Ignoring Education and Obesity
Don't you just love the Florida legislature? The fat cats there can refuse to increase the amount of money for teacher merit pay; refuse to provide 400 more reading coaches for Florida schools; and refuse money for obesity prevention.
However, when it comes to their own pork, they can provide $100,000 for a shrimp processing plant in Nassau County; $840,000 for a three-day Exponica International cultural and trade festival in Tamiami Park in Miami so the sponsoring organization can get out of debt and promote the event; $725,000 for a new YMCA in Miami; $100,000 for a new trolley depot in Coral Gables; and a cool $1,300,000 to improve Las Olas Boulevard (which runs down to the beach) in Fort Lauderdale to make it more attractive for tourists.
Of course, there are also other items, like $1,500,000 to convert a canal on the campus of Florida Institute of Technology in Melbournne into a rowing training center. What do you suppose they'll do with the alligators? There's also a plan to give $50,000 to an organization hosting an annual World Orchid Conference in Miami; as well as $800,00 for for new synthetic football fields in Miami. Whatever happened to grass?
The bottom line, if the bubbas in the legislature have their way, Florida kids will be too fat to learn row, assuming the alligators don't get them; and they'll be able to play on Astro Turf. But they'll be dumb as a stump and unable to read well enough to get that job in the shrimp processing factory in Nassau County, thanks to the departure of good teachers for better pay elsewhere. That's the future for the new bubbas. Along their future path, there will have been $50,000 for orchids, as well as money for tourism beautification and cultural trade fairs. What a life!
However, when it comes to their own pork, they can provide $100,000 for a shrimp processing plant in Nassau County; $840,000 for a three-day Exponica International cultural and trade festival in Tamiami Park in Miami so the sponsoring organization can get out of debt and promote the event; $725,000 for a new YMCA in Miami; $100,000 for a new trolley depot in Coral Gables; and a cool $1,300,000 to improve Las Olas Boulevard (which runs down to the beach) in Fort Lauderdale to make it more attractive for tourists.
Of course, there are also other items, like $1,500,000 to convert a canal on the campus of Florida Institute of Technology in Melbournne into a rowing training center. What do you suppose they'll do with the alligators? There's also a plan to give $50,000 to an organization hosting an annual World Orchid Conference in Miami; as well as $800,00 for for new synthetic football fields in Miami. Whatever happened to grass?
The bottom line, if the bubbas in the legislature have their way, Florida kids will be too fat to learn row, assuming the alligators don't get them; and they'll be able to play on Astro Turf. But they'll be dumb as a stump and unable to read well enough to get that job in the shrimp processing factory in Nassau County, thanks to the departure of good teachers for better pay elsewhere. That's the future for the new bubbas. Along their future path, there will have been $50,000 for orchids, as well as money for tourism beautification and cultural trade fairs. What a life!
posted by Conchette at 7:40 AM
2 Comments:
Anything that brings jobs and revenue to an area is worth it in the long run, but spending the taxpayers money on things like a rowing canal are a waste. The school would benefit more with extra tutors or computers than a rowing canal.
The government is so full of waste no matter how you look at it. The Democrats and Republicans care more about building themselves up than serving the people. That's why the entire government needs and overhaul. We need new leadership from people that are not politicians, but leaders. If we cut out all the junk spending our economy would jump even more and our taxes would drop.
In an ideal world there would be limitless money available to fund every pet project of every citizen in the state. In the meantime numerous decisions from multiple choices must be made and numerous rationalizations offered to justify those decisions. Many of those rationalizations can be quite plausible. A $100,000 contribution from the state to a shrimp plant can potentially bring or preserve jobs in a community that will lead to improved tax collections that will far exceed $100,000 to the budget to pay for healthcare, education, etc. Sounds like a good investment. International events staged in Miami routinely pump millions of dollars into the local economy and through sales taxes, hotel taxes, etc. can easily offset the investment of government, not to mention improved incomes and quality of life for people even indirectly involved with the event (hotel workers, restaurant employees, etc.). On the other hand it can easily be debated what significant benefit an additional 400 reading "coaches" can contribute to the tens of thousands of teachers that are already hired to do the job of instructing our children. And when it comes to pork, although admittedly childhood obesity can be seen as a looming public health crisis, it begs the question of why now spend public money when parents themselves have allowed their children to take on porcine proportions. Maybe rowing and other sports facilities will encourage physical activity and help the children to slim down and stay fit.
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