posted on January 30, 2002 04:12:58 PM new
doxdoggy
I understand that. When I started this thread, I was concerned about the fact that Bush failed to address the domestic issues in which he claimed to have an interest while campaigning for election. Educational and health issues for children have been forgottten and sometimes deliberately under funded in order to reduce taxes to the wealthy.
excerpt....
George W. Bush promised that he would "leave no child behind." That's what he repeatedly said during the presidential campaign, when the votes of millions of parents hung in the balance. His pledge was the clearest expression of the compassionate conservatism he embraced during his run for the White House.
But since moving into the Oval Office in January, Bush has placed higher priorities on gaining congressional approval of a tax cut and getting the go-ahead for the construction of a missile defense system than on uplifting children. The president has yet to come up with a comprehensive plan to ensure that his administration leaves no child behind.
Last week, two Democrats, Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd and California Rep. George Miller, introduced a sweeping piece of legislation to meet the basic needs of every child in this country. The bill, "The Act to Leave No Child Behind," is the brainchild of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), a Washington-based advocacy group that owns the figurative trademark on the "leave no child behind" mantra.
"It cannot be used as a fig leaf for unjust tax cuts and budgets," CDF President Marian Wright Edelman said of Bush's use of her organization's identifying statement. "Children can't eat words and phrases."
For all children's sake
The Dodd-Miller bill would provide health-care coverage for every child; fully fund Head Start, child care and preschool programs; help children learn to read by the fourth grade; offer all children high-quality after-school and summer programs; and protect children against neglect and abuse.
The legislation, which Miller said "provides an affordable road map for the safe and healthy development of America's children," faces an uncertain future. While many components enjoy bipartisan support, the overall piece may be a hard sell in a Congress that is hellbent on sharply cutting taxes and dramatically increasing defense spending — the same formula Ronald Reagan used to balloon the federal budget deficit in the 1980s. Bush's budget doesn't leave much money to pay for the programs the CDF advocates.
Millions with problems
The greatest threat to our national security comes not from some rogue nation with a nuclear-tipped intercontinental missile, but from the problems that plague our children. Nearly 11 million youngsters in this country don't have health insurance. Seven million school-age children are left at home after school without supervision, nearly 3 million children are abused each year, and just 31% of fourth-graders are able to read at that level, the CDF said earlier this year.
"These facts are not an act of God," Edelman said. "They are the results of the political choices this nation has made."
posted on January 30, 2002 04:26:27 PM new
In this Land O Plenty, there is never a good reason why any citizen - children or adult, should go hungry, unclothed, unattended to, uncared for, undereducated, and unhealthy. We are the richest nation ever to walk this earth. Our government buys so much food in price supports for small farmers every year that it can't give it all away; and instead, leave MILLIONS OF TONS OF FOOD to rot before clogging up waste fills. We have the most advanced distribution system in the world in all of history, yet we can not get that government-purchased food to those who need it most in this country, due to being blocked by mere politicians and beaucrats alike. We have a surplus of so much each and every year without exception that only God Himself can come up with all the reasons why it isn't getting to the right people. Food, clothing, medicine, education - a whole host of products go to complete waste every year. Shame on our government! Shame on our politicans of BOTH parties! Shame on all past and present Presidents who have not had the staying power to keep the War on Poverty going!
Borillar
"Friends don't let friends vote republican"
