Republicans: 'Education = Pork'

Schools to lose billions in exchange for 3 Republican votes?

To most of us, Rush Limbaugh is just another laughable, far-right, racist, drug-snorting buffoon with a radio show. But, according this L.A. Times story, Limbaugh is now the ideological leader of the Republican Party and its ever shrinking base. President Obama has tried (maybe too hard) to help congressional Republicans save themselves from themselves. Instead, the party of Limbaugh has taken advantage of Obama's efforts at bi-partisanship and is holding education hostage in the stimulus funding debate. They are calling public education "pork" and are chopping billions of dollars from the education part of the bill.

Here's the pork they're talking about:

• $98 million for school nutrition
• $1 billion for Head Start/Early Start
• $600 million for Title I (No Child Left Behind)
• $16 billion for school construction

Durbin: 'It's painful..."

“It’s a painful area for all of us, as Democrats, to make these cuts in education assistance,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who is assistant majority leader in the Senate.

Pelosi: "Very damaging..."

Asked about reported cuts in education spending and other matters like technology that may emerge from the Senate stimulus package... Ms. Pelosi said that those types of cuts were “very damaging” and that she was “very much opposed to them.” She pointed to the views of the governors who appeared before about 200 House Democrats gathered here, who had advocated such spending to maintain teaching levels and to build schools.