Is a Education a Priority

What do you think the US Government's priorities should be?

House Republicans have decided that aid for student loans, funding for child support enforcement, and aid to companies who have been harmed by unfair trade practices of their competitors are not among the priorities of this government.

They are also looking to cut funding for food stamps, farm subsidies, and medicaid (although acknowledging that medical costs continue to skyrocket).

Bush commented that he was "pleased with the progress" he has seen in the House and he added "I encourage Congress to push the envelope when it comes to cutting spending."

George Miller (D-CA) called the plan which imposes new fees on students who consolidate their loans and higher fees on parents who must borrow on behalf of their children, a "raid on student aid"

The planned cuts have consistently been supported by votes falling strictly along party lines. Therefore, it would not be unfair to draw conclusions about the goals and interests of the parties based on their votes on these budget measures.


US Taxpayer Funding of the Education of only the World's Elite

One must acknowledge that the reduced assistance for the common family to fund their own or their children's educations is a strange and counter intuitive policy. We now find ourselves in a country where all taxpayers fund public universities that only the richest families can afford to send their children to.

Further, American student achievement in Science and Engineering continues to decline to a level that has prompted the President of Cornell University and the Dean of Stanford Medical school, among others, to note that American students are becoming less qualified for Graduate programs and American Universities. Currently, about 1-in-3 candidates in doctoral and postgraduate programs are foreign students.

Wouldn't most countries consider it a national security concern with a potentiality for alarming economic consequences if their taxpayer money was used to fund the education of Foreign Elites.