This page was last updated on February 24, 2011.
Quick hits; Editorial; Beaver County Times; February 24, 2011.
“THE RICH GET RICH” tries to turn what’s going on in Wisconsin into a rich vs. poor class war. In a way it may be true, but not in the way the Times would like us to think. In this case “the rich” is labor union management who gets their money – and power - from taxpayers via union dues public employees are forced to pay. Labor union management uses those taxpayer dollars to elect Democrat politicians who vote to force taxpayers to pay for ever-increasing wages and benefits, some of which ultimately comes back to the Democrat politicians as campaign contributions to continue the cycle.
The Times tells us, “as someone once observed, a beggar doesn’t begrudge the millionaire his wealth. In fact, he admires him. However, he bitterly resents another beggar who has just a little more than he does and relishes dragging him down to his level.” If that’s true, who has been making all the noise about the mythical “tax cuts for the rich” for the last decade? Other rich people?
Regarding “AND THE POOR GET POORER,” some of the following are several years old, but I suggest you read the following papers.
Understanding Poverty in America (Backgrounder #1713); Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.; The Heritage Foundation; January 5, 2004.
Understanding Poverty in America: What the Census Bureau doesn’t count; Robert E. Rector; The Heritage Foundation; September 11, 2009.
Poverty and Inequality; The Heritage Foundation.
The Data on Poverty and Health Insurance You’re Not Reading (WebMemo #556); Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.; The Heritage Foundation; August 27, 2004.
According to “BUDGET BUSTER,” the Times objects to “the requirement that school districts in Pennsylvania present their preliminary budgets before they know how much financial aid they will receive from the state. … It’s just another example of elected officials at the state level making governance difficult for those at the local level.” I don’t know how the Times does its budgets, but when I did budgets we always developed our initial proposed budgets without knowing our funding. It was simply the first step in a back-and-forth process leading to the final budget. If you run the process as the Times appears to prefer, this is a formula for excessive spending. If a school district is told in advance the amount of financial aid it will receive, does anyone doubt the school district will find a way to spend it all?
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.