Democratic Senators thundered that the mini-med insurance plans offered by McDonald’s and other companies is a “bad deal for workers,” so bad it made Sen. Barbara Boxer’s “’ heart beat fast, and not in a good way.’” The worthies dislike that such plans don’t have meet the Obamacare regulation that health insurance plans must spend at least 80 cents of every premium dollar collected on care. Would that such a mandate extended to other areas of government…say to education spending, where far less than 80 cents of every tax dollar actually reaches the classroom.
There has been considerable debate on this topic in Virginia, with both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor supporting efforts to raise Virginia’s classroom expenditures to 65 cents of every tax dollar from the current 61 cents.
Legislation has long been introduced on the topic, and Del. Manoli Loupassi will do so again next year. But it typically runs into a brick wall – otherwise known as the Virginia Education Association. When prodded on the idea of increasing classroom spending by about four percent, the VEA’s Kitty Bointnott has said, “’Students need a full-bodied educational climate. They need the culture and benefits of the entire school building.’”
Was she talking about wine, or kids?
But here’s the rub: when national Democrats insist that private insurance companies expend 80 cents of every dollar they earn on health care, that’s called looking out for the little guy, his kids and the good of the country.
When local Republicans try to mandate that 65 cents of every tax dollar spend on public education go into classrooms, it threatens “the culture and benefits of the entire school building.”
So the little guy’s kids may be able to get cheaper vaccinations, assuming the health insurer and vaccine maker are still around, but their history textbooks will grind to a halt sometime during the first Nixon administration while the globe in the corner of the classroom will still show the vast expanses of French West Africa.
The kids won’t mind, though, thanks to the tireless efforts of the new assistant principal for self-esteem.
