Rather than rebuild the public school system, the Bush Administration wants to impose a school voucher program in NOLA.
If it wasn't bad enough that the Bush Administration was trying to impose their right wing agenda on the people of New Orleans in exchange for federal assistance in rebuilding
(
see WSJ article from 9/15/05)
According to this WSJ article, ripped from the pages of a Heritage Foundation policy paper, their conservative agenda in NOLA includes:
- exempting contractors from paying the prevailing wage
- easing tariffs on imports (such as lumber and sugar)
- waiving affirmative-action rules for gov't contractors
- waive regulations regarding giving federal funds to religious groups
- waiving the estate tax for deaths in the Gulf region
- creating a "flat-tax free-enterprise zone"
Now they want to impose their school voucher dream program. The
Palm Beach Post is reporting today that the Bill for Katrina Aid contains a proposal that would provide $7500 per child in school vouchers (to spend on private or religious schools). Wow. That ought to help LA rebuild their schools.
Given the success (and by "success" I mean total disaster) of other Heritiage Foundation and similar conservative think tank economic policies, I can only wonder how much more havoc their economic policies for rebuilding the Gulf will introduce into our economy.
Is their goal to create some sort of pre-revolutionary French economy where there are only the very very wealthy and the poor? Is that some "compassionate conservative" goal?? It certainly seems to be the direction they are steering towards.