Let them eat Medicaid

[Cain]

I can see this going down really well in a recession:

The amendment includes $10 billion in funding for teachers' jobs and $16.1 billion in funding for the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages, or FMAP, program, which provides Medicaid funding to states. For offsets, it closes foreign tax credit loopholes to raise $9 billion; it also cuts $2 billion from Medicaid drug pricing, $8.4 billion in rescissions and $6.7 billion from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.

Well, at least they can get medical attention to get treated for malnutrition, I guess.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

And this means that people like me who do make over minimum wage but are still beneath the national poverty level will get their foodstamps cut.  The fact that I have 3 minor children will not help or hinder (even though it should).

Thank you assholes.  Let me know when you have to tell your kids they can't eat until they are full because you can't afford the fucking food!



motherfucking cocksucking.....   

[Triple Zero]

that sucks

[Jasper]

It's darkly ironic, considering we call our land the breadbasket.  Untold thousands of acres of fertile soil, colossal machines to farm it, even subsidies to keep farmers from overproducing, and we starve our poor.

Days like these make me wish the red menace would hurry the fuck up.

[Template]

It's darkly ironic, considering we call our land the breadbasket.  Untold thousands of acres of fertile soil, colossal machines to farm it, even subsidies to keep farmers from overproducing, and we starve our poor.

Days like these make me wish the red menace would hurry the fuck up.

Like Red Menace is any better at providing plenty for all.

[Jasper]

[Jenne]

...I thought this didn't pass?

[Cain]

Voting on it tomorrow.

[Jenne]

oh.  Crap, now I have to go re-read what it is I read this morning about it.  EdVoice or PTA, don't remember...said something about "not being able to secure Edu-Jobs"...

[Jenne]

Well, here's the one from PTA:

Congress Fails to Pass Measure to Save Education Jobs
In late July, Congress passed a $58 billion war supplemental bill that was originally slated to include $10 billion in funding to save approximately 138,000 educator jobs. But in the final days of negotiation, funding was stripped from the bill.

Passing the House by a final vote of 308-114, the supplemental measure includes funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also contains emergency funding for other domestic programs.

Previous versions of the war supplemental included funding offsets that would have cut over $800 million from important education reform programs such as Race to the Top and the Teacher Incentive Fund. In response, the White House promised to veto any version of the bill should it include cuts to these education reform programs. Advocates remained fragmented in the final days of negotiations on how to offset the funding for the $10 billion to save education jobs.

National PTA is disappointed that Congress was unable to pass a measure that included funding to avoid teacher layoffs. But we remain hopeful that Congress will identify another legislative vehicle before adjourning in preparation for the upcoming November elections. For updates on education job funding, please join the PTA Takes Action Network at PTA.org/TakesAction/.

Now for the EdVoice.

[Jenne]

Nerp.  I guess I'm full of shit, can't find it.  I read too much of this to keep track.

[Cain]

I can see where the confusion would come in, but this was a Federal Aviation Administration bill, not a military one.

[Jenne]

Well, this one passed. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/08/05/37congress.h29.html?tkn=VWUFsJjQnSIxnJR8Pv3Xy05duwvYPwQPSiDG&cmp=clp-edweek

Senate Passes Edujobs Bill
By Alyson Klein



The U.S. Senate today approved a long-stalled measure that would provide $10 billion to prevent what supporters say would be hundreds of thousands of teacher layoffs nationwide.

Leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives, meanwhile, are taking the unusual step of calling for lawmakers to return from their August recess next week to pass the final version of the bill.

The legislation is intended to help states weather the continuing economic downturn, particularly as funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which included nearly $40 billion in aid to states, begins to dry up.

The bill is explicit that the money would have to be used for salaries, benefits, and support services for school staff. Districts also could use it to recall or rehire former staff members, or to bring on new employees for K-12 schools and early childhood programs. There had been some concerns that states used the education aid provided under the recovery act to divert funding to other programs.

