Ho hum. Here is the utterly predictable front-page headline on this story in today’s Washington Post:
Cuts will affect vast spectrum of priorities
Leaving aside the obvious illogic-by the definition of a priority, if something is cut, it is unlikely to have been a priority-the story is not tugging at my hard old heart.
Funding for federal Pell grants, job training and a children’s health-care initiative would face cuts, senior congressional aides said. A multitude of other programs – from highway and high-speed rail projects to rural development initiatives – also would experience significant reductions.
I for one am always delighted when I see that “job training” funds are cut. As I discovered writing about the Comprehensive Educational Training Act (CETA) in my lost youth, job training tends to delay job finding. Job training is so much more relaxing than job doing! I don’t know what children’s health “initiatives” were cut, so I reserve judgment on this. But the continuing resolution does slow down the disaster known as high-speed rail.
Mostly the cuts sound great, however. I am especially keen on reducing funding for the United Nations and other international organizations. Ed Morrissey notes that several czars and Obamacare programs were cut. Yippee!
Read this story. But ask yourself: Do any of these cut programs sound like priorities?