Remembering William Proxmire

Just read today that former Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire has passed away.  Senator Proxmire founded the “Golden Fleece” awards back in 1975 to highlight frivolous uses of taxpayers’ money.  In spite of being labeled as a “liberal democrat,” (even though he thought such labels were useless) his views covered the entire spectrum of political philosophies.

He was opposed to abortion, was rated by the National Taxpayers Union as one of the toughest foes of government waste but also opposed the Vietnam War.  He was a staunch advocate of “the little guy.”

He also focused on consumer legislation where he pushed the “truth in lending” law that protects borrowers.  

He was one the few good guys who served in Washington.  I wish we had more people like him…  John McCain definitely fits in that category but we could use a few more as well.

The Empire (aka Arkansas Public Schools) Strike Back

I think I should be scared because of this.  An article published today by Arkansas Business (link) says the Arkansas Legislature failed to adequately fund the Arkansas Public School System and that lawmakers must take care of the funding deficiencies by December 1, 2006.  

I guess a $600+ million increase just wasn’t quite enough.  I mean after you pay for country club memberships and new football stadiums, I guess there still isn’t enough money to educate the students.

While I have no problem paying for education, you don’t solve a problem just by throwing money at it blindly.  I think if funding is going to be significantly increased, either we need increased accountability standards for the school districts or that school choice/vouchers should be allowed.  If we as the taxpayers are going to be paying more for public school education without seeing any significant returns on our “investment” in the form of better education students, then it should be time for us to allow school choice for the parents…

The districts that asked to open the Lake View Case did not even wait one fiscal year to examine what impact the increased funding had.

I think Governor Huckabee said it very concisely on AETN back in the spring when he stated that no matter how much money you give to a school district, that superintendent will say they are still do not receive enough money…