The Senate bill, approved 61-39 today, is fully offset, meaning that the $10 billion price tag is covered by cuts to other programs. Some of those cuts are to education programs, including $50 million from the Striving Readers program, which helps finance adolescent literacy efforts, and more than $10 million from Ready to Teach, which finances telecommunications programs for teachers. It also includes an $82 million cut to student financial aid administration programs.

Separately, the legislation includes $16 billion in additional Medicaid aid to states. That provision has an indirect effect on education, advocates say, because without those funds, states would likely have to significantly cut their budgets, which would almost certainly affect K-12 education.

The House approved a different version of the education jobs bill last month that included $800 million in education offsets, some of which took aim at key Obama administration priorities. They included a $500 million cut to Race to the Top, which rewards states for revamping standards, assessments, and other policies, and a $200 million cut to the Teacher Incentive Fund, which doles out grants for pay-for-performance programs. But the Obama administration threatened to veto the bill if those cuts remained in place, and the proposal also received significant pushback from moderate senators.

Race to Top Extension?
Meanwhile, lawmakers have been working on the departmental spending bills for fiscal year 2011, which starts Oct. 1. Those measures are not expected to be approved until after the 2010 midterm elections in November.

Still, there are indications that the administration will get some of the increases it asked for in its fiscal 2011 budget request, unveiled earlier this year.

For instance, both the House Appropriations subcommittee dealing with education spending and the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to continue the Race to the Top program for at least one more year, albeit not at the level the administration initially wanted.

The Obama administration had sought $1.35 billion to continue the competitive grant program in fiscal 2011.The legislation that was approved by a House Appropriations panel last month would offer somewhat less than that amount—$800 million. The Senate Appropriations Committee also voted to extend the program for another year, but only at $675 million. And, under the Senate measure, the program would be expanded so districts could apply for Race to the Top grants, as proposed by the administration. It is unclear whether the House bill would also include that language.

If the extension makes it into the final spending bills for fiscal 2011, advocates say, that could mean more states will take the steps emphasized in the Race to the Top program, such as revamping their teacher-evaluation systems and lifting caps on charter schools, in order to get a slice of the competitive grants. States see another opportunity to secure much-needed funding.

"States have demonstrated their commitment to meaningful reform, and Race to the Top will aid states in that effort," Gene Wilhoit, the executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, based in Washington, said in an e-mail. "Extending this program will allow for more state winners."

The additional spending for fiscal 2011 also would include $400 million under the House bill—$100 million less than the president's request—to extend the Investing in Innovation, or i3, grant program, which also was created under the recovery act and initially funded at $650 million. The Senate also voted to keep that program in place, at $250 million. The Education Department last week picked 49 recipients for grants under that program, which is meant to scale up promising innovative practices at the district level and which has attracted interest from more than 1,600 districts, school consortia, and non-profits nationwide. ("Education Budget Plan Wielded as Policy Lever," February 9, 2010.)

The bills would include modest hikes for special education and Title I grants to districts.

Under the House measure, Title I would get $16.2 billion, a little more than the president's request of $15.9 billion and a roughly 3 percent increase over last year. And the measure would include nearly $13 billion for special education, about a 4 percent boost over last year.

Under the Senate plan, Title I grants for districts would get $14.9 billion, a $450 million increase over fiscal 2010 and the president's request. Special education state grants would be financed at $11.9 billion, a $420 million increase over fiscal 2010, and $170 million more than the president wanted for fiscal 2011.

The two committees used slightly different calculations in determining total discretionary funding for the Education Department. Under the Senate bill, the department would receive $66.4 billion in fiscal 2011, compared with $67.4 billion in the president's request. And under the House measure, the Education Department would get $71.9 billion. That's less than the $73.4 billion the President asked for under the House's calculation, but an increase over the current year's $64.3 billion.

Some key programs would be eliminated under the Senate bill, including the $66.5 million Even Start family literacy program, and an $88 million program aimed at creating small learning communities within large schools. Instead, to help support high school redesign, the measure would double the administration's High School Graduation Initiative, which was created last year to allocate grants aimed at improving graduation rates and financed at $50 million.

Vol. 29, Issue 37