GOP opposes improved education

Tennessee's Republican legislators say they want to help education, but don't want to fund pre-K programs that are proven to be effective. The Republicans are opposing an effort to expand pre-K programs to more students so they, too, can reap the benefits.

Tennessee's Republicans have abandoned their traditional values and miss the fiscal wisdom of investing in pre-K programs. Not only are they proven to boost test scores, they also result in more productive citizens. In California, research shows the state benefits by $2.62 for each dollar spent on preschool.

It scares the Republicans to provide services to the middle class. Giving tax breaks to the wealthy or incentives to businesses, however, is not a problem.

It's clear the Republicans have lost their way. They don't believe in fiscal responsibility and when government is proven to be effective, their choice is to shut it down. Without a compass to guide them, it's no wonder they've fallen prey to the ideologues that have taken over their party.

Pre-K works. The investment pays off in tangible benefits to society. It makes sense for Tennessee to expand this program to as many children as possible. It's money wisely spent.

    - Jim Grinstead

Comments

[Rob Huddleston]

Jim -

"Pre-K works."

Prove it. Problem is that you can't. The studies on whether Tennessee's version of Pre-K is working are incomplete at best and flawed at worst, just like the studies from other states with government-subsidized pre-K programs have been shown to be inconclusive or that students who attended pre-K have no greater rates of graduation or pursing a college degree.

The funny thing is that it is the Democratic Party in Tennessee who want to expand Pre-K, just as it was the Democratic Party that spawned their version of government-subsidized healthcare - TennCare - on the populace. How'd that one work out for y'all?

Cheers,

Rob

[sbk]

It is well documented that tax breaks to the wealthy increase the tax revenue of the government. So you want the government to pay for more but are against policy that increases the governments' revenue. Smart!

The Pre-K research is no where near cut and dried. The research quoted by the governor when he went to originally sell the proposal was decades old and used less than normal mentally functioning children. But the numbers sure sounded great even if they weren't germane.

[Rick]

Please name one instance where cutting taxes increased tax revenue. Your claim is based on the Laffer Curve which 1) applies only to large numbers (say, 65% tax rate cut to 35%) not to US-level tax cuts (say, 32% to 30%) and 2) has not been demonstrated in US history (possibly because of reason #1 or possibly because it's not an accurate theory, who knows, it hasn't been tested).

According to Bush's own Treasury Dept. the ecomonic growth created by making his tax cuts permanent would recover only 10% of the lost revenue. (Didn't they mention that on talk radio?)

Tax revenue dropped significantly after Bush's tax cuts at the start of his term and after Reagan's tax cuts in the early 1980s. That doesn't necessarily mean the tax cuts were bad, it just means you should get your facts straight when defending them.

According to President’s Bush’s own former CEA chair Gregory Mankiw, there is “no credible evidence tax revenues rise in the face of lower tax rates.” He compares such claims to a “snake oil salesman trying to sell a miracle cure.”

It's a bogus talking point for people who would love for it to be true because that would be really, really cool. Too bad it's not.

[Jim Grinstead]

Rob

Follow the links. You'll find research that shows pre-K works. That's why it should be expanded. Kids do better.