Ed Schwartz has helpfully outlined even more of the budget deal's benefits, with dollar figures. And we quote:
* $75 million to begin Pre-K Counts which will connect approximately 11,000 Pennsylvania children to Pre-kindergarten;
*$25 million to expand Full-Day Kindergarten
*$86 million more for the state’s child care subsidy program.
*$9 million for the child care quality improvement program Keystone STARS which will put two infant mental health specialists in the Southeastern Key and expand merit awards to child care programs
*$26.9 million to reduce by 3,000 the number of Pennsylvanians on waiting lists for mental retardation services;
*Passage of a bill to expand the role of nurse practitioners so that more low-income children and families in the Commonwealth can access needed health care services;
*Early indication of a 3.5% increase in basic education spending;
*$10 million for autism research;
*Increased funding for public transportation which will help avert an additional SEPTA fare increase in September;
*Preservation of the cost of living allowances for human services workers;
*$90 million for Classrooms for the Future to provide 254 more high schools with 83,000 laptop computers and related equipment
Comments (7)
Hard as it is for me to believe, there are those audience members who actually believe the magician cuts the woman in half and then makes her whole again, really does pull a rabbit from an empty hat and...well, you get the idea.
And Ed Schwartz has clearly found such an audience if anyone actually buys this latest budget he's presented. And as it is with a master magician, perhaps he's gifted enough that he can make it looks like it works. But a person would have to be a real sucker to not realize there's a whole lot of trickery behind it if he does succeed in pulling off that illusion.
For what's not being thought about at all in any of this is where the wealth that's supposed to fund it will be coming from -- the same as gullible audience members not giving any thought where that magician really did pull that rabbit from.
It would be great if a rabbit really could be pulled out of thin air that way in this case. But it's like hey, come on!
I see a lot of spending in the budget Schwartz has presented, but I don't see one instance of new wealth creation. I see existing-wealth shifting -- er, if the wealth needed to fulfill it even exists at this point -- but nothing, not a single thing, that will generate new wealth for this city. Going over each budget item one by one, each is totally unidirectional, meaning, those footing the bill of it, if anyone actually will, won't be seeing any return on their investment.
But silly me, I didn't know that rabbits actually can be pulled out of thin air, and that of all audience members watching this magic show, I'm the one who's gullible in that regard.
Posted by Steve W. | July 11, 2007 2:03 AM
Steve W. That might be because as the Bible says, "To whom much has been given, much is expected". Don't be afraid to support your fellow man. In many of the budget increases, it is going towards early education which will enable many more children to be productive members of society down the road.
Posted by Kevin F | July 11, 2007 4:43 PM
I'm all for supporting my fellow man, Kevin F, but in my case I mean that for real, not the bogus means of doing so. You've heard the expression "wolf in sheep's clothing," I'm sure, while I say it doesn't hurt to look beyond the sheep costume once in a while, lest the ultimate goal is to reach a political state where all the people are fooled all of the time.
And just to repeat the premise of my previous post at this thread, as Ed Schwartz budgets for this or that wonderful program (the sheep's clothing aspect of what he wants us all to see), what he doesn't want any of us to see is where this money shall be coming from (the wolf side of the equation.)
For just stop and think for a moment, Kevin F. If Philadelphia is not originating any wealth at this point, only absorbing it from elsewhere combined with the liquidation of whatever assets it has left, the latter being something Philadelphia could bring back into play again through intelligent application, what do you think the end result will be if Ed Schwartz's budget prevails?
Well, just to answer that question, applying the magician analogy once more, you could be of that audience sector who really believed the magician pulled the rabbit out of thin air. Or you could of the audience sector who found the performance entertaining, but at the same time knew it was all just a trick. And you could be of the audience sector who finds the show to not have been so entertaining when he gets home and discovers his beloved pet rabbit had been stolen.
And since you brought up the Bible, er, isn't there something somewhere in that book which suggests that sort of thing is morally wrong? When Jesus fed the 5,000 with two loaves of bread and two fish, was it a case where the bakers and fishermen discovered all their inventory was missing? Not that I know of. But in that instance we're talking Jesus, and what he was able to do.
And, um, er, are you suggesting we place Ed Schwartz in that same light? For based on things I'm seeing going on elsewhere, the things the magician in this case doesn't want us to see, I'm just not ready to do that yet if that's okay with you. I'm asking, "Where's the money coming from?" while I don't think if you were to begin asking that question, too, even if it might spoil the fun of the magic show a bit.
Posted by Steve W. | July 13, 2007 12:32 AM
Apologies: That last sentence should read: "...I don't think [it would hurt] if you were to begin asking that question, too..." (As I was typing it I was distracted by why my beloved pet rabbit was missing...)
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