Today, our illustrious governor visited the City of Yonkers to announce a $28 million "bailout" of the Yonkers school system, which had been facing the prospect of laying off two hundred teachers and eliminating school sports programs.
As a guy who lives across the street from a school, I am very keen on keeping the children of my city educated and active. The governor couched the bailout in terms of property values:
“This investment in public education is not just an investment in education. It’s in the overall growth of Yonkers and the overall well-being of Yonkers. You want housing values to go up in Yonkers? You want more people moving in? Improve the school system."
I'd view the funding in terms of providing a future for the city's, the state's the country's children. It's nice to see that one governor (however illiberal many of his policies may be) believes in education- the oaf across the Hudson would rather saddle the kids of his state with debt, rather than inconveniencing the plutocrats with a slight increase in their marginal tax rates.
It's good that the city got some money.
ReplyDeleteOverall, A. Cuomo is horrible on education, as are most "New Dems*."
* corporatists...privatize the profits, socialize the costs
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The whole idea that the status quo automatically represents some arbitrary limit on government spending is irrational on its face and represents a gross lack of economic understanding. While there are obvious functional limitations on revenue generated by taxation, the US is nowhere near them, so to say that 'we can't afford' a given expenditure. If, in the Fall of 1940, you proposed spending 35% of GDP on the military, you would have been laughed at - hell, they'd say, we can't afford even a FRACTION of that. Then came Pearl Harbor and you know what? We COULD afford it.
ReplyDeleteIt's an extreme example, but one worth keeping in mind. We could 'afford' lots of improvements to our communities and the lives of our citizens. We just allow the owners of capital to make other choices...
Overall, A. Cuomo is horrible on education, as are most "New Dems*."
ReplyDeleteYeah, at least he's not talking about vouchers... yet. The real irony here is that the teachers' unions supported him.
It's an extreme example, but one worth keeping in mind. We could 'afford' lots of improvements to our communities and the lives of our citizens. We just allow the owners of capital to make other choices...
You hit the nail right on the head. The crazy thing is thatour current economic model isn't even helping the sorta-wealthy, and the lack of consumer spending could bring the whole structure crashing down.